The Instructor 1.6.45
Summary: The milk of the Lord nourishes the reborn and leads to the heavenly Jerusalem; the Word is both food and drink, one substance serving both.
Greek text · Stählin 1:116–117
εἰ τοίνυν ἡ μὲν κατεργασία τῆς τροφῆς ἐξαιματοῦται, τὸ δὲ αἷμα ἐκγαλακτοῦται, παρασκευὴ γίνεται τὸ αἷμα τοῦ γάλακτος ὡς σπέρμα ἀνθρώπου καὶ γίγαρτον ἀμπέλου. τῷ οὖν γάλακτι, τῇ κυριακῇ τροφῇ, εὐθὺς μὲν ἀποκυηθέντες τιθηνούμεθα, εὐθὺς δὲ ἀναγεννηθέντες τετιμήμεθα τῆς ἀναπαύσεως τὴν ἐλπίδα, τὴν ἄνω Ἱερουσαλήμ, εὐαγγελιζόμενοι, ἐν ᾗ μέλι καὶ γάλα ὀμβρεῖν ἀναγέγραπται, διὰ τῆς ἐνύλου καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν μνηστευόμενοι τροφήν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ βρώματα καταργεῖται, ᾗ φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος αὐτός, ἡ δὲ διὰ γάλακτος τροφὴ εἰς οὐρανοὺς καθηγεῖται, πολίτας οὐρανῶν καὶ συγχορευτὰς ἀγγέλων ἀναθρεψαμένη. ἐπειδὴ δέ ἐστιν ὁ λόγος πηγὴ ζωῆς βρύουσα καὶ ποταμὸς εἴρηται ἐλαίου, εἰκότως ἀλληγορῶν ὁ Παῦλος καὶ γάλα αὐτὸν ὀνομάζων »ἐπότισα« ἐπιφέρει· πίνεται γὰρ ὁ λόγος, ἡ τροφὴ τῆς ἀληθείας. ἀμέλει καὶ τὸ ποτὸν ὑγρὰ καλεῖται τροφή. δυνατὸν δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ βρῶμα εἶναί πως ἔχον καὶ ποτόν, πρὸς ἄλλο καὶ ἄλλο νοούμενον, καθάπερ καὶ ὁ τυρὸς γάλακτός ἐστι πῆξις ἢ γάλα πεπηγός. οὐ γάρ μοι τῆς λεξιθηρίας μέλει τὰ νῦν, πλὴν ὅτι τὰς τροφὰς ἄμφω μία διακονεῖται οὐσία. ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ὑποτιτθίοις παιδίοις ἀρκεῖ μόνον τὸ γάλα καὶ ποτὸν εἶναι καὶ τροφήν. »ἐγώ«, φησὶν ὁ κύριος, »βρῶσιν ἔχω φαγεῖν, ἣν ὑμεῖς οὐκ οἴδατε· ἐμὸν βρῶμά ἐστιν, ἵνα ποιήσω τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με.«
English · Claude translation
If, then, digested food turns to blood, and blood turns to milk, blood is the preparation for milk, as the seed is for a human being and the pip for a vine. With milk, then, the Lord's food, we are nursed as soon as we are born; and as soon as we are born again we have been honored with the hope of rest, being given the good news of the Jerusalem above, in which, it is written, honey and milk rain down; through material food we are betrothed to the holy food as well. For foods are done away with, as the apostle himself says; but the food that comes through milk leads the way to heaven, having reared citizens of heaven and fellow dancers with the angels. And since the Word is a gushing spring of life and is called a river of oil, Paul rightly, speaking figuratively and calling him milk, adds “I gave to drink”; for the Word, the food of truth, is drunk. Indeed, drink is called liquid food. The same thing can be both food and drink, in different respects, just as cheese is a curdling of milk, or curdled milk. I am not concerned now to chase words, except that one substance serves both kinds of food. And for children at the breast milk alone is enough, being both drink and food. “I have food to eat,” says the Lord, “which you do not know; my food is to do the will of him who sent me.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions and quotations are Gal 4:26 (the Jerusalem above), Joel 3:18 (4:18 LXX) and Exod 3:8 (milk and honey), 1 Cor 6:13, Jer 2:13 (spring of life), 1 Cor 3:2, and John 4:32, 34. “A river of oil” is not a clear biblical phrase; it may recall Job 29:6.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/45/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1.6.45 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/1/6/45/).
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