Miscellanies 4.17.110
Summary: Following 1 Clement: the Lord rescues the righteous and surrounds the hopeful with mercy; through Christ we taste immortal knowledge; the wise must show it in works, the humble not praise themselves, the chaste not boast; more knowledge means more danger.
Greek text · Stählin 2:296–297
ἐκέκραξεν δὲ ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ὁ κύριος εἰσήκουσε καὶ ἐκ πασῶν τῶν θλίψεων ἐρρύσατο αὐτόν.‹ ›πολλαὶ μὲν γὰρ μάστιγες τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, τοὺς δὲ ἐλπίζοντας ἐπὶ κύριον ἔλεος κυκλώσει.‹ ὑπὸ πλήθους ἐλέου περιέχεσθαι τὸν ἐλπίζοντα γνησίως λέγει· ὅτι ἐν τῇ πρὸς Κορινθίους ἐπιστολῇ γέγραπται· διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ ἀσύνετος καὶ ἐσκοτισμένη διάνοια ἡμῶν ἀναθάλλει εἰς τὸ φῶς. διὰ τούτου ἠθέλησεν ὁ δεσπότης τῆς ἀθανάτου γνώσεως ἡμᾶς γεύσασθαι. ῥητότερον καὶ τὸ τῆς γνώσεως ἰδίωμα ἐμφαίνων ἐπήγαγεν· προδήλων οὖν ὄντων ἡμῖν τούτων, καὶ ἐγκεκυφότες εἰς τὰ βάθη τῆς θείας γνώσεως, πάντα τάξει ποιεῖν ὀφείλομεν, ὅσα ὁ δεσπότης ἐπιτελεῖν ἐκέλευσεν, κατὰ καιροὺς τεταγμένους. ὁ σοφὸς τοίνυν ἐνδεικνύσθω τὴν σοφίαν αὐτοῦ μὴ λόγοις μόνον, ἀλλʼ ἐν ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς· ὁ ταπεινόφρων μαρτυρείτω μὴ ἑαυτῷ, ἀλλʼ ἐάτω ὑφʼ ἑτέρου αὑτὸν μαρτυρεῖσθαι· ὁ ἁγνὸς τῇ σαρκὶ μὴ ἀλαζονευέσθω, γινώσκων ὅτι ἕτερός ἐστιν ὁ ἐπιχορηγῶν αὐτῷ τὴν ἐγκράτειαν. ὁρᾶτε, ἀδελφοί, ὅσῳ πλείονος κατηξιώθημεν γνώσεως, τοσούτῳ ὑποκείμεθα μᾶλλον κινδύνῳ.
English · Claude translation
“‘The righteous cried out, and the Lord heard and rescued him from all his afflictions.’ ‘Many are the scourges of sinners, but mercy will surround those who hope in the Lord.’” He says that the one who hopes genuinely is surrounded by a multitude of mercy. For in the letter to the Corinthians it is written: “Through Jesus Christ our foolish and darkened understanding blossoms again into the light. Through him the Master willed that we should taste immortal knowledge.” And showing more expressly the characteristic of knowledge, he added: “Since these things are clear to us, and we have looked into the depths of divine knowledge, we ought to do in order all that the Master has commanded us to perform at appointed times. Let the wise man, then, show his wisdom not in words only but in good works; let the humble not bear witness to himself, but let himself be borne witness to by another; let the one pure in the flesh not boast, knowing that it is another who supplies him with self-control. See, brothers, the more knowledge we have been counted worthy of, the more we are exposed to danger.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are 1 Clem. 22.7–8 (Ps 34:17; Ps 32:10), 36.2, 40.1, 38.2, and 41.4.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.17.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/17/110/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.17.110 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/17/110/).
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