Vision Second. Again, of His Neglect in Chastising His Talkative Wife and His Lustful Sons, and of His Character. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Vision Second.
Again, of His Neglect in Chastising His Talkative
Wife and His Lustful Sons, and of His Character.
55Country; lit. to the villages. From
Cumæ—Vat. While I was journeying in the district
of the Cumans.—Pal.
about the same time as on
the previous year, in my walk I recalled to memory the vision of that
year. And again the Spirit carried me away, and took me to the same place
where I had been the year before.56
On coming to that place, I bowed my
knees and began to pray to the Lord, and to glorify His name, because He
had deemed me worthy, and had made known to me my former sins. On rising
from prayer, I see opposite me that old woman, whom I had seen the year
before, walking and reading some book. And she says to me, “Can
you carry a report of these things to the elect of God?” I say to
her, “Lady, so much I cannot retain in my memory, but give me the
book and I shall transcribe it.” “Take it,” says she,
“and you will give it back to me.” Thereupon I took it, and
going away into a certain part of the country, I transcribed the whole
of it letter by letter;57
57Going
… Letter. [Ezek. ii. 9; Rev. x. 4.] Now taking the book, I sat
down in one place and wrote the whole of it in order.—Pal.
In the ancient mss. there was
nothing to mark out where one word ended and another commenced.
but the syllables of it I did not catch. No sooner, however, had I
finished the writing of the book, than all of a sudden it was snatched
from my hands; but who the person was that snatched it, I saw not.
restrain her
tongue, with which she commitsiniquity; but, on hearing these words, she
will control herself, and will obtain mercy. For after you have made known
to them these words which my Lord has commanded me to reveal to you,62
62For … you. For she will
be instructed, after you have rebuked her with those words which the Lord
has commanded to be revealed to you.—Vat.
then
shall they be forgiven all the sins which in former times they committed,
and forgiveness will be granted to all the saints who have sinned even
to the present day, if they repent with all their heart, and drive
all doubts from their minds.63
For the
Lord has sworn by His glory, in regard to His elect, that if any
one of them sin after a certain day which has been fixed, he shall
not be saved. For the repentance of the righteous has limits.64
Filled up are the days of repentance to all the saints; but to the
heathen, repentance will be possible even to the last day. You will
tell, therefore, those who preside over the Church, to direct their
ways in righteousness, that they may receive in full the promises with
great glory. Stand stedfast, therefore, ye who workrighteousness,
and doubt not,65
67 And whosoever shall not deny his
own life.—Vat. [Seeking one’s life was losing it:
hating one’s own life was finding it. (Matt. x. 39; Luke xiv.
26.) The great tribuation here referred to, is probably that mystery of
St. Paul (2 Thess. ii. 3), which they supposed nigh at hand. Our author
probably saw signs of it in Montanus and his followers.]
For
the Lord hath sworn by His Son, that those who denied their Lord have
abandoned their life in despair, for even now these are to deny Him in the
days that are coming.68
68Those
… coming. The meaning of this sentence is obscure. The Vat. is
evidently corrupt, but seems to mean: “The Lord has sworn by His
Son, that whoever will deny Him and His Son, promising themselves life
thereby, they [God and His Son] will deny them in the days that are to
come.” The days that are to come would mean the day of judgment and
the future state. See Matt. x. 33. [This they supposed would soon follow
the great apostasy and tribulation. The words “earlier times”
are against the Pauline date.]
To those who denied in earlier
times, God became69
69Became
gracious. Will be gracious.—Pal.
gracious,
on account of His exceeding tender mercy.”
73 But you
will be saved for not having departed from the living God. And your
simplicity and singular self-control will save you, if you remain
stedfast.—Vat.
you are saved, because you did
not depart from the living God, and on account of your simplicity and
great self-control. These have saved you, if you remain stedfast. And
they will save all who act in the same manner, and walk in guilelessness
and simplicity. Those who possess such virtues will waxstrong against
every form of wickedness, and will abide unto eternallife. Blessed
are all they who practicerighteousness, for they shall never be
destroyed. Now you will tell Maximus: Lo!74
74 Now you will say: Lo! Great tribulation cometh
on.—Vat. Lo! Exceedingly great tribulation cometh
on.—Lips. [Maximus seems to have been a lapser, thus
warned in a spirit of orthodoxy in contrast with Montanism, but with
irony.]
tribulation cometh on. If it seemeth good to thee,
deny again. The Lord is near to them who return unto Him, as it is written
in Eldad and Modat,75
75 [The sense
is: This is the temptation of those who pervert the promises made to
the penitent. They may say, “we are threatened with terrible
persecution; let us save our lives by momentarily denying Christ: we
can turn again, and the Lord is nigh to all who thus turn, as
Eldad and Medad told the Israelites.”] Eldad (or Eldat or Heldat
or Heldam) and Modat (Mudat or Modal) are mentioned in Num. xi. 26,
27. The apocryphal book inscribed with their name is now lost. Cotelerius
compares, for the passage, Ps. xxxiv. 9.
Now a revelation was given to me, my brethren,
while I slept, by a young man of comelyappearance, who said to me,
“Who do you think that old woman is from whom you received the
book?” And I said, “The Sibyl.” “You are
in a mistake,” says he; “it is not the Sibyl.”
“Who is it then?” say I. And he said, “It is
the Church.”76
76The
Church. The Church of God.—Vat. [See Grabe’s note,
Bull’s Defens. Fid. Nicæn., 1. cap. 2. sec. 6; Works,
vol. v. part. 1. p. 67.]
And I said to him, “Why then
is she an old woman?” “Because,” said he, “she
was created first of all. On this account is she old. And for her sake
was the world made.” After that I saw a vision in my house, and
that old woman came and asked me, if I had yet given the book to the
presbyters. And I said that I had not. And then she said, “You
have done well, for I have some words to add. But when I finish all
the words, all the elect will then become acquainted with them through
you. You will write therefore two books, and you will send the one to
Clemens and the other to Grapte.77
77
Grapte is supposed to have been a deaconess.
And Clemens will
send his to foreigncountries, for permission has been granted to him to
do so.78
78[Here,
as in places that follow, is to be noted a development of canon law,
that could hardly have existed in the days of the Pauline Hermas. He is
supposed to be a lector, who might read for the edification of the elect,
if permitted by the presbyters. Grapte, the deaconess, is supposed to have
charge of widows and orphans; while Clement, only, has canonical right
to authenticate books to foreignchurches, as the Eastern bishops were
accustomed to authenticate canonical Scriptures to him and others. The
second Hermas falls into such anachronisms innocently, but they betray
the fiction of his work. Compare the Apost. Constitutions with
(apocryphal) authentications by Clement.]
And Grapte will
admonish the widows and the orphans. But you will read the words in this
city, along with the presbyters who preside over the Church.”
