Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.15.2 (92.2)

Summary: The twelve virgins are Faith, Self-control, Power, Patience, Simplicity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, and Love.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:258

ἡ μὲν πρώτη Πίστις, ἡ δὲ δευτέρα Ἐγκράτεια, ἡ δὲ τρίτη Δύναμις, ἡ δὲ τετάρτη Μακροθυμία· αἱ δὲ ἕτεραι ἀνὰ μέσον τούτων σταθεῖσαι ταῦτα ἔχουσι τὰ ὀνόματα· Ἁπλότης, Ἀκακία, Ἁγνεία, Ἱλαρότης, Ἀλήθεια, Σύνεσις, Ὁμόνοια, Ἀγάπη. ταῦτα τὰ ὀνόματα ὁ φορῶν καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνήσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰσελθεῖν.

English · Claude translation

The first is Faith, the second Self-control, the third Power, the fourth Patience; and the others, stationed between them, have these names: Simplicity, Innocence, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, Love. Whoever bears these names and the name of the Son of God will be able to enter the kingdom of God.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:258 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 138–305 · 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), and from the ancient Latin version where Lake prints it because the Greek is lost (from Sim. 9.30.3); 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)

Scripture

Gal 5:22 · echo, medium confidence
2 Pet 1:5 · echo, low confidence

Topics

Ethics

Cite this passage

Herm. Sim. 9.15.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/15/2/).

Plain text

Herm. Sim. 9.15.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/15/2/).