Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 2.9.82

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

Summary: The soul does not need sleep, only the body; true dreams come from a sober soul, and constant converse with God makes us wakeful like the angels.

Greek text · Stählin 1:207–208

Χρὴ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πᾶσιν εἰδέναι, ὡς οὐ ψυχῆς τὸ δεόμενον ὕπνου ἐστίν (ἀεικίνητος γὰρ αὕτη), ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα ἀναπαύλαις διαβασταζόμενον παρίεται, μὴ ἐνεργούσης ἔτι σωματικῶς τῆς ψυχῆς, ἀλλὰ καθʼ αὑτὴν ἐννοουμένης· ᾗ καὶ τῶν ὀνείρων οἱ ἀληθεῖς ὀρθῶς λογιζομένῳ νηφούσης εἰσὶ ψυχῆς λογισμοὶ ἀπερισπάστου τὸ τηνικάδε οὔσης περὶ τὰς τοῦ σώματος συμπαθείας καὶ αὐτῆς αὑτῇ τὰ κράτιστα συμβουλευούσης· ψυχῆς δὲ ὄλεθρος τὸ ἀτρεμῆσαι αὐτήν· διόπερ ἀεὶ τὸν θεὸν ἐννοουμένη διὰ τῆς συνεχοῦς προσομιλήσεως ἐγκαταλέγουσα τῷ σώματι τὴν ἐγρήγορσιν ἀγγελικῇ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐξισάζει χάριτι, τῆς ζωῆς τὸ ἀίδιον ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἐγρηγορέναι μελέτης προσλαμβάνουσα.

English · Claude translation

Above all, we must know this: it is not the soul that needs sleep (for it is ever in motion), but the body, borne up by rests, relaxes, the soul no longer acting through the body but thinking by itself. Hence, rightly considered, true dreams are the reasonings of a sober soul, not distracted at that time by the sympathies of the body and counseling itself what is best. Stillness is the ruin of the soul. So, always thinking of God, by continual converse with him, it enrolls the body in wakefulness, makes the human being equal to the grace of the angels, and gains eternal life from the practice of being awake.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:207–208 · 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; 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 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
Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions are Luke 20:36 (“equal to the angels”) and 1 Thess 5:17 (continual prayer).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.9.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/9/82/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.9.82 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/9/82/).

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