THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN THE SHEPHERD OF HERMAS

Author(s): R. J. Bauckham
Source: The Journal of Theological Studies , APRIL 1974, NEW SERIES, Vol. 25, No. 1
(APRIL 1974), pp. 27-40
Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23962230

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN THE
SHEPHERD OF HERMAS

DE' IV: since M. Dibelius's commentary1 only two significant con

JV^ tributionsHermas
RECENT studiesof this
to the understanding show part ofa the
remarkable
work have lacuna at Vision
appeared: articles by E. Peterson2 and A. P. O'Hagan.3 The intention
of the present study is to establish for the first time the Vision's proper
place within the context of first-century Christian apocalyptic.
We are not here concerned with the central and most difficult issues
of interpreting Hermas, but solely with his use of apocalyptic material
in Vision IV. Certain broader preliminary questions, however, must be
mentioned: scholarly judgements differ so widely that it will scarcely be
possible to do more than indicate our opinion on those which bear on
our problem. It has occasionally been denied that Hermas writes as a
prophet,4 but whether or not his visions are more than literary devices
his claim to promulgate divine revelation must constitute a claim to the
status of prophet. This places Hermas in a class of early Christian writers
who are otherwise represented for us only by John the Apocalyptist and
Elkasai, and marks him off from the much larger class of writers who
felt the need to lend their revelations the authority of a patriarchal or
apostolic pseudonym.5 Recent study6 has clearly shown the Jewish
Christian background of Hermas' theology (though his acquaintance with
Hellenistic and Roman culture is sufficient to provide literary touches) :7
1 Μ. Dibelius, Der Hirt des Hermas (Tubingen, 1923).
2 E. Peterson, 'Die Begegnung mit dem Ungeheuer' in Vigiliae Christianae,
viii (1954)·
3 A. P. O'Hagan, 'The Great Tribulation to Come in the Pastor of Hermas'
in Studia Patristica, iii (Texte und Untersuchungen, lxxviii, 1961). O'Hagan
depends considerably on Peterson, but modifies his views in the direction which
this article attempts to pursue further.
* * G. F. Snyder, The Shepherd of Hermas (Camden, N.J., 1968), p. 10.
5 H. Chadwick, 'The New Edition of Hermas', J.T.S. N.S., viii (1957), p. 277,
thinks Hermas pseudepigraphal, but the Hermas of Rom. xvi. 14 is too obscure
to have been chosen as an apostolic pseudonym; cf. R. Joly, Hermas: Le Pasteur
(Paris, 1958), p. 55; S. Giet, Hermas et les Pasteurs (Paris, 1963), p. 273.
6 J. P. Audet, 'Affinites litteraires et doctrinales du Manuel de Discipline' in
Revue Revue Revue biblique, lx (195 3); J. Danielou, The Theology of Jewish Christianity (London,
1964), pp. 37-9; L. W. Barnard, 'Hermas and Judaism' in Studia Patristica, viii
(Texte(Texte und Untersuchungen, xciii (1966)); P. Lluis-Font, 'Sources de la doctrine
d'Hermas sur les deux esprits' in Revue d'ascetique et de mystique, xxxix (1963)·
‫ י‬See (most recently) J. Schwartz, 'Survivances littiraires pa'iennes dans le
"Pasteur" d'Hermas', Revue biblique, lxxii (1965).
[Journal of Theological Studies, N.S., Vol. XXV, Pt. 1, April 1974]

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 28 R. J. BAUCKHAM

but even among the Jewish-Christian wr

remains idiosyncratic. Though some of hi
to the thought of the Qumran sect, there
to give much probability to the thesis
converted Essene. He may have been mo
than he is usually given credit for, but it
reflects a theological milieu about which
formation.1
G. F. Snyder's attempt to explain the ori
context of the Roman church of the early
lating several churches at Rome, of variou
down at viii. 3, which presupposes a unifie
hardly have been representative of his chur
on the issue of repentance he stands betwe
of xxxi. ι and the false teachers who indul
xliii), but some difficulties disappear if w
Reckoning with the probability of more th
we suggest that at least the earliest section
threat of impending persecution is evident
fore the Domitianic persecution at Rome.5
the martyrs of Nero's persecution and viii.
to the well-known Clement.6 The lack of reference to other 'Roman'

1 Note the fact that the only reference to another work is to the Book of
Eldad and Modat (vii. 4), which has not survived.
2 Snyder, op. cit., pp. 19 f.
3 'We find it impossible to believe that a document written for the "Roman
church" between no and 140 could be so totally ignorant of what had gone
before and what transpired at that moment. Where is there a hint of other
documents for and from Rome: Paul's letter to Rome, Ignatius' letter to Rome,
Mark, 1 Peter, 1 Clement? Where is the influence of persuasive teachers at
Rome: Justin, Marcion, Valentinus?' (ibid., p. 19).
4 Besides Giet's theory of triple authorship (the evidence for which may as
well indicate a single author writing his work in more than one stage), the evi
dence of the Michigan papyrus strongly suggests that the work was written in
two parts.
5 This was suggested by Le Nourry (quoted in Giet, op. cit., p. 283 n. 4).
Most writers allow the possibility of a late-first-century date, at least for Visions
I-IV (e.g. ibid., pp. 294-6; Goodspeed and Grant, A History of Early Christian
Literature Literature (University of Chicago Press, 1966), p. 32). Danielou, op. cit., p. 39,
thinks a date c. 90 is likely for the first edition of the work.
6 Opinions about the probability of this identification differ: though the name
was common, the position in the Roman church which Hermas attributes to
Clement is comparable to that of the author of 1 Clement. Danielou, 10c. cit.,
does not doubt the identification, and H. von Campenhausen, Ecclesiastical
Authority Authority and Spiritual Power in the Church of the First Three Centuries (London,
1969), p. 95, thinks that the Clement of Hermas is 'certainly' the author of 1
Clement.

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 29
documents is no peculiar problem: the impact of Paul's letter to Rom
is hardly more apparent in 1 Clement. We shall argue that Vision IV,
while not showing knowledge of 1 Pet., does preserve an apocalyptic
tradition which 1 Pet. also used and reflects more faithfully than an
other New Testament writing. The early date cannot be proved, but
little can be said against it (except the tendentious evidence of the Mu
torian Canon)1 and it makes other aspects of the work more easi
intelligible (Hermas' freedom to promulgate revelation in his ow
name, his closeness to Essene theology, his apparent ignorance of all th
New Testament writings2 and highly selective use even of the norm
Old Testament canon, the wide acceptability and high regard which
The Shepherd acquired in the late second century).
With Joly,3 Giet,4 and Pernveden5 we hold that Hermas' thought ha
a strongly eschatological orientation, though Joly's comment that 'tout
la doctrine d'Hermas est commandee par l'imminence de la Parousi
is exaggerated.6 Hermas' Christology is too weak for the parousia to
dominate his eschatology: he thinks rather of the completion of the
building of the Church (xvi. 9; lxxxvii. 2). But it is the imminenc
of this which gives urgency and finality to his message of repentance
'It is this eschatological situation that causes metanoia, in so far as it
concerns those who are already believers, to be represented as some
thing completely unique. Metanoia is the last chance to attain par
cipation in the Church.'7 Hermas has nothing to do with the growth o
1 Cf. Η. Chadwick, op. cit., pp. 277 f.; he takes the Muratorian Canon as
'indirect and reluctant testimony to the prior existence in Rome of the belief'
an apostolic date for Hermas.
2 It has often been suggested that Hermas was familiar with several NT
writings, but the evidence is quite inconclusive: see the list of possible allusion
in Snyder, op. cit., pp. 162-4. Links with Jas. and Rev. probably reflect only a
common background.
‫ נ‬Joly associates the proximity of the eschaton with the theory that Herma
announces a 'jubilee' of repentance: but this is not a necessary association. Oth
advocates of the 'jubilee' theory are listed in B. Poschmann, Paenitentia secund
(Bonn, 1940), p. 134 n. 1, and Penance and the Anointing of the Sick (Freiburg
1964), p. 26, n. 30: but the theory has been effectively refuted in Poschmann
Paenitentia Paenitentia secunda, pp. 134-205 (cf. B. Altaner, Patrology (Freiburg, i960
p. 86). Hermas' eschatology leads him to proclaim a final, but not a first, oppo
tunity of repentance: 'the specifically noteworthy factor in his message o
metanoia is not that it should proclaim a possibility of metanoia that was u
known before, but that every possibility of metanoia is soon over' (L. Pernvede
The The The Concept of the Church in the Shepherd of Hermas (Lund, 1966), p. 270).
4 Giet believes the eschatological perspective to be most evident in Vision
I-IV and discerns 'une attenuation progressive de l'idee eschatologique' (op.
cit., p. 190) in the later parts of the work.
5 L. Pernveden, op. cit., pp. 265 ff., 297.
6 Joly, op. cit., p. 236.
7 Pernveden, op. cit., p. 271.

