Refutation of All Heresies 7.16.1–7.26.10
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.
Greek text: Duncker–Schneidewin (Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886).
item 7, chapter 16
7.16.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 348
Λέγομεν εἶναι ζῷον ἁπλῶς, οὐχὶ τὶ ζῷον. Ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον οὐ βοῦς, οὐχ ἵππος, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, οὐ θεός, οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν ὁτιδήποτε ἔστι δηλοῦν, ἀλλὰ ἁπλῶς ζῷον. Ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ ζῴου αἱ πάντων τῶν κατὰ μέρος ζῴων ἰδέαι τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἔχουσι.
Legomen einai zǭon haplōs, ouchi ti zǭon. Esti de touto to zǭon ou bous, ouch hippos, ouk anthrōpos, ou theos, ouk allo ti tōn hotidēpote esti dēloun, alla haplōs zǭon. Apo toutou tou zǭou hai pantōn tōn kata meros zǭōn ideai tēn hypostasin echousi.
We say that there is animal simply, not some particular animal. And this animal is not an ox, not a horse, not a human being, not a god, nor anything else that can be pointed to at all, but simply animal. From this animal the forms of all the particular animals have their subsistence.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle's example: “animal” in general, which is no particular animal, gives the particular animals their being.
- ὑπόστασις is rendered “subsistence” (real existence).
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.16.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 348; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.16.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 348–350
Καὶ ἔστιν ὑπόστασις τοῖς ζῴοις τοῖς γεγενημένοις ἐν εἴδεσι τοῦτο τὸ ἀνείδεον ζῷον καὶ τῶν γεγενημένων οὐδέν. Ἔστι γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ζῷον ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ ζῴου λαμβάνον τὴν ἀρχήν, καὶ ζῷον ἵππος ἀπʼ ἐκείνου τοῦ ζῴου λαμβάνον τὴν ἀρχήν. Ὁ ἵππος καὶ βοῦς καὶ κύων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἕκαστον ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῴου τοῦ ἁπλοῦ λαμβάνει τὴν ἀρχήν, ὅ ἐστι τούτων οὐδὲ ἕν.
Kai estin hypostasis tois zǭois tois gegenēmenois en eidesi touto to aneideon zǭon kai tōn gegenēmenōn ouden. Esti gar anthrōpos zǭon apʼ ekeinou tou zǭou lambanon tēn archēn, kai zǭon hippos apʼ ekeinou tou zǭou lambanon tēn archēn. Ho hippos kai bous kai kyōn kai tōn allōn zǭōn hekaston apo tou zǭou tou haplou lambanei tēn archēn, ho esti toutōn oude hen.
And this formless animal is the subsistence for the animals that have come into being in species, and yet it is none of the things that have come into being. For a human being is an animal that takes its origin from that animal, and a horse is an animal that takes its origin from that animal. The horse and the ox and the dog and each of the other animals takes its origin from the simple animal, which is not a single one of these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Every particular animal takes its origin from the general “animal,” which is none of them.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.16.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 348–350; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 17
7.17.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 350
Εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔστι τούτων οὐδὲ ἓν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ζῷον, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων γέγονεν ἡ τῶν γεγενημένων κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην ὑπόστασις· καὶ γὰρ τὸ ζῷον, ὅθεν ταῦτα ἐλήφθη κατὰ μέρος, ἐστὶν οὐδὲ ἕν· οὐδὲ ἓν δὲ ὂν γέγονε τῶν ὄντων μία τις ἀρχή. Τίς δὲ ὁ ταύτην καταβεβλημένος τὴν οὐσίαν τῶν γεγονότων ὕστερον ἀρχήν, ἐπὶ τὸν οἰκεῖον ἐρχόμενοι τοιούτων λόγον ἐροῦμεν.
Ei de ouk esti toutōn oude hen ekeino to zǭon, ex ouk ontōn gegonen hē tōn gegenēmenōn kata Aristotelēn hypostasis; kai gar to zǭon, hothen tauta elēphthē kata meros, estin oude hen; oude hen de on gegone tōn ontōn mia tis archē. Tis de ho tautēn katabeblēmenos tēn ousian tōn gegonotōn hysteron archēn, epi ton oikeion erchomenoi toioutōn logon eroumen.
But if that animal is not a single one of these, then according to Aristotle the subsistence of the things that have come into being has come from things that are not; for the animal from which these were taken one by one is not a single one of them, and being not one of them it has become a single origin of the things that exist. But who it is that laid down this origin as the substance of the things that later came into being, we shall say when we come to the proper account of such things.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus argues that on Aristotle's account the things that exist come from something that is none of them, and he defers the question of who laid down this origin.
- The last sentence is compressed in the Greek; “later” (ὕστερον) may go with “came into being” or with “we shall say.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing breathing and accent): ὑστερον → ὕστερον.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.17.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 350; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 18
7.18.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 350
Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἐστὶν ἡ οὐσία τριχῆ [διῃρημένη], ὡς ἔφην, γένος, εἶδος, ἄτομον, καὶ ἐθέμεθα τὸ γένος εἶναι ζῷον, τὸν δὲ ἄνθρωπον εἶδος τῶν πολλῶν ζῴων ἤδη κεχωρισμένον, συγκεχυμένον δὲ ὅμως ἔτι καὶ μήπω μεμορφωμένον εἰς εἶδος οὐσίας ὑποστατικῆς, ὀνόματι μορφώσας τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ γένους ληφθέντα ἄνθρωπον ὀνομάζων Σωκράτην, ἢ Διογένην, ἤ τι τῶν πολλῶν ὀνομάτων ἕν, καὶ ἐπειδὰν ὀνόματι καταλάβω τὸν ἄνθρωπον εἶδος γένους γεγενημένον, ἄτομον καλῶ τὴν τοιαύτην οὐσίαν.
Epeidē de estin hē ousia trichē [dię̄rēmenē], hōs ephēn, genos, eidos, atomon, kai ethemetha to genos einai zǭon, ton de anthrōpon eidos tōn pollōn zǭōn ēdē kechōrismenon, synkechymenon de homōs eti kai mēpō memorphōmenon eis eidos ousias hypostatikēs, onomati morphōsas ton apo tou genous lēphthenta anthrōpon onomazōn Sōkratēn, ē Diogenēn, ē ti tōn pollōn onomatōn hen, kai epeidan onomati katalabō ton anthrōpon eidos genous gegenēmenon, atomon kalō tēn toiautēn ousian.
Since substance is [divided] threefold, as I said, into genus, species, and individual, and we have set down that the genus is animal, and that the human being is a species already separated from the many animals, but still confused and not yet shaped into a species of subsisting substance: when I give shape by a name to the human being taken from the genus, calling him Socrates or Diogenes or some one of the many names, and when I grasp by a name the human being who has become a species of the genus, I call such a substance an individual.
Notes and citation
Summary: When a member of the species “human” is picked out by a name such as Socrates, it is an individual substance.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 350; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.18.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 350
Ἐτμήθη γὰρ τὸ μὲν γένος εἰς εἶδος, τὸ δὲ εἶδος εἰς ἄτομον, τὸ δὲ ἄτομον ἐπειδὰν γένηται ὀνόματι κατειλημμένον, οὐχ οἷόν τε τμηθῆναι κατὰ φύσιν εἰς ἄλλο τι, ὡς ἐτέμομεν τῶν προλελεγμένων ἕκαστον. Ταύτην Ἀριστοτέλης πρώτως καὶ μάλιστα καὶ κυριώτατα [οὐσίαν καλεῖ], μήτε καθʼ ὑποκειμένου τινὸς λεγομένην, μήτε ἐν ὑποκειμένῳ οὖσαν.
Etmēthē gar to men genos eis eidos, to de eidos eis atomon, to de atomon epeidan genētai onomati kateilēmmenon, ouch hoion te tmēthēnai kata physin eis allo ti, hōs etemomen tōn prolelegmenōn hekaston. Tautēn Aristotelēs prōtōs kai malista kai kyriōtata [ousian kalei], mēte kathʼ hypokeimenou tinos legomenēn, mēte en hypokeimenǭ ousan.
For the genus was divided into species, and the species into the individual; but the individual, once it has been grasped by a name, cannot by nature be divided into anything else, as we divided each of the things mentioned before. This is what Aristotle [calls substance] first, most of all, and most properly: that which is neither said of some subject nor is in a subject.
Notes and citation
Summary: The named individual cannot be divided further; this is what Aristotle calls substance in the primary sense.
- Compare Aristotle, Categories 5 (2a11–14). The bracketed words are an editorial supplement.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Cat. 2a11–14 (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 350; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.18.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 350–352
Καθʼ ὑποκειμένου δὲ λέγει, οἱονεὶ τὸ γένος, ὅπερ ἔφην ζῷον κατὰ πάντων τῶν κατὰ μέρος ὑποκειμένων ζῴων, οἱονεὶ βοός, ἵππου καὶ τῶν ἐφεξῆς, κοινῷ ὀνόματι λεγόμενον. Ἀληθὲς γάρ ἐστιν εἰπεῖν, ὅτι ζῷον ἄνθρωπος ἐστὶ καὶ ζῷον ἵππος καὶ ζῷόν ἐστι βοῦς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον· τουτέστι τὸ καθʼ ὑποκειμένου, τὸ ἓν ὂν κατὰ πολλῶν καὶ διαφόρων τοῖς εἴδεσι δυνάμενον ὁμοίως λέγεσθαι.
Kathʼ hypokeimenou de legei, hoionei to genos, hoper ephēn zǭon kata pantōn tōn kata meros hypokeimenōn zǭōn, hoionei boos, hippou kai tōn ephexēs, koinǭ onomati legomenon. Alēthes gar estin eipein, hoti zǭon anthrōpos esti kai zǭon hippos kai zǭon esti bous kai tōn allōn hekaston; toutesti to kathʼ hypokeimenou, to hen on kata pollōn kai diaphorōn tois eidesi dynamenon homoiōs legesthai.
By “said of a subject” he means something like the genus, which I called animal, said by a common name of all the particular animals that fall under it, such as ox, horse, and the rest. For it is true to say that a human being is an animal, and a horse is an animal, and an ox is an animal, and each of the others; that is, what is “said of a subject” is that which, being one, can be said alike of many things differing in species.
Notes and citation
Summary: “Said of a subject” means a common term like “animal,” which is truly said of many different species.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 350–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.18.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 352
Οὐδὲν γὰρ διαφέρει ἵππος ἀνθρώπου ᾗ ζῷον, οὐδὲ βοῦς· ὅρος γὰρ ὁ τοῦ ζῴου τὸ πᾶσιν ἁρμόζειν τοῖς ζῴοις ὁμοίως λεγόμενον. Τί γάρ ἐστι ζῷον; ἂν ὁριζώμεθα, πάντα τὰ ζῷα κοινὸς καταλήψεται ὅρος. Ζῷον γάρ ἐστιν οὐσία ἔμψυχος, αἰσθητική· τοῦτο βοῦς, ἄνθρωπος, ἵππος, τῶν ἄλλων ἕκαστον.
Ouden gar diapherei hippos anthrōpou hę̄ zǭon, oude bous; horos gar ho tou zǭou to pasin harmozein tois zǭois homoiōs legomenon. Ti gar esti zǭon? an horizōmetha, panta ta zǭa koinos katalēpsetai horos. Zǭon gar estin ousia empsychos, aisthētikē; touto bous, anthrōpos, hippos, tōn allōn hekaston.
For a horse does not differ from a human being insofar as it is an animal, nor does an ox; for the definition of animal is such as to fit all animals alike. For what is an animal? If we define it, a common definition will take in all the animals. For an animal is an ensouled, sentient substance; this is what an ox, a human being, a horse, and each of the others is.
Notes and citation
Summary: The definition of animal, an ensouled and sentient substance, applies equally to every animal.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.18.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 352
Ἐν ὑποκειμένῳ δὲ, φησίν, ἐστίν, ὃ ἔν τινι μὴ ὡς μέρος ὑπάρχον, ἀδύνατον χωρὶς εἶναι τοῦ ἐν ᾧ ἐστί, [ὅ ἐστι] τῶν συμβεβηκότων ἕκαστον τῇ οὐσίᾳ, ὃ καλεῖται ποιότης, καθὸ ποιοὶ τινὲς λεγόμεθα, οἷον λευκοί, γλαυκοί, μέλανες, δίκαιοι, ἄδικοι, σώφρονες καὶ τὰ τούτων παραπλήσια. Τούτων δὲ ἓν αὐτὸ καθʼ αὑτὸ ἀδύνατόν ἐστι γενέσθαι, ἀλλὰ δεῖ ἔν τινι εἶναι.
En hypokeimenǭ de, phēsin, estin, ho en tini mē hōs meros hyparchon, adynaton chōris einai tou en hǭ esti, [ho esti] tōn symbebēkotōn hekaston tę̄ ousią, ho kaleitai poiotēs, katho poioi tines legometha, hoion leukoi, glaukoi, melanes, dikaioi, adikoi, sōphrones kai ta toutōn paraplēsia. Toutōn de hen auto kathʼ hauto adynaton esti genesthai, alla dei en tini einai.
And “in a subject,” he says, is that which, being in something not as a part, cannot exist apart from that in which it is; [that is,] each of the accidents of substance, which is called quality, according to which we are said to be of a certain kind, such as white, grey-eyed, black, just, unjust, temperate, and the like. None of these can come to be by itself; it must be in something.
Notes and citation
Summary: “In a subject” means qualities such as color or justice, which cannot exist on their own but only in something else.
- Compare Aristotle, Categories 2 (1a24–25). γλαυκοί may mean “grey-eyed” or “pale.”
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Cat. 1a24–25 (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.18.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 352
Εἰ δὲ οὔτε τὸ ζῷον, ὃ κατὰ πάντων λέγω τῶν καθʼ ἕκαστα ζῴων, οὔτε τὰ συμβεβηκότα, ἃ ἐν πᾶσιν οἷς συμβέβηκεν εὑρίσκεται, δυνατὸν αὐτὰ καθʼ αὑτὰ γενέσθαι, ἐκ τούτων δὲ συμπληροῦται τὰ ἄτομα, ἐκ τῶν οὐκ ὄντων καθέστηκεν ἡ τριχῆ διῃρημένη οὐσία οὐκ ἐξ ἄλλων συνεστῶσα. Πρώτως ἄρα καὶ κυριώτατα καὶ μάλιστα λεγομένη οὐσία εἰ ἐκ τούτων ὑπάρχει, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστοτέλην ἐστίν.
Ei de oute to zǭon, ho kata pantōn legō tōn kathʼ hekasta zǭōn, oute ta symbebēkota, ha en pasin hois symbebēken heurisketai, dynaton auta kathʼ hauta genesthai, ek toutōn de symplēroutai ta atoma, ek tōn ouk ontōn kathestēken hē trichē dię̄rēmenē ousia ouk ex allōn synestōsa. Prōtōs ara kai kyriōtata kai malista legomenē ousia ei ek toutōn hyparchei, ex ouk ontōn kata ton Aristotelēn estin.
But if neither the animal, which I say of all the particular animals, nor the accidents, which are found in all the things to which they belong, can come to be by themselves, and the individuals are made up of these, then the substance divided threefold has been constituted out of things that are not, and is not composed of anything else. If, therefore, the substance that is called substance first, most properly, and most of all exists out of these, then according to Aristotle it is from things that are not.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus concludes that on Aristotle's terms primary substance is made up of things that do not exist on their own, and so comes from what is not.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing/accent: οἷς): πᾶσιν οἶς → πᾶσιν οἷς.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.18.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-18-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 19
7.19.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 352
Ἀλλὰ περὶ μὲν τῆς οὐσίας ἀρκέσει τὰ λεγόμενα νῦν. Οὐ μόνον δὲ ἡ οὐσία καλεῖται γένος, εἶδος, ἄτομον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὕλη καὶ εἶδος καὶ στέρησις. Διαφέρει δὲ οὐδὲν ἐν τούτοις μενούσης τῆς τομῆς. Τοιαύτης δὲ οὔσης τῆς οὐσίας, ἔστιν ἡ τοῦ κόσμου διαταγὴ γεγενημένη κατʼ αὐτὸν τοιοῦτόν τινα τρόπον.
Alla peri men tēs ousias arkesei ta legomena nyn. Ou monon de hē ousia kaleitai genos, eidos, atomon, alla kai hylē kai eidos kai sterēsis. Diapherei de ouden en toutois menousēs tēs tomēs. Toiautēs de ousēs tēs ousias, estin hē tou kosmou diatagē gegenēmenē katʼ auton toiouton tina tropon.
But concerning substance what has now been said will suffice. And substance is called not only genus, species, and individual, but also matter, form, and privation. But it makes no difference among these, since the division remains. Substance being such, the arrangement of the world, according to him, came about in some such way as this.
Notes and citation
Summary: Substance is also described as matter, form, and privation; Hippolytus now turns to Aristotle's picture of the world.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 352
Ὁ κόσμος ἔστι κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην διῃρημένος εἰς μέρη πλείονα καὶ [διάφορα· καὶ] ἔστι τοῦ κόσμου μέρος τοῦθʼ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς μέχρι τῆς σελήνης, ἀπρονόητον, ἀκυβέρνητον, ἀρκούμενον μόνῃ τῇ φύσει τῇ ἑαυτοῦ, τὸ δὲ μετὰ τὴν σελήνην ἐν πάσῃ τάξει καὶ προνοίᾳ καὶ κυβερνήσει τεταγμένον, μέχρι τῆς ἐπιφανείας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ·
Ho kosmos esti kata Aristotelēn dię̄rēmenos eis merē pleiona kai [diaphora; kai] esti tou kosmou meros touthʼ, hoper estin apo tēs gēs mechri tēs selēnēs, apronoēton, akybernēton, arkoumenon monę̄ tę̄ physei tę̄ heautou, to de meta tēn selēnēn en pasę̄ taxei kai pronoią kai kybernēsei tetagmenon, mechri tēs epiphaneias tou ouranou;
The world, according to Aristotle, is divided into several [different] parts; and one part of the world is this, the region from the earth up to the moon, which is without providence and without governance, content with its own nature alone; while the part beyond the moon, up to the surface of heaven, is ordered in all order, providence, and governance.
Notes and citation
Summary: For Aristotle the region below the moon runs by nature without providence, while the region above the moon is governed by providence.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 352–354
ἡ δὲ ἐπιφάνεια, πέμπτη τις οὖσα οὐσία, φυσικῶν ἀπηλλαγμένη στοιχείων πάντων, ἀφʼ ὧν ὁ κόσμος τὴν σύστασιν ἔχει; καὶ ἔστιν αὕτη τις ἡ πέμπτη κατὰ τὸν Ἀριστοτέλην οὐσία, οἱονεὶ οὐσία τις ὑπερκόσμιος. Καὶ γέγονεν αὐτῷ κατὰ τὴν διαίρεσιν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ὁ τῆς φιλοσοφίας διῃρημένος λόγος.
hē de epiphaneia, pemptē tis ousa ousia, physikōn apēllagmenē stoicheiōn pantōn, aphʼ hōn ho kosmos tēn systasin echei? kai estin hautē tis hē pemptē kata ton Aristotelēn ousia, hoionei ousia tis hyperkosmios. Kai gegonen autǭ kata tēn diairesin tou kosmou kai ho tēs philosophias dię̄rēmenos logos.
And the surface is a kind of fifth substance, free from all the natural elements from which the world has its constitution; and this is, according to Aristotle, a certain fifth substance, as it were a supramundane substance. And in keeping with his division of the world, his account of philosophy is divided too.
Notes and citation
Summary: The outer heaven is a fifth substance beyond the elements, and Aristotle's philosophy is divided to match his division of the world.
- The digital text has a question mark (;) after “constitution,” probably a slip for a raised point; the sense is not affected.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 352–354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 354
Φυσικὴ γάρ τις ἀκρόασις αὐτῷ γέγονεν, ἐν ᾗ πεπόνηται περὶ τῶν φύσει καὶ οὐ προνοίᾳ διοικουμένων ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς μέχρι τῆς σελήνης πραγμάτων. Γέγονε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ μετὰ τὰ φυσικὰ περὶ τῶν μετὰ σελήνην ἰδία τις ἄλλη οὕτως ἐπιγραφομένη πραγματεία λόγων· γέγονε δὲ αὐτῷ περὶ πέμπτης οὐσίας ἴδιος λόγος, ὅς ἐστιν αὐτῷ θεολογούμενος. Τοιαύτη τις καὶ ἡ διαίρεσις τῶν ὅλων, ὡς τύπῳ περιλαβεῖν, [καὶ τῆς] κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην φιλοσοφίας.
Physikē gar tis akroasis autǭ gegonen, en hę̄ peponētai peri tōn physei kai ou pronoią dioikoumenōn apo tēs gēs mechri tēs selēnēs pragmatōn. Gegone de autǭ kai meta ta physika peri tōn meta selēnēn idia tis allē houtōs epigraphomenē pragmateia logōn; gegone de autǭ peri pemptēs ousias idios logos, hos estin autǭ theologoumenos. Toiautē tis kai hē diairesis tōn holōn, hōs typǭ perilabein, [kai tēs] kata Aristotelēn philosophias.
For he wrote a Lecture on Nature, in which he labored over the things from the earth up to the moon that are managed by nature and not by providence. He also wrote another particular treatise of discourses about the things beyond the moon, entitled in this way, After the Physics. And he wrote a particular discourse on the fifth substance, which for him is theology. Such, to sum it up in outline, is the division of the universe, [and of] philosophy according to Aristotle.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle's writings follow this division: the Physics for things below the moon, the Metaphysics for things above it, and a treatise on the fifth substance as his theology.
- The works meant are the Physics (Φυσικὴ ἀκρόασις), the Metaphysics (τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσικά), and probably On the Heavens.
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 354
Ὁ δὲ περὶ ψυχῆς αὐτῷ λόγος ἐστὶν ἀσαφής. Ἐν τρισὶ γὰρ συγγράμμασιν ὅλοις οὐκ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν σαφῶς, ὅ, τι φρονεῖ περὶ ψυχῆς Ἀριστοτέλης. Ὃν γὰρ ἀποδίδωσι τῆς ψυχῆς ὅρον ἔστιν εἰπεῖν ῥᾴδιον, τὸ δὲ ὑπὸ ὅρου δεδηλωμένον ἐστὶ δυσεύρετον.
Ho de peri psychēs autǭ logos estin asaphēs. En trisi gar syngrammasin holois ouk estin eipein saphōs, ho, ti phronei peri psychēs Aristotelēs. Hon gar apodidōsi tēs psychēs horon estin eipein rhądion, to de hypo horou dedēlōmenon esti dyseureton.
But his account of the soul is unclear. For in three whole treatises it is impossible to say clearly what Aristotle thinks about the soul. The definition he gives of the soul is easy to state, but what is shown by the definition is hard to discover.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle's doctrine of the soul is unclear: his definition is easy to state but hard to understand.
- The three books of On the Soul.
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 354
Ἔστι γὰρ, φησί, ψυχὴ φυσικοῦ σώματος ὀργανικοῦ ἐντελέχεια, ἣ τίς ποτέ ἐστι, λόγων [πάνυ πολλῶν] δεῖται καὶ μεγάλης ζητήσεως. Ὁ δὲ θεός, ὁ πάντων τούτων τῶν ὄντων καλῶν αἴτιος, οὗτος τῆς ψυχῆς ἔστι καὶ μακροτέρῳ λόγῳ θεωροῦντι γνωσθῆναι χαλεπώτερος.
Esti gar, phēsi, psychē physikou sōmatos organikou entelecheia, hē tis pote esti, logōn [pany pollōn] deitai kai megalēs zētēseōs. Ho de theos, ho pantōn toutōn tōn ontōn kalōn aitios, houtos tēs psychēs esti kai makroterǭ logǭ theōrounti gnōsthēnai chalepōteros.
For the soul, he says, is the actuality (entelecheia) of a natural organic body; and what this is needs [very many] words and much inquiry. And God, the cause of all these beautiful things that exist, is even harder than the soul to know, even for one who contemplates with longer reasoning.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle defines the soul as the actuality of an organic body, and God, cause of all good things, is harder still to know.
- Aristotle, On the Soul 2.1 (412a27–b6).
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, De an. 412b5–6 (Aristotle (works); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.7Duncker–Schneidewin, 354
Ὁ δὲ ὅρος, ὃν Ἀριστοτέλης ἀποδίδωσι περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ, χαλεπὸς μὲν οὐκ ἔστι γνωσθῆναι, νοηθῆναι δέ ἐστιν ἀμήχανος. Νόησις γάρ, φησίν, ἔστι νοήσεως, ὅπερ ἔστι παντάπασιν οὐκ ὄν. Ὁ δὲ κόσμος ἄφθαρτος, ἀΐδιος κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην ἐστίν· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔχει πλημμελὲς ἐν αὐτῷ, προνοίᾳ καὶ φύσει κυβερνώμενος.
Ho de horos, hon Aristotelēs apodidōsi peri tou theou, chalepos men ouk esti gnōsthēnai, noēthēnai de estin amēchanos. Noēsis gar, phēsin, esti noēseōs, hoper esti pantapasin ouk on. Ho de kosmos aphthartos, aïdios kata Aristotelēn estin; ouden gar echei plēmmeles en autǭ, pronoią kai physei kybernōmenos.
And the definition that Aristotle gives of God is not hard to know, but impossible to conceive. For he says that he is thought of thought, which is something altogether non-existent. And the world according to Aristotle is incorruptible and eternal; for it has nothing faulty in it, being governed by providence and nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle defines God as thought thinking itself, which Hippolytus calls inconceivable, and holds the world to be eternal.
- Aristotle, Metaphysics 12.9 (1074b34).
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Metaph. 1074b34 (Aristotle (works); quotation)
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.7 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.19.8Duncker–Schneidewin, 354–356
Καταβέβληται δὲ Ἀριστοτέλης οὐ μόνον περὶ φύσεως καὶ κόσμου καὶ προνοίας καὶ θεοῦ λόγους, ἀλλ(??) γὰρ γέγονεν αὐτῷ καὶ πραγματεία λόγων τις ἠθικῶν, ἐπιγράφει δὲ ταῦτα ἠθικὰ βιβλία, διʼ ὧν σπουδαῖον ἐκ φαύλου τὸ τῶν ἀκροωμένων ἦθος ἐργάζεται. Ἐὰν [οὖν] ὁ Βασιλείδης εὑρεθῇ μὴ τῇ δυνάμει μόνῃ ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς λόγοις αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὀνόμασι τὰ τοῦ Ἀριστοτέλους δόγματα εἰς τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν καὶ σωτήριον ἡμῶν λόγον μεθαρμοζόμενος, τί λείψει, ἢ τὰ ἀλλότρια ἀποδόντας ἐπιδεικνύναι τοῖς τούτου μαθηταῖς, ὅτι ἐθνικοὺς ὄντας αὐτοὺς Χριστὸς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει;
Katabeblētai de Aristotelēs ou monon peri physeōs kai kosmou kai pronoias kai theou logous, all(??) gar gegonen autǭ kai pragmateia logōn tis ēthikōn, epigraphei de tauta ēthika biblia, diʼ hōn spoudaion ek phaulou to tōn akroōmenōn ēthos ergazetai. Ean [oun] ho Basileidēs heurethę̄ mē tę̄ dynamei monę̄ alla kai tois logois autois kai tois onomasi ta tou Aristotelous dogmata eis ton euangelikon kai sōtērion hēmōn logon metharmozomenos, ti leipsei, ē ta allotria apodontas epideiknynai tois toutou mathētais, hoti ethnikous ontas autous Christos ouden ōphelēsei?
And Aristotle laid down discourses not only about nature, the world, providence, and God; but … he also wrote a treatise of ethical discourses, and he entitles these Ethical Books, by which he makes the character of his hearers good instead of bad. If, [then,] Basilides is found transferring the doctrines of Aristotle, not in meaning only but in the very words and names, into our saving gospel teaching, what remains but to give back what is not theirs and show the disciples of this man that, since they are pagans, Christ will profit them nothing?
Gal 5:2 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Aristotle also wrote on ethics; if Basilides has transferred Aristotle's words into the gospel, his disciples are pagans whom Christ will not profit.
