Miscellanies 1.21.101
Summary: Clement now turns to chronology, to prove that Hebrew philosophy is the oldest; following Tatian and Cassian, he cites Apion and Ptolemy of Mendes, who date the Exodus under Amosis, in the time of Inachus.
Greek text · Stählin 2:64–65
Καὶ περὶ μὲν τοῦ παρʼ Ἑβραίων τὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐσκευωρῆσθαι δόγματα μικρὸν ὕστερον διαληψόμεθα, πρότερον δέ, ὅπερ ἀκόλουθον ἦν, περὶ τῶν κατὰ Μωυσέα χρόνων ἤδη λεκτέον, διʼ ὧν δειχθήσεται ἀναμφηρίστως πάσης σοφίας ἀρχαιοτάτη ἡ κατὰ Ἑβραίους φιλοσοφία. εἴρηται μὲν οὖν περὶ τούτων ἀκριβῶς Τατιανῷ ἐν τῷ Πρὸς Ἕλληνας, εἴρηται δὲ καὶ Κασσιανῷ ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ τῶν Ἐξηγητικῶν· ἀπαιτεῖ δὲ ὅμως τὸ ὑπόμνημα καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπιδραμεῖν τὰ κατὰ τὸν τόπον εἰρημένα. Ἀπίων τοίνυν ὁ γραμματικός, ὁ Πλειστονίκης ἐπικληθείς, ἐν τῇ τετάρτῃ τῶν Αἰγυπτιακῶν ἱστοριῶν, καίτοι φιλαπεχθημόνως πρὸς Ἑβραίους διακείμενος, ἅτε Αἰγύπτιος τὸ γένος, ὡς καὶ κατὰ Ἰουδαίων συντάξασθαι βιβλίον, Ἀμώσιος τοῦ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέως μεμνημένος καὶ τῶν κατʼ αὐτὸν πράξεων, μάρτυρα παρατίθεται Πτολεμαῖον τὸν Μενδήσιον. καὶ τὰ τῆς λέξεως αὐτοῦ ὧδε ἔχει· κατέσκαψε δὲ τὴν Ἀουαρίαν Ἄμωσις κατὰ τὸν Ἀργεῖον γενόμενος Ἴναχον, ὡς ἐν τοῖς Χρόνοις ἀνέγραφεν ὁ Μενδήσιος Πτολεμαῖος. ὁ δὲ Πτολεμαῖος οὗτος ἱερεὺς μὲν ἦν, τὰς δὲ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέων πράξεις ἐν τρισὶν ὅλαις ἐκθέμενος βίβλοις κατὰ Ἄμωσίν φησιν Αἰγύπτου βασιλέα Μωυσέως ἡγουμένου γεγονέναι Ἰουδαίοις τὴν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου πορείαν, ἐξ ὧν συνῶπται κατὰ Ἴναχον ἠκμακέναι τὸν Μωσέα.
English · Claude translation
We shall discuss a little later how the doctrines of the philosophers were devised from the Hebrews; but first, as was fitting, we must now speak about the times of Moses, by which it will be shown beyond dispute that the philosophy of the Hebrews is the most ancient of all wisdom. This has been discussed accurately by Tatian in his work To the Greeks, and also by Cassian in the first book of his Exegetica; nevertheless our record requires us too to run over what has been said on the subject. Apion the grammarian, surnamed Pleistonices, in the fourth book of his Egyptian Histories, though he was hostile to the Hebrews, being an Egyptian by race, so that he even composed a book against the Jews, when mentioning Amosis, king of the Egyptians, and his deeds, cites as witness Ptolemy of Mendes. His words run thus: “Amosis destroyed Avaris, having lived in the time of Inachus of Argos, as Ptolemy of Mendes wrote in his Chronicles.” This Ptolemy was a priest, and, setting out the deeds of the Egyptian kings in three whole books, he says that it was in the time of Amosis, king of Egypt, that the Jews made their departure from Egypt, led by Moses; from which it is seen that Moses flourished in the time of Inachus.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- Tatian, Oration to the Greeks 36–41, argues the same (compare Tatian, Or. 38). Julius Cassianus was a second-century encratite writer.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.21.101 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/21/101/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.21.101 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/21/101/).
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