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 30 R. J. BAUCKHAM

penitential discipline in the Church,1 nor

tology any more individualized than Paul

II

Hennas has been called a 'Pseudo-Apocalypse' on the grounds tha

neither his paraenesis nor his allegory nor even his use of traditional
apocalyptic imagery is eschatologically orientated.2 This is a misinter
pretation, but it is nevertheless true that Hermas is largely content to
assume rather than describe the eschaton. If the latter be thought a nece
sary characteristic of apocalyptic there is no justification for calling his
work an apocalypse. Contrary, however, to common assertion Vision IV
('the only section of the book where Hermas works with apocalyptic
material')3 not only uses apocalyptic material but does so with apo
calyptic intention.4 The suggestion that Hermas has 'individualized' the
apocalyptic threat of tribulation5 is a misunderstanding of the text: hi
own experience with the monster is not real but visionary, functioning
as a figurative prototype of the experience of the faithful in the comin
eschatological tribulation.
Hermas, like most apocalyptic writers, reworks traditional material,
but his use of it is by no means as clumsy as has been supposed. The
following points will give a preliminary indication of his dependence on
earlier material:

ι. The figure of the sea monster (though we need look no further than
Dan. vii for its source): Hermas' encounter with a sea monster, appear
ing in a cloud of dust in the Campanian Way, is somewhat incongruous,
even if we allow the symbolic significance which Peterson has suggested
for the topography.6
2. The fiery locusts. These are left unexplained in the interpretation,

1 Pernveden, op. cit., p. 298; Campenhausen, op. cit., p. 124. Against, e.g.,
W. Telfer, The Forgiveness of Sins (London, 1959), pp. 38-42; Daniilou,
op. cit., p. 38, who sees a reflection of Essene discipline.
2 P. Vielhauer in E. Hennecke (trans. Wilson), New Testament Apocrypha, ii
(London, 1965), p. 638.
2 Ibid., p. 636.
4 Snyder's insistence (op. cit., pp. 9 f.) that the Visions are 'apocalyptic in
form only' is based on too stereotyped a pattern: if a call to repentance before
the End is impossible in apocalyptic, then the Johannine Apocalypse is not
apocalyptic.
5 Dibelius, op. cit., pp. 485 f.; cf. Joly, op. cit., p. 133 (though Joly admits
that 'le monstre conserve done quelque chose de sa signification eschatologique').
Peterson is nearer the mark: 'In sehr unbeholfener Weise werden die beiden
Gedenkenreihen, die der individuellen und die der allgemeinen Eschatologie mit
einander verbunden' (op. cit., p. 70): but we hope to show that Hermas is not
clumsy at this point. 6 Peterson, op. cit.

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 31
but they are not entirely redundant, for the destructive power of the
monster is its primary characteristic and needs depicting.
3. The angel Thegri (otherwise unknown).1
4. Two clear quotations from the Old Testament occur in the space of
two verses, a very rare phenomenon in Hermas (Dan. vi. 22 is quoted in
xxiii. 4; Ps. lv(liv). 22 is quoted in xxiii. 4 and xxiii. 5.)

Does Hermas make consistent and intelligible use of this material?

Most commentators have refused him the right to his own interpre
tation. Thus because apocalyptic beasts are commonly symbolic o
political powers, it does not follow that Hermas' monster represents
the power of Rome.2 There is even less evidence for regarding it as
Gehenna.3 The beast is explained in xxiii. 5 as a figure (τύπος) of the
imminent great tribulation. To the threat of this tribulation Christian
may react in two different ways: their faith may waver (doubleminde
ness) (xxiii. 4) or they may repent and prepare themselves to face it
(xxiii. 5). The doubleminded will be 'hurt' (xxiii. 4) by the great tribu
lation and thereby experience God's wrath (xxiii. 6). The repentant, o
the other hand, will put complete trust in the Lord (xxiii. 4 f.), face th
tribulation with courage (xxiii. 8), and 'escape' (xxiii. 4).
It should be noticed that this result is precisely the opposite of what
it should be if the great tribulation were simply a period of persecution
In that case, the doubleminded, those who apostatize, would escape
while the faithful would suffer. Hermas has no illusions about the
reality of persecution (x. 1). If the doubleminded suffer God's wrath in
the great tribulation it is clear that it must be intended as a larger con
cept than a persecution of the Church. Equally the 'escape' of the faith
ful cannot be taken literally.4 Comparison with vi. 7 f. (where the idea
of the great tribulation is first introduced, in the context of the revealed
call to repentance) shows that έκφενγειν is equivalent to υπομένει ν: the
faithful 'escape' the tribulation by enduring and not denying the Lord.
'Υπομονή'Υπομονή is the characteristic New Testament apocalyptic virtue of
patient suffering under persecution (Rom. v. 3 f.; Lk. xxi. 19; 1 Pet.
1 For suggested solutions to this riddle, see Dibelius, op. cit., p. 488, and
(most ingeniously) J. R. Kreuger, Ά Possible Turco-Mongolian Source for
θΐγρί in Hernias' The Pastor', in American Journal of Philology, lxxxiv (1963).
22 Snyder, op. cit., pp. 56 f.: though doubtless Hermas did have Rome in
mind as the agent of persecution.
3 Peterson, op. cit., pp. 60-4; cf. O'Hagan, op. cit., p. 307. Again the Gehenna
image may have contributed something to Hermas' thought, especially as
apocalyptic writings sometimes blur the distinction between the fire of (historical)
judgement at the End and the fire of (eternal) punishment in the after-life.
4 O'Hagan, op. cit., pp. 307-9; against Joly, op. cit., p. 137, Snyder, op. cit.,
p. 58.

