Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.5.21

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Poverty, like pain, distracts the soul with getting a living, while health and sufficiency leave it free for God, as Paul wishes believers free from anxiety.

Greek text · Stählin 2:257

ὁ δὲ αὐτὸς λόγος καὶ περὶ πενίας, ἐπεὶ καὶ αὕτη τῶν ἀναγκαίων, τῆς θεωρίας λέγω καὶ τῆς καθαρᾶς ἀναμαρτησίας, ἀπασχολεῖν βιάζεται τὴν ψυχήν, περὶ τοὺς πορισμοὺς διατρίβειν ἀναγκάζουσα τὸν μὴ ὅλον ἑαυτὸν διʼ ἀγάπης ἀνατεθεικότα τῷ θεῷ, ὥσπερ ἔμπαλιν ἥ τε ὑγίεια καὶ ἡ τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἀφθονία ἐλευθέραν καὶ ἀνεμπόδιστον φυλάσσει τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν εὖ χρῆσθαι τοῖς παροῦσι γινώσκουσαν· θλῖψιν, γάρ φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος, τῇ σαρκὶ ἕξουσιν οἱ τοιοῦτοι, ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῶν φείδομαι. θέλω γὰρ ὑμᾶς ἀμερίμνους εἶναι πρὸς τὸ εὔσχημον καὶ εὐπάρεδρον τῷ κυρίῳ ἀπερισπάστως.

English · Claude translation

The same account holds for poverty too, since it too forces the soul away from necessary things, I mean contemplation and pure sinlessness, compelling one who has not wholly devoted himself to God through love to spend his time on providing means; just as, conversely, health and abundance of necessities keep free and unhindered the soul that knows how to use well what is present. “For such people,” says the apostle, “will have affliction in the flesh, and I would spare you. For I want you to be free from anxiety, for what is seemly and devoted to the Lord without distraction.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:257 · 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
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is 1 Cor 7:28, 32, 35 (a combination).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.5.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/5/21/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.5.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/5/21/).

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