Martyrdom of Polycarp 9:1-3

Polycarp’s Trial
9 1 Τῷ δὲ Πολυκάρπῳ εἰσιόντι εἰς τὸ στάδιον φωνὴ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ ἐγένετο· Ἴσχυε, Πολύκαρπε, καὶ ἀνδρίζου. καὶ τὸν μὲν εἰπόντα οὐδεὶς εἶδεν, τὴν δὲ φωνὴν τῶν ἡμετέρων οἱ παρόντες ἤκουσαν. καὶ λοιπὸν προσαχθέντος αὐτοῦ, θόρυβος ἦν μέγας ἀκουσάντων, ὅτι Πολύκαρπος συνείληπται. 2 προσαχθέντα οὖν αὐτὸν ἀνηρώτα ὁ ἀνθύπατος, εἰ αὐτὸς εἴη Πολύκαρπος. τοῦ δὲ ὁμολογοῦντος, ἔπειθεν ἀρνεῖσθαι λέγων· Αἰδέσθητί σου τὴν ἡλικίαν, καὶ ἕτερα τούτοις ἀκόλουθα, ὡς ἔθος αὐτοῖς λέγειν· Ὄμοσον τὴν Καίσαρος τύχην, μετανόησον, εἶπον· Αἶρε τοὺς ἀθέους. ὁ δὲ Πολύκαρπος ἐμβριθεῖ τῷ πρoσώπῳ εἰς πάντα τὸν ὄχλον τὸν ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ ἀνόμων ἐθνῶν ἐμβλέψας καὶ ἐπισείσας αὐτοῖς τὴν χεῖρα, στενάξας τε καὶ ἀναβλέψας εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν εἶπεν· Αἶρε τοὺς ἀθέους. 3 ἐγκειμένου δὲ τοῦ ἀνθυπάτου καὶ λέγοντος· Ὄμοσον, καὶ ἀπολύω σε, λοιδόρησον τὸν Χριστὸν, ἔφη ὁ Πολύκαρπος· Ὀγδoήκoντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτη δουλεύω αὐτῷ, καὶ οὐδέν με ἠδίκησεν· καὶ´πῶς δύναμαι βλασφημῆσαι τὸν βασιλέα μου τὸν σώσαντά με;

9 1 As he entered the stadium, a voice from heaven came to Polycarp: “Be strong and courageous, Polycarp!” No one saw the one who spoke, but many of our people heard the voice. Then, as he was brought forward,there was a very loud uproar now that they heard that Polycarp had been arrested. 2 So after he was brought forward, the proconsul asked him whether it was he, and when he admitted this, he tried to persuade him to deny his faith, saying “Respect you age,” and the other things that always follow this, like “Swear by the Genius of Caesar, change your mind,” and “Say: ‘Away with the atheists!’” 3 When the proconsul kept saying, “Take the oath and I will let you go; revile Christ,” Polycarp replied, “I have served him eighty-six years and he has never dealt injustly with me in any way. How can I blaspheme my king – the one who saved me?”
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9:1 “Be strong and courageous.” Joshua 1:6, 7, 9; Deuteronomy 31:7; Ps-Ign. Hero 8.
9:2 “Away with the atheists,” that is, the Christians, because they deny the divinity of Caesar.

9:1 εἰσιόντι present active participle m dat sg εἴσειμι, “enter, go in.”

9:1 προσαχθέντος “bring forward” aorist passive participle προσάγω. I have taken the participle to be preliminary, as aorist circumstantial participles so often are.

9:2 ἀνηρώτα imperfect active indicative  3rd sg ἀνερωτάω “ask.” The ἀν- prefix probably intensifies the meaning, and we should understand a meaning like “pressed, inquired.” The word does not appear in Lampe's patristic lexicon, but the noun ἀνηρώτησις is there with the meaning "inquiry" (from Justin Martyr, Dialogue 68,3).

9:2 Αἰδέσθητί “respect, have regard for” Aorist passive αἰδέoμαι, a Septuagint word meaning primarily "be ashamed" but also "respect" (Prov. 24:23).

