Sheol Hell in the book of Enoch

Sheol Hell in the book of Enoch

### Document 1: The Nature of Sheol in Enoch 22

**Enoch 22:1** introduces a vision where Enoch is led to a mountain with four beautiful places, described as being in the west, with a hard rock at its core. This hard rock is symbolic and might represent a cave within the mountain where these four locations are found. The imagery of these places aligns with various descriptions of Sheol (the grave) found in the Hebrew Bible, indicating that Sheol is deep and lies beneath the earth. This is supported by **Deuteronomy 32:22**, which describes Sheol as being “in the foundation of the mountains,” emphasizing the depth of Sheol as a subterranean realm (cf. **Job 11:8**, **Psalms 55:15**, **Isaiah 14:9**).

The concept of Sheol as a place of non-conscious existence is reinforced throughout Scripture. **Ecclesiastes 9:10** states, “there is no work nor devising nor knowledge nor wisdom in Sheol.” This parallels Enoch’s description of Sheol as a place of separation and waiting, rather than an active or conscious realm.

In **Enoch 22:3-4**, Raphael, one of the holy angels, explains that these four places are where the spirits of the dead, both righteous and unrighteous, are gathered. These places exist as temporary holding areas where souls await the final judgment. The distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous is clear, as they are separated in Sheol, emphasizing a preparatory phase for ultimate judgment. This resonates with passages like **1 Peter 4:17** and **2 Corinthians 5:10**, which describe how judgment will come for both the righteous and unrighteous before the seat of Christ.

The slain soul of **Enoch 22:5** illustrates a key point: the dead are not conscious in the grave. The soul of the dead man cries for vengeance, yet the figure presented is of a dead man, not an immortal soul. This aligns with the principle in **Leviticus 17:11**, where the soul (or life) of a person is described as being in the blood. Enoch, therefore, sees the blood of the slain man, which represents life poured out in death, rather than an immortal or conscious existence beyond the grave.

This imagery recalls **Genesis 4:10**, where Abel’s blood “cries” from the ground after Cain murders him. This figurative cry is a call for justice, rather than evidence of an immortal soul. The principle is further explained in **Hebrews 12:24**, where Abel’s blood “speaks” for justice. Thus, Sheol in Enoch 22 presents a consistent picture with Hebrew Scripture: the dead are in an unconscious state, awaiting resurrection and judgment.

In essence, the vision presented in Enoch 22 emphasizes that Sheol is not a place of conscious torment or activity but a temporary holding place for souls awaiting their final judgment at the hands of God.

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### Document 2: Separation of the Righteous and Unrighteous in Sheol

**Enoch 22:8-9** introduces a deeper inquiry by Enoch into the separation of the righteous and the unrighteous in Sheol. The angel Raphael explains that three places are designated for the unrighteous, while one is reserved for the righteous. This separation mirrors the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in **Luke 16:26**, where a great chasm divides the two groups, preventing movement between them. This chasm, while symbolic, signifies the permanent division between those who will inherit eternal life and those destined for judgment.

The rich man’s plea for a mere drop of water to cool his tongue, as seen in **Luke 16:24**, is a metaphor for the torment experienced by the unrighteous in Sheol. The request for such a small amount of water indicates that the torment is not a literal burning in flames, as **Revelation 20:14** clarifies that death and Hades are eventually cast into the “lake of fire.” The suffering in Hades, therefore, is figurative of the anguish and torment that accompanies the anticipation of judgment.

In **Enoch 22:10-12**, Raphael continues by explaining that the souls of the unrighteous are held in Sheol for a time of torment. Though these individuals may have lived seemingly successful and unjudged lives on earth, they are now in anguish, awaiting the great day of judgment. This idea resonates with the New Testament concept of post-resurrection judgment, as **2 Corinthians 5:10** and **1 Peter 4:17** declare that all will appear before the judgment seat of Christ, both righteous and unrighteous. The anguish described here reflects the painful anticipation of divine retribution and punishment.

**Enoch 22:12-13** clarifies that the souls of the unrighteous are permanently separated from the righteous and will not rise to be judged alongside them. This echoes the principle found in **Jeremiah 51:57** and **Isaiah 26:14**, where certain individuals are condemned to a perpetual sleep from which they will not awaken, indicating that they will not be part of the resurrection unto life. For these souls, their fate is sealed in Sheol, where they will remain in a state of death.

Finally, **Enoch 51:1** and **Enoch 56:8** affirm that Sheol will one day release the souls it has held, returning what was entrusted to it. This reflects a resurrection of both the righteous and unrighteous, as described in various biblical texts. However, the ultimate fate of the unrighteous is to be swallowed by Sheol in the presence of the elect, signifying their eternal separation from God’s kingdom.

Through these passages, **Enoch 22** reinforces the idea of Sheol as a temporary and unconscious state, where the souls of both the righteous and unrighteous are held until the final judgment.

Sheol Hell in the 1st book of Enoch

Sheol

Translated from Ethiopic by Richard Laurence, London, 1883.
http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/enoch.html#Enoch_22
http://qbible.com/enoch/22.html

22:1 And from there, I went to another place, and he showed me in the west a large and high mountain, and a hard rock, and four beautiful places.

the hard rock could be a cave within the mountain were the four beautiful places would be

Hell is described as being in the earth, and in the foundation of the mountains - the foundations being under the earth (Deuteronomy 32:22). Hell is deep - underground (Job 11:8). The direction of hell is down (Psalms 55:15, Ezekiel 32:21,27). Hell is low (Psalms 86:13). Hell is beneath us (Proverbs 15:24, Isaiah 14:9). Hell is a pit (Isaiah 14:15, Ezekiel 31:16). We must dig into hell (Amos 9:2). Hell (the grave) follows death (Revelation 6:8).

22:2 And inside, it was deep, wide, and very smooth. How smooth is that which rolls, and deep and dark to look at!
22:3 Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me, and said to me: "These beautiful places are there so that the spirits of the souls of the (righteous and the unrighteous,) dead, might be gathered into them. For them they were created; so that here they might gather the souls of the sons of men.
22:4 And these places they made, where they will keep them until the day of judgement, and until their appointed time, and that appointed time will be long, until the great judgement (seat of Christ) comes upon them (the righteous and unrighteous).

1peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 “And if the righteous is being saved with difficulty, where will the ungodly [man] and the sinner make a showing?

2cor 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

22:5 And I saw the soul of a dead man making suit, and his voice went forth to heaven and made suit.

The slain soul, in a figure, cried for vengeance. the soul of a dead man was not, and is not an "immortal soul". Had this been so, it would have been symbolized as alive and not as a dead man slain.

