The Dialogue of the Savior
NHC III, 5
The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose. It is based on the Coptic text of Nag Hammadi Codex III, 5. The Nag Hammadi texts were written in the fourth century, subsequently buried, and then rediscovered in 1945. This text features dialogues between Jesus and his disciples concerning various topics including the nature of the soul, visions, and cosmology.
This translation by Samuel Zinner is from the Coptic text in James M. Robinson, ed., The Coptic Gnostic Library: Volume III (Leiden: Brill, 2000). The following previous translations were consulted: Stephen Emmel in The Coptic Gnostic Library; Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer in Marvin Meyer, ed., The Nag Hammadi Scriptures (New York: HarperOne, 2007); Silke Petersen and Hans-Martin Bethge in Hans-Martin Schenke, Hans-Gebhard Bethge, Ursula Ulrike Kaiser, eds., Nag Hammadi Deutsch: Volume 3 (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2001). Zinner’s translation was edited by Mark M. Mattison with the generous support of Other Gospels.
Symbols
[ ] Gap in the text (known as a “lacuna”)
( ) Editorial insertion to clarify the text
[120] Page number of the Coptic codex (hyperlinked)
[120] The Dialogue of the Savior
Introduction
The Savior said to his disciples: “Brothers, the time has now arrived for us to stop our work and stand at rest, because whoever stands at rest will rest forever. I say to you, transcend always [. . .] temporality [. . .]. [I say] to you, [. . .] fear [not those . . .] you. I [say to you], anger is fearsome [and whoever] provokes anger is a [fearsome person]. Because, however, you have [been able to suffer], it might come forth from [you . . .].
“The people have accepted these sayings concerning anger with fear and trembling. Anger appointed archons over them, because no one can avoid anger. When I came, however, I opened a path and instructed people concerning the way of crossing over for the elect and solitary, [121] those who have known the Father and who have been faithful to truth, and you offered up praise.
Do Not Fear
“When you offer up praise, do it in this manner:
Listen to us, Father,
in the way you listened to your only Son,
even receiving him to yourself.
[You] granted him rest from much [work].
our power [cannot be overcome],
[because] your battle forces [cannot be overcome],
[. . .] light [. . .] living [. . .] inaccessible [. . . living].
The [true] word [has given] repentance for life,
[and this has come forth] from you.
You are the thought and the complete serenity of the solitary.
Listen to us, once again,
in the way you listened to your elect.
By your sacrifice the elect will enter in.
By their good deeds they have liberated their souls from blind bodily limbs,
in order that they can exist [122] forever.
Amen.
The Apocalypse
“I will teach you when the time for destruction will come.[1] The first power of darkness will overtake you; be not afraid,[2] nor say: ‘Behold, the time has come.’[3] When, however, you see a solitary staff [. . .].[4] Know that [. . .] from the work [. . .] and the archons [. . .] overtake you [. . .]. Fear is the real power [of darkness]. If you, therefore, fear what is soon to overtake you, it will overpower you, and not a single one of them will release you or show you pity. Look instead at [what is] inside (you),[5] because you have mastered every earthly thing. This [123] [will] convey you upwards to a [place] without reign [and without] tyrant. When you [. . .] you will see those [. . .], and you, too, will [hear them. I] say to you, logic [. . .]. Logic is [. . . where] the truth [is]. They, however, [. . .] and you [. . .] the truth. This [is . . . inside] the living [mind]. Consequently, [. . .] and your joy [. . .] so that [. . .] your souls [. . .], so that the word does not [. . .] that they raised up [. . .] and they were unable to [understand] it [. . .]. Make what is [inside] of you and what is [outside of you to be the same thing].[6]
The [124] crossing place is certainly fearsome in [your] sight, yet do not hesitate to pass through it. Great is its depth, vast [is its] height! [Have a single mind . . .], and the fire [. . .] drops of dew [. . .] all the powers [. . .] you. They will [. . .], and [all] the powers [. . .] they [. . .] before. I say to [you], [. . .] the soul [. . .] will become [. . .] in all of them [. . .] you are [. . .] and that [. . .] do not sleep [. . .] the sons [. . .] and you [. . .] you [. . .].”
