Demons in the Pseudepigrapha

There is no consensus in ancient literature about the nature of demons
or evil spirits. The early Jesus traditions pre-suppose or assume an
understanding of demons; the Gospel authors assume their readers1 will
readily understand the mention of demons.
Sources for understanding demons include Greco-Roman and Jewish
literature before and after the time of Jesus, the Greek Magical Papyri
(PGM), curse tablets, and amulets.2 Curse tablets and magical amulets
have been discovered from all over the Mediterranean world, dating

1 For an overview of issues relating to identifying the readers of the
Gospels, see Richard Bauckham, ed., The Gospels for All Christians:
Rethinking the Gospel Audiences (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1998).
2 The magical texts have been published in, K. Preisendanz and A.
Henrichs, eds., Papyri Graecae Magicae (2 vols; Stuttgart: Teubner, 1973-
4). The curse tablets have been published in J. G. Gager, Curse Tablets
and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (Oxford, Oxford University
Press, 1992). The magical amulets have been published in E. R.
Goodenough, Jewish Symbols of the Greco-Roman Period (13 vols; New
York, Pantheon Press, 1953-64).

both before and after our period. The magical papyri are dated later (3c.
CE and onwards), but they reflect the earlier traditions embodied in the
curse tablets and magical amulets. Further, we cannot ignore the wider
Near East and its possible influence on thinking about demons in first
century Palestine.1 These various sources are often highly syncretistic;
there was a significant cross-fertilisation of ideas about demons and gods
in the Ancient World.
The differences in source material can be characterised in the following
way: in philosophical and literary works, the references to demons are
more likely to be discursive and theoretical, whereas in the magical
texts, curse tablets and amulets, references to demons are essential to the
practical use of these texts in everyday life. It is these latter types of text
that are more relevant to the traditions about Jesus‖ exorcisms simply
because they are set in everyday social contexts.
-------------
Plutarch (c. 46 - c.120 C.E.) is the principal philosophical source for 1c.
views on demons. His main writing on the subject, Oracles in Decline,
2
is
a dialogue set in Delphi, discussing the question of why Oracles were
less used than in previous generations. Plutarch‖s characters represent
two views on demons – they are either intermediary to the gods and/or
they are the souls of the departed dead.3

1 For example, see the entry under “Demons and Monsters” in J. Black
and A. Green, eds., Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia
(London: The British Museum Press, 1992).
2
See Oracles in Decline, 414-417, 431 in Plutarch: Selected Essays and
Dialogues, (ed., D. Russell; Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1993).
3 For a study on the extensive evidence showing the popularity of the
“ghosts view” of demons, see P. G. Bolt, “Jesus, The Daimons and the
Dead” in The Unseen World (ed., A. N. S. Lane; Carlisle: Paternoster,
1996).

Plutarch‖s characters adduce information about demons from the
religious rituals and mysteries of the day. Demons are required because
the gods cannot directly participate in men‖s affairs. They are souls
because they manifest the same behavioural characteristics as humans
who are essentially “souls”. Generally, they are the souls of the dead,
however, some are souls that have never been united with human bodies
and are therefore independent spirits—intermediate beings between the
gods and men. Demons may be good or evil.1 Plutarch represents views
about demons derived from Plato,2 who may be considered to have
moulded the consensus view for the educated Hellenized classes.
These two views represent alternative understandings that Jesus and/or
his disciples may have entertained.3 However, there is no Gospel-based
evidence that Jesus or the disciples subscribed to Hellenistic views. It is
more likely that they derived their conceptions from the surrounding
Jewish culture, including Jewish literature and Jewish Scripture. We
should also bear in mind that Jesus may have entertained a different
point of view to that of the disciples on this question.
The main evidence for Jesus‖ view on demons is the passage known as
the “Beelzebub Controversy”. In this controversy Jesus is accused of
being possessed by Beelzebub. This accusation is well attested in early

1 Philo voices the same view, “But as men in general speak of good and
evil demons, and in like manner of good and evil souls, so also do they
speak of angels…”, On The Giants, 16, in The Works of Philo (ed., C. D.
Yonge; Peabody: Hendrickson, 1993).
2
See Symposium 202d-203, Timaeus 40d, Cratylus 397d-398b, Republic,
427b, 469a, 540c, and Laws 909b in Plato: Complete Works (ed., J. M.
Cooper; New York: Hackett 1997). All subsequent quotations of Plato
are from this edition.
3 That the disciples may have believed in ghosts – see Matt 14:26, Luke
24:37 cf. Acts 23:8-9.

tradition (Luke/Q 11:14-18a, 19-20, 23,1 Mark 3:19b-30), and the central
charge may well have been made on more than one occasion (cf. Matt
9:32-34, 10:25, John 7:20, 8:48-52, 10:20-21). Likewise, Jesus‖ answers to
the charge have multiple attestations (e.g. GThom 35 as well as Q and
Mark). This variety of independent evidence leads scholars to regard the
Beelzebub Controversy as genuine.2
Mark‖s narrative comment on this controversy is that Jesus‖ opponents
had accused him of having an unclean spirit (Mark 3:30) – and this
suggests that Beelzebub was an unclean spirit – a demon. In a Jewish
context, “Beelzebub”,
3
the prince of demons (Mark 3:22), is another title
for the leading demon in the Story of the Watchers (cf. Dan 4:17) –
“Mastema” or “Satan” in Jubilees or Semyaz or Azaz‖el4
in 1 Enoch.

1 For a popular introduction to the theory behind Q, which includes a
reconstructed text of Q, see Burton L. Mack, The Lost Gospel: The Book
of Q and Christian Origins (Shaftsbury: Element, 1993). For a
presentation of Q with critical apparatus and parallels with other
gospels, see John S. Kloppenborg, Q Parallels (Sonoma: Polebridge,
1988). We follow Kloppenborg in his assessment of the content of Q.
2 For a discussion see Gerd Theissen and Annette Merz, The Historical
Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide (London: SCM Press, 1998), 298-299.
3 The meaning of this title is disputed but we favour the view that it
connotes “Baal, the Prince”. This is suggested by archaeological
discoveries at Ras Shamra (Ugarit), which have uncovered uses of the
title zbl. bc
l for Baal. See A. S. Kapelrud, The Ras Shamra Discoveries and
the Old Testament (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1965), 33, 37; U. Oldenberg,
The Conflict Between El and Baal in Canaanite Religion (Leiden: E. J.
Brill, 1969), 82, n. 1; T. Jemmielty, Satire and the Hebrew Prophets
(Louisville: WJK Press, 1992), 88.
4 For a discussion of the names of the leading angel see, M. E. Mills,
Human Agents of Cosmic Power (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1990), ch. 5.

These texts develop a Midrash on Genesis 6 and offer an account of the
origin of demons.1
In 1 Enoch, the sons of God (fallen angels) marry the daughters of men
and give birth to giants (1 Enoch 6:1-2, 7:1-2). These angels (led by
Semyaz or Azaz‖el) are imprisoned in the earth but the spirits of these
giants are allowed to roam the earth:
But now the giants who are born from the (union of) the spirits
and the flesh shall be called evil spirits2
upon the earth, because
their dwelling shall be upon the earth and inside the earth. Evil
spirits have come out of their bodies. Because from the day they
were created from the holy ones they became Watchers; their
first origin is the spiritual foundation. They shall become evil
upon the earth and shall be called evil spirits. The dwelling of
the spiritual beings of heaven is heaven; but the dwelling of the
spirits of the earth, which are born upon the earth, is the earth.
The spirits of the giants oppress each other; they will corrupt,
fall, be excited, and fall upon the earth, and cause sorrow. They
eat no food, nor become thirsty, nor find obstacles. And these
spirits shall rise up against the children of the people and against
the women, because they have proceeded from them. 1 Enoch
15:8-12

They have defiled the people and will lead them into error so
that they will offer sacrifices to the demons as unto gods, until
the great Day of Judgment... 1 Enoch 19:1

1 Quotations from 1 Enoch are from the translation in J. H.
Charlesworth, ed., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha (2 vols; New
York: Doubleday, 1983-85).
2 This concept of “evil spirit” is different to the one found in the Old
Testament, which is associated with angels (Jud 9:23, 1 Sam 16:14, Ps
78:49) – here in 1 Enoch they are the spirits of dead giants.

These spirits “which come from the flesh” will do their work until the
consummation of the age.
This is only a brief and simple survey of the story of the Watchers.
There are complex issues of interpretation raised by the text, which we
have ignored. These do not affect our objective in considering 1 Enoch,
because we are just concerned with how the work accounts for the
origin of demons.1
1 Enoch provides a precise explanation of a) why
there are evil spirits; b) why these beings are “spirit”; and c) why they
dwell on earth.
Jubilees is the other major surviving source from the inter-testamental
period that describes the fall of angels from heaven. O. S. Wintermute
comments,
If Jubilees is dated between 161-149 BC, it becomes an
important primary source for studying the evolution of the
various religious parties which became prominent in Judea just
before the birth of Christ.2
Jubilees gives a slightly different caste to the story of the Watchers. The
leading evil spirit, Mastema or Satan, is one of the giants and left free to
supervise other evil spirits; in 1 Enoch, Azaz‖el or Semyaz is a fallen
angel and imprisoned in the earth.

