Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 14.3

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

Summary: Examples of supplication: Zechariah's prayer for a son, Moses' pleas for Israel, and the prayers of Mordecai and Esther.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:331

παραδείγματα δὲ τοῦ μὲν πρώτου ὁ Γαβριὴλ πρὸς τὸν Ζαχαρίαν, περὶ τῆς γενέσεως Ἰωάννου ὡς εἰκὸς εὐξάμενον. λόγος οὕτως ἔχων· „μὴ φοβοῦ, Ζαχαρία, διότι εἰσηκούσθη ἡ δέησίς σου, καὶ ἡ γυνή σου Ἐλισάβετ γεννήσει υἱόν σοι, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰωάννην, “ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ ἐπὶ τῇ μοσχοποιΐᾳ ἀναγεγραμμένα τὸν τρόπον τοῦτον· „καὶ ἐδεήθη Μωϋσῆς κατέναντι κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εἶπεν· ἵνα τί θυμοῖ ὀργῇ, κύριε, εἰς τὸν λαόν σου, οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν ἰσχύϊ μεγάλῃ;“ καὶ ἐν Δευτερονομίῳ· „καὶ ἐδεήθην ἔναντι κυρίου δεύτερον καθάπερ καὶ τὸ πρότερον τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέρας καὶ τεσσαράκοντα νύκτας (ἄρτον οὐκ ἔφαγον καὶ ὕδωρ οὐκ ἔπιον) περὶ πασῶν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ὑμῶν ὧν ἡμάρτετε, “ καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἐσθήρ· „Μαρδοχαῖος ἐδεήθη τοῦ θεοῦ, μνημονεύων πάντα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ κυρίου, καὶ εἶπε· κύριε κύριε βασιλεῦ παντοκράτορ, “ καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ Ἐσθὴρ „ἐδεῖτο κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ εἶπε· κύριε, ὁ βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν.“

English · Claude translation

Examples of the first are Gabriel's words to Zechariah, who, it seems, had prayed for the birth of John, which run thus: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your supplication has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John”; and what is recorded in Exodus at the making of the calf, in this way: “And Moses made supplication before the Lord God and said, Why, O Lord, does your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great strength?”; and in Deuteronomy: “And I made supplication before the Lord a second time, as before, forty days and forty nights (I neither ate bread nor drank water), for all your sins which you had sinned”; and in Esther: “Mordecai made supplication to God, remembering all the works of the Lord, and said: O Lord, Lord, King almighty,” and Esther herself “made supplication to the Lord God of Israel and said: O Lord, our King.”

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:331 · 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
Extrabiblical texts
  • Add Esth 13:8–9 (Additions to Esther) · quotation, high confidence
  • Add Esth 14:3 (Additions to Esther) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Luke 1:13, Exod 32:11, Deut 9:18, and Add Esth 13:8–9 and 14:3 (4:17a–b and 4:17l LXX).

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 14.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/3/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 14.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/3/).

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