Stromata Editions · The Shepherd of Hermas
Similitude X
Sim. 10.1.1–10.4.5
Complete audiobook →Chapter 1
Latin source
Postquam perscripseram librum hunc, venit nuncius ille, qui me tradiderat huic pastori, in domo, in qua eram, et consedit super lectum, et astitit ad dexteram hic pastor. deinde vocavit me et haec mihi dixit:
Translation
After I had finished writing this book, that messenger who had handed me over to this shepherd came into the house where I was. He sat on the couch, and this shepherd stood at his right. Then he called me and said these things to me:
Latin source
Tradidi te, inquit, et domum tuam huic pastori, ut ab eo protegi possis. Ita, inquam, domine. Si vis ergo, inquit, protegi ab omni vexatione et ab omni saevitia, successum autem habere in omni opere bono atque verbo et omnem virtutem aequitatis, in mandatis istis ingredere, quae dedit tibi, et poteris dominari omni nequitiae.
Translation
“I entrusted you and your household to this shepherd,” he said, “so that you might be protected by him.” “Yes, sir,” I said. “If you want,” he said, “to be protected from every harassment and every cruelty, to succeed in every good deed and word, and to have every virtue of righteousness, live by these commandments he gave you. Then you will be able to master every wickedness.
Latin source
custodienti enim tibi mandata haec subiecta erit tibi omnis cupiditas et dulcedo huius seculi, successus vero in omni bono negotio te sequetur. maturitatem huius et modestiam suscipe in te et dic omnibus, in magno honore esse eum et dignitate apud dominum et magnae potestatis eum praesidem esse et potentem in officio suo. huic soli per totum orbem poenitentiae potestas tributa est. potestasne videtur tibi esse? sed vos maturitatem huius et verecundiam, quam in vos habet, despicitis.
Translation
“If you keep these commandments, every desire and sweetness of this age will be subject to you, and success will follow you in every good undertaking. Take his gravity and gentleness into yourself. Tell everyone that he has great honour and dignity before the Lord, that he presides over great authority and is powerful in his office. He alone has been granted authority over repentance throughout the world. Does this seem to you to be authority? Yet you despise his gravity and the restraint he shows toward you.”
Chapter 2
Latin source
dico ei: Interroga ipsum, domine, ex quo in domo mea est, anne aliquid extra ordinem fecerim, ex quo eum offenderim.
Translation
I said to him, “Ask him himself, sir, whether, since he has been in my household, I have done anything out of order that offended him.”
Latin source
Et ego, inquit, scio nihil extra ordinem fecisse te neque facturum. et ideo loquor tecum, ut perseveres, bene enim de te hic apud me existimavit. tu autem ceteris haec verba dices, ut et illi, qui egerunt aut acturi sunt poenitentiam, eadem quae tu sentiant, et hic apud me bene de his interpretetur, et ego apud dominum.
Translation
“I too know,” he said, “that you have done nothing out of order and will not do so. That is why I speak with you: so that you may persevere. For he has given me a good account of you. But tell these words to the others, so that those who have repented or are going to repent may have the same disposition as you. Then he may speak well of them to me, and I to the Lord.”
Latin source
Et ego, inquam, omni homini indico magnalia domini, spero autem, omnes, qui iam ante peccaverunt et haec audient, quod libenter sunt acturi poenitentiam vitam recuperantes.
Translation
“I too,” I said, “tell everyone of the Lord's mighty deeds. I hope that all who sinned before and hear these things will gladly repent and recover life.”
Latin source
Permane ergo, inquit, in hoc ministerio et consumma illud. quicunque autem huius mandata faciunt, habebunt vitam, et hic apud dominum magnum honorem. quicunque vero huius mandata non servant, fugant a se vitam et aversantur illum, [hic autem apud deum suum habet honorem suum. quicunque ergo contemnunt eum] nec mandata eius sequuntur, morti se tradunt, et unusquisque eorum reus erit sanguinis sui. tibi autem dico, ut servias mandatis his, et remedium peccatorum habebis.
**Примечание к основе:** квадратные скобки — дополнение Hilgenfeld из Palatina с его собственным добавлением глагола; см. раздел 5.
Translation
“So persevere in this service,” he said, “and complete it. Everyone who carries out his commandments will have life, and he will have great honour before the Lord. But those who do not observe his commandments drive life away from themselves and turn away from him, [yet he has his honour before his God. So those who despise him] and do not follow his commandments hand themselves over to death. Each will be responsible for their own blood. But I tell you to serve these commandments, and you will have a remedy for your sins.
Chapter 3
Latin source
misi autem tibi has virgines, ut habitent tecum. vidi enim eas affabiles tibi esse. habes ergo eas adiutrices, quo magis possis huius mandata servare; non potest enim fieri, ut sine his virginibus haec mandata serventur. video autem eas libenter esse tecum, sed ego praecipiam eis, ut omnino a domo tua non discedant.
Translation
“I sent you these virgins to live with you, for I saw that they were friendly toward you. You therefore have them as helpers, so that you may be better able to observe his commandments. These commandments cannot be observed without these virgins. I see that they are glad to be with you, but I will direct them not to leave your household at all.
Latin source
tu tantum communda domum tuam; in munda enim domo libenter habitabunt. mundae sunt enim atque castae et industriae et omnes habentes gratiam apud dominum. igitur si habuerint domum tuam puram, tecum permanebunt. si autem pusillum aliquid inquinationis acciderit, protinus a domo tua recedent. hae enim virgines nullam omnino diligunt inquinationem.
Translation
“Only cleanse your household. They will gladly dwell in a clean household. For they are pure and chaste and diligent, and all have favour before the Lord. If they find your household pure, they will remain with you. But if even a little defilement occurs, they will immediately leave your household. For these virgins love no defilement at all.”
Latin source
dico ei: Spero me, domine, placiturum eis, ita ut in domo mea libenter inhabitent semper. et sicut hic, cui me tradidisti, nihil de me queritur, ita neque illae querentur.
Translation
I said to him, “Sir, I hope to please them, so that they may always gladly live in my household. Just as this man to whom you entrusted me has no complaint about me, neither will they.”
Latin source
ait ad pastorem illum: Video, inquit, servum dei velle vivere et custodire haec mandata et virgines has habitatione munda collocaturum.
Translation
He said to that shepherd, “I see that God's servant wants to live, keep these commandments, and provide these virgins with a clean dwelling.”
Latin source
haec cum dixisset, iterum pastori illi me tradidit et vocavit eas virgines et dixit ad eas: Quoniam video vos libenter in domo eius habitare, commendo eum vobis et domum eius, ut a domo eius non recedatis omnino. illae vero libenter haec verba audierunt.
Translation
After saying this, he again entrusted me to that shepherd. He called the virgins and said to them, “Since I see that you gladly live in his household, I entrust him and his household to you. Do not leave his household at all.” They gladly heard these words.
Chapter 4
Latin source
ait deinde mihi: Viriliter in ministerio hoc conversare, omni homini indica magnalia domini, et habebis gratiam in hoc ministerio. quicunque ergo in his mandatis ambulaverit, vivet et felix erit in vita sua; quicunque vero neglexerit, non vivet et erit infelix in vita sua.
Translation
Then he said to me, “Act courageously in this service. Tell everyone of the Lord's mighty deeds, and you will have favour in this service. Everyone who lives by these commandments will live and be blessed in their life. But anyone who neglects them will not live and will be unhappy in their life.
Latin source
dic omnibus, ut non cessent, quicunque recte facere possunt, bona opera exercere utile est illis. dico autem, omnem hominem de incommodis eripi oportere. et is enim qui eget et in quotidiana vita patitur incommoda, in magno tormento est ac necessitate.
Translation
“Tell everyone able to act rightly not to stop. Practising good deeds benefits them. I say that every person ought to be rescued from hardship. A person in need who suffers hardships in daily life is in great torment and distress.
Latin source
quisquis igitur huiusmodi animam eripit de necessitate, magnum gaudium sibi acquirit. is enim, qui huiusmodi vexatur incommodo, pari tormento cruciatur, atque torquet se qui in vinculo est. multi enim propter huiusmodi calamitates, cum eas sufferre non possunt, mortem sibi adducunt. qui novit igitur calamitatem huiusmodi hominis et non eripit eum, magnum peccatum admittit et fit reus sanguinis eius.
Translation
“Anyone who rescues such a soul from distress gains great joy for themselves. A person harassed by hardship like this suffers torment equal to the torment of someone in chains. For many, unable to endure such calamities, bring death upon themselves. Anyone who knows of such a person's calamity and does not rescue them commits a great sin and becomes responsible for that person's blood.
Latin source
facite igitur opera bona, quicunque accepistis a domino, ne, dum tardamini facere, consummetur structura turris. propter vos enim intermissum est opus aedificationis eius. nisi igitur festinaveritis facere recte, consummabitur turris, et excludemini.
Translation
“So do good deeds, all of you who have received from the Lord, lest the tower's construction be completed while you delay doing them. Its building work has been suspended for your sake. Unless you hurry to act rightly, the tower will be completed and you will be shut out.”
