Gospel of Philip

The Gospel of Philip

Isenberg's Translation
Paterson Brown's Translation
 

Translated by Wesley W. Isenberg

Gospel of Philip

A Hebrew makes another Hebrew, and such a person is called "proselyte". But a proselyte does not make another proselyte. [...] just as they [...] and make others like themselves, while others simply exist.

The slave seeks only to be free, but he does not hope to acquire the estate of his master. But the son is not only a son but lays claim to the inheritance of the father. Those who are heirs to the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who are heirs to what is living are alive, and they are heirs to both what is living and the dead. The dead are heirs to nothing. For how can he who is dead inherit? If he who is dead inherits what is living he will not die, but he who is dead will live even more.

A Gentile does not die, for he has never lived in order that he may die. He who has believed in the truth has found life, and this one is in danger of dying, for he is alive. Since Christ came, the world has been created, the cities adorned, the dead carried out. When we were Hebrews, we were orphans and had only our mother, but when we became Christians, we had both father and mother.

Those who sow in winter reap in summer. The winter is the world, the summer the other Aeon (eternal realm). Let us sow in the world that we may reap in the summer. Because of this, it is fitting for us not to pray in the winter. Summer follows winter. But if any man reap in winter he will not actually reap but only pluck out, since it will not provide a harvest for such a person. It is not only [...] that it will [...] come forth, but also on the Sabbath [...] is barren.

Christ came to ransom some, to save others, to redeem others. He ransomed those who were strangers and made them his own. And he set his own apart, those whom he gave as a pledge according to his plan. It was not only when he appeared that he voluntarily laid down his life, but he voluntarily laid down his life from the very day the world came into being. Then he came first in order to take it, since it had been given as a pledge. It fell into the hands of robbers and was taken captive, but he saved it. He redeemed the good people in the world as well as the evil.

Light and Darkness, life and death, right and left, are brothers of one another. They are inseparable. Because of this neither are the good good, nor evil evil, nor is life life, nor death death. For this reason each one will dissolve into its earliest origin. But those who are exalted above the world are indissoluble, eternal.

Names given to the worldly are very deceptive, for they divert our thoughts from what is correct to what is incorrect. Thus one who hears the word "God" does not perceive what is correct, but perceives what is incorrect. So also with "the Father" and "the Son" and "the Holy Spirit" and "life" and "light" and "resurrection" and "the Church (Ekklesia)" and all the rest - people do not perceive what is correct but they perceive what is incorrect, unless they have come to know what is correct. The names which are heard are in the world [...] deceive. If they were in the Aeon (eternal realm), they would at no time be used as names in the world. Nor were they set among worldly things. They have an end in the Aeon.

One single name is not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave to the Son; it is the name above all things: the name of the Father. For the Son would not become Father unless he wore the name of the Father. Those who have this name know it, but they do not speak it. But those who do not have it do not know it.

But truth brought names into existence in the world for our sakes, because it is not possible to learn it (truth) without these names. Truth is one single thing; it is many things and for our sakes to teach about this one thing in love through many things. The rulers (archons) wanted to deceive man, since they saw that he had a kinship with those that are truly good. They took the name of those that are good and gave it to those that are not good, so that through the names they might deceive him and bind them to those that are not good. And afterward, what a favor they do for them! They make them be removed from those that are not good and place them among those that are good. These things they knew, for they wanted to take the free man and make him a slave to them forever.

These are powers which [...] man, not wishing him to be saved, in order that they may [...]. For if man is saved, there will not be any sacrifices [...] and animals will not be offered to the powers. Indeed, the animals were the ones to whom they sacrificed. They were indeed offering them up alive, but when they offered them up, they died. As for man, they offered him up to God dead, and he lived.

Before Christ came, there was no bread in the world, just as Paradise, the place were Adam was, had many trees to nourish the animals but no wheat to sustain man. Man used to feed like the animals, but when Christ came, the perfect man, he brought bread from heaven in order that man might be nourished with the food of man. The rulers thought that it was by their own power and will that they were doing what they did, but the Holy Spirit in secret was accomplishing everything through them as it wished. Truth, which existed since the beginning, is sown everywhere. And many see it being sown, but few are they who see it being reaped.

Some said, "Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit." They are in error. They do not know what they are saying. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema to the Hebrews, who are the apostles and the apostolic men. This virgin whom no power defiled [...] the powers defile themselves. And the Lord would not have said "My Father who is in Heaven" (Mt 16:17), unless he had had another father, but he would have said simply "My father".

The Lord said to the disciples, "[...] from every house. Bring into the house of the Father. But do not take (anything) in the house of the Father nor carry it off."

"Jesus" is a hidden name, "Christ" is a revealed name. For this reason "Jesus" is not particular to any language; rather he is always called by the name "Jesus". While as for "Christ", in Syriac it is "Messiah", in Greek it is "Christ". Certainly all the others have it according to their own language. "The Nazarene" is he who reveals what is hidden. Christ has everything in himself, whether man, or angel, or mystery, and the Father.

Those who say that the Lord died first and (then) rose up are in error, for he rose up first and (then) died. If one does not first attain the resurrection, he will not die. As God lives, he would [...].

No one will hide a large valuable object in something large, but many a time one has tossed countless thousands into a thing worth a penny. Compare the soul. It is a precious thing and it came to be in a contemptible body.

Some are afraid lest they rise naked. Because of this they wish to rise in the flesh, and they do not know that it is those who wear the flesh who are naked. It is those who [...] to unclothe themselves who are not naked. "Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Co 15:50). What is this which will not inherit? This which is on us. But what is this, too, which will inherit? It is that which belongs to Jesus and his blood. Because of this he said "He who shall not eat my flesh and drink my blood has not life in him" (Jn 6:53). What is it? His flesh is the word, and his blood is the Holy Spirit. He who has received these has food and he has drink and clothing. I find fault with the others who say that it will not rise. Then both of them are at fault. You say that the flesh will not rise. But tell me what will rise, that we may honor you. You say the Spirit in the flesh, and it is also this light in the flesh. (But) this too is a matter which is in the flesh, for whatever you shall say, you say nothing outside the flesh. It is necessary to rise in this flesh, since everything exists in it. In this world, those who put on garments are better than the garments. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the garments are better than those that put them on.

It is through water and fire that the whole place is purified - the visible by the visible, the hidden by the hidden. There are some things hidden through those visible. There is water in water, there is fire in chrism.

Jesus took them all by stealth, for he did not appear as he was, but in the manner in which they would be able to see him. He appeared to them all. He appeared to the great as great. He appeared to the small as small. He appeared to the angels as an angel, and to men as a man. Because of this, his word hid itself from everyone. Some indeed saw him, thinking that they were seeing themselves, but when he appeared to his disciples in glory on the mount, he was not small. He became great, but he made the disciples great, that they might be able to see him in his greatness.

He said on that day in the thanksgiving, "You who have joined the perfect light with the Holy Spirit, unite the angels with us also, as being the images." Do not despise the lamb, for without it, it is not possible to see the king. No one will be able to go in to the king if he is naked.

The heavenly man has many more sons than the earthly man. If the sons of Adam are many, although they die, how much more the sons of the perfect man, they who do not die but are always begotten. The father makes a son, and the son has not the power to make a son. For he who has been begotten has not the power to beget, but the son gets brothers for himself, not sons. All who are begotten in the world are begotten in a natural way, and the others are nourished from the place whence they have been born. It is from being promised to the heavenly place that man receives nourishment. [...] him from the mouth. And had the word gone out from that place, it would be nourished from the mouth and it would become perfect. For it is by a kiss that the perfect conceive and give birth. For this reason we also kiss one another. We receive conception from the grace which is in one another.

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary.

"The Father" and "the Son" are single names; "the Holy Spirit" is a double name. For they are everywhere: they are above, they are below; they are in the concealed, they are in the revealed. The Holy Spirit is in the revealed: it is below. It is in the concealed: it is above.

The saints are served by evil powers, for they are blinded by the Holy Spirit into thinking that they are serving an (ordinary) man whenever they do so for the saints. Because of this, a disciple asked the Lord one day for something of this world. He said to him, "Ask your mother, and she will give you of the things which are another's."

The apostles said to the disciples, "May our entire offering obtain salt." They called Sophia "salt". Without it, no offering is acceptable. But Sophia is barren, without child. For this reason, she is called "a trace of salt". Wherever they will [...] in their own way, the Holy Spirit [...], and her children are many.

What the father possesses belongs to the son, and the son himself, so long as he is small, is not entrusted with what is his. But when he becomes a man, his father gives him all that he possesses.

Those who have gone astray, whom the spirit begets, usually go astray also because of the Spirit. Thus, by one and the same breath, the fire blazes and is put out.

Echamoth is one thing and Echmoth, another. Echamoth is Wisdom simply, but Echmoth is the Wisdom of death, which is the one who knows death, which is called "the little Wisdom".

There are domestic animals, like the bull and the ass and others of this kind. Others are wild and live apart in the deserts. Man ploughs the field by means of the domestic animals, and from this he is nourished, he and the animals, whether tame or wild. Compare the perfect man. It is through powers which are submissive that he ploughs, preparing for everything to come into being. For it is because of this that the whole place stands, whether the good or the evil, the right and the left. The Holy Spirit shepherds everyone and rules all the powers, the "tame" ones and the "wild" ones, as well as those which are unique. For indeed he [...] shuts them in, in order that [...] wish, they will not be able to escape.

He who has been created is beautiful, but you would <not> find his sons noble creations. If he were not created, but begotten, you would find that his seed was noble. But now he was created (and) he begot. What nobility is this? First, adultery came into being, afterward murder. And he was begotten in adultery, for he was the child of the Serpent. So he became a murderer, just like his father, and he killed his brother. Indeed, every act of sexual intercourse which has occurred between those unlike one another is adultery.

God is a dyer. As the good dyes, which are called "true", dissolve with the things dyed in them, so it is with those whom God has dyed. Since his dyes are immortal, they become immortal by means of his colors. Now God dips what he dips in water.

It is not possible for anyone to see anything of the things that actually exist unless he becomes like them. This is not the way with man in the world: he sees the sun without being a sun; and he sees the heaven and the earth and all other things, but he is not these things. This is quite in keeping with the truth. But you saw something of that place, and you became those things. You saw the Spirit, you became spirit. You saw Christ, you became Christ. You saw the Father, you shall become Father. So in this place you see everything and do not see yourself, but in that place you do see yourself - and what you see you shall become.

Faith receives, love gives. No one will be able to receive without faith. No one will be able to give without love. Because of this, in order that we may indeed receive, we believe, and in order that we may love, we give, since if one gives without love, he has no profit from what he has given. He who has received something other than the Lord is still a Hebrew.

The apostles who were before us had these names for him: "Jesus, the Nazorean, Messiah", that is, "Jesus, the Nazorean, the Christ". The last name is "Christ", the first is "Jesus", that in the middle is "the Nazarene". "Messiah" has two meanings, both "the Christ" and "the measured". "Jesus" in Hebrew is "the redemption". "Nazara" is "the Truth". "The Nazarene" then, is "the Truth". "Christ" [...] has been measured. "The Nazarene" and "Jesus" are they who have been measured.

When the pearl is cast down into the mud, it becomes greatly despised, nor if it is anointed with balsam oil will it become more precious. But it always has value in the eyes of its owner. Compare the Sons of God: wherever they may be, they still have value in the eyes of their Father.

If you say, "I am a Jew," no one will be moved. If you say, "I am a Roman," no one will be disturbed. If you say, "I am a Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a free man," no one will be troubled. If you say, "I am a Christian," the [...] will tremble. Would that I might [...] like that - the person whose name [...] will not be able to endure hearing.

