Shepherd of Hermas — Mandate 6 · Chapter 1
Mandate 6.1.1
Greek
Mandate 6.1.1 “In the first commandment,” he says, “I commanded you to guard faith, fear, and self-control.” “Yes, sir,” I say. “But now,” he says, “I also wish to explain their powers to you, so that you may understand what power and operation each has. For their operations are twofold; they apply, therefore, to the righteous and the unrighteous.
Textual & reception notes
Mandate 6.1.1 — Textual: Faith, fear and self-control recall the first command; their twofold operations require discrimination between righteous and unrighteous objects. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Mandate 6.1.2
Greek
Mandate 6.1.2 “Trust, then, in what is righteous, but do not trust in what is unrighteous. For what is righteous has a straight road, but what is unrighteous a crooked one. Walk on the straight and level road, and leave the crooked one.
Textual & reception notes
Mandate 6.1.2 — Textual: Trust is not indiscriminate: it must attach to righteousness. The straight and crooked roads represent different moral directions. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Mandate 6.1.3
Greek
Mandate 6.1.3 “For the crooked road has no paths, but trackless places and many stumbling blocks; it is rough and thorny. It is therefore harmful to those who travel on it.
Textual & reception notes
Mandate 6.1.3 — Textual: The crooked road paradoxically leads into tracklessness, obstacles and thorns; the image describes harmful moral confusion. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Mandate 6.1.4
Greek
Mandate 6.1.4 “But those who travel on the straight road walk smoothly and without stumbling, for it is neither rough nor thorny. You see, then, that it is more profitable to travel on this road.”
Textual & reception notes
Mandate 6.1.4 — Textual: The level road permits movement without stumbling; the comparative “more profitable” answers the preceding harmful route. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Mandate 6.1.5
Greek
Mandate 6.1.5 “It pleases me, sir,” I say, “to travel on this road.” “You will travel on it,” he says, “and whoever turns to the Lord with the whole heart will travel on it.”
Textual & reception notes
Mandate 6.1.5 — Textual: The assurance of walking the right road extends to everyone who turns toward the Lord wholeheartedly. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.