Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 11.3 (43.3)

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

Summary: Empty himself, he gives empty answers, mixed with some truth.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:118

αὐτὸς γὰρ κενὸς ὢν κενὰ καὶ ἀποκρίνεται κενοῖς· ὃ γὰρ ἐὰν ἐπερωτηθῇ, πρὸς τὸ κένωμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀποκρίνεται. τινὰ δὲ καὶ ῥήματα ἀληθῆ λαλεῖ· ὁ γὰρ διάβολος πληροῖ αὐτὸν τῷ αὐτοῦ πνεύματι, εἴ τινα δυνήσεται ῥῆξαι τῶν δικαίων.

English · Claude translation

For being empty himself, he gives empty answers to empty people; for whatever he is asked, he answers according to the person's emptiness. But he also speaks some true words; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, to see whether he can break one of the righteous.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:118 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 70–137 · 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
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.
Topics: Heresy

Cite this passage

Herm. Mand. 11.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/11/3/).

Plain text

Herm. Mand. 11.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/11/3/).

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