To Polycarp 5.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:272

εἵ τις δύναται ἐν ἁγνείᾳ μένειν εἰς τιμὴν τῆς σαρκὸς τοῦ κυρίου, ἐν ἀκαυχησίᾳ μενέτω. ἐὰν καυχήσηται, ἀπώλετο, καὶ ἐὰν γνωσθῇ πλέον τοῦ ἐπισκόπου, ἔφθαρται. πρέπει δὲ τοῖς γαμοῦσι καὶ ταῖς γαμουμέναις μετὰ γνώμης τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τὴν ἕνωσιν ποιεῖσθαι, ἵνα ὁ γάμος ᾖ κατὰ κύριον καὶ μὴ κατʼ ἐπιθυμίαν. πάντα εἰς τιμὴν θεοῦ γινέσθω.

English · Claude translation

If anyone is able to remain in purity to the honor of the flesh of the Lord, let him remain so without boasting. If he boasts, he is lost; and if it becomes known beyond the bishop, he is ruined. It is fitting for men who marry and women who are married to form their union with the consent of the bishop, so that the marriage may be according to the Lord and not according to lust. Let all things be done to the honor of God.

About this passage

Source

Lake, LCL 24:272 · 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 5:724a–724b (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.

Scripture

1 Cor 7:7 · echo, low confidence
1 Cor 7:39 · echo, medium confidence
1 Cor 10:31 · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Marriage, Church office

Notes

Translation notes

“Purity” (ἁγνεία): here celibacy (see the glossary).
“If it becomes known beyond the bishop” (ἐὰν γνωσθῇ πλέον τοῦ ἐπισκόπου): the vow should be known to the bishop only. Others translate “if he is esteemed more than the bishop” or “if he thinks himself more than the bishop.”
“With the consent of the bishop” (μετὰ γνώμης τοῦ ἐπισκόπου): this is among the earliest Christian texts about the church's role in marriage.

Cite this passage

Ign. Pol. 5.2 (PG 5:724a–724b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/5/2/).

Plain text

Ign. Pol. 5.2 (PG 5:724a–724b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/5/2/).