Latin source
postquam vero locutus est mecum, surrexit de lecto et apprehenso pastore et virginibus abiit, dicens mihi, remissurum se pastorem illum et virgines in domum meam.
Translation
After speaking with me, he rose from the couch, took the shepherd and the virgins with him, and departed, telling me that he would send that shepherd and the virgins back to my household.
Reader’s notes
1. Latin ending: 9.30.3–10.4.5
These notes use HER-ENDING-SOURCE-v01. During this editorial pass, Hilgenfeld pp. 155, 158–159, 162 and their apparatus, and Tornau–Cecconi pp. 123, 125, 127 were read directly. This is an address-specific check, not verification of the entire printed apparatus. That source transcribes Hilgenfeld 1873, pp. 155–164, and reports an address-specific comparison with Tornau–Cecconi 2014, pp. 123–128. The latter supplies the paragraph grid, not this translation's Latin wording. Palatina is another ancient Latin version, not an additional Vulgata manuscript. Hilgenfeld's borrowings and emendations remain editorial choices even where his main text prints them without brackets. No fragments from the Greek master have been used to fill or replace this Latin block.
↑ Sim. 9.30.3↑ Sim. 9.30.5↑ Sim. 9.31.2↑ Sim. 9.31.3↑ Sim. 9.31.4↑ Sim. 9.31.5↑ Sim. 9.31.6↑ Sim. 9.32.2↑ Sim. 9.32.3↑ Sim. 9.32.4↑ Sim. 9.33.1↑ Sim. 9.33.2↑ Sim. 9.33.3↑ Sim. 10.1.2↑ Sim. 10.1.3↑ Sim. 10.2.2↑ Sim. 10.2.3↑ Sim. 10.2.4↑ Sim. 10.3.1↑ Sim. 10.3.2↑ Sim. 10.3.3↑ Sim. 10.3.4↑ Sim. 10.3.5↑ Sim. 10.4.1↑ Sim. 10.4.2↑ Sim. 10.4.3↑ Sim. 10.4.4↑ Sim. 10.4.52. 10.1.2–3
The shepherd gave the commandments; authority over repentance belongs to that figure, not to Hermas or a modern organization. “Gravity” renders maturitas as mature seriousness; “restraint” renders verecundia in his conduct toward the hearers. “Does this seem to you to be authority?” follows the printed potestasne videtur tibi esse? without replacing its question by a conventional paraphrase from another edition.
3. 10.2.2–3
The shepherd reports to the messenger, who in turn speaks to the Lord. Hermas's expectation that earlier sinners will gladly repent remains a hope about the future. The source reports qui iam ante as emended; the non-classical Latin syntax has been made readable in English without changing those agents or that modality.
4. 10.2.4 — bracketed insertion
The passage beginning “[yet he has his honour …” and ending “… those who despise him]” remains in square brackets. Hilgenfeld supplied it from Palatina, and added the verb habet himself. It is not wording securely transmitted by Vulgata and is not a supplement invented by Stromata. The insertion is absent from the directly read Tornau–Cecconi p. 127. The brackets delimit only this insertion; the rest of the paragraph follows Hilgenfeld's main text. The adjacent aversantur illum is itself an emendation supported by Palatina, rather than the transmitted adversus illum. The responsibility for one's own blood remains distinct from the responsibility for another person's blood in 10.4.3.
5. 10.3.1–5
The virgins remain helpers who require a clean dwelling; their number is not inferred afresh from variant wording. In 10.3.4 “wants to live” follows Hilgenfeld's vivere, reported as an earlier correction of transmitted videre, “to see.” The source reports “see” in the modern main text and discussion of “live” in its apparatus. The Greek fragment's related wording does not turn the paragraph's language of translation into Greek.
6. 10.4.1–3
“Act courageously” renders viriliter, retaining the courage of the ancient masculine idiom without restricting the audience. The source reports a variant to omni homini, “everyone,” but this edition's addressee remains Hermas. The hard comparison atque torquet se qui in vinculo est is rendered as the torment of someone in chains. The reflexive form is not expanded into an unmentioned act of self-injury. The following people who bring death on themselves remain the distressed people unable to endure their calamities; responsibility also falls on a person who knows and does not rescue them. These are the ancient speaker's claims, not modern advice.
7. 10.4.4–5
The building's pause is for the hearers' sake; its completion can shut them out if they delay. The ending promises to send the shepherd and virgins back, following remissurum se. The reported remansurum, involving remaining, is not mixed into it. No “Amen” or manuscript closing formula is added, because neither appears in this edition's main text at this endpoint.
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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