The Instructor 1.9.84
Summary: The Word, the good Shepherd, binds, heals, and seeks his sheep, feeds them on the holy mountain of the church, and will clothe their flesh with incorruption.
Greek text · Stählin 1:139
τὸ ὀφειλόμενον τῷ πυρί. ἐξὸν δέ, εἰ βούλεσθε, τοῦ παναγίου ποιμένος καὶ παιδαγωγοῦ, τοῦ παντοκράτορος καὶ πατρικοῦ λόγου, τὴν ἄκραν σοφίαν καταμανθάνειν ἡμῖν, ἔνθα ἀλληγορεῖ, ποιμένα ἑαυτὸν προβάτων λέγων· ἔστι δὲ παιδαγωγὸς νηπίων. φησὶν γοῦν διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ πρὸς τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ἀποταθεὶς καί τινα αὐτοῖς σωτήριον παρατιθέμενος εὐλόγου φροντίδος ὑπογραμμόν· »καὶ τὸ χωλὸν καταδήσω καὶ τὸ ὀχλούμενον ἰάσομαι καὶ τὸ πλανώμενον ἐπιστρέψω καὶ βοσκήσω αὐτοὺς ἐγὼ εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ ἅγιόν μου.« ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἀγαθοῦ ποιμένος ἐπαγγέλματα· βόσκησον ἡμᾶς τοὺς νηπίους ὡς πρόβατα. ναί, δέσποτα, τῆς σῆς πλήρωσον νομῆς, τῆς δικαιοσύνης· ναί, παιδαγωγέ, ποίμανον ἡμᾶς εἰς τὸ ἅγιόν σου ὄρος, πρὸς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, τὴν ὑψωμένην, τὴν ὑπερνεφῆ, τὴν ἁπτομένην οὐρανῶν. »καὶ ἔσομαι«, φησίν, »αὐτῶν ποιμὴν καὶ ἔσομαι ἐγγὺς αὐτῶν« ὡς ὁ χιτὼν τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτῶν· σῶσαι βούλεταί μου τὴν σάρκα, περιβαλὼν τὸν χιτῶνα τῆς ἀφθαρσίας, καὶ τὸν χρῶτά μου κέχρικεν. »καλέσουσί με«, φησί, »καὶ ἐρῶ· ἰδοὺ πάρειμι.« θᾶττον ὑπήκουσας ἢ προσεδόκησα, δέσποτα· »καὶ ἐὰν διαβαίνωσιν, οὐκ ὀλισθήσουσι, λέγει κύριος.« οὐ γὰρ πεσούμεθα εἰς φθορὰν οἱ διαβαίνοντες εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν, ὅτι ἀνθέξεται ἡμῶν αὐτός· ἔφη γὰρ αὐτὸς καὶ ἠθέλησεν αὐτός.
English · Claude translation
the chaff due to the fire. If you will, we may learn the supreme wisdom of the all-holy Shepherd and Instructor, the almighty Word of the Father, where he speaks figuratively, calling himself shepherd of sheep; he is the Instructor of infants. He says through Ezekiel, addressing the elders and setting before them a saving model of wise care: “And I will bind up the lame, and heal the afflicted, and turn back the one that wanders, and I myself will feed them on my holy mountain.” These are the promises of a good shepherd. Feed us infants like sheep. Yes, Master, fill us with your pasture, righteousness; yes, Instructor, shepherd us to your holy mountain, the church, which is exalted above the clouds and touches the heavens. “And I will be their shepherd,” he says, “and I will be near them,” as the tunic to their skin. He wishes to save my flesh, clothing it with the tunic of incorruption, and he has anointed my skin. “They will call me,” he says, “and I will say, Here I am.” You heard more quickly than I expected, Master! “And if they pass through, they will not slip, says the Lord.” For we who pass over to incorruption will not fall into corruption, because he himself will hold us up; for he himself said it, and he himself willed it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Ezek 34:16, 14; Ezek 34:23 and 34:30 (loosely, “I will be near them”); and Isa 58:9. The last quotation (“if they pass through, they will not slip”) has not been identified. “The tunic of incorruption” refers to the resurrection of the flesh and perhaps to the baptismal garment.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.9.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/9/84/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.9.84 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/9/84/).
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