Editing Demiurge (section)

===Yaldabaoth===
{{Main|Yaldabaoth}}
[[File:Lion-faced deity.jpg|thumb|right|150px|A lion-faced, [[Snakes in mythology|serpentine]] [[deity]] found on a Gnostic gem in [[Bernard de Montfaucon]]'s ''L'antiquité expliquée et représentée en figures'', a depiction of Yaldabaoth.]]
In the [[Archontics|Archontic]], [[Sethianism|Sethian]], and [[Ophites|Ophite]] systems, which have many affinities with the [[Valentinianism|doctrine of Valentinus]], the making of the world is ascribed to a company of seven [[archon (Gnosticism)|archons]], whose names are given, but still more prominent is their chief, "Yaldabaoth" (also known as "Yaltabaoth" or "Ialdabaoth").

In the ''[[Apocryphon of John]]'' {{circa}}&nbsp;AD 120–180, the demiurge declares that he has made the world by himself:
<blockquote>
Now the [[archon]] ["ruler"] who is weak has three names. The first name is Yaltabaoth, the second is Saklas ["fool"], and the third is [[Samael]] ["blind god"]. And he is impious in his arrogance which is in him. For he said, 'I am God and there is no other God beside me,' for he is ignorant of his strength, the place from which he had come.<ref>"Apocryphon of John," translation by Frederik Wisse in ''The Nag Hammadi Library''. Accessed online at [http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/apocjn.html gnosis.org]</ref></blockquote>

He is demiurge and maker of man, but as a ray of light from above enters the body of man and gives him a soul, Yaldabaoth is filled with envy; he tries to limit man's knowledge by forbidding him the fruit of knowledge in paradise. At the consummation of all things, all light will return to the [[Pleroma]]. But Yaldabaoth, the demiurge, with the material world, will be cast into the lower depths.<ref name="Catholic">{{Catholic|wstitle=Demiurge|inline=yes}}</ref>

Yaldabaoth is frequently called "the Lion-faced", ''leontoeides'', and is said to have the body of a serpent. The demiurge is also<ref>Hipp. ''Ref''. vi. 32, p.&nbsp;191.</ref> described as having a fiery nature, applying the words of Moses to him: "the Lord our God is a burning and consuming fire". Hippolytus claims that Simon used a similar description.<ref>Hipp. ''Ref''. vi. 9.</ref>

In ''[[Pistis Sophia]]'', Yaldabaoth has already sunk from his high estate and resides in Chaos, where, with his forty-nine demons, he tortures wicked souls in boiling rivers of pitch, and with other punishments (pp.&nbsp;257, 382). He is an archon with the face of a lion, half flame, and half darkness.

In the [[Nag Hammadi library|Nag Hammadi text]] ''[[On the Origin of the World]]'', the three sons of Yaldabaoth are listed as [[Yao (Gnosticism)|Yao]], Eloai, and [[Astaphaios]].<ref>[[Marvin Meyer]] and [[James M. Robinson]], ''The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International Edition''. HarperOne, 2007. pp. 2–3. {{ISBN|0-06-052378-6}}</ref>

Under the name of ''Nebro'' (rebel), Yaldabaoth is called an angel in the [[apocryphal]] ''[[Gospel of Judas]]''. He is first mentioned in "The Cosmos, Chaos, and the Underworld" as one of the twelve angels to come "into being [to] rule over chaos and the [underworld]". He comes from heaven, and it is said his "face flashed with fire and [his] appearance was defiled with blood". Nebro creates six angels in addition to the angel [[Saklas]] to be his assistants. These six, in turn, create another twelve angels "with each one receiving a portion in the heavens".

