![Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles by Constantinople master (early 14th c](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Synaxis_of_the_Twelve_Apostles_by_Constantinople_master_%28early_14th_c.%2C_Pushkin_museum%29.jpg)
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous
early Christian treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
written in
Koine Greek
Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
, dated by modern scholars to the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
or (less commonly)
second century AD. The first line of this treatise is "The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the twelve apostles". The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written
catechism
A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
, has three main sections dealing with
Christian ethics, rituals such as
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
and
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
, and Church organization. The opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
is included in full. Baptism is by immersion, or by
affusion
Affusion ( la. ''affusio'') is a method of baptism where water is poured on the head of the person being baptized. The word "affusion" comes from the Latin ''affusio'', meaning "to pour on". Affusion is one of four methods of baptism used by Chri ...
if immersion is not practical. Fasting is ordered for Wednesdays and Fridays. Two primitive Eucharistic prayers are given. Church organization was at an early stage of development. Itinerant apostles and prophets are important, serving as "chief priests" and possibly celebrating the Eucharist. Meanwhile, local bishops and
deacons
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry.
The ''Didache'' is considered the first example of the genre of
Church Orders. The ''Didache'' reveals how
Jewish Christians
Jewish Christians ( he, יהודים נוצרים, yehudim notzrim) were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). The Nazarene Jews integrated the belief of Jesus ...
saw themselves and how they adapted their practice for
Gentile Christians
Gentile () is a word that usually means "someone who is not a Jew". Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, sometimes use the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is generally used as a synonym for ...
. The ''Didache'' is similar in several ways to the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
, perhaps because both texts originated in similar communities.
The opening chapters, which also appear in other early Christian texts, are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source.
The ''Didache'' is considered part of the group of second-generation Christian writings known as the
Apostolic Fathers
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have ...
. The work was considered by some
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
to be a part of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
, while being rejected by others as
spurious
Spurious may refer to:
* Spurious relationship in statistics
* Spurious emission or spurious tone in radio engineering
* Spurious key in cryptography
* Spurious interrupt in computing
* Spurious wakeup in computing
* ''Spurious'', a 2011 novel ...
or
non-canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
, In the end, it was not accepted into the
New Testament canon
The canon of the New Testament is the set of books many modern Christians regard as divinely inspired and constituting the New Testament of the Christian Bible. For historical Christians, canonization was based on whether the material was from ...
. However, works which draw directly or indirectly from the ''Didache'' include the ''
Didascalia Apostolorum
''Didascalia Apostolorum'', or just ''Didascalia'', is a Christian legal treatise which belongs to the genre of the Church Orders. It presents itself as being written by the Twelve Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem; however, schola ...
'', the ''
Apostolic Constitutions'' and the
Ethiopic Didascalia, the latter of which is included in the "broader canon" of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
.
Lost for centuries, a
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
manuscript of the ''Didache'' was rediscovered in 1873 by
Philotheos Bryennios
Philotheos Bryennios ( el, Φιλόθεος Βρυέννιος; 7 April 1833 – November 18, 1917) was a Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Nicomedia, and the discoverer in 1873 of an important manuscript with copies of early Church documents.
Life ...
, Metropolitan of Nicomedia, in the
Codex Hierosolymitanus
Codex Hierosolymitanus (also called the Bryennios manuscript or the Jerusalem Codex, often designated simply "H" in scholarly discourse) is an 11th-century Greek manuscript. It contains copies of a number of early Christian texts including the only ...
. A
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht.
Date, composition and modern translations
![Didtitle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Didtitle.jpg)
Many English and American scholars once dated the text to the late 2nd century AD, a view still held by some today, but other scholars now assign the Didache to the first century. The document is a composite work, and the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...
, with its
Manual of Discipline, has provided evidence of development over a considerable period of time, beginning as a Jewish
catechetical
Catechesis (; from Greek language, Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of Conversion to Christian ...
work which was then developed into a church manual.
