Miscellanies 6.16.145
Summary: Seven and eight are sacred in medicine and in Psalm 90's seventy and eighty years; Genesis 2:4 shows creation was timeless, “the day” being the Son through whom all was made, and the ten commandments, by the letter iota, point to Jesus.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:506
πάλιν ἐν ταῖς νόσοις κρίσιμος ἡ ἑβδόμη καὶ ἡ τεσσαρεσκαιδεκάτη, καθʼ ἃς ἡ φύσις διαγωνίζεται πρὸς τὰ νοσοποιὰ τῶν αἰτίων. καὶ μυρία τοιαῦτα ἁγιάζων τὸν ἀριθμὸν παρατίθεται Ἕρμιππος ὁ Βηρύτιος ἐν τῷ Περὶ ἑβδομάδος. σαφῶς δὲ τὸν περὶ ἑβδομάδος τε καὶ ὀγδοάδος μυστικὸν λόγον τοῖς γιγνώσκουσι παραδίδωσιν ὁ μακάριος Δαβὶδ ὧδέ πως ψάλλων· τὰ ἔτη ἡμῶν ὡς ἀράχνη ἐμελέτων. αἱ ἡμέραι τῶν ἐτῶν ἡμῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη, ἐὰν δὲ ἐν δυναστείαις, ὀγδοήκοντα ἔτη. † εἴη δʼ ἂν ἡμᾶς βασιλεύειν. ἵνα τοίνυν γενητὸν εἶναι τὸν κόσμον διδαχθῶμεν, μὴ ἐν χρόνῳ δὲ ποιεῖν τὸν θεὸν ὑπολάβωμεν, ἐπήγαγεν ἡ προφητεία· αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὅτε ἐγένετο· ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. τὸ μὲν γὰρ ὅτε ἐγένετο ἀόριστον ἐκφορὰν καὶ ἄχρονον μηνύει, τὸ δὲ ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, τουτέστιν ἐν ᾗ καὶ διʼ ἧς τὰ πάντα ἐποίησεν, ἧς καὶ χωρὶς ἐγένετο οὐδὲ ἕν, τὴν διʼ υἱοῦ ἐνέργειαν δηλοῖ, ὅν φησιν ὁ Δαβίδ· αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος· εὐφρανθῶμεν καὶ ἀγαλλιαθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ, τουτέστι κατὰ τὴν διʼ αὐτοῦ γνῶσιν παραδιδομένην τὴν θείαν ἑστίασιν εὐωχηθῶμεν. ἡμέρα γὰρ εἴρηται ὁ φωτίζων τὰ ἐπικεκρυμμένα λόγος καὶ διʼ οὗ εἰς φῶς καὶ γένεσιν ἕκαστον τῶν κτισμάτων παρῆλθεν. καὶ ὅλως ἡ δεκάλογος διὰ τοῦ ἰῶτα στοιχείου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ μακάριον δηλοῖ, λόγον ὄντα τὸν Ἰησοῦν παριστῶσα.
English · Claude translation
Again, in illnesses the seventh and the fourteenth days are critical, on which nature struggles against the causes of disease. And Hermippus of Berytus, in his work On the Number Seven, cites countless such things, hallowing the number. But the blessed David plainly hands on to those who know the mystical account of the seven and the eight, singing thus: “Our years were spent like a spider's web. The days of our years in them are seventy years; and if in strength, eighty years. † May it be that we reign.” So that we may be taught that the world was created, but not suppose that God makes in time, the prophecy added: “This is the book of the generation, also of the things in them, when they came to be; on the day on which God made the heaven and the earth.” For “when they came to be” indicates an indefinite and timeless production, while “on the day on which God made,” that is, in which and through which he made all things, without which “not one thing came to be,” shows the activity through the Son, of whom David says: “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” that is, let us feast at the divine banquet handed on according to the knowledge given through him. For the Word who illumines hidden things is called day, the one through whom each created thing came into light and into being. And in general the Decalogue, through the letter iota, shows the blessed name, presenting Jesus as the Word.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ps 90:9–10 (89:9–10 LXX), Gen 2:4, John 1:3, and Ps 118:24 (117:24 LXX). The text is corrupt (dagger) at “May it be that we reign.” Hermippus of Berytus was a grammarian of the second century AD. Iota (Ι) is the numeral ten and the first letter of “Jesus” (Ἰησοῦς).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on ἣν): ἥν ἐποίησεν → ἣν ἐποίησεν.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.145 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/145/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.145 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/145/).
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