And I, the First Mystery, I stood upon it, and I took away all the powers which (are) in it, and I destroyed all its matter, that seed from it should not rise up from this hour.
But these while the First Mystery is saying unto the disciples, he answered saying, Understood ye in what manner I am speaking [130 ] with you.
Came forward Iakkobos said he, My Lord, concerning the explanation therefore of the words which thou saidst, prophesied about them once thy power of light by David in the ninetieth psalm, He who dwelleth under the help of him who is high shall abide under the shadow of the God of the heaven.
He will say to the Lord, Thou art my accepter, and my place of refuge: my God I am trusting unto him; because he it is who will save me from the snare of the snarer, and from a word being cruel.
He will make shadow unto thee under his (thy, MS ) breast, and thou wilt trust under his wing.
His [130 ] truth will surround thee as an armour (weapon, MS ).
Thou wilt not fear for a fear of night, and for an arrow which flieth in the day, for a thing which moveth 71 in the darkness; for a calamity of demon of the hour of mid-day.
There are a thousand (who) will fall on left of thee and ten thousand on right of thee; but they will not approach unto thee.
Nevertheless thou wilt fill thy sight with them, thou wilt see the recompense of the sinners: because thou art, O Lord my hope; thou placest for thee that which is high for place of refuge: there is not evil (which) will approach unto thee; there is not scourge (which) will approach in unto thy place of abiding: because he will order unto [131 ] his angels because of thee, for to keep thee in all thy ways; and they (will) lift thee upon their hands lest-at-any-time thou should dash against a stone with thy foot.
Thou wilt mount upon a serpent with a basilisk, and trample upon a lion with a dragon.
Because he trusted unto me I will save him; I will make shadow unto him, because he knew my name: he will cry up unto me, and I, I shall hear him, I am with him in his affliction, and I shall save him and (I shall) give glory to him; and (I shall) increase him in a multitude of days, and (I shall) teach him of my salvation.
This is, O Lord, the explanation of the words which thou saidst.
Hear therefore that I may say them in boldness.
The word therefore which [131 ] thy power said by David, He who dwelleth under the help of him who is high, will abide under the shadow of the God of the heaven, namely, that when the Pistis Sophia had trusted unto the Light she abode under the light of the effluence of Light.
This which came from the Height through thee.
And the word which thy power said by David, I shall say to the Lord, Thou art my accepter and my place of refuge, my God I trusted unto him.
That is the word with which hymned the Pistis Sophia, Thou art my accepter and I am coming (close) to thee.
And also the word which thy power said, My God unto whom I am trusting, thou art [132 ] he who will save me from the snare of the snarers, and from a word being cruel.
That is that which said the Pistis Sophia, O Light I am believing thee, because thou art he who will deliver me from the emanations of the Self-willed, and with those of the Adamas the tyrant.
Themes
◆Anthropomorphismtheology
Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.
The divine is described using human attributes such as having a 'breast' and 'wing'.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
The passage mentions seeing the recompense of sinners and being saved from calamity.
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 described as having been entangled in the seed until she trusted unto the Light.