Jackson Snyder's Bible News - Secret Egyptian Saying of Yahshua

This is a collection of 114 sayings of Yahshua Messiah, many of which appear to be very ancient (50 AD or earlier). Many are "harder" sayings, thus perhaps earlier forms of canonical sayings. The first mention of this source that we know of was by Hippolytus in about 230, which he called The Gospel of Thomas. It was known only in fragmentary form until its rediscovery at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Since, it has raised quite a stir, and not only in the scholarly community. The collector claims to be the brother of Yahshua, the biblical figure “Jude.”

Editor's note: This is a new, scholarly paraphrase of the so-called Gospel of Thomas. Hopefully, the saying are in better (Egyptian / Hebraic) context than other translations. I do not believe this is Gnostic literature as so many scholars seem to want to believe. Even the most difficult sayings may be interpreted in a Biblical framework. This paraphrase is a continuance of a translation I did in 1990 which is still 'up' at www.jacksonsnyder.com/sss.

These are the secret sayings that the living Yahshua spoke and Didymos Yahuda Toma recorded. Whoever interprets these sayings will not taste death.

Where there are three elohim, let them be divine. Where there are two or one, I am with the One.

Hypocrites

The Soferim and Prushim have hidden the keys to spiritual knowledge away. They themselves have not used the keys to enter the home of wisdom nor have they permitted anyone else to try them.

Explanation: Parallel to Matthew 23:13

(a) Woe to you Soferim and Prushim; you are like dogs sleeping in a manger, neither eating nor allowing the oxen their fill. (b) You who seek knowledge, however, must be as wise as vipers and as naive as doves.

Explanation: (a) Quote from Æsop (AiswpoV), 300 B.C.E. (b) Matthew 10:16b

Family

The one who knows his father and mother will be called the son of a whore.

Explanation: strongly alluded to in Alluded to in Matthew 1:19,20; Mark 3:33,34; 6:3; John 8:41; Origen (c. 185-232 CE): "But let us now return to where the Jew is introduced [Celsus], speaking of the mother of Jesus, and saying that "when she was pregnant she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera; "and let us see whether those who have blindly concocted these fables about the adultery of the Virgin with Panthera, and her rejection by the carpenter, did not invent these stories to overturn His miraculous conception by the Holy Ghost: for they could have falsified the history in a different manner, on account of its extremely miraculous character, and not have admitted, as it were against their will, that Jesus was born of no ordinary human marriage." - Origen Against Celsus 1:Chapter XXXII

The one who drinks from my mouth will become like me. I will become him and secrets will be revealed.

Meaning: A a beautiful motivational and egalitarian statement from teacher to student about the reward of learning.

The following similar sayings are also attributed to Yahshua sometime later:

Odes of Solomon 10: 1 Yahweh hath directed my mouth by His word: and He hath opened my heart by His light: and He hath caused to dwell in me His deathless life.

Odes 12: 1 He hath filled me with words of truth; that I may speak the same; 2 And like the flow of waters flows truth from my mouth, and my lips show forth His fruit.

Odes 16 6 I will open my mouth and His spirit will utter in me the glory of Yahweh and His beauty. etc.

This was the favorite scripture of the celebrated mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987) who spoke of it in an interview with Bill Moyers: Jesus is talking from the point of view of that being of beings, which we call the Christ, who is the being of all of us. Anyone who lives in relation to that is as Christ. Anyone who brings into his life the message of the Word is equivalent to Jesus, that's the sense of that.

John 17:11b, Holy Father, keep them in thy name, which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

(a) Old folks will not hesitate to ask an eight-day-old child about life. In this way the old will live on. (b) Many of the first will become last; (c) they will become one and the same.

Meaning: (a) The Eighth Day was a technical term for the end of the Millennial seventh day. On that day Yahweh will receive a perfected earth from his son Yahshua and all will be made anew (as a child). This idea of the Eight Day is scattered throughout biblical literature.

Here is a good example:

Epistle of Barnabas 15:8 And, further, Yahweh says unto them (in Isaiah 1:14), Your new moons and your Shabbatot I cannot endure. See, now, what He means. The Shabbatot that now are, are not acceptable unto Me, but that which I have made is, even that in which, after that I have brought all things to an end, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, which thing is the beginning of another world. 9 Wherefore we also keep the eighth day as a day of gladness, on which also we learned that Yahshua was risen from the dead, and after he had appeared ascended unto heaven. (Dornan translation)

The Nazoreans kept the Sabbath as per the Torah but they also celebrated the eighth day (which was on the first day) as a reminder that Yahshua was discovered alive on the day after Sabbath, and for an act of faith for what was to come. The elderly (the old world) inquiring of an eight-day babe is an allegoric explanation of how the elderly will become young again in the future reign of Yahweh. See, "The old will live on" - as 8th day babes.

Matthew 9:17b - new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

Acts 20:7 - On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul ... prolonged his speech until midnight.

(b) Matthew 19:20; 20:8; 20:16, etc. Read context there.

(c) This is the theme of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) and the High Priestly Prayer (John 17). Some will lead the way into the eighth thousand-year "day" of salvation history, when all who are destined to be One with the Creator and the Son shall be.

Some said to Yahshua, Come on. Today we will fast and pray. Yahshua said, Have I committed a sin or been defeated? When the bridegroom departs from the bridal chamber, then fast and pray.

Meaning: Matthew 9:15. And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.

A lady in the crowd cried out, Lucky is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you. Yahshua said to her, Lucky are those who have heard the Father’s word and kept it. For there will be days when you will cry, Lucky the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk.

Meaning: Luke 11:27 A woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!"

Matthew 24:19. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Eating and Living

(a) The dead live not and the living die not. (b) In the days when you ate the dead, you brought it to life. So when you are in the light, what will you do? On that day you show as two. And when you become two, what will you do then?

It is like this, the lion eaten by a person is blessed because the lion becomes a person. Yet unclean is the person eaten by the lion (though the lion will still become a person).

Mysteries

If you recognize what you see, hidden things will become plain. There is nothing that is now hidden that won't be revealed.

I will reveal to you what no eye has yet seen, what no ear has yet heard, what no hand has yet touched, and what no mind has ever considered.

Let the seeker seek until he finds. When he finds, he let him become perplexed. When he becomes perplexed, let him become amazed at his discovery so that he might rule over all. Whoever finds himself has power over the world.

Get to know what is in your face and what is hidden will be made plain. There is nothing covered that will not be uncovered and nothing buried that will not be raised.

I give you what no eye has seen or ear has heard or hand has touched or what has arisen in the human heart.

The skies and lands will roll up in your presence – so whoever making a living from the Living One will not perceive death.

Proverbs and Parables

This person is like a smart fisher who cast his net into the sea and drew it up full of minnies. With them the smart fisher discovered an excellent whopper. He made an easy choice of the big fish and pitched all the minnies back into the sea. Anyone with two excellent ears should listen!"

Look, the farmer went out with a handful and scattered. Some fell on the road and birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock and they did not penetrate the earth so they did not produce grain. Others fell among weeds; they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And one fell on good ground, producing a good harvest: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.

Love your friends like your own soul, protect them like the apple of your eye. And you may see a splinter in your friend's eye while missing the tree trunk in your own. When you remove timber from your own eye you will see well to remove the splinter from your friend's.

The Father's reign is like a woman who is carrying a sack of flour. While she walks on the road yet some distance from home, some of the stitching comes unraveled and the flour begins to seep out onto the road. She did not realize it. When she reached her home, she found that her sack was empty.

The Father's reign is like a woman. She took a little yeast, hid it in some dough, and baked huge loaves of bread. Anyone here with two ears …?

The crop is huge but the workers are lacking so beg the boss to send workers to the fields.

O Father Yahweh, there are many around the trough but nothing in the well. There are many standing at the door, but only those who are alone will enter the bridal suite.

