Didascalia Apostolorum

tr. Connolly, 1929

XXVI. On the bonds of the Second Legislation of God

But you who have been converted from the People to believe in God our Saviour Jesus Christ, do not henceforth continue in your former conversation, brethren, that you should keep vain obligations, purifications and sprinklings and baptisms and distinction of meats; for the Lord has said to you: Remember not the former things;¹ and: Behold, I make all things new: the which I now declare, that ye may know them. And I will make in the desert a way. Now deserts² the Churches formerly were, in which there is now a highway and the knowledge of religion, (a way) wherein there is no erring, but new and evident, even Jesus Christ and all His dispensation which was from the beginning. For you know that He gave a simple and pure and holy law, (a law) of life, wherein our Saviour set His name. For whereas He spoke the Ten Words, He signified Jesus: for Ten represents Yod³; but Yod is the beginning of the name of Jesus. Now concerning the Law the Lord testifies in David, saying thus: The law of the Lord is without blemish, and converting souls.⁴ And many other things are said on this wise everywhere; for in completion⁵ of the writings of the Prophets the Lord spoke at the end by Malachi the Angel⁶ and said thus: Remember the law of Moses the servant of the Lord, how he commanded you commandments and judgements.⁷ And our Saviour also, when He cleansed the leper, sent him to the Law, and said to him: Go, show thyself to the high priests,⁸ and offer the gifts of thy cleansing, as Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them⁹; that He might show that He does not undo the Law, but teaches what is the Law and what the Second Legislation. For He said thus: I am not come to undo the law, nor the prophets, but to fulfil them.¹⁰ The Law therefore is indissoluble; but the Second Legislation is temporary, and is dissoluble. Now the Law consists of the Ten Words and the Judgements; to which (Law) Jesus bore witness and said thus: One Yod letter shall not pass away¹¹ from the law.¹² Now it is the Yod¹³ which passes not away from the Law, even that which may be known from the Law itself through the Ten Words, which is the name of Jesus. But the letter¹⁴ is the extension of the wood of the cross.¹⁵ And in the mount also Moses and Elias appeared with our Lord: that is, the Law and the Prophets.

The Law then consists of¹⁶ the Ten Words and the Judgements,¹⁷ which God spoke before that the People made the calf and served idols. For also that it is called the Law, (is) truly on account of the Judgements.¹⁸ This is the simple and light Law, wherein is no burden, nor distinction of meats, nor incensings, nor offerings of sacrifices and burnt offerings. In this Law accordingly He shows concerning the dispensation of the Church and concerning the uncircumcision of the flesh only. For He spoke concerning sacrifices thus:¹⁹ If thou shalt make²⁰ me an altar, make it of earth: but if of stones, thou shalt make it of whole and unwrought, and not of wrought stones. Forasmuch as thou hast laid an iron (tool) upon it,²¹ thou hast also polluted it:²²²³ not (as speaking) concerning ⟨the axe, but concerning⟩²⁴ the iron of the knife which is the physician’s knife, with which he circumcises the foreskin. Wherefore He does not say, ‘Make for me’, but, If thou shalt make an altar. He did not impose this as a necessity, but showed what was about to be. For God had no need of sacrifices²⁵; as neither of old was it commanded Cain and Abel, but they of their own accord presented offerings: and their offering achieved a brother’s murder.²⁶ And Noah likewise offered, and was blamed.²⁷ Wherefore He signified here: ‘If thou desire to sacrifice, whereas I need it not thou sacrificest unto me.’

So then the Law is easy²⁸ and light, †of no weak voice†.²⁹ But when the People denied God, who by Moses visited them in their afflictions, who wrought signs by his hand and through his rod, who smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues and divided the Red Sea in two, who led them in the midst of the sea on dry land as in the desert, who drowned their enemies and them that hated them, who with wood made sweet the fountain of the bitter waters of Marah, who made water to flow for them in abundance from the rock that they might be satisfied, who with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire overshadowed³⁰ and guided them, who brought them down manna from heaven, and gave them flesh from the sea,³¹ who ordained the Law for them in the mount: Him they denied and said: We have no God to go before us; and they made them a molten calf and worshipped it³² and sacrificed to a graven image.

Therefore the Lord was angry; and in His hot anger—(yet) with the mercy of His goodness—He bound them with the Second Legislation, and laid heavy burdens upon them, and a hard yoke upon their neck. And He says now no longer: If thou shalt make,³³ as formerly; but He said: ‘Make an altar, and sacrifice continually’, as though He had need of these things. Wherefore He laid upon them continual burnt offerings with³⁴ a necessity, and caused them to abstain from meats by means of distinctions of meats. For from that time were animals discerned, and clean and unclean flesh;³⁵ from that time were separations, and purifications, and baptisms, and sprinklings; from that time were sacrifices, and offerings, and tables; from that time were burnt offerings, and oblations, and shewbread, and the offering up of sacrifices, and firstlings, and redemptions, and he-goats for sin, and vows, and many other things marvellous. For because of manifold sins there were laid upon them customs unspeakable; but by none of them did they abide, but they again provoked the Lord. Wherefore He yet added to them by the Second Legislation a blindness worthy of their works, and spoke thus: If there be found in a man sins worthy of death, and he die, and ye hang him upon a tree; his body shall not remain the night upon the tree, but ye shall surely bury him the same day: for cursed is every one that is hanged upon a tree;³⁶ that when Christ should come they might not be able to help Him,³⁷ but might suppose that He was guilty of a curse. For their blinding therefore was this spoken, as Isaiah said: Behold, I show my righteousness, and thine evils: and they shall not help thee at all.³⁸ For the Lord judged them with a just judgement, and dealt thus with them because of their wickedness, and hardened their heart³⁹ like⁴⁰ Pharaoh’s; as the Lord said to them by Isaiah: Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not know. For the heart of this people is waxed gross; and their eyes they have shut, and their ears they have stopped, that they may not be converted: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears.⁴¹ And in the Gospel again He said: This people’s heart is waxed gross; and their eyes they have shut, and their ears they have stopped, lest at any time they should be converted. But blessed are your eyes that see, and your ears that hear.⁴² For you have been released from the bonds, and relieved of the Second Legislation, and set free from bitter slavery, and the curse has been taken off and put away from you.

For the Second Legislation was imposed for the making of the calf and for idolatry. But you through baptism have been set free from idolatry, and from the Second Legislation, which was (imposed) on account of idols, you have been released. For in the Gospel He renewed and fulfilled and affirmed the Law; but the Second Legislation He did away and abolished. For indeed it was to this end that He came, that He might affirm the Law, and abolish the Second Legislation, and fulfil the power of men’s liberty,⁴³ and show forth the resurrection⁴⁴ of the dead. For even before His coming He foretold His coming through the prophets, and together with His coming⁴⁵ He signified also the disobedience of the People,⁴⁶ and preached the undoing of the Second Legislation; as He said by Jeremiah: Why bring ye me frankincense⁴⁷ from Sheba, and cinnamon from a far country? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable unto me, and your sacrifices delight me not.⁴⁸⁴⁹ And again He said: Bring together your burnt offerings with your sacrifices, and eat flesh. For I gave you no command, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt, neither concerning burnt offerings nor concerning sacrifices. Yea,⁵⁰ verily, in the Law He gave no command, but in the bonds of the Second Legislation, after that they had served idols. And again by Isaiah also He said: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord. I am sated with burnt offerings of rams; and the fat of lambs and the blood of oxen I desire not. And when ye come to see my face, who hath required these things at your hands? Trample my courts no more. If ye will bring me fine flour, it is a vain oblation; and your new moons and your sabbaths and solemn days are rejected of me: your fasts and your restings are not acceptable unto me, and your festivals my soul hateth.⁵¹ And in all the Scriptures He speaks thus; and through the sacrifices He abolishes the Second Legislation; for, as we have already said, it is in the Second Legislation that sacrifices are prescribed.

