Texts in Conversation
In 1 Clement, the author follows a list of vices with Psalm 50 in the Greek Septuagint translation, where God rebukes people who recite his laws and ignore them, one of many long quotations in a letter that cites the Psalms more than any other book.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
LXX Psalms 49:16
Septuagint
16 But to the sinner God said, “Why do you set out in detail the righteous duties of mine, and take up my covenant in your mouth? 17 You hated instruction, and you threw out my words to the rear. 18 If you behold a thief, you run together with him. And you set your portion with adulterers. 19 Your mouth abounds in badness, and your tongue embraces deceit. 20 Seated, you speak against your brother, and you set a trap against the son of your mother. 21 These things you did, and I was silent. You wrongly thought that I would be like you. I will reprove you and be present against your face. 22 Understand indeed these things, you who forget God, lest he seize you, and there be no one who can rescue you.
Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 35:7
First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians
Early Christian
7 For the scripture says, “But to the sinner said God, ‘Why do you declare My ordinances, and take My covenant upon your lips.’” 8 “Yet you hated instruction and cast away My words behind you. If you saw a thief you kept company with him, and with the adulterers you set your portion. Your mouth multiplied wickedness and your tongue wove deceit. You sat and spoke against your brother, and against the son of your mother you laid a stumbling block.” 9 “These things you have done, and I kept silence. You thought, unrighteous man, that I should be like you.” 10 “I will convict you and will set you face to face with yourself.” 11 “Now understand these things, you that forget God, lest at any time He seize you as a lion, and there be none to deliver.”
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Notes and References
“... The approximately seventy direct quotations constitute about one-fourth of this long epistle, making it second only to Barnabas among the apostolic fathers in the frequency of quotation from the OT. [...] Some of the quotations are lengthy. Psalms, Isaiah, Job, Genesis and Proverbs, in this order, are the most frequently cited. The heavy use of Job and Proverbs is unusual in comparison with the NT and Christian literature generally in the early period. Nearly all the quotations have introductory phrases; these include “It is written” and various forms of “It says.” Although some of the quotations vary widely from the Septuagint, thirty-nine are essentially verbatim and nine moderately variant. ...”
Martin, Ralph P.
Dictionary of the Later New Testament & Its Developments
(pp. 1195-1196) InterVarsity Press, 1997
* 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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