Sophia Scriptura

Refutation of All Heresies 9.19.1

Hippolytus of Rome · Refutation of All Heresies · ca. 222–235 · Rome · Read in context

Authorship disputed: The work names no author. Book 1 was long printed among Origen's works as the Philosophumena; after books 4–10 were found in a manuscript from Mount Athos (published 1851), it was assigned to Hippolytus, the usual view today, though some scholars ascribe it to another Roman writer of the same circle. Books 2 and 3 are lost, and book 4 lacks its beginning.

Summary: The Essenes share all property; newcomers sell their goods for a common fund distributed by need.

Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 472

Καταφρονοῦσι δὲ πλούτου, καὶ τὸ πρὸς τοὺς δεομένους κοινωνεῖν οὐκ ἀποστρέφονται, ἀλλʼ οὐδέ τις παρʼ αὐτοῖς ὑπὲρ τὸν ἕτερον πλουτεῖ. Νόμος γὰρ παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὸν προσιόντα τῇ αἱρέσει τὰ ὑπάρχοντα πωλοῦντα τῷ κοινῷ προσφέρειν, ἃ ὑποδεχόμενος [ὁ] ἄρχων διανέμει ἅπασι πρὸς τὰ δέοντα.

English · Claude translation

They despise wealth, and do not turn away from sharing with those in need; indeed, no one among them is richer than another. For there is a law among them that whoever joins the sect sells his possessions and brings them to the common fund; and the ruler, receiving them, distributes to all according to their needs.

About this passage

Source
Duncker–Schneidewin, 472 · Ludwig Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, eds., S. Hippolyti episcopi et martyris Refutationis omnium haeresium librorum decem quae supersunt (Göttingen: Dieterich, 1859); section divisions from Paul Wendland, ed., Hippolytus Werke 3: Refutatio omnium haeresium, GCS 26 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1916) · Greek text: L. Duncker and F. G. Schneidewin, Refutationis omnium haeresium (Göttingen, 1859), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library; section divisions from P. Wendland (GCS 26, 1916), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin); both CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Duncker–Schneidewin. 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 Duncker–Schneidewin; made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 5 (1886) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Its chapter numbers differ from the standard (Wendland) numbering used here.
Scripture
Extrabiblical texts
  • Josephus, B.J. 2.122 (Josephus (works)) · allusion, high confidence
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • Compare Josephus, Jewish War 2.122, and Acts 4:34–35.

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 9.19.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/9/19/1/).

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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 9.19.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/9/19/1/).

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