If, then, even before His coming He made known and revealed His coming, and the disobedience of the People, and spoke of the abolition of the Second Legislation, much more, being come, did He fully and completely abolish the Second Legislation. For He did not use⁵² sprinklings, or baptisms, or other wonted rites⁵³; nor did He offer sacrifices or burnt offerings, or any thing that it is written in the Second Legislation to offer. And what else did He (hereby) signify but the abolition of the Second Legislation? as also He loosed you and called you⁵⁴ from the bonds, and said: Come unto me, all ye that toil and are laden with heavy burdens; and I will give you rest.⁵⁵ Now we know that our Saviour did not say (this) to the Gentiles, but He said it to us His disciples from among the Jews, and brought us out from burdens and a heavy load.

Those therefore who do not obey Him, that He may lighten and deliver them from the bonds of the Second Legislation, obey not God, who has called them to come forth unto release and rest and refreshment; and they bind themselves with the heavy burdens of the Second Legislation, which are of no avail. For our Lord and Saviour Himself, who gave the Law and the Second Legislation, bears witness concerning the Law that it is life to them that keep it; ⟨but⟩⁵⁶ concerning the Second Legislation He testifies and shows that it is a bond and a blindness. For He everywhere makes a distinction; and He bears witness to the Law, and admonishes⁵⁷ and commands us that we be under the Law: for every one who is not under law is lawless.⁵⁸ And therefore He thus bears witness to the Law: In the law of the Lord shall be his pleasure, and in his law will he meditate day and night. Not so the wicked.⁵⁹ We see then, beloved, how the righteous are declared blessed on account of righteousness⁶⁰ and the keeping of the Law. But not so the wicked; for they have no pleasure either in the righteous or in the Law, and they do not mediate therein. Wherefore He calls ‘the wicked’ those who do not converse according to the Law. For in the Gospel also He affirms the Law, and calls and brings us out from ⟨the burden of the bonds and from the Second⟩⁶¹ Legislation. But that the Law is other than the Second Legislation, in David likewise He shows by a distinction, speaking thus: Let us sever their cords, and loose their yoke from us.⁶²⁶³ You see how the Holy Spirit speaks as it were out of the mouth of the world and reveals its thought,⁶⁴ and says that the Law is a ‘yoke’, but the Second Legislation ‘cords’. For the Law is a yoke, because like the plough-yoke⁶⁵ of oxen it is laid upon the former People and upon the present Church of God; even as now in the Church it is upon us who are called from the People, and upon you who from among the Gentiles have obtained mercy: it has gathered and held us both together in one accord. But He well calls the Second Legislation ‘bonds’; for when the People served idols, there was added to them the weight of the Second Legislation. For the bonds were justly imposed, as it befell the People then; but the Church has not been bound. For to Ezekiel⁶⁶ He explains and makes known that the Law of life is one, but the second Law,⁶⁷ of death, is another; for He spoke thus: I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, and gave them my commandments, and made known to them my judgements: that if a man should do them, he might live⁶⁸ by them. And afterwards, upbraiding them because they had sinned and had not kept the Law of life, He repeats to them and saith thus: I have given⁶⁹ them commandments that are not good, and judgements whereby they may not live.⁷⁰ Now the judgements which do not give life are those of the bonds. Hence also the word aforesaid in the Second Legislation was for the blinding of a blind people, to wit: Cursed is every one that is hanged upon a tree.⁷¹ For thus did they think of Him who gives and distributes blessings to them that are worthy, that He is under a curse. Wherefore, ⟨because⟩ they knew Him not, even after the signs that were done by Him in the world: when He suffered,⁷² justly in accordance with their works that word was set down for the blinding of the People; and it was a bar⁷³ that they might not believe and be saved. Whence also by Isaiah He speaks thus: Who is blind, but my servants? and the servants of God are blinded. And I have brought out a blind people, that have eyes, and see not: and their ears also are deaf.⁷⁴⁷⁵ For by this word,⁷⁶ because of their works, their eyes were blinded, and their ears made deaf like Pharaoh’s. Hence with this word the Second Legislation also was imposed, which Moses appointed. And it is the Second Legislation that He called judgements that are not good; and it cannot save alive.

They therefore who bring upon themselves those things which were imposed for the worship of idols, shall inherit the Woes⁷⁷; for Woe to them that prolong their sins as a long rope, and their iniquity as the band of a heifer’s yoke.⁷⁸⁷⁹ For the yoke of the bonds is the heifer’s yoke —the bonds of the ⟨Second⟩ Legislation⁸⁰ (now) upon the People, which like a long rope is laid upon them by reason of other men’s sins which from former times and generations they bring upon themselves. Every one who strives to be under the ⟨Second⟩ Legislation⁸¹ becomes guilty of the calf-worship; for the Second Legislation was imposed for nothing else but for idolatry. For the bonds were decreed because of idolatry; they therefore who regard them are bondsmen and idolaters. Wherefore, every one who binds himself becomes guilty of the Woe, and ought likewise to profess idolatry. Now one who is such asserts also the curse⁸² against our Saviour; for if thou uphold the Second Legislation, thou also assertest the curse against our Saviour, and thou art held fast in the bonds and made guilty of the Woe—an enemy of the Lord God.

Cease therefore, beloved brethren, you who from among the People have believed, yet desire (still) to be tied with the bonds, and say that the Sabbath is prior to the first day of the week because that the Scripture has said: In six days⁸³ did God make all things; and on the seventh day he finished all his works, and he sanctified it.⁸⁴

We ask you now, which is first, Alaf or Tau? For that (day) which is the greater is that which is the beginning of the world, even as the Lord our Saviour said by Moses: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. But the earth was invisible⁸⁵ and unshapen.⁸⁶⁸⁷ And again He said: And there was one day: and as yet the seventh day was unknown. But what say you? Which is greater, that which had come into being, and existed, or that which was yet unknown, and of which there was no expectation that it should come to be? But again we ask you: Are your last children blessed, or the firstborn? as the Scripture also saith: Jacob⁸⁸ shall be blessed among the firstborn⁸⁹⁹⁰; and: My son, my firstborn (is) Israel; and: Every male that openeth the womb of his mother is blessed to the Lord.⁹¹

But that we may make you firm in the faith, hear ye. The first day and the last are equal; for learn how you find it written, that In his kingdom⁹² the day of the Lord is as a thousand years:⁹³ the day of yesterday which is past; and as a watch of the night.⁹⁴⁹⁵ ⟨One day therefore is a thousand years in the kingdom of Christ, wherein also will be the judgement. For a watch of the night⟩ He said concerning the judgement, which is a dark prison to them that are condemned. A day therefore⁹⁶ is to be revealed in which the sun will stand in⁹⁷ his mid-course, and the moon likewise, following the sun. For He said: Behold, I make the first things as the last, and the last as the first;⁹⁸⁹⁹¹⁰⁰ and: The last shall be first, and the first last;¹⁰¹ and: Remember no more the former things, and let them not come to your mind. Behold, I make things new, which now shall be revealed;¹⁰² and: In those days and in that time they shall no more say: The ark of the covenant; neither shall it come to mind, nor be visited, nor any more be made. But the Sabbath itself¹⁰³ is counted even unto¹⁰⁴ the Sabbath, and it becomes eight (days); thus an ogdoad is (reached),¹⁰⁵ which is more than¹⁰⁶ the Sabbath, even the first of the week.

