Stromata Editions · The Shepherd of Hermas
Vision V
Vis. 5.1–5.7
Complete audiobook →Greek source
Προσευξαμένου μου ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ καὶ καθίσαντος εἰς τὴν κλίνην εἰσῆλθεν ἀνήρ τις ἔνδοξος τῇ ὄψει, σχήματι ποιμενικῷ, περικείμενος δέρμα αἴγειον λευκόν, καὶ πήραν ἔχων ἐπὶ τὸν ὦμον καὶ ῥάβδον εἰς τὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἠσπάσατό με, κἀγὼ ἀντησπασάμην αὐτόν.
Translation
After I had prayed at home and sat down on the bed, a man of glorious appearance entered, dressed as a shepherd. He wore a white goatskin, carried a bag on his shoulder, and held a staff in his hand. He greeted me, and I returned his greeting.
Greek source
καὶ εὐθὺς παρεκάθισέν μοι καὶ λέγει μοι· Ἀπεστάλην ἀπὸ τοῦ σεμνοτάτου ἀγγέλου, ἵνα μετὰ σοῦ οἰκήσω τὰς λοιπὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου.
Translation
At once he sat beside me and said, “I was sent by the most venerable angel to live with you for the remaining days of your life.”
Greek source
ἔδοξα ἐγὼ ὅτι πάρεστιν ἐκπειράζων με, καὶ λέγω αὐτῷ· Σὺ γὰρ τίς εἶ; ἐγὼ γάρ, φημί, γινώσκω ᾧ παρεδόθην. λέγει μοι· Οὐκ ἐπιγινώσκεις με; Οὔ, φημί. Ἐγώ, φησίν, εἰμὶ ὁ ποιμὴν ᾧ παρεδόθης.
Translation
I thought he had come to test me, and I said to him, “Who are you? I know the one to whom I was entrusted.” He said, “Do you not recognize me?” “No,” I said. “I am the shepherd to whom you were entrusted,” he said.
Greek source
ἔτι λαλοῦντος αὐτοῦ ἠλλοιώθη ἡ ἰδέα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐπέγνων αὐτόν, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ἦν, ᾧ παρεδόθην, καὶ εὐθὺς συνεχύθην, καὶ φόβος με ἔλαβεν, καὶ ὅλος συνεκόπην ἀπὸ τῆς λύπης, ὅτι οὕτως αὐτῷ ἀπεκρίθην πονηρῶς καὶ ἀφρόνως.
Translation
While he was still speaking, his appearance changed. I recognized him as the one to whom I had been entrusted. At once I was dismayed and overcome with fear, crushed with grief because I had answered him so wickedly and foolishly.
Greek source
ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθείς μοι λέγει· Μὴ συνχύννου, ἀλλὰ ἰσχυροποιοῦ ἐν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς μου, αἷς σοι μέλλω ἐντέλλεσθαι. ἀπεστάλην γάρ, φησίν, ἵνα ἃ εἶδες πρότερον πάντα σοι πάλιν δείξω, αὐτὰ τὰ κεφάλαια τὰ ὄντα ὑμῖν σύμφορα. πρῶτον πάντων τὰς ἐντολάς μου γράψον καὶ τὰς παραβολάς· τὰ δὲ ἕτερα καθώς σοι δείξω οὕτως γράψεις· διὰ τοῦτο, φησίν, ἐντέλλομαί σοι πρῶτον γράψαι τὰς ἐντολὰς καὶ παραβολάς, ἵνα ὑπὸ χεῖρα ἀναγινώσκῃς αὐτὰς καὶ δυνηθῇς φυλάξαι αὐτάς.
Translation
He answered me, “Do not be dismayed. Instead, grow strong in the commandments I am about to give you. I was sent,” he said, “to show you again everything you saw before—the main points that are beneficial to you. First of all, write down my commandments and parables. As for the other things, write them down as I show them to you. That is why,” he said, “I command you to write the commandments and parables first, so that you may read them regularly and be able to keep them.”
Greek source
ἔγραψα οὖν τὰς ἐντολὰς καὶ παραβολάς, καθὼς ἐνετείλατό μοι.
Translation
So I wrote down the commandments and parables as he had commanded me.
Greek source
ἐὰν οὖν ἀκούσαντες αὐτὰς φυλάξητε καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς πορευθῆτε καὶ ἐργάσησθε αὐτὰς ἐν καθαρᾷ καρδίᾳ, ἀπολήμψεσθε ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ὅσα ἐπηγγείλατο ὑμῖν· ἐὰν δὲ ἀκούσαντες μὴ μετανοήσητε, ἀλλ’ ἔτι προσθῆτε ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ὑμῶν, ἀπολήμψεσθε παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου τὰ ἐναντία. ταῦτά μοι πάντα οὕτως γράψαι ὁ ποιμὴν ἐνετείλατο, ὁ ἄγγελος τῆς μετανοίας.
Translation
If you hear them, keep them, live by them, and carry them out with a pure heart, you will receive from the Lord everything he promised you. But if you hear them and do not repent, but instead add to your sins, you will receive the opposite from the Lord. The shepherd, the angel of repentance, commanded me to write all these things in this way.
Reader’s notes
1. 5.1–7
The shepherd is explicitly identified at the end as the angel of repentance. The “most venerable angel” who sent him is not identified further in this block. The source calls this section “Revelation Five,” while its established ID remains VIS05.
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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