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THE KEPHALAIA OF THE TEACHER: THE EDITED COPTIC MANICHAEAN TEXTS IN TRANSLATION WITH COMMENTARY. IAIN GARDNER (E.J BRILL, 1995) KEPHALAIA 0 [Intro
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Parthians 5.25 (5) [ ] they are all in the [ / / u]niverse, and the fire blazes in it, and it is devo/[ured ] all [ ] of the light al[s]o, and he bec[omes] 5 purifier, and goes up to his essence. Conversely, the darkness [wh]ich is in / [ ] out, and it is gathered in to a bond [ 12 ] unveil [ / ] and they go in to him and become [ / ... pe]rfume [ s] 15 et up [ an]/d they reign for ever, and a single God comes to be [ ov/er] the totality, being above [the to]tality. You (sg.) find no opponent / from this time on again[st the Father], the King of the Light and the [ / ] which they occur in, from the [beginning 20 ] they are mixed and joined with one another. / [ unv]eil in these three lessons *1 / [ ] in them. I have written [them in / my bo]oks of ligh[t: i]n The Great Gospel and Trasu[ry] / of the Life; in The Treatise; in The One of the Mysteries; [in] 25 The Ep[ist/le]s; in The Psalms and The Prayers. For the[se three] / lessons are the measure of all wisdom. Everything that has occ[ured], / an [th]at will oc[cu]r. is written in them! Have strength to discrim[inate / ] and know it through them. [Every] wri[ter, 30 if he re]vea[l]s these three great lessons: that on[e is / the writer of the truth]. Also, every [te]acher, if he gives instruction and proclaims these th[r/ee lessons, is] the teacher of truth. I also, for my part, behold [I] have / [revealed] these great lessons. I have give them to yo[u / ] [2 paragraphs missing] Persia 7 .28.30 I did pay heed to each one. I spoke [in (wisdom) about them], / with person after person. Each [one ] / I have given to him a conviction. The elec[t 30 ] I have given them psychi[c] wisdom [ ] (7) psychi[c ] The suckling babe[s], according to their ability, [ / ] it, even a[s] is fitting for them; so that they would lis[ten / ] like th[is]. Also, even the sects and the he[resies / o]ut. I have open[ed] the eyes of each one of them [ its 5 wi]sdom and its [scr]ipture, for the truth is this that I have unvei[led. / I have] revealed it [i]n the world. Also the apostles have [ / ] and the earliest fathers past unveiled it in th[eir scriptures / ] Concerning this I [ } in haste, in that [ / eve]ry explanation and every wisdom, as I proclaimed in e[ach pl 10 ace], in each c[it]y, in each land [ / ] and they [ ] as he may form it in [ / ] and [ ] truth since [ / ] which they have [ / ] the church [ 15 / / ] according to [ ] book. / [ ] you [ my] beloved ones: At the time that [Jesus t/r]od [ ] the land of the west [ 20 proc]laimed his hope [ / ] his disciples [ / ] which Jesus uttered [ / a]fter him they wrote [ / ] his parables [ 25 ] and the signs and wonders [ / ] they wrote a book concerning his [ / The apostle of] light, the splendrous enlightener [ / he came to] Persia, up to Hystaspes the king [ / he chose d]isciples, righteous men of trut[h 30 he proclaimed hi]s hope in Persia; but [ / ] Zarathustra (did not) write books. Rather, hi[s / disciples who came a]fter him, they remembered; they wrote [ / ] that they read today [ / ] [4 paragraphs missing] KEPHALAIA 1 [excerpt]
