Sophia Scriptura

Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 4.1.6 (29.6)

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

Summary: The husband should separate but not remarry; remarriage is adultery.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:78

Τί οὖν, φημί, κύριε, ποιήσῃ ὁ ἀνήρ, ἐὰν ἐπιμείνῃ τῷ πάθει τούτῳ ἡ γυνή; Ἀπολυσάτω, φησίν, αὐτὴν καὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐφʼ ἑαυτῷ μενέτω· ἐὰν δὲ ἀπολύσας τὴν γυναῖκα ἑτέραν γαμήσῃ, καὶ αὐτὸς μοιχᾶται.

English · Claude translation

“What, then, sir,” I said, “shall the husband do, if the wife persists in this passion?” “Let him put her away,” he said, “and let the husband remain by himself. But if, having put away his wife, he marries another, he too commits adultery.”

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 25:78 · 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.
Scripture
Topics
Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Put her away” (ἀπολυσάτω): the word used for divorce in the Gospels (Matt 5:32; 19:9). Hermas permits separation for persistent adultery but forbids remarriage, so that reconciliation remains possible (4.1.7–8).

Cite this passage

Herm. Mand. 4.1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/4/1/6/).

Plain text
Herm. Mand. 4.1.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/4/1/6/).

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