Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 6 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next

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Nag Hammadi Coptic Text
BLATZ LAYTON
(6) His disciples asked him (6) His disciples questioned
(and) said to him: Do you him and said to him, "Do
want us to fast? And how you want us to fast? And
shall we pray (and) give how shall we pray? Shall
alms? What diet should we we give alms? And what
observe? Jesus said: Do not kind of diet shall we
lie, and what you abhor, do follow?" Jesus said, "Do not
not do; for all things are lie, and do not do what you
manifest in the sight of hate. For all things are
heaven; for there is nothing disclosed before heaven.
hidden which will not be For there is nothing obscure
revealed, and there is that will not be shown forth,
nothing covered which will and there is nothing covered
remain without being that will remain without
uncovered. being disclosed."
Oxyrhynchus Greek Fragment
Funk's Parallels
POxy654 6, GThom 14:1,
POxy1 27, GThom 27,
GThom 104, POxy654
5:2-3, GThom 5:2, Tob
4:15, Luke 11:1-4, Luke
6:31, Luke 8:16-17, Luke
12:1-3, Matt 6:2-4, Matt
6:5-15, Matt 6:16-18,
Matt 7:12, Matt 10:26-33,
Mark 4:21-22, Did 8:1-3,
POxy1224 2, Did 1:1-2.
DORESSE
6 [6]. His disciples asked
and said to him: "Do you
want us to fast? How shall
we pray, how shall we give
alms, what rules concerning
eating shall we follow?"
Jesus says: "Tell no lie, and
whatever you hate, do not
do: for all these things are
manifest to the face of
heaven; nothing hidden will
fail to be revealed and
nothing disguised will fail
before long to be made
public!"

DORESSE - Oxyrhynchus ATTRIDGE - Oxyrhynchus

[His disciples] asked [and] say to him:
"How shall we fa[st and how shall we
pr]ay, and how [. . .], and what rules shall
[we] follow [concerning eating"] Jesus
says: [". . .] do not [. . .] of truth [. . .]
hidden [. . ."]
(6) [His disciples] questioned him [and
said], "How [shall we] fast? [How shall we
pray]? How [shall we give alms]? What
[diet] shall [we] observe?" Jesus said, "[Do
not tell lies, and] do not do what you [hate,
for all things are plain in the sight] of truth.
[For nothing] hidden [will not become
manifest]."

