Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 96 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next

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Nag Hammadi Coptic Text Funk's Parallels
Luke 13:20-21, Matt
13:35.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(96) Jesus [said:] The
kingdom of the Father is
like a woman. She took a
little leaven, [hid] it in
dough, (and) made large
loaves of it. He who has
ears, let him hear.
(96) Jesus [said], "What the
kingdom of the father
resembles is [a] woman
who took a small amount of
leaven, [hid] it in some
dough, and produced huge
loaves of bread. Whoever
has ears should listen!"
100 [96]. Jesus says: "The
Kingdom of the Father is
like a woman who put a
little yeast [into three]
measures of flour and made
some big loaves with it. He
who has ears let him hear!"

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

The kingdom of God
promotes growth.
- 1of2
God has planted seeds in all
of us. With time and free will
"grow" and be able to
transcend into heavenly
beings.
- justlooking
(96) The path opens to the
soul.
- Ardele
As usually, the "who has
ears" is a coded reference for
school inmates. A very small
amount of the teaching, from
a true teacher, fertilizes a
great mass
- Thief37
It's not entirely about the
intellect. The leaven is the
faith walk, a leap of faith
that must be taken in the real
world, before the kingdom of
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "This parable about the kingdom
of the Father, like the one which follows it (Saying 94), compares the kingdom with a
woman. The original version, in Matthew 13:33 and Luke 13:20-21, compared the
kingdom of heaven or of God with the leaven which she used. Thomas's emphasis, as
usual, is on the action of the Gnostic, not on the work of God." (The Secret Sayings
of Jesus, p. 187)
R. McL. Wilson writes: "Here the kingdom is likened not to the leaven, as in the
Synoptics, but to the woman. Grant and Freedman see here a change of emphasis,
from the work of God to the action of the Gnostic, but it may be no more than a
transmission-variant. More important is the pointing of the contrast between the little
leaven and the large loaves; here it is possible that, as Cerfaux suggests, we have an
echo of the Synoptic twin parable of the Mustard Seed, but this presupposes that
Thomas made use of our Gospels." (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, pp. 96-97)
Joachim Jeremias writes: "Again we are shown a tiny morsel of leaven (cf. 1 Cor.
5.6; Gal. 5.9), absurdly small in comparison with the great mass of more than a
bushel of meal. The housewife mixes it, covrs it with a cloth, and leaves the mass to
stand overnight, and when she returns to it in the morning the whole mass of dough is
leavened." (The Parables of Jesus, p. 148)
Funk and Hoover write: "This is a one-sentence parable in its Q version (Matt
13:33//Luke 13:20-21): 'God's imperial rule is like leaven which a woman took and
concealed in fifty pounds of flour until it was all leavened.' Matthew and Luke agree
word-for-word in taking the parable over from Q. Thomas, on the other hand, seems
to have edited it slightly: the explicit contrast between a little leaven and large loaves
has been introduced into the parable. This contrast, found also in Thomas' version of
the parable of the lost sheep (107:1-3) and the parable of the fishnet (8:1-3), is alien
heaven will open its to the genuine parables of Jesus." (The Five Gospels, p. 523)
doors...before the loaf will Gerd Ludemann writes: "These verses have a parallel in Matt. 13.33/Luke 13.20-21
rise. Thief, you don't need to (=Q). Their dependence on the Q parable emerges from the abnormal expression that
have an enlightened sage to the woman hid (one would have expected the verb 'knead') the leaven in the flour.
point this out...the bread is Moreover in the parable in Thomas the woman and her activity are at the centre, and
available to anyone who she is meant to be the model for the readers. Finally, at the end the size of the loaves
reads this gospel and puts it is emphasized (cf. 8.1-3; 107.1-3)." (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 636)
into practice. No one has a
monopoly on the dharma, the
wisest sages are the ones
who admit to selling water
by the edge of the river...Yet,
If that's what it takes, the risk
of redundancy is better than
no guide.
- Zooie
Also implies about the nature
of Truth; just the smallest
taste or glimspe alters one
forever, and the passion to
find out is relentless; it
grows from the smallest "bit
of yeast" and rises to
tremendous potentials,
transforming the person
forever.
- E. Grove
96

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