Gospel of Thomas Saying 49
BLATZ
(49) Jesus said: Blessed are the solitary and the elect, for you will find the kingdom, for you came forth from it, (and) you will return to it again.
LAYTON
(49) Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are solitary and superior, for you (plur.) will find the kingdom; for since you came from it you shall return to it.”
DORESSE
54 [49]. Jesus says: “Blessed are the solitary and the elect, for you will find the Kingdom! Because you have issued from it, you will return to it again.”
Scholarly Quotes |
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Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: “The ’single’ or ’solitary’ ones will find the kingdom or, in Saying 75, will enter the bridechamber. They are no more from the world than Jesus himself is (John 17:16); they are one as Jesus and the Father are one (John 17:23). Where Jesus is, they will also be (John 17:24).” (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 160) Helmut Koester points out a parallel to John 16:28: “I have come out from the Father and I have come into the world. I am again leaving the world and return to the Father.” (Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 121) Gerd Ludemann writes: “The beatitude moves from the third person plural to the second person plural in the same way as the beatitude in Logion 54. For the ’solitary ones’ cf. 4.2; 16.4; 75, etc. For the notion that the solitary ones are the elect cf. 23.1-2.” (Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 614) Funk and Hoover write: “Thomas 49 and 50 constitute a miniature catechism for Thomean Christianity. Thomas 49 depicts Thomas Christians as those who have come into the world from another realm, to which they will one day return. This is a central tenet of the mythology of gnosticism.” (The Five Gospels, p. 502) |
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