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The Thought of Norea is a Sethian Gnostic text.[1] It is the second of three treatises in Codex IX of the Nag Hammadi library texts, taking up pages 27–29 of the codex's 74 pages.[2] The text consists of only 52 lines,[3] making it one of the shortest treatises in the entire library.[4] The work is untitled; editor Birger A. Pearson created the title from the phrase "the thought of Norea" (Sahidic Coptic: ⲦⲚⲞⲎⲤⲒⲤ Ⲛ̅ⲚⲞⲢⲈⲀ) that appears in the final sentence of the text.[5] The text expands Norea's plea for deliverance from the archons in Hypostasis of the Archons.[5] It is divided into four parts: an invocation, Norea's cry and deliverance, her activity in the Pleroma, and salvation.[3]

History

The text was discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt in 1945[6] as one of the 51 total treatises transcribed into the 13 codices that make up the Nag Hammadi library.[7] The codices had been buried around 400 AD.[8] The writing is a Coptic translation of a Greek original.[3] Authorship of the original text is estimated to the late-second century AD.[4]

Along with the rest of the works in the Nag Hammadi library, the text was translated into English and published in The Nag Hammadi Library in English in 1977.[9] The publication was part of the work of the Coptic Gnostic Library Project, which began in 1966 at Claremont Graduate University.[6] Søren Giverson and Birger A. Pearson translated the text to English.[10]

Summary

Norea calls out to Father of All, Ennoia of the Light, who dwells in the heights. Her cry is heard and she is welcomed eternally. She is given a place in the Father of Nous, Adamas, and the voice of the Holy Ones. She rests in the indescribable Epinoia and inherits the first mind she received. She rests in the divine Autogenes and generates herself. She possesses the living Logos and joins the Imperishable Ones, speaking with the mind of the Father. She speaks words of Life and stays in the presence of the Exalted One, having what she received before the world existed. She has the great mind of the Invisible One, glorifying her Father, dwelling within those in the Pleroma, and she beholds the Pleroma. There will be days when she sees the Pleroma completely, supported by the four holy helpers who intercede for her with the Father of the All, Adamas. Adamas possesses Norea's thought, is within all Adams, and talks about the two names that create a single name.[11]

Analysis

The Thought of Norea is one of at least 11 texts in the Nag Hammadi library classified by Professor Hans-Martin Schenke as Sethian,[12] which is a system that is primarily characterized by Gnostic self-identification as the spiritual seed of Seth.[13] The term 'Sethian' comes from ancient antiheretical writers Irenaeus, Epiphanius of Salamis, and Pseudo-Tertullian.[14] Schenke's Sethian classification requires the text to have multiple Sethian features;[15] the Thought of Norea's Sethian features are "the divine Autogenes" and "the four holy helpers."[16] Although Seth does not appear in the text, Norea is utilized as his female equivalent.[16]

Researcher Sergey Minov notes that the Thought of Norea is closely related to Hypostasis of the Archons.[5] Translator Birger A. Pearson suggests that the Thought of Norea may depend on the same sources as Hypostasis of the Archons.[5] In Hypostasis of the Archons, Norea is the daughter of Eve.[5] The archons attempt to seduce her,[5] leading her to plea to the God of all for help, and she receives aid from the angel Eleleth.[17] In the Thought of Norea, she directs her plea to the divine triad—including the Father of All—and receives help from the Four Luminaries.[17]

Professor John D. Turner writes that Norea appears in the Thought of Norea as a manifestation of the fallen Sophia.[18] According to the cosmic narrative outlined in the Apocryphon of John, Sophia (Wisdom) is an aeon of the Pleroma (fullness of the divine).[19] Sophia fell when she independently used her productive power without approval from the Spirit nor from her masculine counterpart.[20] Her malformed offspring Yaldabaoth, existing outside the Pleroma,[20] created the material world as a poor imitation of the divine.[19] The ensuing repentance and restoration of Sophia is equivalent to Norea's precosmic restoration to the Pleroma.[21]

The text shares features with other Sethian treatises.[1] Norea demonstrates belief in the heavenly trinity of the Father (Invisible Spirit), Mother (Ennoia), and Son (Autogenes), like Sethian works such as the Apocryphon of John, Trimorphic Protennoia, and Zostrianos.[22] All Sethian works combine Jewish traditions with Platonic doctrines, but some, such as Norea, Three Steles of Seth, and Marsanes, lack clear Christian features.[23] A common thematic element in Sethian works is a descent or ascent component;[24] Norea employs the descent pattern.[17]

References

  1. ^ a b Turner, John Douglas (2001). Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition (2 ed.). Paris: Presses Université Laval. ISBN 978-2-7637-7834-1. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  2. ^ Meyer & Robinson 1977, p. XIV.
  3. ^ a b c Pearson, Birger A.; Giversen, Søren (1 January 1981). Introduction to IX, 2: The Thought of Norea. Brill. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-90-04-43887-3. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  4. ^ a b Giverson & Pearson 1981, p. 404.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Minov, Sergey (2010). Noah and the Flood in Gnosticism (PDF). Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. p. 230. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b Meyer & Robinson 1977, p. IX.
  7. ^ van den Broek, Roelof (24 January 2013). Gnostic Religion in Antiquity. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-107-03137-1. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. ^ Meyer & Robinson 1977, p. 2.
  9. ^ Meyer, Marvin W.; Robinson, James MacConkey (1977). The Nag Hammadi Library in English. Brill Archive. ISBN 978-90-04-05434-9. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  10. ^ Giverson, Søren; Pearson, Birger A. (March 1981). The Nag Hammadi library in English. San Francisco: Harper & Row. pp. 404–405. ISBN 9780060669294. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  11. ^ Giversen, Søren; Pearson, Birger A. "The Thought of Norea - The Nag Hammadi Library". The Gnostic Society Library. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  12. ^ Schenke, Hans-Martin (1980). The Phenomenon and Significance of Gnostic Sethianism. BRILL. pp. 588–616. ISBN 978-90-04-06176-7. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  13. ^ Turner 2001, p. 4.
  14. ^ Turner 2001, p. 61.
  15. ^ Schenke 1980, p. 594.
  16. ^ a b Schenke 1980, p. 595.
  17. ^ a b c Turner 2001, p. 108.
  18. ^ Turner 2001, p. 91.
  19. ^ a b Davies, Stevan (2005). The Secret Book of John: The Gnostic Gospel Annotated & Explained. SkyLight Paths Publishing. pp. XIII–XVII. ISBN 978-1-59473-082-5. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  20. ^ a b Turner 2001, p. 73.
  21. ^ Pearson, Birger A. (1 September 2000). Revisiting Norea. A&C Black. p. 274. ISBN 978-1-56338-331-1. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
  22. ^ Turner 2001, p. 63.
  23. ^ Turner 2001, p. 68.
  24. ^ Turner 2001, p. 93.
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