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(1)
Thom 33:2-3
(2) 2Q: Luke 11:33 = Matt 5:15
(3) Mark 4:21 = Luke 8:16
(1) Thom 33:2-3
/33:1/ Jesus said, "What you will hear in your ear, in the other ear proclaim from your rooftops. /2/ After all, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does one put it in a hidden place. 'Rather, one puts it on a lampstand so that all who come and go will see its light." [Complete Gospels]
(2) 2Q: Luke 11:33 = Matt 5:15
Luke 11:33
"No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar, but on the lampstand so that those who enter may see the light.= Matt 5:15
No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.
(3) Mark 4:21 = Luke 8:16
Mark 4:21
He said to them, "Is a lamp brought in to be put under the bushel basket, or under the bed, and not on the lampstand?= Luke 8:16
No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light.
John Dominic Crossan
Jesus SeminarItem: 36
Stratum: I (30-60 CE)
Attestation: Triple
Historicity: +
Common Sayings Tradition: YesCrossan [Historical Jesus, 349] draws on this cluster for his discussion of "The Message of an Open Secret." Other complexes used for this purpose include two that focus on the openness of the message: 9 Who Has Ears [1/5] and 53 Knowing the Times [1/3?]; four that share the same theme but may involve a move in emphasis from Jesus himself to the disciples as "healed healers:" 21 The World's Light [1/4], 36 Lamp and Bushel [1/3], 78 The Mountain City [1/2] and 79 Open Proclamation [1/2]; and five others judged less likely to derive from Jesus himself: 66 Wise and Understanding [1/2], 45 Father and Son [1/3], 52 Yoke and Burden [1/3], 67 Hidden Since Eternity [1/2], and 14 Eye, Ear, Mind [1/4].
Crosssan comments:
[The] appeal to common nature rather than special Scripture goes back to Jesus, ... the missionaries have a message that is neither private nor clandestine, neither hidden nor occult, neither secret nor mysterious. (p. 349)
Text
Item
Source
JS Mtg
%Red
%Pink
%Gray
%Black
W Avg
Color Thom 33:2-3
44
Q, K, T
89Son
27
47
17
10
0.63
Pink Luke 11:33
44
Q, K, T
89Son
27
47
17
10
0.63
Pink Matt 5:15b
44
Q, K, T
89Son
27
47
17
10
0.63
Pink Mark 4:21
44
Q, K, T
89Son
27
47
17
10
0.63
Pink Luke 8:16
44
Q, K, T
89Son
27
47
17
10
0.63
Pink The commentary in The Five Gospels (p. 57) notes the variations in context and interpretation of the underlying motif of the light that cannot be hidden: the disciples as the community of the Beatitudes in Matthew, as people who have been given sight in Mark and Luke, and as recipients of revelation in Thomas.
In spite of the variations in content and context, the Fellows of the Seminar designated the saying pink in all five of its forms. The reasons for this judgment are: (1) it is Jesus' style to speak in figures that cannot be taken literally; (2) the application of the saying is left ambiguous; (3) the saying is well attested; (4) the saying is short and memorable.
Luedemann [Jesus, 30] suggests that the saying is really an extended simile with parallels in Jewish literature. Despite that, he concludes:
These words might very well go back to Jesus. He clearly thought that the seed had to be scattered everywhere and that the light had to shine everywhere. This stands in opposition to the Markan interpretation of 4.11-12. The nearness of the kingdom of God announced by Jesus is to be scattered everywhere, its light will shine everywhere -- this is the meaning which Jesus probably attached to the saying.
Meier does not comment on this saying in the first 3 volumes of A Marginal Jew.
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