Geoff Hudson

11:12 But whoever shall say in the spirit, Give me money, or things of that kind, listen not to him; but if he tell you concerning others that are in need that ye should give unto them, let no one judge him.
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Interestingly, here "speaking in the spirit" is speaking in plain language that others could make judgements about, i.e. no interpreter was required. This certainly seems to confirm my suspicions that "tongues" were a later development.

Geoff

Geoff Hudson

15:4 But your prayers and your almsgivings and all your deeds so do, as ye have commandment in the [Gospel of our Lord] {the Spirit}.

Geoff Hudson

Here it is again!

15:3 Rebuke one another, not in wrath but peaceably, as ye have commandment IN the [Gospel] {Spirit};

Geoff

Geoff Hudson

11:8 But not every one who speaketh IN THE SPIRIT is a prophet, but he is so who hath the [disposition] {Spirit} of [the Lord] {God}; by their [dispositions] {spirits} they therefore shall be known, the false prophet and the prophet.
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"Dispositions" indeed!

I am reminded of Matthew 7:16 which also refers to false prophets:
"By their [fruit] {spirit} you will recognise them".

Geoff Hudson

We even have the two spirits as in the DSS:

1:1 There are two [paths] {spirits}, one of [life] {truth} and one of [death] {deceit}, and the difference is great between the two [paths}{spirits}.
1:2 Now the {command of the} [path] {spirit} of [life] {truth} is this -- first, thou shalt [love] {obey} the {Spirit of} God who made thee{.}

Clearly, in parts, the extant Didache is based on older more primitive ideas or documents.

Geoff

Ted Hoffman

Very interesting.

Geoff Hudson

[ ] = read out, { } = read in

4:1 [My] {thou} [child] {spirit}, thou shalt remember both night and day [him] {the Spirit of God} that speaketh unto thee{.}
[ the Word of God];

thou shalt honour [him] {the Spirit} as thou dost [the Lord] {God}, for where the [teaching] {Spirit} of [the Lord] {God} is [given] , there is [the Lord] {God};

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I think there is a verse something like this in the NT.

Geoff

Geoff Hudson

I have found it in 2 Cor. 3:

(17NOW [the Lord] {GOD} IS THE SPIRIT, AND WHERE THE SPIRIT OF [the Lord] {GOD} IS, THERE IS [freedom] {GOD}.

(18)And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the [Lord's] {Spirit’s} glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from [the Lord] {GOD}, WHO IS THE SPIRIT.

Geoff

Geoff Hudson

2:1 But the second commandment of the [teaching] {Spirit} is this.

2:4 thou shalt not be [double-minded or] double[-tongued] {-spirited}, for to be double [-tongued] {-spirited} is the snare of [death] {judgement}.
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In the Didache, double-minded is explicitly equated with double-tongued. From the term double-minded it is relatively easy to make the leap to double-spirited. So could double-tongued also mean double-spirited? In the Epistle of James, there are references to the terms “double-minded” and “the tongue”.

Jam.1:8 – “he is a double[-minded] {-spirited} man, [unstable] {IMPURE} in all he does”. (I can only think that here James has a specific person in mind when he refers to “he”.)

Jam.4:8 - PURIFY your [hearts] {spirits} {in the Spirit} you double [-minded]
{-spirited}.

So, in the Epistle of James, if double-minded also means double-tongued or double-spirited, then the “tongue”, “a small member” must also a spirit. I would suggest that the “tongue” is not the obviously “small part of the body”, but is the spirit of deceit which should only be a minor spirit in a persons spirit (Jam.3:5).

Jam.3:6 - “The [tongue] {spirit of deceit} is a fire, a [world] {plague} of [evil] {impurity} among the [parts] {spirits} of the body. It [corrupts] {pollutes} the whole [person] {spirit}”.

In contemporary Jewish thought, “a double–minded”, or “double-tongued” or double-spirited person has too much spirit of deceit compared to the spirit of truth. This is borne out in the DSS where the measure of each of these spirits which a person has, is dictated by God – it appears that people are not born equal.

1QS3 (Martinez):
“He created man to rule (18) the world, and placed within him two spirits so that he would walk with them until the moment of his visitation: they are the spirits (19) of TRUTH AND OF DECEIT.”

“1QS (Vermes)
(15) “The nature of all the children of men is ruled by these (two spirits), and during their life, all the hosts of men have a portion of their divisions and walk (in both) their ways. And the whole reward for their deeds shall be, for everlasting ages, according to whether each man’s portion in their two divisions is great or small. For God has established the spirits in equal measure until the final age, and has set everlasting hatred between their divisions.”

Interestingly, in 1QS3.18, God puts spirits into bodies. So were the spirits pre-existent?

Geoff

Geoff Hudson

Here is an ineresting little snippet.

9:5 And let none eat or drink of your Eucharist [but] such as have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for of a truth the [Lord] {Spirit} hath said concerning this, Give not that which is holy unto [dogs] {the impure}.

Simply delete the word "but" in this verse, and the "dogs" or the impure become those who have been baptised in the name of the Lord. They were not entitled to receive the pure bread of the communion, because they had not been purified by the Spirit. There is an implied reference to this in the NT (1Cor.1:13 - Were you baptized into the name of [Paul] {the Lord}?). The better example is in Acts 8:16 - "the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord."

The Didache originally expressed something that I have thought for a long time - those who proclaimed the Spirit (such as John the prophet and James) rejected the idea that baptism in the name of the Lord made a person pure. John the prophet was not a baptist. Baptism was the practice of an opposition Jewish mission led by Sadducees.

Geoff