Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.224–3.237

Origen · Commentary on the Song of Songs · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · Caesarea · 14 passages

Latin text: Migne, PG 13 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 13 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume; section divisions and supplied lines: Baehrens, GCS 33 (1925), public domain).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

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Chapter 3

3.224PG 13:183b–185b

Puto enim quia sicut qui mortem Christi recipiunt, et mortificant membra sua super terram, consortes efficiuntur similitudinis mortis ejus; ita et hi qui virtutem Spiritus sancti recipiunt, et sanctificantur ex eo, et donis ejus replentur, quia ipse in specie columbae apparuit, etiam ipsi columbae fiant, ut de terrenis et corporeis locis evolent ad coelestia pennis sancti Spiritus sublevati. Quod si autem tempus opportunum quo haec fieri possint, consequenter inseruit: Quia ecce hiems, inquit, transiit, pluvia abiit. Non enim ante anima Verbo Dei jungitur et sociatur, nisi omnis ex ea hiems perturbationum ac vitiorum procella discesserit, et ultra jam non fluctuet, et circumferatur omni vento doctrinae. Ubi ergo ex anima haec cuncta discesserint, desideriorumque ab eadem tempestas effugerit, tunc incipient in ea flores vernare virtutum, tunc ejus menti et tempus putationis adveniet, et si quid superfluum et minus utile fuerit in ejus sensibus vel intellectibus resecabitur, et ad gemmas spiritalis intelligentiae revocabitur. Tunc etiam vocem turturis audiet, illius sine dubio sapientiae quam dispensator verbi loquitur inter perfectos, sapientiae Dei altioris quae abscondita est in mysterio. Hoc namque indicat appellatio turturis. Haec namque avis in secretioribus et remotis a multitudine locis vitam transigit, aut deserta montium diligens, aut secreta silvarum, procul semper a multitudine posita, et a turbis aliena. Quid autem est aliud quod opportunitati temporis hujus amoenitatique conveniat? Ficus, inquit, produxit germina sua. Nondum quidem fructus ipsius Spiritus, qui sunt gaudium, charitas, pax, et caetera. Sed jam tamen germina eorum proferre incipit spiritus hominis, qui in ipso est singulariter ficulnea nominatus. Sicut, enim generaliter in Ecclesia diversae arbores singulae quaeque animae credentium intelliguntur, de quibus dicitur : Omnis arbor quam non plantavit Pater meus caelestis eradicabitur . Et iterum Paulus, qui se dicit adjutorem Dei esse in agricultura Dei, ait etiam ipse : Ego plantavi, Apollo rigavit. Sed et Dominus in Evangeliis : Aut facite arborem bonam, et fructum ejus bonum; aut arborem malam, et fructum ejus malum. Sicut ergo generaliter in Ecclesia singuli quique credentium diversae arbores intelliguntur, ita et in unaquaque anima diversae virtutes et efficaciae ejus diversae arbores intelliguntur.

For I think that just as those who receive the death of Christ and mortify their members upon earth become partakers of the likeness of his death, so too those who receive the power of the Holy Spirit, are sanctified by him and filled with his gifts become doves themselves, because he appeared in the form of a dove, so that, raised up on the wings of the Holy Spirit, they may fly from earthly and bodily places to heavenly ones. And next he inserted the opportune time at which these things can happen: “For behold the winter,” he says, “has passed, the rain has gone.” For the soul is not joined and united to the Word of God unless every winter of disturbances and storm of vices has departed from it, and it no longer wavers and is carried about by every wind of doctrine. When, then, all these have departed from the soul, and the tempest of desires has fled from it, then the flowers of virtues will begin to bloom in it, then the time of pruning too will come to its mind, and whatever is superfluous and less useful in its senses or understandings will be cut away and called back to the buds of spiritual understanding. Then too it will hear the voice of the turtledove, without doubt that wisdom which the steward of the word speaks among the perfect, the higher wisdom of God which is hidden in a mystery. For this is what the name of the turtledove indicates: this bird spends its life in more secret places remote from the crowd, loving either the deserts of the mountains or the recesses of the woods, always far from the multitude and a stranger to crowds. And what else is there that suits the fitness and pleasantness of this season? “The fig tree,” he says, “has put forth its shoots.” Not yet indeed the fruits of the Spirit himself, which are joy, love, peace and the rest; but now the spirit of man, which in man is in particular called a fig tree, begins to put forth their shoots. For just as in the Church generally each of the souls of believers is understood as different trees, of which it is said, “Every tree which my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up”; and again Paul, who calls himself God's helper in God's husbandry, himself also says, “I planted, Apollos watered”; and the Lord in the Gospels, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or the tree bad and its fruit bad”: just as, then, in the Church generally each of the believers is understood as different trees, so too in each soul its different virtues and powers are understood as different trees.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 6:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 15:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:33 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Those who receive the Spirit become doves; when the winter of vices passes the soul flowers, is pruned, hears hidden wisdom (the turtledove), and puts forth the first shoots of the Spirit's fruit.

Rom 6:5; Col 3:5; Matt 3:16; Song 2:11–13; Eph 4:14; 1 Cor 2:6–7; Gal 5:22 (Migne's order “joy, love, peace”; Baehrens has the biblical order); Matt 15:13; 1 Cor 3:9; 1 Cor 3:6; Matt 12:33. “A stranger to crowds” (aliena), lost in the scan, and the Song quotation garbled with a footnote crumb are restored from Baehrens. Baehrens reads “figuratively” for “in particular” (singulariter).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip; missing space; OCR slip; words joined; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: produxit germina sua. Nondum); OCR slips and footnote marker; OCR slips and footnote markers; footnote marker; stray mark; stray mark and footnote marker; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the word): consortes ciliciuntur → consortes efficiuntur; quivirtutcm → qui virtutem; sanetitirantur → sanctificantur; replentur, η quia → replentur, quia; columba: fiant → columbae fiant; Quia eccehicm. inquit, → Quia ecce hiems, inquit,; jam nou fluctuet → jam non fluctuet; vento doctrinae “. → vento doctrinae.; haec clncta discesserint,desideriorumque → haec cuncta discesserint, desideriorumque; efl'ugerit → effugerit; flores vernare rirlatum → flores vernare virtutum; minus utile luerit → minus utile fuerit; revocabitur. ' Tunc etiam vocem (7A) turturis → revocabitur. Tunc etiam vocem turturis; sapientia: Dei altioris → sapientiae Dei altioris; Hac namque avis → Haec namque avis; et a turbis Quid autem → et a turbis aliena. Quid autem; autmnitatique → amoenitatique; Ficus, inquit, produxi; gemina σιω, Notandum quidem fructus ipsius Spiritus, qui sunt gaudium, eharitas, pax, et extera. → Ficus, inquit, produxit germina sua. Nondum quidem fructus ipsius Spiritus, qui sunt gaudium, charitas, pax, et caetera.; diversa arbores singula quaeque anima: credentium → diversae arbores singulae quaeque animae credentium; de qnibus → de quibus; Apollo ri- ρ gerit “. → Apollo rigavit.; Aut facile ί arborem bonum, et fructum ejus bonum; aut arborem malum,“ fructum ejus malum “. → Aut facite arborem bonam, et fructum ejus bonum; aut arborem malam, et fructum ejus malum.; in unaquaque anitna → in unaquaque anima; virtutes eflieacia ejus diversa: arbores → virtutes et efficaciae ejus diversae arbores.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.224 (PG 13:183b–185b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-224). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 13, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lost lines supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, 1925, where noted); cited by book and the page of Baehrens's edition; no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was re-read against the Latin.

3.225PG 13:185b–186b

Est ergo et in anima ficus quaedam quae producit germen suum: est et vitis quae floreat et reddat odorem suum. Cujus vitis palmites purgat pater caelestis agricola, ut fructum plurimum afferant. Sed haec vitis primo per odoris suavitatem, quae ex flore redditur, laetificat odoratum secundum eum, qui dicebat: Quia Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco. Haec ergo initia virtutum videns sermo Dei in anima vocat eam ad semetipsum, ut festinet et exeat et abjiciens cuncta corporea veniat ad eum, ut perfectionis ejus particeps fiat. Idcirco igitur quasi adhuc jacenti, et in rebus corporeis incumbenti primo dicit : Exsurge, et quasi quae statim obedierit et obsecuta sit vocanti, collaudatur ab eo et audit :Proxima mea, et columba mea. Et post haec ne ad tentationum turbines trepidaret, annuntiat ei quod hiems discesserit, et pluvia transierit, et abierit sibi. Bene autem vitiorum et peccatorum naturam uno miro sermone prolato significavit, ut hujusmodi diceret hiemem et pluviam, quae ex vitiorum delicto tempestateque descendat, sibi abiisse indicans, et per hoc nullam esse substantiam peccatorum. Non enim decidentia de homine vitia ad aliquam aliam substantiam peccatorum congregantur, sed sibi abeunt, et in semetipsa resoluta evanescunt, atque in nihilum rediguntur. Et ideo dixit, quia abiit sibi. Fit ergo tranquillitas animae apparente ei Verbo Dei, et cessante peccato; et ita demum florente vinea incipient virtutes atque arbusta bonorum operum fructum germinare.

