Gospel of ThomasThomas

If you don’t know me, my name is Rachel, and these are my scripture notes on the Gospel of Thomas. The verses are presented sequentially in English, Coptic and Greek, followed by my commentary. Think of it as a living midrash: whenever I learn something new, I add a note. My notes draw from an eclectic range of ancient sources, both Jewish and Gentile. See my about page for more.

In 5785 my foundation commissioned Dr. Samuel Zinner to translate the Gospel of Thomas. His approach challenges the scholarly consensus that Thomas is a loose collection of unrelated sayings. Indeed, the meaning behind seemingly-enigmatic verses often becomes clear when placed in context. Each chapter forms a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples, who seek salvation in the gathering of his words.

We date this gospel before Matthew, Luke, and John.

Thomas 1-6ⲑⲱⲙⲁⲥ ⲁ̅–ⲋ̅

Seeking and Finding in the Exegetical Kingdom

• In the modern day, documents begin with a title. In ancient times, they often opened with a sentence explaining what you were reading. A title might then appear at the end.

• “Judah the Twin,” a title for Jesus’ disciple Thomas. Thomasine Christian traditions occasionally make the two twins, often literally. In one story Jesus is even confused for his brother Thomas due to looking nearly identical.

John 11:16 – ¹⁶Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

¹⁶εἶπεν οὖν Θωμᾶς, ὁ λεγόμενος Δίδυμος, τοῖς συμμαθηταῖς, Ἄγωμεν καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἵνα ἀποθάνωμεν μετ’ αὐτοῦ.

Acts of Thomas 11 – And he saw the Lord Jesus bearing the likeness of Judas Thomas and speaking with the bride — even of him that but now had blessed them and gone out from them, the apostle; and he saith unto him: Wentest thou not out in the sight of all? how then art thou found here? But the Lord said to him: I am not Judas which is also called Thomas, but I am his brother.

καὶ εἶδεν τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν τὴν ἀπεικασίαν Ἰούδα Θωμᾶ ἔχοντα καὶ ὁμιλοῦντα τῇ νύμφῃ, τοῦ πρὸ βραχέως εὐλογήσαντος αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐξελθόντος ἀπ᾽ αὐτῶν, τοῦ ἀποστόλου, καί φησιν αὐτῷ· Ὀυχὶ πρὸ πάντων ἐξῆλθες; πῶς νῦν εὑρέθης ὧδε; Ὁ δὲ κύριος εἶπεν αὐτῷ· Ἐγὼ οὐκ εἰμὶ Ἰούδας ὁ καὶ Θωμᾶς, ἀδελφὸς δὲ αὐτοῦ εἰμι.

Acts of Thomas 39 – Thou twin of Christ, apostle of the Most High and initiate in the hidden word of Christ, who receivest his secret oracles

Ὁ δίδυμος τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὁ ἀπόστολος τοῦ ὑψίστου καὶ συμμύστης τοῦ λόγου τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἀποκρύφου, ὁ δεχόμενος αὐτοῦ τὰ ἀπόκρυφα λόγια

• Taste death,ϥⲛⲁϫⲓϯⲡⲉ ⲁⲛ ⲙ̄ⲡⲙⲟⲩ, a Semitic idiom whose etymology Zinner argues alludes to tasting the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge.

Genesis 2:16-17 – ¹⁶And HaShem G-d commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'

¹⁶וַיְצַו יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, עַל-הָאָדָם לֵאמֹר: מִכֹּל עֵץ-הַגָּן, אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל. ¹⁷וּמֵעֵץ, הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע--לֹא תֹאכַל, מִמֶּנּוּ: כִּי, בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְךָ מִמֶּנּוּ--מוֹת תָּמוּת.

• The New Testament’s Jesus expresses his famous apocalyptic prophecy that the end would come in his generation using this same idiom.

Mark 9:1 – ¹And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.

¹καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὅτι εἰσί τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων, οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου, ἕως ἂν ἴδωσι τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐληλυθυῖαν ἐν δυνάμει.

Matthew 16:28 – ²⁸Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.

²⁸ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, εἰσί τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων, οἵτινες οὐ μὴ γεύσωνται θανάτου, ἕως ἂν ἴδωσι τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενον ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ αὐτοῦ.

Luke 9:27 – ²⁷But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

²⁷λέγω δὲ ὑμῖν ἀληθῶς, εἰσί τινες τῶν ὧδε ἑστηκότων, οἳ οὐ μὴ γεύσονται θανάτου, ἕως ἂν ἴδωσι τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ.

