Hermas, The Shepherd of Hermas, 3.6

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[1] Do you wish to know who are those which¹ are being broken up and cast far from the tower? These are the sons of wickedness; and their faith was hypocrisy, and no wickedness departed from them. For this cause they had no salvation, for because of their wickedness they are not useful for the building. Therefore they were broken up and cast far away, because of the anger of the Lord, for they had provoked his anger.

[2] But the others of² whom you saw many left lying and not going into the building, of these those which are rotten are they who have known the truth, but are not remaining in it.

[3] And who are they which have the cracks? These are they who bear malice in their hearts against one another, and are not at peace among themselves, but maintain the appearance of peace, yet when they depart from one another their wickednesses remain in their hearts. These are the cracks which the stones have.

[4] And those which are too short are they which have believed, and they live for the greater part in righteousness, but have some measure of wickedness. Therefore they are short and not perfect.

[5] But who. Lady, are the white and round ones which do not fit into the building?³ She answered and said to me, How long will you be stupid and foolish, and ask everything and understand nothing? These are they which have faith, but have also the riches of this world. When persecution comes, because of their wealth and because of business they deny their Lord.

[6] And I answered and said to her, Lady, but then when will they be useful for the building? When, she said, their wealth, which leads their souls astray, shall be cut off from them, then they will be useful to God. For just as the round stone cannot become square, unless something be cut off and taken away from it, so too they who have riches in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their wealth be cut away from them.

[7] Understand it first from your own case; when you were rich, you were useless, but now you are useful and helpful for the Life. Be useful to God, for you yourself are taken from the same stones.⁴

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.) — 3.6 focus

[1] Τοὺς δὲ κατακοπτομένους καὶ μακρὰν ῥιπτομένους ¹ ἀπὸ τοῦ πύργου θέλεις γνῶναι; οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ υἱοὶ τῆς ἀνομίας: ἐπίστευσαν δὲ ἐν ὑποκρίσει, καὶ πᾶσα πονηρία οὐκ ἀπέστη ἀπ̓ αὐτῶν: διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔχουσιν σωτηρίαν, ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶν εὔχρηστοι εἰς οἰκοδομὴν διὰ τὰς πονηρἱας αὐτῶν. διὰ τοῦτο συνεκόπησαν καὶ πόρρω ἀπερίφησαν διὰ τὴν ὀργὴν τοῦ κυρίου, ὅτι παρώργισαν αὐτόν.

[2] τοὺς δὲ ἑτέρους, οὓς ἑώρακας πολλοὺς κειμένους, μὴ ὑπάγοντας εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν, οὗτοι οἱ μὲν ἐψωριακότες εἰσίν, οἱ ἐγνωκότες τὴν ἀλήθειαν, μὴ ἐπιμένοντας ² δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ. ³

[3] Οἱ δὲ τὰς σχισμὰς ἔχοντες, τίνες εἰσίν; Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ κατ̓ ἀλλήλων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἔχοντες καὶ μὴ ⁴ εἰρηνεύοντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, ἀλλὰ πρόσωπον εἰρήνης ἔχοντες, ὅταν δὲ ἀπ̓ ἀλλήλων ἀποχωρήσωσιν, αἱ πονηρίαι αὐτῶν ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ἐμμένουσιν: αὗται οὖν αἱ σχισμαί εἰσιν, ἃς ἔχουσιν οἱ λίθοι.

[4] οἱ δὲ κεκολοβωμένοι, οὗτοί εἰσιν πεπιστευκότες μὲν καὶ τὸ πλεῖον μέρος ἔχουσιν ⁵ ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ, τινὰ δὲ μέρη ἔχουσιν τῆς ἀνομίας: διὰ τοῦτο κολοβοὶ καὶ οὐχ ὁλοτελεῖς εἰσιν.

[5] Οἱ δὲ λευκοὶ καὶ στρογγύλοι καὶ μὴ ἁρμόζοντες εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν, τίνες εἰσιν, κυρία; ἀποκριθεῖσά μοι λέγει: Ἕως πότε μωρὸς εἶ καὶ ἀσύνετος, καὶ πάντα ἐπερωτᾷς καὶ οὐδὲν νοεῖς; οὗτοί εἰσιν ἔχοντες μὲν πίστιν, ἔχοντες δὲ καὶ πλοῦτον τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου: ὅταν γένηται θλῖψις, διὰ τὸν πλοῦτον ⁶ αὐτῶν καὶ διὰ τὰς πραγματείας ἀπαρνοῦνται τὸν κύριον αὐτῶν.

[6] καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῇ λέγω: Κυρία, πότε οὖν εὔχρηστοι ἔσονται εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν; Ὅταν, φησίν, περικοπῇ αὐτῶν ὁ πλοῦτος ὁ ψυχαγωγῶν αὐτούς, τότε εὔχρηστοι ἔσονται τῷ θεῷ. ὥσπερ γὰρ ὁ λίθος ὁ στρογγύλος, ἐὰν μὴ περικοπῇ καὶ ἀποβάλῃ ἐξ αὐτοῦ τι, οὐ δύναται τετράγωνος γενέσθαι, οὕτω καὶ οἱ πλουτοῦντες ἐν τούτῳ τῷ αἰῶνι, ἐὰν μὴ περικοπῇ αὐτῶν ὁ πλοῦτος, οὐ δύνανται τῷ κυρίῳ εὔχρηστοι γενέσθαι.

[7] ἀπὸ σεαυτοῦ πρῶτον. γνῶθι: ὅτε ἐπλούτεις, ἄχρηστος ἦς, νῦν δὲ εὔχρηστος εἶ καὶ ὠφέλιμος τῇ ζωῇ. εὔχρηστοι γίνεσθε τῷ θεῷ: καὶ γὰρ σὺ αὐτὸς χρᾶσαι ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν λίθων. ⁷

Notes on the current edition

The Shepherd of Hermas

1. The stones which were broken up

2. The stones put on one side

3. The round stones

4. This appears to be the meaning; but the Greek is obscure and the early translations all paraphrase it so freely that they cannot be used to suggest any emendation.

Hermas The Shepherd of Hermas 3.6

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