Miscellanies 1.29.181
Summary: Hermas says revelations are given for the double-minded; learning strengthens the wavering; Scripture calls the law a light, and Pindar and Hesiod, guessing, speak of the divine lawgiver who gave justice to humans.
Greek text · Stählin 2:111
θείως τοίνυν ἡ δύναμις ἡ τῷ Ἑρμᾷ κατὰ ἀποκάλυψιν λαλοῦσα τὰ ὁράματα φησὶ καὶ τὰ ἀποκαλύμματα διὰ τοὺς διψύχους, τοὺς διαλογιζομένους ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις αὐτῶν, εἰ ἄρα ἔστι ταῦτα ἢ οὐκ ἔστιν. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ αἱ ἐκ τῆς πολυμαθοῦς περιουσίας ἀποδείξεις ἰσχυροποιοῦσι καὶ βεβαιοῦσι καὶ θεμελιοῦσι τοὺς λόγους τοὺς ἀποδεικτικούς, ὅσον ἔτι αἱ αὐτῶν ὡς νέων φρένες ἠερέθονται. λαμπτὴρ ἄρα ἐντολὴ ἀγαθή, κατὰ τὴν γραφήν, νόμος δὲ φῶς ὁδοῦ· ὁδοὺς γὰρ βιότητος ἐλέγχει παιδεία. νόμος ὁ πάντων βασιλεὺς θνατῶν τε καὶ ἀθανάτων, λέγει Πίνδαρος. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸν θέμενον τὸν νόμον διὰ τούτων ἐξακούω καὶ τό γε Ἡσιόδειον ἐπὶ τοῦ πάντων λελέχθαι θεοῦ λαμβάνω, εἰ καὶ στοχαστικῶς εἴρηται τῷ ποιητῇ, ἀλλʼ οὐ καταληπτικῶς· τόνδε γὰρ ἀνθρώποισι νόμον διέταξε Κρονίων, ἰχθύσι μὲν καὶ θηρσὶ καὶ οἰωνοῖς πετεηνοῖς, ἐσθέμεν ἀλλήλους, ἐπεὶ οὐ δίκη ἐστὶ μετʼ αὐτῶν· ἀνθρώποισι δʼ ἔδωκε δίκην, ἣ πολλὸν ἀρίστη.
English · Claude translation
Divinely, then, the power that spoke to Hermas by revelation says: “The visions and revelations are for the double-minded, who reason in their hearts whether these things are or are not.” Likewise the demonstrations from abundant learning strengthen, confirm, and establish the demonstrative arguments, as long as the minds of such people, like those of the young, are fluttering. “The commandment is a lamp,” according to Scripture, “and the law a light for the way; for instruction reproves the ways of life.” “Law, king of all, mortals and immortals,” says Pindar. I understand by these words the one who gave the law, and I take Hesiod's saying too as said of the God of all, even if the poet said it by guesswork and not with understanding: “For this law the son of Cronus ordained for men: fish, beasts, and winged birds should eat one another, since there is no justice among them; but to men he gave justice, which is by far the best.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Hermas, Vision 3.4.3, Homer, Iliad 3.108 (“fluttering”), Prov 6:23, Pindar (fragment 169), and Hesiod, Works and Days 276–279.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.29.181 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/29/181/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.29.181 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/29/181/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text