Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.197–3.210

Origen · Commentary on the Song of Songs · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · Caesarea · 14 passages

Latin text: Migne, PG 13 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 13 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume; section divisions and supplied lines: Baehrens, GCS 33 (1925), public domain).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Chapter 3

3.197PG 13:163a–164a

Hanc ergo laevam Ecclesia, cujus Christus est caput, optat habere sub capite suo, et fide incarnationis ejus caput suum muniri; dextera vero ejus amplecti, id est illa agnoscere, et de illis instrui, quae ante hujus quoque per incarnationem gestae dispensationis tempus in arcanis habentur et reconditis. Dextera namque ibi putanda sunt esse omnia, ubi nihil de peccatorum miseriis, nihil de fragilitatis lapsu continetur. Hic vero laeva, ubi vulnera nostra curavit, et peccata nostra portavit factus etiam ipse pro nobis peccatum et maledictum. Quae omnia quamvis caput et fidem sustentent Ecclesiae, merito tamen sinistra Verbi Dei appellabuntur. In quibus aliqua etiam praeter illam naturam quae tota dextera est, et tota lux, ac splendor, et gloria pertulisse memoratur. Vers. 7. Adjuravi vos, filiae Hierusalem, in virtutibus et in viribus agri, si levaveritis et suscitaveritis charitatem quoadusque velit. Sponsa adhuc ad adolescentulas loquitur, provocans eas et exhortans. imo et adjurans per ea quae eis chara esse novit et amabilia, ut si forte elevare coeperint charitatem jacentem quippe in eis, et excitare eam, utpote adhuc dormientem apud eas, in tantum elevent eam, et in tantum suscitent, in quantum voluerit sponsus, nec minus aliquid in ea agant quam voluntas ipsius patitur. Haec est enim amantis sponsae perfectio, ut a nullo velit contra animum et voluntatem ejus fieri quem diligit. Et ut hoc non negligenter aut segniter agant, per virtutes agri ; id est. per plantaria et virgulta quae in agro sunt, et per vires ejus, sine dubio per ea quae in eo sata sunt, adjurantur. Tali ordine talique verborum compositione textus historici dramatis dirigitur. Nunc jam quid arcani intrinsecus contegat, requiramus. Omnis anima praecipue quae filia est Hierusalem. habet aliquem agrum proprium, qui ei secreta quadam per Jesum meritorum sorte delatus est. Sicut fuit et ille ager Jacob, cujus suavitate permotus Isaac patriarcha mysticis aiebat eloquiis : Ecce odor filii mei sicut odor agri pleni, cui benedixit Dominus

This left hand, then, the Church, whose head is Christ, desires to have under her head, and her head to be fortified by faith in his incarnation; and to be embraced by his right hand, that is, to recognize and be instructed in those things which, even before the time of this dispensation carried out through the incarnation, are held in secret and hidden places. For all those things must be thought of as on the right where nothing of the miseries of sins, nothing of the fall of frailty, is contained. But here is the left, where he healed our wounds and bore our sins, becoming himself sin and a curse for us. All these, although they sustain the head and the faith of the Church, will nevertheless rightly be called the left hand of the Word of God; for in them he is recorded to have endured some things even beyond that nature which is wholly right hand, and wholly light and splendour and glory. Verse 7: “I have adjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and by the strengths of the field, if you lift up and rouse love until it please.” The Bride is still speaking to the maidens, challenging and exhorting them, indeed adjuring them by the things she knows are dear and lovable to them, that if perhaps they begin to lift up love, which is lying in them, and to rouse it, as being still asleep among them, they should lift it up and rouse it so far as the Bridegroom wishes, and do nothing less in it than his will allows. For this is the perfection of the loving Bride, that she wishes nothing to be done by anyone against the mind and will of him whom she loves. And that they may not do this carelessly or sluggishly, they are adjured by the powers of the field, that is, by the plantations and shrubs that are in the field, and by its strengths, doubtless by the things sown in it. With such an order and such a composition of words the text of the literal drama is directed. Now let us inquire what mystery it hides within. Every soul, especially one that is a daughter of Jerusalem, has a field of its own, which has been assigned to it through Jesus by a certain secret allotment of merits; as there was also that field of Jacob, moved by whose sweetness the patriarch Isaac said in mystical words: “Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed.”

Eph 5:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 53:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 27:27 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Church rests on faith in the incarnation (the left hand) and seeks knowledge of the eternal Word (the right); the Bride adjures the maidens by the field to rouse love as far as the Bridegroom wills.

Eph 5:23; Isa 53:4–5; 1 Pet 2:24; 2 Cor 5:21; Gal 3:13; Song 2:7 (in the Greek version, “by the powers and strengths of the field”); Gen 27:27.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark; word split): optat habcrc → optat habere; lide incarnationis → fide incarnationis; illa'agnoscere → illa agnoscere; gesta: dispensationis → gestae dispensationis; llic vero laeva → Hic vero laeva; fidem sustentem → fidem sustentent; ln quibus → In quibus; splendor, ct gloria → splendor, et gloria; filia: Hierusalem, in viruttibus → filiae Hierusalem, in virtutibus; suscitaram: charitatem → suscitaveritis charitatem; quae cis chara → quae eis chara; cceperint charitatemfijacenlem → coeperint charitatem jacentem; excitare eain → excitare eam; elevth eam → elevent eam; quam γοα luntas → quam voluntas; Hzee est enim amantis sponsa}. perfectio → Haec est enim amantis sponsae perfectio; volun-'1 tatem → voluntatem; et peri vires → et per vires; sata sunt,: adjurantur → sata sunt, adjurantur; przecipue → praecipue; lsaac → Isaac; Ecrc odor → Ecce odor.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.197 (PG 13:163a–164a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-197). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 13, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lost lines supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, 1925, where noted); cited by book and the page of Baehrens's edition; no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

3.198PG 13:164a–165b

Habet ergo unaquaeque anima, ut diximus, agrum suum; ita namque et conversatio ejus, ager est ejus. In hoc agro anima quae diligens et studiosa est, satis agit et studet plantare bonos sensus, et omnes excolere animi virtutes, non solum autem animi virtutes, sed et vires operum. quibus videlicet impleri possunt ministeria mandatorum. Est ergo, ut diximus, unicuique animus suus ager quem colit et plantat, et seminat secundum haec quae diximus. Est autem et omnium simul filiarum Hierusalem unus quidam et communis ager, de quo Paulus ait: Dei agricultura estis . Quem agrum commune exercitium ecclesiasticae fidei et conversationis accipiamus, in quo certum est virtutes inesse caelestes, et vires spiritalium gratiarum. Unaquaeque enim anima quae nunc filia Hierusalem hic appellatur, sciens quod matrem habeat Hierusalem caelestem, conferat aliquid necesse est ad agrum hunc excolendum, et caelesti eum possessione dignum cupiat effici. In istius ergo agri virtutibus elevari charitatem Christi, et excitari ab adolescentulis et initia fidei habentibus protestetur Ecclesia, et dicit ad eas : Si levaveritis et excitaveritis charitatem quoadusque velit; hoc est, si jam ad hoc veneritis, ut incipiatis agi non spiritu timoris, sed adoptionis, et in hoc profeceritis ita ut perfecta in vobis dilectio foras mittat timorem, et ut elevetis atque exaltetis in vobis charitatem et excitetis eam, tandiu elevate eam, et tandiu extollite, quandiu ipse velit illius charitatis, imo ipse qui ex Deo est Charitas; ne forte putantes sufficere humanae charitatis mensuras, in charitate Dei minus aliquid quam Deo dignum est, agatis. Mensura enim charitatis haec sola est, ut tantum quantum ipse vult diligatur; voluntas autem Dei semper eadem est, nec unquam mutatur. Nunquam ergo immutatio aliqua, aut finis ullus in Dei charitate recipitur. Notandum sane est quod non dixit, si acceperitis charitatem, sed si levaveritis; quasi quae est quidem in vobis, sed jacet et nondum erecta est. Et rursum non dixit, si inveneritis, sed si excitaveritis charitatem; quasi quae sit intrinsecus quidem, sed jaceat et dormiat in eis, donec inveniat suscitantem.

