Simon Boethus As Adam Kadmon = Simonianism

[yakovzutolmai]

I wanted to highlight one point from my other post. Being a little succinct to communicate something I find fascinating from my research.

I have speculated that Herod brought Simon Boethus in to be High Priest in exchange for the treasury kept at Leontopolis. The timing fits, given Herod's early spending sprees leaving him broke and bereft before the elevation of the Boethusians. The Boethusians themselves are a mystery, but the Talmud elevates them with the Sadducees to the heights of the priestly line as far back as reliable history goes.

I have concluded the Boethusians are most probably the Oniads of Leontopolis, the Sadducees of course the Hasmonean priestly bloodline.

We see then, in this construction, that Simon "purchases" the High Priesthood. A prototype for Simon Magus and Marcion.

Simonianism has that strange doctrine with Simon Magus being a 200 ft tall avatar of the divine, a practitioner of "Egyptian" magic.

Consider then these two ideas:

• The High Priest of Israel mirrors the High Priest of Heaven, who in Joshua theology is the second power in heaven, for some perhaps the power behind Yahweh Himself. Via Egyptian interpretation, freely borrowing from Kabbalah and what we know of the Heliopolitan cult of Atum (Adam), we have the High Priest of Israel assume the mantle of Adam Kadmon in conjunction with his elevation to the position. The High Priest is the world pillar of the current day, the god of the era. This is completely sound theology within the wider realm of early Jewish speculative thought.
• Simon's sin is attempting to purchase the apostleship, and he is an Egyptian magician

I would almost say that the Oniads brought an older, Egyptian flavored, Adam Kadmon theology to Galilee at the time of Simon's elevation to Jerusalem's high priesthood. This event is why Samaria remembers Simonianism the way they do. Simonianism has nothing to do with Simon Magus. It is an artefact of the coming of the Boethusians to Batanea and Jerusalem.

Later Christians, I would assume of the Alexandrian variety (I'm sure they must have been rivals to the "old wealth" Oniads), had disdain for the Boethusians and they invented the myth of Simon Magus in order to explain away that branch of the cult.

Nevertheless, if I am right that the historical Boethusians align with a clear interpretation of Jewish theology, to explain Simonianism, it would be a rather remarkable clue to the history of early Christianity.

In other words, the Simon Magus of the Simonians is Simon Boethus. However degraded the theology, they are describing a very basic interpretation of the nature of the Jewish High Priest, especially if you allow for speculative and Egyptian elements.

[Secret Alias]

Just an observation. βυθός as the possible origin of Boethusians. Look at the Aramaic.

[DCHindley]

Just an observation. βυθός as the possible origin of Boethusians. Look at the Aramaic.

That's really deep, man.