Stromata Editions · The Shepherd of Hermas
Mandate IV
Man. 4.1.1–4.4.4
Complete audiobook →Chapter 1
Greek source
Ἐντέλλομαί σοι, φησίν, φυλάσσειν τὴν ἁγνείαν, καὶ μὴ ἀναβαινέτω σου ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν περὶ γυναικὸς ἀλλοτρίας ἢ περὶ πορνείας τινος ἢ περὶ τοιούτων τινῶν ὁμοιωμάτων πονηρῶν. τοῦτο γὰρ ποιῶν μεγάλην ἁμαρτίαν ἐργάζῃ. τῆς δὲ σῆς μνημονεύων πάντοτε γυναικὸς οὐδέποτε διαμαρτήσεις.
Translation
“I command you,” he said, “to keep your purity. Do not let thoughts of another woman, of any sexual immorality, or of similar wicked things arise in your heart. By doing this you commit a great sin. But if you always keep your own wife in mind, you will never go astray.
Greek source
ἐὰν γὰρ αὕτη ἡ ἐνθύμησις ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν σου ἀναβῇ, διαμαρτήσεις, καὶ ἐὰν ἕτερα οὕτως πονηρά, ἁμαρτίαν ἐργάζῃ. ἡ γὰρ ἐνθύμησις αὕτη θεοῦ δούλῳ ἁμαρτία μεγάλη ἐστίν· ἐὰν δέ τις ἐργάσηται τὸ ἔργον τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο, θάνατον ἑαυτῷ κατεργάζεται.
Translation
“For if this thought arises in your heart, you will sin; and if other equally wicked thoughts arise, you commit sin. For God's servant, this thought is a great sin. But if someone carries out this wicked deed, they bring death upon themselves.
Greek source
βλέπε οὖν σύ· ἀπέχου ἀπὸ τῆς ἐνθυμήσεως ταύτης· ὅπου γὰρ σεμνότης κατοικεῖ, ἐκεῖ ἀνομία οὐκ ὀφείλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνδρὸς δικαίου.
Translation
“So take care. Keep away from this thought. Where reverence dwells, lawlessness ought not to arise in a righteous man's heart.”
Greek source
λέγω αὐτῷ· Κύριε, ἐπίτρεψόν μοι ὀλίγα ἐπερωτῆσαί σε. Λέγε, φησίν. Κύριε, φημί, εἰ γυναῖκα ἔχῃ τις πιστὴν ἐν κυρίῳ καὶ ταύτην εὕρῃ ἐν μοιχείᾳ τινί, ἆρα ἁμαρτάνει ὁ ἀνὴρ συνζῶν μετ’ αὐτῆς;
Translation
I said to him, “Sir, allow me to ask you a few questions.” “Speak,” he said. “Sir,” I said, “if a man has a wife who believes in the Lord and discovers her committing adultery, does he sin by continuing to live with her?”
Greek source
Ἄχρι τῆς ἀγνοίας, φησίν, οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· ἐὰν δὲ γνοῖ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν αὐτῆς, καὶ μὴ μετανοήσῃ ἡ γυνή, ἀλλ’ ἐπιμένῃ τῇ πορνείᾳ αὐτῆς, καὶ συνζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ μετ’ αὐτῆς, ἔνοχος γίνεται τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῆς καὶ κοινωνὸς τῆς μοιχείας αὐτῆς.
Translation
“As long as he does not know,” he said, “he does not sin. But if the husband knows of her sin, and the wife does not repent but persists in her sexual immorality, then, if he continues to live with her, he becomes guilty of her sin and shares in her adultery.”
Greek source
Τί οὖν, φημί, κύριε, ποιήσῃ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃ τῷ πάθει τούτῳ ἡ γυνή; Ἀπολυσάτω, φησίν, αὐτήν, καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ μενέτω· ἐὰν δὲ ἀπολύσας τὴν γυναῖκα ἑτέραν γαμήσῃ, καὶ αὐτὸς μοιχᾶται.
Translation
“What, then, sir, should the husband do if the wife persists in this passion?” I asked. “Let him send her away,” he said, “and let him remain on his own. But if he sends his wife away and marries another, he too commits adultery.”
Greek source
Ἐὰν οὖν, φημί, κύριε, μετὰ τὸ ἀπολυθῆναι τὴν γυναῖκα μετανοήσῃ ἡ γυνὴ καὶ θελήσῃ ἐπὶ τὸν ἑαυτῆς ἄνδρα ὑποστρέψαι, οὐ παραδεχθήσεται;
Translation
“Then, sir,” I said, “if the wife repents after she has been sent away and wants to return to her own husband, will she not be accepted?”
