Excerpts on the Psalms (Greek) · §16

The LORD appeared to Jacob as a sign of the incarnation

It appeared in visible form to Jacob as a sign of the incarnation that would come afterward.

They are commanded to shout a victory hymn to him, because he destroyed the one who held the power of death and delivered humanity from the dominion of demons.

Such a shout is indeed a triumphant hymn, and those who were freed from Babylon by the God who granted victory urge one another to sing it.

Furthermore, in a more ethical sense: let those who do good deeds see their fruits brought to the winepresses, and let them hear the call: Rejoice in God; but let the one who sins and seeks repentance and conversion not rejoice, but instead be grieved in accordance with God.

For godly grief produces repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret.

And you, if God has helped you gather the fruits and bring them to the holy winepresses, do not forget God, for he has become your helper.

And if you find yourself at a loss for words worthy to offer to God in thanksgiving, cry out with a meaningful voice, with a heart that cries out, surpassing what can be signified, being at a loss for words, and speaking through that loss in ways that are beyond words.

For if you go beyond spoken expressions, if you surpass what is declared, if the things uttered by mouth can only be hymned by the mind alone, then impose your own movements upon the word for the one who is at a loss, especially since the word within you cannot be sustained by the mind in bearing the ineffable and divine things, and you will cry out to God Jacob as an imitator of the heel-grasping Jacob.

Psalm 150, verse 3: Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Another says, through the sound of the horn. But this instrument is priestly.

For the priests used trumpets, reminding of the trumpets made at Sinai. Therefore, according to the spiritual discourse concerning the construction of trumpets, let a trumpet be constructed, so that in its sound

Let us praise God. I believe these are the trumpets that are indicated, as it is written: The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised. There is a festival, the New Moon of the seventh month, which is a memorial of trumpets, since it is stated: In the new moon, with the trumpet.

Greek

σχήματι ὀφθέντα τῷ Ἰακὼβ εἰς δήλωσιν τῆς μετὰ ταῦτα ἐνανθρωπήσεως. Ἀλαλάζειν δὲ προστάττουσι νικητήριον ὕμνον ἀναπέμποντες αὐτῷ, ὡς καταλύσαντι τὸν τὸ κράτος ἔχοντα τοῦ θανάτου, ὡς ἐκ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων καταδυναστείας ῥυσαμένῳ. Ἀλαλαγμὸς γάρ ἐστιν ὕμνος ἐπινίκιος, ὃν καὶ οἱ ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ἀνασωθέντες τῷ τὴν νίκην δωρησαμένῳ Θεῷ ἀλλήλοις ὑφῆναι παρακελεύονται. Ἠθικώτερον δέ· ὧν μὲν κατορθούντων οἱ καρποὶ ἐπὶ τὰς ληνοὺς ἔρχονται, ἀκουέτωσαν τοῦ· Ἀγαλλιᾶσθε τῷ Θεῷ· ὁ δὲ ἁμαρτὼν καὶ δεόμενος μετανοίας καὶ ἐπιστροφῆς μὴ ἀγαλλιάσθω, ἀλλὰ λυπηθήτω κατὰ Θεόν. Ἡ γὰρ κατὰ Θεὸν λύπη μετάνοιαν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἀμεταμέλητον κατεργάζεται. Καὶ σὺ, ἐὰν βοηθηθεὶς ὑπὸ Θεοῦ τὴν συγκομιδὴν ἐποιήσω τῶν καρπῶν ἐπὶ τὰς ἁγίας ληνοὺς, μὴ ἐπιλανθάνου τοῦ Θεοῦ, καθὸ βοηθός σου γίνεται. Κἂν ἀπορῇς λόγων τῶν κατ' ἀξίαν ἀποδοθησομένων τῷ Θεῷ ἐν εὐχαριστίᾳ, ἀλάλαζε εὐσήμῳ φωνῇ, καρδίας κεκραγυίας ὑπερβαινούσης τὰ σημαινόμενα ἀπορούσης λέξεως, καὶ διὰ τὴν ἀπορίαν τῶν λέξεων ἀπόῤῥητα καὶ ἄῤῥητα λαλούσης. Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀναβῇς τὰ λεκτὰ, ἐὰν ὑπερβῇς τὰ ἀπαγγελλόμενα, τὰ διὰ στόματος φωνούμενα, καὶ μόνῳ νῷ δυνηθῇς ὑμνεῖν τὸν Θεὸν, τῷ ἀποροῦντι ἐπιθεῖναι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ κινήματα τῷ λόγῳ, παρὰ τὸ τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐν σοὶ μὴ δύνασθαι βαστάζειν τοῦ νοῦ τὰ ἀπόῤῥητα καὶ τὰ θεῖα, ἀλαλάξεις τῷ Θεῷ Ἰακὼβ, ὡς μιμητὴς τοῦ πτερνιστοῦ Ἰακώβ. ΨΑΛ. ΡΝʹ. Στίχ. γʹ. Αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν ἤχῳ σάλπιγγος. Ἄλλος φησὶ, διὰ ἤχου κερατίνης. Ἱερατικὸν δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ὄργανον. Οἱ ἱερεῖς γὰρ ἐχρῶντο ταῖς σάλπιγξι, τῶν ἐν Σινᾶ γενομένων σαλπίγγων ἀναμιμνήσκοντες. Κατὰ γοῦν τὸν πνευματικὸν περὶ σαλπίγγων κατασκευῆς λόγον, κατασκευαστέον σάλπιγγα, ἵνα ἐν ἤχῳ αὐτῆς αἰνέσωμεν τὸν Θεόν. Τοιαῦται δ', οἶμαι, σάλπιγγες δηλοῦνται καὶ ἐν τῷ· Σαλπίσει, καὶ οἱ νεκροὶ ἐγερθήσονται. Ἔστι δὲ ἑορτὴ Νουμηνία ἑβδόμου μηνὸς, μνημόσυνον σαλπίγγων, καθὸ λέγεται· Ἐν νεομηνίᾳ, σάλπιγγι.

About this text

Origen of Alexandria, Excerpta in Psalmos (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.