Two
uncial
Uncial is a majuscule Glaister, Geoffrey Ashall. (1996) ''Encyclopedia of the Book''. 2nd edn. New Castle, DE, and London: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one ...
fragments containing Greek text of the ''Didache'' (verses 1:3c–4a; 2:7–3:2) were found among the
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
The Oxyrhynchus Papyri are a group of manuscripts discovered during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by papyrologists Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt at an ancient rubbish dump near Oxyrhynchus in Egypt (, mo ...
(no. 1782) and are now in the collection of the
Sackler Library
The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.
History
The Sackler Library building was completed in 2001 and opened on 24 September of tha ...
in Oxford. Apart from these fragments, the Greek text of the ''Didache'' has only survived in a single manuscript, the Codex Hierosolymitanus. Dating the document is thus made difficult both by the lack of hard evidence and its composite character. The ''Didache'' may have been compiled in its present form as late as 150, although a date closer to the end of the first century seems more probable to many.
The teaching is anonymous, a pastoral manual which Aaron Milavec states "reveals more about how
Jewish-Christians saw themselves and how they adapted their Judaism for
gentiles than any other book in the Christian Scriptures". The ''Two Ways'' section is likely based on an earlier Jewish source. The community that produced the Didache could have been based in Syria, as it addressed the gentiles but from a Judaic perspective, at some remove from Jerusalem, and shows no evidence of Pauline influence. Alan Garrow claims that its earliest layer may have originated in the decree issued by the
Apostolic council of AD 49–50, that is by the Jerusalem assembly under
James the Just.
The text was lost, but scholars knew of it through the writing of later church fathers, some of whom had drawn heavily on it.
[“Didache.”](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 20 February 2016. In 1873 in Istanbul, metropolitan
Philotheos Bryennios
Philotheos Bryennios ( el, Φιλόθεος Βρυέννιος; 7 April 1833 – November 18, 1917) was a Greek Orthodox metropolitan of Nicomedia, and the discoverer in 1873 of an important manuscript with copies of early Church documents.
Life ...
found a Greek copy of the Didache, written in 1056, and he published it in 1883.
Hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884.
Adolf von Harnack
Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...
produced the first German translation in 1884, and
Paul Sabatier Paul Sabatier may refer to:
*Paul Sabatier (chemist) (1854–1941), French chemist and Nobel Prize winner
*Paul Sabatier (theologian)
Charles Paul Marie Sabatier (3 or 9 August 1858 – 5 March 1928), was a French clergyman and historian who prod ...
produced the first French translation and commentary in 1885.
Early references
![Filoteos Bryennios](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Filoteos_Bryennios.JPG)
The ''Didache'' is mentioned by
Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
(c. 324) as the ''Teachings of the Apostles'' along with other books he considered
non-canonical
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...
:
Let there be placed among the spurious works the ''Acts of Paul
The Acts of Paul is one of the major works and earliest pseudepigraphal series from the New Testament apocrypha also known as Apocryphal Acts. This work is part of a body of literature either about or purporting to be written by Paul the Apost ...
'', the so-called ''Shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
'' and the ''Apocalypse of Peter
The Apocalypse of Peter (or Revelation of Peter) is an early Christian text of the 2nd century and an example of apocalyptic literature with Hellenistic overtones. It is not included in the standard canon of the New Testament, but is mentioned i ...
'', and besides these the ''Epistle of Barnabas
The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''Codex Sinaiticus'', where it appears immediately after the New Testament an ...
'', and what are called the ''Teachings of the Apostles'', and also the ''Apocalypse of John'', if this be thought proper; for as I wrote before, some reject it, and others place it in the canon.
Athanasius
Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
(367) and
Rufinus (c. 380) list the ''Didache'' among apocrypha. (Rufinus gives the curious alternative title ''Judicium Petri'', "Judgment of Peter".) It is rejected by
Nicephorus (c. 810), Pseudo-
Anastasius, and Pseudo-
Athanasius
Athanasius I of Alexandria, ; cop, ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ or Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲩ ⲁ̅; (c. 296–298 – 2 May 373), also called Athanasius the Great, ...
in ''Synopsis'' and the 60 Books canon. It is accepted by the
Apostolic Constitutions Canon 85,
John of Damascus and the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chris ...
. The ''Adversus Aleatores'' by an imitator of
Cyprian
Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...
quotes it by name. Unacknowledged citations are very common, if less certain. The section ''Two Ways'' shares the same language with the ''
Epistle of Barnabas
The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''Codex Sinaiticus'', where it appears immediately after the New Testament an ...
'', chapters 18–20, sometimes word for word, sometimes added to, dislocated, or abridged, and Barnabas iv, 9 either derives from ''Didache'', 16, 2–3, or vice versa. There can also be seen many similarities to the Epistles of both ''
Polycarp
Polycarp (; el, Πολύκαρπος, ''Polýkarpos''; la, Polycarpus; AD 69 155) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the '' Martyrdom of Polycarp'', he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed ...
'' and ''
Ignatius of Antioch
Ignatius of Antioch (; Greek: Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, ''Ignátios Antiokheías''; died c. 108/140 AD), also known as Ignatius Theophorus (, ''Ignátios ho Theophóros'', lit. "the God-bearing"), was an early Christian writer ...
''. The ''
Shepherd of Hermas
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
'' seems to reflect it, and
Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
,
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...
, and
Origen of Alexandria
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
also seem to use the work, and so in the West do
Optatus
Saint Optatus, sometimes anglicized as St. Optate, was Bishop of Milevis, in Numidia, in the fourth century, remembered for his writings against Donatism.
Biography and context
Optatus was a convert, as we gather from St. Augustine: "Do we not s ...
and the "Gesta apud Zenophilum." The ''
Didascalia Apostolorum
''Didascalia Apostolorum'', or just ''Didascalia'', is a Christian legal treatise which belongs to the genre of the Church Orders. It presents itself as being written by the Twelve Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem; however, schola ...
'' are founded upon the ''Didache''. The
Apostolic Church-Ordinances
The ''Apostolic Church-Ordinance'' (or ''Apostolic Church-Order'', ''Apostolic Church-Directory'' or ''Constitutio Ecclesiastica Apostolorum'') is an Oriental Orthodox Christian treatise which belongs to ''genre'' of the Church Orders. The work ...
has used a part, the
Apostolic Constitutions have embodied the ''Didascalia''. There are echoes in
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
,
Tatian
Tatian of Adiabene, or Tatian the Syrian or Tatian the Assyrian, (; la, Tatianus; grc, Τατιανός; syc, ܛܛܝܢܘܣ; c. 120 – c. 180 AD) was an Assyrian Christian writer and theologian of the 2nd century.
Tatian's most influential wor ...
,
Theophilus of Antioch
:''There is also a Theophilus of Alexandria'' (c. 412 AD).
Theophilus ( el, Θεόφιλος ὁ Ἀντιοχεύς) was Patriarch of Antioch from 169 until 182. He succeeded Eros c. 169, and was succeeded by Maximus I c. 183, according to Henr ...
,
Cyprian
Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Chri ...
, and
Lactantius
Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor, Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Cr ...
.
Contents
The ''Didache'' is a relatively short text with only some 2,300 words. The contents may be divided into four parts, which most scholars agree were combined from separate sources by a later
redactor
Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...
: the first is the ''Two Ways'', the Way of Life and the Way of Death (chapters 1–6); the second part is a ritual dealing with baptism,
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
, and
Communion (chapters 7–10); the third speaks of the ministry and how to treat apostles, prophets, bishops, and deacons (chapters 11–15); and the final section (chapter 16) is a prophecy of the Antichrist and the Second Coming.
Title
The manuscript is commonly referred to as the ''Didache''. This is short for the header found on the document and the title used by the Church Fathers, "The Lord's Teaching of the Twelve Apostles". A fuller title or subtitle is also found next in the manuscript, "The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles by the Twelve Apostles".
Description
Willy Rordorf considered the first five chapters as "essentially Jewish, but the Christian community was able to use it" by adding the "evangelical section". "Lord" in the ''Didache'' is reserved usually for "Lord God", while Jesus is called "the servant" of the
Father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
(9:2''f''.; 10:2''f''.).
Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
was practiced "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
[''The Didache or Teaching of the Apostles''](_blank)
trans. and ed., J. B. Lightfoot, 7:2,5 Scholars generally agree that 9:5, which speaks of baptism "in the name of the Lord," represents an earlier tradition that was gradually replaced by a
trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
of names." A similarity with
Acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
3 is noted by Aaron Milavec: both see Jesus as "the servant (pais) of God". The community is presented as "awaiting the
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
from the Father as entirely a
future event".
''The Two Ways''
The first section (Chapters 1–6) begins: "There are ''two ways'', one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these ''two ways''."
Apostolic Fathers
The Apostolic Fathers, also known as the Ante-Nicene Fathers, were core Christian theologians among the Church Fathers who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles or to have ...
, 2nd ed., Lightfoot-Harmer-Holmes, 1992, notes:
The closest parallels in the use of the Two Ways doctrine are found among the
Essene
The Essenes (; Hebrew: , ''Isiyim''; Greek: Ἐσσηνοί, Ἐσσαῖοι, or Ὀσσαῖοι, ''Essenoi, Essaioi, Ossaioi'') were a mystic Jewish sect during the Second Temple period that flourished from the 2nd century BCE to the 1st c ...
Jews at the
Dead Sea Scrolls
The Dead Sea Scrolls (also the Qumran Caves Scrolls) are ancient Jewish and Hebrew religious manuscripts discovered between 1946 and 1956 at the Qumran Caves in what was then Mandatory Palestine, near Ein Feshkha in the West Bank, on the nor ...
community. The Qumran community included a Two Ways teaching in its founding Charter,
The Community Rule
The Community Rule ( he, סרך היחד, ''Serekh haYahad''), which is designated 1QS and was previously referred to as the Manual of Discipline, is one of the first scrolls to be discovered near ''khirbet'' (ruin of) Qumran, the scrolls found in ...
.
Throughout the Two Ways there are many
Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
quotes shared with the
Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
, and many theological similarities, but
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
is never mentioned by name. The first chapter opens with the
Shema
''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or ''Sh'ma Yisrael''; he , שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ''Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl'', "Hear, O Israel") is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewis ...
("you shall love God"), the
Great Commandment
The Great Commandment (or Greatest Commandment) is a name used in the New Testament to describe the first of two commandments cited by Jesus in , , and in answer to him in :
Most Christian denominations consider these two commandments as, toge ...
("your neighbor as yourself"), and the
Golden Rule in the negative form. Then come short extracts in common with the
Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...
, together with a curious passage on giving and receiving, which is also cited with variations in ''
Shepherd of Hermas
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
'' (Mand., ii, 4–6). The Latin omits 1:3–6 and 2:1, and these sections have no parallel in
Epistle of Barnabas
The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''Codex Sinaiticus'', where it appears immediately after the New Testament an ...
; therefore, they may be a later addition, suggesting Hermas and the present text of the ''Didache'' may have used a common source, or one may have relied on the other. Chapter 2 contains the commandments against
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
,
adultery
Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...
,
corrupting boys,
sexual promiscuity
Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by ma ...
,
theft
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
,
magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
,
sorcery
Sorcery may refer to:
* Magic (supernatural), the application of beliefs, rituals or actions employed to subdue or manipulate natural or supernatural beings and forces
** Witchcraft, the practice of magical skills and abilities
* Magic in fiction, ...
,
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
,
infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...
, coveting,
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
, false testimony, speaking evil, holding grudges, being double-minded, not acting as you speak,
greed
Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as Social status, status, or Power (social and politica ...
,
avarice
Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as status, or power. Greed has been identified as undes ...
,
hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...
, maliciousness,
arrogance, plotting evil against neighbors,
hate
Hatred is an intense negative emotional response towards certain people, things or ideas, usually related to opposition or revulsion toward something. Hatred is often associated with intense feelings of anger, contempt, and disgust. Hatred is s ...
,
narcissism
Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive interest in one's physical appearance or image and an excessive preoccupation with one's own needs, often at the expense of others.
