**Bythos: The Aeon of Hidden Depth**
In Valentinian Gnosticism, Aeons are not distinct beings but aspects or attributes of the divine, emanating from the unknowable Father. Bythos, meaning "Depth," is one of the first four Aeons that emanate directly from the Father alongside Silence (Sige). These Aeons represent the divine's ineffable and eternal qualities, foundational to the Pleroma, the realm of divine fullness.
The Greek term *βυθός* (*bythos*) conveys the notion of an unfathomable depth or profound mystery. Derived from *βάθος* (*bathos*), meaning depth or profundity, it metaphorically signifies the incomprehensible nature of divine existence. This term is used in Scripture to describe both the vastness of the seas and the boundless mystery of God’s wisdom, as seen in Romans 11:33: "Oh, the depth (*βάθος*) of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!"
Bythos, as a concept, aligns with the Valentinian understanding of God as the ineffable source beyond comprehension. In *The Tripartite Tractate*, this ineffability is emphasized:
> "It is impossible for mind to conceive him, nor can any speech convey him, nor can any eye see him, nor can any body grasp him, because of his inscrutable greatness, and his incomprehensible depth." (*The Tripartite Tractate*)
This description underscores Bythos as the unfathomable foundation of all divine emanation, a notion that mirrors the Johannine portrayal of the Word existing with God from the beginning (John 1:1).
The Valentinian cosmology follows a structure where four pairs of Aeons (syzygies) emanate directly from the Father and the Son, representing the stages of divine revelation:
- **Depth and Silence** (unknowable God)
- **Mind and Truth** (comprehensible God)
- **Word and Life** (active God)
- **Humanity and Church** (immanent God)
The first two pairs—Depth and Silence, Mind and Truth—emanate directly from the Father, while the latter pairs, Word and Life, and Humanity and Church, emanate from the Son. This structure reflects a progression of divine revelation, moving from the ineffable and incomprehensible to the active and immanent aspects of God.
In *The Tripartite Tractate*, the incomprehensibility of Bythos is further highlighted:
> "While they were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else."
This passage emphasizes the mysterious and ineffable nature of Bythos, which even the Aeons themselves could not fully comprehend. The emanations from Bythos are described as unfolding like seeds planted by divine thought, gradually revealing the fullness of divine attributes within the Pleroma.
The metaphor of depth is a recurring theme in both Gnostic and biblical texts. Psalm 92:5 declares, "O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep." Similarly, Ephesians 3:18 speaks of comprehending "the breadth, and length, and depth, and height" of God's love, highlighting the unfathomable nature of divine wisdom and presence.
Valentinians understood that the divine mysteries, like Bythos, are not meant to be fully grasped but revered as the source of all existence. Bythos stands as a testament to the transcendent mystery of the divine, from which all emanations and spiritual realities flow. It remains a profound symbol of the divine’s inscrutability, reminding believers of the infinite depth of God’s presence and wisdom.
Greek meaning
1037. βυθός
The Deep or Depth Bythos
1037. βυθός buthos boo-thos’; a variation of 899; depth, i.e. (by implication) the sea: — deep.
1037. βυθός from 899 βάθος bathos bath’-os
899 βάθος from the same as 901; n n; TDNT-1:517,89; {See TDNT 118 }
AV-depth 5, deep 1, deep + 2596 1, deepness 1, deep thing 1; 9
1) depth, height
1a) of "the deep" sea
1b) metaph.
1b1) deep, extreme, poverty
1b2) of the deep things of God
899. βάθος bathos bath’-os; from the same as 901; profundity, i.e. (by implication) extent; (figuratively) mystery: — deep(-ness, things), depth.
[in LXX: Exodus 15:5, Nehemiah 9:11 (H4688), Psalms 68:22; Psalms 69:2; Psalms 107:24 (H4688)*;]
1. the bottom.
2. the depth of the sea, the deep sea: 2 Corinthians 11:25.†
Valentinian understanding
aeons are aspects or attributes 4 aeons emanate from the father the other 26 aeons emanate from the son Bythos is one of the 4 Aeons emanating from the Father
The Valentinian tradition draws a sharp distinction between the human Jesus and the divine Christ the Logos.
The masculine aspect of God which gives the universe form is called by the names Ineffable, Depth and First Father. Depth is the profoundly incomprehensible, all-encompassing aspect of the deity. According to some sources, he is essentially passive. Only when moved to action by his feminine Thought, does he gives the universe form. (cf. Epiphanius Panarion 5:3
The Father dyads (i.e. Depth, Silence,
The masculine aspect of God is Depth, also called Ineffable and First Father. Depth is the profoundly incomprehensible, all-encompassing aspect of the deity. He is essentially passive, yet when moved to action by his feminine Thought, he gives the universe form.
The word Pleroma means "fullness". It refers to all existence beyond visible universe. The Parent, the Mother-Father, the Uncreated Eternal Spirit existed prior to the creation or emanation of the Pleroma. Therefore Bythos or the Uncreated Eternal Spirit is beyond the Pleroma. In other words the Pleroma is the world of the Aeons, the heaven of heavens or spiritual universe. Bythos is the spiritual source of everything that emanates the pleroma.