22:6 Then I asked Raphael, the angel who was with me, and said to him: "Whose spirit is that, the voice of which reaches to heaven, and complains?"
22:7 And he answered me, and said to me, saying: "This spirit is the one that came out of Abel, whom Cain, his brother, killed. And he will complain about him until his offspring (the seed of Cain, the "Seed of the Serpent,") are destroyed from the face of the Earth, and from amongst the offspring of men, his offspring perish."

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" (Gen. 4:10). So God said to Cain concerning the slain soul of Abel his brother. This was a cry for vengeance upon Cain. So in this symbolic prophecy.

It is a principle in Scripture that "the life (soul, 'nephesh') of the flesh is in the blood". (Lev. 17:11). By personification, a slain person's blood is said to "cry" or "speak". (Gen. 4:10 cf. Heb. 12:24).

The word soul is an equivalent expression for life in many places. Leviticus 17:11 states: "For the soul of the flesh or the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." In this place, blood represents life or soul. Enoch, therefore, saw the blood of the slain man which was representative of the life, or soul, poured out in death.

The figure is obviously drawn from Leviticus 17.

22:8 At that time therefore I inquired respecting him, and respecting the general judgement, saying, Why is one separated from another?
22:9 And he answered me, and said to me: "These three places where made, in order that they might separate the spirits of the dead (the unredeemed) might be separated (from the Redeemed). And thus the spirits of the righteous have been separated; this is the spring of water, and on it the light.

LUKE 16:26 And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’
The passage states that there was a great chasm fixed between Abraham and the rich man, yet they could both see and converse with each other (vs. 26). Is the great chasm to be taken literally?

LUKE 16:24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

If you were being tormented in flames of fire, as the rich man was, would you request only a "drop of water" to quench your agony? Would not a jug or jar, or even a handful of water be more logical?

That it cannot be concluded from this parable that Hades itself is a place of blazing fire is made clear at Revelation 20:14, where death and Hades are described as being hurled into “the lake of fire.” The death of the rich man and his being in Hades must therefore be figurative, figurative death being mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures. (Lu 9:60; Col 2:13; 1Ti 5:6) So the fiery torment was experienced while he was figuratively dead but actually alive as a human after a resurrection to judgement), being in torment


22:10 Likewise, a place has been created for sinners (the unrighteous), when they die, and are buried in the earth, and judgement has not come upon them during their life.
22:11 And (they have lived the good life, but) here their souls will be separated (in sheol) for (after a resurrection to judgement), being in torment) this great anguish (the General concept of judgement, with painful consequences.), at the Great Day of judgement and Punishment and Torment for those who curse, forever, so that there may be retribution for their souls. And there he (Jesus Christ) will bind them forever.
22:12 And this division has been made for the souls of (the righteous) those who complain, and give information about their destruction, about when they were killed, in the days of the sinners.
22:13 Thus a place has been created, for the souls of men who are not righteous, but sinners, accomplished in wrongdoing, and with the wrongdoers will be their lot. But their souls will not be killed on the day of judgement, nor will they rise from here (to be judged with the righteous and unrighteous."

The Angel Raphael answers this question in Verse 9. above when he says
"Three of the four places have been reserved for the unrighteous, and only one place is reserved for the righteous."

This is a 3-to-1 ratio, which means that out of the over seven billion people who are alive on the earth today, only about 1.75 billion of the people on the earth today will enter into the kingdom of Heaven. To say noting of the billions who have lived on the earth for the past 6000 years of generations that have gone before us,

22:13 Thus a place has been created, for the souls of men who are not righteous, but sinners, accomplished in wrongdoing, and with the wrongdoers will be their lot. But their souls (life) will not be killed on the day of judgement, nor will they rise from here (to be judged with the righteous and unrighteous.") the sinners remain in sheol forever


Thus, the Scriptures speak of the DEATH-STATE into which all go when they depart from among the living. While "in death" they are said to sleep. From this sleep some never awake; which is equivalent to saying, that they are never the subject of resurrection. This is evident from JER 51:57 where, speaking of the princes, wise men, captains, rulers, and mighty ones of Babylon, the eternal spirit saith: "they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake": and Isaiah, speaking of the same class, says, "they are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise;

1st book of enoch 51:1 And in those days the Earth will return that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol will return that which has been entrusted to it and that which it has received. And destruction will return what it owes.

1st book of enoch 56:8 And in those days Sheol will open its mouth and they will sink into it and their destruction; Sheol will swallow up the sinners in the presence of the elect ones."

1st book of enoch 99.11 Woe to you who extend evil to your neighbours; for you will be killed in Sheol.

22:14 Then I blessed the Lord of Glory, and said: "Blessed are you O Yahweh, Lord of Righteousness, who rules over everything forever."

The Exegesis on the Soul an allegory of the Church

The Exegesis on the Soul 

an allegory of the history of Israel

 In this text, the female personification of the soul resembles the passion of Sophia, which is a theme pervasively found in Gnostic cosmology. 

The text quotes copiously from the Old Testament prophets, from the New Testament gospels, and from the epistles of Paul. Curiously, the text also quotes from Homer's Odyssey. These quotes indicate that the author viewed Greek legend and mythology as a type of scripture, just as the author also viewed large portions of the Old and New Testaments as scripture.

 Its purpose is to teach that the soul is a woman which fell from perfection into prostitution, and that the Father will elevate her again to her original perfect state.  

This personification of the soul is an allegorical interpretation of the falling away of Israel into sin and is compare to the fall of Sophia or Solomon who is wisdom personified 

The story of the fall of the soul begins at the start of the text but at the end of the book the meaning is given 

Our repentance

Certainly Israel would not have been visited in the first place to be brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, if it had not groaned to God and wept for the oppression of its labours. 

Again it is written in the Psalms (6:6-9),  

6 I have grown weary with my sighing; All night long I make my bed swim; With my tears I make my own bed overflow.

 7 From vexation my eye has become weak, It has grown old because of all those showing hostility to me.

 8 Get away from me, all YOU practicers of what is hurtful, For Jehovah will certainly hear the sound of my weeping.  

9 Jehovah will indeed hear my request for favor; Jehovah himself will accept my own prayer.

If we repent, truly God will listen us, he who is long suffering and abundantly merciful, to whom is the glory for ever and ever. Amen! 

Our repentance

Certainly Israel would not have been visited in the first place [here at the end of the text instead of speaking about the soul the writer speaks about the nation of Israel instead this is show that the soul is used has an allegory for the sons of Israel], to be brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, if it had not groaned to God and wept for the oppression of its labours. 

