THE SECRET BOOK3
ACCORDING TO JOHNb
Contents
i 1 The teaching [of the] savior and [the revelation] of the mysteries,
[which] are hidden in silence [and which] it (the savior) taught to John
[its] disciple.
I. F R A M E ST O R Y (INTRO D U CTIO N)
Dialogue of John and a Pharisee
5 Oncec upon a time when John the brother of James, one of the sons
s o/Zebedee, was going up to the templed *a Pharisee named Arimanios
encountered him and said to him, Where is your teacher, the man that
you used to follow?
i) And he (John) said to him, He has returned to the place from which
he came.
12,13 The Pharisee said to him, • That Nazarenec has greatly misled you,
unfilled your ears with lies, closed [your hearts], “and turned you away
[from] the traditions o f your [ancestors].
II. JO H N ’S N A R R A T IO N
John’s distress
17 When V heard these words, I turned away from the temple towards
20,21 the barren mountain,B«and I was very distressed, saying, •How indeed
22 vvoj the savior chosen? *And why was he sent into the world by his
23,24 parent who sent him? “A nd who is his parent who [sent him]? “And
26 what is that realm like, to which we shall g o l *For what [. . ,]he told
us that this realm [ . . .]has been stam ped in the mold o f that incorruptible
realm, and did not tell us what that other one is like.
Appearance of the savior
30 At the moment that I was thinking these thoughts, lo, the heavens
31 opened, “and all creation shone with light that [. . .] below heaven.
Title 1 a. Greek apokryplton, lit. “ concealed
(thing)."
b. In the manuscripts, the title is found
after the text (at 32:7f).
c. For the meaning of italics, see the
introduction to BJn, “ T ext."
d. The Jewish temple of god in Jerusalem.
Ancient Christian tradition (cf. Acts 2:46f)
held that the earliest Christians in Jerusalem
continued to take part in the Jewish religious
cult of the temple.
e. "N azarene": Gk. nasdraios, “ person
from N azareth." Traditionally the term was
also held to mean “ one who is observant,"
and sometimes referred to members of a
Jewish-Christian sect of that name or to
Christians in general.
f. From here until 31:3I f the narrator is
John. But starting at 2:9f, John's narration
quotes a long speech of the savior.
g. O r “ toward the desert." The Judaean
Desert begins at the back of the Mount of
Olives, which on the other side overlooks
the site of the temple.
29 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N 3:28
33,1 And the [. . .] world moved. 2 •For my part, I was afraid, [. . .] saw
3 within the light a child standing before me. «When I saw [. . .] like an
4 elderly person. »And it changed (?) [its] manner of appearance to be like
5,6 a young person. •[. . .] in my presence. «And within the light there was
7 a multiform image ( ? ) . »And the [manners of appearance] were appearing
8 through one another. »[And] the [manner of appearance] had three forms.
9 [It]3 said to me, John, John, why do you have doubts, and why [are
11.12 you] afraid? «Are you alien to this kind of thing? «This is to say, do not
12.13 be timid. »It is I who am with [you (plur.)] always, 'it is I who am [the
15 father]; it is I who am the mother; it is I who am the son.b«It is I who
16 am the undefiled and the unpolluted. »[Now I have come] to teach you
(sing.) what exists, and what [has come to be], and what must come to
is be, •so that you might [know about] the invisible realm [and the] visible
19 realm; •and to [teach you] about the perfect [human being],
20 Now, then, lift up your [face] to hear and [learn about] what I shall say
22 to you today, •so that you too might convey it [to those who are] like
23 [you] in spirit, «and who are [from] the immovable race of the perfect
human being [. . .], so that [they] might understand [. . .].
III. T H E SA V IO R ’S T E A C H IN G
The parent of the entirety
26.26 It said to me: »The unit (monad), since it is a unitary principle o f rule,
28 has nothing that presides over it. •[. . .] god and parent of the entirety
30 [. . .] presides over [. . .] incorruptibility,0«existing [in] uncontaminated
32 light, toward which no vision can gaze. 'This [is] the invisible spirit.
33 It is not fitting11 to think of it as divine or as something of the sort,
35,36 for it is superior to deity; •nothing presides over it, for nothing 3 has
1 mastery over it; «[it does] not [exist (?)] in any state of inferiority, [. . .]
4 exists in it alone.3 [. . .] because it lacks nothing. «For it is utter fullness,
without having become defective in anything so that it might be completed
6,7 by [it]: •rather, it is always utterly perfect in [. . .]. «It is unlimited
because nothing [exists] prior to it so as to bestow limit upon it;
9 unfathomable, because nothing exists prior to it so as to fathom (?) if,
10,12 immeasurable, because nothing else has measured it; •invisible, because
13 nothing else has seen if, •eternal, since it [exists] unto eternity;
14 ineffable, since nothing has been able to reach it so as to speak o f if,
is unnameable, since there is nothing that exists prior to it so as to give a
17 name to it. •It is immeasurable light, which is uncontaminated, holy,
18,20 and pure-, «it is ineffable and perfect in incorruptibility: «not inperfection,
22 nor in blessedness nor in divinity; «rather as being/ar superior to these.b
22,24 It is not corporeal, it is not incorporeal, «it is not large, it is not small,
24.26 it is not quantifiable, nor is it a creature. «Indeed, no one can think o f
26 it. «It is not something among the existents; rather it is something far
28 superior to these: «(yet) it is not as though it were “ superior” -, rather,
its proper characteristic is not to share in eternal realms (aeons), or in
2 a. As is explicitly stated in 30:Ilf, the the invis'ible, [which] presides over the enspeaker
of the teaching is forethought, or the tirety, which [exists in] its incorruptibility."
Barbélô. Forethought is genderless because d. The description of god that follows
it is simultaneously male and female (cf. resembles some accounts in second-century
5;6f). Platonist philosophy; see “ Historical Introb.
“ [father]. . . m other . . . son” : one of duction” to Part One.
the basic structures of the Barbêlô aeon (cf.
FTh, EgG, IrG). A similar triadic structure, 3 a. MS BG instead has “ For, it is eternal."
but without this terminology, is present in b. MSS BG and NHC III next have “ It is
Zs, Fr, 3Tb. neither infinite, nor has it been limited; rather,
c. MS BG instead has “ the [. . .] god, it is something superior to these."
parent of the entirety, the holy [spirit (?)],
EgO 50:3
F r 61:32
IrSat 1.24.1
IrG 1.29.1
IrU nid 1.30.1?
EpA 40.5.2;
3Tb 121:33
v.32
FTh 35:7
v.33
Fr 62:27
Fr 63:5
3Tb 121:30
3:30 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N
30 spans of time. »For whatever shares in an eternal realm has been
31 prepared beforehand.c •And it [has not been] divided by time [. . .] any
33.34 other, fo r it does not receive anything. «For [ . . .] d «For [ . . .] it, so that
36 it might receive from [. . .]. »For it gazes upon itself [alone (?)] within
1 4 its perfect light. »For it is majesty;“ it is an immeasurable [. . ,].b
3.3 [It is] eternity, [as] bestowing' eternity.“1»It is life, as bestowing life.
4,5 It is blessed, as bestowing blessedness. »It is acquaintance, as bestowing
6.7 acquaintance. »[It is] good, as bestowing goodness.' »[It is] mercy, [as
7.8 bestowing] mercy and ransom. »It is grace/ as bestowing grace. »(It is
all these things) [not] as possessing (attributes); rather, as bestowing
(them).
9 [It is] immeasurable, incorruptible light,s [in so far as I can speak]
10 with you (sing.) about it. »Its [eternal realm] is incorruptible, at peace
13 and dwelling in silence, at repose, utterly (?) preceding. »[It] is the head
of all the aeons, since it is this which in its goodness bestows strength
upon them.
i5,i6 Indeed, we [are] not acquainted with [. . .]; »we do not (?) know [. . .]
except [for] what has been shown forth out of it,h that is, [the] parent:
19 for it is the parent that spoke to us. »For it is this that gazes at its own
21,22 self in its light around it, »that is, the wellspring of living water;' »gives
22 unto all the aeons', »and in every way [thinks of (?)] its image, beholding
24 it in the wellspring of the [spirit]j and »exercising willk in its [watery]
light, [that is,] the wellspring of the pure, luminous water around it,
Production of forethought
26 And its thinking produced something, and the thinking was disclosed,
29 standing [plainly] in its presence in the brilliance o f its light. »This is
the first power, which exists prior to all (others), and which was shown
forth (?) out of its thinking, that is, the perfect forethought o f the
32 entirety. »The light of this (thought) [. . .] light, the power of the [. . .],
c. MS NHC 111 instead has “ prepared by
others.”
d. MS BG instead has “ And it is not in
need, (for) nothing at all exists prior to it."
4 a. Or “ magnitude.”
b. Instead of these two sentences, MSS
BG and NHC III have simply "(It is) the
immeasurable m ajesty."
c. Because it “ bestows eternity," it might
itself be termed "eternity." The savior qualifies
these epithets at 4:8f.
d. MS BG next has " It is light, which
bestows light."
e. MS BG next has "and doing goodness—
not as though possessing (something); rather,
as bestowing."
f. Or "loveliness": Greek klmris.
g. MSS BG and NHC III next have "W hat
shall I say to you concerning it? The incomprehensible
is the image of the light, in terms
of what I can think about. Indeed, who can
ever think about it?"
h. “ Indeed . . . of it” (4:15f): MSS BG
and NHC III instead have "F o r none of us
has become acquainted with the properties
of the immeasurable except for what has
been shown forth by it."
i. MS BG next has "the light full of sanctification.
