Texts in Conversation
In Deuteronomy, Israel is told the commandment is not too difficult or far away. In the Shepherd of Hermas, when Hermas says the twelve commandments are too hard, the Shepherd answers similarly that anyone who decides to obey them can do so easily.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Deuteronomy 30:11
Hebrew Bible
10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this scroll of the law. But you must turn to him with your whole mind and being. 11 “This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote. 12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, ‘Who will go up to heaven to get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, ‘Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?’ 14 For the thing is very near you—it is in your mouth and in your mind so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are about to possess.
Shepherd of Hermas 46:5
Early Christian
4 I said to him: “Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and they can delight the heart of anyone who can keep them. But I do not know whether these commandments can be kept by any person, for they are very hard.” 5 He answered me: “If you decide that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if you get it into your heart that no one can keep them, you will not keep them. 6 But now I say to you: if you do not keep them, but neglect them, you will not have salvation—neither you nor your children nor your household, since you have already condemned yourself by saying that no one can keep these commandments.”
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Notes and References
“... Hermas' very query about the difficulty of keeping the commandments (v. 4) shows his own incipient doublemindedness, which explains why it causes such a dramatic reaction on the part of the Shepherd (4.1-2). The reference to "gladdening the human heart" is applied to the Law in the Psalms, and the allusion here suggests a relationship between the two realms of commandments. In fact, the whole approach to the commandments in this chapter, though different in terminology, is reminiscent of Deuteronomy 30. [...] The answer to Hermas' objection (v. 5) is a piece of psychological wisdom whose language may be inspired by Stoicism, but whose lesson is universal: preconceptions determine outcome. [...] Especially Deut 30:6, 11, 15, 17-18, 20. ...”
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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