- The digital text has unreadable characters after ἀλλ(ὰ); the sense “but also” is clear. The last clause echoes Gal 5:2.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.19.8 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 354–356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-19-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 20
7.20.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 356
Βασιλείδης τοίνυν καὶ Ἰσίδωρος, ὁ Βασιλείδου παῖς γνήσιος καὶ μαθητής, φασὶν εἰρηκέναι Ματθίαν αὐτοῖς λόγους ἀποκρύφους, οὓς ἤκουσε παρὰ τοῦ σωτῆρος κατʼ ἰδίαν διδαχθείς. Ἴδωμεν οὖν πῶς καταφανῶς Βασιλείδης ὁμοῦ καὶ Ἰσίδωρος καὶ πᾶς ὁ τούτων χορὸς οὐχ ἁπλῶς καταψεύδεται μόνου Ματθίου, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ.
Basileidēs toinyn kai Isidōros, ho Basileidou pais gnēsios kai mathētēs, phasin eirēkenai Matthian autois logous apokryphous, hous ēkouse para tou sōtēros katʼ idian didachtheis. Idōmen oun pōs kataphanōs Basileidēs homou kai Isidōros kai pas ho toutōn choros ouch haplōs katapseudetai monou Matthiou, alla gar kai tou sōtēros autou.
Basilides, then, and Isidore, Basilides' true son and disciple, say that Matthias spoke to them secret words which he heard from the Savior, having been taught privately. Let us see, then, how plainly Basilides and Isidore alike and their whole chorus lie not simply against Matthias alone but against the Savior himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides and his son Isidore claim secret teachings from Matthias, which Hippolytus says falsify both Matthias and the Savior.
- On the “secret words” of Matthias, compare the Traditions of Matthias cited by Clement of Alexandria.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν): Ἴδωμεν οὗν → Ἴδωμεν οὖν.
Extrabiblical texts: Trad. Matt. (Traditions of Matthias; allusion)
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.20.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.20.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 356
Ἤν, φησίν, ὅτε ἦν οὐδέν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὸ οὐδὲν ἦν τι τῶν ὄντων, ἀλλὰ ψιλῶς καὶ ἀνυπονοήτως δίχα παντὸς σοφίσματος ἦν ὅλως οὐδὲ ἕν. Ὅταν δὲ λέγω, φησί, τὸ ἦν, οὐχ ὅτι ἦν λέγω, ἀλλʼ ἵνα σημάνω τοῦτο ὅπερ βούλομαι δεῖξαι, λέγω, φησίν, ὅτι ἦν ὅλως οὐδέν.
Ēn, phēsin, hote ēn ouden, allʼ oude to ouden ēn ti tōn ontōn, alla psilōs kai anyponoētōs dicha pantos sophismatos ēn holōs oude hen. Hotan de legō, phēsi, to ēn, ouch hoti ēn legō, allʼ hina sēmanō touto hoper boulomai deixai, legō, phēsin, hoti ēn holōs ouden.
There was, he says, when there was nothing; but not even the nothing was one of the things that exist, but, barely and without any mental reservation, without any sophistry, there was altogether not even one thing. And when I say “was,” he says, I do not say that it was, but in order to signify what I wish to show, I say, he says, that there was altogether nothing.
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides begins: once there was nothing at all, not even “nothing” as a thing; “was” is used only for want of a better word.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent): βουλομαι → βούλομαι.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.20.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.20.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 356
Ἔστι γάρ, φησίν, ἐκεῖνο οὐχ ἁπλῶς ἄρρητον, ὃ ὀνομάζεται· ἄρρητον γοῦν αὐτὸ καλοῦμεν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐδὲ ἄρρητον· καὶ γὰρ τὸ οὐδʼ ἄρρητον οὐκ ἄρρητον ὀνομάζεται, ἀλλὰ ἔστι, φησίν, ὑπεράνω παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου.
Esti gar, phēsin, ekeino ouch haplōs arrēton, ho onomazetai; arrēton goun auto kaloumen, ekeino de oude arrēton; kai gar to oudʼ arrēton ouk arrēton onomazetai, alla esti, phēsin, hyperanō pantos onomatos onomazomenou.
For that, he says, is not simply unspeakable which is named; at any rate we call it unspeakable, but that is not even unspeakable. For what is not even unspeakable is not named unspeakable, but is, he says, above every name that is named.
Eph 1:21 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What Basilides speaks of is beyond even the word “unspeakable,” above every name that is named.
- The phrase echoes Eph 1:21.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.20.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-20-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.20.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 356
Οὐδὲ γὰρ τῷ κόσμῳ, φησίν, ἐξαρκεῖ τὰ ὀνόματα, οὕτως ἐστὶ πολυσχιδής, ἀλλὰ ἐπιλέλοιπε· καὶ οὐ δέχομαι, φησί, κατὰ πάντων εὑρεῖν κυρίως ὀνόματα, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τῇ διανοίᾳ αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα τῶν ὀνομαζομένων τὰς ἰδιότητας ἀρρήτως ἐκλαμβάνειν. Ἡ γὰρ ὁμωνυμία ταραχὴν ἐμπεποίηκε καὶ πλάνην τῶν πραγμάτων τοῖς ἀκροωμένοις.
Oude gar tǭ kosmǭ, phēsin, exarkei ta onomata, houtōs esti polyschidēs, alla epileloipe; kai ou dechomai, phēsi, kata pantōn heurein kyriōs onomata, alla dei tę̄ dianoią autois onomata tōn onomazomenōn tas idiotētas arrētōs eklambanein. Hē gar homōnymia tarachēn empepoiēke kai planēn tōn pragmatōn tois akroōmenois.
For not even for the world, he says, are the names sufficient, so manifold is it; they fall short. And I do not accept, he says, that one can find proper names for all things, but one must grasp with the mind, in an unspeakable way, the properties of the things named, and not by their names. For sameness of names has caused confusion and error about things among hearers.
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides says names cannot fit even the world, and homonymy breeds confusion.
- The Greek of the second sentence is awkward (αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα); the sense is that properties must be grasped by thought rather than by names.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.20.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-20-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.20.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 356–358
Τοῦτο πρῶτον σφετέρισμα καὶ κλέμμα τοῦ Περιπάτου λαβόντες ἀπατῶσι τὴν ἄνοιαν τῶν συναγελαζομένων ἅμα αὐτοῖς· πολλαῖς γὰρ γενεαῖς Ἀριστοτέλης Βασιλείδου γεγενημένος πρότερος τὸν περὶ τῶν ὁμωνύμων ἐν ταῖς κατηγορίαις καταβέβληται λόγον, ὃν ὡς ἴδιον οὗτοι καὶ καινὸν τινὰ καὶ τῶν Ματθίου λόγων κρυφίων τινα ἕνα διασαφοῦσιν.
Touto prōton spheterisma kai klemma tou Peripatou labontes apatōsi tēn anoian tōn synagelazomenōn hama autois; pollais gar geneais Aristotelēs Basileidou gegenēmenos proteros ton peri tōn homōnymōn en tais katēgoriais katabeblētai logon, hon hōs idion houtoi kai kainon tina kai tōn Matthiou logōn kryphiōn tina hena diasaphousin.
Having taken this first appropriation and theft from the Peripatos, they deceive the folly of those who herd together with them. For Aristotle, born many generations before Basilides, laid down in the Categories the account of homonyms, which these men explain as their own and new, and as one of the secret words of Matthias.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus says this teaching on names was stolen from Aristotle's Categories, written generations before Basilides.
- Aristotle, Categories 1 (1a1–12).
Extrabiblical texts: Aristotle, Cat. 1a1–12 (Aristotle (works); allusion)
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.20.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 356–358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-20-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 21
7.21.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 358
Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐδὲν ἦν, οὐχ ὕλη, οὐκ οὐσία, οὐκ ἀνούσιον, οὐχ ἁπλοῦν, οὐ σύνθετον, οὐκ ἀνόητον, οὐκ ἀναίσθητον, οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, οὐκ ἄγγελος, οὐ θεός, οὐδὲ ὅλως τι τῶν ὀνομαζομένων ἢ διʼ αἰσθήσεως λαμβανομένων ἢ νοητῶν πραγμάτων, ἀλλʼ οὕτω καὶ ἔτι λεπτομερεστέρως πάντων ἁπλῶς περιγεγραμμένων, οὐκ ὢν θεός, (ὃν Ἀριστοτέλης καλεῖ νόησιν νοήσεως, οὗτοι δὲ οὐκ ὄντα) ἀνοήτως, ἀναισθήτως, ἀβούλως, ἀπροαιρέτως, ἀπαθῶς, ἀνεπιθυμήτως κόσμον ἠθέλησε ποιῆσαι.
Epei oun ouden ēn, ouch hylē, ouk ousia, ouk anousion, ouch haploun, ou syntheton, ouk anoēton, ouk anaisthēton, ouk anthrōpos, ouk angelos, ou theos, oude holōs ti tōn onomazomenōn ē diʼ aisthēseōs lambanomenōn ē noētōn pragmatōn, allʼ houtō kai eti leptomeresterōs pantōn haplōs perigegrammenōn, ouk ōn theos, (hon Aristotelēs kalei noēsin noēseōs, houtoi de ouk onta) anoētōs, anaisthētōs, aboulōs, aproairetōs, apathōs, anepithymētōs kosmon ēthelēse poiēsai.
Since, then, there was nothing, not matter, not substance, not the insubstantial, not simple, not compound, not unthinkable, not imperceptible, not human, not angel, not god, nor anything at all of the things that are named or grasped by sense or of intelligible things, but all things were thus, and still more subtly, simply blotted out, the non-existent God (whom Aristotle calls thought of thought, but these men the non-existent), without thought, without perception, without will, without choice, without passion, without desire, willed to make a world.
Notes and citation
Summary: When nothing existed, Basilides says, the “non-existent God,” without thought or will, willed to make a world.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν): Ἐπεὶ οὗν → Ἐπεὶ οὖν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.21.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.21.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 358
Τὸ δὲ ἠθέλησε λέγω, φησί, σημασίας χάριν, ἀθελήτως καὶ ἀνοήτως καὶ ἀναισθήτως· κόσμον δὲ οὐ τὸν κατὰ πλάτος καὶ διαίρεσιν γεγενημένον ὕστερον καὶ διεστῶτα, ἀλλὰ γὰρ σπέρμα κόσμου.
To de ēthelēse legō, phēsi, sēmasias charin, athelētōs kai anoētōs kai anaisthētōs; kosmon de ou ton kata platos kai diairesin gegenēmenon hysteron kai diestōta, alla gar sperma kosmou.
And I say “willed,” he says, for the sake of signifying it, [meaning] without will, without thought, and without perception; and by “world” I do not mean the one that later came into being in breadth and division and was separated out, but the seed of a world.
Notes and citation
Summary: “Willed” is only a manner of speaking, and the “world” meant is the seed of the world.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.21.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.21.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 358
Τὸ δὲ σπέρμα τοῦ κόσμου πάντα εἶχεν ἐν ἑαυτῷ, ὡς ὁ τοῦ σινάπεως κόκκος ἐν ἐλαχίστῳ συλλαβὼν ἔχει πάντα ὁμοῦ, τὰς ῥίζας, τὸ πρέμνον, τοὺς κλάδους, τὰ φύλλα, τὰ ἀνεξαρίθμητα [μετὰ] τῶν κόκκων [ἀπ]ὸ τοῦ φυτοῦ γεννώμενα σπέρματα πάλιν ἄλλων καὶ ἄλλων πολλάκις φυτῶν κεχυμένων. Οὕτως οὐκ ὢν θεὸς ἐποίησε κόσμον οὐκ ὄντα ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, καταβαλόμενος καὶ ὑποστήσας σπέρμα τι ἓν ἔχον πᾶσαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν τοῦ κόσμου πανσπερμίαν. Ἵνα δὲ καταφανέστερον ποιήσω τοῦτο ὅπερ ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσι· καθάπερ ὠὸν ὄρνιθος εὐποικίλου τινὸς καὶ πολυχρωμάτου, οἱονεὶ τοῦ ταῶνος ἢ ἄλλου τινὸς ἔτι μᾶλλον πολυμόρφου καὶ πολυχρωμάτου, ἓν ὂν ὄντως ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ πολλὰς οὐσιῶν πολυμόρφων καὶ πολυχρωμάτων καὶ πολυσυστάτων ἰδέας, οὕτως ἔχει τὸ καταβληθέν, φησίν, ὑπὸ τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος θεοῦ οὐκ ὂν σπέρμα [πανσπερμίαν] τοῦ κόσμου πολύμορφον ὁμοῦ καὶ πολυούσιον.
To de sperma tou kosmou panta eichen en heautǭ, hōs ho tou sinapeōs kokkos en elachistǭ syllabōn echei panta homou, tas rhizas, to premnon, tous kladous, ta phylla, ta anexarithmēta [meta] tōn kokkōn [ap]o tou phytou gennōmena spermata palin allōn kai allōn pollakis phytōn kechymenōn. Houtōs ouk ōn theos epoiēse kosmon ouk onta ex ouk ontōn, katabalomenos kai hypostēsas sperma ti hen echon pasan en heautǭ tēn tou kosmou panspermian. Hina de kataphanesteron poiēsō touto hoper ekeinoi legousi; kathaper ōon ornithos eupoikilou tinos kai polychrōmatou, hoionei tou taōnos ē allou tinos eti mallon polymorphou kai polychrōmatou, hen on ontōs echei en heautǭ pollas ousiōn polymorphōn kai polychrōmatōn kai polysystatōn ideas, houtōs echei to katablēthen, phēsin, hypo tou ouk ontos theou ouk on sperma [panspermian] tou kosmou polymorphon homou kai polyousion.
And the seed of the world had everything in itself, as the grain of mustard seed holds everything together in the smallest space: the roots, the trunk, the branches, the leaves, and the countless seeds produced by the plant along with its grains, the seeds again of other and other plants poured out many times over. So the non-existent God made a non-existent world out of things that are not, laying down and establishing a single seed that had in itself the whole seed-mass of the world. And to make clearer what they say: just as the egg of some richly varied and many-colored bird, such as the peacock or some other still more multiform and many-colored, being one, really has in itself many forms of multiform, many-colored, and variously composed substances, so, he says, the non-existent seed laid down by the non-existent God holds [the whole seed-mass] of the world, multiform and of many substances together.
Matt 13:31–32 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like a mustard seed or a peacock's egg, the one seed laid down by the non-existent God contained the whole world in potential.