Every soul, then, as we said, has its own field; for its manner of life is its field. In this field the soul that is diligent and studious takes pains and is eager to plant good thoughts and to cultivate all the virtues of the mind; and not only the virtues of the mind, but also the strengths of works, by which, that is, the services of the commandments can be fulfilled. Each one's mind, then, as we said, is his field, which he cultivates and plants and sows according to what we have said. But there is also one common field of all the daughters of Jerusalem together, of which Paul says: “You are God's husbandry.” This field let us take to be the common exercise of the church's faith and manner of life, in which it is certain that heavenly powers and the strengths of spiritual graces are present. For every soul that is here called a daughter of Jerusalem, knowing that it has the heavenly Jerusalem as its mother, must contribute something to the cultivation of this field, and long for it to be made worthy of a heavenly possession. By the powers of this field, then, the Church solemnly charges the maidens and those who have the beginnings of faith that the love of Christ be lifted up and roused, and says to them, “If you lift up and rouse love until it please”: that is, if you have now come to the point of beginning to be led not by the spirit of fear but of adoption, and have advanced in this so that perfect love in you casts out fear, and you lift up and exalt love in you and rouse it, lift it up so long and extol it so long as he wills whose love it is, indeed he who is himself Love from God; lest perhaps, thinking human measures of love enough, you do something in the love of God less than is worthy of God. For the measure of love is this alone, that he be loved as much as he himself wills; and the will of God is always the same and never changes. Never, then, is any change or any end admitted in the love of God. We must note, of course, that she did not say, “if you receive love,” but “if you lift it up,” as though it is in you but lies down and has not yet been raised. And again she did not say, “if you find love,” but “if you rouse” it, as though it is within, but lies and sleeps in them until it finds someone to rouse it.

1 Cor 3:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 4:7 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Each soul's manner of life is its field, and the Church's common life is a common field; love lies asleep within and must be lifted up as far as God wills.

1 Cor 3:9; Gal 4:26; Song 2:7; Rom 8:15; 1 John 4:18; 1 John 4:7–8. The phrase “so long as he wills whose love it is” renders a Latin phrase that seems damaged (quandiu ipse velit illius charitatis); translated by sense.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; word split; OCR slips; word split and stray mark; words joined): unaquazque → unaquaeque; non soo lum → non solum; man Zatorum → mandatorum; Una enim qumque anima qua. nunc lilia Hierusalem → Unaquaeque enim anima quae nunc filia Hierusalem; Hierusalem cmlestem → Hierusalem caelestem; ellici → effici; elevari cliaritatem → elevari charitatem; initia lidei → initia fidei; excitaeeritis → excitaveritis; ad boc veneritis → ad hoc veneritis; perlecta in vobis → perfecta in vobis; ettandiu → et tandiu; sullicere humana: cliaritatis → sufficere humanae charitatis; in claritate Dei → in charitate Dei; charitatis lucc sola → charitatis haec sola; linis ullus → finis ullus; N0tandum → Notandum; si invene- ο ritis → si inveneritis; si excitareritis → si excitaveritis.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.198 (PG 13:164a–165b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-198). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.199PG 13:165b–167a

Ipsam credo et Paulus suscitabat tunc adhuc in discipulis dormientem, cum dicebat: Exsurge, qui dormis, et continges Christum. Vers. 8. Vox fraterni mei. Frequenter nos admonere convenit quod libellus hic in modum dramatis texitur. Praesens enim versiculus quem proposuimus, tale aliquid indicat; quod cum sponsae sermo esset ad adolescentulas filias Hierusalem, subito quasi eminus vocem sponsi senserit, quasi cum aliquibus loquentis: interruptoque sermone quem faciebat ad adolescentulas, sponsa aurem converterit ad auditum qui ad eum pervenerat, et dixerit : Vox fraterni mei. Sponsum vero intellige primo quidem antequam appareret oculis sponsae, voce ei sola agnitum ; post haec vero etiam conspectibus ejus apparuisse super montes quosdam vicinos illi loco in quo sponsa morabatur salientem, et magnis quibusdam non tam passibus quam saltibus colles montesque in modum cervi vel capreae transcendentem, et ita ad sponsam suam omni cum properatione venientem. Ubi vero ad domum intra quam sponsa commorabatur advenit, stetisse eum paululum intellige post domum, ita ut sentiretur quidem adesse, nondum tamen domum palam vellet et evidenter intrare, sed prius quasi sub amatoris specie per fenestras aspicere velle sponsam. Intellige autem retia quaedam prope domum sponsae, aut laqueos esse positos, ut si forte ipsa, vel aliqua sodalium ejus ex filiabus Hierusalem aliquando exisset, caperetur. Ad ista vero retia venisse sponsum certum est : qui cum capi ab eis non posset, sed fortior eorum effectus, diruperit ipsa retia, diruptisque eis super ipsa incedens etiam per ipsa prospexerit; et postquam hoc opus fecerit, dicat ad sponsam : Exsurge, veni, proxima mea, sponsa mea, columba mea ; hoc autem dicat ut ipso opere ostendat ei quomodo cum fiducia debeat contemnere jam retia quae ei tetenderat inimicus, nec timeat laqueos quos ab se jam viderat esse diruptos; et adhuc ut amplius ad se sponsam provocet festinare, dicat ei : Quia omne tempus quod jam grave videbatur, transivit, et hiems quae ei causa exorta videbatur, abscessit, pluviaeque inutiles abierunt, et tempus jam floridum venit, nihil moreris iter aggredi veniendi ad me. Ecce enim et agricolae, quia veris jam tempus arrisit, vineas colunt ; vox enim tum et aliarum avium, tum etiam sonora et grata turturis vernantis auditur.

This love, I believe, Paul too was rousing when it was still asleep in his disciples, when he said: “Arise, you who sleep, and you will touch Christ.” Verse 8: “The voice of my kinsman.” We should often remind ourselves that this little book is woven in the manner of a drama. For the present verse which we have set out indicates something like this: that while the Bride was speaking to the maidens, the daughters of Jerusalem, she suddenly perceived, as from afar, the voice of the Bridegroom, as though he were speaking with some others; and breaking off the speech she was making to the maidens, the Bride turned her ear to the sound that had reached her and said, “The voice of my kinsman.” Understand that the Bridegroom was at first, before he appeared to the Bride's eyes, recognized by her by his voice alone; but that afterwards he appeared also to her sight, leaping upon certain mountains near the place where the Bride was staying, and crossing the hills and mountains with great bounds rather than steps, like a stag or a roe, and so coming to his Bride in all haste. But when he came to the house in which the Bride was staying, understand that he stood a little while behind the house, so that his presence was felt, yet he did not yet wish to enter the house openly and plainly, but wished first, as if in the guise of a lover, to look at the Bride through the windows. And understand that certain nets or snares had been set near the Bride's house, so that if perhaps she herself, or one of her companions from among the daughters of Jerusalem, should ever come out, she would be caught. To these nets, it is certain, the Bridegroom came; and since he could not be caught by them, but proved stronger than they, he broke the nets themselves, and having broken them and walking over them, he even looked through them. And after he has done this deed, he says to the Bride, “Arise, come, my near one, my bride, my dove”; and he says this in order to show her by the deed itself how she ought now confidently to despise the nets which the enemy had stretched for her, and not to fear the snares which she had now seen broken by him. And to urge the Bride still more to hasten to him, he says to her: since all the time that seemed heavy has passed, and the winter which seemed to have arisen on her account has gone, and the useless rains have departed, and the flowering time has now come, do not delay to set out on the way to come to me. For behold, the farmers too, since the time of spring has already smiled, are tending the vineyards; for the voice both of other birds and also the sonorous and pleasing voice of the turtledove in spring is heard.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Eph 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul roused sleeping love; read as drama, Song 2:8–13 shows the Bridegroom approaching, breaking the snares set for the Bride, and calling her to come in springtime.

Eph 5:14, in the form “and you will touch Christ” (a Western variant; most witnesses read “and Christ will shine on you”). Song 2:8–13 paraphrased. Migne's footnote debris after the quotation is removed by logged correction.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote leaked into the text; OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slips): continges Christum ”. “lCor. tu, 9. Eplies. Vers. 8. → continges Christum. Vers. 8.; libellus bic → libellus hic; iaciebat ad adolescentulus → faciebat ad adolescentulas; νοω fraterni → Vox fraterni; oculis sponsas → oculis sponsae; caprea: transcendentem. → capreae transcendentem,; se prius quasi → sed prius quasi; lntellige autem → Intellige autem; ex liliabus → ex filiabus; eorum euectus → eorum effectus; rliruptisque → diruptisque; tidueia → fiducia; hiems qua} ei → hiems quae ei; abiernnt → abierunt; vincas colunt → vineas colunt.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.199 (PG 13:165b–167a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-199). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.200PG 13:167a

Sed et ficus de veris certa temperie germen suum produxit; vites vero in tantum de temporis tranquillitate non dubitant, ut flores suos jam audeant proferre. Haec quidem de tranquillitate temporis indicat sponsa: ut majore cum fiducia arripere iter audeat pergendi ad sponsum. Sed et locum describit ei, in quo vult eam secum requiescere; et dicit velamento cujusdam saxi quod muro ipsi, vel loco promurali contiguum sit, opacissimum quemdam effici locum; ad quem venire eam vult, et ablato velamine ibi ejus revelatam faciem contueri, ut facie ad faciem innotescat sponso suo, et non solum faciem ejus revelatam videat sponsus et liberam, sed et vocem ejus ibi audiat, certus jam quod et facies ejus pulchra sit, et vox ejus suavis ac delectabilis.