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32 R. J. BAUCKHAM
ii. 20; Rev. i. 9, etc.): 'he who endures to the e
13). The benediction of vi. 7 and the exhorta
'escaping' becomes 'Εάν 8e ύμεΐς θΐλήσητ€, ov
pared with John's repeated 'call for the endu
xiii. 10; xiv. 12) in the context of another vision
of an apocalyptic monster. Daniel in the lions
image in xxiii. 4) therefore prefigures the sp
safety of Christians in the great tribulation.1
Hermas is thus primarily concerned abou
Christians to endure an impending persecutio
as part of a larger eschatological event, 'the c
It may be noted that in Vision IV δίψυχος is clo
i. 8 and in the prophetic saying quoted in 1 C
xi. 2 than is usual in Hermas: the danger is of
i.e. of wavering in faith under threat of persecu
alternative is repentance, the usual meaning m
if not in his words: to repent is 'to put away
The doubleminded man is already compromis
loyalties are divided; under persecution he is
temptation to apostatize (cf. xiv. 5; xcviii. 3). H
call to repent—to return to single-minded loy
persecution (cf. xiii. 5).
The concept of the great tribulation is furthe
of the four colours on the monster's head. T
represent the two aeons: 'this world in which
come, in which the elect of God will live' (xxi
priate colour for this world because (xcii. 1-4)
which are attributes of the evil spirit. Pernve
symbolic use of the colour white4 and finds
1 O'Hagan (op. cit., p. 308) also compares Lk. xxi
in an apocalyptic context cannot mean physical e
evidently in the mind of Hermas or his source) ma
in view of the interpretation of Dan. xii. 10 whi
Hermas' vision, it is probable that 'delivered' the
'delivered through' rather than 'from' the tribula
'Those who were persecuted for the sake of the law, b
or deny the law'.
2 Against Seitz ('Relationship of the Shepherd o
James' in J.B.L. lxiii (1944), and 'Antecedents an
ΔΙΨΥΧΟΣ'ΔΙΨΥΧΟΣ' in J.B.L. lxvi (1947)), Snyder (op. cit.,
use of δίψυχος is distinct from that in the other Jew
both this passage and ch. xxxix suggest that Hermas
the common meaning.
3 English quotations from Hermas are given in
4 Pernveden, op. cit., pp. 101 f.

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 33

represents the eschatological purity of the Church. The great t

lation is therefore the means of transition from this age to the n
to this extent its function is exactly parallel to that of the per
tribulation, cosmic upheaval, or 'Messianic woes' frequently des
in Jewish apocalyptic). The function of the two intermediate co
to explain how this transition is effected. Red symbolizes the ef
the great tribulation on 'this world': 'The colour of fire and blood
it is necessary for this world to be destroyed by blood and fire' (
Gold represents its effect on the Church, a purifying effect by
Christians are made 'useful in the construction of the tower', i.e
be part of the eschatological Church of the next world (xxiv. 4).
Though it is on this last aspect of the tribulation that He
emphasis lies, he does not neglect its destructive aspect, in res
'this world'. The reference to fire and blood1 suggests that he t
'this world' primarily in terms of its (wicked) inhabitants: and
supported by the probable reading iv αύτοΐς in xxiv. 4. Probably
fore the fire is not so much that of the cosmic conflagration of 2
as the fire of divine judgement consuming the wicked, as in 2 Thes
Hermas recognizes that the coming of the new age requires not o
purification of the righteous but also the destruction of the w
his great tribulation performs both functions and again it follo
its meaning cannot be confined to persecution.
The persecution is nevertheless the more interesting aspect. A
ing to Hermas' metaphor of refining gold, the dross which has
'cast off' is 'all grief and distress' (xxiv. 4), qualities which for
have the status of a vice and are the inevitable companions of
mindedness (xix. 3; xxi. 2; xl. if.; xli. 6; xlii. 1-4; xcii. 3). He
link is clearly established with the other figure in the vision, th
lady who represents the Church in xxiii. 1 and has the eschato
characteristics of being dressed in white and as if for a weddin
Rev. xix. 7 f.; xxi. 2). For in Vision III the transition from care
old age to cheerful youthfulness in the woman who there repres
Church is explained as the consequence of casting off grief and
mindedness in response to the 'good news' of the call to repent
xix-xxi; especially xix. 2 f.; xxi. 2, 4). In Hermas' vocabulary
off grief and distress is repentance. But since he has already ma
that repentance is the necessary preparation for the tribulation (
how can he here say (apparently) that repentance is the effect
tribulation on the Church ? At this point it is tempting to supp
after all Hermas has individualized his apocalyptic and is intere
1 The closest parallel is Sib. iii. 287, where the expression describe
judgement on men, probably by the agency of Cyrus.
1017 C 73

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34 R. J· BAUCKHAM
the tribulation only as 'a threatened persecut
stimulant for repentance and renewal of the c
A more fruitful approach is to examine his
and ΘΧΐφις elsewhere.2 There are occurrences
where the translation must be 'persecution': in
doubleminded apostatizing (vii. 4; xiv. 5; xcvi
enduring persecution (χ. 1; lxix. 7). It is these
us in supposing that in Vision IV Hermas' pri
spiritual state (doubleminded or repentant) in
upon the great tribulation. But θλΐψις can als
general sense: in xxvii. 5; xxxviii. 10; 1. 8 Her
difficulties of the poorer members of his chu
and in Ixxvi. 4 f. 'distress' is brought into a diff
to repentance: there it means sufferings inflic
tance, primarily (it appears) for didactic purp
introduce a retributive or expiatory element (lxi
is not to self- or Church-discipline, but to th
(lxiii. 4: 'The torments befall one during his
punished with losses, some with deprivations, s
some with total disturbance, some are abus
and suffer many other things'). Nor is the pur
doubleminded to repentance; rather they fol
of the process of repentance, as lxvi. 4 f. make
Evidently Hermas thinks that the process of
from doublemindedness and grief involves th
θλίψεις:3 this then can be the function of the g
those (but only for those) who enter it in a st
individual perspective of chs. lxiii and lxvi th
by the various distresses suffered by individ
perspective of Vision IV the purification of th
logical state requires a universal tribulatio
interpretation of the metaphor of refining gold
xxiv. 4b, but it is a peculiarity of Hermas' th
since the same idea of 'testing' under tribula
value in other ways4 we may suppose, when

1 Snyder, op. cit., p. 58: emphasis mine.

2 Against Giet's theory of triple authorship, we ar
of thought at least behind the two major sections
Vision V-Similitude VIII, X).
3 Poschmann, Penance, acknowledges the importan
theology of repentance, but couples it with an unju
ecclesiastical discipline in Hermas (p. 31).
4 ι Pet. i. 7; Rev. ii. 10; Jas. i. 3; Heb. xii. 3-11

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 35
apocalyptic tradition Hernias is using, that the 'purgatorial' inte
pretation is his own contribution. But here we conclude by noticing
that it is not inconsistent with a properly apocalyptic intention in Visio
IV and fits without difficulty into the teaching of the Vision as a whol

