Clement of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith.

“Herbs with love are better than a fatted calf with deceit.” This is reminiscent of what we said before, that herbs are not the Agape, but that meals should be taken with charity. A middle course is good in all things, and no less so in serving a banquet. Extremes, in fact, are dangerous, but the mean is good, and all that avoids dire need is a mean. Natural desires have a limit set to them by self-sufficiency.

Proverbs 17:6

Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.

We must regard the woman's crown to be her husband, and the husband's crown to be marriage; and the flowers of marriage the children of both, which the divine husbandman plucks from meadows of flesh. "Children's children are the crown of old men." And the glory of children is their fathers, it is said; and our glory is the Father of all; and the crown of the whole church is Christ.

Proverbs 23:3

Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

There is no limit to epicurism among men. For it has driven them to sweetmeats, and honey-cakes, and sugar-plums; inventing a multitude of desserts, hunting after all manner of dishes. A man like this seems to me to be all jaw, and nothing else. "Desire not," says the Scripture, "rich men's dainties;" for they belong to a false and base life. They partake of luxurious dishes, which a little after go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heavenly bread must rule the belly, which is beneath heaven, and much more the things which are agreeable to it, which "God shall destroy," says the apostle, justly execrating gluttonous desires.

Proverbs 23:29-31

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

By the mention of redness of eyes—a sign of death—it is made clear that the wine-bibber is already dead to the Word and to reason. It declares his death to the Lord. If one forgets the motives that prompt him to seek the true life, he is dragged down to corruption. With good reason, then, the Educator, in his concern for our salvation, sternly forbids us, “Do not drink wine to drunkenness.”

Proverbs 28:4

They that forsake the law praise the wicked: but such as keep the law contend with them.

The Stoics laid down their doctrine on the basis that the goal is to live according to nature, using the word nature improperly rather than “God,” since nature applies to plants, crops, trees and stones. At any rate, there is the clear statement, “Scoundrels think nothing of the law, but those who love the law set it in front of them like a wall.” For “the wisdom of able men will understand the paths of wisdom, but the folly of fools goes in the wrong direction.”

Proverbs 29:3

Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father: but he that keepeth company with harlots spendeth his substance.

In my view, the sketch of a soul which yearns to preserve the blessed tradition without losing a single drop runs something like this: “When a man loves wisdom, his father’s heart will be warmed.” Wells which are constantly baled out provide a clearer water; wells which no one draws from turn to rottenness. Use keeps iron brighter; disuse produces rust in it. In general, exercise produces fitness in souls and bodies.

Psalms 1:1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

And “the chair of pestilences” will be the theaters and tribunals, or rather the compliance with wicked and deadly powers and complicity with their deeds.

Psalms 8:3

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;

But how shall I tell what God makes? Behold the whole universe; it is His work: and the heaven, and the sun, and angels, and men, are the works of His fingers. How great is the power of God! His bare volition was the creation of the universe. For God alone made it, because He alone is truly God. By the bare exercise of volition He creates; His mere willing was followed by the springing into being of what He willed. Consequently the choir of philosophers are in error, who indeed most nobly confess that man was made for the contemplation of the heavens, but who worship the objects that appear in the heavens and are apprehended by sight. For if the heavenly bodies are not the works of men, they were certainly created for man. Let none of you worship the sun, but set his desires on the Maker of the sun; nor deify the universe, but seek after the Creator of the universe.

Psalms 9:11

Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.

Those who are wild in respect of faith and polluted in life, not purified by the righteousness that is according to the law, are called wild beasts. But changed from wild beasts by the faith of the Lord, they become people of God, advancing from the wish to change to the fact. For some the Lord exhorts, and to those who have already made the attempt he stretches forth his hand and draws them up. “For the Lord dreads not the face of anyone, nor will he regard greatness; for he has made small and great and cares alike for all.” And David says, “For the heathen are fixed in the destruction they have caused; their foot is taken in the snare that they hid.” “But the Lord was a refuge to the poor, a help in season also in affliction.” Those, then, who were in affliction had the gospel seasonably proclaimed. And therefore it said, “Declare among the heathen his pursuits,” that they may not be judged unjustly.

Psalms 9:17

The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.

And already clearly David, bearing testimony to the truth, sings, "Let sinners be turned into Hades, and all the nations that forget God." They forget, plainly, Him whom they formerly remembered, and dismiss Him whom they knew previous to forgetting Him. There was then a dim knowledge of God also among the nations.

Psalms 18:26

With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

By perverse, he means he will chastise sinners. For his natural uprightness … and his goodness toward those who believe obediently are immovable and unshakable.… Therefore, he treats them severely in the hope that perhaps he might curb their impulse toward death.

Psalms 19:9

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

He recognises a twofold [element in faith], both the activity of him who believes, and the excellence of that which is believed according to its worth; since also righteousness is twofold, that which is out of love, and that from fear. Accordingly it is said, "The fear of the Lord is pure, remaining for ever and ever." For those that from fear turn to faith and righteousness, remain for ever. Now fear works abstinence from what is evil; but love exhorts to the doing of good, by building up to the point of spontaneousness; that one may hear from the Lord, "I call you no longer servants, but friends," and may now with confidence apply himself to prayer.

Psalms 19:10

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

"Sweet is the Word that gives us light, precious above gold and gems; it is to be desired above honey and the honey-comb." For how can it be other than desirable, since it has filled with light the mind which had been buried in darkness, and given keenness to the "light-bringing eyes" of the soul? For just as, had the sun not been in existence, night would have brooded over the universe notwithstanding the other luminaries of heaven; so, had we not known the Word, and been illuminated by Him; we should have been nowise different from fowls that are being fed, fattened in darkness, and nourished for death. Let us then admit the light, that we may admit God; let us admit the light, and become disciples to the Lord.

