Page 280 - ירושלים: גיליון רפואי

King Solomon as a Healer

On Demons and Spirits, Spells and Amulets

Est¯ee Dvorjetski

King Solomon was famous for his wisdom, his great wealth, and his building projects, yet he
was also known as a person with magical powers who was able to cure diseases by controlling
and driving out demons and spirits. In the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods, a number
of different sources tell of Solomon’s resolute ability to control demons and spirits. This was
clearly manifested by his use of demons while building the Temple, recounted in sources from
Eretz-Israel and Babylonia. Alongside these records, commonly-held traditions also credit
Solomon with curing the sick by casting out demons. The magical powers he was credited
with may have been inspired by biblical accounts of his wisdom, for example in the description,
“And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of
the wall; he spoke also of beasts, and birds, and of reptiles, and of fish…” (I Kings 5:13–14). Since
medicinal substances in the Hellenistic period were based on the study of plants, medicine
and magic were linked together. Solomon became an expert in the occult skills used to
overcome demons.

Sources from the earliest centuries, including texts found at Qumran, link Solomon with
controlling demons for medicinal purposes. According to tradition, Solomon knew how to
speak the language of the beasts, the birds, demons, and lilies. Solomon’s power to banish
demons was mentioned by the historian Josephus Flavius in his work Jewish Antiquities, and
it was also mentioned in Christian sources. For example, in an anonymous Latin translation of
the Gospel of Matthew, the author accused the Christians of emulating the ways of the Jews
by using the name of Solomon to banish demons. Byzantine chroniclers and historians also
claimed that Solomon was the first to write books about the knowledge of medicine, and
through the ages physicians relied on his writings about the properties found in plants and
animals. This was despite the fact that his “Book of Remedies” was concealed by Hezekiah, king
of Judah, on the basis that medicine and consultation with doctors derived from lack of faith
in God. Perhaps that is why the book was hidden, or it included instructions on how to prepare
harmful substances that themselves led to sickness and death.

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