# Homilies on Numbers - Author: [Origen](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/origen/) - Latin title: *Homiliae in Numeros* - Date: ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) (approximate) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Graeca, vol. 12 (Paris, 1862), cols. 583–804 (Rufinus's Latin translation, from Charles de la Rue's edition; the Greek fragments printed in the columns are not reproduced; lines lost in the scan are supplied from Baehrens and logged in the staged record) (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Graeca vol. 12 (1862), transcribed from library-scan OCR of the printed volume) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: W. A. Baehrens, Origenes Werke 7: Homilien zum Hexateuch in Rufins Übersetzung, Teil 2, GCS 30 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1921); Louis Doutreleau, Origène: Homélies sur les Nombres, SC 415, 442, 461 (Paris: Cerf, 1996–2001) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/ - Passages: 146 ## Homilies on Numbers 0.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-0-1 - Source: PG 12:583b–585a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Rufinus's preface to Ursacius explains that he translated Origen's material on Numbers in wartime, under threat from the barbarians across the strait from Sicily. ### Latin text Ut uerbis tibi, frater, beati Martyris loquar, bene admones, Donate charissime. Nam et promisisse me memini, ut si quae sint Adamantii senis in legem Moysi dicta, colligerem, atque ea Latino sermone nostris legenda transferrem. Sed reddendae pollicitationi non tempestivum, ut ille ait, sed tempestuosum nobis ac turbidum fuit. Quis enim ibi stylo locus est, ubi hostilia tela metuuntur, ubi in oculis est urbium agrorumque vastatio, ubi fugitur per marina discrimina, et ne ipsa quidem absque metu habentur exsilia? In conspectu etenim, ut videbas etiam ipse, nostro Barbarus, qui Regino oppido miscebat incendia, angustissimo nobis freto, ubi Italiae solum Siculo dirimitur, arcebatur. In his ergo positis, quae esse ad scribendum securitas potuit, et praecipue ad interpretandum, ubi non tam proprios expedire sensus, quam alienos aptare proponitur? Tamen si qua nox animos minore metu hostilis concussit excidii, et quasi ad solamen malorum levandaeque peregrinationis gratia breve saltem lucubrandi otium dedit, quaecunque in Numerorum libro, sive homiletico stylo, sive etiam ex his quae Excerpta appellantur, scripta reperimus, huic, perurgente te, Romanae, ut potuimus, voci ex diversis in unum ordinem collecta digessimus, te quoque ipso in quamplurimis juvante, Ursaci, nostrum laborem, dum nimis cupidus, pueruli notarii tardum putas esse ministerium. Scire tamen te volo, frater, quod haec lectio vias quidem aperiat intelligentiae, non tamen singillatim cuncta quae scripta sunt disserat, ut in explicationum libris legisti; quo scilicet etiam lector non reddatur otiosus, sed pungat cor suum, sicut scriptum est, et producat sensum, et audito verbo bono, ut sapiens adiiciat ad illud. Igitur ut omnibus quae in lege scripta reperi, sol… re, ut puto, in … possum quae injunxisti explicare contendo. Jam enim ex Deuteronomio desunt … oratiunculae, quas, si Dominus juverit et sanitatem dederit oculis, cupimus reliquis corpori sociare: quamvis amantissimus filius noster Pinianus, cujus religiosum coetum pro amore pudicitiae profugum comitamur, injungat et alia. Sed orate communiter, ut adsit Dominus, et temporibus pacem tribuat, gratiam laborantibus donet, et fructum operis nostri in profectum legentium premat. ### English translation (Claude) To speak to you, brother, in the words of the blessed martyr: “You do well to remind me, dearest Donatus.” For I remember that I promised to gather whatever sayings of the old man Adamantius I might find on the law of Moses, and to translate them into Latin for our people to read. But the time for keeping that promise has been, not “timely,” as he says, but stormy and troubled for us. For what room is there for the pen where enemy weapons are feared, where the devastation of cities and countryside is before our eyes, where people flee through the perils of the sea, and not even exile itself is free from fear? For, as you yourself saw, the barbarian who was setting fire to the town of Rhegium was kept from us only by the narrowest strait, where the soil of Italy is parted from Sicily. Placed in such circumstances, what security could there be for writing, and above all for translating, where the task is not so much to set out one's own thoughts as to fit another's? Yet whenever a night struck our minds with less fear of an enemy assault and, as if to console our troubles and lighten our exile, gave us at least a brief leisure for work by lamplight, whatever we found on the book of Numbers, whether in the style of homilies or among what are called the Excerpts, we have gathered from various places into one order and arranged, as best we could, for this Roman tongue, at your urging; and you yourself, Ursacius, helped our labor in very many places, since in your great eagerness you thought the service of the young secretary slow. But I want you to know, brother, that this reading opens paths to the understanding but does not discuss everything that is written item by item, as you have read in the books of exposition; so that the reader too is not left idle but, as it is written, may prick his heart and bring forth understanding, and, on hearing a good word, may as a wise man add to it. Therefore, as with everything I have found written on the law, … I strive to explain what you have enjoined on me. For now only the short discourses on Deuteronomy are lacking; if the Lord helps and gives health to my eyes, we wish to join them to the rest of the body of the work, although our most beloved son Pinianus, whose devout household we accompany in its flight for love of chastity, enjoins other tasks as well. But pray together that the Lord may be present, give peace to our times, grant grace to those who labor, and press out the fruit of our work for the progress of those who read. ### Extrabiblical texts - Cyprian, Don. 1 (To Donatus): quotation, high confidence - Sir 22:19 (Sirach): allusion, medium confidence - Sir 21:15 (Sirach): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - This is Rufinus's preface, not Origen's. The scan's OCR split the preface into two interleaved halves, part of which leaked into section 1.1; the halves have been rejoined here by logged correction. The first half is checked against Baehrens's edition, whose order of words it follows; in the second half (from “Therefore, as with everything”) the words that cannot be read are shown as “…”, because the page is also unreadable in the copy of Baehrens available. The opening words quote Cyprian, To Donatus 1 (“You do well to remind me, dearest Donatus. For I remember that I promised …”); “not timely, as he says” plays on Cyprian's “timely” in the same sentence. Adamantius is Origen. The barbarian burning Rhegium is generally identified with Alaric's Goths (410). “Prick his heart … bring forth understanding” and “on hearing a good word … add to it” echo Sirach 22:19 and 21:15. Pinianus was the husband of Melania the Younger; their household left Italy for Sicily and Africa. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 0.1 (PG 12:583b–585a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-0-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 1.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-1 - Source: PG 12:585a–587a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains that only those who have grown to spiritual maturity and strength are counted in God's number, as only grown Israelite men were counted in Numbers. ### Latin text Divinis numeris non omnes digni sunt, sed certis quibusque prterugativis designantur hi qui intra numerum Dei debeant comprehendi. Hujus autem rei evidens indicium continet liberhic, qui seribitur Numerorum. In quo refertur quod ex praecepto Dei neque mulieres deducantur ad numerum, feminea.- sine dubio infirmitatis obstaculo, neque servorum quisquam, utpote vita moribusque degeneres. Sed ue Egyptinrum quidem ullus ex iis qui erant'admisli numeratur, profecto ut alienigenae, et barbari; sed soli numerantur Israelita), et isti neu omnes, sed a viginti annis, et supra. Nec sola :etatis habetur observatio, sed quieritur si et aptum bellis robur ostendat: designatur enim per verbum Dei, ut numeretur omnis qui procedit in virtute Israel (5|). Non ergo sola tetas, scd et virtus in Israelita requiritur. Puerilis tetas non numeratur, nec apta divinis calculis ducitur, nisi forte primogeniti sint, aut sacerdotali vel Levitica stirpe descendant. lsti soli in pueris adducuntur ad ηιμ merum. Feminarum vero nulla prorsus adducitur. Et quid videtur? Possunt haec vacua esse mysteriis? Sed hoc solum procurasse creditur Spiritus sanctus, qui btec scribenda dictavit, ut sciremus qui tunc in illo pupulo numerati sint, et qui sine numero manserint? Et quis dabitur ex hoc profectus iis qui sacris voluminibus gestiunt erudiri? Quid enim prodest ista didicisse? Atil quid animae confertur ad salutem, si sciat quod pars aliqua pupuli numerata est in deserto, pars vero innumeram derelicta est? Si vero sequentes Pauli sententiain legem spiritalem esse credamus, et spiritaliter quae continet audiamus, ingens profectus anima: in iis quae scripta sunt apparebit. Docet enim me praesens lectio, quod si transcendere puerilis astatis insipientiam, si desiero parvulus esse sensibus, et vir ell‘ectus deposuero ane sunt parvuli, si, inquam, eti‘ectus fuero juvenis, et talis juvenis. qui vincam malignum, aptus videbor iis, de quibus scriptum est , outnes qui procedunt in virtute Israel, et dignus divinis numeris computabor. Donec autem inest alicui nostrum, vel puerilis et lubricus sensus, vel feminea etsoluta segnities, vel Egyptios gerimus et barbaros mores, haberi apud Deum in sancto et consecrato numero non meremur. Innumeri enim apud Salomoneni dicuntur esse qui pereunt; numerati autem omnes illi qui salvantur. Et vis tibi ostendam quia sanctorum numerus habetur apud Deum? Audi quomodo de astris quidem cinlestibus dicit David : Qui numerat multitudinem stellarum, et omnibus eis nomina vocat. Salvator vero non solum discipulos suos electos sub numero statuit, verum et capillos capitis eorum dicit esse nu- Capitis numerati sunt. In quo utique non illos divehat capillos esse numeratos, qui vel ferro attonderi et projici solent, vel temporis aetate defluere ac perire; sed illi capitis capilli apud Deum numerati sum, qui in Nazarmis erant, quibus inerat virtus Spiritus sancti ad prosternendos alienigenas. Virtutes ergo animi et multitudinem sensuum, qui de principali mentis tanquam de capite apostolorum producebantur, capillos capitis appellavit. Sed in lucc per excessum quemdam devenimus, nunc ad propositmn revertamur. ### English translation (Claude) Not all are worthy of the divine numbers; rather, those who ought to be included within God's number are marked out by certain particular prerogatives. Clear evidence of this is contained in this book, which is entitled Numbers. In it we are told that by God's command neither are women brought into the count, no doubt because of the obstacle of female weakness, nor any of the slaves, as being degenerate in life and morals. Not even any of the Egyptians who had been mixed in among them is counted, plainly as foreigners and barbarians; only Israelites are counted, and not all of them, but those from twenty years old and upward. Nor is age alone taken into account; it is also asked whether one shows strength fit for war. For the word of God specifies that everyone who goes forth in the strength of Israel is to be counted. So not age alone, but strength too is required in an Israelite. The age of boyhood is not counted, nor is it thought fit for the divine reckoning, unless perhaps they are firstborn or descend from the priestly or Levitical stock. These alone among the boys are brought into the count. Of the women, none at all is brought. What then? Can these things be empty of mysteries? Is the Holy Spirit, who dictated these things to be written, to be believed to have taken care only that we should know who were counted in that people at that time and who remained uncounted? And what profit will come from this to those who desire to be instructed in the sacred volumes? What use is it to have learned these things? What does the soul gain toward salvation if it knows that part of the people was counted in the desert and part left uncounted? But if, following Paul's judgment, we believe that the law is spiritual and hear spiritually what it contains, great profit for the soul will appear in what is written. For the present reading teaches me that if I pass beyond the folly of boyhood, if I cease to be a child in understanding and, having become a man, put away the things of a child, if, I say, I become a young man, and such a young man as overcomes the evil one, I shall be seen fit to be among those of whom it is written, “all who go forth in the strength of Israel,” and I shall be reckoned worthy of the divine numbers. But as long as there is in any of us either a childish and slippery mind, or a womanish and slack sluggishness, or we bear Egyptian and barbarous ways, we do not deserve to be held by God in the holy and consecrated number. For in Solomon those who perish are said to be without number, whereas all who are saved are numbered. And would you have me show you that the number of the saints is kept with God? Hear how David speaks of the stars of heaven: “He numbers the multitude of the stars and calls them all by name.” And the Saviour not only set his chosen disciples under a number, but even says that the hairs of their head are numbered: “But even the hairs of your head are numbered.” In this he certainly did not mean that those hairs are numbered which are usually cut off with iron and thrown away, or which fall out with age and perish; rather, those hairs of the head are numbered with God which were in the Nazirites, in whom was the power of the Holy Spirit for overthrowing foreigners. So he called the virtues of the soul and the multitude of thoughts, which were brought forth from the ruling part of the mind as from the head of the apostles, the hairs of the head. But we have come to this by a kind of digression; now let us return to our subject. ### Scripture references - Num 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Num 1:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:11: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 2:13: allusion, medium confidence - Eccl 1:15: allusion, low confidence - Ps 147:4 (146:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:30: quotation, high confidence - Judg 16:17: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Num 1:2–3 (“everyone who goes forth in the strength of Israel” follows the Greek wording). “Those who perish are without number” is attributed to Solomon; the source is uncertain (perhaps Eccl 1:15). The reference to Nazirites recalls Samson (Judg 13–16). A passage of Rufinus's preface that the OCR had carried into this section has been removed by logged correction (see 0.1). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 1.1 (PG 12:585a–587a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 1.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-2 - Source: PG 12:587a–588a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only the strength of Israel, taught by God through Scripture, counts before God, and Israel was counted only after it had been tested, fought, and received the law. ### Latin text Et loeutus est, inquit τί, Dominus ad Moysen in deserto Sina: illa scilicet omnia quae superius compendiosa narratione comprehendimus, ubi pra:cipitur numerari a viginti annis et supra omnis qui procedit in virtute Israel. Si quis ergo procedit in virtute, ipse numeratur, et non in qualicunque virtute, id est, non in Egyptiorum virtute, neque in Assyriorum, neque in Graecorum, sed in virtute Israel, ipse numeratur apud Deum. Est enim virtus animi, quam Gra'corum philosophi docent. Sed non pertinet ad numerum Dei. Non enim pro Deo, sed pro gloria exercetur humana. Est et Assyriorum virtus, est Chaldmorum, quae in astrologiae studiis praedicatur. Sed non est ista virtus Israelitica, et ideo non pertinet ad Deum. Est et {Egyptiorum virtus in ea quam dicunt secreta sapientia, sed haec non adjungitur ad calculum Dei. Sola apud Deum virtus Israelitica numeratur. llzec est illa virtus, α quae a Deo docetur, quae per Scripturas divinas discitur, per fidem evangelicam et apostolicam traditur. Et ideo ,dicit ut illi soli numerentur, qui progrediuntur in virtute Israel. Sed et illud consideremus, quid est quod non statim ut egressus est de Egypto populus numeratur. Adhuc enim persequebatur Pharao. Sed nec cum mare Rubrum quidem transiens venit in desertum dicitur numerari. Nondum enim tentati, nondum ab hoste fuerant itnpugnati. Confligunt adversum Amalech, et vincunt. Sed nec tunc quidem numerantur. Non enim sullicit ad perfectionem tendenti una victoria. Manna: accipiunt cibum, et aqua: poculum de sequenti hauriunt petra; sed neque tunc numerantur. Nondum enim in his ea quae numeris apta ducuntur, adoleverant. Tabernaculum testimonii construitur, sed nec in hoc quidem numerandi populi tempus advenit. Lex per Moysen datur, sacrificiorum mos traditur, purilicationum ritus docetur, sanctificationum leges et sacramenta conduntur, et tunc ad numerum ex prazcepto Dei populus adducitur. Describe ha‘c, ο auditor, in corde tuo dupliciter et triplicitcr. Vide quanta tibi transeunda sunt, quanta toleranda, quot profectibus, quot tentationibus, quot prmliis pugnandum tibi est et vincendum, ut possis ad divinum numerum pertinere, ut in computo aliquo habearis apud Deum, ut inter sanctas tribus adnumerari dignus Itabcaris, ut visitari possis, et‘ per Dei sacerdotes Aaron et Moysen numerorum censibus ascribi. Suscipienda tibi est prituo lex Dei, lex Spiritus sancti, offerenda sacrificia, explenda: purilicationes, peragenda cuncta quae lex spiritus docet, ut possis aliquando ad lsraeliticum numerum pertinere. ### English translation (Claude) “And the Lord spoke,” it says, “to Moses in the desert of Sinai”: namely all that we summed up above in a brief account, where it is commanded that everyone from twenty years and upward who goes forth in the strength of Israel be counted. If anyone, then, goes forth in strength, he is counted; and not in just any strength, that is, not in the strength of the Egyptians, nor of the Assyrians, nor of the Greeks, but in the strength of Israel: he is counted before God. For there is a strength of soul which the philosophers of the Greeks teach. But it does not belong to God's number, for it is exercised not for God but for human glory. There is also a strength of the Assyrians and of the Chaldeans, which is proclaimed in the pursuits of astrology. But that is not Israelite strength, and therefore it does not belong to God. There is also a strength of the Egyptians in what they call secret wisdom, but this is not added to God's reckoning. Only Israelite strength is counted before God. This is the strength that is taught by God, that is learned through the divine Scriptures, that is handed down by the faith of the gospel and the apostles. And therefore he says that only those are to be counted who go forth in the strength of Israel. But let us also consider why the people is not counted as soon as it has come out of Egypt. For Pharaoh was still pursuing. Nor even when it crossed the Red Sea and came into the desert is it said to be counted. For they had not yet been tested, not yet attacked by the enemy. They fight against Amalek and conquer. But not even then are they counted, for one victory is not enough for one who is striving toward perfection. They receive manna as food and draw water to drink from the rock that followed; but not even then are they counted, for the things that are judged fit for numbering had not yet grown up in them. The tabernacle of testimony is built, but not even then has the time for counting the people come. The law is given through Moses, the custom of sacrifices is handed down, the rite of purifications is taught, the laws and sacraments of sanctification are established, and then the people is brought to the count by God's command. Write these things, O hearer, in your heart doubly and triply. See how much you must pass through, how much endure, through how many advances, how many temptations, in how many battles you must fight and conquer, so that you may belong to the divine number, may be held in some account with God, may be worthy to be numbered among the holy tribes, may be visited and enrolled in the census of the numbering by God's priests Aaron and Moses. You must first take up the law of God, the law of the Holy Spirit; you must offer sacrifices, complete purifications, and carry out everything the spiritual law teaches, so that one day you may belong to the Israelite number. ### Scripture references - Num 1:1: quotation, high confidence - Num 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Exod 14:9: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 17:8: allusion, high confidence - Exod 16:15: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: allusion, high confidence - Exod 40:2: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 22:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Write these things … doubly and triply” is Prov 22:20 in the Greek. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 1.2 (PG 12:587a–588a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 1.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-3 - Source: PG 12:588a–589d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The ordered tribes and camps of Numbers prefigure the ranks of the resurrection, and the land distributed by Joshua points to the inheritance Jesus Christ gives. ### Latin text Ego adhuc amplius aliquid intueor in hoc Numerorum libro mysterii. Ratio enim tribuum, et distinctio ordinum, societas familiarum , atque ordinatio cuncta castrorum , ingentium mihi sacramentorum prodit iudicia: apostolo nobis Paulo spiritalis intelligentia: semina respergente. Et age, jam quid omnis haec numerorum ratio, quid ordimun diversitas intelligentia: mystica: contineat, videamus. Exspectatio certa nobis est resurrectionis mortuorum, cum hi qui vivunt, qui reliqui sunt, non prevenient in adventu Christi eos qui dormierunt, sed simul cum eisjuncti et sociati, rapientur in nubibus obviam Christo in aera, terreni scilicet hujus loci corruptelam et mortis habitacula deserentes, sive omnes in aere, ut Paulus pronuntiat, permansuri ", sive etiam aliqui ad paradisum aut alia qualibet ex multis mansionibus quae apud Patrem sunt transferendi loca, autem lranslationis, et gloria ex meritis sine dubio et actibus uniuscujusque praestabitur, et -erit unusquisque in eo ordine, quem sibi gestorum merita contulerint; sicut et idem Paulus protestatur dicens de resurgentibus "z ί Unusquisque autem in suo ordine.» Iline ergo accidet in resurrectione, ut unusquisque aut in tribu Ruben apiritalibus indiciis ascribatur, ob hoc profecto, quod atiquid in moribus, actibus, aut vita ipsi Ruben simile et consanguineum habuit. Alius autem in tribu Simeou, fortassis pro obedientia. Alius in tribu Levi, credo qui bene prmfuit: sacerdotio, vel qui bene tninistrans gradum sibi bonum acquisivit. Alius in tribu .Iuda , non dubito quod is qui regios spiritus gessit, et bene rexit populum qui intra se est, sensuum scilicet mentis et cogitationum cordis. Sed et singulis quibusque tribubus unusquisque sociabitur pro his quae ad unamquamque earum. vel in actibus cognata vel in moribus habuit. Erunt ergo hujusmodi quidam ordines in resurrectione mortuorum, sicutdesignat Apostolus; quorum ordinum typus in hoc libro et figura praeformani inibi videtur. Sed et illud quod consociatione quadam tribuum et connexione, castrOrum positio et metationis ordo describitur, pertinet sine dubio ad aliquem in resurrectione mortuorum statum. Quod tres ad orientem collocata: dicuntur tribus, tres ad occidentem, tres etiam ad meridiem et tres ultima: ad aquilonem, qui durus dicitur ventus; sed et quod tribus Juda, quae regalis est, ad orientem statuitur, ex qua ortus ρει Dominus noster, non puto otiosum, et quod Issachar huic jungitur, et Zahulun, et quod in quatuor partes tri'nus iste numerus ordinatur. Quae quamvis positionum suarum diversas habeant qualitates, omnes tamen intra trinitatis numerum continentur. Et quod per tetas has quatuor partes in unum numerum colligitur eadem trinitas semper, pro eo sine dubio quod sub uno nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti censentur onmes, qui ex quatuor orbis partibus venientes invocant nomen Domini, recumbentes cum Abraham et Isaac et Jacob in regno Dei. llaec a nobis generaliter indicata sint volentibus totius sacri hujus voluminis continentiam mysticam breviter comprehendere, ut ex his intelligentiae spiritalis occasione suscepta unusquisque et in reliquis similem, aut etiam si cui amplius Deus revelat, superiorem et excelsiorem persequatur indaginem. Ego enim vere imparem me judico ad enarranda mysteria, quae liber hic continet Numerorum; multo autem inferiorem ad illa , quae Deuteronomii volumen includit. Et ideo festinandum nobis est pervenire ad Jesum, non illum lilium Nave, sed ad Jesum Christum. Prius tamen paedagogo utentes Moyse, et apud eum rudimenta infantia: deponentes, sic tendamus ad perfectionem Christi. Moyses enim non multa bella compressit. Jesus autem bella quidem uuiversa compescuit, pacem vero omnibds dedit, ita ut scriptum sit , quia ‹ cessavit terra a bellis. Terra repromissionis, terra hacreditatis, terra quae fluit lac et mel, ab Jesu distribuitur. «Beati: enim «mites, quia ipsi» per Jesum «haereditabunt terram .» Sed et ipsius distributionis invenies typos et imagines praecessisse. Non enim otiosum est quod aliis ultra Jordanem terra dividitur, aliis intra Iordanem, et aliis primis, aliis vero secundis, nonnullis etiam tertiis, et sic per ordinem hatreditas terrae dividitur; ubi unusquisque requieseat sub ficu sua, et sub vite sua , etnon sit ultra qui exterreat. Quae cuncta magnificis praesignata mysteriis, ipse Dominus Jesus in die adventus sui non jam per speculum et in aenigmate , sed facie ad faciem in veritate complebit unicuique, secundum quod ipse noverit merita singulorum , qui cognitor cordis est, cui gloria et imperium in smcula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) I see something still greater in this book of Numbers by way of mystery. For the plan of the tribes, the distinction of ranks, the grouping of families, and the whole arrangement of the camp reveal to me signs of great sacraments, as the apostle Paul scatters for us the seeds of spiritual understanding. Come, then, let us now see what all this plan of numbers, what this diversity of ranks, contains in mystical understanding. We have a sure expectation of the resurrection of the dead, when those who are alive, who remain, will not precede at the coming of Christ those who have fallen asleep, but, joined and united with them, will be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, leaving behind the corruption of this earthly place and the dwellings of death, whether all are to remain in the air, as Paul declares, or some are to be transferred to paradise or to some other place among the many mansions that are with the Father. But the place of transfer and the glory will doubtless be granted according to the merits and acts of each, and each will be in the rank that the merits of his deeds have earned him; as the same Paul also testifies, saying of those who rise: “But each in his own order.” So it will happen in the resurrection that one will be enrolled by spiritual signs in the tribe of Reuben, because he had something in his conduct, acts, or life similar and akin to Reuben himself; another in the tribe of Simeon, perhaps for his obedience; another in the tribe of Levi, I believe one who presided well over the priesthood, or who by ministering well gained a good standing for himself; another in the tribe of Judah, no doubt one who bore a kingly spirit and ruled well the people within him, that is, the thoughts of the mind and the reflections of the heart. And each will be joined to each of the tribes according to what he had akin to each of them in acts or in conduct. So there will be ranks of this kind in the resurrection of the dead, as the Apostle indicates, and the type and figure of these ranks seems to be prefigured here in this book. And also the fact that the position of the camps and the order of encampment is described with a certain grouping and connection of the tribes doubtless pertains to some state in the resurrection of the dead. That three tribes are said to be placed to the east, three to the west, three also to the south, and the last three to the north, which is called a harsh wind; and that the tribe of Judah, which is royal and from which our Lord arose, is set to the east: I do not think this idle; nor that Issachar and Zebulun are joined to it; nor that this number three is arranged in four parts. Although they have different qualities according to their positions, all are nevertheless contained within the number of the trinity. And the fact that through these four parts the same trinity is always gathered into one number is doubtless because all who come from the four parts of the world and call on the name of the Lord, reclining with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, are enrolled under the one name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Let these things be pointed out by us in general for those who wish to grasp briefly the mystical content of this whole sacred volume, so that, taking from them an occasion of spiritual understanding, each may pursue a similar inquiry in the rest, or, if God reveals more to anyone, a higher and loftier one. For I truly judge myself unequal to expounding the mysteries this book of Numbers contains, and much more inferior to those the volume of Deuteronomy encloses. And therefore we must hasten to come to Jesus, not that son of Nun, but to Jesus Christ. First, however, using Moses as our tutor and laying aside with him the rudiments of infancy, let us so press on to the perfection of Christ. For Moses did not put down many wars. But Jesus put down all wars and gave peace to all, so that it is written that “the land rested from wars.” The land of promise, the land of inheritance, the land that flows with milk and honey, is distributed by Jesus. “For blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land” through Jesus. And you will find that types and images of that distribution too went before. For it is not idle that the land is divided to some beyond the Jordan, to others on this side of the Jordan, to some first, to others second, to some even third, and so in order the inheritance of the land is divided, where each may rest under his fig tree and under his vine, and there may no longer be anyone to terrify him. All these things, foreshadowed by magnificent mysteries, the Lord Jesus himself will fulfill in the day of his coming, no longer through a mirror and in an enigma, but face to face in truth, for each according as he himself knows the merits of each, he who is the knower of the heart, to whom be glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Thess 4:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:17: allusion, high confidence - John 14:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:23: quotation, high confidence - Num 2:3: allusion, high confidence - Matt 8:11: allusion, high confidence - Rom 10:13: echo, medium confidence - Gal 3:24: allusion, medium confidence - Josh 11:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Josh 13:8: allusion, medium confidence - Mic 4:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Origen plays on the name: Joshua son of Nun and Jesus are the same name in Greek and Latin (Iesus). “The land rested from wars” is Josh 11:23 (also 14:15). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 1.3 (PG 12:588a–589d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-1-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 2.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-2-1 - Source: PG 12:589d–591b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The command that each Israelite march in his own order teaches that clergy, ascetics, and all Christians must live in a way that fits the order they profess. ### Latin text Prima Numerorum lectio docuit quod exercitus Dei qui exivit de terra Egypti et iter egit per desertum, visitatus sit, hoc est, numeratus per Moysen et Aaron, ac per singulas quasque tribus sequestratus certo sub numero recensitus sit : quod nos velut cum teta simul libelli cotitinentia exponentes, formam diximus esse perscriptam, quomodo populus Dei egrediens de mundi hujus Egj’pto, et ad terram repromissionis, id est, vel ad virtutum locum, vel ad regni calorum gloriam hrcreditatemque festinans , ordinibus quibusdam et meritorum gradibus deducatur. Et per haec ostendimus futurorum bonorum magnificentiam in legis imaginibus adumbratam. Nunc vero Irelionis hujus initium, qum hodie recitata est, edocet nos qualiter ab his qui Deo mancipati sunt, nec implicant se negotiis saecularibus , componatur ordo castrorum. Ait enim ; et secundum signa sua, et secundum domus familiarum suarum castra collocct, lilii Israel ex adverso in circuitu tabernaculi testimonii considant. Moyses dicit : Homo secundum ordinem suum, et secundum signa sua, et secundum domos familiarum suarum incedat in castris; et Paulus dicit" : ‹ Omnia honeste et secundum ordinem fiant. Et non tibi videtur unus esse Spiritus Dei, qui et in Moyse loquitur, et in Paulo? Secundum ordinem Moyses ineecli mandat in castris; secundum ordinem cuncta geri in Ecclesia prmcipit Paulus. Et Moyses quidem, qui legi ministrabat, in castris custodiri ordinem jubet: Paulus vero tanquam Evangelii minister, non solum in actibus, sed in ipso habitu . ordinatum vult esse Christianum ; et ideo dicit "° : «Mulieres similiter in habitu ornato.» Unde ego arbitror quod non solum in ciliciis et habitu servari ordinem volunt, sed dant intelligi quod sit aliquis etiam in anima ordo, de quo dicatur quod unusquisque incedere debeat secundum ordinem suum. Qui ordo praecipue quidem ex operum fructu indicatur : nihilominus autem et ex magnificentia sensuum. Namsaepe accidit, ut is qui humilem sensum gerit etabjectum , et qui terrena sapit, excelsum sacerdotii gradum , vel cathedram doctoris insideat; et ille qui Spiritalis est, eta terrena conversatione tam liber ut possit examinare omnia, et ipse a nemine judicari , vel inferiuris ministerii ordinem teneat, vel etiam in plebeia multitudine relinquatur. Sed hoc est et legis et Evangelii statuta contemnere, et nihil secundum ordinem gerere. Sed et unusquisque nostrum si de cibo et potu sollicitus sit,et omnem curam in rebus saecularibus gerat, unam vero aut duas horas ex integro die etiam Deo deputet, et ad oralionem veniat in ecclesiam, vel in transitu verbum Dei audiat, prmcipuam vero curam erga sollicitudinem saeculi et ventris expendat: iste non complet ruandatum quod dicit, ut homo secundum ordinem suum incedat, vel quod dicit, ιιι omnia secundum ordinem fiant. Ordo est enim statutus a Christo, qumrere prius regnum Dei et justitiam ejus et credere quod secundo loco hazc nobis apponantur . llomo ergo secundum ordinem suum incedat. Putasne qui sacerdotio funguntur, et in sacerdotali ordine gloriantur, secundum ordinem suum incedunt, el agunt omnia quae illo ordine digna sunt? Similiter autem et diaconi putas secundum ordinem ministerii sui incedunt? Et unde est quod saepe audimus blasphemarc homines, et dicere, Ecce qualis episcopus , aut qualis presbyter, vel qualis diaconus? Nonne hate dicuntur, ubi vel sacerdos vel minister Dei ausus fuerit in aliquo contra ordinem suum venire, et aliquid contra sacerdotalem vel Leviticum ordinem gerere? Quid autem et de virginibus dicam, aut de continentibus vel omnibus qui in professione religionis videntur? Nonne si quid inverecundum, vel petulans,si quid protervum gesserint, arguit eos continuo Moyses et dicit, Homo secundum ordinem suum incedat? Agnoscat igitur unusquisque ordinem suum, et quid dignum sit eo ordine quem suscepit, intelligat, et ita libret actus suos, ita etiam sermonem, incessum quoque ipsum et habitum moderetur, utcum ordinis sui professione conveniat, ne audiat dici ad se a Deo, quia «propter vos nomen meum blasphematur inter gentes . ### English translation (Claude) The first reading of Numbers taught that the army of God, which went out of the land of Egypt and made its way through the desert, was visited, that is, counted, by Moses and Aaron, and separated tribe by tribe and enrolled under a fixed number: when we were expounding this together with the whole content of the book, we said that it was a pattern written out of how the people of God, going out of the Egypt of this world and hastening to the land of promise, that is, either to the place of virtues or to the glory and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven, is led by certain orders and grades of merit. And by these things we showed the magnificence of the good things to come foreshadowed in the images of the law. But now the beginning of this reading which was read today teaches us how the order of the camp is arranged by those who are bound over to God and do not entangle themselves in worldly affairs. For it says: “Let the sons of Israel encamp each according to his order and according to his standards and according to the houses of their families; let them encamp opposite, around the tabernacle of testimony.” Moses says: “Let a man march in the camp according to his order and according to his standards and according to the houses of their families”; and Paul says: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” And does it not seem to you that it is one Spirit of God who speaks both in Moses and in Paul? Moses commands that they march in order in the camp; Paul enjoins that everything in the church be done in order. And Moses, who served the law, orders that order be kept in the camp; but Paul, as a minister of the gospel, wants the Christian to be orderly not only in his actions but in his very dress; and therefore he says: “Likewise women in orderly dress.” Hence I think that they wish order to be kept not only in clothing and dress, but give us to understand that there is also an order in the soul, of which it may be said that each ought to march according to his order. This order is shown chiefly by the fruit of works, but no less by the greatness of one's understanding. For it often happens that one who has a lowly and abject mind and savors earthly things sits in the lofty rank of the priesthood or in the chair of a teacher, while one who is spiritual, and so free from earthly conduct that he can examine all things and himself be judged by no one, either holds the rank of a lower ministry or is even left among the common crowd. But this is to despise the statutes both of the law and of the gospel and to do nothing in order. And if any of us is anxious about food and drink and spends all his care on worldly affairs, but assigns one or two hours of the whole day to God and comes to church for prayer, or hears the word of God in passing, while spending his chief care on the concerns of the world and of the belly, he does not fulfill the commandment that says a man should march according to his order, or that says all things should be done in order. For the order established by Christ is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and to believe that these things will be added to us in second place. Let a man, then, march according to his order. Do you think that those who exercise the priesthood and glory in the priestly order march according to their order and do everything worthy of that order? Likewise, do you think the deacons march according to the order of their ministry? And how is it that we often hear people blaspheme and say, “Look at what kind of bishop, or what kind of presbyter, or what kind of deacon!”? Are not these things said when a priest or a minister of God has dared in some way to go against his order and do something against the priestly or Levitical order? And what shall I say of virgins, or of the continent, or of all who appear to be in the profession of religion? If they do anything shameless or wanton or impudent, does not Moses at once rebuke them and say, “Let a man march according to his order”? Let each, then, recognize his order and understand what is worthy of the order he has taken up, and so weigh his actions, and so too his speech, and govern his very gait and dress, that it may agree with the profession of his order, lest he hear God say to him: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” ### Scripture references - Num 2:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:40: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:33: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Isa 52:5: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. The church's ranks (bishop, presbyter, deacon, virgins, the continent) are named as in the Latin. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 2.1 (PG 12:589d–591b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-2-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 2.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-2-2 - Source: PG 12:591b–593b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As each person has his own face and handwriting, each soul has its own signs, and believers can advance from lower to brighter signs toward the glory of the resurrection. ### Latin text Quid autem sit quod dicit, «et secundum signa sua,» videamus. Ego puto signa. esse ea, quibus uniuscujusque proprietas designatur : verbi gratia, omnes quidem homines similes sumus, sed est propria quaedam uniuscujusque distinctio, vel in ipso vultu, vel iu statura, vel in positione, vel in habitu, per qum, verbi gratia, Paulus quia Paulus sit designatur, et Petrus quia Petrus sit, et non sit Paulus. Interdum autem etiam non videntibus uniuscujusque signi diversitas datur, ut ex voce et loquela agnoscat illum esse vel illum qui loquitur : Ῑ) et secundum sua: proprietatis signum unusquisque etiam sine corporali visione cognoscitur. lloc modo arbitror esse etiam in animis signa diversa. Et alterius quidem animi motus lenior est, mitis, placidus, tranquillus, aequalis; alterius turbidus, elatus, asperior, incitatior, petulantior. Alius circumspectus, cautus, providus, sollicitus, impiger. Alius desidiosus, remissus, negligens, incautus. Et in his alius plus, alius minus. Et audeo pronuntiare, quia fortassis quanta in specie vultus inest diversitas hominibus, tanta et in animis invenitur esse difl‘erentia. Sicut et sapientissimum Salomonem memini quodam loco dicentem : Sicut diversi sunt vultus vultibus, ita et diversa sunt corda hominum. Sed unusquisque, ut ait Moyses, secundum signa sua incedat, id est, ne is , cujusliumilia et despecta sunt signa, elatior incedat, vel altior quam animorum suorum signa deposcunt. Et ut adhuc amplius diversitatis signorum ratio clarescat, addemus etiam hate. Omnes qui litteras norunt. certum est quod viginti quatuor si Graeca, viginti tria si Latina litterarum elementa didicerint, et ex his omnia qumcunqne scribenda sunt, scribunt. Aliud tamen signum, verbi gratia, alpha quod Paulus scripserit, habet, et aliud quod Petrus; et sic per singulos homines, qui litteras norunt, diversa scribendi per singulas quasque litteras signa reperies. Unde et chirographa singulorum manibus scripta, propriis quibusdam signis et iudiciis agnoscuntur; et cum sint elementa eadem, est tamen in ipsa similitudine litterarum multa dissimilitudo signorum. igitur si integre tibi pr0positm rei patuit exetnplum, veni nunc ad motus mentis et animorum, quibus ad aliquid concitantur gerendum. lutuere singulorum virorum chirographa et vide quomodo, verbi gratia, animus Pauli proposuit castitatem,et animus nihilominus Petri; sed est prepria quaedam castitas Petri, et alia castitas Pauli, etiamsi una eademque videatur. Denique alterius ipsorum talis castitas est, quae requirat macerari corpus suum, et subjici servituti, et quae adhuc dicat ” : Castigo corpus meum, ne forte aliis prcdicans ipse reprobus inveniar; alterius autem castitas talis est, quae istud forte non timeat. Similiter et justitia habet aliquid proprietatis in Paulo. habet et in Petro. Eodem modo et sapientia caetermque virtutes. Quod si etiam in his nominibus quae exempli causa posuimus, potest fieri ut cum unum sint per Spiritum Dei, sit tamen aliqua diversitas in ipsarum proprietate virtutum, quanto magis reliqui omnes homines propria quaedam signa in motibus animorum et anima: virtutibus gerunt?Qu:e Moyses mystica ratione perspiciens, scribit in lege, ut unusquisque secundum signa snaincedat in castris. Potest autem fieri ut minulatioue operum bonorum ab inferioribus signis ad meliora et magnificentiora veniamus. Si enim recte a nobis intellectum est, haec omnia quae in lege scripta sunt, formas esse futurorum bonorum , et illius saeculi quod ex resurrectione mortuorum speramus, certum est utique quod si in praesenti vita habuerimus studium meliorum, et secundum Apostoli exemplum posteriora obliviscentes ad ea quae in ante sunt extendamur: in resurrectione mortuorum, ubi sicut stella ab stella dill‘ertin gloria , itaet uniusrujusqueme rita refulgebunt, poterimus utique ab inferioribusad meliora signa et fulgentiora transferri, et splendidioribus sideribus exaequari. Atque intantum potest natura humana in hac vita prolicere, ut in resurrectione mortuorum non solum stellarum gloriae. sed et solis splendori valeat exaequari, secumlum quod scriptum est , quia justi fulgebunt in regno Dei sicut sol. llinc ergo est, quod et in inferiorihus dicit " : secundum signa sua,per domos familiarum suarum. Quod dicit, per domos familiarum suarum, in Graeco idem sermo positus est, quem et ibi Apostolus dicit, ubi ait : llnjus rei gratia curvo genua mea ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ex quo omnis paternitas in coelo et in terra nominatur. Quas ergo hic Paulus paternitates dicit, ibi familias posuit Latinus interpres, sed unus atque idem sermo habetur in Graeco. Ista: sunt ergo paternitates, vel familire quas Paulus quidem jam oswndit in caelis, Moyses autem sub figuris adhuc legalibus describit in terris; secundum quas incedere nos monet, ut possimus caelestibus paternitatibus sociari. Sunt enim, utPanlus superius pronuntiavit, sive familia: istae dicenda: sunt, sive paternitates in coelo, ex quibus forte est illa, quam in alio loco nominat idem Paulus Ecclesiam primitivorum ascriptam in caelis '9; cui nos eveniet sociari, si secundum ordinem incedamus ct omnia secundum ordinem geramus. Si nihil inordinatum, nihil inquietum, nihil inhonestum inveniatur in nobis, tunc et sicut firmamentum resplendebimus, et sicut stella: et sol ipse refulgebimus iu regno Dei, per Christum Dominum nostrum , cui est gloria et imperium in. saecula surculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Let us see what is meant by “and according to their standards.” I think the standards, or signs, are those by which the particular character of each one is marked. For example, we men are all alike, yet each has a certain distinction of his own, either in the face itself, or in stature, or in posture, or in bearing, by which, for example, Paul is marked out as Paul, and Peter as Peter and not Paul. Sometimes the difference of each one's sign is given even to those who cannot see, so that from the voice and speech one recognizes that the speaker is this person or that; and by the sign of his own particular character each is known even without bodily sight. In this way I think there are also different signs in souls. One soul's movement is gentler, mild, calm, tranquil, even; another's turbulent, proud, harsher, more impetuous, more wanton. One is circumspect, cautious, provident, careful, energetic; another slothful, remiss, negligent, incautious. And in these, one more, another less. And I dare to declare that perhaps as great as the diversity in the appearance of faces among men, so great a difference is found in souls. So too I remember the most wise Solomon saying somewhere: “As faces differ from faces, so too the hearts of men differ.” But let each, as Moses says, march according to his signs; that is, let not one whose signs are lowly and despised march more proudly or more loftily than the signs of his soul demand. And so that the account of the diversity of signs may become still clearer, we shall add this too. It is certain that all who know letters, once they have learned the twenty-four elements of letters if Greek, or twenty-three if Latin, write from these everything that is to be written. Yet the alpha, for example, that Paul writes has one sign, and that which Peter writes another; and so for each person who knows letters you will find different signs of writing for each letter. Hence the handwritings of individuals are recognized by certain marks and indications of their own; and though the elements are the same, yet in the very likeness of the letters there is much unlikeness of signs. If then the example of the matter proposed is fully clear to you, come now to the movements of the mind and of souls by which they are stirred to do something. Look at the handwriting of individual men and see how, for example, Paul's soul set chastity before itself, and Peter's soul no less; yet Peter's chastity has a character of its own, and Paul's chastity another, even if it seems one and the same. Indeed, the chastity of one of them is such as requires his body to be subdued and brought into subjection, and says further: “I chastise my body, lest perhaps after preaching to others I myself should be found reprobate”; the chastity of the other is such as perhaps does not fear this. Likewise righteousness too has something particular in Paul and something in Peter; in the same way wisdom and the other virtues. And if, even in these names we have given as examples, it can be that although they are one through the Spirit of God there is nevertheless some diversity in the particular character of their virtues, how much more do all other men bear particular signs in the movements of their souls and in the virtues of the soul? Moses, perceiving this by a mystical reasoning, writes in the law that each should march in the camp according to his signs. It may also happen that by the increase of good works we come from lower signs to better and more magnificent ones. For if we have rightly understood that all these things written in the law are forms of the good things to come and of that age which we hope for from the resurrection of the dead, it is surely certain that if in the present life we have zeal for better things and, following the Apostle's example, forgetting what is behind, stretch forward to what is ahead, then in the resurrection of the dead, where, as star differs from star in glory, so the merits of each will shine, we shall surely be able to be transferred from lower signs to better and brighter ones and to be made equal to more splendid stars. And human nature can advance so far in this life that in the resurrection of the dead it may be made equal not only to the glory of the stars but even to the splendor of the sun, as it is written that the righteous will shine in the kingdom of God like the sun. Hence it is that further on too he says: “according to their standards, by the houses of their families.” Where he says “by the houses of their families,” the same word is used in the Greek as the Apostle uses where he says: “For this reason I bend my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom every fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named.” So what Paul here calls fatherhoods, the Latin translator has there rendered families; but one and the same word stands in the Greek. These, then, are the fatherhoods or families which Paul already shows in the heavens, while Moses still describes them on earth under the figures of the law; according to these he admonishes us to march, so that we may be joined to the heavenly fatherhoods. For there are in heaven, as Paul declared above, these families or fatherhoods, whichever they should be called, among which perhaps is the one which the same Paul in another place names the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven; to which it will be our lot to be joined if we march in order and do all things in order. If nothing disorderly, nothing restless, nothing indecent is found in us, then we shall shine like the firmament, and like the stars and the sun itself we shall shine in the kingdom of God, through Christ our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Prov 27:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:27: quotation, high confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:41: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:43: allusion, high confidence - Num 2:34: quotation, medium confidence - Eph 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 3:15: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:23: allusion, high confidence - Dan 12:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:40: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek word in both places is patria (“family”, “fatherhood”). The remark about “the Latin translator” refers to the Latin Bible's rendering and is presumably Rufinus's adaptation of Origen's comment on the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 2.2 (PG 12:591b–593b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/0-1/#p-2-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 3.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-1 - Source: PG 12:593b–594b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Like the manna, the word of God nourishes some and condemns others, and neither baptism nor the catechumenate guarantees possession of the Holy Spirit. ### Latin text Scriptum est de manna, quia secundum tempus illud si quis id ita assumpsisset ut prteceperat Deus, nutriretur ex eo ; si quis vero contra praeceptum Dei, et contra statutum divinitus modum voluisset assumere, non frueretur eo, ut vitali cibo, sed vermes ebullirent ex eo. Et ita fiebat, ut una atque eadem species manna: aliis quidem vermes et putredines generaret, aliis vero salubrem cibum conferret, et vitae necessarium. Igitur et nostrum manna verbum Dei est, et apud nos ergo sermo Dei aliis ellicitur ad salutem, aliis cedit ad pinnam. Et propter hoc arbitror quod ipse Dominus et Salvator, qui est vivum Dei verbum, dicebat ί : ‹ [n judicium ego veni in hunc mundum, ut non videntes videant, et. videntes caeci fiant. Quanto melius esset nonnullis omnino nec audire verbum Dei, quamaudire cum malitia, vel audire cum hypocrisi. Melius autem dicimus ad comparationem κ malorum. Vere autem melius, et vere rectius. ac perfectius est, ut qni audit verbum Dei, audiat corde bono et simplici, audiat corde recto et parato, ut quasi in terra bona fructifieet et crescat. Haec in praefatione diximus propter nonnullos eorum qui ad audiendum non simplici, nec fideli mente conveniunt. De quibusdam dico catechumenis, quibus fortasse nonnulli etiam eorum qui jam baptismum consecuti sunt, sociantur. Non enim omnes qui ex Israel, ii sunt lsraelitae"; neque omnes qui loti sunt aqua, continuo etiam sancto Spiritu loti sunt: sicut econtrario non omnes qui in catechumenis numerantur, alieni sunt et expertes Spiritus sancti. Invenio enim in Scripturis divinis nonnullos catechumenorum dignos habitos Spiritu sancto, et alios accepto baptismo indignos fuisse sancti Spiritus gratia. Cornelius eateclnuncnus erat 9’, et antequam ad aquam veniret, meruit accipere Spiritum sanetum. Simon baptismum acceperat, sed quoniam eum hypocrisi accessit ad gratiam, repudiatur a dono Spiritus sancti. Nolo dubites et nunc esse in populo catechumenorum aliquos Cornelios, ad quos dici possit, quia misericordia: et orationes tua: ascenderunt in ctelum; et rursum in populo fidelium esse aliquos Simones, quibus confidenterdicendum sit“: Ο plene omni dolo et fallacia, [ili diaboli, mtmice omnis iustitiae. Haec ego ad correptione-tu mei ipsius loquor, non solum auditorum. Unus enim et ego sum ex iis, qui audiunt verbum Dei. ### English translation (Claude) It is written of the manna that at that time, if anyone took it as God had commanded, he was nourished by it; but if anyone wished to take it against God's command and against the measure divinely set, he did not enjoy it as life-giving food, but worms bred from it. And so it happened that one and the same kind of manna produced worms and rottenness for some, and for others provided wholesome food necessary for life. So our manna too is the word of God, and among us, too, the word of God becomes salvation for some and turns to punishment for others. And for this reason I think the Lord and Saviour himself, who is the living Word of God, said: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” How much better it would be for some not to hear the word of God at all than to hear it with malice or with hypocrisy! But we say “better” by comparison with evils. What is truly better, truly more right and more perfect, is that whoever hears the word of God should hear it with a good and simple heart, hear it with an upright and prepared heart, so that, as in good soil, it may bear fruit and grow. We have said these things by way of preface because of some who come to hear not with a simple or faithful mind. I speak of certain catechumens, with whom perhaps some of those who have already received baptism are also to be numbered. For not all who are of Israel are Israelites; nor are all who have been washed with water at once washed also with the Holy Spirit; just as, conversely, not all who are counted among the catechumens are strangers to the Holy Spirit and without share in him. For I find in the divine Scriptures some catechumens held worthy of the Holy Spirit, and others, having received baptism, unworthy of the grace of the Holy Spirit. Cornelius was a catechumen, and before he came to the water he was found worthy to receive the Holy Spirit. Simon had received baptism, but because he approached the grace with hypocrisy he is rejected from the gift of the Holy Spirit. I would not have you doubt that even now among the people of the catechumens there are some Corneliuses, to whom it can be said, “Your alms and your prayers have gone up into heaven”; and again that among the people of the faithful there are some Simons, to whom one must boldly say: “O full of all deceit and fraud, son of the devil, enemy of all righteousness.” I say these things for my own correction, not only for that of the hearers. For I too am one of those who hear the word of God. ### Scripture references - Exod 16:20: allusion, high confidence - John 9:39: quotation, high confidence - Luke 8:15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 9:6: quotation, high confidence - Acts 10:44: allusion, high confidence - Acts 8:13: allusion, high confidence - Acts 8:21: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 10:4: quotation, high confidence - Acts 13:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Cornelius: Acts 10:44–48; Simon: Acts 8:13–24. The words “O full of all deceit …” were spoken by Paul to the magician Elymas (Acts 13:10), here applied to people like Simon. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 3.1 (PG 12:593b–594b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 3.