Apocrypha
Testament of Solomon
Control of Demons
10 chapters · read and listen
Reading note
An apocryphal or pseudepigraphal text — outside the canon of the Western churches, yet widely circulated among ancient Jews and Christians. Published here from a public-domain translation, edited for continuous reading.
Chapters
Dossier
The account in which Solomon receives a ring bearing the seal of God and interrogates, one by one, the demons forced to build the Temple in Jerusalem — each giving his name, what he does, and what defeats him.
Where this text comes from
Greek, with dates estimated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD and later additions. It is a borderland text: Jewish tradition about Solomon mixed with Greco-Egyptian magic and astrology, surviving in recensions that differ considerably.
Why it is not in the Bible
Outside every canon and never even discussed for one. It is a book of exorcism and magic rather than Scripture — but it is the oldest organised source of the demonology the West inherited.
What you will find
- Each demon is questioned in the same format: name, power, the star he is bound to, and the angel who cancels him.
- Solomon's ring, with its seal, is the origin of the whole later tradition of the seal of Solomon.
- The thirty-six decans, tied to the degrees of the zodiac, appear here with names and the illnesses they cause.
- The book ends with Solomon's own fall, dragged down by desire — building the Temple does not protect him.
Frequently asked questions
- Is the Testament of Solomon a book of magic?
- It is a text about exorcism and the control of demons, written in testament form. Later magical traditions used it as a source, but it presents itself as a narrative of the Temple's construction.
- Did Solomon write it?
- No. It is pseudepigraphic, written many centuries later and attributed to him as the biblical figure associated with wisdom and power over spirits.