Week 3: New Testament Parables

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Gospel of Thomas: Lost Sheep - Treasure

Reading time: 2 minutes. Word count: 300 words.

The parable of the lost sheep that is found here in Thomas is also found in Matthew and Luke. The parable of the treasure in the field is also found in Matthew, although the two versions of the story are quite different. In Thomas, the focus is on the unsuspecting son who did not realize his father had left him a treasure buried in the field. In Matthew, you will see that the focus is on a trickster: the man who finds the treasure in the field, covers it up, and buys the field at a low price from the unsuspecting owner.

Patterson and Meyer translation:

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

Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I myself shall become that person, and the hidden things will be revealed to him."

Jesus said, "The (Father's) kingdom is like a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know about it either. He took over the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered] the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."


Lambdin translation:

Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, went astray. He left the ninety-nine sheep and looked for that one until he found it. When he had gone to such trouble, he said to the sheep, 'I care for you more than the ninety-nine.'"

Jesus said, "He who will drink from my mouth will become like me. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him."

Jesus said, "The kingdom is like a man who had a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And after he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished."


Questions. Make sure you can answer these questions about what you just read:

  • what did the man say when he found his lost sheep?
  • why did the son sell the field containing the treasure?
  • what did the buyer do when he discovered the treasure in his field?

Source: Gospel of Thomas 107-109.
The "Scholars' Translation" of the Gospel of Thomas by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer, in The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. Polebridge Press: 1992. Website: Gospel of Thomas Homepage.
"Nag Hammadi Library" translation by Thomas O. Lambdin, in The Nag Hammadi Library. HarperCollins: San Francisco, 1990. Website: Gnostic Society Library.


Modern Languages MLLL-2003. World Literature: Frametales. Laura Gibbs, Ph.D. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. You must give the original author credit. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.
Page last updated: October 9, 2004 12:48 PM