Didache 8.1

Summary: Fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, not on the days the hypocrites fast.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:320

Αἱ δὲ νηστεῖαι ὑμῶν μὴ ἔστωσαν μετὰ τῶν ὑποκριτῶν. νηστεύουσι γὰρ δευτέρᾳ σαββάτων καὶ πέμπτῃ· ὑμεῖς δὲ νηστεύσατε τετράδα καὶ παρασκευήν.

English · Claude translation

Do not let your fasts be with the hypocrites; for they fast on the second and fifth days of the week, but you are to fast on the fourth day and on the day of Preparation.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:320 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 308–333 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Fasting

Notes

Translation notes

  • The second and fifth days are Monday and Thursday; the fourth day and the day of Preparation are Wednesday and Friday.
  • “The hypocrites”: the term of Matt 6:16, here apparently for those who kept the Jewish fast days.

Cite this passage

Did. 8.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/didache/8/1/).

Plain text
Did. 8.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/didache/8/1/).

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