Didascalia Apostolorum

tr. Connolly, 1929

VI. Concerning transgressors, and concerning those who repent

Judge therefore, O bishop, strictly¹ as God Almighty; and those who repent receive with mercy as God Almighty. And rebuke and exhort and teach; for the Lord God also with an oath promised forgiveness to them that have sinned, as He said in Ezekiel: And thou, son of man, say to the house of Israel: Ye have said thus: Our crimes and our sins are upon us, and in them we are wasted away: how then can we live? Say unto them: As I live, saith the Lord Adonai, I desire not the death of the sinner, but that the wicked return from his evil way and live. Return, therefore, and be converted from your evil ways, and ye shall not die, O house of Israel.² Here, then, He gave hope to them that sin, when they shall have repented, that they may have salvation by their repentance, and may not despair of themselves and continue³ in their sins and further add to them,⁴ but may repent and sigh and weep for their sins, and be converted with all their heart.

But let them that have not sinned continue without sin, lest they also come to have need of weeping and sighs and sorrow, and of forgiveness. For whence knowest thou, O man that sinnest, how many are the days of thy life in this world, that thou mayest repent? For thou knowest not thy exit from the world, whether haply thou die in thy sins and there be no more repentance for thee; as it is said in David: In Sheol who shall confess to thee?⁵ Wherefore he remains without danger, whosoever spares his soul and remains without sin: so that the righteousness also which was done by him in time past may be preserved to him.

Do thou therefore, O bishop, thus judge: first of all strictly; and afterwards receive (the sinner) with mercy and compassion, when he promises to repent. And rebuke and afflict⁶ him, and (afterwards) be entreated of him, because of the word which is spoken in David thus: Deliver not up the soul that confesseth to thee.⁷ And in Jeremiah again He speaks thus concerning the repentance of them that sin: Shall he that is fallen not rise up? or he that is turned away not return? Wherefore are my people turned away with a shameless perversion, and are held fast in their own devices, and have refused to repent and to return?⁸ For this cause, then, receive him that repents without hesitating ever so little; and be not hindered by those who are without mercy, who say: ‘It is not fitting that we should be defiled with these.’ For the Lord God has said: The fathers shall not die for the sons, nor the sons for the fathers.⁹ And again in Ezekiel He speaketh thus: And the word of the Lord came unto me saying: Son of man,¹⁰ if a land sin against me, and do iniquity before me, I will stretch forth my hand against her, and will destroy out of her the staff of bread, and will send a famine upon her, and will destroy out of her men and beasts. But if there be in her these three men, Noah and Daniel and Job, they by their righteousness shall deliver their souls, saith the Lord Adonai.¹¹ The Scripture, then, has shown clearly that if there be found a righteous man with an ungodly, he shall not perish with him, but every man shall be saved by his righteousness: and if he is hindered, it is by his own sins that he is hindered. And again in Wisdom He saith: Every man is tied with the cord of his sins.¹² Each one therefore of the laity is to render an account of his own sins; and a man is not hurt by reason of the sins of others. For neither did Judas harm us at all when he was praying with us, but he alone perished. And in the ark,¹³ Noah and his two sons who were saved alive, they were blessed; but Ham, his other son, was not blessed, but¹⁴ his seed was cursed; and the animals that went in, animals¹⁵ they came forth.

