Gosple of Phillip

The following excerpts are from two translations of the Gospel of Phillip.

There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister, and Magdalene, the one who was called his companion. His sister and his mother and his companion were each a Mary. . . .

And the companion of the [...] Mary Magdalene. [...] loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples [...]. They said to him "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them,"Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness.

SOURCE: Wesley W. Isenberg, trans., "The Gospel of Phillip," The Nag Hammadi Library (Retrieved 8 June 2009).

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36. There were three Mariams who walked with the Lord at all times: his mother and [his] sister and (the) Magdaleneº— this one who is called his Companionº. Thus his (true¹) Mother and Sister and Mate is (also called) ‘Mariam’. (¹i.e. the Sacred Spirit; Mk 3:35, Th 101, Ph 59; hyperlinear) . . .

59. The wisdom which (humans) call barren is herself the Mother of the Angels. (Pro 8:12+32, Lk 7:35!!, Ph 40) And the Companion of the [Christ] is Mariam the Magdalene. The [Lord loved] Mariam more than [all the (other)] Disciples, [and he] kissed her often on her [mouth].¹ The other [women] saw his love for Mariam,² they say to him: Why do thou love [her] more than all of us? The Saviorº replied,² he says to them: Why do I not love you as (I do) her? (¹Pro 24:26, S-of-S 1:2 6:9, Ph 35 36 40; ²asyndeton; Th 61b; hyperlinear)

Companion (36 59); Greek ΚΟΙΝΩΝΟΣ (associate, partner; NB plural at Lk 5:10!); see Mate; the feminine of this Greek word does not mean ‘wife’; moreover, contrary to the claim made in the popular novel The Da Vinci Code (2003), neither does the underlying Aramaic, rbx (khaver: female companion), mean ‘spouse’; regarding Leonardo's famous painting, in his own highly secretive Notebooks I.665 he unambiguously refers to that figure as a male!: ‘Notes on the Last Supper’; see also the video presentation.

Magdalene (36 59): Hebrew ldgm (migdal: watchtower) Pro 18:10, Isa 5:1-2, Mic 4:8, Lk 8:2, Jn 20:1-18; it should be noted that ΑΠΤΩ in Jn 20:17 means not merely ‘touch, cling to’ but also ‘kindle, ignite’ (as in Lk 8:16) and thus ‘caress’, as also in Lk 7:39.

Mate (30 36 64 65 80 86 87 89 119 120 131 134 142): Coptic 6wtr (C726b) = Greek ΚΟΙΝΩΝΙΑ (common-being); sexual union; cp. Israelite ‘concubinage’, non-marital sexual union (in which any offspring do not inherit), as Abraham with Hagar and Ketura (Gen 16 & 25:1-6) or King David (II-Sam 15:16)— forbidden neither by the Torah nor by Christ (Ex 20:14, Lev 20:10, Mt 5:28 refer only to the wife of another man, not to an unmarried woman or a widow); see Companion, Prostitution, Sacrament and Unite.

SOURCE: Paterson Brown, trans., "The Gospel of Phillip," Metalogos: The Gospels of Thomas, Philip and Truth (Retrieved 8 June 2009).