Editing Didache (section)

==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 [[Redaction|redactor]]: 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]], and [[Eucharist|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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}}

===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".{{Efn|Greek: {{langx|grc|Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων|Didachē Kyriou dia tōn dōdeka apostolōn|label=none}}.}} A fuller title or subtitle is also found next in the manuscript, "The Teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles{{Efn|Some translations use 'Nations' in place of 'Gentiles'.{{refn|{{cite book | publisher = Blue letter Bible | url = http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/words.pl?strongs=1484&page=1&flag_full=1 | last = Strong | title = 1484}}.}}}} by the Twelve Apostles".{{Efn|Greek:{{langx|grc|Διδαχὴ κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν|Didachē kyriou dia tōn dōdeka apostolōn tois ethnesin|label=none}}.}}

===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".{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PA110  110]}} The title 'Lord' in the ''Didache'' is reserved usually for "Lord God", while Jesus is called "the servant" of the [[God the Father|Father]] (9:2''f''.; 10:2''f''.).{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PA271  271]}}  [[Baptism]] was practiced "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."<ref name= "Trinitarian Baptismal Formula">[http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-lightfoot.html ''The Didache or Teaching of the Apostles''], trans. and ed., J. B. Lightfoot, 7:2,5</ref> 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]] of names."{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = 271 | ps =; the ''Didache'' verse ("But let no one eat or drink of this eucharistic thanksgiving, but they that have been baptized into the name of the Lord", [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-lightfoot.html  ''The Didache or Teaching of the Apostles''], trans. and ed., J. B. Lightfoot, 9:10) is erroneously indicated as 9:5.}} A similarity with [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] 3 is noted by Aaron Milavec: both see Jesus as "the servant (pais)<ref>{{bibleverse|Acts|3:13}}</ref>{{efn|Describing Jesus as {{langx|grc|παῖς|pais|label=none}}; "a boy (as often beaten with impunity), or (by analogy) a girl, and (generally) a child; specifically a slave or servant (especially a minister to a king; and by eminence to God): – child, maid (-en), (man) servant, son, young man" [[Strong's Concordance|Strong]]'s G3817.}} of God".{{sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PA368 368]}} The community is presented as "awaiting the [[Kingdom of God|kingdom]] from the Father as entirely a [[Futurism (Christianity)|future event]]".{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PA368 368]}}

===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."<ref>Holmes, ''Apostolic Fathers''</ref>

[[Apostolic Fathers]] (1992) notes:
{{quote|''The Two Ways'' material appears to have been intended, in light of 7.1, as a summary of basic instruction about the Christian life to be taught to those who were preparing for baptism and church membership. In its present form it represents the [[Christianization]] of a common Jewish form of moral instruction. Similar material is found in a number of other Christian writings from the first through about the fifth centuries, including the ''Epistle of Barnabas,'' the ''Didascalia,'' the ''Apostolic Church Ordinances,'' the ''Summary of Doctrine,'' the ''Apostolic Constitutions,'' the ''Life of Schnudi,'' and ''On the Teaching of the Apostles (or Doctrina),'' some of which are dependent on the ''Didache''. The interrelationships between these various documents, however, are quite complex and much remains to be worked out.|[[Apostolic Fathers]], 2nd ed., Lightfoot-Harmer-Holmes, 1992}}

The closest parallels in the use of the Two Ways doctrine are found among the [[Essene]] Jews at the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] community. The Qumran community included a Two Ways teaching in its founding Charter, [[The Community Rule]].

Throughout the Two Ways there are many [[Old Testament]] quotes shared with the [[Gospels]], and many theological similarities, but [[Jesus]] is never mentioned by name. The first chapter opens with the [[Shema]] ("you shall love God"), the [[Great Commandment]] ("your neighbor as yourself"), and the [[ethic of reciprocity|Golden Rule]] in the negative form. Then come short extracts in common with the [[Sermon on the Mount]], together with a curious passage on giving and receiving, which is also cited with variations in ''[[Shepherd of Hermas]]'' (Mand., ii, 4–6). The Latin omits 1:3–6 and 2:1, and these sections have no parallel in [[Epistle of Barnabas]]; 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]], [[adultery]], [[Pederasty|corrupting boys]], [[sexual promiscuity]], [[theft]], [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], [[Witchcraft|sorcery]], [[abortion]], [[infanticide]], coveting, [[perjury]], false testimony, speaking evil, holding grudges, being double-minded, not acting as one speaks, [[Seven deadly sins#Greed|greed]], [[Seven deadly sins#Greed|avarice]], [[hypocrisy]], maliciousness, [[Hubris|arrogance]], plotting evil against neighbors, [[hate]], [[narcissism]] and expansions on these generally, with references to the [[Logia|words of Jesus]]. Chapter 3 attempts to explain how one vice leads to another: anger to murder, [[concupiscence]] 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 that one must not forsake the [[613 Mitzvot|Lord's commandments]], neither adding nor subtracting (see also Deuteronomy 4:2,<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|4:2}}</ref> 12:32).<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|12:32}}</ref> 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:

{{quote|See that no one causes you to err from this way of the teaching, since apart from God it teaches you. For if you are able to bear the entire yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect; but if you are not able to do this, do what you are able. And concerning food, bear what you are able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols be exceedingly careful; for it is the service of dead gods.}}

The ''Didache'', like {{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|10:21}}, does not give an absolute prohibition on eating meat which has been offered to idols, but merely advises being careful.<ref>{{harvnb|Milavec|2003b|p=252}} citing Wendell Willis "It is interesting, nonetheless, that both Paul and the ''Didache'' take a flexible approach save when it comes to eating food sacrificed to idols. Paul makes use of the phrase "table of demons" (1 Cor 10:21)."</ref> Comparable to the ''Didache'' is the "let him eat herbs" of [[Paul of Tarsus]] as a [[Hyperbole|hyperbolical]] expression like {{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|8:13}} "I will never eat flesh, lest I should scandalize my brother", thus giving no support to the notion of [[vegetarianism]] in the [[Early Church]]. [[John Chapman (priest)|John Chapman]] in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' (1908) states that the ''Didache'' is referring to [[kashrut|Jewish meats]].<ref name="Cathency"/> The Latin version substitutes for chapter 6 a similar close, omitting all reference to meats and to {{lang|la|idolothyta}}, and concluding with {{lang|la|"per Domini nostri Jesu Christi{{nbsp}}[...] in saecula saeculorum, amen"}} ('by our lord Jesus Christ{{nbsp}}[...] 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. There would be no other such reason for omitting chapter 1, 3–6, so these chapters were presumably not in the copy used by the translator.<ref name="Cathency"/>

===Vice and virtue lists===
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, such as in Mark 7:20–23.<ref>{{bibleverse|Mark|7:20–23}}</ref> Paul's vice and virtue lists could bear more influence from the [[Hellenistic Jewish|Hellenistic-Jewish]] influences of [[Philo]] (20 BC–50 AD) and other writers of the intertestamental period.<ref>For more information on this topic, see: Mike Sperou and Kevin Mitchell, ed. "Vice and Virtue Lists of the New Testament." PDF resource published by North Clackamas Bible Community and available online at BcResources.net. Last modified October 25, 2010 https://bcresources.net/2200000-nts-frg12-lit-frm-vv-lists-nt-art-bcrx/</ref>

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 one wants to enter the Kingdom of God. Contrasting what Paul wrote in {{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|6:9–10}}, {{bibleverse|Galatians|5:19–21}}, and what was written in {{bibleverse|1 Timothy|1:9–11}}{{efn|Most modern scholars do not affirm that Paul authored 1 Timothy; see [[First Epistle to Timothy#Authorship]].}} 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 {{transliteration|grc|arsenokoitai}} ({{lang|grc|[[wikt:ἀρσενοκοίτης|ἀρσενοκοῖται]]}}), a [[hapax legomenon]] literally meaning 'male-bedder', based on the Greek words for 'male' and 'lie with' found in the Septuagint translation of Leviticus 18:22,<ref>Velotta, Jason R. "Who are the "Arsenokoitai" in 1 Co. 6:9?" Academia.edu - Share research, Mar. 2010, https://www.academia.edu/4984160/Who_are_the_Arsenokoitai_in_1_Co._6_9</ref> the Didache uses a word translated as 'child corrupter' ({{langx|grc|label=none|παιδοφθορήσεις|paidophthorēseis}}) which is likewise used in the [[Epistle of Barnabas]].

=== Rituals ===
====Baptism====
The second part (chapters 7 to 10) begins with an instruction on [[baptism]], the sacramental rite that admits someone into the Christian Church.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=151}} Baptism is to be conferred "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit"<ref name="Trinitarian Baptismal Formula"/> with triple immersion in "living water" (that is, flowing water, probably in a stream).{{sfn | White | 2006 | p=794}} If this is not practical, baptism 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.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | pp=36–38}} The ''Didache'' is the oldest extra-biblical source for information about baptism, but it, too lacks these details.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | pp=36–38}} The Two Ways section of the ''Didache'' is presumably the sort of ethical instruction that catechumens (students) received in preparation for baptism.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | pp=36–38}}

====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.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | p=62}} Nor must Christians pray with their Judaic brethren; instead they shall say the [[Lord's Prayer]] three times a day. The text of the prayer is not identical to the version in the [[Gospel of Matthew]], and it is given with the [[doxology]] "for Yours is the power and the glory forever." This doxology derives from 1 Chronicles 29:11–13; [[Bruce M. Metzger]] held that the early church added it to the Lord's Prayer, creating the current Matthew reading.<ref name = "May Metzger 1177">May, Herbert G. and Bruce M. Metzger. ''The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha''. 1977. p. 1177.</ref>

