Book: Hebraic Literature; Translations from the Talmud, Midrashim and

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_Chaggigah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

The Talmud is particularly rich in demonology, and many are the
forms which the evil principle assumes in its pages. We have no
wish to drag these shapes to the light, and interrogate them as
to the part they play in this intricate life. Enough now if we
mention the circumstance of their existence, and introduce to
the reader the story of Ashmedai, the king of the demons. The
story is worth relating, both for its own sake and its
historical significance.

In Ecclesiastes ii. 8, we read, "I gat me men singers and women
singers, the delights of the sons of men, as musical
instruments, and that of all sorts." These last seven words
represent only two in the original Hebrew, _Shiddah-veshiddoth_.
These two words in the original Hebrew translated by the last
seven in this verse, have been a source of great perplexity to
the critics, and their exact meaning is matter of debate to this
hour. They in the West say they mean severally carriages for
lords and carriages for ladies, while we, says the Babylonish
Talmud, interpret them to signify male demons and female demons.
Whereupon, if this last is the correct rendering, the question
arises, for what purpose Solomon required them? The answer is to
be found in 1 Kings vi. 7, where it is written, "And the house,
when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it
was brought thither," etc. For before the operation commenced
Solomon asked the Rabbis, "How shall I accomplish this without
using tools of iron?" and they remembering of an insect which
had existed since the creation of the world, whose powers were
such as the hardest substances could not resist, replied, "There
is the Shameer, with which Moses cut the precious stones of the
Ephod." Solomon asked, "And where, pray, is the Shameer to be
found?" To which they made answer, "Let a male demon and a
female come, and do thou coerce them both; mayhap they know and
will reveal it to thee." He then conjured into his presence a
male and a female demon, and proceeded to torture them, but in
vain, for said they, "We know not its whereabouts and cannot
tell; perhaps Ashmedai, the king of the demons, knows." On being
further interrogated as to where he in turn might be found, they
made this answer: "In yonder mount is his residence; there he
has dug a pit, and, after filling it with water, covered it over
with a stone, and sealed with his own seal. Daily he ascends to
heaven and studies in the school of wisdom there, then he comes
down and studies in the school of wisdom here; upon which he
goes and examines the seal, then opens the pit, and after
quenching his thirst, covers it up again, re-seals it, and takes
his departure."

Solomon thereupon sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, provided
with a magic chain and ring, upon both of which the name of God
was engraved. He also provided him with a fleece of wool and
sundry skins with wine. Then Benaiah went and sank a pit below
that of Ashmedai, into which he drained off the water and
plugged the duct between with the fleece. Then he set to and dug
another hole higher up with a channel leading into the emptied
pit of Ashmedia, by means of which the pit was filled with the
wine he had brought. After leveling the ground so as not to
rouse suspicion, he withdrew to a tree close by, so as to watch
the result and wait his opportunity. After a while Ashmedai
came, and examined the seal, when, seeing it all right, he
raised the stone, and to his surprise found wine in the pit. For
a time he stood muttering and saying, it is written, "Wine is a
mocker: strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived
thereby is not wise." And again, "Whoredom and wine and new wine
take away the heart." Therefore at first he was unwilling to
drink, but being thirsty, he could not long resist the
temptation. He proceeded to drink therefore, when, becoming
intoxicated, he lay down to sleep. Then Benaiah, came forth from
his ambush, and stealthily approaching, fastened the chain round
the sleeper's neck. Ashmedai, when he awoke, began to fret and
fume, and would have torn off the chain that bound him, had not
Benaiah warned him, saying, "The name of thy Lord is upon thee."
Having thus secured him, Benaiah proceeded to lead him away to
his sovereign master. As they journeyed along they came to a
palm-tree, against which Ashmedai rubbed himself, until he
uprooted it and threw it down. When they drew near to a hut, the
poor widow who inhabited it came out and entreated him not to
rub himself against it, upon which, as he suddenly bent himself
back, he snapt a bone of his body, and said, "This is that which
is written (Prov. xxv. 15), 'And a gentle answer breaketh the
bone.'" Descrying a blind man straying out of his way, he hailed
him and directed him aright. He even did the same service to a
man overcome with wine, who was in a similar predicament. At
sight of a wedding party that passed rejoicing along, he wept;
but he burst into uncontrollable laughter when he heard a man
order at a shoemaker's stall a pair of shoes that would last
seven years; and when he saw a magician at his work he broke
forth into shrieks of scorn.

