I am the first and the last; I am the honored and the hated

The expression “I am the first and the last; I am the honored and the hated” is a declaration of identity built from contradictions. In a fragment from Nag Hammadi 6, 2, its speaker claims both temporal precedence and finality, both esteem and rejection, and both sanctity and sexual disgrace; the sequence makes opposed conditions parts of one encompassing self.

Text and Structure

The passage proceeds through three paired claims. “First” and “last” place the speaker at both ends of a temporal order; “honored” and “hated” set public recognition against repudiation. The final pairing, “saint and the prostitute,” sharpens the contrast by bringing religious virtue and social degradation into the same assertion.

Meaning and Use

Rather than choosing one side of each opposition, the speaker holds both at once. The repeated first-person declaration makes the opposites aspects of a single identity, unsettling any attempt to define that identity through a stable moral or social category. The line therefore gains force from its refusal to resolve the tensions it names.

Source and Significance

The expression is identified as a fragment of Nag Hammadi 6, 2. Its compact, balanced form gives the assertion a memorable, almost litany-like progression, while the movement from temporal extremes to social and moral opposites broadens its claim: the speaker’s identity exceeds the categories through which it might be honored or condemned.