What is Inside You
Matthew said: “How [. . .]?”
[125] The Savior said: “[If you do not maintain in order] what is inside you, [your work] will survive, but [not] you.”
Judas [said]: “Lord, [I would like to know all] the deeds of the souls [that belong to] these little ones. When [. . .], where will they dwell? [. . .] the spirit [. . .]?”
The Lord [said: “. . . accept] them. They neither die nor are destroyed, because they have understood [their] companions and the one who will accept them, because the truth seeks the wise and the righteous.”
The Savior [said]: “The lamp [of the] body is the mind. While [what is inside] you is maintained in order, namely, [the soul], your bodies will be [illuminated]. While your hearts are darkened, your light that you [126] hope for [will remain far away from you]. I have called [you to myself], because I will soon leave, in order that [you might accept] my word among [you. Behold], I send it to [you].”
Seeking and Revealing
His disciples [said: “Lord], who is it who seeks and [who] is it who reveals?”
[The Lord] said [to them]: “The one who seeks is [the same one] who reveals.”
Matthew [once more said to him: “Lord], as I [listen to you], and as I speak, who is it who [speaks, and] who is it who listens?”
The [Lord] said: “The one who speaks is the same one who [listens], and one who can see is the same one who reveals.”
Mary said: “Lord, behold, [while I] am wearing a body, from where do my tears flow, from where does my laughter come?”
The Lord said: “[It is the body that] weeps on account of its deeds, [and on account of] (the deeds) that still remain to be done. It is the mind that laughs [on account of [127] the fruits of] the spirit. Whoever [stands] not in the darkness will be [un]able to see [the light].
I say to you, [whatever is without] the light is the darkness, [and whoever] stands [not] in [the darkness will be] un[able] to see the light. However, [the sons of] deceit were taken out [. . .]. You will put on the light, and [you will thus live] forever [. . .]. [If . . .], then [every] power that is above and below will handle you cruelly. In that place [there will] be weeping and [gnashing] of teeth over the end of [every]thing.”
Creation and Circumcision
Judas asked: “Tell [us], Lord, what [existed] before [heaven and] earth had come into being?”
The Lord said: “There was darkness and water, and [128] a spirit was over the [water]. And I tell you [the truth]: Behold, what you look for and ask about [is] inside you, and it [possesses] the power and the secrecy [of the] spirit, because [it originates] from [the spirit]. Iniquity entered [to destroy] the mind [continually]. Behold, [. . .].”
[Matthew] said: “Lord, tell us, where is [the soul] set up, and where does the true [mind] live?”
The Lord [said]: “The fire of the spirit came into existence [between] those two, and thus [spirit] sprang into existence, and the true mind inside them. [Should] one set up the soul on high, then [it will be] be exalted.”
Matthew asked him: [129] “[Is not circumcision necessary], when it is understood [according to the true interpretation]?”
The Lord [said: “Circumcision is] more profitable than is your [work. emove] from yourselves [what can] persecute[7] you, even everything [inside] your hearts, because as your hearts [are circumcised], so [will you find] a way to conquer the powers above and below. And I say to you, let him [who possesses] power renounce [it and] repent, and let him who [understands] seek and find and rejoice.”
Judas said: “Behold, [I] see that everything is [precisely] like a sign over [the earth], and that is the reason they have come to exist in this manner.”
The Lord [said]: “When the Father set up the world, he [gathered together] some of its water, and the word came forth from it. [130] It underwent much [trouble, but] it was higher than the path [of the stars] surrounding the whole earth.”