There is, then, in the soul too a certain fig tree which puts forth its shoot; there is also a vine which flowers and gives its fragrance. The branches of this vine the heavenly Father, the husbandman, prunes, that they may bear much fruit. But this vine first, by the sweetness of fragrance given off from its flower, gladdens the sense of smell, after him who said, “For we are the good fragrance of Christ in every place.” Seeing, then, these beginnings of virtues in the soul, the Word of God calls it to himself, that it may hasten and come out and, casting off all bodily things, come to him, that it may become a partaker of his perfection. For this reason, then, he first says to it, as to one still lying down and leaning on bodily things, “Arise”; and as one that has at once obeyed and followed him who calls, it is praised by him and hears, “My near one, and my dove.” And after this, lest it tremble at the whirlwinds of temptations, he announces to it that the winter has departed and the rain has passed and gone away to itself. And well has he signified the nature of vices and sins in one wonderful expression, saying that such winter and rain, which descends from the fault and tempest of vices, has gone away to itself, indicating by this that sins have no substance. For vices falling away from a man are not gathered into some other substance of sins, but go away to themselves, and dissolved in themselves they vanish and are reduced to nothing. And therefore he said, “It has gone away to itself.” There comes, then, a calm to the soul when the Word of God appears to it and sin ceases; and so at last, when the vineyard flowers, the virtues and the shrubs of good works will begin to sprout fruit.

Song 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · John 15:1 (allusion, high confidence) · John 15:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul's fig tree and vine are its first virtues; the rain 'gone away to itself' shows that sin has no substance and vanishes when the Word appears.

John 15:1–2; 2 Cor 2:15; Song 2:10–13. The teaching that evil has no substance is Origen's, translated as written. The opening sentences, given in the staging from Baehrens, are cleaned of OCR slips and quotation marks by logged correction.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slip and stray marks; OCR slips and quotation marks in the supplied Baehrens text; stray letter; word split): Est ergo et in anima licus quredam qua producit germen suum : estet vitis qua: et reddat odorem suum. Cujus vitis palmiciens purgat >pater* caelestis >agricola<, ut frucfcum plurinuum afforaut Sed liaec >vitis- primo per odoris suauitatem, quae ex >flore* redditur, Laetificat odoratum secundum eum, qui dicebah tquia Cbristi bonus odor sunius in omni Iococ Haec ergo initia virtu- • tuu yideus scnuo l)ei in aninia vocat eaiu ad seroet insuru, iit fcstinofc et cxeat et ahicions cuncta corpora venit ad eum, → Est ergo et in anima ficus quaedam quae producit germen suum: est et vitis quae floreat et reddat odorem suum. Cujus vitis palmites purgat pater caelestis agricola, ut fructum plurimum afferant. Sed haec vitis primo per odoris suavitatem, quae ex flore redditur, laetificat odoratum secundum eum, qui dicebat: Quia Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco. Haec ergo initia virtutum videns sermo Dei in anima vocat eam ad semetipsum, ut festinet et exeat et abjiciens cuncta corporea veniat ad eum,; particeps flat. → particeps fiat.; Proπὶηια mea → Proxima mea; Et post [nec ne → Et post haec ne; decidentia _ de 'bomine → decidentia de homine; congregantur,.scd sibi → congregantur, sed sibi; in se, metipsa → in semetipsa; Eit ergo → Fit ergo; cessante peccatoz; → cessante peccato;.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.225 (PG 13:185b–186b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-225). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.226PG 13:186b

Sed nunc iterum Christus haec loquitur ad Ecclesiam, et in anni circulum omne praesentis saeculi spatium ponit. Et per hiemem quidem illud indicat tempus, in quo vel Aegyptios grando et turbines ac reliqua decem plagarum verbera flagellabant; vel cum diversa bella perferebat Israel; vel etiam cum ipsi Salvatori restitit, et incredulitatis turbine correptus, naufragio fidei submersus est. Ubi ergo illorum delicto salus gentibus facta est, vocat nunc ad se Ecclesiam, dicitque ei : Exsurge, et veni ad me, quia jam hiems quae submersit incredulos, et vos in ignorantia reprimebat, abscessit. Sed et pluvia pertransiit, id est jam non mandabo nubibus, prophetis scilicet, ut pluant pluviam Verbi super terras; sed ipsa vox turturis, hoc est ipsa Dei sapientia loquetur in terris, et dicet: Ipse qui loquebar adsum . Flores ergo credentium populorum , et orientium Ecclesiarum apparuerunt in terra. Sed et putationis tempus per fidem meae passionis et resurrectionis advenit. Amputantur enim et exsecantur ab hominibus peccata, cum in baptismo donatur remissio peccatorum. Vox quidem turturis, ut diximus, jam non per diversos prophetas, sed per os ipsius sapientiae Dei auditur in terris. Et ficulnea germinat, quae potest in fructibus sancti Spiritus accipi, qui nunc primum aperiuntur et demonstrantur Ecclesiae; vel etiam in littera legis quae ante adventum Christi clausa erat et constricta, et indumento quodam intelligentiae carnalis obtecta. Ex praesentia vero ejus et adventu prolatum est ex ea germen spiritalis intelligentiae, et sensus viridis et vitalis qui in ea tegebatur apparuit : ut Ecclesia quae tegebatur a Christo in ficulnea , id est in lege , non appareat arida, nec occidentem litteram sequi, sed florentem et vivificantem spiritum. Sed et vites florere dicuntur, et dedisse odorem suum.

But now again Christ says these things to the Church, and sets the whole span of the present age as the circle of a year. By winter he indicates that time in which hail and whirlwinds and the other blows of the ten plagues scourged the Egyptians; or when Israel endured various wars; or also when it resisted the Saviour himself and, caught by the whirlwind of unbelief, was sunk in a shipwreck of faith. When, then, through their transgression salvation came to the Gentiles, he now calls the Church to himself and says to her: Arise and come to me, for now the winter which sank the unbelieving and held you down in ignorance has departed. And the rain too has passed; that is, I will no longer command the clouds, namely the prophets, to rain the rain of the Word upon the earth; but the voice of the turtledove itself, that is, the Wisdom of God herself, will speak on earth and say, “I who spoke am here.” The flowers, then, of the believing peoples and of the rising Churches have appeared in the land. And the time of pruning has come through faith in my passion and resurrection. For sins are pruned and cut away from men when remission of sins is given in baptism. The voice of the turtledove, as we said, is heard on earth no longer through various prophets but through the mouth of the Wisdom of God herself. And the fig tree buds, which can be taken as the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which are now for the first time opened and shown to the Church; or also as the letter of the law, which before Christ's coming was closed and bound and covered with a garment of fleshly understanding. But from his presence and coming the shoot of spiritual understanding has been brought forth from it, and the green and living sense that was hidden in it has appeared; so that the Church, which was hidden by Christ in the fig tree, that is, in the law, may not appear dry nor follow the letter that kills, but the spirit that flowers and gives life. And the vines too are said to flower and to have given their fragrance.

Song 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 9:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 1:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 5:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 52:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Applied to Christ and the Church: winter is the age of plagues, wars and Israel's unbelief; spring is the Gentile Church, the pruning of sins in baptism, and the spiritual sense springing from the law.

Exod 9:23; Rom 11:11; 1 Tim 1:19; Isa 5:6; Isa 52:6; Song 2:11–13; 2 Cor 3:6. The reading of Israel's unbelief and the Church of the Gentiles is Origen's, translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray marks; word split; words joined): ha'c loquitur ad Ecclesium → haec loquitur ad Ecclesiam; szeculi → saeculi; itt quo vel ASgyptios → in quo vel Aegyptios; perferebat lsrael → perferebat Israel; vel etiam eum ipsi → vel etiam cum ipsi; restitit, ct incredulitatis → restitit, et incredulitatis; etvos in ignorantia → et vos in ignorantia; id estjam → id est jam; pr0phetis → prophetis; die cet → dicet; Ecelcsiarum → Ecclesiarum; jam non ί) per → jam non per; sapientia: Dei auditur → sapientiae Dei auditur; Et liculnea germinat, qua: → Et ficulnea germinat, quae; Ecclesia: : → Ecclesiae;; intelligentiie → intelligentiae.

Topics: Baptism

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.226 (PG 13:186b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-226). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.227PG 13:186b–188a

Possunt quidem et diversae Ecclesiae quae per orbem terrae habentur, vites dici florentes, aut vineae. Vinea enim Domini Sabaoth domus Israel est, et domus Juda dilecta novella. Istae ergo vineae cum primo accedunt ad fidem florere dicuntur; cum vero per religionem operum suorum suavitate adornantur, odorem suum dedisse dicuntur; non sine causa puto quod non dixerit, odorem dederunt, sed odorem suum : ut ostenderet inesse unicuique animae vim possibilitatis et arbitrii libertatem, qua possit agere omne quod bonum est. Sed quia hoc naturae bonum praevaricationis occasione decerptum, vel ad ignominiam, vel lasciviam fuerat inflexum, ubi per gratiam reparatur, et per doctrinam Verbi Dei restituitur, odorem reddit sine dubio illum, quem primus conditor Deus indiderat, sed peccati culpa subtraxerat. Possunt autem et vites vel vineae intelligi virtutes caelestes et angelicae, quae hominibus largiuntur odorem suum, id est doctrinae et institutionis bonum, quo instruunt et imbuunt animas, donec ad perfectionem veniant, et incipiant capaces fieri Dei. Sicut et Apostolus ad Hebraeos scribens dicit : Nonne omnes sunt ministeriales spiritus in ministerium missi propter eos, qui haereditatem capiunt salutis? Et ideo dicuntur ab ipsis quasi primum florem et odorem bonorum operum capere homines : ipsos vero fructus vitis ab eo sperare, qui dixit: Non bibam de generatione uitis hujus, donec bibam illud vobiscum novum in regno Patris mei. Ergo perfecti flores et fructus ab ipso sperandi sunt: initia vero et, ut ita dieam, proficiendi suavitas potest a caelestibus virtutibus ministrari, vel certe per eos qui dicebant, ut supra diximus, quoniam Christi bonus odor sumus Deo in omni loco. Sed et alio modo possumus adhuc intelligere haec quae habentur in manibus, ut dicamus veluti prophetiam quamdam videri ad Ecclesiam factam, per quam vocetur ad repromissiones futuras, ut quasi post consummationem saeculi cum tempus resurrectionis advenerit dicatur ei : Exsurge. Et quia sermo hic statim opus resurrectionis designat, tanquam ex resurrectione clarior et splendidior effecta, invitatur ad regnum, et dicitur ei: Veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea, quia hiems transiit. Hiemem sine dubio huius praesentis vitae procellas et turbines nominans, quibus humana vita tentationum procellis agitatur.

