Sophia Scriptura

Excerpts from Theodotus 28.1

Clement of Alexandria · Excerpts from Theodotus · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The Basilideans read the punishment “to the third and fourth generation” as reincarnation; the Valentinians as the lower powers and their seeds.

Greek text · Stählin 3:116

Τὸ »θεὸς ἀποδιδοὺς ἐπὶ τρίτην καὶ τετάρτην γενεὰν τοῖς ἀπειθοῦσι« φασὶν οἱ ἀπὸ Βασιλείδου κατὰ τὰς ἐνσωματώσεις, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ Οὐαλεντίνου τοὺς τρεῖς τόπους δηλοῦσθαι τοὺς ἀριστερούς, τετάρτην δὲ γενεὰν τὰ σπέρματα αὐτῶν, »ἔλεον δὲ ποιῶν εἰς χιλιάδας« ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιά.

English · Claude translation

“God, who repays to the third and fourth generation those who disobey”: the followers of Basilides say this refers to reincarnations; the followers of Valentinus, that the three places on the left are meant, and the fourth generation is their seeds; but “showing mercy to thousands” refers to those on the right.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:116 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 17. 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), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is a form of Exod 20:5–6 (Deut 5:9–10).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 28.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/28/1/).

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Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 28.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/28/1/).

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