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Homilies on Jeremiah · §6.1

Eyes of the Lord and Virtues

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"Lord," he says, "your eyes are on faith" (Jeremiah 5:3). Just as "the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous" (Psalm 34:15), for he turns them away from the unrighteous, so the eyes of the Lord are on faith, for he turns them away from unbelief. So someone who understands what he is saying in prayer rightly says, "Lord, your eyes are on faith." That is what is written here: "Lord, your eyes are on faith." But since "if someone with understanding hears a wise saying, he will praise it and add to it" (Sirach 21:15), see how much can be drawn from "Lord, your eyes are on faith." Paul says, "These three now remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13). As the eyes of the Lord are on faith, so the eyes of the Lord are on hope, and the eyes of the Lord are on love.

And since there is "a spirit of power and love and self-control" (2 Timothy 1:7), the eyes of the Lord are on love, and likewise the eyes of the Lord are on power and on self-control. [A clause appears to be missing.] The eyes of the Lord are on righteousness. In this way, the eyes of the Lord are on every virtue. So if you too want the rays of God's spiritual eyes to reach you, take up the virtues. Then, just as we say, "Lord, your eyes are on faith," we can say, "Lord, your eyes are on" each good thing you acquire. And if you have grown so far that the Lord's eyes shine upon you, you will say, "The light of your face has been marked upon us, Lord" (Psalm 4:6).

Greek

«Κύριε« φησὶν «οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν« ὡς «ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαίους«, ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀδίκων ἀποστρέφει αὐτούς, οὕτως οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς πίστιν, ἀπὸ γὰρ ἀπιστίας ἀποστρέφει αὐτούς. διὸ καλῶς λέλεκται ὑπὸ τοῦ νοοῦντος, τί λέγει ἐν τῇ εὐχῇ, τὸ «κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐνταῦθα γεγραμμένον ἐστίν· «κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. ἐπεὶ δὲ «λόγον σοφὸν ἐὰν ἀκούσῃ ἐπιστήμων, αἰνέσει αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν προσθήσει«, ὅρα πόσα ἐστὶν ποιῆσαι ἀπὸ τοῦ κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν. φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος· «νυνὶ δὲ μένει τὰ τρία ταῦτα, πίστις, ἐλπίς, ἀγάπη· μείζων δὲ τούτων ἡ ἀγάπη. ὡς ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς πίστιν, ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς ἐλπίδα, ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς ἀγάπην.

ἐπεὶ δέ ἐστιν >πνεῦμα δυνάμεως καὶ ἀγάπης καὶ σωφρονισμοῦ<, ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς ἀγάπην, οὕτως ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς δύναμιν, οὕτως [οἱ] ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου εἰς σωφρονισμόν. . . . ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνην. οὕτως ἐπὶ πάσας ἀρετὰς ὀφθαλμοὶ κυρίου. εἰ οὖν βούλει καὶ σὺ τὰς ἀκτῖνας τῶν νοητῶν ὀφθαλμῶν τοῦ θεοῦ φθάνειν ἐπὶ σέ, ἀνάλαβε τὰς ἀρετάς. καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ «κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου εἰς πίστιν«, οὕτως «κύριε, οἱ ὀφθαλμοί σου« εἰς ἕκαστον ὡν ἐὰν κτήσῃ ἀγαθῶν. καὶ ἐὰν τηλικοῦτος ᾐς, ὡς τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς κυρίου ἐλλάμπειν σοι, ἐρεῖς· «ἐσημειώθη ἐφ’ ἡμᾶς τὸ φῶς τοῦ προσώπου σου, κυριε.

About this text

Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page has Homilies 1–20. The rest of the volume is still being translated.

English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.

Witnesses

  • Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
  • Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
  • Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)

Where the prints differ

  • Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
  • Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
  • Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
  • Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.

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.