Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 4.6.34

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

Summary: The broad road to destruction is profligacy, lust, and ambition; the rich fool loses his soul; Christ warns against greed and anxiety and bids us seek first the kingdom, and the small things will be added.

Greek text · Stählin 2:263

λέγει δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς θέλουσι διὰ τὴν δικαιοσύνην πτωχεῦσαι· ἀκηκόασι γὰρ διὰ τῆς ἐντολῆς, ὅτι πλατεῖα καὶ εὐρύχωρος ὁδὸς ἀπάγει εἰς τὴν ἀπώλειαν καὶ πολλοὶ οἱ διερχόμενοι διʼ αὐτῆς· οὐ περὶ ἄλλου τινός, ἀλλὰ περὶ ἀσωτίας καὶ φιλογυνίας, φιλοδοξίας, φιλαρχίας καὶ τῶν ὁμοίων διαλέγεται παθῶν· ἄφρον, γὰρ οὕτως ἔφη, ὅτι τῇ νυκτὶ ταύτῃ ἀπαιτοῦσί σου τὴν ψυχήν· ἃ δὲ ἡτοίμασας αὐτῇ, τίνι γένηται; καὶ τὰ μὲν τῆς ἐντολῆς ὧδε ἔχει κατὰ λέξιν· φυλάσσεσθε τοίνυν ἀπὸ πάσης πλεονεξίας, ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ περισσεύειν τινὶ τὰ ὑπάρχοντά ἐστιν ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ. τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖται ἄνθρωπος, ἐὰν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ζημιωθῇ; ἢ τί δώσει ἄνθρωπος ἀντάλλαγμα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ; διὰ τοῦτο λέγω· μὴ μεριμνᾶτε τῇ ψυχῇ ὑμῶν τί φάγητε, μηδὲ τῷ σώματι τί περιβάλητε· ἡ γὰρ ψυχὴ πλείων ἐστὶ τῆς τροφῆς καὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ἐνδύματος. καὶ πάλιν· οἶδεν γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὅτι χρῄζετε τούτων ἀπάντων· ζητεῖτε δὲ πρῶτον τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην, ταῦτα γὰρ μεγάλα, τὰ δὲ μικρὰ καὶ περὶ τὸν βίον, ταῦτα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν.

English · Claude translation

He says these things also to those who wish to become poor for righteousness' sake. For they have heard through the commandment that “the broad and spacious way leads to destruction, and many are those who go through it”; he speaks of nothing else but profligacy, love of women, love of glory, love of power, and similar passions. “Fool,” for so he said, “this night they demand your soul from you; and the things you have prepared for it, whose will they be?” And the words of the commandment run thus: “Guard yourselves, then, from all greed, for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” “For what does a man profit if he gains the whole world but loses his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” “Therefore I say: do not be anxious for your soul, what you will eat, nor for your body, what you will put on; for the soul is more than food and the body than clothing.” And again: “For your Father knows that you need all these things; but seek first the kingdom of heaven and righteousness,” for these are great, while the small things that concern life, “these will be added to you.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:263 · 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

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Matt 7:13, Luke 12:20, 15, Matt 16:26, Luke 12:22–23, and Matt 6:32–33 (a free form).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/34/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 4.6.34 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/4/6/34/).

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