Sophia Scriptura

To the Trallians 2.3

Ignatius of Antioch · To the Trallians · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: Deacons serve Christ's mysteries, not merely food and drink, and must be above reproach.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:214

δεῖ δὲ καὶ τοὺς διακόνους ὄντας μυστηρίων Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ κατὰ πάντα τρόπον πᾶσιν ἀρέσκειν. οὐ γὰρ βρωμάτων καὶ ποτῶν εἰσιν διάκονοι, ἀλλʼ ἐκκλησίας θεοῦ ὑπηρέται· δέον οὖν αὐτοὺς φυλάσσεσθαι τὰ ἐγκλήματα ὡς πῦρ.

English · Claude translation

And the deacons, who are deacons of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, must also please everyone in every way. For they are not deacons of food and drink but servants of the church of God. They must therefore guard against accusations as against fire.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:214 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 172–277 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Lake, LCL 24. 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Church office

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Not deacons of food and drink”: their office is more than serving at tables (compare Acts 6:2).

Cite this passage

Ign. Trall. 2.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/2/3/).

Plain text
Ign. Trall. 2.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/ign-trallians/2/3/).

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