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Philo tells of a farmer who finds treasure while digging to plant a tree, and likens it to wisdom God gives without labor. In the Gospel of Thomas, the owner and his son never know it is there; it turns up only when the buyer plows the field.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Philo, On the Unchangeableness of God 1:91
Classical
91 And we have often met with such things as previously we had never seen even in a dream; like a husbandman whom some persons say while digging a hole for the purpose of planting some fruit-bearing tree, found a treasure, meeting with good fortune which he had never hoped for. 92 Therefore Jacob, the wrestler with God, when his father asked him the manner in which he had acquired this knowledge, saying, 'How didst thou find this so quickly, my son?' answered and said, 'Because the Lord my God brought it before me.' For when God bestows on any one the treasures of his own wisdom without any toil or labour, then we, without having expected such things, suddenly perceive that we have found a treasure of perfect happiness.
Date: 20-50 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Gospel of Thomas 1:109
Nag Hammadi
108 Jesus said, “Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that one, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.” 109 Jesus said, “The kingdom is like a man who had a treasure hidden in his field and did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his son. The son did not know; he took possession of the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, discovered the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished.” 110 Jesus said, “Whoever has found the world and become rich should renounce the world.”
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Notes and References
“... What may well mark out the third man is that he is the only one of the three to work (‘ploughing’) and who gets his reward; both the terminology of ‘labour’ ([...]; GTh 58; 107; though cf. 8; 97) and effort in general (e.g. GTh 2) are important elsewhere in Thomas. What he finds is the treasure of salvation, i.e. rest in the kingdom. [...] 109.3 Went ploughing. This element perhaps draws attention to the element of ‘working’ integral to finding knowledge in a number of sayings (e.g. GTh 58; 107.3). Interestingly, the man who digging to plant a tree finds a treasure in Philo, Imm. 91–92 is likened to discovering treasure from God χωρὶς καὶ πόνου, ‘without labour’ (cf. GTh 8). ...”
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