Sophia Scriptura

Commentary on Romans 10.6–10.11

Origen · Commentary on Romans · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Caesarea · 6 passages

Latin text: Migne, PG 14 (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 14 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).

Chapter 10

10.6PG 14:1257a–1261d

Debemus autem nos firmiores imbecillitates infirmorum sustinere, et non nobis placere. Unusquisque vestrum proximo placeat in bono ad aedificationem. Nam et Christus non sibi placuit ; sed sicut scriptum est: Improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. Quaecunque enim scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt, ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spem habeamus. Videtur in his Paulus firmum semetipsum pronuntiare, sicut et in prima ad Corinthios dicit, quia factus sum infirmis infirmus, ut infirmos lucrarer . Et ibi enim non se dicit infirmum esse, sed fieri infirmum : et non utique, si infirmus fuisset, fieri potuisset infirmus. Sed non ex hoc accipias eum quasi immemorem mandati illius loci quo dicitur: Laudet te proximus tuus, et non tuum os; extraneus, et non tua labia. Non ergo pro laude propria, sed pro rerum consequentia firmum semetipsum pronuntiat. Si enim ipse humilitatis specie inter firmos vitasset enumerari, quis ex his qui aliorum infirmitates portare deberent, auderet subire istud officii, ut quasi firmus ipse fragilitates infirmorum ferre niteretur? Sed ideo commune facit istud officium, ut unusquisque nostrum in quo potest, etiamsi non in omnibus, tamen in quo videtur firmior proximo suo esse, portet infirmitatem ejus; sicut et in aliis dicit : Invicem onera vestra portate . Sed videtur onera hic pro corporeis necessitatibus nominasse, ut si quis in facultatibus opulentior est, onus pauperioris portet, et penuriam soletur abundantia. In eo vero ubi dicit, ut firmiores infirmorum sustineant infirmitates, non aliud intelligi potest, quam ut ea in quibus alii per infirmitatem delinquunt, robustiores quique patienter ferant, et non continuo Spernant eos, abjiciant, abhorrescant, si forte in aliquo infirmitatis vitio vincuntur, neque sub specie purioris vitae, a conventu fratrum et Ecclesiae societate depellant. Qui enim hoc facit, non est imitator illius de quo Isaias dicit : Ipse infirmitates nostras portat, et pro nobis dolet; et nos putabamus eum in dolore esse, et in plaga, et in afflictione". Quod si Christus portat infirmitates nostras, et Deus patienter fert delicta nostra, quomodo et nos eorum qui paulo inferiores videntur nequaquam delicta et negligentias toleramus? Hoc est nimirum ipsum Christum avertere ab hoc affectu, ne portare velit infirmitates nostras. Nemo enim ita perfectus est, qui apud Deum in aliquo non inveniatur infirmus, et portetur a Christo; et ideo sympathiam magis in hoc docet, id est compati invicem et condolere, sicut et in aliis scribit: Donantes vobis invicem delicta vestra, sicut et Deus in Christo donavit vobis . Hoc autem non idcirco praecipit, ut delinquentes nutriat, et infirmantes indulgentia laxiore dissolvat; sed sciens quoniam si portetur infirmus, aut erubescit diutius portari, et corrigit vitium delinquendi; aut si emendare se non valet, erit certe fructus iste portantis eum, quod non proficit in pejus, nec semetipso deterior efficitur, sicut illi de quibus dicit Apostolus : Nequam autem homines et seductores proficient in pejus, seducentes et errantes. Debemus autem ad id quod infirmitates portamus infirmorum, addere etiam hoc, ut non nobis ipsis placeamus, sed proximo, in bono tantum, et ad aedificationem. Philautiae vitium, id est sibi ipsi placendi et in aliis culpat propheta cum dicit: Vae his qui apud semetipsos sapientes sunt, et in conspectu suo eruditi “. Similiter ergo et in hoc possumus dicere: Vae his qui sibi ipsis placent, et in conspectu suo boni videntur. Oportet enim in conspectu Dei primo placere, secundo etiam proximis. Sicut enim primum est diligere Dominum Deum, et secundo proximum, ita et primum placere Deo, secundo etiam proximis. Sed fortasse dicat aliquis contraria sibi Paulum dicere in eo quod jubet nos placere proximis, qui in aliis dixerit : Ego si hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem “. Et utique huic sententiae videtur esse contrarium, ut unusquisque nostrum proximo placeat, et quod in aliis dicit: Sicut et ego omnibus per omnia placeo, non quaerens quod mihi utile est, sed quod multis, ut salvi fiant". Dicendum ergo ad haec, quia aliud est studium habere placendi hominibus ut laudem ab eis quaerat, et aliud est studium habere placendi hominibus in eo ut vita sua irreprehensibilis sit apud homines, et proficiant ex eo omnes qui vel vident talem vel audiunt. Ibi ergo placendum non est hominibus, ubi contra fidem, contra honestatem, contra religionem est in quo placeatur; et ideo dicit, Quia si hominibus placerem, hoc est incredulis et infidelibus Judaeis, Christi servus non essem “. Si enim voluisset Paulus placere Judaeis, Damascum cum epistolis missus traxisset utique viros et mulieres vinctos Jerosolymam, et visioni delatae sibi in via, caelestique voci minime credidisset. Sed et si quis nos aliquid agere exigit contra justitiam, contra sanctitatem, contra regulam Christianam, et nisi hoc agemus odia et inimicitias minitatur, tunc oportet nos meminisse hujus sermonis qui dicit : Si hominibus placere vellem, Christi servus non essem. Cum autem dicitur : Unusquisque vestrum proximo placeat ", necessaria distinctio sociatur, quae in quo placendum sit proximo evidenter ostendit cum dicit : In bono ad aedificationem. Cum ergo bene agimus, et bene docemus, placemus proximo, et aedificamus eum. Non enim gloriam ab hominibus quaerendam monet, sed aedificationem de actu et sermone nostro proximis dandam; sicut et in eo quod dicit Salvator, ut luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, et videntes opera vestra bona, glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. Per quod non utique ad quaerendam ab hominibus gloriam discipulos adhortatur, sed ut recte honesteque viventes aedificationem videntibus praebeant, et glorificetur Deus qui hominibus viam emendationis et salutis aperuit. Nam et Christus non sibi placuit, sed sicut scriptum est : Improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. In hoc videtur ostendere, quia et Christus non sibi placens, nec rapinam arbitrans esse se aequalem Deo, semetipsum exinanivit; sed volens hominibus placere, hoc est homines salvare, improperia improperantium pertulit, sicut scriptum est: Improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. Quod evidentius fiet si ea quae in Evangelio scripta sunt recolamus, quomodo ut prodesset hominibus, et salvos faceret eos, cum peccatoribus et publicanis manducabat et bibebat, et ad haec improperantes Judaei dicebant : Quare magister vester cum publicanis et peccatoribus manducat? vel iterum cum peccatricem mulierem non prohibebat contingere pedes suos, et lacrymis suis rigare, vel capillis detergere, ac myrrha perungere; et pro hoc improperantes et exprobrantes Judaei dicebant, quia si hic propheta esset, sciret utique quae et qualis est mulier quae tangit eum, quia peccatrix est “. Quod si requiras cur exemplum quod de Psalmo protulit, ita habeat quasi improperia quae improperentur Deo, ceciderint super Christum ; ita possumus explanare; quia sicut dixit : Qui me recipit, recipit eum qui me misit , ita et hoc accipi potest : Quia qui mihi improperat, imprOperat ei qui misit me. Exemplum ergo quod assumpsit, in sexagesimo octavo psalmo hoc modo scriptum est: Alienus factus sum fratribus meis, et hospes filiis matris meae. Quia zelus domus tuae comedit me, et improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. Quaecunque enim scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt . Simile est hoc illi quod ipse in aliis dicit: Scripta sunt autem propter nos, in quos fines saeculorum devenerunt. Quod si requiritur quomodo propter nos scripta sint quae scripta sunt, vide quia propter nos scriptum est : Non obturabis os bovi trituranti; non enim de bobus cura est Deo, sed de nobis dicit ; et propter nos scriptum est, quia Abraham duos filios habuit, unum de ancilla, et unum de libera, ut nos sciamus quia haec sunt allegorica, et haec sunt duo testamenta. Propter nos et illud scriptum est, quia populus manducavit manna in deserto, et bibit aquam de petra ut nos intelligeremus quia spiritalem escam manducaverunt, et spiritalem potum biberunt, bibentes de sequenti petra, quae petra erat Christus. Et haec, atque alia hujusmodi erant mysteria, quae occultata sunt temporibus aeternis, manifestata autem nunc per Scripturas propheticas, et adventum Domini et Salvatoris nostri Iesu Christi . Sed ut adhuc manifestius fiat quomodo quae scripta sunt, propter nos scripta sunt, de priori populo dicit propheta, quia aure audietis, et non audietis; et videntes videbitis, et non intelligetis “. De nobis autem dicitur, quia quibus non est nuntiatum de eo, videbunt; et qui non audierunt, intelligent . Considera ergo ex hoc propter quod quae scripta sunt scripta videantur. Quae enim scribuntur, sine dubio propter eos scribuntur qui visuri et intellecturi sunt, non propter eos qui neque visuri neque intellecturi dicuntur. Qui autem intelligunt quae scripta sunt, illud sine dubio invenient quod consequenter adiungitur: Ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum, spem habeamus ad Deum. Consolationem namque ex Scripturis non ille qui neque credit, neque intelligit, sed ille qui et credit et intelligit, capit.

“We who are stronger ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of you please his neighbor for good, to edification. For Christ too did not please himself; but as it is written, The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. For whatever things were written were written for our instruction, that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope.” In these words Paul seems to declare himself strong, as he also says in the first letter to the Corinthians, “I became weak to the weak, that I might win the weak.” For there too he does not say that he is weak, but that he becomes weak; and certainly, had he been weak, he could not have become weak. But do not take him from this as forgetful of that commandment which says, “Let your neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” He declares himself strong, then, not for his own praise but for the consistency of the matter. For if he himself, under an appearance of humility, had avoided being counted among the strong, who among those who ought to bear the weaknesses of others would dare to undertake that duty, striving as a strong man to bear the frailties of the weak? But he makes this duty common for this reason, that each of us, in what he can, even if not in all things, yet in that in which he seems stronger than his neighbor, should bear his weakness; as he says elsewhere too, “Bear one another’s burdens.” But there he seems to have used “burdens” for bodily needs, so that if someone is richer in means, he should bear the burden of the poorer and relieve want by abundance. But where he says that the stronger should bear the weaknesses of the weak, nothing else can be understood than that the more robust should patiently bear those things in which others fall through weakness, and not at once despise them, cast them off, shrink from them, if perhaps they are overcome in some fault of weakness, nor, under pretext of a purer life, drive them from the assembly of the brothers and the fellowship of the church. For one who does this is not an imitator of him of whom Isaiah says, “He bears our weaknesses and grieves for us; and we thought him to be in pain and in a wound and in affliction.” But if Christ bears our weaknesses, and God patiently bears our sins, how is it that we by no means tolerate the sins and negligences of those who seem a little lower? This is surely to turn Christ himself away from this disposition, so that he would not wish to bear our weaknesses. For no one is so perfect as not to be found weak before God in something and to be carried by Christ; and therefore he teaches sympathy in this, that is, to suffer with one another and grieve with one another, as he writes elsewhere too: “Forgiving one another your sins, as God in Christ also forgave you.” But he does not command this so as to nurture sinners and loosen the weak with laxer indulgence; but knowing that if the weak one is carried, either he is ashamed to be carried longer and corrects the fault of sinning, or, if he is unable to amend himself, the fruit of the one who carries him will at least be this, that he does not advance to worse nor become worse than himself, like those of whom the Apostle says, “But wicked men and seducers will advance to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” And to bearing the weaknesses of the weak we must add this too, that we please not ourselves but our neighbor, only in what is good and for edification. The fault of philautia, that is, of pleasing oneself, the prophet too censures elsewhere, when he says, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and learned in their own sight.” Likewise, then, we can say in this too: Woe to those who please themselves and seem good in their own sight. For one must please first in the sight of God, and secondly also one’s neighbors. For just as the first thing is to love the Lord God, and secondly one’s neighbor, so too the first is to please God, and secondly also one’s neighbors.

But perhaps someone may say that Paul contradicts himself in commanding us to please our neighbors, when he said elsewhere, “If I were pleasing men, I would not be the servant of Christ.” And certainly that each of us should please his neighbor, and what he says elsewhere, “As I too please all in all things, not seeking what is profitable to me but to many, that they may be saved,” seem contrary to this sentence. To this, then, we must say that it is one thing to be eager to please men so as to seek praise from them, and another to be eager to please men in this, that one’s life be blameless among men and that all who see or hear such a one profit from him. One must not please men, then, where what pleases is against faith, against honor, against religion; and therefore he says, “If I were pleasing men,” that is, the unbelieving and faithless Jews, “I would not be the servant of Christ.” For if Paul had wished to please the Jews, when sent to Damascus with letters he would surely have dragged men and women in chains to Jerusalem, and would by no means have believed the vision brought to him on the way and the heavenly voice. And if someone demands that we do something against justice, against holiness, against the Christian rule, and threatens hatred and enmity unless we do it, then we must remember this saying: “If I wished to please men, I would not be the servant of Christ.” But when it is said, “Let each of you please his neighbor,” a necessary distinction is joined, which plainly shows in what the neighbor is to be pleased, when he says, “for good, to edification.” When, then, we act well and teach well, we please our neighbor and build him up. For he does not advise seeking glory from men, but giving edification to our neighbors by our act and word; as also in what the Savior says, “Let your light shine before men, that seeing your good works they may glorify your Father who is in heaven.” By this he surely does not exhort the disciples to seek glory from men, but that, living rightly and honorably, they may give edification to those who see, and God may be glorified, who has opened to men the way of amendment and salvation. “For Christ too did not please himself, but as it is written, The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” In this he seems to show that Christ too, not pleasing himself, nor thinking it robbery to be equal with God, emptied himself; but, wishing to please men, that is, to save men, he bore the reproaches of those who reproached, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” This will become plainer if we recall what is written in the Gospel: how, to help men and to save them, he ate and drank with sinners and tax collectors, and the Jews, reproaching this, said, “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?” Or again when he did not forbid the sinful woman to touch his feet and wet them with her tears and wipe them with her hair and anoint them with myrrh; and for this the Jews, reproaching and upbraiding him, said, “If this man were a prophet, he would surely know who and what sort of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner.” And if you ask why the example he brought from the Psalm is such as if the reproaches cast at God fell on Christ, we can explain it thus: just as he said, “He who receives me receives him who sent me,” so this too can be taken: He who reproaches me reproaches him who sent me. The example he took is written thus in the sixty-eighth Psalm: “I have become a stranger to my brothers and a guest to the sons of my mother. For the zeal of your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”

“For whatever things were written were written for our instruction.” This is like what he says elsewhere: “But they were written for us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” And if it is asked how the things that were written were written for us, see that for us it is written, “You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain”; for God does not care for oxen, but he speaks of us. And for us it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free, so that we may know that these things are allegorical and these are the two covenants. For us too it was written that the people ate manna in the desert and drank water from the rock, that we might understand that they ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink, drinking from the rock that followed, and the rock was Christ. And these and other such were mysteries which had been hidden for eternal ages, but are now made manifest through the prophetic Scriptures and the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But that it may become still plainer how the things written were written for us: the prophet says of the former people, “With the ear you will hear and not hear; and seeing you will see and not understand”; but of us it is said, “Those to whom it was not announced concerning him will see, and those who have not heard will understand.” Consider, then, from this for whom the things written seem to be written. For what is written is without doubt written for those who are to see and understand, not for those who are said to be going neither to see nor to understand. And those who understand what is written will without doubt find what is added next: “that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope in God.” For it is not one who neither believes nor understands, but one who both believes and understands, who receives comfort from the Scriptures.

Rom 15:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 27:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 6:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 3:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 3:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 5:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 22:37 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gal 1:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:33 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 9:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 9:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 7:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 9:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 69:8 (68:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 69:9 (68:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 4:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 16:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 16:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 6:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 52:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The strong must bear the weaknesses of the weak rather than expel them, as Christ bears ours; we are to please our neighbor for his edification, not to win praise or by betraying the faith, as Christ bore reproaches to save sinners; and the Scriptures, read spiritually, were written to give comfort and hope to those who understand.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:1–4 (Ps 69:9). Cited: 1 Cor 9:22; Prov 27:2; Gal 6:2; Isa 53:4; Col 3:13 / Eph 4:32; 2 Tim 3:13; Isa 5:21; Matt 22:37–39; Gal 1:10; 1 Cor 10:33; Acts 9:1–6; Matt 5:16; Phil 2:6–7; Matt 9:11; Luke 7:37–39; Luke 9:48 / Matt 10:40; Ps 69:8–9 (68:9–10 LXX); 1 Cor 10:11; 1 Cor 9:9–10; Gal 4:22–24; Exod 16; Exod 17:6; 1 Cor 10:3–4; Rom 16:25–26; Isa 6:9; Isa 52:15.
  • Philautia (self-love) and sympathia are Greek terms given by Rufinus.
  • Origen's account of the Jews who opposed Christ and Paul is translated as written.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne column number; Migne note number; OCR slip; OCR slip; removed Migne footnote references; OCR slips; OCR slips and Migne column number; removed Migne footnote references inside a hyphenated word; OCR slip; removed Migne footnote references inside a hyphenated word; OCR slips and note number; stray mark; stray marks): imbecillitates 67! infirmorum → imbecillitates infirmorum; in bono ad (edificationem → in bono ad aedificationem; Qutvcunqne enim scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt, ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spent habeamus “.Videtur → Quaecunque enim scripta sunt, ad nostram doctrinam scripta sunt, ut per patientiam et consolationem Scripturarum spem habeamus. Videtur; et non utique. si infirmus luisset → et non utique, si infirmus fuisset; extraneas , et non tua labia δ’. → extraneus, et non tua labia.; auderet subire istud officii, ttt quasi firmus ipse lragilitates → auderet subire istud officii, ut quasi firmus ipse fragilitates; Sed ideo commune fa ε cit istud ofiicium, ttt unusquisque nostrum in quo potest. clittlltsi non in omnibus → Sed ideo commune facit istud officium, ut unusquisque nostrum in quo potest, etiamsi non in omnibus; penuriam soletur abundanlia. lu eo vero ubi dicit, ut firmiores infirmorumsustineant infirmitates. non aliud intelligi potest, quam ttt ea → penuriam soletur abundantia. In eo vero ubi dicit, ut firmiores infirmorum sustineant infirmitates, non aliud intelligi potest, quam ut ea; neque sub specie purioris vitm, a con- Psal. cxxttl. 7. 8. " Rom. xv,l lJoan. ut. γι, 2. lsa. un, 4. ventu fratrum → neque sub specie purioris vitae, a conventu fratrum; et nos putabamus cum in dolore esse. et in plaga → et nos putabamus eum in dolore esse, et in plaga; Quod si Christus portat infirmitates nostras. et Deus → Quod si Christus portat infirmitates nostras, et Deus; nequaquam delicta et negligenttas toleramus? lloc est → nequaquam delicta et negligentias toleramus? Hoc est; in aliquo non inveniatur infirmus. et portetur → in aliquo non inveniatur infirmus, et portetur; lloc autem non idcirco pr:ecipit,ut delinquentes → Hoc autem non idcirco praecipit, ut delinquentes; erit certe fructus _ iste portantis eum → erit certe fructus iste portantis eum; nec semetipso deterior efiicitur. sicut → nec semetipso deterior efficitur, sicut; proficient in pejus, sedurentes et errantes → proficient in pejus, seducentes et errantes; addere etiam hoc, ιιι non nobis ipsis placeamus, sed proximo. in bono tantum, et ad tradi. ficationem ". Philautite vitium → addere etiam hoc, ut non nobis ipsis placeamus, sed proximo, in bono tantum, et ad aedificationem. Philautiae vitium; Vra his qui apud semetipsos sapientes sunt → Vae his qui apud semetipsos sapientes sunt; Similiter ergo et itt hoc possumus dicere : Va: his qui sibiipsis placent → Similiter ergo et in hoc possumus dicere: Vae his qui sibi ipsis placent; Oportet enim in coaspectu Dei → Oportet enim in conspectu Dei; ita et primum pluet-re Deo. secundo → ita et primum placere Deo, secundo; Et utique huic seutentia: videtur esse contrarium → Et utique huic sententiae videtur esse contrarium; et quod lu aliis dicit : Sicut et ego omnibus per omnia placeo. l Cor. lx, 22. "Prov. xxv", 2. Calai. seq. θ’ Rom. xv, 2. ” lsa.v.2l. “ Galat. I, 10. 15. non quaerens → et quod in aliis dicit: Sicut et ego omnibus per omnia placeo, non quaerens; placendi hominibus iu eo ut vita sua → placendi hominibus in eo ut vita sua; lbi ergo placendum non est hominihus → Ibi ergo placendum non est hominibus; et ideo dicit, Ouia si hominibus placerem, hocest incredulis et infidelibus Judzeis → et ideo dicit, Quia si hominibus placerem, hoc est incredulis et infidelibus Judaeis; Si enim voluisset Paulus placereludmis → Si enim voluisset Paulus placere Judaeis; et visioni delatae sibi in via , cmlestique voci → et visioni delatae sibi in via, caelestique voci; Christi servus non essent . Cum autem → Christi servus non essem. Cum autem; In bono ad wdificationem → In bono ad aedificationem; sicut et ineo quod dicit Salvator7°,ut luceat lux vestra corant hominibus, etvidentes opera vestra bona, glori/icent Patrem vestrum qui in cwlis est. Per quod ιιοη utique → sicut et in eo quod dicit Salvator, ut luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, et videntes opera vestra bona, glorificent Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. Per quod non utique; recte honesteque viventes :mlilicalionem videntibus praebeant → recte honesteque viventes aedificationem videntibus praebeant; viam emendationis et salutis apcruit → viam emendationis et salutis aperuit; Improaeria improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. ln hoc videtur → Improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. In hoc videtur; semetipsum exiuanivit '” ; sed volens hominibus placere‘, → semetipsum exinanivit; sed volens hominibus placere,; sicut . scriptum est : lmproperia .improperantium tibi i260 ceciderunt super me "’. Quod evidentius liet → sicut scriptum est: Improperia improperantium tibi ceciderunt super me. Quod evidentius fiet; et salvos laceret eos. cum peccatoribus → et salvos faceret eos, cum peccatoribus; cum publicanis et peccatoribus muducat ? → cum publicanis et peccatoribus manducat?; et lacrymis suis (:96) rigare → et lacrymis suis rigare; quasi improperia quae impropereutur Deo, cecidi!b rint super tChristum → quasi improperia quae improperentur Deo, ceciderint super Christum; Exemplum crgo quod assumpsit, in sexagesimo octavo psalmo hoc modo scriptum est :Alienus factus sunt fratribus meis, et hospes filiis matris mete. Quia ιρι lus domus tua: comedit me → Exemplum ergo quod assumpsit, in sexagesimo octavo psalmo hoc modo scriptum est: Alienus factus sum fratribus meis, et hospes filiis matris meae. Quia zelus domus tuae comedit me; Quwcunque enim scripta sunt → Quaecunque enim scripta sunt; Simile est hoc illi quod ipse ia aliis dicit : Scripta sunt autem propter nos, in quos fines sa’culorum devenerunt . Quod si requiritur quomodo pmpter nos → Simile est hoc illi quod ipse in aliis dicit: Scripta sunt autem propter nos, in quos fines saeculorum devenerunt. Quod si requiritur quomodo propter nos; Non obc turabis os bovi trituranti ; non enim de bobus cura est Deo, seu de nobis dicit → Non obturabis os bovi trituranti; non enim de bobus cura est Deo, sed de nobis dicit; unum de at:cilla → unum de ancilla; et lucc sunt duo testamenta . Propter nos et illud scriptmn est 3°, quia populus tuan ducavit manna → et haec sunt duo testamenta. Propter nos et illud scriptum est, quia populus manducavit manna; ut nos intelliget-emus quia → ut nos intelligeremus quia; quae petra erat Christus “.(l) Et haec, atque alia hujusmodi erant mysteria, quae occulta. ta sunt temporibus aeternis 8‘, manifestata autem nunc per Scripturas propheticas, et adventura Do» Rom.xv, 2. Matth. ι’, 16. Luc. ix. 48. Rom. ιν. Galat. ι, 10. Luc. vn, 59. Luc. lx. 48. om. 1', " xui, 6. lCor. libi mini et Salvatoris → quae petra erat Christus. Et haec, atque alia hujusmodi erant mysteria, quae occultata sunt temporibus aeternis, manifestata autem nunc per Scripturas propheticas, et adventum Domini et Salvatoris; De nobis autem dicitur. quia quibus non est nuntiatum de’eo → De nobis autem dicitur, quia quibus non est nuntiatum de eo; scripta videan- . tur. Qua: enim scribuntur → scripta videantur. Quae enim scribuntur; quod consequenter adiungitur: “ Ut per patientiam. et consolationem → quod consequenter adiungitur: Ut per patientiam et consolationem; Consolationetn namque ex Scripturis non ille qui neque credit, neque intelligit . sed → Consolationem namque ex Scripturis non ille qui neque credit, neque intelligit, sed.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.6 (PG 14:1257a–1261d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-10-6) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

