14 myths
Myths, legends, and mystical writings about Asmodeus from across Jewish tradition.
14 myths on JewishMythology.com retell how Jewish tradition imagines asmodeus, drawn from the Hebrew Bible, Midrash, Talmud, Kabbalah, and later Jewish literature. Each story below synthesizes primary sources into a single narrative; follow any myth to read it, and from there into the source passages behind it.
Sarah of Ecbatana had watched seven husbands die on their wedding nights. She prayed for death. God answered with a young man coming down the road.
Sarah of Ecbatana had seven husbands. Asmodeus killed all seven before any marriage was consummated. Then God arranged a match the demon could not stop.
Asmodeus wore Solomon's face and ruled his throne. Solomon wandered for three years telling people his name while they laughed.
Solomon needed a demon to build the Temple. He caught the king of demons with wine, used him, then kept him chained. The demon got his revenge.
Solomon bound a prince of demons and made him confess his secrets. Then he put the entire court of the underworld to work cutting marble for God's house.
Solomon kept the demon king chained as a trophy. When he handed Asmodeus his ring to prove a point, he lost his throne for years.
To build the Temple without iron, Solomon needed the shamir worm. It was guarded by a bird who had sworn an oath to an angel. Solomon got it by trickery.
Benaiah trapped Asmodeus with wool, wine, and the holy Name, but the demon king turned the road to Jerusalem into a trial of wisdom.
A headless demon named Envy wanted Solomon's head. Soon Asmodeus wore the king's face, while Solomon begged to be recognized.
No iron could touch the Temple stones. Only the shamir could split rock without weapons. Only Asmodeus knew where the shamir was kept.
Solomon chained Asmodeus to build the Temple. The demon warned him exactly what would happen. Solomon did not listen. The demon was right about everything.
Solomon captured Asmodeus to build the Temple, then kept him out of curiosity. Three years later he was wandering as a beggar, and no one believed his name.
An angel walked the road to Ecbatana as a hired guide and already knew how the journey would end. The young man beside him did not.
A merchant breaks his dying father vow, weds a demon princess of Ergetz, flees home, and she crosses the sky to claim every promise he sold.
