Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 6.11.92

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

Summary: The queen in many-colored robes in Psalm 45 is the church adorned with varied learning, but truth comes from the Lord, who gives wisdom and the Spirit; the knower understands past, future, and riddles.

Greek text · Stählin 2:478

τοιαύτην τινὰ ἐκκλησίαν ὁ Δαβὶδ διαγράφει· παρέστη ἡ βασίλισσα ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, ἐν ἱματισμῷ διαχρύσῳ, περιβεβλημένη πεποικιλμένοις, καὶ τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς καὶ περιττοῖς· ἐν κροσσωτοῖς χρυσοῖς, περιβεβλημένη πεποικιλμένοις. ἡ ἀλήθεια δὲ διὰ τοῦ κυρίου. βουλὴν γάρ σου, φησί, τίς ἔγνω, εἰ μὴ σὺ δέδωκας σοφίαν καὶ ἔπεμψας τὸ ἅγιόν σου πνεῦμα ἀπὸ ὑψίστων; καὶ οὕτως διωρθώθησαν αἱ τρίβοι τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τὰ ἀρεστά σου ἐδιδάχθησαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ ἐσώθησαν. ὁ γνωστικὸς γὰρ οἶδεν κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν τὰ ἀρχαῖα καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα εἰκάζει, ἐπίσταται στροφὰς λόγων καὶ λύσεις αἰνιγμάτων, σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα προγινώσκει καὶ ἐκβάσεις καιρῶν καὶ χρόνων, ὡς προειρήκαμεν.

English · Claude translation

Such a church David describes: “The queen stood at your right hand, in a robe woven with gold, clothed in many colors,” that is, with Greek and superfluous learning as well; “in golden fringes, clothed in many colors.” But the truth comes through the Lord. “For who has known your counsel,” it says, “unless you have given wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from the highest? And so the paths of those on earth were set straight, and men were taught what pleases you and were saved by wisdom.” For the one who knows, according to Scripture, “knows the things of old and conjectures the things to come; he understands the turns of speech and the solutions of riddles; he foreknows signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times,” as we have said before.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:478 · 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
  • Ps 45:9 (44:10 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 45:13 (44:14 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 45:14 (44:15 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
Extrabiblical texts
  • Wis 9:17–18 (Wisdom of Solomon) · quotation, high confidence
  • Wis 8:8 (Wisdom of Solomon) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Ps 45:9, 13–14 (44:10, 14–15 LXX), Wis 9:17–18, and Wis 8:8. The comment “with Greek and superfluous learning” is Clement's interpretation inserted into the psalm.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.11.92 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/11/92/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.11.92 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/11/92/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage