ταὶ κατώτερα [μέρη] τῆς γῆς
''...the lower [parts] of earth.''
How much is this similar to Julian's expression (
Mother of gods, 7):
Ό δέ προήλθεν άχρι των εσχάθων τήζ ύληζ κατελθών
Instead he [Attis] continued his descending until to the extreme limits of matter.
If am correct, a more letteral translation is: ''to the extremity of the limits of matter''. Am I correct?
The
Ascension of Isaiah excludes ecplicitly the possibility that the hell is meant as place of the crucifixion, and not only because there are not trees in the hell (not even Dante Alighieri imagined trees in the hell, to my knowledge!):
10.7 And I heard the words of the Most High, the Father of my Lord, as he spoke to my Lord Christ who shall be called Jesus,
10.8 Go and descend through all the heavens, descend to the firmament and to that world, even to the angel in the realm of the dead, but to Hell you shall not go.
But note the curious reference to
''even to the angel in the realm of the dead''.
All seems to point to the identity between that
''angel in the realm of the dead'' and the
''angel of death'' who is plundered by Jesus in the following verses of AoI:
13The Lord will indeed descend into the world in the last days, (he) who is to be called Christ after he has descended and become like you in form, and they will think that he is flesh and a man. 14And the god of that world will stretch out [his hand against the Son], and they will lay their hands upon him and hang him upon a tree, not knowing who he is. 15And thus his descent, as you will see, will be concealed even from the heavens so that it will not be known who he is. 16And when he has plundered the angel of death, he will rise on the third day and will remain in that world for five hundred and forty-five days.
What Ephesians says about the
''plundering of the angel of death'':
8 Scripture says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train, and gave gifts to men." 9Now, the word ‘ascended’ implies that he also descended into the lower parts of the earth.
the
''captives in his train'' (= the ''plundering of the angel of death'') would be taken by Jesus from that same place where he is crucified, according to AoI :
and will remain in that world
the later legend of
Descendus ad Inferos assumes that Jesus remained in the hell during the three days after the crucifixion.
But the AoI, even if denies the presence of Jesus in hell, insists that Jesus has to remain in the same world where (1) he is crucified and where (2) he has plundered the angel of death.
That world is not the hell (Aoi denies it).
That world may be the sublunar realm but there is no explicit confirmation of it.
That world is the
''realm of dead''. Apparently, the
''angel of death'' is the king of the realm of dead. Not even Satan, who is the prince of the air (unless the dead are in the air).
In conclusion, I think that the sequences of events is the following:
Jesus descends until to realm of dead: the ''realm of dead'' coincides with ''the lower parts of earth'' (therefore it is under earth) but
not with the hell (who is even more under!).
He is crucified in the realm of dead.
He is buried in the realm of dead.
He rises in the realm of dead.
He wins the angel of death and frees his prisoners.
He is going to appear in surface (already with the first revelations to Paul & company).
When he will show fully himself in surface, then he will appear before all the humanity and will defeat in a single final battle the prince of the air, Satan, at the Parousia.
Therefore the ''archons of this aeon'' would are the angels at the service of the ''angel of death'' (in the realm of dead, under the earth), and not Satan in the air.
What do you think about this reconstruction?