07_Biblica_AN_Kim_Layout 1 16/12/13 12:29 Pagina 592 592 DAVID W. KIM Lindemann says there is nothing allegorical about the parable, but he insists that the narrative of Logion 98 “was constructed by the gnostic community out of Jesus’ words” 30. The scene of the parable can also be seen within the unstable political situation which is indirectly expressed in the Lukan parables of “the tower and the king” going to war (Lk 14,28-32). Nevertheless, the non-allegorical perspective is sustained by the theory of stylistic similarity, i.e., that Logion 98, like Logia 63-65, “begins with the familiar datival formula: The Kingdom is like a woman/ man who …” 31. Stroker, with Higgins, not only maintains the view that “each of them had an aphorism appended”, but also maintains that there is “a definite tendency for parables to be grouped in Thomas” 32. The antagonistic scene where the weak eventually overcome the environmental burden of dictatorship is seen in the Exodus narrative where the Egyptians oppressed the Israelites for a long time. According to the Jewish text of Exodus (3-15), Yahweh uses the leadership of Moses to deliver the Israelites from their hardship. Moses with Aaron encountered the authority of Pharaoh. However, the Israelites of the Jewish narrative ultimately witnessed the defeat of the military power of the Egyptians at the Red Sea. Here, one cannot deny the fact that the textual context of Exodus in the liberation of Moses “is replaced with the themes of oppression, resistance, bravery and the final overthrow of the powerful man” 33, which corresponds to the key point of the unknown Thomasine parable (Logion 98). Morrice supports the view of the pre-gnostic Jewish tradition in his comment that “the use of an immoral deed as an example does not militate against the authenticity of the parable” 34. IV. Logion 109: The Parable of Hidden Treasure 35 Fourthly, the Jesus tradition of a rich old man in Logion 109 is a mysterious parable in various ways 36: 1) the person who hid the treasure 30 A. LINDEMANN, “Zur Gleichnisinterpretation im Thomas-Evangelion”, ZNW 71 (1980) 222, 226. DORAN, “A Complex of Parables, 349-352. 31 STROKER, “Extra canonical Parables”, 99. 32 See DORAN, “A Complex of Parables”, 99-100, 349-352. A.J.B. HIGGINS, “Non-Gnostic Sayings in the Gospel of Thomas.” NovT 4 (1960) 304-305. 33 FORD, “Body Language,” 295-307. 34 MORRICE, Hidden Sayings of Jesus, 82. 35 “Jesus said, the kingdom is like a man who had a [hidden] treasure in his field without knowing it. And [after] he died, he left it to his [son]. The son [did] not know (about the treasure). He inherited the field and sold [it]. And the one who bought it went plowing and [found] the treasure. He began to lend money at interest to whomever he wished” (NHC II, 2. 50:31–51:03). 36 Sider also confesses that “many plausible guesses” can be made