Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp & others · a new plain-English translation from the original language
Let us examine, then, whether it is this people who receives the inheritance, or the earlier one, and to which of the two — us or them — the covenant truly belongs. Hear, then, what scripture teaches concerning this people. Isaac made supplication concerning Rebecca his wife, since she could bear no child, and she became pregnant. Rebecca then went out to seek an answer from the Lord, and the Lord spoke to her: Two nations are within your womb, and two peoples within your belly; one people will overcome the other, and the elder will serve the younger. Consider carefully who Isaac represents and who Rebecca represents, and notice in which case it was revealed that this people outranks that one. In yet another prophecy Jacob speaks even more openly to his son Joseph, saying: See, the Lord has not withheld your presence from me; bring your sons close, so that I may give them my blessing. So Joseph brought Ephraim and Manasseh near, wishing Manasseh to receive the blessing because he was the older brother — for Joseph positioned him at his father Jacob's right hand. Yet Jacob, in the spirit, perceived a foreshadowing of the people still to come; and what does the text say? Jacob crossed his arms and set his right hand instead upon the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger, the second-born, and blessed him that way. Joseph then said to Jacob: Shift your right hand over to Manasseh's head instead, since he is my firstborn. Jacob answered Joseph: I know it, my child, I know it well — yet the elder will serve the younger, though this one too will receive a blessing. Observe, then, in whose favor he determined that this people would hold the primary place and inherit the covenant. And if the matter was likewise recalled through Abraham, then our understanding is complete. What, then, does scripture say was told to Abraham, at the moment when his solitary act of faith was counted to him as righteousness? See, I have appointed you, Abraham, to be father of the nations who put their trust in God while yet uncircumcised.
Yes — but let us also see whether he truly delivered the covenant he swore to give the fathers for the people to receive. He did deliver it; yet on account of their sins they proved unworthy to accept it. For the prophet records: Moses kept a fast on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, so as to receive on the people's behalf the covenant of the Lord. And Moses took from the Lord's own hand the two tablets, inscribed by the Lord's finger, given to him in the spirit; and having taken them Moses brought them down toward the people, meaning to deliver them. But the Lord spoke to Moses: Moses, Moses, go down without delay, for your people — those you led out of the land of Egypt — have broken the law. Moses realized they had cast new idols for themselves, and he hurled the tablets from his hands, so that the tablets bearing the Lord's covenant were broken in pieces. Moses did receive them, yet the people were found unworthy. Learn, then, how it came to us instead. Moses, only a servant, was the one who received it; but the Lord himself, enduring for our sake, gave it to us directly, to become a people set apart as his inheritance. He was revealed for this very purpose: that those earlier ones might be brought to the full weight of their transgressions, while we, through him who inherits the Lord's covenant — Jesus — might receive it ourselves, since he had been made ready for exactly this: that by his own appearing he might ransom our hearts from darkness, hearts already worn down toward death and surrendered to the lawlessness of error, and might seal a covenant among us by his word. For it stands written how the Father instructs him, once he has ransomed us from darkness, to make ready for himself a holy people. So the prophet declares: I, the Lord your God, summoned you in righteousness; I will grasp your hand and give you strength, and I have made you a covenant for your race, a light for the nations, so that you may open blind eyes, lead out those bound in fetters, and free those seated in darkness within a prison house. From this we understand the source of our ransom. Again the prophet says: See, I have made you a light for the nations, so that you might bring salvation to earth's farthest edge; thus speaks the Lord God who ransomed you. And once more the prophet says: The Spirit of the Lord rests upon me; for this cause he anointed me to announce good tidings of grace to the humble; he sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to declare release to those held captive and renewed sight to those who cannot see, to proclaim a season acceptable to the Lord together with a day of recompense, and to bring comfort to all who grieve.
