The Martyrdom of Polycarp, 16

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[1] At length the lawless men, seeing that his¹ body could not be consumed by the fire, commanded an executioner to go up and stab him with a dagger, and when he did this, there came out a dove,² and much blood, so that the fire was quenched and all the crowd marvelled that there was such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect.

[2] And of the elect was he indeed one, the wonderful martyr. Polycarp, who in our days was an apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of the Catholic³ Church in Smyrna. For every word which he uttered from his mouth both was fulfilled and will be fulfilled.

The Martyrdom of Polycarp. . . 1913.

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Current edition Perseus

The Martydom of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (English) (The Martydom of Polycarp. The Apostolic Fathers with an English translation by Kirsopp Lake. In Two Volumes. Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1913)

Editions (1)

Martyrium Polycarpi First1KGreek (Martyrium Polycarpi. The Apostolic Fathers, Vol. 2. Lake, Kirsopp, editor. London: William Heinemann Ltd.; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1917.) — 16 focus

[1] Πέρας γοῦν ἰδόντες οἱ ἄνομοι μὴ δυνάμενον αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς δαπανηθῆναι, ἐκέλευσαν προσελθόντα αὐτῷ κομφέκτορα παραβῦσαι ξιφίδιον. καὶ τοῦτο ποιήσαντος, ἐξῆλθεν περιστερὰ καὶ ¹ πλῆθος αἵματος, ὥστε κατασβέσαι τὸ πῦρ καὶ θαυμάσαι πάντα τὸν ὄχλον, εἰ τοσαύτη τις διαφορὰ μεταξὺ τῶν τε ἀπίστων καὶ τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν:

[2] ὧν εἷς καὶ οὗτος γεγόνει ὁ θαυμασιώτατος μάρτυς Πολύκαρπος, ἐν τοῖς καθ̓ ἡμᾶς χρόνοις διδάσκαλος ἀποστολικὸς καὶ προφητικὸς γενόμενος, ἐπίσκοπος τῆς ἐν Σμύρνῃ καθολικῆς ² ἐκκλησίας. πᾶν γὰρ ῥῆμα, ὃ ἀφῆκεν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἐτελειώθη καὶ τελειωθήσεται.

Notes on the current edition

The Martyrdom of Polycarp

1. Polycarp’s death

2. This no doubt points to the belief that the spirit appears at death in the form of a bird. Cf. Prudentius Peristeph. Hymn. iii. 33 (other references are also given by Lightfoot).

3. If the reading Catholic be right, this and the instance on p. 322 are the earliest clear examples of this use of the word (but cf. Ignatius, Symrn. viii.).

The Martyrdom of Polycarp 16

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