Again it is written in the Psalms (6:6-9),  

6 I have grown weary with my sighing; All night long I make my bed swim; With my tears I make my own bed overflow.

 7 From vexation my eye has become weak, It has grown old because of all those showing hostility to me.

 8 Get away from me, all YOU practicers of what is hurtful, For Jehovah will certainly hear the sound of my weeping.  

9 Jehovah will indeed hear my request for favor; Jehovah himself will accept my own prayer.

If we reform, [we like Israel need to ask for forgieness] truly God will listen us, he who is long suffering and abundantly merciful, to whom is the glory for ever and ever. Amen! 

Thus these words here at the end confirm my understanding that the soul here is allegorical of the fall of Israel and are own repentance 

Wise men of old gave the soul a feminine name. [the soul in Hebrew, Coptic, and Greek is a feminine noun, here it is used as an allegory for Israel both the natural seed of Israel and the Israel of God the spiritual Israel. The word woman is sometimes used in the Bible to refer to a weak and helpless man (Is.:3:12; 19:16). ] Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb. [ Even men can give birth Psalm 7:14 Look! There is one that is pregnant with what is hurtful, And he has conceived trouble and is bound to give birth to falsehood. the natural Israel gave brith to the Saviour and thus the spiritual Israel being the Jerusalem above the mother of us all]

As long as she was alone with the father, she was virgin and in form androgynous. [androgynous being both male and female in that she is the wife of God and she is always called the sons of Israel] But when she fell down [If a fall from heaven to earth is understood figuratively rather than literally, as representing a fall from authority (as Is. 14:12; Jer. 51:53; Lam. 2:1; Matt. 11:23), much more sense can be made of all this] into a body [that is a body of sin, now the Greek word for body Strong’s 4983 can be translated slave and in the AVKJ bible it is translated slave some 146 times and the word body is used of a (large or small) number of men closely united into one society, or family as it were; a social, ethical, mystical body i.e. the church, and also that which casts a shadow as distinguished from the shadow itself and thus a shadow of the truth. so we could translate this however when shell descend from her higher place to a lower she became a "slave" or "servant" to sin or a house of sin] and came to this life [being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Ephesians 4:18 know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God James 4:4],   then she fell into the hands of many robbers [Isa 42:22  But this is a people robbed and plundered; they are all of them snared in holes, and they are hid in prison-houses: they are for a prey, and none delivereth; for a spoil, and none saith, Restore.]. And these shameless men [Reabome, Ahab, Jezebel] passed her from one to another and they violated her. [in setting up the revival baal-worship] Some raped her, [in killing the true prophetess of god and the exiles] while seduced her with gifts. In short, they defiled her, and she lost her virginity. Israel “kept building for themselves high places and sacred pillars and sacred poles upon every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. And even the male temple prostitute [New World Translation Reference Bible, footnote, “effeminate men”] proved to be in the land. They acted according to all the detestable things of the nations whom Jehovah had driven out from before the sons of Israel. 

 

And in her body [as a slave to the house of sin ] she prostituted herself [here the soul or body of Israel is likened to an adulterous wife who prostituted herself ] and gave herself to one and all, considering each one she was about to embrace to be her husband. [Here the soul is guilty of spiritual adultery which is  unfaithfulness to Jehovah on the part of those who are joined to him in a covenant. Natural Israel in the Law covenant was, therefore, guilty of spiritual adultery because of false religious practices, some of which included sex-worship rites and disregard for the seventh commandment. (Jer 3:8, 9; 5:7, 8; 9:2; 13:27; 23:10; Ho 7:4) For similar reasons Jesus denounced as adulterous the generation of Jews in his day. (Mt 12:39; Mr 8:38) Likewise today, if Christians who are dedicated to Jehovah and who are in the new covenant defile themselves with the present age (aeon), they commit spiritual adultery.—Jas 4:4.] When she had given herself to shameless, unfaithful adulterers, [The Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Babylon . Frequent condemnation was made of the reliance placed upon such pagan nations by apostate Israel and Judah, like “a simpleminded dove without heart.” (Jer 2:18, 36; La 5:6; Eze 16:26, 28; 23:5-12; Ho 7:11) The disastrous results of such a course were vividly described. (Eze 23:22-27 ] 

Jer 23:10  For the land is full of adulterers forsakes of God, Israel‘s true Husband; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, and their course is evil, and their force is not right.] so that they might make use of her, then she sighed deeply and repented. But even when she turns her face from those adulterers, she runs to others and they compel her to live with them and render service to them upon their bed, as if they were her masters. [The Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Babylon . Frequent condemnation was made of the reliance placed upon such pagan nations by apostate Israel and Judah, often vacillating between Egypt and Assyria, like “a simpleminded dove without heart.” (Jer 2:18, 36; La 5:6; Eze 16:26, 28; 23:5-12; Ho 7:11) The disastrous results of such a course were vividly described. (Eze 23:22-27 ] Out of shame she no longer dares to leave them, whereas they deceive her for a long time, pretending to be faithful, true husbands, as if they greatly respected her. And after all this they abandon her and go. 

She then becomes a poor desolate widow, without help; not even a measure of food was left her from the time of her affliction. For from them she gained nothing except the defilements they gave her while they had sexual intercourse with her. And her offspring by the adulterers are dumb, blind and sickly. They are feebleminded. 

But when the father who is above visits her and looks down upon her and sees her sighing - with her sufferings and disgrace - and repenting of the prostitution in which she engaged, and when she begins to call upon his name so that he might help her, and she sighed with all her heart, saying "Save me, my father, for behold I will render an account to thee, for I abandoned my house and fled from my maiden`s quarters. Restore me to thyself again." When he sees her in such a state, then he will count her worthy of his mercy upon her, for many are the afflictions that have come upon her because she abandoned her house. 

On the prostitution of the soul

Now concerning the prostitution on the soul, the Holy Spirit prophesies in many places. For he said in the prophet Jeremiah (3:1-4), 

If the husband divorces his wife and she goes and takes another man, can she return to him after that? Has not that woman utterly defiled herself? "And you prostituted yourself to many shepherds and you returned to me!" said the lord. "Take an honest look and see where you prostituted yourself. Were you not sitting in the streets defiling the land with your acts of prostitution and your vices? And you took many shepherds for a stumbling block for yourself. You became shameless with everyone. You did not call on me as kinsman or as father or author of your virginity". Judah had had many lovers, yet the Lord still invites her to return.

Again it is written in the prophet Hosea (2:2-7), 

Come, go to law with your mother, for she is not to be a wife to me nor I a husband to her. I shall remove her prostitution from my presence, and I shall remove her adultery from between her breasts. I shall make her naked The punishment of an adulterer: to be stripped naked, and stoned (Eze 16:37-40). as on the day she was born, and I shall make her desolate like a land without water, She attributes her prosperity to her own efforts, and to her lovers among the aliens (cp Jer 44:17,18). and I shall make her longingly childless. I shall show her children no pity, for they are children of prostitution, since their mother prostituted herself and put her children to shame. For she said, "I shall prostitute myself to my lovers. It was they who gave me my bread and my water and my garments and my clothes and my wine and my oil and everything I needed." Therefore behold I shall shut them up so that she shall not be able to run after her adulterers. And when she seeks them and does not find them, she will say, 'I shall return to my former husband, in those days I was better off than now." 

