First Greek Form
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Thomas the Israelite Philosopher's Account of the Infancy of the Lord.
1. I Thomas, an Israelite, write you this account, that all the brethren
from among the heathen may know the miracles of our
Lord Jesus Christ in His infancy, which He did after His birth in our
country. The beginning of it is as follows:-
2. This child Jesus, when five years old, was playing in the ford of
a mountain stream; and He collected the flowing waters into
pools, and made them clear immediately, and by a word alone He made
them obey Him. And having made some soft clay, He
fashioned out of it twelve sparrows. And it was the Sabbath when He
did these things. And there were also many other
children playing with Him. And a certain Jew, seeing what Jesus was
doing, playing on the Sabbath, went off immediately, and
said to his father Joseph: Behold, thy son is at the stream, and has
taken clay, and made of it twelve birds, and has profaned the
Sabbath. And Joseph, coming to the place and seeing, cried out to Him,
saying: Wherefore doest thou on the Sabbath what it is
not lawful to do? And Jesus clapped His hands, and cried out to the
sparrows, and said to them: Off you go! And the sparrows
flew, and went off crying. And the Jews seeing this were amazed, and
went away and reported to their chief men what they had
seen Jesus doing.
3. And the son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Joseph; and
he took a willow branch, and let out the waters which
Jesus bad collected. And Jesus, seeing what was done, was angry, and
said to him: O wicked, impious, and foolish! what harm
did the pools and the waters do to thee? Behold, even now thou shalt
be dried up like a tree, and thou shalt not bring forth
either leaves, or root, or fruit. And straightway that boy was quite
dried up. And Jesus departed, and went to Joseph's house.
But the parents of the boy that had been dried up took him up, bewailing
his youth, and brought him to Joseph, and reproached
him because, said they, thou hast such a child doing such things.
4. After that He was again passing through the village; and a boy ran
up against Him, and struck His shoulder. And Jesus was
angry, and said to him: Thou shalt not go back the way thou camest.
And immediately he fell down dead. And some who saw
what had taken place, said: Whence was this child begotten, that every
word of his is certainly accomplished? And the parents
of the dead boy went away to Joseph, and blamed him, saying: Since
thou hast such a child, it is impossible for thee to live with
us in the village; or else teach him to bless, and not to curse: for
he is killing our children.
5. And Joseph called the child apart, and admonished Him, saying: Why
doest thou such things, and these people suffer, and
hate us, and persecute us? And Jesus said: I know that these words
of thine are not thine own; nevertheless for thy sake I will
be silent; but they shall bear their punishment. And straightway those
that accused Him were struck blind. And those who saw it
were much afraid and in great perplexity, and said about Him: Every
word which he spoke, whether good or bad, was an act,
and became a wonder. And when they saw that Jesus had done such a thing,
Joseph rose and took hold of His ear, and pulled
it hard. And the child was very angry, and said to him: It is enough
for thee to seek, and not to find; and most certainly thou hast
not done wisely. Knowest thou not that I am thine? Do not trouble me.
6. And a certain teacher, Zacchaeus by name, was standing in a certain
place, and heard Jesus thus speaking to his father; and
he wondered exceedingly, that, being a child, he should speak in such
a way. And a few days thereafter he came to Joseph,
and said to him: Thou hast a sensible child, and he has some mind.
Give him to me, then, that he may learn letters; and I shall
teach him along with the letters all knowledge, both how to address
all the elders, and to honour them as forefathers and
fathers, and how to love those of his own age. And He said to him all
the letters from the Alpha even to the Omega, clearly and
with great exactness. And He looked upon the teacher Zacchaeus, and
said to him: Thou who art ignorant of the nature of the
Alpha, how canst thou teach others the Beta? Thou hypocrite! first,
if thou knowest. teach the A, and then we shall believe thee
about the B. Then He began to question the teacher about the first
letter, and he was not able to answer Him. And in the
hearing of many, the child says to Zacchaeus: Hear, O teacher, the
order of the first letter, and notice here how it has lines, and
a middle stroke crossing those which thou seest common; (lines) brought
together; the highest part supporting them, and again
bringing them under one head; with three points of intersection; of
the same kind; principal and subordinate; of equal length.
Thou hast the lines of the A.
