# To the Romans 4.3

- Author: [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/ignatius-of-antioch/)
- Work: [To the Romans](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-romans/) (*Ad Romanos*)
- Date: ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:230; 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 5:689b (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-romans/4/3/

Summary: Unlike the apostles Peter and Paul, Ignatius is a condemned man who will be made free by martyrdom.

## Greek text

οὐχ ὡς Πέτρος καὶ Παῦλος διατάσσομαι ὑμῖν. ἐκεῖνοι ἀπόστολοι, ἐγὼ κατάκριτος· ἐκεῖνοι ἐλεύθεροι, ἐγὼ δὲ μέχρι νῦν δοῦλος. ἀλλʼ ἐὰν πάθω, ἀπελεύθερος γενήσομαι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀναστήσομαι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐλεύθερος. νῦν μανθάνω δεδεμένος μηδὲν ἐπιθυμεῖν.

## English translation (Claude)

I do not give you orders as Peter and Paul did. They were apostles; I am a condemned man. They were free; I am to this day a slave. But if I suffer, I shall become a freedman of Jesus Christ, and I shall rise free in him. Now in chains I am learning to desire nothing.

## Scripture references

- 1 Cor 7:22: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 9:1: echo, low confidence

## Translation notes

- Among the earliest evidence connecting both Peter and Paul with the church at Rome.

## Citation (SBL)

Ign. Rom. 4.3 (PG 5:689b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-romans/4/3/).