Narcissism exists on a co ...
and expansions on these generally, with references to the
words of Jesus. Chapter 3 attempts to explain how one vice leads to another: anger to murder,
concupiscence
Concupiscence (from Late Latin noun ''concupiscentia'', from the Latin verb ''concupiscence'', from ''con-'', "with", here an intensifier, + ''cupi(d)-'', "desiring" + ''-escere'', a verb-forming suffix denoting beginning of a process or state) is ...
to adultery, and so forth. The whole chapter is excluded in Barnabas. A number of precepts are added in chapter 4, which ends: "This is the Way of Life." Verse 13 states you must not forsake the
Lord's commandments, neither adding nor subtracting (see also ,). The Way of Death (chapter 5) is a list of vices to be avoided. Chapter 6 exhorts to the keeping in the Way of this Teaching:
The ''Didache'', like 1 Corinthians 10:21, does not give an absolute prohibition on eating meat which has been offered to idols, but merely advises being careful. Comparable to the ''Didache'' is the "let him eat herbs" of
Paul of Tarsus
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
as a
hyperbolical expression like : "I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother", thus giving no support to the notion of
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter.
Vegetarianism may ...
in the
Early Church
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...
. John Chapman in the ''
Catholic Encyclopedia
The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...
'' (1908) states that the ''Didache'' is referring to
Jewish meats.
The Latin version substitutes for chapter 6 a similar close, omitting all reference to meats and to ''idolothyta'', and concluding with ''per Domini nostri Jesu Christi … in saecula saeculorum, amen'', "by our lord Jesus Christ ... for ever and ever, amen". This is the end of the translation. This suggests the translator lived at a day when idolatry had disappeared, and when the remainder of the ''Didache'' was out of date. He had no such reason for omitting chapter 1, 3–6, so that this was presumably not in his copy.
Vice and virtue lists, and homosexuality
Vice lists, which are common appearances in Paul's epistles, were relatively unusual within ancient Judaism of the Old Testament times. Within the Gospels, Jesus' structure of teaching the ''Beatitudes'' is often dependent upon the Law and the Prophets. At times, however, Jesus expressed such vice lists that precede Paul's, such as in Mark 7:20-23. Paul's vice and virtue lists could bear more influence from the
Hellenistic-Jewish influences of
Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
(20 BC – AD 50) and other writers of the intertestamental period.
The way of death and the "grave sin" which are forbidden, is reminiscent of the various "vice lists" found in the Pauline Epistles, which warn against engaging in certain behaviours if you want to enter the Kingdom of God. Contrasting what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21 and 1 Timothy 1:9-11 with ''Didache 2'' displays a certain commonality with one another, almost with the same warnings and words, except for one line: ''thou shalt not corrupt boys''. Whereas Paul uses the compound word arsenokoitai (ἀρσενοκοῖται), a
hapax legomenon
In corpus linguistics, a ''hapax legomenon'' ( also or ; ''hapax legomena''; sometimes abbreviated to ''hapax'', plural ''hapaxes'') is a word or an expression that occurs only once within a context: either in the written record of an entire ...
literally meaning male-bedder, based on the Greek words for "male" and "lie with" found in the Septuagint translation of Leviticus 18:22, the Didache uses a word translated as child corrupter (παιδοφθορήσεις) which is likewise used in the
Epistle of Barnabas
The ''Epistle of Barnabas'' ( el, Βαρνάβα Ἐπιστολή) is a Greek epistle written between AD 70 and 132. The complete text is preserved in the 4th-century ''Codex Sinaiticus'', where it appears immediately after the New Testament an ...
.
Rituals
Baptism
The second part (chapters 7 to 10) begins with an instruction on
baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
, the sacramental rite that admits someone into the Christian Church. Baptism is to be conferred "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"
with triple immersion in “living water” (that is, flowing water, probably in a stream). If that is not practical, in cold or even warm water is acceptable. If the water is insufficient for immersion, it may be poured three times on the head (affusion). The baptized and the baptizer, and, if possible, anyone else attending the ritual should fast for one or two days beforehand.
