The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part 4

occurs in the New Testament it has an unfavourable sense; but here a favourable meaning is much more likely, as with "to draw" original: "ἕλκειν" in John 6:44: "except the Father... draw him" and 12:32: "I will draw all men unto myself": Mr. Badham compares Clement of Alexandria, Strom. vi. 6: "the Lord exhorts some (i.e. wild beasts of sinners) and stretches out a hand to those who have already made an attempt and pulls them up," and ibid. v. 12: "the power of the Word... draws to itself everything that has admitted it and is within itself." A phrase such as "into the kingdom" is required to explain "those who draw," though even with this addition the use of that word in such a context must be admitted to be difficult. The idea in lines 12–16 seems to be that the divine element in the world begins in the lower stages of animal creation, and rises to a higher stage in man, who has within him the kingdom of Heaven; cf. Clement's discussion (Strom. v. 13) of Xenocrates' view that even irrational animals ἄλογα ζῶα possibly had some knowledge of the divine, and the curious sanctity of certain animals in the various Apocryphal Acts, e.g., Thecla's baptized lioness, Thomas's ass, Philip's leopard and kid buried at the door of the church. It is possible that there is some connexion between this Saying and the use of Luke 17:21 by the Naassenes; cf. p. 18. The transition from the inward character of the kingdom to the necessity for self-knowledge (lines 16–21) is natural. Since the kingdom is not an external manifestation but an inward principle, men must know themselves in order to attain to its realization. The old Greek proverb "know thyself" original: "γνῶθι σεαυτόν" is thus given a fresh significance. Mr. Badham compares Clement, Paedag. iii. 1: "It is, as it seems, the greatest of all lessons to know oneself. For if one knows himself, he will know God." For the restoration of line 16, cf. line 18. "This" original: "ταύτην" in line 17 is the kingdom. This line may have ended with something like "so then," if we are right in correcting "to know" original: "γνώσεσθαι" to "ye shall know" original: "γνώσεσθε" (cf. the similar confusion in line 23). For "sons," which is required by the context in line 18, cf. e.g. Luke 20:36. "T" original: "τ[" in line 19 ("P" original: "π[" is equally possible) is perhaps the beginning of an adjective, but "for the sake of this," e.g., might also be read. How "known" original: "γνωσθε" in line 20 is to be emended is uncertain; we suggest "ye shall know" original: "γνώσ⟨εσ⟩θε", but the corruption may go deeper. "In" original: "εν[" is perhaps "in the kingdom." The letters "epto" original: "ηπτο[" in line 21 are very obscure; the letter following tau may be epsilon, omicron, or omega; but neither if "the" original: "η" is the article, nor if "hepto" is one word, does any suitable restoration suggest itself. "Hepto" can hardly be a participle, for if "Jesus saith" occurred, as would be expected, at the end of the line, there is room for only about four more letters in the lacuna. It is tempting to read "the city," with "in the city of God" in line 20, as Blass suggests, comparing for the omission of "being" original: "ὄντας" Mark 6:20: "knowing him (to be) a just man."

Another and quite different restoration of the early part of this Saying is suggested by Dr. Bartlet, who would read: "Jesus saith: Let them not fear; those who draw you (upon the earth, for yours is) the kingdom in Heaven (and under you shall be) the fowls of the air and every animal that is under the earth (those that are upon the earth and) the fishes of the sea...," comparing the idea in Epistle of Barnabas, vi. 12 and 18: "Who then is able now to rule over wild beasts or fishes or fowls of the air? For we ought to perceive that the ruling is of authority, so that one having commanded may be master. If therefore this happens not now, it has told us when: when we ourselves also are perfected, to become heirs of the covenant of the Lord," and 2 Clement 5:4: "Jesus said to Peter: Let not the lambs fear the wolves... and know, brethren, that the sojourn in this world of this flesh is small and short-lived, and the promise of Christ, etc." (a passage resembling the 1st Saying; cf. note, ad loc.). The parallels from Barnabas and Clement perhaps give this restoration some advantage over ours, but "drawing" alone without an explanatory phrase is not a satisfactory word for "persecute," and the transition from the promise of the kingdom of Heaven to the fowls of the air is very abrupt and almost inconsequent, while it is difficult to find the connexion between the fowls of the air and the second mention of the kingdom of Heaven. This, the chief problem in the 2nd Saying, seems more easily explained by the hypothesis of a repetition of "drawing" and the resulting parallelism between the two halves of lines 9–16 which we have suggested.