Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata, or Miscellanies

Since pleasure and lust seem to fall under marriage, it must also be treated of. Marriage is the first conjunction of man and woman for the procreation of legitimate children.615 [He places the essence of marriage in the chaste consummation itself, the first after lawful nuptials. Such is the force of this definition, which the note in ed. Migne misrepresents, as if it were a denial that second nuptials are marriage.] Accordingly Menander the comic poet says:—

“For the begetting of legitimate children,

I give thee my daughter.”

We ask if we ought to marry; which is one of the points, which are said to be relative. For some must marry, and a man must be in some condition, and he must marry some one in some condition. For every one is not to marry, nor always. But there is a time in which it is suitable, and a person for whom it is suitable, and an age up to which it is suitable. Neither ought every one to take a wife, nor is it every woman one is to take, nor always, nor in every way, nor inconsiderately. But only he who is in certain circumstances, and such an one and at such time as is requisite, and for the sake of children, and one who is in every respect similar, and who does not by force or compulsion love the husband who loves her. Hence Abraham, regarding his wife as a sister, says, “She is my sister by my father, but not by my mother; and she became my wife,”616 Gen. xx. 12. teaching us that children of the same mothers ought not to enter into matrimony. Let us briefly follow the history. Plato ranks marriage among outward good things, providing for the perpetuity of our race, and handing down as a torch a certain perpetuity to children’s children. Democritus repudiates marriage and the procreation of children, on account of the many annoyances thence arising, and abstractions from more necessary things. Epicurus agrees, and those who place good in pleasure, and in the absence of trouble and pain. According to the opinion of the Stoics, marriage and the rearing of children are a thing indifferent; and according to the Peripatetics, a good. In a word, these, following out their dogmas in words, became enslaved to pleasures; some using concubines, some mistresses, and the most youths. And that wise quaternion in the garden with a mistress, honoured pleasure by their acts. Those, then, will not escape the curse of yoking an ass with an ox, who, judging certain things not to suit them, command others to do them, or the reverse. This Scripture has briefly showed, when it says, “What thou hatest, thou shalt not do to another.”617 Tob. iv. 15.

But they who approve of marriage say, Nature has adapted us for marriage, as is evident from the structure of our bodies, which are male and female. And they constantly proclaim that command, “Increase and replenish.”618 Gen. i. 28. And though this is the case, yet it seems to them shameful that man, created by God, should be more licentious than the irrational creatures, which do not mix with many licentiously, but with one of the same species, such as pigeons and ringdoves,619 [The offering of the purification has a beautiful regard to the example of the turtle-dove; and the marriage-ring may have been suggested by the ringdove, a symbol of constancy in nature.] and creatures like them. Furthermore, they say, “The childless man fails in the perfection which is according to nature, not having substituted his proper successor in his place. For he is perfect that has produced from himself his like, or rather, when he sees that he has produced the same; that is, when that which is begotten attains to the same nature with him who begat.” Therefore we must by all means marry, both for our country’s sake, for the succession of children, and as far as we are concerned, the perfection of the world; since the poets also pity a marriage half-perfect and childless, but pronounce the fruitful one happy. But it is the diseases of the body that principally show marriage to be necessary. For a wife’s care and the assiduity of her constancy appear to exceed the endurance of all other relations and friends, as much as to excel them in sympathy; and most of all, she takes kindly to patient watching. And in truth, according to Scripture, she is a needful help.620 Gen. ii. 18. [A beautiful tribute to the true wife.] The comic poet then, Menander, while running down marriage, and yet alleging on the other side its advantages, replies to one who had said:—

“I am averse to the thing,

For you take it awkwardly.”

Then he adds:—

“You see the hardships and the things which annoy you in it.

But you do not look on the advantages.”

And so forth.

Now marriage is a help in the case of those advanced in years, by furnishing a spouse to take care of one, and by rearing children of her to nourish one’s old age.