And the fig tree too, at the settled mildness of spring, has put forth its shoot; and the vines are so far from doubting the calm of the season that they now dare to bring forth their flowers. These things he indicates to the Bride about the calm of the season, so that she may dare with greater confidence to take up the journey of going to the Bridegroom. He also describes to her the place in which he wishes her to rest with him; and he says that by the covering of a certain rock, which adjoins the wall itself or the outwork before the wall, a very shady place is made. To this he wishes her to come, and there, the veil removed, to behold her uncovered face, so that face to face she may become known to her Bridegroom; and that the Bridegroom may not only see her face uncovered and free but also hear her voice there, being now sure both that her face is beautiful and that her voice is sweet and delightful.

Song 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Continuing the literal drama, the Bridegroom describes the signs of spring and the sheltered place by the rock where the Bride will unveil her face to him.

Song 2:13–14; 2 Cor 3:16–18 and 1 Cor 13:12 (echoes of the unveiled face). Several words garbled in the Migne scan are restored from Baehrens's text.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slip; word split; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: velamento, promurali, effici); OCR slips and stray marks; stray letters; stray mark; word split and stray mark): Sed et licus → Sed et ficus; produxit; vitt vero → produxit; vites vero; jam audeam prol‘erre → jam audeant proferre; cum'fiducia arripere iter au- ἢ cleat-pergendi ad-sponsum → cum fiducia arripere iter audeat pergendi ad sponsum; describitIB ei → describit ei; dicit lamento cujusdam saxi quod muro ipsi, vel loco} pro murali contiguum sit, opacissimum quemdam ι. edici locum → dicit velamento cujusdam saxi quod muro ipsi, vel loco promurali contiguum sit, opacissimum quemdam effici locum; ablato' velamine → ablato velamine; contueri, ιιι· σ faeie → contueri, ut facie; non so— i lum → non solum; et libc-l ram → et liberam; quod Il et facies → quod et facies; suavis ac (ιο-ξ lectabi‘lis. ' λ → suavis ac delectabilis..

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.200 (PG 13:167a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-200). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.201PG 13:167a–170c

Haec autem praevenientes conjunximus, ne ordinem dramatis et historiae textum videremur interrumpere. Sed praevenientes paululum usque ad illum locum fabulae ordinem prosecuti sumus, ubi ait: Quoniam vox tua suavis, facies tua speciosa. Nunc ergo repetentes videamus primo quid est quod ait : Vox fraterni mei. Ex voce sola ab Ecclesia sua primo Christus agnoscitur. Primo enim vocem suam praemisit per prophetas, et cum non videretur audiebatur tamen. Audiebatur autem per ea quae annuntiabantur de eo : et tandiu sponsa, id est Ecclesia quae ab initio saeculi congregabatur, solam vocem ejus audivit, usquequo oculis suis eum videret, et diceret: Vers. 8. Ecce hic venit saliens super montes, transiliens super colles. Saliebat enim super propheticos montes, et sanctos colles, illos scilicet qui in hoc mundo imaginem ejus formamque gesserunt. Sed etsi in apostolis eum ponas quasi in montibus salientem et eminentem cunctis et in collibus, nihilominus his duntaxat qui secundo loco electi ab eo et missi sunt, non erit inconveniens. In his enim similis efficitur capreae, et hinnulo cervorum; capreae, quod omnem visum visus ejus praecellit; et cervo quod ad interitum serpentis advenit. Sed et unaquaeque anima (si qua tamen est quae Verbi Dei amore constringitur), si quando in disputatione sermonis est posita, ut novit omnis qui expertus est, quomodo cum in arctum venitur et angustiis propositionum quaestionumque concluditur, si quando eam legis ac prophetarum vel aenigmata vel obscura quaeque dicta concludunt, si forte adesse eum sentiat anima, et eminus sonitum vocis ejus accipiat, sublevatur statim; et ubi magis ac magis propinquare sensibus ejus coeperit et illuminare quae obscura sunt, tunc eum videt salientem supra montes et colles, altae scilicet et excelsae sensus sibi intelligentiae suggerentem: ita ut merito dicat haec anima : Ecce hic venit saliens in montibus, transiliens super colles.

These things we have joined together in anticipation, lest we should seem to interrupt the order of the drama and the thread of the story. But, anticipating a little, we have followed the order of the story up to the place where he says, “For your voice is sweet, your face is fair.” Now, then, going back, let us first see what is meant by “The voice of my kinsman.” By his voice alone was Christ first recognized by his Church. For first he sent his voice ahead through the prophets, and though he was not seen, he was nevertheless heard. And he was heard through the things that were announced about him; and for so long the Bride, that is, the Church which was being gathered from the beginning of the world, heard only his voice, until she saw him with her own eyes and said, Verse 8: “Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” For he leapt upon the prophetic mountains and the holy hills, namely those who in this world bore his image and form. And if you place him in the apostles, as leaping upon mountains and towering above all, and on the hills, namely those who were chosen and sent by him in the second place, it will not be unfitting. For in them he is made like a roe and a young stag: a roe, because his sight surpasses all sight; and a stag, because he comes to destroy the serpent. But also every soul, if there is any that is bound by the love of the Word of God: whenever it is set in a debate (as everyone knows who has experienced how one comes into a tight place and is hemmed in by the straits of propositions and questions), whenever riddles or any obscure sayings of the law and the prophets hem it in, if perchance the soul feels him to be present and catches from afar the sound of his voice, it is at once lifted up; and when he begins to draw nearer and nearer to its senses and to illuminate what is obscure, then it sees him leaping upon the mountains and hills, suggesting to it high and lofty meanings of understanding; so that this soul may rightly say, “Behold, he comes leaping on the mountains, bounding over the hills.”

Song 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:15 (echo, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ was first known to the Church by his voice in the prophets; he leaps on the mountains (prophets, apostles) and, for the struggling soul, opens hard passages of Scripture.

Song 2:14; Song 2:8–9. The roe (Greek δορκάς, linked with sharp sight) and the stag (believed to kill serpents) reflect ancient natural lore. The words “who has experienced how one comes into a tight place and,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: tunc eum videt); OCR slips and stray marks; OCR slips, stray mark and footnote marker; OCR slips; lost word supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; OCR slips; lost words supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; OCR slips; words joined; page number leaked into the text): pmvenientes → praevenientes; inte: l‘utnpere → interrumpere; praveniemes → praevenientes; fabula: ordinem prosecuti sumus ο ubi ait: Quoniam vos: tua suavis, facies tua δρα ciosa ". → fabulae ordinem prosecuti sumus, ubi ait: Quoniam vox tua suavis, facies tua speciosa.; videamus primo 79 quid → videamus primo quid; Ex voc sola → Ex voce sola; agnoscitu: Pritno enim vocem suam ρει- prophetas → agnoscitur. Primo enim vocem suam praemisit per prophetas; Audiebatt → Audiebatur; annuntiahantur → annuntiabantur; tandi sponsa → tandiu sponsa; congrt gabatur → congregabatur; ocu lis suis eun; videret, et dicem ε’ Vers. 8. → oculis suis eum videret, et diceret: Vers. 8.; Saliehat enim super prc phetieos → Saliebat enim super propheticos; in apostolis cum ponas → in apostolis eum ponas; nihilominus bis duntaxat → nihilominus his duntaxat; electi ab co et → electi ab eo et; in bis enim similis elIicitur → In his enim similis efficitur; Sed unaquaque anima (si qua tamen est ll“?- Verbi Dei amore constringitur). εί quandoin disputatione sermonis est posita, ut novit omnis et angustiis propositionum questionumque concluditur. Si quando → Sed et unaquaeque anima (si qua tamen est quae Verbi Dei amore constringitur), si quando in disputatione sermonis est posita, ut novit omnis qui expertus est, quomodo cum in arctum venitur et angustiis propositionum quaestionumque concluditur, si quando; crepezit. et illuminare quae obscura sum. eum Vidi“ salientem → coeperit et illuminare quae obscura sunt, tunc eum videt salientem; alta: scilicetct excelsae sensus sibi intelligentia: → altae scilicet et excelsae sensus sibi intelligentiae.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.201 (PG 13:167a–170c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-201). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.202PG 13:170c–169a

Haec autem dicimus non immemores quod jam et in superioribus coram positus praesenti collocutus sit sponsae; sed quoniam, ut saepe diximus, dramatis speciem libellus hic continet, nunc in praesenti dicuntur aliqua, nunc etiam in absenti ; et sic agitur immutatio personarum, ut uterque ordo competenter dirigi videatur. Quamvis enim promittat sponsus, et dicat ad sponsam suam, qui sunt electi discipuli ejus, quia ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi ; tamen iterum. per parabolas dicit, quia paterfamilias vocavit servos suos, et unicuique distribuit pecuniam negotiandi gratia, et profectus est . Et iterum dicit; Quia abiit petere sibi regnum. Et iterum quasi de absente sponso dicitur, quia media nocte clamor factus est dicentium, quia venit sponsus. Sic ergo nunc praesens est sponsus, et docet, nunc absens dicitur, et desideratur; et utrumque vel Ecclesiae, vel animae studiosae conveniet. Cum enim pati persecutiones et tribulationes permittitur Ecclesia, absens ei videtur. Et rursum cum in pace proficit et in fide ac bonis operibus floret, praesens ei esse intelligitur. Sic et animae, cum quaerit aliquem sensum et agnoscere obscura quaeque et arcana desiderat, donec invenire non potest, absens ei sine dubio est Verbum Dei. Ubi vero occurrerit et apparuerit quod requiritur, quis dubitat adesse Verbum Dei, et illuminare mentem ac scientiae lumen ei praebere?

