Commentary on Romans 5.2–5.5

Origen · Commentary on Romans · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Caesarea · 4 passages

Latin text: Migne, PG 14 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 14 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Chapter 5

5.2PG 14:1021b–1026a

Sed non sicutdelictum, ita et donum. Si enim unius delicto multi mortui sunt, multo magis gratia Ι)θί et donum in gratia unius hominis Jesu ΟΙιι-ἱο sti in plures abundavit. Et nun sicut per unum pe catum, ita et donum. Nam judicium quidem ex uno in condemnationem: gratia autem ex multis delictis in justificationem . Cum in superioribus dixisset Apostolus de Adam: Qui est forma futuri, › videns requiri posse , quia si Adam ε forma Christi est, ergo et in eo quo peccavit necesse est ut formam Christi habuerit, et in eo quo regnavit mors ab Adam usque ad Moysen : hoc autem de Christo sentire videbatur absurdum, cont nuo subiungit : σ Sed non sicut delictum, ita et donum: et incipit ex hoc sermone veluti semetipsum explanare quomodo formam Christi dixerit esse Adam. Si enim, inquit, unius delicto multi mortui sunt, in Adam videlicet, ‹ umlto magis gratia Dei et donum in gratia unius hominis Jesu Chriin in plures abundavit: id est, si in uno peccaute locum mors inveniens in plures potuit diffundi, multo magis gratia Dei, quae in Christo c0piosius et latius abundavit quam mors in Adan in plures difiunditur;et in tantum non est eadem conditio delicti, quae et doni, ut cum judicium l hitum sit de Adam , ex uno ipso delinquei condemnatio in omnes homines venerit; e‘contrario vero per Christum ex multis delictis, quibus omne genus hominum tenebatur, justifieatio data sit in omnes : ut sicut mors per unum regnaverat in dclictis, ita et per unius obedientiam vita regnaret per justitiam. Igitur non sine profunda arte dicendi Apostolus formam Christi esse Adam posuit, qua! sit per genus similis, per speciem contraria. Per genus namque similis est forma in eo quod sicut ab uno Adam in plures homines diflunditur, ita et ab uno Christo in plures hmnincs difl‘undatur. Per speciem vero contraria, quod ex Adam praevaricatione :pta , peccatores constituti sunt multi; Christi vero obedientia justi constituentur multi ὀ. Quia θτεο quatenus ἷοτωδ Christi ΐιιθτίῐ Adam. sive in Similibus’ δίνθ in contrariis, secundum rationem eloquii … est, nunc etiam quid interioris sensus Apostolus … in his … non puto absurdum videri. Proposuit Apostolus ostendere quid humano generi intulerit primus Adam, › qui ‹ factus est in animam vivam; quid etiam} sécundus Adam, , qui est in spitium," viviiicamcm ει, , Εχ iuius, inquit, ρτεενπίωιίοηε peccalum apparuit, ei per peccatum mors ingressa est omnes homines : imo. ut servemus Pauli Litteris moderationem suam quam in praesenti locatenuit. in multos homines mors pertransiit “. Per obedientiam vero Christi justilicatio, et perjustiticationem vita multo magis in plures abundavit “. Et ostendere vult quod multo sit {crtior vita quant mors, et iustitia quam peccatum : ct per huc edocere quia si ita peccatum et mors (i) regnare in omnibus putuit, accipiens ex unius hominis inobentia initium, quanto potentius et dignius per justitiam vita regnabit, initium accipiens per unius 553 obedientiam Christi; Christi, inquam,qui ad hoc opus non conditionis necessitate, sed sola miseratione permotus accessit. ln forma enim Dei erat, et videns unius hominis delicto mortem regnare per populos , creatura: suae non obli- ViSCilul', nec rapinam ducit esse se aequalem Deo ” ε hoc est. non sibi magni aliQUid deputat quod ipse quidem aequalis Deo et unum cum Patre , opus vero suum depascitur mors unius hominnis igitur ε εθ· um de aequalitate et forma Dei, et ‹ servi icepit σ formam , et fit homo, ad quem tentandum auderet quidem venire ille qui regnabat in omnibus, sed intrare non posset. Mortem tamen istam communem suscepit, cum illam peccati, quae ORIGEN regnabat in omnilms , non receperit : ut sicut per hominem mors, ita et per hominem › fieret resurrectio mortuorum ’ : et sicut unius delicto multi mortui sunt, multo magis gratia Dei et donum in gratia unius hominis Jesu Christi in plures abundaret . Non autem absque profunda sapientia, quam Paulus inter perfectos loqui se dicit ", in hoc loco sermones suos moderatus est, et quos alibi omnes dixerat, hic ‹ multos vel σ plures appellavit, ubi comparationem dill‘usi in omnes homines peccati et mortis ab Adam facit, et justillcationis ac vita: a Christo; ne forte si absolute pronuntiaret quia pari ratione atque eodem ordine quo ab Adam in omnes homines mors dilinsa peccati est, etiam justifieatio et vita, quae a Cbristo est, in onmes homines difl'unditur, resolveret auditores, et segniores liereut erga observantiam, certi de securitate vita: quae in omnes homines per Christi gratiam traderetur. Et ideo reprimit sermonem, et non omnes homines (sicut solet in caeteris) ponit, sed multos, qui unius delicto peccatores constituti sunt : et rursum in gratia Dei donum per unum hominem Jesum Christum , non in omnes, sed in plures asserit abundare : quo et negligentiores metu suspendat ac sollicitos faciat, et perfectioribus divina: bonitatis secreta non claudat. Bene autem quia plures posuit ad quos donum gratire pertinet, quam eos qui unius delicto constituti sunt peccatores. ln quo arbitror quidem aliquid et latentis esse mysterii : quia et alibi '° mortem dicit regnasse ab Adam usque ad Moysen, non in omnes, sed in eos tantmn, qui secundum similitudinem przevaricationis Adae peccaverunt. Tamen et simpliciore intellectu potest videri ideo plures dictos, quia quamvis qui ex Adam peccatores facti sunt mulli sint, tamen qui per gratiam Christi vivificantur ideo plures dicti sunt, quia etiam ille ipse ex quo in cancros mors peccati diliusa est, additur numero eorum, eo quod cum omnibus, quos ipse fecerat sub delicto , etiam ipse salvetur, sicut de Sapientia dicitur: Haec, inquit, illum, qui primus factus est, patrem mundi, cum solus esset creatus, custodivit, et liberavit eum de IS 1024 ceteris causa exstitit mortis, Christus revocavit ad vitam : ut verum sit illud quod in consequentibus scribit Apostolus , quia ε sicut per unius hominis delictum in condemnationem mortis in omnes homines , ita et per unius gratiam iu omnes homines injustificationem vitae. › Homo autem est etiam Adam : ergo etin ipsum iustificatio vita: perveniet. Sed dices iortasse: Si uno peccante mors in omnes homines pertransiit,et rursus unius justitia in omnes homines jnstificatio vitae pervenit, neque ut moreremur aliquid nobis gestum est , neque ut vivamus, sed est mortis quidem causa Adam, vita: autem Christus. Diximus quidem jam etin superioribus, quod parentes non solum generant filios, sed et imbuunt; et qui nascuntur, non solum lilii parentibus, sed et discipuli fiunt, et non tan natura urgentur in mortem peccati, quam disciplina. Verbi causa enim, si quis a Deo recedens idola colat, nonne continuo etiam lilios si genuerit docebit idola venerari, et sacrificia ofl’erre alaemoniis? Hoc secundum Adam facit, et in hoc regnat mors ab Adam, boc est a nativitate, usque ad legis tempus, quo ad discretionem recti pravique Operis veniens , capax Christi gratiae ellici potest : et ibi relinquit Adam qui eum vel genuit, vel docuit in mortem, et sequitur Christum, qui eum et docet, et gignit ad vitam. Vis autem scire quia non solum nativitatis , sed et doctrinae est, in quo mors regnavit ab Adam? Disce hoc ex contrariis. Etenim Dominus Jesus Christus cum venisset qua: perperam gesta fuerant emendare, pro eo quod iu mortem generaret illa quae ex Adam veniebat prima nativitas, introduxit secundam nativitatem , quam non tam generationem, quam regenerationem appellavit , per quam sine dubio vitium prinue nativitatis aboleret : et sicut generationi substituit regenerationem, ita et doctrinae substituit aliam doctrinam. Ilittens etenim ad hoc opus discipulos suos, non dixit tantum : Ite, baptizate omnes gentes; sed ait ὲ lte, docete omnes gentes, baptizanvita: datur a Christo, non invitis , sed credentibus, et pervenitur ad perfectionem vita: perfectione virv tutum ,- sicut et in mortem dudum prmvaricationis similitudine et vitiorum expletione perventum est. Et quamvis tanquam prudens dispensator verbi Dei apostolus Paulus occulta haec in Litteris suis esse lvoluerit et obtecta, inseruit tamen, nec siluit in eo tibi dicit : Sed regnavit mors ab Adam usque ad iloysen ineos qui peccaverunt in similitudinem prtevaricationis Adae . Videsne uta peccato nullum Paulus excuset? Sed et peccati genus designat, siinilitudinem praevaricationis Ada: in unoquoque constituens, licet ubi, quando, aut quomodo ab unoquoque similitudo ista prmvaricationis admissa sit, tutum non crediderit apertius proloqui. Sed qui _ eruditus est ex lege Domini, scit intelligere obscurum sermonem dictaque sapientimn et aenigmata . ldeo denique etiam de salute quae in Christo est, occultius loquitur; et cum dixisset: Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur " , non dixit, ita et in Christo omnes vivificantur, sed , vivificabuntur: et rursum cum dixisset : Sicut enim unius peccato mors regnavit per unum, ita et per unius justiticationem , non dixit, regnat vita, sed, «regnabit vita per unum Jesum Christum. Scit enim , ut dixi, scriptum esse quia fidelis spiritu celat negotia ; et item alibi : ‹ Quam magna multitudo dulcedinis tua», Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te “. Si enim interroges quando vita regnabit per Jesum Christum, et quandojusti- ο tia ejus in onmes homines ‘tnjustillcationemrvita v putabit? Igitur ex uno quidem Adam coepit in hoc mundo regnare peccatum, et regnavit in eos qui secuti sunt praevaricationis Adae similitudinem : et ideo ς judicium ex uno in condemnationem ης et rursum per unum Dominmn nostrum Jesum Christum gratia regnare coepit per justitiam; quze et regnabit in omnibus qui obediunt ei, et custodiunt verba ejus, et per haec ex multis delictis veniuntad justificationem vitaz.