“For to a man after death his children bring renown,

Just as corks bear the net,

Saving the fishing-line from the deep.”621 The corrections of Stanley on these lines have been adopted. They occur in the Choephoræ of Æschylus, 503, but may have been found in Sophocles, as the tragic poets borrowed from one another.

according to the tragic poet Sophocles.

Legislators, moreover, do not allow those who are unmarried to discharge the highest magisterial offices. For instance, the legislator of the Spartans imposed a fine not on bachelorhood only, but on monogamy,622 i.e., not entering into a second marriage after a wife’s death. But instead of μονογαμίου some read κακογαμίου—bad marriage. and late marriage, and single life. And the renowned Plato orders the man who has not married to pay a wife’s maintenance into the public treasury, and to give to the magistrates a suitable sum of money as expenses. For if they shall not beget children, not having married, they produce, as far as in them lies, a scarcity of men, and dissolve states and the world that is composed of them, impiously doing away with divine generation. It is also unmanly and weak to shun living with a wife and children. For of that of which the loss is an evil, the possession is by all means a good; and this is the case with the rest of things. But the loss of children is, they say, among the chiefest evils: the possession of children is consequently a good thing; and if it be so, so also is marriage. It is said:—

“Without a father there never could be a child,

And without a mother conception of a child could not be.

Marriage makes a father, as a husband a mother.”623 [To be a mother, indeed, one must be first a wife; the woman who has a child out of wedlock is not entitled to this holy name.]

Accordingly Homer makes a thing to be earnestly prayed for:—

“A husband and a house;”

yet not simply, but along with good agreement. For the marriage of other people is an agreement for indulgence; but that of philosophers leads to that agreement which is in accordance with reason, bidding wives adorn themselves not in outward appearance, but in character; and enjoining husbands not to treat their wedded wives as mistresses, making corporeal wantonness their aim; but to take advantage of marriage for help in the whole of life, and for the best self-restraint.

Far more excellent, in my opinion, than the seeds of wheat and barley that are sown at appropriate seasons, is man that is sown, for whom all things grow; and those seeds temperate husbandmen ever sow. Every foul and polluting practice must therefore be purged away from marriage; that the intercourse of the irrational animals may not be cast in our teeth, as more accordant with nature than human conjunction in procreation. Some of these, it must be granted, desist at the time in which they are directed, leaving creation to the working of Providence.

By the tragedians, Polyxena, though being murdered, is described nevertheless as having, when dying, taken great care to fall decently,—

“Concealing what ought to be hid from the eyes of men.”

Marriage to her was a calamity. To be subjected, then, to the passions, and to yield to them, is the extremest slavery; as to keep them in subjection is the only liberty. The divine Scripture accordingly says, that those who have transgressed the commandments are sold to strangers, that is, to sins alien to nature, till they return and repent. Marriage, then, as a sacred image, must be kept pure from those things which defile it.624 [A holy marriage, as here so beautifully defined, was something wholly unknown to Roman and Greek civilization. Here we find the Christian family established.] We are to rise from our slumbers with the Lord, and retire to sleep with thanksgiving and prayer,—

“Both when you sleep, and when the holy light comes,”

confessing the Lord in our whole life; possessing piety in the soul, and extending self-control to the body. For it is pleasing to God to lead decorum from the tongue to our actions. Filthy speech is the way to effrontery; and the end of both is filthy conduct.