9:2 ἐμβριθεῖ “dignified, serious” ἐμβριθῆς.

9:2 ἐπισείσας “shake (one’s fist) at” Aorist ἐπισείω. The secondary meaning “urge on, incite” is used in the variant ἐπεισείσαντες of Acts 14:19 (Uncial D); cf. also 1 Samuel 26:19:  “The Lord has incited you against me.”

9:3 Ὀγδoήκoντα καὶ ἓξ ἔτη  “eighty-six years,” Polycarp was born in about 70 AD, around the time of the destruction of the temple. He would have been in his twenties when John was writing his books; just the age to have been able to still be called a disciple of John.

9:3 λοιδόρησον “revile, abuse” aorist λοιδoρέω, as in John 9:28; Acts 23:4.

9:3 βλασφημῆσαι τὸν βασιλέα μου  “How can I blaspheme my king?” Christ is truly King over all mankind, and the Christian in particular understands this through the sacrifice he made and the rescue he brought for all mankind from our sins. 

Martyrdom of Polycarp 8:1-3

8  1 Ἐπεὶ δε ποτε κατέπαυσεν τὴν προσευχήν, μνημονεύσας ἁπάντων καὶ τῶν πώποτε συμβεβληκότων αὐτῷ, μικρῶν τε καὶ μεγάλων, ἐνδόξων τε καὶ ἀδόξων καὶ πάσης τῆς κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας, τῆς ὥρας ἐλθούσης τοῦ ἐξιέναι, ὄνῳ καθίσαντες αὐτὸν ἤγαγον εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ὄντος σαββάτου μεγάλου. 2 καὶ ὑπήντα αὐτῷ ὁ εἰρήναρχος Ἡρώδης καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ Νικήτης, οἳ καὶ μεταθέντες αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν καροῦχαν ἔπειθον παρακαθεζόμενοι καὶ λέγοντες· Τί γὰρ κακόν ἐστιν εἰπεῖν· Κύριος καῖσαρ, καὶ ἐπιθῦσαι καὶ τὰ τούτοις ἀκόλουθα καὶ διασώζεσθαι; ὁ δὲ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς, ἐπιμενόντων δὲ αὐτῶν ἔφη· Οὐ μέλλω ποιεῖν, ὃ συμβουλεύετέ μοι. 3 οἱ δὲ ἀποτυχόντες τοῦ πεῖσαι αὐτὸν δεινὰ ῥήματα ἔλεγον αὐτῷ καὶ μετὰ σπουδῆς καθῄρουν αὐτόν, ὡς κατιόνοτα ἀπὸ τῆς καρούχας ἀποσῦραι τὸ ἀντικνήμιον. καὶ μὴ ἐπιτραφείς, ὡς οὐδὲν πεπονθὼς προθύμως μετὰ σπουδῆς ἐπορεύετο, ἀγόμενος εἰς τὸ στάδιον, θορύβου τηλικούτου ὄντος ἐν τῷ σταδίῳ, ὡς μηδὲ ἀκουσθῆναί τινα δύνασθαι.

Polycarp’s Trial
8 1 When he had finally finished his prayer (in which he remembered everyone he had ever met, great and small, high and low, and the whole Christian1 church throughout the world), the hour came for them to go, and they set him on a donkey and brought him into the city. It was a high Sabbath. 2 The police captain Herod and Nicetes his father met him. They moved him into their carriage and sat down beside him, trying to persuade him, saying, “Why? What is wrong with saying ‘Caesar is Lord’ and sacrificing and the other things, and be saved?” 
     At first he didn’t answer them, but when they kept it up, he said: “I’m not about to do what you advise me.”
     3 Since they failed to persuade him, they began to threaten him and pulled him out of the carriage so violently that on his way down he scraped his shin. Without turning around, he walked along quickly as if he had no injury.
     While he was being led into the stadium, the uproar was so loud that many could not even hear the announcement.

1 8:1 Christian, Greek catholic, but of course in the “universal” sense and not in the “Roman Catholic” sense.

8:2 καροῦχαν “carriage,” ἐπί with the accusative “into the carriage.” A carruca (Latin) is actually a Celtic loanword brought into Greek and the Romance languages after contact was made with the British isles. This is the only use of this word in our literature except a variant of Isaiah 66:20 in Symmachus’ Greek Old Testament.

8:2 παρακαθεζόμενοι “sit down beside.” Pres middle participle παρακαθίζω. Hv 5:2; Job 2:13; Luke 10:39 (variant in textus receptus). This verse is not mentioned in BAGD.

8:2 ἀκόλουθα “following,” acc. pl, ἀκόλουθoς, a Septuagint word (1 Esdras 8:14) related to the common NT verb ἀκoλουθέω, “to follow,” and our grammatical term anacolouthon, literally “it does not follow” or “a mistake.”

8:3 ἀποσύραι “flay; scrape or tear the skin off” Aor inf ἀποσύρω. The close-sounding ἀποσυρίζω, however, means "hiss out" (I can't help but think of the sound of "searing," συρίζω, when I press down on a burger as it fries) or "eject with hissing" according to Lampe's patristic lexicon. This term seems more closely tied to the NT word σύρω, "drag, drag down" (Rev. 12:4). Hapax.

8:3 ἀντικνήμιον. “shin.” Hapax, cf. Hippocrites.

8:3 ἐπιτραφείς “turned,” aor pass ptc ἐπιτρέφω, prelim ptc.

8:3 πεπονθὼς “suffered, endured.” Perfect active participle πάσχω (πέπονθα). Although πάσχω once may have had a good or at least neutral sense, throughout the NT and related lit. it has a negative, suffering quality. It is not really “passion” in the positive sense sometimes employed in English.

8:3 τηλικούτου “so great, so large.” Cf. 2 Cor. 1:10.

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.

1 John 3:11-20

Sermon text for May 12, 2012


In this part of his Epistle, John tells the Christian what he should expect from other people. From the world, you can expect hatred. From your brothers and sisters in Christ, you can expect love. The social test of faith is love.

11 ῞Οτι αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἀγγελία ἣν ἠκούσατε ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους· 12 οὐ καθὼς Κάϊν ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἦν καὶ ἔσϕαξεν τὸν ἀδελϕὸν αὐτοῦ· καὶ χάριν τίνος ἔσϕαξεν αὐτόν; ὅτι τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πονηρὰ ἦν, τὰ δὲ τοῦ ἀδελϕοῦ αὐτοῦ δίκαια.

11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.  12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.

ἵνα ἀγαπῶμεν "that we should love," ἵνα with with the subjunctive explaining the ἀγγελία "message."

ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ "who was from the evil one," that is, the devil.

ἔσϕαξεν aorist indicative σϕάξω "slaughter, murder."

Why does the wicked world hate the Christian? Jealousy. The wicked worldly sinner thinks, "My deeds won't look so evil if they aren't compared with anything good." This is also the message of the proverb: "Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity, and seek to kill the upright" (Proverbs 29:10).

Clement of Rome (writing at about the same time as this epistle was first sent) also used Cain as an example of sinful jealousy leading to hatred. Most of what he says is a quote from Genesis 4:2-8: "This is what is written: In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to God. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. God looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then God said to Cain, 'Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.' Now Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let’s go out to the field.' And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Brothers, look: jealousy and envy brought about a brother's murder." (1 Clement 4:1-7)

The problem with jealousy is that it amounts to ungratefulness for the gifts God has already given to us. If I am jealous of my brother because he's better looking than I am, is better at sports than I am, drives a better can than I do, is a better businessman than I am, is a better artist than I am, and is better company than I am, what have I said about any of the gifts God has given me? How would I feel if, on Christmas morning, one of my sons sat crying in the corner because the present he got isn't exactly the same as the presents all his brothers got?

What we do have is a place in heaven. That impossible gift is guaranteed to all of us through Jesus. It's not something that we can buy; as Ezekiel said, "Their silver and gold will not be able to save them in the day of the Lord's wrath" (Ezek. 7:19). In heaven, there is no social ranking, and there is no status except one: Forgiven.

