The Instructor 3.9.47
Summary: Bathing should be moderate and occasional, not luxurious; above all the soul must be washed by the Word, lest we be like the whitewashed tombs the Lord condemned.
Greek text · Stählin 1:263–264
καὶ τῆς στομώσεως τοῦ ψυχροῦ δεόμεθα. οὐδὲ μὴν ἑκάστοτε λουτέον, ἀλλʼ εἴτε λίαν τις εἴη κενὸς ἢ αὖ πλήρης ἄγαν, παραιτητέον τὸ βαλανεῖον· ναὶ μὴν κατὰ τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἡλικίαν καὶ τοῦ ἔτους τὴν ὥραν· οὐ γὰρ πάντας [ἀεὶ] οὐδὲ ἀεὶ ὀνίνησιν, ὡς οἱ περὶ ταῦτα σοφοὶ ὁμολογοῦσιν. ἡμῖν δὲ ἀπόχρη ἡ συμμετρία, ἣν πανταχοῦ βοηθὸν ἐπικαλούμεθα τῷ βίῳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ τοσοῦτον ἐνδιατριπτέον τῷ βαλανείῳ ὡς δεῖσθαι χειραγωγοῦ, οὐδὲ συνεχῶς καὶ πολλάκις τῆς ἡμέρας λούεσθαι καθάπερ εἰς ἀγορὰν θαμίζοντας. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ὑπὸ πλειόνων οἰκετῶν καταιονεῖσθαι ἐξυβρίζειν ἐστὶν εἰς τοὺς πλησίον, πλεονεκτούντων τῇ τρυφῇ καὶ συνιέναι μὴ ἐθελόντων, ὡς κοινὸν ἐπʼ ἴσης εἶναι τῶν λουομένων τὸ βαλανεῖον δεῖν. λούειν δὲ δεῖ μάλιστα μὲν τὴν ψυχὴν καθαρσίῳ λόγῳ, καὶ τὸ σῶμα δὲ ἔσθʼ ὅτε διὰ τὴν ἄσιν τὴν ἐπιφυομένην αὐτῷ, οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ἔσθʼ ὅτε καὶ ὑπεκλύειν τοὺς καμάτους. »οὐαὶ γὰρ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί,« φησὶν ὁ κύριος, »ὅτι ὅμοιοί ἐστε τάφοις κεκονιαμένοις· ἔξωθεν ὁ τάφος φαίνεται ὡραῖος, ἔνδον δὲ γέμει ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας.«
English · Claude translation
and tempering, we need cold water. We should not bathe on every occasion, but should avoid the bath if one is very empty or very full; and also according to the age of the body and the season of the year; for it does not benefit all, nor always, as those skilled in these matters agree. For us moderation is enough, which we call on everywhere as a help in life. We should not stay so long in the bath as to need someone to lead us out by the hand, nor bathe continually and many times a day, frequenting it like the market. And to be doused by many servants is an insult to our neighbors, since it takes more for luxury and refuses to understand that the bath should be common to all bathers equally. We must wash above all the soul with the cleansing Word, and the body sometimes, because of the dirt that grows on it, and sometimes also to relieve fatigue. “For woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,” says the Lord, “for you are like whitewashed tombs; outwardly the tomb appears beautiful, but inside it is full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Matt 23:27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing space in the digital text; stray space before the closing quotation mark): πολλάκιςτῆς ἡμέρας → πολλάκις τῆς ἡμέρας; αί, « → αί,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.9.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/9/47/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.9.47 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/9/47/).
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