Judeo-Christian Demons
Judeo-Christian Demons
Adramelech
Historical Info
The name Adramelech (also Adrammalech) appears in the Old Testament only twice. The first time, he is mentioned as a son of the Assyrian King Sennacharib along with Sharezer, who murdered their father while he was worshiping in the temple of his idol, Nisrach. The second time Adramelech is mentioned is in the context of a Samarian sun god who was worshipped by the Sepharvites.
'the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire as sacrifices to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.' - 2 Kings 17:31
Asmodeus
Asmodeus, also known as Ashmadia, most likely originated from the Persian Aeshma-deva ("demon of waith").
The apocryphal Book of Tobit describes an instance where Raguel's daughter, Sarah, was tormented by the demon. She was married to seven times, each time the Asmodeus killed off the husband before they could have intercourse. Sarah, was about to hang herself in grief, but decided against it after thinking about the shame it would cause her father. She then prayed to God for death.
God answered her prayer by sending the angel, Raphael, to her aid. He instructed Tobiah to place fish liver and heart on the embers for incense. Asmodeus was repelled by the odor:
"The demon, repelled by the odor of the fish, fled into Upper Egypt; Raphael pursued him there and bound him hand and foot." - Tobit 8:3
In the Testament of Solomon (dated 1st - 3rd centuries CE) , Solomon invokes Asmodeus to aid in the construction of the Temple. The demon appears and predicts Solomon's kingdom will one day be divided.
"My constellation (is like an animal which) reclines in its den in heaven; some men call me the Great Bear, but others the Offspring of a Dragon. Moreover, a smaller constellation accompanies my constellation, for the high position and throne of my father is always in the sky. So do not ask me so many things, Solomon, for eventually your kingdom will be divided. This glory of yours is temporary. You have us to torture for a little while; then we shall disperse among human beings again with the result that we shall be worshiped as gods because men do not know the names of the angels who rule over us."
-TSol 5:4-5
After Asmodeus had spoken, Solomon ordered him to state his name and activities, to which the demon responded that he:
"Is always hatching plots against newlyweds; I mar the beauty of virgins and cause their hearts to grow cold"
- TSol 5:7
When Solomon interrogated Asmodeus further, he learned that Asmodeus was thwarted by the angel, Raphael, as well as sheatfish found in the rivers of Assyria. He also admitted he hated water.
Milton writes in Paradise Lost
'Better pleased Than Asmodeus with the fishy fume That drove him, though enamoured, from the spouse Of Tobit's son, and with a vengeance sent From Media post to Egypt, there fast bound." - Paradise Lost , iv. 167--71.
Asmoday appears later in Mather's translation of the Goetia: the Lesser Key of Solomon as the 32th spirit.
Astaroth
Astaroth/Astarot is derived from Ashtoreth of 1 Kings 11:5 "the goddess of the Sidonians." The name is derived from the goddess Astarte with the ending distorted to closely resemble the Hebrew boshet, meaning "shame." The name should not be associated with the Hebrew "Asherah"/"Ashura", the consort of Yahweh. Other interpretations translate "Astoreth" as "lady", similar to that of Baal, which means "lord." A Babylonian title of hers is Qadesh, similar to Qadishtu, meaning harlot.
Astarte was the goddess of love, fertility, and war. In Egypt, she might have been the daughter of the sun god Ra or Ptah, & is sometimes identified as the goddess Ah or Ast (Isis). She may also be identified with the Sumerian goddess Innini.
Astarte is depicted in a number of ways, sometimes with the head of a lioness, cow, or bull. Sometimes she carries a shield and club as she rides into battle naked on her horse or driving her chariot.
Astarte corresponds to the Arabian male deity, Athtar, is identified with Aphrodite, Mylitta, and sometimes Tyche, as well as the Assyrian Istaru.
Astaroth appears later in Mather's translation of the Goetia: the Lesser Key of Solomon as the 29th spirit.
Azazel
Azazel is the chief of the Se'irim, or goat-demons, who haunted the desert and to whom most primitive Semitic (most likely non-Hebrew) tribes offered sacrifices. The Old Testament states that Jeroboam appointed priests for the Se'irim. But Josiah destroyed the places of their worship, as the practices accompanying this worship involved copulation of women with goats.
The Se'irim, or hairy demons as the word itself means, are mentioned in Leviticus 17:7 and 2 Chronicles 11:15 as "goat-demons". Isaiah 34:14 says that the "goat-demons" greet each other amoung the ruins of Edom along with Lilith and other wild beasts.
The name 'Azazel' may be derived from 'azaz' and 'el' meaning 'strong one of God.' It is thought that Azazel may have been derived from the Canaanite god, 'Asiz, who caused the sun to burn strongly. It has also been theorized that he has been influenced by the Egyptian god, Seth.
Leviticus 16:8 tells that the Lord ordered his high priest, Aaron, to 'place lots upon the two goats, one marked for the Lord and the other marked for Azazel' on the Jewish Day of Atonement. The goat designated by lot for the Lord is to be used as a sin offering, while the goat designated for Azazel "shall be left standing alive before the Lord, to make expiation with it and to send it off to the wilderness for Azazel." (Lev 16:10) Aaron was to "lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites, whatever their sins, putting them on the head of the goat; and it shall be sent off to the wilderness through a designated an. Thus the goat shall carry on it all their iniquities to an inaccessible region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness." (Lev 16:21-22) Leviticus also says that "He who set the Azazel-goat free shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water; after that he may reenter the camp." (16:26)
From this passage in Leviticus, it would seem that Azazel is conceived of as a personal being, as lots were drawn for the Lord and for him. Also, Leviticus mentions that Azazel lives in the wilderness, as do the Se'irim. Because of this ritual, Azazel is known as the "scapegoat." The goat that is sent to Azazel is not as a sacrifice, but as a symbol that there is no longer any unexpiated guilt. Both the goat and the man who leads away the goat are unclean, and the only way the man can reenter the camp is by washing his clothes and bathing.
In one account of the fall of the angels in the Book of Enoch, Azazel (Asa'el as in the Qumran texts) is the leader of the Watchers who educates humankind of heavenly secrets that lead humankind to sin. These teachings include making weapons of war and preparing cosmetics, which enabled the women to seduce the angels. The angels then charge Asa'el before the Lord with crimes of revealing the heavenly secrets which mankind was not supposed to know. Raphael was then assigned to punish Asa'el by binding him hand and foot and throwing him into the darkness among the sharp and jagged rocks, where he would remain until the day of judgment when he would be hurled into the fire. The story then claims that "the whole earth has been corrupted by [Asa'el's] teachings of his (own) actions; and write upon him all sin." . It was because of Asa'el's teachings that God sent the Flood to destroy the evil in the world including even the souls of the giants, so that all evil will be wiped away from the face of the earth.
"And Azazel taught the people (the art of) making swords and knives, and shields, and breastplates; and he showed to their chosen ones bracelets, decorations, (shadowing of the eye) with antimony, ornamentation, the beautifying of the eyelids, all kinds of precious stones, and all coloring tinctures and alchemy." - 1 Enoch 8:1
In the Apocalypse of Abraham, Azazel is portrayed as an unclean bird which came down upon the sacrifice which Abraham prepared. This is in reference to Genesis 15:11 "Birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away."
"And the unclean bird spoke to me and said, 'What are you doing, Abraham, on the holy heights, where no one eats of drinks, nor is there upon them food for men. But these all will be consumed by fire and ascend to the height, they will destroy you.' And it came to pass when I saw the bird speaking I said this to the angel: 'What is this, my lord?' And he said, 'This is disgrace, this is Azazel!' And he said to him, 'Shame on you Azazel! For Abraham's portion is in heaven, and yours is on earth, for you have selected here, (and) become enamored of the dwelling place of your blemish. Therefore the Eternal Ruler, the Mighty One, has given you a dwelling on earth. Through you the all-evil spirit (is) a liar, and through you (are) wrath and trials on the generations of men who live impiously."
- Apocalypse of Abraham 13:4-9
The Apocalypse of Abraham also associates Azazel with Hell. Abraham says to him "May you be the firebrand of the furnace of the earth! Go, Azazel, into the untrodden parts of the earth. For your heritage is over those who are with you" (14:5-6) There is also the idea that God's heritage (the created world) is largely under the dominion of evil. It is "shared with Azazel" (20:5) Azazel is also identified with the serpent which tempted Eve. His form is described as a dragon with "hands and feet like a man's, on his back six wings on the right and six on the left." (23:7)
Finally, the Apocalypse of Abraham says that the wicked will "putrefy in the belly of the crafty worm Azazel, and be burned by the fire of Azazel's tongue." (31:5) Here again, there is another reference to Azazel as being Hell.
Beelzebub
Ba'al-zebub, also called Beelzebub or Beelzebul is known as the 'prince of demons' in the Synoptic Gospels during the accusations of the Pharisees against Jesus.