“But not as the trespass, so also the gift. For if through the trespass of one many died, much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ has abounded to many. And not as through one who sinned, so also the gift. For the judgment from one led to condemnation, but the grace from many trespasses to justification.” Since the Apostle had said above of Adam, “who is a type of the one to come,” he saw that it might be asked: if Adam is a type of Christ, then he must have borne the type of Christ also in the fact that he sinned, and in the fact that death reigned from Adam until Moses; but since it seemed absurd to think this of Christ, he at once adds: “But not as the trespass, so also the gift”; and with this word he begins, as it were, to explain himself, in what way he said Adam was a type of Christ. “For if,” he says, “through the trespass of one many died,” that is, in Adam, “much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ has abounded to many”: that is, if death, finding room in one who sinned, could be spread to many, much more the grace of God, which has abounded more richly and more widely in Christ than death in Adam, is spread to many. And the condition of the trespass is so far from being the same as that of the gift, that, whereas the judgment came from Adam, and from that one transgressor condemnation came upon all men, on the contrary through Christ justification was given from the many trespasses by which the whole human race was held, to all; so that, just as death had reigned through one in trespasses, so also through the obedience of one life might reign through righteousness.

It was not, then, without a profound art of speech that the Apostle set down Adam as a type of Christ, a type that is similar in genus but contrary in species. For the type is similar in genus in that, just as something is spread from the one Adam to many men, so something is spread from the one Christ to many men. But it is contrary in species, because through the transgression begun from Adam many were made sinners, but through the obedience of Christ many will be made righteous.

