Sophia Scriptura

Church History 7.25.11

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

Summary: Even 2 and 3 John are anonymous, while the Apocalypse names John repeatedly.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:327–328

ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ “δευτέρᾳ φερομένῃ Ἰωάννου καὶ τρίτη, καίτοι βραχείαις οὔσαις ἐπιστολαῖς, ὁ Ἰωάννης ὀνομαστὶ πρό- ’κειται, ἀλλὰ ἀνωνύμως ὁ πρεσβύτερος γέγραπται. “οὗτος δέ γε οὐδὲ αὔταρκες ἐνόμισεν, ἅπαξ ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάσας διηγεῖσθαι τὰ ἑξῆς, ἀλλὰ πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνει ῾ἐγὼ Ἰωάννης, ὁ ἀδελφὸς ὑμῶν καὶ συγκοινωνὸς ἐν τῇ θλίψει καὶ βασιλείᾳ καὶ ἐν ὑπομονῇ Ἰησοῦ, ἐγενόμην ἐν τῇ νήσῳ τῇ καλουμένῃ Πάτμῳ, διὰ τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν μαρτυρίαν Ἰησοῦ.· “καὶ δὴ καὶ πρὸς τῷ τέλει ταῦτα εἶπε ῾μακάριος ὁ “τηρῶν τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τού- “του· κἀγὼ Ἰωάννης ὁ βλέπων καὶ ἀκούων ταῦτα. “

English · Claude translation

But not even in the reputed second and third letters of John, though they are short, is John put forward by name, but ‘the elder’ is written anonymously. But this writer did not even think it sufficient, having named himself once, to relate what follows, but takes it up again: ‘I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance of Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.’ And indeed at the end he said this: ‘Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, and I John, who saw and heard these things.’

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:327–328 · 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)
Scripture
Extrabiblical texts
  • Dionysius of Alexandria (Dionysius of Alexandria (letters and fragments)) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Dionysius of Alexandria, citing 2 John 1, 3 John 1, Rev 1:9, and Rev 22:7–8.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.25.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/25/11/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.25.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/25/11/).

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