Chapter Five. “How is Jesus Greater than Solomon?” Solomon and Jesus as Magicians (Healers and Exorcists)

Abstract

Did the image of Solomon as a magician appear as an inseparable part of Jewish occultism that developed during the Second Temple period (the Hellenist and Roman), or was it a reaction to Jesus’ reputation as an exorcist and healer in an effort to prove that Solomon was greater than Jesus?492 Or, perhaps, it was the other way around. Namely, when the people refer to Jesus, known for his ability to exorcise demons, as the “son of David”, they do so because during the Second Temple period Solomon was famous as a healer and exorcist, and the authors of the Gospels wished to cite evidence that Jesus was, in this regard, greater than Solomon. Or, perhaps, both traditions emerged separately as an outcome of the extensive presence of magic in all the cultures of the ancient world. However, Solomon does not resemble Jesus and he is not described as having engaged in the practice of magic, namely in exorcising demons, and not as having written magic oaths and texts, or having possessed them. Jesus, on the other hand, is described as having engaged in the practice of magic, namely, in healing people and in exorcising demons, and not as the author of any text whatsoever. At the most, the two “meet” in the few magic texts in which they both appear. Since the terms “magic” and “occultism” appear frequently in the research literature—and will appear in this chapter and in Chapter Seven as well—I will begin by relating the nature of the occult (or esoteric) sciences. The word first