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Nag Hammadi Coptic Text
BLATZ LAYTON
(30) Jesus said: Where there (30) Jesus said, "Where
are three gods, they are there are three divine beings
gods; where there are two or they are divine. Where there
one, I am with him. are two or one, I myself
dwell with that person."
Oxyrhynchus Greek Fragment
Funk's Parallels
POxy1 30 + 77b, GThom
22, GThom 23, GThom
49, GThom 75, GThom
106.
DORESSE
35 [30]. Jesus says: "There
where there are three gods,
they are gods. Where there
are two, or <else> one, I am
with him!"

DORESSE - Oxyrhynchus ATTRIDGE - Oxyrhynchus

Jesus says: "Where there are [two (?) they
are] not without God, and where there is
one, I say <to you>, I am with him. Raise
the stone, and there thou wilt find me; split
the wood: I am even there!"
(30 + 77b) [Jesus said], "Where there are
[three], they are without God, and where
there is but [a single one], I say that I am
with [him]. Lift up the stone, and you will
find me there. Split the piece of wood, and
I am there."

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

Jesus is saying: when you
realize the unity of all as One
and that two only exists to
fulfill the One, then you have
my message and I am with
you. God does not reside
within all things. All things
that exist reside within, take
their existence from God's
Will and are a part of God.
Whether you look under the
stone or within the split
wood, God is there. There is
only One of us.
- active-mystic
This is most likely Jesus'
way of saying two things: 1)
that a group of people lack
divinity and cannot find it in
each other the way that an
J. D. Crossan writes: "Put mildly, that is not very clear, and we are cast back on the
Greek of Oxy P 1, lines 23-27. Harold W. Attridge's recent study of that papyrus
under ultraviolet light led him to the following restored translation: 'Jesus said,
"Where there are three, they are without god, and where there is but a single one I
say that I am with him."' He concludes that, 'instead of an absolutely cryptic remark
about gods being gods, the fragment asserts that any group of people lacks divine
presence. That presence is available only to the "solitary one." The importance of the
solitary (monachos) is obvious in the Gospel. Cf. Sayings 11, 16, 22, 23, 49, 75, and
106. This saying must now be read in connection with those remarks on the
"monachose."' (156)." (Four Other Gospels, p. 78)
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "This saying is found in different
versions, Greek and Coptic. The Greek speaks of some number of persons - more
than one - who are not without God (if the fragmentary text has been correctly
restored; perhaps it should read, 'Wherever there are two, they are without God'), and
goes on to say, 'And where there is one alone, I say, I am with him.' Then it adds the
last sectino of Saying 77 (Coptic). The Coptic, on the other hand, says that three gods
are gods, and that where there are two or one, Jesus is with him. The second half of
the saying is fairly easy to explain. It looks like a Gnostic version of 'Where there are
two or three gathered in my name, there am I in their midst' (Matthew 18:20); as a
Gnostic, Thomas reduces the numbers. Which version is really the original can
individual may find it by
searching for God. 2) that the
presence of the Divine is not
limited to boundaries like
churches and blessed ground,
set by man, but is
everywhere to be
experienced.
- Captain Munky
None of us has ever fully
experienced being 'one with'
another. I think the
propositional truth that 'we
are one' is hindered by the
positional truth, 'we are more
than one.' Until two or more
people experience being 'one
with God' together, the
positional truth will seem
more real.
- bromikl
Could Jesus possibly be
referring to the unity of
religions? For example,
Hinduism has three major
deities (Shiva, Krishna,
Vishnu), and Christianity has
the trinity. Jesus also says he
is with the one or two gods,
like in monotheistic religions
such as Judaism. To me, it
seems like Jesus is saying
that one can worship God or
gods in many ways, but that
they are all one and the
same.
- Hoya
I love what this message has
to offer. We can not be as
one with God if we do not
step forward to become one
with another human. For in
the end we are all one.
- Shameful_one
Perhaps it means just what it
looks like it means (that
Jesus had no problem with
hardly be determined; the medieval Cathari seem to have quoted a combination of
both versions. 'Where there was one of his little ones, he would be with him; and
where there were two, similarly; and where there were three, in the same way' (v.
Dollinger, Beitrage zur Sektengeschichte des Mittelalters, II, page 210). The remark
about the gods may possibly involve a criticism of Christian doctrine as tritheism;
according to the Coptic text, Christians may be worshipping three (mere) gods (for
'God' as possibly inferior to Jesus, see Saying 97)." (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p.
149)
R. McL. Wilson writes: "The Greek is fragmentary, but Blass emended it to read
'Where there are two, they are not without God,' a restoration which Evelyn White