"The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, 'He is possessed by Beelzebul,' and 'By the prince of demons he drives out demons.' - Mk 3:22
"This man drives out demons only by the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons." - Mt 12:24
"Some of them said 'By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he drives out demons." - Lk 11:15
The name Ba'al-zebub is associated with the Philistine city of Ekron. In 2 Kings, after Moab rebelled against Israel, Ahaziah had fallen and injured himself. To find out if he'd recover from the injury he sent out messengers, telling them:
"Go and inquire of Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury." - 2 Kings 1:2
The Lord, however sent Elijah to intercept the messengers on their way to Ekron, asking them if they seek Baalzebub's advice because there is no God of Israel and instructing them to return home and inform their master that he shall not recover.
Ba'alzebub's name derives from the Canaanite "Baal" meaning "lord," and he is known as the "lord of the flies"
In the Testament of Solomon (1st-3rd centuries CE), Solomon learns that Beelzeboul is one of the fallen angels who destroys by means of tyrants, causes demons to be worshipped, arouses desires in priests, brings about jealousies and murders, and instigates wars. The other demon he refers to as being imprisoned in the Red Sea is the one-winged demon,, Abezethibou, Moses' adversary in Egypt.
"Then I summoned Beelzeboul to appear before me again. When he was seated, I thought it appropriate to ask him, 'Why are you alone Prince of the Demons?' He replied, 'Because I am the only one left of the heavenly angels (who fell). I was the highest-ranking angel in heaven, the one called Beelzeboul. There is also accompanied me another ungodly (angel) whom God cut off and now, imprisoned here, he holds in his power the race of those bound by me in Tartarus. He is being nurtured in the Red Sea; when he is ready, he will come in triumph."
"I said to him, 'What are your activities?' He replied, 'I bring destruction by means of tyrants; I cause the demons to be worshiped alongside men; and I arouse desire in holy men and select priests. I bring about jealousies and murders in a country, and I instigate wars." - TSol 6:1-4
Beelzeboul then prophecizes that the wind demon, Ephippas will bind the demon imprisoned in the Red Sea and bring him out of the abyss. He then tells Solomon that he is thwarted by the Almighty God and the oath "the Elo-i".
"Then I said, 'Tell me which angel thwarts you.' 'The Almighty God,' he replied. 'He is called by the Hebrews Patike, the one who descends from the heights' he is (called) by the Greeks Emmanouel. I am always afraid of him, and trembling. If anyone adjures me with the oath (called) 'the Elo-i', a great name for his power, I disappear." - TSol 6:8
Another manuscript (MS P) of the passage found includes the numeric sum of the name of God. The letters translate as follows. E = 5, m = 40, m = 40, a = 1, n = 50, o = 70, u = 400, e = 8, l = 30.
"I, said to him, 'Tell me by what angel you are thwarted.' And he replied, 'By the holy and precious name of the almighty God, the one called by the Hebrews by a row of numbers, or which the sum is 644, and among the Greeks, it is Emmanouel. And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of power, Eleeth, I disappear. " - TSol 6:8 MS P
Finally, Beelzeboul informs Solomon about heavenly things.
"Listen, King, if you burn oil of myrrh, frankincense, and bulbs of the sea along with spikenard and saffron, and light seven lamps during an earthquake, you will strengthen (your) house. And if, being ritually clean, you light (them) at the crack of dawn, just before the sun comes up, you will see the heavenly dragons and the way the wriggle along and pull the chariot of the sun." - TSol 6:10-11
According to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus (5th century CE), after Christ's crucifixion, Satan/Beelzebub is depicted conversing with Hell about how he would now bring Christ down to Hades. While conversing, Christ frees Adam and those residing in Hades and then ascended with them into paradise. Hell then rebukes Satan:
"Then Hell, receiving Satan the prince, with sore reproach said unto him: O prince of perdition and chief of destruction, Beelzebub, the scorn of the angels and spitting of the righteous why wouldest thou do this? Thou wouldest crucify the King of glory and at his decease didst promise us great spoils of his death: like a fool thou knewest not what thou didst. For behold now, this Jesus putteth to flight by the brightness of his majesty all the darkness of death, and hath broken the strong depths of the prisons, and let out the prisoners and loosed them that were bound. And all that were sighing in our torments do rejoice against us, and at their prayers our dominions are vanquished and our realms conquered, and now no nation of men feareth us any more. And beside this, the dead which were never wont to be proud triumph over us, and the captives which never could be joyful do threaten us. O prince Satan, father of all the wicked and ungodly and renegades wherefore wouldest thou do this? They that from the beginning until now have despaired of life and salvation-now is none of their wonted roarings heard, neither doth any groan from them sound in our ears, nor is there any sign of tears upon the face of any of them. O prince Satan, holder of the keys of hell, those thy riches which thou hadst gained by the tree of transgression and the losing of paradise, thou hast lost by the tree of the cross, and all thy gladness hath perished. When thou didst hang up Christ Jesus the King of glory thou wroughtest against thyself and against me. Henceforth thou shalt know what eternal torments and infinite pains thou art to suffer in my keeping for ever. O prince Satan, author of death and head of all pride, thou oughtest first to have sought out matter of evil in this Jesus: Wherefore didst thou adventure without cause to crucify him unjustly against whom thou foundest no blame, and to bring into our realm the innocent and righteous one, and to lose the guilty and the ungodly and unrighteous of the whole world? And when Hell had spoken thus unto Satan the prince, then said the King of glory unto Hell: Satan the prince shall be in thy power unto all ages in the stead of Adam and his children, even those that are my righteous ones" - Gospel of Nicodemus VII (XXIII)
Behemoth
Behemoth, a spirit of the desert, possibly derives from the Egyptian for "water buffalo" or from the Egyptian deity, Taueret, about whom the Greek historian, Herodotus wrote. The term "Behemoth" in the Hebrew is the plural form of the very common "behemah" referring to a beast of use to humans or a dumb animal. It is being used here, however, as a single entity.
In the Old Testament, the earliest description is in the Book of Job, which describes Behemoth as follows:
'Behold Behemoth,
which I made as I made you;
he eats grass like an ox.
Behold, his strength is in his loins,
and his power in the muscles of his belly.
He makes his tail stiff like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
His bones are tubes of bronze,
his limbs like bars of iron.
He is the first of the works of God;
let him who made him bring near his sword!
For the mountains yield food for him
where all the wild beast play.
Under the lotus plant he lies,
in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh.
For his shade the lotus tree covers him
the willows of the brook surround him.
Behold, if the river is turbulent he is not frightened;
he is confident though Jordan rushes against his mough.
Can one take him with hooks,
or pierce his nose with a snare?'
-Job 40:15-24
1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of) Enoch (dated second century BCE - first century CE) gives the following description of this demon's origins:
'And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.' - 1 Enoch 60:7-8
Also 4Edras 6:47-52 (dated late 1st century CE) states that on the fifth day, after God had commanded the water to create living creatures:
"Then you kept in existence two living creatures; the name of one you called Behemoth and the name of the other Leviathan. And you separated one from the other, for the seventh part where the water had been gathered together could not hold them both. And you gave Behemoth one of the parts which had been dried up on the third day, to live in it, where there are a thousand mountains; but to Leviathan you have the seventh part, the watery part; and you have kept them to be eaten by whom you wish, and when you wish" - 4Edras 6:49-52
John Milton writes about the birth of Behemoth in his epic, "Paradise Lost" living creatures, both good and evil:
Each in their kind. The Earth obeyed, and straight
Opening her fertile womb teemed at a birth
Innumerous living creatures, perfect forms,
Limbed and full grown: Out of the ground up rose,
As from his lair, the wild beast where he wons
In forest wild, in thicket, brake, or den;
Among the trees in pairs they rose, they walked:
The cattle in the fields and meadows green:
Those rare and solitary, these in flocks
Pasturing at once, and in broad herds upsprung.
The grassy clods now calved; now half appeared
The tawny lion, pawing to get free
His hinder parts, then springs as broke from bonds,
And rampant shakes his brinded mane; the ounce,
The libbard, and the tiger, as the mole
Rising, the crumbled earth above them threw
In hillocks: The swift stag from under ground
Bore up his branching head: Scarce from his mould
Behemoth biggest born of earth upheaved
His vastness: Fleeced the flocks and bleating rose,
As plants: Ambiguous between sea and land
The river-horse, and scaly crocodile.
- Paradise Lost - Book VII 453-474
Belial
Among certain sections of the Jews, Belial was considered the chief of all the devils. In The War of the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness (1QM), one of the Dead Sea scrolls, Belial is the leader of the Sons of Darkness:
'But for corruption thou hast made Belial, an angel of hostility. All his dominions are in darkness, and his purpose is to bring about wickedness and guilt. All the spirits that are associated with him are but angels of destruction.'
