The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Early Christians were naturally curious to learn the details of Jesus’ life. As stories circulated about the inspired teachings and miraculous deeds of Jesus’ public ministry, some Christians began to speculate on what he said and did before it began. Only a couple of incidents involving Jesus prior to his baptism are found in the New Testament Gospels: the narratives of his birth and infancy in Matthew and Luke and the account, unique to Luke, of his pilgrimage to the Jerusalem Temple as a twelve-year old (Luke 2:41– 52). Other stories of Jesus as a youth, however, were soon in circulation. Behind many of these legends lay a fundamental question: if Jesus was a miracle-working Son of God as an adult, what was he like as a child? The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, not to be confused with the Coptic Gospel of Thomas discovered near Nag Hammadi Egypt, is one of the earliest accounts of these legends. The book was allegedly written by “Thomas, the Israelite.” It is not clear whether the author intended his readers to recognize him as Judas Thomas, thought by some early Christians to have been Jesus’ own brother. If he did, then his accounts of Jesus as a youth, needless to say, would have been based on an impeccable authority. The narrative begins with Jesus as a ﬁve-year old boy and relates a number of incidents, most of them miraculous, that betray a streak of the mischievous in Joseph and Mary’s precocious son. Here are anecdotes of Jesus at play with his childhood companions (sometimes harming them with his divine power, sometimes healing them), in confrontation with his elders (usually bettering them), at school with his teachers (revealing their ignorance), and in the workshop with his father (miraculously correcting his mistakes). For modern readers it is difﬁcult to decide whether such stories were meant as serious accounts of Jesus’ early life or simply as speculative and entertaining stories of the youthful Son of God. The text provides few clues to help us ﬁx the time of its composition.

Translation by Bart D. Ehrman, based on the Greek text of Constantin von Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha. (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1987; original: Leipzig, 1867), with textual alterations made by the translator based on manuscript evidence.

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Most scholars believe that such “infancy Gospels” began to circulate during the ﬁrst half of the second century. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas appears to have been one of the earliest.

Tales of the Israelite Philosopher Thomas, Concerning the Childhood Activities of the Lord

I, Thomas the Israelite, make this report to all of you, my brothers among the Gentiles, that you may know the magniﬁcent childhood activities of our Lord Jesus Christ—all that he did after being born in our country. The beginning is as follows:

When this child Jesus was ﬁve years old, he was playing by the ford of a stream; and he gathered the ﬂowing waters into pools and made them immediately pure. These things he ordered simply by speaking a word. 2 He then made some soft mud and fashioned twelve sparrows from it. It was the Sabbath when he did this. A number of other children were also playing with him. 3 But when a certain Jew saw what Jesus had done while playing on the Sabbath, he left right away and reported to his father, Joseph, “Look, your child at the stream has taken mud and formed twelve sparrows. He has profaned the Sabbath!” 4 When Joseph came to the place and saw what had happened, he cried out to him, “Why are you doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?” But Jesus clapped his hands and cried to the sparrows, “Be gone!” And the sparrows took ﬂight and went off, chirping. 5 When the Jews saw this they were amazed; and they went away and reported to their leaders what they had seen Jesus do.

Now the son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and he took a willow branch and scattered the water that Jesus had gathered. 2 Jesus was irritated when he saw what had happened, and he said to him: “You unrighteous, irreverent idiot! What did the pools of water do to harm you? See, now you also will be withered like a tree, and you will never bear leaves or root or fruit.” 3 Immediately that child was completely withered. Jesus left and returned to Joseph’s house. But the parents of the withered child carried him away, mourning his lost youth. They brought him to Joseph and began to accuse him, “What kind of child do you have who does such things?”

Somewhat later he was going through the village, and a child ran up and banged into his shoulder. Jesus was aggravated and said to him, “You will go no further on your way.” And right away the child fell down and died. Some of those who saw what happened said, “Where was this child born? For everything he says is a deed accomplished?” 2 The parents of the dead child came to Joseph and blamed him, saying “Since you have such a child you cannot live with us in the village. Or teach him to bless and not to curse—for he is killing our children!”

Joseph called to the child and admonished him privately, “Why are you doing such things? These people are suffering, they hate us and are persecuting us!” But Jesus replied, “I know these

THE INFANCY GOSPEL OF THOMAS

are not your words, and so I also will keep silent for your sake. But those others will bear their punishment.” And immediately those who were accusing him were blinded. 2 Those who saw these things were frightened and disturbed; they began saying about him, “Everything he has said, whether good or bad, has become an amazing reality.” When Joseph saw what Jesus had done, he rose up, grabbed his ear, and yanked it hard. 3 The child was irritated and said to him, “It is enough for you to seek and not ﬁnd; you have not acted at all wisely. Do you not know that I am yours? Do not grieve me.”

tively crossing, then coming together, and proceeding upward again till they reach the top, so that it is divided into three equal parts, each of them fundamental and foundational, of equal length. Now you have the set patterns of the Alpha.”