     The train of John's thought so far is this:
          A. The permanent message is LOVE.
          B. Cain did not love, but fell to murder because his brother was righteous
               and he hated his brother's righteousness.


13 [καὶ] μὴ θαυμάζετε, ἀδελϕοί, εἰ μισεῖ ὑμᾶς ὁ κόσμος.
14 ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν ὅτι μεταβεβήκαμεν ἐκ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν, ὅτι ἀγαπῶμεν τοὺς ἀδελϕούς· ὁ μὴ ἀγαπῶν μένει ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ.
15 πᾶς ὁ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελϕὸν αὐτοῦ ἀνθρωποκτόνος ἐστίν, καὶ οἴδατε ὅτι πᾶς ἀνθρωποκτόνος οὐκ ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἐν αὐτῷ μένουσαν.

13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.  14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.  15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. (NIV)

3:13 μισεῖ present act ind μισέω "hate, despise." The present tense indicates typical, ongoing hatred that the world will always have for the godly.

3:14 μεταβαίνω perfect active ind., "leave, move, cross over." The perfect tense tells us that this is a permanent state; we were somewhere else, but we are here and we will stay here, from death to life.

The variant regarding καὶ μὴ or just μὴ is neither clear nor terribly important. The verse makes the same sense and says virtually the same thing either way.

More than half a century ago in Jamaica, young men overcome by addiction to drugs or alcohol would stand or sit or wander the streets in a lethargic stupor, uncaring, unwilling to work or smile or laugh or care about life at all. They were nicknamed zombie by their countrymen (nzambi is a Bantu name for a snake god), and soon the word zombie had entered into mainstream English as a word for the walking dead. John the Apostle describes the unbelievers of the world as zombies, the walking dead--but unlike a horror movie, the zombies of the world can be rescued; awakened from their living death by the power of the gospel.

John once again goes back to the story of Cain, by reminding us that "anyone who hates his brother is a murderer." A sin does not have to ever leave the realm of our hearts to be a sin in God's eyes. Whether it's jealousy, hatred, lust, laziness or gluttony, a sin is a sin the moment it's conceived.

What we need to remember is that every sin is forgiven by Jesus, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we are able to resist temptation, we are able to run away from the desire to sin; we are no longer slaves to our passions. We are forgiven children of God.


1 JOHN 3:16-20

In his Epistle, John has just been describing love as evidence of faith (3:14-15). Now he turns our attention to the greatest act of love.

16 ἐν τούτῳ ἐγνώκαμεν τὴν ἀγάπην, ὅτι ἐκεῖνος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔθηκεν· καὶ ἡμεῖς ὀϕείλομεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελϕῶν τὰς ψυχὰς θεῖναι.

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

θεῖναι exegetical infinitive (τίθημι) "lay down, give up."

Christ's great act of love was self-sacrifice. He gave his life to ransom our souls from condemnation to hell. Of the several terms in Greek for "love," John chose the three-syllable word agape. In Classical Greek, the word agape was quite rare; it didn't have a specific meaning. When you shop for yogurt, you will find many flavors including vanilla, but you will also find one labeled "plain." It has no added flavor at all (strained of its whey overnight in a coffee filter, it makes a good low-fat substitute for cream). Agape-love was also "flavorless" in Greek until the writing of the New Testament. Even in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, it was mainly used in parallel poetry verses with other terms for passion or friendship (Song of Solomon 2:4; 7:6; 8:6-7, etc). But then in the New Testament, especially from the pens of John and Paul, the meaning of agape has changed from plain, undefined "love" to the totally selfless love that God has for mankind, and which God urges us to show toward each other. An unbeliever is incapable of this kind of love; he might be a philanthropist, but even that isn't a good work in God's eyes without faith.

