Sign Up! Demonology Course If you’re interested in Fallen Angels, Demons & Satan in Judeo-Christian Traditions, check out this online course! Enroll Now → According to legend, King Solomon was not only the wisest man in the land but he also had magical abilities. By the Renaissance, a number of magical texts (called grimoires) were penned in his name. This series of articles attempts to trace the roots of how King Solomon became a powerful magician. 1 Kings The Ancestors of Christ: David, Solomon – Michelangelo Solomon was the wise son of David and ruler of Israel and Judah in the 10th century BCE. The earliest references we have to a Solomonic folklore come from 1 Kings, where Solomon’s wisdom surpasses all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. The author of 1 Kings lavishly describes Solomon’s vast kingdom and grand knowledge and wisdom. mentioning that Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs and 1005 songs: Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and rejoicing. Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Phibstines and to the border of Egypt… For he had dominion over everything west of the River, from Tiphsah even to Gaza, over all the kings west of the River; and he had peace on all sides around about him. So Judah and Israel bved in safety, every man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon…Now God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, bke the sand that is on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the sons of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men, than Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, Calcol and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was known in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. Men came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom. – 1 Kings 4: 20-21, 24-25, 29-34 By the 2nd century BCE, the translators of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Bible) wrote of not 1005 but 3000 songs. There may have also been a movement to estabbsh Solomon as a pre-Socratic philosopher in Jewish circles. The Jewish Peripatetic Aristobulus (150 BCE) claimed Solomon as “one of his philosophical predecessors”. Another Jew, Ben Sira, ascribed a universal wisdom to him. Wisdom of Solomon The Wisdom of Solomon – James Tissot The Apocryphal Wisdom of Solomon (220BCE-50CE) mentions Solomon praying & receiving the “spirit of Wisdom”. Through Wisdom, Solomon knows of astrology and the “forces of spirits” or “powers of spirits” in this translation. For it is he who gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the activity of the elements the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the year and the constellations of the stars, the natures of animals and the tempers of wild beasts, the powers of spirits and the reasonings of men, the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots I learned both what is secret and what is manifest, for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.” WisSol 7:17-21 This is thought to be the earliest reference to Solomon’s ability to command demons. Solomon at Qumran Within the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is a very fragmented Apocryphal Psalms (11Q11[11Q PsAp]) that mentions Solomon in connection with demons. [Of David. Concerning the words of the spell] in the name of [YHWH…][…] of Solomon, and he will invoke [the name of YHWH] {to set him free from every affliction of the sp]irits, Of the devils. [Liliths,][owls and jackals.] These are the devils, and the pri[nce of emn]ity [is Belial,] who [rules] over the abyss [of dark] ness… Solomon in the Gospels Procession of the Queen of Sheba and Meeting between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon – Piero della Francesca In the Gospel of Matthew, which many scholars believe to have been written for a Jewish audience, Jesus claims that The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here. – Matt 12:42 Josephus’ Account of Solomon Around 70 CE, Josephus compiled his Antiquities and included an excerpt about Solomon. When referring to 1 Kings, Solomon no longer speaks 3000 proverbs and sings 1005 songs, but now he has authored 3000 books of proverbs and 1005 books of odes. Solomon could also compose incantations to heal the sick and perform exorcisms. The belief that the original Temple of Jerusalem was built with supernatural help also emerged with Josephus. Josephus’ writes of the tradition of Solomon as a magic...