Shepherd of Hermas — Similitude 9 · Chapter 3
Similitude 9.3.1
Greek (Lake printed edition)
Similitude 9.3.1 I saw six men arrive, tall and glorious and alike in appearance; they called a multitude of men. Those who came were also tall, handsome, and strong men. The six men ordered them to build a tower upon the rock. There was a great commotion among those men who had come to build the tower, as they ran here and there around the gateway.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 9.3.1 — Textual: Six similar glorious men direct a larger workforce; Lake's Greek names the rock as the building site without the Latin addition about the gateway. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 9.3.2
Greek (Lake printed edition)
Similitude 9.3.2 The virgins standing around the gateway told the men to hurry with the building of the tower. The virgins had stretched out their hands, as though about to receive something from the men.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 9.3.2 — Textual: The virgins urge haste and extend their hands to receive the stones, establishing their essential role in the work. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 9.3.3
Greek (Lake printed edition)
Similitude 9.3.3 The six men commanded stones to rise from a certain deep place and go into the building of the tower. Ten square, gleaming stones rose, which had not been cut.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 9.3.3 — Textual: Lake supplies 'not' before the description of cutting on the evidence of 9.5.3; the negative is editorial rather than attested in the listed witnesses. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 9.3.4
Greek (Lake printed edition)
Similitude 9.3.4 The six men called the virgins and ordered them to carry all the stones that were to go into the building of the tower, pass through the gateway, and hand them to the men who were to build the tower.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 9.3.4 — Textual: Every stone must be carried by the virgins through the gateway before reaching the builders; both agents and route matter. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 9.3.5
Greek (Lake printed edition)
Similitude 9.3.5 The virgins placed upon one another the first ten stones that had risen from the deep, and together they carried one stone at a time.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 9.3.5 — Textual: The virgins jointly carry one stone at a time; the first ten stones are distinguished as originating in the deep. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.