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Clement of Alexandria: The Instructor
William Wilson; ANF02 (1885) · Edition commentary
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Book III. — Translator and historical edition notes
Ps. lxxiii. 1.
[See Exhortation to the Heathen, cap. xi. p. 203, supra.]
The pædagogus. [This word seems to be used by Clement, with frequent alusion, at least, to its original idea, of one who leads the child to his instructor; which is the true idea, I suppose, in Gal. iii. 24.]
Num. vi. 9.
Num. vi. 12.
Ps. lxxxvi. 2, 3.
Mark ii. 11.
John xi. 43.
Matt. ix. 2.
Bishop Kaye (Some Account of the Writings and Opinions of Clement of Alexandria, p. 48) translates, “receiving from man that which made man (that on account of which man was made).” But it seems more likely that Clement refers to the ideal man in the divine mind, whom he indentifies elsewhere with the Logos, the ἄνθρωπος ἀπαθής, of whom man was the image. The reader will notice that Clement speaks of man as existing in the divine mind before his creation, and creation is represented by God’s seeing what He had previously within Him merely as a hidden power.
John xvi. 27.
John xvii. 23.
Matt. xv. 14.
John i. 14.
Luke xx. 34.
John xxi. 4, 5.
Matt. xix. 14.
Matt. xviii. 3.
[The dignity ascribed to Christian childhood in this chapter is something noteworthy. The Gospel glorifying children, sanctifies marriage, and creates the home.]
Matt. xxi. 9.
Matt. xxi. 16; Ps. viii. 2.
John xiii. 33.
Matt. xi. 16, 17. [In the Peshitoi-Syraic version, where are probably found the very words our Saviour thus quotes from children in Nazareth, this saying is seen to be metrical and alliterative.]
Ps. cxiii. 1.
Isa. viii. 18.
Matt. xxv. 33.
Matt. x. 16.
Lev. xv. 29, xii. 8; Luke ii. 24.
Matt. xxiii. 37.
Isa. lxv. 15, 16.
Jer. v. 8.
Zech. ix. 9; Gen. xlix. 11.
Isa. xl. 11.
Matt. xviii. 4.
Theodoret explains this to mean that, as the animal referred to has only one horn, so those brought up in the practice of piety worship only one God. [It might mean lovers of those promises which are introduced by these words in the marvellous twenty-second Psalm.]
Matt. vi. 34.
Ps. v. 6.
2 Cor. xi. 2.
Eph. iv. 13–15.
1 Thess. ii. 6, 7.
Isa. lxvi. 2.
Rom. xvi. 19.
Matt. xi. 27; Luke x. 22.
Isa. lxvi. 12, 13.
Gen. xxvi. 8.
Isa. ix. 6.
Luke vii. 28.
John i. 29, 36.
In allusion apparently to John viii. 35, 36.
Ps. lxxxii. 6.
χάρισμα
John i. 4.
John v. 24.
viz., the result of His will.
1 Thess. iv. 9.
Eph. v. 8.
φως, light; φώς, a man.
John vi. 40.
John iii. 36.
Matt. ix. 29.
Migne’s text has ἀποκάλυψις. The emendation ἀπόληψις is preferable.
[Iliad, v. 401.]
Gal. iii. 23–25. [Here the schoolmaster should be the child-guide; for the law leads us to the Master, says Clement, and we are no longer under the disciplinary guide, but “under the Word, the master of our free choice.” The schoolmaster then is the Word, and the law merely led us to his school.]
Gal. iii. 26–28.
1 Cor. xii. 13.
Luke x. 21.
Luke x. 21.
[Clement here considers all believers as babes, in the sense he explains; but the tenderness towards children of the allusions running through this chapter are not the less striking.]
1 Cor. xiv. 20.
1 Cor. xiii. 11. [A text much misused by the heretical gnostics whom Clement confutes.]
viz., simple or innocent as a child, and foolish as a child.