God is a man-eater. For this reason, men are sacrificed to him. Before men were sacrificed, animals were being sacrificed, since those to whom they were sacrificed were not gods.

Glass decanters and earthenware jugs are both made by means of fire. But if glass decanters break, they are done over, for they came into being through a breath. If earthenware jugs break, however, they are destroyed, for they came into being without breath.

An ass which turns a millstone did a hundred miles walking. When it was loosed, it found that it was still at the same place. There are men who make many journeys, but make no progress towards any destination. When evening came upon them, they saw neither city nor village, neither human artifact nor natural phenomenon, power nor angel. In vain have the wretches labored.

The eucharist is Jesus. For he is called in Syriac "Pharisatha," which is "the one who is spread out," for Jesus came to crucify the world.

The Lord went into the dye works of Levi. He took seventy-two different colors and threw them into the vat. He took them out all white. And he said, "Even so has the Son of Man come as a dyer."

As for the Wisdom who is called "the barren," she is the mother of the angels. And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."

The Lord said, "Blessed is he who is before he came into being. For he who is, has been and shall be."

The superiority of man is not obvious to the eye, but lies in what is hidden from view. Consequently, he has mastery over the animals which are stronger than he is and great in terms of the obvious and the hidden. This enables them to survive. But if man is separated from them, they slay one another and bite one another. They ate one another because they did not find any food. But now they have found food because man tilled the soil.

If one goes down into the water and comes up without having received anything, and says "I am a Christian," he has borrowed the name at interest. But if he receives the Holy Spirit, he has the name as a gift. He who has received a gift does not have to give it back, but of him who has borrowed it at interest, payment is demanded. This is the way it happens to one when he experiences a mystery.

Great is the mystery of marriage! For without it, the world would not exist. Now the existence of the world [...], and the existence of [...] marriage. Think of the [...] relationship, for it possesses [...] power. Its image consists of a defilement.

The forms of evil spirit include male ones and female ones. The males are they which unite with the souls which inhabit a female form, but the females are they which are mingled with those in a male form, though one who was disobedient. And none shall be able to escape them, since they detain him if he does not receive a male power or a female power, the bridegroom and the bride. One receives them from the mirrored bridal chamber. When the wanton women see a male sitting alone, they leap down on him and play with him and defile him. So also the lecherous men, when they see a beautiful woman sitting alone, they persuade her and compel her, wishing to defile her. But if they see the man and his wife sitting beside one another, the female cannot come into the man, nor can the male come into the woman. So if the image and the angel are united with one another, neither can any venture to go into the man or the woman.

He who comes out of the world, and so can no longer be detained on the grounds that he was in the world, evidently is above the desire of the [...] and fear. He is master over [...]. He is superior to envy. If [...] comes, they seize him and throttle him. And how will this one be able to escape the great [...] powers? How will he be able to [...]? There are some who say, "We are faithful" in order that [...] the unclean spirits and the demons. For if they had the Holy Spirit, no unclean spirit would cleave to them. Fear not the flesh nor love it. If you fear it, it will gain mastery over you. If you love it, it will swallow and paralyze you.

And so he dwells either in this world or in the resurrection or in the middle place. God forbid that I be found in there! In this world, there is good and evil. Its good things are not good, and its evil things not evil. But there is evil after this world which is truly evil - what is called "the middle". It is death. While we are in this world, it is fitting for us to acquire the resurrection, so that when we strip off the flesh, we may be found in rest and not walk in the middle. For many go astray on the way. For it is good to come forth from the world before one has sinned.

There are some who neither will nor have the power to; and others who, if they will, do not profit; for they did not act since [...] makes them sinners. And if they do not will, justice will elude them in both cases: and it is always a matter of the will, not the act.

An apostolic man in a vision saw some people shut up in a house of fire and bound with fiery [...], lying [...] flaming [...], them in [...] faith [...]. And he said to them, "[...] able to be saved?" [...], "They did not desire it. They received [...] punishment, what is called 'the [...] darkness', because he [...]."

It is from water and fire that the soul and the spirit came into being. It is from water and fire and light that the son of the bridal chamber (came into being). The fire is the chrism, the light is the fire. I am not referring to that fire which has no form, but to the other fire whose form is white, which is bright and beautiful, and which gives beauty.

Truth did not come into the world naked, but it came in types and images. The world will not receive truth in any other way. There is a rebirth and an image of rebirth. It is certainly necessary to be born again through the image. Which one? Resurrection. The image must rise again through the image. The bridal chamber and the image must enter through the image into the truth: this is the restoration. Not only must those who produce the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, do so, but have produced them for you. If one does not acquire them, the name ("Christian") will also be taken from him. But one receives the unction of the [...] of the power of the cross. This power the apostles called "the right and the left." For this person is no longer a Christian but a Christ.

The Lord did everything in a mystery, a baptism and a chrism and a eucharist and a redemption and a bridal chamber. [...] he said, "I came to make the things below like the things above, and the things outside like those inside. I came to unite them in the place." [...] here through types [...]and images.

Those who say, "There is a heavenly man and there is one above him" are wrong. For it is the first of these two heavenly men, the one who is revealed, that they call "the one who is below"; and he to whom the hidden belongs is that one who is above him. For it would be better for them to say, "The inner and outer, and what is outside the outer". Because of this, the Lord called destruction the "the outer darkness": there is not another outside of it. He said, "My Father who is in secret". He said, "Go into your chamber and shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father who is in secret" (Mt 6:6), the one who is within them all. But that which is within them all is the fullness. Beyond it, there is nothing else within it. This is that of which they say, "That which is above them".

Before Christ, some came from a place they were no longer able to enter, and they went where they were no longer able to come out. Then Christ came. Those who went in, he brought out, and those who went out, he brought in.

When Eve was still with Adam, death did not exist. When she was separated from him, death came into being. If he enters again and attains his former self, death will be no more.

"My God, my God, why, O Lord, have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34). It was on the cross that he said these words, for he had departed from that place.

[...] who has been begotten through him who [...] from God.

The [...] from the dead. [...] to be, but now [...] perfect. [...] flesh, but this [...] is true flesh. [...] is not true, but [...] only possess an image of the true.

A bridal chamber is not for the animals, nor is it for the slaves, nor for defiled women; but it is for free men and virgins.

Through the Holy Spirit we are indeed begotten again, but we are begotten through Christ in the two. We are anointed through the Spirit. When we were begotten, we were united. None can see himself either in water or in a mirror without light. Nor again can you see in light without mirror or water. For this reason, it is fitting to baptize in the two, in the light and the water. Now the light is the chrism.

There were three buildings specifically for sacrifice in Jerusalem. The one facing the west was called "The Holy". Another, facing south, was called "The Holy of the Holy". The third, facing east, was called "The Holy of the Holies", the place where only the high priest enters. Baptism is "the Holy" building. Redemption is the "Holy of the Holy". "The Holy of the Holies" is the bridal chamber. Baptism includes the resurrection and the redemption; the redemption (takes place) in the bridal chamber. But the bridal chamber is in that which is superior to [...] you will not find [...] are those who pray [...] Jerusalem who [...] Jerusalem, [...] those called the "Holy of the Holies" [...] the veil was rent, [...] bridal chamber except the image [...] above. Because of this, its veil was rent from top to bottom. For it was fitting for some from below to go upward.

The powers do not see those who are clothed in the perfect light, and consequently are not able to detain them. One will clothe himself in this light sacramentally in the union.

If the woman had not separated from the man, she should not die with the man. His separation became the beginning of death. Because of this, Christ came to repair the separation, which was from the beginning, and again unite the two, and to give life to those who died as a result of the separation, and unite them. But the woman is united to her husband in the bridal chamber. Indeed, those who have united in the bridal chamber will no longer be separated. Thus Eve separated from Adam because it was not in the bridal chamber that she united with him.

The soul of Adam came into being by means of a breath. The partner of his soul is the spirit. His mother is the thing that was given to him. His soul was taken from him and replaced by a spirit. When he was united (to the spirit), he spoke words incomprehensible to the powers. They envied him [...] spiritual partner [...] hidden [...] opportunity [...] for themselves alone [...] bridal chamber, so that [...].

Jesus appeared [...] Jordan - the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven. He who was begotten before everything, was begotten anew. He who was once anointed, was anointed anew. He who was redeemed, in turn redeemed (others).

Indeed, one must utter a mystery. The Father of everything united with the virgin who came down, and a fire shone for him on that day. He appeared in the great bridal chamber. Therefore his body came into being on that very day. It left the bridal chamber as one who came into being from the bridegroom and the bride. So Jesus established everything in it through these. It is fitting for each of the disciples to enter into his rest.

Adam came into being from two virgins, from the Spirit and from the virgin earth. Christ therefore, was born from a virgin to rectify the Fall which occurred in the beginning.

There are two trees growing in Paradise. The one bears animals, the other bears men. Adam ate from the tree which bore animals. He became an animal and he brought forth animals. For this reason the children of Adam worship animals. The tree [...] fruit is [...] increased. [...] ate the [...] fruit of the [...] bears men, [...] man. [...] God created man. [...] men create God. That is the way it is in the world - men make gods and worship their creation. It would be fitting for the gods to worship men!

Surely what a man accomplishes depends on his abilities. For this reason, we refer to one`s accomplishments as "abilities". Among his accomplishments are his children. They originate in a moment of ease. Thus his abilities determine what he may accomplish, but this ease is clearly evident in the children. You will find that this applies directly to the image. Here is the man made after the image accomplishing things with his physical strength, but producing his children with ease.

In this world, the slaves serve the free. In the Kingdom of Heaven, the free will minister to the slaves: the children of the bridal chamber will minister to the children of the marriage. The children of the bridal chamber have just one name: rest. Altogether, they need take no other form, because they have contemplation, [...]. They are numerous [...] in the things [...] the glories [...].

Those [...] go down into the water. [...] out (of the water), will consecrate it, [...] they who have [...] in his name. For he said, "Thus we should fulfill all righteousness." (Mt 3:15)

Those who say they will die first and then rise are in error. If they do not first receive the resurrection while they live, when they die they will receive nothing. So also when speaking about baptism they say, "Baptism is a great thing," because if people receive it they will live.

Philip the apostle said, "Joseph the carpenter planted a garden because he needed wood for his trade. It was he who made the cross from the trees which he planted. His own offspring hung on that which he planted. His offspring was Jesus, and the planting was the cross." But the Tree of Life is in the middle of the Garden. However, it is from the olive tree that we got the chrism, and from the chrism, the resurrection.

This world is a corpse-eater. All the things eaten in it themselves die also. Truth is a life-eater. Therefore no one nourished by truth will die. It was from that place that Jesus came and brought food. To those who so desired, he gave life, that they might not die.

God [...] garden. Man [...] garden. There are [...] and [...] of God. [...] The things which are in [...] I wish. This garden is the place where they will say to me, "[...] eat this or do not eat that, just as you wish." In the place where I will eat all things is the Tree of Knowledge. That one killed Adam, but here the Tree of Knowledge made men alive. The law was the tree. It has power to give the knowledge of good and evil. It neither removed him from evil, nor did it set him in the good, but it created death for those who ate of it. For when he said, "Eat this, do not eat that", it became the beginning of death.

The chrism is superior to baptism, for it is from the word "Chrism" that we have been called "Christians," certainly not because of the word "baptism". And it is because of the chrism that "the Christ" has his name. For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses everything. He possesses the resurrection, the light, the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber; he merely accepted (the gift). The Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. This is the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord said it well: "Some have entered the Kingdom of Heaven laughing, and they have come out [...] because [...] a Christian, [...]. And as soon as [...] went down into the water, he came [...] everything (of this world), [...] because he [...] a trifle, but [...] full of contempt for this [...] the Kingdom of Heaven [...] If he despises [...], and scorns it as a trifle, [...] out laughing. So it is also with the bread and the cup and the oil, even though there is another one superior to these.

