Miscellanies 6.16.137
Summary: The first commandment teaches the one Almighty God who brought Israel out of Egypt; the second forbids applying God's name to idols, for only He Who Is is uncreated; the third teaches creation and the Sabbath rest, which we, not God, need.
Greek text · Stählin 2:501
πάλιν τε αὖ ὡς αἴσθησις πρὸς τὸ αἰσθητόν, οὕτως νόησις πρὸς τὸ νοητόν. διτταὶ δὲ καὶ αἱ πράξεις, αἳ μὲν κατʼ ἔννοιαν, αἳ δὲ κατʼ ἐνέργειαν. Καὶ ἡ μὲν πρώτη τῆς δεκαλόγου ἐντολὴ παρίστησιν, ὅτι μόνος εἷς ἐστιν θεὸς παντοκράτωρ, ὃς ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὸν λαὸν μετήγαγεν διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου εἰς τὴν πατρῴαν γῆν, ὅπως καταλαμβάνωσι μὲν διὰ τῶν θείων ἐνεργημάτων, ὡς ἐδύναντο, τὴν δύναμιν αὐτοῦ, ἀφιστῶνται δὲ τῆς τῶν γενητῶν εἰδωλολατρείας, τὴν πᾶσαν ἐλπίδα ἐπὶ τὸν κατʼ ἀλήθειαν ἔχοντες θεόν. ὁ δεύτερος δὲ ἐμήνυεν λόγος μὴ δεῖν λαμβάνειν μηδὲ ἐπιφέρειν τὸ μεγαλεῖον κράτος τοῦ θεοῦ (ὅπερ ἐστὶ τὸ ὄνομα· τοῦτο γὰρ μόνον ἐχώρουν, ὡς καὶ ἔτι νῦν οἱ πολλοί, μαθεῖν) — μὴ φέρειν τούτου τὴν ἐπίκλησιν ἐπὶ τὰ γενητὰ καὶ μάταια, ἃ δὴ οἱ τεχνῖται τῶν ἀνθρώπων πεποιήκασι, καθʼ ὧν ὁ ὢν οὐ τάσσεται· ἐν ταὐτότητι γὰρ ἀγενήτῳ ὁ ὢν αὐτὸς μόνος. τρίτος δέ ἐστι λόγος ὁ μηνύων γεγονέναι πρὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τὸν κόσμον καὶ δεδωκέναι ἀνάπαυσιν ἡμῖν ἑβδόμην ἡμέραν διὰ τὴν κατὰ τὸν βίον κακοπάθειαν· θεὸς γὰρ ἄκμητός τε καὶ ἀπαθὴς καὶ ἀπροσδεής, ἀναπαύλης δὲ ἡμεῖς οἱ σαρκοφοροῦντες δεόμεθα.
English · Claude translation
And again, as sensation is to the sensible, so intellection is to the intelligible. And actions too are twofold, some in thought, others in deed. The first commandment of the Decalogue shows that there is one only God Almighty, who led the people out of Egypt through the desert to their ancestral land, so that they might grasp his power, as far as they could, through the divine works, and withdraw from the idolatry of created things, putting all their hope in the true God. The second word indicated that we must not take or apply the majestic might of God (which is the name; for this alone they were able to learn, as the many still are now)—must not apply its invocation to created and vain things, which human craftsmen have made, among which “He who is” is not ranked; for He who is, himself alone, is in unbegotten sameness. The third word is the one that indicates that the world was made by God and that he gave us the seventh day as rest because of the hardship of life. For God is untiring, impassible, and without need, but we who bear flesh need rest.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Exod 20:2–3, 20:7, 20:8–11, and Exod 3:14 LXX (“He who is”). Clement's second commandment is the prohibition of taking the name in vain.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.137 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/137/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.137 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/137/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text