Miscellanies 4.26.171 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 2:324

Τί τοίνυν οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι βουλόμενοι μετὰ φωνῆς εὔχεσθαι κελεύουσιν; ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ οὐχ ὅτι τὸ θεῖον ᾤοντο μὴ δύνασθαι τῶν ἡσυχῇ φθεγγομένων ἐπαΐειν, ἀλλʼ ὅτι δικαίας ἐβούλοντο εἶναι τὰς εὐχάς, οἵας οὐκ ἄν τις αἰδεσθείη ποιεῖσθαι πολλῶν συνειδότων. ἡμεῖς δὲ περὶ μὲν τῆς εὐχῆς κατὰ καιρὸν προϊόντος τοῦ λόγου διαληψόμεθα, τὰ δὲ ἔργα κεκραγότα ἔχειν ὀφείλομεν ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ περιπατοῦντες. λαμψάτω γάρ σου τὰ ἔργα. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος καὶ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. ἰδοὺ γὰρ ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ. θεὸν χρὴ μιμεῖσθαι εἰς ὅσον δύναμις τῷ γνωστικῷ. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ ποιηταὶ τοὺς ἐκλεκτοὺς παρὰ σφίσι θεοειδέας προσαγορεύειν δοκοῦσι καὶ δίους καὶ ἀντιθέους καὶ Διὶ μῆτιν ἀταλάντους καὶ θεοῖς ἐναλίγκια μήδεʼ ἔχοντας καὶ θεοεικέλους, τὸ κατʼ εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν περιτρώγοντες.

English · Claude translation

Why, then, do the Pythagoreans command that one pray aloud? It seems to me not because they thought the divine could not hear those who speak quietly, but because they wished prayers to be just, such as no one would be ashamed to make with many knowing. We will treat of prayer at the proper time as the discussion proceeds; but we ought to have works that cry aloud, as walking in the day. “For let your works shine.” “And behold a man and his works before his face.” “For behold God and his works.” The one who knows must imitate God as far as he can. And the poets too seem to me to call the elect among them “godlike,” “divine,” “equal to gods,” “equal to Zeus in counsel,” “having counsels like the gods,” and “godlike,” nibbling at the “image and likeness.”

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:324 · 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

Matt 5:16 · quotation, high confidence
Isa 62:11 · quotation, medium confidence
Isa 40:10 · quotation, medium confidence
Rom 13:13 · allusion, medium confidence
Gen 1:26 · allusion, high confidence

Topics

Prayer, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

The quotations and allusions are Matt 5:16, Isa 62:11 (LXX), Isa 40:10, and Gen 1:26, with Homeric epithets. Clement's promised treatment of prayer is in Book 7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (misencoded elision in the digital text): θεοῖς ἐναλίγκια μήδἐ ἔχοντας → θεοῖς ἐναλίγκια μήδεʼ ἔχοντας.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.26.171 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/26/171/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.26.171 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/26/171/).