Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
As the spirits were subservient to him, so also the animals. He had an
eagle upon whose back he was transported to the desert and back again
in one day, to build there the city called Tadmor in the Bible (50)
This city must not be confounded with the later Syrian city of Palmyra,
also called Tadmor. It was situated near the "mountains of darkness,"
(51) the trysting-place of the spirits and demons. Thither the eagle
would carry Solomon in the twinkling of an eye, and Solomon would drop
a paper inscribed with a verse among the spirits, to ward off evil from
himself. Then the eagle would reconnoitre the mountains of darkness,
until he had spied out the spot in which the fallen angels 'Azza and
'Azzael (52) lie chained with iron fetters a spot which no one, not
even a bird, may visit. When the eagle found the place, he would take
Solomon under his left wing, and fly to the two angels. Through the
power of the ring having the Holy Name graven upon it, which Solomon
put into the eagle's mouth, 'Azza and 'Azzael were forced to reveal the
heavenly mysteries to the king. (53)
The demons were of greatest service to Solomon during the erection of
the Temple. It came about in this wise: When Solomon began the building
of the Temple, it once happened that a malicious spirit snatched away
the money and the food of one of the king's favorite pages. This
occurred several times, and Solomon was not able to lay hold on the
malefactor. The king besought God fervently to deliver the wicked
spirit into his hands. His prayer was granted. The archangel Michael
appeared to him, and gave him a small ring having a seal consisting of
an engraved stone, and he said to him: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of
David, the gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot, hath sent unto
thee. With it thou shalt lock up all the demons of the earth, male and
female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. But thou
must wear this seal of God; and this engraving of the seal of the ring
sent thee is a Pentalpha." (54) Armed with it, Solomon called up all
the demons before him, and he asked of each in turn his or her name, as
well as the name of the star or constellation or zodiacal sign and of
the particular angel to the influence of which each is subject. One
after another the spirits were vanquished, and compelled by Solomon to
aid in the construction of the Temple.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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