Chapter 19
The application of these examples
| 1 Τῶν τοσούτων οὖν καὶ τοιούτων οὕτως μεμαρτυρημένων τὸ ταπεινόφρον καὶ τὸ ὑποδεὲς διὰ τῆς ὑπακοῆς οὐ μόνον ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς πρὸ ἡμῶν γενεὰς βελτίους ἐποίησεν, τούς τε καταδεξαμένους τὰ λόγια αὐτοῦ ἐν φόβῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ. | Thus the humility and submission of so many such greatly famous people have, through their obedience, benefited not only us but also the generations before us and those who received His oracles in fear and truth. |
| 2 πολλῶν οὖν καὶ μεγάλων καὶ ἐνδόξων μετειληφότες πράξεων ἐπαναδράμωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραδεδομένον ἡμῖν τῆς εἰρήνης σκοπόν, καὶ ἀτενίσωμεν εἰς τὸν πατέρα καὶ κτίστην τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου καὶ ταῖς μεγαλοπρεπέσι καὶ ὑπερβαλλούσαις αὐτοῦ δωρεαῖς τῆς εἰρήνης εὐεργεσίαις τε κολληθῶμεν. |
Seeing, then, that we have a share in many great and glorious deeds, let’s hurry to the goal of peace, which was given to us from the beginning.
Let’s look intensely to the Father and Creator of the whole world, and let’s cling to the magnificent and excellent gifts and benefits of peace. |
| 3 ἴδωμεν αὐτὸν κατὰ διάνοιαν καὶ ἐμβλέψωμεν τοῖς ὄμμασιν τῆς ψυχῆς εἰς τὸ μακρόθυμον αὐτοῦ βούλημα· νοήσωμεν, πῶς ἀόργητος ὑπάρχει πρὸς πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν αὐτοῦ. |
Let’s focus on Him with our mind, and let’s look with the eyes of our soul on His patient will. Let’s note how free from anger He is toward all His creation. |
Summary
In Chapter 19, Clement synthesizes his extensive historical catalog of Old Testament exemplars (Chapters 9–18) and transitions into a magnificent, cosmic defense of divine order and peace (which reaches its climax in Chapter 20).
He argues that the humility (τὸ ταπεινόφρον) and submissiveness (τὸ ὑποδεές) of past saints served an intergenerational purpose: their faithful obedience built up the entire trajectory of salvation history. Calling upon the Corinthians to return to "the goal of peace delivered to us from the beginning" (τὸν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παραδεδομένον ἡμῖν τῆς εἰρήνης σκοπόν), Clement shifts the church’s focus away from petty human squabbles toward the transcendent Father and Creator of the universe (ὁ πατὴρ καὶ κτίστης τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου). By contemplating God’s own patient, wrathless disposition (ἀόργητος) toward creation, believers are compelled to emulate that same peaceful order within the local church.
Significant Greek Expressions
τὸ ταπεινόφρον καὶ τὸ ὑποδεές (Humility and submissiveness): Combines tapeinophron (the noun form of humble-mindedness) with hypodees (subordinate status, submissiveness, or deference). Clement presents voluntary deference to established authority not as weakness, but as an indispensable virtue of the godly.
ἐπαναδράμωμεν ἐπὶ τὸν... τῆς εἰρήνης σκοπόν (Let us run back to the goal of peace): Employs athletic imagery (epanatrechō, to run back or return to a starting line or mark). The "goal" (skopos) is peace (eirēnē), which Clement notes was "delivered from the beginning" (ex archēs paradedomenon), reinforcing that factionalism is a novel deviation from apostolic tradition.
τὸν πατέρα καὶ κτίστην τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου (The Father and Creator of the whole cosmos): A high liturgical and theological title combining patēr (Father) with ktistēs (Creator, Founder, Architect). Clement grounds ecclesial harmony in theology proper: the God who ordered the physical cosmos requires corresponding order in His spiritual household.
κολληθῶμεν (Let us cleave): Reappears from 1 Clement 15.1 (kollaō, to join tightly/glue). Here, believers are exhorted to bind themselves not to human factions, but to God’s "magnificent and surpassing gifts" (μεγαλοπρεπεῖς καὶ ὑπερβάλλουσαι δωρεαί) of peace.
τοῖς ὄμμασιν τῆς ψυχῆς (With the eyes of the soul): A classical philosophical and theological idiom (ommasin tēs psychēs) for contemplative perception. True spiritual vision looks past temporal grievances to contemplate God’s eternal character.
ἀόργητος... πρὸς πᾶσαν τὴν κτίσιν (Free from anger toward all His creation): Uses aorgētos (incapable of anger, slow to wrath, serene). Clement highlights that God’s attitude toward His creation is characterized by absolute calm and long-suffering (makrothymon boulēma), serving as the ultimate archetype for Christian fellowship.