Below I have translated selected passages from the Septuagint version of Proverbs, in order to provide context for Origen’s commentary (Part One). Since Origen—like many of the Fathers—often focused heavily on the exact words of a Scriptural verse, I have tried to be overly-literal in my translations here. Occasionally, in the notes, I have referenced Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s well-known Septuagint translation, first published in 1844 and widely available online.
Greek has many words for “understanding” or “knowledge.” To keep this difference visible in my
translation, I have consistently used a distinct word for each Greek word. Φρονησις
becomes “thoughtfulness”: it often has the connotation of “prudence,” as well
as “intention.” Αισθησις becomes “good-sense,” as the word
is also used to refer to feelings or physical sensations; etymologically, it is
related to the word aesthetics. Εννοια becomes “reflection,” though
it can also have the meaning of “good sense” or “better judgment.” Συνεσις
becomes simply “understanding.” There are
also σοφια for “wisdom” and γνωσις for “knowledge.”
(1:1) Proverbs of Solomon, Son of David, who ruled in
Israel, (1:2) to know wisdom and discipline, and to understand words of thoughtfulness,
(1:3) and to receive the turnings of words,[1]
and to understand true righteousness and to set judgment aright, (1:4) in order
to give wiliness to the guileless,[2]
and good-sense and reflection; (1:5) for, hearing these things, the wise will
become wiser, and the one understanding will gain direction.[3]
(1:6) And to understand parable and dark word, and sayings of the wise and
enigmas.
(1:7) The beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord, and good
understanding to all those doing this; for piety towards God is the beginning
of good-sense, and the impious set wisdom and discipline at naught. (1:8) Hear,
son, the discipline of your father, and do not set aside the ordinances of your
mother; (1:9) for a crown of graces it will give to your head and a golden
collar around your neck. (1:10) Son, do not let impious men lead you astray,
nor join counsel with them, (1:11) if they summon you, saying: “Come
with us, commune in the blood, and we will unrighteously hide the righteous man
in the earth, (1:12) and we will swallow him like Hades, living, and we will
remove his memory from the earth; (1:13) his lavish property we will seize, and
we will fill our own houses with spoils; (1:14) then cast your lot among us,
and a common purse we all will get, and let there be one pouch for us.” (1:15)
Do not go in the way with them, but bend your foot out of their paths… (1:18)
For they, those partaking in slaughter, will treasure up evils for themselves,
and the overthrowing[4]
of transgressing men is evil….
(1:20) Wisdom hymns in the exit-ways, and in the wide-ways she
has boldness; (1:21) on the corners of roofs she preaches, and at the gates of
the powerful she sits, and at the gates of the city, taking courage, she says:
“…(1:24) Since I called, and you did not hearken, and I stretched out words,
and you did not attend…(1:28) For it shall be, when you call upon me, and I
will not listen to you; evil men seek me, and they will not find…”
(2:1) Son, if, having received the saying of my commandment,
you hide it with yourself, (2:2) your ear will hearken to[5]
wisdom, and you will cast your heart upon understanding, and you will cast it
upon lawgiving for your son. (2:3) For
if you call upon wisdom and give your voice to understanding, and you seek good-sense
with a great voice, (2:4) and if you seek it like silver and you search it out
like treasures, (2:5) then you will understand the fear of the Lord and you
will find the knowledge of God….(2:17) Son, let evil counsel not seize you, evil
counsel which has abandoned the teaching of youth and has set aside the
godly covenant…
(3:1) Son, do not forget my laws, and let your heart guard
my sayings; (3:2) for measure of life and years of life[6]
and peace shall they add to you. (3:3) Let almsgiving and peace not abandon
you, but bind them upon your neck, and you will find grace; (3:4) and provide
for beautiful things before the Lord and men. (3:5) Be trusting in all your
heart in God, and in your wisdom do not swell up; (3:6) in all your ways, make
her known, so that she shall cut your ways straight, and your foot will not
stumble. (3:7) Do not be thoughtful by yourself,[7]
but fear God and turn away from all evil; (3:8) then healing will be to your
body and consideration to your bones. (3:9) Honor the Lord from your righteous
labors, and give first-fruits to Him from your fruits of righteousness, (3:10)
so that your storehouses be filled with fullness of wheat, and your presses
burst forth with wine….(3:19) God founded the earth with wisdom, and set up the
heavens with thoughtfulness; (3:20) in good-sense, the abysses were shattered,
and the clouds streamed rains….
(5:3) Do not draw near a foul woman… (5:8) Make your way far
from her, do not draw near the doors of her houses…
(6:26) For the worth of a whore is as much as one loaf, and
woman catches the worthy[8]
souls of men….
(8:12) “I, wisdom, have dwelt with counsel, and knowledge
and understanding I have called upon…(8:22) The Lord created me the beginning
of His ways unto His works…(8:30) I was harmonizing alongside Him. I was that in which He rejoiced, and daily I
delighted in His face in every season…”
(10:22) The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the
righteous: it enriches, and grief in the heart shall not be added to it. (10:23)
In laughing the thoughtless[9]
does evil things, but wisdom gives birth to thoughtfulness in a man….
(11:29) The one not conversing with his own house will
inherit the wind, and the thoughtless shall serve the thoughtful. (11:30) From
the fruit of righteousness grows the tree of life, but the unripe souls of
transgressors shall be removed…
(16:14) The wrath of the king is the angel[10]
of death, but the wise man will calm him…
(28:12) Through the help of the righteous, many glories come
to be, but in the places of the impious, men are captured…
[1]
Brenton translates this phrase as “hard saying.”
[2] See the
notes to my translation of Origen’s commentary for more details on the word “wiliness”
(πανουργια). “Guileless” is literally “un-evil” (ακακοις).
[3] This
is the word Brenton uses in his translation; κυβερνησις (kubernēsis)
literally means “steering,” “piloting.”
Following an initial letter change in going from Greek to Latin (kubernaō
to gubernō), it became the root of the word governance, a
meaning it also gained in Greek.
[4] Literally,
“catastrophe.”
[5] This
verb can also mean “obey.”
[6] The first
“life” is βιος, referring
specifically to physical life (Brenton translates it “existence”), while the
second is ζωη, the kind of
life Jesus gives more abundantly (Jn 10:10).
[7]
Brenton translates this as “Be not wise in thine own conceit.”
[8] I
have translated this word (τιμιας)
“worthy” here, in order to show the relation with “worth” (τιμη) earlier in the verse, though, in
Origen’s commentary, I have translated it by the more common “precious,” that
is, “having great worth.” The same root
is used in Greek for the phrase “Precious Blood.” The word “worth” (τιμη) can also mean “honor” or “price.”
[9] Here
and in 11:29, I translate αφρων
by “thoughtless,” in order to show the etymological connection with “thoughtful”
(φρονιμος). Typically—as I did in Origen’s commentary—it is
translated as “senseless,” in the sense of “foolish.”
[10] Or, “messenger.”
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