Saying 27 - Abstinence From The World

Nag Hammadi Coptic Text

BLATZ (27) <Jesus> said: If you do not fast to the world, you will not find the kingdom; if you do not keep the Sabbath as Sabbath, you will not see the Father.

LAYTON (27) <Jesus said>, "If you (plur.) do not abstain from the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not make the sabbath a sabbath you will not behold the father."

DORESSE 32 [27]. "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the Kingdom. If you do not make the Sabbath the <true> Sabbath, you will not see the Father."

 

Oxyrhynchus Greek Fragment

DORESSE - Oxyrhynchus Jesus says: "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the Kingdom of God. And if you do not make the Sabbath the <true> Sabbath, you will not see the Father."

ATTRIDGE - Oxyrhynchus (27) Jesus said, "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom of God. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father."

 

Funk's Parallels

POxy1 27
Jesus says, "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the kingdom of God. And if you do not keep the sabbath a sabbath, you will not see the Father."

POxy654 6:1
[His disciples] ask him [and] say, "How [shall we] fast? [How shall] we [pray]? How [shall we give alms]? What [diet] shall [we] observe?"

GThom 6:1
[His disciples] ask him [and] say, "How [shall we] fast? [How shall] we [pray]? How [shall we give alms]? What [diet] shall [we] observe?"

GThom 14:1
Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring sin upon yourselves."

GThom 104
They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and let us fast." Jesus said, "What sin have I committed, or how have I been undone? Rather, when the bridegroom leaves the wedding chamber, then let people fast and pray."

Matt 9:14-17
Then came to him the disciples of John, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? but the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast. No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

Matt 12:1-8
At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Mark 2:18-22
And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.

Mark 2:23-28
And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

 

Scholarly Quotes

Marvin Meyer writes:

"Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies ('Stromateis') 3.15.99.4, incorporates a beatitude with similar content: 'Those who have castrated themselves from all sin for the sake of heaven's kingdom are fortunate: They are the ones who fast from the world.' Fasting from the world means abstaining from the material things that the world has to offer; keeping the sabbath a sabbath seems to imply that one should rest in a truly significant way and separate oneself from worldly concerns. Thus 'Macarius' of Syria is cited by Aelred Baker ('Pseudo-Macarius and the Gospel of Thomas,' p. 220) as making the same sort of statement: 'For the soul that is considered worthy from the shameful and foul reflections keeps the sabbath a true sabbath and rests a true rest. . . . To all the souls that obey and come he gives rest from these . . . impure reflections . . ., (the souls) keeping the sabbath a true sabbath.' The words 'observe the sabbath as a sabbath' in saying 27 could also be taken to derive from the idiom 'keep the sabbath (in reference to) the sabbath,' as in the Septuagint. Further, since the Coptic employs two different spellings for the word translated 'sabbath' in saying 27 (sambaton and sabbaton), it is conceivable - but probably too subtle - that the text could be translated 'observe the (whole) week as the sabbath'; compare Tertullian, Against the Jewish People 4: 'We ought to keep a sabbath from all servile work always, and not only every seventh day, but all the time.'"

(The Gospel of Thomas: The Hidden Sayings of Jesus, pp. 81-82)

Joseph A. Fitzmyer writes:

"'Fasting to the world' must mean withdrawal from a worldly or secular outlook; it is an abstention from the world that involves becoming a 'solitary' (monarchos)."

(Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament, p. 391)

Joseph A. Fitzmyer writes:

"Being a construction with a cognate accusative (lit., 'to sabbatize the sabbath'), it explains the peculiar Coptic construction, where the repeated word is really superfluous, etetntmeire mpsambaton ensabbaton. (The dissimilation of bb to mb in the first occurence of the word in Coptic, but not the second, should be noted.) The Greek expression occurs in the LXX at Lv 23:32; 2 Chr 36:21. C. Taylor (op. cit., pp. 14-15) showed that it does not simply mean 'to observe the (weekly) sabbath'. In Lv 23:32 it refers to the Day of Atonement, which is to be kept as a real sabbath. Hence, it is likely that we should understand the expression in this saying in a metaphorical or a spiritual sense. Cf. Heb 4:9 and Justin (Dial. w. Trypho 12, 3; PG 6, 500), who uses sabbatizein in the sense of a spiritual sabbath opposed to the formal Jewish observance; for him it consisted in abstention from sin."

(Essays on the Semitic Background of the New Testament, p. 392)

Gerd Ludemann writes:

"A literal understanding, namely sabbath observance, is to be excluded. Rather, 'sabbath' here may be synonymous with 'world'. In that case v. 2 symbolizes abstinence from worldly values. For 'seeing the Father' cf. Matt. 5.8 ('see God')."

(Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 604)

M. A. Williams writes:

"In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus says, 'If you do not fast with respect to the world, you will not find the Kingdom' (saying 27). But another saying in that gospel (14) seems to reject external acts of piety, including fasting, as things that can lead to sin, possibly because of pride or hypocrisy. The fasting 'with respect to the world' in saying 27 could therefore be intended as a metaphor for general withdrawal from involvement in the world (which itself implies other forms of ascetic denial). It is possible that it is not fasting per se which is rejected in saying 14 of Gos. Thom. but only hypocritical or empty fasting, which does not reflect a genuine indifference to the world."

(Rethinking "Gnosticism", p. 142)

F. F. Bruce writes:

"This saying (whose Greek text is preserved in P. Oxy. 1. 2) seems to have been widely known in the church of the second and third centuries; its substance appears in Justin, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian. [Justin, Dialogue with Trypho 12.3; Clement, Miscellanies iii. 99.4; Tertullian, Against the Jews 4.] While literal fasting and sabbath-keeping are deprecated (cf. Sayings 14, 104), the spiritual counterpart to these religious exercises is recommended (cf. Saying 6)."

(Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 125)

 

Visitor Comments

A degree of withdrawal from the "world" provides the perspective to realize your true place in Reality. Meditation on God (a true Sabbath) is necessary to understanding a part of the Nature of God.
- active-mystic

Be IN the world but not OF the world. It is a schoolroom, not a quasi-utopia. Do not let the things OF the world rule you. Observe the sabbath, that is follow the instructs of your teacher
- Thief37

Yes, I think here what is meant is meditation. Time for contemplation. If you do not have time for reflective thought you will not see.
- Willows