Sophia Scriptura

1 Clement 59.3

Clement of Rome · 1 Clement · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Rome · Read in context

Summary: The great prayer praises God, who humbles the proud and lifts the lowly.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:110–112

... ἐλπίζειν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀρχεγόνον πάσης κτίσεως ὄνομά σου, ἀνοίξας τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν εἰς τὸ γινώσκειν σε τὸν μόνον ὕψιστον ἐν ὑψίστοις, ἅγιον ἐν ἁγίοις ἀναπαυόμενον, τὸν ταπεινοῦντα ὕβριν ὑπερηφάνων, τὸν διαλύοντα λογισμοὺς ἐθνῶν, τὸν ποιοῦντα ταπεινοὺς εἰς ὕψος καὶ τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς ταπεινοῦντα, τὸν πλουτίζοντα καὶ πτωχίζοντα, τὸν ἀποκτείνοντα καὶ ζῆν ποιοῦντα, μόνον εὑρέτην πνευμάτων καὶ θεὸν πάσης σαρκός· τὸν ἐπιβλέποντα ἐν τοῖς ἀβύσσοις, τὸν ἐπόπτην ἀνθρωπίνων ἔργων, τὸν τῶν κινδυνευόντων βοηθόν, τὸν τῶν ἀπηλπισμένων σωτῆρα, τὸν παντὸς πνεύματος κτίστην καὶ ἐπίσκοπον· τὸν πληθύνοντα ἔθνη ἐπὶ γῆς καὶ ἐκ πάντων ἐκλεξάμενον τοὺς ἀγαπῶντάς σε διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ ἠγαπημένου παιδός σου, διʼ οὗ ἡμᾶς ἐπαίδευσας, ἡγίασας, ἐτίμησας·

English · Claude translation

[grant us, Lord,] to hope on your name, the source of all creation; open the eyes of our heart to know you, who alone are Highest among the highest, Holy resting among the holy; who humble the insolence of the proud, who destroy the reasonings of the nations, who set the lowly on high and bring low the lofty, who make rich and make poor, who kill and make alive, the only finder of spirits and God of all flesh; who look into the abysses, the overseer of human works, the helper of those in danger, the Savior of those in despair, the Creator and Overseer of every spirit; who multiply the nations on the earth and have chosen from them all those who love you through Jesus Christ, your beloved Servant, through whom you have instructed us, sanctified us, and honored us.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:110–112 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 8–121 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Lake, LCL 24. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · That translation lacks 57.7–63.4 (a missing leaf in its manuscript); vol. 9 (1896) translates the complete text.
Scripture
Extrabiblical texts
  • Jdt 9:11 (Judith) · allusion, medium confidence
  • Sir 16:18 (Sirach) · echo, low confidence
Topics
Prayer, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • “[Grant us, Lord,]”: a few words seem to have dropped out at the start of this section; the text marks the gap, and editors supply words like these from the sense.
  • “The only finder of spirits” (μόνον εὑρέτην πνευμάτων): so Lake’s text; some editors read εὐεργέτην, “the only benefactor of spirits.”
  • “Overseer” (ἐπίσκοπον): the word also means “bishop.”

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong breathing; punctuation)): ἐν ἀγίοις ἀναπαυόμενον. τὸν → ἐν ἁγίοις ἀναπαυόμενον, τὸν.

Cite this passage

1 Clem. 59.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/1-clement/59/3/).

Plain text
1 Clem. 59.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/1-clement/59/3/).

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