How Masters Ought to Behave Themselves to Their Servants, and How Servants Ought to Be Subject.
XIII. Thou shall not command thy man-servant, or thy maid-servant, who trust in the same God, with bitterness of soul, lest they groan against thee, and wrath be upon thee from God. And, ye servants, "be subject to your masters," [3430] as to the representatives of God, with attention and fear, "as to the Lord, and not to men." [3431]
Concerning Hypocrisy, and Obedience to the Laws, and Confession of Sins.
XIV. Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy; and whatsoever is pleasing to the Lord, that shalt thou do. By no means forsake the commands of the Lord. But thou shalt observe what things thou hast received from Him, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. "For thou shalt not add unto His words, lest He convict thee, and thou becomest a liar." [3432] Thou shalt confess thy sins unto the Lord thy God; and thou shalt not add unto them, that it may be well with thee from the Lord thy God, who willeth not the death of a sinner, but his repentance.
Concerning the Observance Due to Parents.
XV. Thou shalt be observant to thy father and mother as the causes of thy being born, that thou mayest live long on the earth which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Do not overlook thy brethren or thy kinsfolk; for "thou shalt not overlook those nearly related to thee." [3433]
Concerning the Subjection Due to the King and to Rulers.
XVI. Thou shalt fear the king, knowing that his appointment is of the Lord. His rulers thou shalt honour as the ministers of God, for they are the revengers of all unrighteousness; to whom pay taxes, tribute, and every oblation with a willing mind.
Concerning the Pure Conscience of Those that Pray.
XVII. Thou shalt not proceed to thy prayer in the day of thy wickedness, before thou hast laid aside thy bitterness. This is the way of life, in which may ye be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
That the Way Which Was Afterward Introduced by the Snares of the Adversary is Full of Impiety and Wickedness.
XVIII. But the way of death [3434] is known by its wicked practices: for therein is the ignorance of God, and the introduction of many evils, and disorders, and disturbances; whereby come murders, adulteries, fornications, perjuries, unlawful lusts, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, witchcrafts, rapines, false-witnesses, hypocrisies, double-heartedness, deceit, pride, malice, insolence, covetousness, obscene talk, jealousy, confidence, haughtiness, arrogance, impudence, persecution of the good, enmity to truth, love of lies, ignorance of righteousness. For they who do such things do not adhere to goodness, or to righteous judgment: they watch not for good, but for evil; from whom meekness and patience are far off, who love vain things, pursuing after reward, having no pity on the poor, not labouring for him that is in misery, nor knowing Him that made them; murderers of infants, destroyers of the workmanship of God, that turn away from the needy, adding affliction to the afflicted, the flatterers of the rich, the despisers of the poor, full of sin. May you, children, be delivered from all these.
That We Must Not Turn from the Way of Piety Either to the Right Hand or to the Left. An Exhortation of the Lawgiver.
XIX. See that no one seduce thee [3435] from piety; for says He: "Thou mayst not turn aside from it to the right hand, or to the left, that thou mayst have understanding in all that thou doest." [3436] For if thou dost not turn out of the right way, thou wilt not be ungodly.
[3343] [See pp. 377, etc., supra]
[3344] Deut. xxx. 15
[3345] Deut. xxx. 19
[3346] 1 Kings xviii. 21.
[3347] Matt. vi. 24.
[3348] 1 Tim. iv. 10.
[3349] [See Teaching, i. 1.--R.]
[3350] [Teaching, i. 1.--R.]
[3351] The Greek words properly mean: "Introduced was the way of death; not of that death which exists according to the mind of God, but that which has arisen from the plots of the adversary."
[3352] [The larger half of chap. i., Teaching, is found in the first half of this chapter; but the matter peculiar to each is of about the same extent.--R.]
[3353] Deut. vi. 5; Mark xii. 32
[3354] Lev. xix. 18
[3355] Tob. iv. 15.
[3356] Matt. v. 44.
[3357] Luke vi. 32; Matt. v. 46, 47.
[3358] Deut. xxiii. 7
[3359] 1 Pet. ii. 11
[3360] Matt. v. 39; Luke vi. 29
[3361] Ps. vii. 4.
