Jewish · Aramaic and Greek; transmitted in Latin · c. 225–175 BCE
The Book of Tobit
Anonymous
Deuterocanonical, and the earliest text to give a demon a name, a motive and a documented countermeasure: Asmodeus kills seven husbands, and Raphael tells Tobias exactly which parts of a fish to burn. The direct ancestor of the Testament of Solomon's interrogation format.
Read The Book of Tobit in full at the linked edition →What this text attests · 3
| Name here | Rank given | # | Powers described |
|---|---|---|---|
 Asmodeus = Asmoday | Evil spirit | — | Kills Sarah's seven husbands on their wedding nights, and is driven into Upper Egypt by Raphael and the smoke of a fish's heart and liver. |
| One of the seven holy angels | — | Cures Tobit's blindness, drives Asmodeus into Upper Egypt, and presents the prayers of the saints. | |
The seven holy angels = The Seven Who Stand | Those who present the prayers | — | Raphael identifies himself as one of seven who present the prayers of the saints and go in before the glory. The individual names are supplied only later and inconsistently — the body is older than any list of its members. |
What does it actually say?
The passages themselves, as this text gives them. Read them against what the other texts here say about the same figures — that comparison is the point.
“I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels.”
The seven holy angelsThose who present the prayers
“I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels.”