Ill

We must now return to the traditional background of Herm

apocalyptic. There is not much evidence that the term ή θλΐφ
μεγάλη μεγάλη μεγάλη is a stereotyped expression.1 Outside Hermas it is know
in Rev. vii. 14. Sib. iii. 187 uses the indefinite expression θλΐφ
άνθρώποίίάνθρώποίί μεγάλη, but at least in its present context this is a refere
Dan. xii. 1 not in an eschatological sense but as historical descriptio
the persecution under Antiochus. In the Synoptic apocalypse, Mk.
19 has just θλΐφις, Mt. xxiv. 21 adds μεγάλη.2 The 'time which cre
trouble' in 2 Bar. xlviii. 31 is probably also a reference to the θλΐφι
Dan. xii. 1, though there, as in Rev. ii. 22 (θλΐφις μεγάλη), the refer
is not to the tribulation of the righteous. No doubt θλΐφις μεγάλη
natural enough way to refer to Dan. xii. 1, but the apparently tech
use in Hermas and Rev. vii. 14 (and perhaps Mt. xxiv. 21) may ref
early Christian tradition.
The concept, however, is in part easily paralleled from Jewish a
calyptic writings, as we have noted already: many references cou
given to a period of worldwide distress which is to occur at the transi
between the two aeons. It is also easy to parallel Hermas' metapho
fire for the destruction of 'this world' in the great tribulation. Fir
familiar Old Testament image for divine judgement.3 The apocalyp
refer both to the destruction of the whole physical universe by fire4
to fire as the instrument of judgement on sinners,5 or to both at o
Hermas' emphasis, however, is rather on the experience of
righteous during the great tribulation. Contrary to common asse
the idea of a final period of suffering and persecution for the pe
of God7 is scarcely to be found in Jewish apocalyptic literatu
1 O'Hagan, op. cit., p. 309.
2 Lk. xxi. 23 has ανάγκη, presumably because Lk. here follows a diffe
source (not in order to play down the apocalyptic meaning, for ανάγκη ca
equally apocalyptic, as in Zeph. i. 15 (LXX) and 1 Cor. vii. 26).
3 Cf. Dan. vii. 10; Isa. lxvi. 15; Mai. iv. 1.
♦ 4 Life of Adam and Eve, xlix. 3; Sib. iv. 173-8.
5 2 Bar. xliv. 15; xlviii. 39; lix. 2; lxiv. 7; lxxxv. 13; Ps. Sol. xv. 16 f.; Si
54, 689-91. 6 Sib. iii. 63-92; probably 1QH iii. 29 ff.
7 This idea is to be distinguished from that of a last assault by the nations,
where the enemy is destroyed and Israel is delivered before any suffering can
occur (Ezek. xxxviiif.; 1 En. lvi. 5-8; xc. 13-19; 4 Esd. xiii. 5-11; Sib. iii.
663-73; cf. Rev. xx. 8).

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36 R. J. BAUCKHAM
descriptions of the 'Messianic woes' are conc
social disintegration and with judgement on sinn
ings of the righteous.1 (The one significant exc
of Moses, which in chs. viii f. seems to take Dan
ing an apocalyptic persecution comparable with
Apocalyptic writings were frequently set in a co
ing, and in the Maccabean literature late Ju
notion of righteous suffering, but this does no
that persecution was 'part of the eschatological b
at this period'.3 The idea seems occasionally
ordinate part (as perhaps at Qumran), but the es
given to the sufferings of the Church in the S
Paul, in Revelation is unprecedented and rep
Christian apocalyptic tradition. In 1 Peter the
this to the near exclusion (see 1 Pet. ii. 12; iv. 1
tribulation would extend to the ungodly; and i
finds a parallel perhaps only in Hermas.
That Hermas' conception of the great tribulati
of trial for the Church is inherited from a primit
tradition is shown by the fact that he gives it
and refrains from developing it in ways which
Testament writings. He does not relate the suff
the sufferings of Christ, as 1 Peter, Paul, and
he developed the idea of an Antichrist: his mon
represents the tribulation itself and does not, as
symbol of a persecuting Antichristian powe
writings attribute various kinds of value to pers
'testing' is found in many different strands
tradition.5 Hermas has given it the 'purgatoria
theology of repentance requires, but we may r
the idea itself was present in the tradition he in
metaphor which expresses it: the refining of go

1 Ε. G. Selwyn, The First Epistle of St. Peter (Londo

persecution for the faith as 'a distinctively Christian
of the Jewish eschatological expectation': the only p
(Jub. xxiii. 13) is scarcely possible.
2 This exception would be eliminated if we accept
position of the text (Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (
F. C. Burkitt's interpretation (in H.D.B. iii, p. 449)
3 A. R. C. Leaney, The Rule of Qumran and its M
p. 213: emphasis mine.
4 e.g. witness (Mt. x. 18 //s; Rev.), sharing in Chri
the model of Christ's entry into glory through suffe
s See p. 34 n. 4 above.

