Salome comes forward
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ⲉⲧⲃⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲉϣ ϥⲓⲡⲁⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϫⲉⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲓ̈ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉⲡⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ· ⲛ̅ϯⲛⲁⲣ̅ϩⲟⲧⲉ ⲁⲛ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲣⲉϥⲛⲟⲩϩⲙ̅· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ϯⲛⲁⲣ̅ϩⲟⲧⲉ ⲁⲛ· ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ ϭⲉ ⲡⲉⲧⲉⲣⲉⲧⲉϥϭⲟⲙ ϫⲟⲥⲉ· ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲡⲃⲱⲗ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲥϣⲱⲡⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲓ̅ⲥ̅ ⲟⲩⲱ ⲉϥϫⲱ ⲛ̅ⲛⲉⲉⲓϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲉϥⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ· ⲁⲥⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲑⲏ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲥⲁⲗⲱⲙⲏ ⲡⲉϫⲁⲥ ϫⲉⲡⲁϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ⲧⲁϭⲟⲙ ⲁⲛⲁⲅⲕⲁⲍⲉ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲓ̈ ⲉⲧⲣⲁϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲡⲃⲱⲗ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲧⲉⲕϭⲟⲙ ⲡⲣⲟⲫⲏⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲓⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ϣ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ⲥⲟⲗⲟⲙⲱⲛ ⲉⲥϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ϫⲉϯⲛⲁⲟⲩⲟⲛϩⲧ̅ ⲛⲁⲕ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ ϫⲉⲛ̅ⲧⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲛⲟⲩⲧⲉ·
Therefore they could not take away my light, because I have had faith in the Light; I shall not fear. And the Light is my deliverer, and I shall not fear. — Now therefore, he whose power is exalted, let him speak the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia has said. It came to pass, when Jesus had finished speaking these words to his disciples, that Salome came forward; she said: My Lord, my power constrains me to speak the solution of the words which Pistis Sophia has said. Thy power prophesied aforetime through Solomon, saying: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou art my God.
Sophia’s song closes on its ground note — because I have had faith in the Light, I shall not fear; the Light is my deliverer — and the frame resumes. Jesus issues his standing challenge: let the disciple whose power is exalted speak the solution of what Sophia has sung. It is Salome who comes forward — the third woman of the dialogue, after the two Marys — and her opening formula is stronger than anyone’s before her: my power does not merely stir me, it constrains me. Then she begins to quote: thy power prophesied aforetime through Solomon — I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou art my God.
Sophia’s song ends where her name begins: "because I have <em>had faith</em> — <em>pisteue</em> — in the Light, I shall not fear." Her own name conjugated as a verb is the reason the theft failed. Then the frame resumes and a new interpreter steps up: Salome, the third woman of this dialogue after the two Marys. The Gospels know her as one of the women at the cross and the empty tomb (Mark 15:40, 16:1); the extracanonical tradition knows her as a questioner in her own right. Her credential formula outdoes everyone’s: where others say their power stirs or moves them, Salome says my power <em>constrains</em> me — <em>anankazein</em>, the verb of Ananke, Necessity herself. Interpretation, in her mouth, is not an offer; it is a compulsion.
What she quotes survives nowhere in Greek and nowhere in the Hebrew Bible: it is an Ode of Solomon — in the modern numbering of the Syriac collection recovered in 1909, <em>Ode 5</em> ("I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, for thou art my God"). The text claims no number here; it says only that "thy power prophesied aforetime <em>through</em> Solomon." The arrow points backward, as it did with David’s psalm in ch. 33: the ode is not being applied to Sophia — the power that would sing in Sophia sang first, prophetically, through the odist. For centuries this book was among the only witnesses that such Odes existed at all; the reader is watching a lost hymnal being quoted by an older book that thought the hymnal was the echo.
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