Wherefore, brethren, every day is the Lord’s; for the Scripture has said: The earth is the Lord’s with the fullness thereof: the world that is under heaven, and all that dwell therein.¹⁰⁷ For if God willed that we should be idle one day for six, first of all the patriarchs¹⁰⁸ and righteous men, and all they that were before Moses, would have remained idle (upon it), and God Himself also with all His creatures. But now¹⁰⁹ all the governance of the world is carried on ever continually; and the spheres do not cease even for a moment from their course, but at God’s command ⟨their universal and perpetual motion proceeds.⟩¹¹⁰ For if He would say: Thou shalt be idle, and thy son, and thy servant, and thy maidservant, and thine ass,¹¹¹ how does He (continue to) work, causing to generate, and making †the winds to blow†,¹¹² and fostering and nourishing us His creatures? On the Sabbath day He causes (the winds) to blow, and (the waters) to flow,¹¹³ and (thus) works. But this (the Sabbath) has been set as a type¹¹⁴ for the times, even as many other things have been set for a type. The Sabbath therefore is a type of the (final) rest, signifying the seventh thousand (-years).¹¹⁵ But the Lord our Saviour, when He was come, fulfilled the types and explained the parables, and He showed those things that are life-giving, and those that cannot help He did away, and those that cannot give life He abolished.

And not only in His own person did He show this, but He wrought also by the Romans; and He overthrew the temple, and caused the altar to cease, and made an end of sacrifices, and all the commands and bonds that are in the Second Legislation He abolished. For the Romans also hold the Law, but they refuse the Second Legislation: therefore is their dominion strong. Thou, therefore, who desirest to-day to be under the Second Legislation, whilst the Romans rule thou canst not perform aught that is written in the Second Legislation. For thou canst not stone the wicked, nor kill idolaters, nor discharge the ministry of sacrifices, nor perform the libations and sprinklings ⟨with the ashes⟩¹¹⁶ of a heifer; nor¹¹⁷ canst thou fulfil aught else of those things which are in the Second Legislation, nor observe them. For it is written: Cursed is every one that keepeth not these words to do them;¹¹⁸ and this is a thing impossible, to fulfil the Second Legislation while dispersed among the Gentiles. Wherefore, every one that touches it falls under a curse, and binds himself, and inherits a Woe; and he asserts the curse¹¹⁹ against our Saviour, and as an enemy of God he is condemned.

But if thou follow Christ, thou shalt inherit the blessings.¹²⁰ For there is no disciple better than his master:¹²¹ but when thou conformest to Him, through the Gospel¹²² thou conformest to the Law, and thou wilt entirely avoid the Second Legislation: even as the Lord Himself, who gave the kingdom to men, declared also that His commands ought justly to be kept; for in every age there is of right¹²³ a legislation (given). Now having¹²⁴ the Gospel, [thou conformest to the Law,] the renewal of the Law and the seal, beyond the Law and the Prophets seek nothing else.¹²⁵ For the Second Legislation is undone, but the Law is made firm. And those who would be without the Law, against their will come under the Law; for He said in the Law: Thou shalt not kill;¹²⁶ but if a man kill, he is condemned by the law of the Romans, and he comes under the Law. But if you follow and conform to the truth of the Church and the power of the Gospel, your hope in the Lord shall not be frustrated.¹²⁷

Do you therefore avoid all heretics, who follow not the Law and the Prophets, and obey not Almighty God, but are His enemies; and who abstain from meats, and forbid to marry, and believe not in the resurrection of the body; who moreover will not eat and drink, but would fain rise up demons, unsubstantial spirits, who shall be damned everlastingly and punished in unquenchable fire. Fly and avoid them therefore, that you may not perish with them.

But if there be any who are precise¹²⁸ and desire, after the Second Legislation, to observe the wonted courses of nature and issues and marriage intercourse: first let them know that, as we have already said, together with the Second Legislation they affirm the curse against our Saviour and condemn themselves to no purpose. And again, let them tell us, in what days or in what hours they keep themselves from prayer¹²⁹ and from receiving the Eucharist, or from reading the Scriptures—let them tell us¹³⁰ whether they are void of the Holy Spirit. For through baptism they receive the Holy Spirit, who is ever with those that work righteousness, and does not depart from them by reason of natural issues and the intercourse of marriage, but is ever and always with those who possess Him, and keeps them; as the Lord said in Proverbs: If thou sleep, he keepeth thee; and when thou awakest, he will speak with thee.¹³¹ And in the Gospel also our Lord said: Every one that hath, there shall be given to him, and shall be added unto him¹³²; but from him that hath not, even that which he thinketh he hath shall be taken away.¹³³ To those therefore who have, yea, it shall be added unto them; but from those who think that they have not, even that which they think they have shall be taken away.

For if thou think, O woman, that in the seven days of thy flux thou art void of the Holy Spirit; if thou die in those days, thou wilt depart empty and without hope. But if the Holy Spirit is always in thee, without (just) impediment dost thou keep thyself from prayer and from the Scriptures and from the Eucharist. For consider and see, that prayer also is heard through the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharist through the Holy Spirit is accepted and sanctified, and the Scriptures are the words of the Holy Spirit, and are holy. For if the Holy Spirit is in thee, why dost thou keep thyself from approaching to the works of the Holy Spirit? as those who say: Whosoever sweareth by the altar, sinneth not; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, sinneth.¹³⁴ As our Lord said: Fools and blind, whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Every one therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it. And every one that sweareth by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And every one that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. If therefore thou possess the Holy Spirit, but keep thyself from His fruits so that thou approach not to them, thou also shalt hear from our Lord Jesus Christ: ‘Fool and blind, whether is greater, the bread, or the Spirit that ⟨sanctifieth the bread?’ Therefore, if the Holy Spirit⟩¹³⁵ thou possessest: fool,¹³⁶ thou keepest vain observances. But if the Holy Spirit is not in thee, how canst thou work righteousness?¹³⁷ For the Holy Spirit continues ever with those who possess Him; but from whom He departs,¹³⁸ to him an unclean spirit joins himself. For the unclean spirit, when he is gone out from a man, departeth and goeth about in waterless places—¹³⁹ that is, men who go not down into the water (of baptism)— and when he hath found him no rest, he saith: I will return to my former house, whence I came out. If therefore he come and find it empty and swept and garnished, then he goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits worse than himself, and they come and dwell in that man; and his last state is made worse than the first.

Learn now, why, when the unclean spirit is gone out, he finds him no rest in any place: because every man soever is filled with a spirit, one with the Holy Spirit, and one with an unclean spirit.¹⁴⁰ A believer is filled with the Holy Spirit, and an unbeliever with an unclean spirit: and his nature does not receive an alien spirit. He therefore who has withdrawn and separated himself and departed from the unclean spirit by baptism, is filled with the Holy Spirit; and if he do good works, the Holy Spirit continues with him, and he remains fulfilled; and the unclean spirit finds no place with him, for he who is filled with the Holy Spirit does not receive him. For all men are filled with their own spirit; and the unclean spirits depart not even a little from the heathen, while yet they are heathens, even though they imagine that they do good works; for there is no other power whereby the unclean spirit may depart save by the pure and holy Spirit of God. Thus, then, when he has nowhere found him a place to enter, he returns and comes to him from whom he went forth; because one who is filled with the Holy Spirit does not receive him.

