Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.4.3 (81.3)

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:226

μετὰ δὲ τοὺς δέκα λίθους ἄλλοι ἀνέβησαν ἐκ τοῦ βυθοῦ εἴκοσι λίθοι· καὶ οὗτοι ἡρμόσθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου, βασταζόμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν παρθένων καθὼς καὶ οἱ πρότεροι. μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἀνέβησαν λε, καὶ οὗτοι ὁμοίως ἡρμόσθησαν εἰς τὸν πύργον. μετὰ δὲ τούτους ἕτεροι ἀνέβησαν λίθοι μ, καὶ οὗτοι πάντες ἐβλήθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου· ἐγένοντο οὖν στοῖχοι τέσσαρες ἐν τοῖς θεμελίοις τοῦ πύργου.

English · Claude translation

After the ten stones, twenty other stones came up from the deep; and these were fitted into the building of the tower, carried by the virgins as the first were. After these, thirty-five came up, and these likewise were fitted into the tower. After these, forty other stones came up, and these were all put into the building of the tower; so there were four courses in the foundations of the tower.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:226 · 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.

Notes

Translation notes

The four courses (10, 25, 35, 40) are explained in 9.15.4 as the first and second generations of the righteous, the prophets, and the apostles and teachers.

Cite this passage

Herm. Sim. 9.4.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/4/3/).

Plain text

Herm. Sim. 9.4.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/herm-sim/9/4/3/).