A Syriac Valentinian Hymn: An Excerpt from Epiphanius' Panarion 9781593338671, 1593338678

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A SYRIAC V A L E N T I N I A N H Y M N

I-..,,. I / R * ¡TÍ -I 4-iV> J ht f' L

Analecta Gorgiana 52 General Editor George Anton Kiraz Analecta Gorgiana is a collection of long essays and short monographs which are consistently cited by modern scholars but previously difficult to find because of their original appearance in obscure publications. Now conveniently published, these essays are not only vital for our understanding of the history of research and ideas, but are also indispensable tools for the continuation and development of on-going research. Carefully selected by a team of scholars based on their relevance to modern scholarship, these essays can now be fully utilized by scholars and proudly owned by libraries.

A Syriac Valentinian Hymn An Excerpt from Epiphanius' Panarion

WILLIAM ROMAINE NEWBOLD

GORGIAS PRESS

2007

First Gorgias Press Edition, 2007 The special contents of this edition are copyright © 2007 by Gorgias Press LLC

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ISBN 978-1-59333-867-1 ISSN 1935-6854

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A SYRIAC YALENTINIAN HYMN WILLIAM ROMAINE

NEWBOLD

UNIVERSITY OF P E N N S Y L V A N I A

E P I P H A N I U S prefixes to the account of the Valentinians which he copied from Irenaeus a brief account of his own composition, presumably based upon a document then in his hands, and subjoins a copy of a portion of this document. I t is of peculiar interest as being one of the very few scraps of Valentinian literature that have survived and the only one that deals at any length with the essential features of the system. Yet it has been strangely ignored by modern students of Gnosticism; indeed the only recent study of it known to me is that of Otto

D i b e l i u s ( S t u d i e n zur

Valentinianische

Gcschicfite

Sendbrief,

der

i n ZNTW

Valentinianer:

II.

Der

9 (1908), p . 329-340), i n

which he provides a translation of the very difficult text with a brief discussion of the doctrine and of its place in the history of Valentinianism. The anonymous author gives a list of the Greek names of the thirty Aeons differing somewhat from those preserved by Irenaeus (1. 1. 2-3; p. 8-11) and Hippolytus (6. 29-30).1 The document concludes with a series of words, written in Greek letters but not Greek in form, which Epiphanius supposed to be the original names of the Aeons, the Greek names being translations of these. His statement seems not to have been questioned by any one until the appearance of Holl's edition of the Panarion. In a footnote (p. 385) Holl says:— The language of the fragment is Aramaic with Jewish coloring, but the forms of the several words are so corrupted that a complete reconstruction seems impossible. J. Marquart and H. Gressmann think, however, that they are able to recognize with approximate certainty that 'Arap (1. 'Ayap) 'References to 'Irenaeus,' 'Hippolytus,' 'Epiphanius' signify the adversus Haereses, the Befutatio, and the Panarion. Quotations from the Greek text of Irenaeus and Epiphanius follow the text of Karl Holl's new edition (1915), Die Griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte, vol. 25, pt. 1: Epiphanius, vol. 1, but references to the adv. Baer., unless otherwise indicated, are to Massuet's paragraphs and the pages of Harvey's first volume. Quotations from Hippolytus follow the text of Duncker and Schneidewin. 1

JAOS 38

2

William Romaine

Newbold

Bap[la should be taken as equivalent to t O l f D 1 j n (he girded on his sword), 'Ea-Xiiv (I.'Ev TrdvTuv; (1. 8. 5; p. 75, transcribed from a Valentinian Commentary upon the prologue to St. John's Gospel) 'IumwrjS, o jua^r/T^s TOV Kvpiov, ftovXoptvos e'nreiv Trjv TO>V oXv KaTapTLrrdrjvai < 6ov Kal tov Xonrov llX^pw/zaros'. Siopi^ovra tov1; yev rjTovs A t o i v a s a7ro tov ayev' . ~ yjtov H a T p o s , eVepov Se TOV ä(j)OpLtoi'Ta avTwv T7]v M ^ r e p a a7ro TOV IIAi/pw//.aros. In Ireneaus's first source Horus is the boundary of the Pleroma. Sophia's sin consisted in seeking to know more of the Father than he had willed to have known; this is symbolized by describing her, that is to say her Thought or Intention (¿v8v/jlt)pa Kal arcXr} ytvr/a'tTai 6opd ris KtiTaXrjtpeTtu OVK eis piixpav

d 6 p v ¡3 o 9

eycvero

[1. rots AiStrt oiKri^o/aevots

iv ort

TWV Atuivw r a yewrjfUiTa

irore rovs Aiaivas.

Yet

in

Kal his

account of the reconstitution of the Pleroma Hippolytus lays especial weight upon the restoration of 'peace,' 'concord,' 'unity,' and 'unanimity' among the Aeons: ( 6 . 3 2 ; p. 278, 62)

€iret ovv pxa ris yv ei p rj v rj Kal cvpuivia

iravrtiiv row evros ilXrjpdi-

/oaros Aitaviav, cSo^ev avrots prj p.ovov Kara crv£vytav 8t8o£aKtvat

avrov, 8o£d-

crai < 8e > Kai Sia irpo(rrf>opa . . . . ytvotiivuv is Epiphanius's paraphrase of dirò rwv Kafnr&v avT&v. For yevoiiévav the M88 have ycmuévriv, again without materially affecting the sense.

A Syriac

Valentinian

Hymn

29

in his own sketch of the Valentinian doctrine, presumably based upon that document, he derives the Second Ogdoad from the varipij/xa in the usual way (31. 4. 2; p. 388, 2). Returning to Irenaeus's text: while both these interpretations are admissible, the context is distinctly in favor of the second. For this paragraph follows immediately after a sketch of the doctrine of Yalentinus in the course of which Irenaeus says (1. 11. 1 ; p. 100) : ¿irò Se TOV 'AvOptiirov /cat rrys 'E/c/cA^crtas 8