Stromata Editions · The Shepherd of Hermas
Mandate II
Man. 2.1–2.7
Complete audiobook →Greek source
Λέγει μοι· Ἁπλότητα ἔχε καὶ ἄκακος γίνου καὶ ἔσῃ ὡς τὰ νήπια τὰ μὴ γινώσκοντα τὴν πονηρίαν τὴν ἀπολλύουσαν τὴν ζωὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
Translation
He said to me, “Be simple-hearted and free from malice, and you will be like little children who do not know the wickedness that destroys human life.
Greek source
πρῶτον μὲν μηδενὸς καταλάλει, μηδὲ ἡδέως ἄκουε καταλαλοῦντος· εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ σὺ ὁ ἀκούων ἔνοχος ἔσῃ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ καταλαλοῦντος, ἐὰν πιστεύσῃς τῇ καταλαλιᾷ ᾗ ἂν ἀκούσῃς· πιστεύσας γὰρ καὶ σὺ αὐτὸς ἕξεις κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου. οὕτως οὖν ἔνοχος ἔσῃ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ καταλαλοῦντος.
Translation
“First, speak ill of no one, and do not take pleasure in listening to someone speaking ill of others. Otherwise, you who listen will share in the speaker's sin if you believe the slander you hear. For once you believe it, you too will hold something against your brother or sister. In this way you will share in the slanderer's sin.
Greek source
πονηρὰ ἡ καταλαλιά· ἀκατάστατον δαιμόνιόν ἐστιν, μηδέποτε εἰρηνεῦον, ἀλλὰ πάντοτε ἐν διχοστασίαις κατοικοῦν. ἀπέχου οὖν ἀπ’
Translation
“Slander is wicked. It is a restless demon, never at peace but always dwelling amid divisions. So keep away
Greek source
αὐτοῦ, καὶ εὐθηνίαν πάντοτε ἕξεις μετὰ πάντων. ἔνδυσαι δὲ τὴν σεμνότητα, ἐν ᾗ οὐδὲν πρόσκομμά ἐστιν πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ πάντα ὁμαλὰ καὶ ἱλαρά. ἐργάζου τὸ ἀγαθόν, καὶ ἐκ τῶν κόπων σου, ὧν ὁ θεὸς δίδωσίν σοι, πᾶσιν ὑστερουμένοις δίδου ἁπλῶς, μὴ διστάζων τίνι δῷς ἢ τίνι μὴ δῷς. πᾶσιν δίδου· πᾶσιν γὰρ ὁ θεὸς δίδοσθαι θέλει ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων δωρημάτων.
Translation
“from it, and you will always enjoy well-being with everyone. Put on reverence, in which there is no wicked stumbling block, but everything is smooth and cheerful. Do good. From the fruits of your labour, which God gives you, give generously and without reservation to everyone in need. Do not hesitate over whom to give to and whom not to give to. Give to everyone, for God wants everyone to receive from his own gifts.
Greek source
οἱ οὖν λαμβάνοντες ἀποδώσουσιν λόγον τῷ θεῷ, διατί ἔλαβον καὶ εἰς τί· οἱ μὲν γὰρ λαμβάνοντες θλιβόμενοι οὐ δικασθήσονται, οἱ δὲ ἐν ὑποκρίσει λαμβάνοντες τίσουσιν δίκην.
Translation
“Those who receive will give God an account of why they received and for what purpose. Those who receive because they are in distress will not be condemned, but those who receive under false pretences will pay the penalty.
Greek source
ὁ οὖν διδοὺς ἀθῷός ἐστιν· ὡς γὰρ ἔλαβεν παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου τὴν διακονίαν τελέσαι, ἁπλῶς αὐτὴν ἐτέλεσεν μηθὲν διακρίνων τίνι δῷ ἢ μὴ δῷ. ἐγένετο οὖν ἡ διακονία αὕτη ἁπλῶς τελεσθεῖσα ἔνδοξος παρὰ τῷ θεῷ.
Translation
“The giver is innocent. Having received from the Lord a service to perform, the giver performed it without reservation, making no distinction about whom to give to or whom not to give to. This service, carried out in simplicity, became glorious in God's sight.
Greek source
ὁ οὖν οὕτως ἁπλῶς διακονῶν τῷ θεῷ ζήσεται. φύλασσε οὖν τὴν ἐντολὴν ταύτην, ὥς σοι λελάληκα, ἵνα ἡ μετάνοιά σου καὶ ἡ τοῦ οἴκου σου ἐν ἁπλότητι εὑρεθῇ καὶ καθαρὰ καὶ ἄκακος καὶ ἀμίαντος.
Translation
“So whoever serves in this simple-hearted way will live for God. Keep this commandment as I have told it to you, so that your repentance and that of your household may be found simple-hearted, pure, free from malice, and undefiled.”
Reader’s notes
1. 2.1, 2.4–7
“Simple-hearted” and “without reservation” convey ἁπλότης and ἁπλῶς in their different contexts: undivided intention, sincerity, and generosity without discrimination. These are related senses, not a rule that every occurrence must have one English equivalent. The giver's responsibility and the recipient's accountability in 2.5 remain distinct.
2. 2.3–4
The master divides a sentence after ἀπ’, “away from.” The English sentence therefore continues across the two ID headings. This is a source boundary, not missing text.
About this edition
English translation v02. Greek source v01: Molly Whittaker, second revised edition, 1967; Patristic Text Archive (2018), Annette von Stockhausen — conversion to CTS-compliant PTA TEI and markup of places and persons. Technical derivative: Stromata Editions, 2026-09-29. Fixed version ef861ab3.
Dotted underlining marks editorial supplied spans in the selected source and the corresponding translation, including partial spans. The sign alone does not establish the intervention’s nature or necessarily indicate a conjecture. Original square brackets are preserved.
Latin ending: the ancient Vulgata edited by Adolphus Hilgenfeld, Hermae Pastor (Leipzig, 1873), pp. 155–164; project source HER-ENDING-SOURCE-v01. Hilgenfeld took the insertion in Sim. 10.2.4 from the Palatina and added habet himself. The Greek digital source’s license does not automatically cover the Latin edition or the translations.
The translation is a reviewed working version following an AI editorial pass; human philological review is not claimed.
The reproduced Greek source and its technical derivative: CC BY-SA 4.0. Whitespace adapted for reading; words and diacritics preserved. Attribution does not imply endorsement of Stromata by PTA contributors.
Vulgata · Hilgenfeld 1873 · StromataPTA · ef861ab3CC BY-SA 4.0
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