Thou who art the temple
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ⲁⲩⲱ ⲟⲛ ⲡϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟϥ ϫⲉⲁⲩⲛⲟⲩϩⲙ̅ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲙⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲱⲛϩ̅ ⲛ̅ϣⲁⲉⲛⲉϩ· ⲉⲧⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ϫⲉⲁⲩⲛⲟⲩϩⲙ̅ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ϯⲁⲡⲟϩⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲥ̅· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲡϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟϥ ϫⲉⲁⲥⲥⲟⲕⲟⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓϯⲁⲡⲟϩⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲥⲥⲟⲕⲟⲩ ⲉϫⲙ̅ⲡⲣ̅ⲡⲉ· ⲉⲧⲉⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ϫⲉⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲧⲁⲡⲟϩⲣⲟⲓⲁ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲥϥⲓ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲥⲧⲟⲣⲡⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲧⲟⲟⲧⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲛⲉⲡⲣⲟⲃⲟⲗⲟⲟⲩⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲁⲩⲑⲁⲧⲏⲥ. ⲁⲥⲛⲟϫⲟⲩ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲥⲕⲟⲧⲥ̅ ⲁⲥⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲭⲁⲟⲥ· ⲁⲥⲉⲓ̅ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲉϫⲱⲕ· ⲉⲧⲉⲛ̅ⲧⲟⲕ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲉⲣⲡⲉ ⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲡⲉ ⲡⲃⲱⲗ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲛⲁⲓ̈ ⲛ̅ⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲉⲕϭⲟⲙ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ϩⲓⲧⲛ̅ⲧⲱⲇⲏ ⲛ̅ⲥⲟⲗⲟⲙⲱⲛ·
And again the word which it has said: "They were saved through a water of life everlasting" — that is: they were saved through the whole light-stream. And the word which it has said: "The light-stream drew all and drew them over the temple" — that is: when the light-stream had taken all the lights of Pistis Sophia and plundered them from the emanations of the Self-willed, it poured them into Pistis Sophia, and it turned itself, went out of the chaos, and came up over thee — thou who art the temple. This is the solution of all the words which thy light-power has said through the Ode of Solomon.
The last clauses of the solution, and the one the whole exegesis has been holding back. The water of Life eternal is the whole light-stream. Then Peter returns to the flood’s strangest motion — it drew all to itself and was drawn over the temple — and unfolds it as the rescue’s full arc: the light-stream took back all of Sophia’s light-powers from the emanations, poured them into her, turned itself, went out of the chaos, and came up over thee — thou who art the temple. The building the flood sought out from the beginning was the speaker himself. And with that, Peter rests his case: this is the solution of all the words which thy light-power has said through the Ode of Solomon.
Peter saved the temple for last, and it is the one decoding that changes the ode’s emotional key. In the ode the flood "turned itself against the temple" — for any reader of the prophets, an image of judgment, water rising against the sanctuary. Peter reads the same motion as a homecoming: the stream, its work in the chaos done, turns, exits, and comes up "over <em>thee</em> — thou who art the temple." The building the flood was aimed at all along is the speaker: the First Mystery is the sanctuary the light returns to. The Gospels remember Jesus saying something this book’s readers would have heard underneath — "destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… he spake of the temple of his body" (John 2:19–21). Peter’s exegesis lands on the same identification from the other side: not the temple destroyed and raised, but the temple as the light’s home port.
The arc his last sentence traces is a perfect circuit: out of thee (65.5, "the light-stream that came forth out of me"), down into the chaos, through Sophia, and back "up over thee." Nothing of the flood is lost and nothing remains abroad; the rescue ends with the rescuer replenished. Then the rest: "this is the solution of all the words" — and the citation formula one final time, naming the source in full, <em>the Ode of Solomon</em>. In the modern numbering this was Ode 6; for some fifteen centuries, until the Syriac collection surfaced in 1909, these Coptic pages were the only place on earth where this hymn could be read at all.
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