Testament solomon pdf

Skip to main content. By using our site, you agree to our collection of information through the use of cookies. To learn more, view our Privacy Policy. Log In Sign Up. Download Free PDF. Download PDF. A short summary of this paper. Graf in- cludes Judgments of Solomon JSol in his overview of legends con- cerning David and Solomon, doing so on two occasions: first he iden- tifies an Arabic translation of the Testament of Solomon2 TSol in Vaticano arabo , fols.

A little later, he lists JSol as a separate work 29r— 54r consisting of five distinct parts, including the previously men- tioned translation of TSol3. Having failed to capture the interest of scholars of pseudepigrapha and apocrypha for some time, the next significant reference to JSol comes with James H.

Thanks to the well- deserved authority of The Pseudepigrapha and Modern Research, all subsequent research on TSol continues to include Vat. It is the purpose of this paper to remedy that and to show that JSol does not in fact contain a translation of any known recension of TSol, although it does draw heavily from it. Along with bringing attention to previously unknown manuscript witnesses, we will briefly examine the structure and the content of this work, ana- lyze its substantial connection to the Testament of Solomon and see what insights JSol can provide into pseudepigrapha and their place in Eastern and Oriental versions of the Bible.

Manuscript Witness Known Manuscripts 1. According to the Arabic fihrist written on fol. A letter by Hermes the Wise? The final work, however, appears to be missing from the volume, as are fols. This is the manuscript origi- nally studied and cited by Graf. Section Folios 1.

Four books of the Old Testament with an introduction v— 6. Judgments of Solomon — 7. A dispute between a Christian and a Jew v—r 8. Athanasius of v— Alexandria Gregorius of Nysse to his student — Ephrem And of the proverbs, only this book remained and the book of Qohelet, and of the songs, only the Song of Songs. No mention, however, is made of JSol. JSol occupies folios 34r— 53v The relationship of both sets of canonical books will need to be exam- ined closely to determine the textual history of both translations.

As for JSol, both recensions are remarkably close in wording, appearance the general title, the titles of the first three sections and in their dis- tinct linguistic features. Considering the fact that BnF is the older of the two witnesses, one would be tempted to hypothesize that Vat. However, several indicators speak against that. First, BnF is relatively consistently vocalized while Vat.

Sec- ondly, there are a number of differences that could not have arisen had the scribe of Vat. The most notable of those is the name of the king of the Gentiles who appears in stories V and VIII see manuscript division below. Whether both these witnesses ultimately rely on a single older one or whether the textual history of JSol is more complicated than that re- mains to be seen. While it is immediately obvious that JSol has been compiled from various sources, some of it possibly translated from at least two languages, it is also clear that the compiler made a significant effort to tie the stories together both conceptually and in terms of chronology.

Beyond that, however, the manuscripts themselves offer very little insight into the origin and the process of compilation of JSol. It is equally difficult to trace the ultimate origin of all constituent parts of JSol. Except for the first two sections, translations of well- known passages from the canonical Old Testament, only one story can be directly traced to older material story V and the Coptic Legend of Solomon and Thabor.

Finally, it is remarkable that very little in JSol, with the possible exception of the structure of stories IX and X and the concept of cas- tles floating in the air in story VI, is similar to or reminiscent of any of the many works of Muslim Arabic Solomonic literature. It is our hope that further research will shed more light on the relationship of JSol to both Christian Greek and Coptic and Islamic Solomonic lore. Origin and History When describing the contents of JSol, Graf identifies five separate nar- ratives, the final one being the alleged translation of TSol.

Upon closer examination, however, it becomes obvious that the structure of JSol is slightly more complex. Brief description BnF Ar fols. I Solomon asks God for wisdom — 1 Kings —15 r 29r —29v l. While the exact relationship of individual constituent parts of JSol to each other in terms of their history is unclear, it is obvious that a significant effort has been made to shape them into a coherent narra- tive.

In the following sections, we present a brief summary of the con- tents of individual stories highlighting where appropriate details sig- nificant for our understanding of the work.

Both stories are essentially a translation of the canonical version, but not entirely. In JSol, it is the mother of the dead boy who speaks first. He prays over the baptismal pool in the sanctuary asking God to reveal the guilt of anyone who enters the pool and cover them with boils. When Martha is submerged into the water seven times, she emerges safe and healthy. Solomon then orders Mary to dive into the water.

This time, the priest refuses to take his offerings and scolds him for the sorry state of things in his kingdom. This I will teach you and also how you can order them to cut stones for the construction of the Temple your are building in my name.

Solomon brings his offering, exits the Temple and immediately assembles all the demons and orders them to bring and cut stones. Demons gather stones from mountains everywhere and they do so in the night, so that when one evening, there were no stones available for the next day, in the morning there are enough stones for ten thousand men to work with for one whole year.

With all this happening, however, the men who worked in the night did not see the demons. There was a great stone that the workers could not lift, so Solomon stamped it with his ring and the demons lifted it so high that the men tired from carrying it. So Solomon made a copy of the ring and gave it to the workers so they could command the demons. The demons would then haul the stone as ordered and work with the people who, however, never saw them.

King Solomon worked on the Temple for 46 years and for the entire time, no sound of a saw or an axe was heard 1 Kings , because: God gave Solomon a precious stone with His Magnificent name on it, of which Solomon made a copy and gave it to the artisans. And so whenever the workers wanted to cut stone or saw wood, they would simply put the precious stone to the wood or the stone and cut them with it.

This rather curious story appears to be a faithful translation of a virtually unknown17 10th century Coptic text Legend of Solomon and Thabor from a ms located at the John Rylands Library in Manchester and previously described by Walter E. Fortunately, Crum provided a transliteration of the text and though substantial portions of the beginning are missing, it can be conclusively established that Story V is indeed a translation of this legend.

Additionally, the Testament of Solomon has survived from the Second Temple era which displays another side of King Solomon. The lifetime of King Solomon falls during the Third Intermediate Period dark age in Egyptian history, and therefore are no records of Solomon within the very limited Egyptian records from the time. Egyptologists believe the Kingdom of Egypt collapsed at the beginning of the time period, and by the time that Solomon would have lived, in the early-9th century BC, the king of Egypt only controlled the northern region, while the rest of Egypt was under the rule of the High Priest of Amen Amun.

The various books associated with Solomon that made it into the Septuagint, include 3rd Kingdoms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, and Psalms of Solomon, als of which have been retranslated into modern English. The first book in this collection is 3rd Kingdoms, which tells the life of Solomon, likely from Ezra the Scribe's perspective, years later. The book likely dates to before the reign of King Josiah, circa BC, but is believed to have been redacted by Ezra the Scribe, or someone else in his era.

The second book, Proverbs, also called Proverbs of Solomon, is generally attributed to King Solomon, who is explicitly referred to as the author of some of the proverbs.

A number proverbs are known to have been copied from older collections of proverbs, most notably the Wisdom of Amenemope, which was apparently written by Amenemope son of Kanakht sometime before Pharaoh Akhenaten, circa BC. The third book, Ecclesiastes is generally also attributed to King Solomon, however, he is not mentioned anywhere by name.

The idea that King Solomon was the author, is found in the introduction to the text. At some point before the Greek translation was made, someone added an introduction and conclusion to the text, in which the author is described as being the 'son of David,' and a 'King in Jerusalem.

The book does not list its author, but it was clearly written by a woman in love with Solomon. She is believed to have been referring to herself as a Shulamite in chapter 7, which suggests she was Abishag the Shulamite, King David's youngest concubine.

The fifth book, Wisdom of Solomon was added to the Septuagint sometime between and BC, and while it was traditionally attributed to King Solomon, today scholars generally believed to have been composed in Greek, shortly before it was added to the Septuagint.

The sixth book, Psalms of Solomon, is also called Psalms of Salomon in many of the surviving manuscripts, although it is not clear why. At this time, it is universally agreed that the Psalms of Solomon is a pre-Christian work, as early Christian writers referred to it even though it is clearly not about the life of Jesus as described in the gospels.

The seventh book, Testament of Solomon, was widely used by Christian and Gnostic astrologers in the first few centuries of the Christian era. This paperback edition of the Testament of Solomon is a complete and accurate reprint of the original translation of ancient manuscripts by F.

