Didascalia Apostolorum: A Syriac text

A treatise claiming to have been written by the Apostles at the time of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15), but is really a composition of the third century. It was first published in 1854, in Syriac. The original was in Greek, and this can be to some extent restored by a comparison with the Apostolic Constitutions. 

The contents are the same as those of the corresponding books of the Apostolic Constitutions. Especially noticeable is the treatment which bishops are ordered to give to penitents. The church officials are bishops, deacons, priests, widows (and orphans); deaconesses are also added, in one place rectors, and once subdeacons. These last may have been interpolated.

The place of composition was Syria, though what part cannot be determined. The author was apparently a canonical bishop. It never touches upon dogma but concerns itself entirely with practice. It has been called the earliest attempt at a corpus of canon law. - from the Catholic Encyclopedia Online  (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04781b.htm)

According to Dr. Charlotte Fonrobert (Stanford University), the Syriac translation reveals a Jewish character and a diversity of Jewish heterodox practices consistent with the rabbinic tradition. Fonrobert suggests that "the Didascalia can be read as a counter-Mishnah for the disciples of Jesus."

In addition, the text supports the theory that even in the fourth century, rabbinic Judaism was still in the process of establishing itself as the representative form of Judaism. Simultaneously, the process of the separation between Judaism and Christianity still remained in flux. ("The Didascalia Apostolorum: A Mishnah for the Disciples of Jesus". Journal of Early Christian Studies, Volume 9, Number 4, Winter 2001, pp. 483-509).

A Syriac version in Serto (from a German/Latin edition) can be downloaded from Archive.org here:

http://www.archive.org/details/didascaliaaposto00lagauoft

A Syriac version in Estrangelo (from the (Gibson, 1903 English edition) can be downloaded from Archive.org here: http://www.archive.org/details/didascaliaapost00gibsgoog

Its English translation (Gibson, 1903) can be downloaded from Archive.org here: http://www.archive.org/details/didascaliaaposto00gibsuoft

Kevin Edgcombe's online English scanned from the Connolly translation (R. Hugh Connolly, Didascalia Apostolorum. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1929.) Mr. Edgcombe has added notations to readily identify Scriptural and other citations. It can be read online here: http://www.bombaxo.com/didascalia.html

Side by side Greek and Latin text can be downloaded from Archive.org here: http://www.archive.org/details/didascaliaetcon00funkgoog

Update on the Codex Climaci Rescriptus

If you like old books- I mean reeeaallly old books- you might remember that last year Westminster College in Cambridge, England auctioned off the Codex Climaci Rescriptus with the help of Sotheby's. I first read the news on Steve Caruso's Aramaic Blog (his post here). The announcement on Forbes can be viewed here. And I posted a frustrated note here.

Just as a reminder, the Codex is a 6th century document and an important manuscript witness to the Greek text of the Gospels. It includes the Palestinian Aramaic Old and New Testament and a Syriac copy of writings by St. John Climacus, one of the most important spiritual authors in the Eastern Church. It is thought by some that the Syriac translation was copied directly from the saint's autograph. Based on the combination of languages (Greek/Syriac/CPA) and its original home (St. Catherines monastery on Mt. Sinai), someone could assume the Codex originates from within the Antiochian patrimony.

Word quickly spread around the blogosphere and academic circles were afraid the lucky buyer would simply separate the leaves and resell them individually to wealthy dilettantes looking to impress their friends with historic wall hangings. You can see a discussion of the Codex at the Hugoye Syriac Studies group here.

Here is the update: Just last week I just came across this online article. Here are some excerpts:

Leaders of the Oklahoma-owned Hobby Lobby retail chain have acquired hundreds of Bible artifacts and are helping to open a museum. Portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, one of the earliest near-complete Bibles, will be featured in the National Bible Museum...

The museum is a nonprofit organization co-founded by historian Scott Carroll, a [former] professor at Cornerstone University in Michigan, along with D. Jonathan Shipman and Daniel Centurione...

Carroll said Wednesday the museum collections will include one of the earliest-known, near-complete Bibles, recently acquired by Hobby Lobby. He said items destined for the museum are being housed in Oklahoma City...

He said Hobby Lobby recently acquired several items for the museum, including portions of the Codex Climaci Rescriptus, which he said is one of the earliest near-complete Bibles in the world.

("Oklahomans help acquire items for Bible museum" BY CARLA HINTON Oklahoman, Published: April 1, 2010)

Notice the article is several months old yet I am just now finding it. So the Codex Climaci Rescriptus is being safely kept somewhere within my home town, Oklahoma City. This relic and icon of the ancient church sits within a small radius of where I now sit, waiting for a museum to be built. I am tempted to go poking around local warehouses. I think of the final scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark

How would someone go about pulling the right strings so that people could view the this Codex? There is a handful of local academics, clergy, and readers of Greek and Syriac that would love to see it.