Early Christian Writings
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Nag Hammadi Coptic Text
BLATZ
(13) Jesus said to his
disciples: Compare me, tell
me whom I am like. Simon
Peter said to him: You are
like a righteous angel.
Matthew said to him: You
are like a wise philosopher.
Thomas said to him:
Master, my mouth is wholly
incapable of saying whom
you are like. Jesus said: I
am not your master, for you
have drunk, and have
become drunk from the
bubbling spring which I
have caused to gush forth
(?). And he took him,
withdrew, (and) spoke to
him three words. Now when
Thomas came (back) to his
companions, they asked
him: What did Jesus say to
you? Thomas said to them:
If I tell you one of the
Gospel of Thomas Saying 13
LAYTON
(13) Jesus said to his
disciples, "Compare me to
something and tell me what
I resemble." Simon Peter
said to him, "A just angel is
what you resemble."
Matthew said to him, "An
intelligent philosopher is
what you resemble."
Thomas said to him,
"Teacher, my mouth utterly
will not let me say what you
resemble." Jesus said, "I am
not your (sing.) teacher, for
you have drunk and become
intoxicated from the
bubbling wellspring that I
have personally measured
out. And he took him,
withdrew, and said three
sayings to him. Now, when
Thomas came to his
companions they asked him,
"What did Jesus say to
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Funk's Parallels
GThom 28, Luke 9:18-
22, Luke 21:34-36, Matt
16:13-20, John 4:13-15,
John 7:38, Mark 8:27-30.
DORESSE
14 [13]. Jesus says to his
disciples: "Compare me,
and tell me whom I am
like." Simon Peter says to
him: "Thou art like a just
angel!" Matthew says to
him: "Thou art like a wise
man and a philosopher!"
Thomas says to him:
"Master, my tongue cannot
find words to say whom
thou art like." Jesus says: "I
am no longer thy master; for
thou hast drunk, thou art
inebriated from the
bubbling spring which is
mine and which I sent
forth." Then he took him
aside; he said three words to
him. And when Thomas
came back to his
companions, they asked
him: "What did Jesus say to
thee?" And Thomas
words which he said to me,
you will take up stones
(and) throw them at me; and
a fire will come out of the
stones (and) burn you up.
you?" Thomas said to them,
"If I say to you (plur.) one
of the sayings that he said to
me, you will take stones and
stone me, and fire will come
out of the stones and burn
you up."
answered them: "If I tell
you <a single> one of the
words he said to me, you
will take up stones and
throw them at me, and fire
will come out of the stones
and consume you!"

Visitor Comments Scholarly Quotes

Compare this to the
descriptions of the
acknowledging of the
enlightenment of Zen
students by the Master. They
are received into the
brotherhood of equals. They
too now speak in ways
which are not
comprehensible to the as yet
unenlightened (and which
might be resented by former
fellow students). They also
now know the secret words
of a revolutionary
understanding of Reality.
Thomas is being
acknowledged as having
caught on to Jesus message.
- active-mystic
All Christologies are false.
Spiritual truth is ineffable.
One speaks to the ignorant in
the terms with which they
are familiar, precept upon
precept and line by line. But
they are scandalized at the
first word of truth.
- Simon Magus
It's easy to see that Jesus
spoke three words in Hebrew
to Thomas, in English this is
the meaning of these words:
"I am who I am."
