Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 2.8.61

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

Summary: Garlands and perfumes are unnecessary; the sinful woman who anointed Jesus's feet honored him with what she had, and her perfume symbolizes his teaching spreading to the ends of the earth.

Greek text · Stählin 1:193–194

Στεφάνων δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ μύρων χρῆσις οὐκ ἀναγκαία. ἐξοκέλλει γὰρ εἰς ἡδονὰς καὶ ῥᾳθυμίας, μάλιστα γειτνιώσης τῆς νυκτός. οἶδʼ ὅτι »ἀλάβαστρον μύρου« παρὰ τὸ δεῖπνον τὸ ἅγιον κομίσασα ἡ γυνὴ τοὺς πόδας ἤλειφεν τοῦ κυρίου καὶ ἧσεν αὐτόν. οἶδα δὲ καὶ χρυσῷ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ τοὺς παλαιοὺς τῶν Ἑβραίων ἀναδουμένους βασιλεῖς. Ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν γυνὴ μηδέπω τοῦ λόγου μεταλαβοῦσα (ἔτι γὰρ ἦν ἁμαρτωλός), ὅπερ ἡγεῖτο τὸ κάλλιστον εἶναι παρʼ αὐτῇ, τὸ μύρον, τούτῳ τετίμηκε τὸν δεσπότην· ἀμέλει καὶ τῷ κόσμῳ τοῦ σώματος, ταῖς θριξὶ ταῖς ἑαυτῆς, ἀπεψᾶτο τὸ περιττὸν τοῦ μύρου, ἐπισπένδουσα τῷ κυρίῳ μετανοίας δάκρυα. διὰ τοῦτο »ἀφέωνται αὐτῆς αἱ ἁμαρτίαι«. δύναται δὲ τοῦτο σύμβολον εἶναι τῆς διδασκαλίας τῆς κυριακῆς καὶ τοῦ πάθους αὐτοῦ· μύρῳ γὰρ εὐώδει ἀλειφόμενοι οἱ πόδες θεϊκὴν αἰνίττονται διδασκαλίαν ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς μετʼ εὐκλείας ὁδεύουσαν· »ἐξῆλθεν γὰρ ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς.«

English · Claude translation

The use of garlands and perfumes is not necessary for us. For it runs aground on pleasures and idleness, especially as night comes on. I know that the woman, bringing “an alabaster jar of perfume” to the holy supper, anointed the Lord's feet and delighted him. I know too that the ancient kings of the Hebrews were crowned with gold and precious stone. But the woman, not yet having received the Word (for she was still a sinner), honored the Master with what she thought the most beautiful thing she had, the perfume; and indeed with the adornment of her body, her own hair, she wiped off the excess perfume, pouring out on the Lord tears of repentance. That is why “her sins were forgiven.” This can be a symbol of the Lord's teaching and of his passion; for the feet anointed with fragrant perfume hint at the divine teaching traveling with glory to the ends of the earth: “For their sound has gone out to the ends of the earth.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:193–194 · 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
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions and quotations are Luke 7:37–38, 48 (compare Matt 26:7), Ps 21:3 (20:4 LXX), and Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX; Rom 10:18).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/61/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 2.8.61 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/2/8/61/).

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