View source for Didache

{{short description|Early Christian treatise}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Didache.png|thumb|Didache manuscript]]
The '''''Didache''''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɪ|d|ə|k|eː|,_|-|k|i}}; {{Langx|grc|Διδαχή|Didakhé|Teaching|link=no}}),<ref>[[Henry George Liddell|Liddell, Henry George]]; Scott, Robert (1940). "{{lang|grc|διδαχή}}". ''[[A Greek–English Lexicon]]''. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir [[Henry Stuart Jones]], with the assistance of [[Roderick McKenzie]]. [[Oxford]]: [[Clarendon Press]].</ref> also known as '''''The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations''''' ({{langx|grc|label=none|Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν|Didachḕ Kyríou dià tō̂n dṓdeka apostólōn toîs éthnesin}}), is a brief anonymous [[Early Christianity|early Christian]] [[treatise]] ([[ancient church order]]) written in [[Koine Greek]], dated by modern scholars to the [[Christianity in the 1st century|first]]{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} or (less commonly) [[Christianity in the 2nd century|second century]] AD.<ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Didachē". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Oct. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didache. Accessed 28 December 2023.</ref>

The first line of this treatise is: "The teaching of the Lord to the Gentiles (or Nations) by the twelve apostles".{{Efn|Greek: {{lang|grc|Διδαχὴ κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν.}}}} The text, parts of which constitute the oldest extant written [[catechism]], has three main sections dealing with [[Christian ethics]], rituals such as [[baptism]] and [[Eucharist]], and Church organization. The opening chapters describe the virtuous Way of Life and the wicked Way of Death. The [[Lord's Prayer]] is included in full. Baptism is by immersion, or by [[affusion]] 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 [[Deacon|deacons]] also have authority and seem to be taking the place of the itinerant ministry.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}}

The ''Didache'' is considered the first example of the genre of [[Ancient Church Orders|Church Orders]].{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} It reveals how [[Jewish Christian|Jewish Christians]] saw themselves and how they adapted their practice for [[Gentile Christians]].{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PR7  vii]}} It is similar in several ways to the [[Gospel of Matthew]], perhaps because both texts originated in similar communities.<ref name="Matthew and the Didache"/> The opening chapters, which also appear in other early Christian texts like the [[Epistle of Barnabas]], are likely derived from an earlier Jewish source.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}}

The ''Didache'' is considered part of the group of second-generation Christian writings known as the [[Apostolic Fathers]]. The work was considered by some [[Church Fathers]] to be a part of the [[New Testament]],{{efn|The ''Didache'' is included in the 81-book canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]], the largest set of canonical texts in any Christian church.}} while being rejected by others as [[Apocrypha#Spurious writings|spurious]] or [[Biblical canon|non-canonical]].<ref>[[Athanasius]] [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf204.xxv.iii.iii.xxv.html ''Festal Letter 39''] (excludes them from the canon, but recommends them for reading) in 367</ref><ref>[[Patriarch Nicephorus I of Constantinople|Nicephorus]] in ''[[Stichometry of Nicephorus|Stichometria]]''</ref> In the end, it was not accepted into the [[Development of the New Testament canon|New Testament canon]]. However, works which draw directly or indirectly from the ''Didache'' include the {{lang|la|[[Didascalia Apostolorum]]}}, the ''[[Apostolic Constitutions]]'' and the [[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon#Ethiopic Didascalia|Ethiopic Didascalia]], the latter of which is included in [[Orthodox Tewahedo biblical canon# Broader biblical canon|the broader canon]] of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Church]].
[[File:Didache Chicago Daily Tribune 9 august 1884.jpg|thumb|Article about the rediscovery of the ''Didache'', ''[[Chicago Daily Tribune]]'', 1884]]
Lost for centuries, a [[Koine Greek|Greek]] manuscript of the ''Didache'' was rediscovered in 1873 by [[Philotheos Bryennios]], Metropolitan of Nicomedia, in the [[Codex Hierosolymitanus]], a compilation of texts of the [[Apostolic Fathers]] found in the Jerusalem Monastery of the Most Holy Sepulchre in [[Constantinople]]. A [[Latin]] version of the first five chapters was discovered in 1900 by J. Schlecht.<ref name= "Cathency">{{CathEncy |wstitle= Didache| author=John Chapman}}</ref>
{{Jewish Christianity}}

