Epistle of Barnabas 19.4

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.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:402

οὐ πορνεύσεις, οὐ μοιχεύσεις, οὐ παιδοφθορήσεις. οὐ μή σου ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ ἐξέλθῃ ἐν ἀκαθαρσίᾳ τινῶν. οὐ λήμψῃ πρόσωπον ἐλέγξαι τινὰ ἐπὶ παραπτώματι. ἔσῃ πραΰς, ἔσῃ ἡσύχιος, ἔσῃ τρέμων τοὺς λόγους οὓς ἤκουσας. οὐ μνησικακήσεις τῷ ἀδελφῷ σου.

English · Claude translation

You shall not commit sexual immorality; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not corrupt boys. The word of God shall never go out from you among any who are impure. You shall not show partiality in rebuking anyone for a transgression. You shall be gentle; you shall be quiet; you shall tremble at the words you have heard. You shall not bear a grudge against your brother.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 24:402 · 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)

Scripture

Exod 20:14 · echo, medium confidence
Isa 66:2 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

“Corrupt boys” (παιδοφθορήσεις): sexually abuse boys; compare Did. 2.2.
“Among any who are impure”: the sense is uncertain; perhaps “do not speak God's word with impure lips.”

Cite this passage

Barn. 19.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/19/4/).

Plain text

Barn. 19.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/19/4/).