The definition of this kind of love includes expressing such selfless love in our actions:

17 ὃς δ' ἂν ἔχῃ τὸν βίον τοῦ κόσμου καὶ ϑεωρῇ τὸν ἀδελϕὸν αὐτοῦ χρείαν ἔχοντα καὶ κλείσῃ τὰ σπλάγχνα αὐτοῦ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, πῶς ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ θεοῦ μένει ἐν αὐτῷ;
18 Τεκνία, μὴ ἀγαπῶμεν λόγῳ μηδὲ τῇ γλώσσῃ ἀλλὰ ἐν ἔργῳ καὶ ἀληϑείᾳ.
19 [Καὶ] ἐν τούτῳ γνωσόμεθα ὅτι ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐσμέν, καὶ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πείσομεν τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν
20 ὅτι ἐὰν καταγινώσκῃ ἡμῶν ἡ καρδία, ὅτι μείζων ἐστὶν ὁ θεὸς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν καὶ γινώσκει πάντα.

17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.  19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence  20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (NIV)

The great selfless love of God come to us (as one believer said, "God will love you more than your own mother does,"), but God also wants his love to go through us to other people. But we can easily be misled by the devil into thinking that we are somehow untrue with our love. Don't let the devil whisper in your ear when you're down, but don't let him whisper in your ear when you're not down, either. He's a liar all the time, and God is the one, the only one, who truly knows what is in our hearts.

Before God, our sinful motivations and our sins themselves melt away like frost in the sunlight. The service we perform for other people must not come from guilt or a sense of obligation, but from love for God, who loved us, who lived for us, and who died for us. Show your love for your Savior in your love for the people he died to save. They're all around you.


The overall theme of 3:11-24 is: (The ethical test of our faith): What dos it mean to be a son / child of God?

We are God's children.

A. True love is without jealousy and other sins (vs. 19-20: our hearts condemn us, so we rest in him)
B. True love is living our faith with what we do and not just what we say

Important phrase (telic note): "We set our hearts at rest in his presence" (3:19).

Martyrdom of Polycarp 6:1-2

Polycarp’s arrest
6 1 Καὶ ἐπιμενόντων τῶν ζητούντων αὐτὸν μετέβη εἰς ἕτερον ἀγρίδιον, καὶ εὐθέως ἐπέστησαν οἱ ζητοῦντες αὐτόν· καὶ μὴ εὑρόντες συνελάβοντο παιδάρια δύο, ὧν τὸ ἕτερον βασανιζόμενον ὡμολόγησεν. 2 ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἀδύνατον λαθεῖν αὐτόν, ἐπεὶ καὶ οἱ προδιδόντες αὐτὸν οἱκεῖοι ὑπῆρχον, καὶ ὁ εἰρήναρχος, ὁ [καὶ] κεκληρωμένος τὸ αὐτὸ ὄνομα. Ἡρώδης ἐπιλεγόμενος, ἔσπευδεν εἰς τὸ στάδιον αὐτὸν εἰσαγαγεῖν, ἵνα ἐκεῖνος μὲν τὸν ἴδιον κλῆρον ἀπαρτίσῃ Χριστοῦ κοινωνὸς γενόμενος, οἱ δὲ προδόντες αὐτὸν τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Ἰούδα ὑπόσχοιεν τιμωρίαν.

Polycarp’s Arrest
6 1 But his pursuers kept up the search. No sooner had he moved to another little farm that the search party arrived. Unable to find him, they arrested two young slaves, one of whom confessed while the other was being tortured. 2 Now it was impossible for him to remain hidden since his betrayers were actually members of his own household. The police captain, who had the very name (he was called Herod) was eager to bring him into the stadium. 
     This was how he was to fulfill his own destiny by becoming a partner with Christ, and his betrayers would suffer the same punishment as Judas.
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6:1 ἐπιμενόντων, present act ptc ἐπιμένω "remain, persist." The participle  shows attendant circumstance: "They kept up (the search)."

μετέβη aorist act ind μεταβαίνω, "leave, move on, cross over." The author keeps the reader at the first ἀγρίδιον (farm? villa?) while Polycarp slips over the hedgerows to the next one, and just as he disappears into the grain the police show up looking for him.