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

Questions about fasting Funk and Hoover write: "The answers Jesus is represented as giving in 6:2-6 appear
relate to the body; Jesus
points the way to the truth
that those who worship God
must do so in truth and in
spirit.
- John
The specific questions were
ignored as irrelevant, not the
important thing to know. The
thing to realize is that you
are engaged in a continuing
dialogue with God (and
never not in the presence of
God) in which every act of
your life is in effect a prayer
to God. In return, God is
continually speaking to you,
revealing all that you really
need to know. Learn to see
and hear this.
- active-mystic
From these words, we can
see that the disciples are
asking for methods, just as
the Pharisees of that time
who follow rules only for the
sake of the rules, no heart, no
love. Action that does not
follow one's true heart is
lying.
- laijon
I like that Jesus is stating
things in a much more
simple manner than many
would like to believe he is
here. The questions asked of
him are very specific in
nature, not unlike many of
the same specific things
people pray for or about.
Saying 6 helps to remind the
world that such things are
constant and never ending.
Praying for example does not
end just because you say
amen. Our life is a constant
prayer, or a communication
to be unrelated to the questions about fasting, praying, and giving posed by the
disciples in v. 1. Jesus does answer these three questions directly in 14:1-3. The
discrepancy between Thom 6:1 and 2-6 has led some scholars to speculate that the
texts of Thomas 6 and 14 have somehow been confused." (The Five Gospels, p. 476)
Fitzmyer reconstructs the lines appended to saying six in the Greek fragment as
follows: "[Ha]ppy is [he who does not do these things. For all] will be mani[fest
before the Father who] is [in heaven.]" Fitzmyer writes: "Is this part of the same
saying? If so, then we have a different ending in the Greek that is not found in the
Coptic. J. Doresse (Thomas, p. 91) treats this as part of a distinct saying. He has in
his favour the fact that makarios is preserved in the Coptic of the following saying.
But it would then seem that we must either shorten our restoration of l. 39 and the
beginning of l. 40 or suppose that the usual introduciton, 'Jesus says', has been
omitted. Neither seems possible. Moreover, the letters that remain on the following
lines do not seem to agree with any possible reconstruction of the Greek of the
following Coptic saying. For an attempt to reconstruct it as a separate saying, see M.
Marcovich, JTS 20 (1969) 66-7." (Essays on the Semitic Background of the New
Testament, p. 387) Other scholars consider this part of P. Oxy. 654 simply to
represent the saying concerning the lion who is fortunate to be eaten by man.
Gerd Ludemann writes: "The disciples' question is about fasting, prayer, almsgiving
and the food laws. The first three also appear in the regulations about piety in Matt.
6.1-18 (cf. Tobit 12.8) and are discussed once again later (Thomas 14; cf. 104). In the
present verse the question about food completes the sphere of the Jewish law." (Jesus
After 2000 Years, p. 593)
Jean Doresse writes: "'nothing hidden will fail to be revealed' no doubt refers to
hidden virtues such as those mentioned by Jesus: they are preferable to ostentatious
practices of piety, and will one day be made public." (The Secret Books of the
Egyptian Gnostics, p. 371)
Jack Finegan writes: "The reply of Jesus in Line 19, 'and what you hate, do not do,' is
evidently derived from Tob 4:15, 'And what you hate, do not do to any one,' with
omission of the words, 'to any one,' which reduces the saying from a form of the
'Golden Rule' to a self-centered saying." (Hidden Records of the Life of Jesus, p. 247)
F. F. Bruce writes: "In this and other sayings (cf. Sayings 14, 27, 104) it is insisted
that true fasting is abstinence from evil words and actions, not from indifferent things
like food. The negative form of the golden rule, 'Do not [to others] what is hateful to
yourselves', appears repeatedly in early Jewish ethics, e.g. Tobit 4.15 ('What you
hate, do not to any one') and Hillel's words in TB Shabbath 31a ('What is hateful to
you, do not to your fellow; this is the whole law; everything else is commentary')."
(Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 115)
J. D. Crossan writes: "This somewhat truncated version of the rule's negative
formulation ['do not do what you hate', compared to Mt 7:12, Lk 6:31, Did 1:2b] has
the following context. 'His disciples questioned Him and said to Him, "Do you want
us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?"
Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in
the sight of Heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing
covered will remain without being uncovered.'" (In Fragments, p. 52)
J. D. Crossan writes: "The text is found not only in the Coptic translation of Thomas,
with God if you will. but also among the Oxyrhynchus Papyri fragments of the Greek Thomas in Oxy P
Meaning that, just because 654. The badly mutilated Greek text has been restored from the Coptic version as
we aren't openly speaking follows: [ha mis]eite me poiet[e] or '[what] you [ha]te do not do' (Hofius: 41; see
with him, nothing about us is also Fitzmyer, 1974:385; Marcovich: 65). The Coptic version is a close translation of
out of his realm. In a way I'd that sequence: 'that which you hate, do not do' (with Wilson, 1973:511; rather than
like to think that part of what Guillaumont, 1959:5; or Lambdin: 118). Thus the sequence here is as in Tob. 4:15,
Jesus has said here is that the ho miseis, medeni poieses, although the former is plural 'you' while this latter is
specific things in life that we singular 'you.' Those differences are dictated primarily by context. It is, of course,
no doubt "worry" ourselves quite unlikely that Thomas is in any way quoting directly from Tobit (Menard,
with, need not be so specific 1975:87). But his negative version says: What you hate (done to you) do not do (to
and complexing at all. The others)." (In Fragments, pp. 52-53)
simple truth of it all is that
everything eventually ends
up where it started...the
heaven that is in you and all
around you.
- digger
If one follows a path dictated
by others, you will be lying
and doing what you hate.
The "divine" is aware of you
anyway.
- Rodney
Again we being told to do
whatever our hearts tell us is
right. Evil and sin come from
not listening to or rebelling
against that little voice of
conscience that is our gift.
Jesus was telling them, Hey
do what you feel is right--
trust yourself that you are
doing good, and you will not
be surprised that it's also
what God wants for you.
There are no rituals that can
make you a good person,
only good intended actions
and thoughts.
- Holly
Whether this was transposed
with 14 or not, the meaning
is the same either way. Old
rules and "laws" are
meaningingless. As long as
you are true to yourself and
God, you will not do evil. If
this verse is accurate, the
way he utterly ignores their
specific questions suggests a
very broad rejection of ALL
the meticulous old laws.
- Jay
It won't do you any good to
lie, Heaven promises to
expose you...So tell the truth
and take your licks, better
here than there. And you
know all those things you
say you hate, i.e. greed,
injustice, liars, cheats and
thieves, well you better make
sure you are not any of those
things because Heaven
promises you judgment "by
your own words" i.e. I've
found to my regret that I'm
guilty of gossiping,
complaining and murmuring
even though I am constantly
stating how much I 'hate'
these things. Heaven is just
and by what measure I
judged will I be judged. And
all the praying and fasting
and giving in the world won't
prevent judgment.
- Deby
What of fasting? Prayer?
Tzidakah? Diet? How shall
we know what is right? Jesus
said, "If you can perceive all
of these things, the Universe
and the Universal can
perceive more and deeper
than any can know, so don't
lie, don't do what you know
doesn't seem right. All that is
hidden will be revealed
before the Universe and the
truth therein, and you will
have to answer for it, like it
or not."
- StarChaser
This verse seems to parallel
the story where Jesus tells
his disciples that all food is
good to eat--the message is
that evil comes from within,
as does good.
- Dinwar
In this statement, Christ tells
us the walk, and to get
walking. Be careful that
devotional activities don't
hinder your work in the real
world.
- Zooie
6

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