Miscellanies 2.15.68
Summary: Another teacher applied Psalm 1 to evil opinions, the broad way, and fellowship with destructive powers; Peter's Preaching calls the Lord Law and Word; the food laws also teach avoidance of sins in word, deed, and thought.
Greek text · Stählin 2:149
ἕτερος δὲ κυριώτερον ἔλεγεν τὸν μὲν πρῶτον μακαρισμὸν τετάχθαι ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ κατακολουθησάντων ταῖς γνώμαις ταῖς πονηραῖς, ταῖς ἀποστατησάσαις τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν δεύτερον δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν τῇ εὐρυχώρῳ καὶ πλατείᾳ ὁδῷ οὐκ ἐμμενόντων, ἢ τῶν ἐν νόμῳ τραφέντων ἢ καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν μετανενοηκότων· καθέδρα δὲ λοιμῶν καὶ τὰ θέατρα καὶ τὰ δικαστήρια εἴη ἂν ἤ, ὅπερ καὶ μᾶλλον, ἡ ἐξακολούθησις ταῖς πονηραῖς καὶ ταῖς λυμαντικαῖς ἐξουσίαις καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν κοινωνία. ἀλλʼ ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ· ὁ Πέτρος ἐν τῷ Κηρύγματι νόμον καὶ λόγον τὸν κύριον προσεῖπεν. δοκεῖ καὶ ἄλλως τριῶν ἀποχὴν ἁμαρτίας τρόπων διδάσκειν ὁ νομοθέτης, τῶν μὲν ἐν λόγῳ διὰ τῶν ἰχθύων τῶν ἀναύδων· ἔστι γὰρ τῷ ὄντι οὗ σιγὴ λόγου διαφέρει· ἔστι καὶ σιγῆς ἀκίνδυνον γέρας· τῶν δὲ ἐν ἔργῳ διὰ τῶν ἁρπακτικῶν καὶ σαρκοβόρων ὀρνέων· χοῖρος βορβόρῳ ἥδεται καὶ κόπρῳ·
English · Claude translation
Another said more properly that the first blessing is set down for those who have not followed the evil opinions that have fallen away from God; the second for those who do not remain on the broad and wide way, whether those brought up in the law or those from the Gentiles who have repented; while “the seat of the pestilent” would be the theaters and the law courts, or, what is more likely, following the evil and destructive powers and sharing in their works. “But his will is in the law of the Lord.” Peter, in the Preaching, called the Lord “Law and Word.” The lawgiver also seems to teach, in another way, abstinence from three kinds of sin: sins in word, through the voiceless fish (for there is indeed a case where silence is better than speech; “there is also a safe reward for silence”); sins in deed, through the rapacious and flesh-eating birds; the pig delights in mud and dung,
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The digital text lacks θεοῦ (“God”) after τοῦ; it is supplied. The quotations and allusions are Matt 7:13, Ps 1:2, the Preaching of Peter, and Simonides (fragment 66, “a safe reward for silence”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word missing in the digital text): ταῖς ἀποστατησάσαις τοῦ, → ταῖς ἀποστατησάσαις τοῦ θεοῦ,.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.15.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/15/68/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.15.68 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/15/68/).
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