Simon ben .Jochai had the reputation of being a magician, and tradition relates that when he with- drew from his cave, after residing there for thirteen years, he transformed every one upon whom he gazed into a heap of bones ; and it is reported that he destroyed a heretic in this way (Pcsilta 90i, 137a).
Amulets were employed as prophylactics, i.e. as a means of counterworking the evil iniluences of witchcraft and demons. The cx'n^, to which Is 3-" alludes as one among the articles of feminine attire, may be considered to be this simply and solely. These were not forbidden, though they partook of a ma'dcal character. It is only in cases where the amulets were heathen in origin tliat they were strictly forbidden. Thus in 2 Mac 12^" the amulets discovered on the slain came from the idol temple at Jamnia, and were on this account objectionable. The name by which the amulet was called in later Jewish literature is Ip'mi'd (Ji'Cij). The kam'ri is mentioned with the tcphillin or phylacteries. Both were covered with leather. Similarly, the amulets of the Greeks and Romans were contained in capsules (bulbce). The Jewish amulet consisted either of some inscribed object or of certain roots of plants, or, in some cases, of
f rains of corn bound uj) in leather.* It may here e remarked, in passing, that every vegetable was supposed to have a subtle connexion with a planet in heaven (see Blau, p. 160 f.). Anything otl'ered with incense to the gods, or shavmgs from the Asherah tree, were considered to have a special healing virtue. Metal plates consisting of an upper and lower plate were constantly employed as amulets. A pearl wrapped up in leather was regarded as a healing remedy for cattle.
In all spells, charms, incantations, amulets, and other prophylactics, stress is always laid on the mysterious potency and significance of the name. NuiHcn involves omen. Name to the ancient Semite involves reality and personal power. And the superstitious dread of the ancient Greek who cried ev4nifiuTc at solemn crises or functions, and of the Roman who under like circumstances said favcte Unguis, was founded on this same belief in the underlying dread potency of words or names to summon forth catastrophes. To this tendency the etymologizin" efl'orts and plays on words in the Ol" are probably due, viz. to the endeavour to discover in the name a clue to the underlying power that shapes individual destiny. ' As his name, so is he,' says Abigail of her wrong-headed husband Nab.al. ' Fool is his name, and folly is with him ' (1 S 25^). The combination of the name of deity with a newborn child was therefore quite explicable. Even the names of angels in later Judaism, like those of individuals, contained the name of deity {'yx), e.g. Michael, Raphael, etc. Heaven and earth are perishable, but ' Thy great name liveth and abideth for ever' {Berak/tuth Sin). Hence tliose names (especially of angels) which contain the name of deity possess a special potency.
• On this subject of amulets consult Winer, RWB^ i. p. 66 ; Com. on On S6< and U Sis"- ; Hamburger, HE, Supplem.-Baud, U. pp. 8-11.
Particular power was assigned to the mysterious tBtragrammalun, which could be pronounced only on the Great Day of Atonement in the temple by tlie high priest. Hence it is called in the Talmud c-jirpn D^ (in Aramaic Nv"n;.'3 n?v')i the name pro- lumnced (cf. I'ael ^■'-?) then, and then onl3'. Ibis name later Judaism believed to have been inscribed on the wonder-working statl'of Moses. The tcliiim no longer overflows when a potsherd engraved with the tetragramniatrm is thrown into it. Ashmodai (cf. Apollyon), the prince of demons, was bound by a chain and a seal ring, on which was inscribed the Divine name {Gittin 68, bottom). By mark- ing this name on the mouth of the idol calf of Jeroboam it was made to speak.
This mj'sterious and potent name was designated in Hebrew as c^'n, by the Greeks ri jcojua, also called fippT/TOK— on magic papyri (.see Wessely) fi-o/ia KpvTTTbv Kal &ppy)Tov, or, as in the inscription of Iladrumetum (see art. Magic, and Deissmann, Bible Studies, 14611'., lO(iK.),TbdyiOi> SvopiaSovXiyerai (line 20), also t6 Kpinrrbv ofo/ia Kal dpptjTof iv dfdpdnrois (Dietrich, Abraxas, 195, line 7), or it is called t6 TeTpdypafi/jLov livop-a t6 iiv(Ttik6v. The Hebrew rm'., in;, .^; is reproduced in a variety of forms in Greek (see Deissmann, ib. p. 4). The manifold employment of the letters of the tetrn- grammaton, as well as of the seven vowels a e r; I 0 u o), played a considerable part in magic jiapjai ; and it is impossible within the space at our disposal to enter into the maze of details on this subji^ct, which may be found in Blau's treatise, pp. 141-146.
The belief in the power of words, especially those of Scrijiture, is exhibited by the custom of repeat- ing a plirase, as, for example, the Ultemd, or some- times in inverting the order of letters, as in the Gnostic gem referred to by Schwab (Vocabulaire de I'Angclologie, p. 303), in which is inserted OvKXiaXi j, which is the expression Njp Sx'? "3 inverted. The belief underlying these inversions is that the reversal of the order ell'ects the retreat or over- throw of tlie demons and of the sorcery they em- ploy. According to Rabbi 'Akiba, special potency belongs to the letters of the ali)habet to which special meanings by acrostics were assigned. Thus i^n =