I therefore with the power also which came out of me, and the soul which I took from Sabaoth the good, they came close to one another [117 ], they became one effluence of light which enlighteneth greatly greatly; I called unto Gabriel down out of the Aeons, and with Mikhael through the command of my Father the First Mystery who looked inward: I gave to them the effluence of light, I caused them to go down unto the Chaos for to help the Pistis Sophia, and (to) take away the powers of light, these which the emanations of the Self-willed took away from her, (to) take them away from them, and (to) give them to the Pistis Sophia.
And immediately they took the effluence of light down unto the Chaos, it enlightened greatly greatly in all the Chaos.
And it widened out in all their Places: and having seen the great [118 ] light of that effluence, the emanations of the Self-willed they feared one upon another, and that effluence drew out of them all powers of light, these which they took away from the Pistis Sophia.
And were not able to dare the emanations of the Self-willed to lay hold on that effluence of Light in the Chaos of darkness, nor were they able to lay hold on her by art of the Self-willed, this who laid hold on the emanations.
And Gabriel with Mikhael brought the effluence of Light upon the body of the matter of the Pistis Sophia, and they cast in unto it all her lights which they took away from her, and received all the light the body of her matter, [118 ] and again received light all her powers which (are) in her, these whose light they took away, and they ceased being diminished of light, because they took up their light which they took away from them, because that they gave the light to them through me.
And Mikhael with Gabriel, these who 65 ministered to me, these who took the effluence of light unto the Chaos, they will give to them the mysteries of the light: they are those who were entrusted with the effluence of Light, this which I gave to them, I took it unto the Chaos.
And Gabriel (Mikhael added in margin without ‘with’) did not take away for themselves any from the lights of the Pistis Sophia, these which they took away from the emanations of the Self-willed.
It happened therefore, the effluence of Light, it [119 ] having cast in unto the Pistis Sophia all her powers of light, these which it took from the emanations of the Self-willed, she became light all (over), and the other powers of light, those which become in the Pistis Sophia, these which the emanations of the Self-willed did not take away, they were cheerful again, and they were filled with light: and the lights which they cast in unto the Pistis Sophia vivified the body of her matter, this in which there is not light, this which was about to perish, (or this which is wont to perish), and they set up all her powers, these were about to dissolve: and they received for them a power of light, they became as they were being at first.
[119 ] And again they were exalted in the perception of light, and all the powers of light of the Sophia recognised one another through the effluence of Light, and they were delivered by the light of that effluence.
And my effluence of Light, having taken away the lights from the emanations of the Self-willed, these which they took from the Pistis Sophia.
It cast them in unto the Pistis Sophia, and it returned, it came up from the Chaos.
A chain of divine beings or principles flowing downward from a single transcendent source (the One or the Father), each level less perfect than the one above.
The text references the Father the First Mystery and emanations flowing from the Self-willed.
The Gnostic myth of Wisdom's prolapse from the Pleroma — her unilateral desire or error producing the Demiurge and the entrapment of divine sparks in matter.
The passage describes the Pistis Sophia being deprived of her powers by the emanations of the Self-willed and requiring liberation from this entrapment.
The felt condition of exile from one's divine origin — Rumi's reed flute torn from its bed, Plotinus's 'we have forgotten,' the Gnostic forgetfulness; the affective wound that complements return_to_source and gives the return its motive.
The Pistis Sophia is depicted as having lost her powers to the emanations of the Self-willed and being about to perish.
The doctrine — central to Eastern Orthodox and Maximian theology — that the human person is progressively transformed into a partaker of the divine nature by grace, not merely justified or united in passing ecstasy.
The restoration of light implies a transformation of the Pistis Sophia into a state of divine likeness.