Sophia Scriptura

Church History 2.23.6

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Hegesippus (quoted): James, dressed in linen, prayed in the sanctuary for the people until his knees were like a camel's.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:77

τούτῳ μόνῳ ἐξῆν “ εἰς τὰ ἅγια εἰσιέναι. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐρεοῦν ἐφόρει, ἀλλὰ “σινδόνας. καὶ μόνος εἰσήρχετο εἰς τὸν ναὸν, ηὑρί- “ κετό τε κείμενος ἐπὶ τοῖς γόνασι, καὶ αἰτούμενος “ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ ἄφεσιν, ὡς ἀπεσκληκέναι τὰ γόνατα “ αὐτοῦ δίκην καμήλου, διὰ τὸ ἀεὶ κάμπτειν προσκυ- “ νοῦντα τῷ θεῷ τὰ γόνατα καὶ αἰτεῖσθαι ἄφεσιν τῷ “ λαῷ.

English · Claude translation

He alone was permitted to enter the holy place; for he wore no wool, but linen. And he alone would go into the sanctuary, and was found kneeling and asking forgiveness for the people, so that his knees grew hard like a camel's, because he was always bending his knees in worship of God and asking forgiveness for the people.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:77 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Extrabiblical texts
  • Hegesippus, Memoirs 5 (Hegesippus, Memoirs (fragments)) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Hegesippus. That James entered the holy place is historically improbable; it reflects later tradition.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.23.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/23/6/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.23.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/23/6/).

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