The wellspring of the spirit streamed
down from the living w ater of the light."
j. Three metaphors in this passage (4:19-
36f) gloss over the difficult traditional problem
of why a second principle (here called
forethought, Barbelo) would come to be
"produced” from a perfect first principle
(the parent). (1) The parent is a detached eye
whose function is simply to look. It is surrounded
by reflective "luminous w ater" so
that it must "gaze at its own s e lf’; its own
“ image" that it sees becomes objectified as
a second principle, "the image of the perfect
invisible virgin spirit." (2) The parent is an
abstract intellect whose function is simply to
think. It initially has no other object of
thought than its own self; the act of “ thinking"
or thought becomes objectified as a
second principle, “ the perfect forethought."
(3) The parent is a "spring o f living (running)
w ater" whose function is simply to overflow
endlessly. The overflow becomes objectified
as a second principle, the Barbelo ("great
overflow": see “ Historical Introduction" in
Part One). Note that the first metaphor implies
that in the beginning there might have
been something together with the parent ("its
light"). M etaphors like these are used in a
similar context by Platonist philosophers
roughly contemporary with the author of
Bin.
k. Or "d esire."
Zs 128:27 ?
Fr 67:24
F r 64:30
FTh 46:16 +
EgG 62:9
Zs 17:11
FTh 35:1+
EgG 51:22
IrG 1.29.1
EpG 25.2.2
v.29
10:20
31 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JOHN
34.36 that is, the image of the perfect invisible virgin spirit.1*T/i/s is the power,
the glory of the Barbelo,1" the (most) perfect glory 5 among the aeons,
the glory of the manifestation, which glorifies the virgin spirit and praises
3,4 it, ‘ for because of the latter it was shown forth.“ *It is the first thinking
of the spirit’s image.b
3,6 It (the Barbelo) became a womb for the entirety,0 «for it was prior to
all (others), (being) the mother-father, the first human being, the holy
spirit, the thrice-male,dthe three powers; the thrice-androgynous name;
and (was) the (most) eternal aeon among the invisible.
14:18
FTh 38:11
v.36
Th 13:2
RAd 64:6
EgG 52:2
IrG 1.29.1
EpG 26.10.4 +
FTh 38:14 +
Its request for more eternal realms: prior acquaintance
io And the emanation, that is, the Barbelo, made a request of the EgG 51:22
invisible virgin spirit, that it be given prior acquaintance [prognosis) . lrG1291
i4 ,i4 And the spirit consented.0 «And when it had consented, prior acquain-
15 tance became disclosed. ♦A nd prior acquaintance stood at restralong with
forethought, which derived from the thinking of the invisible virgin spirit;
is and it glorified the spirit and the Barbelo, the spirit’s perfect power,
19 for prior acquaintance had come to exist because o f the Barbelo.
Incorruptibility
20 And furthermore, the Barbelo made a request that it be given r r 86.32
21,22 incorruptibility. "And the spirit consented. «While it u '« .v consenting, R t f r ;» ? ?
23 incorruptibility became disclosed. «And [they]8 stood at rest along with
24 thinkingh and prior acquaintance; •and they glorified the invisible' and
the Barbelo because of which they had come to exist.
Eternal life
26,27 And the Barbelo made a request that it be given eternal life. «And the e®g 51:22
28 invisible spirit consented. «And while it was consenting, eternal life lrG l'29'1
30,30 became disclosed. «And they stood at rest, «and they glorified the
invisible spirit and the Barbelo because of which they had come to exist.
Truth
32,33 And furthermore it made a request that it be given truth, «And the iro 1.29.2
34 invisible spirit consented. «And truth became disclosed.
35.35 And they stood at rest, «and they glorified the 6 acceptable (?), invisible
spirit and its Barbelo, because of which they had come to exist.
2 This is the quintet of aeons belonging to the parent, which is the first 3Tb 12009
human being,“ the image of the invisible spirit, namely;
1. “ the perfect invisible virgin spirit'': the
parent.
m. For the meaning of this name, see
“ Historical Introduction" in Part One and
note 4j.
S a. MS BG next has "and thinks about it."
b. MS BG instead has “ the first thinking,
the spirit's image."
c. "entirety": the sum total of spiritual
reality deriving from the Barbelo.
d. "thrice-m ale": cf. EgG, note 51f.
e. “ consented": here and throughout this
passage, the Coptic word can be translated
also "gazed out."
f. To “ stand at rest" is philosophical jargon
for the state of permanence, non-change.
and real being, as opposed to what exists in
instability, change, and becoming.
g. I.e. prior acquaintance and incorrupti­
bility.
h. I.e. forethought, the Barbelo.
i. The "perfect invisible virgin spirit," the
parent.
6 a. Forethought (cf. 5:6f). The quintet is
made up of "forethought" and its four emanations.
The four emanations are here considered
to be mere aspects of their source,
so that also the quintet as a whole can be
spoken of as "the image of the invisible
spirit," i.e. as being forethought, the Bar­
belo.
6:5 T H E S E C R E T BOO K A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N
5 forethought, which is the Barbelo and thinking;
prior acquaintance;
incorruptibility;
eternal life;
truth.b
s This is the androgynous quintet of aeons, that is, the group of ten aeons,c
which constitutes the parent.d
Begetting of the self-originate
io And it' gazed at the Barbelo, (who was) in the uncontaminated lightr
12 around the invisible spirit and (in) its radiation. «And the Barbelo
13 conceived by it, »and it begot a luminous spark consisting of'light in an
image that was blessed, though not equal to its parent’s magnitude.
is This was the only-begotten offspring of the mother-father® which ap-
16 peared, «and the mother-father’s only begetting; (it was) the onlybegotten
of the parent, the uncontaminated light.
Its anointment
is And the invisible virgin spirit rejoiced at the light that had come to
exist and that had been shown forth out of the first power of the spirit’s
23 forethought, who is the Barbelo. «And the spirit anointed it (the spark)
24 with its own kindness" until it became perfect, »needing no further
kindness since it had been anointed with the kindness of the invisible
26 spirit. »And it stood at rest in the presence of the spirit, which was
28 pouring upon it. »And the moment that it received from the spirit it
glorified the holy spirit' and perfect forethought, because of which it had
become disclosed.
Its request for coactors
33 And it made a request that it be given a coactor, namely intellect.
34.34 And the spirit consented [. . .]. »And while the invisible spirit was
i consenting, 7 intellect was disclosed. »And it stood at rest along with
3 the anointed (Christ)," glorifying the spirit and the Barbelo. »And all
these beings came into existence within silence."
4 And thinking" wished to make
b. MSS BG and NHC III omit "tru th "
from this list, counting “ the Barbelo" and
"thought” as the first two members.
c. "forethought, . . . prior acquaintance,
incorruptibility,. . . life, truth" are all grammatically
feminine words in Greek (pronoia,
prognosis, aphtharsia, zde, aielheia), and
are here perhaps said to have grammatically
masculine consorts, thus adding up to ten.
Such an arrangement is hinted at in 7:11f and
is explicit in IrG.
d. Lit. "w hich is the parent" (MS NHC
III, "w hich belongs to the parent"). The
parent " is" its emanations even while being
distinguishable from them, just as forethought
" is" its emanations but is also distinguishable
from them (cf. note 6a).
e. The parent, the invisible spirit.
f. MS BG instead has “ The Barbelo. the
uncontaminated light, gazed intently at it";
NHC 111, "the Barbelo gazed intently at the
uncontaminated light."
something by the Word (or verbal
g. “ the m other-father” : forethought (the
Barbelo); cf. 5:6f. Forethought's four emanations
in the quintet (6:5f) merely "ap peared";
they were not "begotten offspring"
of forethought and the parent.
h. "kindness": Greek khrestotes, Once
"anointed," the only-begotten will be both
khrestos, “ kind," and khristos "the anointed."
The two Greek words were pronounced identically
at the time that BJn was written.
i. "spirit . . . holy sp irit. . .": the parent.
7 a. "anointed" (cf. note 6h) and "C hrist"
are the same word in Greek.
b. In some gnostic systems (e.g. IrV) “ silence"
is distinguished as an entity that
coexisted with the ineffable parent in the
beginning,
c. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
"and thinking. The invisible spirit wished to
make som ething."
IrG 1.29.1
FTh 37:31
EgG 55:11
IrG 1.29.1
IrUnid 1.30.1
EpS 39.3.5
Zs 131:14
IrG 1.29.1
EgG 51:22
33 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N 8:7
6.7 expression)11of the invisible spirit. »And its will became deed, «and was
disclosed along with intellect and the light, and glorified it.'
9.10 And Word (or verbal expression) followed after will. «For by the
Word, the anointed (Christ) divine self-originate made the entirety (or
all things).
ii.12 Now, eternal life is with its will. «And intellect is with prior acquaint­
ance/
Its establishment as god of the entirety
13 They stood at rest and glorified the invisible spirit and the Barbëlô,
15 for because of the Barbëlô they had come to exist. «And the holy spirit8
perfected the divine self-originate,1' the offspring of itself and the Barbëlô,
« so as to make the offspring stand at rest before the great invisible virgin
19 spirit.1*The divine self-originate, the anointed (Christ), who glorified the
22 spirit with a great voice, was shown forth by forethought. »And the invisible
virgin spirit established the self-originate as true god over the en-
25 tirety, «and subordinated to it (the self-originate) all authority and the
27 truth that was in it (the spirit), *so that it might know about the entirety:
27,29 which is called by a name that is superior to every name, *for that name
will be uttered to those who are worthy of it.
Appearance of four luminaries and twelve eternal realms
30 For by the gift of the spirit, out of the light that is the anointed (Christ)
and out of incorruptibility/ the four luminaries from the divine selforiginate
gazed outk so as to stand 8 before it.
1 And the three: will, thinking, and life.
2 And the four powers:
intelligence;
loveliness;
perception;
prudence."
Harmozel
4 Now, loveliness dwells at the eternal realm (aeon) of the luminary
6 Harmozel, and is the first angel. ‘ And with this eternal realm (aeon) are
three additional aeons:
7 loveliness;
truth;
form.b
d. “ Word (or verbal expression)": the
divine Logos.
e. The parent (?).
f. See note 6c.
g. MS NHC III instead has “ the great
invisible spirit."
h. "self-originate" (Greek autogenes): the
anointed (Christ).
i. MSS NHC II and IV here erroneously
insert “ of."
j. MS NHC II here erroneously inserts
"o f."
k. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
"appeared."
8 a. "A nd the three . . . prudence": the
Coptic text of MS NHC II may be slightly
garbled here. MSS BG and NHC III here list
"loveliness; intelligence; perception; prudence."
The parallel in IrG has "loveliness;
perception; intelligence; prudence."
b. Greek morphë.
EgG 51:22
FTh 37:3 +
EgG 51:22
FTh 38:33 +
EgG 62:11
Zs 29:1
IrG 1.29.2
IrG 1.29.2
T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
Ôroiaêl
8 Now, it is the second luminary Ôroiaêl that has been established in
10 charge of the second eternal realm, «and with it are three additional
aeons:
11 afterthought;'
perception;
memory.
Daueithai
12 Now, the third luminary is Daueithai, which has been established in
14 charge of the third eternal realm, *and with it are three additional aeons:
is intelligence;
love;
ideal form.d
Eleleth
16 Now, the fourth luminary Eleleth was established in charge of the
is fourth eternal realm, *and with it are three additional aeons;
is perfection;
peace;
wisdom (Sophia),
20 Those are the four luminaries that stand before the divine self-originate,
22 and those are the twelve aeons that stand before the offspring of the
great self-originate anointed (Christ),' through the desire and the gift of
25 the invisible spirit. "The twelve aeons belong to the offspring of the self-
26 originate. *And it was by the will of the holy spirit that the entirety
became strong through the self-originate.
Appearance of four archetypes
28 Then—(deriving) from prior acquaintance and perfect intellect through
[disclosure] of the desire of the invisible spirit and the desire of the selforiginate—
the perfect human being, the first manifestation and true
34 (person), was named • “ the Geradamas (Ger-Adamas)” r by the virgin
35 spirit. ‘ And that being was established upon the first 9 eternal realm
(aeon) with the great self-originate and anointed (Christ), at the first
3.4 luminary Harmozel, «and its powers" dwell with it. *And the invisible
gave to it an invincible intellectual faculty.
s And it (the Geradamas) spoke, glorifying and praising the invisible
spirit, and said,
7 “ Because of you the entirety has come to exist;
8 And it is unto you that the entirety will return.
9 And for my part I shall praise and glorify you and the selforiginate
along with the triple aeonb—the father, mother, son,
the perfect power.”
c. Greek epinoia,
d. Greek idea.
e. “ offspring of the . . . anointed": the
Geradamas (8:34f).
f. "G eradam as (Ger-Adam as)," known in
some works as "A dam as"; the name recalls
both "A dam ," the first human being, and
Greek adamas. "steel, hard, unyielding."
The prefix "G er-" has been explained as Gk.
hier- from hieros, “ holy"; in any case the
name is a neologism in gnostic myth. MS
BG instead has "A dam ," NHC III "A dam
as."
9 a. Cf. 8:2f.
b. Forethought, the Barbelo; cf. 2; 13f,
RR 93:8
F i’h 39:13
3Tb 123:16
EgG 68:9
IrG 1.29.4
15:9
RR 88:13
EgG 61:5
Zs 6:21 +
3Tb 118:25
IrG J.29.3
2:13
EgG 50:23
35 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N
ii And it established Geradamas’s son Seth upon the second eternal
realm, before the second luminary Oroiael.
14 And in the third eternal realm, upon the third luminary Daueithai, the
I? posterity of Seth was established, »and also the souls of the holy persons,
is And in the fourth eternal realm were established the souls of those
who were not acquainted with the fullness and did not repent at once,
22 but rather held out for a while and then repented. «They came to exist
23,24 at the fourth luminary Eleleth. »These were engendered beings,' »and
they glorified the invisible spirit.
24:34
RAd 65:5
EgG 62:30
Zs 6:2 ! +
3Tb 118:10
v.I4
EgG 111 56:3
Zs 7:6 +
3Tb 120:9
V.18
Zs 27:27?
Production of wisdom’s offspring: Ialtabaoth
25 Now, the wisdom belonging to afterthought,dwhich is an aeon, thought
a thought derived from herself, (from) the thinking of the invisible spirit,
and (from) prior acquaintance.
28 She wanted to show forth within herself' an image, without the spirit’s
30,31 [will]; »and her consort did not consent. »And (she wished to do so)
3i without his pondering: »for the person of her malenessf did not join in
33 the consent; »for she had not discovered that being which was in harmony
34 with her.* »Rather, she pondered11 without the will of the spirit and
without acquaintance with1that being which was in harmony with her.
35 And she brought forth. 10
1 And because of the invincible power within her," her thinking did not
2 remain unrealized. »And out of her was shown forth an imperfect
s product, that was different from her manner of appearance, »for she had
6 made it without her consort. »And compared to the image of its mother
it was misshapen, having a different form.
RR 94:2
FTh 39:20
EgG III 57:5
Zs 9:16
IrG 1.29.4
EpG 25.2.2
Its concealment by wisdom
7 Now, when she saw that her desired artifact was stamped differently—
serpentine, with a lion’s face,band with its eyes gleaming like flashes of
11.12 lightning—»she cast it outside of her, outside that place, »so that none
13 of the immortals might see it: »for she had made it without acquaintance.
14,15 And she surrounded it with' a luminous cloud. »And she put a throne
16 in the midst of the cloud, »so that no being might see it except for the
19 holy spirit called “ mother of the living.’ ’d »And she called its name
Ialtabaoth.'
23:20
5:6f, and note 2b. "the triple aeon" is found
in MS NHC 111; the other MSS here have
lit. “ the aeons, the three."
c. MS NHC HI instead has "T hey will
remain at the luminary Eleleth, assembling
there."
d. Lit. “ of afterthought," perhaps looking
forward to the events described in )4:9f.
MSS BG and NHC III do not have this
phrase, instead having "N ow , wisdom our
sibling."
e. "within herself": or "by her own
m eans."
f. "the person of her m a le n ess'M S S BG
and NHC III instead have "her consort, the
male virgin spirit."
g. MS NHC III instead has "not discovered
her consort."
h. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
"consented."
i. Or "knowledge o f in the sense of
sexual intercourse.
10 a. MS BG instead has "growing strong
because of the vulgar [prounikos) element
within her."
b. “ serpentine . . . face": MS BG instead
has "w ith a snake's face and a lion's face."
c. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
"she harnessed it in."
d. Wisdom. MS BG instead has “ life (Zoe),
mother of all."
e. The spelling of this name fluctuates
among "Ialdabaoth.” "Ialtabaoth," and
"A ltabaoth." For its meaning, see RR note
95b.
io: 19 T H E S E C R E T BOO K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
Its theft of power from wisdom
19.20 This is the first ruler, •and it took great powerr from its mother,
retreated from her, and moved out of the place where it had been born.
23 Taking possession (of another place), it made for itself other eternal
26 realms (aeons) inside a luminous, fiery blaze, which still exists.« «And
it became stupefied inh its madness, which still is with it.
Its creation of other rulers
27 And it engendered for itself authorities:'
2s the first is named Athothj who is called . .]s” by the races;
30 the second, Harmas," the eye o ffire\ '
31 the third, Kalila-Oimbri1(or Kalila-Kimbri);
32 the fourth, label;"1
33 the fifth, Adonaios, who is called “ Sabaoth” ;
34 the sixth, Cain, whom the races of humankind call “ the sun” ;
36 the seventh, Abel;"
36 the eighth, Abrisene;0
37 the ninth, lobe!; II
i the tenth, Armoupieel;0
1 the eleventh, Melkheir-Adonein;b
2 the twelfth, Belias, whopresides over the depth of Hades.c
4 And it (the first ruler) established seven kings in charge of the seven
heavens, one per firmament of heaven; and five in charge of the depth
7,8 of the abyss, to reign. »And it shared some of its fire with them, «but it
did not bring forth any of the power of the light that it had gotten from
m.io its mother. «For, the first ruler is dark and is without acquaintance. «For
12 when light mixed with darkness it made the darkness bright. «But when
13 darkness mixed with light it darkened the light, «so it was neither
luminous nor dark, but rather was dim.
is Now, this dim ruler has three names:
16 the first name is laltabaoth;
the second, Saklas;d
the third, Samael.'
f. Cf. 10: If. in 13:2 If this act is described as the sixth; count ''C ain ’' (called either
as theft. “ K ainan-Kasin" or "K ainanand Kae, called
g. MS BO instead has “ an eternal realm Cain") as seventh; and do not mention
(aeon), flaming with fire and luminous, where “ A bel."
it now is." o. MS BG, "A biressine"; NHC lit, "Abih.
