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| Vision First. Against Filthy and Proud Thoughts, and the Carelessness of Hermas in Chastising His Sons.
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Vision First.
Against Filthy and Proud Thoughts, and the
Carelessness of Hermas in Chastising His Sons.
Chap. I.
He who had
brought me up, sold me to one Rhode in Rome.21
| 21 The commencement varies. In the Vatican: “He who had
brought me up, sold a certain young woman at Rome. Many years after this
I saw her and recognized her.” So Lips.; Pal. has the name of the
woman, Rada. The name Rhode occurs in Acts xii. 13. | Many years
after this I recognised her, and I began to love her as a sister. Some
time after, I saw her bathe in the river Tiber; and I gave her my hand,
and drew her out of the river. The sight of her beauty made me think
with myself, “I should be a happy man if I could but get a wife as
handsome and good as she is.” This was the only thought that passed
through me: this and nothing more. A short time after this, as I was
walking on my road to the villages,22
| 22
“On my road to the villages.” This seems to mean: as I
was taking a walk into the country, or spending my time in travelling
amid rural scenes. So the Æthiopic version. “Proceeding
with these thoughts in my mind.”—Vat. After I had
come to the city of Ostia.”—Pal. “Proceeding
to some village.”—Lips. [The Christian religion
begetting this enthusiasm for nature, and love for nature’s
God, is to be noted. Where in all heathendom do we find spirit or
expression like this?] | and magnifying the creatures of
God, and thinking how magnificent, and beautiful, and powerful they
are,23
I
fell asleep. And the Spirit carried me away, and took me through a
pathless place,24
| 24 Pathless
place. Place on the right hand.—Vat. [Rev. xvii. 3,
xxi. 10. Dante, Inferno, i. 1–5.] | through which
a man could not travel, for it was situated in the midst of rocks; it
was rugged and impassible on account of water. Having passed over this
river, I came to a plain. I then bent down on my knees, and began to
pray to the Lord,25
and to confess my sins. And
as I prayed, the heavens were opened, and I see the woman whom I had
desired saluting me from the sky, and saying, “Hail, Hermas!”
And looking up to her, I said, “Lady, what doest thou here?”
And she answered me, “I have been taken up here to accuse you of
your sins before the Lord.” “Lady,” said I, “are
you to be the subject of my accusation?”26
“No,” said she; “but hear the words which I am
going to speak to you. God, who dwells in the heavens, and made out
of nothing the things that exist, and multiplied and increased them
on account of His holy Church,27
is angry with you for having sinned
against me.” I answered her, “Lady, have I sinned against
you? How?28
| 28 How? In what
place?—Vat., Sin. | or when spoke I an unseemly
word to you? Did I not always think of you as a lady? Did I not always
respect you as a sister? Why do you falsely accuse me of this wickedness
and impurity?” With a smile she replied to me, “The desire of
wickedness29
arose within your heart. Is it not your opinion
that a righteous man commits sin when an evil desire arises in his
heart? There is sin in such a case, and the sin is great,” said she;
“for the thoughts of a righteous man should be righteous. For by
thinking righteously his character is established in the heavens,30
| 30 Literally, his glory is made
straight in the heavens. As long as his thoughts are righteous and
his way of life correct, he will have the Lord in heaven merciful to
him.—Vat. When he thinks righteously, he corrects himself,
and his grace will be in heaven, and he will have the Lord merciful in
every business.—Pal. His dignity will be straight in the
skies.—Æth. [Prov. x. 24, xi. 23.] | and he
has the Lord merciful to him in every business. But such as entertain
wicked thoughts in their minds are bringing upon themselves death and
captivity; and especially is this the case with those who set their
affections on this world,31
and glory in their riches, and
look not forward to the blessings of the life to come. For many will
their regrets be; for they have no hope, but have despaired of themselves
and their life.32
But do thou pray to God,
and He will
heal thy sins, and the sins of thy
whole house, and of all the saints.”33
Chap. II.