The world came about through a mistake. For he who created it wanted to create it imperishable and immortal. He fell short of attaining his desire. For the world never was imperishable, nor, for that matter, was he who made the world. For things are not imperishable, but sons are. Nothing will be able to receive imperishability if it does not first become a son. But he who has not the ability to receive, how much more will he be unable to give?

The cup of prayer contains wine and water, since it is appointed as the type of the blood for which thanks is given. And it is full of the Holy Spirit, and it belongs to the wholly perfect man. When we drink this, we shall receive for ourselves the perfect man. The living water is a body. It is necessary that we put on the living man. Therefore, when he is about to go down into the water, he unclothes himself, in order that he may put on the living man.

A horse sires a horse, a man begets man, a god brings forth a god. Compare the bridegroom and the bride. They have come from the [...]. No Jew [...] has existed. And [...] from the Jews. [...] Christians [...] these [...] are referred to as "The chosen people of [...]," and "The true man" and "Son of Man" and "the seed of the Son of Man". This true race is renowned in the world [...] that the sons of the bridal chamber dwell.

Whereas in this world the union is one of husband with wife - a case of strength complemented by weakness(?) - in the Aeon (eternal realm), the form of the union is different, although we refer to them by the same names. There are other names, however; they are superior to every other name that is named and are stronger than the strong. For where there is a show of strength, there those who excel in strength appear. These are not separate things, but both of them are this one single thing. This is the one which will not be able to rise above the heart of flesh.

Is it not necessary for all those who possess everything to know themselves? Some indeed, if they do not know themselves, will not enjoy what they possess. But those who have come to know themselves will enjoy their possessions.

Not only will they be unable to detain the perfect man, but they will not be able to see him, for if they see him, they will detain him. There is no other way for a person to acquire this quality except by putting on the perfect light and he too becoming perfect light. He who has put it on will enter [...]. This is the perfect [...] that we [...] become [...] before we leave [...]. Whoever receives everything [...] hither [...] be able [...] that place, but will [...] the Middle as imperfect. Only Jesus knows the end of this person.

The priest is completely holy, down to his very body. For if he has taken the bread, he will consecrate it. Or the cup or anything else that he gets, he will consecrate. Then how will he not consecrate the body also?

By perfecting the water of baptism, Jesus emptied it of death. Thus we do go down into the water, but we do not go down into death, in order that we may not be poured out into the spirit of the world. When that spirit blows, it brings the winter. When the Holy Spirit breathes, the summer comes.

He who has knowledge of the truth is a free man, but the free man does not sin, for "He who sins is the slave of sin" (Jn 8:34). Truth is the mother, knowledge the father. Those who think that sinning does not apply to them are called "free" by the world. Knowledge of the truth merely makes such people arrogant, which is what the words, "it makes them free" mean. It even gives them a sense of superiority over the whole world. But "Love builds up" (1 Co 8:1). In fact, he who is really free, through knowledge, is a slave, because of love for those who have not yet been able to attain to the freedom of knowledge. Knowledge makes them capable of becoming free. Love never calls something its own, [...] it [...] possess [...]. It never says, "This is yours" or "This is mine," but "All these are yours". Spiritual love is wine and fragrance. All those who anoint themselves with it take pleasure in it. While those who are anointed are present, those nearby also profit (from the fragrance). If those anointed with ointment withdraw from them and leave, then those not anointed, who merely stand nearby, still remain in their bad odor. The Samaritan gave nothing but wine and oil to the wounded man. It is nothing other than the ointment. It healed the wounds, for "love covers a multitude of sins" (1 P 4:8).

The children a woman bears resemble the man who loves her. If her husband loves her, then they resemble her husband. If it is an adulterer, then they resemble the adulterer. Frequently, if a woman sleeps with her husband out of necessity, while her heart is with the adulterer with whim she usually has intercourse, the child she will bear is born resembling the adulterer. Now you who live together with the Son of God, love not the world, but love the Lord, in order that those you will bring forth may not resemble the world, but may resemble the Lord.

The human being has intercourse with the human being. The horse has intercourse with the horse, the ass with the ass. Members of a race usually have associated with those of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with thought, and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is the human being who will love you. If you become a spirit, it is the spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is the light which will share with you. If you become one of those who belong above, it is those who belong above who will rest upon you. If you become horse or ass or bull or dog or sheep, or another of the animals which are outside or below, then neither human being nor spirit nor thought nor light will be able to love you. Neither those who belong above nor those who belong within will be able to rest in you, and you have no part in them.

He who is a slave against his will, will be able to become free. He who has become free by favor of his master, and has sold himself into slavery, will no longer be able to be free.

Farming in the world requires the cooperation of four essential elements. A harvest is gathered into the barn only as a result of the natural action of water, earth, wind and light. God's farming likewise has four elements - faith, hope, love, and knowledge. Faith is our earth, that in which we take root. And hope is the water through which we are nourished. Love is the wind through which we grow. Knowledge, then, is the light through which we ripen. Grace exists in four ways: it is earthborn; it is heavenly; [...] the highest heaven; [...] in [...].

Blessed is the one who on no occasion caused a soul [...]. That person is Jesus Christ. He came to the whole place and did not burden anyone. Therefore, blessed is the one who is like this, because he is a perfect man. For the Word tells us that this kind is difficult to define. How shall we be able to accomplish such a great thing? How will he give everyone comfort? Above all, it is not proper to cause anyone distress - whether the person is great or small, unbeliever or believer - and then give comfort only to those who take satisfaction in good deeds. Some find it advantageous to give comfort to the one who has fared well. He who does good deeds cannot give comfort to such people, for he does not seize whatever he likes. He is unable to cause distress, however, since he does not afflict them. To be sure, the one who fares well sometimes causes people distress - not that he intends to do so; rather, it is their own wickedness which is responsible for their distress. He who possesses the qualities (of the perfect man) bestows joy upon the good. Some, however, are terribly distressed by all this.

There was a householder who had every conceivable thing, be it son or slave or cattle or dog or pig or corn or barley or chaff or grass or [...] or meat and acorn. Now he was a sensible fellow, and he knew what the food of each one was. He served the children bread [...]. He served the slaves [...] and meal. And he threw barley and chaff and grass to the cattle. He threw bones to the dogs, and to the pigs he threw acorns and slop. Compare the disciple of God: if he is a sensible fellow, he understands what discipleship is all about. The bodily forms will not deceive him, but he will look at the condition of the soul of each one and speak with him. There are many animals in the world which are in a human form. When he identifies them, to the swine he will throw acorns, to the cattle he will throw barley and chaff and grass, to the dogs he will throw bones. To the slaves he will give only the elementary lessons, to the children he will give the complete instruction.

There is the Son of Man and there is the son of the Son of Man. The Lord is the Son of Man, and the son of the Son of Man is he who creates through the Son of Man. The Son of Man received from God the capacity to create. He also has the ability to beget. He who has received the ability to create is a creature. He who has received the ability to beget is an offspring. He who creates cannot beget. He who begets also has power to create. Now they say, "He who creates begets". But his so-called "offspring" is merely a creature. Because of [...] of birth, they are not his offspring but [...]. He who creates works openly, and he himself is visible. He who begets, begets in private, and he himself is hidden, since [...] image. Also, he who creates, creates openly. But one who begets, begets children in private.

No one can know when the husband and the wife have intercourse with one another, except the two of them. Indeed, marriage in the world is a mystery for those who have taken a wife. If there is a hidden quality to the marriage of defilement, how much more is the undefiled marriage a true mystery! It is not fleshly, but pure. It belongs not to desire, but to the will. It belongs not to the darkness or the night, but to the day and the light. If a marriage is open to the public, it has become prostitution, and the bride plays the harlot not only when she is impregnated by another man, but even if she slips out of her bedroom and is seen. Let her show herself only to her father and her mother, and to the friend of the bridegroom and the sons of the bridegroom. These are permitted to enter every day into the bridal chamber. But let the others yearn just to listen to her voice and to enjoy her ointment, and let them feed from the crumbs that fall from the table, like the dogs. Bridegrooms and brides belong to the bridal chamber. No one shall be able to see the bridegroom with the bride unless he become such a one.

When Abraham [...] that he was to see what he was to see, he circumcised the flesh of the foreskin, teaching us that it is proper to destroy the flesh.

Most things in the world, as long as their inner parts are hidden, stand upright and live. If they are revealed, they die, as is illustrated by the visible man: as long as the intestines of the man are hidden, the man is alive; when his intestines are exposed and come out of him, the man will die. So also with the tree: while its root is hidden, it sprouts and grows. If its root is exposed, the tree dries up. So it is with every birth that is in the world, not only with the revealed but with the hidden. For so long as the root of wickedness is hidden, it is strong. But when it is recognized, it is dissolved. When it is revealed, it perishes. That is why the Word says, "Already the axe is laid at the root of the trees" (Mt 3:10). It will not merely cut - what is cut sprouts again - but the ax penetrates deeply, until it brings up the root. Jesus pulled out the root of the whole place, while others did it only partially. As for ourselves, let each one of us dig down after the root of evil which is within one, and let one pluck it out of one's heart from the root. It will be plucked out if we recognize it. But if we are ignorant of it, it takes root in us and produces its fruit in our heart. It masters us. We are its slaves. It takes us captive, to make us do what we do not want; and what we do want, we do not do. It is powerful because we have not recognized it. While it exists it is active. Ignorance is the mother of all evil. Ignorance will result in death, because those who come from ignorance neither were nor are nor shall be. [...] will be perfect when all the truth is revealed. For truth is like ignorance: while it is hidden, it rests in itself, but when it is revealed and is recognized, it is praised, inasmuch as it is stronger than ignorance and error. It gives freedom. The Word said, "If you know the truth, the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32). Ignorance is a slave. Knowledge is freedom. If we know the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth within us. If we are joined to it, it will bring our fulfillment.

At the present time, we have the manifest things of creation. We say, "The strong who are held in high regard are great people. And the weak who are despised are the obscure." Contrast the manifest things of truth: they are weak and despised, while the hidden things are strong and held in high regard. The mysteries of truth are revealed, though in type and image. The bridal chamber, however, remains hidden. It is the Holy in the Holy. The veil at first concealed how God controlled the creation, but when the veil is rent and the things inside are revealed, this house will be left desolate, or rather will be destroyed. And the whole (inferior) godhead will flee from here, but not into the holies of the holies, for it will not be able to mix with the unmixed light and the flawless fullness, but will be under the wings of the cross and under its arms. This ark will be their salvation when the flood of water surges over them. If some belong to the order of the priesthood, they will be able to go within the veil with the high priest. For this reason, the veil was not rent at the top only, since it would have been open only to those above; nor was it rent at the bottom only, since it would have been revealed only to those below. But it was rent from the top to bottom. Those above opened to us the things below, in order that we may go in to the secret of the truth. This truly is what is held in high regard, (and) what is strong! But we shall go in there by means of lowly types and forms of weakness. They are lowly indeed when compared with the perfect glory. There is glory which surpasses glory. There is power which surpasses power. Therefore, the perfect things have opened to us, together with the hidden things of truth. The holies of the holies were revealed, and the bridal chamber invited us in.

