# Epistle of Barnabas 3.2

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:346; 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 (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/3/2/

Summary: Outward signs of fasting are not enough.

## Greek text

οὐδʼ ἂν κάμψητε ὡς κρίκον τὸν τράχηλον ὑμῶν καὶ σάκκον ἐνδύσησθε καὶ σποδὸν ὑποστρώσητε, οὐδʼ οὕτως καλέσετε νηστείαν δεκτήν.

## English translation (Claude)

not even if you bend your neck like a ring and put on sackcloth and spread ashes beneath you, not even so will you call it an acceptable fast.”

## Scripture references

- Isa 58:5: quotation, high confidence

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 3.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/3/2/).