Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 6.5.7 (65.7)

Summary: Delight in doing good is a saving luxury.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:182

εἰσὶν δὲ καὶ τρυφαὶ σώζουσαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους· πολλοὶ γὰρ ἀγαθὸν ἐργαζόμενοι τρυφῶσι τῇ ἑαυτῶν ἡδονῇ φερόμενοι. αὕτη οὖν ἡ τρυφὴ σύμφορός ἐστι τοῖς δούλοις τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ζωὴν περιποιεῖται τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ τοιούτῳ· αἱ δὲ βλαβεραὶ τρυφαὶ αἱ προειρημέναι βασάνους καὶ τιμωρίας αὐτοῖς περιποιοῦνται· ἐὰν δὲ ἐπιμένωσι καὶ μὴ μετανοήσωσι, θάνατον ἑαυτοῖς περιποιοῦνται.

English · Claude translation

But there are also luxuries that save people; for many who do good live in luxury, carried along by their own pleasure. This luxury, then, is profitable to the servants of God and brings life to such a person; but the harmful luxuries mentioned before bring torments and punishments upon them; and if they persist and do not repent, they bring death upon themselves.”

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:182 · 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.

Cite this passage

Herm. Sim. 6.5.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/6/5/7/).

Plain text

Herm. Sim. 6.5.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/6/5/7/).