# Fragments (not preserved in Eusebius)

- Author: [Melito of Sardis](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/melito-of-sardis/)
- Latin title: *Fragmenta*
- Date: ca. 160-180 (approximate)
- Source: M. J. Routh, ed., Reliquiae Sacrae, 2nd ed., vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1846) (OCR made for this site)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/
- Passages: 3

## Melito, Fr. 1

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-1
- Source: Routh 1:132
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Christ's signs after his baptism showed his hidden Godhead, and his thirty years before it showed his true manhood; he is one person with two essences.

### Greek text

Οὐδεμία ἀνάγκη τοῖς νοῦν ἔχουσιν, ἐξ ὧν μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ Χριστὸς ἔπραξε, παριστᾷν τὸ ἀληθες καὶ ἀφανταστὸν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ σώματος, τῆς καθ ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως. τὰ γὰρ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα, μησὶν , ὑπὸ Χριστοῦ πραχθέντα. καὶ μάλιστα τὰ σημεῖα, τὴν αὐτοῦ κεκρυμμένην ἐν σαρκὶ Θεότητα ἐδηkai ἄνθρωπος τέλειος ὃ αὐτός, τὰς δύο αὐτοῦ οὐσίας ἐπιστώσατο ἡμῖν τὴν μὲν Θεότητα αὐτοῦ διὰ τῶν σημείων ἐν τῇ τριετίᾳ τῇ μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα, τὴν δὲ ἀνθρωπότητα αὐτοῦ, ἐν τοῖς τριάκοντα χρόνοις τοῖς πρὸ τοῦ βαπτίσματος" ἐν οἷς διὰ τὸ ἀτελὲς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα ἀπεκρύβη τὰ σημεῖα τῆς αὐτοῦ Θεότητος" καί περ Θεὸς ἀληθὴς προαιώνιος ὑπάρχων.

### English translation (Claude)

For people of sense there is no need to establish, from the deeds Christ did after his baptism, the truth and reality (free of mere appearance) of his soul and body, of the human nature like ours. For the deeds done by Christ after his baptism, and especially the signs, showed his Godhead hidden in the flesh … and the same one, perfect man, assured us of his two essences: his Godhead through the signs in the three years after his baptism, and his manhood in the thirty years before his baptism, in which, because of the immaturity of his flesh, the signs of his Godhead were hidden, although he was true God existing before the ages.

### Scripture references

- Luke 3:23: allusion, high confidence
- Col 2:9: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- Preserved by Anastasius of Sinai, Hodegos 13, from Melito, On the Incarnation of Christ (book 3, against Marcion). The Greek is uncorrected OCR of Routh; clear slips are corrected (logged). Words are lost in the OCR after "hidden in the flesh" ("…"); other printings read there, in sense, "and assured the world of it; for being God and at the same time perfect man" (not checked against Routh's page). The language of "two essences" is translated as printed; its wording has been thought to reflect later Christological vocabulary, and the attribution of this fragment is debated. The thirty years and three years: Luke 3:23.

### Citation (SBL)

Melito, Frag. 1 (Routh 1:132; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-1).

## Melito, Fr. 2

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-2
- Source: Routh 1:133
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Isaac, bound and silent on the wood, was a type of the suffering Christ; the ram slain in his place ransomed him, as the Lord slain ransomed us.

### Greek text

'O Θεὸς πέπονθεν ὑπὸ δεξίας ᾿Ισραηλίτιδος. Καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστὸς ὡς κριὸς ἐδέθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐκάρη, καὶ ὡς πρόβατον εἰς σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς, ἐσταυρώθη" καὶ ἐβάστασε τὸ ξύλον ἐπὶ τοῖς ὠμοῖς αὐτοῦ, ἀναγόμενος σφαγῆναι ὡς ᾿Ισαὰκ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ. ἀλλὰ Χριστὸς ἔπαθεν" ᾿Ισαὰκ δὲ οὐκ ἔπαθε: τύπος yàp ἢν τοῦ μέλλοντος πάσχειν Χριστοῦ: ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ τύπος τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενόμενος ἔκπληξιν καὶ φόβον παρεῖχεν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. ἦν γὰρ θεάσασθαι μυστήριον καινὸν, υἱὸν ἀγόμενον ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἐπ᾽ ὄρος εἰς σφαγὴν, "ὃν συμποδίσας ἔθηκεν ἐπὶ τὰ ξύλα ς τῆς καρπώσεως, ἑτοιμάζων μετὰ σπουδῆς τὰ πρὸς τὴν σφαγὴν αὐτοῦ. ὁ δὲ Ἰσαὰκ σιγᾷ πεπεδημένος ὡς Κριος, οὐκ ἀνοίγων TO στόμα, οὐδὲ φθεγγόμενος φωνῇ. τὸ yap ξίφος οὐ φοβηθεὶς, οὐδὲ τὸ πῦρ πτοηθεὶς, οὐδὲ τὸ παθεῖν λυπηθεὶς, ἐβάστασεν καρτερῶν τὸν τύπον τοῦ Κυρίου. Ἦν οὖν ἐν μέσῳ προκείμενος Ἴσαακ πεποδισμένος ὡς κριὸς, καὶ Ἀβραὰμ παρεστὼς καὶ κρατῶν γυμνὸν TO ξίφος, οὐκ αἰδούμενος φονεῦσαι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ. Ὑπὲρ ᾿Ισαὰκ ToU δικαίου ἐφάνη κριὸς εἰς σφαγὴν, ἵνα δεσμῶν ᾿Ισαὰκ λύθη. ἐκεῖνος σφαγεὶς ἐλυτρώσατο τὸν Ἰσαάκ· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Κύριος σφαγεὶς ἔσωσεν ἡμᾶς, καὶ δεθεὶς ἔλυσε, καὶ τυθεὶς ἐλυτρώσατο.

