Sophia Scriptura

Excerpts from Theodotus 21.1

Clement of Alexandria · Excerpts from Theodotus · ca. 200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The Valentinians read Gen 1:27 as the emanation of Wisdom: the male are the angels (the elect), the female themselves (the called).

Greek text · Stählin 3:113

Τῷ »κατʼ εἰκόνα θεοῦ ἐποίησεν αὐτούς, ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ ἐποίησεν αὐτοὺς« τὴν προβολὴν τὴν ἀρίστην φασὶν οἱ Οὐαλεντινιανοὶ τῆς Σοφίας λέγεσθαι, ἀφʼ ἧς τὰ μὲν ἀρρενικὰ ἡ ἐκλογή. τὰ δὲ θηλυκὰ ἡ κλῆσις, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀρρενικὰ ἀγγελικὰ καλοῦσι, τὰ θηλυκὰ δὲ ἑαυτούς, τὸ διαφέρον σπέρμα.

English · Claude translation

The Valentinians say that “in the image of God he made them, male and female he made them” refers to the finest emanation of Wisdom, of which the male elements are the election, and the female the calling; and they call the male elements angelic, and the female themselves, the superior seed.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:113 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); made independently of existing English translations.
Scripture
Topics
Heresy

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 21.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/21/1/).

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Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Exc. 21.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-excerpta/21/1/).

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