Saying 87: Body and Soul
Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends on both."
tsisa hinegise, "utsati agiliya uhase ayelv na alisgasdodase saquo ayelv nahna, ale utsati agiliya uhase adanvdo na alisgasdodase igvla nahna.
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎤᏣᏘ ᎠᎩᎵᏯ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎠᏰᎸ Ꮎ ᎠᎵᏍᎦᏍᏙᏓᏎ ᏌᏉ ᎠᏰᎸ ᎾᎿ, ᎠᎴ ᎤᏣᏘ ᎠᎩᎵᏯ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎠᏓᏅᏙ Ꮎ ᎠᎵᏍᎦᏍᏙᏓᏎ ᎢᎬᎳ ᎾᎿ.
Saying 86: Foxes and Birds
Jesus said, "[The foxes have dens] and the birds have nests, but the Son of Humanity has nowhere to lay his head and rest."
tsisa hinegise, "tsuladi uhase atalesvdine ale tsisquadi uhase unesgilvsvdine, aseno uwetsi yvwi-anehv vhnai tla uhase hananine atlodi utseli asgoline ale atsawesolvsdi."
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᏧᎳᏗ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎠᏔᎴᏒᏗᏁ ᎠᎴ ᏥᏍᏆᏗ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎤᏁᏍᎩᎸᏒᏗᏁ, ᎠᏎᏃ ᎤᏪᏥ ᏴᏫ-ᎠᏁᎲ ᎥᎿᎢ Ꮭ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎭᎾᏂᏁ ᎠᏠᏗ ᎤᏤᎵ ᎠᏍᎪᎵᏁ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏣᏪᏐᎸᏍᏗ."
Saying 85: Adam Wasn't Worthy
Jesus said, "Adam came into being from a great power and great wealth, but he didn't become worthy of you. If he had been worthy, [he wouldn't have tasted] death."
tsisa hinegise, "adawi didolagise gesvi equa ulanigvgv nidvlenvda ale equa nuwehnavi nidvlenvda, aseno atsvyai tla didolagise tsugvwalodiya nihi vhnai. iyuno atsvyai gesvise tsugvwalodiya, atsvyai tla nusdv-agisdise ayohuhisdine."
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎠᏓᏫ ᏗᏙᎳᎩᏎ ᎨᏒᎢ ᎡᏆ ᎤᎳᏂᎬᎬ ᏂᏛᎴᏅᏓ ᎠᎴ ᎡᏆ ᏄᏪᎿᎥᎢ ᏂᏛᎴᏅᏓ, ᎠᏎᏃ ᎠᏨᏯᎢ Ꮭ ᏗᏙᎳᎩᏎ ᏧᎬᏩᎶᏗᏯ ᏂᎯ ᎥᎿᎢ. ᎢᏳᏃ ᎠᏨᏯᎢ ᎨᏒᎢᏎ ᏧᎬᏩᎶᏗᏯ, ᎠᏨᏯᎢ Ꮭ ᏄᏍᏛ-ᎠᎩᏍᏗᏎ ᎠᏲᎱᎯᏍᏗᏁ."
Note: Sayings 84 and 85 are connected by the linking phrase "came into being." There are hundreds of such catchwords and catch-phrases in GTh. They are usually considered to be a characteristic of the stage of orality. Nevertheless, DeConick considers Saying 85 to be an accretion.
Saying 84: Our Previous Images
Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you rejoice. But when you see your images that came into being before you did – which don't die, and aren't revealed – how much you'll have to bear!"
tsisa hinegise, "hilayvi nihi gowatase nihi nasginaine, nihi alihelisdase. aseno hilayvi nihi gowatose nihi nasginaidine na didolagise udalulv nihi didolagise, hilago utsati nihi uduladose alisoqualvdi!
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎯᎳᏴᎢ ᏂᎯ ᎪᏩᏔᏎ ᏂᎯ ᎾᏍᎩᎾᎢᏁ, ᏂᎯ ᎠᎵᎮᎵᏍᏓᏎ. ᎠᏎᏃ ᎯᎳᏴᎢ ᏂᎯ ᎪᏩtᎣᏎ ᏂᎯ ᎾᏍᎩᎾᎢᏗᏁ Ꮎ ᏗᏙᎳᎩᏎ ᎤᏓᎷᎸ ᏂᎯ ᏗᏙᎳᎩᏎ, ᎯᎳᎪ ᎤᏣᏘ ᏂᎯ ᎤᏚᎳᏙᏎ ᎠᎵᏐᏆᎸᏗ!
