The boy dragged the demon Ornias to the palace gates. The spirit stood there shuddering, trembling, crying out and offering silver and gold to anyone who would free him. But no one dared touch the seal of God.
Solomon rose from his throne and walked out to the vestibule. There, in the fading light, he saw the demon quaking before him. "Who are you?" the king demanded.
"I am called Ornias," the spirit whispered.
"Tell me, demon — to what zodiacal sign are you subject?"
"To Aquarius. I strangle those consumed with desire. I change into three forms — sometimes a beautiful woman who seduces men in their sleep, sometimes a winged creature who flies to the heavenly regions, and sometimes a lion. I am commanded by all the demons. And I am the offspring of the archangel Uriel."
When Solomon heard the name of the archangel, he prayed and glorified God. Then he sealed the demon and set him to work cutting stones for the Temple — massive blocks brought from the shores of the Sea of Arabia. Ornias, terrified of the iron tools, begged for freedom. "Let me go and I will bring you all the demons!" he cried. But Solomon was not moved. He prayed to Uriel, and the archangel descended from heaven to subdue the spirit completely.
Then Solomon gave Ornias the ring and a command: "Go. Bring me the prince of all demons."
Ornias took the seal and flew to Beelzeboul, the king of the demons. "Solomon calls you," he said. Beelzeboul laughed. "Who is this Solomon?" But Ornias hurled the ring at his chest. The seal struck, and Beelzeboul screamed — a sound like the roar of a furnace — and a great column of fire erupted from him. He had no choice. Bound by God's seal, the prince of demons followed Ornias back to Jerusalem.
Solomon saw the lord of all dark spirits standing before him and glorified the Almighty. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Beelzeboul, the ruler of the demons. All the demons sit close to me. I am the one who reveals the apparition of each spirit." He promised to deliver every unclean spirit in chains. Solomon accepted — and immediately demanded to see the female demons.
Beelzeboul vanished and returned at high speed with Onoskelis — a spirit with the fair skin and pretty face of a woman, but the legs of a mule. She tossed her head defiantly.
"Who are you?" Solomon asked.
"I am Onoskelis. I lurk upon the earth. I have a golden cave, but my dwelling place shifts constantly. I strangle men with nooses. I haunt precipices, caves, and ravines. I appear to men in the form of a beautiful woman and seduce them. Those who worship my star — they do not know they are feeding my appetite for destruction."
"How were you born?" the king pressed.
"I was born of an echo — a voice untimely, like the bat kol, the daughter of a voice that the sages speak of."
Solomon sealed Onoskelis with the ring and condemned her to spin hemp for the ropes of the Temple, night and day, until the building was finished. The demon who once haunted ravines and seduced men was now a slave, spinning rope in the house of God.
But the child said to the demon: "As the Lord God of Israel
liveth, I will not brook thee. So come hither." And the child came
at a run, rejoicing, to the king, and said: "I have brought the demon,
O king, as thou didst command me, O my master. And behold, he
stands before the gates of the court of thy palace, crying out, and
supplicating with a loud voice; offering me the silver and gold of the
earth if I will only bring him unto thee5."
5. [D: would not deliver him to you.]
And when Solomon heard this, he rose up from his throne, and
went outside into the vestibule of the court of his palace; and there
he saw the demon, shuddering and trembling. And he said to him:
"Who art thou?" And the demon answered: "I am called Ornias."
And Solomon said to him: "Tell me, O demon, to what
zodiacal sign thou art subject." And he answered: "To the Water-pourer6.
And those who are consumed with desire for the noble virgins
upon earth . . . . . [there appears to be a lacuna here], these I strangle7. But in case
there is no disposition to sleep8, I am changed into three forms.
Whenever men come to be enamoured of women, I metamorphose
myself into a comely female; and I take hold of the men in their
sleep, and play with them. And after a while I again take to my
wings, and hie me to the heavenly regions. I also appear as a lion, and
I am commanded by all the demons. I am offspring of the
archangel Uriel9, the power of God."
6. [D: Aquarius.]
7. [D: I strangle those who reside in Aquarius because of their passion for women whose zodiacal sign is Virgo.]
8. [D: while in a trance...]
9. [D: Ouriel.]
