Hermas, The Shepherd of Hermas, 3.11

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Section

← Previous Next →

[1] Listen, he said, concerning the forms¹ which you are asking about.

[2] Why did she appear to you in the first vision as old and seated on a chair? Because your² spirit is old and already fading away, and has no power through your weakness and double-mindedness.

[3] For just as old people, who have no longer any hope of becoming young again, look for nothing except their last sleep, so also you, who have been weakened by the occupations of this life, have given yourself up to worry, and have not cast your cares upon the Lord. But your mind was broken, and you grew old in your sorrows.

[4] Why, then, I should like to know, did she sit in a chair, sir? Because every sick person sits in a chair because of his sickness, that the weakness of the body may find support. Here you have the type of the first vision.

The Shepherd of Hermas. Hermas. . 1913.

Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.

Funding provided by Tufts University.

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.) — 3.11 focus

[1] Ἄκουε, φησίν, περὶ τῶν μορφῶν ¹ ὧν ἐπιζητεῖς.

[2] τῇ μὲν πρώτῃ ὁράσει διατί πρεσβυτέρα ὤφθη σοι καὶ ἐπὶ καθέδραν καθημένη; ὅτι τὸ πνεῦμα ὑμῶν πρεσβύτερον καὶ ἤδη μεμαραμμένον καὶ μὴ ἔχον δύναμιν ἀπὸ τῶν μαλακιῶν ὑμῶν καὶ διψυχιῶν:

[3] ὥσπερ γὰρ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, μηκέτι ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα τοῦ ἀνανεῶσαι, οὐδὲν ἄλλο προσδοκῶσιν εἰ μὴ τὴν κοίμησιν αὐτῶν, οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς μαλακισθέντες ἀπὸ τῶν βιωτικῶν πραγμάτων παρεδώκατε ἑαυτοὺς εἰς τὰς ἀκηδίας ² καὶ οὐκ ἐπερίψατε ἑαυτῶν τὰς μερίμνας ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον: ἀλλὰ ἐθραύσθη ὑμῶν ἡ διάνοια καὶ ἐπαλαιώθητε ταῖς λύπαις ὑμῶν.

[4] Διατί οὖν ἐν καθέδρᾳ ἐκάθητο, ἤθελον γνῶναι, κύριε. Ὅτι πᾶς ἀσθενὴς εἰς καθέδραν καθέζεται διὰ τὴν ἀσθένειαν αὐτοῦ, ἵνα συνκρατηθῇ ἡ ἀσθένεια τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ. ἔχεις τὸν τύπον τῆς πρώτης ὁράσεως.

Notes on the current edition

The Shepherd of Hermas

1. The three forms of the ancient lady

2. This your is plural, in contrast to the you in the preceding sentence, which is singular.

Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas 3.11

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers