Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 2.10.46

Clement of Alexandria · Miscellanies · ca. 198–203 · Alexandria · Read in context

Summary: The Christian philosopher holds to three things, contemplation, keeping the commandments, and forming good people; Leviticus 18 commands Israel to keep God's ordinances and live by them.

Greek text · Stählin 2:137–138

Τριῶν τοίνυν τούτων ἀντέχεται ὁ ἡμεδαπὸς φιλόσοφος, πρῶτον μὲν τῆς θεωρίας, δεύτερον δὲ τῆς τῶν ἐντολῶν ἐπιτελέσεως, τρίτον ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν κατασκευῆς· ἃ δὴ συνελθόντα τὸν γνωστικὸν ἐπιτελεῖ. ὅ τι δʼ ἂν ἐνδέῃ τούτων, χωλεύει τὰ τῆς γνώσεως. ὅθεν θείως ἡ γραφή φησι· καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Μωυσῆν λέγων· λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν· κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα γῆς Αἰγύπτου, ἐν ᾗ κατῳκήσατε ἐν αὐτῇ, οὐ ποιήσετε· καὶ κατὰ τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα γῆς Χαναάν, εἰς ἣν ἐγὼ εἰσάγω ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖ, οὐ ποιήσετε· καὶ τοῖς νομίμοις αὐτῶν οὐ πορεύσεσθε· τὰ κρίματά μου ποιήσετε καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου φυλάξεσθε, πορεύεσθαι ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν. καὶ φυλάξεσθε πάντα τὰ προστάγματά μου, καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτά. ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς· ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν.

English · Claude translation

Our philosopher, then, holds fast to these three things: first, contemplation; second, the fulfilling of the commandments; third, the forming of good men. When these come together they make the one who knows perfect; whatever of them is lacking, the things of knowledge limp. That is why Scripture divinely says: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: I am the Lord your God. You shall not act according to the practices of the land of Egypt, in which you lived; and you shall not act according to the practices of the land of Canaan, into which I am bringing you; and you shall not walk in their customs. You shall do my judgments and keep my ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. And you shall keep all my ordinances and do them. The man who does them will live in them: I am the Lord your God.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:137–138 · 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
Topics
Ethics, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation is Lev 18:1–5. “The one who knows” renders ὁ γνωστικός, Clement's term for the mature Christian.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.10.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/10/46/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 2.10.46 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/2/10/46/).

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