The Use of Pleroma in The Odes of Solomon
**The Pleroma in the Odes of Solomon**
*Welcome to Pleroma Pathways apocalyptic and mystic Christianity where we explore esoteric and apocalyptic texts.*
The Odes of Solomon, a collection of early Christian hymns composed in Syriac, offer rich and mystical language that often resonates with the concept of the *Pleroma*. In Valentinian thought, the *Pleroma* is the fullness of divine attributes manifesting corporally through Aeons, and the Odes express this idea through the use of Syriac terms for “fullness,” “perfection,” and “completion.” This essay explores the manifold dimensions of the Pleroma in the Odes, from its theological, redemptive, and spatial meanings to its embodiment in gnosis and divine nature.
**The Pleroma and the Divine Nature**
At the heart of the Odes is the affirmation of the divine fullness and incorruptibility of God. Ode 7:7 declares, “The Father of knowledge is the Word of knowledge. For He it is who is incorrupt, the perfection of the worlds and their Father.” This parallel of “perfection” with “incorruptibility” identifies God as the Pleroma—the unbounded fullness of all being. Similarly, in Ode 7:13, we read that God has widened and lengthened His way “and brought it to complete perfection,” showing the unfolding of divine intention through gnosis. Ode 17:7 affirms this again: “He who knew and exalted me, is the Most High in all His perfection.”
In Ode 16:17, this perfection is participatory: “And by their portion one from another they complete the beauty of God.” The divine beauty is completed or made manifest through unity and sharing among the faithful—a corporate dimension of the Pleroma.
**The Pleroma and Gnosis**
Knowledge (*gnosis*) is central to the understanding of divine fullness in the Odes. The Word (*Logos*) of knowledge is not just divine speech but also a transmission of divine essence. Ode 23:4 exhorts: “Walk in the knowledge of the Lord, and you will know the grace of the Lord generously; both for His exultation and for the perfection of His knowledge.” The Syriac term rendered “perfection of His knowledge” can also be translated as “Pleroma of His gnosis,” tying divine knowledge directly to divine fullness.
Ode 7:13 also says, “For towards knowledge He has set His way... and brought it to complete perfection,” linking the divine path to the gnosis of God, a gnosis that occupies and fills the Pleroma. Thus, the Pleroma is not only the nature of God but also the medium through which gnosis is imparted.
**The Pleroma as a Spatial Reality**
The Pleroma is not merely abstract; it has a spatial dimension. Ode 26:7 says, “Even from the crest of the summits and unto their extremity is His perfection.” The divine perfection—God’s fullness—spans from height to extremity, suggesting a metaphysical geography. Ode 36:2 deepens this idea: “And made me stand on my feet in the height of the Lord, before His perfection and His glory.” Here, the worshipper stands *in* the height, *before* the Pleroma, echoing Philo’s notion that God is “a place” who contains all but is contained by nothing (De Somniis I, xi, 63-64). The Pleroma thus becomes both a state and a place: the divine space of glory and fullness.
**The Pleroma and Redemption**
The fullness of God is not static but redemptive. Ode 9:4 proclaims, “For in the will of the Lord is your life, and His purpose is eternal life, and your perfection is incorruptible.” The Syriac term here translated “your perfection” has rich meaning—implying consecration, maturity, and wholeness. As scholars note, it also reflects the Hebrew *Thummim*, used in the priestly context (Deut. 33:8). This incorruptible perfection is parallel to eternal life, and is received from the one who “filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:23).
Ode 19:5 continues the theme using maternal imagery: “Then She gave the mixture to the generation without their knowing, and those who have received it are in the perfection of the right hand.” Just as divine milk nourishes the newborn, the Pleroma nourishes and redeems the generation without their full comprehension, conveying consecration and restoration.
