Clement of Alexandria's “emendation” of the biblical text

The article considers the method of emending quotations from the Bible used by Clement of Alexandria. It is assumed that the “correction” of the Holy Scriptures made by the Christian author consisted not only in correcting grammar and lexis, but also in deliberate placing words associated with works of antiquity into the Bible passages. For example, Clement preferred to use the word βελόνη (needle), which is explained not only by the “attic” character of this word, but also by the fact it had been used in a similar context by an author identified by Clement as a famous antique comedy dramatist. Substitution of the New Testament word κράββατος (which Clement doesn't use anywhere) for a not very common σκίμπους (couch) is explained by the fact the latter had been used by the physician Galen in a phrase resembling evangelic one. Clement “emends” the Scriptures text rather consistently and in this activity he is guided by both classical examples and traditions of his time. The images, word combinations and words borrowed from classics make Clement's works acceptable for pagan readers. As a result, quotations from the Bible either find themselves among classical reminiscences or turn into some kind of scriptural-classical hybrids, which is impossible to regard as an accidental phenomenon considering Clement's belonging to classical culture.