Miscellanies 2.18.79
Summary: God rejects the sacrifices of the lawless and accepts prayer, justice, and a broken heart; Pythagoras's “do not step over a balance” comes from Proverbs; Clement begins defining courage, self-restraint, and related virtues.
Greek text · Stählin 2:154
θυσίαι γὰρ ἀνόμων βδέλυγμα κυρίῳ, εὐχαὶ δὲ κατευθυνόντων δεκταὶ παρʼ αὐτῷ. ἐπεὶ τοιαῦτα καὶ τὰ παρὰ Ἡσαΐᾳ· τί μοι πλῆθος τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν; λέγει κύριος, καὶ πᾶσα ἡ περικοπή· λῦε πάντα σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας· αὕτη γὰρ θυσία θεῷ δεκτή, καρδία συντετριμμένη καὶ ζητοῦσα τὸν πεπλακότα. ζυγὰ δόλια βδέλυγμα ἔναντι θεοῦ, στάθμιον δὲ δίκαιον δεκτὸν αὐτῷ. ἐντεῦθεν ζυγὸν μὴ ὑπερβαίνειν Πυθαγόρας παραινεῖ. δικαιοσύνη δὲ δολία εἴρηται ἡ τῶν αἱρέσεων ἐπαγγελία, καὶ γλῶσσα μὲν ἀδίκων ἐξολεῖται, στόμα δὲ δικαίων ἀποστάζει σοφίαν. ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοὺς σοφοὺς καὶ φρονίμους φαύλους καλοῦσιν. μακρὸν δʼ ἂν εἴη περὶ τῶν ἀρετῶν τούτων μαρτυρίας παρατίθεσθαι, ἁπάσης ταύτας ἐξυμνούσης τῆς γραφῆς. ἐπεὶ δʼ οὖν τὴν μὲν ἀνδρείαν ὁρίζονται ἐπιστήμην δεινῶν καὶ οὐ δεινῶν καὶ τῶν μεταξύ, τὴν δὲ σωφροσύνην ἕξιν ἐν αἱρέσει καὶ φυγῇ σῴζουσαν τὰ τῆς φρονήσεως κρίματα, παράκειται τε τῇ μὲν ἀνδρείᾳ ἥ τε ὑπομονή, ἣν καρτερίαν καλοῦσιν, ἐπιστήμην ἐμμενετέων καὶ οὐκ ἐμμενετέων, ἥ τε μεγαλοψυχία, ἐπιστήμη τῶν συμβαινόντων ὑπεραίρουσα, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ σωφροσύνῃ ἡ εὐλάβεια, ἔκκλισις οὖσα σὺν λόγῳ.
English · Claude translation
For “the sacrifices of the lawless are an abomination to the Lord, but the prayers of the upright are acceptable to him.” Since such too are the words in Isaiah: “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord,” and the whole passage; “Loose every bond of injustice.” For this is a sacrifice acceptable to God: a broken heart that seeks the One who formed it. “Deceitful scales are an abomination before God, but a just weight is acceptable to him.” From this Pythagoras exhorts, “Do not step over a balance.” And the profession of the heresies is called deceitful justice; and “the tongue of the unjust will be destroyed, but the mouth of the righteous drips wisdom.” Yet they call the wise and prudent worthless. It would be long to set out testimonies about these virtues, since the whole of Scripture sings their praises. Since, then, they define courage as knowledge of what is fearful, what is not fearful, and what is between, and self-restraint as a state that preserves the judgments of prudence in choosing and avoiding; and since patience, which they call endurance, lies close to courage, being knowledge of what to persist in and what not, and magnanimity, knowledge that rises above what happens; and caution, which is avoidance with reason, lies close to self-restraint:
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Prov 15:8, Isa 1:11, Isa 58:6, Ps 51:17 (50:19 LXX, a free form), Prov 11:1, and Prov 10:31. “Do not step over a balance” (do not exceed what is just) is one of the Pythagorean symbols. The definitions are Stoic.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter missing in the digital text; word repeated in the digital text): ἐπεὶ οιαῦτα καὶ τὰ παρὰ Ἡσαΐᾳ → ἐπεὶ τοιαῦτα καὶ τὰ παρὰ Ἡσαΐᾳ; τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν ὑμῶν; → τῶν θυσιῶν ὑμῶν;.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/79/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.18.79 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/18/79/).
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