On the Origin of the World
NHC II, 5
The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose. It is based on the Coptic text of Nag Hammadi Codex II, 5. The Nag Hammadi texts were written in the fourth century, subsequently buried, and then rediscovered in 1945. This tractate reframes the creation account of Genesis.
This translation from the Coptic is by Samuel Zinner and was edited by Mark M. Mattison with the generous support of Other Gospels.
Symbols
[ ] Gap in the text (known as a “lacuna”)
( ) Editorial insertion to clarify the text
< > Editorial correction of a scribal error
[97] Page number of the Coptic codex (hyperlinked)
Introduction
[97] Given that everyone, (both) cosmic gods and humans, says that nothing existed before Chaos, in contrast to them, I will prove all of them to be in error, because they are ignorant of the origin of Chaos and of its root as well. The proof is here:
When it comes to the topic of Chaos, how it pleases [98] all people to claim that it is a type of darkness, when it actually originates from a shadow called by the name “Darkness,” and the shadow originates from a created entity that has existed from the beginning. Furthermore, it clearly existed before Chaos came to be, and the latter came to exist subsequent to the former created entity.
Consequently, let us occupy ourselves with the realities of the case, and in addition to this, with the first created entity, out of which Chaos was propelled, and thus will the truth be clearly proven.
The Emanation of Sophia and the Hosts
After the natural form of the deathless entities had finished evolving out of infinity, at that time a likeness, who is called Sophia, emanated from Pistis. She exerted her will and became a created entity like the primordial light, and straightaway her will displayed itself in the likeness of heaven, possessing an incomprehensible size which was between the deathless entities and those entities that came to be after they had, resembling [. . .]. She acted like a veil that separated humanity from the entities above.
Now, the aeon of Truth possesses no external shadow, because the infinite light dwells inside it everywhere. However, its exterior is a shadow called by the name “Darkness,” from which appeared a host which ruled above the darkness, and the hosts that came to be after them called the shadow “Infinite Chaos,” from which every type of divinity sprung upwards [. . .] together with the entire place, with the additional result that shadow is subsequent to the first [99] created entity. It appeared <inside> the Abyss, originating from the previously mentioned Pistis.
The shadow next realized that something more powerful than it existed, and grew envious, and when it had grown pregnant by its own will, it straightaway gave birth to jealousy. From that day, the law of jealousy prevailing among all the aeons and their worlds has been evident. Now, regarding that jealousy, it was discovered to be an abortion lacking all spirit inside it. It came to be as a shadow inside an immense aqueous substance. The bile that had come to be from the shadow was next thrust into a section of Chaos.
From that day, an aqueous substance has been evident, and that which sank down inside of it gushed away while it was visible inside Chaos. Like the case of a woman who gives birth to a child, when all her accumulated matter gushes out, even so, matter came to be from out of a shadow, and was propelled away from it, and it did not exit from Chaos.
The Manifestation of Yaldabaoth
Instead, matter dwelt inside Chaos, dwelling inside one of its sections, and when these things had transpired, Pistis then arrived and manifested above the matter of Chaos, which had been ejected like an aborted fetus, given that nothing of spirit dwelt in it, because it was completely infinite darkness and bottomless water. When Pistis had seen what resulted from her defect, she then grew troubled, and the troubling manifested as a frightful created entity which hastened to her in the Chaos. She turned herself toward it and blew into its face inside the Abyss, which dwells beneath [100] all the heavens, and when Pistis Sophia willed that the entity without spirit would be formed into a likeness and would rule over matter, as well as over all her hosts, an androgynous archon looking like a lion manifested itself for the first time from out of the waters, possessing great authority inside himself, and not knowing from where he had come to be.
Now, as Pistis Sophia watched him moving around inside the watery depths, she said to him, “Child, pass over to here,” which is the same as yalda-baoth. From that day, the law of verbal articulation manifested itself, which extended to the gods, and to the angels, and to humanity, and what had come to be as a consequence of verbal articulation was completed by the gods, and the angels, and humanity.
Now, regarding the archon Yaltabaoth, he was unaware of the force of Pistis, not seeing her face, but instead seeing in the water the likeness that conversed with him, and on account of that voice, he called himself “Yald<ab>aoth.” “Ariael,” however, is what the perfect ones call him, because he resembled a lion.
Now, when he had gained authority over matter, Pistis Sophia retreated up into her light.
Yaldabaoth Creates Heaven, Earth, and Sons
When the archon witnessed his size – and yet he saw no one but himself, seeing nothing further than water and darkness – he then imagined that he was the only one who existed. His [. . .] was completed by means of verbal articulation, which [101] manifested itself as a spirit moving back and forth over the waters, and when that spirit had become manifest, the archon separated the aqueous substance, and what was dry was separated into a different place, and out of matter he fashioned for himself a dwelling-place, and he called it “Heaven,” and out of matter the archon fashioned a footstool, and he called it “Earth.”
A thought then occurred to the archon, agreeing with his nature, and by means of verbal articulation he created an androgyne. He opened his mouth and made a cooing sound to him. Upon his eyes being opened, he gazed at his father, to whom he made the sound “eee!” His father then named him “Eee-a-o.”[1]
He then created the second son, making a cooing sound to him, and upon opening his eyes, he made to his father the sound “eh!” His father named him “Eloai.”
He then created the third son, making a cooing sound to him, and upon opening his eyes, he made to his father the sound “asss!” His father named him “Astaphaios.”
These three are the sons of their father.
The Seven Heavens of Chaos
Seven androgynous entities became manifest in Chaos. They possess their masculine names as well as their feminine names:
The feminine name is Pronoia,[2] Sambathas, which means “week,”
and his son is named Yao, his feminine name being Rulership.
Sabaoth, his feminine name is Divinity.
Adonaios, his feminine name is Kingship.
Elaios, his feminine name is Jealousy.
Oraios, his feminine name is Wealth,
and Astaphaios, his [feminine] name [102] is Sophia.
These are the seven forces pertaining to the seven heavens of Chaos, and they were born as androgynous entities, congruent with the deathless structure that existed before them, in accord with the desire of Pistis, namely, that the likeness of what had existed from the beginning would rule until the end.
You will discover the power these names exert, as well as the force of the male entities, in the (book) The Archangelic (Nature) of the Prophet Moses, and that of the names of the female entities in the First Book of Noraia.
Now, the Primal Parent Yaldabaoth, given that he possessed great authorities, created heavens for each one of his offspring by means of verbal articulation, creating them good, as dwelling-places, and in each of the heavens he created great glories, seven times as excellent. Thrones, and palaces, and temples, as well as chariots and virginal spirits (all the way) up to an unseen one, and their glories, each one possessing these in its (respective) heaven: mighty hosts of gods, and lords, and angels, and archangels, myriads without number, in order that they would serve.[3]
The narration of these events you will find in an exact description in the First Narration of Oraia.
And they were finished, as far as from this heaven up to the sixth heaven, which is that of Sophia.
This heaven and earth were assailed by the mischief-maker who dwelt below all of them, and the six heavens trembled fiercely, because the hosts of Chaos knew who had assailed the heaven located beneath them, and when Pistis became aware of the fracture caused by the mischief-maker, she sent out her spirit and tied him and thrust him down into Tartaros.
[From that day], the heaven, together with [103] its earth, has established itself by means of Sophia, the daughter of Yaldabaoth, she who dwells below all of them.
The Transgression of Yaldabaoth
When the heavens had established themselves together with their hosts and all of their government, the Primal Parent grew arrogant, and he was worshiped by the entire host of angels, and all the gods and their angels offered praise and worship to him, and he was elated, and repeatedly bragged, saying to them: “I am self-sufficient.”
He said, “I am the one who is God, and except me there is nothing else that exists,” and when he had said this, he transgressed against all the deathless ones who use verbal articulation, and they accused him over it.
When Pistis then witnessed the impiety of the chief archon, she became enraged. She who was unseen said: “You are in error, Samael,” that is, “Blind God.” “There is a deathless man of light who existed before you did, and he will become manifest among the forms you have shaped. He will tread on you in scorn, like a potter’s vessel is tread upon, and you will plummet down to your mother, the Abyss, together with those who are your own, because at the completion of all of your works, the whole deficiency that has been exposed by the truth will be abrogated, and its existence will end, and it will be as though it had never been.”
Upon saying this, Pistis manifested the likeness of her greatness in the waters, and having done this, she retreated back up into her light.
Sabaoth Sings Praises to Pistis
When Sabaoth, the son of Yaldabaoth, had heard the voice of Pistis, he sang praises to her, and he denounced his father [and mother] [104] at the bidding of Pistis, and he praised her on account of her having taught them concerning the deathless man and his light. Pistis Sophia next pointed her finger and poured onto him some of the light from her (own) light, as a denunciation of his father. When Sabaoth had been illuminated, he obtained great authority against all the hosts of Chaos. From that day, he has been called “Lord of Hosts.”
He despised his father, the Darkness, and his mother, the Abyss, and hated his sister, the thought of the Primal Parent, who had moved back and forth over the waters, and on account of his light, all of the authorities of Chaos grew jealous of him, and when they had become troubled, they waged a great war in the seven heavens.
When Pistis Sophia then had witnessed the war, from her light she sent out seven archangels to Sabaoth. They bore him up to the seventh heaven. They stood in front of him as attendants. She furthermore sent to him three additional archangels, and established for him the kingdom that is over everyone, in order that he could dwell over the twelve gods of Chaos.
Now, when Sabaoth had taken over the dwelling-place of rest as recompense for his repentance, Pistis gave him her daughter Zoe as well, together with great authority, in order that she could teach him concerning everything that exists in the eighth heaven, and because he possessed authority, before all else he constructed a palace for himself. It is immense, magnificent, seven times larger than all those that exist in the seven heavens, and in front of [105] his palace he created a throne, which was immense, and which stood on a four-faced chariot called “Cherubin.”
