Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 2.10.98

Clement of Alexandria · The Instructor · ca. 190–200 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Licentious speech must not even be named among Christians; intercourse is risky except for procreation, and adultery leads to death.

Greek text · Stählin 1:215–216

Ῥημάτων δὲ ἀκολάστων καὶ σχημάτων ἀσχημόνων ἑταιρικῶν τε φιλημάτων [ὀνόματα πορνικὰ] καὶ τοιουτωνί τινων λαγνευμάτων οὐδὲ ἐπιμνηστέον, τῷ μακαρίῳ πειθομένοις ἀποστόλῳ, διαρρήδην λέγοντι· »πορνεία δὲ καὶ ἀκαθαρσία πᾶσα ἢ πλεονεξία μηδὲ ὀνομαζέσθω ἐν ὑμῖν, καθὼς πρέπει ἁγίοις.« εὖ γοῦν τις εἰρηκέναι φαίνεται· »συνουσία ὤνησεν μὲν οὐδένα, ἀγαπητὸν δὲ εἰ μὴ ἔβλαψεν.« ἡ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ νόμον σφαλερά, εἰ μὴ ὅσον αὐτῆς ἐπὶ παιδοποιίᾳ, περὶ δὲ τῆς παρανόμου ἡ γραφὴ λέγει· »γυνὴ μισθία ἴση σιάλῳ λογισθήσεται, ὕπανδρος δὲ πύργος θανάτου τοῖς χρωμένοις.« κάπρῳ ἢ συῒ τὸ ἑταιρικὸν ἀπείκασε πάθος, θάνατον δὲ ζητούμενον εἴρηκεν τὴν μοιχείαν ἐπὶ πόρνῃ τηρουμένῃ.

English · Claude translation

Licentious words, indecent postures, courtesans' kisses [whorish names], and such lustful acts must not even be mentioned, if we obey the blessed apostle, who says plainly: “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints.” Someone seems to have said well: “Intercourse has never benefited anyone; one must be content if it has done no harm.” For lawful intercourse is risky, except so far as it is for the begetting of children; and of unlawful intercourse Scripture says: “A hired woman will be counted as a hog, and a married woman a tower of death to those who use her.” It likened the courtesan's passion to a boar or a sow, and called adultery with a woman under guard a seeking of death.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:215–216 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 1, Protrepticus und Paedagogus, GCS 12 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1905) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 1: Protrepticus und Paedagogus (GCS 12, 1905), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 12. 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), 2026-09-26 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1905); made independently of existing English translations.
Compare
Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2 (1885) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)
Scripture
  • Eph 5:3 · quotation, high confidence
Extrabiblical texts
  • Sir 26:22 (Sirach) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Marriage, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Eph 5:3, a saying of Epicurus (fragment 62, Usener), and Sir 26:22. The bracketed words are marked by the editor as a gloss.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.10.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/10/98/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.10.98 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/10/98/).

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