edition appeared in 1791. A critical edition was published by G.
Eitner in 1872, who also edited a selection of Logau’s epigrams for
the Deutsche Dichter des XVII. Jahrhunderts (vol. iii., 1870); there
is also a selection by H. Oesterley in Kürschner’s Deutsche Nationalliteratur,
vol. xxviii. (1885). See H. Denker, Beiträge zur literarischen
Würdigung Logaus (1889); W. Heuschkel, Untersuchungen über
Ränders und Lessings Bearbeitung Logauscher Sinngedichte (1901).
LOGIA, a title used to describe a collection of the sayings of
Jesus Christ (λόγια Ἰησοῦ) and therefore generally applied to the
“Sayings of Jesus” discovered in Egypt by B. P. Grenfell and
A. S. Hunt. There is some question as to whether the term is
rightly used for this purpose. It does not occur in the Papyri
in this sense. Each “saying” is introduced by the phrase
“Jesus says” (λέγει) and the collection is described in the introductory
words of the 1903 series as λόγοι not as λόγια. Some
justification for the employment of the term is found in early
Christian literature. Several writers speak of the λόγια τοῦ κυρίου
or τὰ κυριακὰ λόγια, i.e. oracles of (or concerning) the Lord. Polycarp,
for instance, speaks of “those who pervert the oracles of
the Lord.” (Philipp. 7), and Papias, as Eusebius tells us, wrote
a work with the title “Expositions of the Oracles of the Lord.”
The expression has been variously interpreted. It need mean no
more (Lightfoot, Essays on Supernatural Religion, 172 seq.) than
narratives of (or concerning) the Lord; on the other hand, the
phrase is capable of a much more definite meaning, and there are
many scholars who hold that it refers to a document which
contained a collection of the sayings of Jesus. Some such
document, we know, must lie at the base of our Synoptic Gospels,
and it is quite possible that it may have been known to and used
by Papias. It is only on this assumption that the use of the term
Logia in the sense described above can be justified.
“The Sayings,” to which the term Logia is generally applied, consist of (a) a papyrus leaf containing seven or eight sayings of Jesus discovered in 1897, (b) a second leaf containing five more sayings discovered in 1903, (c) two fragments of unknown Gospels, the former published in 1903, the latter in 1907. All these were found amongst the great mass of papyri acquired by the Egyptian Exploration Fund from the ruins of Oxyrhynchus, one of the chief early Christian centres in Egypt, situated some 120 m. S. of Cairo.
The eight “sayings” discovered in 1897 are as follows:—
1. ... καὶ τότε διαβλέψεις ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ κάρφος τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου.
2. Λέγει Ἰησοῦς ἐὰν μὴ νηστεύσητε τὸν κόσμον οὐ μὴ εὔρητε τὴν βασίλειαν τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἐὰν μὴ σαββατίσητε τὸ σάββατον οὐκ ὄψεσθε τὸν πατέρα.
3. Λέγει Ἰησοῦς ἔ[σ]την ἐν μεσῷ τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ἐν σαρκὶ ὤφθην αὐτοῖς, καὶ εὖρον πάντας μεθύοντας καὶ οὐδένα εὖρον διψῶντα ἐν αὐτοῖς, καὶ πονεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τοῖς υὶοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ὅτι τυφλοί εἰσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶ[ν] κ[αὶ] ο̣ὐ̣ βλ̣έ[πουσιν]....
4. [Illegible: possibly joins on to 3] ... [τ]ὴν πτωχείαν.
5. [Λέγ]ει [Ἰησοῦς ὄπ]ου ἐὰν ὧσιν [β, οὐκ] ε[ἰσὶ]ν ἄθεοι καὶ [ὅ]που ε[ἶς] ἐστιν μόνος, [λέ]γω, ἐγώ εἰμι μετ᾽ αὐτ[οῦ] ἔγει[ρ]ον τὸν λίθον κἀκεῖ εὑρήσεις με, σχίσον τὸ ξύλον κἀγὼ ἐκεῖ εἰμι.
6. Λέγει Ἰησοῦς ούκ ἔστιν δεκτὸς προφήτης ἐν τῇ πατρίδι αὐτ[ο]ῦ, οὐδὲ ἰατρὸς ποιεῖ θεραπείας εἰς τοὺς γινώσκοντας αὐτόν.