Images are seen, but the image within is hidden in the Father's light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden in his light.

When you see your image, you get happy. But when you get to see your images that preceded you, how much grief you will have to bear!

Adamah came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been worthy, he would never have tasted death."

Foxes have their dens and birds have their nests, but Children of Adamah have no place to lay down or rest.

Why wash the outside of the cup? Understand that the One who made the inside made the outside also.

Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable and my service is gentle, and you will find rest.

Seek and you will find. In the past I did not discuss with you what you asked me. Now that I am willing to discuss these things, you are no longer seeking them.

Do not give what is set-apart to dogs for what you give will end up on the manure pile. Do not throw pearls to pigs; they might turn on you and trample you to death.

One who seeks will find and for one who knocks it will be opened.

If you have money, don't lend it at interest. Give it away.

Blessed are those who know where the rebels are going to attack. They can get moving, collect their ammunitions and be prepared before the rebels get there.

Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the keystone.

Those who know everything but themselves are utterly lacking.

If you bring forth what is within, that will save you. If you do not have anything within you, what you do not have will kill you.

I will destroy this house, and no one will be able to build it again but me.

No prophet is welcome on the home front; doctors cannot cure those who know them well.

A city built upon a mountain and fortified can neither fall nor be hidden.

What you hear in one ear, from the other ear proclaim from your rooftops.

Nobody lights a lamp and puts it under a basket or otherwise hides it. He puts it on a lamp stand so that all who pass by will see its light.

If a blind leads a blind, both will fall into an abyss.

Why worry day in and day out about what you will eat or wear. You are more important than the lilies; they do not work at all. When you have no clothes, what will you wear? Is there not one who can make you taller? That same one has already given you what to wear. Whoever has something will be given more and whoever has nothing has nothing to lose.

Odes of Solomon 11 And I rejected the folly cast upon the earth, and stripped it off and cast it from me. And Yahweh renewed me with His garment, and possessed me by His light.

Who can mount two horses or bend two bows? A slave cannot serve two masters. That slave will honor one and offend the other, or honor the other and offend the One.

Who drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink grape juice? Juice is not poured into old skins - they might burst. And aged wine is not poured into a new skins - it might spoil. An old patch is not sewn on new clothing since it would tear.

Allegories

A man was having a formal dinner. When he had prepared everything, he sent his slave to invite the guests. The slave went to the first and said to that one, My master invites you. That guest said, Some people owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have to give them instructions. Please excuse me from dinner. The slave went to the next guest and said, My master has invited you. That guest said to the slave, I bought a house and am called away that day. I do not have time for it. The slave went to another guest and said, My master invites you. That one said, My friend is getting married and I am the weeding planner. I cannot come. Please excuse me from dinner. The slave went to another guest and said, My master invites you. That one said to the slave, I bought some rental property and am going to collect. I will not be able to come. Please excuse me.

The slave returned and said to his master, 'All those invited to dinner have asked to be excused. The master said to his slave, Then go out into the streets and bring back whomever you find to have dinner.

Another fellow owned a vineyard and rented it to some farmers to work it. He intended to collect the crop. He sent his slave so the farmers for the crop. They kidnapped him, beat him, and almost killed him. The slave returned and told his master. His master said, Perhaps they didn't recognize him. He sent another slave, and the farmers beat that one the same. Then the master sent his son and said, They will show my son respect. Because the farmers knew he was the heir to the vineyard, they killed him.

Moral? Buyers and merchants will not enter the realm of my Father.

The Father's reign is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. The shepherd left the ninety-nine and looked for the one until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to this sheep, I love you more than the ninety-nine.

The Father's reign is like a person who had treasure hidden on his lot but did not know it. He died he left it to his son. The son did not know about it either. He sold his lot. The buyer went plowing, found the treasure and began to lend money at interest. Let one who has found the world and has become wealthy renounce it all.

Fire

Some people think I have come to cast peace on the world. They know not that I come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire, sword, war. Five will be in a house: three against two and two against three; father against son and son against father. And they will stand alone.

