Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 7.4 (37.4)

Summary: Fear of the Lord keeps from evil and moves to good.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:100

δισσοὶ οὖν εἰσιν οἱ φόβοι· ἐὰν γὰρ θέλῃς τὸ πονηρὸν ἐργάσασθαι, φοβοῦ τὸν κύριον, καὶ οὐκ ἐργάσῃ αὐτό· ἐὰν δὲ θέλῃς πάλιν τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐργάσασθαι, φοβοῦ τὸν κύριον, καὶ ἐργάσῃ αὐτό. ὥστε ὁ φόβος τοῦ κυρίου ἰσχυρός ἐστι καὶ μέγας καὶ ἔνδοξος. φοβήθητι οὖν τὸν κύριον, καὶ ζήσῃ αὐτῷ· καὶ ὅσοι ἂν φοβηθῶσιν αὐτὸν καὶ τηρήσωσι τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ, ζήσονται τῷ θεῷ.

English · Claude translation

There are, then, two kinds of fear. For if you wish to do evil, fear the Lord, and you will not do it; but if again you wish to do good, fear the Lord, and you will do it. So the fear of the Lord is strong and great and glorious. Fear the Lord, then, and you will live to him; and all who fear him and keep his commandments will live to God.”

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:100 · 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.

Cite this passage

Herm. Mand. 7.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/7/4/).

Plain text

Herm. Mand. 7.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-mand/7/4/).