Greek · Letter to Polycarp
A personal letter of counsel to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, on the duties of a bishop.
Dating
Dated with Ignatius' journey and martyrdom under Trajan (Eusebius' Chronicle implies c. 107/108). Most scholars accept c. 105-115 for the seven letters of the middle recension; a minority date them to the 120s-140s or regard them as pseudonymous. Written at Troas, per the letter itself.Read the full text(opens in a new tab)ANF vol. 1 (1885), tr. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, from CCEL, public domain
Books it uses
2.2 'wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove' (Matt 10:16, unique to Matthew among the Gospels), though proverbial.
5.1 husbands to love wives 'as the Lord the Church' (Eph 5:25, 29).
6.2 'Please ye Him under whom ye fight' (2 Tim 2:4).
Quotations
Be in all things “wise as a serpent, and harmless as a dove.”
Ign. Pol. 2.2Quotation
ANF vol. 1 (1885), ed. Roberts & Donaldson, American ed. A. C. Coxe (shorter Greek recension) · Source (opens in a new tab)
Proverbial saying found only in Matt 10:16 among the Gospels.
Matthew 10:16 BSB
16Behold, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.