CLA EEO OE EO OC EEC COOOCE CEE CC CECOOOOHOOEECOQCECEE \ ) NAG HAMMADI STUDIES MARTIN KRAUSE - JAMES M. ROBINSON FREDERIK WISSE ‘Avexayoen Beno ~ Jean DoRESsE ~ Sonex Grvensen Hans Jowas ~ Rooourne Kassex - Pavon Lasin Geonoe W. Macks Incquis-&. Mexano - Torax Skve-Sooexsenox ‘Wrote Conseus vax Unk» R, MeL. Wass Tas Zao Ix VOLUME EDITOR R. McL. WILSON at LEIDEN E. J. BRILL 1978 THE COPTIC GNOSTIC LIBRARY bad der the opis of PISTIS SOPHIA CARL SCHMIDT VIOLET MACDERMOT Sues mt LEIDEN E. J. BRILL, 78COCO COCOCCOCOCOCOC OE ESF EOOCOCOCE ECO CROCE. are BT 1390 PSL ane 17 by Drie, he Meee Ai gh rae No pr of th Sok may be repre or ptt mini me ry heme who i pi am he pb rod CONTENTS Forenord ag Iotasion 28“ Htor of the Askew Coder SE Desrnon of the Manse “$5. _Smmary of Contents >> astrovine Sia ‘THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION Bibliography Key to Words of Gresk Origin Greek Words Selected Words of Coptic Origin Proper Names| References 258 512 m 1% 186 oy wmDO DO OO OOOCOCOCLCOOE ee ry FOREWORD The Piss Sophia text which orm the contens of the Askew Covdex was made availabe to scholars over a century ago, Homey ion ofthis Coptic gnostic document hs been lacking for some eats, and itis advantageous thal previously ould now be included in the Nag, Harm. ‘madi Studies Series. The admirable edition and Ocrnay waren is therefore based on the Coptic txt as edited and emended op Schmidt (Bibl. 46), and the Coptic text is reproduced Irom the dition unatered except for minor corrections For purpores at uy and comparison with the German, the general temas or Bib. 44 hasbeen retained in the English cansltion, For easy reference to previous translation, all the indexes are based on the page sumbers of Schmid’ eiton ef the Coptic {ext (Bibl. 46) which are retained in the present volume, toik forthe text and the translation. In the German translation of the Pistis Sophia (Bib. 49), these page numbers a hand margin. Division ofthe text into paragraphs and numbed chapters corresponds to that in BibL. 44 The vert of pooen ae likewise numbered ‘Any new ransation has to be made inthe light of those already in existence, and ths one owes much to the work of Seka, and Till An important earlier edition and translation was that ‘ot Schwartze and Peterman (Bibl. 5) to which there ae frequen Although inthe main the present translation closely follons thet of Schmidt and Til, there are some minor diferenccs Iv seek ‘utes, the alteratve readings or versions are given ts fovtnonee TI's notes on Schmid’ translation, which appear inthe Apron, ‘ix to Bib. 4, are also incorporated! into the present footnenc,Schmi’s footnotes tothe Coptic text have been checked with {he manuscript, nd are given herein English translation, His ‘ferences to Schwarte’sfeadngs have been omitted. ‘The use of modem English poses certain problems in tras lating the Piss Sophia. Th text contains numerous quotations {om and allusions to the OM and. New Testaments which, (0 English-speaking reader, are probably familiar in the language ofthe Revised Version. It sered best to adopt a somewhat formal English prose style and this, is hope, willbe both suitable and ‘ot unduly archae. It wil be seen that words of Greek origin ae italicised. The alternative of giving the Greek words in brackets after the Enaish words would hae been vey repetiie and would have added considerably tothe cost of publication. A ey to these words of Greek derivation is given om page 776. Certain Greck words, some of which are gnostic techakel terms, have been le Untranslated. Following Schmidt and Til, able to give words of uncertain meaning in transiteration, rather than to atempt a translation which might be misleading, 1 has been posible in some case o india in the footnotes a compar. ble we of such words in the Nag Hammad exis and elsewhere ‘The Bibliography represents a selection from what now 8 considerable accumulation of erature. Early writings of hie toric interest or likely to be af relevance today tre included. For others not mentioned here, the bibliographies in G. RS. Mead (Bibl, 34), 1 Mora (Bibl. 35) and W. Till (Bibl, 44) should be fonsued. Review