Miscellanies 6.11.94
Summary: The five barley loaves and two fishes of the feeding miracle signify the preparatory training of Jews and Greeks before the wheat of the gospel; the fishes are Greek learning, blessed by the Lord, and all must yield to the Word.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:478–479
καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἄλογον τεκτονικῆς καὶ ναυπηγικῆς χεῖρον νομίζειν φιλοσοφίαν; τάχα που καὶ ὁ κύριος τὸ πλῆθος ἐκεῖνο τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς πόας κατακλιθέντων καταντικρὺ τῆς Τιβεριάδος τοῖς ἰχθύσι τοῖς δυσὶ καὶ τοῖς ε΄ τοῖς κριθίνοις διέθρεψεν ἄρτοις, αἰνισσόμενος τὴν προπαιδείαν Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ Ἰουδαίων πρὸ τοῦ θείου πυροῦ τῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον γεωργουμένης τροφῆς· προπετεστέρα γὰρ εἰς ὥραν θέρους τοῦ πυροῦ μᾶλλον ἡ κριθή. τὴν δὲ ἀνὰ τὸν κλύδωνα τὸν ἐθνικὸν γεννωμένην τε καὶ φερομένην φιλοσοφίαν Ἑλληνικὴν οἱ ἰχθύες ἐμήνυον, εἰς διατροφὴν ἐκτενῆ τοῖς ἔτι χαμαὶ κειμένοις δεδομένοι· αὐξήσαντες μὲν οὐκέτι καθάπερ τῶν ἄρτων τὰ κλάσματα, τῆς δὲ τοῦ κυρίου μεταλαβόντες εὐλογίας τὴν ἀνάστασιν τῆς θειότητος διὰ τῆς τοῦ λόγου δυνάμεως ἐνεπνεύσθησαν. ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ περίεργος εἶ, ἔκλαβε θάτερον τῶν ἰχθύων τὴν ἐγκύκλιον, τὸν λοιπὸν δὲ αὐτὴν ἐκείνην τὴν ἐπαναβεβηκυῖαν μηνύειν φιλοσοφίαν, αἳ δῆτα † συνάλογοι λόγου τοῦ κυριακοῦ· χορὸς δὲ ἀναύδων ἰχθύων ἐπερρόθει, ἡ μοῦσα ἡ τραγικὴ εἴρηκέν που. κἀμὲ δεῖ ἐλαττοῦσθαι, αὔξειν δὲ μόνον ἤδη λοιπὸν τὸν κυριακὸν λόγον, εἰς ὃν περαιοῦται ὁ νόμος, ὁ προφήτης εἴρηκεν Ἰωάννης.
English · Claude translation
And how is it not absurd to think philosophy worse than carpentry and shipbuilding? Perhaps, too, the Lord fed that multitude reclining on the grass across from Tiberias with the two fishes and the five barley loaves as a hint of the preparatory training of Greeks and Jews before the divine wheat, the food cultivated by the law. For barley ripens earlier for the summer season than wheat. The fishes signified Greek philosophy, which is born and moves in the surge of the Gentiles, given as abundant nourishment to those still lying on the ground. They did not increase like the fragments of the loaves; but, having shared in the Lord's blessing, they were breathed into, receiving the resurrection of divinity through the power of the Word. But if you like subtlety, take one of the fishes to indicate general education and the other the philosophy that rises above it; and these indeed are … of the Lord's Word. “And a chorus of voiceless fishes splashed around,” as the tragic Muse has said somewhere. “I must decrease, and the Lord's Word alone must from now on increase,” in whom the law reaches its end, said John the prophet.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are to John 6:1–13 (barley loaves, Tiberias) and the quotation, adapted, is John 3:30. The text is corrupt (dagger) at “these indeed are … of the Lord's Word” (συνάλογοι, perhaps “akin to”). The tragic line is usually assigned to Sophocles (fragment 762 Nauck); uncertain. “They were breathed into, receiving the resurrection of divinity” is a literal rendering of an obscure phrase.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misreading in the digital text (numeral five)): τοῖς έ τοῖς → τοῖς ε΄ τοῖς.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.11.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/11/94/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.11.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/11/94/).
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