The First Apocalypse of James (Translation and Notes by Samuel Zinner)
Public-domain translation and notes based on NHC V,3, Codex Tchacos 2, and P.Oxy. 5533, translated by Samuel Zinner and edited by Mark M. Mattison. (ref)
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The First Apocalypse of James
NHC V, 3 // CT 2 // P. Oxy. 5533
The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely
copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose. It is based on the Coptic text of Nag
Hammadi Codex V, 3, Codex Tchacos 2, and Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5533, hereafter abbreviated
NHC, CT, and P. Oxy. 5533, respectively. The Nag Hammadi texts were written in the fourth
century, subsequently buried, and then rediscovered in 1945. The Codex Tchacos was
discovered in the 1970s in Egypt, and was first published in 2006 by National Geographic.
Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 5533 was identified as a fragmentary Greek version in 2021.
The text narrates revelations passed along from Jesus to James and a series of subsequent
successors through the early second century. This translation from the Coptic and Greek is by
Samuel Zinner and was edited by Mark M. Mattison with the generous support of Other
Gospels. Zinner’s translation is based on the Coptic and Greek texts in:
The Nag Hammadi Library and Codex Tchacos:
Johanna Brankaer and Hans-Gebhard Bethge. Codex Tchacos: Texte und Analysen. Texte
und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur 161; Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 2007, 81–254.
Peter Nagel. Codex apocryphus gnosticus Novi Testamenti Band 2: Briefe und Apokalypsen
aus den Schriften von Nag Hammadi und dem Codex Tchacos mit einer Neuausgabe der
“Epistula Apostolorum.” Koptisch und Deutsch. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum
Neuen Testament 503; Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2023, 67–124.
P. Oxy. 5533:
David W. Kim. “The First Apocalypse of James in a Socio-Linguistic Perspective: Three
Greek and Coptic Versions from Ancient Monastic Egypt.” Religions 15–8 (2024), 881;
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080881.
B. C. Landau, Geoffrey S. Smith, W. B. Henry. “5533. First Apocalypse of James.” In A.
Benaissa, M. Zellmann-Rohrer. Editors. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume LXXXVI. Graeco-
Roman Memoirs, No. 107; London: The Egypt Exploration Society, with the British Academy,
2021, 3–13.
Images available at: https://portal.sds.ox.ac.uk/articles/online_resource/P_Oxy_LXXXVI
_5533_First_Apocalypse_of_James/21186583
Symbols
[ ] Gap in the text (known as a “lacuna”)
( ) Editorial insertion to clarify the text
< > Editorial correction of a scribal error
{ } Text erroneously added by the scribe
[24] Page number of the Coptic codex
1
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
Introduction: Jesus and James
[24] The Lord, however, 1
has spoken with me: “Behold [10] “Because I see (the
now the fulfillment of my completion) of my redemption,
redemption. I have granted I will instruct you concerning
you a sign concerning these these matters, James, my
matters, James, my brother, brother, because not in vain are
because not in vain have I you called ‘brother,’ though
called you my brother, even my materialistic brother [you
though you are not my are] not, but you lack
materialistic 2 brother, and I recognition concerning
am not ignorant regarding you, yourself, so that [I] will
in order that <you>, when I instruct you concerning who I
grant you a sign: know and am. 3
hear!
The Existent One
Nothing existed except the Hear! Nothing existed except
Existent One. 4 I myself, I the Existent One. 6 He [cannot
cannot be named, being from be named, and] he is
the Existent One, so that I [inexpressible among those
[have been given a] number of who] exist or who will come
names, twofold 5 from the into [existence]. I, however,
Existent One. I, however, I am from the Existent One, and
existed before you did. I cannot be named, although [I]
have been named with [a
number of] names, [because]
they do not belong to me; they
are [alien] to me. However, the
[first] I am not, because second
am I, from the Existent One. 7
1
The use of “however” in the first sentence indicates the original opening has been lost.
2
“Materialistic,” Nagel, “nach irdischer Art,” i.e., according to the earthly kind. The Coptic thulē, from Greek
hulē, “matter,” does not imply that James and Jesus are not physical brothers. As Nagel, 75 explains, here Jesus
“refers instead to the different spheres from which the revealer and the recipient of revelation originate.” (My
translation from the German, here and below). Additionally, Jesus could be asserting that he is not a “hylic,” that
is, one of those ruled by material impulses, but that he is a pneumatic, that is, one of those ruled by the divine
Spirit. As part of its “gnostic” trajectory, 1 Apoc. Jas. transmits several “Jewish-Christian” traditions, and is
therefore unlikely to reflect any denial of Jesus’ and James’ relation as full siblings.
3
The spiritual identity of James is bound together with that of Jesus, which in turn is bound together with God.
4
An echo of the divine name that plays off the Tetragrammaton in LXX (and Coptic) Exod 3:14.
5
“Twofold”; cf. CT: “However, the [first] I am not, because second am I, from the Existent One.”
6
An echo of the divine name that plays off the Tetragrammaton in LXX (and Coptic) Exod 3:14, but preceded
by the introductory “Hear!” of Deut 6:4, which is directed to “Israel,” the second name of the patriarch Jacob,
i.e., the Greek and Hebrew form behind “James.”
7
This may hint at the two Tetragramatons of Deut 6:4, the first thought of as referring to the Father, the second
to the Son.
2
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
Achamoth (the “Lower Wisdom”) Creates Powers and Divinities
Because you have asked Because you [have] asked
concerning femaleness: 8 concerning femaleness, hear!
Femaleness existed, but The female existed, but she did
femaleness did not exist [at the not exist from the beginning.
beginning], and she prepared She made (for) herself
for herself powers and [powers] and divinities. While
divinities, but [she] did not the Existent One exists from
exist [when] I came forth, [25] the beginning, the female also
given that I am an image of exists, but not from the
the Existent One, but I have beginning. [11] I, however, am
brought the image of [him], so come from the image of the
that the children of the Existent One, in order to
[Existent One] could know instruct you concerning the
who belong to them and who Existent One, and also [to
the aliens are. instruct] you concerning the
image of the powers, so that
the children of the Existent
One will know those who
belong to them, and those who
do not belong to them.
Behold! I will reveal to you Behold! I have revealed to
everything of this mystery, you the mystery. [After] three
because I will be apprehended [days I] will be [apprehended.
the day after tomorrow, but Then they will abuse] me, [the
my redemption will be near.” multitude] of [priests] and the
elders, and they will revile me,
[and they will curse me], but
my [redemption will be] near.”
The Twelve Archons
James said: “Rabbi, you [James, however], answered,
said, ‘I will be apprehended,’ he said: “Rabbi, what are you
but I, what will I be able to do saying? If they apprehend you,
(for you)?” then what am I to do (for
you)?”
He said to me: “Do not be He answered him, saying:
afraid, James. They will “When they apprehend you,
apprehend you as well, but and stone you, you will be
turn yourself away from redeemed, but do not return on
Jerusalem, 9 because this is she the way to Jerusalem, because
who always gives the cup of she is the one who always
bitterness to the Sons of gives the cup of bitterness [12]
8
“Femaleness,” i.e., Achamoth-Sophia.
9
A hint at the “flight to Pella” tradition relating to the First Jewish War that broke out in 66 CE.
3
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
Light. 10 She is a dwelling- to the Sons of Light, as a
place of a number of archons, dwelling-place of many
but you will preserve your archons. Now your redemption
redemption in their presence, [is] that you save yourself from
so that you can recognize who them, and your knowledge
they are [and] of what kind consists (in) recognizing of
they are. what kind they are and how
many they [are]. Not all of
these are archons, but [. . .]
dominion.
You will [convince Hear me! These, whom I
yourself], and hear. They are have brought with me to [this
not [existent ones], 11 but place, they are placed onto
[archons are they, like] the these twelve archons, each one
twelve [powers that possess of them] for himself [stands
plenary authority] (here) on] his [hebdomad].” 12
below. [Behold! This is the
way it is with all] archons,
[and each] one [of them is
seated] [26] over his own
hebdomad.”
James said: “So Rabbi, are James answered, he said:
there twelve hebdomads “[Rabbi], are there now
instead of the seven in the therefore [twelve] hebdomads,
scriptures?” [and] are there not seven, [as]
The Lord said: “James, he we have it in the Scripture?”
who has spoken about this Jesus said: “The one who has
Scripture has understood (it) spoken about this Scripture, he
only up to this point. I, announced (only) as far as he
however, will reveal to you could understand. I, however,
what has come forth from will reveal to you what has
what cannot be numbered. I come from the Countless One.
shall grant (you) a sign He has announced his number.
concerning their number. That which has come from the
Regarding what has come Immeasurable One has
forth from the Immeasurable announced their measure.”
One, I shall grant (you) a sign
concerning their measure.”
10
The use of “the Sons of Light” together with a hint at the First Jewish War brings to mind, mutatis mutandis,
the Qumran War Scroll.
11
“They are not [existent ones].” This may allude to the notion of evil as a privation of the good. That is, the evil
archons have no real positive existence, but only a shadowy negative ontic state.
12
“Hebdomad,” i.e., a sevenfold period or group.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
The Seventy-Two Pairs
James said: “Now what, [13] “If now, Rabbi, I
Rabbi? Behold! I have revise 14 the number of the
discovered their number. archons, who then are the
There are seventy-two seventy-two pairs?”
pairs.” 13
The Lord said: “These are He said, “<These> are the
the seventy-two heavens, seventy-two small heavens
which are the small ones beneath them. [However],
beneath them. These are the those that are larger than they,
powers 15 of the might of all of those are the powers in the
them, and by them were they height, on which rests the
established, and these are the entire (heavenly) axis, and [. .
ones who were apportioned in .] on account of [. . .] inside
every place, which are under you.
the [authority] of the twelve
archons. The diminutive
power dwelling among them
[has] brought [forth] angels
for itself, and countless hosts.