On arriving at the royal city, three days were allowed to pass
before he was introduced to Solomon. On the first day he said.
"Why does the king not invite me into his presence?" "He has
drunk too much," was the answer, "and the wine has overpowered
him." Upon which he lifted a brick and placed it upon the top of
another. When this was communicated to Solomon, he replied "He
meant by this, go and make him drunk again." On the day
following he asked again, "Why does the king not invite me into
his presence?" They replied, "He has eaten too much." On this he
removed the brick again from the top of the other. When this was
reported to the king, he interpreted it to mean, "Stint him in
his food."

After the third day, he was introduced to the king; when
measuring off four cubits upon the floor with the stick he held
in his hand, he said to Solomon, "When thou diest, thou wilt not
possess in this world (he referred to the grave) more than four
cubits of earth. Meanwhile thou has conquered the world, yet
thou wert not satisfied until thou hadst overcome me also." To
this the king quietly replied, "I want nothing of thee, but I
wish to build the Temple and have need of the _Shameer_." To
which Ashmedai at once answered, "The Shameer is not committed
in charge to me, but to the Prince of the Sea, and he intrusts
it to no one except to the great wild cock, and that upon an
oath that he return it to him again." Whereupon Solomon asked,
"And what does the wild cock do with the Shameer?" To which the
demon replied, "He takes it to a barren rocky mountain, and by
means of it he cleaves the mountain asunder, into the cleft of
which, formed into a valley, he drops the seeds of various
plants and trees, and thus the place becomes clothed with
verdure and fit for habitation." This is the _Shameer_ (Lev. xi.
19), Nagger Tura, which the Targum renders Mountain Splitter.

They therefore searched for the nest of the wild cock, which
they found contained a young brood. This they covered with a
glass, that the bird might see its young, but not be able to get
at them. When accordingly the bird came and found his nest
impenetrably glazed over, he went and fetched the Shameer. Just
as he was about to apply it to the glass in order to cut it,
Solomon's messenger gave a startling shout, and this so agitated
the bird that he dropped the Shameer, and Solomon's messenger
caught it up and made off with it. The cock thereupon went and
strangled himself, because he was unable to keep the oath by
which he had bound himself to return the Shameer.

Benaiah asked Ashmedai why, when he saw the blind man straying,
he so promptly interfered to guide him? "Because," he replied,
"it was proclaimed in heaven that that man was perfectly
righteous, and that whosoever did him a good turn would earn a
title to a place in the world of the future." "And when thou
sawest the man overcome with wine wandering out of his way, why
didst thou put him right again?" Ashmedai said, "Because it was
made known in heaven that that man was thoroughly bad, and I
have done him a good service that he might not lose all, but
receive some good in the world that now is." "Well, and why
didst thou weep when thou sawest the merry wedding-party pass?"
"Because," said he, "the bridegroom was fated to die within
thirty days and the bride must needs wait thirteen years for her
husband's brother, who is now but an infant" (see Deut. xxv.
5-10). "Why didst thou laugh so when the man ordered a pair of
shoes that would last him seven years?" Ashmedai replied,
"Because the man himself was not sure of living seven days."
"And why," asked Benaiah, "didst thou jeer when thou sawest the
conjuror at his tricks?" "Because," said Ashmedai, "the man was
at that very time sitting on a princely treasure, and he did
not, with all his pretension, know that it was under him."

