Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.1.10 (29.10)

Summary: Separated spouses must stay unmarried because repentance is possible.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:80

διὰ τοῦτο προσετάγη ὑμῖν ἐφʼ ἑαυτοῖς μένειν, εἴτε ἀνὴρ εἴτε γυνή· δύναται γὰρ ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις μετάνοια εἶναι.

For this reason you were commanded to remain by yourselves, whether husband or wife; for in such cases repentance is possible.

Source: Lake, LCL 25:80 · 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: Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage

Herm. Mand. 4.1.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/4/1/10/).

Plain text

Herm. Mand. 4.1.10 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/4/1/10/).