THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

B >> BY LOUIS GINZBERG >> THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME IV BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

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Another of his disciples had a similar experience. Annually a man
came from a great distance to pay a visit to the wise king, and
when he departed Solomon was in the habit of bestowing a gift
upon him. Once the guest refused the gift, and asked the king to
teach him the language of the birds and the animals instead. The
king was ready to grant his request, but he did not fail to warn him
first of the great danger connected with such knowledge. "If thou
tellest others a word of what thou hearest from an animal," he said,
"thou wilt surely suffer death; thy destruction is inevitable."
Nothing daunted, the visitor persisted in his wish, and the king
instructed him in the secret art.

Returned home, he overheard a conversation between his ox and
his ass. The ass said: "Brother, how farest thou with these people?"

The ox: "As thou livest, brother, I pass day and night in hard and
painful toil."

The ass: "I can give thee relief, brother. If thou wilt follow my
advice, thou shalt live in comfort, and shalt rid thyself of all hard
work."

The ox: "O brother, may thy heart be inclined toward me, to take
pity on me and help me. I promise not to depart from thy advice to
the right or the left."

The ass: "God knows, I am speaking to thee in the uprightness of
my heart and the purity of my thoughts. My advice to thee is not to
eat either straw or fodder this night. When our master notices it, he
will suppose that thou art sick. He will put no burdensome work
upon thee, and thou canst take a good rest. That is the way I did
to-day."

The ox followed the advice of his companion. He touched none of
the food thrown to him. The master, suspecting a ruse on the part
of the ass, arose during the night, went to the stable, and watched
the ass eat his fill from the manger belonging to the ox. He could
not help laughing out loud, which greatly amazed his wife, who, of
course, had noticed nothing out of the way. The master evaded her
questions. Something ludicrous had just occurred to him, he said
by way of explanation.

For the sly trick played upon the ox, he determined to punish the
ass. He ordered the servant to let the ox rest for the day, and make
the ass do the work of both animals. At evening the ass trudged
into the stable tired and exhausted. The ox greeted him with the
words: "Brother, hast thou heard aught of what our heartless
masters purpose?" "Yes," replied the ass, "I heard them speak of
having thee slaughtered, if thou shouldst refuse to eat this night,
too. They want to make sure of thy flesh at least." Scarcely had the
ox heard the words of the ass when he threw himself upon his food
like a ravenous lion upon his prey. Not a speck did he leave
behind, and the master was suddenly moved to uproarious
laughter. This time his wife insisted upon knowing the cause. In
vain she entreated and supplicated. She swore not to live with him
any more if he did not tell her why he laughed. The man loved her
so devotedly that he was ready to sacrifice his life to satisfy her
whim, but before taking leave of this world he desired to see his
friends and relations once more, and he invited them all to his
house.

Meantime his dog was made aware of the master's approaching
end, and such sadness took possession of the faithful beast that he
touched neither food nor drink. The cock, on the other hand, gaily
appropriated the food intended for the dog, and he and his wives
enjoyed a banquet. Outraged by such unfeeling behavior, the dog
said to the cock: "How great is thy impudence, and how
insignificant thy modesty! Thy master is but a step from the grave,
and thou eatest and makest merry." The cock's reply was: "Is it my
fault if our master is a fool and an idiot? I have ten wives, and I
rule them as I will. Not one dares oppose me and my commands.
Our master has a single wife, and this one he cannot control and
manage." "What ought our master to do?" asked the dog. "Let him
take a heavy stick and belabor his wife's back thoroughly," advised
the cock, "and I warrant thee, she won't plague him any more to
reveal his secrets."

The husband had overheard this conversation, too, and the cock's
advice seemed good. He followed it, and death was averted. (34)

On many occasions, Solomon brought his acumen and wisdom to
bear upon foreign rulers who attempted to concoct mischief
against him. Solomon needed help in building the Temple, and he
wrote to Pharaoh, asking him to send artists to Jerusalem. Pharaoh
complied with his request, but not honestly. He had his astrologers
determine which of his men were destined to die within the year.
These candidates for the grave he passed over to Solomon. The
Jewish king was not slow to discover the trick played upon him.
He immediately returned the men to Egypt, each provided with his
grave clothes, and wrote: "To Pharaoh! I suppose thou hadst no
shrouds for these people. Herewith I send thee the men, and what
they were in need of." (35)

