Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 5.11.72

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

Summary: Divine wisdom is the tree of life in paradise; the Word made flesh bore fruit on the tree of the cross, and choosing life means loving God.

Greek text · Stählin 2:374–375

σαφέστατα δὲ ὁ Σολομὼν μαρτυρήσει ἡμῖν ὧδέ πως λέγων· φρόνησις ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἐμοί, θεὸς δὲ δίδωσί μοι σοφίαν· ἅγια δὲ ἐπίσταμαι. αὐτίκα τὴν φρόνησιν θείαν ἀλληγορῶν ὁ Μωυσῆς ξύλον ζωῆς ὠνόμασεν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ πεφυτευμένον, ὃς δὴ παράδεισος καὶ κόσμος εἶναι δύναται, ἐν ᾧ πέφυκεν τὰ ἐκ δημιουργίας ἅπαντα. ἐν τούτῳ καὶ ὁ λόγος ἤνθησέν τε καὶ ἐκαρποφόρησεν σὰρξ γενόμενος καὶ τοὺς γευσαμένους τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ ἐζωοποίησεν, ἐπεὶ μηδὲ ἄνευ τοῦ ξύλου εἰς γνῶσιν ἡμῖν ἀφῖκται· ἐκρεμάσθη γὰρ ἡ ζωὴ ἡμῶν εἰς πίστιν ἡμῶν. καὶ ὅ γε Σολομὼν πάλιν φησίν· δένδρον ἀθανασίας ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀντεχομένοις αὐτῆς. διὰ τοῦτο λέγει· ἰδοὺ δίδωμι πρὸ προσώπου σου τὴν ζωὴν καὶ τὸν θάνατον, τὸ ἀγαπᾶν κύριον τὸν θεὸν καὶ πορεύεσθαι ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούειν καὶ πιστεύειν τῇ ζωῇ· ἐὰν δὲ παραβῆτε τὰ δικαιώματα καὶ τὰ κρίματα ἅ δέδωκα ὑμῖν, ἀπωλείᾳ ἀπολεῖσθε· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ μακρότης τῶν ἡμερῶν σου, τὸ ἀγαπᾶν κύριον τὸν θεόν σου.

English · Claude translation

Solomon will bear us witness most clearly, speaking thus: “Human prudence is not in me, but God gives me wisdom, and I know holy things.” So Moses, speaking allegorically of divine prudence, named it the tree of life planted in paradise; and this paradise may also be the world, in which all the things of creation have grown. In it the Word too blossomed and bore fruit, having become flesh, and gave life to those who had tasted his goodness; for not without the tree did he come to our knowledge either, since our life was hung up for our faith. And Solomon again says: “She is a tree of immortality to those who lay hold of her.” For this reason it says: “Behold, I set before your face life and death: to love the Lord God, and to walk in his ways, and to hear his voice, and to believe in life. But if you transgress the ordinances and the judgments that I have given you, you shall utterly perish. For this is life and the length of your days: to love the Lord your God.”

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:374–375 · 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
Christology

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Prov 30:2–3 (LXX), Prov 3:18, and a free combination of Deut 30:15–20. The tree of life is Gen 2:9. “Our life was hung up” alludes to Deut 28:66 (LXX, “your life shall be hanging before your eyes”), read of the cross.

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.11.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/11/72/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.11.72 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/11/72/).

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