They knew one another
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ⲁⲩⲱ ⲟⲛ ⲕⲁⲧⲁⲑⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲧⲉⲕϭⲟⲙ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ϫⲟⲟⲥ ϫⲉⲁⲩϯ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩϭⲟⲙ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲩⲡⲁⲣϩⲏⲥⲓⲁ· ⲉⲧⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ϫⲉⲁⲩϫⲓ ⲟⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲩⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲩⲣ̅ⲑⲉ ⲉⲛⲉⲩⲟ ⲙ̅ ⲙⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ϣⲟⲣⲡ̅· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲟⲛ ⲡϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟϥ ϫⲉⲁⲩϯ ⲟⲩⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉⲛⲉⲩⲃⲁⲗ ⲉⲧⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ϫⲉⲁⲩϫⲓ ⲁⲓⲥⲑⲏⲥⲓⲥ ϩⲙ̅ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲩⲥⲟⲩⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲡⲟϩⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ϫⲉⲉⲥⲏⲡ ⲉⲡϫⲓⲥⲉ. ⲁⲩⲱ ⲟⲛ ⲡϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟϥ· ϫⲉⲛ̅ⲧⲟⲟⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲁⲩⲥⲟⲩⲱⲛⲟⲩ ϩⲙ̅ⲡϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ· ⲉⲧⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ϫⲉ□□ϭⲟⲙ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲩⲥⲟⲩⲛ̅ ⲛⲉⲩⲉⲣⲏⲩ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ϯⲁⲡⲟϩⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ·
And again, according as thy light-power has said: "They gave a power to their openness" — that is: they received their light again, and became as they were before. And again the word which it has said: "They gave a light to their eyes" — that is: they received sense in the light, and they knew the light-stream, that it belongs to the Height. And again the word which it has said: "They all have known themselves in the Lord" — that is: all the powers of Pistis Sophia have known one another through the light-stream.
Three more clauses fall to Peter’s method, and they climb a ladder: restoration, then perception, then mutual recognition. The power given to their openness is the light received again — they became as they were before. The light given to their eyes is aisthēsis, sense-perception, received in the light: they knew the light-stream and knew where it belongs — to the Height. And the ode’s summit line, "they all have known themselves in the Lord," Peter turns outward: all the powers of Pistis Sophia have known one another through the light-stream. Self-knowledge, read by this book, is a plural event.
The word Peter reaches for at the eyes-verse is worth stopping on: they received <em>aisthēsis</em> in the light — sense-perception, the Greek philosophers’ technical term for what eyes and ears and fingertips deliver. Greek thought spent centuries ranking aisthēsis below noēsis, the senses below the mind, and treating the pair as rivals; Plato’s cave is the classic verdict. This book quietly refuses the ranking. What the rescued powers get first is not doctrine but perception — working eyes — and with it a single accurate judgment: the light-stream <em>belongs to the Height</em>. Knowing where a light comes from is, in this book, the difference between salvation and catastrophe; Sophia fell precisely by mistaking a lure’s address. The restored aisthēsis is fall-proofing: sense that reads provenance.
Then the summit clause, and Peter’s most interesting swerve. The ode says "they all have known <em>themselves</em> in the Lord"; Peter decodes: the powers "have known <em>one another</em> through the light-stream." Self-knowledge becomes mutual knowledge without argument, as if the two were obviously the same thing. For the Delphic tradition — know thyself, singular, inward — that is a real amendment: this book’s self is a plurality of powers, and knowing it means the members recognizing each other in shared light. The Greek copy of the ode is lost, but the Coptic here preserves the reading with two squares of damage sitting mid-word in the very phrase — the manuscript wounded exactly where it says the powers were made whole.
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