Further, concerning the sabbath too, it is written among the ten words which he uttered face to face with Moses on Mount Sinai: Observe the Lord's sabbath as a holy thing, keeping your hands clean and your heart free of stain. And elsewhere he says: If my children observe the sabbath, then I will grant them my mercy. He speaks of the sabbath already at creation's outset: God completed in six days the labor of his hands, and on the seventh day he brought it to an end and hallowed it, having ceased from his work. Notice closely, children, what is meant by completing it in six days. It means that within six thousand years the Lord will bring the whole of it to its conclusion, for in his reckoning one day stands for a thousand years. He himself confirms this, saying: See, a day belonging to the Lord will equal a thousand years. So then, children, within those six days — that is, within the six thousand years — everything will reach its conclusion. And he ceased on the seventh day. This signifies that once his Son arrives, brings the age of the lawless one to an end, passes judgment on the wicked, and transforms sun, moon, and stars, only then will he genuinely cease on the seventh day. Further he says: Keep it as a holy day, your hands clean and your heart without stain. Suppose, then, that someone today thinks he can hallow — merely by being pure in heart — the day God has already made holy: he has badly missed the mark. Notice instead that we will properly hallow it only once we are at rest ourselves — once we have been made righteous and have obtained what was promised, once lawlessness exists no more and everything has been renewed through the Lord; only then will we be capable of hallowing it, having first been made holy ourselves. He further tells them: Your new-moon feasts and sabbath days are more than I can bear. Notice his meaning here: it is not the sabbaths you now keep that please me, but the one I myself have instituted, in which, once I have brought everything to rest, I will inaugurate an eighth day — the start of a different world entirely. That is why we too observe the eighth day with rejoicing, the day on which Jesus also rose from among the dead, and, once he had appeared, ascended into the heavens.
And further I will speak to you about the temple — how these unfortunate people, wandering astray, placed their hope in the building itself instead of in the God who made them, as if it truly were God's house. For they all but consecrated it the way pagan nations do with theirs. Yet learn how the Lord speaks in setting it aside: Who has taken heaven's measure with a hand-span, or the earth's with the width of a palm? Is it not I? says the Lord. Heaven serves as my throne, the earth as a stool beneath my feet; what kind of dwelling, then, could you construct for me, or what location could serve as my resting place? So you can see that their hope amounted to nothing. He says further, once again: Look — those very people who tore this temple down will be the ones to raise it up again. And that is exactly what is happening: it was demolished by their enemies on account of the wars they waged, and now the servants of those same enemies are rebuilding it. It was also disclosed beforehand that the city, the sanctuary, and the people of Israel would eventually be given over, for scripture states: And it shall happen in the final days that the Lord will hand over to ruin the sheep of the flock, the enclosure, and their watchtower. And it turned out exactly as the Lord had foretold. But let us ask whether God actually possesses a temple. He does — in the very place where he himself announces he is raising and finishing it, since scripture reads thus: When the week comes to its close, God's temple will rise gloriously, bearing the Lord's name. From this, then, I take it as established that a temple truly exists. Learn now the manner of its rising in the Lord's name. Before we came to trust in God, the place where our heart dwelt was corruptible and feeble, genuinely like a hand-built shrine, for it was crowded with idol-worship and had become a house for demons through practicing all that opposed God. Yet it will rise in the name of the Lord. Pay close attention, then, so that the Lord's temple may rise in splendor. Learn how: having obtained forgiveness for our sins and set our hope on his name, we were made new, formed again as if from the very start; and so within our own dwelling-place God genuinely lives among us. In what way? Through his word of faith, his summons of promise, the wisdom found in his statutes, the precepts of his teaching — he himself speaking prophecy within us, he himself residing within us, and for us, once enslaved to death, throwing open the temple's door, which is the mouth, granting us repentance, and ushering us into the imperishable temple. For whoever longs to be saved fixes his gaze not on the man but on the one who lives and speaks inside him, astonished at him, because he had never before heard such words spoken from that mouth, nor had he himself ever wished to hear them. This, then, is a spiritual temple under construction for the Lord.
As far as it was possible, in simplicity, to make things clear to you, my soul hopes, out of my longing, that I have left out nothing pertaining to salvation. For if I write to you about things present or things to come, you would not understand, since they are set down in parables. So much for this.
Let us move on now to a different sphere of knowledge and instruction. Two paths exist under this teaching and authority — one belonging to light, the other to darkness — and the gap separating these two paths is vast. Assigned over the first stand angels of God who carry light; assigned over the second stand angels belonging to Satan. The one is Lord across every age, without end; the other merely governs this present season of lawlessness.
