To the Trallians 4.2

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

Summary: Ignatius longs to suffer but needs gentleness against the devil's hidden attack.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:216

ἀγαπῶ μὲν γὰρ τὸ παθεῖν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἶδα, εἰ ἄξιός εἰμι. τὸ γὰρ ζῆλος πολλοῖς μὲν οὐ φαίνεται, ἐμὲ δὲ πλέον πολεμεῖ. χρῄζω οὖν πραότητος, ἐν ᾗ καταλύεται ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου.

English · Claude translation

For I do love to suffer, but I do not know whether I am worthy. For envy is not apparent to many, but it wages war against me all the more. So I need gentleness, by which the ruler of this age is destroyed.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:216 · 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: Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

“Envy” (τὸ ζῆλος): probably the devil's envy; some take it as Ignatius's own eagerness for martyrdom, which could become pride.

Cite this passage

Ign. Trall. 4.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/4/2/).

Plain text

Ign. Trall. 4.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/4/2/).

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