Saturday, April 18, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Book of John
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Texts
The Book of John — Chapter 1The opening chapter of the Mandaean Book of John — Truth's cosmological catechism at the gate of the worlds, and Ptahil's answers about the structure of creation. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 2The second chapter of the Mandaean Book of John — Truth's questions about the cosmic conflicts, Yukashar's answers, and Abathur's lament. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 3Chapter 3 of the Mandaean Book of John — the rebellion of Yushamin's twenty-one sons, the celestial war, Gubran on the scorpion Parahiel, and the binding of the rebel. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 4Chapter 4 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's first-person confession of rebellion, the Radiant Transplant's rebuke, and Yushamin's acceptance. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 5Chapter 5 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's continued defiance in the shackles, the Great Life's dispatch of Manda d'Heyyi, and the confrontation that ends in Yushamin's submission. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 6Chapter 6 of the Mandaean Book of John — the turning point of the Yushamin cycle. After five chapters of defiance, rebellion, and submission, Yushamin rises from his throne and addresses Manda d'Heyyi with praise. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 7Chapter 7 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's retrospective confession. He narrates his own rebellion in first person, then the text shifts to the punishment scene: the messenger, the letter, the shackles, and a devastating prophecy of ruin. The longest chapter in the Yushamin cycle. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 8Chapter 8 of the Mandaean Book of John — the intercession of Nasb Ziwa (Splendid Plant), Yushamin's son, who goes to the court of the Light King to plead for his punished father. The petition scene, Manda d'Heyyi's objection, and the King's revelation. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 9Chapter 9 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's lament from the Nether Gate, Manda d'Heyyi's rebuke, the defiant reply, and the Great Life's comfort sent through Splendid Plant. The emotional climax of the Yushamin cycle. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 10Chapter 10 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's bewildered self-lament, the final chapter of the Yushamin cycle. A fallen god lists the contradictions of his punishment, deflects blame, then discovers his own complicity. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 11Chapter 11 of the Mandaean Book of John — the Good Shepherd. A divine shepherd tends his flock with his own hands, then a cosmic flood shatters the fold. He calls from the bow of his ship. Some hear. Most are lost. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 12Chapter 12 of the Mandaean Book of John — An Excellency Calls from Beyond. A divine voice offers splendid sandals to walk through a world of thorns. The helper objects: what of the lion, the wolf, the thief, the fire, the flood? Each loss is a worship. A thousand balance out of a myriad. First free independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.The Book of John — Chapter 13Chapter 13 of the Mandaean Book of John — 'To You I Am Speaking and Teaching.' The Creation narrative: an ethical address to the faithful, the cosmology of the Two Kings, the soul before creation, the cosmic mixing, the formation of Adam, and the messenger's call to awaken.The Book of John — Chapter 14Chapter 14 of the Mandaean Book of John — 'Truth's Shem Begins Teaching.' A meditation on aging, death, and the unknown road. Truth's Shem laments his failing body, asks what supplies he may carry to the afterlife, and a messenger defends the value of marriage, family, and earthly life.The Book of John — Chapter 15Truth's Shem defies the planets: a litany of the consecrated body.The Book of John — Chapter 16Truth's Shem refuses the Seven: a litany of eleven refusals, three questions, and the body as darkness.The Book of John — Chapter 17The Strange Man: the Seven challenge Shem, he weeps in despair, and the messenger rescues him from the fortress of the wicked.The Book of John — Chapter 18The Nativity of Johannes: the priests dream of a star over Enishbai, Lilioch reads the Book of Dreams, Zechariah rages and denies, and the child is transplanted from the heights.The Book of John — Chapter 19Johannes speaks in his own voice for the first time: a litany of renunciation, the challenge of the Seven, and the garment of the First Life passed from Adam through Shem to the Baptist.The Book of John — Chapter 20The cosmos falls silent as the sun and moon withdraw. The sun addresses Johannes, listing his three halos and the perfect ship in the Jordan. Johannes responds with a devastating assessment: the ship is the pride of glory, but she went to the dunghill, fought with her own husband, and was not worthy of Life's house.The Book of John — Chapter 21Johannes claims unique prophethood and declares the cosmic effects of his teaching. Meryey and Enishbai weep. The Torah falls void in Jerusalem. Merchants stop trading, fishermen stop fishing, brides weep in their veils, the child in the womb hears his voice and weeps. Water stands in a pillar. Fish offer greetings. Winged birds prostrate and declare his throne set in the house of Life.The Book of John — Chapter 22Johannes calls out a proclamation to the world: buy a path before you. Jacob, Benjamin, and Meryey question him under oath. He prophesies: once the priests are slaughtered, Muhammad the Arab will be born. Tents will be removed, mosques will multiply. Stability and peace will vanish. Those who come after will shave their heads, henna their beards, pervert their scales, and demand of the Mandaeans: who is your prophet, which is your book. The Mandaean confession closes the chapter: our Lord is the king of light.The Book of John — Chapter 23Yahya warns his brothers and friends of the pits that women dig. She who is polluted but not made right faces the dark mountain, empty skirts, dead sons, and the curse of the sun and moon. The chapter ends with instruction on ritual washing.The Book of John — Chapter 24Yahya testifies to his integrity from the house of his seclusion, then instructs his chosen: withdraw from the mortal abode, choose a wife wisely, beware the polluted woman, purify yourselves in water, and save yourselves from the pits that women dig. Twenty-one verses.The Book of John — Chapter 25Yahya preaches at night, calling the sleeping nobles to account: what will you do on the day of judgment, when the soul strips off the body? Where are Adam, Eve, Shitil, Ram and Rud, Shurbai and Sharhabeil, Shem? All departed, none returned. The planets are fattened oxen for slaughter, the earthlings fattened rams for sale. Fifteen verses.The Book of John — Chapter 26A true letter arrives but finds no welcome among the ages. Placed in the hands of the Jews, who reject it; placed in the hand of Yuhana, who reads sublime writing within and says 'this is what I wished for.' Yuhana comes forth from his body. His brothers teach on Mount Carmel. Then Manda d'Heyyi descends through cosmic garments — the garment of Life, the garment of the Seven, the Eight — seizes the planetary powers and will not release them. The demons shall become virtuous. Why do you weep, O ages? Thirty verses.The Book of John — Chapter 27Yahya boasts of his deeds, the priests of Urashlam demand he leave, and he dares them to bring fire and sword — but fire will not burn him, for the name of Life is spoken over him, and a sword will not cut him, for the Son of Life is loosed upon him. Fourteen verses.The Book of John — Chapter 28The great casuistic chapter of the Mandaean Book of John. The Jews gather before Yahya, swear by the light king and by Sunday and the Daybreak, and ask him to judge every category of sin: adultery, theft, sleeping with a friend's wife, fortune-telling, wine-drinking, songstresses and illegitimate children, ritual impurity, usury. Yahya answers with fire, the dark mountain, twin wheels, fire-pots, vessels of ice, asphalt rakes, the bowels of Leviathan, enraged dogs, deaf and mute interrogators. Ninety verses of Mandaean jurisprudence.The Book of John — Chapter 29Yahya declares his light and instructs his disciples. A hymn of self-declaration gives way to exhortation: take heed from hateful deeds, love Sunday, honor the Daybreak, give rewards more precious than wife and children. Then the teaching on the cosmic crossing: wages and rewards build the bridge across the sea, and out of a thousand souls, only one is carried across.The Book of John — Chapter 30The great confrontation between Yahya and Jesus at the Jordan. Jesus asks for baptism; Yahya accuses him of five corruptions. Jesus swears innocence through self-imprecation, then answers Yahya's six impossibilities with six parables of transformation. A divine letter from Abatur's house commands the baptism. Ruha descends as a dove and corrupts the Mandaean rites into Christian sacraments. The chapter closes with a warning against the Romans and the devastating syllogism: if a carpenter framed a god, then who framed the carpenter?The Book of John — Chapter 31Chapter thirty-one of the Mandaean Book of John — Yahya is mocked for his celibacy, commanded by Abatur to marry, tests his wife Anhar with three farewell vows, and teaches that death admits no returnThe Book of John — Chapter 32Chapter thirty-two of the Mandaean Book of John — Yahya narrates his own birth: placed in Elizabeth's womb from the Jordan, born amid earthquakes in Jerusalem, named by Life against the will of the Jews, raised on Mount Parwan for twenty-two years, and returned to the city in a cloud of splendorThe Book of John — Chapter 33Chapter thirty-three of the Mandaean Book of John — Christ questions Yahya about the nature of the soul and the form of Sowriel's knife, and Yahya weeps and answers: the soul is not like blood, not like wind, not like dew. Then Sowriel comes for a reluctant soul who bargains for two more days and is deniedThe Book of John — Chapter 34Chapter thirty-four of the Mandaean Book of John — Meryey, daughter of Babylon's kings, tells her own story: raised in the Temple, forbidden to go out, she disobeys, finds the Mandaean community, sleeps among them, is discovered by her father, endures his insults, and declares her love for Manda d'HeyyiThe Book of John — Chapter 35Chapter thirty-five of the Mandaean Book of John — Meryey becomes myth. She is a vine at the mouth of the Euphrates, birds nest in her branches, winds tear them away. A white eagle comes as Life's emissary. The Jews pursue her but find her enthroned, a scroll in her lap, fish and birds assembling at her voice. Her mother pleads for her return to the Temple. Meryey laughs and refuses. A pure eagle destroys the Temple and sets fire to Jerusalem. Meryey and the eagle rise together to light's place.