07_Biblica_AN_Kim_Layout 1 16/12/13 12:29 Pagina 593 593 WHERE DOES IT FIT? is unknown; 2) the reason the treasure was hidden is unknown; 3) and the value or nature of the treasure is also unknown. The narrator of the text gives no clue about when, why, or how the treasure was placed in the rich man’s field. When the landlord (maybe suddenly) passed away, the phrase affi` tcwse et_mmau aftaa?c [ebo]l (“He inherited the field and sold it”) shows that the son sold the land straightaway instead of carrying on the family business. The farmer, who bought and worked in the field, discovered the hidden treasure whilst working on the land (efckaei: “plowing”). The diligent farmer, by selling the treasure, soon changed his job, becoming a financial business man. Concerning this narrative, Patterson once critically commented on the parable as being “the most problematic parable of Thomas” 37. The parables in Matthew 13 do not directly include this narrative illustration, but with a different slant, there was a joyful man who found a treasure, went home and sold all his possessions and then purchased the field for the “hidden treasure of the field”. The Matthean passage (Matt 13,44) 38 is shorter than Thomas, but whether the version of Matthew is closer to the oral tradition of Jesus is debatable. In this regard, Korson 39 also presumes that “they (Thomas and Matthew) appear to be different versions of the same parable (in the context of the parable transmission)” 40. The conclusion is that “Thomas could have known the Matthean version and, (according to the community character), changed it” 41. However, if one reads the two parables in a form-critical way, they are completely different from each other. In particular, five different points can be highlighted: 1) the Thomasine man buys the field before finding the treasure, while the Matthean man does the opposite; 2) the schema in Matthew is: finding, acting (hiding) and buying, while Thomas presents it concerning the hidden treasure, since the parable is “an inadvertent mystery”. See J. W. SIDER, “Interpreting the Hid Treasure.” CScR 13 (1984) 360-372. 37 PATTERSON, The Gospel of Thomas and Jesus, 636. 38 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (Matt 13,44). 39 T. E. KORSON, “The Treasure Parable in Matthew and in the Gospel of Thomas”, UUC 43 (1992) 17-28. See also BLOMBERG, “Tradition and Redaction”, 194-196. 40 KORSON, “The Treasure Parable”, 19. 41 KORSON, “The Treasure Parable”, 23. Crossan argues that Thomas purposely changed the Matthean figure of the finder (tenant) to a moral person. J.D. CROSSAN, Finding is the First Act: Trove Folktales and Jesus’ Treasure Parable (Philadelphia, PA – Missoula, MT 1979) 102-117. See also J.D. CROSSAN, “Hidden Treasure Parables in Late Antiquity”, SBL 1976 Seminar Papers (ed. G. MACRAE) (Missoula, MT 1976) 359-379.