Exhortation to the Greeks 11.111

Greek text · Stählin 1:78–79

ὁ πρῶτος [ὁτὲ] ἐν παραδείσῳ ἔπαιζε λελυμένος, ἐπεὶ παιδίον ἦν τοῦ θεοῦ· ὅτε δὲ ὑποπίπτων ἡδονῇ (ὄφις ἀλληγορεῖται ἡδονὴ ἐπὶ γαστέρα ἕρπουσα, κακία γηΐνη, εἰς ὕλας στρεφομένη) παρήγετο ἐπιθυμίαις, ὁ παῖς ἀνδριζόμενος ἀπειθείᾳ καὶ παρακούσας τοῦ πατρὸς ᾐσχύνετο τὸν θεόν. οἷον ἴσχυσεν ἡδονή· ὁ διʼ ἁπλότητα λελυμένος ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτίαις εὑρέθη δεδεμένος. τῶν δεσμῶν λῦσαι τοῦτον ὁ κύριος αὖθις ἠθέλησεν, καὶ σαρκὶ ἐνδεθείς (μυστήριον θεῖον τοῦτο) τὸν ὄφιν ἐχειρώσατο καὶ τὸν τύραννον ἐδουλώσατο, τὸν θάνατον, καί, τὸ παραδοξότατον, ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν ἡδονῇ πεπλανημένον, τὸν τῇ φθορᾷ δεδεμένον, χερσὶν ἡπλωμέναις ἔδειξε λελυμένον.

English · Claude translation

The first man played in paradise, free, since he was a child of God. But when he fell prey to pleasure (the serpent, creeping on its belly, is an allegory of pleasure, an earthly vice, turning toward matter) and was led astray by desires, the child, becoming a man through disobedience and disregarding his Father, was ashamed before God. See what pleasure could do! The man who was free through his simplicity was found bound by sins. The Lord wished to set him free from his bonds again; and, binding himself in flesh (this is a divine mystery), he subdued the serpent and enslaved the tyrant, death; and, most wonderful of all, that man who had been led astray by pleasure, who was bound by corruption, he showed to be set free, with outstretched hands.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 1:78–79 · 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

Gen 3:14 · allusion, high confidence
Gen 3:7 · allusion, medium confidence
Heb 2:14 · echo, medium confidence
Heb 2:15 · echo, medium confidence

Extrabiblical texts

Philo, Opif. 157–160 (Philo of Alexandria (works)) · echo, medium confidence

Topics

Christology

Notes

Translation notes

The bracketed word is marked by the editor as spurious (to be deleted). “With outstretched hands” refers to the crucifixion.
Clement's reading of the serpent as pleasure follows Philo (Opif. 157–160).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (misspelling in the digital text): τὸ παροδοξότατον → τὸ παραδοξότατον.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.111 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/111/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 11.111 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/11/111/).