The Nag Hammadi Scriptures

«Grant me your [mercy]. [My] Redeemer, redeem me, for [I am] yours; I have come from [you].» — la Oración del apóstol Pablo (NHC I,1) abre pidiendo misericordia y redención y declarando pertenencia y procedencia: soy tuyo, he venido de ti; los corchetes son restituciones del editor dentro del verbatim.

«I call upon you, you who exist and preexisted, in the name exalted above every name, 5 through Jesus Christ, [Lord] of lords, King of the eternal realms. 6» — la oración invoca a quien existe y preexistió, en el nombre exaltado sobre todo nombre, por medio de Jesucristo, Señor de señores y Rey de los reinos eternos.

«Give me your gifts, with no regret, through the Son of Humanity, 7 the Spirit, the Advocate 8 of [truth].» — y pide los dones por medio del Hijo de la Humanidad, el Espíritu y el Abogado de la verdad; las cifras son llamadas de nota del volumen.

«Give me authority, [I] ask of you, give [healing] 9 for my body, since I ask you through the preacher of the gospel, 10 and redeem my eternal enlightened soul and my spirit, and disclose to my mind the firstborn of the fullness of grace.» — las tres peticiones que siguen: autoridad, sanación para el cuerpo y redención del alma iluminada eterna y del espíritu, más la revelación del primogénito de la plenitud de la gracia.

«Grant what eyes of angels have not [seen], what ears of rulers have not heard, and what has not arisen in the human heart, 11 which became angelic, made in the image of the animate God 12 when it was formed in the beginning.» — la petición de lo que ojos de ángeles no vieron ni oídos de arcontes oyeron, con la declaración de que el corazón humano se hizo angélico, a imagen del Dios animado.

«[For] yours is power and glory and praise and greatness, forever and ever. [Amen]. Prayer of the Apostle Paul In peace. Holy is Christ.» — la doxología final y el colofón con que el texto se cierra y se nombra a sí mismo: Oración del apóstol Pablo, en paz, santo es Cristo.

«You are [my] mind: bring me forth. You are my treasury: open for me. You [are] my fullness: 3 accept me. You are <my> rest: 4» — la serie de invocaciones con la fórmula *tú eres*: mente, tesoro, plenitud y reposo, cada una con su petición; el tramo se corta al cambiar de plana y las cifras son llamadas de nota.

«give me incomprehensible perfection. I call upon you, you who exist and preexisted, in the name exalted above every name, 5» — la petición que cierra la serie al otro lado del corte de plana y el arranque de la invocación siguiente: perfección incomprensible, y la llamada a quien existe y preexistió en el nombre exaltado sobre todo nombre.

«[James] 2 writes to…. 3 Peace be [with you from] peace, [love] from love, [grace] from grace, [faith] from faith, life from holy life.» — la carta abre con el saludo epistolar del Libro secreto de Santiago (NHC I,2): paz de la paz, amor del amor, gracia de la gracia, fe de la fe, vida de la vida santa; el nombre del destinatario está en laguna.

«You have asked me to send you a secret book revealed to me and Peter by the master, 4 and I could not turn you down, nor could I speak to you, so [I have written] it in Hebrew 5 and have sent it to you, and to you alone.» — el texto declara su propio origen: se escribe a petición, en letras hebreas, y se envía al destinatario y solo a él.

«But since you are a minister of the salvation of the saints, do your best to be careful not to communicate to many people this book that the Savior did not want to communicate even to all of us, his twelve disciples.» — y su regla de restricción: no comunicarlo a mucha gente, porque el Salvador no quiso comunicarlo ni siquiera a los doce discípulos.

«Ten months ago I sent you another secret book 6 that the Savior revealed to me. Think of that book as revealed to me, James.» — el texto se remite a otro libro secreto enviado diez meses antes, revelado al mismo Santiago.

