Hypostasis of the Archons

Hypostasis of the Archons, also translated The Reality of the Rulers, is a Gnostic religious text. Originally written in Greek in the second or third century CE, the only known copy is a Coptic translation found in Codex II of the Nag Hammadi library. The text is a hybrid of two sources involving Norea, the sister of the biblical Seth. The first half retells the first six chapters of the Book of Genesis, while the second presents a revelation dialog between Norea and the angel Eleleth. The text closely parallels another Gnostic text, On the Origin of the World, which appears alongside it in the second Nag Hammadi codex.

Hypostasis combines elements from Jewish traditions, Greco-Roman and Egyptian myths, and the dialogues of Plato, especially Timaeus. In retelling the stories of Adam and Eve and the Flood, it inverts their traditional meaning. God's role in the original narrative is divided between four deities, including Yaldabaoth, a mocking caricature of the Old Testament God, and Sabaoth, who forms a covenant with the Jews but is not the ultimate source of salvation. Drawing on Platonic philosophy, the text portrays the material world as merely the imitation of a superior heavenly world. The Archons, creators of the material world, are presented as flawed, ignorant, and deceitful. Adam and Eve's consumption of the forbidden fruit is portrayed as a step toward salvation, not a sin.

Scholars of Gnosticism debate how Hypostasis engages with Christianity. The text prophesies about the coming "True Man", generally interpreted as Jesus, and the text both quotes and praises Paul. However, there is no consensus whether these are minor glosses on originally non-Christian material or core features of the text. Scholars have also analyzed the work's perspectives on gender. The core figures in its narrative are female, while its antagonists are male, and the archons attempt to rape both Norea and Eve.