Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 15.1

Clement of Alexandria · Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? · ca. 190–210 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: Since outward things are good or bad according to the soul's use, Christ's command must refer to the inner passions, not to outward goods.

Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.

Greek text · Stählin 3:169

Ἐγὼ γοῦν κἀκεῖνο φήσαιμʼ ἄν· ἐπειδὴ τὰ μὲν ἐντός ἐστι τῆς ψυχῆς, τὰ δὲ ἐκτός, κἂν μὲν ἡ ψυχὴ χρῆται καλῶς. καλὰ καὶ ταῦτα δοκεῖ, ἐὰν δὲ πονηρῶς. πονηρά, ὁ κελεύων ἀπαλλοτριοῦν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα π[ρ]ότερον ταῦτα παραιτεῖται ὧν ἀναιρεθέντων ἔτι τὰ πάθη μένει, ἢ ἐκεῖνα μᾶλλον ὧν ἀναιρεθέντων καὶ τὰ κτήματα χρήσιμα γίνεται;

English · Claude translation

I would say this too: since some things are within the soul and others outside it, and the latter also seem good if the soul uses them well and evil if it uses them badly, does the one who commands us to give away our possessions reject the things whose removal still leaves the passions remaining, or rather those whose removal makes possessions too useful?

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:169 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, Excerpta ex Theodoto, Eclogae propheticae, Quis dives salvetur, Fragmente, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 3 (GCS 17, 1909), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Stählin, GCS 17. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Stählin (1909); 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)
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The square brackets in the Greek mark a letter the editor deletes.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/15/1/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 15.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/15/1/).

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