Again he said in Ezekiel (16:23-26), 

It came to pass after much depravity, said the lord, you built yourself a brothel and you made yourself a beautiful place in the streets. And you built yourself brothels on every lane, and you wasted your beauty, and you spread your legs in every alley, and you multiplied your acts of prostitution. You prostituted yourself to the sons of Egypt, those who are your neighbors, men great of flesh. 

But what does "the sons of Egypt, men great of flesh" mean, if not the domain of the flesh and the perceptible realm and the affairs of the earth, [the presnt age of the flesh and its lust thereof and the things in the world which defile the soul in this order of things] by which the soul has become defiled here, receiving bread from them, as well as wine, oil, clothing, and the other external nonsense surrounding the body - the things she thinks she needs. 

But as to this prostitution, the apostles of the savior commanded (Acts 15:20, 29; 21:25; 1Th 4:3; 1 Co 6:18; 2 Co 7:1): "Guard yourselves against it, purify yourselves from it," speaking not just of the prostitution of the body but especially that of the soul. For this reason the apostles write to the churches of God, that such prostitution might not occur among us. 

Yet the greatest struggle has to do with the prostitution of the soul. From it arises the prostitution of the body as well. Therefore Paul, writing to the Corinthians (1Co 5:9-10), said, "I wrote you in the letter, 'Do not associate with prostitutes,' not at all (meaning) the prostitutes of this world or the greedy or the thieves or the idolaters, since then you would have to go out from the world." - here it is speaking spiritually - "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood - as he said (Ep 6:12) - but against the world rulers of this darkness and the spirits of wickedness." 

Restoration of the soul

As long as the soul keeps running about everywhere copulating with whomever she meets and defiling herself, she exists suffering her just deserts. But when she perceives the straits she is in and weeps before the father and repents, then the father will have mercy on her and he will make her womb turn from the outside back to the inside, so that the soul will regain her proper character. For it is not so with a woman. For the womb of the body is inside the body like the other internal organs, but the womb of the soul is turned to the outside like the male genitalia which is external. 

Philo: Now the female offspring of the soul are wickedness and passion, by which we are made effeminate in every one of our pursuits; but a healthy state of the passions and virtue is male, by which we are excited and invigorated.

Philo: But the passions are female by nature, and we must study to quit them, showing our preference for the masculine characters of the good dispositions.  

James 3:15 Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible: this wisdom is not one from above coming down, but is earthly born of the soul demoniacal” 

therefore it is within our souls that we give birth to desire, sin, and death.

James: 1 : 13-15 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

SIN... GIVES BIRTH TO DEATH: 1Co 5:54-56; Rom 5:12; 1Jo 2:16,17.

Psalms: 7:14 Look! There is one that is pregnant with what is hurtful, And he has conceived trouble and is bound to give birth to falsehood.. 

The psalmist metaphorically pictures the typical sinner as a pregnant woman, who is ready to give birth to wicked, destructive schemes and actions.

Job 15:35 They conceive mischief and bring forth vanity, and their belly prepareth deceit. 

The wicked's iniquity is as his children: he nourishes them, and at last they turn on him.

The language of child-bearing in connection with lust and sin is echoed by James (Jam 1:13-15). So wicked men bring forth "children" (that is sin) after their own "likeness" (Gal 5:19-21; Rom 1:29-31; 1Co 6:9,10), and are thus known by their "fruits" (Mat 7:16,20). The melancholy litany of birth, procreation, and death in Gen 5 ("and then he died") is the result of Adam's "likeness" being distorted, in his descendants, into the likeness of the serpent.

So when the womb of the soul, by the will of the father, turns itself inward, it is baptized and is immediately cleansed of the external pollution which was pressed upon it, just as garments, when dirty, are put into the water and turned about until their dirt is removed and they become clean. And so the cleansing of the soul is to regain the newness of her former nature and to turn herself back again. That is her baptism. 

Then she will begin to rage at herself like a woman in labor, who writhes and rages in the hour of delivery. But since she is female, by herself she is powerless to beget a child. [After the Exile the retruning Jews were like a woman trying to give brith ] From heaven the father sent her her man, who is her brother, the firstborn. Then the bridegroom came down to the bride. She gave up her former prostitution and cleansed herself of the pollutions of the adulterers, and she was renewed so as to be a bride. She cleansed herself in the bridal chamber; she filled it with perfume; she sat in it waiting for the true bridegroom. No longer does she run about the market place, copulating with whomever she desires, but she continued to wait for him - (saying) "When will he come?" - and to fear him, for she did not know what he looked like: she no longer remembers since the time she fell from her father's house. But by the will of the father <...> And she dreamed of him like a woman in love with a man. 

Marriage of the soul to her beloved

But then the bridegroom, according to the father's will, came down to her into the bridal chamber, which was prepared. And he decorated the bridal chamber. 

For since that marriage is not like the carnal marriage, those who are to have intercourse with one another will be satisfied with that intercourse. And as if it were a burden, they leave behind them the annoyance of physical desire and they turn their faces from each other. But this marriage [...]. But once they unite with one another, they become a single life. Wherefore the prophet said (Gn 2:24) concerning the first man and the first woman, "They will become a single flesh." For they were originally joined one to another when they were with the father before the woman led astray the man, who is her brother. This marriage has brought them back together again and the soul has been joined to her true love, her real master, as it is written (cf. Gn 3:16; 1 Co 11;1; Ep 5:23), "For the master of the woman is her husband." [After God told the serpent, He would provide a Redeemer who would bruise its head and release man from its power (sin). sentence was than pronounced upon the woman: Gen 3:16 And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy pains and thy groanings; in pain thou shall bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. Your desire... to Your husband: Woman's desire to man, Christ: Song 2:16; 6:3. Man's pre-eminence over his wife: Eph 5:22-24. "Desire" is "teshuwqah", found in the OT only here and in Gen 3:16; 4:7; Song 7:10. Eve’s desire was for what she had lost, but hoped to regain it through him. This expresses a desire to return, a desire for oneness, a desire that the individual will (even HIS will!) should be subordinated to the needs of the unit which is the couple: "And the two will become one flesh" (Eph 5:31; cp Jn 17:21; Act 4:32; 27:23; 1Co 6:19,20). Instead "teshuwqah" some read "teshuwbah" return. Thus the Concordant translation renders: “By your husband is your restoration and he shall rule over you”. the LXX and the Syriac also render it as “return.” all these meanings are most significant. Eve was reminded that her restoration, return, was subject to her husband, and that he must exercise the rule over her. Eve, however, was typical of the bride of Christ, and these words spoken to her have an added significance when related to the bride. The restoration of the bride is subject to her husband (Christ), and he must bear rule over her, if she would attain unto it. 

