From William Smth A Dictionary of Christian Biography "The word Episemon is included in this dictionary being strangely absent from Greek lexicons ancient and modern ... The Gnostic Marcus laid great stress on the mysteries derived from names by calculating the numerical values of their letters. In the account of his system given by Irenaeus ... the Episemon is repeatedly used to denote the numerical character for six; the number six is ho episemos arithmos; the six letter name Iesous is to episemon droma, language perplexing to the Old Latin translator who renders the word by 'insignis.' A similar use of the word is found in Clement of Alexandria (Strom vi.16) but this cannot be called a quite independant illustration, for on comparison of the sections just cited from Clement and from Irenaeus the coincidences are found to be such as to put it beyond doubt that Clement in his account of the number six makes an unacknowledged use of the same writing as were employed by Irenaeus. [p. 161]
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Other Scholars Who Noticed Parallels Between Clement of Alexandria and the Marcosians
From William Smth A Dictionary of Christian Biography "The word Episemon is included in this dictionary being strangely absent from Greek lexicons ancient and modern ... The Gnostic Marcus laid great stress on the mysteries derived from names by calculating the numerical values of their letters. In the account of his system given by Irenaeus ... the Episemon is repeatedly used to denote the numerical character for six; the number six is ho episemos arithmos; the six letter name Iesous is to episemon droma, language perplexing to the Old Latin translator who renders the word by 'insignis.' A similar use of the word is found in Clement of Alexandria (Strom vi.16) but this cannot be called a quite independant illustration, for on comparison of the sections just cited from Clement and from Irenaeus the coincidences are found to be such as to put it beyond doubt that Clement in his account of the number six makes an unacknowledged use of the same writing as were employed by Irenaeus. [p. 161]
Email stephan.h.huller@gmail.com with comments or questions.
