1 Clement (also called Clement to the Corinthians, or The Letter of the Assembly of Rome to the Assembly of Corinth)

Brief description:

This letter from the Christian assembly in Rome to the Christian assembly in Corinth has traditionally been considered to have been written by Clement of Rome (a leader in the Christian assembly in Rome in the last part of the first century). If that is true, than it is one of the earliest surviving Christian writings that is not in the New Testament. It may even have been written before some of the later writings in the New Testament.

The complete Greek text of 1 Clement was not rediscovered until 1873. Therefore, any translations before that date contain only part of the letter.

Suggested first translation(s):

An easy-to-read, modern English translation that is freely available is the one by Cyril C. Richardson from 1953 listed below. A more literal translation that is also in modern English and freely available is the anonymous one from 2012 listed below.

English translations:

• William Burton (translated ~ 1647)
  • Clement, The blessed Paul’s Fellow-labourer In The Gospel, His first Epistle to the Corinthians (published 1647) — facsimile
• William Wake (translated ~1719)
  • The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers… (published 1719) — facsimile
  • The Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers… (published 1810) — facsimile
  • The Suppressed Gospels and Epistles of the Original New Testament of Jesus the Christ, volume. 6 — text/HTML
• Temple Chevallier (translated ~1833)
  • A translation of the epistles of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Ignatius : and of the apologies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian (published 1833) — facsimile
    • second edition (published 1851) — facsimile
• Joseph Barber Lightfoot (translated ~1869/appendix translated ~1877, 2nd edition ~1890)
  • S. Clement of Rome. The Two Epistles to the Corinthians. (published 1869) — facsimile
    • This translation, although incomplete, has extensive notes.
  • S. Clement of Rome. An Appendix Containing The Newly Recovered Portions. (published 1877) — facsimile
  • The Apostolic Fathers. Part I. Vol I. S. Clement of Rome (2nd edition, published 1890)
  • The Apostolic Fathers. Part I. Vol II. S. Clement of Rome (2nd edition, published 1890)
• Charles H. Hoole (translated ~1872)
  • The Apostolic Fathers (published 1872) — facsimile
• George A. Jackson (translated ~1879)
  • The Apostolic Fathers and The Apologists of the Second Century (published 1879) — facsimile
• Joseph Barber Lightfoot/J.R. Harmer (translated ~1891)
  • The Apostolic Fathers (published 1912) — facsimile
  • The Apostolic Fathers (published 1891) — text/HTML
• John Keith (translated ~1897)
  • Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 9 (published 1897)
    • read online
• John Allen Fitzgerald Gregg (translated ~1899)
  • The Epistle of St. Clement, Bishop of Rome (published 1899) — facsimile
    • second copy — facsimile
• Kirsopp Lake (translated ~1912)
  • The Apostolic Fathers, Volume I (published 1912) — facsimile
    • read online
• William Kemp Lowther Clarke (translated ~1937)
  • The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge (published 1937)
• James A. Kleist (translated ~1946)
  • The Epistles of St. Clement of Rome and St. Ignatius of Antioch Volume 1 of Ancient Christian Writers (published 1946)
• Francis X. Glimm (translated ~1947)
  • The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1 of The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, The Catholic University of America Press (published 1947)
• Edgar J. Goodspeed (translated ~1950)
  • The Apostolic Fathers: An American Translation, Harper & Brothers (published 1950)
• Cyril C. Richardson (translated ~1953)
  • Early Christian Fathers (published 1953)
    • read online
• Robert M. Grant/Holt H. Graham (translated ~1965)
  • First and Second Clement Volume 2 in The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation and Commentary, Thomas Nelson (published 1965)
• Maxwell Staniforth/A. Louth (translated 1968/revised 1987)
  • Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers, Penguin (published 1987)
• Michael W. Holmes (translated 1989-2007)
  • The Apostolic Fathers in English, Baker Academic (various editions, published 1989-2006)
  • The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations of Their Writings, Baker Academic (various editions, published 1992-2007)
• Bart D. Ehrman (translated ~2003)
  • The Apostolic Fathers, Volume I, Harvard University Press (published 2003)
• Kevin P. Edgecomb (translated 2006)
  • First Clement (published 2006)
• Anonymous (translated ~2012)
  • Letter of Clemens to the Korinthians (published 2012 but revised since) — text/PDF
• Rick Brannan (translated ~2017)
  • “The Apostolic Fathers: A New Translation”, Lexham Press (published 2017)
• Adolf von Harnack/Jacob N. Cerone (translated ~2021 by Jacob Cerone from a German translation by Adolf von Harnack which was translated ~1929)
  • The Letter of the Roman Church to the Corinthian Church from the Era of Domitian: 1 Clement, Pickwick Publications/Wipf and Stock Publishers (published 2021, this book is a translation of a German book published 1929) — facsimile/preview