The New Testament is rich in metaphors for baptism but offers few details about the practice itself, not even whether the candidates professed their faith in a formula. The ''Didache'' is the oldest extra-biblical source for information about baptism, but it, too lacks these details. The "Two Ways" section of the ''Didache'' is presumably the sort of ethical instruction that catechumens (students) received in preparation for baptism.
Fasting
Chapter 8 suggests that fasts are not to be on the second day and on the fifth day "with the hypocrites", but on the fourth day and on the preparation day. Fasting Wednesday and Friday plus worshiping on the Lord's day constituted the Christian week. Nor must Christians pray with their Judaic brethren; instead they shall say the
Lord's Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
three times a day. The text of the prayer is not identical to the version in the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
, and it is given with the
doxology
A doxology (Ancient Greek: ''doxologia'', from , ''doxa'' 'glory' and -, -''logia'' 'saying') is a short hymn of praises to God in various forms of Christian worship, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The tradition derives ...
"for Yours is the power and the glory forever."
This doxology derives from 1 Chronicles 29:11–13;
Bruce M. Metzger
Bruce Manning Metzger (February 9, 1914 – February 13, 2007) was an American biblical scholar, Bible translator and textual critic who was a longtime professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and Bible editor who served on the board of the ...
held that the early church added it to the Lord's Prayer, creating the current Matthew reading.
[May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. ''The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha''. 1977. p. 1177.]
Daily prayer
The ''Didache'' provides one of the few clues historians have in reconstructing the daily prayer practice among Christians before the 300s. It instructs Christians to pray the "Our Father" three times a day but does not specify times to pray. Recalling the version of , it affirms "you must not pray like the hypocrites, but you should pray as follows." Other early sources speak of two-fold, three-fold, and five-fold daily prayers.
Eucharist
The ''Didache'' includes two primitive and unusual prayers for the
Eucharist
The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
("thanksgiving"), which is the central act of Christian worship. It is the earliest text to refer to this rite as the Eucharist.
Chapter 9 begins:
Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way. First, concerning the cup:
We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine of David Thy servant, which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever...
And concerning the broken bread:
We thank Thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which Thou madest known to us through Jesus Thy Servant; to Thee be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Thy kingdom; for Thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.
But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs."
The ''Didache'' basically describes the same ritual as the one that took place in Corinth. As with Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians, the ''Didache'' confirms that the Lord's supper was literally a meal, probably taking place in a "house church." The order of cup and bread differs both from present-day Christian practice and from that in the New Testament accounts of the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
, of which, again unlike almost all present-day Eucharistic celebrations, the ''Didache'' makes no mention.
![Joseph Martin Kronheim - The Sunday at Home 1880 - Revelation 22-17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Joseph_Martin_Kronheim_-_The_Sunday_at_Home_1880_-_Revelation_22-17.jpg)
Chapter 10 gives a thanksgiving after a meal. The contents of the meal are not indicated: chapter 9 does not exclude other elements as well that the cup and bread, which are the only ones it mentions, and chapter 10, whether it was originally a separate document or continues immediately the account in chapter 9, mentions no particular elements, not even wine and bread. Instead it speaks of the "spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Thy Servant" that it distinguishes from the "food and drink (given) to men for enjoyment that they might give thanks to (God)". After a doxology, as before, come the apocalyptic exclamations: "Let grace come, and let this world pass away.
Hosanna
''Hosanna'' () is a liturgical word in Judaism and Christianity. In Judaism it refers to a cry expressing an appeal for divine help.Friberg Lexicon In Christianity it is used as a cry of praise.
Etymology
The word ''hosanna'' (Latin ', Greek ...
to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent.
Maranatha
__NOTOC__
''Maranatha'' (Aramaic: ') is an Aramaic phrase which occurs once in the New Testament (). It also appears in Didache 10:14. It is transliterated into Greek letters rather than translated and, given the nature of early manuscripts, the ...