After she had spoken these words, the heavens were
shut. I was overwhelmed with sorrow and fear, and said to myself,
“If this sin is assigned to me, how can I be saved, or how
shall I propitiate God in regard to my sins,34
which
are of the grossest character? With what words shall I ask the Lord to
be merciful to me?” While I was thinking over these things, and
discussing them in my mind, I saw opposite to me a chair, white, made
of white wool,35
| 35 A chair made of
white wool, like snow.—Vat. A chair for reclining, and on
it a covering of wool, white as hail.—Æth. |
of great size. And there came up an old woman, arrayed in a splendid
robe, and with a book in her hand; and she sat down alone, and
saluted me, “Hail, Hermas!” And in sadness and tears36
I said to her, “Lady,
hail!” And she said to me, “Why are you downcast, Hermas?
for you were wont to be patient and temperate, and always smiling. Why
are you so gloomy, and not cheerful?” I answered her and said,
“O Lady, I have been reproached by a very good woman, who says
that I sinned against her.” And she said, “Far be such a deed
from a servant of God. But perhaps a desire after her has arisen within
your heart. Such a wish, in the case of the servants of God, produces
sin. For it is a wicked and horrible wish in an all-chaste and already
well-tried spirit37
| 37 For …
spirit. For this hateful thought ought not to be in a servant of God,
nor ought a well-tried spirit to desire an evil deed.—Vat.
[The praise here bestowed on Hermas favours the idea that a second Hermas
was the author.] | to desire an evil deed; and especially for
Hermas so to do, who keeps himself from all wicked desire, and is full
of all simplicity, and of great guilelessness.”
Chap. III.
“But God is not angry with you on account of
this, but that you may convert your house,38
| 38 But that. But God is not angry with
you on your own account, but on account of your house, which
has.—Vat. | which have committed iniquity
against the Lord, and against you, their parents. And although you
love your sons, yet did you not warn your house, but permitted them
to be terribly corrupted.39
On this account is the Lord angry with you, but He will heal all the evils
which have been done in your house. For, on account of their sins and
iniquities, you have been destroyed by the affairs of this world. But
now the mercy of the Lord40
has taken pity on you and your
house, and will strengthen you, and establish you in his glory.41
Only be not easy-minded,42
| 42 Easy-minded. Only wander not,
but be calm.—Vat. Omitted in Pal. | but
be of good courage and comfort your house. For as a smith hammers out
his work, and accomplishes whatever he wishes43
| 43 Accomplishes … wishes. And exhibits it
to any one to whom he wishes.—Vat. | , so shall
righteous daily speech overcome all iniquity.44
Cease not therefore to admonish
your sons; for I know that, if they will repent with all their heart,
they will be enrolled in the Books of Life with the saints.”45
Having ended these words,
she said to me, “Do you wish to hear me read?” I say to her,
“Lady, I do.” “Listen then, and give ear to the glories
of God.”46
| 46 And give ear
to the glories of God, omitted in Vat. | And then
I heard from her, magnificently and admirably, things which my memory
could not retain. For all the words were terrible, such as man could
not endure.47
| 47 And then …
her. And unfolding a book, she read gloriously, magnificently, and
admirably.—Vat. [Dan. x. 9.] | The last words,
however, I did remember; for they were useful to us, and gentle.48
| 48 Gentle. For they were few and
useful to us.—Vat. | “Lo, the God of powers,
who by His invisible strong power and great wisdom has created the world,
and by His glorious counsel has surrounded His creation with beauty,
and by His strong word has fixed the heavens and laid the foundations of
the earth upon the waters, and by His own wisdom and providence49
has created His holy50
Church, which He
has blessed, lo! He removes51
| 51
Removes. He will remove.—Vat. | the
heavens and the mountains,52
the hills and the seas, and all things
become plain to His elect, that He may bestow on them the blessing
which He has promised them,53
| 53
[Isa. lxv. 22. See Faber’s Historical Inquiry, as to the
primitive idea of the elect, book ii. 2. New York, 1840.] |
with much glory and joy, if only they shall keep the commandments of
God which they have received in great faith.”
Chap. IV.
When she had ended her reading, she rose from the chair,
and four young men came and carried off the chair and went away to the
east. And she called me to herself and touched my breast, and said to me,
“Have you been pleased with my reading?” And I say to her,
“Lady,
the last words please me, but the first
are cruel and harsh.” Then she said to me, “The last are for
the righteous: the first are for heathens and apostates.” And while
she spoke to me, two men appeared and raised her on their shoulders, and
they went to where the chair was in the east. With joyful countenance
did she depart; and as she went, she said to me, “Behave like
a man,54
Hermas.”E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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