- Dark Soul
The teacher is of God, who
has no attributes being above
Marvin Meyer writes: "These three sayings or words are unknown, but presumably
they are powerful and provocative sayings, since stoning (mentioned by Thomas)
was the Jewish punishment for blasphemy. Worth noting are the following examples
of three words or sayings: Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 5.8.4, cites the
three words Kaulakau, Saulasau, Zeesar, derived from the Hebrew of Isaiah 28:10,
13; Pistis Sophia 136 mentions Yao Yao Yao, the Greek version (with three letters,
given three times) of the ineffable name of God; the Gospel of Bartholomew and the
Secret Book of John provide statements of identification with the father, the mother
(or the holy spirit), and the son. Acts of Thomas 47 and Manichaean Kephalaia I
5,26-34 also refer to the three sayings or words but do not disclose precisely what
they were." (The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, pp. 74-75)
Robert Price writes: "In Thomas' version (saying 13), the false estimates of Jesus are
even more interesting. Jesus spurns the opinion of those self-styled believers who
consider him 'a wise philosopher.' Bingo! A wandering Cynic. (Thomas also has
Jesus reject the idea, widely held by many early Christians, that he was an angel in
human form.)" (Deconstructing Jesus, p. 51)
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "the Old Testament and its
eschatology have been eliminated; Jesus is no Messiah but 'like a righteous angel,'
'like a wise philosopher,' or simply incomparable." (Gnosticism & Early Christianity,
p. 186)
R. McL. Wilson writes: "As Grant and Freedman note, the idea is similar to that of
John xv. 15, while the reference to 'bubbling spring' also recalls Johannine texts. It
may be, however, that we have also some connection here with the Philonic idea of a
'sober intoxication.' Thereafter Jesus takes Thomas aside and speaks to him three
words. When the other disciples ask what Jesus said, Thomas replies, 'If I tell you
one of the words which He said to me, you will take up stones and throw them at me;
and a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up.' It may be significant that
while there are several references in the New Testament to stoning or casting stones it
is only John who speaks of taking up stones to throw (viii. 59, x. 31). About the three
words we can only speculate, but they were evidently blasphemous to Jewish ears.
Puech suggests that they were the names 'Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,' Grant and
Freedman the three secret words of the Naassenes (Hippol., Ref. 5.8.5). The whole
passage is at any rate a substitute for the canonical narrative of Peter's confession,
designed to give to Thomas the pre-eminence." (Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, pp.
111-112)
F. F. Bruce writes: "This conversation begins like that at Caesarea Philippi, recorded
in all three Synoptic Gospels, where Jesus asks his disciples 'Who do men say that I
them as the creator of all
attributes. He cannot
therefore be resembled to
anything. Thomas had learnt
this. He was now ready for
secret [confidential or
private] wisdom to be
imparted. But that wisdom
would, and always will be,
misinterpreted by those who
have not developed thus far.
It is an issue of readiness
- Thief37
Jesus told Thomas that he,
along with everyone and
everything comprise God
and therefore he was the son
of God and a part of God.
Thomas is making some fun
out of this while relating it to
the other disciples. Thomas
does not believe what Jesus
told him and he knows the
other disciples will turn
against him because they
will think he is lying to
them.
- iag
3 words: I AM ALL
- newbie
I too noticed the similarity of
this saying to the Zen master
who asked his three disciples
how they would teach after
he was gone. He said one
was his skin, one his muscle,
and one his marrow. The
Essenes had several levels of
esoteric teaching and this
story clearly shows Jesus the
Nazorean Essene testing his
disciples if they are ready for
the next level of teaching.
Thomas passes and receives
the three sayings which,
being esoteric, would get
him stoned for blasphamy.
am?' and then: 'But who do you say that I am?' (Mark 8.27-29). But the answers
given here are quite different from what we find in the canonical tradition, which is
consistent with the historical circumstances of Jesus's ministry. Here the answers are
attempts to depict Jesus as the Gnostic Revealer. Those who have imbibed the gnosis
which he imparts (the 'bubbling spring' which he has spread abroad) are not his
servants but his friends, [Cf. John 15.14] and therefore 'Master' is an unsuitable title
for them to give him. As for the three words spoken secretly to Thomas, conveying
Jesus's hidden identity, they are probably the three secret words on which, according
to the Naassenes, the existence of the world depended: Kaulakau, Saulasau, Zeesar.
[Hippolytus, Refutation v.8.4. Kaulakau, they said, was Adamas, primal man, 'the
being who is on high' . . . Saulasau, mortal man here below; Zeesar, the Jordan which
flows upward.] (In fact, these three words are corruptions of the Hebrew phrases in
Isaiah 28.10, 13, translated 'Line upon line, precept upon precept, there a little' - but
their origin was probably forgotten.) The followers of the Gnostic Basilides are said
to have taught that Jesus descended 'in the name of Kaulakau'. [Irenaeus, Heresies
i.24.6.] The fire that would come out of the stones is perhaps the fire of Saying 10.