calls 'certainly final.' It may be that the Coptic proves Blass wrong, but as Fitzmyer
observes it is this saying more than any other which shows that the Coptic is not a
direct translation from the Greek, for in Thomas the second part occurs in a
completely different saying (logion 77). It is possible that the Greek and the Coptic
represent independent versions, but we must also reckon with the possibility
suggested by Grant and Freedman, that the differences are due to a Gnostic editor. If
Guillaumont is right, however, the latter view would appear to be ruled out. In the
Pirke Aboth (3.7, a passage already quoted, as White notes, by Taylor in connection
with the Greek), Rabbi Halafta cites Psalm lxxxii. 1 as proof that the Shekinah is
present wherever three study the Torah. The psalm speaks of God judging among the
elohim, but this last word was interpreted in terms of Exodus xxi. 6, where it must be
taken to mean 'judges' (LXX paraphrases 'to the judgment seat of God'). Logion 30
therefore would seem to have some connection with this rabbinic saying, and more
particularly to reflect a Jewish background. The obvious Gospel parallel is Matthew
xviii. 20, to which White adds Matthew xxviii. 20 and JOhn xvi. 32, but these 'show
no more than the elements out of which the saying probably grew.' White's further
discussion of references in Clement of Alexandria and in Ephraim must now be
reconsidered in the light of the Coptic text. It is tempting to conclude that the Greek
fragments and the Coptic Thomas are independent translations of an Aramaic text,
but this is exposed to the objection that Clement quotes the saying presumably from a
Greek document; moreover, Fitzmyer has shown that it is possible to restore the
Greek to a comparatively close agreement with the Coptic." (Studies in the Gospel of
Thomas, pp. 121-122)
Funk and Hoover write: "Thom 30:1-2 is the Thomean version of Matt 18:20
('Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I will be there among
them'). Here, however, the solitary one merits God's presence, not the two or three
gathered together. This Thomean idea is found also in thom 4:3; 22:5; 23:2 (also
compare 16:4; 49:1; 75). In this respect, the Gospel of Thomas is obviously anti-
institutional: it rejects the community (the minimum requirement for which was two
or three) as the basic unit in favor of the solitary individual." (The Five Gospels, p.
490)
Beate Blatz writes: "The second part of this saying is transmitted as logion 77 in the
Coptic Gospel of Thomas. This - and also the deviations of the two versions from one
another in the first part - proves that the Coptic version cannot be a direct translation
of a Greek version such as is handed down in POx 1." (New Testament Apocrypha, v.
1, p. 131)
Marvin Meyer writes: "In the New Testament, compare Matthew 18:19-20. In other
polytheism) and that one early Christian literature, compare Ephraem Syrus, Exposition on the Harmony of the
person's search for truth was Gospel 14: 'Where there is one, there also am I, or someone might be sad from lonely
as good as another. things, since he himself is our joy and he himself is with us. And where there are two,
- caspar there also shall I be, since his mercy and grace overshadow us. And when we are
I believe this to be a spiritual three, we assemble just as in church, which is the body of Christ perfected and his
truth, difficult to put into image expressed.' In a medieval inquisition record that recounts the confession of
other words. When we are Peter Maurinus, it is said that 'where there was one little one of his, he himself would
gathered as a group, we are be with him, and where there were two, similarly, and where there were three, in the
partially hindered. Our same way.'" (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, pp. 82-83)
attention is split. Our
attention is dispersed
outward and mindful to the
people around us. In a
gnostic journey, we take the
portion that would be
attentive within, and our
awareness is sacrificed in the
importance of our fellow
men/women. Take for
instance, an adolescent
cliche that would rely on the
support of one another. It is
not the insecurity, but the
totality of the individuals.
There is little room to be
attentive and accepting
elsewhere. In a smaller
gathering, there is more
room for open intimacy
together, and therefore room
for God/Jesus, to be a part of
that collection. This goes a
step further though. When
there are many gathered with
a singular unity, the soul is
collectively open to God.
Many groups bickering and
being attentive to one
another is different than a
single congregation with
open hearts as a collective
unit. I believe this to be a
caution and an incentive. It
cautions us, yet again,
against finding our
satisfaction within things of
the world (being our own
gods), and it gives us further
incentive to be light, so that
our closed groups might still
be righteous in being
'together'. This is not a
statement that community is
evil or destructive, but that
division within that
community or within
ourselves is counter-
productive and holds us apart
from the Greater.
- Foomanchu
30

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