Miscellanies 2.11.51
Summary: Rising above the nine parts of the cosmos, the soul reaches the tenth, the knowledge of God, as the tithe and Passover signify; the one who knows stands firm in faith, while the self-wise drift like Cain into “tossing.”
Greek text · Stählin 2:140–141
χρὴ δὲ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ὑπεραναβαίνοντας ἐπὶ τὸν νοῦν ἵστασθαι, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει κἀν τῷ κόσμῳ τὰς ἐννέα μοίρας ὑπερπηδήσαντας, πρώτην μὲν τὴν διὰ τῶν τεσσάρων στοιχείων ἐν μιᾷ χώρᾳ τιθεμένων διὰ τὴν ἴσην τροπήν, ἔπειτα δὲ τὰς ἑπτὰ τὰς πλανωμένας τήν τε ἀπλανῆ ἐνάτην, ἐπὶ τὸν τέλειον ἀριθμὸν τὸν ὑπεράνω τῶν ἐννέα, τὴν δὲ δεκάτην μοῖραν, ἐπὶ τὴν γνῶσιν ἀφικνεῖσθαι τοῦ θεοῦ, συνελόντι φάναι μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τὸν ποιητὴν ἐπιποθοῦντας. διὰ τοῦτο αἱ δεκάται τοῦ τε οἶφι τῶν τε ἱερείων τῷ θεῷ προσεκομίζοντο, καὶ ἡ τοῦ πάσχα ἑορτὴ ἀπὸ δεκάτης ἤρχετο, παντὸς πάθους καὶ παντὸς αἰσθητοῦ διάβασις οὖσα. πέπηγεν οὖν τῇ πίστει ὁ γνωστικός, ὁ δὲ οἰησίσοφος ἑκὼν τῆς ἀληθείας οὐχ ἅπτεται, ἀστάτοις καὶ ἀνιδρύτοις ὁρμαῖς κεχρημένος. εἰκότως οὖν γέγραπται· ἐξῆλθεν δὲ Κάιν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ᾤκησεν ἐν γῇ Ναὶδ κατέναντι Ἐδέμ· ἑρμηνεύεται δὲ ἡ μὲν Ναὶδ σάλος, ἡ δὲ Ἐδὲμ τρυφή· πίστις δὲ καὶ γνῶσις καὶ εἰρήνη ἡ τρυφή, ἧς ὁ παρακούσας ἐκβάλλεται, ὁ δὲ οἰησίσοφος τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐδὲ ἐπαίειν βούλεται τῶν θείων ἐντολῶν, ἀλλʼ οἷον αὐτομαθὴς ἀφηνιάσας εἰς σάλον κυμαινόμενον ἑκὼν μεθίσταται. εἰς τὰ θνητά τε καὶ γεννητὰ καταβαίνων ἐκ τῆς τοῦ ἀγεννήτου γνώσεως, ἄλλοτε ἀλλοῖα δοξάζων. οἷς δὲ μὴ ὑπάρχει κυβέρνησις, πίπτουσιν ὥσπερ φύλλα· ὁ λογισμὸς καὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν ἄπταιστον μένον καὶ καθηγούμενον τῆς ψυχῆς κυβερνήτης αὐτῆς εἴρηται· ὄντως γὰρ ἀτρέπτῳ πρὸς τὸ ἄτρεπτον ἡ προσαγωγή.
English · Claude translation
We must, so to speak, rise above all the others and stand upon the mind, just as, of course, in the universe too we must leap over the nine portions: first the one made of the four elements, set in one place because of their equal change; then the seven wandering stars; and the ninth, the fixed sphere; and so reach the perfect number, above the nine, the tenth portion, the knowledge of God; in short, longing for the Maker after the creation. That is why the tithes of the ephah and of the sacrifices were brought to God, and the feast of the Passover began from the tenth day, being a passing over from every passion and every object of sense. The one who knows is fixed in faith; but the one wise in his own conceit willingly does not lay hold of the truth, using unstable and unsettled impulses. Fittingly, then, it is written: “And Cain went out from the presence of God and dwelt in the land of Nod, opposite Eden.” Nod is interpreted “tossing,” and Eden “delight”; and the delight is faith, knowledge, and peace, from which the one who disobeys is cast out. But the one wise in his own conceit does not wish even to begin to listen to the divine commandments; but like a self-taught man who has thrown off the reins, he willingly moves into the heaving swell, going down to what is mortal and begotten from the knowledge of the unbegotten, holding different opinions at different times. “Those who have no guidance fall like leaves.” Reason and the ruling faculty, which remain unstumbling and lead the soul, are called its pilot; for truly the approach to the unchangeable is by what is unchangeable.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Lev 27:30, Exod 12:3, Gen 4:16, and Prov 11:14 (LXX). The interpretations of Nod and Eden come from Philo (On the Posterity of Cain 22, 32).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.11.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/11/51/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.11.51 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/11/51/).
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