The Cherubin possess eight shapes on each of the four corners: lion forms, and calf forms, and human forms, and eagle forms, in order that all the forms have a sum of sixty-four forms, and there are seven archangels who stand in front of it. He[4] is the eighth, and he possesses authority. All the forms have the sum of seventy-two. Additionally, from this chariot the seventy-two gods derived (their) shape, in order that they could rule over the seventy-two languages of the nations, and at that throne he additionally created serpent-like angels, called “Seraphin,” which glorify him always.
Sabaoth Creates Angels, Israel, and Jesus Christ
After this, he created an assembly of angels, countless thousands and myriads, which looked like the assembly in the eighth heaven, and a firstborn called “Israel,” that is, “the Man Who Sees God,” and another entity called “Jesus Christ,” who looks like the savior who dwells above in the eighth heaven, and who sits at his right (hand) on a holy throne, and at his left (hand), there the Virgin of the holy Spirit sits on a throne, even glorifying him, and the seven virgins stand in front of her, holding thirty harps, and lyres, and [106] trumpets, glorifying him, and all of the angel hosts glorify him, and they praise him.
The place he sits is on a throne of light <in a> large cloud covering him, and no one dwelt with him inside the cloud except Sophia, <the daughter of> Pistis, who taught him concerning all the entities that exist inside the eighth heaven, in order to be able to create the likenesses of those entities, so that his reign could last until the consummation of the heavens of Chaos and their hosts.
Now, Pistis Sophia separated him from the darkness and called him to her right, and she placed the Primal Parent at her left. From that day, right has been called “justice,” and left has been called “evil.” On account of this, all of them obtained an aeon in the assembly of justice, and evil stands over[5] every created entity.
Yaldabaoth Begets Death
In this way, when the Primal Parent of Chaos witnessed his son Sabaoth and the glory he dwelt inside, and realized he was greatest of every authority of Chaos, he grew envious of him, and having grown furious, he begot Death from out of his (own) death, and he[6] was appointed over the sixth heaven, <because> Sabaoth had been borne upwards from that place, and in this way the number of the six authorities of Chaos was reached.
Death, an androgynous entity, then mixed himself together with his (own) nature, and begot seven androgynous children. Here are the names of the male children:
Jealousy,
Fury,
Tears,
Moaning,
Suffering,
Weeping,
Bitter Lamentation.
And here are the names of the female children:
Fury,
Pain,
Lust,
Moaning,
Curse,
Bitterness,
Argumentativeness.
They had sex with each other, and each begot seven children, which resulted in the sum of [107] forty-nine androgynous demons.
You will discover their names and their impacts in the Book of Solomon.
And in front of these, Zoe, who dwelt with Sabaoth, created seven good androgynous forces. Here are the names of the males: the Non-Jealous One, the Blessed One, the Joyful One, the True One, the Non-Envying One, the Beloved One, the Faithful One. Additionally, regarding the females, here are their names: Peace, Gladness, Joyfulness, Blessedness, Truth, Love, Pistis, and from these powers originate many good and pure spirits.
You will discover their impacts and their effects in the (Book of the) Structures of the Fate of Heaven Beneath the Twelve.
Yaldabaoth is Ashamed
And having witnessed the likeness of Pistis in the waters, the Primal Parent sorrowed greatly, especially when he heard her voice, which resembled the first voice that had called to him from out of the waters, and he moaned when he became aware that this was she who had bestowed on him a name. He was ashamed over his sin, and when he came to know truly that a deathless man of light had been in existence before him, he was deeply troubled, because previously he had announced to all the gods and to their angels, “I am the one who is God. Except me there is nothing else that exists,” because he had feared they could discover that someone else had existed before he had, and they might denounce him.
He, however, lacking discernment, laughed at (the possibility of) denunciation, and behaved rashly. He said, “If [108] something existed before I did, let it come forth, so we might behold its light,” and straightaway, behold! Light came forth from out of the eighth heaven above, and passed through all of the heavens of the earth.
Adam of Light
When the Primal Parent saw that the light was beautiful as it was glowing, he was astonished, and he grew deeply ashamed. As that light came forth, a quite wondrous human likeness manifested itself inside it, and no one saw it apart from the Primal Parent and Pronoia, who dwelt with him. Nevertheless, its light manifested itself to all the hosts of the heavens, on account of which all of them were troubled.
When Pronoia then saw that messenger, she fell in love with him, but he loathed her because she dwelt in darkness, yet she wanted to embrace him, and she could not. When she could not quench her love, she poured out her light onto the earth. From that day, that messenger has been called “Adam of Light,” which in translation means, “the radiant man of blood,” and the earth was spread out above him,[7] the holy Adaman, which in translation means, “the Holy Land of the Adamantine.”
