At that time we apostles were all in Jerusalem: Simon, the one called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James son of Zebedee and John his brother, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas son of James.
And we divided up the regions of the world, so that each one of us might go to the region which fell to him by lot to the people to whom the Lord sent him.
By lot, then, India fell to Judas-Thomas, also called “The Twin“.
But he did not want to set off, he said he was not able /had not the power, to travel/understand, [the Greek chorein means both “travel” and “understand”] because of the weakness of the flesh, and, “Being a Hebrew man, how should I be able to go to the Indians to announce the Truth?”
He was saying /thinking over these things, when the Savior appeared to him at night and said to him, “Don’t be afraid Thomas. Go to India and announce the Word there. My grace is with you.” But he did not obey, saying, “Wherever you want to send me — but somewhere else! I’m not going to India”.
He was saying /thinking over these things, when a merchant happened to be there. He had come from India, and his name was Abban. He was sent from the king Gundaphorus, and had received a command from him to buy and bring to him a craftsman.
And the Lord, seeing him walking in the marketplace at noon, said to him, “Do you want to buy a craftsman?” And he said, “Yes”. And the Lord said, “I have a servant, a craftsman, and I want to sell him”. He said this, and showed him Thomas, from a distance.
And he agreed with him on three pounds of unstruck silver. And he wrote a contract, which said, “I Jesus, son of Joseph the craftsman, agree to sell my servant, Judas by name, to you Abban, merchant of Gundaphorus, king of the Indians”. And when the contract was completed, the Savior took Judas also called Thomas and brought him to Abban the merchant. Abban saw him and said, “Is this your master?” And He said, “Yes, he is my Lord”. And he said, “I have bought you from him”. And the apostle was silent.
And the next morning, having prayed and entreated the Lord, the apostle said, “I am going wherever you want, Lord Jesus. Your will be done”. And he set off to Abban the merchant, carrying with him nothing at all except his price. The Lord had given it to him, saying, “May your price /your authority be with you, with my grace, wherever you may go.” [Greek time means both “price” and “authority”.]
And he caught up with Abban, who was likewise carrying his baggage/equipment, onto the boat. And he began to carry it on up with him. They boarded the boat and sat down, and Abban the merchant asked the apostle, “What kind of work do you know?” And he said, “in wood I can make plows and yokes and boats, and oars and masts and pulleys“. [Thomas, traveling on a boat, is also a boatmaker.] And Abban the merchant said, “Yes, we need just that kind of craftsman”. And they had a friendly wind, and they sailed willingly, until they reached Peoplecity, a king’s city.
And getting out of the boat, they entered the city. And behold: sounds surrounding them, of flutists and water-organs and trumpets. And the apostle asked, “What is this feasting in this city?” And those who were there said, “You too the gods [Jesus] have brought here, that you might dine in this city. The king has an only daughter, and today he is giving her to a man in marriage. The joy and /gathering that you see, /the feasting, is because of /the wedding.
“And the king has sent out announcers to announce everywhere that everyone has to attend the wedding — rich and poor, slaves and free, foreigners and citizens. If anyone refuses and does not come to the wedding, he’ll have to answer to the king”. When Abban heard this he said to the apostle, “Let us also set off for the wedding, so we won’t run up against the king, especially since we’re foreigners“. [Thomas is a foriegner in India as the earthly realm]. And he said, “Let’s set off”. They unpacked and rested a little in the house for foreigners, and then set of for the wedding.
And when the apostle saw everyone lying down at the tables, he also lay down, in the middle. And everyone looked at him, as a foreigner and one coming from a different land. But Abban the merchant, being a master, lay down in another place. And as they were eating and drinking, the apostle would not partake [Thomas as divine/heavenly soul, does not want to engage with the earthly realm.] So those around him said to him, “Why did you come here neither eating nor drinking? He answered, “I came here for more than food and drink and to fulfill the will of the king. The announcers announce the king’s matters, and whoever doesn’t listen to the announcers will be liable to the king’s judgement”. [Thomas is subject to the Indian king, but he has come also as the divine voice of the heavenly king.]