We say these things not forgetting that already in the earlier passages he had spoken with the Bride face to face, present with her present; but since, as we have often said, this little book has the form of a drama, now some things are said to one present, now to one absent; and so the change of persons is carried out in such a way that each order seems fittingly directed. For although the Bridegroom promises, and says to his Bride, who are his chosen disciples, “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age,” yet again he says through parables that the householder called his servants and distributed money to each for trading and set out on a journey; and again he says that he went away to seek a kingdom for himself; and again, as of an absent Bridegroom, it is said that at midnight a cry arose of those saying that the Bridegroom is coming. So, then, now the Bridegroom is present and teaches, now he is said to be absent and is longed for; and both will suit either the Church or the studious soul. For when the Church is permitted to suffer persecutions and tribulations, he seems absent from her; and again, when she advances in peace and flourishes in faith and good works, he is understood to be present to her. So too with the soul: when it seeks some meaning and longs to know whatever is obscure and secret, so long as it cannot find it, the Word of God is without doubt absent from it. But when what is sought has come to meet it and has appeared, who doubts that the Word of God is present and enlightens the mind and furnishes it with the light of knowledge?

Matt 28:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 19:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In the drama the Bridegroom is now present, now absent, as Christ is to the Church in peace and persecution, and to the soul in finding or missing the meaning of Scripture.

Matt 28:20; Matt 25:14–15; Luke 19:12; Matt 25:6. The words “advances in peace … understood to be present to her. So too,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; footnote marker; stray letter; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; word split; words joined): llaec autem → Haec autem; superioriv bus → superioribus; sit sponse: → sit sponsae;; etiamin absenti → etiam in absenti; immulatio persciiarum → immutatio personarum; isque ad consummationem stvculi → usque ad consummationem saeculi; voravit → vocavit; nego" tiandi → negotiandi; regnum "°. → regnum.; quasi Ic absente → quasi de absente; clanor lactus → clamor factus; sponsus“. → sponsus.; nunc ibsens → nunc absens; anima: studiosa: conveniet → animae studiosae conveniet; permittitur Ecclcsia → permittitur Ecclesia; Et rursum cum in paco ei esseintelligitur. Sed et anima cum quaerit aliquem et agnoscere → Et rursum cum in pace proficit et in fide ac bonis operibus floret, praesens ei esse intelligitur. Sic et animae, cum quaerit aliquem sensum et agnoscere; qumque et arua: → quaeque et arcana; etapparuerit → et apparuerit; luutea ei pmbere → lumen ei praebere.

Topics: Persecution

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.202 (PG 13:170c–169a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-202). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.203PG 13:169a–169d

Et iterum subduci nobis eum atque iterum adesse sentimus per singula quae aut aperiuntur, aut clauduntur in sensibus nostris. Et hoc eo usque patimur donec tales efficiamur, ut non solum frequenter revisere nos, sed et manere dignetur apud nos, secundum quod interrogatus a quodam discipulo dicente: Domine, quid est factum quod incipis nobis manifestare temetipsum, et non huic mundo? respondit Salvator : Si quis diligit me, verbum meum custodit, et Pater meus diliget eum, et ad ipsum veniemus, et mansionem apud eum faciemus. Si ergo et nos volumus videre Verbum Dei atque anima sponsum salientem super montes, et exsultantem super colles, primo audiamus vocem ejus; et cum audierimus eum in omnibus, tunc etiam eum videre poterimus, secundum ea qua in praesenti loco vidisse describitur sponsa. Nam et ipsa quamvis et prius eum viderit, non eum tamen ita viderat, ut nunc salientem super montes et exsilientem super colles, neque per fenestras suas procumbentem, neque per retia prospicientem, sed magis videtur quod prius hiemis tempore eum viderit. Nunc enim primum dicit ei : Quia hiems transiit. igitur ut res indicat etiam per hiemem sponsae suae apparet, id est tribulationum et tentationum tempore. Sed et alia est illa visitatio, in qua visitatur paululum, et iterum deseritur, ut probetur, ac rursus requiritur, ut caput eius sustentetur, et ut tota complectatur, ne forte aut in fide titubet, aut corpus ejus tentationum pondere praegravetur. Et ideo videtur mihi hiems fuisse illud tempus, cum caput suum fidei scilicet summitatem laeva sponsi contineri poscebat, et dextera ejus omne corpus amplecti. Nunc autem ista visio quae de montibus apparet et collibus, gratiarum puto spiritalium altitudines, potentiaeque designat. Sed et per fenestras quod prospicere dicitur, sensibus mihi animae lumen videtur praebere. Et retia quae dirumpit, et conterit, laqueos indicari diabolicos puto, utpote tentationum tempore tanquam hieme jam peracta.

And again we feel him withdrawn from us, and again present, in each of the things that are either opened or closed in our understanding. And we undergo this until we become such that he deigns not only to revisit us often but also to abide with us; as when he was asked by a certain disciple, “Lord, what has happened, that you begin to manifest yourself to us and not to this world?”, the Saviour answered: “If anyone loves me, he keeps my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him.” If, then, we too wish to see the Word of God and the Bridegroom of the soul leaping upon the mountains and springing over the hills, let us first hear his voice; and when we have heard him in all things, then we shall also be able to see him, in accordance with what the Bride is described as having seen in the present passage. For she herself, although she had seen him before, had not seen him as now, leaping upon the mountains and springing over the hills, nor leaning through her windows, nor looking through the nets; but rather it seems that earlier she had seen him in the time of winter. For now for the first time he says to her, “For the winter is past.” Therefore, as the matter shows, he appears to his Bride even through the winter, that is, in the time of tribulations and temptations. But that is another visitation, in which she is visited a little and again left, that she may be tested, and again sought, that her head may be supported and she may be embraced whole, lest perhaps she waver in faith or her body be weighed down by the burden of temptations. And therefore that time seems to me to have been winter, when she asked that her head, namely the summit of faith, be held by the Bridegroom's left hand, and that his right hand embrace her whole body. But now this vision, which appears from mountains and hills, signifies, I think, the heights and powers of spiritual graces. And his being said to look through the windows seems to me to give light to the senses of the soul. And the nets which he breaks and crushes indicate, I think, the snares of the devil, the time of temptations being now over, like winter.

John 14:22 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Word comes and goes in the soul's understanding until he abides; the Bride once saw him in the winter of trials, now in the springtime of spiritual graces, the devil's snares broken.

John 14:22–23; Song 2:8–9, 11; Song 2:6. “Often” (frequenter) and “of the soul” (animae), lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; lost word supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33; OCR slip; lost word supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost it; OCR slip; words joined; OCR slips; footnote marker; stray mark; stray marks and footnote marker; words joined): ciliciamur, ut non solum revisere → efficiamur, ut non solum frequenter revisere; sed ct manere → sed et manere; huic mundo ἠ respondit → huic mundo? respondit; urbem meum custodit → verbum meum custodit; et adipsum veniemus → et ad ipsum veniemus; faciemus τ. → faciemus.; etexsilieutem → et exsilientem; prospiciettell, sed mgis → prospicientem, sed magis; : -Quia ί) hiems transiit ". → : Quia hiems transiit.; sponsa sua! apparet → sponsae suae apparet; et teutatiouum tempore → et tentationum tempore; autin fide → aut in fide; corpus ejus teutatiouum pondere praegravatur → corpus ejus tentationum pondere praegravetur; hiems ω fuisse → hiems fuisse; lidci scilicet summitatem la-va sponsi → fidei scilicet summitatem laeva sponsi; apparet ct collibus → apparet et collibus; sensibus mibi lumen → sensibus mihi animae lumen; dirumpit, ct conterit → dirumpit, et conterit; utpote teutatiouum tempore → utpote tentationum tempore.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.203 (PG 13:169a–169d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-203). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.204PG 13:169d–170c

