Chapter Six. Miracles and Wonders: Magic, Satan, and Demons

The correspondence between Solomon and Jesus also took place in the spheres of the esoteric and supernatural world of miracles and wondrous acts, even though, at this point, the two parted ways. Solomon did not work miracles or deal in magic, though he is a hero in many tales of wonders, while Jesus did work miracles and the mere mention of his name sufficed to overcome demons621; as a magician, he appears in both pagan and Jewish anti-Christian polemics. In Mendele Mocher Sforim’s622 novel Susati (My Mare), a classic of Yiddish and Hebrew literature, the narrator encounters witches, demons, and the demon king Ashmedai in a forest. A demon, formerly one of King Solomon’s servants, relates his account of ‘What King Solomon Did’: a mix of legends of the Sages and the author’s imagination. Upon finishing his story, the demon informs his listener that “I have many more tales from Solomon’s life; however, since I see in you signs of a non-believer—begging your forgiveness, one who casts doubt on everything, and you do not believe the words of an old demon —I would do well to hold my tongue. And nevertheless, I am not angry at you. For, after all, you are a descendant of the sons of the sons of Solomon...”.623