ὧν τὸ ἕτερον βασανιζόμενον ὡμολόγησεν "one of whom confessed while the other was being tortured." He confessed (ὡμολόγησεν, aor ind ὁμολoγέω) while “the other one” (τὸ ἕτερον) was tortured (βασανιζόμενον, passive participle, accompanying circumstance). ὧν here is a relative pronoun ("Who," "One of whom...") and not the participle ὦν which would perhaps have made the participle a pluperfect through periphrasis.

6:2 εἰρήναρχος “police chief; high sheriff.” The irenarch or “peacemaker” is mentioned frequently in inscriptions in the cities of Asia Minor. The Church Father Epiphanius uses this title as a term for Prince of Peace (meaning Christ), and Methodius uses a very similar term for Christ as Author of Peace as well.. Herod, a name that was infamous among Christians but probably as popular as political names generally become in the society. Herod the Great did a lot to reestablish the former glory of Israel.

Ἡρώδης Herod, a name that was infamous among Christians but probably as popular as political names generally become in the society. Herod the Great did much to reestablish the former glory of Israel but left much to be desired at to his faith (he ordered the murder of the innocents at Bethlehem, Matthew 2:16). The other Herods mentioned in the Bible only matched his evil (Mark 6:16; Acts 12:23).

τιμωρίαν "punishment, penalty." The author is talking about eternal judgment, not necessarily the same earthly fate (suicide).

Martyrdom of Polycarp 5:1-2

Polycarp’s withdrawal
5 1 Ὁ δὲ θαυμασιώτατος Πολύκαρπος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀκούσας οὐκ ἐταράχθη, ἀλλ’ ἐβούλετο κατὰ πόλιν μένειν· οἱ δὲ πλείους ἔπειθον αὐτὸν ὑπεξελθεῖν. καὶ ὑπεξῆλθεν εἰς ἀγρίδιον οὐ μακρὰν ἀπέχον ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως, καὶ διέτριβε μετ’ ὀλίγων, νύκτα καὶ ἡμέραν οὐδὲν ἕτερον ποιῶν ἢ προσευχόμενος περὶ πάντων καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐκκλησιῶν, ὅπερ ἦν σύνηθες αὐτῷ. 2 καὶ προσευχόμενος ἐν ὀπτασιᾳ γέγονεν πρὸ τριῶν ἡμερῶν τοῦ συλληφθῆναι αὐτόν, καὶ εἶδεν τὸ προσκεφάλαιον αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ πυρὸς κατακαιόμενον· και στραφεὶς εἶπεν πρὸς τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ· Δεῖ με ζῶντα καῆναι.
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Text:
5:1 διέτριβε ] Lake ν-movable   5:2 εἶδεν τὸ ] Lake; Lightf.; εἶδεν Migne.   5:2 καῆναι Lake, Lightf.; καυθῆναι Barocc., Paris, Jac., Vindoh.; Migne frt. κατακαυθῆναι.
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Punctuation: 
5:1 πόλεως, Lake (none), Lightf. comma, Migne colon.   5:1 ἐκκλησιῶν, Lake comma, Lightf. colon, Migne colon.   5:2 αὐτόν, Lake comma, Lightf. comma, Migne colon.   5:2 κατακαιόμενον· Lake colon, Lightf. colon, Migne period.

Polycarp’s Withdrawal
5 1 Now the glorious Polycarp was not dismayed when he first heard the news, and he wanted to stay in the city. The others tried to persuade him to withdraw, and withdraw he did, to a little farm just outside the city. He stayed there with a few friends, doing nothing night and day but praying for all men and for churches throughout the world, just as he usually did. 2 While he was praying, he had a vision three days before his arrest. He saw a pillow burning with fire. He turned and said to those with him, “I must be burned alive.”

5:1 θαυμασιώτατος, adjective "wonderful." Cf. Matthew 21:15.

ἐταράχθη, aor passive ταράσσω "disturb, upset." This form occurs many times in the LXX and NT; Cf. Matthew 2:3, "When King Herod heard this he was disturbed..."