Hiram, king of Tyre, the steadfast friend of the dynasty of David,
who had done Solomon such valuable services in connection with
the building of the Temple, was desirous of testing his wisdom. He
was in the habit of sending catch-questions and riddles to Solomon
with the request that he solve them and help him out of his
embarrassment about them. Solomon, of course, succeeded in
answering them all. Later on he made an agreement with Hiram,
that they were to exchange conundrums and riddles, and a money
fine was to be exacted from the one of them who failed to find the
proper answer to a question propounded by the other. Naturally it
was Hiram who was always the loser. The Tyrians maintain that
finally Solomon found more than his match in one of Hiram's
subjects, one Abdamon, who put many a riddle to Solomon that
baffled his wit. (36)

Of Solomon's subtlety in riddle guessing only a few instances have
come down to us, all of them connected with riddles put to him by
the Queen of Sheba. (37) The story of this queen, of her relation to
Solomon, and what induced her to leave her distant home and
journey to the court at Jerusalem forms an interesting chapter in
the eventful life of the wise king.

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

Solomon, it must be remembered, bore rule not only over men, but
also over the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, demons,
spirits, and the spectres of the night. He knew the language of all
of them and they understood his language. (38)

When Solomon was of good cheer by reason of wine, he
summoned the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the creeping
reptiles, the shades, the spectres, and the ghosts, to perform their
dances before the kings, his neighbors, whom he invited to witness
his power and greatness. The king's scribes called the animals and
the spirits by name, one by one, and they all assembled of their
own accord, without fetters or bonds, with no human hand to guide
them.

On one occasion the hoopoe (39) was missed from among the
birds. He could not be found anywhere. The king, full of wrath,
ordered him to be produced and chastised for his tardiness. The
hoopoe appeared and said: "O lord, king of the world, incline thine
ear and hearken to my words. Three months have gone by since I
began to take counsel with myself and resolve upon a course of
action. I have eaten no food and drunk no water, in order to fly
about in the whole world and see whether there is a domain
anywhere which is not subject to my lord the king. (40) and I
found a city, the city of Kitor, in the East. Dust is more valuable
than gold there, and silver is like the mud of the streets. Its trees
are from the beginning of all time, and they suck up water that
flows from the Garden of Eden. The city is crowded with men. On
their heads they wear garlands wreathed in Paradise. They know
not how to fight, nor how to shoot with bow and arrow. Their ruler
is a woman, she is called the Queen of Sheba. If, now, it please
thee, O lord and king, I shall gird my loins like a hero, and journey
to the city of Kitor in the land of Sheba. Its kings I shall fetter with
chains and its rulers with iron bands, and bring them all before my
lord the king."

The hoopoe's speech pleased the king. The clerks of his land were
summoned, and they wrote a letter and bound it to the hoopoe's
wing. The bird rose skyward, uttered his cry, and flew away,
followed by all the other birds.

And they came to Kitor in the land of Sheba. It was morning, and
the queen had gone forth to pay worship to the sun. Suddenly the
birds darkened his light. The queen raised her hand, and rent her
garment, and was sore astonished. Then the hoopoe alighted near
her. Seeing that a letter was tied to his wing, she loosed it and read
it. And what was written in the letter? "From me, King Solomon!
Peace be with thee, peace with the nobles of thy realm! Know that
God has appointed me king over the beasts of the field, the birds of
the air, the demons, the spirits, and the spectres. All the kings of
the East and the West come to bring me greetings. If thou wilt
come and salute me, I shall show thee great honor, more than to
any of the kings that attend me. But if thou wilt not pay homage to
me, I shall send out kings, legions, and riders against thee. Thou
askest, who are these kings, legions, and riders of King Solomon?
The beasts of the field are my kings, the birds my riders, the
demons, spirit, and shades of the night my legions. The demons
will throttle you in your beds at night, while the beasts will slay
you in the field, and the birds will consume your flesh."

When the Queen of Sheba had read the contents of the letter, she
again rent her garment, and sent word to her elders and her
princes: "Know you not what Solomon has written to me?" They
answered: "We know nothing of King Solomon, and his dominion
we regard as naught." But their words did not reassure the queen.
She assembled all the ships of the sea, and loaded them with the
finest kinds of wood, and with pearls and precious stones.
Together with these she sent Solomon six thousand youths and
maidens, born in the same year, in the same month, on the same
day, in the same hour all of equal stature and size, all clothed in
purple garments. They bore a letter to King Solomon as follows:
"From the city of Kitor to the land of Israel is a journey of seven
years. As it is thy wish and behest that I visit thee, I shall hasten
and be in Jerusalem at the end of three years."

