Refutation of All Heresies 5.10.2

Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation of All Heresies · ca. 222–235 · Rome · Read in context

Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.

Summary: The Naassene psalm tells of the soul's wanderings and of Jesus descending with seals to reveal the hidden way.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 174–176

Ψαλμὸς αὐτοῖς ἐσχεδίασται οὗτος, διʼ οὗ πάντα αὐτοῖς τὰ τῆς πλάνης μυστήρια δοκοῦσιν ὑμνῳδεῖν οὕτως· Νόμος ἦν γενικὸς τοῦ παντὸς ὁ πρῶτος νόος· ὁ δὲ δεύτερος ἦν τοῦ πρωτοτόκου τὸ χυθὲν χάος. Τριτάτη ψυχὴ δʼ ἔλαβεν ἐργαζομένην νόμον. Διὰ τοῦτʼ ἔλαφον μορφὴν περικειμένη κοπιᾷ θανάτῳ μελέτημα κρατουμένη· ποτὲ βασιλείαν ἔχουσα βλέπει τὸ φῶς, ποτὲ δʼ εἰς ἔλεον ἐρριμμένη κλαίει, ποτὲ δὲ κλαίεται χαίρει, ποτὲ δέ κλαίει κρίνεται, ποτὲ δὲ κρίνεται θνήσκει, ποτὲ δὲ γίνεται ἀνέξοδος ἡ μελέα κακῷ. λαβύρινθον εἰσῆλθε πλανωμένη εἶπεν διησοῦς ἐσὸρ πάτερ ζήτημα κακῶν ἐπὶ χθόνα ἀπὸ σῆς πνοῆς ἐπιπλάζεται. Ζητεῖ δὲ φυγεῖν τὸ πικρὸν χάος, καὶ οὐκ οἶδε πῶς διελεύσεται. Τούτου με χάριν πέμψον, πάτερ· σφραγῖδας ἔχων καταβήσομαι. αἰῶνας ὅλους διοδεύσω, μυστήρια πάντα διανοίξω, μορφὰς δὲ θεῶν ἐπιδείξω· καὶ τὰ κεκρυμμένα τῆς ἁγίας ὁδοῦ γνῶσιν καλέσας, παραδώσω.

English · Claude translation

This psalm has been composed by them, through which they think they hymn all the mysteries of their error, thus: "The generative law of the All was the first Mind; the second was the poured-out Chaos of the First-born; and third the soul received a law to work by. Therefore, wrapped in the form of a deer, she toils, a plaything held fast by death. Now, holding a kingdom, she sees the light; now, cast into pity, she weeps; now she is wept for and rejoices; now she weeps and is judged; now she is judged and dies; and now the wretched one finds no way out of evil; wandering, she has entered a labyrinth. And Jesus said: Look, Father: a quest of evils upon earth wanders away from your breath. She seeks to flee the bitter Chaos and does not know how she will pass through. For her sake send me, Father; bearing the seals I will descend; I will journey through whole Aeons, I will open all mysteries, and I will show the forms of the gods; and the hidden things of the holy way, calling them knowledge, I will hand down."

About this passage

Source: Duncker–Schneidewin, 174–176 · Ludwig Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, eds., S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Refutationis omnium haeresium librorum decem quae supersunt (Göttingen: Dieterich, 1859); section divisions from Paul Wendland, ed., Hippolytus Werke 3: Refutatio omnium haeresium, GCS 26 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1916) · Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0
Text: As printed in Duncker–Schneidewin. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter numbers differ from the standard (Wendland) numbering used here.
Topics: Heresy, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

The text of the psalm is corrupt in places; "And Jesus said: Look, Father" renders the damaged εἶπεν διησοῦς ἐσὸρ πάτερ, and the list of the soul's changes is uncertain in detail. "Deer" (ἔλαφον) is the manuscript reading; some editors emend it.

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 5.10.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/10/2/).

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Plain text

Hippolytus, Haer. 5.10.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/5/10/2/).

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