Therefore, thou (sg.)
shalt take the firstfruit of the produce of the winepress and of the
threshing-floor and of oxen and sheep, and shalt give them as the firstfruits
of the prophets, for they are your high priests. (Didache
13:3 | Kirsopp Lake translation)
Commenting on this verse of the Didache, Kurt Niederwimmer noted that:
the prophets are entitled to bread, wine, and meat
from cattle and sheep; in fact they are entitled to the ἀπαρχή, the firstfruits, the gifts that were originally dedicated to God and
then belonged to the temple, that is, to the priests. With the term ἀπαρχή (awkwardly used twice), the Didachist deliberately adopts a term from
Old Testament cultic language (For ἀπαρχή in the LXX, see Gerhard Delling, “ἀπαρχή,” TDNT 1 (1964) 484–85; Alexander Sand, “ἀπαρχή,” EDNT 1
(1990) 116–17. Verses 3–7 are held together by the key word ἀπαρχή (vv. 3 bis, 5, 6, 7).
The constantly recurring expression τὴν ἀπαρχὴν λαβών, δός (δώσεις) describes the solemn action of cultic offering,
originally the sacrifice belonging to God alone. The ἀπαρχή is “taken,” and then given to the prophets
(representing the OT priests, or [as the Didachist sees it] the high priests). He decrees that the cultic demand of Scripture (the OT) that the ἀπαρχή be surrendered as an offering is now translated into an obligation
toward the Christian prophets active in the community. To them is due the ἀπαρχή of what God gives to humanity, and this is because
they, the prophets, take the place in the Christian community that belonged to
the high priests in Israel. Indeed the prophets are “your” high priests (Did.
13.3b). Therefore, the cultic offering that the Old Testament community owed to
its high priests now belongs to them. We may ask whether the terminology
(according to which the prophets appear as ἀρχιερεῖς) allows us to conclude that the prophets led worship in the Didache communities. Did. 10.7 seems to presume that at the
time of the Didache the local
officials led worship, but the prophets had the right to charismatic prayer;
15.1–2 shows both groups in leadership functions (Kurt Niederwimmer, The Didache: A
Commentary [Hermeneia—a Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; trans.
Linda M. Maloney; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press, 1998], 191-92)
