Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 61 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next

You can view this web page along with Grondin's Coptic/English Interlinear in frames.
Nag Hammadi Coptic Text Funk's Parallels
Luke 17:26-35, Luke
10:21-22, Matt 24:37-44,
Matt 11:25-27, John
3:31-36, John 13:1-4,
Excerpts from Theodotus
36:1-2.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(61) Jesus said: Two will
rest upon a bed; one will
die, the other live. Salome
said: Who are you, man,
whose son? You have
mounted my bed and eaten
from my table. Jesus said to
her: I am he who comes
forth from the one who is
equal; I was given of the
things of my Father.
<Salome said:> I am your
disciple. <Jesus said to
her:> Therefore I say: If he
is equal, he is full of light,
but if he is divided, he will
be full of darkness.
(61) Jesus said, "Two will
repose on a couch: one will
die, one will live. Salome
said, "Who are you, O man?
Like a stranger (?) you have
gotten upon my couch and
you have eaten from my
table." Jesus said to her, "It
is I who come from that
which is integrated. I was
given (some) of the things
of my father." <. . .> "I am
your female disciple." <. .
.> "Therefore I say that such
a person, once integrated,
will become full of light;
but such a person, once
divided will become full of
darkness.
65 [61]. Jesus says: "Two
will lie down there on one
bed: one will die, the other
will live." Salome says:
"Who art thou, man; from
whom hast thou <come
forth,> that thou shouldst lie
on my couch and eat at my
table?" Jesus says to her: "I
am he who has been
brought into being by Him
who is equal <to me:> I
have been given what
belongs to my Father!"—"I
am thy disciple!" Because
of that, I say this: When <a
person> finds himself
solitary, he will be full of
light; but when he finds
himself divided, he will be
full of darkness.

