PJ Williams at the Evangelical Textual Criticism blog was the first to note it; word came to him via Michael Holmes.

Bruce M. Metzger has passed.

Textual criticism is a strange field. It takes years—decades, even—to be comfortable with the variety of languages, witnesses, manuscripts, not to mention the paleography. Metzger had decades of information filed away in his head, along with recall of resources. It seems textual criticism is one field where the elder statesmen who retain critical faculties along the way become more valuable to the field, not less valuable.

He will be impossible to replace and sorely missed.

I couldn't locate a formal bibliography of his works (well, at least not quickly). Here, however, is his author page on LibraryThing. Take a look. The list is only books, so articles, monographs, fetschriften essays, conference papers and whatnot are not included, but the ground he covered is amazing.

Note Michael Pahl's thoughts about Richard Bauckham's Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (amazon.com), where he breaks his discussion into "things I like" and "areas that failed to convince".

Some of the areas that failed to convince Michael also failed to convince me — notably the "inclusio of eyewitness testimony". As regards Mark, if his main source is Peter, what is the likelihood that the first and last testimony he uses are Peter's? Er ... uh ... probably the most likely of the options. It is interesting, and Bauckham provokes thought here, but it just doesn't hit me.

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

Phrasing/Translation

¹ Πᾶς δὲ ὁ ἐρχόμενος ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου δεχθήτω·
But everyone coming in the name of the Lord let be received:
   ἔπειτα δὲ δοκιμάσαντες αὐτὸν γνώσεσθε,
   When you have examined him, you will know him,
      σύνεσιν γὰρ ἕξετε δεξιὰν καὶ ἀριστεράν.
      for you will be able to distinguish [whether he is] true or false.

² εἰ μὲν παρόδιός ἐστιν ὁ ἐρχόμενος,
If the one coming is a traveler,
   βοηθεῖτε αὐτῷ, ὅσον δύνασθε·
   help him, as far as you are able.
   οὐ μενεῖ δὲ πρὸς ὑμᾶς εἰ μὴ δύο ἢ τρεῖς ἡμέρας,
   but he shall not remain among you more than two or three days,
      ἐὰν ᾖ ἀνάγκη.
      if there is need.

³ εἰ δὲ θέλει πρὸς ὑμᾶς καθῆσθαι,
If he desires to stay with you,
   τεχνίτης ὤν,
   being an artisan,
   ἐργαζέσθω καὶ φαγέτω.
   let him work and eat.

⁴ εἰ δὲ οὐκ ἔχει τέχνην,
But if he has no craft,
   κατὰ τὴν σύνεσιν ὑμῶν προνοήσατε,
   take this into consideration according to your understanding,
   πῶς μὴ ἀργὸς μεθ ̓ ὑμῶν ζήσεται Χριστιανός.
   that nobody who is idle shall live among you as a Christian.

⁵ εἰ δ ̓οὐ θέλει οὕτω ποιεῖν,
If he will not do this,
   χριστέμπορός ἐστι·
   he is trading on Christ:
      προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων.
      stay away from such as these.

Notes

This is a logical follow-up to Didache 11, which dealt with discerning true teachers from false teachers. This is a further corollary, it seems. Those who come to the fellowship are to be received. If they're just Christians passing through, that's fine. They can hang out for two, maybe three days at the maximum. But if they want to stay with the fellowship, they must have something to contribute.

My sense (as I'm writing this, I haven't thought about it more than when I translated it a few days ago) is that the bit in verse 1 about "examining" is referring to the previous section, Didache 11. In other words, the Didachist is saying, "When you check out this new person -- you know, like I just showed you -- you'll know if they are fellow believers, or if they're not."

If it is a fellow believer who is just passing through, then the fellowship is to help meet the traveler's need as they are able. If the "traveler" wants to make an extended stay, this is a clue that they could be a freeloader whose only interest in Christ is room and board. In that case, the traveler must be put to the test: Is he willing to work for his keep? If he is, then he is to be welcomed. If he is unable, he must be reminded that freeloading isn't an option and they must come to some equitable arrangement.

If the traveler wants to stay, but will not work, he is to be removed from the fellowship and sent along his way.

The word I translated "trading on Christ" could literally be translated "Christmonger". The idea is that this person is using the name of Christ for his own needs. He is no Christian, he only acknowledges the teachings for his own ill-gotten gain. These, says the Didachist, are to be avoided.

Preach it.

It's advice like this that is so practical and sensible that endears me to the Didache.

Next up: Didache 13.

Chris Brady (Targuman) notes an article in Christianity Today regarding a C.S. Lewis story called The Dark Tower (amazon.com). The authorship of this story has been disputed, but the CT article has the skinny on whether or not the work is authentic Lewis.

Why mention it? Because stylometric analysis plays a role in the story -- but perhaps not the role you think.

I discuss this in more detail over on PastoralEpistles.com. Do check it out!

A lot of little miscellaneous things to note:

First, check out Biblical Studies Carnival XIV at Chris Weimer's blog, Thoughts on Antiquity. Go ahead, do it now. He even links to a few different articles here at ricoblog.

Second, over at Hypotyposeis, Andrew Criddle blogs on the last two chapters of Diognetus. The Epistle to Diognetus is a neat (and late) addition to the corpus known as the Apostolic Fathers. Check it out. I've blogged on Diognetus before; you can get more info here and an index to the first 10 posts in the series in the middle of this post.  If you're generally interested in the Apostolic Fathers, and specifically interested in Polycarp and the Epistle to Diognetus, they you might want to look at a post where I blog about Charles Hill's book, From the Lost Teaching of Polycarp.

Third, Chris Tilling (Chrisendom) posts a short (500 word) review of Larry Hurtado's How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? (amazon.com) Do check it out.

Update (2007-02-04): I forgot to point to Michael Bird's post on finding time to write. The lesson: you won't do it if you don't make the time for it. So if it is important, make the time for it. 

At the recent ETS meeting in Washington DC, I availed myself of the opportunity to purchase cheap books. One book I purchased was an ESV Bible, as a Christmas present for my sweet wife Amy.

In sifting through the myriad of possible formats and covers, I made a mistake. I got the right Bible, with the right layout, and the right cover, but I neglected to ensure that the text had the words of Christ in red.

I only realized this after Christmas, after my lovely wife opened the package and kindly asked, "Hey, why aren't the words of Christ in red?"

Thankfully the great folks at Good News/Crossway took the exchange no problemo. Today we received the replacement from them. They were a pleasure to work with. Thanks for your excellent and understanding staff!

Actually, it's probably been at the office a few days; I've been on a two-week holiday and just got back to the office this afternoon.

I don't know that I'll dig into Caragounis' tome right away; this one seems more like a slow simmer of a read than a blitz and I have some blitzin' to do for a few papers.

Here's the blurb, though:

Languages inevitably evolve, and our understanding of texts from particular times and places must be illuminated by an awareness of changes and continuities in linguistic usage over time. The Development of Greek and the New Testament explores the relationship between the developing Greek language and the body of writings in Greek that make up the New Testament, arguing that the history of Greek is vitally important to New Testament interpretation. Caragounis provides a wealth of historical information not otherwise readily available to students of New Testament Greek. Extensive tables, indices, and bibliographies aid further study. An essential resource for advanced students of New Testament Greek, this unique work is highly valuable for all Hellenists, Byzantinists, and students of Greek patristics.