Texts in Conversation
In 1 Clement, the author quotes Psalm 78 in the Greek Septuagint translation, about Israel praising God aloud while lying to him, as one of five quotations in a row about false lips, aimed at people in Corinth who say they want peace but do not.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Psalms 77:36
Septuagint
34 Whenever he killed them, they sought him and returned and sought eagerly for their God; 35 and they remembered that God was their helper, and God Most High was their redeemer. 36 And they loved him with their mouth, and with their tongue they lied to him. 37 But their heart was not upright with him, nor were they established in his covenant. 38 But he is merciful, and he will pardon their sins, and he will not destroy them but will increase them, so that he turns back his wrath; and he will not kindle all his anger. 39 And he remembered that they are flesh, a wind going and not returning.
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 15:4
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
1 Therefore let us be loyal to those that practice peace with godliness, and not to those that desire peace with dissimulation. 2 For He says in a certain place “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” 3 and again, “they blessed with their mouth, but they cursed with their heart.” 4 And again He says, “They loved Him with their mouth, and with their tongue they lied to Him; and their heart was not upright with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant.” 5 For this cause “let the deceitful lips be made dumb which speak iniquity against the righteous.” And again “May the Lord utterly destroy all the deceitful lips, the tongue that speaks proud things, even those that say, ‘Let us magnify our tongue; our lips are our own; who is lord over us.’”
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Notes and References
“... The next five verses in chapter 15 continue to show then how these deceitful people operate. The most important characteristic is that what is in their hearts and what comes from their lips are not the same. To strengthen the warning, Scripture citations abound in the chapter [...] What is interesting to note is that the warning in 1 Clem 15 is not against hypocrisy as such, but against being hypocritical about peace. The two types of people played off against each other, are described as being earnest about peace versus saying that they are but not really meaning it. The main concern, however, stays peace and harmony in the community of Corinth. ...”
Jacobs, Lambert D.
"The 'Ethics' of Badmouthing the Other: Vilification as Persuasive Speech Act in First Clement" in Zimmermann, Ruben, and Jan G. van der Watt, editors, Moral Language in the New Testament: The Interrelatedness of Language and Ethics in Early Christian Writings
(pp. 367-368) Mohr Siebeck, 2010
* 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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