I. Name

The etymology of the name Asmodeus is not beyond any doubt but it is most plausibly derived from the Avestan words aēšma-and daēuua or their Middle Persian (Pahlavi) compound cognate xēšm-dēw, both meaning ‘demon of wrath’. As Talmudic texts sometimes give the form אשׁמדאי or אשׁמדיי for Asmodeus, his name has been connected with Hebrew שׁמד (to destroy, exterminate), but this seems to be folk etymology. Asmodeus does not occur as a demonic name in the Hebrew Bible, but th…