It behoves you not therefore to hearken to those who desire (to put to) death, and hate their brethren and love accusations, and are ready to slay on any pretext: ⟨for one shall not die for another⟩. But do you help them that are sore sick and exposed to danger and are sinning, that you may deliver them from death; and (do) not according to the hardness of heart and the word and thought of men, ⟨but according to the will and command of the Lord our God⟩. For it behoves thee not, O bishop, that being the head thou shouldst obey the tail, that is a layman, a contentious man who desires the destruction of another; but do thou regard only the word of the Lord God. And concerning this, that (men) are not to suppose that they perish or are defiled by the sins of others, He again cut off their evil thought, and by Ezekiel also the Lord our God spoke thus: ¹ And the word¹⁶ of the Lord came unto me, saying:¹⁷ ² Son of man, why use ye this proverb in the land of Israel, and say: The fathers do eat sour grapes, and their sons’ teeth are on edge? ³ As I live, saith the Lord Adonai, there shall no more be any that useth this proverb in Israel. ⁴ For all the souls are mine: as the soul of the father is mine, so also the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sinneth, the same shall die. ⁵ And a man, if he be righteous, and do judgement and righteousness, ⁶ and eat not upon the mountains, and lift not up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel. and defile not the wife of his neighbour, and come not near to a woman in her menstruation, ⁷ and treat no man with violence, and restore the pledge of his debtor which he hath taken,¹⁸ and clothe the naked with a garment, ⁸ and give not out his money on usury, and receive not (back) with overcharge, and turn away his hand from iniquity, and judge right judgement betwixt a man and his neighbour, ⁹ and walk in my laws, and keep my judgements and do them: this man is righteous, he shall surely live, saith the Lord Adonai. ¹⁰ And if he beget an evil son, that sheddeth blood and doeth iniquity, ¹¹ and walketh not in the way of his righteous father, and eateth upon the mountains, and defileth his neighbour’s wife, ¹² and evil entreateth the poor and needy, and committeth robbery, and restoreth not the pledge which he hath taken, and lifteth up his eyes to idols, and doeth iniquity, ¹³ and giveth out his money on usury, and receiveth (back) with overcharge: this man shall not live: because he hath done all this iniquity, he shall surely die, and his blood shall be upon him. ¹⁴ But if he beget a son, and he see those sins which his father did, and fear and do not the like of them, ¹⁵ and eat not upon the mountains, and lift not up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and defile not his neighbour’s wife, ¹⁶ and evil entreat no man, and take not a pledge, and commit not robbery, and give his bread to the hungry, and clothe the naked with a garment, ¹⁷ and turn away his hand from iniquity, and receive not usury and overcharge, and do righteousness and walk in my laws: this man shall not die for the iniquity of his father, but he shall surely live. ¹⁸ But his father, because he indeed committed oppression and robbery, and did not good to my people, shall die for his iniquity. ¹⁹ And ye say: Wherefore is not the son requited for the iniquity of his father? Because the son did righteousness and mercy, and kept all my commandments and did them, he shall surely live: ²⁰ the soul that sinneth, the same shall die. A son shall not be requited for the sins of his father; and a father shall not be requited for the sins of his son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him; and the iniquity of the ungodly shall be upon him. ²¹ And if the ungodly shall turn away from all his iniquity which he did, and keep all my commandments, and do judgement and righteousness, he shall surely live and not die; ²² and all the iniquity which he did shall not be remembered unto him: for the righteousness which he did, for the same he shall live. ²³ For I desire not the death of the sinner, saith the Lord Adonai: but every one that shall turn from his evil way shall live. ²⁴ And if the righteous turn away from his righteousness, and do iniquity according to all the iniquity which the ungodly did: all his righteousness which he did shall not be remembered unto him, but for the iniquity which he did, and for the sins which he sinned, for the same he shall die. ²⁵ And they have said: The way of the Lord is not well. Hear ye, house of Israel: my way is well, but your own ways are not well. ²⁶ And if the righteous shall turn away from his righteousness and do iniquity: for the iniquity which he hath done he shall die. ²⁷ And if the ungodly shall turn away from his iniquity which he did, and shall do judgement and righteousness: this man hath delivered his soul. ²⁸ Because he turned away from all the iniquity which he did, he shall surely live and not die. ²⁹ And the house of Israel say: The way of the Lord is not well. My way is well, O house of Israel, but your own ways are not well. ³⁰ Therefore will I judge every man of you according to his ways, saith the Lord Adonai. Return and be converted from all your iniquity and your wickedness, lest these things be unto you for an evil torment. ³¹ And cast away and put from you all the wickedness which ye have done, and make to yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, and ye shall not die, O house of Israel: ³² for I desire not the death of the sinner, saith the Lord Adonai: but do ye return and live.

