Church History 3.27.6

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

Summary: The name Ebionite comes from the Hebrew word for “poor.”

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Greek text · Dindorf 4:119

ὅθεν παρὰ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐγχείρησιν τῆς τοιᾶσδε λελόγχασι προσηγορίας, τοῦ Ἐβιωναίων ὀνόματος, τὴν τῆς διανοίας πτωχείαν αὐτῶν ὑποφαίνοντος· ταύτῃ γὰρ ἐπίκλην ὁ πτωχὸς παρʼ Ἑβραίοις ὀνομάζεται.

English · Claude translation

Hence, because of such an undertaking, they have received the name of Ebionites, which signifies the poverty of their understanding; for this is the name by which the poor man is called among the Hebrews.

About this passage

Source: Dindorf 4:119 · 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)
Topics: Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

Hebrew ʾebyôn means “poor.” The name probably first expressed the group's own ideal of poverty; the explanation here is polemical.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.27.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/27/6/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.27.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/27/6/).

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