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Testament of Issachar

Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs

About this book
Chapter 5

1 So keep the law of God, my children, and gain integrity. 2 Live with innocence, not meddling in your neighbor's affairs, but love the Lord and your neighbor,⁠ and have compassion on the poor and the weak. 3 Bend your back to farming and work hard at every kind of farming, offering gifts to the Lord with thanksgiving. 4 For the Lord will bless you with the firstfruits of the earth, just as he blessed all the holy ones from Abel until now. 5 For no portion is given to you except the richness of the earth, whose fruits are produced by labor. 6 For our father Jacob blessed me with the blessings of the earth and of its firstfruits. 7 Levi and Judah were honored by the Lord above the other sons of Jacob, for the Lord gave them an inheritance: to Levi he gave the priesthood, and to Judah the kingship. 8 So obey them, and live with the integrity of your father, for to Gad it has been given to destroy the armies that come against Israel.

Texts in conversation

Compare Testament of Issachar 5:2 and Didache 1:2

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Early Christian

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Summary

In the Testament of Issachar, a Jewish work in the voice of Jacob's son, Issachar sums up obeying God's commandments as loving God and one's neighbor. The Didache, an early church manual, also begins its way of life with these two loves.

Passages

Testament of Issachar 5:2

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
1 So keep the law of God, my children, and gain integrity. 2 Live with innocence, not meddling in your neighbor's affairs, but love the Lord and your neighbor, and have compassion on the poor and the weak. 3 Bend your back to farming and work hard at every kind of farming, offering gifts to the Lord with thanksgiving.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Issachar

Didache 1:2

Early Christian
1 There are two Ways: one of Life and one of Death, and there is a significant difference between the two Ways. 2 The way of life is as follows: First, you should love the God who created you; secondly, love your neighbor as yourself. Treat others as you would want to be treated. 3 Now, the teaching behind these words is this: Bless those who curse you, pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. What credit is it to you if you love only those who love you back? Don't even the non-believers do the same? Instead, love those who hate you, and you will have no enemies.
90–120 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Didache

References

“... In the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the twofold commandment has special prominence as well. Its occurrence at the beginning or close of an exhortation (T. Issa. 5:2; T. Benj. 3:3; T. Issa. 7:6; T. Dan 5:3), shows that it could serve as a summary of precepts. Moreover, this juxtaposition is often found in a context which incites us to keep the Law or all commandments (cf. T. Issa. 5:1; T. Benj. 3:1; T. Issa 7:1-6). In conclusion, two points are relevant with respect to our Two Ways passage. It is reasonable to assume that the direct antecedents to the association between the love of God and the love of others are to be found in Palestinian Jewish tradition, the more so since this tradition is based on the two clauses of Lev 19:18 and Deut 6:5, both of which begin with "you shall love." Moreover, as implied in the T 12 Patr. and as specified in the synoptic teaching of Jesus and in the Greek Two Ways, the combination of the two commandments was usually held to be a summary of the entire Law. ...”
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), 158.

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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Testament of Issachar 5:2 and Didache 1:2

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