Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 46 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next

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Nag Hammadi Coptic Text Funk's Parallels
GThom 22:2, Luke 7:24-
30, Luke 18:17, Matt
11:7-15, Matt 18:3, Mark
10:15.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(46) Jesus said: From Adam
to John the Baptist there is
among the children of
women none higher than
John the Baptist, for his
eyes were not destroyed (?).
But I have said: Whoever
among you becomes small
will know the kingdom and
will be higher than John.
(46) Jesus said, "From
Adam unto John the Baptist
there has been none among
the offspring of women who
has been more exalted than
John the Baptist, so that
such a person's eyes might
be broken. But I have said
that whoever among you
(plur.) becomes a little one
will become acquainted
with the kingdom, and will
become more exalted than
John."
51 [46]. Jesus says: "From
Adam to John the Baptist,
among those who have been
born of women, there is
none greater than John the
Baptist! But for fear that the
eyes <of such a one> should
be lost I have said: He who
among you shall be the
small<est> shall know the
Kingdom and be higher
than John!"

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

John's views were not
corrupted, but if we become
like children, i.e.
uncorrupted by influence, we
will flourish similarly to
John.
- Shepard
Eyes = John's vision and
foretelling. Becoming small
equates into finding the true
philosophy offered here and
following it.
- roaks
This seems to be a reference
to a theme developed in
earlier sayings. That is, cast
off the complexities of the
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "This saying is adapted from
Matthew 11:11-12 (Luke 7:28), where we hread that 'No one has arisen, among those
born of women, greater than John the Baptist; but the least [smallest] in the kingdom
of heaven is greater than he'; the next saying begins with the words 'From the days of
John the Baptist' - Thomas seems to have used these words as the model for his
expression, 'From Adam to John the Baptist.' Thomas also changes 'in the kingdom of
heaven' to 'will understand the kingdom.' The words, 'so that his eyes will not'
(Doresse supplies 'lose themselves') are incomprehensible." (The Secret Sayings of
Jesus, p. 158)
R. McL. Wilson writes: "The Synoptic parallels here are Matthew xi. 11 and Luke
vii. 28, but the words here rendered 'so that his eyes will not be broken' have so far
baffled the commentators. Grant and Freedman plausibly suggest that the opening
words are modelled on the following verse in Matthew (xi. 12), in which case
Thomas has re-written the saying. One possible line of interpretation may be to link
this saying with logion 22 and with the Synoptic sayings about children and the
Kingdom. The enigmatic words about eyes may, perhaps, have some connection with
Matthew vi. 22 f., the passage about the 'single eye'; eyes that are broken (or
world. Look inward for
answers and the suprisingly
simple truths like those of
children will be found and
with them salvation.
- Syrus
Before Jesus (and after
Adam fell), God could not
live in us because of sin.
Now that Jesus is here, how
great are we that God can
live in us.
- Random
46
Alias:
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divided?) are no longer 'single.' If this be so, the saying would be a mosaic of
Synoptic elements, but here we have clear signs of redaction, possibly of textual
corruption, and almost certainly of confusion on the part of the translator. It must be
remembered that our present Coptic text is probably a translation of a translation, and
that in both versions it has been subjected to the vagaries of the scribe; moreover, the
sayings have passed through a process of oral tradition, whether or not they are
derived from our Gospels, and were originally uttered neither in Greek nor in Coptic,
but in Aramaic. When we add the probability of redaction at the hands of one or more
editors, who had ends of their own in view, the difficulties in the path of the
investigator are manifest." (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, p. 62)
Funk and Hoover write: "This saying is another version of a Q saying that appears in
Matt 11:11//Luke 7:28. Fellows designated this saying gray, as they did the Q
version. The first part of this saying, praising John, could well come from Jesus (his
followers, who became rivals of the followers of John, would probably not have
inveted it), but the second half suggests a time when John the Baptist was being
devalued by the Christian movement." (The Five Gospels, p. 498)
J. D. Crossan writes: "This is another version of the saying found in Q/Matt. 11:11 =
Luke 7:28, where the 'least' in the Kingdom is 'greater' than John. Baker has drawn
attention to other versions of this aphorism in 'the homilies that pass under the name
of Macarius' and which 'continue to perplex scholars as to their true author, place of
origin and sources' although 'recent work has brought strong arguments for Asia
Minor and perhaps Syria as the place and the last quarter of the fourth century as the
time of composition' (215). Pseudo-Macarius' versions speak first of the 'least one'
(mikroteros) as being greater than John, then equate such with the 'apostles,' and
conclude that such a 'little one' (mikros) is greater than John (Migne: 713CD). That
final text is the same as the one found in Gos. Thom. 46b, since the Coptic word kwi
can be translated either as 'a child' or 'a little one.' Gos. Thom. 46b therefore
translates either 'whichever one of you comes to be a child' (Lambdin; see also
Guillaumont et al.) or 'he who shall be among you as a little one' (Wilson, 1973:515).
This change from 'least one' to 'little one' is significant, 'for the New Testament
wishes to say that all in the Kingdom are greater than John, therefore, even the least -
mikroteros. Whereas the Gospel of Thomas and Macarius mean that only those who
are small - mikros - are greater than John' (Baker: 218) Quispel (1964) has explained
the relationship between Thomas and Macarius by proposing 'that Macarius most
probably knew the Gospel of Thomas and alluded to it in his writings' (227), and he
concludes by asserting that he is 'not in the least astonished that Macarius used the
Gospel of Thomas, because so many Syrian writers before him had done the same'
(234)." (In Fragments, pp. 325-326)
J. D. Crossan concludes: "I consider, therefore, that there has been an infiltration
from Gos. Thom. 22 into 46b, which (a) mitigates the denigration of John and (b)
substitutes 'shall know (be acquainted with) the Kingdom' for 'shall enter the
Kingdom.'" (In Fragments, p. 326)
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