Belial is also mentioned in the Fragments of a Zadokite Work (which is also known as The Damascus Document (CD)), which states that at the time of the Antichrist, "Belial shall be let loose against Israel, as God spake through Isaiah the prophet." (6:9). The Fragments also speak of "three nets of Belial" which are said to be fornication, wealth, and polution of the sanctuary. (6:10-11) In this work, Belial is sometimes presented as an agent of divine punishment and sometimes as a rebel, as Mastema is. It was Belial who inspired the Egyptian sorcerers, Jochaneh and his brother, to oppose Moses and Aaron. The Fragments also say that anyone who is ruled by the spirits of Belial and speaks of rebellion should be condemned as a necromancer and wizard.
Belial is also mentioned in the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. The author of the work seems to be a dualist because he presents Belial as God's opponent, not as a servant, but does not mention how or why this came to be. Simeon 5:3 says that fornication separates man from God and brings him near to Beliar. Levi tells his children to choose between the Law of God and the works of Beliar (Levi 19:1) It also states that when the soul is constantly disturbed, the Lord departs from it and Beliar rules over it. Naphtali (2:6, 3:1) contrasts the Law and will of God with the purposes of Beliar. Also, in 20:2, Joseph prophesies that when Israel leaves Egypt, they will be with God in light while Beliar will remain in darkness with the Egyptians. Finally, the Testament describes that when the Messiah comes, the angels will punish the spirits of deceit and Beliar (3:3) and that the Messiah will bind Beliar and give to his children the power to trample the evil spirits (18:12).
In The Martyrdom of Isaiah, Belial is the angel of lawlessness and is the ruler of this world.
"And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus." - Martyrdom of Isaiah 2:4
In Milton's Paradise Lost
Belial came last; than whom a Spirit more lewd
Fell not from Heaven, or more gross to love,
Vice for itself. To him no temple stood
Or altar smoked; yet who more oft than he
In temples and at altars, when the priest
Turns atheist, as did Eli’s sons, who filled
With lust and violence the house of God?
In courts and palaces he also reigns,
And in luxurious cities, where the noise
Of riot ascends above their loftiest towers,
And injury and outrage; and, when night
Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons
Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.
Witness the streets of Sodom, and that night
In Gibeah, when the hospitable door
Exposed a matron, to avoid worse rape.
-Paradise Lost, i. 490-504
Belial appears later in Mather's translation of the Goetia: the Lesser Key of Solomon as the 68th spirit.
Belphegor
The name Belphegor is a corruption of the biblical name Baal-Peor, the god of the Moabites. Numbers 25 describes that when Israel was in the northeast corner of the plains of Moab (called Abel-Shittim), they had illicit relations with the Maobite women and sacrificed to their god. As punishment, Moses all the Israelites who had sacrificed to Baal-Peor were to be killed. This slaughter amounted to 24,000 deaths. (Num 25:9)
Several other passages seem to refer to the event:
"Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you." - Deuteronomy 4:3
"They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, And ate sacrifices offered to the dead." - Psalm 106:27-29
"I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your forefathers as the earliest fruit on the fig tree in its first season. But they came to Baal-peor and devoted themselves to shame, and they became as detestable as that which they loved." - Hosea 9:10
He may be identified with Chemosh, the Moabite war god who fought against the Israelites.
"Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; For your sons have been taken away captive And your daughters into captivity." - Jeremiah 48:46
He was sometimes depicted as a phallus, a cone, a pillar, or a tree branch. As male, he was the sun god. As female, a moon goddess sometimes associated with Ishtar. As Baal-Peor, he was androgynous. As Chemosh, he would have been worshipped by Solomon.
"Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon." - 1 Kings 11:7
"The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled." - 2 Kings 23:13
Leviathan
The Apocryphal Book of Enoch gives the following description of this monster's origins:
'And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.' - 1 Enoch 60:7-8
Leviathan was a large whale-like sea creature, who may have had 7 heads according to some legends. A lengthy description of him comes from the Book of Job:
'His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like
the eyelids of the morning.
Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.'
- Job 42:15-32
Isaiah 27:1, on the Day of Judgement the Lord will slay Leviathan:
'In that day the Lord will punish,
With His great, cruel, mighty sword
Leviathan the Elusive Serpent--
Leviathan the Twisting Serpent;
He will slay the Dragon of the sea.'
According to a passage in the T.B. Baba Bathra (75a), at the time of the resurrection, Gabriel will fight against Leviathan and overcome.
However, in Psalms 74:26 God is praised as having crushed the heads of Leviathan:
'it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan,
who left him as food for the denizens of the desert'
In Paradise Lost, Milton mentions Leviathan twice referring to his enormous size.
By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream.
-Paradise Lost i, 200-203
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean. There Leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep
Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land, and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.
-Paradise Lost vii, 411-416
Lilith
Lilith is thought be the demon of waste places who originally lived in the garden of the Sumerian goddess, Innana, queen of heaven. She is mentioned briefly in the Sumerian story Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-Tree" (2000 BCE) although it is now being questioned whether the name actually translates as "Lilith".
"Years passed, the tree matured and grew big. But Inanna found herself unable to cut down the tree. For at its base the snake 'who knows no charm' had built its nest. In its crown, the Zu-bird -- a mythological creature which at times wrought mischief -- had placed its young. In the middle Lilith, the maid of desolation, had built her house. And so poor Inanna, the light-hearted and ever-joyful maid, shed bitter tears. And as the dawn broke and her brother, the sun-god Utu, arose from his sleeping chamber, she repeated to him tearfully all that had befallen her huluppu-tree."
Persian Incantation Bowls were found with reference to Lilith. The incantation below is an exorcism against her. Other bowls refer to her divorce.
You are bound and sealed, all you demons and devils and liliths, by that hard and strong, mighty and powerful bond with which are tied Sison and Sisin.... The evil Lilith, who causes the hearts of men to go astray and appears in the dream of the night and in the vision of hte day, Who burns and casts down with nightmare, attacks and kills children, boys an girls. She is conquered and sealed away from the house and from the threshold of Bahram-Gushnasp son of Ishtar-Nahid by the talisman of Metatron, the great prince who is called the Great Healer of Mercy.... who vanquishes demons and devils, black arts and mighty spells and keeps them away from the house and threshold of Bahram-Gushnasp, son of Ishtar-Nahid. Amen, Amen, Selah.
There is only one verse in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 34:14, that may be a reference to Lilith.
"The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,
The hairy goat also will cry to its kind;
Yes, the night monster will settle there
And will find herself a resting place."
- from New American Bible with a footnote stating the Hebrew for "night monster" is "lilith"
The problem with this passage is that this is the only time the word "lilith" is used in the entire Bible, so it is difficult to speculate whether or not this is actually referring to the Sumerian Lilith or just another creature in the context
A passage in the Songs of the Sage (4Q510-11) of the Dead Sea Scrolls also mentions Liith in a context similar to Isaiah 34.
"And I, the Master, proclaim the magesty of his beauty to frighten and ter[rify] all the spirits of the destroying angels and the spirits of hte bastards, the demons, Lilith, the howlers (?) and [the yelpers...] they who strike suddenly to lead astray the spirit of understanding and to appal their heart and their... in the age of domination of wickedness..."
- from Geza Vermes' translation, in Martinez's translation "Lilith" is pluralized.
In Jewish traditions, Lilith was created with Adam from the dust of the earth, & became his first wife. She was stubborn, though, & refused to be subservient to her husband. Instead of becoming Adam's servant, she left him & was turned out of Paradise. However, before God created Eve, He sent 3 angels to try to convince Lilith to return to Adam. She refused, & God cursed her by sentencing 100 of her offspring to die each day. After her expulsion from Paradise, however, she slept once more with Adam, & bore the Shedim, Lilin, & Rauchin. The Alphabet of Ben Sira contains the first cohesive story of this. This text is dated somewhere between the 8th & 10th cent. CE, and its place within Jewish midrash has been debated.
Soon afterward the young son of the king took ill, Said Nebuchadnezzar, "Heal my son. If you don't, I will kill you." Ben Sira immediately sat down and wrote an amulet with the Holy Name, and he inscribed on it the angels in charge of medicine by their names, forms and images, and by their wings, hands, and feet. Nebuchadnezzar looked at the amulet. "Who are these?"
"The angles who are in charge of medicine: Snvi, Snsvi, and Smnglof. After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone' (Gen. 2:18). He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while am to be in the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angles to bring her back.
"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, fine. If not she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'
"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'
"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels' names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."
- The Alphabet of Ben Sira Question #5 (23a-b)
Another text, dating from the 13th century, the Treatise on the Left Emanation, speaks of multiple Liliths, one as the consort of Sammael and the other is the consort of Asmodeus.
In answer to your question concerning Lilith, I shall explain to you the essence of the matter. Concerning this point there is a received tradition from the ancient Sages who made use of the Secret Knowledge of the Lesser Palaces, which is the manipulation of demons and a ladder by which one ascends to the prophetic levels. In this tradition it is made clear that Samael and Lilith were born as one, similar to the form of Adam and Eve who were also born as one, reflecting what is above. This is the account of Lilith which was received by the Sages in the Secret Knowledge of the Palaces. The Matron Lilith is the mate of Samael. Both of them were born at the same hour in the image of Adam and Eve, intertwined in each other. Asmodeus the great king of the demons has as a mate the Lesser (younger) Lilith, daughter of the king whose name is Qafsefoni. The name of his mate is Mehetabel daughter of Matred, and their daughter is Lilith.