Now that the Scripture counsels marriage, and allows no release from the union, is expressly contained in the law, “Thou shalt not put away thy wife, except for the cause of fornication;” and it regards as fornication, the marriage of those separated while the other is alive. Not to deck and adorn herself beyond what is becoming, renders a wife free of calumnious suspicion, while she devotes herself assiduously to prayers and supplications; avoiding frequent departures from the house, and shutting herself up as far as possible from the view of all not related to her, and deeming housekeeping of more consequence than impertinent trifling. “He that taketh a woman that has been put away,” it is said, “committeth adultery; and if one puts away his wife, he makes her an adulteress,”625 Matt. v. 32; xix. 9. that is, compels her to commit adultery. And not only is he who puts her away guilty of this, but he who takes her, by giving to the woman the opportunity of sinning; for did he not take her, she would return to her husband. What, then, is the law?626 Lev. xx. 10; Deut. xxii. 22. In order to check the impetuosity of the passions, it commands the adulteress to be put to death, on being convicted of this; and if of priestly family, to be committed to the flames.627 Lev. xxi. 9. And the adulterer also is stoned to death, but not in the same place, that not even their death may be in common. And the law is not at variance with the Gospel, but agrees with it. How should it be otherwise, one Lord being the author of both? She who has committed fornication liveth in sin, and is dead to the commandments; but she who has repented, being as it were born again by the change in her life, has a regeneration of life; the old harlot being dead, and she who has been regenerated by repentance having come back again to life. The Spirit testifies to what has been said by Ezekiel, declaring, “I desire not the death of the sinner, but that he should turn.”628 Ezek. xxxiii. 11. Now they are stoned to death; as through hardness of heart dead to the law which they believed not. But in the case of a priestess the punishment is increased, because “to whom much is given, from him shall more be required.”629 Luke. xii. 48.

Let us conclude this second book of the Stromata at this point, on account of the length and number of the chapters.

Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡδονῇ καὶ ἐπιθυμίᾳ ὑποπίπτειν γάμος δοκεῖ, καὶ περὶ τούτου διαληπτέον. γάμος μὲν οὖν ἐστι σύνοδος ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς ἡ πρώτη κατὰ νόμον ἐπὶ γνησίων τέκνων σπορᾷ. ὁ γοῦν κωμικὸς Μένανδρος παίδων (φησὶν) ἐπ' ἀρότῳ γνησίων δίδωμί σοί γε τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ θυγατέρα. ζητοῦμεν δὲ εἰ γαμητέον, ὅπερ τῶν κατὰ [τὸ] πρός τί πως ἔχειν ὠνομασμένων ἐστίν. τίνι γὰρ γαμητέον ὅπερ καὶ πῶς ἔχοντι, καὶ τίνα καὶ πῶς ἔχουσαν; οὔτε γὰρ παντὶ γαμητέον οὔτε πάντοτε, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρόνος ἐστὶν ἐν ᾧ καθήκει, καὶ πρόσωπον ᾧ προσήκει, καὶ ἡλικία μέχρι τίνος. οὔτε οὖν παντὶ γαμητέον πᾶσαν οὔτε πάντοτε, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ παντελῶς καὶ ἀνέδην, ἀλλὰ τῷ πως ἔχοντι καὶ ὁποίαν καὶ ὁπότε δεῖ, καὶ χάριν παίδων καὶ τὴν κατὰ πάντα ὁμοίαν καὶ μὴ βίᾳ ἢ ἀνάγκῃ στέργουσαν τὸν ἀγαπῶντα ἄνδρα. ὅθεν ὁ Ἀβραάμ φησιν ἐπὶ τῆς γυναικὸς σκηπτόμενος ὡς ἀδελφῆς· ἀδελφή μοί ἐστιν ἐκ πατρός, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐκ μητρός, ἐγένετο δέ μοι καὶ εἰς γυναῖκα, τὰς ὁμομητρίους μὴ δεῖν ἄγεσθαι πρὸς γάμον διδάσκων. Ἐπίωμεν δὲ ἐν βραχεῖ τὴν ἱστορίαν. Πλάτων μὲν οὖν ἐν τοῖς ἐκτὸς ἀγαθοῖς τάττει τὸν γάμον, ἐπισκευάσας τὴν ἀθανασίαν τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν καὶ οἱονεὶ διαμονήν τινα παισὶ παίδων μεταλαμπαδευομένην. ∆ημόκριτος δὲ γάμον καὶ παιδοποιίαν παραιτεῖται διὰ τὰς πολλὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν ἀηδίας τε καὶ ἀφολκὰς ἀπὸ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτέρων. συγκατατάττεται δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Ἐπίκουρος καὶ ὅσοι ἐν ἡδονῇ καὶ ἀοχλησίᾳ, ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀλυπίᾳ τἀγαθὸν τίθενται. ἔτι κατὰ μὲν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς Στοᾶς ἀδιάφορον ὅ τε γάμος ἥ τε παιδοτροφία, κατὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐκ τοῦ Περιπάτου ἀγαθόν. συλλήβδην οὗτοι μέχρι γλώττης ἀγαγόντες τὰ δόγματα ἡδοναῖς ἐδουλώθησαν, οἳ μὲν παλλακίσιν, οἳ δὲ ἑταίραις μειρακίοις τε οἱ πλεῖστοι κεχρημένοι. ἡ σοφὴ δὲ ἐκείνη τετρακτὺς ἐν τῷ κήπῳ μετὰ τῆς ἑταίρας ἔργοις ἐκύδαινον τὴν ἡδονήν. οὐκ ἂν οὖν ἐκφύγοιεν τὴν Βουζύγιον ἀρὰν ὅσοι μὴ δοκιμάζοντες σφίσι συμφέρειν τινὰ ἑτέροις ταῦτα παρακελεύονται ποιεῖν, ἢ αὖ τοὔμπαλιν. τοῦτο βραχέως ἡ γραφὴ δεδήλωκεν εἰρηκυῖα· ὃ μισεῖς, ἄλλῳ οὐ ποιήσεις. πλὴν οἱ γάμον δοκιμάζοντες ἡ φύσις ἡμᾶς ἐποίησεν φασὶν εὐθέτους πρὸς γάμον, ὡς δῆλον