Gospel of Thomas Saying 62

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BLATZ
(62) Jesus said: I speak my mysteries to those [who are worthy of my] mysteries. What your right hand does, let not your left hand know what it does.

LAYTON
(62) Jesus said, “it is to those [worthy] of [my] secrets that I am telling my secrets. Do not let your (sing.) left hand understand what your right hand is doing.

DORESSE
66 [62]. Jesus says: “When I tell my mysteries to [. . .] mystery: [what] your right hand does, let your left hand not know <that> it does it.”

Scholarly Quotes

F. F. Bruce writes: “The first sentence is similar to the canonical saying about the disciples receiving the mystery of the kingdom of God which remains a riddle to outsiders (Mark 4.11 f.; cf. Matthew 13.11 ff.; Luke 8.10); but here the esoteric doctrine of the Gnostics is meant. The second sentence in the canonical tradition (Matthew 6.3) enjoins secrecy in generous giring; here it forbids the spreading of the esoteric doctrine beyond the privileged circle.” (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 137-138)

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