Miscellanies 3.1.2
Summary: The Basilidians read “better to marry than to burn” as advice not to wear out the soul in struggle; Isidore counsels marriage for those who cannot pray free of desire, and otherwise brotherly help.
Greek text · Stählin 2:196
καὶ τὸ ἄμεινον γαμῆσαι ἢ πυροῦσθαι μὴ εἰς πῦρ ἐμβάλῃς τὴν ψυχήν σου λέγειν τὸν ἀπόστολον, νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας ἀντέχων καὶ φοβούμενος μὴ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἀποτίσῃς· πρὸς γὰρ τὸ ἀντέχειν γενομένη ψυχὴ μερίζεται τῆς ἐλπίδος. ἀντέχου τοίνυν, φησὶ κατὰ λέξιν ὁ Ἰσίδωρος ἐν τοῖς Ἠθικοῖς, μαχίμης γυναικός, ἵνα μὴ ἀποσπασθῇς τῆς χάριτος τοῦ θεοῦ, τό τε πῦρ ἀποσπερματίσας εὐσυνειδήτως προσεύχου. ὅταν δὲ ἡ εὐχαριστία σου, φησίν, εἰς αἴτησιν ὑποπέσῃ καὶ αἰτῇς τὸ λοιπὸν οὐ κατορθῶσαι, ἀλλὰ μὴ σφαλῆναι, γάμησον. ἀλλὰ νέος τίς ἐστιν ἢ πένης ἢ κατωφερὴς καὶ οὐ θέλει γῆμαι κατὰ τὸν λόγον, οὗτος τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ μὴ χωριζέσθω· λεγέτω ὅτι εἰσελήλυθα ἐγὼ εἰς τὰ ἅγια, οὐδὲν δύναμαι παθεῖν· ἐὰν δὲ ὑπόνοιαν ἔχῃ, εἰπάτω· ἀδελφέ, ἐπίθες μοι τὴν χεῖρα, ἵνα μὴ ἁμαρτήσω· καὶ λήψεται βοήθειαν καὶ νοητὴν καὶ αἰσθητήν. θελησάτω μόνον ἀπαρτίσαι τὸ καλὸν καὶ ἐπιτεύξεται.
English · Claude translation
And they say the apostle's words, “It is better to marry than to burn,” mean: do not throw your soul into the fire, holding out night and day and fearing lest you fall from self-control; for a soul given over to holding out is cut off from hope. “Hold fast, then,” says Isidore word for word in his Ethics, “to a woman who will fight with you, so that you may not be torn away from the grace of God; and when you have discharged the fire in seed, pray with a good conscience. But when your thanksgiving,” he says, “sinks to a petition, and you ask henceforth not that you may do right but that you may not stumble, marry. But suppose someone is young, or poor, or inclined to sensuality, and does not wish to marry according to the word; let him not separate from his brother. Let him say, ‘I have entered into the holy things; I can suffer nothing.’ And if he has a suspicion, let him say, ‘Brother, lay your hand on me, so that I may not sin’; and he will receive help both spiritual and sensible. Let him only wish to accomplish what is good, and he will attain it.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotation is 1 Cor 7:9. The quotation from Isidore's Ethics, preserved only here, is obscure in places; “hold fast to a woman who will fight with you” (ἀντέχου … μαχίμης γυναικός) is disputed and may mean “resist a quarrelsome woman.” The printed μὴ τῆς ἐγκρατείας ἀποτίσῃς is doubtful Greek; the sense “fall from self-control” is assumed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (accent: grave on ἢ): ἢ πένης ἤ κατωφερὴς → ἢ πένης ἢ κατωφερὴς.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/1/2/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.1.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/1/2/).
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