Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.17.107

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

Summary: David, chosen by God, still begged for mercy and confessed his sin; the Spirit searches the inner self, and the Lord Jesus, overseer of the heart, whose blood was offered for us, knows all our thoughts.

Greek text · Stählin 2:295

ναὶ μὴν καὶ Δαβίδ, ἐφʼ οὗ μαρτυρῶν ὁ κύριος λέγει· >εὗρον ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου, Δαβὶδ τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαί· ἐν ἐλαίῳ ἁγίῳ ἔχρισα αὐτόν·‹ ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὸς λέγει πρὸς τὸν θέον· ›ἐλέησόν με, ὁ θεός, κατὰ τὸ μέγα ἔλεός σου, καὶ κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν σου ἐξάλειψον τὸ ἀνόμημά μου. ἐπὶ πλεῖον πλῦνόν με ἀπὸ τῆς ἀνομίας μου, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου καθάρισόν με· ὅτι τὴν ἀνομίαν μου ἐγὼ γινώσκω, καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία μου ἐνώπιόν μού ἐστι διὰ παντός.‹ ἔπειτα τὴν οὐχ ὑποπίπτουσαν νόμῳ αἰνιττόμενος ἁμαρτίαν γνωστικῶς μετριοπαθῶν ἐπιφέρει· ›σοὶ μόνῳ ἥμαρτον καὶ τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐποίησα.‹ λέγει γάρ που ἡ γραφή· ›πνεῦμα κυρίου λύχνος ἐρευνῶν τὰ ταμεῖα τῆς γαστρός‹ καὶ ὅσῳ τις δικαιοπραγῶν γνωστικώτερος γίνεται, προσεχέστερον τούτῳ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ φωτεινόν. οὕτως ἐγγίζει τοῖς δικαίοις ὁ κύριος καὶ οὐδὲν λέληθεν αὐτὸν τῶν ἐννοιῶν καὶ τῶν διαλογισμῶν ὧν ποιούμεθα· τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν λέγω, τὸν τῷ παντοκρατορικῷ θελήματι ἐπίσκοπον τῆς καρδίας ἡμῶν· οὗ τὸ αἷμα ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἡγιάσθη.

English · Claude translation

Indeed David too, of whom the Lord bears witness, saying, “I have found a man after my heart, David the son of Jesse; with holy oil I anointed him”; yet he himself says to God: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, and according to the multitude of your compassions blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from my lawlessness, and cleanse me from my sin; for I know my lawlessness, and my sin is before me always.” Then, hinting at the sin that does not fall under the law, he adds with the moderation of knowledge: “Against you alone have I sinned and done evil before you.” For Scripture says somewhere, “The spirit of the Lord is a lamp searching the storerooms of the belly”; and the more one becomes knowing by doing justly, the nearer to him is the enlightening spirit. So the Lord draws near to the righteous, and none of the thoughts and reasonings we make escapes him: I mean the Lord Jesus, by the almighty will the overseer of our heart, whose blood was consecrated for us.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:295 · 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
  • Ps 89:20 (88:21 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • 1 Sam 13:14 · quotation, medium confidence
  • Acts 13:22 · quotation, medium confidence
  • Ps 51:1 (50:3 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 51:2 (50:4 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 51:3 (50:5 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 51:4 (50:6 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Prov 20:27 · quotation, high confidence
Extrabiblical texts
  • 1 Clem. 18.1–4; 21.2, 6 (1 Clement) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Ethics, Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are 1 Clem. 18.1–4 (Ps 89:20 with 1 Sam 13:14; Ps 51:1–4), and 1 Clem. 21.2, 6 (Prov 20:27).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.17.107 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/17/107/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.17.107 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/17/107/).

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