However, the Existent One
was [. . .] given [. . .]. On
account of [. . .] Existent One
[...]; countless are they.
[27] If you want to count them They cannot be coun[ted by]
now, you cannot before you you, 16 but if you want to count
throw off blind thought from them, you cannot count them
yourself, this fetter of flesh now without throwing off the
surrounding you, and then will blindness that dwells inside
you attain to the Existent One, your mind 17 and the fetter that
and you will no longer be dwells inside the flesh. Then
James. You will instead be you will attain to the Existent
what exists, and all of the One, and you will no longer be
James, 18 [14] but one who in
13
On the translation “pairs,” see Nagel, 81, footnote 7.
14
“Revise,” or “change.” This seems to be the sense of the literal reading, “move away from.”
15
On the trope of seventy-two powers in Nag Hammadi and Jewish kabbalistic texts, see Moshe Idel, Kabbalah:
New Perspectives (New Haven/London: Yale University Press, 1988), 122–125. Idel, 124,335 refers to Moshe
de Leon’s (?) Sefer Gan ʿEden’s description of Sefer ha-Bahir’s world tree as having seventy-two “roots.” Idel
fails to point out the prominence of “root” in the Nag Hammadi corpus, including 1 Apoc. Jas. For a more
profound treatment of Sefer ha-Bahir’s world tree, see Elliot R. Wolfson, “The Tree That Is All: Jewish-
Christian Roots of a Kabbalistic Symbol in Sefer ha-Bahir,” The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 3–1
(1994): 31–76.
16
“By you,” literally, “before you.”
17
“Mind,” or “heart.” The passage echoes Gos. Thom. 28.
18
“You will no longer be James.” This seems to be inspired by Jacob’s change of name to “Israel” in Genesis 32
and 35. Both NH and CT versions stop short of divinizing James, in contrast to, e.g., the explicit promise of
divinization in the Dead Sea Scrolls text 4Q Visions of Amram (4Q543) Frag. 3: “[. . .] you will be God (ʾĒl),
5
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
countless ones will all have every way is inside the
been named.” Existent One. Those who
cannot be counted will be
[counted] by you, 19 and
everything that cannot be
measured by you, 20 [will be]
measured.”
The Opposition of the Powers
<James, however, said: He answered, saying:
“Now what>, Rabbi, how will “Rabbi, how will I be able to
I attain to the Existent One, attain to the Existent One,
given that all of these powers when such a number of [the]
and these hosts stand armed powers fight [against me]?”
against me?”
He said to me: “These
powers are not armed against
you alone, but against others
as well. These powers are
armed against me, and also
with other [powers].
Instead, they are armed against [. . .], rather against me 22 by
me [with] a court of law. Then means of them [. . .] curse,
to them it was given [. . .]
against me [. . .] by means of
them [. . .] in this place [. . .]
sufferings, [28] and I will not
curse them, but inside me will but there is in me [… a
be a silence and a concealed concealed] silence, [but] I am
mystery, 21 yet I am fearful in afraid in the presence of [their
the presence of their fury.” fury].”
James said: “Rabbi, if they “If they fight against you in
arm themselves against you, this manner, how much more
there will nevertheless be no against me, Rabbi? Because
(valid) accusation against you. you have come [in] knowledge
You have come with in order to reprove their
knowledge, so that you could ignorance, and you have come
and you will be cal[led] ‘Angel of God.’” NH’s “You will instead be what exists,” alla ntok pe pē etšoop, stops
short of saying “You will instead be the Existent One.” However, CT’s version does refer to the Existent One:
“one who in every way is inside the Existent One.” A comparison between the two versions suggests that the two
Greek Vorlagen indeed read “you will be the Existent One,” and that both scribes independently weakened in
various ways the bold identification between James and the Existent One. Because the passage echoes Gos.
Thom. 28, it may also hint at Gos. Thom. 30’s theme of divinization.
19
“By you,” literally, “before you.”
20
“By you,” literally, “for you.”
21
Cf. 1QH XIII,25–26, “the mystery you have concealed inside me . . . you have concealed the source of
knowledge.”
22
“Against me,” reading uncertain.
6
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reprove their forgetfulness. in memory in order to reprove
You have come with their oblivion, [15] but I am
remembrance, so that you not worried over you, because
might reprove their ignorance, you have entered into
but I am not concerned on ignorance, and you were not at
your account, because you all soiled by it. You have come
descended into a thick to oblivion, and memory
ignorance, but nothing of it dwells inside you. You
has polluted you, because you wandered around in the mud,
descended into a thick and you were not soiled. They
oblivion, and your did not awake your vengeance.
remembrance remained with
you. You wandered around in
mud, and your garments
remained unsoiled, and you
were not buried in their filth,
and they never touched you.
And I was not of their kind, I am not of this kind, but all
though I clothed myself with oblivion [from] 23 you, that is
everything that belonged to what I have put on [me, and] I
them. Oblivion dwells inside do not remember (it anymore).
me, yet I [remember] things Those who belong to me are
that do not belong to them, ignorant, [and] I am [not]
and I dwell in their completed [in] knowledge, 24
[ignorance]. I have found a
knowledge, [and] I [was] not and I am not worried [over] the
concerned about their agonies in this place, [but] on
sufferings [which are account of their apprehending.
exterior], but I was afraid [in]
their [presence], when they
apprehend.
James’ Redemption
What [29] will they do? “What [will you do? What]
What will I be able to say, or will you say, [and] by what
what kind of message will I be kind of message [will you] be
able to speak in order that I saved?”
can escape from them?”
The Lord said: “James, I “James, I praise your
praise your insight and your understanding, and fear makes
fear. If you continue to be you lovingly disposed towards
lovingly disposed towards suffering. Let nothing trouble
suffering, then do not be you except your redemption.
concerned with anything else Behold! I will go and prepare
than your redemption, for this destiny on the earth as it
23
“From,” literally, “through.”
24
Reading uncertain.
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behold, I will fulfil this has been prepared already in
destiny on the earth, as I have heaven, [16] and after this I
spoken in heaven, and I will will reveal to you your
reveal to you your redemption.”
redemption.” 25
Overcoming the Archons
James said: “Rabbi, how “Rabbi, how will you
will you hereafter appear 26 to hereafter appear to me, after
us again, after you have been you have been judged, and
taken into custody, and you your destiny is prepared, and
have fulfilled the destiny, and you have attained to Existent
you have ascended to the One?”
Existent One?
The Lord said: “James, after “James, hereafter I will
these things I will reveal appear to you in this place, not
everything to you, not only for only <on your account>, [but]
your sake, but on account of on account of the
the unfaithfulness of humans, [unfaithfulness] of humans,
so that [faithfulness] may exist that is, how [faithfulness] can
among them, because a arise among them. [Many,
multitude will [come to] however], will turn to
faithfulness, [and] they will faithfulness and grow in it, [so [Leaf A] “[…] to
increase [in it] until [they that] they will come to knowledge. For this
come to knowledge], [30] and knowledge, and for this reason reason, I will appear in
after this I will appear to I will [display] the humiliation order to reprove the
reprove the archons. I will of the archons, [and I will] archons, in order to
reveal to them that he cannot reveal to them [that] he cannot reveal to them this,
be apprehended. If he is be apprehended. When they namely, the one who
apprehended, then will he apprehend him, then he has cannot be apprehended.
apprehend them all. apprehended (them). When he has been
apprehended, then will
he apprehend all.
“Now, however, I will go. “Now, however, I will go. “I am now going.
Think on what I have said, 27 Think on what I have said, and Remember what has
and let it enter inside of let it grow inside you.” been said, and let [it]
you.” 28 “I will hurry, Rabbi, to do as grow inside you.”
James said: “Lord, I will you have spoken.” “I will hurry 29 [. . .].”
hurry, as you have spoken.”
25
“Reveal . . . redemption” would involve word punning in Syriac. This does not necessarily mean the text was
composed in Syriac, but that it may have incorporated some Syriac traditions.
26
“Appear,” or “reveal.”
27
This is a standard sapiential exhortation; see, e.g., Prov 4:4–5.
28
Cf. Prov 4:20–21.
29
“Hurry,” or “endeavor.”
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Jesus Departs and Returns to James
The Lord departed from And Jesus went and prepared James, [however],
him, and fulfilled what was what was appropriate for him, heard of his [sufferings],
necessary. When James had but James heard of his and was [sorrowful], 31
heard of his sufferings, he was sufferings, and [17] was very and he awaited his
very sorrowful. <He> was on sorrowful, and expected his coming, [but] he was
the lookout for the coming, and he had only this to next to him after [two]
appearance 30 of his coming, comfort him, namely, the days, [and behold!
but he came after some days, expectation of his coming, and James] came to the
and James was walking about it was two days, and behold! mountain called
on the mountain called James conducted the service on “Golgoul” 32 with [his
30
“Appearance,” Coptic typos.
31
“Sorrowful,” or “troubled.”
32
NHC Gaugēlan, CT Galgē[la]m, P.Oxy 5533 Golgoul. With regard to NHC Gaugēlan, see Nagel, 91: “The
N(ag)H(ammadi) version in the form Gaugēlan has retained the accusative (ending) of the Greek textual
Vorlage: ho onomazousi Gaugēlan.” Despite the fact that P.Oxy 5533 reads to legomeno[n] golgoul, Nagel’s
explanation remains convincing. This indicates either a variant reading or two different Greek recensions, neither
of which is at all implausible. Another secondary feature of NHC Gaugēlan is the dropping out of the first
lambda, whose presence is attested by both CT’s Galgē[la]m and P.Oxy. 5533’s Golgoul.
The CT version’s Galgēlam can be explained as a mistaken reading that has accidentally incorporated the
letter mu from the immediately following word meta (to legomeno[n] golgoul meta).
To explain P.Oxy 5533’s Golgoul first requires a discussion of the identification of the mountain in question.
