HEGESIPPUS

Early ecclesiastical writer; d. c. 180. According to Eusebius, Hegesippus flourished at the time of Irenaeus (Historia ecclesiastica 4.21). He was a master of Hebrew, Syriac, and Greek, and his wide familiarity with Jewish oral traditions made him an important figure. About the middle of the 2d century he set out from his native land (possibly Asia Minor) for Rome. En route he visited many bishops and heard the same doctrine from all of them. At Corinth, he "was refreshed by the true word" and learned that the letter of Pope clement i was still read in the Church (Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 4.22). During the pontificate of Pope anicetus he reached Rome, and here too, he found the teaching of the Apostles handed down incorrupt.

As quoted by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 4.25), Hegesippus says that he made a διαδοχή to the time of Anicetus, and that Soter succeeded (διαδέχεται) Anicetus. The meaning of the Greek noun and verb is disputed. Some scholars take the noun to mean a list of bishops of the Church in Rome (possibly the source on which Irenaeus drew for his account in Adversus haereses 3.3.3) and would translate the passage: During my stay in Rome I made a list of the bishops down to the time of Anicetus whose deacon was Eleutherius; Soter succeeded Anicetus, and after him came Eleutherius.

More recent research, however, indicates that at the time of Hegesippus διαδοχή had the meaning of transmission of teaching or doctrine, and that the cognate verb did not mean to succeed, but to receive a teaching from another. Consequently, Hegesippus means that while in Rome he ascertained for himself that the genuine apostolic teaching was transmitted without interruption down to Anicetus. From Anicetus it was passed on to soter, who handed it on to Eleutherius.

After his return from Rome, Hegesippus wrote Memoirs in five books to refute the teachings of the Gnostics (see gnosticism). This work today is known only through fragments quoted in Eusebius's Historia ecclesiastica, although as late as the 17th century the complete work could be found in several Greek monasteries. The traditional account of the death of the Apostle James, "the brother of the Lord, the rampart of the people and righteousness," and scattered bits of information on Simon, second bishop of Jerusalem, are taken from the fragments of Hegesippus.

Bibliography: j. quasten, Patrology, 3 v. (Westminster, Md. 1950–) 1:284–287. b. altaner, Patrology, tr. h. graef from 5th German ed. (New York 1960) 148–150. h. campenhausen, Kirchliches Amt und geistliche Vollmacht (Tübingen 1953). l. koep, Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, ed. t. klauser (Stuttgart 1941) 2:411. j. lenzenweger, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 5:60. g. w. h. lampe, ed., A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford 1961–).

[h. dressler]