The various Churches throughout the world can also be called flowering vines, or vineyards. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the house of Judah his beloved young plant. These vineyards, then, when they first come to faith, are said to flower; but when through religion they are adorned with the sweetness of their works, they are said to have given their fragrance. Not without cause, I think, did he say not “they gave fragrance” but “their own fragrance”: to show that in each soul there is a power of capacity and a freedom of choice by which it can do everything that is good. But since this good of nature, plucked away by the occasion of transgression, had been bent either to disgrace or to wantonness, when it is restored through grace and renewed through the teaching of the Word of God, it gives back without doubt that fragrance which God the first creator had placed in it, but which the guilt of sin had taken away. The vines or vineyards can also be understood as the heavenly and angelic powers, which bestow their fragrance on men, that is, the good of teaching and instruction, with which they instruct and imbue souls until they come to perfection and begin to become capable of God. As the Apostle too, writing to the Hebrews, says: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” And therefore men are said to receive from them as it were the first flower and fragrance of good works, but to hope for the very fruits of the vine from him who said, “I will not drink of the fruit of this vine until I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father.” The perfect flowers and fruits, then, are to be hoped for from him; but the beginnings and, so to speak, the sweetness of progress can be ministered by the heavenly powers, or certainly by those who said, as we said above, “For we are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place.” But we can also understand what we have in hand in yet another way, so as to say that it appears to be a kind of prophecy made to the Church, by which she is called to the future promises; so that, as it were after the consummation of the age, when the time of resurrection has come, it is said to her, “Arise.” And since this word at once signifies the work of resurrection, she, made brighter and more splendid as it were by the resurrection, is invited to the kingdom, and it is said to her, “Come, my near one, my fair one, my dove, for the winter has passed”: naming as winter without doubt the storms and whirlwinds of this present life, by which human life is tossed by the tempests of temptations.

Isa 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:29 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:11 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The vines are the Churches, whose 'own fragrance' shows the soul's free choice restored by grace; or the angelic powers; or the verse foretells the Church's call at the resurrection.

Isa 5:7; Song 2:13; Heb 1:14; Matt 26:29; 2 Cor 2:15; Song 2:10–11. The statement on free choice (arbitrii libertas) restored by grace is translated as written. Scan debris is removed, and the words “of this present life the storms and whirlwinds,” garbled in the Migne scan, are restored from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and footnote marker; OCR slips; OCR slips; garbled words restored from Baehrens, GCS 33; footnote marker; stray mark; stray mark and OCR slip; stray marks from the scan; stray marks from the scan; word split): Ecclesia! quae → Ecclesiae quae; vites diei florentes → vites dici florentes; novella ". → novella.; Istat ergo vineae → Istae ergo vineae; nt ostenderet inesse unicuique animm → ut ostenderet inesse unicuique animae; hoc natura: bonum → hoc naturae bonum; tibi per gratiam → ubi per gratiam; vites vel vincte → vites vel vineae; virtutes cmlcsles → virtutes caelestes; doctrina: et institutionis → doctrinae et institutionis; [nereditatem capiunt salutis ‘3? → haereditatem capiunt salutis?; robiscum → vobiscum; Patris mei δ’. ergo perfecti → Patris mei. Ergo perfecti; virtu- si nm m:.~.:m......: . - tibus ministrari → virtutibus ministrari; dicebant, ut ..----_2_, tu ο ,ο supra diximus → dicebant, ut supra diximus; omni loco ο. → omni loco.; possumus “adhuc intelligere hmc → possumus adhuc intelligere haec; repromissioncs → repromissiones; eum tempus resurrectionis → cum tempus resurrectionis; efl‘ecta → effecta; columbo mea → columba mea; Hiemem siue dubio huius ""33 Pmceuas οι turma“ num“ nans, quibus → Hiemem sine dubio huius praesentis vitae procellas et turbines nominans, quibus.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.227 (PG 13:186b–188a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-227). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.228PG 13:188a–188b

Transiit ergo hiems ista cum pluviis suis, abiit sibi. Sibi unusquisque egit in hac vita omne quod egit. Principium vero repromissionum futurarum flores intelligantur, qui apparuerunt in terra. Securim quoque ad radicem arboris positam in consummationem seculi, ut excidat omnem arborem non facientem fructum bonum, tempus putationis intellige. Vocem vero turturis, quae in illa terra repromissionis auditur, quam mansueti in haereditate suscipient, Christi personam facie ad faciem, et non jam per speculum et in aenigmate docentis adverte. Ficulnea vero quae germen suum producit, totius congregationis justorum fructus habeatur. Istae vero et sanctae et beatae angelicae virtutes, quibus electi quique et beati ex resurrectione sociabuntur, qui erunt sicut angeli Dei, ipsae sunt vites et florentes vinea, quae odorem suum unicuique animae, et gratiam quam a Conditore suscepit prius, et nunc iterum perditam recuperavit, impertiunt, suavitateque caelestis odoris fetorem tandem abjectae ab eis mortalitatis corruptionisque depellunt. Vers. 13, 14. Surge, et veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea, in velaminibus petrae juxta promurale. Ostende mihi faciem tuam, et auditam fac mihi vocem tuam, quoniam vox tua suavis est, et facies tua speciosa. Secundum propositi dramatis ordinem sponsus, qui saliens super montes et exsiliens super colles ad sponsam venerat, prospiciens eam, et intuens per fenestras, secundo jam loco dicit ad eam : Surge, veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea. Nunc vero addit etiam hoc ut ostenderet ei locum ad quem venire debeat, qui locus sub velamento et tegmine saxi sit positus.

That winter, then, has passed with its rains, and has gone away to itself; for each one has done to himself, in this life, everything he has done. And let the flowers that have appeared in the land be understood as the beginning of the future promises. The axe too, laid at the root of the tree at the consummation of the age to cut down every tree that does not bear good fruit, understand as the time of pruning. And the voice of the turtledove, which is heard in that land of promise which the meek will receive as an inheritance, take as the person of Christ teaching face to face and no longer through a mirror and in an enigma. And let the fig tree that puts forth its shoot be held to be the fruit of the whole congregation of the righteous. And those holy and blessed angelic powers, with whom all the elect and blessed will be associated after the resurrection, who will be like the angels of God: these are the flowering vines and the vineyards, which impart to each soul their fragrance, and the grace which it first received from the Creator and has now recovered after losing it; and with the sweetness of heavenly fragrance they drive away the stench of mortality and corruption, now at last cast off from them. Verses 13–14: “Arise and come, my near one, my fair one, my dove, in the coverings of the rock beside the outer wall. Show me your face, and let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet and your face is fair.” According to the order of the drama set before us, the Bridegroom, who had come to the Bride leaping upon the mountains and springing over the hills, looking at her and gazing through the windows, says to her now for the second time, “Arise, come, my near one, my fair one, my dove.” But now he adds this too, to show her the place to which she must come, a place set under the covering and shelter of a rock.

Song 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 22:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Read eschatologically, the flowers are the first promises, the pruning the final judgement, the turtledove Christ teaching face to face; then the literal sense of Song 2:13–14 is given.

Matt 3:10; Matt 5:5; 1 Cor 13:12; Matt 22:30; Song 2:13–14; Song 2:8–10. Words lost in the Migne scan (“be understood, which have appeared in the land … too”) and the garbled lemma are supplied from Baehrens; Migne's “in the letters of promise” is read with Baehrens as “in that land of promise.”

