Church History 4.15.39

Summary: The Martyrdom (quoted): his blood quenched the fire; Polycarp, apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of Smyrna, was one of the elect.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:160–161

“καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσαντος ἐξῆλθε πλῆθος αἵματος, ὥστε ῾κατασβέσαι τὸ πῦρ, καὶ θαυμάσαι πάντα τὸν ὄχλον, “εἰ τοσαύτη τις διαφορὰ μεταξὺ τῶν τε ἀπίστων καὶ “τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν, ὧν εἷς καὶ οὗτος γέγονεν ὁ θαυμα- “σιώτατος ἐν τοῖς καθʼ ἡμᾶς χρόνοις διδάσκαλος ἀπο- “στολικὸς καὶ προφητικὸς, γενόμενος ἐπίσκοπος τῆς “ἐν Σμύρνῃ καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας. πᾶν γὰρ ῥῆμα, ὃ “ἀφῆκεν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐτελειώθη καὶ “τελειωθήσεται.

English · Claude translation

And when he had done this, so much blood came out that it quenched the fire, and the whole crowd marvelled that there was so great a difference between the unbelievers and the elect; of whom this man too was one, the most wonderful apostolic and prophetic teacher of our times, bishop of the catholic church in Smyrna. For every word which he uttered from his mouth both has been and will be fulfilled.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:160–161 · 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; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.

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. 16.1–2 (Martyrdom of Polycarp) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Martyrdom, Church office

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/39/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.15.39 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/15/39/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:160–161

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage