To Polycarp 8.3

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

Summary: Ignatius closes with a farewell and a greeting to Alce.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:276

ἐρρῶσθαι ὑμᾶς διὰ παντὸς ἐν θεῷ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ εὔχομαι, ἐν ᾧ διαμείνητε ἐν ἑνότητι θεοῦ καὶ ἐπισκοπῇ. ἀσπάζομαι Ἄλκην, τὸ ποθητόν μοι ὄνομα. ἔρρωσθε ἐν κυρίῳ.

English · Claude translation

I bid you farewell always in our God Jesus Christ; may you remain in him in the unity and oversight of God. I greet Alce, a name dear to me. Farewell in the Lord.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:276 · 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: Christology, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

“Our God Jesus Christ”: Ignatius calls Christ God without qualification (see the glossary).
“Oversight” (ἐπισκοπῇ): the same root as “bishop”; perhaps “in the bishop's care that comes from God.”
Alce is also mentioned in Ign. Smyrn. 13.2 and Mart. Pol. 17.2.

Cite this passage

Ign. Pol. 8.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/8/3/).

Plain text

Ign. Pol. 8.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/8/3/).

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