Miscellanies 5.4.23
Summary: “Know yourself” has many meanings: that you are mortal, of little account, whose image you bear, and how you are akin to God; Isaiah's hidden treasures are God's wisdom, hard to find.
Greek text · Stählin 2:340
ὡσαύτως καὶ τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν πολλὰ ἐνδείκνυται, καὶ ὅτι θνητὸς εἶ καὶ ὅτι ἄνθρωπος ἐγένου, καὶ ἤδη πρὸς τὰς ἄλλας τοῦ βίου ὑπεροχὰς κατὰ σύγκρισιν ὅτι οὐδενὸς λόγου ὑπάρχεις, ἔνδοξον λέγων ἢ πλούσιον, ἢ τοὐναντίον, ὅτι πλούσιος ὢν καὶ ἔνδοξος οὐ παραμόνῳ σεμνύνῃ πλεονεκτήματι· καὶ εἰς τί γέγονας, γνῶθι, φησί, καὶ τίνος εἰκὼν ὑπάρχεις, τίς τέ σου ἡ οὐσία καὶ τίς ἡ δημιουργία καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον οἰκείωσις τίς, καὶ τὰ τούτοις ὅμοια. λέγει δὲ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου τοῦ προφήτου τὸ πνεῦμα· δώσω σοι θησαυροὺς σκοτεινοὺς ἀποκρύφους. θησαυροὶ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πλοῦτος ἀνεκλιπὴς ἡ δυσθήρατός ἐστι σοφία.
English · Claude translation
Likewise “Know yourself” indicates many things: both that you are mortal and that you were born a human being; and also, by comparison with the other eminences of life, that you are of no account, even if called glorious or rich; or, conversely, that being rich and glorious you should not pride yourself on an advantage that does not last. And know, it says, for what you were born, whose image you are, what your substance is, what your creation, and what your kinship to the divine, and the like. And the Spirit says through the prophet Isaiah: “I will give you dark, hidden treasures.” And the treasures of God and his unfailing wealth are wisdom, hard to hunt down.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Isa 45:3.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.4.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/4/23/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.4.23 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/4/23/).
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