The Instructor 3.4.29
Summary: Scripture warns against letting just anyone into the house; rich women surround themselves with effeminate men who are servants of adultery and lewdness.
Greek text · Stählin 1:253
πολλοὶ δὲ οἱ τῆς ἑταιρικῆς διάκονοι ἀκολασίας ἄλλος ἄλλοθεν παρεισδύοντες· εὐεπίφοροι γὰρ οἱ ἀκόλαστοι πρὸς τὴν ἀσέλγειαν καθάπερ οἱ χοῖροι πρὸς τὸ καταδυόμενον τοῦ σκάφους ἐπιφερόμενοι. ὅθεν ἐρρωμενέστατα ἡ γραφὴ παραινεῖ· »μὴ πάντα ἄνθρωπον εἴσαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου, πολλὰ γὰρ τὰ ἔνεδρα τοῦ δολίου·« ἀλλαχοῦ δὲ »ἄνδρες δίκαιοι« φησὶν »ἔστωσαν σύνδειπνοί σου, καὶ ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου τὸ καύχημά σου διαμενεῖ.« ἐς κόρακας ἡ πορνεία· »εὖ γὰρ τοῦτο ἴστε«, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος, »ὅτι πᾶς πόρνος ἢ πλεονέκτης, ὅς ἐστιν εἰδωλολάτρης, οὐκ ἔχει κληρονομίαν ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ.« αἳ δὲ ἀνδρογύνων συνουσίαις ἥδονται, παρεισρέουσι δὲ ἔνδον κιναίδων ὄχλοι ἀθυρόγλωσσοι, μιαροὶ μὲν τὰ σώματα, μιαροὶ δὲ τὰ φθέγματα, εἰς ὑπουργίας ἀκολάστους ἠνδρωμένοι, μοιχείας διάκονοι, κιχλίζοντες καὶ ψιθυρίζοντες καὶ τὸ πορνικὸν ἀνέδην εἰς ἀσέλγειαν διὰ ῥινῶν ἐπιψοφοῦντες ἐπικιναίδισμα, ἀκολάστοις ῥήμασι καὶ σχήμασι τέρπειν πειρώμενοι καὶ εἰς γέλωτα ἐκκαλούμενοι πορνείας πρόδρομον· ἔστι δʼ ὅτε καὶ ὑπεκκαιόμενοι διὰ τὴν τυχοῦσαν ὀργήν, ἤτοι πόρνοι αὐτοὶ ἢ καὶ κιναίδων ὄχλον εἰς ὄλεθρον ἐζηλωκότες, ἐπικροτοῦσι τῇ ῥινὶ βατράχων
English · Claude translation
Many are the servants of courtesan-like licentiousness, creeping in from every side; for the licentious are prone to lewdness, like pigs rushing to a sinking boat. So Scripture most strongly advises: “Do not bring every man into your house, for the snares of the deceitful are many”; and elsewhere it says, “Let righteous men be your companions at table, and your boast will remain in the fear of the Lord.” To the crows with sexual immorality! “For know this well,” says the apostle, “that every fornicator or covetous person, who is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Those women who enjoy the company of effeminate men let in crowds of catamites with unbridled tongues, foul in body, foul in speech, made men for licentious services, servants of adultery, giggling and whispering and snorting through their noses the whorish sound of lewdness, trying to please with licentious words and postures and to provoke laughter, the forerunner of sexual immorality. And sometimes, inflamed by some chance anger, being fornicators themselves or emulating a crowd of catamites to their ruin, they rattle with their noses like frogs,
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Sir 11:29, Sir 9:16, and Eph 5:5. The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.4.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/4/29/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.4.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/4/29/).
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