๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐.๐: ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐จ๐
In this examination, which will be a little longer since there is many connections to be made within the same sort of langague thought his epistle. Therefore, Clementโs treatment of Jacob gives us another important piece of the picture. Here, Jacob is not mentioned in isolation. Clement places him within the history of Godโs people, connecting him to his brother Esau, to the blessing of God, and ultimately to the twelve tribes of Israel. Most importantly for our present study, Clement explicitly calls him โour father Jacob.โ
By reason of jealousy our father Jacob ran away from the face of Esau his brother. And it was written concerning him: โAnd Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.โ And โJacob saw Rachel, and loved her, and served for her.โ
โ Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 4.8, trans. J. B. Lightfoot
Clement later returns to Jacob when discussing the fathers of the faith:
Jacob with humility departed from his land because of his brother, and went unto Laban and served; and
the twelve tribes of Israel were given unto him
.
โ Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 31.4, trans. J. B. Lightfoot
But Clementโs statement comes afterward:
For of Jacob are all the priests and levites who minister unto the altar of God; of him is the Lord Jesus as
concerning the flesh
; of him are kings and rulers and governors in the line of Judah; yea and the rest of his tribes are held in no small honour, forasmuch as God had promised saying, โThy seed shall be as the stars of heaven.โ
โ Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 32.2, trans. J. B. Lightfoot
There is another passage which must be considered alongside:
Let us therefore draw near to Him in holiness of soul, lifting up pure and undefiled hands unto Him, loving our gracious and merciful Father,
who made us a portion of His elect
. For so it is written, โWhen the Most High divided the nations, when
He scattered the sons of Adam
, He fixed the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And
His people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, and Israel the measurement of His inheritance
.โ And in another place He saith, โBehold,
the Lord taketh unto Himself a people out of the midst of the nations
, as a man taketh the firstfruits of his threshing-floor; and from that people shall come forth the Holy of holies.โ
Since then we are a holy portion
, we should do everything that pertains to holiness.
โ Clement of Rome, First Epistle to the Corinthians 29.1-3, trans. J. B. Lightfoot
We can see the common theme attached to the elect of who does the will of God and such as in V.1 and IV.3 that the language of Gods word being written in the hearts is therefore consistent with those who descend from the Israelite race. This gives us an important contextual connection for the study. Clement is using the language of portion, inheritance, Jacob, Israel, and election within the same broader theological idea which seems to echo the same within adjacent texts circulating during the time period. Clement identifies the twelve tribes as proceeding from him, and identifies Israel as Godโs inheritance; attaching this identity not only to the people of Corinth but to the Church of Rome as well.
There is without a doubt that Clementโs familial and genealogical language is covenantal identification and actual ancestral continuity. When coupling these three last examinations of Clement it's clear that he is not only attaching Adamic and Abrahamic descent to the people of Corinth but also exalting them as the heirs of the promise concerning Israel. In the next parts of these series before we go back into examining more of Clement's epistle; I will be diving into the language he uses broken down in his original Greek manuscript along with the adjacent language which we can connect to our biblical authors as well.
Ad fontes.
V.4
