# To the Smyrnaeans 3.2

- Author: [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/ignatius-of-antioch/)
- Work: [To the Smyrnaeans](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/) (*Ad Smyrnaeos*)
- Date: ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:254; 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 5:709a–709b (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/3/2/

Summary: The risen Christ invited the disciples to touch him, proving he was not a ghost.

## Greek text

καὶ ὅτε πρὸς τοὺς περὶ Πέτρον ἦλθεν, ἔφη αὐτοῖς· Λάβετε, ψηλαφήσατέ με καὶ ἴδετε, ὅτι οὐκ εἰμὶ δαιμόνιον ἀσώματον. καὶ εὐθὺς αὐτοῦ ἥψαντο καὶ ἐπίστευσαν, κραθέντες τῇ σαρκὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῷ πνεύματι. διὰ τοῦτο καὶ θανάτου κατεφρόνησαν, ηὑρέθησαν δὲ ὑπὲρ θάνατον.

## English translation (Claude)

And when he came to those with Peter, he said to them, “Take hold, touch me and see that I am not a bodiless demon.” And at once they touched him and believed, being closely joined with his flesh and spirit. For this reason they also despised death, and were found to be above death.

## Scripture references

- Luke 24:39: allusion, high confidence

## Translation notes

- The saying is not found in this form in the canonical Gospels (compare Luke 24:39); its source was already uncertain to Eusebius and Jerome.

## Citation (SBL)

Ign. Smyrn. 3.2 (PG 5:709a–709b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-smyrnaeans/3/2/).