Epistle of Barnabas 9.4

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

Summary: Circumcision of the flesh was never meant; an evil angel misled Israel.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:370–372

ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ περιτομή, ἐφʼ ᾗ πεποίθασιν, κατήργηται, περιτομὴν γὰρ εἴρηκεν οὐ σαρκὸς γενηθῆναι· ἀλλὰ παρέβησαν, ὅτι ἄγγελος πονηρὸς ἐσόφιζεν αὐτούς.

English · Claude translation

But the circumcision in which they trust has been abolished. For he declared that circumcision was not of the flesh; but they transgressed, because an evil angel deceived them.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:370–372 · 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.

Notes

Translation notes

The claim that fleshly circumcision was due to an evil angel is the letter's own, and was not shared by other early Christian writers.

Cite this passage

Barn. 9.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/9/4/).

Plain text

Barn. 9.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/9/4/).

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