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1: From the explanation of the Lord's prophecies.
THE WRITINGS OF PAPIAS THAT ARE COMMONLY CIRCULATED NUMBER FIVE: and they are called an Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. Irenaeus mentions these as the only works written by him, in the following words: "Now testimony is given to these matters in writing by Papias, an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a friend of Polycarp, in the fourth of his books; for five books were composed by him." Thus wrote Irenaeus. Moreover, Papias himself, in the introduction to his books, makes it clear that he was not a hearer and eyewitness of the holy apostles; but he tells us that he received the truths of our religion from those who were acquainted with them [the apostles] in the following words.
BUT I WILL NOT HESITATE TO INCLUDE: along with my interpretations, whatever instructions I carefully received at any time from the elders, and stored up with care in my memory, assuring you at the same time of their truth. For I did not, like most people, enjoy those who spoke a lot, but those who taught the truth; nor those who shared strange commandments, but those who repeated the commandments given by the Lord to faith, and proceeding from truth itself. If, then, anyone who had interacted with the elders came, I asked specifically about their sayings—what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, or by John, or by Matthew, or any other of the Lord’s disciples: which things Aristion and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, say. For I believed that what was to be gained from books was not as valuable to me as what came from the living and enduring voice.