In 1 Corinthians 2.9 Paul writes, 'But as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him."' This quotation has long puzzled scholars because on other occasions where Paul refers to 'Scripture' the quotation may be found in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. On this occasion, however, the closest Old Testament passage is different is several ways. Isaiah 64.4, 'From of old noone has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who works for those who wait for him.' Some scholars speculate that Paul knew a version of Isaiah 64.4 that has been lost to us - and this makes an interesting link with Didache 16.

The manuscript of the Didache found by Bryennios is almost, but not quite, complete. Fortunately, however, paraphrases of the Didache's final chapter have been preserved in some later texts and this allows the reconstruction of the missing lines (cf. The Gospel of Matthew's Dependence on the Didache pp. 44-64). This reconstruction includes precisely the version of Isaiah 64.4 quoted by Paul in 1 Corinthians 2.9. More than that, the alterations to the Isaiah passage are similar to those made to Daniel 7.13 in Didache 16.8 (cf. Earlier than Mark's Gospel) and have the effect of neatly balancing and completing the Didache's final warning. It would be a very remarkable coincidence if this version of Isaiah 64.4 had been created independent of its use in the Didache. This suggests that 1 Corinthians 2.9 shows knowledge of Didache 16.9. (cf. The Gospel of Matthew's Dependence on the Didache p.196).

Given that 1 Corinthians can be dated, with an unusual degree of confidence, to c. AD 55, it follows that Didache 16 is likely to date from an earlier period still.

24.10.04