And after they had eaten and drunk, crowns and oils were brought out. Each one took oil — one anointed his eyes, another his beard /his sex, another other parts of his body. But the apostle annointed the top of his head, smeared a little on his nostrils, dropped some in his ears, touched his teeth, and smeared some carefully on the area around his heart. And the crown brought to him, woven of myrtle and other blossoms he took and placed on his head. And he took a reed branch in his hand and held it [an odd image, probably recalling Jesus made to hold a reed “scepter” in the crucifixion narrative]
And a flutist held in her hands the flutes, and surrounded all with her fluting. When she came to the place where the apostle was, she stood above him, playing her flute for a long time. The flutist was of the Hebrew race. [She is a soul of Hebrew/heavenly origin, but stuck in the earthly realm.]
The apostle was looking away at the ground, and so one of the wine-pourers stretched out his hand and struck him. And the apostle raised his eyes and looked at the one who had struck him. He said to him, “My God will forgive you this wrong in the world to come, but in this world he will show his wonders. I will see the hand that struck me dragged along by dogs”. [The servant’s slap has two functions: (1) It forces Thomas as heavenly sould to engage with the world, so that he comes to see the divine presence in the world (expressed in the wedding hymn), and (2) it serves as the power the earthly realm has to bind down and limit the heavenly soul, a power destroyed by Thomas’s curse, described in the Christ prayer]
And when he had said this, he began to say and speak this song:1
The Maiden is the Daughter of Light
On her rests the proud brightness of kings.
Her face is lovely, shining with bright beauty,
Her clothes are like spring blossoms,
outpourings of sweet smells are given off by them.
On top of her head2 the King is enthroned
Feeding with his ambrosia those established on him,
On her head lies the Truth,3
And her feet manifest joy.
Her mouth is open, as is fitting for her.
Thirty-two are those who sing her hymns.4
Her tongue is like the curtain of a door,
Which is shaken by those going in.
Her neck lies in the form of steps,
Which the First Maker made.5
Her two hands signal and suggest,
Announcing the dance of the Good Eons.6
And her fingers suggest the gates of the city.7
And her bedroom is bright,
Breathing forth outpourings of balsam and every spice,
And giving out a sweet smell of myrrh and herbs.
And inside are strewn myrtle and many many blossoms.
But the barred doors are decorated with reeds.8
Her bridegrooms are surrounding her,
Whose number is seven, whom she herself has chosen.
And her bridesmaids are seven, who dance before her.
Twelve in number are those who serve before her,
And are subject to her,9
Having their gaze and vision toward the bridegroom,
So that by the vision (thea) of him they might be enlightened.10
And they will be with him for eternity at that eternal joy,
And they will be at that wedding
at which the great ones are gathered,
And they will remain at the banquet
of which the eternal ones are counted worthy.
And they will put on royal clothing,
And will dress in bright robes,
And they will both be in joy and great gladness
And they will give glory to the Father of the All,
Whose proud light they received
And were enlightened by the vision/Goddess (thea/Thea) of their Master,1
Whose ambrosial food they received, having no lack.
And they drank of the wine which made them not thirsty and desirous,
And they gave glory and sang hymns with the Living Spirit
To the Father Truth, and to the Mother Wisdom [sophia].
And when he had sung and completed this song, all who were present were looking at him. And he was silent.
They were looking at his changed appearance, but what was said by him they did not understand, since he was Hebrew, and what was said by him was said in Hebrew. The flutist alone understood it all, because she was of the Hebrew race. And moving away from him she fluted for the others, but she often looked away and looked at him. She loved him very much, as a man of her own race. He was more beautiful in his appearance than all who were there. When the flutist had completed everything and had played her flutes, she sat opposite him, looking and gazing at him.
But he looked at no one, nor did he pay attention to anyone. Looking at the earth he paid attention, waiting for when he would depart from there.
The wine-pourer who had slapped him went down to the spring to draw water. There happened to be there a lion, which killed him and left him lying in the area, having torn his limbs apart. Soon dogs came and took his limbs — among them was a black dog, which took hold of his right hand in his mouth and brought it into the banqueting area.