articles on modern writers ae listed in D. Mt Scholer: Nag Hammadi Bibography. My acknowledgements are due to Gyldendal Publishers for ‘ermision to reproduce the Coptic text of Pastis Sophia; alo to the Testes of the Bish Museum and their sucesors in the British Library for facies to stody the manuscript nthe Depa ‘ment of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books, Im pratful to Me. T. A. Edsdge, Assistant Manager of EJ. Brill for his ‘are and atention inthe preparation ofthis volume. My thanks sr also due to the Editorial Board of the Nag Hammad Stes for the opportunity to contribute to their series; in particular to ny volume editor, Professor R, MeL. Wilson, who. hes read through the translation and made many helpful suppations. Any 1 | i ee nedeeeNNe hecahes eee eleneseseesne eseda eee agence elena iene geese u remaining errors are my responsibly. To Professor Martin Kaus, for his kind encouragement over many years, 1 would tls lke to express my gratitude Department of Eayptolony, University College, London Viovr® MacDennorOCOOEHOOOCOOOCOOOECOOEECEOCOLOCEOCOOOCE, OC OE u INTRODUCTION History ofthe Askew Codex ‘The Askew Code, volume of unknown provenance containing the tens of the Piss Sophia treatises, was named afer is ist owner, A. Askew, a London doctor. Askew was a coletor of ‘old manuscripts, and he bought the codex from + bookscller (probably in London) in 1772:" After the death of Askew the nuscript was bought by the British Museum. A copy in the British Museum of the sale catalogue (1785) of Askew manic Sexipts contain the entry: "Coptic MS. £10, 0. 0" This reference was presumed by Crum to apply to the present document which appears in his catalogue as AD S114? CG. Woide, to whom Askew gave the task of studying the | ‘manuscript, firs brought itt the attention of theological readers? | introducing it under te tide “Pistis Sophia” which it has since rettined. Woide also quoted the New Testament citations in his Appendix a edtonem Now Testament gracce coe Ms. Alexa. sino. (Oxford 1799). A copy of the whole text was made by Woide, but never published. The First parts t0 appear were the five “Odes of Solomon” which were published by the Danish bishop, F- Miinter* in 1812. further copy ofthe whole codex was made by E. Durie between 1838 and 1840, again. with the intention that it should be published. However the mani. Script of Dularier ever appeared in print and is now in the Bibliothique Nationale in Pris (Bibl 16). ‘The next attempt to prepare an edition of the text was made in 1848 by M. G. Schwarze who was sent to England for this snc Ral Lari rf! oom Dvd Mile, Lie ct Eas ae of he Cn Manse Bish Ma BINA. Caer Brien Berd ether wd ander wich em Meant aePurpose by the Kénigiche Preussishe Akademie der Wissene Schaften. Schwartze died before its publication, and the none Script which he left was published postumously by 1.1, Petes ‘mann (Bibl. 51). This edition, containing transctption of the {ett and a Latin vanslation, i an outstanding achievement, even by modern standart, ‘A French translation by E. Amélineau in 1895 was the first to ppetr ina modern language (Bibl 2) yea later ©. R'S, Mead bought out an English translation, based on the Latin recs by Schwartze (Bibl. 34); a second edition appeared in 1921 aed ‘eprint in 1947, 1955 and 1963. The only other Engh translation ofthe wiole text was that of G. Horner which appeared in 1904 (Gibl. 22), This set out to be Heal translation, even keeping 10 the Coptic word order The translation of the tat which has stood the test of tine as published in Germany by C. Schmidt ia 1908 (Biel, He was given the task of editing and translating the then kaon Coptic gnostic texts by the Kirchenviter-Kommistion fuow he Kommisson fr sptanike Religionsgeschicht) of the Bere Akademie der Wissenschaften. The volume conlsined a tear lation ofthe Pits Sophia, followed by ranslatione ofthe Cope nostic tens contained in the Bruce Codex. These translations Were fully annotated and preceded by an introductory discussion A second edition of Schmid’ translation of the Pits Sop (Gib. 47 and his annotated edition ofthe Coptic text (Bh. 40) Appeared