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In the Didache, an early church manual, a visiting apostle may stay a day or two and leave with only bread for the road. In the Mishnah, a poor traveler is owed a similar provision, a loaf of bread and enough for a night's lodging.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
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.
Mishnah Peah 8:7
Mishnah
Rabbinic
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.
Date: 190-230 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and 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). ...”
Sandt, Hubertus W., and David Flusser
The Didache: Its Jewish Sources and Its Place in Early Judaism and Christianity
(pp. 354-356) 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.
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