Tephros

The demon of the ashes. He and several other demons aided Solomon in the construction of the Temple. When Solomon asks what his pursuit is, the demon replies:

I bring darkness on men, and set fire to fields; and I bring homesteads to naught. But most busy am I in summer. However, when I get an opportunity, I creep into corners of the wall, by night and day. For I am offspring of the great one, and nothing less.

And when asked under what star he lies:

In the very tip of the moon's horn, when it is found in the south. There is my star. For I have been bidden to restrain the convulsions of the hemitertian fever; and this is why many men pray to the hemitertian fever, using these three names: Bultala, Thallal, Melchal. And I heal them.

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References

Sources

  • Testament of Solomon, 33 ff.
  • Ginzberg, Louis. (1909). The Legends of the Jews, 7 volumes. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America.