Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 5.14.119

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

Summary: Isaiah's rejection of sacrifices without repentance is echoed by verses ascribed to Menander, which say that God is not won by costly offerings but sees and requires an upright life.

Greek text · Stählin 2:406

Ναὶ μὴν διὰ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ πνεύματος κεκραγότος τί μοι πλῆθος τῶν θυσιῶν; λέγει κύριος· πλήρης εἰμὶ ὁλοκαυτωμάτων κριῶν καὶ στέαρ ἀρνῶν καὶ αἷμα ταύρων οὐ βούλομαι καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα ἐπάγοντος λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γένεσθε, ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις, Μένανδρος ὁ κωμικὸς αὐταῖς γράφει ταῖς λέξεσιν· εἴ τις δὲ θυσίαν προσφέρων, ὦ Πάμφιλε, ταύρων τι πλῆθος ἢ ἐρίφων, ἢ νὴ Δία ἑτέρων τοιούτων, ἢ κατασκευάσματα, χρυσᾶς ποιήσας χλαμύδας ἤτοι πορφυρᾶς, ἢ διʼ ἐλέφαντος ἢ σμαράγδου ζῴδια, εὔνουν νομίζει τὸν θεὸν καθιστάναι, πεπλάνηται ἐκεῖνος καὶ φρένας κούφας ἔχει. δεῖ γὰρ τὸν ἄνδρα χρήσιμον πεφυκέναι, μὴ παρθένους φθείροντα καὶ μοιχώμενον, κλέπτοντα καὶ σφάττοντα χρημάτων χάριν· μηδὲ βελόνης ἔναμμα ἐπιθυμήσῃς, Πάμφιλε· ὁ γὰρ θεὸς βλέπει σε πλησίον παρών. θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ οὐχὶ θεὸς πόρρωθεν· ἢ ποιήσει τι ἄνθρωπος ἐν κρυφαίοις καὶ οὐχὶ ὄψομαι αὐτόν; διὰ Ἱερεμίου φησίν.

English · Claude translation

Yes, and when the Spirit cried out through Isaiah, “What is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the Lord. I am full of whole burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls I do not want,” and a little later adds, “Wash yourselves, become clean, remove the wickedness from your souls,” and what follows, Menander the comic poet writes in these very words: “If anyone, Pamphilus, offering sacrifice, a multitude of bulls or kids, or, by Zeus, other such things, or works of craft, making golden or purple cloaks, or figures of ivory or emerald, thinks he is making God kindly, he is mistaken and has a light mind. For a man must be useful, not seducing virgins and committing adultery, stealing and killing for money. Do not covet even the thread of a needle, Pamphilus; for God sees you, being near.” “I am a God near at hand and not a God far off. Will a man do anything in secret places and I not see him?” he says through Jeremiah.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:406 · 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 quotations are Isa 1:11 and 1:16, verses ascribed to Menander (probably not genuine; the same verses appear in the pseudo-Justinian On the Sole Rule of God and are likely a Jewish composition), and Jer 23:23–24.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (double accent on Πάμφιλε in the digital text): Πάμφίλε → Πάμφιλε.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.119 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/119/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.119 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/119/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage