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PAPIAS OF HIERAPOLIS

FRAGMENTS OF PAPIAS FROM THE EXPOSITION OF THE ORACLES OF THE LORD.(1)

   [THE writings of Papias in common circulation are five in number, and
these are called an Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. Irenaeus makes
mention of these as the only works written by him, in the following words:
"Now testimony is borne to these things in writing by Papias, an ancient
man, who was a hearer of John, and a friend of Polycarp, in the fourth of
his books; for five books were composed by him." Thus wrote Irenaeus.
Moreover, Papias himself, in the introduction to his books, makes it
manifest that he was not himself a hearer and eye-witness of the holy
apostles; but he tells us that he received the truths of our religion(2)
from those who were aquainted with them [the apostles] in the following
words:]

   But I shall not be unwilling to put down, along with my
interpretations,(3) whatsoever instructions I received with care at any
time from the elders, and stored up with care in my memory, assuring you at
the same time of their truth. For I did not, like the multitude, take
pleasure in those who spoke much, but in those who taught the truth; nor in
those who related strange commandments,(4) but in those who rehearsed the
commandments given by the Lord to faith,(5) and proceeding from truth
itself. If, then, any one who had attended on the elders came, I asked
minutely after their sayings,--what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said
by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, or by John, or by Matthew, or by any
other of the Lord's disciples: which things(6) Aristion and the presbyter
John, the disciples of the Lord, say. For I imagined that what was to be
got from books was not so profitable to me as what came from the living and
abiding voice.

II.(7)

   [The early Christians] called those who practised a godly
guilelessness,(8) children, [as is stated by Papias in the first book of
the Lord's Expositions, and by Clemens Alexandrinus in his Paedagogue.]

III.(9)

   Judas walked about in this world a sad(10) example of impiety; for his
body having swollen to such an extent that he could not pass where a
chariot could pass easily, he was crushed by the chariot, so that his
bowels gushed out.(11)

IV.(12)

   [As the elders who saw John the disciple of the Lord remembered that
they had heard from him how the Lord taught in regard to those times, and
said]: "The days will come in which vines shall grow, having each ten
thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true
twig ten thousand shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand
clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every
grape when pressed will give five-and-twenty metretes of wine. And when any
one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, 'I am
a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.' In like manner, [He
said] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every
ear would have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds
of clear, pure, fine flour; and that apples, and seeds, and grass would
produce in similar proportions; and that all animals, feeding then only on
the productions of the earth, would become peaceable and harmonious, and be
in perfect subjection to man."(1) [Testimony is borne to these things in
writing by Papias, an ancient man, who was a hearer of John and a friend of
Polycarp, in the fourth of his books; for five books were composed by him.
And he added, saying, "Now these things are credible to believers. And
Judas the traitor," says he, "not believing, and asking, 'How shall such
growths be accomplished by the Lord?' the Lord said, 'They shall see who
shall come to them.' These, then, are the times mentioned by the prophet
Isaiah: 'And the wolf shall lie, down with the lamb,' etc. (Isa. xi. 6
ff.)."]

V.(2)

   As the presbyters say, then(3) those who are deemed worthy of an abode
in heaven shall go there, others shah enjoy the delights of Paradise, and
others shall possess the splendour of the city;(4) for everywhere the
Saviour will be seen, according as they shall be worthy who see Him. But
that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce
an hundredfold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those
who produce thirty-fold; for the first will be taken up into the heavens,
the second class will dwell in Paradise, and the last will inhabit the
city; and that on this account the Lord said, "In my Father's house are
many mansions:"(5) for all things belong to God, who supplies all with a
suitable dwelling-place, even as His word says, that a share is given to
all by the Father,(6) according as each one is or shall be worthy. And this
is the couch(7) in which they shall recline who feast, being invited to the
wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is
the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance
through steps of this nature; and that, moreover, they ascend through the
Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time
the Son will yield up His work to the Father, even as it is said by the
apostle, "For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."(8) For in the times of
the kingdom the just man who is on the earth shall forget to die. "But when
He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted
which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued
unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all
things under Him, that God may be all in all."(9)