MSS BG and NHC III instead have ressia,"
“ harnessed to."
i. MSS BG and NHC 111 next have “ (i.e.)
the twelve angels—each of them unto its own 11 a. MS BG instead has “ Harm oupiael";
eternal realm (aeon), after the prototype o f NHC III, “ Arm oupiael."
the incorruptible eternal realms. And it made b. MSS BG and NHC III, simply
seven angels for each one of them, and three “ Adonin."
powers per angel [BG next has "all told 360 c. MSS BG and NHC III next have “ Now,
i.r/r), consisting of angelic beings and trios they all have other names deriving from
of pow ers") after the image of the original desire and anger. In short, they all have pairs
prototype that was before them, Now, the of names: one set given them after the suauthorities
were shown forth in the first perior glory, the other corresponding to the
begetter and the first ruler of the darkness, truth that shows forth their nature. And
out of lack of acquaintance of the one that Saklas called them by their names with refbegot
them; and these are their nam es." erence to external appearance and with refj.
MS BG instead has “ lao th "; NHC 111, erence to their powers. Now, over intervals
"H ao th ." of time they withdraw and grow faint; therek.
MS BG, “ H erm as." after they grow strong and increase."
I. MSS BG and NHC III, simply "G alila." d. “ Saklas” (Aramaic “ fool"): a convenm.
MSS BG and NHC III, “ Iobel." tional name of Satan in Judaism,
n. MSS BG and N HC III count “ SabaSth" e. “ Sam ael": Aramaic “ blind god.”
4:29
RR 86:28
F lh 39:28
IrO 1,29.4
EpG 26.1.9
RR 87:4 +
RR 95:1 +
EgG 111 57:21
IrG 1.29,4
EpG 25.3.5
11:31. 12:20
15:19
RR 95:13 +
11:26
IrG 1.29.4
IrSal 1.24.1
RR 96:3 +
37 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO JOHN 12:
18.19 And the ruler is impious, in its madness that is with it. «For it said,
2 1 “ It is I who am god, and no other god exists apart from m e,” ‘ for it
22 did not recognize whence its strength had come. «And the rulers made
23 seven powers for themselves; »and the powers made six angels for each
25 of themselves, *so that they amounted to 365 angels.r
26 And these are the bodies belonging to the names (?):8
26 first, Athoth,h with the face of a sheep;1
27 second, Eloaios, with a Typhonian face (i.e. the face o f a
donkey);
28 third, Astaphaios, with the fa ce o f a hyena;
29 fourth, Iao,j with the face o f a serpent and having seven heads;
31 fifth, Sabaoth,k with the face of a dragon (or snake);
32 sixth, Adonin, with the face of an ape;
33 seventh, Sabbede,1with a glowing face of fire.
34 This is the septet of the week."'
35 Now, Ialtabaoth had many 12 outward appearances, and relied upon
2,3 all of them, *so as to show any one o f them according to wish; »and
dwelled in the midst of seraphim.
4,5 It (the ruler Ialtabaoth) shared its fire with them.“ ‘ The reason it
dominated them was because of the mother’s luminous power of glory
8.9 that belonged to it. »For this reason it called itself god. «And it did not
believe in the source from which it had come.
10.12 And it mixed with the authorities residing with it. “While it was
thinking and while it was speaking, the seven powers came to exist;
13.14 and it assigned a name to one power after another.b *It began from
above;
ij first is kindness,8 with the first (power), Athdth;d
17 second, forethought: with the second, Eloaio;'
18 third, divinity: with the third, Astaphaios;
19 fourth, lordship: with the fourth, Iao;
20 fifth, kingship: with the fifth, Sanbaoth;r
22 sixth, zeal: with the sixth, Adonein;
23 seventh, intelligence: with the seventh, Sabbateon.8
25.26 And each of these has a firmament in its own eternal heaven.h “And
they were named after the glory of the heavenly realm, for the [. . .]
28 power. «And they exercised power through the names that they had
3o been given by their first begetter; “but the names allotted to them
according to the glory o f the heavenly realm led to their overthrow and
33 powerlessness: «and so they have pairs o f names.
f. "A nd it shared . . . 365 angels" (11:7-
25f) is not present in MSS BG and NHC til.
See, however, note lOi.
g. Translation uncertain. MSS BG and
NHC HI instead have "A nd the names of
glory belonging to those in charge of the
seven heavens are as follows."
h. MS BG instead has "Iao th "; NHC III,
"A tho."
i. MSS BG and NHC HI, " o f a lion."
j. MS NHC III, "la z o ,"
k. MSS BG and NHC III, "A donaios,"
1. MS BG, "Sabbataios"; NHC III, "Sab-
badaios."
m. MSS BG and NHC III next have "It
is these beings that preside over the w orld."
12 a. MSS BG and NHC III next have “ but
it did not bestow on them any of the uncontaminated
light, i.e. the power, that it had
detached from its m other."
b. MS BG next has "and appointed authorities"
(NHC III is imperfect here).
c. In MS BG the list is somewhat different:
(1) forethought; (2) divinity, (3) kindness; (4)
fire (cf. “ zeal"); (5) kingship; (6) [intelligence);
(7) wisdom (Sophia).
d. MS BG instead has “ Iaoth."
e. MS BG, "E loaios."
f. MS BG, “ Sabaoth."
g. MS BG, "Sabbataios."
h. MS BG, “ has a firmament and an eternal
realm (aeon) in its own heaven."
13:5 +
Is 45:21
Is 46:9
Is 45:5
19:2
EpG 26.9.6
vs.26
11:4, 12:15
15:14, 17:8 +
RR 95:2
IrUnid 1.30.5
EpA 40.2.3
EpG 26.10.1
10:28 +
11:26 +
12:33 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
Creation of the universe
33 And it (the first ruler) put all things in order,' according to the image
of the original aeons that had come to exist, so as to 13 make all things
: in the incorruptible manner: «not that the ruler itself had seen the
2 incorruptible, «but rather, the power within it, which it had gotten from
its mother, and which had begotten within it the image of the ordered
world.“
laltabaôth’s arrogance
5 And seeing the creation surrounding it and the multitude of angels
8 around it that had come to exist out of it, it said to them, «“ For my
» part, I am a jealous god. »And there is no other god apart from m e.”
9 In uttering this it signified to the angels staying with it that another god
12 did exist. »For if no other one existed, of whom would it be jealous?
The mother’s “ movement”
13.14 Then the mother began to move. «She knew about the lack when the
is radiation of her light diminished. «And she grew darker, for her consort
had not come into harmony with her.
IV . D IA LO G U E O F JO H N AND T H E SA V IO R
A . IN T E R P R E T A T IO N O F G E N E S IS 1 -4
The meaning of “ move”
17 And I said, Sir, what is meant by “ m ove” ?
is But it laughed and said, Do not suppose that it means “ over the
21 waters” as Moses said. «No, rather when she saw the imperfection that
had come to exist and the theftb that her offspring had committed,' she
repented.
24 And in the darkness of unacquaintance, forgetfulness came over her.
25 And she began to be ashamed, moving back and forth. •And she did
26 not rashly try to return, hut rather she went back and forth. «And the
going back and forth is the meaning of “ m ove.”
27.28 Now, the arrogant (ruler) had gotten power from its mother. «For it
28 was without acquaintance, «since it thought that no other existed but its
30 mother alone. «And seeing the multitude of angels that it had created,
accordingly it exalted itself over them.
Repentance and elevation of wisdom
32 But when the mother learned that the garm ent o f darkness had not
come to exist perfectly, she knew accordingly that her consort had not
36 been in harmony with her, «and she repented 14 with much weeping.
i ,2 And the entreaty o f her repentance was heard, «and all the fullness
lifted up praise on her behalf unto the invisible virgin spirit, and it
5 consented." «And while the holy spirit was consenting, the holy spirit
i. Or “ fashioned all things." At this point
the story begins to parallel Genesis (Gn I: If).
13 a. “ And they were named . . . ordered
world” (12:26—13:2f): this passage is not
present in MS BG (NHC III is imperfect
here).
b. Of wisdom’s power (cf. 10:20f).
c. “ the imperfection . . . com m itted": MS
BG instead has “ the imperfection and the
coming rebellion of her offspring."
d. MS BG, “ the aborted foetus," perhaps
correctly (NHC III is imperfect here). Ialtabaoth
is meant.
14 a, “ c o n s e n te d here and throughout this
passage, the Coptic verb can be translated
also “gaze out,"
Gn i;l
RR 94:34 +
FTh 40:4
Zs 10:1
IrSat 1.24.1
EpS 39.1.4
11:18
RR 94:21
FTh 44:1
EgG 111 58:23
IrG 1.29.4
IrUnid 1.30.6
EpG 25.2.3
v.8
Ex 20:5
Dt 49:9
v.9
Is 45:5
Gn 1:2
22:22
Gn 1:2
FTh 40:3
EgG 111 59:6
Zs 10:7
IrG 1.29.4
EpG 25.2.4
39 T H E S E C R E T BO O K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
? poured over her something of the fullness of all. «For her consort did
8 not come to her (in person); «rather, it came to her through the fullness,
9 in order to rectify her lack.b «And she was conveyed not to her own
ii eternal realm but to a place higher than her offspring, «so as to dwell in
the ninthc (heaven) until she rectified her lack.d
Projection of an image of a human being
13.14 And a voice emanated from above the exalted aeons: «“ The human
is being exists, and the child of the human being.” ' «But laltabaoth the
first ruler listened and thought that this voice came from its mother,
is and it did not know where it had come from.
is And the holy mother-fatherr and complete, perfect forethought, the
image of the invisible, i.e. of the parent of the entirety in whom the
entirety had come to exist, the first human being, showed them® that it
24 had revealed its image in a representation like a portrait statue. «And
26 all the eternal realm of the first ruler trembled, «and the foundations of
26 the abyss moved. «And through the waters that are over the material
realm, the bottom [shone] because of the [appearance] of its image that
had appeared.
