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2 Clement

About this book
Chapter 7

1 So then, my brothers and sisters, let us struggle, knowing that the contest is near at hand, and that, while many go to the corruptible contests, not all are crowned,⁠ but only those who have worked hard and fought bravely. 2 Let us then contend so that we may all be crowned. 3 Therefore let us run in the straight course, the incorruptible contest. Let us gather there in great numbers and fight, that we may also be crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least come near the crown. 4 We should realize that whoever competes in a corruptible contest, if found cheating, is first flogged and then removed and driven out of the racecourse. 5 What do you think then? What shall be done to the one who has cheated in the contest of incorruption? 6 For concerning those who have not kept the seal, He says, “Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.”⁠

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 66:24 and 2 Clement 7:6

Septuagint · Early Christian

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Summary

In the Greek version of Isaiah 66, God describes punishment with an undying worm and unquenched fire. In 2 Clement, the preacher quotes this directly in a warning to Christians who break their commitments.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 66:24

Septuagint
21 And I will take of them priests and Levites, says the Lord. 22 For as the new heaven and the new earth, which I make, remain before me, says the Lord, so shall your seed and your name continue. 23 And it will happen from month to month, and from sabbath to sabbath, that all flesh shall come to worship before me in Jerusalem, says the Lord. 24 And they shall go forth, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

2 Clement 7:6

Early Christian
3 Therefore let us run in the straight course, the incorruptible contest. Let us gather there in great numbers and fight, that we may also be crowned. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least come near the crown. 4 We should realize that whoever competes in a corruptible contest, if found cheating, is first flogged and then removed and driven out of the racecourse. 5 What do you think then? What shall be done to the one who has cheated in the contest of incorruption? 6 For concerning those who have not kept the seal, He says, “Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh.”
130–160 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Clement

References

“... 2 Clem. 7. 6 introduces a citation of Isa. 66. 24 (with a fairly general ‘he says’ [...]), a verse which is also strongly echoed in Mark 9. 48. There is no evidence at all, however, that the text of 2 Clement has been influenced by the gospel text: the version here agrees almost verbatim with that of the LXX of Isa. 66. 24. There is no warrant, therefore, for concluding that ‘Clement’ is doing anything other than citing Isa. 66. 24 alone. ...”
Andrew Gregory and Christopher Tuckett, eds., The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 274.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Isaiah 66:24 and 2 Clement 7:6

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