The Instructor 1.2.5
Summary: Moses's law of the Nazirite, read allegorically, teaches quick repentance for sin; the prophets' “therefore thus says the Lord” shows that judgment follows sin.
Greek text · Stählin 1:92–93
ἀνακαλουμένοις ἀναμαχέσασθαι σωτήριον. καί μοι δοκεῖ παγκάλως διὰ Μωσέως φάσκειν ὁ παιδαγωγός »ἐάν τις ἀποθάνῃ ἐπʼ αὐτῷ αἰφνίδιον, παραχρῆμα μιανθήσεται ἡ κεφαλὴ εὐχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ξυρήσεται«, τὴν ἀκούσιον ἁμαρτίαν αἰφνίδιον θάνατον προσειπών· μιαίνειν δὲ αὐτὸν λέγει κηλιδοῦντα τὴν ψυχήν· διὸ καὶ τὴν θεραπείαν ᾗ τάχος ὑποτίθεται ξυρᾶσθαι παραχρῆμα τὴν κεφαλὴν συμβουλεύων, τὰς ἐπισκιαζούσας τῷ λογισμῷ τῆς ἀγνοίας κόμας ἀποψήξασθαι παραινῶν, ὡς γυμνὸν δασείας καταλειφθέντα ὕλης (τῆς κακίας) τὸν λογισμὸν (ἐνθρονίζεται δὲ οὗτος ἐν ἐγκεφάλῳ) ἐπὶ τὴν μετάνοιαν παλινδρομῆσαι. ἔπειτα ὀλίγα προσειπὼν ἐπιφέρει »αἱ δὲ ἡμέραι αἱ πρότεραι ἄλογοι«, διʼ ὧν δῆλον ὅτι αἱ ἁμαρτίαι μηνύονται αἱ μὴ γεγονυῖαι κατὰ λόγον. καὶ τὸ μὲν ἀκούσιον αἰφνίδιον προσεῖπεν, τὸ δὲ ἁμαρτάνειν ἄλογον. οὗ δὴ χάριν ὁ λόγος ὁ παιδαγωγὸς τὴν ἐπιστασίαν εἴληχεν εἰς τὴν ἀλόγου κώλυσιν ἁμαρτίας. σκόπει δὲ ἐνθένδε ἀπὸ τῆς γραφῆς »διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος«· τὸ ἁμάρτημα ἐλεγκτικῶς τὸ προυπάρξαν διὰ τῆς ἑπομένης δείκνυται ῥήσεως, καθὸ ἡ δικαία κρίσις ἕπεται, καὶ τοῦτο ἐμφανῶς διὰ τῶν προφητῶν καταφαίνεται, ὡς, εἰ μὴ ἥμαρτες, λεγόντων, οὐκ ἂν τάδε ἠπείλησεν, καὶ »διὰ τοῦτο οὕτως λέγει κύριος« καὶ »ἀνθʼ ὧν οὐκ ἠκούσατε τῶν λόγων τούτων, διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει κύριος« καὶ »διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ λέγει κύριος«. διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ προφητεία, διʼ ὑπακοὴν καὶ παρακοήν, διʼ ἣν μὲν ἵνα σωθῶμεν, διʼ ἣν δὲ ἵνα παιδευθῶμεν.
English · Claude translation
(… to renew the fight.) And it seems to me that the Instructor speaks very beautifully through Moses: “If anyone dies suddenly beside him, the head of his vow will immediately be defiled, and he shall be shaved,” calling involuntary sin a “sudden death.” He says it defiles, because it stains the soul; so he prescribes the cure as quickly as possible, advising that the head be shaved at once, that is, urging that the locks of ignorance that overshadow the reason be cut off, so that the reason (which is enthroned in the brain), stripped of the thick growth of wickedness, may run back to repentance. Then, after a few words, he adds: “But the former days were irrational,” by which it is clear that sins are meant, those that were not done according to reason. He called the involuntary “sudden,” and sinning “irrational.” For this reason the Word, the Instructor, has been given charge of preventing irrational sin. See this from the Scripture: “Therefore thus says the Lord.” The sin that came before is shown, by way of reproof, in the saying that follows, since just judgment follows; and this appears plainly through the prophets, as if they were saying, “If you had not sinned, he would not have made these threats”; and “Therefore thus says the Lord,” and “Because you did not hear these words, therefore thus says the Lord,” and “Therefore behold, says the Lord.” For this is why there is prophecy: because of obedience and disobedience; because of the one, that we may be saved, and because of the other, that we may be disciplined.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The Greek of this section begins with the last words of the sentence begun in 1.2.4.
- The quotations are Num 6:9 and 6:12 (LXX, “the former days shall be irrational,” ἄλογοι, where the Hebrew means “void”); the prophetic formulas occur often (e.g. Isa 30:12; Jer 25:8; Amos 3:11).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing): τὰς ἑπισκιαζούσας → τὰς ἐπισκιαζούσας.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/2/5/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.2.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/2/5/).
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