[3362] Matt. v. 41.
[3363] Matt. v. 40; Luke vi. 29.
[3364] Luke vi. 30.
[3365] Matt. v. 42.
[3366] Ps. cxii. 5.
[3367] Matt. v. 45.
[3368] Prov. iii. 9
[3369] Gal. vi. 10
[3370] [Ex. xx. 13 Five brief precepts, of which this is the first, are common to Teaching, ii. 2, and the rest of this chapter.--R.]
[3371] Gen. ii. 24.
[3372] Lev. xviii. 22.
[3373] Gen. xix.
[3374] Deut. xxvii.
[3375] Deut. xxiii. 17.
[3376] Josh. vii.
[3377] 2 Kings v.
[3378] John xii. 6.
[3379] Matt. xxvii. 5; Acts i. 18.
[3380] Acts v.
[3381] [Seven brief clauses of Teaching, ii. 2, 3, are found in this chapter.--R.]
[3382] Ex. xxii. 18
[3383] Ex. xxi. 23., LXX.
[3384] Matt. v. 34.
[3385] Ps. lxiii. 11.
[3386] Prov. xiv. 31.
[3387] [Chap. iv. also contains seven clauses found in Teaching (ii. 3-6), while chap. v. has but five and a verbal resemblance; chap. ii. of the Teaching is, however, almost entirely given in these passages.--R.]
[3388] Prov. xii. 28., LXX.
[3389] Prov. vi. 2.
[3390] Ps. cxl. 11.
[3391] Matt. xii. 36; Lev. xix. 11.
[3392] Ps. v. 6.
[3393] Hab. ii. 9.
[3394] Matt. xxiv. 51
[3395] 1 Pet. v. 5
[3396] Deut. i. 17; Lev. xix. 17
[3397] Prov. ix. 8
[3398] Isa. liv. 14
[3399] Gen. iv
[3400] 1 Sam. xvii., xviii
[3401] 2 Sam. iii., xx
[3402] [Chaps. vi.-viii. contain passages parallel to nearly one-half of chap. iii., Teaching, and in the same order.--R.]
[3403] 1 Sam. xv. 23.
[3404] Num. xxiii. 23.
[3405] Lev. xix. 26, 31; Deut. xviii. 10, 11.
[3406] Matt. vi. 24.
[3407] Ps. cxxxi. 1.
[3408] Num. xii. 3; Ps. cxxxi. 1.
[3409] Matt. v. 5.
[3410] Prov. xiv. 29., LXX.
[3411] Matt. v. 7.
[3412] Isa. lxvi. 2.
[3413] Luke xviii. 14.
[3414] Luke xvi. 15.
[3415] Prov. xiii. 17., LXX.
[3416] The words from "for he that walketh" to "be known" are omitted in one V. ms.
[3417] Prov. xiii. 20.
[3418] Job xlii.; Luke xvi.
[3419] [Chaps. ix.-xvii. contain nearly every clause of Teaching, chap. iv., in the same order, and with every appearance of a designed enlargement of that passage.--R.]
[3420] Num. xvi
[3421] Ex. ii. 13
[3422] Deut. i. 17
[3423] 1 Kings xviii., xxi., xxii.; 2 Sam. xii.; Matt. xiv.
[3424] Matt. xiv. 31.
[3425] Ecclus. iv. 31.
[3426] Prov. xvi. 6; Dan. iv. 27.
[3427] Prov. xix. 17.
[3428] Prov. xxi. 13.
[3429] Prov. xix. 18.
[3430] Eph vi. 5.
[3431] Eph. vi. 7.
[3432] Prov. xxx. 6.
[3433] Isa. lviii. 7.
[3434] [For the remarkable agreement of this chapter with Teaching, chap. v., see the latter; comp. also Barnabas, xx.--R.]
[3435] [Chaps. xix.-xxi. have few parallels with the Teaching.--R.]
[3436] Deut. v. 32
Sec. II.--On the Formation of the Character of Believers, and on Giving of Thanks to God.
