The Letters of Ignatius · §7.6 · Ignatius of Antioch

Soldiers of God: heed the bishop and keep your equipment

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Ignatius is writing to the church in Smyrna, urging them to unite under their bishop, elders, and deacons, and now gives them a series of military-style exhortations about shared labor and spiritual armor.

Pay close attention to the bishop, so that God may pay close attention to you. I offer my very life for those who submit to the bishop, the council of elders, and the deacons. May I be counted worthy to have a share with them in God. Labor together, struggle together, run together, suffer together, rest together, and rise together as God's stewards, counselors, and servants.

Please the one in whose army you serve, the one from whom you also receive your wages. Let none of you be found a deserter. Let your baptism remain as your armor, your faith as a helmet, your love as a spear, your endurance as full battle gear. Your works are your deposits, so that you may receive back what is due to you. Be patient with one another, then, in gentleness, as God is with you. May I have joy in you always.

Greek

Τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ προσέχετε, ἵνα καὶ ὁ θεὸς ὑμῖν. ἀντίψυχον ἐγὼ τῶν ὑποτασσομένων τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ, πρεσβυτέροις, διακόνοις: καὶ μετ’ αὐτῶν μοι τὸ μέρος γένοιτο σχεῖν ἐν θεῷ. συγκοπιᾶτε ἀλλήλοις, συναθλεῖτε, συντρέχετε, συμπάσχετε, συγκοιμᾶσθε. συνεγείρεσθε ὡς θεοῦ οἰκονόμοι καὶ πάρεδροι καὶ ὑπηρέται.

ἀρέσκετε ᾧ στρατεύεσθε, ἀφ̓ οὖ καὶ τὰ ὀψώνια κομίζεσθε: μή τις ὑμῶν δεσέρτωρ εὑρεθῇ. τὸ βάπτισμα ὑμῶν μενέτω ὡς ὅπλα, ἡ πίστις ὡς περικεφαλαία, ἡ ἀγάπη ὡς δόρυ. ἡ ὑπομονὴ ὡς πανοπλία. τὰ δεπόσιτα ὑμῶν τὰ ἔργα ὑμῶν, ἵνα τὰ ἄκκεπτα ὑμῶν ἄξια κομίσησθε. μακροθυμήσατε οὖν μετ’ ἀλλήλων ἐν πραότητι, ὡς ὁ θεὸς μεθ̓ ὑμῶν, ὀναίμην ὑμῶν διὰ παντός.

About this text

The seven letters Ignatius of Antioch wrote on his way to martyrdom in Rome, urging each church to stand united with its bishop.

Ignatius of Antioch (d. c. 110) was the bishop of Antioch in Syria. He wrote these letters while being taken under guard from Syria to Rome, where he expected to be executed for his Christian faith during the reign of Emperor Trajan.

The letters were written in great haste, modelled after the biblical epistles of Paul, Peter, and John. Ignatius wrote to the churches in Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, and Rome from Smyrna, and to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Polycarp the bishop of Smyrna from Troas. In them he urges each church to unite around its bishop, the council of elders, and the deacons as the visible order willed by God. He warns against teachers who deny the real flesh, suffering, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and against any return to Judaism.

A reader will meet bishops such as Onesimus of Ephesus, Damas of Magnesia, Polybius of Tralles, and Polycarp of Smyrna, along with deacons and companions who visited Ignatius. , and he reports words of the Spirit. He presents his own coming death by wild beasts as the completion of his discipleship.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from Ignatius of Antioch The Apostolic Fathers Kirsopp Lake Cambridge, MA Harvard University Press London William Heinemann 1912 1 Loeb Classical Library (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.