Asmodeus
Asmodeus
A demon of lust and wrath in Judeo-Christian and Persian traditions, Asmodeus is one of the oldest demonic figures in religious literature. He appears notably in the Book of Tobit, a deuterocanonical text, under the name Asmodaeus.
Key Facts
- Persian origin under the name Aeshma Daeva, demon of wrath in Zoroastrianism (4th century BCE)
- Mentioned in the Book of Tobit (2nd century BCE), a deuterocanonical text of the Bible
- Ranked as king of demons in the Goetia, a medieval demonology grimoire
- Associated with lust and the destruction of marriages in the rabbinical tradition
- Adopted in medieval and modern Western culture as an archetypal figure of vice
Works & Achievements
Deuterocanonical text in which Asmodeus appears by name for the first time as the demon who kills the husbands of Sarah. A foundational text for all subsequent tradition surrounding this demon.
Five Aramaic manuscripts and one Hebrew manuscript of the Book of Tobit discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, representing the oldest known physical attestations of the text.
Greek pseudepigraphical text describing Asmodeus as a demon interrogated by Solomon, who reveals his powers and weaknesses. Considerably expands the demonology surrounding this figure.
Talmudic passage recounting the adventures of Asmodeus, king of demons, who is subdued by Solomon to help build the Temple, before temporarily gaining the upper hand over his master.
Latin translation of the Book of Tobit that enshrines Asmodeus in the Western Catholic tradition and establishes him as a central figure in Christian medieval demonology.
Anecdotes
In the Book of Tobit, a deuterocanonical text written between the 4th and 2nd centuries BCE, Asmodeus successively kills the seven husbands of Sara on their wedding nights. He is finally driven away by Tobias, following the advice of the archangel Raphael: burning the heart and liver of a fish is enough to send the demon fleeing all the way to Egypt, where he is bound in chains.
The name Asmodeus most likely derives from the Persian Aeshma Daeva, literally 'the demon of wrath' in Zoroastrianism. This ancient Iranian figure was incorporated into Jewish tradition during the Achaemenid period, when the Jews lived under Persian rule following the Babylonian exile — a striking example of religious exchange between two great civilizations.
In the Babylonian Talmud, Asmodeus plays an unexpected role: King Solomon uses him to build the Temple of Jerusalem by cutting stones without iron tools, as required by Mosaic law. Asmodeus eventually overthrows Solomon from his throne for several years before being subdued once again.
The Testament of Solomon, a pseudepigraphical text dated between the 1st and 5th centuries CE, describes Asmodeus as a demon capable of stirring jealousy and discord between couples. Solomon questions him, and the demon reveals that his counter-sign is the name of the archangel Raphael and the smell of roasted fish liver.
During the Middle Ages, Christian theologians incorporated Asmodeus into their demonic hierarchy. The demonologist Johann Weyer, writing in the 16th century, drew on earlier sources to present him as the 'prince' of demons of lust — illustrating how this ancient figure was passed down and transformed across more than two millennia of religious tradition.
Primary Sources
And the demon Asmodeus loved her, and he killed each of her husbands before they had been with her as a wife. (Tob 3:8)
Solomon summoned Asmodeus, king of demons, to help him build the Temple. Asmodeus said to him: "You wish to subjugate me?" And Solomon showed him his ring engraved with the Name of God.
I am Asmodeus, and I sow discord and jealousy among spouses. I drive them apart and make them hate one another. My angel is Raphael, and my sign is the smoking liver of a fish.
Aeshma of the bloody mace, most violent of the demons of wrath, who sows destruction among men and cattle, whom the righteous Sraosha battles.
Key Places
The city where part of the story of Tobit takes place according to the Book of Tobit. It is the narrative setting in which Asmodeus exercises his deadly power over Sara's husbands.
The Persian city where Sara, the woman tormented by Asmodeus, lives in the Book of Tobit. This geographical choice reflects the Persian origins of the demonic figure.
The center of the Jewish exile under the Babylonians and later the Persians, and the place of contact between Jewish and Iranian traditions that gave rise to the figure of Asmodeus.
The Dead Sea site where Aramaic fragments of the Book of Tobit dating from the 1st century BCE were discovered, confirming the antiquity of the tradition surrounding Asmodeus.
The Hellenistic intellectual center where the Septuagint was translated and where the Book of Tobit was disseminated throughout the Greek world, spreading the figure of Asmodeus beyond the Semitic world.
Gallery
Wedding Night of Tobias and Sarah
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Pieter Lastman
English graphic satire and its relation to different styles of painting, sculpture, and engraving : a contribution to the history of the English school of art
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Buss, Robert William, 1804-1875. n 86144044
English graphic satire and its relation to different styles of painting, sculpture, and engraving : a contribution to the history of the English school of art
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Buss, Robert William Virtue and Company, printer
Essays and tales in prose
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Cornwall, Barry, 1787-1874
Handlist of works by Rembrandt : paintings, drawings, etchings exhibited together March 4 to 31, 1918
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1606-1669 Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Asmodaeus
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Louis Le Breton
Compendium rarissimum totius Artis Magicae.
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 — Inconnu
WMS 1766, Compendium rariussimum totis artis
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 — Inconnu
Historical dramas
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Taylor, Tom, 1817-1880
The lords of the ghostland; a history of the ideal
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Saltus, Edgar, 1855-1921
