Texts in Conversation
The early Christian test 1 Clement echoes the Wisdom of Solomon’s claim that death entered the world through the envy of the devil, but reinterprets this figure as a human symbol of jealousy and violence, likely Cain.
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Wisdom of Solomon 2:24
Deuterocanon
21 Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, 22 and they did not know the secret purposes of God, nor hoped for the wages of holiness, nor discerned the prize for blameless souls; 23 for God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, 24 but through the devil's envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.
Date: 100-50 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
1 Clement 3:4
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
1 All glory and abundance were given to you, and what was written was fulfilled: ‘My beloved ate and drank, grew strong, and became proud and rebellious.’ 2 From this came jealousy and envy, strife and rebellion, persecution and chaos, war and captivity. 3 So people were stirred up—the lowly against the honorable, the disrespected against the esteemed, the foolish against the wise, the young against the elder. 4 Because of this, righteousness and peace have withdrawn, while each person has forgotten the fear of the Lord and become blind in faith, no longer walking in the ordinances of His commandments or living in a way that honors Christ. Instead, each follows the desires of their corrupt heart, having embraced an unrighteous and ungodly jealousy—through which death entered the world.
Date: 90-100 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
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Notes and References
"... Although neither satanas nor diabolos appear in 1 Clement, there is clear evidence for him understanding diabolos with a human referent, in a passage which quotes Wisdom of Solomon ... Here is evidence for Clement's hamartiology; like James, he attributes sin to the lusts of the evil heart. Reference to the entry of death into the world is a quotation from Wisdom of Solomon (2:24), where death's entry is attributed to the envy of the diabolos. Clement interprets the diabolos here as a reference to Cain, which many scholars believe is the meaning intended ..."
Burke, Jon
Then the Devil Left: Satan’s Lack of Presence in the Apostolic Fathers
(pp. 1-50) Monash University, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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