Refuse every creature besides the Creator
Not only images of gold and silver must we refuse, but every creature besides the Creator: sun and moon and stars, and Bel the Babylonians' idol, and the dragon — which Daniel refused, though commanded by the king to worship. 'I worship nothing,' he said, 'but the Lord my God.' And Job's word: 'If seeing the sun shining, or the moon full, my heart secretly rejoiced, and I kissed my hand to them' (Job 31:26–28) — reckoning star-worship as denial. So we: though the persecutor point to sun, moon, host of heaven, or Bel, or dragon, or emperor's image — we worship the Lord alone.
Greek
ψυχούσης ἡμῶν τὸ ἡγεμονι- κὸν, τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἐχείνους μιμησώμεϑα, μή ποτε καὶ νῦν ὁ Auav ϑέλῃ τοὺς Μαρδοχαίους ὑμᾶς προσκυνῆσαι αὐτῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὑμεῖς εἴπατε" οὐ ϑήσω (δόξαν ἀνθρώπων ὑπεράνω δόξης ϑεοῦ" Ἰσραήλ. τὸν Βὴλ τῷ λόγῳ τοῦ ϑεοῦ | χαταστρέψωμεν καὶ τὸν δράκοντα μετὰ τοῦ 4α- νιὴλ ἀποχτείνωμεν, ἵνα στόμασι λεόντων πλησιάζοντες μηδὲν an’ αὐ- τῶν παϑεῖν δυνηϑῶμεν μόνων τῶν αἰτίων ἡμῖν τοῦ παρόντος ἀγῶ- νος καταβρωϑησομένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἡμᾶς μὴ δυναμένων καταπιεῖν λεόν- τῶν. κρατῶμεν ὅτι ἐν τοῖς ἀνδραγαϑήμασι τοῦ Ἰὼβ εἴρηται καὶ
τό" ,ἐπιϑεὶς τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπὶ στόματί μου ἐφίλησα, καὶ τοῦτό μοι ἄρα ἀνομία ἡ μεγίστη Aoyısdein‘“ εἰχὸς δὲ ὅτε ἐπιτάξουσιν ἡμῶν τὴν χεῖρα ἐπιϑεῖναι τῷ στόματι καὶ φιλῆσαι.
About this text
Written for Ambrose and Protoctetus. Open the Greek under each section.
English follows Paul Koetschau, Origenes Werke I (GCS, 1899). The Archive OCR of that same print was checked. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Koetschau, Origenes Werke I (GCS 2, 1899) (Greek · Exhortation to Martyrdom)
- Checked print Archive.org OCR of GCS 2 (Greek · Same print)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.