### English translation (Claude)

God has suffered by an Israelite right hand.
And our Lord Jesus Christ was bound like a ram, and shorn like a lamb, and led like a sheep to the slaughter, and crucified like a lamb; and he carried the wood on his shoulders, being led up to be slain like Isaac by his father. But Christ suffered, while Isaac did not suffer; for he was a type of the Christ who was to suffer. Yet even the type of Christ, when it took place, caused astonishment and fear among men. For it was a new mystery to behold: a son led by his father up a mountain to be slain, whom, binding his feet, he laid on the wood of the offering, preparing with haste what was needed for his slaughter. But Isaac is silent, bound like a ram, not opening his mouth nor uttering a sound. For not fearing the sword, nor terrified by the fire, nor grieved at suffering, he bore with endurance the type of the Lord. So Isaac lay in the middle, his feet bound like a ram, and Abraham stood by holding the sword bare, not ashamed to slay his son. For Isaac the righteous a ram appeared for slaughter, so that Isaac might be released from his bonds. That ram, slain, ransomed Isaac; so too the Lord, slain, saved us, and bound, released us, and sacrificed, ransomed us.

### Scripture references

- Isa 53:7: quotation, high confidence
- Gen 22:6: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 22:9: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 22:10: allusion, high confidence
- Gen 22:13: allusion, high confidence
- John 19:17: allusion, high confidence
- 1 Pet 1:18: echo, low confidence

### Translation notes

- The first sentence is a separate short fragment (from Melito's oration on the Passion, quoted by Anastasius of Sinai) printed by Routh before the catena fragment; it is translated as written. The rest is preserved in a Greek catena on Genesis 22, from Melito's work on the Pascha or on the Passion. The Greek is uncorrected OCR of Routh; clear slips and Latin words from Routh's notes that leaked into the line ("Hoc", "In as") are removed by logged corrections. Isa 53:7; Gen 22:6, 9–13; John 19:17.

### Citation (SBL)

Melito, Frag. 2 (Routh 1:133; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-2).

## Melito, Fr. 3

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-3
- Source: Routh 1:134
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: The ram caught in the Sabek tree prefigures the Lord on the cross at Jerusalem; as Sabek means remission, so Ezekiel's water of remission prefigures baptism, and martyrdom and baptism both bring remission of sins.

### Greek text

Ἦν γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ὁ ἀμνὸς ὡς κριὸς, “ὃν εἶδεν ᾿Αβραὰμ κατεχόμενον ἐν φυτῷ Σαβεκ, ἀλλὰ τὸ φυτὸν ἀπέφαινε τὸν σταυρὸν, καὶ ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος τὴν ᾿Ιερουσαλὴμ, καὶ ὁ ἀμνὸς τὸν Κύριον ἐμπεποδισμένον εἰς σφαγήν. Τὸ “κατεχόμενος τῶν κεράτων ὁ Σύρος καὶ ὁ Ἑβραῖος κρεμάμενος φησίν" ὡς σαφέστερον τυποῦν τὸν σταυρόν" ἀλλὰ καὶ τό, κριὸς, τοῦτο ἀκριβοῖ' οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, ἀμνὸς, νεὸς ὡς ὁ ᾿Ισαὰκ, ἀλλὰ κριὸς, ὡς ὁ Κύριος τέλειος. ὧσπερ δὲ φυτὸν Σαβεκ, τοῦτ᾽ ἔστιν ἀφέσεως, ἐκάλεσε τὸν ἅγιον σταυρὸν, οὕτω καὶ ᾿Ιεζεκιὴλ ἐν τῷ τέλει “ὕδωρ ἀφέσεως ἐκάλεσε τὸ ἐκτυποῦν τὸ ἅγιον βάπτισμα. Δύο γὰρ συνέστη τὰ ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτημάτων παρεχόμενα, πάθος διὰ Χριστὸν, καὶ βάπτισμα.

### English translation (Claude)

For the Lord was the lamb, like the ram which Abraham saw caught in a Sabek tree; but the tree represented the cross, and that place Jerusalem, and the lamb the Lord bound for slaughter. For "caught by the horns" the Syrian and the Hebrew say "hanging," as prefiguring the cross more clearly. And the word "ram" also makes this exact: for it did not say "lamb," young like Isaac, but "ram," full-grown like the Lord. And as he called the holy cross the Sabek tree, that is, the tree of remission, so Ezekiel too, at the end, called "water of remission" what prefigures holy baptism. For two things have been established that provide remission of sins: suffering for Christ's sake, and baptism.

### Scripture references

- Gen 22:13: quotation, high confidence
- Ezek 47:3: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Preserved in Greek catenae on Genesis, from Melito; the closing lines (from "And as he called") may be the catenist's comment rather than Melito's. "Sabek" is the Greek Bible's transliteration in Gen 22:13 (Hebrew "thicket"), here explained as "remission". "The Syrian and the Hebrew" are the translators cited in the catenae. "Water of remission": Ezek 47:3 (Greek). "Suffering for Christ's sake" is martyrdom. The Greek is uncorrected OCR of Routh; clear slips are corrected (logged).

### Citation (SBL)

Melito, Frag. 3 (Routh 1:134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/melito-fragmenta/1/#p-3).