I Solomon, having heard the name of the archangel, prayed
and glorified God, the Lord of heaven and earth. And I sealed the
[18]
demon and set him to work at stone-cutting, so that he might cut the
stones in the Temple, which, lying along the shore, had been brought
by the Sea of Arabia. But he, fearful of the iron, continued and
said to me: "I pray thee, King Solomon, let me go free; and I will
bring you all the demons." And as he was not willing to be subject
to me, I prayed the archangel Uriel to come and succour me; and
I forthwith beheld the archangel Uriel coming down to me from the
heavens.
And the angel bade the whales10 of the sea come out of the abyss.
And he cast his destiny upon the ground, and that [destiny] made
subject [to him] the great demon11. And he commanded the great
demon and bold Ornias, to cut stones at the Temple12. And accordingly
I Solomon glorified the God of heaven and Maker of the earth.
And he bade Ornias come with his destiny, and gave him the seal,
saying: "Away with thee, and bring me hither the prince of all the
demons."
10. [D: sea monsters. ... The sea monsters are named Behemoth (the male)
and Leviathan (the female) in 4Ezra 6:48-52, 1En 60:7.]
11. [D: he withered up their species and cast his fate to the ground]
12. [D adds: and to bring to completion the construction of the Temple]
So Ornias took the finger-ring, and went off to Beelzeboul, who
has kingship over the demons. He said to him: "Hither! Solomon
calls thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said to him: "Tell me,
who is this Solomon of whom thou speakest to me?" Then Ornias
threw the ring at the chest of Beelzeboul, saying: "Solomon the king
calls thee." But Beelzeboul cried aloud with a mighty voice, and shot
out a great burning flame of fire; and he arose, and followed Ornias,
and came to Solomon.
And when I saw the prince of demons, I glorified the Lord God,
Maker of heaven and earth, and I said: "Blessed art thou, Lord God
Almighty, who hast given to Solomon thy servant wisdom, the assessor
of the wise, and hast subjected unto me all the power of he devil."
And I questioned him, and said: "Who art thou?"
The demon replied: "I am Beelzebub, the exarch of the demons.
And all
[19]
the demons have their chief seats close to me. And I it
is who make manifest the apparition of each demon."13 And he
promised to bring to me in bonds all the unclean spirits. And
I again glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always
give thanks to him.
13. [D: The demon said, "I am Beelzeboul, the ruler of the demons."
I demanded that without interruption he sit next to me and explain the manifestations of the demons.]
I then asked of the demon if there were females among them.
And when he told me that there were, I said that I desired to
see them. So Beelzeboul went off at high speed, and brought unto
me Onoskelis, that had a very pretty shape, and the skin of a
fair-hued woman; and she tossed her head14.
14. [D: "... fair complexion, but her legs were those of a mule." Onoskelis
means "she who has ass's legs."]
And when she was come, I said to her: "Tell me who art
thou?" But she said to me: "I am called Onoskelis, a spirit
wrought ...[?shabtai/Saturn?]15, lurking upon the earth. There is
a golden cave where I lie. But I have a place that ever shifts16.
At one time I strangle men with a noose; at another, I creep up
from the nature to the arms [in marg: "worms"]17. But
my most frequent dwelling-places are the precipices, caves, ravines.
Oftentimes, however, do I consort with men in the semblance of
a woman, and above all with those of a dark skin18. For they share
my star with me; since they it is who privily or openly worship
my star, without knowing that they harm themselves, and but whet
my appetite for further mischief. For they wish to provide money
by means of memory (commemoration?)19, but I supply a little to
those who worship me fairly."
15. [D: My name is Onoskelis. I am a spirit which has been made into a body.]
16. [D: I have a many sided character.]
17. [D: I pervert them from their true natures.]
18. [D: honey-colored]
19. [D: by remembering (me)]
And I Solomon questioned her about her birth, and she replied:
"I was born of a voice untimely, the so-called echo of a
man's ordure20 dropped in a wood."21
20. For the demon born of an echo we have an analogue
in the Hebrew Bath Kol, "the daughter of a voice." In
the Gnostic Hymn to Hermes, edited by Dieterich, Abrasax,
p 19, we read, l. 104...
21. [D: I was generated from an unexpected voice which is
called a voice of the echo of a black (lead?) heaven,
emitted in matter. (meaning uncertain)]
