Refutation of All Heresies 6.52.4
Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.
Summary: They say the twelfth Aeon's fall is the lost sheep, since twelve contains the “notable” number six.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 332
Τὴν οὖν δωδεκάδα διὰ τὸ ἐπίσημον ἐσχηκέναι συνεπακολουθῆσαν αὐτῇ τὸ ἐπίσημον πάθος, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο περὶ τὸν δωδέκατον ἀριθμὸν τοῦ σφάλματος γενομένου τὸ πρόβατον ἀποσκιρτῆσαν πεπλανῆσθαι.... ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῆς δεκάδος.
English · Claude translation
The dodecad, then, because it had the episemon, had the notable passion following along with it; and for this reason, since the error arose around the twelfth number, the sheep leapt away and went astray …; and likewise also from the decad.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- There is a play on ἐπίσημον (the numeral sign for six) and ἐπίσημον πάθος (“the notable passion”). There is a gap in the text.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text): Τὴν οὗν → Τὴν οὖν.
Cite this passage
Hippolytus, Haer. 6.52.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/6/52/4/).
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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 6.52.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/6/52/4/).
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