# To Polycarp 8.3

- Author: [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/ignatius-of-antioch/)
- Work: [To Polycarp](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/) (*Ad Polycarpum*)
- Date: ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:276; 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 (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/8/3/

Summary: Ignatius closes with a farewell and a greeting to Alce.

## Greek text

ἐρρῶσθαι ὑμᾶς διὰ παντὸς ἐν θεῷ ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ εὔχομαι, ἐν ᾧ διαμείνητε ἐν ἑνότητι θεοῦ καὶ ἐπισκοπῇ. ἀσπάζομαι Ἄλκην, τὸ ποθητόν μοι ὄνομα. ἔρρωσθε ἐν κυρίῳ.

## English translation (Claude)

I bid you farewell always in our God Jesus Christ; may you remain in him in the unity and oversight of God. I greet Alce, a name dear to me. Farewell in the Lord.

## Translation notes

- “Our God Jesus Christ”: Ignatius calls Christ God without qualification (see the glossary).
- “Oversight” (ἐπισκοπῇ): the same root as “bishop”; perhaps “in the bishop's care that comes from God.”
- Alce is also mentioned in Ign. Smyrn. 13.2 and Mart. Pol. 17.2.

## Citation (SBL)

Ign. Pol. 8.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-polycarp/8/3/).