Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 3.12.86

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

Summary: The Instructor speaks sternly for our salvation, desiring repentance rather than death; earthly goods are named after the true goods that God has prepared for us.

Greek text · Stählin 1:283

Ταῦτα, εἰ καὶ τραχύτερον προηνέχθην οἰκονομούμενος τῆς ἐπανορθώσεως τὴν σωτηρίαν, ἐμοὶ μὲν λελέχθων, φησὶν ὁ παιδαγωγός, ἐπειδὴ »ὁ ἐλέγχων μετὰ παρρησίας εἰρηνοποιεῖ,« ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰ μὲν ἀκούσεσθέ μου, σωθήσεσθε, εἰ δʼ οὐ προσέξετε τοῖς εἰρημένοις, οὔ μοι μέλει· μέλει δὲ ὅμως καὶ οὕτως· »τὴν γὰρ μετάνοιαν τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ μᾶλλον ἢ τὸν θάνατον αἱρεῖται.« »ἢν δὲ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε«, ὁ παιδαγωγὸς πάλιν λέγει, γῆς ἀγαθὰ τὰ ἀνθρώπεια ὀνομάζων καλά, τὸ κάλλος, τὸν πλοῦτον, τὴν ὑγίειαν καὶ τὴν ἰσχύν, τὴν τροφήν· ἀγαθὰ μὲν γὰρ ὄντως »ἃ οὔτε οὖς ἤκουσεν οὔτε ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνέβη ποτέ«, περὶ τὸν ὄντως ὄντα βασιλέα τὰ ὄντως ὄντα ἀγαθὰ ὄντα καὶ ἀναμένοντα ἡμᾶς· ἀγαθῶν γάρ ἐστι καὶ δοτὴρ καὶ φύλαξ· κατὰ μετουσίαν δὲ ἐκείνων τὰ τῇδε συνωνυμεῖ, παιδαγωγοῦντος ἐνθέως τοῦ λόγου τὴν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθένειαν ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἐπὶ τὴν νόησιν.

English · Claude translation

“Let these things be said by me,” says the Instructor, “even if I have spoken rather harshly, arranging for the salvation that comes by correction, since ‘he who reproves boldly makes peace.’ If you listen to me, you will be saved; if you do not heed what has been said, it is no concern of mine.” And yet it is his concern even so; “for he prefers the repentance of the sinner rather than his death.” “If you listen to me, you shall eat the good things of the land,” the Instructor says again, calling human goods the good things of the land: beauty, wealth, health, strength, food. For the true good things are those “which ear has not heard, nor have they ever entered into the heart,” the truly existing goods that belong to the truly existing King and await us; for he is the giver and guardian of good things. Things here share the name by participation in those, the Word divinely instructing human weakness from things perceived by the senses to understanding.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:283 · 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, Eschatology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Prov 10:10 (LXX), Ezek 18:23 (33:11), Isa 1:19, and 1 Cor 2:9.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): εῖ, « → εῖ,«.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.86 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/86/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.86 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/86/).

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