Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 29.11

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

Summary: We pray not to escape temptation but not to be overcome; Origen then asks how the good God can be said to “lead” anyone into temptation.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:386

χρὴ τοίνυν εὔχεσθαι οὐχ ἵνα μὴ πειρασθῶμεν (τοῦτο γὰρ ἀδύνατον) ἀλλʼ ἵνα μὴ ὑπὸ τοῦ πειρασμοῦ περιβληθῶμεν, ὅπερ πάσχουσιν οἱ ἐνεχόμενοι αὐτῷ καὶ νενικημένοι. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἔξω μὲν τῆς εὐχῆς γέγραπται „μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμὸν.“ ὅπερ ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων δύναταί πως εἶναι σαφὲς, ἐν δὲ τῇ εὐχῇ λέγειν ἡμᾶς δεῖ· „μὴ εἰσενέγκῃς ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμὸν“ τῷ πατρὶ θεῷ· ἄξιον ἰδεῖν, πῶς χρὴ νοεῖν τὸν θεὸν εἰσάγειν τὸν μὴ εὐξάμενον ἢ τὸν μὴ ἐπακουόμενον „εἰς“ τὸν „πειρασμόν.“ ἀπεμφαίνει γὰρ, τοῦ νικωμένου εἰσερχομένου „εἰς“ τὸν „πειρασμὸν“, τὸν θεὸν νομίζειν εἰσάγειν τινὰ „εἰς πειρασμὸν, “ οἱονεὶ τῷ νικᾶσθαι αὐτὸν παραδόντα. ἡ δʼ αὐτὴ ἀπέμφασις περιμένει καὶ τὸν ὅπως ποτὲ ἐξηγούμενον τὸ „εὔχεσθε μὴ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς πειρασμόν.“ εἰ γὰρ κακὸν τὸ ἐμπεσεῖν „εἰς πειρασμὸν, “ ὅπερ ἵνα μὴ πάθωμεν εὐχόμεθα, πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον νοεῖν τὸν ἀγαθὸν θεὸν, μὴ δυνάμενον „καρποὺς“ φέρειν „πονηροὺς, “ περιβάλλειν τινὰ τοῖς κακοῖς;

English · Claude translation

We must pray, then, not that we may not be tempted (for that is impossible), but that we may not be enveloped by temptation, as those are who are caught in it and conquered. Since, then, outside the prayer it is written that we should pray “not to enter into temptation,” which may be somewhat clear from what has been said, but in the prayer we must say to God the Father, “Do not bring us into temptation,” it is worth seeing how we must understand that God brings into “temptation” the one who does not pray or is not heard. For since the one who is conquered enters “into temptation,” it is incongruous to think that God brings anyone “into temptation,” as though handing him over to be conquered. And the same incongruity awaits anyone who interprets in any way “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” For if it is an evil to fall “into temptation,” which we pray not to suffer, how is it not absurd to think that the good God, who cannot bear “bad fruits,” envelops anyone in evils?

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:386 · 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

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations and allusions are Matt 26:41, Matt 6:13, and Matt 7:18.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 29.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/11/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 29.11 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/11/).

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