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (Baehrens: in illa terra); OCR slips; OCR slips; lost words supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33; footnote marker; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; OCR slip; word split; word split; OCR slip): futurarum flores. Seeurim ad radicem → futurarum flores intelligantur, qui apparuerunt in terra. Securim quoque ad radicem; in litteris repromissionis → in illa terra repromissionis; in hmreditate → in haereditate; docentis adverte δι. → docentis adverte.; Fieulnca → Ficulnea; justorum fruetus → justorum fructus; Istat vero et sancta: et beata: angelicae → Istae vero et sanctae et beatae angelicae; cor. ruptionisquc → corruptionisque; Vers. l5, M. Surge, et veni, proxima Μοισοluinba mea, in velaminibus petra: juxta promurale. Ostende milii faciem tuam, et auditam fac mihi rorem tuam, quoniam eoa: tua suavis est, et .speciosa. → Vers. 13, 14. Surge, et veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea, in velaminibus petrae juxta promurale. Ostende mihi faciem tuam, et auditam fac mihi vocem tuam, quoniam vox tua suavis est, et facies tua speciosa.; ut ostenv deret → ut ostenderet.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.228 (PG 13:188a–188b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-228). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.229PG 13:188b–189d

Sit autem idem locus non tam juxta murum, quam juxta promurale quoddam. Promurale autem dicitur, cum extra muros qui ambiunt civitatem, alius ducitur murus, et est murus ante murum. Tum deinde quasi si reverentiae causa ipsa sponsa obtecta sit et velata, petit ipse sponsus, ut veniens ad illum locum quem supra ostendit, utpote secretiorem, ibi ei quasi rejecto velamine ostendat faciem suam. Et quia pro multa reverentia taceret sponsa, desiderat sponsus aliquando etiam vocem ejus audire, et delectari in verbis ejus, et dicit, ut auditam sibi faciat vocem suam. Videtur tamen quod non ei penitus incognita sit facies ejus, neque vocis ejus ignarus sit, sed quia intercesserit aliquid, in quo nec faciem ejus viderit, nec vocem audierit. Iste sit propositi dramatis textus. Cui et hoc additur, quod veris tempus agi videatur, cum et flores apparuisse memorantur in terra, et vox turturis personare, et germen arbores produxisse. Propter hoc velut opportuno tempore progredi provocat sponsam, quae sine dubio hiemem totam intra domus claustra resederit. Sed haec nullam mihi videntur (quantum ad historicam narrationem pertinet) utilitatem conferre legentibus, aut aliquam saltem narrationis ipsius servare consequentiam, sicut in ceteris Scripturae historiis invenimus. Unde necesse est cuncta ad spiritalem transferre intelligentiam. Primo ergo intellige mihi animae hiemem, cum adhuc passionum fluctibus iactatur, et vitiorum procellis, ac duris malignorum spirituum flatibus verberatur. In his positam non hortatur eam sermo Dei foras exire, sed intra semetipsam colligi, et uniri undique, atque contegi contra perniciosos malignorum spirituum flatus. Nulli tunc in divinis litteris studiorum flores apud eam, nec profundioris sapientiae secreta, et recondita mysteria quasi per vocem turturis resonant. Sed neque odoratus ejus gratiae aliquid quasi ex vineae floribus recipit, neque visus ejus tanquam in ficulneae germine delectatur, sed sufficit ut in tempestatibus tentationum a lapsu peccati tuta ac munita permaneat. Quod si obtinuerit ut illaesa perduret, hiems ei transit, et venit ei ver. Ver namque ei est, cum quies animo datur, tranquillitas menti.

And let the same place be not so much beside the wall as beside a certain outer wall. An outer wall is so called when, outside the walls that surround a city, another wall is built, and it is a wall before the wall. Then, as if the Bride herself were covered and veiled out of reverence, the Bridegroom himself asks that, coming to that place which he showed above, as being more secret, she should there, as it were throwing back the veil, show him her face. And since the Bride kept silent out of great reverence, the Bridegroom desires at some point also to hear her voice and to delight in her words, and he says that she should let him hear her voice. It seems, however, that her face is not wholly unknown to him, nor is he ignorant of her voice; but something has come between, in which he has neither seen her face nor heard her voice. Let this be the text of the drama before us. To which this too is added: that it seems to be springtime, since the flowers are said to have appeared in the land, and the voice of the turtledove to sound, and the trees to have put forth their shoots. For this reason, as at the opportune time, he challenges the Bride to go forth, who without doubt had stayed the whole winter within the confines of the house. But these things seem to me (so far as concerns the literal narrative) to confer no benefit on readers, nor even to keep any coherence of the narrative itself, as we find in the other narratives of Scripture. Hence it is necessary to transfer everything to spiritual understanding. First, then, understand with me as the soul's winter the time when it is still tossed by the waves of passions and beaten by the storms of vices and the harsh blasts of evil spirits. When it is set in these, the word of God does not exhort it to go outside, but to gather itself within, to be united on every side and covered against the destructive blasts of evil spirits. At that time no flowers of studies in the divine writings are found with it, nor do the secrets of deeper wisdom and hidden mysteries sound as through the voice of the turtledove. Nor does its smell receive anything of grace as from the flowers of the vine, nor does its sight delight as in the shoot of the fig tree; but it is enough that in the tempests of temptations it remain safe and protected from the fall of sin. And if it succeeds in remaining unharmed, the winter passes for it and spring comes to it. For it is spring for it when rest is given to the mind and calm to the spirit.

Song 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The literal scene (the outer wall, the veiled Bride) yields no benefit or coherence, so it must be read spiritually: the soul's winter is the time of passions, when it must withdraw and simply avoid sin.

Song 2:14; Song 2:12–13. Origen's judgement that the literal narrative here is without benefit is translated as written. The words “the Bridegroom … also to hear her voice,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and stray mark; OCR slip; words joined; stray mark; stray mark; word split; stray marks; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line; words joined): juxta ,proniurale → juxta promurale; ducitur murus. et est murus → ducitur murus, et est murus; utpote secretio? rem → utpote secretiorem; desiderat aliquando aiam vocem eis; au: ἡ , Ἰ τη-- “1---.-- ν....... ww... ..δυσ ...ν lire, → desiderat sponsus aliquando etiam vocem ejus audire,; quod ξ non ei → quod non ei; vocis τ ejus → vocis ejus; aliquid. in ' quo → aliquid, in quo; Propter ' hoc → Propter hoc; intradomus → intra domus; Sed hinc nullam → Sed haec nullam; Scriptura: historiis → Scripturae historiis; necesseest → necesse est; spirituum fiatibus → spirituum flatibus; In bis positam → In his positam; profundiorissspientiae → profundioris sapientiae; ejus gratia: aliquid → ejus gratiae aliquid; vineae fioribus → vineae floribus; sufiicit → sufficit; slapsu → a lapsu.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.229 (PG 13:188b–189d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-229). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.230PG 13:189d–190d

Tunc ad eam venit Verbum Dei, tunc eam vocat ad se et hortatur ut exeat, non solum extra domum, sed extra civitatem : id est non solum extra carnis vitia efficiatur, sed extra omne quidquid corporeum et visibile continetur in mundo. Mundum namque figuraliter intelligi civitatem jam in superioribus evidenter ostendimus. Evocatur ergo anima extra murum, et usque ad promurale perducitur, cum abjiciens et relinquens ea quae videntur et temporalia sunt, contendit ad ea quae non videntur, et aeterna sunt. Ostenditur ergo ei iter istud sub velamine petrae agendum, non sub aere nudo, neque ut patiatur solis ardores, ne iterum fusca fiat, ne iterum dicat, despexit me sol : propterea sub velamine petrae agit hoc iter. Hoc autem ipsum velamen non vult ex frondibus esse aut linteis, aut pellibus, sed petram vult ei esse Velamen, id est firma et solida Christi dogmata. Ipsum namque esse petram Paulus pronuntiat dicens: Petra autem erat Christus . Christi ergo doctrina et fide si obtegatur anima et veletur, tuto potest ad illud pervenire secretum, ubi revelata facie gloriam Domini contempletur. Merito autem velamen istud petrae tutum creditur, quia et Salomon de ea dicit in Proverbiis, quod vestigia serpentis non possunt deprehendi super petram. Sic enim ait : Tria sunt quae impossibile est mihi intelligere, et quartum quod ignoro, vestigia aquilae volantis, et viam serpentis super petram, et semitas navis in pelago, et vias viri in juventute. Serpentis ergo, id est signa aliqua peccati, in hac petra quae est Christus, inveniri non possunt, quia solus est qui peccatum non fecit. Hujus ergo petrae vero velamine anima tuto pervenit ad promuralem locum, id est ad contemplandum incorporalia et aeterna.

Then the Word of God comes to it, then he calls it to himself and exhorts it to go out, not only outside the house but outside the city: that is, that it should be not only outside the vices of the flesh, but outside everything bodily and visible that is contained in the world. For we have already shown clearly above that the world is figuratively understood as the city. The soul, then, is called out beyond the wall and led as far as the outer wall when, casting off and leaving the things that are seen and are temporal, it strives toward the things that are not seen and are eternal. It is shown, then, that this journey must be made under the covering of the rock, not under the open sky, nor so as to suffer the heat of the sun, lest it become dark again, lest it say again, “The sun has looked down on me”: for this reason it makes this journey under the covering of the rock. And he does not want this covering to be of leaves, or linen, or skins, but wants the rock to be its covering, that is, the firm and solid doctrines of Christ. For Paul declares that he is the rock, saying, “And the rock was Christ.” If, then, the soul is covered and veiled with the teaching and faith of Christ, it can safely come to that secret place where with unveiled face it may contemplate the glory of the Lord. And rightly is this covering of the rock believed safe, since Solomon too says of it in Proverbs that the tracks of the serpent cannot be found upon a rock. For so he says: “There are three things which are impossible for me to understand, and a fourth which I do not know: the tracks of an eagle flying, and the way of a serpent upon a rock, and the paths of a ship in the sea, and the ways of a man in his youth.” Of the serpent, then, that is, any signs of sin, none can be found on this rock which is Christ, since he alone did no sin. Under the covering of this true rock, then, the soul safely comes to the place of the outer wall, that is, to contemplating incorporeal and eternal things.

2 Cor 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 1:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 30:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 30:19 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: In spring the Word calls the soul out of the city (the world) to the outer wall, sheltered by the rock, Christ, on whom no trace of the serpent (sin) is found.