What is the restoration? 

That unity for which Christ prayed the Father when he declared: John: 17:20,21 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

This expresses the complete union of marriage; that oneness that shall only be experienced when the marriage of the lamb hath come. For the moment, the bride is espoused as a “chaste virgin” to Christ, and in this relationship, there is partial restoration. Thus, Paul wrote: Galatians: 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. Paul taught that in Christ there is a restoration of oneness. We experience that initially at baptism, for no matter of which sex we might be, we are than made personally responsible to Christ. But the “oneness” there indicated, is but a token of the complete restoration in the future, when Christ’s prayer will be fulfilled, and when, taking her to himself in the bridal chamber, he will acknowledge that they are “one flesh” (Eph 5:31). Meanwhile, the second Eve remains in subjection to her husband (1Tim 2:11-12 Eph 5:22 Col 3:18) ]

Then gradually she recognized him, and she rejoiced once more, weeping before him as she remembered the disgrace of her former widowhood. And she adorned herself still more so that he might be pleased to stay with her. 

And the prophet said in the Psalms (Ps 45:10-11): "Hear, my daughter, and see and incline your ear and forget your people and your father's house, for the king has desired your beauty, for he is your lord." 

For he requires her to turn her face from her people and the multitude of her adulterers, in whose midst she once was, to devote herself only to her king, her real lord, and to forget the house of the earthly father, with whom things went badly for her, but to remember her father who is in heaven. Thus also it was said (Gn 12:1) to Abraham: "Come out from your country and your kinsfolk and from your father`s house" 

Rebirth of the soul

Thus when the soul had adorned herself again in her beauty [...] enjoyed her beloved, and he also loved her. And when she had intercourse with him, she got from him the seed that is the life-giving spirit, so that by him she bears good children and rears them. For this is the great, perfect marvel of birth. And so this marriage is made perfect by the will of the father. 

Now it is fitting that the soul regenerates herself and become again as she formerly was. The soul then moves of her own accord. And she received the divine nature from the father for her rejuvenation, so that she might be restored to the place where originally she had been. This is the resurrection that is from the dead. This is the ransom from captivity. This is the upward journey of ascent to heaven. This is the way of ascent to the father. Therefore the prophet said (Ps 103:1-5): 

"Praise the lord, O my soul, and, all that is within me, (praise) his holy name. My soul, praise God, who forgave all your sins, who healed all your sicknesses, who ransomed your life from death, who crowned you with mercy, who satisfies your longing with good things. Your youth will be renewed like an eagle's." 

Then when she becomes young again, she will ascend, praising the father and her brother, by whom she was rescued. Thus it is by being born again that the soul will be saved. And this is due not to rote phrases or to professional skills or to book learning. Rather it is the grace of the [...], it is the gift of the [...]. For such is this heavenly thing. Therefore the savior cries out (Jn 6:44), "No one can come to me unless my Father draws him and brings him to me; and I myself will raise him up on the last day." 

It is therefore fitting to pray to the father and to call on him with all our soul - not externally with the lips, but with the spirit, which is inward, which came forth from the depth - sighing; repenting for the life we lived; confessing our sins; perceiving the empty deception we were in, and the empty zeal; weeping over how we were in darkness and in the wave; mourning for ourselves, that he might have pity on us; hating ourselves for how we are now. 

Again the savior said (cf Mt 5:4, Lk 6:12): "Blessed are those who mourn, for it is they who will be pitied; blessed, those who are hungry, for it is they who will be filled." 

Again he said (cf. Lk 14:26), "If one does not hate his soul he cannot follow me." For the beginning of salvation is repentance. Therefore (cf. Acts 13:24), "Before Christ`s appearance came John, preaching the baptism of repentance." 

And repentance takes place in distress and grief. But the father is good and loves humanity, and he hears the soul that calls upon him and sends it the light of salvation. Therefore he said through the spirit to the prophet (cf. 1 Cl 8:3), "Say to the children of my people, 'If your sins extend from earth to heaven, and if they become red like scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, and if you return to me with all your soul and say to me 'my Father!', I will heed you as a holy people.'" 

Again another place (Is 30:15), "Thus says the lord, the holy one of Israel: "If you return and sigh, then you will be saved and will know where you were when you trusted in what is empty." 

Again he said in another place (Is 30:19-20), "Jerusalem wept much, saying, 'Have pity on me.' He will have pity on the sound of your weeping. And when he saw, he heeded you. And the lord will give you bread of affliction and water of oppression. From now on, those who deceive will not approach you again. Your eyes will see those who are deceiving you." 

praying with all our 

Therefore it is fitting to pray to God night and day, spreading out our hands towards him as do people sailing in the middle of the sea: they pray to God with all their heart without hypocrisy. For those who pray hypocritically deceive only themselves. Indeed, it is in order that he might know who is worthy of salvation that God examines the inward parts and searches the bottom of the heart. For no one is worthy of salvation who still loves the place of deception. 

Therefore it is written in the poet (Homer, Odyssey 1.48-1.59), "Odysseus sat on the island weeping and grieving and turning his face from the words of Calypso and from her tricks, longing to see his village and smoke coming forth from it. And had he not received help from heaven, he would not have been able to return to his village." 

Again Helen <...> saying (Odyssey 4.260-261), "My heart turned itself from me. It is to my house that I want to return." 

For she sighed, saying (Odyssey 4.261-4.264), "It is Aphrodite who deceived me and brought me out of my village. My only daughter I left behind me, and my good, understanding, handsome husband." 

For when the soul leaves her perfect husband because of the treachery of Aphrodite, who exists here in the act of begetting, then she will suffer harm. But if she sighs and repents, she will be restored to her house. 

Our repentance

Certainly Israel would not have been visited in the first place [here at the end of the text instead of speaking about the soul the writer speaks about the nation of Israel instead this is show that the soul is used has an allegory for the sons of Israel], to be brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, if it had not groaned to God and wept for the oppression of its labours. 

Again it is written in the Psalms (6:6-9),  

6 I have grown weary with my sighing; All night long I make my bed swim; With my tears I make my own bed overflow.

 7 From vexation my eye has become weak, It has grown old because of all those showing hostility to me.

 8 Get away from me, all YOU practicers of what is hurtful, For Jehovah will certainly hear the sound of my weeping.  

9 Jehovah will indeed hear my request for favor; Jehovah himself will accept my own prayer.

If we repent, truly God will listen us, he who is long suffering and abundantly merciful, to whom is the glory for ever and ever. Amen! 