«The twelve disciples were all sitting together, recalling what the Savior had said to each of them, whether in a hidden or an open manner, and organizing it in books. 8» — la escena que el texto pone en el origen de los evangelios: los doce sentados juntos, recordando lo que el Salvador dijo a cada uno, de modo oculto o abierto, y ordenándolo en libros.

«Jesus said, “No, but I shall return to the place from which I came. If you want to come with me, come.”» — Jesús responde a la pregunta de si los dejó: volverá al lugar de donde vino, y quien quiera puede ir con él.

«He said, “I tell you the truth, no one will ever enter heaven’s kingdom because I ordered it, but rather because you yourselves are filled. Leave James and Peter to me that I may fill them.”» — y la condición que pone: nadie entra al reino del cielo por orden suya sino por estar lleno; aparta a Santiago y a Pedro para llenarlos.

«“Do you not want to be filled? “Your hearts are drunk. “Do you not want to be sober? “You ought to be ashamed.» — la serie de preguntas con que el Salvador reprende: si no quieren ser llenados, si no quieren estar sobrios, con los corazones ebrios.

«“Woe to those who have seen the Son of Humanity. “Blessed will you be who have not seen the human, or associated with him, or spoken with him, or listened to anything from him. Yours is life. 12» — el Libro secreto de Santiago invierte la bienaventuranza de haber visto: ay de quienes vieron al Hijo de la Humanidad, dichosos quienes no lo vieron ni hablaron con él.

«“So I tell you, be filled and leave no space within you empty, or he who is coming will mock you.”» — el mandato de llenarse sin dejar espacio vacío, bajo amenaza de burla del que viene.

«To be filled is good and to lack is bad. Yet since it is also good for you to lack but bad for you to be filled, whoever is filled also lacks. One who lacks is not filled in the way another who lacks is filled, but whoever is filled is brought to an appropriate end.» — la paradoja con que el texto responde a Pedro: estar lleno es bueno y carecer es malo, y a la vez carecer es bueno y estar lleno es malo, de modo que quien está lleno también carece.

«Be filled with spirit but lack in reason, for reason is of the soul. It is soul.” 13» — y el reparto que de ahí saca: llenarse de espíritu y carecer de razón, porque la razón es del alma.

«Won’t you stop loving the flesh and fearing suffering? Don’t you know that you have not yet been abused, unjustly accused, locked up in prison, unlawfully condemned, crucified <without> reason, 15 or buried in the sand 16 as I myself was by the evil one?» — el reproche del maestro a los discípulos: dejar de amar la carne y de temer el sufrimiento, contando su propio maltrato, prisión, condena, crucifixión y entierro en la arena.

«“I tell you the truth, none will be saved unless they believe in my cross, for God’s kingdom belongs to those who have believed in my cross.» — la afirmación central sobre la cruz: nadie se salva si no cree en ella, y el reino de Dios es de quienes han creído en ella.

«Be seekers of death, then, like the dead who seek life, for what they seek becomes apparent to them. And what is there to cause them concern? As for you, when you search out death, it will teach you about being chosen. I tell you the truth, no one afraid of death will be saved, for the kingdom of death 17 belongs to those who are put to death. 18» — y el giro con que la desarrolla: buscar la muerte como los muertos buscan la vida, porque nadie que tema la muerte se salva y el reino de la muerte es de los que son muertos.

«The master answered and said, “Don’t you know that the head of prophecy was cut off with John?” 20» — la respuesta del maestro a la pregunta por la profecía: la cabeza de la profecía fue cortada con Juan.

«“First I spoke with you in parables, and you did not understand. Now I am speaking with you openly, and you do not grasp it. Nevertheless, you were for me a parable among parables and a disclosure among things revealed.» — el reproche por la incomprensión: primero habló en parábolas y no entendieron, ahora habla abiertamente y tampoco; aun así los llama parábola entre parábolas y revelación entre lo revelado.

