Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies

What is voluntary is either what is by desire, or what is by choice, or what is of intention. Closely allied to each other are these things—sin, mistake, crime. It is sin, for example, to live luxuriously and licentiously; a misfortune, to wound one’s friend in ignorance, taking him for an enemy; and crime, to violate graves or commit sacrilege. Sinning arises from being unable to determine what ought to be done, or being unable to do it; as doubtless one falls into a ditch either through not knowing, or through inability to leap across through feebleness of body. But application to the training of ourselves, and subjection to the commandments, is in our own power; with which if we will have nothing to do, by abandoning ourselves wholly to lust, we shall sin, nay rather, wrong our own soul. For the noted Laius says in the tragedy:—

“None of these things of which you admonish me have escaped me;

But notwithstanding that I am in my senses, Nature compels me;”

i.e., his abandoning himself to passion. Medea, too, herself cries on the stage:—

“And I am aware what evils I am to perpetrate,

But passion is stronger than my resolutions.”488 Eurip., Medea, 1078.

Further, not even Ajax is silent; but, when about to kill himself, cries:—

“No pain gnaws the soul of a free man like dishonour.

Thus do I suffer; and the deep stain of calamity

Ever stirs me from the depths, agitated

By the bitter stings of rage.”489 These lines, which are not found in the Ajax of Sophocles, have been amended by various hands. Instead of συμφοροὺσα, we have ventured to read συμφορᾶς—κηλὶς συμφορᾶς being a Sophoclean phrase, and συμφοροῦσα being unsuitable.

Anger made these the subjects of tragedy, and lust made ten thousand others—Phædra, Anthia, Eriphyle,—

“Who took the precious gold for her dear husband.”

For another play represents Thrasonides of the comic drama as saying:—

“A worthless wench made me her slave.”

Mistake is a sin contrary to calculation; and voluntary sin is crime (ἀδικία); and crime is voluntary wickedness. Sin, then, is on my part voluntary. Wherefore says the apostle, “Sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”490 Rom. iv. 7, 8. Addressing those who have believed, he says, “For by His stripes we were healed.”491 1 Pet. ii. 24. Mistake is the involuntary action of another towards me, while a crime (ἀδικία) alone is voluntary, whether my act or another’s. These differences of sins are alluded to by the Psalmist, when he calls those blessed whose iniquities (ἀνομίας) God hath blotted out, and whose sins (ἁμαρτίας) He hath covered. Others He does not impute, and the rest He forgives. For it is written, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin, and in whose mouth there is no fraud.”492 Ps. xxxii. 1, 2; Rom. iv. 7, 8. This blessedness came on those who had been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord. For “love hides the multitude of sins.”493 1 Pet. iv. 8. And they are blotted out by Him “who desireth the repentance rather than the death of a sinner.”494 Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And those are not reckoned that are not the effect of choice; “for he who has lusted has already committed adultery,”495 Matt. v. 28. it is said. And the illuminating Word forgives sins: “And in that time, saith the Lord, they shall seek for the iniquity of Israel, and it shall not exist; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found.”496 Jer. i. 20. “For who is like Me? and who shall stand before My face?497 Jer. xlix. 19. You see the one God declared good, rendering according to desert, and forgiving sins. John, too, manifestly teaches the differences of sins, in his larger Epistle, in these words: “If any man see his brother sin a sin that is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life: for these that sin not unto death,” he says. For “there is a sin unto death: I do not say that one is to pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin; and there is a sin not unto death.”498 1 John v. 16, 17.

