Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 2.10.112

Clement of Alexandria · The Instructor · ca. 190–200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: John the Baptist wore camel's hair and ate locusts and honey, and Elijah wore a sheepskin: examples of frugal, simple life.

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

Greek text · Stählin 1:224

Ὁ δὲ μακάριος Ἰωάννης καὶ τῶν προβάτων ὑπεριδὼν τὰς τρίχας ὀζούσας τρυφῆς τὰς τῶν καμήλων εἵλατο τρίχας καὶ ταύτας ἠμπίσχετο, τὸ εὐτελὲς καὶ ἄδολον τοῦ βίου ὑποτυπούμενος. καὶ γὰρ μέλι ἤσθιεν καὶ ἀκρίδας, γλυκεῖαν καὶ πνευματικὴν τροφήν, ἀτύφους καὶ σώφρονας τὰς ὁδοὺς τοῦ κυρίου παρασκευάζων. ἦ που γὰρ ἂν ἁλουργὴν χλανίδα περιεβάλετο ὁ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν τὴν πολιτικὴν ἐκτραπείς, εἰς δὲ τὴν ἔρημον * * τῆς ἐρημίας γαλήνην θεῷ πεπολιτευμένος ἐκτὸς πάσης κενοσπουδίας, ἀπειραγαθίας, μικροπρεπείας. μηλωτῇ δὲ ἐχρῆτο Ἠλίας ἐνδύματι καὶ ζώνῃ τὴν μηλωτὴν κατέσφιγγεν ἐκ τριχῶν πεποιημένῃ.

English · Claude translation

The blessed John, despising even sheep's hair as smelling of luxury, chose camel's hair and clothed himself with it, showing the frugality and guilelessness of his life. He ate honey and locusts, sweet and spiritual food, preparing the ways of the Lord, free of pride and self-controlled. How could he have put on a purple robe, he who turned from the pretensions of the city, and in the desert … lived for God in the calm of solitude, free from all vain zeal, ignorant display, and pettiness? Elijah used a sheepskin as his garment, and bound the sheepskin with a belt made of hair.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:224 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. 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 Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
Topics
Ethics, Fasting

Notes

Translation notes

  • The asterisks mark a gap in the manuscript. The allusions are Matt 3:4, Matt 3:3, and 2 Kgs 1:8 with 1 Kgs 19:13, 19 (Elijah's mantle; Heb 11:37).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.10.112 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/10/112/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.10.112 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/10/112/).

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