Trimorphic Protennoia
TRIMORPHIC PROTENNOIA (XIII, 1)
Introduced and translated by JOHN D. TURNER
The tractate Trimorphic Protennoia appears to be, in its final form, a Barbeloite treatise with Sethian influences. Presumably having a rather complex compositional history, the tractate may have attained to this final form around or shortly after 200 C.E. Thus it may be considered as roughly contemporaneous with the Apocryphon of John , which it resembles in certain interesting ways. The Trimorphic Protennoia probably survived for some time in Greek, but it was eventually translated into Coptic, and found its way into Codex XIII of the Nag Hammadi library.
The Trimorphic Protennoia offers philosophical and apocalyptic speculation on the nature of history and the universe. The tractate proclaims three descents of the Gnostic heavenly redeemer Protennoia, who is actually Barbelo, the First Thought of the Father. The Trimorphic Protennoia itself is divided into three sections, each with individual subtitles and each describing one of the descents of the heavenly redeemer. First she appears as Father, or Voice; second, as Mother, or Sound; and third, as Son, or Word (Logos). Each of these three sections, in turn, is capable of being subdivided into three parts: first, an aretalogy (“I am …”); second, a doctrinal presentation (on cosmogony, eschatology, and soteriology, respectively); and third, a concluding revelation. As the tractate proclaims, Protennoia is the Thought of the Father, the one born first of all beings, the one who has three names and yet exists alone, as one. She dwells at all levels of the universe; she is the revealer who awakens those that sleep, who utters a call to remember, who saves. In three descents from the realm of Life and Light, the divine Protennoia brings to the fallen world of mortality a salvation through knowledge and the “Five Seals.”
The question of the Christian or non-Christian character of Trimorphic Protennoia deserves special mention. The name “Christ” appears a few times; and the similarities between the second subtractate (on eschatology) and the synoptic apocalypse (Mark 13 and parallels) and 1 Corinthians 15, and especially between the third subtractate (on the Son or Logos) and the Gospel of John, are extremely interesting. Trimorphic Protennoia may in part reflect these New Testament sources. Yet it is quite probable that the tractate has been secondarily Christianized.
TRIMORPHIC PROTENNOIA
XIII 35, 1-50, 24
[I] am [Protennoia, the] Thought that [dwells] in [the Light. I] am the movement that dwells in the [All, she in whom the] All takes its stand, [the first]-born 5 among those who [came to be, she who exists] before the All. [She (Protennoia) is called] by three names, although she exists alone, [since she is perfect]. I am invisible within the Thought of the Invisible One. I am revealed in the immeasurable, 10 ineffable things. I am intangible, dwelling in the intangible. I move in every creature.
I am the life of my Epinoia that dwells within every power and every eternal movement 15 and (in) invisible Lights and within the Archons and Angels and Demons and every soul dwelling in [Tartaros] and (in) every material soul. I dwell in those who came to be. I move in 20 everyone and I delve into them all. I walk uprightly, and those who sleep I [awaken]. And I am the sight of those who dwell in sleep.
I am the Invisible One within the All. 25 It is I who counsel those who are hidden, since I know the All that exists in it. I am numberless beyond everyone. I am immeasurable, ineffable, yet whenever I wish, [I shall] reveal 30 myself. I [am the movement of] the All. I exist before the [All, and] I am the All, since I [exist before] everyone.
I am a Voice [speaking softly]. I exist [from the first. I dwell] within the Silence 35 [that surrounds every one] of them. 36 And [it is] the [hidden Voice] that [dwells within] me, [within the] intangible, immeasurable [Thought, within the immeasurable Silence.
I [descended to the] midst of the underworld 5 and I shone down [upon the darkness]. It is I who poured forth the [Water]. I am the one hidden within [radiant] waters. I am the one who gradually dawns on the All. Within my Thought, it is I who am laden with the Voice. It 10 is through me that knowledge comes forth. [I] exist in the ineffable and unknowable ones. I am perception and knowledge, uttering a Voice by means of Thought. [I] am the real Voice. 15 I cry out in everyone, and they know that a seed dwells within [me]. I am the Thought of the Father and through me proceeded [the] Voice, that is, the knowledge of the everlasting things. I 20 exist as Thought for the [All]. I am joined to the unknowable and intangible Thought. (It was) I (who) revealed myself within all those who know me, for I am the one joined with everyone within 25 the hidden Thought and in an exalted Voice.
