# To the Philippians 5.3

- 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 24:288–290; 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 5:1009b–1009c (found by text match)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/pol-philippians/5/3/

Summary: Young men must live pure lives, because the sexually immoral will not inherit God's kingdom, and they must be subject to the presbyters and deacons; the virgins must keep a pure conscience.

## Greek text

ὁμοίως καὶ νεώτεροι ἄμεμπτοι ἐν πᾶσιν, πρὸ παντὸς προνοοῦντες ἁγνείας καὶ χαλιναγωγοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. καλὸν γὰρ τὸ ἀνακόπτεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ὅτι πᾶσα ἐπιθυμία κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος στρατεύεται, καὶ οὔτε πόρνοι οὔτε μαλακοὶ οὔτε ἀρσενοκοῖται βασιλείαν θεοῦ κληρονομήσουσιν, οὔτε οἱ ποιοῦντες τὰ ἄτοπα. διὸ δέον ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ πάντων τούτων, ὑποτασσομένους τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ διακόνοις ὡς θεῷ καὶ Χριστῷ· τὰς παρθένους ἐν ἀμώμῳ καὶ ἁγνῇ συνειδήσει περιπατεῖν.

## English translation (Claude)

Likewise the younger men must be blameless in all things, caring above all for purity and reining themselves in from every evil. For it is good to be cut off from the desires in the world, because every desire “wages war against the Spirit,” and “neither the sexually immoral nor the effeminate nor men who have sex with men will inherit the kingdom of God,” nor those who do perverse things. Therefore it is necessary to keep away from all these things, being subject to the presbyters and deacons as to God and Christ. The virgins must walk with a blameless and pure conscience.

## Scripture references

- 1 Pet 2:11: allusion, high confidence
- Gal 5:17: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Cor 6:9–10: quotation, high confidence

## Translation notes

- “Against the Spirit” (κατὰ τοῦ πνεύματος): 1 Peter 2:11 has “against the soul”; Polycarp's wording is closer to Galatians 5:17. It could also mean the human spirit.
- “The effeminate” (μαλακοί) and “men who have sex with men” (ἀρσενοκοῖται) quote 1 Corinthians 6:9. μαλακοί means literally “soft ones” and is often understood of the passive partner in sex between men; ἀρσενοκοῖται is literally “men who lie with males.”
- “Sexually immoral” (πόρνοι): see the glossary entry for πορνεία.
- “Younger men” (νεώτεροι) and “virgins” (παρθένοι): unmarried young men and women of the congregation.

## Citation (SBL)

Pol. Phil. 5.3 (PG 5:1009b–1009c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/pol-philippians/5/3/).