====Daily prayer====
The ''Didache'' provides one of the few clues historians have in reconstructing the daily prayer practice among Christians before the 300s.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | p=60}} It instructs Christians to pray the "Our Father" three times a day but does not specify times to pray.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | p=60}} Recalling the version of Matthew 6:9–13,<ref>{{bibleverse|Matthew|6:9-13}}</ref> it affirms "you must not pray like the hypocrites, but you should pray as follows."<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Leo M.|last1=Abrami|url=https://www.academia.edu/27950201|title=The Jewish Origins of the Lord's Prayer|journal=Liturgical Studies, Early Christianity|access-date=July 20, 2021|archive-url=https://archive.today/20180725010443/https://www.academia.edu/27950201/The_Jewish_Origins_of_the_Lords_Prayer|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Other early sources speak of two-fold, three-fold, and five-fold daily prayers.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | p=60}}

====Eucharist====
The ''Didache'' includes two primitive and unusual prayers for the [[Eucharist]] ("thanksgiving"),{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} which is the central act of Christian worship.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=570}} It is the earliest text to refer to this rite as the Eucharist.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=570}}

Chapter 9 begins:
{{poemquote|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:
{{poemquote|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.<ref>Valeriy A. Alikin. ''The earliest history of the Christian gathering''. Brill, 2010. {{ISBN|978-90-04-18309-4}}. p. 110. "...practice of a particular community or group of communities.29 However, the ''Didache'' basically describes the same ritual as the one that took place in Corinth. This is probable for several reasons. In both cases, the meal was a community supper that took place on Sunday evening where the participants could eat their fill, rather than purely a symbolic ritual.30 Also in both cases the meal began with separate benedictions over the bread and wine (Mark 14:22–25 par.).."</ref> 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]]".{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | pp=44–51}} 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]],<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Corinthians|11:23–25}}, {{bibleverse|Mark|14:22–25}}, {{bibleverse|Matthew|26:26–29}}, {{bibleverse|Luke|22:14–20}}</ref> of which, again unlike almost all present-day Eucharistic celebrations, the ''Didache'' makes no mention.{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | pp=44–51}}

[[File:Joseph Martin Kronheim - The Sunday at Home 1880 - Revelation 22-17.jpg|thumb|Revelation 22:17 ([[King James Version|KJV]]), to which the prayer in ''Didache'' 10 bears some similarity]]
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]] to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. [[Maranatha]]. Amen".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0714.htm|title=The Didache (Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7)|last=M. B. Riddle (trans.)|date=1886|website=New Advent|access-date=9 Aug 2019}}</ref> The prayer is reminiscent of Revelation 22:17–20<ref>{{bibleverse|Revelation|22:17–20}}</ref> and [[1 Corinthians 16:22]].

[[John Dominic Crossan]] endorses [[John W. Riggs]]' proposal in a 1984 ''[[The Second Century]]'' article that "there are two quite separate eucharistic celebrations given in Didache 9–10, with the earlier one now put in second place".<ref>Crossan, ''The Historical Jesus'', p 361 (1991)</ref> The section beginning at 10.1 is a reworking of the Jewish [[Birkat hamazon|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 (biblical)|covenant]], and a [[Jerusalem in Judaism|prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem]]; the content is "Christianized", but the form remains Jewish.<ref>The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity by Hubertus Waltherus Maria van de Sandt, David Flusser pp 311–2; [http://www.bezinningscentrum.nl/teksten/girard/c/c2007_Perdew_Stephanie_paper.htm Metaphors of Sacrifice in the Liturgies of the Early Church] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219034654/http://www.bezinningscentrum.nl/teksten/girard/c/c2007_Perdew_Stephanie_paper.htm |date=19 February 2008 }} by Stephanie Perdew; [http://www.animabit.de/bibel/hubmann_liturgie_judentum_christentum.html Jüdische Wurzel] by Franz D. Hubmann</ref> It is similar to the Syrian Church eucharist rite of the [[Holy Qurbana of Addai and Mari]], 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".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.kaldu.org/3_chaldean_culture/TheAnaphora_ApostlesAddai_Mari.html |title=Sarhad Yawsip Jammo, ''The Anaphora of Addai and Mari: A Study of Structure and Historical Background'' |access-date=28 November 2007 |archive-date=1 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201041631/http://www.kaldu.org/3_chaldean_culture/TheAnaphora_ApostlesAddai_Mari.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Church organization===
The church organization reflected in the ''Didache'' seems to be underdeveloped.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} 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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} 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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} Christians are enjoined to gather on Sunday to break bread, but to confess their sins first as well as reconcile themselves with others if they have grievances (Chapter 14).