Since, then, it has been explained, according to the reasoning of his words, how far Adam was a type of Christ, whether in like things or in contraries, I do not think it will seem absurd now also to gather what deeper sense the Apostle indicates in these words. The Apostle set out to show what the first man Adam, who “was made a living soul,” brought upon the human race, and what the second Adam, who is “a life-giving spirit,” brought. Through the transgression of the one, he says, sin appeared, and through sin death entered upon all men; or rather, to keep the restraint which Paul held in this place in his letter, death passed through to many men. But through the obedience of Christ justification, and through justification life, has abounded much more to many. And he wishes to show that life is much stronger than death, and righteousness than sin; and by this to teach that, if sin and death could reign so in all, taking their beginning from the disobedience of one man, how much more powerfully and worthily will life reign through righteousness, taking its beginning through the obedience of the one, Christ; Christ, I say, who came to this work not by the necessity of his condition but moved by compassion alone. For he was in the form of God, and seeing death reigning through the peoples by the trespass of one man, he does not forget his own creature, and “does not count it robbery to be equal with God”; that is, he does not reckon it any great thing for himself that he is equal to God and one with the Father, while death devours his work through the trespass of one man. Therefore he empties himself of the equality and form of God, and takes “the form of a servant,” and becomes man; and he who reigned in all dared indeed to come to tempt him, but could not enter. Yet he took on this common death, though he did not receive that death of sin which reigned in all; so that, “as through a man came death, so also through a man” might come “the resurrection of the dead”; and as “through the trespass of one many died, much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ” might “abound to many.”

It is not without the profound wisdom which Paul says he speaks among the perfect that he tempered his words in this place, and those whom elsewhere he had called “all” he here called “many” or “more,” where he makes a comparison between the sin and death spread from Adam to all men and the justification and life spread from Christ; lest perhaps, if he had pronounced absolutely that, by the same reckoning and in the same order in which the death of sin was spread from Adam to all men, justification and life too, which are from Christ, are spread to all men, he might make his hearers slack, and they might become more sluggish in their observance, sure of the security of a life that would be handed on to all men through the grace of Christ. And therefore he holds back his words and does not put down “all men” (as he usually does elsewhere) but “many,” who through the trespass of one were made sinners; and again he declares that the gift in the grace of God through one man, Jesus Christ, abounds not to all but to many; so that he may hold the more careless in suspense with fear and make them anxious, and yet not shut the secrets of the divine goodness to the more perfect. And it is well that he set down as “more” those to whom the gift of grace belongs than those who through the trespass of one were made sinners. In this I think there is something of a hidden mystery too; for elsewhere he says that death reigned from Adam until Moses, not over all, but only over those who sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam. Yet by a simpler understanding too it may be seen that they are called “more” for this reason: although those made sinners from Adam are many, those who are made alive through the grace of Christ are called “more” because he too, from whom the death of sin was spread to the many, is added to their number, since he too is saved with all those whom he had made subject to the trespass; as is said of Wisdom: “She,” it says, “guarded the first-formed father of the world when he alone had been created, and delivered him from …” [the scan has lost text here] … was the cause of death to the rest, Christ called back to life; so that what the Apostle writes in what follows is true, that “as through the trespass of one man, for all men to the condemnation of death, so also through the grace of one, for all men to the justification of life.” But Adam too is a man; therefore the justification of life will reach him also.

But you will perhaps say: If, when one sinned, death passed through to all men, and again through the righteousness of one the justification of life came to all men, nothing was done by us either that we should die or that we should live; but Adam is the cause of death and Christ of life. We have already said above that parents not only beget children but also train them, and those who are born become not only children to their parents but disciples too, and they are driven into the death of sin not so much by nature as by training. For example, if someone departs from God and worships idols, will he not at once, if he has begotten children, teach them also to worship idols and offer sacrifices to demons? This he does according to Adam; and in this, death reigns from Adam, that is, from birth, until the time of the law, when, coming to the discernment of right and wrong action, he can be made capable of the grace of Christ; and there he leaves Adam, who either begot him or taught him unto death, and follows Christ, who both teaches him and begets him unto life.

Do you wish to know that that in which death reigned from Adam belongs not only to birth but also to teaching? Learn it from the contraries. For when the Lord Jesus Christ had come to correct what had been done amiss, because that first birth which came from Adam begot unto death, he brought in a second birth, which he called not so much generation as regeneration, through which without doubt he would abolish the fault of the first birth; and as he put regeneration in place of generation, so also he put another teaching in place of the teaching. For when he sent his disciples to this work he did not say only, “Go, baptize all nations,” but he said, “Go, teach all nations, baptizing …” [the scan has lost text here] … life is given by Christ, not to the unwilling but to believers, and the perfection of life is reached through the perfection of the virtues, just as formerly death was reached through the likeness of transgression and the fulfilment of the vices. And although the apostle Paul, as a prudent steward of the word of God, wished these things to be hidden and covered in his letters, he nevertheless put them in and was not silent, where he says: “But death reigned from Adam until Moses over those who sinned in the likeness of the transgression of Adam.” Do you see that Paul excuses no one from sin? And he marks out the kind of sin too, setting the likeness of the transgression of Adam in each one, although he did not think it safe to say more openly where, when, or how this likeness of transgression was committed by each. But he who is instructed in the law of the Lord knows how to understand a dark saying and the sayings and riddles of the wise. And for this reason, finally, he speaks more covertly of the salvation that is in Christ too: when he had said, “For as in Adam all die,” he did not say, “so also in Christ all are made alive,” but “will be made alive”; and again, when he had said, “For as through the sin of one death reigned through one, so also through the justification of one,” he did not say “life reigns,” but “life will reign through the one Jesus Christ.” For he knows, as I said, that it is written that “the faithful in spirit conceals matters”; and again elsewhere: “How great is the multitude of your sweetness, Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!” For if you ask when life will reign through Jesus Christ, and when his righteousness will … [the scan has lost text here] … for all men to the justification of life …

From the one Adam, then, sin began to reign in this world, and it reigned over those who followed the likeness of the transgression of Adam; and therefore “the judgment from one led to condemnation”; and again through our one Lord Jesus Christ grace began to reign through righteousness; and it will reign in all who obey him and keep his words, and through these they come from many trespasses to the justification of life.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 5:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:45 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 5:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 15:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 5:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · Titus 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 28:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 1:2 (allusion, low confidence) · Prov 1:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Prov 11:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 31:19 (30:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:23 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen explains how Adam is a type of Christ, similar in kind but contrary in effect, why Paul writes “many” rather than “all,” and how death reigns through upbringing as well as birth.

Rom 5:15–16. Migne’s footnotes and variant readings, and a garbled repetition in the scan, are removed by logged corrections. Lines are lost in the scan in three places (marked …): after the quotation of Wis 10:1–2, after “baptizing” (Matt 28:19), and after “when his righteousness will.” Origen’s view that Adam too is saved, and that Paul says “many” rather than “all” so as not to make careless hearers slack, is translated as written. Compared privately with FOTC 103.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote references and variant readings, a running head and a column number removed; garbled Greek-letter OCR and a doubled line of the scan removed; illegible words marked …; scan debris (a misread line fragment) removed): in "lsai. ι, Η. Matth. κηκὶς). Osee ix, 5. “' nouli—ii." ιο ibid. 15,16. ’δ ibid. 19. ἰ’ " Alias, ς dicit. ι- _ AliaS, dicit. Mss. plures, Et non sicut per unum peccaiiéinI'I'éiéi” ί ’ Editi, quia requiri posset. _ Editi, quia requiri posset. Editi, abundabit, id est, si uno peccante. oe‘iiuiéfi'éi‘éae‘ in Christh iestv,i'copiosi_n'§ct_ latins abundabit, quam mors Adam in plures diffundatum ιι) nom. LiB. γ. i029. omnes → in omnes; secundum rationem eloquii ίΡείυε εξριδηθξιιω- est, nunc etiam. quid iuifirioris smmis ΑΡῨδιθιυθ inficei in his} v.81 p0- Si: At: AELV‘ifnffflfff‘fnfiflflj gere non puto absurdum videri. Proposuit Aposto- 'e non puto absurdum vmen. Proposuit Aposw- η ostendere quid humano → secundum rationem eloquii … est, nunc etiam quid interioris sensus Apostolus … in his … non puto absurdum videri. Proposuit Apostolus ostendere quid humano; primus om ηιιῖ runtur: ac! in animam uiuam - ηιιίιί Adam → primus Adam.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 10:1 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 5.2 (PG 14:1021b–1026a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/5-2/#p-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-5-2) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

5.3PG 14:1026a–1029a

Si enim unius delicto mors regnavit per unum, tnulto magis qui abundantiam gratiae et donum justitiae accipiunt, in vita reguabunt per unum Jesum Cbristum“(l7). › Si esset sicut delictum ita et donum , dixisset utique Apostolus , quia sicut unius delicto mors regnavit per unum , ita et per unius justitiam vita regnabit per unum Jesum Chri- Stum. Nunc autem dicit quia mors quidem ε unius delicto regnavit per unum. Qui autem abundantiam grat.i:e, et donum justitite accipiunt, non solum ultra non regnat iu eis mors (quod et ipsum utique non parva: εει gratiae) sed et alia duo eis conferuntur bona :unum, quod pro morte vita in eis regnat Christus Jesus : aliud, quod etiam ipsi regnabunt per unum Jesum Christum. Cum ergo necessaria haec in eos veniant bona, id est, ut regnum mortis effugiant, et pro morte regnet in eis vita, imo ut et ipsi regnent in vita per unutn Jesum Christum, manifestum est quomodo ‹ non sit ‹ ita delictum sicut et donum “ , et quomodo dicatur : 555¢Multomagis gratia Dei et donum in gratia unius hominis Jesu Christi in plures abundabit: et illud : Gratia autem ex multis delictis in justificationem: sed et hoc quod dicit in praesenti : Multo magis qui abundantiam gratias, et donum justitim accipiunt, in vita regnabunt (l9) per unum Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum . Quod ergo ait, ‹ Unius delicto mors regnavit per unum , rietur “. ipsa denique anima clamat per Prophetam. dicens : In pulverem mortis deduxisti me δ’. Quod utique ei nisi ex delicto non potuisset accidere. Unde evidenter apparet eam per delictum chirographa sui conscripsisse cum morte, ut et libertate immortalitatis amissa, iugum peccati, et regnum mortis exciperet. Volens igitur Apostolus ostendere quanto majora per Christum anima recipit, quam amiserat per Adam, frequentat istos sermones, ut dicat , ΜυΙιο magis , et, abundantiam gratiae , et donum iustitia, et , ‹ regnabunt per unum Jesum Christum '°. θυαε omnia utique declarant multo abundantiora esse dona quam damna. Sed requires, isti quos dicit: regnaturos in vita per Jesum Christum, super quos regnabunt. Videtur mihi quod sicut mortis regnum iu eos ostendit fuisse quos sibi peccando fecit obnoxios, ita et eorum qui abundantiam gratiae. et donum iustitia: accipiunt, et per unum Jesum Christum regnaturi dicuntur, regnum ostendat futurum super illos qui eis in eruditione regni Dei subditi iiunt, et, ut ita dicam, qui sapientiae, et iustitiae, ac vita: quae in eis est, et per quam regnant, capaces fuerint inventi. Unde et non otiose videtur mihi Apostolus, qui in caeteris locis dixerat, quia «in omnes homines mors pertransiit ; et iterum: Gratia Dei in plures abundavit ; et iterum : ‹ Gratia ex multis delictis in justifieationem δι, hoc in loco neque omnes, neque multos, neque plures posuisse; sciens ad paucos pertinere istius beatitudinis summam, qui abundantiam gratiae, et donum justitia: accipientes , in vita regnabunt per unum .lesum Christum ". Ipsius autem mortis hic describitur regnum, quae alias dicitur inimicus esse Christi ultimus vel novissimus destruendus. Destruetur autem in eo, ut ultra non regnet. Quod si non regnat, certum est jam nec delictum futurum esse, in quo solo mortis est regnum, tunc sine dubio cum ad eam dicetur: iUbiest,mors,aculeus tuus 5‘? quoniam quidem, ut ipse Apostolus dicit, aculeus mortis peccatum est, virtus autem peccati lex ". Restat ergo tunc neque legem futuram, si quidem peccati virtus ipsa dicatur. ut peccati virtute sublata, merito possit et regnum mortis aboleri. Sed haec in excessu nunc dicta sint : suis enim in locis opportunius requirentur. Velim tamen percontari (quoniam quidem mortem regnum usque ad praesentiam Christi, qui est vita, diximus tenuisse; venisse tem destruendam, sed et ad illum ipsum, qui babebat mortis imperium, id est diabolum, in medio hoc , id est, antequam illud iiat quod scriptum est : Deinde linis, cum tradiderit regnum Deo et Patri : ) quis regnat. Si enim dicamus id quod consequens videtur, quia vita lreguat morte destructa ; potest nobis occurri : Quomodo ergo peccatur? Et manifestum est mortem regnare per peccatum. Si vero dicamus in quibusdam regnare Christum, hoc est vitam, et in quibusdam mortem: quos, aut ubi inveniemus, in quibus ita regnum sit vitae, ut regnum mortis in eis non habeat potestatem, hoc est, qui penitus absque peccato sint? Quae mihi videntur magis ad futurum pertinere regnum, et ibi haec esse complenda, ubi dicitur quod sit Deus omnia in omnibus . idcirco enim et in oratione Dominica dicere ducentur, Adveniat regnum tuum , quasi quod nondum advenerit : et ipse Dominus in iuitio praedicationis sua: non dicit : Venit regnum cozlorum ;sed, ( Appropinquavit regnum cmlorum ”. Ρηιεεεηε vero tempus non tam regni dixerim videri quam belli : per quod bellum futurum regnum queratur, quamvis hoc ipso belli tempore, quia jam ex aliqua parte regnum mortis infringitur, et paulatim destruitur, quod prius in omnes homines fuerat dilatatum, Christus regnare dicatur, secundum illud quod scriptum est: Oportet enim eum regnare, donec ponat omnes inimicos ejus sub pedibus ejus ; et item alibi dicit : Nunc autem necdum videmus subjecta esse ei omnia σί. Unde apparet quia hoc quod dicit, «Oportet enim eum regnare, pro regnum parare, posuerit. Cera tum est enim quia prius pugnandum est, et alligandos est fortis. et sic vasa ejus diripienda sunt . Ει ideo etiam ipse Salvator dicit : Non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium “. › Tandiu vero pugnandum est ab his qui regnare volunt in vita per Jesum Christum, donec novissimus inimicus: destruatur mors “. Sed et de abundantia gratiae, et dono iustitia: sciendum estquia ad illud regnum, quod diximus przeparari per bellum, non venit aliquis qui unam gratiam solum consecutus est, hoc est, qui in uno aliquo opere placuerit; sed tur, cum dicit : α Gratia vobis et pax multiplicetor “. Multiplicatur ergo gratia et abundat, si et sermo noster semper in gratia sale sit conditus, et opus nostrum cum gratia humilitatis et simplicitatis flat, et omnia quae agimus ad gloriam Dei agamus. Similiter etiam de dono iustitiae accipiendum est. Nihil enim siuejustitia agere debet qui justificatur aChristo, secundum eum qui dicit : «Beati qui custodiunt judicium , et faciunt justitiam in omni tempore ; et secundum quod Sapientia pronuntiat dicens, quia et si perfectus sit quis in [iliis hominum, si-nnn adsiteijustitia a Deo, in nihilum reputabitur ; et hoc modo qui habuerint abundantiam gratiae et donum jnstitim, in vita regnabunt per unum Jesum Christum .