Persia 12 .18 35 The apostles are like [t]his [also]. N[o]w, (12) when the apostle will be raised up to the heights, he / and his church, and they depart from the world; at t[h]at instant / another apostle shall be sent to it, to another ch/u[rch ] it [ ] Yet, first, 5 he shall make the forms of his church free in the heights, / as I have told you. When [ ]; / again, he too shall come down and appear [ / ] and he releases his church and saves it from the flesh [of / sin ] The advent of the apostle has occurred at the occasion 10 [ a]s I have told you: From Sethel / [the first] born son of Adam up to Enosh, together with / [Enoch]; fr[om] Enoch u[p] to Sem [the] son of [Noah; / / ] church after it [ 15 Bu]ddha to the east, and Aurentes, and the other [ / ] who were sent to the orient; from the adve[nt] / of Buddha and Aurentes up to the advent of Z[a/ra]thustra to Persia, the occasion that he came to Hystaspes / [the k]ing; from the advent of Zarathustra up to the advent of Jesus 20 [the Christ], the son of greatness. / [The advent] of Jesus the Christ our master: he came [ / ] in a spiritual one, in a body [ / ] as I have told you about him. I [ ] him; / for he came without body! Also his apostles have preached 25 in respect of him that he received a servants form, an appearance as of / men *3 . He came below. He manifested in the world in / the [s]ect of the Jews. He chose his twelve / [and] his seventy-two. He did the will of his Father, who had / sent him to the world. Afterwards, the evil one awoke 30 envy in the sect of the Jews. Satan went / in to Judas the Iscariot, one am[ong the twe]lve / of Jesus. He accused him before the sec[t of the J]ew / s, with his kiss. He gave [him] over [to the han]/ds of the Jews, and the cohort of the soldie[rs. The Jew] (13)s themselves took hold of the son of Go[d. [3 1/2 paragraphs missing] Ardashir 14 .29.31 Artabanus 14 .28 Parthia 14 .29 Persia 14 .30 [A]t this same time also, in the last church, a righteous [m]an / of truth app[ea]red, belonging to the kingdom. He reinforced [ / ] they cared for the church of our master according to [their / capacity; bu]t they too were raised up to the lan[d of / light. A]fter those ones again, little by little, the ch 35 [urch] perished. The world remained behind without (14) [c]hu[r]ch. Like a tree will be plucked, and the fr/uits on it taken away. And it remains behind without fruit./ [Wh]e[n] the church of the saviour was raised to the heights, my apo/stolate began, which you asked me about! From that time on 5 was sent the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth; the one who has / co[me] to you in this last generation. Just like the saviour sa/id: When I go, I will send to you the Paraclete. / [Whe]n the Paraclete comes, he can upbraid the world concerni[ng / sin, and] he can speak with you on behalf of right[eou]sness, and 10 [about] judgement, concerning the sinners who believe / [me not; *5 he] can speak with you [ / / / 15 ] he can s[p]eak with you and preach [ / ] that [ ], the one who will honour me and [ / ] he gives to you. / [ ] preach on behalf of the Paraclete of truth, that he / [ ] he came to manifest the one whom he had known [ 20 ] the appointed time of all these years, as they [ / from] Jesus until now [ / / ] until he [ / ] and he makes them free. Yet, when the church as 25 sumed the flesh, the season arrived to redeem the souls; like / [the mont]h of Parmuthi that cereal shall ripen i[n], / to be harvested. Ardashir 15 .24.(27) Persia 15 .30 Persians 15 .29 Shapur 15 .28.31 Susiana 15 .31 At that same season he [ ] / my image, I assuming it in the years of Arta[b]anus / the [ki]ng of Parthia. Then, in the years of Ard[ashi]r, the ki 30 n[g] of Persia, I was tended and grew tall and attained the ful[lne]ss of the sea/ [so]n. In that same year, when Ard[ashi]r the ki/[ng was c]rowned, the living Paraclete came down t[o me. He sp]o(15)ke with me. He unveiled to me the hidden mystery, / the one that is hidden from the worlds and the generations, the myster[y] of the dep[ths] / and the heights. He unveiled to me the mystery of the light / and the darkness; the mystery of the calamity of conflict, and the w[ar], 5 and the great [ ] the battle that the darkness spread about. Aft[erwards], / he unveiled to me also: How the light [ ] / the darkness, through their mingling this universe was set up [ ] / H[e o]pened my eyes also to the way that the ships were constructed; [to enable the / go]ds of light to be in them, to purify the li[ght from] 10 creation. Conversely, the dregs and the eff[lue]nt [ to the] / abyss. The mystery of the fashioning of Adam, the fir[st ma]/n. He also informed me about the mystery of the tree of knowledge, [wh]/ich Adam ate from; his eyes saw. [Also], the myste/ry of the apostles who were sent to the wor[ld, to enable them] 15 to choose the churches. The mystery of the elect, [with their] / commandments *6 . / [The] mystery of the catechumens their helpers, with [their] / commandments. The mystery of the sinners with their deeds; / and the punishing that lies hidden for them. This is how everything th[at] has ha[pp] 20 ened and that will happen was unveiled to me by the Paraclete; [ ] / everything the eye shall see, and the ear hear, and the th/ought think, a[n]d the [ ] I have understood by him e/verything. I have seen the totality through him! I have become a single body, / with a single Spirit! In the last years of Ardash[ir] 25 the king I came out to preach. I crossed to the country of the Indians. [I] / preached to them the hope of life. I chose in that place / a good election. Parthians 16 .1 Persia 16.1 Yet, also, in the year [that Ar/da]shir the king died Shapur his son became king. He [ ] / I crossed from the country of the Indians to the land of the Persians. Also, from 30 the land of Persia I came [to] the land of Babylon, Mesen[e] / and Susiana. I a[pp]eared before Shapur the king. He rece/I[v]ed me with great ho[nou]r. He gave me permission to journey in [ / pr]eaching the word of life. I even spent some year[s / ] him in the retinue; many years in (16) Pers[i]a, in the country of the Partians, up to Adiabene, and / the bor[de]rs of the provinces of the kingdom of the Romans. / end KEPHALAIA 60 [excerpt]
The living soul too is like this, / it is established in apparent silence. In 30 its apparent [s]ilence it is grasped and receives b/lows from these five fleshes, which destroy 9the soul0 and str/[ike it. It can] be likened to the mystery of the [corporeal] body, / as it can be grasped and mastered, (152) can receive blows and wounds. Also, thus / this tongue that speaks, proclaims, reprimands and reveals / about everything happening in this body, in<side and outside, also the considerations[a]nd bod[ily] knowledges>. / The tongue, which is outside, makes it manifest. It also proclaims about 5 the honour and shame of the body. And it speaks, / unveiling the pain of the body [th]at is [s]ick [from] / its sores. That is also what [Jesus] the Splend[our] / is l[i]ke, who shall be sent fr[o]m the greatness. / He manifests and reveals about everything, both the external and 10 the internal, both what is above and what is [bel]o[w]. / Be it about the outer aeons that are hidden and [not disp]l[ayed], / or the ships of light that are se[e]n. H[e is the on]/e who unveils about them. He is also the one who reveals [about the]ir glo/ry, and the greatness that dwells in them. And regarding this beating 15 and wounding of the living so[ul], Jesus is the one who reveals it. / he also preaches ab[o]ut (the soul) and its peace. He revea/ls about its cleansing and healing. Behold, I have shown / to you the power of revelation of these four fathers, and how / each one of them has his appointed work, whether in 20 secret or visible. Once again, at one of the times when the apostle entered [in] 25 to the presence of King Shapur. He gave him a greet[ing], / turned, and went away from before King Shapur. He st[o]/od on a quayside that was built upon the bank of the might river / Tigris. At that time it was the month of Ph[ar]/mouthi. The river Tigris was engorged with many waters; 30 it had {surged up} *84 and swelled and {burst forth} *85 beneath the great / force of the flood, so that the waters flowed do[wn and] / poured into the gates of the city, they [ ] (153) only, but the waters flowed into the { } *86 of / the city until they submerged the marketplace of the city. [7 paragraphs missing] KEPHALAIA 75 [excerpt]