1 For a discussion of the Story of the Watchers in 1 Enoch see N.
Forsyth, The Old Enemy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987),
chs. 7-9.
2 O. S. Wintermute, “Introduction” to Jubilees in Charlesworth, ed.,
Pseudepigrapha, 1:46.

In response to the prayer of Noah for protection against the spirits of
the giants, God instructs his angels to “bind them” in the earth. In
response to this command Mastema addresses God:
And the Lord God bade us to bind all. And the chief of the
spirits, Mastema, came and said:
―Lord, Creator, let some of them remain before me and let them
hearken to my voice, and do all that I shall say unto them; for if
some of them are not left to me, I shall not be able to execute
the power of my will on the children of men because they are
intended to corrupt and lead astray before my judgement
because the evil of the sons of men is great.‖
And he said:
―Let the tenth part of them remain before him, and let nine
parts descend into the place of condemnation.‖
And one of us he commanded that we should teach Noah all
their medicines; for he knew that they would not walk in
uprightness, nor strive in righteousness. And we did according
to all his words: all the malignant evil ones we bound in the
place of condemnation, and a tenth part of them we left that
they might be subject before Satan on the earth. And we
explained to Noah all the medicines of their diseases, together
with their seductions, how he might heal them with herbs of
the earth. And Noah wrote down all things in a book as we
instructed him concerning every kind of medicine. Thus the evil
spirits were precluded from hurting the sons of Noah. Jubilees
10:1-141


This translation is from H. C. Kee, ed., The Origins of Christianity:
Sources and Documents (London: SPCK, 1973).


The dimension that Jewish literature adds to Hellenistic ideas about
demons is the nomination of a leading demon: the Devil and Satan. In
Greek religion, demons might be the intermediaries of the gods, but no
one particular “god” is signalled out as a leader of demons.1
In Jubilees,
Mastema or Satan is given a recurring adversarial role in Israelite
history.2
The scholarly consensus is that Jewish demonologies developed after the
Exile as a result of contact with Persian thinking:
The idea that demons were responsible for all moral and
physical evil had penetrated deeply into Jewish religious
thought in the period following the Babylonian exile, no doubt
as a result of Iranian influence on Judaism in the fifth and the
fourth centuries BC when Palestine as well as Jews from the
eastern Diaspora were subject to Persian rule.3
Of the two traditions, Jubilees is closer than 1 Enoch to Jesus‖
controversy with his opponents. Mastema was a “prince”, and being a
“prince” is a characteristic of Beelzebub. Jesus shows understanding of
Jewish thinking in this area: he accepts that Beelzebub is a “prince”—for
he talks of a kingdom and he accepts the casting out of demons “by” a
figure of power. Jesus also substitutes “Satan” for the title “Beelzebub”,
which is also a title for Mastema.

1 See W. Burkert, Greek Religion (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985), 179-
181, 329-332.
2 See Jubilees 11:15, 17:15-18:13, 23:29, 46:1-2, 48:2, 12, and 50:5.
3 G. Vermes, Jesus the Jew (London: SCM Press, 1993), 61. See also,
Forsyth, The Old Enemy, 147 and H. C. Kee, Medicine, Miracle and
Magic (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1986), 70.

In terms of Jesus and his disciples‖ thinking on demons, it is likely that
some rendition of the Watchers Story informed their dealings with the
people. Its popularity is evidenced in the number of surviving 1c. texts
that mention the story, for example, in the Essene documents—the
Genesis Apocryphon (1QapGen 2:1), and the Damascus Document (CD
2:14-20);1
and in various inter-testamental works.2


1 Another Dead Sea fragment, 4Q180, also mentions Azaz‖el and the
fallen angels. Unless otherwise noted all references to the Dead Sea
Scrolls are to the edition, Geza Vermes, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in
English (London: Penguin, 1998).
2 The theme is also mentioned in the largely 2c. B.C.E. work, Testament
of the Twelve Patriarchs – T. Reuben 5:6-7, T. Naphtali 3:2, 5. The giants
are mentioned in the Wisdom of Solomon 14:6, (1c. B.C.E.), Sirach 16:7,
(2c. B.C.E.), Baruch 3:26, (1c.-3c. B.C.E.), 3 Maccabees 2:4, (1c. B.C.E.).
This spread of witness to the story shows that it was a popular belief.
All of these works can be found in Charlesworth, ed., Pseudepigrapha.