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English translation and notes by John Barach
Chapter 5
Sufferings of Christ
5:1 Εἰς τοῦτο γὰρ ὑπέμεινεν ὁ κύριος παραδοῦναι τὴν σάρκα εἰς καταφθοράν, ἵνα τῇ ἀφέσει τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἁγνισθῶμεν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐν τῷ αἵματι τοῦ ῥαντίσματος αὐτοῦ.
 For to this end the Lord endured to hand over His flesh to corruption, so that we might be purified by the forgiveness of sins, which is in the blood of His sprinkling.
5:2 γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἃ μὲν πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἃ δὲ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, λέγει δὲ οὕτως·
Ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν·
τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν·
ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἄφωνος ἐναντίον τοῦ κείραντος αὐτόν.
 For it is written concerning Him, partly to Israel and partly to us; and He speaks thus:
“He was wounded for our lawlessnesses and broken for our sins; by His stripe we were healed.
As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb silent before its shearer.”
5:3 οὐκοῦν ὑπερευχαριστεῖν ὀφείλομεν τῷ κυρίῳ, ὅτι καὶ τὰ παρεληλυθότα ἡμῖν ἐγνώρισεν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐνεστῶσιν ἡμᾶς ἐσόφισεν, καὶ εἰς τὰ μέλλοντα οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἀσύνετοι.
 Therefore we ought to give abundant thanks to the Lord, because He has both made known to us things past and made us wise in present things, and regarding things to come we are not without understanding.
5:4 λέγει δὲ ἡ γραφή·
Οὐκ ἀδίκως ἐκτείνεται δίκτυα πτερωτοῖς.
τοῦτο λέγει, ὅτι δικαίως ἀπολεῖται ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ἔχων ὁδοῦ δικαιοσύνης γνῶσιν ἑαυτὸν εἰς ὁδὸν σκότους ἀποσυνέχει.
 And the Scripture says: “Not unjustly are nets spread for birds.”
This means that a person will justly perish who, having knowledge of the way of righteousness, holds himself back in the way of darkness.
5:5 ἔτι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο, ἀδελφοί μου·
εἰ ὁ κύριος ὑπέμεινεν παθεῖν περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῶν, ὢν παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου κύριος ᾧ εἶπεν ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου·
Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν·
πῶς οὖν ὑπέμεινεν ὑπὸ χειρὸς ἀνθρώπων παθεῖν;
 And further this also, my brothers:
If the Lord endured to suffer for our soul—being Lord of the whole world, to whom God said from the foundation of the world: “Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness”—how then did He endure to suffer at the hand of men?
5:6 μάθετε.
οἱ προφῆται, ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἔχοντες τὴν χάριν, εἰς αὐτὸν ἐπροφήτευσαν·
αὐτὸς δέ, ἵνα καταργήσῃ τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν δείξῃ, ὅτι ἐν σαρκὶ ἔδει αὐτὸν φανερωθῆναι, ὑπέμεινεν, 		Learn.
The prophets, having grace from Him, prophesied concerning Him.
But He Himself—in order to abolish death and show forth the resurrection from the dead, because it was necessary for Him to be revealed in the flesh—
5:7 ἵνα τοῖς πατράσιν τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν ἀποδῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ τὸν λαὸν τὸν καινὸν ἑτοιμάζων ἐπιδείξῃ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤν, ὅτι τὴν ἀνάστασιν αὐτὸς ποιήσας κρινεῖ.
 endured so that He might pay back the promise to the fathers, and Himself, while on the earth, preparing the new people for Himself, might demonstrate that once He has accomplished the resurrection He will judge.
5:8 πέρας γέ τοι διδάσκων τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τηλικαῦτα τέρατα καὶ σημεῖα ποιῶν ἐκήρυσσεν, καὶ ὑπερηγάπησεν αὐτόν.
 Furthermore, teaching Israel and doing such great wonders and signs, He preached and loved them exceedingly.
5:9 ὅτε δὲ τοὺς ἰδίους ἀποστόλους τοὺς μέλλοντας κηρύσσειν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτοῦ ἐξελέξατο, ὄντας ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνομωτέρους, ἵνα δείξῃ, ὅτι οὐκ ἦλθεν καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλούς, τότε ἐφανέρωσεν ἑαυτὸν εἶναι υἱὸν θεοῦ.
 And when He chose His own apostles who were going to preach His gospel—being lawless beyond all sinfulness, so that He might show that He came not to call the righteous, but sinners—then He revealed Himself to be the Son of God.
