1/ Surely I am not unable to write
you of heavenly things? No, but I fear inflicting harm on you who are infants.
Bear with me, then, lest you be choked by what you cannot take in. 2/ Even in
my case, not because I am in bonds and am able to know heavenly things, both
the angelic locations and the archontic formations, things both visible and
invisible—not because of this am I already a disciple; for we need many things
that we may not lack God. (To the Trallians 5:1-2)
We learn what esoteric knoweldge
Ignatius has in mind: "heavenly things" including both τας τοποθεσιας
τας αγγελικας "angelic locations" (τοποθεσια is an astrological term
for the "location" of the stars) and συστασεις τας αρχοντικας
"the archontic formations" (συστασεις is an astrological term for the
patterns and conjunctions that emerge in the heavens), that is, things both
visible and invisible (cf. Col 1:16). The language suggests that Ignatius
associates stars and planets with the angels or the "archontic"
powers (as in Origen Cels. 6.27-33; cf. Justin Dial. 36.406).
What we apparently have here is a mixture of astrological and apocalyptic ideas
similar to that found in Eph. 19.1-3. (William R. Schoedel, Ignatius
of Antioch: A Commentary on the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch [Hermeneia-A
Critical and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1985], 145)
