2 Clement 6.9

Anonymous · 2 Clement · ca. 100–150 · place unknown · Read in context

Summary: If even the righteous cannot save others, we must keep our baptism pure.

BothGreekEnglish

Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:136–138

εἰ δὲ καὶ οἱ τοιοῦτοι δίκαιοι οὐ δύνανται ταῖς ἑαυτῶν δικαιοσύναις ῥύσασθαι τὰ τέκνα αὐτῶν, ἡμεῖς, ἐὰν μὴ τηρήσωμεν τὸ βάπτισμα ἁγνὸν καὶ ἀμίαντον, ποίᾳ πεποιθήσει εἰσελευσόμεθα εἰς τὸ βασίλειον τοῦ θεοῦ; ἢ τίς ἡμῶν παράκλητος ἔσται, ἐὰν μὴ εὑρεθῶμεν ἔργα ἔχοντες ὅσια καὶ δίκαια;

English · Claude translation

But if even such righteous men as these cannot by their own righteous deeds rescue their children, with what confidence shall we enter the kingdom of God if we do not keep our baptism pure and undefiled? Or who will be our advocate if we are not found to have holy and righteous works?

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:136–138 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 128–161 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Baptism, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

“Advocate” (παράκλητος): one who pleads for another.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong accent)): ἣ τίς ἡμῶν → ἢ τίς ἡμῶν.

Cite this passage

2 Clem. 6.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/6/9/).

Plain text

2 Clem. 6.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/2-clement/6/9/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Report an error in this passage