Miscellanies 6.16.138
Summary: The Sabbath rest prepares for the first day, the day of light, when the Spirit gives true knowledge and freedom from passion; wisdom existed before creation, and the eighth day is the true Sabbath, while the seventh is a working day.
Greek text · Stählin 2:501–502
ἡ ἑβδόμη τοίνυν ἡμέρα ἀνάπαυσις κηρύσσεται, ἀποχῇ κακῶν ἑτοιμάζουσα τὴν ἀρχέγονον ἡμέραν τὴν τῷ ὄντι ἀνάπαυσιν ἡμῶν, ἣ δὴ καὶ πρώτη τῷ ὄντι φωτὸς γένεσις, ἐν ᾧ τὰ πάντα συνθεωρεῖται καὶ πάντα κληρονομεῖται. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρας ἡ πρώτη σοφία καὶ ἡ γνῶσις ἡμῖν ἐλλάμπεται· τὸ γὰρ φῶς τῆς ἀληθείας φῶς ἀληθές, ἄσκιον, ἀμερῶς μεριζόμενον πνεῦμα κυρίου εἰς τοὺς διὰ πίστεως ἡγιασμένους, λαμπτῆρος ἐπέχον τάξιν εἰς τὴν τῶν ὄντων ἐπίγνωσιν. ἀκολουθοῦντες οὖν αὐτῷ διʼ ὅλου τοῦ βίου ἀπαθεῖς καθιστάμεθα, τὸ δέ ἐστιν ἀναπαύσασθαι. διὸ καὶ Σολομὼν πρὸ οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ὄντων τῷ παντοκράτορι γεγονέναι τὴν σοφίαν λέγει, ἧς ἡ μέθεξις (ἡ κατὰ δύναμιν, οὐ κατʼ οὐσίαν λέγω) θείων καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων καταληπτικῶς ἐπιστήμονα εἶναι διδάσκει. ἐνταῦθα γενομένους ἐν παρέργῳ καὶ ταῦτα ὑπομνηστέον, ἐπεὶ περὶ ἑβδομάδος καὶ ὀγδοάδος ὁ λόγος παρεισῆλθε· κινδυνεύει γὰρ ἡ μὲν ὀγδοὰς ἑβδομὰς εἶναι κυρίως, ἑξὰς δὲ ἡ ἑβδομὰς κατά γε τὸ ἐμφανές, καὶ ἣ μὲν κυρίως εἶναι σάββατον, ἐργάτις δὲ ἡ ἑβδομάς· ἥ τε γὰρ κοσμογονία ἐν ἓξ περαιοῦται ἡμέραις, ἥ τε ἀπὸ τροπῶν ἐπὶ τροπὰς κίνησις τοῦ ἡλίου ἐν ἓξ συντελεῖται μησί, καθʼ ἣν πῇ μὲν φυλλορροεῖ, πῇ δὲ βλαστάνει τὰ φυτὰ καὶ αἱ τῶν σπερμάτων γίνονται τελειώσεις.
English · Claude translation
The seventh day, then, is proclaimed as rest, preparing by abstention from evils for the primal day, our true rest, which is indeed truly the first creation of light, in which all things are seen together and all things are inherited. From this day the first wisdom and knowledge shine upon us. For the light of truth is true light, without shadow, the Spirit of the Lord divided without division among those sanctified through faith, holding the place of a lamp for the knowledge of what exists. Following it, then, through our whole life, we become free from passion; and that is to rest. That is why Solomon too says that wisdom came into being for the Almighty before heaven and earth and all things that exist; participation in it (by power, I mean, not by essence) teaches one to understand things divine and human with a firm grasp. Having come to this point, we must mention these things too in passing, since the discussion has turned to the seven and the eight. For the eight may well be the seven in the proper sense, and the seven, to all appearance, a six; the one properly the Sabbath, the seven a working day. For the creation of the world is completed in six days, and the sun's motion from solstice to solstice is completed in six months, in which plants shed their leaves at one time and sprout at another, and seeds come to maturity.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are Gen 1:3 (the first light), John 1:9, and Prov 8:22–31 (wisdom before creation). Participation in wisdom “by power, not by essence” guards against making the knower divine by nature.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.138 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/138/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 6.16.138 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/6/16/138/).
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