“Because He Loves Her …”: The Figure of the Demon in the Book of Tobit

Ancient Near Eastern cultures attributed illnesses, anxiety and psychological disorders, afflictions, epidemics, and all kinds of natural evil to the work of demons. However, spirits and demons were believed to mediate not only in physical plagues, illnesses and dysfunctions of the body and soul. Negative emotions and troubles in human relationships were similarly attributed to demonic agents. Mesopotamian texts mention the “spirit of disagreement between mother and daughter”, and the Old Testament speaks of an evil spirit sent by God “to create a breach between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Shechem” (Judges 9:22). Demons can also serve as signals of a trouble in human relationships as it is suggested in the book of Tobit by Asmodeus, whose figure is analysed in the paper.