The seven authentic letters of Ignatius, bishop of Antioch (ca. 110 CE), provide some of the earliest insight into the theology, organization and worship, internecine struggles, and epistolary practices of the primitive Church outside of the New Testament. ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΙ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΥ: The Letters of Ignatius is a unique tool that assists those with an intermediate level of Koine Greek in reading these valuable epistles. Using the text of Kirsopp Lake’s 1919 edition of The Apostolic Fathers, ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΙ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΥ provides definitions and parsing information in footnotes in the bottom margins of the page for every word in the text that occurs 30 times or less in the Greek New Testament. ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΑΙ ΙΓΝΑΤΙΟΥ is the first volume in the newly launched Apostolic
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xiii). The word definitions used in these footnotes are compiled from BDAG, LSJ, and Lampe’s A Patristic Greek Lexicon. These footnotes give the following information. For nouns; nominative form, genitive ending, article, and gloss. For adjectives; 2nd declension masculine form, 1st declension feminine ending, 2nd declension neuter ending, and gloss. For other adjectives; 3rd declension masculine and feminine forms, 3rd declension neuter ending, and gloss. For verbs in the indicative, subjunctive, or optative moods; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, person, number, and gloss. For infinitive verbs; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, and gloss. For participle verbs; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, gender, number, case, and gloss (p. …show more content…
The editors write that “although the AFGR is not an introduction like Lightfoot’s, it nevertheless invites readers to encounter firsthand the texts of the Apostolic Fathers thus preparing them to explore nascent Christianity” (p. x). Consequently, readers should not expect a thoroughly updated critical handbook of Ignatius’s letters as this was never the intended purpose behind the work. The brevity of the volume is part of the overall design as the reader is encouraged to engage the text directly in order to gain a more detailed understanding of Ignatius and his letters. For those wishing to study further, the bibliography at the end of the introduction directs users to relevant scholarly treatments and each work is placed into a beginner, intermediate, or advanced category (p.
xiii). The word definitions used in these footnotes are compiled from BDAG, LSJ, and Lampe’s A Patristic Greek Lexicon. These footnotes give the following information. For nouns; nominative form, genitive ending, article, and gloss. For adjectives; 2nd declension masculine form, 1st declension feminine ending, 2nd declension neuter ending, and gloss. For other adjectives; 3rd declension masculine and feminine forms, 3rd declension neuter ending, and gloss. For verbs in the indicative, subjunctive, or optative moods; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, person, number, and gloss. For infinitive verbs; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, and gloss. For participle verbs; lexical entry, verbal form, voice, mood, gender, number, case, and gloss (p. …show more content…
The editors write that “although the AFGR is not an introduction like Lightfoot’s, it nevertheless invites readers to encounter firsthand the texts of the Apostolic Fathers thus preparing them to explore nascent Christianity” (p. x). Consequently, readers should not expect a thoroughly updated critical handbook of Ignatius’s letters as this was never the intended purpose behind the work. The brevity of the volume is part of the overall design as the reader is encouraged to engage the text directly in order to gain a more detailed understanding of Ignatius and his letters. For those wishing to study further, the bibliography at the end of the introduction directs users to relevant scholarly treatments and each work is placed into a beginner, intermediate, or advanced category (p.