VI.(10)

   [Papias, who is now mentioned by us, affirms that he received the
sayings of the apostles from those who accompanied them, and he moreover
asserts that he heard in person Aristion and the presbyter John.(11)
Accordingly he mentions them frequently by name, and in his writings gives
their traditions. Our notice of these circumstances may not be without its
use. It may also be worth while to add to the statements of Papias already
given, other passages of his in which he relates some miraculous deeds,
stating that he acquired the knowledge of them from tradition. The
residence of the Apostle Philip with his daughters in Hierapolis has been
mentioned above. We must now point out how Papias, who lived at the same
time, relates that he had received a wonderful narrative from the daughters
of Philip. For he relates that a dead man was raised to life in his
day.(12) He also mentions another miracle relating to Justus, surnamed
Barsabas, how he swallowed a deadly poison, and received no harm, on
account of the grace of the Lord. The same person, moreover, has set down
other things as coming to him from unwritten tradition, amongst these some
strange parables and instructions of the Saviour, and some other things of
a more fabulous nature.(13) Amongst these he says that there will be a
millennium after the resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of
Christ will be established on this earth. He moreover hands down, in his
own writing, other narratives given by the previously mentioned Aristion of
the Lord's sayings, and the traditions of the presbyter John. For
information on these points, we can merely refer our readers to the books
themselves; but now, to the extracts already made, we shall add, as being a
matter of primary importance, a tradition regarding Mark who wrote the
Gospel, which he [Papias] has given in the following words]: And the
presbyter said this. Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote
down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact
order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard
the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied
Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his
hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's
sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he
remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit
anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the
statements. [This is what is related by Papias regarding Mark; but with
regard to Matthew he has made the following statements]: Matthew put
together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each one
interpreted them as best he could. [The same person uses proofs from the
First Epistle of John, and from the Epistle of Peter in like manner. And he
also gives another story of a woman(1) who was accused of many sins before
the Lord, which is to be fount in the Gospel according to the Hebrews.]

VII.(2)

   Papias thus speaks, word far word: To some of them [angels] He gave
dominion over the arrangement of the world, and He commissioned them to
exercise their dominion well. And he says, immediately after this: but it
happened that their arrangement came to nothing.(3)

VIII.(4)

With regard to the inspiration of the book (Revelation), we deem it
superfluous to add another word; for the blessed Gregory Theologus and
Cyril, and even men of still older date, Papias, Irenaeus, Methodius, and
Hippolytus, bore entirely satisfactory testimony to it.

IX.(5)

   Taking occasion from Papias of Hierapolis, the illustrious, a disciple
of the apostle who leaned on the bosom of Christ, and Clemens, and
Pantaenus the priest of [the Church] of the Alexandrians, and the wise
Ammonius, the ancient and first expositors, who agreed with each other, who
understood the work of the six days as referring to Christ and the whole
Church.

X.(6)

   (1.) Mary the mother of the Lord; (2.) Mary the wife of Cleophas or
Alphaeus, who was the mother of James the bishop and apostle, and of Simon
and Thaddeus, and of one Joseph; (3.) Mary Salome, wife of Zebedee, mother
of John the evangelist and James; (4.) Mary Magdalene. These four are found
in the Gospel. James and Judas and Joseph were sons of an aunt (2) of the
Lord's. James also and John were sons of another aunt (3) of the Lord's.
Mary(2), mother of James the Less and Joseph, wife of Alphaeus was the
sister of Mary the mother of the Lord, whom John names of Cleophas, either
from her father or from the family of the clan, or for some other reason.
Mary Salome (3) is called Salome either from her husband or her village.
Some affirm that she is the same as Mary of Cleophas, because she had two
husbands.


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland beginning in
1867. (ANF 1, Roberts and Donaldson). The digital version is by The
Electronic Bible Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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