The way of light, then, is this: whoever wishes to travel toward the place appointed for him must press forward eagerly in his deeds. The knowledge granted us for walking this path is as follows. Love the one who made you; stand in fear of the one who fashioned you; give glory to the one who ransomed you from death. Keep your heart uncomplicated and your spirit abundant. Do not attach yourself to those traveling the road toward death; despise everything unwelcome to God, and despise every form of hypocrisy. Never abandon the Lord's commandments. Do not lift yourself up, but remain humble-minded in every circumstance; do not claim glory for yourself. Do not scheme wickedly against your neighbor, and do not grant your soul reckless boldness. Do not fornicate, do not commit adultery, do not defile boys. Let God's word never leave your lips amid anyone's impurity. Do not show favoritism when correcting someone for wrongdoing. Be gentle, be calm, and tremble before the words you have received. Bear no grudge against your brother. Do not waver between yes and no concerning what will occur. Never invoke the Lord's name for an empty purpose. Love your neighbor more than your own life. Do not destroy an unborn child through abortion, nor put to death one already born. Do not withhold your hand from teaching your son or daughter — instead, instruct them from childhood in reverence toward God. Do not become someone who covets what belongs to your neighbor, and do not grow greedy. Do not join your soul to the arrogant, but keep company instead with the humble and the just. Receive whatever happens to you as good, knowing nothing occurs apart from God. Do not be double-minded or given to much talk. Submit to your masters as a reflection of God, with reverence and fear; never command your slave or servant girl harshly, since they place their hope in the same God as you — otherwise they might stop fearing the God who watches over you both, for he did not come calling according to outward status, but calling those whom the Spirit had made ready. Share everything with your neighbor, and never claim anything as solely your own; for if you hold what is imperishable in common, how much more should this apply to what perishes. Do not be quick with your tongue, for an unguarded mouth becomes a trap leading to death. Guard your purity for your soul's sake as far as you are able. Do not be someone who reaches out a hand to take but pulls it back when it is time to give. Love, as you would the pupil of your own eye, everyone who brings you the Lord's word. Keep the day of judgment constantly before you, both night and day, and pursue daily the fellowship of the saints — whether laboring through speech, going about to console others, striving to rescue a soul through your words, or laboring with your hands toward paying off your sins. Do not delay in giving, nor complain while you give; know who repays generosity well. Preserve what you have been handed down, neither adding to it nor subtracting from it. To the very end, despise wickedness. Judge with fairness. Do not stir up division, but make peace by bringing quarreling parties together. Confess your wrongdoings openly. Do not approach prayer carrying a guilty conscience. Such is the way of light.
The way of the dark one, by contrast, is twisted and packed with curses. It is a road leading to death everlasting accompanied by torment, containing everything that destroys the soul: idol-worship, recklessness, arrogance born of power, pretense, a divided heart, adultery, killing, theft, conceit, transgression, deceit, malice, self-will, sorcery, witchcraft, greed, and utter disregard for God. Persecutors of what is good, haters of truth, lovers of falsehood, ignorant of righteousness' reward, refusing to cling to good, indifferent to just judgment, giving no heed to widow or orphan, watchful not out of fear of God but toward evil ends, people from whom gentleness and patience stand far removed, lovers of empty things, chasers after repayment, showing no pity to the poor, doing nothing on behalf of the afflicted, quick to speak evil, ignorant of their own maker, killers of children, corrupters of what God has fashioned, turning their backs on the needy, crushing the oppressed, defenders of the wealthy, lawless judges of the poor — sinners through and through.
It is good, then, once one has learned the Lord's statutes — all that stands written — to walk according to them. For whoever practices these things will be glorified within God's kingdom; whoever selects the other path will perish alongside his own deeds. This is precisely why there is resurrection; this is precisely why there is repayment. I appeal to those in positions above others, if you will accept any advice offered from good will on my part: keep close at hand people toward whom you can do good; do not fall short — the day draws near when everything will be destroyed together with the wicked one; the Lord draws near, bringing his reward with him. Again and yet again I appeal to you: act as good lawgivers toward each other, remain trustworthy advisors to one another, strip away every trace of hypocrisy from yourselves. And may God, sovereign over the entire universe, grant you wisdom, discernment, understanding, knowledge of his statutes, and steadfast endurance. Become people taught directly by God, searching out what the Lord asks of you, and act on it, so you may be found prepared on judgment day. And should any recollection of good remain, remember me while pondering these matters, so that both my longing and my watchful care may lead toward something good. I ask this of you as a personal favor. While the good vessel still remains among you, do not neglect any of these things among yourselves, but continually seek them out and carry out every commandment fully, for they deserve nothing less. This is why I was all the more determined to write to you from what resources I had, so as to bring you gladness. May you be kept safe, children of affection and harmony. May the glorious Lord, source of every grace, remain with your spirit. The Epistle of Barnabas.
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