Chronological timeline of texts tagged with The Two Ways
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Deuteronomy 30:15–20 presents a choice between life and death, defined by obedience or disobedience to the Torah. This idea of “the Two Ways” became a common moral framework in later Jewish and Christian traditions, with Jewish texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic teachings developed it into guidance for ethical living, and early Christian texts such as the Gospels and the Didache adapting it for their own instructions and theology.
Note: Dates shown in this timeline are approximate and based on scholarly estimates.
Back to Tag5th century BCE (final composition)
Exodus 20:13
Hebrew Bible
13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
5th century BCE (final composition)
Leviticus 19:17
Hebrew Bible
15 “‘You must not deal unjustly in judgment: You must neither show partiality to the poor nor honor the rich. You must judge your fellow citizen fairly. 16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. I am the Lord. 17 You must not hate your brother in your heart. You must surely reprove your fellow citizen so that you do not incur sin on account of him. 18 You must not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you must love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
6th century BCE (final composition)
Deuteronomy 30:15
Hebrew Bible
11 “This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, ‘Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, ‘Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 14 For the thing is very near you—it is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess.
5th century BCE
Jeremiah 21:8
Hebrew Bible
6 I will kill everything living in Jerusalem, people and animals alike. They will die from terrible diseases. 7 Then I, the Lord, promise that I will hand over King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and any of the people who survive the war, starvation, and disease. I will hand them over to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and to their enemies who want to kill them. He will slaughter them with the sword. He will not show them any mercy, compassion, or pity.’ 8 “But tell the people of Jerusalem that the Lord says, ‘I will give you a choice between two courses of action. One will result in life; the other will result in death. 9 Those who stay in this city will die in battle or of starvation or disease. Those who leave the city and surrender to the Babylonians who are besieging it will live. They will escape with their lives. 10 For I, the Lord, say that I am determined not to deliver this city but to bring disaster on it. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will destroy it with fire.’”
6th–3rd centuries BCE
Proverbs 12:28
Hebrew Bible
25 Anxiety in a person’s heart weighs him down, but an encouraging word brings him joy. 26 The righteous person is cautious in his friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. 27 The lazy person does not roast his prey, but personal possessions are precious to the diligent. 28 In the path of righteousness there is life, but another path leads to death.
160–100 BCE
1QS 3:20
Dead Sea Scrolls
18 the world, and he set for it two spirits in which to walk until the appointed time of his visitation. They are the spirits of 19 truth and of iniquity. In a spring of light are the generations of truth, and from a fountain of darkness are the generations of iniquity. 20 In the hand of the Prince of Lights is the rule over all the sons of righteousness; they walk in the ways of light. And in the hand of the Angel of 21 Darkness is all the rule over the sons of iniquity, and they walk in the ways of darkness. And by the Angel of Darkness comes the straying of
160–100 BCE
1QS 4:9
Dead Sea Scrolls
9 But to the spirit of iniquity belong greed and slackness of hands in the service of righteousness, wickedness and falsehood, pride and haughtiness of heart, lying and deceit, cruelty 10 and great hypocrisy, a short temper and great folly and insolent zeal, works of abomination in a spirit of fornication, and ways of impurity in the service of uncleanness, 11 and a tongue of blasphemies, blindness of eyes and dullness of ear, stiffness of neck and heaviness of heart, to walk in all the ways of darkness and evil cunning. And the visitation of
150–100 BCE
Baruch 3:9
Deuterocanon
7 For this cause, you have put your fear in our hearts, to the intent that we should call upon your name. We will praise you in our captivity, for we have called to mind all the iniquity of our fathers who sinned before you. 8 Behold, we are yet this day in our captivity where you have scattered us, for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject to penalty according to all the iniquities of our fathers who departed from the Lord our God. 9 Hear, O Israel, the commandments of life! Give ear to understand wisdom! 10 How is it, O Israel, that you are in your enemies’ land, that you have become old in a strange country, that you are defiled with the dead, 11 that you are counted with those who are in Hades?
