Asmodaeus

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

ASMODÆUS , the ‘evil demon’ of Tob 3:1-17; Tob 6:1-17; Tob 8:1-21 , appears freely in the Talmud as AshmÄ•dai , which popular etymology connected with shâmad , ‘to destroy.’ It is fairly certain, however, that it is the Avestan Açsma daçva , ‘fury demon,’ conspicuous from the earliest to the latest parts of the Parsi scriptures. It would seem that the Book of Tobit is really a Median folk-story, adapted for edification by a Jew, with sundry uncomprehended features of the original left unchanged. For these see ‘Zoroastrianism’ in Hastings’ DB [Note: Dictionary of the Bible.] , § 4. In the Talmud Ashmedai is king of the Shçdîn , demons supposed to be mortal, and of either sex.

James Hope Moulton.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

az -mo -dē´us ( אשׁמדי , 'ashmedhai  ; Ἀσμοδαῖος , Asmodaı́os ): An evil spirit first mentioned in Tobit 3:8. Older etymologists derived the name from the Hebrew verb shāmadh , "destroy"; but it is now generally held to be associated with Zoroastrianism, with which the Jews became acquainted during the exile, and by which later Jewish views on the spirit-world were greatly influenced. It is now held to be the equivalent of the Persian Aeshma-Deva, the spirit of concupiscence. The spirit is at times reckoned as the equal in power of "Abaddon" ( Job 31:12 ) and of "Apollyon" ( Revelation 9:11 ), and in Tobit is represented as loving Sara, only daughter of Raguel of Ecbatana, and as causing the death on the bridal night of seven husbands who had in succession married her. His power was broken by the young Tobias acting on the advice of the angel Raphael (Tobit 6:15). He burnt on the "ashes of incense" the heart and liver of a fish which he caught in the Tigris. "But when the devil smelled the smell, he fled into the uppermost parts of Egypt, and the angel bound him" (Tobit 8:3). Milton refers to the incident in Paradise Lost , 4, 168-71, founding on Jewish demonology and the "loves of the angels" ( Genesis 6:2 ).