And it is a Voice from the invisible Thought, and it is immeasurable, since it dwells in the Immeasurable One. It is a mystery; it is [unrestrained] 30 by [the Intangible One]. It is invisible [to all those who are] visible in the All. [It is a Light] dwelling in Light.
It is we [also who have separated] ourselves [from the] visible [world]35 since we [are saved by the] hidden [wisdom mediated by the] 37 ineffable, immeasurable [Voice]. And he who is hidden within us pays the tributes of his fruit to the Water of Life.
Then the Son who is perfect in every respect—that is,5 the Word who originated through that Voice, who was the first to leave the height; who has within him the Name; who is a Light—(this Son) revealed the everlasting things and all the unknowns were known.10 He revealed the things that are difficult to interpret and the things that are secret, and he preached to those who dwell in Silence and in the First Thought, and he revealed himself to those who dwell in darkness, and 15 he explained himself to those who dwell in the abyss, and to those who dwell in the hidden treasuries he told ineffable mysteries, and he taught unreproducible doctrines to all those who became Sons of 20 the Light.
Now the Voice that originated from my Thought exists as three permanences: the Father, the Mother, the Son. A Sound that is perceptible, it has within it a Word endowed with 25 every glory, and it has three masculinities, three powers, and three names. They exist in the manner of the triad 𝌀𝌀𝌀, which are quadrangles, secretly within a Silence 30 of the Ineffable One.
[It is he] alone who came to be, that [is, the Christ. And] (it was) I who anointed him as the glory [of the] Invisible [Spirit] with [goodness]. Now [the third] I established [alone in] eternal [glory] over 35 [the Aeons in my living water], that [is, the glorious light that surrounds him] 38 who first came forth to the Light of those exalted Aeons, and it is in glorious Light that he firmly perseveres. And [he] stood in his own Light 5 that surrounds him who is the eye of the Light that gloriously shines on me. He gave Aeons for the Father of all Aeons, who is I, the Thought of the Father, for Protennoia, that is, Barbelo, the perfect Glory 10 and the immeasurable Invisible One who is hidden. I am the Image of the Invisible Spirit and it is through me that the All took shape, and (I am) the Mother (as well as) the Light which she appointed as Virgin, she who is called 15 Meirothea, the intangible Womb, the unrestrained and immeasurable Voice.
Then the Perfect Son revealed himself to his Aeons who originated through him, and he revealed them and glorified them and 20 enthroned them and stood in the glory with which he glorified himself. They blessed the Perfect Son, the Christ, the God who came into being by himself. And they gave glory, saying, “He is! He is! The Son25 of God!
The Son of God! It is he who is! The Aeon of Aeons! He beholds the Aeons which he begot. For (it is) thou (who) hast begotten by thine own desire! Therefore [we] glorify thee: ma mō ō ō eia ei on ei! The [Aeon]30 of [Aeons! The] Aeon which he gave!”
Then, moreover, the [God who was begotten] gave them (the Aeons) a power of [life for them to rely] on and he established [them. The] first Aeon he established [over the first]: Armedon,35 Nousa[nios, Armozel; the] second he established [over the second Aeon]: 39 Phaionios, Ainios, Oroiael; the third over the third Aeon: Mellephaneus, Loios, Daveithai; the fourth over the fourth: Mousanios, Amethes,5 Eleleth. Now those Aeons ⟨are⟩ the ones begotten by the God who was begotten — the Christ — and these Aeons received as well as gave glory. They were the first to appear, exalted in their thought, and each 10 of ⟨the⟩ Aeons gave 10,000 glories within great unsearchable lights and they all together blessed the Perfect Son, the God who was begotten.
Then there came forth a word from the great 15 Light Eleleth and said, “I am King! Who belongs to Chaos and who belongs to the underworld?” And at that instant his Light appeared, shining forth, endowed with the Epinoia. The Powers of 20 the Powers did not entreat him and immediately there appeared the great Demon who rules over the lowest part of the underworld and Chaos. He has neither form nor perfection, but on the contrary possesses 25 the form of the glory of those begotten in the darkness. Now he is called “Saklas,” that is, “Samael,” “Yaltabaoth,” he who had taken power; who had snatched it away from the guileless one (Sophia); who had at first overpowered 30 her who is the Light’s Epinoia who had descended, her from whom he (the great Demon) had come forth from the first.