**The Pleroma and Fruitfulness**
The Pleroma is also expressed in imagery of fruitfulness and completion. Ode 1 begins, “Your fruits are full and complete; they are full of Your salvation.” Ode 11:23 adds, “There is nothing in [Paradise] which is barren, but everything is filled with fruit.” This fullness of fruit aligns with the Pleroma as generative and sustaining. It also recalls Gnostic imagery: “the joint fruit of the Pleroma,” and Sophia, “mother of all living creatures,” who brings forth life from the fullness. The Odes, while not explicitly naming Sophia, allude to a feminine principle of divine nurture—especially in Ode 19:3, “Because His breasts were full,” and Ode 11:2, “He uncovered my inward being towards Him, and filled me with His love.”
**The Pleroma as Union with the Divine**
Finally, the Pleroma is imparted to the Believer. Ode 36:6 states, “And He anointed me with His perfection; and I became one of those who are near Him.” To be near God is to be immersed in His Pleroma. In this divine fullness, the worshipper is transformed, not merely in understanding but in essence. The believer partakes of the divine nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:4) and stands within the Pleroma of the Most High.
**Conclusion**
In the Odes of Solomon, the *Pleroma* is not merely a metaphysical concept but a lived reality. It is the incorruptible perfection of God, the fullness of divine knowledge, the spatial realm of glory, the redemptive essence imparted through divine nurture, and the goal of the Believer’s journey. The Odes articulate a theology of fullness—God as the one who fills all things with Himself, who anoints the faithful with His own perfection, and whose knowledge is the path to eternal life.
The Father of knowledge (gnosis) is the Word (logos) of knowledge (gnosis).
He who created wisdom is wiser than His works.
And He who created me when yet I was not knew what I would do when I came into being.
On account of this He was gracious to me in His abundant grace, and allowed me to ask from Him and to benefit from His sacrifice.
For He it is who is incorrupt, the perfection (Pleroma) of the aeons and their Father.
A few places where the the equivalent of Pleroma occurs (in Syriac) in a somewhat theological sense.
Ode 1 Your fruits are full and complete; they are full of Your salvation....
Ode 6:10 For it spread over the surface of all the earth, and it filled everything.
Ode 7:7 The Father of knowledge is the Word of knowledge.
For He it is who is incorrupt, the perfection of the ages and their Father.
13 Because He it is that is incorrupt, the fullness of the ages and the Father of them.
Ode 7:13 For towards knowledge He has set His way, he has widened it and lengthened it and brought it to complete perfection.
Ode 9:4 For in the will of the Lord is your life, and His purpose is eternal life, and your perfection is incorruptible.
Ode 11:23 Indeed, there is much room in Your Paradise. And there is nothing in it which is barren, but everything is filled with fruit.
Ode 17:7 And He who knew and exalted me, is the Most High in all His perfection.
18 You are my God, falsehood and death are not in Your mouth; only perfection is Your will.
Ode 19:3 Because His breasts were full, and it was undesirable that His milk should be ineffectually released.
19:5 Then She gave the mixture to the generation without their knowing, and those who have received it are in the perfection of the right hand.
Ode 23:4 Walk in the knowledge of the Lord, and you will know the grace of the Lord generously; both for His exultation and for the perfection of His knowledge.
Ode 23:21 And the letter became a large volume, which was entirely written by the finger of God.
Ode 26:7 Even from the crest of the summits and unto their extremity is His perfection.
Ode 36:2 And made me stand on my feet in the height of the Lord, before His perfection and His glory, while I was praising Him by the composition of His songs.
Ode 36:6 And He anointed me with His perfection; and I became one of those who are near Him.
Ode 3 speaks of the “members of the Lord” as if referring to something like the gnostic Pleroma
The Pleroma has consecration and redemtion
Ode 9:4 For in the will of the Lord is your life, and His purpose is eternal life, and your perfection is incorruptible.