There was an instructor named Zachaeus standing off to the side who heard Jesus say these things to his father. And he was amazed that he was speaking such things, though just a child. 2 After a few days he approached Joseph and said to him, “You have a bright child with a good mind. Come, let me have him that he may learn to read, and through reading I will teach him everything, including how to greet all the elders and to honor them as his ancestors and fathers, and to love children his own age.” 3 And he told him all the letters from Alpha to Omega, clearly and with great precision. But Jesus looked the instructor Zachaeus in the face and said to him, “Since you do not know the true nature of the Alpha, how can you teach anyone the Beta? You hypocrite! If you know it, ﬁrst teach the Alpha, and then we will believe you about the Beta.” Then he began to question the teacher sharply about the ﬁrst letter, and he was not able to give him the answers. 4 And while many others were listening, the child said to Zachaeus, “Listen, teacher, to the arrangement of the ﬁrst letter of the alphabet; observe here how it has set patterns, and middle strokes which you see collec-

When the teacher Zachaeus heard the child setting forth so many allegorical interpretations like this of the ﬁrst letter, he was at a complete loss about this kind of explanation and teaching, and he said to those standing there, “Woe is me! I am wretched and at a complete loss; I have put myself to shame, taking on this child. 2 I beg of you, brother Joseph, take him away. I can not bear his stern gaze or make sense of a single word. This child is not of this world; he can even tame ﬁre. Maybe he was born before the world came into being. I cannot fathom what kind of uterus bore him or what kind of womb nourished him. Woe is me, friend. He has befuddled me; I cannot follow his reasoning. I have fooled myself and am miserable three times over. I was struggling to have a student, and I have been found to have a teacher. 3 My friends, I know all too well my shame: though an old man, I have been defeated by a child. I may grow weak and die because of this child. For at this moment I cannot look him in the face. When everyone says that I have been defeated by a young child, what can I say? And how can I explain the things he told me about the set patterns of the ﬁrst letter? I have no idea, my friends. For I do not know itsa beginning or end. 4 And so I ask you, brother Joseph, take him back home. I do not know what kind of great thing he is— whether a divine being or angel; I do not know even what to say.”

Or: his

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healed. And he said to the young man, “Rise now, split the wood, and remember me.” When the crowd saw what had happened it worshiped the child, saying, “The Spirit of God certainly lives within this child.”

While the Jews were giving Zachaeus advice, the child laughed aloud and said, “Now let what is yours bear fruit, and let the blind in heart see. I have come from above to curse them and call them to the realm above, just as the one who sent me for your sake commanded.” 2 When the child stopped speaking, immediately all those who had fallen under his curse were healed. No one dared to anger him from that time on, fearing that he might cripple them with a curse.

Some days later Jesus was playing on a ﬂat rooftop of a house, and one of the children playing with him fell from the roof and died. When the other children saw what had happened, they ran away, so that Jesus stood there alone. 2 When the parents of the one who died arrived they accused him of throwing him down. But Jesus said, “I certainly did not throw him down.” But they began to abuse him verbally. 3 Jesus leapt down from the roof and stood beside the child’s corpse, and with a loud voice he cried out, “Zenon!” (for that was his name) “rise up and tell me: did I throw you down?” And right away he rose up and said, “Not at all Lord! You did not throw me down, but you have raised me up!” When they saw this they were astounded. The parents of the child gloriﬁed God for the sign that had occurred, and they worshiped Jesus.

A few days later there was a young man who was splitting wood in a secluded spot. The axe fell and split open the sole of his foot. He lost a lot of blood and was dying. 2 There was a disturbance and a crowd started to gather, and the child Jesus also ran to the spot. Forcing his way through the crowd, he grabbed the young man’s foot that had been struck, and immediately it was

When he was six years old, his mother gave him a water jug and sent him to draw some water to bring back home. But he was jostled by the crowd, and the water jug was shattered. 2 So Jesus unfolded the cloak he was wearing and ﬁlled it with water, and brought it back to his mother. When his mother saw the sign that had happened, she kissed him. And she kept to herself the mysterious deeds that she saw him do.

When it later became time for sowing, the child went out with his father to sow wheat in their ﬁeld. And when his father sowed, the child Jesus also sowed a single grain of wheat. 2 When he harvested and threshed the grain, it produced a hundred large bushels. He called all the poor people of the village to the threshing ﬂoor and gave them the wheat; and Joseph took what was left of it. He was eight years old when he did this sign.