30 And when all the authorities and the first ruler were dumbfounded,11
33 they saw that the whole lower part shone; «and by the light, they saw
in the water the representation of the image. 15
Creation of the animate Adam
i.2 And it (the first ruler) said to the authorities dwelling with it, «“ Come,
let us make a human being after the image of god“ and after our images,
3.5 so that the human being’s image might serve as a light for us.” «And
they performed the act of creation by means of one another’s power,
6 according to the characteristics given to them. «And each of the
authorities'1put into that being’ s soul' a characteristic corresponding to
9 the representation of the image that they had seen. «And they made a
ii subsistent entity, after the image o f the perfect first human being. «And
they said, “ Let us call him Adam, so that we might have hisd name as
a luminous power.”
13 And the powers began:
14 the first, kindness,' made an animate elem ent of bone.
15 The second, forethought, made an animate element of connective
tissue.
16 The third, divinity, made an animate element o f flesh.
b. "F o r her consort . . . her lack": MSS
BG and NHC 111 instead have “ H er consort
came down to her to rectify her lacks (plural).
It was pleased to rectify her lacks by the
agency of forethought."
c. In the list of twelve aeons given In 8:7f,
the ninth from the bottom Is afterthought.
d. By returning to regain the stolen power
("lack") in the person of life (Zoe), a luminous
afterthought sent from afterthought
proper.
e. "hum an being . . . child of the human
being": or "m an . . . son of m an"; i.e. the
Geradamas and the great Seth.
f. MS BG instead has “ the holy perfect
parent."
g. All the rulers.
h. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
“ bent dow n."
15 a. Forethought, the "first human being."
b. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
"pow ers."
c. Or "anim ate (subsistence)." The original
reading of the text is uncertain here.
d. For convenience of identification, the
name Adam is hereafter picked up by “ he"
in the English translation.
e. In MS BG the list is somewhat different:
(1) divinity; (2) kindness; (3) fire (cf. "zeal");
(4) forethought; (5) kingship; (6) intelligence;
(7) wisdom (Sophia).
f. “ animate elem ent” : lit. "so u l,” Greek
psykhe.
23:20, 25:9
EgG 61:14 +
Zs 45:17
EgG III 59:4
IrSat 1.24.1
30:19?
Gn 1:2b
Gn 1:3
Gn 1:4a
Gn 1:26
RR 87:23 +
FTh 40:24
IrUnid 1.30.6
EpS 39.2.1
8:28
12:15
15:18 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
is The fourth, lordship, made an animate element of marrow.8
19 The fifth, kingship, made an animate element of blood.
20 The sixth, zeal, made an animate element of skin.
22 The seventh, intelligence, made an animate element of hair.h
23.24 And the multitude of angels stood before him. «And the seven
substances of the animate subsistence1were taken by the authorities,
26 so that the regularizing of limbs and parts and the joining, i.e. ordering,
of each of the constituents might be brought about.
29 The first,j Raphao, began by making the crown of the head;
Abron (?) made the skull;
Meniggesstroeth made the brain;
32 Asterekhme, the right eye;
Thaspomakha, the left eye;
33 leronumos, the right ear;
Bissoum, the left ear;
35 Akioreim, the nose; 16
1 Banenephroum, the lips;
Amen, the front teeth;
Ibikan, the back teeth;
2 Basiliademe, the tonsils;
Akhkha, the uvula;
3 Adaban, the back of the neck;
Khaaman, the neck bone;
Dearkho, the throat;
5 Tebar, the right shoulder;
[. . .], [the] left shoulder;
6 Mniarkhon, the [right] elbow;
[. . .], the left elbow;
7 Abitrion, the palm of the right hand;
Euanthen, the palm of the left hand;
Krus, the back of the right hand;
Beluai, the back of the left hand;
9 Treneu, the fingers o f the right hand;
Balbel, the fingers of the left hand;
Krima, the fingernails;
12 Astrops, the right nipple;
Barroph, the left nipple;
13 Baoum, the right armpit;
Ararim, the left armpit;
14 Arekh,“ the bodily cavity;
Phthaue, the navel;
Senaphim, the abdomen;
16 Arakhethopi, the right side;
Zabedo, the left side;
18 Barias, the lower back on the right;
Phnouth, the lower back on the left;
is Abenlenarkhei, the marrow;
Khnoumeninorin, the skeleton;
20 Gesole, the stomach;
Agromauma, the heart;
g. MS BG next has "and all the system
of the body."
h. MS BG next has "and they set all the
body in order"; NHC III, "and they set all
[the] human being in order."
i. Or "soul."
j. The following passage, 15:29—!9:8f . ,
Book o f Zoroaster"), is not found in MSS
BG and NHC III.
16 a. Or “ A rekhe."
41 T H E S E C R E T BOO K A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N 17:12
Band, the lungs;
Sostrapal, the liver;
Anesimalar, the spleen;
Thopithro, the intestines;
Biblo, the kidneys;
24 Roeror, the connective tissue;b
24 Taphreo, the vertebrae;
25 Ipouspoboba, the veins;
Bineborin, the arteries;
Latoimenpsephei, the pneumatic1-' system within all the limbs;
28 Entholleif.J, all the flesh;
28 Bedouk, the right buttock (?);
Arabeei, the left (buttock (?));
29 {. . .)/ the penis;
Eilo, the testicles;
Sorma, the private parts;
30 Gormakaiokhlabar, the right thigh;
Nebrith, the left thigh;
Pserem, the muscles of the right thigh;
Asaklas, the muscle of the left thigh;
34 Ormaoth, the right knee;
Emenun, the left knee;
Knuks, the right leg; 17
1 Tupelon, the left leg;
2 Akhiel, the right ankle;
Phneme, the left ankle;
Phiouthrom, the right foot;
Boabel, the toes of the right foot;
Trakhoun, the left foot;
Phikna, the toes of the left foot;
Miamai, the toenails;
o Labernium, (the . .
7 N ow, those which are ordained in charge of the preceding are seven in
number:
8 Athoth;
Armas;
Kalila;
label;
Sabaoth;
Cain;
Abel.
8 And those which provide activation in the limbs are, according to parts:
10 first the head, Diolimodraza;
10 the back of the neck, Iammeaks;
11 the right shoulder, lakouib;
the left shoulder, Ouerton;
12 the right hand, Oudidi;
the left hand, Arbao;
the fingers of the right hand, Lampno;
the fingers of the left hand, Leekaphar;
b. Or "nervous system .” words, having "Arabeei, the left penis."
c. Or “ respiratory."
d. The word “ (buttock) (?)" and the an- 17 a. One or more words are inadvertently
gel's name are missing. Through an inad- omitted here.
vertence, MSS NHC II and IV omit a few
the right nipple, Barbar;
the left nipple, Imae;
the chest, Pisandiaptes;
the right armpit, Koade;
the left armpit, Odeor;
the right side, Asphiksiks;
the left side, Sunogkhouta;b
the bodily cavity, Arouph;
the abdomen, Sabalo;
the right thigh, Kharkharb;
the left thigh, Khthaon;
all the private parts, Bathinoth;'
the right knee, Khouks;
the left knee, Kharkha;
the right leg, Aroer;
the left leg, Toekhtha;
the right ankle, Aol;
the left ankle, Kharaner;
the right foot, Bastan;
the toes o f the right foot, Arkhentekhtha;
the left foot, Marephnounth;
the toes of the left foot, Abrana.
29 [And (?)] seven, i.e. 7, were [ordained (?)] in charge of the preceding: i7:s
30 Mikhael;
Ouriel;
Asmenedas;
Saphasatoel;
Aarmouriam;
Rikhram;
Amiorps.
32,33 And those which are in charge of perception are Arkhendekta; «and the
34 one that is in charge o f reception,dDeitharbathas; *of imaging,' Oummaa;
35,i of [harmony (with imaged information)], 18 Aakhiaram; *of all impulse
to action,“ Riaramnakho.
2 And the wellspring o f the demons that are in all the body is divided
s in four: heat, cold, wetness, dryness. «And the mother of them all is
matter.
6 Ruling over heat (is) Phloksopha;
cold, Oroorrothos;
dryness, Erimakho;
wetness, Athuro.
io And Onorthokhrasaei the mother of all these stands in their midst, of
13 unlimited extent; and she is mixed with all of them. «And truly she is
matter, for they are nourished by her.
H The four leading demons:
T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
15 Ephememphi belongs with pleasure;
16 Ioko, with desire;
17 Nenentophni, with grief;
is Blaomen, with fear.
b. Or "Sounogkhouta." 18 a. "reception . . . imaging . . . (harc.
Or "T habin." mony) . . . impulse to action": jargon from
d. Or "perceived inform ation." the ethical division of Stoic philosophy.
e. O r "received inform ation."
15
17
18
19
20
22
22
1705
43 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N 19:
18,19 And the mother of them all (is) Esthensis-Oukh-Epi-Ptoe.b «And out of
the four demons came passions.
20 From grief;
envy;
fanaticism;
pain;
distress;
contention for victory;
lack of repentance;
anxiety;
mourning;
and so forth.
24 From pleasure come many imperfections and vain boasting, and the
like.
26 From desire:
anger;
wrath;
[bitterness];
bitter lust;
insatiableness;
and the like.
