Solomon needed help, immense supernatural help, and he knew just where to find it.
The task of capturing Asmodeus fell to Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, Solomon’s most trusted and valiant servant. This wasn't your average "go get the milk" errand. Benaiah was equipped with some rather unusual tools: a chain engraved with the Shem HaMephorash, the explicit Name of God; a ring bearing the same sacred inscription; a bundle of wool; and a skin full of wine. An odd shopping list, right?
Benaiah found Asmodeus’s usual watering hole – a well. Cleverly, he bored a hole from below to drain the water, plugged it with the wool, and then filled the well with wine. Imagine Asmodeus's surprise when he came down from heaven, expecting a refreshing drink of water, only to find… Cabernet Sauvignon?
At first, Asmodeus hesitated. According to Ginzberg’s retelling in Legends of the Jews, he even quoted Bible verses railing against the evils of wine, trying to bolster his resolve. But thirst, as they say, is a powerful thing. He succumbed, drank deeply, and fell into a stupor.
That's when Benaiah sprang into action. Hiding in a tree, he watched until Asmodeus was completely out, then leaped down and chained the demon's neck. When Asmodeus woke and tried to break free, Benaiah simply invoked the power of the Name: "The Name of thy Lord is upon thee!" And just like that, the mighty Asmodeus was subdued.
But the journey back to Solomon was anything but smooth. Asmodeus, though captive, still possessed immense power. He brushed against a palm tree, and it was uprooted. He bumped into a house, and it crumbled. When a poor woman pleaded with Benaiah to steer the demon away from her hut, Asmodeus begrudgingly obeyed but broke one of her bones in the process. "Is it not written," he quipped, with a grim sort of humor, "'A soft tongue breaketh the bone?'" (Proverbs 25:15).
The Zohar paints a vivid picture of demons having a complex, almost paradoxical nature. We see glimpses of this complexity in Asmodeus's actions. He guided a blind man back onto the right path and showed similar kindness to a drunkard. Yet, he wept when he saw a wedding procession pass by and laughed at a man ordering shoes to last seven years and at a magician performing tricks. What are we to make of these strange reactions?
The Talmud (Gittin 68a-b) expands on this, detailing Asmodeus's eventual assistance in building the Temple, revealing secrets of construction known only to demons.
Perhaps his tears at the wedding stemmed from an understanding of the fleeting nature of happiness, or maybe envy at the joy he could never experience. His laughter at the shoemaker and the magician? Perhaps he saw the futility in their long-term plans and shallow deceptions, knowing the grand cosmic scheme in ways humans couldn't.
Asmodeus's story, as we find it in Midrash Rabbah, isn’t just about capturing a demon. It's about the complexities of good and evil, the blurry lines between wisdom and foolishness, and the surprising places where we might find help, even from those we least expect. It also reminds us that even the mightiest can be brought low by simple human desires… like a really good glass of wine.
What do you think? Does this story suggest that even demons have a role to play in the divine plan, or is it simply a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked power?