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(1)
Thom 39:3 = POxy655 39:3
(2a) Matt 10:16b
(2b) GNaz 7
(3) IgnPol 2:2
(1) Thom 39:3
/39:1/ Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. /2/They have not entered, nor have they allowed those who want to enter to do so. /3/As for you, be as sly as snakes and as simple as doves." [Complete Gospels]
= POxy655 39:3
/39:1/ [Jesus says, "The Pharisees and the scholars] have [taken the keys] of [knowledge; they themselves have] hidden [them. /2/Neither] have [they] entered, [nor] have they [allowed those who want to] enter [to do so. /3/As for you, be as sly] as [snakes and as] simple [as doves]." [Complete Gospels]
(2a) Matt 10:16b
"See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves."
(2b) GNaz 7
/7/ The Jewish Gospel: (wise) more than serpents. (Variant to Matthew 10:16 in the "Zion Gospel" edition)
[The "Zion Gospel" is the proposed source of the additions to Matthew used in the composition of the Gospel of the Nazoreans, which translated and expanded Greek Matthew into Aramaic or Syriac. GNaz is first cited by Hegesippus c. 180 CE and may have come from Western Syria. See Crossan, Sayings Parallels, 54]
(3) IgnPol 2:2
/2/ "Be prudent as the serpent" in all things and "pure as the dove" for ever. For this reason you consist of flesh and spirit, that you may deal tenderly with the things which appear visibly; but pray that the invisible things may be revealed to you, that you may lack nothing and abound in every gift. [Sayings Parallels, 54]
John Dominic Crossan
Jesus SeminarItem: 38
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Triple
Historicity: +Crossan makes almost no use of this saying in Historical Jesus, simply noting (p. 353) that unlike some sayings concerned with opposition and hostility to the messengers of the open secret, this saying could go back to Jesus himself.
Text
Item
Source
JS Mtg
%Red
%Pink
%Gray
%Black
W Avg
Color Thom 39:3
41
M, T
90Cin
13
73
13
0
0.67
Pink POxy 39:3
41
M, T
90Cin
13
73
13
0
0.67
Pink Matt 10:16
41
M, T
90Cin
13
73
13
0
0.67
Pink The Seminar opted for "Sly as a Snake" as the title for this cluster, despite using the Sayings Parallels (with its "Serpents and Doves") as the basic workbook for the sayings of Jesus. While the saying was considered something that Jesus may have said, the commentary in The Five Gospels (pp. 170 & 495) suggests that the saying may have been a proverb quoted by Jesus rather than something created by him.
Lachs [Rabbinic Commentary on the New Testament, 181] suggests that the Greek phronimoi is better translated as "shrewd, crafty or cunning" reflecting its use in the LXX at Gen 3:1. He notes that the serpent and the dove are described in rabbinic literature with precisely the same adjectives as here [see Mid. Ps. 28.2 (115a), 119.1 (244b); Lev. R. 33] and cites the following rabbinic tradition concerning Song 2:14 ("my dove is in the cleft of the rock"):
R. Judah said in the name of R. Simeon: 'With me they are innocent as doves, but with the nations of the world they are like cunning serpents.' [Cant. R. 2.14]
Luedemann [Jesus, 167] dismisses Matt 10:16b as "redactional" and does not even discuss it when analyzing the section in Matt 10:16-26a. When discussing the GThom version, Luedemann suggests that the text "derives from Matt. 10.16b, for that passage is redactional" (p. 609). He concludes that the whole of Thom 39 is derived from Matthew, since the earlier verses are equivalent to Matt 23:13 and in both Thomas and Matthew the saying is directed against Pharisees and scribes.
Meier does not discuss this saying in the first three volumes of Marginal Jew.
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