Having once acquired a power over Ashmedai, Solomon detained him
till the building of the Temple was completed. One day after
this, when they were alone, it is related that Solomon,
addressing him, asked him, "What, pray, is your superiority over
us, if it be true, as it is written (Num. xxiii. 22), 'He has
the strength of a unicorn,' and the word 'strength,' as
tradition alleges, means 'ministering angels,' and the word
'unicorn' means 'devils'?" Ashmedai replied, "Just take this
chain from my neck, and give me thy signet-ring, and I'll soon
show thee my superiority." No sooner did Solomon comply with
this request, than Ashmedai, snatching him up, swallowed him;
then stretching forth his wings--one touching the heaven and the
other the earth--he vomited him out again to a distance of four
hundred miles. It is with reference to this time that Solomon
says (Eccl. i. 3; ii. 10), "What profit hath a man of all his
labor which he taketh under the sun? This is my portion of all
my labor." What does the word this mean? Upon this point Rav and
Samuel are at variance, for the one says it means his staff, the
other holds that it means his garment or water-jug; and that
with one or other Solomon went about from door to door begging;
and wherever he came he said (Eccl. i. 12), "I, the preacher,
was king over Israel in Jerusalem." When in his wanderings he
came to the house of the Sanhedrin, the Rabbis reasoned and
said, if he were mad he would not keep repeating the same things
over and over again; therefore what does he mean? They therefore
inquired of Benaiah, "Does the king ask thee into his presence?"
He replied, "No!" They then sent to see whether the king visited
the hareem. And the answer to this was, "Yes, he comes." Then
the Rabbis sent word back that they should look at his feet, for
the devil's feet are like those of a cock. The reply was, "He
comes to us in stockings." Upon this information the Rabbis
escorted Solomon back to the palace, and restored to him the
chain and the ring, on both of which the name of God was
engraven. Arrayed with these, Solomon advanced straightway into
the presence-chamber. Ashmedai sat at that moment on the throne,
but as soon as he saw Solomon enter, he took fright and raising
his wings, flew away, shrieking back into invisibility. In spite
of this, Solomon continued in great fear of him; and this
explains that which is written (Song of Songs, iii. 7, 8),
"Behold the bed which is Solomon's; threescore valiant men are
about it, of the valiant of Israel; they all hold swords, being
expert in war; every man has his sword upon his thigh, because
of fear in the night." (See Gittin, fol. 68, cols, 1, 2.)

Ashmedai is the Asmodeus of the Book of Tobit, iii. 8, vi. 14,
etc, The Shameer is mentioned in Jer. xvii. i; Ezek. iii. 9;
Zech. vii. 12. The Seventy in the former passage and the Vulgate
passim take it for the diamond.

Six things are said respecting the children of men, in three of which
they are like angels, and in three they are like animals. They have
intelligence like angels, they walk erect like angels, and they converse
in the holy tongue like angels. They eat and drink like animals, they
generate and multiply like animals, and they relieve nature like
animals.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 16, col. 1.

Six months did the Shechinah hesitate to depart from the midst of Israel
in the wilderness, in hopes that they would repent. At last, when they
persisted in impenitence, the Shechinah said, "May their bones be
blown;" as it is written (Job xi. 20), "The eyes of the wicked shall
fail, they shall not escape, and their hopes shall be as the blowing out
of the spirit."

_Rosh Hashanah_, fol. 31, col. 1.

Six names were given to Solomon:--Solomon, Jedidiah, Koheleth, Son of
Jakeh, Agur, and Lemuel.

_Avoth d'Rab. Nathan_, chap. 39.

Six years old was Dinah when she gave birth to Asenath, whom she bore
unto Shechem.

_Sophrim_, chap. 21.

"And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household" (2 Sam. vi. 11).
In what did the blessing consist? Rav Yehudah bar Zavidah says it
consisted in this, that Hamoth, his wife, and her eight daughters-in-law
gave birth each to six children at a time. (This is proved from 1 Chron.
xxvi. 5, 8.)

_Berachoth_, fol. 63, col. 2.

