0In a preface to Pope Damasus, Jerome explains that he has translated Origen's two short homilies on the Song of Songs rather than his great ten-book commentary.
1Origen's first homily on the Song of Songs presents it as the highest of the Bible's songs, a wedding drama of Christ and the church, and expounds Song 1:2–11 on the kiss, the ointments, the black but beautiful bride, and the bridegroom's absences.
2Origen's second homily expounds Song 1:12–2:14: the nard as the anointing at Bethany, the bridegroom as a drop from the mountain, the dove-eyed bride, the ordering of love, the wound of love, and the bridegroom's call to rise after the winter of the passion.
authentic · Two sermons preached by Origen. Jerome translated these homilies into Latin; the Greek original is lost except for fragments, so the Latin is a translation (it may abridge or alter), not Origen's own wording. Jerome translated them at Rome about 383 and dedicated them to Pope Damasus (reference 0, his prologue).
Standing
Not honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by the Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant traditions. Deposed by Demetrius of Alexandria (ca. 231) but kept as teacher by the churches of Caesarea and Jerusalem; condemned only long after his death.
Date
ca. 240–250 (approximate) · Origen's preaching, probably at Caesarea; the date is a scholarly estimate. Jerome's Latin translation dates to about 383.
Written at
Caesarea, Palestine (probable)
Language
Latin
Genre
homily
Reference system
homily (0 = Jerome's prologue to Pope Damasus; 1 and 2 = the two homilies)
SBL abbreviation
Hom. Cant.Not yet checked
Text from
J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 23 (Paris: Garnier), cols. 1174–1196 (Jerome's translation; digital column numbers, volume number to be checked) (Printed edition in the public domain; digital text CC BY-SA 4.0)
Critical editions
Wilhelm A. Baehrens, Origenes Werke 8, GCS 33 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1925) (cited, not reproduced)