Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 3.12.88

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

Summary: The whole law is summed up in the Golden Rule and the two great commandments, but the Instructor will set out the commandments in detail.

Greek text · Stählin 1:284–285

ἐστιν παιδαγωγός. ἔστι μὲν οὖν αὐτόθεν κεφαλαιώδης ὑποθήκη καὶ βιωτικὴ παραίνεσις, πάντα ἐμπεριέχουσα· »καθὼς θέλετε ἵνα ποιῶσιν ὑμῖν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ποιεῖτε αὐτοῖς.« δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ διὰ δυεῖν ἐμπεριλαβεῖν τὰς ἐντολάς, ὥς φησιν ὁ κύριος· »ἀγαπήσεις τὸν θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ἰσχύι σου, καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν.« εἶτα »ἐκ τούτων« ἐπιφέρει »ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμανται.« ναὶ μὴν καὶ πρὸς τὸν πυθόμενον, »τί ποιήσας ζωὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομήσω;« »τὰς ἐντολὰς οἶδας« ἀπεκρίνατο· τοῦ δὲ καταφήσαντος »τοῦτο ποίει« φησὶ »καὶ σωθήσῃ«. οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ διαιρετικώτερον τὸ φιλάνθρωπον τοῦ παιδαγωγοῦ διὰ τῶν ποικίλων καὶ σωτηρίων ἐντολῶν παραθετέον, ὡς ἔχοιμεν πρὸς ἀφθόνου διατάξεως τῶν γραφῶν καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας ἑτοιμοτέραν τὴν εὕρεσιν.

English · Claude translation

Instructor. There is, then, a summary precept and counsel for life that embraces everything: “As you wish people to do to you, do so to them.” The commandments can also be comprehended in two, as the Lord says: “You shall love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” Then he adds, “On these hang the whole law and the prophets.” And to the one who asked, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” he answered, “You know the commandments”; and when he agreed, he said, “Do this and you will be saved.” Nevertheless the Instructor's love for mankind must be set out in more detail through the varied and saving commandments, so that we may have a readier finding of salvation from the abundant ordering of the Scriptures.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:284–285 · 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 quotations are Luke 6:31 (Matt 7:12), Matt 22:37–40 (Mark 12:30–31), and a combination of Mark 10:17–19 and Luke 10:28.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.88 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/88/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.88 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/88/).

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