Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 99 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next

You can view this web page along with Grondin's Coptic/English Interlinear in frames.
Nag Hammadi Coptic Text Funk's Parallels
Luke 8:19-21, Matt
12:46-50, Mark 3:20-22,
Mark 3:31-35, GEbi 5.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(99) The disciples said to
him: Your brothers and your
mother are standing outside.
He said to them: Those here
who do the will of my
Father, these are my
brothers and my mother;
they are the ones who will
enter into the kingdom of
my Father.
(99) The disciples said to
him, "Your brothers and
your mother are standing
outside." He said to them,
"It is those who are here and
who do the will of my
father that are my siblings
and my mother. It is they
who will enter the kingdom
of my father."
103 [99]. The disciples said
to him: "Thy brethren and
thy mother are there
outside." He said to them:
"You and (?) those (?) who
do the will of my Father,
they are my brethren and
my mother; it is they who
will enter the Kingdom of
my Father."

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

Spirit is thicker than blood.
- 1of2
(99) We of this world are one
when we are not of this
world.
- Ardele
Intended for effect. An
admonition to pupils by a
teacher of an esoteric school
& intended to be viewed in
perspective. Literalists will
of course take it literally....
- Thief37
Marvin Meyer quotes a
church father describing the
Ebionites denying that Christ
was human, but the
Ebionites believed that
Christ was fully human (and
not divine).
- passerby
Marvin Meyer quotes from Gospel of the Ebionites 5: "Furthermore, they (that is, the
Ebionites) deny that he (that is, Christ) was a human being, apparently from the
saying that the savior spoke when it was reported to him, 'Look, your mother and
your brothers are standing outside': 'Who are my mother and brothers?' And
extending his hand toward the followers, he said, 'These are my brothers and mothers
and sisters, who do the will of my father.'" (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden
Sayings of Jesus, p. 99)
R. McL. Wilson writes: "Quispel claims a parallel in the Gospel of the Ebionites, but
to this Bauer objects. Comparing the whole saying, he concludes that there is nothing
which could not have come from the canonical Gospels. Nevertheless there are
differences: Jesus' informants, anonymous in the Synoptics, are here the disciples; the
saying as a whole is shortened, a process already begun in Luke; there is no reference
to sisters, again as in Luke, and 'brethren' are mentioned first, against all our Gospels;
finally Thomas reads the plural with Luke ('those who do the will'), but retains the
order of Matthew and Mark; the closing words may be no more than explanatory
expansion. Here, as elsewhere, it would probably be wrong to think of direct literary
dependence; for an author to piece together the Synoptic material in this way, for no
apparent purpose, would be a monumental waste of time and trouble. The most
probable explanations once again are either the use of a Gospel harmoney of some
kind, free quotation from memory, or independent tradition." (Studies in the Gospel
of Thomas, pp. 115-116)
Helmut Koester writes: "As in the previous example, Thomas's text is a brief chria,
99 lacking any of Mark's elaborate introductory setting of the stage and discourse.
Thomas also does not share Mark's peculiarity of stating the answer in the form of a
rhetorical question. Thus Thomas's version of this pericope, except for the secondary
conclusion, corresponds to its more original form." (Ancient Christian Gospels, p.
Alias:
110)
Funk and Hoover write: "'Mother and brothers' may refer to the gentiles, who became
Jesus' true relatives, in contrast to the Judeans, who rejected him and thus became
outsiders. Or, Jesus' true relatives may reflect the competition in the early movement
between Jesus' blood relatives, such as his brother James, who became leaders of the
group, and those who were not blood relatives, who claimed direct commission from
the risen Jesus. The apostle Paul would be an example of the latter. Finally, the
contrast may point to an actual incident during Jesus' life. On one occasion his family
may have attempted to take him away because they thought he had lost his mind (in
Post the Note
Mark 3:20 we are told that his family thought he was demented). The Fellows were
divided on which of these three scenarios should be used to interpret the saying. A
Discuss it now at AMC healthy majority chose the third, which produced a pink vote here, as in the
forums! corresponding version in Matthew (12:46-50)."
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Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 99 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next