The present study of the Didache is certainly neither new nor innovative in pointing out the presence and richness of borrowings from and references to Judaism prior to or coeval to this ancient Christian-Jewish text, which still remains, for certain aspects, enigmatic. However, there are "new paths" of reading that - through an analysis focusing on some institutions and rituals and doctrinal beliefs typically Jewish 'sedimented' in the text and reformulated for a Christian-Jewish milieu - redeem the interpretation of the Didache from an unjust 'New Testament mortgage' or from the 'generic reference' to Judaism. The fecundity of the text is enriched by limiting the research to the exploration of historical questions regarding the definition of the identity of the various groups/currents/movements present in the Didache, which often institutionally and, at times, even doctrinally interact with antecedent or coeval Judaism(s). The identities of these groups/currents/movements must be continuously defined and not merely evoked. The perspective nurtured by avoiding the danger of 'generically' referring to the Jewish origins/roots of the Didache could lead to the identification - in some parts or strata of the text which has survived - of groups/factions within the Christian-Jewish community which share the same (Jewish) institutions and re-proposes the same dialectics among different (Jewish) groups. At the same time - yet in a broader sense - such perspective allows the research on the Didache to enter into the rich and fruitful stream of recent studies that aim at exploring the many identities existing in the Ancient Near East, in particular among Jews and Christians with their inner dialectics. This is the inaugural book in a series called "Texts and Studies." The series will examine specific Jewish and Christian texts from the first and second centuries, offering English translations side-by-side with the Greek or Hebrew.
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• The Didache and the question of genre. Introduction ; Status quaestionis ; The Didache as Church order : early research; Origin of the term Church order and its application to the Didache; Discussion of genre prior to the discovery of the Jerusalem manuscript; Initial research on the Didache of H54; Research at the turn of the nineteenth century; The doctrina apostolorum and the two ways; The Didache and the dead sea scrolls; The genre of the two ways ; Studies on composition, communication, and genre
• A text-linguistic analysis of the Didache. Text-linguistic methodology; Introduction; Text linguistics and early Christian literature; Delimitating a text ; The text of the Didache ; Structurally delimiting the Didache of H54; Introduction; Text-linguistic Abbreviations; Presentation of delimitation; Structural overview based on the text-linguistic analysis; Communication levels; Dramatis personae ; The delimitation of the Didache : analysis in detail; Text-levels 00ST/0ST : the titles of the Didache: The titles of the Didache and their implications for Genre: Text-external functional aspects of the incipit; Text-level 1; Text-level 2; Text-level 3; Text-level 4
• The generic development and compositional history of the Didache. The genre Didache ; The structure of the Didache; Text level 1; Text level 2; Text level 3; The two ways section ; A reconstruction of the development of the Didache; Stage 1; Stage 2; Stage 3; Stage 4 ; The further development of the genre Didache
• Summary and conclusion. Bibliography of works cited ; Reference index ; Modem author index ; Subject index.

• Preface-- Abbreviations-- Introduction--
• 1. Propheteia--
• 2. Paraclesis and homilia--
• 3. Paraenesis and catechesis--
• 4. Paradosis-- Conclusion-- Notes-- Bibliography-- Index of authors-- Index of scripture passages.
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Dr McDonald studies the fundamental structures and procedures of Christian communication, identified as propheteia (the prophetic), and paraclesis and homilia (the homiletic), paraenesis and catechesis (the catechetic), and paradosis (the transmission of tradition). He explores what lies behind each of them as well as the way they are used by Jesus and the early Church. Both kerygmatic and didactic features are found in all of these structures. This study is important in providing a corrective to inadequate or one-sided views of kerygma. Like other monographs in this series, it presents through cogent argument and well-organized evidence a thesis which will be of interest to all concerned with New Testament studies and with the transmission of the Christian faith.
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• Abbreviations-- A parallel text of the Didache-- Preface-- Introduction--
• 1. The Compositional History of the Didache-- The Integrity of Didache 16-- Elements within Didache 1 - 5-- The Peri layer: 1a, c, e, 4a-- 9.1-5a-- 11.3a, 4-6-- 16.1-6, 8-9-- The Prophet document: 10.1-7-- 11.7-9-- 12-- 12.1-5-- The Modifying Teacher layer: 1.5a-6, 7.1b, d, 2-3, 4b-- 8.1-2a, 2c-3-- 9.5b-- 11.1-2-- 11.10-11-- 13.11-15.2-- The Gospel layer: 8.2b-- 11.3b-- 15.3-4-- The full extent of the Peri layer-- Conclusion: the compositional history of the Didache--
• 2. Matthew's Gospel and the Modifying Teacher layer--
• 3. Matthew's Gospel and the Prophet layer--
• 4. Matthew's Gospel and Didache 16--
• 5. Matthew's Gospel and Didache 1.1-6--
• 6. Further points of contact between Matthew's Gospel and the Peri/Base layer Bibliography.
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This book maps the relationship between Matthew's Gospel and the Didache. No consensus regarding the nature of this relationship has yet been achieved, neither has serious consideration been given to the possibility that Matthew depended directly on the Didache. If it may be shown that such was the case, then this infamously enigmatic text may finally be used to answer a series of tantalizing questions: what is the pattern of the Synoptic relationships? How did the earliest Jewish Christians incorporate Gentiles? What was the shape of Eucharistic worship in the first century?
(source: Nielsen Book Data)