Hermas, The Shepherd of Hermas, 25.4

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[1] And after a few days he came to the place, and the shepherd sat in the place of the angel, and¹ I stood by him, and he said to me; Gird yourself with a towel² and serve me. And I girded myself with a clean towel made of sackcloth.

[2] And when he saw me girded and ready to serve him he said: Call the men whose sticks have been planted, according to the order in which each gave his stick. And I went into the plain and called all of them, and they all stood in their stations.

[3] And he said to them: Let each pull out his own stick and bring it to me.

[4] And they first gave them up who had had them dry and cut, and they were found to be still dry and cut, and he commanded them to stand apart.

[5] Then they gave them up who had them dry, but not cut, and some of them gave up their sticks green and some dry and cut as it were by moth. Those then who gave them up green he commanded to stand apart, and those who had given them up dry and cut he commanded to stand with the first ones.

[6] Then those gave them up who had them half dry and cracked, and many of them gave them up green and without cracks, and some green and with buds, and with fruit on the buds, as those had had who had gone crowned into the tower. But some gave them up dry and moth-eaten, and some dry but not eaten, and some remained half dry and with cracks. And he commanded each of them to stand apart, some in their own station and some apart.³

The Shepherd of Hermas. Hermas. . 1913.

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Current edition Perseus

Hermas (English) (Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers with an English translation by Kirsopp Lake. In Two Volumes. Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1913)

Editions (1)

Ποιμὴν First1KGreek (Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers, Vol 2. Lake, Kirsopp, editor. London: William Heinemann; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1917.) — 25.4 focus

[1] Καὶ μετὰ ἡμέρας ὀλίγας ἤλθομεν εἰς τὸν τόπον, καὶ ἐκάθισεν ὁ ποιμὴν εἰς τὸν τόπον τοῦ ἀγγέλου, κἀγὼ παρεστάθην αὐτῷ. καὶ λέγει μοι: Περίζωσαι ὠμόλινον καὶ ¹ διακόνει μοι. περιεζωσάμην ὠμόλινον ἐκ σάκκου γεγονὸς καθαρόν.

[2] ἰδὼν δέ με περιεζωσμένον καὶ ἕτοιμον ὄντα τοῦ διακονεῖν αὐτῷ, Κάλει, φησί, τοὺς ἄνδρας, ὧν εἰσὶν αἱ ῥάβδοι πεφυτευμέναι, κατὰ τὸ τάγμα, ὥς τις ἔδωκε τὰς ῥάβδους. καὶ ἀπῆλθον εἰς τὸ πεδίον καὶ ἐκάλεσα πάντας: καὶ ἔστησαν πάντες τάγματα τάγματα. ²

[3] λέγει αὐτοῖς: Ἕκαστος τὰς ἰδίας ῥάβδους ἐκτιλάτω καὶ φερέτω πρός με.

[4] πρῶτοι ἐπέδωκαν οἱ τὰς ξηρὰς καὶ κεκομμένας ἐσχηκότες, καὶ ὡς αὗται εὑρέθησαν ξηραὶ καὶ κεκομμέναι, ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς χωρὶς σταθῆν αἱ??ʼ

[5] εἶτα ἐπέδωκαν οἱ τὰς ξηρὰς καὶ μὴ κεκομμένας ἔχοντες: τινὲς δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπέδωκαν τὰς ῥάβδους χλωράς, τινὲς δὲ ξηρὰς καὶ κεκομμένας ὡς ὑπὸ σητός. τοὺς ἐπιδεδωκότας οὖν χλωρὰς ἐκέλευσε χωρὶς σταθῆναι, τοὺς δὲ ξηρὰς καὶ κεκομμένας ἐπιδεδωκότας ἐκέλευσε μετὰ τῶν πρώτων σταθῆναι.

[6] εἶτα ἐπέδωκαν οἱ τὰς ἡμιξήρους καὶ σχισμὰς ἐχούσας: καὶ πολλοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν χλωρὰς ἐπέδωκαν καὶ μὴ ἐχούσας σχισμάς: τινὲς δὲ χλωρὰς καὶ παραφυάδας ἐχούσας καὶ εἰς τὰς παραφυάδας καρπούς, οἵους εἶχον οἱ εἰς τὸν πύργον πορευθέντες ἐστεφανωμένοι. τινὲς δὲ ἐπέδωκαν ξηρὰς καὶ βεβρωμένας, τινὲς δὲ ξηρὰς καὶ ἀβρώτους, τινὲς δὲ οἷαι ἦσαν ἡμίξηροι καὶ σχισμὰς ἔχουσαι. ἐκέλευσεν αὐτοὺς ἕνα ἕκαστον χωρὶς σταθῆναι, τοὺς μὲν πρὸς τὰ ἴδια τάγματα, τοὺς δὲ χωρίς.

Notes on the current edition

The Shepherd of Hermas

1. The continuation of the parable

2. The exact meaning of ὠμόλινον is apparently made of undressed flax, but it came to mean merely a towel.

3. This must mean that some were sent back to their original place, others were moved aside. But the text is obscure and probably corrupt.

Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas 25.4

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