Sophia Scriptura

To Polycarp 5.1

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

Summary: Wives should be content with their husbands, and husbands should love their wives as Christ loves the church.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:272

Τὰς κακοτεχνίας φεῦγε, μᾶλλον δὲ περὶ τούτων ὁμιλίαν ποιοῦ. ταῖς ἀδελφαῖς μου προσλάλει, ἀγαπᾶν τὸν κύριον καὶ τοῖς συμβίοις ἀρκεῖσθαι σαρκὶ καὶ πνεύματι. ὁμοίως καὶ τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου παράγγελλε ἐν ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀγαπᾶν τὰς συμβίους ὡς ὁ κύριος τὴν ἐκκλησίαν.

English · Claude translation

Flee evil practices, or rather preach sermons about them. Tell my sisters to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and in spirit. In the same way also command my brothers in the name of Jesus Christ to love their wives as the Lord loves the church.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:272 · 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
Also in
PG 5:724a (found by text match)
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
Marriage

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Evil practices” (κακοτεχνίας): literally “evil arts”; perhaps magic or dishonest trades, but the word is general.

Cite this passage

Ign. Pol. 5.1 (PG 5:724a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/5/1/).

Plain text
Ign. Pol. 5.1 (PG 5:724a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/5/1/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Report an error in this passage