10.7PG 14:1261d–1263a

Deus autem patientiae et consolationis det vobis id ipsum sapere in alterutrum secundum Iesum Christum : ut unanimes uno ore honorificetis Deum, et Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi. Propter quod suscipite invicem, sicut et Christus suscepit vos in honorem Dei . Si patientia virtus est, omnis autem virtus a Deo est ; et patientia a Deo est. Cum ergo dicitur Deus patientiae, hoc est quod videtur ostendi, quia Deus cum his est qui habent in se virtutem patientiae: sicut cum dicitur Deus justitiae, ostenditur in his esse Deus qui servant justitiam. Similiter et Deus veritatis, et Deus sapientiae intelligitur. Sed et Deus consolationis cum dicitur, cum illis esse ostenditur Deus qui ex divinis Scripturis per intelligentiam spiritalem consolationem Spiritus capiunt. Deus ergo patientiae et consolationis det vobis, inquit, idipsum sapere in alterutrum secundum Iesum Christum. In hoc Paulus patriarcharum more et prophetarum, quorum benedictiones scriptae referuntur, benedictiones tribuit Romanis, exorans eis dari a Deo ut id ipsum sapiant in alterutrum. Grandis est ista benedictio, ut unum sapiant omnes atque sentiant, et sicut sibi, ita unusquisque velit et proximo suo. Vis autem scire quantum valeat unanimitatis gratia? Salvator in Evangeliis pronuntiat, quia si duo vel tres in unum consenserint, de omni re quamcunque petierint a Deo, fiet illis ; et iterum de semetipso dicit , quia ubi fuerint duo vel tres congregati in nomine meo, hoc est, unum atque idem sentientes in nomine Jesu Christi, ibi, inquit, ero in medio eorum. Vis et aliud accipere exemplum, quomodo unum sentientibus Christus medius fiat? Vide in Actibus apostolorum quomodo post ascensionem Domini, cum elevassent, inquit, undecim apostoli cum caeteris vocem, et unanimiter orassent, motus est locus in quo stabant, et praesentiam sancti Spiritus meruerunt ’°. Ut autem adhuc quanta sit unanimitatis virtus , et quanta gratia clarius fiat, non puto absurdum videri, si ea quae nobis de his etiam in Veteri Testamento a patribus rationabiliter tradita sunt, his scilicet qui ex Hebraeis ad Christi fidem venerunt, in medium proferamus. Aiebant ergo tres illos filios Core quorum nomina invenimus in Exodo “, id est, Aser qui interpretatur eruditio, et Elchana qui in nostra lingua dicitur possessio Dei, et Abiasaph qui in Latino sermone indicat congregationem patris , cum pater eorum Core peccasset una cum Dathan et Abiron ", et omnibus qui consenserunt eis, et divinae ultionis in eos pararetur excidium, istos segregasse se a coetu nefario, et ab impia conspiratione sequestratos unanimiter ad Deum precem poenitentiae profudisse: atque exauditos a Deo non solum veniam poenae, sed et prophetiae gratiam meruisse; et hoc quoque eis a Deo poscentibus esse praestitum, ne quid triste aut exitiabile prophetare iuberentur : et ob hoc omnes Psalmos quicunque nominibus eorum attitulati referuntur, nihil triste adversum peccatores aut asperum continere. Hoc autem promimus, ut quanta sit unanimitatis virtus, et unum sentire, atque unum invicem sapere, magnificentius nosceretur. Ego etiam illud, quod Paulus in quibusdam Epistolis aliorum vocabula secum jungit, et dicit, Paulus, et Sosthenes frater "; et alibi, Paulus, et Silvanus, et Timotheus " ; puto non inaniter factum; sed per hoc ostendi , quia duobus vel tribus in uno positis Spiritus sanctus unum de eis sensum atque unum elicuerit sermonem: ut qui Ecclesias docere cupiebant unum dicere omnes atque unum sapere, ipsi prius unum se dicere atque unum sapere demonstrarent, et uno ore honorificarent Deum , et Patrem Domini nostri Iesu Christi. Unum namque os dicitur, ubi unus atque idem per diversorum ora sensus et sermo procedit. Bene autem Apostolus ubi ait, idipsum sapere in alterutrum , addidit, secundum Jesum Christum. Posset enim fieri ut et in malitia aliqui unanimiter consentirent, et unum saperent in pejus. Ob hoc ergo addidit, secundum Iesum Christum. Qui autem secundum Jesum Christum sapit, sine dubio omne quod bonum est sapit. Post haec ait : Propter quod suscipite invicem, sicut et Christus suscepit vos in honorem Dei. Quod dicit, suscipite invicem, ad illud referendum est quod primo proposuerat, ubi occasione mundorum vel immundorum ciborum diversa sentientes ab invicem discrepabant; et ait: Suscipite invicem, sicut et Christus suscepit vos, qui nullius horruit immunditias , nec reputavit alicui delicta sua. Nihil ergo de immunditia animalium iudicetis, sicut nec ille immunditias credentium reputavit. Qui in superioribus dixerat: Qui autem manducat, non manducantem non judicet; Deus enim illum assumpsit, hic dixit: Sicut Christus suscepit vos: ut ostenderet unum atque idem esse a Deo suscipi, et a Christo. Addit autem et hoc , quod honor Dei sit suscipi a Christo. Quos enim suscipit Christus, docet eos ita agere debere, ut videntes homines opera eorum bona, glorificent Patrem eorum qui in caelis est “.

“Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be of the same mind toward one another according to Jesus Christ, that with one accord and with one mouth you may glorify God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, as Christ also received you, to the honor of God.” If patience is a virtue, and every virtue is from God, patience too is from God. When, then, he is called the God of patience, what seems to be shown is that God is with those who have in themselves the virtue of patience; as when he is called the God of righteousness, it is shown that God is in those who keep righteousness. Likewise the God of truth and the God of wisdom are understood. And when he is called the God of comfort, God is shown to be with those who receive the comfort of the Spirit from the divine Scriptures through spiritual understanding. “May the God of patience and comfort, then,” he says, “grant you to be of the same mind toward one another according to Jesus Christ.” In this Paul, after the manner of the patriarchs and prophets, whose blessings are recorded in writing, bestows blessings on the Romans, praying that it be given them by God to be of the same mind toward one another. Great is this blessing, that all should think and feel one thing, and that each should wish for his neighbor as for himself. Do you wish to know how much the grace of unanimity avails? The Savior declares in the Gospels that if two or three agree together about anything whatever that they ask of God, it will be done for them; and again he says of himself that where two or three are gathered in my name, that is, thinking one and the same thing in the name of Jesus Christ, there, he says, I will be in their midst. Do you wish to take another example too of how Christ comes into the midst of those who think one thing? See in the Acts of the Apostles how after the Lord’s ascension, when, it says, the eleven apostles with the rest had raised their voice and prayed with one accord, the place where they stood was shaken, and they obtained the presence of the Holy Spirit. And that it may become still clearer how great is the power of unanimity and how great its grace, I do not think it will seem absurd if we bring forward what was reasonably handed down to us about these things in the Old Testament too by the fathers, namely those of the Hebrews who came to faith in Christ. They said, then, that the three sons of Korah, whose names we find in Exodus, that is, Assir, which is interpreted “instruction,” and Elkanah, which in our language means “possession of God,” and Abiasaph, which in the Latin tongue signifies “gathering of the father,” when their father Korah had sinned together with Dathan and Abiram and all who agreed with them, and the destruction of divine vengeance was being prepared against them, separated themselves from the wicked company and, set apart from the impious conspiracy, poured out with one accord a prayer of repentance to God; and, heard by God, they obtained not only pardon from punishment but also the grace of prophecy; and this too was granted to them at their request, that they should not be commanded to prophesy anything sad or destructive; and for this reason all the Psalms that bear their names in the title contain nothing sad or harsh against sinners. We have brought this forward so that it might be known more grandly how great is the power of unanimity, of thinking one thing and being of one mind toward one another. I think too that Paul’s joining the names of others with his own in some letters, saying, “Paul and Sosthenes the brother,” and elsewhere, “Paul and Silvanus and Timothy,” was not done idly; but by this it is shown that when two or three were set in one, the Holy Spirit drew from them one sense and one speech, so that those who wished to teach the churches that all should say one thing and be of one mind might first show that they themselves said one thing and were of one mind, and with one mouth glorified God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is called one mouth where one and the same sense and speech proceeds through the mouths of different people. And well the Apostle, where he says, “to be of the same mind toward one another,” added, “according to Jesus Christ.” For it could happen that some agree with one accord even in wickedness and are of one mind for the worse. For this reason, then, he added, “according to Jesus Christ.” And one who is minded according to Jesus Christ without doubt minds all that is good. After this he says, “Therefore receive one another, as Christ also received you, to the honor of God.” His saying, “Receive one another,” is to be referred to what he set out first, where on the occasion of clean and unclean foods they disagreed with one another, thinking differently; and he says, “Receive one another, as Christ also received you,” who shrank from no one’s uncleanness and did not count to anyone his sins. Judge nothing, then, about the uncleanness of animals, just as he did not count the uncleanness of believers. And he who said above, “Let him who eats not judge him who does not eat, for God has received him,” has said here, “as Christ received you,” to show that to be received by God and by Christ is one and the same. And he adds this too, that to be received by Christ is the honor of God. For those whom Christ receives he teaches that they must so act that people, seeing their good works, may glorify their Father who is in heaven.