Nagel refers the reader to Brankaer/Bethge, 205–206, which presents strong reasons for identifying the mountain
as Gilgal in Joshua 4–5 (Hebrew Gilgāl; Greek Galgala; Syriac Galgəlā). Although Gilgal was not a mountain,
it is famous for its Hill of the Foreskins, whose story is narrated in Joshua 5, immediately after passing over the
Jordan:
2 At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the people of Israel again the
second time.”
3 So Joshua made flint knives, and circumcised the people of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth [Hill of the
Foreskins]. (RSV)
The immediate objection is that Gilgāl is not a mountain name. However, as Ed Noort explains: “Between
[Josh] 5.3 Bounos tōn akrobustiōn, ‘the Hill of the Foreskins’, and 5.8f. [see Josh 5:9, ‘And so the name of that
place is called Gilgal to this day’] there is no change of location, so, in the eyes of the LXX translator, Gilgal and
the Hill of the Foreskins must be the same place.” See Ed Noort, “The Disgrace of Egypt: Joshua 5.9A and its
Context,” in Anthony Hilhorst and George H. van Kooten, eds., The Wisdom of Egypt: Jewish, Early Christian,
and Gnostic Essays in Honour of Gerard P. Luttikhuizen (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity 59; Leiden /
Boston: Brill, 2005), 1–19; here, 6.
Further, as Brankaer/Bethge, 205 points out: “One can assume that the name of the place [Gilgal/Galgala] has
been transferred to that of the hill. That this hill is bound to the history of Israel and the Law can be of relevance
for the interpretation of this passage in 1 Apoc. Jas.” (My translation from the German, here and below).
Based on Brankaer/Bethge, 205–206 we can exclude any connection between Gaugēlan / Galgē[la]m /
Golgoul and Golgotha. Therefore, instead of detecting a hint at Golgotha in Golgoul, it is much more likely that
in Gol- of Golgoul we have a partial assimilation to the following -goul.
Regarding “Hill of the Foreskins” in Josh 5:3, the Syriac version uses Rāmthā, which (as is the case in
Common Aramaic) means both “hill” and “mountain.” Targum-Jonathan at Josh 5:3 uses Ghibhʿthāʾ, which like
the Hebrew Gibhaʿth, means only “hill,” not “mountain.” This would explain why 1 Apoc. Jas. calls Galgala a
mountain rather than a hill, understanding the Hill (of Foreskins) in Joshua 5 and Galgala as identical, in
common with the Septuagint/OG translator. This data would seem to hint at either a Syrian provenance, or at
least the incorporation of Syriac traditions in 1 Apoc. Jas.
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“Gaugela{n},” together with the [mountain] called own] disciples, 34 who
his disciples, who listened to “Galge[la]{m},” [the place] gladly listened to him,
him longingly, and <they> had where [he stayed at another [and] they had him for
him as a comforter, [and] said: time] with his disciples, [who] comfort. They said,
“This is the Second eagerly listened to him, and “[This] is the Second
[Teacher].” 33 they had him as comfort, and Teacher.”
they said: “This is the Second
Teacher.”
[Then] the crowd dispersed And behold! They dispersed And behold! The
itself, but James remained themselves, and James people were scattered,
[behind alone at] prayer [by remained behind alone and he [and James] was left
praying], in the way [31] he prayed fervently, according to [alone to] pray [. . .] to
was accustomed, and the Lord his custom, but during it Jesus him, the Lord. 35
appeared to him and he ceased appeared to him, and he [Desisting from] the
praying, fell on his neck, and desisted from his prayer, and prayer, he began to
kissed him. began to embrace him, and said embrace him.
He said: “Rabbi, I have to him: “Rabbi, I had distanced He said: [“Rabbi], I
found you. I had heard of the myself from you. I had heard have you! I heard what
sufferings you endured, and I what you took onto yourself, you [suffered, and] I
was very sorrowful, because and I was very sorrowful. was sorrowful [. . .].”
my compassion you know. I You know my sympathy. For
wanted, for this reason, on this reason I did not want to
reflection, that I would not be remain with you: [18] That I
able to look on this people. would not have to look on this
They must be judged for the people. They will be judged,
things they have done, because because what they have done,
what they have done it was wretched to see.”
trespasses everything that is
appropriate.”
Jesus Encourages James
The Lord said: “James, do “James, do not worry about the
not worry about me, nor about [people], nor about me,
this people. I am he who because from the beginning I
existed inside himself. I have am the Existent One inside of
never suffered in any way, nor me alone, [because] I have not
In the forms Gaugēlan and Galgē[la]m, the phonetic element /ē/ may echo the /i/ of Hebrew Gilgāl, while the
/o/ and/or /ou/ of Greek Golgoul may distantly approximate the /ə/ of Syriac Galgəlā. However, /o/ and/or /ou/
could bring to mind the Hebrew cognate gilgūl, “a rolling.” Cf. also the cognate name Galgūla, known from the
Bar Kokhba letters.
Brankaer/Bethge in 2007 suspected that behind the Coptic mooše was the Greek verb peripatein, “wander.”
P. Oxy. 5533 uses pare[genet]o, “came to,” “came up,” “arrived at.” We can see in James’ arrival at the
Hill/Mountain of Foreskins=Galgala an echo of the Israelites’ arrival led by Joshua (“Jesus” in Greek) at the
Jordan and Galgala’s Hill of the Foreskins.
33
Here James is a Paraclete-like figure who replaces Jesus as teacher. Cf. John 14:26, although it is very
doubtful 1 Apoc. Jas. here echoes this John passage.
34
James has succeeded to Jesus’ position, so that Jesus’ former disciples are now James’ disciples.
35
“The Lord,” i.e., the God of Israel, not Jesus.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
have I been tortured, and this suffered [from anything], nor
people has done me no harm, did I die, and this people have
but an appearance of the done nothing harmful. Instead,
archons was imposed on them, this was imposed on the
and it was worth it that it [was appearance 36 of the archons
fulfilled] through them, [but (corrupted text), in order to
each of] the archons [. . .] who prepare (corrupted text). It was
[. . .]. [He is] furious over then fulfilled. Be on your
[you, the] ‘Just [God,’ because guard, though, because the
you used to be] [32] ‘Just God’ has fallen into fury,
subservient to him, wherefore because you were subservient
you bear this name: ‘James the to him, and for this reason you
Just.’ You will see how you have you obtained the name
become sober, because you ‘James the Just.’ Behold! You
have seen me. You desisted have already been set free. You
from this prayer, because you will recognize me, and you
are ‘a Just One of God,’ and will recognize yourself, and
you yourself have desisted
from the prayer that the ‘Just
God’ requested.”
now you have fallen on my [19] And he embraced me,
neck, and you have kissed me. and kissed me. Amen. 37
“Truly I say to you: You “I tell you: He has stirred up
have stirred up great fury and his anger against you, and his
wrath against yourself, but for fury, but this, too, must come
this cause, that something else to pass.”
would come to pass.”
James, however, was James, however, was
fainthearted as he wept, and he fainthearted, wept, and
was very sorrowful, and both sorrowed much, and they both
of them seated themselves on sat down on the boulder.
a boulder. 38
The Lord said to him: Jesus said to James: “James,
“James, this is why you will it is appropriate for you to
receive these sufferings, yet do experience all this, but do not
not feel sorry for yourself, be sorrowful. The flesh, which
because the flesh is weak. 39 is weak, 40 will receive what is
It will receive what is destined inflicted on it, but you, be not
for it, but regarding yourself, fainthearted, and fear nothing.”
be not be weak, nor be afraid.”
36
“Appearance,” Coptic tupos, which can mean “type” or “appearance.”
37
As Nagel points out, the CT version considers the word “amen” to be the affirming conclusion to the scene
which concludes with James embracing and kissing Jesus. By contrast, the NH version, which interprets “amen”
as “truly,” considers the same word as an introductory asservation to Jesus’ next saying to James.
38
“Boulder,” or “crag.” Cf. the seated position during circumcision at the Hill of the Foreskins in Joshua 5:8.
39
Unlike Mark 14:38 (cf. Rom 7:14–23), here “the flesh” is not contrasted with “the spirit.” Cf. the flesh-spirit
contrast in Rom 8:2 –7.
40
Cf. the expressions concerning weak, sinful flesh throughout the Qumran Thanksgiving Scroll.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
The Lord [fell silent, and] When James heard this, he
when James had heard this, he wiped away his tears, and the
wiped away [his] tears which sorrow in his heart became
were in [his eyes], and [the much lighter, but Jesus said to
grief] which was [in his heart] him: “Behold! Now I will
became much lighter. reveal to you your redemption.
The Lord [said] to [him:
“James, behold, I will [33]
reveal to you your redemption.
The Toll Collectors
When they apprehend When they apprehend you,
[you], and you accept this you will find yourself
suffering, a crowd will arm (confronted) by these things.
itself against you, so that Many will stand against you on
<they> can apprehend you, but account of [20] the warrant for
three of them in particular will your arrest, but among them
apprehend you, those who are are three seated there in a
seated as toll collectors. They single place; they are toll
demand not only toll, but they collectors. Not only do they
take away souls violently as [collect] toll for sins, but they
well. (also) demand souls.
When you fall into their When you find yourself
hands, one of them who is a among many, then one among
Watcher among them will say them, because he is [a
to you: ‘Who are you, and Watcher], will ask you: ‘Of
where are you from?’ 41 what kind are you, and where
are you from?’
You will say to him: ‘I am a You will say to him: ‘I am
Son, and I am from the the Son, and I am from the
Father.’ Father.’
He will say to you: ‘What And he will say to you:
kind of a son are you, and to ‘What kind of a son, and what
which father do you belong?’ kind of a father?’
You will say to him: ‘I am “You will say to [him]: ‘The
from the Father who [existed] Father who from [the
first, and a Son who [is] inside beginning] exists, but the Son
the First-Existent One.’ who from the beginning exists
inside the Existent One.’
He [will say] to you: ‘And And he will say to you:
[from where did you come]?’ ‘From where have you come?’
