Sophia Scriptura

Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 5.1.3 (33.3)

Hermas · Shepherd of Hermas: Mandates · ca. 100–150 · Rome · Read in context

Summary: Bad temper crowds out the delicate Holy Spirit.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:86–88

ἐὰν δὲ ὀξυχολία τις προσέλθῃ, εὐθὺς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, τρυφερὸν ὄν, στενοχωρεῖται, μὴ ἔχον τὸν τόπον καθαρόν, καὶ ζητεῖ ἀποστῆναι ἐκ τοῦ τόπου· πνίγεται γὰρ ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ πνεύματος, μὴ ἔχον τόπον λειτουργῆσαι τῷ κυρίῳ, καθὼς βούλεται, μιαινόμενον ὑπὸ τῆς ὀξυχολίας. ἐν γὰρ τῇ μακροθυμίᾳ ὁ κύριος κατοικεῖ, ἐν δὲ τῇ ὀξυχολίᾳ ὁ διάβολος.

English · Claude translation

But if some bad temper comes in, immediately the Holy Spirit, being delicate, is distressed, not having a clean place, and seeks to leave the place; for it is choked by the evil spirit, having no room to serve the Lord as it wishes, being defiled by the bad temper. For the Lord dwells in patience, but the devil in bad temper.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 25:86–88 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 70–137 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), 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 25. 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 25, 1913); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Bad temper” (ὀξυχολία): literally “sharp bile,” quick anger.

Cite this passage

Herm. Mand. 5.1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/5/1/3/).

Plain text
Herm. Mand. 5.1.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/5/1/3/).

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