To the Smyrnaeans 4.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: If Christ only seemed to suffer, Ignatius's chains would be meaningless.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:254–256

εἰ γὰρ τὸ δοκεῖν ταῦτα ἐπράχθη ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν, κἀγὼ τὸ δοκεῖν δέδεμαι. τί δὲ καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἔκδοτον δέδωκα τῷ θανάτῳ, πρὸς πῦρ, πρὸς μάχαιραν, πρὸς θηρία; ἀλλʼ ἐγγὺς μαχαίρας ἐγγὺς θεοῦ, μεταξὺ θηρίων μεταξὺ θεοῦ· μόνον ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸ συμπαθεῖν αὐτῷ πάντα ὑπομένω, αὐτοῦ με ἐνδυναμοῦντος τοῦ τελείου ἀνθρώπου.

English · Claude translation

For if these things were done by our Lord only in appearance, then I am in chains only in appearance. And why have I given myself up to death, to fire, to the sword, to wild beasts? But near the sword is near God; among the wild beasts is among God; only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ. I endure all things in order to suffer with him, since he who became the perfect human being gives me strength.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 24:254–256 · 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 5:709b–712a (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

Phil 4:13 · allusion, medium confidence

Topics

Martyrdom, Christology

Cite this passage

Ign. Smyrn. 4.2 (PG 5:709b–712a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/4/2/).

Plain text

Ign. Smyrn. 4.2 (PG 5:709b–712a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/4/2/).