Thou then, O woman, according as thou sayest, ⟨if⟩ in the¹⁴¹ days of thy flux thou art void, thou shalt be filled with unclean spirits. For when the unclean spirit returns to thee and finds him a place, he will enter and dwell in thee always:¹⁴² and then will there be entering in of the unclean spirit and going forth of the Holy Spirit, and perpetual warfare. Wherefore, O foolish (women), these misfortunes befall you¹⁴³ because of your imaginings; and because of the observances which you keep, and on account of your imaginings, you are emptied of the Holy Spirit and filled with unclean spirits: and you are cast out from life into the burning of everlasting fire. But again I will say to thee, O woman: In the seven days of thy flux thou accountest thyself unclean according to the Second Legislation: after seven days, therefore, how canst thou be cleansed without baptism? But if thou be baptized for that which thou supposest,¹⁴⁴ thou wilt undo the perfect baptism of God¹⁴⁵ which wholly forgave thee thy sins, and wilt be found in the evil plight of thy former sins; and thou shalt be delivered over to eternal fire. But if thou be not baptized,¹⁴⁶ according to thine own supposition thou remainest unclean, and the vain observing of the seven days has availed thee nothing, but is rather hurtful to thee; for according to thy supposition thou art unclean, and as unclean thou shalt be condemned.

Be thus minded therefore concerning all those who observe issues and the intercourse of marriage; for all these observances are foolish and hurtful. For if, when a man use matrimony, or blood come forth from him, he be baptized, let him also wash his couch: and he will have this labour and vexation incessantly; he will be baptizing and will be washing his clothes¹⁴⁷ and his couch, and will be able to do nothing else. Now if thou be baptized from an issue and from marriage intercourse according to the Second Legislation, thou owest it also to be baptized when thou treadest upon a mouse¹⁴⁸: and thou shalt never be clean. For even as to the shoes of thy feet, with the skin of dead (animals) and with the hides of those that are sacrificed¹⁴⁹ thou art shod; and as to clothes also, with the wool of the like (animals) thou art clothed. And if thou tread upon a bone, or enter a tomb, thou oughtest to be baptized: and thou shalt never be clean. And thou wilt undo the baptism of God, and thou renewest thy offences, and art found in thy former sins, and affirmest the Second Legislation, and takest upon thee the idolatry of the calf,—for if thou take upon thee the Second Legislation, take also idolatry, for because of idolatry the Second Legislation was imposed,—and the former sins of others, as a long rope, and as the band of a heifer,¹⁵⁰ thou drawest and bringest upon thee. Moreover, thou bringest upon thee the Woe; for when thou affirmest the Second Legislation, thou consentest to the curse¹⁵¹ against our Saviour; and thou settest at naught Christ the King, who distributes blessings to them that are worthy.¹⁵² Wherefore thou shalt inherit a curse; for every one that shall curse a man is cursed¹⁵³ [and every one that blesseth is blessed¹⁵⁴]. To what curses, therefore, and to what judgement or to what condemnation shall they be delivered who affirm a curse against our Saviour and our Lord and our God!

Wherefore, beloved, flee and avoid such observances: for you have received release, that you should no more bind yourselves; and do not load yourselves again with that which our Lord and Saviour has lifted¹⁵⁵ from you. And do not¹⁵⁶ observe these things, nor think them uncleanness; and do not refrain yourselves on their account, nor seek after sprinklings, or baptisms, or purification for these things. For in the Second Legislation, if one touch a dead man or a tomb, he is baptized; but do you,¹⁵⁷ according to the Gospel and according to the power of the Holy Spirit, come together even in the cemeteries, and read the holy Scriptures, and without demur perform your ministry and your supplication to God; and offer an acceptable Eucharist, the likeness of the royal¹⁵⁸ body of Christ, both in your congregations and in your cemeteries and on the departures of them that sleep—pure bread that is made with fire and sanctified with invocations—¹⁵⁹ and without doubting pray¹⁶⁰ and offer for them that are fallen asleep. For they who have believed in God, according to the¹⁶¹ Gospel,¹⁶² even though they should sleep, they are not dead; as our Lord said to the Sadducees: Concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written: I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? And he is not the God of the dead, but of the living.¹⁶³ And Elisha the prophet also, after he had slept and was a long¹⁶⁴ while (dead), raised up a dead man; for his body touched the body of the dead and quickened and raised it up. But this could not have been were it not that, even when he was fallen asleep, his body was holy and filled with the Holy Spirit.

For this cause therefore do you approach without restraint to those who are at rest, and hold them not unclean. In like manner also you shall not separate those (women) who are in the wonted courses; for she also who had the flow of blood¹⁶⁵ was not chidden when she touched the skirt of our Saviour’s cloak, but was even vouchsafed the forgiveness of all her sins. And when ⟨your wives⟩ suffer those issues which are according to nature, have a care that, in a manner that is right, you cleave to them; for you know that they are your members, and do you love them as your soul: as it is written in the Twelve Prophets, ⟨in⟩ Malachi who was called the Angel:¹⁶⁶ The Lord hath borne witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, whom thou hast left, thy partner, and she the wife of thy covenant. And did not he make her? and they¹⁶⁷ (fem.) are the residue of his spirit. And ye have said: What else doth God seek but pure seed? Give heed in your spirits: and the wife of thy youth thou shalt not leave. Wherefore,¹⁶⁸ a woman when she is in the way of women, and a man when an issue comes forth from him, and a man and his wife when they consort and rise up one from another: let them assemble without restraint, without bathing, for they are clean. But if a man should corrupt and defile another’s wife after baptism, or be polluted with a harlot, and rising up from her should bathe in all the seas and oceans and be baptized in all the rivers, he cannot be made clean.

Do you therefore, our beloved, avoid all such foolish observances, and come not near them. And be careful¹⁶⁹ to abide in the wedded company of one wife, and to keep your bodies unspotted and unsullied; that you may receive life, that you may be partakers of the kingdom of God, and that you may receive that which the Lord God has promised, and may have rest for evermore.

Now with many other demonstrations similar to¹⁷⁰ these we might the more clearly declare to you the Didascalia; but not to extend and prolong the writing, already we conclude the discourse¹⁷¹ and lay it aside, lest by reason of the severity of the truth the teaching of our discourse should remain but a short time with you.¹⁷² Wherefore, take not amiss those things which have been said; for our Lord and Saviour also spoke with severity to those who were worthy of condemnation, and said: Take and cast them into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth¹⁷³¹⁷⁴; and: Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which my Father hath prepared¹⁷⁵ for the evil one and his angels. That the word is likened to fire and a sword, He has said also in Jeremiah: Behold,¹⁷⁶ my words go forth as fire, and as iron that cutteth stone—yet¹⁷⁷ sword¹⁷⁸ and fire and †constraint†,¹⁷⁹ not to those who hearken to the truth, but (He means) that word which the People heard not with pleasure when our Lord and Teacher reproved them; for they were unwilling to hearken to it¹⁸⁰ because they esteemed it hard like iron. For they hearkened not¹⁸¹ to that which He said to them, for He appeared to them to speak harshly and severely. Wherefore He said to them: Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and that which I say ye do not?¹⁸² And so in like manner this our writing also appears to some to speak harshly and severely by reason of its truth. For if we had written indulgently¹⁸³ for the gratification of men, many would grow weak and melt away from the faith, and we should be guilty of their blood. For as a physician, when he has not been able to conquer and heal an ulcer¹⁸⁴ with drugs and fomentations, comes to a severer remedy¹⁸⁵ and to surgical cuttings, that is to iron and cauteries, by which alone the physician is able to overcome and conquer (the sore) and presently heal the sick man: even so is the word; to those who hear and do it it is as a compress and an emollient and a plaster,¹⁸⁶ but by those who hear and do it not it is esteemed as iron and fire.