==Date, composition and modern translations==
[[File:Didtitle.jpg|thumb|The title of the ''Didache'' in the manuscript discovered in 1873]]
Many English and American scholars once dated the text to the early second century,{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} a view still held by some today,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Slee|first1=Michelle|title=The church in Antioch in the first century AD : communion and conflict|date=2003|publisher=T & T Clark International|location=London [u.a.]|isbn=978-0567083821|page=58}}<!--|access-date=8 March 2016--></ref> but most scholars now assign the ''Didache'' to the first century.<ref>{{Citation | title = Dictionary of the Christian Church | year = 2005 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 978-0-19-280290-3 | contribution = Didache}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last =O'Loughlin |first =Thomas|author-link= Thomas O'Loughlin |title= The Didache: A window on the earliest Christians|date=2011|publisher=[[SPCK]]|isbn =9780281064939|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IfpqBgAAQBAJ |access-date= 2 July 2015}}</ref> The document is a composite work, and the discovery of the ''[[Community Rule]]'' among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], has provided evidence of development over a considerable period, beginning as a Jewish [[catechetical]] work which was then developed into a church manual.{{sfn|Draper|1996|pp=74-75}}

Two [[uncial script|uncial]] fragments containing Greek text of the ''Didache'' (verses 1:3c–4a; 2:7–3:2) were found among the [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri]] (no. 1782) and are now in the collection of the [[Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library]] in Oxford.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GaYKGrqXCwEC&pg=PA364|title=Birth of Christianity|last=Crossan|first=John Dominic|date=1999-04-01|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9780567086686|pages=364|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d4N1Mhlv50UC&pg=PA213|title=The Didache in Context: Essays on Its Text, History, and Transmission|last=Reed|first=Jonathan|date=1995|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9004100458|editor-last=Jefford|editor-first=Clayton N.|pages=213|language=en|chapter=The Hebrew Epic and the Didache}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://163.1.169.40/cgi-bin/library?e=q-000-00---0POxy--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about-1782--00031-001-0-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=POxy&cl=search&d=HASH01d452200ced30a2577b95b6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215001147/http://163.1.169.40/cgi-bin/library?e=q-000-00---0POxy--00-0-0--0prompt-10---4------0-1l--1-en-50---20-about-1782--00031-001-0-0utfZz-8-00&a=d&c=POxy&cl=search&d=HASH01d452200ced30a2577b95b6|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 December 2017|title=P.Oxy.XV 1782|website=POxy: Oxyrhynchus Online|publisher=University of Oxford|access-date=2017-12-14}}</ref> Apart from these fragments, the Greek text of the ''Didache'' has only survived in a single, 11th-century Greek 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.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harmer|first1=J.R.|translator= Michael W. Holmes|first2= J.B. |last2=Lightfoot |title=The Apostolic Fathers in English|date=2006|publisher=Baker Academic|location=Grand Rapids, MI|isbn=978-0801031083|page=159|edition=3rd}}</ref>

The teaching is an anonymous pastoral manual which Aaron Milavec states "reveals more about how [[Jewish Christianity|Jewish-Christians]] saw themselves and how they adapted their Judaism for [[gentile]]s than any other book in the Christian Scriptures".{{Sfn | Milavec | 2003b | p = [https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC&pg=PR7  vii]}} The Two Ways section is likely based on an earlier Jewish source.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}} 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.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|p=482}}{{sfn | Johnson | 2006 | p=38}} Alan Garrow claims that its earliest layer may have originated in the decree issued by the [[Council of Jerusalem]] in 49–50, that is, by the Jerusalem assembly under [[James, brother of Jesus]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alangarrow.com/bntc2017.html|title=The Didache: Key to the Acts-Galatians Conundrum (BNTC 2017)|website=Alan Garrow|access-date=2021-03-26}}</ref>

