Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Apocryphote of the Day: 5-13-08

Whoever has ears to hear should listen!

Gospel of Thomas 8.4, 21.5, 24.2, 63.2, 65.2, 96.2; Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 4:23; Luke 8:8, 14:35; Revelation 13:9 (cf. 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22), etc.

Commentary: I think that this is the most-recorded saying of Jesus inside and outside the bible .

2 comments:

J. K. Gayle said...

What does that sound like (and look like) in Coptic? With translation, there's that orality-literacy issue you bring up in your previous post.

I always wondered how the Aramaic of Jesus sounded (and looked written). How far and how different (in sound and in sight) is the Greek of Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John? And is Jesus (in Aramaic) translating / invoking something like we have now in the old Hebrew Deuteronomy 29:4?

Richard said...

It seems very similar to something found in Marcus Aurelius' Meditations: Si potes acute videre, vide, inquit, ut quam sapientissime judices.

Which my favourite translation renders as In the words of Crito the sage, 'If thou hast eyes to see, then see.'.

I am not sure which Crito he is referring to, but I assume he predates Jesus.

(My own translation, using a Latin-English dictionary and my knowledge of English, French and some Spanish would be A wise man said, 'If you can see clearly, then see'.)