Seeing this, everyone was upset, asking who it was among them who had left. When it became clear that the hand was that of the wine-pourer who had struck the apostle, the flutist broke her flutes and threw them down. Then she went and sat at the apostle’s feet and said “This man is either a god or an apostle of God. I heard him saying to the wine-pourer in Hebrew, ‘I will soon see the hand that struck me being dragged along by dogs’. This is what you have seen. Just as he said, so it happened“. And some believed her, others did not.
And when the king heard these things he came forward and said to the apostle, “Get up and come with me and pray over my daughter. She is my only daughter, and today I’m giving her away”. But the apostle did not want to set off with him, because the Lord had not yet been revealed to him there. But the king led him unwilling into the bridal chamber, so that he might pray over them.
Then the apostle stood there and began to speak and pray.
The Jesus Prayer.
This is a prayer to Jesus, who has not been mentioned at all in the story of the wedding feast. If this prayer is an interpretation of the preceding narrative, then things said of “Jesus” here refers to the actions of Thomas in the narrative. And if we follow the allegorical interpretation explained earlier, then Jesus/Thomas represents the heavenly/spiritual soul of Gnosticism. But unlike most gnostic writings, this prayer attributes power to this spiritual Mind, which not only needs “saving” from the worldly world in which it is trapped, but also has active power to be itself a savior.
I think the key to the meaning of this prayer lies in the very last stanza,
Jesus Christ… Unfallen Power, destroying the Enemy,
Voice heard by all the Rulers, shaking all their Powers.
Messenger sent from the Heights, and reaching down to Hades,
Who, opening the doors, led up from there those shut up for long ages in the prison of darkness
And showed them the way up, leading to the heights.
This represents the so-called Gnostic redeemer myth, in which the earthly realm is like Hades, ruled by evil powerful Archons, a prison of darkness in which souls are trapped. As an allegorical interpretation of the narrative, “Unfallen Power” represents Thomas as the spiritual soul who has “traveled” into the earthly realm, but this does not represent a “Fall” because this soul has retained its divine power. This spiritual soul has descended into this earthly realm as savior. “Voice heard by the rulers, shaking all their powers, is an allegorical interpretation of Thomas’s curse which effected the death of the wine-pourer, who here represents the oppressive character of the earthly realm as ordinarily felt by people who identify themselves as spiritual souls. “Those shut up… in the prison of darkness” is an allegorical interpretation of the flute girl, who like Thomas has a Hebrew/spiritual origin, but has previously been trapped in the foreign earthly realm (India). Witnessing Thomas’s effective curse has given her the power to break her flutes and sit at Thomas’s feet. This “opened doors” for her, a spiritual soul who has for long ages been shut up in the earthly realm as in a “prison of darkness,” and led her back to the high heavenly realm.
But Thomas here, sent from (heavenly) Jerusalem to (earthly) India as savior, allegorically represents the active, creative power of the spiritual Mind to transform the world-as-experienced, descended from the high heavens, transforming it from a place experienced as meaningless into a place imbued with higher divine meaning.
I think we should interpret the earlier part of this prayer in the light of these ideas, as follows
My Lord and my God,
Travelling companion of his servants, [In giving Thomas his price/authority, with is grace, Jesus has traveled with Thomas to foreign India. In the allegorical interpretation of the story given in this narrative, Thomas’s actions are Jesus’s actions, and both represent the heavenly Mind.
Leader on the way and guide of those who believe in him
Refuge and rest of the oppressed,
Hope of the poor and redeemer of the captives,
Healer of souls lying in sickness,
[“Oppressed”, “poor,” “captives”, “souls lying in sickness” describes the condition of spiritual souls compelled to live in the earthly realm foreign to them. Most likely this expands on the figure of the flute girl, who like Thomas is of Hebrew/heavenly origin, compelled to live in a world foreign to her. Jesus/Thomas as heavenly Mind comes as her savior, represented by the curse and death of the evil wine-pourer and by the flute girl breaking her flutes.]