- The mustard-seed image recalls Matt 13:31–32. The bracketed words in the Greek are editorial restorations; πανσπερμία, “seed-mass,” is the mixture of all seeds.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.21.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-21-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 22
7.22.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 358–360
Πάντα οὖν, ὅσα ἐστὶν εἰπεῖν καὶ ἔτι μὴ εὑρόντα παραλιπεῖν, ὅσα τῷ μέλλοντι κόσμῳ γενέσθαι ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος ἔμελλεν ἁρμόζειν, ἀναγκαίοις καιροῖς ἰδίως κατὰ προσθήκην αὐξανόμενα, ὡς ὑπὸ τηλικούτου καὶ τοιούτου θεοῦ, ὁποῖον οὐκ εἰπεῖν οὐδὲ νοήσει δυνατὴ γέγονε χωρῆσαι ἡ κτίσις, [καὶ] ἐνυπῆρχε τεθησαυρισμένα τῷ σπέρματι, καθάπερ νεογενεῖ παιδίῳ ὀδόντας ὕστερον ὁρῶμεν καὶ πατρικὴν προσγενέσθαι οὐσίαν καὶ φρένας καὶ ὅσα παραυξανομένῳ ἐκ νέου κατὰ μικρὸν ἀνθρώπῳ ἃ μὴ πρότερον ἦν γίνεται.
Panta oun, hosa estin eipein kai eti mē heuronta paralipein, hosa tǭ mellonti kosmǭ genesthai apo tou spermatos emellen harmozein, anankaiois kairois idiōs kata prosthēkēn auxanomena, hōs hypo tēlikoutou kai toioutou theou, hopoion ouk eipein oude noēsei dynatē gegone chōrēsai hē ktisis, [kai] enypērche tethēsaurismena tǭ spermati, kathaper neogenei paidiǭ odontas hysteron horōmen kai patrikēn prosgenesthai ousian kai phrenas kai hosa parauxanomenǭ ek neou kata mikron anthrōpǭ ha mē proteron ēn ginetai.
All things, then, that can be spoken of, and those still left aside because not yet discovered, all that were to fit the future world that was to come from the seed, growing by addition in their own necessary seasons, as by so great and such a God, of whom creation could neither speak nor even contain in thought, were present, stored up in the seed; just as in a newborn child we see teeth come later, and a father's substance, and understanding, and whatever else comes to a man growing up little by little from youth that was not there before.
Notes and citation
Summary: Everything the world would ever contain was stored in the seed, to unfold in time as teeth and reason appear later in a child.
- “A father's substance” may mean the father's inheritance or the power of begetting; the phrase is uncertain.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 358–360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 360
Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἦν ἄπορον εἰπεῖν προβολήν τινα τοῦ μὴ ὄντος θεοῦ γεγονέναι τι οὐκ ὄν, — φεύγει γὰρ πάνυ καὶ δέδοικε τὰς κατὰ προβολὴν τῶν γεγονότων οὐσίας ὁ Βασιλείδης — ποίας γὰρ προβολῆς χρεία, ἢ ποίας ὕλης ὑπόθεσις, ἵνα κόσμον θεὸς ἐργάσηται, καθάπερ ὁ ἀράχνης τὰ μηρύματα, ἢ θνητὸς ἄνθρωπος χαλκὸν ἢ ξύλον ἤ τι τῶν τῆς ὕλης μερῶν ἐργαζόμενος λαμβάνει;
Epei de ēn aporon eipein probolēn tina tou mē ontos theou gegonenai ti ouk on, — pheugei gar pany kai dedoike tas kata probolēn tōn gegonotōn ousias ho Basileidēs — poias gar probolēs chreia, ē poias hylēs hypothesis, hina kosmon theos ergasētai, kathaper ho arachnēs ta mērymata, ē thnētos anthrōpos chalkon ē xylon ē ti tōn tēs hylēs merōn ergazomenos lambanei?
But since it was difficult to say that something non-existent came to be by some projection from the non-existent God (for Basilides utterly shuns and fears substances of created things that come by projection): for what need of projection, or what assumption of matter, would there be for God to make a world, as the spider takes its threads, or a mortal man takes bronze or wood or some part of matter to work on?
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides rejects emanation or pre-existing matter as the way God made the world.
- “Projection” (προβολή) is the emanation of the Valentinian Aeons, which Basilides rejects.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 360
Ἀλλὰ εἶπε, φησί, καὶ ἐγένετο, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὡς λέγουσιν οἱ ἄνδρες οὗτοι, τὸ λεχθὲν ὑπὸ Μωσέως· Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς. Πόθεν, φησί, γέγονε τὸ φῶς; ἐξ οὐδενός· οὐ γὰρ γέγραπται, φησί, πόθεν, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸ μόνον ἐκ τῆς φωνῆς τοῦ λέγοντος, ὁ δὲ λέγων, φησίν, οὐκ ἦν, οὐδὲ τὸ γενόμενον ἦν.
Alla eipe, phēsi, kai egeneto, kai touto estin, hōs legousin hoi andres houtoi, to lechthen hypo Mōseōs; Genēthētō phōs, kai egeneto phōs. Pothen, phēsi, gegone to phōs? ex oudenos; ou gar gegraptai, phēsi, pothen, allʼ auto monon ek tēs phōnēs tou legontos, ho de legōn, phēsin, ouk ēn, oude to genomenon ēn.
But he spoke, he says, and it came to be; and this, as these men say, is what was said by Moses: “Let there be light, and there was light.” From where, he says, did the light come? From nothing. For it is not written, he says, from where, but only that it came from the voice of the one speaking; and the one speaking, he says, was not, nor was what came to be.
Gen 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides reads “Let there be light” as creation from nothing by the word of a God who “was not.”
- The quotation is Gen 1:3; “he spoke and it came to be” echoes Ps 33:9 (32:9 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing/accent: ἦν): οὐκ ἧν → οὐκ ἦν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 360
Γέγονε, φησίν, ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων τὸ σπέρμα τοῦ κόσμου, ὁ λόγος ὁ λεχθείς· γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ τοῦτο, φησίν, ἔστι τὸ λεγόμενον ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις· Ἦν τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινόν, ὃ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνθρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον.
Gegone, phēsin, ex ouk ontōn to sperma tou kosmou, ho logos ho lechtheis; genēthētō phōs, kai touto, phēsin, esti to legomenon en tois euangeliois; Ēn to phōs to alēthinon, ho phōtizei panta anthrōpon erchomenon eis ton kosmon.
The seed of the world, he says, came to be out of things that are not, the word that was spoken: “Let there be light”; and this, he says, is what is said in the Gospels: “He was the true light, which enlightens every human being coming into the world.”
Gen 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The seed of the world is the word “Let there be light,” which Basilides identifies with the true light of John's Gospel.
- The quotations are Gen 1:3 and John 1:9.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 360
Λαμβάνει τὰς ἀρχὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος ἐκείνου καὶ φωτίζεται. Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ σπέρμα, ὃ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ πᾶσαν τὴν πανσπερμίαν, ὅ φησιν Ἀριστοτέλης γένος εἶναι εἰς ἀπείρους τεμνόμενον ἰδέας, ὡς τέμνομεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ζῴου βοῦν, ἵππον, ἄνθρωπον, ὅπερ ἐστὶν οὐκ ὄν.
Lambanei tas archas apo tou spermatos ekeinou kai phōtizetai. Touto esti to sperma, ho echei en heautǭ pasan tēn panspermian, ho phēsin Aristotelēs genos einai eis apeirous temnomenon ideas, hōs temnomen apo tou zǭou boun, hippon, anthrōpon, hoper estin ouk on.
He takes his beginnings from that seed and is enlightened. This is the seed that has in itself the whole seed-mass, which Aristotle says is the genus divided into innumerable forms, as we divide from animal the ox, the horse, the human being, which is non-existent.
Notes and citation
Summary: This seed is Aristotle's genus, divided into countless species.
- The subject of the first sentence is probably the human being “coming into the world” of the previous quotation.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 360
Ὑποκειμένου τοίνυν τοῦ κοσμικοῦ σπέρματος, ἐκεῖνοι λέγουσιν· ὅ, τι ἂν λέγω, φησίν, μετὰ ταῦτα γεγονέναι, μὴ ἐπιζήτει πόθεν. Εἶχε γὰρ πάντα τὰ σπέρματα ἐν ἑαυτῷ τεθησαυρισμένα καὶ κατακείμενα, οἷον οὐκ ὄντα, ὑπό τε τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος θεοῦ γενέσθαι προβεβουλευμένα.
Hypokeimenou toinyn tou kosmikou spermatos, ekeinoi legousin; ho, ti an legō, phēsin, meta tauta gegonenai, mē epizētei pothen. Eiche gar panta ta spermata en heautǭ tethēsaurismena kai katakeimena, hoion ouk onta, hypo te tou ouk ontos theou genesthai probebouleumena.
The cosmic seed, then, being laid down beneath, they say: whatever I say came to be after these things, he says, do not ask from where. For it had all the seeds stored up and lying in itself, as non-existent, and planned beforehand by the non-existent God to come into being.
Notes and citation
Summary: Whatever comes into being later was already stored in the cosmic seed, so one need not ask where it came from.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.7Duncker–Schneidewin, 360–362
Ἴδωμεν οὖν, τί λέγουσι πρῶτον ἢ τί δεύτερον ἢ τί τρίτον τὸ ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος τοῦ κοσμικοῦ γεγενημένον. Ἦν, φησίν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ σπέρματι υἱότης τριμερής, κατὰ πάντα τῷ οὐκ ὄντι θεῷ ὁμοούσιος, γενητὴ ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων. Ταύτης τῆς υἱότητος τῆς τριχῆ διῃρημένης τὸ μέν τι ἦν λεπτομερές, τὸ δὲ [παχυμερές, τὸ δὲ] ἀποκαθάρσεως δεόμενον.
Idōmen oun, ti legousi prōton ē ti deuteron ē ti triton to apo tou spermatos tou kosmikou gegenēmenon. Ēn, phēsin, en autǭ tǭ spermati huiotēs trimerēs, kata panta tǭ ouk onti theǭ homoousios, genētē ex ouk ontōn. Tautēs tēs huiotētos tēs trichē dię̄rēmenēs to men ti ēn leptomeres, to de [pachymeres, to de] apokatharseōs deomenon.
Let us see, then, what they say came first, second, and third from the cosmic seed. There was, he says, in the seed itself a threefold Sonship, in every way of the same substance (homoousios) as the non-existent God, generated from things that are not. Of this Sonship divided threefold, one part was fine, another [coarse, and another] in need of purification.
Notes and citation
Summary: The seed contained a threefold Sonship, of one substance with the non-existent God: one fine, one coarse, one needing purification.
- ὁμοούσιος, “of the same substance,” is Basilides' term as Hippolytus reports it, long before its use at Nicaea. The bracketed words are an editorial supplement.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.7 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 360–362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.8Duncker–Schneidewin, 362
Τὸ μὲν οὖν λεπτομερὲς εὐθέως πρῶτον ἅμα τῷ γενέσθαι τοῦ σπέρματος τὴν πρώτην καταβολὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος διέσφυξε καὶ ἀνῆλθε καὶ ἀνέδραμε κάτωθεν ἄνω, ποιητικῷ τινὶ χρησάμενον τάχει ὡσεὶ πτερὸν ἠὲ νόημα, καὶ ἐγένετο, φησί, πρὸς τὸν οὐκ ὄντα· ἐκείνου γὰρ διʼ ὑπερβολὴν κάλλους καὶ ὡραιότητος πᾶσα φύσις ὀρέγεται, ἄλλη δὲ ἄλλως.
To men oun leptomeres eutheōs prōton hama tǭ genesthai tou spermatos tēn prōtēn katabolēn hypo tou ouk ontos diesphyxe kai anēlthe kai anedrame katōthen anō, poiētikǭ tini chrēsamenon tachei hōsei pteron ēe noēma, kai egeneto, phēsi, pros ton ouk onta; ekeinou gar diʼ hyperbolēn kallous kai hōraiotētos pasa physis oregetai, allē de allōs.
The fine part, then, immediately, first, at the moment the first deposit of the seed was made by the non-existent one, burst forth and went up and ran from below upward, using a kind of poetic speed, “like a wing or a thought,” and came, he says, to the non-existent one; for every nature longs for him because of his surpassing beauty and loveliness, one in one way, another in another.
Notes and citation
Summary: The first, fine Sonship at once rushed upward to the non-existent God, whom every nature longs for.
- The quotation is Homer, Odyssey 7.36.
Extrabiblical texts: Homer, Od. 7.36 (Homer, Odyssey; quotation)
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.8 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.9Duncker–Schneidewin, 362
Ἡ δὲ παχυμερεστέρα ἔτι μένουσα ἐν τῷ σπέρματι, μιμητική τις οὖσα, ἀναδραμεῖν μὲν οὐκ ἠδυνήθη· πολὺ γὰρ ἐνδεεστέρα τῆς λεπτομερείας, ἧς εἶχεν ἡ διʼ αὐτῆς υἱότης ἀναδραμοῦσα, ἀπελείπετο.
Hē de pachymerestera eti menousa en tǭ spermati, mimētikē tis ousa, anadramein men ouk ēdynēthē; poly gar endeestera tēs leptomereias, hēs eichen hē diʼ autēs huiotēs anadramousa, apeleipeto.
But the coarser one, still remaining in the seed, being a kind of imitator, was not able to run up; for it was left far behind, being much more lacking in the fineness that the Sonship which ran up through itself possessed.
Notes and citation
Summary: The second, coarser Sonship could not rise on its own.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.9 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.10Duncker–Schneidewin, 362
Ἐπτέρωσεν οὖν αὐτὴν ἡ υἱότης ἡ παχυμερεστέρα τοιούτῳ τινὶ πτερῷ, ὁποίῳ διδάσκαλος ὢν Πλάτων Ἀριστοτέλους ἐν Φαίδρῳ τὴν ψυχὴν πτεροῖ, καὶ καλεῖ τὸ τοιοῦτο Βασιλείδης οὐ πτερόν, ἀλλὰ πνεῦμα ἅγιον, ὃ εὐεργετεῖ ἡ υἱότης ἐνδυσαμένη καὶ εὐεργετεῖται.
