Epistle of Barnabas — Chapter 11 — The water and the cross
11:1
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:1 Let us examine whether the Lord took care to disclose beforehand the water and the cross. Concerning the water, it is written about Israel that they would not receive the baptism that brings forgiveness of sins, but would build for themselves.
Textual & reception notes
11:1 Text: The water is explicitly interpreted as baptism bringing forgiveness. The object of “build for themselves” is unexpressed; the translation does not supply a cistern or baptismal structure to complete it. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:2
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:2 For the prophet says: “Be astonished, heaven, and let the earth shudder still more at this, because this people has committed two evil deeds: they abandoned Me, the fountain of life, and dug for themselves a pit of death.”
Textual & reception notes
11:2 Text: The source’s contrast is fountain of life versus pit of death. It reworks Jeremiah 2:12–13 and is not replaced with a familiar wording about broken cisterns. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:3
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:3 “Is My holy mountain Sinai a desolate rock? For you will be like fledgling birds flying about, deprived of their nest.”
Textual & reception notes
11:3 Text: Sinai is explicitly named in the selected text. The desolate-rock question and nestless fledglings remain even though the sequence differs from the familiar wording of Isaiah 16:1–2. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:4
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:4 Again the prophet says: “I will go before you and level mountains; I will shatter bronze gates and break iron bars. I will give you dark treasures, hidden, unseen, so that they may know that I am the Lord God.”
Textual & reception notes
11:4 Text: The adapted Isaiah 45:2–3 passage retains bronze gates, iron bars, and hidden treasures. The purpose has “they may know,” preserving the source’s plural rather than harmonizing it with another text. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:5
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:5 And: “You will dwell in a high cave of a strong rock,” and: “Its water is dependable. You will see a king with glory, and your soul will ponder the fear of the Lord.”
Textual & reception notes
11:5 Text: The cave, reliable water, glorious king, and fear of the Lord are joined in a compressed Isaiah 33 citation. The water’s pronoun is not expanded into a specific person absent from the clause. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:6
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:6 Again He says through another prophet: “The one doing these things will be like the tree planted beside channels of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall. Whatever that person does will prosper.
Textual & reception notes
11:6 Text: The planted tree and seasonal fruit introduce the Psalm 1 comparison. The tree’s leaf does not fall; the translation retains that action rather than automatically substituting withering. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:7
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:7 “Not so the ungodly, not so! They are like chaff the wind casts from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly will not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous, because the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly will perish.”
Textual & reception notes
11:7 Text: The doubled “not so” is retained. The ungodly do not rise in judgment, and their way perishes; both judgment and conduct remain part of the quotation. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:8
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:8 Perceive how He designated the water and the cross together. For this is what He means: blessed are those who, hoping in the cross, went down into the water. He speaks of the reward “in its season”: “Then,” He says, “I will repay.” Now, when He says, “The leaves will not fall,” He means that every word coming from your mouth in faith and love will bring conversion and hope to many.
Textual & reception notes
11:8 Text: Barnabas expressly joins the tree to the cross and the water to baptism. Leaves become faithful, loving words that turn others toward hope; this is his interpretation, not wording to insert into Psalm 1. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:9
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:9 Again another prophet says: “The land of Jacob was praised above all the earth.” This means that He glorifies the vessel of His Spirit.
Textual & reception notes
11:9 Text: The praise of Jacob’s land becomes praise of the vessel of the Spirit. The source leaves the quotation’s precise origin uncertain, so no exact biblical verse is asserted here. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:10
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:10 Then what does He say? “There was a river flowing from the right, and beautiful trees grew from it. Whoever eats from them will live forever.”
Textual & reception notes
11:10 Text: The river flows from the right and produces beautiful trees whose food gives enduring life. The Ezekiel 47 imagery is adapted; no architectural starting point is supplied beyond the source’s words. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.
11:11
Greek–English: Literal-Smooth (Saints Priority)
11:11 This means that we go down into the water full of sins and filth, and come up bearing fruit in our heart: fear, and hope in Jesus, which we possess in the Spirit. “Whoever eats from these will live forever” means: “Whoever hears these things spoken and believes,” He says, “will live forever.”
Textual & reception notes
11:11 Text: Going down in sins and coming up fruitful form the baptismal contrast. Fear is borne in the heart and hope is directed toward Jesus in the Spirit; hearing and believing explain the life-giving eating image. Reception: No later section-specific reception verified in this review.