30 From fear:
terror;
entreaty;
anguish;
shame.
3i,32 Now, all these are as it were virtues0 and vices. *And the thought of
1 their truth is Anaio (?), which is the head of the material soul: 19 »for it
dwells with Esthesis-Zoukh-Epi-Ptoe.a
2,3 Here is the number of the angels: all told, they amount to 365; »and
they all labored at him (the human being), until limb by limb the animate
and material body6 was completed.
6 Now, others, whom 1 have not mentioned to you (sing.), preside over
8 the rest of the passions; *and if you want to know about them, the
matter is written in the Book o f Zoroaster.
His immobility
10 And all the angels and demons labored, until they put the animate
13 body in order. *And for a long time their product existed inactive and
immovable.0
Passage of wisdom’s power into Adam
13 So when the mother wished to recover the power that she had
surrendered to the first ruler, she entreated the greatly merciful motherb.
I.e. Greek aisthesis oukh epi ptoa, b. “ and materia!“ : with these words the
“ perception not in a state of excitem ent": narrator anticipates slightly, since the mamore
Stoic ethical jargon, a description of terial body's creation is described at 20:28f.
the psychic state of the virtuous person. The present passage tells only how the “ anc.
Or “ valued categories." imate , , . body was com pleted."
c. MSS BG and
19 a. Greek for either “ perception not in a the seven authorities could not raise it; neistate
of excitem ent" or “ the seven percep- ther could the 360 angels that had constructed
tive faculties not in a state of excitem ent"; the chains."
cf. note 18b.
11:25
Porph 16.3 +
RR 88:4
IrSat 1.24.1
irU nid 1.30.6
10:19
RR 87:4
FTh 40:25
IrSat 1.24.1
IrUnid 1.30.6
T H E S E C R E T BOO K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N
is fatherd of the entirety; «and by divine counsel the mother-father sent
21 five luminaries' in place off the angels of the first ruler. ‘ [And] they
counseled it (the ruler), and in consequence, the mother’s power was
extracted from it.
22 Indeed, they said to Ialtabaoth, “ Blow some of your spirit into his
25 face and his body will arise." ‘ And Ialtabaoth blew some of its spirit,
that is, the power of its mother, upon him.
27.28 It did not understand, since it existed without acquaintance. ‘ And the
mother’s power left Altabaoth (i.e. Ialtabaoth) and entered the animate
body, which they had labored at after the image of the aboriginal existent.
Relegation of Adam to the realm of matter
32.34 The body moved, became strong, and shone. «And in that moment
1 the rest of the powers became envious; 20 *for by the efforts of ail of
2 them he had come to exist, «and they had given their power to the
3 human being.“ «And his intelligence became stronger than those which
had made him, and stronger than the first ruler.
5 Now, when they knew that he shone, thought more than they did,
and was naked of imperfection, they took him and cast him down into
the lower part of all matter.
Sending of a helper (life) to Adam
9 But the blessed, beneficent, compassionate mother-father had pity on
13 the mother’s power, which had been extracted from the first ruler; *and
furthermore (had pity) because they were about to gain control over the
14 animate and perceptible body. «And by its beneficent spirit whose mercy
is great it sent unto Adam a helper, a luminous afterthought,b which
19 derived from it and which was called life (Zoe), *And afterthought
rendered assistance to the whole creature, suffering along with him;'
20.21 leading him into his fulfillment;d •teaching him about his descent as the
23 posterity— »about the way of ascent, by which he had descended.
24 And the afterthought of the light hid within Adam so that the rulers
27 might not understand, »and that rather the afterthought' might be a
rectification of the mother’s lack/
Creation of Adam ’s material body
28 And the human being became visible because of the light’s shadow
30 that existed within him, «and his thinking surpassed all those who had
32 made him. «When they looked up, they beheld that his thinking was
33 higher. «And along with all the host of rulers and the host of angels,
35 they made a plan. ‘ Taking fire, earth, 21 and water, they mixed them
2 together with the four fiery winds. *And they became forged to one
4 another, and a great disturbance was made. *And they brought him into
d. Forethought.
e. MS BG instead has “ sent the selforiginate
and its four lum inaries.“
r. MSS BG and NHC III, “ after the manner
of.“
20 a. MS NHC III next has “ And he bore
(within him) the souls of the seven authorities
and their pow ers.“
b. Forethought (the “ mother-father") sends
wisdom back down into the material world
from her temporary residence in the ninth
heaven, the realm of the aeon afterthought
(14:1 If). Wisdom as an envoy o f forethought
is called forethought’s afterthought, an “ afterthought,
which derived from it.“
c. Or “ to all creation, suffering along with
them .“
d. Or “ fullness.”
e. “ the afterthought” : MSS BG and NHC
III instead have “ wisdom (Sophia) our sibling
that resembles us.”
f. I.e. might bring about the reclamation
of the missing power.
EgG 111 65:23?
Gn 2:7
RAd 64:22 +
RR 88:3
F fh 45:28
IrUnid 1.30.6
IrUnid 1.30.8
20:19 +
RR 88:13
Th 14:10 +
FTh 35:12
IrSat 1.24.1
Gn 3:20
Th 16:11
FTh 35:12
v.19
20:3. 20:30
21:14, 22:15
22:28, 28:2
Gn 2:18
RAd 64:12
RR 88:17
IrUnid 1.30.12
v.2l
3St 127:20
IrUnid 1.30.9
20:19 +
RR 87:23 +
Gn 2:7
45 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO JO H N 22:
the shadow of death, in order to perform again the act of modeling, out
7 of earth, water, fire, and the spirit that derives from matter— «that is,
out of the ignorance of darkness, and desire, and their counterfeit spirit."
9 That is the caveb of the remodeling of the body in which the brigands
12 clothed' the human being, the bondd of forgetfulness. «And he became
13 a mortal human being. *It is he who was the first to descend, and the
first to separate.
14 But it was the afterthought of the light within him that was raising his
thinking.
His introduction into paradise
16 And the rulers brought him and put him in the garden (paradise).
18,19 And they said to him, “ Eat” — namely, at leisure. "For in fact their food'
21 is bitter, and their beauty is lawless; «while their enjoyment is deception,
their trees are impiety, their fruit is incurable poison, and their promise
24 is death. «And it was in the midst of the garden that they put the tree
of their life.
Trees of paradise
26 Now, I shall teach you (plur.) what is the mystery of their life, the
29 plan they made with one another, the image of their spirit:r «its root is
31 bitter; its branches are deadly; «its shade is hateful; deception resides
33 in its leaves; «its blossom is the anointing of wickedness; its fruit is
34.36 death; «its seed is desire; and it is in the dark that it blossoms. «The
2 dwelling place of those who eat 22 of it is Hades, «and the darkness is
their realm of repose.
3 But as for that tree which is called by them the tree of acquaintance
with good and evil, and which is the afterthought of the light, they"
remained in its presenceblest he' gaze upon his fulfillment and recognize
9 the nakedness of his shame. «But I rectified them so that they ate.
The snake
9 And I said to the savior, Sir, was it not the snake that taught Adam
to eat?
11.12 The savior laughed and said, «The snake taught them to consume
imperfection consisting o f the sowing o f desire for corruption, so that
15 he (Adam) might become useful to it. «And it knew that he was disobedient
to it' because of the light of the afterthought dwelling within him and
is making him more upright in his thinking than the first ruler. «And it
21 a. “ counterfeit": or “ mimicking, imitative."
Cf. 29:14f. MS BG instead has “ adversarial
spirit.”
b. "shadow . . . cave (Greek spélaion)"
(21:4-9f): Platonist clichés for the material
world, based ultimately on Plato’s Republic,
book 7. “ C ave” is also traditionally associated
with “ brigands" (21:9f).
c. The “ brigands" (a cliché for demons)
are the rulers: the material body is here
likened to the soul's garment in which it is
“ clothed," another cliché.
d. “ bond": a Platonist cliché for the material
body.
e. Or “ enjoym ent."
f. The counterfeit spirit. Instead of “ the
image of their spirit" MSS BG and NHC III
have “ namely their counterfeit spirit that
derives from them so as to turn him back,
so that he might not know his fulfillment (or
fullness). That tree is of the following sort."
22 a. The rulers.
b. “ remained in its presence": MSS BG
and NHC III instead have "gave the command
not to taste of it, i.e. not to hearken
to it; for the commandment was directed
against him ."
c. Adam.
d. Or “ fullness.”
e. The snake is identified with one of the
rulers, as in Irllnid.
22:32 +
Gn 2:21
20:19 +
Gn 2:15
RR 88:24
F fh 44:19
Gn 2:9
RR 89:34
trG 1.29.3
IrUnid 1.30.9
EpG 26.2.6
Gn 3:4
20:19 +
22:20 T H E S E C R E T BOO K A C C O R D I N G TO JOHN
wanted to extract from Adam the power that it had imparted to him.
20 And it caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.
Creation of Eve
21 And I said to the savior, What does “ deep sleep” mean?
22,23 And it said, It is not as you have heard that Moses wrote; «for in his
First Book (i.e. Genesis) he said that he made him lie down: no, rather
25 (it means) in his perceptions/• For also he said through the prophet, “ I
shall make their hearts8 heavy, that they might not understand, and
might not be able to see.”
28,29 Next the afterthought of the light hid within him. «And the first ruler
31 wanted to extract it from his side. «But the afterthought o( the light is
32 incomprehensible: »although the darkness was pursuing it, it could not
comprehend11 it.