Rom 15:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 18:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 18:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 4:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 4:31 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 6:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 16:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Thess 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 14:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God is the God of patience and comfort in those who have these virtues; Paul blesses the Romans with unanimity, whose power is shown by Christ's promise, by Pentecost, and by a Hebrew tradition about the repentant sons of Korah; they are to receive one another as Christ received them.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:5–7. Cited: Matt 18:19–20; Acts 4:24, 31; Exod 6:24; Num 16; 1 Cor 1:1; 1 Thess 1:1; Rom 14:3; 2 Cor 5:19; Matt 5:16.
  • The tradition about the three sons of Korah (Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph) is said to come from Hebrew Christians; the Latin interpretations of the names are given as in the text. Origen also connects it with the “Psalms of the sons of Korah.”
  • “the eleven apostles”: so the text (Acts 4:24, 31 describes the prayer of the whole company).
  • “Let him who eats not judge him who does not eat”: so the Migne text here; Rom 14:3 (quoted correctly at 9.36) has “let him who does not eat not judge him who eats.”

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (Migne note number; Migne note number; OCR slip; OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and Migne note number; stray mark; stray marks): Deus autem patientia: et consolationis → Deus autem patientiae et consolationis; uno ore honori/icetis Deum → uno ore honorificetis Deum; hoc est quod videtur osten‘ di, quia Dens cum his est → hoc est quod videtur ostendi, quia Deus cum his est; sicut cum dicitur Deusjustitia, ostenditur → sicut cum dicitur Deus justitiae, ostenditur; et Deus sapientia: intelligitur. Sed et Deus consolationi. cum dicitur, cum ο iilis esse → et Deus sapientiae intelligitur. Sed et Deus consolationis cum dicitur, cum illis esse; Deus ergo patientia: et consolationis det vobis → Deus ergo patientiae et consolationis det vobis; secundum Iesum Christum. ln hoc Paulus → secundum Iesum Christum. In hoc Paulus; Salvator in Evangeliis '“ pronuntiat, quia si duo uel tres in unum consenserint,de omni re → Salvator in Evangeliis pronuntiat, quia si duo vel tres in unum consenserint, de omni re; ibi, inquit (l0), ero in medio eorum. Vis et aliud accipere exemplum . quomodo → ibi, inquit, ero in medio eorum. Vis et aliud accipere exemplum, quomodo; Vide in'Actibus apostolorum → Vide in Actibus apostolorum; undecim (ll) apostoli cum caeteris → undecim apostoli cum caeteris; et quanta gratia clarius liat , non puto → et quanta gratia clarius fiat, non puto; etiam in Veteri Testameuto → etiam in Veteri Testamento; ad Christi [idem venerunt → ad Christi fidem venerunt; possessio Dei.et Abiasaph → possessio Dei, et Abiasaph; et divinze ultionis in eos pararetur excidium, istos segregasse se a coetu nefario (l3), et ab impia conspiratione sequestralos unanimiter ad Deum precem pmnitentia: profudisse : atque exauditos a Deo non solum veniam pinnae, sed et prophetia gratiam → et divinae ultionis in eos pararetur excidium, istos segregasse se a coetu nefario, et ab impia conspiratione sequestratos unanimiter ad Deum precem poenitentiae profudisse: atque exauditos a Deo non solum veniam poenae, sed et prophetiae gratiam; lloc autem promiimus, ut quanta sit unanimilatis virtus → Hoc autem promimus, ut quanta sit unanimitatis virtus; Paulus, et Sglvanus, et Timotheus → Paulus, et Silvanus, et Timotheus; unum de eis sensum atque uinum elicuerittsermonem → unum de eis sensum atque unum elicuerit sermonem; Unum namque . os dicitur, ubi unus atque idem per diversorum ora sensus et'sermo procedit → Unum namque os dicitur, ubi unus atque idem per diversorum ora sensus et sermo procedit; Posset enim tieri ut → Posset enim fieri ut; 0b hoc ergo addidit → Ob hoc ergo addidit; Post hmc ait → Post haec ait; quod primo proposuerat (l5) , ubi → quod primo proposuerat, ubi; sicut et Christus suscepit uos, qui nullius horruit → sicut et Christus suscepit vos, qui nullius horruit; thui in superioribus dixerat : Qui autem manducet , non manducantem non judicet; Dens enim illum assumpsit ’ , hic dixit → Qui in superioribus dixerat: Qui autem manducat, non manducantem non judicet; Deus enim illum assumpsit, hic dixit; ut uidentes homines opera eorum bona → ut videntes homines opera eorum bona.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.7 (PG 14:1261d–1263a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)

BibTeX · RIS (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-origen-commentarius-romanos-10-7) · Report an error

Translation: Translated by Claude (Opus) from Rufinus's Latin translation of Origen's lost Greek (Migne PG 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

10.8PG 14:1263a–1265b

Dico enim Christum ministrum fuisse circumcisionis propter veritatem Dei, ad stabiliendas promissiones Patrum. Gentes autem pro misericordia honorare Deum, sicut scriptum est: Propterea con … quo nunc eos qui ex circumcisione crediderant, nunc etiam eos qui ex gentibus adversum se invicem superbientes erant refrenat ac reprimit, doceret non esse penitus iudicandos eos qui in legis observationibus demorantur; quandoquidem etiam Christus in carne sua circumcisionis minister exstiterit : sive alio modo, ut illius circumcisionis Christus minister fuisse dicatur, de qua idem Apostolus dicit 9’: Non enim qui in manifesto Judaeus est, neque quae manifesta in carne est circumcisio, sed qui in occulto Judaeus est, et circumcisio cordis in spiritu, non littera, cujus laus non ex hominibus, sed ex Deo est; et secundum quod idem Apostolus in aliis dicit ; In quo etiam circumcisi estis circumcisione non manufacta in exspoliatione corporis carnis, sed in circumcisione Christi, consepulti ei in baptismo. Per hujusmodi ergo circumcisionem certum est Patrum promissiones esse completas. Quae autem fuerint promissiones, subditis declarat exemplis quibus dicit: Propterea confitebor tibi in gentibus, et nomini tuo cantabo. Quod ex septimo decimo psalmo videtur assumptum, parva immutatione habita, non sensus, sed sermonum. Ibi enim dicit Propheta : Propterea confitebor tibi in gentibus. Domine, et psallam nomini tuo . Quod autem ait: Laetamini, gentes, cum populo ejus, eisdem verbis in Deuteronomii cantico scriptum est. Laudate vero Dominum, omnes gentes, et magnificate eum, omnes populi, in centesimo sexto decimo psalmo legitur; tantum est quod ibi pro magnificate, collaudate positum est. Ultimum vero exemplum ipse Paulus de Isaia dicit esse assumptum, in cujus corpore ita scriptum est : Et erit in die illa radix Iesse ; et qui exsurget regere gentes, in eo gentes sperabunt. Et erit requies ejus honor. Omissis autem in primo quidem duobus sermonibus, id est, in die illa; et in ultimis, et erit requies ejus honor, caetera eisdem verbis posuit quibus Septuaginta Interpretes ediderunt. Unde sciendum est quod in omnibus pene Apostolus editionem Septuaginta Interpretum tenet, nisi si qua forte ei quam exsequitur assertioni minus necessaria videntur, aut si quando non tam verbis Interpretum, quam sensibus Scripturae uti vult sua enuntiatione prolatis. Hunc autem sermonem de radice Jesse melius quidem in explanatione ipsius prophetae Isaiae visum est disseri. Et in praesenti tamen loco dicetur, quoniam Iesse interpretatur in nostra lingua , est mihi. In adventu ergo Christi omnis qui credidit ei, convenienter dixit: Est mihi. Ille enim , de quo Moyses dixit , qui est misit me ad vos, ipse est mihi, hoc est, in ipsum credo qui est, non qui ex nihilo factus est, ut impiis placet, sed qui est, et semper est, et hoc ei nomen est : et ipse est qui surrexit ex radice Jesse, et in ipso gentes sperabunt. Pro qua misericordia, quam ab eo consecuti sunt, ut is qui semper erat nasceretur ex radice Jesse ad salutem gentibus dandam, pro hac, inquam, sibi collata misericordia gentes honorant et magnificant Deum.

