Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 14.1

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: The unwritten saying “ask for great and heavenly things, and small and earthly ones will be added” means we should pray for the spiritual realities of which Scripture's stories are types.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:330

Τούτων δὲ ἡμῖν ἑρμηνευθέντων εἰς τὰς διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν γεγενημένας τοῖς ἁγίοις εὐεργεσίας, κατανοήσωμεν τὸ „αἰτεῖτε τὰ μεγάλα, καὶ τὰ μικρὰ ὑμῖν προστεθήσεται· καὶ αἰτεῖτε τὰ ἐπουράνια, καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια ὑμῖν προστεθήσεται.“ πάντα γε τὰ συμβολικὰ καὶ τυπικὰ συγκρίσει τῶν ἀληθινῶν καὶ νοητῶν „μικρά“ ἐστι καὶ „ἐπίγεια“· καὶ εἰκὸς ὅτι ὁ θεῖος ἡμᾶς λόγος προκαλούμενος ἐπὶ τὸ μιμεῖσθαι τὰς τῶν ἁγίων εὐχὰς, ἵνʼ αἰτῶμεν αὐτὰς κατὰ τὸ ἀληθὲς ὧν ἐκεῖνοι ἐπετέλουν τυπικῶν, φησὶ „τὰ ἐπουράνια“ καὶ „μεγάλα, “ δεδηλωμένα διὰ τῶν περὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ μικρῶν πραγμάτων, λέγων· ὑμεῖς οἱ πνευματικοὶ εἶναι βουλόμενοι διὰ τῶν προσευχῶν αἰτήσατε („τὰ ἐπουράνια“ καὶ „μεγάλα“), ἵνʼ αὐτῶν τυχόντες ὡς ἐπουρανίων βασιλείαν οὐρανῶν κληρονομήσητε καὶ ὡς μεγάλων τῶν μεγίστων ἀγαθῶν ἀπολαύσητε, τὰ δὲ „ἐπίγεια“ καὶ „μικρὰ.“ ὧν διὰ τὰς σωματικὰς ἀνάγκας χρῄζετε, μέτρῳ τοῦ δέοντος ἐπιχορηγήσῃ ὑμῖν ὁ πατήρ.

English · Claude translation

Having interpreted these things with reference to the benefits that came to the saints through prayers, let us consider the saying: “Ask for the great things, and the small will be added to you; and ask for the heavenly things, and the earthly will be added to you.” All things symbolic and typical are “small” and “earthly” in comparison with the true and intelligible things; and it is likely that the divine Word, calling us to imitate the prayers of the saints so that we may ask in truth for what they obtained in type, speaks of “the heavenly” and “great” things signified through those about earthly and small matters, saying: “You who wish to be spiritual, ask through your prayers for ‘the heavenly’ and ‘great’ things, so that, obtaining them as heavenly, you may inherit the kingdom of heaven, and, as great, may enjoy the greatest goods; while the ‘earthly’ and ‘small’ things, which you need for bodily necessities, the Father will supply to you in due measure.”

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:330 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Scripture and canon

Notes

Translation notes

  • The saying is an unwritten saying of Jesus (agraphon) also quoted in 2.2 (compare Matt 6:33). The words put in the Word's mouth at the end are Origen's paraphrase.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 14.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/1/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 14.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/1/).

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