This is the exact text of what is written in The Chapters of the Lesser Palaces as we have received it, word for word and letter for letter. And the scholars of this wisdom possess a very profound tradition from the ancients. They found it stated in those Chapters that Samael, the great prince of them all, grew exceedingly jealous of Asmodeus the king of the demons because of this Lilith who is called Lilith the Maiden (the young). She is in the form of a beautiful woman from her head to her waist. But from the waist down she is burning fire--like mother like daughter. She is called Mehetabel daughter of Matred, and the meaning is something immersed (mabu tabal). The meaning here is that her intentions are never for the good. She only seeks to incite wars and various demons of war and the war between Daughter Lilith and Matron Lilith.
They say that from Asmodeus and his mate Lilith a great prince was born in heaven. He is the ruler of eighty thousand destructive demons and is called "the sword of king Asmodeus." His name is Alefpene'ash and His face burns like a raging fire ('esh). He is also called Gurigur, for he antagonizes and struggles with the prince of Judah, who is called Gur Aryeh Yehudah (Lion-cub of Judah). From the same form that gave birth to this war-demon another prince, a prince whose root is in Kingdom, was born in heaven. He is called "the sword of the Messiah." He too has two names: Meshihi'el and Kokhvi'el. When the time comes and when God wishes, this sword will leave its sheath and verses of prophecy will come True: "For My sword shall be drunk in the heavens; Lo, it shall come down upon Edom" (Isaiah 34:5). "A star rises from Jacob" (Numbers; 24:17). Amen. Soon in our days may we merit to see the face of the Messiah our righteous one; we and all our people....
- Treatise on the Left Emanation #19
It is mistakenly thought that Lilith's name was derived from the Hebrew word lailah, which means 'night.' This was probably derived from the similarity of the two words, and the idea that Lilith was mostly active at night.
Lix Tetrax
Lix Tetrax is the demon of the wind in the Testament of Solomon. The term Lix is a Greek term referring to the earth, while Tetrax refers to a four-season year. The name has been identified with the Ephesian name connected to the wind found on a tablet from Crete.
Here, the demon describes his activities:
"'I create divisions among men, I make whirlwinds, I start fires, I set fields on fire, and I make households non-functional. Usually, I carry on my activity in the summertime. If I get the chance, I slither in under the corners of houses during the night or day. I am the direct offspring of the Great One.'" - TSol 7:5
It is not known who the Great One is. It is speculated to be a reference to Beelzeboul or even to the goddess Artemis, who was known as "The Great" & referenced by TSol in a later passage.
When asked in which constellation the demon resides, he replied"
"Toward the very tip of the horn of the moon when it is found in the South - There is my star. Therefore, I was assigned to draw out the fever, which strikes for a day and a half. As a result, many men, when they see (this), pray about the day-and-a-half fever, (invoking) these three names, 'Baltala, Thallal, Melchal,' and I heal them." - TSol 7:6
Lix Tetrax is thwarted by the archangel Azael.
Lucifer
"How art thou fallen from heaven
O day-star, son of the morning! (Helel ben Shahar)
How art thou cast down to the ground,
That didst cast lots over the nations!
And thou saidst in thy heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
Above the stars of God (El)
Will I exalt my throne;
And I will sit upon the mount of meeting,
In the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High (Elyon).'
Yet thou shalt be brought dow to the nether-world,
To the uttermost parts of the pit."
- Isaiah 14:12-15
In Christian tradition, this passage is proof for the fall of Lucifer. However, it may be that this passage is an allusion to a Canaantie or Phoenician myth about Helel, who is the son of the god Shahar. Helel sought the throne of the chief god and was cast down into the abyss because of this. El, Elyon, and Shahar are members of the Canaanite pantheon, while the "mount of meeting" is the abode of the gods, which corresponds to Mount Olympus in Greek mythology. There is a Ugaritic poem about two divine children, Shachar (dawn) and Shalim (dusk), who were born as the result of the intercourse of the god El with mortal women. There are, however, no Canaanite sources that tell about Helel ben Shahar or a revolt against Elyon.
Many Apocalyptic writers interpreted this passage as referring to Lucifer, and wrote about the fall of the angels. 1 Enoch refers to the falling angels as stars (see the watchers) and may be the beginning of the overlap between the story of the watchers and Isaiah.
The name 'Lucifer' means light-bearer, and is not used in the New Testament, where the "bearer of light" is Christ. He was once one of the Seraphim (sometimes called the fiery, flying serpents).
Later authors, such as St. Jerome, associate Ezekial 28:13-15 with Lucifer, the greatest of the fallen angels. It has been argued that this passage was actually addressed to Nebuchadrezzar.
"You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your adornment:
Carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst;
Beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper;
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;
And gold beautifully wrought for you,
Mined for you, prepared the day you were created.
I created you as a cherub
With outstretched shielding wings;
And you resided on God's holy mountain;
You walked among stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways,
From the day you were created
Until wrongdoing was found in you
By your far-flung commerce
You were filled with lawlessness
And you sinned.
So I have struck you down
From the mountain of God,
And I have destroyed you, O shielding cherub,
From among the stones of fire."
Later interpretations of the fall tell that Lucifer was upset because God the Father made Lucifer's brother, Jesual, the Son. From his head, he gave birth to Sin, and by copulating with her, fathered Death. He was then cast out of heaven.
There are characters similar to Lucifer in other mythologies. In Egypt, there is a serpent god, Sata, whi is father of lightning and who likewise fell to earth. A Babylonian god, Zu, was also a lightning god who fell as a fiery flying serpent.
Mastema
Mastema is mentioned only in The Book of Jubilees and in the Fragments of a Zadokite Work.
In the Book of Jubilees, Mastema seems to be identified with Satan. He asked the Lord that some of the spirits might be allowed to remain with him to do his will. God granted his request and allowed one tenth of the spirits to remain with Mastema, while the other nine parts would be condemned. He seems to be of a different nature than those evil spirits he is pleading for. He has no concern that he will be bound with the others.
"When Mastema, the leader of the spirits, came, he said: 'Lord creator, leave some of them before me; let them listen to me and do everything that I tell them, because if none of them is left for me I shall not be able to exercise the authority of my will aong mankind. For they are meant for (the purposes of) destroying and misleading before my punishment because the evil of mankind is great.' Then he said that a tenth of them should be left before him, while he would make nine parts descend to the place of judgment." - Jubilees 10:8-9
The name Mastema is probable derived from the Hebrew, Mastim, the Hiphil participle of Satam, and it means 'one who is adverse' or 'inimical.' The word is equivalent to Satan (adversary). The term is sometimes used in the plural, which indicates that there was a class of 'the Mastema' as well as one prince, Mastema. This is similar to the chief Satan and his class of Satans (see 1 Enoch 40:7).
Jubilees implies that Mastema is subservient to God. His task is simply to tempt men to sin and if they do, he accuses them before the Throne of God. He does not initiate the process of sin, but Mastema and his spirits then lead them on to greater wrongdoing. This is related to the Biblical function of Satan, where men can achieve righteousness if they are tempted and resist.
"And they made for themselves molten images, and they worshipped each the idol, the molten image which they had made for themselves, and they began to make graven images and unclean simulacra, and malignant spirits assisted and seduced (them) into committing transgression and uncleanness. And the prince Mastema exerted himself to do all this, and he sent forth other spirits, those which were put under his hand, to do all manner of wrong and sin, and all manner of transgression, to corrupt and destroy and to shed blood upon the earth. For this reason he called the name of Seroh, Serug, for every one turned to do all manner of sin and transgression. - Jubilees 11:4-6
This portrayal of Mastema is not always consistent because sometimes he also is also presented as the incarnate of evil. He is seen as a destroyer and as one who hates Israel.
According to Jubilees, it was Mastema (not Sammael) who urged God to test the piety of Abraham (as Satan did with Job) by demanding Isaac as a sacrifice.
"Then Prince Mastema came and said before God: 'Abraham does indeed love his son Isaac and finds him more pleasing than anyone else. Tell him to offer him as a sacrifice on an altar. Than you will see whether he performs this order and will know whether he is faithful in everything through which you test him.'" - Jubilees 17:16
Mastema is also attributed with certain actions that are ascribed to God, Himself. In Jubilees, it is Mastema who made an attack on Moses' life, not God (Exodus 4:24). This is similar 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Samuel 24:1 where Satan is attributed to asking David to take a census, as opposed to God.
