SUPPLEMENT TO THE EXEGETICAL WORKS OF ORIGEN. FROM CATENAE AND RECENT EDITIONS. NOTICE.
A There are three primary types of interpretation employed by Origen. Some matters are commented upon at greater length. Others are homilies. Others are as it were notes and briefer scholia, and, so to speak, compendious interpretations of passages. Such, moreover, are those which we now for the first time make available to the public, whether they concern the Old or the New Testament. Indeed, the collectors of the Catenae, from whom all these have been gathered, seem at times to have contracted the very words of Origen into a summary, and at times even to have mingled them with the words of others. Regarding this latter point, we are so far from the opinions of Huet and de la Rue—men who exerted most strenuous labor in the preparation of an edition of Origen—that we would rather contend, with any pledge whatever, that it is clearly apparent whence later writers drew their ideas. This will become plain and manifest to us if only we observe what we have noted concerning Photius, who holds views in common with Origen against the new Manichaeans. Nevertheless, if we have seen things attributed to Origen and others, we have indicated all the locations at the foot of the pages, so that scholars might have at hand what seemed to require mutual comparison. As for the first point, however, it appears that this was done more rarely; so that it is permissible to affirm, generally speaking, that we possess the short commentaries of Origen in the very words in which they were written by him. Would that some new man might arise, an Adamantius himself, who could collect all such writings of our Adamantius, now scattered in the ancient Catenae or still lurking in the drawers and shelves of libraries, and could weave together and publish for the public benefit such integral scholia!
The fragments which we present here are indeed quite ample, and they proclaim everywhere their parent, the other works attributed to Origen; they also bear clear arguments and testimonies for their authenticity B. For that Origen wrote on Genesis, Eusebius, Nicephorus, Suidas, and others are witnesses. Indeed, Origen himself frequently mentions these exegetical works of his. The mention of scholia or excerpts on Exodus is made by Jerome, and by Origen himself in his work against Celsus. Huet speaks abundantly about the scholia on Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Concerning the excerpts on Joshua, it is sufficiently established from chapter 15 of the Philocalia. As for commentaries on the books of Kings, the homily *On the Engastrimuth* (which Allatius translated) provides confirmation, as does Cassiodorus, who also testifies to homilies on Deuteronomy, Kings, and Chronicles. For the exposition of Proverbs, there are fragments available in Pamphilus’s *Apology*, and in the Catena Mazariniana on Luke ch. VIII, v. 4, as mentioned by Fabricius. Regarding Job and the Psalms, the matter is beyond controversy, just as it is regarding the Commentaries on Matthew and Luke. No one, therefore, can justly doubt the sincerity of the monuments we present, especially with the addition of the authority of our Marcian codices—from which almost everything has been derived—which is sufficiently established among all.
permitted. It is also added that in the Nannian codices, a catalog of which will shortly appear, the same things sometimes recur in the very same words, and the entire method of commentary everywhere savors of and reveals Origen.
Also not to be passed over in silence for the recommendation of these fragments is the fact that, besides many learned matters not perhaps to be found elsewhere, even Christian dogmas are successfully asserted against their attackers. Of the first kind would be that which you read at Matt. ch. xxvii, v. 17, that Barabbas’s name was Jesus, and thus the most ancient exemplars read: "Whom will you have me release to you? Jesus Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" Which reading, indeed, seems most congruent with the manner of speaking employed here by the evangelist. Likewise that of Psalm xxxvi, v. 24, where it is said, in the agonistic games, he who falls sometimes wins. By which their opinion is marvelously confirmed, who teach that for the palm of victory to be carried off in athletic contests it was necessary to defeat the adversary three times; about which some doubt without cause in Poterus at the place we cited for that verse. What also is meant by [στηλογραφία] in the title of Ps. xv, and what its use was among the ancients, appears from these scholia. The sincerity and [γνησιότης] of the verse concerning the sweat of Christ is also established: which is likewise confirmed by an equally ancient interpreter, as we said in the case of Dionysius of Alexandria. A good crop of variant readings, too, and the authority of the Samaritan codex is repeatedly proposed to us, that we might pass over the rest.
