55Two Epistles Concerning Virginity.

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The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle.

Chapter I.—The Salutation.

To all those who love and cherish their life which is in Christ through God the Father, and obey the truth of God in hope of eternal life; to those who bear affection towards their brethren and towards their neighbours in the love of God; to the blessed brother virgins,²⁹²²⁹²    In later Greek παρθένος was used of both sexes (comp. Rev. xiv. 4).  The Syriac original employs both a masculine and a feminine form.  This will not always be indicated in the following translation. who devote themselves to preserve virginity “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven;”²⁹³²⁹³    Matt. xix. 12. and to the holy sister virgins:  the peace which is in God.²⁹⁴²⁹⁴    Or “to the holy virgins who are in God:  peace.”  So Zingerle, and probably Wetstein.