David, too, and Moses before David, show the knowledge of the three precepts in the following words: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly;” as the fishes go down to the depths in darkness; for those which have not scales, which Moses prohibits touching, feed at the bottom of the sea. “Nor standeth in the way of sinners,” as those who, while appearing to fear the Lord, commit sin, like the sow, for when hungry it cries, and when full knows not its owner. “Nor sitteth in the chair of pestilences,” as birds ready for prey. And Moses enjoined not to eat the sow, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish without scales. So far Barnabas.499 Ps. i. 1 (quoted from Barnabas, with some additions and omissions). [See vol. i. p. 143, this series.] And I heard one skilled in such matters say that “the counsel of the ungodly” was the heathen, and “the way of sinners” the Jewish persuasion, and explain “the chair of pestilence” of heresies. And another said, with more propriety, that the first blessing was assigned to those who had not followed wicked sentiments which revolt from God; the second to those who do not remain in the wide and broad road, whether they be those who have been brought up in the law, or Gentiles who have repented. And “the chair of pestilences” will be the theatres and tribunals, or rather the compliance with wicked and deadly powers, and complicity with their deeds. “But his delight is in the law of the Lord.”500 Ps. i. 2. Peter in his Preachingcalled the Lord, Law and Logos. The legislator seems to teach differently the interpretation of the three forms of sin—understanding by the mute fishes sins of word, for there are times in which silence is better than speech, for silence has a safe recompense; sins of deed, by the rapacious and carnivorous birds. The sow delights in dirt and dung; and we ought not to have “a conscience” that is “defiled.”501 1 Cor. viii. 7.

Justly, therefore, the prophet says, “The ungodly are not so: but as the chaff which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth. Wherefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment”502 Ps. i. 4, 5. (being already condemned, for “he that believeth not is condemned already”503 John iii. 18.), “nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous,” inasmuch as they are already condemned, so as not to be united to those that have lived without stumbling. “For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; and the way of the ungodly shall perish.”504 Ps. i. 5, 6.

Again, the Lord clearly shows sins and transgressions to be in our own power, by prescribing modes of cure corresponding to the maladies; showing His wish that we should be corrected by the shepherds, in Ezekiel; blaming, I am of opinion, some of them for not keeping the commandments. “That which was enfeebled ye have not strengthened,” and so forth, down to, “and there was none to search out or turn away.”505 Ezek. xxxiv. 4–6.

For “great is the joy before the Father when one sinner is saved,”506 These words are not in Scripture, but the substance of them is contained in Luke xv. 7, 10. saith the Lord. So Abraham was much to be praised, because “he walked as the Lord spake to him.” Drawing from this instance, one of the wise men among the Greeks uttered the maxim, “Follow God.”507 One of the precepts of the seven wise men. “The godly,” says Esaias, “framed wise counsels.”508 Isa. xxxii. 8, Sept. Now counsel is seeking for the right way of acting in present circumstances, and good counsel is wisdom in our counsels. And what? Does not God, after the pardon bestowed on Cain, suitably not long after introduce Enoch, who had repented?509 Philo explains Enoch’s translation allegorically, as denoting reformation or repentance. showing that it is the nature of repentance to produce pardon; but pardon does not consist in remission, but in remedy. An instance of the same is the making of the calf by the people before Aaron. Thence one of the wise men among the Greeks uttered the maxim, “Pardon is better than punishment;” as also, “Become surety, and mischief is at hand,” is derived from the utterance of Solomon which says, “My son, if thou become surety for thy friend, thou wilt give thine hand to thy enemy; for a man’s own lips are a strong snare to him, and he is taken in the words of his own mouth.”510 Prov. vi. 1, 2. And the saying, “Know thyself,” has been taken rather more mystically from this, “Thou hast seen thy brother, thou hast seen thy God.”511 Quoted as if in Scripture, but not found there. The allusion may be, as is conjectured, to what God said to Moses respecting him and Aaron, to whom he was to be as God; or to Jacob saying to Esau, “I have seen thy face as it were the face of God.” Thus also, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself;” for it is said, “On these commandments the law and the prophets hang and are suspended.”512 Luke x. 27, etc. With these also agree the following: “These things have I spoken to you, that My joy might be fulfilled: and this is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”513 John. xv. 11, 12. “For the Lord is merciful and pitiful; and gracious514 χρηστός instread of χριστός which is in the text. is the Lord to all.”515 Ps. cviii. 8, cxi. 4. “Know thyself” is more clearly and often expressed by Moses, when he enjoins, “Take heed to thyself.”516 Ex. x. 28, xxxiv. 12; Deut. iv. 9. “By alms then, and acts of faith, sins are purged.”517 Prob. Ecclus. iii. 29. “And by the fear of the Lord each one departs from evil.”518 Prov. iii. 7. “And the fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom.”519 Ecclus. i. 27.