When the time of her arrival drew nigh, Solomon sent Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada to meet her. Benaiah was like unto the flush in the
eastern sky at break of day, like unto the evening star that
outshines all other stars, like unto the lily growing by brooks of
water. When the queen caught sight of him, she descended from
her chariot to do him honor. Benaiah asked her why she left her
chariot. "Art thou not King Solomon?" she questioned in turn.
Benaiah replied: "Not King Solomon am I, only one of his servants
that stand in his presence." Thereupon the queen turned to her
nobles and said: "If you have not beheld the lion, at least you have
seen his lair, and if you have not beheld King Solomon, at least
you have seen the beauty of him that stands in his presence."

Benaiah conducted the queen to Solomon, who had gone to sit in a
house of glass to receive her. The queen was deceived by an
illusion. She thought the king was sitting in water, and as she
stepped across to him she raised her garment to keep it dry. On her
bared feet the king noticed hair, and he said to her: "Thy beauty is
the beauty of a woman, but thy hair is masculine; hair is an
ornament to a man, but it disfigures a woman." (41)

Then the queen began and said: (42) "I have heard of thee and thy
wisdom; if now I inquire of thee concerning a matter, wilt thou
answer me?" He replied: "The Lord giveth wisdom, out of His
mouth cometh knowledge and understanding." She then said to
him:

1. "Seven there are that issue and nine that enter; two yield the
draught and one drinks." Said he to her: "Seven are the days of a
woman's defilement, and nine the months of pregnancy; two are
the breasts that yield the draught, and one the child that drinks it."
Whereupon she said to him: "Thou art wise."

2. Then she questioned him further: "A woman said to her son, thy
father is my father, and thy grandfather my husband; thou art my
son, and I am thy sister." "Assuredly," said he, "it was the daughter
of Lot who spake thus to her son."

3. She placed a number of males and females of the same stature
and garb before him and said: "Distinguish between them."
Forthwith he made a sign to the eunuchs, who brought him a
quantity of nuts and roasted ears of corn. The males, who were not
bashful, seized them with bare hands; the females took them,
putting forth their gloved hands from beneath their garments.
Whereupon he exclaimed: "Those are the males, these the
females."

4. She brought a number of men to him, some circumcised and
others uncircumcised, and asked him to distinguish between them.
He immediately made a sign to the high priest, who opened the
Ark of the covenant, whereupon those that were circumcised
bowed their bodies to half their height, while their countenances
were filled with the radiance of the Shekinah; the uncircumcised
fell prone upon their faces. "Those," said he, "are circumcised,
these uncircumcised." (43) "Thou art wise, indeed," she exclaimed.

5. She put other questions to him, to all of which he gave replies.
"Who is he who neither was born nor has died?" "It is the Lord of
the world, blessed be He."

6. "What land is that which has but once seen the sun?" "The land
upon which, after the creation, the waters were gathered, and the
bed of the Red Sea on the day when it was divided."

7. "There is an enclosure with ten doors, when one is open, nine
are shut; when nine are open, one is shut?" "That enclosure is the
womb; the ten doors are the ten orifices of man his eyes, ears,
nostrils, mouth, the apertures for the discharge of the excreta and
the urine, and the navel; when the child is in the embryonic state,
the navel is open and the other orifices are closed, but when it
issues from the womb, the navel is closed and the others are
opened."

8. "There is something which when living moves not, yet when its
head is cut off it moves?" "It is the ship in the sea." (44)

9. "Which are the three that neither ate, nor did they drink, nor did
they have bread put into them, yet they saved lives from death?"
"The signet, the cord, and the staff are those three."

10. "Three entered a cave and five came forth therefrom?" "Lot
and his two daughters and their two children."

11. "The dead lived, the grave moved, and the dead prayed: what is
that?" "The dead that lived and prayed, Jonah; and the fish, the
moving grave."

12. "Who were the three that ate and drank on the earth, and yet
were not born of male and female?" "The three angels who visited
Abraham." (45)

13. "Four entered a place of death and came forth alive, and two
entered a place of life and came forth dead?" "The four were
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, and the two were Nadab
and Abihu."

