chapter fivecanonical gospels that the Pharisees really were baptized by John,^101 it is
highly probable that the writer ofRec. derived the information from
theGospel of the Ebionitesor its source. Consequently, the harmoniz-
ing source from whichThomasreceived the expressions that it shares
withRecognitions(and perhaps alsoHom.) was presumably theGospel
of the Ebionites—or more probably its source, as was the case with logion
.
To summarize, although there is no direct parallel for the “Jewish”
marginal reading inGos. Thom.,thefirstpartofthelogionisparalleled
inPseudo-Clementine Recognitions(..–) which has most likely used
theGospel of the Ebionites.Thus,thewriteroftheGospel of Thomasis
either using theGospel of the Ebionitesor—more probably—sharing some
pre-Diatessaronic sources with it.
Does this also indicate that the “Jewish” marginal reading in Matt
: of Cod. is from theGospel of the Ebionites? That is possible
but not sure, for two reasons. First, the analysis indicated that the editor
ofThom. was probably responsible for combining the tradition about
the keys of knowledge with the saying “wise as serpents and innocent as
doves” (i.e., combined a with b). Second,Gos. Thom. b does not
agree with the marginal reading. Thus, the “Jewish” marginal reading in
Matt . may come from another gospel although theGospel of the
Ebionitesis a good candidate.
...“O Man” and “He Turned To”Gos. Thom. /Origen, Comm. Matt. .
One of the arguments which Quispel has presented to support his view
thatThomasmust have used theGospel of the Hebrewsis a stylistic affinity
between logion and a fragment that is quoted in Origen’sCommentary
on Matthew(Comm. Matt. .).^102 Both these passages include the
expressions “man” and “he turned to.”
(^101) In Matt : they have just come to John in order to be baptized when John starts to
reprimand them.
(^102) Quispel , –. Another instance where some scholars have seen stylis-
tic affinity is the question “what sin have I committed” that is found in logion and
Jerome,Pelag. .. However, although both passages discuss practices that the synoptic
gospels connect with John the Baptist, there seems to no other points of contact between
these passages, making it impossible to draw any conclusions about their literary rela-
tionship.