Miscellanies 2.15.70
Summary: Greek maxims such as “Follow God,” “Pardon is better than punishment,” and “Give a pledge and ruin is at hand” come from Scripture; Enoch after Cain shows that repentance brings pardon, understood as healing; “Know yourself” means seeing God in one's brother.
Greek text · Stählin 2:150
ἐντεῦθεν ἀρυσάμενός τις τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι σοφῶν τὸ ἕπου θεῷ ἀπεφθέγξατο. οἱ δὲ εὐσεβεῖς φησὶν Ἡσαΐας συνετὰ ἐβουλεύσαντο. βουλὴ δέ ἐστι ζήτησις περὶ τοῦ πῶς ἂν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι πράγμασιν ὀρθῶς διεξάγοιμεν, εὐβουλία δὲ φρόνησις πρὸς τὰ βουλεύματα. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ θεὸς μετὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ Κάιν συγγνώμην ἀκολούθως οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον τὸν μετανοήσαντα Ἐνὼχ εἰσάγει δηλῶν ὅτι συγγνώμην μετάνοια πέφυκε γεννᾶν; ἡ συγγνώμη δὲ οὐ κατὰ ἄφεσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἴασιν συνίσταται. τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ γίνεται κἀν τῇ κατὰ τὸν Ἀαρὼν τοῦ λαοῦ μοσχοποιίᾳ. ἐντεῦθέν τις τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι σοφῶν συγγνώμη τιμωρίας κρείσσων ἀπεφθέγξατο, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὸ ἐγγύα, πάρα δʼ ἄτα ἀπὸ τῆς Σολομῶντος φωνῆς λεγούσης· υἱέ, ἐὰν ἐγγυήσῃ σὸν φίλον, παραδώσεις σὴν χεῖρα ἐχθρῷ· παγὶς γὰρ ἀνδρὶ ἰσχυρὰ τὰ ἴδια χείλη, καὶ ἁλίσκεται ῥήμασιν ἰδίου στόματος. μυστικώτερον δὲ ἤδη τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν ἐκεῖθεν εἴληπται· εἶδες τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, εἶδες τὸν θεόν σου.
English · Claude translation
From this one of the wise among the Greeks drew the saying, “Follow God.” “But the godly,” says Isaiah, “have counseled wise things.” Counsel is inquiry into how we might conduct ourselves rightly in present circumstances, and good counsel is prudence regarding our counsels. What then? Does not God too, after his pardon of Cain, fittingly introduce not long afterward Enoch, who repented, showing that repentance naturally begets pardon? And pardon consists not in remission but in healing. The same thing happens in the people's making of the calf under Aaron. From this one of the wise among the Greeks said, “Pardon is better than punishment,” as indeed also “Give a pledge, and ruin is at hand” comes from the saying of Solomon: “Son, if you become surety for your friend, you will deliver your hand to an enemy; for a man's own lips are a strong snare, and he is caught by the words of his own mouth.” And more mystically “Know yourself” has been taken from there: “You have seen your brother, you have seen your God.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Isa 32:8 (LXX), Prov 6:1–2 (LXX), and an unwritten saying of the Lord (“You have seen your brother …”, also in 1.19.94). Enoch as an example of repentance comes from Sir 44:16. The Greek maxims are those of the Seven Sages (Pythagoras, Pittacus, Thales).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misencoded letter in the digital text): φησὶν ̔Πσαΐας → φησὶν Ἡσαΐας.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.15.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/15/70/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.15.70 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/15/70/).
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