7. And when the teacher Zacchaeus heard the child speaking such and
so great allegories of the first letter, he was at a great
loss about such a narrative, and about His teaching. And He said to
those that were present: Alas! I, wretch that I am, am at a
loss, bringing shame upon myself by having dragged this child hither.
Take him away, then, I beseech thee, brother Joseph. I
cannot endure the sternness of his look; I cannot make out his meaning
at all. That child does not belong to this earth; he can
tame even fire. Assuredly he was born before the creation of the world.
What sort of a belly bore him, what sort of a womb
nourished him, I do not know. Alas! my friend, he has carried me away;
I cannot get at his meaning: thrice wretched that I am, I
have deceived myself. I made a struggle to have a scholar, and I was
found to have a teacher. My mind is filled with shame, my
friends, because I, an old man, have been conquered by a child. There
is nothing for me but despondency and death on
account of this boy, for I am not able at this hour to look him in
the face; and when everybody says that I have been beaten by
a little child, what can I say? And how can I give an account of the
lines of the first letter that he spoke about? I know not, O
my friends; for I can make neither beginning nor end of him. Therefore,
I beseech thee, brother Joseph, take him home. What
great thing he is, either god or angel, or what I am to say, I know
not.
8. And when the Jews were encouraging Zacchaeus, the child laughed aloud,
and said: Now let thy learning bring forth fruit,
and let the blind in heart see. I am here from above, that I may curse
them, and call them to the things that are above, as He that
sent me on your account has commanded me. And when the child ceased
speaking, immediately all were made whole who had
fallen under His curse. And no one after that dared to make Him angry,
lest He should curse him, and he should be maimed.
9. And some days after, Jesus was playing in an upper room of a certain
house, and one of the children that were playing with
Him fell down from the house, and was killed. And, when the other children
saw this, they ran away, and Jesus alone stood still.
And the parents of the dead child coming, reproached ...and they threatened
Him. And Jesus leaped down from the roof, and
stood beside the body of the child, and cried with a loud voice, and
said: Zeno-for that was his name-stand up, and tell me; did
I throw thee down? And he stood up immediately, and said: Certainly
not, my lord; thou didst not throw me down, but hast
raised me up. And those that saw this were struck with astonishment.
And the child's parents glorified God on account of the
miracle that had happened, and adored Jesus.
10. A few days after, a young man was splitting wood in the corner,
and the axe came down and cut the sole of his foot in
two, and he died from loss of blood. And there was a great commotion,
and people ran together, and the child Jesus ran there
too. And He pressed through the crowd, and laid hold of the young man's
wounded foot, and he was cured immediately. And
He said to the young man: Rise up now, split the wood, and remember
me. And the crowd seeing what had happened, adored
the child, saying: Truly the Spirit of God dwells in this child.
11. And when He was six years old, His mother gave Him a pitcher, and
sent Him to draw water, and bring it into the house.
But He struck against some one in the crowd, and the pitcher was broken.
And Jesus unfolded the cloak which He had on, and
filled it with water, and carried it to His mother. And His mother,
seeing the miracle that had happened, kissed Him, and kept
within herself the mysteries which she had seen Him doing.
12. And again in seed-time the child went out with His father to sow
corn in their land. And while His father was sowing, the
child Jesus also sowed one gain of corn. And when He had reaped it,
and threshed it, He made a hundred kors; and calling
all the poor of the village to the threshing-floor, He gave them the
corn, and Joseph took away what was left of the corn. And
He was eight years old when He did this miracle.
13. And His father was a carpenter, and at that time made ploughs and
yokes. And a certain rich man ordered him to make him
a couch. And one of what is called the cross pieces being too short,
they did not know what to do. The child Jesus said to His
father Joseph: Put down the two pieces of wood, and make them even
in the middle. And Joseph did as the child said to him.
And Jesus stood at the other end, and took hold of the shorter piece
of wood, and stretched it, and made it equal to the other.
And His father Joseph saw it, and wondered, and embraced the child,
and blessed Him, saying: Blessed am I, because God
has given me this child.
14. And Joseph, seeing that the child was vigorous in mind and body,
again resolved that He should not remain ignorant of the
letters, and took Him away, and handed Him over to another teacher.
