Saturday, May 12, 2012

Martyrdom of Polycarp 7:1-3


On the way
7 1 Ἔχοντες οὖν τὸ παιδάριον, τῇ παρασκευῇ περὶ δείπνου ὥραν ἐξῆλθον διωγμῖται καὶ ἱππεῖς μετὰ τῶν συνήθων αὐτοῖς ὅπλων ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν τρέχοντες. καὶ ὀψὲ τῆς ὥρας συνεπελθόντες ἐκεῖνον μὲν εὗρον ἐν κατακείμενον ὑπερῴῳ· κἀκεῖθεν δὲ ἠδύνατο εἰς ἕτερον χωρίον ἀπελθεῖν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἠβουλήθη εἰπών· Τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσθω. 2 ἀκούσας οὖν [αὐτοῦς] παρόντας, καταβὰς διελέχθη αὐτοῖς, θαυμαζόντων τῶν παρόντων τὴν ἡλικίαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ εὐσταθές, [καὶ] εἰ τοσαύτη σπουδὴ ἦν τοῦ συλληφθῆναι τοιοῦτον πρεσβύτην ἄνδρα. εὐθέως οὖν αὐτοῖς ἐκέλευσε παρατεθῆναι φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρα, ὅσον ἂν βούλωνται, ἐξῃτήσατο δὲ αὐτούς, ἵνα δῶσιν αὐτῷ ὥραν πρὸς τὸ προσεύξασθαι ἀδεῶς. 3 τῶν δὲ ἐπιτρεψάντων, σταθεὶς προσηύξατο πλήρης ὢν τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ οὕτως ὥστε ἐπὶ δύο ὥρας μὴ δύνασθαι σιγῆσαι καὶ ἐκπλήττεσθαι τοὺς ἀκούοντας, πολλούς τε μετανοεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ἐληλυθέναι ἐπὶ τοιοῦτον θεοπρεπῆ πρεσβύτην.
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7:3 ὥστε, Lightfoot ὡς.

7:1 ὡς ἐπὶ λῃστὴν. Matthew 26:55.
7:1 Τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ γενέσθω. Acts 21:14.

On the Way
7 1 Taking the slave boy with them, mounted sheriffs and horsemen armed in the usual way set out on Friday about supper time, “as if he were leading a rebellion.” Closing in on him late that evening they found him lying down in a small upper room. Although even from there he could have escaped, he decided not to, saying, “God’s will be done.” 2 So when he heard that they were there, he went down and talked with them, and those who saw him wondered at his age and composure, and they were surprised at the urgency of arresting an old man like him.
     Right away he ordered as much food and drink to be set out for them as they wished; and he asked them to give him an hour to pray undisturbed. 3 They agreed, and he stood and prayed so filled with the grace of God that for two full hours he could not stop speaking, and those who heard him were amazed, and many of them regretted that they had come after such a godly old man.

7:1 παιδάριον "slave boy," a word common in the Septuagint but rare in the NT (John 6:9). The form is sometimes called a "double diminutive" (Brown, Robers & Rogers).

παρασκευῇ, dative of time from παρασκεύη “Friday.” In the NT, παρασκεύη signifies the day of preparation before a holiday, especially the Passover (Mk 15:42; John 19:14, etc.). Here and in later Greek it means simply “Friday.”

περὶ δείπνου ὥραν "at about the supper hour." δείπνου is the word for a meal or banquet, like Herod's in Mark 6:21 or the banquet in Daniel 5:1 when the handwriting appeared on the wall.

ὑπερῴῳ "upper room," a word that appears from time to time throughout the Bible: Judges 3:20 (where Ehud found Eglon), 2 Kings 1:2 (from which Ahaziah fell and was fatally injured), Daniel 6:11[10] (where Daniel prayed), Acts 9:37 (where the body of Tabitha was laid), Acts 20:8 (from which Eutychus fell) and others places.

7:2 καὶ τὸ εὐσταθές "and his composure." Cf. 2 Maccabees 12:2 (inf., "to be calm, composed"); Wisdom 6:24 ("stability, good health"); and the Greek Additions to Esther 13:5. Also 2 Macc. 14:6 "tranquility."

ὥραν πρὸς τὸ προσεύξασθαι "an hour to pray" perhaps echoing Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane (Mk 14:32-37). It's been pointed out that a lot of the parallels between Christ's passion and Polycarp's martyrdom are striking, but that any one of them can be explained due to the fact that both men were being taken to be executed, and perhaps that Polycarp himself had it in mind to emulate his Savior.


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