Thus these words here at the end confirm my understanding that the soul here is allegorical of the fall of Isreal and are own repentance 

The Gnostic Understanding of the Resurrection

Metaphysical Understanding of the Resurrection

The Gnostic Understanding of the Resurrection

O Rheginos, do not lose yourself in details, nor live obeying the flesh for the sake of harmony. Flee from being scattered and being in bondage, and then you already have resurrection. If you know what in yourself will die, though you have lived many years, why not look at yourself and see yourself risen now? You have the resurrection, yet you go on as if you are to die when it is only the part destined to die that is moribund. Why do I put up with your poor training? Everyone finds a way, and there are many ways, to be released from this element and not to roam aimlessly in error, all with the end of recovering what one was at the beginning. (The Treatise on the Resurrection)

Resurrection, according to Paul in Romans 8:10-11, is when the logos/mind of God "dwells in you". Simply said, resurrection is reaching the Christ-Consciousness of the pleroma because here you awaken to your true perfect god-self.

Resurrection implies intellectual renewal made possible by understanding Jesus' Christ message. "The 'old man [henos anthropos] must be 'put off' (Colossians 3:9-10) in order to 'put on' the new spiritual man [pneumatic anthropos].

In this light, resurrection means the transition of our judgmental ego-consciousness to our nonjudgmental Christ-Consciousness .

This transition is made possible by understanding Jesus' knowledge teachings.

However some may claim but the apostle saith, we are saved by “the renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

He also says, we are "renewed by knowledge” (Colossians 3:10). In this, however, he does not contradict himself, but rather makes the one phrase explanatory of the other; as if he had said, “we are renewed by the Holy Spirit through knowledge.” The Holy Spirit renews or regenerates man intellectually and morally by the truth believed. “Sanctify them by thy truth,” says Jesus; “thy word, O Father, is truth” (John xvii. 17). “Ye are clean,” said he to his apostles, “through the word which I have spoken to you” (John xv. 3). God’s power is manifested through means. His Spirit is His power by which He effects intellectual, moral, and physical results. When He wills to produce intellectual and moral effects, it is by knowledge revealed by His Spirit through the prophets and apostles. This knowledge becomes power when received into “good and honest hearts”; and because God is the author of it, it is styled “the Knowledge of God” (2 Pet. i. 2), or “the word of truth” (James i. 18), by which He begets sinners to Himself as His sons and daughters. “The word of the truth of the gospel,”” the gospel of the kingdom.” “the incorruptible seed,” “the word,” “the truth as it is in Jesus,”” the word of the kingdom,”” the word of reconciliation,” “the law and the testimony,” “the word of faith,” “the sword of the spirit which is the word of God,” “the word of Christ,” “the perfection of liberty,” etc.-are all phrases richly expressive of” the power of God” by which He saves His people from their sins, and translates them into the Hope of the kingdom and glory to which He invites them. The truth is the power that makes men free indeed (John viii. 32, 36). Hence Jesus says, “My words are spirit, and they are life.” The prophets, Jesus, and the apostles were the channels through which it was transmitted to mankind; and the spirit the agent by which the knowledge was conveyed to them. Hence, the knowledge or the truth being suggested to the prophets by the spirit is sometimes styled “the spirit” (Rom. ii. 20). The spirit is to the truth as cause and effect; and by a very common figure of speech, the one is put for the other in speaking of them relatively to the mind and heart of man. So that the phrase “renewed by the holy spirit” is equivalent to renewed by the belief of the truth testified by the Holy Spirit (John xv. 26: xiv. 13-14).


The raising of man's mind and heart from the carnal mind to the higher Christ consciousness. This is accomplished by the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, he that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through his Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8:11).

The resurrection is the lifting up of the whole mind and heart into the Christ consciousness. The resurrection lifts up the seat of reasoning and emotion of the mind and heart until they conform to the mind of God, and this renewal of the mind makes a complete transformation of the carnal mind or ego.

The resurrection is a transformation that takes place daily in all who are conforming their lives to the regenerating teachings of Jesus' anointed message. The resurrection takes place here and now in all who conform their lives to the spiritual law under which it works.

Now is the time of the resurrection. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God" (John 5:25).

The power of the resurrection is the Christ. "I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:25). This resurrection is not of the future, "but hath now been manifested by . . . our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light" (II Tim. 1:10).

Resurrection, in the above sense, does not rule out life after death in the kingdom of God on earth, only that we can raise to a higher consciousness the Christ consciousness in the here and now before we entering the restored kingdom of God.

The resurrection takes place in us every time we rise to Jesus' realization of the perpetual indwelling life that is connecting us with the Father. A new flood of life comes to all who open their minds and their bodies to the living word of God.

Gnostic Teaching On the Soul The Nag Hammadi Library

Christian Gnostic teaching of the Soul The Nag Hammadi Library

What is the Soul?

In the Bible there are two words for Soul the Hebrew term נפש‎ nefesh and the Greek word ψυχή, psuché both words mean to breath

The Soul refers to the breathing frame (respiratory system) the seat of which is in the blood Lev 17:11

Genesis 9:4 Only flesh with its soul—its blood—YOU must not eat

Lev 17:11 For the soul of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have put it upon the altar for YOU to make atonement for YOUR souls, because it is the blood that makes atonement by the soul [in it]

The statement of this verse is literally true, for the bloodstream is the bearer of life throughout the body: a teaching of the Bible which science has confirmed.
Blood was prohibited as an article of diet because it represented the life of the body which should be given up to God exclusively, as it is by self-sacrifice.

Both Humans and Animals are souls

Genesis 2:7 And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul

Genesis 1:24 And God went on to say: “Let the earth put forth living souls according to their kinds, domestic animal and moving animal and wild beast of the earth according to its kind.” And it came to be so.

Genesis 1:30 And to every wild beast of the earth and to every flying creature of the heavens and to everything moving upon the earth in which there is life as a soul I have given all green vegetation for food.” And it came to be so

Genesis 2:19 Now Jehovah God was forming from the ground every wild beast of the field and every flying creature of the heavens, and he began bringing them to the man to see what he would call each one; and whatever the man would call it, each living soul, that was its name

All living creatures are living souls both "Man and beasts... they have all ONE spirit (Ecclesiastes 3:19-21)

Young's Literal Translation

For an event is to the sons of man, and an event is to the beasts, even one event is to them; as the death of this, so is the death of that; and one spirit is to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole is vanity.

