Skip to main content
Ignatius to the Ephesians / Chapter 19

Ignatius to the Ephesians 19

2 verses • Lightfoot Greek (Apostolic Fathers, 1885)

Translator's Introduction

What This Chapter Is About

The 'three mysteries' chapter — one of the most theologically dense passages in the entire Apostolic Fathers corpus. Ignatius asserts that three salvific events were 'hidden from the prince of this world' (i.e., from Satan / the demonic powers) and 'wrought in silence': Mary's virginity, her childbearing, and the death of the Lord. The chapter then describes the revelatory star at Christ's nativity in cosmic-apocalyptic terms — a star outshining the sun, moon, and other stars, by which 'every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared.' The revelation of the three mysteries through the star inaugurates 'the abolition of death' and 'the beginning of God's reordering of all things.'

What Makes This Chapter Remarkable

Ign. Eph. 19 is the earliest extant Christian text to (a) name three specific 'mysteries' of salvation (Mary's virginity + birth + Christ's death) as the conceptual unit later called the 'mysteries of salvation,' (b) link the Matthean star-narrative (Matt 2:1-12) to a cosmic-apocalyptic destruction of pagan magic and astrology, and (c) deploy the phrase ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ('in the silence of God') for the divine economy of salvation as something hidden until disclosed. The 'wrought in silence' phrasing is theologically rich AND historically consequential — second-century Valentinian Gnosticism will later make ἡ Σιγή (Sige / 'Silence') a feminine consort of the Father at the head of the divine emanation system, and Magn. 8 will explicitly reject 'Logos proceeding from silence' against this Valentinian framework. The dialectical tension between Ign. Eph. 19 (mysteries wrought in silence) and Ign. Magn. 8 (Logos NOT from silence) is internal to Ignatius's theology and reveals the subtle anti-Gnostic edge of his cosmology.

Translation Friction

The 'silence' Ignatius praises in Ign. Eph. 19:1 is God's economy of revelation (the mysteries hidden until disclosed in Christ). The 'silence' Ignatius rejects in Magn. 8:2 is the metaphysical Silence from which the Logos supposedly emanates in Valentinian Gnostic cosmology. These are different conceptual uses of σιγή / ἡσυχία. Modern readers can miss the distinction and treat Ignatius as inconsistent. He is not — but the two passages must be read against the Valentinian background that Ignatius is implicitly engaging.

Connections

Matthew 2:1-12 (the star at Christ's birth — the gospel narrative Ign. Eph. 19:2 cosmologizes); Justin, Dial. 67 (the παρθένος-vs-ʻalmah controversy + Trypho's Perseus comparison — the same Greek-Roman mythic frame Ignatius's anti-pagan-magic argument cuts against); Justin, 1 Apology 49 (parallel deployment of the star narrative); 1 Corinthians 2:7-8 (Paul's parallel 'wisdom hidden in a mystery... none of the rulers of this age understood it'); Romans 16:25-27 (Paul's 'mystery kept secret for ages, now revealed'); Ignatius to the Magnesians 8 (the 'Logos NOT proceeding from silence' rejection of Valentinian emanationism — TCR /ignatius-magnesians/8); Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies VI.29-30 (the Valentinian Sige/Bythos system Ignatius is implicitly engaging against).

Ignatius to the Ephesians 19:1

καὶ ἔλαθεν τὸν ἄρχοντα τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἡ παρθενία Μαρίας καὶ ὁ τοκετὸς αὐτῆς, ὁμοίως καὶ ὁ θάνατος τοῦ κυρίου· τρία μυστήρια κραυγῆς, ἅτινα ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπράχθη.

The virginity of Mary, her childbearing, and the death of the Lord — these things were hidden from the prince of this world. Three mysteries of renown, wrought in the silence of God.