2 Cor 4:18; Song 1:6; 1 Cor 10:4; 2 Cor 3:18; Prov 30:18–19 (as in the Greek version); 1 Pet 2:22; Song 2:14. The words “The world … is figuratively understood as the city” and “is led” are restored from Baehrens where the Migne scan garbled them; Migne's footnotes leaked into the text are removed.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnotes leaked into the text; OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: Mundum namque figuraliter intellegi); OCR slips; lost word supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33; footnote marker; word split, stray mark and OCR slip; words joined): elliriatur → efficiatur; Namque figuraliter in lege civitatem jam in superioribus evidenter osten- (limus. → Mundum namque figuraliter intelligi civitatem jam in superioribus evidenter ostendimus.; usque ad vromurale cum abiiCiellS et relinquens ’ ca quae → usque ad promurale perducitur, cum abjiciens et relinquens ea quae; iterunt fusca → iterum fusca; firma ct solida → firma et solida; gloriam Cur. Χ, 4. "Exod. xxxttt, 2‘2, 25. Juan.,vt. Joan. ι, , (Ἱϐ) Tune ad eant, etc; Procopi ns‘ex _0rig_en_e :_Bod- Domini contempletur. Merito autem velam n istud → gloriam Domini contempletur. Merito autem velamen istud; Tria sunt qua impossibile → Tria sunt quae impossibile; aquila: volantis , et riam serpentis → aquilae volantis, et viam serpentis; uias viri in juventute ". → vias viri in juventute.; solus estqui → solus est qui; cono templandum'incorporalia et eterna → contemplandum incorporalia et aeterna.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.230 (PG 13:189d–190d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-230). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.231PG 13:190d–190b

De hac eadem petra alia verbi specie David in usis psalmo dicit : Et statuit supra petram pedes meos, et direxit gressus meos . Nec mireris si apud David petra haec quasi fundamentum et crepido est animae per quam pergit ad Deum, et apud Salomonem velamen est animae ad mystica sapientiae secreta tendentis: cum et ipse Christus nunc via dicatur, per quam credentes incedunt, nunc etiam praecursor, sicut. ait Paulus: In quod praecursor introivit pro nobis Iesus “. Simile est et illud quod per Moysem dicitur a Deo : Ecce posui te in foramine petrae, et videbis posteriora mea . Igitur petra ista quae Christus est, non est ex omni parte clausa, sed habet foramen. Foramen vero est petrae, qui revelat et innotescere facit hominibus Deum; nemo enim cognoscit Patrem nisi Filius. Nemo ergo videt posteriora Dei, id est quae in posterioribus temporibus fiunt, nisi positus in foramine petrae, scilicet cum ea Christo revelante didicerit. Et hic ergo sub velamine petrae animam proximam sibi effectam invitat sermo Dei ad promuralem locum, sicut supra jam diximus, ad contemplanda ea quae non videntur et aeterna sunt, et ibi dicit ad eam: Ostende mihi faciem tuam, profecto ut videat, si nihil in vultu ejus veteris adhuc velaminis habetur, sed potest intrepidis obtutibus gloriam Domini speculari, ut et ipsa dicat: Et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis. Sed et cum digna fuerit, ut de ipsa dicatur, sicut et de Moyse dictum est, quia Moyses loquebatur et Deus respondebat ei, tunc completur in ea quod ait: Auditam mihi fac vocem tuam.

Of this same rock David says, under another figure of speech, in the thirty-ninth psalm: “And he set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps.” And do not wonder if in David this rock is as it were the foundation and footing of the soul, by which it goes on to God, and in Solomon the covering of the soul that tends to the mystical secrets of wisdom; since Christ himself too is now called the way by which believers walk, now also the forerunner, as Paul says: “Where Jesus entered as forerunner for us.” Like this too is what is said by God through Moses: “Behold, I have placed you in the cleft of the rock, and you will see my back parts.” This rock, then, which is Christ, is not closed on every side, but has a cleft. And the cleft of the rock is he who reveals God and makes him known to men; for no one knows the Father except the Son. No one, then, sees the back parts of God, that is, the things that come to pass in the last times, unless he is placed in the cleft of the rock, that is, when he has learned them by Christ's revealing. And here, then, the Word of God invites the soul, made near to him under the covering of the rock, to the place of the outer wall, as we said above, to contemplate the things that are not seen and are eternal; and there he says to her, “Show me your face,” surely to see whether anything of the old veil is still found on her face, or whether she can with unafraid gaze behold the glory of the Lord, so that she too may say, “And we beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” And when she has become worthy that it be said of her, as it was said of Moses, that “Moses spoke and God answered him,” then is fulfilled in her what he says, “Let me hear your voice.”

Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 6:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:27 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 19:19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The rock is Christ, whose cleft reveals the Father; sheltered there, the soul shows its unveiled face and is heard, as Moses was.

Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX; the numeral in Migne's text is garbled); John 14:6; Heb 6:20; Exod 33:22–23; 1 Cor 10:4; Matt 11:27; 2 Cor 4:18; Song 2:14; 2 Cor 3:14–18; John 1:14; Exod 19:19. The long passage from “makes him known to men” to “Let me hear your voice,” lost in the Migne scan, is supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the lines): De bac eadem → De hac eadem; crepido est anima: → crepido est animae; velamen est anima: ad → velamen est animae ad; prtccursor → praecursor; Simile est ct illud → Simile est et illud; foramine patrm → foramine petrae; Foramen vero est petrzr, qui revelat et innotescere Auditum {ac mihi vocem tuam. → Foramen vero est petrae, qui revelat et innotescere facit hominibus Deum; nemo enim cognoscit Patrem nisi Filius. Nemo ergo videt posteriora Dei, id est quae in posterioribus temporibus fiunt, nisi positus in foramine petrae, scilicet cum ea Christo revelante didicerit. Et hic ergo sub velamine petrae animam proximam sibi effectam invitat sermo Dei ad promuralem locum, sicut supra jam diximus, ad contemplanda ea quae non videntur et aeterna sunt, et ibi dicit ad eam: Ostende mihi faciem tuam, profecto ut videat, si nihil in vultu ejus veteris adhuc velaminis habetur, sed potest intrepidis obtutibus gloriam Domini speculari, ut et ipsa dicat: Et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, plenum gratiae et veritatis. Sed et cum digna fuerit, ut de ipsa dicatur, sicut et de Moyse dictum est, quia Moyses loquebatur et Deus respondebat ei, tunc completur in ea quod ait: Auditam mihi fac vocem tuam..

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.231 (PG 13:190d–190b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-231). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.232PG 13:190b–191a

Ingens vero laus ejus ostenditur in eo quod dicitur: Vox tua suavis. Sic enim sapientissimus propheta David dicebat : Suavis sit ei disputatio mea. Suavis est vox animae cum verbum Dei quod loquitur, cum de fide et dogmatibus veritatis exponit, cum dispensationes Dei et judicia ejus explanat. Si vero aut stultiloquium, aut scurrilitas, aut vanitas de ore ejus procedunt, aut verbum otiosum, de quo reddenda sit ratio in die iudicii, insuavis et injucunda vox ista est. Ab hac voce Christus avertit auditum suum. Et ideo quaeque perfecta anima ponit ori suo custodiam, et ostium circumstantiae labiis suis, ut talem semper sermonem proferat qui sale conditus det gratiam audientibus, et dicat de ea Verbum Dei, quia vox tua suavis. Sed et facies tua, inquit, speciosa. Si intelligas illam faciem de qua Paulus dicit: Nos autem omnes revelata facie; et item cum dicit : Tunc autem facie ad faciem; tunc videbis quae sit animae facies quae laudetur a Verbo Dei et speciosa esse dicatur. Illa sine dubio quae quotidie renovatur ad imaginem ejus qui creavit eam, quae non habet in se maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid huiusmodi, sed est sancta et immaculata; qualem et ipse sibi exhibuit Christus Ecclesiam , animas scilicet quae ad perfectionem venerunt, quae omnes simul efficiunt corpus Ecclesiae. Quod corpus utique pulchrum videbitur et decorum, si animae ex quibus corpus illud efficitur in omni perfectionis decore permanserint. Sicut enim cum anima in iracundia est, turbatum et ferum reddit corporis vultum; cum vero in mansuetudine et tranquillitate persistit, placidum mitemque reddit aspectum : ita Ecclesiae facies pro virtutibus et moribus credentium , aut decora pronuntiatur, aut turpis, secundum quod et scriptum legimus : Vestigium cordis in bonis, vultus hilaris . Et item alibi :Cordis laeti facies florida, in tristitiis autem positi maestus est vultus. Cor ergo laetum est , cum habet in se spiritum Dei : cujus primus fructus charitas est, secundus gaudium est. Ex his puto quosdam sapientes saeculi assumpsisse illam sententiam quae dicit, quia solus sapiens speciosus est, omnis autem nequam turpis est.

And a great praise of her is shown in what is said, “Your voice is sweet.” For so the most wise prophet David said, “Let my discourse be sweet to him.” The voice of the soul is sweet when it speaks the word of God, when it expounds concerning the faith and the doctrines of truth, when it explains the dispensations of God and his judgements. But if foolish talk, or coarse jesting, or vanity proceeds from its mouth, or an idle word, of which account must be rendered on the day of judgement, that voice is unsweet and unpleasant. From this voice Christ turns away his hearing. And therefore every perfect soul sets a guard on its mouth and a door round about its lips, so that it may always bring forth such speech as, seasoned with salt, gives grace to those who hear, and the Word of God may say of it, “Your voice is sweet.” “And your face,” he says, “is fair.” If you understand that face of which Paul says, “But we all with unveiled face,” and again when he says, “But then face to face,” then you will see what is the face of the soul that is praised by the Word of God and said to be fair: without doubt that which is daily renewed after the image of him who created it, which has in itself no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but is holy and spotless; such a Church as Christ himself presented to himself, namely the souls that have come to perfection, which all together make up the body of the Church. And that body will surely appear beautiful and comely if the souls of which that body is made remain in all the comeliness of perfection. For just as, when the soul is in anger, it makes the face of the body troubled and fierce, but when it continues in gentleness and calm, it makes the look peaceful and mild: so the face of the Church is declared comely or ugly according to the virtues and conduct of believers; according to what we also read written: “The trace of a heart in good things is a cheerful face.” And again elsewhere: “The face of a glad heart is blooming, but the face of one in sorrows is sad.” The heart, then, is glad when it has in itself the Spirit of God, whose first fruit is love, the second joy. From these, I think, certain wise men of the world took that saying which states that the wise man alone is beautiful, but every wicked man is ugly.

Song 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 104:34 (103:34 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 5:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 12:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 141:3 (140:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Col 4:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 5:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 15:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:22 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul's voice is sweet when it speaks God's word and avoids idle talk; its face is fair when renewed in God's image; the Church's face reflects the virtues of believers.

Ps 104:34 (103:34 LXX); Eph 5:4; Matt 12:36; Ps 141:3 (140:3 LXX); Col 4:6; Song 2:14; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Cor 13:12; Col 3:10; Eph 5:27; Sir 13:26 (outside the 66-book canon); Prov 15:13; Gal 5:22. The saying that only the wise man is beautiful is a Stoic paradox (source not named).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: cum de fide); footnote marker; footnote marker and stray mark; page number and stray marks leaked into the text; stray mark; stray mark and OCR slip): prOpheta David dicel'at → propheta David dicebat; disputatio mea ‘°. → disputatio mea.; cum tide'et dogmatibus → cum de fide et dogmatibus; ostium circumstantia: labiis → ostium circumstantiae labiis; revelata facie ς et item eum dicit → revelata facie; et item cum dicit; facie ad faciem“; . tunc → facie ad faciem; tunc; illa sine dubio → Illa sine dubio; qui 91 creavit eam,'~qu-.c non habet → qui creavit eam, quae non habet; cilicium corpus Ecclesite → efficiunt corpus Ecclesiae; si anima: ex quibus → si animae ex quibus; Sicut enim ε cum → Sicut enim cum; maestus est vultus “. → maestus est vultus.; Cor ergo la-tum → Cor ergo laetum; gaudium εει. → gaudium est.; sontentiam → sententiam.

Extrabiblical texts: Sir 13:26 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.232 (PG 13:190b–191a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-232). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.233PG 13:191a–192a

Superest nobis ut aliquid apertius etiam de nomine promuralis dicamus. Quod , sicut supra diximus, indicat murum esse ante murum, quod etiam in Isaia hoc modo dicitur : Pone murum et circa murum . Murus munimentum civitatis est. Alius vero murus ante murum, vel circa murum, majora et validiora munimenta designat. Per quod ostenditur, quia evocans sermo Dei animam et educens eam a corporalibus negotiis et corporeis sensibus, docere eam de futuri saeculi mysteriis cupit, et inde ei munimenta conquirere, ut spe futurorum munita et circumdata in nullo possit vel illecebris vinci vel tribulationibus fatigari. Nunc etiam videamus quomodo a Christo ad Ecclesiam dicatur, quae est proxima ei et speciosa. Speciosa autem nulli alii nisi soli ipsi. Hoc enim significat cum dicit, speciosa mea. Hanc ergo exsuscitat Christus, et ipsi Evangelium resurrectionis annuntiat, et ideo dicit : Exsurge, veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea. Quia autem dedit et ei pennas columbae, posteaquam dormivit in medio sortium : media autem inter duas vocationes Israelis Ecclesia vocata est, quia primo Israel vocatus est, post haec ubi ipse offendit et cecidit, vocata est Ecclesia gentium; cum autem plenitudo gentium introierit, tum iterum omnis Israel vocatus salvabitur; in medio ergo harum duarum sortium dormit Ecclesia. Et propter hoc dedit ei pennas columbae deargentatas , quod significat rationabiles pennas in sancti Spiritus donis. Et posteriora dorsi ejus, vel in viriditate auri , ut quidam legunt, vel, ut alii scriptum habent, in pallore auri.

It remains for us to say something more clearly about the name “outer wall.” This, as we said above, indicates a wall before a wall, which is also said in Isaiah thus: “Set a wall and around the wall.” A wall is the defence of a city; but another wall before the wall, or around the wall, signifies greater and stronger defences. By this it is shown that the Word of God, calling the soul and leading it away from bodily business and the bodily senses, wishes to teach it about the mysteries of the age to come and from there to procure defences for it, so that, fortified and surrounded by the hope of things to come, it can in no way be either conquered by allurements or wearied by tribulations. Now let us also see how this is said by Christ to the Church, who is near to him and fair; and fair to no other but to him alone, for this is what he signifies when he says “my fair one.” This one, then, Christ raises up, and announces to her the Gospel of the resurrection; and therefore he says, “Arise, come, my near one, my fair one.” And because he has given her the wings of a dove, after she slept in the midst of the lots: now the Church was called in the middle, between two callings of Israel; for first Israel was called, and after this, when Israel stumbled and fell, the Church of the Gentiles was called; but when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then again all Israel, called, will be saved. In the midst, then, of these two lots the Church sleeps. And for this reason he gave her the silvered wings of a dove, which signifies rational wings in the gifts of the Holy Spirit; and the hinder parts of her back, either in the greenness of gold, as some read, or, as others have it written, in the paleness of gold.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Isa 26:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 68:13 (67:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:26 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The outer wall is the stronger defence of hope in the age to come; for the Church, Christ's call is the gospel of resurrection, and she 'sleeps among the lots' between Israel's first and final calling.

Isa 26:1 (as in the Greek version); Song 2:10; Ps 68:13 (67:14 LXX); Rom 11:11, 25–26. The reading of Israel's two callings is Origen's, from Romans 11, translated as written. The variant readings of Ps 68:13 (“greenness” or “paleness” of gold) reflect the Greek χλωρότης.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR read Latin as Greek letters; OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips in the supplied Baehrens text; repeated syllable removed; footnote marker): dieamus → dicamus; educh eam → educens eam; muni- iuunimentu conquirere, ut spe futurorum luuuita ct cir- cumdata in uullo possit ye! illecebris vinci vel tribulaiiombus fatigari → munimenta conquirere, ut spe futurorum munita et circumdata in nullo possit vel illecebris vinci vel tribulationibus fatigari; quomodo ειΔ Christo → quomodo a Christo; lianc ergo → Hanc ergo; dedit et ci pennas → dedit et ei pennas; inter dum; vocationes → inter duas vocationes; post lucc ubi ipse omsndit et cecidit → post haec ubi ipse offendit et cecidit; salvabitur “; → salvabitur;; columba: deargentatas → columbae deargentatas; vel iu viriditate → vel in viriditate.

Topics: Eschatology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.233 (PG 13:191a–192a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-233). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.234PG 13:192a–192d

Quod ostendere potest, quia posterior illa vocatio quam ex Israel futuram dicit Apostolus, non erit in observantia legis, sed in pretiositate fidei. Auri namque viriditatis gerit speciem, fides virtutibus florens. Potest autem dici in medio earum sortium dormire, vel quiescere Ecclesia, in medio duorum testamentorum; et pennae ejus deargentatae ex sensibus legis. Aurum in posterioribus dorsi ejus, intelligi evangelici muneris donum potest. Ad hanc ergo Ecclesiam dicit Christus : Veni, tu columba mea, et veni, in operimento petrae; docens eam ut operta veniat, ne quid patiatur ab incursantibus eam tentationibus, sed sub umbra petrae incedat obtecta dicens : Spiritus vultus nostri Christus Dominus, cui diximus : In umbra ejus vivemus in gentibus . Obiecta autem incedit et adoperta, quia debet potestatem habere super caput, propter angelos. Cum autem venerit ad promuralem locum, id est ad futuri saeculi statum, ibi ad eam dicit : Ostende mihi faciem tuam, et auditam fac mihi vocem tuam, quia vox tua suavis est. Auditam vult fieri vocem Ecclesiae suae, quia qui eum confessus fuerit coram hominibus, et ipse confitebitur eum coram Patre suo qui in caelis est. Quia vox tua suavis est. Et quis non fatetur suavem vocem Ecclesiae catholicae fidem veram confitentis , insuavem vero et injucundam esse haereticorum vocem, qui non dogmata veritatis, sed blasphemias in Deum, et iniquitatem in excelsum loquuntur? Sic et facies Ecclesiae speciosa est : haereticorum vero turpis et foeda; si quis est tamen qui bene noverit pulchritudinem vultus probare, id est si quis spiritalis est qui scit examinare omnia. Nam apud imperitos et animales homines pulchriora videntur mendacii sophismata quam dogmata veritatis.

