Note 379 — Chapter IX · POST-CHRISTIAN GNOSTICS: VALENTINUS

Ibid. p. 290, Cruice. Κατὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν τὸ μέρος, θνητή τις ἐστὶν ἡ ψυχή, μεσότης τις οὖσα· ἔστι γὰρ Ἑβδομὰς καὶ Κατάπαυσις. “According to this, therefore,” [he has just said that fire has a twofold power, for there is a fire which devours everything and which cannot be extinguished] “part (of the Demiurge) is a certain soul which is subject to death, and a certain substance which occupies a middle place. For it is a Hebdomad and a laying to rest.” The passage is not easy, but seems to mean that some of the souls made by the Demiurge are mortal, while others are susceptible of salvation. Cf. n. 1, p. 109, infra. The name Hebdomad evidently refers to the seven astronomical heavens under the rule of the Demiurge, and the title “Ancient of Days” identifies him, like the Jaldabaoth of the Ophites, with the God of the Jews.