Miscellanies 2.16.73
Summary: God makes our joy his own without being changed, as Christ is fed in the least of his brothers; God shows mercy richly through the law, the prophets, and the Son, and only God, the greater, truly shows mercy to us.
Greek text · Stählin 2:151–152
ἐπεὶ τοίνυν βούλημά ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ σῴζεσθαι τὸν ταῖς ἐντολαῖς πειθήνιον τόν τε ἐκ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων μετανοοῦντα, χαίρομεν δὲ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ ἡμῶν, τὸ χαρτὸν ἡμῶν ἐξιδιοποιήσατο ὁ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν λαλήσας κύριος, καθάπερ ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ φιλανθρώπως λέγων· ἐπείνασα καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν, ἐδίψησα καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι πιεῖν· ὃ γὰρ ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων πεποιήκατε, ἐμοὶ πεποιήκατε. ὥσπερ οὖν τρέφεται μὴ τρεφόμενος διὰ τὸ τεθράφθαι ὅνπερ βούλεται, οὕτως ἐχάρη μὴ τραπεὶς διὰ τὸ ἐν χαρᾷ γεγονέναι τὸν μετανενοηκότα ὡς ἐβούλετο. ἐπεὶ δὲ πλουσίως ἐλεεῖ ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς τάς τε ἐντολὰς διδοὺς διὰ νόμου, διὰ προφητῶν καὶ προσεχέστερον ἤδη διὰ τῆς τοῦ υἱοῦ παρουσίας σῴζων καὶ ἐλεῶν, ὡς εἴρηται, τοὺς ἠλεημένους, κυρίως τε ἐλεεῖ ὁ κρείττων τὸν ἐλάσσω, καὶ κρείττων μὲν ἄνθρωπος ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἂν εἴη, καθὸ ἄνθρωπος πέφυκεν, κρείττων δὲ ὁ θεὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατὰ πάντα, εἰ τοίνυν ὁ κρείττων τὸν ἥσσω ἐλεεῖ, μόνος ἡμᾶς ὁ θεὸς ἐλεήσει. κοινωνικὸς μὲν γὰρ ἄνθρωπος ὑπὸ δικαιοσύνης γίνεται καὶ μεταδίδωσιν ὧν ἔλαβεν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ διά τε φυσικὴν εὔνοιαν καὶ σχέσιν διά τε τὰς ἐντολὰς αἷς πείθεται·
English · Claude translation
Since, then, it is the will of God that the one who obeys the commandments and the one who repents of his sins should be saved, and we rejoice at our salvation, the Lord who spoke through the prophets has made our joy his own, as in the Gospel he says in his love for humankind: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink. For what you have done to one of these least, you have done to me.” As, then, he is fed without being fed, because the one he wishes has been fed, so he rejoiced without being changed, because the one who repented has come to be in joy, as he wished. And since God, being good, shows mercy richly, giving the commandments through the law and the prophets, and more closely now through the coming of the Son, saving and showing mercy, as has been said, to those who have received mercy; and since properly the greater shows mercy to the lesser, and a man could not be greater than a man, insofar as he is a man, but God is greater than man in every way; if, then, the greater shows mercy to the lesser, God alone will show us mercy. For a man becomes sociable through righteousness and shares what he has received from God, both through natural goodwill and relationship and through the commandments he obeys.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is Matt 25:35, 40 (a free form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on ὢν; words repeated in the digital text): βούλημά ἐστι τοῦ ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ → βούλημά ἐστι τοῦ θεοῦ; ἐλεεῖ ἀγαθὸς ὤν ὁ θεὸς → ἐλεεῖ ἀγαθὸς ὢν ὁ θεὸς.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.16.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/16/73/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.16.73 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/16/73/).
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