Lo, I cast a spark upon the world, and look! I am guarding it until it bursts into flames. The one near me is near the fire; the one far from me is far from the Reign.

The Father

When you see the one who was not born of flesh, worship him and do obeisance. That one is the Father.

Humankind can easily see the likeness of most things, but the spiritual light within is concealed by the brighter light of the Father. The Father's countenance can be seen, but his likeness will remain hidden within his light.

Unity

If two in a house will make peace with each other, they will be able to say, Mountain, move away! And the mountain will move away.

I am the light over all. All came forth and all attained form through me. Now if you split wood; I am there. Lift the stone, I am there.

The Elect

I will choose you, one of a thousand, two of ten thousand. The chosen will stand as one.

Blessed are the steadfast in their election, for they will find the Reign. You chosen ones are from the Reign and will return to it.

The Blessing of Persecution

Blessed is the one who has found life through suffering. Blessed are you when hated and persecuted. Your accusers will find no place to rest. Blessed are those who esteem themselves worthless. They have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are the hungry; their belly that wants food will be filled. Blessed is the one who became before he came to be! If you listen to my words and follow me, even these stones will minister to you.

Life and Death

There are five trees in Paradise for you that do not change with the seasons - their leaves never fall. Whoever takes interest in these trees will not die.

A great power formed Adam from a great wealth, but he is inferior to you. Had he been as worthy as you are, he would never have died.

You will see the heavens and the earth rolled up before your very eyes! Only ones who gain life from the Living One will not die.

There was a rich fellow who had lots of money. He said, I will invest so I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses and lack nothing. But that very night he died. Is there anyone here with two ears to listen?

Dependence

Wretched is flesh that depends on flesh; wretched is the soul that depends on both. Woe to the flesh that depends on the soul and to the soul that depends on the flesh!

A grapevine has been planted apart from the Father. It is not strong and will be yanked up by its root and perish.

Become passers-by.

Deception

Teachers, preachers and angels will offer you that which you have already. In exchange, you will give them all your increase and say to yourselves, When will they return for more?

The Father’s Reign (or Kingdom)

The Reign of the Father is like one man who plans to kill a more powerful man. At home, he spends time rehearsing. He draws his dagger and stabs it with all his might into the wall. He wonders if he has the resolve to carry out his plan. When the confrontation comes, he finds he is well able to kill, thanks to careful rehearsal.

Your teachers tell you that the Reign is somewhere up in the sky. If this were so, the birds would get there before you. They may tell you that the Reign is also in the ocean. If this were so, the fish would precede you. The truth is that the Reign is inside you, and it is outside you. When you realize who you are, then you will become known to the living Father and recognize that you are his children. But if you do not realize who you are, you live in poverty and you are impoverished.

A Talmid said, Tell us what the reign of the sky is like. Yahshua replied, It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all, but when it falls on readied ground it produces a large bush and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky.

The Father's kingdom is like a store keeper who found a pearl hidden among some other goods. That merchant was wise, so he sold the merchandise and bought the pearl for himself. So also with you; however, seek his treasure that is unfailing, that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys.

His Talmidim asked, When will the reign come? Yahshua replied, The reign will not come by sight. No one will ever say Look here! or Look there! Rather, the Father's reign is spread out on all the earth, yet people do not see it at all.

The World

The one who discovers the world discovers a corpse; he who discovers a corpse is better than the world. Whoever understands worldly ways and becomes comfortable in them has unearthed a corpse only. Whoever recognizes the corpse as such is superior to the world.

When I became flesh and took my place in the midst of the world, I found no one thirsty; all had drunken freely to intoxication. My soul became tortured for the crowd, for people are all spiritually blind, having no heart-sight. They come into this world empty, and just as empty they leave. But for the time being, they remain drunk. Perhaps when they shake off their wine they will repent.

Odes of Solomon 11: And so I drank and became intoxicated, from the living water that does not die. And my intoxication did not cause ignorance, but I abandoned vanity, and turned toward the El Shaddai, Eli, and was enriched by His favors.

If flesh had come into being by the spirit, it would truly be a wonder. If spirit had come into being by the body, it would be a wonder of wonders! Indeed, I am amazed at how such great wealth makes its home in such poverty!

The dead live not and the living die not. In the days when you ate the dead, you brought it to life. So when you are in the light, what will you do? On that day you will show as two. And when you become two, what will you do then?

As for you, be sly as snakes and as simple as doves.

The Talmidim

The Talmidim demanded, Tell us who you are so that we may believe in you. Yahshua replied, “You study the face of sky and land but you have not studied the one who right before you and you do not know how to examine this present moment."

There was a Shomronite carrying a lamb on his way to Yahuda. Yahshua asked his Talmidim, Why is that man wound around a lamb? They said, So that he can kill and eat it. Yahshua said, Yes! He will not eat the lamb alive. He will eat it once he has made it a corpse. They said, He could not do it any other way! Yahshua said, You, too, find your resting-place for fear you be made a corpse and eaten.

The Talmidim asked, When will the dead rest and the new world come? Yahshua told them, What you ask about has already happened, but you do not recognize it. This sky will be no more and the sky above it will pass away. The dead are not living and the living will not die. During these days when you eat a corpse, you bring it to life. So what will you do when you are lit up? On a day you are one, you become two. But when you become two, what will you do then?

Two will lie on a couch; one will die, one will live. Salome said, Who are you sir? You have climbed onto my couch and eaten from my table as if you were actually somebody. Yahshua told her, I am he who comes from what is complete. I was granted such things from my Father. Salome said, And I am your disciple. Yahshua replied, For this reason I tell you that if you are whole, you will be filled up with light. But if you are divided, you will fill with darkness. It is like this: I disclose my mysteries to those who are worthy of them.

His Talmidim demanded, Who are you to say such things? Yahshua replied, Obviously you don't understand who I am from what I say. You have become just like certain Judeans who love the tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but hate the tree. Grapes are not picked from thorns or figs plucked from thistles – these trees yield no edible fruit. Good folks do good from what they have stored up; bad folks do evil from the unrighteousness they have stored up in their hearts, and they naturally say evil things, for from the overflow of the heart they say and do evil.

Why have you come out to the country? To see a cat tail shaking in the wind and a person dressed in soft clothes like your preachers and politicians? They may be dressed in nice clothes but do not expect them to understand truth because they are well dressed!

From Adamah to Yochanan the Immerser - among all those born of women - Yochanan is not so much greater that one's eyes should be averted in his presence. Yet I already told you that whoever among you becomes a child will recognize the Father's reign - and will become greater than Yochanan."

So whoever blasphemes against the Father may be forgiven and whoever blasphemes against the son may be forgiven; but whoever blasphemes against the set-apart will not be forgiven, either on earth or in the sky.

Yahshua said, Compare me with someone; tell me who I am like. Peter said, You are like a just angel. Matthew said, You are like a wise philosopher. Toma said, Master, my mouth is entirely incapable of describing who you resemble. Yahshua then said, I am not your master, Toma. You have become drunken from the bubbling spring that I have measured out. Yahshua then took Toma aside and told him three things.

Later, the other Talmidim asked him what Yahshua had said. Toma told them, If I tell you what he said, you would pick up rocks to stone me; and if you did, fire would manifest out of the rocks and consume you.

The Talmidim said, Twenty-four prophets prophesied in Israel and all prophesied of you. Yahshua said, You have spoken only of the dead and have omitted the Living One in your presence.

The Talmidim said to Yahshua, Tell us how we will end up. Yahshua said, Have you discovered your start that you look for your end? Where The Start is, there also is The End. Blessed is the one who takes a place in The Beginning; such will know his end and not experience death.

His Talmidim then asked him if circumcision was of any benefit. He said, If it were, a father would beget them so, and likewise they would leave their mother's womb. Only the circumcision of the heart is completely beneficial.

