Miscellanies 5.6.38
Summary: The high priest's headdress signifies that God is head of Christ; the breastpiece's parts signify work and the Word; its twelve stones the zodiac or the righteous of both covenants; the Name on the gold plate is the Son, image of the invisible God, beginning of all things.
Greek text · Stählin 2:351–353
σημεῖον γοῦν ἡγεμονικωτάτης ἀρχῆς ὁ πῖλος ὁ ὑπὲρ αὐτήν· ἄλλως τε ἀκηκόαμεν, ὡς εἴρηται· καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ κεφαλὴ ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. ναὶ μὴν τὸ μὲν περιστήθιον ἔκ τε ἐπωμίδος, ἥ ἐστιν ἔργου σύμβολον, ἔκ τε τοῦ λογίου (τὸν λόγον δὲ τοῦτο αἰνίσσεται) ᾧ συνέστηκεν καὶ ἔστιν οὐρανοῦ εἰκὼν τοῦ λόγῳ γενομένου, τοῦ ὑποκειμένου τῇ κεφαλῇ τῶν πάντων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως κινουμένου. οἱ οὖν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπωμίδος σμαράγδου φωτεινοὶ λίθοι ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην μηνύουσι τοὺς συνεργοὺς τῆς φύσεως. χειρὸς δέ, οἶμαι, ὦμος ἀρχή. οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ στήθει τέτραχα τεταγμένοι δώδεκα τὸν ζῳδιακὸν διαγράφουσιν ἡμῖν κύκλον κατὰ τὰς τέσσαρας τοῦ ἔτους τροπάς. ἄλλως τε ἐχρῆν τῇ κεφαλῇ τῇ κυριακῇ νόμον μὲν καὶ προφήτας ὑποκεῖσθαι, διʼ ὧν οἱ δίκαιοι μηνύονται καθʼ ἑκατέρας τὰς διαθήκας· προφήτας γὰρ ἅμα καὶ δικαίους εἶναι τοὺς ἀποστόλους λέγοντες εὖ ἂν εἴποιμεν, ἑνὸς καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐνεργοῦντος διὰ πάντων ἁγίου πνεύματος. ὥσπερ δὲ ὁ κύριος ὑπεράνω τοῦ κόσμου παντός, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπέκεινα τοῦ νοητοῦ, οὕτως καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ πετάλῳ ἔγγραπτον ὄνομα ὑπεράνω πάσης ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐξουσίας εἶναι ἠξίωται, ἔγγραπτον δὲ διά τε τὰς ἐντολὰς τὰς ἐγγράφους διά τε τὴν αἰσθητὴν παρουσίαν. ὄνομα δὲ εἴρηται θεοῦ, ἐπεί, ὡς βλέπει τοῦ πατρὸς τὴν ἀγαθότητα, ὁ υἱὸς ἐνεργεῖ, θεὸς σωτὴρ κεκλημένος, ἡ τῶν ὅλων ἀρχή, ἥτις ἀπεικόνισται μὲν ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ ἀοράτου πρώτη καὶ πρὸ αἰώνων, τετύπωκεν δὲ τὰ μεθʼ ἑαυτὴν ἅπαντα γενόμενα.
English · Claude translation
The headdress above it, at any rate, is a sign of the most sovereign rule; besides, we have heard, as it has been said, “And the head of Christ is God,” the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed the breastpiece, made up of the ephod, which is a symbol of work, and the oracle (this hints at the Word), is also an image of heaven, which came to be by the Word, subject to Christ, the head of all things, and moving in the same way and likewise. The shining emerald stones on the ephod, then, signify the sun and moon, the helpers of nature. And the shoulder, I think, is the beginning of the hand. The twelve set on the breast in four rows describe for us the zodiac according to the four turnings of the year. Besides, the law and the prophets had to be set under the Lord's head, through which the righteous are indicated in each of the covenants; for we would say well that the apostles are both prophets and righteous, the one and the same Holy Spirit working through all. And as the Lord is above the whole world, or rather beyond the intelligible, so the name inscribed on the plate has been thought worthy to be above every rule and authority; and it is inscribed because of the written commandments and because of the sensible coming. And it is called the name of God, since the Son, as he sees the goodness of the Father, works, having been called God the Savior, the beginning of all things, which was imaged first from the invisible God before the ages, and has shaped all things that came after itself.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are 1 Cor 11:3, Eph 1:3, Exod 28:6–30, Eph 1:21–22, Exod 28:36, and Col 1:15–17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (space missing in the digital text): ἔκ τε τοῦ λογίου(τὸν λόγον → ἔκ τε τοῦ λογίου (τὸν λόγον.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.6.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/6/38/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 5.6.38 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/5/6/38/).
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