300 BCE – 100 CE
1 Enoch 91:18
Pseudepigrapha
16 And the first heaven will depart and pass away, and a new heaven will appear, and all the powers of the heavens will give sevenfold light. 17 And after that there will be many weeks without number forever, and all will be in goodness and righteousness, and sin will no longer be mentioned forever. 18 And now I tell you, my sons, and show you the paths of righteousness and the paths of violence. Yes, I will show them to you again so that you may know what will happen. 19 And now, listen to me, my sons, and walk in the paths of righteousness, and do not walk in the paths of violence; for all who walk in the paths of unrighteousness shall perish forever.'
150–100 BCE
Jubilees 7:26
Pseudepigrapha
25 And the Lord destroyed everything from off the face of the earth; because of the wickedness of their deeds, and because of the blood which they had shed in the midst of the earth He destroyed everything. 26 'And we were left, I and you, my sons, and everything that entered with us into the ark, and behold I see your works before me that you do not walk in righteousness: for in the path of destruction you have begun to walk, and you are parting one from another, and are envious one of another, and (so it comes) that you are not in harmony, my sons, each with his brother. 27 For I see, and behold the demons have begun (their) seductions against you and against your children and now I fear on your behalf, that after my death you will shed the blood of men upon the earth, and that you, too, will be destroyed from the face of the earth.
100 BCE – 100 CE
Testament of Asher 1:3
Pseudepigrapha
1 A record of what Asher told his sons in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. 2 While he was still in good health, he said to them: Listen, children of Asher, to your father, and I will declare to you all that is upright in the sight of the Lord. 3 God has given two ways to humanity, two inclinations, two kinds of action, two ways of acting, and two outcomes. 4 So all things come in pairs, one set against the other. 5 For there are two ways, of good and of evil, and with them are the two inclinations within us that tell them apart.
100 BCE – 100 CE
Testament of Issachar 5:2
Pseudepigrapha
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.
1–100 CE
2 Enoch 30:15
Pseudepigrapha
14 and I appointed for him four special stars, and I called his name Adam, 15 and showed him the two ways, the light and the darkness, and I told him: 'This is good, and that is bad,' so that I might learn whether he has love toward me, or hatred, so that it would be clear which of his race love me.
70–100 CE
4 Ezra 7:5
Pseudepigrapha
3 I said, “Speak on, my Lord.” Then he said to me, “There is a sea set in a wide place, that it might be broad and vast, 4 but its entrance is set in a narrow place so as to be like a river. 5 Whoever desires to go into the sea to look at it, or to rule it, if he didn’t go through the narrow entrance, how could he come into the broad part? 6 Another thing also: There is a city built and set in a plain country, and full of all good things, 7 but its entrance is narrow, and is set in a dangerous place to fall, having fire on the right hand, and deep water on the left. 8 There is only one path between them both, even between the fire and the water, so that only one person can go there at once. 9 If this city is now given to a man for an inheritance, if the heir doesn’t pass the danger before him, how will he receive his inheritance?” 10 I said, “That is so, Lord.” Then he said to me, “Even so also is Israel’s portion. 11 I made the world for their sakes. What is now done was decreed when Adam transgressed my statutes. 12 Then the entrances of this world were made narrow, sorrowful, and toilsome. They are but few and evil, full of perils, and involved in great toils. 13 For the entrances of the greater world are wide and safe, and produce fruit of immortality. 14 So if those who live don’t enter these difficult and vain things, they can never receive those that are reserved for them.
c. 700 BCE
Hesiod, Works and Days 287
Classical
[286] To you, foolish Perses, I will speak good sense. Badness can be got easily and in shoals: the road to her is smooth, and she lives very near us. But between us and Goodness the gods have placed the sweat of our brows: long and steep is the path that leads to her, and it is rough at the first; but when a man has reached the top, then is she easy to reach, though before that she was hard.
70–90 CE
Matthew 7:13
New Testament
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 In everything, treat others as you would want them to treat you, for this fulfills the law and the prophets. 13 “Enter through the narrow gate because the gate is wide and the way is spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it! 15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?
80–120 CE
Barnabas 18:1
Early Christian
1 But let us turn to another lesson and teaching. There are two paths of teaching and of power: one of light and the other of darkness; and there is a great difference between the two ways. For on one side stand the shining angels of God, on the other the angels of Satan. 2 And the One is the Lord from all eternity to all eternity, while the other is lord of this current season of wickedness.