You see, beloved and dear children, how abundant¹⁹ are the mercies of the Lord our God and His goodness and loving-kindness towards us, and (how) He exhorts them that have sinned to repent. And in many places He speaks of these things; and He gives no place to the thought of those who are hard of heart and wish to judge strictly and without mercy, and to cast away altogether them that have sinned as though there were no repentance for them. But God (is) not so, but even sinners He calls to repentance and gives them hope; and those who have not sinned He teaches, and tells them that they should not suppose that we bear or partake in the sins of others. Simply, then, receive them that repent, rejoicing. For He spoke again in the same prophet concerning repentance thus: ¹² And thou, son of man, say to the sons of thy people: The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day that he doeth wickedly; and the iniquity of the ungodly shall not hurt him in the day that he returneth from his iniquity: and the righteous cannot live in the day that he sinneth.²⁰ ¹³ And when I shall say to the righteous that he shall surely live, and he rely upon his righteousness and do iniquity: all his righteousness shall not be remembered unto him, but for the iniquity which he hath done, for the same he shall die. ¹⁴ And when I shall say to the ungodly: Thou shalt surely die; and he turn from his sin and do judgement and righteousness, ¹⁵ and return the pledge which he hath taken, and restore that which he hath robbed, and walk in the judgements and commandments of life so that he do no iniquity: he shall surely live and not die, ¹⁶ and all his sins which he sinned shall not be remembered unto him: he hath done judgement and righteousness, he shall surely live. ¹⁷ And the sons of thy people say: The way of the Lord Adonai is not well. Say unto them: It is your own ways are not well: ¹⁸ for if the righteous shall turn away from his righteousness and do iniquity, he shall surely die for his iniquity; ¹⁹ and if the ungodly shall turn away from his iniquity and do judgement and righteousness, for the same he shall live.

It behoves you then, O bishops, to judge according to the Scriptures those who sin, with gentleness and with mercy. For if, when a man is walking by the brink of a river and is ready to slip, thou by suffering him (to slip) hast thrust (and) cast him into the river, thou hast also committed murder.²¹ But if a man were to slip on the brink of a river and be near to perish, thou wouldst quickly reach out a hand to him and draw him out, lest he perish altogether. So do therefore (with the sinner); that both thy people may learn and understand, and he also that sins may not utterly perish.

But when thou hast seen one who has sinned, be stern with him, and command that they put him forth; and when he is gone forth let them be stern with him, and take him to task,²² and keep him without the Church; and then let them come in and plead for him. For our Saviour Himself also was pleading with His Father for sinners, as it is written in the Gospel: My Father, they know not²³ what they do, neither what they speak: but if it be possible, do Thou forgive them.²⁴ And then do thou, O bishop, command him to come in, and examine him whether he be repentant. And if he is worthy to be received into the Church, appoint him days of fasting according to his offence, two or three weeks, or five, or seven; and so dismiss him that he may depart, saying to him whatever is right for admonition and instruction; and rebuke him, and say to him that he be by himself in humiliation, and that he beg and beseech during the days of his fast that he may be found worthy of the forgiveness of sins: as it is written in Genesis: Hast thou sinned?²⁵ be silent: thy repentance shall be with thee, and thou shalt have power over it.²⁶ To Mary the sister of Moses also, when she had spoken against Moses, and afterwards repented and was held worthy of forgiveness, it was said of the Lord: If her father had but spit in her face, it were right for her to be ashamed, and to be separate seven days without the camp, and then to come in.²⁷ So it behoves you also to do: to put forth from the Church those who promise to repent of their sins (for a space) proportionate to their offences: and afterwards do you receive them as merciful fathers.

