Saying 79: Blessed Is the Womb That Bore You
A woman blesses the womb that carried him and the breasts that fed him; he answers that blessed are those who have heard the Father's word and kept it — and that days are coming when people will call blessed the womb that never conceived.
Commentary
Thomas joins two Lukan passages that are chapters apart. The combined effect is a sharp turn away from motherhood as a category of blessing — read alongside sayings 101 and 105.
Parallels
Luke 11:27–28; Luke 23:29
Sayings on the same themes
- Saying 104 Saying 104: When the Bridegroom Leaves Invited to pray and fast, Jesus asks what sin he has committed or how he has been defeated; rather, when the bridegroom…
- Saying 110 Saying 110: Finding the World and Renouncing It Whoever has found the world and become rich should renounce the world.
- Saying 14 Saying 14: Fasting Brings Sin Fasting brings sin, prayer brings condemnation, almsgiving harms the spirit; go into any land, eat what is put before you, heal the…
- Saying 37 Saying 37: When You Strip Without Shame Asked when he will appear to them, Jesus answers: when you undress without being ashamed, and trample your clothes underfoot like little…
- Saying 61 Saying 61: Salome and the Undivided Two will rest on a couch; one will die, one will live. Salome asks who he is to climb on her couch…
- Saying 112 Saying 112: Woe to the Flesh and the Soul How wretched is the flesh that depends on the soul; how wretched is the soul that depends on the flesh.