# Epistle of Barnabas 15.4

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:394; 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/15/4/

Summary: The six days of creation mean six thousand years of history.

## Greek text

προσέχετε, τέκνα, τί λέγει τὸ συνετέλεσεν ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις. τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι ἐν ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελέσει κύριος τὰ σύμπαντα· ἡ γὰρ ἡμέρα παρʼ αὐτῷ σημαίνει χίλια ἔτη. αὐτὸς δέ μοι μαρτυρεῖ λέγων· Ἰδού, ἡμέρα κυρίου ἔσται ὡς χίλια ἔτη. οὐκοῦν, τέκνα, ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις, ἐν τοῖς ἑξακισχιλίοις ἔτεσιν συντελεσθήσεται τὰ σύμπαντα.

## English translation (Claude)

Pay attention, children, to what “he finished in six days” means. It means this: that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to completion; for with him a day signifies a thousand years. And he himself testifies to me, saying, “Behold, the day of the Lord will be as a thousand years.” So then, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be brought to completion.

## Scripture references

- Ps 90:4 (89:4 LXX): allusion, high confidence
- 2 Pet 3:8: echo, medium confidence

## Translation notes

- An early form of the “world-week” scheme, in which history lasts six thousand years before the Lord's rest.

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 15.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/15/4/).