You will [say to him: ‘From You will say to him: ‘From
what existed at first], because the Existent One who is from
I [. . .]. the beginning.’
41
With this passage, compare Gos. Thom. 50.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
And he will say: ‘Why have
you come?’
And you will say: ‘I am
come to all those who belong
to me, also to those who are
not.’
He will say: ‘Why have you
[34] ‘[...] the aliens?’ come? [21] [To] those who do
not belong to you?’
You will say to him: ‘They Then you will say: ‘They are
are not completely alien, but not completely alien to me,
they are from Achamoth, that rather they are offspring of
is, from the female, and she Achamoth, who is the female,
made these when she brought and she herself has made these.
down the race from what She has brought down the race
existed at first. They are, that exists from the beginning.
therefore, not aliens, but they Therefore, they are [not] alien
belong to us. On the one hand, to [me]. Rather, they [belong to
they belong to us because she me]. They [belong to me]
who is their Lady is from what insofar [that she] was the Lady
existed at first. On the other over them. They belong to the
hand, they are aliens in that Existent One who is from the
the First-Existent One did not beginning. However, they have
unite himself with her at the become alien, because the
time when she thought of Existent One who is from the
making them.’ beginning did not unite himself
with her when she had created
them.’
Again he will say to you: And he will say: ‘Where will
‘Where are you going?’ you go?’
You will say to him: ‘To the You will say: ‘I go to those
place from which I have come, who belong to me, to the place
there will I return,’ but when from which I have come.’ If
you say this, you will be away [you] say that, you will be
from their activities. saved from all of these.
When you, however, come When, however, you come
into the hands [of the] three among the three who collect
minions [who] apprehend [the] the soul, then there will be a
souls violently in that place, [. great tumult in that place when
. .]. You will [say] to them: ‘I you say to them: ‘I am a vessel
42
am a vessel [more valuable] more valuable than Achamoth,
than [Achamoth, who made the female who created you,
you.’] [35] [. . .] your [. . .], [22] and when your mother is
that is, [. . .] over her root, will ignorant concerning her own
you not sober up [yourself]? root, then at what time will you
become sober?
42
“Vessel.” This anticipates 1 Apoc. Jas.’ seven women who are “vessels,” and the name Mānāēl, “vessel/mind
of God.”
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
‘I, however, will invoke the ‘I, however, have invoked
indestructible knowledge, the immaculate Sophia, who
[which] is Sophia, who dwells exists inside the [Father], the
inside the Father, who is the mother of Achamoth, but her 43
mother of Achamoth. No companion [was not] in
father was apportioned for agreement [with the] female.
Achamoth, also [no] male Without a male [she has]
[companion]. She is instead [a created you by herself.
female] from a female. She
made you without [a male],
when she dwelt alone,
because she was ignorant She grew ignorant of her
concerning those who [. . .] mother, 44 and she thought that
her mother, because she she was alone, but I have
thought that she was the only invoked her mother, and then
one who existed. I, however, all of them will be troubled,
will shout up to her mother, and they will accuse their own
and they will then fall into root, and the race of their
confusion. They will accuse mother. You, however, will go
their root and the race of their to your roots, the fetters that
mother. You, however, will are their fetters as well.
ascend to [those] who are
yours [. . .].
The Transmission of the Revelation
[36] [. . .] to the [First- “Behold! James, I have
Existent One and the] revealed to you what I am, and
appearance of the twelve the Existent One who is from
disciples and of [the seventy]- the beginning, and the [23]
two pairs [and (?) the] female appearance 47 of the twelve
Achamoth, which is translated disciples, and the seventy-two
‘Sophia,’ but (I have pairs, and the female
revealed) 45 who I am, and the Achamoth, which is translated
indestructible Sophia through ‘Sophia,’ and what you are,
whom you will be saved 46 and the immaculate Sophia, 48
together with all the children through whom you will be
of the Existent One, which saved, and all the children of
they themselves have the Existent One, who have
recognized, and have recognized themselves, and
concealed [inside] themselves. (what is) concealed inside
43
“Her,” i.e., Achamoth’s.
44
I have deleted the mistaken scribal repetition, “it is she, who is alone, who is ignorant of her mother.”
45
Accepting Nagel’s gloss.
46
An echo of Wis 9:18.
47
“Appearance,” or “type.”
48
“Immaculate Sophia.” Cf. Wis 7:24–26.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
You will conceal her [inside] them. [You will keep secret]
of you, and you will be silent, these things I have spoken, and
but you will reveal it to they will be inside you, 49 and
Addaios when you depart you will remain silent about
(from the body), 50 and them, but when you depart
immediately [war will be (from the body), you will
waged] against this land. 51 disclose them to Addaios, and
[Weep], therefore, for him immediately this land will
who remains in Jerusalem. wage war, and she will once
again drink her cup, because
she has incensed the God who
dwells in Jerusalem.
Addaios, 52
Let Addeos, 53 however, bear however, will bring forth these
these things in his mind. 54 In words in his mind 56 for ten
the tenth year 55 Addeos will years, and then he will gather
sit down, and write them the courage to sit down and
down, and [when] he has write them down, and then,
written them down [. . .], and when he has written them
they will be given [to Manael, down, they will be taken from
because he] possesses this him and handed over to
[holy name . . .]. Manael. 57
49
Cf. 1 QH XIII,11 –12: “Because you, O my God, hid me from the sons of man, concealing your Law inside
me, until the time for revealing your salvation through me.”
50
Accepting Nagel’s gloss.
51
An allusion to the outbreak of the Jewish War in 66 CE.
52
A variant of “Addaios.”
53
A variant of “Addaios.”
54
As Nagel, 105 remarks, fi nhētf, “bear in his mind,” is more or less semantically equivalent to the NH
version’s unusual idiom čpo nef . . . nhētf,” which essentially means “to memorize.” The use of hēt, “mind,” is an
anticipatory play off the name Mānāēl, which is based on Syriac/Armaic mānā, whose primary meanings include
“vessel,” “garment,” “mind.”
55
“The tenth year,” i.e., ten years after either the beginning (66 CE) or after the end of the First Jewish War. The
author may have identified 70 CE (the year of the Temple’s destruction) or 73/74 CE as the end of the war. The
“tenth year” could therefore refer to ca. 76 CE or 80–83/84 CE. About three decades would pass until the Kitos
War would begin in 116 CE.
56
As Nagel, 105 remarks, “the unusual Coptic expression čpo nef . . . nhētf” essentially means “to memorize.”
57
The name Manaēl (i.e., Mānāēl) is unattested, and is therefore most likely an ad construction. It could mean
“vessel of God” (so Nagel, 105), which would anticipate the later description of the seven women as weak
vessels. However, Mānāēl could alternatively mean in Syriac “garment of God,” “mind of God,” “measure of
God,” any of which could relate to the themes of 1 Apoc. Jas. See the entry “m ˀ n , m ˀ n ˀ (mān, mānā)
n.m. vessel; garment” at https://cal.huc.edu. Mān/mānā can also mean a vessel of war, i.e., “weapon,” “armor,”
which would also be congruent with the context in which the name appears in 1 Apoc. Jas. If “Masphēl” means
“watchtower of God,” as I argue in the next footnote, then the meaning “weapon of God” would be fitting, at
least in part, for the name Mānāēl. However, both Mānāēl and Masphēl could refer to states of awareness when
we understand mānā as “mind” and Masphēl as “watchtower,” the latter implying active awareness, watching. I
thank Martin Schwartz for this suggestion, who also refers to Proverbs 15:3’s ṣōp̲hōth, “√ṣ-p-y, ṣāphā(h), with
regard to God’s ‘looking out,’ ‘scoping,’ ‘being aware,’ ‘scrutinizing.’”
The first part of the name Mānāēl would be cognate with the name Mānī, i.e., mānā +ḥayyē, at least as
understood by Kurt Rudolph: “Greek Manichaîos, Aramaic mani haija, ‘vessel/spirit of life.’” Kurt Rudolph,
“Mani, Manichaeans,” in Hubert Canik, Helmuth Schneider; Christine F. Salazar, eds., Brill’s New Pauly:
Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World. Antiquity Volume 8 LYD–MINE (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2006), 233–236;
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This is a holy name, equivalent
[24] to Masphel. 58 This one
here 234. Similarly, Hans Heinrich Schaeder, Urform und Fortbildungen des manichäischen Systems (Leipzig:
B. G. Teubner, 1927), 88 interprets Mānī’s full name as “Mani the Living.” For a fuller discussion of the
etymology of Mānī’s name, see Werner Sundermann, “MANI,” Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2009,
available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/mani-founder-manicheism (accessed on 18 May 2025). I thank
Martin Schwartz (University of California-Berkeley) for pointing out the relevance of the name Mānī for this
discussion. (Private communication, 18 May 2025).
As Sundermann writes, hesitation is in order regarding Schraeder’s (and Rudolph’s) proposed etymology for
Mānī’s full name. Martin Schwartz points out in his private communication, “the ḥeθ as in ḥayya, ‘life,’ was
rendered by zero in the LXX,” and cites the Mandaic proper name Baraiēs, “Son of Life.” As Schwartz remarks:
“Sundermann, who refers to the data of the Septuagint, ignores the fact that still at that time, Hebrew, like
Arabic, had, as it were, xeθ and ḥeθ, ḡayin and ʿayin.” Schwartz also notes that both *ḥ and *x merge as x in
Neo-Aramaic, and adds: “Maybe already at the time of the Greek form Μανιχαῖος there were already two
dialectal(?) pronunciations of ḥeθ, as seems to be the case in early Ashkenaz.” Cf. Alexander Beider, “Bne Hes
and Bne Kes,” in Geoffrey Khan, ed., Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics (Leiden/Boston: Brill,
2013), 373–375. The crucial issue is, as Beider, 374 interjects: “They could either have been inherited from a
common ancestor for the Hebrew of these two Jewish groups, or result from similar innovations.”
