Introduction
Origen has the dubious claim of both writing theology worthy of a Doctor of the Church and sowing the seeds of the wildest of heresies. While being perhaps the first to schematically discuss the spiritual senses of Scripture, in the same work (On First Principles), he also theorizes the reincarnation of souls in various lifeforms, from devils, through rocks and animals, to humans, and even to angels, and he preached a final salvation of all souls (apokatastasis panton), even Satan. While Origen himself recognized how speculative his theology was and declared that he would fully submit his thought to the corrections of the Magisterium, later thinkers took his oddest speculations and hardened them into heresies. As a result, when this "Origenism" was condemned, Origen himself--though dead--was condemned as well, and his works were ordered destroyed. Thankfully, some theologians recognized the abundance of good theology in him, and so they worked to save his writings. Chief among these theologians were the Cappadocian Fathers, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and St. Basil the Great. The latter two arranged a famous florilegium of Origen's works, the Phiokalia (quite distinct from the much later Philokalia of Nicodemos the Hagiorite and Makarios of Corinth). Though some of Origen's full works were preserved, many were lost, and many were preserved only in fragments, such as his Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon. The section presented below is the longest contiguous section; the remainder is simply a series of short glosses on assorted verses and phrases, which I hope to post soon. The source for the text below is PG 13:17B-25D.
To assist in reading this commentary, I have also translated a selection of excerpts from the Septuagint version of Proverbs.
Fragments from the Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon
Origen of Alexandria
(185-253)
Proverbs of Solomon, son of David (Prv 1:1). The Savior is also called “Son of
David.” He, our peaceful Savior, the
one begotten of the seed of David, according to the flesh (Rom 1:3),
reigned in Israel. Therefore, there was
also the epigraph fulfilling the economy[1]
for men: This is the King of the Jews (Lk 23:38). Jews are they—Israel—whom the peaceful Savior
reigns over, as being clear-sighted, if they are truly Israel. For so many are not the seed of Abraham,
and in no way children (Rom 9:7),[2]
through not doing the works of Abraham.
To know wisdom and discipline (Prv 1:2). Wisdom is the understanding of godly and the
grasping of human things, and according to some, it is the breath of the
power of God, and the out-flowing of the All-Ruler’s pure glory; for nothing dark
falls into it; for it is the shining-forth of the eternal light, and the
spotless mirror of God’s energy, and the icon of His goodness (Wis
7:25). The one knowing the works of
wisdom also knows these things, that is, the shining-forth of the eternal, and
the spotless mirror of God’s energy, and the icon of His goodness. But these things are nothing else than
knowing the Son of God’s love, and its wisdom, Christ.[3] For Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom (1
Cor 1:24). And this is not revealed by
flesh and blood, but by the heavenly Father.
And he knows wisdom, too, he who knows the understanding of godly,
lawful and prophetic, evangelic and apostolic sayings. Upon the rock he lays his foundation, that
is, upon the faith of Christ, so to withstand rains and winds and spirits, that
is to say, temptations coming from wherever (Mt 7:24-25). And if Luke says that he approved the
steward of injustice (Lk 16:8), that is said badly, for he received praise
for his shrewdness, through a sharp mind, which, it seems, is made clear in the
verse, And the serpent is the most cunning of all beasts (Gen 3:1), wherefore
it was said, Be cunning as a serpent (Mt 10:16), as if to say, not
unacquainted with the serpent’s wiles.[4]
To understand parable and dark word, sayings of the wise
and enigmas (Prv 1:6). What differentiates
these things from each other, let us understand: and, first, we will see what
the parable is, for which we will take our starting-point from the
Gospels. For others made use of the name
of “parable,” and Matthew thus: On that day, departing from his house, Jesus
sat by the sea, and all the crowd stood on the shore, and He spoke many things
to them in parables: “Behold, a sower went out to sow” (Mt 13:1-3). Therefore, a parable is a saying about
something which did not literally happen, but could have happened, as if it had
happened, figuratively indicating things through a transference[5]
of things said in the parable. For it
did not happen in accord with the saying—A sower went out—as we say that
the events in history happened, rather, it could have happened in accord with
what was said, Behold, a sower went out, etc. Certainly, I acknowledge that Jesus spoke in
parables to those outside, to whom, due to being outside, it was not given to
understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, Jesus having gone out of
the house, as Matthew wrote down (doing so not without cause and reason): On
that day, Jesus, departing the house, sat by the sea. For it was proper to go out of the house
to those who were unable to enter into the house, but were outside of it. For that Matthew thought in such a way here
is clear to the one who watches what follows: For leaving the crowds, he
says, He entered into His house (Mt 13:36), and He reveals to the
disciples the things in the parable. For
observe, in these things, how Jesus speaks to the crowds in parables, and He
says nothing to them without a parable, which He does even until now; for the
crowds do not have an interpretation of the parables. Then pay attention, too, to the Leaving
the crowds, He entered into His house, all-wisely written down; since it
was not for the crowds to enter in with Him, but only for those distinct from
the crowds, who were His disciples, and who were able to have the boldness to
enter into the house of Jesus. There, unlike
those who were outside, but rather, being able to be inside, coming forth to
the teacher, they are worthy to learn the inner mind of the parables. And since they were able to follow Him,
entering into the house, because of this, answering the Explain the parable
to us (Mt 13:36), He said what He said.
