Miscellanies 6.15.131
Summary: Hermas copied his book letter by letter without grasping the syllables: the plain reading is for faith, the deeper reading for knowledge; Isaiah's new book foretold the unwritten tradition the Savior gave the apostles, now written on new hearts.
Greek text · Stählin 2:497–498
Προϊούσης δὲ τῆς γραφῆς τοὺς προειρημένους ὑπὸ τοῦ προφήτου τρόπους καθʼ ἑκάστην περικοπὴν σημειωσάμενοι παραστήσομεν, τὴν γνωστικὴν ἀγωγὴν κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀληθείας κανόνα φιλοτέχνως ἐνδεικνύμενοι. ἦ γὰρ οὐχὶ καὶ ἐν τῇ ὁράσει τῷ Ἑρμᾷ ἡ δύναμις ἐν τῷ τύπῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας φανεῖσα ἔδωκεν τὸ βιβλίον εἰς μεταγραφήν, ὃ τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς ἀναγγελῆναι ἐβούλετο; τοῦτο δὲ μετεγράψατο πρὸς γράμμα, φησί, μὴ εὑρίσκων τὰς συλλαβὰς τελέσαι. ἐδήλου δʼ ἄρα τὴν μὲν γραφὴν πρόδηλον εἶναι πᾶσι κατὰ τὴν ψιλὴν ἀνάγνωσιν ἐκλαμβανομένην, καὶ ταύτην εἶναι τὴν πίστιν στοιχείων τάξιν ἔχουσαν, διὸ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸ γράμμα ἀνάγνωσις ἀλληγορεῖται· τὴν διάπτυξιν δὲ τὴν γνωστικὴν τῶν γραφῶν, προκοπτούσης ἤδη τῆς πίστεως, εἰκάζεσθαι τῇ κατὰ τὰς συλλαβὰς ἀναγνώσει ἐκδεχόμεθα. ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἡσαΐας ὁ προφήτης βιβλίον καινὸν κελεύεται λαβὼν ἐγγράψαι τινά, τὴν γνῶσιν τὴν ἁγίαν διὰ τῆς τῶν γραφῶν ἐξηγήσεως ὕστερον ἔσεσθαι προφητεύοντος τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν ἔτι κατʼ ἐκεῖνον τὸν καιρὸν ἄγραφον τυγχάνουσαν διὰ τὸ μηδέπω γινώσκεσθαι· εἴρητο γὰρ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς μόνοις τοῖς νοοῦσιν. αὐτίκα διδάξαντος τοῦ σωτῆρος τοὺς ἀποστόλους ἡ τῆς ἐγγράφου ἄγραφος ἤδη καὶ εἰς ἡμᾶς διαδίδοται παράδοσις, καρδίαις καιναῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀνακαίνωσιν τοῦ βιβλίου τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ θεοῦ ἐγγεγραμμένη.
English · Claude translation
As Scripture proceeds, we will note the figures mentioned by the prophet passage by passage and set them out, carefully displaying the knower's way of life according to the rule of truth. For did not the power that appeared to Hermas in the vision, in the form of the church, give him the book to copy, which she wished to be announced to the elect? And this he copied, he says, letter by letter, not finding how to complete the syllables. This indicated, then, that Scripture is plain to all when taken in its bare reading, and that this is faith, which has the rank of the elementary letters; that is why reading letter by letter is used as an allegory. But the knower's unfolding of the Scriptures, when faith is already advancing, we understand to be likened to reading by syllables. And Isaiah the prophet too is commanded to take a new book and write certain things in it, the Spirit prophesying that the holy knowledge would come afterward through the interpretation of the Scriptures, knowledge that at that time was still unwritten because it was not yet known; for from the beginning it had been spoken only to those who understood. So when the Savior taught the apostles, the unwritten tradition of the written word was handed down now to us too, written on new hearts by the power of God, according to the renewal of the book.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The reference is Hermas, Vision 2.1.3–4; the allusions are Isa 8:1, Jer 31:33 (38:33 LXX), and 2 Cor 3:3. “The unwritten tradition of the written word” means the apostolic interpretation of Scripture.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.131 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/131/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.15.131 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/15/131/).
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