Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 5.1 (25.1)

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

Summary: A glorious man dressed as a shepherd visits Hermas.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:68

Προσευξαμένου μου ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ καὶ καθίσαντος εἰς τὴν κλίνην εἰσῆλθεν ἀνήρ τις ἔνδοξος τῇ ὄψει, σχήματι ποιμενικῷ, περικείμενος δέρμα αἴγειον λευκὸν καὶ πήραν ἔχων ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων καὶ ῥάβδον εἰς τὴν χεῖρα. καὶ ἠσπάσατό με, κἀγὼ ἀντησπασάμην αὐτόν.

English · Claude translation

While I was praying at home and sitting on my bed, a man of glorious appearance came in, dressed like a shepherd, wrapped in a white goatskin, with a bag on his shoulders and a staff in his hand. And he greeted me, and I greeted him in return.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:68 · 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; 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 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)
Topics: Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

The fifth “vision” (called a “revelation” in the manuscripts) introduces the Shepherd, the angel of repentance, who gives Hermas the Mandates and Similitudes.

Cite this passage

Herm. Vis. 5.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/5/1/).

Plain text

Herm. Vis. 5.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-vis/5/1/).

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