For in the good-pleasure of the Lord your life exists, and His thought is the life that is for ever; and incorruptible is-verily your fullness-of-perfection.
imperishable is your Pleroma/fullness here perfection is parallel to etenal life
Your fullness-of-perfection: The Odes of Solomon sometimes uses the words Perfection, fullness, complete with the idea of consecration.Hence the Syr. here rendered "fullness-of-perfection" (which is a form of Heb. "full") means (Thes. 2128, and comp. 4210) (i) "complete," (2) "perfection," (3) "consecration."
The thought of a full and perfect redemption of mankind in the course of which humanity is developed "to a full-grown Man" (comp. Eph. 4:13) while still remaining a babe. This full-grown humanity, or "fullness of perfection," he cannot attain except by receiving it from the "fullness of perfection" of Him who (Eph 1:23) "filleth all in all."
the totality the completion the perfection and fulfilment of the whole body the total number of persons in connection with the angels and the church of divine perfection the totality of aeons whole of the divine sphere or Pleroma
In the second of these senses it represents (Deut. 33:8 (Syr.)) "Thummim," or " Perfection."
Ode 6:10 For it spread over the surface of all the earth, and it filled everything.
In Hebrew thought, God filled all things by His Presence, His Spirit, His glory and His Wisdom*^ philo, who bridges the gap between Hebraic and Hellenistic thought, speaks frequently of the omnipresence of God, or His filling all things by means of His Spirit, or the Logos, or Wisdom, or His Providence, or His Powers 3. Philo, Legum Allegoria, III, ii, 4; De Gigantibus, vi. 27-28; De Specialibus Legibus, I, iii, 18; De Vita Mo'sTs, II, xliii, "S38; and many other places*
Ode 36:6 And He anointed me with His perfection; and I became one of those who are near Him.
Ode 19:3 Because His breasts were full, and it was undesirable that His milk should be ineffectually released.
Ode 19 Then She gave the mixture to the generation without their knowing, and those who have received it are in the perfection of the right hand.
The metaphor may seem crude to our occidental minds, but such language as "the Divine Word, the milk of the Father,"
in their choice of the word to convey the thought of "the fullness of God," "the fullness in Christ," and the fullness imparted to believers.
Ode 19 Then She gave the mixture to the generation without their knowing, and those who have received it are in the perfection of the right hand.
The metaphor may seem crude to our occidental minds, but such language as "the Divine Word, the milk of the Father,"
in their choice of the word to convey the thought of "the fullness of God," "the fullness in Christ," and the fullness imparted to believers.
again notice the link perfection, consecration.and redemption
Ode 1 Your fruits are full and complete; they are full of Your salvation....
Ode 11:23 Indeed, there is much room in Your Paradise. And there is nothing in it which is barren, but everything is filled with fruit.
Ode 11:23 Indeed, there is much room in Your Paradise. And there is nothing in it which is barren, but everything is filled with fruit.
your fruits full of your salvation
"the joint fruit of the Pleroma," and "Sophia, mother of all living creatures," and " the Jerusalem that is... Sophia whose spouse is the joint fruit of the Pleroma
7:7 The Father of knowledge is the Word of knowledge.
For He it is who is incorrupt, the perfection of the ages and their Father.
13 Because He it is that is incorrupt, the fullness of the ages and the of them.
7:13 For towards knowledge He has set His way, he has widened it and lengthened it and brought it to complete perfection.
Ode 23:4 Walk in the knowledge of the Lord, and you will know the grace of the Lord generously; both for His exultation and for the perfection of His knowledge.
Ode 23:21 And the letter became a large volume, which was entirely written by the finger of God.
"the joint fruit of the Pleroma," and "Sophia, mother of all living creatures," and " the Jerusalem that is... Sophia whose spouse is the joint fruit of the Pleroma
The Pleroma and Gnosis
7:7 The Father of knowledge is the Word of knowledge.
For He it is who is incorrupt, the perfection of the ages and their Father.
13 Because He it is that is incorrupt, the fullness of the ages and the of them.
7:13 For towards knowledge He has set His way, he has widened it and lengthened it and brought it to complete perfection.
