Sophia Scriptura

Refutation of All Heresies 9.23.4

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: He also swears to rule humbly, love truth, not steal, keep nothing from members and reveal nothing to outsiders, and pass on the teachings unchanged.

Greek text · Duncker–Schneidewin, 478–480

κἂν αὐτὸς ἄρχῃ, μηδέποτε ὑπερηφανεύσασθαι ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ, μηδὲ ἀπειθήσειν ἢ τινὶ κόσμῳ πλεῖον τοῦ ἔθους χρήσασθαι· φιλαλήθη δὲ εἶναι, τὸν δὲ ψευδόμενον ἐλέγχειν, μηδὲ κλέπτειν, μηδὲ συνείδησιν ἐπὶ ἀνόμῳ κέρδει μολύνειν, μηδὲν ἀποκρύπτειν τοὺς συναιρεσιώτας, ἑτέροις δὲ μηδὲν ἐξειπεῖν, κἂν μέχρι θανάτου τις βιάζηται. Πρὸς τούτοις ὄμνυσι μηδενὶ μεταδοῦναι τῶν δογμάτων ἑτέρως ἢ ὡς αὐτὸς μετέλαβε.

English · Claude translation

and that if he himself rules, he will never be arrogant in authority, nor disobey, nor use any more adornment than is customary; that he will be a lover of truth and expose the liar; that he will not steal, nor defile his conscience for unlawful gain; that he will hide nothing from his fellow members and disclose nothing to others, even if someone should use force on him to the point of death. Besides these he swears to impart the doctrines to no one otherwise than as he himself received them.

About this passage

Source
Duncker–Schneidewin, 478–480 · 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.
Extrabiblical texts
  • Josephus, B.J. 2.140–142 (Josephus (works)) · allusion, high confidence
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • Compare Josephus, Jewish War 2.140–142.

Cite this passage

Hippolytus, Haer. 9.23.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/9/23/4/).

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Plain text
Hippolytus, Haer. 9.23.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/hippolytus-refutatio/9/23/4/).

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