Texts in Conversation
The Didache echoes a common theme in Jewish wisdom traditions, such as in Sirach, by warning to not participate in gossip and double speech, emphasizing how destructive words can ruin peace and divide communities.
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Sirach 28:13
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
11 A hasty quarrel kindles a fire, and a hasty dispute sheds blood. 12 If you blow on a spark, it will glow; if you spit on it, it will be put out; yet both come out of your mouth. 13 Curse the gossips and the double-tongued, for they destroy the peace of many. 14 Slander has shaken many, and scattered them from nation to nation; it has destroyed strong cities, and overturned the houses of the great. 15 Slander has driven virtuous women from their homes, and deprived them of the fruit of their toil.
Date: 195-175 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Didache 2:4
Early Christian
2 You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not engage in sodomy; you shall not commit fornication; you shall not steal; you shall not practice magic; you shall not use love potions; you shall not cause abortion, nor kill newborns; you shall not desire your neighbor's possessions. 3 You shall not commit perjury; you shall not lie; you shall not speak ill; you shall not bear grudges. 4 You shall not be double-minded or speak with a double-tongue, for to do so leads to death. 5 Your words shall not be false or meaningless but followed by actions. 6 You shall not be greedy or exploitative, nor a hypocrite, nor evil-minded, nor arrogant, you shall not plan evil against your neighbor.
Date: 50-70 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Didache 2:4 ... This text seems dualistic at first, however, th ere is ample precedent in the Old Testament, especially the Wisdom tradition. Thus, Proverbs 21:6 comes quite close to the sense of this text. See also Proverbs 13:14; 14:27; Psalms 18:5; Tobit 14:10; Sirach 28:13-26. James 3:8 also contains the idea that the unruly tongue bears death ..."
Draper, Jonathan Alfred
A Commentary on the Didache in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Documents
(p. 53) St. John's College, 1983
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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