To Polycarp, inscription

Ignatius of Antioch · To Polycarp · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Troas · Read in context

Summary: Ignatius greets Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:268

Ἰγνάτιος, ὁ καὶ Θεοφόρος, Πολυκάρπῳ ἐπισκόπῳ ἐκκλησίας Σμυρναίων, μᾶλλον ἐπισκοπημένῳ ὑπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς καὶ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, πλεῖστα χαίρειν.

English · Claude translation

Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to Polycarp, bishop of the church of the Smyrnaeans, or rather one who has God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ as his bishop: abundant greetings.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:268 · 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: Church office

Notes

Translation notes

“Theophorus” (Θεοφόρος): “God-bearer,” a second name Ignatius uses in all his letters.
“One who has … as his bishop” (ἐπισκοπημένῳ): literally “who is overseen by God,” a play on ἐπίσκοπος, “bishop, overseer.”

Cite this passage

Ign. Pol. 0 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/0/).

Plain text

Ign. Pol. 0 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/0/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Report an error in this passage