To the Philadelphians, inscription

Summary: Ignatius greets the church at Philadelphia, united with its bishop, presbyters, and deacons.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:238

Ἰγνάτιος, ὁ καὶ Θεοφόρος, ἐκκλησίᾳ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῇ οὔσῃ ἐν Φιλαδελφίᾳ τῆς Ἀσίας, ἠλεημένῃ καὶ ἡδρασμένῃ ἐν ὁμονοίᾳ θεοῦ καὶ ἀγαλλιωμένῃ ἐν τῷ πάθει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν ἀδιακρίτως καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀναστάσει αὐτοῦ πεπληροφορημένῃ ἐν παντὶ ἐλέει, ἣν ἀσπάζομαι ἐν αἵματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἥτις ἐστὶν χαρὰ αἰώνιος καὶ παράμονος, μάλιστα ἐὰν ἐν ἑνὶ ὦσιν σὺν τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ πρεσβυτέροις καὶ διακόνοις ἀποδεδειγμένοις ἐν γνώμῃ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὓς κατὰ τὸ ἴδιον θέλημα ἐστήριξεν ἐν βεβαιωσύνῃ τῷ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ πνεύματι.

English · Claude translation

Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the church of God the Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ that is in Philadelphia in Asia, which has received mercy and is established in godly concord, and rejoices without wavering in the suffering of our Lord and is fully convinced of his resurrection in all mercy. I greet it in the blood of Jesus Christ, which is eternal and abiding joy, especially if they are at one with the bishop and with the presbyters and deacons who are with him, appointed in the mind of Jesus Christ, whom he has established in firmness by his Holy Spirit according to his own will.

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Source

Lake, LCL 24:238 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 172–277 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.

Topics

Church office

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:238

English · Claude translation

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