5:10 εἰ γὰρ μὴ ἦλθεν ἐν σαρκί, οὐδ' ἄν πως οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐσώθησαν βλέποντες αὐτόν, ὅτε τόν μέλλοντα μὴ εἶναι ἥλιον, ἔργον τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ ὑπάρχοντα, ἐμβλέποντες οὐκ ἰσχύουσιν εἰς τὰς ἀκτῖνας αὐτοῦ ἀντοφθαλμῆσαι·
 For if He had not come in the flesh, how could men ever have been saved by seeing Him, seeing that when they look at the sun that will cease to be—which is the work of His hands—they cannot look straight into its rays?
5:11 οὐκοῦν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς τοῦτο ἐν σαρκὶ ἦλθεν, ἵνα τὸ τέλειον τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀνακεφαλαιώσῃ τοῖς διώξασιν ἐν θανάτῳ τοὺς προφήτας αὐτοῦ.
 Therefore the Son of God came in the flesh for this purpose: so that He might bring to a head the full measure of sins for those who persecuted His prophets to death.
5:12 οὐκοῦν εἰς τοῦτο ὑπέμεινεν.
λέγει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς τὴν πληγὴν τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἐξ αὐτῶν·
Ὅταν πατάξωσιν τὸν ποιμένα ἑαυτῶν, τότε ἀπολεῖται τὰ πρόβατα τῆς ποίμνης.
 Therefore for this purpose He endured. For God says that the wound of His flesh was from them: “When they strike their own shepherd, then the sheep of the flock will perish.”
5:13 αὐτὸς δὲ ἠθέλησεν οὕτω παθεῖν·
ἔδει γάρ, ἵνα ἐπὶ ξύλου πάθῃ.
λέγει γὰρ ὁ προφητεύων ἐπ' αὐτῷ.
Φεῖσαί μου τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ ῥομφαίας, καὶ·
Καθήλωσόν μου τὰς σάρκας, ὅτι πονηρευομένων συναγωγαὶ ἐπανέστησάν μοι.
 And He Himself willed to suffer thus, for it was necessary that He should suffer upon a tree. For he who prophesied concerning Him says: “Spare my soul from the sword,” and: “Nail my flesh, for assemblies of evil-doers have risen up against me.”
5:14 καὶ πάλιν λέγει·
ἰδού, τέθεικά μου τὸν νῶτον εἰς μάστιγας, τὰς δὲ σιαγόνας εἰς ῥαπίσματα.
τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου ἔθηκα ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν.
 And again he says: “Look, I have set my back to scourges, and my cheeks to blows, and I set my face like a solid rock.”
Summary
In this chapter (Chapter 5 of the Epistle of Barnabas), the author develops a Christological and soteriological defense of Christ’s suffering and incarnation.
He asserts that Christ, though the pre-existent Lord of the universe present at creation, voluntarily took on flesh and suffered death on the cross ("tree") to purify believers through His sprinkled blood, fulfill OT prophecies (quoting Suffering Servant passages from Isaiah and Psalms), and bring about the resurrection.
The author highlights the mystery of the Incarnation, explaining that veiled human flesh was necessary because human eyes cannot even look directly at the sun, let alone unshielded divine glory.
Additionally, he notes that Christ chose notoriously sinful apostles to demonstrate His grace toward sinners, and that His rejection by Israel brought their judgment and sins to completion while establishing a "new people."
Significant Greek Expressions
αἵματι τοῦ ῥαντίσματος αὐτοῦ (blood of His sprinkling): Draws directly on Old Testament sacrificial imagery (cf. Leviticus) and New Testament covenantal language (cf. 1 Peter 1:2; Hebrews 12:24) to frame Christ’s death as an agent of spiritual cleansing and covenant initiation.

τὸν λαὸν τὸν καινὸν (the new people): A key ecclesiological concept in early Christian literature framing the Church as a distinct, newly formed covenant community formed by Christ.

ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἀνομωτέρους (lawless beyond all sinfulness): A deliberate hyperbolic phrase describing the pre-conversion state of the apostles, emphasizing that Christ came to save the most unworthy sinners.

ἀνακεφαλαιώσῃ (bring to a head / sum up): A theological verb (famously developed later by Irenaeus) meaning to bring to completion or summarize, here referring to Israel filling up the measure of its sins through Christ’s death.

ἐπὶ ξύλου πάθῃ (suffered upon a tree): Refers to crucifixion using the biblical idiom ξύλον ("wood/tree"), linking Christ’s death on the cross with Deuteronomy 21:23 and early apostolic preaching (cf. Acts 5:30; Galatians 3:13).

ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν (like a solid rock): Quotes the LXX of Isaiah 50:7 ("set my face like a flint"), describing Christ’s resolute willingness to endure suffering and persecution.
Epistle of Barnabas