Important Breakthrough: Cerdo = Chrestos

[Secret Alias]

After having found Tertullian makes reference to the Marcionite 'Christ' = Chrestos or 'utility' in one section of Against Marcion - posting.php?f=3&mode=quote&p=97993&sid= ... 0d55086fb6 - I also noticed that Tertullian makes reference to Cerdo in the same book:

For, like many even in our day, heretics in particular, Marcion had an unhealthy interest in the problem of evil—the origin of it—and his perceptions were numbed by the very excess of his curiosity. So when he found the Creator declaring, It is I who create evil things,b in that he had, from other arguments which make that impression on the perverse, already assumed him to be the author of evil, he interpreted with reference to the Creator the evil tree that creates evil fruit—namely, evil things in general— and assumed that there had to be another god to correspond with the good tree which brings forth good fruits. Discovering then in Christ as it were a different dispensation of sole and unadulterated benevolence, an opposite character to the Creator's, he found it easy to argue for a new and hitherto unknown divinity revealed in its own Christ, and thus with a little leaven has embittered with heretical acidity the whole mass of the faith.c He was acquainted also with a certain Cerdo, who gave shape to this outrage (informatorem scandali huius Holmes translates "an abettor of this blasphemy"). And so the blind were easily led to think they had a clear prospect of two gods, in that they had no accurate view of the one God. To the blear-eyed a single lamp looks double.

What is very interesting is the fact that while Irenaeus and Tertullian emphasize that Marcion only lived at the time of Antoninus, Tertullian in this text hints that 'Cerdo' or 'gain' might have lived at the time of Tiberius:

Evidently he would have exercised it if kind by nature and not by afterthought, if good by character and not by rule and regulation, if god since eternity and not since Tiberius, or rather—to speak more truly—since Cerdo and Marcion. As things are, your god will have given Tiberius this to his credit, that in his reign divine goodness was first established upon earth.

It certainly opens the door to the idea that 'Cerdo' might have been Marcion's god at the time of Tiberius (despite what appears now in Irenaeus).

We all know that Marcion's god was Chrestos and that - with the original discovery in this book - the concept was translated into Latin as utilitas = 'use':

For is there anything so malicious as to refuse to do good when you have the power, to crucify usefulness (quam utilitatem cruciare), to allow wrong to continue?

Isn't it curious that the Aramaic equivalent of utilitas is hny. The root of the verb is hny, known in Jewish Aramaic, Syriac, and Modern Hebrew and meaning, "to be pleasing, profitable." Brockelmann relates it to Arabic hani'a, Sabaean hn'm 'lucrum.' In the Ithpeel it means "to enjoy, to derive profit from."

hny vb. to be pleasing, to benefit

G View a KWIC


1 to be pleasing Gal, CPA, Syr, JBA, JBAg, Man, LJLA. MG 1:56.1.16 : ולא הני ליה למיכל מיניה ‏ you will have no pleasure eating from it.

2 to benefit (trans.) JLAtg, Gal, CPA, Sam. TgJ Jer2:8 : וֻבָתַר דְלָא יִהנוֹן לְהוֹן אֲזַלוּ ‏ .

3 to use CPA, Syr.


D View a KWIC


1 to please Gal. SYAP 1:11 : והנא יתה ממליה דפמה ‏ the speech of her mouth pleased him.


C View a KWIC


1 to profit, to aid someone JLAtg, Gal, CPA, Sam, Syr, JBA, LJLA. TgJ Is30:5 : עַמָא דְלָא יַהנוֹן לְהוֹן ‏ a people who will not benefit you. AphDem11.204:14 : ܓܙܘܪܬܐ ܡܕܡ ܠܐ ܐܗܢܝܬ‏ circumcision provided no benefit at all. P Ps89:23 : ܐܗܢܝ ܡܕܡ ܒܥܠܕܒܒܗ‏ . BT Ned 24a(23) : לאו מלכ׳ אנא דמהנינ׳ לך ואת לא מהני׳ לי ‏ I am not a king who can benefit you, and you cannot benefit me. (a) to make something beneficial JLAtg. TgJ Ez16:33 : וְאַת אַהנֵית יָת אַגרִיך לְכָל רָחֲמַך ‏ you provided benefit from your wage to all your lovers. (b) to be medically beneficial Syr. HippAp 5(5) : ܕܘܒܪ̈ܐ ܪ̈ܛܝܒܐ ܠܟܠܗܘܢ ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܐܚܝܕܝܢ ܒܐܫܬܘ̈ܬܐ ܡܗܢܝܢ‏ a moist diet is beneficial for all those suffering fevers. (c) to perceive the usefulness of Syr. Ps 89:23 .


