New Sayings of Jesus and Fragment of a Lost Gospel from Oxyrhynchus

The general sense of the introduction is clear, and most of the restorations are fairly certain. In line 1, an adjective such as "wonderful" is necessary after "the" referring to the Greek text fragment. For "shall never taste of death," compare Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:27, and especially John 8:52: "If a man keep my word, he shall never taste of death." In these passages of the Synoptists, "taste of death" simply means "die" in the literal sense; but here, no doubt, as in the passage in St. John, the phrase has the deeper and metaphorical meaning that those who obey Christ's words and attain to the kingdom reach a state unaffected by the death of the body.

The beginning of line 1 requires some correction, as "the such the words the" original: "οἱ τοῖοι οἱ λόγοι οἱ" is extremely ugly. The corruption of "these" original: "οὗτοι" into "the such" original: "οἱ τοῖοι" is not very likely, and since "such" original: "τοῖος" is found in late prose writers for "such as this" original: "τοιόσδε", the simplest course is to omit the initial "the." The restoration of line 2 presents the chief difficulty. "Lord" original: "κύριος" is very doubtful; "and" original: "κ[αί" followed by, for example, "having died" original: "ἀποθανών" ("Jesus who liveth, though dead") is equally likely, and several of the possible supplements at the end of the line require a longer word than "Lord" to precede. Another dative before "and to Thomas" is required, and three alternatives suggest themselves:
1. A proper name, in which case Philip or Matthias is most likely to have been coupled with Thomas. Apocryphal Gospels assigned to Thomas, Philip, and Matthias are known, and in the second or third century Gnostic work called Pistis Sophia Faith-Wisdom 70-1, Philip, Thomas, and Matthias are associated as the recipients of a special revelation.
2. A phrase such as "to the other disciples" (so Dr. Bartlet; cf. line 32 and John 20:26, "his disciples were within and Thomas with them").
3. "Judas who is also Thomas," suggested by Professor Lake, who compares the frequent occurrence of the double name "Judas also called Thomas" in the Acts of Thomas.

The uncertainty attaching to the restoration is the more unfortunate, since much depends on it. If we adopt the first hypothesis, Thomas has only a secondary place; but on either of the other two, he occupies the chief position, and this fact would obviously be of great importance in deciding the origin of the Sayings.

There is a considerable resemblance between the scheme of lines 1-3, "the words . . . which Jesus spake . . . and he said," and the formulas employed in introducing several of the earliest citations of our Lord's Sayings, particularly First Epistle of Clement 13, "especially remembering the words of the Lord..."