The Apostolic Fathers Greek-English Interlinear
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Those known as “Apostolic Fathers” wrote what has become some of the most important literature in the early church—letters and epistolary documents, homilies and theological tracts, documents on church order, and apocalyptic literature. In fact, some texts came close to inclusion in the New Testament canon. Tertullian regarded Hermas as Scripture, Irenaeus treated 1 Clement as canonical, and Origen regarded the Didache as inspired. Barnabas and Hermas were included in Codex Sinaiticus and 1 Clement and 2 Clement were included in Codex Alexandrinus. The near-canonical status of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers in the early church makes their importance for modern study undisputed.
Following the model of other interlinears produced by Lexham Press (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Septuagint), The Apostolic Fathers Greek–English Interlinear presents two levels of interlinear translation. The first is the lexical value, which is a gloss of the lexical or dictionary form of the word. The second is the English literal translation, a contextually sensitive gloss of the inflected form of the word. The difference in these glosses is subtle, but powerful. The first gloss answers the question, “What does this word mean?” The second gloss answers the question, “What does this word mean here?”
In addition to the interlinear translations, direct links to Louw and Nida's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains are provided for every Greek word, except for those words not present in the Greek New Testament. These links are context-sensitive and connect directly to the appropriate Louw and Nida article. Those familiar with Louw and Nida's lexicon know that one Greek word may have many different entries in the lexicon, one for each semantic sense. These Louw-Nida references jump to the appropriate article when there is more than one option—providing a contextually-appropriate lexicon definition for the word under study. These links also allow for searching the Apostolic Fathers text by Louw-Nida domain and article information.
This new interlinear from Lexham Press makes the Greek text of the Apostolic Fathers more accessible and useful for a larger audience. It features a literal translation for each word, a grammatically-informed context sensitive gloss, and other interlinear features. It also includes morphological tagging, idioms and cross-references, and lexical, text-critical, and translational notes.
- Based on Kirsopp Lake’s Loeb Classical Library Edition
- Each word has a Louw-Nida reference. Where the word is unique in the Apostolic Fathers corpus, this is noted, and no Louw-Nida reference is given
- Each word has a lexical value
- Each word has an English literal translations—the grammatically informed context-sensitive gloss
- Each word is morphologically tagged
- Interlinear features, such as idioms and cross-references, are featured
- Cross-references to biblical material are provided
- Includes lexical, text-critical, and translational notes by the editor
- 1 Clement
- 2 Clement
- Epistles of Ignatius
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Ephesians
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Magnesians
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Trallians
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Romans
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
- Epistles of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans
- Epistles of Ignatius to Polycarp
- The Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
- The Didache
- The Epistle of Barnabas
- The Shepherd of Hermas
- The Martyrdom of Polycarp
- The Epistle to Diognetus
Top Highlights
“By tradition he is considered to be a disciple of the Apostle John, and as a child Ireneaus met with Polycarp and records some of his teaching (Hill, Lost Teaching, 12).” (source)
“Following the model of other interlinears produced by Logos Bible Software (Hebrew Bible, New Testament, Septuagint), The Apostolic Fathers Greek-English Interlinear presents two levels of interlinear translation. The first is the lexical value, which is a gloss of the lexical form of the word. The second is the English literal translation, a contextually sensitive gloss of the inflected form of the word. The difference in these glosses is subtle, but powerful. The first gloss answers the question, ‘What does this word mean?’ The second gloss answers the question, ‘What does this word mean here?’” (source)
“ὁhoὁhoDNSMthethe192.24 κύριοςkyriosκύριοςkyriosNNSMLordLord212.9 καὶkaiκαίkaiCandand89.92 πάντεςpantesπᾶςpasJNPMallall59.23 οἱhoiὁhoDNPMthethe92.24 ἅγιοιhagioiἅγιοςhagiosJNPMholyholy ones88.24 μετʼmetʼμετάmetaPwithwith89.108 αὐτοῦautouαὐτόςautosRP-GSMhe, she, ithim.f92.11. 8 τότεtoteτότεtoteBthenThen67.47 ὄψεταιopsetaiὁράωhoraōVFMI3Sto seewill see324.1 ὁhoὁhoDNSMthethe192.24 κόσμοςkosmosκόσμοςkosmosNNSMworldworld29.23 τὸνtonὁhoDASMthethe92.24 κύριονkyrionκύριοςkyriosNASMLordLord12.9 ἐρχόμενονerchomenonἔρχομαιerchomaiVPMP-SAMto comecoming15.81 ἐπάνωepanōἐπάνωepanōBonupon83.49 τῶνtōnὁhoDGPFthethe92.24 νεφελῶνnephelōnνεφέληnephelēNGPFcloudclouds1.34 τοῦtouὁhoDGSMtheof92.24 οὐρανοῦouranouοὐρανόςouranosNGSMheavenheaven.g1.11” (source)
