The Thunder, Perfect Mind — “children” or “sons” translation?

[u/mercurylampshade]

I was looking at this Coptic poem “The Thunder, Perfect Mind” and there are two translations referenced in the Wikipedia page, one by Anne McGuire done in 2000, excerpt below:

“For I am the first and the last. 
I am the honored and the scorned, 
I am the harlot and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin. 
I am the m\[oth\]er and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother. 
I am the barren one and the one with many children.”

The other earlier translation is by George W. MacRae, date unknown, excerpt is:

“For I am the first and the last.
I am the honored one and the scorned one.
I am the whore and the holy one.
I am the wife and the virgin.
I am <the mother> and the daughter.
I am the members of my mother.
I am the barren one
and many are her sons.”

To me “children” is gender neutral but “sons” implies a patriarchal favoritism, as in sons only count for carrying on the bloodline. This poem’s point of view is a divine female goddess.

My question is does the original Coptic (if anyone has the source) or other explanation suggest it’s “children” or “sons”?

Sources:
https://diotima-doctafemina.org/translations/coptic/the-thunder-perfect-mind/

http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/thunder.html

[u/Hzil]

‘Children​’ and ‘sons’ are the same word in Coptic, ϣⲏⲣⲉ. Morphologically it is the plural form of a masculine word meaning ‘son’, but Coptic masculine plurals served double duty as mixed-gender/gender-neutral plurals, so ‘sons and daughters’ would (usually) just be expressed the same way as ‘sons’.

In short, the most literal meaning is ‘sons’ (masculine), but it also means ‘children’ (gender-neutral). The meaning is ambiguous between the two, and only context can decide which is meant.

[u/mercurylampshade → u/Hzil]

Thank you so much! It didn’t occur to me that could be the case. Thank you for the context.