The second part of the Didache bears a strong resemblance to the ten commandments as found in the Old Testament and — to some extent — those additional ones uttered by Jesus, but far great in number. Interesting is, as is the case in the Greek New Testament as well, the usage of the future active indicative for the construction of you shall not …
. A more literal translation of this would be you will not…
; so is it a command or a foretelling?
Δευτέρα δὲ ἐντολὴ τῆς διδαχῆς· οὐ φονεύσεις, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ παιδοφθορήσεις, οὐ πορνεύσεις, οὐ κλέψεις, οὐ μαγεύσεις, οὐ φαρμακεύσεις, οὐ φονεύσεις τέκνον ἐν φθορᾷ, οὐδὲ γεννηθὲν ἀποκτενεῖς, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις τὰ τοῦ πλησίον. οὐκ ἐπιορκήσεις, οὐ ψευδομαρτυρήσεις, οὐ κακολογήσεις, οὐ μνησικακήσεις. οὐκ ἔσῃ διγνώμων οὐδὲ δίγλωσσος· παγὶς γὰρ θανάτου ἡ διγλωσσία. οὐκ ἔσται ὁ λόγος σου ψευδής, οὐ κενός, ἀλλὰ μεμεστωμένος πράξει. οὐκ ἔσῃ πλεονέκτης οὐδὲ ἅρπαξ οὐδὲ ὑποκριτὴς οὐδὲ κακοήθης οὐδὲ ὑπερήφανος. οὐ λήψῃ βουλὴν πονηρὰν κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον σου. οὐ μισήσεις πάντα ἄνθρωπον, ἀλλὰ οὓς μὲν ἐλέγξεις, περὶ δὲ ὧν προσεύξῃ, οὓς δὲ ἀγαπήσεις ὑπὲρ τὴν ψυχήν σου.
Deutera de entolē tēs didachēs; ou phoneuseis, ou moicheuseis, ou paidophthorēseis, ou porneuseis, ou klepseis, ou mageuseis, ou pharmakeuseis, ou phoneuseis teknon en phthora, oude gennēthen apokteneis, ouk epithymēseis ta tou plēsion. ouk epiorkēseis, ou pseudomartyrēseis, ou kakologēseis, ou mnēsikakēseis. ouk esē dignōmōn oude diglōssos; pagis gar thanatou hē diglōssia. ouk estai ho logos sou pseudēs, ou kenos, alla memestōmenos praxei. ouk esē pleonektēs oude harpax oude hypokritēs oude kakoēthēs oude hyperēphanos. ou lēpsē boulēn ponēran kata tou plēsion sou. ou misēseis panta anthrōpon, alla hous men elenxeis, peri de hōn proseuxē, hous de agapēseis hyper tēn psychēn sou.
The second commandment of the teaching (is the following): you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not molest children, you shall not steal, you shall not be a user of magic arts, you shall not use drugs, you shall not kill a child in abortion nor kill that which has been born; you shall not desire (to have) that which your neighbour has, you shall not swear, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak ill (of people), you shall not hold grudges. You should not fluctuate between two different opinions (lit. two-minded) and you should not be a hypocrite (lit. two-tongued). Hypocritism is death’s trap. Your words shall not be false (you shall not lie), nor shall they be empty (vain, fruitless); instead, they shall be filled with deeds. You shall neither be greedy, nor a robber, nor a hypocrite, nor malicious, nor arrogant. You shall not plan on doing evil to your neighbour. You shall not hate all humanity (all men, every person), but some you shall refute, some you shall pray for and some you shall love more than your own soul (more than yourself).