From that day, every authority has honored the blood of the virgin, and the earth was purified on account of the blood of the virgin, but additionally, the water was purified by means of the likeness of Pistis Sophia, who had appeared to the Primal Parent inside the waters. Consequently, rightly it has been said, “(it appeared) through the waters.” Because it gives life to everything, [109] the holy water purifies everything.
Eros
As an androgynous entity, Eros appeared from out of that primal blood. His masculine element is Himireris,[8] which is fire from light. His feminine element that dwells together with him, a soul consisting of blood, originates from the substance of Pronoia. He is quite lovely in his beauty, possessing a charm surpassing all the created entities of Chaos.
All the gods then, and their angels, when they gazed on Eros, fell in love with him, and manifesting himself inside[9] of all of them, he set them ablaze, just like several lamps are lit from a single lamp, even one and the same light is present, yet the lamp is not diminished, and in this way Eros dispersed himself inside all of the created entities of Chaos, and was not diminished. Just like Eros appeared at the center of light and darkness, and (just like) the sexual union of Eros was consummated at the center of the angels and humanity, so from out of the earth the primal pleasure[10] bloomed. Woman followed Earth; marriage followed Woman. Birth followed marriage; decline followed birth.
After Eros, the grapevine sprouted up from out of that blood shed onto the earth. On account of this, those who imbibe it generate desire for sexual union.
After the grapevine, a fig tree as well as a pomegranate tree sprouted up from the earth, together with the remainder of the trees, every species, possessing their seed from the [110] seed of the authorities and of their angels.
Paradise
Justice next created Paradise. It was beautiful and lay outside the orbit of the moon and the orbit of the sun, inside the Land of Delight, in the east among the stones,[11] and desire dwells among the beautiful, satisfying trees, and the tree of eternal life appeared, in accord with the will of God, to the north of Paradise, in order that the souls of the saints could become deathless, those who shall emerge from the lowly shaped forms at the consummation of the age. The color of the tree of life resembles the sun, and its branches are lovely. Its leaves resemble those of the cypress. Its fruit resembles a cluster of grapes when white. Its height reaches up to heaven, and beside it (is) the tree of knowledge, possessing the strength of God. Its glory resembles the moon when it is in full light, and its branches are lovely. Its leaves resemble fig leaves. Its fruit resembles a good, satisfying date, and this tree is to the north of Paradise, in order that it could shake souls from the lethargy of the demons, in order that they could draw near to the tree of life, and eat of its fruit, and in this way denounce the authorities and their angels.
The impact of this tree is detailed in holy Scripture,[12] namely: “You are the tree of knowledge, which is in Paradise, from which the first man ate, and which opened his mind, and he loved his female companion, and denounced [111] the other alien likenesses, even despising them.”
After this, the olive tree sprouted up to sanctify kings and high priests of righteousness, who were to appear in the last days, given that the olive tree appeared from out of the light of the first Adam to supply the anointing they were to obtain.
The Creation of Plants and Animals
And primal Psyche loved Eros, who dwelt with her, and poured her blood onto himself as well as onto the earth, and from out of that blood the first rose sprouted up from out of the earth, coming out of the thorn bush, as a source of gladness for the light that was to appear from within the bush.
Additionally, after this the lovely flowers of pleasant aroma sprouted up from the earth, of different varieties, from each of the virgin daughters of Pronoia, and when they had fallen in love with Eros, they poured out their blood onto him and onto the earth.
After these, all the plants sprouted up from the earth, of different varieties, bearing inside of them the seed of the authorities and of their angels.
After these, from out of the waters the authorities created different varieties of animal species, including reptiles and birds, bearing inside of them the seed of the authorities and their angels.
However, before all of these, when he had appeared on the first day, he lingered on earth approximately two days, and departed from the lower Pronoia in heaven, and ascended towards his light, and straightaway darkness obscured the entire cosmos.
The Creation of Heavenly Bodies
[112] As she desired, the Sophia who dwelt in the lower heaven obtained authority from Pistis, and she formed large shining bodies, and every star, and she placed them in the sky in order to shine on the earth, and to determine temporal signs, and seasons, and years, and months, and days, and nights, and minutes, and so on, and thus was adorned the whole area on the sky.
Now, when Adam of Light conceived the desire to enter into his light, namely, the eighth heaven, he could not do it on account of the poverty that had mingled together with his light. He then created an immense aeon for himself, and inside that aeon he created six aeons, and their adornments, numbering six, which were seven times superior to the heavens of Chaos and their adornments.
Now all these aeons and their adornments subsist inside the infinity that lies between the eighth heaven and the Chaos beneath it, being counted together with the universe that belongs to poverty.
If you wish to learn their structure, you will find it written in the Seventh World of the Prophet Hieralias.
The Creation of the Man
And prior to Adam of Light retreating inside the Chaos, the authorities noticed him and mocked the Primal Parent because he had lied (to them) when he said: “I am the one who is God. No one existed before me.”
When they approached him, they asked: “Is this not the god who spoiled our work?”
He answered and said: “Yes. If you want him to be unable to spoil our work, come, let us create a man out of earth to serve us, according to the image of our body, and according to the likeness [113] of this being, so that when he beholds his (own) likeness, he will fall in love with it. He will spoil our work no more. We will instead make servants for us of those who are born from out of the light for the entire duration of this aeon.”
All of this transpired in accord with the forethought of Pistis, so that (the) man would appear after his likeness, and would denounce them on account of their shaped form, and their shaped form became a place enclosing the light.
The authorities then obtained the knowledge requisite for creating (the) man. Sophia Zoe, she who dwells together with Sabaoth, had foreseen what they would do, and she mocked their decision, because they are blind. Contradicting their own (self-)interests, in ignorance they created him, and they did not understand what they were about to undertake.
She anticipated them and made her own man first. This was so that he could inform the form they had shaped how to hate them, and in this way to escape from them.
The teacher was produced in the following way. When Sophia allowed a droplet of light to descend, it flowed onto the water, and straightaway an androgynous human appeared. She shaped that droplet first as a female body. Making use of the body, she afterwards shaped it into the likeness of the mother, who had (previously) appeared, and she completed it within twelve months.
An androgynous human had been produced, whom the Greeks call Hermaphrodites, and whose mother the Hebrews call Eve of Zoe, that is, the female teacher of life. Her child is the created entity who is lord. The authorities afterwards [114] called it “the Beast,” so that it could lead astray the created entities that had shaped. The interpretation of “the Beast” is “the Teacher,” because it was found to be the cleverest of all beings.
Eve
Eve is the first virgin, the one who apart from a husband bore her first child. She is the one who served as her own midwife, on account of which she is considered to have said:
I am the one who is the part of my mother,
and I am the one who is the mother.
I am the one who is the wife;
I am the one who is the virgin.
I am the one who is pregnant;
I am the one who is the midwife.
I am the one who eases the pains of travail.
My husband is the one who gave birth to me,
and I am the one who is his mother,
and he is the one who is my father, and my lord.
He is the one who is my strength.
Whatever he wishes, he speaks with reason.
I am on the way to becoming,
Although (already) I have given birth to a man as a lord.
Now these things were disclosed by the will of Sabaoth and his Christ to the souls that were to enter into the shaped forms of the authorities, and of these the holy voice said, “Multiply and flourish, rule over all created entities,” and they were the ones who were taken captive, in accord with their destinies, by the Primal Parent, and in this way they were locked up inside the prisons of the shaped forms <. . .> until the consummation of the age.
The Seven Archons Fashion Adam
Then the Primal Parent next delivered an opinion regarding the man to those who dwelt with him. Each one of them then cast his sperm into the center of the navel of the earth.
From that day, the seven archons have fashioned man together with his body to resemble their (own) body, yet his likeness resembles the man who had appeared to them. His shaping occurred one part at a time, and their leader formed the brain as well as the nervous system.
He appeared afterwards like the one who was prior to him. He became [115] a man possessing a soul, and he was called Adam, that is, “Father,” in accord with the name of the one who had existed prior to him, and when they had completed Adam, he forsook him like a lifeless vessel, given that he had taken on form like an abortion, without a spirit inside him.
When the chief archon recalled the speech of Pistis, he feared in case the true man might enter into his shaped form and become its lord. This is why for forty days he departed from his shaped form, which (then) lacked a soul, and he retreated and forsook it.
On the fortieth day, Sophia Zoe sent her breath into Adam, who was without soul. He began to move on the ground, and he was unable to stand erect.
Next, when the seven archons arrived, they saw him, and became deeply troubled. They approached him, and seized him, and he spoke to the breath inside him: “Who are you? And from where did you come to here?”
It answered, and said: “I have come from the force of the man in order to ruin your work.” Upon hearing this, they glorified him, because he granted them respite from the fear and the apprehension in which they found themselves.
They then called that day “Rest,” because they had rested from work, and when they saw that Adam was able to stand erect, they rejoiced, and they took him and placed him inside Paradise, and they retreated up to their heavens.
Eve Gives Life to Adam
After the day of rest, Sophia dispatched her daughter Zoe, called Eve, as a teacher, so that she could make the soulless Adam stand up, so that those whom he would beget could become vessels of light.
[When] [116] Eve saw her male companion lying prostrate, she had compassion on him, and she said: “Adam, live! Stand up on the earth!”
Her utterance straightaway was fulfilled in act, because Adam, after standing up, speedily opened his eyes. When he beheld her, he said: “You will be called ‘Mother of the Living,’ because you are the one who has given me life.”
The Authorities and their Angels Assault the Likeness of Eve
It was then reported to the authorities that their shaped form was alive and had stood up, and they were deeply disturbed. They dispatched seven archangels to learn what had transpired.
