Miscellanies 1.26.167 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Stählin 2:104

Ὅθεν ὁ νόμος εἰκότως εἴρηται διὰ Μωυσέως δεδόσθαι, κανὼν τυγχάνων δικαίων τε καὶ ἀδίκων. καὶ τοῦτον κυρίως θεσμὸν ἂν εἴποιμεν τὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ διὰ Μωυσέως παραδεδομένον. ἔχει γοῦν τὴν ἀγωγὴν εἰς τὸ θεῖον. λέγει δὲ καὶ ὁ Παῦλος· ὁ νόμος τῶν παραβάσεων χάριν ἐτέθη, ἄχρις ἂν ἔλθῃ τὸ σπέρμα ᾧ ἐπήγγελται. εἶτα οἱονεὶ ἐπεξηγούμενος τὴν διάνοιαν ἐπιφέρει· πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ἐλθεῖν τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ νόμον ἐφρουρούμεθα συγκεκλεισμένοι, φόβῳ δηλαδὴ ἀπὸ ἁμαρτιῶν, εἰς τὴν μέλλουσαν πίστιν ἀποκαλυφθήσεσθαι. ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν ἐγίνετο εἰς Χριστόν, ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως δικαιωθῶμεν. ὁ νομοθετικὸς δέ ἐστιν ὁ τὸ προσῆκον ἑκάστῳ μέρει τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τοῖς τούτων ἔργοις ἀπονέμων, Μωυσῆς δὲ συνελόντι εἰπεῖν νόμος ἔμψυχος ἦν τῷ χρηστῷ λόγῳ κυβερνώμενος.

English · Claude translation

Hence the law is fittingly said to have been given through Moses, being a rule of just and unjust things. And this we might properly call an ordinance, handed down by God through Moses. At any rate it leads to the divine. And Paul says: “The law was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made.” Then, as if explaining his meaning, he adds: “Before faith came we were guarded under the law, shut up,” by fear, clearly, from sins, “for the faith that was to be revealed. So the law became our schoolmaster to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The lawgiver is one who assigns what is fitting to each part of the soul and to their works; and Moses, in short, was a living law, governed by good reason.

About this passage

Source

Stählin 2:104 · Otto Stählin, ed., Clemens Alexandrinus, vol. 2, Stromata Buch I–VI, GCS 15 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1906); vol. 3, Stromata Buch VII und VIII, GCS 17 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1909) · Greek text: Otto Stählin, Clemens Alexandrinus 2–3 (GCS 15, 17, 1906–1909), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Stählin, GCS 15, 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 (1906–1909); 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) · Book 3 is left partly untranslated (in Latin) there.

Scripture

John 1:17 · allusion, high confidence
Gal 3:19 · quotation, high confidence
Gal 3:23 · quotation, high confidence
Gal 3:24 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

The quotations are Gal 3:19, 23–24; the allusion John 1:17.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text): εἰς Χριστόν. ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως → εἰς Χριστόν, ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.26.167 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/26/167/).

Plain text

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 1.26.167 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/1/26/167/).