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	~~{{short description\|Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1–6}}~~
	~~{{Gnosticism}}~~
	The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an [[exegesis]] on the ''[[Book of Genesis]]'' 1–6 and expresses [[Gnostic]] mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity.		The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an [[exegesis]] on the ''[[Book of Genesis]]'' 1–6 and expresses [[Gnostic]] mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity.

Nick: New page: {{short description|Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1–6}} {{Gnosticism}} The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an exegesis on the ...

2020-07-06T05:29:32Z

New page: {{short description|Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1–6}} {{Gnosticism}} The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an exegesis on the ...

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{{short description|Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1–6}}
{{Gnosticism}}
The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an [[exegesis]] on the ''[[Book of Genesis]]'' 1–6 and expresses [[Gnostic]] mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity.

== Text's origin and content ==

The text was found among those included in The [[Nag Hammadi Library]], in [[Nag Hammadi Codex II|CG II]], in 1945. It is tentatively dated in the third century CE[1][2] and is thought to originate from a transitional period in Gnosticism when it was converting from a purely mythological state into a philosophical phase. The beginning and conclusion to the document are Christian Gnostic, but the rest of the material is a mythological narrative regarding the origin and nature of the archontic powers peopling the heavens between Earth and the [[Ogdoad (Gnosticism)|Ogdoad]], and how the destiny of man is affected by these primeval happenings.[3]

The work is presented as a learned treatise in which a teacher addresses a topic suggested by the dedicatee of the work. The treatise begins with a fragment of [[cosmogony]], which leads to a revisionistic "true history" of the events in the Genesis creation story, reflecting Gnostic distrust of the material world and the demiurge that created it. Within this narrative there is an "angelic revelation dialogue" where an angel repeats and elaborates the author's fragment of cosmogonic myth in much broader scope, concluding with historical prediction of the coming of the savior and the end of days.[4]

Although the [[Etymology|etymologies]] and puns on Semitic names suggest the author's close contact with [[Judaism|Jewish]] legends and interpretive traditions as well as knowledge of [[Greek mythology]] and [[Hellenistic_period|Hellenistic]] [[Hellenistic_religion|cult]] practices, the myth is, according to [[Bentley Layton]] purposefully anti-Judaic (coining its traditional early rabbinic form, although no reason to placard it as anti-semitic).[5] In addition, arguably, the work contains no Christian anti-Gnostic characteristics.[6] As the original Greek text has not been discovered, the only known version is the Coptic translation from Nag Hammadi.[7]

==Characters==
* ''The Parent of the Entirety'': The invisible virgin spirit.
* ''Incorruptibility''
* ''The Child'': Presides over the entirety.
* ''The Four Luminaries'': [[Eleleth]] and three others.
* ''The True Human Being''
* ''The Undominated Race''
* ''[[Wisdom]]'': [[Sophia (gnosticism)|Sophia]] or [[Pistis Sophia]].
* ''Zoe ([[Life]])'': daughter of Sophia.
* ''[[Yaldabaoth]]'': The chief ruler also called [[Yaldabaoth#Yaldabaoth|Sakla]] and [[Samael]].
* ''[[Sabaoth]]'': One of Yaldabaoth's first seven offspring.
* ''[[Adam]]'': The first human being.
* ''[[Eve]]'': Adam's wife and counterpart.
* ''[[Cain]]'': Eve's son begotten by the rulers.
* ''[[Abel]]'': Eve's son begotten by Adam.
* ''[[Seth]]'': a son through god.
* ''[[Norea]]'': Eve's daughter.[8]

== Notes ==
* 1. Meyer & Robinson 1977, p. 152.
* 2. Mills & Bullard 1990, p. 398.
* 3. Bullard in Robinson 162; Bullard 3
* 4. Layton (1995) 65
* 5. Layton (1995) 65
* 6. Layton (1995) 65
* 7. Layton (1995) 67
* 8. Layton (1995) 66.

==References==

*Bullard, Roger A. "The Hypostasis of the Archons." Berlin: De Gruyter, 1970.
*Bullard, Roger A. Introduction to “The Hypostasis of the Archons”. In ''The Nag Hammadi Library in English'', Revised Edition. Edited by James M. Robinson, 161–162. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1988.
*Fallon, Francis T. "The Enthronement of Sabaoth: Jewish Elements in Gnostic Creation Myths". Leiden: Brill, 1978.
*Fallon, Francis T. "The Gnostics: The Undominated Race". Novum Testamentum 21.3 (1979): 271–88.
*Gilhus, Ingvild Sælid. "The Nature of the Archons: A Study in the Soteriology of a Gnostic Treatise from Nag Hammadi (CGII, 4)". Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1985.
*[[Karen Leigh King|King, Karen L]]. “Ridicule and Rape, Rule and Rebellion: The Hypostasis of the Archons”. In ''Gnosticism and the Early Christian World: In Honor of James M. Robinson''. Edited by James E. Goehring et al., Sonoma, California:Polebridge, 1990.
*Layton, Bentley. ''The Gnostic Scriptures: A New Translation with Annotations and Introductions''. New York: Doubleday, 1995; 1987.
*[[Bentley Layton|Layton, Bentley]]. “The Hypostasis of the Archons”. [[Harvard Theological Review]] 67 (1974):351–425.
*Layton, Bentley. “The Hypostasis of the Archons (Conclusion)”. Harvard Theological Review 69 (1976):31–101.
*McGuire, Anne. "Virginity and Subversion: Norea Against the Powers in ''The Hypostasis of the Archons''". In ''Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism''. Edited by Karen L. King, 239–258. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1988.

== External links ==
;Online texts
* [http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/hypostas.html Selection from James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library, Translated by Bentley Layton]
* [https://ww3.haverford.edu/religion/courses/222a/hyparchons.htm Translated by Anne McGuire]

[[Category:Biblical exegesis]]
[[Category:Gnosticism]]
[[Category:Early Christianity and Gnosticism]]

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Hypostasis of the Archons - Revision history

Nick at 05:29, 6 July 2020

Nick: New page: {{short description|Gnostic exegesis on the Book of Genesis 1–6}} {{Gnosticism}} The '''''Hypostasis of the Archons''''' or '''''The Reality of the Rulers''''' is an exegesis on the ...