. Amen". The prayer is reminiscent of and
1 Corinthians 16:22.
John Dominic Crossan endorses John W. Riggs' 1984 ''The Second Century'' article for the proposition that "there are two quite separate eucharistic celebrations given in Didache 9–10, with the earlier one now put in second place". The section beginning at 10.1 is a reworking of the Jewish
birkat ha-mazon, a three-strophe prayer at the conclusion of a meal, which includes a blessing of God for sustaining the universe, a blessing of God who gives the gifts of food, earth, and
covenant
Covenant may refer to:
Religion
* Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general
** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible
** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...
, and a
prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem; the content is "Christianized", but the form remains Jewish. It is similar to the Syrian Church eucharist rite of the
Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari
The Liturgy of Addai and Mari (or the '' Holy Qurbana of Mar Addai and Mar Mari'') is the Eucharistic liturgy belonging to the East Syriac Rite and was historically used in the Church of the East of the Sasanian (Persian) Empire. This liturg ...
, belonging to "a primordial era when the euchology of the Church had not yet inserted the Institution Narrative in the text of the Eucharistic Prayer".
Church organization
The church organization reflected in the Didache seems to be underdeveloped. Itinerant apostles and prophets are of great importance, serving as "chief priests" and possibly celebrating the Eucharist. Development through the ages indicates that titles changed without understanding of the workings of the various roles by later editors in the belief that the roles were interchangeable – indicating that prophetic knowledge was not operating actively during a season of "closed vision" (as in the time of Samuel), modernised titles not indicating prophetic knowledge. The text offers guidelines on how to differentiate a genuine prophet that deserves support from a false prophet who seeks to exploit the community's generosity. For example, a prophet who fails to act as he preaches is a false prophet (11:10). The local leadership consists of bishops and deacons, and they seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry. Christians are enjoined to gather on Sunday
[on Sabbath not Sanday, see Didache 14 and 8] to break bread, but to confess their sins first as well as reconcile themselves with others if they have grievances (Chapter 14).
Matthew and the ''Didache''
Significant similarities between the ''Didache'' and the Gospel of Matthew have been found
as these writings share words, phrases, and motifs. There is also an increasing reluctance of modern scholars to support the thesis that the ''Didache'' used Matthew. This close relationship between these two writings might suggest that both documents were created in the same historical and geographical setting. One argument that suggests a common environment is that the community of both the ''Didache'' and the gospel of Matthew was probably composed of Jewish Christians from the beginning.
Also, the Two Ways teaching (Did. 1–6) may have served as a pre-baptismal instruction within the community of the ''Didache'' and Matthew. Furthermore, the correspondence of the Trinitarian baptismal formula in the ''Didache'' and Matthew (Did. 7 and Matt 28:19) as well as the similar shape of the Lord's Prayer (Did. 8 and Matt 6:5–13) appear to reflect the use of similar oral traditions. Finally, both the community of the ''Didache'' (Did. 11–13) and Matthew (Matt 7:15–23; 10:5–15, 40–42; 24:11,24) were visited by itinerant apostles and prophets, some of whom were heterodox.
[H. van de Sandt (ed), ''Matthew and the Didache'', (Assen: Royal van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2005).
]
See also
* Ancient Church Orders
* Brotherly love (philosophy)
*
Codex Hierosolymitanus
Codex Hierosolymitanus (also called the Bryennios manuscript or the Jerusalem Codex, often designated simply "H" in scholarly discourse) is an 11th-century Greek manuscript. It contains copies of a number of early Christian texts including the only ...
* Gospel according to the Hebrews
* Paedagogus
Notes
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
* .
*
*
*
* .
* .
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
An extensive list of English translations of the Didache from Universität Bremen
Didache text in Greekfrom CCEL
Eight English translations; Greek text; Nine Commentaries; and Overview of the ''Didache''b
translated by Philip Schaff
''Didache''translated by M.B. Riddle
– English translation hosted by About.com
*
"Didache" article from the 1901–6 ''Jewish Encyclopedia''
earlychurch.org.ukThe Didache: Its Origin And Significance
Electronic Edition by Robert A. Kraft (updated 28 July 1995)
*
''Didache''at Oxford Bibliographies—an annotated bibliography. .
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