The Didascalia Apostolorum: A Mishnah for the Disciples of Jesus

Abstract

The article reexamines the Jewish character of the Syriac translation of theDidascalia Apostolorum.Whereas this text is commonly read as a Jewish-Christian text, theauthorial voice never identifies itself in these terms. The verycategory of Jewish Christianity can be questioned in light of theDidascalia.The Jewish character of the document is doubly reflected in thevoice of the author(s) as well as among the heretics against whom itpolemicizes. TheDidascalia's heresiology clearly indicates a diversity of Jewish heterodoxpractices which are partially echoed in the rabbinic tradition. Basedon the author's familiarity with some of the rabbinic traditions, thepaper suggests that theDidascaliacan be read as a counter-Mishnah for the disciples of Jesus. In addition,the article explores the parallelisms between theDidascalia's biblical hermeneutic and some of the rabbinic midrashic tradition. Thisprovides grounds for reading theDidascalia's voice as a Jewish voice. Ultimately, theDidascaliaprovides further evidence that, even in the fourth century, rabbinicJudaism 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.

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