Texts in Conversation
In the Shepherd of Hermas, believers find shelter under a large willow. The Gospel of Thomas uses the same Greek expression for birds sheltered by the mustard plant, connecting the kingdom with a tree that protects those beneath it.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Shepherd of Hermas 67:1
Early Christian
1 He showed me a great willow, overshadowing plains and mountains, and all who are called by the name of the Lord have come under the shadow of the willow. 2 By the willow stood an angel of the Lord, glorious and very tall, holding a large sickle, and he was cutting branches from the willow, and giving them to the people who found shelter beneath the willow; and he gave them small rods about a cubit long.
Date: 90-140 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Gospel of Thomas 20
Nag Hammadi
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.”
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Notes and References
“... 20.4 And becomes a shelter for birds of the air. Pokorný may well be correct here that there is an emphasis on security in the ‘shelter’. The reference to the Greek loan word [...] here perhaps relates to its use in the Shepherd of Hermas, where all who are called by the name of the Lord come under the σκέπη of a great willow tree (Herm. 67 [Sim. 8.1].1). Thomas’s version is that which has least connection with the Old Testament by comparison with all the Synoptics, which for Crossan is evidence of Thomas’s primitivity but for Goodacre is the opposite. ...”
* 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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