Unit 3 rem close
It will be, according to the analogy of the feeding, that to each of the brethren is given spiritual knowledge; and so Paul, on the one hand, gave milk to drink to those in Corinth, on the other hand, nourished those in Ephesus with more solid food, speaking concerning height and length and width and depth; and by means of these distinctions he indicates the division of the rational nature, which division encompasses the discourses concerning God's judgment and providence, which discourses are very deeply rooted and lead away from the human condition. Furnaces are the trials; for by means of the trials God elects the warm and the sluggish hearts of the elect. The heretic obeys the tongue of the doctrines of the godless; but those of the Church do not even pay attention. By means of obeying, the voluntary is shown, as if erring into God's wise governance. –This one obeys the tongues of the lawless, he who receives unjust calculations from them and hastens to act according to them; concerning these the righteous is said not to pay attention, to see both the visible and the invisible, that is, not to nourish oneself further within. The faithful, he says, will see the words of this world, which they have figuratively presented as nourishment to the mind; but the unbeliever will not even know the word of any chance thing, on account of the uncleanness of his own soul; for that the wealth of the soul is the knowledge of God, Paul teaches, saying: You have been enriched in everything, in all knowledge and in all wisdom; but if anyone wishes to show that this conception is not this one of mine,
Let those who possess wealth speak of where they acquired their riches—the ones who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and tormented; how, too, can the unbeliever not possess even a single obol, while many unbelievers, cloaked in great wealth, I mean kings and rulers of this world, abound in riches? Faithful lips declare the virtuous thoughts; but to the foolish, evil thoughts will be acceptable. For what partnership has righteousness with injustice? Unless, perhaps, one who has repented seeks discernment and faith. Through righteousness, we conceal iniquity; through self-control, we conceal intemperance; and again, through love, we conceal hatred; and through freedom from love of money, we conceal greed—yes, the greed quantified as 17.200. We also conceal arrogance through humility, and ferocity through meekness, as we seek spiritual friendship, which signifies holy knowledge; and according to Paul, certain ones among the saints are called fellow citizens, and natives of the heavenly Jerusalem, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. He says here that the body is the house of the soul; and again, the soul is the house of the mind; and the same mind is called the eye of the soul. But the one who has learned divine knowledge and wisdom, yet has surrendered himself to wickedness, and instead of good words brings forth evil ones, and is unwilling to turn back and be saved—such a person will not see wickedness and depravity depart from the house of his body; rather, they remain firmly entrenched within him, so that complete evil may come upon him, abiding immovable within him on the day of the Lord’s wrath.
The body formed from the earth by the Lord for us, he says, is a house here; and the one that will not be moved, that is, will not depart from its own house, is anger and tribulation, sent forth by men and demons by the Lord, against those who repay good with evil, to the good-doer himself, a human being.
If one who repays evil for evil is lawless, how much more so is one who repays evil for good? Such a one became Israel in the wilderness; to whom Moses says in Deuteronomy: “A crooked and perverse generation, do you repay the Lord thus?” Here he says the beginning is knowledge; and righteousness follows knowledge, for righteousness is begotten from knowledge; but deficiency is ignorance; and strife and battle, every wickedness, precedes ignorance, the wickedness.
Why then do you again accuse the poor? By leading us away from idleness; therefore authority does not come from the laying on of hands; hence, if you wish to walk with boldness, you must be just; and strife and battle precede deficiency, that is, the lack of virtue in those who do wrong.
Such is the one who says the bitter is sweet and the sweet is bitter; and who calls light darkness, and darkness light. Here riches are said to be wisdom and knowledge; but to the foolish, what has the learning of wisdom and knowledge come to? For as a vine cannot grow in thorns, so in folly wisdom cannot bear fruit; for riches are the foolish person’s, the things concerning each particular matter of his.
Greek
γενήσεται, κατὰ ἀναλογίαν τῆς κα ταστάσεως, ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀδελφῶν διδοὺς γνῶσιν πνευ ματικήν· οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος τοὺς μὲν ἐν Κορίνθῳ γα λαποτίζων, τοὺς δὲ ἐν Ἐφέσῳ τρέφων στερεωτέρᾳ τροφῇ, περὶ ὕψους καὶ μήκους καὶ πλάτους καὶ βά θους διαλεγόμενος· καὶ διὰ τούτων τῶν διαστημά των τὴν τῆς λογικῆς φύσεως σημαίνων διαίρεσιν, ἥτις τοὺς περὶ κρίσεως καὶ προνοίας τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγους ἐμπεριέχει, πάνυ βαθυτάτους ὑπάρχοντας, καὶ ἐκ φεύγοντας τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην κατάστασιν. Κάμινοι οἱ πειρασμοί· διὰ γὰρ τῶν πειρασμῶν κα θάρας καὶ ἀκηλιδώτους τὰς καρδίας τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν ὁ Θεὸς ἐκλέγεται. Ὁ αἱρετικὸς ὑπακούει γλώσσης τῆς τῶν ἀθέων δο γμάτων· οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας, οὐδὲ προσέχουσιν. ∆ιὰ τοῦ ὑπακούειν, τὸ ἑκούσιον δείκνυσιν, ὡς εἰς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφὴν διοίκησιν ἐξαμαρτών. –Οὗτος ὑπακούει ταῖς γλώσσαις τῶν παρανόμων, ὁ τοὺς ἀδίκους δεχό μενος παρ' αὐτῶν λογισμοὺς, καὶ σπεύδων ἐνεργεῖν κατ' αὐτούς· οἷς ὁ δίκαιος λέγεται μὴ προσέχειν, ὁρα τῶν τε καὶ ἀοράτων, τουτέστι μὴ ἐπὶ πλέον τρέφειν ἐν ἑαυτῷ. Ὁ πιστὸς, φησὶν, ὄψεται τοὺς λόγους τοῦ κόσμου τούτου, οὕστινας χρήματα τροπικῶς τοῦ νοῦ προσ ηγόρευσεν· ὁ δὲ ἄπιστος οὐδὲ τοῦ τυχόντος πράγματος γνώσεται λόγον, διὰ τὴν ἀκαθαρσίαν τῆς ψυχῆς αὑ τοῦ· ὅτι δὲ πλοῦτος ψυχῆς ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστι τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ Παῦλος διδάσκει λέγων τό· Ἐν παντὶ ἐπλουτίσθητε, ἐν πάσῃ γνώσει καὶ πάσῃ σοφίᾳ· εἰ δέ τις βούλοιτο δεῖξαι μὴ ταύτην τὴν ἔννοιαν εἶναι ταύτης τῆς παροι μίας, λεγέτω ποῦ εὐπόρησαν χρημάτων οἱ περιελ θόντες ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασι, κακουχού μενοι, θλιβόμενοι, στενοχωρούμενοι; Πῶς δὲ καὶ ὁ ἄπιστος οὐχ ἕξει ὀβολὸν, πολλῶν ἀπίστων περιβεβλη μένων πλοῦτον πολὺν, λέγω δὲ βασιλέων καὶ ἀρχόν των τοῦ κόσμου τούτου; Χείλη πιστὰ τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς λογισμούς φησιν· ἄφρονι δὲ δεκτοὶ ἔσονται πονηροὶ λογισμοί· τίς γὰρ μετοχὴ δικαιοσύνῃ πρὸς ἀδικίαν; εἰ μή που μετανοήσας δέ ξηται φρόνησίν τε καὶ πίστιν. ∆ιὰ μὲν τῆς δικαιοσύνης, τὴν ἀδικίαν κρύπτομεν· διὰ δὲ τῆς σωφροσύνης, τὴν ἀκολασίαν· καὶ πάλιν διὰ τῆς ἀγάπης, τὸ μῖσος· καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀφιλαργυρίας, τὴν 17.200 πλεονεξίαν· κρύπτομεν δὲ καὶ διὰ τῆς ταπεινοφροσύ νης τὴν ὑπερηφανίαν, καὶ διὰ τὴν πραΰτητα, τὴν θρασύτητα· ζητοῦντες τὴν πνευματικὴν φιλίαν, ἥτις τὴν ἁγίαν γνῶσιν σημαίνει· καὶ παρὰ τῷ Παύλῳ δὲ συμπολῖται τινὲς τῶν ἁγίων λέγονται γεγονέναι, καὶ οἰκεῖοι τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἐποικοδομηθέντες ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν προφητῶν. Οἶκον ἐνταῦθά φησι τῆς μὲν ψυχῆς, τὸ σῶμα· τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν πάλιν, οἶκον τοῦ νοῦ· ὁ δ' αὐτὸς πάλιν νοῦς, τῆς ψυχῆς ὀφθαλμὸς λέγεται· ὁ δὲ τὴν ἔνθεον γνῶσιν καὶ σοφίαν μαθὼν, ἑαυτὸν δὲ ἐκδοὺς τῇ κακίᾳ, καὶ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν πονηροὺς λόγους ἐκφέρων, πρὸς δὲ τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι καὶ σωθῆναι μὴ βουλόμενος, τοῦ σωματι κοῦ οἴκου οὐκ ἀναχωρήσει ἡ κακία καὶ ἡ πονηρία· ἀλ λὰ μένουσιν ἑδραίως ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα τὰ τέλεια κακὰ ἐπέλθῃ, ἐν αὐτῷ ἀκίνητα μένοντα ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς Κυρίου. –Τὸ ἐκ τῆς γῆς παρὰ Κυρίου πλασθὲν ἡμῖν σῶμα, οἶκον ἐνταῦθά φησι· τὸ δὲ, οὐ κινηθήσεται, ἀντὶ τοῦ, οὐκ ἀναχωρήσει ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου αὑτοῦ ὀργὴ καὶ θλίψις, διά τε ἀνθρώπων καὶ δαιμόνων ἐκπεμπόμενα παρὰ Κυρίου, κατὰ τοῦ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν κακὰ ἀποδώσαν τος τῷ ἀγαθοποιῷ αὑτοῦ ἀνθρώπῳ. –Εἰ ὁ κακὰ ἀντὶ κακῶν ἀποδιδοὺς παράνομος, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ κακὰ ἀντὶ ἀγαθῶν ἀποδιδοὺς παρανομώτερος; Τοιοῦτος δὲ ἐγένετο κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον ὁ Ἰσραήλ· πρὸς ὃν ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἐν τῷ ∆ευτερονομίῳ φησί· Γενεὰ σκολιὰ καὶ διεστραμμέ νη, ταῦτα Κυρίῳ ἀνταποδίδοτε; Ἐνταῦθα ἀρχὴν, τὴν γνῶσίν φησι· δικαιοσύνη δὲ ἕπεται τῇ γνώσει· ἐκ γὰρ τῆς γνώσεως ἡ δικαιοσύνη τίκτεται· ἔνδεια δέ ἐστι ἄγνοια· στάσις δὲ καὶ μάχη, πᾶσα κακία· προηγεῖται δὲ τῆς ἀγνοίας, ἡ κακία. Τί νος ἕνεκεν πάλιν τῶν πενήτων κατηγορεῖ; Ἀπάγων ἡμᾶς ἀργίας· οὐκ ἄρα ἀπὸ χειροτονίας ἡ ἐξουσία· ὥστε εἰ βούλει μετὰ παῤῥησίας βαδίζειν, δίκαιος ἔσο· προηγεῖται δὲ τῆς ἐνδείας στάσις καὶ μάχη, ἤτοι τοῖς ἀδικοῦσιν ἔνδεια ἀρετῆς. Ὅμοιός ἐστι τούτῳ ὁ λέγων τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ, καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν· καὶ τὸ μὲν φῶς, ὀνομάζων σκότος, τὸ δὲ σκότος, φῶς. Χρήματα ἐνταῦθα τὴν σοφίαν καὶ τὴν γνῶσίν φη σιν· ἄφρονι δὲ, ἵνα τί ὑπῆρξεν ἡ τῆς σοφίας καὶ γνώσεως μάθησις; ὡς γὰρ ἄμπελον ἀδύνατον ἐν θα λάσσῃ γενέσθαι, οὕτως ἐν ἄφροσιν ἡ σοφία ἀρετὴν καρπώσασθαι· χρήματα γὰρ ἄφρονός ἐστιν, αἱ περὶ καθ' ἕκαστα αὐτοῦ πράγματα
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.