Miscellanies 7.11.63
Summary: Looking to the patriarchs, prophets, angels, and the Lord, the one who knows endures suffering out of firm hope in what is to come; so Peter, seeing his wife led to martyrdom, encouraged her to remember the Lord.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Ὡς ἂν οὖν ἐπʼ ἄκρον γνώσεως ἥκειν βιαζόμενος, τῷ ἤθει κεκοσμημένος, τῷ σχήματι κατεσταλμένος, πάντα ἐκεῖνα ἔχων ὅσα πλεονεκτήματά ἐστιν τοῦ κατʼ ἀλήθειαν γνωστικοῦ, εἰς τὰς εἰκόνας ἀφορῶν τὰς καλάς, πολλοὺς μὲν τοὺς κατωρθωκότας πρὸ αὐτοῦ πατριάρχας, παμπόλλους δὲ προφήτας, ἀπείρους δʼ ὅσους ἡμῖν ἀριθμῷ λογιζόμενος ἀγγέλους καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσι κύριον τὸν διδάξαντα καὶ παραστήσαντα δυνατὸν εἶναι τὸν κορυφαῖον ἐκεῖνον κτήσασθαι βίον, διὰ τοῦτο τὰ πρόχειρα πάντα τοῦ κόσμου καλὰ οὐκ ἀγαπᾷ, ἵνα μὴ καταμείνῃ χαμαί, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐλπιζόμενα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ ἐγνωσμένα ἤδη, εἰς κατάληψιν δὲ ἐλπιζόμενα. ταύτῃ ἄρα τοὺς πόνους καὶ τὰς βασάνους καὶ τὰς θλίψεις, οὐχ ὡς παρὰ τοῖς φιλοσόφοις οἱ ἀνδρεῖοι, ἐλπίδι τοῦ παύσασθαι μὲν τὰ ἐνεστῶτα ἀλγεινά, αὖθις δὲ τῶν ἡδέων μετασχεῖν, ὑπομένει, ἀλλʼ ἡ γνῶσις αὐτῷ πεῖσμα βεβαιότατον ἐνεγέννησεν τῆς τῶν μελλόντων [ἐλπίδων] ἀπολήψεως. διόπερ οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐνταῦθα κολάσεων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἡδέων ἁπάντων καταφρονεῖ. φασὶ γοῦν τὸν μακάριον Πέτρον θεασάμενον τὴν αὑτοῦ γυναῖκα ἀγομένην τὴν ἐπὶ θάνατον, ἡσθῆναι μὲν τῆς κλήσεως χάριν καὶ τῆς εἰς οἶκον ἀνακομιδῆς, ἐπιφωνῆσαι δὲ εὖ μάλα προτρεπτικῶς τε καὶ παρακλητικῶς, ἐξ ὀνόματος προσειπόντα »μέμνησο, ὦ αὕτη, τοῦ κυρίου«.
English · Claude translation
As one, then, who strives to reach the summit of knowledge, adorned in character, composed in bearing, possessing all the advantages that belong to the one who truly knows, he looks to the fine examples: the many patriarchs who lived rightly before him, the very many prophets, the angels, countless as we reckon them, and the Lord over all, who taught and showed that it is possible to attain that highest life. For this reason he does not love the good things of the world that lie at hand, so as not to remain on the ground, but the things hoped for, or rather things already known, though still hoped for as to their full possession. In this way, then, he endures toils, tortures, and afflictions, not as the courageous among the philosophers do, in the hope that present pains will cease and that he will again share in pleasures; rather, knowledge has produced in him a most firm conviction that he will receive the things to come. Therefore he despises not only the punishments here but also all pleasures. They say, at any rate, that the blessed Peter, seeing his own wife led away to death, was glad because of her calling and her journey home, and called out to her, very encouragingly and comfortingly, addressing her by name: “Remember the Lord, my dear.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- “Things hoped for” echoes Heb 11:1; the examples recall Heb 12:1–2. The story of Peter's wife comes from an unnamed tradition (“they say”); Clement is its earliest witness. The bracketed “hopes” is marked by Stählin for deletion.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text; stray periods in the digital text): ἥκειν βιαζόμενος. τῷ ἤθει → ἥκειν βιαζόμενος, τῷ ἤθει; ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐλπιζόμενα. μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ ἐγνωσμένα ἤδη. εἰς κατάληψιν → ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐλπιζόμενα, μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ ἐγνωσμένα ἤδη, εἰς κατάληψιν; οἱ ἀνδρεῖοι. ἐλπίδι → οἱ ἀνδρεῖοι, ἐλπίδι.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.11.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/11/63/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.11.63 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/11/63/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text