Expositio in Proverbia Unit 3 opening
The wickedness of life oppresses the innocent; it protects the innocent. Yet He speaks of those who endure evil from some source, and who practice innocence in love. Or thus: Unexamined, possessing the pretense of piety but being untested and untried— for the one who is not examined, and who openly reveals his thoughts and reasonings to others, wanders in self-conceit. The covering, instead of not allowing to breathe. Or He speaks of enmity toward wickedness, by which we become enemies of God; and the enmity against God and mankind that arises in us by the evil one in the heart— the righteous indeed shake it off, while with their lips they praise God, whenever the evil one thus subdues them. For if we are enemies, says Paul, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son; but if the enmity is wickedness, then friendship is virtue and knowledge of God, by which we become friends of Him and of the holy powers; and upon this friendship, those who are His friends are also friends to one another. Lord, before You all my desire is, says David; that is, whatever is pleasing to God and harmonious with the just, one ought to desire, so that our prayer may become acceptable before God; but the ungodly is carried away in eternal destruction by desiring and doing what is not friendly to God. If the fear of the Lord adds days,
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; these days are parts of wisdom, made by the sun of righteousness. For one who presses forward adds knowledge and illuminations. Moreover, for such days David prays, saying: Do not bring me to the midst of my days. And these days, Abraham having fulfilled them, died old and full of days. And the Lord adds the divine visions as days to those who are in faith and fearing Him. But the years of the wicked, seen as foolish and devoid of divine grace, have been made little. He speaks of the lifetime of a man as an age, as Paul says: I will not eat meat for the age, lest I scandalize my brother. For that which is added to the constitution of his life, he has called an age. For the righteous does not sin in giving, being troubled by the evil one. But the wicked who sin will not only be cast out of the kingdom, but will dwell in fire and not on the earth. Instead, grace is an overflowing abundance; and the mouth of the pious now speaks the mind and the heart, as if singing hymns to God through the lips. But the mouth speaking evil of the wicked is turned away from God to become that of the evil one. See therefore what comes from that, and what from this. For having the goal toward the future, one certainly attains what was expected, having finished as the righteous. Or He leads us forward to the resurrection.
And concerning this, the existing things remain, and are not destroyed; but concerning that, even the existing things are extinguished. For in the present age alone they boast—of whom it has been said: "Their glory is in their shame." Not as if the righteous one were the subject of justice, saying, "Instead of him, the wicked is delivered up," but because the snare comes from the wicked against the righteous, the wicked falls into it while this one remains. The righteous is snatched away by God, but the wicked, having been abandoned, falls—according to the saying, "The sinner is caught in the works of his own hands." Or because the righteous is thought by some to be a man of sins, the wicked comes and does evil to the righteous; from the sins and the punishments that were to come, he has delivered himself, but for himself he has taken up the punishments. He is delivered over by himself through his own wickedness, as one who has given himself over to an unapproved mind. Either this is discernment concerning things to be done, or not; or so that they may manage their own lives—for it is a great and hopeless wave. For such people, driven about by every wind, suffer shipwreck concerning life or faith; and they fall like leaves from a tree, those who do not possess the wisdom of God. But if salvation is in counsel, and not merely in counsel, but also in much counsel,
Greek