Ode 23:4 Walk in the knowledge of the Lord, and you will know the grace of the Lord generously; both for His exultation and for the perfection of His knowledge.
Ode 23:21 And the letter became a large volume, which was entirely written by the finger of God.
Ode 11:2 For the Most High circumcised me by His Holy Spirit, then He uncovered my inward being towards Him, and filled me with His love.
Ode 12:1 He has filled me with words of truth, that I may proclaim Him.
To fill of a person's inner life
the father of knowlage is called the pleroma of the aeons and their father
towards gnosis he laid out his way and brought it over the whole pleroma
Ode 7:13 For towards knowledge He has set His way, he has widened it and lengthened it and brought it to complete perfection.
towards gnosis he laid out his way and brought it over the whole pleroma this brings out the spatial character of this fullness
Ode 23:4 Walk in the knowledge of the Lord, and you will know the grace of the Lord generously; both for His exultation and for the perfection of His knowledge.
The walk of life of a person's inner life. the terms way walk and complete perfection perfection of His knowledge or pleroma are connetied
The expression the perfection of His knowledge or the pleroma of his gnosis means Yahweh's own knowledge and also the pleroma of the Most High
Ode 26:7 Even from the crest of the summits and unto their extremity is His perfection.
Ode 26:7 And from the top of the hills to their utmost bound is His perfection.
Compare Ps 112:5 LXX 5 (112:5) Who is as the Lord our God? who dwells in the high places,
the summits or hills literally the heights of the Most High define the space of his pleroma
The Pleroma as a place
the father of knowlage is called the pleroma of the aeons and their father
towards gnosis he laid out his way and brought it over the whole pleroma
Ode 7:13 For towards knowledge He has set His way, he has widened it and lengthened it and brought it to complete perfection.
towards gnosis he laid out his way and brought it over the whole pleroma this brings out the spatial character of this fullness
The walk of life of a person's inner life. the terms way walk and complete perfection perfection of His knowledge or pleroma are connetied
The expression the perfection of His knowledge or the pleroma of his gnosis means Yahweh's own knowledge and also the pleroma of the Most High
Ode 26:7 Even from the crest of the summits and unto their extremity is His perfection.
Ode 26:7 And from the top of the hills to their utmost bound is His perfection.
Compare Ps 112:5 LXX 5 (112:5) Who is as the Lord our God? who dwells in the high places,
the summits or hills literally the heights of the Most High define the space of his pleroma
Ode 36:2 And made me stand on my feet in the height of the Lord, before His perfection and His glory, while I was praising Him by the composition of His songs.
the pleroma in its divine fullness of being and fullness of essence with spatial dimension
we often find in Philo's writings some form of that familiar phrase, "containing all things but not contained
the pleroma in its divine fullness of being and fullness of essence with spatial dimension
we often find in Philo's writings some form of that familiar phrase, "containing all things but not contained
"There is a third signification (of place), in keeping with which God Himself is called a place, by reason of His containing all things and being contained by nothing whatever, and being a place for all to flee into, and because He is Himself the space which holds Him; for He is that which He Himself has occupied, and nought encloses Him but Himself. I, mark you, am not a place but in a place and each thing likewise that exists; for that which is contained is different from that which contains it, and the Deity, being contained by nothing, is of necessity Itself Its own place. Philo, De Somniis, I, xi, 63-64. Likewise, see De Migrations AbraEami, xxxii, 181-182; xxxv, 192>; De ConTusione Lingu'arum, xxvii, 136; and Legum Allegoria, I, xiv, 44.
The Pleroma as the nature of God
Ode 17:7 And He who knew and exalted me, is the Most High in all His perfection.
18 You are my God, falsehood and death are not in Your mouth; only perfection is Your will.
the basic idea behind Pleroma, as used of God, was doubtless the concept of a Deity who was all-perfect, who was limited by nothing, "who contained all things but was not contained,"'
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