On Prayer 3.1 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Koetschau 2:304

Πρῶτον δὴ τὸ ὄνομα τῆς εὐχῆς ὅσον ἐπὶ παρατηρήσει τῇ ἐμῇ εὑρίσκω κείμενον, ἡνίκα ὁ Ἰακὼβ, φυγὰς γενόμενος τῆς ὀργῆς „τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ“ ἑαυτοῦ Ἠσαῦ, ἀπῄει „εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν“ κατὰ τὰς ὑποθήκας Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ῥεβέκκας. οὕτω δὲ ἔχει ἡ λέξις· „καὶ ηὔξατο Ἰακὼβ εὐχὴν, λέγων· ἐὰν ᾖ κύριος ὁ θεὸς μετʼ ἐμοῦ καὶ διαφυλάξῃ με ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ταύτῃ. ᾗ ἐγὼ πορεύομαι, καὶ δώῃ μοι ἄρτον φαγεῖν καὶ ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι καὶ ἀποστρέψῃ με μετὰ σωτηρίας εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ πατρός μου· καὶ ἔσται κύριός μοι εἰς θεὸν, καὶ ὁ λίθος οὗτος, ὃν ἔστησα στήλην, ἔσται μοι οἶκος θεοῦ, καὶ πάντων ὧν ἐάν μοι δῷς δεκάτην ἀποδεκατώσω αὐτά σοι.“............

English · Claude translation

First, then, as far as my observation goes, I find the word euchē used when Jacob, having become a fugitive from the anger of his “brother” Esau, was going away “to Mesopotamia” according to the instructions of Isaac and Rebekah. The wording is this: “And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: If the Lord God will be with me and keep me on this way on which I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, and bring me back in safety to my father's house, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be to me a house of God; and of all that you give me I will give a tenth to you.” …

About this passage

Source

Koetschau 2:304 · 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; the problem in this passage is discussed in the notes.

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

Gen 27:43 · allusion, high confidence
Gen 28:2 · allusion, medium confidence
Gen 28:20 · quotation, high confidence
Gen 28:21 · quotation, high confidence
Gen 28:22 · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

Chapters 3–4 turn on two Greek words: εὐχή (euchē), which means both “vow” and “prayer,” and προσευχή (proseuchē), “prayer.” Where Origen discusses the word itself it is transliterated. The references are Gen 27:43–28:5 and Gen 28:20–22. There is a gap in the manuscript at the end of the section (marked “…”).

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 3.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/3/1/).

Plain text

Origen, Or. 3.1 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/3/1/).