Irenaeus of Lyons · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Further, their fabrication is shown to be false and their fiction unstable also by this: that in interpreting names they attempt to bring in proofs sometimes by letters, sometimes by the numbers which are contained in the letters according to the Greeks; and this most plainly shows the confusion and instability, and the forced and violent character, of their so-called knowledge. For "Jesus," being a name of another language, they transfer to the Greek numeral system, and say that sometimes it is the "episemon" [the numeral-sign], having six letters; sometimes that it signifies the fullness of the Ogdoads, having the number 888. But concerning the Greek name of him who is called "Soter" (that is, Savior), because it does not fit their fiction, neither by number nor by letters, they have kept silent. And yet, if the names of the Lord had been received by the providence of the Father, signifying by number and by letters the number that is in the Pleroma, then "Soter," being a Greek name, ought to have shown the mystery of the Pleroma both by its letters and by its numbers, according to Greek usage. But this is not so, for it has five letters, while its number is 1,400. These figures agree in no way with their Pleroma: therefore that transaction which they claim takes place in the Pleroma is not true. But "Jesus," according to the proper Hebrew tongue, has two and a half letters, as their own experts say, signifying "the Lord who contains heaven and earth," because in the ancient Hebrew tongue "Jesus" means "heaven," while "earth" again is called by another word. The Word, then, who possesses heaven and earth, is himself Jesus. False, therefore, is also their rendering of the episemon, and their number is manifestly overthrown. For according to their own [Greek] tongue, "Soter" is a Greek word of five letters; while "Jesus," again, according to the Hebrew tongue, has two and a half letters. Their reckoning of 888 therefore collapses. And in every respect the Hebrew letters do not agree with the Greek number, so as to sustain a calculation of the names. For the ancient and original Hebrew letters, the sacred ones — that one which is without a vowel — has, as it were, a half value; and these three are the initial letters of certain words... This may perhaps signify something of the sort, but the text has been wretchedly corrupted through the ignorance of the copyist and the scribes. Probably, after the word for "Lord," it went on to say that, according to that same Hebrew tongue, [another letter] means "heaven"; but the letter in the first syllable was perhaps badly transcribed in Greek letters as "ZPA" instead of "Sura," over which some more learned reader wrote the gloss "dust," since the initial letter of this word seemed to him to fit better with the final letter of the name Jesus. Others propose a different restoration of the text: that the tongue [means] "heaven" is "sma," and "earth" again is called "sura." [The Hebrew letters], which are called by their proper names, are ten in number, but each is written by fifteen [combinations], the last letter being joined to the first. And so some write them in the natural order, as we do; others turn them backward, from right to left. And Christ, too, ought to have had, in the reckoning of his name, a correspondence with the Aeons of their Pleroma, since he was, according to what they say, brought forth for the establishment and correction of their Pleroma. And the Father likewise, both by letters and by number, ought to have contained the number of those who were brought forth from him, both the Only-Begotten and, above all others, that name which is called "God" — which itself in Hebrew is called "Baruch," and has two and a half letters. From this, then, since the more solid names, both in the Hebrew and in the Greek tongue, agree neither in the number of letters nor in their computed sum with their fiction, it is plain... That according to the Law neither can such patterns nor such figures exist. For indeed, out of the Law, picking out whatever numbers happen to agree with their system, they attempt to construct proofs by violence. But if it had been the purpose of their Mother, or of the Savior, that through the Demiurge types of the things that are in the Pleroma should be shown, then it would have been in the more sublime and more excellent matters that these types were worked out — and especially in the ark of the covenant itself, through which the whole tabernacle of testimony was constructed. Now it was built thus: two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high — and none of these measures matches their invention in any way; nor does the mercy-seat correspond to their explanations either. Likewise, the table of showbread measured two cubits in length, one cubit in width, and a cubit and a half in height (this stood before the holy of holies); and none of these figures points at all to the Tetrad, the Ogdoad, or any other portion of their Pleroma. As for the lampstand, with its seven branches and seven lamps — had it truly been fashioned as a figure, it would have needed eight branches and eight lamps, matching the primal Ogdoad, which outshines the other Aeons and fills the whole Pleroma with light. And though they have carefully counted the ten curtains, they have not reckoned that they were made in a series of eleven. Nor have they even measured the size of the courts themselves, each court having a length of twenty-eight cubits. And they explain the length of the pillars, made ten cubits, as referring to the Decad of the Aeons; but the width of each pillar, which was one cubit and a half, they do not explain, nor the total number of all the pillars, nor of their sockets, because these do not fit their argument. What, further, of the oil of anointing, which sanctified the whole tabernacle? Did this perhaps escape the notice of the Savior, or did the Demiurge, while their Mother was asleep, decree its weight on his own