14. "Who was he that was born and died not?" "Elijah and the
Messiah."

15. "What was that which was not born, yet life was given to it?"
"The golden calf."

16. "What is that which is produced from the ground, yet man
produces it, while its food is the fruit of the ground?" "A wick."

17. "A woman was wedded to two, and bore two sons, yet these
four had one father?" "Tamar."

18. "A house full of dead; no dead one came among them, nor did
a living come forth from them?" "It is the story of Samson and the
Philistines."

19. The queen next ordered the sawn trunk of a cedar tree to be
brought, and she asked Solomon to point out at which end the root
had been and at which the branches. He bade her cast it into the
water, when one end sank and the other floated upon the surface of
the water. That part which sank was the root, and that which
remained uppermost was the branch end. Then she said to him:
"Thou exceedest in wisdom and goodness the fame which I heard,
blessed be thy God!" (46)

The last three riddles which the Queen of Sheba put to Solomon
were the following:

20. "What is this? A wooden well with iron buckets, which draw
stones and pour out water." The king replied: "A rouge-tube."

21. "What is this? It comes as dust from the earth, its food is dust,
it is poured out like water, and lights the house." "Naphtha."

22. "What is this? It walks ahead of all; it cries out loud and
bitterly; its head is like the reed; it is the glory of the noble, the
disgrace of the poor; the glory of the dead, the disgrace of the
living; the delight of birds, the distress of fishes." He answered:
"Flax." (47)

SOLOMON MASTER OF THE DEMONS

Never has there lived a man privileged, like Solomon, to make the
demons amenable to his will. God endowed him with the ability to
turn the vicious power of demons into a power working to the
advantage of men. He invented formulas of incantation by which
diseases were alleviated, and others by which demons were
exorcised so that they were banished forever. (48) As his personal
attendants he had spirits and demons whom he could send hither
and thither on the instant. He could grow tropical plants in
Palestine, because his ministering spirits secured water for him
from India. (49)

As the spirits were subservient to him, so also the animals. He had
an eagle upon whose back he was transported to the desert and
back again in one day, to build there the city called Tadmor in the
Bible (50) This city must not be confounded with the later Syrian
city of Palmyra, also called Tadmor. It was situated near the
"mountains of darkness," (51) the trysting-place of the spirits and
demons. Thither the eagle would carry Solomon in the twinkling
of an eye, and Solomon would drop a paper inscribed with a verse
among the spirits, to ward off evil from himself. Then the eagle
would reconnoitre the mountains of darkness, until he had spied
out the spot in which the fallen angels 'Azza and 'Azzael (52) lie
chained with iron fetters a spot which no one, not even a bird,
may visit. When the eagle found the place, he would take Solomon
under his left wing, and fly to the two angels. Through the power
of the ring having the Holy Name graven upon it, which Solomon
put into the eagle's mouth, 'Azza and 'Azzael were forced to reveal
the heavenly mysteries to the king. (53)

The demons were of greatest service to Solomon during the
erection of the Temple. It came about in this wise: When Solomon
began the building of the Temple, it once happened that a
malicious spirit snatched away the money and the food of one of
the king's favorite pages. This occurred several times, and
Solomon was not able to lay hold on the malefactor. The king
besought God fervently to deliver the wicked spirit into his hands.
His prayer was granted. The archangel Michael appeared to him,
and gave him a small ring having a seal consisting of an engraved
stone, and he said to him: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of David,
the gift which the Lord God, the highest Zebaot, hath sent unto
thee. With it thou shalt lock up all the demons of the earth, male
and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. But
thou must wear this seal of God; and this engraving of the seal of
the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha." (54) Armed with it, Solomon
called up all the demons before him, and he asked of each in turn
his or her name, as well as the name of the star or constellation or
zodiacal sign and of the particular angel to the influence of which
each is subject. One after another the spirits were vanquished, and
compelled by Solomon to aid in the construction of the Temple.

Ornias, the vampire spirit who had maltreated Solomon's servant,
was the first demon to appear, and he was set to the task of cutting
stones near the Temple. And Solomon bade Ornias come, and he
gave him the seal, saying: "Away with thee, and bring me hither
the prince of all the demons." Ornias took the finger-ring, and went
to Beelzeboul, who has kingship over the demons. He said to him:
"Hither! Solomon calls thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said
to him: "Tell me, who is this Solomon of whom thou speakest to
me?" Then Ornias threw the ring at the chest of Beelzeboul,
saying: "Solomon the king calls thee." But Beelzeboul cried aloud
with a mighty voice, and shot out a great, burning flame of fire;
and he arose and followed Ornias, and came to Solomon. Brought
before the king, he promised him to gather all the unclean spirits
unto him. Beelzeboul proceeded to do so, beginning with
Onoskelis, that had a very pretty shape and the skin of a fair-hued
woman, and he was followed by Asmodeus; both giving an
account of themselves.

Beelzeboul reappeared on the scene, and in his conversation with
Solomon declared that he alone survived of the angels who had
come down from heaven. He reigned over all who are in Tartarus,
and had a child in the Red Sea, which on occasion comes up to
Beelzeboul and reveals to him what he has done. Next the demon
of the Ashes, Tephros, appeared, and after him a group of seven
female spirits, who declared themselves to be of the thirty-six
elements of the darkness. Solomon bade them dig the foundation
of the temple, for the length of it was two hundred and fifty cubits.
And he ordered them to be industrious, and with one united
murmur of protest they began to perform the tasks enjoined.

Solomon bade another demon come before him. And there was
brought to him a demon having all the limbs of a man, but without
a head. The demon said to Solomon: "I am called Envy, for I
delight to devour heads, being desirous to secure for myself a
head; but I do not eat enough, and I am anxious to have such a
head as thou hast." A hound-like spirit, whose name was Rabdos,
followed, and he revealed to Solomon a green stone, useful for the
adornment of the Temple. A number of other male and female
demons appeared, among them the thirty-six world-rulers of the
darkness, whom Solomon commanded to fetch water to the
Temple. Some of these demons he condemned to do the heavy
work on the construction of the Temple, others he shut up in
prison, and others, again, he ordered to wrestle with fire in the
making of gold and silver, sitting down by lead and spoon, and to
make ready places for the other demons, in which they should be
confined.

After Solomon with the help of the demons had completed the
Temple, the rulers, among them the Queen of Sheba, who was a
sorceress, came from far and near to admire the magnificence and
art of the building, and no less the wisdom of its builder. (55)

One day an old man appeared before Solomon to complain of his
son, whom he accused of having been so impious as to raise his
hand against his father and give him a blow. The young man
denied the charge, but his father insisted that his life be held
forfeit. Suddenly Solomon heard loud laughter. It was the demon
Ornias, who was guilty of the disrespectful behavior. Rebuked by
Solomon, the demon said: "I pray thee, O king, it was not because
of thee I laughed, but because of this ill-starred old man and the
wretched youth, his son. For after three days his son will die
untimely, and, lo, the old man desires to make away with him
foully." Solomon delayed his verdict for several days, and when
after five days he summoned the old father to his presence, it
appeared that Ornias had spoken the truth.

After some time, Solomon received a letter from Adares, the king
of Arabia. He begged the Jewish king to deliver his land from an
evil spirit, who was doing great mischief, and who could not be
caught and made harmless, because he appeared in the form of
wind. Solomon gave his magic ring and a leather bottle to one of
his slaves, and sent him into Arabia. The messenger succeeded in
confining the spirit in the bottle. A few days later, when Solomon
entered the Temple, he was not a little astonished to see a bottle
walk toward him, and bow down reverently before him; it was the
bottle in which the spirit was shut up. This same spirit once did
Solomon a great service. Assisted by demons, he raised a gigantic
stone out of the Red Sea. Neither human beings nor demons could
move it, but he carried it to the Temple, where it was used as a
cornerstone.

Through his own fault Solomon forfeited the power to perform
miraculous deed, which the Divine spirit had conferred upon him.
He fell in love with the Jebusite woman Sonmanites. The priests of
Moloch and Raphan, the false gods she worshiped, advised her to
reject his suit, unless he paid homage to these gods. At first
Solomon was firm, but, when the woman bade him take five
locusts and crush them in his hands in the name of Moloch, he
obeyed her. At once he was bereft of the Divine spirit, of his
strength and his wisdom, and he sank so low that to please his
beloved he built temples to Baal and Raphan. (56)

THE BUILDING OF THE TEMPLE

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