Shapur 183 .15.17.19.21.24.32 This creation also [ ] / this light product, that shall be generated from the holy church / and go to [ ] is [a letter] 30 too; since all the [g]ood works tha[t the] holy ch/urch performs are written down in i[t. Every / thing] that it may entreat its father for, so that [ e]/ase in the world. And at the last [ r]/est before him. They are present in [ fa(183)s]ting and prayers and good works that [ / ] them. It shall go up and be rev[eal]ed b/efore the blessed Christ. He shall answer it [ / ] he [gives] power and makes it at ease [ 5 ] Indeed, [d]ue to this, I say to you: / [ ] each [ ] and entreaty, since a [ / ] prayer. Everything that you will ask [for / ] will be given to you *98 , if [ / ] perfect. [Further, it] ha[pp]ened one time while our master Manichaios, / [our] light [enl]ightener, was staying in the ci 15 ty] of ktesiphon. Shapur, the king, enquired / after and summoned him. Our master stood / up and went to Shapur the king. Afterwards / [he] returned and came back to his congregation. When he had been a / [sh]ort while sitting down, before delay elapsed, King Sha 20 [p]ur enquired af[te]r him another time. He sent, he called f/[o]r him. Again (Mani) returned, he retraced and went to King Shapur. / He spoke with him and proclaimed to him the word of Go/[d]. Again he retu[r]ned and came to the Page 6 congregation. Also, a third / occasion, King Sh[ap]ur enquired after and called for him; 25 and [he] returned to him once more. / [T]hen one of his disci[pl]es made a retort, Aurades by name, / [the] son of [Kap]elos. He says to our enlightener: Please, / our master [Manich]aios, give to us two Manis resembling you; / [pass]ing for you! Good, peaceful, and 30 compassionate [ ] disciples in righteousness [like] you / [ ] one Mani will remain with us as you; / [and the other to go to] King [Sha]pur, his [mind] at ease. / [and proclaiming it] to him. [3 paragraphs missing]
At the time when I sail[ed] / the sea in the ship, I went [ ] 25 I found it necessary [ ] / the life that is with me in the world [ / ] I stirred the whole land of India [ / ] all the people who dwell in it [ / ] all of them to me, so that they might bear 30 two to three times [ ] / in their land according to their heart [ / ] and the wise man [ ] / they { } *100 [ (185) se]t them against me. At that moment I ceased finding l[i]/ght, I ceased speaking freely with the voice that is / of truth, which is entrusted to me. Now behold, [ / ] in India. It may act against me in its [ 5 and] accept the greater ones and the counselor[s / and the] satraps and the governors who are found there [ / I was] difficult [for] it, it stirred not [ / ] because they belong to it [ / ] from all the sinners [ 10 ] to me. I was more difficult for it than [all] these / [ did not ace]pt me, and it persisted to [ / ] it. For the world loves [the] dark/ness; [bu]t [it hates] the light, because its wo[rk]s / [are evil. I crossed] the seas another time. I took [ 15 ] India. I went up to the land of pe[rsia. / I le]apt from the sea and went [ / ] the land of Persia and its ci[ties ] / in this living truth that is wit[th me ] to the [li]ght of [ / ] proclaim [ the] powers and the [au]thorities [ 20 / ] and the holders of authority [ / en]lightener [ ] in the land of Persia [ / b]ody [ ] because of this truth that I proclaimed, si/[tt]ing in their midst [ ] to one another. S[ee 25 n]ow, [ / ] in their land [ ] to me the power. The Father [ / ] livi[ng ] all occasions. The one who [ / to] it [ / 30 ] in the land [ / ] (186) how strong is it? (The land) tolerates the kings and accepts [the / s]atraps and the governors who are ther[e. It] / stirred [amon]g them, it was not defeated in theor midst [ / ] it was not able to accept [the truth that I pro 5 claimed] there. It did not [ I] / came [out] from the land of pers[ia]. I went up / [to Me]sene, the city that [ / ] in this truth that is in me, in [... I / proc]laimed this knowledge; I separated [the light from the darkness and] 10 d[iscriminat]ed life from death, what is go[od from] / what is evil, the righteous person from the sin[ner. I proc]/la[imed] the path of life and the command[ments / ] Yet, when they had heard the voice [of truth and life], / the [rulin]g-power and the swarm of demons [ 15 ] and the race of mankind [ / ] under wickedness and hatred, they [ / they did not] allow me, [nor] did they / [permit me] to preach [the tr]uth in [tranquill]ity, the way that it / i[s]. See: In [ ] 20 for Page 7 they tolerate the kings, they ace[pt ] and the / caesars and the satraps a[nd the governors who] are f[ound] / among them. Yet, the truth that I proc[laimed] among [them], / they did not accept it; and [ they did not listen] / to the voice of life that I cried out [among them], / they did not accept it; and [ they did not listen] / to the voice of life that I cried out [among them]. Parthians 187 .17.20.22 25 Again, [fr]om that place I came to the land of Babylon, the [ci]/ty of the Assyrians, and walked in [it]. I went in [to] / the [other] cities, and spoke in this truth [of the life that is with] me. I / proclaimed there the word of [truth and life. / With [the voi]ce of the proclamation I se[parated the light from the dark] 30 ness there, what is good from [what is evil / ] the powers who aremaster [over ] (187) their envy to the heart of the kings and the leaders / there. They and the sects of that place, they / [were s]et against me. Even as you yourselves see, they have w[aged] / some great wars [wit]h me. The lawle[ss] judges 5 [took] me, they watched. They and their rulers and the[ir / lea]ders took me in the midst of their land. If as / [ ] to me the protection of the Father, who does [not] hel[p / the lawless]. Yet I, he helps me at [all] times / against his [enemy]. Still, they would not permit me in B[a 10 bylon] a single day to journey in their land. / S[ee no]w: How great is the land of the Assyrians? / [It is abl]e to tolerate the kings and accept the eparchs / [and the gen]erals and the caesars and the governors / [ i]n it. It did not stir, nor was it [defe]ated before [them 15 ] but, on the other hand, to me, it stirred and was disquieted [ / ] It waged against me a multitude of struggles. [Therefore, I] le[ft be/hind me] the Assyrians. I went to the land of the Medes and Par/thians. At that place I played the harp of wisdom; [I] / spoke in this living truth [th]at is with me. The [whole] land 20 [of] the Medes and the Parthians stirred, it shook [ / ], to accept the hope of the life that I [proclaimed]. Yet see: How great / is the land of the Medes and the Parthians? Many / [ci]ties are found there. It was able to accept the kings / [an]d the leaders who were there; but, on the other hand, it was not able to acc 25 [e]pt the power of my truth. It stirred, it all shook just as / [ ] Then the apostle speaks to the disciple: / Indeed I, a single Mani, came to the world. / All the cities [of the] world stirred, they shook. (The world) did not wi/[sh to] ace[pt m]e; unless I humbled its rebelliousness 30 [ ] I have subdued its powers and brought / [ ] all that were there. I have planted in it / [ ] I have sown this [s]eed of life. [3 paragraphs missing] Persia 189 1 Once again the apostle speaks: There
are f[our great kingdoms] / in the world. [The first is the kingdom
(189) of] the land of Ba[by]lyon and of Persia. The s[ec/o]nd is
the kingdom of the Romans. The thir[d / is the k]ingdom of the Axumites.
The fourth is the kin/[g]dom of Silis. These four great kingdoms
e[x 5 i]st in the world; there is none that surpasses them.
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