Epistle of Barnabas 16.4

Anonymous · Epistle of Barnabas · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · place unknown · Read in context

Traditional ascription rejected: The letter names no author. From Clement of Alexandria (late second century) onward it was ascribed to Barnabas, Paul's companion (Acts 4:36), but its date and its hostility to Jewish practice make that unlikely; modern scholars treat it as anonymous.

Summary: The temple destroyed by enemies will be rebuilt by their servants.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:396

γίνεται, διὰ γὰρ τὸ πολεμεῖν αὐτοὺς καθῃρέθη ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν· νῦν καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑπηρέται ἀνοικοδομήσουσιν αὐτόν.

English · Claude translation

It is happening. For because they went to war it was torn down by their enemies; now the very servants of their enemies will build it up again.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:396 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 340–407 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text: As printed in Lake, LCL 24. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Notes

Translation notes

This refers to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans in AD 70. The rebuilding may refer to Hadrian's plan (ca. 130) to build a pagan temple on the site, which would date the letter to about that time; the reference is disputed.
Or: “now they themselves, as servants of their enemies, will rebuild it.” The manuscripts differ here, and the reading affects the letter's date: either the Jews hoped to rebuild the temple with Roman permission, or the Romans would build their own temple on the site.

Cite this passage

Barn. 16.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/16/4/).

Plain text

Barn. 16.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/16/4/).

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