Martyrdom of Polycarp 17.3

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

Summary: Christians worship Christ as Son of God and love the martyrs as his disciples.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:336

τοῦτον μὲν γὰρ υἱὸν ὄντα τοῦ θεοῦ προσκυνοῦμεν, τοὺς δὲ μάρτυρας ὡς μαθητὰς καὶ μιμητὰς τοῦ κυρίου ἀγαπῶμεν ἀξίως ἕνεκα εὐνοίας ἀνυπερβλήτου τῆς εἰς τὸν ἴδιον βασιλέα καὶ διδάσκαλον· ὧν γένοιτο καὶ ἡμᾶς κοινωνούς τε καὶ συμμαθητὰς γενέσθαι.

English · Claude translation

For him, being the Son of God, we worship; but the martyrs, as disciples and imitators of the Lord, we love as they deserve, because of their unsurpassed devotion to their own King and Teacher. May it be granted to us also to become their companions and fellow disciples.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:336 · 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 5:1041c (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: Christology, Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

The contrast is between “worship” (προσκυνοῦμεν), given to Christ alone, and “love” (ἀγαπῶμεν), given to the martyrs.

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 17.3 (PG 5:1041c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/17/3/).

Plain text

Mart. Pol. 17.3 (PG 5:1041c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/17/3/).

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