Church History 5.2.3 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Dindorf 4:198–199

ἡδέως γὰρ παρεχώρουν τὴν τῆς μαρτυρίας προσηγορίαν τῷ Χριστῷ, τῷ πιστῷ καὶ ἀληθινῷ μάρτυρι καὶ πρωτοτόκῳ τῶν νεκρῶν καὶ ἀρχηγῷ τῆς ζωῆς τοὐ θεοῦ, καὶ ἐπεμιμνήσκοντο τῶν ἐξεληλυθότων ἤδη μαρτύρων καὶ ἔλεγον ἐκεῖνοι ἤδη μάρτυρες, οὓς ἐν τῇ ὁμολογίᾳ Χριστὸς ἠξίωσεν ἀναληφθῆναι, ἐπι- σφραγισάμενος αὐτῶν διὰ τῆς ἐξόδου τὴν μαρτυ- “ρίαν, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὁμόλογοι μέτριοι καὶ ταπεινοί. καὶ “μετὰ δακρύων παρεκάλουν τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, δεόμενοι “ἵνα ἐκτενεῖς εὐχαὶ γίνωνται πρὸς τὸ τελειωθῆναι “αὐτούς.

English · Claude translation

For they gladly yielded the title of martyr to Christ, the faithful and true martyr, the firstborn of the dead and author of the life of God; and they reminded us of the martyrs who had already departed and said, ‘They are already martyrs, whom Christ deemed worthy to be taken up in their confession, sealing their martyrdom by their departure; but we are lowly and humble confessors.’ And with tears they begged the brothers that earnest prayers be made for them to be perfected.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:198–199 · 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)

Scripture

Rev 1:5 · allusion, high confidence
Rev 3:14 · allusion, high confidence
Acts 3:15 · echo, medium confidence

Extrabiblical texts

Ep. Lugd. (Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Martyrdom, Christology, Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

Quotation from the Letter of Vienne and Lyons, echoing Rev 1:5, 3:14 and Acts 3:15. Μάρτυς means “witness”; here the distinction between martyr (one who has died) and confessor appears.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (misread letter in the digital text): ἐπεμιμνήσγοντο → ἐπεμιμνήσκοντο.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.2.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/2/3/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.2.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/2/3/).