For the source text click/tap here: Gittin 68
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In our daf Shlomo HaMelech asked the Rabbis, “How shall I manage to build the Temple?” They replied, “There is the shamir (a creature which could cut through stone) which Moshe brought for the stones of the Ephod.” He asked them, “Where can it to be found?”
They replied, “Bring a male and a female demon and apply pressure to them; perhaps they know and will tell you.” So, he brought a male and a female demon and pressured them. They said to him, “We do not know, but perhaps Ashmedai the king of the demons knows.”
We then follow the long story of Benayahu son of Yehoyada’s mission to find the demon.
We examine the history of Ashmodai the demon in various ancient texts.