chapter three
How much do we actually “know”—according to the GH—about the
contents of an Egyptian “Gospel of the Hebrews?” Only three authors cited
that gospel in Egypt and of these, Didymus the Blind’s quotation (Comm.
Ps.) deals only with the problem of a disciple’s double name (Matthew =
Levi or Matthias = Levi). Therefore, we are left with only two pertinent
sayings: Clement’s saying about finding rest (Strom. II IX . and V XIV
.),^12 and Origen’s saying about the Spirit as Jesus’ mother (Comm.
Jo. .). However, precisely these sayings are most clearly paralleled
in theGospel of Thomasand theActs of Thomas. Since scholars usually
assign the composition of these writings to Syria,^13 the existing evidence
suggests a Syrian rather than an Egyptian origin also for theGospel of the
Hebrews.^14
The third main problem is that Waitz emphasized the close relation-
ship between the “Gospel of the Nazarenes” and the Gospel of Matthew^15
but many of the fragments that Waitz and other proponents of the GH
have assigned to the “Gospel of the Nazarenes” are not particularly close
to Matthew’s versions of the synoptic stories or they do not have a clear
parallel in Matthew at all. Furthermore, several of the fragments that
are assigned to the “Gospel of the Nazarenes” and which do have some
Matthean expressions also share readings with the Gospel of Luke.^16
Thus, it is clear that there are fragments which were not derived from
(^12) Strom. II IX .: “He who has become astonished will become king and he who
has become king will rest.”Strom. V XIV .: “He who seeks will not cease until he finds
and having found he will marvel and having marvelled he will become king and having
become king, he will rest.” Origen,Comm. Jo. .: “A moment ago my Mother the Holy
Spirit, took me by one of my hairs and brought me to the great hill, the Tabor.” Trans.
Klijn .
(^13) See below Chapter ..
(^14) In theActs of Thomas, the Holy Spirit is often called “Mother” (Acts Thom. cc. , ,
, ). Vielhauer & Strecker ^2 (^1 ), contend that in Egypt theApocryphon
of James(.–) also refers to Jesus as the Son of the Holy Ghost. However, the
translation of the passage is difficult. F.E. Willams translates: “Become better than I; make
yourselves like the Son of the Holy Spirit.” See, Williams , –. According to Klijn
, , the idea about the Spirit as mother “may go back to pre-Christian Syriac or
Mesopotamian sources.” Nevertheless, Klijn also refers to Philo (Ebr. ) and to the idea
about the sons of Wisdom inSir. . and Luke :, concluding that the fragment must
be understood “against the background of Jewish Hellenistic traditions.” This hypothesis
makes it possible for him to locate theGospel of the Hebrewsin Egypt.
(^15) Waitz a, –; Waitz c, .
(^16) See, for instance,τ. /υδαϊκ!νin Matt :; Origen,Comm. Matt. .; Eusebius,
Theophania, . (PG , –);Theophania Syriaca.; Jerome,Comm. Matt. .;
Pelag. .a. See Vielhauer and Strecker’s reconstruction (Vielhauer & Strecker ^2
(^1 ), –). Frey a, – has correctly noted the differences between the
canonical Matthew and the “Gospel of the Nazarenes” of the GH.