But if the bishop be in himself a (cause of) offence, how can he stand up and make inquisition of any man’s misdeeds, or rebuke him and give sentence upon him²⁸? For by reason of partiality, or of the presents which they receive— either he or the deacons, whose conscience is not pure—they (the deacons) cannot exert themselves to help the bishop; for they are afraid lest they should hear (from the sinner), as from an insolent man, that word which is written in the Gospel: Why seest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, and perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam from thine eye; and then shalt thou perceive to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.²⁹ The reason,³⁰ then, that the bishop, with his deacons, is afraid, (is) lest they should hear from the sinner, as from an insolent man, that word of the Lord. For he knows not that it is a perilous thing for a man to speak against the bishop, and that he (the bishop) may be made an offence throughout the whole of that district. For one who has been sinning lacks understanding, and no more spares his soul.³¹ Hence, for whatever cause it be that the bishop is afraid, he feigns not to have knowledge of him who sins, and passes him over and rebukes and corrects him not. And hence Satan, when he has found him an occasion by means of one, gets power over others also—which God forbid that it should come about—and so it happens that the flock becomes such that it can no longer be set right. For when there are found many that sin, evil waxes strong; and whereas they that sin are not corrected and reproved that they should repent, this becomes to all an inducement to sin: and that which is said is fulfilled: My house is called a house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.³² But if the bishop keeps not silent from them that sin, but rebukes and reproves and corrects and admonishes and afflicts him that sins, he casts dread and fear upon others also. For it behoves the bishop to be by his doctrine a restrainer of sins and an example and encourager of righteousness, and by the admonition of his teaching a director of good works, and one who lauds and magnifies the good things which are to come and are promised by God in the place of life everlasting: a proclaimer also of the wrath to come in the judgement of God, with threatening of the grievous fire which is unquenchable and intolerable. And let him know the meaning³³ of God’s will, that he despise no man; because our Saviour has said: See that ye despise not any³⁴ of these little ones that believe in me.³⁵³⁶

Let the bishop therefore be careful of all, both of them that have not sinned, that they may continue as they are without sin, and of them that have sinned, that they may repent, and that he may grant them forgiveness of sins, as it is written in Isaiah that the Lord saith: Loose every bond of iniquity, and sever all bands of violence and extortion.³⁷