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-2 - Source: PG 12:594b–595b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Levites, though not firstborn, are taken in place of the firstborn, showing that God ranks people by the purpose of their heart, and Christ alone stands perfectly “in the midst.” ### Latin text Sed audiamus jam quid sermo divinus loquatur ad Moysen. Et locutus est, inquit ’, Dominus ad Moysen, dicens : Ecce ego assumpsi Levitas de medio filiorum Israel, pro omni primogenita qui adaperit vulvam ex filiis Israel, redemptiones eoo rum erunt, et erunt mihi Levilae. Meum est enim omne primogenitum. Ex die qua percussi omne primogenitum in terra Egypti,sanctilicavi mihi omne primogenitum Israel, ab homine usque ad pecus meum erit, ego Dominus. Levita} assumuntur pro primogenitis, eum utique non sint primogeniti. Levi enim tertius nascitur ex Lia. Primus namque est Ruben; Simeou secundus, tertius Levi; et assumuntur in primogenitosii, qui natura non sunt primogeniti. Nunquid haec in lege Dei otiose scripta esse credendum est? An illud edoce' nos, quod apud Deum non illi primogeniti habeantur. qui corporea nativitate praecedunt, sed ii quos proposito mentis inspecto, Deus ipse in ordinem primitivorum judicat assumendos? Sic enim apud Deum Jacob p05terior natu primogenitus iudicatus est, et l‘enedictiones primitivatus procurata divinitus parentis Caecitate suscepit 9°. Ex proposito etenim cordis quod Deo patuit, etiam priusquam in hoc mundo nascerentur, aut aliquid agerent boui vel mali, pronuntiat Dominus de eis ", quia Jacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui. Filii ergo Levi primogeniti quidem non sunt secundum carnem, sed pro primogenitis assumuntur; ut sit amplius aliquid pro primogenita assumi, quam primogenitum nasci. ‹ Ecce, inquit, assumpsi Levitas ex medio filiorum Israel. Dic simpliciter, Assumpsi Levitas ex filiis Israel. Quid est quod addis, et de medio filiorum Israel? de quo medio ? Tertius est Levi, ut supra diximus, inter filios Israel. De quo ergo medio assumantur- ‘Levitze cuperem scire. Invenio in Scripturis beatam illam Sunamitidem quae aluerataliquando prophetam, reSpondentem cuiu fiducia regilsrael volenti sibi aliquid conferre benefit-ii, et dicentem : 1η medio p0puli mei ego habito. Amplius autem et magnificentius in Evangelio video scriptum de Domino et Salvatore nostro, dicente Joanne” : ε Medius vestrum stat, quem vos nescitis. Puto ergo eum qui nunquam declinaverit ad dextram, neque ad sinistram,dici posse medium stare, qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus ί. Et ideo ille quidem, quia semper stat, medius stare dicitur. Si quis vero imitator ejus est, sicut omnes sancti, et illa beata mulier, cujus superius fecimus mentionem, stare quidem non dicitur. Non enim potest fieri, ut non aliquando, aut ad dextram quis inclinatus sit, aut ad sinistram. Nemo enim mundus a sorde; nec si unius diei fuerit vita ejus '. Habitare tamen dicitur in medio populi : et Levita: ergo assumuntur de medio filiorum lsrael. Levita: sunt enim qui non cognoverunt dextram et sinistram suam, sed sequentes Moysen, id est legem Dei, non pepercerunt patri nec matri. Et tu ergo si, veniente tentatione, si veniente ira peccati non iuclineris ad dexteram, neque ad sinistram, nec przevaricatus fueris legem Dei. sed stes in medio fixus et stabilis, et non inclineris, neque curves genua tua peccato, nec pecudis caput, id est stultitiae sequaris imaginem, assumeris de medio filiorum Israel, et in primitivorqu numero collocaberis. Haec pro eo quod scriptum est, et assumam Levitas de medio filiorum Israel. ### English translation (Claude) But let us now hear what the divine word says to Moses. “And the Lord spoke to Moses,” it says, “saying: Behold, I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel in place of every firstborn that opens the womb among the sons of Israel; they shall be their redemption, and the Levites shall be mine. For every firstborn is mine. From the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified to myself every firstborn of Israel; from man to beast it shall be mine: I am the Lord.” The Levites are taken in place of the firstborn, although they are certainly not firstborn. For Levi is born third from Leah: Reuben is the first, Simeon the second, Levi the third; and those who are not firstborn by nature are taken as firstborn. Are we to believe that these things were written idly in the law of God? Or does it not teach us that with God those are not held to be firstborn who come first by bodily birth, but those whom God himself, having looked into the purpose of their mind, judges fit to be taken into the rank of the firstborn? For thus with God Jacob, though later in birth, was judged firstborn, and received the blessings of the birthright through his father's blindness, divinely arranged. For it is from the purpose of the heart, which was open to God even before they were born in this world or did anything good or evil, that the Lord declares of them, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” So the sons of Levi are indeed not firstborn according to the flesh, but they are taken in place of the firstborn, so that it is something greater to be taken in place of a firstborn than to be born firstborn. “Behold,” it says, “I have taken the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel.” Say simply, “I have taken the Levites from the sons of Israel.” Why do you add “and from the midst of the sons of Israel”? From what midst? Levi is third among the sons of Israel, as we said above. I would like to know, then, from what midst the Levites are taken. I find in the Scriptures that blessed Shunammite woman, who once fed the prophet, answering him with confidence when he wished to obtain some favor for her from the king of Israel, and saying, “I dwell in the midst of my people.” But more fully and more magnificently I see it written in the Gospel about our Lord and Saviour, when John says, “One stands in the midst of you whom you do not know.” I think, then, that he who never turned aside to the right or to the left can be said to stand in the midst, he who committed no sin and in whose mouth no deceit was found. And therefore he, because he always stands, is said to stand in the midst. But anyone who is his imitator, like all the saints and that blessed woman we mentioned above, is not said to stand. For it is impossible that one should not at some time have leaned either to the right or to the left. “For no one is clean from filth, not even if his life be of one day.” Yet she is said to dwell in the midst of the people; and so the Levites too are taken from the midst of the sons of Israel. For the Levites are those who did not know their right hand and their left, but, following Moses, that is, the law of God, spared neither father nor mother. You too, then, if, when temptation comes, when the anger of sin comes, you do not lean to the right or to the left, nor transgress the law of God, but stand fixed and steady in the midst and do not lean, nor bend your knees to sin, nor follow the head of a beast, that is, the image of folly, you will be taken from the midst of the sons of Israel and placed in the number of the firstborn. So much on what is written, “And I will take the Levites from the midst of the sons of Israel.” ### Scripture references - Num 3:11: quotation, high confidence - Num 3:12: quotation, high confidence - Num 3:13: quotation, high confidence - Gen 29:34: allusion, high confidence - Gen 27:1: allusion, high confidence - Rom 9:11: allusion, high confidence - Rom 9:13: quotation, high confidence - Mal 1:2: quotation, medium confidence - 2 Kgs 4:13: quotation, high confidence - John 1:26: quotation, high confidence - Deut 5:32: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence - Job 14:4: quotation, high confidence - Exod 32:27: allusion, medium confidence - Deut 33:9: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:4: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. “No one is clean from filth …” is Job 14:4–5 in the Greek. The Levites who “spared neither father nor mother” recall Exod 32:26–29 and Deut 33:9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 3.2 (PG 12:594b–595b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 3.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-3 - Source: PG 12:595b–597a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Levites camped around the tabernacle point to the heavenly orders of Hebrews 12, and Origen urges his hearers to climb as high among them as they can. ### Latin text Verum, si videtur, recurramus adhuc ad ipsum ordinem historize, qui refertur in Nmneris, et ex ipso mysterium primitivorum, ubi vel quomodo requiri debeat, contemplemur. Igitur recenseamus attentius, quomodo distribuuntur duodecim tribus per ternas in quatuor partes, et per singulas quasque caeli plagas certa statione considunt : et ime- _ nicmus Judam quidem ab oriente statui cum Issachar et Zabulon; Ruben vero ab occidente, cum Simeou et Gad; in meridie Ephrem cum Benjamin et Manassc; in aquilone vero Dan cum Nephtbalim et Aser. Ex his onmibus quasi per quatuor terra: cardines in circuitu collocatis, in medio eorum utp0te Deo proximi circa ipsum tabernaculum Dei constituuntur Levita. In castris quidem Juda qua sunt ab oriente, Moyses et Aaron; in castris vero Ruben, Gerson; in castris autem Benjamin, Caath; ubi vero Dan castra constituit, Merari scribitur collocatus; et ita in medio filiorum Israel ex omni parte, et per circuitum, quasi inserti trzeteris et innexi videntur esse lilii Levi. Haec sunt quae nobis littera legis exponit, ut ex his sacramentorum semina colligentes, tanquam gradibus quibusdam ab humilibus ad excelsa , et a terrenis ad coelestia conscendamus. Ascende ergo nunc, o auditor, si potes, et a terrenis sensibus intuitu mentis et perspicacia cordis elevare. Obliviscere paulisper terrena, supra nubes et supra ipsum ctelum gressu mentis incede. lbi require tabernaculum Dei, ubi praeursor pro nobis introivit Jesus,et assistit nunc vultui Dei interpellans pro nobis. lbi, inquam, require quaternos istos ordines, stationesque castrorum. lbi Israelitica agmina et excubias cerne sanctorum, et ibi illa quae hic nunc quaerimus primitivorum sacramenta rimare. Sed ego non audeo illuc solus ascendere, non audeo me in bos tam secretos mysteriorum secessus sine auctoritate magni alicujus doctoris immergere. Non possum illuc ascendere, nisi praecedat me Paulus,et ipse mihi viam novi hujus et ardui itineris ostendat. Ipse ergo apostolorum maximus, qui sciret multas esse non solum in terris, sed et in cmlis Ecclesias, ex quibus et septem quasdam Joannes enumerat : ipse tamen Paulus ostendere volens esse quamdam praeter eas etiam primitivorum Ecclesiam, dicit ad. Hebrzeos scribens : ‹ Non enim accessistis ad ardentem et tractabilem ignem, sed accessistis ad montem Sion, et civitatem Dei viventis Jerusalem coelestem, et multitudinem angelorum collaudantium, et Ecclesium primitivorum ascriptam in caelis. Igitur Moyses per quatuor castra populum Dei divisum describit in terris : et Apostolus quatuor ordines sanctorum describit in C(BIIS, ad quorum singulos unumquemque nostrum dicit accedere. Non enim omnes ad omnes accedunt, sed et alii quidem accedunt ad montem Sion, horum autent paulo meliores accedunt ad civitatem Dei viventis Jerusalem caelestem; qui autem et iis mininentiores sunt, accedunt ad multitudinem augelorum collaudantium; qui autem super istos omnes sunt, accedunt ad Ecclesium primitivorum ascriptam iu caelis. Si ergo ex iis intellexisti quis sit ordo primitivorum, et quod sit nominis istius sacramentum, prmpara te, et enitere quantum vales, si forte actibus, vita, moribus, fide, institutisque proficias, ut possis accedere ad Ecclesiam pritnitivorum, quae ascripta est in cmlis. Quod si non tantum vales, sed es paulo inferior, accede ad multitudinem angelorum collaudantium. Quod si nec ad istum ordinem potes ascendere, ad civitatem saltem Dei viventis Jerusalem caelestem properare contende. Si vero nec ad hoc aptus es, saltem ad montem contende Sion, ut in monte salveris. Tantum ne in terra resideas, ne in vallibus ntaneas, ne in demersis et humilibus perseveres. Mihi ita intelligendum videtur assumi primogenitos lilios Levi, qui ministrant Deo, et altari ejus tabernaculoque deserviunt, excubiisque perpetuis ministeria divina concelebrant. ### English translation (Claude) But, if you please, let us go back once more to the order of the literal account itself which is related in Numbers, and from it consider the mystery of the firstborn, where and how it ought to be sought. Let us then review more attentively how the twelve tribes are distributed by threes into four parts and encamp at a fixed station toward each quarter of heaven; and we shall find Judah placed on the east with Issachar and Zebulun; Reuben on the west with Simeon and Gad; on the south Ephraim with Benjamin and Manasseh; and on the north Dan with Naphtali and Asher. With all these placed round about as at the four corners of the earth, in their midst, as nearest to God, the Levites are stationed around the very tabernacle of God. In the camp of Judah, which is on the east, are Moses and Aaron; in the camp of Reuben, Gershon; in the camp of Benjamin, Kohath; and where Dan pitched camp, Merari is written to have been placed; and so the sons of Levi appear to be in the midst of the sons of Israel on every side and round about, as if inserted among the rest and bound to them. These are the things the letter of the law sets out for us, so that, gathering from them the seeds of sacraments, we may climb as by steps from the lowly to the lofty and from the earthly to the heavenly. Ascend, then, now, O hearer, if you can, and lift yourself up from earthly senses by the gaze of the mind and the insight of the heart. Forget earthly things for a little while; walk with the step of the mind above the clouds and above heaven itself. There seek the tabernacle of God, where Jesus our forerunner has entered for us and now appears before the face of God interceding for us. There, I say, seek these fourfold orders and stations of the camp. There behold the Israelite ranks and the watches of the saints, and there search out those sacraments of the firstborn which we are now seeking here. But I do not dare to ascend there alone; I do not dare to plunge into these so secret recesses of the mysteries without the authority of some great teacher. I cannot ascend there unless Paul goes before me and himself shows me the way of this new and steep journey. He, then, the greatest of the apostles, knew that there are many churches not only on earth but also in heaven, of which John too enumerates seven; yet Paul, wishing to show that besides these there is also a certain church of the firstborn, says, writing to the Hebrews: “For you have not come to a burning and tangible fire, but you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to a multitude of angels praising together, and to the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven.” So Moses describes the people of God divided into four camps on earth; and the Apostle describes four orders of the saints in heaven, to each of which, he says, one or another of us comes. For not all come to all; some come to Mount Zion; those a little better than these come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; those still more eminent come to the multitude of angels praising together; and those who are above all these come to the church of the firstborn enrolled in heaven. If, then, you have understood from this what the order of the firstborn is and what the sacrament of that name is, prepare yourself and strive as hard as you can, that you may perhaps advance in acts, life, conduct, faith, and practice, so as to be able to come to the church of the firstborn which is enrolled in heaven. But if you are not so strong, but a little lower, come to the multitude of angels praising together. And if you cannot ascend even to that order, at least strive to hasten to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And if you are not fit even for this, at least strive toward Mount Zion, so that you may be saved on the mountain. Only do not stay on the earth, do not remain in the valleys, do not persist in the sunken and low places. This is how I think we should understand that the sons of Levi are taken as firstborn, who minister to God, serve his altar and tabernacle, and celebrate the divine ministries in perpetual watches. ### Scripture references - Num 2:3: allusion, high confidence - Num 2:17: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:38: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:23: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 6:20: allusion, high confidence - Heb 9:24: allusion, high confidence - Heb 7:25: allusion, medium confidence - Rev 1:11: allusion, high confidence - Heb 12:18: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:22: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:23: quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:17: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - As printed, Reuben is placed on the west and Ephraim on the south; in Num 2 Reuben is on the south and Ephraim on the west. The Levite clans are likewise placed differently from Num 3:23–38. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 3.3 (PG 12:595b–597a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 3.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-4 - Source: PG 12:597a–598a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The striking of Egypt's firstborn before Israel's were sanctified signifies Christ's triumph over the demonic powers, which makes believers God's firstborn. ### Latin text Sed et quod ait, pro omni primogenito. qui adaperit vulvam, non mihi facile videtur disseri posse et explanari. Neque enim quicunque adaperit vulvam, continuo dignus sanctificatione primitivatus habendus est, quia et in Psalmis legimus , quod alienati sunt peccatores a vulva, erraverunt a ventre, locuti sunt falsa. Quod utique stare secundum litteram nullo modo potest. Quo. modo etiam quis errare a via Dei potuit Statim ut de ventre matris exivit? Aut quomodo potuit falsa loqui nuper editus puer, vel qualemcunque proferre sermonem? Cum ergo impossibile sit vel errare aliquem a ventre, vel loqui falsa, necessarium erit et ventrem, et vulvam talem requiri cui convenire possit hoc dictum quod alienati sunt peccatores ab utero, erraverunt α venue, sunt falsa. Et illa erit vulva, quam adaperit omnis primitivus, qui sanctificatur Deo. Adaperuit aliquando Dens vulvam Lize °, quae erat clausa, et peperit patriarchas; similiter et Rachel, ut pareret etiam ipsa cujus visus erat perspicax, et decorus aspectus. Sed et in multis aliis Scriptura: locis invenies adaperiri vulvas. Quarum si singula pro locis consideres, invenies quomodo et errent peccatores a vulva, et illi adaperientes vulvam, sanctificentur in ordine primitivorum. ‹ Et erunt mihi, inquit ", Levitze; meum est enim omne primitivum : ex qua die percussi omne primogenitum in terra Egypti, mihi sanctificavi omne primogenitum. Notum estquid de iis historia contineat, quomodo percussa sint primogenita Aigyptiorum, cum popu- Ius Israel educeretur ex Egypto . Iloc est ergo quod in loco indicatur, quia non prius sanctificati sunt primogeniti Israel quam percuterentur Egyptiorum primogeniti : et quasi causam sanctificationis horum, interitum et necem ponit illorum. Unde et hic intelligendum est, esse quosdam primogenitos etiam in Egyptiis, id est, in contrariis potestatibus, quasi electos in malitia et primos inter daemonas : qui nisi percussi fuerint et exstincti, sanctificationem percipere lsraelitaritm primogeniti omnino non possunt. Quis ergo est iste, qui primogenitos IEgyptiorum, id est principatus et potestates daemonum percussit? Nonne Dominus meus Jesus Christus, qui est primogenitus omnis creatura, qui principatus et potestates adversas traduxit, triumphans eos in cruce? Quos utique nisi ille percussisset, et triumphasset, sanctificatio ad nos primitivalis venire nullatenus potuisset. Ut autem nobis primogenitorum benedictiones donaret, ellicitur prius ipse primogenitus ex mortuis, ut sit in omnibus ipse primatum tenens, et nos credentes resurrectioni sure assumeret pro primitivis, et in primitivorum ordine collocaret, si tamen benedictionum gratiam usque ad linem firmam retineamus, adjuti misericordia ipsius Domini nostri lesu Christi, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula seculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But the words “in place of every firstborn that opens the womb” do not seem to me easy to discuss and explain. For not everyone who opens the womb is at once to be held worthy of the sanctification of the firstborn, since we also read in the Psalms that “sinners are estranged from the womb, they went astray from the belly, they spoke lies.” This certainly cannot stand at all according to the letter. How could anyone stray from the way of God as soon as he came out of his mother's belly? Or how could a newborn child speak lies, or utter any word at all? Since, then, it is impossible for anyone to stray from the belly or to speak lies, it will be necessary to seek such a belly and such a womb as this saying can fit, that “sinners are estranged from the womb, they went astray from the belly, [they spoke] lies.” And that will be the womb which every firstborn opens who is sanctified to God. God once opened the womb of Leah, which was closed, and she bore patriarchs; likewise that of Rachel, so that she too might bear, whose sight was keen and appearance comely. And in many other places of Scripture you will find wombs opened. If you consider each of them in its place, you will find how sinners stray from the womb, and how those who open the womb are sanctified in the order of the firstborn. “And the Levites shall be mine,” it says, “for every firstborn is mine: from the day I struck every firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself every firstborn.” What the literal account contains about them is well known: how the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck when the people of Israel was led out of Egypt. This, then, is what is indicated in the passage: that the firstborn of Israel were not sanctified before the firstborn of the Egyptians were struck; and it sets the death and slaughter of the latter as, so to speak, the cause of the sanctification of the former. Hence here too we must understand that there are certain firstborn among the Egyptians also, that is, among the opposing powers, chosen as it were in wickedness and first among the demons; and unless these are struck down and destroyed, the firstborn of the Israelites cannot receive sanctification at all. Who, then, is he who struck the firstborn of the Egyptians, that is, the principalities and powers of the demons? Is it not my Lord Jesus Christ, who is the firstborn of all creation, who led away the hostile principalities and powers, triumphing over them on the cross? Had he not struck them and triumphed over them, the sanctification of the firstborn could by no means have come to us. And so that he might give us the blessings of the firstborn, he himself first became the firstborn from the dead, that he might hold first place in all things, and might take us who believe in his resurrection in place of the firstborn and set us in the order of the firstborn, provided that we hold the grace of the blessings firm to the end, helped by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ himself, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 3:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 58:3 (57:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 29:31: allusion, high confidence - Gen 30:22: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:13: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:29: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:18: allusion, high confidence - Heb 3:14: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ps 58:3 (LXX 57:4). In Genesis it is Leah whose eyes are weak (Gen 29:17); the remark about keen sight is applied to Rachel as printed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 3.4 (PG 12:597a–598a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-3-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 4.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-1 - Source: PG 12:598a–599b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The 22,000 Levites and the 273 extra firstborn are read as numbers of creation and of human gestation, and the four divisions of Levite duties are described. ### Latin text Numerorum liber est, qui legitur nobis, in quo multa: sunt numerorum difi‘erentize, quae conscribuntur de filiis Israel. Sed post filios Israel numerantur etiam Levita: seorsum. Non enim fuerant recensiti cum filiis Israel, et habetur eorum segregatus quidam, ac praecipuus pra: caeteris numerus, quo referuntur omnes simul viginti duo millia reperti, ita ut neque amplius aliquid, neque minus hoc numero inventum sit. Post hoc prmeepit Dominus numerari etiam primogenitos filiorum Israel eodem ordine, quo Levita: fuerant numerati, id est, ab uno mense et supra, et inveniuntur primogeniti filiorum Israel viginti duo millia, et ducenti septuaginta tres. Putasne per haec solam numeri historiam docere nos voluit Moyses, et nullum in iis diversitatibus numerorum conclusit solito sibi more mysterium? Nihilne videbitur esse rationis quod ducenti septuaginta tres tantum abundare dicuntur in primogenitis Israel, et in Leviticis ad viginti duo millia, neque abundare quidquam, neque deesse describitur? Viginti duo quidem numerus iu Scripluris divinis, si quis observet , quod principalibus quibusdam causis ascriptus sit, frequenter inveniet. Nam viginti duo prima apud Hebraaos elementa tradunt esse litterarum. Viginti et duo rursus a protoplasto Adam usque ad Jacob, ex cujus semine initium duodecim tribus sumunt, patres fuisse memorantur. Tradunt etiam omnium creaturarum Dei species intra viginti et duo numerum colligi. Sed et alia multa in Scripturis, si quis diligentius exsequatur, sub hoc numero consecrata reperiet. Propter hoc ergo et Levitae, idest, qui deservinntA Domino, et primogeniti filiorum Israel admirabili hoc et sacrato numero titnlantur. Quod autem in filiis Israel adduntur ducenti septuaginta tres, neque otiosum mihi videtur, neque absolutionis viam facile cerno, nisi Dominus velamen istud impositum a Moyse iis litteris adaperire nobis dignetur, et auferre. Igitur humani generis in carne generatio (sicut asserunt qui in talibus periti sunt) novem quidem mensibus continetur in vulva, sed non prius moveri fertur ad partum quam etiam decimi mensis triduum transeat: et ita invenitur quod numerus iste, id est, ducenti septuaginta tres dies illos indicent, qui ex novem mensibus , et triduo mensis decimi colliguntur, et fiunt simul ducenti septuaginta tres dies isti, quibus humano generi inlumc mundum praebetur ingressus. Et ita in viginti quidettl et duobus numeris, omnium simul creaturarum rationibus mysticis summa colligitur. In his vero quae ex abundanti in primogenitis inveniuntur Israel, etiam mysterium humanae generationis exprimitur. Post haec cum in tres ordines divisi essent lilii Levi, et ex tribus nominibus principum singuli quique ordines censerentur, etiam in ipsis diversitates quaedam non sine mysteriis ascribuntur. Nam filiorum Caath primus ordo describitur, et merito : ex ipso enim descendit Moyses et Aaron, quibus sacerdotii sunnna committitur. Ex ipso enim nascitur Amram. Ex Antram autem ‹ Moyses. et Aaron. Secundus ergo est Gerson,qni primus quidem in nativitate. sed secundus habetur in ordine. Sic enim Scriptura dicit '° : Filii autem Levi, Gerson, Caath et Merari. Sed ex filiis Caath duo rursus ordines diriguntur, et ii quidem qui ex Aaron descendunt, sacerdotio mancipantur, pars vero reliqua ad ministrandum sacerdotibus ordinatur, et idcirco in quatuor partes Levitarum dividuntur ofiicia, ut sacerdotio quidem fungantur Aaron et filii ejus, Sancta autem sanctorum ut portent in humeris suis ii qui reliqui sunt ex populo Caath. Quae autem ad tabernaculum per- - tinent testimonii vel ad atria ejus, et pelles, vel etiam velamenta, et quacunque sunt minus dura, et ad onus levia, ut procurent filii Gersou. Colum. nas vero tabernaculi, et bases ejus, et seras, nt porteut filii Merari. idcirco et in recensendis eis designanter Scriptura commemorat, ut recenseatnr virtus Merari : virtute enim 'opus est ad portandas hujusmodi sarcinas. ### English translation (Claude) The book that is read to us is Numbers, in which many different numberings are written down concerning the sons of Israel. But after the sons of Israel the Levites too are counted separately. For they had not been reviewed with the sons of Israel, and their number is set apart and distinguished above the rest; in it they are reported to have been found to be twenty-two thousand in all, so that neither more nor less than this number was found. After this the Lord commanded that the firstborn of the sons of Israel also be counted in the same way as the Levites had been counted, that is, from one month and upward, and the firstborn of the sons of Israel are found to be twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three. Do you think that through these things Moses wished to teach us only the literal account of a number, and enclosed no mystery in these differences of numbers, as is his custom? Will it seem that there is no reason why only two hundred and seventy-three are said to be in excess among the firstborn of Israel, while among the Levites, at twenty-two thousand, nothing is described as either exceeding or lacking? If anyone observes, he will often find that in the divine Scriptures the number twenty-two is assigned to certain fundamental matters. For they report that among the Hebrews the elements of letters are twenty-two, as first principles. Again, twenty-two fathers are recorded from the first-formed Adam to Jacob, from whose seed the twelve tribes take their beginning. They also report that the kinds of all God's creatures are gathered within the number twenty-two. And whoever pursues it more carefully will find many other things in the Scriptures consecrated under this number. For this reason, then, the Levites, that is, those who serve the Lord, and the firstborn of the sons of Israel are marked with this admirable and sacred number. But as for the two hundred and seventy-three added among the sons of Israel, it does not seem idle to me, yet I do not easily see a way to solve it, unless the Lord deigns to open and take away for us the veil laid by Moses on these letters. Now the generation of the human race in the flesh (as those skilled in such matters assert) is contained in the womb for nine months, but it is said not to be moved to birth until three days of the tenth month have also passed; and so it is found that this number, two hundred and seventy-three, indicates the days which are gathered from nine months and three days of the tenth month, and together they make these two hundred and seventy-three days through which entrance into this world is granted to the human race. And so in the number twenty-two the sum of all creatures together is gathered by mystical reasons; but in those found in excess among the firstborn of Israel the mystery of human generation is also expressed. After this, when the sons of Levi had been divided into three orders, and each order was reckoned under the names of three chiefs, certain differences among them too are recorded, not without mysteries. For the order of the sons of Kohath is described first, and rightly: for from him descended Moses and Aaron, to whom the highest priesthood is entrusted. From him Amram is born, and from Amram Moses and Aaron. Gershon, then, is second, who is first by birth but is held second in order. For thus Scripture says: “The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath and Merari.” But from the sons of Kohath two orders are again marked out: those who descend from Aaron are devoted to the priesthood, while the rest are appointed to minister to the priests; and therefore the duties of the Levites are divided into four parts: that Aaron and his sons should exercise the priesthood; that those who remain of the people of Kohath should carry the holy of holies on their shoulders; that the sons of Gershon should take care of what pertains to the tabernacle of testimony or its courts, the skins or coverings, and whatever is less hard and light to bear; and that the sons of Merari should carry the pillars of the tabernacle, its bases and its bars. Therefore in reviewing them Scripture pointedly records that “the strength of Merari” is to be reviewed: for strength is needed to carry burdens of this kind. ### Scripture references - Num 3:39: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:40: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:43: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Exod 6:18: allusion, high confidence - Exod 6:20: allusion, high confidence - Num 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 4:4: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:24: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:31: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:29: allusion, low confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Jub. 2.23 (Jubilees): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet; twenty-two generations from Adam to Jacob; twenty-two works of creation (a tradition found in Jubilees 2:23). 273 days = nine months of thirty days plus three days. The phrase “the strength of Merari” reflects the Greek of Num 4:29–33 (uncertain). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 4.1 (PG 12:598a–599b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 4.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-2 - Source: PG 12:599b–600b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Kohathites, counted from twenty-five to fifty, carry the holy objects only after the priests have covered all seven of them. ### Latin text Sed redeamus aliquando ad apostolum Paulum, qui haec omnia libero jam et revelato oculo mentis aspiciens, ct veteris Testameuti velamen abjicieus, ait “, quia prior populus in huiusmodi constructiouibus exemplari et. umbra: caalcstinm deservierit. Et haec audiens, considera ne forte isti quatuor ordines castrorum exemplum sint et umbra illorum quatuor ordinum, quos ad Hebraeos scribens Paulus enumeravit in cmlis. Et rursus Israeliticis quatuor ordinibus castrorum, quaternos adiice Levitarum; quae nos non tam explanare et aperire, quam contigisse itantummodo, et purioribus sensibus (si qui tamen sunt qui puros huc et liberos a saecularibus cogitationibus sensus detulerint) indicasse, et leviter perstrinxisse suficiat. ‹ Accipe, inquit ", numerum liliorum Caath.» Ecce iterum alius introducitur ordo numerorum. Numerati sunt jam filii Levi ab uno mense et supra, nunc numerantur filii Levi a vicesimo quinto anno, sed non utin ca‘teris supra, sed usque ad quinquagesimum annum, et fit iste ρηεεὶpnus numerus et electus. Additur enim iis : 0mnis, inquit ", qni procedit ad ministrandnm ad opera tabernaculi testimonii.» Isti sunt qni numerantur meliore quodam, et praecipuo numero. Sicut enim iu filiis Israel dicebatur : Omnis qui procedit ad prmlium in filiis Israel; ita et hic dicitur: Omnis qui procedit ad ministerium, ut l‘aciat opera in tabernaculo testimonii» Post hznc dicitur quae sint Opera filiorum Caath in medio filiorum Levi secundum plebes suas in tabernaculo testimonii. Introibit, inquit “, Aaron et filii ejus, cum elevata fuerint castra, et deponent velum, quo teguntur sancta, et operient ex ipso velo arcani testamenti. Et post hzec septem quaedam species enumerantur, quae przecipiuntur operiri. Primo in loco, ut omnium pretiosior ipsa arca testamenti operiatur velo quo prius velabatur, sed ct pelle de. super byacinthina tegatur. Additur etiam aliud velamen desuper liyacintltiuum. Secundo in loco mensa operitur. Tertio candelabrum. Quarto altare aureum. Quinto vasa ministerii. Sexto operiomentum altaris cum quibusdam velamentis apponitur. Septimo in loco operitur et labrum, et nihil horum omnium nttdutn relinquitur, aut revelatum. Denique additur etiam praeceptum huiusmodi: Νοlite, inquit ”, exterminare de tribu sua plebem Caath. Quo scilicet exterminandas esse se scirent, si forte ad hac movenda manus suas mitterent, nisi unumquodque eorum prius a sacerdotibus fuissel obtectum. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return at last to the apostle Paul, who, looking at all these things with the eye of the mind now free and unveiled, and casting off the veil of the Old Testament, says that the former people served in constructions of this kind a copy and shadow of heavenly things. Hearing this, consider whether perhaps these four orders of the camp are a copy and shadow of those four orders which Paul, writing to the Hebrews, enumerated in heaven. And again, to the four Israelite orders of the camp add the four orders of the Levites; it is enough for us not so much to explain and open these things as only to have touched on them, and to have pointed them out and lightly sketched them for purer minds (if there are any who have brought here minds pure and free from worldly thoughts). “Take,” it says, “the number of the sons of Kohath.” Behold, again another order of numbering is introduced. The sons of Levi have already been counted from one month and upward; now the sons of Levi are counted from the twenty-fifth year, not “and upward,” as for the others above, but up to the fiftieth year, and this becomes a special and chosen number. For it is added to them: “Everyone who goes forth to minister in the works of the tabernacle of testimony.” These are the ones counted with a better and special number. For just as among the sons of Israel it was said, “Everyone among the sons of Israel who goes forth to battle,” so here it is said, “Everyone who goes forth to ministry, to do the works in the tabernacle of testimony.” After this it is said what the works of the sons of Kohath are, in the midst of the sons of Levi, according to their clans, in the tabernacle of testimony. “Aaron and his sons,” it says, “shall go in when the camp is set to move, and shall take down the veil with which the holy things are covered, and shall cover the ark of the testimony with that veil.” And after this seven kinds of things are listed which they are commanded to cover. In the first place, that the ark of the covenant itself, more precious than all, be covered with the veil by which it was formerly veiled, and covered also with a hyacinth skin above; yet another covering of hyacinth is added above. In the second place the table is covered; third, the lampstand; fourth, the golden altar; fifth, the vessels of ministry; sixth, the covering of the altar is put on with certain coverings; in the seventh place the laver too is covered, and none of all these is left bare or uncovered. Finally a command of this kind is added: “Do not destroy the clan of Kohath from its tribe”: that is, so that they would know that they would be destroyed if they put their hands to moving these things before each of them had first been covered by the priests. ### Scripture references - Heb 8:5: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:14: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 12:22: allusion, medium confidence - Num 4:2: quotation, high confidence - Num 4:3: quotation, high confidence - Num 8:24: allusion, medium confidence - Num 1:3: quotation, medium confidence - Num 4:5: quotation, high confidence - Num 4:6: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:14: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The ages twenty-five to fifty follow Num 8:24–25 and the Greek of Num 4:3 (the Hebrew of Num 4:3 has thirty). The laver among the covered objects is in the Greek of Num 4:14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 4.2 (PG 12:599b–600b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 4.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-3 - Source: PG 12:600b–602a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Priests of the church must guard the deeper mysteries and hand them on to the less skilled only veiled, as the Kohathites carried the holy objects covered. ### Latin text Nunc ergo redeamus ad istud tabernaculum Ecclesia: Dei viventis, et videamus quomodo [nec singula observari oporteat iu Ecclesia Dei a sacerdotibus Christi. Si quis vero sacerdos est cui vasa sacra, id est, mysteriorum sapientia: secreta commissa sunt, discat exiis, et. observet, quomodo dire, bare oporteat intra velamen conscientia: custo nec tacite proferre ad publicum. Aut si res poscit proferre, et inferioribus, id cst, imperitioribus tradere, ne nuda proferat, ne aperta ostendat, et penitus patentia, alioquin homicidium facit, et exterminat plebem. Exterminatur enim omnis qui secreta etiinell‘abilia sacramenta contigerit, nondum meritis et scientia in sacerdotii ordinem gradn'mque translatus. Solis enim [iliis Aaron, sacerdotibus scilicet, ipsam arcam testamenti, et mensam, et candelabrum, et si quid est eorum qua: supra comprehendimus, nuda ac revelata videre concessum est. Alii autem operta haec videant, imo potius velata haec in humeris suis portent. Et illi quidem Caath, quoniam ipsi licet non sint sacerdotes, sunt proximi sacerdotibus, in humeris suis possunt ista portare; alii vero sarcinas suas, et ministeria nec in humeris, sed in plaustris ponunt. Ut enim praevenientes lectionem dicamus aliqua etiam de iis quae locus admonuit, cum offerrentur a singulis quibusque tribubus plaustra, quatuor ex iis acceperunt filii Merari, duo autem Gerson filii. Illi vero qui horum meliores sunt, plaustra non accipiunt. Intuere ergo nunc cujusmodi divisio efficitur in officiis ministerii divini, et quomodo illa quidem quae sancta sunt, non imponuntur portanda animalibus mutis, sed rationabiles esse debent homines, et humeris portare vasa, quibus ministrentur Sancta sanctorum. Ea vero quae graviora sunt et duriora, non tam rationabilibus quam mutis portanda animalibus imponuntur. Sed et in ipsis est aliqua dill'ereutia. Nam illi qui graviora et duriora observant ministeria, plura habent animalia. Quatuor enim plaustra dantur (iliis Morari. Fdiis autem Gerson quia erant pmpe lilios Caath duo tantum plaustra sufficiunt, ex quibus ostenditur quod cperibus quidem durioribus, et, ut ita dicam, crassioribus, plures sunt, qui velut animalia inserviunt: ad ea vero quae rationabilibus procurantur, pauci ex iis qui in his instructi aut eruditi videntur, accedunt. Nam ad illa quae mystica sunt, et in secretis recondita, et solis sacerdotibus patent, non solum nullus animalis homo accedit, sed ne ipsi quidem qui habere aliquid exercitii et eruditionis videntur, noudum tamen meritis et vita ad sacerdotalem gratiam conscenderunt. Non solum per speculum ea et in aenigmate vident, sed et Operta et velata snscipiunt, et in humeris portant, quo scilicet magis ea actu operum. quam scientiae revelatione cogno- Scant. Quia igitur huiusmodi dispensatio est mysteriorum Dei et ministerii quod habetur in sanctis, tales nos exhibere debemus, ut digni clliciamur ω ordine sacerdotii, ne velut irrationabilibns nobis onera gravia imponantur, sed tanquam rationabiles et sancti sacerdotalibus olliciis depute- mur. Gens enim sancta, regale sacerdotium sumus et populus iu acquisitionem “, tantmn ut acceptam gratiam vitae meritis exsequentes, digni habeamur sancto ministerio: ut cum discesserimns de hac vita, mereamur assumi, ut supra diximus, inter sacerdotes Dei, et ministrantes arca; testa-1 menti, in arcanis scilicet et reconditis mysteriis, revelata facie gloriam Domini speculemur, et ingrediamur terram sanctam, cujus baereditatem nobis priestabit Dominus noster Jesus Christus, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula smculorutn.Ameu. ### English translation (Claude) Now, then, let us return to this tabernacle of the church of the living God, and see how these things must each be observed in the church of God by the priests of Christ. If anyone is a priest to whom the sacred vessels, that is, the secrets of the wisdom of the mysteries, have been entrusted, let him learn from these things and observe how he must keep them guarded within the veil of conscience and not lightly bring them out in public. Or, if the matter requires him to bring them out and hand them on to inferiors, that is, to the less skilled, let him not bring them out bare, nor show them open and wholly exposed; otherwise he commits murder and destroys the people. For everyone is destroyed who touches the secret and ineffable sacraments before he has been advanced by merits and knowledge into the order and rank of the priesthood. For to the sons of Aaron alone, that is, to the priests, it is granted to see the ark of the covenant itself, the table, the lampstand, and whatever else of the things we listed above, bare and uncovered. Let the others see these things covered, or rather let them carry them veiled on their shoulders. And the sons of Kohath, because, though they are not priests, they are next to the priests, can carry these things on their shoulders; but the others place their burdens and ministries not on their shoulders but on wagons. For, to say something in anticipation of the reading about what the passage prompts, when wagons were offered by the several tribes, the sons of Merari received four of them and the sons of Gershon two. But those who are better than these receive no wagons. Consider now, then, what kind of division is made in the duties of the divine ministry, and how the things that are holy are not laid on dumb animals to carry, but men must be rational and carry on their shoulders the vessels with which the holy of holies is served. But the things that are heavier and harder are laid on dumb animals rather than on rational beings to carry. And among these too there is some difference. For those who perform the heavier and harder ministries have more animals: four wagons are given to the sons of Merari, but to the sons of Gershon, because they were near the sons of Kohath, two wagons suffice. From this it is shown that for the harder and, so to speak, coarser works there are more who serve like animals; but to the things handled by rational beings few come of those who appear to be instructed or learned in them. For to the things that are mystical, hidden in secret, and open to priests alone, not only does no natural man come, but not even those who seem to have some training and learning, if they have not yet ascended by merits and life to the priestly grace. They not only see these things through a mirror and in an enigma, but also receive them covered and veiled and carry them on their shoulders, so that they may know them by the action of works rather than by the revelation of knowledge. Since, then, the dispensation of the mysteries of God and of the ministry held in the holy place is of this kind, we must show ourselves such that we may be made worthy of the order of the priesthood, so that heavy burdens may not be laid on us as on irrational beings, but we may be assigned to priestly duties as rational and holy. For we are a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and a people for God's possession, provided that, carrying out by the merits of our life the grace we have received, we may be held worthy of the holy ministry: so that when we depart from this life we may deserve to be taken up, as we said above, among the priests of God and those who minister to the ark of the covenant, that is, in the hidden and secret mysteries, and with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord, and enter the holy land, whose inheritance our Lord Jesus Christ will grant us, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 3:15: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:15: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:20: allusion, high confidence - Num 7:7: allusion, high confidence - Num 7:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 7:9: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:18: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The scan prints this passage twice, garbled, in two interleaved readings; the clean wording has been restored by logged correction from the two readings, and two words that cannot be read there are supplied from Baehrens's edition. The wagons are those of Num 7:3–8. “Animal man” (1 Cor 2:14) is rendered “natural man”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 4.3 (PG 12:600b–602a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/3-1/#p-4-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 5.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-1 - Source: PG 12:602a–603a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As the priests covered the holy things before the Kohathites carried them, the church's teachers hand on mysteries whose meaning most believers practice without understanding, such as kneeling, praying toward the east, the Eucharist, and the rites of baptism. ### Latin text Respondens Dominus ad Moysen et Aaron dicit: Nolite exterminare de tribu sua plebem Caath de medio filiorum Levi, sed hoc facite eis, et vivent et non morientur cum accedent ad Sancta sanctorum, et reliqua. Primo intelligamus ea quae secundum litteram referuntur, et ita praestante Domino ab intellectu litterae ascendemus ad intelligentiam spiritalem. Intellige ergo prius ipsam collocationem tabernaculi testimonii, intellige et Sancta sanctorum, quae interjectu velaminis a sanctis inspici non licet ab ullo hominum, nisi a sacerdotibus solis. Post haec intellige, quomodo ubi ventum fuerit ut castra moveant filii Israel, solvitur tabernaculum, et Aaron ac filii ejus sacerdotes intra Sancta sanctorum operiunt singula operimentis ac velaminibus suis, et obtecta quaeque relinquentes in eodem quo fuerant loco, introducunt [ilics Caath, qui ad istud ollicium deputati sunt, et faciunt eos elevare humeris suis omnia illa uiue manus sacerdotalis obtexerat. Et propter hoc , dicitur a Domino: Ne exterminetis de tribu sua plebem Caath; quasi in eo extet-minandi essent, si Sancta sanctorum nuda et patentia contigissent, quae non solum non contingere, sed ne intueri quidem fas erat non velata. Si intellexisti quid η historia: ordo contineat, ascende nunc ad splendorem mysterii : et legis spiritalis lumen, si purus tibi est mentis oculus, contuere. Si quis dignus ex iis qui Deo ministrant, divina capere et videre my» steria, ad quae contuenda caueri minus capaces sunt, hic Aaron, vel filius Aaron esse intelligitur, qui ingredi potest ad ea quae adire aliis fas non est. Si quis ergo talis est, huic soli revelata patet; arca testamenti, hic videt urnam intra se hao bentem manna, hic considerat et intelligit propitiatorium. llic intuetur et cherubim utrumque, et mensam sauctmn, et candelabrum luminis, et altare incensi. Iste haec considerat ct intelligit spiritaliter, id est qui verbo Dei ct sapientia: mysteriis Operam dat, et Deo soli in sanctis vocab. Sciat sane cui haec revelantur, et Spiritaliter inspicienda creduntur, nou sibi tutum esse aperire ea, ei pandere quibus non licet pandi, sed operire debet singula, et operta caeteris minus capacibus tradere portanda in humeris, et cervicibus impoo nenda. Cum enim ex verbis mysticis eruditi, et perfecti quoque doctores opera populis iniungunt, et plebs agit quidem et implet quae mandantur, non tamen eorum quae geruntur intelligit rationem : quid aliud geritur, nisi operta et velata Sancta sanctorum super humeros portantur? Et ut adhuc manifestius quae dicuntur advertas, exemplis te ex divinis voluminibus adhibitis informabimus. Moyses intelligebat sine dubio qnze esset vera circumcisio, intelligebat quod esset verum Pascha, sciebat quae essent verte Neomenizc, et quae vera Sabbata : et eum bme omnia intellexisset in spiritu, verbis tanien ea per rerum corporalium species adurnbratiouesque velabat : et cum sciret verum Pascha immolandum esse Christum, ovem corporalem immolare mandat in Pascha. Cumque sciret diem festum agi debere in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, ,tamen de farina; azymis praecipiebat agi diem festum. "th ergo et huiusmodi erant Sancta sanctorum, quae cuin Moyses portanda caeteris traderet. id est rebus et operibus implenda, cooperta tamen ea et velata communi sermonum tradebat eloquio. Humeri autem quod operum indicium teneant, in multis Scriptura: saepe locis ostendimus. Sed et in ecclesiasticis observationibus sunt nonnulla bujusmodi, quae omnibus quidem facere necesse est, nec tamen ratio eorum omnibus patet. quod, verbi gratia, genua flectimus orantes, et quod ex omnibus caeli plagis ad solam orientis parten: conversi orationem fundimus, non facile cuiquam puto ratione compertum. Sed et Eucharistiae sive percipienda: sive eo ritu quo geritur explicanihe, vel eorum quae geruntur in baptismo verborum, gestorumque et ordinum atque interrogationum ac responsionum quis facile explicet rationem? Et tamen omnia brec operta et velata portamus super humeros nostros : cum ita implemus ea et exsequimur, ut a magno pontifice atque ejus (iliis tradita et commendata suscepimus. Cuncta baae ergo et borum similia eum gerimus , nec tamen eorum assequimur rationem, levamus humeris nostris et portamus adoperta et obtecta divina mysteria, nisi quis sit inter nos Aaron aut filius Aaron, quibus ista conceditur nuda et revelata perspicere. lta tamen conceditur,ut sciant sibi velanda haec et operienda, ubi caeteris dari et in opus proferri ratio poposcerit. ### English translation (Claude) The Lord, answering Moses and Aaron, says: “Do not destroy the clan of Kohath from its tribe, from the midst of the sons of Levi, but do this for them, and they shall live and not die when they approach the holy of holies,” and so on. First let us understand what is related according to the letter, and so, with the Lord's help, we shall ascend from the understanding of the letter to the spiritual understanding. Understand first, then, the very setting up of the tabernacle of testimony; understand also the holy of holies, which, separated from the holy place by an interposed veil, may not be looked upon by anyone except the priests alone. After this understand how, when the time comes for the sons of Israel to move camp, the tabernacle is taken down, and Aaron and his sons the priests cover each thing within the holy of holies with its coverings and veils, and, leaving everything covered in the same place where it was, they bring in the sons of Kohath, who are appointed to this duty, and have them lift on their shoulders all the things the priestly hand had covered. And for this reason the Lord says: “Do not destroy the clan of Kohath from its tribe”; as if they would be destroyed if they touched the holy of holies bare and exposed, which it was not lawful not only to touch but even to look upon unveiled. If you have understood what the order of the literal account contains, ascend now to the splendor of the mystery, and behold the light of the spiritual law, if the eye of your mind is pure. If anyone among those who minister to God is worthy to grasp and see the divine mysteries, which the others are less capable of beholding, he is understood to be Aaron or a son of Aaron, who can enter where it is not lawful for others to go. If, then, anyone is such, to him alone the ark of the covenant lies open and revealed; he sees the urn holding the manna within it; he considers and understands the mercy seat; he beholds both cherubim, the holy table, the lampstand of light, and the altar of incense. He considers and understands these things spiritually: that is, he who devotes himself to the word of God and to the mysteries of wisdom, and is free for God alone in the holy places. But let the one to whom these things are revealed, and to whom they are entrusted to be looked into spiritually, know that it is not safe for him to open them and lay them out to those to whom it is not permitted; rather, he must cover each thing and, once covered, hand them to the others who are less capable, to be carried on their shoulders and laid on their necks. For when teachers learned and perfect in the mystical words enjoin works on the people, and the people do and fulfill what is commanded, yet do not understand the reason for what is done, what else is happening but that the holy of holies is being carried on the shoulders covered and veiled? And so that you may see still more clearly what is being said, we shall instruct you with examples taken from the divine volumes. Moses no doubt understood what the true circumcision was; he understood what the true Passover was; he knew what the true new moons were and what the true sabbaths; and though he had understood all these things in the spirit, he veiled them in words through the forms and shadows of bodily things. Though he knew that the true Passover to be sacrificed was Christ, he commands that a bodily sheep be sacrificed at the Passover. And though he knew that the feast ought to be kept with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, he nevertheless commanded the feast to be kept with unleavened bread of flour. Such, then, were the holy of holies, which Moses, when he handed them to the others to carry, that is, to be fulfilled in deeds and works, nevertheless handed on covered and veiled in the common speech of words. That the shoulders signify works we have often shown in many places of Scripture. And in the observances of the church too there are some things of this kind, which all must do, yet whose reason is not plain to all. For instance, that we bend the knee when praying, and that of all the quarters of heaven we turn to the east alone when we pour out prayer: I do not think anyone easily finds the reason for this. And who could easily explain the reason for receiving the Eucharist, or for the rite by which it is celebrated, or for the words, actions, sequence, questions and answers that take place in baptism? And yet we carry all these things covered and veiled on our shoulders, when we fulfill and carry them out as we received them, handed down and entrusted to us by the great high priest and his sons. So when we do all these and similar things and yet do not attain their reason, we lift on our shoulders and carry the divine mysteries covered and hidden, unless there is among us an Aaron or a son of Aaron, to whom it is granted to see these things bare and revealed. Yet it is granted to them on condition that they know these things must be veiled and covered by them when reason requires that they be given to the others and brought forward into practice. ### Scripture references - Num 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Num 4:19: quotation, high confidence - Num 4:5: allusion, high confidence - Num 4:15: allusion, high confidence - Heb 9:4: allusion, high confidence - Heb 9:5: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 2:29: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 5:7: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:3: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:16: echo, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The opening lines are printed twice, garbled, in the scan; they have been restored by logged correction from the two readings. A Migne footnote on prayer toward the east (citing Origen, On Prayer, and Clement of Alexandria) has been removed from the text. The church practices named (kneeling, facing east, the Eucharist, the baptismal questions and answers) are translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 5.1 (PG 12:602a–603a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 5.