The text was lost, but scholars knew of it through the writing of later church fathers, some of whom had drawn heavily on it.<ref name="EBOdidache">[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Didache "Didache."] Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 20 February 2016.</ref> In 1873 in Constantinople (now Istanbul), metropolitan [[Philotheos Bryennios]] found a Greek copy of the ''Didache'', written in 1056, and he published it in 1883.<ref name="EBOdidache"/> Hitchcock and Brown produced the first English translation in March 1884. [[Adolf von Harnack]] produced the first German translation in 1884, and [[Paul Sabatier (theologian)|Paul Sabatier]] produced the first French translation and commentary in 1885.<ref>Aaron Milavec in {{Harvnb | Jefford | 1995 | pages = 140–41}}.</ref>

==Early references==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2016|talk=Early References}}
[[File:Filoteos Bryennios.JPG|upright|thumb|[[Philotheos Bryennios]], who re-discovered the ''Didache'']]
The ''Didache'' is mentioned by [[Eusebius]] ({{c.|324}}) as the Teachings of the Apostles along with other books he considered [[Development of the New Testament canon#Eusebius|non-canonical]]:<ref>''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Historia Ecclesiastica]]'' III, 25.</ref>

{{quote|Let there be placed among the spurious works the [[Acts of Paul]], the so-called ''[[The Shepherd of Hermas|Shepherd]]'' and the [[Apocalypse of Peter]], and besides these the [[Epistle of Barnabas]], and what are called the Teachings of the Apostles, and also the [[Book of Revelation|Apocalypse of John]], if this be thought proper; for as I wrote before, some reject it, and others place it in the canon.}}

[[Athanasius of Alexandria]] (367) and [[Tyrannius Rufinus]] ({{c.|380}}) list the ''Didache'' among apocrypha. Rufinus gives the curious alternative title {{lang|la|Judicium Petri}} "Judgment of Peter." It is rejected by [[Nikephoros I of Constantinople]] ({{c.|810}}), pseudo-Anastasius,{{who|date=January 2025}} and the ''[[Synopsis of Holy Scripture]]'' and the ''[[Catalogue of the Sixty Canonical Books]]''. It is accepted by the [[Apostolic Constitutions]], Canon 85, [[John of Damascus]], and in [[Orthodox Tewahedo]] churches. The  {{lang|la|Adversus Aleatores}} by an imitator of [[Cyprian]] quotes it by name. Unacknowledged citations are widespread, if less certain. The section ''Two Ways'' shares the same language with the [[Epistle of Barnabas]], chapters 18–20, sometimes word for word, 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]] and [[Ignatius of Antioch]]. ''[[The Shepherd of Hermas]]'' seems to reflect it, and [[Irenaeus]], [[Clement of Alexandria]],{{Efn
| Clement quotes the ''Didache'' as scripture.{{Refn
| {{Cite book
| author-link = Will Durant
| last = Durant
| first = Will
| title = Caesar and Christ
| place = New York
| publisher = Simon & Schuster
| year = 1972}}.}}{{Page needed |date=December 2015}}}} and [[Origen]] also seem to use the work, and so in the West do [[Optatus]] and the "Gesta apud Zenophilum".{{Efn
| "Proceedings Before Zenophilus" is the second of sixteen appendices to Optatus' (Bishop of [[Mila, Algeria|Milevis, Numidia]]) seven-book treatise ''Against the Donatists''<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Vassall-Phillips
|first1=O. R.
|title=The Work of St. Optatus, Bishop of Milevis, Against The Donatists
|date=1917
|pages=346–381
|publisher=Longmans, Green, And Co.
|location=London
|url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/optatus_10_appendix2.htm
|access-date=17 December 2016
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161113190250/http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/optatus_10_appendix2.htm
|archive-date=13 November 2016
|language=en
}}</ref> by [[Optatus]], {{c.|370}}.}} The {{lang|la|[[Didascalia Apostolorum]]}} are founded upon the ''Didache''. The ''[[Apostolic Church-Ordinance]]'' used a part and the [[Apostolic Constitutions]] embody the {{lang|la|Didascalia}}. There are echoes in [[Justin Martyr]], [[Tatian]], [[Theophilus of Antioch]], [[Cyprian]], and [[Lactantius]].