REF Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord — three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God. (Schaff, ANF I, p. 57)

Notes & Key Terms 3 terms

Key Terms

ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ho archōn tou aiōnos toutou
"the prince of this world / age" — the demonic ruler opposed to God's economy; in apocalyptic-Jewish vocabulary, Satan as cosmic adversary

Pauline-Johannine title for Satan. The 'hidden from the prince' construction is a Christian apocalyptic-victory motif: God's salvific plan is concealed from the adversary until execution, then revealed in a way that demonstrates divine wisdom over demonic resistance.

ἡσυχία θεοῦ hēsychia theou
"the silence of God" — divine silence as the mode of hidden-until-disclosed economy; NOT the metaphysical Silence of Valentinian emanationism (which Ign. Magn. 8 will reject)

The verbal seed of the later Eastern monastic tradition of ἡσυχασμός / hesychasm — silent prayer as the contemplative mode by which the divine economy becomes accessible. The Eph. 19 / Magn. 8 internal tension (silence affirmed vs silence rejected) is one of the most theologically interesting features of Ignatius's corpus.

μυστήριον mystērion
"mystery" — a hidden truth disclosed to the initiated; in Christian theological usage, a divinely revealed salvific reality not accessible to ordinary reasoning

Pauline vocabulary (1 Cor 2:7; Eph 3:9; Col 1:26-27) for divinely revealed salvific reality. Ignatius's 'three mysteries' formulation is the earliest extant Christian use of the noun in a triplet-of-salvific-events frame. The Eucharist and baptism will later be designated μυστήρια / sacramenta in Christian liturgical theology.

Translator Notes

  1. Lightfoot II.2, pp. 77-79 (Ign. Eph. 19:1); Schaff, ANF I, p. 57 (Roberts/Donaldson). The phrase τρία μυστήρια κραυγῆς, ἅτινα ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ἐπράχθη — 'three mysteries of renown, wrought in the silence of God' — is one of the most-discussed single sentences in early Christian literature. The 'three mysteries' as a unit (virginity + childbearing + Lord's death) becomes the conceptual seed of patristic 'mysteries of salvation' theology and ultimately of the Catholic and Orthodox liturgical 'mysteries' of the Rosary.
  2. ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ('the prince of this world / age') is Pauline-Johannine vocabulary for the demonic spiritual ruler opposed to God's economy. The same title appears at John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11 (ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου — 'the prince of this world') and 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 (οἱ ἄρχοντες τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου — 'the rulers of this age'). Paul's 1 Cor 2:7-8 is the closest conceptual cognate to what Ignatius is asserting: God's wisdom was 'hidden in a mystery... which none of the rulers of this age understood; for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.' Cross-link via /1-corinthians/2#v7.
  3. ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ θεοῦ ('in the silence of God') is the phrase that requires careful reading against the parallel-yet-opposed Magn. 8:2 (TCR /ignatius-magnesians/8 — to be authored in this same Step 6a). Magn. 8 rejects 'the Logos proceeding from silence' against Valentinian emanationism; here Ign. Eph. 19 praises 'silence' as God's mode of hidden economy. The two uses are different: ἡσυχία in Eph. 19 is the economic-revelatory silence (hidden until disclosed); σιγή in Magn. 8 is the metaphysical-emanationist Silence of Gnostic cosmology. Ignatius's theology is consistent across both usages once the distinction is held.
  4. μυστήριον κραυγῆς ('mystery of renown' / 'mystery of crying-out') is a paradoxical genitive: a 'shouting' mystery is one that, despite being hidden, calls out (is loud or famous). The paradox captures the dialectic of revelation: the salvific economy is hidden from the demonic powers but proclaimed openly in Christ. The Septuagintal κραυγή is the divine shout of victory (Exodus 14:14 LXX, Joshua 6:5 LXX) — Ignatius's deployment carries that liturgical-victorious echo.
Ignatius to the Ephesians 19:2

πῶς οὖν ἐφανερώθη τοῖς αἰῶσιν; ἀστὴρ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἔλαμψεν ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς ἀστέρας, καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτοῦ ἀνεκλάλητον ἦν, καὶ ξενισμὸν παρεῖχεν ἡ καινότης αὐτοῦ.

