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Irenæus
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Introductory Note to Irenæus Against Heresies
[2828] Such appears to be the meaning of ἀνούσιος in this passage. The meaning of οὐσία fluctuated for a time in the early Church, and was sometimes used to denote material substance, instead of its usual significance of being.
[2829] The old Latin preserves ἀρχή untranslated, implying that this was the first word which the Father spoke. Some modern editors adopt this view, while others hold the meaning simply to be, as given above, that that first sound which the Father uttered was the origin of all the rest.
[2830] The letters are here confounded with the Æons, which they represented.
[2833] By this Achamoth is denoted, who was said to give rise to the material elements, after the image of the Divine.
[2834] That is, their names are spelt by other letters.
[2835] The old Latin version renders ἐπίσημον, insigne, illustrious, but there seems to be a reference to the Valentinian notion of the mystic number of 888 formed (10+8+200+70+400+200) by the numerical value of the letters in the word ᾽Ιησοῦς.
[2836] The mutes are π, κ, τ, β, γ, δ, φ, χ, θ.
[2837] The semi-vowels are λ, μ, ν, ρ, σ, ζ, ξ, ψ.
[2838] It seems scarcely possible to give a more definite rendering of this clause: it may be literally translated thus: “And because they receive the outflow of those above, but the turning back again of those below.”
[2839] The ninth letter being taken from the mutes and added to the semi-vowels, an equal division of the twenty-four was thus secured.
[2840] Viz., Pater, Anthropos, and Logos.
[2841] Viz., ζ, ξ, ψ = δς, κς, πς.
[2842] Matt. xvii. 7; Mark ix. 2.
[2843] Moses and Elias being added to the company.
[2844] Referring to the word Χρειστός, according to Harvey, who remarks, that “generally the Ogdoad was the receptacle of the spiritual seed.”
[2845] The Saviour, as Alpha and Omega, was symbolized by the dove, the sum of the Greek numerals, π, ε, ρ, ι, σ, τ, ε, ρ, α (περιστερά, dove), being, like that of Α and Ω, 801.
[2846] That is, the letters ζ, ξ, ψ all contain ς, whose value is six, and which was called ἐπίσημον by the Greeks.
[2847] Referring to Aletheia, which, in Greek, contains seven letters.
[2848] By these seven powers are meant the seven heavens (also called angels), formed by the Demiurge.
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