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-2 - Source: PG 12:604a–605a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Levites' “works of works” are works with a hidden meaning, and their ages, twenty-five and fifty, signify perfected senses and the remission figured by the jubilee. ### Latin text Post bzec dicitur de Levitis : qui operentur: vicesimo quinto anno et supra usque ad quinqu. gesimum annum. t Omnis, inquit ", qui procedi ad opus operum et ad opera quae portantur uber. naculi testimonii. Observa in his distinctionem sermonum divina: Scriptum. Ubi deoperibus liliorum lsrael loquitur, non dicit opera operum. sed sola opera. Ubi vero de omciis Levitarum, non dicit sola opera, sed Opera operum. Sicut enim sunt quaedam sancta, sunt autem et alia saneta sanctorum: ita sunt quaedam opera, et alia opt-ra operum. Unde videtur mihi quia Moyses ubi sensit esse quaedam opera visibilia quidem,sedqnibu inessetinterior alia mystica et occulta intelligentia, ba'e non solum opera, sed opera operum dixerit; quae vero communia, et praesentis solum temporis Opera intellexit, haec solum opera norninarerit.Sunt ergo quasdam opera operum quae ego puto este omnia haec, de quibus vel in praesenti lectionc,rel in Exodo et exteris locis sub .occultis praecipitur ’ mysteriis, et pro parte in praesenti, pro parte vero explendis in futurum. Quae tamen, ut diximus, opera operum, non cuilibet, sed Levitis solis tradenda mandantur. Et inter Levitas ipsos non prius ad haec opera quisquam vocatur. nisi a'vicesimo demum et quinto anno vita: suae usque ad quinquagesimum. Sed non caret sacramento ne ipse quidem viginti quinque et quinquaginta numerus annorum. Nam in viginti quinque numero, quinquennsuum perfectio declaratur, ita ut quinquies quint numerentur. Quod utique indicat eum vocari ad opera operum in mysterio peragenda, qui ex omni parte multiplicatis et purificatis sensibus invenitur esse perfectus. Quinquagesimus autem nomen» quod remissionis et indulgentia: teneat sacramentum, in multis Seripturarurn locis saepe et abundanter ostendimus. Nam et quinquagesitnus annus est qui et jubilaeus dicitur apud Hebraeos, in quoet possessionum et servitutis et debiti fit remissio, et quinquagesimus dies post Pascha festus traditur in lege. Sed et Dominus in Evangelia cum parabolae remissionis do- ceret et indulgentiae, debitores, quos introducit, unum in quinquaginta et alium in quingentis denariis fuisse: dieit obnoxios. Quinquaginta autem et quingenti cognatus est numerus; decadae enim quinquaginta faciunt quingentos. Sed et ex enim ,ηπ parte numerus iste sacratus lit. Septem enim septimanis si addatur unius numeri perfectio, quinquaginta faciunt dics. Similiter et septuaginta septimanis si addatur unius decedat consummatio, iaciunt quingentos. Quod et si abundantius adhuc sacramenta quinquaginta et quingentorum muneri placet colligere, habemus et in hoc ipso qui in tuanibus εει Numerorum libro ‘9, ubi de hostium spoliis quidam quidem ofl'erunt in dona Dei quinquagesimam. portionem, qui non processerunt ad bellum, quidam vero quingentesimam; et utique non inaniter etiamhie quinquagesimus et quingentesimus numerus habetur. Sed et in Genesi ubi Deus tractabat de indulgentia Sodomorum si forte possent ad ven am pervenire, huiusmodi mysteriorum conscius patriarcha Abraham a quinquagesimo numero incipit pro indulgentia Sodomorum Domino supplicare, et dicit " : Si inventi fuerint quinquaginta in civitate, non salvabis propier quinquaginta civitatem? ### English translation (Claude) After this it is said of the Levites who are to work: from the twenty-fifth year and upward, up to the fiftieth year. “Everyone,” it says, “who goes forth to the work of works and to the works that are carried, of the tabernacle of testimony.” Observe in these words the distinction of the language of divine Scripture. Where it speaks of the works of the sons of Israel, it does not say “works of works” but only “works.” But where it speaks of the duties of the Levites, it does not say only “works” but “works of works.” For just as there are some things that are holy, and others that are holy of holies, so there are some works, and others that are works of works. Hence it seems to me that where Moses perceived that there were some works that were visible indeed but had within them another inner, mystical, and hidden meaning, he called these not only works but works of works; whereas those he understood to be common works, belonging only to the present time, he named only works. There are, then, some works of works, which I think are all those things commanded under hidden mysteries, whether in the present reading or in Exodus and other places, to be fulfilled partly in the present and partly in the future. These works of works, as we said, are commanded to be handed over not to anyone at all but to the Levites alone. And among the Levites themselves no one is called to these works until the twenty-fifth year of his life, up to the fiftieth. But not even the number of years itself, twenty-five and fifty, is without a sacrament. For in the number twenty-five the perfection of the five senses is declared, since five is counted five times. This certainly indicates that the one called to carry out the works of works in mystery is he who is found perfect in every respect, his senses multiplied and purified. And that the number fifty holds the sacrament of remission and pardon we have often and abundantly shown in many places of the Scriptures. For the fiftieth year, which among the Hebrews is called the jubilee, is the one in which there is remission of possessions, of slavery, and of debt; and the fiftieth day after the Passover is handed down in the law as a feast. And the Lord too in the Gospel, when he taught parables of remission and pardon, says that the debtors he introduces were liable, one for fifty and the other for five hundred denarii. Now fifty and five hundred are related numbers, for ten fifties make five hundred. Indeed this number is made sacred from every side. For if the perfection of the unit is added to seven weeks, they make fifty days. Likewise, if the completion of a ten is added to seventy weeks, they make five hundred. And if one wishes to gather still more abundantly the sacraments of the numbers fifty and five hundred, we have this in the very book of Numbers that we have in hand, where, from the spoils of the enemy, some, who did not go out to battle, offer a fiftieth portion as gifts to God, and others a five-hundredth; and surely here too the numbers fifty and five hundred are not set down in vain. And in Genesis too, where God was dealing with pardon for Sodom, in case they might perhaps come to forgiveness, the patriarch Abraham, being aware of mysteries of this kind, begins from the number fifty in entreating the Lord for pardon for Sodom, and says: “If fifty are found in the city, will you not save the city for the sake of the fifty?” ### Scripture references - Num 4:47: quotation, high confidence - Lev 25:10: allusion, high confidence - Lev 23:16: allusion, high confidence - Luke 7:41: allusion, high confidence - Dan 9:24: echo, low confidence - Num 31:28: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:30: allusion, high confidence - Gen 18:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan after the parable of the two debtors are supplied from Baehrens's edition; the number reasoning that follows is translated by sense (seventy weeks of seven days, 490, plus ten make 500). In Num 31:28–30 the five-hundredth comes from the soldiers' share and the fiftieth from the people's share. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 5.2 (PG 12:604a–605a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 5.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-3 - Source: PG 12:605b–607a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The furnishings of the tabernacle stand for different kinds of saints, whom angels carry toward the promised rest, as Psalm 91 says of the righteous. ### Latin text Sed ad propositum revertamur. Oportet ergo aperari Levitas in sanctis usque ad quinquaginta annos, inferiores quidem opera, meliores vero opera iperum : horum autem superiores, spiritalibus alficiis deservire, et introire in Sancta sanctorum, ibique operire quae operienda sunt, et tradere liliis Santi: portanda humeris, et manibus evehenda.Sed ξι reliquis unicuique secundum ea quae jam supe- ~ius saepe disserta sunt ordinantur. Verum ne nimia m owimemormn velamenmwmque cautela de- ” perationem quamdam et maestitiam generet audioribus, pauca aliqua quae et nobis pandere tutum it, et vobis fas sit aSpicere, quoniam quidem, ut rius diximus, genus regale et sacerdotium, gens aucta et populus in acquisitione dicti sumus , perire tentabimus. lntelliga‘tuus ergo tabernacunn testimonii omnes sanctos, qui sub testamento ei censentur : et in hoc tabernaculo esse quosdam elsiores meritis et gratia superiores: et ex iis aliuos quidem candelabrum dici, ipsos forte apostois, qui illuminant accedentes ad Deum. Sed et si ui alii sunt, qui in hoc tabernaculo Dei ouiuibus igredietttibus scientia: et doctrina: lumen ostenuit, omnes isti candelabrum mysticum nominenir. Alii sint mensa sacra, scilicet quicunque haent panes Dei, et reficiunt ac pascunt animas esuentes justitiam. Alii sint altare incensi, quicunte orationibus et jejuniis die ac nocte vacant in lliplO Dei, orantes non solum pro semetipsis, ι] et pro universo populo. Ii vero quibus arcana isteria credidit Deus,etoccultorum providentiae sua: diciorum secreta commisit, arca testamenti Dei pellantur. Porro qui cum omni liducia per hostias ecum, supplicationumque victimas Deum homibus repropitiant, et pro delictis populi interveniunt,propitiatorium'nominarunt-Atqui ine-ruerint multitudinem scientiae, et abundantes divitias in agnitione Dei, cherubim intelligi possunt. Cherubim namque iu nostra lingua multitudo scientia: interpretatur. Sed hos omnes, qui per haec sin'gula quae supra enumerata sunt designantur, portari necesse est, et portari in humeris. Unde fortassis, ut ego opinor, angeli qui ordinati sunt propter eos, qui luereditatem capiunt salutis , ipsi sint, qui singulos eorum quos supra diximus portant. Cum enim solutum fuerit tabernaculum hoc, et coeperimus ingredi ad illa sancta , et pergere ad locum repromissionis, ii qui vere sancti sunt, et in sanctis sanctorum habentur, angelis sine dubio subvectantibus incedunt, et nsquequo requiescat tabernaculum Dei, portantur in humeris et extolluntur in manibus. Quod prospiciens in spiritu Propheta dicebat ” : Quoniam angelis suis mandavit de te, ut in manibus tollant te, ne forte ofl'endas ad lapidem pedem tuum. Quod quidem dictum putavit diabolus de Salvatore accipiendum, sed caecatos malitia, non intellexit eloquia Domini mystica. Neque enim Salvator meus angelis indigebat, ut non oll‘endcret ad lapidem pedem suum. Namque calumniatur diabolus Scripturam divinam, qui hac de Salva tore dicta protulerit: non de illo, sed de omnibus sanctis hoe dicitur, quia angelis sujs mandavit Deuspro populo suo, ut non ofl'endat ad lapidem pedem suum. Sed et omnia quae in hoc .psalmo scripta sunt, justis quibusque magis quam Salvatori conveniunt. Liberat enim Dominus a ruina, et daemonio meridiano non Salvatorem, quod absit a nobis ita intelligere, sed omnem justum. Justi enim sunt, qui indigent adjutorio angelorum Dei, uti ne a daemonibus subruantur, et ne corda eorum sagitta volante in tenebris terebrentur. Per ipsos angelos sub eodem mysterio Paulus portandos esse quosdam confirmat in nubibus cum dicit : Sed et nos qui vivimus, qui reliqui sumus, simul cum illis rapiemur in tuthibus obviam Christo in aera. › Rapiuntur ergo ab angelis ii qui penitus purgati et leves ellecti sunt a delictis. Portantur vero ii qui aliquibus adhuc reliquiis praegravantur. Portantur vero et columme tabernaculi a quibusdam, et atria, et caetera qua; a Scriptura referuntur. Portantur autetn non ab lsraelitis, sed a Levitis, secundum hunc sensum quem in transcursu videmur brevi contigisse, relinquentes sensibus auditorum, ut si quis de iis majore desiderio flagraverit, accendat sibi lumen scientiae, et majora horum oculo perspicaciore conjiciat. Nobis autem concedat Dominus, ιιι a talibus operariis portati et sublevati, liberemur et defendamur a sagitta volante in tenebris, et a ruina, et dzemonio meridiano, ne forte olfendamus ad lapidem pe-l dem nostrttm, usquequo perveniamus ad locum re. promissionis sanctorum, per Christum Dominum nostrum, ειη est honor et imperium in sa'cula szcculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return to our subject. The Levites, then, must work in the holy things up to fifty years, the lower ones at works, the better at works of works; and the higher of these must serve in spiritual duties, enter the holy of holies, and there cover what is to be covered and hand it to the sons of Kohath to be carried on their shoulders and borne in their hands. And each of the rest is arranged according to what has often been discussed above. But lest too much caution about covering and veiling breed a kind of despair and sadness in the hearers, we shall try to uncover a few things which it is safe for us to reveal and lawful for you to look upon, since, as we said before, we have been called a royal race and priesthood, a holy nation, and a people for God's possession. Let us understand, then, by the tabernacle of testimony all the saints who are enrolled under his covenant; and that in this tabernacle some are loftier in merits and higher in grace; and that some of them are called the lampstand, perhaps the apostles themselves, who enlighten those who approach God. And if there are any others who in this tabernacle of God have shown the light of knowledge and doctrine to all who enter, let all these be named the mystical lampstand. Let others be the sacred table, namely whoever have the loaves of God and refresh and feed souls hungering for righteousness. Let others be the altar of incense, whoever devote themselves day and night to prayers and fasts in the temple of God, praying not only for themselves but also for the whole people. Those to whom God has entrusted hidden mysteries and committed the secrets of the hidden judgments of his providence are called the ark of the covenant of God. Further, those who with all confidence, by the offerings of prayers and the victims of supplications, make God propitious again to men and intercede for the sins of the people, are named the mercy seat. And those who have deserved a multitude of knowledge and abundant riches in the knowledge of God can be understood as the cherubim; for “cherubim” is interpreted in our language as “multitude of knowledge.” But all these, who are designated by each of the things listed above, must be carried, and carried on shoulders. Hence perhaps, as I think, the angels who are appointed for the sake of those who receive the inheritance of salvation are the ones who carry each of those we have mentioned. For when this tabernacle has been taken down, and we have begun to enter those holy places and to proceed to the place of promise, those who are truly holy and are counted among the holy of holies doubtless go on carried by angels, and until the tabernacle of God comes to rest they are carried on shoulders and lifted up in hands. Foreseeing this in the Spirit, the prophet said: “For he has commanded his angels concerning you, that they may lift you up in their hands, lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone.” The devil thought this saying was to be taken of the Saviour, but, blinded by malice, he did not understand the mystical words of the Lord. For my Saviour did not need angels so as not to strike his foot against a stone. The devil slanders divine Scripture in alleging these words as said of the Saviour; it is said not of him but of all the saints, that God has commanded his angels on behalf of his people, so that it may not strike its foot against a stone. And indeed everything written in this psalm suits all the righteous more than the Saviour. For the Lord delivers from ruin and from the noonday demon, not the Saviour (far be it from us to understand it so), but every righteous man. For it is the righteous who need the help of God's angels so as not to be overthrown by demons, and so that their hearts may not be pierced by the arrow that flies in darkness. Under the same mystery Paul affirms that some are to be carried in the clouds by the angels themselves, when he says: “But we too who are alive, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air.” Those, then, are caught up by angels who have been thoroughly purged and made light of sins; but those are carried who are still weighed down by some remnants. The pillars of the tabernacle, too, are carried by some, and the courts, and the other things the Scripture relates. But they are carried not by Israelites but by Levites, according to this sense, which we seem to have touched on briefly in passing, leaving it to the minds of the hearers, so that if anyone burns with greater desire for these things, he may kindle for himself the light of knowledge and with a keener eye conjecture greater things than these. And may the Lord grant us that, carried and lifted up by such workers, we may be delivered and defended from the arrow that flies in darkness, and from ruin, and from the noonday demon, lest perhaps we strike our foot against a stone, until we come to the place of the promise of the saints, through Christ our Lord, to whom is honor and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - 1 Pet 2:9: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:6: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 2:37: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 1:14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 91:11 (90:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 91:12 (90:12 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 4:6: allusion, high confidence - Ps 91:5 (90:5 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 91:6 (90:6 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 1 Thess 4:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Many line-initial letters are lost in the scan; words are translated by sense. Ps 91:11–12 (LXX 90:11–12) is applied to the righteous rather than to Christ, against the devil's use of it in Matt 4:6; “the noonday demon” is the Greek and Latin of Ps 91:6 (LXX 90:6). “Cherubim” = “multitude of knowledge” is a traditional etymology. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 5.3 (PG 12:605b–607a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-5-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 6.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-1 - Source: PG 12:607a–607b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses going out to speak to the people is a pattern for teachers, who speak deeper mysteries among the mature and plain moral teaching to the crowds, as Paul did. ### Latin text Plura nobis simul recitata sunt, et de omnibus iis dicere. nec temporis brevitas, nec mysteriorum magnitudo permittit. Licebit tamen ex ingentibus campis paucos flosculos legere, et non quantum ager exuberat, sed quantum odoratui sufficiat carpere. Sicutet cum quis accedit ad fontem, non ei tantum haurire necesse est, quantum vena dives effuderit, sed quantum arentes siti mitiget fauces. ne forte plus justo sumpta, fiat potanti salubris unda pernicies. Et exiit, inquit , Moyses ad populum, et locutus est ad eum verba Domini. Donec verba Domini audit Moyses ct ab ipso docetur, intus est, etin interioribus consistit atque in intimis secretis habetur. Ubi vero turbis loquitur et pupulis, ministrat ei qui intus non potest Stare, exire dicitur foras. Quid ergo forma: talis continet sermo? Quod omnis doctor, et magister Ecclesia: si de profundioribus mysteriis aliquid moveat, si arcanum quid et reconditum de Dei sapientia proferant inter perfectos, donec in profundis sensibus versatur, intus esse, ct iu interioribus consistere dicendus est. Cum vero loquitur ad turbas, et ea profert qua: sufficiant iis qui foris sunt, et quae potest vulgus audire, foras dicitur exisse, et loqui ad populum ο verba Domini. Hoc video et Paulum fecisse, et intus quidem fuisse, cum diceret ; r Sapientiam autem loquimur inter perfectos, sapientiam autem non hujus tnnndi, neque principum hujus mundi, qui destrueutur. Sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio absconditam, quam nemo principum lmjus mundi cognovit. ο Vides quomodo intus est, et iuterna atque arcana divina: sapientiai penetrat Paulus, cum haec loquitur. Cum autem procedit ad populum,audi quid loquitur : Omnis sermo malus de ore vestro non procedat; et : Qui furabatur, jam non foretur“; et : Unusquisque vir uxorem suam habeat ης r et: r Unusquisque proximum suum sicut seipsum diligat”; et: mulier virum suum habeat . Haac Ῑ) et si qua huiusmodi sunt, Paulus secundum Moysis formam foras exiens, ad populum loquitur. ### English translation (Claude) Many things have been read to us at once, and neither the shortness of the time nor the greatness of the mysteries allows us to speak of all of them. Yet we may gather a few little flowers from great fields and pluck, not as much as the field abounds in, but as much as suffices for the sense of smell; just as one who comes to a spring need not draw as much as the rich vein pours out, but as much as will relieve a throat parched with thirst, lest the wholesome water, taken beyond due measure, become harmful to the drinker. “And Moses went out,” it says, “to the people, and spoke to them the words of the Lord.” As long as Moses hears the words of the Lord and is taught by him, he is within: he stands in the inner places and is kept in the innermost secrets. But when he speaks to the crowds and the peoples, and ministers to those who cannot stand within, he is said to go outside. What pattern, then, does such a statement contain? That every teacher and master of the church, if he treats of the deeper mysteries, if he brings out among the perfect something secret and hidden of the wisdom of God, must be said to be within and to stand in the inner places as long as he is occupied with the deeper meanings. But when he speaks to the crowds and brings out what suffices for those who are outside and what the multitude can hear, he is said to have gone outside and to speak the words of the Lord to the people. I see that Paul too did this: he was within when he said: “But we speak wisdom among the perfect, yet not a wisdom of this world nor of the rulers of this world, who are being destroyed. But we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which none of the rulers of this world knew.” You see how Paul is within and penetrates the inner and secret places of divine wisdom when he says this. But when he goes out to the people, hear what he says: “Let no evil word proceed from your mouth”; and, “Let him who stole steal no longer”; and, “Let each man have his own wife”; and, “Let each love his neighbor as himself”; and, “Let each woman have her own husband.” These things, and any like them, Paul says to the people, going outside after the pattern of Moses. ### Scripture references - Num 11:24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:29: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:28: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 13:9: allusion, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 6.1 (PG 12:607a–607b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 6.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-2 - Source: PG 12:607b–608a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's sharing of Moses' spirit with the seventy elders is like lighting many lamps from one, which loses nothing of its light. ### Latin text Sed videamus et aliud caput, in quo refertur quod septuaginta viros elegerit Moyses ex senioribus populi et habuerit eos ante tabernaculum testimonii, et de spiritu Moysi accipiens Deus dederit septuaginta senioribus, et cum requievisset, inquit", super eos spiritus, prophetaverunt ori:nes. Quod dixit, quia assumens de spiritu lleysi. dedit septuaginta senioribus spiritum, non ita istelligas quasi materialem aliquam corporeae: substantiam auferens Deus a Moyse in septuaginta secuerit portiones, et ita unicuique seniorum exiguam particulam dederit. lmpium est ita mea gere naturam Spiritus sancti. Sed hoc tundo figuram mystici hujus sermonis adverte, quasi liqu et spiritus qui erat in Moyse, clarissimi Cttjttsalm luminis fuerit lucerna, ex qua alias septuaginta lucernas accenderit Deus , ad quas ita principia illius luminis Splendor pervenerit, ut origo'qa luminis nihil damni ex conuuercio derivationis arceperit. Et hoc modo pie intelligitur quod scriptas est , ‹ quia abstulit Dominus de spiritu lays. et dedit septuaginta senioribus. ### English translation (Claude) But let us look also at another chapter, in which it is related that Moses chose seventy men from the elders of the people and set them before the tabernacle of testimony, and that God, taking of the spirit of Moses, gave it to the seventy elders, and “when the spirit rested upon them,” it says, “they all prophesied.” When it says that, taking of the spirit of Moses, he gave the spirit to the seventy elders, do not understand it as if God took some material, bodily substance from Moses, cut it into seventy portions, and so gave each of the elders a tiny particle. It is impious to think so of the nature of the Holy Spirit. Rather, take the figure of this mystical saying in this way: as if the spirit that was in Moses were a lamp of the clearest light, from which God lit seventy other lamps, so that the splendor of that original light reached them while the source of the light suffered no loss from being shared. In this way what is written is understood piously, “that the Lord took of the spirit of Moses and gave it to the seventy elders.” ### Scripture references - Num 11:16: allusion, high confidence - Num 11:17: allusion, high confidence - Num 11:25: quotation, high confidence ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 6.2 (PG 12:607b–608a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 6.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-3 - Source: PG 12:608b–610b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Spirit rested on the seventy elders and the prophets only for a time and left them in sin, but he remained permanently on Christ alone, who committed no sin. ### Latin text Sed videamus quid est quod ait in cornequ tibus : t Et requievit, inquit , super eos Spiritus. et prophetarum omnes. Requiescere spiritum ur; in quibuscuuque hominibus legimus : sed in sanes et beatis. chuicscit enim spiritus Dei iu iis εἶθ. mundo sunt corde , et in iis qui purificaut animas suas a peccato : sicut ccontrario non inhabitat is corpore subdito peccatis, etiamsi habitarit aiiquaudo ineo. Non enim potest Spiritus sanctum; consortium pati ct societatem spiritus tnali.t‘.ex. tum est enim peccati tempore adesse in me uniuscujusque spiritum malum, et agere panos; nobis per cogitationes malas, et concupiscentiae pessimas, contristatus, et, ut ita dicam , coangustatus fugatur de nobis Spiritus sanctus. Proper quod et Apostolus sciens haec ita accidere, niesebat dicens : Nolite contristare Spiritum sant-tur. in quo signati estis in die redemptionis. rigua: peccantes contristamus Spiritum sanctum : justi vero agentes ct sancte, requiem ei pannrsia χ nobis. Unde et r:uod nunc ait de Septuaginta sbyteris, quia requievit in eis spiritus . haec ‘ vita: eorum et virtutes exposuit. Denique Qui: Mritate cordis eorum et sinceritate mentis, atque ia- ξ telligentia capacitate requievit Spiritus ξ continuo et operatur in eis, nec otium patitur, ait operandi materia digna suppeditat. Aitenim η ptura : Et requievit in eis Spiritus et prophetarerunt. In oumibus ergo qui prophetaverunt requievit Spiritus sanctus, nec tamen in aliquo ipsorum ita requievit sicut in Salvatore. PrOpter que-3 et scriptum est de eo , quia exibit virga de η· dice Jesse et flos de radice ejus ascendet et rcquicscet super cum spiritus Dei, spiritus sapienti! spiritus et intellectus, Spiritus consilii et virtutis, et pietatis . et replebit eum Spiritus inituris Domini. Sed fortasse dicit aliquis ε amplius ostendisti scriptum de Christo, quam de reliquis hominibus. Sicut enim de dictum est, quia requievit super eos , ita de Salvatore dictum est, requiescit super eum spiritus Dei. Sed vide quia supra nullum alium spiritus Dei requievisse septemplici hac virtute describitur, per quod {sine dubio ipsa illa divini Spiritus substantia, quae quia uno nomine non poterat, diversis vocabulis explanatur, requiescere super virgam quae de stirpe Jcsse procederet, prophetatur. llabeo et aliud testimonium quo docere possum in Domino et Salvatore meo. Spiritqu eximio quodam genere, et longe aliter requievisse , quam refertur in caeteris. Dicit enim Joannes Baptista de eo : Qui misit me baptizare in aqua, ille mihi dixit : Super quem videris spiritum des scandentem, ct manentem iu eo, ipse est. Si dixisset spiritum descendentem , et non addidisset σ manentem in- eo, nihil prmcipuum prae caneris habere videretur. Nunc autem addidit, et manentem in eo, ut esset hoc signum in Salvature, quod in nullo alio posset ostendi. De nullo enim scriptum est , quia manserit in eo Spiritus sanctus. Et ne quis me putet in hoc derogare proihetis, sciunt ipsi quia non eis derogo, prreferens eis Dominum meum Jesum Christum. Recolunt enim singuli dicta sua, et inveniunt quod de nullo alio dictum est , quia peccatum non fecit, nec iuventus est dolus in ore cius. ν Quia enim solus cst sine peccato, qui peccatum non fecit, idcirco in ipso solo mansit et permansit Spiritus. Si enim ipse estde quo singulare aliquid et eximium dicitur, hoc quod supra diximus quia peccatum non fecit, constat reliquos omnes fuisse sub peccato. Si omnes , necessario et prophetas. Et quomodo conveniet ut tempore peccati mansisse in eis dicamus Spiritum sanctum : aut si tibi incredibile vi.detur-prophetas postquam acceperant spiritum potuisse peccare , ad hunc ipsum Moysen quem habemus in manibus revertamur , qui utique maximus est et eximius prophetarum. Ipse de se scribit, et testimonium dat de semetipso, quia peccaverit in eo quo dixit : Audite me, increduli. Nunquid de petra ista producere vobis poterimus aquam? lu iis enim dictis non sanctificavit Dominum in aqua contradictionis : id est, non est lisus in virtute Dei, et non dixit, quia potens est Deus de petra hac educere vobis aquam , sed quasi ex diffidentia: cujusdam fragilitate respondit, dicens : Nunquid poterimus vobis de petra hac educere aquam? Quia ergo peccatum ei in iis verbis reputatur a Deo , certum est quod hinc cum loquere- tur, non de Spiritu sancto loculus sit, sed de spiritu peccati. Quod si Scriptura: testimonio tantus propheta Moyses ostenditur aliquando habuisse in se spiritum Dei, aliquando vero non habuisse, peccati scilicet temporc, certmn est quia et de reliquis prophetis similis forma tenenda sit. Quid autem et de David dicam? qui pro Spiritu sancto, tanquam qui a se possit auferri, orat ne auferatur et dicit " : Ne projicias me a facie tua, et Spiritum sanctum tuum ne auferas a me. ln sequentibus vero tanquam pro culpa ablatum a se munus reposcit, et dicit: ξ Redde mihi lzetitiam salutaris tui, et spiritu principali confirma me. Quid vero etiam de Salomone commemorem? quem utique nemo dicet, aut sine Spiritu sancto judicasse judicia, vel templum Domino construxisse; aut rursus in sancto Spiritu daemonibus templa fecisse, aut impiis mulieribus flexisse latera sua. Etiam ille propheta, qui in tertio Regnorum libro in Bethcl mittebatur a Domino, in spiritu utique Dei, verba Dei locutus est ο : non tamen in spiritu Dei praevaricatus esse praeceptum Domini credendus est, quo jussus fuerat non manducare panem in Bethel, propter quod et a leone perimitur “. Sed longum est ire per singulos. Ego autem licet non usquequaque pronuntiem , puto tamen quod sint nonnulla etiam cornmunium hominum gesta, quze quamvis peccato careant, non tamen digna videantur quibus interesse putemus Spiritqu sanctum. Ut verbi gratia dixerim, connubia quidem legitima carent quidem peccato , nec tamen tempore illo quo coniugales actus geruntur praesentia sancti Spiritus dabitur, etiamsi propheta esse videatur, qui ollicio generationis obsequitur. Sed et alia plura sunt, in quibus sufficit sola vis humana, et neque res indiget, neque decet adesse praesentiam Spiritus sancti. Sed in haec per excessum quemdam incurrimus, dum ostendere volumus, super solum Dominum, et Salvatorcm meum Jesum mansisse semper spiritum Dei, in caeteris autem omnibus sanctis, et sicut in Septuaginta senioribus, a quibus verbi hujus prow'r' υ cessit exordium, requievisse tantum spiritum Dei, et operatum esse in tempore eo, quo expediebat iis per'quos operabatur, et utile erat iis, quibus miι) nistrabatur. ### English translation (Claude) But let us see what is meant by what follows: “And the spirit rested upon them,” it says, “and they all prophesied.” We do not read that the spirit rests on just any men, but on the holy and blessed. For the Spirit of God rests on those who are pure in heart and on those who purify their souls from sin; just as, conversely, he does not dwell in a body subject to sins, even if he once dwelt in it. For the Holy Spirit cannot bear fellowship and partnership with an evil spirit. It is certain that in the time of sin an evil spirit is present in each one and acts in us; and when we give it room through evil thoughts and very wicked desires, the Holy Spirit, grieved and, so to speak, constrained, is driven from us. Therefore the Apostle too, knowing that this happens, warned, saying: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” So when we sin we grieve the Holy Spirit; but when we act righteously and holily we prepare a resting place for him in us. Hence what he now says of the seventy elders, that the spirit rested on them, set forth their life and virtues. Indeed, because of the purity of their heart, the sincerity of their mind, and the capacity of their understanding, the Holy Spirit rested on them, and at once he works in them and does not suffer idleness, where fitting material for working is supplied. For the Scripture says: “And the Spirit rested on them and they prophesied.” In all who prophesied, then, the Holy Spirit rested, yet in none of them did he rest as in the Saviour. Therefore it is also written of him that “a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root, and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him.” But perhaps someone will say: “You have shown nothing more written of Christ than of other men. For just as it was said of these that the spirit rested on them, so it was said of the Saviour that the Spirit of God rests on him.” But see that on no one else is the Spirit of God described as resting with this sevenfold power, by which, doubtless, that very substance of the divine Spirit, which could not be explained by one name and is therefore explained by various words, is prophesied to rest on the rod that would come forth from the stock of Jesse. I have another testimony too by which I can show that in my Lord and Saviour the Spirit rested in an exceptional way, far otherwise than is related of the rest. For John the Baptist says of him: “He who sent me to baptize in water said to me: He on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, he it is.” If he had said “the Spirit descending” and had not added “and remaining on him,” he would seem to have nothing special above the rest. But now he added “and remaining on him,” so that this might be a sign in the Saviour which could be shown in no one else. For of no one else is it written that the Holy Spirit remained on him. And lest anyone think I am disparaging the prophets in this, they themselves know that I do not disparage them in preferring my Lord Jesus Christ to them. For each of them recalls his own words, and they find that of no one else was it said that “he committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth.” Because he alone is without sin, who committed no sin, therefore in him alone the Spirit remained and abode. For if he is the one of whom something singular and exceptional is said, namely what we said above, that he committed no sin, it is clear that all the rest were under sin. If all, then necessarily the prophets too. And how will it be fitting for us to say that the Holy Spirit remained in them in the time of sin? Or, if it seems incredible to you that the prophets could sin after they had received the spirit, let us return to this very Moses whom we have in hand, who is surely the greatest and most exceptional of the prophets. He writes about himself and testifies about himself that he sinned in saying: “Hear me, you unbelievers. Shall we be able to bring water out of this rock for you?” For in these words he did not sanctify the Lord at the water of contradiction; that is, he did not trust in the power of God, and did not say, “God is able to bring water out of this rock for you,” but answered as if from the frailty of a certain distrust, saying: “Shall we be able to bring water out of this rock for you?” Since, then, sin is imputed to him by God in these words, it is certain that when he spoke thus he spoke not from the Holy Spirit but from the spirit of sin. And if by the testimony of Scripture so great a prophet as Moses is shown at times to have had the Spirit of God in him and at times not to have had it, namely in the time of sin, it is certain that the same pattern must be held of the other prophets too. And what shall I say of David? He prays for the Holy Spirit, as one who could be taken from him, that he may not be taken away, and says: “Do not cast me away from your face, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.” And in what follows he asks back the gift as if it had been taken from him for his fault, and says: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and strengthen me with a ruling spirit.” And what shall I recall of Solomon? No one will say that he judged his judgments or built the temple for the Lord without the Holy Spirit; nor, again, that it was in the Holy Spirit that he made temples for demons or bent his sides to impious women. That prophet too who in the third book of Kingdoms was sent by the Lord to Bethel certainly spoke the words of God in the Spirit of God; yet we must not believe that it was in the Spirit of God that he transgressed the Lord's command by which he had been ordered not to eat bread in Bethel, for which he was also killed by a lion. But it would take long to go through them one by one. And I, though I would not declare it in every case, still think that there are some actions, even of ordinary people, which, although they are without sin, do not seem worthy of the presence of the Holy Spirit. For example, lawful marriages are indeed without sin; yet at the time when conjugal acts take place the presence of the Holy Spirit will not be given, even if the one who performs the duty of procreation seems to be a prophet. And there are many other things for which human power alone suffices, and the matter neither needs nor befits the presence of the Holy Spirit. But we have run into these things by a kind of digression, while wishing to show that the Spirit of God always remained on my Lord and Saviour Jesus alone, whereas in all the other saints, as in the seventy elders with whom this discourse began, the Spirit of God only rested, and worked at the time when it was expedient for those through whom he worked and useful for those to whom he ministered. ### Scripture references - Num 11:25: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:8: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 4:30: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:2: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:3: quotation, high confidence - John 1:33: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:9: echo, medium confidence - Rom 3:9: allusion, medium confidence - Num 20:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 20:12: allusion, high confidence - Ps 51:11 (50:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 51:12 (50:14 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 3:28: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Kgs 6:1: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Kgs 11:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 11:7: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 13:1: allusion, high confidence - 1 Kgs 13:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Origen, Or. 2.2 (On Prayer): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - “He does not dwell in a body subject to sins” is Wisdom 1:4. Moses' words at the rock follow the Greek of Num 20:10; Ps 51:11–12 is LXX 50:13–14. The remark that the Holy Spirit is not present during conjugal acts, though lawful marriage is without sin, is translated as written (compare Origen, On Prayer 2.2). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 6.3 (PG 12:608b–610b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 6.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-4 - Source: PG 12:610b–611a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen reads Moses' Ethiopian wife as the church of the Gentiles and Miriam's leprosy as the present state of the synagogue, which will be healed when all Israel is saved. ### Latin text Sed et in consequentibus continet lectio qua: rec—itala est, quod Moyses [Ethiopissam duxerit uxorem,etMaria atque Aaron detraxerint de Moyse cur AtithiOpissam duxerit, et aiunt " : Nunquid soli Moysi locutus est Dominus? Nonne et nobis locutus est? Et audivit, inquit, Dominus. Et post haec jub‘etcos exire ad tabernaculum testimonii, ibi judicio quodam habito leprosa ellicitur Maria usque ad certum tempus, et sic revocatur ad castra: Quod ut compendiosius explicemus, Mariam dicimus formam habuisse plebis prioris; Moyseu, id est legem Domini transisse ad connnhium Ethiopissa: hujus quae ex gentibus congregata est. Hanc ergo Moyses, id est, lex spiritalis accepit uxorem : et pro hoc facto Maria , quae nunc synagoga est, indignatur, et detrahit, una cum Aaron, cum sacerdotibus scilicet et Pharisteis. Derogat ergo usque in hodiernum Moysi nobiscum posito plebs illa, et turpe ei videtur , quia circumcisionem carnis non docet apud nos, nec observationem Sabbati, nec Neomenim , nec sacrificia sanguinis, sed circumcisionem cordis , et peccandi otium , diesque festos in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, et sacrificia laudis, et non jam pecudum, sed vitiorum victimas monet. Judieat ergo de iis Deus, et nuptias Ethiopissre confirmat : et Moysen quidem libenter cum ea habitare sinit, ac requiescere : Marian'i vero ejicit extra castra, et porro facit a tabernaculo testimonii, cum qua cjicitur etiam Aaron. Insuper autem et leprosa elIicitur Maria. Aspice nunc ad illam plebem, et vidc quanta in illa ἐει lepra peccati, quanta intelligentia: caligo, quanta observantiae fmditas, quanta turpitudo conspectus. Verumtamen hate lepra non perpetuo permanet, sed ubi septimana compleri eruperit mundi, revocabitur ad castra. In fine enim mttndi cum plenitudo gentium introierit, tunc etiam omnis Israel salvabitur ”, et tunc est cum cessabit lepra de facie Mariae : recipiet enim decus fidei, et splendorem Christi agnitionis accipiet, et restituetur vultus ejus, cum fiet uterque unus grex, etunus pastor. In quo vere dicendum est “ : ‹ O altitudo divitiarum et sapientiae et scientiae Dei; qui ita conclusit … ### English translation (Claude) In what follows, the reading that was read also relates that Moses married an Ethiopian woman, and that Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because he had married an Ethiopian woman, and they say: “Has the Lord spoken only to Moses? Has he not spoken to us also?” “And the Lord heard,” it says. And after this he orders them to go out to the tabernacle of testimony; there a kind of judgment is held, Miriam is made leprous for a fixed time, and so she is called back to the camp. To explain this more briefly, we say that Miriam bore the figure of the former people, and that Moses, that is, the law of the Lord, passed into marriage with this Ethiopian woman, who has been gathered from the Gentiles. This woman, then, Moses, that is, the spiritual law, took as his wife; and for this deed Miriam, who is now the synagogue, is indignant and speaks against him, together with Aaron, that is, with the priests and Pharisees. So that people disparages to this day the Moses who is placed with us, and it seems shameful to it that among us he does not teach circumcision of the flesh, nor the observance of the sabbath, nor new moons, nor sacrifices of blood, but circumcision of the heart, rest from sinning, feast days with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, and sacrifices of praise, and enjoins the slaughter no longer of cattle but of vices. God, then, judges these matters and confirms the marriage of the Ethiopian woman, and allows Moses to dwell gladly with her and to rest; but Miriam he casts out of the camp and puts far from the tabernacle of testimony, and Aaron too is cast out with her. Moreover Miriam is also made leprous. Look now at that people and see how great the leprosy of sin is in it, how great the darkness of understanding, how great the foulness of observance, how great the ugliness of appearance. Yet this leprosy does not remain forever; but when the week of the world has begun to be completed, she will be called back to the camp. For at the end of the world, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel too will be saved; and then it is that the leprosy will cease from Miriam's face; for she will receive the beauty of faith and take on the splendor of the knowledge of Christ, and her face will be restored, when both become one flock and one shepherd. In this truly one must say: “O the depth of the riches and of the wisdom and knowledge of God!” who has so shut up … ### Scripture references - Num 12:1: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:4: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:10: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:29: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Heb 13:15: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:26: quotation, high confidence - John 10:16: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:33: quotation, low confidence - Rom 11:32: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The allegory of Miriam as the synagogue is Origen's polemical reading of Num 12 and is translated as written; it ends with the restoration of Israel (Rom 11:25–26). The text breaks off at “O”; the exclamation is probably Rom 11:33 (“O the depth …”). A Migne footnote has been removed from the text. - Words lost in the Migne scan at the end of the section are supplied from Baehrens's edition as far as its text can be read (Rom 11:33); the rest of the sentence, which goes on to Rom 11:32, is unreadable there too and is marked “…”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 6.4 (PG 12:610b–611a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/5-1/#p-6-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-1 - Source: PG 12:611a–612a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Miriam's leprosy warns against slander, and those who disparage Moses, whether Jews, heretics who reject the law, or carnal readers of Scripture, are lepers in the soul. ### Latin text Sicut Apostolus dicit“, t llrec omnia in figura contingebant illis, scripta sunt autem propter cornmonitionem nostram : quaero quid commonitionis accipiamus ex eo quod lectum cst nobis, quia de-v traxerunt Aaron et Maria de Moyse, et propter hoc correpti sunt, Maria vero etiam leprosa edicitur. ι) Tanta autem fuit cura correptionis hujus, ut dum Maria septimamc tempus eXpleret itt lepra, populus Dei non ageret iter ad terram repromissionis, ne tabernaculum testimonii moveretur. Primo interim moneor, et utiliter ac necessario moneor ex hoc facto ne detraham fratri, ne male loquar de proximo meo, ne aperiam os meum ad derogandum non solum sanctis, sed et quibuslibet proximismeis. Vides quanta ex hoc indignatioDei fuerit, quanta vindicta processerit. Denique adversum peccatum istud simili indignatione etiam in Psalmis Deum commoveri videmus, et dicere δ’ : Sedens adversuslntrem tuum detrahebas, et adversus lilium mus tum ponebas scandalum. Similiter autem et ξ, alio psalmo ex persona justi scientis hoc Deo qua maxime displicere dicitur”: ε Deli-ahenum α. culte adversus proximqu suum persequebanm iis igitur omnibus divina: Scriptura: sermonibus, velut gladiis quibusdam utrinque acutis, obtrectandi fratribus, et derogandi Sanctis vitium resecemus; lepra enim consequitur derogantes et detrahentes, quos … cacologos, id est, maleloquos. Post haec autem a moralibossl intelligentiam mysticam transeamus. Quamdiu in superiore tractatu pauca jam dicta sianum quae defuisse videntur, addemus. Yideamusergt quis est qui derogat Moysi, quis de eo malum; tur. Non solum Judaei, sed et haeretici, qui cipiunt legem et prophetas, etiam ipsi detrahunt ές Moyse. Denique solent ei etiam crimen impingere, dicentes, quia homicida fuit Meyses,interfecite.ia Egyptium: ct alia tnulta, vel in ipsum, vel in pmphetas blaspheme ore concinnant. isti ergo qui: detrahunt Moysi, habent lepram in anima suaet sunt in homine interiore leprosi, et ideo habeats! extra castra Ecclesia: Dei. Sive ergo haeretici sia qui derogant Moysi, sive de Ecclesia sint quidetrahunt fratribus, et male loquuntur de proximis suis, omnes qui hoc vitio aguntur, dubitandum nos est quin leprosi sint in anima sua. Et Maria quidem ς interveniente Aaron pontifice septima die curatur: ‘ ο nos vero si obtrectationis vitio inciderimus animaelepram, usque ad finem septimana mundi. id est, usque ad resurrectionis tempus leprosi in anima permanebimus, et immundimisidna ptenitendi tempus est, corrigantur, et conversi at Dominum Jesum, ac supplicantes ei per penitentiam purgemur ab intmunditia lepra: nostra. Ep autem puto quod non solus ille populus prior, aegr: soli haeretici, de quibus supra trtemoravimu,dc- η trahunt de Moyse; sed et omnis qui scripta tius η male intelligit, et qui spiritalem. legem carnaliter suscipit, Moysi derogat, quia de verbis spiritantnaliter homines docet. Audistis quid sibi judicii at» ἒ trectatores et maleloqui, et quid damnationis κquiraut : audite nunc et quantum beneficii conferant his quibus obtrectant. Nunquam invenimus tantas laudes Deum dixisse de Moyse larualem. l quantas nunc dici videmus, quando ab horninibu: ei derogatnm est. ### English translation (Claude) As the Apostle says, “All these things happened to them in figure, but they were written for our admonition.” I ask, then, what admonition we receive from what was read to us: that Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses and were rebuked for it, and that Miriam was even made leprous. So great was the concern over this rebuke that, while Miriam completed the time of a week in leprosy, the people of God did not make its way toward the land of promise, nor was the tabernacle of testimony moved. First, then, I am admonished by this event, and usefully and necessarily admonished, not to speak against my brother, not to speak evil of my neighbor, not to open my mouth to disparage not only the saints but any of my neighbors at all. You see how great God's indignation at this was, how great a punishment followed. Indeed we see God moved with similar indignation against this sin in the Psalms too, saying: “Sitting, you spoke against your brother, and against your mother's son you laid a stumbling block.” Likewise in another psalm, in the person of a righteous man who knows that this displeases God most, it is said: “Him who secretly slandered his neighbor I pursued.” With all these words of divine Scripture, then, as with swords sharp on both edges, let us cut away the vice of slandering brothers and disparaging saints; for leprosy follows those who speak against others and disparage them, whom … call kakologoi, that is, evil-speakers. But after this let us pass from the moral understanding to the mystical. Although a few things were already said in the previous treatment, we shall add what seems to have been lacking. Let us see, then, who it is that speaks against Moses, who speaks evil of him. Not only the Jews but also the heretics who reject the law and the prophets: they too speak against Moses. Indeed, they are even accustomed to charge him with a crime, saying that Moses was a murderer because he killed the Egyptian; and they put together many other things with blasphemous mouth, either against him or against the prophets. These, then, who speak against Moses have leprosy in their soul and are lepers in the inner man, and therefore they are held outside the camp of the church of God. So whether they are heretics who disparage Moses, or members of the church who speak against brothers and speak evil of their neighbors, we must not doubt that all who are driven by this vice are lepers in their soul. And Miriam indeed, with Aaron the high priest interceding, is healed on the seventh day; but we, if through the vice of slander we have incurred leprosy of the soul, will remain lepers in the soul and unclean until the end of the week of the world, that is, until the time of the resurrection, unless, while there is time for repentance, we are corrected and, turning to the Lord Jesus and supplicating him through repentance, are cleansed from the uncleanness of our leprosy. But I think that it is not only that former people, nor only the heretics we mentioned above, who speak against Moses; everyone who understands his writings wrongly, and who receives the spiritual law in a carnal way, disparages Moses, because from spiritual words he teaches people carnally. You have heard what judgment slanderers and evil-speakers bring on themselves and what condemnation they earn; hear now how much benefit they confer on those they slander. We never find that God spoke such great praises of Moses as we now see spoken when he was disparaged by men. ### Scripture references - 1 Cor 10:11: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:1: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:10: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:15: allusion, high confidence - Ps 50:20 (49:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 101:5 (100:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:12: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 2:12: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The heretics who reject the law and the prophets and accuse Moses of murder are probably the Marcionites; translated as written. The scan is garbled in several places in this section (a Migne footnote and lines from 7.2 leaked in; these are removed by logged correction); a few words are translated by sense, and the Greek term kakologoi is supplied from the context of the garbled word. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.1 (PG 12:611a–612a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-2 - Source: PG 12:612a–614a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's praise of Moses as one to whom he speaks face to face points to the law understood spiritually in the church, and preachers who fail to expound the law spiritually give occasion for despising it. ### Latin text Audi ergo in consequentibus quid referat, et quibus Moysen laudibus efl‘erat Spiritus sanctas Et descendit, inquit δ’, Dominus in columna ut? bis, et stetit ad ostium tabernaculi teSIinumii.Et vocati sunt Aaron et Maria ctsteteruntamlnm dixit ad eos : Audite verba mea. Si lueritprupltt'u quis vestrum Domini, in visionibus ei agnos?” ill somnis loquar ci, non sicut famulo meo Moysi, qui in tota domo mea fidelis est; os ad os loquar ad eum, in Specie. et non in aenigmate, et gloriam llomini vidit. Et quare non timuistis detrahere famm meo Moysi? Et ira furoris Domini facta est super illos, discesserunt. et nubes discessit a tabernaculo, et ecce Maria facta est leprosa sicut nix. Videte quid sibi paena: contulerint obtrectatores, quid vero illi cui obtrectaverant, quaesiverint laudis. Sibi turpitudinem, illi splendorem; sibi gemam, illi gloriam ; sibi opprobrium, illi tnagnificentiam quaesiverunt. Verumtamen Moyses priusquam acciperet IEthiopissam, non est scriptum quia in specie locutus sit ei Deus, et non in :enigmate : sed ubi accepit Ethiopissam, tunc dicit de eo Deus, quia os ad os loquar ad eum, in specie, et nun in aenigmate. Modo enim cum Moyses venit ad nos. θι coniunctus est huic nostra: pissze, lex Dei jam non in figuris, et in imaginibus sicut prius, sed in ipsa specie veritatis agnoscitur; etqure prius in aenigmate designabantur, nunc in specie et veritate complentur. Et ideo ille, qui species figurarum et aenigmatum disserebat, dicit “ : Scimus autem quoniam patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube et in mari, et omnes eamdem escam spiritalem manducaverunt, et omnes eumdem potum spiritalem biberunt. Bibebant autem de spiritali consequente eos petra. Petra autem erat Cltristus. Vides quomodo aenigmata legis Paui‘us absolvit, et species aenigmatum docet, et dicit quia petra in aenigmate erat apud Moysem, ante- ο quam iungeretur huic nostra: Ethiopissae. Nunc in specie petra Christus est. Nunc enim os ad os loquitur per legem Deus. Antea in aenigmate fuit baptismtts in nube et in mari, nunc autem in specie regeneratio est in aqua et in Spiritu sancto. Tunc in aenigmate erat manna CibUS, nunc autem in specie caro Verbi Dei est verus cibus, sicut et ipse dicit “, quia Caro mea vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus. Sic ergo 1am nunc Moyses apud nos positus, et huic IEthiopissce con unctus, vel ipse ad nos, vel Deus ad ipsum non loquitur in aenigmate, sed in specie. His autem adlitur : Et gloriam, inquit η, Domini vidit. ο )nando vidit Moyses gloriam Domini? Ego tunc lico. quando transformatus est Dominus in monte, ” et aderat ei Moyses cum Elia, et colloquebantur ei. it ideo recte in consequentibus adiungit : Et [uare non timuistis detrahere famulo meo Moysi? luod evidenter utique ad eos dictum dirigitur, qui ivangelia quidem suscipere videntur, derogant auem Moysi, et merito arguuntur, quia cum discant er Evangelium quod Moyses una cum Elia vidit loriam Domini, legi et prophetis ausisunt derogare. lt ideo nos non detrahamus Moysi, nec derogemus legi, sed simus non solum auditores legis, sed et factores, ut cum ipso Moyse conglorificari mereamur. Ego autem puto quod et illi materiam pra:- Stant ad derogandum Moysi, qui, verbi causa, cum legitur liber Levitiei, vel lectio Numerorum, non ostendunt quomodo haec quae in aenigmate scripta sunt, intelligi per speciem debeant, id est, qui non spiritaliter ea quae in lege leguntur exponunt. Necessario enim qui audiunt ritum sacrificiorum, vel Sabbatorum observantiam, vel caeterorum similium in ecclesia recitari, oll‘enduntur, et dicunt : Quid hoc necesse est in ecclesia legi? Quo nobis prosunt praecepta Judaica,et spreti pepuli observan-tiae? Haec Iudaeorum sunt, et Judaei de iis viderint. Ne ‘ Ἀ ergo hujusmodi oll'endicula auditoribus accidant. danda opera est ad scientiam legis, et secundum hoc quod spiritalis est lex, intelligenda et explananda sunt omnia quae leguntur, ne doctorum causa, imo desidia et negligentia, ab imperitis et indoctis derogetur Moysi ; sed convertamur ad Dominum, ut auferat a nobis velamen litterae; utnon nobisvdeformis vultus Moysi, sed gloriosus ac decorus appareat, ita ut non solum non obtrectemus, sed et pro magnitudine sensuum, laudem ei et gloriam conferamus. Et ira furoris Domini facta est super illos, et discesserunt, et nubes recessit a tabernaculo, et ecce Maria facta est leprosa sicut nix “.s ira furoris Domini efficitur super eos, qui male loquuntur, et detrahunt. Verumtamen quod dicit, et nubes recessit τι tabernaculo, et ecce Maria facta est leprosa sicut nix, considerandum diligentius est, quod prius recedit nubes, et ita lepra repletur: ut ostendatur quia etiam si est in aliquo gratia sancti Spiritus, et obtrectat, et detrahit, re-r cedit ab eo post obtrectationem, et sic lepra.repletur anima ejus. Nam etpopulus ille prior habuit in se gratiam Dei, sed postquam in verum Moysen Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum extenderunt linguas blasphemiae suae, discessit abillis nubes, et transivit ad nos in montem excelsum, cum Salvator oster transformatus est, et nubes reTnlgens obumbravit discipulos ejus, et venit vox de nube, dicens ’δε llic est Filius meus dilectissimus, in quo tnihi bene complaeui. Post hoc ergo Maria 1)facta est leprosa sicut nix. Donec aderat nubes, Maria non erat leprosa, sed cum discessit. Donec enim visitatio Dei erat in populo illo, non erat leprosus. Ubi vero discessit, ignominia vultus sui contexit eum. Sed et nos timeamus ne Sorte effugemus a nobis hanc nubem male loquendo, male agendo, male cogitando : et tunc apparebit in nobis lepra peccati, cum deseruerit nos gratia Dei. ### English translation (Claude) Hear, then, what the Holy Spirit relates in what follows, and with what praises he exalts Moses. “And the Lord came down,” it says, “in a pillar of cloud and stood at the door of the tabernacle of testimony. And Aaron and Miriam were called, and they both stood, and he said to them: Hear my words. If there is a prophet of the Lord among you, I will make myself known to him in visions, and in dreams I will speak to him. Not so with my servant Moses, who is faithful in all my house: mouth to mouth I will speak to him, in clear form and not in riddles, and he has seen the glory of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord's wrath came upon them, and they departed; and the cloud departed from the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous like snow.” See what punishments the slanderers brought on themselves, and what praise they won for the one they slandered: for themselves disgrace, for him splendor; for themselves groaning, for him glory; for themselves reproach, for him magnificence. Yet before Moses took the Ethiopian woman, it is not written that God spoke to him in clear form and not in riddles; but when he took the Ethiopian woman, then God says of him, “Mouth to mouth I will speak to him, in clear form and not in riddles.” For now that Moses has come to us and been joined to this Ethiopian woman of ours, the law of God is recognized no longer in figures and images as before, but in the very form of the truth; and what was formerly indicated in riddles is now fulfilled in clear form and in truth. And therefore he who set out the clear forms of the figures and riddles says: “For we know that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.” You see how Paul resolves the riddles of the law and teaches the clear forms of the riddles, and says that the rock was in a riddle with Moses before he was joined to this Ethiopian woman of ours. Now, in clear form, the rock is Christ. For now God speaks mouth to mouth through the law. Formerly baptism was in a riddle, in the cloud and in the sea; but now, in clear form, regeneration is in water and in the Holy Spirit. Then the manna was food in a riddle; but now, in clear form, the flesh of the Word of God is true food, as he himself says: “My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink.” So now, then, Moses, placed among us and joined to this Ethiopian woman, either himself speaks to us, or God speaks to him, not in riddles but in clear form. To this is added: “And he has seen,” it says, “the glory of the Lord.” When did Moses see the glory of the Lord? I say: then, when the Lord was transfigured on the mountain, and Moses was present with him together with Elijah, and they talked with him. And therefore he rightly adds in what follows: “And why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” This saying is clearly directed at those who appear to accept the Gospels but disparage Moses; and they are rightly rebuked, because, though they learn through the Gospel that Moses together with Elijah saw the glory of the Lord, they have dared to disparage the law and the prophets. And therefore let us not speak against Moses, nor disparage the law, but let us be not only hearers of the law but also doers, so that we may deserve to be glorified together with Moses himself. And I think that those too give occasion for disparaging Moses who, for example, when the book of Leviticus or the reading from Numbers is read, do not show how these things written in riddles ought to be understood in clear form, that is, who do not expound spiritually what is read in the law. For those who hear the rite of sacrifices, or the observance of sabbaths, or other similar things recited in church are necessarily offended and say: “What need is there for this to be read in church? What use to us are Jewish precepts and the observances of a rejected people? These things belong to the Jews; let the Jews see to them.” So, lest stumbling blocks of this kind befall the hearers, effort must be given to the knowledge of the law, and, since the law is spiritual, everything that is read must be understood and explained accordingly, lest through the fault, or rather the sloth and negligence, of teachers Moses be disparaged by the unskilled and unlearned. Rather, let us turn to the Lord, that he may take away from us the veil of the letter, so that the face of Moses may appear to us not unsightly but glorious and comely, and we may not only not slander him but even give him praise and glory for the greatness of his meanings. “And the anger of the Lord's wrath came upon them, and they departed, and the cloud withdrew from the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous like snow.” The anger of the Lord's wrath comes upon those who speak evil and disparage. But as for its saying, “and the cloud withdrew from the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous like snow,” we must consider more carefully that the cloud withdraws first and then she is filled with leprosy: to show that even if the grace of the Holy Spirit is in someone, and he slanders and disparages, it withdraws from him after the slander, and so his soul is filled with leprosy. For that former people too had the grace of God in itself; but after they stretched out the tongues of their blasphemy against the true Moses, our Lord Jesus Christ, the cloud departed from them and passed over to us on the high mountain, when our Saviour was transfigured and a shining cloud overshadowed his disciples, and a voice came from the cloud, saying: “This is my most beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” After this, then, Miriam became leprous like snow. As long as the cloud was present, Miriam was not leprous, but only when it departed. For as long as God's visitation was among that people, it was not leprous; but when it departed, the shame of its face covered it. But let us too fear lest perhaps we drive this cloud away from us by speaking evil, doing evil, thinking evil; for then the leprosy of sin will appear in us, when the grace of God has deserted us. ### Scripture references - Num 12:5: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:6: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:7: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:8: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:9: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: quotation, high confidence - John 3:5: allusion, high confidence - John 6:55: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Matt 17:5: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. A Migne footnote stood in the scan where words are lost after “nor disparage”. The Ethiopian woman is the church of the Gentiles (see 6.4). The words of those offended by readings from the law are quoted as Origen gives them. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.2 (PG 12:612a–614a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-3 - Source: PG 12:614a–616d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Miriam made like an abortion signifies the synagogue that never came to full birth, while Ecclesiastes shows that one who dies to the world, or is “untimely born” like Paul, can be better than those who live in vanity. ### Latin text Et respexit Aaron ad Mariam,‘etecce erat leprosa. Et dixit Aaron ad Moysen : Precor, domine, ne contuleris in nos peccatum, quoniam ignoravimus quod peccavimus. Ne fiat simile morti, et ut aborsus ejectus de vulva matris, et comedit dimidium carnis ejus . Vult in hoc ostendere quod populusille formatus quidem fuerit in vulva matris sua: synagoga, non tamen pervenire potuerit ad perfectum et integrum partum. Sicut enim ahorsus ’imperfectus et incompositus est partus : ita et ille populus aliquanto quidem tempore intra vulvam matris. hoc est, intra synagogze institutionem positus fuit : sed peccatis intercedentibus, formari ad integrum, vivificarique non potuit : et ideo abjecli sunt velut aborsus imperfectus et immaturus, peccato scilicet consumente dimidimn, ut ait, carnis eius. Est tamen interdum et ahorsus bonus. Bonus autem aborsus dicitur cum aliis comparatur, sicut et Ecclesiastes ait : Et dixi :Bonus est aborsus magis quam ille. Qui ille? Qui in vanitate, inquit”, incedit et in tenebris ambulat. Non ergo absolute bonum dicit aborsum, sed bonum magis quam vitam, quae in vanitate ducitur, et in tenebris ignorantiae. Et fit apud eum quaedam comparatio singulorum. Dicitenim et alibi ipse Ecclesiastes, honos esse mortuos magis quam viventes ". Quibus rursus si compares aborsttm, bonum esse dicas super utrumque. Si ergo consi. deret qui sunt vivi, et qui sunt mortui, quibus aborsus melior. sit pro eo quod ne gustaverit quidem vita: mundi hujus auspicia , invenies quae sint in comparatione ista ,dill‘erentize. Considera ergo quia non alios Libi nominavit viventes, nisi de quibus dicitur in Psalmis ὀε Verumtamen vanitas onmis homo vivens. Omni ergo homine qui in vanitate vivit. Non enim omnis vita in vanitate est, sed illa vita quae secundum carnem est, et secundum errores ac voluptates saaculi, haec est vita vanitatis, et super hanc est omnis qui huic vitae mortuus est, et qui dicit : Mihi autem mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo; et de quo dicitur : Mortui ergo estis cum Christo. lsti ergo meliores sunt, quam illi viventes. Sed super hos esse dicitur aborsus, quia licet venisse videatur in carne, nulla tamen vanitatis vita; hujus sumpsit initia. lntroducit tamen Ecclesiastes et alium quemdam , ut videtur, etiam isto meliorem, de quo dicit : “ EtOptimus est su- ι) per hos duos qui nondum natus est; hoc est, qui ne ad conclusionem quidem vulvae carnalis et eorporeze nativitatis venit injuriam. Sed et hoc ipsum quod dicit Ecclesiastes οδε Laudavi omnes mortuos magis quam vivos, et eos qui vivunt usque nunc, quomodo non evidenter ostendit quod eos dicat meliores qui mortui sunt mundo, et eos pronuntiet inferiores qui vivunt mundo? Nam si secundum litteram velis intelligere, quomodo laudandi sunt mortui magis quam viventes? Laudari enim Solet quis in eo quod voluntate bona et proposin egerit. Mors autem ista communis, nulli ex voluntate, nec ex proposito venit. Quomodo erga dignus laude videbitur in eo quis quod contra propositum patitur? Alioquin laudabitur et Pharao rex Egypti, qui submersus est in mare, super Moses. qui de mari vivus evasit . Laudabuntur et Egyptii qui mortui sunt in aquis, magis quam populus Dei, qui transivit per siccum in medio maril‘on ergo ita intelligas. sed scito te laudandum esse mortuum cum potueris dicere “ : Christo eoucrucifixus sum. Vivo autem jam non ego, vim autem in me Christus. Si renuntiasti seculo, si ahjecisti vitia , si jam non moveris ad peccatum. sed mortuus es peccato , melior es quam ille qui vivit peccato, et erit in te mors ista laudabilis. δέω pro morte hac communi , Qua: lege natura unicuique venit, nemo laudatur. lla’c licet per excessum. commemorari tamen oportuit in eo loco ubi senae Dei Mariam pro culpa obtrectationis, et pro plet: correptionis ahorsum dicit effectam, ut οειειιόεremus quia est et vituperabilis, est et laudabilis aborsus. Denique etiam Apostolus sciens in istis quibus supra diximus ordinibus esse aliquem lasdabilem aborsus ordinem , etiam de semetipso daicit : Novissime autem omnium tanquam abertivo visus estet mihi; super viventes se quidem et super mortuos, post eos tamen qui necdum luti sunt , mnuerans. Fit ergo sicut aborsus Maria. Sea enim potuit populus ille ad perfectum humari in lege , sicut et Paulus prommtiat dicens“ : minem enim ad perfectum adduxit lex. Benigne et idem Apostolus de quibusdam quos a fide delapsos et velutin aborsum conversos ad perfecta! rursum nativitatis instituta reparabat. ait " : σ Ytlioli mei, quos iterum parturio donec formetur Christus in vobis. ### English translation (Claude) “And Aaron looked at Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said to Moses: I beg you, my lord, do not lay sin upon us, for we did not know that we were sinning. Let her not become like one dead, and like an abortion cast out of its mother's womb, and it devours half of her flesh.” In this he wishes to show that that people was indeed formed in the womb of its mother, the synagogue, yet could not attain a perfect and complete birth. For just as an abortion is an imperfect and unformed birth, so that people too was for some time within its mother's womb, that is, within the teaching of the synagogue, but, as sins intervened, it could not be formed to completeness and brought to life; and therefore they were cast away like an imperfect and unripe abortion, sin, as it says, consuming half of its flesh. Yet sometimes an abortion is also good. An abortion is called good when compared with others, as Ecclesiastes too says: “And I said: an abortion is better than he.” Who is “he”? “He who goes in vanity,” it says, “and walks in darkness.” So he does not call the abortion good absolutely, but better than a life led in vanity and in the darkness of ignorance. And he makes a kind of comparison of the individual cases. For Ecclesiastes himself also says elsewhere that the dead are better than the living; and if you compare the abortion with these again, you may say that it is better than both. If, then, one considers who are the living and who the dead, than whom the abortion is better because it has not even tasted the first beginnings of the life of this world, you will find what the differences in this comparison are. Consider, then, that he named as living there only those of whom it is said in the Psalms: “Surely every man living is vanity.” [It is better,] then, than every man who lives in vanity. For not every life is in vanity, but the life that is according to the flesh and according to the errors and pleasures of the world: this is the life of vanity; and above it is everyone who has died to this life and who says, “But the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” and of whom it is said, “So you have died with Christ.” These, then, are better than those who are living. But above these the abortion is said to be, because, although it seems to have come in the flesh, it has taken up none of the beginnings of this life of vanity. Yet Ecclesiastes introduces another, it seems, better even than this, of whom he says: “And best above these two is he who has not yet been born”: that is, he who has not come even to the confinement of a fleshly womb and the injury of bodily birth. And this very saying of Ecclesiastes, “I praised all the dead more than the living, those who are alive until now,” how does it not clearly show that he calls better those who are dead to the world, and declares inferior those who live to the world? For if you wish to understand it according to the letter, how are the dead to be praised more than the living? For one is usually praised for what he has done by good will and purpose; but this common death comes to no one by will or by purpose. How, then, will anyone seem worthy of praise for what he suffers against his purpose? Otherwise Pharaoh king of Egypt, who was drowned in the sea, will be praised above Moses, who escaped alive from the sea; and the Egyptians who died in the waters will be praised more than the people of God, who passed on dry ground through the midst of the sea. Do not, then, understand it so; but know that you are to be praised as dead when you can say: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” If you have renounced the world, if you have cast off vices, if you are no longer moved to sin but have died to sin, you are better than one who lives to sin, and this death in you will be praiseworthy. For no one is praised for this common death, which comes to each by the law of nature. These things, though said by way of digression, still had to be mentioned at the place where the divine word says that Miriam, for the fault of slander and as the penalty of her rebuke, was made like an abortion, so that we might learn that there is a blameworthy abortion and also a praiseworthy one. Indeed the Apostle too, knowing that among the orders we mentioned above there is a praiseworthy order of abortion, says of himself: “And last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me,” reckoning himself above the living and above the dead, but after those who have not yet been born. Miriam, then, becomes like an abortion. For that people could not be formed to perfection in the law, as Paul too declares, saying: “For the law brought nothing to perfection.” And the same Apostle kindly says of some who had fallen from the faith and turned, as it were, into an abortion, and whom he was restoring again to the perfect pattern of birth: “My little children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” ### Scripture references - Num 12:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:11: quotation, high confidence - Num 12:12: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 6:3: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 4:2: quotation, high confidence - Eccl 4:3: quotation, high confidence - Ps 39:5 (38:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:20: quotation, high confidence - Exod 14:28: allusion, high confidence - Gal 2:19: quotation, high confidence - Gal 2:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:8: quotation, high confidence - Heb 7:19: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - A Migne footnote stood in the scan where part of Num 12:11–12 is lost. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. Eccl 6:3–4 and 4:2–3; Ps 39:5 (LXX 38:6). The reading of Miriam as the synagogue is Origen's and is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.3 (PG 12:614a–616d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-4 - Source: PG 12:616d–617b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses' prayer for Miriam figures his intercession for Israel, whose present repudiation, like Miriam's seven days outside the camp, lasts until the end of the world's week. ### Latin text Et proclamavit Moyses ad Dominum dicens: ’ Dens, precor te, sana eam . Et quem οραtebat orare ad Dominum pro sanitate populi illius, nisi Moysen? Moyses orat pro illis. Et forte hoc erat quod cum Domino Jesu Christo collmluebatur, cum in monte transformatus est, petens ab eo. ut cum plenitudo gentium introisset, tunc omnis lsrrt salvus fieret. Et dixit Dominus ad Moysen : Si pater ejus exspuisset in faciem ejus, nonne embcsceret septem diebus? Separetur septem didm extra castra, etpost haec introibit τί. › Quid est. si pater ejus exspuisset in faciem ejus , erubesceret septem diebus? Mariam loco synagogae posuimus, huic exspuit pater ejus in faciem. Signum repudii est in faciem conspui. Denique in lege scriptum est, ubi jubetur ιιι relictae proximi proximus nubat, si voluerit proximus repudiare coniugium, ut disealceatus in faciem conspuatur, et hoc datum est velut signum repudii. llinc ergo Maria, id est, po. pnlus ille cum repudiatur, a Deo conspui iu faciem dicitur. Habemus et in alio loco signifieantiarn spuli, eum dicit Isaias : Omnes gentes sicut guttae situlae, etsicutsputmn repntata: sunt. Ostenditur ergo inhoe, quod etiam populus ille sicut gentes eceterae, - quae ut sputum reputantur. abiectus est. Et revera si eonsidcres honorem illum priorem, cum pontificalis apud eos ordo florebat, cum insignia sacerdotum , eum Levitica ministeria, eum majestas templi, cum praphetalis splendor , et cum caelestibus super terram consortiis utebantur, quis honor fuit ille? qua: gloria ? Et rursum si nunc aspicias quanto dedecore horrescant, sine templo, sine altari, sine sacrificio, sine propheta, sine sacerdotio. sine ulla caelesti visitatione, dispersi per onmem terram profugique viventes : quis non evidenter agnoscat quod couspuit pater illius in faciem ejus, et perfudit vultum eorum ignominia? Septem ergo diebus separatur extra castra. Diximus etiam in superioribus , quod scptem dies isti septimanam mundi istius designeut. in septimana enim dierum, creatura: totius Ο visibilis substantia: videntur esse productae . quae non erant, facta sunt. ln septimana vero totius mundi , secreta quadam et Deo soli eognita dispensatione, quae tunc producta sunt, explicantur. lnterim in hac septimana qua sequestrata est Maria, non moventur castra filiorum Israel , sed stant uno in loco conclusi, et nullus est eis omnino profectus, donec mundetur Maria a lepra sua. ε ### English translation (Claude) “And Moses cried out to the Lord, saying: O God, I beg you, heal her.” And who ought to pray to the Lord for the healing of that people, if not Moses? Moses prays for them. And perhaps this was what he was conversing about with the Lord Jesus Christ when he was transfigured on the mountain, asking him that when the fullness of the Gentiles had come in, then all Israel might be saved. “And the Lord said to Moses: If her father had spat in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be separated seven days outside the camp, and after this she shall come in.” What does “if her father had spat in her face, would she not be ashamed seven days” mean? We have taken Miriam to stand for the synagogue; her father spat in her face. To be spat on in the face is a sign of repudiation. Indeed it is written in the law, where it is commanded that the next of kin marry the widow of his kinsman, that if the kinsman wishes to refuse the marriage, his sandal is to be removed and he is to be spat on in the face; and this is given as a sign of repudiation. Hence Miriam, that is, that people, when it is repudiated, is said to be spat on in the face by God. We also have the meaning of spittle in another place, when Isaiah says: “All the nations are like a drop from a bucket and are reckoned as spittle.” It is shown in this, then, that that people too has been cast away like the other nations, which are reckoned as spittle. And truly, if you consider that former honor, when the high-priestly order flourished among them, when they had the insignia of the priests, the Levitical ministries, the majesty of the temple, the splendor of the prophets, and when they enjoyed heavenly fellowship upon earth, what honor was that, what glory! And again, if you look now at the great disgrace in which they shudder, without temple, without altar, without sacrifice, without prophet, without priesthood, without any heavenly visitation, scattered through the whole earth and living as fugitives, who would not clearly recognize that her father has spat in her face and covered their face with shame? So she is separated outside the camp for seven days. We have also said above that these seven days signify the week of this world. For in the week of days the substance of the whole visible creation appears to have been produced: things that were not, were made. But in the week of the whole world, by a certain secret dispensation known to God alone, the things then produced are unfolded. Meanwhile, during this week in which Miriam is separated, the camp of the sons of Israel does not move, but they stand shut in one place, and there is no advance at all for them until Miriam is cleansed of her leprosy. ### Scripture references - Num 12:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 17:3: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:26: allusion, high confidence - Num 12:14: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:9: allusion, high confidence - Isa 40:15: quotation, high confidence - Hos 3:4: echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Origen's description of the Jewish people's present state (without temple, sacrifice, or prophet) is his polemical reading of Num 12:14 and is translated as written; it is framed by the hope of Israel's salvation (Rom 11:25–26). The custom of spitting is Deut 25:7–9. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.4 (PG 12:616d–617b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-5 - Source: PG 12:617b–619d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The spies' report of giants in the promised land is read as the Christian's struggle against the spiritual powers who hold the heavenly inheritance, which believers win by faith in Jesus. ### Latin text Et pOSt haec, inquit 7‘,pront0vit populus ex Aseroth, et consederunt in deserto Pharan. Ascrotlt interpretatur domus perfecta. Proficiscitnr ergo populus postquam Maria purgata est, a domibus perfectis, et venit in Pharao, quod interpretatur os uisibile. Mihi videtur os visibile posse intelligi, quod Verbum caro factum est, et invisibilis visibilis efleetus; et hoc significari, quod posteaquam finis et perfectio onmium quae erga illurn populum gerenda fuerant, venit, tunc transit, et venit ad eum, quem Verbum carnern factum ante non credidit. Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen, dicens : Mitte viros, et considerent terram Chanameorum, quam ego de filiis Israel in possessionem , et reliqua, in quibus de exploratoribus teme narratur, qni missi renuntiant quod terra quidem sit bona et admirabilis; habitant autem in ea filii gigantum, in quorum conspectibus populus Dci quasi locustte videantur. Et plures quidem desperant se posse salvari a filiis gigantum : Jesus tamen non desperat, sed confirmat populi fidem eum Caleb, qui estde tribu Juda, et dicunt : Si diligi‘. nos Deus, introducet nos in terram hanc. Qua: est ergo terra ista secundum spiritalem intellectum, qum terra quidem sancta est, et terra bona, sed ab impiis habitatur? Qui sunt ergo isti hostes, qui habitant in terra sanctorum? Et quomodo ejicicndi sunt, ut illis ejectis sancti succedant in locum eorum? Redeamus ad Evangelia , redeamus ad Apostolum. Evangelia sanctis promittunt regna cmlow rum. Apostolus dicit ; Nostra autem conversatio in caelis est. lu cretis ergo “est locus haereditatis, qui promittitur sanctis. Et quid putamus quod nullus nunc adversarius sit in his locis quae tibi promittuntur, quem tu inde debeas pugnando depellere, ut liber ad ea quae tibi promittuntur loca evolare possis? Et quomodo dicit Dominus a diebus Joannis Baptistre,rqniatregnum cmlorum vim patitur , et vim inferentes rapiunt illud. Nisi enim essent quibus vis fieret , nunquam essent qui inde depelli et extrudi deberent, nunquam diceretur per vim diripiendum esse regnum caelorum. Et nisi eum quibus certamen nobis esset ac pra;lium, nunquam diceret Apostolus : Non est nobis colluctatio adversus carnem et sanguinem, sed adversus principatus et potestates, adversus mundi hujus rectores, tenebrarum harum, adversus spiritalia nequitiae in etnlestibus. De quibus etiam illud Dei dictum divinitus per prophetam intelligendum videtur, ubi ait8° : Et inebriatus est gladius meus iu coelo. Necesse est ergo spiritales nequitias quae in cmlestibtts esse dicuntur, qui sunt veri Cbananaei, vinci abs te, ut expeditus ad coelestia regna transire possis, ut tu pro illis habites ibi. Scito tamen gigantes eos esse. Gigas dicitur Omnis qui adversus Deum resistit. Quicunque ergo adversatur Deo, et contrarius est veritati, quod illi principaliter faciunt, merito gigas appellatur. Tibi ergo praestatur ut devictis gigantibus intres in regnum quod illi perdiderunt, ut impleatur quod scriptum est : ‹ Quis accipiet a gigante spolia? Unde et Dominus dicebat in Evangelio : Nemo potest introire in domum fortis , et diripere Vasa ejus , nisi prius alligaverit fortem; qui licet propter superbiam suam a domo coelestijam sit ejectus, tu tamen nisi viceris illum, non introibis in domum fortis. Nec vinci solum, verum et alligari illum oportet. Nisi enim alligetur, haudquaquam tutum esse puterit iter nostrum. Nunc ergo quantum ad comparationem humanae, et daamonica: naturae, nos locusta: sumus, etilli gigantes; et pr:ccipue si dubia sit fides nostra , et si nos perterreat infidelitas, iIIi vere gigantes erunt, et nos locusta. Si vero sequamur Jesum et credamus verbis ejus, ac fide ejus repleantur, tanquam nihil erunt in conspectu nostro.Audi enim quomodo nos hortatur, et dicit: t Si amat nos Deus, introducet nos itt terram hanc, quoniam bona est, et fructus ejus mirabilis. Typus ergo, et figura quae praecessit in patribus, completur _ in nobis. chcerunt illi gentes, et consecuti sunt haereditatem eorum. Consecuti sunt enim omnem terram Judzcae, et Jerusalem civitatem, et montem Sion. Haec tn illis impleta sunt, ad te autem quid dicitur? Non, inquit, accessistis ad ea quae visibilia sunt,sed adinvisibilia.«Accessistisenim,inquit"-”, ad montem Dei viventis, et ad civitatem cmlestem Jerusalem, et ad multitudinem angelorum. Sed et alibi idem Apostolus dicit : Jerusalem autem quae Sursum est, quae est mater omnium nostrum. Si quis verbis Apostoli dicentis Jerusalem esse cae-1 testem, non accommodat tidem , potest ct htec verba nostra recusare. Si vero verbis Pauli fides adhibenda est, sicutet certe adhibenda est, et Jerusalem coeleSIem esse credimus ad typum terrenae huius, et ο quwscriplavidenturdehaclerrena adillamcazlestem ί rectius Spiritali intelligentia conferemus. Accessimus ergo. sicut Paulus dicit, ad caelestem Jerusalem, sine dubio et ad caelestem Judaeam : et sicut illi de terrestri Judaaa ejecerunt Chananaeos, et Plrerezmos, et Evaeos, reliquasque gentes: ita ε nos'qui accessimus ad montem Dei,.et ad regna cm testia, necesse est ut debellemns contrarias potestates, et spiritalia nequitiae in coelestibus : et sicut illi ejecerunt Jebusaeum de Jerusalem, et quae prius Jcbus vocata fuerat, postmodum appellata est Jerusalem : ita et nos oportet, ut ita dicam, expellere prius Jebusaaum de Jerusalem, et sic haereditatem ejus consequi. Sed illi quidem haec faciebant armis visibilibus, nos vero invisibilibus. Illi vincebant corporalibus praeliis, nos autem spiritali certamine superamus. ### English translation (Claude) “And after this,” it says, “the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the desert of Paran.” Hazeroth is interpreted “perfect house.” So the people sets out from the perfect houses after Miriam has been cleansed, and comes to Paran, which is interpreted “visible mouth.” It seems to me that the visible mouth can be understood as the Word made flesh, the invisible become visible; and that this signifies that after the end and completion of all the things that were to be done in regard to that people has come, then it passes over and comes to him whom formerly it did not believe to be the Word made flesh. “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Send men and let them view the land of the Canaanites, which I [give] to the sons of Israel as a possession,” and so on; where it is related of the spies of the land, who were sent and report that the land is indeed good and wonderful, but that the sons of giants live in it, in whose sight the people of God seem like locusts. And most despair of being saved from the sons of giants; Jesus, however, does not despair, but strengthens the faith of the people together with Caleb, who is of the tribe of Judah, and they say: “If God loves us, he will bring us into this land.” What, then, is this land according to the spiritual understanding, which is indeed a holy land and a good land, but is inhabited by the ungodly? Who are these enemies who live in the land of the saints? And how are they to be cast out, so that, once they are cast out, the saints may take their place? Let us go back to the Gospels; let us go back to the Apostle. The Gospels promise the saints the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle says: “But our citizenship is in heaven.” In heaven, then, is the place of inheritance that is promised to the saints. And do we think that there is now no adversary in these places promised to you, whom you must drive out from there by fighting, so that you may fly up free to the places promised you? And how is it that the Lord says that from the days of John the Baptist “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force”? For unless there were those against whom violence is done, there would never be those who must be driven and thrust out from there, and it would never be said that the kingdom of heaven is to be seized by force. And unless there were those with whom we have a contest and battle, the Apostle would never say: “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Of these too, it seems, we should understand that saying of God divinely spoken through the prophet, where he says: “And my sword has been made drunk in heaven.” It is necessary, then, that the spiritual forces of wickedness which are said to be in the heavenly places, and who are the true Canaanites, be conquered by you, so that you may pass unhindered to the heavenly kingdoms and dwell there in their place. Know, however, that they are giants. Everyone who resists God is called a giant. Whoever, then, opposes God and is contrary to the truth, which they do above all, is rightly called a giant. It is granted to you, then, to enter, after defeating the giants, the kingdom they lost, so that what is written may be fulfilled: “Who will take the spoils from a giant?” Hence the Lord too said in the Gospel: “No one can enter the house of the strong man and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man.” Although he has already been cast out of the heavenly house because of his pride, still, unless you conquer him, you will not enter the house of the strong man. And he must not only be conquered but also bound; for unless he is bound, our journey could by no means be safe. Now, then, as far as the comparison of human and demonic nature goes, we are locusts and they are giants; and especially if our faith is doubtful, and if unbelief terrifies us, they will truly be giants and we locusts. But if we follow Jesus and believe his words and are filled with his faith, they will be as nothing in our sight. For hear how he exhorts us and says: “If God loves us, he will bring us into this land, for it is good and its fruit is wonderful.” So the type and figure that went before in the fathers is fulfilled in us. They conquered nations and obtained their inheritance; for they obtained the whole land of Judea, the city of Jerusalem, and Mount Zion. These things were fulfilled in them; but what is said to you? “You have not come,” it says, “to things that are visible, but to things invisible. For you have come,” it says, “to the mountain of the living God, and to the heavenly city Jerusalem, and to a multitude of angels.” And elsewhere the same Apostle says: “But the Jerusalem above, which is the mother of us all.” If anyone does not give credence to the words of the Apostle saying that Jerusalem is heavenly, he may also reject these words of ours. But if credence must be given to Paul's words, as it certainly must, and we believe that there is a heavenly Jerusalem after the type of this earthly one, we shall more rightly refer what seems to be written of this earthly one to that heavenly one by spiritual understanding. We have come, then, as Paul says, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and doubtless also to the heavenly Judea; and as they cast the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the other nations out of the earthly Judea, so we who have come to the mountain of God and to the heavenly kingdoms must vanquish the opposing powers and the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places; and as they cast the Jebusite out of Jerusalem, and the city that had first been called Jebus was afterwards named Jerusalem, so we too must, so to speak, first expel the Jebusite from Jerusalem and so obtain his inheritance. But they did these things with visible arms, and we with invisible; they conquered in bodily battles, but we overcome in spiritual combat. ### Scripture references - Num 12:16: quotation, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence - Num 13:2: quotation, high confidence - Num 13:27: allusion, high confidence - Num 13:33: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:6: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:8: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Isa 34:5: quotation, high confidence - Isa 49:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:29: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:18: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 12:22: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:26: quotation, high confidence - Josh 15:63: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Chr 11:4: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Origen plays on the name: Joshua son of Nun and Jesus are the same name in Greek and Latin (Iesus); here “Jesus” is Joshua, who with Caleb encourages the people, and the next sentences apply this to Jesus Christ. The conquest is read allegorically as spiritual warfare. “My sword has been made drunk in heaven” is Isa 34:5; “Who will take the spoils from a giant?” is Isa 49:24 in the Greek. The etymologies of Hazeroth and Paran are traditional. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.5 (PG 12:617b–619d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 7.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-6 - Source: PG 12:619d–620d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Armed with Paul's spiritual armor and following Jesus, believers can overcome the demonic “giants,” who grow weaker as Christians grow in holiness. ### Latin text Quod si vis audire, Paulus, qui non solum magister gentium, sed et militiae hujus magister est, quomodo pugnaverit. prior, audi quid ipse de se scrihat, sicut etiam et supra memoravimus. ε Non est, inquit", nobis colluctatio adversum carnem et sanguinem; sed adversum principatus et potestates, adversus rectores mundi hujus, tenebrarum harum, adversus spiritalia nequitiae in caelestibus. Propterea et hanc pugnam spiritalem atque invisibile!!! pugnaturis, spiritalia arma, etinvisibilia tela componit, et dicit : Induite vos loricam eltaritatis, et galeam salutis, et assumite scutum fidei, inquo possitis omnia ιε Ia maligni ignita exstinguere. Sed et gladium spiritus, inquit, assumite, quodest verbum Dei. Cum ergo talibus te armaveris telis, sequens Jesum ducent, non verearis gigantes illos: videbis enim quomodo eos tibi subjiciet Dominus Jesus: et sicut patres calcaverunt cervices gentium, ita et tu calcabis super cervices damonum. Ipse enim dicit iis, qui eum fideliter sequuti: tur ε ‹ Ecce dedi vobis potestatem caleandi super serpentes, et scorpiones, et super omnem virtute inimici. Vult enim semper Jesus res mirabiles fa; cere, vult de locustis vincere gigantes, et de iis qua in terris sunt, cmlestes superare nequitias. Et fortasse hoc est quod dicebat in Evangeliis”, quia qui credit in eum, non solum faciet illa quae ipse fecit, sed majora, inquit, horum faciet. › Vere enim majus mihi videtur quod homo in carne positus, fragilis, et caducus, fide tantum Christi et verbo ejus armatus, superet gigantes, danuouum legiones. Quamvis ipse sit qui vincit in nobis, plus tamen esse dicit quod per nos vincit, quam quod per se vincit. Tantum est ut nos armis istis semper simus armati, et conversatio nostra semper in coctis sit. 0mnis motus noster, omnis actus, omnis cogitatio, sermo caelestis sit. Quanto enim nos illuc ardentius ascendimus, tanto illi praecipitandus ruent: et quanto nos magis augetnur, tanto illi res fient. Vita nostra si sancta sit, si secundum Deum sit, illis conferet mortem. Si segnis et luxuriosa sit, potentes eos adversum nos et gigantes faet. Quanto ergo nos virtutibus crescimus, [aulo li inferiores etliciuntur et fragiles. Sicut econtrario si nos inlirinemnr et terrena requiramus, illi fortiores fiunt, Et quanto nos dilatantur in terris. tanto illis Spatia in coelestibus largiora concedimus. Unde hoc magis agamus, ut nobis augescentibus, illi minuantur; nobis ingredientibus, illi pellantur : nobis ascendentibus, illi cadant : sicutet ille cecidit, de quo dicit Dominus in Evangelia ’σε Ecce vidi Satanam sicut fulgur cadentem de coelo; ut illis projectis, introducat nos illuc Dominus uoster Jesus, et percipere regnum suum cceleste concedat. Ipsi gloria in aeterna saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) If you wish to hear how Paul, who is the teacher not only of the Gentiles but also of this warfare, fought first, hear what he writes of himself, as we also recalled above: “Our wrestling,” he says, “is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world, of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Therefore, for those who are to fight this spiritual and invisible fight, he also provides spiritual arms and invisible weapons, and says: “Put on the breastplate of love and the helmet of salvation, and take up the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.” “And take up,” he says, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” When, then, you have armed yourself with such weapons, following Jesus as your leader, do not fear those giants; for you will see how the Lord Jesus will subject them to you; and as the fathers trampled on the necks of nations, so you too will trample on the necks of demons. For he himself says to those who follow him faithfully: “Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.” For Jesus always wishes to do wonderful things: he wishes to conquer giants by means of locusts, and to overcome the heavenly forces of wickedness by means of those who are on earth. And perhaps this is what he said in the Gospels, that whoever believes in him will do not only the things he himself did, but “greater than these,” he says, “he will do.” For truly it seems greater to me that a man placed in the flesh, frail and perishable, armed only with faith in Christ and with his word, should overcome giants, legions of demons. Although it is he himself who conquers in us, he nevertheless says that it is something greater that he conquers through us than that he conquers by himself. Only let us always be armed with these weapons, and let our way of life always be in heaven. Let our every movement, every act, every thought, every word be heavenly. For the more ardently we ascend there, the more headlong they will fall; and the more we are increased, the more they will be diminished. If our life is holy, if it is according to God, it will bring them death. If it is slothful and self-indulgent, it will make them powerful against us and giants. So the more we grow in virtues, the more they become inferior and weak; just as, on the contrary, if we grow weak and seek earthly things, they become stronger. And the more we spread ourselves on earth, the wider the spaces we grant them in the heavenly places. So let us rather do this: that as we increase, they decrease; as we enter, they are driven out; as we ascend, they fall, as he too fell of whom the Lord says in the Gospel: “Behold, I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven”; so that, when they have been cast down, our Lord Jesus may bring us in there and grant us to receive his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for eternal ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Eph 6:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:17: quotation, high confidence - Josh 10:24: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 10:19: quotation, high confidence - John 14:12: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:18: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The armor combines 1 Thess 5:8 and Eph 6:16–17. The trampling of necks recalls Josh 10:24. Words lost at a line start (“the more they will be diminished”) are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 7.6 (PG 12:619d–620d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/7-1/#p-7-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 8.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-8-1 - Source: PG 12:620d–624a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's threat after the spies' report shows Moses' intercession and foretells a new people, and the “year for a day” of punishment is explained as the long healing of repeated wounds of the soul, which repentance shortens. ### Latin text Duodecim missi suntinspectores ex filiis Israel ad considerandam terrannquae eis fuerat repromissa, iique post quadraginta dies regressi, diversa renuntiant. Nam decem ex iis in desperationem populum mittunt, ita ut velint, abjecto Moyse, eligere alium ducem et reverti in Egyptum. Alii vero duo bona nuntiant, et cohortantur populum permanere in lide, dicentes: ‹ Si diligit nos Dominus, introducet nos in terram hanc. Sed populus inlidelitatis desperatione praeceps agitur, et ad lapidatidos eos qui bona nuntiant, prosiliit. Majestas vero Domini protegit eos itt nubibus. ί Et dicit Dominus ad Moysen : Feriam eos morte, et interimam eos, et faciam te, et domum patris tui in nationem ntagnam, et multo magis quam haec est. › Fit ergo tanta haec comminatio a Domino, non ut passibilis et iracundia: vitio subiacens ostendatur divina natura, sed ut per bmc et Mosei charitas , quam erga populum habebat, et Dei bonitas, quae super omnem malum agentem est, innotesceret. Scribitur enim irasci Deus, et comminari interitum populo, quo doceatur homo tantum sibi esse apud Deum loci, tantumque fiduciae, ut etiamsi sit aliqua in Deo indignatio. obsecrationibus mitigetur humanis : tantumque de eo impetrare posse hominem, ut et propria statuta convertat. Bonitas enim , quae subsequitur iracundiam , et Mosei liduciam ostendit apud Deum, et alienam ab iracundia: vitio divinam docet esse naturam. Simul et mysteé rium in seculis futuris explendum continet sermo, per quem promittit Deus quod alium populum, hoc ϐ abjecto, resuscitet. Ait enim : Percutiam eos morte, et perdam eos, et faciam te et domum patris tui in nationem magnam, multo magis quam lucc εει.» Comminatio ergo haec non est iracundia, sed prophetia. Assumenda namque erat alia natio, id est populus iste nationum, sed non per Moysen. Excusavit namque se Moyses. Sciebat enim quia gens illa magna, quae repromittitur, non per Moysen vocanda erat, sed per Jesum Christum, et non Mosaicus, sed Christianus erat pepulus appellandus. ldcirco igitur plurimum exorat Moyses pro pepulo illo. Dominus vero modum correptionis librata moderatione dispensat, et dicit, quia viri quidem,qui exierunt de Egypto, et tentaverunt me, atque increduli permanserunt, cadent in deserto hoc, et non videbunt, inquit 9’, terram, quam juravi patribus eormn : sed lilii ipsorum, qui sunt mecum hic, quicunque ignorant bonum vel malum. Sit fortassis aliquid etiam secretioris mysterii in verbis Domini dicentis: Filii eorum, qui sunt mecum hic. Ubi hic? aut quomodo mecum?Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat. Nos interim dicimus quia patres nostri fuerunt ille populus prior, nos autem lilii ipsorum smnus. llli ergo quoniam peccaverunt, abjecti sunt et ceciderunt : nos autem lilii ipsorum pro ipsis surreximus, et erecti sumus. qui nesciebamus bonum vel malum. Ex gentibus enim sumus, qui neque bona, quae ex Deo veniunt, noveramus, neque mala, quae ex peccato generantur: si tamen succedentes in locum eorum qui abjecti sunt, tanti lapsus timeamus exemplum, audientes commonitionem Pauli dicentem 9‘: ‹ Vide autem severitatem et bonitatem Dei, in eos quidem qui ceciderunt severitatem, in te autem bonitatem, si tamen pera manseris in bonitate. Alioquin et tu excideris, et illisi non permanserint in incredulitate, inserentur. Addit autem post haec Dominus, et dicit 9" : ί Filii … erunt in deserto quadraginta annis. Et quid haberet mysterii numerus iste, declarat, dicens : Secundum numerum, inquit“, dierum quibus considerastis terram quadraginta diebus, pro die per annum, recipietis peccata vestra quadraginta annis. Timeo ego mysterii ltujus secreta discutere. Video enim quod peccatorum in hoc ratio comprehenditur et pmnarum. Si enim unicuique peccatori annus ascribitur ad poenam pro unius diei peccato, et secundum rationem dierum quibus peccatur, annorum totidem numerus in suppliciis consumendus est : vereor ne forte nobis, qui quotidie peccamus et nullum forte vitae nostra: diem absque peccato transigimus, ne ipsa forte satcula, autetiam saecula saeculorum sulIicere possint ad pmnas luendas. ln eo enim quod populus ille prior pro quadraginta dierum delicto quadraginta annis cruciatur in deserto, nec terram sanctam introire permittitur, similitudo quazdam futuri- judicii videtur ostendi, ubi peccatorum ratio discutienda est; nisi erit aliqua fortasse etiam bonorum operum compensatio, vel etiam eorum quae in vita sua unusquisque mala recipit, utAbraham de Lazaro docuit ’. Sed haec nullius est ad integrum nosse, nisi illius cui omne judicium tradidit Pater. Quod autem dies peccati in annum poena: repntetur, non solum in hoc libro, in quo nihil omnino est quod dubitari possit, ostenditur, sed et in libello Pastoo ris, si cui tamen scriptura illa recipienda videtur, similia designantur. Sed fortasse aliquis neget bonitati Dei convenire, ut pro unius diei peccato annum suppliciorum rependat : quinimo dicet, Etiamsi diem pro die reddat, quamvis justus, non tamen clemens videtur esse aut benignus. Audi ergo ad hare, si forte possimus diliicultatem rei exempiis lucidioribus explanare. Si vulnus corpori ini fligatur, aut os confringatur, aut nervorumjuuctura resolvatur, sub unius hora: spatio hnjnsmodi vulnera solent corporibus accidere, et plurimis postmodum cruciatibus ac doloribus exactis, multo vix tempore sanari; quanti enim tumores in loco, quanta tormenta generantur? Jatn vero si accidat, . ut in eodem vulnere, vel in eadem fractura iterum et saepius quis vulneretur, frequentiusque frangatur, quantis hoc poenis curari, et quantis potest cruciatibus medicari ?Quauto autem tempore, si tamen potuerit, ad sanitatem perducitur ? et vix aliquando ita curabitur, ut vel debilitatem corporis, vel fmditatem cicatricis effugiat. Transi nunc ab exemplo corporis ad anima: vulnera. Anima quoties peccat, toties vulneratur. Et ne dubites peccatis eam velut telis et gladiis vulnerari, audi Apostolum monentem ut assumamus σ scutum fidei, in quo possitis, inquit, omnia jacula maligni ignita exstinguere. Vides ergo peccata maligni essejacula, quae in animam diriguntur. Patitur autem et anima non solum vulnera jaculornm, sed et fracturas pedum, cum laquei parantur pedibus ejus, et supplantantur gressus ejus. Haec ergo et hujusmodi vulnera quanto tempore putas posse curari ἲ Ο si possemus per unumquodque peccatum videre quomodo homo noster interior assidue vulneratur, quomodo sermo malus vulnus infligit! Non legisti ’3'”: quia vulnerant gladii, sed non ita ut lingua τ Vulneratur ergo per linguam anima, vulneratur et per cogitationes et concupiscentias malas, frangitur autem et conteritur per opera peccati. Qua: si omnia ο videre possemus, et vulnerata: animae sentire cicatrices, certum est quod usque ad mortem resisteremus adversum peceatum. Sed nunc sicut ii qui vel daemone repleti, vel mente alienati sunt, non scntiunt si vulnerentur, quia naturalibus sensibus carent : ita et nos vel cupiditatibus saeculi amentes efl‘ecti, vel vitiis inebriati, sentire non possumus quanta vulnera, quantas contritiones animae peccando conquirimus. Et ideo eonsequentissima ratio est ptente, id est curae ac medicationis tempus extendi, et per unumquodque vulnus pro qualitate plaga: medendi quoque spatia propagari. Sic ergo et Dei aquilas ae benignitas etiam in ipsis animae suppliciis evidens liet : et haec audiens, qui peceavit, resipiscat, et ultra non peccet. Couversio enim in praesenti vita, et pteniteutia fructuose gesta, celerem confert huiusmodi vulneribus medicinam, quia paenitentia non solum vulnus praeteritum sanat, sed et ultra animam peccato non sinit vulnerari. lmo et illud adjiciam : verbi causa, si peccator sum, nunquid eadem mihi erit poena si semel peccavi, quae et si secundo, et tertio, et si frequentius peccem? non ita erit : sed pro modo, et uutuero, et mensura peccati, etia’m poena: quantitas metienda est. Deus enim dabit t nobis panem lacrymarqu et potabit nos in lacrymis, sed ε in mensura . Mensura autem haec erit, quam sibi in hac vita Unusquisque vel minus vel amplius peccando qutrsierit. Sed et calix in manu Domini vini meti plenus esse dicitur misto . υ Miscebitur ergo sine dubio unicuique, et flet judicium ejus non solum ei. malis quas gessit, sed etiam ex bonis. Et tamen cum utraque misceantur, far: ejus, quam ego puto malorum partem dici, non ad integrum exinanistur. Sed limc, ut diximus, iu manu Dei sunt, uostrum autem est ad emendationem citius festinare, ad paenitentiam sine dissimulatione converti, lnge. re praeterita, cavere futura, invocare auxilium Dei; statim enim ut conversus ingemueris, salvus eris. Invenies enim advocatum, qui pro te interpellat Patrem, Dominum Jesunt Christum, multo [ιι-πειθηtiorem quam fuit Moyses, qui tamen oravit pro po. pulo illo, etexauditus est.’ Et fortasse prepterea Moyses scribitur intervenisse pro peccatis populi prioris, et impetrasse veniam, ut multo magis nos confidamus, quod advocatus uoster Jesus indubitatam nobis veniam impetrabit a Patre : si tamen convertamur ad eum, etnon recedat retro eor nostrum, sicut et Jonnnes in Epistola sua dicit': Haec autem dico, filioli, utnon peccetis. Quod et si peccaverit aliquis vestrum, habemus advocatum apud Patrem, Jesum justum, qui interpellat pra peccatis nostris. Ipsi gloria in aeterna saecula siceuloruut. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Twelve inspectors were sent from the sons of Israel to view the land that had been promised them, and after forty days they returned and brought differing reports. Ten of them drove the people to despair, so that they wished to cast off Moses, choose another leader, and return to Egypt. But the other two brought good news and urged the people to remain in faith, saying: “If the Lord loves us, he will bring us into this land.” But the people, driven headlong by the despair of unbelief, rushed out to stone those who brought good news. But the majesty of the Lord protected them in the clouds. “And the Lord says to Moses: I will strike them with death and destroy them, and I will make you and your father's house into a great nation, much greater than this one.” So great a threat is made by the Lord, then, not to show that the divine nature is subject to passion and to the vice of anger, but so that through these things both the love that Moses had toward the people and the goodness of God, which is above everyone who does evil, might become known. For God is written to be angry and to threaten the people with destruction so that man may be taught that he has so much standing with God and so much confidence that, even if there is some indignation in God, it may be softened by human entreaties; and that man can obtain so much from him that he even changes his own decrees. For the goodness that follows the anger both shows Moses' confidence with God and teaches that the divine nature is free from the vice of anger. At the same time the passage contains a mystery to be fulfilled in the ages to come, by which God promises that, when this people has been cast off, he will raise up another people. For he says: “I will strike them with death and destroy them, and I will make you and your father's house into a great nation, much greater than this one.” This threat, then, is not anger but prophecy. For another nation was to be taken up, that is, this people from the nations, but not through Moses. For Moses excused himself; he knew that the great nation which is promised was to be called not through Moses but through Jesus Christ, and that the people was to be called not Mosaic but Christian. That is why Moses pleads so earnestly for that people. But the Lord dispenses the measure of rebuke with balanced moderation, and says that the men who came out of Egypt and tempted me and remained unbelieving “shall fall in this desert, and shall not see,” he says, “the land which I swore to their fathers; but their sons, who are here with me, as many as do not know good or evil.” There may perhaps be something of a more secret mystery too in the Lord's words, “their sons, who are here with me.” Where is “here”? Or how “with me”? He who has ears to hear, let him hear. For our part we say meanwhile that that former people were our fathers, and that we are their sons. They, then, because they sinned, were cast off and fell; but we, their sons, who did not know good or evil, have risen in their place and been raised up. For we are from the Gentiles, who knew neither the good things that come from God nor the evil things that are born of sin; provided, however, that, succeeding to the place of those who were cast off, we fear the example of so great a fall, hearing Paul's admonition: “See, then, the severity and the goodness of God: severity toward those who fell, but goodness toward you, provided you remain in his goodness; otherwise you too will be cut off. And they, if they do not remain in unbelief, will be grafted in.” And after this the Lord adds and says: “Your sons shall be … in the desert forty years.” And he declares what mystery this number holds, saying: “According to the number of the days in which you viewed the land, forty days, a year for a day, you shall bear your sins forty years.” I am afraid to discuss the secrets of this mystery. For I see that in it is contained the reckoning of sins and of punishments. For if for each sinner a year of punishment is assigned for one day's sin, and the same number of years must be spent in punishments as the count of days on which one sins, I fear that for us, who sin daily and perhaps pass no day of our life without sin, not even the ages themselves, or even the ages of ages, may suffice for paying the penalties. For in the fact that that former people is tormented in the desert forty years for a forty-day offense and is not allowed to enter the holy land, a certain likeness of the future judgment seems to be shown, where the account of sins is to be examined; unless perhaps there will also be some offsetting by good works, or also by the evils each one receives in his life, as Abraham taught concerning Lazarus. But to know these things fully belongs to no one except him to whom the Father has given all judgment. That a day of sin is reckoned as a year of punishment is shown not only in this book, in which there is nothing at all that can be doubted, but similar things are also indicated in the little book of the Shepherd, if indeed that writing seems to anyone fit to be received. But perhaps someone may deny that it befits the goodness of God to repay a year of punishments for one day's sin; indeed he will say: “Even if he repaid a day for a day, he might be just, but he would not seem merciful or kind.” Hear, then, in answer to this, whether perhaps we can explain the difficulty of the matter by clearer examples. If a wound is inflicted on the body, or a bone is broken, or the joint of the sinews is dislocated, injuries of this kind usually befall bodies within the space of an hour, and afterward, after many torments and pains have been undergone, they are scarcely healed in a long time; for how many swellings arise in the place, how many torments! But if it happens that someone is wounded again and again in the same wound, or broken more often in the same fracture, with what pains can this be cured, with what torments can it be treated? How long will it take, if indeed it can be done at all, to bring it back to health? And it will scarcely ever be so cured as to escape either weakness of the body or the ugliness of a scar. Pass now from the example of the body to the wounds of the soul. As often as the soul sins, so often is it wounded. And lest you doubt that it is wounded by sins as by darts and swords, hear the Apostle urging us to take up “the shield of faith, with which,” he says, “you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.” You see, then, that sins are the darts of the evil one, which are aimed at the soul. And the soul suffers not only the wounds of darts but also fractures of the feet, when snares are laid for its feet and its steps are tripped. How long do you think these and similar wounds can take to be cured? O, if we could see, through each sin, how our inner man is constantly wounded, how an evil word inflicts a wound! Have you not read that “swords wound, but not as the tongue does”? The soul, then, is wounded through the tongue; it is wounded also through evil thoughts and desires; and it is broken and crushed through works of sin. If we could see all these things and feel the scars of the wounded soul, it is certain that we would resist sin to the death. But now, just as those who are filled with a demon or out of their mind do not feel when they are wounded, because they lack their natural senses, so we too, made mad by the desires of the world or drunk with vices, cannot feel how many wounds, how many bruises of the soul we acquire by sinning. And therefore it is entirely reasonable that the time of punishment, that is, of care and healing, should be extended, and that for each wound the time of healing should be lengthened according to the nature of the blow. In this way God's fairness and kindness become evident even in the very punishments of the soul; and let him who has sinned, hearing this, come to his senses and sin no more. For conversion in the present life and repentance fruitfully carried out bring swift healing to such wounds, since repentance not only heals the past wound but also does not allow the soul to be wounded by sin any further. Indeed I will add this too: if, for example, I am a sinner, will my punishment be the same if I have sinned once as if I sin a second and a third time, and more often? It will not be so; rather, the quantity of punishment too is to be measured according to the manner, number, and measure of the sin. For God “will give us the bread of tears and give us tears to drink,” but “in measure.” And this measure will be what each has sought for himself in this life by sinning less or more. And the cup in the Lord's hand is said to be full of unmixed wine, mixed. It will doubtless be mixed for each, and his judgment will be made not only from the evil things he has done but also from the good. And yet, though both are mixed, its dregs, which I think are called the share of the evils, are not wholly emptied out. But these things, as we said, are in God's hand; it is ours to hasten more quickly to amendment, to turn to repentance without pretense, to mourn the past, guard against the future, and call on the help of God; for as soon as you have turned and groaned you will be saved. For you will find an advocate who intercedes for you with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, far more powerful than Moses was, who nevertheless prayed for that people and was heard. And perhaps Moses is written to have interceded for the sins of the former people and to have obtained pardon so that we may trust much more that our advocate Jesus will obtain for us undoubted pardon from the Father, provided we turn to him and our heart does not draw back; as John too says in his letter: “I say these things, little children, so that you may not sin. But if any of you sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus the righteous, who intercedes for our sins.” To him be glory for eternal ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 13:25: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:4: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:8: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:10: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:12: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:13: allusion, medium confidence - Num 14:22: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:23: quotation, high confidence - Deut 1:39: echo, medium confidence - Matt 11:15: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:23: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:33: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:34: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:25: allusion, high confidence - John 5:22: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:16: quotation, high confidence - Ps 80:5 (79:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 75:8 (74:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 30:15: allusion, medium confidence - 1 John 2:1: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Herm. Sim. 6.4.4 (Shepherd of Hermas: Similitudes): allusion, high confidence - Sir 28:18 (Sirach): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - “Their sons, who are here with me, as many as do not know good or evil” is the Greek of Num 14:23. The Shepherd is Hermas, Similitude 6.4, where a day of luxury is repaid with a year of punishment; Origen's hesitation about its standing is as printed. “Swords wound, but not as the tongue does” is close to Sirach 28:18. Ps 80:5 (LXX 79:6) and Ps 75:8 (LXX 74:9) are cited; “as soon as you have turned and groaned you will be saved” echoes the Greek of Isa 30:15. Words of Num 14:33 garbled in the scan are left as “…”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 8.1 (PG 12:620d–624a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-8-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-1 - Source: PG 12:624a–626b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The censers of Korah's rebels, hammered into plates for the altar, teach that scriptural truths found in heretics' words are not to be discarded, and that heresy, set beside the church's faith, makes the truth shine more clearly. ### Latin text Apud Deum, ut intelligi datur, nihil est inp utile, nihil otiosum, sed et ea quae horninibus alienanda videntur et abjieienda, aliquid operis necessarii habere inveniuntur. Hunc autem nobis ἰιιιι-Ιleetum suggerit praesens lectio, quae de batillis Core, et reliquorum qui cum ipso peccaverunt, ωιυ· memorat, quod ne haec quidem jubet abjici Deus, sed fieri ex eis laminas ductiles atque ex iis altare circumdari. Refert ergo Scriptura, quia ex priccepto Dei, t accepit, inquit 5, Eleazar filius Aaron sacerdotis batilla aerea, quae obtulerunt ii qui cxusti sunt, et fecerunt ex eis circulos, et apposuerunt eos altari, ad commemorationem filiorum ιε. rael, ut non accedat quisquam alienigena, qui nou est ex semine Aaron, imponere incensum coram Domino, ne fiat sicut Core, et cOnSpiratio ejus sieut locutus est Dominus in manu Moysi. flanifeste quodam in loco Dominus per prophetam dicit “ : Non sunt consilia mea sicut consilia vestra. nec cogitationes meai sicut cogitationes vestrae.