Rudolph’s “spirit” reflects the German Geist, which means both “mind” and “spirit,” and he is referring to
mānā as “mind.” OG Isa 40:13 renders Hebrew rūaḥ, “spirit,” with nous, “mind,” in the phrase “mind of the
LORD.” Mānāēl could then possibly mean “the Spirit of God.” (Cf. Isa 11:2’s phrase “the Spirit of the LORD,”
which in the Greek and Syriac versions reads as “the Spirit of God,” pneuma tou theou; rūḥā dī-ʾălāhā). The
reworking of Isa 40:13 in Wis 9:13–17 retains “spirit” in the form to hagion sou pneuma apo hupsistōn, “your
holy Spirit from on high.” (Targum Jonathan similarly expands Isa 40:13’s “spirit” to “holy Spirit.” “Holy
Spirit” is also used in the reworking of Isa 11:2 in Psalms of Solomon 17, Greek vv. 37–40, Syriac vv. 42–44).
Cf. the reworking of Isa 40:13 in Syriac 4 Ezra 4:11: “how can your mind (mʾnk) grasp the way of the Most
High?”
The polyvalence of Aramaic/Syriac mānā ranging from “vessel,” “weapon,” and “mind-spirit,” links together
the 1 Apoc. Jas. Mānāēl passage and the immediately following section on the seven women disciples as
“vessels” who are identified as Isaiah 11’s seven “spirits.” This is evidence for the incorporation of Syriac
traditions in 1 Apoc. Jas.
In conclusion, it is intriguing that Mānāēl is linked to the trope of receiving a secret book around the time of
the Kitos War, 116–118 CE. This is approximately the time Elchasai appeared with his famous book. On
Elchasai, see J. P. Asmussen,“ALCHASAI,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, 824-825;
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alchasai-a-sectarian-in-the-early-christian-church-1st-2nd-centuries-a;
accessed on 25 May 2025. See further Gerard P. Luttikhuizen, The Revelation of Elchasai: Investigations into
the Evidence for a Mesopotamian Jewish Apocalypse of the Second Century and Its Reception by Judaeo-
Christian Propagandists (Texts and Studies in Ancient Judaism 8; Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr [Paul Siebeck],
1985); idem, “The Book of Elchasai: a Jewish Apocalypse,” Aula Orientalis 5 (1987): 101–106; idem,
“Elchasaites and their Book,” in Antti Marjanen & Petri Luomanen, eds., A Companion to Second-Century
Christian “Heretics” (Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2005), 335–364. For a fundamentally different (and less plausible,
in my opinion) understanding of the Book of Elchasai than that of Luttikhuizen, see F. Stanley Jones, “The Book
of Elchasai in Its Relevance for Manichaean Institutions with a Supplement: The Book of Elchasai
Reconstructed and Translated,” ARAM 16 (2004): 179–215.
58
The name Masphēl is unattested, and is therefore most likely an ad hoc construction. I seriously doubt there is
any relevance in the claim by Nagel, 105: “The name could be derived from the Aramaic passive participle משׁפיל
mašpīl, ‘lowered,’ ‘humble.’” A straightforward origin would instead be the Biblical Hebrew Miṣpeh
(Syriac/Aramaic Miṣp̲hyāʾ), “watchtower”; OG Esdras B 13:19 (=Nehemiah 3:7) masphe, more commonly
massēpha, as in Judges 11:11, etc. Masphēl therefore would mean “the watchtower of God,” which could fit both
a military and a cognitive context. The idea of joining miṣpeh with God could derive partly from Gen 31:48–49:
“Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; and Mizpah, for he said: ‘The LORD watch (yiṣep̲h) between me and
you.” The LXX here reads ho theos rather than ho kyrios, the latter of which would correspond to “the LORD,”
while theos would render Hebrew ʾēl. Thus, concealed behind the -ēl of Mānāēl and Masphēl would be the true
holy name, the Tetragrammaton, YHWH, the LORD.
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will preserve this book for an
inheritance to his children. 59
From him, however, will [Leaf G] [. . .]
come a holy offspring, 60 which because a holy spirit
is worthy to inherit these [will come] from him,
(things) I have spoken, but and he will be judged
when his little son will become worthy to inherit these
[big, and] he [recognizes] the previously mentioned
[37] [. . .] his name will be Living One, 61 he will [receive] things.
called ‘Levi.’ a name, ‘Levi.’ When his younger son
Then he will [not] bring Then the land will wage war inherits them [. . .] Levi,
forth a [single] word of [what once again, 62 but Levi himself war will then be waged
I] had said previously. will be hidden as a little child, against this land, [but]
and no word that I have spoken Levi will hide them
will pass over his lips, discreetly [. . .].
[He will take] a woman, 63 one but he will take a woman, one
from Jerusalem, of <his> 64 from Jerusalem, of his tribe,
[tribe, and] together with her and he will produce two sons
will beget [two] sons. with her, and the pair of
They will inherit these things, brothers will inherit all of this.
[and] the understanding 65 of The mind 67 of the older one
the [older one] will become will close itself, and they will
arrogant, 66 and [these] will be be taken from his mind. 68
59
Cf. 1 En 92:1.
60
Cf. Jub 25:3; 1 En 39:1.
61
“The Living One,” p.et onh, is a divine title synonymous with p.et šoop, “the Existent One,” “He Who Is,”
derived from Coptic Exodus 3:14, de anok pe p.et šoop, “I, however, am (the) being/existent one” (see
https://data.copticscriptorium.org/texts/old-testament/02_exodus_3/analytic). The title “the Living One” is
intriguing in light of the previously discussed etymology of Mānī’s full name, the form of which could mean
“the living vessel,” “vessel of life,” or perhaps “vessel of the Living One,” although this etymology is uncertain.
The chronology of the war narrative in 1 Apoc. Jas. excludes an allusion to the third-century Mānī. We may,
however, have here traditions from a community that belonged to the background or trajectory of Mānī’s
“Jewish-Christian” ancestors, namely, the Elchasaites. For the theory that close similarities shared between
Mandaean and Manichaean sources might be explained by an earlier common source, namely, the Elchasaites,
see Kevin T. van Bladel, From Sasanian Mandaeans to Ṣābians of the Marshes (Leiden Studies in Islam and
Society 6; Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2017), 86–88. If Mānī’s full name indeed derives from mānā +ḥayyē, then the
Mandaean divine title mānā + hiia may be of Elchasaite origin, and Mānī’s full name could then reflect a divine
name used in common by the Elchasaites and Mandaeans.
62
An allusion to the Kitos War, 116–118 CE.
63
“He will take a woman,” i.e., as a wife.
64
“<His>,” corrected from the codex reading “her.”
65
“Understanding,” dianoia. This is soon followed by a mention of nous. This seems to hint at two of the seven
spirits later mentioned in the text, i.e., the spirit of dianoia and the spirit of nous.
66
Although “arrogant” agrees with the traditional Rabbinic portrayal of Bar Kokhba (e.g., Jerusalem Talmud
Taʿanit 4.5.24b), it would appear instead that Levi’s younger son resembles Bar Kokhba, given that this younger
son “will increase and occupy several provinces,” like Bar Kokhba. Because this figure in 1 Apoc. Jas. is
associated with the name Levi does not necessarily imply he was of the tribe of Levi. In any case, one must bear
in mind that we are dealing with a secondary literary adaptation of an earlier source.
67
“Mind,” phēt. This links the text back to the earlier mention of Mānāēl, whose element mānā- is
Syriac/Aramaic for “mind.”
68
“Mind,” hēt. This links the text back to the earlier mention of Mānāēl, whose element mānā- is
Syriac/Aramaic for “mind.”
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taken from him, from out of
his mind. 69 [. . .] his mind.
However, the younger will The younger one, however, The younger one,
grow in them, and this will be will increase in them, and will however, will increase
apportioned to him, concealed keep them concealed until in in them, and keep them
inside him until [he] comes to the course of life he reaches concealed [until he
the age of seven[teen] years, seventeen years, 70 [25] and attains to (?)] seventeen
[and the land will wage] war [. then the land will wage war. 71 years of age, and then
. .]. war will then be waged
against this land while
he is not (present?),
[38] [. . . a] large number [of However, because he will not but [by Providence] he
provinces . . . while a number] be there, he will be guarded in will be protected [. . .],”
will be saved through [him]. agreement with Providence,
His companions will eagerly and he will increase and
emulate 72 him [. . .], he 73 will occupy several provinces. 76
be proclaimed [by] them, and Many will be saved through
[they will proclaim] this him, and he will make this
message. [Then] will it message become a teaching
become a seed 74 of from 77 many provinces. He
[salvation].” 75 will be severely persecuted by
the [people themselves], and he
will be scorned by them,
and they will scorn this [Leaf H] and [this
message, but this will come to message will be]
pass by the archons scorned [b]y the dece[it
apprehending.” 78 of the archo]n[s].” 79
69
“Mind,” nous. This links the text back to the earlier mention of Mānāēl, whose element mānā- is
Syriac/Aramaic for “mind.”
70
“Seventeen years,” i.e., from the outbreak of the Kitos War in 116 CE until the beginning of the Bar Kokhba
Revolt in 132 CE.
71
An allusion to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, 132–136 CE.
72
The NH version understands the verb pōt positively as “follow,” “emulate,” which is clear from the
subsequent verb “proclaim,” while the CT version understands pōt negatively as “persecute,” which is clear from
the subsequent verb “scorn.”
73
“He,” or “it.”
74
“Seed of salvation.” Cf. Isa 45:8, where salvation is brought forth like a plant by the earth.
75
The terms “salvation” and “redemption” could have political overtones, as on the Bar Kokhba coinage. The
NH version of 1 Apoc. Jas. seems to preserve an earlier form of the allusion to the Bar Kokhba Revolt, before
Bar Kokhba fell in battle and became scorned, as in later Rabbinic tradition.
