In 9.5-6, in a high praise of God who gave
unexpected blessings, the author writes (9.5b): “That the lawless actions of many
should be hidden in a single righteous one” (ανομια μεν πολλων εν δικαιω ενι κρυβη), “and the righteousness of one should justify many lawless one” (δικαιοσυνη δε ενος πολλους ανομους δικαιωση). in 9.6b he adds that God “has wanted us to
have faith in his generosity” (εβουλητη πιστευειν ημας τη χρηστοτητι αυτου), “to consider him a provider,
father, teacher, counsellor, healer, mind, light, honor, glory, strength, and
life, and to have no worries about clothing and food” ( . . . περι ενδυσεως και τροφης μη μεριμναν). This seems to be an allusion to Jesus’s words
in Matt 6:25: “Do not worry (μη μεριμνατε) about your life, what you will eat
or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life
more than food, and the body more than clothing?” The words from the Sermon on
the Mount probably are in the background in Diogn. 9.6b, not in the way of a
quotation or allusion but as part of a (possibly oral) tradition. In any case, “Diogentus”
does not learn that the order “to have no worries” (μη μεριμναν) comes from the Son who was sent by the Father. (Andreas Lindemann, “Apology
of Quadratus and Epistle to Diognetus,” in The Reception of Jesus in the
First Three Centuries, ed. Jens Schröter, 3 vols. [London: T&T Clark,
2020], 2:85)