Texts in Conversation
In the Didache, an early church manual, thanks after the meal are given for God's name and spiritual food, followed by prayer for the church. In the Babylonian Talmud, the Jewish grace after meals follows a similar order of food, the land, and Jerusalem.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Didache 10:3
Early Christian
1 After you have eaten your fill, give thanks in this way: 2 'We thank You, Holy Father, for Your Holy Name that You have allowed to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge, faith, and immortality that You revealed to us through Jesus Your Child. May You be glorified forever.' 3 'You, Lord Almighty, created all things for the sake of Your Name and provided food and drink for people to enjoy, so they might thank You. But You have blessed us with spiritual food and drink and eternal light through Your Child.' 4 'Above all, we thank You because You are mighty. May You be glorified forever.' 5 'Remember, Lord, Your Church, and protect it from all evil. Perfect it in Your love, and gather it together in holiness from the four winds into Your kingdom that You have prepared. Yours is the power and the glory forever.'
Berakhot 48b:3
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
On the topic of the blessings of Grace after Meals, the Gemara adds that the Sages taught in a baraita that the order of Grace after Meals is as follows: The first blessing is the blessing of: Who feeds all; the second is the blessing of the land; the third is: Who builds Jerusalem; and the fourth is: Who is good and does good. On Shabbat one begins the third blessing with consolation and ends with consolation and mentions the sanctity of the day with mention of Shabbat in the middle. Rabbi Eliezer says: If one wishes to recite the supplement for the sanctity of Shabbat in the blessing of consolation: Who builds Jerusalem, he recites it there; in the blessing of the land, he recites it there; in the blessing instituted by the Sages at Yavne, Who is good and does good, he recites it there. And the Rabbis say: He may only recite the mention of the sanctity of Shabbat in the context of the blessing of consolation.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
“... The first to examine closely the links between Did 10 to the Jewish Grace was Louis Finkelstein. He presented the two texts in parallel columns and in commenting on the strong similarities between the texts, he already noted in the Didache the inversion of the order of the first two pericopes and the "spiritualization" of the original text. He observes the "emphasis on the spiritual as opposed to the material blessing" in the replacement of physical by spiritual food and drink, of the land by the Name and of Jerusalem and the Temple by the church. The connection, indeed, between the Birkat Ha-Mazon and Did 10 no longer requires demonstration. [...] The Birkat Ha-Mazon displays a tripartite structure: a berakha or benediction (in the strict sense) for the gift of food, a hodaya (thanksgiving) for the gift of the land, the covenant, the Law, and a supplication for mercy on the people, the city of Jerusalem and the temple. ...”
Sandt, Hubertus W., and David Flusser
The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity
(p. 312, 314) Royal Van Gorcum, 2002
* 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.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,