76
As surprising as it may seem, the text appears to hint that Bar Kokhba was the younger of the two sons of
Levi. The text may therefore serve as evidence for “Jewish-Christian” approval of Bar Kokhba and his revolt. On
such a possibility, see Dennis D. Buchholz, Your Eyes Will Be Opened: A Study of the Greek (Ethiopic)
Apocalypse of Peter (Dissertation Series 97; Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1988), 408–412.
77
“From,” or “for.”
78
This would seem to hint at Bar Kokhba’s defeat. The Coptic could be understood either as the archons
apprehending or being apprehended, but the Greek text makes the latter interpretation unlikely.
79
The Greek reads [kat]a henedr[an tōn archont]ō[n]; see Landau, Smith, Henry, 12. We could harmonize the
Coptic and Greek by saying that the archons apprehend/seize by means of deceit or deception.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
The Seven Women Disciples
James said: “[I] am pleased “Rabbi, I am convinced of “Rabbi, [. . .] and [. .
[with all of these things], and all of these (things), and they .].”
they are [well with what is are well with what is inside my
inside] my soul. 80 Yet these soul. Additionally, I wanted
[other things] will I ask of ask you: Who are the seven
you: Who are the [seven] women who have become your
women who [have become] disciples, and whom all the
your disciples? And behold! generations bless? 83 I myself
81
All women praise you. I marvel that they dwell inside
myself marvel at how fragile vessels, and they have
[power]less vessels have found powers and
become strong by means of a perceptions.”
[perception] dwelling inside
them.” 82
The Lord [said]: “You do “James, you do well to marvel,
well [to marvel . . .]. but the Son of Man 84 has come
[. . .]. and has revealed [26] what is
concealed on account of
the Sons of Light, 85 so that they “[. . . the Sons] of Light,
might dwell in what is revealed [so that they can dwell
while they possess what is in what is] manifest,
concealed. 86 [even should they]
possess these matters
[(that are) concealed]. 87
80
Not that they are pleasant or pleasing topics, but that James understands the statements.
81
Brankaer/Bethge, 239 suggests that the seven women-spirits are to be coordinated with the previously
mentioned Sophia.
82
This is a reworking of Gos. Thom. 29.
83
Cf. Luke 1:48: “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” CT seems to preserve more of the
original text, while NH’s “All women praise you” seems secondary. However, NH’s introductory “And behold!”
may be an original element, although it might have been added secondarily from Luke 1:48.
84
“The Son of Man.” This is the sole occurrence of this title in 1 Apoc. Jas. Here we detect an echo of the Son of
Man who throughout the Parables of Enoch reveals hidden secrets and concealed knowledge.
85
“The Sons of Light.” This phrase occurs earlier in the NH version on page 25, and in the CT version on page
12. The usage of this phrase in 1 Apoc. Jas. does not resemble its use in Luke 16:8 and John 12:36 (see also 1
Thes 5:5 and Eph 5:8) as much as it does in the Qumran literature, where it appears in the context of the
apocalyptic war against Rome. I refer to the War Scroll, its full title being War of the Sons of Light against the
Sons of Darkness. The War Scroll Col. 1 identifies the Sons of Light first with “the sons of Levi.” In 1QS, The
Rule of the Community, Col. 3,25 “the Sons of Light” are mentioned together with “the spirits of light.” Cf. 1
QS Col. I,8 –9, “all revealed things . . . the Sons of Light.” Compare also the proximity of “Sons of Light” and
“spirits” here in 1 Apoc. Jas. Further, 1QS Col. III,13, “the Sons of Light . . . the sons of man.” Despite these
observations, there is no direct relation between the Dead Sea Scrolls and 1 Apoc. Jas.
86
The Sons of Light possess by revelation the divine mysteries, which calls to mind, mutatis mutandis, a
common Dead Sea Scrolls trope in both the War Scroll and in 1QS. Here in 1 Apoc. Jas., the concealed-revealed
mysteries appear to refer to the teaching concerning the seven women-spirits.
87
Revelation does not cancel or end the concealed nature of what has been revealed. Concealment and revelation
are two manifestations of a single entity.
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The seven women are seven [The seven] women
spirits 88 which were [are] the seven spirits
established in the Scripture:
[39] [. . .] a spirit of A spirit of wisdom [. . .] a spirit [. . .] of
[wisdom, a spirit] of and of intelligence, 90 thought 91
reflection, 89
[a spirit] of counsel 92 a spirit of counsel 94
and of [power], [and] of power,
a spirit [of mind], 93 a spirit [of] mind
a spirit of knowledge, 95 and [knowledge], 97
[a spirit] of fear. 96 a spirit of fear. [. . .] spirit of fear.”
[At that time], when we had When <I> wandered through
passed over [the region of this] the land of the great archon
archon, who [is named] who is named Addon, I entered
Adonaios, [I went in] towards into his presence, and he was
him, and [he was] ignorant, ignorant, and when I departed
[because when] I departed from him, he thought of [me]
from him, [when he] thought as his son, and he showed me
that I am [a] son of his, he was favor as his own son, and
gracious [to me], as though I before I came to appear in
were his son, and then, before these places, these 98 were there
<I> appeared in this place, among this people, the place
88
In ancient Semitic languages, words for “spirit” are in general grammatically feminine. This facilitates linking
women with the term “spirit.”
89
“Reflection,” eumeue. The terms for the second spirit in all three versions more closely approximate the Syriac
version’s sukkālā, “intelligence,” “reasoning,” than they do the Hebrew (bhīnāh), Greek (sunesis), or Coptic
(mntrmhēt) terms, all of which mean “understanding.” However, cf. Jerome’s translation of bhīnāh in Isa 11:2 as
intellectus.
90
“Intelligence,” mnt.sabe. I would prefer to render mnt.sabe as “wisdom,” but “the spirit of wisdom and of
wisdom” would be odd in English.
91
“Thought,” [di]anoias. OG Isa 11:2 has in this position of the list of spirits sunesis, “understanding,”
“intelligence.” The Vorlage of P. Oxy. 5533 does not seem to be necessarily dependent on OG Isa 11:2. In the
position of P. Oxy. 5533’s dianoias, NH has eumeue, “reflection,” and CT has mnt.sabe, “wisdom /
intelligence.”
92
“Counsel,” šočne.
93
“Thought,” or “mind,” nous, which has no parallel in Isa 11:2, at least not in this position. The NH and CT
versions both add nous in the sixth position. This is in order to have a total of seven spirits, in contrast to a total
of six spirits in Isa 11:2, which has seven spirits only if one counts “the Spirit of the LORD” as the first spirit.
Although nous has no parallel in the Hebrew text or Greek and Coptic versions of Isa 11:2, it is paralleled in the
Syriac version of Isa 11:2, but in the third position, namely, tarʿīta, “thought,” “plan,” “mind,” which overlaps
semantically with both Greek boulē (the third spirit in OG), “counsel,” and nous, “mind.” However, most
importantly, Greek nous would reflect Syriac mānā, “mind,” which ties the text back to the passage on the name
Mānāēl, “Mind of God.”
94
“Counsel,” sočne.
95
“Knowledge,” gnōsis.
96
All three versions of 1 Apoc. Jas. have hote, “fear,” as the seventh spirit. This does not agree with OG Isa
11:2’s eusebeia, “piety” (which is the meaning of the reading in Coptic Isa 11:2 as well, mntrmnnoute), but with
the Hebrew text and the Syriac version (and Targum Jonathan), but also with the reworking of Isa 11:2 in the
Greek Psalms of Solomon 17:40 (Syriac v. 44).
97
“Knowledge,” sooune.
98
“These,” i.e., the seven spirits.
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they were brought among 99 where no prophet 100 has
[this] people, because in [this spoken without the seven
place] there were no prophets spirits, and these are the seven
[. . .].” spirits who have announced me
through the mouths of humans,
[27] as they were able to speak,
because I (myself) have not
spoken with complete power,
but then I came [myself]
[40] [. . .] will fulfil. and have fulfilled (it), although
I have not yet fulfilled it
(completely).”
James [said]: “Rabbi, [you] “You have again convinced
have [convinced] my heart me of all of this. Now, Rabbi,
[of] this. The [seven who were because they have received the
appointed] together, which seven, and left them together,
ones among them are [more are there with you some who
honored than the others]?” are more honored than others?”
The Lord said: “[James], I “I praise you even more, O
praise you [on account of your James, because you ask
discernment . . .], word [. . .], astutely, and you will not utter
because [you have] thrown a single idle word. 102 [You] are
away from [yourself the] cup, truthfully worthy of your own
that is, the bitterness, 101 root, and you have thrown
away from yourself the cup of
drunkenness. 103
[because] none of the No archon will be able to rise
[archons] will array up against you, because you
themselves against you, have begun to recognize those
[because you] have [begun] to who belong to you. Throw far
recognize [those who are away from yourself all
yours]. From the beginning to ignorance, until the end, and
the end throw away from watch that they do not become
104
yourself all lawlessness, and envious of you, because you
99
“Among,” or “into,” “within,” given that the spirit of prophecy is traditionally said to dwell upon or within a
prophet.
100
“No prophet.” This likely in part echoes Gos. Thom. 31, given that 1 Apoc. Jas. knows Gos. Thom. 28, 29,
and 30.
101
The phrase “the cup of bitterness” occurs earlier in the NH version on page 25, and in CT on page 11.
Regarding NH page 40’s cup of bitterness, the CT 27 parallel reads “cup of drunkenness.” The latter reading
seems to have been inspired by the link between bitterness and drunkenness in Lam 3:15, which reads in the
Syriac version as, “He has filled me with bitterness (mrārā); and he has made me drunk (wərawwāyny) with
wormwood.”
102
Cf. Matt 12:36.
103
An allusion to Gos. Thom. 28; 1 Apoc. Jas. also reworks Gos. Thom. 29 and 30.