Epterōsen oun autēn hē huiotēs hē pachymerestera toioutǭ tini pterǭ, hopoiǭ didaskalos ōn Platōn Aristotelous en Phaidrǭ tēn psychēn pteroi, kai kalei to toiouto Basileidēs ou pteron, alla pneuma hagion, ho euergetei hē huiotēs endysamenē kai euergeteitai.
So the coarser Sonship gave itself wings with some such wing as that with which Plato, Aristotle's teacher, gives wings to the soul in the Phaedrus; and Basilides calls such a thing not a wing but the Holy Spirit, which the Sonship, having put it on, benefits and is benefited by.
Notes and citation
Summary: The second Sonship rises by putting on the Holy Spirit as a wing, like the winged soul of Plato's Phaedrus.
- Plato, Phaedrus 246a–e.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: ὢν): διδάσκαλος ὦν → διδάσκαλος ὢν.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, Phaedr. 246a–e (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.10 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.11Duncker–Schneidewin, 362
Εὐεργετεῖ μέν, ὅτι καθάπερ ὄρνιθος πτερὸν αὐτὸ κατʼ αὐτὸ τοῦ ὄρνιθος ἀπηλλαγμένον οὐκ ἂν γένοιτό ποτε ὑψηλὸν οὐδὲ μετάρσιον, οὐδʼ αὖ ὄρνις ἀπολελυμένος τοῦ πτεροῦ οὐκ ἄν ποτε γένοιτο ὑψηλὸς οὐδὲ μετάρσιος. Τοιοῦτόν τινα τὸν λόγον ἔσχεν ἡ υἱότης πρὸς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα πρὸς τὴν υἱότητα.
Euergetei men, hoti kathaper ornithos pteron auto katʼ auto tou ornithos apēllagmenon ouk an genoito pote hypsēlon oude metarsion, oudʼ au ornis apolelymenos tou pterou ouk an pote genoito hypsēlos oude metarsios. Toiouton tina ton logon eschen hē huiotēs pros to pneuma to hagion kai to pneuma pros tēn huiotēta.
It benefits it, because just as a bird's wing by itself, separated from the bird, could never become high or aloft, nor again would a bird freed from its wing ever become high or aloft, such was the relation the Sonship had to the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit to the Sonship.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like a bird and its wing, the Sonship and the Spirit need each other to rise.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.11 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-11). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.12Duncker–Schneidewin, 362
Ἀναφερομένη γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος ἡ υἱότης ὡς ὑπὸ πτεροῦ ἀναφέρει τὸ πτερόν, τουτέστι τὸ πνεῦμα, καὶ πλησίον γενομένη τῆς λεπτομεροῦς υἱότητος καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος καὶ δημιουργήσαντος ἐξ οὐκ ὄντων, ἔχειν μὲν αὐτὸ μετʼ αὐτῆς οὐκ ἠδύνατο, ἦν γὰρ οὐχ ὁμοούσιον, οὐδὲ φύσιν εἶχε μετὰ τῆς υἱότητος·
Anapheromenē gar hypo tou pneumatos hē huiotēs hōs hypo pterou anapherei to pteron, toutesti to pneuma, kai plēsion genomenē tēs leptomerous huiotētos kai tou theou tou ouk ontos kai dēmiourgēsantos ex ouk ontōn, echein men auto metʼ autēs ouk ēdynato, ēn gar ouch homoousion, oude physin eiche meta tēs huiotētos;
For the Sonship, carried up by the Spirit as by a wing, carries up the wing, that is, the Spirit; and when it came near the fine Sonship and the non-existent God who created out of things that are not, it could not keep the Spirit with itself; for it was not of the same substance, nor did it have a nature in common with the Sonship;
Notes and citation
Summary: When the second Sonship came near the non-existent God, it could not take the Spirit with it, since the Spirit was not of its substance.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing/accent: ἦν): ἧν γὰρ → ἦν γὰρ.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.12 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-12). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.13Duncker–Schneidewin, 362–364
ἀλλὰ ὥσπερ ἔστι παρὰ φύσιν καὶ ὀλέθριος τοῖς ἰχθύσιν ἀὴρ καθαρὸς καὶ ξηρός, οὕτω τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἁγίῳ ἦν παρὰ φύσιν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀρρήτων ἀρρητότερον καὶ πάντων ἀνώτερον ὀνομάτων τοῦ οὐκ ὄντος ὁμοῦ θεοῦ χωρίον καὶ τῆς υἱότητος.
alla hōsper esti para physin kai olethrios tois ichthysin aēr katharos kai xēros, houtō tǭ pneumati tǭ hagiǭ ēn para physin ekeino to arrētōn arrētoteron kai pantōn anōteron onomatōn tou ouk ontos homou theou chōrion kai tēs huiotētos.
but just as pure, dry air is contrary to nature and deadly for fish, so that place of the non-existent God and of the Sonship together, more unspeakable than things unspeakable and higher than all names, was contrary to nature for the Holy Spirit.
Notes and citation
Summary: The realm of the non-existent God was as unnatural to the Spirit as dry air to fish.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.13 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 362–364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-13). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.22.14Duncker–Schneidewin, 364
Κατέλιπεν οὖν αὐτὸ πλησίον ἡ υἱότης ἐκείνου τοῦ μακαρίου καὶ νοηθῆναι μὴ δυναμένου μηδὲ χαρακτηρισθῆναι τινὶ λόγῳ χωρίου οὐ παντάπασιν ἔρημον οὐδὲ ἀπηλλαγμένον τῆς υἱότητος· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὥσπερ εἰς ἄγγος ἐμβληθὲν μύρον εὐωδέστατον εἰ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα ἐπιμελῶς ἐκκενωθείη, ὅμως ὀσμή τις ἔτι μένει τοῦ μύρου καὶ καταλείπεται, κἂν ᾖ κεχωρισμένον τοῦ ἀγγείου, καὶ μύρου ὀσμὴν τὸ ἀγγεῖον ἔχει, εἰ καὶ μὴ μύρον, οὕτως τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον μεμένηκε τῆς υἱότητος ἄμοιρον καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένον, ἔχει δὲ ἐν ἑαυτῷ μύρου παραπλησίως τὴν δύναμιν, [τῆς υἱότητος] ὀσμήν· καὶ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ λεγόμενον· ὡς μύρον ἐπὶ κεφαλῆς τὸ καταβαῖνον ἐπὶ τὸν πώγωνα τοῦ Ἀαρών, ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου φερομένη ὀσμὴ ἄνωθεν κάτω μέχρι τῆς ἀμορφίας καὶ τοῦ διαστήματος τοῦ καθʼ ἡμᾶς, ὅθεν ἤρξατο ἀνελθεῖν ἡ υἱότης οἱονεὶ ἐπὶ πτερύγων ἀετοῦ, φησί, καὶ τῶν μεταφρένων ἐνεχθεῖσα. Σπεύδει γὰρ, φησί, πάντα κάτωθεν ἄνω, ἀπὸ τῶν χειρόνων ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττονα· οὐδὲν δὲ οὕτως ἀνόητόν ἐστι τῶν [ἐν] τοῖς κρείττοσιν, ἵνα μὴ κατέλθῃ κάτω. Ἡ δὲ τρίτη υἱότης, φησίν, ἡ ἀποκαθάρσεως δεομένη ἐμμεμένηκε τῷ μεγάλῳ τῆς πανσπερμίας σωρῷ εὐεργετοῦσα καὶ εὐεργετουμένη. Τίνα δὲ τὸν τρόπον εὐεργετεῖται καὶ εὐεργετεῖ, ὕστερον ἐροῦμεν κατὰ τὸν οἰκεῖον αὐτοῦ γενόμενοι λόγον.
Katelipen oun auto plēsion hē huiotēs ekeinou tou makariou kai noēthēnai mē dynamenou mēde charaktēristhēnai tini logǭ chōriou ou pantapasin erēmon oude apēllagmenon tēs huiotētos; alla gar hōsper eis angos emblēthen myron euōdestaton ei kai hoti malista epimelōs ekkenōtheiē, homōs osmē tis eti menei tou myrou kai kataleipetai, kan ę̄ kechōrismenon tou angeiou, kai myrou osmēn to angeion echei, ei kai mē myron, houtōs to pneuma to hagion memenēke tēs huiotētos amoiron kai apēllagmenon, echei de en heautǭ myrou paraplēsiōs tēn dynamin, [tēs huiotētos] osmēn; kai touto esti to legomenon; hōs myron epi kephalēs to katabainon epi ton pōgōna tou Aarōn, hē apo tou pneumatos tou hagiou pheromenē osmē anōthen katō mechri tēs amorphias kai tou diastēmatos tou kathʼ hēmas, hothen ērxato anelthein hē huiotēs hoionei epi pterygōn aetou, phēsi, kai tōn metaphrenōn enechtheisa. Speudei gar, phēsi, panta katōthen anō, apo tōn cheironōn epi ta kreittona; ouden de houtōs anoēton esti tōn [en] tois kreittosin, hina mē katelthę̄ katō. Hē de tritē huiotēs, phēsin, hē apokatharseōs deomenē emmemenēke tǭ megalǭ tēs panspermias sōrǭ euergetousa kai euergetoumenē. Tina de ton tropon euergeteitai kai euergetei, hysteron eroumen kata ton oikeion autou genomenoi logon.
So the Sonship left the Spirit near that blessed place, which cannot be conceived or characterized by any word, not altogether empty nor bereft of the Sonship. But just as when a most fragrant ointment is poured into a vessel, even if the vessel is emptied with the greatest care, still some scent of the ointment remains and is left behind, even though the ointment has been separated from the vessel, and the vessel has the scent of ointment though not the ointment, so the Holy Spirit has remained without share in the Sonship and separated from it, yet has in itself, much like ointment, its power, the scent [of the Sonship]. And this is what is said: “like ointment on the head, which runs down on the beard of Aaron”: the scent borne from the Holy Spirit from above downward, as far as the formlessness and the interval where we are, from which the Sonship began to go up, carried, he says, as on the wings and back of an eagle. For all things, he says, hasten from below upward, from the worse to the better; and nothing among those [in] the better is so foolish as to come down below. But the third Sonship, he says, the one needing purification, has remained in the great heap of the seed-mass, benefiting and being benefited. In what way it is benefited and benefits we shall say later, when we come to the proper account of it.
Ps 133:2 (132:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:11 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Spirit, left behind as a boundary, keeps the scent of the Sonship like a jar that once held ointment; the third Sonship remains below in the seed-mass.
- The quotations are Ps 133:2 (132:2 LXX) and an echo of Deut 32:11 or Exod 19:4 (eagle's wings). The bracketed words are editorial supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing rough breathing): πνεῦμα τὸ ἄγιον μεμένηκε → πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον μεμένηκε.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.22.14 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-22-14). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 23
7.23.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 364
Ἐπεὶ οὖν γέγονε πρώτη καὶ δευτέρα ἀναδρομὴ τῆς υἱότητος καὶ μεμένηκεν αὐτοῦ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸν εἰρημένον τρόπον, στερέωμα τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων καὶ τοῦ κόσμου μεταξὺ τεταγμένον —
Epei oun gegone prōtē kai deutera anadromē tēs huiotētos kai memenēken autou to pneuma to hagion ton eirēmenon tropon, stereōma tōn hyperkosmiōn kai tou kosmou metaxy tetagmenon —
Since, then, the first and second ascent of the Sonship had taken place, and the Holy Spirit had remained in the manner described, set as a firmament between the supramundane things and the world —
Notes and citation
Summary: After the two ascents, the Holy Spirit remained as a firmament between the world and what lies beyond it.
- The sentence is interrupted by the parenthesis of 7.23.2 and resumes in 7.23.3.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 364
διῄρηται γὰρ ὑπὸ Βασιλείδου τὰ ὄντα εἰς δύο τὰς προεχεῖς καὶ πρώτας διαιρέσεις, καὶ καλεῖται κατʼ αὐτὸν τὸ μέν τι κόσμος, τὸ δέ τι ὑπερκόσμια, τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῶν ὑπερκοσμίων μεθόριον πνεῦμα τοῦτο, ὅπερ ἐστὶ καὶ ἅγιον καὶ τῆς υἱότητος ἔχει μένουσαν ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὴν ὀσμήν —
dię̄rētai gar hypo Basileidou ta onta eis dyo tas proecheis kai prōtas diaireseis, kai kaleitai katʼ auton to men ti kosmos, to de ti hyperkosmia, to de metaxy tou kosmou kai tōn hyperkosmiōn methorion pneuma touto, hoper esti kai hagion kai tēs huiotētos echei menousan en heautǭ tēn osmēn —
for the things that exist are divided by Basilides into two chief and first divisions, and according to him one is called the world, the other the supramundane things; and the boundary between the world and the supramundane things is this Spirit, which is also holy and has the scent of the Sonship remaining in itself —
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides divides reality into the world and what is above it, with the Holy Spirit as the boundary between.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 364–366
ὄντος οὖν τοῦ στερεώματος, ὅ ἐστιν ὑπεράνω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, διέσφυξε καὶ ἐγεννήθη ἀπὸ τοῦ κοσμικοῦ σπέρματος καὶ τῆς πανσπερμίας τοῦ σωροῦ ὁ μέγας ἄρχων, ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ κόσμου, κάλλος τι καὶ μέγεθος καὶ δύναμις λυθῆναι μὴ δυναμένη.
ontos oun tou stereōmatos, ho estin hyperanō tou ouranou, diesphyxe kai egennēthē apo tou kosmikou spermatos kai tēs panspermias tou sōrou ho megas archōn, hē kephalē tou kosmou, kallos ti kai megethos kai dynamis lythēnai mē dynamenē.
the firmament, then, being in place, which is above the heaven, there burst forth and was born from the cosmic seed and the seed-mass of the heap the great Archon, the head of the world, a beauty, a greatness, and a power that cannot be undone.
Notes and citation
Summary: From the seed-mass there burst forth the great Archon, head of the world.
