Sophia Scriptura

The Instructor 3.12.91

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

Summary: Scripture teaches forgiveness, honesty for soldiers and tax collectors, impartial judgment, love that covers sins, and giving Caesar his due and God his.

Greek text · Stählin 1:286

ταῦτα στέφη καὶ θυσίαι καὶ ἀρώματα καὶ ἄνθη τοῦ θεοῦ. ἔτι περὶ ἀνεξικακίας· »ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ«, φησίν, »ὁ ἀδελφός σου, ἐπιτίμησον αὐτῷ, καὶ ἐὰν μετανοήσῃ, ἄφες αὐτῷ. ἐὰν ἑπτάκις τῆς ἡμέρας ἁμάρτῃ εἰς σὲ καὶ τὸ ἑπτάκις ἐπιστρέφῃ πρός σε λέγων· μετανοῶ, ἄφες αὐτῷ·« καὶ τοῖς μὲν στρατευομένοις διὰ Ἰωάννου παραγγέλλει ἀρκεῖσθαι μόνοις τοῖς ὀψωνίοις, τοῖς δὲ τελώναις μηδὲν πλέον πράσσειν παρὰ τὰ διατεταγμένα· δικαστῇ δὲ »οὐ λήψῃ« φησὶ »πρόσωπον ἐν κρίσει, τὰ γὰρ δῶρα ἐκτυφλοῖ ὀφθαλμοὺς βλεπόντων καὶ λυμαίνεται ῥήματα δίκαια·« »ῥύσασθε ἀδικουμένους.« ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς οἰκονομικοῖς· »κτῆσις ἐπισπουδαζομένη μετὰ ἀνομίας ἐλάσσων γίνεται.« ναὶ μὴν καὶ περὶ ἀγάπης· »ἀγάπη«, φησί, »καλύπτει πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν·« καὶ περὶ πολιτείας· »ἀπόδοτε τὰ Καίσαρος Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ·« ὅρκου δὲ πέρι καὶ μνησικακίας· »μὴ ἐγὼ ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν ἐκπορευομένοις ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου προσενέγκαι μοι ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ θυσίας· ἀλλὰ τοῦτο ἐνετειλάμην αὐτοῖς· ἕκαστος ὑμῶν κατὰ τοῦ πλησίον ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ

English · Claude translation

These are God's crowns, sacrifices, spices, and flowers. Further, concerning forbearance: “If your brother sins,” he says, “rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day and seven times turns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” Through John he commands soldiers to be content with their wages alone, and tax collectors to exact nothing more than what is appointed. To the judge he says, “You shall not show partiality in judgment, for gifts blind the eyes of those who see and corrupt just words.” “Rescue the wronged.” And to those who manage property: “Possessions hastily gained with lawlessness grow less.” Concerning love: “Love,” he says, “covers a multitude of sins.” Concerning civic life: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's.” Concerning oaths and bearing grudges: “Did I command your fathers when they came out of the land of Egypt to offer me burnt offerings and sacrifices? But this is what I commanded them: let none of you in his heart

About this passage

Source
Stählin 1:286 · 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 17:3–4, Luke 3:13–14 (John the Baptist), Deut 16:19 (Exod 23:8), Isa 1:17, Prov 13:11, 1 Pet 4:8, Matt 22:21, and a combination of Jer 7:22–23 and Zech 8:17 (continuing into the next section).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/91/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 3.12.91 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-paedagogus/3/12/91/).

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