- Si apud homines ltodie judicaretur haec causa, et apud Ecclesiarum principes haberetur examen de iis, verbi causa, qui diversa ab Ecclesiis dormites divinae vindictae pertulerint ultionem, nonne judicarent, ut si quid locuti sunt, si quid docuerunt, si quid etiam scriptum reliquerunt, universa pariter cum ipsorum cineribus deperirent? Sed non sunt judicia Dei sicut judicia nostra. Audi enim quomodo de batillis eorum, qui contra prophetam Dei insurrexerant, jubentur fieri lantinze, et in circuitu altaris afiigi. Core figuram tenet eorum, qui COIItra ecclesiasticam fidem et doctrinam veritatis insurgunt. Scriptum est ergo de Core, et de creta , ejus, quod in batillis aereis incensum obtulerint ignis alieni. Et jubetur quidem a Deo ignis alienus dispergi et effundi : allatilla vero, inquit", quia sanctificata sunt, facito ea laminas ductiles, et circumda ex eis altare, quia oblata'sunt coram Domino, et sanctificata sunt.» Hoc ergo milii per lianc figuram videtur ostendi, quod batilla ista, quae Scriptura nominat aerea, figuram teneant Scriptume divinte. Cui Scriptura: literetici ignem alienum imponentes, hoc est sensum et intelligentiam alienam a Deo, et veritati contrariam introducentes, incensum Domino non suave, sed exsecrabile offerunt. Et ideo forma Ecclesiarum sacerdotibus datur; ut si quando tale aliquid fuerit exortum, ea quidem quae a veritate aliena sunt, ab Ecclesia Dei penitus abstrudantur : si qua autem etiam in ipsis haereticorum verbis Scriptura: diviιιιε sensibus inveniuntur inserta, ne pariter cum illis quae fidei et veritati sunt contraria, respuantur; sauctificata sunt enim qum de Scriptura divina proferuntur, et Domino oblata. Potest autem et alio adhuc modo intelligi quod de batillis prmcipitttr peceatorum, ut junguntur et socientur altari. Et ρ primo hoc ipsum quod azrca dicuntur, non otiosum videbitur. Ubi enim vera fides est, et integra verbi Dei pnedicatio, aut argentea dicuntur aut aurea : ut fulgor auri declaret fidei puritatem, et argentum igne probatum, eloquia examinata significet. Ista ergo quae dicuntur terea, in sono tantum vocis cousistunt, non in virtute spiritus, et sunt, ut Apostolus dicit , ‹ ιιι mratnentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens. Ista ergo batilla cerea, id est haereticortun voces, si adhibeamus ad altare Dei, tibi divinus ignis e~t, ubi vera Dei praedicatio, melius ipsa veritas ex falsorum comparatione fulgebit. Si enim, ttt verbi gratia dicant, ponam dicta Marcionis, aut Basilidis, aut alterius cujuslibet haeretici, et haec sermonibus veritatis ac Scripturarum divinarum testimoniis. velut divini altaris igne confutem, noune evidentior eorum ex ipsa comparatione apparebit impietas? Nam si doctrina ecclesi..stica simplex esset, et nullis intrinsecus haereticorum dogmatum assertionibus cingeretur, non poterat tam clara, et tam examinata videri fides nostra. Sed idcirco doctrinam catholicam contradicentium obsidet oppugnatio, ut fides nostra non otio torpescat sed exercitiis elimetur. Propter boc denique et Aposmlus dicebat’ : Oportet autem et haereses esse, υι Probati quique manifesti fiant inter vos. Hoc est dicere, Oportet haereticorum batillis altare circumdari, ut certa et manifesta omnibus fiat fidelium atque infideliunt differentia. Cum enim lides ecclesiastica velut aurum cmperit refulgere, et pra:dicatio ejus ut argentum igne probatum intuentibus resplendnerit : tunc majore cum turpitudine et dea decore haereticorum voces obscuri acris vilitate sordebunt. Vis autem scire quod quae bona sunt, bona esse ex deteriorum magis comparatione noscuntur? Quis sciret bonam esse lucem, nisi noctis tenebras sentiremus? Quis dulcedinem no ceret mellis, nisi gustum amaritudinis accepisset? Ipsum denique diabolum, et obluctantes adversum nos contrarias putestates si auferas, virtutes animi sine obluctante non potuerunt enitescere. Sic ergo et sacerdotum fidelium gloria non poterit resplendescere, nisi eam infidelium reprobatio et pmna commendet. Sed ex iis quae legimus, singuli quique justorum magis ex comparatione cancrorum clari videmur liabtti apud Deum. Denique de Noe scriptunt est ο, quod essetjustus et perfectus in generatione sua. In quo ostenditur quod non ex integro perfectus, sed in generatione sua perfectus fuerit, et ad comparationem ca'tcrorum justus pronuntiatus sit. Simili modo puto etiam de [λοι habendum. Quanto enim deteriores quotidie fiebant Sodomitas, tanto ille justior apparebat. Sed et in hoc ipso libro quem lta« bemus in manibus, cum ingrcssi essent ii qui ittspexerant terram , et decem ex iis meticulosis scrmonibusdesperationem populi iucussissent, duo vero reliqui, id est Caleb et Josue, bona nuntiarent, et hortarentur populum permanere in proponite, immortale eis a Domino meritum contulit non tantum sua confessio, quantum formido sodalium. Neque enim tam magnifice in eis virtus animi claruisset, nisi reliquorum decem turpis ignaviae formido patuisset. llaec autem diximus de batillis eorum qui condemnati sunt, quae altari jubentur af figi, quod ex comparatione inferiorum justi appareant clariores, simul ut et posteris daretur excinplum, ne qui prtesumptione superbi Spiritus non sibi a Deo datum munus pontificatus invaderet, scd ut illi Cedat, quem non ambitio humana, non fa vor corruptus ascivt'rit, nec largitio condemnanda subrogaverit, sed meritorum conscientia et Dei voluntas assutnpserit. ### English translation (Claude) With God, as we are given to understand, nothing is useless, nothing idle; even the things that men think should be put away and thrown out are found to have some necessary use. The present reading suggests this understanding to us, when it records concerning the censers of Korah and of the rest who sinned with him that God did not order even these to be thrown away, but that thin plates be made from them and the altar overlaid with them. The Scripture relates, then, that by God's command “Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest took the bronze censers which those who were burned had offered, and they made them into bands and attached them to the altar, as a memorial for the sons of Israel, that no foreigner who is not of the seed of Aaron should approach to put incense before the Lord, lest he become like Korah and his conspiracy, as the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.” Clearly the Lord says through the prophet in a certain place: “My counsels are not as your counsels, nor my thoughts as your thoughts.” If this case were judged today among men, and an inquiry were held before the leaders of the churches concerning, for example, those who, teaching things different from the churches, had suffered the punishment of divine vengeance, would they not judge that whatever they had said, whatever they had taught, whatever they had even left in writing, should all perish together with their ashes? But God's judgments are not like our judgments. For hear how plates are ordered to be made from the censers of those who had risen against God's prophet, and to be fixed around the altar. Korah bears the figure of those who rise up against the faith of the church and the doctrine of the truth. It is written, then, of Korah and his band that they offered incense of strange fire in bronze censers. And God orders the strange fire to be scattered and poured out; “but the censers,” he says, “because they have been sanctified, make into thin plates and overlay the altar with them, because they were offered before the Lord and have been sanctified.” This, then, seems to me to be shown through this figure: that these censers, which the Scripture calls bronze, bear the figure of the divine Scripture. Upon this Scripture the heretics put strange fire, that is, they bring in a meaning and understanding foreign to God and contrary to the truth, and so offer to the Lord incense that is not sweet but abominable. And therefore a pattern is given to the priests of the churches: if ever anything of the kind arises, the things foreign to the truth should be thrust out of the church of God entirely; but if any meanings of divine Scripture are found inserted even in the very words of the heretics, they should not be rejected together with the things contrary to faith and truth; for what is brought forward from the divine Scripture is sanctified and offered to the Lord. But the command about the censers of the sinners, that they be joined and attached to the altar, can also be understood in yet another way. And first, the very fact that they are called bronze will not seem idle. For where there is true faith and sound preaching of the word of God, they are called either silver or gold, so that the brightness of gold declares the purity of faith, and silver tried in the fire signifies tested words. But these which are called bronze consist only in the sound of the voice, not in the power of the Spirit, and are, as the Apostle says, “a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.” If, then, we bring these bronze censers, that is, the words of the heretics, to the altar of God, where the divine fire is, where the true preaching of God is, the truth itself will shine more brightly by comparison with falsehoods. For if, for example, I set out the sayings of Marcion, or of Basilides, or of any other heretic, and refute them with the words of truth and the testimonies of the divine Scriptures, as with the fire of the divine altar, will not their impiety appear more evident from the very comparison? For if the church's doctrine were simple and were not surrounded from without by any assertions of heretical dogmas, our faith could not appear so clear and so tested. But the catholic doctrine is besieged by the attack of those who contradict it precisely so that our faith may not grow sluggish with idleness but be polished by exercise. For this reason the Apostle too said: “There must be heresies, so that those who are approved may be made manifest among you.” That is to say: the altar must be surrounded by the censers of the heretics, so that the difference between the faithful and the unfaithful may become certain and manifest to all. For when the faith of the church has begun to shine like gold, and its preaching has gleamed to the onlookers like silver tried in the fire, then the words of the heretics will be all the fouler with the shame and disgrace of dark bronze. Do you wish to know that good things are recognized as good chiefly by comparison with worse ones? Who would know that light is good if we did not experience the darkness of night? Who would know the sweetness of honey if he had not tasted bitterness? Indeed, if you take away the devil himself and the opposing powers that struggle against us, the virtues of the soul could not shine without an opponent. So too the glory of faithful priests cannot shine forth unless the rejection and punishment of the unfaithful commend it. And from what we read, each of the righteous seems to be held more illustrious before God by comparison with the rest. Indeed it is written of Noah that he was righteous and perfect in his generation. In this it is shown that he was perfect not absolutely but in his generation, and was declared righteous in comparison with the others. In a similar way I think it should be held of Lot too: the worse the Sodomites became each day, the more righteous he appeared. And in this very book which we have in hand, when those who had viewed the land had returned, and ten of them had struck the people with despair by their fearful words, while the remaining two, that is, Caleb and Joshua, brought good news and urged the people to remain in their purpose, it was not so much their own confession that won them immortal merit from the Lord as the fear of their companions. For the virtue of their soul would not have shone out so magnificently in them had the shameful cowardice of the other ten not been made plain. We have said these things about the censers of those who were condemned, which are ordered to be fixed to the altar, because the righteous appear more illustrious by comparison with inferiors; and at the same time so that an example might be given to posterity, that no one, out of the presumption of a proud spirit, should seize the office of high priest not given him by God, but should yield to the one whom no human ambition, no corrupt favor has chosen, and no condemnable bribery has put in place, but whom a good conscience of merits and the will of God have taken up. ### Scripture references - Num 16:39 (17:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 16:40 (17:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 55:8: quotation, high confidence - Num 16:35: allusion, high confidence - Num 16:37 (17:2 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Num 16:38 (17:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 12:6 (11:7 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:19: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:9: quotation, high confidence - Gen 19:1: allusion, medium confidence - Num 14:6: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 16:37–40 is Num 17:2–5 in the Greek. Marcion and Basilides are named as examples of heretics; translated as written. The close of the section warns against seeking the priesthood by ambition, favor, or bribery. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.1 (PG 12:624a–626b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-2 - Source: PG 12:626b–627b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's glory appeared to Moses and Aaron only when the people rose against them, showing that persecution brings Christians God's grace and glory. ### Latin text Post haec refertur : «Et murmuraverunt, inquit “, filii Israel adversum Moysen et Aaron dicentes : Vos occidistis populum Domini. Et factum est cum irrueret synagoga super Moysen et Aaron, in impetu fugerunt ad tabernaculum testimonii. Illud vero obtexit nubes, et apparuit majestas Domini, et introivit Moyses et Aaron ad faciem tabernaculi testimonii. Non legimus antea quia obtexerit nubes tabernaculum, et apparuerit tnajestas Domini, et receperit intra nubent Moysen et Aaron, nisi nunc cum insurrexit in eos p0pulus, et lapidare eos "voluit. Discamus ex hoc quanta sit utilitas in perse- Cutionibus Christianis, quantum gratia: conferatur, quomodo prepuguator eis fiat Deus, quomodo abundanter sanctus Spiritus infundatur. Tunc enim maxime gratia Dei adest, cum hominum saevitia concitatur; et tunc pacem habemus apud Deum, cum ab hominibus propter justitiam bella perpetimur. α Ubi enim abundavit peccatum,superabundavit et gratia . Adoperuit ergo eos nube tabernaculi, et irruit synagoga super Moysen et Aaron, ct apparuit gloria Domini. Quamvis magni sint vitm merito Moyses et Aaron, quamvis animi virtutibus polleant, apparere tamen eis Dei gloria non potuisset, nisi in persecutionibus, in tribulationibus, in periculis , atque in ipsa pene mortejam positis. Et tu ergo non putes tibi dormienti et otioso apparere posse gloriam Dei. Aut non et Paulus apostolus in iis Dei gloriam consequi meruit? Nonne super omnes czrteros enumerat “ se in tribulationibus , in necessitatibus , in carceribus fuisse , ter virgis czesum , semel lapidatum esse, naufragia pertulisse, pericula maris, pericula fluminum, pericula latronum , pericula a falsis fratribus? Quae quanto magis abundant, tanto amplius iis qui patienter tulerint, conferunt gloriam Dei. ### English translation (Claude) After this it is related: “And the sons of Israel murmured,” it says, “against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the people of the Lord. And it happened, when the congregation rushed upon Moses and Aaron, that in the onrush they fled to the tabernacle of testimony. And the cloud covered it, and the majesty of the Lord appeared, and Moses and Aaron went in before the tabernacle of testimony.” We do not read before this that the cloud covered the tabernacle, that the majesty of the Lord appeared, and that it received Moses and Aaron within the cloud, except now, when the people rose against them and wanted to stone them. Let us learn from this how great is the benefit for Christians in persecutions, how much grace is bestowed, how God becomes their defender, how abundantly the Holy Spirit is poured out. For the grace of God is most present when the savagery of men is roused; and we have peace with God when we suffer wars from men for righteousness' sake. “For where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.” He covered them, then, with the cloud of the tabernacle, and the congregation rushed upon Moses and Aaron, and the glory of the Lord appeared. However great Moses and Aaron were in the merit of their life, however strong in the virtues of their soul, the glory of God could not have appeared to them except in persecutions, in tribulations, in dangers, and when they were already all but at the point of death. You too, then, must not think that the glory of God can appear to you while you sleep and are idle. Did not the apostle Paul too deserve to attain the glory of God in these things? Does he not enumerate that, above all the others, he was in tribulations, in hardships, in prisons, that he was three times beaten with rods, once stoned, that he suffered shipwrecks, dangers of the sea, dangers of rivers, dangers of robbers, dangers from false brothers? The more these abound, the more they bring the glory of God to those who have borne them patiently. ### Scripture references - Num 16:41 (17:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 16:42 (17:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 16:43 (17:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:10: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 5:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:23: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:25: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 16:41–43 is Num 17:6–8 in the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.2 (PG 12:626b–627b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-3 - Source: PG 12:627b–628b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses and Aaron, standing for the law and for intercession, saved all Israel; when the law moves us to repentance and prayer, God's anger is turned away. ### Latin text Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen ct Aaron, dicens : Discedite de medio synagOgae hujus, et interimam eos semel: et ceciderunt Moyses et Aaron in faciem suam . In Sodomis quidem quando ad minimum decem requirebantur , per quos vix si forte reperti essent, salvari possent ii qui habitabant pentapolim Sodomorum: nunc autem etiam duo, si tamen inveniantur tales qualis Moysesfuit et Aaron , sullicere possunt, ut gens lsraelitarum tota salvetur. Quid ergo dicemus amplius esse in iis duobus? Qua: tanta virtus , quod meritum, quo sexcenta tnillia et eo amplius liberentur ab interitu vastatoris? Ego arbitror quod in Moyse lex significetur , quae docet homines scientiam et amorem Dei: in Aaron supplicandi Deo, et obsecrandi eum forma consistat. Si ergo accidat aliquando indignari nobis vel universo p0pu|o Deum , et si jam sententia ultionis procedit a Domino, redeat autem lex Dei in cor nostrum commonens nos et docens converti ad pwnitentiam , satisfacere pro delictis , supplicare pro culpis: cessabit continuo iracundia, indignatio conquiescet, prepitiabitur Dominus, quasi Moyse et Aaron intercedentibus pro nobis , ct pro universo populo supplicantibus. Si vero aliquando oriatur indignatio Dei, et veniat pro peccatis nostris sava correptio; iudurentur autem corda nostra ne convertamur ad Dominum, neve humiliemur in con- Λ spectu ejus, ut in confessione supplicationum motus ejus et iracundiam mitigemus; sed econtrario dicamus, Non est cura Deo de vita mortalium, nec pertinent haec ad Deum , reliquit nos olim, nec ad notitiam ejus ista perveniunt : si talia cogitemus in cordibus nostris, et haec de ore nostro procedant, certum est non esse in nobis Moysen et Aaron, legis scilicet scientiam et fructus poenitentiae. per quos interitum imminentis exitii possimus evadere. Hoc puto accidisse etiam populo illi qui fuit ante nos, quando omnes declinaverunt, omnes simul inutiles facti sunt , et non fuit qui faceret bonitatem, non fuit usque ad unum. Si enim fuisset, nunquam utique dereliquisset eos Deus. Sed et nos tio meamus ne forte simile aliquid inveniatur in nobis. Timeo enim illam sententiam, in qua Dominus et Salvator noster, qui cuncta praenoscit, quasi dbitans dicit : t Putas veniens Filius hominis inveniet fidem super terram ‘3? Jubcntur ergo Moyses et Aaron exire de medio synagogae, ut interimatur synagoga de semel. Sed videamus quid isti faciunt, sancti sunt, perfecti sunt, et plus magis Evangelii discipuli quam legis , et ideo diligunt etiam inimicos suos, atque orant pro persecutoribus suis. illis enim saevientibus ut interficerent eos , isti procidunt in faciem suam super terram. ### English translation (Claude) “And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: Depart from the midst of this congregation, and I will destroy them at once. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.” In Sodom, at least ten were sought, through whom, if perhaps they were found, those who lived in the five cities of Sodom could scarcely be saved; but now even two, if only they are found to be such as Moses and Aaron were, can suffice for the whole nation of the Israelites to be saved. What greater thing, then, shall we say is in these two? What great virtue, what merit is there, that six hundred thousand and more should be delivered from the destruction of the destroyer? I think that in Moses is signified the law, which teaches men the knowledge and love of God, and that in Aaron consists the pattern of supplicating and entreating God. If, then, it ever happens that God is indignant with us or with the whole people, and the sentence of vengeance is already going forth from the Lord, but the law of God returns into our heart, admonishing us and teaching us to turn to repentance, to make satisfaction for our offenses, to supplicate for our faults: at once the anger will cease, the indignation will be calmed, and the Lord will be propitious, as if Moses and Aaron were interceding for us and supplicating for the whole people. But if at some time God's indignation arises, and a harsh rebuke comes for our sins, and our hearts are hardened so that we do not turn to the Lord, nor humble ourselves in his sight so as to soften his displeasure and anger by confession and supplication, but on the contrary we say, “God has no care for the life of mortals; these things do not concern God; he abandoned us long ago; these things do not come to his notice”: if we think such things in our hearts and these words come out of our mouth, it is certain that Moses and Aaron are not in us, that is, the knowledge of the law and the fruits of repentance, through which we could escape the destruction of impending ruin. I think this also happened to that people which was before us, when all turned aside, all together became useless, and there was none who did good, not even one. For if there had been, God would surely never have abandoned them. But let us too fear lest something similar be found in us. For I fear that saying in which our Lord and Saviour, who foreknows all things, says as if doubting: “Do you think the Son of Man, when he comes, will find faith on the earth?” Moses and Aaron, then, are ordered to go out from the midst of the congregation, so that the congregation may be destroyed at once. But let us see what they do: they are saints, they are perfect, and disciples more of the Gospel than of the law, and therefore they love even their enemies and pray for their persecutors. For while those raged to kill them, these fall on their faces on the ground. ### Scripture references - Num 16:45 (17:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 18:32: allusion, high confidence - Ps 14:3 (13:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 3:12: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 18:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:44: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 16:44–45 is Num 17:9–10 in the Greek. Lines of 9.4 (about heretics) that the OCR carried into this section have been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.3 (PG 12:627b–628b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-4 - Source: PG 12:628b–629a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Against heretics who say the God of the law is just but not good, Origen points to Moses and Aaron praying for their enemies, and teaches that the law understood spiritually is always a new testament. ### Latin text Et ait Moyses ad Aaron: Assume batillum, et impone super illud ignem ab altari, et injice illi incensum, et cfl‘er velociter in castra, et exora pro ipsis : exiit enim ira a conspectu Domini, et jam ccpit vastare populum '9. Verum quoniam in hos pervenimus locos , volo de bonitate Dei admonere discipulos Christi , ne quis forte vestrum ab bare ticis conturbetur si quando certamen inciderit, illis dicentibus quoniam Deus legis non est bonus , sed justus , et Moysis lex non bonitatem continet , sed justitiam. Videant ergo qui Deum pariter criminantur et legem, quomodo Moyses ipse et Aaron priores fecerunt hoc, quod postmodum Evangelium ὼ· cuit. Ecce diligit Moyses inimicas, et orat pro persecutoribus suis , quod utique Christus fieri in Evangeliis docet. Audite enim quomodo cadentes in faciem super terram orant pro illis, qui ad interficiendos eos insurrexerunt. Sic ergo invenitur et Evangelii virtus in lege , et fundamento legis subnixa intelliguntur Evangelia. Nec vetns testamentum nomino ego legem, psi eam spiritaliter ἰηιώὶgam. Illis tantummodo lex vetus eflicitur testamentum, qui eam carnaliter intelligere volunt. Et necessario illis vetus eifecta est, et senuit, quia vires suas non potest obtinere. Nobis autem , qui eam spiritaliter et evangelico sensu intelligimus et exponimus, semper nova est: et utrumque nobis novum testamentum est, non temporis relate , sed intelligentiae novitate. Annon et apostolus Joannes iu Epistola sua eadem sentit, cum dicit: Filioli , mandatum novum do vobis, ut invicem diligatis ὀἳ cum utique sciret olim datum esse mandatum dilectionis in lege. Sed quoniam Charitas nunquam cadit, nec mandatum cbaritatis aliquando veterascit, hoc quod numquam veterascit, semper novum esse pronuntiat. Semper enim observantes ct custodientes iu se cltaritatis mandatum novos reddit in spiritu. Peccatori autem et charitatis hedera non servanti , etiam Evangelia vetcrascunt. Nec potest ei novum esse testamentum, qui non deponit veterem hominem, et induitur novum, ac secundum Deum creatum. Hortatur ergo Moyses pontificem tnaguum, ut ol'l'erat incensum in castris , et exoret pro populo. Jam enim, inquit, vastari populus cmpit. lu spiritu videbat Moyses quae gerebantur. Vidit virtutem exisse ad castra, et vastare ac perimere peccatores; et propter hoc hortatur pontificem assumere batillum, ignem de altari imponere, atque incenso superiecto exire et stare inter medium mortuorum et vivorum , ne ultra procedat vastatio, vel certe, ut verius habet se Scriptura: sermo, coul‘ractio. ### English translation (Claude) “And Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and put fire on it from the altar, and put incense on it, and carry it quickly into the camp and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the presence of the Lord and has already begun to destroy the people.” But since we have come to these passages, I want to admonish the disciples of Christ about the goodness of God, lest any of you perhaps be troubled by heretics if a dispute should arise, when they say that the God of the law is not good but just, and that the law of Moses contains not goodness but justice. Let those who accuse God and the law alike see, then, how Moses himself and Aaron first did what the Gospel afterward taught. Behold, Moses loves his enemies and prays for his persecutors, which Christ certainly teaches in the Gospels should be done. For hear how, falling on their faces on the ground, they pray for those who rose up to kill them. Thus the power of the Gospel too is found in the law, and the Gospels are understood to rest on the foundation of the law. Nor do I call the law the Old Testament, if I understand it spiritually. The law becomes an Old Testament only for those who wish to understand it carnally; and for them it has necessarily become old and has aged, because it cannot keep its strength. But for us, who understand and expound it spiritually and in the sense of the Gospel, it is always new; and both are for us a New Testament, not by the age of time but by the newness of understanding. Does not the apostle John too think the same in his letter, when he says: “Little children, I give you a new commandment, that you love one another,” although he certainly knew that the commandment of love had been given long before in the law? But since love never fails, and the commandment of love never grows old, he declares that what never grows old is always new. For the commandment of love always makes new in spirit those who observe and keep it in themselves. But for the sinner who does not keep the covenants of love, even the Gospels grow old. Nor can the testament be new for one who does not put off the old man and put on the new, created according to God. Moses, then, urges the great high priest to offer incense in the camp and make atonement for the people. “For already,” he says, “the people has begun to be destroyed.” Moses saw in the Spirit what was happening. He saw that a power had gone out into the camp and was ravaging and slaying the sinners; and for this reason he urges the high priest to take the censer, put fire from the altar on it, and, with incense laid on top, go out and stand between the dead and the living, so that the destruction might go no further, or rather, as the wording of Scripture more accurately has it, the breaking. ### Scripture references - Num 16:46 (17:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:44: allusion, high confidence - Heb 8:13: allusion, high confidence - John 13:34: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:7: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:8: allusion, high confidence - Eph 4:22: allusion, high confidence - Eph 4:24: allusion, high confidence - Num 16:48 (17:13 LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The heretics who say the God of the law is just but not good are the Marcionites; translated as written. The words “Little children, I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” combine John 13:33–34 with 1 John 2:7–8; Origen (or Rufinus) attributes them to John's letter. Num 16:46–48 is Num 17:11–13 in the Greek; “breaking” renders confractio, the Latin version's word for the plague. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.4 (PG 12:628b–629a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-5 - Source: PG 12:629a–630a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Aaron standing with his censer between the living and the dead prefigures Christ, who stood between them in his incarnation and death and will again at the judgment. ### Latin text Sed primo, si videtur, historiae ipsius imaginem describamus , ut cum rei gesta: species apparuerit, tunc demum etiam si quid est in hoc loco mysticum requiramus. luteilige ergo populum illum Israel in castris per ordines tribuum familiarumque dispositum, virtutem vero quamdam a Deo missam, nou sparsim, sed ex prima aliqua parte erupisse populum morte vastare, et procedentem per ordinem mortis stragem considera. Post haec pontificem indutum veste pontilicali procedere, et portantem batillum, atque ignem cum incenso, tendere ad illum locum , quo per angelum vastantem mors illata pervenerat, et stantem in eo loco , ubi tuors linem dederat primis , et erat vicina postremis. lutuere stantem pontificem, et objectione quadam sui, viventes a mortuis dirimentem; virtutem vero rcpropitiatiunis ejus, et incensi mysterium erubuisse angelum vastatorem, et in hoc mortem quidem finitam, vitam vero reparatam. Si intellexisti historia: ordinem , et oculis, ιιι ita dicam, cernere potuisti pontificem stantem medimn inter vivos et mortuos: ascende nunc ad verbi hujus celsiora fastigia, et vide quomodo verus pontifex Iesus Christus διεsumpto batillo carnis humanm, et superposito igni altaris, anima sine dubio illa magnifica cum qua natus est in carne , adjecto etiam incenso, qul est spiritus immaculatus , medius inter vivos et mortuos stetit, et mortem non fecit ultra grassari; sed sicut Apostolus dicit , destruxit eum qui babebat mortis imperium, id est diabolum, ut qui credit in eum jam non moriatur, sed vivat in aeternum η. lloc fuit ergo mysterium quod postea futurum, jam tunc ille qui populum vastabat, expavit. Agnoscebat enim figuram batilli , et ignis , et incensi: et qualis oll'erenda esset Deo hostia ab eo, qui medius mortuorum vivorumque constiterat, prazvidebat. Et illos quidem tunc imago praefigurata salvavit, ait nos autem salutis veritas ipsa pervenit. Neque enim indumenta pontificis purpura ac lana byssoque contexta erubuisset angelus ille vastator , sed ista quae futura erant indumenta magni pontificis intellexit, et iis cessit, quibus utique universa creat. tura inl‘erior erat. Puto autem quod non solum ista completa sit, sed eadem fortassis servabitur in secundo. Veniet enim iterum Filius hominis: et cum venerit, sine dubio inveniet quosdam quidem mortuos, quosdam autem viventes. Quod possumus quidem etisic intelligere: quia nonnulli adhuc in hoc vita: statu quo nunc sumus inveniantur , cum multi jatu pnecesserint mortui. Potest autem et aliter accipi; ut mortuos, corpora intelligamus: viventes antem , animas. Quidam tamen ex iis , qui ante nos interpretati sunt locum hunc , memini quod mortuos dixerunt eos, qui nimietate scelerum in peccatis suis mortui intelliguntur: viventes au. teni eos, qui itt operibus vitae permanserint. Verumtamen utrolibet modo stabit etiam in futuro magnus hic pontifex et Salvator uostceretlius vivorum et mortuorum. Sed et tunc forte medius vivorqu et mortuorum stare dicendus est, eum statuet oves quidem a dextris suis, haedos autem a sinistris, et dicet iis qtti a dextris sunt : Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum, quod vobis paratum est a constitutione mundi , etc. Iis autem qui a sinistris sunt dicet: lte in ignem arternum. operarii iniquitatis , quem praeparavit Pater meus diabolo et angelis ejus , quoniam non novi vos ”. Et sunt utique mortui ii, qui iu ignem υ mittuntur aeternum; sunt autem vivi illi qui mittunnamque mittuntur ad regnum. ### English translation (Claude) But first, if you please, let us sketch the picture of the literal account itself, so that, when the appearance of the event has become clear, we may then also look for whatever is mystical in this passage. Imagine, then, that people of Israel arranged in the camp by the ranks of tribes and families, and a certain power sent from God breaking out, not here and there but from some one end, ravaging the people with death; and consider the slaughter of death advancing in order. After this, imagine the high priest coming forth clothed in his high-priestly vestment, carrying the censer and the fire with incense, making his way to the place which the death brought by the destroying angel had reached, and standing in the place where death had made an end of the first and was near the last. Behold the high priest standing and, by placing himself in the way, separating the living from the dead; and the destroying angel put to shame by the power of his propitiation and the mystery of the incense; and in this, death ended and life restored. If you have understood the order of the literal account, and have been able, so to speak, to see with your eyes the high priest standing between the living and the dead, ascend now to the loftier heights of this passage, and see how the true high priest, Jesus Christ, taking the censer of human flesh and putting on it the fire of the altar, doubtless that magnificent soul with which he was born in the flesh, and adding incense also, which is the spotless spirit, stood between the living and the dead and did not let death advance further; but, as the Apostle says, he destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, so that whoever believes in him should no longer die but live forever. This, then, was the mystery which was to come later, and which he who was ravaging the people already feared at that time. For he recognized the figure of the censer, the fire, and the incense, and foresaw what kind of victim was to be offered to God by him who had stood between the dead and the living. And at that time the prefiguring image saved them, but to us the truth of salvation itself has come. For that destroying angel would not have been put to shame by the high priest's vestments woven of purple, wool, and fine linen; but he understood what the vestments of the great high priest were to be, and he yielded to them, to which the whole creation was certainly inferior. And I think that this has not only been fulfilled, but that perhaps the same thing will be kept at the second [coming]. For the Son of Man will come again; and when he comes, he will doubtless find some dead and some living. We can understand this in this way: that some will still be found in this state of life in which we now are, while many will already have gone before in death. But it can also be taken otherwise, so that by the dead we understand bodies and by the living souls. Yet I remember that some of those who interpreted this passage before us said that the dead are those understood to be dead in their sins through the excess of their crimes, and the living those who have persevered in works of life. In either way, however, this great high priest, our Saviour, will stand in the future too in the midst of the living and the dead. And perhaps he is to be said to stand between the living and the dead then also, when he sets the sheep on his right and the goats on his left, and says to those on his right: “Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and so on; and to those on his left he will say: “Go into the eternal fire, workers of iniquity, which my Father prepared for the devil and his angels, because I do not know you.” And surely those are the dead who are sent into the eternal fire, and those the living who are sent to the kingdom. ### Scripture references - Num 16:47 (17:12 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Num 16:48 (17:13 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Heb 2:14: quotation, high confidence - John 11:26: allusion, high confidence - Exod 28:5: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 25:33: allusion, high confidence - Matt 25:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:23: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:1: echo, medium confidence - Eph 2:1: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Num 16:47–48 is Num 17:12–13 in the Greek. The censer is Christ's flesh, the fire his human soul, the incense his spirit; this reflects Origen's teaching on the soul of Christ and is translated as written. The citation of Matt 25:41 combines it with Matt 7:23 and reads “which my Father prepared.” A long Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction; the last words of the section are partly lost and translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.5 (PG 12:629a–630a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/8-1/#p-9-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-6 - Source: PG 12:630a–633b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sinners are clay vessels for dishonor that can be broken, but whoever cleanses himself becomes a vessel for honor; the clay vessel also figures the body and the plain letter of the law, which hold the treasure of God's grace and wisdom. ### Latin text Et cessauit inquit vastatioe vel, ut in aliis exemplaribus legi diximus: eonfractio e, quod et magis interpretationi conveniet veritatis; confractio namque est , quae velut in vasis fictilibus eflicitur. Peccatorcs ergo vasa fictilia fiunt, sicut Jeremias propheta designat itt Lantentationibus ", dicens: Filii Sion, qui erant honorabiles et in auro elati, quomodo reputati sunt in vasa fictilia, Opera manuum figuli? Et: In domo magna non sunt, inquit Apostolus , tantummodo vasa aurea , et argentea, scd et lignea et fictilia: et alia quidem ad honorem, alia autem ad contumeliam. ε Sunt ergo vasa fictilia ad contumeliam, quae et confringi possunt. Sed consideremus diligentius quid in consequentibus Apostolus de ipsis vasis fictilibus dicat: σ Si quis, inquit ’, emundavcrit semetipsum ab iis, crit vas ad honorem sanctificatum, et utile Domino ad omne opus bonuut paratum. In quo ostendere videtur, quod et vas ipsum quod fit, et per quem fit, unus atque idettt homo sit. lntcllige ergo propositum quidem hominis essequod operatur : reliquam autent partem hominis ipsum esse vas, quod fit vel ad honorem, vel contumeliam. Cum ergo sensus noster quae bona sunt eligit, etatl bonam nos conversationem trahit, facit nos vas utile. Cum autent neglexerit, et deciderit propositum nostrum a bonis, efficimur vas ad contumeliam. Si ergo intellectus noster luteus sit, et de luto semper ac de terrenis cogitet, efficimur vas fictile, et opus manuum figuli. Et forte propter hoc iste qui talis est, increpatur ab Apostolo, quasi qui sensum habcns luteum et terrenum, de magnis et iis quae capere non potest, quaerat et dicat : Quid ergo adhuc conqueritur? Voluntati enim ejus quis resistit?» Cui Apostolus quasi luteo respondit ” : Tu quis es, ο homo, qui contra respondeas Deo ? Nunquid dicit figmentum ei qui se finxit, Quid me fecisti sic? Dicitur prteterea corpus nostrum vas fictile, sive etiam legis littera, in eo quod ait Apostolus ο : Habentes autem thesaurum lnmc in vasis fictilibus. Utrumque enim in hoc sermone accipi potest, et quod in corpore nobis positis thesaurum gratia: per Spiritum sanctum Dominus largiatur, et quod in sermonibus legis, qui viles et in contemptu habentur pro eo quod nulla arte grammatica expoliti videntur, reconditus sit thesaurus sapientia: et scientiae Dei; ita ut merito dici possit, quod in ipsis sint thesauri sapientia), et scientia: Dei absconditi . Haec nobis dicta sint dc confractione, quae cessasse memoratur; nunc autem pauca etiam … ### English translation (Claude) “And the destruction ceased,” it says, or, as we said it reads in other copies, “the breaking,” which will better suit the interpretation of the truth; for breaking is what happens to clay vessels. Sinners, then, become clay vessels, as the prophet Jeremiah indicates in Lamentations, saying: “The sons of Zion, who were honorable and exalted in gold, how they are reckoned as clay vessels, the works of the potter's hands!” And: “In a great house,” says the Apostle, “there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor.” There are, then, clay vessels for dishonor, which can also be broken. But let us consider more carefully what the Apostle says next about these clay vessels: “If anyone,” he says, “cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work.” In this he seems to show that the vessel that is made and the one by whom it is made are one and the same man. Understand, then, that a man's purpose is what does the work, while the rest of the man is the vessel itself, which is made either for honor or for dishonor. When, then, our mind chooses what is good and draws us to good conduct, it makes us a useful vessel. But when it has neglected this, and our purpose has fallen away from good things, we are made a vessel for dishonor. If, then, our understanding is of mud and always thinks of mud and earthly things, we are made a clay vessel and the work of the potter's hands. And perhaps for this reason one who is such is rebuked by the Apostle as one who, having a muddy and earthly mind, inquires into great things which he cannot grasp, and says: “Why then does he still find fault? For who resists his will?” To him the Apostle answered as to one made of mud: “Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Does the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me thus?” Moreover, our body is called a clay vessel, or also the letter of the law, where the Apostle says: “But we have this treasure in clay vessels.” For both can be taken from this saying: both that the Lord bestows the treasure of grace through the Holy Spirit on us while we are placed in the body, and that in the words of the law, which are held cheap and in contempt because they seem polished by no grammatical art, the treasure of the wisdom and knowledge of God is hidden; so that it may rightly be said that in them are hidden the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God. Let this be what we say about the breaking, which is said to have ceased; but now also a few things … ### Scripture references - Num 16:48 (17:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Lam 4:2: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:19: quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:7: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The end of this section, which introduced Num 17:2–5 (LXX 17:17–20), is lost in the scan; Baehrens's edition is legible only as far as “a few things,” and the rest is marked “…”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.6 (PG 12:630a–633b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-7 - Source: PG 12:633b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Aaron's rod bearing nuts figures Christ's cross and the threefold sense of Scripture (the bitter letter, the protective moral teaching, and the nourishing hidden mystery), and God, who promised only that the rod would sprout, gave more than he promised. ### Latin text Et locutus est Dominus ad Moysen dicens: Loquere filiis Israel, … ab iis virgam … domos familiarum ipsorum, ab omnibus principibus ipsorum duodecim virgas; et uniuscujusque eorum nomen scribe in virga sua : et nomen Aaron scrib: in virga Levi : est enim virga una (Ξ), per tribum, per domos familiarum suarum dabunt tibi. Et pones eas in tabernaculum testimonii contra arcam, ex quibus agnoscar tibi inde. Et erit homo quemcunque elegero, virga ejus germinabit, et auferam a tenturmurationem filiorum Israel : in quibusmuque murmurant ipsi de vobis. Omnis princeps nibus et populi habet virgam. Non enim potest quis regere populum, nisi habeatvirgam. Unde et Paulus apostolus, quia princeps erat p0puli, idcirco ificcbat : Quid vultis? In virga veniam ad vos, an in charitate, spirituque mansuetudinis ”? Si ergo princeps tribuum habeat necesse est virgam suam, sed unus solus cst, sicut Scriptura refert, pontifex Aaron cujus virga germinavit. Verumqueniam, ut saepe ostendimus, verus pontifex Christus est, ipse solus est, cujus virga crucis non solum germinavit, sed et floruit, et omnes hos credentium populorum attulit fructus. Quis autem iste est frcctus, quem attulit? Nuces, inquit, qui fructus primo quidem indumento amarus est : sequenti munitur et tegitur. Tertio sumentem pascit ac nutrit. Tatii ergo est in auditorio Christi doctrina legis et prophetarum. Prima littera: facies satis amara εει, quae circumcisionem carnis praecipit, quae de sacriliciis mandat, et caetera quae per occidentem lineo ram designantur. Haec omnia tanquam amarum nucis corticem projice. Secundo in loco ad munimenta testa: pervenies, in quo vel moralis doctrina, vel ratio continentiae. designatur. Quae necessaria quidem sunt ad custodiam eorunt quae servantur intrinsecus, frangenda quandoque tamen et sine dubio dissolveuda sunt. Ut si verbi gratia dicamus, abstinentia ciborum, et castigatio corporis. dent! smnus in corpore isto corruptibili et possibili, sine dubio necessaria est. Cum autetn confractum lue. rit ac resolutum, et resurrectionis tempore incorruptibile ex corruptibili redditum, atque ex animali spiritale : non jam labore afilictionis, nec ab! tiucutiae castigatione, sed qualitate, nulla jamcorpori corruptela dominabitur. Sic ergo et uiuit necessaria abstinentia: ratio videtur, et postmodum non quzerenda. Tertio autem loco reconditum in iis invenies et secretum mysteriorum sapientia: ct scientia: Dei sensum, quo nutriantur et pastanlllr animae sanctorum non solum itt prmsenti vita,sol tiam, in futura. Iste enim est pontificalis fructus, de quo promittitur his, qui esuriunt et sitiunt iustitiam, quoniam saturalmntnr . Hoc igitur modo in Scripturis omnibus triplicis hujus sacramenti ratio percurrit. Sic et Sapientia monet , ut describamus eanobis in corde tripliciter, ad respondendum, inquit, verbum veritatis iis qui proposuerint nobis. Sic tres puteos fodit lsaac patriarcha : quorum solus ille tertius ab eo latitudo vel amplitudo nominatur. Quia autem sacramentum sacerdotale est virga nucis, idcirco arbitror etiam Jeremiam , qui erat unus de sacerdotibus ex Anathoh, vidisse virgam noceam, et prophetasse de ea illa quae scripta sunt vel de virga nucea, vel de lebete, sive de olla succensa : quasi si ostenderet per haec invirga nucea esse vitam, etin lebete succenso esse mortem. Vita enim et mors ponitur ante faciem nostram. Et‘est vita quidem Christus in sacramento aucis: mors antem diabolus in figura lebetis suecensi. Si ergo peccaveris, portionem tuam pones cum lebete succenso; si autem juste egeris, efficietur portio tua in virga nucea cum magno pontilire. Sed et in Canticis canticorum sponsa descendere dicitur in hortum nucis, ubi etiam pariter cum nucibus saccrdotalium quodammodo pontorum copiam perscribitur invenisse. Verumtamen de virgis, ut dicere coeperamus, unum promisit Deus frnctnm in virga, et plures dedit. Sed attendite diligentius, si forte possimus liberalitatem Dei largiorem etiam ipsis suis promissionibus edoccre : si forte et ex iisillam ineffabilem bonitatem Dei qua: in Scriptura: littera semper tegitur, rimari atque investigare poterimus, cum largiorem in praestando, quam in promittendo videamus. ### English translation (Claude) “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel, [and take] from them a rod for each house of their families, from all their leaders, twelve rods; and write each one's name on his rod; and write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there is one rod for each tribe; by the houses of their families they shall give them to you. And you shall put them in the tabernacle of testimony before the ark, where I shall make myself known to you. And it shall be that the man whom I choose, his rod shall sprout, and I will take away from you the murmuring of the sons of Israel, with which they murmur against you.” Every leader of a tribe and of a people has a rod. For no one can rule a people unless he has a rod. Hence the apostle Paul too, because he was a leader of the people, said: “What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?” If, then, each leader of the tribes must have his own rod; but there is only one, as the Scripture relates, the high priest Aaron, whose rod sprouted. But since, as we have often shown, the true high priest is Christ, he alone it is whose rod of the cross not only sprouted but also blossomed, and bore all these fruits of believing peoples. And what is this fruit that it bore? Nuts, it says: a fruit whose first covering is bitter; by the second it is protected and covered; the third feeds and nourishes the one who takes it. Such, then, in the school of Christ is the teaching of the law and the prophets. The first face of the letter is bitter enough: it commands circumcision of the flesh, gives orders about sacrifices, and the other things that are designated by the letter that kills. Throw all these away like the bitter rind of the nut. In the second place you will come to the protection of the shell, in which either moral teaching or the principle of self-control is designated. These are necessary for guarding what is kept within, yet at some time they must surely be broken and dissolved. For example, abstinence from foods and chastisement of the body are doubtless necessary as long as we are in this corruptible and passible body. But when it has been broken and dissolved, and at the time of the resurrection made incorruptible from corruptible and spiritual from natural, no corruption will any longer rule the body, not through the labor of affliction nor through the chastisement of abstinence, but by its very quality. So the principle of abstinence seems necessary now, and afterward not to be sought. But in the third place you will find hidden in them the secret meaning of the mysteries of the wisdom and knowledge of God, by which the souls of the saints are nourished and fed not only in the present life but also in the future. For this is the high priest's fruit, of which the promise is made to those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, that they shall be satisfied. In this way, then, the principle of this threefold sacrament runs through all the Scriptures. So too Wisdom admonishes us to write them down in our heart threefold, so as to answer, it says, a word of truth to those who put questions to us. So the patriarch Isaac dug three wells, of which only the third was named by him “breadth” or “room.” And because the rod of the nut tree is a priestly sacrament, I think that for this reason Jeremiah too, who was one of the priests of Anathoth, saw a rod of the nut tree and prophesied about it what is written, either about the rod of the nut tree or about the cauldron, the boiling pot: as if showing through these that in the rod of the nut tree is life, and in the boiling cauldron death. For life and death are set before our face. And life is Christ in the sacrament of the nut, while death is the devil in the figure of the boiling cauldron. If, then, you sin, you will set your portion with the boiling cauldron; but if you act righteously, your portion will be in the rod of the nut tree with the great high priest. And in the Song of Songs too the bride is said to go down into the garden of nuts, where, together with the nuts, she is described as having found an abundance of fruits that are in some way priestly. However, concerning the rods, as we had begun to say, God promised one fruit on the rod and gave several. But attend more carefully, in case we can perhaps show that God's liberality is more generous even than his own promises; in case from these too we can search out and investigate that ineffable goodness of God which is always covered in the letter of Scripture, since we see him more generous in giving than in promising. ### Scripture references - Num 17:2 (17:17 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 17:3 (17:18 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 17:4 (17:19 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 17:5 (17:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:21: quotation, high confidence - Num 17:8 (17:23 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:27: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:6: quotation, high confidence - Prov 22:20: quotation, high confidence - Prov 22:21: quotation, high confidence - Gen 26:22: allusion, high confidence - Jer 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Jer 1:11: allusion, high confidence - Jer 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Deut 30:15: allusion, high confidence - Song 6:11: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Part of the quotation of Num 17:2–5 (LXX 17:17–20) is lost in the scan; it is supplied from Baehrens's edition as far as the copy available can be read, and the unreadable words are marked “…” or, where the sense is clear, supplied in brackets. Num 17:8 has “almonds” in the Hebrew; the Greek and Latin have “nuts,” on which the allegory rests. “Write them threefold” is Prov 22:20–21 in the Greek; the wells are Gen 26:18–22; the rod of the nut tree (almond) and the boiling pot are Jer 1:11–13. “An abundance of fruits” renders a garbled word, probably pomorum (Song 6:11). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.7 (PG 12:633b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-8 - Source: PG 12:633b–634b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The rod's sprout, leaves, blossoms, and nuts figure the fourfold glory of the resurrection body and show that God's promised goods surpass all that can be seen or imagined. ### Latin text Igitur sermo Scriptura: de qua nunc loquimur ita habet: Eterit, inquit, homo quemcunque elcgero, virga ejus germinabit . Hoc est solum quod promisit Deus, ut virga ejus quem elegerit, germinet. Ubi vero ad rem venitur ut quod prornissum est ostendatur impletum : non unum illud quod promissum fuerat effectum dicitur, sed vide quanta addantur. Ait enim : Et ecce germinavit Virga Aaron in domo Levi ο. Est hoc unum illud sine dubio quod fuerat repromissum; sed adduntur et alia, et dicitur : Et produxit frondes et protulit flores, et germinavit nuces δι. Cum ergo de solo germine fuisset promissum, vide quanta largi. tur Deus, ut non solum germen produxerit, sed et frondes; et non. solum frondes, sed et flores; et germinaverit non solum flores, sed et fructus. Quid igitur est quod ex iis colligere et contemplari debeamus? Primo omnium resurrectionis ex mortuis sacramentum. Virga enim arida germinat, cum corpus exstinctum ctcperit reviviscere. Quae sunt autem quatuor ista quae resurgenti corpori priestabuntur? Ut seminatutn in corruptione, surgat in incorruptione; et seminatum in infirmitate, surgat in virtute; et seminatqu in ignominia, surgat in JL'I‘. gloria : et seminatum corpus animale, surgat corpus spiritale δ’. Ista sunt quatuor quae virga aridi corporis nostri in resurrectione germinahit. Sed et illud secundo in loco dicemus; quia, sicut in iis promissionem suam Deus in clitadruplum dedit et multo plura et pretiosiora largitus est quam promisit, ita tnulto magis in omnibus Scriptum locis, nhi aliqua Dei promissio continetur, si quis tamen ad eam pervenire mereatur, in futuro multipliciter praeparabitur; et sic vere complebitur illud quod Apostolus dicit , quia ε oculus non vidit, nec auris audivil, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus iis qui diligunt eum. Vide ergo quanta sint, et qualia, quae non solum videre et audire nemini licnit, sed ne in cor quidem, id est ad cogitationem humanam potuit ascendere. Sive ergo terram, sive omium dixeris, sive solem hunc et fulgorem visibilis luminis, omnia hazc oculos vidit, et auris audivit : et non possunt esse ex illis quae oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec itt cor hominis ascendit. Transgredere ergo hmc omnia, et transcende omne quidquid vides, quidquid audis, quidquid etiam cogitare potes, et illud scito esse repositum iis qui diligunt Deum, quod nec ad cogitationem cordis tui quivit ascendere. Unde ego arbitror nihil in hujusmodi repromissionibus de rebus corporalibus cogitandum. ltatio enim materia: corporalis non usquequaque sensum huznana: cogitationisrffngere potest, sed illa suntque: ad nullius sensum, nullius cor possunt ascendere quae in sola Dei sapientia continentur. Etenim videbitur hac rati0ne quod promissionum bona majori modo quam promissa sunt, dantur : similiter et poma: quae peccatoribus comminantur, multiplicatis cruciatibus itil'erendte sunt; sicut etin superioribus, ubi anuus pro die ad vindictam ponitur, exposuimus : nisi si quis tertium aliquid posse fieri c0gitet, colligens aliqua solatia ex iis quae in comminatione ea, quae ad David facta est δ”, continentur: ubi triduo pronuntiata est mortis futura: vastatio, et intra sex horas abbreviatum videtur tempus esse supplicii. Sed haec tibi prolicere possunt, ubi poenitentiae tempus et satisfactionis conceditur locus. Scribitur “ tatneu Deus malis quidem reddens in tertiam et quartam progeniem bonis autem faciens misericordiam non solum in tertiam et quartam progeniem, sed, ut Scriptura dicit, in mille generationes. ### English translation (Claude) The wording of the Scripture we are now speaking of, then, runs thus: “And it shall be,” it says, “that the man whom I choose, his rod shall sprout.” This is the only thing God promised: that the rod of the one he chose would sprout. But when it comes to the event, so that what was promised may be shown to be fulfilled, not only is that one promised thing said to have happened, but see how much is added. For it says: “And behold, the rod of Aaron of the house of Levi had sprouted.” This is doubtless that one thing which had been promised; but other things are added, and it is said: “And it put forth leaves and brought forth blossoms and produced nuts.” Since, then, the promise had been only of a sprout, see how much God bestows: the rod produced not only a sprout but leaves; not only leaves but blossoms; and not only blossoms but fruits. What, then, ought we to gather and contemplate from this? First of all, the sacrament of the resurrection from the dead. For the dry rod sprouts when the dead body has begun to come back to life. And what are these four things that will be granted to the rising body? That what is sown in corruption rises in incorruption; what is sown in weakness rises in power; what is sown in dishonor rises in glory; and what is sown a natural body rises a spiritual body. These are the four things which the rod of our dry body will put forth in the resurrection. And in the second place we shall say this too: that just as in these God gave his promise fourfold and bestowed much more and more precious things than he promised, so much more, in all the places of Scripture where any promise of God is contained, if anyone deserves to attain it, it will be prepared many times over in the future; and so will truly be fulfilled what the Apostle says, that “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.” See, then, how great and of what kind those things are which it has been granted to no one not only to see and hear, but which could not even enter the heart, that is, human thought. Whether, then, you speak of the earth, or of heaven, or of this sun and the brightness of visible light, the eye has seen all these and the ear has heard; and they cannot be among those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered the heart of man. Pass beyond all these, then, and transcend whatever you see, whatever you hear, whatever you can even think, and know that what is laid up for those who love God is that which could not even enter the thought of your heart. Hence I think that in promises of this kind nothing is to be thought of in terms of bodily things. For the nature of bodily matter cannot altogether escape the sense of human thought; but those things which can enter no one's sense and no one's heart are the ones contained in the wisdom of God alone. And indeed by this reasoning it will seem that the good things of the promises are given in greater measure than they are promised; and likewise the punishments threatened against sinners are to be inflicted with multiplied torments, as we explained above, where a year is set for a day as punishment: unless someone thinks that some third possibility can happen, gathering some consolation from what is contained in the threat made to David, where a devastation of death for three days was announced, and the time of punishment seems to have been shortened to within six hours. But these things can profit you where a time of repentance and a place of satisfaction is granted. Yet God is written as repaying the wicked to the third and fourth generation, but showing mercy to the good not only to the third and fourth generation but, as Scripture says, to a thousand generations. ### Scripture references - Num 17:5 (17:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 17:8 (17:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:42: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:43: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:44: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Num 14:34: allusion, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:13: allusion, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:15: allusion, high confidence - Exod 20:5: allusion, high confidence - Exod 20:6: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 17:5 and 17:8 are LXX 17:20 and 17:23. The “six hours” of David's punishment reflects the Greek of 2 Sam 24:15 (“from morning until the hour of the midday meal”). The reference back to “a year for a day” is to 8.1. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.8 (PG 12:633b–634b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 9.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-9 - Source: PG 12:634d–635b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The rod's four stages figure the believer's growth from first confession to bearing fruit for others, and Christ, the rod from Jesse's root, comes as discipline to the sluggish and as a flower to the righteous. ### Latin text Sed redeamus ad ea quae de virgis dicere cmperantus. Possumus adhuc etiam sic intelligere eorum quae in virga germinaverant, differentias. 0mnis qui in Christo credit, primo moritur, et post hoc renascitur : et est etiam haec figura, quod virga arida postmodum germinat. Est ergo primum germen prima hominis in Christo confessio. Secundo , frondescit, ubi renatus donum gratiae Dei ex Spiri- ἓ tus sancti purificatione susceperit. Inde aflert flores, ubi prolicere coeperit, et morum suavitate decorari, ac l'ragrantiam misericordia: et benignitatis efl'undere. Ad ultimum quoque afl'ert etiam fructus iustitiae, quibus non solum ipse vivat, sed et aliis praebeat vitam. Ctnn enim ad perfectum venerit, et protulerit ex se verbum fidei, verbum scientiae Dei, et alios lucrifeccrit, hoc est attulisse fructus quibus alii nutriantur. Sic ergo singuli quique credentium de virga Aaron, qui Christus est, germinantur; quorum quatuor ista: differentia: in aliis Scriptum locis velut aetates quatuor designantur, quas Joannes apostolus in Epistola sua distinctione mystica comprehendit, ait enim ς Scribo vobis, pueri, et, α scribo vobis, adolescentes, et, scribo vobis, patres. › In quibus utique non corporales aetates, sed anima: prolectuum dill'erentias ponit, ut etiam hoc sacerdotalis virgae germine observavimus designari. [labentur ergo haec omnia non tam in virga Aaron, quam in ea virga quae exiit de radice Jesse : et flos de radice ejus ascendit, super quem requievit spiritus Dei ". In quo nec hoc ipsum videtur otiosum qttod exire dicitttr virga, et flos ascendere. Quamvis enim unus sit Christus per substantiam, singulis tamen diversus efficitur, prout indiget is in quo operatur. Qui ergo segnior est et negligentior, pro disciplina lit ei Christus virga, et in virga non ascendere dicitur, sed exire. Exeundum namque est ei qui iners et segnis est de eo statu in quo non. recte consistit, et transeundum ad alium statum, tanquam virga α compulso, id est severitate doctrinae rigidioris admonito. Qui vero justus est, quia justus sicut palma floret , in hoc ascendere dicitur Christus. Sic ergo qui verberibus indiget, exit ad eum virga; qni autem prolicit ad justitiam, ascendit in florent. Ascendet autem usqueqno afl‘erat fructus spiritus, qui sunt eharitas, gaudium, pax, patientia ", et reliqua: virtutes in Christo Jcsu Domino nostro, cui est honor, et gloria, et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return to what we began to say about the rods. We can also understand the differences among the things that had sprouted on the rod in this way. Everyone who believes in Christ first dies and after this is reborn; and this too is figured by the dry rod's sprouting afterward. The first sprout, then, is a man's first confession in Christ. Second, he puts forth leaves, when, reborn, he has received the gift of God's grace from the purification of the Holy Spirit. Then he brings forth blossoms, when he has begun to advance and to be adorned with sweetness of character and to pour out the fragrance of mercy and kindness. Last of all he also bears fruits of righteousness, by which he not only lives himself but also gives life to others. For when he has come to perfection and has brought forth from himself the word of faith, the word of the knowledge of God, and has won others, this is to have borne fruits by which others are nourished. So each of the believers sprouts from the rod of Aaron, which is Christ; and these four differences are designated in other places of Scripture as four ages, which the apostle John comprehends in his letter by a mystical distinction, for he says: “I write to you, children,” and, “I write to you, young men,” and, “I write to you, fathers.” In these he certainly sets out not ages of the body but differences in the soul's progress, as we observed is designated by the sprouting of the priestly rod. All these things, then, are found not so much in the rod of Aaron as in that rod which came forth from the root of Jesse; and the flower rose from his root, on which the Spirit of God rested. In this, not even the very fact that the rod is said to come forth and the flower to rise seems idle. For although Christ is one in substance, he nevertheless becomes different for each, according as the one in whom he works needs. To one who is more sluggish and negligent, then, Christ becomes a rod for discipline, and as a rod he is said not to rise but to come forth. For one who is idle and sluggish must come forth from the state in which he does not rightly stand and pass to another state, as if driven by a rod, that is, admonished by the severity of a sterner teaching. But for one who is righteous, because “the righteous will flourish like the palm,” in this Christ is said to rise. So to one who needs blows he comes forth as a rod; but for one who advances in righteousness he rises as a flower. And he will rise until he bears the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, and the other virtues, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is honor and glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Rom 6:4: allusion, medium confidence - 1 John 2:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 2:13: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 11:2: allusion, high confidence - Ps 92:12 (91:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:22: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The four stages of growth are compared with the ages in 1 John 2:12–14. Ps 92:12 is LXX 91:13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 9.9 (PG 12:634d–635b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-9-9). ## Homilies on Numbers 10.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-1 - Source: PG 12:635b–638a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The priests “bear the sins of the holy ones” because those called holy still sin, as Paul's letters to the Corinthians show, and only those who pursue holiness seek healing for their sins through the high priest. ### Latin text Qui meliores sunt, inferiorum semper culpas ct peccata suscipiunt. Sic enim et Apostolus dicit ἰε ε Vos qui firmiores estis, imbecillitates infirmorum sustinete.» Israelita si peccet, id est laicus, ipse suum non potest auferre peccatum; sed requirit levitam, indiget sacerdote, imo potius et adhuc horum aliquid eminentius quaerit : pontifice opus cet est, g ut peccatorum remissionem possit accipere. Sacerdos autem si delin- quat aut pontifex, ipse suum potest purgare peccatum, si tamen non peccet in Deum. De hnjusmodi enim peccatis non lacile remissionem aliquam videmus in legis litteris designari. llaec autem diximus pro iis qute recitata sunt nobis : ἰ Et dixit, inquit, Dominus ad Aaron dicens : Tu et lilii tui, et domus patris tui tecum sumetis peccata sanctorum.» Potest quidem ita exponi locus istc; ut per ea quae oflert pontilu pro peccato uniuscujusque, et purificat eum pro quo obtulerit, scriptum sit : Tu et lilii truncum sumetis peccata sanctormn. Mihi autem non ridetur otiosum quod sanctorum peccata commemorat. ln multis etenim Scriptum locis sermo iste repttitur. Unde requirendum est, quomodo et sancti dicantur aliqui, et de peccatis e0rum scrilatar. Non enim, ut putant quidam, statim ut quis snetus esse Peccal‘c iam 0W!!tinuo sine peccato putandus est. Si enim saturus non peccaret, non utique scriptum esset : «Suriactis peccata sanctorum. › Si sanctus sine peccato esset, non diceret Dominus per Ezechielem prophetam ad angelos, quos mittebat peccatores pnnire "‘"_: ‹ Et a sanctis meis incipietis.» Si enim sancti sine peccato sunt, quomodo ipsi primi sctcumbunt suppliciis peccatorum? Si sancti sine peccato essent, nunquam diceret Scriptura “, quia «justus in principio sermonis sui ipse sui accusitor lit. Si sancti sine peccato essent, nunquam Paulus apostolus diceret, Romanis seruiens"; Nolite pr0pter cibum solvere opus Deiuquibas in principio Epistolas scripserat “ : t Omnibusqui sunt Romae dilectis Dei, vocatis sanctis. Et ite rum idem Apostolus ad Corinthios scribens, dicit". Paulus vocatus apostolus Jesu Christi; et put pauca : ε Ecclesiae Dei quae est Corinthi, sanctificatis in Christo Jcsu, vocatis sanctis. Istos ergo quos sanctiflcatos et sanctos appellat, audi quam: in eis peccata reprehendat. Ait enim in sequentibus" : Cum enim sint inter vos aemulationes et contentiones, nonne carnales estis, et secundum hominem ambulati's? Et iterum ": Jam diritas η lacti estis, sine nobis regnatis, et utinam regum- ξ tis! Et iterum“o : Tanquam autem non me ad vos inflati sunt quidam. ν Et paulo post“: Omnino auditur inter vos fornicatio, et talis br- Ῐ) nicatio, qualis nec inter gentes. ln consequentibus vero δ’ : Et vos, inquit, inflati estis, et tum potius luctum habuistis. ln quo utique uallat! reliquit immunem, dum aliis fornicationis. et superbiae crimen adscribit. Notat eos et in sequentibus etiam de indiciis et dieit: iam quidem omnino delictum a ; vobis, quia iudicia habetis inter vose. Arguit eos, quos sanctos dis erat, et pro eo, quod idolis immolata manducent, et quasi senten- Man inter eos proferens dieit: Sic autem peccantes inter fratres, et percutieutes conscientiam earum infirmant, in Christum peccatis. Sed et de eo nihilominus confutat eos, quod non solum immolatitium cibum, sed et calicem daemoniorum praesumant, et dicit”: iNon potestis calicem Domini bibere, et calicem ’ daemoniorum : non potestis mensae Domini participes esse, et mensae daemoniorum. lpsis etiam illud dicit “ : Quod convenientibus vobis in Ecclesia, audio schismata essen Et iterum : quisque enim suam caenam praesumit ad manducandum :et alius quidem esurit , alius autern ebrius est. Et pro iis delictis dicit : Propterea inter vos multi infirmi, et argri, et dormiunt multi. Quod si nos ipsos dijudicaretnus, non utique judicaremur. Post haec autem non jam delicta moralia, sed fidei in eis crimen exaggerat. Ait enim : Quomodo dicunt inter vos quidam quod resurrectio mortuorum non sit?» Et iterum ἠε Si autem Christus non resurrexit, vana est fides vestra. Adhuc enim estis in peccatis ve3tris. Longum porro est, nec praesenti conveniens tempori, ut plurima de iis testimonia proferamus, quibus probetur quod ii qui sancti dicuntur, non continue etiam sine peccato esse intelligantur; sed haec opinentur illi qui Scripturis divinis non sollicite, nec diligenter intendunt: in quibus multa: esse difi‘erealize sanctorum docentur, sicut a nobis et in aliis tractatibus plenius dictum est. Sed et nunc quantum locus requirit, dicemus. Sancti dicuntur iidemque et peccatores illi qui se voverunt quidem Deo et sequestravernnt a vulgi conversatione vitam suam ad hoc ut Domino serviant. Hujusmodi ergo homo secundum hoc, quod se caeteris actibus circumcisis Domino mancipavit, sanctus dicitur. Potest autem fieri, ut in hoc ipso quod Domino deservit, non ita omnia gerat ut geri competit, sed delinquat in nonnullis, et peccet. Sicut enim is qui sequestrat se, et segregat ab omnibus actibus, ut disciplinam, verbi gratia,-medicinaa aut philosopliize consequatur, non utique continuo ut se ltujusmodi tradiderit disciplinis, ita perfectus erit, ut non ’ inveniatur in aliquo peccare: into potius plurima delinquendo vix ad perfectionem aliquando perveniet; et tamen Statim ut se ad huiusmodi scholas tradidit, certum est eum vel inter medicos, vel inter philosophos numerari; ita ct de sanctis accipiendum est quod statim quidem ut mancipat se quis studiis sanctitatis, secundmn hoc quod proposuit, sanctus appelletur. Secuudum hoc vero quod necesse est eum in multis delinquere, donec usu et disciplina ac diligentia abscindatur ab eo consuetudo peccandi, etiam peccator, ut supra diximus, appellabitur. Ego autem et amplius addo aliquid, quod nisi sanv ctum propositum aliquis habeat, et sanctitatis studium gerat, cum peccaverit, nescit peccati paenitudinem gerere, nescit delicti remedium quaerere. Qui non sunt sancti, in peccatis suis moriuntur: qui sancti sunt, pro peccatis pmoitudinem gerunt, vulnera sua sentiunt, intelligunt lapsus, requirunt sacerdotem, sanitatem deposcunt, purificationem per pontificem quaerunt. Idcirco ergo caute et significanter‘sermo legis designat, quia pontifices et sacerdotes, non quorumcunque, sed sanctorum tantummodo sumant peccata; sanctus enim est qui peccatum suum per pontificem curat. ### English translation (Claude) Those who are better always take on the faults and sins of their inferiors. For so the Apostle too says: “You who are stronger, bear the weaknesses of the weak.” If an Israelite, that is, a layman, sins, he cannot take away his own sin; but he looks for a Levite, he needs a priest, or rather he seeks something still more eminent than these: he needs the high priest, in order to receive remission of sins. But if a priest or the high priest offends, he can purge his own sin, provided he does not sin against God; for of sins of that kind we do not easily see any remission indicated in the letter of the law. We have said these things because of what was read to us: “And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the sins of the holy ones.” This passage can indeed be expounded so that “You and your sons with you shall bear the sins of the holy ones” is written on account of the offerings that the high priest makes for the sin of each, purifying the one for whom he has offered. But it does not seem idle to me that it mentions the sins of the holy ones, for this expression is repeated in many places of Scripture. Hence we must ask how some are called holy and yet their sins are written of. For it is not the case, as some think, that as soon as someone has begun to be holy he is at once to be thought to be without sin. For if the holy one did not sin, it would surely not be written, “You shall bear the sins of the holy ones.” If the holy one were without sin, the Lord would not say through the prophet Ezekiel to the angels whom he was sending to punish sinners: “And begin from my holy ones.” For if the holy are without sin, how are they the first to succumb to the punishments of sinners? If the holy were without sin, the Scripture would never say that “the righteous is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech.” If the holy were without sin, the apostle Paul, writing to the Romans, would never say, “Do not for the sake of food destroy the work of God,” to those to whom at the beginning of the letter he had written: “To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called holy.” And again, the same Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, says: “Paul, called an apostle of Jesus Christ,” and a little after: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called holy.” Hear, then, how many sins he rebukes in these whom he calls sanctified and holy. For he says in what follows: “For when there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not carnal and walking according to man?” And again: “Already you have become rich; you reign without us; and would that you did reign!” And again: “Some are puffed up, as though I were not coming to you.” And a little after: “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not found even among the Gentiles.” And in what follows: “And you,” he says, “are puffed up, and did not rather mourn.” In this he certainly left no one exempt, charging some with the crime of sexual immorality and others with that of pride. He rebukes them also in what follows about lawsuits, and says: “It is already altogether a fault among you that you have lawsuits among you.” He reproves those whom he had called holy also for eating things sacrificed to idols, and, as if passing sentence among them, says: “Thus, sinning against the brothers and wounding their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” And no less he refutes them for presuming to take not only food sacrificed to idols but also the cup of demons, and says: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.” To them he also says: “When you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions.” And again: “For each one takes his own supper first in eating, and one is hungry and another is drunk.” And for these offenses he says: “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and many sleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged.” After this he heightens against them a charge no longer of moral faults but of faith. For he says: “How do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?” And again: “But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; for you are still in your sins.” It would take long, and would not suit the present time, to bring forward the very many testimonies about these things by which it might be proved that those who are called holy are not on that account to be understood to be without sin; let that be the opinion of those who do not attend carefully and diligently to the divine Scriptures, in which it is taught that there are many differences among the holy, as we have said more fully in other treatises too. But we shall speak of it now too, as far as the passage requires. Those are called holy, and at the same time sinners, who have vowed themselves to God and have separated their life from the conduct of the crowd in order to serve the Lord. Such a man, then, in so far as he has cut off his other activities and given himself over to the Lord, is called holy. But it can happen that in this very service of the Lord he does not do everything as it ought to be done, but offends in some things and sins. For just as one who separates and withdraws himself from all activities in order, for example, to acquire the discipline of medicine or of philosophy is certainly not, as soon as he has given himself to such disciplines, at once so perfect that he is found to err in nothing; rather, by erring very often he will scarcely reach perfection at some time; and yet, as soon as he has given himself to such schools, it is certain that he is counted among the physicians or among the philosophers: so too it must be understood of the holy, that as soon as someone gives himself over to the pursuits of holiness, he is called holy according to his purpose; but because he must offend in many things until by practice, discipline, and diligence the habit of sinning is cut off from him, he will also be called, as we said above, a sinner. And I add something further: unless someone has a holy purpose and pursues holiness, when he has sinned he does not know how to repent of the sin, does not know how to seek a remedy for the offense. Those who are not holy die in their sins; those who are holy repent of their sins, feel their wounds, understand their falls, seek the priest, ask for healing, seek purification through the high priest. Therefore the word of the law carefully and significantly indicates that high priests and priests bear the sins not of just anyone but only of the holy ones; for the holy one is he who treats his sin through the high priest. ### Scripture references - Rom 15:1: quotation, high confidence - Lev 4:27: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Sam 2:25: allusion, medium confidence - Num 18:1: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 9:6: quotation, high confidence - Prov 18:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 14:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:30: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:31: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “If he sins against God” recalls 1 Sam 2:25. “The righteous is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech” is Prov 18:17 in the Greek. A Migne column number and footnote marker stand in the scan where part of 1 Cor 11:31 and a following phrase are lost. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 10.1 (PG 12:635b–638a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 10.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-2 - Source: PG 12:638a–639a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Christ takes away sin, and his “sons,” the apostles and martyrs, share in bearing the sins of the holy by offering themselves; Origen fears that in a time without martyrs the church lacks this help. ### Latin text Sed redeamus ad pontificem nostrum, pontificem magnum qui penetravit caelos, Jesum Dominum nostrum; et videamus quomodo ipse cum filiis suis, apostolis scilicet et martyribus, sumit peccata sanctorum. Et quidem quod Dominus noster Jesus Christus venerit ut tolleret peccatum mundi, et morte sua peccata nostra deleverit, nullus qui Christo credit, ignorat. Quomodo autem et filii ejus auferant peccata sanctorum, id est apostoli et martyres, si poterimus, ex Scripturis divinis probare tentabimus. Audi primo Paulum dicentem : Libenter enim, inquit , expendam, et expendar pro animabus vestris; etin alio loco : Ego enim jam itnmolor, inquit”, et tempus regressionis,» sive tresolutionis mea: instat. Pro iis ergo quibus scribebat, expendi se et immolari dicit Aposmlus. Hostia autem cum immolatur, ad hoc immolatur ut eorum pro quibus iugulatur, peccata purgentur. De martyribus autem scribit Joannes apostolus in Apocalypsi", quia anima: eorum qui jugulati sunt propter nomen Domini Jesu, assistunt altari ; qui autem assistit altari , ostenditur fungi sacerdotis officio. Sacerdotis autem officium est, pro populi supplicare peocatis. Unde ego vereor, ne forte ex quo martyres non fiunt, etliostiae sanctorum non offeruntur pro peccatis nostris, peccatorum nostrorum remissionem non mereamur. Et ideo vereor, ne permanentibus in nobis peccatis nostris, accidat nobis illud quod de seruetipsis dicunt Judmi, quia non habentes altare, neque templum, neque sacerdotium, et ob hoc nec hostias offerentes, peccata, inquit, nostra manent in nobis; et ideo venia nulla subsequitur. Et contra, nos dicere debemus, quia hostiae martyrum non oiferuntur pro nobis, idcirco manent in nobis pec: cata nostra ; non enim meremur persecutionem pati propter Christum, nec mori propter nomen Filii Dei. Et ideo etiam diabolus, sciens per passionem martyrii remissionem fieri peccatorum, non vult nobis publicas gentilium persecutiones movere: scit enim, quia si ad rcges et praesides adducamur propter nomen Christi, ad testimonium Judmis et gen-tibus, gaudium nobis et exsultatio sit, quia merces nostra multa in cmlis est. ilzrc non facit inimicus, vel quod ipse gloria: invidet, vel fortassis quod ille qui omnia praevidet, praenoscit nos non esse idoneos ad martyrium tolerandum. Scit tamen Dominus qui sunt ejus, et in quibus non speratur, habet ille thesauros suos : enim sicut homo videt, ita et Deus”. Ego non dubito et in hoc conventu esse aliquos ipsi soli cognitos, qui iam apud eum martyres sint testimonio conscientiae, parati, si quis esposcat, eflundere sanguinem suum pro nomine Domini Jesu Christi; non dubito esse aliquos qui tulerint crucem suam, et sequantur eum. [lare liret per excessum nuemdam, necessario tamen videntur dicta, ut intelligercmus quomodo per pontificem, et filios pontificis fiat in sanctis remissio peccatorum. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return to our high priest, the great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus our Lord, and see how he, with his sons, that is, the apostles and martyrs, bears the sins of the holy ones. That our Lord Jesus Christ came to take away the sin of the world and blotted out our sins by his death, no one who believes in Christ is unaware. But how his sons too, that is, the apostles and martyrs, take away the sins of the holy ones, we shall try, if we can, to prove from the divine Scriptures. Hear first Paul saying: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls”; and in another place: “For I am already being offered,” he says, “and the time of my return,” or “of my departure, is at hand.” The Apostle says, then, that he is spent and offered for those to whom he was writing. But when a victim is offered, it is offered so that the sins of those for whom it is slain may be purged. And of the martyrs the apostle John writes in the Apocalypse that the souls of those who were slain for the name of the Lord Jesus stand at the altar; and one who stands at the altar is shown to perform the office of a priest. And the office of a priest is to supplicate for the sins of the people. Hence I fear that perhaps, since martyrs are not being made and the victims of the saints are not being offered for our sins, we may not deserve the remission of our sins. And therefore I fear that, as our sins remain in us, there may happen to us what the Jews say of themselves: that, having no altar, nor temple, nor priesthood, and therefore offering no victims, “our sins,” they say, “remain in us,” and therefore no pardon follows. And we, on the contrary, must say that because the victims of martyrs are not offered for us, therefore our sins remain in us; for we do not deserve to suffer persecution for Christ or to die for the name of the Son of God. And therefore the devil too, knowing that remission of sins comes about through the suffering of martyrdom, does not wish to stir up public persecutions by the Gentiles against us; for he knows that if we are brought before kings and governors for the name of Christ, as a testimony to the Jews and to the Gentiles, it is joy and exultation for us, because our reward is great in heaven. The enemy does not do this, either because he envies the glory, or perhaps because he who foresees all things foreknows that we are not fit to endure martyrdom. Yet the Lord knows those who are his, and among those in whom it is not expected he has his treasures; for God does not see as man sees. I do not doubt that in this assembly too there are some, known to him alone, who are already martyrs before him by the testimony of their conscience, ready, if anyone demands it, to pour out their blood for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; I do not doubt that there are some who have taken up their cross and follow him. These things, though said by a kind of digression, nevertheless seemed necessary, so that we might understand how remission of sins comes about among the holy through the high priest and the sons of the high priest. ### Scripture references - Heb 4:14: quotation, high confidence - John 1:29: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:15: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:6: quotation, high confidence - Rev 6:9: allusion, high confidence - Hos 3:4: echo, low confidence - Matt 10:18: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:12: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Origen, Mart. 30 (Exhortation to Martyrdom): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The view that the martyrs' deaths serve for the remission of others' sins is Origen's (compare his Exhortation to Martyrdom 30) and is translated as written. The words attributed to the Jews are quoted as Origen gives them; their source is unidentified. A Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 10.2 (PG 12:638a–639a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 10.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-3 - Source: PG 12:639a–640b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Priests must keep both the outward commands and the hidden mysteries within the veil, and in each person the inner sanctuary is the heart, where prayer, the knowledge of the Trinity, and God's law written on the mind are to be guarded. ### Latin text Sequitur post lucc: Et tu, inquit , et filii tui accipietis peccata sacerdotii vestri : et fratres tuos tribuum Levi, plebem patris tui assume ad te, et adjungantur tibi, et ministrent tibi : et tu et lilii tui tecum in conspectu tabernaculi testimonii observabunt custodias tuas tabernaculi. Observare diligentius, etintendere iis quae scripta sunt, convenit eos praecipue qui in ordine sacerdmali gloriantur; ut sciant quid est quod eis lcx divitia pnecepit observandum. Tu, inquit, et filii tui tecum in conspectu tabernaculi observate custodias vestras, et altare, et custodias tabernaculi. lllaudata quidem certa sunt et evidentia, ut observare debeamus custodias tabernaculi, et altaris, et sacerdotii ;qttis sane sit qui observet, et faciatca qua: sacerdotibus tnatulata sunt ; et quis sitqui utatur quidem ordine et honore sacerdotii, Opera vero et mysterium sacerdotii non observet, ille solus nosse potest, qui scrutatur corda et rencs . Mandantur observari non solum ea quae foris sunt, Sed et ea, inquit , ut curent sacerdotes prmcipne quae intra velamen sunt; velut si diceret: cura sit sacerdotibus, evidentia ac manifesta mamlata divinae legis implere, et mysteria ejus abscondita et velata omni perspicacia contueri. Si vero ad hominem velis referre tabernaculum testimonii; _ quOniam quidem corpus hominis tabernaculum Paulus appellat, dicens : Qui enim sumus in tabernaculo hoc, gemimus aggravati ; in quo nolumus exspoliari, sed supervestiri ; si ergo ad hominem tabernaculum referamus , interiora velaminis, ubi inaccessibilia conteguntur, principale cordis dicemus, quod solum recipere potest mysteria veritatis, et capax esse arcanorum Dei. Altaria vero duo, id est interius et exterius, quoniam altare orationis indicium est, illud puto significare quod dicit Apostolus" ; Orabo spiritu, orabo et mente.» Cum enim corde oravero. ad altare interius ingreo dior. Et hoc puto esse quod etiam Dominus in Evangeliis dicit “: ί Tt! autem cum 0m. intra in cubiculum tuum, et claude OSllunt ttttltn,elon patrem tuum in abscondito. Qui ergo ita oratu dixi, ingreditur ad altare incensi quod est interius. Cum autem quis clara voce, ct verbis cum sono prolatis, quasi ut aedificet audientes, cntionem fundit ad Deum, hic spiritu orat, et olierrc videtur hostiam in altari quod foris est ad bolocaustomu populi constitutum. Oportet ergo sarerdotesez curare prmcipue et custodire, quae intra relatae: interius conteguntur, ne quid ibi pollutum, ne quid inveniatur immundum; hoc est interiorem lion;netn, et cordis secreta curare, ut ibi inuuarulau permaneant. Cherubim et prOpitiatorium, scientia intelligenda est Trinitatis ; interpretatio enim Cherubim multitudinem, id est perfectionem scienti: indicat g9) : et quae cst alia perfectio, nisi agrovisse Patrem et Filium, et Spiritnnt sanctum? llrc ergo curanda sunt ita a sacerdotibus, ut incontatninata et illaesa serventur. Sed et urna bal-cus cmlestem cibum manum, theSaurus utique est redii divini. Et arca aurea, in qua sunt tabula: Iesumenti, ut opinor, non aliud quam mens nostra esse declaratur, in qua legem Dei debemus Inter: descriptam. llazc autem mens aurea debet esst, hoc est pura et pretiosa, in qua legem Dei descriptam semper habeamus, sicut Apostolus dicit “z Scriptum non atramento, sed spiritu Dei viri; non in tabulis lapideis, sed in tabulis cordis rarnalibus. Hoc est enim qttod etde quibaslam dicitur qui ostendunt opus legis scriptum in (oro dibus suis . Quis autem scripsit in tarditas eorum, nisi Deus digito suo ? Legem utique naturalem quam dedit Deus humano generi, et in wactorum mentibus scripsit : unde et initia sumimus, ac semina quaedam ad perscrutandam capimus reritatcm : quae semina si bene excolamus, fructum vita: afl‘erent in nobis in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, cui est gloria et imperium in szecula sactlorum. ### English translation (Claude) After this follows: “And you,” it says, “and your sons shall bear the sins of your priesthood; and your brothers of the tribe of Levi, the people of your father, take to yourself, and let them be joined to you and minister to you; and you and your sons with you before the tabernacle of testimony shall keep your charges of the tabernacle.” It befits especially those who glory in the priestly order to observe more carefully and attend to what is written, so that they may know what the divine law has commanded them to observe. “You,” it says, “and your sons with you, before the tabernacle, keep your charges, and the altar, and the charges of the tabernacle.” The commands are certain and evident, that we must keep the charges of the tabernacle, of the altar, and of the priesthood; but who truly keeps and does what is commanded to priests, and who enjoys the rank and honor of the priesthood but does not keep the works and the mystery of the priesthood, he alone can know who searches hearts and reins. They are commanded to keep not only the things that are outside, but also, it says, that the priests should take special care of what is within the veil; as if to say: let the priests take care to fulfill the evident and plain commands of the divine law, and to contemplate its hidden and veiled mysteries with all insight. But if you wish to refer the tabernacle of testimony to man, since Paul calls the body of man a tabernacle, saying, “For we who are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be further clothed”: if, then, we refer the tabernacle to man, we shall say that the inner part within the veil, where the inaccessible things are covered, is the ruling part of the heart, which alone can receive the mysteries of the truth and be capable of the secrets of God. And the two altars, the inner and the outer, since the altar is a sign of prayer, I think signify what the Apostle says: “I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind.” For when I pray with the heart, I enter the inner altar. And I think this is what the Lord too says in the Gospels: “But you, when you pray, go into your room, shut your door, and pray to your Father in secret.” Whoever prays thus, as I said, enters the altar of incense, which is within. But when someone pours out prayer to God in a clear voice and with words uttered aloud, as if to edify the hearers, he prays with the spirit and seems to offer a victim on the altar outside, set up for the whole burnt offering of the people. The priests, then, must take special care of and guard what is covered within the veil, that nothing polluted, nothing unclean be found there; that is, they must care for the inner man and the secrets of the heart, so that these may remain undefiled. The cherubim and the mercy seat are to be understood as the knowledge of the Trinity; for the interpretation of “cherubim” indicates a multitude, that is, a perfection, of knowledge: and what other perfection is there than to have known the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit? These things, then, must be so cared for by the priests that they are kept uncontaminated and unharmed. And the urn holding the heavenly food, the manna, is surely the treasure of the divine word. And the golden ark, in which are the tablets of the covenant, is declared, I think, to be nothing other than our mind, in which we ought to have the law of God written. And this mind ought to be golden, that is, pure and precious, so that we may always have the law of God written in it, as the Apostle says: “Written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of fleshly hearts.” For this is what is said also of certain people who show the work of the law written in their hearts. And who wrote it in their hearts but God with his finger? Surely the natural law, which God gave to the human race and wrote in the minds of all; from it we take our beginnings and receive certain seeds for searching out the truth; and if we cultivate these seeds well, they will bring forth in us the fruit of life in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. ### Scripture references - Num 18:1: quotation, high confidence - Num 18:2: quotation, high confidence - Num 18:3: quotation, high confidence - Num 18:5: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 7:9 (7:10 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Num 18:7: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:6: quotation, high confidence - Heb 9:4: allusion, high confidence - Heb 9:5: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Exod 31:18: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - In this passage praying “with the spirit” is aloud for others' edification, and praying “with the mind” is the silent prayer of the heart, as printed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 10.3 (PG 12:639a–640b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/9-6/#p-10-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-1 - Source: PG 12:640b–644a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Distinguishing “law” from commandments, ordinances, testimonies, and judgments, Origen argues that some precepts are only shadows, some (like the Ten Commandments) are kept literally, and some (like the joining of husband and wife) are kept literally and also bear an allegorical sense. ### Latin text Primitias omnium frugum, omniumque peni dum, sacerdotibus lex mandat offerri ”: itaut munis qui possidet agrum, vel vineam, vel olivetum. vel etiam hortum, et si quid est quod exerceturia terris, sed et si quis peculia cujuscunque nutriat, ofl‘erat ex iis Deo omne quod primum est. id est ad sacerdotes delerat. Deo enim oll’erri dati quod sacerdotibus datur. Et hoc est quod dacem! cx lege, quia nemo licite nec legitime utatur frvrtibus quos terra produxit, nec animantibus αυτ pecudum protulitpartus, nisi ex singulis quibusdue Deo primitiae, id est sacerdotibus offerantur. Hanc ergo legem observari etiam secundum litteram, sicut et alia nonnulla, necessarium puto (l0). Sunt enim aliquanta legis mandata quae etiam novi Testamenti discipuli necessaria observatione custodiunt. Et si videtur, prius de iis ipsis quae in lege quidem scripta, sed tamen in Evangeliis observanda sint, sermo moveatur : et cum haec patuerint, tunc jam quid in bis etiam spiritaliter sentiri debeat, requiremus. Sunt enim qui ita dicant, quia si aliquid omnino (li) observandum est secundum litteram , cur non et cuncta serventur? Si vero ad spiritalem intelligentiam quae lex continet referenda sunt, nihil omnino secundum litteram, sed spiritaliter debent universa discerni. Nos autem utriusque assertionis insolentiam temperantes, qualis regula in hujuscemodi legis sermonibus observanda sit, ex autoritate divinarum Scripturarum proferre tentabimus. Scriptum est in octavo decimo psalmo θδι Lex Domini irreprebensibilis, convertens animas, testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam prmstans parvulis. Praeceptum Domini lucidum, illutninans oculos. Timor Domini castus, permanens in saeculum saeculi. Iustitiae Domini rectm laatificantes corda, judicia Domini verajustificata in semetipsa, desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum, et dulciora super mel et favum. Nisi ergo essent singula ista a semetipsis diversa, nunquam utique proprias unicuique Scriptura divina dill‘erentiasindidisset,utaliud delegeDomini diceret, ς aliud de mandato, aliud de justificationibus, aliud dejudiciis. Est ergo, ut ex his ostendimus, aliud lex, aliud praeceptum, aliud testimonium, aliud justiticatio, aliud judicium. Sed et in ipsa lege evidentior horum dillerentia deSignatnr,,ubi dicitur: Haec est lex, et mandata, et iustificationes, et pra:cepta, et testimonia, et judicia, qua} pracepit Dominus Moysi. tium ergo haec ita se habere, et his a se invicem diil‘erre distinctionibus legis ipsius testimoniis approbentur, diligentius debemus intendere iis quae recitantur in lege, quia sicubi scribitur, verbi gratia, hoc esse mandatum, non continuo mandatum lex accipienda est : vel sicubi scriptum est, istae sunt iustificationes, non continuo jnstiticationes, aut lex, ant mandatum putanda: sunt. Similiter autem et sicubi scriptum est testimonium, aut judicia, non confuse unum ex caneris, sed diversum ab aliis unumquodque sentiendum est. Si ergo scriptum legimus , quia lex umbram habeat futurorum bonorum, non continuo etiam mandatum, vel justitia: vel judicia, de quibus boc non est scriptum, umbrae esse credendae sunt futurorum bonorum. Denique, ut exempli gratia unum ponamus ex multis, non est scriptum, hoc est mandatum paschae, sed, hmc est lex paschae . Et quia lex umbra est futurorum bonorum, lex sine dubio paschm umbra est futurorum bonorum. Cum ergo venio ad locum illum qui de pascha scriptus est, in agno illo corporali (l2) debeo intelligere umbram esse futuri boni, et hoc sentire quod ‹ pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus .» Simili modo invenies etiam de azymis et de cmteris festorum dierum observantiis scriptum. Quia ergo haec omnia sub legis titulo scribuntur in lege necessa'ria, quia lex per praesentem umbram futura bona designat, requirere debeo quae sint azyma futurorum bonorum, et invenio dicentem mihi Apostolum , ιιι diem festum agamus, non in fermento veteri, neque in fermento malitia: et nequitiaa, sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis.» Sed et de circumcisione scriptum est : Hmc est lex circ cumcisionis. Quia ergo et circumcisio sub legis titulo censetur, lex autem umbra est, quaero quid circumcisionis u mbra bonorum contineat futurorum, ne forte dicat mihi in umbra circumcisionis posito Paulus : Quia si circumcidamini, Christus vobis nihil prode,“ ς , Non enim quae in , _ manifesto in carae est circumcisio, illa circumcisio est, neque qni in manifesto in carne .Iudteus est, sed qui iu occulto Judazus est : et circumcisio cordis in spiritu, non littera, cujus laus non ex hominibus, sed ex Deo est. ll:ec ergo singula qnze nequaquam penitus secundum litteram observanda dicit Apostolus, invenies omnia l'ere apud Moysen sub legis titulo designari. Jam vero in eo ubi dicit , Non occides, non adulterium facies , non l‘nraberis, et reliqua hujusmodi, non invenies, quoniam legis in iis titulum prmmiserit, sed magis haec mandata videntur, et ideo non exinanilur apud discipulos Evangelii scriptura ista, sed adimpletnr: quia, ut dixi, non mandatum, sed lex habere dicitur umbram futurorum bonorum; et ideo haec nobis secundum litteram custodienda sunt. Item alibi: ε Juste, inquit θ’. sectare quod justum est. Quid opus est in his allegoriam quaerere, cum :edificet etiam littera? Ostendimus ergo esse quaedam quae omnino non sunt servanda secundum litteram legis, et esse quaedam quae allegoria penitus immutare non debet, sed omnimode ita ιιι Scriptura: de iis continent observanda sunt : nunc requiro si sunt aliqua quae et secundum litteram quidem stare possint, necessario tamen in eis etiam allegoriam requirendam. Et vide si possumus hzec apostolica et evangeliea auctoritate munire. Scriptum est in lege “ : Pmptcr hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhaerebit uxori sure, ο et erunt duo in carne una. Haec quod allegorica mysteria contineant, Paulus, cum in Epistula sua hoc ipsum posuisset exemplum, prennntiat dicens “ : Mysterium hoc magnum est, ego autem dico in Christo, etin Ecclesia. Quod autem oporteat hoc etiam secundum litteram custodiri, ipse Dominus et Salvator docet, dicens : Scriptum est, Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adluerehit uxori sum, et erunt dno in carne una. Quod ergo Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. Et ostendit utique observanda esse haec etiam secundum litteram, cum adjicit: Quod ergo Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. Sed et in aliis Apostolus ubi dicit ", quia Abraham duos filios habuit, unum de ancilla, et unum de libera, qnis dubitat lucc secundum litteram stare debere? Certum est enim, quia et Isaac de Sara, et Ismael de Agar filii fuerint Abrahae. Addit tamen iis Aposto- 118, et dicit " : Ηωο autem sunt allegorica, quae in duo testamenta convertit, et Sara! quidem sobolem tanquam in libertatem gignentis novi Testamenti liberos dicit; Agar autem tanquam in servitutem generantis terrenze Jerusalem filios nominavit. Ostendimus, nt opinor, auctoritate Scriptnrze divinae, exiis quae in lege scripta sunt, aliqua penitus refugienda esse et cavenda, ne secundum litteram ab Evangelii discipulis observentur; . - , -__:-.- ω.-. quaedam vero omnimode ut scripta sunt obtinenda; alia autem habere quidem secundum litteram teritatem sui, recipere tamen utiliter et necessario etiam allegoricum sensum. ### English translation (Claude) The law commands that the firstfruits of all crops and of all cattle be offered to the priests: so that everyone who owns a field, or a vineyard, or an olive grove, or even a garden, or whatever is worked on the land, and also anyone who raises livestock of any kind, should offer to God from them all that comes first, that is, bring it to the priests. For what is given to the priests is said to be offered to God. And this is what we learn from the law: that no one may lawfully or rightly use the fruits the earth has produced, or the young that the animals of the flock have borne, unless firstfruits from each of them are offered to God, that is, to the priests. I think, then, that this law must be observed even according to the letter, as some others must too. For there are some commands of the law which the disciples of the New Testament also keep with necessary observance. And, if you please, let us first discuss those things which are written in the law but are nevertheless to be observed in the Gospels; and when these have become clear, we shall then look for what should also be understood spiritually in them. For there are some who say: if anything at all is to be observed according to the letter, why should not everything be kept? But if what the law contains is to be referred to spiritual understanding, nothing at all should be discerned according to the letter, but everything spiritually. We, however, tempering the extravagance of both assertions, will try to set out from the authority of the divine Scriptures what rule is to be observed in sayings of the law of this kind. It is written in the eighteenth psalm: “The law of the Lord is irreproachable, converting souls; the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring for ever and ever. The righteous ordinances of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts; the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves, more desirable than gold and much precious stone, and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” Unless these were each different from one another, the divine Scripture would certainly never have given each its own distinguishing mark, saying one thing of the law of the Lord, another of the commandment, another of the ordinances, another of the judgments. So, as we have shown from these words, the law is one thing, the precept another, the testimony another, the ordinance another, the judgment another. And in the law itself the difference between these is indicated still more clearly, where it is said: “This is the law, and the commandments, and the ordinances, and the precepts, and the testimonies, and the judgments, which the Lord commanded Moses.” Since, then, it is confirmed by the testimonies of the law itself that these things are so and differ from one another by distinctions, we must attend more carefully to what is read in the law: for wherever it is written, for example, that this is a commandment, the law is not at once to be taken as commandment; or wherever it is written, “these are the ordinances,” they are not at once to be thought ordinances, or law, or commandment. Likewise wherever “testimony” or “judgments” is written, each is to be understood not as one confused with the rest but as different from the others. If, then, we read it written that the law has a shadow of the good things to come, we must not at once believe that the commandment too, or the ordinances, or the judgments, of which this is not written, are shadows of the good things to come. Indeed, to give one example of many, it is not written, “This is the commandment of the Passover,” but, “This is the law of the Passover.” And since the law is a shadow of good things to come, the law of the Passover is doubtless a shadow of good things to come. When, then, I come to the passage written about the Passover, I must understand that in that bodily lamb there is a shadow of the good to come, and perceive that “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” In a similar way you will find it written about the unleavened bread and the other observances of feast days. Since, then, all these things are written in the law under the title of law, because the law designates the good things to come through a present shadow, I must ask what the unleavened bread of the good things to come is, and I find the Apostle telling me that we should keep the feast “not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” And about circumcision too it is written: “This is the law of circumcision.” Since, then, circumcision too is classed under the title of law, and the law is a shadow, I ask what good things to come the shadow of circumcision contains, lest Paul say to me, if I am placed in the shadow of circumcision: “If you are circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing.” “For it is not the circumcision that is outward in the flesh that is circumcision, nor is he a Jew who is one outwardly in the flesh, but he who is a Jew inwardly; and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter; its praise is not from men but from God.” These particular things, then, which the Apostle says are by no means to be observed wholly according to the letter, you will find almost all designated in Moses under the title of law. But where he says, “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal,” and the rest of this kind, you will not find that he has prefixed to them the title of law; rather, these appear to be commandments, and therefore this writing is not emptied among the disciples of the Gospel but fulfilled; because, as I said, it is not the commandment but the law that is said to have a shadow of good things to come; and therefore these things are to be kept by us according to the letter. Again, elsewhere: “Justly,” it says, “pursue what is just.” What need is there to look for allegory in these, when even the letter edifies? We have shown, then, that there are some things that are not to be kept at all according to the letter of the law, and that there are some which allegory ought not to change at all, but which are to be observed in every way just as the Scriptures contain them. Now I ask whether there are some things which can indeed stand according to the letter, but in which allegory must nevertheless also be sought. And see whether we can support this with apostolic and evangelical authority. It is written in the law: “For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh.” That this contains allegorical mysteries Paul declares, when he had set down this very example in his letter, saying: “This mystery is great; but I speak of Christ and the church.” But that this must also be kept according to the letter the Lord and Saviour himself teaches, saying: “It is written, For this reason a man shall leave father and mother and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.” And he certainly shows that these words are to be observed according to the letter too, when he adds: “What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.” And in other places, where the Apostle says that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and one by the free woman, who doubts that these things must stand according to the letter? For it is certain that both Isaac by Sarah and Ishmael by Hagar were sons of Abraham. Yet the Apostle adds to these and says: “Now these things are allegorical,” and he turns them into the two testaments, calling Sarah's offspring children of the New Testament, which bears into freedom, and naming Hagar's the children of the earthly Jerusalem, which bears into slavery. We have shown, I think, by the authority of divine Scripture, that of the things written in the law some are to be entirely avoided and guarded against, lest they be observed according to the letter by the disciples of the Gospel; some are to be held in every way as they are written; and others have their truth according to the letter, yet also usefully and necessarily receive an allegorical sense. ### Scripture references - Num 18:12: allusion, high confidence - Exod 23:19: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 19:7 (18:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:8 (18:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:9 (18:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 19:10 (18:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Deut 4:45: allusion, medium confidence - Deut 6:1: allusion, low confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:43: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:28: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:29: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:13: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:14: quotation, high confidence - Exod 20:15: quotation, high confidence - Deut 16:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - Eph 5:31: allusion, high confidence - Eph 5:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:6: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:22: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Ps 19:7–10 is LXX 18:8–11 (“the eighteenth psalm”). The list “law, commandments, ordinances …” approximates Deut 4:45 and 6:1; “This is the law of circumcision” is not an exact verse (uncertain). Gen 2:24, Eph 5:31–32, and Matt 19:5–6 are cited to show a precept that holds literally and allegorically; translated as written. A Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.1 (PG 12:640b–644a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-2 - Source: PG 12:644a–645b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The firstfruits law still binds Christians literally: they should give firstfruits to the clergy, since Christ requires righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees, who tithed even herbs. ### Latin text Erit ergo jam sapientis scribae et edocti de regno Dei, qui sciat de thesauris his proferre non et vetera, scire quomodo in uno quoque loco Sciipturae, aut abjiciat penitus occidentem litteram,et spiritum vivificantem requirat, aut confirmet οιιιnimode, et utilem ac necessariam probet littera doctrinam ; aut manente historia, opportune et de center introdueat etiam mysticum sensum. Sicine in hoc sermone quem habemus in manibus sibi. tror convenire; decet enim et utile est etiam sacerdotibus Evangelii ofierri primitias. lta enin: et Dominus disposuit, ut qui Evangelium annuntiant, de Evangelio vivant, et q'ui altari deserviunt, de altari participem . Et sicut hoc dignum et decem est, sic econtrario et indecens et indignum existi mo et impium, ut is qui Deum colit, et iugredittt Ecclesium Dei, qui scit sacerdotes et ministros assistere altari, et aut verbo Dei aut ministerio Ecclesiae deservire, de fructibus terrae quos dat Deus solem suum producendo, et pluvias suas ministrando, non ofi‘erat primitias sacerdotibus.fiaa mihi videtur hujusmodi anima habere memoriae Dei, nec cogitare, nec credere quia Deus deluit fructus quos cepit, quos ita recondit quasi alienos a Deo. Si enim a Deo sibi datos crederet, sciret utique numerando sacerdotes honorare Deum de datis et muneribus suis. Et adhuc ut amplius hac observanda etiam secundum litteram ipsius Deira. cibus doceantur, addemus ad haec. Dominus dicit in Evangeliis οἳ : Vae vobis, Scriba: et Pharisziliypcritm, qui decimatis mentham, hoc est, decima datis menthte, et cymini, et anethi, et premitis quae majora sunt legis : hypocrita, hac operta fieri, et illa non omitti. Vide ergo diligentius quomodo sermo Domini vult fieri quidem aulainiode quae majora sunt legis, non tamen omini et haec quae secundum litteram designantur. Quod si dicas; quia haec ad Pbarisaaos diccbat, nocti discipulos, audi iterum ipsum dicentem ad disci. Nisi abundaverit justitia vestra liius Pulos quam Pharisaeorum et Scribarum, non intrabitisi: regnum caelorum . Quod ergo vult fieri a Phtriszeis, multo magis et majore cum abundantia wit a discipulis impleri ; quod autem fieri a discipulis vult, nec Pha—risaeis imperat faciendum. Quonim? autem plus velit fieri a discipulis quam facint Pharisaii, in eo declarat ubi dicit : Dictunt antiquis: Non occides.» Hoc observant et Phariae. Discipulis autem dicit : Ego autem dieat‘ttbfv quia si quis iratus fuerit fratri suo, reus eri'. 