They approached Adam. When they saw Eve speaking with him, they said to each other: “What kind of entity is this radiant woman? Because she is similar to that likeness which manifested itself to us inside the light. Come now, let us seize her and cast our seed into her, so that when she is defiled she will be unable to ascend into her light. Instead, those she gives birth to will be at our command. However, let us not inform Adam, because he is not one of us. Instead, let us put a profound sleep over him, and let us teach him while he is asleep how she originated from his rib, so that his wife will obey, and he will be lord over her.”
Because she was a force, Eve then laughed at their decision. She made mist enter into their eyes, and covertly left her likeness with Adam.
She entered into the tree of knowledge and lingered there, and they chased after her, and she disclosed to them that she had entered into the tree, and had become a tree. Falling then into a great fear, the blind entities escaped.
When afterwards they had shaken off the stupor, they approached Adam, and seeing the likeness of this woman [117] together with him, they were deeply troubled, believing that she was the actual Eve, and they behaved impulsively. They approached her, and seized her, and cast their seed onto her.
They committed this in evil, defiling with natural and obscene means, first defiling the seal of her voice,[13] which had spoken with them, saying: “What existed before you?” (In this way they) meant to defile at the consummation (of the age) those who might declare that they were born of the true man by means of verbal articulation, and they went astray, being unaware that they had defiled their own body, it being the likeness the authorities and their angels defiled with every means.
The Offspring of the Archon, the Authorities, and their Angels
She first became pregnant with Abel, by the first archon, and by the seven authorities and their angels she had the other children, and everything transpired in agreement with the forethought of the Primal Parent, in order that the Primal Mother could bear every seed inside her, being mixed and joined to the destiny of the universe and its structures, and a plan designed beforehand by Justice was set in motion regarding Eve, namely, that the shaped forms of the authorities would become places to enclose the light, at which it would censure them through their shaped forms.
The Primal Adam, of Light, is imbued with spirit, and he appeared on the first day. The second Adam is imbued with soul, and he appeared on the sixth day, called “Aphrodite.” The third Adam is a created entity of the earth, namely, the man of the Law, and he appeared on the eighth day, called “Sun-Day,” [following] [118] the lowly Rest-Day, and the descendants of the earthly Adam multiplied and filled the earth, and from inside them they made all kinds of technological skills possessed by the Adam imbued with soul. However, all of them dwelt in ignorance.
The Tree of Knowledge
Allow me to say next that once the archons had witnessed him and the female being who dwelt with him going astray unawares like beasts, they were extremely happy.
Upon learning that the deathless man would not ignore them, they grew upset that they instead would have to be afraid of the female being who had turned herself into a tree, and they said: “Maybe this is the real man, this being who put a mist over us, and who taught us that she who had been defiled resembles him, and then we will be defeated.”
Then together these seven concocted schemes together. They nervously approached Adam and Eve, saying to him: “The fruit of any of the trees created for you in Paradise may be eaten, but regarding the tree of knowledge, exercise self-constraint, and do not eat of it. If you do eat, you will die.” After creating deep anxiety inside them, they retreated up to their authorities.
The cleverest of all creatures then approached, called “Beast,” and when he had beheld the likeness of their mother Eve, he said to her: “What has God said to you? Was it, ‘Eat not of the tree of knowledge’?”
She said: “Not only did he say, ‘Eat not of it,’ but, ‘Touch it not, or you will die.’”
He said to her: “Fear not, with death you will not die, because he knows that when you eat [119] of it, your reasoning will grow sober, and you will become as gods, knowing the difference between evil and good humans. In fact, he said this to you with jealously, to make you not eat of it.”
Eve now possessed confidence in the sayings of the teacher. She observed the tree and recognized that it was beautiful and satisfying, and she liked it. She took some of its fruit, and ate of it, and she also gave some to her husband, and he also ate of it. Their mind then was opened, because upon eating, the light of knowledge had shone on them. When they had clothed themselves with embarrassment, they realized they were naked without knowledge. When they sobered up, they realized they were naked, and they fell in love with each other. When they realized that the ones who had shaped them had the shape of beasts, they hated them. They had become acutely aware.
The Archons Curse Eve, Adam, and All Creation
When the archons then realized that (Adam and Eve) had broken their commandments (to them), they arrived in Paradise and approached Adam and Eve, accompanied by an earthquake and big threats, to see the result of their support. Adam and Eve then shook violently and hid beneath the trees in Paradise. The archons then were unaware of where they were, and said: “Adam, where are you?”
He said: “Here I am, because out of fear of you I hid, being embarrassed,” and they said to him in ignorance: “Who informed you of the embarrassment with which you have clothed yourself, unless you have eaten from that tree?”
He said: “The woman you gave to me, she is the one who gave to me, and I ate.”
They said then to the latter: [120] “What have you done?”
She answered, and said: “The teacher is the one who incited, and I ate.”
The archons then approached the teacher. Their eyes grew foggy on account of him, and they were unable to do anything against him. They cursed him, given that they were powerless.
After this, they approached the woman and cursed her as well as her descendants.
