Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 6.8.63

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

Summary: Understanding is God's gift, as the psalms show; God dealt with other nations too, though not as with his people, and in every nation whoever fears him is acceptable.

Greek text · Stählin 2:463

ὁ γοῦν ψαλμῳδὸς μεγίστην ἡγεῖται δωρεὰν τὴν σύνεσιν καὶ αἰτεῖ λέγων· δοῦλος σός εἰμι ἐγώ· συνέτισόν με. καὶ μή τι τὸ πολύπειρον τῆς γνώσεως αἰτούμενος ὁ Δαβὶδ γράφει· χρηστότητα καὶ παιδείαν καὶ γνῶσιν δίδαξόν με, ὅτι ταῖς ἐντολαῖς σου ἐπίστευσα. κυρίας δʼ εἶναι τὰς διαθήκας ὡμολόγηται καὶ τοῖς τιμιωτέροις δίδοσθαι. λέγει γοῦν ὁ ψαλμὸς πάλιν ἐπὶ τοῦ θεοῦ· οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὕτως οὐδενὶ ἔθνει, καὶ τὰ κρίματα αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐδήλωσεν αὐτοῖς. τὸ δὲ οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὕτως πεποιηκέναι μὲν δηλοῖ, ἀλλʼ οὐχ οὕτως. ἐν συγκρίσει γοῦν τὸ οὕτως πρὸς τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς γινομένην· ἐξῆν δὲ δήπου τῷ προφήτῃ εἰπεῖν ἁπλῶς τὸ οὐκ ἐποίησεν ἄνευ τῆς προσθήκης τοῦ οὕτως. ναὶ μὴν καὶ ὁ Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσιν ἐπʼ ἀληθείας καταλαμβάνομαι φησίν, ὅτι προσωπολήπτης οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ θεός, ἀλλʼ ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει ὁ φοβούμενος αὐτὸν καὶ ἐργαζόμενος δικαιοσύνην δεκτὸς αὐτῷ ἐστιν.

English · Claude translation

The psalmist, at any rate, considers understanding the greatest gift and asks for it, saying: “I am your servant; give me understanding.” And is it not the breadth of knowledge that David asks for when he writes: “Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge, for I have believed your commandments”? It is agreed that the covenants are authoritative and are given to those more highly honored. At any rate the psalm says again of God: “He has not done so for any nation, and he has not shown them his judgments.” “He has not done so” shows that he did do it, but not so. The “so,” then, is in comparison with the preeminence that has come to us; for surely the prophet could have said simply “he has not done” without adding “so.” And indeed Peter too says in the Acts: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation the one who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:463 · 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
Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Ps 119:125 (118:125 LXX), Ps 119:66 (118:66 LXX), Ps 147:20 (147:9 LXX), and Acts 10:34–35.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.8.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/8/63/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.8.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/8/63/).

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