Saying 52: Twenty-Four Prophets
The disciples say twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel and all of them spoke about him; he replies that they have ignored the living one in front of them and talked about the dead.
Commentary
Twenty-four is the number of books in the Hebrew Bible as traditionally counted. The saying does not deny scripture so much as declare it beside the point next to a living presence.
Parallels
John 5:39–40
Sayings on the same themes
- Saying 66 Saying 66: The Rejected Stone Show me the stone the builders rejected: that is the cornerstone.
- Saying 105 Saying 105: Whoever Knows the Father and the Mother Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a prostitute.
- Saying 68 Saying 68: Blessed Are You When You Are Hated Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found wherever you have been persecuted.
- Saying 78 Saying 78: Why Did You Go Out to the Countryside? Why did you come out to the country — to see a reed shaken by the wind, or a man in soft…
- Saying 102 Saying 102: The Dog in the Manger Damn the Pharisees: they are like a dog asleep in the cattle trough, who neither eats nor lets the cattle eat.
- Saying 10 Saying 10: Fire on the World I have cast fire on the world, and I am watching over it until it blazes.