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Dhammapada · narration sample

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The Forgotten Books of Eden · 213 of 293

Odes of Solomon: Ode 21

A remarkable explanation of the “coats of skin” in the third chapter of Genesis.

1.My arms I lifted up to the Most High, even to the grace of the Lord: because He had cast off my bonds from me: and my Helper had lifted me up to His grace and to His salvation: 2 And I put off darkness and clothed myself with light, 3 And my soul acquired a body free from sorrow or affliction or pains. 4 And increasingly helpful to me was the thought of the Lord, and His fellowship in incorruption: 5 And I was lifted up in His light; and I served before Him, 6 And I became near to Him, praising and confessing Him; 7 My heart ran over and was found in my mouth: and it arose upon my lips; and the exultation of the Lord increased on my face, and His praise likewise. Hallelujah.

Asked of Guide

Why does the speaker say he 'put off darkness and clothed myself with light' after being lifted by the Lord?

The speaker describes a transformation that follows rescue: after his Helper lifts him “to His grace and to His salvation,” he experiences a change in state—“I put off darkness and clothed myself with light”—which signals passing from bondage into a new, incorrupt body and life free from “sorrow or affliction or pains.” The clothes image echoes Genesis’ “coats of skin,” here read spiritually as garments of light and incorruption given by divine grace.

This passage treats praise and nearness to God as effects of that gift: being “lifted up in His light” leads to service, confession, and spontaneous worship—“My heart ran over and was found in my mouth.” The movement mirrors themes in later Christian texts like 1 Peter, which links salvation and new identity to light and rebirth.

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