Psalms 22:26

The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

To inquire, respecting God, if it tends not to strife but to discovery, is salutary. For it is written in David, “The poor eat and shall be filled; and they shall praise the Lord that seek him. Your heart shall live forever.” For they who seek him after the true search, praising the Lord, shall be filled with the gift that comes from God, that is, knowledge. And their soul shall live; for the soul is figuratively termed the heart, which ministers life: for by the Son is the Father known.

Psalms 33:6

By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.

Some, however, who have fallen into error, I know not how, worship God's work instead of God Himself,-the sun and the moon, and the rest of the starry choir,-absurdly imagining these, which are but instruments for measuring time, to be gods; "for by His word they were established, and all their host by the breath of His mouth."

Psalms 34:12

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

But are ye so devoid of fear, or rather of faith, as not to believe the Lord Himself, or Paul, who in Christ's stead thus entreats: "Taste and see that Christ is God?" Faith will lead you in; experience will teach you; Scripture will train you, for it says, "Come hither, O children; listen to me, and I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Then, as to those who already believe, it briefly adds, "What man is he that desireth life, that loveth to see good days?" It is we, we shall say-we who are the devotees of good, we who eagerly desire good things. Hear, then, ye who are far off, hear ye who are near: the word has not been hidden from any; light is common, it shines "on all men." No one is a Cimmerian in respect to the word. Let us haste to salvation, to regeneration; let us who are many haste that we may be brought together into one love, according to the union of the essential unity; and let us, by being made good, conformably follow after union, seeking after the good Monad.

Psalms 48:12

Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.

Thence now, by knowledge collecting materials to be the food of contemplation, having embraced nobly the magnitude of knowledge, he advances to the holy recompense of translation hence. For he has heard the Psalm which says: "Encircle Zion, and encompass it, tell upon its towers." For it intimates, I think, those who have sublimely embraced the Word, so as to become lofty towers, and to stand firmly in faith and knowledge.

Psalms 68:7-13

O God, when thou wentest forth before thy people, when thou didst march through the wilderness; Selah:

Again, Aeschylus the tragedian, setting forth the power of God, does not shrink from calling him the Highest, in these words:Place God apart from mortals; and think not
That he is, like yourself, corporeal.
You know him not. Now he appears as fire,
Dread force; as water now; and now as gloom;
And in the beasts is dimly shadowed forth,
In wind, and cloud, in lightning, thunder, rain;
And minister to him the seas and rocks,
Each fountain and the water’s floods and streams.
The mountains tremble, and the earth, the vast
Abyss of sea, and towering height of hills,
When on them looks the Sovereign’s awful eye:
Almighty is the glory of the Most High God.
Does he not seem to you to paraphrase that text, “At the presence of the Lord the earth trembles”?

Psalms 78:7-8

That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:

His righteousness cried, "If ye come straight to me, I also will come straight to you but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk crooked saith the Lord of hosts;" meaning by the crooked ways the chastisements of sinners. For the straight and natural way which is indicated by the iota of the name of Jesus is His goodness, which is firm and sure towards those who have believed at hearing: "When I called, ye obeyed not, saith the Lord; but set at nought my counsels, and heeded not my reproofs." Thus the Lord's reproof is most beneficial. David also says of them, "A perverse and provoking race; a race which set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God: they kept not the covenant of God, and would not walk in His law." Such are the causes of provocation for which the Judge comes to inflict punishment on those that would not choose a life of goodness. Wherefore also afterwards He assailed them more roughly; in order, if possible, to drag them back from their impetuous rush towards death. He therefore tells by David the most manifest cause of the threatening: "They b…

His righteousness cried, "If ye come straight to me, I also will come straight to you but if ye walk crooked, I also will walk crooked saith the Lord of hosts;" meaning by the crooked ways the chastisements of sinners. For the straight and natural way which is indicated by the iota of the name of Jesus is His goodness, which is firm and sure towards those who have believed at hearing: "When I called, ye obeyed not, saith the Lord; but set at nought my counsels, and heeded not my reproofs." Thus the Lord's reproof is most beneficial. David also says of them, "A perverse and provoking race; a race which set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful with God: they kept not the covenant of God, and would not walk in His law." Such are the causes of provocation for which the Judge comes to inflict punishment on those that would not choose a life of goodness. Wherefore also afterwards He assailed them more roughly; in order, if possible, to drag them back from their impetuous rush towards death. He therefore tells by David the most manifest cause of the threatening: "They believed not in His wonderful works. When He slew them, they sought after Him, and turned and inquired early after God; and remembered that God was their Helper, and God the Most High their Redeemer." Thus He knew that they turned for fear, while they despised His love: for, for the most part, that goodness which is always mild is despised; but He who admonishes by the loving fear of righteousness is reverenced.

Psalms 86:2-3

Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee.

Therefore, the Word is our educator who heals the unnatural passions of our soul with his counsel. The art of healing, strictly speaking, is the relief of the ills of the body, an art learned through human wisdom. Yet, the only true divine healer of human sickness, the holy comforter of the soul when it is ill, is the Word of the Father. Scripture says, “Save your servant, O my God, who puts his trust in you. Have mercy on me, O Lord, because I have cried to you the whole day through.” In the words of Democritus, “The healer, by his art, cures the body of its diseases, but it is wisdom that rids the spirit of its ills.” The good educator of little ones, however, Wisdom, the Word of the Father, who created human beings, concerns himself with the whole creation, and as the physician of the whole person heals both body and soul.