“For if through the trespass of one death reigned through one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.” If the gift were as the trespass, the Apostle would surely have said: as through the trespass of one death reigned through one, so also through the righteousness of one life will reign through the one Jesus Christ. But now he says that death indeed “reigned through one through the trespass of one”; but in those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, not only does death no longer reign (which itself is certainly no small grace), but two other good things also are conferred on them: one, that instead of death, life, Christ Jesus, reigns in them; the other, that they themselves will also reign through the one Jesus Christ. Since, then, these necessary good things come to them, that is, that they escape the kingdom of death, and that instead of death life reigns in them, or rather that they themselves reign in life through the one Jesus Christ, it is plain how “the trespass is not as the gift,” and how it is said: “Much more the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ will abound to many”; and that other: “But the grace from many trespasses to justification”; and also what he says at present: “Much more those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ our Lord.”

What he says, then, “Through the trespass of one death reigned through one,” … [the scan has lost text here] … “shall die.” The soul itself, indeed, cries through the prophet, saying: “You have brought me down into the dust of death.” This certainly could not have happened to it except from trespass. Hence it plainly appears that through trespass it wrote out its own bond with death, so that, having lost the freedom of immortality, it took on the yoke of sin and the kingdom of death. The Apostle, then, wishing to show how much greater are the things the soul receives through Christ than those it had lost through Adam, repeats these words, saying “much more,” and “the abundance of grace,” and “the gift of righteousness,” and “they will reign through the one Jesus Christ”; all of which certainly declare that the gifts are far more abundant than the losses.

But you will ask over whom these will reign, whom he says will reign in life through Jesus Christ. It seems to me that, just as he showed that the kingdom of death was over those whom it made liable to itself by sinning, so also he shows that the kingdom of those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, and are said to be about to reign through the one Jesus Christ, will be over those who become subject to them in instruction in the kingdom of God, and, so to speak, who have been found capable of the wisdom, righteousness, and life which is in them and through which they reign. Hence it does not seem to me to be idle that the Apostle, who in the other places had said that “death passed through to all men,” and again, “The grace of God abounded to many,” and again, “The grace from many trespasses to justification,” in this place set down neither “all” nor “many” nor “more,” knowing that the summit of this blessedness belongs to few, those who, receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

Here the kingdom of death itself is described, which elsewhere is said to be the last or final enemy of Christ to be destroyed. And it will be destroyed in this, that it will reign no more. And if it does not reign, it is certain that there will no longer be any trespass, in which alone the kingdom of death consists; then without doubt, when it will be said to it, “Where, O death, is your sting?” since, as the Apostle himself says, “the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” It follows, then, that at that time there will be no law either, if indeed it is called the very power of sin; so that, the power of sin being removed, the kingdom of death too may rightly be abolished. But let these things be said now by way of digression; they will be inquired into more fittingly in their own places.