How, then, was he made known to the ages? A star shone forth in heaven, brighter than all other stars; its light was beyond words, and its strangeness left people astonished.

REF How then was He manifested to the world? A star shone forth in heaven above all the other stars, the light of which was inexpressible, while its novelty struck men with astonishment. (Schaff, ANF I, p. 57)

Notes & Key Terms 2 terms

Key Terms

ἀστήρ astēr
"star" — heavenly luminary; in biblical-apocalyptic usage, often a sign of divine intervention or messianic identification

Septuagintal-NT vocabulary for the heavenly luminary at Christ's nativity. Numbers 24:17 LXX (ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακώβ — 'a star shall arise out of Jacob') is the Balaam-prophecy prooftext early Christian exegesis read as messianic. Ignatius's cosmic-star imagery here merges the Matthean nativity-star (Matt 2:1-12) with the Balaam-prophecy framework.

ἀνεκλάλητος aneklalētos
"inexpressible / beyond words" — what cannot be uttered in speech; the apophatic descriptor of divine experience

Pauline-style apophatic vocabulary. The star's light exceeds linguistic capacity — a marker of genuine theophanic event as distinguished from natural-astronomical phenomenon. The same descriptor appears at 1 Peter 1:8 for Christian joy and at 2 Corinthians 12:4 (Paul's third-heaven vision: ἄρρητα ῥήματα — 'ineffable words').

Translator Notes

  1. Lightfoot II.2, pp. 79-81 (Ign. Eph. 19:2); Schaff, ANF I, p. 57. The verse continues into the cosmic-apocalyptic description of the Matthean star (Matt 2:1-12). Ignatius's star is not merely the astronomical phenomenon described in Matthew but a cosmic revelation that outshines every other heavenly body and through which 'every kind of magic was destroyed, and every bond of wickedness disappeared' (in the verse's continuation in 19:3 — not authored as a separate TCR verse here but documented in this note).
  2. πῶς οὖν ἐφανερώθη τοῖς αἰῶσιν ('how then was he made known to the ages') uses αἰῶσιν ('ages' / 'aeons'), the same noun that in Pauline usage (Ephesians 3:9-11, Colossians 1:26) names the cosmic-temporal scope of God's mystery. The phrasing is doubly resonant: 'ages' as historical epochs AND 'aeons' as the divine-emanation entities in Valentinian Gnostic cosmology. Ignatius's deployment cuts across both senses; cross-link via /ephesians/3#v9.
  3. ἀνεκλάλητος ('inexpressible / beyond words') is a strong Pauline-style apophatic descriptor. The verbal cognate ἀλάλητος ('inexpressible') appears at 1 Peter 1:8 (χαρὰ ἀνεκλάλητος καὶ δεδοξασμένη — 'joy inexpressible and full of glory') and Romans 8:26 (στεναγμοῖς ἀλαλήτοις — 'sighs too deep for words' — though that's a different prefix). Ignatius's light-of-the-star surpasses words.
  4. Cross-reference Justin, Dial. 67 (TCR /justin-dialogue/67): Trypho's Perseus-comparison objection (the virgin-birth claim is just a 'Greek myth' (μῦθος Ἑλληνικός)) is exactly the kind of pagan-mythic comparison that Ignatius's cosmic star-narrative implicitly answers. The star destroys 'every kind of magic' (μαγεία) — i.e., the cosmic-revelation event invalidates the pagan-mythological framework that the Perseus comparison depends on. Ignatius doesn't engage Trypho's argument directly (Ignatius is c. 107 CE; Justin's Dialogue is c. 155 CE), but the conceptual move is the same: distinguishing genuine Christian apocalyptic event from pagan-mythic types.
Chapter 18 Report an error Ignatius to the Ephesians index Chapter 20