To the Ephesians 5.1

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

Summary: The church is joined to its bishop as the church to Christ and Christ to the Father.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:178

Εἰ γὰρ ἐγὼ ἐν μικρῷ χρόνῳ τοιαύτην συνήθειαν ἔσχον πρὸς τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ὑμῶν, οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνην οὖσαν, ἀλλὰ πνευματικήν, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὑμᾶς μακαρίζω τοὺς ἐγκεκραμένους οὕτως, ὡς ἡ ἐκκλησία Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ, καὶ ὡς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς τῷ πατρί, ἵνα πάντα ἐν ἑνότητι σύμφωνα ᾖ;

English · Claude translation

For if I in a short time came to have such fellowship with your bishop, not human but spiritual, how much more do I count you blessed who are joined with him as the church is with Jesus Christ and as Jesus Christ is with the Father, so that all things may be harmonious in unity?

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:178 · 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 5:648b–649a (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.
Topics: Church office

Cite this passage

Ign. Eph. 5.1 (PG 5:648b–649a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-ephesians/5/1/).

Plain text

Ign. Eph. 5.1 (PG 5:648b–649a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-ephesians/5/1/).

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