Didache 4:8

Patristic

6 Give a portion of what you've earned with your hands as a ransom for your sins. 7 Don't hesitate to give, nor complain when you do, for you'll know who rewards you well. 8 Don't turn away those in need, but share everything with your family, and don't claim it as your own. If you share in what is eternal, how much more should you share in what is perishable? 9 Don't withhold correction from your son or daughter, but teach them to respect God from a young age. 10 Don't treat your slaves harshly out of anger, especially if they believe in the same God, lest they lose fear of the God who oversees you both. God doesn't show favoritism, but calls those prepared by the Spirit.

Pirkei Avot 3:7

Mishnah
Rabbinic

7 Rabbi Elazar of Bartotha said: give to Him of that which is His, for you and that which is yours is His; and thus it says with regards to David: “for everything comes from You, and from Your own hand have we given you” (I Chronicles 29:14). Rabbi Jacob said: if one is studying while walking on the road and interrupts his study and says, “how fine is this tree!” [or] “how fine is this newly ploughed field!” scripture accounts it to him as if he was mortally guilty.

 Notes and References

"... it is to be noted that the last clause of Didache 4:8 echoes a well known Jewish maxim, 'Give to him' (to God) 'what is his' (God's) 'for you and what you have is his' (mishnah Avot 3:7, see also 5:13). It is only natural that this understanding has a parallel in the Derekh Erets literature: 'and do not say, I did good with my own (money), but say from the good that one did to me.' The same idea seems to underline Jesus' parable in Matthew 20:1-16, where the Landowner, God, says, 'Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?' ..."

Sandt, Hubertus W., and David Flusser The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity (p. 183) Royal Van Gorcum, 2002

 User Comments

I need to find out the meaning of this quote "Do not turn away from someone who is in need; rather, share everything with your brother, and do not say that it is your own. For if you are partners in what is imperishable, how much more so in perishable things!" (Didache 4:8)

Ben Harris, August 14, 2024, 7:13 am

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