Greek source
Καὶ μήν, φησίν, ἐὰν μὴ παραδέξηται αὐτὴν ὁ ἀνήρ, ἁμαρτάνει καὶ μεγάλην ἁμαρτίαν ἑαυτῷ ἐπισπᾶται, ἀλλὰ δεῖ παραδεχθῆναι τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα καὶ μετανοοῦντα· μὴ ἐπὶ πολὺ δέ· τοῖς γὰρ δούλοις τοῦ θεοῦ μετάνοιά ἐστιν μία. διὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν οὖν οὐκ ὀφείλει γαμεῖν ὁ ἀνήρ.
Translation
“Indeed,” he said, “if her husband does not accept her, he sins and brings a great sin upon himself. The one who has sinned and repents must be accepted—but not repeatedly, for God's servants have one repentance. It is for the sake of repentance, then, that the husband ought not to marry.
Greek source
αὕτη ἡ πρᾶξις ἐπὶ γυναικὶ καὶ ἀνδρὶ κεῖται. οὐ μόνον, φησίν, μοιχεία ἐστίν, ἐάν τις τὴν σάρκα αὐτοῦ μιάνῃ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὃς ἂν τὰ ὁμοιώματα ποιῇ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, μοιχᾶται. ὥστε καὶ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις ἔργοις ἐὰν ἐμμένῃ τις καὶ μὴ μετανοῇ, ἀπέχου ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ συνζῆθι αὐτῷ·
Translation
“This rule applies to both wife and husband. Adultery does not consist only in defiling one's flesh,” he said. “Whoever does what the nations do also commits adultery. So if someone persists in such deeds and does not repent, keep away from that person and do not live with them.
Greek source
εἰ δὲ μή, καὶ σὺ μέτοχος εἶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο προσετάγη ὑμῖν ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῖς μένειν, εἴτε ἀνὴρ εἴτε γυνή· δύναται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις μετάνοια εἶναι.
Translation
“Otherwise, you too share in their sin. That is why you have been commanded to remain on your own, whether husband or wife: repentance is possible in such cases.
Greek source
ἐγὼ οὖν, φησίν, οὐ δίδωμι ἀφορμὴν ἵνα αὕτη ἡ πρᾶξις οὕτως συντελῆται, ἀλλὰ εἰς τὸ μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνειν τὸν ἡμαρτηκότα. περὶ δὲ τῆς προτέρας ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ ἔστιν ὁ δυνάμενος ἴασιν δοῦναι· αὐτὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ ἔχων πάντων τὴν ἐξουσίαν.
Translation
“I am not,” he said, “giving an excuse for acting in this way, but seeking that the one who has sinned should sin no longer. As for that person's earlier sin, there is one who can grant healing, for he is the one who has authority over everything.”
Chapter 2
Greek source
Ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν πάλιν λέγων· Ἐπεὶ ὁ κύριος ἄξιόν με ἡγήσατο ἵνα μετ’ ἐμοῦ πάντοτε κατοικῇς, ὀλίγα μου ῥήματα ἔτι ἀνάσχου, ἐπεὶ οὐ συνίω οὐδέν, καὶ ἡ καρδία μου πεπώρωται ἀπὸ τῶν προτέρων μου πράξεων· συνέτισόν με, ὅτι λίαν ἄφρων εἰμὶ καὶ ὅλως οὐθὲν νοῶ.
Translation
I asked him again, “Since the Lord has considered me worthy of your always dwelling with me, bear with a few more words from me. I understand nothing, and my heart has been hardened by my earlier deeds. Give me understanding, for I am very foolish and grasp nothing at all.”
Greek source
ἀποκριθείς μοι λέγει· Ἐγώ, φησίν, ἐπὶ τῆς μετανοίας εἰμὶ καὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς μετανοοῦσιν σύνεσιν δίδωμι. ἢ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι, φησίν, αὐτὸ τοῦτο τὸ μετανοῆσαι σύνεσιν εἶναι; τὸ μετανοῆσαι, φησίν, σύνεσίς ἐστιν μεγάλη. συνίει γὰρ ὁ ἁμαρτήσας ὅτι πεποίηκεν τὸ πονηρὸν ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἀναβαίνει ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ ἡ πρᾶξις ἣν ἔπραξεν, καὶ μετανοεῖ καὶ οὐκέτι ἐργάζεται τὸ πονηρόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν πολυτελῶς ἐργάζεται, καὶ ταπεινοῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν καὶ βασανίζει, ὅτι ἥμαρτεν.