That We Ought Not to Despise Any of the Sorts of Food that are Set Before Us, But Gratefully and Orderly to Partake of Them.
XX. Now concerning the several sorts of food, the Lord says to thee, "Ye shall eat the good things of the earth;" [3437] and, "All sorts of flesh shall ye eat, as the green herb;" [3438] but, "Thou shalt pour out the blood." [3439] For "not those things that go into the mouth, but those that come out of it, defile a man;" [3440] I mean blasphemies, evil-speaking, and if there be any other thing of the like nature. [3441] But "do thou eat the fat of the land with righteousness." [3442] For "if there be anything pleasant, it is His; and if there be anything good, it is His. Wheat for the young men, and wine to cheer the maids." For "who shall eat or who shall drink without Him?" [3443] Wise Ezra [3444] does also admonish thee and say: "Go your way, and eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and be not sorrowful."
That We Ought to Avoid the Eating of Things Offered to Idols.
XXI. But do ye abstain from things offered to idols; [3446] for they offer them in honour of demons, that is, to the dishonour of the one God, that ye may not become partners with demons.
A Constitution of Our Lord, How We Ought to Baptize, and into Whose Death.
XXII. Now concerning baptism, [3447] O bishop, or presbyter, we have already given direction, and we now say, that thou shalt so baptize as the Lord commanded us, saying: "Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you):" [3448] of the Father who sent, of Christ who came, of the Comforter who testified. But thou shalt beforehand anoint the person with the holy oil, and afterward baptize him with the water, and in the conclusion shall seal him with the ointment; that the anointing with oil may be the participation of the Holy Spirit, and the water the symbol of the death of Christ, and the ointment the seal of the covenants. But if there be neither oil nor ointment, water is sufficient both for the anointing, and for the seal, and for the confession of Him that is dead, or indeed is dying together with Christ. But before baptism, let him that is to be baptized fast; for even the Lord, when He was first baptized by John, and abode in the wilderness, did afterward fast forty days and forty nights. [3449] But He was baptized, and then fasted, not having Himself any need of cleansing, or of fasting, or of purgation, who was by nature pure and holy; but that He might testify the truth to John, and afford an example to us. Wherefore our Lord was not baptized into His own passion, or death, or resurrection--for none of those things had then happened--but for another purpose. Wherefore He by His own authority fasted after His baptism, as being the Lord of John. But he who is to be initiated into His death ought first to fast, and then to be baptized. For it is not reasonable that he who has been buried with Christ, and is risen again with Him, should appear dejected at His very resurrection. For man is not lord of our Saviour's constitution, since one is the Master and the other the servant.
Which Days of the Week We are to Fast, and Which Not, and for What Reasons.
XXIII. But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites; [3450] for they fast on the second and fifth days of the week. But do you either fast the entire five days, or on the fourth day of the week, and on the day of the Preparation, because on the fourth day the condemnation went out against the Lord, Judas then promising to betray Him for money; and you must fast on the day of the Preparation, because on that day the Lord suffered the death of the cross under Pontius Pilate. But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord's day festival; because the former is the memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection. But there is one only Sabbath to be observed by you in the whole year, which is that of our Lord's burial, on which men ought to keep a fast, but not a festival. For inasmuch as the Creator was then under the earth, the sorrow for Him is more forcible than the joy for the creation; for the Creator is more honourable by nature and dignity than His own creatures.
What Sort of People Ought to Pray that Prayer that Was Given by the Lord.
XXIV. Now, "when ye pray, be not ye as the hypocrites;" [3451] but as the Lord has appointed us in the Gospel, so pray ye: "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; for Thine is the kingdom for ever. Amen." [3452] Pray thus thrice in a day, preparing yourselves beforehand, that ye may be worthy of the adoption of the Father; lest, when you call Him Father unworthily, you be reproached by Him, as Israel once His first-born son was told: "If I be a Father, where is my glory? And if I be a Lord, where is my fear?" [3453] For the glory of fathers is the holiness of their children, and the honour of masters is the fear of their servants, as the contrary is dishonour and confusion. For says He: "Through you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles."