Sophia Scriptura

Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.31.6 (108.6)

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

Summary: Shepherds of the church cannot blame the flock; they will give an account.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:292–294

ἐὰν δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ ποιμένες εὑρεθῶσι διαπεπτωκότες, τί ἐροῦσι τῷ δεσπότῃ τοῦ ποιμνίου; ὅτι ἀπὸ τῶν προβάτων διέπεσαν; οὐ πιστευθήσονται· ἄπιστον γὰρ πρᾶγμά ἐστι ποιμένα ὑπὸ προβάτων παθεῖν τι· μᾶλλον δὲ κολασθήσονται διὰ τὸ ψεῦδος αὐτῶν. et ego sum pastor, et validissime oportet me de vobis reddere rationem.

English · Claude translation

And if the shepherds themselves are found to have fallen away, what will they say to the master of the flock? That they fell away because of the sheep? They will not be believed; for it is an unbelievable thing for a shepherd to suffer anything from sheep; rather they will be punished for their lie. And I too am a shepherd, and I must most strictly give an account of you.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 25:292–294 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 138–305 · 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), and from the ancient Latin version where Lake prints it because the Greek is lost (from Sim. 9.30.3); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • The last sentence survives only in Latin.

Cite this passage

Herm. Sim. 9.31.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/31/6/).

Plain text
Herm. Sim. 9.31.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/31/6/).

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