At the time when this was published, a MS of the Didache had already been discovered in the library of the Jerusalem monastery in the Phanar or Greek quarter of Constantinople, and was given to the world in the end of 1883 by its discoverer, Philotheus Eryennios, the Metropolitan of Nico- media. The MS belongs to the 11th century. It contains, besides the Didache, six other early writings or groups of writings, beginning with Chrysostom's Synopsis of the Old and Neto Testa- ments, and including the Epistle of Barnabas and the Epistles of Clement of Rome. At its close the scribe has appended a note to the effect that it was finished ' by the hand of Leo, notary and sinner,' in A.M. 6564, i.e. A.D. 1056.
No other book of primitive Christianity outside the NT has found so many and such industrious editors. This ^IS is still the only one known of the whole Didache, but in Harnack's edition {TU ii. 1, 2 [1884]) von Gebhardt draws attention to a Latin fragment from a MS of the 10th cent., formerly in the convent library of Melk, which, even in its brevity, has one marked difference from onr Didache, to be referred to later. Then in 1900, J. Schlecht published from a Munich MS of tlie 11th cent, an old Latin version (Doctrina XII. Apostolorum, Freiburg i. B., 1900), co-extensive M'ith the first six chapters of the Didache, contain- ing, among other variations, the same noteworthy omission. These are the texts on which all present investigation must rest.
The re-discovery of the Didache created a great sensation, and it was hailed as a most important
find. It was seen to fill a gap betv\'een the Apostolic Church and the Church of the 2nd cent., in matters of worship, ministry, and doctrine.
' Until the discovery of the Didachi' saye Sanday (Expositor, Srd ser. v. [1SS7] 106), ' there were certain phenomena of the Apostolic age which hung as it were in the air. They were like threads cut off abruptly of which we saw the beginning, but neither middle nor end. It is just these phenomena that the Didache takes up, brings them again to our sight, and connacts them with the course of subsequent history."
It was seen to be the actual forerunner of a whole series of later works in the East. It differs from its successors in that it dees not claim direct apostolic inspiration ; it is simply the summary of v/hat its author conceived to be the teaching of the apostles.
' It is anonymous, but not pseudonymous ; post- Apostolic, but not pseudo- Apostolic' (Schaff, Oldest Church ManuaP, New York, 1889, p. 14).
2, Contents. — The Didache is not a long docu- ment. It is about the same size as the Epistle to the Galatians. In the MS it is not divided ; but there is now a standard division into chapters and verses, which is followed in this discussion. This division is quite satisfactory save at one point — xi. 1,2 ought to belong tc ch. x.
The Didache may be divided into two main parts, the latter containing three sections, thus :
I. Chs. i.-vi. Pre-baptismal moral teaching. II. Chs. vii.-xvi. General instructions to ths Christian com" munity concerning :
(a) Rites (vii.-xi. 2).
(6) OflSce-bearers (xi. 3-xv.).
(c) The Last Things and the duty of watchfulness (rvi.).
At the head of the MS appears the title, ' The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles' (AtSaxT? rQiv 5iideKa. diroffTd'Xwv). The first part opens with a sub-title which runs continuously with the text (see facsimile in Schaff or Rendel Harris). The sub-title is * The Teaching of the Lord by the Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles ' (Aidaxv KvpLov dici, tQv duidexa aTToaroKuv roh idvecrii').
This sub-title was either the original title of the whole work, the present title being an abbreviation (in which case the word iSv^iTLv refers to Gentile Christians) or, as is just possible from its position in the MS, it was originally the title of a shorter work corresponding in length to the Latin Version, in which case iOvfo-Lv means ' those not yet received within the Christian fold,' and indicates that the work contains the moral t«aching given to those who are stUl outside the Church — the candidates for baptism.
The first part consists of a delineation of the Two Ways— the Way of Life and the Way of Death. The Way of Life consists in obedience to three commandments : (a) Love to God, (b) Love to one's fellow-men, and (c) the Golden Rule in its negative form. The Way of Life is set forth not as a logical development of these three in turn, but first positively, and then negatively. The positive development (i. 3-6) consists mainly of extracts from the Sermon on the Mount. The negative begins v.ith a prohibition of gross sins (ii. ); it proceeds, after the manner of a Jewish 'fence to the Lav/,' to a warning against subtler forms which lead on to the grosser (iii.); it con- cludes with the inculcation of duties necessary for a true life in the Church and in the household (iv. ). The Way of Death is delineated in a list of sins and sinners (v.). Tiie moral instruction ends with a warning against going astray from ' this Way of the Teaching,' and the injunction to follow it as far as possible. This part, unlike the rest of the book, is addressed to an individual, the con- necting link between it and the other part ad- dressed to the community being the words : ' Having first taught all these things, baptize ye.'