To Diognetus 2.4

Anonymous · To Diognetus · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · place unknown · Read in context

Traditional ascription rejected: The author is unknown. The only manuscript (destroyed in 1870) placed it among works of Justin Martyr, but the style is not Justin's. The name “Mathetes” sometimes used for the author comes from “a disciple of apostles” in 11.1. Chapters 11–12 probably come from a different work.

Summary: Idols are deaf, blind, and lifeless.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:352

οὐ ταῦτα πάλιν, τὰ νῦν ὑφʼ ὑμῶν προσκυνούμενα, δύναιτʼ ἂν ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων σκεύη ὅμοια γενέσθαι τοῖς λοιποῖς; οὐ κωφὰ πάντα; οὐ τυφλά; οὐκ ἄψυχα; οὐκ ἀναίσθητα; οὐκ ἀκίνητα; οὐ πάντα σηπόμενα; οὐ πάντα φθειρόμενα;

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 25:352 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 350–379 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Lake, LCL 25. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

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.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Scripture

Ps 115:5 (113:13 LXX) · echo, medium confidence
Ps 115:6 (113:14 LXX) · echo, medium confidence

Cite this passage

Diogn. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/diognetus/2/4/).

Plain text

Diogn. 2.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/diognetus/2/4/).

Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:352

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Cite this passage