Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 24.2

Clement of Alexandria · Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? · ca. 190–210 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Whatever causes one to stumble, even an eye or life itself, must be given up for Christ's sake, to be saved in the life to come.

Greek text · Stählin 3:175

μίσησον, ἀπόταξαι, φύγε· »κἂν ὁ δέξιός σου ὀφθαλμὸς σκανδαλίζῃ σε. ταχέως ἔκκοψον αὐτόν·« αἱρετώτερον ἑτεροφθάλμῳ βασιλεία θεοῦ ἢ ὁλοκλήρῳ τὸ πῦρ· κἂν χεὶρ κἂν ποὺς κἂν ἡ ψυχή, μίσησον αὐτήν. ἂν γὰρ ἐνταῦθα ἀπόληται ὑπὲρ Χριστοῦ, ἐκεῖ σωθήσεται.

English · Claude translation

hate it, renounce it, flee it. “Even if your right eye causes you to stumble, cut it out quickly”; the kingdom of God with one eye is preferable to the fire with both. Whether it is a hand, a foot, or your own life, hate it; for if it perishes here for Christ's sake, it will be saved there.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:175 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), 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), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Ethics, Eschatology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions are Matt 5:29–30 (18:8–9; Mark 9:43–47), Luke 14:26, and Matt 10:39 (16:25).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 24.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/24/2/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 24.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/24/2/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage