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About this book

Didache

About this book

Welcoming Traveling Apostles and Prophets

Chapter 11

1 If anyone comes and teaches you everything mentioned above, accept him.⁠ 2 But if the teacher himself is corrupt and teaches a different doctrine that undermines these truths, do not listen to him. However, if his teaching promotes righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, receive him as you would the Lord. 3 Regarding the Apostles and Prophets, act in accordance with the guidelines of the Gospel. 4 Receive every Apostle who comes to you as if he were the Lord.⁠ 5 But do not let him stay more than one day, or two if necessary.⁠ If he stays three days, he is a false prophet. 6 When an Apostle departs, let him take only bread until he reaches his lodging for the night. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. 7 Do not test or judge any prophet who is speaking under inspiration, for every sin may be forgiven, but this sin will not.⁠ 8 Not everyone who speaks under inspiration is a prophet, but only one who has the ways of the Lord. You can distinguish a false prophet from a true one by his actions.⁠ 9 No prophet who orders a meal while in a state of inspiration should eat from it; if he does, he is a false prophet. 10 Any prophet who teaches the truth but does not practice what he preaches is a false prophet. 11 But do not judge a tested and genuine prophet who may enact a symbolic ritual of the Church but doesn't teach others to do the same. He will be judged by God, just like the ancient prophets. 12 If anyone requests money or something else while claiming to be inspired, do not listen to him. But if he asks you to give to others in need, do not judge him.

Texts in conversation

Compare Didache 11:6 and Mishnah Peah 8:7

Early Christian · Rabbinic

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Summary

The Didache, an early church manual, permits a visiting apostle to stay two days at most and leave with enough bread to reach his next stop. In Rabbinic tradition, such as in Mishnah Peah, a poor traveler is owed similar aid, bread and a night's lodging.

Passages

Didache 11:6

Early Christian
3 Regarding the Apostles and Prophets, act in accordance with the guidelines of the Gospel. 4 Receive every Apostle who comes to you as if he were the Lord. 5 But do not let him stay more than one day, or two if necessary. If he stays three days, he is a false prophet. 6 When an Apostle departs, let him take only bread until he reaches his lodging for the night. If he asks for money, he is a false prophet.
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

Mishnah Peah 8:7

Rabbinic · Mishnah
They may not give a poor person wandering from place to place less than a loaf worth a pundion at a time when four seahs [of wheat cost] one sela. If he spends the night [at a place], they must give him the cost of what he needs for the night. If he stays over Shabbat they must give him enough food for three meals. He who has the money for two meals, he may not take anything from the charity dish. And if he has enough money for fourteen meals, he may not take any support from the communal fund. The communal fund is collected by two and distributed by three people.
190–230 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Mishnah Peah

References

“... The first injunction stipulating that apostles are provided with a maximum of two days' food and lodging is likely to limit the community's generous hospitality. It is clear that a reduction of the duration of a visitor's reception to that extent would prevent the apostles from playing a teaching role of some consequence in the life of the community. [...] The wording of Did 11:4-6 may even draw upon a rule that was applied in Jewish communities. It deals with the aid to a traveller who is poor and has no financial means to pay for lodging and board: They give to a poor man traveling from place to place [...] [If such a poor person] stayed overnight, they give him enough [to pay] for a night's lodging. [If such a poor person] spent the Sabbath, they give him food for three meals (mPea 8:7). ...”
Huub van de Sandt and David Flusser, The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity, Compendia Rerum Iudaicarum ad Novum Testamentum, Section 3: Jewish Traditions in Early Christian Literature 5 (Assen: Royal Van Gorcum, 2002), 354–356.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Didache 11:6 and Mishnah Peah 8:7

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