Sophia Scriptura

2 Clement 15.1

Anonymous · 2 Clement · ca. 100–150 · place unknown · Read in context

Traditional ascription rejected: An anonymous sermon, transmitted in the manuscripts after 1 Clement as Clement's “second letter to the Corinthians.” The text itself names no author and is not a letter; the ascription to Clement of Rome is traditional and not accepted by modern scholars.

Summary: Following this counsel on self-control saves both hearer and preacher.

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:152

Οὐκ οἴομαι δέ, ὅτι μικρὰν συμβουλίαν ἐποιησάμην περὶ ἐγκρατείας, ἣν ποιήσας τις οὐ μετανοήσει, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑαυτὸν σώσει κἀμὲ τὸν συμβουλεύσαντα. μισθὸς γὰρ οὔκ ἐστιν μικρὸς πλανωμένην ψυχὴν καὶ ἀπολλυμένην ἀποστρέψαι εἰς τὸ σωθῆναι.

English · Claude translation

Now I do not think that I have given small advice concerning self-control; whoever follows it will not regret it, but will save both himself and me who advised him. For it is no small reward to turn back a wandering and perishing soul to be saved.

About this passage

Source
Lake, LCL 24:152 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 128–161 · 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; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
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. 9 (1896) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • “Self-control” (ἐγκράτεια): here perhaps especially sexual self-control, as in 12.5 and 14.3.

Cite this passage

2 Clem. 15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/15/1/).

Plain text
2 Clem. 15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/15/1/).

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