Saying 83: Light and Images
Jesus said, "Images are revealed to people, but the light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's light. He'll be revealed, but his image will be hidden by his light."
tsisa hinegise, "nasgiyaidi gesvase agadudesdita yvwi didla, aseno ulvsadv nasgidv hawini gesvase adisgalodita nasgiyai hawina ulvsadv edoda vhnai. nasgi gesvose agadudesdita, aseno utseli nasgiyai gesvose adisgalodita utseli ulvsadv gvdodi."
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎾᏍᎩᏯᎢᏗ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᎦᏚᏕᏍᏗᏔ ᏴᏫ ᏗᏜ, ᎠᏎᏃ ᎤᎸᏌᏛ ᎾᏍᎩᏛ ᎭᏫᏂ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏗᏍᎦᎶᏗᏔ ᎾᏍᎩᏯᎢ ᎭᏫᎾ ᎤᎸᏌᏛ ᎡᏙᏓ ᎥᎿᎢ. ᎾᏍᎩ ᎨᏒᎣᏎ ᎠᎦᏚᏕᏍᏗᏔ, ᎠᏎᏃ ᎤᏤᎵ ᎾᏍᎩᏯᎢ ᎨᏒᎣᏎ ᎠᏗᏍᎦᎶᏗᏔ ᎤᏤᎵ ᎤᎸᏌᏛ ᎬᏙᏗ."
Saying 81: Riches and Renunciation (1)
Jesus said, "Whoever has become rich should become a ruler, and whoever has power should renounce it."
tsisa hinegise, "nasgiquo-yigi didolagise uwenai aseuse didolagi asdawadvsdosgi, ale nasgiquo-yigi uhase ulanigvgvne, aseuse diyohisdi nasgine.
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ ᏗᏙᎳᎩᏎ ᎤᏪᎾᎢ ᎠᏎᎤᏎ ᏗᏙᎳᎩ ᎠᏍᏓᏩᏛᏍᏙᏍᎩ, ᎠᎴ ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ ᎤᎭᏎ ᎤᎳᏂᎬᎬᏁ, ᎠᏎᎤᏎ ᏗᏲᎯᏍᏗ ᎾᏍᎩᏁ.
Saying 82: Jesus and Fire (2)
Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom."
tsisa hinegise, "nasgiquo-yigi gesvase navnige ayv gesvase navnige atsilv, ale nasgiquo-yigi gwsvase inv ayv nidvblenvda gesvase inv ugvwiyuhiyi nidvlenvda."
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎾᎥᏂᎨ ᎠᏴ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎾᎥᏂᎨ ᎠᏥᎸ, ᎠᎴ ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ gwᏒᎠᏎ ᎢᏅ ᎠᏴ ᏂᏛbᎴᏅᏓ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎢᏅ ᎤᎬᏫᏳᎯᏱ ᏂᏛᎴᏅᏓ."
Today I walked on the beach without you,
for the first time in the four months since you passed,
and I found it very hard.
So many beaches, so many memories,
beaches on four continents,
beaches all over the world,
for forty-five years.
It's not that I have no one to walk with,
that isn't true.
In fact, you may have sent me someone,
but that someone
isn't you.
June 7, 2024
At the risk of over-simplifying, I would like to pass along some things I have learned about the Gospel of Thomas (GTh) mainly from April D. DeConick in THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL OF THOMAS IN TRANSLATION (op. cit). She is a brilliant scholar and is, in my opinion, the leader when it comes to this subject.
On pages 19-21 of the above-mentioned book, De Conick does more to clarify what GTh is and where it came from than anyone else has. There is, first of all, the all-important distinction between the Kernel of GTh (which she dates to the mid-first century), and it's accretions. Then, there is the clear evidence for an Aramaic substratum. Most striking of all, to me at least, is the close relationship that she points to between GTh and the Pseudo-Clementine literature.
On Page 20 we read the following:
"This evidence leads me to wonder how sceptical as scholars we should remain regarding Clement's claim found in the Pseudo-Clementines that he was hired by James to follow Peter, listen to his speeched about Jesus' teachings, and record them in books for the Jerusalem mission."
The import of this is that GTh represents pre-Synoptic material that was in Aramaic in its oral stage, and was then translated into Greek and from Greek into Coptic. As DeConick points out, different translation choices were often made, with many of the translation variants being well explainable by the Aramaic substratum.
Clearly, the Gospel of Thomas is an extremely important document.
Saying 79: Listening to the Message
A woman in the crowd said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nourished you."
He said to [her], "Blessed are those who have listened to the message of the Father and kept it, because there will be days when you'll say, 'Blessed is the womb that didn't conceive and the breasts that haven't given milk.'"
ageya unadatlisahv hawina kanohedise atsvyv didla, "vdadilvquotanv gesvase ayelv na udenvise nihine, ale ganetsidi na adadelasdise nihine." atsvyai kanohedise nasgi didla, "vdadilvquotanv gasvase nasgi na hadvdasdise kanetsvne edoda vhnai ale asquanigododise nasgine, igvnisisgi gesvose igadi hilayvi nihi hinegose 'vdadilvquotanv ayelv na tla udevise, ale ganetsidi na tla adanedise unvdine."
ᎠᎨᏯ ᎤᎾᏓᏟᏌᎲ ᎭᏫᎾ ᎧᏃᎮᏗᏎ ᎠᏨᏴ ᏗᏜ, "ᎥᏓᏗᎸᏉᏔᏅ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᎠᏰᎸ Ꮎ ᎤᏕᏅᎢᏎ ᏂᎯᏁ, ᎠᎴ ᎦᏁᏥᏗ Ꮎ ᎠᏓᏕᎳᏍᏗᏎ ᏂᎯᏁ." ᎠᏨᏯᎢ ᎧᏃᎮᏗᏎ ᎾᏍᎩ ᏗᏜ, "ᎥᏓᏗᎸᏉᏔᏅ ᎦᏒᎠᏎ ᎾᏍᎩ Ꮎ ᎭᏛᏓᏍᏗᏎ ᎧᏁᏨᏁ ᎡᏙᏓ ᎥᎿᎢ ᎠᎴ ᎠᏍᏆᏂᎪᏙᏗᏎ ᎾᏍᎩᏁ, ᎢᎬᏂᏏᏍᎩ ᎨᏒᎣᏎ ᎢᎦᏗ ᎯᎳᏴᎢ ᏂᎯ ᎯᏁᎪᏎ 'ᎥᏓᏗᎸᏉᏔᏅ ᎠᏰᎸ Ꮎ Ꮭ ᎤᏕᎥᎢᏎ, ᎠᎴ ᎦᏁᏥᏗ Ꮎ Ꮭ ᎠᏓᏁᏗᏎ ᎤᏅᏗᏁ."
Saying 80: The World is a Body
Jesus said, "Whoever has known the world has found the body; but whoever has found the body, of them the world isn't worthy."
tsisa hinegise, "nasgiquo-yigi onadvise equa-elohine awadvdise ayelvne; aseno nasgiquo-yigi awadvdise ayelvne, atsvyv vhnai equa-elohi tla gesvase tsugvwalodiya."
ᏥᏌ ᎯᏁᎩᏎ, "ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ ᎣᎾᏛᎢᏎ ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯᏁ ᎠᏩᏛᏗᏎ ᎠᏰᎸᏁ; ᎠᏎᏃ ᎾᏍᎩᏉ-ᏱᎩ ᎠᏩᏛᏗᏎ ᎠᏰᎸᏁ, ᎠᏨᏴ ᎥᎿᎢ ᎡᏆ-ᎡᎶᎯ Ꮭ ᎨᏒᎠᏎ ᏧᎬᏩᎶᏗᏯ."
This Saying, along with its doublet, Saying 56, is extremely problematic. April D. DeConick has an excellent discussion of these Sayings on pp. 192-3 and 244-5 of THE ORIGINAL GOSPEL OF THOMAS IN TRANSLATION (op. cit.). In her opinion, the Coptic form of these two Sayings is pretty much nonsense, and they reflect a Semitic substratum which can explain several mistranslations. Finally, she offers an alternative interpretation: 'Whoever has come to know the world <<has mastered the body>>. The world does not deserve the person who <<has mastered the body>>. DeConick considers these two sayings to be accretions reflecting both encratism and hermetism, and dating to the latter half of the first century. Her references concerning the Semitic substratum are themselves worthy of study.
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