Now to Him who is able to open the ears of your¹⁸⁷ hearts to receive the †incisive†¹⁸⁸ words of the Lord through the Gospel and the teaching of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, who was crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate, and slept, that He might announce to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob and to all His saints the end of the world and the resurrection that is to be for the dead; and rose from the dead, that He might show and give to us, that we might know Him,¹⁸⁹ a pledge of the resurrection; and was taken up to heaven by the power of God His Father and of the Holy Spirit, and sat on the right hand of the throne of God Almighty upon the Cherubim; to Him who cometh with power and glory to judge the dead and the living:¹⁹⁰ to Him (be) dominion and glory and majesty and kingdom, and to His Father and to the Holy Spirit:¹⁹¹ who was, and is, and abideth, both now and unto all generations and ages. Amen.

Notes

Isa. xliii 18, 19.
Now deserts, etc.] Irenaeus similarly comments on the same passage: ‘Now a wilderness and a waterless place was at first the calling of the Gentiles’ (Apost. Preaching c. 89, trans. J. A. Robinson: cf. also Haer. IV lv 5).
for Ten represents Yod] Cf. Lat., and compare p. 192, l. 1.
Ps. xviii (xix) 8.
in completion, etc.] Comp. the ‘Muratorian Fragment’ l. 78 f. ‘inter profetas completum numero’.
the Angel] See again p. 254: τοῦ προφήτου AC. In Irenaeus Haer. IV xxix 5 and xxxiv 2, where the Latin has ‘in duodecim prophetis Malachias’ and ‘in prophetis Malachias’, the Armenian version has ‘the angel’ for ‘Malachias’. Clem. Alex. (Strom. i §§ 122, 127, 129, 135) similarly speaks of ὁ ἐν τοῖς δώδεκα ἄγγελος. In 4 Esdras i 40 we have ‘Malachiae, qui et angelus Domini uocatus est’ (see Dr. J. A. Robinson’s note on p. 47 of his ed. of the Apost. Preaching of Irenaeus). It may be added that in an Old Lat. list of the O. T. books, given in c. xiv of the Inst. diu. of Cassiodorus (perh. to be ascribed to Pope Hilarus), Malachi appears as ‘Malachim qui et angelus’: and so in the list in Codex Amiatinus, taken from Cassiodorus’ codex grandior of the Old Lat. (see an article on ‘The Codex Amiatinus and Cassiodorus’ by Dom John Chapman, in Rev. Béned. for April-July, 1926, pp. 139 ff.).
Mal. iv 6.
to the high priests] τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ AC (= Lat.): ‘high priest’ here is peculiar.
Mt. viii 4.
Mt. v 17.
One Yod letter shall not pass away] Leaving ἢ μία κεραία unrepresented. This curious rendering is found in syr. sin. and Aphraates (see Burkitt’s note in loc., and also his vol. ii, p. 117); it affords clear proof of our translator’s familiarity with one of the older Syriac versions of the Gospels, and is the more remarkable here because it does not fit with the author’s commentary: for this the ‘Yod’ and the ‘letter’ have to be treated as separate entities.
Mt. v 18.
it is the Yod] So Lat. The Syr. text as pointed in H and S would more naturally be read ‘Now that Yod which’, etc.; but this would create a grammatical difficulty in what follows.
Cf. Didache xvi 6.
the extension of the wood of the cross] ‘of the cross’ is doubtless an explanatory addition due to the translator: Lat. certainly preserves the original form of the expression, reproducing the σημεῖον ἐκπετάσεως of Didache xvi 6 (see J. T. S. xxiv 152-3: Jan. 1923). Syr. has omitted ‘sign’ (’ātha) owing, probably, to the presence of the cognate word ‘letter’ (’āthūtha).
consists of] lit. ‘is’.
Judgements] sc. the δικαιώματα in Ex. xxi (see p. 14 before).
on account of the Judgements] i. e., as I understand, the expressly legal enactments in Ex. xxi justify the extension of the term ‘law’ to the Decalogue in ch. xx.
concerning the dispensation of the Church . . . thus] It is possible that Syr. has missed the construction and sense of the original here, cf. Lat.
If thou shalt make, etc.] ἐὰν δὲ ποιήσῃς μοι θυσιαστήριον, ἐκ γῆς ποιήσεις μοι αὐτό AC, omitting the rest. This is a strange perversion of Ex. xx 24, where the command to make an altar (of earth) is absolute.
an iron (tool) upon it] This is from Deut.: in Ex. the Heb. has ‘sword’, which LXX render ἐνχειρίδιον: Ex. has also ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς, sc. λίθους.
Ex. xx 24 f., Deut. xxvii 5.
Forasmuch . . . polluted it] τὸ γὰρ ἐνχειρίδιόν σου ἐπιβέβληκας ἐπ᾽ αὐτοὺς καὶ μεμίανται Ex. xx 25: οὐκ ἐπιβαλεῖς ἐπ᾽ αὐτὸ σίδηρον Deut. xxvii 5. The explanation of the following difficult comment is to be found, I believe, in the fact that the author has both these passages in mind and has fused their wording.
⟨the axe, but concerning⟩] Cf. Lat. Something of the kind is clearly wanting. Although the texts of both Syr. and Lat. are in confusion, yet from a comparison of the two the general sense becomes clear: the iron (σίδηρος, ferramentum) forbidden is not that of any instrument for cutting stone (bipennis Lat.), but that of the surgical knife used in circumcision (ἐνχειρίδιον, manuale). Thus our author extracts from the passage a prohibition both of altar (with sacrifice) and circumcision.
had no need of sacrifices] Cf. Irenaeus Haer. IV xxix 1, xxxi 2 (fin.).
achieved a brother’s murder] Cf. 1 Clem. iv 7 ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί, ζῆλος καὶ φθόνος ἀδελφοκτονίαν κατειργάσατο.
and was blamed] For this there is no authority in the Bible.
easy] The change of one letter (pĕshīṭa for pĕshīḳa) would give ‘simple’ (= Lat.).
of no weak voice] lit. ‘not little-voiced’: ‘facillima’ Lat.
For a similar passage see pp. 194-5.
flesh from the sea] i. e. the quails blown up ‘from the sea’ (Nu. xi 31).
Cf. Ex. xxxii 1, 8.
Cf. Ex. xx 24 f., Deut. xxvii 5 f.
with] lit. ‘and’ (cf. Lat.).
and clean and unclean flesh] Or possibly ‘and flesh of that which is clean and that which is unclean’.
Deut. xxi. 22 f., cf. Gal. iii 13.
to help Him] So Syr. (H S). The verb is the same as in the following quotation (ὠφελήσει LXX). Funk puts, without note, ‘eum agnoscere’; Flemming renders ‘zu ihm halten’, but gives the literal sense in his notes. I see no way but to translate the text.
Isa. lvii 12.
and hardened their heart] Comp. also p. 230, l. 30. Flemming and Funk render ‘and their hardness of heart’, but the noun-form which this presupposes does not occur.
Cf. Joh. xii 40, Ex. iv 21, etc.
