The time a man shoots an arrow
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ϩⲁⲙⲏⲛ ϯϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ⲛⲏⲧⲛ̅ ϫⲉⲉⲥⲛⲁϣⲱⲡⲉ ϩⲛ̅ⲛ̅ⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲙ̅ⲡⲕⲟⲟⲩ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲟⲩϫⲉ ⲛ̅ⲟⲩⲥⲟⲧⲉ· ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ ϭⲉ ⲟⲛ ϩⲁⲙⲏⲛ ϯϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ⲛⲏⲧⲛ̅ ϫⲉⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲛⲓⲙ ⲉⲧⲛⲁϫⲓ ⲙ̅ⲡⲙⲩⲥⲧⲏⲣⲓⲟⲛ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲡⲓⲁⲧϣⲁϫⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ· ⲛϥ̅ϫⲟⲕϥ̅ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ϩⲛ̅ⲛⲉϥⲧⲩⲡⲟⲥ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ ⲙⲛ̅ⲛⲉϥⲥⲭⲏⲙⲁ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ· ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲉϥϩⲙ̅ⲡⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ· ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ϥⲟⲩⲟⲧⲃ̅ ⲉⲛⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ· ⲁⲩⲱ ϥⲛⲁⲟⲩⲱⲧⲃ̅ ⲛ̅ϩⲟⲩⲟ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ· ⲟⲩⲣⲱⲙⲉ ⲡⲉ ⲉϥϩⲓϫⲙ̅ⲡⲕⲟⲥⲙⲟⲥ ⲁⲗⲗⲁ ϥⲟⲩⲟⲧⲃ̅ ⲉⲛⲁⲣⲭⲁⲅⲅⲉⲗⲟⲥ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ· ⲁⲩⲱ ϥⲡⲁⲟⲩⲱⲧⲃ̅ ⲟⲛ ⲛ̅ϩⲟⲩⲟ ⲉⲣⲟⲟⲩ ⲧⲏⲣⲟⲩ:
Amen, I say to you: it will be through all the regions within the interval of a man shooting an arrow. Now therefore again, amen, I say to you: every man who will receive that mystery of the Ineffable and fulfills it in all its types and all its figures — he is a man in the world, but he surpasses all the angels, and will surpass them all still more. He is a man upon the world, but he surpasses all the archangels, and will surpass them all still more again.
The whole ascent through every region — the journey the punishment-chapters meter in months and years — is given its one measure of time: it takes as long as a man shooting an arrow. Then the chapter's great litany begins, and it is the answer to the question Mary asked at the end of chapter 85: will the humans who receive the mysteries surpass even the Light-land and the kingdom's own? Verse by verse, rank by rank, the answer arrives as a drumbeat. Every man who receives the mystery of the Ineffable and fulfills it "is a man in the world" — and surpasses all angels, and all archangels, and will surpass them all still more.
One measure of time for the whole ascent, and it is a countryman's measure: "the interval of a man shooting an arrow." The punishment-chapters counted three months at one desk, eight days at another, two hours at a third — a cosmos of clocks and dockets. The redeemed journey gets no schedule at all, just the twang of a bowstring and the arc of a shaft: every region crossed before the arrow lands. It is the same homely instinct that made Luke measure a distance as "a stone's throw" (Luke 22:41) — the highest thing in the book timed by a gesture any village boy had watched.
Then the litany begins, and the reader who has walked these selections knows what it is answering. At the end of chapter 85, Mary asked the boldest question in the book: will the humans who receive the mysteries <em>surpass</em> the Light-land and the kingdom's own? The verb there was <em>ouōtb</em>; the verb here is <em>ouōtb</em>, struck like a bell at every verse. "He is a man in the world" — the word is plain <em>rōme</em>, the ordinary word for a human being, the same word used for the man shooting the arrow — "but he surpasses all angels… all archangels… and will surpass them all still more." Present tense first, then future: already above them, and still climbing. The ladder of chapter 84 is about to be climbed rung by rung, from below, by a man.
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