- Archon: “ruler,” the world-governing power of Basilides' system.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 364–366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 366
Ἀρρήτων γάρ, φησίν, ἐστὶν ἀρρητότερος καὶ δυνατῶν δυνατώτερος καὶ σοφῶν σοφώτερος, καὶ ὅ, τι ἂν εἴπῃς πάντων τῶν καλῶν κρείττων· οὗτος γεννηθεὶς ἐπῆρεν ἑαυτὸν καὶ μετεώρισε καὶ ἠνέχθη ὅλος ἄνω μέχρι τοῦ στερεώματος, τῆς δὲ ἀναδρομῆς καὶ τοῦ ὑψώματος τὸ στερέωμα τέλος εἶναι νομίσας, καὶ μηδὲ εἶναι μετὰ ταῦτα ὅλως μηδὲν ἐπινοήσας, ἐγένετο μὲν ὑποκειμένων πάντων, ὅσα ἦν λοιπὸν κοσμικά, σοφώτερος, δυνατώτερος, ἐκπρεπέστερος, φωτεινότερος, πᾶν ὅ, τι ἂν εἴπῃς καλὸν διαφέρον χωρὶς μόνης τῆς ὑπολελειμμένης υἱότητος ἔτι ἐν τῇ πανσπερμίᾳ· ἠγνόει γὰρ ὅτι ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ σοφωτέρα καὶ δυνατωτέρα καὶ κρείττων.
Arrētōn gar, phēsin, estin arrētoteros kai dynatōn dynatōteros kai sophōn sophōteros, kai ho, ti an eipę̄s pantōn tōn kalōn kreittōn; houtos gennētheis epēren heauton kai meteōrise kai ēnechthē holos anō mechri tou stereōmatos, tēs de anadromēs kai tou hypsōmatos to stereōma telos einai nomisas, kai mēde einai meta tauta holōs mēden epinoēsas, egeneto men hypokeimenōn pantōn, hosa ēn loipon kosmika, sophōteros, dynatōteros, ekprepesteros, phōteinoteros, pan ho, ti an eipę̄s kalon diapheron chōris monēs tēs hypoleleimmenēs huiotētos eti en tę̄ panspermią; ēgnoei gar hoti estin autou sophōtera kai dynatōtera kai kreittōn.
For he is, he says, more unspeakable than the unspeakable, more powerful than the powerful, wiser than the wise, and better than whatever beautiful things you might name. When he was born he lifted himself up and raised himself aloft and was carried whole upward as far as the firmament; and thinking the firmament to be the end of the ascent and height, and supposing that after it there was nothing at all, he became wiser, more powerful, more splendid, more luminous than all the things beneath, whatever was left that belonged to the world, surpassing in whatever beauty you might name, except only the Sonship still left behind in the seed-mass; for he did not know that it was wiser and more powerful and better than he.
Notes and citation
Summary: The great Archon rose to the firmament and, thinking nothing lay beyond, took himself for the highest, not knowing the third Sonship was greater.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 366
Νομίσας οὖν αὐτὸς εἶναι κύριος καὶ δεσπότης καὶ σοφὸς ἀρχιτέκτων τρέπεται εἰς τὴν καθʼ ἕκαστα κτίσιν τοῦ κόσμου. Καὶ πρῶτον μὲν ἠξίωσε μὴ εἶναι μόνος, ἀλλὰ ἐποίησεν ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἐγέννησεν ἐκ τῶν ὑποκειμένων υἱὸν ἑαυτοῦ πολὺ κρείττονα καὶ σοφώτερον.
Nomisas oun autos einai kyrios kai despotēs kai sophos architektōn trepetai eis tēn kathʼ hekasta ktisin tou kosmou. Kai prōton men ēxiōse mē einai monos, alla epoiēsen heautǭ kai egennēsen ek tōn hypokeimenōn huion heautou poly kreittona kai sophōteron.
So, thinking that he himself was lord and master and a wise master-builder, he turns to the creation of the world in its particulars. And first he resolved not to be alone, but made for himself and begot from the things beneath a son of his own, much better and wiser than himself.
1 Cor 3:10 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Thinking himself lord, the Archon set about creating and begot a son wiser than himself.
- “Wise master-builder” echoes 1 Cor 3:10.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 366
Ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν πάντα προβεβουλευμένος ὁ οὐκ ὢν θεός, ὅτε τὴν πανσπερμίαν κατέβαλεν. Ἰδὼν οὖν τὸν υἱὸν ἐθαύμασε καὶ ἠγάπησε καὶ κατεπλάγη· τοιοῦτον γάρ τι κάλλος ἐφαίνετο υἱοῦ τῷ μεγάλῳ ἄρχοντι· καὶ ἐκάθισεν αὐτὸν ἐκ δεξιῶν ὁ ἄρχων.
Tauta gar ēn panta probebouleumenos ho ouk ōn theos, hote tēn panspermian katebalen. Idōn oun ton huion ethaumase kai ēgapēse kai kateplagē; toiouton gar ti kallos ephaineto huiou tǭ megalǭ archonti; kai ekathisen auton ek dexiōn ho archōn.
For the non-existent God had planned all these things beforehand when he laid down the seed-mass. So when he saw the son he marveled at him, loved him, and was struck with amazement; for such was the beauty of the son that appeared to the great Archon; and the Archon seated him at his right hand.
Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Archon, amazed at his son's beauty, seated him at his right hand.
- The seating at the right hand echoes Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν): Ἰδὼν οὗν → Ἰδὼν οὖν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.23.7Duncker–Schneidewin, 366
Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὀγδοὰς λεγομένη, ὅπου ἐστὶν ὁ μέγας ἄρχων καθήμενος. Πᾶσαν οὖν τὴν ἐπουράνιον κτίσιν, τουτέστι τὴν αἰθέριον, αὐτὸς εἰργάσατο ὁ δημιουργὸς ὁ μέγας σοφός· ἐνήργει δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ ὑπετίθετο ὁ υἱὸς ὁ τούτου γενόμενος, ὢν αὐτοῦ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ πολὺ σοφώτερος.
Hautē estin hē katʼ autous ogdoas legomenē, hopou estin ho megas archōn kathēmenos. Pasan oun tēn epouranion ktisin, toutesti tēn aitherion, autos eirgasato ho dēmiourgos ho megas sophos; enērgei de autǭ kai hypetitheto ho huios ho toutou genomenos, ōn autou tou dēmiourgou poly sophōteros.
This is what they call the Ogdoad, where the great Archon sits. The whole heavenly creation, then, that is, the ethereal, the great wise Demiurge made himself; but the son who was born to him worked in him and made suggestions to him, being much wiser than the Demiurge himself.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Archon's seat is the Ogdoad; he made the ethereal creation, prompted by his wiser son.
- Ogdoad here is the eighth heaven, the realm of the great Archon.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.23.7 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-23-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 24
7.24.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 366
Αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ κατὰ Ἀριστοτέλην σώματος φυσικοῦ ὀργανικοῦ ἐντελέχεια, ψυχὴ ἐνεργοῦσα τῷ σώματι, ἧς δίχα τὸ σῶμα ἐργάζεσθαι οὐδὲν δύναται, μεῖζον καὶ ἐπιφανέστερον καὶ δυνατώτερον καὶ σοφώτερον τοῦ σώματος. Ὃν λόγον οὖν Ἀριστοτέλης ἀποδέδωκε περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῦ σώματος πρότερος, Βασιλείδης περὶ τοῦ μεγάλου ἄρχοντος καὶ τοῦ κατʼ αὐτὸν υἱοῦ διασαφεῖ.
Hautē estin hē kata Aristotelēn sōmatos physikou organikou entelecheia, psychē energousa tǭ sōmati, hēs dicha to sōma ergazesthai ouden dynatai, meizon kai epiphanesteron kai dynatōteron kai sophōteron tou sōmatos. Hon logon oun Aristotelēs apodedōke peri tēs psychēs kai tou sōmatos proteros, Basileidēs peri tou megalou archontos kai tou katʼ auton huiou diasaphei.
This is Aristotle's actuality of a natural organic body, a soul working in the body, without which the body can do nothing, greater, more illustrious, more powerful, and wiser than the body. The account, then, that Aristotle gave earlier concerning the soul and the body, Basilides sets out concerning the great Archon and his son.
Notes and citation
Summary: Hippolytus says the Archon and his son are Aristotle's body and soul under new names.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.24.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.24.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 366–368
Τόν τε γὰρ υἱὸν ὁ ἄρχων κατὰ Βασιλείδην γεγέννηκε, τήν τε ψυχὴν ἔργον καὶ ἀποτέλεσμά φησιν εἶναι ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης φυσικοῦ σώματος ὀργανικοῦ ἐντελέχειαν. Ὡς οὖν ἡ ἐντελέχεια διοικεῖ τὸ σῶμα, οὕτως ὁ υἱὸς διοικεῖ κατὰ Βασιλείδην τὸν ἀρρήτων ἀρρητότερον θεόν.
Ton te gar huion ho archōn kata Basileidēn gegennēke, tēn te psychēn ergon kai apotelesma phēsin einai ho Aristotelēs physikou sōmatos organikou entelecheian. Hōs oun hē entelecheia dioikei to sōma, houtōs ho huios dioikei kata Basileidēn ton arrētōn arrētoteron theon.
For according to Basilides the Archon has begotten the son, and Aristotle says that the soul, the actuality of a natural organic body, is the work and product of it. As, then, the actuality governs the body, so according to Basilides the son governs the God more unspeakable than the unspeakable.
Notes and citation
Summary: As Aristotle's soul governs the body, so Basilides' son governs the Archon.
- “The God more unspeakable than the unspeakable” here seems to mean the great Archon (compare 7.23.4), not the non-existent God.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.24.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 366–368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.24.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 368
Πάντα οὖν ἔστι προνοούμενα καὶ διοικούμενα ὑπὸ τῆς ἐντελεχείας τοῦ ἄρχοντος τοῦ μεγάλου τὰ αἰθέρια, ἅτινα μέχρι σελήνης ἐστίν· ἐκεῖθεν γὰρ ἀὴρ αἰθέρος διακρίνεται. Κεκοσμημένων οὖν πάντων τῶν αἰθερίων πάλιν ἀπὸ τῆς πανσπερμίας ἄλλος ἄρχων ἀνέβη, μείζων μὲν πάντων τῶν ὑποκειμένων χωρὶς μέντοι τῆς καταλελειμμένης υἱότητος, πολὺ δὲ ὑποδεέστερος τοῦ πρώτου ἄρχοντος. Ἔστι δὲ καὶ οὗτος ἄρρητος ὑπʼ αὐτῶν λεγόμενος.
Panta oun esti pronooumena kai dioikoumena hypo tēs entelecheias tou archontos tou megalou ta aitheria, hatina mechri selēnēs estin; ekeithen gar aēr aitheros diakrinetai. Kekosmēmenōn oun pantōn tōn aitheriōn palin apo tēs panspermias allos archōn anebē, meizōn men pantōn tōn hypokeimenōn chōris mentoi tēs kataleleimmenēs huiotētos, poly de hypodeesteros tou prōtou archontos. Esti de kai houtos arrētos hypʼ autōn legomenos.
All the ethereal things, then, which extend as far as the moon, are provided for and governed by the actuality of the great Archon; for from there air is distinguished from ether. When all the ethereal things had been set in order, again from the seed-mass another Archon went up, greater than all the things beneath, except for the Sonship left behind, but much inferior to the first Archon. And this one too is called unspeakable by them.
Notes and citation
Summary: The ethereal region down to the moon is ruled by the great Archon; then a second, lesser Archon arose from the seed-mass.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν): Πάντα οὗν → Πάντα οὖν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.24.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-24-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.24.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 368
Καὶ καλεῖται ὁ τόπος οὗτος ἑβδομάς, καὶ πάντων τῶν ὑποκειμένων οὗτός ἐστι διοικητὴς καὶ δημιουργός, ποιήσας καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ υἱὸν ἐκ τῆς πανσπερμίας, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ φρονιμώτερον καὶ σοφώτερον, παραπλησίως τοῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ πρώτου λελεγμένοις.
Kai kaleitai ho topos houtos hebdomas, kai pantōn tōn hypokeimenōn houtos esti dioikētēs kai dēmiourgos, poiēsas kai autos heautǭ huion ek tēs panspermias, kai autos heautou phronimōteron kai sophōteron, paraplēsiōs tois epi tou prōtou lelegmenois.
And this place is called the Hebdomad, and he is the governor and Demiurge of all the things beneath, having himself also made for himself a son from the seed-mass, wiser and more prudent than himself, in the same way as was said of the first.
Notes and citation
Summary: The second Archon rules the Hebdomad and likewise begot a wiser son.
- Hebdomad: the “sevenfold,” the region of the planets below the Ogdoad.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.24.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-24-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.24.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 368
Τὸ δὲ ἐν τῷ διαστήματι τούτῳ ὁ σωρὸς αὐτὸς ἐστί, φησί, καὶ ἡ πανσπερμία, καὶ γίνεται κατὰ φύσιν τὰ γινόμενα ὡς φθάσαν τεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα λέγεσθαι, ὅτε δεῖ καὶ οἷα δεῖ καὶ ὡς δεῖ λελογισμένῳ. Καὶ τούτων ἔστιν ἐπιστάτης ἢ φροντιστὴς ἢ δημιουργὸς οὐδείς· ἀρκεῖ γὰρ αὐτοῖς ὁ λογισμὸς ἐκεῖνος, ὃν ὁ οὐκ ὢν ὅτε ἐποίει ἐλογίζετο.
To de en tǭ diastēmati toutǭ ho sōros autos esti, phēsi, kai hē panspermia, kai ginetai kata physin ta ginomena hōs phthasan techthēnai hypo tou ta mellonta legesthai, hote dei kai hoia dei kai hōs dei lelogismenǭ. Kai toutōn estin epistatēs ē phrontistēs ē dēmiourgos oudeis; arkei gar autois ho logismos ekeinos, hon ho ouk ōn hote epoiei elogizeto.
And what is in this interval, he says, is the heap itself and the seed-mass, and the things that come to be come to be by nature, as they were born beforehand from the one who had reckoned what was to be said, when it must be, of what kind, and how. And of these there is no overseer, guardian, or Demiurge; for that reckoning suffices them which the non-existent one reckoned when he was making.
Notes and citation
Summary: Below the Hebdomad things develop by nature as planned in the seed, with no ruler over them.