104
“Lawlessness.” CT reads “ignorance.” Both are to be correlated with the previously mentioned cup of
bitterness-drunkenness. NH correlates bitterness with lawlessness, while CT correlates drunkenness with
ignorance. At an earlier stage of transmission, avoiding “lawlessness” would have referred to keeping the Torah.
In its current form, “lawlessness” is likely meant as the opposite of justice, as in the Gospel of Truth 33,23-31;
see Brankaer/Bethge, 241.
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
take care, so that they do not have accepted these words, the
become envious of you when lofty-minded knowledge. 105
you speak these [lofty] words.
Be in agreement 106 with this Be convinced as well of this
[other matter]: Salome, 107 and other matter, that is, Salome,
Mariam, 108 [and Ars]inoe 109 [. and Marihamme, and
. .]. 110 Arsinoe, 111
whom I will [28] bring
together with you, because
they are worthy of the Existent
One, because they have grown
sober and have been freed from
the blindness in their hearts, 112
and have recognized what I
am.
This (came to pass)
according to the Providence of
the Father, because he has sent
me as a priest, and in every
place they will be counted
among these: the offering
[41] [. . . offerings of first- of the first-fruits and the
fruits . . ., because] the priest firstborn. 114 He receives the
[of the Exalted One] accepts offering of the first-fruits and
[first-fruits, 113 and] these he dismembers the sacrifices and
105
“Lofty-minded knowledge,” p.sooune et.čise n.hēt, is clearly a play off the subsequent name Arsinoe, from
Greek arsis + noos, “raising,” “lifting,” + “mind,” that is, in effect, Lofty-Mind.
106
“Be in agreement.” A semantic play off the subsequent name Salome, from Hebrew for “peace.” In Syriac the
verb šlm can mean “to make/be at peace” as well as “to agree.”
107
The name Salome is cognate with Syriac pl. šlamyn, “offering,” which is in fact the next topic in 1 Apoc. Jas.
108
Mariam, from Hebrew for “bitter,” playing off the earlier-mentioned “bitterness.”
109
Although caution is in order because of the respective lacunae, it appears that in both the NH and CT versions
the names Salome and Mariam/Marihamme are intentionally set off on a line of their own, while the next line
has an intentional long blank space between the conjunction “and” and the name “Arsinoe.” Since this oddity
appears to be present in both codices, there is likely an intentional motivation behind it, probably of a numerical
nature. This may have something to do with the wording of Gos. Thom. 30, Coptic “Where there are three . . .
Where there is two or one,” Greek “Where there are three . . . Where there is one alone.” See April D. DeConick,
The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation: With a Commentary and New English Translation of the
Complete Gospel (Early Christianity in Context 287; London/New York: T & T Clark, 2006), 135–136.
Similarly, on NH page 42 and CT page 29 the names Sapphira and Susanna have their own line, with Johanna
alone on the next line (NH page 42 mn Iōanna; CT page 29 Iōanna with preceding mn at the end of the line
above). One must be cautious again, though, given that the limitations of the available physical space of each
line must be taken into account.
110
On the different opinions about whether or not a fourth name could have been lost here in the NH lacuna, see
Brankaer/Bethge, 243–244. Against a fourth name is not only the parallel passage in CT, but the deciding factor
is that both versions have James later in the same passage refer to “these three” (NH page 41; CT page 28).
111
The name Arsinoe is attested in Manichaean literature (see Brankaer/Bethge, 244). This, however, does not
require that 1 Apoc. Jas. learned this name from Manachaean sources. A more likely scenario is that both the
Manichaean sources and 1 Apoc. Jas. learned this name from an older common source.
112
An echo of Gos. Thom. 28.
113
The first-fruits were offered during the Feast of Shavuot.
114
“Firstborn,” or “first-fruits.”
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
brings [as] burnt offerings and sacrificial offerings, but I am
[sacrificial offerings]. I, not of this kind. Instead, I
however, am not of this receive the offerings of the
first-fruits on the part of
kind, 115 but offerings of first- those who are defiled, 118 and I
fruits from the [Indestructible dispatch them, so that the true
One I] bear up 116 to Heaven 117 power will be revealed,
[and outspread] them, so that because what is defiled has
the power of [the truth] can been separated from what is
appear, because what is undefiled, and the activity of
destructible 119 has ascended 120 the <female> has attained to
to what is indestructible, and the male.
[the] activity of the female has
attained to the activity of the
male.” 121
James said: “Rabbi, now “Rabbi, have <not> these
these three, 122 were they three now perished? Have they
thrown into their [destruction], not suffered? If they truly had
because they have been been worthy, and had been
abused, and [they have] also persecuted by [. . .], even 123
[been] persecuted [. . .]. they had been taught (things)
that do not exist.”
“James, it is not at all
necessary that someone [29]
should perish. 124 These three 125
have been set apart into 126 a
115
This seems to be an Ebionite-like polemic against sacrifices. Exactly what kind of symbolic sacrifice Jesus
alludes to here becomes clear from NH page 42’s “the first-fruits of knowledge.”
116
“Bear up,” or “lift/raise up,” congruent with Greek arsis, “raising,” the first element of the name Arsinoe.
117
Reading uncertain.
118
“Defiled,” or “stained.”
119
“What is destructible,” i.e., physical sacrifices.
120
The noun “ascend” belongs to the biblical vocabulary of sacrificial offerings.
121
“The female has attained to . . . the male,” i.e., weakness has attained to strength. This passage hints, on one
level at least, at the trope of the attainment of spiritual androgyny, as in Gos. Thom. 22, 114, and the Gospel of
Mary’s concluding scene.
122
“These three,” grammatically feminine.
123
“Even,” literally, “and.”
124
Cf. Matt 18:14.
125
“These three . . . a place.” An echo of Gos. Thom. 30’s “place” where “three gods” dwell. This echo is clear,
given the reworking of Gos. Thom. 29 on NH page 38 and on CT page 25.
126
“Into,” or “to.” See Nagel, 115, who renders eu.ma as “zu einem Ort,” i.e., “to a place.” To be rejected is the
interpretation “These three women have left the state of faith, for they have received the hidden knowledge,”
pace Antti Marjanen, “The Seven Women Disciples in the Two Versions of the First Apocalypse of James,” in
April DeConick, ed., The Codex Judas papers: proceedings of the International Congress on the Tchacos Codex
held at Rice University, Houston, Texas, March 13–16, 2008 (Nag Hammadi and Manichaean Studies 71;
Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2009), 535–546; here 543. Marjanen in this case misunderstands the noun pistis as “faith,”
in the sense of an intellectual ascent to the religious dogmas of the mainstream churches in contrast to the
“gnostic” community of 1 Apoc. Jas. The fact is that here pistis derives from Isa 11:5 (from the same Isaiah 11
passage on the seven spirits), which the Syriac and Targum render with haymānūthā, whose primary meaning is
“faithfulness,” “reliability,” as is the case with the Hebrew Vorlage’s ʾĕmūnāh, which RSV correctly renders as
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place 127 of faithfulness,
because [they have obtained]
the concealed knowledge. 128
These [are] the names [of] the
[42] [. . . Sappira 129 and three: Sapphira, 131 and
Susa]nna [and Johanna]. 130 Susanna, 132 and Joanna. 133
“faithfulness.” 1 Apoc. Jas. evidently relies on a Semitic text of Isa 11:5, given that OG renders ʾĕmūnāh with
alētheia, “truth.”
127
“Place” and “dwelling-place” are key terms in the Parables of Enoch. Cf. especially 1 En 39:6: “And in that
place my eyes saw the Elect One of righteousness and of faithfulness.” (R. H. Charles translation modified).
“That place” refers to 1 En 39:4’s “the dwelling-places of the holy, and the resting-places of the righteous.” The
“place of faithfulness” that the three martyrs Sapphira, Susanna, and Joanna have received is their post-mortem
dwelling-place where divine secrets and wisdom are revealed to them, as described throughout the Parables of
Enoch (see especially 1 En 46:3; 48:1). See also the eschatological promise to the persecuted dead, “the good
who belong to the generation of light,” in 1 Enoch 108:14, “for to the faithful He will give faithfulness in the
habitation of upright paths.”
128
This reverses the sequence of the stages of acquisition of faithfulness and knowledge in NHC 29, “because a
multitude will [come to] faithfulness, [and] they will increase [in it] until [they come to knowledge],” and in CT
16, “[Many, however], will turn to faithfulness and grow in it, [so that] they will come to knowledge.”
129
Sapphira, etymologically means “sapphire,” i.e., lapis lazuli. Given that the text immediately continues with
an echo of the beginning of the Parables of Enoch (1 Enoch 37, which develops 1 Enoch 1’s opening verses), it
is worth pointing out that the conclusion to the Enochic Parables, 1 Enoch 71, a vision of God’s throne room,
mentions the “hyacinth,” Ethiopic yākent, which is used to render “sapphire” (i.e., lapis lazuli) in Ezek 28:13
(Hebrew sappir; Greek sapphiron). See George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C. VanderKam, A Commentary on
the Book of Enoch Chapters 37–82 (Hermeneia; Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012), 324. The sapphire/lapis
lazuli is a traditional element of the vision of God’s throne beginning with Ezek 1:26 and 10:1 (cf. Exod 24:10,
where Targums Pseudo-Jonathan and Onqelos explicitly mention the divine throne). See also 1 En 18:8, which
likens the throne of God to sapphire (i.e., lapis lazuli).
