[This is part of a running series on the Didache. See the introductory post for more information — RWB]

Phrasing/Translation

Οὐκ ἀρεῖς τὴν χεῖρα σου ἀπὸ τοῦ υἱοῦ σου ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς θυγατρός
Do not lift your hand against your son or against your daughter
   ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ νεότητος διδάξεις τὸν φόβον τοῦ θεοῦ.
   but from their youth teach them the fear of God.

οὐκ ἐπιτάξεις δούλῳ σου ἢ παιδίσκῃ,
Do not command your male or female slaves
   τοῖς ἐπὶ τὸν αὐτὸν θεὸν ἐλπίζουσιν,
   who are hoping in the same God,
   ἐν πικρίᾳ σου,
   in your bitterness,
   μήποτε οὐ μὴ φοβηθήσονται τὸν ἐπ’ ἀμφοτέροις θεόν·
   lest they cease to fear the God who is over you both.
   οὐ γὰρ ἔρχεται κατὰ πρόσωπον καλέσαι,
   For he does not call according to circumstance,
      ἀλλ’ ἐφ’ οὓς τὸ πνεῦμα ἡτοίμασεν.
      but [calls] those whom the Spirit has prepared.

ὑμεῖς δὲ οἱ δοῦλοι ὑποταγήσεσθε τοῖς κυρίοις ὑμῶν ὡς τύπῳ θεοῦ
And you who are slaves be subject to your masters as to a copy of God
   ἐν αἰσχύνῃ καὶ φόβῳ.
   in reverence and fear.

Μισήσεις πᾶσαν ὑπόκρισιν καὶ πᾶν ὃ μὴ ἀρεστὸν τῷ κυρίῳ.
Hate all hypocrisy and all that is not pleasing to the Lord.

οὐ μὴ ἐγκαταλίπῃς ἐντολὰς κυρίου,
Do not forsake commandments of the Lord,
   φυλάξεις δὲ ἃ παρέλαβες,
   but guard that which you have received,
      μήτε προστιθεὶς
      neither adding
      μήτε ἀφαιρῶν.
      nor taking away.

ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ ἐξομολογήσῃ τὰ παραπτώματά σου,
Confess your wrongdoings in the church,
   καὶ οὐ προσελεύσῃ ἐπὶ προσευχήν σου ἐν συνειδήσει πονηρᾷ·
   and do not enter into your prayer with an evil conscience.

αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ὁδὸς τῆς ζωῆς.
This is the way of life.

Notes

There are several groups within this overall section. The first has to do with interaction with others, it is broken into two groups. The first group is children. Christian parents are not to instill fear of themselves into children, they are to instill fear of God into children. A child might obey if punishment from a parent is feared. But this is not proper for the baptismal candidate. Instead, his children must fear God because in fearing God children will honor parents and glorify God.

A similar plea is made to the second group, slaves. Christians who have slaves that are believers must treat those slaves as brothers and sisters. For God is the one who places people into their respective situations. There is nothing prohibiting slaves from becoming believers, so if they are confessing brothers and sisters they must be recognized as such. This, however, is not a free pass for slaves. Slaves, likewise, have been placed in their circumstance by God so they should honor their masters and therefore honor God.

After the instruction on slaves and children comes a statement that helps in transitioning to a new section: "Hate all hypocrisy and all that is not pleasing to the Lord". This is transitionary because it applies to the previous section — parents who instill fear of parents into children, masters who mistreat slaves, and slaves who disonor masters, if they claim to be Christian, are hypocrites. Their actions do not align with their confession. Similarly, points that follow outline proper action and the baptismal candidate should not depart from them.

The following section, then, builds off of this with two primary points:

• keep the commandments
• confess transgressions

But these really boil down to the same thing: Obey, and confess when you don't obey. The emphasis is obedience. The hypocrite is the one who professes to obey but doesn't, and then doesn't confess his disobedience as wrong and seek forgiveness.

Each of these primary points is augmented a bit. Only the commandments received are to be adhered to; the baptismal candidate should be wary of the one who comes bringing new commandments to obey. Likewise, the commandments that are given are not to be subtracted from. If a teacher comes along professing that commandments do not apply, the baptismal candidate should be wary.

Regarding confession, it is interesting that wrongdoings (or transgressions) are to be confessed in the church. There is, it appears, some accountability and public confession going on. The baptismal candidate is to take responsibility for his wrongdoings and confess of them. He is also to not "enter into his prayer with an evil conscience". This is interesting as well. Is this directly related to his confession? Does this mean that as he confesses, he is not to do so with haste and disgust or even hatred at those keeping him accountable? Perhaps.

The whole section (from Did 1.2 through Did 4.13) ends with an inclusio, repeating the same text that started the section: "This is the way of life". This bounds the whole section, so we know that the Didachist's life-giving teaching ends here.

The next section will begin the flip side: the way of death.