Sophia Scriptura

Miscellanies 5.14.124

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

Summary: The Orphic poem, describing God enthroned in heaven with the earth beneath his feet and the mountains trembling, paraphrases the prophets.

Greek text · Stählin 2:410

εἶτα οἷον παραφράζων τὸ ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος, ἡ δὲ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου ἐπιφέρει· αὐτὸς δʼ αὖ μέγαν αὖτις ἐπʼ οὐρανὸν ἐστήρικται χρυσέῳ εἰνὶ θρόνῳ, γαίη δʼ ὑπὸ ποσσὶ βέβηκεν. χεῖρα δὲ δεξιτερὴν περὶ τέρμασιν ὠκεανοῖο ἐκτέτακεν, ὀρέων δὲ τρέμει βάσις ἔνδοθι θυμῷ οὐδὲ φέρειν δύναται κρατερὸν μένος. ἔστι δὲ πάντῃ αὐτὸς ἐπουράνιος καὶ ἐπὶ χθονὶ πάντα τελευτᾷ, ἀρχὴν αὐτὸς ἔχων καὶ μέσσην ἠδὲ τελευτήν. ἄλλως οὐ θεμιτόν σε λέγειν· τρομέω δέ τε γυῖα ἐν νόῳ. ἐξ ὑπάτου κραίνει, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. διὰ γὰρ τούτων δεδήλωκεν πάντα ἐκεῖνα τὰ προφητικά· ἐὰν ἀνοίξῃς τὸν οὐρανόν, τρόμος λήψεται ἀπὸ σοῦ ὄρη καὶ τακήσεται, ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς τήκεται κηρός·

English · Claude translation

Then, as if paraphrasing “Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet,” he adds: “But he himself again is firmly set above the great heaven on a golden throne, and the earth stands beneath his feet. His right hand he has stretched out around the ends of the ocean; the foundation of the mountains trembles within at his wrath, and cannot bear his mighty strength. He is everywhere heavenly himself, and on earth he brings all things to their end, having himself the beginning, the middle, and the end. Otherwise it is not lawful for you to speak; and I tremble in my limbs, in my mind. From on high he rules,” and what follows. For through these words he has indicated all those prophetic sayings: “If you open heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from you, and they will melt, as wax melts before fire”;

About this passage

Source
Stählin 2:410 · 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
  • Isa 66:1 · quotation, high confidence
  • Isa 64:1 (63:19 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
  • Isa 64:2 (64:1 LXX) · quotation, high confidence
Extrabiblical texts
  • Orpheus (attributed), Orph. frag. (Orpheus (attributed), Orphic poems (fragments)) · quotation, high confidence

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Isa 66:1, the Orphic “Testament,” and Isa 64:1–2 (63:19–64:1 LXX).

Cite this passage

Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.124 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/124/).

Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.14.124 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/14/124/).

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