2 Clement 7.4

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: Cheaters in the games are flogged and thrown out.

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

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:138

εἰδέναι ἡμᾶς δεῖ, ὅτι ὁ τὸν φθαρτὸν ἀγῶνα ἀγωνιζόμενος, ἐὰν εὑρεθῇ φθείρων, μαστιγωθεὶς αἴρεται καὶ ἔξω βάλλεται τοῦ σταδίου.

English · Claude translation

We must know that the one who competes in the perishable contest, if he is found cheating, is flogged, removed, and thrown out of the stadium.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:138 · 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; 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. 9 (1896) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Notes

Translation notes

“Cheating” (φθείρων): literally “corrupting” the contest, breaking its rules.

Cite this passage

2 Clem. 7.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/7/4/).

Plain text

2 Clem. 7.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/7/4/).

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