Sophia Scriptura

Epistle of Barnabas 19.9

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: Be generous; cherish those who teach you God's word.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:404

μὴ γίνου πρὸς μὲν τὸ λαβεῖν ἐκτείνων τὰς χεῖρας, πρὸς δὲ τὸ δοῦναι συσπῶν. ἀγαπήσεις ὡς κόρην τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ σου πάντα τὸν λαλοῦντά σοι τὸν λόγον κυρίου.

English · Claude translation

Do not be one who stretches out his hands to receive, but draws them back when it comes to giving. You shall love as the apple of your eye everyone who speaks to you the word of the Lord.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:404 · 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; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
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
Extrabiblical texts
  • Sir 4:31 (Sirach) · allusion, medium confidence
Topics
Ethics

Cite this passage

Barn. 19.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/19/9/).

Plain text
Barn. 19.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/19/9/).

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