in 1928. Since this date there have Been no farthey tions ofthe text. tn 1984 W. Till published @ new editios of ‘Schmidt's (1905 and 1925) translations (BIBL. 4). He followed Schmiats versions closely, giving his ovn alternative renderings of certain pases in an appendit. A third edition, revised fy Til, appeared in 1959, and a reprint of the thi eon in 196 Description ofthe Manuscript The Askew Cover is described in W. E. Crum’s Catalogue of Coptic Manuscripts tthe Brush Museum under the headiog of Sahidie Manuscripts ‘The manusrpt, which now consists of 174 leaves in modern | CEOCCceces COCE et che eieke daa sedenenane ne emeseseneset ta tenes ¢ binding, orginally comprised 178 leaves of parchment. The leaves measure 21% 16 cms. The text i writen in two columns oe ‘oth sides ofthe leaves (354 sides), and i the work of two sonkon The ist sribe numbered the pages onthe rectos onl the second ‘n rectos and versos, The book consists of 23 ques, the tt of which consists of 6 leaves, the last of leaves, and the remainder each of 8 leaves. Four leaves ffom the imide of one quire are missing, s0 that there im lacuna between. pages 336 land 345. The fist wo blank and unnumbered pages and the last four are also missing. The state of preservation of most of the {ext is very good. On parts of some pages the ink has faded, ard in these places the script i ony just lesb The text consists of four “books”, Book One ends with the fest column on p. 114 (Schmidt 125) and has no tle, ether at the beginning or end. The second column ofp. 114, which was 4eft blank, was ltr ied with text by another hand Book Two begins on p. 115. A tte atthe head ofthis page The Second Book of the Pits Sophia is a later addition, The hole text is now known as the Pits Sophia onthe basis of the insertion, tile of the second book occurs on p. 23 (Schmidt 253.17 at the foot of the fist colin: 4 Part ofthe Books of he Saviour. The text continues in the second column, and ends in the second column of p, 734 (Schmidt 255.16). The lat sentence of p 234 suggests that this & the end of the Book, rather than P. 233, It is suggested by Schmidt and Till that Because. the ontens of the fist and second columns of p. 233 appear to follow one another, the title properly belongs at the end of the text on p. 234 Book Three thus begins on p. 235 (Schmidt 256), and ends fon p. 318 (Schmit 352) A tie similar to thet of Book Two stands telow the last line of the first column on p. 318, Book Four begins inthe second column of p. 318 (Schmidt 383) 4nd ends in the second column of 354 (Schmidt $88) A para, raph ina later hand stands atthe head of the frst colon a 384 (Schmidt 385) The end of the Pists Sophia account proper occurs in Book Two (Schmidt p. 184.6; Chapter 82). Thereafter the tet conte ‘of teachings given to the disciples in the form of answers to thet€ #e of hike CCOCEECECECE CEE eee q ooceoccecocececE 7’ petion, I may be noted here that thee is considerable lack ot homogeneity in composition, Even Seeaaat the Fat Mystery, then as Jess and at he end ark sarge it Beok IU a Jesus andthe Saviour alternates ae mack IV, a8 Jesus. Mary Magislene appears as Mare, ad arim (Mahan) in diferent parts of the lex, The nce Gitte support the view thatthe texts a compiadon suthorshi, date, here. A guide to followed by a brie ‘Book JD. 1128.(Chapers 1-62). United, but the ttle resumed to be The First Book ofthe Pits Sophie. tile (rignal Book TV, pp. 353-384, (Chapters 136.148) Untied Summary of Contents Book 1 Ohaper 16 Survey of the posresurection teaching of Jesus; de Sctintion ofthe coming down of light power upon hig {nthe Mount of Oves inthe presence of his dps his ascension and descent. ‘740 Discourse by Jesus on his garments of light, his incarna- tion; the incarnation of John the Baptist ‘and the in «pes ‘116 Account by Jens of his asenson wearing the garment ins 2 2331 a7 448 2 Book 11 6 6465 flight the rebelion of the azons against the igh, fand the removal of power from those that rebelled Interpretation by Mariam, eting Inaiah 19-312 ‘Answers by Jesus to questions by Mariam and Philip Another account by Jesus of his passing through the ‘cognition ofthe garment of light; the leaving of the [duh acon by the Pastis Sophia. 13 tepentances of the Pistis Soph, spoken by Jesus, interpreted by various disciples, citing passages fom the Palms Ale the 7th repentance, a description by Jesus of his {aking of the Pistis Sophia to another place in the Chace Aer the Sth repentance, a description by Jesus of his emoval of the Psi Sophia from the Chaos “Another account by Jets of his help tothe Ps Sophie inthe Chaos, bringing her to a higher pace A tone frais by the Pits Sophia interpreted by Salone ‘iting Psalm of Solomon 8 Discourse by Jesus on his light power which became '& own of ight forthe Pistis Sophia. Interpretation by. Mary, mother of Jesus, citing Psalm of Solomon 19 Another account by Jesus of the saving of the Phas Sophia. The mestng of two lightpowers which became 8 great outpouring of light. Interpretations by Mavens citing Psalm 84; by Mary, mother of Jesu, cing Palm 84; account by Mary ofthe childhood coming together of Jesus with his own Spit. Interpretations be Mariam and Mary, citing Ps 84, Matthew 3.13 and Lake 1.39, Interpretation by Joh, citing Prat 84 Discourse by the First Mystery: another account of the ‘avin ofthe Pits Sophia through the mestng of tne Tieh-powers to become an outpouring of light, TheCORRIDOR OGIO 667 80 si 90 {aking ofthe lphtto the Chaos by Michael and Gabe. Interpretation by Pete, cting Ode of Solomon 6, Account by the First Mystery of the actions of the Pistis Sophia by the Authades and Adams, the Tyran, in the Chaos; her ery for hep; the sending of Michael and Gabriel to cary heron ther ands and to guide hee ‘ut ofthe Chaos; the outpouring of light which became he erown. The trampling upon the powers of the Chaos by the Pistis Sophia and the First Mystery. Interpre tation by James, citing Palm 90, Songs of praise ofthe Pits Sophia, spoken by the First Mystery. Interpretations by various disciples, citing the (Odes of Solomon and Psalms. Account by the First Mystery ofthe bringing ofthe Pistis Sophia to place below the 13th acon: discourse on the three ties: account ofthe abandoning of the Pits Sophia. below the 13th acon Discourse by the Fest Mystery, siting on the Mount of lives, before the sending of his garment from the 24th Mystery: the persecution ofthe Pats Sophia by Adam: her ery for elp. Interpretation by Jame, citing sali 7 ‘Account by the First Mystery of the words spoken by the Pists Sophia to Adsmas and the archons, het ry for help to the light. Interpretation by Marth, ting Psalm 7 ‘Account by Jesus of his taking of the Piss Sophia to the 13th acon; the reognition ofthe Pistis Sophia by the 24 invisible ones; her song of praise to Jesus end ‘hanks for her deliverance. Interpretation by Philip, citing Psalm 106, ‘Answers by Jesus fo questions by the disciples: on the 24 invisible ones; on the precedence of souls which have received mysteries in this world overall those Within the Treasury of the Light: on the magnitude of ‘he helpers; on the ranks to which soule may go, according (0 the mysteries they have received Another discourse an the ranks to which souls may g ‘on those who have eceived the mystery of the Ine u too.101 Book str 2 103-110 mn nats ans ian3s ie ee eperepe ese ienee ceseg) eee fon this mystery asthe source ofall knowledge; despair ofthe dscples and answer by Jesus that tht mystery is «easy to those who renounce the word; another discoutse ‘on the knowledge of this mystery the unimpeded scent to the height of the souls of those who have recived this mystery, and their fellow eulership with Jesus, ‘Answers by Jesus to questions on the mysteries of the Ineffabl, the twelve mysteries of the Fitst Mystery and ‘he mysteries of the Hight; the need of mankind for purification bythe mysteries ‘Answer by the Saviour to a question by Andrew on the satus of mankind; the inbertance by the disciples of the Kingdom of the Light Discourse by Jesus on renouncing the world in order to ‘besaved from the punishments of Ameen preaching ‘o the worl, andthe means of going to the Kingdom of the Light. Answers by the Saviour 19 questions of the disciples ‘on forgiveness in relation to the