The Bible also speaks about dead souls

“Soul” in the New Testament

The word translated “Soul” in the NT is the Greek word “Psuche”, which occurs 106 times and is translated variously “Soul” (58 times), “life” 40 times, mind 3 times.

The word is used 45 times in contexts where it is evident that it is subject to death. For example:

James 5:20 “.. he which converteth a sinner … saveth a soul from death”

Acts 3:23 “.. every soul that will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed..”

1cor 15:44 It is sown a body of the soul (literally in Greek - a soulical body) , it is raised a body of the spirit; if there is a body of the soul, there is also of the spirit:—
45 Thus, also, it is written—The first man, Adam, became, a living soul, the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.
46 Howbeit, not first, is the [body] of the spirit, but that, of the soul,—afterwards, that of the spirit. (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible)

The body of the soul is the natural body

A soul is a physical body.

Genesis 2:7 And Yahweh Elohim proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground [he made the body] and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life [he put a spirit in the body], and the man came to be a living soul [body + spirit = living soul] (Genesis 2).

Spirit is a character, a personality. It is 'you'.

The soul is therefore the life carrying vehicle. Now the life, your life, you, is the spirit. We are spirits, our characters are spirits.

The soul (body) is the vehicle for the spirit.

The spirit is your character, it is 'you'. Things get confusing when one realises that spirit also represents your character as well as being the spirit of the Deity. 

A living human is a spirit within a physical body

Human Person = Spirit + Physical Body = Soul (human)
Corpse = Physical Body with no Spirit = Dead Soul (human)

psuchikos Psychical psychic – "soulful", Matter-dwelling spirits

The soul belongs to the “material” realm and is part of the flesh. Leviticus 17:11

The body is the whole being. In death, there is no separation of body and soul. The soul is as mortal as the body.

The Soul in Early Church teaching

Then I answered, "I am not so miserable a fellow, Trypho, as to say one thing and think another. I admitted to you formerly, that I and many others are of this opinion, and [believe] that such will take place, as you assuredly are aware; but, on the other hand, I signified to you that many who belong to the pure and pious faith, and are true Christians, think otherwise. Moreover, I pointed out to you that some who are called Christians, but are godless, impious heretics, teach doctrines that are in every way blasphemous, atheistical, and foolish. But that you may know that I do not say this before you alone, I shall draw up a statement, so far as I can, of all the arguments which have passed between us; in which I shall record myself as admitting the very same things which I admit to you. For I choose to follow not men or men's doctrines, but God and the doctrines [delivered] by Him. For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians, even as one, if he would rightly consider it, would not admit that the Sadducees, or similar sects of Genist , Meristae,Gelilaeans, Hellenists, Pharisees, Baptists, are Jews (do not hear me impatiently when I tell you what I think), but are[only] called Jews and children of Abraham, worshipping God with the lips, as God Himself declared, but the heart was far from Him. But I and others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned, and enlarged, the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others declare. (Justin Martyr: Dialogue with Trypho Chapter 80)

The “traditional view” today, the view most common among Conservative and Protestant Christians, is not in fact the view held by most of the Fathers of the Church.

The concept of the immortality of the soul comes from Greek philosophy it is not an idea found in Jewish-Christian scriptures known as the Holy Bible

Christian Gnostic understanding of the soul

According to April D. DeConick in her book The Gnostic New Age "most Gnostics thought that the psyche, or soul, was mortal." page 21

According to most Gnostics, the soul is not immortal, as Plato thought. Rather, it is mortal, just like the physical body, and will not endure. (The Gnostic New Age P. 212 April D. DeConick

The Soul is Female

Wise men of old gave the soul a feminine name. Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb. (The Exegesis on the Soul)

The text from the Nag Hammadi Library The Exegesis on the Soul says "Wise men of old gave the soul a feminine name."

This is true because the word soul is a Feminine Noun, in Hebrew, Greek and Coptic.

Next the text says "Indeed she is female in her nature as well. She even has her womb."

If we compare this with the Letter of James from the Bible we can see that nothing good is born of the soul:

James 3:15 This wisdom is not one, from above, coming down, but is earthly, born of the soul, demoniacal! (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible)

Philo: Now the female offspring of the soul are wickedness and passion, by which we are made effeminate in every one of our pursuits; but a healthy state of the passions and virtue is male, by which we are excited and invigorated.

The Psychic Aeon 

Next the psychic aeon. It is a small one, which is mixed with bodies, by begetting in the souls (and) defiling (them). For the first defilement of the creation found strength. And it begot every work: many works of wrath, anger, envy, malice, hatred, slander, contempt and war, lying and evil counsels, sorrows and pleasures, basenesses and defilements, falsehoods and diseases, evil judgments that they decree according to their desires. (The Concept of Our Great Power, The Nag Hammadi Library)

The soul-endowed aeon is the human race after the flood. This aeon will remain in place until the final consummation

The defilement of the soul is by begetting negative emotions see James 3:15 as quoted above and Psalm 7:14

Psalm 7:14, ESV: Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies

The Origin of the Soul

Do the Gnostic texts speak about the the origin of the soul?

Yes the gospel of Philip and the Extracts from the Works of Theodotus describe the creation of the soul:

50 “Taking dust from the earth”: not of the land but a portion of matter but of varied constitution and colour, he fashioned a soul, earthly and material, irrational and consubstantial with that of the beasts. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

The soul of Adam came into being by means of a breath, the partner of his soul is the spirit, and the spirit given to him is his mother. (Gospel of Philip).

Is there a distinction between soul and spirit?

Yes like the Bible the Gnostic texts or apocryphal gospels make a distinction between soul and spirit

Then Peter answered, “Look, three times you have told us, ‘Be filled,’ but we are filled.”
The savior answered and said, “For this reason I have told you, ‘Be filled,’ that you may not lack. Those who lack will not be saved. To be filled is good and to lack is bad. Yet since it is also good for you to lack but bad for you to be filled, whoever is filled also lacks. One who lacks is not filled in the way another who lacks is filled, but whoever is filled is brought to an appropriate end. So you should lack when you can fill yourselves and be filled when you lack, that you may be able to fill yourselves more. Be filled with spirit but lack in reason, for reason is of the soul. It is soul.” (The Apocryphon of James)

The Soul is the body

According to the Extracts from the Works of Theodotus found in the works of Clement of Alexandria, the "soul is a body" (Extract 14) it was created from "dust from the earth" with which "he fashioned a soul, earthly and material" (Extract 50) Therefore according to Valentinian Christians he soul is a natural or physical body:

14 The demons are said to be incorporeal, not because they have no bodies (for they have even shape and are, therefore, capable of feeling punishment), but they are said to be incorporeal because, in comparison with the spiritual bodies which are saved, they are a shade. And the angels are bodies; at any rate they are seen. Why even the soul is a body, for the Apostle says, "It is sown a body of soul, it is raised a body of spirit." (1cor 15:44) And how can the souls which are being punished be sensible of it, if they are not bodies? Certainly he says, "Fear him who, after death, is able to cast soul and body into hell." () Now that which is visible is not purged by fire, but is dissolved into dust. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

Here the Extracts from the Works of Theodotus is quoting from 1 Corinthians 15:44 this is to show the soul is a body notice it says "is a body" not "has a body"

Also the Extracts from the Works of Theodotus shows that the soul can be destroyed in Gehenna

The Psychic One

Psychic from the Greek psuchikos: natural, of the soul or mind
Original Word: ψυχικός, ή, όν
Part of Speech: Adjective
Transliteration: psuchikos
Phonetic Spelling: (psoo-khee-kos')
Definition: natural, of the soul or mind
Usage: animal, natural, sensuous.