And the teacher said to Joseph: I shall first teach him the
Greek letters, and then the Hebrew. For the teacher was aware of the
trial that had been made of the child, and was afraid of
Him. Nevertheless he wrote out the alphabet, and gave Him all his attention
for a long time, and He made him no answer. And
Jesus said to him: If thou art really a teacher, and art well acquainted
with the letters, tell me the power of the Alpha, and I will
tell thee the power of the Beta. And the teacher was enraged at this,
and struck Him on the head. And the child, being in pain,
cursed him; and immediately he swooned away, and fell to the ground
on his face. And the child returned to Joseph's house;
and Joseph was grieved, and gave orders to His mother, saying: Do not
let him go outside of the door, because those that
make him angry die.
15. And after some time, another master again, a genuine friend of Joseph,
said to him: Bring the child to my school; perhaps I
shall be able to flatter him into learning his letters. And Joseph
said: If thou hast the courage, brother, take him with thee. And
he took Him with him in fear and great agony; but the child went along
pleasantly. And going boldly into the school, He found a
book lying on the reading-desk; and taking it, He read not the letters
that were in it, but opening His mouth, He spoke by the
Holy Spirit, and taught the law to those that were standing round.
And a great crowd having come together, stood by and
heard Him, and wondered at the ripeness of His teaching, and the readiness
of His words, and that He, child as He was, spoke
in such a way. And Joseph hearing of it, was afraid, and ran to the
school, in doubt lest his master too should be without
experience. And the master said to Joseph: Know, brother, that I have
taken the child as a scholar, and he is full of much
grace and wisdom; but I beseech thee, brother, take him home. And when
the child heard this, He laughed at him directly, and
said: Since thou hast spoken aright, and witnessed aright, for thy
sake he also that was struck down shall be cured. And
immediately the other master was cured. And Joseph took the child,
and went away home.
16. And Joseph sent his son James to tie up wood and bring it home,
and the child Jesus also followed him. And when James
was gathering the fagots, a viper bit James' hand. And when he was
racked with pain, and at the point of death, Jesus came
near and blew upon the bite; and the pain ceased directly, and the
beast burst, and instantly James remained safe and sound.
17. And after this the infant of one of Joseph's neighbours fell sick
and died, and its mother wept sore. And Jesus heard that
there was great lamentation and commotion, and ran in haste, and found
the child dead, and touched his breast, and said: I say
to thee, child, be not dead, but live, and be with thy mother. And
directly it looked up and laughed. And He said to the woman:
Take it, and give it milk, and remember me. And seeing this, the crowd
that was standing by wondered, and said: Truly this
child was either God or an angel of God, for every word of his is a
certain fact. And Jesus went out thence, playing with the
other children.
18. And some time after there occurred a great commotion while a house
was building, and Jesus stood up and went away to
the place. And seeing a man lying dead, He took him by the hand, and
said: Man, I say to thee, arise, and go on with thy work.
And directly he rose up, and adored Him. And seeing this, the crowd
wondered, and said: This child is from heaven, for he has
saved many souls from death, and he continues to save during all his
life.
19. And when He was twelve years old His parents went as usual to Jerusalem
to the feast of the passover with their
fellow-travellers. And after the passover they were coming home again.
And while they were coming home, the child Jesus
went back to Jerusalem. And His parents thought that He was in the
company. And having gone one day's journey, they sought
for Him among their relations; and not finding Him, they were in great
grief, and turned back to the city seeking for Him. And
after the third day they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the teachers, both hearing the law and asking them
questions. And they were all attending to Him, and wondering that He,
being a child, was shutting the mouths of the elders and
teachers of the people, explaining the main points of the law and the
parables of the prophets. And His mother Mary coming
up, said to Him: Why hast thou done this to us, child? Behold, we have
been seeking for thee in great trouble. And Jesus said
to them: Why do you seek me? Do you not know that I must be about my
Father's business? And the scribes and the
Pharisees said: Art thou the mother of this child? And she said: I
am. And they said to her: Blessed art thou among women, for
God hath blessed the fruit of thy womb; for such glory, and such virtue
and wisdom, we have neither seen nor heard ever. And
Jesus rose up, and followed His mother, and was subject to His parents.
And His mother observed all these things that had
happened. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and stature, and grace. To
whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
This document is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library
at Calvin College. Last updated on May 27, 1999.
Contacting the CCEL.