Hippolytus, Refutatio V.8.12-22: The Unstamped, and the Gate of Heaven
Refutatio omnium haeresium · the Naassene report
Ἔλεγχος κατὰ πασῶν αἱρέσεων
This edition presents the verbatim Hebrew of the passage beside a fresh English rendering and a critical apparatus. It is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor.
The apparatus carries a running commentary, notes on the controlled vocabulary and the rendering chosen for each term, any doctrinally-live ambiguity preserved with both readings, and cross-references to the lexicon. The Hebrew is reproduced verbatim from the Hebrew Wikisource transcription; the standard modern English translation (Kaplan, 1979) is under copyright.
ᾔδει γάρ, φησίν, ἐξ ὁποίας φύσεως ἕκαστος τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐστι καὶ ὅτι ἕκαστον αὐτῶν εἰς τὴν ἰδίαν φύσιν ἐλθεῖν ἀνάγκη. ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν δώδεκα, φησί, φυλῶν μαθητὰς ἐξελέξατο δώδεκα καὶ δι’ αὐτῶν ἐλάλησε πάσῃ φυλῇ· διὰ τοῦτο, φησί, τὰ τῶν δώδεκα μαθητῶν κηρύγματα οὔτε πάντες ἀκηκόασιν οὔτε, ἐὰν ἀκούσωσι, παραδέξασθαι δύνανται. ἔστι γὰρ αὐτοῖς παρὰ φύσιν τὰ μὴ κατὰ φύσιν. Τοῦτον, φησί, Θρᾷκες οἱ περὶ τὸν Αἷμον οἰκοῦντες Κορύβαντα καλοῦσι καὶ Θρᾳξὶν οἱ Φρύγες παραπλησίως, ὅτι ἀπὸ τῆς κορυφῆς ἄνωθεν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀχαρακτηρίστου ἐγκεφάλου τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς καταβάσεως λαμβάνων καὶ πάσας τὰς τῶν ὑποκειμένων διερχόμενος ἀρχὰς πῶς καὶ τίνα τρόπον κατέρχεται, οὐ νοοῦμεν. τοῦτ᾿ ἔστι, φησί, τὸ εἰρημένον· »φωνὴν μὲν αὐτοῦ ἠκούσαμεν, εἶδος δὲ αὐτοῦ οὐχ ἑωράκαμεν«. άοιτετανλεβιτ γάρ, φησίν, αὐτοῦ καὶ <κε>χαρακτηρισμένου ἀκούεται φωνή, τὸ δὲ εἲδος τὸ κατελθὸν ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀχαρακτηρίστου ὁποῖόν ἐστιν εἶδεν οὐδείς. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τῷ πλάσματι τῷ χοϊκῷ, γινώσκει δὲ αὐτὸ οὐδείς. οὑτος, φησίν, ἐστὶν »ὁ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν οἰκιῶν θεὸς‘ κατὰ τὸ ψαλτήριον καὶ φθεγγόμενος <καὶ> κεκραγὼς ἀπὸ »ὑδάτων πολλῶν«. ὕδατα, φησίν, ἐστὶ πολλὰ ἡ πολυσχιδὴν τῶν θνητῶν γένεσις ἀνθρώπων, ἀφ᾿ ἧς βοᾷ βοᾷ κέκραγε πρὸς τὸν ἀχαρακτήριστον ἄνθρωπον, »ῥῦσαι« λέγων »ἀπὸ λεόντων τὴν μονογενῆ μου«. πρὸς τοῦτον, φησίν, ἐστὶ εἰρημένον· »παῖς μου εἶ σὺ Ἰσραὴλ, μὴ φοβοῦ· ἐὰν διὰ ποταμῶν διέλθῃς, οὐ μή σε συγκλύσωσιν, ἐὰν διὰ πυρὸς διέλθῃς, οὐ μή σε συγκαύσει«. ποταμούς, φησί, λέγει τὴν ὑγρὰν τῆς γενέσεως οὐσίαν, πῦρ δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τὴν γένεσιν ὁρμὴν καὶ ἐπιθυμίαν· »σὺ ἐμὸς εἶ, μὴ φοβοῦ«. καὶ πάλιν, φησίν, »εἰ ἐπιλήσεται μήτηρ τῶν τέκνων αὐτῆς μὴ ἐλεῆσαι μηδὲ ἐπιδοῦναι μαστόν, κἀγὼ ἐπιλήσομαι ὑμῶν«, ὁ Ἀδάμας, φησί, λέγει πρὸς τοὺς ἰδίους ἀνθρώπους· »ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ ἐπιλήσεται ταῦτα γυνή, ἀλλ ἐγὼ οὐκ ἐπιλήσομαι ὑμῶν. ἐπὶ τῶν χειρῶν μου ἐξωγράφηκα ὑμᾶς«. περὶ δὲ τῆς αὐτοῦ, αὐτοῦ, τουτέστι τῆς ἀναγεννήσεως, ἵνα γένηται πνευματικός. οὐ σαρκικός, λέγει, φησίν, ἡ γραφή· »ἄρατε πύλας οἱ. ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δοξης«. τοῦτ’ ἐστὶ θαῦμα θαυμάτων. »τίς« γάρ, φησίν, »ἐστὶν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης;« »σκώληξ καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ἄνειδος ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἐξουθένημα λαοῦ«. »αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης, ὁ ἐν πολέμῳ δυνατός«. πόλεμον μον δὲ λέγει τὸν ἐν σώματι, ὅτι ἐκ μαχίμων στοιχείων πέπλασται τὸ πλάσμα, καθὼς γέγραπται, φησί, »μνήσθητι πόλεμον τὸν γινόμενον ἐν σώματι«. ταύτην, φησί, τὴν εἴσοδον καὶ ταύτην τὴν πύλην εἶδεν εἰς Μεσοποταμίαν πορευόμενος ὁ Ἰακώβ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἀπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἔφηβος ἤδη γινόμενος καὶ ἀνήρ, τουτέστιν ἐγνωρίσθη τῷ εἰς Μεσοποταμίαν πορευομένῳ Μεσοποταμία δέ, φησίν, ἐστὶν ἡ τοῦ μεγάλου Ὠκεανοῦ ῥοή, ἀπὸ τῶν μέσων ῥέουσα τοῦ τελείου ἀνθρώπου. καὶ ἐθαύμασε τὴν οὐράνιον πύλην εἰπών· »ὡς φοβερὸς ὁ τόπος οὑτος. οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο ἀλλ’ ἢ οἶκος θεοῦ, καὶ αὕτη ἡ πύλη τοῦ οὐρανοῦ«. διὰ τοῦτο, φησί, λέγει ὁ Ἰησοῦς· »ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ πύλη ἡ ἀληθινή«. ἔστι δὲ ὁ ταῦτα λέγων ὁ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀχαρακτηρίστου, φησίν, ἄνωθεν ἀνωθεν κεχαρακτηρισμένος τέλειος ἄνθρωπος. οὐ δύναται οὖν, φησί, σωθῆναι ὁ τέλειος ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν μὴ ἀναγεννηθῇ διὰ ταύτης εἰσελθὼν τῆς πύλης. Τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τοῦτον, φησί, Φρύγες καὶ Πάπαν καλοῦσιν, ὅτι πάντα ἔπαυσεν ἀτάκτως καὶ πλημμελῶς πρὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φανερώσεως κεκινημένα. τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα, φησί, τοῦ πάπα πάντων ὁμοῦ ἐστι τῶν ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων‘ λεγόντων· παῦε παῦε τὴν ἀσυμφωνίαν τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ποίησον »εἰρήνην τοῖς μακράν«, τουτέστι τοῖς ὑλικοῖς καὶ χοϊκοῖς, καὶ »εἰρήνην τοῖς ἐγγύς«, τούτεστι τοῖς πνευματικοῖς καὶ νοεροῖς τελείοις ἀνθρώποις, λέγουσι δὲ οἱ Φρύγες τὸν αὐτὸν τοῦτον καὶ νέκυν, οἱονεὶ ἐν μνήματι καὶ τάφῳ ἐγκατωρυγμένον ἐν τῷ σώματι.
For he knew, he says, out of what sort of nature each of his disciples is, and that each of them must come to his own nature. For from the twelve tribes, he says, he chose twelve disciples, and through them he spoke to every tribe. For this reason, he says, not all have heard the preachings of the twelve disciples, nor, if they hear, are they able to receive them. For the things that are not according to their nature are for them against nature.
Him, he says, the Thracians who dwell about the Haemus call Korybas, and the Phrygians similarly to the Thracians, because taking the beginning of his descent from the crown of the head above and from the unstamped brain, and passing through all the beginnings of the things beneath, how and in what manner he comes down we do not understand.
This is, he says, what is said: “we heard his voice, but his form we have not seen.” For […] of him, he says, and of one that has been stamped, the voice is heard; but the form that came down from above, from the unstamped, what sort it is, no one has seen. And it is in the moulded thing of dust, and no one knows it.
This one, he says, is “the God who inhabits the flood” according to the psalter, and who utters and cries out from “many waters.” Many waters, he says, is the many-branched coming-to-be of mortal men, out of which he shouts and cries out to the unstamped Man, saying: “deliver my only-begotten from the lions.”
To this one, he says, it is said: “you are my child, Israel; do not fear. If you pass through rivers, they shall not sweep you away; if you pass through fire, it shall not burn you up.” Rivers, he says, means the wet substance of coming-to-be, and fire the impulse and desire toward coming-to-be. “You are mine, do not fear.”
