The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, also known by the first word of its Greek title, the Didache, is a very ancient text, most likely contemporary with some of the books later included in the New Testament. Scholars typically date it to the latter half of the first century or the first half of the second century. Its author and place of origin are unknown, though some scholars associate it with Syria. The text, as we have it, is the end result of a complex process of redaction. Initially, the document was likely a compilation of various traditional sources deemed useful to introducing converts to a Jewish-Christian community’s way of life, which was then altered and expanded over time as community standards changed and developed. Its first part (1–6) is a prebaptismal catechesis composed of moral precepts derived from an independent and preexisting Jewish source known as the “Two Ways.” Its second (7–10) and third (11–15) parts are a collection of liturgical and disciplinary rules for the developing Christian community concerning baptism, fasting, prayer, the communal meal, traveling apostles, prophets, teachers, hospitality, reconciliation, communal leadership, and fraternal correction. The final part (15–16), whose ending is lost, describes the eschatological expectation that early Christians held.