Isa. vi 9 f., Acts xxviii 26 f.
Mt. xiii 15 f.
the power of men’s liberty] Cf. Iren. Haer. IV xxviii ‘Haec ergo, quae in seruitutem et in signa data sunt illis, circumscripsit nouo libertatis testamento’, and again ‘tanquam qui et libertatis potestatem acceperimus’.
show forth the resurrection] Cf. Ep. Barnab. v 6 ἵνα καταργήσῃ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν δείξῃ, which is copied by Hippolytus in the eucharistic prayer of his Apost. Trad. ‘ut mortem soluat . . . et resurrectionem manifestet’: see also Philos. x 33 καὶ ἀνάστασιν ἐφανέρωσεν, and Iren. Apost. Preaching 38 ‘And He manifested the resurrection, Himself becoming the first-begotten of the dead’: in the Acts of John c. 109 we find τὴν δειχθεῖσαν ἡμῖν διά σου ἀνάστασιν.
and together with His coming] Flemming and Funk mistranslate here through reading the prep. ‘am, ‘with’, as the subst. ‘people’.
the disobedience of the People] lit. ‘the People, that it was disobedient’.
This and the following text from Jerem. are quoted near together in Iren. Haer. IV xxix 3, where the same problem is being handled.
Jer. vi 20.
Jer. vii 21 f.
Yea] ’ēn, defectively for ’eyn, and not to be read ‘if’, as Flemming took it.
Isa. i 11-14.
For He did not use, etc.] The author of AC took exception to this, and removed the negatives: καὶ γὰρ καὶ περιετμήθη καὶ ἐρραντίσθη, θυσίας τε προσήνεγκεν καὶ ὁλοκαυτώσεις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐθισμοῖς ἐχρήσατο (with other changes in the context).
wonted rites] lit. ‘customs’, though S has, by a slight transcriptional error, ‘festivals’ (H omits the context).
He loosed you and called you] H (= Lat.): om. S, but clearly by error (cf. p. 14 ‘For He set loose from those bonds and thus called . . . and said: Come unto me, etc.). We may compare Irenaeus Haer. IV xvi (as to Sabbath) ‘Uindicabat enim semen eius Dominus, soluens a uinculis et aduocans ad salutem’; and III x ‘Aduocabat autem omnes homines plangentes, et . . . soluebat eos a uinculis’.
Mt. xi 28.
Cf. Rom. x 5, Lev. xviii 5.
admonishes] The verb usually means to convict or confute, and Lat. has ‘conuincens’.
lawless] lit. ‘iniquitous’, but here for παράνομος (AC).
Ps. i 2.
righteousness] I have removed a suffix which would require us to translate ‘the righteousness’, sc. of the Law.
⟨the burden . . . Second⟩] Supplied from Lat. The text reads ‘and from the Law He calls us’, etc.
Ps. ii 3.
Cf. Acts iv 25.
You see . . . its thought] Syr. by itself gives a good sense, but there is difficulty in harmonizing it with Lat. It may be noted that the author appears to have in mind Acts iv 25 ff., where Ps. ii 1, 2 is introduced with the words ὁ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν διὰ πνεύματος ἁγίου στόματος Δαυεὶδ παιδός σου εἰπών.
plough-yoke] So B: ‘snare-yoke’: simply ‘iugus’ Lat.
For to Ezekiel, etc.] For a remarkable parallel to this and some other passages of Didasc. in Aphraates Hom. xv 7-8 see Additional Notes.
the second Law] Not the usual rendering of δευτέρωσις in Syr.
Ez. xx 9-11.
I have given, etc.] Quoted also by Irenaeus Haer. IV xxvi 1 in his discussion of the Law: ‘At ubi conuersi sunt in uituli factionem . . . aptam concupiscentiae suae acceperunt reliquam seruitutem, a Deo quidem non abscindentem, in seruitutis autem iugo dominantem eis: quemadmodum et Ezechiel propheta causas talis legis datae reddens ait: Et post concupiscentiam cordis sui erant oculi eorum; et ego dedi eis praecepta non bona, et iustificationes in quibus non uiuent in eis.’ See also p. 14 before and note.
Ez. xx 25.
Deut. xxi 23.
when He suffered] To be taken with the following: it was when Christ was hanged on the cross that the words took effect.
was a bar] lit. ‘hindered’.
Isa. xlii 19.
Isa. xliii 8.
this word] sc. Deut. xxi 23, as above.
the Woes] The plur., if correct, will refer to the series of Woes in Isa. v 18-20.
Isa. v 18.
a heifer’s yoke] Or ‘the yoke of a cart’. The words for ‘heifer’ and ‘cart’ have the same consonants in Hebrew and Syriac; but the author is using the LXX, which has δαμάλεως.
the ⟨Second⟩ Legislation] The text has simply ‘the Law’ (nāmōsa); but the deuterosis is clearly meant, and we must supply ⟨tenyān⟩ nāmōsa. The same note applies again at l. 9 below.
Cf. Gal. v 3.
the curse] sc. that in Deut. xxi 23, already spoken of.
In six days, etc.] A combination of Ex. xx 11 with Gen. ii 2-3. Compare Ep. Barnab. xv 3 τὸ σάββατον λέγει ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς κτίσεως· καὶ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἐξ ἡμέραις τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ συνετέλεσεν ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ καὶ κατέπαυσεν ἐν αὐτῆ, καὶ ἡγίασεν αὐτήν. We shall presently find some further coincidences with Barnab. xv in our author’s treatment of the Sabbath.
Ex. xx 11, Gen. ii 2 f.
invisible] lit. ‘not known’: ἀόρατος LXX. The Syriac verb ‘to know’ often bears, in the passive, the sense of appearing, as in the common phrase ‘plain (‘known’) and manifest’. Hence in ll. 5, 7 below ‘unknown’ is no variant to ‘necdum . . . manifestato’, ‘necdum manifestatum’ in Lat.
Gen. i 1 f.
Gen. i 5.
Jacob, etc.] The quotation has not been identified, but comp. Ecclus. xxxvi 14 Ἰσραὴλ ὃν πρωτογόνῳ ὡμοίωσας.
? (cf. Ecclus. xxxvi 14).
Ex. iv 22.
Lk. ii 23 (cf. Ex. xiii 2, 12).
In His kingdom] om. Lat. (but apparently implied there in the comment). The words perhaps do not belong to the quotation.
the day . . . a thousand years] Cf. 2 Pet. iii 8; also Ep. Barnab. xv 4 ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα παρ᾽ αὐτῷ χίλια ἔτη. αὐτὸς δέ μοι μαρτυρεῖ λέγων· ἰδοὺ ἡμέρα κυρίου ἔσται ὡς χίλια ἔτη. In our text the saying displaces the first half of Ps. lxxxix 4. See Resch p. 288.
Cf. 2 Pet. iii 8, Ep. Barnab. xv 4: Ps. lxxxix (xc) 4.
⟨One day . . . the night⟩] From Lat.: the omission in Syr. is plainly accidental.
A day therefore, etc.] Cf. Ep. Barnab. xv 5 καὶ ἀλλάξει τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην καὶ τοὺς ἀστέρας, τότε καλῶς καταπαύσεται ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἑβδόμῃ. Comp. Aphraates Hom. xiii 13 ‘But let us keep the Sabbath of God . . . that we may enter into the Sabbath of rest, wherein the heaven and the earth keep Sabbath and all creatures pause and rest’.
Cf. Habak. iii 11, Ep. Barnab. xv 5.