32 And it (the ruler) extracted a portion of his power from him and
performed another act of modeling, in the form of a female, after the
36 image of the afterthought that had been shown forth to it. «And into the
modeled form o f femaleness it brought 23 the portion it had taken from
the power0 of the human being— not “ his rib,” as Moses said.
4.5 And he saw the woman beside him. «And at that moment the luminous
afterthought was shown forth, for it had removed the veil from around
8 his heart; *and he became sober out of the drunkennessbof the darkness.
9 And he recognized his partner in essence, and said, “ This now is bone
li of my bones and flesh of my flesh. «Therefore man will leave his father
and his mother and cleave to his wife, and they shall both become one
flesh. For his consort will be sent to him,”
20 Now, wisdom (Sophia) our sibling, who innocently descended' in
order to rectify her lack, was therefore called life (Zoe)— i.e. mother of
25 the living— by the forethought o f the absolute power o f heaven. «And
25 [. . .] him [. . .]. «And thanks to it (life) they tasted perfect acquaintance.
26 I m yself was shown forth in the manner o f an eagle upon the tree of
acquaintance— which is the afterthought deriving from the uncontami-
30 nated, luminous forethought—*so that I might teach them and raise them
31 out of the depth of sleep. «For they both dwelled in a corpse/ and knew
33 that they were naked. «The shining afterthought was shown forth to
them, raising their thinking.
The expulsion from paradise
35 But when Aldabaoth (i.e. Ialtabaoth) knew that they had withdrawn
37 from it, it cursed its earth. *It found the female preparing 24 herself for
i ,2 her male— *he was master over her,“ «for he was not acquainted with
the mystery that had come to pass from the holy plan.
4.4 And they were afraid to rebuke it (Ialtabaoth). »And he (Adam)
6 showedb its lack of acquaintance that is within it to its angels. «And it'
7 expelled them from the garden, «and clothed them in obscure darkness.
f. MSS BG and NHC III instead have
“ rather, it covered his perceptions with a
veil and weighed him down with uncon­
sciousness,“
g. MSS BG and NHC III, “ the ears of
their hearts.“
h. Or “ seize.“
23 a. W isdom’s “ pow er” is now divided
between Adam and Eve; by them it will be
transmitted into succeeding generations in
the form of soul, cf. 26:26f.
b. Another common cliché for unperceptiveness,
especially typical of gnostic texts,
c. As the luminous afterthought.
d. “ corpse,“ or “ fallen thing“ : the body.
24 a. “ It found. . . over her" (23:37-24: If):
MSS BG and NHC fif instead have “ And
what is more, it gave over the female so that
the male might be m aster over her.“
b. Or possibly “ it (laldabaóth) dis­
played.“
c. MS BG instead has “ its angels.“
Gn 2:21
RR 89:3
13:18
IrSal 1.24.2
20:19 +
21:13
Gn 2:21
RR 89:7 +
IrU nid 1.30.7
EpS 39.2.1
Gn 2:23
RR 89:13
14:8 +
10:16
Gn 3:20
RR 90:19
IrU nid 1.30.8
Gn 3:17
v.l
Gn 3:16
Gn 3:24
47 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N 25:16
Cain and Abel
8 And the first ruler saw the female virgind standing with Adam, and
saw that the living, luminous afterthought had been shown forth within
12,13 her. «And Aldabaoth became filled with lack of acquaintance. «Now,
the forethought of the entirety learned of this, and sent certain beings,
15 who caught life (Zoe) up out of Eve. «And the first ruler defiled her,'
and begot on her two sons— the first and the second, Eloim and Iaue.f
i8,i9 Eloim has the face of a bear; Iaue, the face of a cat. «One is just, the
20 other is unjust: Iaue is just, Eloim is unjust. «It established Iaue in
charge of fire and wind, and established Eloim in charge of water and
24 earth. «And it called them by the names Cain and Abel, with trickery in
mind.
26 And to the present day sexual intercourse, which originated from the
28 first ruler, has remained. «And in the female who belonged to Adam it
29 sowed a seed of desire; «and by sexual intercourse it raised up birth in
31 the image o f the bodies. «And it supplied them some of its counterfeit
32 spirit. «And it established the two rulers in charge of realms, so that
they ruled over the cave.®
Seth
34 Now, after Adam had known the image of his own prior acquaintance,h
he begot the image 25 of the child of the human being,“ and called him
Seth, after the raceb in the eternal realms.
2 Likewise, also the mother sent down her spirit' in the image of the
female being that resembled her, as a counterpart of what is in the
5 fullness; «for shed was going to prepare a dwelling place for aeons that
were going to descend.
Oblivion of Adam and Eve
7 And they were given water of forgetfulness' by the first ruler, so that
they might not know themselves and realize where they had come from.
9 And so the posterity temporarily remained, rendering service, so that
whenever the spiritf would descend from the holy aeons it might rectify
14 the posterity and heal it o f the lack: «so that the entire fullness might
becom e holy and without lack.
B. THE SALVATION OF SOULS
The spirit of life
16 And I for my part said to the savior, Sir, will all souls then be saved
and go into the uncontaminated light?
d. Eve.
e. Carnal Eve, from whom wisdom has
now escaped.
f. “ Eloim . . . Iaue": in Genesis and other
Old Testam ent books Elohim and Yahweh
(Jehovah) are names of the creator of this
world, the god of Israel.
g. I.e. the material world (cf. note 21b).
h. Had had intercourse with Eve.
25 a. Or "th e son of m an."
b. Or "after the m anner of birth."
c. To compensate for the departure of the
spiritual element from Adam, Eve,, and their
first two offspring (cf. 24:13f), wisdom now
sends the “ spirit" of life to humankind. It
will remain in Seth's posterity as the element
capable of being awakened and saved by
true religion.
d. “ the female being . . . she” : possibly
Seth’s sister and wife, Norea, known from
other Sethian texts where considerable emphasis
is placed upon her role in establishing
the posterity of Seth; cf. RR 91:34f; EpS
39.5.2-3; EpG 26.1.If.
e. Or “ deep sleep."
f. Forethought (the “ holy spirit") as sav­
ior.
Gn 4:1
RAd 66:25
RR 91:11
EgG 71:6
lrtlnid 1.30.9
EpS 39.2.1
EpA 40.5.3
v.13
RAd 64:28
RR 89:25
RAd 67:2
Th 18:28
Gn 4:25
RR 91:30
EgG 71:10
IrU nid 1.30.9
EpS 39.2.4
EpA 40.7.1
RAd 65:5
9:11
v.2
EpG 26.1.7 + ?
RAd 65:9
RAd 73:10
RR 92:30
14:8 +
25.'18 T H E S E C R E T BO OK A C C O R D I N G TO JOHN
is It answered and said to me, The matters that have arisen in your mind
2o are important ones: «indeed, it is difficult to disclose them to any but
those who belong to the immovable race,® upon whom the spirit of life
25 will descend and dwell with power.b «They will attain salvation and
26.26 become perfect. «And they will become worthy of greatnesses. «And
there they will become purified of every imperfection and of the anxieties
29 of wickedness: «being anxious for nothing except incorruptibility alone;
3« meditating on it thenceforth without anger, envy, grudging, desire, or
33 insatiableness as regards the entirety; «restrained by nothing but the
35 subsistent entity of the flesh, which they wear, «awaiting the time when
i they will be visited 26 by those beings who take away, «Such souls are
3 worthy of eternal, incorruptible life and calling: «abiding all things and
enduring all things so that they might complete the contest and inherit
eternal life.
7 I said to him, Sir, can the souls upon whom the spirit of life has
descended, but who did not perform these deeds [attain salvation]?
io It answered and said to me, If the spirit descends upon them, it is
12,12 quite sure that they will attain salvation; «and they will migrate. «Indeed,
i4 the power will descend unto everyone“— «for without it no one can stand
5 up. «And after they are begotten, if the spirit of life increases— for the
power comes (to them)— it strengthens that soul,b and nothing can
20 mislead it into the works of wickedness. «But those upon whom the
counterfeit spirit descends will be beguiled by it and go astray.
22.23 But for my part I said, «Sir, so when the souls of these people have
come forth from their flesh, where will they go?
25.26 And it laughed and said to me, «The soul— which means the p o w e rwili
increase within it (the flesh) more greatly than the counterfeit spirit;
28.28 for it (the soul) is strong and will flee from wickedness. «And by visitation
of the incorruptible it will attain salvation and be taken into the repose
of the aeons.
The counterfeit spirit
32 But for my part I said, Sir, then where will the souls of these others,
who have not known to whom they belong, reside?
35 And it said to me. In the case of those others, the counterfeit spirit
1 has increased 27 within them while they were going astray. «And it
2 weighs down the soul, «and beguiles it into the works of wickedness,
3.4 and casts it into forgetfulness" (or deep sleep). «And after it has come
forth it is given into the charge of the authorities, who exist because of
6 the ruler. «And they bind it with bonds and cast it into the prison.b
8 And they go around with itc until it awakens out of forgetfulness and
io takes acquaintance unto itself. «And in this way, when it becomes perfect
it attains salvation.
u.12 But for my part I said, Sir, how is it that «the soul becomes thinner
and thinner, returning then to the nature of its mother or to the human
being?
14.16 Then it was happy when I asked it this, and said to me, «You are
g. The posterity of Seth.
h. Or "w ith the pow er."
26 a. Wisdom’s "pow er" (19:28f) is transmitted,
"descends," to all the posterity of
Adam in the form of soul, the animating
element.
b. The Coptic text of MS N H C II is slightly
corrupt here. MS NHC III instead has "A fter
a person is begotten, the counterfeit spirit of
life of [. . .1 is introduced. Now, if the strong
(i.e. true) spirit of life (comes), the power or
(soul) becomes strong [and is not) misled
into wickedness."
