The Gospel of Thomas

NOTES

"secret words"—meant only for the spiritually advanced who could appreciate them?

"Judas Tomas" Traditionally, Jesus' twin brother ("Tomas' = "twin).

"whoever hears these words, and understands them" Greek has "hears these words," Coptic has "learns the meaning of" (i.e. "understands").
Wherever possible where the Greek and the Coptic differ, I've attempted to combine the two versions (e.g. Sayings 2 and 4).

"won't taste death" i.e. will find (the) Life, or Eternal (spiritual?) Life.

Omitting "Jesus said" at the beginning of this, and the rest of the sayings, unless it forms part of a dialogue.

"When they're amazed—They'll rule over everything, And when they've ruled—Then they'll rest." The last line is from the Greek fragments, Coptic has "When they're amazed—they'll rule over everything (or 'All')."

'All,' (or 'everthing') appears a few times in Thomas, but so does the reference to "rest"—the sigh of relief at the end of this mortal life, or of a spiritual journey to self-knowledge ('gnosis')?

"Your lives will be impoverished." Lit. "You'll live in poverty, and you'll be poverty."

The text refers several times to the idea of becoming 'one,' or 'whole,' or 'undivided.' The state of unity transcending the distinction between self and other which, in Thomas, is the greatest of errors.

Combining Saying 14 with Saying 6, whose questions it answers.
Following the 'rules' won't help you if you hate every minute of it. You'll just resent your religion, whereas if you grow spiritually, you won't need to avoid things in order to be detached from them.

Reversing "beast" (lit. 'lion') and "human" in the last sentence, as is demanded by the sense.
We can accept our animal nature, but shouldn't be consumed by it?

Adding, "The Kingdom's like..." The Coptic has, "A man is like..."

Adding, "The Kingdom's like..." The Coptic has "Look, a farmer..." Both these sayings are typical Parables of the type found in the Canonical Gospels, but without the usual opening, here supplied. It may simply be that the author of Thomas used an early version of these saying where the 'usual opening' hadn't been added yet. Or the text we have may simply be corrupt, or mistranslated from Greek into Coptic. Coptic has, "And some fell among thorns; and the thorns choked them; and the worms ate them, But others fell on good soil, and a good crop grew up there, yielding some, sixty bushels, and some a hundred and twenty."

Combining Sayings 10 and 82.

"united" lit. "one." "divided" lit. "two."

"Jacob" —Traditionally, Jesus' brother. Here giving the name in its Aramaic form, pronounced Ya'kov (In Greek, it becomes "Iames," and in English "James").

"Simon Cepha" —The Aramaic word for 'Rock,' pronounced Kefa (In Greek, 'rock' is Petros, which became, in English, Peter). "Simon" would be pronounced Shimon.
"Rabbi" —Giving the Hebrew word for teacher in place of the Coptic's "Master." Corresponding to the word "teacher" in the next line.
"and spoke three words to him." I like Paterson Brown's suggestion is that the three words Jesus spoke were:, pronounced, ahyh ashr ahyh, and meaning "IAM-WHO-IAM." The same Hebrew words that God said to Moses from the burning bush (i.e. Jesus identifies himself with God, which would be considered blasphemy and, therefore, punishable by stoning).

Adding the 'mother' vs. 'daughter' from the Greek of Luke.

Adding some words from the Greek of Luke.

"Maryam"—The Aramaic version of the Hebrew "Miriam." It becomes the Greek and Latin "Maria," and the English "Mary."
"They'll be naked in front of them."—In Thomas, nakedness is seen, either as:—A symbol of transcending earthly desire, (cf. Saying 37's "and aren't ashamed") or,—A symbol of throwing off the earthly body, and 'freeing' the soul from its 'clothing.'

21b

"The Kingdom's like a man who threw seed on the ground." &c. The Coptic is missing all but the last lines ("But when the crop was ripe, he came quickly—sickle in hand—and cut it down. Whoever has ears to hear with—listen!"). The rest is added from the Greek of Luke.

Omitting a few words and altering the wording slightly, according to the quotation of this verse (in Greek) in the (so-called) second epistle of Clement of Rome (2 Clement 12:2). Adding the word "new" which I believe is implicit.

Rearranging this verse slightly.

Adding "If you've seen your brother..." etc. from quotations by Clement of Alexandria (Miscellanea, 1:19) and Tertullain, (On Prayer, 26) Adding the words "sister" and "sisters."

"great wealth" —i.e. the spirit. "this poverty" —i.e. the body

"Where there are two or three" —i.e. "Where people are divided," adding "two or" from the Greek of Matthew. "Where there's only one" —i.e. "Where they're united." Here the Coptic version seriously alters the Greek, reading, "Where there are three gods, they are gods, where there are two or one, I am with him." Adding, "And I'm always with them, until the end of the world" from the Greek of Matthew.
"Chop a piece of wood—I'm there. Pick up a rock—You'll find me there too." These lines are placed here, where they are in the Greek fragments. The Coptic places them after Saying 77.

"rob it" taken from the Greek of Mark. The Coptic has "take it by force."

"About the food you'll need to eat" taken from the Greek fragments, as is "When you have no clothes, What'll you wear then?"
The Greek fragments also add, "You're more important than the lilies, that don't weave or sew" after "...the clothes you'll need to wear" —probably from Matthew, and "Who can extend your life? —That's the one who'll clothe you."

'clothes of shame' from a quotation of this verse by Clement of Alexandria. Coptic has, "...take off your cloths are aren't ashamed." Clement's quotation begins with the Saying given as 37A and end with the second part of Saying 22, "When you make two into One, When you make the inside like the outside" &c.

Combining Sayings 39 with Saying 102, which continues it. "Perushim" —usually rendered in the Greek form "Pharisees." "Sofrim" —usually translated "Scribes." Adapting "...wiser than serpents, more innocent than doves." from The Gospel According to the Hebrews, as quoted in MS 1424 of Matthew. The Coptic has "wise as serpents...innocent as doves."

Coptic lacks "therefore" in the second line.

The first half of this verse is adapted from an Arabic inscription (c. 1601 C.E.) from India, quoted in The Sayings of Jesus by Guy Davenport and Benjamin Urrutia (Washington, Counterpoint Publishing, 1996). The Coptic has only "Be visitors!" or, as it's usually rendered, "Be Passers-by!"

"Judeans" —Usually translated Jews, the word 'Judean' in ancient times referred to: —An inhabitant of the Roman province of Judea, —Someone ethnically, or by religion, a Jew. Only with the first meaning could it have been spoken of in the third person by Jesus, since he was, ethnically, and by religion, a Jew, but from Galilee. Of course, that's assuming the saying is authentic.

"Bad things come from a bad heart." Using the word "bad" in place of the usual "evil" with its implication of something defective, not necessarily corrupt. Adding the last line from the Greek of Luke.

"Johannan" —giving the name in its Aramaic form, pronounced, Yokhannan.

Adding, "They'll say, 'The old is better,'" from the Greek of Luke.

"Twenty-four prophets" i.e. The twenty-four books (in Hebrew) of the Tanakh.

"your Father" or "your father."
The Coptic adds, "But the true circumcision—in spirit—has been proven to profit you."

"The Father's Kingdom" —The Coptic has "Kingdom of Heaven."

Moving Saying 55 to follow Saying 99.

Omitting this Saying, which is the same as saying 80.

"life" or, "the Life."

"Shomroni" —usually rendered in the Greek form, "Samaritan."

"The One" or, "the whole" or, "the undivided."

Psalm 188, verse 22

Or, "Those who have everything, But have nothing inside, Have nothing."

Coptic begins this saying with "He said: "Lord'" not "Jesus said" prompting some to believe these sayings are a dialogue with either the preceding saying, or the following saying.

76a

Adding this Saying, and the next one, from The Gospel of Phillip, found in the same Codex as Thomas.

"Everything" or "The All."

"shaken in the wind"= "lacking conviction"
"soft clothes" etc. —in contrast to Johannan, who Jesus is speaking of in Luke when his says these words.

Combining Sayings 81 and 110, with some conjecture.
110: "Whoever's found the world and become rich, let them renounce the world"
81: "Whoever's become rich, [let them] become King. Whoever has power, let them renounce it."

A 'form' in the Platonic sense of an intangible ideal?

"human being" —The Coptic reads "Son of Man" an over-literal rendering of the Aramaic "Bar-Nasha," meaning "a person" (i.e. "a human being") or "this person" (i.e. "I").

Taking "burden" from the Greek of John. The Coptic reads, "Lordship." Cf. Sirach 51:26-7

Combining Sayings 92 and 94

The Coptic text is defective here, the missing lines have been added from the Greek of Matthew.

"till it was all leavened" added from the Greek of Matthew.

98a

Adding this Saying, and the next one, from The Secret Book of James, found in the same Codex as The Gospel of Thomas.

98c

Adding this Saying from The Book of Thomas the Contender, found in the same Codex as The Gospel of Thomas.

Combining Sayings 55, 99 and 101

The Coptic adds, "and take up his cross," after "brothers and sisters." Omitted as an anachronism, since these Sayings are attributed to the "living Jesus"—unless one accepts that the Cross preoccupied Jesus throughout his earthly life.

101

Adding "Holy Spirit" after "my True Mother," as in The Gospel of the Hebrews ("my mother, the Holy Spirit"), quoted by Origen, (On John, 2.12) This line is a reconstruction, the Coptic is defective, lacking several words.

107

Adding "into the mountains" from the Greek of Matthew.

111

Coptic joins the first two lines to the last with "because, doesn't Jesus say:"

114

Coptic adds Saying 114, believed my many scholars to be an addition to the text, even in its Coptic version:

Simon Cepha said: "Make Maryam leave us, for women are not worthy of Life."
And Jesus said: Look, I'll teach her, I can make her male,
And she can become a living spirit too,—Just like you men.
Every woman who makes herself man will enter into the kingdom.

— Note that many scholars think that the "male" here symbolizes the Gnostic Christians, and "female" symbolizes the Orthodox, "unenlightened" Christians, rather than actually referring to males and females, but it also relates to a common theme throughout Thomas, namely, transcending the differences and distinctions between individuals. Cf. Sayings 22 and 106.

The Gospel of Thomas

The Gospel According to St. Thomas — The King James Version

The Gospel of Thomas Homepage

Jewish & Christian Links (includes Bible Studies)