Nielsen’s Nook

Nielsen’s Nook
Nielsen’s Nook
Contemplative, reflective, and irenic we pray.
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Translation and Commentary on The Martyrdom of Polycarp §7.1b

Will Nielsen
December 13th, 2007
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Translation

And when they closed in on him [1] at a late hour, [2] they found him [3] resting in some little [4] upstairs bedchamber. He was able to depart from there to a different place; [5] however, he would not go, saying, “The will of God was done.” [6]

[1] συνεπελθόντες BAGD (p 787) renders this “when they closed in on him.” The word is composed of three parts συν (”with”), ἐπί (”upon”) and έρχομαι (”to come”);

[2] See BAGD p 601.

[3] The text continues to employ ἐκει̂νος instead of the article (ὁ) or relative pronoun (ὅς). See note on §6.2.

[4] δωματίῳ is the diminutive of δῶμα, rooftop. (BAGD, 210)

[5] χωρίον place as in a parcel of land (BAGD, 890).

[6] There does seem to be a dependence upon Acts 21:14. Agabus has warned Paul that he will be persecuted in Jerusalem and Paul responds, τοῦ κυρίου τὸ θέλημα γινέσθω (the Lord’s will be done - author’s translation). In Acts, γινέσθω is a present deponent imperative and here in §7.1 γενέσθω is an aorist. Paul was finding contentment in Christ looking forward to dire possibilities, Polycarp was expressing that same contentment in the face of the cavalry officers that had just kicked in his bedroom door.

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