Τὸ δ' ἑκούσιον ἢ τὸ κατ' ὄρεξίν ἐστιν ἢ τὸ κατὰ προαίρεσιν ἢ τὸ κατὰ διάνοιαν. αὐτίκα παράκειταί πως ταῦτα ἀλλήλοις, ἁμάρτημα, ἀτύχημα, ἀδίκημα. καὶ ἔστιν ἁμάρτημα μὲν φέρε εἰπεῖν τὸ τρυφητικῶς καὶ ἀσελγῶς βιοῦν, ἀτύχημα δὲ τὸ φίλον ὡς πολέμιον ὑπ' ἀγνοίας βαλεῖν, ἀδίκημα δὲ ἡ τυμβωρυχία ἢ ἡ ἱεροσυλία. τὸ δὲ ἁμαρτάνειν ἐκ τοῦ ἀγνοεῖν κρίνειν ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν συνίσταται, ἢ τοῦ ἀδυνατεῖν ποιεῖν, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ βόθρῳ περιπίπτει τις ἤτοι ἀγνοήσας ἢ ἀδυνατήσας ὑπερβῆναι δι' ἀσθένειαν σώματος. ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἡμῖν γε ἥ τε πρὸς τὴν παιδείαν ἡμῶν παράστασις ἥ τε πρὸς τὰς ἐντολὰς ὑπακοή. ὧν εἰ μὴ μετέχειν βουληθείημεν θυμῷ τε καὶ ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἐκδότους σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐπιδόντες, ἁμαρτησόμεθα, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀδικήσομεν τὴν ἑαυτῶν ψυχήν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Λάιος ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὴν τραγῳδίαν φησίν· λέληθεν δέ με οὐθὲν τῶνδε ὧν σὺ νουθετεῖς, γνώμην δ' ἔχοντά με ἡ φύσις βιάζεται· τουτέστι τὸ ἔκδοτον γεγενῆσθαι τῷ πάθει. ἡ Μήδεια δὲ καὶ αὐτὴ ὁμοίως ἐπὶ τῆς σκηνῆς βοᾷ· καὶ μανθάνω μὲν οἷα δρᾶν μέλλω κακά, θυμὸς δὲ κρείσσων τῶν ἐμῶν βουλευμάτων. ἀλλ' οὐδὲ Αἴας σιωπᾷ, μέλλων δὲ ἑαυτὸν ἀποσφάττειν κέκραγεν· οὐδὲν οὖν ἦν πῆμα ἐλευθέρου ψυχὴν δάκνον οὕτως ἀνδρὸς ὡς ἀτιμία· οὕτως πέπονθα καί με † συμφοροῦσα βαθεῖα κηλὶς ἐκ βυθῶν ἀναστρέφει λύσσης πικροῖς κέντροισιν ἠρεθισμένον. τούτους μὲν οὖν ὁ θυμός, μυρίους δὲ ἄλλους ἡ ἐπιθυμία τραγῳδεῖ, τὴν Φαίδραν, τὴν Ἄνθειαν, τὴν Ἐριφύλην, ἣ χρυσὸν φίλου ἀνδρὸς ἐδέξατο τιμήεντα. τὸν γὰρ κωμικὸν ἐκεῖνον Θρασωνίδην ἄλλη σκηνὴ παιδισκάριόν με φησὶν εὐτελὲς καταδεδούλωκεν. Ἀτύχημα μὲν οὖν παράλογός ἐστιν ἁμαρτία, ἡ δὲ ἁμαρτία ἀκούσιος ἀδικία, ἀδικία δὲ ἑκούσιος κακία. ἔστιν οὖν ἡ μὲν ἁμαρτία ἐμὸν ἀκούσιον. διὸ καί φησιν· ἁμαρτία γὰρ ὑμῶν οὐ κυριεύσει· οὐ γάρ ἐστε ὑπὸ νόμον, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ χάριν, τοῖς ἤδη πεπιστευκόσι λέγων, ὅτι τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. ἀτυχία δέ ἐστιν ἄλλου εἰς ἐμὲ πρᾶξις ἀκούσιος, ἡ δὲ ἀδικία μόνη εὑρίσκεται ἑκούσιος εἴτε ἐμὴ εἴτε ἄλλου. Ταύτας δ' αἰνίσσεται τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τὰς διαφορὰς ὁ ψαλμῳδὸς μακαρίους λέγων ὧν ὁ θεὸς τὰς μὲν ἀπήλειψεν ἀνομίας, τὰς δὲ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἁμαρτίας, οὐκ ἐλογίσατό τε τὰς ἄλλας καὶ ἀφῆκε τὰς λοιπάς. γέγραπται γάρ· "μακάριοι ὧν ἀφέθησαν αἱ ἀνομίαι, καὶ ὧν ἐπεκαλύφθησαν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι· μακάριος ἀνὴρ ᾧ οὐ μὴ λογίσηται κύριος ἁμαρτίαν, οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ δόλος·" οὗτος ὁ μακαρισμὸς ἐγένετο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐκλελεγμένους ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν. καλύπτει μὲν γὰρ ἀγάπη πλῆθος ἁμαρτιῶν. ἀπαλείφει δὲ ὁ τὴν μετάνοιαν μᾶλλον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἢ τὸν θάνατον αἱρούμενος. οὐ λογίζονται δὲ ὅσαι μὴ κατὰ προαίρεσιν συνίστανται· ὁ γὰρ ἐπιθυμήσας ἤδη μεμοίχευκε φησίν. ἀφίησί τε τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὁ φωτίζων λόγος καὶ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, φησὶν ὁ κύριος, ζητήσουσιν τὴν ἀδικίαν Ἰσραήλ, καὶ οὐχ ὑπάρξει, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας Ἰούδα, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῶσιν, ὅτι τίς ὥσπερ ἐγώ; καὶ τίς ἀντιστήσεται κατὰ πρόσωπόν μου; ὁρᾷς ἕνα θεὸν καταγγελλόμενον ἀγαθόν, τῶν κατ' ἀξίαν ἀπονεμητικόν τε καὶ ἀφετικὸν ἁμαρτημάτων. φαίνεται δὲ καὶ Ἰωάννης ἐν τῇ μείζονι ἐπιστολῇ τὰς διαφορὰς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἐκδιδάσκων ἐν τούτοις· ἐάν τις ἴδῃ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτάνοντα ἁμαρτίαν μὴ πρὸς θάνατον, αἰτήσει, καὶ σώσει αὐτῷ ζωήν, τοῖς ἁμαρτάνουσι μὴ πρὸς θάνατον εἶπεν· ἔστι γὰρ ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον· οὐ περὶ ἐκείνης λέγω, ἵνα ἐρωτήσῃ τις. πᾶσα ἀδικία ἁμαρτία ἐστί, καὶ ἔστιν ἁμαρτία μὴ πρὸς θάνατον. ἀλλὰ καὶ ∆αβὶδ καὶ πρὸ ∆αβὶδ ὁ Μωυσῆς τῶν τριῶν δογμάτων τὴν γνῶσιν ἐμφαίνουσιν διὰ τούτων· μακάριος ἀνὴρ ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν, καθὼς οἱ ἰχθύες πορεύονται ἐν σκότει εἰς τὰ βάθη· οἱ γὰρ λεπίδα μὴ ἔχοντες, ὧν ἀπαγορεύει Μωυσῆς ἐφάπτεσθαι, κάτω τῆς θαλάσσης νέμονται· οὐδὲ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν ἔστη, καθὼς οἱ δοκοῦντες φοβεῖσθαι τὸν κύριον ἁμαρτάνουσιν ὡς ὁ χοῖρος· πεινῶν γὰρ κραυγάζει, πληρωθεὶς δὲ τὸν δεσπότην οὐ γνωρίζει· οὐδὲ ἐπὶ καθέδραν λοιμῶν ἐκάθισεν, καθὼς τὰ πτηνὰ εἰς ἁρπαγὴν ἕτοιμα. παρῄνεσε δὲ Μωυσῆς· οὐ φάγεσθε χοῖρον οὐδὲ ἀετὸν οὐδὲ ὀξύπτερον οὐδὲ κόρακα οὐδὲ πάντ' ἰχθὺν ὃς οὐκ ἔχει λεπίδα ἐν αὑτῷ. ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Βαρνάβας. ἀκήκοα δ' ἔγωγε σοφοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνδρὸς βουλὴν μὲν ἀσεβῶν τὰ ἔθνη λέγοντος, ὁδὸν δὲ ἁμαρτωλῶν τὴν Ἰουδαϊκὴν ὑπόληψιν καὶ καθέδραν λοιμῶν τὰς αἱρέσεις ἐκλαμβάνοντος. ἕτερος δὲ κυριώτερον ἔλεγεν τὸν μὲν πρῶτον μακαρισμὸν τετάχθαι ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ κατακολουθησάντων ταῖς γνώμαις ταῖς πονηραῖς, ταῖς ἀποστατησάσαις τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν δεύτερον δὲ ἐπὶ τῶν τῇ εὐρυχώρῳ καὶ πλατείᾳ ὁδῷ οὐκ ἐμμενόντων, ἢ τῶν ἐν νόμῳ τραφέντων ἢ καὶ τῶν ἐξ ἐθνῶν μετανενοηκότων· καθέδρα δὲ λοιμῶν καὶ τὰ θέατρα καὶ τὰ δικαστήρια εἴη ἂν [ἤ], ὅπερ καὶ μᾶλλον, ἡ ἐξακολούθησις ταῖς πονηραῖς καὶ ταῖς λυμαντικαῖς ἐξουσίαις καὶ ἡ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτῶν κοινωνία. ἀλλ' ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ· ὁ Πέτρος ἐν τῷ Κηρύγματι νόμον καὶ λόγον τὸν κύριον προσεῖπεν. δοκεῖ δὲ καὶ ἄλλως τριῶν ἀποχὴν ἁμαρτίας τρόπων διδάσκειν ὁ νομοθέτης, τῶν μὲν ἐν λόγῳ διὰ τῶν ἰχθύων τῶν ἀναύδων· ἔστι γὰρ τῷ ὄντι οὗ σιγὴ λόγου διαφέρει· ἔστι καὶ σιγῆς ἀκίνδυνον γέρας· τῶν δὲ ἐν ἔργῳ διὰ τῶν ἁρπακτικῶν καὶ σαρκοβόρων ὀρνέων· *** χοῖρος βορβόρῳ ἥδεται καὶ κόπρῳ· καὶ χρὴ μηδὲ τὴν συνείδησιν ἔχειν μεμολυσμένην. εἰκότως οὖν φησιν ὁ προφήτης· οὐχ οὕτως, φησίν, οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, ἀλλ' ἢ ὡσεὶ χνοῦς ὃν ἐκρίπτει ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς. διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει (οἱ ἤδη κατακεκριμένοι, ἐπεὶ ὁ μὴ πιστεύων ἤδη κέκριται), οὐδὲ οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων (οἱ ἤδη κατεγνωσμένοι εἰς τὸ μὴ ἑνωθῆναι τοῖς ἀπταίστως βεβιωκόσιν), ὅτι γινώσκει κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων, καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται. πάλιν ὁ κύριος δείκνυσιν ἄντικρυς ἐφ' ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ παραπτώματα καὶ τὰ πλημμελήματα, τρόπους θεραπείας καταλλήλους τοῖς πάθεσιν ὑποτιθέμενος, πρὸς τῶν ποιμένων ἐπανορθοῦσθαι βουλόμενος ἡμᾶς, διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ αἰτιώμενος αὐτῶν, οἶμαι, τινὰς ἐφ' οἷς οὐκ ἐτήρησαν τὰς ἐντολάς· τὸ ἠσθενηκὸς οὐκ ἐνισχύσατε καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἕως καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἐπιζητῶν οὐδὲ ὁ ἀποστρέφων· μεγάλη γὰρ χαρὰ παρὰ τῷ πατρὶ ἑνὸς ἁμαρτωλοῦ σωθέντος, ὁ κύριός φησι. ταύτῃ πλέον ἐπαινετὸς ὁ Ἀβραὰμ ὅτι ἐπορεύθη καθάπερ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος. ἐντεῦθεν ἀρυσάμενός τις τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφῶν τὸ ἕπου θεῷ ἀπεφθέγξατο. οἱ δὲ εὐσεβεῖς φησὶν Ἡσαΐας συνετὰ ἐβουλεύσαντο. βουλὴ δέ ἐστι ζήτησις περὶ τοῦ πῶς ἂν ἐν τοῖς παροῦσι πράγμασιν ὀρθῶς διεξάγοιμεν, εὐβουλία δὲ φρόνησις πρὸς τὰ βουλεύματα. τί δέ; οὐχὶ καὶ ὁ θεὸς μετὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ Κάιν συγγνώμην ἀκολούθως οὐ πολλῷ ὕστερον τὸν μετανοήσαντα Ἐνὼχ εἰσάγει δηλῶν ὅτι συγγνώμη μετάνοιαν πέφυκε γεννᾶν; ἡ συγγνώμη δὲ οὐ κατὰ ἄφεσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ ἴασιν συνίσταται. τὸ δ' αὐτὸ γίνεται κἀν τῇ κατὰ τὸν Ἀαρὼν τοῦ λαοῦ μοσχοποιίᾳ. ἐντεῦθέν τις τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφῶν συγγνώμη τιμωρίας κρείσσων ἀπεφθέγξατο, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ τὸ ἐγγύα, πάρα δ' ἄτα ἀπὸ τῆς Σολομῶντος φωνῆς λεγούσης· υἱέ, ἐὰν ἐγγυήσῃ σὸν φίλον, παραδώσεις σὴν χεῖρα ἐχθρῷ· παγὶς γὰρ ἀνδρὶ ἰσχυρὰ τὰ ἴδια χείλη, καὶ ἁλίσκεται ῥήμασιν ἰδίου στόματος. μυστικώτερον δὲ ἤδη τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν ἐκεῖθεν εἴληπται· εἶδες τὸν ἀδελφόν σου, εἶδες τὸν θεόν σου. ταύτῃ που ἀγαπήσεις κύριον τὸν θεόν σου ἐξ ὅλης καρδίας καὶ τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν· ἐν ταύταις λέγει ταῖς ἐντολαῖς ὅλον τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας κρέμασθαί τε καὶ ἐξηρτῆσθαι. συνᾴδει τούτοις κἀκεῖνα· ταῦτα λελάληκα ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἡ χαρὰ ἡ ἐμὴ πληρωθῇ. αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ ἐμή, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους καθὼς ἠγάπησα ὑμᾶς· ἐλεήμων γὰρ καὶ οἰκτίρμων ὁ κύριος, καὶ χρηστὸς κύριος τοῖς σύμπασι. σαφέστερον δὲ τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν παρεγγυῶν ὁ Μωυσῆς λέγει πολλάκις· πρόσεχε σεαυτῷ. ἐλεημοσύναις οὖν καὶ πίστεσιν ἀποκαθαίρονται ἁμαρτίαι· τῷ δὲ φόβῳ κυρίου ἐκκλίνει πᾶς ἀπὸ κακοῦ. φόβος δὲ κυρίου παιδεία καὶ σοφία.