Six things were done by Hezekiah the king, but the sages praised him for
three only:--(1.) He dragged the bones of his father Ahaz on a hurdle of
ropes, for this they commended him; (2.) he broke to pieces the brazen
serpent, for this they commended him; (3.) he hid the Book of Remedies,
and for this too they praised him. For three they blamed him:--(1.) He
stripped the doors of the Temple and sent the gold thereof to the King
of Assyria; (2.) he stopped up the upper aqueduct of Gihon; (3.) he
intercalated the month Nisan.

_P'sachim_, fol. 56, col. 1.

The hiding of the Book of Remedies, harsh and inhuman as it might seem,
was dictated by high moral considerations. It seemed right that the
transgressor should feel the weight of his sin in the suffering that
followed, and that the edge of judgment should not be dulled by a too
easy access to anodyne applications. The reason for stopping the
aqueduct of Gihon is given in 2 Chron. xxxii. 3, 4. The inhabitants of
Jerusalem did the very same thing when the Crusaders besieged the city,
A.D. 1099. Rashi tries to explain why this stratagem was not commended;
the reason he gives is that Hezekiah ought to have trusted God, who had
said (2 Kings xix. 34), "I will defend the city."

Six things are said of the horse:--It is wanton, it delights in the
strife of war, it is high-spirited, it despises sleep, it eats much and
it voids little. There are some that say it would fain kill its own
master.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

The Rabbis have taught that there are six sorts of fire:--(1.) Fire that
eats but drinks not, i.e., common fire; (2.) fire that drinks but does
not eat, i.e., a fever; (3.) fire that eats and drinks, i.e., Elijah, as
it is written (1 Kings xviii. 38), "And licked up the water that was in
the trench;" (4.) fire that burns up moist things as soon as dry, i.e.,
the fire on the altar; (5.) fire that counteracts other fire, i.e., like
that of Gabriel; (6.) fire that consumes fire, for the Master has said
(Sanhed., fol. 38, col. 2), "God stretched out His finger among the
angels and consumed them," i.e., by His own essential fire.

_Yoma_, fol. 21, col. 2.

For six months David was afflicted with leprosy; for it is said (Ps. li.
7), "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be
whiter than snow." At that time the Shechinah departed from him; for it
is said (Ps. li. 12), "Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation;" and
the Sanhedrin kept aloof from him, for it is said (Ps. cxix. 79), "Let
those that fear thee turn unto me." That this ailment lasted six months
is proved from 1 Kings ii. 11, where it is said, "And the days that
David reigned over Israel were forty years; seven years he reigned in
Hebron, and thirty-three years he reigned in Jerusalem;" whereas in 2
Sam. v. 5, it is said, "In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and
six months." The reason why these six months are omitted in Kings is
because during that period he was afflicted with leprosy.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 107, col. 1.

The tables of stone were six ells long, six broad, and three thick.

_Nedarim_, fol. 38, col. 8.

It may help the reader to some idea of the strength of Moses if
we work out arithmetically the size and probable weight of these
stone slabs according to the Talmud. Taking the cubit or ell at
its lowest estimate, that is eighteen inches, each slab, being
nine feet long, nine feet wide, and four and a half feet thick,
would weigh upward of twenty-eight tons, reckoning thirteen
cubic feet to the ton,--the right estimate for such stone as is
quarried from the Sinaitic cliff. The figures are 9 X 9 X 9/2 =
729/2 = 364.5 X 173.5 = 63240.75 = 28 tons, 4 cwt., 2 qrs., 16
lbs. avoirdupois.

The Rabbis have taught that these six things possess medicinal
virtue:--Cabbage, lungwort, beetroot, water, and certain parts of the
offal of animals, and some also say little fishes.

_Avodah Zarah_, fol. 29, col. 1.

Over six the Angel of Death had no dominion, and these were:--Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Respecting the first three
it is written, "in all" (Gen. xxiv. 1), "of all" (Gen. xxvii. 33) "all"
(A.V. "enough," Gen. xxxiii. 11). Respecting the last three it is
written, "by the mouth of Jehovah" (see Num. xxxiii. 38, and Deut.
xxxiv. 5).

