Miscellanies 7.16.94
Summary: As Mary gave birth and remained a virgin, so the Scriptures give birth to the truth yet keep its mysteries hidden; those who know receive their offspring, while heretics, lacking the rule of truth, twist Scripture to suit their desires.
Greek text · Stählin 2
τοῖς πολλοῖς καὶ μέχρι νῦν δοκεῖ ἡ Μαριὰμ λεχὼ εἶναι διὰ τὴν τοῦ παιδίου γέννησιν, οὐκ οὖσα λεχώ (καὶ γὰρ μετὰ τὸ τεκεῖν αὐτὴν μαιωθεῖσάν φασί τινες παρθένον εὑρεθῆναι)· τοιαῦται δʼ ἡμῖν αἱ κυριακαὶ γραφαί, τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀποτίκτουσαι καὶ μένουσαι παρθένοι μετὰ τῆς ἐπικρύψεως τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας μυστηρίων. »τέτοκεν καὶ οὐ τέτοκεν«, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, ὡς ἂν ἐξ αὑτῆς, οὐκ ἐκ συνδυασμοῦ συλλαβοῦσα. διόπερ τοῖς γνωστικοῖς κεκυήκασιν αἱ γραφαί, αἱ δὲ αἱρέσεις οὐκ ἐκμαθοῦσαι ὡς μὴ κεκυηκυίας παραπέμπονται. πάντων δὲ ἀνθρώπων τὴν αὐτὴν κρίσιν ἐχόντων οἱ μὲν ἀκολουθοῦντες τῷ αἱροῦντι λόγῳ ποιοῦνται τὰς πίστεις, οἱ δὲ ἡδοναῖς σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐκδεδωκότες βιάζονται πρὸς τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τὴν γραφήν. δεῖ δʼ, οἶμαι, τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐραστῇ ψυχικῆς εὐτονίας· σφάλλεσθαι γὰρ ἀνάγκη μέγιστα τοὺς μεγίστοις ἐγχειροῦντας πράγμασιν, ἢν μὴ τὸν κανόνα τῆς ἀληθείας παρʼ αὐτῆς λαβόντες ἔχωσι τῆς ἀληθείας. οἱ τοιοῦτοι δέ, ἅτε ἀποπεσόντες τῆς ὀρθῆς ὁδοῦ, κἀν τοῖς πλείστοις τῶν κατὰ μέρος σφάλλονται εἰκότως, διὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν ἀληθῶν καὶ ψευδῶν κριτήριον συγγεγυμνασμένον ἀκριβῶς τὰ δέοντα αἱρεῖσθαι. εἰ γὰρ ἐκέκτηντο, ταῖς θείαις ἐπείθοντο ἂν γραφαῖς.
English · Claude translation
to the many, even now, Mary seems to be a woman who has given birth, because of the birth of the child, though she was not (for some say that after she gave birth she was examined by a midwife and found to be a virgin). Such to us are the Lord's Scriptures: they give birth to the truth and remain virgins, keeping the mysteries of the truth hidden. “She has borne and has not borne,” says the scripture, as having conceived from herself, not from intercourse. That is why the Scriptures have conceived for those who know, while the heresies, not having learned them, pass them by as though they had not conceived. And though all human beings have the same faculty of judgment, some, following the reason that convinces, form their convictions, while others, having given themselves up to pleasures, force Scripture to suit their desires. The lover of truth needs, I think, vigor of soul; for those who take on the greatest matters must err most greatly, unless they have received the rule of truth from the truth itself and hold to it. Such people, having fallen from the right road, naturally err in most particulars as well, because they have no criterion of true and false trained to choose exactly what is needful. For if they had one, they would obey the divine Scriptures.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The story of the midwife's examination is told in the Protevangelium of James 19–20. The saying “She has borne and has not borne” is an apocryphal text (Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ 23, ascribes it to Ezekiel); its source is uncertain. Proposed new extrabiblical entry: the Protevangelium of James.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): ὡς ἂν ἐξ αὑτῆς. οὐκ ἐκ → ὡς ἂν ἐξ αὑτῆς, οὐκ ἐκ; τῆς ὀρθῆς ὁδοῦ. κἀν → τῆς ὀρθῆς ὁδοῦ, κἀν; σφάλλονται εἰκότως. διὰ → σφάλλονται εἰκότως, διὰ.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.16.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/16/94/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.16.94 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/16/94/).
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