As long as it is hidden, wickedness is indeed ineffectual, but it has not been removed from the midst of the seed of the Holy Spirit. They are slaves of evil. But when it is revealed, then the perfect light will flow out on every one. And all those who are in it will receive the chrism. Then the slaves will be free and the captives ransomed. "Every plant which my father who is in heaven has not planted will be plucked out." (Mt 15:13) Those who are separated will unite [...] and will be filled. Every one who will enter the bridal chamber will kindle the light, for [...] just as in the marriages which are [...] happen at night. That fire [...] only at night, and is put out. But the mysteries of that marriage are perfected rather in the day and the light. Neither that day nor its light ever sets. If anyone becomes a son of the bridal chamber, he will receive the light. If anyone does not receive it while he is here, he will not be able to receive it in the other place. He who will receive that light will not be seen, nor can he be detained. And none shall be able to torment a person like this, even while he dwells in the world. And again when he leaves the world, he has already received the truth in the images. The world has become the Aeon (eternal realm), for the Aeon is fullness for him. This is the way it is: it is revealed to him alone, not hidden in the darkness and the night, but hidden in a perfect day and a holy light.

Selection made from James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition. HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1990.

 

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Paterson Brown Translation

Gospel of Philip

1.  A Hebrew° person makes a (convert) Hebrew, and they call him thus: a novice° (proselyte). Yet a novice does not make (another) novice. In truth, (some persons) are as they are,¹ [...] and they make others [... to receive like themselves.] It suffices to (those others) that they shall be. (¹Ex 3:14!, Mt 23:15, Ac 2:10, 6:5)

2.  The slave seeks only to be set free, yet he does not seek after the estate of his master. Yet the son not only acts as a son, but also the father ascribes the inheritance to him. (Jn 8:35, Th 72)

3.  Those who inherit the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit the dead. Those who inherit the living are alive, and they inherit both the living and the dead. The dead do not inherit anything. For how will the dead inherit? When the dead inherits the living, he shall not die but rather the dead shall instead live.  

4.  A nationalist° does not die, for he has never lived so that he could die.¹ Whoever has trusted° the truth (became) alive— and this-one is in danger of dying (as a martyr), for he is alive since the day that the Christ° came. (¹thus Desiderius Erasmus, In Praise of Folly: ‘It really makes little difference when such a man dies; he has never lived’; Mt 24:9)

5.  The system is contrived, the cities are constructed, the dead are carried out. (asyndeta; Isa 40:17, Rev/Ap 18, Lk 9:60, Ph 105 )

6.  In the days when we were Hebrews we were made orphans, having only our Mother (the Spirit°). Yet when we became Messianics°, the Father came to be with the Mother for us.

7.  Those who sow in the winter reap in the summer. The winter is the world,¹ the summer is the other aeon°. Let us sow in the world so that we will harvest in the summer. Because of this, it is appropriate for us not to be made to pray in the wintertime. What emerges from the winter is the summer. Yet if anyone reaps in the winter he will not harvest but rather uproot, as this method will not produce fruit. Not only does it (not) come forth [in the winter], but in the other Sabbath also his field shall be fruitless. (¹asyndeton; Mt 6:1-6, Th 14, 27)

8.  The Christ came! Some indeed he ransoms, yet others he saves, yet for others he atones°. Those who were alienated he ransomed,¹ he brought them to himself. And he saved those who came to him. These he set as pledges in his desire. Not only when he appeared did he appoint the soul as he desired, but since the day of the world's origin he appointed the soul. At the time he desires he came first to fetch it, since it was placed among the pledges. It came to be under the bandits and they took it captive. Yet he saved it, and he atoned for both the good and the evil in the world. (¹asyndeton; Mk 10:45, Jn 10:17-18; cp. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, 47 [ca. 160 AD]: ‘Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “As I find you, thus shall I judge you.”’)

9.  The light with the darkness, life with death, the right with the left are brothers one to another. It is not possible for them to be separated from one another. Because of this, neither are the good good, nor are the evils evil, nor is the life a life, nor is death a death. Therefore each individual shall be resolved into his origin from (the) beginning. Yet those exalted above the world are immortal (and¹) are in eternity°. (¹asyndeton; Isa 45:7, Lam 3:38; cp. the Chinese Tao )

10.  The names which are given by the worldly— therein is a great confusion°. For their hearts are turned away from the real unto the unreal. And he who hears the (word) ‘God’ does not think of the real, but rather he is made to think of the unreal. So also with (the words) ‘the Father’ and ‘the Son’ and ‘the Holy Spirit’ and ‘the Life’ and ‘the Light’ and ‘the Resurrection’ and ‘the Convocation°’ [and] all the other (words)— they do not think of the real, but rather they are made to think of the [un]real. [...] Moreover they learned the [all-human] reality of death. They are in the system,¹ [they are made to think of the unreal]. If they had been in eternity, they would not have designated anything as a worldly evil, nor would they have been placed within worldly events. There is a destiny for them in eternity. (¹asyndeton; note this extraordinary analysis of commonplace religious language as itself both perverted and perverting; see also Ph 13, and cp. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata V.14: ‘We are not to think of God according to the opinion of the multitude’ )

11.  One single name they do not utter in the world— the name which the Father bestowed upon himself by means of the Son, this existent name of the Father, (whom) he exalts over all. (Th 77) For the Son could not become the Father, unless he were given the name of the Father. This existing name they are made to have in thought, yet nonetheless they speak it not. Yet those who do not have it, cannot even think it. But the truth engendered words in the world for the our sake. It would not be possible to learn it without words. (! Jn 17)

12.  She alone is the truth. She makes (the) multitude, and concerning us she teaches this alone in a love thru many. (Ph 6,18,40)

13.  The authorities° desired to deceive humankind, because they perceived him being in a kinship with the truly good. They took the word ‘good’, they applied it to the ungood, so that thru words they might deceive him and bind (him) to the ungood.¹ And subsequently, when they receive grace, they are withdrawn from the ungood and placed in the good— these who had recognized themselves. (Th 3) For (the authorities) had desired to take the free (person), to keep him (as a) slave to themselves forever. There is empowerment granted to humans. (The authorities) do not want him [to recognize] (himself), so that they will become [masters] over him. For if there is mankind, there is [slavery]. (Isa 5:20, Ph 10; ¹thus Henry David Thoreau, Walden: ‘The greater part of what my neighbors call good I believe in my soul to be bad’; and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The First Circle: ‘A prisoner ... who has risen to that stage of development where the bad begins to appear the good’)

14.  Sacrifice began [...], and animals were offered up to the powers. [...] They were offered up still alive to them— they were indeed offered up living. Yet (when) they were offered up,¹ they died. (But) the human² was offered up dead to God— and he lived. (¹asyndeton; ²Christ/Christic)

15.  Before the Christ came, there had been no bread in the world as (there had been) in paradise°, the place where Adam had been made. There had been in it many plants as nourishment for the wild animals, (but) it had no wheat as food for humankind; the human had to be nourished like the wild animals. But the Christ was sent, the perfect° person. He brought forth bread within heaven, so that humankind could be nourished with the food of humankind. (Ps 78:25, Jn 6:30-59)

16.  The authorities were thinking that by their own power and volition they enact what they do to (others). Yet the Holy Spirit in secret had (all along) been energizing everything thru them as she wishes. (e.g. Jer 25:8-9)

17.  The truth, which exists from the origin, is sown everywhere, and the multitude see it being sown— while yet few who see it reap it. (Mt 22:14, Th 21)

18.  Some say that Mariam was impregnated by the Holy Spirit. They are confused,¹ they know not what they say. Whenever has a female° been impregnated by a female? Mariam is the virgin whom no powers defile°, great among the consecrations for the Hebrew Apostles° and for the Apostolics°. Whoever of the powers (attempts to) defile this virgin, [... such] powers defile themselves. And the Lord was not going to say ‘my Father [in] the heavens’, unless indeed he had another father— but rather he said simply [‘my Father’]. (¹asyndeton; Lk 2:48-49!!, Ph 6; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 19:6— ‘The Spirit opened the womb of the Virgin’)

19.  The Lord says to the Disciples°: [...] Indeed come into the house of the Father,¹ (but) do not possess (anything) nor likewise remove (anything/anyone) from the house of the Father. (¹asyndeton; Jn 14:2; Clement of Alexandria, in Stromata V.10.64, attributes to the Savior this saying: ‘My mystery is for me and for the Sons of my House’)

20a.  ‘Yeshúa’ is a secret name¹, ‘the Christ’ is a revealed name. Thus ‘Yeshúa’ indeed does not occur in any (other) languages, but rather his name is ‘Yeshúa’ as he is called. Yet his name ‘Christ’ in Aramaic° is ‘Messiah°’, but in Ionian is: O CRISTOS; altogether, all of the remainder have (‘the Anointed°’) according to the essential language of each one. (¹perhaps because (w#y = ‘He-Is [the] Savior’, the full meaning of which could only be understood by himself)

20b.  The revealed Nazarene° is the secret!

21.  The Christ has everything within himself— whether human or angel° or mystery°, and (also) the Father. (Lk 17:21, Jn 17:21-23, Th 3)

22.  Those who say that the Lord first died and then arose, are confused. For first he arose and (then) he died. If someone first acquires the resurrection, he will not die; (as) God lives, that one was [not] going to [die]. (Th 29)

23.  No one will hide something of great value in something ostentatious, but oftentimes has one placed (things worth) countless myriads in something worth a pittance. Thus it is with the soul— a precious thing came to be in a humble body. (Job 10:11, Th 29)

24.  There are some made fearful lest they arise naked. Therefore they desire to arise in the flesh, and they do not know that those who wear the flesh are the denuded. These who are made [into light] (by) divesting themselves (of the flesh), are they who are not naked.¹ (¹because they are clad in the images°; Ph 26, 85; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 25:8, ‘I was clothed with the covering of thy Spirit, and thou removed from me my garment of skin’)

25.  (Paul° claims that) ‘flesh [and blood will not be able] to inherit the Sovereignty [of God].’ (I-Cor 15:50) What is this which shall not inherit? This which is upon every one of us? Yet this is rather what will inherit— that which belongs to Yeshua with his blood. Therefore he says: He who eats not my flesh and drinks not my blood, has no life within him. (Jn 6:53)What is his flesh? It is the Logos; and his blood is the Holy Spirit. He who has received these has food and drink and clothing. I myself rebuke those others who say that (the flesh) shall not arise. (For) both of these are in error: thou say that the flesh shall not arise, but tell me what will arise so that I may honor thee; thou say it is the spirit in the flesh and this other light in the flesh,¹ (but) this also is an incarnate saying. Whatever thou will say, thou do not say anything apart from the flesh! It is necessary to arise in this flesh,¹ (as) everything exists within it. (¹asyndeton; emphatically anti-Gnostic and explicitly anti-Pauline; Job 19:25, Isa 26:19, Lk 24:39; thus the I Ching, hexagram 50, the Ritual Vessel: ‘The truly divine does not manifest itself apart from humankind’, and Moses Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed I,51: ‘Man is [essentially] a speaking animal’)

26.  In this world they who wear garments¹ are more valuable than the garments. In the Sovereignty of the Heavens the garments² are more valuable than those whom they have clothed thru water with fire, which purify the entire place. (¹of cloth, leather etc.; ²of images; Ps 104:2!, Ph 24, 85;  )

27.  The revelations thru those who reveal,¹ the secrets thru those who hide (them). Some (things) are kept secret by those who reveal. (¹asyndeton; Mt 13:10-15, Th prolog, 62,108)

28.  There is water in a (Baptism of) water, there is fire in a Chrism°. (asyndeton; Mt 3:11)

29.  Yeshua took them all by surprise. For he did not reveal himself as he [truly] had been, but rather he has revealed himself as [they will] be able essentially to perceive him. They had been susceptible to dying, (but¹) He revealed himself to them. [He revealed himself] to the great as great, he revealed himself to the small as small, he [revealed himself to the] angels as an angel and to mankind as (a) man. Thus his Logos concealed him from all beings. Some indeed saw him, thinking they were seeing themselves. But (when) he revealed himself to his Disciples in glory upon the mountain,¹ he had not been made small. He became great, but he (also) made the Disciples great so that they would be capable of beholding him made great. (¹asyndeton; Mt 17:1-8)

30.  He said on that day in the Eucharist°: Oh Thou who have mated° the Perfect Light with the Holy Spirit,¹ mate also our angels with the images! (¹NB in Hebrew/Aramaic the word ‘light’ [rw)] is masculine, while ‘spirit’ [xwr] is feminine)

31.  Do not disdain the Lamb, for without him it is not possible to see the door. No one divested will be able to enter unto the King. (Jn 1:36)

32.  The Sons of the Celestial Person are more numerous than those of the earthly person. If the sons of Adam are numerous although they characteristically die, how many more are the Sons of the Perfect Person!— these who do not die but rather are continually born. (Gen 2:17, Ecc 5:16, Jn 1:13, 11:26)

33.  The Father creates (a) Son, but it is not possible for the Son himself to create (a) son. For it is impossible for him who is begotten, himself to beget— but rather, the Son begets for himself Brothers, not sons. (Ps 2:7, Jn 20:17, Th 25, Ph 128?)

