Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol VII:
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles: Chapter XIII.—Support of Prophets

Chapter XIII. 2485 —Support of Prophets.

1. But every true prophet that willeth to abide among you 2486 is worthy of his support. 2487 2. So also a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support. 2488 3. Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets, for they are your high priests. 2489 4. But if ye have not a prophet, give it to the poor. 5. If thou makest a batch of dough, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment. 6. So also when thou openest a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets; 7. and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to thee, and give according to the commandment.  

Footnotes

A large part of this chapter is found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 28, 29, but with modifications and additions indicating a later date.  

“Who will settle among you” (Hitchcock and Brown). The itinerant prophets might become stationary, we infer. Chaps. xi.-xv. point to a movement from an itinerant and extraordinary ministry to a more settled one.  

Lit., “nourishment,” “food.”  

Matt. x. 10; comp. Luke x. 7.  

This phrase, indicating a sacerdotal view of the ministry, seems to point to a later date than that claimed for the Teaching. Some regard it as an interpolation: others take it in a figurative sense. In Apostolic Constitutions the sacerdotal view is more marked. [1 Pet. ii. 9. If the plebs = “priests,” prophets = “high priests.”] Here the term is restricted to the prophets: compare Schaff in loco.