Notes

strictly] Or ‘with decision’: μετὰ ἐξουσίας AC (and ἀπ᾽ εξουσίας at p. 42, l. 25).
Ez. xxxiii 10 f.
Cf. Hermas Mand. xii 6-2.
and may not despair . . . add to them] μή ποτε ὡς ἀπηλγηκύτες ἑαυτοὺς ἐκδῶσιν ταῖς παρανομίαις AC, which however can hardly be the whole of the Gk. lying behind Syr. With the latter comp. Hermas Mand. xii 6. 2 οἱ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπεγνωκότες τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῶν καὶ προστιθέντες ἁμαρτίαις. For ‘add to sins’ see further Mand. iv 3. 7, Sim. vi 1. 4, viii 11. 3.
Ps. vi 6.
afflict] στύφων AC. Elsewhere the verb renders ὑποπιέζειν, cf. p. 54, l. 19: here it is explained in the margin of S by another verb which means ‘to pound’.
Ps. lxxiii (lxxiv) 19.
Jer. viii 4 f.
Deut. xxiv 16.
Syr. in this quotation is much influenced by Pesh.: AC again differs notably from LXX.
Ez. xiv 12-14.
Prov. v 22.
And in the ark, etc.] καὶ ἐν τῇ κιβωτῷ Νῶε καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ὑπῆρχον, ἀλλὰ πονηρὸς ὁ Χὰμ εὑρεθεὶς μόνος εἷς τῶν υἱῶν ἐδέξατο τιμωρίαν AC. The author of AC has removed the apparent suggestion that only two of Noah’s sons were ‘saved’ (from the flood), and has introduced some other modifications. Lat. omits ‘other’ before ‘son’. Cf. Irenaeus Apost. Preaching c. 20 (ed. J. A. Robinson): he quotes ‘Cursed be Ham the child; a servant shall he be unto his brethren’, following the reading of some LXX codd. ἐπικατάρατος Χάμ· παῖς οἰκέτης ἔσται κτλ. (see Dr. Robinson’s note). The author of Didasc. may similarly have written ὁ δὲ Χὰμ παῖς.
Cf. Gen. ix 25.
animals 2°] om. Lat. (AC has not the clause). The word, even if added in Syr., appears to bring out the sense intended.
And the word, etc.] The text in Syr. is considerably influenced by Pesh., but the original Gk. also differed in many points from LXX, as appears from readings in the verses preserved by AC.
Ez. xviii 1-32.
which he hath taken] From Pesh. (and again in v. 12): after this a couple of clauses are wanting.
Cf. Hermas Sim. viii 6. 1, 5.
Ez. xxxiii 12-19.
For if . . . committed murder] I am not sure that my rendering of this difficult passage is correct. AC reads (I bracket out some evident interpolations) ἐὰν γὰρ τὸν παρὰ ποταμὸν βαδίζοντα καὶ μέλλοντα ὀλισθαίνειν κεραίαις ὦσας εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐμβάλῃς [ἀντὶ τοῦ χεῖρα μᾶλλον ὀρέξαι], ἐφόνευσάς [σου τὸν ἀδελφόν]. But here the words ‘by suffering him’, which seem important to the sense, do not appear. Perhaps there has been some confusion between ὤσας and ἐάσας: Syr. appears to represent both verbs.
take him to task] lit. ‘judge with him’, an expression which has the meaning to argue or wrangle with: ἐπιζητοῦντες AC.
My Father, they know not, etc.] CH: ‘My brethren know not’ (or, ‘My brethren, they know not’) BS. This strange quotation occurs again at p. 212, where Lat. is extant, and where BS read, with Lat., ‘My Father’ (CH are there wanting). In the present passage AC alters into agreement with Lk. xxiii 34, in the later place it omits. The text is not noticed by Resch or Ropes, yet the question whether it is not from some uncanonical source seems to deserve consideration.
? (Cf. Lk. xxiii 34, Mt. xxvi 39, 1 Tim. i 7).
Hast thou sinned? etc.] ἥμαρτες; ἡσύχασον· πρὸς σὲ ἡ ἀποστροφὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ σὺ ἄρξεις αὐτοῦ LXX. If Syr. has rendered correctly, the author must have written ἡ ἀποστροφή σου, and this the context appears to imply. AC keeps only the first two words, evidently finding a difficulty in the rest.
Gen. iv 7.
Nu. xii 14.
give sentence upon him] This appears to be the meaning of ܘܢܦܩܘܕܼ ܒܐܝ̈ܕܘܗܝ, though I cannot find any other example of the expression.
Mt. vii 3, 5, Lk. vi 41 f.
The reason, etc.] lit. ‘because, then, the bishop . . . is afraid, (it is) lest’, etc. (HS). I take the construction to be one of the type in Nöldeke Gram. § 358 B, and I am not inclined with Flemming to emend into agreement with AC (εὐλαβείσθω οὖν . . . ἀκοῦσαι): it is the author’s complaint that the bishop and deacons are afraid.
spares his soul] Cf. p. 42, l. 23.
Mt. xxi 13, Lk. xix 46.
meaning] lit. ‘working’ or ‘effect’. Flemming takes the expression to mean the working of God’s good pleasure, and so ‘the course of action that is pleasing to God’.
any] lit. ‘anyone’, after which is added ‘one’ (the numeral), prob. as a gloss.
Mt. xviii 10 (cf. v. 6).
that believe in me] om. AC. The addition (from Mt. xviii 6) is found here in syr. cur. and Aphraates, but not in syr. sin. or syr. vulg. (see Burkitt in loc.).
Isa. lviii 6.