It contains all of Conybeare's original notes and commentary, including the greek characters he footnoted for the reader's consideration.

Beware of other editions of this work that do not contain all of the original text. Written in the first person narrative, the book tells the story of the creation of the magical ring of King Solomon and how Solomon's ring was used to bind and control demons, including Beelzebub. The spells and seals of Solomon used by the King to bind the spirits are detailed, which makes this work a book of Solomon's magic, similar in nature to the Lesser Key of Solomon the King and the Greater Key of Solomon the King, which both are King Solomon books of magic and contain various instructions for talismans of Solomon, including the secret seal of Solomon.

The Dialogue puports to have been written during the Archbishopric of Cyril in C. No matter the date, the text provides an immensely interesting description of how King Solomon tamed various demons in order to build his temple.

Hardcover reprint of the original edition - beautifully bound in brown cloth covers featuring titles stamped in gold, 8vo - 6x9. No adjustments have been made to the original text, giving readers the full antiquarian experience.

For quality purposes, all text and images are printed as black and white. This item is printed on demand. Book Information: Mccown, Chester Charlton. Testament Of Solomon. Original Publishing: Mccown, Chester Charlton. Leipzig: J. Hinrichs, Subject: Demonology. The oldest surviving copies of The Testament of Solomon were written in the same grammatic form as New Testament Greek and have been dated by scholars as originating from the period of the first to fourth centuries C.

This English translation of the work ascribed to the authorship of the Old Testament King Solomon of the Book of Kings the work describes how Solomon is enabled to build the Temple by commanding demons by means of a magical ring and its five pointed seal entrusted to him by the Archangel Michael. Solomon states that he wrote his testament before his death so that the children of Israel would know the powers and shapes of the demons, and the names of the angels who have power over them.

A self-help manual against demonic activity. This is his testament. Please note: this is not a book of negativity or the black arts, this is a historical account, an amendment if you will.

Revised forward by author, Guinness record holding performance artist, and radio personality Mikhail Tank. Original artwork by Seth Ahonen. This text is an Old Testament Pseudepigraphic catalog of demons summoned by King Solomon, and how they can be countered by invoking angels and other magical techniques. It is one of the oldest magical texts attributed to King Solomon. It is the earliest known compendium of demons and describes Solomon as a Magician. Translated by F. C Conybeare in who has stated that it may have been re-worked by a Christian, as many Christian passages may be found in certain sections.

The manuscript contains sections, according to Conybeare's translation. Within the text Solomon states that he wrote his testament before his death so that the children of Israel would know the powers and shapes of the demons, and the names of the angels who have power over them. The story described by Solomon in the Testament provides a framework into which magical formulae and names could be inserted without destroying the content, and therefore due to this, the text has grown over the centuries, so that it is now very difficult to identify original text from later additions.

This special edition includes a basic spell kit that is a scaled down version of the magick Solomon himself used to conjure demons. Included are step by step instructions on how to cast a basic love spell. By studying the book and using a little imagination the reader will gain insight which will allow him or her to devise more complex and powerful spells.

The Key of Solomon the King is the most famous and most significant of all known grimoires, or ancient spellbooks. Much of Western magical tradition rests on the book's charts of planetary alignments, doctrines about angels and spirits, and information on talismans endowed with magic properties. The grimoire of ceremonial magic recounts how King Solomon bested some demons using a magic ring that had been given to him by the Archangel Raphael. Examines the issues in scholarship on the Testament of Solomon, for instance, the Testament's textual identity and its tradition history.

The author approaches these issues in the light of thinking about 'magic' and the structure of texts. He aims to undermine the reputation of Solomon as the origin of a tradition of magico-religious healthcare.

The Testament of Solomon comprises a family of texts, some dating to the fourth century CE or earlier, relating an extra-Biblical account of King Solomon's divinely-conferred power to constrain the demons who plague the human race. It is also, implicitly, a handbook for those bold or foolhardy enough to follow his example in the demonological sciences. Translated here for the first time from fifteenth-century Byzantine Greek manuscripts, one such text of this secret Solomonic history has finally been made available in English.