Exhortation to the Greeks 8.80
Summary: The wisdom of Solomon and the words of Jeremiah and Moses call people back from idols to the one God, whose Wisdom is his Word.
Greek text · Stählin 1:61
ἔτι φησίν· »ὁ κύριος σείσει πόλεις κατοικουμένας καὶ τὴν οἰκουμένην ὅλην καταλήψεται τῇ χειρὶ ὡς νοσσιάν.« τί σοι σοφίας ἀναγγέλλω μυστήρια καὶ ῥήσεις ἐκ παιδὸς Ἑβραίου σεσοφισμένου; »κύριος ἔκτισέν με ἀρχὴν ὁδῶν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἔργα αὐτοῦ,« καὶ »κύριος δίδωσι σοφίαν καὶ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ γνῶσις καὶ σύνεσις.« »ἕως πότε, ὀκνηρέ, κατάκεισαι; πότε δὲ ἐξ ὕπνου ἐγερθήσῃ; ἐὰν δὲ ἄοκνος ᾖς, ἥξει σοι ὥσπερ πηγὴ ὁ ἄμητός σου,« ὁ λόγος ὁ πατρικός, ὁ ἀγαθὸς λύχνος, ὁ κύριος ἐπάγων τὸ φῶς, τὴν πίστιν πᾶσι καὶ σωτηρίαν. »κύριος« γὰρ »ὁ ποιήσας τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι αὐτοῦ,« ὥς φησιν Ἱερεμίας, »ἀνώρθωσεν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ αὐτοῦ.« ἀποπεσόντας γὰρ ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰ εἴδωλα ἡ σοφία, ἥ ἐστιν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, ἀνορθοῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν. καὶ αὕτη πρώτη τοῦ παραπτώματος ἀνάστασις· ὅθεν ἀποτρέπων εἰδωλολατρείας ἁπάσης ὁ θεσπέσιος παγκάλως ἀνακέκραγε Μωυσῆς· »ἄκουε Ἰσραήλ· κύριος ὁ θεός σου, κύριος εἷς ἐστι,« καὶ »κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις·« νῦν δὴ οὖν σύνετε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, κατὰ τὸν μακάριον ψαλμῳδὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν Δαβίδ· »δράξασθε παιδείας, μή ποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος, καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας, ὅταν ἐκκαυθῇ ἐν τάχει ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ.
English · Claude translation
He says further: “The Lord will shake inhabited cities, and will seize the whole world in his hand like a nest.” Why should I declare to you the mysteries of wisdom and sayings from a Hebrew child made wise? “The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways, for his works”; and “The Lord gives wisdom, and from his face come knowledge and understanding.” “How long, sluggard, will you lie there? When will you rise from sleep? But if you are diligent, your harvest will come to you like a spring”: the Father's Word, the good lamp, the Lord who brings light, faith and salvation to all. For “the Lord who made the earth by his strength,” as Jeremiah says, “set the world upright by his wisdom.” For when we had fallen away to idols, Wisdom, which is his Word, sets us upright again toward the truth. And this is the first resurrection from the fall. So the inspired Moses, turning us away from all idolatry, cried out most beautifully: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God, the Lord is one”; and “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone.” Now therefore understand, you people, as that blessed psalmist David says: “Lay hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish from the righteous way, when his wrath is suddenly kindled.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Isa 10:14 (with 13:13), Prov 8:22, Prov 2:6, Prov 6:9 and 6:11a (a Septuagint addition), Jer 10:12 (51:15), Deut 6:4, Deut 6:13 (compare Matt 4:10), and Ps 2:12 in the Septuagint form (“lay hold of instruction”; the Hebrew reads “kiss the son”). The “Hebrew child made wise” is Solomon.
- The quotation from the Psalm continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray space before the closing quotation mark): γα αὐτοῦ, « → γα αὐτοῦ,«; σου, « → σου,«; ύι αὐτοῦ, « → ύι αὐτοῦ,«; ἐστι, « → ἐστι,«.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.80 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/80/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Protr. 8.80 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-protrepticus/8/80/).
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