Epistle of Barnabas 10.8

Anonymous · Epistle of Barnabas · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · place unknown · Read in context

Summary: The weasel stands for those who commit impure acts with the mouth.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:376

ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν γαλῆν ἐμίσησεν καλῶς. οὐ μή, φησίν, γενηθῇς τοιοῦτος, οἵους ἀκούομεν ἀνομίαν ποιοῦντας ἐν τῷ στόματι διʼ ἀκαθαρσίαν, οὐδὲ κολληθήσῃ ταῖς ἀκαθάρτοις ταῖς τὴν ἀνομίαν ποιούσαις ἐν τῷ στόματι. τὸ γὰρ ζῷον τοῦτο τῷ στόματι κύει.

English · Claude translation

But he rightly hated the weasel also. You shall not, he means, become like those whom we hear of doing lawlessness with the mouth because of impurity; nor shall you cling to impure women who do lawlessness with the mouth. For this animal conceives through its mouth.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:376 · 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
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.
Topics: Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

The author refers to oral sexual acts, which he condemns. The belief about the weasel is ancient folklore.

Cite this passage

Barn. 10.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/10/8/).

Plain text

Barn. 10.8 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/10/8/).

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