Texts in Conversation
In the Gospel of Thomas, Salome asks who Jesus is, coming onto her couch as if from One. The Three Steles of Seth, a Nag Hammadi text, praises a divine being who came to be from One, the same odd phrase Salome uses.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Gospel of Thomas 1:61
Nag Hammadi
60 They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb on his way to Judea. He said to his disciples, “Why is that man carrying the lamb?” They said to him, “So that he may kill it and eat it.” He said to them, “While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse.” They said, “Otherwise he cannot do it.” He said to them, “So also with you: seek for yourselves a place of rest, lest you become a corpse and be eaten.” 61 Jesus said, “Two will rest on a couch; one will die, one will live.” Salome said, “Who are you, man? As if from One, you have ascended onto my couch and eaten at my table.” Jesus said, “I am he who comes from the one who is whole. I was given from my Father’s things.” Salome said, “I am your disciple.” Jesus said, “For this reason I say, if one is whole, he will be filled with light; but if he is divided, he will be filled with darkness.” 62 Jesus said, “I speak my mysteries to those [who are worthy] of my mysteries. Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Three Steles of Seth 4:5
Nag Hammadi
We praise you, Threefold-Male, because you have joined together the All by means of all of them, because you have enabled us. You came to be from One. You have emerged from One, you have approached One. You have saved, you have saved, you have saved us, O you crowned one who crowns!
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Notes and References
“... 61.2 … as from one … . The phrase ‘as from one’ [...] has been a crux since the discovery of the text. There are five principal options. (1) Some argue that the text is corrupt. It is marked as such by Layton and left out of Lambdin’s translation altogether. [...] Finally, (6) it has also been suggested that the Coptic might make sense as it stands, given that according to Excerpta Theodoti 36.1, Theodotus’s Valentinians say that our angels were put forth in unity and ὡς ἀπὸ ἑνὸς προελθόντες. It is hard to decide. Option (2) is attractive, because dining is a natural setting for a ξένος (in the sense of ‘guest’), but since Dunderberg has shown that the phrase makes sense as it stands, the interpretation that Jesus is taken to be from a divine realm of unity is also possible. To Dunderberg’s reference can be added Steles Seth 120,32–34 (‘you have come from one …’); cf. 122,23–25. ...”
* 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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