On Prayer 27.7 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Koetschau 2:366–367

τί δὲ καὶ τὸ „ἐπιούσιον, “ ἤδη κατανοητέον. πρῶτον δὲ τοῦτο ἰστέον, ὅτι ἡ λέξις ἡ „ἐπιούσιον“ παρʼ οὐδενὶ τῶν Ἑλλήνων οὔτε τῶν σοφῶν ὠνόμασται οὔτε ἐν τῇ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν συνηθείᾳ τέτριπται, ἀλλʼ ἔοικε πεπλάσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν εὐαγγελιστῶν. συνηνέχθησαν γοῦν ὁ Ματθαῖος καὶ ὁ Λουκᾶς περὶ αὐτῆς μηδαμῶς διαφερούσης, αὐτὴν ἐξενηνοχότες. τὸ ὅμοιον δὲ καὶ ἐπʼ ἄλλων οἱ ἑρμηνεύοντες τὰ Ἑβραϊκὰ πεποιήκασιν. τίς γάρ ποτε Ἑλλήνων ἐχρήσατο τῇ „ἐνωτίζου“ προσηγορίᾳ ἢ τῇ „ἀκουτίσθητι“ ἀντὶ τοῦ „εἰς τὰ ὦτα δέξαι“ καὶ „ἀκοῦσαι ποίει σ(ε)“; ἰσομοία τῇ „ἐπιούσιον“ προσηγορίᾳ ἐστὶ παρὰ Μωϋσεῖ γεγραμμένη, ὑπὸ θεοῦ εἰρημένη· „ὑμεῖς δὲ ἔσεσθέ μοι“ „λαὸς περιούσιος.“ καὶ δοκεῖ μοι ἑκατέρα λέξις παρὰ τὴν οὐσίαν πεποιῆσθαι, ἡ μὲν τὸν εἰς τὴν οὐσίαν συμβαλλόμενον ἄρτον δηλοῦσα, ἡ δὲ τὸν περὶ τὴν οὐσίαν καταγινόμενον λαὸν καὶ κοινωνοῦντα αὐτῇ σημαίνουσα.

English · Claude translation

Now we must consider what “daily” (epiousios) means. First, it must be known that the word epiousios is used by no Greek writer, whether among the learned, nor is it current in the everyday speech of ordinary people, but it seems to have been coined by the evangelists. At any rate Matthew and Luke agreed in using it, without any difference. The translators of the Hebrew Scriptures did the same in other cases. For what Greek ever used the word enōtizou (“give ear”) or akoutisthēti (“be made to hear”) instead of “receive into your ears” and “cause yourself to hear”? A word similar to epiousios is written by Moses, spoken by God: “But you shall be to me” “a people for my own possession (periousios).” And it seems to me that each word is formed from ousia (“being”): the one showing the bread that contributes to our being, the other signifying the people that is occupied with being and shares in it.

About this passage

Source

Koetschau 2:366–367 · 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

Matt 6:11 · quotation, high confidence
Luke 11:3 · quotation, high confidence
Exod 19:5 · quotation, high confidence
Titus 2:14 · echo, low confidence

Topics

Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

The Greek words are ἐπιούσιος, ἐνωτίζου, ἀκουτίσθητι, περιούσιος, and οὐσία. The quotation is Exod 19:5 (LXX; compare Titus 2:14). Origen's derivation of ἐπιούσιος from οὐσία is one of several ancient explanations; he mentions another, from ἐπιέναι (“to come”), in 27.13. The word is still debated.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 27.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/27/7/).

Plain text

Origen, Or. 27.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/27/7/).