"You know who spoke to you at Mt. Sinai and what the prince of Mastema wanted to do to you while you were returning to Egypt - on the way at the shady fir tree. Did he not wish with all his strength to kill you and to save the Egyptians from your power because he saw that you were sent to carry out punishment and revenge on the Egyptians?" - Jubilees 48:2-3
Mastema is also attributed with opposing Moses in Egypt. He is said to have helped the Egyptian sorcerers achieve their wonders and urged the Egyptians to pursue after the children of Israel. Mastema was even bound and imprisoned so that he might not accuse them, re-released so that he might help the Egyptians, and finally bound again. (48:15-19)
"And the prince Mastema stood up against thee, and sought to cast thee into the hands of Pharaoh, and he helped the Egyptian sorcerers, and they stood up and wrought before thee the evils indeed we permitted them to work, but the remedies we did not allow to be wrought by their hands." - Jubilees 48:9-10
"And notwithstanding all (these) signs and wonders the prince Mastema was not put to shame because he took courage and cried to the Egyptians to pursue after thee with all the powers of the Egyptians, with their chariots, and with their horses, and with all the hosts of the peoples of Egypt." - Jubilees 48:12
Also, Mastema is attributed with slaying the first-born in the land of Egypt, which is attributed to the Lord in Exodus 12:29.
"For on this night -the beginning of the festival and the beginning of the joy- ye were eating the passover in Egypt, when all the powers of Mastema had been let loose to slay all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh to the first-born of the captive maid-servant in the mill, and to the cattle." - Jubilees 49:2
The Fragments briefly mention that if a penitent sinner vows to improve and then lives accordingly, the angel of Mastema departs from him.
Because of these similarities with the traditional role of Satan as portrayed in the Old Testament, it is probable that Mastema is just an apocalyptic name for Satan.
Melchiresa
Melchiresa is the one of the names for a predominant evil being in several of the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Testament of Amram (4QAmram), which dates to the second century BCE, tells of two spirits who rule over humanity struggling to take possession over Amram at his death. Fragments of the text mention the three names of the ruler of darkness, which have been reconstructed as "Belial, Prince of Darkness, and Melchiresa."
Fragment 4Q280 describes a series of curses laid upon Melchiresa:
"Accur]sed are you, Melki-resha, in all the pla[ns of your guilty inclination. May God [make you] an object of dread at the hand of those exacting vengeance. May God not favour you when you call on him. [May he lift his angry face] upon you for a curse. May there be no peace for you in the mouth of those who intercede. [Be cursed,] without a remnant; and be damned, without salvation." - 4Q280
Melchiresa also appears in 11QMelch in direct opposition to Melchizedek, the leader of the forces of good.
Mephistophiles
Mephistophiles is the name of the devil in the Faust myths of the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance. During this period, there was a revival in the popularity of the Devil with the Protestant Reformation, which emphasized the Bible as the sole authority on religious matters, & thus greater emphasis on the New Testament concept of evil. Labels were thrown around between the Protestants and the Catholics - both claiming the other was the tool of the Devil, with Protestants claiming the Pope was the Antichrist. Rumors of Witchcraft and Satanism ran wild.
New beliefs came to light during this time contributing to this phenomenon, stressing the importance of the individual's choice of free will in following God or the Devil over previous notions of the cosmic battle between God and the Devil. God would still be there to protect the individual, but if the individual was weak in faith, it was seen as an open invitation to the Devil.
Martin Luther struggled with the concept of the Devil and evil in relation to an omnipotent God, coming close to arguing that the Devil was just a manifestation of the evil side of God (as Christ was the good side of God). He wrote that God's will included the Devil as his tool doing God's work, and that he would not exist if God had not created him. However, while the two may appear to be doing the same will, their purpose is always different, with God always working towards the ultimate good while the Devil's intent was to destroy.
While the theology of the individual's struggle between good and evil was circling, the poets and playwrights of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries took to applying the classic narratives such as the Iliad to Christian mythos, and openly embraced the cosmic battle between Christ or Michael over the Devil & his fallen angels at the beginning of the world, a concept that was common to popular belief though not expressly written within the Bible itself. Much of it was based on Jewish Midrash of the fall of the Watchers or an interpretation of Revelation 12.
And then came Faust. Faust was a historical figure who was turned into a legendary character throughout the years. The earliest accounts of his life come from the beginnings of the 1500s. Faust studied philosophy and theology, went on to hermetic magic and eventually ended up with fortune telling. With the theology of the Protestant Reformation circling, many identified hermetic magic, or any magic for that matter, as a prideful attempt at attaining divine knowledge through the intellect & thus must be aided by the Devil. Faust soon became associated with the Devil, and by the end of the 1500s, rumors were spreading that he had made a pact with the Devil.
The first book devoted entirely to Faust was written by Johann Spiess in 1587 and came to be known as the Faustbook. Faust, a scholar, desires to obtain knowledge and thus sells his soul to the Devil - a parallel to the original sin of Adam and Eve and their quest for the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge. The spirit Faust invokes as a servant of Lucifer is Mephistophiles, who agrees to aid Faust in this quest for twenty-four years if Faust will make a pact written in blood to deny Christ and the Christian people. When his time is up, Faust experiences a moment of piety and summons his students and warns them against sin and temptation. His actions are in vain, though, for the next morning, his mangled body is found.
Another famous account of the Faust myth was written by Christopher Marlowe in 1588-89 called Doctor Faustus. The structure follows the Faustbook closely though Faust is portrayed in a clownish way, with Faust's sin being pride and the moral of the story proclaiming that lust for worldly fame and power ultimately leads to destruction. Again, Faust's mutilated body is found by his students the morning after his years of power have ended.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe transformed the Faust myth significantly when he wrote his version of Faust during most of his life (approx 1770-1832). Mephistophiles in this account is portrayed anywhere from a minor demon to the Devil's equivalent (or even the Devil himself) appearing both as God's opponent and the instrument of God's divine will. Mephistophiles is presented as the spirit of chaos, as a liar and trickster who can flatter and coax. He hates beauty and fails to grasp the power of love. He is proud and reenacts the part of the satan in Job, making a bet with God to win over Faust's soul and asking God for permission to put Faust to the test. Faust, himself, is eventually able to redeem himself through his never ceasing to strive and give himself over to sensual pleasure, and through his learning to love.
Moloch
Molech, whose name probably derived from Melech "king" and Bosheth, "shame", was one of the deities worshipped by the idolatrous Israelites. He was referred to as "the abomination of the children of Ammon" (1 Kings 11:7) and the primary means of worshipping him appears to be child sacrifice or "to pass through the fire." Solomon was said to have built a temple to him.
"Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon." (1 Kings 11:7)
Sacrificing children was apparently not uncommon, but the practice died down around the time of Jeremiah when the King defiled Tophet, the place where Moloch was worshipped.
"He also defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for Molech." (2 Kings 23:10)
"For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,' declares the LORD, "they have set their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. Therefore, behold, days are coming,' declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place." (Jer 7: 30-32)
Moloch has often been identified with Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. He was probably also identified with Baal, and as a sun or fire god, as he was also identified with the Assyrian/Babylonian "Malik", and at Palmyra "Malach-bel". Moloch is also identified with Baal Hammon in Carthaginian religion.
Milton writes of him in Paradise Lost
"First, Moloch, horrid King, besmeared with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents’ tears;
Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud,
Their children’s cries unheard that passed through fire
To his grim idol. Him the Ammonite
Worshiped in Rabba and her watery plain,
In Argob and in Basan, to the stream
Of utmost Arnon. Nor content with such
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
Of Solomon he led by fraud to build
His temple right against the temple of God
On that opprobrious hill, and made his grove
The pleasant valley of Hinnom, Tophet thence
And black Gehenna called, the type of Hell."
- Paradise Lost, i. 391-405
Onoskelis
Onoskelis (Greek: "she with the ass's legs") was a female demon with a beautiful form mentioned in the Testament of Solomon.
"Her body was that of a woman with a fair complexion, but her legs were those of a mule" - TSol 4:2
The name is usually associated with the hobgoblin, Empusa, who was able to assume various shapes, however in this case, she is a satyra (female satyr). Onoskelis described her purpose as follows:
"I am a spirit which has been made into a body. I recline in a den on the earth. I make my home in caves. However, I have a many-sided character. Sometimes I strangle men; sometimes I pervert them from their true natures. Most of the time, my habitats are cliffs, caves, and ravines. Frequently, I also associate with men who think of me as a woman, especially with whose skin is honey-colored, for we are of the same constellation. It is also true that they worship my star secretly and openly. They do not know that they deceive themselves and excite me to be an evil doer all the more. For they want to obtain gold by remembering (me), but I grant little to those who seriously worship me." - TSol 4:4-7
Onoskelis then describes that she was created
"from an unexpected voice which is called a voice of the echo of a black heaven, emitted in matter." - TSol 4:8
and that she travels by the full moon. Solomon commanded her to spin hemp to construct the ropes used for the Temple.
Ornias
Ornias (trans. "pesky") is the first demon mentioned in the Testament of Solomon. This demon was harassing the head workman's boy as they were constructing the Temple of Jerusalem. Every day at sunset, the demon would take half of the boy's wages and suck his thumb (meaning to drain his energy).