Now his father was a carpenter, and at that time he used to make plows and yokes. He received an order from a certain rich man to make a bed. But when the measurement for one of the beautiful crossbeams came out too short, he did not know what to do. The child Jesus said to his father Joseph, “Place the two pieces of wood on the ﬂoor and line them up from the middle to one end.” 2 Joseph did just as the child said. Then Jesus stood at the other end, grabbed the shorter board, and stretched it out to make it the same length as the other. His

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father Joseph saw what he had done and was amazed. He embraced the child and gave him a kiss, saying “I am blessed that God has given me this child.”

at the great beauty of his teaching and his carefully crafted words—amazed that he could speak such things though still a babe. 3 But when Joseph heard about this he was frightened. He ran to the school, thinking that this instructor may also have proved ignorant. But the instructor said to Joseph, “You should know, brother, that I took the child as a pupil; but he is ﬁlled with great grace and wisdom. Now I ask you brother, take him home.” 4 When the child heard these things, he immediately laughed at him and said, “Since you have rightly spoken and rightly borne witness, for your sake that other one who was struck down will be healed.” And right away the other instructor was healed. Joseph took the child and returned home.

When Joseph observed the mind of the child and saw that he was starting to mature, he again did not want him to be unable to read, and so took him out to give him over to another teacher. The teacher said to Joseph, “First I will teach him to read Greek, and then Hebrew.” For the teacher knew of the child’s learning and was afraid of him. Nonetheless, he wrote out the alphabet and practiced it for him for a long time; but the child gave him no response. 2 Then Jesus said to him, “If you are really a teacher and know the letters well, tell me the power of the Alpha, and I will tell you the power of the Beta.” The teacher was aggravated and struck him on the head. The child was hurt and cursed him; and immediately he fainted and fell to the ground on his face. 3 The child returned to Joseph’s house. Joseph was smitten with grief and ordered his mother, “Do not let him out the door; for those who anger him die.”

Some time later there was another instructor, a close friend of Joseph, who said to him, “Bring the child to me at the school. Maybe I can use ﬂattery to teach him to read.” Joseph said to him, “If you’re that courageous, brother, take him along with you.” He took him with great fear and much anxiety, but the child went along gladly. 2 He entered the school with conﬁdence and found a book lying on the reading desk. He picked it up, but instead of reading the words in it, he opened his mouth and began to speak in the Holy Spirit, teaching the Law to those who were standing there. A great crowd gathered, standing there to hear him; and they were amazed

Now Joseph sent his son James to bundle some wood and bring it to the house. The child Jesus also followed him. While James was gathering the ﬁrewood, a snake bit his hand. 2 When he was stretched out on the ground dying, Jesus came up to him and breathed on the bite. The pain immediately stopped, the animal burst, and straight away James was returned to health.

After these things, an infant in Joseph’s neighborhood became sick and died; and his mother was weeping loudly. When Jesus heard the outburst of sorrow and the disturbance, he ran up quickly and found the child dead. He touched its breast, saying “I say to you, young child, do not die but live, and be with your mother.” Immediately the child opened its eyes and laughed. Jesus said to the woman, “Take him, give him milk, and remember me.” 2 When the crowd standing there saw what had happened, it was amazed. The people said, “Truly this child is either God or an angel of God,

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for his every word is an accomplished deed.” Jesus then left from there to play with the other children.

Some time later a house was being built and there was a great disturbance. Jesus got up and went out to the place. He saw a man lying down, dead; taking his hand he said, “I say to you, O man, rise up and do your work.” Immediately he rose up and worshiped him. 2 When the crowd saw, it was amazed and said, “This child comes from heaven. For he has saved many souls from death—his entire life he is able to save them.”

When he was twelve years old his parents made their customary trip to Jerusalem, in a caravan, for the Passover feast. After the Passover they returned home. While they were returning, the child Jesus went back up to Jerusalem. But his parents thought he was in the caravan. 2 After their ﬁrst day of travel, they began looking for him among their relatives and were upset not to ﬁnd him. They returned again to the city to look for him. And after the third day they found him sitting in the Temple in the

midst of the teachers, both listening and asking them questions. Everyone was attending closely, amazed that though a child, he questioned the elders and teachers of the people sharply, explaining the chief points of the Law and the parables of the prophets. 3 When his mother Mary came up to him she said, “Why have you done this to us, child? See, we have been distressed, looking for you.” Jesus replied to them, “Why are you looking for me? Don’t you know that I must be with those who are my Father’s?”b 4 The scribes and Pharisees said, “Are you the mother of this child?” She replied, “I am.” They said to her, “You are most fortunate among women, because God has blessed the fruit of your womb. For we have never seen or heard of such glory, such virtue and wisdom. 5 Jesus got up from there and followed his mother, and he was obedient to his parents. But his mother kept to herself all these things that had happened. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and grace. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Or: be doing my Fathers’ business; or: be in my Father’s house