Early Christian writings · 8 chapters
Ignatius to Polycarp
Personal counsel to Polycarp on patient leadership, prayer, marriage, care for the community and practical responsibilities.
Place in the traditions
A letter addressed to Polycarp of Smyrna in the Ignatian collection. It is distinct from Polycarp's own letter and the later account of his martyrdom.
Lightfoot's Apostolic Fathers: source collectionThe edition you are reading
J. B. Lightfoot's historic English translation, transcribed by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library from a 1956 reprint and identified there as public domain. Source chapter divisions are retained. The reader numbers successive source paragraphs within each chapter; these locators may differ from section numbers in other editions. Opening greetings appear separately and do not change chapter numbering. Editorial footnotes are omitted; the source remains available for comparison.
Lightfoot's text at CCELBookmarks, highlights, notes and offline saving work in this collection. Verse comparisons appear when more than one edition is available. The existing cross-reference and Strong's datasets cover the original 66-book collection.
Opening greeting
Ignatius, who is also Theophorus, unto Polycarp who is bishop of the church of the Smyrnaens or rather who hath for his bishop God the Father and Jesus Christ, abundant greeting.