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In the Gospel of Thomas, the five trees of paradise never change in summer or winter. Jubilees, and later On the Origin of the World, have paradise made before the sun and moon whose cycles bring the seasons.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Jubilees 2:7
Pseudepigrapha
6 The waters did so, as he told them. They withdrew from the surface of the earth to one place apart from this firmament, and dry land appeared. 7 On that day he created for them all the seas — each with the places where they collected — all the rivers, and the places where the waters collected in the mountains and on the whole earth; all the reservoirs, all the dew of the earth; the seed that is sown — with each of its kinds — all that sprouts, the fruit trees, the forests, and the garden of Eden (which is) in Eden for enjoyment and for food. These four great types he made on the third day. 8 On the fourth day the Lord made the sun, the moon, and the stars. He placed them in the heavenly firmament to shine on the whole earth, to rule over day and night, and to separate between light and darkness.
Gospel of Thomas 1:19
Nag Hammadi
18 The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us how our end will be.” Jesus said, “Have you discovered the beginning, that you are seeking the end? For where the beginning is, there the end will be. Blessed is the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.” 19 Jesus said, “Blessed is the one who existed before coming into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will serve you. For you have five trees in paradise which do not change, summer or winter, and their leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death.” 20 The disciples said to Jesus, “Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like.” He said to them, “It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds; but when it falls on plowed soil it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.”
On the Origin of the World 13:2
Nag Hammadi
Justice next created Paradise. It was beautiful and lay outside the orbit of the moon and the orbit of the sun, inside the Land of Delight, in the east among the stones, and desire dwells among the beautiful, satisfying trees, and the tree of eternal life appeared, in accord with the will of God, to the north of Paradise, in order that the souls of the saints could become deathless, those who shall emerge from the lowly shaped forms at the consummation of the age. The color of the tree of life resembles the sun, and its branches are lovely.
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Notes and References
“... 19.3 Which do not move in summer or winter, and whose leaves do not fall. There are two dimensions to the imagery here. First, these trees in paradise do not ‘move’, a term elsewhere negatively valued in contrast to ‘rest’ and ‘standing’. This evokes the theme of stability, which recently appeared in 18.3 (on the theme, see further on 16.4 above). Secondly, and relatedly, the trees are unaffected by the seasons. The reason for this is probably the widespread idea that paradise came into being before the creation of the sun and moon, and therefore because of its prior existence is not subject to their influence. The paradisal house in the Gospel of Judas is ‘the place where the sun and the moon will not have dominion’ (Gos. Jud. 45,14–24). More explicit on this theme is Origin of the World, which talks of ‘paradise, which is beautiful and is outside the orbit of the moon and the orbit of the sun in the land of wantonness …’ (Origin 110,2–6). This goes back to Jubilees, in which paradise is created on the third day, before the luminaries which are created on the fourth day: for this reason, paradise can be envisaged as outside of time. ...”
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