Miscellanies 4.19.118
Summary: Perfection belongs equally to men and women: Moses offered to be blotted out for his people, and Judith, perfected among women, risked her life for her city and slew Holofernes.
Greek text · Stählin 2:300
Ταύτης τοι τῆς τελειότητος ἔξεστιν ἐπʼ ἴσης μὲν ἀνδρί, ἐπʼ ἴσης δὲ καὶ γυναικὶ μεταλαβεῖν. αὐτίκα οὐχ ὁ Μωυσῆς μόνος, ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ· λελάληκα πρὸς σὲ ἅπαξ καὶ δὶς λέγων· ἑώρακα τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ἰδού ἐστι σκληροτράχηλος· ἔασόν με ἐξολοθρεῦσαι αὐτούς, καὶ ἐξαλείψω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτῶν ὑποκάτωθεν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ θαυμαστὸν καὶ πολὺ μᾶλλον ἢ τοῦτο ἀποκρίνεται δεόμενος μὴ τὸ ἑαυτοῦ σκοπῶν, ἀλλὰ τὴν κοινὴν σωτηρίαν· μηδαμῶς, κύριε, ἄφες τὴν ἁμαρτίαν τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ, ἢ κἀμὲ ἐξάλειψον ἐκ βίβλου ζώντων. ὅση τελειότης τοῦ συναποθανεῖν ἐθελήσαντος τῷ λαῷ ἢ σῴζεσθαι μόνος. ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰουδὶθ ἡ ἐν γυναιξὶ τελειωθεῖσα ἐν συγκλεισμῷ τῆς πόλεως γενομένης δεηθεῖσα τῶν πρεσβυτέρων εἰς μὲν τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐξέρχεται, τοῦ παντὸς καταφρονήσασα κινδύνου, ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος ἑαυτὴν ἐπιδοῦσα τοῖς πολεμίοις ἐν πίστει θεοῦ· λαμβάνει δʼ εὐθὺς τἀπίχειρα τῆς πίστεως ἀριστεύσασα γυνὴ κατὰ τοῦ πολεμίου τῆς πίστεως, κυρία τῆς Ὁλοφέρνου γενομένη κεφαλῆς.
English · Claude translation
This perfection, then, may be shared equally by man and equally by woman. For example, not Moses alone, having heard from God, “I have spoken to you once and twice, saying: I have seen this people, and behold, it is stiff-necked. Let me destroy them, and I will blot out their name from under heaven and make you a great and marvelous nation, much more than this one,” answers, praying, not considering his own interest but the common salvation: “By no means, Lord; forgive this people their sin, or blot me too out of the book of the living.” How great the perfection of one who wished to die with the people rather than be saved alone! But Judith too, perfected among women, when the city was besieged, having asked the elders, went out into the camp of the foreigners, despising all danger, giving herself up to the enemy for her country in faith in God; and at once she received the reward of her faith, a woman who excelled against the enemy of faith, becoming master of the head of Holofernes.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Deut 9:13–14 and Exod 32:31–32 (combined), and Jdt 8–13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): ἐπʼ ἴσης μὲν ἀνδρί. ἐπʼ ἴσης δὲ → ἐπʼ ἴσης μὲν ἀνδρί, ἐπʼ ἴσης δὲ; οὐχ ὁ Μωυσῆς μόνος. ἀκούσας → οὐχ ὁ Μωυσῆς μόνος, ἀκούσας.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.19.118 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/19/118/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.19.118 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/19/118/).
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