This can show that that later calling which the Apostle says will come from Israel will not be in the observance of the law but in the preciousness of faith. For faith flowering with virtues bears the appearance of the greenness of gold. It can also be said that the Church sleeps or rests in the midst of those lots, in the midst of the two Testaments; and her wings are silvered from the meanings of the law, while the gold in the hinder parts of her back can be understood as the gift of the Gospel. To this Church, then, Christ says, “Come, you my dove, and come, in the covering of the rock,” teaching her to come covered, so that she may suffer nothing from the temptations that assail her, but may walk covered under the shadow of the rock, saying, “The spirit of our face, Christ the Lord, of whom we said: In his shadow we shall live among the nations.” And she walks covered and veiled because she ought to have authority on her head because of the angels. But when she has come to the place of the outer wall, that is, to the state of the age to come, there he says to her, “Show me your face, and let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet.” He wants the voice of his Church to be heard, because whoever confesses him before men, he too will confess him before his Father who is in heaven. “For your voice is sweet.” And who does not admit that the voice of the Catholic Church confessing the true faith is sweet, but that the voice of the heretics is unsweet and unpleasant, who speak not the doctrines of truth but blasphemies against God and iniquity against the Most High? So too the face of the Church is fair, but that of the heretics ugly and foul: if there is anyone, that is, who knows well how to judge the beauty of a face, that is, if anyone is spiritual, who knows how to examine all things. For with the unskilled and natural men the sophisms of falsehood seem more beautiful than the doctrines of truth.

Rom 11:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 68:13 (67:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 4:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Israel's final calling will be by faith, not law; the Church walks veiled under Christ's shadow until the age to come, and her voice of true faith is sweet, unlike the heretics'.

Rom 11:26; Ps 68:13 (67:14 LXX); Song 2:14; Lam 4:20; 1 Cor 11:10; Matt 10:32; Ps 73:8 (72:8 LXX); 1 Cor 2:14–15. The words on Israel and on heretics are translated as written.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; stray mark): legis.’ Aurum → legis. Aurum; potesr → potest; columba mea, ct veni → columba mea, et veni; futuri saaculi → futuri saeculi; Ostende mihi [aciem tuam, et auditam [ac mihi → Ostende mihi faciem tuam, et auditam fac mihi; qui cum confessus → qui eum confessus; conlitebitur → confitebitur; Ecclesia: catholicae → Ecclesiae catholicae; injucundant esse lmretieorum → injucundam esse haereticorum; hlasphemias → blasphemias; turpis et fmda → turpis et foeda; quam, dogmata → quam dogmata.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.234 (PG 13:192a–192d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-234). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.235PG 13:192d–193b

Possumus autem adhuc de loco promurali etiam hoc addere, quod promurale sinus sit Patris, in quo positus unigenitus Filius enarrat omnia et enuntiat Ecclesiae suae quaecunque in secretis et in absconditis Patris sinibus continentur. Unde et quidam ab eo edoctus dicebat: Deum nemo vidit unquam. Unigenitus Dei Filius, est in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit. Illuc ergo evocat sponsam suam Christus, et ut de omnibus eam quae apud Patrem habentur, edoceat et dicat : Quia omnia vobis nota feci quae audivi a Patre meo; et ut iterum dicat : Pater, volo ut ubi ego sum, illic sit et minister meus. Vers. 15. Capite nobis vulpes pusillas exterminantes vineas, et vineae nostrae florebunt. Secundum dramatis ordinem mutata est persona, non enim iam ad sponsam, sed ad sodales loquitur sponsus, et ipsis dicit, ut capiant vulpes pusillas quae insidiantur vineis, ubi primum germen ostenderint, nec sinunt eas pervenire ad florem. Capi ergo eas praecepit, saluti et utilitati consulens vinearum. Sed haec, ut coepimus, spiritali expositione discutienda sunt. Et puto quod si de anima haec quae se Verbo Dei coniungit, advertas, vulpes contrariae potestates et nequitiae daemonum intelligi debeant, per cogitationes pravas et intelligentiam perversam exterminantes in anima virtutum florem et fructum fidei perimentes. Provisio igitur Verbi Dei mandat angelis suis qui ad ministerium missi sunt, propter eos qui haereditatem capiunt salutis, ut capiant ex unaquaque anima huiusmodi cogitationes a daemonibus immissas, ut abiectis eis possint florem virtutis afferre

We can still add this about the place of the outer wall: that the outer wall is the bosom of the Father, in which the only-begotten Son is placed and declares all things and announces to his Church whatever is contained in the secret and hidden recesses of the Father. Hence one taught by him said: “No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.” There, then, Christ calls out his Bride, to teach her about all that is with the Father and to say, “For I have made known to you all that I heard from my Father”; and again to say, “Father, I will that where I am, there my servant also may be.” Verse 15: “Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vineyards, and our vineyards will flower.” According to the order of the drama the person has changed: for the Bridegroom speaks no longer to the Bride but to his companions, and tells them to catch the little foxes which lie in wait for the vineyards when they first show their shoot, and do not let them come to flower. He commands them to be caught, then, looking to the safety and benefit of the vineyards. But these things, as we have begun, must be discussed by spiritual exposition. And I think that if you consider them as said of the soul that joins itself to the Word of God, the foxes must be understood as the opposing powers and the wickedness of demons, which through evil thoughts and perverse understanding destroy the flower of virtues in the soul and kill the fruit of faith. The providence of the Word of God, then, commands his angels, who are sent to minister for the sake of those who will inherit salvation, to catch out of each soul such thoughts sent in by the demons, so that, these being cast out, they may bear the flower of virtue.

John 1:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 15:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 17:24 (quotation, high confidence) · John 12:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · Song 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 1:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The outer wall may be the Father's bosom, whose secrets the Son reveals; the little foxes of Song 2:15 are demonic thoughts, which angels are commanded to catch.

John 1:18; John 15:15; John 17:24 combined with John 12:26; Song 2:15; Heb 1:14.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip and footnote marker; OCR slips; OCR slips and stray mark; footnote marker; footnote marker, stray mark and OCR slips; word split): enarrgt → enarrat; quacunque in cretis ct in absconditis → quaecunque in secretis et in absconditis; Deum nemo ridi: unquam → Deum nemo vidit unquam; in sinu P..tris, ipse enarravit θ’. → in sinu Patris, ipse enarravit.; Christus, ct ut → Christus, et ut; Patre meo 7°; → Patre meo;; minister meus ". ρ Veis. lii. → minister meus. Vers. 15.; exterminanles → exterminantes; nostra: florebunt. Secundum “ drantatis → nostrae florebunt. Secundum dramatis; pusillas qua insidiantur → pusillas quae insidiantur; osten- _ derint → ostenderint; ad liorem → ad florem; Capi ergo cas → Capi ergo eas; viuearum → vinearum; ut cmpimus → ut coepimus; haec quz se → haec quae se; conuariae → contrariae; lloren et lructum fidei perimentcs → florem et fructum fidei perimentes; Verll De? mandat angelisfuis → Verbi Dei mandat angelis suis; ba: rrditatem → haereditatem; unaquaqu anitna → unaquaque anima; immis sas → immissas; allerre → afferre.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.235 (PG 13:192d–193b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-235). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.236PG 13:193b–194b

Capiant autem cogitationes malas in eo, cum suggerunt menti non esse eas a Deo, sed esse a maligno spiritu, et dant animae discretionem spirituum ut intelligat quae sit cogitatio secundum Deum, et quae sit ex diabolo. Ut autem scias esse cogitationes quas immittit diabolus in cor hominum, vide in Evangelio quod scriptum est : Cum autem immisisset, inquit, diabolus in cor Judae Iscariotis ut traderet eum. Sunt ergo huiusmodi cogitationes quae a daemonibus injiciuntur in cordibus hominum. Sed quia non deest. divina Providentia, ne forte per huiusmodi importunitatem turbaretur libertas arbitrii, et non esset iusta causa iudicii, idcirco benignis angelis et amicis potestatibus hominum cura mandatur, ut cum deceptores quasi vulpes incursare coeperint hominem, dexteris eum auxiliis sublevent. Et ideo dicitur : Capite nobis vulpes pusillas. Competenter sane cum adhuc pusillae sunt, capi eas mandat et comprehendi. Dum enim cogitatio mala in initiis est, facile potest abiici a corde. Nam si frequenter iteretur, et diu permaneat, adducit animam sine dubio ad consensum ; et post consensum intra cor suum confirmatum , certum est quia ad peccati tendat affectum. Dum ergo in initiis est, et pusilla est, capi debet et abjici, ne si adulta fuerit et inveterata, iam non possit expelli. Denique et Judas initium mali habuit in amore pecuniae, et haec fuit illi vulpes pusilla. Sed et ab hac cum videret Dominus Judae animam quasi florentem vineam laedi, capere eam volens, et abjicere ex eo , commisit ei pecuniae loculos, ut possidens quod amabat, a cupiditate cessaret. Sed ille utpote habens sui arbitrii libertatem, non est amplexus medici sapientiam , sed indulsit semetipsum illi magis consilio quo exterminabatur anima sua, quam quo sanabatur. Si vero haec de Christo et Ecclesia intelligamus, sermo videbitur ad Ecclesiae doctores dirigi, et mandari eis de captione vulpium exterminantium vineas. Vulpes autem perversos doctores haereticorum dogmatum possumus intelligere, qui per argumentorum calliditatem seducunt corda innocentium, et vineam Domini exterminant ne floreat in fide recta. Datur ergo praeceptum doctoribus catholicis, ut dum adhuc pusillae sunt istae vulpes, et nondum plures animas deceperunt, sed initium habet prava doctrina, arguere hos et refrenare festinent, et verbo veritatis contradicentes revincere, capere hos assertionibus veris.

