PGM IV 88-93

PGM IV. 88-93 (Greek Magical Papyri)
Tr.: W. C. Grese and Marvin W. Meycr (Coptic sections, II. 91-93).

Ἄλλο πρὸς Ἥλιον· παῖδα γυμνὸν περιτύλιξον σινδόνινον ἀπὸ κεφαλῆς ἄχρι ποδῶν, καὶ κρότησον ταῖς χερσίν· ποιήσας δὲ ψόφον, στῆσον τὸν παῖδα κατέναντι τοῦ ἡλίου, καὶ σὺ ὄπισθεν αὐτοῦ σταθεὶς λέγε τὸν λόγον·

Ἐγώ εἰμι Βαρβαριώθ· Βαρβαριώθ εἰμι Πεσκουτ Ἰαω Ἀδωναΐ Ἐλωαὶ Σαβαώθ, εἴσελθε εἰς τὸ παιδάριον τοῦτο σήμερον ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι Βαρβαριώθ.

Another," to Helios: Wrap a naked boy in fine medical linen bandage from head to toe, then clap your hands. After making a ringing noise, place the boy opposite the Helios, and standing behind him say the formula:

"I am Barbarioth, Barbarioth. I am PESKOUT: namely YAOH ADONAI ELÕAI SABAÕTH, come in to this little one today, for I am Barbarioth."

Older translations understood the formula as “Peskout, Iao, Adonai, Eloai, Sabaoth.” Newer Old Coptic analysis instead parses the declaration as “I am Peskout, namely: Iaho, Adōnai, Elōai, and Sabaōth,” suggesting that Peskout may function as a divine identity, ritual title, or collective designation encompassing the four names that follow rather than as simply another name in the sequence.

Πεσκουτ - Peskout - A rare sacred or ritual designation attested only once. It is generally treated as a vox magica (magical word). we don’t know exactly what this word is. it may be: Performative utterance → followed by the four divine names. Across the PGM there are formulas where an imperative, ritual cue, or mysterious performative expression introduces a chain of divine names. RARE: Probably a hapax legomenon, but could be a scribe error or phonetic utterance or foreign word or magical word defined only orally (protected or secret). A hapax is not unusual in magical literature. the last four are all well-attested sacred names, If Πεσκουτ is unique, then structurally it stands apart. Perhaps: an opening cry, an operative command, an activation word, a ritual cue, or a secret name known only within one lineage. Peskout may therefore be a divine identity, ritual title, or collective name encompassing the four following powers. Its initial p- may potentially be an Egyptian/Coptic grammatical element.

Ἰαω - Iao - The divine name Iao, sacred name used in many Hellenistic texts. invoked alongside other sacred names, used in strings of voces magicae (ritual names). Sacred divine proper name; ordinarily indeclinable; invoked in prayers, hymns, and magical formulas as a name of power. Ἰαω is treated as a supreme divine name. Many spells invoke Ἰαω as a highest or cosmic power, addressed as a deity capable of commanding the cosmos. Entire groups of spells effectively equate or assimilate: Helios = Ἰαω. this identification recurs throughout major Helios rituals, Examples include invocations where Helios bears titles and attributes alongside Ἰαω. Some texts invoke: great Zeus, Ἰαω or Zeus–Ἰαω–Helios or “O first angel of great Zeus, Iaō, and Michael…”. Depending on the ritual, that deity may be identified with Helios, Zeus, or another highest divine power. The name functions independently and is one of the principal divine names of the PGM.

Ἀδωναΐ - Adonai - Ἄδωνις is the proper name of the beautiful youth loved by Aphrodite. One possible Greek hypothesis is that the ending -αι may be heard as a nominative or vocative feminine plural, allowing an interpretation such as “O Adonai-women!” or “O female Adon-figures!” Within an incantation, this would function as a collective invocation rather than an ordinary grammatical noun

Ἐλωαὶ- Eloai - Ἐλωαΐ is an indeclinable sacred divine name appearing throughout the Greek Magical Papyri alongside other principal ritual names such as Ἰαω, Ἀδωναΐ, and Σαβαώθ. Like those names, it functions independently within invocations and magical formulae as a spoken divine name of power rather than as an adjective or grammatical modifier. Ἐλωαΐ may deliberately participate in the same ritual sound-field as the Bacchic acclamation εὐοῖ. Hesychius preserves the forms: ἕλω — “I hold, contain, restrain” or a form related to taking/seizing; ἐλῶ — “I shall drive,” from ἐλαύνω. holding, containing, seizing, driving, propelling. Ἐλωαΐ could be heard beside ἕλω / ἐλῶ, evoking seizure, containment, driving, or propulsion. “being seized” and “being driven”. or from λωΐων / λώϊον, the language of what is favorable, desirable, and divinely advantageous—particularly familiar from oracular consultation. As an incantatory reshaping, however, it remains possible: εὐοῖ → ελωαΐ (a short Bacchic cry expanded into a prolonged sacred name).

Name	Proposed meaning (Greek-internal hypothesis)
Πεσκουτ	Rare ritual designation of uncertain meaning; possibly a divine identity, activation word, ritual title, or collective designation introducing or encompassing the four sacred names that follow.
Ἰαω	Supreme cosmic divine name; invoked as the highest power and frequently assimilated with Helios and Zeus.
Ἀδωναΐ	Collective invocation of the feminine Adon-figures—the beautiful women or Adonai-women associated with the Adonis archetype.
Ἐλωαΐ	Invocation of ecstatic divine seizure, propulsion, and favorable inspiration; an expanded sacred cry associated with being seized, driven, or carried by divine power, perhaps echoing the Bacchic εὐοῖ.
Σαβαώθ	The Sabazian/Bacchic ecstatic force itself—the divine cry, the initiated devotees, the shaking of possession, and the awe-filled presence of the god gathered into a single prolonged ritual name.

The progression is quite elegant if this hypothesis is correct:

Πεσκουτ — the identity or activation.
Ἰαω — the supreme divine source.
Ἀδωναΐ — the feminine attendants, companions, or Adon-figures.
Ἐλωαΐ — the divine seizure or inspired state entering the initiate.
Σαβαώθ — the fully manifested Bacchic/Sabazian ecstatic power: cry, movement, possession, and awe.

Notice how the certainty naturally increases and decreases depending on the evidence.