Teaching (Didascalia) of the 318 Nicene Fathers on the right faith and the monastic life

ነገር፡ ዘቅዱሳን፡ አበው፡ ፫፻፲፰፡ ዘይከውን፡ ሕንጸ፡ ለመናኮሳት፡ (Nagar za-qǝddusān ʾabaw 318 za-yǝkawwǝn ḥǝnṣā la-manakosāt) · Anonymous (pseudo-Athanasian; 'the 318 Nicene Fathers') · Greek Vorlage late antique (the pseudo-Athanasian Syntagma); Ethiopic in two recensions,… · canon law · LIT2432Teachi

Ethiopic · domain: canon-law · researched 2026-11-13

no English translation located. No published English translation of this text was located in the catalogues and series checked. Where only a non-English rendering or a translation of a daughter version exists, it is recorded below and does not close the gap. Treat this as a gap candidate, not as proof that no translation exists; the evidence names every source checked.

Why this is in the register

No English version of either Ethiopic recension located. The only modern rendering is Italian with the Gǝʿǝz text: K10plus records Bausi, 'La versione etiopica della Didascalia dei 318 niceni sulla retta fede e la vita monastica' (2004), description 'Mit äthiopischem Text und italienischer Übersetzung', languages gez/ita, in the series Aegyptus christiana (https://sru.k10plus.de/opac-de-627?version=1.1&operation=searchRetrieve&query=pica.all%3Dversione%20etiopica%20didascalia&maximumRecords=2&recordSchema=dc). The Greek survives only in fragments - K10plus lists Blumell, 'P.Mich. inv. 4461KR: The Earliest Fragment of the Didascalia CCCXVIII Patrum Nicaenorum' (2017) - so no complete Greek text is available to translate from either. HOLLIS Primo has no English title for the work (https://hollis.harvard.edu/discovery/search?query=any,contains,didascalia%20318&tab=Everything&search_scope=MyInst_and_CI&vid=01HVD_INST:HVD2&offset=0

Two recensions, deliberately kept as separate Beta maṣāḥǝft records: LIT1313Discou (older, part of the Senodos, probably from Greek) and LIT6819Teachi318HA (younger, in the Haymānota ʾabaw, certainly from Arabic). LIT2432Teachi is the general record. This is the Ethiopian monastic 'rule' text par excellence and one of the few places where Ethiopic canon law legislates directly on monastic formation; Beta maṣāḥǝft transcribes no text and lists no witnesses at the general record, so the manuscript base must be taken from the two recension records.

Existing translations recorded

None recorded in English. Non-English versions, where they exist, are named in the evidence above.

Electronic text

Source and licence
Beta Masaheft · TEI XML · CC BY-SA 4.0 (stated in the TEI availability/licence element) LIT2432Teachi

Scanned witnesses

Scan search: not checked. Not searched in the scan pass: this dossier was outside the 121-work scan target set.

Harvard Hollis

Hollis query: Teaching of the 318 Nicene Fathers — 5 record(s); match basis author_title_unquoted.

Record	Citation
Confessing the Nicene Creed : an ecumenical faith in a sociable God Ellingsen, Mark, 1949- · 2026 · eng	Ellingsen, Mark, 1949-. "Confessing the Nicene Creed : an ecumenical faith in a sociable God." Minneapolis : Fortress Press, [2026]. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/99162630282903941
Clues to the Nicene Creed : a brief outline of the faith Willis, David (David E.) · 2005 · eng	Willis, David (David E.). "Clues to the Nicene Creed : a brief outline of the faith." Grand Rapids, Mich. : William B. Eerdmans, c2005. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990097666070203941
The essence of Christianity : a fresh look at the Nicene Creed Hebblethwaite, Brian · 1996 · eng	Hebblethwaite, Brian. "The essence of Christianity : a fresh look at the Nicene Creed." London : SPCK, 1996. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990073442040203941
We believe in the Holy Spirit · 2009 · eng	"We believe in the Holy Spirit." Downers Grove, Ill. : IVP Academic, c2009. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990125287730203941
The faith for beginners : understanding the Creeds Ray, Stephen K · 2015 · eng	Ray, Stephen K. "The faith for beginners : understanding the Creeds." San Francisco : Ignatius Press ; DeKalb, Ill. : Lighthouse Catholic Media, c2015. https://hollis.harvard.edu/permalink/f/1s5nto6/990148432980203941

Sources checked

Cite: Tergwame, “Teaching (Didascalia) of the 318 Nicene Fathers on the right faith and the monastic life” (ethiopic gap dossier), 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/gaps/ethiopic-anonymous-didascalia-318