# To the Trallians 3.1

- Author: [Ignatius of Antioch](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/ignatius-of-antioch/)
- Work: [To the Trallians](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/) (*Ad Trallianos*)
- Date: ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:214; 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-trallians/3/1/

Summary: Deacons, bishop, and presbyters together make the church.

## Greek text

Ὁμοίως πάντες ἐντρεπέσθωσαν τοὺς διακόνους ὡς Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, ὡς καὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ὄντα τύπον τοῦ πατρός. τοὺς δὲ πρεσβυτέρους ὡς συνέδριον θεοῦ καὶ ὡς σύνδεσμον ἀποστόλων. χωρὶς τούτων ἐκκλησία οὐ καλεῖται.

## English translation (Claude)

Likewise let everyone respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, as also the bishop, who is a type of the Father, and the presbyters as God's council and as the band of the apostles. Without these no church is called a church.

## Translation notes

- “A type of the Father” (τύπον τοῦ πατρός): an image or representation of the Father.
- Other manuscripts, followed by the Ante-Nicene Fathers translation (1885), read “the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father.”

## Citation (SBL)

Ign. Trall. 3.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/3/1/).