1 Cor. xiii. 11.
Gal. iv. 1–5.
Gal. iv. 7.
1 Cor. iii. 2.
Ex. iii. 8.
Rev. i. 8.
[Iliad, xiii. 6. S.]
1 Cor. iii. 1.
1 Cor. iii. 3.
John vi. 55.
1 Cor. xiii. 12.
Rom. viii. 9.
1 Cor. ii. 9.
2 Cor. xii. 2–4.
Jer. ix. 23; 1 Cor. i. 31; 2 Cor. x. 17.
John vi. 34.
The emendation ἀπολήρησις is adopted instead of the reading in the text.
John vi. 53, 54.
1 Pet. ii. 1–3. Clement here reads Χριστός, Christ, for χρηστός, gracious, in Text. Rec.
[Clement here argues from what was scientific in his day, introducing a curious, but to us not very pertinent, episode.]
1 Cor. vi. 13.
1 Cor. iii. 2.
John iv. 32–34.
Matt. xx. 22, etc.
John vi. 32, 33, 51.
Gen. xlix. 11.
[Matt. xxiii. 35. S.]
[i.e., Not from the ἀφρὸς, of the sea, but of the blood.]
1 Cor. iii. 2.
Il., xiv. 113.
Il., i. 248.
Ps. xix. 10.
Deut. xxxii. 13, 14.
Isa. vii. 15.
Phil. iii. 12–14.
Phil. iii. 15.
John x. 11.
John x. 16.
παιδαγωγός.
παιδευτής; Hos. v. 2.
παιδαγωγία.
Deut. xxxii. 10–12.
Ex. xx. 2.
Gen. xvii. 1, 2.
Gen. xxviii. 15.
Gen. xxxii. 24.
Or, “against the evil one.”
Gen. xxxii. 30.
Gen. xlvi. 3.
Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.
Ex. xxxii. 33, 34.
Ezek. xviii. 23, 32.
Gen. xlix. 6.
Deut. vi. 2.
Matt. xxii. 37.
Jer. i. 7.
Jer. i. 5.
John i. 17.
John i. 3.
Deut. xviii. 15.
Deut. xviii. 19.
Isa. xi. 1, 3, 4.
Ps. cxviii. 18.
Ps. ii. 9.
1 Cor. iv. 21.
Ps. cx. 2.
Ps. xxiii. 4.
Ecclus. xxi. 6.
Ps. ciii. 14.
Wisd. xi. 24.
John i. 1.
For ἀληθείας, there are the readings ἀπαθείας and ἀτιμίας.
Ecclus. xxii. 6–8.
John xv. 1, 2.
Ex. xx. 20.
Ecclus. xxxiv. 14, 15.
Isa. liii. 6.
Deut. xxxii. 23–25.
Ecclus. i. 21, 22.
Plato, Rep., x. 617 E.
Rom. iii. 5, 6.
Deut. xxxii. 41, 42.
Ecclus. i. 18.
Amos iv. 11.
Deut. xxxii. 20.
Rom. xi. 22.
Matt. v. 44.
John. xvii. 21–23.
Ex. iii. 14.
John xvii. 24–26.
Ex. xx. 5, 6.
Matt. xx. 21, xxv. 33.
Matt. xix. 17.
Ecclus. xvi. 12.
Ecclus. xvi. 12.
Luke vi. 35, 36.
Matt. xix. 17.
Matt. v. 45.
Ps. viii. 4.
Ps. ii. 4, xi. 5, ciii. 19.
Matt. vi. 9
Rom. iii. 21, 22.
Rom, iii. 26.
Rom. vii. 12.
Luke x. 22; John xvii. 25.
Ecclus. vii. 23, 24.
Matt. xxiii. 37.
Jer. iii. 9, vii. 9, xi. 13, xxxii. 29.
Ezek. ii. 6, 7.
Ex. iii. 18, 19.
Isa. xxix. 13.
