Reaching into bookshelf after sitting,
The Door of Everything, by Ruby Nelson
Part One:
The Vision
"I was crowned by my God, my crown is living . . .
I received the face and the fashion of a new person . . .
And the thought of truth led me on.
I walked after it and did not wander.
And all that have seen me were amazed and I was regarded by them as a strange person.
And He who knew and brought me up is the Most High in all His perfection. And He glorified me by His kindness, and raised my thoughts to the height of His truth.
And from thence He gave me the way of His precepts and I opened the doors that were closed.
And broke in pieces the bars of iron; but my iron melted and dissolved before me:
Nothing appeared closed to me, because I was the door of everything."
--Odes of Solomon
Coming to Wohnkuche, researching the Odes of Solomon, these translations and introduction:
ODE 17.
(A peculiar change of personality, scarcely realized until the return from it in the last verse.)
1 I was crowned by my God: my crown is living:
2 And I was justified in my Lord: my incorruptible salvation is He.
3 I was loosed from vanity, and I was not condemned:
4 The choking bonds were cut off by her hands: I received the face and the fashion of a new person: p. 129 and I walked in it and was saved;
5 And the thought of truth led me on. And I walked after it and did not wander:
6 And all that have seen me were amazed: and I was regarded by them as a strange person:
7 And He who knew and brought me up is the Most High in all His perfection. And He glorified me by His kindness, and raised my thoughts to the height of His truth.
8 And from thence He gave me the way of His precepts and I opened the doors that were closed,
9 And brake in pieces the bars of iron; but my iron melted and dissolved before me;
10 Nothing appeared closed to me: because I was the door of everything.
(--from the Odes of Solomon)
Another translation:
Ode 17
- Then I was crowned by my God, and my crown was living.
- And I was justified by my Lord, for my salvation is incorruptible.
- I have been freed from vanities, and am not condemned.
- My chains were cut off by His hands, I received the face and likeness of a new person, and I walked in Him and was saved.
- And the thought of truth led me, and I went after it and wandered not.
- And all who saw me were amazed, and I seemed to them like a stranger.
- And He who knew and exalted me, is the Most High in all His perfection.
- And He glorified me by His kindness, and raised my understanding to the height of truth.
- And from there He gave me the way of His steps, and I opened the doors which were closed.
- And I shattered the bars of iron, for my own shackles had grown hot and melted before me.
- And nothing appeared closed to me, because I was the opening of everything.
- And I went towards all my bound ones in order to loose them; that I might not leave anyone bound or binding.
- And I gave my knowledge generously, and my resurrection through my love.
- And I sowed my fruits in hearts, and transformed them through myself.
- Then they received my blessing and lived, and they were gathered to me and were saved;
- Because they became my members, and I was their Head.
- Glory to You, our Head, O Lord Messiah.
Hallelujah.
Then, from the Gnostic Society Library:
Gnostic Scriptures and FragmentsThe Odes of SolomonArchive Notes
The Odes date from the second century, and were probably written in Greek or Aramaic. At least one scholar has suggested they may have an origin in Valentinian Gnosticism, though this is of course speculative. The Church Father Lactantius (third century) quoted from them, and the Pistis Sophia mentions about five complete Odes.
In 1909 the English Scholar J. Rendel Harris discovered an old Syriac manuscript with contained all but the second of the 42 Odes. These texts evidence the close inter-relationship of Christian and Gnostic church piety. Translation below is by James H. Charlesworth. (Another more poetic translation of several odes -- from an unknown source -- follows the Charlesworth translation.)
In his commentary on the Odes, Charlesworth notes :The date of the Odes has caused considerable interest. H. J. Drijvers contends that they are as late as the 3d century. L. Abramowski places them in the latter half of the 2d century. B. McNeil argued that they are contemporaneous with 4 Ezra, the Shepherd of Hermas, Polycarp, and Valentinus (ca. 100 C.E.). Most scholars date them sometime around the middle of the 2d century, but if they are heavily influenced by Jewish apocalyptic thought and especially the ideas in the Dead Sea Scrolls, a date long after 100 is unlikely.... The 11th ode was found among the Bodmer Papyri in a 3d-century Gk manuscript (no. 11).
Five were translated into Coptic in the 4th century and used to illustrate the Pistis Sophia (Odes Sol. 1, 5, 6, 22, and 25). Also in the 4th century Ode 19 was quoted by Lactantius (Div. Inst. 4.12.3). In the 10th century a scribe copied the Odes in Syriac, but only Odes Sol. 17:7-42:20 are preserved (British Museum ms. Add. 14538). In the 15th century another scribe copied them into Syriac, but again the beginning is lost (John Rylands Library Cod. Syr. 9 contains only Odes Sol. 3.1b-42:20). [--The Anchor Bible Dictionary, v. 6, p. 114]
http://gnosis.org/library/odes.htm
This is what happens when your winter zendo is also a library/bookshed/retreat!