Gt View a KWIC


1 to find useful, benefit (from) JLAtg, Gal, Syr, JBA, JBAg, LJLA. TgO Gen37:26 : מָא מָמוֹן נִתהֲנֵי לַנָא ‏ what profit will we derive?. P Job20:18 : ܢܬܗܢܐ‏ . P Mt15:5 : ܡܸܕܸܿܡ ܕܿܬܼܸܬܼܗܢܸܐ ܡܸܢܝ‏ . BT BQ 69a(11) : כד מיפרק{{י}}ה בר איתהנויי מ{{י}}ניה הוא ‏ when (the fruit of the fourth year) is redeemed, it is in the category of s.o.'s being able to benefit from it. (a) to be pleased Sam, JBA. Marqe 1.29 : ותמחי כסיאתה ואתחנו גליאתה ‏ the concealed ones were surprised while the revealed ones were pleased. BT Ber 56a(17) : ולא תיהני למיכל מיניה מחידוה דליבך ‏ you will have no (particular) enjoyment eating from it from the joy of your heart.


Dt View a KWIC


1 to profit Syr. P Mt16:26 : ܡܵܢܵܐ ܓܸܝܪ ܡܸܬܗܲܢܸܐ ܒܲܪܢܵܫܵܐ܃ ܐܸܢ ܟܠܸܗ ܥܵܠܡܵܐ ܢܸܩܢܸܐ܂ ܘܢܲܦܫܸܗ ܢܸܚܣܲܪ‏ For what does a man gain if he would acquire the whole world and lose his soul?.


Ct View a KWIC


1 to perceive the usefulness of Syr. ThEd 28:3 .

hnyn, hnynˀ (henyān, henyānā) n.m. gain, usefulness


1 gain Gal. SYAP 62:26 : מה הניינא לך ‏ what do you gain?. (a) utility, usefulness Syr. AphDem11.204:20 : ܡܢܐ ܚܫܚܘ ܘܗܢܝܢܐ ܗܘܐ ܠܗ ܠܡܢܫܐ‏ what usefulness and utility did Manasseh have?. P Eccl2:2 : ܠܓܘܚܟܐ ܐܡܪܬ܂ ܡܢܐ ܗܢܝܢ‏ of humor I said: what is the use?.


Page refs. in other dictionaries: LS2: 348[178]; DJPA: 167a; Payne-Smith: ~1024; J. Payne-Smith: 105;

The point is clearly that Tertullian's idea that Marcion only learned about his 'second god' from 'Gain' or 'Profit' like derives its origin from the idea that he learned it from Chrestos. In other words, Marcion claimed Chrestos revealed to him the 'second god.'

[Stuart]

[Secret Alias]

LIKE YOU KNEW THAT THERE WAS AN ARAMAIC WORD WHICH MEANT BOTH "GAIN" AND "USEFUL"

[lsayre]

I'm struggling with the concepts that Cerdo is from the reign of Tiberius and that he is Chrestos. The connections seem to be non-existent.

[Secret Alias]

To be sure Tertullian does not say this. Only the standard line about Marcion getting the idea from Cerdo

[Secret Alias]

Josephus's use of 'kerdo' in Wars 1.141. The Essene swears an oath:

that he will be perpetually a lover of truth, and propose to himself to reprove those that tell lies; that he will keep his hands clear from theft, and his soul from unlawful gains (ἀνοσίου κέρδους); and that he will neither conceal any thing from those of his own sect, nor discover any of their doctrines to others, no, not though any one should compel him so to do at the hazard of his life.

[Jax]

Isn't Cerdo = Κέρδων or Κέρδως = Gain? https://biblehub.com/greek/2771.htm

Isn't this kind of a suspicious name?

I note that cerdo is Spanish for pig. Any connection here? A slam by Tertullian perhaps?

[Secret Alias]

Another strong argument in favor of the equivalency of the terminology:

Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live [is] Christ, and to die [is] gain.”

[Secret Alias]

Also 'fox' (= cerdo) is not an actual person in the source of all sources for the heresies - i.e. Adversus Haereses 1:

By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox, and even that but poorly executed; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king's form was like, and persuade them that that miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king. [1.9]

Then after the examples of the way the heretics have 'rearranged' the sayings like a cento

In like manner he also who retains unchangeable(3) in his heart the rule of the truth which he received by means of baptism, will doubtless recognise the names, the expressions, and the parables taken from the Scriptures, but will by no means acknowledge the blasphemous use which these men make of them. For, though he will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive the fox instead of the likeness of the king. But when he has restored every one of the expressions quoted to its proper position, and has fitted it to the body of the truth, he will lay bare, and prove to be without any foundation, the figment of these heretics.

and then finally at the end 'cerdo' is clearly :

Wherefore I have laboured to bring forward, and make clearly manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcase of this miserable little fox.(4) For there will not now be need of many words to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest to all. It is as when, on a beast hiding itself in a wood, and by rushing forth from it is in the habit of destroying multitudes, one who beats round the wood and thoroughly explores it, so as to compel the animal to break cover, does not strive to capture it, seeing that it is truly a ferocious beast; but those present can then watch and avoid its assaults, and can cast darts at it from all sides, and wound it, and finally slay that destructive brute. So, in our case, since we have brought their hidden mysteries, which they keep in silence among themselves, to the light, it will not now be necessary to use many words in destroying their system of opinions. For it is now in thy power, and in the power of all thy associates, to familiarize yourselves with what has been said, to overthrow their wicked and undigested doctrines, and to set forth doctrines agreeable to the truth. Since then the case is so, I shall, according to promise, and as my ability serves, labour to overthrow them, by refuting them all in the following book. Even to give an account of them is a tedious affair, as thou seest.(5) But I shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their opinions in the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side.

