Texts in Conversation
In Luke 15, the prodigal son admits his sin and returns to his father, who welcomes him. Exegesis on the Soul, a Nag Hammadi text, gives a similar appeal to the soul as a woman who regrets leaving home and asks her Father to restore her.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Luke 15:18
New Testament
17 But when he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired workers have food enough to spare, but here I am dying from hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired workers.”’ 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way from home his father saw him, and his heart went out to him; he ran and hugged his son and kissed him. 21 Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
Exegesis on the Soul 1:19
Nag Hammadi
When, however, the exalted Father visited her and looked on her, and saw her moaning in her pains and shame, repenting for the prostitution she practiced, and when she started to invoke his name that he might help her, [she moaned] with all her heart and said: “Save me, my Father. Look on me, because I will give [an account to you], because I forsook my house and escaped from my maiden’s quarters. Restore me to yourself once more.” When he beholds her in this condition, he will then consider her worthy of bestowing his mercy on her, because many are the sufferings that befell her because she forsook her house.
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Notes and References
“... Fortunately, in a moment of clarity she remembers her “Father on high” and “began to call on him for help, and [she signed] with all her heart” (Exeg. Soul 128.27–33). Mindful of all that she has lost over the course of her journey, her prayer rings with poignancy: “My Father, save me. Look, I shall tell [you how I] left home and fled from my maiden’s quarters” (Exeg. Soul 128.35–129.1). With her final words, she expresses her desire to return back to her former home: “Restore me to yourself” (Exeg. Soul 129.2). Significantly, her Father, having viewed Sophia’s fallen state, now will “consider her worthy of his mercy” (Exeg. Soul 129.3–4). [...] The reader can easily hear the echoes of the prodigal’s lament and that of Sophia: “I will get up and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called thy son; treat me like one of thy hired servants” (Luke 15:18–19). ...”
Frederick, Nicholas J.
"The “Journey of the Soul” in Two Lucan Parables" in Crawford, Christopher S. (ed.) Greco-Roman and Jewish Tributaries to the New Testament: Festschrift in Honor of Gregory J. Riley
(p. 17, 21) Claremont Press, 2018
* 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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