‘According to the Commandment’ (Did.1.5): Lexical Reflections on Almsgiving as ‘The Commandment’

Abstract

Christian and Jewish sources of late antiquity employ ἡ ἐντολή as a term for almsgiving. The development of the locution passes through at least two stages before reaching semantic maturity around the fourth or fifth century. Tobit and Ben Sira record the early notion of charity as a paradigmatic precept, while theDidacheattests to a more stabilised and syntactically developed, but still transitional, expression. The use of ἐντολή in 1 Tim 6.14 does not belong to the mature usage, andTest. Ash.2.8 is a problematic reference point (paceNathan Eubank). TheDidacheis more helpful in contextualising the NT evidence.