“These writings, because they are so close to (and, according to some views, contemporaneous with) the New Testament, share many qualities, turns of phrase, and use of Old Testament material.” (source)
“The Epistle to Diognetus is a fascinating peek at arguments for Christianity in opposition to paganism and Judaism in the early centuries of Christianity.” (source)
These documents are invaluable for the view they give us of the church just after the New Testament period. . . . The Apostolic Fathers provide a bridge between the New Testament and the later fathers of the church. We see in them a diversity of viewpoint but at the same time evidence of a common and uniting faith. Without question there is theological development on some issues from the New Testament writings with the result that we find both continuity and at times a degree of discontinuity with the views of the New Testament writers. The Apostolic Fathers neither simply repeat the theology of the New Testament, nor do they depart radically from it by creating a new theology. Rather than being creators they are supreme adapters of the theology they received. These writings, in short, throw light upon the church of the late first century to the middle of the second, a church faced with a variety of difficult problems. These they address by means of the frequent quotation of Old Testament Scripture, the sayings of Jesus, and the tradition of the apostles. Using these materials and others, they consolidate the faith and practice of the church in an era of increasing challenges. In so doing they remain remarkably faithful to what they had received.
—Ralph P Martins and Peter Davids note in the Dictionary of the Later New Testament and Its Developments
- Title: The Apostolic Fathers Greek-English Interlinear
- General Editor and Translator: Rick Brannan
- Publisher: Lexham Press
- Publication Date: 2010
Rick Brannan has been reading, studying, translating, writing, and blogging about the Apostolic Fathers for years. He edited An English-Greek Reverse Interlinear of the Apostolic Fathers and The Lexham English Bible English-Greek Reverse Interlinear of the New Testament. He has published articles in Bible Study Magazine and presented on matters of Greek grammar and syntax at national meetings for the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) and the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). He also presented at the Bible Technologies Conference, BibleTech. He is a member of the North American Patristics Society (NAPS). He works as the Information Architect for Greek Databases and also the Product Manager of New Testament Greek, New Testament Textual Criticism, and Patristics resources for Logos Bible Software.
Reviews
12 ratings
Aaron Raju
8/23/2023
The good aspect of this book is that it corresponds with Lake's Apostolic Fathers in English and Greek, so that they can be linked up chapter by chapter. The only unfortunate aspect is that the interlinear does not have an option for a pane at the bottom of the screen, which is present in other Bible interlinears I have used. The interlinear includes the manuscript in Greek, manuscript transliterated, Lemma, Lemma transliterated, as well as the morphology and Lou-Nida. The most important feature is it's combination usage with the Lake's English version of the apostolic fathers. Corresponding selections works between the two. This means that highlighting the Greek text will also highlight the English text and vice versa. It also means I can search up the Greek text and pull up the corresponding English translation in the search bar, with both words highlighted. An awesome resource, though a bit too pricy.
Debra W Bouey
6/5/2016
Manuel Fernández Martín
1/9/2015
Paul Pavao
9/3/2014
It is very exciting to have any Greek text of the apostolic fathers available. Having it available in interlinear form is a boon for all of us who do not, or who do not yet, read Greek. Readily at hand as you read (in code form) is both the infinitive form of verbs and the parsed form from the text. Voice, mood, number, tense, etc. are right there on the page without looking up anything. You get both the translation (called a "gloss" in the synopsis above) of the root word and the translation in context. What a boon it would be to have the apologists as well in this format! It would motivate me to learn to read Greek. This interlinear contains all the earliest writings of the church and therefore some of the most important writings of church history. 1 Clement, the Epistle of Barnabas, and the Shepherd of Hermas all were considered Scripture in at least some early churches. Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, all represented among the apostolic fathers, are still regarded as companions or students of the apostles by modern historians. As an introduction to the beliefs held in the churches started by the apostles, there can be no match to the apostolic fathers, and now their writings can be examined and parsed as easily as the writings of the apostles themselves.
Allen Bingham
4/7/2014
Fontaine Didier
12/17/2013
Mario Kushner
11/4/2013
Bill Shewmaker
10/8/2013
Gregory S. MacBeth
8/8/2013