Now the Epinoia of the Light knew that [she] had begged him (Eleleth) for another [order] different from hers, and she 35 said, “Give [me another order so that] you may become for me [a dwelling place lest I become] disorderly [forever.” And the order of the] entire house of 40 glory [was agreed] upon her word. A blessing was conveyed to her and the higher order yielded to her.
And the great Demon 5 began to produce aeons in the likeness of the real Aeons, except that he produced them out of his own power.
Then I too revealed my Voice secretly,10 saying, “Cease! Desist, (you) who tread on matter, for behold! I am coming down to the world of mortals for the sake of my portion that was in that place from the time when 15 the guileless Sophia was conquered, she who descended, so that I might thwart their aim which the one who reveals himself through her appoints.” And everyone who dwelt in the 20 house of the unknowable Light was disturbed, and the abyss trembled. And the Archigenetor of ignorance reigned over Chaos and the underworld and 25 produced a man in my likeness. But he neither knew that that one would become for him a decree of annulment nor does he recognize the power in him.
But now I have come down30 and reached down to Chaos. And I was [with] my own who were in that place. [I am hidden] within them, empowering [them], giving them shape. And [from this day]35 until the [day when I will grant mighty glory] to those who [are mine, I will reveal myself to] those who have [heard my mysteries], 41 that is, the [Sons] of [the] Light.
I am their Father and I shall tell you an ineffable and indivulgeable mystery from my Forethought: Every bond 5 I loosed from you, and the chains of the Demons of the underworld I broke, these things which are bound on my members as restraints. And the high walls of darkness I threw down, and the secure gates of 10 those pitiless ones I broke, and I smashed their bars. And (as for) the evil Force and the one who beats you, and the one who hinders you, and the Tyrant, and the Adversary, and the one who is King, and the real Enemy,15 indeed all these I explained to those who are mine, who are the Sons of the Light, in order that they might nullify them all and be saved from all those bonds and enter into the place where they were at 20 first.
I am the first one who descended on account of my portion which is left behind, that is, the Spirit that (now) dwells in the Soul, but which originated from the Water of Life. And out of the immersion of the mysteries I spoke,25 I together with the Archons and Authorities. For I went down below their language and I spoke my mysteries to my own—a hidden mystery—and the bonds and eternal oblivion were nullified.30 And I bore fruit in them, that is, the Thought of the unchanging Aeon, and my house, and their [Father]. And I went down [to those who were mine] from the first and I [reached them and broke] the first strand 35 that [enslaved them. Then] everyone [within] me shone, and 42 I constructed [a pattern] for those Lights that are ineffably within me. Amen.
The Discourse of Protennoia [§ 1]
I am the Voice that appeared through 5 my Thought, for I am “He who is syzygetic,” since I am called “the Thought of the Invisible One.” Since I am called “the Unchanging Sound,” I am called “She who is syzygetic.”
I am a single one (fem.) since I am undefiled. I am the Mother [of]10 the Voice, speaking in many ways, completing the All. It is in me that knowledge dwells, the knowledge of things everlasting. [It is] I [who] speak within every creature and I was known by the All. It is I who lift up15 the Sound of the Voice to the ears of those who have known me, that is, the Sons of the Light.
Now I have come the second time in the likeness of a female and have spoken with them. And I shall tell them of the coming end of this Aeon20 and teach them of the beginning of the Aeon to come, the one without change, the one in which our appearance will be changed. We shall be purified within those Aeons from which I revealed myself in the Thought25 of the likeness of my masculinity. I settled among those who are worthy in the Thought of my changeless Aeon.
