Nielsen’s Nook

Translation

3 After they granted him permission, [1] he stood up and prayed being full of the grace of God in this manner: [2] for two hours he was unable to keep silent [3] that even those who heard him were fearfully amazed, [4] and so [5] many repented because [6] they had come upon such a revered [7] elder.

[1] ἐπιτρεψάντων (ἐπιτρέπω) BAGD cites as to give permission, to allow. It is used in John 19:38 when Pilate gives permission to Joseph of Arimathea to take the body of Jesus: … ἵνα ἄρῃ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· καὶ ἐπέτρεψεν ὁ Πιλᾶτος.

[2] We are taking οὕτως more as a means of directing the reader to how or in what ways St. Polycarp was full of the grace of God rather than merely giving some sort of comparative that he was so full of the grace of God. (c.f., DBL 4048).

[3] σιγῆσαι (c.f., ) is the same word with significant parallel used in Luke 19:40 where Pharisees were pleading with Jesus to stop his disciples from exalting him on Palm Sunday: καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν οὗτοι σιωπήσουσιν, οἱ λίθοι κράξουσιν (NA27) - And answering he said, “I say to you, if these [disciples] will be silent the stones will cry out.” (author’s translation)

[4] ἐκπλήττεσθαι (ἐκπλήσσω) as a passive we render it as to “be amazed, overwhelmed with fright” (BAGD, 244). After the disciples heard the parable of the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19:16-30) they are recorded as being ἐξεπλήσσοντο σφόδρα (extremely fearful), such that they respond, τίς ἄρα δύναται σωθῆναι; (Who then is able to be saved?) in Matthew 19:25.

[5] τε indicates the close relationship between St. Polycarp’s actions and the repentance that followed in light of those actions. This is reinforced with the accusative-infinitive clause πολλούς … μετανοεῖν.

[6] We take the ἐπὶ + dative + infinitive construction (ἐπὶ τῷ ἐληλυθέναι) as causal. (c.f., Dan Wallace’s Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics on the “Dative Articular Infinitive”, p 610). There does not seem to be this sort of construction in the NT, though I may be mistaken. Any insights?

[7] θεοπρεπής, fit for God, revered, venerable, godly (BAGD, 356). Does not seem to appear in the NT.