And they catch the evil thoughts in this way: when they suggest to the mind that these are not from God but from the evil spirit, and give the soul discernment of spirits, so that it understands which thought is according to God and which is from the devil. And that you may know that there are thoughts which the devil puts into the hearts of men, see what is written in the Gospel: “When the devil,” it says, “had put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray him.” There are, then, thoughts of this kind which are cast into men's hearts by demons. But since divine providence is not lacking, lest perhaps through such importunity freedom of choice should be disturbed and there be no just cause for judgement, therefore the care of men is entrusted to kindly angels and friendly powers, so that when the deceivers, like foxes, begin to assail a man, they may lift him up with helping right hands. And therefore it is said, “Catch us the little foxes.” Fittingly indeed he commands them to be caught and seized while they are still little. For while an evil thought is at its beginnings, it can easily be cast out of the heart. For if it is often repeated and remains long, it leads the soul without doubt to consent; and after consent has been confirmed within its heart, it is certain that it tends toward the affection of sin. While it is at its beginnings, then, and is little, it must be caught and cast out, lest, if it grows up and becomes inveterate, it can no longer be expelled. So Judas too had the beginning of evil in the love of money, and this was his little fox. And when the Lord saw that Judas's soul, like a flowering vineyard, was being harmed by it, wishing to catch it and cast it out of him, he entrusted to him the money bag, so that, possessing what he loved, he might cease from covetousness. But he, as one having freedom of his own choice, did not embrace the wisdom of the physician, but gave himself rather to the counsel by which his soul was being destroyed than to that by which it was being healed. But if we understand these things of Christ and the Church, the word will seem to be directed to the teachers of the Church, and they to be commanded about catching the foxes that destroy the vineyards. And by foxes we can understand the perverse teachers of heretical doctrines, who by the cunning of their arguments seduce the hearts of the innocent and destroy the vineyard of the Lord, so that it may not flower in the right faith. The command is given, then, to Catholic teachers that while these foxes are still little and have not yet deceived many souls, but the depraved doctrine is only beginning, they should hasten to refute and curb them, to overcome the gainsayers with the word of truth, and to catch them by true assertions.

1 Cor 12:10 (allusion, high confidence) · John 13:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · John 12:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 16:18 (echo, medium confidence) · Titus 1:9 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Angels help the soul discern and expel evil thoughts while they are small, as Judas failed to do with his love of money; applied to the Church, teachers must refute heresies at their beginning.

1 Cor 12:10; John 13:2; Song 2:15; John 12:6; Rom 16:18; Titus 1:9. Free choice and the role of angels are Origen's teaching, translated as written. The words “to the mind that they are not from God, but from the evil spirit,” garbled in the Migne scan, are restored from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Migne's footnote leaked into the text; OCR slips; OCR slip; OCR slip; word split; OCR slips; OCR slips (Baehrens: nondum, habet, festinent); OCR slips and footnote marker; OCR slips; garbled words restored from Baehrens, GCS 33; OCR slips; lost letters restored; stray mark): sug serunt ηοη esse €35 sed esse mali' gno spiritu, et dant anima! discretionem → suggerunt menti non esse eas a Deo, sed esse a maligno spiritu, et dant animae discretionem; secundum Deum, e qute sit → secundum Deum, et quae sit; esse cogitatione quas → esse cogitationes quas; vide it Etangelio → vide in Evangelio; immittis set → immisisset; ludet lscariotis ut ιτα deret eum η. → Judae Iscariotis ut traderet eum.; cordibus hominutn → cordibus hominum; Providentia, nt forte → Providentia, ne forte; potestatibus xvn,2l, minum cura mandatur, nt cum → potestatibus hominum cura mandatur, ut cum; sublevem → sublevent; pusiilae → pusillae; ct post consensum → et post consensum; peccati tendat allectum → peccati tendat affectum; capi debet et altiici → capi debet et abjici; baltuit → habuit; vulpes pnv silla → vulpes pusilla; ludat animam → Judae animam; abiieere → abjicere; pecunia: loculos → pecuniae loculos; cupidita'te → cupiditate; ino‘ dulsit → indulsit; sanabatttr → sanabatur; intelligamus. rmo videbitur ad Ecclesia: doctores dirigi , et mandati cis de captione vulpium exterminantiutn neas. → intelligamus, sermo videbitur ad Ecclesiae doctores dirigi, et mandari eis de captione vulpium exterminantium vineas.; haereticom → haereticorum; arguentorum → argumentorum; innocentm. → innocentium,; in le recta → in fide recta; pusilla: sunt isttc vulpes, et nulum plures animas decepcrunt, sed initium lbet prava doctrina, arguere hos et refrenare fcnent → pusillae sunt istae vulpes, et nondum plures animas deceperunt, sed initium habet prava doctrina, arguere hos et refrenare festinent.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.236 (PG 13:193b–194b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-236). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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3.237PG 13:194b–195b

Si enim permiserint in principiis, et indulserint, sermo eorum ut cancer serpit, et fiet insanabilis; ut multi inveniantur qui decepti ab eis pugnare iam pro ipsis incipiant, et defendere suscepti erroris auctores. Sic ergo pusillas dignum est vulpes capere, et dolosa haereticorum sophismata in ipsis statim initiis veris assertionibus confutare. Ut autem utriusque expositionis nostrae evidentior clarescat assertio, congregemus ex divinis voluminibus, sicubi animalis hujus mentio facta est. Invenimus ergo in sexagesimo secundo psalmo de impiis ita dici : Ipsi vero in uanum quaesierunt animam meam, introibant in inferiora terrae, tradentur in manus gladii, partes vulpium erunt. Sed et in Evangelio secundum Matthaeum Salvator ad Scribam qui dicebat ei : Magister , sequar te quocunque ieris , respondit: Vulpes foveas habent et volucres caeli nidos ubi requiescant, Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet . Similiter autem et in Evangelio secundum Lucam ad eos qui dixerunt Domino: Exi, et vade hinc, quia Herodes vult te occidere, respondit Jesus : Euntes dicite vulpi huic : Ecce ego ejicio daemonia et sanitates perficio hodie et crastina, et in die tertia consummabor. In libro quoque Iudicum, Samson cum uxor quae erat ex genere Philistinorum ei fuisset ablata, ait ad patrem ejus : innocens sum ego hac vice ab Allophylis , quia faciam vobiscum mala. Et abiit Samson, et accepit trecentas vulpes, et accepit lampades, et ligavit caudam ad caudam, et posuit lampadem unam inter duas caudas vulpium,

For if they allow them at the beginning and indulge them, their speech spreads like a cancer and becomes incurable; so that many are found who, deceived by them, begin to fight for them and to defend the authors of the error they have taken up. So, then, it is right to catch the little foxes and to refute the deceitful sophisms of the heretics at their very beginnings with true assertions. But that the assertion of both our expositions may shine out more clearly, let us gather from the divine books wherever mention of this animal has been made. We find, then, in the sixty-second psalm it said of the ungodly thus: “But they sought my soul in vain; they will go into the lower parts of the earth; they will be given into the hands of the sword; they will be portions for foxes.” And in the Gospel according to Matthew the Saviour answered the scribe who said to him, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go”: “Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests where they may rest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Likewise in the Gospel according to Luke, to those who said to the Lord, “Go out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill you,” Jesus answered: “Go and tell that fox: Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall be finished.” In the book of Judges too, Samson, when the wife who was of the race of the Philistines had been taken from him, said to her father: “I am innocent this time with respect to the Philistines, for I will do you harm.” And Samson went and took three hundred foxes, and took torches, and tied tail to tail, and put one torch between two tails of the foxes,

2 Tim 2:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 2:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 63:9 (62:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 63:10 (62:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 8:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 13:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 13:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Judg 15:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Judg 15:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Heresies must be refuted early before they spread; Origen gathers the Scripture passages about foxes (Psalm 63, the Gospels, Samson).

2 Tim 2:17; Ps 63:9–10 (62:10–11 LXX, “the sixty-second psalm”); Matt 8:19–20; Luke 13:31–32; Judg 15:1–4 (as in the Greek version; “Allophyli,” “foreigners,” is the Greek Bible's name for the Philistines). The words “assertion, let us gather from the divine books wherever,” lost in the Migne scan, are supplied from Baehrens.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (Baehrens' OCR: penniaeriut); OCR slips; footnote marker; page number leaked into the text; OCR slips; stray mark; stray marks and OCR slip; supplied from Baehrens, GCS 33, where the Migne scan lost the line): Si enim [tenuanrint → Si enim permiserint; sermo eorum :ut cancer serpit, 'et liet insanabilis → sermo eorum ut cancer serpit, et fiet insanabilis; erroris auctos → erroris auctores; snphismata → sophismata; nostra! evidentior clarescat animalis hujus mentio facta est. invenimus → nostrae evidentior clarescat assertio, congregemus ex divinis voluminibus, sicubi animalis hujus mentio facta est. Invenimus; quaesierunt animum meam, introibant in inferiora terrm → quaesierunt animam meam, introibant in inferiora terrae; vulpium er'unt . → vulpium erunt.; iu Evangelia secundum Matthteum → in Evangelio secundum Matthaeum; Vulpes [ot'eas → Vulpes foveas; non Itabet → non habet; ejicio dtemonia → ejicio daemonia; consummabor τὶ. → consummabor.; hac rice → hac vice; caudam nd caudam → caudam ad caudam; lampadem unum interduas 93 caudas → lampadem unam inter duas caudas.

Topics: Heresy

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Cant. 3.237 (PG 13:194b–195b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-canticum/3-224/#p-3-237). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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