κακότητος τοῦ βίου δυσχερείας τοὺς ἀκάκους φυλάσσει· ἀκάκους. δὲ λέγει τοὺς κακῶς ἔκ τινος ὑπομένοντας, καὶ ἀκακίαν ἀσκοῦν τας ἐν ἀγάπῃ. Ἢ οὕτως. Ἀνεξέλεγκτος, ἡ πρόσχημα μὲν εὐσεβείας ἔχουσα, ἀγύμναστος δὲ οὖσα καὶ ἀνεξέ ταστος· ὁ γὰρ μὴ ἐλεγχόμενος, καὶ φανερῶν καὶ ἑτέροις τὰ φρονήματα καὶ τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτοῦ, πλανᾶται οἰήσει. Τὸ, καλύπτουσιν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οὐκ ἐῶσιν ἀνανεῦσαι. Ἢ ἔχθραν τὴν κακίαν λέγει, δι' ἧς ἐχθροὶ γινόμεθα τοῦ Θεοῦ· τὴν δὲ κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἔχθραν ἐγγινομένην ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ, αὐ τὴν μὲν ἀποσείονται οἱ δίκαιοι, τοῖς δὲ χείλεσι τὸν Θεὸν ὑμνοῦσιν, ὅταν οὕτως αὐτοῖς ὁ πονηρὸς ὑπο βάλλῃ· Εἰ γὰρ ἐχθροὶ ὄντες, φησὶν ὁ Παῦλος, κατ ηλλάγημεν τῷ Θεῷ διὰ τοῦ θανάτου τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἡ ἔχθρα, κακία ἐστὶν, ἡ φιλία ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις Θεοῦ, δι' ἧς φίλοι γινόμεθα αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων δυνάμεων· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς φιλίας ταύτης, οἱ ὄντες αὐτοῦ φίλοι, καὶ ἀλλήλων εἰσὶ φίλοι. Κύριε, ἐναντίον σου πᾶσα ἡ ἐπιθυμία μου, φησὶν ὁ ∆αυΐδ· τουτέστιν ὅσα τῷ Θεῷ ἀρεστὰ, καὶ δικαίοις ἁρμόζει, ἐπιθυμεῖν χρὴ, ἵνα δεκτὴ ἡ προσευχὴ ἡμῶν γένηται ἐναντίον τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὁ δὲ ἀσεβὴς, ἀπωλείᾳ αἰωνίᾳ περιφέρεται ἐν τῷ ἐπιθυμεῖν καὶ πράττειν τὰ μὴ Θεῷ φίλα. Εἰ φόβος Κυρίου προστίθησιν ἡμέρας, ἀρχὴ δὲ σο φίας φόβος Κυρίου, αἱ ἡμέραι αὗται, μέρη τῆς σοφίας εἰσὶν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης γινόμεναι· προ κόπτων γὰρ προστίθησι γνώσεις καὶ φωτισμούς· ὑπὲρ δὲ τοιούτων ἡμερῶν εὔχεται καὶ ∆αυῒδ λέγων· Μὴ 17.189 ἀναγάγῃς με ἐν ἡμίσει ἡμερῶν μου· ταύτας δὲ τὰς 17.189 ἡμέρας καὶ Ἀβραὰμ πληρώσας ἀπέθανε πρεσβύτε ρος καὶ πλήρης ἡμερῶν· καὶ τὰς θείας ὁράσεις ὡς ἡμέρας προστίθησι Κύριος τοῖς ἐν πίστει φοβουμένοις αὐτόν· τὰ δὲ τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἔτη, ἄσοφα ὁραθέντα καὶ θείας χάριτος ἄνευ, ὠλιγώθησαν. Αἰῶνα τὸν ἀνθρώπου βίον λέγει, ὡς ὁ Παῦλος· Οὐ μὴ φάγω κρέα εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἵνα μὴ τὸν ἀδελφόν μου σκανδαλίσω· τὸ γὰρ συμπαρεκτεινόμενον τῇ συστάσει τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ, αἰῶνα ὠνόμασεν· Οὐκ ἐν δώσει γὰρ, φησὶν, ὁ δίκαιος ἁμαρτῆσαι ἐνοχλούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ. Οἱ δὲ ἀσεβεῖς ἁμαρτάνοντες οὐ μό νον ἐκπεσοῦνται τῆς βασιλείας, ἀλλὰ τὸ πῦρ καὶ οὐ τὴν γῆν οἰκήσουσιν. Ἀντὶ τοῦ, χάριτος ἀνάπλεώς ἐστιν· εὐσεβοῦς δὲ στόμα νῦν τὸν νοῦν λέγει καὶ τὴν καρδίαν, ὡς διὰ τῶν χειλέων ὑμνοῦσαν τὸν Θεόν· τὸ δὲ λαλοῦν πονηρὰ στόμα τῶν ἀσεβῶν, ἀποστρέφεται ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὸ εἶναι τῷ πονηρῷ· ὅρα δὲ τί ἀπ' ἐκείνου, τί δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου. Ἔχων γὰρ πρὸς τὰ μέλλοντα τὸν σκοπὸν, τυγχάνει πάντως ὧν προσεδόκησε τελευτήσας ὁ δίκαιος. Ἢ εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἡμᾶς παραπέμπει· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτου μὲν μένει τὰ ὄντα, καὶ οὐκ ἀφανίζεται· ἐπ' ἐκείνου δὲ καὶ τὰ ὄντα σβέννυται· ἐν γὰρ τῷ παρόντι μόνον αἰῶνι καυχῶνται· περὶ ὧν εἴρηται· Ὧν ἡ δόξα ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ αὐτῶν. Οὐχ ὡς ὑποκειμένου τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς τῇ δίκῃ φησὶ τὸ, Ἀντ' αὐτοῦ παραδίδοται ἀσεβὴς, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἡ παγίς ἐστιν ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου, τούτου ῥυο μένου περιπίπτει ταύτῃ ὁ ἀσεβής· ἐξαρπάζεται ὁ εὐσεβὴς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ, ὁ δὲ ἀσεβὴς ἐγκαταλειφθεὶς, περι πίπτει· κατὰ τὸ, Ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ συνελήφθη ὁ ἁμαρτωλός. Ἢ ἐπειδὴ ὁ δίκαιος ὑπό κειταί τισιν ὡς ἅνθρωπος ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἐλθὼν ὁ ἀσε βὴς καὶ κακοποιήσας τὸν δίκαιον, τῶν μὲν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ τῶν κολάσεων τῶν μελλουσῶν ἐῤῥύσατο, εἰς ἑαυ τὸν δὲ τὰς τιμωρίας ἀνεδέξατο. Παραδίδοται δὲ ὑφ' ἑαυτοῦ ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας κακίας, ὡς παραδοὺς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν. Ἤτοι διάκρισις ἡ περὶ τῶν πρακτέων, ἢ μή· ἢ ὥστε τὸν ἑαυτῶν βίον οἰκονομεῖν· κλυδώνιον γάρ ἐστι μέγα καὶ ἀφόρητον· οἱ τοιοῦτοι γὰρ παντὶ ἀνέμῳ περιφερόμενοι ναυαγοῦσι περὶ τὸν βίον ἢ τὴν πίστιν, καὶ ὡς φύλλα δένδρου πίπτουσιν ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οἷς μὴ ὑπάρχει σοφία Θεοῦ· εἰ δὲ ἡ σωτηρία ἐστὶν ἐν βουλῇ, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς βουλῇ, ἀλλὰ καὶ πολλῇ, οὐκ
About this text
Origen of Alexandria, Expositio in Proverbia (Greek).
Original English Translation of Origen’s Expositio in Proverbia — new OET from PG 13 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 13 (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.