Seeing Or Coming To the Child Of the Living One? More on 'Gospel Of Thomas' Saying-37 (An Assessment on Scribal Tendencies In Coptic Manuscripts From the Early Christian Communities)

Authors

Marvin Meyer, Chapman University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1998

Abstract

"In a note published in Harvard Theological Review in 1995, Gregory J. Riley suggests a new reading for a damaged portion of Gospel of Thomas 37...Riley questions the translation of the portion of the saying in Nag Hammadi Codex II, p. 39, at the end of line 34 (the last line), where the papyrus is damaged, and proposes that the reading "the[n yo]u [w]ill come" is preferable to "then [you] will see." The proposed reading, if adopted, would significantly change the traditional interpretation of this saying, which has been understood to refer to enlightenment that comes from ritual participation in baptism or unction..Here I argue that Riley is mistaken in his interpretation of the evidence of the Coptic text, and that the reading that refers to seeing the child of the living one remains the more likely one. I base my argument on my own examination of the relevant photographs and the Coptic manuscript, as well as my assessment of the ink traces and the space available on the manuscript."

Comments

This article was originally published in Harvard Theological Review, volume 91, issue 4, in 1998. DOI: 10.1017/S0017816000016321

Recommended Citation

Meyer, Marvin. "Seeing or Coming to the Child of the Living One? More on Gospel of Thomas Saying 37." Harvard Theological Review 91.04 (1998): 413-416.
DOI:10.1017/S0017816000016321

Peer Reviewed

1

Copyright

Harvard Divinity School