«“Do not let heaven’s kingdom wither away. It is like a palm shoot whose dates dropped around it. It produced buds, and after they grew, its productivity dried up. This is also what happened» — la parábola del retoño de palmera, que el volumen señala sin paralelo en el Nuevo Testamento: el reino se seca como la palma cuyos dátiles cayeron; el tramo se corta al cambiar de plana.

«“Be eager for the word. The first aspect of the word is faith, the second is love, the third is works, and from these comes life.» — los tres aspectos de la palabra según el texto: fe, amor y obras, y de ellos la vida.

«“The word is like a grain of wheat. When someone sowed it, he had faith in it, and when it sprouted, he loved it, because he saw many grains instead of just one. And after he worked, he was saved because he prepared it as food and he still kept some out to sow.» — la parábola del grano de trigo, que reparte fe al sembrar, amor al brotar y salvación tras el trabajo, con parte del grano guardada para sembrar.

«“This is also how you can acquire heaven’s kingdom for yourselves. Unless you acquire it through knowledge, 25 you will not be able to find it.”» — y la condición que el texto pone al reino: no se halla si no se adquiere por conocimiento.

«“Trust in me, my brothers. Understand what the great light is. The Father does not need me. A father does not need a son, but it is the son who needs the father.» — la asimetría que enuncia el Salvador: el Padre no lo necesita a él; un padre no necesita a un hijo, es el hijo quien necesita al padre.

«“You wretches! You poor devils! You pretenders to truth! You falsifiers of knowledge! You sinners against the spirit! Do you still dare to listen when from the beginning you should have been speaking? Do you still dare to sleep when from the beginning you should have been awake so that heaven’s kingdom might receive you?» — la invectiva contra los discípulos: pretendientes de la verdad, falsificadores del conocimiento, pecadores contra el espíritu, que oyen cuando debían hablar y duermen cuando debían velar.

«“I tell you the truth, if I had been sent to those who would listen to me and had spoken with them, I would never have come down to earth. 28 Now be ashamed.» — y la declaración con que explica su descenso: si lo hubieran enviado a quienes lo escucharan, no habría bajado a la tierra.

«“Woe to you who are in need of an advocate. “Woe to you who stand in need of grace. “Blessed will they be who have spoken out and acquired grace for themselves.» — la serie de ayes y bienaventuranzas sobre la gracia: ay de quien necesita abogado o gracia, dichosos quienes hablaron y se ganaron la gracia.

«“Or maybe you think that the Father is a lover of humanity, or that he is won over by prayers, or that he is gracious to one because of another, or that he tolerates whoever is seeking?» — la pregunta con que el texto niega esas figuras del Padre: que ame a la humanidad, que se deje ganar por oraciones, que sea benévolo por interposición o que tolere a quien busca.

«The body does not sin apart from the soul just as [12] the soul is not saved apart from the spirit. But if the soul is saved from evil and the spirit too is saved, the body becomes sinless. The spirit animates the soul but the body kills it. The soul kills itself. 31» — la antropología del texto: el cuerpo no peca sin el alma ni el alma se salva sin el espíritu; el espíritu anima al alma, el cuerpo la mata y el alma se mata a sí misma; el tramo cruza de plana.

«“I tell you the truth, he certainly will not forgive the sin of the soul or the guilt of the flesh, for none of those who have worn the flesh will be saved. Do you think that many have found heaven’s kingdom?» — y su consecuencia dura: no se perdona el pecado del alma ni la culpa de la carne, y ninguno de los que vistieron carne se salvará.

«“Heaven’s kingdom is like a head of grain that sprouted in a field. And when it was ripe, it scattered its seed, and again it filled the field with heads of grain for another year. So with you, be eager to harvest for yourselves a head of the grain of life that you may be filled with the kingdom.» — la parábola de la espiga que se siembra a sí misma y llena el campo al año siguiente, con la exhortación a cosechar la espiga de la vida.

«“And as long as I am with you, pay attention to me and trust in me, but when I am far from you, remember me. And remember me because I was with you and you did not know me. “Blessed will they be who have known me.» — y el encargo final del tramo: atender mientras está, recordar cuando esté lejos, porque estuvo con ellos sin que lo conocieran.

«“Understand that he healed you when you were sick, that you might reign. “Woe to those who have found relief from their sickness, for» — el texto aplica a la enfermedad la misma inversión: entiendan que él los sanó para que reinaran, y ay de quienes hallaron alivio de su enfermedad; el tramo se corta al cambiar de plana.

«they will relapse into sickness. “Blessed are you who have not been sick, and have known relief before getting sick. God’s kingdom is yours.» — y la continuación: recaerán en la enfermedad, y la dicha es de quienes no enfermaron y conocieron el alivio antes de enfermar.

«CONTENTS Dedication Preface James M. Robinson Introduction Marvin Meyer and Elaine H. Pagels» — el índice abre el volumen nombrando a los firmantes de las dos piezas de apertura: el prefacio es de James M. Robinson y la introducción, de Marvin Meyer y Elaine H. Pagels.

«Epilogue: Schools of Thought in the Nag Hammadi Scriptures Thomas Christianity Marvin Meyer The Sethian School of Gnostic Thought John D. Turner The Valentinian School of Gnostic Thought Einar Thomassen Hermetic Religion Jean-Pierre Mahé» — el índice reparte el epílogo en cuatro escuelas de pensamiento, cada una con su firmante: Meyer para el cristianismo de Tomás, Turner para la escuela setiana, Thomassen para la valentiniana y Mahé para la religión hermética.

«Table of Tractates Bibliography Acknowledgments Searchable Terms About the Author Books by Marvin W. Meyer» — y el aparato final que el índice anuncia: tabla de tratados, bibliografía, agradecimientos, índice de términos, nota sobre el autor y lista de sus libros.

«Books by Marvin W. Meyer The Gospel of Thomas The Nag Hammadi Scriptures The Gospels of Mary The Gnostic Gospels of Jesus The Gnostic Discoveries Judas» — la lista de libros del editor que el volumen imprime antes del prefacio; el último título queda suelto al cortar la plana.

«THE PRAYER OF THE APOSTLE PAUL Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer THE SECRET BOOK OF JAMES Madeleine Scopello and Marvin Meyer THE GOSPEL OF TRUTH Einar Thomassen and Marvin Meyer THE TREATISE ON RESURRECTION Einar Thomassen and Marvin Meyer THE TRIPARTITE TRACTATE Einar Thomassen» — el arranque de la lista de textos, cada uno con quienes lo firman; es la fuente de la adjudicación de voces en esta ficha.

«In all, there are some fifty-two tractates in the collection of Nag Hammadi codices, and since six are duplicates, there are forty-six different texts.» — Robinson cuenta la colección: cincuenta y dos tratados con seis duplicados, es decir cuarenta y seis textos distintos.

«Of these, forty-one are texts that were not previously extant, but ten are very fragmentary, so that one may say that the discovery has added about thirty-one new texts to our knowledge of religion and philosophy in antiquity.» — y qué añade el hallazgo, con su límite dicho en la misma frase: cuarenta y un textos antes inexistentes, diez de ellos muy fragmentarios, de modo que unos treinta y uno son aprovechables.

«The people who wrote, copied, translated, recopied, read, collected, and finally buried these texts are unknown.» — Robinson declara desconocidos a quienes escribieron, copiaron, tradujeron, recopiaron, leyeron, reunieron y enterraron los textos; es la razón por la que esta ficha va sin atribuciones de autor.

«Since most of the tractates are Gnostic, it is assumed that there must have been a sympathetic community in the region that collected, cherished, and then buried its library.» — y da por supuesta una comunidad simpatizante en la región que reunió, apreció y enterró la biblioteca; lo enuncia como suposición, no como dato.

«In 367, Athanasius, the orthodox patriarch of Alexandria, wrote an Easter letter to be read in all the monasteries of Egypt, calling upon them to eliminate from their libraries apocryphal writings; in the letter he listed those books that were to be included as acceptable—the oldest extant list of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament.» — Robinson sitúa la carta pascual de Atanasio de 367, que ordena a los monasterios de Egipto eliminar los escritos apócrifos de sus bibliotecas y trae la lista más vieja de los veintisiete libros del Nuevo Testamento.

«It has been suggested that the Nag Hammadi codices were among the books that had to be excluded but were buried for safekeeping in a sealed jar by those who valued them.» — y recoge la sugerencia de que los códices estuvieran entre los libros por excluir y fueran enterrados a resguardo por quienes los valoraban; la da como sugerencia ajena.

«Another codex, Papyrus Berolinensis 8502, which has been in Berlin for a century, contains duplicates of two tractates in the Nag Hammadi collection, the Secret Book of John and the Wisdom of Jesus Christ , as well as two other texts, the Gospel of Mary and the Act of Peter . They have been included in the present edition, as have the texts from Codex Tchacos, the Gospel of Judas and the Book of Allogenes .» — Robinson explica qué más entra al volumen además de Nag Hammadi: el Papiro Berolinense 8502, con dos duplicados y otros dos textos, y el Códice Tchacos con el Evangelio de Judas y el Libro de Alógenes.

«The English translation of the Nag Hammadi scriptures published in the present volume is the result of the close collaboration of three teams of scholars who over the past generation have prepared English, French, and German translations.» — y de dónde sale la traducción: la colaboración de tres equipos que llevan una generación preparando versiones inglesa, francesa y alemana.

«The English-language team has had its center in the Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity of Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California.» — el equipo inglés, con centro en el Coptic Gnostic Library Project del Institute for Antiquity and Christianity de Claremont.

«The project was founded and directed by James M. Robinson.» — Robinson consigna en tercera persona que él mismo fundó y dirigió el proyecto de Claremont.

«The German-language team has been based in the Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften of the Theological Faculty of the Humboldt University of Berlin.» — el equipo alemán, en el Berliner Arbeitskreis für koptisch-gnostische Schriften de la Facultad de Teología de la Universidad Humboldt.

«The Arbeitskreis was founded by Hans-Martin Schenke and is currently directed by Hans-Gebhard Bethge.» — con Hans-Martin Schenke como fundador y Hans-Gebhard Bethge como director al momento del volumen.

«The French-language team has been centered in the Institut d’études anciennes and the Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses of the Université Laval in Québec, Canada.» — y el equipo francés, en el Institut d’études anciennes y la Faculté de théologie et de sciences religieuses de la Universidad Laval.

«Founded by Jacques-É. Ménard and Hervé Gagné, the team is currently directed by Louis Painchaud, Wolf-Peter Funk, and Paul-Hubert Poirier.» — fundado por Jacques-É. Ménard y Hervé Gagné y dirigido entonces por Louis Painchaud, Wolf-Peter Funk y Paul-Hubert Poirier.

«The advisory board for this volume consists of James M. Robinson, representing the American team, Wolf-Peter Funk, representing the German team, and Paul-Hubert Poirier, representing the French-Canadian team.» — Robinson nombra el consejo asesor del volumen: él por el equipo estadounidense, Funk por el alemán y Poirier por el francocanadiense.

«The translators have also smoothed out the often verbose formulations of the Coptic texts into a more crisp, intelligible English rendition in order to produce a volume in which the texts are presented as accurately as possible in readable, contemporary English.» — y declara la política de traducción: alisar las formulaciones verbosas del copto hasta un inglés contemporáneo legible, buscando a la vez la mayor exactitud posible.

«He not only organized and directed the Berlin team, but also worked for two years in Québec and taught three semesters in Claremont, thus bringing his scholarly mastery of the texts and his congenial goodwill into play in all three centers. With gratitude we dedicate this volume to him.» — Robinson cierra el prefacio dedicando el volumen a Hans-Martin Schenke, que dirigió el equipo de Berlín, trabajó dos años en Quebec y enseñó tres semestres en Claremont; la frase arranca en la plana siguiente a la que la abre.