Translation
He answered me, “I am in charge of repentance, and I give understanding to all who repent. Do you not think,” he said, “that repentance itself is understanding? Repentance is great understanding. For the person who has sinned understands that they have done evil before the Lord. Their deed comes into their heart, and they repent. They no longer do evil, but do good abundantly. They humble their own soul and torment it because they have sinned.
Greek source
βλέπεις οὖν ὅτι ἡ μετάνοια σύνεσίς ἐστιν μεγάλη, Διὰ τοῦτο οὖν, φημί, κύριε, ἐξακριβάζομαι παρὰ σοῦ πάντα· πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι ἁμαρτωλός εἰμι, ἵνα γνῶ ποῖα ἔργα ἐργαζόμενος ζήσομαι, ὅτι πολλαί μού εἰσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι καὶ ποικίλαι.
Translation
“So you see that repentance is great understanding.” “That is why, sir,” I said, “I inquire so closely into everything with you. First of all, I am a sinner, and I want to know what deeds I must do to live, because my sins are many and varied.”
Greek source
Ζήσῃ, φησίν, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου φυλάξῃς καὶ πορευθῇς ἐν αὐταῖς· καὶ ὃς ἂν ἀκούσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας φυλάξῃ, ζήσεται τῷ θεῷ.
Translation
“You will live,” he said, “if you keep my commandments and live by them. Whoever hears these commandments and keeps them will live for God.”
Chapter 3
Greek source
Ἔτι, φημί, κύριε, προσθήσω τοῦ ἐπερωτῆσαι. Λέγε, φησίν. Ἤκουσα, φημί, κύριε, παρά τινων διδασκάλων, ὅτι ἑτέρα μετάνοια οὐκ ἔστιν εἰ μὴ ἐκείνη, ὅτε εἰς ὕδωρ κατέβημεν καὶ ἐλάβομεν ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν τῶν προτέρων.
Translation
“Sir,” I said, “I will ask one more question.” “Speak,” he said. “Sir,” I said, “I have heard from some teachers that there is no other repentance except the one at the time we went down into the water and received forgiveness of our earlier sins.”
Greek source
λέγει μοι· Καλῶς ἤκουσας· οὕτω γὰρ ἔχει. ἔδει γὰρ τὸν εἰληφότα ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν μηκέτι ἁμαρτάνειν, ἀλλ’ ἐν ἁγνείᾳ κατοικεῖν.
Translation
He said, “What you heard is right, for that is how it is. Someone who has received forgiveness of sins ought to sin no more, but to dwell in purity.
Greek source
ἐπεὶ δὲ πάντα ἐξακριβάζῃ, καὶ τοῦτό σοι δηλώσω, μὴ διδοὺς ἀφορμὴν τοῖς μέλλουσι πιστεύειν ἢ τοῖς νῦν πιστεύσασιν εἰς τὸν κύριον. οἱ γὰρ νῦν πιστεύσαντες ἢ μέλλοντες πιστεύειν μετάνοιαν ἁμαρτιῶν οὐκ ἔχουσιν, ἄφεσιν δὲ ἔχουσι τῶν προτέρων ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν.
Translation
“But since you inquire so closely into everything, I will explain this to you too, without giving an excuse to those who are going to believe or have just believed in the Lord. Those who have just believed or are going to believe do not have repentance for sins, but they do have forgiveness of their earlier sins.
Greek source
τοῖς οὖν κληθεῖσι πρὸ τούτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἔθηκεν ὁ κύριος μετάνοιαν. καρδιογνώστης γὰρ ὢν ὁ κύριος καὶ πάντα προγινώσκων ἔγνω τὴν ἀσθένειαν τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τὴν πολυπλοκίαν τοῦ διαβόλου, ὅτι ποιήσει τι κακὸν τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πονηρεύσεται εἰς αὐτούς.
Translation
“For those called before these days, then, the Lord has established repentance. The Lord knows hearts and foreknows everything. He knew human weakness and the devil's intricate schemes: that the devil would do harm to God's servants and act wickedly against them.
Greek source
πολύσπλαγχνος οὖν [ὢν] ὁ κύριος ἐσπλαγχνίσθη ἐπὶ τὴν ποίησιν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔθηκεν τὴν μετάνοιαν ταύτην, καὶ ἐμοὶ ἡ ἐξουσία τῆς μετανοίας ταύτης ἐδόθη.
Translation
“The Lord, [being] so compassionate, had compassion on what he had made and established this repentance. Authority over this repentance was given to me.
Greek source
ἀλλὰ ἐγώ σοι λέγω, φησί· μετὰ τὴν κλῆσιν ἐκείνην τὴν μεγάλην καὶ σεμνὴν ἐάν τις ἐκπειρασθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου ἁμαρτήσῃ, μίαν μετάνοιαν ἔχει· ἐὰν δὲ ὑπὸ χεῖρα ἁμαρτάνῃ καὶ μετανοήσῃ, ἀσύμφορόν ἐστι τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τοιούτῳ· δυσκόλως γὰρ ζήσεται.
Translation
“But I tell you,” he said, “if someone sins after that great and reverent calling, having been tempted by the devil, they have one repentance. But if they repeatedly sin and repent, it does such a person no good, for they will gain life only with difficulty.”
Greek source
λέγω αὐτῷ· Ἐζωοποιήθην ταῦτα παρὰ σοῦ ἀκούσας οὕτως ἀκριβῶς· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι, ἐὰν μηκέτι προσθήσω ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις μου, σωθήσομαι. Σωθήσῃ, φησίν, καὶ πάντες ὅσοι ἐὰν ταῦτα ποιήσωσιν.
Translation
I said to him, “Hearing this explained so precisely by you has brought me to life. I know that if I no longer add to my sins, I will be saved.” “You will be saved,” he said, “and so will all who do these things.”
Chapter 4
Greek source
Ἠρώτησα αὐτὸν πάλιν λέγων· Κύριε, ἐπεὶ ἅπαξ ἀνέχῃ μου, ἔτι μοι καὶ τοῦτο δήλωσον. Λέγε, φησίν. Ἐὰν γυνή, φημί, κύριε, ἢ πάλιν ἀνήρ τις κοιμηθῇ καὶ γαμήσῃ τις ἐξ αὐτῶν, μήτι ἁμαρτάνει ὁ γαμῶν;
Translation
I asked him again, “Sir, since you are willing to bear with me, explain this too.” “Speak,” he said. “Sir,” I said, “if a wife or husband falls asleep, and the other marries, does the one who marries sin?”
Greek source
Οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει, φησίν· ἐὰν δὲ ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ μείνῃ τις, περισσοτέραν ἑαυτῷ τιμὴν καὶ μεγάλην δόξαν περιποιεῖται πρὸς τὸν κύριον· ἐὰν δὲ καὶ γαμήσῃ, οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει.
Translation
“They do not sin,” he said. “But if someone remains on their own, they gain greater honour and great glory for themselves before the Lord. Yet even if they marry, they do not sin.
Greek source
τήρει οὖν τὴν ἁγνείαν καὶ τὴν σεμνότητα, καὶ ζήσῃ τῷ θεῷ ταῦτά σοι ὅσα λαλῶ ἢ καὶ μέλλω λαλεῖν, φύλασσε ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν, ἀφ’ ἧς μοι παρεδόθης ἡμέρας, καὶ εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου κατοικήσω.
Translation
“So keep your purity and reverence, and you will live for God. Keep everything I tell you or am going to tell you from now on, from the day you were entrusted to me, and I will dwell in your household.
Greek source
τοῖς δὲ προτέροις σου παραπτώμασιν ἄφεσις ἔσται, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου φυλάξῃς. καὶ πᾶσι δὲ ἄφεσις ἔσται, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολάς μου ταύτας φυλάξωσι καὶ πορευθῶσιν ἐν τῇ ἁγνότητι ταύτῃ.
Translation
“Your earlier offences will be forgiven if you keep my commandments. Everyone will also receive forgiveness if they keep these commandments of mine and live in this purity.”
Reader’s notes
1. 4.1.1–10
“Another woman,” the husband's sending his wife away, and his obligation to receive her if she repents preserve the relationships stated in the Greek. They are not expressed as provisions of a modern civil divorce system. The application to men and women in 4.1.9–10 is explicit. Remarriage after a spouse's death in 4.4 is a different case and remains so.
2. 4.1.8; 4.3.3–6
The restriction on repeated repentance and the distinction between those already called and those newly coming to faith are not harmonized with later teaching. Δυσκόλως ζήσεται in 4.3.6 means gaining life with difficulty; it is not an absolute declaration that life is impossible. The supplied participle in 4.3.5 remains marked.
3. 4.1.9 — open question
Τὰ ὁμοιώματα ποιῇ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν is rendered “does what the nations do,” taking it to refer to analogous conduct. The wording also raises a question about ὁμοιώματα as likenesses or images and a possible reference to idolatrous images. The translation does not introduce an explicit idol-making offence without resolving that lexical and syntactic question. This reading remains an open interpretative question against the printed edition and apparatus.
4. 4.2.2
The soul's being humbled and afflicted is part of the author's account of repentance. No modern therapeutic explanation has been added.
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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