Gospel of Judas No. 5 What Did Judas Do? Feb 16 08

The fifth issue April DeConick raises is found in the Gospel of Judas 56.17-18. The alternate translations here are:

 "You will exceed them all of them." (National Geographic Critical Edition)

or

"You will do worse than all of them." (April DeConick)

The fifth issue April DeConick raises is found in the Gospel of Judas 56.17-18. The alternate translations here are:

 "You will exceed them all of them." (National Geographic Critical Edition)

or

"You will do worse than all of them." (April DeConick)

As she points out, the line literally reads, "you will do more than all," with the force being depedent on how one reads the context. She reads that context as negative, since the previous line ends with "everything that is evil." So Judas will do more than the evil others have done. Unfortunately the previous three lines are missing as are almost nine of the previous twelve lines above the missing three lines. This makes determining the force of the context difficult. Is the missing material like the line before the text or is it a contrast? The fact is we do not know. So this difference is hard to resolve as well. Does do more (ie, better) than those who offer unfaithful sacrifices to Saklas or does he do more (ie, worse) in terms of evil? Without more immediate context, there is no way to be sure.