80–120 CE
Barnabas 19:1
Early Christian
1 This, then, is the way of light: if anyone wants to travel on the way to his appointed place, let him be diligent in his works. The knowledge that is given to us, enabling us to walk in it, is as follows. 2 ‘You shall love Him who made you; you shall fear Him who created you; you shall glorify Him who redeemed you from death. You shall be single-hearted and rich in spirit. You shall not cling to those who follow the path of death. You shall hate everything not pleasing to God. You shall hate all hypocrisy. You shall never abandon the Lord’s commandments.’ 3 ‘You shall not exalt yourself but be humble in all things. You shall not claim glory for yourself. You shall not devise evil against your neighbor. You shall not allow arrogance into your soul.’ 4 ‘You shall not commit fornication; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt young people. The word of God shall not come from you where there is any impurity. You shall not show partiality when reproving someone for a transgression. You shall be gentle; you shall be quiet; you shall be in awe of the words you have heard. You shall not hold a grudge against your brother.’ 5 ‘You shall not waver about whether something will be or not. You shall not use the Lord’s name carelessly. You shall love your neighbor more than your own life. You shall not kill a child by abortion, nor again kill it once it is born. You shall not withhold your hand from your son or daughter, but from childhood you shall teach them the fear of God.’
90–120 CE
Didache 1:1
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
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
Didache 2:2
Early Christian
1 But the second commandment of the teaching is: 2 You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt boys; you shall not commit fornication; you shall not steal; you shall not practice magic; you shall not use love potions; you shall not cause abortion, nor kill newborns; you shall not desire your neighbor's possessions. 3 You shall not commit perjury; you shall not lie; you shall not speak ill; you shall not bear grudges. 4 You shall not be double-minded or double-tongued, because that leads to death. 5 Your words shall not be false or meaningless but followed by actions.
90–120 CE
Didache 2:7
Early Christian
3 You shall not commit perjury; you shall not lie; you shall not speak ill; you shall not bear grudges. 4 You shall not be double-minded or double-tongued, because that leads to death. 5 Your words shall not be false or meaningless but followed by actions. 6 You shall not be greedy or exploitative, nor a hypocrite, nor evil-minded, nor arrogant; you shall not plan evil against your neighbor. 7 You shall not hate anyone; some you will correct, some you will pray for, and some you will love more than your own life.
90–120 CE
Didache 5:1
Early Christian
1 The Way of Death includes wickedness, cursing, murder, adultery, lust, sexual immorality, theft, idol worship, witchcraft, charms, robbery, false witness, hypocrisy, deceit, fraud, pride, malice, stubbornness, greed, vulgar language, jealousy, rudeness, arrogance, boasting. 2 It includes persecuting the good, hating the truth, loving lies, ignoring the rewards of righteousness, not adhering to goodness or fair judgment, staying awake for wickedness instead of good, being distant from meekness and patience, loving worthless things, seeking rewards, being unmerciful to the poor, ignoring the overworked, denying the Creator, murdering children, corrupting what God has made, turning away those in need, oppressing the troubled, favoring the rich, unjustly judging the poor, and living in complete sin. My children, may you be delivered from all these.
450–550 CE
Berakhot 28b
Rabbinic
He said to them: I cry in fear of heavenly judgment, as the judgment of the heavenly court is unlike the judgment of man. If they were leading me before a flesh and blood king whose life is temporal, who is here today and dead in the grave tomorrow; if he is angry with me, his anger is not eternal and, consequently, his punishment is not eternal; if he incarcerates me, his incarceration is not an eternal incarceration, as I might maintain my hope that I would ultimately be freed. If he kills me, his killing is not for eternity, as there is life after any death that he might decree. Moreover, I am able to appease him with words and even bribe him with money, and even so I would cry when standing before royal judgment. Now that they are leading me before the supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He, Who lives and endures forever and all time; if He is angry with me, His anger is eternal; if He incarcerates me, His incarceration is an eternal incarceration; and if He kills me, His killing is for eternity. I am unable to appease Him with words and bribe him with money. Moreover, but I have two paths before me, one of the Garden of Eden and one of Gehenna, and I do not know on which they are leading me; and will I not cry?