27 a. Cf. 22:23f, 25:7f.
b. Cause it to become reincarnate in another
material body ("prison").
c. In cycles of reincarnation.
RAd 66:1 +
RR 96:22 +
F rh 41:21
EgG 74:30
IrSat 1.24.2
EpS 39.2.4
EpG 26.6.2
RAd 76:21
49 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D I N G TO J O H N 29:8
17 truly blessed, for you have understood! ’ That soul will be made to follow
19 the guidance o f another in which the spirit o f life resides, «and by that
20 other it attains salvation, «and so is not cast into flesh again.
Apostates
21 And I said, Sir, where will the souls go of those who have gained
acquaintance and then turned away?
24 Then it said to me, They will be taken to the place where the angels
26 of poverty go— «it is the place where no act of repentance is performed—
27 and they will be kept until the day when those who have uttered
blasphemy against the spirit will be tortured and punished with eternal
punishment.
C. THE ENSLAVEMENT OF HUMANKIND
Destiny
31 But for my part I said, Sir, where did the counterfeit spirit come
from?
33 Then it said to me, It is the mother-father who is greatly merciful, the
holy spirit who in every way is compassionate and 28 suffers with you
2 (plur.), that is, the afterthought of the luminous forethought." «And it
raised up the posterity of the perfect race, raised their thinking, and
raised up the eternal light of the human being.
6 When the first ruler knew that they were greatly superior to it and
that they thought more than it did, it then wanted to arrest their
pondering; and it did not realize that they were superior to it in thought
11 and that it could not lay hold of them. «In the company of its authorities,
12 that is, its powers, it made a plan. «And in turns they fornicated with
13,15 wisdom; «and by them, destiny was begotten as bitterness (?); «this is
the last and varied bond, which is of diverse sorts, for they (the
17 authorities) differ from one another. «And it is difficult and overpowers
that being with whom the deities, angels, demons, and all the races have
21 mingled down to the present day. «For out of that destiny were shown
forth all impieties; violent action; blasphemy and the bond of forgetful-
24 ness; lack of acquaintance; «and all burdensome precepts, burdensome
26 sins, and great fears. «And thus they made all creation blind so that the
29 deity above them all might not be recognized. «And because of the bond
of forgetfulness, their sins became hidden (to them); for they had been
bound with measures, times, and ages, since it exerted mastery over
all.
The flood and Noah
32 And it (the ruler) repented o f all things that had come to exist because
34 of it. «Again it made a plan: to bring down a flood 29 upon the human
creation.
1 But the greatness of the light of forethought taught Noah, and he
4 preached to all the posterity, that is, the children of humankind. «And
6 those who were alien to him did not pay heed to him. «They did not—
7 as Moses said— hide in an ark; «rather, it was in a certain place that
8 they hid. «Not only Noah, but many other people from the immovable
28 a. The text may be corrupt here. Possibly
some words have been left out, as follows:
“ The mother-father that is greatly merciful,
the holy spirit that in every way is compassionate
and suffers with you (plur.), (. . .),
that is, the afterthought of the luminous
forethought.“ Instead of “ m other-father,“
MS BG has simply “ m other.“
EpG 26.10.7 +
20:19 +
RR 87:17
FTh 43:13
RAd 69:2
RR 92:3
EgG 72:10
IrU md 1.30.10
EpS 39.3.1
EpG 26.1.7
v. 1
Gn 6:5f
IrUnid 1.30.10
EpG 26.1.7 + ?
RAd 69:19
RR 92:8
29:12 T H E S E C R E T BO O K A C C O R D IN G TO JO H N
12 race, went into a certain place and hid within a luminous cloud. «And
n they recognized his absolute power. ‘And with him was that being which
belonged to the light, who had illuminated them.
The counterfeit spirit
i4,i6 For it (the ruler) had brought darkness down over all the earth. «And
17 in the company of its powers, it made a plan. *It sent its angels to the
daughters of humankind to take some of them unto themselves and so
20 to raise up a posterity as a comfort for themselves. »And at first they
21 did not succeed. «Then after they had not succeeded, they assembled
23 again, and all together made a plan. «They made a counterfeit spirit in
the image of the spirit that had descended, by which they would befoul
26 the souls. «And the angels changed in image, after the images of their
spouses,“ filling them with the spirit of darkness, which they mixed with
30 them, and with wickedness. «They brought gold, silver, gifts, copper,
33 iron, metal, and all kinds of raw materials. «And they beguiled the people
who followed them into great anxieties, 30 leading them astray in many
2 errors. «Humankind grew old without having any leisure, and died
without discovering any truth or becoming acquainted with the god of
4 truth. «And thus was the whole creation perpetually enslaved, from the
foundation of the' world down to the present time.
7 And they married women and begot children out of the darkness,
8.9 after the image of their spirit. «And their hearts became closed and
hardened with the hardness of the counterfeit spirit, down to the present
time.
V . PO EM O F D E L IV E R A N C E
11 Then“ 1, the perfect forethought of the entirety, transformed myself
into my posterity.
13 For, I existed in the beginning, traveling in every path of
travel.
is For it is I who am the riches of the light;
15 It is I who am the memory of the fullness,
17 And I traveled in the greatness of the darkness,
17 And I continued until I entered the midst of the prison.
19 And the foundations of chaos moved.
20 And for my part, I hid from them because of their evil;
21 And they did not recognize me.
21 Again I returned, for a second time.
23 And I traveled, coming into the beings of the light—
24 I, who am the memory of the forethought.
25 I entered the midst of the darkness and the interior of Hades,
striving for my governance.
27 And the foundations of chaos moved, as though to fall down
upon those who dwelt in chaos and destroy them.
30 And once again I hastened back to my luminous root,b
31 Lest they be destroyed before their time.
32 Yet a third time I traveled—
33 I who am the light that exists within the light,
29 a. Or ''doubles.” instead have simply "then in the beginning
the blessed mother-father, who is greatly
30 a. The following passage, 30:1 If (“ Then merciful, takes form in its posterity. I have
I . . .") to 31:27f (“ in your ears” ) is not come to the perfect realm (aeon)."
present in MSS BG and NHC III, which b. Or "source,”
RAd 70:16
Gil 6:2
Gn 6:5
RR 97:1
FTh 36:4 +
14:26?
FTh 47:11
EpS 39.3.1
RR 96:28 +
51 T H E S E C R E T B O O K A C C O R D IN G TO JO H N
34 I the memory of the forethought—
35 So that I might enter the midst of the darkness and the
interior 31 of Hades:
i I filled my face with the light of the end of their realm.
3 And I entered the midst of their prison,
4 Which is the prison of the body.
4 And I said, “ O listener, arise from heavy sleep.”
6 And that person wept and shed tears, heavy tears;
7 And wiped them away and said, “ Who is calling my name?
9 “ And from where has my hope come, as I dwell in the bonds
of the prison?”
10 And I said, “ It is 1 who am the forethought of the
uncontaminated light;
12 “ It is I who am the thinking of the virgin spirit,
13 “ And I who am leading you to the place of honor.
14 “ Arise! Keep in mind that you are the person who has
listened;
15 “ Follow your root, which is myself, the compassionate;
16 “ Be on your guard against the angels of poverty and the
demons of chaos and all those who are entwined with you;
20 “ And be wakeful, (now that you have come) out of heavy
sleep and out of the garment in the interior of H ades.”
22 And I raised and sealed that person, with the light of the
water of five seals,“
24 So that from thenceforth death might not have power over
that person.
25 And lo, now I shall enter the perfect eternal realm:
27 I have completed all things for you (sing.) in your ears.
28 For my part, Ib have told you (sing.) all things, so that you might
write them down and transmit them secretly to those who are like you
31 in spirit. «For this is the mystery of the immovable race.c
V I. F R A M E ST O R Y (CO N CLU SIO N )
32 And the savior transmitted these things to him (John) so that he might
34 write them down and keep them safe. «And it said to him, “ Cursed be
anyone who sells these in exchange for a bribe, for foodstuffs, for drink,
i for clothing, or for anything else 32 of the sort.” «And these things were
transmitted to him mystically; and immediately, it vanished from before
4 him. «And he came to his fellow disciples and informed them of what
6 the savior had told him. « J e s u s (Is) T h e A n o i n t e d ( C h r i s t ) ! “ A m e n ! 1*
31 a. The "five seals” are associated with
the reception of gnosis in gnostic baptism
(for which, see “ Historical Introduction" in
Part One).
b. The savior, forethought.
c. MS BG here adds: "N ow , the mother
came before me once again. M oreover, these
are the things she did in the world. She
caused the posterity to stand at rest. I shall
tell you (plur.) about what is going to come
to pass."
32 a. “ the anointed": the divine self-originate
(cf. 6:23f). This is the only reference in
BJn to the Incarnation. Because it does not
occur within the central body of the work,
some scholars have suspected that it is not
part of the original but rather is a pious
exclamation added by an ancient Christian
gnostic copyist or editor. On the other hand,
for gnostic elaborations of the Incarnation,
see FTh, EgG, IrUnid, EpS, EpA, EpG; and
probably RAd.
b. In the manuscripts the title of this work
is written after the text (at 32:7f).
IrSat 1.24.2 +
RAd 66:1
FTh 35:21
4:26 +
FTh 49:27 +
EgG 56:25
RAd 85:3
Fr 68:16