Chapter 6
Remember the jealousy of some women
| 1 Τούτοις τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ὁσίως πολιτευσαμένοις συνηθροίσθη πολὺ πλῆθος ἐκλεκτῶν, οἵτινες πολλαῖς αἰκίαις καὶ βασάνοις διὰ ζῆλος παθόντες ὑπόδειγμα κάλλιστον ἐγένοντο ἐν ἡμῖν. | To these men having lived as pious citizens assembled a vast crowd of the elect, who through many mistreatments and tortures, because of jealousy, set a most excellent example among ourselves. |
| 2 διὰ ζῆλος διωχθεῖσαι γυναῖκες Δαναΐδες καὶ Δίρκαι, αἰκίσματα δεινὰ καὶ ἀνόσια παθοῦσαι, ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς πίστεως βέβαιον δρόμον κατήντησαν καὶ ἔλαβον γέρας γενναῖον αἱ ἀσθενεῖς τῷ σώματι. | Because of jealousy women were persecuted, after having suffered horrible and impure mistreatments as Danaids and Dircae, they safely reached the goal in the race of faith, and received a noble reward, though they were feeble in body. |
| 3 ζῆλος ἀπηλλοτρίωσεν γαμετὰς ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἠλλοίωσεν τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἀδάμ· Τοῦτο νῦν ὀστοῦν ἐκ τῶν ὀστέων μου καὶ σὰρξ ἐκ τῆς σαρκός μου. | Jealousy has estranged wives from husbands and changed the saying of our father Adam, “This now is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” {Gen. 2:23}. |
| 4 ζῆλος καὶ ἔρις πόλεις μεγάλας κατέστρεψεν καὶ ἔθνη μεγάλα ἐξερίζωσεν. | Jealousy and strife have overthrown great cities and uprooted great nations. |
Summary
Clement broadens his historical survey from the leading apostles to the wider body of Roman Christian martyrs, paying specific attention to the suffering of Christian women under persecutions (traditionally linked to Nero’s spectacles in the 60s CE). He concludes his warning against envy by illustrating how jealousy shatters family structures, tears apart marriages, and brings down great cities and nations.
In Chapter 6, Clement expands his warning on zēlos (jealousy/envy) by connecting the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul to a "great multitude of the elect" (πολὺ πλῆθος ἐκλεκτῶν, echoing Tacitus’s multitudo ingens regarding Nero’s persecutions). Clement highlights the fortitude of Christian women who were subjected to mythological reenactments as punishment (forced to roleplay figures like the Danaids or Dirce in the Roman arena). Despite physical vulnerability (ἀσθενεῖς τῷ σώματι), their unyielding faith earned them the victor’s prize (γέρας γενναῖον). Clement concludes by showing that envy is not merely an ecclesiastical problem—it destroys the foundational bond of marriage instituted at Creation (Genesis 2:23) and leads to the geopolitical ruin of cities and nations.
Significant Greek Expressions
ὁσίως πολιτευσαμένοις (Who lived such holy lives): Uses politeuomai (to live as a citizen / conduct one’s life), framing the earthly conduct of the martyrs as a lived expression of their heavenly citizenship (hosiōs, holily/piously).
πολὺ πλῆθος ἐκλεκτῶν (A great multitude of the elect): A significant historical phrase. This early independent attestation confirms that the Neronian persecution involved a large number of victims (plēthos) targeted in Rome.
γυναῖκες Δαναΐδες καὶ Δίρκαι (Women as Danaids and Dircae): A famous classical allusion describing pagan theatrical punishments in the Roman amphitheater. Condemned Christian women were made to recreate brutal Greco-Roman myths—such as Dirce being dragged to death by a wild bull, or the Danaids undergoing torment—before being executed.
ἐπὶ τὸν τῆς πίστεως βέβαιον δρόμον κατήντησαν (Reached the steadfast goal of the course of faith): Employs athletic imagery (dromos, racecourse/running track; cf. 2 Timothy 4:7), viewing the endurance of physical torture as the spiritual race through which believers complete their course.
γέρας γενναῖον (A noble prize / reward): Uses geras (a prized award of honor given to victors or noble heroes), contrasting the public shame inflicted by Roman torturers with the eternal honor conferred by God.
ἠλλοίωσεν τὸ ῥηθὲν ὑπὸ... Ἀδάμ (Altered that which was spoken by... Adam): Demonstrates how envy corrupts the divine order of creation by shattering matrimonial unity (* Genesis 2:23 LXX), turning husbands and wives against one another.
πόλεις μεγάλας κατέστρεψεν (Overthrown great cities): Expands the warning to a cosmic and historical scale. Zēlos is not an isolated personal sin; it is a systemic vice capable of destroying civil societies and great empires (ethne megala exerizōsen).