Church History 4.26.13

Summary: Melito (quoted) writes to Onesimus, who asked for extracts about the Saviour and for the number and order of the Old Testament books.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:178–179

γράφει δὲ οὕτως“ Μελίτων Ὀνησίμῳ τῷ “ἀδελφῷ χαίρειν ἐπειδὴ πολλάκις ἠξίωσας σπουδῇ “τῇ πρὸς τὸν λόγον χρώμενος γενέσθαι ἐκλογάς σοι “ ἔκ τε τοῦ νόμου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν περὶ τοῦ σωτῆ- “ ρος καὶ πάσης τῆς πίστεως ἡμῶν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ μαθεῖν “ τὴν τῶν παλαιῶν βιβλίων ἐβουλήθης ἀκρίβειαν, “ πόσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν καὶ ὁποῖα τὴν τάξιν εἶεν, ἐσπούδασα “τὸ τοιοῦτο πρᾶξαι, ἐπιστάμενός σου τὸ σπου- “ δαῖον περὶ τὴν πίστιν καὶ φιλομαθὲς περὶ τὸν λόγον, “ὅτι τε μάλιστα πάντων πόθῳ τῷ πρὸς θεὸν ταῦτα προκρίνεις, περὶ τῆς αἰωνίου σωτηρίας ἀγωνιξόμενος.

English · Claude translation

He writes thus: “Melito to Onesimus his brother, greeting. Since you have often asked, in your zeal for the word, to have extracts made for you from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Saviour and all our faith, and since you wished also to learn the exact facts about the ancient books, how many they are in number and what is their order, I have been eager to do this, knowing your zeal for the faith and your love of learning concerning the word, and that above all, in your longing for God, you prefer these things, striving for eternal salvation.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:178–179 · 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

Melito of Sardis, Melito Extracts (Melito of Sardis (fragments)) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Scripture and canon

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.26.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/26/13/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.26.13 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/26/13/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:178–179

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage