Reading the Nag Hammadi Scriptures

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Marvin Meyer

 

Reading the Nag Hammadi Scriptures

 

(p.10) In this volume the texts of the Nag Hammadi library, the Berlin Gnostic

Codex, and Codex Tchacos are presented in an edition that is intended to build

upon the international scholarship that has been directed toward the texts in

these codices since they were discovered and made available for research and

study. In particular, the work of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the

Institute for Antiquity and Christianity of Claremont Graduate University, the

Berliner Arbeitskreis fur koptisch-gnostische Schriften at the Theological

Faculty of Humboldt University, and the French-Canadian team at the Institut

d'etudes anciennes and the Faculte de theologie et de sciences religieuses of

the Universite Laval in Quebec has been consulted in order to take advantage of

the interpretations and insights of the scholars involved in these research

projects. The published work of these projects includes the volumes of the

Coptic Gnostic Library and 'The Nag Hammadi Library in English' (edited by James

M. Robinson), 'Nag Hammadi Deutsch' (edited by Hans-Martin Schenke, Hans-Gebhard

Bethge, and Ursula Ulrike Kaiser), and the Bibliotheque copte de Nag Hammadi and

'Ecrits gnostiques' (edited by Jean-Pierre Mahe and Paul-Hubert Poirier), all of

which we have used in our translations of the texts. [23] Individuals from these

three research teams have also functioned as members of the advisory board for

this volume, in order that the contributions of each of the teams might gain a

fair hearing, and we all have met together several times at Universite Laval to

discuss the translations prepared for the present volume. The result has been a

collegial effort to produce a volume fully informed by the latest research on

the Nag Hammadi library, the Berlin Gnostic Codex, and Codex Tchacos.

 

The English translations included in 'The Nag Hammadi Scriptures' thus represent

a new generation of translations, after the initial translations that appeared

in the first editions of these texts. We have made a conscientious attempt to

produce English translations that adhere closely to the meaning of the Coptic

texts (and, as noted in a few instances, also some Greek texts) while being as

readable and felicitous as possible. The present English versions of the texts

are translations, not lexical equivalencies, and as a result they communicate

the meaning of the texts in modern English rather than reproducing every

grammatical feature of the Coptic Text. (p.11) We have given special attention

to issues of gender in our translations, and we employ inclusive language where

the spirit of the Coptic text recommends it and where it does not compromise the

accuracy of the translations. Thus, most often the translations use " child of

humanity " (where the gender of the figure referred to is uncertain or general)

or " son of humanity " (where the gender of the figure referred to is masculine,

as in the case of Jesus) instead of the more traditional " son of man. " In some

texts, such as the 'Secret Book of John' and the 'Holy Book of the Great

Invisible Spirit', that use exalted terms to describe how the divine transcends

all finite categories, including gender categories, the translations read " it "

for " he " or " him " in the Coptic (and sometimes use " parent " along with " father "

in the Coptic) until the texts themselves distinguish between the Father and the

Mother in their presentations. Nonetheless, a certain amount of gender bias has

been allowed to remain in the translations as a reflection of the preferences of

the translators, the specific contents of the texts, and the nature of the

Coptic language, which has no neuter gender but makes use of the masculine to

refer to what is indefinite or neutral.

 

The expressions " child of humanity " and " son of humanity, " along with others,

are capitalized when they function as titles for a given figure, though such a

determination of function remains somewhat arbitrary. In general, we have

struggled with matters of capitalization in English, and we have tried to reach

a happy balance in the capitalization of personified terms that have both a

mythological and a psychological function in the texts (e.g., Epinoia,

" Insight " ). [24]

 

Usually terms in the texts, even technical terms (e.g., aeon, arkhon, gnosis,

hupostasis, and pleroma), are translated (as " eternal realm, " " ruler, "

" knowledge, " " reality, " and " fullness, " respectively), but sometimes they are

retained in transliterated form (aeon, archon, gnosis, hypostasis, and pleroma)

in the translations in order to preserve the particular style of the texts. The

Coptic word pteref (and related terms), which frequently mean " everything " or

" the universe, " often takes on a special meaning in the texts translated here,

and when the word refers to the entirety of the divine realm above, it is

usually translated " the All. " [25] Terms, including technical terms, appearing

in the titles of texts are translated as well, so that the present volume refers

to the 'Secret Book of James' and the 'Secret Book of John' (rather than the

'Apocryphon of James' and the 'Apocryphon of John'), the 'Revelations of Adam,

James, Paul and Peter' (rather than the 'Apocalypses of Adam, James, Paul, and

Peter'), the 'Nature of the Rulers' (rather than the 'Hypostasis of the

Archons'), 'Three Forms of First Thought' (rather than 'Trimorphic Protennoia'),

and so forth. The fifth tractate [tract/treatise] of Nag Hammadi Codes VI is

entitled 'Excerpt from Plato's Republic' and the eighth tractate 'Excerpt from

the Perfect Discourse'. In some texts, especially the Platonizing Sethian texts,

where the language seems to be technical and reflective of Middle Platonic and

Neoplatonic philosophy, more of the technical terminology is retained, often

simply transliterated, and explained in the notes.