_Bava Bathra_, fol. 17, col. i.

According to Jewish tradition, there are 903 kinds of death, as
is elicited by a Kabbalistic rule called gematria, from the word
outlets (Ps. lxviii. 20); the numeric value of the letters of
which word is 903. Of these 903 kinds of death, the divine kiss
is the easiest. God puts His favorite children to sleep, the
sleep of death, by kissing their souls away. It was thus
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fell asleep, as may be inferred from
the word all; that is to say, they had all the honor God could
confer upon them. Moses and Aaron fell asleep by the divine
kiss, for it is plainly stated to have been "by the mouth of
Jehovah." So also Miriam passed away, only the Scripture does
not say lest the scoffer should find fault. We are also informed
that quinsy is the hardest death of all. (See _Berachoth_, fol.
8, col. 1.)

"These six of barley gave he me." What does this mean? It cannot surely
be understood of six barleycorns, for it could not be the custom of Boaz
to give a present of six grains of barley. It must, therefore, have been
six measures. But was it usual for a woman to carry such a load as six
measures would come to? What he intended by the number six was to give
her a hint that in process of time six sons would proceed from her, each
of which would be blessed with six blessings; and these were David, the
Messiah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. David, as it is written
(1 Sam. xvi. 8), (1.) "Cunning in playing," (2.) "and a mighty and
valiant man," (3.) "a man of war," (4.) "prudent in matters," (5.) "a
comely person," (6.) and "the Lord is with him." The Messiah, for it is
written (Isa. xi. 2), "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,"
viz, (1.) "The spirit of wisdom and (2.) understanding, (3.) the spirit
of counsel and (4.) might, (5.) the spirit of knowledge, and (6.) the
fear of the Lord." Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, for regarding
them it is written (Dan. i. 4), (1.) "Young men in whom was no blemish,"
(2.) "handsome in looks," (3.) "intelligent in wisdom," (4.) "acquainted
with knowledge," (5.) "and understanding science, and such as (6.) had
ability to stand in the palace of the king," etc. But what is the
meaning of unblemished? Rav Chama ben Chanania says it means that not
even the scar of a lancet was upon them.

_Sanhedrin_, fol. 93, cols, 1, 2.

The words "not even the scar of a lancet was upon them," bespeak
the prevalence of blood-letting in the East, and the absence of
the scar of the lancet on the persons of Daniel and his
companions is a testimony to their health of body and moral
temperance and purity.

In Taanith (fol. 21, col. 2) mention is made of a certain
phlebotomist--a noteworthy exception to the well-known rule (see
Kiddushin, fol. 82, col. 2) that phlebotomists are to be
regarded as morally depraved, and in the same class with
goldsmiths, perfumers, hairdressers, etc.,--Abba Umna by name,
who had a special mantle with slits in the sleeves for females,
so that he could surgically operate upon them without seeing
their naked arms, while he himself was covered over head and
shoulders in a peculiar cloak, so that his own face could not by
any chance be seen by them.

From Shabbath, fol. 156, col. 1, we learn that a person born
under the influence of Maadim, i.e., Mars, will in one way or
another be a shedder of blood, such as a phlebotomist, a butcher,
a highwayman, etc., etc.

Six blasts of the horn were blown on Sabbath-eve. The first was to set
free the laborers in the fields from their work; those that worked near
the city waited for those that worked at a distance and all entered the
place together. The second blast was to warn the citizens to suspend
their employments and shut up their shops. At the third blast the women
were to have ready the various dishes they had prepared for the Sabbath
and to light the lamps in honor of the day. Then three more blasts were
blown in succession, and the Sabbath commenced.

_Shabbath_, fol. 35, col. 2.

He who passes seven nights in succession without dreaming deserves to be
called wicked.

_Berachoth_, fol. 14, col. 1.