For I shall tell you a mystery [of] this Aeon that is, and tell you about the forces that are30 in it. The birth cries [out; hour] begets hour, [and day begets day]. The months made known the [month. Time] has [gone round] succeeding [time]. This Aeon that is 43 was completed in [this fashion], and it was estimated, and it (was) short, for it (was) a finger that released a finger and a joint that was separated from a joint. Then when the great Authorities knew 5 that the time of fulfillment had appeared— just as in the pangs of the parturient it (the time) has drawn nigh, so also had the destruction approached—all together the elements trembled, and the foundations of the underworld and the ceilings10 of Chaos shook and a great fire shone within their midst, and the rocks and the earth were shaken like a reed shaken by the wind. And the lots of Fate and those who apportion the domiciles were greatly disturbed over15 a great thunder. And the thrones of the Powers were disturbed since they were overturned, and their King was afraid. And those who pursue Fate paid their allotment of visits to the path, and they said to the Powers, “What is this disturbance20 and this shaking that has come upon us through a Voice ⟨belonging⟩ to the exalted Sound? And our entire habitation has been shaken, and the entire circuit of our path of ascent has met with destruction, and the path upon which we go,25 which takes us up to the Archigenetor of our birth, has ceased to be established for us.”’ Then the Powers answered, saying, “We too are at a loss about it since we did not know what was responsible for it. But30 arise, let us go up to the Archigenetor and ask him.” And the Powers all gathered and went up to the Archigenetor. [They said to] him, “Where is your boasting in which [you boast]?35 Did we not [hear you say], ‘I am God [and I am] your Father 44 and it is I who [begot] you and there is no [other] beside me’? Now behold, there has appeared [a] Voice belonging to that invisible Sound of [the Aeon] that we know not. And 5 we ourselves did not recognize to whom we belong, for that Voice which we heard is foreign to us, and we do not recognize it; we did not know whence it was. It came and put fear in our midst and weakening10 in the members of our arms. So now let us weep and mourn most bitterly! As for the future, let us make our entire flight before we are imprisoned perforce and taken down to the bosom of the underworld. For already15 the slackening of our bondage has approached, and the times are cut short and the days have shortened and our time has been fulfilled, and the weeping of our destruction has approached us so that we may be taken to the place we recognize.20 For as for our tree from which we grew, a fruit of ignorance is what it has, and also its leaves, it is death that dwells in them, and darkness dwells under the shadow of its boughs. And it was in deceit25 and lust that we harvested it, this (tree) through which ignorant Chaos became for us a dwelling place. For behold, even he, the Archigenetor of our birth, about whom we boast, even he did not know this Sound.”
So now,30 O Sons of the Thought, listen to me, to the Sound of the Mother of your mercy, for you have become worthy of the mystery hidden from the Aeons, so that [you might be perfect]. And the consummation of this Aeon [that is and] of the life35 of injustice [has approached, and there dawns 45 the] beginning of the [Aeon to come] which [has no change forever].
I am androgynous. [I am both Mother and] Father since [I copulate] with myself. I [copulate] with myself 5 [and with those who love] me, [and] it is through me alone that the All [stands firm]. I am the Womb [that gives shape] to the All by giving birth to the Light that [shines in] splendor. I am the Aeon to [come. I am] the fulfillment of the All, that is,10 Me[iroth]ea, the glory of the Mother. I cast a Sound [of the Voice] into the ears of those who know me.
And I am inviting you into the exalted, perfect Light. Moreover (as for) this (Light), when you enter it you will be glorified by those who15 give glory, and those who enthrone will enthrone you. You will receive robes from those who give robes and the baptizers will baptize you and you will become gloriously glorious, the way you first were20 when you were ⟨Light⟩.
And I hid myself in everyone and revealed [myself] within them, and every mind seeking me longed for me, for it is I who gave shape to the All when it had no form.25 And I transformed their forms into (other) forms until the time when a form will be given to the All. It is through me that the Voice originated and it is I who put the breath within my own. And I cast into30 them the eternally holy Spirit and I ascended and entered my Light. [I went up] upon my branch and sat [there among] the Sons of the [holy] Light. And [I withdrew] to their dwelling place 46 which […]3 become [glorious …. Amen].
[On the Heimar]mene [§ 2]5
I am [the Word] who dwells [in] ineffable [Silence]. I dwell in undefiled [Light] and a Thought [revealed itself] perceptibly through [the great] Sound of the Mother, although it is a male offspring [that supports me]10 as my foundation. And it (the Sound) exists from the beginning in the foundations of the All.
But there is a Light [that] dwells hidden in Silence and it was first to [come] forth. Whereas she (the Mother) alone exists as Silence, I alone am the Word, ineffable,15 incorruptible, immeasurable, inconceivable. It (the Word?) is a hidden Light, bearing a fruit of life, pouring forth Living Water from the invisible, unpolluted, immeasurable spring, that is, the unreproducible Voice of the glory20 of the Mother, the glory of the offspring of God; a male Virgin by virtue of a hidden Intellect, that is, the Silence hidden from the All, being unreproducible, an immeasurable Light, the source of the All,25 the root of the entire Aeon. It is the foundation that supports every movement of the Aeons that belong to the mighty glory. It is the founding of every foundation. It is the breath of the powers. It is the eye of the three permanences, which exist as a Voice30 by virtue of Thought. And it is a Word by virtue of the Sound; it was sent to illumine those who dwell in the [darkness].