7. Λέγει Ἰησοῦς πόλιςοἰ κοδομημένη ἐπ᾽ ἄκρον [ὄ]ρους ὑψηλοῦ καὶ ἐστηριγμένη οὔτε πε[σ]εῖν δύναται οὔτε κρυ[β]ῆναι.
8. Λέγει Ἰησοῦς ἀκούεις [ε]ἰ̣ς τ̣ὸ ἓ̣ν̣ ᾠ̣τ̣ίον σοῦ τ̣ὸ [δὲ ἕτερον συνέκλεισας].
Letters in brackets are missing in the original: letters which are dotted beneath are doubtful.
1. “... and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye.”
2. “Jesus saith, Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the kingdom of God; and except ye make the sabbath a real sabbath, ye shall not see the Father.”
3. “Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world and in the flesh was I seen of them, and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them, and my soul grieveth over the sons of men, because they are blind in their heart, and see not....”
4. “... poverty....”
5. “Jesus saith, Wherever there are two, they are not without God, and wherever there is one alone, I say, I am with him. Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me, cleave the wood and there am I.”
6. “Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither doth a physician work cures upon them that know him.”
7. “Jesus saith, A city built upon the top of a high hill and stablished can neither fall nor be hid.”
8. “Jesus saith, Thou hearest with one ear [but the other ear hast thou closed].”
The “sayings” of 1903 were prefaced by the following introductory statement:—
οἱ τοῖοι οἱ λόγοι οἱ [... οὓς ἐλάλησεν Ἰη(σοῦ)ς ὁ ζῶν κ[ύριος? ... καὶ Θωμᾷ καὶ εἶπεν [αὐτοῖς· πᾶς ὅστις ἂν τῶν λόγων τούτ[ων ἀκούσῃ θανάτου οὐ μὴ γεύσηται.
“These are the (wonderful?) words which Jesus the living (Lord) spake to ... and Thomas and he said unto (them) every one that hearkens to these words shall never taste of death.”
The “sayings” themselves are as follows:—
| (1) [λέγει Ἰη(σοῦ)ς· μὴ παυσάσθω ὁ ζη[τῶν ... (2) λέγει Ἰ[η(σοῦς ... τίνες ... (3) [ λέγει Ἰη(σοῦ)ς (4) λέγει Ἰη(σοῦ)ς· [πᾶν τὸ μὴ ἔμπροσ- (5) [ἐξ] ετάζουσιν αὐτὸν ο[ἱ μαθηταἱ αὐτοῦ καὶ |
1. “Jesus saith, Let not him who seeks ... cease until he finds and when he finds he shall be astonished; astonished he shall reach the kingdom and having reached the kingdom he shall rest.”
2. “Jesus saith (ye ask? who are those) that draw us (to the kingdom if) the kingdom is in Heaven? ... the fowls of the air and all beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth and the fishes of the sea (these are they which draw) you and the kingdom of Heaven is within you and whosoever shall know himself shall find it. (Strive therefore?) to know yourselves and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the (Almighty?) Father; (and?) ye shall know that ye are in (the city of God?) and ye are (the city?).”
3. “Jesus saith, A man shall not hesitate ... to ask concerning his place (in the kingdom. Ye shall know) that many that are first shall be last and the last first and (they shall have eternal life?).”
4. “Jesus saith, Everything that is not before thy face and that which is hidden from thee shall be revealed to thee. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest nor buried which shall not be raised.”
5. “His disciples question him and say, How shall we fast and how shall we (pray?) ... and what (commandment) shall we keep ... Jesus saith ... do not ... of truth ... blessed is he ...”
The fragment of a lost Gospel which was discovered in 1903 contained originally about fifty lines, but many of them have perished and others are undecipherable. The translation, as far as it can be made out, is as follows:—
1-7. “(Take no thought) from morning until even nor from evening until morning either for your food what ye shall eat or for your raiment what ye shall put on. 7-13. Ye are far better than the lilies which grow but spin not. Having one garment what do ye (lack)?... 13–15. Who could add to your stature? 15-16. He himself will give you your garment. 17-23. His disciples say unto him, When wilt thou be manifest unto us and when shall we see thee? He saith, When ye shall be stripped and not be ashamed ... 41-46. He
