The Instructor 3.9.48
Summary: The best washing is spiritual, cleansing the inside first, as the Lord taught and Isaiah prophesied; the body can be washed with plain water.
Greek text · Stählin 1:264
καὶ πάλιν τοῖς αὐτοῖς φησιν· »οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, ὅτι καθαρίζετε τὸ ἔξω τοῦ ποτηρίου καὶ τῆς παροψίδος, ἔνδοθεν δὲ γέμουσιν ἀκαθαρσίας. καθάρισον πρῶτον τὸ ἔνδον τοῦ ποτηρίου, ἵνα γένηται καὶ τὸ ἔξωθεν καθαρόν.« τὸ μὲν οὖν ἄριστον λουτρὸν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀποσμήχει τὸν ῥύπον καί ἐστι πνευματικόν, ἐφʼ οὗ διαρρήδην ἡ προφητεία λέγει· »ἐκπλυνεῖ κύριος τὸν ῥύπον τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῶν θυγατέρων Ἰσραήλ, καὶ καθαριεῖ τὸ αἷμα ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν«, τὸ αἷμα τῆς ἀνομίας καὶ τῶν προφητῶν τοὺς φόνους. καὶ τὸν τρόπον τῆς καθάρσεως ἐπήγαγεν ὁ λόγος εἰπών· »ἐν πνεύματι κρίσεως καὶ ἐν πνεύματι καύσεως.« τὸ δὲ τοῦ σώματος τὸ σαρκικὸν καὶ διὰ μόνου ὕδατος ἀποπληροῦται, καθάπερ ἐν ἀγροῖς γίνεται πολλάκις, ὅπου βαλανεῖον οὐκ ἔστιν.
English · Claude translation
And again he says to the same people: “Woe to you, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of uncleanness. Clean first the inside of the cup, so that the outside also may become clean.” The best bath, then, wipes off the filth of the soul and is spiritual; of it prophecy says expressly: “The Lord will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Israel, and will cleanse the blood from their midst,” the blood of lawlessness and the murders of the prophets. And the Word added the manner of cleansing, saying: “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The fleshly washing of the body is accomplished even by water alone, as often happens in the country, where there is no bath.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Matt 23:25–26 and Isa 4:4.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.9.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/9/48/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.9.48 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/9/48/).
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