The Talmidim asked, When will the reign come? Yahshua answered, It is not a matter of waiting on it or being able to say specifically that it is here or there. Instead, the reign is spread out over the whole earth, but nobody perceives it.

The Talmidim said, Since we need to seek your place, show us where you are. Yahshua said, There is a light within the One of the Light, lighting up the entire world. If a person doesn't shine, that one is darkness. So follow the light.

His Talmidim asked, At what times will you appear to us and when will we see you? Yahshua answered, When you unclothe without shame, put them on the ground and stomp on them, then will you see the son of the living one and you will not be afraid anymore. You will want to hear these parables I speak and you will have no one else from whom to hear them. There will be days when you will look for me but not find me.

The Talmidim asked Yahshua, Who then will lead us, since we know that you will leave? Yahshua replied, Wherever you happen to be then, go to Ya’akov ha Zaddik. It is for his sake that sky and land came into being.

Maryah asked of Yahshua, What are your Talmidim like? Yahshua replied, They are much like children who went to live in someone’s house. When the owners heard about it, they went to the children and demanded they leave. The children left, abandoning even their clothing, their only possessions, so that the owners might feel fully recompensed. Therefore, if a home owner is told that intruders are coming, he will be prepared not to allow them to break in to live, use his facilities, and make off with his goods.

Shimon Kefa said to them, Make Maryah leave us, for women do not deserve to live. Yahshua replied, Look, Kefa – leave it to me to instruct her in the ways of enoshim so that she may become elohim like you, Kefa. For every female who makes herself malachim will enter the reign of the skies.

Yahshua noticed some nursing babes. He said to his Talmidim, These nursing babes are like those who enter into the Reign. They said to him, Then will we also enter the Reign as mere babes? Yahshua said to them, When you can make the two into one, and when you can make the inner like the outer and the outer like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when you make male and female echad so the male will not be male nor the female be female, when you can make eyes in place of an eye, hands for a hand, feet for a foot, picture for pictures, then you may enter. I will choose you: one from a thousand and two from ten thousand; and you will stand as a one.

Then Yahshua commissioned his Talmidim to go out to the towns and villages. They ask him some questions: Do you want us to fast? How are we to pray? Do we give to the poor? Are we to maintain a certain diet? Yahshua answers them, It is too late for questions; the time has come to act. If you fast now, you resort to inward iniquity, for you are not trusting in my name. If you pray now, you will suffer spiritual harm, for you prove your lack of faith. When you travel through unfamiliar lands, eat what those who receive you set before you then heal the sick among your hosts. What goes into your mouth cannot defile; that which comes out may. If they ask you from whence you come, tell them, From the Light, and from the place where the Light established itself in our images. If then they ask you, Are you the Light? Tell them, We are children of the Light, the chosen of the living Father. If they ask you, By what sign are we to recognize the Father in you? Say, The sign is continuous work, yet continuous rest.

Thieves

Listen to a man of understanding! The moment the grain is ripe, a thief appears ready to reap all he can get! If you have ears, hear.

O now Listen, all of you. Be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves to use all your power and skill against thieves, in case they decide to target you. Any thief that is unaware that he is expected will surely come. Whatever you fear will surely come to be. If a man knows where the intruder will enter, he is fortunate, for he may prepare himself!

They showed Yahshua a gold coin. They said, Caesar's men demand that we pay taxes. Yahshua told them, Give Caesar what is his; give Elohim what is his, and give me what is mine! The angels and the prophets will give you what is yours. You, in turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves, When will they return to take what belongs to them?'

A Thief cannot invade a strong person's house and take it by force without first tying his hands. Then his house may be looted.

A man came for Yahshua's judgment. Tell my brothers give me my share of father's possessions. Yahshua replied, Man, who has made me a divider? He then turned to his Talmidim: I am not a divider, am I?

Secret Egyptian Saying of Yahshua

©1990 – 2007 Dr. Jackson Snyder