And again, he says: “if a mother should forget her children, so as not to have mercy nor to give the breast, I also will forget you” — Adamas, he says, says this to his own men — “but even if a woman should forget these things, yet I will not forget you. Upon my hands I have painted you.”
And concerning his ascent, that is, his rebirth, so that he may become spiritual, not fleshly, the scripture says, he says: “lift up the gates, you who are rulers, and be lifted up, you eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in.” This is the wonder of wonders. “For who”, he says, “is this King of glory? A worm and not a man, a reproach of a man and a scorn of the people.” “He is the King of glory, mighty in war.”
And by war he means the war in the body, because the moulded thing has been moulded out of warring elements, as it is written, he says: “remember the war that comes to be in the body.” This entry, he says, and this gate Jacob saw as he journeyed to Mesopotamia — which is to say, already becoming a youth from a boy, and a man; that is, it was made known to him as he journeyed to Mesopotamia. And Mesopotamia, he says,
is the flow of the great Ocean, flowing from the middle of the perfect Man. And he marvelled at the heavenly gate, saying: “how fearful is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” For this reason, he says, Jesus says: “I am the true gate.”
And he who says these things is the perfect Man stamped from above, from the unstamped, he says. Therefore, he says, the perfect Man cannot be saved unless he is born again, entering through this gate.
And this same one, he says, the Phrygians also call Papas, because he stopped all the things that were moving in disorder and out of tune before his own manifestation. For the name, he says, of Papas belongs to all together “of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth” when they say: stop, stop the discord of the world, and make “peace to those far off” — that is, to the material and to those of dust — and “peace to those near” — that is, to the spiritual and intellective perfect men. And the Phrygians call this same one also a corpse, as though buried in a monument and a tomb within the body.
Him, he says, the Thracians who dwell about the Haemus call Korybas, and the Phrygians similarly to the Thracians, because taking the beginning of his descent from the crown of the head above and from the unstamped brain, and passing through all the beginnings of the things beneath, how and in what manner he comes down we do not understand.
This is, he says, what is said: “we heard his voice, but his form we have not seen.” For […] of him, he says, and of one that has been stamped, the voice is heard; but the form that came down from above, from the unstamped, what sort it is, no one has seen. And it is in the moulded thing of dust, and no one knows it.
This one, he says, is “the God who inhabits the flood” according to the psalter, and who utters and cries out from “many waters.” Many waters, he says, is the many-branched coming-to-be of mortal men, out of which he shouts and cries out to the unstamped Man, saying: “deliver my only-begotten from the lions.”
To this one, he says, it is said: “you are my child, Israel; do not fear. If you pass through rivers, they shall not sweep you away; if you pass through fire, it shall not burn you up.” Rivers, he says, means the wet substance of coming-to-be, and fire the impulse and desire toward coming-to-be. “You are mine, do not fear.”
And again, he says: “if a mother should forget her children, so as not to have mercy nor to give the breast, I also will forget you” — Adamas, he says, says this to his own men — “but even if a woman should forget these things, yet I will not forget you. Upon my hands I have painted you.”
And concerning his ascent, that is, his rebirth, so that he may become spiritual, not fleshly, the scripture says, he says: “lift up the gates, you who are rulers, and be lifted up, you eternal gates, and the King of glory shall come in.” This is the wonder of wonders. “For who”, he says, “is this King of glory? A worm and not a man, a reproach of a man and a scorn of the people.” “He is the King of glory, mighty in war.”
And by war he means the war in the body, because the moulded thing has been moulded out of warring elements, as it is written, he says: “remember the war that comes to be in the body.” This entry, he says, and this gate Jacob saw as he journeyed to Mesopotamia — which is to say, already becoming a youth from a boy, and a man; that is, it was made known to him as he journeyed to Mesopotamia. And Mesopotamia, he says,
is the flow of the great Ocean, flowing from the middle of the perfect Man. And he marvelled at the heavenly gate, saying: “how fearful is this place! This is nothing other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” For this reason, he says, Jesus says: “I am the true gate.”
And he who says these things is the perfect Man stamped from above, from the unstamped, he says. Therefore, he says, the perfect Man cannot be saved unless he is born again, entering through this gate.
And this same one, he says, the Phrygians also call Papas, because he stopped all the things that were moving in disorder and out of tune before his own manifestation. For the name, he says, of Papas belongs to all together “of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth” when they say: stop, stop the discord of the world, and make “peace to those far off” — that is, to the material and to those of dust — and “peace to those near” — that is, to the spiritual and intellective perfect men. And the Phrygians call this same one also a corpse, as though buried in a monument and a tomb within the body.
Provisional draft (pending scholarly review)
An orientation
This edition sets the verbatim original-language text beside a fresh English rendering and a critical apparatus: a running commentary on the passage, notes on the controlled vocabulary and the rendering chosen for each term, and cross-references to the lexicon and to related sections. It is a provisional scholarly draft, released openly for correction and not yet reviewed by a credentialed editor.