Some Observations on the Coptic Reception of the Shepherd

The Shepherd of Hermas, an early Christian apocalyptic book written in Greek in Rome of the second century, has been translated in both Akhmimic and Sahidic Coptic. This contribution revisits the surviving manuscripts of the Shepherd and discusses two issues concerning its Coptic reception which seemed settled: the dating of the earliest manuscript and the question of a split transmission of its text, with the first four Visions separated from the rest of the book.