Church History 4.15.20

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: The Martyrdom (quoted): Polycarp refused to revile Christ, whom he had served eighty-six years.

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Greek text · Dindorf 4:157

ἐγκειμένου δὲ τοῦ ἡγουμένου καὶ λέγοντος ‘ὄμοσον, καὶ ἀπολύσω σε, λοιδόρησον τὸν Χριστόν, ’ ἔφη ὁ Πολύκαρπος· ‘ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτη δουλεύω αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐδέν με ἠδίκησε· καὶ πῶς δύναμαι βλασφημῆσαι τὸν βασιλέα μου, τὸν σώσαντά με;

English · Claude translation

When the governor pressed him and said, ‘Swear, and I will release you; revile Christ,’ Polycarp said, ‘Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:157 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Extrabiblical texts

Mart. Pol. 9.3 (Martyrdom of Polycarp) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Martyrdom, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

Quotation from Mart. Pol. 9.3.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/20/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.20 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/20/).

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