Didache 3.4

Anonymous · Didache · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · place unknown · Read in context

Summary: Omens, spells, astrology, and magical purifications lead to idolatry.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:312

τέκνον μου, μὴ γίνου οἰωνοσκόπος, ἐπειδὴ ὁδηγεῖ εἰς τὴν εἰδωλολατρίαν, μηδὲ ἐπαοιδὸς μηδὲ μαθηματικὸς μηδὲ περικαθαίρων, μηδὲ θέλε αὐτὰ βλέπειν· ἐκ γὰρ τούτων ἁπάντων εἰδωλολατρία γεννᾶται.

English · Claude translation

My child, do not be an interpreter of omens, since it leads to idolatry; nor an enchanter nor an astrologer nor one who performs purifications; do not even wish to look at these things, for from all these, idolatry is born.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:312 · 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.
Topics: Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

“One who performs purifications” (περικαθαίρων): magical cleansing rites.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text (the sentence continues)): οἰωνοσκόπος. ἐπειδὴ → οἰωνοσκόπος, ἐπειδὴ.

Cite this passage

Did. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/didache/3/4/).

Plain text

Did. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/didache/3/4/).

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