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 37
It is this metaphor of fire which enables Hermas to hold together the
ideas of the destruction of the world and the purification of the Church
as the double effect of the great tribulation. Its frequency in the New
Testament suggests an early tradition which Hermas represents in a
coherent form but to which the New Testament writers refer rather
more casually. Paul's usage reflects a somewhat different, perhaps earlier,
version where both the fire of judgement on the ungodly (1 Thess. i.
7 f.; ii. 8) and the refining fire which tests Christians (1 Cor. iii. 13) are
more closely connected with the parousia itself and not used meta
phorically of the preceding tribulation.1 John the Apocalyptist, at least
in the seven letters, envisages the impending θλΐφις as primarily a
period of testing (Rev. ii. 10)—though interestingly he extends the idea
to a period of 'trial' for the wicked (Rev. iii. io)2 and of judgement on
those lapsed Christians who refuse to repent (Rev. ii. 22, where the
followers of Jezebel are analogous to the doubleminded in Hermas; cf.
Hermas xxiii. 6). 1 Peter provides the closest analogy to Hermas: the
metaphor of testing (δοκιμάζειν, as in Hermas xxiv. 4 and 1 Cor. iii. 13)
gold by fire is used of persecution in 1 Pet. 1. 6 f.; and in 1 Pet. iv. 13
the persecution is called πνρωσις, a rare word whose biblical usage
seems to be again in the context of metal-refining (Prov. xxvii. 21). The
verb πυροΰν is thus used in Hermas xxiv. 4 and in Rev. iii. 18 (where the
combination of gold refined in the fire and white garments suggests
that this verse too may reflect the same tradition as Hermas' vision).
A further indication that 1 Peter is drawing on the same traditional
material as Hermas is provided by the fact that the same Old Testament
verse (Ps. lv (liv). 22) which Hermas quotes three times (xix. 3; xxiii.
4 f.) as the watchword of faithful Christians under trial is similarly
quoted in 1 Pet. v. 7.
Post-New Testament Christian apocalyptic also uses the idea of
fiery trial in a way which seems to presuppose a stronger tradition than
may be derived from the New Testament references alone. Did. xvi. 5
refers to a universal trial as in Rev. iii. 10, but the expression (ets την
‫דד‬τΰρωσιν τfjs Βοκιμασίας) is reminiscent of the material we have examined.
Sib. ii. 252 ff. refers to the eschatological river of fire through which
all men pass, the wicked perishing but the righteous surviving. Most
significantly, 4 Esd. xvi. 68-73 describes in detail the eschatological
trial of the faithful thus: 'Fierce flames are being kindled to burn you ...
In place after place and in all the neighbourhood there will be a violent

1 It is difficult, though not impossible, to suppose that 1 Cor. iii. 13 and 1

Cor. vii. 26 refer to the same apocalyptic event.
2 See S. Brown's interpretation of this verse, 'The Hour of Trial (Rev. 3: 10)',
y.B.L. lxxxv (1966).

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 38 R. J. BAUCKHAM
attack on those who fear the Lord . . . Then it wi
chosen people have stood the test like gold in the a
Finally we must consider the possible pre-Christ
that aspect of Hermas' great tribulation (the fiery
which, as we have noted, is not prominent in the m
apocalyptic. The metaphor of the refiner's fire is q
Testament usage, though with various different co
has conveniently listed these, with references.1
implying purification or testing, the metaphor m
suffering or to judgement. Three Old Testament
relevant to our purpose: Dan. xii. 10; Zech. xiii. 9;
were clearly understood eschatologically2 and t
contexts which the early Church took to be m
apocalyptic writings provide a few references to an
'testing': in 2 Bar. xlviii. 39; Sib. iii. 618; Test. A
viii.viii. 411) its function is to test man's works and c
If the righteous are brought into the picture (as in
are represented simply as passing the test.3 This is
Hermas' conception of a period of tribulation w
(rather than the works) of believers and purifies
ship of the eschatological Church, but it may hav
thing to the picture: Hermas (like Rev. iii. 10
envisage a universal trial with differing effects o
elect.
More significant is Dan. xii. 10 (cf. also xi. 3
dotion's version the righteous who go through the
to make themselves white (έκλευκανθωσιν, cf. το λευ
xxiv. 5) and to be refined in fire (7τνρωθωσιν, cf. π
xxiv. 4). This evidently is the direct source of Herm
seems in any case to rely heavily on Daniel: no
tribulation itself to be found in Dan. xii. 1, but als
most obviously from Dan. vii, the story of the lion
direct quotation in Hermas xxiii. 4, and probably
Dan. iii. is also in mind. Another possible allusion
God as refiner in Mai. iii. 1-3, but direct referenc

1 S. Brown, 'Deliverance from the Crucible: Some Fu

1QH iii. 1-18' (in N.T.S. xiv (1967-8), p. 258).
2 A rabbinic interpretation took Zech. xiii. 9 as a ref
fires after death: see G. H. Box, The Testament of Ab
p. xxvi.
3 C. W. Fishburne ('1 Cor. iii. 10-15 and the Testament of Abraham', N.T.S.
xvii (1970-1)) argues that Paul in 1 Cor. iii. is directly dependent on Test. Abr.,
but acknowledges (pp. 114 f.) that he has significantly altered its theology.