====Names====
{{Main|Yaldabaoth#Etymology}}
The etymology of the name ''Yaldabaoth'' has been subject to many speculative theories. Until 1974, etymologies deriving from the unattested [[Aramaic]]: בהותא, <small>romanized:</small> ''bāhūthā'', supposedly meaning "[[Chaos (cosmogony)|chaos]]", represented the majority view. Following an analysis by the Jewish historian of religion [[Gershom Scholem]] published in 1974,<ref name="Scholem 1974">{{cite journal |author-last=Scholem |author-first=Gershom |author-link=Gershom Scholem |year=1974 |title=Jaldabaoth Reconsidered |url=https://www.academia.edu/44508763 |journal=Mélanges d'histoire des religions offerts à Henri-Charles Puech |location=[[Paris]] |publisher=[[Collège de France]]/Presses Universitaires de France |pages=405–421 |via=[[Academia.edu]]}}</ref> this etymology no longer enjoyed any notable support. His analysis showed the unattested Aramaic term to have been fabulated and attested only in a single corrupted text from 1859, with its claimed translation having been transposed from the reading of an earlier etymology, whose explanation seemingly equated "[[darkness]]" and "chaos" when translating an unattested supposed plural form of {{Langx|he|בוהו|translit=bōhu|lit=}}.<ref name="Scholem 1974"/><ref name=":0">{{cite book |author-last=Black |author-first=Matthew |title=The New Testament and Gnosis : Essays in honour of RobertMcL.Wilson |year=1983 |chapter=An Aramaic Etymology for Jaldabaoth? |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781474266277.ch-005 |work=The New Testament and Gnosis: Essays in honour of Robert McL. Wilson |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Academic]] |pages=69–72 |doi=10.5040/9781474266277.ch-005 |isbn=978-1-4742-6627-7}}</ref>

"[[Samael]]" literally means "Blind God" or "God of the Blind" in Hebrew ({{Script/Hebrew|סמאל}}). This being is considered not only blind, or ignorant of its own origins, but may, in addition, be evil; its name is also found in [[Judaism]] as the [[Personifications of death#Death (angels) in religion|Angel of Death]] and in [[Christian demonology]]. This link to Judeo-Christian tradition leads to a further comparison with [[Satan]]. Another alternative title for the demiurge is "Saklas", Aramaic for "fool". In the ''[[Apocryphon of John]]'', Yaldabaoth is also known as both Sakla and Samael.<ref name="Meyer international">[[Marvin Meyer]] and [[James M. Robinson]], ''The Nag Hammadi Scriptures: The International Edition''. HarperOne, 2007. {{ISBN|0-06-052378-6}}</ref>

The angelic name "[[Ariel (angel)|Ariel]]" (Hebrew: 'the lion of God')<ref>{{cite book |title=Jewish Gnosticism, Merkabah Mysticism, and Talmudic Tradition |first=Gershom |last=Scholem |publisher=Jewish Theological Seminary of America |year=1965 |page=72}}</ref> has also been used to refer to the Demiurge and is called his "perfect" name;<ref>{{cite book |author=Robert McLachlan Wilson |title=Nag Hammadi and gnosis: Papers read at the First International Congress of Coptology |year=1976 |publisher=BRILL |pages=21–23 |quote=''Therefore his esoteric name is Jaldabaoth, whereas the perfect call him Ariel, because he has the appearance of a lion.''}}</ref> in some Gnostic lore, Ariel has been called an ancient or original name for Ialdabaoth.<ref>{{cite book|author=Gustav Davidson|title=A dictionary of angels: including the fallen angels |year=1994 |publisher=Scrollhouse |page=54}}</ref> The name has also been inscribed on amulets as "Ariel Ialdabaoth",<ref>{{cite book|author=David M Gwynn|title=Religious Diversity in Late Antiquity |year=2010 |publisher=BRILL |page=448}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=[[Campbell Bonner]] |title=An Amulet of the Ophite Gnostics |year=1949 |publisher=The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 8|pages=43–46}}</ref> and the figure of the archon inscribed with "Aariel".<ref>{{cite book |author1=Gilles Quispel |author2=R. van den Broek |author-link2=Roel van den Broek |author3=Maarten Jozef Vermaseren |title=Studies in gnosticism and hellenistic religions |year=1981 |publisher=BRILL |pages=40–41}}</ref>