Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 6.3.34

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

Summary: God can produce a voice without any physical source to convert unbelievers; at Sinai Israel heard words but saw no form, for the Lord's voice is the formless Word.

Greek text · Stählin 2:448

Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ταύτῃ· θεῷ δὲ τῷ παντοκράτορι καὶ μηδενὸς ὄντος ὑποκειμένου φωνὴν καὶ φαντασίαν ἐγγεννῆσαι ἀκοῇ δυνατόν, ἐνδεικνυμένῳ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ μεγαλειότητα παρὰ τὰ εἰωθότα φυσικὴν ἔχειν τὴν ἀκολουθίαν, εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν τῆς μηδέπω πιστευούσης ψυχῆς καὶ παραδοχὴν τῆς διδομένης ἐντολῆς. νεφέλης δʼ οὔσης καὶ ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ πῶς οὐ δυνατὸν διάφορον ἦχον ἐξακούεσθαι, πνεύματος κινουμένου διὰ τῆς ἐνεργούσης αἰτίας; διὸ καί φησιν ὁ προφήτης· φωνὴν ῥημάτων ὑμεῖς ἠκούετε, καὶ ὁμοίωμα οὐκ εἴδετε. ὁρᾷς, ὅπως ἡ κυριακὴ φωνὴ λόγος ἀσχημάτιστος· ἡ γὰρ τοῦ λόγου δύναμις, ῥῆμα κυρίου φωτεινόν, ἀλήθεια οὐρανόθεν ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ τὴν συναγωγὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀφιγμένη, διὰ φωτεινῆς καὶ προσεχοῦς διακονίας ἐνήργει.

English · Claude translation

So much for these. But for God Almighty it is possible, even when nothing underlies it, to produce a voice and an appearance in the hearing, showing his own majesty beyond the customary things that follow a natural sequence, for the conversion of the soul that does not yet believe and its reception of the commandment that is given. And when there is a cloud and a high mountain, how is it not possible for a distinct sound to be heard, when the air is moved by the active cause? That is why the prophet says: “You heard a voice of words, and you saw no likeness.” You see how the Lord's voice is the Word without form; for the power of the Word, the luminous utterance of the Lord, truth that came from heaven above to the assembly of the church, was at work through a luminous and attentive ministry.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:448 · 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
Topics
Christology, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is Deut 4:12.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.3.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/3/34/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.3.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/3/34/).

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