Ostenduntur etiam signa veris, et aestatis, sicut in Psalmis dictum est : Aestatem et ver, tu fecisti ea . Inde denique et flores profectuum protulit Ecclesia, tentationibus superatis et putationis dispensatione transacta, sicut in suis locis cum ad haec disserenda ventum fuerit ostendetur. Ecce hic venit saliens super montes, transiliens super colles. Historicum ordinem jam superius exsecuti sumus; nunc autem quomodo Christus ad Ecclesiam veniens saliat super montes, et exsiliat super colles, videndum est. Exsiliens enim magis quam transiliens propositi sermonis proprietas habet. Isaac enim ambulans et progrediens major fiebat, usquequo fieret magnus valde. Paulus autem non jam ambulando profecit, sed currendo, cum dicit : Cursum consummavi. Salvator autem noster et Ecclesiae sponsus, neque ambulare, neque currere, sed super haec salire dicitur et exsilire. Si enim consideres quomodo parvi temporis spatio occupatum falsis superstitionibus mundum sermo Dei percurrit, et ad agnitionem verae fidei revocavit, intelliges quomodo saliat super montes, magna videlicet quaeque regna saltibus suis superans, et ad recipiendam cognitionem divinae religionis inclinans; et exsiliat super colles, cum etiam minora regna velociter subjugat atque ad pietatem veri cultus adducit; et sic de loco ad locum, de regno ad regnum, de provinciis ad provincias praedicationis illustratione transiliens per eum qui dicebat, quia ab Hierusalem in circuitu usque ad Illyricum repleverit Evangelium Dei , intelliges quomodo super montes saliens veniat, et assiliens super colles. Sed et alio modo potest intelligi, sicut supra jam diximus, quoniam quidem Moyses de ipso scripsit, et prophetae nihilominus de ipso annuntiaverunt. Sed et haec annuntiatio in lectione Veteris Testamenti velamen habet superpositum: ubi vero sponsae, Ecclesiae scilicet ad eum conversae, ablatum est velamen, subito videt eum in istis montibus, legis scilicet voluminibus salientem et in collibus Scripturae prophetiae pro evidenti manifestatione non tam apparentem quam exsilientem, verbi gratia, quasi si revolvens singulas propheticae lectionis paginas inveniat de ipsis exsilientem Christum, et per loca singula lectionum ablato nunc demum quo prius tegebatur velamine, ebullire eum cernat, et emergere atque evidenti jam manifestatione prorumpere. Ob hoc credo et ipse Jesus cum ad transformandum se venit, non in aliqua planitie aut convalle fuit, sed montem conscendit, ubi et transformatus est; ut scias eum semper in montibus, aut in collibus apparere, et ut te doceat ne usquam eum nisi in legis et prophetarum montibus quaeras.

The signs of spring and summer are also shown, as is said in the Psalms: “Summer and spring, you made them.” Accordingly, the Church then brought forth the flowers of progress, the temptations having been overcome and the dispensation of pruning completed, as will be shown in its proper place when we come to discuss these things. “Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills.” We have already followed the literal order above; but now we must see how Christ, coming to the Church, leaps upon the mountains and springs over the hills; for “springing over,” rather than “passing over,” is the proper sense of the text before us. For Isaac, walking and going forward, grew greater, until he became very great. Paul made progress no longer by walking but by running, when he says, “I have finished the course.” But our Saviour, the Bridegroom of the Church, is said neither to walk nor to run, but beyond these to leap and to spring. For if you consider how in a short space of time the word of God ran through the world that was held by false superstitions and called it back to the knowledge of the true faith, you will understand how he leaps upon the mountains, surmounting with his bounds all the great kingdoms and inclining them to receive the knowledge of the divine religion; and springs over the hills, when he swiftly subdues the lesser kingdoms too and brings them to the piety of true worship. And so, bounding from place to place, from kingdom to kingdom, from province to province by the light of preaching, through him who said that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum he had fulfilled the Gospel of God, you will understand how he comes leaping upon the mountains and springing upon the hills. But it can also be understood in another way, as we said above: since Moses wrote of him, and the prophets likewise announced him. But this announcement has a veil laid over it in the reading of the Old Testament; but when the veil is taken away from the Bride, that is, from the Church turned to him, she suddenly sees him leaping on these mountains, that is, the books of the law, and on the hills of the Scripture of prophecy, not so much appearing as springing forth in evident manifestation: as if, for example, turning over each page of the prophetic reading, she should find Christ springing out of them, and through each passage of the readings, the veil with which he was formerly covered now at last removed, should see him bubbling up and emerging and bursting forth now in evident manifestation. For this reason, I believe, Jesus himself too, when he came to be transfigured, was not on some plain or in a valley, but climbed a mountain, where he was transfigured: so that you may know that he always appears on the mountains or on the hills, and that he may teach you never to look for him anywhere except on the mountains of the law and the prophets.

Ps 74:17 (73:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 26:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:46 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 17:1 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ leaps over the mountains as the gospel swiftly spread through the kingdoms, and as he springs out of the law and the prophets once the veil is removed.

Ps 74:17 (73:17 LXX); Song 2:8; Gen 26:13; 2 Tim 4:7; Rom 15:19; John 5:46; 2 Cor 3:14–16; Matt 17:1–2. The words “over the hills. We have already followed the literal order above,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips; lost words supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; footnote marker; footnote marker and stray marks): Ostenduntur‘etiarn → Ostenduntur etiam; veris, et mstatis → veris, et aestatis; £statem → Aestatem; flores periectuum → flores profectuum; superatis. et putationis. ('70) dispensatione → superatis et putationis dispensatione; ad bzcc disserenda mutum fuerit → ad haec disserenda ventum fuerit; Ecce ltic uertit saliens super montes, transiliens mus; nunc autem → Ecce hic venit saliens super montes, transiliens super colles. Historicum ordinem jam superius exsecuti sumus; nunc autem; pregredicns major (lebat → progrediens major fiebat; l Cursum consummari . → Cursum consummavi.; Ecclesia: sponsus → Ecclesiae sponsus; magna videlicet quarque → magna videlicet quaeque; repleuit → repleverit; disimus → diximus; prophetae nihilominus de ipso annuutiaverunt → prophetae nihilominus de ipso annuntiaverunt; haec annuutiatio → haec annuntiatio; Tcstamenti → Testamenti; Scriplura: prophetiae pro evidenti manilestatione → Scripturae prophetiae pro evidenti manifestatione; prophetica: lectionis → propheticae lectionis; maniiestatione prorumpere → manifestatione prorumpere; transformatus est 73; → transformatus est;; praphetarum → prophetarum.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.204 (PG 13:169d–170c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-204). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.205PG 13:170c–171b

Quod autem sancti quique montes appellantur, in multis Scripturae locis invenies indicari, sicut ait in Psalmis : Fundamenta ejus in montibus sanctis. Et iterum : Levavi oculos meos in montes, unde veniet auxilium mihi . Auxilium namque in tribulationibus, ex Scripturarum divinarum sensibus capimus. Possumus adhuc et montes in quibus salire Verbum Dei dicitur, et quasi liberius efferri, Novum accipere Testamentum; colles vero Veteris Testamenti sentire volumina. Sed et apud Jeremiam venatores et piscatores qui mittuntur capere homines ad salutem, in montibus et collibus eos capere dicuntur ; sic enim ait : Ecce mitto multos piscatores, et multos venatores, et capient eos super omnem montem et super omnem collem. Quod ego magis ad futurum tempus in consummatione saeculi implendum puto, ut cum missi fuerint angeli secundum evangelicam parabolam messis tempore, ut separent frumenta a zizaniis , qui excelsioris vitae et eminentioris fuerit conversationis, iste in montibus inveniatur, aut in collibus. Non invenietur in humilibus et deiectis locis, ne ibi mistus videatur esse zizaniis : sed in excelsioribus sensibus, et in eminentia fidei positus, salienti in montibus Verbo Dei, et exsilienti in collibus semper adhaerens. Quod per aliam nihilominus parabolam, sub eodem tamen intellectu, dicitur in Evangelio: Si quis in tecto est, non descendat tollere aliquid de domo

That all the saints are called mountains you will find indicated in many places of Scripture, as it says in the Psalms: “Its foundations are in the holy mountains.” And again: “I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from where help will come to me.” For we take help in tribulations from the meanings of the divine Scriptures. We can further take the mountains on which the Word of God is said to leap, and as it were to be carried more freely, as the New Testament, and understand the hills as the books of the Old Testament. And in Jeremiah too the hunters and fishers who are sent to catch men for salvation are said to catch them on mountains and hills; for so he says: “Behold, I send many fishers and many hunters, and they will catch them upon every mountain and upon every hill.” This I think is rather to be fulfilled in the future time at the consummation of the age: so that when the angels are sent, according to the Gospel parable, at harvest time to separate the wheat from the tares, whoever has been of a loftier life and a more eminent manner of living may be found on the mountains or on the hills. He will not be found in low and cast-down places, lest he seem there to be mixed with the tares, but set in loftier understandings and in the eminence of faith, always cleaving to the Word of God leaping on the mountains and springing on the hills. This is said by another parable too, but with the same meaning, in the Gospel: “Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything from his house.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Ps 87:1 (86:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 121:1 (120:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 16:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:17 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The mountains are the saints, or the New Testament and the hills the Old; at the end those of lofty life will be found on the mountains with the Word.