It is clear that the dogmas of the Christian faith, as well as ecclesiastical tradition, and the existence and truth of the unwritten are abundantly confirmed and established by fragments of this kind. That God is incorporeal, and that what is said corporally about Him must be understood as befits God, and that the delusions of the Anthropomorphites are not at all helped by this, is evident from the scholia on Ps. xiii, v. 2. That the providence of God extends even to the smallest things is evident from the commentaries on Job xlii, 3. You will find the power and necessity of grace, and likewise the freedom of the will, commended everywhere.
ORIGEN’S EXCERPTS ON GENESIS
ORIGEN'S ANNOTATIONS ON GENESIS.
(From the Gallandian Library.)CAP. VII.
A V. 4. *I bring rain upon the earth forty days, and forty nights. And I will blot out every creature [(2)] which I have made, from the face of the earth, from man even unto cattle.*
Why did He destroy the multitudes of men by the flood? He wished to blot out the race of Cain; but the tribe of the pious had also become mixed with it; therefore it also had a share in the punishment. But wishing to make a beginning of a new life, He preserved Noah and his children with their wives, for he was pious and just, and derived his origin from the piety of his kinsmen, and also pursued with hatred that mixture of races which was against the laws. Truly, however, not, as some say, through any anger or repentance did He bring these things about. For these are human passions; and the divine nature is immune to passions. Furthermore, repentance falls upon those who, after experience, have learned the nature of things: who, after they have learned by experience that they have not consulted rightly, only then are led to repentance. B But God so looks upon things that are to be after many future generations, as if they were already done. As, therefore, foreseeing and foreknowing, so He steers all things. Why, then, does He repent, all things being directed toward His foreknowledge...
Repentance in God is a change of providence. "It repented me," He says, "that I have appointed Saul to be king," which means: I have judged it right to remove this man, and to appoint another. So here too: "I have thought upon it, that I have made man"; I have judged it right to destroy the race of men. But as He is benevolent, He preserved Noah as the seed of nature. And since He had created the races of animals for the need of men, these too perished together with men, except for those who were kept safe in the ark with Noah. For the Lord God commanded that two B of every kind of those that appeared unclean should be saved, but seven of the clean. For since He was about to allow men to partake of meat, and those who cultivated piety were about to offer sacrifices to Him, He commanded that more of the clean animals be preserved: three pairs for the increase of the race, and one odd one for sacrifice. For immediately after the cessation of the punishment, Noah offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, "of all," he says, "clean cattle, and of all clean birds." From which it is evident that for this reason He commanded seven of every kind of clean animal to be brought into the ark, so that Noah, offering the single animal from every kind, would not destroy the pairs. V. 16. "And the Lord God shut him in from without, the ark." The protection of the closing door required some diviner power. C
CAP. XIX.
V. 25. "And He overturned these cities, and all the surrounding country, and all the inhabitants in the cities."
V. 26. "And his wife looked back, and became a pillar of salt."
The Lord does not only destroy the impious, but also their food, which is Sodomitic and harmful; among which the vine is also counted, concerning which it is written, "For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and their shoot is from Gomorrah." As soon as he escaped into the city, the fire was brought upon the cities, a sign of the future consummation. She did not simply become a pillar, but rather a pillar of salt, on account of that saying: "You are the salt of the earth." And let that saying apply to the pillar of salt: D "But if the salt should lose its savor?" He does not immediately ascend the mountain according to what had been said to him, but first he is in Segor, although he had not trusted himself to ascend the mountain.
CHAPTER XXIII.
V. 15. "The land of four hundred didrachmas."
It is to be noted that the price of the tomb is four hundred, because the quaternary and the hundred contribute to the hurt. And indeed if you inquire, you will find similar things in the Scriptures.