Sophia Scriptura

Martyrdom of Polycarp 11.1

Anonymous · Martyrdom of Polycarp · ca. 156–160 · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: Threatened with the beasts, Polycarp said that Christians cannot change from better to worse.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:326

Ὁ δὲ ἀνθύπατος εἶπεν· Θηρία ἔχω, τούτοις σε παραβαλῶ, ἐὰν μὴ μετανοήσῃς. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν· Κάλει, ἀμετάθετος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐπὶ τὰ χείρω μετάνοια· καλὸν δὲ μετατίθεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν χαλεπῶν ἐπὶ τὰ δίκαια.

English · Claude translation

The proconsul said, “I have wild beasts; I will throw you to them unless you change your mind.” He said, “Call them. For a change of mind from better to worse is impossible for us; but it is good to change from what is cruel to what is just.”

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 25:326 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 312–345 · 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 5:1037a (found by text match)
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 25, 1913); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics
Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

  • The proconsul uses the Christian word for repentance (μετανοέω, “change one's mind, repent”), and Polycarp answers him in the same terms.

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 11.1 (PG 5:1037a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/11/1/).

Plain text
Mart. Pol. 11.1 (PG 5:1037a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/11/1/).

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