Prophetic Extracts 32.3

Clement of Alexandria · Prophetic Extracts · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Knowledge brings out the brightness of things like white lead from black, the divine wisdom that enlightens the pure.

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Greek text · Stählin 3:147

[οὕτ]ὡς γὰρ καὶ ὁ μόλιβδος τοῖς τρίβουσιν ἐξανθεῖ λευκὸν ἐκ μέλανος, τὸ ψιμύθιον. οὕτως καὶ ἡ γνῶσις, φέγγος καὶ λαμπρότητα καταχέουσα τῶν πραγμάτων, ἡ τῷ ὄντι θεία σοφία εἴη ἄν, τὸ φῶς τὸ εἰλικρινές, τὸ φωτίζον τοὺς καθαροὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὡς κόρην ὀφθαλμοῦ εἰς ὄψιν καὶ κατάληψιν τῆς ἀληθείας βεβαίαν.

English · Claude translation

For as lead, when rubbed, blossoms white out of black, as white lead, so too knowledge, pouring brightness and radiance on things, would be the truly divine wisdom, the pure light that enlightens the pure among men, like the pupil of the eye, for sure sight and apprehension of the truth.

About this passage

Source: Stählin 3:147 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), 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), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

The bracketed letters in the Greek are the editor's deletion.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Ecl. 32.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-eclogae/32/3/).

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Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Ecl. 32.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-eclogae/32/3/).

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