• The author of Hebrews uses it too when advancing his soteriology.

Hebrews 2:9 – ⁹But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

⁹τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρ’ ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν Ἰησοῦν, διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον, ὅπως χάριτι Θεοῦ ὑπὲρ παντὸς γεύσηται θανάτου.

• A saying with this formula appears in John 8’s antisemitic exchange, though the theology differs. Perhaps one could try to bridge them esoterically.

John 8:51-52 – ⁵¹Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. ⁵²Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death.

⁵¹ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐάν τις τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμὸν τηρήσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. ⁵²εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, Νῦν ἐγνώκαμεν ὅτι δαιμόνιον ἔχεις. Ἀβραὰμ ἀπέθανε καὶ οἱ προφῆται, καὶ σὺ λέγεις, Ἐάν τις τὸν λόγον μου τηρήσῃ, οὐ μὴ γεύσεται θανάτου εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

• Thomas 1-2 are a dialogue between Thomas and Jesus. Thomas is exclaiming the salvific power of Jesus’ words, the interpretations of which Jesus encourages in verse 2. We disagree with other translations that attribute both sayings to Jesus.

• Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215 CE) notes that this saying also appears in the Gospel of the Hebrews and sounds like Plato.

Clement Stromata 2.9.45, 5.14.96 – Also, in the Gospel according to the Hebrews is written the saying, “He that marvels shall reign, and he that has reigned shall rest.” …

For those words have the same force as these: “He shall not cease from seeking until he find, and having found, he will be amazed, and having been amazed will reign, and having reigned will rest.”

ᾗ κἀν τῷ καθ’ Ἑβραίους εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ θαυμάσας βασιλεύσει γέγραπται καὶ ὁ βασιλεύσας ἀναπαήσεται. …

ἴσον γὰρ τούτοις ἐκεῖνα δύναται· οὐ παύσεται ὁ ζητῶν, ἕως ἂν εὕρῃ· εὑρὼν δὲ θαμβηθήσεται, θαμβηθεὶς δὲ βασιλεύσει, βασιλεύσας δὲ ἐπαναπαήσεται.

• “He shall rest” appears only in the Greek. The Coptic ends early with “and he shall reign over all.” Yet the Coptic adds “he will be troubled” the Greek lacks.

• Nag Hammadi’s Testimony of Truth adds another variant ending with silence.

Testimony 13:5-6 – ⁵[69] He, however, who has found the Logos that bestows life and has arrived at the knowledge of the Father of Truth has obtained repose. ⁶He has finished seeking, having found, but when he found, he grew silent.

⁵ⲡ[ⲉⲛⲧⲁϥ]ϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲙ̄ⲡ[ⲗⲟⲅⲟⲥ ⲉⲧ⳿ⲧⲛ̄ϩⲟ ⲁⲩⲱ ⲡⲉ]ⲛⲧⲁϥⲥⲟⲩⲱⲛ [ⲡⲓⲱⲧ⳿ ⲛ̄ⲧⲙⲉ ⲁϥⲙ̄ⲧ]ⲟⲛ ⲙ̄ⲙⲟϥ ⁶ⲁϥⲗⲟ ⲉϥϣⲓ[ⲛⲉ] ⲉⲁϥ[ϭⲓⲛⲉ·] ⲛ̄ⲧⲁⲣⲉϥϭⲓⲛⲉ ⲇⲉ ⲁϥⲕ[ⲁⲣ]ⲱϥ·

• I interpret this verse as describing the stages of exegetical discovery. Only through seeking do we find something new. What we learn at first often troubles us, sometimes profoundly, as our worldview fractures under the weight of this uncomfortable information. But eventually, we come to accept it, and are amazed by what we’ve learned. The same knowledge that once shook us suddenly becomes our foundation; we’re empowered by the same force that confronted our ignorance. And in so doing we find a new peace rooted in power rather than nescience.

• In Katsugi art, an artist meticulously repairs a broken vessel using golden glue. The result is an object even more beautiful than when it was whole. This is the promise of religious reconstruction: our false idols shatter into a million pieces, but with the golden glue found through experiential contact with the Divine Mystery, we put them back together. The seams remain; everyone can see it. Some will even judge you impious for fear of breaking their own pottery. Yet the sense of the sacred one finds is much more profound, basking in the silent peace of the Divine Presence.