Solomon inquired as to why the boy was growing thinner, and when he heard of the demon's tasks, he began to pray to God that He would hand him authority over the demon. His prayers were answered, as God sent the archangel Michael to deliver a ring to Solomon with the seal of God so that he would be able to imprison demons and force them to help construct the Temple.
So Solomon gave the ring to the boy and instructed him to throw the ring into the demon's chest commanding him to go to Solomon when the demon appeared that day. The boy did as he was told and Solomon interrogated him.
"'Tell me, in which sign of the zodiac do you reside?' The demon replied, 'In Aquarius; I strangle those who reside in Aquarius because of their passion for women whose zodiacal sign is Virgo. Moreover, while in a trance I undergo three transformations. Sometimes I am a man who craves the bodies of effeminate boys and when I touch them, they suffer great pain. Sometimes I become a creature with wings (flying) up to the heavenly regions. Finally, I assume the appearance of a lion. In addition, I am descended from an archangel of the power of God, but I am thwarted by Ouriel, the archangel.'" - TSol 2:2-4
Solomon then sealed the demon with his ring and ordered him to cut stone for the Temple. The demon then admitted to being afraid to touch iron. Solomon prayed to the archangel Ouriel to help him & the angel then commanded Ornias to cut the stones.
Solomon then commanded Ornias to bring him Beelzeboul, the Prince of Demons. Ornias was able to throw the ring at Beelzeboul, who winced in pain, and then returned with Ornias to Solomon
Nephilim/Watchers
"When men began to increase on earth and daughters were born to them, the divine beings saw how beautiful the daughters of men were and took wives from among those that pleased them. The LORD said, 'My breath shall not abide in man forever, since he too is flesh; let the days allowed him be one hundred and twenty years.' It was then, and later too, that the Nephilim appeared on earth - when the divine beings cohabited with the daughters of men, who bore them offspring. They were the heroes of old, the men of renown." - Genesis 6:1-4
This is the only account of the watchers in the Bible. Isaiah 14:12-15 talks of the fall of the "day-star, son of morning," which implies that there was a revolt, and the "day-star" was cast into the abyss, but this may be a reference to early Canaanite or Phoenician myths. (see Lucifer) One other possible reference is Psalm 82.
"God standeth in the Congregation of God (El) In the midst of gods (elohim) He judgeth All the foundations of the earth are moved. I said: Ye are gods, And all of you sons of the Most High (Elyon) Nevertheles ye shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes (sarim) Psalm 82:1, 5-7
The parts of the Psalm I have left out are the parts that refer to wicked earthly rulers, but it is agreed upon by many scholars that this part of the Psalm refers to the fallen angels. While Genesis 6 tells that angels married women, it does not condemn this as a sin. Psalm 82 tells that the elohim sinned, but does not tell how (i.e. it does not mention that they married women). It may have been that the angels sinned by reproducing. Certain passages in Jewish Midrash talk of how angels are immortal and do not need to reproduce. Because humans are not, they must reproduce in order to achieve immortality in their descendents.
This is a passage from Jewish midrash in which Hannah is praying for a child at Shiloh:
"Lord of the Universe! The celestials never die, and they do not reproduce their kind. Terrestrial beings die, but they are fruitful and multiply. Therefore I pray: Either make me immortal, or give me a son!"
A different interpretation of this passage concerning the sin of the angels was that they revolted against God, and because of this, they were cast down. Apocrypal texts give more complete accounts of the fall of the angels.
1 Enoch gives an account of the fall of the Angels from heaven. Chapter 6 talks of how the angels saw and lusted after the daughters of men.
"In those days, when the children of man had multiplied, it happened that there were born unto them handsome and beautiful daughters. And the angels, the children of heaven , saw them and desired them; and they said to one another, 'Come, let us choose wives for ourselves from among the daughters of man and beget us children.' And Semyaz, being their leader, said unto them,'I fear that perhaps you will not consent that this deed should be done, and I alone will become (responsible) for this great sin.' But they all responded to him, 'Let us all swear an oath and bind everyone among us by a curse not to abandon this suggestion but to do the deed.' Then they all swore together and bound one another by (the curse) And they were altogether two hundred;" - 1 Enoch 6:1-7
The angels descended on Mount Hermon during the days of Jared. There were 19 leaders mentioned in 1 Enoch, who were also called 'the chiefs of ten.' Once they reached the earth:
"they took wives unto themselves, and everyone (respectively) chose one woman for himself, and they began to go unto them. And they taught them magical medicine, incantations, the cutting of roots, and taught them (about) plants. And the women became pregnant and gave birth to great giants whose heights were three hundred cubits. These (giants) consumed the produce of all the people until the people detested feeding them. So the giants turned against (the people) in order to eat them." - 1 Enoch 7:1-5
The Angels then taught women charms, enchantments, the cutting of roots, and the knowledge of plants. They taught men how to make various weapons and armor, and also arts and sciences. These acts led to an increase in lawlessness and warfare. The men of earth then cried out to heaven, and the 4 archangels (Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel) cried out to God. In response, God sent Uriel to warn Noah that there would soon be a flood that would destroy the wickedness on earth.
Raphael was commanded to bind Azazel hand and foot, and to cast him into the a hole in the desert (Duda'el) that the Lord had made. Raphael threw rugged and sharp rocks and covered Azazel's face so that he would not see light. Michael was commanded to bound Semyaza and his associates in the valleys of the earth. They will remain there until the day of judgment when he will be cast into the fire.
The race of giants produced from this union gave way to a brood of evil spirits. The evil spirits most likely are the departed spirits of the giants, themselves. These spirits are not material or corporeal beings, but they torment mankind because they have proceeded from them. According to 1 Enoch, these spirits will not be punished until the day of judgment, in contrast to the Watchers, who are punished both before and on the day of judgment.
"But now the giants who are born from the (union of) the spirits and the flesh shall be called evil spirits upon the earth, because their dwelling shall be upon the earth and inside the earth. Evil spirits have come out of their bodies. Because from the day that they were created from the holy ones they became the Watchers; their first origin is the spiritual foundation. They will become evil upon the earth and shall be called evil spirits. The dwelling of the spiritual beings of heaven is heaven; but the dwelling of the spirits of the earth, which are born upon the earth, is in the earth. The spirits of the giants oppress each other, they will corrupt, fall, be excited, and fall upon the earth, and cause sorrow. They eat no food, nor become thirsty, nor find obstacles. And these spirits shall rise up against the children of the people and against the women, because they have proceeded forth (from them). - 1 Enoch 15
1 Enoch 19 also gives a variation to the origin of demons. It implies that demons were already in existence during the time of the fall of the angels. According to 1 Enoch 10-16, the demons are the spirits which go forth from these angels.
"Here shall stand in many different appearances the spirits of the angels which have united themselves with women. They have defiled the people and will lead them into error so that they will offer sacrifices to the demons as unto gods, until the great day of judgment in which they shall be judged till they are finished." - 1 Enoch 19:1
1 Enoch 85-90 gives a similar account of the fall of the angels. In these passages, a star (either Semjaza or Azazel) fell from heaven and began to pasture among the oxen (mankind). A number of stars then fell and were transformed into bulls. They began to cover the cows (the angels married mortal women), who then gave birth to elephants, camels, and asses (the giants). The oxen then became restless and began to fight, but they became prey to the wild beasts. The archangels then appear in the disguise of men. One seizes the first of the fallen stars and casts it into the abyss. A second gives the elephants, camels, and asses a sword so that they will slay each other. A third archangel stones the other fallen stars and casts them into the gulf. The story then goes on to describe the Maccabean revolt, which leads to a description of the final struggle between good and evil.
It seems that there is a threefold aspect to the sin of the Watchers in these accounts. First, it was a defilement of the essence of the angels to marry and engage in sexual acts with human women. Second, these unions between the angels and mortal women were considered evil, themselves. Because of the Nephilim and and evil created by these unions, God caused the great Flood of Noah's time. Finally, the angels sinned because they taught humanity and revealing the secrets of the natural universe which God did not intend for man to know.
The Book of Jubilees gives another account of how the Watchers fell that is similar to 1 Enoch. It explains that the Watchers originally descended to the earth to teach mankind and do what is just, but they 'sinned with the daughters of men because these had begun to mix with earthly women so that they became defiled.' (Jubilees 4:22)
Malalael "named [his son] Jared because during his lifetime the angels of the Lord who were called Watchers descended to earth to teach mankind and to do what is just and upright upon the earth" - Jubilees 4:15
Jubilees also says that they were sent by God, Himself.
"Against his angels whom he had sent to the earth he was angry enough to uproot them from all their (positions of) authority" - Jubilees 5:6
Jubilees tells an account of the fall of the angels similar to that of 1 Enoch. God was displeased with the angels because of their lust for the daughters of men. The union of the angels and women is said to be the Nephilim.