ὑπεξελθεῖν... ὑπεξῆλθεν, both from ὑπεξέχρoμαι "withdraw, get away."

ἀγρίδιον “little farm.” Here and in 6:1; cf. the papyrus collection Sammelbuch 5230,28 (first century). An obvious but remarkably rare word. The term probably coming from the Northwest (Doric) Greek dialect. Although it can mean “village” or “field” it more probably refers here to the villa. The Roman villa was a common estate . Many were very large; a small one like this might still have fifteen hundred acres. A villa often included cultivated fields, meadows, vineyards, a woods, and housing for the many servants who worked there: farmers and hands, shepherds, vine-dressers, millers, bakers, carpenters, masons, smiths, weavers, tanners, tailors, and other workers who rented fields or grazing meadows as tenants. Such estates tended to be independently self-sufficient with limited contact even with the nearby towns.

5:2 συλληφθῆναι articularized infinitive as a noun; "arrest."

προσκεφάλαιον “pillow,” Mark 4:38; Ezekiel 13:18, 20.

κατακαιόμενον, middle participle κατακαίω "burn."

καῆναι aorist passive infinitive καίω, "burn, burn up." The textual variants are unnecessary to understand the text, whichever verb is used.

Martyrdom of Polycarp 4

Quintus
4 Εἷς δέ, ὀνόματι Κόϊντος, Φρύξ προσφάτως ἐληλυθὼς ἀπὸ τῆς Φρυγίας, ἰδὼν τὰ θηρία ἐδειλίασεν. οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ παραβιασάμενος ἑαυτόν τε καί τινας προσελθεῖν ἑκόντας. τοῦτον ὁ ἀνθύπατος πολλὰ ἐκλιπαρήσας ἔπεισεν ὀμόσαι καὶ ἐπιθῦσαι. διὰ τοῦτο οὖν, ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐπαινοῦμεν τοὺς προδιδόντας ἑαυτούς, ἐπειδὴ οὐχ οὕτως διδάσκει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον.
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Κόϊντος ] Κύστος Vindob., Κύπστος S. Sep.
τινας ] Mosq, Barocc. adds ἄλλους; Eusebius says σὺν ἕτερoις.
ἑκόντας ] Goodspeed ἑκουσίους.
ἑαυτούς, ] Migne has a colon rather than a comma.


Quintus
4 But one man named Quintus, a Phrygian (and newly arrived from Phrygia), became frightened when he saw the wild beasts. It was he who had urged himself and some others to come forward voluntarily. The proconsul earnestly convinced and persuaded him to swear the oath and to make the sacrifice. 
     That is why, brothers, we do not praise those who come forward of their own free will, for that is not what the gospel teaches.


4:1 Φρύξ, Phrygia was an inland province of western Asia Minor, south of Pontus. Paul and Barnabas carried the gospel there and visited the region at least twice. 


προσφάτως, "recently" (adverb; Acts 18:2)


ἐληλυθὼς, perfect active participle of ἐρχoμαι; "arrived."


ἐδειλίασεν, aorist indicative δειλιάω, "be afraid" (Psalm 118:161 / Engl. & Hebr. 119:161).


ἑκόντας (or ἑκουσίους, the reading in Goodspeed's Index Patristicus) "Voluntarily." Probably this Quintus wanted to gain renown for himself and was willing to die for his faith, but was terrified of the thought of being torn apart by lions. 


ὀμόσαι, aor inf ὀμνύω / ὄμνυμι. The aorist of this verb is ὤμoσα. "To swear, swear an oath." Usually followed by the dative rather than an expected accusative (swear "by"). The oath was of course to Caesar.


οὐχ οὕτως διδάσκει τὸ εὐαγγέλιον "for that is not what the gospel teaches," διδάσκει present active indicative; subject: τὸ εὐαγγέλιον. Cf. John 7:1; 8:59; 10:39; Acts 13:31; 17:14; 19:30-31; etc. The article is correct for a neuter nominative singular (it's identical in the accusative case). The paradigm for this noun is δῶρον in Crosby-Schaeffer p. 10.