# Epistle of Barnabas 3.5

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:346–348; 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/3/5/

Summary: God will answer those who show mercy.

## Greek text

τότε βοήσεις, καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἐπακούσεταί σου, ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρεῖ· Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι· ἐὰν ἀφέλῃς ἀπὸ σοῦ σύνδεσμον καὶ χειροτονίαν καὶ ῥῆμα γογγυσμοῦ, καὶ δῷς πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σου ἐκ ψυχῆς σου καὶ ψυχὴν τεταπεινωμένην ἐλεήσῃς.

## English translation (Claude)

Then you will call out, and God will hear you; while you are still speaking he will say, ‘Behold, here I am’: if you take away from yourself the bond and the pointing of the finger and the word of grumbling, and give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and have mercy on a humbled soul.”

## Scripture references

- Isa 58:9: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 58:10: quotation, high confidence

## Translation notes

- “The pointing of the finger” (χειροτονία): literally “stretching out the hand”; in Isa 58:9 it is a gesture of contempt.

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 3.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/3/5/).