Texts in Conversation
Matthew, Luke and the Gospel of Thomas all give the saying that whoever has will be given more. Matthew adds an abundance, and Thomas adds that the one who has holds it in his hand, yet Thomas stays close enough to the others to point to a literary link.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Matthew 13:12
New Testament
11 He replied, “You have been given the opportunity to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. 12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand.
Luke 8:18
New Testament
16 “No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand so that those who come in can see the light. 17 For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light. 18 So listen carefully, for whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”
Gospel of Thomas 1:41
Nag Hammadi
40 Jesus said, “A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father, and since it is not strong, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed.” 41 Jesus said, “Whoever has something in his hand will be given more; and whoever has nothing, even the little he has will be taken away.” 42 Jesus said, “Be passersby.”
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Notes and References
“... 4. To the One Who Has (Mark 4.25; Q 19.26; Gospel of Thomas 41) a. Mark and Q ‘The rich get richer; the poor get poorer.’ The principle in Mark’s concluding aphorism would seem self-evident. One finds the saying earlier in Matthew’s parable sermon (Mt. 13.12) and repeated as the conclusion to the parable of the Talents (Mt. 25.29). Luke includes it in his parables chapter (Lk. 8.18) and with the Talents (Lk. 19.26). Hence, inclusion in Q is assured. [...] In reconstructing the Q original, it is more likely that Matthew’s introductory [...] is due to conflation with Mark. The Matthean [...] is added to the Markan and Q forms and is thus redactional. [...] b. The Version in Thomas Thomas’ version of the saying is found in a third context. It is preceded by the logion on the plant, not of the Father, and followed by the exhortation to ‘be wanderers’ and the comparison of the fruit and the tree. The saying displays one major stylistic variation from the synoptic versions: He who has in his hand, it shall be given to him; and he who does not have, even the little he has shall be taken away from him. The addition of ‘in his hand’ is similar to Thomas’ introduction to the parable of the Sower (logion 9) and the parable of the reaper (logion 21). This phrase, therefore, can hardly be ascribed to the oral tradition. The remaining logion is so close to either Mark or Q that a literary relationship is highly likely. A thesis of oral independence would be based only on convenience. And further, one again finds that oral tradition has not transmitted the logion independently in a consistent chain of aphorisms. ...”
Henaut, Barry W.
Oral Tradition and the Gospels: The Problem of Mark 4
(pp. 288-290) JSOT Press, 1993
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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