Traces of the Didache's influence in the earliest Christian centuries can be found across a wide geographical region. However, its confusing and archaic instructions probably contributed to its failure to find a place in the fourth century canon of the New Testament. As a result it fell into obscurity.

In the eleventh century the Byzantine Church experienced a revival of interest in the ancient roots of Christianity. A product of this new enthusiasm was the creation of an archival collection of early texts by Leon 'scribe and sinner' in 1056 AD.

This collection, hidden in a dingy library in Constantinople, was then rediscovered by Archbishop Philotheos Bryennios in 1873. This was an astonishingly important find, in that the Didache promised to reveal otherwise unknown details of the beliefs and practices of the very early Church.

The full Greek manuscript is now housed in the library of the Orthodox Patriachate in Jerusalem. Since its discovery other translations and fragments of the Didache have come to light. For example, two leaves of a late fourth century pocket book version of the Didache.