The dragon’s masks; folded breastplate; fear around the teeth

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

—these stage hypocrites, now leaders, now other kings, now women. Their own face stays hidden; what they are does not show, and what they seem is what the eye catches. The dragon is like that. He never shows his own face; he borrows a face to deceive people and uses that. This enemy keeps many masks, and for each vice he puts on a face of virtue.

Who can unmask the face he wore? Who can uncover it and stop the lie that a dragon sits inside? Some of his other disciples are the same: "They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

"Who would enter the folding of his breastplate?" He names a breastplate and a chest — the place of the ruling faculty. Nothing in him is simple; he is crafty and folded. A holy person can expose that fold; the holy breastplate is not folded that way. "Who will open the gates of his face?" He hides what is stored within. Who can open those gates and show the craft, the venom, the evils laid up there?

"Fear is round about his teeth." Of such teeth it is said, "You crushed the teeth of sinners," and "The Lord will crush the molars of the lions." That fear is not the fear of God; it is the fear around the dragon’s teeth. But if you have Christ in yourself, do not worry about this

Greek

οὗτοι ἐν ταῖς θυμέλαις ὑποκριταὶ, ποτὲ μὲν ἡγουμένων, ποτὲ δὲ ἄλλων βασιλέων, ποτὲ δὲ γυναικῶν. Καὶ τὸ μὲν ἴδιον αὐτῶν πρόσωπον ἀποκέ κρυπται, καὶ ὅ εἰσιν οὐ φαίνονται· ὃ δὲ δοκοῦσι, βλέ πονται. Τοιοῦτός ἐστιν ὁ δράκων. Οὐδέποτε τὸ πρόσ ωπον αὐτοῦ δείκνυσιν· ἀλλὰ εἰ πρόσωπον λαβὼν εἰς ἀπάτην τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐκεῖνο χρῆται. Καὶ ἔχει γε ὁ ἐχθρὸς οὗτος πολλὰ προσωπεῖα, καὶ καθ' ἑκάστην κακίαν πρόσωπον λαμβάνει ἀρετῆς. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα εἰς τὸ ἑξῆς. Τὰ ὑπόλοιπα τοῦ προγραφέντος στίχου. Τὸ πρόσωπον ὃ ἐνεδύσατο τίς ἱκανὸς ἐλέγξαι; τίς ἱκανὸς ἀποκαλύψαι καὶ λῆξαι ὅ τι ἔνδον δρά κων ἐστί; Τοιοῦτοί εἰσί τινες καὶ ἄλλοι μαθηταὶ αὐ τοῦ, Οἵτινες ἔρχονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν ἐνδύμασι προβάτων, ἔνδοθεν δέ εἰσι λύκοι ἅρπαγες. Στίχ. δʹ. Εἰς δὲ πτύξιν θώρακος αὐτοῦ τίς ἂν εἰσέλθοι; Ὁρᾷς; θώραξ οὗτος ὀνομάζεται, καὶ στῆθος· καὶ θώραξ, ὅπου ἐστὶ τὸ ἡγεμονικόν. Οὐχ ἁπλοῦς ἐστιν ὁ θώραξ αὐτοῦ. Οὐδὲν ἔχει ἁπλοῦν. ∆όλιός ἐστιν, ἐπτυ γμένος ἐστίν. Εἰς οὖν τὴν πτύξιν θώρακος αὐτοῦ τίς ἂν εἰσέλθοι; Ἅγιος δὲ ἐλέγχειν αὐτὸν δύναται, καὶ δεῖξαι, ὅτι ἔπτυκται αὐτοῦ ὁ θώραξ· τοῦ δὲ ἁγίου οὐκ ἔπτυκται. Στίχ. εʹ. Πύλας προσώπου αὐτοῦ τίς ἀνοίξει; Κρύπτει τὰ ἔνδον ἀποκείμενα. Τίς οὖν ἀνοίξει τὰς πύλας τοῦ προσώπου αὐτοῦ; Τίς οὗτός ἐστιν, 17.104 ὥστε ἐλέγξαι καὶ δεῖξαι ὅσον δόλον, ὅσον ἰὸν, ὅσα κακὰ ἔχει ἀποκείμενα; Στίχ. εʹ. Κύκλῳ ὀδόντων αὐτοῦ φόβος. Περὶ ὧν λέγεται· Ὀδόντας ἁμαρτωλῶν συνέ τριψας. Καὶ, Κύριος συντρίψει τὰς μύλας τῶν λεόντων. Οὐκ ἔστιν οὗτος ὁ φόβος τοῦ Θεοῦ· ἀλλ' ὁ φόβος, ὁ κύκλῳ τῶν ὀδόντων αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλ' ἐὰν ἔχῃς τὸν Χριστὸν ἐν σεαυτῷ, μὴ φρόντιζε τούτου τοῦ

About this text

Origen of Alexandria, Enarrationes in Job (Greek).

Catalogue & scope

Khazarzar scan

Witnesses

Copy-text PG 17 (Khazarzar) (Greek)

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.