==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).

==Matthew and the ''Didache''==
{{See also|Gospel of Matthew#Composition}}
Significant similarities between the ''Didache'' and the [[Gospel of Matthew]] have been found<ref name="Matthew and the Didache"/> as these writings share words, phrases, and motifs. 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.<ref name="Matthew and the Didache" /> 

The Two Ways teaching (''Didache'' 1–6) may also 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 (''Didache'' 7 and Matthew 28:19) as well as the similar shape of the Lord's Prayer (''Didache'' 8 and Matthew 6:5–13) appear to reflect the use of similar oral traditions. Finally, both the community of the ''Didache'' (''Didache'' 11–13) and Matthew (Matthew 7:15–23; 10:5–15, 40–42; 24:11,24) were visited by itinerant apostles and prophets, some of whom were heterodox.<ref name="Matthew and the Didache">H. van de Sandt (ed), ''Matthew and the Didache'', (Assen: Royal van Gorcum; Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 2005).</ref>

The relationship between the two documents continues to be debated with vigor{{efn|Syreeni argues that the Didache may come from perhaps a generation later than Matthew and uses Matthew as an authoritative text. Kloppenborg raises the issue of the Didache's possible knowledge and/or use of the canonical gospels: he finds probable use of Luke though not clearly of Matthew. Both in <ref name="Matthew and the Didache" />}}.

