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The Coptic of the Gospel of Thomas literally says John's eyes should break, an expression found nowhere else. It may be a copying slip for failing eyes, the phrase Deuteronomy and Lamentations use for someone in deep distress.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Deuteronomy 28:65
Septuagint
64 And the Lord your God shall scatter you abroad into all the nations, from the end of the earth as far as the end of the earth, and you shall serve in that place other gods of wood and stones, whom you and your fathers did not know. 65 But also in these nations he shall not give rest to you nor shall there be rest for the sole of your foot, and the Lord shall give you there another disobedient heart and failing eyes and a melted soul. 66 And your life shall be hanging before your eyes, and you shall be afraid day and night, and you shall not have trust in your life.
LXX Lamentations 2:11
Septuagint
10 Iōd. The elders of the daughter of Zion sat on the ground; they were silent. They brought up dust upon their head; they girded themselves with sackcloth; they brought down to the ground the chief virgins in Jerusalem. 11 Chaph. My eyes came to an end with tears; my heart was stirred up. My honor was poured out on the earth, on the wound of the daughter of my people, while infant and suckling came to an end in the streets of the city. 12 Labd. To their mothers they said, “Where is grain and wine?” while they faint like the wounded in the city streets, while their lives are poured out into the bosom of their mothers.
Gospel of Thomas 1:46
Nag Hammadi
45 Jesus said, “Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles; for they do not produce fruit. Good people bring forth good from their treasure; bad people bring forth evil from their evil treasure in their heart and say evil things. For out of the abundance of the heart they bring forth evil.” 46 Jesus said, “From Adam to John the Baptist, among those born of women, no one is greater than John the Baptist so that his eyes should not be averted. Yet I have said that whoever among you will become a child will know the kingdom and will become greater than John.” 47 Jesus said, “It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows; and it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters, for he will honor the one and treat the other contemptuously. No person drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. New wine is not put into old wineskins, or they might burst; and old wine is not put into a new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because it would tear.”
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Notes and References
“... The Coptic’s reference to John’s eyes literally breaking [...] is very peculiar. Plisch suggests textual corruption, and it may be that the better sense is ‘eyes failing’, a common biblical idiom referring to a state of being deeply troubled with no comfort: Among those nations you shall find no ease, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes (ἐκλείποντας ὀφθαλμούς), and a languishing spirit. (Deut. 28.65) My eyes fail from weeping (ἐξέλιπον ἐν δάκρυσιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου), I am in torment within, my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city. (Lam. 2.11) This idiom may be suggested as a possible alternative. [...] An inner-Coptic scribal error would be quite comprehensible [...]. Examples of the biblical-Coptic idiom [...] (‘my eyes have failed’) can be seen in Ps. 68.3/4 and Ps. 119/118.82. It is nevertheless, like all conjectures, a speculation. ...”
* 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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