In the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul, Paul is said to “trample upon the Mountain of Jericho” immediately prior to his out-of-body ascent through the heavens. The historical Paul never mentions Jericho. Further, there is no such mountain as the “Mountain of Jericho”. It is a metaphor which has been fabricated by the author of Apoc.Paul. This article suggests that the metaphor has an exegetical basis which, once grasped, sheds light on the broader narrative of the text. The metaphor is divided into three parts: 1) Jericho; 2) the “Mountain”; and 3) Paul’s “trampling” upon it. Once the exegetical background of each element has been analysed individually, the metaphor is reassembled in order to demonstrate that the underlying meaning of the image is that to “trample upon the Mountain of Jericho” is in fact to “overcome the hostile forces of the material world”, perhaps even the devil himself.
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Text and introduction in K.H. Kuhn, “A Coptic Jeremiah Apocryphon”, Le Muséon 83 (1970) 95-135, 291-350.
See Kuhn, “Coptic Jeremiah Apocryphon”, 103-104; the work is extant only in Coptic and Arabic, but Kuhn postulates a Greek original. The earliest manuscript evidence dates to the seventh century ce. However, Kuhn suggests that if the work is dependent of Paralipomena Ieremiae, which is usually assigned to the second century ce, then the Jeremiah apocryphon can be dated to anywhere between the second and seventh centuries. There is nothing to recommend any kind of historical or genetic relationship between the Jeremiah apocryphon and Apoc.Paul.
S.L. Richter, “The Place of the Name in Deuteronomy”, Vigiliae Christianae 57 (2007) 342-366 (353).
R. Roukema, “The Good Samaritan in Ancient Christianity”, Vigiliae Christianae 58 (2004) 56-74; among the best examples of this are Irenaeus, Adv.Haer. iii.17.3, Clement of Alexandria, Quis dives salvetur 28-29, and Origen, Homily on Luke 34; see also, Kaler, “Commentaire”, 199.
Kaler, “Commentaire”, 191; Kaler convincingly argues that ϭⲱⲗⲡ is in fact a Bohairicism meaning “to create” (Crum 812b), translating an original Greek πλάσσειν, as opposed to the verb “to reveal” (Crum 812a), translating an original ἀποκαλύπτειν.
B. Lincoln, “ ‘The Earth Becomes Flat’—A Study of Apocalyptic Imagery”, Comparative Studies in Society and History 25 (1983) 136-153.
See E.H. Pagels, The Johannine Gospel in Gnostic Exegesis: Heracleon’s Commentary on John (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1973) 88-90.
Cf. Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 76.6; Irenaeus, Adv.Haer. iii.23.7; v.21.1; Odes of Solomon 22.5-6; Martyrdom of Fructosis 7.2; Minucius Felix, Octavius 37; Melito of Sardis, Fr.2.
Kaler, Flora Tells a Story, 200-223; cf. F. Morard, “Les Apocalypses du Codex v de Nag Hammadi”, in L. Painchaud and A. Pasquier (eds.), Les Textes de Nag Hammadi et le Problème de leur Classification (Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 1995) 341-357 (347), Morard argues that the sign indicates “le baptême de la connaissance qui donne accès à la plénitude de l’Ogdoade.”
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In the Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Paul, Paul is said to “trample upon the Mountain of Jericho” immediately prior to his out-of-body ascent through the heavens. The historical Paul never mentions Jericho. Further, there is no such mountain as the “Mountain of Jericho”. It is a metaphor which has been fabricated by the author of Apoc.Paul. This article suggests that the metaphor has an exegetical basis which, once grasped, sheds light on the broader narrative of the text. The metaphor is divided into three parts: 1) Jericho; 2) the “Mountain”; and 3) Paul’s “trampling” upon it. Once the exegetical background of each element has been analysed individually, the metaphor is reassembled in order to demonstrate that the underlying meaning of the image is that to “trample upon the Mountain of Jericho” is in fact to “overcome the hostile forces of the material world”, perhaps even the devil himself.
All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 219 | 56 | 18 |
Full Text Views | 216 | 2 | 0 |
PDF Views & Downloads | 45 | 9 | 1 |