“For I say that Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises of the fathers; but the Gentiles honor God for his mercy, as it is written, Therefore I will confess …” … by which he restrains and checks now those who had believed from the circumcision, now also those from the Gentiles who were proud against one another, he teaches that those who remain in the observances of the law are by no means to be judged, since even Christ in his own flesh became a minister of circumcision. Or in another way, so that Christ is said to have been the minister of that circumcision of which the same Apostle says, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter, whose praise is not from men but from God”; and according to what the same Apostle says elsewhere, “In whom also you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the stripping off of the body of flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in baptism.” Through a circumcision of this kind, then, it is certain that the promises of the fathers were fulfilled. And what the promises were he declares by the examples appended, in which he says, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” This seems taken from the seventeenth Psalm, with a small change, not of sense but of words; for there the prophet says, “Therefore I will confess you among the Gentiles, Lord, and sing psalms to your name.” And what he says, “Rejoice, Gentiles, with his people,” is written in the same words in the song of Deuteronomy. “Praise the Lord, all Gentiles, and magnify him, all peoples,” is read in the one hundred and sixteenth Psalm; only that there “praise together” is put for “magnify.” The last example Paul himself says is taken from Isaiah, in whose body it is written thus: “And there will be in that day the root of Jesse, and he who rises to rule the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope. And his rest will be honor.” Omitting, in the first part, two expressions, namely “in that day,” and at the end, “and his rest will be honor,” he set down the rest in the same words in which the Seventy Translators published them. Hence it must be known that in almost everything the Apostle keeps the edition of the Seventy Translators, except where some things perhaps seem less necessary for the argument he is pursuing, or when he wishes to use not so much the words of the translators as the senses of Scripture brought out in his own expression. This saying about the root of Jesse it seemed better to discuss in the explanation of the prophet Isaiah himself. Yet in the present place it will be said that Jesse is interpreted in our language, “he is to me.” At the coming of Christ, then, everyone who believed in him fittingly said, “He is to me.” For he of whom Moses said, “He who is has sent me to you,” he is to me; that is, I believe in him who is, not one made out of nothing, as pleases the ungodly, but who is, and always is, and this is his name; and he is the one who rose from the root of Jesse, and in him the Gentiles will hope. For this mercy which they have obtained from him, that he who always was should be born from the root of Jesse to give salvation to the Gentiles, for this mercy, I say, bestowed on them, the Gentiles honor and magnify God.

Rom 15:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 2:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 18:49 (17:50 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:43 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 117:1 (116:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 11:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:14 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ was minister of circumcision either by being circumcised in the flesh, so that Jewish believers who keep the law should not be judged, or as minister of the spiritual circumcision of the heart; the cited texts follow the Septuagint, and the 'root of Jesse' (Jesse meaning 'he is to me') points to the eternal one who is, born for the Gentiles' salvation.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:8–12. Cited: Rom 2:28–29; Col 2:11–12; Ps 18:49 (17:50 LXX); Deut 32:43 LXX; Ps 117:1 (116:1 LXX); Isa 11:10; Exod 3:14.
  • “Therefore I will confess …”: the scan has lost the rest of the lemma (Rom 15:9–12) and the start of the comment; the sense is that Christ became a minister of circumcision either because he was himself circumcised in the flesh, being of Abraham's seed to whom the promises were made, and thus, according to the plan of the whole letter…
  • “not one made out of nothing, as pleases the ungodly”: a rejection of the view that the Son was created from nothing, translated as it stands (perhaps Rufinus's wording).
  • Origen notes that Paul usually follows the Septuagint.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and joined words; OCR slips; removed Migne note number and footnote references; OCR slips; the scan has lost lines here, marked …): propter ceritatem Dei → propter veritatem Dei; Gentes autem pro misericordia Itonorar'e Deum, sicut scriptum est : Propterea con/iquo nunc eos → Gentes autem pro misericordia honorare Deum, sicut scriptum est: Propterea con … quo nunc eos; refrenat ac reprimit, dooerct nou esse penitus → refrenat ac reprimit, doceret non esse penitus; Non enim qui in manifesto ludens est, neque quae manifesta in carne est circumcisio, sed qui in occulto J udwus est → Non enim qui in manifesto Judaeus est, neque quae manifesta in carne est circumcisio, sed qui in occulto Judaeus est; cujus laus non ea: hominibus → cujus laus non ex hominibus; In quo etiam circumcisi estis circancisione non manufacta in exspoliatione corporis cernis, sed in circumcisione Christi, consepulti eiitt baptismo. Per bujusmodi → In quo etiam circumcisi estis circumcisione non manufacta in exspoliatione corporis carnis, sed in circumcisione Christi, consepulti ei in baptismo. Per hujusmodi; Propterea confitebor tibi in gentibus, ,ct nomini tuo cantabo → Propterea confitebor tibi in gentibus, et nomini tuo cantabo; parra immutatione habita, non sensus, sed sermonum. lbi enim → parva immutatione habita, non sensus, sed sermonum. Ibi enim; Quod autem ait : Lwtamini, gentes, cum populo ejus, eisdem vetbis in Deuteronomii cantico scriptum est' : Lnndste vero Dominum , omnes gentes, et magnificate cunt → Quod autem ait: Laetamini, gentes, cum populo ejus, eisdem verbis in Deuteronomii cantico scriptum est. Laudate vero Dominum, omnes gentes, et magnificate eum; Et erit in die illa radis Iesse → Et erit in die illa radix Iesse; Et erit requies ejus honor ’. Omissis auten. in primo quidem duobus sermonibus, id est, in die illa; et lu ultimis, et erit requies ejus honor, cratera eisdem verbis posuit quibus Septuaginta lnterpretes ediderunt → Et erit requies ejus honor. Omissis autem in primo quidem duobus sermonibus, id est, in die illa; et in ultimis, et erit requies ejus honor, caetera eisdem verbis posuit quibus Septuaginta Interpretes ediderunt; editionem Septuaginta luterpretmn tenet, nisi si qua forte ei quam exsequitur assertioni minus necessaria videntur (i6), aut si quando non tam verbis lnterpretum, quam sensibus Scriptura: ” Gemuit, 18. Rom. tt. 28. ‘Coloss. sq. l0. uti vult sua enuntiatione prolatis. l'lunc autem sermouem de radice .lesse melius quidem in explanatione ipsius propheta: Isaiae → editionem Septuaginta Interpretum tenet, nisi si qua forte ei quam exsequitur assertioni minus necessaria videntur, aut si quando non tam verbis Interpretum, quam sensibus Scripturae uti vult sua enuntiatione prolatis. Hunc autem sermonem de radice Jesse melius quidem in explanatione ipsius prophetae Isaiae; In adventu ergotlhristi omnisqui crediditei,convenienterdixit → In adventu ergo Christi omnis qui credidit ei, convenienter dixit; Pro qua miscricordia → Pro qua misericordia; gentes honorant et magnificam Deum → gentes honorant et magnificant Deum.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.8 (PG 14:1263a–1265b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-8). (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 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

10.9PG 14:1265b–1266a

Deus autem spei repleat vos omni gaudio et pace in credendo, ut abundetis in spe et virtute Spiritus sancti"3 Qui superius dixerat quod in Isaia scriptum est: Et in eo gentes sperabunt, gratanter adjecit, Deus autem spei; ut si scriptum fuisset, in ipso gentes credent, adjecisset sine dubio, Deus autem fidei, ut nunc a sperando gentes Deum spei invocat super eos qui sperant in eum, a quo eis benedictionis munus precatur augeri. Est autem benedictio huiusmodi : Et repleantur omni gaudio, et omni pace. Similiter autem et Propheta in quodam loco dicit: Et erit in diebus ejus justitia et multitudo pacis, usquequo auferatur luna . Sed quia haec de Christo dicuntur, in illo recte possumus multitudinem pacis advertere, pro eo quod pacificavit per sanguinem crucis suae non solum quae in terra sunt, sed etiam quae in caelis sunt. In omnibus autem quomodo possit impleri hoc quod precatur Apostolus, ut repleantur omni gaudio et omni pace, difficile mihi videtur exponi, maxime cum etiam ipse Apostolus in his quae per gratiam Spiritus consecutus est, ex parte se dicat scire, et ex … sociantur cum se emendaverint ab omni inquinamento, et effecti fuerint vasa sancta, ut ita demum quis repletus videatur omni pace, si in plenitudine crediderit Trinitatis. Propter hoc denique subjungit Apostolus et dicit : Repleat vos omni gaudio et pace in credendo, ut abundetis in spe et virtute Spiritus sancti. Si enim qui credit, virtute sancti Spiritus munitur, certum est quod plenitudinem gaudii semper habeat, et plenitudinem pacis.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Having said above what is written in Isaiah, “And in him the Gentiles will hope,” he gracefully added, “Now the God of hope”; so that, had it been written, “in him the Gentiles will believe,” he would without doubt have added, “Now the God of faith”; as now, from the Gentiles’ hoping, he calls upon the God of hope over those who hope in him, from whom he prays that the gift of blessing be increased for them. And the blessing is of this kind: that they be filled with all joy and all peace. Likewise the prophet too says in a certain place, “And in his days there will be righteousness and abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away.” But because these things are said of Christ, in him we can rightly see the abundance of peace, because he made peace through the blood of his cross not only for the things on earth but also for those in heaven. But how what the Apostle prays for can be fulfilled in all, that they be filled with all joy and all peace, seems to me difficult to explain, especially since the Apostle himself says that in the things he has obtained through the grace of the Spirit he knows in part and … are joined when they have cleansed themselves from all defilement and been made holy vessels; so that only then will someone seem filled with all peace if he has believed in the fullness of the Trinity. For this reason, indeed, the Apostle adds and says, “May he fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope and in the power of the Holy Spirit.” For if one who believes is fortified by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is certain that he always has the fullness of joy and the fullness of peace.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 15:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 11:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 2:21 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul calls on the 'God of hope' because the Gentiles hope in Christ, whose blood made peace in heaven and earth; fullness of peace belongs to those reconciled to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, believing in the fullness of the Trinity.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:13. Cited: Rom 15:12 (Isa 11:10); Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX); Col 1:20; 1 Cor 13:9; 2 Cor 5:20; 2 Tim 2:21.
  • “he knows in part and …”: a passage is lost in the scan; the sense is that he also prophesies in part; yet believers can have fullness of peace when they are reconciled to the Father through faith (2 Cor 5:20), return to peace with the Son through the blood of his cross, and are joined to the Holy Spirit when they have cleansed themselves…

