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 §13.1

Will Nielsen
January 7th, 2008
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Translation

1 Then things happened with such swiftness (more swiftly [a] than the words being said). Immediately, the crowds gathered wood and kindling [b] from the workshops and bath houses. As was their custom, the Jews were assisting with particular eagerness. [c]

[a] θᾶττον is a comparative form of ταχέως (BAGD, 806; cf. 352).

[b] φρύγανα (φρύγανον) “in the plural thin, dry wood, brushwood, especially for making fires” (BAGD, 867). Conceptually, this is kindling to start a fire (c.f., Acts 28:3).

[c] §13.1 is a single sentence which has been broken down into three English sentences for readability.

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