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1 Clement

First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians

About this book
Chapter 50

1 You see, dear friends, how great and marvelous a thing love is, and its perfection is beyond description. 2 Who is fit to be found in it, except those to whom God grants it? Let us therefore beg and ask of His mercy that we may be found blameless in love, standing apart from human factions. All the generations from Adam to this day have passed away; but those who by God’s grace were perfected in love live in the dwelling place of the pious; and they shall be revealed at the visitation of the Kingdom of God. 3 For it is written; “Enter the inner room for a very little while, until My anger and My fury pass away,⁠ and I will remember a good day and will raise you from your tombs.” 4 Blessed would we be, dear friends, if we were doing the commandments of God in the harmony of love, so that our sins might be forgiven us through love. 5 For it is written; “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.⁠ Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall charge no sin, and in whose mouth there is no deceit.” 6 This declaration of blessedness was pronounced upon those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Isaiah 26:20 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 50:3

Septuagint · Early Christian

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Summary

In 1 Clement, the author quotes Isaiah 26 from the Greek Septuagint translation, about hiding until the anger of God has passed, as scriptural support for the hope that people made perfect in love will be revealed when the kingdom of Jesus arrives.

Passages

LXX Isaiah 26:20

Septuagint
17 And as a woman in labor draws near to be delivered, and cries out in her pain; so we have been to your beloved, because of your fear, Lord. 18 We have conceived, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the breath of your salvation, which we have made upon the earth: but they that dwell upon the earth shall fall. 19 The dead shall rise, and they that are in the tombs shall be raised, and they that are in the earth shall rejoice: for the dew from you is healing to them: but the land of the ungodly shall perish. 20 Go, my people, enter into your chambers, shut your door, hide yourself for a very little while, until the anger of the Lord has passed away.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Isaiah

Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 50:3

Early Christian · First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
3 For it is written; “Enter the inner room for a very little while, until My anger and My fury pass away, and I will remember a good day and will raise you from your tombs.” 4 Blessed would we be, dear friends, if we were doing the commandments of God in the harmony of love, so that our sins might be forgiven us through love. 5 For it is written; “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall charge no sin, and in whose mouth there is no deceit.” 6 This declaration of blessedness was pronounced upon those who have been chosen by God through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
90–100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Clement of Rome, 1 Clement

References

“... Blamelessness in love, a human virtue, is the opposite of human strife. Moreover, after expressing the hope that those perfected in love by God’s grace will be revealed at the visitation of Christ’s kingdom in verse 3 and providing scriptural support for that hope by citing Isa 26:20 in verse 4, the author of 1 Clement then states, “We are blessed, beloved, if we keep the commandments of God in the harmony of love, so that through love our sins may be forgiven” (50.5). ...”
David J. Downs, Alms: Charity, Reward, and Atonement in Early Christianity (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2016), 183.

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 26:20 and Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 50:3

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