Early Christian Writings Gospel of Thomas Saying 63 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
Sir 11:18-19, Luke 12:13-
21.

BLATZ LAYTON DORESSE

(63) Jesus said: There was a
rich man who had many
possessions. He said: I will
use my possessions to sow
and reap and plant, to fill
my barns with fruit, that I
may have need of nothing.
Those were his thoughts in
his heart; and in that night
he died. He who has ears,
let him hear.
(63) Jesus said, "There was
a rich man who had
considerable wealth. He
said, 'I shall invest my
wealth so as to sow, reap,
plant, and fill my barns with
crops, lest I run short of
something.' These things are
what he was thinking in his
heart, and that very night
the man died. Whoever has
ears should listen!"
67 [63]. Jesus says: "There
was a rich man who had
many possessions. He said
<to himself:> 'I will use my
wealth to sow my field, to
plant, to fill my barn with
harvest, so that need will
not touch me.' Such were
the things that he thought in
his heart. But during that
night, he died. He who has
ears to hear, let him hear!"

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

A person who does not know
that he needs nothing will
lose everything.
- Simon Magus
Maybe it means that while
the rich man put his life on
hold to prepare for the
future, he missed today.
Then he died. Perhaps if he
had lived each as though it
were his last he would have
lived it differently - or
maybe he wouldn't have!
- passerby
Money can be mistaken for
love. When one does so one
is dead.
R. McL. Wilson writes: "This is clearly a shorter version of Luke xii. 16-21, a
passage peculiar to Luke; the preceding verses in Luke, which in that Gospel are the
occasion of the saying, appear in Thomas as logion 72; those which follow, about
anxiety over the things of this world, in logion 36. Formally, this should probably be
considered a later development of the Lucan parable, but this does not necessarily
mean that it was derived from Luke. Grant and Freedman suggest that the words 'this
night they will require your soul of you' are omitted 'perhaps because something like
them will recur in saying 88,' but the similarity is rather remote and, moreover, this
would seem to presuppose a rather closer literary dependence than is justified by the
gospel as a whole. In some cases we can indeed speak of intentional or unintentional
harmonization, words or phrases occurring to the mind of the author by association
with what he is writing, but in others it is difficult to imagine him selecting a word
here, a saying there, and keeping part of another saying for use at a later stage.
Explanations which are to be valid must take account of what we can learn of the
writer's methods, and free citation from memory would appear to be nearer the mark
than an extensive use of scissors and paste." (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, pp.
99-100)
- Rodney
Be IN the world but not OF
the world. If you are
mesmerised by the things of
thr world you will indeed
"die" -- to the chance of
lifting yourself up [a process
which also requires specialist
help]
- Thief37
The decision to keep his
possesions for himself was
fatal to his spirit.
- syrus
63
Alias:
Post the Note
Discuss it now at AMC
forums!
If you like the site, please purchase the Early Christian Writings CD.
Maintained by Peter Kirby. See the Gospel of Thomas Bibliography & Credits.
Early Christian Writings
Joachim Jeremias writes: "The closing sentence, too, of the parable of the Rich Fool:
'So (foolishly behaves the man) who heaps up treasure for himself and does not
gather wealth toward God' (Luke 12.21), must be an addition; it is missing from the
Gospel of Thomas (63), and gives a moralizing meaning to the parable, which blunts
the sharp edge of its warning." (The Parables of Jesus, p. 106)
Helmut Koester writes: "There are two secondary features in the narrative of Luke:
the conclusion and the moralizing discourse. Both are missing in Thomas's version
which presents this story in the more original form of a reversal parable. On the other
hand, Thomas has also transferred the parable into a different milieu. The rich man is
no longer a wealthy farmer but a decurion from the city who wants to invest his
money successfuly. The maxim at the end of Gos. Thom. 63 is of course secondary,
but it does not reveal any knowledge of Luke's conclusion." (Ancient Christian
Gospels, p. 98)
Funk and Hoover write: "Whether Luke's version of this parable is drawn from
Luke's special material or from Q is debated by scholars, but Thomas' version is
drawn from neither. It is a simpler form of the parable, containing none of Luke's
moralizing tone, and has an abrupt, uninterpreted conclusion rather than Luke's
pronouncement (v. 20: 'God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life will be
demanded back from you"') and generalizing application (v. 21 'That's they way it is
with those who save up for themselves, but aren't rich where God is concerned').
Thomas also lacks the sequence of sayings on possessions that forms the context of
the parable in Luke (12:13-15, 22-34)." (The Five Gospels, p. 508)
Funk and Hoover write: "As a single, unelaborated tale the Thomas version retains
more of the characteristics of orally transmitted tradition and is probably an earlier
form of the parable than Luke's. Thomas has nevertheless shifted the social location
of the parable. His rich man is no longer a farmer. He is an investor who seeks such a
high return that he will lack nothing. But on very day he has such thoughts he dies
and thus loses everything. Thomas' version seems to turn on its incongruity between
his thoughts and his end, whereas Luke's version focuses on the farmer's folly." (The
Five Gospels, p. 508)
Gerd Ludemann writes: "This exemplary narrative is related to Luke 12.16-20. But
the economic circumstances are slightly different. In Luke we have a farmer who
wants to 'save', here a businessman who wants to put his money to work. The
meaning of the two parables is the same. Sudden death can overtake even the
shrewdest of rich men." (Jesus After 2000 Years, pp. 621-622)
Gospel of Thomas Saying 63 Previous - Gospel of Thomas Home - Next