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips; the scan has lost lines here, marked …; stray mark): Deus autent spei repleat vos → Deus autem spei repleat vos; Et in eo gentes sperabunt" gratanter adjecit → Et in eo gentes sperabunt, gratanter adjecit; Deus autem tidei, ut nunc → Deus autem fidei, ut nunc; pro eo quod pacificavit‘ per sanguinem crucis sua non solum quae in terra sunt, sed etiam qute in caelis sunt’. in omnibus autem → pro eo quod pacificavit per sanguinem crucis suae non solum quae in terra sunt, sed etiam quae in caelis sunt. In omnibus autem; dillicile mihi videtur exponi → difficile mihi videtur exponi; ex parte se dicat scire, et ex sociamur cum se emendaveriut → ex parte se dicat scire, et ex … sociantur cum se emendaverint; Propter hoc denique subjan git Apostolus → Propter hoc denique subjungit Apostolus; in spe et uirtute Spiritus sancti. Si enim qui credit, virtute sancti Spio ritus munitur → in spe et virtute Spiritus sancti. Si enim qui credit, virtute sancti Spiritus munitur.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.9 (PG 14:1265b–1266a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-9). (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 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

10.10PG 14:1266a–1267a

Certus sum autem, fratres, et ego de vobis, quoniam et ipsi pleni estis bonitate, repleti omni scientia, ita ut possitis et alios monere “. Eadem ratione qua supra diximus repleri omni gaudio et omni pace credentes, etiam hic plenos esse bonitate et omni scientia eos ad quos fit sermo confirmat. Similiter autem et Corinthiis scribens dicit: In omnibus divites facti estis in illo, in omni verbo et in omni scientia; qui, ut superius diximus, etiam de semetipso pronuntiat quod non omnem scientiam, neque omnem prophetiam habeat, sed ex parte; de quo et in aliis quidem saepe nos dixisse memini. Et nunc nihilominus dicemus quod Paulus, et si qui sunt tales, ad comparationem caeterorum perfecti dicuntur; ad illam autem summam scientiam, vel ad illam perfectionem quae in caelestibus est ordinibus, nullus potest inter homines vel dici vel esse perfectus. Ut si dicamus: In puerilibus studiis, ad comparationem illius qui nuper imbuitur, et prima litterarum suscipit elementa, magister ipse librarius perfectus appellatur; sed non est ita perfectus, ut est ille qui grammaticam docet. Ipse vero grammaticus quamvis sit perfectus, superior est tamen perfectio rhetoris; et his omnibus longe eminentior philosophicae doctrinae perfectio. Cumque in his omnibus litteraturae doctrina sit, diversus tamen gradus perfectionis et magisterii in unoquoque habetur. Ita ergo potest fieri ut et Paulus cum dicit : Non quod jam assecutus sim, aut perfectus sim “, ad illum apicem caelestis perfectionis aspiciens videatur haec scribere. Cum vero dicit : Quicunque ergo perfecti sumus, hoc sentiamus, ad humanae tantum perfectionis respicit gradum. Sic ergo et in praesenti loco intelligendi sunt vel pace, vel gaudio, vel etiam bonitate, vel etiam scientia repleti sive Romani, sive Corinthii, in quantum possibile est repleri eos qui docentur in Ecclesia, et sub perfectis doctoribus agunt. Designat autem et scientiae ipsius mensuram, cum dicit : Ita ut possitis et alios monere. In quo ostendit, quia in eo quod didicit unusquisque, debet etiam alium monere, et hujusmodi cum condiscipulis habere colloquia, quibus se et moneant invicem, et aedificent. Potest enim conferre plurimum eruditionis alterna collatio si cum charitate habeatur, et de profundioribus quibusque. vel obscurioribus exspectet eruditorum perfectorumque sententiam, secundum quod et Moyses dicit: Interroga patres tuos, et annuntiabunt tibi; presbyteros tuos, et dicent tibi .

“And I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, so that you are able also to admonish others.” For the same reason for which we said above that believers are filled with all joy and all peace, here too he affirms that those to whom he speaks are full of goodness and all knowledge. Likewise, writing to the Corinthians too, he says, “In all things you were made rich in him, in every word and in all knowledge”; though he, as we said above, declares even of himself that he does not have all knowledge or all prophecy, but in part; of which I remember that we have often spoken in other places too. And now we will say none the less that Paul, and any who are like him, are called perfect by comparison with others; but by comparison with that highest knowledge, or that perfection which is in the heavenly orders, no one among men can either be called or be perfect. As if we were to say: in children’s studies, compared with one who is just being taught and receiving the first elements of letters, the elementary teacher himself is called perfect; but he is not so perfect as the one who teaches grammar. And the grammarian, though he is perfect, yet the perfection of the rhetorician is higher; and far more eminent than all these is the perfection of philosophical teaching. And though in all these there is the teaching of letters, yet a different degree of perfection and mastery is held in each one. So it may be that Paul too, when he says, “Not that I have already attained or am already perfect,” seems to write this looking to that summit of heavenly perfection; but when he says, “Let as many of us, then, as are perfect be of this mind,” he looks only to the degree of human perfection. So, then, in the present passage too, the Romans or the Corinthians are to be understood as filled with peace or joy or goodness or even knowledge, insofar as it is possible for those to be filled who are taught in the church and live under perfect teachers. And he marks the measure of this knowledge itself when he says, “so that you are able also to admonish others.” In this he shows that in what each one has learned he ought also to admonish another, and to have conversations of this kind with fellow disciples, by which they may admonish and build up one another. For mutual exchange can confer very much instruction, if it is held with love, and if, about all the deeper or more obscure matters, it waits for the judgment of the learned and perfect, according to what Moses too says: “Ask your fathers, and they will declare to you; your elders, and they will tell you.”

Rom 15:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Romans are 'full of knowledge' only in human measure, as Paul himself was perfect only relative to others and not to heavenly perfection; believers should instruct one another in love, deferring to the learned on deeper questions.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:14. Cited: Rom 15:13; 1 Cor 1:5; 1 Cor 13:9; Phil 3:12, 15; Deut 32:7.

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips and Migne note numbers; removed Migne footnote references; OCR slip; stray marks): repleri omni gaudio et omni pace credentes", etiam hic plenos esse boni-. tate → repleri omni gaudio et omni pace credentes, etiam hic plenos esse bonitate; in omni uerbo et in omni scientia u; → in omni verbo et in omni scientia;; sed ex parte ‘5; → sed ex parte;; ad comparationem creterorutn perfecti → ad comparationem caeterorum perfecti; quae in cmlestibns est ordinibus → quae in caelestibus est ordinibus; Ut si dicamus : ln puerilibus studiis → Ut si dicamus: In puerilibus studiis; superior est tamen perfectio rhetoris (δικ et his omnibus longe eminentior philosophicas doctrina: perfectio. Cumque in his omnibus litteraturae doctrina (35‘, sit → superior est tamen perfectio rhetoris; et his omnibus longe eminentior philosophicae doctrinae perfectio. Cumque in his omnibus litteraturae doctrina sit; Non quod jam assecutus sint, aut perfectus sim → Non quod jam assecutus sim, aut perfectus sim; Quicunque ergo perfecti sumus, hoc sentiae mus, ad humana: tantum → Quicunque ergo perfecti sumus, hoc sentiamus, ad humanae tantum; vel etiam bonitate, vel l. Psal. Lnl, 7. ’ Colos. ι, 20‘. l Cor. xm, " Com, 5. Cor. xm,9. ‘f Philip. ut, 12. ' etiam scientia repleti five Romani → vel etiam bonitate, vel etiam scientia repleti sive Romani; debet eliam alium monere, et. hujusmodi → debet etiam alium monere, et hujusmodi; et moneant invicem, et tediticent. Potest enim cooferre → et moneant invicem, et aedificent. Potest enim conferre; vel obscurioribus exspectet eruditorum perfectorumqne sententiam, secundum quod,et Moyses → vel obscurioribus exspectet eruditorum perfectorumque sententiam, secundum quod et Moyses.

