Chapter XII. [2480] --Reception of Christians.
1. But let every one that cometh in the name of the Lord be received, [2481] and afterward ye shall prove and know him; for ye shall have understanding right and left. 2. If he who cometh is a wayfarer, assist him as far as ye are able; but he shall not remain with you, except for two or three days, if need be. 3. But if he willeth to abide with you, being an artisan, let him work and eat; [2482] but if he hath no trade, 4. according to your understanding see to it that, as a Christian, [2483] he shall not live with you idle. 5. But if he willeth not to do, he is a Christ-monger. [2484] Watch that ye keep aloof from such.
[2480] Verse 1 is almost identical with the beginning of Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 28; the remaining verses have no parallel.
[2481] All professed Christians are meant.
[2482] Comp. 2 Thess. iii. 10.
[2483] The term occurs only here in the Teaching.
[2484] "Christ-trafficker." The abuse of Christian fellowship and hospitality naturally followed the remarkable extension of Christianity. This expressive term was coined to designate the class of idlers who would make gain out of their professed Christianity. It occurs in the longer form of the Ignatian Epistles (Trallians, vi.) and in literature of the fourth century.
Chapter XIII. [2485] --Support of Prophets.
1. But every true prophet that willeth to abide among you [2486] is worthy of his support. [2487] 2. So also a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support. [2488] 3. Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high priests. [2489] 4. But if ye have not a prophet, give it to the poor. 5. If thou makest a batch of dough, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment. 6. So also when thou openest a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets; 7. and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to thee, and give according to the commandment.
[2485] A large part of this chapter is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 28, 29, but with modifications and additions indicating a later date.
[2486] "Who will settle among you" (Hitchcock and Brown). The itinerant prophets might become stationary, we infer. Chaps. xi.-xv. point to a movement from an itinerant and extraordinary ministry to a more settled one.
[2487] Lit., "nourishment," "food."
[2488] Matt. x. 10; comp. Luke x. 7.
[2489] This phrase, indicating a sacerdotal view of the ministry, seems to point to a later date than that claimed for the Teaching. Some regard it as an interpolation: others take it in a figurative sense. In Apostolic Constitutions the sacerdotal view is more marked. [1 Pet. ii. 9. If the plebs = "priests," prophets = "high priests."] Here the term is restricted to the prophets: compare Schaff in loco.
Chapter XIV. [2490] --Christian Assembly on the Lord's Day.
1. But every Lord's day [2491] do ye gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, [2492] that your sacrifice may be pure. [2493] 2. But let no one that is at variance [2494] with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. 3. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; [2495] for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations.
[2490] Verses 1 and 3 are given substantially in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 30. This chapter would seem to belong more properly before chap. viii.; but the same order of topics is followed in Apostolic Constitutions,--a remarkable proof of literary connection.
[2491] Comp. Rev. i. 10. Here the full form is kata kuriaken de Kurion. If the early date is allowed, this verse confirms the view that from the first the Lord's Day was observed, and that, too, by a eucharistic celebration.
[2492] Comp chap. iv. 14. No parallel in Apostolic Constitutions.
[2493] On this spiritual sense of "sacrifice," comp. Rom. xii. 1; Phil. ii. 17; Heb. xiii. 15; 1 Pet. ii. 5.
[2494] "That hath the (or, any) dispute" (amphibolian); comp. Matt. v. 23, 24.
[2495] [See Mal. i. 11. See Irenæus, cap. xvii. 5, vol. i. [264]p. 484.]
[2496] Mal. i. 11, 14. Quoted in Apostolic Constitutions and by several Ante-Nicene Fathers, with the same reference to the Eucharist.