[He continued]: “The water that is gathered together [above] is beyond the stars, and [beyond] the water <is> a great inferno surrounding them like a wall. As soon as several of the internal entities had divided from the rest, time spans [began to be calculated].
“When the [(whole) thing][8] had been set up, he[9] looked [downward], the Father (who) said to it: ‘Go, [send forth something] from yourself, in order that [the earth] might not lack anything from generation to [generation, and] from age to age.’
“So [it][10] sent forth from itself fountains of milk, fountains of honey, of oil, of wine, and good fruit and delicious tastes and healthy roots, [in order that] the earth might not lack anything from generation [to] generation, and from age to age.
“It is above [. . .], [131] stood [and displayed] its beauty [. . .]. And outside [there was a great light], brighter [than] the one that resembles it,[11] because that one rules over [all] the aeons above and below. [Light was] extracted from the fire and strewn in the [firmament] above and below. Those over the heaven above and over the earth below hang from[12] them. Everything hangs from them.”
When Judas had heard this, he prostrated, falling on his knees, and praised the Lord.
The Place of Life
Mary asked her brothers: “Where will you store [these] questions you ask the Son of [Man]?”
The Lord [said] to her: “Sister, [no one] can ask concerning these matters [except] one who possesses a place in the heart [132] to store them. And a person like this can depart from [the world] and enter into the place [of life], and will not be detained in this world of poverty.”
Matthew said: “Lord, I want [to behold] that place of life, [where] there is no iniquity, but where there is instead only pure [light].”
The Lord answered: “Brother Matthew, you cannot see it as [long as you] wear the flesh.”
Matthew said: “Lord, [if I] cannot see it, at least allow me to know it.”
The Lord said: “Everyone who has known himself has seen it. Everything he is given to do, he does. Someone like that has thus come to [be like] that place in goodness.”
Heaven and Earth
Judas answered and said: “Tell me, Lord, how does an [earthquake] shaking shake the earth?”
The Lord picked up a stone and held it in his hand. [He [133] said to him: “What] do I hold in my hand?”
He answered: “[It is] a stone.”
He said to them: “That which supports the [earth][13] is the same thing that supports the heaven. When a word comes forth from the Majesty, it will meet what supports the heaven and the earth. The earth will not move. If it moved, it would fall down, but it does not, in order that the first word will not fail. The word set up the world, and lived in it, and smelled the fragrance thereof. To all of you Sons of Man[14] I proclaim every[thing] that is immovable, because you are from that place. You live in the hearts of those who speak forth in joy and truth. If the word comes forth from the Father’s body among humans, and if they do not accept it, it will return back to its place.”
One Who Understands
“Whoever knows [not] the deed of completeness knows nothing.
“One who stands not in the darkness cannot see the [134] light.
“One who [understands] not how fire came into existence will burn inside it, knowing not its origin.
“If one does not first understand water, that one knows nothing, because what does it profit such a person to be baptized therein?
“One who understands not how the blowing wind came into existence will be blown away together with it.[15]
“One who understands not how the body he wears came into existence will be destroyed together with it.
“And how will someone who knows not the Son know the [Father]?
“Everything is concealed from one who knows not the root of everything.
“Whoever knows not the root of iniquity will be no stranger to it.
“Those who understand not how they came will not understand how they will go.
And he is no stranger to this world who will [exalt himself] and (consequently) be humiliated.”
The Great Height and the Abyss
He [took] Judas, Matthew, and Mary [135] [to show them the extreme] edge[16] of heaven and earth. And as he put his [hand] on them, they hoped that they could [see] it.
Judas looked upward and beheld a place of great height, and he beheld the place of the abyss below.
Judas said to Matthew: “Brother, who is able to ascend to such a height or to descend to the abyss below,[17] given that there is a great inferno there, and a great terror?”
At that very instant a word issued forth from the height. As Judas stood there, he beheld the manner in which the word desce[nded].
He asked the word: “Why have you descended?”
The Son of Man greeted them and said to them: “A seed from a power was deficient, and it descended to the abyss of the earth. The Majesty remembered [it], and sent the [word to] it. The word took up the seed before [the presence] of the Majesty, in order that [136] the first word might not be lost.”
[His] disciples wondered at everything he told them, and they faithfully received everything, even knowing that it is useless to consider iniquity.
He then said to his disciples: “Did I not say to you that the good will be taken up to the light like a visible voice[18] and lightning flash?”
All of his disciples praised him and said: “Lord, before you appeared here, who praised you, given that all praises are for you? Or who blessed [you], given that all blessings <are for> you?”
As they stood there, he beheld two spirits conveying a single soul with them. And there was a great lightning flash. A word came forth from the Son of Man, saying: “Give to them their garments!”
And the small became the same as the large. They were [like] those who were received upward. [137] [There was no difference] between them. The [sayings] he [spoke convinced the] disciples.
Mary [said to him: “Behold, I] see the evil [that influences] people from the beginning, when they live with one another.”
The Lord said [to her]: “When you see them, [you know] much. They will [not remain there (together)]. When you, however, see the Eternally Existent One, that will be the great vision.”
They all said to him: “Explain it for us.”
He said to them: “In what mode do you want to see it, [in] a vision that passes away, or in a vision that remains forever?”
He continued, saying: “Strive as best you can to save what will remain after [you], and seek it, and speak from inside it, in order that whatever you seek will be in harmony with yourself, because I [tell] you truly, the living God [is] inside you, [138] [even as you are] inside God.”
The Archons and the Bridal Chamber Garments
Judas [said]: “I truly want [to learn everything].”
The [Lord] said to him: “The living [God does not] dwell [anywhere in the] entire [place] of this deficiency.”
Judas [asked]: “Who [will rule over us]?”
The Lord answered: “[Behold, here dwells] everything that exists [among] what will remain. You will [rule] over them.”
Judas said: “Behold, the archons are over us, so that they will rule over us.”
The Lord answered: “It is you who will rule over them. When you remove from yourselves jealousy, you will clothe yourselves with the light, and you will enter the bridal chamber.”
Judas asked: “How will [our] garments be supplied to us?”
The Lord answered: “Some will supply them to you, and others will receive [them], [139] and it is they [who will give] you your garments. Because who can attain to that place, it being so very [fearsome]? The garments of life, however, will be given to humans because they know the path they will travel. In fact, it is difficult even for me to attain to it.”
Mary said: “In this way, the trouble of each day <is sufficient>. Workers are worthy of their food. Students will be equal to their teachers.”
She said this as a woman who understood everything.
Life and Death
The disciples asked him: “What is the fullness, and what is the deficiency?”
He answered them: “You came from the fullness, and you dwell in the place of the deficiency.
And behold, his light has poured down on me.”
Matthew asked: “Lord, tell me how those who are dead die, and how those who are living live.”
[140] The Lord said: “[You have] asked me concerning a [true] saying that eye has not seen, and you are the only ones from whom I have heard it. I, however, say to you that when what animates a person is removed, he will be called dead, and when what is alive <enters into> what is dead, it will be called alive.”
Judas asked: “To speak truly, why do some <die> and some live?”
The Lord said: “Whatever comes from the truth will not die. Whatever comes from woman will die.”
Mary asked: “Tell me, Lord, why have I come to this place to profit, or to lose?”
The Lord answered: “You reveal the wealth of the revealer.”
Mary asked him: “Lord, is there consequently a place that is forsaken (by) or that lacks the truth?”
The Lord said: “The place where I do not dwell.”
Mary said: “Lord, you inspire fear and wonder,[19] [141] even [like a consuming fire] to those who know [you] not.”
Matthew asked: “Why do we not rest at once?”
The Lord said: “By leaving behind what you cannot take with you, you will then rest.”
Matthew asked: “How does the small harmonize with the great?”
The Lord said: “By leaving behind these burdens.”[20]
Understanding Everything
Mary said: “I want to understand everything, [precisely as] it is.”
The Lord said: “Whoever looks for life, this will be their wealth, because the [rest] the world (gives) is false, and its gold and silver are deceitful.”
His disciples asked him: “What should we do so that our work will be completed?”
The Lord [said] to them: “Be prepared in any circumstance. Blessed is the one who has known [142] [fighting and who has beheld] the battle with his eyes. He has neither killed nor has [he] been killed, but has instead come forth victorious.”
Judas asked: “Lord, tell me, what is the beginning of the path?”
He said: “Love and goodness. If only one of these had existed among the archons, evil would never have come into being.”
Matthew said: “Lord, you have spoken concerning the end of all things without difficulty.”
The Lord said: “You have understood everything I told you, and you have accepted it faithfully. If you know it, it belongs to you. If you do not, it does not belong to you.”
They asked him: “To which place are we going?”
The Lord said: “Occupy the place that you can reach.”
Mary asked: “Is everything set up in this way visible?”
The Lord said: “I have told you that the one who can see (is the same one who) reveals.”
His disciples, the twelve, asked him: “Teacher, [with] [143] tranquility [. . .] teach us [. . .].”
The Lord said: “[If you have understood] everything I have [said to you], you will [become deathless, because] you [. . .] everything.”
Mary said: “One thing only will I [say] to the Lord, concerning the secret of truth. It is in this that we stand, and in this we are transparent to what pertains to the world.”
Judas said to Matthew: “We want to understand with what kind of garments we are to be clothed when we depart from the destructibility of the [flesh].”
The Lord said: “The governors and the administrators possess garments that are given only for a time and that do not endure. You, however, as the sons of truth, are not to clothe yourselves with these garments that endure only for a time. I say to you instead, you will be blessed when you remove your garments, because [144] [to lay aside what is] outward is not a great thing.”
[. . .] said: “Is it I who speak and is it I who receive [. . .]?”
The Lord said: “Yes, [one who receives] your Father in [a logical way].”
The Works of the Father and the Works of the World
Mary asked: “[Of what] kind is the mustard seed? Is it of Heaven,[21] or is it of the earth?”[22]
The Lord said: “After the Father set up the world for himself, he left much that remained over with the Mother of the All. That is the reason he sows and works.”
Judas said: “You have said this to us from the true mind. When we pray, how should we pray?”
The Lord said: “Pray in the place where there is no woman.”
Matthew says:[23] “He tells us, ‘Pray in the place where there is no woman.’ This means to destroy the works of the female. This is not because there is a different kind of birth, but because they should cease [giving birth].”
Mary said: “Will they never be destroyed?”
The Lord said: “[You] know they will perish [once more], [145] and [the works] of [the female that are here] will [also] be [destroyed].”
Judas said [to Matthew]: “The works of the [female] will (indeed) perish. The archons [then] will [invoke their aeons], and we will be prepared for them.”
The Lord said: “Will they see [you, and will they] see the ones who accept you? Behold, from the Father a true word comes forth to the abyss in silence, with a lightning flash,[24] and it is generative. Do they see it, or do they conquer it? Assuredly, you know better [the path] that [neither angel] nor authority [knows]. It is the path of the Father and the Son, because the two are one, and you will journey on the [path] you have known. Even if the archons grow massive, they will not be able to attain to it. I tell you the [truth], it is difficult even for me to attain to it.”
[146] [Mary] asked [the Lord]: “If works [are destroyed, what in fact] destroys a work?”
[The Lord said]: “You know that [whenever] I destroy [it, it] will go to its own place.”
Judas said: “How is the spirit made visible?”
The Lord said: “How [is] the sword [made visible]?”
Judas said: “How is the light made visible?”
The Lord said: “[It is] eternally [made visible] by means of itself.”
Judas asked: “Who dissolves[25] whose works? Do works [dissolve] the world, or is it the world that dissolves works?”
The Lord [answered]: “The one who [understands (is the one who dissolves works)]. This is so because it is incumbent on the one who has known the works to work the [will] of the Father.”
Conclusion
“With regard to yourselves, strive diligently to free yourselves from [wrath] and jealousy. And strip from yourselves your [works], and do not [. . .]. [147] [. . .] reproach [. . .], because I say to [you, . . .] you will receive [. . .] much [. . .] the one who searched, having [discovered the true life]. This one will [achieve rest and] live forever. I say to [you, guard yourselves], in order that you do not lead [your] spirits and your souls into error.”
[The Dialogue] of the Savior
Notes
[1] This passage is cognate to the Synoptic “Little Apocalypse” in Mark 13, Matthew 24, and Luke 21.
[2] Cf. Luke 21:26.
[3] Cf. Luke 21:8-9.
[4] “When . . . you see”: Cf. Luke 21:20; Matthew 24:15. The “solitary staff” would refer to an imperial Roman standard to be set up in the Jerusalem temple. Cf. Josephus, The Jewish War 3:123; 5:48.
[5] Cf. Luke 17:21; Gospel of Thomas logion 3.
[6] Cf. Gospel of Thomas logia 3 and 22.
[7] “Persecute,” not “pursue.”
[8] “Thing,” not “word.” “Thing” refers back to the world’s setting up, i.e., creation.
[9] “He,” i.e., the Father.
[10] “It,” i.e., the earth, not the word.
[11] The great light is the sun, while the moon is the light that resembles it; see Genesis 1:16.
[12] “Hang from,” not “depend on.”
[13] An allusion to the cosmic foundation stone of Jewish tradition.
[14] A play of the earlier singular “Son of Man.” Cf. Gospel of Thomas logia 105-106.
[15] For the thematic constellation of water, baptism, and wind, cf. John 3:5-7.
[16] “Extreme edge of heaven and earth,” not “the final end.” We have here a spatial indicator, not a temporal one.
[17] An echo of Deuteronomy 30:12 via Gospel of Thomas logion 3.
[18] An echo of Exodus 20:14: “And all the people saw the voices.”
[19] Cf. Psalm 139:14, “fearfully and wonderfully,” that is, causing or inspiring fear and wonder.
[20] I have rearranged these four lines, which seem out of order in the codex, where their sequence reads as follows:
Matthew asked: “Why do we not rest at once?”
The Lord said: “By leaving behind these burdens.”
Matthew asked: “How does the small harmonize with the great?”
The Lord said: “By leaving behind what you cannot take with you, you will then rest.”
[21] “Heaven,” not “heaven.” Here “Heaven” is a divine title, a reverential circumlocution for “God.”
[22] The passage echoes Luke 20:4: “Was the baptism of John from Heaven [i.e., God] or from men?” The echo is confirmed by Judas’ question that soon follows on page 144: “When we pray, how should we pray?” This in turn echoes Luke 11:1-2: “He was praying in a certain place, and when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ / And he said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be thy name. . . .’” (RSV) Notice the shared lexeme “place” where Jesus prays in Luke 11:1 and Dialogue of the Savior 144, “The Lord said: ‘Pray in the place. . . .’” The Parable of the mustard seed occurs in Luke 13:18-19, rather distant from Luke 11:1-2. I suspect that “Mary asked: ‘[Of what] kind is the mustard seed?” may be a corruption of an original “Mary asked: ‘[Of what] kind is baptism?”
[23] “Matthew says,” not “Matthew said.” The implication is that The Dialogue of Savior here is quoting from some other text that contains this interpretation of Matthew.
[24] A reworking of Exodus 20:14.
[25] Coptic kō, not in the sense of “forgive,” but in the sense of “loosen,” i.e., “dissolve (works),” a synonym of the earlier “destroy (works).”