For not only did Jesus come out of His house, in order that, being outside,
He might speak the parables to those outside, but He also sat by the sea,
darkly hinting that the crowds and those outside are not far from the sea’s
waves and its salty water. Observe,
then, that many crowds came together to Jesus, Who had departed from His
house and was sitting by the sea, and no longer many crowds, but those
few walking the narrow and straitened way, and the disciples who were
finding the way leading to life, came in to Him in the house. Therefore, examining what is, in regards to
the power, proper to the evangelic word, and to the will of Jesus when He is
setting forth in the boat, and speaking to all the crowd by the shore in
parables—that is, the word to the crowds in no way happens while He is walking
nor inside, but it takes place in the water of the sea—He speaks, borne by what
can, such as it is, walk upon the water, which is called “a boat.” Do not wonder, then, if such thoughts have
been explained more sublimely, so that the one outside and the crowd would not
think that there is no mind that is hidden and has close-packed subtlety lying
in the evangelic arrangement, for God’s word was the work of the economizing[6]
grace. And I, then, will try to hear the
Coming forth, the disciples said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in
parables?” (Mt 13:10) and the Leaving the crowds, He went into His
house, and His disciples came forth to Him, saying: “Explain the parable to us”
(Mt 13:36) more deeply. For the
crowds, if they listen to the parable, always fail to attend to the exegesis
owed to it; but the disciples, beholding that He speaks to the crowds in
parables, because they are outside, follow Jesus as He is leaving the
crowds, and, seeing that they cannot learn the meanings of the parables
anywhere else except by entering into the house of Jesus, they also enter unto
Him, and, approaching Him, they say: “Explain the parable to us (Mt
13:36), about which we want to learn.” But such is the parable.
Next, then, is the dark word. Therefore, there are, in the Scriptures, some
things which are designed to be interpreted darkly, lest someone grasp
some meaning in them without much and great scrutiny, by combining what
is according to the phrase, and what is according to the meaning, and what is
according to the composition of the saying, which, I think, is what is called a
“dark word” in a book. An example of
such things I take from the Psalms, from the 31st Psalm,[7]
what is said thus: For I was silent, my bones grew old, and the rest (Ps
32:3). And it is simple to understand
the statement of the thought, as we have shown; but not so for the dark word,
like that in Isaiah: Woe to the wings of the land of ships, beyond the
rivers of Ethiopia, sending to sea pledges and papyrus letters upon the water
(Is 18:1-2). To explain and understand
each of these phrases, lightning its darkness through interpretation, is
not for the present time, lest we make many and untimely digressions. So it suffices only to thus explain what was
read from the psalm. For, however long I
cry out while hymning God and theologizing all the day, nothing makes me grow
old, but I am renewed for so long. But
when, slacking off from speaking of theology, I am silent, then oldness enters
into my bones and into what seems most solid in me. And it follows from this that Your hand
becomes heavy against me night and day, and, because of this, Your heavy hand
has turned against me, away from its prior watching over me, unto my
humiliation (Ps 32:4). And worthily have
I suffered these things, thorns stuck in me, when I was snatched up by cares,
be it due to wealth or due to the pleasures of life. And it is clear that some such things are to
be understood in these words in the Prophet[8]
because of what follows them: My sin I made known (Ps 32:5), and the
rest.
After this, it remains to be seen what the “sayings of the
wise” are, and what are “engimas,” and the sayings of which wise men are
those which the wise man listens to and, through listening to them, becomes
wiser himself (Prv 1:5). For are they
only those who are wise according to God and His truth, or not only
those, but also those whom the God of wiliness grasps? For reason names them “wise” as well. Why, then, does the one speaking understand
the sayings of the blessed wise men, yet is unable to understand also the words
of the other wise men, but is his mind less than the mind of the wise men of
this world, and unable to follow what they have said? And is it not so that, just as the eye’s work
is not only to see things that are set in order, but also those things that
are arranged in another way, and how the craft in them wills this
arrangement,[9] so
the mind’s work is to contemplate thoughts that have succeeded and those that
have not, so that it not be ensnared by the persuasiveness of lies, and so that
it might rescue the ensnared, if, when they consider the sayings of other wise
men too, they are deceived by sophisms and, in some way, mislead by fallacies,
and thus, the sophism will be unraveled, and the fallacy condemned. For thus, too, God threatens, through His
wise men, that He will set at naught the wisdom of wise men that is worthy, due
to falsehood, of being destroyed, and the deceitful understanding of those who
do not understand in accord with Him, and, thus, through His own wise men,
He will ensnare the wiliness of this age’s wise man. Now, the disciples of the Lord, if they do
not understand the sayings of worldly wise men, how will they fight for the
overthrow of strongholds, overthrowing thoughts and every haughtiness raised up
against the knowledge of God? And how,
too, will someone perfectly hold to what was said by Peter, that, Always
prepared to give a defense against the one asking you for a word about
the hope in you (1 Pet 3:15), unless he has a perfect preparation in words,
so that, to every Greek and every barbarian, and every wise man, and every
fool, he would be prepared to give a defense of the hope in him, by
understanding the sayings of the wise, refuting some, overturning some,
establishing and proving such things? Do
not wonder, then, if, the one who is truly wise according to God is not found
now; for the majority of the extraordinary charisms have disappeared, so they
are never or rarely found.
It remains to be explained what “enigmas” are. For I think enigmas are a certain exposition
of things that have not happened, nor could happen, as if they had happened,
thus signifying something ineffable in
secret; an example of this is in Judges: Going forth, the trees went forth
to anoint a king over them (Jgs 9:8).
For three certain fruit-bearing trees—the fig-tree, the vine, the
olive-tree—did not want to reign over trees unworthy of their rule, and it is
for the wise to see who is the thorny bramble and the fire coming forth from it
to eat up the cedars of Lebanon (Jgs 9:15), referring these to the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the bramble to the adversary. For there is also such an enigma in Kings: The
thorn, the one in Lebanon, sent forth to the Cedar, the one in Lebanon, saying:
“Give your daughter to my son as wife,” and the rest (2 Kgs 14:9). You will also find enigmas in the prophets,
as in Ezekiel: The eagle, the great, the great-winged, the great in ecstasy,
full of wool,[10]
and the rest (Ez 17:3). We have been
given such things in order to understand the present from what was laid down
before; and such were the parable and dark word, sayings of the wise and
enigmas. A parable is a saying about
what has not literally happened, but could happen, as if it had happened,
figuratively intimating the meaning, as in The sower went out to sow (Mt
13:3); for it did not happen literally, even if it is referred to other
things. And how is this harmonized with I
will open my mouth in parables (Ps 78:2)?
For the things he brought forth had happened: Before their fathers He
did wonders (Ps 78:12), and as far as the saying He split open the sea
and led them through (Ps 78:13). For
everything happened, even if they are symbols of things to which are referred
things received in the manners of evangelic parables. And someone else will say that I will open
my mouth in parables is not to be referred to the things taken from the
Exodus, but to the parables of Christ in the Gospel, He Who says, in the
prophet, Heed, My people, My law (Ps 78:1), and what follows.
[1] This
is an important theological term in Greek.
Etymologically, οικονομια
(oikonomia) means “house-law,” that is, the management of a
household. In theology, it refers to God’s
saving plan for the world, His plan of “managing His house,” the world.
[2] The
wording is quite off compared to the typical text of this verse: “For all the
children are not the seed of Abraham, but in Isaac shall the seed be named
(Gen 21:12).” The biggest change is “all
the children” (παντες τεκνα)
becomes “and in no way children” (παντως και τεκνα).
[3] The syntax
here is clearer in Greek (γνωναι τον Υιον της του Θεου αγαπης, και την σοφιαν τον Χριστον): the objects to be known
are “the Son” and “wisdom, Christ”; “the Son” belongs to “Gods love,” and it
can be assumed that “wisdom, Christ” also belongs to “God’s love.”
[4] This
last word (πανουργηματων) is
related to a term in the Septuagint of Prv 1:4, “that he might give wiliness to
the guileless.” The term “wiliness” (πανουργια) sometimes has the more
neutral sense of “skill” or “aptitude”; the “guileless” are more literally than
“un-evil” (ακακοις).
[5] The
word used here is metalēpsis, a rhetorical term.
[6] This
is a reference to the concept of “economy,” discussed in an earlier footnote:
in this case, it means that God intended, as part of His saving plan (His economy),
that the words of the Gospels would have multiple layers of meaning.
[7] The Septuagint
divided a few psalms differently from the Hebrew pattern, resulting in a
discrepancy in numbering. The Vulgate
and traditional Catholic Bibles followed the Septuagint numbering, but
translations based on the Hebrew followed its numbering. Almost every Bible translation available today
follows the Hebrew numbering, so I have used that in my references, though I
retained Origen’s numbering here. It is
also worth translating the Septuagint version of the verses referred to here,
since they are, at times, different form the Hebrew and modern translations: “Because
I was silent, my bones grew old from my crying out all the day; because night
and day Your hand was heavy upon me, I turned unto humiliation in my being
stuck by a thorn. My sin I made known,
and my lawlessness I did not hide” (Ps 32:3-5).
[8]
David, King and Prophet, was traditionally considered the author of the Psalms,
hence Origen refers to the book as “the Prophet.”
[9] The
meaning of these phrases is a little obscure; the point Origen intends seems to
be that the eye analyzes things that are jumbled-up, disordered, in how to
figure out why they are arranged in this way (why the “craft” (το τεχνικον) in them “wills” (βουλεται) it so), just as the mind analyzes
sophisms and fallacies—thoughts that are “out of arrangement”—in order to show
their falsity.
[10] So Origen’s text says (πιλων); the main text of the Septuagint here reads “claws” (ονυχων).
Translation ©2023 Brandon P. Otto. Licensed via CC BY-NC. Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.
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