Miscellanies 4.20.129 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 2:305

εἶθʼ οἷον κολοφῶνα ἐπιθεὶς τῷ περὶ γάμου ζητήματι ἐπιφέρει· τίμιος ὁ γάμος ἐν πᾶσι καὶ ἡ κοίτη ἀμίαντος· πόρνους δὲ καὶ μοιχοὺς κρινεῖ ὁ θεός. ἑνὸς δὴ σκοποῦ καὶ ἑνὸς δὴ τέλους ἀνδρὶ καὶ γυναικὶ δεδειγμένου, τί τὸ τέλειον, ὁ Πέτρος ἐν τῇ ἐπιστολῇ φησι· ὀλίγον ἄρτι εἰ δέον λυπηθέντες ἐν ποικίλοις πειρασμοῖς, ἵνα τὸ δοκίμιον τῆς πίστεως ὑμῶν πολὺ τιμιώτερον χρυσίου τοῦ ἀπολλυμένου καὶ διὰ πυρὸς δεδοκιμασμένου εὑρεθῇ εἰς ἔπαινον καὶ δόξαν ἐν ἀποκαλύψει Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· ὃν οὐκ εἰδότες ἀγαπᾶτε, εἰς ὃν ἄρτι μὴ ὁρῶντες, πιστεύοντες δὲ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε χαρᾷ ἀνεκλαλήτῳ καὶ δεδοξασμένῃ, κομιζόμενοι τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν. διὸ καὶ Παῦλος καυχᾶται διὰ Χριστὸν γεγονέναι ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως, ἐν πληγαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως, ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις.

English · Claude translation

Then, as though putting a finishing touch on the question of marriage, he adds: “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.” One aim and one end having been shown for man and woman, Peter in his letter says what the perfect is: “Though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, much more precious than gold that perishes though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ; whom, not having seen, you love; in whom, though you do not now see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and glorified, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of souls.” That is why Paul too boasts that for Christ's sake he has been “in labors more abundantly, in beatings beyond measure, in deaths often.”

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:305 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Scripture

Heb 13:4 · quotation, high confidence
1 Pet 1:6 · quotation, high confidence
1 Pet 1:7 · quotation, high confidence
1 Pet 1:8 · quotation, high confidence
1 Pet 1:9 · quotation, high confidence
2 Cor 11:23 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Marriage, Martyrdom

Notes

Translation notes

The quotations are Heb 13:4, 1 Pet 1:6–9, and 2 Cor 11:23.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (wrong accent on the relative ὃν; wrong breathing on εἶθʼ): εἷθʼ οἷον κολοφῶνα → εἶθʼ οἷον κολοφῶνα; ὅν οὐκ εἰδότες ἀγαπᾶτε → ὃν οὐκ εἰδότες ἀγαπᾶτε.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.20.129 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/20/129/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.20.129 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/20/129/).