 

Standard sigla [abbreviations and signs] are used in the present volume, though

we have tried to keep sigla to a minimum for the sake of ease of reading. Within

the English translations, the following signs are employed:

 

Square brackets indicate a textual lacuna [gap or hiatus] that has been

restored. When the restoration entails only " a, " " an, " " the, " or " and, " such a

minor restoration is usually not placed within square brackets. Ordinarily words

are placed either entirely inside or outside square brackets. Exceptions to this

policy are made in more fragmentary texts, in which portions of words may be

placed inside square brackets.

 

Angle brackets indicate an emendation [correction] of a scribal omission or

error.

 

{ } Braces indicate superfluous letters that presumably were added by a scribe.

Some such instances are indicated in the translation. Instances of dittography

(the inadvertent copying of a passage twice) are usually indicated in a note.

 

.... Ellipsis dots indicate unrestored lacunae--portions of Coptic (or Greek)

text missing in the manuscripts that cannot be restored with confidence. Three

dots indicate a lacuna of a Coptic line or less, that is, a short break in the

flow of thought in the text. Six dots indicate a lacuna of more than a single

Coptic line, that is, a major break in the flow of thought in the text.

Ordinarily the extent of the longer lacuna is indicated in a note accompanying

the translation. Occasionally the number of dots within a proper name indicates

the number of letters missing in the name.

 

Within the translations, Coptic manuscript page numbers are provided for the

sake of reference. In the case of the 'Gospel of Thomas', traditional sayings

numbers are given, along with numbers for subdivisions of sayings. [26] In the

case of the 'Sentences of Sextus', the system of numeration follows the standard

edition of this tractate, which was composed in Greek and is known in Latin,

Syriac, Armenian, and Georgian versions. [27] As in 'Nag Hammadi Deutsch', here

also only Coptic page numbers are given, and not line numbers from the

manuscripts. 'The Nag Hammadi Scriptures' is not presented as an edition of

Coptic manuscripts but a publication of texts in English translation, and for

this reason the continuation of the use of references based upon line numbers in

Coptic manuscripts seems inappropriate. (p.13) Thus, in the notes to the

translations, the cross-references to texts in the Nag Hammadi library, the

Berlin Gnostic Codex, and Codex Tchacos are given with the titles of the texts

and Coptic page numbers (or the other systems of numeration); when a particular

text is preserved in more than one copy (as is the case, e.g., with the 'Secret

Book of John'), the codex number is also provided. Within the introductions to

the tractates, however, the textual references include, in addition to the

Coptic page numbers, the manuscript lines numbers as well, in case readers wish

to refer directly to the Coptic manuscripts and the location of Coptic lines in

the manuscripts.

 

Accompanying the translations in the present volume are several aids to

interpretation. In addition to the volume introduction, each text is prefaced

with its own introduction, which includes bibliographical suggestions for

further reading and study. In the translations there are subheadings that are

not in the texts themselves but have been provided by the translators as a way

of indicating sections of the texts. The subheadings include references to

Coptic page and line numbers in order to allow for another way of moving from

the English translations to the Coptic manuscripts. Notes explain difficult

passages and refer to parallel passages. In some cases, as with the Platonizing

Sethian texts, the notes are somewhat more substantial, to help in the

understanding of texts that may benefit from a fuller presentation. An epilogue,

" Schools of Thought in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures, " discusses Thomas

Christianity, the Sethian and Valentinian schools of Gnostic thought, and

Hermetic religion within the context of the questions surrounding the term

" Gnostic, " and a table of tractates provides an overview of the contents of the

Nag Hammadi library, the Berlin Codex, and Codex Tchacos. A bibliography and an

index of proper names concludes the volume.

 

In 'The Nag Hammadi Scriptures' we present a series of English translations

prepared and introduced by scholars with different backgrounds and different

points of view. Although we have attempted to achieve a degree of stylistic

uniformity throughout the volume, some variety inevitably remains, and several

voices can be detected in the introductions and translations. We consider such

variety to be appropriate in a collection of texts as diverse as the Nag Hammadi

library, the Berlin Gnostic Codex, and Codex Tchacos. It is our hope that in

reading and studying this diverse collection of religious tractates, readers may

join us in a process of seeking and finding, and that for those who explore

these texts, in all their diversity, new light may be shed on the world of

antiquity--and modernity. As one text in the Nag Hammadi collection, the 'Gospel

of Thomas', puts it, " Know what is in front of your face, and what is hidden

from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be

revealed. "

 

The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (The International Edition)

Edited by Marvin Meyer; Advisory Board: Wolf-Peter Funk, Paul-Hubert Poirier,

James M. Robinson; Introduction by Elaine H. Pagels

Introduction p.10-13

HarperCollins Publishers - New York

ISBN:978-0-06-052378-7

ISBN-10: 0-06-052378-6

 

Notes:

 

[23] These volumes will be referred to numerous times in the notes to the

translations published here. For full bibliographical information about these

volumes, see the Bibliography to the present volume.

 

[24] The Greek term 'epinoia' can be translated variously, e.g., " insight, "

" reflection, " " imagination, " " creativity, " " afterthought. " See the notes to the

'Secret Book of John'.

 

[25] Cf. the Greek expression to 'pan', which can have a similar range of

meanings.

 

[26] The tradition of dividing the 'Gospel of Thomas' into 114 sayings is

flawed, but it has become a nearly universal convention. The use of numbers for

subdivisions of the sayings reflects an increasingly common means of reference.

 

[27] See Henry Chadwick, 'The Sentences of Sextus'.