Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 3.7.58

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: In marriage, food, and all else we should act by will, not desire; the husband who marries for children should love his wife but beget them with a reverent will, walking decently as in the day.

Greek text · Stählin 2:222–223

καθόλου δὲ ἡμῖν προΐτω ὁ λόγος περί τε γάμου περί τε τροφῆς καὶ τῶν ἄλλων, μηδὲν κατʼ ἐπιθυμίαν ποιεῖν, θέλειν δὲ μόνα ἐκεῖνα τὰ ἀναγκαῖα. οὐ γάρ ἐσμεν ἐπιθυμίας τέκνα, ἀλλὰ θελήματος. καὶ τὸν ἐπὶ παιδοποιίᾳ γήμαντα ἐγκράτειαν ἀσκεῖν χρή, ὡς μηδʼ ἐπιθυμεῖν τῆς γυναικὸς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ, ἣν ἀγαπᾶν ὀφείλει, σεμνῷ καὶ σώφρονι παιδοποιούμενος θελήματι. οὐ γὰρ τῆς σαρκὸς πρόνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι εἰς ἐπιθυμίας ἐμάθομεν, εὐσχημόνως δὲ ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ, τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῇ κυριακῇ τῇ φωτεινῇ ἀγωγῇ, περιπατοῦντες, μὴ κώμοις καὶ μέθαις, μὴ κοίταις καὶ ἀσελγείαις, μὴ ἔρισι καὶ ζήλοις.

English · Claude translation

In general, let our account go forward about marriage, food, and the rest: to do nothing from desire, but to will only what is necessary. For we are children not of desire but of will. And the one who has married for the begetting of children must practice self-control, so as not even to desire his own wife, whom he ought to love, begetting children with a reverent and self-restrained will. For we have learned not to make provision for the flesh to fulfill its desires, but to walk decently as in the day, in Christ and in the Lord's enlightened way of life, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in strife and jealousy.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:222–223 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1906–1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Marriage, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations and allusions are John 1:13 and Rom 13:13–14. Clement's ideal of marital intercourse without desire is his own strict view.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.7.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/7/58/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 3.7.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/3/7/58/).

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