34.  All those who are begotten within the system are begotten physically, and the others are begotten [spiritually]. Those begotten in his heart [call forth] there to the human, in order to nourish him in the promise [of the goal] which is above. (Jn 1:12-13)

35.  [Grace comes] forth by him from the mouth, the place where the Logos came forth; (one) was to be nourished from the mouth to become perfect. The perfect are conceived thru a kiss and they are born. Therefore we also are motivated to kiss one another— to receive conception from within our mutual grace. (I Sam 20:41, Th 108, Ph 59)

36.  There were three Mariams who walked with the Lord at all times: his mother and [his] sister and (the) Magdalene°— this one who is called his consort°. Thus his (true¹) Mother and Sister and Mate is (also called) ‘Mariam’. (¹i.e. the Holy Spirit; Mk 3:35, Th 101, Ph 59)

37.  ‘The Father’ and ‘the Son’ are single names, ‘the Holy Spirit’ is a double name. For (the Father and the Son) are everywhere— above and below, secretly and manifestly. The Holy Spirit is in the revealed, she is below, she is in the hidden, she is above.

38.  The Saints are served by the oppressive powers, for (the latter) are blinded by the Holy Spirit so that they shall think they are assisting a human when they are serving the Saints. Because of this, (when) a Disciple one day made request of the Lord regarding a thing of this world,¹ he says to him: Request of thy Mother, and she will give² to thee from what belongs to another. (¹asyndeton; ²thus Mt 6:11, DIDOMI)

39.  The Apostles say to the Disciples: May our entire offering obtain salt! They had called [wisdom] ‘salt’— without it (an) offering cannot become acceptable. (Lev 2:13, Num 18:19, II-Chr 13:5, Mk 9:49-50, Lk 7:35, 11:49, 21:15, Ac 6:3 )

40.  Yet wisdom is barren [without] Son(s)— hence [she] is called [the Mother]. They [...] in salt, the place where they shall [be as they had been]— they themselves being found by the Holy Spirit, [... who] multiplies her Sons. (Prov 8, Isa 54:1, Lk 7:35, Th 49, 101)

41.  That which the Father possesses belongs to the Son. And also he himself, the Son, as long as he remains small, those (things) which are his are not entrusted to him. (But) when he matures¹, all that his Father possesses he bestows upon him. (¹literally, ‘becomes a man’; Th 61b)

42.  Those who stray are begotten by the Spirit, and they also go astray thru her. Thus by this same breath°, the fire blazes and is extinguished. ( )

43.  Wisdom¹ is one thing, and death² is another. ‘Wisdom’ (in Aramaic) is simply ‘wisdom’ (in Greek), yet the wisdom of death is (itself) dead. This which is the wisdom with death, which is from the acquaintance with death— this is called the minor wisdom. (¹Aramaic tmkx [khokmat] = Hebrew hmkx [khokmah]: wisdom; ²Hebrew twm [mut]: die)

44.  There are animals submissive to mankind, such as the calf and the donkey and others of this kind. There are others not submissive, isolated in the wilds. The human plows in the field by means of the submissive animals, and by this he feeds himself as well as the animals— whether domesticated or wild. So it is with the Perfect Person— thru the submissive powers he plows, providing to cause the existence of everything. For because of this the entire place stands— whether the good or the evil, both the right and the left. The Holy Spirit pastures everyone and commands all the powers, the submissive as well as the rebellious and isolated. For truly she continues [at all times] to control them [beyond] their desire's abilities. [...] (Prov 16:4, Ph 9, 42)

45.  [Adam] was formed (and¹) [he begot], (but¹) thou would [not] have found his sons to be noble formations. (Ph 46) If he were not formed but rather begotten, thou would have found his seed to be made noble. Yet now he has been formed, (and¹) he has begotten. What nobility is this? (¹asyndeton; Gen 2:7, 4:1)

46.  Adultery occurred first, then murder. And (Cain°) was begotten in adultery,¹ (for) he was the son of the serpent.² Therefore he became a manslayer just like his other³ father, and he killed his brother. Yet every mating which has occurred between those who are dissimilar is adultery. (¹asyndeton; ²i.e. born of the pretense called human, rather than divine, generation; ³i.e. other than his true Father: God; Gen 4:1-16, Ecl 11:5!!, Jn 8:31-59!, I-Jn 3:12!, Th 105; see ‘Theogenesis’)

47.  God is a dyer. Just as the good pigments which are called true then label the things which have been (permanently) dyed in them, so it is with those whom God has colored. Because his hues are imperishable, (those who are tinted) become immortal thru his hand's coloring. Yet God immerses whomever he baptizes° by an inundation of waters¹. (¹i.e. a flood of images; Ph 58)

48.  It is not possible for anyone to see anything of those that are established, unless he has become like them. Not as with the person in the world: He sees the sun without being made a sun, and he sees the sky and the earth and all other things without having been made into them. But in the truth it is thus— thou saw something of that place, thou came to be among those there. Thou saw the Spirit,¹ thou became spiritual; thou saw the Christ,¹ thou became christlike; thou saw [the Father,¹ thou] shall become paternal. Thus [in the world] thou indeed see everything and [thou] do not [see thy self], yet thou see thy self in that [place]. For what thou see, thou shall become. [...] (¹asyndeta)

49.  Faith receives,¹ love gives. [No one can receive] without faith,¹ no one can give without love. Therefore we believe so that indeed we shall receive, yet we give so that we shall love. Otherwise, if one is accustomed to give without love, he derives no benefit from having given. (¹asyndeta)

50.  Whoever has not received the Lord, continues still with the Hebrews. (Ph 6, 108)

51.  The Apostles who preceded us called (him) thus: Yeshua the Nazirite° Messiah— this is Yeshua the Nazirite Christ. The last name is the Christ, the first is Yeshua, that in the middle is the Nazirite. ‘Messiah’ has two references: both the anointed and also the measured°. ‘Yeshua’ in Hebrew is the atonement. ‘Nazara’ is the truth, therefore the Nazirite is the true. The Christ is the measured, the Nazirite and Yeshua are the measurement. (Num 6:1-8, Jud 13:5 ® Mt 2:23, Ph 20)

52.  The pearl which is cast down into the mire it is not despised, nor if it is anointed with balsam oil is it (more) valued. But rather it has its great worth to its owner at all times. So it is with the Sons of God— whatever happens to them, in their heart they still have the great value to their Father. (Job 30:19, Jer 38:6)

53.  If thou are accustomed to say ‘I'm a Jew’— no one will be moved. If thou say ‘I'm a Roman’— no one will be disturbed. If thou say ‘I'm a Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a freeman’— no one will be troubled. If thou [say] ‘I'm a Christic°’— [everyone] shall heed. May it occur that I have [received from him] in this manner, this which [the worldly] shall not be able to withstand when [they hear] this name! (Acts 5:41 [cp. 22:25])

54.  (A) god is a cannibal. Because of this, mankind [is sacrificed] to it. Before mankind was sacrificed, animals were being sacrificed. For these to which they are sacrificed are not divinities. (Isa 44:9-20!, Ph 14)

55.  Vessels of glass and vessels of pottery always come forth thru fire. But if glass vessels break they are recast, (for) they had come to be by means of a breath¹. Yet if pottery vessels break they are destroyed, for they had come to be without breath. (¹=spirit; ceramics can only be recast before firing: Jer 18:4-10, 19:11)

56.  A donkey turning at a millstone did a hundred miles walking. (When) it had been released, it found itself still in the same place. There are persons who take many journeys and make no progress anywhere. When evening came upon them, they discerned neither city nor village, neither creation nor nature, neither power nor angel. In vain did the wretches toil! (Ps 127:2, Ecl 2:11; Clement of Alexandria, in Stromata I.8.41, attributes to the Savior this saying: ‘These are they who ply their looms and weave nothing’)

57.  The Eucharist is Yeshua. For in Aramaic they call him farisatha (#rp)— this is, the outspread. For Yeshua came to crucify the world. (cp. Odes of St. Solomon 27:1-2— ‘I stretched out my hands and sanctified my Lord; for the extension of my hands is his sign’)

58.  The Lord went into the dyeworks of Levi°. He took 72 complexions°,¹ he threw them into the vat. He brought them all up white, and he says: This is how the Son of Mankind has come to you— he acts as (a) dyer.² (¹asyndeton; ²of the images; Ph 47; Gen 10 [LXX] lists 72 nations in all the world; also, Lk 10:1 in MSS p75 B D[05] mentions 72 Disciples)

59.  The wisdom which (humans) call barren is herself the Mother of the Angels. (Ph 40) And the Consort of the [Christ] is Mariam the Magdalene. The [Lord loved] Mariam more than [all the (other)] Disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth].¹ The other [women] saw his love for Mariam, (and²) they say to him: ‘Why do thou love [her] more than all of us?’ || The Savior° replied, (and²) he says to them: ‘Why do I not love you as (I do) her?’ (¹Prov 24:26, S-of-S 1:2, Ph 35, 36, 40; ²asyndeton; Th 61b)

60.  (While) a blind (person) and one who sees are both in the dark, they do not differ from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees shall behold the light, and he who is blinded shall remain in the darkness. (Jn 9, Th 34)

61.  The Lord says: ‘Blest is he who is before he comes into being!’ (=Th 19!, Ph 1) For he who is, both was and shall be. (Rev/Ap 1:8)

62.  The exaltation of mankind is not manifest but rather is implicit. Because of this he is master of the animals which are stronger than him— who is greater than them both manifestly and implicitly. And this gives to them their survival. Yet (when) mankind separates from them, they kill each other and gnaw each other and devour each other, because they find no food. Yet they have found food, now that mankind cultivated the earth. (Job 35:11, Mk 1:13)

63.  If one goes down into the water and comes back up not having received anything,¹ (but) he says ‘I'm a Christic’, he has taken the name on loan. Yet if he receives the Holy Spirit, he has the gift of the name. He who has received a gift is not deprived of it,but he who has taken a loan has it demanded from him. (¹asyndeton; Jn 4:10, Th 41)

64.  This is how it is when one exists in a mystery— the Sacrament° of Marriage is grand. For the world is complex: [the system] is based upon mankind, yet [mankind is] based upon matrimony.¹(Therefore) contemplate the Pure Mating, for it has [great] power! Its imagery consists in a defiling² [of bodies]. (¹matrimony « patrimony°, human rather than divine generation: see ‘Theogenesis’; ²Lev 15:18!!

