stephan huller

Only those who have first reached the end of life, therefore, are those we can call already perfect. But we live who have even now been freed from commerce with death. Salvation is the following of Christ. "What was made in Him was life."

δὲ καὶ ἡ τῶν κακῶν ἀπαλλαγὴ σωτηρίας ἐστὶν ἀρχή. Μόνον δὲ ἄρα οἱ πρῶτον ἀρξάμενοι τῶν ὅρων τῆς ζωῆς ἤδη τέλειοι, ζῶμεν δὲ ἤδη οἱ θανάτου κεχωρισμένοι. Σωτηρία τοίνυν τὸ ἕπεσθαι Χριστῷ. Ὃ γὰρ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ, ζωή ἐστιν."

Compare John 1:1 received:

πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο, καὶ χωρὶς αὐτοῦ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἓν ὃ γέγονεν. ἐν αὐτῷ ζωὴ ἦν, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ ἦν τὸ φῶς τῶν ἀνθρώπων

All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men

The same reading appears in Excerpta Ex Theodoto

"And the Logos became flesh" not only by becoming man at his Advent <on earth>, but also" at the beginning" the essen tial Logos became a son by circumscription and not in essence. And again he became flesh when he acted through the prophets. And the Saviour is called an offspring of the essential Logos; therefore, "in the beginning was the Logos and the Logos was with God" and "that which came into existence in him was life" (ὃ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ, Ζωή ἐστιν) and life is the Lord. And when Paul says, "Put on the new man created according to God" it is as if he said, Believe on him who was "created" by God, "according to God," that is, the Logos in God. And "created according to God" can refer to the end of advance which man will reach, as does. . . he re jected the end for which he was created. And in other passages he speaks still more plainly and distinctly: "Who is an image of the invisible God"; then he goes on, "First-Born of all creation." For he calls the Logos of the essential Logos "an image of the invisible God," but "First-Born of all creation." Having been begotten without passion he became the creator and progenitor of all creation and substance, for by him the Father made all things. Wherefore it is also said that he "received the form of a servant," which refers not only to his flesh at the advent, but also to his substance, which he derived from its underlying reality, for substance is a slave, inasmuch as it is passive and subordinate to the active and dominating, cause.

ὃ γέγονεν ἐν αὐτῷ, Ζωή ἐστιν

stephan huller

For those who care, my sense here is that these kind of differences in reading help make gnosticism seem outlandish. In other words, if the gospel baldly said 'in him was Zoe' the Valentinian idea that the gospel writer was referencing a hypostasis named Zoe seems far more credible. The gospel prologue was thus likely changed from these early readings to help Irenaeus's war against the heresies.

stephan huller

The Hebrew equivalent would be haya and one wonders if the female hypostasis Eve is being referenced here. Zoe is a feminine noun in Greek but haya in masculine in Hebrew. It interestingly in Hebrew haya can also mean 'to fall out' which is what Sophia does in the gnostic myth. Interesting also is that in Hebrew haya is typically used in the past tense to yesh (the word I think has something to do with the Hebrew name of Jesus).

Let me give an example. In Hebrew if you were going to say "Yesh li khaver" = I have a friend. But if I was to say something in past tense, I had a friend, I would say "Haya li khaver."

Who knows