The Pleroma is both the abode of God and the essential nature of the True Ultimate God Isaiah 57:15
Not one of the names which are conceived or spoken, seen or grasped - not one of them applies to him, even though they are exceedingly glorious, magnifying and honored. However, it is possible to utter these names for his glory and honor, in accordance with the capacity of each of those who give him glory. Yet as for him, in his own existence, being and form, it is impossible for mind to conceive him, nor can any speech convey him, nor can any eye see him, nor can any body grasp him, because of his inscrutable greatness, and his incomprehensible depth, and his immeasurable height, and his illimitable will. This is the nature of the unbegotten one, which does not touch anything else; nor is it joined (to anything) in the manner of something which is limited. Rather, he possesses this constitution, without having a face or a form, things which are understood through perception, whence also comes (the epithet) "the incomprehensible. If he is incomprehensible, then it follows that he is unknowable, that he is the one who is inconceivable by any thought, invisible by any thing, ineffable by any word, untouchable by any hand. He alone is the one who knows himself as he is, along with his form and his greatness and his magnitude. And since he has the ability to conceive of himself, to see himself, to name himself, to comprehend himself, he alone is the one who is his own mind, his own eye, his own mouth, his own form, and he is what he thinks, what he sees, what he speaks, what he grasps, himself, the one who is inconceivable, ineffable, incomprehensible, immutable, while sustaining, joyous, true, delightful, and restful is that which he conceives, that which he sees, that about which he speaks, that which he has as thought. He transcends all wisdom, and is above all intellect, and is above all glory, and is above all beauty, and all sweetness, and all greatness, and any depth and any height. (The Tripartite Tractate)
All those who came forth from him <who> are the aeons of the aeons, being emanations and offspring of <his> procreative nature, they too, in their procreative nature, have <given> glory to the Father, as he was the cause of their establishment. This is what we said previously, namely that he creates the aeons as roots and springs and fathers, and that he is the one to whom they give glory. They have begotten, for he has knowledge and wisdom and the Totalities knew that it is from knowledge and wisdom that they have come forth. They would have brought forth a seeming honor: "The Father is the one who is the Totalities," if the aeons had risen up to give honor individually. Therefore, in the song of glorification and in the power of the unity of him from whom they have come, they were drawn into a mingling and a combination and a unity with one another. They offered glory worthy of the Father from the pleromatic congregation, which is a single representation although many, because it was brought forth as a glory for the single one and because they came forth toward the one who is himself the Totalities. Now, this was a praise [...] the one who brought forth the Totalities, being a first-fruit of the immortals and an eternal one, because, having come forth from the living aeons, being perfect and full because of the one who is perfect and full, it left full and perfect those who have given glory in a perfect way because of the fellowship. For, like the faultless Father, when he is glorified he also hears the glory which glorifies him, so as to make them manifest as that which he is.(The Tripartite Tractate)
They were forever in thought, for the Father was like a thought and a place for them. When their generations had been established, the one who is completely in control wished to lay hold of and to bring forth that which was deficient in the [...] and he brought forth those [...] him. But since he is as he is, he is a spring, which is not diminished by the water which abundantly flows from it. While they were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else. That is, they were with the Father; they did not exist for themselves. Rather, they only had existence in the manner of a seed, so that it has been discovered that they existed like a fetus. Like the word he begot them, subsisting spermatically, and the ones whom he was to beget had not yet come into being from him. The one who first thought of them, the Father, - not only so that they might exist for him, but also that they might exist for themselves as well, that they might then exist in his thought as mental substance and that they might exist for themselves too, - sowed a thought like a spermatic seed. Now, in order that they might know what exists for them, he graciously granted the initial form, while in order that they might recognize who is the Father who exists for them, he gave them the name "Father" by means of a voice proclaiming to them that what exists, exists through that name, which they have by virtue of the fact that they came into being, because the exaltation, which has escaped their notice, is in the name. (The Tripartite Tractate)
Rom 8:39 Nor height, nor depth <899>, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
"Nor depth" — Whilst pride may lift us up, destroying our humility before God and dependence upon Him, so a feeling of humiliating depression, which may result from failure or defeat, can have a similarly destructive effect, if permitted to influence us. We may feel that God has failed us, that He does not care for us. We may question the goodness οϊ God, or experience degrading ridicule or rejection by our fellows. Faith and hope provide the antidote to either "height" or "depth". Even the dreadful affliction which befell the faithful Job was not able to "separate him from the love of God" (cp. Job 19:25)
Rom 11:33 O the depth <899> of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
God's judgments are a "great deep" (Psa 36:6). His "riches" refer to His abounding grace (Rom 9:23; 10:12). Cp also Eph 3:18,19: "...How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Yahweh's children must manifest the same characteristic, revealing a depth of wisdom of such matters lodged in the heart (Deut. 10:16-19; Joel 2:12-13), not judging the issues of life through the "face" of the flesh
These are seen by a very careful examination of the divine excellence. The word "depth" (Gr. bathos signifies that which is profound; mysterious) indicates that which is vast and incomprehensible (see Psa. 36:6; ICor. 2:20). Mortal man cannot exhaust the greatness of the Almighty, as Job was reminded: ch. 38. The physical evidence of this majesty is seen as much in the vast expanse of the universe, as in the exquisite beauty of the tiniest flower petal.
1Cor 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things <899> of God.
Psa 92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth <899>, and height;
Eph 3:18 in order that YOU may be thoroughly able to grasp mentally with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of the Christ which surpasses knowledge, that YOU may be filled with all the fullness that God gives.
The word depth is applied in the Scriptures to anything vast and incomprehensible. As the abyss or the ocean is unfathomable, so the word comes to denote that which words cannot express, or that which we cannot comprehend. #Ps 36:6, “Thy judgments are a great deep.” #1Co 2:10, “The Spirit searcheth — the deep things of God.”
The deep or depth is the waters above the Heavens
Ge 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Psa 148:4 Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Ps 104:3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
The deep or depth is also used to describe the deity
Psa 92:5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
Psa 107:24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
The Holy Spirit Described As Water
John 7:37-39
Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Isaiah 44:3
'For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants;
John 4:14
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."
1 Corinthians 12:13
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
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