The Genre and Development of the Didache: A Text-Linguistic Analysis

Description

The Didache or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles is recognized today by virtually all scholars as a Christian text of the first or early second century. Contemporary with the nascent New Testament, it is especially important to a reconstruction of that period because its highly utilitarian nature provides not only a supplement but a complement to the canonical texts. The recovery of information from the Didache is hindered, however, by the elliptical nature of the text; apparently a certain background knowledge on the part of the ancient reader was assumed, knowledge lost, unfortunately, to the modern audience. Even the important question of its genre remains unresolved. After examining the surface structure of the Didache using text-linguistic methodology, Nancy Pardee proposes a generic identity for the Didache, a reconstruction of its composition history, and some conclusions as to what these mean for our understanding of the early church. Preface ..............................................................................................................V List of Abbreviations...................................................................................... Introduction .......................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: The Didache and the Question of Genre .........................................5 1.1 Introduction.............................................................................................5 1.2 Status Quaestionis...................................................................................8 1.3 The Didache as Church Order – Early Research .................................31 1.3.1 Origin of the Term Church Order and its Application to the Didache.........................................................................................31 1.3.2 Discussion of Genre Prior to the Discovery of the Jerusalem Manuscript ....................................................................................32 1.3.3 Initial Research on the Didache of H54........................................37 1.3.4 Research at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century...........................43 1.3.5 The Doctrina Apostolorum and the Two Ways ............................46 1.3.6 The Didache and the Dead Sea Scrolls.........................................49 1.3.7 The Genre of the Two Ways .........................................................50 1.4 Studies on Composition, Communication, and Genre..........................52 Chapter 2: A Text-Linguistic Analysis of the Didache...................................65 2.1 Text-Linguistic Methodology ...............................................................65 2.1.1 Introduction...................................................................................65 2.1.2 Text Linguistics and Early Christian Literature............................68 2.1.3 Delimitating a Text .......................................................................69 2.2 The Text of the Didache .......................................................................74 2.3 Structurally Delimiting the Didache of H54.........................................80 2.3.1 Introduction...................................................................................80 2.3.2 Text-Linguistic Abbreviations ......................................................83 2.3.3 Presentation of Delimitation .........................................................84 2.3.4 Structural Overview Based on the Text-Linguistic Analysis........96 2.3.5 Communication Levels .................................................................97 2.3.6 Dramatis Personae .......................................................................99 2.4 The Delimitation of the Didache: Analysis in Detail .........................101 2.4.1 Text-Levels 00ST/0ST – The Titles of the Didache...................101 2.4.1.1 The Titles of the Didache and Their Implications for Genre..............................................................................105 2.4.1.2 Text-External Functional Aspects of the Incipit .................123 2.4.2 Text-Level 1................................................................................125 2.4.3 Text-Level 2................................................................................133 2.4.4 Text-Level 3................................................................................138 2.4.5 Text-Level 4................................................................................139 Chapter 3: The Generic Development and Compositional History of the Didache........................................................................................141 3.1 The Genre Didache.............................................................................141 3.2 The Structure of the Didache..............................................................155 3.2.1 Text Level 1 ................................................................................155 3.2.2 Text Level 2 ................................................................................156 3.2.3 Text Level 3 ................................................................................160 3.2.4 The Two Ways Section ...............................................................162 3.3 A Reconstruction of the Development of the Didache.......................184 3.3.1 Stage 1.........................................................................................184 3.3.2 Stage 2.........................................................................................184 3.3.3 Stage 3.........................................................................................185 3.3.4 Stage 4.........................................................................................186 3.4 The Further Development of the Genre Didache ...............................186 Chapter 4: Summary and Conclusion............................................................189 Bibliography of Works Cited ........................................................................193 Reference Index.............................................................................................211 Modern Author Index ....................................................................................225 Subject Index .................................................................................................230