Yet I should like to ask (since we have said that death held its kingdom until the presence of Christ, who is life; … [the scan has lost text here] … had come not only to destroy death, but also him who had the power of death, that is, the devil), in this interval, that is, before what is written comes to pass, “Then the end, when he has handed over the kingdom to God and the Father,” who reigns? For if we say what seems to follow, that life reigns now that death is destroyed, it may be objected to us: How then is there sin? And it is plain that death reigns through sin. But if we say that in some Christ, that is, life, reigns, and in some death, whom, or where, shall we find in whom the kingdom of life is such that the kingdom of death has no power in them, that is, who are wholly without sin? These things seem to me rather to belong to the kingdom to come, and to be fulfilled there, where it is said that God will be all in all. For this reason too we are taught to say in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come,” as though it had not yet come; and the Lord himself at the beginning of his preaching does not say, “The kingdom of heaven has come,” but “The kingdom of heaven has drawn near.” But the present time I should say seems to be not so much a time of reigning as of war, through which war the kingdom to come is sought; although in this very time of war, since the kingdom of death, which before had spread to all men, is already being broken in part and gradually destroyed, Christ may be said to reign, according to what is written: “For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet”; and again elsewhere he says: “But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.” Hence it appears that when he says, “For he must reign,” he put it for “prepare the kingdom.” For it is certain that one must first fight, and the strong man must be bound, and so his goods plundered. And therefore the Savior himself says: “I came not to send peace, but a sword.” And those who wish to reign in life through Jesus Christ must fight for as long as it takes until the last enemy, death, is destroyed.

And about the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness it must be known that no one comes to that kingdom which we said is being prepared through war who has obtained only one grace, that is, who has pleased God in some one work; but … [the scan has lost text here] … when he says: “Grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Grace, then, is multiplied and abounds if our speech too is always seasoned with salt in grace, and our work is done with the grace of humility and simplicity, and we do all that we do to the glory of God. Likewise the gift of righteousness too must be understood. For he who is justified by Christ ought to do nothing without righteousness, according to him who says, “Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness at all times,” and according to what Wisdom pronounces, saying that even if someone is perfect among the sons of men, if the righteousness from God is not with him, he will be reckoned as nothing. And in this way those who have the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 5:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 18:4 (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 22:15 (21:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 5:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:26 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:55 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:56 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 4:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:34 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 4:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:31 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 106:3 (105:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen shows that the gift exceeds the loss, explains over whom the righteous will reign, and argues that the present is a time of war in which Christ prepares his kingdom.

Rom 5:17. Lines are lost in the scan in three places (marked …): after the lemma “through the trespass of one death reigned through one” (the lost words end with Ezek 18:4, “shall die”), in the question about who reigns now (Heb 2:14 is alluded to), and after “who has pleased God in some one work.” “Bond” renders chirographum (cf. Col 2:14). The closing quotation from “Wisdom” is Wis 9:6. Compared privately with FOTC 103.

Extrabiblical texts: Wis 9:6 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 5.3 (PG 14:1026a–1029a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/5-2/#p-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.4PG 14:1029a

Itaque sicut per unius delictum in omnes homines in condemnationem, ita et per unius justitiam in omnes homines in justifieationem vita: . Jam et superius diximus quod per delictum Adze velut aditus quidam datus est, quo in omnes homio nes vel peccatum, vel mors peccati , vel condemnatio pervenirct. Ecoutrario ergo Christus aditum iustificationis aperuit, per quem vita ingrederetur ad homines, et ideo dicebat de semetipso: Ego sum ostium. Per me si quis ingressus fuerit, salvabitur ". Sed de his jam in superioribus satis est dictum. Illud tamen observandmn est, quod non dixit : Sicut in omnes homines in condemnatio.nem › mortis. sed tantummodo, «in condemnationem, ο quo scilicet in omnibus probet multo abundantius donum esse quam delictum. Quomodo sane, vel quae condemnatio in omnes homines venerit videndum est. Et sulIicere forsitan potest secundum simplicem expositionem, ut dicamus condemnationem esse delicti communem hanc mortem, quae omnibus venit, et veniet. etiam sijusti videantur. Quod si forle aliquis objiciat de Enoch et Elia qui translati sunt ne viderent mortem ’ἐ hoc modo haec causa salvatur, quod non continuo falsa videantur ea quae de omnibus dicuntur, si aliqua dispensatio Dei in uno vel duobus hominibus facta est. Sed et illud quis competenter, ut arbitror, proferet in loco, quia cum deliquisset Adam, scriptum est quod eiecit eum Dominus Deus de paradiso, et constituit eum in terra hac contra paradisum deliciarum; et haec fuit delicti ejus condemnatio, quae in onmes homines sine dubio pervenit. Omnes enim in loco hoc humiliationis et in convalle fletus eii'ecti sunt; sive quod in lumbis Adae fuerunt omnes qui ex eo nascuntur, et cum ipso pariter ejecti sunt : sive alio quolibet inenarrabili modo et soli Deo cognito unusquisque de paradiso trusus videtur, et excepisse condemnationem.

“Therefore, as through the trespass of one, for all men to condemnation, so also through the righteousness of one, for all men to justification of life.” We have already said above that through the trespass of Adam a kind of entrance was given, by which sin, or the death of sin, or condemnation, came to all men. On the contrary, then, Christ opened the entrance of justification, through which life might come in to men; and therefore he said of himself: “I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved.” But enough has already been said about these things above. Yet this must be observed, that he did not say, “As for all men to the condemnation of death,” but only “to condemnation,” so as to prove, namely, that in all things the gift is far more abundant than the trespass. How, indeed, or what condemnation came to all men must be considered. And according to a simple exposition it may perhaps suffice for us to say that the condemnation of the trespass is this common death which has come and will come to all, even if they seem righteous. And if someone perhaps objects about Enoch and Elijah, who were translated so as not to see death, the case is saved in this way: what is said of all is not at once to be thought false if some dispensation of God has been made in the case of one or two men. But someone might also fittingly, I think, bring forward in this place that, when Adam had trespassed, it is written that the Lord God cast him out of paradise and set him in this earth over against the paradise of delights; and this was the condemnation of his trespass, which without doubt came to all men. For all have been cast out into this place of humiliation and into the valley of weeping: whether because all who are born of him were in the loins of Adam and were cast out together with him, or whether in some other unspeakable way, known to God alone, each one seems to have been thrust out of paradise and to have received condemnation.