Ps 87:1 (86:1 LXX); Ps 121:1 (120:1 LXX); Jer 16:16; Matt 13:30, 39–41; Matt 24:17. Migne's footnote and the word “on the mountains,” lost in the scan, are handled by logged correction (the latter supplied from Baehrens).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote leaked into the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; footnote marker; stray mark; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the words): iu multis Scriptura: locis → in multis Scripturae locis; in’Psalmis → in Psalmis; sanctis τ’. → sanctis.; ell'erri → efferri; colles vero ξ’ Psal. anv, liit, Veteris → colles vero Veteris; Sed ct apud Jeremiam venatores ct piscatores → Sed et apud Jeremiam venatores et piscatores; onmem montem → omnem montem; collem δι. → collem.; iste inveniatur, aut in collibus → iste in montibus inveniatur, aut in collibus; eminentia lidei → eminentia fidei; a'e donio → de domo.

Topics: Eschatology, Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.205 (PG 13:170c–171b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-205). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.206PG 13:171b–171d

Potest adhuc et alium nobis sensum praedives iste praesentis versiculi sermo suggerere. Possibile namque et omnem qui plena fide credit in Deum, vel montem, vel collem appellari, pro qualitate scilicet vitae et magnitudine intelligentiae; etiamsi fuerit aliquando vallis, proficiente in eo Jesu aetate, et sapientia, et gratia, omnis vallis implebitur. Superbi autem quique et elati ut montes et colles, humiliabuntur: quoniam qui se exultat humiliabitur, et qui se humiliat exaltabitur. De ipsis enim dicitur : Qui confidunt in Domino sicut mons Sion, et Hierusalem dicitur: Montes in circuitu ejus. Unde puto quod merito etiam Salvator noster, quoniam et ipse dicitur lapis de monte excisus sine manibus, et factus esse mons magnus, sicut rex regum , et pontificum pontifex, potest etiam mons montium appellari. Verum ut etiam tertia expositio habeat locum, ad unamquamque animam sermo dirigatur. Si qui sint capaciores verbi Dei, qui ab Jesu aquam sibi datam biberunt, et haec facta est in eis fons aquae vivae salientis in vitam aeternam, in his scilicet in quibus verbum Dei crebris sensibus et copiosis, velut perennibus ebullit fluentis ; in his vitae ac scientiae et doctrinae merito montibus et collibus effectis, dignissime salire verbum Dei dicitur et exsilire, factus in eis per affluentiam doctrinae fons aquae vivae salientis in vitam aeternam. Vers. 9. Similis est fraternus meus capreae, hinnuloque cervorum in montibus Bethel. Caprea vel cervus quod inter munda habeantur animalia, manifeste ex his quae in Deuteronomio scripta sunt indicatur, est enim hoc modo scriptum : Haec enim sunt animalia quae manducabitis, vitulum, et agnum ex pecoribus, et hircum ex capris, cervum , et cametum et pardum . Sed et quod sanctus cervo comparatur , in multis Scripturae divinae locis habetur , ut in Psalmo, ubi dicit : Sicut cervus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, ita desiderat anima mea ad te, Deus.

This very rich text of the present verse can suggest yet another meaning to us. For it is possible for everyone who believes in God with full faith to be called a mountain or a hill, according, that is, to the quality of his life and the greatness of his understanding; even if he was once a valley, as Jesus advances in him in age and wisdom and grace, every valley shall be filled. But all the proud and lifted up, like mountains and hills, shall be brought low; since he who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted. For of such it is said, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion”; and of Jerusalem it is said, “Mountains are round about her.” Hence I think that our Saviour too, since he is called the stone cut from the mountain without hands that became a great mountain, may rightly also be called the mountain of mountains, as he is King of kings and High Priest of high priests. But that a third exposition too may have its place, let the word be directed to each soul. If there are any more capable of the word of God, who have drunk the water given them by Jesus, and it has become in them a fountain of living water springing up to eternal life, namely those in whom the word of God bubbles up with frequent and abundant meanings as with perennial streams: in these, made mountains and hills by the merit of life and knowledge and doctrine, the word of God is most worthily said to leap and spring, having become in them, through the abundance of doctrine, a fountain of living water springing up to eternal life. Verse 9: “My kinsman is like a roe or a young stag on the mountains of Bethel.” That the roe and the stag are counted among the clean animals is plainly shown by what is written in Deuteronomy; for it is written thus: “These are the animals which you shall eat: the calf and the lamb of the sheep, and the kid of the goats, the stag, and the cametus, and the pard.” And that the holy man is compared to a stag is found in many places of divine Scripture, as in the Psalm where it says, “As the stag longs for the springs of waters, so my soul longs for you, O God.”

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Luke 2:52 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 14:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 125:1 (124:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 125:2 (124:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 2:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 2:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 19:16 (allusion, high confidence) · John 4:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 14:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 14:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 42:1 (41:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Believers become mountains as Christ grows in them, the proud are brought low; Christ is the mountain of mountains; the roe and stag are clean animals and images of the holy.

Luke 2:52; Isa 40:4 (Luke 3:5); Luke 14:11; Ps 125:1–2 (124:1–2 LXX); Dan 2:34–35; Rev 19:16; Heb 4:14 (echo); John 4:14; Song 2:9 (“mountains of Bethel” as in the Greek version); Deut 14:4–5; Ps 42:1 (41:2 LXX). The list from Deuteronomy as printed in Migne (cervum, et cametum et pardum) seems corrupt: Origen next says the stag comes first and the roe second (Deut 14:5); probably camelopardalis, “giraffe,” is meant.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and footnote marker; OCR slips; OCR slips; word split; OCR slips; words joined; footnote marker): plena lide crcditiu Deum → plena fide credit in Deum; qualitate scilicet vita: et magnitudine intelligentiae: → qualitate scilicet vitae et magnitudine intelligentiae;; etiamsi luerit → etiamsi fuerit; proficiente in eo Jcsu → proficiente in eo Jesu; bumiliabuntur → humiliabuntur; excitabitur 3". → exaltabitur.; Montes in circuitu cjus 3'. → Montes in circuitu ejus.; Salvator nosn-r → Salvator noster; fons aqua; vivae → fons aquae vivae; eteopiosis, velut perennibus ebullit liuentis → et copiosis, velut perennibus ebullit fluentis; vitae ac scientia: et doctrinae merito montibus et collibus cll‘ectis → vitae ac scientiae et doctrinae merito montibus et collibus effectis; per aliiuentiam doctrina: fons aqua: viva: → per affluentiam doctrinae fons aquae vivae; Itinnuloque cervorum iu montibus Betltel → hinnuloque cervorum in montibus Bethel; ch enim sunt animalia → Haec enim sunt animalia; hircum ea: capris → hircum ex capris; Scriptura: divina: locis → Scripturae divinae locis; Sicut cerrus deti. derat → Sicut cervus desiderat; ad te, Deus". → ad te, Deus..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.206 (PG 13:171b–171d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-206). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.207PG 13:171d–172d

Verumtamen in sermonibus quos ex Deuteronomio assumpsimus , etiam hoc non negligenter considerandum videtur, quam dignum in animalibus mundis enumerandis ordinem tenuerit, ut primo vitulum, secundo agnum, tertio hircum scriberet. In his vero quae secundum eumdem Moysen non offeruntur ad altare, primo cervum, secundo capream nominat; et ita post reliqua per ordinem describit animantia. Quorum ratio his quibus abundantior gratia spiritalis in dono scientiae concessa est per Spiritum sanctum manifesta et evidens fiet. Nobis interim quoniam de cervo et caprea dicere nunc in expositione praesentis versiculi incumbit, conveniens videtur ex Scripturis divinis congregare pro viribus, quae de his animalibus referuntur, de quibus idem Moyses cum de carnibus loqueretur quae in omni desiderio anima comederentur non oblatae ad altare; sicut caprea, inquit, et cervus. Egregium vero quid duodetricesimus psalmus, ubi de virtutibus et efficacia vocis Dei per ordinem scribit, de cervo hoc modo dicit : Vox Domini perficientis cervos, id est, perfectos facientis cervos, et reuelabit condensa . Sicut enim vox Domini intercidere dicitur flammam ignis , et concutere desertum, ita perficere cervos ac revelare condensa memoratur. Sed et in Job de cervo ita invenimus referri, ubi Dominus ad Job per turbinem loquens et nubem ait : Aut ergo observasti partus cervorum, aut numerasti menses eorum plenos ad partum, dolores autem eorum solvisti, aut nutristi eorum natos, aut sine doloribus partus eorum emittes? Abrumpent filii eorum, et multiplicabuntur in nativitate; exibunt, et non revertentur. His adjungenda sunt etiam illa quae in Proverbiis legimus hoc modo : Cervus amicitiarum , et pullus gratiarum loquitur tibi. Haec interim ad praesens de cervo nobis scripta occurrere potuerunt. Quae ob hoc assumpsimus, ut loquamur non in doctrina humanae sapientiae, sed in doctrina spiritus, spiritalia spiritalibus comparantes.

