1
When the officials saw that the fire had not quickly killed him, an executioner was ordered to finish the sentence with a blade.
2
After the wound, a great quantity of blood flowed and the fire was extinguished.
3
Some Greek manuscripts additionally contain the famous 'dove' reading; other textual witnesses lack it, so HaSefarim does not make the dove part of the uncontested core.
4
The assembly saw Polykarpos's death as a final distinction between coercive violence and faithful endurance.