130
Given 1 Apoc. Jas.’ interest in name etymologies, here the significance of “Johanna” likely goes beyond the
basic fact that a “Johanna” was a known disciple of Jesus in tradition (Luke 8:1–3 and 24:10). One must ask why
1 Apoc. Jas. mentions this particular name rather than another one known from the gospels, e.g., Martha. It is
well known that early Christian tradition viewed Hannah (cognate to “Johanna”) as a prototype of Jesus’ mother,
Mary. Already Luke’s Magnificat, sung by Mary (Luke 1:46–55) reworks the Song of Hannah (1 Sam 2:1–10),
which celebrates the birth of Samuel. 1 Apoc. Jas. NH page 38/CT page 25 applies an echo of Luke 1:48, a verse
from the Magnificat, to the seven women disciples of Jesus. Samuel is prominently linked not only to the Ark of
the Covenant, but also to both place names Gilgal and Mizpah (1 Sam 7:16, and throughout 1 Samuel), which
are relevant for 1 Apoc. Jas.’ place name Gaugēlan (Galgē[la]m/Golgoul) and proper name Masphēl. The
Targum Jonathan at 1 Sam 2:1 depicts Hannah as possessing a prophetic spirit or spirit of prophecy.
131
The name Sapphira means “sapphire,” i.e., lapis lazuli. Cf. Acts 5:1–10, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
Incidentally, the name Ananias is cognate with the name Joanna, the latter meaning “Yah is gracious.”
132
“Susanna,” from Hebrew for “lily,” “rose.” Biblical lilies were red or pink. As sapphires are a feature of the
divine throne, so depictions of lilies accompanied the figures of cherubim in the temple of Solomon (1 King
6:32,35), and lilies ornamented the Holy of Holies which contained the Ark of the Covenant (1 King 6:18–19).
Cherubim were placed atop the Ark of the Covenant, representing the divine throne; see also Ezekiel 10’s
cherubim linked to the divine chariot-throne. Lily figures also adorned the temple menorah consisting of seven
lamps. Perhaps 1 Apoc. Jas. implicitly links Isaiah 11:2’s seven spirits with the seven lamps of the menorah.
133
1 Apoc. Jas. refers to seven women-spirits, but mentions only six names, i.e., Salome, Mariam, Arsinoe,
Sapphira, Susanna, and Johanna. This is probably an intentional hint at the fact that Isa 11:2 actually names only
six spirits, if one does not count “the Spirit of the LORD.” Psalms of Solomon 17:37–40 (Syriac 42–44) in its
reworking of Isa 11:2 omits the spirit of knowledge, substituting it with “righteousness,” derived from Isa 11:5.
Psalms of Solomon 18:7 shortens the spirits to four, in the sequence fear (of God), wisdom, righteousness,
strength. The correlation between knowledge and righteousness may be explained as follows. After Isaiah 11:2’s
“the Spirit of the LORD,” this phrase occurs next in Isaiah 40:13. The next verse uses justice/righteousness in
poetic parallelism with “knowledge.” Cf. Isa 53:11, “by his knowledge shall the righteous one. . . .” (Isa 33:6’s
“wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD” also echoes Isa 11:2). 1Q28 (Rule of the Blessings) Col. V,25
shortens the list of Isa 11:2’s spirits to four, namely, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, fear of God.
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Behold! [I] have [revealed] Behold! I have revealed to you
every matter [to you, and I all things, and you are not alien
have] in no respect [omitted to these words, because you
(anything) . . .], 134 because have obtained the summit 135 of
you have obtained [the first- knowledge 136 [concerning your
fruits 137 offering] of root] from those that belong to
knowledge, and now [you you. Furthermore, go, and you
know] which [place] 138 it is [to [will] also [find] rest.
which you will] go. [. . ., and]
you will [also find rest]. 139
I, however, will depart, and I, [however, I will] go to
I will appear [to them], these and appear to them,
because they have been because [. . .].”
faithful to you, so that [they]
will be in agreement 140 for
their [blessing] and
salvation, 141 and so that this
134
This is an echo of 1 En 37:3: “Hear, you men of old time, and see (wärəʾəyu), you that come after, the words
of the Holy One which I will speak before the Lord of Spirits. It were better to declare (them only) to the men of
old time, but even from those that come after we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom.” (R. H. Charles
translation modified).
135
Here archē bears the meaning “sum,” which can be extended to “summit,” especially in view of the biblical
Semitic terms behind the biblical LXX (OG) archē. Syriac rēšā, like its Hebrew cognate rēʾšīth, literally means
“head,” “chief.” See the discussion on the term in 1 En 37:3 in George W. E. Nickelsburg and James C.
VanderKam, A Commentary on the Book of Enoch Chapters 37–82, 88.
136
Literally, “the beginning of knowledge,” archē mpsooune (CT gnōsis), an echo of Prov 1:7 (cf. also Sir 1:12),
which is synonymous with the phrase “the beginning of wisdom” in Prov 4:7 (lacking in the Greek and Coptic
versions). However, 1 Apoc. Jas. here does not depend on OG Prov 1:7, which instead reads archē sophias,
“beginning of wisdom” (the same reading occurs in the Coptic version), in agreement with 9:10, nor does it
depend on the Syriac of Prov 1:7, rēš ḥekhməthā, “beginning/summit of wisdom.” In this case, the reliance would
be on either the Hebrew text or on an Aramaic Targum.
1 Apoc. Jas.’ reference to the beginning of “knowledge” is prompted by the earlier mention of Isa 11:2’s
spirit of knowledge. 1 Apoc. Jas.’ “the beginning of knowledge” also may be inspired partly by the phrase “the
beginning of wisdom” in 1 Enoch 37. This is because this 1 Apoc. Jas. passage’s tropes of words (especially 1
En 37:2, “this is the beginning of the words of wisdom”), plenary revelation, place, persecution, martyrdom,
concealed knowledge, faithfulness (based on Isa 11:5), blessing, salvation, departure, and rest/repose are all
prominent themes in the Parables of Enoch.
The Enoch text, incidentally, reworks Isaiah 11’s list of seven spirits in 1 En 49:3 and 61:11, the latter
beginning with “the spirit of faithfulness and the spirit of wisdom.” The reworking of the seven spirits of Isaiah
11 in 1 Enoch 49 concludes with “and the spirit of those who have fallen asleep [i.e., died] in righteousness.”
Contextually, it is very likely that this includes the martyrs. This Enochic background finally explains the
unusual identification of the seven spirits of Isaiah 11 with seven women disciples in 1 Apoc. Jas., of whom at
least three are martyrs.
137
The first-fruits are the best fruits. Consequently, the “first-fruits of knowledge” in NHC overlaps semantically
with the “beginning/summit of knowledge” in CT. In Hebrew, the first word in the phrase first-fruits is rēʾšīth.
138
The eschatological place of rest, like the post-mortem “place of faithfulness” obtained by the three martyrs
Sapphira, Susanna, and Joanna.
139
For the lexical links of finding + rest, see 1 En 63:6. “Rest” and “resting-places” are key tropes throughout the
Parables of Enoch.
140
“In agreement” anticipates the subsequent “among them a unity.”
141
The constellation of faithfulness, unity, blessing, salvation, and revelation indicates we have here an echo of 1
En 61:9–12, where all spirits, including the spirit of faithfulness, unite as one in agreement to bless the Lord of
spirits in what is a reworking of the Jewish liturgy’s Qedushah, based on Isa 6:3. Revelation is mentioned in 1
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Nag Hammadi Codex V, 3 Codex Tchacos 2 P.Oxy. 5533
revelation may be realized.”
And at that time he went
away.
James Convinces the Twelve
He immediately upbraided [ . . . the] twelve [on account
the twelve, and bestowed of their un]faithfulness [. . .],
[among them] a unity [and an he spoke to them [. . .] and
efflu]ence of knowledge 142 [. . knowledge [. . .] he convinced
.]. them [. . .] from them [. . .] also
the remainder [. . .].
Conclusion: The Martyrdom of James
After [some time] it came to
pass that they apprehended
James in place of another man,
[30] after making accusation
against him, because he had
fled [from them], but [they had
thrown him into] prison for ten
[days], and it was someone
else with the name who came
out of the dungeon.
They took this this one into
[43] [. . .]. Instead of [. . .]. custody instead of him, and
brought him before the judges.
However, the majority of Most of the judges saw that
the [judges], when they there was nothing for which to
recognized [that] there was no fault him, and they [let him] go
(legal) cause against him, free.
[they released] him.
The [others and] the people The others, however, and the
[apprehended him], saying to whole people lined themselves
those who had risen up: “[Let up, and said: “Take him away
us] take [this one] from this from the earth. He is not
earth, because he is not [worthy of life].”
[worthy] of life.” 143
These now grew afraid. These, however, grew afraid,
[lifted themselves up], and
En 61:5,13. 1 En 61:4 mentions “faithfulness” and “righteousness,” echoing Isa 11:5. The nearby 1 En 62:13
refers to salvation. Similarly, the other Enochic passage that reworks the seven spirits of Isaiah 11’s, 1 En 49:3,
is preceded in 48:7–8 by mentions of salvation.
142
“Effluence of knowledge.” Cf. 1 En 49:1, “For wisdom is poured out like water,” 51:3, “And his mouth shall
pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel.” Cf. also 1 En 48:1, “fountains of wisdom.”
143
Cf. OG Isa 3:10; Wis 2:19-20.
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They rose up, saying: “We said, “We have no [part] in [the
have no part in this blood, blood of this man . . .].”
because a just man will perish
by injustice.”
James went, so that [. . .]. He thought [. . .] he became
[44] [. . .]. [. . .] because the men [. . .]
him, however [. . ., and] as
they were stoning [him], he
said:
“[My] Father [in heaven, “My Father, [who is in]
forgive] them, because [they heaven, forgive them, because
know] not what [they do].” 144 they [know] <not> what they
do.”
The Apocalypse of James James
144
Cf. Luke 23:34, combined with the opening of the Pater Noster.
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References
- Mark M. Mattison, "The First Apocalypse of James (Translation and Notes by Samuel Zinner)." Academia.edu. The First Apocalypse of James (Translation and Notes by Samuel Zinner) (download: Direct Download).
- Public-domain translation and notes based on NHC V,3, Codex Tchacos 2, and P.Oxy. 5533, translated by Samuel Zinner and edited by Mark M. Mattison.
- Academia page: The First Apocalypse of James (Translation and Notes by Samuel Zinner).
- Direct download: Direct Download.