Sophia Scriptura

Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 39.6

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

Summary: God, the Father of mercies, patiently awaits those who turn back, which means ceasing from sin and not looking back.

Greek text · Stählin 3:186

εἰ δὲ ἡμεῖς πονηροὶ ὄντες ἴσμεν ἀγαθὰ δόματα διδόναι. πόσῳ μᾶλλον »ὁ πατὴρ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν«. ὁ ἀγαθὸς πατὴρ »πάσης παρακλήσεως«. ὁ πολύσπλαγχνος καὶ πολυέλεος πέφυκε μακροθυμεῖν· τοὺς ἐπιστρέψαντας περιμένει· ἐπιστρέψαι δέ ἐστιν ὄντως ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὸ παύσασθαι καὶ μηκέτι βλέπειν εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω.

English · Claude translation

And if we, being evil, know how to give good gifts, how much more “the Father of mercies,” the good Father “of all comfort,” who is very compassionate and very merciful, by nature is patient and waits for those who turn back. And to turn back is truly to cease from sins and no longer look behind.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 3:186 · 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; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
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)
Scripture
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The allusions are Matt 7:11, 2 Cor 1:3, Jas 5:11, and Luke 9:62.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 39.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/39/6/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Quis div. 39.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-quis-dives/39/6/).

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