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

Layton's translation of 61.4
("I am your female disciple")
is incorrect. The word
'female' doesn't occur in the
text, and there's no
grammatical implication
Excerpts from Theodotus 36:1-2 state: "Indeed, our angels were put forth in unity,
they say, being one, because they came forth from one. Now since we were divided,
for this reason Jesus was baptized, that the undivided might be divided, until he
unites us with them in the Fullness, so that we, the many who have become one, may
all be mingled with the One that was divided for us."
Marvin Meyer writes: "'as if you are from someone': literally, 'as from one.' The
about the gender of the
speaker.
- Mike Grondin
When a man and woman
become one they are filled
with light, but when they are
separated they become filled
with darkness or emptiness.
- seeker of truth
God, being eternal, having
no need to procreate, has no
need for a gender. Adam,
created in the image of God,
also had no gender.
Remember that "adamah"
means "ground" or "earth".
Adam's gender (maleness)
only appeared when he was
dis-integrated (the female
element was separated from
him). As God created day
and night through the single
act of dividing the light from
the darkness, so too were
Male and Female created in
the same instant, at the
moment that they were
separated from one another. I
know of no words in any
human language that convey
(as pronouns) the unique
"whole gender" state in
which God exists and in
which Adam and Jesus were
created. Therefore we must
be careful with the words
"male" and "man"; they have
dual meanings. One to
convey the male sex that
only existed after Female
was taken from male, and
one to convey the previous
(divine) state of integration
into One.
- PJE
The first sentence should
have been numbered as a
meaning of the Coptic is unclear. It may possibly be understood to mean 'as if you
are from someone special' (so Harold W. Attridge, 'Greek Equivalents of Two Coptic
Phrases,' pp. 30-32). Bentley Layton, Nag Hammadi Codex II, 2-7, 1.74, notes two
additional possibilities: The Greek for 'as a stranger' may have been mistranslated 'as
from one,' or the Greek fr 'as from whom' may have been mistranslated 'as from
someone.'" (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 93)
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "Unfortunately we do not know
what Salome, prominent in the Gospel of the Egyptians, meant by her question, or
what Jesus meant by his answer, though it may contain reminiscences of John 5:18
('He called God his own Father, making himself equal to God'; cf., Philippians 2:6)
and Matthew 11:27 ('All things have been delivered to me by my Father' cf., Luke
10:22). If it is the deserted bed which is full of light, we may have a reflection of the
Naassene rejection of sexual intercourse (Hippolytus, Ref., 5, 7, 13); see Saying 23
and Commentary." (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, pp. 167-168)
Jean Doresse writes: "The main part of this paragraph is taken from some apocryphal
gospel (perhaps the Gospel of the Egyptians?). It centres on Salome's question to
Jesus: 'Who art thou? Where have you come from, to sit on my couch and eat my
table?' (the couch of course being the place where they reclined at table). Then, this
reference to the couch probably led to the artificial addition at the beginning of the
sentence, of the passage: 'Two will lie down on one bed . . .' The next step was an
addition by the editor (another example of such a commentary introduced by the
editor is found in 115): from the association of these two texts, he tried to bring out
the idea that duality is the source of death and darkness, while unity - isolation,
solitariness - leads to light and life. Thus the phrase: 'Because of that . . .' no doubt
introduces the editor's comment: 'Because of those two sayings ("Two will lie down .
. ." and "Salome says . . ."), I will give you the following teaching. . . .'" (The Secret
Books of the Egyptian Gnostics, p. 375)
Funk and Hoover write of 61:1, "Live or die": "Most of the Fellows were of the
opinion that the version in Thomas was older than the Q version because it is simpler.
However, in its Thomean form it was probably a piece of common wisdom: death
strikes when we least expect it and rather arbitrarily. Two on a couch probably refers
to a dinner party or symposium - a place one is least likely to anticipate death. This
context is confirmed by the remark of Salome in v. 2: 'Who are you, mister? You
have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from someone.'
Jesus is here represented as an intruder at a dinner party." (The Five Gospels, p. 507)
Gerd Ludemann writes of 61:3: "Jesus comes from the One, who is equal. Jesus has a
divine origin and is equal to God (cf. John 5.18)." (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 620)
F. F. Bruce writes: "The translation of Jesus's conversation with her [Salome] is
uncertain, but the main point seems to be that the perfect state involves a return to the
pristine unity of male and female (cf. Saying 4). 'He who is the Same' (others render
'who is my equal') is synonymous with the Father of Jesus, who is unchanging
perhaps in the sense of being undifferentiated." (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside
the New Testament, p. 137)
Funk and Hoover write: "Thom 61:5 has no parallels. It picks up themes that are
important elsewhere in Thomas, especially the theme of 'light' (Thom 11:3; 24:3;
50:1; 83:1-2) and the concept of unity as opposed to division (Thom 11:4; 22:4;
distinct saying. Its meaning 106:1). The remark here is reminiscent of the claim, in 24:3, that 'there is light within
is: Twins will rest together at a person of light.' Persons of light come from the light, that is, they come from the
the last seder: Judas will die, Father who is light (83:1-2). These themes are characteristic of Thomean
Jesus will live. Christianity; since they do not have echoes elsewhere in the gospels, they are foreign
- Simon Magus to Jesus." (The Five Gospels, p. 507)
When parts of one's innate Gerd Ludemann writes: "This verse presents two possibilities: either one is - like
child self are repressed, each God - equal (cf. v. 3) and is filled with light or one is separated from God. Then one
part is buried with an is filled with darkness. On the concept of light cf. 11.3; 24.3; 50.1; 83.1-2. The theme
associated cognitive attitude. of division is mentioned in 72.1-3." (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 621)
When the self repairing
"light" shines on both, the
cognitive attitude disappears.
- Rodney
See also Luke 11:34.
- george
If you try to serve God and
the world, you will be in
darkness. It doesn't matter
whose son you are in the
world; all that matters is that
you are a Son of God.
- Random
61

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