Exhortation to the Greeks 1.5
Summary: The Word of God, who ordered the universe like a harmony, makes music to God on the instrument of the human being, soul and body.
Greek text · Stählin 1:5–6
οἱ δὲ τηνάλλως νεκροί, οἱ τῆς ὄντως οὔσης ἀμέτοχοι ζωῆς, ἀκροαταὶ μόνον γενόμενοι τοῦ ᾄσματος ἀνεβίωσαν. τοῦτό τοι καὶ τὸ πᾶν ἐκόσμησεν ἐμμελῶς καὶ τῶν στοιχείων τὴν διαφωνίαν εἰς τάξιν ἐνέτεινε συμφωνίας, ἵνα δὴ ὅλος ὁ κόσμος αὐτῷ ἁρμονία γένηται· καὶ θάλατταν μὲν ἀνῆκεν λελυμένην, γῆς δὲ ἐπιβαίνειν κεκώλυκεν αὐτήν, γῆν δʼ ἔμπαλιν ἐστερέωσεν φερομένην καὶ ὅρον αὐτὴν ἔπηξεν θαλάττης· ναὶ μὴν καὶ πυρὸς ὁρμὴν ἐμάλαξεν ἀέρι, οἱονεὶ Δώριον ἁρμονίαν κεράσας Λυδίῳ· καὶ τὴν ἀέρος ἀπηνῆ ψυχρότητα τῇ παραπλοκῇ τοῦ πυρὸς ἐτιθάσευεν, τοὺς νεάτους τῶν ὅλων φθόγγους τούτους κιρνὰς ἐμμελῶς. καὶ δὴ τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ ἀκήρατον, ἔρεισμα τῶν ὅλων καὶ ἁρμονία τῶν πάντων, ἀπὸ τῶν μέσων ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ἄκρων ἐπὶ τὰ μέσα διαταθέν, ἡρμόσατο τόδε τὸ πᾶν, οὐ κατὰ τὴν Θρᾴκιον μουσικήν, τὴν παραπλήσιον Ἰουβάλ, κατὰ δὲ τὴν πάτριον τοῦ θεοῦ βούλησιν, ἣν ἐζήλωσε Δαυίδ. ὁ δὲ ἐκ Δαυὶδ καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, λύραν μὲν καὶ κιθάραν, τὰ ἄψυχα ὄργανα, ὑπεριδών, κόσμον δὲ τόνδε καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸν σμικρὸν κόσμον, τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ψυχήν τε καὶ σῶμα αὐτοῦ, ἁγίῳ πνεύματι ἁρμοσάμενος, ψάλλει τῷ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ πολυφώνου ὀργάνου καὶ προσᾴδει τῷ ὀργάνῳ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ. »σὺ γὰρ εἶ κιθάρα καὶ αὐλὸς καὶ ναὸς ἐμοί·« κιθάρα διὰ τὴν ἁρμονίαν, αὐλὸς διὰ τὸ πνεῦμα, ναὸς διὰ τὸν λόγον, ἵνʼ ἣ μὲν κρέκῃ, τὸ δὲ ἐμπνέῃ, ὃ δὲ χωρήσῃ τὸν κύριον. ναὶ μὴν ὁ Δαυὶδ ὁ βασιλεύς, ὁ κιθαριστής, οὗ μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐμνήσθημεν, προὔτρεπεν ὡς τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀπέτρεπε δὲ εἰδώλων, πολλοῦ γε ἔδει ὑμνεῖν αὐτὸν τοὺς δαίμονας ἀληθεῖ πρὸς αὐτοῦ διωκομένους μουσικῇ, ᾗ τοῦ Σαοὺλ ἐνεργουμένου ἐκείνοις ᾄδων μόνον αὐτὸν ἰάσατο. καλὸν ὁ κύριος ὄργανον ἔμπνουν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐξειργάσατο κατʼ εἰκόνα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ· ἀμέλει καὶ αὐτὸς ὄργανόν ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ παναρμόνιον, ἐμμελὲς καὶ ἅγιον, σοφία ὑπερκόσμιος, οὐράνιος λόγος.
English · Claude translation
Those who were otherwise dead, having no share in the life that truly is, came back to life just by becoming hearers of the song. It is this song that set the universe in harmonious order and tuned the discord of the elements into an ordered concord, so that the whole world might become a harmony to him. He let the sea go free, yet kept it from encroaching on the land; and the land, which was being swept away, he made firm and fixed as a boundary for the sea. He softened the rush of fire with air, as if blending the Dorian mode with the Lydian; and he tamed the harsh cold of air by interweaving it with fire, blending harmoniously these extreme notes of the universe. And this pure song, the support of the universe and the harmony of all things, stretching from the center to the ends and from the ends to the center, tuned this whole universe, not according to Thracian music, which is like that of Jubal, but according to the ancestral will of God, which David sought after with zeal. He who is from David and yet before him, the Word of God, disdaining lyre and harp, which are lifeless instruments, has tuned by the Holy Spirit this world, and especially the small world, the human being, soul and body; and on this many-voiced instrument he makes music to God, and sings to the instrument, the human being. “For you are my harp and flute and temple”: a harp because of its harmony, a flute because of its breath, a temple because of the Word; so that the one may resound, the second breathe, and the third contain the Lord. And King David, the harpist whom we mentioned a little earlier, urged people toward the truth and away from idols. So far was he from hymning the demons that they were driven away by his true music; when Saul was possessed by them, David cured him simply by singing. The Lord fashioned the human being as a beautiful instrument that breathes, after his own image; and he himself is surely God's all-harmonious instrument, melodious and holy, the Wisdom above the world, the heavenly Word.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “For you are my harp and flute and temple” is from an unknown source, perhaps an early Christian hymn.
- “Breath” renders πνεῦμα, which also means “spirit.”
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/5/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 1.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/1/5/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text