Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.22.135

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

Summary: The knower's work is neither mere abstention from evil, nor doing good out of fear or hope of reward, but doing good out of love, for the sake of the good itself.

Greek text · Stählin 2:308

Ὁ δὴ συνίων καὶ διορατικὸς οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ γνωστικός. ἔργον δὲ αὐτοῦ οὐχ ἡ ἀποχὴ τῶν κακῶν (ἐπιβάθρα γὰρ αὕτη προκοπῆς μεγίστης), οὐδὲ μὴν ποιεῖν τι ἀγαθὸν ἤτοι διὰ φόβον (γέγραπται γάρ· ποῦ φύγω καὶ ποῦ κρυβήσομαι ἀπὸ προσώπου σου; ἐὰν ἀναβῶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, σὺ ἐκεῖ εἶ· ἐὰν ἀπέλθω εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς θαλάσσης, ἐκεῖ ἡ δεξιά σου· ἐὰν καταβῶ εἰς ἀβύσσους, ἐκεῖ τὸ πνεῦμά σου), ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ διʼ ἐλπίδα τιμῆς ἐπηγγελμένης (εἴρηται γάρ· ἰδοὺ κύριος καὶ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ, ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ ἃ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδε καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, ἃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν), μόνη δʼ ἡ διʼ ἀγάπην εὐποιία ἡ διʼ αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν αἱρετὴ τῷ γνωστικῷ.

English · Claude translation

The one who understands and sees clearly, then, is the one who knows. His work is not abstaining from evils (for this is a step to the greatest progress), nor doing something good out of fear (for it is written, “Where shall I flee and where hide from your face? If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go away to the ends of the sea, there is your right hand; if I go down to the depths, there is your Spirit”), nor even out of hope of promised honor (for it has been said, “Behold the Lord, and his reward before his face, to render to each according to his works,” “what eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him”); but only doing good out of love, chosen for the sake of the good itself, is for the one who knows.

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:308 · 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 139:7 (138:7 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 139:8 (138:8 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Ps 139:9 (138:9 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Isa 40:10 · quotation, high confidence
  • Isa 62:11 · quotation, medium confidence
  • Rev 22:12 · quotation, medium confidence
  • 1 Cor 2:9 · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Ps 139:7–9 (138:7–9 LXX), Isa 40:10 and 62:11 (Rev 22:12), and 1 Cor 2:9.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.22.135 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/22/135/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.22.135 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/22/135/).

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