Jaldabaoth

Jaldabaoth, also transliterated as Yaldabaoth or Ialdabaoth, is a figure in Gnostic cosmology regarded as the chief demiurge, creator of the material universe and the architect of humanity's entrapment within matter. In many Sethian and Ophite texts, he is depicted as a subordinate, ignorant god who proclaims himself the only deity while denying the existence of higher spiritual realms.

Origin and role: Yaldabaoth is described as an emanation or creation arising from Sophia's desire to know the unknowable God. His emergence yields a flawed craftsman who fashions the material cosmos and imposes a subordinate order of archons. He names himself "God" and governs the visible world, enforcing worship and obedience.

Appearance and attributes: In some sources he is described as lion-faced or serpent-like and is often characterized as blind or ignorant. He is frequently identified with the God of the Hebrew Bible by later Gnostic writers, though this association varies among different groups and texts.

Relation to humanity and salvation: Jaldabaoth and the archons are said to imprison the divine spark within human bodies. The true God and the higher spiritual realms lie beyond the material world, and salvation in Gnostic thought involves gnosis—an experiential knowledge that leads to release from the material realm.

Texts and scholarship: The figure appears in Nag Hammadi scriptures such as the Apocryphon of John (The Secret Book of John) and the Hypostasis of the Archons, among others. Jaldabaoth is used to critique arrogant rulers and to illustrate the Gnostic view of the cosmos as the product of a flawed creator rather than the supreme God.