ἐκ τῆς σωμάτων κατασκευῆς τῶν τε ἀρρένων καὶ τῶν θηλειῶν, καὶ τὸ αὐξάνεσθε καὶ πληθύνεσθε συνεχῶς ἐπιβοῶνται. εἰ δὲ καὶ ταῦθ' οὕτως ἔχει, ἀλλ' αἰσχρόν γε αὐτοῖς δοκείτω καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων τὸν ὑπὸ θεοῦ δημιουργηθέντα ἄνθρωπον ἀκρατέστερον εἶναι, ἃ τὴν ἐπιμιξίαν οὐ ποιεῖται πρὸς πολλὰ καὶ ἀνέδην, ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἓν καὶ ὁμόφυλον, οἷαι αἱ πελιάδες καὶ αἱ φάσσαι καὶ τὸ τρυγόνων γένος καὶ ὅσα τούτοις παραπλήσια. ἔτι, φασίν, ὁ ἄτεκνος τῆς κατὰ φύσιν τελειότητος ἀπολείπεται ἅτε μὴ ἀντικαταστήσας τῇ χώρᾳ τὸν οἰκεῖον διάδοχον· τέλειος γὰρ ὁ πεποιηκὼς ἐξ αὑτοῦ τὸν ὅμοιον, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπειδὰν κἀκεῖνον τὸ αὐτὸ πεποιηκότα ἐπίδῃ, τουτέστιν ὅταν εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν καταστήσῃ φύσιν τὸ τεκνωθὲν τῷ τεκνώσαντι. Γαμητέον οὖν πάντως καὶ τῆς πατρίδος ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς τῶν παίδων διαδοχῆς καὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ἡμῖν συντελειώσεως, ἐπεὶ καὶ γάμον τινὰ οἰκτείρουσιν οἱ ποιηταὶ ἡμιτελῆ καὶ ἄπαιδα, μακαρίζουσι δὲ τὸν ἀμφιθαλῆ. αἱ δὲ σωματικαὶ νόσοι μάλιστα τὸν γάμον ἀναγκαῖον δεικνύουσιν· ἡ γὰρ τῆς γυναικὸς κηδεμονία καὶ τῆς παραμονῆς ἡ ἐκτένεια τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἄλλων οἰκείων καὶ φίλων ἔοικεν ὑπερτίθεσθαι προσκαρτερήσεις, ὅσῳ τῇ συμπαθείᾳ διαφέρειν καὶ προσεδρεύειν μάλιστα πάντων προαιρεῖται, καὶ τῷ ὄντι κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ἀναγκαία βοηθός. ὁ γοῦν κωμικὸς Μένανδρος καταδραμὼν τοῦ γάμου, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ χρήσιμα ἀντιτιθεὶς ἀποκρίνεται τῷ εἰπόντι πρὸς τὸ πρᾶγμα ἔχω κακῶς. Β. ἐπαριστερῶς γὰρ αὐτὸ λαμβάνεις. εἶτ' ἐπιφέρει· τὰ δυσχερῆ τε καὶ τὰ λυπήσοντά σε ὁρᾷς ἐν αὐτῷ, τὰ δὲ ἀγαθὰ οὐκ ἐπιβλέπεις καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. βοηθεῖ δὲ ὁ γάμος καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν προβεβηκότων τῷ χρόνῳ παριστὰς τὴν γαμετὴν ἐπιμελομένην καὶ τοὺς ἐκ ταύτης παῖδας γηροβοσκοὺς ἐκτρέφων. παῖδες δὲ ἀνδρὶ κατθανόντι κληδόνες γεγάασι· φελλοὶ δ' ὣς ἄγουσι δίκτυον, τὸν ἐκ βυθοῦ καὶ κλωστῆρα σῴζοντες λίνου κατὰ τὸν τραγικὸν Σοφοκλέα. οἵ τε νομοθέται οὐκ ἐπιτρέπουσι τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς τοῖς μὴ γαμήσασι μετιέναι. αὐτίκα ὁ τῶν Λακώνων νομοθέτης οὐκ ἀγαμίου μόνον ἐπιτίμιον ἔστησεν, ἀλλὰ κακογαμίου καὶ ὀψιγαμίου καὶ μονοδιαιτησίας· ὁ δὲ γενναῖος Πλάτων καὶ τροφὴν γυναικὸς ἀποτίνειν εἰς τὸ δημόσιον κελεύει τὸν μὴ γήμαντα καὶ τὰς καθηκούσας δαπάνας ἀποδιδόναι τοῖς ἄρχουσιν· εἰ γὰρ μὴ γήμαντες οὐ παιδοποιήσονται, τὸ ὅσον ἐφ' ἑαυτοῖς ἀνδρῶν σπάνιν ποιήσουσιν καὶ καταλύσουσι τάς τε πόλεις καὶ τὸν κόσμον τὸν ἐκ τούτων. τὸ δὲ τοιοῦτον ἀσεβὲς θείαν γένεσιν καταλυόντων. ἤδη δὲ ἄνανδρον καὶ ἀσθενὲς τὴν μετὰ γυναικὸς καὶ τέκνων φεύγειν συμβίωσιν. οὗ γὰρ ἡ ἀποβολὴ κακόν ἐστι, τούτου πάντως ἡ κτῆσις ἀγαθόν· ἔχει δ' οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν. ἀλλὰ μὴν ἡ τῶν τέκνων ἀποβολὴ τῶν ἀνωτάτω κακῶν ἐστι, φασίν. ἡ οὖν τῶν τέκνων κτῆσις ἀγαθόν. εἰ δὲ τοῦτο, καὶ ὁ γάμος. ἄνευ δὲ πατρὸς (φησὶ) τέκνον οὐκ εἴη ποτ' ἄν, ἄνευ δὲ μητρὸς οὐδὲ συλλαβὴ τέκνου. πατέρα δὲ γάμος ποιεῖ ὡς μητέρα ἀνήρ. εὐχὴν οὖν μεγίστην καὶ Ὅμηρος τίθεται ἄνδρα τε καὶ οἶκον, ἀλλ' οὐχ ἁπλῶς, μετὰ ὁμοφροσύνης δὲ τῆς ἐσθλῆς· ὁ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων γάμος ἐφ' ἡδυπαθείᾳ ὁμονοεῖ, ὁ δὲ τῶν φιλοσοφούντων ἐπὶ τὴν κατὰ λόγον ὁμόνοιαν ἄγει, ὁ μὴ τὸ εἶδος, ἀλλὰ τὸ ἦθος ἐπιτρέπων ταῖς γυναιξὶ κοσμεῖσθαι μηδ' ὡς ἐρωμέναις χρῆσθαι ταῖς γαμεταῖς προστάττων τοῖς ἀνδράσι σκοπὸν πεποιημένοις τὴν τῶν σωμάτων ὕβριν, ἀλλ' εἰς βοήθειαν παντὸς τοῦ βίου καὶ τὴν ἀρίστην σωφροσύνην περιποιεῖσθαι τὸν γάμον. πυρῶν γὰρ οἶμαι καὶ κριθῶν τε αὖ κατὰ τοὺς οἰκείους καιροὺς καταβαλλομένων σπερμάτων τιμιώτερός ἐστιν ὁ σπειρόμενος ἄνθρωπος, ᾧ πάντα φύεται, κἀκεῖνά γε καὶ νήφοντες καταβάλλουσι τὰ σπέρματα οἱ γεωργοί. πᾶν οὖν εἴ τι ῥυπαρὸν καὶ μεμολυσμένον ἐπιτήδευμα ἀφαγνιστέον τοῦ γάμου, ὡς μὴ ὀνειδισθείημεν τὴν τῶν ἀλόγων ζῴων σύνοδον τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης συζυγίας συνᾴδουσαν τῇ φύσει μᾶλλον κατὰ τὸν ὁμολογούμενον ὅρον. θορόντα γοῦν ἔνια αὐτῶν ᾧ κελεύεται καιρῷ εὐθέως ἀπαλλάττεται καταλιπόντα τὴν δημιουργίαν τῇ διοικήσει. τοῖς τραγῳδοποιοῖς δὲ ἡ Πολυξένη καίτοι ἀποσφαττομένη ἀναγέγραπται, ἀλλὰ καὶ θνῄσκουσα ὅμως πολλὴν πρόνοιαν πεποιῆσθαι τοῦ εὐσχημόνως πεσεῖν, κρύπτουσ' ἃ κρύπτειν ὄμματα ἀρρένων ἐχρῆν. ἦν δὲ κἀκείνῃ γάμος ἡ συμφορά. τὸ ὑποπεσεῖν οὖν καὶ παραχωρῆσαι τοῖς πάθεσιν ἐσχάτη δουλεία, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει τὸ κρατεῖν τούτων ἐλευθερία μόνη. ἡ γοῦν θεία γραφὴ τοὺς παραβάντας τὰς ἐντολὰς πεπρᾶσθαι λέγει τοῖς ἀλλογενέσι, τουτέστιν ἁμαρτίαις ἀνοικείαις τῇ φύσει, ἄχρις ἂν ἐπιστρέψαντες μετανοήσωσι. Καθαρὸν οὖν τὸν γάμον ὥσπερ τι ἱερὸν ἄγαλμα τῶν μιαινόντων φυλακτέον, ἀνεγειρομένοις μὲν ἐκ τῶν ὕπνων μετὰ κυρίου, ἀπιοῦσι δὲ εἰς ὕπνον μετ' εὐχαριστίας καὶ εὐχομένοις, ἠμὲν ὅτ' εὐνάζῃ καὶ ὅτ' ἂν φάος ἱερὸν ἔλθῃ, μαρτυρομένοις τὸν κύριον παρ' ὅλον ἡμῶν τὸν βίον, τὸ μὲν θεοσεβεῖν τῇ ψυχῇ κεκτημένοις, τὸ σῶφρον δὲ μέχρι καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἄγουσιν. θεοφιλὲς γὰρ τῷ ὄντι ἀπὸ τῆς γλώττης ἐπὶ τὰ ἔργα τὸ κόσμιον διαχειραγωγεῖν, ὁδὸς δὲ ἐπ' ἀναισχυντίαν ἡ αἰσχρολογία, καὶ τέλος ἀμφοῖν ἡ αἰσχρουργία. ὅτι δὲ γαμεῖν ἡ γραφὴ συμβουλεύει οὐδὲ ἀφίστασθαί ποτε τῆς συζυγίας ἐπιτρέπει, ἄντικρυς νομοθετεῖ· οὐκ ἀπολύσεις γυναῖκα πλὴν εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ λόγῳ πορνείας· μοιχείαν δὲ ἡγεῖται τὸ ἐπιγῆμαι ζῶντος θατέρου τῶν κεχωρισμένων. ἀνύποπτον δὲ εἰς διαβολὴν δείκνυσι γυναῖκα τὸ μὴ καλλωπίζεσθαι μηδὲ μὴν κοσμεῖσθαι πέρα τοῦ πρέποντος, εὐχαῖς καὶ δεήσεσι προσανέχουσαν ἐκτενῶς, τὰς μὲν ἐξόδους τῆς οἰκίας φυλαττομένην τὰς πολλάς, ἀποκλείουσαν δ' ὡς οἷόν τε αὑτὴν τῆς πρὸς τοὺς οὐ προσήκοντας προσόψεως, προὐργιαίτερον τιθεμένην τῆς ἀκαίρου φλυαρίας τὴν οἰκουρίαν. ὁ δὲ ἀπολελυμένην λαμβάνων γυναῖκα μοιχᾶται, φησίν, ἐὰν γάρ τις ἀπολύσῃ γυναῖκα, μοιχᾶται αὐτήν, τουτέστιν ἀναγκάζει μοιχευθῆναι. οὐ μόνον δὲ ὁ ἀπολύσας αἴτιος γίνεται τούτου, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ παραδεξάμενος αὐτήν, ἀφορμὴν παρέχων τοῦ ἁμαρτῆσαι τῇ γυναικί· εἰ γὰρ μὴ δέχοιτο, ἀνακάμψει πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα. τί οὖν ὁ νόμος; πρὸς ἀναστολὴν τῆς εὐεπιφορίας τῶν παθῶν ἀναιρεῖσθαι προστάττει τὴν μοιχευθεῖσαν καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἐλεγχθεῖσαν· ἐὰν δὲ ἱέρεια ᾖ, πυρὶ παραδίδοσθαι προστάττει. λιθοβολεῖται δὲ καὶ ὁ μοιχός, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ, ἵνα μηδὲ ὁ θάνατος αὐτοῖς κοινὸς ᾖ. οὐ δὴ μάχεται τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ ὁ νόμος, συνᾴδει δὲ αὐτῷ. πῶς γὰρ οὐχί, ἑνὸς ὄντος ἀμφοῖν χορηγοῦ τοῦ κυρίου; ἡ γάρ τοι πορνεύσασα ζῇ μὲν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, ἀπέθανεν δὲ ταῖς ἐντολαῖς, ἡ δὲ μετανοήσασα οἷον ἀναγεννηθεῖσα κατὰ τὴν ἐπιστροφὴν τοῦ βίου παλιγγενεσίαν ἔχει ζωῆς, τεθνηκυίας μὲν τῆς πόρνης τῆς παλαιᾶς, εἰς βίον δὲ παρελθούσης αὖθις τῆς κατὰ τὴν μετάνοιαν γεννηθείσης. μαρτυρεῖ τοῖς εἰρημένοις διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τὸ πνεῦμα λέγον· οὐ βούλομαι τὸν θάνατον τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ, ὡς τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι. αὐτίκα λιθόλευστοι γίνονται ὡς ἂν διὰ σκληροκαρδίαν ἀποθανόντες τῷ νόμῳ, ᾧ μὴ ἐπείσθησαν, τῇ δὲ ἱερείᾳ ἐπιτείνεται τὰ τῆς κολάσεως, ὅτι ᾧ πλεῖον ἐδόθη, οὗτος καὶ ἀπαιτηθήσεται. Περιγεγράφθω καὶ ὁ δεύτερος ἡμῖν ἐνθάδε Στρωματεὺς διὰ τὸ μῆκός τε καὶ πλῆθος τῶν κεφαλαίων.