Afraid of Peter
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ⲛⲉⲓ̈ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲟⲛ ⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ ϭⲉ ⲡⲉⲛⲧⲁⲡⲉϥⲛⲟⲩⲥ ⲣ̅ⲛⲟⲉⲣⲟⲥ ⲉⲁϥⲛⲟⲓ̈ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲙⲁⲣⲉϥⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲑⲏ ⲛϥ̅ⲧⲁⲩⲉⲡⲉⲩⲃⲱⲗ: Ⲍ ⲁⲥϣⲱⲡⲉ ϭⲉ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲣⲉⲡⲓϣⲟⲣⲡ̅ ⲙ̅ⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲟⲩⲱ ⲉϥϫⲱ ⲛ̅ⲛⲉⲓ̈ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲙⲙⲁⲑⲏⲧⲏⲥ. ⲁⲥⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲑⲏ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ· ⲡⲉϫⲁⲥ ϫⲉⲡⲁϫⲟⲉⲓⲥ· ⲡⲁⲛⲟⲩⲥ ⲟⲩⲛⲟⲉⲣⲟⲥ ⲡⲉ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓϣ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉⲧⲣⲁⲉⲓ̅ ⲉⲑⲏ ⲛ̅ⲥⲟⲡ ⲛⲓⲙ· ⲧⲁⲧⲁⲩⲉⲡⲃⲱⲗ ⲛ̅ⲛ̅ϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥϫⲟⲟⲩ· ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ⲉⲓⲣ̅ϩⲟⲧⲉ ϩⲏⲧϥ̅ ⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲧⲣⲟⲥ ϫⲉϣⲁϥⲁⲡⲉⲓⲗⲉⲓ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ̈· ⲁⲩⲱ ϥⲙⲟⲥⲧⲉ ⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲛⲅⲉⲛⲟⲥ·
These words again Pistis Sophia uttered. Now therefore, he whose mind has become understanding, comprehending the words which Pistis Sophia uttered — let him come forward and set forth their solution. It came to pass, when the First Mystery had finished speaking these words to the disciples, that Mary came forward and said: My Lord, my mind is understanding at every time, to come forward at every time and set forth the solution of the words which she uttered; but I am afraid of Peter, because he is wont to threaten me, and he hates our sex.
The First Mystery finishes reciting Sophia’s thanksgiving and opens the floor with the standing formula of this part of the book: whoever’s mind has become understanding, comprehending the words Pistis Sophia uttered, let him come forward and set forth their solution. Mary comes forward — she of the thirty-nine questions, the one who has solved song after song — and what she says first is not the solution. It is the book’s most quoted aside: my mind is understanding at every time; I could come forward every time; but I am afraid of Peter, because he is wont to threaten me, and he hates our sex. The complaint Peter made about her in chapter 36 has, by this late point of the dialogue, lodged inside her as fear.
This is the second Peter-and-Mary flashpoint of the book, and the Coptic keeps a detail the standard English translations flatten. Mary does not say "he threatened me," one past event; the verb ⲁⲡⲉⲓⲗⲉⲓ (Greek <em>apeilein</em>, threaten) is conjugated with the aorist of custom, the tense of what habitually happens: he is <em>wont</em> to threaten me. The same habitual form carries the ode’s "thou art wont to save every one" in chapter 69 — the grammar of a standing pattern, not an incident. And the object of his hatred is not Mary alone but "our <em>genos</em>": the Greek word for race, kind, stock — here, the whole kind of women. In chapter 36 Peter complained to Jesus about her taking every opportunity to speak; by this late point the complaint has moved inside her, and the boldest questioner in the book pauses on the threshold to name her fear before she can do the thing she does best.
What she says first matters as much as the fear: my mind is understanding <em>at every time</em>. Competence was never the question — she has solved more songs than anyone in the room, and the floor was opened with a standard that names only the mind ("whose mind has become understanding, let him come forward"). The scene quietly measures the gap between the rule as stated and the room as it actually is: the credential is spiritual, the obstacle is social. The same conflict between the same two disciples appears in the Gospel of Mary, where Peter doubts that the Savior spoke privately with a woman — two books, independently, remembering that her place beside him was contested. How the First Mystery answers — without ever naming Peter — is the next passage.
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