Miscellanies 7.10.58
Summary: Psalm 24 describes the one who knows; by calling the Savior “the face of the God of Jacob,” David shows that he is God, the one who reveals the one Father.
Greek text · Stählin 2
Ὁ πρῶτος τῆς κυριακῆς ἐνεργείας τρόπος τῆς εἰρημένης ἡμῖν κατὰ τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἀμοιβῆς δεῖγμα. πολλῶν ὅσων μαρτυρίων ὄντων παραστήσομαι ἓν κεφαλαιωδῶς πρὸς τοῦ προφήτου Δαβὶδ ὧδέ πως εἰρημένον· »τίς ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ κυρίου; ἢ τίς στήσεται ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ; ἀθῷος χερσὶ καὶ καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὃς οὐκ ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ ματαίῳ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ οὐδὲ ὤμοσεν ἐπὶ δόλῳ τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ· οὗτος λήψεται εὐλογίαν παρὰ κυρίου καὶ ἐλεημοσύνην παρὰ θεοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ. αὕτη ἡ γενεὰ ζητούντων τὸν κύριον, ζητούντων τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ.« συντόμως, οἶμαι, τὸν γνωστικὸν ἐμήνυσεν ὁ προφήτης· κατὰ παραδρομὴν δʼ, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἡμῖν θεὸν εἶναι τὸν σωτῆρα ἀπέδειξεν ὁ Δαβὶδ »πρόσωπον« αὐτὸν εἰπὼν »τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ«, τὸν εὐαγγελισάμενον καὶ διδάξαντα περὶ τοῦ πατρός. διὸ καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος »χαρακτῆρα τῆς δόξης τοῦ πατρὸς« τὸν υἱὸν προσεῖπεν, τὸν τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ διδάξαντα καὶ χαρακτηρίσαντα ὅτι »θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ εἷς« καὶ μόνος ὁ παντοκράτωρ, »ὃν οὐδεὶς ἔγνω εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, καὶ ᾧ ἐὰν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ«. ἕνα δὲ εἶναι τὸν θεὸν διὰ τοῦ »ζητούντων τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακὼβ« μεμήνυται, ὃν »μόνον« ὄντα θεὸν πατέρα »ἀγαθὸν« χαρακτηρίζει ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ θεός. ἡ γενεὰ δὲ τῶν ζητούντων αὐτὸν »τὸ γένος« ἐστὶ »τὸ ἐκλεκτόν«, τὸ ζητητικὸν εἰς γνῶσιν.
English · Claude translation
The first mode of the Lord's activity gives an example of the reward for piety that we have described. Of the many testimonies, I will set out one in summary, spoken somewhat as follows by the prophet David: “Who shall ascend to the mountain of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He who is innocent in hands and pure in heart, who has not taken his soul in vain nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbor. He will receive blessing from the Lord and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of those who seek the Lord, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” Concisely, I think, the prophet has pointed to the one who knows. And in passing, it seems, David has shown us that the Savior is God, calling him the “face of the God of Jacob,” he who proclaimed the good news and taught about the Father. That is why the apostle too called the Son “the imprint of the glory of the Father,” he who taught the truth about God and made known that “God and Father is one,” the only Almighty, “whom no one has known except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son reveals him.” That God is one is shown by the words “those who seek the face of the God of Jacob”; our Savior and God describes him as the only “good” God and Father. And the generation of those who seek him is “the chosen race,” the race that searches for knowledge.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are Ps 24:3–6 (23:3–6 LXX), Heb 1:3, 1 Cor 8:6 / Eph 4:6, Matt 11:27, Mark 10:18, and 1 Pet 2:9. The sense of the first sentence is uncertain.
Cite this passage
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.10.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/10/58/).
Plain text
Clement of Alexandria, Strom. 7.10.58 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/clement-stromata/7/10/58/).
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