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The Paraphrase
of Shem
I he Paraphrase of Shem is a difficult, confusing, and fascinating
I gnostic text about the origin of the world and the salvation of
JL. the people of Shem in the world. The document defies any obvi-
ous classification: though gnostic, it shares few features with other Sethian
literature and may be closer, in some respects, to Manichaean literature and
Manichaean themes. The title relates both to the entire text and to a later
specific portion of the text that refers to itself as a paraphrase and explains
names used in a litany. The title is similar to the Paraphrase of Seth men-
tioned by Hippolytus of Rome,^1 and the two texts share certain features, such
as the conviction that everything originates from three primal powers. As
Hippolytus presents the Paraphrase of Seth, however, it is a clearly Christian
text that has more differences than similarities with the present text.
In the Paraphrase of Shem the father of the gnostics is not Seth, as among
Sethian gnostics, but another figure with a significant role in the early chap-
ters of Genesis, Shem (spelled Seem in the text). Here Shem receives a revela-
tion from the savior and revealer, Derdekeas, whose name may derive from
the Aramaic for "male child."^2 According to the Paraphrase of Shem, in thei. Refutation of All Heresies 5.19-22.
- See Frederik Wisse, "The Paraphrase of Shem (VII.i)," in Pearson, Nag Hammadi Codex
p. 16, and Stroumsa, Another Seed: Studies in Gnostic Mythology, p. 79.
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