Against Celsus 7.29
Summary: The good land promised by Moses is not earthly Judaea, which shares in the curse on the earth, but the heavenly Jerusalem that the Psalms promise to the meek and righteous.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:180–181
Εἴπερ οὖν „ἡ“ πᾶσα „γῆ“ αὐτὴ „ἐπικατάρατος ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις“ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἀδὰμ καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ ἀποθανόντων, δῆλον ὅτι καὶ πάντα τὰ μόρια αὐτῆς μετέχει τῆς ἀρᾶς. ἐν οἷς ἐστι καὶ ἡ Ἰουδαία γῆ· ὥστε μὴ δύνασθαι ἐφαρμόζειν αὐτῇ τὸ „εἰς γῆν ἀγαθὴν καὶ πολλὴν. εἰς γῆν ῥέουσαν γάλα καὶ μέλι, “ κἂν συμβολικῶς σκιὰ εἶναι ἀποδεικνύηται ἡ Ἰουδαία καὶ ἡ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῆς καθαρᾶς ἐν καθαρῷ κειμένης οὐρανῷ γῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ πολλῆς, ἐν ᾗ ἐστιν ἡ ἐπουράνιος Ἱερουσαλήμ· περὶ ἧς διαλαβὼν ὁ ἀπόστολος, ὡς συνεγερθεὶς „Χριστῷ“ καὶ „τὰ ἄνω“ ζητῶν καὶ νοῦν εὑρὼν οὐδεμιᾶς ἐχόμενον Ἰουδαϊκῆς μυθολογίας φησίν· „ἀλλὰ προσεληλύθατε Σιὼν ὄρει καὶ πόλει θεοῦ ζῶντος Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπουρανίῳ καὶ μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων πανηγύρει.“ ἵνα δέ τις πεισθῇ μὴ παρὰ τὸ βούλημα τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἡμᾶς λέγειν περὶ τῆς παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ γῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ πολλῆς, ἐπιστησάτω πᾶσι μὲν τοῖς προφήταις, διδάσκουσι τὴν εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπάνοδον τῶν πεπλανημένων καὶ ἀποπεπτωκότων ἀπʼ αὐτῆς καὶ ἁπαξαπλῶς ἀποκαθισταμένων εἰς τὸν καλούμενον τόπον καὶ πόλιν τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ τῷ εἰπόντι ὅτι „ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἁγίᾳ ὁ τόπος αὐτοῦ, “ λέγοντι δὲ καὶ τό· „μέγας ὁ κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα ἐν πόλει τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ὄρει ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ, εὐρίζονι ἀγαλλιάματι πάσης τῆς γῆς.“ ἀρκεῖ δʼ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παραθέσθαι τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ τριακοστοῦ καὶ ἕκτου ψαλμοῦ, οὕτως ἔχοντα περὶ τῆς τῶν δικαίων γῆς· „οἱ δʼ ὑπομένοντες (τὸν) κύριον αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι γῆν“ καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα· „οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι γῆν καὶ κατατρυφήσουσιν ἐπὶ πλήθει εἰρήνης“ καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγα· „οἱ εὐλογοῦντες αὐτὸν κληρονομήσουσι γῆν“ καὶ πάλιν· „οἱ δίκαιοι κληρονομήσουσι γῆν καὶ κατασκηνώσουσιν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος ἐπʼ αὐτῆς.“ ὅρα δʼ εἰ μὴ τὸ καθαρὰν εἶναι ἐν καθαρῷ τῷ οὐρανῷ τὴν γῆν δηλοῦται τοῖς ἀκούειν δυναμένοις τῶν οὕτως εἰρημένων ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ ψαλμῷ· „ὑπόμεινον τὸν κύριον καὶ φύλαξον τὴν ὁδὸν αὐτοῦ. καὶ ὑψώσει σε τοῦ κατακληρονομῆσαι γῆν.“
English · Claude translation
If, then, the whole “earth” itself is “cursed in the works” of Adam and of those who died in him, it is plain that all its parts share in the curse, among them the land of Judaea; so that the words “into a good and large land, into a land flowing with milk and honey” cannot apply to it, even if Judaea and Jerusalem are shown symbolically to be a shadow of the good and large land lying pure in the pure heaven, in which is the heavenly Jerusalem. Discussing this, the apostle, as one raised together “with Christ” and seeking “the things above,” and having found a meaning that clings to no Jewish mythology, says: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels in festal gathering.” And so that one may be persuaded that we are not speaking contrary to the intention of the divine Spirit about the good and large land in Moses, let him attend to all the prophets, who teach the return to Jerusalem of those who have wandered and fallen away from it, and, in a word, their restoration to what is called the place and city of God, in the words of him who said, “His place is in holy peace,” and who also says: “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, on his holy mountain, spreading far the joy of all the earth.” For the present it is enough to cite what is in the thirty-sixth Psalm, which says this about the land of the righteous: “But those who wait for the Lord, they shall inherit the land”; and a little later: “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight in abundance of peace”; and a little later: “Those who bless him shall inherit the land”; and again: “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it for ever and ever.” And see whether the earth's being pure in the pure heaven is not indicated, for those able to hear, by what is said in the same Psalm: “Wait for the Lord and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The passages are Gen 3:17, Exod 3:8, Col 3:1, Heb 12:22, Ps 76:2 (75:3 LXX), Ps 48:1–2 (47:2–3 LXX), and Ps 37:9, 11, 22, 29, 34 (36:9 etc. LXX; Origen calls it the thirty-sixth Psalm, by the Greek numbering).
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 7.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/29/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 7.29 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/7/29/).
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