Gehinnom has seven names:--Sheol (Jonah ii. 2), Avadon (Ps. lxxxviii.
11), Shachath (Ps. xvi. 2), Horrible pit (Ps. xl. 2), Miry clay (Ps. xl.
2), the Shadow of death (Ps. cvii. 14), the Subterranean land.

_Eiruvin_, fol. 19, col. 1.

A dog in a strange place does not bark for seven years.

Ibid., fol. 61, col. 1.

Seven things were formed before the creation of the world:--The Law,
Repentance, Paradise, Gehenna, the Throne of Glory, the Temple, and the
name of the Messiah.

_P'sachim_, fol. 54, col. 1.

The Midrash Yalkut (p. 7) enumerates the same list almost word
for word, and the Targum of Ben Uzziel develops the tradition
still further, while the Targum Yerushalmi fixes the date of the
origin of the seven prehistoric wonders at "two thousand years
before the creation of the world."

Seven things are hid from the knowledge of a man:--The day of death, the
day of resurrection, the depth of judgment (i.e., the future reward or
punishment), what is in the heart of his fellow-man, what his reward
will be, when the kingdom of David will be restored, and when the
kingdom of Persia will fall.

_P'sachim_, fol. 54, col. 2.

Seven are excommunicated before heaven:--A Jew who has no wife, and even
one who is married but has no male children; and he that has sons but
does not train them up to study the law; he who does not wear
phylacteries on his forehead and upon his arm and fringes upon his
garment, and has no mezuzah on his doorpost; and he who goes barefooted.

Ibid., fol. 113, col. 2.

There are seven skies:--Villon, Raakia, Shechakim, Zevul, Maaon,
Maachon, and Aravoth.

_Chaggigah_, fol. 12, col. 2.

Seven days before the Day of Atonement they removed the high priest from
his own residence to the chamber of the President, and appointed another
priest as his deputy in case he should meet with such an accident as
would incapacitate him from going through the service of the day. Rabbi
Yehudah says they also had to betroth him to another woman lest his own
wife should die meanwhile, for it is said, "And he shall make an
atonement for himself and for his house,"--his house, that is, his wife.
In reference to this precautionary rule it was observed, there might
then be no end to the matter (Rashi), should this woman die also.

_Yoma_, fol. 2, col. 1.

They associated with the high priest the senior elders of the Sanhedrin,
who read over to him the _agenda_ of the day, and then said to him, "My
lord high priest, read thou for thyself; perhaps thou hast forgotten it,
or maybe thou hast not learned it at all." On the day before the Day of
Atonement he was taken to the East Gate when they caused oxen, rams, and
lambs to pass before him, that he might become well-versed and expert in
his official duties. During the whole of the seven (preparatory) days
neither victuals nor drink were withheld from him, but toward dusk on
the eve of the Day of Atonement they did not allow him to eat much, for
much food induces sleep. Then the elders of the Sanhedrin surrendered
him to the elders of the priesthood, and these conducted him to the hall
of the house of Abtinas, and there they swore him in; and after bidding
him good-bye, they went away. In administering the oath they said, "My
lord high priest, we are ambassadors of the Sanhedrin; thou art our
ambassador and the ambassador of the Sanhedrin as well. We adjure thee,
by Him who causes His name to dwell in this house, that thou alter not
anything that we have told thee!" Then they parted, both they and he
weeping. He wept because they suspected he was a Sadducee, and they wept
because the penalty for wrongly suspecting persons is scourging. If he
was a learned man he preached (during the night); if not, learned men
preached before him. If he was a ready reader, he read; if not, others
read to him. What were the books read over to him? Job, Ezra, and the
Chronicles. Zechariah the son of Kevootal says, "I have often read
before him the Book of Daniel." If he became drowsy, the juniors of the
priestly order fillipped their middle fingers before him, and said, "My
lord high priest, stand up and cool thy feet upon the pavement." Thus
they kept him engaged till the time of slaughtering (the sacrifices).

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