The Instructor 2.1.16
Summary: Matthew ate no meat and John the Baptist ate locusts and honey; but Peter's vision shows that food is indifferent, and the middle way is best.
Greek text · Stählin 1:165–166
Ματθαῖος μὲν οὖν ὁ ἀπόστολος σπερμάτων καὶ ἀκροδρύων καὶ λαχάνων ἄνευ κρεῶν μετελάμβανεν, Ἰωάννης δὲ ὑπερτείνας τὴν ἐγκράτειαν »ἀκρίδας καὶ μέλι ἤσθιεν ἄγριον«. ὑῶν δὲ ἀπείχετο καὶ Πέτρος· ἀλλʼ »ἔπεσεν ἐπʼ αὐτὸν ἔκστασις«, ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων γέγραπται, »καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνεῳγμένον καί τι σκεῦος τέτταρσιν ἀρχαῖς ἐκδεδεμένον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς· πάντα τὰ τετράποδα καὶ τὰ ἑρπετὰ τῆς γῆς καὶ τὰ πτηνὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐγένετο φωνὴ πρὸς αὐτόν· ἀνάστα καὶ θῦσον καὶ φάγε. Πέτρος δὲ εἶπεν· μηδαμῶς, κύριε, ὅτι οὐδέποτε ἔφαγον πᾶν κοινὸν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον. καὶ ἡ φωνὴ πάλιν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκ δευτέρου· ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισεν, σὺ μὴ κοίνου.« καὶ ἡμῖν δὲ ἄρα ἀδιάφορος ἡ χρῆσις. »οὐ γὰρ τὰ εἰσερχόμενα εἰς τὸ στόμα κοινοῖ τὸν ἄνθρωπον«, ἀλλὰ ἡ περὶ τῆς ἀκρασίας διάληψις κενή. ὁ γάρ τοι θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον πλάσας »πάντα ὑμῖν« εἶπεν »ἔσται εἰς βρῶσιν«. »λάχανα δὲ μετὰ ἀγάπης ἢ μόσχον μετὰ δολιότητος·« εὖ τοῦτο ὑπομιμνῄσκει τοῦ προειρημένου λόγου, ὡς οὐ τὰ λάχανα ἡ ἀγάπη, μετὰ δὲ ἀγάπης τὰ δεῖπνα παραληπτέα. ἀγαθὴ μὲν ἡ μέση κατάστασις ἐν πᾶσι μέν, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀμφὶ τὴν ἑστίασιν παρασκευῇ· ἐπεὶ αἱ μὲν ἀκρότητες σφαλεραί, αἱ μεσότητες δὲ ἀγαθαί.
English · Claude translation
The apostle Matthew partook of seeds, nuts, and vegetables, without meat; and John, exceeding in self-control, “ate locusts and wild honey.” Peter abstained from pork; but “a trance fell upon him,” as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, “and he sees heaven opened and a vessel let down to the earth by four corners, and in it all the four-footed animals and creeping things of the earth and birds of the air; and a voice came to him, Rise, kill and eat. But Peter said, By no means, Lord, for I have never eaten anything common or unclean. And the voice came to him again a second time, What God has cleansed, do not call common.” For us too, then, the use of food is indifferent. “For it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man,” but a vain opinion about incontinence. For God, when he formed man, said, “All things shall be food for you.” “Better vegetables with love than a calf with deceit”: this recalls well what was said before, that love is not the vegetables, but suppers are to be taken with love. The middle state is good in all things, and not least in the preparation of meals; since extremes are dangerous, but means are good.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- That Matthew ate no meat is a tradition not found in the New Testament. The quotations are Matt 3:4, Acts 10:10–15 (loosely), Matt 15:11, Gen 9:3 (with Gen 1:29), and Prov 15:17. The praise of the mean is Aristotelian.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.1.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/1/16/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.1.16 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/1/16/).
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