Scriptural Mormonism: Donald Alfred Hagner on Evidence for 1 Clement's Knowledge of the Book of Revelation

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Donald Alfred Hagner on Evidence for 1 Clement's Knowledge of the Book of Revelation

The following comes from:

Donald Alfred Hagner, The Use of the Old and New Testaments in Clement of Rome (Supplements to Novum Testamentum; Leiden: Brill, 1973), 270-71

The evidence of Clement’s knowledge of the Apocalypse is equally slight. There is indeed only one passage in Clement which demands attention as a possible indication of influence from the Apocalypse. It consists of a citation which is apparently made up of several different OT passages.

Clement 34.3 (text of A)	Revelation 22.12 (Text of Nestle-Aland)	Isaiah 40.10 (Text of Rahlfs)	Isaiah 62.11
προλέγει γὰρ ἡμῖν· Ἰδοὺ ὁ κύριος, καὶ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ,	ιδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ, καὶ ὁ μισθός μου μετ᾽ ἐμοῦ	ἰδοὺ κύριος μετὰ ἰσχύος ἔρχεται . . . ἰδοὺ ὁ μισθὸς αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ.	ἰδού σοι ὁ σωτὴρ παραγίνεται ἔχων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μισθὸν καὶ τὸ ἔργον πρὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ.
			Proverbs 24.12 (cf. also Ps. 16.13; Rom. 2.6)
ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὸ ἔργον αὐτοῦ.	ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἐστὶν αὐτοῦ.		ὃς ἀποδίδωσιν ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ.

The agreement between Clement and the Apocalypse in combining these particular OT passages is too significant to be dismissed as fortuitous, and must accordingly be explained either by direct dependence, or by dependence upon a common source. The actual agreement between Clement and the Apocalypse against the OT texts is slight, being found only in the infinitive άποδούναι, the singular τό έργον and the καί preceding ο μισθος. On the other hand, if Clement is dependent upon the Apocalypse, it is difficult to account for the differences between the two, especially Clement's πρό προσώπου αύτοϋ for μετ' έμοϋ, and ό κύριος for έρχομαι ταχύ. Further, Clement's words are introduced with the formula προλέγει γάρ ήμιν. But since Clement nowhere cites or alludes to NT material under an introductory formula, he is very probably citing either from our canonical OT or from a particular apocalyptic writing which is no longer extant. The fact that the same combination of passages appears in the Apocalypse, together with Clement's use of an introductory formula, suggests that the latter alternative is the more probable. But for two slight variations (the omission of o before κύριος, and από substituted for πρό before προσωπου), Clement's citation is found verbatim in Clement of Alexandria (Stromata IV, 135, 3). The agreement, however, is explained by dependence upon the Roman Clement since several other OT citations in the immediate context reveal the influence of his Roman namesake. It is possible that the saying in Barn. 21.3, έγγύς ο κύριος καί ο μισθος αυτου, is derived from the same apocryphal source upon which Clement and the author of the Apocalypse are dependent, but because of its brevity this remains uncertain. Since Clement elsewhere quotes from apocryphal writings unknown to us, there is no reason to doubt that he may be doing so here. In any event, it is clear that the present passage cannot substantiate a conclusion of probability as to Clement's knowledge of the Apocalypse.