Jer. v. 8, 9.
Prov. i. 7.
Hos. iv. 14: “understood not” in the A.V.
Isa. i. 2, 3.
Jer i. 16, ii. 13, 29.
Or, rebuke.
Isa. xxx. 1.
Lowth conjectures ἐπιστομῶν or ἐπιστομίζων, instead of ἀναστομῶν.
Isa. i. 4.
Jer. ii. 12, 13.
Lam. i. 8.
H. reads δηκτικόν, for which the text has ἐπιδεικτικόν.
Prov. iii. 11, 12.
Ecclus. xxxii. 21.
Ps. cxli. 5.
Jer. vi. 10.
Jer. ix. 26.
Isa. xxx. 9.
Matt. xxiii. 37–39.
Isa. i. 4.
Nothing similar to this is found in the fourth Gospel; the reference may be to the words of the Baptist, Matt. iii. 7, Luke iii. 7.
Ps. xviii. 43–45.
Jer. iii. 8.
Jer. v. 11, 12.
Lam. i. 1, 2.
Jer. iii. 3, 4.
Nahum iii. 4.
Deut. xxxii. 5, 6.
Isa. i. 23.
Ecclus. xviii. 13, 14.
Ecclus. xvi. 12.
Prov. xxiii. 14.
Prov. xxiii. 13.
Rom. xiii. 3, 4.
Gal. iv. 16.
John iv. 13, 14.
Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.
Ezek. xxxiv. 14, 15, 16.
Ezek. xxxiv. 14–16.
Isa. lviii. 9.
Isa. xliii. 2.
Matt. xx. 28; Mark x. 45.
John iv. 6.
Matt. xx. 28.
Here Clement gives the sense of various passages, e.g., Jer. vi., Lev. xxvi.
Prov. i. 24, 25.
Ps. lxxviii. 8, 10.
Ps. lxxviii. 32–35.
Ecclus. xxx. 8.
Ps. lxxviii. 38.
Ps. lxxxix. 14.
Luke x. 22.
Prov. viii. 4, 6.
Ps. i. 1, 2.
Matt. xi. 3–6; Luke vii. 19, 22, 23.
Ps. xlviii. 8.
Matt. xxii. 13, xxv. 30.
Ezek. xviii., xxxiii.
Matt. xi. 28.
Prov. iii. 13.
In Prov. ii. 4, 5, iii. 15, Jer. ii. 24, we have the sense of these verses.
Baruch iv. 4.
Baruch iii. 9.
Deut xxxi. 20.
Isa. lvi. 7.
Ps. i. 1–3.
Ps. i. 4.
Baruch iii. 13.
Jer. vi. 9.
Jer. vi. 16.
Deut. xxx. 6.
Isa. lvii. 21, xlviii. 22.
Prov. i. 10–12.
Ezek. xviii. 4–9.
Matt. xiii. 31; Luke xiii. 19.
Ex. xxxii. 6; 1 Cor. x. 7.
Gal. iii. 24.
Matt. xvii. 5.
John i. 3.
John x. 11.
Gen. i. 26.
Matt. vi. 34.
[The secondary, civilizing, and socializing power of the Gospel, must have already produced all this change from heathen manners, under Clement’s own observation.]
Ps. xlix. 12, 20.
Ecclus. xxxiii. 6.
[Note this definition in Christian ethics.]
Prov. xxiii. 3.
1 Cor. vi. 13.
1 Cor. vi. 13.
ὄθεν, an emendation for ὄν.
Love, or love-feast, a name applied by the ancients to public entertainments. [But surely he is here rebuking, with St. Jude (v. 12), abuses of the Christian agapæ by heretics and others.]
Luke xiv. 8, 10.
Luke xiv. 12, 13.
Luke xiv. 16.
1 Cor. xiii. 7, 8.
Luke xiv. 15.
1 Cor. xiii. 3.
Rom. xiv. 16, 17.
