| Clement passage | Greek cited / alluded to | Synoptic / NT locus | Markan corridor location | Gospel profile | Effect on Secret Mark / Canon thesis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QDS. 4.4 | ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς ὁδὸν προσελθών τις ἐγονυπέτει | Mark 10:17 (cf. Matt 19:16; Luke 18:18) | Inside corridor (Mark 10) | Distinctly Markan narrative incipit | Strongly supportive |
In QDS 4.4 Clement reproduces the opening narrative clause of the rich man episode in a form that is unmistakably Markan. The combination of participial structure and narrative detail—“as he was going out into the road, someone ran up and knelt before him”—is characteristic of Mark 10:17 and is absent in this configuration from both Matthew and Luke. Matthew suppresses the road motif and the kinetic urgency, while Luke omits the kneeling and reshapes the approach into a more formal encounter.
The phrase ἐκπορευομένου αὐτοῦ εἰς ὁδόν is especially diagnostic. It situates the episode squarely within Mark’s travel narrative and signals entry into the discipleship corridor (Mark 8:34–10:52), where movement “on the way” functions as a theological marker of instruction, misunderstanding, and renunciation. Clement’s citation preserves this Markan spatial logic rather than a generalized dominical saying.
Unlike many Stromateis citations, which abstract logia from narrative context, this passage retains Mark’s narrative framing, not merely its ethical content. Clement does not harmonize the incipit toward Matthew’s simpler formulation (“someone came up to him”) nor toward Luke’s designation of the interlocutor as a ruler. The anonymity of τις and the dramatic bodily posture (ἐγονυπέτει) are retained exactly as in Mark.
From the standpoint of the Secret Mark / Gospel Canon thesis, this passage is highly significant. It confirms that Clement is not merely aware of Markan sayings, but can reproduce Mark’s narrative sequence and diction at a point that is structurally central to the discipleship corridor. This aligns directly with Clement’s demonstrable use of a Mark-based gospel in Quis Dives Salvetur and strengthens the claim that Mark, rather than Matthew, functions as a primary narrative axis in Clement’s gospel knowledge.
Accordingly, QDS 4.4 should be classified as strong positive evidence. It supports the thesis that Clement possessed and employed a Mark-shaped gospel tradition—canonical or otherwise—and that this Markan narrative logic later underlies the structuring principles observable in Eusebius’s Gospel Canons.
