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The Pastor of Hermas

Chap. XIII.

"And the tower," I asked, "what does it mean?" "This tower," he replied, "is the Church." "And these virgins, who are they?" "They are holy spirits, and men cannot otherwise be found in the kingdom of God unless these have put their clothing upon them: for if you receive the name only, and do not receive from them the clothing, they are of no advantage to you. For these virgins are the powers of the Son of God. If you bear His name but possess not His power, it will be in vain that you bear His name. Those stones," he continued, "which you saw rejected bore His name, but did not put on the clothing of the virgins." "Of what nature is their clothing, sir?" I asked. "Their very names," he said, "are their clothing. Every one who bears the name of the Son of God, ought to bear the names also of these; for the Son Himself bears the names ¹ of these virgins. As many stones," he continued, "as you saw [come into the building of the tower through the hands ² ] of these virgins, and remaining, have been clothed with their strength. For this reason you see that the tower became of one stone with the rock. So also they who have believed on the Lord ³ through His Son, and are clothed with these spirits, shall become one spirit, one body, and the colour of their garments shall be one. And the dwelling of such as bear the names of the virgins is in the tower." "Those stones, sir, that were rejected," I inquired, "on what account were they rejected? for they passed through the gate, and were placed by the hands of the virgins in the building of the tower." "Since you take an interest in everything," he replied, "and examine minutely, hear about the stones that were rejected. These all," he said, "received the name of God, and they received also the strength of these virgins. Having received, then, these spirits, they were made strong, and were with the servants of God; and theirs was one spirit, and one body, and one clothing. For they were of the same mind, and wrought righteousness. After a certain time, however, they were persuaded by the women whom you saw clothed in black, and having their shoulders exposed and their hair dishevelled, and beautiful in appearance. Having seen these women, they desired to have them, and clothed themselves with their strength, and put off the strength of the virgins. These, accordingly, were rejected from the house of God, and were given over to these women. But they who were not deceived by the beauty of these women remained in the house of God. You have," he said, "the explanation of those who were rejected."

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Shepard of Hermas (Loeb)

XIII

1. Ὁ δὲ πύργος, φημί, τίς ἐστιν; Ὁ πύργος, φησίν, οὗτος ἡ ἐκκλησία ἐστίν. 2. Αἱ δὲ παρθένοι αὗται τίνες εἰσίν; Αὗται, φησίν, ἅγια πνεύματά εἰσι· καὶ ἄλλως ἄνθρωπος οὐ δύναται εὑρεθῆναι εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐὰν μὴ αὗται αὐτὸν ἐνδύσωσι τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτῶν· ἐὰν γὰρ τὸ ὄνομα μόνον λάβῃς, οὐδὲν ὠφελήσῃ· αὗται γὰρ αἱ παρθένοι δυνάμεις εἰσὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐὰν τὸ ὄνομα δυνάμεις εἰσὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἐὰν τὸ ὄνομα φορῇς, τὴν δὲ δύναμιν μὴ φορῇς αὐτοῦ, εἰς μάτην ἔσῃ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ φορῶν. 3. τοὺς δὲ λίθους, φησίν, οὓς εἶδες ἀπόβεβλημένους, οὗτοι τὸ μὲν ὄνομα ἐφόρεσαν, τὸν δὲ ἱματισμὸν τῶν παρθένων οὐκ ἐνεδύσαντο. Ποῖος, φημί, ἱματισμὸς αὐτῶν ἐστί, κύριέ; Αὐτὰ τὰ ὀνόματα, φησίν, ἱματισμός ἐστιν αὐτῶν. ὃς ἂν τὸ ὄνοματα φορεῖν· καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν παρθένων τούτων φορεῖ. 4. ὅσους, φησί, λίθους εἶδες εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου εἰσεληλυθότας, ἐπιδεκομένους διὰ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν καὶ μείναντας εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομήν, τούτων τῶν παρθένων τὴν δύναμιν ἐνδεδυμένοι εἰσί. 5. διὰ τοῦτο βλέπεις τὸν πύργον μονόλιθον γεγονότα μετὰ τῆς πέτρας· οὕτω καὶ οἱ πιστεύσαντες τῷ κυρίῳ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐνδιδυσκόμενοι τὰ πνεύματα ταῦτα ἔσονται εἰς ἓν πνεῦμα, ἓν σῶμα, καὶ μία χρόα τῶν ἱματίων αὐτων αὐτῶν. τῶν τοιούτων δὲ τῶν φορούντων τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν παρθένων ἐστὶν ἡ κατοικία εἰς τὸν πύργον. 6. Οἱ οὖν, φημί, κύριε, ἀποβεβλημένοι λίθοι διατί ἀπεβλήθησαν; διῆλθον γὰρ διὰ τῆς πύλης, καὶ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τῶν παρθένων ἐτέθησαν εἰς τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου. Ἐπειδὴ πάντα σοι, φησί, μέλει, καὶ ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάζεις, ἄκουε περὶ τῶν ἀποβεβλημένων λίθων. 7. οὗτοι, φησί, πάντες τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ ἔλαβον, ἔλαβον δὲ καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τῶν παρθένων τούτων. λαβόντες οὖν τὰ πνεύματα ταῦτα ἐνεδυναμώθησαν καὶ ἦσαν μετὰ τῶν δούλων τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἦν αὐτῶν ἓν πνεῦμα καὶ ἓν σῶμα καὶ ἓν ἔνδυμα· τὰ γὰρ αὐτὰ ἐφρόνουν καὶ δικαιοσύνην εἰργάζοντο. 8. μετὰ οὖν χρόνον τινὰ ἀνεπείσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν γυναικῶν ὧν εἶδες μέλανα ἱμάτια ἐνδυμένςν, τοὺς ὤμους ἔξω ἐχουσῶν καὶ τὰς τρίχας λελυμένας καί εὐμόφων· ταύτας ἰδόντες ἐπεθύμησαν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐνεδύσαντο τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῶν, τῶν δὲ παρθένων ἀπεδύσαντο τὴν δύναμιν αὐτῶν, τῶν δὲ παρθένων ἀπεδύσαντο τὸ ἔνδυμα καὶ τὴν δύναμιν. 9. οὗτοι οὖν ἀπεβλήθησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κάλλει τῶν γυναικῶν τούτων ἔμειναν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἔχεις, φησί, τὴν ἐπίλυσιν τῶν ἀποβεβλημένων.