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.10 (PG 14:1266a–1267a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-10). (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 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.

10.11PG 14:1267a–1268a

Audacius autem scripsi vobis ex parte, tanquam commemorans vos per gratiam datam mihi a Deo, ut sim ministrans Christo Jesu in gentibus, sanctificans Evangelium Dei, ut sit oblatio gentium accepta, sanctificata in Spiritu sancto". Tanquam qui conscius sit sibi in omni textu Epistolae, dum ad eos interdum qui ex circumcisione sunt, interdum vero ad eos qui ex gentibus crediderunt faceret verbum, quod nonnulla etiam de secretioribus mysteriis et profundioribus contigerit, et studio reddendae rationis plura quae habebantur in occultis patefecerit, licet in singulis dispensationem verbi cauta moderatione servaverit, et ex aliqua parte indicans, ex multa rursum parte contexerit, idcirco dicit: Audacius autem scripsi vobis ex parte, tanquam … scire fateatur, plura tamen et multo plura scierit, quam scripserit. Tanquam enim qui ipse multa sciret, nec tamen auderet multa proferre, audaciam sibi fuisse dicit ut aliqua saltem scripturae committeret. Quod vero ait, commemorans vos per gratiam datam mihi, indicat fuisse quidem sibi jam sermonem de talibus, et disseruisse se saepe de mysteriis; sed quoniam quae solo sermone dicta sunt facile intercipere posset oblivio, per haec, inquit, pauca quae scripsi per gratiam datam mihi, illorum vobis memoriam revoco, quae a me latius saepe disserta sunt. De gratia autem quam sibi datam Paulus commemorat, supra jam diximus. Quam gratiam ob hoc sibi datam dicit, ut sim, inquit, ministrans Christo Jesu in gentibus, sanctificans Evangelium Dei. Quod nos habemus, sanctificans Evangelium Dei, Graeci magnificentius dicunt, quod licet non plene a nobis, posset tamen dici sacrificans Evangelium Dei; per quod ostenditur sacrificale opus esse annuntiare Evangelium. Idcirco denique subjungit: Ut fiat oblatio gentium accepta, sanctificata in Spiritu sancto. Sicut ergo pontifices cum offerebant, necessario eis erat providendum ne macula inesset hostiae, ne vituperatio, ne vitium, ut posset accepta esse Deo et grata ; ita et qui Evangelium sacrificat, et verbum Dei annuntiat, curare omnimodis debet. ne qua in praedicando macula, ne quod in docendo vitium, ne qua in magisterio culpa nascatur; sed , ut ita dixerim, si fieri potest, semetipsum primo immolet, se primum vitiis jugulet, sua prius peccato membra mortificet, ut non solum doctrina, sed et vitae exemplo discipulorum salutem oblationem suam acceptam faciat Deo. Sanctificata, inquit, in Spiritu sancto. Sanctificationis fons Spiritus sanctus est, et ideo oblatio gentium quae Paulo sacrificante offertur, non per observantiam legis, sed per Spiritum sanctum accepta fieri dicitur Deo.

“But I have written to you the more boldly in part, as reminding you, through the grace given me by God, that I should be a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the gospel of God, that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified in the Holy Spirit.” As one conscious that throughout the whole text of the letter, while he spoke sometimes to those of the circumcision and sometimes to those who had believed from the Gentiles, he had touched on some of the more secret and deeper mysteries, and in his zeal to give an account had laid open many things that were kept hidden, although in each he had kept the dispensation of the word with careful moderation, and, while disclosing in some part, had in a great part covered again, he therefore says, “But I have written to you the more boldly in part, as …” … he confesses to know, yet he knew more, and much more, than he wrote. For as one who himself knew many things, yet did not dare to bring out many, he says that it took boldness on his part to commit at least some things to writing. And what he says, “reminding you through the grace given me,” indicates that he had already spoken about such things and had often discussed the mysteries; but since what is said by word alone could easily be stolen away by forgetfulness, “by these few things,” he says, “which I have written through the grace given me, I call back to your memory those things that I have often discussed more fully.” Of the grace which Paul mentions as given him we have already spoken above. He says that this grace was given him for this purpose: “that I should be,” he says, “a minister of Christ Jesus among the Gentiles, sanctifying the gospel of God.” What we have as “sanctifying the gospel of God,” the Greeks say more grandly, hierourgōn, which, though not fully, could be said by us as “sacrificing the gospel of God”; by which it is shown that to announce the gospel is a sacrificial work. Therefore, indeed, he adds, “that the offering of the Gentiles may be made acceptable, sanctified in the Holy Spirit.” As, then, the high priests, when they offered, had necessarily to see that there was no blemish in the victim, no fault, no defect, so that it could be acceptable and pleasing to God, so too one who sacrifices the gospel and announces the word of God must take care in every way that no blemish arise in his preaching, no fault in his teaching, no blame in his instruction; but, so to speak, if it can be done, let him first sacrifice himself, first slay himself to vices, first put to death his members to sin, so that not only by teaching but also by the example of his life he may make his offering, the salvation of his disciples, acceptable to God. “Sanctified,” he says, “in the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the fount of sanctification; and therefore the offering of the Gentiles, which is offered as Paul sacrifices, is said to be made acceptable to God not through the observance of the law but through the Holy Spirit.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Rom 15:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 15:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Lev 22:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 3:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Paul wrote 'in part' of the mysteries, knowing far more than he wrote; preaching the gospel is a priestly sacrifice (Greek hierourgōn), and the preacher must first offer himself without blemish so that the Gentiles, his offering, are made acceptable through the Holy Spirit.

  • Lemma: Rom 15:15–16. Cited: Rom 12:3; Lev 22:20–22; Col 3:5.
  • hierourgōn: the Greek word (ἱερουργῶν) cited by Rufinus, “performing priestly service.”
  • “as …”: a passage is lost in the scan; the sense is: “as reminding you.” Do you hear the Apostle saying “I have written in part”? Let no one, then, be angry with us if we cannot explain the divine mysteries clearly, nor be puffed up as if he knew all things, since Paul writes and knows in part; yet I think that, though Paul…

Notes on the original text

  • Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slips; OCR slips (Graeci read as Greek letters); OCR slips (scripsi read as Greek letters); the scan has lost lines here, marked …): Audacius autem scripsi vobis ea: parte → Audacius autem scripsi vobis ex parte; sanctificans anngelium Dei → sanctificans Evangelium Dei; in omni testu Epistolas, dum ad eos interdum qui ex circumcisione sunt, interdum vero ad eos qni es gentibus → in omni textu Epistolae, dum ad eos interdum qui ex circumcisione sunt, interdum vero ad eos qui ex gentibus; et studio reddendas rationis → et studio reddendae rationis; cx multa rursum parte contexerit, idcirco dicit: Audacius autem δεήρεί vobis ex parte, tanquam Ο scire fateatur → ex multa rursum parte contexerit, idcirco dicit: Audacius autem scripsi vobis ex parte, tanquam … scire fateatur; ut aliqua saltem scriptura: committeret → ut aliqua saltem scripturae committeret; sed quoniam quas solo sermone dicta sunt facile intercipere posset oblivio, per - base, inquit, pauca → sed quoniam quae solo sermone dicta sunt facile intercipere posset oblivio, per haec, inquit, pauca; quae a me latlus saepe disserta sunt → quae a me latius saepe disserta sunt; supra jam disimus → supra jam diximus; ut sim, inquit, ministram Christo Jesu in gentibus, sanctificaas Evangelium Dei. Quod nos habemus. sanctificans Evangelium Dei, δι’ωεί magnificentius dicunt → ut sim, inquit, ministrans Christo Jesu in gentibus, sanctificans Evangelium Dei. Quod nos habemus, sanctificans Evangelium Dei, Graeci magnificentius dicunt; Idcirco denique subjungitzUt fiat oblatio → Idcirco denique subjungit: Ut fiat oblatio; Sicut ergo pontifices cum oll'erebant → Sicut ergo pontifices cum offerebant; ut posset accepta esse Deo ct grata → ut posset accepta esse Deo et grata; si lieri potest, semetipsum primo immolet. se primum → si fieri potest, semetipsum primo immolet, se primum; sed et vita: exemplo → sed et vitae exemplo; sed per Spio ritum sanctum → sed per Spiritum sanctum.

Topics: Church office

Cite (SBL): Origen, Comm. Rom. 10.11 (PG 14:1267a–1268a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-commentarius-romanos/10-6/#p-10-11). (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 14, from the library scan's OCR, slips corrected as logged; lines lost in the scan are marked and noted); no public-domain English translation exists, so each batch was checked afterwards privately against a modern translation (never quoted or copied); the Latin decides.