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 THE GREAT TRIBULATION IN HERMAS 39
literature are confined to v. 1, with reference to John the Baptist
D. Flusser has argued that this passage lies behind both the Qumranic
teaching on trial by fire and the Baptist's teaching about Messianic
baptism, but the evidence is slender.1
The teaching of the Scrolls on trial by refining fire is of peculiar
interest in view of Hermas' other affinities with Qumran. On the other
hand his total eschatology is clearly different (he has no place for a war
against the sons of darkness) and moreover it seems that the teaching of
the Scrolls here is by no means as clear as has sometimes been thought.
The passage commonly cited from 1QM (xvi. 9-xvii. 9) which does use
the metaphor of refining gold in a furnace does not appear to be very
close to Hermas' meaning. The context is one of temporary defeat in
battle, which is explained as a means of 'testing' the army of the Sons of
Light (xvi. 9) who are to face such an experience by being 'strong in
God's crucible' (xvii. 9). But the meaning, as Yadin points out,2 is that
of the story of Achan and the incident in 2 Macc. xii. 39 ff.: the army is
being purified for battle by casting off the dross which in this context
represents its unworthy members, those who have been justly slain in
the defeat (vi. 13; xvii. 1). The purification of individuals is not in
question.3
More to the point are the references in 1QS viii. 4 to the 'endurance
of the trial (masreph) of affliction' and 1QS i. 17 to the possible 'trial'
(masreph) which must be endured 'during the dominion of Belial'. The
trial here is the 'crucible' of Prov. xxvii. 21, but the relation of these
passages to the eschatological purification 'with holy spirit' in 1QS iv. 21
seems at best unproven.4 These passages show that the community
interpreted its sufferings during the present evil age as necessary and
purifying, but there is scant evidence that they gave them a prominent
place in their eschatological expectations5 and no link is established
between this fire of 'testing' and the eschatological fire of judgement
(1QH iii. 29 ff.; 1QS ii. 8). The same is true of the striking use of the
crucible metaphor in 1QH v. 16, where the Old Testament allusion
(Ps. xii. 6) has been entirely reworked to refer it to the afflictions of the
godly. The most impressive parallel to Hermas' conception is 1QH iii.

1 Flusser's argument summarized in Leaney, op. cit., p. 126; against it, see
C. Η. H. Scobie, 'John the Baptist' (in The Scrolls and Christianity (London,
1969))- PP· 59-61·
22 Y. Yadin, The Scroll of the War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of
Darkness Darkness (Oxford, 1962), p. 221.
3 Against Brown, op. cit., p. 258 n. 7. A similar meaning must be given to
the metaphor as used in C.D. xx. 27.
4 See Leaney, op. cit., p. 126, following Flusser.
5 Against Leaney, op. cit., p. 213.

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 40 R. J. BAUCKHAM

7-18, if we may accept the interpreta

a combination of the metaphors of p
divides the passage (at v. 10) into
describing respectively the fate of th
the same cosmological upheaval of the
to the double effect of Hermas' grea
Qumran psalmist envisages a period o
destroy the wicked and produce the
righteous.3 Unfortunately the passag
fident conclusions about the anteced
may at least notice that even here, in
Judaism, the emphasis falls strongly
tribulation, as judgement on the ungo
given to the sufferings of the Church
which characterizes early Christian
faithfully represents. R. J. Bauckham
R. J. Bauckham
1 Brown, op. cit.
2 The parallel between 1QH iii. 1-18 and Rev. iii. 10, which is the only
comparison Brown supplies (ibid., pp. 257-9), is valid but more remote.
3 Brown thinks only of the deliverance of the righteous, but the emphasis on
the birth of the child in vv. 9 f. suggests that the idea of the tribulation's bring
ing forth the eschatological community may be in mind. On the other hand,
only if we are prepared to import the idea of 1QH v. 16 into this passage may we
follow Brown in thinking of the tribulation as a period of purification.

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