Sophia Scriptura

To the Trallians 11.2

Ignatius of Antioch · To the Trallians · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: True believers are branches of the cross and members of Christ, their head.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:222

εἰ γὰρ ἦσαν, ἐφαίνοντο ἂν κλάδοι τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ ἦν ἂν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῶν ἄφθαρτος· διʼ οὗ ἐν τῷ πάθει αὐτοῦ προσκαλεῖται ὑμᾶς ὄντας μέλη αὐτοῦ. οὐ δύναται οὖν κεφαλὴ χωρὶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνευ μελῶν, τοῦ θεοῦ ἕνωσιν ἐπαγγελλομένου, ὅ ἐστιν αὐτός.

English · Claude translation

For if they were, they would appear as branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible. Through the cross, in his suffering, he calls you, who are his members. So a head cannot be born by itself without members, since God promises union, which is himself.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:222 · 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 5:684a (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
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Through the cross” (διʼ οὗ): literally “through which,” referring back to the cross.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong letter)): προσκαλεῖταν → προσκαλεῖται.

Cite this passage

Ign. Trall. 11.2 (PG 5:684a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/11/2/).

Plain text
Ign. Trall. 11.2 (PG 5:684a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/11/2/).

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