Gospel of Thomas Commentary

174,747 words

This compilation explores modern interpretations of the Gospel according to Thomas, an ancient text preserved in a Coptic translation at Nag Hammadi and Greek fragments at Oxyrhynchus. With no particular slant, this commentary gathers together quotations from various scholars in order to elucidate the meaning of the sayings, many of which are right...

Saying 100 - Give Unto Caesar The Things That Are Caesar's

Nag Hammadi Coptic Text

BLATZ

(100) They showed Jesus a gold piece and said to him: Caesar's men demand tribute from us. He said to them: What belongs to Caesar, give to Caesar; what belongs to God, give to God; and what is mine, give it to me.

LAYTON

(100) They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "Caesar's agents are exacting taxes from us." He said to them, "Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, give unto god the things that are god's, and give unto me that which is mine."

DORESSE

104 [100]. They showed Jesus a piece of money and said to him: "The people who belong to Caesar ask us for taxes." He said to them: "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to God what is God's, and what is mine give me!"

 

Funk's Parallels

Luke 20:20-26
And they watched him, and sent forth spies, which should feign themselves just men, that they might take hold of his words, that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him, saying, Master, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, neither acceptest thou the person of any, but teachest the way of God truly: Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or no? But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Shew me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesars. And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesars, and unto God the things which be Gods. And they could not take hold of his words before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.

Matt 22:15-22
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesars. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesars; and unto God the things that are Gods. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way.

Mark 12:13-17
And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words. And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it. And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesars. And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods. And they marvelled at him.

PEger 2 3
After coming to him, they exactingly tested him, saying, "Teacher Jesus, we know that you have come from God. For the things you do bear greater witness than all the prophets. Tell us then, when it is possible to pay the rulers the things that belong to them, should we pay them or not?" But Jesus knew their plan and warned them sternly and said to them, "Why do you call me teacher with your mouths, since you are not hearing what I am saying? Well did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said, "This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far distant from me. In vain, they worship me . . . command[ments . . .

Sentences of Sextus 20
Give precisely the things of the world to the world and the things of God to God.

 

Scholarly Quotes

Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman write:

"The complexities of Jesus's discussion of the tribute money in the gospels (Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:20-26) are left behind as Thomas relegates what belongs to Caesar and to God to a place of inferiority, compared with the inner man, who belongs to Jesus. Note that God seems to be inferior to Jesus; see Saying 31 [30] and Commentary."

(The Secret Sayings of Jesus, p. 189)

R. McL. Wilson writes:

"Grant and Freedman rightly note that Thomas does not speak of the kingdom of God, and that indeed 'God' is mentioned only once (logion 100), and there evidently as subordinate to Jesus. Their inference that Thomas may be reserving the name 'God' for use as that of an inferior power is also probably correct, and serves to confirm the Gnostic character of the book; as already noted, the God of the Old Testament is in the Gnostic systems degraded to the status of creator and ruler of this present evil world."

(Studies in the Gospel of Thomas, p. 27)

F. F. Bruce writes:

"This is the incident of the tribute money recorded in Mark 12.13-17 and parallels, but the historical setting is a thing of the past and the silver denarius has become a gold coin. What is specially important, however, is the addition of 'give me what is mine' to the canonical saying. 'God', who is thus placed higher than Caesar but lower than Jesus, is not the Supreme Being who is always called the Father in the Gospel of Thomas, but the demiurge, the creator of the material world. Like Caesar, he must receive his due, but it is more important to give Jesus, the unique revealer, his due."

(Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, p. 149)

Gerd Ludemann writes:

"The logion has a parallel in Mark 12.13-17 parr. In contrast to the Synoptics, it is the disciples and not the opponents of Jesus who show Jesus a coin; this represents a further development. The whole logion has its climax in v. 4, which is without parallel in the Synoptics. Evidently 'Jesus' expects of his disciples their own offering, i.e. in the framework of the Gospel of Thomas, that they should be aware of their own sparks of light and thus become one with Jesus, the personification of light (cf. 77.1-3; 108.1-3)."

(Jesus After 2000 Years, p. 638)

Helmut Koester writes:

"In this brief chria of the Gospel of Thomas all of the narrative and discourse sections are missing which tie the Markan parallel to the context of Mark 12 where various people come to Jesus in order to trap him. Thomas preserves what must have been the basis of the elaborate exchange in Mark's extended apophthegma. The last phrase in Thomas ('and give me what is mine'), on the other hand, is a later expansion emphasizing the commitment to Jesus."

(Ancient Christian Gospels, p. 112)

 

Visitor Comments

The emperor, representing temporal authority, is the positive learnt attitudes, God is the innate adult self and Jesus the innate repair process.
- Rodney

Jesus taught: the Kingdom of God is here now, we just can't see it. That leaves us with two levels of consciouness and two points of focus, the "world" ("Caesar") and the "Kingdom" ("God"). Between these two stood Jesus, our needed intermediary, to bring us from "the world" into the Truth that is the Kingdom. When he said "Give unto..." he didn't mean material things, he meant focus of consciousness. Here He asks us to give attention to the "needs" of the world ("Caesar")[to avoid unnecessarily "hurting" ourselves], to keep vigilant for the Truth that is God, and to give attention to His teaching...which will bring us from the world into the Kingdom.
- A Brother

The pursuit of enlightenment by means of single minded spiritual practice does not mean that we do not also have worldly duties and obligations to perform. We should attend to both spiritual and worldly matters with equal dedication. It is, however, preferable that we deal with our worldly duties in a calm and even tempered manner without becoming excessively attached or dependent on worldly objects. Such attachments or dependencies include our relationships and our possessions, as well as our thoughts, opinions and conclusions.
- Lux

A proper pupil of an esoteric school must render homage to the needs of social intercourse, to the state & society in which he lives, and to the religiosity of his milieu. Etc. Otherwise he/she will be an unbalanced individual. It is a caution about obssessive attitudes, about unbalanced behaviour, about the dangers of departing from the needs of a normal existence.
- Thief37

Jesus is saying in effect, "What is a gold coin that you should value it?" He who seeks material value shall only find material value.
- Corpus Shtev

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