Wisd. vi. 17, 18.
Wisd. xvi. 26.
Deut. viii. 3; Matt. iv. 4.
Isa. xxii. 13, 14.
Ecclus. xviii. 32.
Odyss., xi. 37.
1 Cor. x. 20.
1 Cor. viii. 7, 8.
Matt. xv. 11.
1 Cor. viii. 8.
Luke xv. 11.
1 Cor. x. 27.
1 Cor. x. 25.
Rom. xiv. 3.
Rom. xiv. 6.
1 Cor. viii. 13.
1 Cor. ix. 14.
1 Cor. viii. 6, 11, 12.
1 Cor. v. 11.
Rom. xiv. 21.
Rom. xiv. 20.
[Clement seems to think this abuse was connected with the agapæ not—one might trust—with the Lord’s supper.]
1 Cor. xi. 21, 22.
1 Cor. xi. 33, 34.
Literally, “slave-manners,” the conduct to be expected from slaves.
1 Cor. x. 31.
Matt. xxii. 21.
1 Cor. x. 23.
1 Cor. x. 23.
Prov. xiii. 5.
A bulbous root, much prized in Greece, which grew wild.
Luke xxiv. 41–44.
A play here on the words εὐδαίμων and δαίμων.
ἀκρόδρυα, hard-shelled fruits.
Acts x. 10–15.
Matt. xv. 11.
Gen. ix. 2, 3.
Prov. xv. 17.
In allusion to the agapæ, or love-feasts.
2 Kings vi. 17–19, Septuagint: 2 Sam. vi. 17–19. A.V.
ὄνος, perhaps the hake or cod.
Phil. iii. 19.
1 Tim. v. 23.
[This remarkable chapter seems to begin with the author’s recollections of Pindar (ἄριστον μὲν ϋδωρ), but to lay down very justly the Scriptural ideas of temperance and abstinence.]
Ex. xvii.; Num. xx.
[Clement reckons only two classes as living faithfully with respect to drink, the abstinent and the totally abstinent.]
[This seems Clement’s exposition of St. John (vi. 63), and a clear statement as to the Eucharist, which he pronounces spiritual food.]
[A plain reference to the use of the mixed cup in the Lord’s supper.]
[If the temperate do well, he thinks, the abstinent do better; but nobody is temperate who does not often and habitually abstain.]
[A very important principle; for, if wine be “the milk of age,” the use of it in youth deprives age of any benefit from its sober use].
The exact derivation of acrothorakes is matter of doubt. But we have the authority of Aristotle and Erotian for believing that is was applied to those who were slightly drunk. Some regard the clause here as an interpolation.
Ecclus. xxxi. 27.
Pentheus in Euripides, Bacch., 918.
Attributed to Sophocles.
Ecclus. xxxi. 29.
[A beautiful maxim, and proving the habit of early Christians to use completory prayers. This the drunkard is in no state to do.]
Ecclus. xxxi. 26.
Prov. xxiii. 20.
Prov. xxiii. 21.
Prov. xxiii. 29, 30.
[A passage not to be overlooked. Greek, μυστικὸν σύμβολον.]
Prov. xx. 1.
ἀνθοσμίας. Some suppose the word to be derived from the name of a town: “The Anthosmian.”
Amos vi. 4, 6.
[Here Clement satirizes heathen manners, and quote Athene, to shame Christians who imitate them.]
Ecclus. xxxi. 25.
[The blood of the vine is Christ’s blood. According to Clement, then, it remains in the Eucharist unchanged.]
Mark xvi. 25; Matt. xxvi. 29. [This also is a noteworthy use of the text.]
Matt. xi. 19.
Ecclus. xxvi. 8.
1 Cor. xi. 20. [Clement has already hinted his opinion, that this referred to a shameful custom of the Corinthians to let an agape precede the Eucharist; an abuse growing out of our Lord’s eating of the Passover before he instituted the Eucharist.]