Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 1 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
POxy654 1, GThom 111,
John 8:48-59.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(1) And he said: He who (1) And he said, "Whoever
shall find the interpretation finds the meaning of these
of these words shall not sayings will not taste
taste of death. death."
Oxyrhynchus Greek Fragment
[1.] And he said: "Whoever
penetrates the meaning of
these words will not taste
death!"

DORESSE - Oxyrhynchus ATTRIDGE - Oxyrhynchus

And he said: ["Whoever penetrates the (1) And he said, "[Whoever finds the
mea]ning of these words will not taste interpretation] of these sayings will not
[death!"] experience [death]."

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

These sayings are fasinating!
Some are difficult to
understand, but if you are
truly interested in the words
of Jesus, then I believe we
may have found them.
- Emily Jackson
It seems that this opening
statement says it all. If these
are the accurate, and only
historical, sayings of Jesus
then the mode in which we
percieve them is lost to
history. Because it stands to
reason that if Jesus only
taught for a few years before
he was killed, then it is
unlikly that those around him
understood the subtlety of
his awareness, hence the
current state of christendom.
However one might defer to
an investigation of the
Buddha Dharma in which to
Marvin Meyer quotes Sirach 39:1-3 as a parallel: "But one who devotes one's soul
and studies the law of the Most High will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients and
will be concerned with prophecies. That person will keep in mind the discourse of
reputable men and will go into the subtleties of parables. That person will seek out
the hidden things of proverbs and will be occupied with the enigmas of parables."
(The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, p. 68)
F. F. Bruce writes: "This confirms the impression made by the preamble, that the
deeper interpretation of the sayings, not their surface meaning, pointed the way of
salvation to initiates. The saying is quite similar to John 8.51, where Jesus says, 'If
any one keeps my word, he will never see death' - a statement which is taken up and
repeated by his interlocutors in the form: 'If any one keeps my word, he will never
taste death' (verse 52). But 'keep my word' means basically 'obey my commandment',
not 'find its interpretation' - the intention of the Fourth Gospel is essentially ethical,
whereas that in the Gospel of Thomas is mainly intellectual." (Jesus and Christian
Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 113)
Funk and Hoover write: "It is not altogether clear that this saying should be
considered a saying of Jesus. The pronoun 'he' could refer either to Jesus or the
ostensible compiler of the sayings, Didymos Judas Thomas. At any rate, it refers to
the collection of sayings comprising this gospel, and this gospel could not have been
known to Jesus. Furthermore, the final line ('not taste death') is a recurring theme in
Thomas (18:3; 19:4; 85:2; 111:2) and therefore probably reflects the editorial interest
of the compiler." (The Five Gospels, p. 471)
gain access and the ability to
decode this text.
- Whoda Buddha
Funk and Hoover note to the
right that "he" could refer
either to Jesus or to the
writer of the gospel. The
ambiguity dissolves if Jesus
was the writer. The rather
subtle literary suggestion is
that Jesus was the writer. He
was, in fact, an excellent
writer, which I hope students
of this gospel will soon
appreciate.
- Simon Magus
The statement is made with
the authority of a Knower,
not a mere scribe. Jesus is
saying that to truly
understand what he is
showing will shatter the
illusion of separation and
death.
- A Brother
Death is not to be taken
literally, but simply a typical
gnostic way of showing
spiritual stagnation or
degradation. Appealing as it
may appear, this verse does
not promise immortality.
- pilgrim
Understanding the biblical
interpretation of Jesus' words
supports the notion of
subtlety in his choise of
language. The dynamic
nature of his simplistic
teachings is thus implicit.
Why then, do so many
scholars and sheep take his
words at face face value and
not consider that there is
more in his teaching than is
presented in his words. It is
important then, to consider
what Brother and Pilgrim
have to say. "Death" is not to
be considered the physical
separation of bady and soul,
but the spiritual
deterioration. Therefore,
those who discover the
interpretation of this passage
will not find themselves
lacking in spirituality. Jesus'
words, if considered in this
light, gives power to the
individual. If that is so, then
the structure of The Church
then begins to decay. it is no
wonder why the Vatican has
branded this gospel as
heretical. We have been
shown that we do not need
an interpreter, so cut out the
middle-man.
- taurus
Hoo do we ever need a
middle man. The best
scholars are hard pressed to
properly interpret this stuff,
and the amateurs don't stand
a chance. To suppose that the
sayings of Jesus evolved
from mystical to pragmatic is
pretty far fetched; the
synoptic gospels generally
portray a Jesus who is
practical to perfection. These
"heretical" gospels depict an
esoteric mystic who would
have found it pretty difficult
to gather a following in the
real world; i.e., these are the
words of an invented Jesus,
not the real one--not entirely
without value for studying
the history of the teachings
of Jesus, but definitely of
inferior quality to that of the
canonized gospels, which
were selected by much better
thinkers than the gnostics.
- BW
Jesus is saying that the word
must not be taken at face
value, but that the inner
meaning must be found
through implied deep
questioning, and that those
who find the inner meaning
will not taste death. There is
no mention of a middle man.
- devaram
I disagree with BW. The
gospels are straight forward
and easy to understand--no
middle man needed. They
are no more enigmatic than
the words of Frost or Keller,
and in fact much easier to
decipher than most modern
poets. By your line of
thinking, we must assume
the gospels were meant for
only those who were highly
educated, but in fact the
gospels were intended for the
relatively uneducated
masses, as evidenced by
their simplistic linguistics.
- intheknow
Jesus did not mean that you
or I would not suffer
physical death. He meant
that through study and
practice (meditation, fasting,
prayer) you can discover
your spiritual essence.
Further searching, study, and
practice would lead to
discovery of joining with
that spiritual essence. The
discovery and learning how
to join with that essence
means that you and I do not
suffer spiritual death, but are
aware of how our spiritual
essence continues on past
physical death.
- AG
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