Is the 'Ogdoad' in the Hymn of Jesus the Sheminith (ὀγδόης) of David?

We have uncovered the eight stringed harp called a 'sheminith' and associated with David (Psalm 6, 12) and the Levites was a messianic symbol from the time of the bar Kochba revolt. For Clement however it was clearly an allegory for the twofold gospel (i.e. the public and secret gospels of Mark) both 'playing a new song' a 'diatessaron' apart. I find it especially interesting that the LXX translation of the Hebrew name sheminith is 'ogdoad' (ὀγδόης) because of its underlying implications for the origins of gnosticism.

I find especially intriguing that the Acts of John (second century CE) has an early gnostic hymn which seems to have Jesus and the disciples dancing and playing musical instruments. There is also a reference to 'the ogdoad' as a musical instrument. R Conolly has already demonstrated that the author of the Acts of John used a Diatessaron as his gospel. This makes the reference to the instrument called an 'ogdoad' even more likely to have something to do with Clement's conception in the already examined in our last post. We read:

Now whereas we give thanks, I say:

I would be saved, and I would save.
Amen.
I would be loosed, and I would loose.
Amen.
I would be wounded, and I would wound.
Amen.
I would be born, and I would bear.
Amen.
I would eat, and I would be eaten.
Amen.
I would hear, and I would be heard.
Amen.
I would be thought, being wholly thought.
Amen.
I would be washed, and I would wash.
Amen.
Grace danceth. I would pipe; dance ye all.
Amen.
I would mourn: lament ye all.
Amen.

One ogdoad (ογδοάς) singeth praise with us.
Amen.
One duodecad danceth on high.
Amen.
The Whole on high hath part in our dancing.
Amen.
Whoso danceth not, knoweth not what cometh to pass.
Amen.

I would flee, and I would stay.
Amen.
I would adorn, and I would be adorned.
Amen.
I would be united, and I would unite.
Amen.
A house I have not, and I have houses.
Amen.
A place I have not, and I have places.
Amen.
A temple I have not, and I have temples.
Amen.

A lamp am I to thee that beholdest me.
Amen.
A mirror am I to thee that perceivest me.
Amen.
A door am I to thee that knockest at me.
Amen.
A way am I to thee a wayfarer.

The previous reference to a 'pipe' would imply to me at least that the 'ogdoad' is a sheminith and the 'duodecad' is a reference to some twelve stringed or twelve holed instrument. More investigation is needed but again - very interesting possibilities here to transform our understanding of earliest Christianity!

It should be noted that in Aramaic sheminith is used not only to describe the instrument of this name but also 'the eighth' day especially the eighth day of Sukkoth. Yet I can't stress this enough - sheminith is the ordinary way to describe 'the eighth' and 'an eighth' of something (i.e. a fraction or ratio).

And by the way, for those are paying attention 12 is to 8 as 3 is to 2 - i.e. the Acts of John puts forward a diapente (3:2). It is impossible to argue that all of this is just coincidence especially as we have Irenaeus telling us that the followers of Mark made these very same kind of arguments in the second century ...