There is in any case ample attestation of the belief that the untimely divulging of a
holy mystery can be as destructive as fire." (Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the
New Testament, pp. 118-119)
Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write: "In the synoptics, various
erroneous interpretations precede the correct one. Jesus is John the Baptist, or Elijah,
Jeremiah, or some other prophet risen again. So in Thomas, Simon Peter wrongly
compares Jesus with an angel (a belief widespread in early Jewish Christianity) and
Matthew wrongly compares him with a wise philosopher. Thomas rightly says that to
compare Jesus with anything is impossible; but as he does so, he addresses him as
'Master.' Thomas, like the man in Mark 10:17 (cf., Luke 18:18) who calls Jesus 'Good
Master,' is rebuked because of the title he uses. Because he is a disciple of Jesus, he is
not a slave but a friend, for Jesus has made known everything which he heard from
his Father (John 15:15). The idea expressed in Thomas is quite similar to that found
in John. Jesus is not Thomas's master because Thomas has drunk from the bubbling
spring which Jesus has distributed. This thought too is Johannine in origin. 'The
water which I will give him will become in him a spring of water bubbling up to
eternal life' (John 4:14; cf., 7:37-38)." (The Secret Sayings of Jesus, pp. 132-133)
J. P. Meier writes: "An intriguing point here is that in the one work of 'the school of
St. Thomas' that clearly dates from the 2d century, namely, the Coptic Gospel of
Thomas, Thomas is actually a peripheral figure who hardly belongs to the traditional
material in the book. He is introduced as the author of the work in the clearly
redactional opening sentence, but figures prominently in only one other logion, the
lengthy saying 13, where Simon Peter and Matthew are also mentioned but Thomas
is exalted as the possessor of the secret knowledge of Jesus' nature. This logion
stands in tension with the rival logion just before it, saying 12, where James the Just
(the brother of Jesus) is exalted as the leader of the disciples after Jesus departs. On
this tension, see Gilles Quispel, '"The Gospel of Thomas" and the "Gospel of the
Hebrews,"' NTS 12 (1965-66) 371-82, esp. 380. Hence the Gospel of Thomas, the
earliest apocryphal and gnosticizing work that was put under the name of Thomas,
does not present a tradition really rooted in that person and does not clearly inculcate
the idea that Thomas is Jesus' twin brother." (A Marginal Jew, v. 3, pp. 255-256, n.
The last phrase is also quite 17)
Zen. A Samurai asked
Hakuin is there really heaven
and hell. Hakuin insulted the
Samurai who drew his sword
whereupon Hakuin said
"Thus opens the gate of
Hell." Thomas here is saying
if the disciples did succumb
to throwing rocks, either in
envy or in righteousness of
the law, that they would be
opening up hell for
themselves and they would
burn in it.
- Gregory Wonderwheel
Jesus asked, Describe your
thoughts about me. Simon
Peter spoke of a righteous
(just) angel. Matthew spoke
of a wise philosopher.
Thomas said, "there are no
words or concepts that my
mouth can frame." Jesus said
that they were drunk on the
joy, truth and honor of being
his students. He took
Thomas aside and spoke
three "words/sayings"
(concepts beyond the
teachings that the disciples
understood) to him. On
being asked about the private
communication with their
teacher, Thomas replied, "a
single one of them would
make you want to stone me,
but the desire to do so would
burn you to the core."
Thomas understood
somethings that none of the
others could conceive, and
knowing this, he could not
see his righteous brethren
hurt by revealing the depth
of these concepts, that Jesus
was no more or less than any
of them, that he had learned
that God had given his Word
to all the World and anyone
could learn their place as the
Child of God if the mind and
heart were open enough. Any
of these concepts would
seem blasphemy to those of
simpler minds, who were
already swimming with the
greatness of Jesus' teaching.
- StarChaser
Has it ever occured to
anyone that the three words
or sayings spoken to Thomas
are the things that Jesus then
told the disciples in saying
14? It would have been
heresy if Thomas had said
such things to pious Jews
like Peter and Matthew, and
their outrage would have
been like stones bursting into
flames. But Jesus can speak
them and they must listen
even if they don't
understand.
- Griffin
Jesus, the Master, has
accepted Thomas as his
Chela (disciple) because he
clearly understood what
Jesus represented. The others
didn't. The Master provides a
personal mantra at intiation,
here three words...but I
suspect more words. The
words are personal,
absolutely, and have the
power of Jesus (Master,
Guru) behind them. The
words are for the personal
growth of the Chela, and not
for the others. They are the
key to his further
enlightenment, and the
connection to the Holy
Ghost.
- Petrus
All things imply their
negation. This is not that.
The One has no negations. It
is All. Can you describe what
All is like? Neither could
Thomas.
- nothing
13

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