65.  (Among) the unclean spirits there are essentially male and female. The males indeed are those who mate with the souls inhabiting a female form, yet the females are those who unite° with a male form— thru an inequality°. (Th 61b!!, Ph 46)And no one will be able to escape from these (once) they seize him (unless) he receives both male and female power— which is the Bridegroom with the Bride. Yet one receives them in the mirrored° Bridal-Chamber°. Whenever the foolish women see a male sitting alone, they are accustomed to leap upon him, to carouse with him and defile him. So also the foolish men when they see a beautiful female sitting alone, they seduce her (or¹) coerce her in the desire to defile her. Yet if they see the man sitting together with his woman, the females cannot intrude upon the man nor can the males intrude upon the woman. So it is (when) the imagery and the angel are mated together, neither can anyone dare to intrude upon the male or the female. (Ph 30) He who comes forth from the world cannot be detained any longer merely because he had been in the world. He is revealed as beyond both the yearning and the fear of the [flesh]. He is master over [desire],¹ he is more precious than envy. And if [the multitude] come to seize him (and¹) to strangle [him], how will this one not be able to escape [by the salvation] of God? How can he [fear them]? (Ps 3:6; ¹asyndeton)

66.  Frequently there are some who come¹ (and) [they say]: We are faithful, hide [us ... from unclean] and demonic spirits! But if they had possessed the Holy Spirit, no unclean spirit would have clung to them. (¹asyndeton; Mk 1:39)

67.  Do not fear the essence of the flesh, nor love it. If thou are accustomed to fear it, it will become thy master; if thou are accustomed to love it, it will devour thee¹ (and) strangle thee. (¹asyndeton; Ps 56:4, Jn 6:63)

68.  One exists either in this world or in the resurrection or in the transitional° regions. May it not occur that I be found in (the latter)! (In) this world there is essentially the good and the evil. Its goods are not good and its evils are not evil. (Ph 9) Yet there is evil after this world, which is truly evil: that which is called the transition— it is death. While we are in this world it is appropriate for us to be born in the resurrection, so that if we are divested of the flesh we shall find ourselves in the repose¹ (and) not wander in the transition. For many go astray on the way. Thus it is good to come forth from the world before humankind was caused to transgress. (¹asyndeton; Th 60, Rev/Ap 20:5; thus Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals: ‘Only that life end not before I am born’)

69.  Some indeed neither wish nor have the ability. Yet others if they wish receive no benefit, for they were not accustomed to practice. For desire makes them transgressors. Yet not desiring righteousness shall conceal from them both the wish and the lack of accomplishment. (thus Hsün Tzu, 3rd century BC China: ‘An inferior man can become a superior man, but he does not want to’)

70.  An Apostolic¹ in a vision saw some who were confined in a house of fire, crying out [in the] air with a fiery [voice], cast in the flames [for an era°]. There is water in [...], and they proclaim to themselves: [...] The waters can[not] save us [from death! Misled by] their desire, they received [death as] chastisement— this which is called the [outermost] darkness. (¹perhaps Philip himself; Ps 66:12, Rev/Ap 20:14-15, Mt 25:30)

71.  The enemy [comes] forth in water with fire. The soul and the spirit have come forth [in] water and fire with light, which pertain to of the Son of the Bridal-Chamber. The fire is the Chrism, the light is the fire. I do speak of this fire that has no form, but rather the other one— whose form is white (and¹) which is made of beautiful light and which bestows splendor. (¹asyndeton; Ph 26, 28, 58)

72.  The truth did not come unto the world naked, but rather it has come in symbolic° imagery. (The world) will not receive it in any other fashion. There is a rebirth° together with a reborn imagery. It is truly appropriate not to be reborn thru the imagery. (Jn 3) What is the resurrection with its imagery?— it is appropriate to arise thru the imagery. The Bridal-Chamber with its imagery?— it is appropriate to come into the truth thru the imagery, which is this restoration°. It is appropriate for those born not only of the words ‘the Father with the Son with the Holy Spirit’, but (moreover) born of them [...¹] themselves. Whoever is not begotten of them, will have the name also taken from him. (Ph 63)Yet one receives them in the Chrism of the fullness in the power of the cross², which the Apostles call: the right with the left. (Ph 9) For this-one is no longer a Christic but rather a Christ. (¹see the  ; ²anti-Gnostic; Isa 30:21, Ac 3:21)

73.  The Lord [did] everything in a sacrament: a Baptism with a Chrism with a Eucharist with an Atonement with a [Holy] Bridal-Chamber.

74a.  He says: ‘I came to make [the inner] as the [outer (and¹) the] outer as the [inner.’ (=Th 22!) He spoke of] everything in that place [above] this place by means of symbolic [images. ...] (¹asyndeton; Ph 72)

74b.  Those who say [‘I'm a Christic’] come from the place beyond [...] confusion. (Ph 10, 18, 22, 97, 134, Tr 3 ff.)

74c.  He who is manifest [from above] is called ‘he who is below’. And He who is hidden is He who is above him. For it is good that they say ‘the inner and the outer together with what is outside of the outer’. Because of this, the Lord called destruction ‘the outer darkness’; there is nothing beyond it. He says ‘my Father who is in secret’. He says ‘Go into thy inner chamber, shut thy door behind thee (and¹) pray to thy Father who is in secret’: this is He who is within them all. Yet He who is within them all is the Fullness— beyond Him there is nothing further within. This is what is meant by ‘He who is above them’. (¹asyndeton; Mt 8:12, 6:6, Th 77)

75.  Before Christ some came forth. They were no longer able to enter into whence they came, and they were no longer able to exit from whither they went. Yet the Christ came. Those who had gone in he brought out, and those who had gone out he brought in. (I-Ki 3:7)

76.  In the days when Eve° was within Adam,¹ there had been no death. When she was separated from him, death came to be. If (she) again enters (and²) he receives (her) to him, death shall no longer be. (¹or ‘when life was within mankind’, see the   ²asyndeton)

77.  ‘My God, my God, why oh Lord [did] thou abandon me?’¹— he spoke these (words) on the cross². For he divided the place [below from the place above], having been begotten in the [Holy] Spirit by God. (¹ =Ps 22:1 ® Mk 15:34; ²anti-Gnostic)

78.  The [Lord arose] from among the dead. [He became (again)] as he had been, but [his body] had been made [entirely] perfect. He is incarnate, but this [flesh is indeed] a true flesh.¹ [Yet our flesh] is not true, but rather a mirror-image of the true [flesh]. (¹Jn 1:14, 20:27, II-Jn 7; anti-Gnostic)

79.  Let (the) Bridal-Chamber not be for the beasts nor for the slaves nor for impure women!— but rather it is for free men with virgins. (Gen 24:16, Ac 21:8-9!, Th 61b!, Ph 127!; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 42:9-12— ‘Like the arm of the bridegroom over the bride, so is my yoke over those who know me; and as the bed that is spread in the house of the bridegroom and bride, so does my love cover those that believe in me’)

80.  Thru the Holy Spirit we are indeed born, yet we are reborn thru the Christ. In both we are anointed thru the Spirit— (and¹) having been begotten, we are mated. (¹asyndeton; Gen 2:7, Jn 3:7)

81.  No one will be able to see himself either in water or in (a) mirror without light. Nor again will thou be able to see (thyself) in light without water or  mirror. Therefore it is appropriate to baptize in both— in the light as well as the water. Yet the light is the Chrism. (Prov 27:19, Isa 43:2, Mt 3:11; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 13:1— ‘Behold! The Lord is our mirror; open your eyes and see them in him’)

82.  There had been¹ three vestibules for places of giving offering in Jerusalem°— one open to the west called the holy, another open to the south called the holy of the holiness, the third open to the east called the holy of the holinesses where the high priest alone was to² enter. The Baptism is the holy vestibule, [the Atonement] is the holy of the holiness, the holy of the holinesses is the Bridal-Chamber. The Baptism has the resurrection [with] the Atonement entering into the Bridal-Chamber. Yet the Bridal-Chamber is more exalted than those. [...] Thou will find nothing that [compares with it].³ (multiple asyndeta; Lev 16, Num 18:7; ¹‘There had been’: Coptic ne., pluperfect tense, P231; also ²‘was to’: Coptic e4are., II-habitual past tense, P206— hence this entry, like sayings 84 & 139, was written after the Roman conquest of 70 AD; ³thus Moses ben Nahman [1194-1270 AD], Letter on Holiness: ‘The sexual relationship is in reality a thing of great exaltation when it is appropriate and harmonious. This great secret is the same secret of those cherubim who copulate with each other in the image of male and female.... Keep this secret and do not reveal it to anyone unworthy, for here is where you glimpse the secret of the loftiness of an appropriate sexual relationship.... When the sexual relation points to the Name, there is nothing more righteous and more holy than it’)

83.  [The saints] are those who pray [always for] Jerusalem [and love] Jerusalem; they [are already in] Jerusalem (and¹) they see [Jerusalem now.] These are called ‘the saints of the holinesses’. (¹asyndeton; Ps 122:6, Rev/Ap 21:10)

84.  [... The] curtain (of the Temple) was torn [in order to reveal] the Bridal-Chamber, (which) is nothing other than the image [of the ...] place above. [...] Its curtain was torn from the top to the bottom, for it had been appropriate for some from below to go above. (Th 84, Mk 15:38; this entry must be dated after 70 AD)

85.  Those who have been clothed in the Perfect Light— the powers can neither see them nor restrain them. Yet one shall be clothed with light in the sacrament of the Mating. (Ph 24, 26; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 21:2, ‘I took off darkness and clothed myself with light’)

86.  If the female had not separated from the male, she would not afterward have died with the male. Her separation was the inception of death. (Gen 3:19) Therefore the Christ came, so that he might rectify to himself the separation that had obtained from (the) beginning, by his mating the two together. And by his mating them together, he shall give their lives to those who have died in the separation. Yet the woman mates with her husband in the bridal-chamber. Those however who have mated in the Bridal-Chamber will no longer be separated. Because of this, Eve separated from Adam— because she did not mate with him in the Bridal-Chamber. (Th 11, 22, Ph 30, 76)

87.  The soul of Adam came into being by a breath¹, whose mate is the [Christ. The Spirit] bestowed upon (Adam) is his Mother, and was given to him in his soul. [...] (Yet) because he had [not yet] been mated in the Logos, the dominant powers bewitched him. [But yet those who] mate with the [Holy] Spirit [...] (in) secret [...] are invited individually [...] to the Bridal-Chamber, in order that [...] they shall be mated. (¹=Spirit, Gen 2:7)

88.  Yeshua revealed [beside the (River)] Jordan° the fullness of the Sovereignty of the Heavens, which existed before the totality. Moreover he was begotten (¹) as Son, moreover he was anointed, moreover he was atoned, moreover he atoned. (¹manuscript dittography here omitted)

89.  If it is appropriate to tell a mystery, the Father of the totality mated with the Virgin who had come down— and a fire shone for him on that day. He revealed the power of the Bridal-Chamber. Thus his body came into being on that day. He came forth in the Bridal-Chamber as one who has issued from the Bridegroom with the Bride. This is how Yeshua established the totality for himself in his heart. And thru these¹, it is appropriate for each one of the Disciples to enter into his repose. (¹i.e. the Bridegroom and the Bride; cp. Odes of St. Solomon 33:5-8— ‘There stood a perfect Virgin who was proclaiming:... Return oh you sons of men, and come oh you daughters of men,... and I will enter into you’)

90.  Adam came into being from two virgins— from the Spirit and from the virgin earth. Therefore Christ was begotten from a virgin, so that the stumbling which occurred in the beginning shall be rectified to him. (Gen 2:7, Lk 1:26-35, Ph 18)

91.  There were two trees in paradise— the one produces beasts,¹ the other produces humans. Adam ate from the tree that produced beasts, (and¹) becoming a beast he begot beasts. Because of this, (the beasts) came to be worshipped. [... Humans] begot humans [and ...] worshipped humans. [...] (¹asyndeton; Ph 54)

92.  God created mankind and men created the god(s). This is how it is in the world— the men create god(s) and they worship their creations. It would have been (more) appropriate for the gods¹ to worship mankind! (¹plural, hence also in the first two instances; Isa 44:9-20, Jer 16:20, Hab 2:18-19, Ph 54)

93.  Thus is the real truth regarding the deeds of mankind— they essentially come forth thru his power. Therefore they are called (his) abilities. His works are his sons who came forth thru (his) repose. Because of this, his power governs in his works, yet his repose is manifest in (his) sons. And thou will find that this penetrates unto the imagery. And this is the Mirrored Person: doing his works in his power, yet in repose begetting his Sons. (Jn 5:19, Th 50!)

94.  In this world the slaves are forced to work for the free. In the Sovereignty of the Heavens the free shall act to serve the slaves: the Sons of the Bridal-Chamber shall actively serve the sons of marriage. The Sons of the Bridal-Chamber have [a single] name among them, the repose occurs among them mutually,¹ they are made to have no needs. [...] (Lk 20:34-6!, Ph 64; ¹asyndeton)

95.  The contemplation° [of the imagery is aware]ness in greatness of glory. [Truly there is immortal]ity within those in the [Holy Bridal-Chamber, who receive] the glories of those who [are fulfilled]. (cp. Aristotle, Metaphysics XII.7, 1072b.23 )

96.  [Those who go down] into the water do not [...] go down to death,¹ [... for] (Christ) shall atone him [once he has gone] forth— namely those who were [called to be fulfilled] in his name. For he says: ‘[Thus] we must fulfill all righteousness.’ (=Mt 3:15; ¹this appears to be an explicit rejection of Paul's doctrine in Rom 6:3-4)

97.  Those who say that first they shall die and (then) they shall arise are confused. If they do not first receive the resurrection (while) they live,¹ they will not receive anything (when) they die. Thus also it is said regarding Baptism,² (that) Baptism is great, (for) those who receive it shall live. (¹Jn 11:26, Ph 22; ²manuscript dittography here omitted; multiple asyndeta)

98.  Philip° the Apostle says: Joseph° the Carpenter planted a grove because he had needed wood for his craft. He himself made the cross from the trees that he had planted, and his heir° hung on that which he had planted. His heir was Yeshua, yet the plant was the cross¹. But the tree of life (is) in the midst of paradise— and the olive tree, from the heart of which the Chrism came thru him of the resurrection. (this must be a parable composed by the Apostle Philip, wherein perhaps ‘Joseph’ represents all mankind; ¹anti-Gnostic; Mt 13:55, Ex 30:22-33, Dt 21:22-23)

99.  This world devours corpse(s)— furthermore, those eaten in it themselves die. The truth ingests life— therefore no one nourished in [the truth shall] die. Yeshúa came from within that place, and he brought nourishment from there. And to those whom he wished he gave their lives, so that they not perish. (Jn 6:53, Th 11, 60, Ph 15)

100.  God [created] a garden-paradise. Mankind [lived in the] garden; [... but] were not in the [...]of God in [...] their hearts' [...] given desire. [...] This garden [is the place] where it will be said to me: [Thou may eat] this or not eat [this, according to thy] desire. This is the place (where) I shall consume every different (thing)— there being there the tree of knowledge, which slew Adam. Yet (in) this place the tree of knowledge gave life to mankind. The Torah° was the tree. It has (the) capability in itself to bestow the knowledge of the good and the evil. It neither cured him of the evil nor preserved him in the good, but rather it caused to die those who had ingested it. For death originated because of its saying: Eat this, but do not eat (that)! (Th 113, Gen 2:16-17)
 

101.  The Chrism is made lord over the Baptism. (Mt 3:11) For from the Chrism we are called Christic(s, and¹) not because of the Baptism. And (he) was called the Christ because of the Chrism. For the Father anointed the Son, yet the Son anointed the Apostles, yet the Apostles anointed us. (Lk 4:18, Jn 20:21-22, Ac 6:5-6) He who has been anointed has the totality— he has the resurrection, the light, the cross,² the Holy Spirit. The Father bestowed this upon him in the Bridal-Chamber (and) he received. (¹asyndeton; ²anti-Gnostic, asyndeton)

102.  The Father was in the Son, and the Son in the Father. This is the Sovereignty of the Heavens! (Jn 14:10, 17:20-23, Th 113!; thus Juan Rulfo, Pedro Páramo: ‘For me,... heaven is right here’)

103.  Ideally did the Lord say: Some have attained the Sovereignty of the Heavens laughing, and they came forth [rejoicing from the world]. The Christic [...] who went down into the water immediately came forth as lord over everything, because [he did not consider it a] game. But rather he disdained this [changing world for] the Sovereignty of the Heavens. If he disdains (the world) and scorns it as a game, he [will] come forth laughing. (Ph 96)

104. Furthermore, thus it is regarding the Bread with the Chalice, and the Chrism: there is nonetheless another (sacrament) exalted over these. (Ph 73)

105.  The system began in a transgression, for he who made it had desired to make it imperishable and immortal. He fell away and did not attain (his) ambition. For there was no imperishability of the system, and there was no imperishability of him who has made the system. For there is no imperishability of things but rather of the Sons, and no one can obtain imperishability except by becoming (a) Son. Yet he who is unable to receive, how much (more) will he be unable to give! (Ph 5, 49)

106.  The chalice of communion° contains wine (and¹) it contains water. It is designated as the symbol of the blood,² over which thanks³ are given. And it is filled by the Holy Spirit, and it belongs to the completely Perfected Person. Whenever we are accustomed to drink this, we shall receive the Perfect Person. (Jn 19:34, I-Jn 5:6-8; ¹asyndeton; ²anti-gnostic & asyndeton; ³Gk EUCARISTEIN)

107.  The living water is a body. It is appropriate that we be clothed with the Living Person. Because of this, (when) he comes to go down into the water¹ he undresses himself in order that he may be clothed with that. (¹asyndeton; Ph 26)

108.  A horse naturally begets a horse, a human naturally begets (a) human,¹ a god naturally begets (a) god. Thus it is regarding the Bridegroom within the Bride— [their Sons] came forth in the Bridal-Chamber. (The) Jews had not derived [...] from the Greeks, [...] and [we Christics did not derive] from the Jews. (Ph 50) [...] And these were called [...] the chosen generation of the [Holy Spirit]— the True Man and the Son of Mankind and the seed of the Son of Mankind. This generation is named true in the world. This is the place where the Sons of the Bridal-Chamber are. (¹asyndeton)

109.  Mating occurs in this world (as) man upon woman, the place of strength together with weakness. (Gen 3:16) In eternity there is something else (in) the likeness of mating, yet we call it by these (same) names. Yet there are others which are exalted beyond every name which is named, and (which) transcend force. For (in) the place where there is force, there are those who are superior to force. (Ph 140)

110.  The one is not, and the other one is— but they are together this single unity.¹ This is He who shall not be able to come unto (whomever) has the heart of flesh. (Ph 9; ¹thus Chuang Tzu, 4th century BC China: ‘That which is one is one, and that which is not one is also one; he who regards all things as One, is a companion of Heaven’)

111.  Is it not appropriate for all those who possess the totality to understand themselves? Some indeed, who do not understand themselves, shall not enjoy those (things) which they have. Yet those who have understood themselves shall enjoy them. (Ecc 6:1-2, Th 67)

112.  Not only shall they be unable to seize the perfected person, but they shall be unable (even) to see him. For if they see him, they will seize him. In no other manner will one be able to be begotten of this grace, unless he is clothed in the Perfect Light and Perfect Light is upon him. [Thus clad], he shall go [forth from the World]. This is the perfected [Son of the Bridal-Chamber]. (Mt 5:48, Ph 85)

113.  [It is appropriate] that we are made to become [perfected persons] before we come forth [from the world]. (Mt 5:48) Whoever has received everything [without being made master] of these places, will [not be able to master] that place; but rather he shall [go] forth to the transition as imperfect. Only Yeshua knows the destiny of this one.¹ (¹that is, no one else can judge imperfection, Mt 25:31-46, Jn 8:7; Ph 10, 112)

114.  The sainted person is entirely holy, including his body. For if he received the bread he will sanctify it, or the chalice, or everything else he receives he purifies. And how will he not purify the body also? (Jn 20:27; anti-Gnostic!!)

115.  By perfecting the water of Baptism: thus Yeshua poured death away. Because of this, we indeed are sent down into the water— yet not down unto death,¹ (but rather) in order that we be poured away from the spirit of the world. Whenever that blows, its winter occurs; (but²) when the Holy Spirit breathes, the summer happens. (Mt 28:19, Ph 7, 96, 103; ¹this appears to be an explicit rejection of Paul's doctrine in Rom 6:3-4; ²asyndeton)

116.  Whoever recognizes the truth is liberated. Yet he who is liberated does not transgress, for ‘the transgressor is the slave of the transgression.’ (Jn 8:32-36, I-Jn 3:9 ) The Mother is the truth, yet the conjoining° is the recognition. The world calls liberated those to whom it is given not to transgress. The recognition of the truth exalts the hearts of these to whom it is given not to transgress. This is what liberates them and exalts them over the whole place. Yet love is inspiring. He however who has been liberated thru recognition, is enslaved by love for these who have not yet been able to sustain being liberated by the truth. Yet the recognition makes them competent, which liberates them.  

117.  Love [does not take] anything, for how [(can) it take anything when everything] belongs to it? It does not [say ‘This is mine’] or ‘(That) is mine’, [but rather it says] ‘They are thine.’ (Job 41:11, Lk 6:30)

118.  Spiritual love is [truly] wine with fragrance; all those who are anointed with it enjoy it. As long as the anointed remain, those (also) enjoy it who stand beside them. (But) if they who are anointed with the Chrism cease evangelizing them (and¹) depart, (then) those who are not anointed (but¹) only stand alongside remain still in their (own) miasma. The Samaritan gave nothing to the wounded (man) except wine with ointment— and he healed the blows, for ‘love covers a multitude of transgressions.’ (¹asyndeton; Lk 10:30-37, Th 24, =Prov 10:12 ® I-Pet 4:8)

119.  Those whom the woman will beget, resemble him whom she loves. If (it is) her husband, they resemble her husband; if it is an adulterer, they resemble the adulterer. Often, if there is (a) woman (who) lays with her husband by compulsion, yet her heart is with the adulterer and she is accustomed to mate with him (also, then) he whom she bears in giving birth resembles the adulterer. Yet you who are with the Son of God— love not the world but rather love the Lord, so that those who shall be begotten not come to resemble the world, but rather will come to resemble the Lord. (Ex 20:14, Lev 20:10, II-Sam 11:1-5, 12:1-10, Mt 5:27-28&32, Mk 7:21, Jn 8:3-11)

120.  The human naturally unites with the human, the horse naturally unites with the horse, the donkey naturally unites with the donkey. The species naturally unite with their like-species. Thus the Spirit naturally unites with the Spirit, and the Logos naturally mates with the Logos, [and the] Light [naturally] mates [with the Light. If thou] are accustomed to become human, (then) [mankind shall] love thee; if thou are accustomed to become [spiritual], (then) the Spirit shall mate with thee; if thou [are accustomed] to become rational, (then) the Logos shall unite with thee; if thou are accustomed to become enlightened, (then) the Light shall mate with thee; if thou are accustomed to transcend, (then) the Transcendental shall repose upon thee. (But) if thou are accustomed to become (like a) horse or donkey or calf or dog or sheep or other of the animals (which are) outside and inferior, (then) neither mankind nor the Spirit nor the Logos nor the Light nor those above nor those within shall be able to love thee. They shall not be able to repose in thy heart, and thy heritage shall not be in their heart. (Ph 108; cp. Eccl [Ben Sirach] 13:19-20, ‘Every beast loves its like; so also every person him that is nearest to himself. All flesh shall consort with the like to itself, and every person shall associate himself to his like’)

121.  He who is enslaved without his volition, will be able to be freed. He who has been liberated by the grace of his master, and has sold himself (back) into slavery, shall no longer be able to be freed. (Ex 21:5-6 [but also Lev 25:10], Ph 116)

122.  The cultivation in the world (is) thru four forms°— (crops) are gathered into the barn thru soil and water and wind and light. And the cultivation by God is likewise thru four: thru trust and expectation° and love and recognition. Our soil is the trust in which we take root, the water is the expectation thru which we are nourished, the wind is the love thru which we grow, yet the light is the recognition thru which we are ripened. (Ph 116; cp. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata V.3: ‘An ignorant man has sought; and having sought, he finds the teacher; and finding, has believed; and believing, has hoped; and henceforward, having loved, is assimilated to what was loved— such is the method Socrates shows’)

123.  Grace caused [the humble soul of the] person of earth to be made sovereign [over ...] what is above Heaven.¹ They [received] among the blest. This one by his [Logos truly uplifts] their souls. (¹Th 2!, 11!)

124.  This is Yeshua the Christ— he beguiled the entire place and did not burden anyone. Therefore, blest is this perfected person of this kind, for this one is the Logos.

125.  Ask us concerning him, inasmuch as this (attempt to portray) him uprightly (is) difficult. How shall we be able to succeed in this great (task)? (Th 13!)

126.  How will he bestow repose on everyone? First of all, it is not appropriate to grieve anyone— whether great or small, whether unbeliever or believer. Then, to provide repose for those who rest among the good. There are some whose privilege it is to provide repose for those who are ideal. He who does good cannot of himself give repose to these, for he does not come of his (own) volition. Yet neither can he grieve them, for he does not oppress them. But he who is ideal sometimes grieves them— not that he is thus (grievous), but rather it is their (own) wickedness which causes them grief. He who is natural° gives joy to him who is good— yet from this some grieve terribly. (Prov 21:15, Th 90)

127.  A householder acquired everything— whether son or slave or cattle or dog or swine, whether wheat or barley or straw or hay or [bones] or meat (or) acorns. Yet he (was) wise and knew the food of each [one]. Before the sons he indeed set bread with [olive-oil and meat; before] the slaves he set castor-oil with grain; and before the cattle [he set barley] with straw and hay; to the dogs he cast bones; yet before [the swine] he threw acorns and crusts of bread. So it is with the Disciple of God— if he is wise, he is perceptive about the Discipleship. The bodily forms will not deceive him, but rather he will observe the disposition of the soul of each one in order to speak with him. In the world there are many animals made in human form— these he is accustomed to recognize. To the swine indeed he will throw acorns; yet to the cattle he will cast barley with straw and hay; to the dogs he will cast bones; to the slaves he will give the elementary¹; to the Sons he will present the perfect². (¹the Torah; ²the Gospel; Mk 5:9-12!, 7:27!, Mt 7:6!, Th 93, Ph 79!; five spiritual levels of persons are here stipulated)

128.  There is the Son of Mankind and there is the Grandson of Mankind. The Lord is the Son of Mankind, and the Grandson of Mankind is he who is created thru the Son of Mankind. The Son of Mankind received from God the ability to create; he (also) has the ability to beget. (Th 106, Ph 33?)

129.  That which is created is a creature, that which is begotten is a progeny. A creature cannot beget, (but¹) a progeny can create. Yet they say that the creature begets. However, his progeny is a creature. Therefore (a person's) progeny are not his sons, but rather they are [God's]. (¹asyndeton; Ecl 11:5, Isa 29:23, Jn 1:12-13 & 3:3, Ph 33; thus Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet: ‘Your children are not your children; they are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you; and though they are with you, yet they belong not to you’)

130.  He who creates works manifestly, and he himself is manifest. He who begets [acts] in [secret], and he [hides himself from] the imagery [of others]. He who creates [indeed] creates visibly; yet He who begets, [begets the] Sons in secret. (Ph 93)

131.  No [one will be able] to know on what day [the man] and the woman mate with each other, except themselves only. For marriage in the world is a sacrament for those who have taken a wife. If the marriage of impurity is hidden, how much more is the Immaculate Marriage a true sacrament! (Ph 64) It is not carnal but rather pure, it is not lustful but rather loving, it is not of the darkness or the night but rather of the day and the light. A marriage which is exhibited becomes prostitution°; and the bride has prostituted (herself) not only if she receives the sperm of another man, but even if she escapes from the bedroom° and is seen. She may only display herself to her father and her mother and the friend of the bridegroom (Jn 3:29) and the sons of the bridegroom. To these it is given to enter daily into the bridal-chamber. Yet as for the others, let them be made to yearn even to hear her voice and to enjoy (her) fragrance, and let them feed like the dogs from the crumbs that fall from (the) table. (Those) being from the Bridegroom with the Bride belong in the Bridal-Chamber. No one will be able to behold the Bridegroom with the Bride unless he becomes this. (=Mk 7:27-28)

132.  When Abraham° had [rejoiced] at seeing what he was to see, he circumcised the flesh of the foreskin— showing us that it is appropriate to renounce the flesh [which pertains to] this world. (anti-Gnostic; Gen 17:9-14, Dt 10:6, Jn 8:56, Th 53)

133.  [... As long as] the entrails of the person are enclosed, the person lives. If his entrails are exposed (and¹) he is disemboweled, the person will die. So also the tree it naturally sprouts and thrives while its root is covered, (but¹) if its root is exposed the tree naturally withers.² Thus it is with everything begotten in the world, not only with the manifest but also with the covert. For as long as the root of evil is hidden, it is strong; yet if it is recognized it is destroyed (and¹) when it is exposed it perishes. This is why the Logos (John the Baptist!) says ‘Already the ax has reached the root of the trees!’ (=Mt 3:10) It will not (merely) chop off, for that which is chopped off naturally sprouts again. But rather the ax delves down into the ground (and¹) uproots. Yet Yeshua pulled up the root of the entire place, yet the others (had done so) only in part. (As for) ourselves— let each one of us delve down to the root of the evil that is within him (and¹) tear out its root from his own heart. Yet it will be uprooted if we but recognize it. Yet if we are unaware of it, it takes root within us and produces its fruits in our hearts. It makes itself master over us (and¹) we are made into its slaves. We are taken captive, which coerces us into doing what we do not want (and¹) into [not] doing what we do want. It is potent until we recognize it. While it is subliminal, it indeed impels. (¹asyndeton; ²thus Aeschylus, Agamemnon, 967: ‘When the root lives on, the new leaves come back’; Job 14:7-9, Prov 20:9)

134.  Ignorance is the mother of [all evil; (Lk 23:34!, Ac 3:17) and] ignorance (in turn) results from [confusion]. Those things originating from [ignorance] neither were nor [are] nor shall be [among the truthful. Yet] they shall be perfected when the entire truth is revealed. For the truth is like ignorance— if it is hidden it reposes within itself, yet if it is revealed it is recognized. It is glorious in that it prevails over ignorance and liberates from confusion. The Logos says ‘You shall know the truth (and¹) the truth will set you free!’ (=Jn 8:32) Ignorance enslaves (but¹) recognition is freedom. By recognizing the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth within our hearts. By mating with it, we shall receive our fulfillment. (¹asyndeton)

135.  At present we have the manifestation of creation. They say that (visible beings) are the powerful which are honorable, yet the invisible are the weak which are contemptible. (But) the truth is that visible beings are thus weak and inferior, whereas the invisible are the powerful and honorable. (thus St Bonaventure, De Plantatione Paradisi, I.t.v.575: ‘The wisdom of the invisible God cannot become known to us except by taking the form of the visible things with which we are familiar’; Søren Kierkegaard, Concluding Unscientific Postscript: ‘An omnipresent being should be recognizable precisely by being invisible’; Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince: ‘It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye’; also the I Ching, hexagram 50, the Ritual Vessel: ‘All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible’)

136.  Yet the mysteries of the truth are revealed, composed in symbolic imagery. (Ph 72) But the Bedroom is hidden— it is the holy within the holiness. (Ph 82, 83)

137.  The veil (of the Temple) indeed at first concealed how God governs the creation. Yet (once) the veil was torn and the things within were revealed, then this house was to be forsaken (and¹) desolate, yet moreover to be destroyed. Yet the entire Divinity was to depart from these places not within the holies of the holies, for it was not able to unite with the light nor unite with the flawless fullness. But rather it was to be under the wings of the cross² [and in] its arms. (¹asyndeton; ²anti-Gnostic; Ex 26:31-34, Mt 27:51, 23:38, 24:2, Ph 84; this entry must be dated after 70 AD)

138.  This ark shall be salvation for us when the cataclysm of water has overwhelmed them. (Gen 6-9, Prov 10:25, Lk 17:22-37)

139.  If some are in the tribe of the priesthood, these shall be able to enter within the veil (of the Temple) with the high priest. Therefore the veil was not torn at the top only, else it would have been opened only for those who are on high; nor was it torn at the bottom only, else it would have been revealed only to those who are below. But rather it was torn from the top to the bottom. Those who are above opened to us who are below, in order that we might enter into the secret of the truth. (Num 18:7, Mk 15:38, Ph 84, 137; this entry must be dated after 70 AD)

140.  This strengthening is truly excellent. Yet we shall enter therein by means of despised symbols and weakness. They are indeed humble in the presence of the perfect glory. There is glory that surpasses glory,¹ there is power which surpasses power. (Ph 109) Therefore the perfect opened to us with the secrets of the truth. Moreover, the holies (or Saints) of the holinesses have been revealed, and the Bedroom has invited us within. (¹asyndeton; Ph 83, 137)

141.  As long as the evil indeed is covert, it (remains) potential, not yet truly purged from the midst of the seed of the Sacred Spirit. (Thus) they are enslaved by the oppression. (Th 45) Yet when the Perfect Light is revealed, then it will pour forth upon everyone and all those within it shall receive the Chrism. Then the slaves shall be freed [and] the captives atoned. (Ps 19:12)

142.  ‘[Every] plant which my heavenly Father has not sown [shall be] rooted out.’ (=Mt 15:13) Those who are separated shall be mated (and) [the empty] shall be filled. (Th 40) Everyone who [enters] the Bedroom shall be born in the Light. For they [were not begotten] in the manner of the marriages which we [do not] see, (which are) are enacted by night, the fire (of which) [flares] in the dark (and then) is extinguished. Yet rather the Sacraments of this Marriage are consummated in the day and the light. Neither that day nor its light ever sets. (multiple asyndeta; Ph 131)

143.  If someone becomes (a) Son of the Bridal-Chamber, he shall receive the Light. If one does not receive it in these places, he will not be able to obtain it in the other place. He who has received that Light shall not be seen, nor shall they be able to seize him; nor shall anyone be able to disturb this one of this nature, even if he socializes in the world. And furthermore, (when) he leaves the world he has already received the truth via the imagery. The world has become eternity, because (the) fullness is for him the eternal. And it is thus revealed to him individually— not hidden in the darkness (or) the night, but rather hidden in a Perfect Day and a Holy Light. (Ph 85)

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10/05/05