The Instructor 2.7.57 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 1:191–192

πρεσβῦται δὲ ὡς τέκνα ἀφορῶντες τοὺς νέους σπανιαίτατα μέν, ἴσως δʼ ἄν που καὶ παίξαιεν πρὸς αὐτούς, εἰς τοῦτο ἐπισκώπτοντες, ὃ παιδαγωγήσει τὸ εὔσχημον αὐτῶν. ἀμέλει πρὸς τὸν αἰσχυντηλὸν καὶ σιωπηλὸν ἔστι χαριεντίσασθαι ὧδέ πως· ὁ δὲ ἐμὸς υἱός, ἐκεῖνον λέγω τὸν σιωπῶντα, οὐ παύεται λαλῶν. ἐπιτείνει γὰρ τοῦ νέου τὴν αἰδῶ ἡ τοιαύτη ἐπίσκωψις ἐμφαίνουσα χαριέντως τὰ προσόντα αὐτῷ χρηστὰ διὰ τῆς τῶν φαύλων, ἃ μὴ πρόσεστιν αὐτῷ, διαβολῆς· ἐπίνοια γὰρ καὶ αὐτὴ διδασκαλικὴ διὰ τοῦ μὴ προσόντος κυροῦσα τὸ προσόν. ἀμέλει τοιοῦτόν τι ἐπικρίνει ὁ τὸν ὑδροπότην καὶ σώφρονα παροινεῖν καὶ μεθύειν λέγων. εἰ δὲ καὶ εἶέν τινες οἱ φιλοσκώμμονες, σιωπητέον ἡμῖν καὶ παραπεμπτέον τοὺς λόγους τοὺς περιττούς, ὥσπερ τὰς κύλικας τὰς πεπληρωμένας· ἐπισφαλὴς γὰρ ἡ τοιαύτη παιδιά· »στόμα δὲ προπετοῦς ἐγγίζει συντριβῇ·« »οὐ παραδέξῃ δὲ ἀκοὴν ματαίαν οὐδὲ συγκαταθήσῃ μετὰ τοῦ ἀδίκου γενέσθαι μάρτυς ἄδικος« οὔτε εἰς διαβολὰς οὔτε εἰς βλασφημίας, ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ εἰς

English · Claude translation

Old men, regarding the young as children, may very rarely perhaps jest with them, teasing them in a way that will train their decorum. For instance, one may joke with a bashful and silent youth like this: “This son of mine,” I mean the silent one, “never stops talking.” Such teasing heightens the young man's modesty, gracefully showing the good qualities he has by charging him with bad ones he does not have; for this device too is instructive, confirming what is there by what is not. Such is the judgment of one who says that the water-drinker and self-controlled man is a drunken reveler. And if there are some who love to mock, we must keep silent and pass by superfluous words, as we pass by full cups; for such play is dangerous. “The mouth of the rash draws near to ruin.” “You shall not receive an idle report, nor agree with the unjust to become an unjust witness,” neither for slander nor for blasphemy, nor for

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:191–192 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), 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 Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.

Scripture

Prov 10:14 · quotation, high confidence
Exod 23:1 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

The quotations are Prov 10:14 and Exod 23:1. The sentence continues in the next section.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter missing in the digital text): τὰς πεπλρωμένας → τὰς πεπληρωμένας.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/57/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.7.57 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/7/57/).