1 Clement 40.5

Clement of Rome · 1 Clement · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Rome · Read in context

Summary: In Israel's worship each order had its own role.

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Greek text · Lake, LCL 24:78

τῷ γὰρ ἀρχιερεῖ ἴδιαι λειτουργίαι δεδομέναι εἰσίν, καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν ἴδιος ὁ τόπος προστέτακται, καὶ Λευΐταις ἴδιαι διακονίαι ἐπίκεινται· ὁ λαϊκὸς ἄνθρωπος τοῖς λαϊκοῖς προστάγμασιν δέδεται.

English · Claude translation

For to the high priest his own services have been given, and to the priests their own place has been assigned, and on the Levites their own ministries are laid; the layman is bound by the ordinances for laymen.

About this passage

Source: Lake, LCL 24:78 · Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 8–121 · Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912-1913), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Translation: Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Lake (LCL 24, 1912); made independently of existing English translations.
Topics: Church office

Notes

Translation notes

“Layman” (λαϊκός): the earliest Christian use of the word. Clement argues from the order of Israel's worship to order in the church; he does not say that Christian ministers are priests.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (digitization slip against Lake's printed text (wrong diacritic)): λαῖκοῖς → λαϊκοῖς.

Cite this passage

1 Clem. 40.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/1-clement/40/5/).

Plain text

1 Clem. 40.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/1-clement/40/5/).

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