"For it was on account of these three things [fornication, uncleanness, and injustice - see Jubilees 7:20] that the flood was on the earth, since (it was) due to fornication that the Watchers had illicit intercourse - apart from the mandate of their authority - with women. When they married of them whomever they chose they committed the first (acts) of uncleanness. They fathered (as their) sons the Nephilim. - Jubilees 7:21-22
In Jubilees, Mastema is the chief of the spirits. As God commanded the angels to bind all the evil spirits, Mastema came and asked the Lord that some of the spirits might be allowed to remain with him to do his will. God granted his request and allowed one tenth of the spirits to remain with Mastema, while the other nine parts would be condemned.
"When Mastema, the leader of the spirits, came, he said: 'Lord creator, leave some of them before me; let them listen to me and do everything that I tell them, because if none of them is left for me I shall not be able to exercise the authority of my will aong mankind. For they are meant for (the purposes of) destroying and misleading before my punishment because the evil of mankind is great.' Then he said that a tenth of them should be left before him, while he would make nine parts descend to the place of judgment." - Jubilees 10:8-9
2 Enoch also mentions a group of angels called the Grigori, who are similar to the Watchers. Their prince is called Satanail. A difference in this account as compared with the two previous accounts is that only 3 angels came down to earth to take wives and beget giants.
"These are the Grigori, who with their prince Satanail rejected the Lord of light, and after them are those who are held in great darkness on the second heaven, and three of them went down on earth to the place Ermon, and broke through their vows on the shoulder of the hill Ermon and saw the daughters of men how good they are, and took to themselves wives, and befouled the earth with their deeds, who in all times of their age made lawlessness and mixing, and giants are born and marvellous big men and great enmity. And therefore God judged them with great judgment, and they weep for their brethren and they will be punished on the Lord's great day." - 2 Enoch 18:3-4
In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the fall of the angels is mentioned twice. One is only a brief reference stating that the Watchers "changed the order of their nature." (Naphtali 3:5) The second is in Reuben, where he accuses womankind of seeking to ensnare men.
"Thus they allured the Watchers before the Flood, for as these continually beheld them, they lusted after them and conceived the act in their mind; for they changed themselves unto the shape of men and appeared to them when they were with their husbands; and the women, lusting in their minds after their forms, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared to them as reaching up to heaven." (Reuben 5)
In this account, the writer denies that there was a physical union between the angels and mortal women. He says that the real fathers of the giants were humans, but the giants were conceived from the mutal passion from angels and women.
Names and Misdeeds of the Fallen Angels (aka the Five Satans) in 1 Enoch 69:4-12. (1 Enoch gives other lists of the names of the fallen angels as well.) This passage is odd because it mentions angels that are not mentioned elsewhere.
Yeqon - "one who misled all the children of the angels, brought them down upon the earth, and perverted them by the daughters of the people"
Asb'el - "one who gave the children of the holy angels an evil counsel and misled them so that they would defile their bodies by the daughters of the people"
Gader'el - "he who showed the children of the people all the blows of death, who misled Eve, who showed the children of the people (how to make) the instruments of death (such as) the shield, the breastplate, and the sword for warfare, and all (the other) instruments of death to the children of the people"
Pinem'e - "demonstrated to the children of the people the bitter and the sweet and revealed to them all the secrets of their wisdom. Furthermore he caused the people to penetrate (the secret of) writing and (the use of) ink and paper"
Kasadya - "he who revealed to the children of the people (the various) flagellations of all evil - (the flagellation) of the souls and the demons, the smashing of the embryo in the womb so that it may be curshed, the flagellation of the soul, snake bites, sunstrokes, the son of the serpent, whose name is Taba'ta"
Names of other fallen angels - Semyaz, Aristaqis, Armen, Kokba'el, Tur'el, Rumyal, Danyul, Neqa'el, Baraqel, Azaz'el, Armaros, Betryal, Basas'el, Hanan'el, Tur'el, Sipwese'el, Yeter'el, Tuma'el, Tur'el, Rum'el, and Azaz'el - 1 Enoch 69:2
Satan
The name Satan is derived from a root meaning ‘to oppose’ or ‘to be or to act as an adversary.’ In some cases, he is not necessarily maleviolent and he may have even been sent by the Lord to prevent worse harm (such as in Numbers). Examples of passages using this early interpretation include:
"But God was incensed at his going; so an angel of the LORD placed himself in his was as an adversary [Hebrew: satan]" - Numbers 22:22
"He shall not march down with us to the battle, or else he may become an adversary [Heb: satan] in battle." - 1 Samuel 29:4
"Appoint a wicked man over him; may an accuser [Heb: satan] stand at his right side. - Psalm 109:6
Satan possesses no real demonic qualities in the OT writings. He is mentioned as a distinct personality in 3 passages. These passages are thought to be post-exilic and are dated between 519 and 300 BCE.
"He further showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right to accuse him." - Zechariah 3:1
Here, "Satan" becomes an official title of a distinct personality, although in the Hebrew, the article before Satan indicates a common rather than a proper noun as "the satan".
"One day the divine beings presented themselves before the LORD, and the satan (Heb: ha-satan) came along with them. The LORD said to the Adversary, ‘Where have you been?’ Satan answered the LORD, ‘I have been roaming all over the earth.’ The LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job?" - Job 1:6-8
In this passage, the Satan is the servant of God, whose job is not only to accuse man, but he also urges God to test Job. He does nothing without the permission of God. He appears along with the other ‘ben Elohim’ (sons of God) implying that he is one of the angel-ministers of Yahweh. Also, this passage shows that while he acts in accordance with God’s permission, he seems as if he would be pleased if he could prove that Job wasn’t as loyal to God as God claimed. Despite this, he remains an angel.
"Satan arose against Israel and incited David to number Israel." - 1 Chronicles 21:1
This passage is a later version of the passage in 2 Samuel 24:1 "The anger of the LORD again flared up against Israel; and He incited David against them, saying, ‘Go and number Israel and Judah.’" While the author attributes the census to Satan, he insists that David was personally responsible for his actions and therefore guilty of breaking God's law. Satan's substitution for the Lord indicates that he was thought of as the destructive power of God.
Rabbinic Literature gives two accounts for the origin of Satan. The first is that Satan was created on the sixth day at the same time as Eve. This ties in with the tradition that Satan played some part in the fall of man. The second and more prevalent tradition is that Satan is one of the fallen angels. Satan is identified with Sammael and his deeds.
In T.B. Baba Bathra (16a), Satan is identified with the Yetzer ha Ra, which is the ‘evil impulse’ in man. The Talmud distinguishes between the personified Satan outside man, and the Yetzer ha Ra that exists within man. It is this evil impulse within man that allows Satan the opportunity to work his will against man.
Rabbinic writings also foreshadow the destruction of Satan. T.B. Succah (52a) talks of the destruction of the evil angel, while the Yalkut Jesaj (359) implies that Satan will be overthrown at a future time by the Messiah, referring to Psalm 36:9.
The general belief is that there are a class of satans with a chief Satan. For example, in 1 Enoch, there are 5 Satans. The first and second are said to have been responsible for leading astray the angels and for bringing them down to earth, where they sinned with the daughters of men (69:4), while the third brought about the fall of Adam and Eve (69:6). The satans are allowed to access heaven in order to accuse men, but they are not confined to heaven.
Before the New Testament, there were many powers of evil, with Satan existing alongside other demon chiefs. Satan did not become the one supreme evil power until NT literature. Many of these apocryphal books were written between the beginning of the first century BCE and the end of the first century CE.
"By the envy of the devil death entered into the world, And they that belong to his realm experience it." - Book of Wisdom 2:24
This passage usually is interpreted to refer to the temptation and fall of Eve. The following passages describe this encounter. (It may also be noted that this passage could also be interpreted as referring to Cain because according to Genesis, physical death did not enter the world until Cain murdered Abel.)
2 Enoch explains that the angels were created on the second day of creation and were assigned to various positions. One of the angels, called Satanel, rebelled because he thought he could become more powerful than God. God, therefore, threw him out of heaven.
"But one from the order of the archangels deviated, together with the division that was under his authority. He thought up the impossible idea,that he might place his throne higher than the clouds which are above the earth, and that he might become equal to my power. And I hurled him out from the height, together with his angels. And he was flying around in the air, ceaselessly, above the Bottomless." - 2 Enoch 29:4-5
In his jealousy, Satanail decided to lead Adam astray, even though he was aware of his own sinfulness. When his plan worked, God cursed evil and ignorance, implying that it is through man's ignorance of his own nature that is the root of sin, not Satanail.
"And the devil understood how I wished to create another world, so that everything could be subjected to Adam on the earth, to rule and reign over it. The devil is of the lowest places. And he will become a demon, because he fled from heaven; Sotona, because his name was Satanail. In this way he became different from the angels. His nature did not change, (but) his thought did, since his consciousness of righteous and sinful things changed. And he became aware of his condemnation and of the sin which he sinned previously. And that is why he thought up the scheme against Adam. In such a form he entered paradise, and corrupted Eve. But Adam he did not contact. But on account of (her) nescience I cursed them. But those whom I had blessed previously, them I did not curse; (and those whom I had not blessed previously, even them I did not curse) - neither mankind I cursed, nor the earth, nor any other creature, but only mankind's evil fruit-bearing." - 2 Enoch 31:3-7
The Apocalypsis Mosis 16 tells of how Satan used the serpent as a vessel to lead astray Adam and Eve. The serpent tells him that he fears the Lord's wraith, but Satan convinces him that he only has to be a vessel - it will be Satan speaking through him.
"And the devil spake to the serpent saying, Rise up, come to me and I will tell thee a word whereby thou mayst have profit." And he arose and came to him. And the devil saith to him: "I hear that thou art wiser than all the beasts, and I have come to counsel thee. Why dost thou eat of Adam's tares and not of paradise? Rise up and we will cause him to be cast out of paradise, even as we were cast out through him." The serpent saith to him, "I fear lest the Lord be wroth with me." The devil saith to him: "Fear not, only be my vessel and I will speak through thy mouth words to deceive him." - Apocalypsis Mosis 16
This book then mentions that it was the devil that spoke through Eve that led Adam astray.
"For, when he came, I opened my mouth and the devil was speaking, and I began to exhort him and said, "Come hither, my lord Adam, hearken to me and eat of the fruit of the tree of which God told us not to eat of it, and thou shalt be as a God." - Apocalypsis Mosis 21:3
A similar account of the fall of Satan takes place in the Books of Adam and Eve. These books give an account of how Satan tempted and brought about the fall of Adam and Eve. In the beginning, Satan is represented as being an angel of God. It then explains that when Adam was formed in God's image, Michael commanded the angels to worship him. Satan refused to do so because Adam was inferior and younger then himself. He claimed that Adam should worship him. Because of this, Satan and the other angels who refused to worship Adam were banished from heaven. Satan then decided to bring about the ruin of Adam and Eve. There is no reference to the Watchers or the union of angels with women.
"And with a heavy sigh, the devil spake: 'O Adam! all my hostility, envy, and sorrow is for thee, since it is for thee that I have been expelled from my glory, which I possessed in the heavens in the midst of the angels and for thee was I cast out in the earth.' Adam answered, 'What dost thou tell me? What have I done to thee or what is my fault against thee? Seeing that thou hast received no harm or injury from us, why dost thou pursue us?' The devil replied, 'Adam, what dost thou tell me? It is for thy sake that I have been hurled from that place. When thou wast formed. I was hurled out of the presence of God and banished from the company of the angels. When God blew into thee the breath of life and thy face and likeness was made in the image of God, Michael also brought thee and made (us) worship thee in the sight of God; and God the Lord spake: Here is Adam. I have made thee in our image and likeness.' And Michael went out and called all the angels saying: 'Worship the image of God as the Lord God hath commanded.' And Michael himself worshipped first; then he called me and said: 'Worship the image of God the Lord.' And I answered, 'I have no (need) to worship Adam.' And since Michael kept urging me to worship, I said to him, 'Why dost thou urge me? I will not worship an inferior and younger being (than I). I am his senior in the Creation, before he was made was I already made. It is his duty to worship me.' When the angels, who were under me, heard this, they refused to worship him. And Michael saith, 'Worship the image of God, but if thou wilt not worship him, the Lord God will be wrath with thee.' And I said, 'If He be wrath with me, I will set my seat above the stars of heaven and will be like the Highest.' And God the Lord was wrath with me and banished me and my angels from our glory; and on thy account were we expelled from our abodes into this world and hurled on the earth. And straightway we were overcome with grief, since we had been spoiled of so great glory. And we were grieved when we saw thee in such joy and luxury. And with guile I cheated thy wife and caused thee to be expelled through her (doing) from thy joy and luxury, as I have been driven out of my glory." - Vita Adae et Evae 12-16
These later accounts (Vita Adae et Evae 12-16 and Apocalypsis Mosis) give a much more highly developed concept of Satan, that is close to the presentation of Satan in the New Testament. He appears as the great enemy of mankind and God, and is directly associated with the fall of Adam and Eve (which isn't the prominent teaching of the New Testament, although Paul does mention it briefly in 2 Corinthians 11:3). The Apocalypsis Mosis also is one of the only books to develop the idea that the Devil can take possession of a person (the other being the the Book of Tobit in which Asmodeus appears to take possession of Sarah).
In the New Testament, Satan emerges as the principle power of evil, although there are still traces of earlier powers of evil such as in the Synoptic gospels, Beelzebub, and in Paul's letters, Beliar (2 Cor 6:15).
In Mark 3:22ff. the Scribes say of Jesus "'He is possessed by Beelzebub,' and 'By the prince of demons he drives out demons.'" Jesus then rebuts the statement by asking "How can Satan drive out Satan?" This rebuttal seems to identify Beelzebub with Satan, however it can be noted that there may be two concepts here with Jesus identifying Satan with the prince of demons and Beelzebub being a separate identity.
Both Matthew 12:24 and Luke 11:15 specify Beelzebub as the prince of demons, however in Jesus' rebuttal, He mentions both Satan and Beelzebub, implying the two are identical terms.
The first reference to Satan is in the temptation of Jesus. Mark says that Jesus was 'tempted of Satan,' while Matthew and Luke say that He was 'tempted of the devil.' (Mk 1:13, Mt 4:1-11, Lk 4:2-13) The terminology used throughout the NT generally consists of identifying Satan with the devil and the evil one. The parable of the sower demonstrates this. Mark 4:15 uses 'Satan,' while Luke 8:12 uses 'the devil,' and Matthew 13:19 uses 'the evil one.' This parable of how Satan comes and 'takes away the word which has been sown in them' (Mk 4:15) is very similar to the parable in the Book of Jubilees where the prince, Mastema (identified with Satan), sent ravens and other birds to devour the seed which had been sown. (11:11ff.)
The Gospels speak of both demons and Satan as being able to possess an individual. An example of an evil spirit taking possession is the case of the woman who had a spirit of infirmity' for eighteen years, which was attributed to her being 'bound' by Satan (Lk 13:11ff.) Here, the condition of the woman is regarded as being caused by demon possession, with Satan as the chief of evil spirits. It is most often portrayed in the Gospels that when a demon takes possession of an individual, it is usually by force and the demonized are not regarded as willful sinners or as excessively wicked people. However, when Satan is said to enter into a person, the possession is not forceful, and the man is held accountable for allowing Satan to influence him. Examples include when Jesus addressed Peter by saying 'Get behind me, Satan.' (Mk 8:33, Mt 16:23) and in Luke 22:3 and John 13:2, which both portray the betrayal of Judas as an effect of Satan entering into Judas.
Also, only a few passages in the Synoptic Gospels mention the final destruction of Satan. Luke 10:18 describes Jesus saying 'I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.' This may refer to either the original fall of Satan from heaven or it may imply that Jesus believed that the success of His disciples casting out demons could symbolize a complete overthrow of Satan. The most direct allusion in the Gospels is that found in Matthew 25:41 where at the last judgment, Jesus will say to the wicked 'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'
In the book of Acts, the terms, 'Satan' and 'the Devil' are used synonymously to portray the chief power of evil. Acts regards Satan as an instigator of falsehood and deceit in the story of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1ff) This agrees with the statement in John which says that the devil tells lies.
"He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character because he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8:44
Acts also makes reference to Satan as the head of the kingdom of evil. When Paul spoke to king Agrippa, he told the king of how Jesus wanted him to preach to the Gentiles in order "to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (26:18)
Shedim
In Babylonian and Assyrian religions, Shedim was a generic name like the Hebrew and Christian word 'spirit.' The word possibly derives from the root meaning 'to be violent.' They were frequently portrayed as winged bulls that guarded the entrances to temples.
They can appear with an evil connotation in magical texts, like the following:
"the evil spirit (Sedu, Heb.: Shed), the dazzlig fiend (alu, Sum.:galla), the evil wind, the assaulting wind, which strips off the clothing of the body as an evil demon, conjure, O spirit of heaven! conjure, O spirit of earth!"
Or as a friendly spirit:
"may the evil incubus depart; to another pace may he betake himself; may the propitious spirit (Sedu) (and) the propitious colossus rest upon his body..."
In the OT, they seem to only have the evil connotation. Deuteronomy 32:17 says of them:
"They sacrificed to demons [Hebrew: Shedim], no-gods, Gods they had never known, New ones, who came but lately, Who stirred not your fathers' fears."
They are also mentioned in Psalms 106:37-38
"Their own sons and daughters, they sacrificed to demons [Hebrew: Shedim]. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land was polluted with bloodguilt."
The Bereshith Rabba vii says they were created by God. God created their souls, but then the Sabbath came and He rested, so as a result, they remained disembodied. It is also said they were begotten by Adam during the period that he and Eve were separated after their transgression. Other texts claim that they were the offspring of Adam and Lilith. There is also the story that some of the people that were scattered after the building of the tower of Babel were transformed into Shedim, Ruchin, and Lilin.
The chief of the Shedim according to the T.B. Pesachim is Asmedaj. They are thought to live in deserted and/or unclean places.
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