«The present volume, entitled The Nag Hammadi Scriptures , 1 offers a new edition of some of the most remarkable texts that have come to light in the last century.» — Meyer y Pagels declaran qué es el libro: una nueva edición de algunos de los textos más notables salidos a la luz en el último siglo.

«Since the discovery of the thirteen codices of the Nag Hammadi library in 1945, the Berlin Gnostic Codex 8502 a few decades before, and Codex Tchacos more recently, such texts as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Mary have become a significant part of cultural and religious life, and they have come to be known and read not only by students of early Christianity, but also by a wide variety of people interested in religion in general and the early Christian movement in particular.» — y qué ha pasado con esos textos: el Evangelio según Tomás y el Evangelio de María han pasado a formar parte de la vida cultural y religiosa, leídos también fuera de la academia.

«Rather, the documents from the Nag Hammadi library, the Berlin Gnostic Codex, and Codex Tchacos are scriptural in the broader sense of texts composed, read, translated, and copied as books recognized as inspired—and inspiring—for those seeking God.» — el sentido ancho en que los editores llaman escriturales a estos textos: libros compuestos, leídos, traducidos y copiados como inspirados para quien busca a Dios.

«In 1896 a German scholar, Carl Reinhardt, bought the Berlin Gnostic Codex from a dealer from Akhmim, in central Egypt, who claimed that the codex had been discovered with feathers covering it in a recessed place in a wall; Carl Schmidt, the first editor of the codex, suspected that it may have come from a cemetery near Akhmim.» — Meyer y Pagels datan en 1896 la compra del Códice Gnóstico de Berlín por Carl Reinhardt, y dan la sospecha de Carl Schmidt, su primer editor, sobre un cementerio cercano a Ajmim.

«Schmidt published the last text of the codex—the Act of Peter —in 1903, but it was not until 1955 that Walter C. Till was able to see the first three texts of the codex—the Gospel of Mary , the Secret Book of John , and the Wisdom of Jesus Christ —through the press. Hans-Martin Schenke published a second, revised edition of the Berlin Gnostic Codex in 1972: Die gnostischen Schriften des koptischen Papyrus Berolinensis 8502 . 2» — la cronología editorial de ese códice: Schmidt publica el Acta de Pedro en 1903, Walter C. Till saca los tres primeros textos en 1955 y Hans-Martin Schenke da una segunda edición revisada en 1972; el *2* final es la llamada de nota.

«Meanwhile, around the end of 1945, the texts known as the Nag Hammadi library were discovered, not at the city of Nag Hammadi itself, but near the base of a majestic cliff, the Jabal al-Tarif, which flanks the Nile River a few kilometers from Nag Hammadi.» — y la corrección geográfica que hacen al nombre mismo de la colección: no se halló en la ciudad de Nag Hammadi sino al pie del Jabal al-Tarif, a unos kilómetros.

«Five years after the discovery, the French scholar Jean Doresse explored the region and tried to find out the circumstances of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library.» — cinco años después del hallazgo, Jean Doresse explora la región para averiguar las circunstancias del descubrimiento.

«James M. Robinson has offered another version of the story of the discovery. For a number of years, Robinson conducted interviews with people from the towns and villages in the Nag Hammadi area, in particular Muhammad Ali of the al-Samman clan, a resident of al-Qasr, and from the interviews he pieced together a fascinating account of how the Nag Hammadi codices were uncovered.» — y la otra versión del relato, la de Robinson, armada con entrevistas a gente de la zona, en particular a Muhammad Ali del clan al-Samman.

«In his account of what transpired, Muhammad Ali has suggested to Robinson that he paused before removing the lid or breaking open the jar, out of fear that the jar might contain a jinni , or spirit, that could cause trouble if released from the jar.» — el detalle que Muhammad Ali le dio a Robinson: se detuvo antes de abrir la jarra por miedo a que contuviera un *jinni* que causara problemas al salir.

