On Prayer 14.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Koetschau 2:330–331

ἐπεὶ δὲ παρὰ τῷ ἀποστόλῳ τέσσαρα ὀνόματα κατὰ τεσσάρων πραγμάτων, γειτνιώντων τῷ περὶ τῆς εὐχῆς λόγῳ, ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ πρὸς Τιμόθεον εἴρηται, χρήσιμον ἔσται παραθέμενον αὐτοῦ τὴν λέξιν ἰδεῖν (εἰ) ἕκαστον τῶν τεσσάρων, κυρίως ἂν νοούμενον, ἐκλάβοιμεν καλῶς. λέγει δὲ οὕτως· „παρακαλῶ οὖν πρῶτον πάντων ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις, προσευχὰς, ἐντεύξεις, εὐχαριστίας ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. ἡγοῦμαι τοίνυν δέησιν μὲν εἶναι τὴν ἐλλείποντός τινι μεθʼ ἱκεσίας περὶ τοῦ ἐκείνου τυχεῖν ἀναπεμπομένην εὐχὴν, τὴν δὲ προσευχὴν τὴν μετὰ δοξολογίας περὶ μειζόνων με(??)δγμαίστερον ἀναπεμπομένην ὑπό του, ἔντευξιν δὲ τὴν ὑπὸ παῤῥησίαν τι(??)είονα ἔχοντος περί τινων ἀξίωσιν πρὸς θεὸν, εὐχαριστίαν δὲ τὴν ἐπὶ τῷ τετευχέναι ἀγαθῶν ἀπὸ θεοῦ μετʼ εὐχῶν ἀνθομολόγησιν, ἀντειλημμένου τοῦ ἀνθομολογουμένου τοῦ μεγέθους ἢ τῷ εὐεργετηθέντι μεγέθους φαινομένου τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν γεγενημένης εὐεργεσίας.

English · Claude translation

And since four names for four things akin to the subject of prayer are used by the apostle in the First Letter to Timothy, it will be useful to set out his words and see whether we rightly understand each of the four when taken in its proper sense. He says: “I urge, then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,” and so on. I think, then, that supplication is the prayer sent up by someone who lacks something, with entreaty that he may obtain it; that prayer is that which is sent up by someone with glorification, about greater things, in a more exalted manner; that intercession is a request to God about certain things by someone who has somewhat greater boldness; and that thanksgiving is the acknowledgment, with prayers, for having obtained good things from God, when the one acknowledging has grasped the greatness of the benefit done to him, or when it appears great to the one who has received it.

About this passage

Source

Koetschau 2:330–331 · 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

1 Tim 2:1 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

The quotation is 1 Tim 2:1. The Greek words are δέησις (supplication), προσευχή (prayer), ἔντευξις (intercession), and εὐχαριστία (thanksgiving). Two words in the definitions are partly unreadable in the digital text (marked “(??)”); “in a more exalted manner” and “somewhat greater boldness” follow the probable readings.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 14.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/2/).

Plain text

Origen, Or. 14.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/2/).