Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4.2.5 (23.5)

Summary: The beast is a type of the coming great tribulation; repentance and trust will bring escape.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:64

ὕπαγε οὖν καὶ ἐξήγησαι τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς τοῦ κυρίου τὰ μεγαλεῖα αὐτοῦ καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς, ὅτι τὸ θηρίον τοῦτο τύπος ἐστὶν θλίψεως τῆς μελλούσης τῆς μεγάλης· ἐὰν οὖν προετοιμάσησθε καὶ μετανοήσητε ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν κύριον, δυνήσεσθε ἐκφυγεῖν αὐτήν, ἐὰν ἡ καρδία ὑμῶν γένηται καθαρὰ καὶ ἄμωμος καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς τῆς ζωῆς ἡμέρας ὑμῶν δουλεύσητε τῷ κυρίῳ ἀμέμπτως. ἐπιρίψατε τὰς μερίμνας ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς κατορθώσει αὐτάς.

English · Claude translation

Go, then, and tell the Lord's elect his great deeds, and tell them that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is coming. If, then, you prepare yourselves beforehand and repent to the Lord with all your heart, you will be able to escape it, if your heart becomes pure and blameless, and you serve the Lord blamelessly for the rest of the days of your life. Cast your cares upon the Lord, and he will set them right.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:64 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 6–71 · 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)

Scripture

Ps 55:22 (54:23 LXX) · allusion, medium confidence
1 Pet 5:7 · allusion, medium confidence

Topics

Eschatology, Persecution

Cite this passage

Herm. Vis. 4.2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/4/2/5/).

Plain text

Herm. Vis. 4.2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/4/2/5/).