Sophia Scriptura

To Polycarp 2.1

Ignatius of Antioch · To Polycarp · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Troas · Read in context

Summary: A bishop must win over difficult people with gentleness, treating each according to need.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:268

Καλοὺς μαθητὰς ἐὰν φιλῇς, χάρις σοι οὐκ ἔστιν· μᾶλλον τοὺς λοιμοτέρους ἐν πραότητι ὑπότασσε. οὐ πᾶν τραῦμα τῇ αὐτῇ ἐμπλάστρῳ θεραπεύεται. τοὺς παροξυσμοὺς ἐμβροχαῖς παῦε.

English · Claude translation

If you love good disciples, it is no credit to you; rather, bring the more troublesome into submission by gentleness. Not every wound is healed by the same plaster. Relieve fits of fever with cold compresses.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:268 · 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.
Scripture
Topics
Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • “More troublesome” (λοιμοτέρους): literally “more pestilent.”
  • Ignatius uses medical images for pastoral care: plasters for wounds, cold compresses for fevers.
  • “Cold compresses” (ἐμβροχαῖς): wet dressings or fomentations; older translations render it more loosely (“gentle applications”).

Cite this passage

Ign. Pol. 2.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/2/1/).

Plain text
Ign. Pol. 2.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/2/1/).

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