Rom 5:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 5:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 11:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 84:6 (83:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen explains the condemnation that came to all through Adam, as bodily death or as expulsion from paradise into this valley of weeping.

Rom 5:18. Enoch and Elijah: Gen 5:24; 2 Kgs 2:11; Heb 11:5. The expulsion “over against the paradise of delights” follows the Old Latin of Gen 3:23–24. Origen leaves open whether all were expelled in Adam’s loins or in some other way known to God alone; translated as written. Compared privately with FOTC 103.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 5.4 (PG 14:1029a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/5-2/#p-5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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5.5PG 14:1029a–1032b

Sicut enim per inobedientiam unius hominis peccatores constituti sunt multi, ita ct per unius obedientiam justi constituentur multi ". Potest quidem fieri ut secundum ea quae in superioribus observavimus, Paulus, volens mysteria secretiora contegere, quos alibi ς omnes dixerat, alibi Inultos ponat, ne forte si dixisset σ per unius inobedientiam peccatores factos esse omnes, et necessario subjunxisset, ita et per unius obedientiam justi constituentur omnes, videretur ex hujusmodi promissionis securitate resolvere animos eorum quibus expedit esse sub metu. Et ideo nos fidelis et prudentis in verbo Dei dispensatoris consilium servantes, pro eo magis satisfacere debemus quomodo per unius inohedientiam non omnes, sed multi sunt peccatores facti. Nam per unius obedientiam quomodo non omnes, sed multi constituantur, diliicultatem non habebit intelligentiae, secundum illud quod Dominus dicit in Evangelia ε Multi enim venient ab Oriente et Occidente, et recumbentcum Abraham, et Isaac. et Jacob in regno Dei, et non dixit, Omnes venient. Peccatores autem quomodo multi et non onmes videantur, cum idem Apostolus dicat quod r omnes peccaverunt, › debemus ostendere. Aliud est peccare , aliud peccatorem esse. Peccator dicitur is qui multa delinquendo , in consuetudinem , et, ut ita dicam, in studium peccandi jam venit; sicut econtrario justus non dicitur is qui semel aut bis aliquid justitiae fecerit, sed ille qui semper Cjuste agendo, in usu et consuetudine justitiam 557 habet. Nam si quis in caeteris fere omnibus injustus' sit, semel autem vel his aliquid justi operis egerit, iste quidem in eo opere in quo justitiam teauit, juste egisse dicetur, non tamen ex hoc justus appellabitur. Ita et justus peccasse quidem dicetur si aliquid commiserit aliquando quod non licet, non tamen ex hoc peccator appellabitur, qui peccandi usum et consuetudinem non ten’et : sicut et medicus ille non dicitur qui aut leviter ruptae capitis cuti scit imponere araneam, aut qui tumorem vulneris aqua calida foverit, quamvis etiam hoc. medicina: esse videatur : sed ille dicitur medicus qui usum, ac studium , et disciplinam habet medendi. Ex quibus omnibus puto sullicienter osten- Ι) di quod aliud sit peccare, aliud peccatorem esse. Omnes enim potest fieri ut peccaverint, etiamsi sancti fuerint, quia nemo mundus a sorde, nec si unius diei fuerit vita ejus . › Quis enim est qui non aut in facto, aut in verbo, aut qui cautissimus certe est, vel in cogitatione peccaverit? Et ideo, ut dixi, peccasse quidem omnes merito dicentur, peccatores autem lacti non omnes; sed multi. Simili Nam cum multos constitutos esse peccatores ad przeteritum retulerit", justos constituendos esse multos ad futurum transtulit tempus, sciens sine dubio quod processu praedicationis evangelica: justorum multitudo major accresceret. Quod autem justi multi fuerint etiam ante Salvatoris adventum idem Dominus testatur in Evangeliis, eum dicit : Multi propheta et justi cupierunt videre quae videtis. Sed aliter hic mn-ltos dicitSalvator justos, et aliter Apostolus posuit. Nam Salvator apostolorum nmncrutn respiciens, ad ipsorum comparationem nmltos dixit jus'tos et prophetas : iu praesenti vero loco Apostolus multos ad omnium qu'i in hoc mundo nati sunt et nascentur comparationem intelligendus est revocasse. lgitur ‹ per unius inobedientiam peccalores constituti summum”, »εεειιηιιυηι eam observantiam multi peccatores intelligendi, quam supra de peccante et peccatore protulimus. Quod si quis nobis ohjiciat illud quod de se ipso dicit Apostolus : ‹ Quia Christus Jesus venit in hunc mundmn peccatores salvos facere, quorum primus ego sum 3‘,» quasi etiam se peccatorem dicere videatur, dicemus quod aliud est ex persona Scripturae, vel prophetae. vel Domini aliquem peccatorem designari, aliud estjustum ipsum sui fieri accusatorem, et humiliare semetipsum ut exaltetur a Deo; quamvis et Paulus in co quod dicit persecutum se esse Ecclesiam Dei, et expugnasse eam, et traxisse viros ac mulieres, et in vincula conjecisse, licet ignoranmw“ νυτη-ςη. --ην-υ--ν--η tia haec fecerit, et misericordiam consecutus sit , c tamen cum haec faceret non immerito fortassis pecratorem se dici debuisse fateatur. Ut autem distinctionis hujus quam dedimus inter peccantem et peccatoretn esse, evidentior adhuc ratio clarescat, vide Cain, qui cum manifeste peccator sit, fecit tamen aliquid rectum : propter quod Dominus ad eum,dixit : Si recte offeras . Ει Pharao cum dicit : Dominusjustus; 'ego autem et populus meus impii : › justum aliquid fecit, sed non ex hoc justus dicitur. Et multa hujusmodi in Scripluris divinis invenies, ex quibus et justum peccasse aliquid, et peccatorem justi aliquid egisse deprehendas : nec tamen aut justum, quod in aliquo peccaverit, peccatorem dictum; aut pecca- ι) nit ε unius, non addit, hominis, ‹ per quem justi constituentur multi. Hic enim per quem justi fiunt, sine dubio ipsa justitia est, sicut et idem Apostolus dicit de Christo : Qui faetus est nobis ξ justitia a Deo . Dedit ergo Adam peccatoribus formam per inobedientiam; Christus vero econtrario justis formam per obedientiam posuit, sicut et alibi scriptum est ’δε Obedistis autem ex corde l in eam formam doctrinae, in quam traditi estis. 1 Propterea enim et ipse obediens factus est usque ‘ ad mortem , ut qui obedientiae ejus sequuntur exemplum, justi constituantur ab ipsa justitia, sicut illi inobedientire formam sequentes constituti sunt peccatores.

