"Since the use of the accusative [with prepositions] increased sharply in the centuries after Clement's work, and that of the dative declined even more sharply, the high relative frequency of accusatives in the letter would be a trait almost certain to be found in a later imitation; it seems to me the chief ground for doubting the letter's authenticity [Morton Smith, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark p. 74]
On the other side, a particularly impressive correspondence is the citation of Proverbs 26:5 not according to the Septuagint (ἀποκρίνου ἄφρονι πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου ἀφροσύνην αὐτῷ) but in the wording that Clement quotes in his Stromata 5.3.18.5 (11338.8 — 9 Stàhlin) ἀποκρίνου τῷ μωρῷ ἐκ τῆς μωρίας αὐτοῦ. [Saul Levin, “The Early History of Christianity, in Light of the 'Secret Gospel' of Mark,” Aufstieg und Niedergang des romischen Welt 2.25.6]