Yet in the words we have taken from Deuteronomy this too seems worth considering, not carelessly: what a fitting order he kept in listing the clean animals, writing first the calf, second the lamb, third the kid. But among those which, according to the same Moses, are not offered at the altar, he names first the stag, second the roe; and so afterwards he describes the remaining animals in order. The reason of these things will become plain and evident to those to whom a more abundant spiritual grace has been granted by the Holy Spirit in the gift of knowledge. For us meanwhile, since it now falls to us, in expounding the present verse, to speak of the stag and the roe, it seems fitting to gather from the divine Scriptures, as far as we can, what is related of these animals; of which the same Moses, speaking of meats that might be eaten at every desire of the soul without being offered at the altar, says, “as the roe and the stag.” And the twenty-eighth psalm, where it writes in order of the powers and efficacy of the voice of God, says something remarkable of the stag, thus: “The voice of the Lord perfecting stags,” that is, of one making stags perfect, “and he will uncover the thickets.” For just as the voice of the Lord is said to cut through the flame of fire and to shake the desert, so it is said to perfect stags and to uncover the thickets. In Job too we find it related of the stag thus, where the Lord, speaking to Job through the whirlwind and the cloud, says: “Have you then observed the calving of the stags, or numbered their months full for bearing, and loosed their pangs, or nourished their young, or will you send forth their offspring without pains? Their young will break away and be multiplied in their birth; they will go forth and not return.” To these must be added what we read in Proverbs thus: “The stag of friendships and the foal of graces speaks to you.” These, meanwhile, are the passages about the stag that have come to mind for the present. We have taken them up so that we may speak not in the teaching of human wisdom but in the teaching of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Deut 14:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 14:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 12:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 29:9 (28:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 29:7 (28:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 29:8 (28:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Job 39:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 39:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 5:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:13 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen gathers the Scripture passages about the stag (Deuteronomy, Psalm 29, Job, Proverbs) to interpret them spiritually.

Deut 14:4–5; Deut 12:15, 22; Ps 29:9 (28:9 LXX, “the twenty-eighth psalm”) and 29:7–8; Job 39:1–4 (as in the Greek version); Prov 5:19 (as in the Greek version); 1 Cor 2:13.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (Baehrens: duodetricesimus); OCR slips; OCR slips and footnote markers; footnote marker): etiam huc. non negligenter → etiam hoc non negligenter; ln his vero quas → In his vero quae; non olleruntur → non offeruntur; manifesta et evidens lict → manifesta et evidens fiet; ineumbit → incumbit; de bis animalibus → de his animalibus; sicut caprea. inquit → sicut caprea, inquit; quid xxvnt psalmus → quid duodetricesimus psalmus; eliicacia → efficacia; de eervo → de cervo; perficienti: cervos → perficientis cervos; Sicut enim vos Domini → Sicut enim vox Domini; ita perlicere cervos → ita perficere cervos; sine dotoribus → sine doloribus; filii corum , et multiplicabuntur in uatiuitate; exibunt,“ non revertentur“. → filii eorum, et multiplicabuntur in nativitate; exibunt, et non revertentur.; loquitur tibi“. → loquitur tibi.; Han: interim ad pmsens → Haec interim ad praesens; Qtue ob hoc → Quae ob hoc.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.207 (PG 13:171d–172d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-207). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.208PG 13:172d–173b

Et ideo invocemus Deum Patrem Verbi, quod nobis Verbi sui manifestet arcana , sensumque nostrum removeat a doctrina humanae sapientiae, et exaltet atque elevet ad doctrinam Spiritus, ut non ea quae sentit carnalis auditus, sed ea quae continet voluntas Spiritus sancti loquamur. Paulus apostolus nos docet quod invisibilia Dei ex invisibilibus intelligantur, et ea quae non videntur, ex eorum quae videntur, ratione et similitudine contemplentur; ostendens per hoc quod visibilis hic mundus de invisibili doceat et exemplaria quaedam caelestium contineat positio ista terrena; ut ab his quae deorsum ad ea quae sursum sunt possimus ascendere, atque ex his quae videmus in terris, sentire et intelligere ea quae habentur in coelis. Ad quorum similitudinem quamdam , quo facilius colligi per haec ac sentiri possent diversitates, creaturarum quae in terris sunt similitudinem conditor dedit. Et fortassis sicut hominem Deus ad imaginem et similitudinem suam fecit, ita etiam caeteras creaturas ad alias quasdam caelestes imagines per similitudinem condidit; et fortasse in tantum singula quaeque quae in terris sunt, habent aliquid imaginis et similitudinis in caelestibus, ut etiam granum sinapis quod minimum est in omnibus seminibus, habeat aliquid imaginis et similitudinis in caelis; et hoc quod talis ei quaedam composita est alternatio naturae, ut cum minimum sit omnium seminum, majus fiat omnibus oleribus, ita ut possent venire aves caeli, et habitare in ramis ejus; similitudinem ferat non solum alicujus caelestis imaginis, sed et ipsius regni caelorum. Sic ergo possibile est etiam caetera semina quae in terris sunt, ut habeant aliquid in caelestibus similitudinis et rationis. Quod si semina, sine dubio et virgulta; etsi virgulta, sine dubio et animantia, vel alitum, vel repentium, et quadrupedum. Sed et illud adhuc potest intelligi, quod sicut granum sinapis non unam similitudinem tenet regni caelorum et habitationis scilicet avium in ramis suis, sed habet et aliam similitudinem vel imaginem, perfectionis scilicet fidei, ita ut si quis habeat fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicat monti transferre se, et transferet; ita possibile est ut etiam caetera non in uno aliquo, sed in pluribus speciem et imaginem caelestium ferant. Et cum plures sint, verbi gratia, in grano sinapis virtutes quae rerum coelestium imagines teneant, ultimus et extremus ejus usus est iste qui habetur apud homines in ministerio corporali. Ita etiam in reliquis, vel seminibus, vel virgultis, vel herbarum radicibus, vel etiam in animantibus intelligi potest; ut usum quidem et ministerium hominibus praebeant corporale, habeant autem incorporalium rerum formas et imagines , quibus doceri anima possit, et instrui ad contemplanda etiam ea quae sunt invisibilia et caelestia.

And therefore let us call upon God, the Father of the Word, to manifest to us the secrets of his Word, to remove our understanding from the teaching of human wisdom and to exalt and raise it to the teaching of the Spirit, so that we may speak not what the fleshly hearing perceives, but what the will of the Holy Spirit contains. The apostle Paul teaches us that the invisible things of God are understood from visible things, and that the things that are not seen are contemplated by the reason and likeness of the things that are seen; showing by this that this visible world teaches about the invisible, and that this earthly arrangement contains certain patterns of heavenly things, so that we may be able to ascend from the things below to the things above, and from what we see on earth to perceive and understand the things that are in the heavens. After a certain likeness of these, the Creator gave a likeness to the creatures that are on earth, so that through them the differences might more easily be gathered and perceived. And perhaps, as God made man in his own image and likeness, so too he made the other creatures after certain other heavenly images by likeness; and perhaps each and every thing on earth has something of image and likeness in the heavenly things to such an extent that even the grain of mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds, has something of image and likeness in the heavens; and the fact that such an alternation of nature has been given it that, though it is the smallest of all seeds, it becomes greater than all herbs, so that the birds of heaven can come and dwell in its branches, bears the likeness not only of some heavenly image but of the kingdom of heaven itself. So, then, it is possible that the other seeds on earth also have something of likeness and correspondence in heavenly things. And if seeds, then without doubt shrubs too; and if shrubs, then without doubt animals too, whether birds or reptiles or four-footed creatures. And this too can be understood: that just as the grain of mustard seed holds not one likeness only, of the kingdom of heaven, namely of the birds' dwelling in its branches, but has also another likeness or image, namely of perfection of faith, so that if anyone has faith like a grain of mustard seed, he may say to a mountain to remove itself, and it will remove; so it is possible that other things too bear the form and image of heavenly things not in one respect but in several. And since there are, for example, many virtues in the grain of mustard seed which hold images of heavenly things, its last and lowest use is the one it has among men in bodily service. So too it can be understood in the other things, whether seeds or shrubs or roots of herbs or even animals: that they furnish men with bodily use and service, but have forms and images of incorporeal things by which the soul can be taught and instructed to contemplate even the things that are invisible and heavenly.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

1 Cor 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 1:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:31 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 17:20 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Visible creatures bear likenesses of heavenly realities, as the mustard seed images the kingdom and faith, so that the soul may rise from the visible to the invisible.

Rom 1:20 (Migne prints “from invisible things”, evidently a slip; translated “from visible things”); 2 Cor 4:18; Gen 1:26; Matt 13:31–32; Matt 17:20; 1 Cor 2:13. The words “teaches about the invisible, and … certain patterns of heavenly things,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; footnote marker; missing space; stray marks and OCR slip; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; word split; words joined): tnanil'estet → manifestet; humanm sapientiae → humanae sapientiae; contemplentur "; → contemplentur;; visibilis hic munculestium contineat → visibilis hic mundus de invisibili doceat et exemplaria quaedam caelestium contineat; ad ea qum sursum → ad ea quae sursum; ea qum habemur in ccelis → ea quae habentur in coelis; creat-urarutn qua“: in terris → creaturarum quae in terris; alias quasdam cmlestes imagines → alias quasdam caelestes imagines; minimum estin omnibus → minimum est in omnibus; similitudinis in uelis → similitudinis in caelis; alternatio natura: , → alternatio naturae,; onmibus oleribus → omnibus oleribus; alicujus cmlestis → alicujus caelestis; etiam cratera semina → etiam caetera semina; aliquid in cmlestibus → aliquid in caelestibus; adhuc petest → adhuc potest; regni cmlorum → regni caelorum; trans« feret → transferet; ca:lestiutn → caelestium; Etcum → Et cum; corporali.lta etiam → corporali. Ita etiam; virgultis,vel → virgultis, vel; etiam Ι) ea quae sunt invisibilia et ctelestia. → etiam ea quae sunt invisibilia et caelestia..

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.208 (PG 13:172d–173b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-208). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.209PG 13:173b–174a

Et hoc fortassis est quod ille scriptor divinae sapientiae dicit: Ipse enim mihi dedit eorum quae sunt scientiam veram, ut sciam substantiam mundi, et virtutes elementorum , initium, et finem, et medietatem temporum, vicissitudinum permutationes, et conversiones temporum, et anni circulos, et stellarum positiones, naturas animalium, et iras bestiarum, spirituum violentias, et cogitationes hominum, differentias virgultorum, et virtutes radicum; sed et quaecunque occulta et manifesta sunt cognovi. Vide ergo si possimus ex his Scripturae sermonibus ea, quae discutere proposuimus, facilius evidentiusque colligere. Etenim scriptor iste sapientiae divinae cum singula quaeque enumerasset, ad ultimum dixit, quia occultorum, et manifestorum acceperit scientiam: ostendens sine dubio quod unumquodque eorum quae in manifesto sunt, referatur ad aliquid eorum quae in occulto sunt; id est, singula quaeque visibilia habere aliquid similitudinis et rationis ad invisibilia. Quia ergo impossibile est homini in carne viventi agnoscere aliquid de occultis et invisibilibus, nisi imaginem aliquam et similitudinem conceperit de visibilibus; ob hoc arbitror, quod ille qui omnia in sapientia fecit, ita creavit unamquamque visibilium speciem in terris, ut in his doctrinam quamdam et agnitionem rerum invisibilium et coelestium poneret; quo per haec ascenderet mens humana ad spiritalem intelligentiam, et rerum causas in coelestibus quaereret, ut posset educta per sapientiam Dei etiam ipsa dicere : Quae in occulto sunt, et quae in manifesto, cognovi.

And this perhaps is what that writer of divine wisdom says: “For he himself gave me true knowledge of the things that are, to know the constitution of the world and the powers of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the year and the positions of the stars, the natures of animals and the tempers of beasts, the violent forces of spirits and the thoughts of men, the varieties of plants and the virtues of roots; and all things that are hidden and manifest I have known.” See, then, whether from these words of Scripture we can gather more easily and plainly the things we have proposed to discuss. For this writer of divine wisdom, after enumerating each thing, said at the end that he had received knowledge of things hidden and manifest: showing without doubt that each of the things that are manifest is related to something among the things that are hidden; that is, that every visible thing has some likeness and correspondence to invisible things. Since, then, it is impossible for a man living in the flesh to know anything of hidden and invisible things unless he has conceived some image and likeness from visible things, I think that for this reason he who made all things in wisdom so created each species of visible things on earth as to place in them a certain teaching and knowledge of invisible and heavenly things; so that through them the human mind might ascend to spiritual understanding and seek the causes of things in the heavens, and so that, led on by the Wisdom of God, it too might be able to say, “The things that are hidden and the things that are manifest I have known.”

Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Wisdom 7 shows that knowledge of visible things points to hidden ones; God made the visible creation to teach the invisible.

Wis 7:17–21 (the Wisdom of Solomon, outside the 66-book canon); Ps 104:24 (103:24 LXX). The words “we have proposed to discuss … more easily and plainly,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips; lost words supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line): scientiam verum → scientiam veram; tentporttm → temporum; conversiones Ruperunt → conversiones temporum; spirituum riolentias → spirituum violentias; di/ferentias → differentias; quacunque occalta → quaecunque occulta; cognovi”. Vide ergo si pos. simus ex his Scriptura: sermonibus ea, quae discu- Etenini scriptor iste sapientia: divinae cum singula quaequeo enumerasset → cognovi. Vide ergo si possimus ex his Scripturae sermonibus ea, quae discutere proposuimus, facilius evidentiusque colligere. Etenim scriptor iste sapientiae divinae cum singula quaeque enumerasset; ut passet educta → ut posset educta; quae iu manifesto → quae in manifesto.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 7:17 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Wis 7:21 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.209 (PG 13:173b–174a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-209). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.210PG 13:174a–174b

Secundum haec quoque agnoscit et substantiam mundi, non solum hanc visibilem corporeamque, quae palam est, sed et illam incorpoream invisibilemque quae in occulto est. Agnoscit etiam elementa mundi non solum visibilia , sed et invisibilia, et utrorumque virtutes. Sed et initium quod dicit, et finem , et medietatem temporum, initium ait visibilis quidem mundi, quod ante sex millia non integros annos initium designat Moyses; medietatem quoque secundum temporum rationem, finemque illum qui speratur cum coelum et terra transibunt. Secundum occultorum vero scientiam, initium illud quod intelligit is quem sapientia Dei docuerit, quod nulla possunt tempora, nulla saecula comprehendere. Medietatem vero haec quae nunc sunt, finem vero ea quae futura sunt, id est, perfectionem consummationemque universitatis, quae tamen ex his visibilibus conjici possunt et intelligi. Sed et vicissitudinum permutationes, et temporum conversiones, anni circulos, ex his quae videntur refert ad invisibiles rerum corporalium permutationes ac vicissitudines. Circulos quoque annorum temporalium, et praesentium refert ad antiquiores aliquos ac sempiternos annos , secundum eum qui dicebat: Et annos aeternos in mente habui. Sed et stellarum positiones non dubitavit ab his quae palam videntur referre ad illa quae in occultis sunt, quae occultorum manifestorumque scientiam meruit : et dicit esse aliquod sanctorum genus quod de Abrahae praecipue stirpe descendit, sicut stellas coeli. Sed et resurrectionis futurae gloriam stellas esse secundum occultorum scientiam pronuntiavit, sequens eum qui dixit: Alia gloria solis, et alia stellarum. Stella enim a stella differt in gloria, ita et resurrectio mortuorum. Nisi

According to this he also knows the constitution of the world, not only this visible and bodily one which is open, but also that incorporeal and invisible one which is hidden. He knows also the elements of the world, not only the visible but also the invisible, and the powers of both. And as to what he says of the beginning and end and middle of times: of the visible world he means the beginning which Moses marks as a beginning less than six thousand years ago; the middle, according to the reckoning of times; and that end which is hoped for when heaven and earth shall pass away. But according to the knowledge of hidden things, the beginning is that which he understands whom the Wisdom of God has taught, which no times and no ages can comprehend; the middle, these things that now are; and the end, the things to come, that is, the perfection and consummation of the universe, which nevertheless can be conjectured and understood from these visible things. And the alternations of the solstices, the changes of the seasons and the cycles of the year he refers from the things that are seen to invisible changes and alternations of bodily things. The cycles too of temporal and present years he refers to certain more ancient and everlasting years, after him who said, “And I had the eternal years in mind.” And the positions of the stars, too, he who merited the knowledge of hidden and manifest things did not hesitate to refer from what is openly seen to what is hidden; and he says that there is a certain race of saints, descended especially from the stock of Abraham, like the stars of heaven. And he declared the glory of the future resurrection to be stars, according to the knowledge of hidden things, following him who said: “One is the glory of the sun, and another the glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead.” Unless

Matt 24:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 77:5 (76:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 15:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:41 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:42 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Each item in Wisdom's list has a visible and a hidden sense: the world, the elements, the times, the years, and the stars as the saints and the glory of the resurrection.

Wis 7:17–19; Matt 24:35; Ps 77:5 (76:6 LXX); Gen 15:5; 1 Cor 15:41–42. The world's age of under six thousand years follows the biblical chronology as Origen reckoned it.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slip; words joined; OCR slips; OCR slips, stray mark and footnote marker; footnote marker): Secundum luec → Secundum haec; invisibilemque qua: in occulto → invisibilemque quae in occulto; linemque → finemque; htec quae nunc'sunt → haec quae nunc sunt; permutatioues → permutationes; es bis quae → ex his quae; dicebat ε Et annos mternos in mente habui". → dicebat: Et annos aeternos in mente habui.; nou dubitavit abhis → non dubitavit ab his; resurrectionis futura: gloriam → resurrectionis futurae gloriam; mortuorum“. Nisi → mortuorum. Nisi.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 7:17 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.210 (PG 13:174a–174b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-197/#p-3-210). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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