Regardless of what you think 'cerdo' means he clearly isn't a person but an entity of some sort.

[Secret Alias]

Also notice what Irenaeus says:

rearranging the jewels and making the image "of a dog or of a fox" out of them

The ambiguity with regards to a 'dog' *cyon) or a 'fox' (cerdo) actually helps the argument in Tertullian. Foxes are part of the Canidae biological family that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. Dogs and foxes are closely enough related genetically that there are occasional unconfirmed reports of small dogs mating with foxes and producing offspring. What distinguished foxes and dogs was their size in antiquity. Herodotus writes of a mythical gold-eating ant that they were “bigger than a fox, though not so big as a dog."

Some notes to consider. Pliny thought that dog rabies was related to the Sirius the dog star - "Rabies in dogs, as we have said, is dangerous to human beings in periods when the dog-star is shining as it causes fatal hydrophobia to those bitten in those circumstances." It seems highly likely like that Sirius the dog star also controlled foxes too as Pliny notes that it affected dolphins behavior saying that dolphins go into retirement "for 30 days about the rising of the dog-star and hide themselves in an unknown manner, which is the more surprising in view of the fact that they cannot breathe under water." Other fish too "Of river fish the catfish has a stroke at stroke the rise of the dogstar, and at other times is always made drowsy by lightning. This is thought to happen to the carp even in the sea. And beside this the whole sea is conscious of the rise of that star, as is most clearly seen in the Dardanelles, for sea-weed and fishes float on the surface, and everything is turned up from the bottom." Pearls "Purples live seven years at most. They stay Habits of the in hiding like the murex for 30 days at the time of the rising of the dog-star. They collect into shoals in spring-time, and their rubbing together causes them to discharge a sort of waxy viscous slime ... It is most profitable for them to be taken Preparation after the rising of the dog-star or before spring-time, since when they have waxed themselves over with slime, they have their juices fluid. But this fact is not known to the dyers' factories, although it is of primary importance." Cuckoo birds - "Moreover a hawk will eat a cuckoo, if ever both have appeared at the same time : the cuckoo is the only one of all the birds that is killed by its own kind. And it also changes its voice. It comes out in the spring and goes into hiding at the rising of the dog-star, between which dates it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, usually c wood-pigeons, for the most part one egg at a time, as does no other bird ; it seldom lays two." Wheatar bird "The wheatear indeed actually has fixed days of retirement : it goes into hiding at the rising of the dogstar and comes out after its setting, doing both on the actual days, which is surprising." The production of honey "Honey comes out of the air, and is chiefly formed at the rising of the stars, and especially when the Dogstar itself shines forth, and not at all before the rising of the Pleiads, in the periods just before dawn. Consequently at that season at early dawn the leaves of trees are found bedewed with honey, and any persons who have been out under the morning sky feel their clothes smeared with damp and their hair stuck together, whether this is the perspiration of the sky or a sort of saliva of the stars or the moisture of the air purging itself."

The second kind of honey is summer honey, the
Greek name for which consequently is * ripe honey/
because it is produced in the most favourable season,
when the dogstar is shining in its full splendour,
about thirty days after midsummer. In respect
of this, immense subtlety on the part of .nature
has been displayed to mortals, did not man's dis-
honesty spoil everything with its banefulness. For
after the rising of each star, but particularly the
principal stars, or of a rainbow, if rain does not
follow but the dew is warmed by the rays of the sun,
not honey but drugs are produced, heavenly gifts
for the eyes, for ulcers and for the internal organs.
And if this substance is kept when the dogstar is
rising, and if, as often happens, the rise of Venus or
Jupiter or Mercury falls on the same day, its sweet-
ness and potency for recalling mortals* ills from
death is equal to that of the nectar of the gods.

Locusts - "Locusts in the autumn season give birth to clusters
of eggs, by lowering the tube of the prickle to the
earth. The eggs last for the winter, but in the ensuing
year at the end of spring send out small insects, that
are blackish and have no legs, and crawl with their
wing-feathers. Consequently spring rains kill the
eggs, whereas in a dry spring there are larger broods.
Others record that they have two breeding seasons
and two seasons when they die off bearing at the
rise of the Pleiads and then dying at the rise of the
Dogstar, others being born in their place ; some say
that this second brood is born at the setting of
Arcturus.