mysteries, Discourse by the Saviour on the power, soul and spirit ‘counterpart which compel men to sn Discourse by Jesus on the bondage of the soul tothe spirit counterpart and destiny; the effectiveness of mys. teres. Interpretation by Mari, citing the Gospels and Romane ‘Answers by the Saviour to questions bythe diciples on the effeacy of the mysteries in the forgiveness of sins, Interpretations by the disciples, citing the Gospels and Psalm 31 Answer by Jesus toa question by Masia on the outer darkness and places of punishment; the dragon of twelve chambers, having ital ints mouth; the names ofthe archons ofeach chamber, Answers by the Saviour to questions of Maria and Salome Discourse on the dragon of the outer dackness; fon the bondage of the soul to the archons of theee peed pene ieee pear aeee heeeea eee Book IV 136 1740 atta e148 Heimarmene: on the spitit counterpart and destiny: fon release by means of the mteies; on the souls of the patriarchs and prophets Ritual prayer of Jesus afler his resurrection, in the presence of his disciples; description of the ight of the heavens, the world and the en to the west, with Jesus and the disciples standing inthe st inthe way of the Midst, Discourse by Jesus on the separation of the archons according to thir practice of the mysteries of sexual Intercourse; on five archons which are identified planets; om another five archons which incite men to wickedness, and lad them to destruction. Discourse on the purification of souls; identification of the aeons of the Spee wth te sino te zd; he omen of Vision by th dicples of fire, water, wine and blood: imyseres of the light brought by Jesus into the works, hich forgive sins. Ritual of fire, vine branches, wine, water and loaves. Payer by Jetue to his Father for forgiveness ofthe disciples. Discourse on the mysteries of baptism of fire, water and spi (oteruption by lacuna of 8 pages) ‘Answers by Jesus to questions on the punishment of ‘vatious sins; prayer to Jesus for compassion, spoken by the ascpies in Amente eph Mave Handi er ABBREVIATIONS. Aten rt Ge dr ptm Jet nd de cite Mem (A. Nad: ei Pt eh rely Rc heen LesineMapws Geen faye (A Dela Pk. Deri, Pr! iota Nase, 0) ‘twa of ecg Sten, Neo Tela Te De Ratpo n Gos nd Genes, 3 Aap Few at oth New Tes atc tr Appice pace we Aerated 2 The Annona io 5 The Shales Cn ‘he Ameri fn. Tecate en ‘The Papin ol SheSIGLA Round brackets in the translation indicate material which {is uel to the English version, but not explicly present in the Coptic. Pointed brackets inthe text and translation indicate conjce- tural emendmens. The actual readings of the manuseipe ‘and tral translations ofthe text are given note to the lext and translation respectively (1 Square brackets in the text and translation indicate dite ‘raphy or other material erroneously interpolated by the Serb which should be omitted in the translation NOTE The page numbers ofthe text and translation correspond, but the line numbers apply tothe text only. At the beginning ofeach note onthe translation, line references to the cortesponding page ofthe text are given, Other references to the texts and tansaton ae usualy given in brackets at the end of a note, Where the notes refer to alternative renderings of the translation, Schmidt = Schmidt's translation, edited by Til (Bibl, 44, pp. 1-288). Til = Appendix by Till (id, pp. 369-82 “The pages of the text and translation carry the page numbers ‘of Schmidt's edition of the Coptic txt (Bibl. 46) im the upper let and right hand margins respectively. It isto these numbers that references are made throughout, and all indexes are bac ‘on these numbers, p eee eed eee eee ie pane nae eet | inet eee een ee ienese ie PISTIS SOPHIA THE TEXT AND TRANSLATION ‘ower MacDenwar,Pstis Sophia Brrata Sine the pulsation of The Nag Hammadi Libary Eglih based on the Facsimile Editions ofthe Neg Hammadi text, pes vious systems of page numbering have been superseded. Corre tions are therefore requied 8 follows: TnI, 2 Gospel of Thomas, fr #4 read 36 “or 86 read 38 ‘or 90 read #2 In 4 Hypotais ofthe Arcons, for 143 read 95. In, 5 On the Origin of the Worl, for 14 read 100 “or 131 read 103,