Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.2.7 (68.7)

Summary: Willows are hardy; many may live.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:194

ἀποκριθείς μοι λέγει· Τὸ δένδρον τοῦτο ἰτέα ἐστὶ καὶ φιλόζωον τὸ γένος· ἐὰν οὖν φυτευθῶσι καὶ μικρὰν ἰκμάδα λαμβάνωσιν αἱ ῥάβδοι, ζήσονται πολλαὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν· εἶτα δὲ πειράσωμεν καὶ ὕδωρ αὐταῖς παραχέειν. ἐάν τις αὐτῶν δυνηθῇ ζῆσαι, συγχαρήσομαι αὐταῖς· ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ζήσῃ, οὐχ εὑρεθήσομαι ἐγὼ ἀμελής.

English · Claude translation

He answered me, “This tree is a willow and of a kind that loves life; if, then, the sticks are planted and receive a little moisture, many of them will live. Then let us also try pouring water on them. If any of them can live, I will rejoice with them; and if it does not live, I at least shall not be found negligent.”

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:194 · 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. 8.2.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/8/2/7/).

Plain text

Herm. Sim. 8.2.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/8/2/7/).