==See also==
{{portal|Christianity}}
* [[Ancient Church Orders]]
* [[Codex Hierosolymitanus]]
* [[Gospel of Matthew]]
* [[Gospel according to the Nazarenes]]
* [[Hebrew Gospel of Matthew ]]
* [[Paedagogus]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
* {{Citation | last = Audet | first = Jean-Paul | title = La Didache, Instructions des Apôtres | publisher = J. Gabalda & Co | year = 1958 | language = fr |trans-title=The Didache, Instructions from the Apostles}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Cross|editor1-first=Frank Leslie |editor2-first= Elizabeth A. |editor2-last=Livingstone|title=The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church |date = 2005|publisher= University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0192802903|edition=3rd |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=fUqcAQAAQBAJ&q=didache}}
* {{cite book | last = Draper |first = Jonathan A |title=The Didache in modern research: an overview |publisher = Brill |year = 1996 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=s1B8gF0z6M4C |isbn = 978-90-04-10375-7 }}
* {{cite journal |last = Draper |first = Jonathan A |doi= 10.1177/0014524606062770 |title=The Apostolic Fathers: The Didache |year= 2006 |journal= The Expository Times |volume= 117 |issue= 5 |pages = 177–81 |s2cid = 170635331 |author-mask = 3}}
* {{Citation |editor-last = Holmes | editor-first = Michael W | title = The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations | publisher = Baker Academic | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-0-8010-3468-8}}.
* {{cite book |last= Jefford|first= Clayton N | year = 1989 |title= The sayings of Jesus in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles |publisher= Brill |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=iHmB2TW7VIcC |isbn= 978-90-04-09127-6}}
* {{cite book |last = Jefford |first = Clayton N | year = 1995 |title= The Didache in context: essays on its text, history, and transmission |publisher= Brill |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=d4N1Mhlv50UC |isbn= 978-90-04-10045-9 | author-mask = 3}}
* {{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Maxwell E.|chapter=The Apostolic Tradition| editor2-last=Tucker |editor2-first=Karen B.W. |editor1-last=Wainwright |editor1-first=Geoffrey | title=[[The Oxford History of Christian Worship]] | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-513886-3 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5VQUdZhx1gC }}
* {{Citation |last=Jones |first=Tony |year=2009 |title=The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing & Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community |publisher=Paraclete |isbn=978-1-55725-590-7}}.
* {{Citation|last=Lightfoot |first=Joseph Barber |display-authors=etal |year=1889 |title=Apostolic Fathers |place=London |publisher=Macmillan & Co |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927211001/http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1889_lightfoot_apostolic.html |archive-date=2007-09-27 |url=http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1889_lightfoot_apostolic.html}}.
* {{cite book |last=Milavec|first=Aaron|title=The Didache: text, translation, analysis, and commentary |publisher=Liturgical Press |year=2003a |url=https://archive.org/details/didachetexttrans00mila |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8146-5831-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Milavec|first=Aaron|title=The Didache: faith, hope, & life of the earliest Christian communities, 50–70 CE |publisher=Paulist Press |year=2003b | author-mask=3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=17v6sT1l-aYC |isbn=978-0-8091-0537-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Van de Sandt|first=H. W. M. |title=Matthew and the Didache: two documents from the same Jewish-Christian milieu? |publisher= Royal Van Gorcum/Fortress|year=2005 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=cTE0FQtrphwC |isbn= 978-90-232-4077-8}}
* {{cite book |last= Slee|first= Michelle|title= The church in Antioch in the first century CE: communion and conflict|publisher= Sheffield Academic |year= 2003 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=nlJDcn2YotkC |isbn= 978-0-567-08382-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Del Verme|first= Marcello|title= Didache and Judaism: Jewish roots of an ancient Christian-Jewish work |publisher= T&T Clark |year= 2004 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7smy12ZaduUC |isbn= 978-0-567-02531-9 }}
* {{cite book |last=White |first=James F.|chapter = The Spatial Setting| editor2-last=Tucker |editor2-first=Karen B.W. |editor1-last=Wainwright |editor1-first=Geoffrey | title=[[The Oxford History of Christian Worship]] | publisher=Oxford University Press, USA | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-513886-3 | chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5VQUdZhx1gC }}
* {{catholic|wstitle=Didache}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://early.xpian.info/eng/didache.html An extensive list of English translations of the Didache]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060928080921/http://www-user.uni-bremen.de/~wie/texteapo/didache-greek.html Greek text in Latin alphabet]  from [[Universität Bremen]]
* [https://www.ccel.org/ccel/lake/fathers2.v.html Didache text in Greek] from [[CCEL]]
* [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/didache.html Eight English translations; Greek text; Nine Commentaries; and Overview of the ''Didache''] by [http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/churchfathers.html Early Christian Writings – Church Fathers]
* [http://www.catholicplanet.com/ebooks/didache.htm ''Didache''] translated by [[Philip Schaff]]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0714.htm ''Didache''] translated by M.B. Riddle
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170110085700/http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_text_didache.htm ''Didache'' translated by Charles H. Hoole.] – English translation hosted by About.com
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Didachē, The |short=x}}
* [https://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5181-didache "Didache"], article from the 1901–1906 ''[[Jewish Encyclopedia]]''
* [https://earlychurch.org.uk/pdf/didache.pdf earlychurch.org.uk] The Didache: Its Origin And Significance
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/publics/didache/didache.htm upenn.edu] Electronic Edition by Robert A. Kraft (updated 28 July 1995)
* [https://www.biblicalaudio.com/didache.htm 2012 Translation & Audio Version]
* {{librivox book | title=The Didache | author=UNKNOWN}}
* [http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393361/obo-9780195393361-0223.xml?rskey=utIEnM&result=47 ''Didache''] at Oxford Bibliographies—an annotated bibliography. {{doi|10.1093/obo/9780195393361-0223}}.

{{History of Catholic theology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1st-century Christian texts]]
[[Category:2nd-century Christian texts]]
[[Category:1873 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Ancient church orders]]
[[Category:Apostolic Fathers]]
[[Category:Canon law codifications]]
[[Category:Canon law history]]
[[Category:Christian ethics]]
[[Category:Christian terminology]]
[[Category:Early Christianity and Judaism]]
[[Category:New Testament apocrypha]]
[[Category:Petrine-related books]]
[[Category:Antilegomena]]
[[Category:Christian law]]
[[Category:Texts in Koine Greek]]
[[Category:Treatises]]