authority! Hence it disagrees with their Pleroma: it had myrrh, five hundred shekels, of sweet cinnamon two hundred and fifty, of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty, and besides these, oil, so that from five ingredients it was compounded. And the incense likewise was made of stacte, and onycha, and galbanum, and sweet spice, and frankincense — which agree in no way, neither in their mixtures nor in their weights, with their system. How no truth at all can be established from the Scriptures by means of numbers. It is therefore unreasonable, and altogether uncouth, to say that in the most sublime and elevated matters of the Law the types were not preserved, while in other, lesser matters, wherever some number happens to agree with what they say, they insist that it prefigures something within the Pleroma — since every number is set down in manifold ways throughout the Scriptures, so that anyone who wishes may build, whether an Ogdoad, a Decad, a Duodecad, or indeed whatever number he pleases out of the Scriptures, and contrive it to be a type of his own error. But since this is true, let the number five, which agrees in no way with their system, and coincides with none of their fiction, nor fits their typical demonstration of the things in the Pleroma, receive its proof from the Scriptures in this way. "Soter" is a name of five letters, and "Pater" [Father] likewise has five letters; and "agape" [love] too has five letters; and our Lord, blessing five loaves, satisfied five thousand men; the wise virgins are said by the Lord to be five, and likewise the foolish are five. Again, five persons are recorded as present with the Lord when he met the Father's testimony — Peter, James, John, Moses, and Elijah; and again the Lord, coming as the fifth to the dead girl, raised her, for he allowed no one to enter, it says, save Peter, James, and the girl's father and mother. That rich man's house has five members: two lengthwise, two crosswise, and one at the center, where the one who was nailed rests. Each of our hands has five fingers; after James, also John; and we also have five senses; and the organs that are in our inward parts can be numbered as five: heart, and liver, lungs, spleen, and kidneys. Moreover, the whole man can also be divided into this number: head, chest, belly, thighs, feet. Human life proceeds through five stages: infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, and finally old age. In five books Moses handed down the Law to the people. Each of the tablets he received from God bore five commandments. The curtain shielding the holy of holies hung on five pillars. And the altar of burnt offering, its height was five cubits. Five priests were set apart in the wilderness: Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. The tunic, and the breastplate, and the rest of the priestly vestments were woven of five materials: being woven from gold, blue, purple, scarlet thread, and fine linen. And as for the five Amorite kings whom Joshua son of Nun shut up in the caves, he had the people trample their heads underfoot. And countless other instances of this sort can be gathered, both in this number and in the works of nature — yet we do not on this account say that there are five Aeons above the Demiurge, nor do we set apart the Pentad as if it were something sacred, nor do we labor, through this vain labor, to confirm unstable ravings, nor do we force well-ordered creation, made by God, to submit to evil doctrines, since this whole exposure and overthrow can be shown by all. Concerning days, and months, and years, and words, and syllables. For who would grant them that the year has only three hundred and sixty-five days, so that there are twelve months of thirty days each, in the pattern of the twelve Aeons, though this is a part unlike the whole Pleroma, since they hold a month to represent one-twelfth of a year? Had the year in fact been split into thirty portions, and the month into twelve, their figure might be thought to fit their invention. But now, on the contrary, their Pleroma is divided into thirty, and some part of it into twelve; whereas here, every year is divided into twelve parts, and some part of it into thirty. Absurdly, then, has the Savior made the month a type of the whole Pleroma, and the year a type of the Duodecad that is within the Pleroma: for it would have been more fitting that the year be divided into thirty, as is the whole Pleroma, and the month into twelve, as are the Aeons within their Pleroma. And they, indeed, divide the whole Pleroma into three parts, that is, into the Ogdoad, the Decad, and the Duodecad. But here the year is divided into four, that is, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Moreover, the months, which they say are a type of the number thirty, do not fixedly have thirty days, but some have more, others fewer, since five days over are added to them. And the day, too, never keeps a constant twelve hours, ranging instead from nine up to fifteen, and back down from fifteen to nine. The months were not made of thirty days because of thirty Aeons — otherwise they would always have a fixed thirty days; nor again were the hours of the days made to figure the twelve Aeons by twelve hours — for then they too would always have had a fixed twelve hours. Concerning the sheep, and the drachmas, of which one was lost and then found. Furthermore, calling material things "the left hand," and saying that of necessity the things that are on the left fall away into corruption, and that the Savior sought out the lost sheep so as to move it over to the right — that is, to those of salvation, the ninety-nine sheep, which did not perish but remained in the fold, being on the left hand — they are compelled to admit that this is no relief of salvation. And by the fact that this does not correspond in like manner in number, they are compelled to confess this same reckoning to belong to the left, that is, to corruption: and this name, which in Greek is called "Agape" [love], according to...