And the natural man doth not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for to him they are foolishness, and he is not able to know them, because spiritually they are discerned; (1 Corinthians 2:14,)

Natural.--That is, literally, that part of our nature which we call "mind,"

People who have not been initiated are called by Paul “psychics,” people who have only their own psyches or souls but not yet God’s Spirit. Because God’s Spirit has not united with their own spirits, these people are unable to receive gnosis (1 Corinthians 2:14, 15:34).

In the Sethian book the Apocryphon of John, we learn that the soul parts are given by each of the planetary rulers, including the soul’s bone, sinew, flesh, marrow, blood, skin, and hair. Each of these soul parts is aligned with a psychic capacity [Mind], such as goodness, intention, piety, tyranny, domination, envy, or wisdom (Apocryphon of John, Nag Hammadi codices [NHC] II.1 11.23–12.25, 15.14–24; compare with Apocryphon of John in Berlin Codex 2 48.11–50.2). (The Gnostic New Age, April D. DeConick)

59 First, then, he put on a seed from the Mother, not being separated but containing it by power, and it is given form little by little through knowledge. And when he came into Space Jesus found Christ, whom it was foretold that he would put on, whom the Prophets and the Law announced as an image of the Saviour. But even this psychic Christ whom he put on, was invisible, and it was necessary for him when he came into the world to be seen here, to be held, to be a citizen, and to hold on to a sensible body. A body, therefore, was spun for him out of invisible psychic substance, and arrived in the world of sense with power from a divine preparation. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

60 Therefore, “Holy Spirit shall come upon thee” refers to the formation of the Lord's body, “and a Power of the Most High shall overshadow thee” indicates the formation of God with which he imprinted the body in the Virgin. (Extracts from the Works of Theodotus)

Theodotus understood the incarnation to be a kind of ensoulment of God’s mind in matter, when the Logos descended into the flesh at Jesus’ birth and became Jesus’ psyche or soul. So Theodotus understood that Jesus came into being not through the water baptism only, but through the blood of birth too (1 John 5:6;)

Remember the soul of the flesh is in the blood Levit 17:11

The Soul is Temporary

Some Gnostic texts text speak about the death of the soul

- For he knows the desire, and also what it is that the flesh needs! - (Or do you think) that it is not this (flesh) that desires the soul? For without the soul, the body does not sin, just as the soul is not saved without the spirit. But if the soul is saved (when it is) without evil, and the spirit is also saved, then the body becomes free from sin. For it is the spirit that raises the soul, but the body that kills it; that is, it is it (the soul) which kills itself. (The Apocryphon of James)

Here the soul is equivalent in value or interdependent with the flesh and the body the soul needs to be saved from death as the text says “it is it (the soul) which kills itself”

The Treatise of the Resurrection:
"From the savior we radiate beams, and we are held in his arms until our own sunset, our death in this life. We are drawn to heaven by him, like beams, by the sun, and nothing holds us down. This is the resurrection of the spirit, which swallows up the soul and the flesh."

Tripartite Tractate:
"They became flesh and soul, that is, eternally which (things) hold them and with corruptible things they die. "

The Gospel of Philip:
"Adam’s soul came from a breath. The soul’s companion is spirit, and the spirit given to him is his mother. His soul was [taken] from him and replaced with [spirit]. "

Apocalypse of Peter:
`For evil cannot produce good fruit. For the place from which each of them is produces that which is like itself; for not every soul is of the truth, nor of immortality. For every soul of these ages has death assigned to it in our view, because it is always a slave, since it is created for its desires and their eternal destruction, in which they are and from which they are. They love the creatures of the matter which came forth with them.`

In this text there are mortal souls of this age and immortal souls in the age to come

Apoc of Adam

`But we have done every deed of the powers senselessly. We have boasted in the transgression of all our works. We have cried against the God of truth because all his works [...] is eternal. These are against our spirits. For now we have known that our souls will die the death.`

Here the soul needs to be redeem from death if the soul is immortal how can it die?

Heracleon was a Valentinian Gnostic in his Commentary on the Gospel of John he rejects the doctrine of the immortal soul

Fragment 40, on John 4:46-53 (In John 4:46, “So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose child was ill.) The official was the Craftsman, for he himself ruled like a king over those under him. Because his domain is small and transitory, he was called an “official,” like a petty princeling who is set over a small kingdom by the universal king. The “child” “in Capernaun” is one who is in the lower part of the Middle (i.e. of animate substance), which lies near the sea, that is, which is linked with matter. The child’s proper person was sick, that is, in a condition not in accordance with the child’s proper nature, in ignorance and sins. (In John 4:47, “When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his child , for it was at the point of death.”) The words “from Judea to Galilee” mean ‘from the Judea above.’. . . By the words “it was at the point of death,” the teaching of those who claim that the soul is immortal is refuted. In agreement with this is the statement that “the body and soul are destoyed in Hell.” (Matthew 10:28) The soul is not immortal, but is possessed only of a disposition towards salvation, for it is the perishable which puts on imperishability and the mortal which puts on immortality when “its death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Corinthians 15:54) [Heracleon: Fragments from his Commentary on the Gospel of John]

both canonical and gnostic text support the teaching that the soul is temporary.

The true doctrine of immortality.

What is the resurrection? It is the revelation of those who have risen. If you remember reading in the gospel that Elijah appeared and Moses with him, do not suppose that the resurrection is an illusion. It is no illusion. It is truth. It is more proper to say that the world is illusion, rather than the resurrection that is because of our lord the savior, Jesus the Christ.

And I also disagree with others who say that the flesh will not arise. Both views are wrong. You say that the flesh will not arise? Then tell me what will arise, so we may salute you. You say it is the spirit in the flesh, and also the light in the flesh? But what is in the flesh is the word, and what you are talking about is nothing other than flesh. It is necessary to arise in this sort of flesh, since everything exists in it.