The Instructor 1.5.21
Summary: God welcomes the weak and childlike as parents love the young; Isaac playing with Rebecca under the king's eye is a figure of the joyful, patient life of the children of Christ.
Greek text · Stählin 1:102–103
τὸ δὲ ἀιδιότητος μετειληφὸς ἐξομοιοῦσθαι φιλεῖ τῷ ἀφθάρτῳ, ὡς εἶναι ἡμῖν τῆς παιδικῆς ἡλικίας τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔαρ παντὸς τοῦ ζῆν διὰ τὸ ἀγήρω εἶναι τὴν ἐν ἡμῖν ἀλήθειαν καὶ τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, ἀνακεχυμένον ἡμῶν τὸν τρόπον. σοφία δὲ ἀειθαλής, ἀεὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχουσα καὶ οὔποτε μεταβάλλουσα. »Τὰ παιδία«, φησίν, »αὐτῶν ἐπʼ ὤμων ἀρθήσονται καὶ ἐπὶ γονάτων παρακληθήσονται· ὡς εἴ τινα μήτηρ παρακαλέσει, οὕτως κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς παρακαλέσω.« ἡ μήτηρ προσάγεται τὰ παιδία καὶ ἡμεῖς ζητοῦμεν τὴν μητέρα, τὴν ἐκκλησίαν. τὸ μὲν τοίνυν [καὶ] ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἁπαλὸν ἅπαν, ἅτε διʼ ἀσθένειαν [ᾗ] βοηθείας δεόμενον, κεχαρισμένον τέ ἐστι καὶ ἡδὺ καὶ τερπνόν, τοῦ θεοῦ μὴ περιισταμένου τῷ τηλικῷδε τὴν βοήθειαν· ὡς γὰρ οἱ πατέρες καὶ αἱ μητέρες ἥδιον ὁρῶσιν τῶν μὲν ἵππων τοὺς πώλους, τῶν δὲ βοῶν τὰ μικρὰ μοσχάρια καὶ λέοντος σκύμνον καὶ ἐλάφου νεβρὸν καὶ ἀνθρώπου παιδίον, οὕτως καὶ τῶν ὅλων ὁ πατὴρ τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν καταπεφευγότας προσίεται καὶ ἀναγεννήσας πνεύματι εἰς υἱοθεσίαν ἠπίους οἶδεν καὶ φιλεῖ τούτους μόνους καὶ βοηθεῖ καὶ ὑπερμαχεῖ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ὀνομάζει παιδίον. ἐγὼ καὶ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ εἰς παῖδα ἀναφέρω· γέλως ἑρμηνεύεται ὁ Ἰσαάκ. τοῦτον ἑώρακεν παίζοντα μετὰ τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ βοηθοῦ, τῆς Ῥεβέκκας, ὁ περίεργος βασιλεύς. βασιλεύς μοι δοκεῖ (Ἀβιμέλεχ ὄνομα αὐτῷ) σοφία τις εἶναι ὑπερκόσμιος, κατασκοποῦσα τῆς παιδιᾶς τὸ μυστήριον· Ῥεβέκκαν δὲ ἑρμηνεύουσιν ὑπομονήν. ὢ τῆς φρονίμου παιδιᾶς, γέλως [καὶ] διʼ ὑπομονῆς βοηθούμενος καὶ ἔφορος ὁ βασιλεύς. ἀγαλλιᾶται τὸ πνεῦμα τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ παιδίων ἐν ὑπομονῇ πολιτευομένων καὶ αὕτη ἡ θεία παιδιά. τοιαύτην τινὰ παίζειν παιδιὰν τὸν ἑαυτοῦ Δία Ἡράκλειτος λέγει.
English · Claude translation
What has shared in eternity tends to be made like the incorruptible, so that for us the name of childhood is the springtime of our whole life, because the truth in us is ageless, and our character is steeped in that truth. And wisdom is ever-blooming, always remaining the same and unchanging, never altering. “Their children,” it says, “shall be carried on shoulders and comforted on knees; as a mother comforts someone, so will I comfort you.” The mother draws her children to her, and we seek our mother, the church. Everything weak and tender, since it needs help because of its weakness, is welcome, sweet, and delightful, since God does not refuse help to such an age. For as fathers and mothers take more pleasure in seeing the foals of horses, the little calves of cattle, the lion's cub, the fawn of the deer, and the human child, so the Father of all things welcomes those who have fled to him; and having regenerated them by the Spirit to adoption, he knows them as gentle, and loves these alone, and helps them, and fights for them; and so he names them “child.” I also refer Isaac to the child. Isaac means “laughter.” The curious king saw him playing with his wife and helper, Rebecca. The king (Abimelech was his name) seems to me to be a certain supramundane wisdom, spying on the mystery of the play; and they interpret Rebecca as “patience.” O the wise play! Laughter helped by patience, and the king watching over it! The spirit of the children in Christ, who live in patience, rejoices; and this is the divine play. Heraclitus says that his Zeus plays such a game.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Isa 66:12–13. Clement's etymologies (Isaac “laughter,” Rebecca “patience”) follow Philo; the first is correct, the second is not. The story is Gen 26:8. Heraclitus, fragment 52, says that time (or the ages) is a child playing.
- The digital text repeats part of the Isaiah quotation; the repetition is removed (see corrections).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (part of the quotation of Isa 66:13 repeated in the digital text (dittography)): οὕτως κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς παρακληθήσονται· ὡς εἴ τινα μήτηρ παρακαλέσει, οὕτως κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς παρακαλέσω → οὕτως κἀγὼ ὑμᾶς παρακαλέσω.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.5.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/5/21/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.5.21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/5/21/).
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