Savior of all creation, one who gives life to the cosmos, One who empowers souls. [the heavenly Mind has active divine power to transform the world-as-experienced into a wonderful/meaningful place]
You know what is to come, and through us you bring it to completion. You are, Lord, the one revealing hidden mysteries and making manifest secret sayings. [Thomas predicts the future killing of the wine-pourer, and Jesus is a supernatural power working through Thomas’s curse. His curse, spoken in Hebrew was not understood by anyone except the flute girl who was of Hebrew/heavenly origin. Her translation of Thomas’s curse for others is symbolic of gnostic understanding the hidden meaning of sayings.]
You are, Lord, the planter of the good tree, and through your hands all good works are brought to birth. You are, Lord, the one in all things, and coming to completion through all, lying on all your works ,made manifest in the energies of all.
Jesus Christ, Son of the Compassion and Perfect Savior, Christ Son of the Living God,
Unfallen Power, destroying the Enemy,
Voice heard by all the Rulers, shaking all their Powers.
Messenger sent from the Heights, and reaching down to Hades,
Who, opening the doors, led up from there those shut up for long ages in the prison of darkness
And showed them the way up, leading to the heights.
1. This hymn is based on a song called a wasf traditionally sung at weddings in the Near East at this time, in which the singer describes many parts of the a woman’s beautiful body (perhaps the bride, but maybe a dancer.) But many elements have been added in order to introduce some themes important to the author. Mainly, “the maiden” sung about here represents the Jewish Shekinah, in the Jewish Kabbala a feminine representation God’s presence in the world (in contrast to the invisible God who stands above the world). She represents the world as a whole, personified by “The Good Eons” mentioned later in this song.
2. The order of the hymn goes through the maiden’s body, following the structure of a traditional wasf, starting at the top of her head, proceeding down to her feet.
3. “The King” here is God, also “the Truth.” (The end of the hymn mentions “the Father-Truth, and the Mother-Wisdom.) He is established on the Shekinah, nourishing those established on him.
4. The “32″ mentioned here are the maiden’s teeth. But they probably also represent the 32 “paths” that figure in an early Jewish Kabbalistic writing, the Sepher Yetzirah, which God used in creating the world and which are also steps by which a person can rise up to God (related to the “Eons” mentioned later here).
5. The image of a “door” and “steps” here represent ideas connected with initiation rituals in the Greek mystery-religions, where an initiate symbolically goes through various “doors” and climbs “steps” on her way to a higher state of being.
6. “The Good Eons” are good rulers of the cosmos (in Gnosticism there are also “bad Eons”), represented by the “dance” of the stars and planets, which is represented by the maiden’s waving hands as she dances.
7. Her fingers are made to represent the shape of arches standing at the entrance to a city. This is probably a throwback to the story where Thomas enters the city of Andrapolis and then into the wedding ceremony.
8. The bride’s bedroom now represents the ultimate goal of initiation. One theme in the Greek mysteries is that the initiate must pass through some kind of threatening or painful phase on her way to full initiation. This is represented by the “barred” doors of the bedroom. “Decorated with reeds” is a throwback to the scene in the story where Thomas is holding a reed in his hand, calling to mind the part of Jesus’s passion story is mocked by being made to hold a reed “sceptre”–calling to mind again the idea that the initiate must pass through a painful stage on her way to full initiation. In the previous story this is represented also by the slap in the face that the wine-pouring servant gave to Thomas in anger at his refusal to participate in the wedding celebrations.
9. The Seven and the Twelve are the 7 planets and 12 constellations known to ancient Greeks.
10. The stars and planets are pictured as waiting for a full revelation of a coming Messiah when they will be transformed. The second line here has a play on the Greek word thea, which can refer to a visual picture, but can also be understood as the feminine form of theos “God.” The Shekinah is a divine Goddess who is the visible manifestation of the invisible God.
11. Here again we have a play on the two meanings of thea. They are enlightened by experiencing God’s presence in the visible world (a thea, vision), which is also the Shekinah as a Goddess (thea). These dual representations of divinity are also represented in the last lines by “Father/Truth” and “Mother/Wisdom.” “Wisdom” here is Sophia, a personification of Wisdom in a book called The Wisdom of Solomon, who also figures in many Gnostic myths.
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