- The phrase ὡς φθάσαν τεχθῆναι ὑπὸ τοῦ τὰ μέλλοντα λέγεσθαι is obscure; the rendering is tentative.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.24.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-24-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 25
7.25.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 368
Ἐπεὶ οὖν τετέλεσται κατʼ αὐτοὺς ὁ κόσμος ὅλος καὶ τὰ ὑπερκόσμια καὶ ἔστιν ἐνδεὲς οὐδέν, λείπεται δὲ ἐν τῇ πανσπερμίᾳ ἡ υἱότης ἡ τρίτη, ἡ καταλελειμμένη εὐεργετεῖν καὶ εὐεργετεῖσθαι ἐν τῷ σπέρματι, καὶ ἔδει τὴν ὑπολελειμμένην υἱότητα ἀποκαλυφθῆναι καὶ ἀποκατασταθῆναι ἄνω ἐκεῖ ὑπὲρ τὸ μεθόριον πνεῦμα πρὸς τὴν υἱότητα τὴν λεπτομερῆ καὶ μιμητικὴν καὶ τὸν οὐκ ὄντα, ὡς γέγραπται, φησί· Καὶ ἡ κτίσις αὐτὴ συστενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκδεχομένη.
Epei oun tetelestai katʼ autous ho kosmos holos kai ta hyperkosmia kai estin endees ouden, leipetai de en tę̄ panspermią hē huiotēs hē tritē, hē kataleleimmenē euergetein kai euergeteisthai en tǭ spermati, kai edei tēn hypoleleimmenēn huiotēta apokalyphthēnai kai apokatastathēnai anō ekei hyper to methorion pneuma pros tēn huiotēta tēn leptomerē kai mimētikēn kai ton ouk onta, hōs gegraptai, phēsi; Kai hē ktisis autē systenazei kai synōdinei tēn apokalypsin tōn huiōn tou theou ekdechomenē.
Since, then, according to them the whole world and the supramundane things were completed and nothing was lacking, but there remained in the seed-mass the third Sonship, which had been left behind to benefit and be benefited in the seed, and the Sonship that was left behind had to be revealed and restored up there above the boundary Spirit, to the fine and imitating Sonship and to the non-existent one, as it is written, he says: “And the creation itself groans together and travails together, awaiting the revelation of the sons of God.”
Rom 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The third Sonship must be revealed and restored above, which Basilides finds in Paul's words about creation awaiting the revelation of God's sons.
- The quotation combines Rom 8:22 and 8:19.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 368–370
Υἱοὶ δέ, φησίν, ἐσμὲν ἡμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοί, ἐνθάδε καταλελειμμένοι διακοσμῆσαι καὶ διατυπῶσαι καὶ διορθώσασθαι καὶ τελειῶσαι τὰς ψυχὰς κάτω φύσιν ἐχούσας μένειν ἐν τούτῳ τῷ διαστήματι.
Huioi de, phēsin, esmen hēmeis hoi pneumatikoi, enthade kataleleimmenoi diakosmēsai kai diatypōsai kai diorthōsasthai kai teleiōsai tas psychas katō physin echousas menein en toutǭ tǭ diastēmati.
And we, he says, are the sons, we spiritual ones, left behind here to order, shape, correct, and perfect the souls whose nature is to remain below in this interval.
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides' followers call themselves the spiritual sons left below to perfect souls.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 368–370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 370
Μέχρι μὲν οὖν Μωσέως ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἐβασίλευσεν ἡ ἁμαρτία, καθὼς γέγραπται· ἐβασίλευσε γὰρ ὁ μέγας ἄρχων ὁ ἔχων τὸ τέλος αὐτοῦ μέχρι στερεώματος, νομίζων αὐτὸς εἶναι θεὸς μόνος, καὶ ὑπὲρ αὐτὸν εἶναι μηδέν, πάντα γὰρ ἦν φυλασσόμενα ἀποκρύφῳ σιωπῇ. Τοῦτο, φησίν, ἐστὶ τὸ μυστήριον, ὃ ταῖς προτέραις γενεαῖς οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη, ἀλλὰ ἦν ἐν ἐκείνοις τοῖς χρόνοις βασιλεὺς καὶ κύριος ὡς ἐδόκει τῶν ὅλων ὁ μέγας ἄρχων, ἡ ὀγδοάς.
Mechri men oun Mōseōs apo Adam ebasileusen hē hamartia, kathōs gegraptai; ebasileuse gar ho megas archōn ho echōn to telos autou mechri stereōmatos, nomizōn autos einai theos monos, kai hyper auton einai mēden, panta gar ēn phylassomena apokryphǭ siōpę̄. Touto, phēsin, esti to mystērion, ho tais proterais geneais ouk egnōristhē, alla ēn en ekeinois tois chronois basileus kai kyrios hōs edokei tōn holōn ho megas archōn, hē ogdoas.
Until Moses, then, from Adam, sin reigned, as it is written; for the great Archon reigned, whose limit extends to the firmament, thinking himself to be the only God and that there was nothing above him; for all things were guarded in hidden silence. This, he says, is the mystery which was not made known to former generations; but in those times the great Archon, the Ogdoad, was, as it seemed, king and lord of all things.
Rom 5:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: From Adam to Moses the great Archon reigned in ignorance, which Basilides reads as Paul's “sin reigned” and the hidden mystery.
- The allusions are Rom 5:14 and Col 1:26 (compare Eph 3:5).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν): μὲν οὗν → μὲν οὖν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 370
Ἦν δὲ καὶ τούτου τοῦ διαστήματος βασιλεὺς καὶ κύριος ἡ ἑβδομάς, καὶ ἔστιν ἡ μὲν ὀγδοὰς ἄρρητος, ῥητὸν δὲ ἡ ἑβδομάς. Οὗτος ἐστί, φησίν, ὁ τῆς ἑβδομάδος ἄρχων ὁ λαλήσας τῷ Μωϋσῇ καὶ εἰπών· Ἐγὼ ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ἐδήλωσα αὐτοῖς (οὕτως γὰρ θέλουσι γεγράφθαι), τουτέστι τοῦ ἀρρήτου τῆς ὀγδοάδος ἄρχοντος θεοῦ.
Ēn de kai toutou tou diastēmatos basileus kai kyrios hē hebdomas, kai estin hē men ogdoas arrētos, rhēton de hē hebdomas. Houtos esti, phēsin, ho tēs hebdomados archōn ho lalēsas tǭ Mōÿsę̄ kai eipōn; Egō ho theos Abraam kai Isaak kai Iakōb, kai to onoma tou theou ouk edēlōsa autois (houtōs gar thelousi gegraphthai), toutesti tou arrētou tēs ogdoados archontos theou.
And the Hebdomad too was king and lord of this interval; and the Ogdoad is unspeakable, but the Hebdomad can be spoken. This, he says, is the Archon of the Hebdomad who spoke to Moses and said: “I am the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and the name of God I did not reveal to them” (for so they want it to be written), that is, the name of the unspeakable God, the Archon of the Ogdoad.
Exod 6:2–3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Archon of the Hebdomad is the God who spoke to Moses and did not reveal the higher God's name.
- Exod 6:2–3, which Hippolytus notes they quote in an altered form (“the name of God” instead of “my name”).
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 370
Πάντες οὖν οἱ προφῆται οἱ πρὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος, φησίν, ἐκεῖθεν ἐλάλησαν. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἔδει ἀποκαλυφθῆναι, φησίν, ἡμᾶς τὰ τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ, περὶ ὧν ἐστέναξε, φησίν, ἡ κτίσις καὶ ὤδινεν, ἀπεκδεχομένη τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν, ἦλθε τὸ εὐαγγέλιον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ διῆλθε διὰ πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας καὶ κυριότητος καὶ παντὸς ὀνόματος ὀνομαζομένου· ἦλθε
Pantes oun hoi prophētai hoi pro tou sōtēros, phēsin, ekeithen elalēsan. Epei oun edei apokalyphthēnai, phēsin, hēmas ta tekna tou theou, peri hōn estenaxe, phēsin, hē ktisis kai ōdinen, apekdechomenē tēn apokalypsin, ēlthe to euangelion eis ton kosmon, kai diēlthe dia pasēs archēs kai exousias kai kyriotētos kai pantos onomatos onomazomenou; ēlthe
All the prophets, then, before the Savior, he says, spoke from there. Since, then, we the children of God had to be revealed, he says, for whom the creation groaned and travailed, awaiting the revelation, the gospel came into the world and passed through every principality and authority and dominion and every name that is named. And it came
Rom 8:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 1:21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophets spoke from the Hebdomad; when God's children were to be revealed, the gospel came through every power.
- The allusions are Rom 8:19, 22 and Eph 1:21.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 370
δὲ ὄντως, καίπερ οὐδὲν κατῆλθεν ἄνωθεν, οὐδὲ ἐξέστη ἡ μακαρία υἱότης ἐκείνου τοῦ ἀπερινοήτου καὶ μακαρίου οὐκ ὄντος θεοῦ. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καθάπερ ὁ νάφθας ὁ ἰνδικός, ὀφθεὶς μόνον ἀπὸ πάνυ πολλοῦ διαστήματος συνάπτει πῦρ, οὕτω κάτωθεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀμορφίας τοῦ σωροῦ διήκουσιν αἱ δυνάμεις μέχρις ἄνω τῆς υἱότητος.
de ontōs, kaiper ouden katēlthen anōthen, oude exestē hē makaria huiotēs ekeinou tou aperinoētou kai makariou ouk ontos theou. Alla gar kathaper ho naphthas ho indikos, ophtheis monon apo pany pollou diastēmatos synaptei pyr, houtō katōthen apo tēs amorphias tou sōrou diēkousin hai dynameis mechris anō tēs huiotētos.
truly, although nothing came down from above, nor did the blessed Sonship depart from that inconceivable and blessed non-existent God. But just as Indian naphtha, merely seen from a very great distance, catches fire, so from below, from the formlessness of the heap, the powers reach up as far as the Sonship.
Notes and citation
Summary: Nothing actually descended; like naphtha catching fire from afar, powers reach from below up to the Sonship.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 370; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.25.7Duncker–Schneidewin, 370–372
Ἅπτει μὲν γὰρ καὶ λαμβάνει τὰ νοήματα κατὰ τὸν νάφθαν τὸν ἰνδικόν, οἷον ἅφθας τις ὢν ὁ τοῦ μεγάλου τῆς ὀγδοάδος ἄρχοντος υἱὸς ἀπὸ τῆς μετὰ τὸ μεθόριον μακαρίας υἱότητος. Ἡ γὰρ ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐν τῷ μεθορίῳ τῆς υἱότητος δύναμις ῥέοντα καὶ φερόμενα τὰ νοήματα τῆς υἱότητος μεταδίδωσι τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ μεγάλου ἄρχοντος.
Haptei men gar kai lambanei ta noēmata kata ton naphthan ton indikon, hoion haphthas tis ōn ho tou megalou tēs ogdoados archontos huios apo tēs meta to methorion makarias huiotētos. Hē gar en mesǭ tou hagiou pneumatos en tǭ methoriǭ tēs huiotētos dynamis rheonta kai pheromena ta noēmata tēs huiotētos metadidōsi tǭ huiǭ tou megalou archontos.
For the son of the great Archon of the Ogdoad, being like naphtha, kindles and receives the thoughts from the blessed Sonship beyond the boundary, after the manner of Indian naphtha. For the power of the Holy Spirit that is in the middle, at the boundary, imparts the thoughts of the Sonship, as they flow and are borne along, to the son of the great Archon.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Through the Spirit at the boundary, the thoughts of the Sonship pass to the son of the great Archon.
- The digital text reads ἅφθας, not a known word; it is probably a corruption of νάφθας, “naphtha,” and is rendered so.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.25.7 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 370–372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-25-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
item 7, chapter 26
7.26.1Duncker–Schneidewin, 372
Ἦλθεν οὖν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς υἱότητος, φησί, διὰ τοῦ παρακαθημένου τῷ ἄρχοντι υἱοῦ πρὸς τὸν ἄρχοντα, καὶ ἔμαθεν ὁ ἄρχων, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν θεὸς τῶν ὅλων, ἀλλʼ ἦν γεννητὸς καὶ ἔχων αὐτοῦ ὑπεράνω τὸν τοῦ ἀρρήτου καὶ ἀκατονομάστου οὐκ ὄντος καὶ τῆς υἱότητος κατακείμενον θησαυρόν, καὶ ἐπέστρεψε καὶ ἐφοβήθη, συνιεὶς ἐν οἵᾳ ἦν ἀγνοίᾳ.
Ēlthen oun to euangelion prōton apo tēs huiotētos, phēsi, dia tou parakathēmenou tǭ archonti huiou pros ton archonta, kai emathen ho archōn, hoti ouk ēn theos tōn holōn, allʼ ēn gennētos kai echōn autou hyperanō ton tou arrētou kai akatonomastou ouk ontos kai tēs huiotētos katakeimenon thēsauron, kai epestrepse kai ephobēthē, synieis en hoią ēn agnoią.
So the gospel came first from the Sonship, he says, through the son seated beside the Archon, to the Archon; and the Archon learned that he was not the God of all things, but was generated and had above him the treasure of the unspeakable and unnameable non-existent one and of the Sonship laid up; and he turned and was afraid, understanding in what ignorance he had been.
Notes and citation
Summary: Through his son the great Archon learned he was not the supreme God, and he turned in fear.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.1 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.2Duncker–Schneidewin, 372
Τοῦτο ἐστί, φησί, τὸ εἰρημένον· Ἀρχὴ σοφίας φόβος κυρίου. Ἤρξατο γὰρ σοφίζεσθαι κατηχούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ παρακαθημένου Χριστοῦ, διδασκόμενος τίς ἐστιν ὁ οὐκ ὤν, τίς ἡ υἱότης, τί τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, τίς ἡ τῶν ὅλων κατασκευή, ποῦ ταῦτα ἀποκατασταθήσεται· αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ σοφία ἐν μυστηρίῳ λεγομένη,
Touto esti, phēsi, to eirēmenon; Archē sophias phobos kyriou. Ērxato gar sophizesthai katēchoumenos hypo tou parakathēmenou Christou, didaskomenos tis estin ho ouk ōn, tis hē huiotēs, ti to hagion pneuma, tis hē tōn holōn kataskeuē, pou tauta apokatastathēsetai; hautē estin hē sophia en mystēriǭ legomenē,
This, he says, is what was said: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” For he began to become wise, being catechized by the Christ seated beside him, being taught who the non-existent one is, what the Sonship is, what the Holy Spirit is, what the arrangement of all things is, where they will be restored. This is the wisdom spoken in a mystery,
Prov 1:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Archon's fear was the beginning of wisdom, as the Christ beside him taught him the whole system, the wisdom spoken in a mystery.
