Alan Garrow's view of Didache 9-10.

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Ben C. Smith
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Alan Garrow's view of Didache 9-10.

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In chapter 2 of The Gospel of Matthew's Dependence on the Didache, Alan Garrow proposes that the two eucharistic chapters, 9 and 10, are not two parts of the same original liturgy, but rather two different (yet parallel) rituals. He lays them out as follows on pages 26-27:

Didache 9
Didache 10
9.1 But concerning the Eucharist, after this fashion give ye thanks.
9.2 First, concerning the cup. We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine, David thy Son, which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus Christ thy Son; to thee be the glory for ever.
10.1 But after it has been completed, so pray ye.
10.2 We thank thee, holy Father, for thy holy name, which thou hast caused to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy Son;
to thee be the glory for ever.
9.3 And concerning the broken bread. We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast made known unto us through Jesus thy Son; to thee be the glory for ever.10.3 Thou, Almighty Master, didst create all things for the sake of thy name, and hast given both meat and drink, for men to enjoy, that we might give thanks unto thee, but to us thou hast given spiritual meat and drink, and life everlasting, through thy Son.
10.4 Above all, we thank thee that thou art able to save; to thee be the glory for ever.
9.4 As this broken bread was once scattered on the mountains, and after it had been brought together became one, so may thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth unto thy kingdom; for thine is the glory, and the power, through Jesus Christ, for ever.10.5 Remember, Lord, thy Church, to redeem it from every evil, and to perfect it in thy love, and gather it together from the four winds, even that which has been sanctified for thy kingdom which thou hast prepared for it; for thine is the kingdom and the glory for ever.
9.5 And let none eat or drink of your Eucharist but such as have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for of a truth the Lord hath said concerning this, Give not that which is holy unto dogs.10.6 Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If any one is holy let him come (to the Eucharist); if any one is not, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.
-10.7 But charge the prophets to give thanks, so far as they are willing to do so.

I think there are a lot of parallels here, and he may well be right that these are two separate prayers united (awkwardly) into one liturgy in the Didache. On pages 25-36 he argues:

The presence of the term κλάσματος implies the existence of a farther action, one that is not considered even by scholars who see Did. 9.2-4 as preparations for a eucharist. The presence of broken bread at this point in a meal is highly unusual. That is to say that a Jewish table blessing would almost always precede the fraction of the bread rather than follow it. This is also the case in each of the New Testament accounts of the meal prayers of Jesus. The presence of a 'fragment' before the thanksgiving therefore suggests an action of breaking the bread before the beginning of the meal. Such a bread breaking would be most likely to happen at a fall meal. The sixth action is therefore, according to this reading, the sharing of a fall meal before the thanksgiving over the cup and the fragment.

....

A previously unconsidered solution to the problems posed by the collection of incompatible actions in Did. 9 and 10 is that they represent two separate accounts of the same liturgical event. Thus, following the consensus, the pattern of events in Did. 10 is a fall meal followed by a prayer that creates a connection between the past fall meal and the forthcoming eucharistic meal. At the same time Did. 9 describes precisely the same pattern of events. The presence of a fragment at the beginning of the liturgy may be accounted for as the remains of a preceding filling meal, which are then prayed over in preparation for a eucharist consisting of one cup and one fragment.

What do you think?
ΤΙ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΑΛΗΘΕΙΑ
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