Shepherd of Hermas — Similitude 5 · Chapter 6
Similitude 5.6.1
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.1 “Listen,” he said. “The Son of God is not presented in the role of a slave, but in great authority and lordship.” “How, sir?” I asked. “I do not understand.”
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.1 — Textual: The answer denies a servile condition and asserts great authority and lordship; the additional Latin explanation is not part of Lake's printed Greek here. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.2
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.2 “Because,” he said, “God planted the vineyard—that is, He created the people and entrusted them to His Son. The Son appointed the angels over them to preserve them, and He Himself cleansed their sins, laboring greatly and enduring much toil. For no vineyard can be dug without labor and hardship.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.2 — Textual: God entrusts the people to the Son, who appoints angels and purifies their sins through toil; the agricultural actions become an account of salvation. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.3
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.3 “So, after cleansing the people's sins, He showed them the paths of life, giving them the law He received from His Father.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.3 — Textual: The Son both cleanses sins and gives the people paths and law received from the Father; the Latin repetition is not silently added. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.4
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.4 “But listen to why the lord took his son and the glorious angels as counselors concerning the slave's inheritance.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.4 — Textual: Consultation about the slave's inheritance resumes the parable's own differentiated figures; its explanation must not erase the question raised in 5.5.5. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.5
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.5 “God caused the Holy Spirit, who existed beforehand and created all creation, to dwell in flesh that He chose. This flesh, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, served the Spirit well, walking in dignity and purity, without defiling the Spirit in any way.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.5 — Textual: The text explicitly describes the pre-existent Holy Spirit as creation's agent and as dwelling in chosen flesh; the flesh serves that Spirit undefiled. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.6
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.6 “Because it lived well and purely, labored together with the Spirit, cooperated in every deed, and conducted itself with strength and courage, He chose it as a partner with the Holy Spirit. For the conduct of this flesh was pleasing, because, while possessing the Holy Spirit, it was not defiled upon the earth.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.6 — Textual: The flesh's honorable service, strength, and cooperation lead to its being chosen as the Spirit's partner; the imagery preserves the passage's distinctive conceptual sequence. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.7
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.7 “So He took the Son and the glorious angels as counselors, so that this flesh too, having served the Spirit blamelessly, might have a place to dwell and not seem to have lost the reward of its service. For all flesh found undefiled and spotless, in which the Holy Spirit has dwelt, will receive a reward.
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.7 — Textual: The Son and glorious angels are consulted concerning the flesh's reward. Part of Lake's Greek wording is editorially restored from the Latin tradition. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.
Similitude 5.6.8
Greek (Lake printed text, including explicitly identified versional reconstructions)
Similitude 5.6.8 “You now have the interpretation of this parable as well.”
Textual & reception notes
Similitude 5.6.8 — Textual: The brief question closes this explanation by testing Hermas's understanding; it does not introduce an additional doctrinal identification. Reception: No section-specific reception verified in the sources checked.