Second Treatise of the Great Seth (NHC VII,2)
c. c. 150 – c. 350
Place: nag-hammadi
26.050, 32.250 · On the map
This is a surviving insider text (Coptic, Nag Hammadi Codex VII), now in the Coptic Museum, Cairo. The translation linked is copyrighted, so it is a link only.
A Gnostic text in which the Savior says others — including Simon — bore the cross while he looked on from above, laughing at the error of those who thought they had killed him. It survives in Coptic in a codex buried near Nag Hammadi in the 4th century.
People named here
- Simon of Cyrene
Links
Text and wording
Out
Qur'an 4:157–159: 'they did not kill him, nor crucify him'
The 'they only thought they killed him' motif parallels 4:157; direct influence is not established.
idea_parallel
scholarly hypothesisIn
Docetism: Christ only 'seemed' to suffer
An insider Gnostic text where Simon bears the cross and the Savior laughs.
includes
attested
Sources
- Second Treatise of the Great Seth, NHC VII,2 (Bullard & Gibbons trans.; copyrighted — link only)
Gnostic Society Library. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Wikipedia: Second Treatise of the Great Seth
Wikipedia contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0). Accessed 2026-11-11.