After the woman, they cursed Adam, as well as the land, on account of him, the crops also, and they cursed everything they had created. They possess no blessing. Good cannot be the consequence of evil.
From that day, the authorities truly realized there was something more powerful than they.
They knew only that their commandments had not been observed. A tremendous jealousy was introduced into the world solely on account of the deathless man.
When the archons realized that their Adam had gained a different kind of knowledge, they wanted to put him to the test, and they assembled together every tame animal and the wild beasts of the earth, as well as the birds of heaven, and brought them in front of Adam, in order to learn what he would call them. When he had seen them, he assigned names to their creatures.
They grew disturbed on account of Adam recovering from every test. They gathered and concocted schemes, and they said: “Behold Adam! He has become like one of us, in that he knows the difference between light and darkness. Perhaps now he will be fooled, as is the case with the tree of knowledge, and will even approach the tree of life, and eat of it, and become deathless, and become lord, and loathe us and despise us, as well as all of our glory. He will then condemn us together with our universe. Come, let us banish him [121] from Paradise, down to the earth from where he was taken, in order that from now on he will be unable to know anything superior to what we are capable of.” And in this way, they banished Adam from Paradise, together with his wife, and this act they perpetrated was not sufficient for them. Instead, they grew fearful.
They entered (Paradise, approaching) the tree of life, and enclosed it with large fearsome entities, fiery living creatures called “Cherubin,” and they placed a flaming sword among them, fearsomely rotating continuously, to prevent any earthly being ever entering that place.
Given that the archons grew jealous of Adam, they desired to shorten their lifespans. They were unable, on account of fate, which had been set from the beginning, because to each one a lifespan of 1,000 years had been assigned, in agreement with the orbit of the radiant bodies. However, even though the archons were unable to accomplish this, each one of the perpetrators of evil subtracted ten years, and the full lifespan reached to 930 years, and these pass in suffering, and feebleness, and malevolent disruption, and this is the way life has been, from that day, until the consummation of the age.
Sophia Zoe
So, when Sophia Zoe witnessed the archons of the darkness putting a curse on her companions, she grew furious, and exiting the first heaven with plenary power, she hounded those archons, ejecting them from out of [their] heavens, and threw them down into the world of transgression, to make them dwell there in the form of wicked demons on the earth.
[She dispatched a bird], [122] which in their world would spend its thousand years in Paradise, a living creature imbued with soul, called “phoenix.” It dies by suicide and revivifies itself, in order to be a witness to the judgment (decreed) against them, because they mistreated Adam and his race, even to the consummation of the age.
There are three men, as well as their descendants, to the consummation of the world: those imbued with spirit, and those imbued with soul, and the earthly. Similarly, the three phoenixes <inside> Paradise: the first is deathless, the second lives for 1,000 years. Of the third it is written in the sacred Scripture that it is consumed. Similarly, as well, there are three baptisms: the first is spiritual, the second is with fire, the third is with water.
Precisely as the phoenix symbolizes the angels, so is the case of the water hydri in Egypt, which symbolizes those who descend into the baptism of a true man.
The two bulls in Egypt possess a symbolic meaning,[14] namely, the sun and moon, which is a symbol of Sabaoth, on account of Sophia obtaining the universe from the day that she fashioned the sun and the moon, placing a seal on her heaven, until the age ends.
And the worm born out of the phoenix is also symbolic of a human being, of which it is written, “the just man will blossom like a phoenix,”[15] and the phoenix appears first alive, and dies, and rises again, functioning as a symbol of what will happen at the consummation of the age.
These powerful symbols appeared solely in Egypt, not elsewhere, to indicate [123] that it resembles the Paradise of God.
The Seven Archons and their Demonic Angels
Let us return to the archons we discussed previously, so we can offer an explanation of them.
When the seven archons had been thrown down from out of their heavens onto the earth, they fashioned for themselves copious demonic angels in order to serve them, and these latter taught humanity several kinds of error, and magic, and potions, and idol worship, and bloodshed, and altars, and temples, and sacrifices, and libations to all the earthly demons, collaborating together with fate, who came into being from the agreement between the gods of injustice and justice, and in this way, when the world had come to be, it went astray, continually confused, because all humans on earth worshiped demons, from the creation to the consummation (of the age), both the angels of righteousness and the humans of unrighteousness.
In this way, the world had come to exist in confusion, in ignorance, and in a stupor. All of them had gone astray, until the appearance of the true man.
Let this be sufficient as far as the topic is concerned.
The Deathless Man
Now we will move on to consider our world, so that we can with precision complete the description of its structure and governance. It will then become clear how faithfulness to the unseen aeon was found, which has been manifest from creation until the consummation of the age.
Consequently, I arrive at the chief themes concerning the deathless man. I will discuss the beings that pertain to him, showing how it is that they are here.
When a multitude of humans had come into existence, by the parentage of [the Adam who] [124] had been made, even from out of matter, and when the world had already become fully populated, the archons were its master; that is, they maintained its bondage with ignorance. And why? For the following reason: Given that the deathless father is aware that a deficiency in truth came to exist among the aeons and their universe, when he desired to bring to nullity the archons of perdition by means of the creatures they had shaped, he dispatched your likenesses down into the world of perdition, that is, the blessed small spirits of innocence. They are not strangers to knowledge, because all of knowledge is lodged in a single angel who appeared to them. He does not lack power in the presence of the father, even for <him> to give them knowledge. When they appear in the world of perdition, they straightaway reveal the structure of indestructibility as a censure of the archons and their hosts.
In this way, when the blessed entities appeared in forms shaped by the authorities, they were envied, and out of envy the authorities joined their seed together with theirs, wishing to defile them. They were incapable of this.
When then the blessed entities appeared in a radiant form, they appeared in several modes, and they originated from different aeons, revealing their knowledge to the church made visible by the shaped forms of perdition. She[16] was found to contain every kind of seed, on account of the seed of the authorities that had been joined [with her].
The savior then created all of them [(as) one], and their spirits are clearly superior, being blessed [125] and variously chosen, as well as several other beings having no king and being superior to all those who existed before they had.
Four races therefore exist, three pertaining to the kings of the eighth heaven, but the fourth race being kingless, even perfect, which is the highest of them all, because these are the ones who will enter into the Holy Place of their father, and they will obtain rest together with repose, and eternal, ineffable glory, and infinite joy.
What is more, they are kings inside the realm of death, given that they are deathless. They will censure the gods of Chaos and their hosts.
The Logos
The all-superior Logos was dispatched solely for this reason: that he could announce the unknown. He said, “Nothing that is hidden is not revealed, and what is unknown will be known,” and these were dispatched to make known what is hidden, even the seven authorities of Chaos as well as their impiety, and in this way they were sentenced to death.
When all the perfect ones appeared in the forms shaped by the archons, and when they revealed the truth beyond compare, they humiliated all the wisdom of the gods, and their fate was found to be a censure, and their host withered away. Their lordship dissipated. Their forethought became nothing, together with their glory.
The Consummation of the Age
Before the consummation of the age, the entire place will tremble with loud thunder. The archons will then grow sorrowful over [fear of] their (impending) [126] death. The angels will lament for their humanity, and the demons will weep over their seasons, and their humanity will moan and shriek at their (impending) death.
The age will then begin, and they will become troubled. Their kings will become inebriated with the fiery sword, and they will wage war against each other, causing the earth to be drunk with bloodshed, and the seas will be troubled by those wars. The sun will then grow dark, and the moon will eclipse its light. The stars of the sky will stop following their circuits, and a loud thunder blast will emerge from out of a great host that is over every host of Chaos, where the firmament of the woman is located.
After having produced the first creation, she will lay aside the wise fire of reasoning and clothe herself with unreasoning wrath.
She will next hound the gods of Chaos, whom she created together with the Primal Parent. She will thrust them down into the Abyss. They will be annihilated for their evil, because they will become like volcanoes, and devour each other until they are destroyed by the power[17] of the Primal Parent.
After destroying them, he will turn against himself, even destroying himself until he no longer exists, and their heavens will fall on each other, and their hosts will be devoured by fire. Their aeons will be overthrown as well, and his heaven will plummet and shatter in two. His [stars . . .] will plummet onto the earth, [and the earth will be unable] to endure them. They will plummet into the Abyss, and the Abyss will be overthrown. The light will [conquer] the darkness and annihilate it. It will become like [127] something that never existed, and the origin of darkness will dissipate, and the deficiency will be uprooted, thrown down into the darkness, and the light will retreat upwards to its root, and the glory of the unbegotten one will appear, and it will fill every aeon when the prophecies and the writings of kings are revealed and fulfilled by those who are called perfect.
Those, however, who have not become perfect in the unbegotten Father will obtain their glory in their aeons and in the kingdoms of the deathless ones, but they will never enter the kingless aeon, because each must go to the place from which he came. By his deeds and his knowledge, each will reveal his (respective) nature.
Notes
[1] I.e., Yao.
[2] Pronoia, i.e., Forethought.
[3] “Serve,” or, “worship.”
[4] “He,” i.e., Sabaoth.
[5] “Stands over,” perhaps with the meaning “threatens.”
[6] “He,” i.e., Death.
[7] There is no need to emend the text here.
[8] Himireris, cf. Greek Himeros.
[9] “Inside,” or “among.”
[10] “Primal pleasure,” I borrow the wording from the Bethge/Layton translation.
[11] Cf. Ezek 28:14.
[12] This is a targumic-like paraphrase of various verses from Genesis 2 and 3.
[13] “Seal of her voice.” This seems to refer to her physical mouth.
[14] “Symbolic meaning,” literally “mystery.”
[15] LXX/OG Ps 91:13.
[16] “She,” i.e., the church.
[17] “Power,” literally, “hand.”