Skip to Content
intertextual.bible
Go to Related Reading
About this book

Didache

About this book

Confession and Reconciliation on the Lord’s Day

Chapter 14

1 On the Lord's Day, gather together, break bread,⁠ and hold the Eucharist, after confessing your sins, so that your offering may be pure.⁠ 2 But let no one who is in conflict with another person join your gathering until they are reconciled, so that your sacrifice is not tainted.⁠ 3 For this is what the Lord said: 'In every place and time, offer me a pure sacrifice, for I am a great king, and my name is held in awe among the nations.'

Texts in conversation

Compare Malachi 1:11 and Didache 14:2

Hebrew Bible · Early Christian

Share:

Summary

The Didache quotes Malachi and uses it to interpret the Christian communion meal as the prophecy’s fulfillment, saying that pure offerings would be made among all nations as a sign of reconciliation.

Passages

Malachi 1:11

Hebrew Bible
10 “I wish that one of you would close the temple doors, so that you no longer would light useless fires on my altar. I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and I will no longer accept an offering from you. 11 For from the east to the west my name will be great among the nations. Incense and pure offerings will be offered in my name everywhere, for my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 12 “But you are profaning it by saying that the table of the Lord is common and its offerings despicable. 13 You also say, ‘How tiresome it is.’ You turn up your nose at it,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and instead bring what is stolen, lame, or sick. You bring these things for an offering! Should I accept this from you?” asks the Lord.
500–401 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Malachi

Didache 14:2

Early Christian
1 On the Lord's Day, gather together, break bread, and hold the Eucharist, after confessing your sins, so that your offering may be pure. 2 But let no one who is in conflict with another person join your gathering until they are reconciled, so that your sacrifice is not tainted. 3 For this is what the Lord said: 'In every place and time, offer me a pure sacrifice, for I am a great king, and my name is held in awe among the nations.'
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

References

"... One final point should be made here with respect to an alleged dependence of the Didache on Matthew. The instruction of Didache 14:2 betrays its nearness to the meaning of Matthew 5:23-24. Temple worshipers must not offer sacrifices and place the gift on the altar without first dealing with dissension in their relationship with others. Indeed, the rule as a whole recalls the attitude demanded by the Lord in the saying of Matthew 5:23-24. However, rather than supporting its demand by appealing to Matthew, the Didache in 14:3 renders an Old Testament quotation from Malachi 1:11. legitimating the concern to preserve the purity of the eucharistic meal ..."
Huub van de Sandt, “‘Do Not Give What Is Holy to the Dogs’ (Did 9:5D and Matt 7:6A): The Eucharistic Food of the Didache in Its Jewish Purity Setting,” VC 56.3 (2002): 245.

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

Your feedback

Malachi 1:11 and Didache 14:2

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library