The Instructor 2.8.73
Summary: Garlands are for the dead and for idols; the Christian awaits the unfading crown of heaven; the Lord's crown of thorns is a type of the church, of faith, and of the cost of discipleship.
Greek text · Stählin 1:201–202
ἀοχλήτου δὲ ἀμεριμνίας ὁ στέφανος σύμβολον· ταύτῃ καὶ τοὺς νεκροὺς καταστεφανοῦσιν, ᾧ λόγῳ καὶ τὰ εἴδωλα, ἔργῳ προσμαρτυροῦντες αὐτοῖς τὸ εἶναι νεκροῖς. οἱ μὲν γὰρ βακχεύοντες οὐδὲ ἄνευ στεφάνων ὀργιάζουσιν· ἐπὰν δὲ ἀμφιθῶνται τὰ ἄνθη, πρὸς τὴν τελετὴν ὑπερκάονται. οὐ δὴ κοινωνητέον οὐδʼ ὁπωστιοῦν δαίμοσιν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ζῶσαν δίκην εἰδώλων τῶν νεκρῶν καταστεπτέον. ὁ γὰρ καλὸς τοῦ ἀμαράντου στέφανος ἀπόκειται τῷ καλῶς πεπολιτευμένῳ· τὸ ἄνθος τοῦτο γῆ βαστάζειν οὐ κεχώρηκεν· μόνον δὲ αὐτὸ καρποφορεῖν ἐπίσταται οὐρανός. πρὸς δὲ καὶ ἀλόγιστον ἀκηκοότας ἡμᾶς τὸν κύριον ἀκάνθαις ἐστεμμένον αὐτοὺς ἐντρυφῶντας τῷ σεμνῷ τοῦ κυρίου πάθει ἀναδεῖσθαι τοῖς ἄνθεσιν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ κυρίου στέφανος ἡμᾶς ᾐνίττετο προφητικῶς τούς ποτε ἀκάρπους, τοὺς περικειμένους αὐτῷ διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἧς ἐστιν κεφαλή· ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς πίστεώς ἐστιν τύπος, ζωῆς μὲν διὰ τὴν οὐσίαν τοῦ ξύλου, εὐφροσύνης δὲ διὰ τὴν προσηγορίαν τοῦ στεφάνου, κινδύνου δὲ διὰ τὴν ἄκανθαν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀναιμωτεὶ προσιέναι τῷ λόγῳ ἔξεστιν. ὁ δὲ πλεκτὸς μαραίνεται στέφανος οὗτος καὶ τὸ πλέγμα τῆς σκολιότητος ἀναλύεται καὶ τὸ ἄνθος ξηραίνεται· μαραίνεται γὰρ ἡ δόξα τῶν τῷ κυρίῳ μὴ πεπιστευκότων. Ἰησοῦν δὲ ἐστεφάνωσαν ὑψωμένον τῆς αὑτῶν καταμαρτυροῦντες ἀμαθίας· τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ γὰρ οἱ σκληροκάρδιοι προφητείαν οὖσαν σεσοφισμένην οὐ νοοῦσιν, ἣν αὐτοὶ ὕβριν καλοῦσιν κυρίου. οὐκ ἔγνω τὸν κύριον ὁ λαὸς ὁ πεπλανημένος, οὐ περιτέτμηται τὸν λογισμόν, οὐ πεφώτισται τὸν σκοτισμόν, οὐκ εἶδεν τὸν θεόν, τὸν κύριον ἠρνήσατο, ἀπολώλεκεν τὸ εἶναι Ἰσραήλ, ἐδίωξεν τὸν θεόν, καθυβρίζειν ἤλπισε τὸν λόγον, καὶ ὃν ἐσταύρωσεν ὡς κακοῦργον,
English · Claude translation
The garland is a symbol of undisturbed freedom from care; that is why they crown the dead, as they do idols, bearing witness in deed that these are dead. Bacchants do not celebrate their orgies without garlands; when they put the flowers on, they are inflamed toward the rite. We must have no fellowship at all with demons, nor crown the living image of God like dead idols. For the beautiful crown of amaranth is laid up for the one who has lived well; the earth cannot bear this flower; heaven alone knows how to bring it forth. Besides, it is unreasonable for us, who have heard that the Lord was crowned with thorns, to deck ourselves with flowers, as if reveling in the Lord's holy passion. For the Lord's crown pointed prophetically to us, once fruitless, who are placed around him through the church, of which he is the head. It is also a type of faith: of life, through the substance of the wood; of gladness, through the name of the crown; of danger, through the thorn; for it is not possible to approach the Word without blood. But this woven garland withers, the weave of crookedness is undone, and the flower dries up; for the glory of those who have not believed in the Lord withers. They crowned Jesus when he was lifted up, bearing witness against their own ignorance. For the hard-hearted do not understand the very thing that is a wise prophecy, which they call an insult to the Lord. The people that went astray did not know the Lord; it was not circumcised in reasoning, not enlightened in its darkness; it did not see God; it denied the Lord; it lost its being Israel; it persecuted God; it hoped to insult the Word; and him whom it crucified as a criminal
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are 1 Pet 5:4 (the unfading crown, ἀμαράντινος), Matt 27:29 (John 19:2), Col 1:18 (Eph 5:23), Isa 1:3, and John 3:14 (“lifted up”). The name Israel was interpreted as “one who sees God” (see 1.9.77). The sentence continues in the next section.
- The polemic against “the people that went astray” (the Jewish people who rejected Jesus) is translated as written.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/73/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/73/).
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