Cf. Ep. Barnab. vi 13.
Mt. xx. 16.
Behold . . . as the first] Cf. Ep. Barnab. vi 13 λέγει δὲ κύριος· ἰδοὺ ποιῶ τὰ ἔσχατα ὡς τὰ πρῶτα, and Hippol. in Dan. lib. iv c. 37 ἔσονται γὰρ τὰ ἔσχατα ὡς τὰ πρῶτα. See Resch pp. 167-8.
Isa. xliii 18 f.
Jer. iii 16.
But the Sabbath itself, etc.] At p. 234 above it was argued that the first day of the week is greater than the Sabbath, as being the first of all days. With that and the present passage comp. Justin Dial. 41 μία γὰρ τῶν σαββάτων, πρώτη μένουσα τῶν πασῶν ἡμερῶν, κατὰ τὸν ἀριθμὸν πάλιν τῶν πασῶν ἡμερῶν τῆς κυκλοφορίας ὀγδόη καλεῖται, καὶ πρώτη οὖσα μένει.
even unto] ‘ad’ Lat. The Syr. is lit. ‘upon’ or ‘over’.
is (reached)] lit. ‘becomes’ (= γίνεται).
more than] Or ‘better than’, which also may be the sense intended by Syr.: ‘super’ Lat. Flemming translates this sentence: ‘Aber eben der Sabbat wird zur Woche hinzugezählt, und (es) ergibt acht (Tage). Die Zahl Acht also ist das, was über die Woche hinausreicht, der Sonntag’. It is better not to introduce the word ‘week’ here: the idea is that if you count from Sabbath to Sabbath inclusively, you get the number 8: but ‘the 8th day’ is the first of the week (as in Justin, just above, and Ep. Barnab. xv 9). The author is proving that the Christian Sunday is greater than the Jewish Sabbath.
Ps. xxiii (xxiv) 1.
the patriarchs, etc.] Cf. Justin Dial. 27 ἢ καὶ τοὺς πρὸ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ὠνομασμένους δικαίους . . . μήτε τὰ σάββατα φυλάξαντας, διὰ τί οὐκ ἐδίδασκε ταῦτα ποιεῖν; Comp. Iren. Haer. IV xxvii 2 ‘Sed et reliqua autem omnis multitudo eorum qui ante Abraham fuerunt iusti, et eorum patriarcharum qui ante Moysem fuerunt, et sine his quae praedicta sunt (sc. circumcision and Sabbath) et sine lege Moysi iustificabantur’, also Aphraates Hom. xiii 8 ‘These righteous fathers did not observe the Sabbath, but they were justified by faith’.
But now, etc.] Cf. Justin Dial. 29 ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τὴν αὐτὴν διοίκησιν τοῦ κόσμου ὁμοίως καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ ἡμέρᾳ πεποίηται καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις.
⟨their . . . proceeds⟩] Supplied from Lat.
Cf. Ex. xx 10, Deut. v 14.
making the winds to blow] ‘prouidens’ Lat. Compare with this passage the Odes of Solomon xvi 12 f. ‘And He rested from His works: and the created things run their courses, and work their works, and they know not how to stand still or to be idle’; and Aphraates Hom. xiii (de Sabbato) 3 ‘But we see that (on the Sabbath) the sun travels on, and the moon proceeds, and the stars run, and the winds blow, and the clouds fly’, etc.
causes . . . to flow] Without the Gk. original it is difficult to trace connexion here between Syr. and Lat.
a type] Cf. Iren. Haer. IV xxvii 1 ‘In signo ergo data sunt haec’ (sc. circumcision and Sabbath); see also ibid. 2, and Justin Dial. 21.
rest . . . seventh thousand (-years)] Cf. Ep. Barnab. xv 4 ὅτι ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελέσει κύριος τὰ σύμπαντα . . . οὐκοῦν, τέκνα, ἐν ἐξ ἡμέραις, ἐν τοῖς ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελεσθήσεται τὰ σύμπαντα, and xv 8 οὐ τὰ νῦν σάββατα (ἐμοὶ) δεκτά, ἀλλὰ ὁ πεποίηκα, ἐν ᾧ καταπαύσας τὰ πάντα ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας ὀγδόης ποιήσω, ὅ ἐστιν ἄλλου κόσμου ἀρχήν. See also Hippolytus in Dan. lib. iv c. 23 δεῖ οὖν ἐξ ἀνάγκης τὰ ἑξακισχίλια ἔτη πληρωθῆναι, ἵνα ἔλθῃ τὸ σάββατον, ἡ κατάπαυσις, ἡ ἁγία ἡμέρα κτλ. The same idea of the Sabbath as a type of the final ‘requietio Dei’ underlies Iren. Haer. IV xxvii 1, V xxx 4, and possibly also a passage in the Apost. Trad. of Hippolytus (Hauler p. 119) in which he speaks of Christ’s death on the cross as the ushering in of a new day: ‘Unde incipiens dormire, principium alterius diei faciens, imaginem resurrectionis conpleuit.’ The world was to end with the sixth millennium, after that was to follow the resurrection and κατάπαυσις, the true Sabbath of God.
⟨with the ashes⟩] See Lat.
Nu. xix 9 f.: cf. Heb. ix 13.
Deut. xxvii 26, Gal. iii 10.
the curse] Referring to Deut. xxi 23 (see p. 230).
Cf. 1 Pet. iii 9.
Mt. x 24.
through the Gospel] This might be taken with what precedes (‘conformest to Him through the Gospel’); but in AC the paragraph begins ἑπόμενοι οὖν Χριστῷ τὰς εὐλογίας κληρονομήσωμεν, νόμῳ καὶ προφήταις διὰ τοῦ εὐαγγελίου στοιχήσωμεν. Lat. may be defective and in part corrupt.
of right] Or perhaps ‘a suitable’; but the expression is usually adverbial.
having] lit. ‘while you have’; and ‘seek’, at the end of the sentence, is also 2nd pers. plur. The following words, ‘thou conformest to the Law’, are therefore probably a repetition by error from ll. 7-8.
nothing else] i. e., as I understand, nothing else than the Gospel: not (as the position of the words might suggest) than the Law and the Prophets. The sense I take to be: ‘Having the Gospel, . . . seek nothing else (beside it) beyond the Law and the Prophets’— excluding only the Second Legislation.
Ex. xx 13.
be frustrated] lit. ‘fall’.
are precise] mezdahrīn, meaning take heed, are cautious: παρατηρούμενοι AC. The observances here condemned are actually prescribed in Hom. Clem. vii 8 ἡ δὲ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ὁρισθεῖσα θρησκεία ἐστὶν αὕτη· . . . ἀπὸ κοίτης γυναικὸς λούεσθαι, αὐτὰς (sc. γυναῖκας) μέντοι καὶ ἄφεδρον φυλάσσειν.
keep themselves from prayer] lit. ‘keep to pray’, here in the sense of ‘avoid’: παρατηροῦνται AC.
let them tell us] om. Lat.: a resumption to relieve the construction—unless it be for δῆλον ὡς (AC).
Prov. vi 22.
and shall be added unto him] So (for καὶ περισσευθήσεται) syr. cur. at Mt. xiii 12, and syr. vulg. (cur. and sin. are wanting) at Mt. xxv 29: also added at Lk. viii 18 in syr. cur., after ‘shall be given unto him’. Cf. Mk. iv 24 μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν, καὶ προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. AC omits the quotation.
Lk. viii 18 (Mt. xiii 12, xxv 29, Mk. iv 25).
Mt. xxiii 18-22.
⟨sanctifieth . . . Holy Spirit⟩] Supplied from Lat. I assume that the words were omitted in Syr. by homoeoteleuton.
fool] ‘uana’ Lat.: Syr. has mistaken a neuter plur. for a fem. sing.
But . . . righteousness] ‘Si habes sanctum spiritum, quid est quod obseruas?’ Lat. It looks as if Syr. and Lat. had each missed out a clause here, so that the original is to be got by combining these two readings, i. e. by reading the sentence in Lat. before that in Syr.
He departs] + ‘longe est semper. Si autem ab aliquo sanctus spiritus uel uno die recesserit’ Lat., which perhaps should be supplied in Syr.: AC has the sentence thus: τὸ γὰρ ἅγιον πνεῦμα τοῖς κεκτημένοις αὐτὸ ἀεὶ παράμονόν ἐστιν, [ἕως ἂν ὦσιν ἄξιοι,] καὶ ὧν ἂν χωρισθῇ, τούτους ἐρήμους καθίστησιν καὶ τῷ πονηρῷ πνεύματι ἐκδότους. This appears to support the shorter text of Syr., but at this point AC is condensing a good deal. Cf. Hermas Mand. v 2. 7 εἶτα ὅταν ἀποστῇ (τὸ τρυφερὸν πνεῦμα) ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἐκείνου οὗ κατοικεῖ, γίνεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἐκεῖνος κενὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ δικαίου, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πεπληρωμένος τοῖς πνεύμασι τοῖς πονηροῖς κτλ.
Mt. xii 43-45.
because . . . unclean spirit] πᾶς δὲ ἄνθρωπος ὁ μὲν τῷ πνεύματι πεπλήρωται τῷ ἁγίῳ, ὁ δὲ τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ, καὶ οὐχ οἷόν τε φυγεῖν αὐτῶν ἑκάτερον AC. The whole paragraph is strongly reminiscent of Hermas Mand. v 2. 5-7.
Thou then . . . unclean spirits] σὺ οὖν, ὦ γύναι, καθὼς λέγεις, εἰ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις τῆς ἀφέδρου κενὴ τυγχάνεις τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, τοῦ ἀκαθάρτου πεπλήρωσαι AC. I have supplied ‘if’ from AC and Lat.
he will . . . always] om. Lat. In this paragraph there are several points of difference between Syr. and Lat. which are difficult to account for.
misfortunes befall you] lit. ‘happenings happen to you’: Lat. differently.
after seven . . . supposest] Lat. very differently.
But if . . . of God] Flemming renders ‘Und wenn du dich badest, so lösest du durch das, was du glaubst, die vollkommene Taufe Gottes auf’. This is possible, but gives an inferior sense.
But . . . not baptized] ‘tamquam non baptizata’ (with the preceding clause) Lat.
clothes] Or ‘vessels’ (but ‘clothes’ at p. 250, l. 4): ‘rerum’ Lat., perh. from σκευῶν.
a mouse] Here doubtless should follow the sentence ‘And if . . . baptized’ at ll. 5-6 below (cf. Lat.).
sacrificed] sc. to idols: rendering εἰδωλοθύτων, as at p. 208, l. 7 (see also Lat.).
Isa. v 18.
consentest to the curse] See pp. 230, 240: Deut. xxi 23 is again referred to.
and thou . . . worthy] Cf. Lat.: Syr. omits the second allusion to the curse.
Cf. Nu. xxiv 9.
and . . . blessed] om. Lat., and rightly.
lifted] lit. ‘lightened’.
And do not, etc.] The passage in AC corresponding to the rest of this paragraph is vi 30 (Funk p. 381).
but do you, etc.] For the rest of the paragraph AC has the following: ἀπαρατηρήτως δὲ συναθροίζεσθε ἐν τοῖς κοιμητηρίοις, τὴν ἀνάγνωσιν τῶν ἱερῶν βιβλίων ποιούμενοι . . . καὶ τὴν ἀντίτυπον τοῦ βασιλείου σώματος Χριστοῦ δεκτὴν εὐχαριστίαν προσφέρετε ἔν τε ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ὑμῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς κοιμητηρίοις, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις τῶν κεκοιμημένων . . . οἱ γὰρ θεῷ πεπιστευκότες, ἐὰν καὶ κοιμηθῶσιν, οὐκ εἰσὶν νεκροί· λέγει γὰρ ὁ σωτὴρ τοῖς Σαδδουκαίοις (etc.) . . . καὶ γὰρ Ἐλισσαῖος ὁ προφήτης μετὰ τὸ κοιμηθῆναι αὐτὸν νεκρὸν ἤγειρε . . . ἔψαυσεν γὰρ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ τῶν Ἐλισσαίου ὀστέων, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔζησεν· οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἐγεγόνει τοῦτο, εἰ μὴ ἦν τὸ σώμα ᾿Ἑλισσαίου ἅγιον.
royal] Syr. reads here ‘the likeness of the body the kingdom of Christ’; but by merely prefixing the genitive particle and reading ‘of the kingdom’, we get the equivalent of an adjective: βασιλείου AC (= Lat.).
invocations] So pointed in Syr.: sing. Lat.
pray] B: ‘and pray’ S, ungrammatically: H omits the context.
Cf. Joh. xi 25.
according to the Gospel] lit. ‘as in the Gospel’.
Mt. xxii 31-33.
4 Reg. xiii 21.
Mt. ix 20 ff.
Malachi . . . the Angel] See p. 216 and note.
Mal. ii 14 f.
Wherefore, etc.] ἀνὴρ οὖν καὶ γυνή, νομίμῳ γάμῳ συνερχόμενοι καὶ ἀπ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἐγειρόμενοι, ἀπαρατηρήτως προσευχέσθωσαν· καὶ μὴ λουσάμενοι καθαροί εἰσιν. ὃς δ᾽ ἂν ἀλλοτρίαν γυναῖκα ὑποφθείρας μιάνῃ ἢ συμμιανθῇ πόρνῃ, ἀναστὰς ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς, οὐδ᾽ ἂν τὸ πέλαγος ὅλον καὶ τοὺς ποταμοὺς πάντας ἀπολούσηται, καθαρὸς εἶναι δυνήσεται AC (Funk p. 379 ll. 24 ff.). It is to be observed that AC omits ‘after baptism’, which seemed perhaps to imply too severe a doctrine as to post-baptismal forgiveness.
And be careful] After this some words may be wanting: see Lat.
AC omits the whole of this paragraph.
discourse] lit. ‘word’ (and so l. 9).
should remain . . . with you] ‘ad satietatem uobis fiat’ Lat. Syr. has confused κόρος with καιρός.
Mt. xxv 30.
Mt. xxv 41.
which my Father hath prepared] So also Lat. ‘Didasc.’ should therefore be added to the Greek authorities for this ‘Western’ reading: it is not found in syr. sin., Aphraates or syr. vulg. (syr. cur. is wanting).
Behold, etc.] Verbally as Pesh.; and hence Syr. does not help to illustrate the interesting text of Lat. The following commentary, however, implies the ‘uerbum’ of Lat.
Jer. xxiii 29.
yet sword] An obscurely worded comment, resembling that on Ex. xx 24 at p. 220 above.
constraint] ἀνάγκη transliterated: ‘securis’ Lat., to which see note.
to it] ‘to Him’ text: the pronoun in the original must have referred to λόγος.
hearkened not] ‘non faciebant audientes’ Lat., which is supported by the following quotation from Lk. vi 46.
Lk. vi 46.
indulgently] So by a very slight correction: ‘humaniora’ Lat.
ulcer] σηπεδών transliterated.
a severer remedy] lit. ‘severity’, or ‘cruelty’.
compress . . . plaster] The first and third words are σπληνίον and μάλαγμα transliterated.
Cf. Rom. xvi 25, 2 Mac. i 4.
incisive] lit. ‘sharp’: τὰ διηκονημένα AC (= Lat.). Funk observes that Syr. presupposes derivation from διακονάω.
to us, that we might know Him] Or possibly ‘to us who shall know Him’ (BS): ‘to those who have known Him’ H: ἡμῖν (simply) AC.
dead . . . living] The almost invariable order in early Syriac writings (see p. 163 above): yet H has here ‘living . . . dead’.
and to . . . the Holy Spirit] ‘patri et filio’ Lat., no doubt rightly.