Martyrdom of Polycarp 2.1

Anonymous · Martyrdom of Polycarp · ca. 156–160 · Smyrna · Read in context

Summary: True martyrdoms happen according to God's will, since God rules over all.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 25:314

Μακάρια μὲν οὖν καὶ γενναῖα τὰ μαρτύρια πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ γεγονότα. δεῖ γὰρ εὐλαβεστέρους ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχοντας τῷ θεῷ τὴν κατὰ πάντων ἐξουσίαν ἀνατιθέναι.

English · Claude translation

Blessed and noble, then, are all the martyrdoms that have taken place in accordance with the will of God. For we must be very reverent and ascribe to God the authority over all things.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 25:314 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 2, LCL 25 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1913), 312–345 · 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 25. 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 25, 1913); 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)
Topics: Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

“Very reverent” (εὐλαβεστέρους) is a comparative in Greek; some translate “we who are more reverent” (than others).

Cite this passage

Mart. Pol. 2.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/2/1/).

Plain text

Mart. Pol. 2.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/mart-pol/2/1/).

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