- The quotations are Prov 1:7 (compare Ps 111:10) and 1 Cor 2:7.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.2 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.3Duncker–Schneidewin, 372
περὶ ἧς, φησίν, ἡ γραφὴ λέγει· Οὐκ ἐν διδακτοῖς ἀνθρωπίνης σοφίας λόγοις, ἀλλʼ ἐν διδακτοῖς πνεύματος. Κατηχηθεὶς οὖν, φησίν, ὁ ἄρχων καὶ διδαχθεὶς καὶ φοβηθεὶς ἐξωμολογήσατο περὶ ἁμαρτίας, ἧς ἐποίησε μεγαλύνων ἑαυτόν.
peri hēs, phēsin, hē graphē legei; Ouk en didaktois anthrōpinēs sophias logois, allʼ en didaktois pneumatos. Katēchētheis oun, phēsin, ho archōn kai didachtheis kai phobētheis exōmologēsato peri hamartias, hēs epoiēse megalynōn heauton.
about which, he says, the Scripture says: “Not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit.” So the Archon, he says, catechized, taught, and afraid, confessed the sin he had committed in magnifying himself.
1 Cor 2:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Taught by the Spirit's wisdom, the Archon confessed his sin of self-exaltation.
- The quotation is 1 Cor 2:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent: οὖν; wrong breathing: ἧς): περὶ ἦς → περὶ ἧς; Κατηχηθεὶς οὗν → Κατηχηθεὶς οὖν.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.3 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.4Duncker–Schneidewin, 372
Τοῦτο ἐστί, φησί, τὸ εἰρημένον· Τὴν ἁμαρτίαν μου ἐγνώρισα, καὶ τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γινώσκω, ὑπὲρ ταύτης ἐξομολογήσομαι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ἐπεὶ οὖν κατήχητο μὲν ὁ μέγας ἄρχων, κατήχητο δὲ καὶ δεδίδακτο πᾶσα ἡ τῆς ὀγδοάδος κτίσις καὶ ἐγνωρίσθη τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις τὸ μυστήριον, ἔδει λοιπὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν ἑβδομάδα ἐλθεῖν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον, ἵνα καὶ ὁ τῆς ἑβδομάδος παραπλησίως ἄρχων διδαχθῇ καὶ εὐαγγελισθήσεται.
Touto esti, phēsi, to eirēmenon; Tēn hamartian mou egnōrisa, kai tēn anomian mou egō ginōskō, hyper tautēs exomologēsomai eis ton aiōna. Epei oun katēchēto men ho megas archōn, katēchēto de kai dedidakto pasa hē tēs ogdoados ktisis kai egnōristhē tois epouraniois to mystērion, edei loipon kai epi tēn hebdomada elthein to euangelion, hina kai ho tēs hebdomados paraplēsiōs archōn didachthę̄ kai euangelisthēsetai.
This, he says, is what was said: “I have made my sin known, and I know my lawlessness; for this I will confess forever.” Since, then, the great Archon had been catechized, and the whole creation of the Ogdoad had been catechized and taught, and the mystery had been made known to the heavenly beings, it was necessary next for the gospel to come to the Hebdomad too, so that the Archon of the Hebdomad might likewise be taught and have the gospel preached to him.
Ps 32:5 (31:5 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 51:3 (50:5 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Archon's confession fulfilled the psalm; then the gospel had to go on to the Hebdomad.
- The quotation blends Ps 32:5 (31:5 LXX) and Ps 51:3 (50:5 LXX).
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.4 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.5Duncker–Schneidewin, 372
Ἐπέλαμψεν [οὖν] ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ μεγάλου ἄρχοντος τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τῆς ἑβδομάδος τὸ φῶς, ὃ εἶχεν ἅψας αὐτὸς ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τῆς υἱότητος, καὶ ἐφωτίσθη ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἄρχοντος τῆς ἑβδομάδος, καὶ εὐηγγελίσατο τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῷ ἄρχοντι τῆς ἑβδομάδος, καὶ ὁμοίως κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον λόγον καὶ αὐτὸς ἐφοβήθη καὶ ἐξωμολογήσατο.
Epelampsen [oun] ho huios tou megalou archontos tǭ huiǭ tou archontos tēs hebdomados to phōs, ho eichen hapsas autos anōthen apo tēs huiotētos, kai ephōtisthē ho huios tou archontos tēs hebdomados, kai euēngelisato to euangelion tǭ archonti tēs hebdomados, kai homoiōs kata ton prōton logon kai autos ephobēthē kai exōmologēsato.
[So] the son of the great Archon shone upon the son of the Archon of the Hebdomad the light that he himself had kindled from the Sonship above; and the son of the Archon of the Hebdomad was enlightened and preached the gospel to the Archon of the Hebdomad, and he too, in the same way as in the first account, was afraid and confessed.
Notes and citation
Summary: The light passed to the son of the second Archon, who preached to his father, and he too feared and confessed.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.5 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.6Duncker–Schneidewin, 372–374
Ἐπεὶ οὖν καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ ἑβδομάδι πάντα πεφώτιστο καὶ διήγγελτο τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῖς· (κτίσεις γάρ εἰσι κατʼ αὐτὰ τὰ διαστήματα κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἄπειροι καὶ ἀρχαὶ καὶ δυνάμεις καὶ ἐξουσίαι, περὶ ὧν μακρός ἐστι κατʼ αὐτοὺς πάνυ λόγος λεγόμενος διὰ πολλῶν, ἔνθα καὶ τριακοσίους ἑξήκοντα πέντε οὐρανοὺς φάσκουσι, καὶ τὸν μέγαν ἄρχοντα αὐτῶν εἶναι τὸν Ἁβρασὰξ διὰ τὸ περιέχειν τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ψῆφον (??), ὥστε τοῦ ὀνόματος τὴν ψῆφον περιέχειν πάντα, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν τοσαύταις ἡμέραις συνεστάναι·)
Epei oun kai ta en tę̄ hebdomadi panta pephōtisto kai diēngelto to euangelion autois; (ktiseis gar eisi katʼ auta ta diastēmata katʼ autous apeiroi kai archai kai dynameis kai exousiai, peri hōn makros esti katʼ autous pany logos legomenos dia pollōn, entha kai triakosious hexēkonta pente ouranous phaskousi, kai ton megan archonta autōn einai ton Habrasax dia to periechein to onoma autou psēphon (??), hōste tou onomatos tēn psēphon periechein panta, kai dia touto ton eniauton tosautais hēmerais synestanai;)
Since, then, all things in the Hebdomad too had been enlightened and the gospel had been announced to them (for according to them there are in these intervals countless creations and principalities and powers and authorities, about which they have a very long account told at great length, where they also say there are three hundred and sixty-five heavens, and that their great Archon is Abrasax, because his name contains the number … , so that the number of the name contains all things, and for this reason the year consists of that many days),
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides' followers speak of 365 heavens ruled by Abrasax, whose name adds up to the days of the year.
- The digital text has unreadable characters after “number”; the sense is the numeral 365 (Α=1, Β=2, Ρ=100, Α=1, Σ=200, Α=1, Ξ=60). The sentence continues in 7.26.7.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.6 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 372–374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.7Duncker–Schneidewin, 374
ἀλλʼ ἐπεί, φησί, ταῦθʼ οὕτως ἐγένετο, ἔδει λοιπὸν καὶ τὴν ἀμορφίαν καθʼ ἡμᾶς φωτισθῆναι καὶ τῇ υἱότητι τῇ ἐν τῇ ἀμορφίᾳ καταλελειμμένῃ οἱονεὶ ἐκτρώματι ἀποκαλυφθῆναι τὸ μυστήριον, ὃ ταῖς προτέραις γενεαῖς οὐκ ἐγνωρίσθη, καθὼς γέγραπται, φησί· Κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν ἐγνωρίσθη μοι τὸ μυστήριον, καί· Ἤκουσα ἄρρητα ῥήματα, ἃ οὐκ ἐξὸν ἀνθρώπῳ εἰπεῖν.
allʼ epei, phēsi, tauthʼ houtōs egeneto, edei loipon kai tēn amorphian kathʼ hēmas phōtisthēnai kai tę̄ huiotēti tę̄ en tę̄ amorphią kataleleimmenę̄ hoionei ektrōmati apokalyphthēnai to mystērion, ho tais proterais geneais ouk egnōristhē, kathōs gegraptai, phēsi; Kata apokalypsin egnōristhē moi to mystērion, kai; Ēkousa arrēta rhēmata, ha ouk exon anthrōpǭ eipein.
but since, he says, these things happened thus, it was necessary next that the formlessness where we are should also be enlightened, and that the mystery should be revealed to the Sonship left behind in the formlessness like an untimely birth, the mystery which was not made known to former generations, as it is written, he says: “By revelation the mystery was made known to me,” and: “I heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to speak.”
Eph 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 15:8 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Next the mystery had to be revealed to the third Sonship left below in the formless world, as Paul speaks of revelation and unspeakable words.
- The quotations are Eph 3:3 and 2 Cor 12:4; there are allusions to Col 1:26 and, in “untimely birth,” to 1 Cor 15:8.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.7 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.8Duncker–Schneidewin, 374
Κατῆλθεν [οὖν] ἀπὸ τῆς ἑβδομάδος τὸ φῶς, τὸ κατελθὸν ἀπὸ τῆς ὀγδοάδος ἄνωθεν τῷ υἱῷ τῆς ἑβδομάδος, ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰησοῦν τὸν υἱὸν τῆς Μαρίας, καὶ ἐφωτίσθη συνεξαφθεὶς τῷ φωτὶ τῷ λάμψαντι εἰς αὐτόν.
Katēlthen [oun] apo tēs hebdomados to phōs, to katelthon apo tēs ogdoados anōthen tǭ huiǭ tēs hebdomados, epi ton Iēsoun ton huion tēs Marias, kai ephōtisthē synexaphtheis tǭ phōti tǭ lampsanti eis auton.
[So] the light came down from the Hebdomad, the light which had come down from the Ogdoad above to the son of the Hebdomad, upon Jesus the son of Mary, and he was enlightened, being kindled together with the light that shone on him.
Notes and citation
Summary: The light came down through the Hebdomad onto Jesus, son of Mary, and enlightened him.
Topics: Heresy, Christology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.8 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.9Duncker–Schneidewin, 374
Τοῦτο ἐστί, φησί, τὸ εἰρημένον· Πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἐπελεύσεται ἐπὶ σέ, τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς υἱότητος διὰ τοῦ μεθορίου πνεύματος ἐπὶ τὴν ὀγδοάδα καὶ τὴν ἑβδομάδα διελθὸν μέχρι τῆς Μαρίας, καὶ δύναμις ὑψίστου ἐπισκιάσει σοι, ἡ δύναμις τῆς κρίσεως ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκρωρείας ἄνωθεν [διὰ] τοῦ δημιουργοῦ μέχρι τῆς κτίσεως, ὅ ἐστι τοῦ υἱοῦ.
Touto esti, phēsi, to eirēmenon; Pneuma hagion epeleusetai epi se, to apo tēs huiotētos dia tou methoriou pneumatos epi tēn ogdoada kai tēn hebdomada dielthon mechri tēs Marias, kai dynamis hypsistou episkiasei soi, hē dynamis tēs kriseōs apo tēs akrōreias anōthen [dia] tou dēmiourgou mechri tēs ktiseōs, ho esti tou huiou.
This, he says, is what was said: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” that which came from the Sonship through the boundary Spirit to the Ogdoad and the Hebdomad and passed on as far as Mary; “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” the power of distinction from the summit above, [through] the Demiurge as far as the creation, which is the son's.
Luke 1:35 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Basilides reads the angel's words to Mary as the descent of the light through the heavens.
- The quotation is Luke 1:35. “Power of distinction” (δύναμις τῆς κρίσεως) is uncertain; κρίσις may mean “judgment” or “separation.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing rough breathing): Πνεῦμα ἄγιον → Πνεῦμα ἅγιον.
Topics: Heresy, Christology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.9 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-9). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
7.26.10Duncker–Schneidewin, 374
Μέχρι δὲ ἐκείνου φησὶ συνεστηκέναι τὸν κόσμον οὕτως, μέχρις οὗ πᾶσα ἡ υἱότης ἡ καταλελειμμένη εἰς τὸ εὐεργετεῖν τὰς ψυχὰς ἐν ἀμορφίᾳ καὶ εὐεργετεῖσθαι διαμορφουμένη κατακολουθήσῃ τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ ἀναδράμῃ καὶ ἔλθῃ ἀποκαθαρισθεῖσα· καὶ γίνεται λεπτομερεστάτη, ὡς δύνασθαι διʼ αὐτῆς ἀναδραμεῖν ὥσπερ ἡ πρώτη. Πᾶσαν γὰρ ἔχει τὴν δύναμιν συνεστηριγμένην φυσικῶς τῷ φωτὶ τῷ λάμψαντι ἄνωθεν κάτω.
Mechri de ekeinou phēsi synestēkenai ton kosmon houtōs, mechris hou pasa hē huiotēs hē kataleleimmenē eis to euergetein tas psychas en amorphią kai euergeteisthai diamorphoumenē katakolouthēsę̄ tǭ Iēsou kai anadramę̄ kai elthę̄ apokatharistheisa; kai ginetai leptomerestatē, hōs dynasthai diʼ autēs anadramein hōsper hē prōtē. Pasan gar echei tēn dynamin synestērigmenēn physikōs tǭ phōti tǭ lampsanti anōthen katō.
And he says the world holds together in this way until the whole Sonship that was left behind to benefit the souls in formlessness and to be benefited, being given form, follows Jesus and runs up and comes, purified; and it becomes most fine, so that it can run up by itself like the first. For it has all its power naturally made firm by the light that shone from above downward.
Notes and citation
Summary: The world lasts until the whole third Sonship follows Jesus, is purified, and rises like the first.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing/accent: οὗ): μέχρις οὖ → μέχρις οὗ.
Topics: Heresy, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Hippolytus, Haer. 7.26.10 (Duncker–Schneidewin, 374; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/7-16-1/#p-7-26-10). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.