# To the Philippians 4.1

- Author: [Polycarp of Smyrna](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/polycarp-of-smyrna/)
- Work: [To the Philippians](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/pol-philippians/) (*Epistula ad Philippenses*)
- Date: ca. 110–135 (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:286; Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 282–301 (Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Also in: PG 5:1008c–1008d (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/pol-philippians/4/1/

Summary: Love of money is the root of every trouble, so believers should arm themselves with righteousness and first learn to keep the Lord's commandment themselves.

## Greek text

Ἀρχὴ δὲ πάντων χαλεπῶν φιλαργυρία. εἰδότες οὖν ὅτι οὐδὲν εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι ἔχομεν, ὁπλισώμεθα τοῖς ὅπλοις τῆς δικαιοσύνης καὶ διδάξωμεν ἑαυτοὺς πρῶτον πορεύεσθαι ἐν τῇ ἐντολῇ τοῦ κυρίου·

## English translation (Claude)

“But the love of money is the beginning of all troubles.” Knowing therefore that “we brought nothing into the world, and neither can we take anything out,” let us arm ourselves with “the weapons of righteousness,” and let us teach ourselves first to walk in the commandment of the Lord;

## Scripture references

- 1 Tim 6:10: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Tim 6:7: quotation, high confidence
- 2 Cor 6:7: allusion, medium confidence

## Translation notes

- 1 Timothy 6:10 has “root of all evils”; Polycarp has “beginning of all troubles” (ἀρχὴ … χαλεπῶν).

## Citation (SBL)

Pol. Phil. 4.1 (PG 5:1008c–1008d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/pol-philippians/4/1/).