342 michael kaler
of the nag hammadi codices.10 Thus their contexts of origin are not
directly accessible to us, and any reconstructions of these contexts are
very hypothetical indeed.11 it is probably safe to assume that the Apoca-
lypse of Paul, at least, was translated into coptic from a greek original. As
for the Prayer of Paul, this question remains open, and as i have shown
elsewhere, it is at least possible that the work was composed in coptic to
serve as the introduction to the collection made up of codices i-Xi-Vii.12
in fact, the only secure context that we can establish for these works is
the context in which they were found, that is, nag hammadi codices i
and V specifically, and the nag hammadi collection of 13 codices more
generally. whoever else may have copied them, the scribes of these codi-
ces certainly did; whoever else may have read them, the readers of these
codices certainly did. it is also significant to note that these two codices
show the clearest signs of any of the nag hammadi codices of having been
deliberately planned in terms of the choice of texts and (in codex i) their
order, thus adding to the significance of the works chosen for inclusion
in terms of the codex’s overall message.13 This context too, however, is
hypothetical, for—as i will discuss below—we can be almost certain that
the nag hammadi codices made up only a part of a larger collection.
Codex V
codex V is the work of a compiler who was interested in assembling
“apocalypses,” as at least four of the five works that it contains have this
word in their titles (two Apocalypses of James, and one of Adam).14 inter-
10 some have argued that irenaeus betrays knowledge of the Apoc. Paul in Against the
Heresies ii.30.7. But, as i have argued, irenaeus’s comments actually show that he was
working in a context in which, at least, some of the same issues were at play as those that
underlie the work of the author of the Apoc. Paul, rather than responding to it (michael
Kaler, louis painchaud, and marie-pierre Bussières, “The coptic Apocalypse of Paul, ire-
naeus’ Adv. Haer. ii.30.7 and the second century Battle for paul’s legacy,” JECS 12 [2004]:
173–94).
11 such as, for instance, i undertook in Kaler, “The Prayer of the Apostle Paul,” and
michael Kaler, “The Letter of Peter to Philip and its message of christian unity,” Vigiliae
Christianae 63 (2009): 1–32.
12 Kaler, “The Letter of Peter to Philip.”
13 see williams, “interpreting the nag hammadi library”; and michael williams, Rethink-
ing “Gnosticism”: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category (princeton: princeton
university press, 1999), chapter 11, for discussion of the logic behind codex organization.
14 it is possible that the first work in the codex also had the word “apocalypse” in its
title. its modern title, Eugnostos, is borrowed from another version of the same work found
in codex iii. The codex V version has a gap where the title would have been. it is inter-