Now behold! [I will reveal] to you [my mysteries] since35 you are my fellow [brethren, and you shall] know them all […]. 47 5 I [told them all about my mysteries] that exist in [the ineffable], inexpressible [Aeons]. I taught [them the mysteries] through the [Voice that exists] within a perfect Intellect [and 10 I] became a foundation for the All, and [I empowered] them.
The second time I came in the [Sound] of my Voice. I gave shape to those who [took] shape until their consummation.
The third time I revealed myself to them [in]15 their tents as the Word and I revealed myself in the likeness of their shape. And I wore everyone’s garment and I hid myself within them, and [they] did not know the one who empowers me. For I dwell within20 all the Sovereignties and Powers and within the Angels and in every movement [that] exists in all matter. And I hid myself within them until I revealed myself to my [brethren]. And none of them (the Powers) knew me, [although]25 it is I who work in them. Rather [they thought] that the All was created [by them] since they are ignorant, not knowing [their] root, the place in which they grew.
[I] am the Light that illumines the All. I30 am the Light that rejoices [in my] brethren, for I came down to the world [of] mortals on account of the Spirit that remains [in] that which descended (and) came forth [from the guileless] Sophia. [I came] and I [founded35 …] and I [went] to […] 48 6 which he had [formerly and I gave to him] from the [Living] Water, [which strips] him of the Chaos [that dwells in the] uttermost [darkness] existing [inside]10 the entire [abyss], that is, the [corporeal] and the psychic thought. All these I put on. And I stripped him of it (the inferior thought) and I put upon him a shining Light, that is, the knowledge of the Thought of the Fatherhood.15
And I delivered him to those who give robes— Yammon, Elasso, Amenai—and they [covered] him with a robe from the robes of the Light; and I delivered him to the baptizers and they baptized him—Micheus, Michar,20 Mn[e]sinous—and they immersed him in the spring of the [Water] of Life. And I delivered him to those who enthrone—Bariel, Nouthan, Sabenai—and they enthroned him from the throne of glory. And I delivered him to those who glorify—25 Ariom, Elien, Phariel—and they glorified him with the glory of the Fatherhood. And those who snatch away snatched away—Kamaliel, [… ]anen, Samblo, the servants of the great holy Luminaries—and they took him into30 the light-[place] of his Fatherhood. And [he received] the Five Seals from the [Light] of the Mother, Protennoia, and it was [granted] him to partake of the [mystery] of knowledge, and [he became a Light] in35 Light.
So, now, […. 49 6 I was] dwelling in them [in the form of each] one. The [Archons] thought [that I] was their Christ. Actually I [am the Father of everyone]. Indeed within those in whom [I revealed10 myself] as Light [I eluded] the Archons. I am their beloved, [for] in that place I clothed myself [as] the Son of the Archigenetor, and I was like him until the end of his regime, which is15 the ignorance of Chaos. And among the Angels I revealed myself in their likeness, and among the Powers as if I were one of them, but among the Sons of Man as if I were a Son of Man, even though I am20 Father of everyone.
I hid myself within them all until I revealed myself among my members, which are mine, and I taught them about the ineffable ordinances, and about the brethren. But they are inexpressible to every Sovereignty and every ruling25 Power except to the Sons of the Light alone, that is, the ordinances of the Father. These are the glories that are higher than every glory, that is, [the Five] Seals complete by virtue of Intellect. He who possesses the Five Seals of these30 particular names has stripped off the garments of ignorance and put on a shining Light. And nothing will appear to him that belongs to the Powers of the Archons. Within those of this sort35 darkness will dissolve and [ignorance] will die. And the thought of the creature which [is scattered] will present a single appearance and [dark Chaos] will dissolve and […] 50 3 and the […] unattainable […] 5 within the (fem.) […] until I reveal myself [to my fellow brethren] and until I gather [together] all [my fellow] brethren within my [eternal kingdom]. And I proclaimed to them the ineffable [Five10 Seals] in order that [I might] abide in them and they also might abide in me.
(As for) me, I put on Jesus. I bore him from the cursed wood, and established him in the dwelling places15 of his Father. And those who watch over their dwelling places did not recognize me. For I, I am unrestrained together with my seed, and my seed, which is mine, I shall [place] into the Holy Light within an20 intangible Silence. Amen.
The Discourse of the Appearance § 3
Trimorphic Protennoia, in 3 parts
A Sacred Scripture written by the Father with perfect Knowledge
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