Ashmedai is an old Hebrew word meaning "destroyer." In the Talmud and The Book of Legends, Ashmedai is the name of "the king of the demons." In one well-known episode, King Solomon sends Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to subdue Ashmedai so Solomon can ask him where to find a wyrm with the power to split stones to build an alter (Solomon had been commanded not to use metal to split the stones). "Ashmedai" eventually became a euphemism for Satan.