# To the Romans 6.1

- 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 24:232; 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 5:692b (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-romans/6/1/

Summary: Ignatius would rather die for Christ than rule the world; his death will be a birth.

## Greek text

Οὐδέν μοι ὠφελήσει τὰ πέρατα τοῦ κόσμου οὐδὲ αἱ βασιλεῖαι τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. καλόν μοι ἀποθανεῖν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἢ βασιλεύειν τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς. ἐκεῖνον ζητῶ, τὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανόντα· ἐκεῖνον θέλω, τὸν διʼ ἡμᾶς ἀναστάντα. ὁ δὲ τοκετός μοι ἐπίκειται.

## English translation (Claude)

The ends of the world will profit me nothing, nor the kingdoms of this age. It is better for me to die for Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. Him I seek, who died for us; him I desire, who rose for our sake. The pains of birth are upon me.

## Scripture references

- Matt 16:26: allusion, medium confidence

## Translation notes

- “To die for Christ Jesus” (ἀποθανεῖν εἰς Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν): or “to die and so come to Christ Jesus.”
- “The pains of birth”: his martyrdom will be his birth into true life (6.2).
- Some manuscripts read τόκος (“gain, interest”) for τοκετός (“childbirth”); hence older translations such as the Ante-Nicene Fathers (1885): “This is the gain which is laid up for me.”

## Citation (SBL)

Ign. Rom. 6.1 (PG 5:692b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-romans/6/1/).