Miscellanies 5.6.33
Summary: The altar of incense stood between the holy of holies and the court, symbolizing earth or the boundary of the intelligible and sensible worlds; the outer veil with five pillars bars those bound to the five senses, as the five loaves fed the crowd; knowledge of God is beyond the senses.
Greek text · Stählin 2:347–348
ἀνὰ μέσον δὲ τοῦ καλύμματος καὶ τοῦ παραπετάσματος, ἔνθα τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἐξῆν εἰσιέναι, θυμιατήριον τε ἔκειτο σύμβολον τῆς ἐν μέσῳ τῷ κόσμῳ τῷδε κειμένης γῆς, ἐξ ἧς αἱ ἀναθυμιάσεις. μέσος δὲ καὶ ὁ τόπος ἐκεῖνος τοῦ τε ἐντὸς τοῦ καταπετάσματος, ἔνθα μόνῳ τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ ἐπετέτραπτο ῥηταῖς εἰσιέναι ἡμέραις, καὶ τῆς ἔξωθεν περικειμένης αὐλαίας τῆς πᾶσιν ἀνειμένης Ἑβραίοις· διὸ μεσαίτατον οὐρανοῦ φασι καὶ γῆς· ἄλλοι δὲ κόσμου τοῦ νοητοῦ καὶ τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ λέγουσιν εἶναι σύμβολον. τὸ μὲν οὖν κάλυμμα κώλυμα λαϊκῆς ἀπιστίας ἐπίπροσθε τῶν πέντε τετάνυστο κιόνων, εἶργον τοὺς ἐν τῷ περιβόλῳ. ταύτῃ τοι μυστικώτατα πέντε ἄρτοι πρὸς τοῦ σωτῆρος κατακλῶνται καὶ πληθύνουσι τῷ ὄχλῳ τῶν ἀκροωμένων. πολὺς γὰρ ὁ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς ὡς μόνοις οὖσι προσανέχων. ἄθρει δὴ περισκοπῶν, φησὶν ὁ Πλάτων, μή τις τῶν ἀμυήτων ἐπακούῃ. εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ οὐδὲν ἄλλο οἰόμενοι εἶναι ἢ οὗ ἂν ἀπρὶξ τοῖν χειροῖν λαβέσθαι δύναιντο, πράξεις δὲ καὶ γενέσεις καὶ πᾶν τὸ ἀόρατον οὐκ ἀποδεχόμενοι ὡς ἐν οὐσίας μέρει· τοιοῦτοι γὰρ οἱ τῇ πεντάδι τῶν αἰσθήσεων προσανέχοντες μόνῃ. ἄβατον δὲ ἀκοαῖς καὶ τοῖς ὁμογενέσιν ἡ νόησις τοῦ θεοῦ.
English · Claude translation
Between the covering and the veil, where the priests were allowed to enter, lay the altar of incense, a symbol of the earth set in the middle of this world, from which the exhalations come. And that place was in the middle between the area inside the veil, where only the high priest was allowed to enter on set days, and the outer court all around, open to all the Hebrews; that is why they say it is the very middle of heaven and earth; others say it is a symbol of the intelligible and the sensible world. The covering (kalymma), then, a barrier (kōlyma) to popular unbelief, was stretched before the five pillars, keeping out those in the enclosure. For this reason, most mystically, five loaves are broken by the Savior and multiply for the crowd of hearers. For many attend to sensible things as though they alone exist. “Look around,” says Plato, “lest any of the uninitiated overhear.” These are those who think nothing exists but what they can grasp tightly with their two hands, and do not accept actions, becomings, and all the invisible as part of being. For such are those who attend only to the five senses. But the understanding of God is inaccessible to the ears and the like.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions and quotations are Exod 30:1–6, Exod 26:37, Matt 14:17–21, and Plato, Theaetetus 155e. Clement plays on κάλυμμα (“covering”) and κώλυμα (“barrier”).
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.6.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/6/33/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.6.33 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/6/33/).
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