Excerpts from Theodotus 34.1

Clement of Alexandria · Excerpts from Theodotus · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The lower powers were not formed by the light but left to be formed by the Place.

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Greek text · Stählin 3:118

Ἀλλὰ καὶ αἱ εὐώνυμοι δυνάμεις, πρῶται προβληθεῖσαι τῶν δεξιῶν ὑπʼ αὐτῆς, ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ φωτὸς παρουσίας οὐ μορφοῦνται, κατελείφθησαν δὲ αἱ ἀριστεραὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ Τόπου μορφωθῆναι.

English · Claude translation

But the powers on the left too, put forth by her first, before those on the right, are not formed by the presence of the light; the left ones were left to be formed by the Place.

About this passage

Source: Stählin 3:118 · 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: Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

“The Place” (Topos) is a Valentinian name for the Demiurge.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): αἱ εὐώνυμοι δυνάμεις. πρῶται → αἱ εὐώνυμοι δυνάμεις, πρῶται.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/34/1/).

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Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 34.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/34/1/).

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