“For as through the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one many will be made righteous.” It may indeed be that, according to what we observed above, Paul, wishing to cover the more secret mysteries, sets down in one place as “many” those whom elsewhere he had called “all,” lest perhaps, if he had said that through the disobedience of one all were made sinners, and had necessarily added, “so also through the obedience of one all will be made righteous,” he might seem, through the security of such a promise, to loosen the minds of those for whom it is expedient to be under fear. And therefore we, keeping the counsel of the faithful and prudent steward in the word of God, ought rather to give an account of how through the disobedience of one not all but many were made sinners. For how through the obedience of one not all but many are made righteous will present no difficulty of understanding, according to what the Lord says in the Gospel: “For many will come from the east and the west and recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God”; and he did not say, “All will come.” But how sinners may be seen to be many and not all, when the same Apostle says that “all have sinned,” we must show.

It is one thing to sin, another to be a sinner. He is called a sinner who, by committing many trespasses, has now come into a habit and, so to speak, a pursuit of sinning; just as, on the contrary, he is not called righteous who has done something righteous once or twice, but he who, by always acting righteously, has righteousness in use and habit. For if someone is unrighteous in almost everything else, but has once or twice done some righteous work, he will indeed be said to have acted righteously in that work in which he held to righteousness, yet he will not on that account be called righteous. So too a righteous man will indeed be said to have sinned if at some time he has committed something not lawful, yet he will not on that account be called a sinner, since he does not hold the use and habit of sinning; just as he is not called a physician who knows how to lay a cobweb on the lightly broken skin of the head, or who has bathed the swelling of a wound with warm water, although this too seems to belong to medicine; but he is called a physician who has the use, pursuit, and discipline of healing. From all this I think it is sufficiently shown that it is one thing to sin, another to be a sinner. For it may be that all have sinned, even if they were saints, because “no one is clean from filth, not even if his life has been one day.” For who is there who has not sinned either in deed or in word, or, if he is most cautious, at least in thought? And therefore, as I said, all will rightly be said to have sinned, but not all were made sinners, but many. Likewise … [the scan has lost text here] … For since he referred the making of many sinners to the past, he transferred the making of many righteous to the future time, knowing without doubt that by the progress of the gospel preaching the multitude of the righteous would grow greater. And that there were many righteous even before the coming of the Savior the same Lord testifies in the Gospels, when he says: “Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see.” But the Savior calls the righteous “many” here in one way, and the Apostle has set it down in another. For the Savior, looking at the number of the apostles, called the righteous and prophets many in comparison with them; but in the present place the Apostle must be understood to have referred “many” to a comparison with all who have been born and will be born in this world. Therefore “through the disobedience of one many were made sinners,” the many sinners being understood according to the observation we made above about one who sins and a sinner.

And if someone objects to us what the Apostle says of himself, “that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the first,” as though he seems to call himself a sinner too, we shall say that it is one thing for someone to be designated a sinner in the person of Scripture, or of a prophet, or of the Lord, and another for the righteous man himself to become his own accuser and humble himself so as to be exalted by God; although Paul too, in that he says he persecuted the Church of God and fought against it, and dragged men and women and threw them into chains, even if he did these things in ignorance and obtained mercy, may nevertheless perhaps admit, not undeservedly, that he ought to have been called a sinner when he was doing them. And so that the reason of this distinction we have given between one who sins and one who is a sinner may become still clearer, look at Cain, who, though he is plainly a sinner, nevertheless did something right; for which reason the Lord said to him: “If you offer rightly.” And Pharaoh, when he says, “The Lord is righteous, but I and my people are ungodly,” did something righteous, but is not called righteous on that account. And you will find many things of this kind in the divine Scriptures, from which you may discover both that a righteous man has sinned in something and that a sinner has done something righteous; and yet neither is the righteous man called a sinner because he sinned in something, nor the sinner … [the scan has lost text here] … “of one,” he does not add “man,” through whom many will be made righteous. For he through whom they are made righteous is without doubt righteousness itself, as the same Apostle says of Christ, “who was made for us righteousness from God.” Adam, then, gave a pattern to sinners through disobedience; Christ, on the contrary, set a pattern for the righteous through obedience; as it is also written elsewhere: “But you have obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching to which you were handed over.” For this reason he himself became obedient unto death, so that those who follow the example of his obedience might be made righteous by righteousness itself, just as those who followed the pattern of disobedience were made sinners.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 5:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:45 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 8:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 3:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 14:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 14:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 1:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 14:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 15:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 9:27 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Origen distinguishes sinning from being a sinner and explains why Paul says “many,” not “all,” are made sinners through Adam and righteous through Christ.

Rom 5:19. Lines are lost in the scan twice (marked …): after “but many” (the lost words compared the righteous with sinners and began on Paul’s use of tenses) and after “nor the sinner” (where Origen noted that Paul adds “man” to Adam’s disobedience but not to Christ’s obedience). The cobweb laid on a head wound was a common remedy. Compared privately with FOTC 103.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 5.5 (PG 14:1029a–1032b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/5-2/#p-5-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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