Shepherd of Hermas — Vision 4 · Chapter 1
Vision 4.1.1
Greek
Vision 4.1.1 Brothers and sisters, this is the vision I saw twenty days after the preceding vision had occurred, as a figure of the coming affliction.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.1 — Textual: Twenty days separate this vision from its predecessor. The coming affliction is identified as the vision's symbolic subject. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.2
Greek
Vision 4.1.2 I was going to a field along the Campanian Way. It is about ten stadia from the public road, and the place is easily reached on foot.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.2 — Textual: The approximate distance remains ten stadia. The Campanian Way and the public road are not silently collapsed into one designation. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.3
Greek
Vision 4.1.3 As I walked alone, I asked the Lord to complete the revelations and visions He had shown me through His holy Church, to strengthen me and grant repentance to His servants who had stumbled, so that His great and glorious name might be glorified, because He had considered me worthy to see His wonders.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.3 — Textual: Hermas seeks strength for himself and repentance for those who stumbled; the visions are mediated through the holy Church. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.4
Greek
Vision 4.1.4 While I was glorifying Him and giving Him thanks, something like the sound of a voice answered me: “Do not be double-minded, Hermas.” I began to reflect within myself and say, “Why should I be double-minded, when the Lord has so firmly established me and I have seen glorious things?”
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.4 — Textual: The voice's warning precedes the threat. Hermas initially reasons that previous revelations should have established his confidence. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.5
Greek
Vision 4.1.5 I went a little farther, brothers and sisters, and behold, I saw a cloud of dust rising as high as heaven. I began to say to myself, “Perhaps livestock are coming and raising dust?” It was about a stadion away from me.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.5 — Textual: Livestock are Hermas's first explanation of the dust. The approximate stadion distance is retained without imposing a modern conversion. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.6
Greek
Vision 4.1.6 As the cloud of dust grew larger and larger, I suspected something divine. The sun shone out a little, and behold, I saw an enormous beast, like some sea monster, and fiery locusts were coming out of its mouth. The beast was about a hundred feet long, and its head was like an earthenware vessel.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.6 — Textual: The monstrous length, fiery locusts and vessel-like head are separate details. “Something divine” reports Hermas's initial suspicion, not the narrator's final identification. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.7
Greek
Vision 4.1.7 I began to weep and entreat the Lord to deliver me from it. Then I remembered the word I had heard: “Do not be double-minded, Hermas.”
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.7 — Textual: The remembered prohibition of double-mindedness becomes pertinent when Hermas fears the beast and asks for rescue. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.8
Greek
Vision 4.1.8 So, brothers and sisters, I clothed myself with faith in the Lord, remembered the mighty things He had taught me, took courage, and gave myself over to the beast. The beast came with such a rushing noise that it could have devastated a city.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.8 — Textual: Faith is pictured as clothing. Hermas approaches despite a rushing sound powerful enough, in the comparison, to devastate a city. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.9
Greek
Vision 4.1.9 I drew near to it, and that enormous monster stretched itself out on the ground. It did nothing except put out its tongue, and it did not move at all until I had passed it.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.9 — Textual: The monster lies motionless except for its tongue until Hermas passes; the extraordinary restraint answers the preceding fear. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Vision 4.1.10
Greek
Vision 4.1.10 The beast had four colors on its head: black, then fiery and blood-red, then gold, then white.
Textual & reception notes
Vision 4.1.10 — Textual: Four colors are named; fiery and blood-red jointly describe the second, rather than adding a fifth color. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.