«He smashed the jar with his mattock, and indeed something golden in color and glistening in the sunlight—fragments of papyrus, we might conclude—flew out of the jar and disappeared into the air. And when he looked into the broken jar to see what remained, he found only a collection of old books—the codices of the Nag Hammadi library. 5» — y lo que siguió: la jarra rota a golpe de azadón, algo dorado que vuela y se pierde en el aire —fragmentos de papiro, conjeturan los editores— y dentro solo libros viejos.

«I had to go to Hamra Dum myself, find the son of Ahmad Isma’il, the man Muhammad Ali had butchered, and get his assurance that, since he had long since shot up a funeral cortège of Muhammad Ali’s family, wounding Muhammad Ali and killing a number of his clan, he considered the score settled. Hence, he would not feel honor-bound to attack Muhammad Ali if he returned to the foot of the cliff. I took this good news back to Muhammad Ali, who opened his shirt, showed me the scar on his chest, bragged that he had been shot but not killed, yet emphasized that if he ever laid eyes on the son of Ahmad Isma’il again, he would kill him on the spot.» — los editores citan a Robinson contando cómo convenció a Muhammad Ali de volver al sitio: tuvo que ir antes a Hamra Dum a pactar con el hijo del hombre al que aquel había matado.

«The burial cave was located across the river from Maghagha, not far from the village of Qarara in what is known as Middle Egypt. The fellahin stumbled upon the cave hidden down in the rocks. Climbing down to it, they found the skeleton of a wealthy man in a shroud. Other human remains, probably members of the dead man’s family, were with him in the cave. His precious books were beside him, encased in a white limestone box.» — y lo que Herbert Krosney reconstruye de él, citado por los editores: una cueva funeraria cerca de Qarara, con el esqueleto de un hombre rico y sus libros en una caja de piedra caliza blanca.

«For our purposes, Codex Tchacos is of particular interest, since it is a Nag Hammadi type of codex with two texts known from the Nag Hammadi library (the Letter of Peter to Philip and James ) and two texts that were previously unknown or unavailable (the Gospel of Judas and the Book of Allogenes ).» — por qué el Códice Tchacos importa al volumen: es un códice del tipo de Nag Hammadi, con dos textos ya conocidos y dos antes indisponibles.

«Unfortunately, Codex Tchacos later was moved from place to place and passed from hand to hand, and the papyrus book suffered extensive damage due to the greed and ineptitude of people. It was stored away in a safe-deposit box in humid Hicksville, New York, for sixteen years and was placed in a freezer in the Midwest in a misguided effort to separate papyrus pages.» — y lo que le pasó después: el códice movido de mano en mano, dañado, dieciséis años en una caja de seguridad en Hicksville y metido en un congelador para separar las hojas.

«The circumstances of the discovery of the Nag Hammadi library and the other Coptic texts are debated among scholars, and the debate is likely to continue into the future.» — y la reserva con que los editores cierran el relato: las circunstancias de los hallazgos están en disputa entre estudiosos y la disputa seguirá.

«a form of the Egyptian language used from the Roman period until more recent times, though they were likely composed in Greek.» — la lengua de los textos: traducidos al copto, forma del egipcio usada desde el periodo romano, aunque compuestos probablemente en griego; la frase arranca en la plana anterior con *The texts included here were translated into Coptic*.

«The vase was broken and nothing remains of it; the manuscripts were taken to Cairo and no one knows what» — lo que Doresse escribe y los editores citan del hallazgo: la vasija rota y perdida y los manuscritos llevados a El Cairo sin que nadie sepa qué fue de ellos; el tramo se corta al cambiar de plana.

«collection of manuscripts was unearthed in Egypt. The details of» — el tercer hallazgo, de los años setenta, cuyos detalles la introducción declara inciertos; el tramo se corta al pie de la plana.