30felio. Similiter ct de eo quod scriptum est Non adulterabis, suorum discipulorum in eo vultamplius abundare justitiam, ut ne mulierem quidem videant ad concupiscendum. Igitur ex his quae protulimus paucis, si qui studiosi sunt in Scripturis divinis, perfacile colligere poterunt etiam caeterorum distinctiones. Sapiens enim si audiat, inquit , verbum non solum laudabit, sed et adjiciet ad illud. Quid adjiciet? ιιι discutiat et discernat in singulis quibusque capitulis legis, ubi fugienda sit legis littera, ubi amplectenda, ubi etiam narratio histov rize cum mystica expositione conveniat. Christus enim nos redemit de maledicto legis ; non nos redemit de maledicto mandati, nec de maledicto tastitnonii, nec de maledicto iudiciorum, sed de maledicto legis, id est ne subjecti essemus circumcisioni carnis nec observationi Sabhaturum, aliisque horum similibus, quae non in mandatis, sed in lege dicenda sunt contineri. Quomodo ergo abundat justitia nostra plus quam Scribarum et Pharisaeorum, si illi de fructibus terrae suae gustare non audent priusquam primitias sacerd'otibus offerant, et levitis decimas separent (l3); et ego nihil horum faciens fructibus terrae ita abutar, ut sacerdos nesciat, levites ignoret, divinum altare non sentiat? lllud sane necessario commonendum est, quod lex dupliciter dicitur : nam generaliter omni ista, hoc est mandatum, iustificationes, testimonia, judicia, lex appellantur; specialiter autem pars aliqua ex iis quae in lege scripta sunt lex dicitur, ut sunt ista de quibus superius disserui- c mus. Generalis autem lex significatur, verbi gratia, “ cum de Saltatore dicitur , quia ‹ non venit solvere legem, sed adimplere. Et item alibi : Plenitudo ergo legis est dilectio. ln quo utique omnia simul quae scripta suntin lege, legem nominavit. llaec diximus asserentes mandatum de primitiis frugum vel pecorum, debere etiam secundum litteram stare. ### English translation (Claude) It will be the part, then, of the wise scribe instructed in the kingdom of God, who knows how to bring forth from these treasures things new and old, to know how in each place of Scripture he should either wholly reject the letter that kills and seek the life-giving spirit, or confirm the teaching of the letter in every way and prove it useful and necessary, or, while the literal account remains, introduce the mystical sense as well, fittingly and becomingly. This, I think, is how it stands in the passage we have in hand; for it is fitting and useful that firstfruits be offered to the priests of the Gospel too. For so the Lord too has arranged, that those who proclaim the Gospel should live from the Gospel, and those who serve the altar should share in the altar. And just as this is worthy and fitting, so on the contrary I consider it unfitting, unworthy, and impious that one who worships God and enters the church of God, who knows that the priests and ministers stand at the altar and serve either the word of God or the ministry of the church, should not offer the priests firstfruits of the fruits of the earth which God gives by bringing forth his sun and supplying his rains. Such a soul does not seem to me to have any remembrance of God, nor to think or believe that God gave the fruits it has received, which it stores away as if they were foreign to God. For if it believed they were given it by God, it would surely know to honor God by honoring the priests from his gifts and bounty. And so that people may be taught still more fully from the Lord's own words that these things are to be observed even according to the letter, we shall add this. The Lord says in the Gospels: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, who tithe mint,” that is, give a tithe of mint, “and cumin and dill, and neglect the weightier things of the law. Hypocrites, these you ought to have done, and not to have left the others undone.” See, then, more carefully how the Lord's word wants the weightier things of the law to be done in every way, yet does not want these things that are indicated according to the letter to be omitted. And if you say that he said this to the Pharisees, not to the disciples, hear him again saying to the disciples: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What he wants done by the Pharisees, then, he wants fulfilled much more, and with greater abundance, by the disciples; but what he wants done by the disciples, he does not command the Pharisees to do. And that he wants more done by the disciples than the Pharisees do he declares where he says: “It was said to those of old: You shall not kill.” This the Pharisees also observe. But to the disciples he says: “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment.” Likewise, concerning what is written, “You shall not commit adultery,” he wants the righteousness of his disciples to exceed in this, that they do not even look at a woman to desire her. So, from these few things we have brought forward, any who are studious in the divine Scriptures will very easily be able to gather the distinctions of the rest also. For the wise man, it says, if he hears a word, will not only praise it but will add to it. What will he add? That he should examine and discern in each chapter of the law where the letter of the law is to be shunned, where it is to be embraced, and where the narrative of the literal account agrees with a mystical exposition. For Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law; he did not redeem us from the curse of the commandment, nor from the curse of the testimony, nor from the curse of the judgments, but from the curse of the law, that is, so that we should not be subject to circumcision of the flesh, nor to the observance of sabbaths, and other things like these, which are to be said to be contained not in the commandments but in the law. How, then, does our righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, if they do not dare to taste the fruits of their land before they offer firstfruits to the priests and set apart tithes for the Levites, while I, doing none of these things, so misuse the fruits of the earth that the priest does not know, the Levite is unaware, and the divine altar does not feel it? This must certainly be pointed out: that “law” is said in two ways. In general, all these, that is, commandment, ordinances, testimonies, judgments, are called law; but specifically some part of what is written in the law is called law, such as the things we discussed above. The general law is meant, for example, when it is said of the Saviour that “he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” And again elsewhere: “Love, then, is the fulfillment of the law.” In this he certainly named everything written in the law together as the law. We have said these things in asserting that the command about the firstfruits of crops or cattle must stand even according to the letter. ### Scripture references - Matt 13:52: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:13: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:45: allusion, high confidence - Matt 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:20: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:22: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:27: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:28: allusion, high confidence - Gal 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 13:10: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 21:15 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “If the wise man hears a word, he will praise it and add to it” is Sirach 21:15. Origen applies the firstfruits and tithes of the law literally to the support of the church's priests and ministers; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.2 (PG 12:644a–645b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-3 - Source: PG 12:645b–647a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Spiritually, the firstfruits are outstanding believers, like Cornelius, whom angels, apostles, and teachers offer to Christ the high priest from the field of human hearts. ### Latin text Nuncautem videamus quomodo et allegoricum, id est spiritalem recipiat intellectum. Requiramus ergo sicubi in Scripturis praeter haec de quibus supra dietum est, invenimus primitias nominari, hic enim dixit ; Omnes primitias olei et vini, et frumenti, horum omnium primitiae quae oblatae fuerint Deo. tibi dedi ea. Requiro ergo nunc praeter haec ubi primitiae nominentur. Si eniti ι) onines primitiae ad pontificem pertinent, necessario nobis et pontifex requirendus est, ad quem pertinere debeant etiam illae primitiae quas in aliis Scripturae locis inditas invenimus. Et primo quidem omnium de ipso Domino Christo legimus scriptum “, quia sit primitiae mortuorum. Est ergo et ipse aliqua in parte primitiae.t Et iterum invenimus de quibusdam dictum ab Apostolo “, quia sunt primitiae Asiae, et alii primitiae Achaiae. Unde consequens est per singulas Ecclesias aliquos credentium, quos tatnen apestulicus spiritus probaverit, primitias nominari. Ex quibus esse arbitror etiam Cornelium illum qui Caesariensis Ecclesiae cum iis cum quibus Spiritum sanctum meruit accipere, primitiae merito dicitur . Et non solum hujus Ecclesiae, sed fortassis et omnium gentium primitiae Cornelius appellandus est; primus enim credidit ex gentibus, et primus sancto Spiritu repletus est. Et ideo recte primitiae gentium appellabitur. Sed requiris fortasse quis istas offerat primitias Deo.autquis est pontifex cujus haec rationibus cedant. Ego arbitror quod secundum Domini _ verbum ager dicatur hic mundus. Ager autem non terrae solum, sed corda intelliguntur humana, quem agrum angeli Dei susceperint excolendum (Η). Culturae ergo suae fructus ipsi quidem possident, et habent, eos videlicet qui sub procurationibus agunt, et actoribus, et nondum usque ad summam aetatem perfectionis venerunt. Si quorutn vero corda diligenter exculta, et ad perfectum perducta sunt, hos tanquam electos et praecipuos ex caeteris primitias offerunt pontifici magno. Denique invenimus ipsum Cornelium antequam doctriam verbi Dei, vel gratiam baptismi susciperet a Petro, audisse ah angelo, quia orationes ejus et eleemosynre ascendissent ad Deum , unde et per ipsum angelum videtur Deo primitiae oblatus esse Cornelius. Possumus autem dicere etiam de Petro, et Paulo caeterisque apostolis, quod et ipsi credentium per se primitias offerant, sicut dicit Apostolus η, quia ab Jerusalem in circuitu usque ad llly‘ ricutn repleverit Evangelium Christi, et ita praedicaverit Evangelium non ubi nominatus est Christus, ne super alienum fundamentum aedificaret. Intuere ergo Paulum, omnes cos quos docuit, quibus praedicavit, qui ex ipso profecerunt in fide, tanquam fructus suos offerentem, et quaerentem quotidie novos agros quos excolat, et nova rura quae seminet , et ob hoc dicentem ad quosdam : ε Cupio enim venire ad vos, ut aliquem fructum habeam et in vobis, sicut et in caeteris gentibus. ο Intuere, inquam, eum ex iis omnibus fructibus electa quaeque signantem, et dicentem de quihusdam, sicut supra diximus, quia sunt primitiae Asiae, et alii primitiae Achaiae, et singularum quarumque Ecclesiarum eligere primitias et offerre Deo. liabet autem fortassis aliquos et primogenitos. Credo autem quod habeatet aliquos inferiores ho- ᾖ rum, quos neque pro primogenitis(l5),sed pro de- ξ cimis possit offerre. Sed et unusquisque doctorum puto quod pro eo quod docet et praedicat et instruit auditores, agrum Ecclesiae illius quam docet, id est credentium corda videatur excolere. liabet ergo et ipse cultura: sum fructum, et in iis omnibus fructibus invenit sine dubio electum aliquem et prae.cipuum, quem quasi primitias oll'erat. invenit et quos pro primogenitis, et alios pro decimis. Quod si non videtur temerarium audere in talibus, possunt fortasse primogeniti vere illi dici, de quibus scriptum est ο quia cum mulieribus se non inquinavcrunt, virgines enim permanserunt, autetiam de martyribus potest dictum videri. Et primitiae nihilominus possunt intelligi Ecclesize virgines. Decimae quoque ii qui post coniugium continenter et caste vixerint. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us see how it also admits an allegorical, that is, a spiritual, understanding. Let us look, then, for any place in the Scriptures besides those spoken of above where we find firstfruits named; for here he said: “All the firstfruits of oil and wine and grain, the firstfruits of all these which are offered to God, I have given them to you.” I ask, then, where firstfruits are named besides these. For if all firstfruits belong to the high priest, we must necessarily look also for the high priest to whom those firstfruits too must belong which we find set down in other places of Scripture. And first of all we read it written of the Lord Christ himself that he is the firstfruits of the dead. He too, then, is in some respect firstfruits. And again we find it said by the Apostle of some that they are the firstfruits of Asia, and of others that they are the firstfruits of Achaia. Hence it follows that in each church some of the believers, whom however the apostolic spirit has approved, are named firstfruits. Among them I think is that Cornelius who, with those with whom he was found worthy to receive the Holy Spirit, is rightly called the firstfruits of the church of Caesarea. And not only of this church, but perhaps Cornelius should be called the firstfruits of all the Gentiles; for he was the first of the Gentiles to believe, and the first to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And therefore he will rightly be called the firstfruits of the Gentiles. But perhaps you ask who offers these firstfruits to God, or who is the high priest to whose account they go. I think that, according to the Lord's word, this world is called the field. And the field is understood to be not only land but human hearts; and the angels of God have taken up this field to cultivate it. They themselves possess and hold the fruits of their cultivation, namely those who live under guardians and stewards and have not yet come to the full age of perfection. But if the hearts of any have been carefully cultivated and brought to perfection, these, as chosen and outstanding among the rest, they offer as firstfruits to the great high priest. Indeed we find that Cornelius himself, before he received the teaching of the word of God or the grace of baptism from Peter, heard from an angel that his prayers and alms had gone up to God; hence Cornelius seems to have been offered to God as firstfruits through that very angel. And we can say of Peter and Paul and the other apostles too that they themselves offer the firstfruits of those who believed through them, as the Apostle says that from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum he has filled up the Gospel of Christ, and has preached the Gospel not where Christ was named, lest he build on another's foundation. Look, then, at Paul offering as his fruits all those he taught, to whom he preached, who advanced in faith through him, and seeking daily new fields to cultivate and new lands to sow, and for this reason saying to some: “For I long to come to you, that I may have some fruit among you also, as among the other Gentiles.” Look, I say, at him marking out the choicest from all these fruits, and saying of some, as we said above, that they are the firstfruits of Asia, and of others that they are the firstfruits of Achaia, and choosing firstfruits from each of the churches and offering them to God. And perhaps he also has some firstborn. And I believe he also has some lower than these, whom he can offer not as firstborn but as tithes. And I think that each of the teachers too, because he teaches, preaches, and instructs his hearers, is seen to cultivate the field of the church he teaches, that is, the hearts of the believers. He too, then, has the fruit of his cultivation, and among all these fruits he doubtless finds someone chosen and outstanding whom he may offer as firstfruits; he finds some also as firstborn, and others as tithes. And if it does not seem rash to venture into such matters, perhaps those may truly be called firstborn of whom it is written that they did not defile themselves with women, for they remained virgins; or it may also seem to be said of the martyrs. And the virgins of the church can no less be understood as firstfruits; and the tithes, those who after marriage have lived continently and chastely. ### Scripture references - Num 18:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: allusion, high confidence - Rom 16:5: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 16:15: allusion, high confidence - Acts 10:44: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:38: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - Acts 10:4: allusion, high confidence - Rom 15:19: allusion, high confidence - Rom 15:20: allusion, high confidence - Rom 1:13: quotation, high confidence - Rev 14:4: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The firstfruits of Asia and Achaia are Epaenetus (Rom 16:5) and the household of Stephanas (1 Cor 16:15). Rev 14:4 is applied to virgins or martyrs, and the “tithes” to those who live in continence after marriage; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.3 (PG 12:645b–647a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-4 - Source: PG 12:647a–650b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Each angel will bring the souls in its care to the judgment and offer the best as firstfruits; nations and churches have their angels, and Christ himself is the firstfruits of firstfruits offered to God. ### Latin text Verum quoniam ex angelorum primitiis sermo sumpsit exordium, quas oll‘erri ab iisdem humani generis cultoribus dixeramus, atque ad apostolos sequenti loco, et inde ad unumquemque doctorum deducti smnus, redeamus ad originem eorum quae discutere cmperamus. Igitur unusquisque angelorum (l6) in consummatione sa:culi aderit in judicio, cducens eos secum quibus praefuit, quos adjuvit, quos instruxit, pro quibus semper vidit faciem Patris qui in caelis est. Et puto etiam ibi inquisitionem futuram, non quidem an cultura: hominum angelus defuerit, sed an culturae angelica: nequaquam digne segnitia humana responderit. Erit ergo etin hoc judicium Dei utrum negligentia aliqua ministrorum spirituum qui ad ministerium et adiutorium missi sunt propter eos qui ha:reditatem capiunt salutis, an eorum qui ab iisjuvantur ignavia tam multi lapsus vita: humanae proveniant (l7). Quod si ita est, erit ergo etiam inter angelos et homines iudicium Dei: et fortassis iudicabuntur aliqui cum Paulo et conferentur laboribus ejus, et fructibus qui ex multitudine credentium veniunt: et forte invenietur in laboribus superior etiam aliquibus angelis, et ideo nimirum dicebat “ : Aut nescitis quia angelosjudicabimus? Non quod ipse Paulus jttdicet angelos, sed quod opus Pauli quod egit in Evangelio. et erga animas credentium, juilicabit aliquos: non enim omnes, sed aliquos angelorum. Et pr0pterea fortassis etiam Petrus ad ista respomlens dicebat : In quem Mueupiscunt etiam angeli prospicere : quamvis et ipsi apostoli angelis utantur adjutorihus ad explendum praedicationis suae munus, et Opus Evangelii eonsunıman- dum; sie enim dicebatur in Actibus Apostolorum quia angelus Petri. esset, qui pulsaret ad ostium Similiter ergo intelligitur esse et alius Pauli angelus, sicut est Petri, et alius alterius apostoli, et singulorum per ordinem, vel pro meritis, quos utique in laboribus et doctrina sua, sive apostolorum sive reliquorum post eos doctore, necesse est primas partes habere et animarum qu per eos profecerunt, et fructum uua cum iis pet quos Operati sunt ad aream Domini comportare. Erit ergo in congregatione fructuum, id est in eleg-time credentium, ille, verbi gratia, qui fuit illius Ecclesiae praecipuus et eximius, primitiae, et ille etiam hoc superior illius Ecclesiae primogenitus. ab illo, verbi gratia, angelo oblatus. Et ita omne hoc quod adumbratum est in lege, quoniam lex umbram lubet futurorum bonorum, aliquo modo per angelorum ministeria in futurorum bonorum veritate complebitur: ut quae praeformata sunt in illo Israel, qui secundum carnem Israel dicitur, in lsraeiitis veris et caelestibus impleantur. Nomen enim Israel pervenit usque ad angelicos ordines, nisi quia mulio veriusilli appellabuntur Israel, quanto verius illi sunt mens videns Deum. Hoc enim Israel interpreo tatur. Puto enim quia, sicut quaedam noiu vel gentium, vel principum, in Scripturis posita videmus, quae absque ulla dubitatione ad malos angelos, et ad virtutes contrarias referantur ; sicut, verbi gratia, Pharao rex Egypti, et Nabuchodo» nosor Babylonius et Assyrius ; ita etiam ea, qu: de sanctis viris et gente religiosa scribuntur, ad snctos angelos et ad benignas debemus referre virtue tes. Quod autent rex gentis impiae ad virtutem aliquam malignam ab Scriptura referatur, audi quomodo Isaias de Nabuchodonosor dicat: σ Et indaeani, inquit , gladium super gentem magnam, saper principem Assyriorum. Ait enim : Virtute mea faciant, et sapientia sensus tnei destruant fines geutium, et virtutem eorum deprzcdabor. Et item alibi quasi de principe gentis cujusdam loquens dicit " : Quomodo cecidit de curio Lucifer, qui tuane oriebatur? si ergo omnia ad angelos quosdam maligna: (l9) vir-tntis referri cogit ratio veritatis, nonne eadem consequentia etiam quae de bonis, Vrl principibus, vel gentibus conscribuntur. ad bonarum, ut supra diximus, virtutum angelus. ministrosque referentur‘ISed et illud quod ia Genesi scriptum legimus, Deum ad angelos sine loquentem dicere ” ε Venite confundamus fiaguas eorum, quid aliud putandum est, nisi quas; diversi angeli diversas in hominibus linguas operai-'1 sint ac loquelas? Ut, verbi gratia, unus aliquis fuerit, qui Bahylonicam tunc uni homini impresserit linguam, alius qui alii Egyptiam, et alius qui Gntcam, et sic diversarum gentium ipsi illi fortasse … bantur auctores : manserit autem lingua per Adam primitus data, ut putamus, Ilebrtris,‘ in ea parte hominum, quae non pars alicujus angeli, vel principis facta esl, sed quae Dei partio permansit. Interim ut dicere cmperainus, offerunt et angeli primitias, unusquisque credo gentis suae, et rursum unusquisque Ecclesia: sum. Quibus angelis et Joannes in Apocalypsi scribere videtur , verbi gratia, augelo Ecclesiae Ephesiorum, vel Smyrntcorum, vel Laodicensium, aliarumque quae scriptae sunt. Offert ergo unusquisque angelorum primitias, vel Ecclesiae, vel gentis suae quae ei dispensanda commissa est. Aut forte et alii extrinsecus angeli sunt, qui ex omnibus gentibus fideles quosque congregem. Et ί consideremus ne forte sicut in aliqua, verbi gratia, civitate, tibi nondum Christiani nati sunt, si accedat aliquis, et docere incipiat, laboret, ius struat, adducat ad fidem, et ipse postmodum iis quos docuit princeps et episcopus fit: ita etiam sancti angeli eorum quos e diversis gentibus congregaverint, et labore suo ac ministerio proficere fecerint,ipsi eorum etiam in futuro principes fiant: ut Christus non tam rex dicatur quam rex regum, et non tam Dominus, quam Dominus dominantium. Quippe si isti reges fiunt eorum quos regunt, et proficere faciunt, ipsi ergo olleritnt quosdam quidem pontifici, quosdam vero filiis potitificis, id est, superioribus virtutibus, et archangelis, quosdam etiam Levitis, id est paulo inferioribus, si tamen ο consequens videatur tali quadam specie etiam angelicos ordines. ut lsraelitici sunt, esse distinctos, quandoquidem Israelitte umbrae et exemplari dicantur deservire cmlestium. Possumus ergo dicere, quia forte in futuro cum omnes fructus congregabuntur ad aream, erunt quidam portio pontifieis, sed illius veri pontificis Christi. Erunt et alii portio Levitarum, sicut jam supra diximus, vel anchis, vel aliis coelestibus virtutibus sequestrata. Puto autem quod erunt quidam portio etiam heminum eorum dunIaXat qui in hac vita prudentes ac fideles dispensatores verbi Dei fuerunt. Iloc enim arbitror in Evangeliis designari a Domino, uhi ait ad eum, cui crediderat quinque muas, et fecerat ex eis decem is ε Es", polesmem habens supra decemcivitates. Cui vero crediderat unam, et fecerat ex ca quinque ἐς ‹ Esto potestatem habens supra quinque civitates. Qn:c enim hic potestas civitatum intelligenda est, nisi gubernatio animarum? Unde et videtur mihi quod sine causa etiam inter ipsos angelos alii potestatem et principatum super alios gerant, alii autem subjaceant, et obtemperent potestati. Sicut ne iste quidem cui potestas decem civitatum, vel ille cui quinque civitatum datur, sine … pervenit ad hujusmodi potestatem. Omnia enim apud Deum ratione et judicio tlunt, nec ad gratiam, sed pro merito alius princeps esse multo» rum ponitur, alius subjectus esse principatui. Eva; gati forsitan prolixiore videamur excessu, sed de primitiis exponentibus neCessarium fuit etiam ista discutere, quandoquidem tanti honoris nomen istud in Scripturis divinis habetur ut etiam ipSe Christus primitiae nominatus sit, et primitiae dormientium '7. Et sicut rex regum, et Dominus dominantium, et pastor pastorum, etpontificum pontifex, ita censes quenter et pritnitiatnm primitiae dicetur. Quae prie initiae non jam pontifici. sed Deo oblata! sunt, secundum hoc quod seipsurn hostiam obtulit Deo, et surgens a mortuis sedit in dextram Dei. Dicitur autem ‘8 ipse et primitiae, et primogenitus totius creatura), quod utrum tali modo per singulas quasque creaturas intelligi debeat, quali inter homines" primitias dormientium dicitur, et intelligitur, an aliqua celsiore et diviniore intelligentia, non est praesentis temporis persequi. ### English translation (Claude) But since the discourse began from the firstfruits of the angels, which we had said are offered by those same cultivators of the human race, and we were then led on to the apostles, and from there to each of the teachers, let us return to the starting point of what we began to discuss. Each of the angels, then, will be present at the judgment at the consummation of the age, bringing with him those over whom he presided, whom he helped, whom he instructed, for whom he always saw the face of the Father who is in heaven. And I think there will also be an inquiry there, not indeed whether the angel failed in the cultivation of men, but whether human sloth failed to respond worthily to the angels' cultivation. There will be God's judgment on this too: whether so many falls in human life come from some negligence of the ministering spirits who are sent to minister and help for the sake of those who inherit salvation, or from the idleness of those who are helped by them. And if this is so, there will also be God's judgment between angels and men; and perhaps some will be judged together with Paul and compared with his labors and with the fruits that come from the multitude of believers; and perhaps he will be found superior in labors even to some angels, and that no doubt is why he said: “Or do you not know that we shall judge angels?” Not that Paul himself judges angels, but that the work of Paul which he did in the Gospel and toward the souls of believers will judge some, not all, but some of the angels. And perhaps for this reason Peter too, responding to these things, said: “Into which even angels long to look”; although the apostles themselves also have angels as helpers in fulfilling the task of their preaching and accomplishing the work of the Gospel; for so it was said in the Acts of the Apostles that it was Peter's angel who knocked at the door. Similarly, then, it is understood that there is also another angel of Paul, as there is of Peter, and another of another apostle, and of each in order, or according to merit; and these, in the labors and teaching of the apostles or of the teachers after them, must have the first share both in the souls that advanced through them and in carrying the fruit, together with those through whom they worked, to the Lord's threshing floor. In the gathering of the fruits, then, that is, in the choosing of the believers, one who was, for example, outstanding and exceptional in a given church will be its firstfruits, and one superior even to him will be the firstborn of that church, offered, for example, by that angel. And so everything that is foreshadowed in the law, since the law has a shadow of the good things to come, will in some way be fulfilled through the ministries of angels in the truth of the good things to come: so that what was prefigured in that Israel which is called Israel according to the flesh may be fulfilled in the true and heavenly Israelites. For the name Israel reaches as far as the angelic orders, [all the more] since they will be called Israel much more truly, as they are more truly a mind that sees God; for this is what “Israel” is interpreted to mean. For I think that, just as we see certain names of nations or princes set in the Scriptures which without any doubt refer to evil angels and opposing powers, as for example Pharaoh king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Assyria, so too what is written of holy men and of a religious nation we ought to refer to holy angels and benign powers. And that the king of an impious nation is referred by the Scripture to some malign power, hear how Isaiah speaks of Nebuchadnezzar: “And I will bring,” he says, “a sword upon a great nation, upon the prince of the Assyrians. For he says: By my strength I will do it, and by the wisdom of my understanding I will destroy the borders of the nations, and I will plunder their strength.” And again elsewhere, speaking as of the prince of some nation, he says: “How has Lucifer fallen from heaven, who rose in the morning?” If, then, the reasoning of truth compels us to refer all these things to certain angels of a malign power, will not the same consistency require that what is written of good princes or nations be referred, as we said above, to the angels and ministers of good powers? And what we read written in Genesis, that God, speaking to his angels, says, “Come, let us confound their tongues”: what else are we to think but that different angels produced different tongues and speech in men? So that, for example, there was some one angel who then impressed the Babylonian tongue on one man, another the Egyptian on another, another the Greek, and so perhaps they themselves became the authors of the different nations; while the tongue first given through Adam, which we think was Hebrew, remained in that part of mankind which was not made the portion of any angel or prince but remained God's portion. Meanwhile, as we began to say, the angels too offer firstfruits, each, I believe, of his own nation, and again each of his own church. To these angels John too seems to write in the Apocalypse, for example to the angel of the church of the Ephesians, or of the Smyrnaeans, or of the Laodiceans, and the others that are written. Each of the angels, then, offers the firstfruits either of the church or of the nation which has been committed to him to govern. Or perhaps there are also other angels besides, who gather the faithful from all nations. And let us consider whether perhaps, just as in some city, for example, where Christians have not yet been born, if someone comes and begins to teach, labors, instructs, and leads people to faith, and afterward himself becomes leader and bishop of those he taught, so too the holy angels may themselves become princes, in the future too, of those whom they have gathered from different nations and made to advance by their labor and ministry: so that Christ is called not merely king but King of kings, and not merely Lord but Lord of lords. For if these become kings of those whom they rule and make to advance, they will offer some to the high priest, some to the sons of the high priest, that is, to the higher powers and archangels, and some also to the Levites, that is, to those a little lower, if indeed it seems consistent that the angelic orders too are distinguished in some such pattern as the Israelite ones, since the Israelites are said to serve a shadow and copy of heavenly things. We can say, then, that perhaps in the future, when all the fruits are gathered to the threshing floor, some will be the portion of the high priest, but of that true high priest, Christ. And others will be the portion of the Levites, as we already said above, set apart for the archangels or other heavenly powers. And I think some will also be the portion of men, but only of those who in this life were prudent and faithful stewards of the word of God. For I think this is indicated by the Lord in the Gospels, where he says to the one to whom he had entrusted five minas and who had made ten from them: “Have authority over ten cities”; and to the one to whom he had entrusted one and who had made five from it: “Have authority over five cities.” For what is to be understood here by authority over cities but the governance of souls? Hence it seems to me that it is not without cause that among the angels themselves some hold authority and rule over others, while others are subject and obey authority; just as not even the one to whom authority over ten cities is given, or the one to whom authority over five cities is given, came to such authority without … . For with God all things happen by reason and judgment, and it is not by favor but according to merit that one is set as ruler over many and another is made subject to rule. We may perhaps seem to have wandered off in too long a digression, but in expounding the firstfruits it was necessary to discuss these things too, since this name is held in such honor in the divine Scriptures that Christ himself was named firstfruits, and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. And just as he is King of kings and Lord of lords and Shepherd of shepherds and High Priest of high priests, so consistently he will also be called the firstfruits of firstfruits. And these firstfruits are offered no longer to a high priest but to God, in that he offered himself as a victim to God and, rising from the dead, sat down at the right hand of God. And he is called both the firstfruits and the firstborn of all creation; whether this should be understood with respect to each kind of creature in the way he is called and understood to be the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep among men, or by some loftier and more divine understanding, it is not for the present time to pursue. ### Scripture references - Matt 13:39: allusion, high confidence - Matt 18:10: allusion, high confidence - Heb 1:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 1:12: quotation, high confidence - Acts 12:15: allusion, high confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:18: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 10:12: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 10:13: quotation, high confidence - Isa 14:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 11:7: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:9: allusion, medium confidence - Rev 2:1: allusion, high confidence - Rev 2:8: allusion, high confidence - Rev 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Rev 19:16: allusion, high confidence - Heb 8:5: allusion, high confidence - Luke 19:17: quotation, high confidence - Luke 19:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: quotation, high confidence - Heb 9:14: allusion, medium confidence - Col 1:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The idea that angels are set over nations rests on the Greek of Deut 32:8–9 (see 11.5); the view that Hebrew remained the language of God's portion after Babel is Origen's speculation and is translated as written. “Israel” = “a mind seeing God” is a traditional etymology. The parable is cited from Luke 19:16–19 with the numbers changed, as printed. Part of a sentence near the end is lost where a long Migne footnote leaked into the text (removed by logged correction). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.4 (PG 12:647a–650b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-5 - Source: PG 12:650b–651b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As God once divided the nations among the angels and kept Israel as his own portion, so at the resurrection he will divide humanity again, and believers should strive to be the Lord's portion rather than the portion of demons. ### Latin text Redeamus ergo ad primitiarum rationem quas diximus ofi‘erri per angelos, quae colliguntur ex agris hujus mundi. Agri autem angelorum, corda nostra sunt. Unusquisque ergo eorum ex agro quem colit, otl‘ert primitias Deo. Etsi mererer ego hodie magnum aliquem, et summo pontifice dignum seu: sum proferre, ita ut exiis omnibus quae loquimur sacerdoti placere deberet, poterat fortasse fieri, ut angelus qui praeest Ecclesiae, ex omnibus dictis nos stris eligeret aliquid, et loco primitiarum Domino de agello mei cordis offerret. Sed ego me scio non mereri, nec conscius sum mihi, quod talis aliquis sensus inveniatur in me, quem dignum iudicet gelus qui nos excolit, offerre pro primitiis, vel pro prituogenitis Domino. Atque utinam tale sit quod loquimur et docemus. ut non pro verbis nostris condemnari mereamur, sufficeret nobis hinc gratia. Ofi'eruntergo angeli ex nobis primitias, et excolit unusquisque eos quos studio et diligeu’ia sua ab erroribus gentium convertit ad Deum : et est unus!i quisque in portione vel cura illius angeli : et sicut Ι) ex initio szeculi hujus cum dispergeret Deus filios Adam “, statuit fines gentium secundum numerum angelorum Dei, et unaquaeque gens sub illo angelo facta est : uua autem fuit et electa gens Israel, qua: portio Domini fuit, et funiculus Iizcretlitatis ejus t ita credo etin fine hujus mandi atque in initio suae culi alterius futurum, ut iterum dividat Excela sus filios Adam : et qui non potueriutita mundi esse corde ut ipsum videant Dominum, et esse portio Domini, videant sanctos angelos, et sint secundum numerum angelorum Dei. Sed beatus est qui dignus fuerit in illa vita esse'portiu Domini, et populus ejus Jacob, ac funiculus haereditatis suae Israel. Optabile est ergo, utdiximus, ita proficere unumquemque, ut inter primitias, vel primogenita eligi mereatur, et offerri Deo, et esse pars Domini, sicut econtrario valde timendum est ne inveniamur inter illos, dc quibus scriptum est”: Introibunt in inferiora terrm, tradentur in ntanusgladii, partes vulpium erunt. Vides ergo resurrectionis tempore cum dividere cmperit Excelsus gentes, et pro meritis dispergere filios Adam, futuros esse quosdam qui intrent in inferiora terrae, et partes vulpium, id est partes daemonum fiant. Ipsae enim sunt vulpes exterminantes vineas , ex quibus erat et llerodes, de quo dicitur : lte, dicite vulpi huic. Refugiamus ergo terrenos actus et intelligentiam terrenam, ne aggravati terrenis sensibus, introire dicamur in inferiora terrtc, et partes vulpium fieri. lntrant enim et illi in inferiora terrae, qui legem Dei et repromissionum bona, intelligentia terrenae cogitationis ex: cipiunt, et non excitant animas auditorum ad exspeelationem etelestium, et intuitum supernorum: cum evidenter Apostolus dicat “: Si consurrexistis cum Christo quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens, non quae sunt super terram : quod utique illis dicebat Apostolus , qui terrena observatione, terrenis ne tetigeritis aiebant, ne gustaveritis, ne attaminaveritis, quibus addit : Quae sunt omnia in corru- ο ptionem ipso usu, secundum mandata et doctrinas hominum. ### English translation (Claude) Let us return, then, to the account of the firstfruits which we said are offered by the angels, gathered from the fields of this world. And the fields of the angels are our hearts. Each of them, then, offers firstfruits to God from the field he cultivates. And if today I were worthy to bring forth some great meaning, worthy of the high priest, such that of all the things we say it would be bound to please the priest, it might perhaps happen that the angel who presides over the church would choose something from all our words and offer it to the Lord as firstfruits from the little field of my heart. But I know that I am not worthy, nor am I conscious that any such meaning is found in me which the angel who cultivates us would judge worthy to offer to the Lord as firstfruits or as firstborn. And would that what we say and teach were such that we might not deserve to be condemned for our words; that grace would be enough for us. The angels, then, offer firstfruits from among us, and each cultivates those whom by his zeal and diligence he has turned from the errors of the Gentiles to God; and each person is in the portion or care of that angel. And as at the beginning of this age, when God scattered the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God, and each nation came under that angel, while one nation, Israel, was chosen, which was the Lord's portion and the cord of his inheritance: so I believe it will be at the end of this world and the beginning of another age, that the Most High will again divide the sons of Adam; and those who could not be so pure in heart as to see the Lord himself and to be the Lord's portion will see the holy angels and be according to the number of the angels of God. But blessed is he who has been found worthy in that life to be the Lord's portion, his people Jacob, and Israel the cord of his inheritance. It is desirable, then, as we said, that each should so advance as to deserve to be chosen among the firstfruits or the firstborn, to be offered to God, and to be the Lord's portion; just as, on the contrary, we must greatly fear lest we be found among those of whom it is written: “They shall go into the lower parts of the earth; they shall be given over to the hands of the sword; they shall be portions for foxes.” You see, then, that at the time of the resurrection, when the Most High begins to divide the nations and to scatter the sons of Adam according to their merits, there will be some who go into the lower parts of the earth and become portions for foxes, that is, portions for demons. For these are the foxes that destroy the vineyards, of whom Herod too was one, of whom it is said: “Go and tell that fox.” Let us flee, then, earthly deeds and earthly understanding, lest, weighed down by earthly thoughts, we be said to go into the lower parts of the earth and to become portions for foxes. For they too go into the lower parts of the earth who take the law of God and the good things of the promises with the understanding of earthly thought, and do not rouse the souls of their hearers to the expectation of heavenly things and the contemplation of things above, though the Apostle clearly says: “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, not the things that are on earth.” The Apostle said this, surely, to those who, keeping earthly observances, said of earthly things, “Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,” to which he adds: “These all perish by their very use, according to the commandments and teachings of men.” ### Scripture references - Deut 32:8: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 63:9 (62:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 63:10 (62:11 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Song 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Luke 13:32: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:1: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:21: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:22: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “According to the number of the angels of God” is the Greek of Deut 32:8. Ps 63:9–10 is LXX 62:10–11. A Migne footnote stood in the scan where part of a sentence is lost. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.5 (PG 12:650b–651b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-1/#p-11-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-6 - Source: PG 12:651b–652a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Firstfruits under the law were eaten and consumed, but Christ, the true firstfruits, is kept in the soul and grows the more he is received. ### Latin text Addit post haec : Et loeutus est Dominus ad Aaron dicens : Ecce ego dedi vobis ad conservandum primitias. › Quamvis in nonnullis exemplaribus Latinorum, ε ad observandum, scriptum sit, verius tamen est ο ad conservandum. Sed tequirendum est quomodo secundum legem primitiae conserventur. Non enim ut servent, sacerdotes accipiunt primitias, sed ut insumant. Quomodo ergo dicit : Ecce dedi vobis primitias ad conservandum? Unde constat non posse hoc ad legem litterae, sed ad legem spiritus applicari. Istae enim primitiae quas supra spiritaliter exposuimus, conservari possunt, illa: non possunt. Sed et si Christus est secundum Apostolum primitiae, vere ista: primitia: ad conservandum data: sunt nobis. Quid enim tam beatum, quam ut anima quae suscepit Christum, semper eum conservet, et semper habeat in se manentem? Et talis anima vere primitias suscipit ad conservandum. Nam illa). primitize quae offerebantur in lege, consumebantur per cibos, et ingressa: in ventrem, dirigebantur, ut Evangelium dicit ", in secessum. Istas autem primitias qui manducavcrit, etgustaverit panem qni de coelo descendit, non morietur, sed permanet in vitam aeternam. Iste est permanet, imo semper augetur. Est ergo, sicut Apestolus dicit , spiritalis esca, quae quanto magis insumitur, tanto amplius crescit. Quanto enim amplius verbum Dei sumpseris, quanto instantius cibum istum comederis, tanto in te affluentius abundabit. Ilaec dicta sunt pro eo quod scriptum est, ad conservandum primitias. ### English translation (Claude) After this he adds: “And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: Behold, I have given you the firstfruits to keep.” Although in some Latin copies “to observe” is written, “to keep” is nevertheless more accurate. But we must ask how, according to the law, firstfruits are kept. For the priests receive firstfruits not to keep them but to consume them. How, then, does he say: “Behold, I have given you the firstfruits to keep”? Hence it is clear that this cannot be applied to the law of the letter, but to the law of the spirit. For those firstfruits which we expounded spiritually above can be kept; these cannot. And if Christ is firstfruits, according to the Apostle, truly these firstfruits have been given us to keep. For what is so blessed as that the soul which has received Christ should always keep him and always have him abiding in it? Such a soul truly receives firstfruits to keep. For those firstfruits which were offered under the law were consumed as food and, having entered the belly, passed out into the drain, as the Gospel says. But whoever eats these firstfruits and tastes the bread that came down from heaven will not die but remains for eternal life. This food remains, or rather always increases. It is, then, as the Apostle says, a spiritual food, which the more it is consumed, the more it grows. For the more fully you take the word of God, the more earnestly you eat this food, the more abundantly it will overflow in you. These things have been said about what is written, “to keep the firstfruits.” ### Scripture references - Num 18:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:20: allusion, high confidence - Matt 15:17: allusion, high confidence - John 6:50: allusion, high confidence - John 6:58: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:3: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The remark about Latin copies reading “to observe” is presumably Rufinus's. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.6 (PG 12:651b–652a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-7 - Source: PG 12:652a–653a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God accepts firstfruits only from those sanctified by faith, not the self-credited virtues of pagans, and the “eternal ordinance” points to invisible, spiritual realities given to Christ and his apostles. ### Latin text Sequitur autem : Ex omnibus quae sauctificantur mihi a filiis Israel. Nec hoc sine sacramento dicitur; non vult enim Deus aliunde aco cipere primitias, nisi a sanctificatis Israel. Poterat enim fieri ut et apud gentiles invenirentur aliqua opera digna Deo. Excoluerunt enim et inter illos aliqui virtutes animi, et philosophia in nonnullis egit aliquantulum, sed non vult ista ofi'erri in primitiis. Ex illis vult Deus benefacta suscipere, queo rum mens videt Deum, et qui sanctificati sunt Deo per fidem. Gentilis autem etiamsi aliquid honestum et probabile habere videatur in moribus, hoc ipso quod non Deo ascribit animi virtutem, sed jactantiaz' suae deputat, non est sanctificata hujusmodi probitas, et ideo non recipitur inter primitias. Quantum autem ad definitionem litterae legis, vidctur etiam proselytos excludere ab hujuscemodi ιιιιιnere. Solos enim sanetificatos ex filiis Israel vult ofi‘erre primitias. Puto autem lsraelitetn dici posse, ex quo licet ei ingredi in Erclcsiam Dei : scriptum est enim ”: Non abominaberis Idutnazum, quia frater tuus est, nec Egyptiuttt, quoniam incola fuisti in terra Egypti. Filii si nati fuerint eis, generatione tertia introibant in Ecclesiam Dei. Denec ergo fructum non affert Egy'ptius, vel Idumam. nec fecerit filios primae et secundae et tertia: generationis, non potest introire in Ecclesium Domini, sed filiorum generatio facit eos introire in Ecclesia Domini. Observet diligentius qui legit litteras dirinas, et non ut libet Scriptura: verba pertranseat: sed aspiciat ad unumquemque sermonem, quomodo non dixit, si nati fuerint eis filii vel filiae, sed t filii si nati fuerint eis, tertia generatione introibant in Ecclesiam Domini. Et considera, si potes, secundum mysticum sensum, cur soli filii sint, non etiam lili;e, qui faciunt introire patres iu Ecclesium Domini. Denique invenies etiam sanctos quibus eximium Dco testimonium datur, difiicile filias, sed filius genuisse. Abraham non genuit filias, Isaac nec ipse quidem, solus Jacob unam genuit, et ipsam fratribus ac parentibus gravent. Contaminata enim ab Emor filio Sicltem, cpprobrium generi et vindicta: furorem fratribus excitavit. Sed et ter in anno apparere Domino jubetur omne masculinum. Femina ad apparcndutn Domino non vocatur. Sic ergo si quis Scri- ' pturis divinis diligenter intendat, inveniet non otiosum quod alibi quidem nominat cum filiis etiam filias, alibi autem filiarum non facit mentionem. Et hic ergo primitiae quae ofl'eruntur, a sanctificatis filiis Israel, non etiam a filiabus jubentur offerri : quae tamen secundum spiritalem intellectum, non ad sexus, sed animarum discretionem referenda sunt. Tibi enim, inquit ο, dedi ea in honorem, et filiis tuis post te legitimum aeternum. Tibi, inquit. Cui? Aaron,sine dubio respondebis. Sed sermo qui sequitur, magis de vero pontifice Christo, et filiis ejus apostolis, et doctoribus Ecclesiarum suadet intelligi. Ait enim : Legititnum internum. Quomodo ergo attentum potest esse quod, visibile est? cum Apostolus dicat “ : Quae enim videntur, temporalia sunt; quae autemnon videntur, aeterna sunt. Si ergo visibiles sunt primitiae quae offcruntur Aaron, quae visibilia sunt, dici aeterna non possunt. Similiter et circumcisio visibilis, et azyma visibile, et pascha visibile necesse est :eternum non esse, sed temporale, quia quae videntur, temporalia sunt. Et rursus δ’ : si quae non videntur, aeterna sunt, ergo et invisibilis circumcisio, qua: est in occulto, aeterna est, et azyma sinceritatis ct veritatis, et ipsum quia exiis estqua: non videntur, mlernum est. Simili ergo modo et haec non ei qui in manifesto, sed illi qui in occulto Judaeus est, et qui spiritu, non littera legem custodit secundum interiorem hominem, legitima et aeterna dicuntur. Et hoc sit vobis ex iis qua sanctificantur sanetis ### English translation (Claude) And it follows: “From all the things that are sanctified to me by the sons of Israel.” Nor is this said without a sacrament; for God does not wish to receive firstfruits from anywhere but from the sanctified of Israel. For it could happen that some works worthy of God are found among the Gentiles too; for some among them too have cultivated virtues of the soul, and philosophy has accomplished a little in some. But he does not wish these to be offered among the firstfruits. God wishes to receive good deeds from those whose mind sees God and who have been sanctified to God through faith. But a Gentile, even if he seems to have something honorable and commendable in his conduct, by the very fact that he ascribes the virtue of his soul not to God but credits it to his own boasting: such uprightness is not sanctified, and therefore it is not received among the firstfruits. As far as the definition of the letter of the law goes, it seems to exclude even proselytes from a gift of this kind; for he wishes only the sanctified from the sons of Israel to offer firstfruits. But I think one can be called an Israelite from the time he is permitted to enter the church of God; for it is written: “You shall not abhor the Edomite, for he is your brother, nor the Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in the land of Egypt. If sons are born to them, in the third generation they shall enter the church of God.” As long as the Egyptian or the Edomite, then, does not bear fruit and has not produced sons of the first, second, and third generation, he cannot enter the church of the Lord; it is the generation of sons that makes them enter the church of the Lord. Let whoever reads the divine letters observe more carefully, and not pass over the words of Scripture as he pleases, but look at each word: how it did not say, “if sons or daughters are born to them,” but, “if sons are born to them, in the third generation they shall enter the church of the Lord.” And consider, if you can, according to the mystical sense, why it is only sons, not daughters too, who make the fathers enter the church of the Lord. Indeed you will find that the saints too, to whom God gives an exceptional testimony, seldom begot daughters, but sons. Abraham did not beget daughters; nor did Isaac; Jacob alone begot one, and she was a grief to her brothers and parents. For, defiled by Shechem the son of Hamor, she brought reproach on her family and stirred up her brothers' fury for vengeance. And every male is commanded to appear before the Lord three times a year; the female is not called to appear before the Lord. So if anyone attends carefully to the divine Scriptures, he will find that it is not idle that in one place it names daughters along with sons, and in another makes no mention of daughters. And here too, then, the firstfruits that are offered are commanded to be offered by the sanctified sons of Israel, not also by the daughters: which, however, according to the spiritual understanding, are to be referred not to a distinction of sexes but to a distinction of souls. “To you,” it says, “I have given them as an honor, and to your sons after you, an eternal ordinance.” “To you,” it says. To whom? To Aaron, you will no doubt answer. But the words that follow persuade us rather to understand it of the true high priest, Christ, and of his sons, the apostles and the teachers of the churches. For it says: “an eternal ordinance.” How, then, can what is visible be eternal, when the Apostle says: “For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal”? If, then, the firstfruits offered to Aaron are visible, being visible they cannot be called eternal. Likewise visible circumcision, visible unleavened bread, and the visible Passover must necessarily be not eternal but temporal, because the things that are seen are temporal. And again, if the things that are not seen are eternal, then the invisible circumcision, which is in secret, is eternal, and the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, and the Passover itself, because it is among the things that are not seen, is eternal. In a similar way, then, these things too are called ordinances and eternal, not for him who is a Jew outwardly, but for him who is a Jew inwardly and who keeps the law in spirit, not in letter, according to the inner man. “And let this be yours from the things that are sanctified, holy …” ### Scripture references - Num 18:8: quotation, high confidence - Deut 23:7: quotation, high confidence - Deut 23:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 34:2: allusion, high confidence - Exod 23:17: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:18: quotation, high confidence - Rom 2:28: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:29: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 18:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Deut 23:7–8. The remarks on sons and daughters (Dinah, Gen 34; Exod 23:17) are translated as written; Origen himself refers the distinction spiritually to kinds of souls, not to the sexes. The section ends with the beginning of Num 18:9, expounded in 11.8. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.7 (PG 12:652a–653a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-8 - Source: PG 12:653a–655a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Only the Trinity is holy by nature; creatures are “sanctified holy,” and the firstfruits we offer are the highest forms of the Spirit's fruits, such as loving God with the whole heart and rejoicing in God's word. ### Latin text De sacrificiis aliquoties apud memetipsum ista percurrens requisivi : quaenam essent sanctificata ϐ sancta, et videtur mihi quasi ad distinctionem eorum quae non sanctificata sancta sunt, hic sanctificata sancta dixisse. Puto ergo quod sanctus Spiritus ita sanctus sit, ut non sit sancti‘icatus. Non enim ei extrinsecus et aliunde accessit sanctificatio, qua; ante non fuerat, sed semper fuit sanctus, nec initium sanctitas ejus accepit. Similique modo de Patre et Filio intelligendum est. Sola enim Trinitatis substantia est, quae non extrinsecus accepta sanctificatione, sed sui natura sit sancta. Oinnis vero creatura vel dignatione sancti Spiritus, vel meritorum ratione sanctificata sancta dicetur. Sic ergo et scriptum legimus “ : Sancti estote, quoniam ego sanctus sum, dicit Dominus Deus. Non continuo similitudo sanctitatis in Deo atque hominibus ponenda. De Deo cuitu dicitur quia sanctus est, homines autem quasi qui non semper fuerint, jubentur ut fiant sancti. Denique sermo hic in Graeco, ubi nos habemus, sancti estote, hoc magis so. nat, sancti ellieimini. Sed nostri interpretes indifferenter: ε estote pro ellicimini posuerunt. Unusquisque ergo nostrum ex quo accedit adiimutem Dei, et divinam recipit in se doctrinam, ex quo se mancipavit Deo, si tamen ex animo mancipavit, cx eo sanctus ellicitur. Sed bie sanctificatus sau- \ ctus dici potest: vere autem et semper sanctus solus est Deus. Vis autem tibi et de Scriptnris divinis hujus apicis (ΞΗ) aperiam dill‘erentiam? Audi . quomodo Paulus ad Hebraeos scribens dicit δέ Qui enim sanctificat, et qui sanctificantur, ex uno omnes. Quis ergo sanctificat? Christus sine dubio: et qui sanctificantur? credentes in Christo. Manifestum ergo est quod qui sanctificat, sanctus est, quia semper sanctus est. Qui autem sanctilicantur, non simpliciter sancti, sed sanctificati sancti dicendi sunt. Nec putes huic sensui esse contrarium illud quod de Christo scriptum legimus “ : Quem Pater sanctificavit et misit in hunc mundum. Hic enim qui sanctificatur, secundum carnem Christus est, non secundum spiritum. Nam secundum spiritum pariter et secundum carnem Christus dixit δτι Ego sanctifico meipsum pro eis : ut qui sanctilical, secundum spiritum intelligatur: qui autem sanctifiCatur pro discipulis, secundum carnem, unus tamen atque idem Christus sit, qui nunc in spiritu sanctificat, nunc sanctilicatur in carne. Ab omnibus ergo fructibus sanctificata: sanctae sunt ollerendaa primitiae, sed spiritali pontifici. Ex quibus ergo l'ructibns spiritales primitias ofi'eremus? Audi quot fructus enumeret Apostolus“ ς( Fructus autem spiritus est, charitas, gaudium, pax, patientia, et caetera. Quas igitur primitias ex charitatis fructu, qui primus est fructus spiritus, oll‘eramus vero pou tifici?° Ilias ego puto esse primitias charitatis, ut diligam Dominum Deum meum ex toto corde meo, et ex tota anima mea, et ex tota mente mea. Istae sunt primitiae. Quid autem est quod ex isto charitatis fructu secundo loco habere debeam? Ut diligam proximum meum sicut meipsum. Illa: ergo primitiae charitatis Deo olferuntur per pontificem, haec vero quae in secando sunt loco, meis usibus relinquuntur. Puto esse aliquid ex hoc l'ructu quod tertio loco habendum sit, ut diligam etiam inimicos meos. Vide autem, si potes, similiter etde caeteris fructihus spiritus similes invenire primitias. Gaudium secundo loco fructus spiritus scribitur. Si ergo in Domino gaudeam, et spe gaudeam, et si gaudeam pro nomine Domini passus injuriam, in his omnibus. aliisque horum similibus, primitias gaudii Ι) per pontificem verum Deo obtuli. Sed et si rapinam bonorum meorum cum gaudio sustineam ", et tribulationes, si paupertatem, si qualemcunque contunteliam gaudens tolerent, est mihi ct iste secundo in loco ex fructibus spiritus, fructus gaudii. Nam si gaudeam de rebus szeculi, de honoribus, de divit tiis, falsa sunt gaudia, ex vanitatibus vanitatum.’ Si vero in malis gaudeam, et exsultent de aliorum ruinis, ista jam non solum vana, sed et diabolica gaudia, imo nec gaudia nominanda sunt. Non est enim gaudere impiis, dicit Dominus '°. Volo adhuc et alium fructum gaudii requirere, into et alias primitias gaudiorum. Si gaudeam in verbo Domini, si gaudeam de scientia mysteriorum Dei, si gaudeam quod dignus habitus sum sapientia: Dei secreta et arcana cognoscere, si gaudeam quod relictis omnibus quae sunt in hoc mundo, non solum inutilibus, sed et utilibus, non solum vanis, sed et necessariis, soli me verbo Dei atque ejus sapientia: maneiparim; in iis omnibus satis, ut puto, acceptae Deo primitiae gaudii oll'erentur. Sed et de caeteris fructibus spiritus ex otio unicuique quas competunt licebit aptare, ne nos sermonem justo longius protra- Iunius. ### English translation (Claude) Going over these things about the sacrifices several times by myself, I have asked what “sanctified holy things” are; and it seems to me that he said “sanctified holy things” here to distinguish them from holy things that are not sanctified. I think, then, that the Holy Spirit is holy in such a way that he is not sanctified. For sanctification did not come to him from outside and from elsewhere, as something he did not have before; but he was always holy, and his holiness had no beginning. And the same must be understood of the Father and the Son. For it is the substance of the Trinity alone which is holy not by a sanctification received from outside but by its own nature. But every creature will be called holy as sanctified, either by the favor of the Holy Spirit or by reason of merits. So, then, we read it written: “Be holy, for I am holy, says the Lord God.” The likeness of holiness is not therefore to be set equally in God and in men. For of God it is said that he is holy; but men, as those who have not always been holy, are commanded to become holy. Indeed, where we have “be holy,” this saying in the Greek rather means “become holy”; but our translators have put “be” for “become” without distinction. Each of us, then, from the time he approaches the fear of God and receives the divine teaching into himself, from the time he has given himself over to God, if indeed he has given himself from the heart, from that time is made holy. But such a one can be called sanctified-holy; truly and always holy is God alone. Do you want me to open to you the difference on this point from the divine Scriptures too? Hear how Paul, writing to the Hebrews, says: “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one.” Who, then, sanctifies? Christ, no doubt. And who are sanctified? Those who believe in Christ. It is clear, then, that he who sanctifies is holy, because he is always holy; but those who are sanctified are to be called not simply holy but sanctified-holy. Nor should you think that what we read written of Christ is contrary to this sense: “Whom the Father sanctified and sent into this world.” For he who is sanctified here is Christ according to the flesh, not according to the spirit. For Christ, speaking according to the spirit and according to the flesh alike, said: “I sanctify myself for them”: so that he who sanctifies is understood according to the spirit, while he who is sanctified for the disciples is understood according to the flesh; yet it is one and the same Christ, who now sanctifies in the spirit and now is sanctified in the flesh. From all fruits, then, sanctified holy firstfruits are to be offered, but to the spiritual high priest. From which fruits, then, shall we offer spiritual firstfruits? Hear how many fruits the Apostle enumerates: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,” and the rest. What firstfruits, then, shall we offer to the true high priest from the fruit of love, which is the first fruit of the Spirit? I think the firstfruits of love are that I love the Lord my God with all my heart, and with all my soul, and with all my mind. These are the firstfruits. And what ought I to have in second place from this fruit of love? That I love my neighbor as myself. Those firstfruits of love, then, are offered to God through the high priest, while these which are in second place are left for my use. I think there is something from this fruit to be held in third place: that I love even my enemies. See, then, if you can, whether you can likewise find similar firstfruits of the other fruits of the Spirit. Joy is written as the second fruit of the Spirit. If, then, I rejoice in the Lord, and rejoice in hope, and if I rejoice when I have suffered injury for the name of the Lord, in all these and others like them I have offered the firstfruits of joy to God through the true high priest. And if I endure the plundering of my goods with joy, and tribulations; if I bear poverty, if I bear any insult rejoicing, this too, in second place, is mine among the fruits of the Spirit, the fruit of joy. For if I rejoice in the things of the world, in honors, in riches, the joys are false, from the vanities of vanities. But if I rejoice in evils and exult at the ruin of others, these are not only vain but devilish joys, or rather they are not even to be called joys. “There is no rejoicing for the ungodly,” says the Lord. I want to seek yet another fruit of joy, or rather other firstfruits of joys. If I rejoice in the word of the Lord, if I rejoice in the knowledge of the mysteries of God, if I rejoice that I have been held worthy to know the secrets and hidden things of the wisdom of God, if I rejoice that, having left everything in this world, not only useless things but useful ones, not only vain things but necessary ones, I have given myself over to the word of God alone and to his wisdom: in all these, I think, firstfruits of joy quite acceptable to God are offered. And for the other fruits of the Spirit, each may at leisure fit to them the firstfruits that suit them, lest we draw out the discourse longer than is right. ### Scripture references - Num 18:9: allusion, high confidence - Lev 19:2: quotation, high confidence - Heb 2:11: quotation, high confidence - John 10:36: quotation, high confidence - John 17:19: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:22: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:37: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:39: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:44: allusion, high confidence - Phil 4:4: allusion, high confidence - Rom 12:12: allusion, high confidence - Acts 5:41: allusion, high confidence - Heb 10:34: allusion, high confidence - Eccl 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Isa 48:22: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 57:21: quotation, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The distinction between the Trinity, holy by nature, and creatures, holy by sanctification, and the distinction in Christ between what he does “according to the spirit” and “according to the flesh,” are translated as written. “There is no rejoicing for the ungodly, says the Lord” is the Greek of Isa 48:22 and 57:21; the words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.8 (PG 12:653a–655a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 11.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-9 - Source: PG 12:655a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The firstfruits of almsgiving are a merciful heart, and the firstfruits of the sacrifice of praise are prayer offered with a collected, attentive mind, which the angels present to Christ. ### Latin text Et ab omnibus, inquit", muneribus eorum.» Munus quis obtulit Deo, et rursus ex munere offerendae sunt primitize pontifici. Hoc in expositione allegorica ita arbitror posse constare. Si quis vel egentibus distribuat, vel faciat aliquid boni operis, pro mandato munus obtulit. Deo. Sed rursus numeris oll'ert primitias, si non solum cibos, verbi gratia, vel pecuniam largiatur, sed et allectum iiiisereudi habeat, et compatieudi. lloc enim est quod requirit ab homine Deus, ut mens ipsa piis et iiiiscricordibus repleatur et formetur allectibus. Et ab omnibus immolationibus eorum. lmmolatio spiritalis ρει illa quam legimus" : lmmola Deo sacrilicium laudis, et redde Altissimo vota tua. Laudare ergo Deum, et vota orationis ofl'erre, imuiolare est Deo. Sed hujusmodi immolationis primitiae ita per pontificem offerentur, si non solum verbis et voce, sed et mcutc oremus et corde, secundum quod et Apostolus monet" : tOrabo spiritu, orabo et mente : t-Sahnnm dicam spiritu, psalmum dicam etmente.» Assistuiit enim et nunc angeli Dei cultores et agri- (οἰκ cordis nostri, ct requirunt si est in aliquo nostrum hujuscemodi mens tant sollicita, tam intenta, qum verbum Dei tauquam semen divinum tota aviditate susceperit , si lructum statim ιιι ad orationem surgimus ostenderit, id est, si collectis et congrega tisintra se sensibus oret Deum, si non evagetur :ncute. et cogitationibus cvolet, ita ut corpore quidem in oratione curvetur, sensibus autem per diversa discurrat. Si quis, inquam, intentam et directam senseritobsecrationemsuam, et ipsis Dei conspectibus. atque inelIahili lumini se intellexerit assistcuteni, ibique orationes, et obsecrationes, postulationesque et gratiarum actiones suas profuderit, nullius extrinsecus phantasia: sollicitatus imagine :hic se noverit per angelum qui assistit altari, obtulisse immolationis suae primitias pontilici magno et vero, Christo Jesu Domino nostro, cuiest gloria et imperium in szecula saeculorum. Arnen. ### English translation (Claude) “And from all their gifts,” it says. Someone has offered a gift to God, and again from the gift firstfruits are to be offered to the high priest. In an allegorical exposition I think this can stand as follows. If someone distributes to the needy or does some good work, he has offered a gift to God according to the commandment. But he also offers firstfruits of the gift if he bestows not only food, for example, or money, but also has the disposition of mercy and compassion. For this is what God requires of man: that the mind itself be filled with and formed by pious and merciful dispositions. “And from all their sacrifices.” The spiritual sacrifice is that of which we read: “Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High.” To praise God, then, and to offer vows of prayer is to sacrifice to God. But the firstfruits of such a sacrifice will be offered through the high priest in this way: if we pray not only with words and voice but also with the mind and the heart, as the Apostle too admonishes: “I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind; I will sing a psalm with the spirit, I will sing a psalm also with the mind.” For even now the angels of God, the cultivators and husbandmen of our heart, stand by and look whether there is in any of us a mind so careful, so intent, that it has received the word of God like a divine seed with all eagerness; whether it shows fruit as soon as we rise for prayer, that is, whether it prays to God with its thoughts collected and gathered within itself, whether it does not wander in mind and fly off in thoughts, so that the body is bowed in prayer while the thoughts run off in different directions. If anyone, I say, has felt his entreaty to be intent and directed, and has understood that he stands before the very sight of God and his ineffable light, and has poured out there his prayers, entreaties, petitions, and thanksgivings, disturbed by the image of no phantasm from outside, let him know that through the angel who stands by the altar he has offered the firstfruits of his sacrifice to the great and true high priest, Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 18:9: quotation, high confidence - Ps 50:14 (49:14 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:15: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:1: allusion, high confidence - Rev 8:3: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Ps 50:14 is LXX 49:14. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 11.9 (PG 12:655a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-11-9). ## Homilies on Numbers 12.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-12-1 - Source: PG 12:656a–657a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The command to gather the people at the well points to a spiritual meaning: the Scriptures speak of many wells and springs, culminating in the living water Christ gives to believers. ### Latin text Lectio nobis putei, et cantici quod apud puteunicecinitlsrael, ex Numerorum libro recitata est, quam solitis, imo forte et amplius solito videmus redundare mysteriis. Ait enim “ : ‹ Et bibit de puteo populus. Hic est puteus, quem dixit Dominus ad Moysen : Congrega populum, et dabo eis aquam bibere. Sed in liis dictis non multum mihi juris videtur historica littera possidere. Quid est enim quod magnopere przecepit Dominus Moysi populum congregare, ut det eis aquam de puteo bibere? quasi vero non etiam sponte pepulus bibes. di gratia convenerit ad puteum. Quid ergo tautopere prophetae pr:ecipitur, ut proprio studio et labore congreget populum ad hauriendam putei aquam ? Unde vilitas littera: ad preliositatein nos spiritalis remittit intelligentiae. Et ideo conveniens puto etiam de aliis Scriptum locis puteorum congregare mysteria, ut ex comparatione plurimorum, si quid praesens sermo obscuritatis continet, eluccscat. Ait ergo Spiritus Dei per Salomonem in Proverbiis : Bibe aquas de tuis vasis et de puteorum tuorum fonte, et non superefl‘undantur tibi aqua: extra tuum fontem. Quamvis in aliis exemplaribus legerimus: «Et effundantur tibi aqua! extra tuum fontem. Aqua? tuae sint tibi soli, ei nemo alienus participet ex eis. liabet ergo (ιιι in iis designatur) unusquisque nostrum in semetipso puleum. [mo et ahquid amplius dicemus, unusquisque nostrum habet non puteum tinum, sed puteos multos, et non unum vas aqua}, sed .vasa multa. No enim dixit, bibe aquas de tuo vase, sed de tuis vasis: et non dixit, et de putei ttii fonte, sed de puteorum tuorum fonte. Legimus " habuisse et patriarchas puteos; habuit Abraham, habuit et Isaac. Puto autem habuisse et Jacob. Et ab istis poteis sumpto initio, percurre omnem Scripturam, pnteos requirens, et perveni usque ad Evangelia, et ibi invenies puteum supra quem Salvator noster sedebat requiescens post itineris laborem, tunc rum veniente muliere Samaritana. et volente haurire aquam de puteo, quae esset in Scripturis putei vel puteorum virtus exponitur, et comparatio lit aquaι) ium, ubi et divini mysterii panduntur arcana. Dicitur enim quia si quis bibat. ex iis aquis, quas continebat puteus ille terrenus, sitiet rursum; qui autem ex illis biberit,quas datJesus, lietin eo fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam . In alio autem Evangelii loco jam non fons, neque puteus, sed arnplius aliquid dicitur. Qui credit, inquit , in eum, sicut Scriptura dicit, flumina de ventre ejus fluent . aqua: vivae. Vides ergo quia qui credit in eum, non solum puteum, sedet puteos, et non solum fontes, sed et fhuuiua habet intra se. Fontes autem et flumina, non quae islam mortalem vitam solentur, sed quae aeternam conferant. Igitur secundum ea qum itt Proverbiis scripta proposuimus, ttbi putei simul cum fonte nominantur, accipiendum est verbum Dei. Puteus quidem si profundi aliquid mysterii tegit, fons autem si ad populos abundat et eflluit. Sed non otiose requirendum est quomodo possimus pluralem numerum de puteis exponere, et singularem de fonte, quia in Proverbiis dicit Sapientia ### English translation (Claude) The reading about the well, and about the song which Israel sang at the well, has been read to us from the book of Numbers, and we see that it overflows with its usual mysteries, or perhaps even more than usual. For it says: “And the people drank from the well. This is the well of which the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people, and I will give them water to drink.” But in these words the literal account does not seem to me to carry much weight. For why did the Lord so emphatically command Moses to gather the people in order to give them water to drink from the well? As if the people would not have come to the well of their own accord for the sake of drinking! Why, then, is the prophet so strongly commanded to gather the people by his own effort and labor to draw the water of the well? Hence the cheapness of the letter sends us back to the preciousness of the spiritual understanding. And therefore I think it fitting to gather the mysteries of wells from other places of Scripture too, so that by comparing many of them, whatever obscurity the present passage contains may become clear. The Spirit of God, then, says through Solomon in Proverbs: “Drink waters from your own vessels and from the spring of your own wells, and let not the waters overflow for you outside your spring.” Although in other copies we have read: “And let the waters be poured out for you outside your spring. Let your waters be for you alone, and let no stranger share them with you.” Each of us, then (as is indicated in these words), has a well within himself. Indeed we shall say something more: each of us has not one well but many wells, and not one vessel of water but many vessels. For he did not say, “drink waters from your vessel,” but “from your vessels”; and he did not say, “from the spring of your well,” but “from the spring of your wells.” We read that the patriarchs too had wells: Abraham had them, and Isaac had them. And I think Jacob also had them. And taking these wells as a starting point, run through all Scripture looking for wells, and come as far as the Gospels, and there you will find the well on which our Saviour sat, resting after the labor of his journey, when the Samaritan woman came and wished to draw water from the well; there the power of the well or wells in the Scriptures is set forth, a comparison of waters is made, and the secrets of the divine mystery are laid open. For it is said that if anyone drinks of the waters which that earthly well contained, he will thirst again; but whoever drinks of those which Jesus gives, there will become in him a spring of water leaping up to eternal life. And in another place of the Gospel it is no longer a spring or a well but something more that is spoken of: “He who believes in him,” it says, “as the Scripture says, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” You see, then, that he who believes in him has within himself not only a well but wells, and not only springs but rivers; springs and rivers, however, not such as comfort this mortal life, but such as confer eternal life. According to what we set out from Proverbs, then, where wells are named together with a spring, the word of God is to be understood: a well, if it covers some deep mystery; a spring, if it abounds and flows out to the peoples. But it is not idle to ask how we can explain the plural number of the wells and the singular of the spring, since in Proverbs Wisdom says: ### Scripture references - Num 21:16: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:15: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:16: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 21:25: allusion, high confidence - Gen 26:18: allusion, high confidence - John 4:6: allusion, high confidence - John 4:13: allusion, high confidence - John 4:14: allusion, high confidence - John 7:38: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 21:16; Prov 5:15–17 (with a variant reading in other copies). A name lost in the scan (Jacob) is supplied from Baehrens's edition, which also gives the garbled words “panduntur arcana”. The section runs on into 12.2. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 12.1 (PG 12:656a–657a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-12-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 12.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-12-2 - Source: PG 12:657a–659b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The many wells and one spring of Proverbs signify the three persons and one substance of the Trinity; the soul's wells must be dug clear of earth, and the law gathers us to the well that is Christ. ### Latin text Bibe aquas de puteorum tuorum fonte. Videamus ergo quorum puteorum unum dixerit fontem. Ego puto quod scientia ingeniti Patris, unus possit intelligi puteus , sed et unigeniti Filii ejus agnitio, alius puteus intelligi debeat. Alius ···· ν ~ ν enim a Patre Filius, etnon idem Filius qui et Pater, sicut ipse in Evangeliis dicit”: ς Alius est qui et testimonium de me dicit Pater. Et rursus tertium puto videri puteum posse, cognitionem Spiritus sancti. Alius enim et ipse est a Patre, et Filio, sicut et de ipso nihilominus in Evangelia dicitur“ : «Mittet vobis Pater alium Paracletum spiritum veritatis. › Est ergo haec trium distinctio personarum in Patre et Filio et Spiritu sancto, qua; ad pluralem puteorum numerum revocatur. Sed horum puteorum unus est fons. Una enim substantia est, et natura Trinitatis. Et boetnodo non otiosa invenietur Scriptura: sanctte distinctio, qute dicit, de puteorum tuorum fonte. Sed observanter mystica signavit eloquia, ut quod pluraliter dictum est de personis, singulariter substantiae conveniret. Possunt autem et illi pulei videri, de quorum scientia dicebat ille, qui repletus εει sapientia Dei : Ipse enim mihi dediteorum quae sunt scientiam veram, ut scirem substantiam mundi, et elementorum virtutem, initium et finem et medietatem, temporum vicissitudinem, permutationes et commutationes temporum, anni circulos et astrorum positiones, naturas animalium, et iras bestiarum, spirituum violentias, et cogitationes hominum , dilferentias virgultorum, et virtutes radicum. Vides quanti sunt putei in rerum scientia? Puteus est, verbi gratia, scientia virgultorum, et forte uniuscujusque virgulti natura habet proprium puteum. Et iterum puteus est de animalium scientia, et forte unaquaaque species animalium proprium habet puteum. Et iterum puteus est de ratione temporum, et vicissitudine, ae permutatione. Et haac singula quoniam altam. profundamque habent scientiam, merito tigulariter putei appellantur. Et donec quidem absconditum fuit mysterium Christi a saeculis et generationibus, recte horum scientia putri appellati sunt : cum autem sicut Paulus dicit. “, credentibus manifestat-it Deus per Spiritum suutn, t‘ efficis-no} tur hate omnia fontes, et flumina : ttt jam non ita habeatur in occulto horum scientia, sed proferatur ad multos, et riget credentes ac saliet. Et ideo credo, Salvator dicebat ad discipulos suos, quia qui credit in eunt, et aquam doctrinae ejus biberit, non jam puteus, nec fons, sed flent in eo lluntina aqua: viva: “. Sicut enim unus iste puteus. qui est sermo Dei, edicitur putei, et fontes, et flumina innumerabilia : ita et anima hominis, quae ad imaginem Dei facta est, potest in se habere, et producere ex‘ se, et puteos, et fontes, et flumina. Sed et revera putei qui sunt itt anima nostra indigent fodiente: . . debent enim mundari, et omne quod terrenum est ab eis debet auferri, ut vena: illa) rationabiliuut sensuum, quas ei inseruit Deus, pura ac sincera fluenta producant. Donec enim terra contegit aquarum vertas, et obturat occultum fluenti , nonpotest puri laticis unda profluere. Denique-propterea scriptum est “, quia pueri Abraham fodiebant “plu.teos', sed replebant atque operiebant eos terra Philistiim. Sed et Isaac, qui luet-editatem susceperat patris, rursum fodit puteos, et terram removit Philistinorum, quam per invidiam iniecerant aquis. Sed et illttd observavimus iu Genesi, unde et historia h:ec videtur assumpta, quod donec viveret Abraham, non fuerunt ausi Philistiim replere puteos. aut injicere eis terram. Sed cum excessit ex hac vita, tunc invaluerunt Philistiim et insidiati sunt, puteis ejus. Sed reparantur postmodum per lsaac, et redeuntin statum suum. Praeterea et puer Abraham cum pergit uxorem spondere, vel deducere Isaae, apud puteum invenit [lebeceatn , quae interpretatur patientia : base efficitur uxor Isaac, non alibi nisi apud puteos. Similiter et Jacob, cum in Mesopotamiam venit, habens prteceptum patris, ne alieni generis vel extranei sanguinis conjugem sumeret, apud puteos etiam ipse invenit Rachel. Et Moyses Sepltoram apud puteos reperit . Si ergo intellexisti quae qualesque sint uxores sanctorum, etiam ttt si vis patientiam in conjugium tibi adsciScere , si sapientiam, et si quae alite sunt animat virtutes, et dicere quod de sapientia dictum est : illanc amavi, hanc quaesivi adducere mihi uxorem : esto frequens, esto assiduus circa puteos istos, et ibi reperies hujusmodi conjugem. Apud aquas enim vivas, id est, apud viventis verbi fluenta, certum est omnes animi habitare virtutes. Sunt ergo multi putei, quos diximus esse intra animam. Sunt et alii plurimi, qui in singulis quibusque Scripturarum sermonibus intelliguntur et sensibus. Est tamen eminentior caeteris iste puteus, et eximius, de quo in praesenti loco Scriptura dicit, quia foderint eum non quicunque communes homines, sed principes et adhuc borum sublimiores, quos rcges appellavit. Propter quodet hymnus canitur Dco apud hunc eumdem puteum. Et ideo scriptum est: ‹ Vade, inquit, ad puteum. llic est puteus quem dixit Dominus ad Moysen : Congrega p0pulum, et daho eis aquam de puteo, dixit Dominus. Moyses congregare juhctur pupulum, ttt conveniat ad pitteum, et bibat aquam. Moysen autem legem accipi deberc saepe ostendimus. Lex ergo Dei est quae Ie convocat, ut ad puteum convenias. Quem puteum, nisi illmn dequo supra diximus Iesum Christum Filium Dei,propria quidem substantia subsistentem, uno tamen cum Patre et Spiritu sancto Deitatis fonte nominatum? Ad hunc ergo puteum, id est ad [idem Christi nos convocat lex. Ipse enim dixit, quia Moyses deme scripsit. thnid nos convocat? Ut bibamus aquam, et cantemus ei canticum : hoc est corde credamus ad justitiam, et ore confiteamur ad salutem. ### English translation (Claude) “Drink waters from the spring of your wells.” Let us see, then, of which wells he spoke of one spring. I think that the knowledge of the unbegotten Father can be understood as one well, and the knowledge of his only-begotten Son must be understood as another well. For the Son is other than the Father, and the Son is not the same as the Father, as he himself says in the Gospels: “There is another who bears witness about me, the Father.” And again, I think the knowledge of the Holy Spirit can be seen as a third well. For he too is other than the Father and the Son, as is said of him no less in the Gospel: “The Father will send you another Paraclete, the Spirit of truth.” This, then, is the distinction of three persons in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which is referred to the plural number of the wells. But of these wells there is one spring. For there is one substance and nature of the Trinity. And in this way the distinction made by holy Scripture will be found not to be idle, when it says “from the spring of your wells”; rather, it has carefully marked the mystical words, so that what is said in the plural should apply to the persons, and what is said in the singular to the substance. But those too can be seen as wells of whose knowledge he spoke who was filled with the wisdom of God: “For he himself gave me true knowledge of the things that are, to know the constitution of the world and the power of the elements, the beginning and end and middle of times, the alternation of times, the changes and turns of the seasons, the cycles of the year and the positions of the stars, the natures of animals and the tempers of wild beasts, the violence of winds and the thoughts of men, the varieties of plants and the powers of roots.” You see how many wells there are in the knowledge of things? The knowledge of plants, for example, is a well, and perhaps the nature of each plant has its own well. And again there is a well of the knowledge of animals, and perhaps each species of animal has its own well. And again there is a well of the reckoning of times, their alternation and change. And because each of these has a high and deep knowledge, they are rightly called wells figuratively. And as long as the mystery of Christ was hidden from ages and generations, the knowledge of these things was rightly called wells; but when, as Paul says, God revealed it to believers through his Spirit, all these things become springs and rivers, so that their knowledge is no longer kept in secret but is brought out to many, and waters and refreshes believers. And therefore, I believe, the Saviour said to his disciples that whoever believes in him and drinks the water of his teaching, there will be in him no longer a well nor a spring, but rivers of living water. For just as this one well, which is the word of God, is said to be wells, and springs, and countless rivers, so too the soul of man, which was made in the image of God, can have in itself and bring forth from itself wells and springs and rivers. But indeed the wells that are in our soul need someone to dig them; for they must be cleaned, and everything earthly must be removed from them, so that those veins of rational thoughts which God has set in the soul may produce pure and clear streams. For as long as earth covers the veins of the waters and blocks the hidden channel of the stream, the wave of pure water cannot flow forth. That, indeed, is why it is written that the servants of Abraham dug wells, but the Philistines filled them up and covered them with earth. But Isaac, who had received his father's inheritance, dug the wells again and removed the earth of the Philistines, which they had thrown onto the waters out of envy. And we have also observed in Genesis, from which this account seems to be taken, that as long as Abraham lived the Philistines did not dare to fill the wells or throw earth into them; but when he departed this life, then the Philistines grew strong and plotted against his wells. But they are afterwards restored by Isaac and return to their former state. Moreover, Abraham's servant, when he goes to betroth or bring a wife for Isaac, finds Rebecca, whose name is interpreted “patience,” at the well; she becomes Isaac's wife, nowhere else but at the wells. Likewise Jacob too, when he came to Mesopotamia with his father's command not to take a wife of another race or of foreign blood, himself also found Rachel at the wells. And Moses found Zipporah at the wells. If, then, you have understood what and of what kind the wives of the saints are, you too, if you wish to take patience in marriage, or wisdom, or any of the other virtues of the soul, and to say what was said of wisdom, “Her I loved, her I sought to take as my bride”: be frequent, be assiduous at these wells, and there you will find a spouse of this kind. For it is certain that all the virtues of the soul dwell by living waters, that is, by the streams of the living Word. There are many wells, then, which we said are within the soul. There are also very many others, which are understood in each of the words and meanings of the Scriptures. Yet this well of which Scripture speaks in the present passage is more eminent and exceptional than the rest, because it was dug not by just any common men but by princes and by those still loftier than these, whom it called kings. For this reason a hymn too is sung to God at this same well. And therefore it is written: “Go,” it says, “to the well. This is the well of which the Lord said to Moses: Gather the people, and I will give them water from the well,” said the Lord. Moses is commanded to gather the people, to come to the well and drink water. And we have often shown that Moses is to be taken as the law. It is the law of God, then, that calls you together to come to the well. What well, but the one we spoke of above, Jesus Christ the Son of God, subsisting in his own substance, yet named with the Father and the Holy Spirit as one spring of the Godhead? To this well, then, that is, to faith in Christ, the law calls us together. For he himself said that Moses wrote about him. To what does it call us together? That we may drink water and sing a song to him: that is, that we may believe with the heart unto righteousness and confess with the mouth unto salvation. ### Scripture references - Prov 5:15: quotation, high confidence - John 8:18: quotation, high confidence - John 14:16: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:26: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:10: allusion, high confidence - John 7:38: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:27: allusion, high confidence - Gen 26:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 26:18: allusion, high confidence - Gen 24:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 28:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 29:10: allusion, high confidence - Exod 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Exod 2:21: allusion, high confidence - Num 21:16: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:18: allusion, high confidence - John 5:46: allusion, high confidence - Rom 10:10: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:17 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence - Wis 8:2 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Trinitarian reading (three persons, one substance and nature) is translated as written; the terms are Rufinus's Latin. Wis 7:17–20 and 8:2 are cited. Rebecca = “patience” is a traditional etymology. Several Migne footnotes have been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 12.2 (PG 12:657a–659b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/11-6/#p-12-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 12.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/12-3/#p-12-3 - Source: PG 12:659b–663b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The princes and kings who dug the well are the prophets and apostles who uncovered Christ beneath the letter, and Israel's stages from the well signify the soul's journey through gifts, God's grace, and dying with Christ to the heights of blessedness. ### Latin text lnitiate, inquit ‘9, r illi puteum. llic est sensus. Initium, ait, omnium puteum ponite, sicut et Apostolus dicit", quia ipse est principium et primogenitus omnis creatum, et in ipso creata sunt omnia. ο lnitiate ergo ei puteum, hoc est, iuitium omnium confitemini esse puteum. Potest autem ethoc modo intelligi, ut verba dirigi videantur ex persona Moysi ad populum, cohortantis et dicentis : Date initium cordi vestro, ut incipiat intelligere quis sit puteus de quo aquae spiritales haurienda: sunt, et reficiendas est credentium populus. lnitiate ergo ei, hoc est lsraeli,hunc puteum : ut sensum mysticum si quis est corde Deum videns, de profundis possit haurire. Ad istum ergo puteum ut Moyses, id est lex, nos congregct, non {rustra dictum videtur. Potest enim fieri, ut aliquis venire ad istum puteum videatur, sed nisi per Moysen congregetur, non estacceptus Deo. Marcion venisse sibi videtur ad istum puteum, et Basilides, etValentinus, sed quia non venerunt per Moysen. nec receperunt legem et Prophetas, non possunt laudare Dominum Deum de fontibus israel. Non ergo veniunt qui hujusmodi sunt, ad puteum quem foderunt principes, et excuderunt reges. Sed vultis ostendam vobis de Scripturis, ad quos puteos veniunt? Est vallis quaedam salsa, in qua valle sunt putei bituminis; omnis ergo … enim et iniquitas non ascendit sursum, sed semper ad ima et inferna descendit. Est ergo et in valle positus, et salsus atque amarus omnis haereticus sensus, et omnis actus peccati. Quid enim dulce, quid suave potest habere peccatum? Sed et amplius aliquid habet. Si enim veneris ad hacrcticam sententiam. si veneris ad amaritudinem peccati. venisti ad puteos bituminis. Bitumen, esca et nutrimentum ignis est. Si ergo et tu gustaveris aquam de istis puteis, si sumpseris hmrcticum sensum, si peccati amaritudinem ceperis, fomenta in te ignis et gehennae incendia praeparabis. Et propterea ad eos qui nolunt de illo puteo aquam bibere, quem priocipes foderunt et reges, sed ex istis qui in valle peccati sunt, et ignis materias alunt, dicitur: ί Incedite in lumine ignis vestri et flamma: quam vobis accendistis. Quid ergo canitur apud liuoputeum? luitiale ei, puteum. Foderunt illum principes, excuderunt reges. Possunt quidem principes et rcges iidem videri : si vero distingui necesse est, principes Prophetas intelligamus. lpsi enim sensum et prophetiam de Christo defossam et demersam in profundo litterae collocarunt, et idco quidam ex ipsis diccbat : Nisi occulte audieritis, plorabit anima vestra. Et item alius Propheta dicit ad Dominum '” : Quam magna multitudo dulcedini? tuae, Domine, quam ab;condisti timentibus te! Isti ergo sunt principes, qui foderunt hunc puteum, reges autem qui excuderunt eum. Quod dixit, excuderunt, ab excudendo, non ab excidenda dictum est. Excudi enim dicitur, quod in saxo vel caeditur, vel formatur. Principes ergo tanquam aliquantulo inferiores, iodere dicuntur puteum, hoc est quasi in terra: mollitie altitudinem quamdam demergere. Isti vero quos reges appellat, quasi eminentiores ac fortiores, non solum terrae profundum, sed et saxi duritiam penetrant, ut pervenire possint ad profundiores aquas, et ipsas (si dici potest) in eo venas abyssi perscrutentnr, scientes judicia Dei esse abyssum multam. Istos ergo rcges, qui tam profunda possunt et tam abscondita putei perscrutari, merito apostolos dixerimus, ex quibus aliquis diccbat": Nobis autem revelavit Deus per Spiritum sanctum. Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur. etiam alta Dei. Quia ergo per Spiritum possunt etiam ipsi perscrutari alta Dei, etalta ac profunda putei pcnetrare mysteria, idcirco rcges esse dicuntur, qui puteum etiam istum in petra excuderint, ac dura et diflicilia secreta scientiae penetraverint. Quod autem reges dici possint etiam apostoli. puto et cx eo facile probari posse, quod de omnibus credentibus dicitnr ἠε Vos autem genus regale, sacerdotium magnum, gens sancta. Si ergo illos dicunt rcges, qui per verbum ipsorum crediderunt, quanto magis ipsi reges habendi sunt, qui faciunt rcges? Sed et inde facile colligitur. Si enim reges a regendo dicuntur, omnes utique quiEcclcsias Dei regunt, rcges merito appellabuntur, multo zmtern rectius illi, qui et illos ipsos' dictis atQIte scriptis suis rcgunt, a quibus reguntur Ecclesiae. Et propter hoc merito Dominus Rex regum dicitur". Nisi enim isti, et cieteri qui eos imitantur, reges fuerint, ille non videbitur rex regum. Sed et ipse apostolus Paulus Corinthiis scribens, et velut per quamdam ironiam corripiens eos-, ait“ : Sine nobis regnatis. et utinam regnetis, ut et nos vobiscum regnemus. In quo utique rcges quidem esse debere Corinthios, et semetipsum cum iis regnare velle pronuntiat, sed elationem nondum pro merito assumpti honoris incusat. Fodiunt ergo ii omnes puteum istum principes :et excudunt eum reges gentium. Apostoli enim pra-cipue reges sunt gentium, qui gentes ad obedientiam fidei congregarunt, etChristi scientiam omnibus patefecerunt: ὲ In quo sunt thesauri sapientiae Dei, et scientiae abseonditi ’9: secundum praeceptum Domini ο circumeuntes orbem terra: , et implentes quod mandatum est, ut doceant omnes gentes, baptizantes eas in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti: et per ham excuderunt, hoc est, patefecerunt scientiam putei, et in notitiam universis gentibus adduxerunt. Sed et quae nunc habemus in manibus, quae recitata sunt nohis, puteus est. et omnis simul Scriptura legis et prophetarum : Evangelica quoque atque Apostoliea scripta simul omnia unus est puteus, quem non possunt fodere, vel excudere, nisi inveniantur reges et principes. Vere enim reges, et vere principes habendi sunt, qui possunt auferre terram de puteo, hoc est, amovere superficiem litterae, et de interiore petra ubi Christus est, spiritales sensus velut aquam vivam proferre. llam ergo facere decet eos solos, qui vel reges sunt, vel principes. Reges ex eo dicti quod peccati regnum ex corpore suo depulerint, et iustitiae regnum paraverint in membris suis. Decet enim eum docere caeteros, qui prius fecerit ipsa quae docet. Sic enim scriptum est“, quia qui fecerit et docuerit sic homines, hic magnus vocabitur in regno cmlorum. Magnum autem essein regno. hoc est regem esse. σ Excuderunt eum, inquit , reges gentium in regno suo, dum dominarentur eis. Re enim vera non possunt fodere puteum istum, nec latentes aquae vivae venas aperire, nisi prius dominatum tenuerint gentium barbararum. Omne enim quidquid in eis ferum fuit in actibus, quidquid in moribus barharum, siedomucrint et subjecerintregio sensui, et do-r minati fueriuteis, ita utdecazteronon gentiliter,sed legitime agant,istisuntverereges profundaputeirimantes, et verbi Dei arcana ac mystica perscrutantes. Post haec, et a puteo, inquit , profecti sunt Mathanaim, eta Mathanaim in Nahaliel, eta Nahaliel in Bamoth, eta Bamoth in nemus quod est in campo Moab, a vertice montis excelsi qui re- Spicit ad faciem deserti. Nomina hzec quae videntur locorum esse vocabula, ex significandis suis quas in lingua propria designant, rerum magis mysticarum consequentiam, quam vocabulorum appellationem videntur ostendere. ‹ Profecti enim, inquit, a puteo, veniunt in Mathunaim. Interpretatur enim Mathanaim munera ipsorum. Vides ergo quia si quis de puteo hoc biberit, quem foderunt reges et principes, statim proficit ad hoc ut haheat munera quae offerat Deo. Quid autem est quod homo otl‘erat Deo? IIoc ipsum quod in lege scriptum est 3": «Munera mea, hoc est, data mea. Ex‘iis ergo quae Deus dedit. otl‘erunt nihilominus homines Deo. Quid dedit Deus homini? Agnitionem sui. Quid ergo offert Deo? Fidem suam et allectum. Hoc est quod expetit ab homine Deus. Denique ita scriptum est : Et nunc, Israel, quid est quod Dominus Deus tuus poscit abs te, nisi ut timeas Dominum Deum tuum. et incedas in viis ejus, etdiligas eum, et custodias omnia mandata ejus, et servias Domino Deo tuo ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua? Ista suntmuncra, ista dona quae oportet Domino dari. Damus autem haec Domino cordis nostri munera posteaquam agnoveri-a mus eum, et agnitione bonitatis ejus de putei ejus, altitudine biberimus. Observa tamen quomodo dixerit Propheta: Et Israel quid Dominus Deus tuus poscit abs te ? Erubeseant illi haec verba, qui negant in hominis arbitrio esSe, ut, salvetur. Quomodo posceret ab homine Deus, nisi haberet homo in sua potestate, quod poscenti Deo deberet ofl'erre? Sunt ergo quae dantur a Deo. et sunt quae praebentur ab homine. Verbi gratia, in homine fuit ut una mna faceret decem mnas, aut una mna, faceret quinque mnas . Ex Deo autem fuit, ut haberet homo mnam, ex qua facere posset decem mnas..Cum autem obtulit ex se decem. mnas, accepit rursus a Deo non jam pecuniam, sed potestatem et regnum decem civitatum. Petititerum Deus ab Abraham, ut olI‘erret ei Isaac filium suum in montem quemcumque ostendisset ei. Obtulit Abraham intrepidus unigenitum , imposuit super aram, cultrum eduxit ut jngularet, inhibetur continuo, et aries ei pro lilio datur ad victi- Ῑ) mam. Vides ergo quia quae Deo oderimus, nobis manent : sed ad hoc expetimur, ut in iis allectus noster erga Deum probetur et fides. Ilaec pro eo quod diximus profectos esse filios Israel a puteo, et venisse in Mathanaim, quod interpretatur ntunera eorum. A Mathanaim autem venimus in Nahaliel quod interpretatur ex Deo. Quid ex Deo? Posteaquam obtuleri- IIIUS nos quae ex nobis sunt, venimus ad hoc ut consequamur ea quae ex Deo sunt. Cum enim fidem postram et allectum obtulerimus ei, tunc et ipse largitur nobis diversa dona Spiritus sancti, de quibus dicit Apostolus :c Omniaautem ex Deo sunt.» Et a Nahalicl venimus in Bamoth,quod interpretatur aduentus mortis. Cujus mortis hic intelligimus adventum. nisi illius, qua Christo commorimur '9, ut et convivauius ei, etqua debemus mortitioare membra nostra, qum sunt super terram '°? 'Et iterum πί ; Consepulti enim illi sumus per baptisnmm in morte. Si quis ergo salutaris hujus vim ordinem tenet, per lucc singula quae memoravimus iter agere debet, ct, venire post multa ad hunc locum. quem diximus significare mortis adventum. Ut autem ex Scripturis docemur, est quiedum mors inimica Christi, et quazdam amica ejus. Non ergo illius mortis dicit inimicae Christi, de qua dicitur 9’, Novissimus inimicus destruetur mors,» qui est diabolus : sed hujus mortis qua commorimur eiut et convivamus ei : secundum quam mortem dicit Deus ” : Ego occidam, et vivere faciam. › Occidit enim ut commoriamur Christo, et vivere facit ut couvivamus ei. Optaudum ergo nubis est. ut veniamus in Bamoth, .ct promptissime suscipiamus beata: hujus mortis adventum, ut et vivificari cum Christo mereamur. Et ex Bamoth, inquit, in nemus, quod est in campo Moab, a vertice montis excelsi, qui respicit ad desertum. Si hoc itinere'iucedamus quod non tam locorum vocabulis, quam anima: profectibus constare ratio explanationis asseruit, post omnia ista venimus in Ὺ nemus, sive (ut in aliis habetur exemplaribus) iu Janam, quod interpretatur ascensus, sive vertex montis. Per haec ergo venitur ad illud famosissimum divini paradisi nemus, et amoenas delicias habitationis antiqua}, vel certe ad verticem perfectionis et beatitudinis summitatem: ita ut possit etiam ipse dicere, quia resuscituvit nos cum ipso, et sedere fecit in ccelestibus iu Christo ". Vides quousque pervenitur a puteo? ### English translation (Claude) “Begin for him the well,” it says. This is the sense: set the well as the beginning of all things, as the Apostle too says that he is the beginning and the firstborn of all creation, and in him all things were created. “Begin for him the well,” then, that is: confess that the well is the beginning of all things. But it can also be understood in this way, so that the words seem to be directed in the person of Moses to the people, exhorting and saying: Give your heart a beginning, so that it may begin to understand what the well is from which the spiritual waters are to be drawn and the people of believers refreshed. “Begin for him,” then, that is, for Israel, this well: so that anyone who sees God with his heart may draw the mystical sense from the depths. It does not seem to be said in vain, then, that Moses, that is, the law, gathers us to this well. For it can happen that someone seems to come to this well, but unless he is gathered by Moses he is not accepted by God. Marcion thinks he has come to this well, and Basilides, and Valentinus; but because they did not come through Moses, nor receive the law and the prophets, they cannot praise the Lord God from the springs of Israel. Those who are of this kind, then, do not come to the well which the princes dug and the kings hewed. But do you want me to show you from the Scriptures to which wells they come? There is a certain salt valley, in which valley there are wells of bitumen; for all … and iniquity does not go up, but always goes down to the lowest and infernal places. So every heretical opinion and every act of sin is placed in the valley, and is salty and bitter. For what sweetness, what pleasantness can sin have? It also has something more. For if you have come to a heretical opinion, if you have come to the bitterness of sin, you have come to the wells of bitumen. Bitumen is the food and fuel of fire. If, then, you too have tasted water from these wells, if you have taken up a heretical sense, if you have taken in the bitterness of sin, you will prepare in yourself the kindling of fire and the burnings of Gehenna. And therefore to those who do not wish to drink water from that well which princes and kings dug, but from these which are in the valley of sin and feed the fuel of fire, it is said: “Walk in the light of your fire and of the flame which you have kindled for yourselves.” What, then, is sung at this well? “Begin the well for him. Princes dug it, kings hewed it.” The princes and the kings can indeed be seen as the same; but if it is necessary to distinguish them, let us understand the princes to be the prophets. For they placed the meaning and the prophecy about Christ dug down and sunk in the depth of the letter; and therefore one of them said: “If you do not hear in secret, your soul will weep.” And again another prophet says to the Lord: “How great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord, which you have hidden for those who fear you!” These, then, are the princes who dug this well, and the kings are those who hewed it. When he said “hewed” (excuderunt), it comes from hewing out, not from cutting down; for what is either cut or shaped in stone is said to be hewn. The princes, then, as somewhat lower, are said to dig the well, that is, to sink a certain depth as in soft earth. But those whom he calls kings, as more eminent and stronger, penetrate not only the depth of the earth but also the hardness of the rock, so that they may reach deeper waters and search out (if it can be said) the very veins of the abyss in it, knowing that God's judgments are a great abyss. These kings, then, who can search out such deep and hidden things of the well, we may rightly call the apostles, one of whom said: “But God has revealed it to us through the Holy Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.” Since, then, through the Spirit they too can search out the depths of God and penetrate the high and deep mysteries of the well, they are therefore said to be kings, who have hewn this well even in rock and penetrated the hard and difficult secrets of knowledge. And that the apostles too can be called kings I think can easily be proved from what is said of all believers: “But you are a royal race, a great priesthood, a holy nation.” If, then, they call those kings who believed through their word, how much more are they themselves to be held kings, who make kings? And it is easily gathered from this too: if kings are named from ruling, all who rule the churches of God will rightly be called kings, and much more rightly those who by their sayings and writings rule the very ones by whom the churches are ruled. And for this reason the Lord is rightly called King of kings. For unless these, and the others who imitate them, are kings, he will not seem to be King of kings. And the apostle Paul himself, writing to the Corinthians and rebuking them as with a kind of irony, says: “Without us you reign; and would that you did reign, so that we too might reign with you!” In this he certainly declares that the Corinthians ought to be kings and that he wishes to reign with them, but he blames their pride, which did not yet match the merit of the honor they assumed. All these princes, then, dig this well, and the kings of the nations hew it. For the apostles are above all kings of the nations, who gathered the nations to the obedience of faith and laid open to all the knowledge of Christ, “in whom are hidden the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God,” going around the world according to the Lord's command and fulfilling what was commanded, to teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and by this they hewed, that is, laid open, the knowledge of the well and brought it to the knowledge of all nations. And what we now have in hand, what has been read to us, is a well, as is the whole Scripture of the law and the prophets together; the writings of the Gospels and the Apostles too, all together, are one well, which cannot be dug or hewn unless kings and princes are found. For truly they are to be held kings and truly princes who can take away the earth from the well, that is, remove the surface of the letter, and from the inner rock where Christ is bring out spiritual meanings like living water. It befits only those, then, to do this who are either kings or princes: kings so called because they have driven the reign of sin from their body and prepared the reign of righteousness in their members. For it befits him to teach others who has first himself done what he teaches. For so it is written that whoever does and teaches men so, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And to be great in the kingdom is to be a king. “Kings of the nations hewed it,” it says, “in their kingdom, when they ruled over them.” For in truth they cannot dig this well nor open the hidden veins of living water unless they have first held dominion over the barbarous nations. For if they have tamed whatever in them was wild in actions and whatever was barbarous in conduct, and have subjected it to the royal mind and ruled over it, so that henceforth they act not like Gentiles but lawfully, these are truly kings, examining the depths of the well and searching out the secret and mystical things of the word of God. After this, “and from the well,” it says, “they set out for Mattanah, and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, and from Bamoth to the grove which is in the plain of Moab, from the top of the high mountain which looks toward the face of the desert.” These names, which seem to be names of places, by the meanings they designate in their own language seem to show a sequence of mystical things rather than mere names. “For setting out,” it says, “from the well, they come to Mattanah.” For Mattanah is interpreted “their gifts.” You see, then, that if anyone drinks from this well which kings and princes dug, he at once advances to having gifts to offer to God. And what is it that man offers to God? That very thing which is written in the law: “My gifts, that is, my givings.” From the things God has given, then, men nonetheless make offerings to God. What has God given to man? The knowledge of himself. What, then, does man offer to God? His faith and love. This is what God asks of man. Indeed it is written thus: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but to fear the Lord your God, and walk in his ways, and love him, and keep all his commandments, and serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?” These are the gifts, these the presents that must be given to the Lord. And we give these gifts of our heart to the Lord after we have known him and, by the knowledge of his goodness, have drunk from the depth of his well. But observe how the prophet said: “And, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you?” Let those blush at these words who deny that it lies in man's choice to be saved. How would God ask of man, unless man had in his power what he ought to offer to God when he asks? There are, then, things that are given by God and things that are offered by man. For example, it lay in the man that one mina made ten minas, or one mina made five minas; but it was from God that the man had the mina from which he could make ten minas. And when he offered ten minas from himself, he received again from God no longer money but authority and rule over ten cities. Again, God asked Abraham to offer him his son Isaac on whatever mountain he would show him. Abraham fearlessly offered his only son, laid him on the altar, and drew the knife to slay him; he is at once restrained, and a ram is given him as a victim in place of his son. You see, then, that what we offer to God remains ours; but it is asked of us so that in these things our love toward God and our faith may be proved. So much for what we said, that the sons of Israel set out from the well and came to Mattanah, which is interpreted “their gifts.” And from Mattanah we come to Nahaliel, which is interpreted “from God.” What from God? After we have offered the things that are from us, we come to obtain the things that are from God. For when we have offered him our faith and love, then he himself bestows on us the various gifts of the Holy Spirit, of which the Apostle says: “But all things are from God.” And from Nahaliel we come to Bamoth, which is interpreted “the coming of death.” What death do we understand the coming of here, but that by which we die with Christ, so that we may also live with him, and by which we ought to put to death our members which are on earth? And again: “For we were buried with him through baptism into death.” If anyone, then, keeps the order of this saving journey, he must travel through each of these stages we have mentioned and come, after many things, to this place which we said signifies the coming of death. And as we are taught from the Scriptures, there is a death that is an enemy of Christ, and one that is his friend. He does not speak, then, of that death which is an enemy of Christ, of which it is said, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death,” which is the devil; but of this death by which we die with him so that we may also live with him; according to which death God says: “I will kill, and I will make alive.” For he kills so that we may die with Christ, and makes alive so that we may live with him. We must desire, then, to come to Bamoth and most readily to receive the coming of this blessed death, so that we may deserve to be made alive with Christ. “And from Bamoth,” it says, “to the grove which is in the plain of Moab, from the top of the high mountain which looks toward the desert.” If we walk this way, which the reasoning of the explanation has asserted consists not so much of names of places as of the advances of the soul, after all these things we come to the grove, or (as it is in other copies) to Iana, which is interpreted “ascent,” or “top of the mountain.” Through these, then, one comes to that most famous grove of the divine paradise and the pleasant delights of the ancient dwelling, or certainly to the top of perfection and the summit of blessedness: so that one can also say oneself that he has raised us up with him and made us sit in the heavenly places in Christ. You see how far one comes from the well? ### Scripture references - Num 21:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:18: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:15: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence - Gen 14:10: allusion, low confidence - Isa 50:11: quotation, high confidence - Jer 13:17: quotation, high confidence - Ps 31:19 (30:20 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 36:6 (35:7 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Rev 19:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:8: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:5: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:3: quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:19: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 6:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:19: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:19: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:20: quotation, high confidence - Num 28:2: quotation, medium confidence - Deut 10:12: quotation, high confidence - Luke 19:16: allusion, high confidence - Luke 19:17: allusion, high confidence - Gen 22:2: allusion, high confidence - Gen 22:13: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 11:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:8: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:26: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - Eph 2:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Marcion, Basilides, and Valentinus are named as heretics who reject the law and the prophets. A passage lost in the scan before “can have sin?” is supplied from Baehrens's edition, where one line is unreadable too (marked “…”); the salt valley and the “wells of bitumen” recall Gen 14:3, 10. “If you do not hear in secret” is Jer 13:17 in the Greek, whose opening words, lost in the scan, are supplied from Baehrens's edition. The statement that salvation lies in human choice is Origen's argument against those who deny free will and is translated as written. The place-name etymologies are traditional. Migne column numbers have been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 12.3 (PG 12:659b–663b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/12-3/#p-12-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 12.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/12-3/#p-12-4 - Source: PG 12:663b–666a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Israel's request to pass through Sihon's land figures the baptismal renunciation of the devil, and victory over him comes by keeping Christ's commandments. ### Latin text Mittit ergo ad Seon regem Amorrhaeorum Moyses verbis pacificis, dicens: Transibimus per terram tuam, per viam transibimus, non decliuabimus neque in agrum, neque ia vineam. Non bibemus aquam de lacu tuo, via regia incedemus, usquequo transeamus fines tuos. Et nos concessit Seou ut Israel transiret per fines suos. Et collegit Seou omnem populum suum, et exiit belligerare adversum lsrael in deserto, et venit in Assaar, et congressus est cum Israel, et percussit cum Israel nece gladii, et dominati sunt terra: eiusa llistoria quidem manifesta est, sed deprecemur bominum, ut aliquid dignum possimus interioribus ejus sensibus pervidere. Seou duplicem habet inter. pretationem, sive arbor infructuosa, sive elatas. Mittit igitur Israel legatos ad Seou, mittit ad arborem infructuosam, mittit ad elatum, et superbum. Hic autem Seou, rex est Amorrbaaorum, qui et ipsi iuterpretantur in amaritudinem adducentes, vel ioquentes. Mittit ergo ad Senn regem Amorrhw rum Moyses verbis pacilicis dicens : Transibiauts per terram tuam. Si secundum spiritalem intelligentiam dixerimus Seon regem figuram tenere diaboli, quia ipse est elatus et infructuosus :puto quod non debeas mira ri, quod eum dixerim regem, cum audias etiam ipsutu‘Domiuum ct Salvatoreu nostrum in Evangeliis de eo dicentem τ’ : ο Ecce nunc venit princeps hujus mundi, et in me non invenit quidquam. Et iterum ’δε t Ecce nunc princeps hujus mundi mittetur foras. Si ergo totius mundi princeps esse in Evangeliis dicitur, non de. bet absurdum videri si Seou regi Amorrhaoram. vel etiam aliis quibuslibet gentium regibus comparetur. Princeps autem dicitur mundi, non quia creaverit mundum, sed quia multi sunt in hoc mundo peccatores. Peccati autem quia ipse priaceps est, ideo etiam mundi princeps appellatus at: in iis videlicet, qui nondum relinquentes munda convertuntur ad patrem. Secundum hoc enim etiam illud dicitur θ’. quia c omnis mundus iu maligno positus est.iQuid enim nobis prodest dicere quia princeps noster Christus est, si rebus et operibus arguamur, quia diabolus principatum tenet in L0bis? Aut non palam est sub quo principe agat inipudicus, incestus et injustus? Nunquid potest hujusmodi homo dicere, quia sub Christo positus tne ago, etiamsi sub Christi nomine censeri videatur? lu quo Christus principatum gerit, nulla ibi immunditia, nulla iniquitas admittitur, nec habere aliquem locum potest injusta cupiditas. Secundum hunc ita- itaque modum recte et Christus vir- tutum princeps et diabolus malitiae ac totius iniquitatis dicetur. Mittit igitur Israel legatos ad regem Amorrhaeorum, _ regem in amaritudine provocantium, regem infruv ctuosum, regem superbum. Quomodo superbus, quomodo elatus docebitur diabolus? Ipse est qui dixit : Virtute mea faciam, et sapientia intellectus mei auferam fines gentium, et fortitudinem eorum depraedabor, et commovebo civitates quae inhabitantur, et universum orbem terra: capiam manu mea sicut nidum. Et iterum dicit elatus hic et Superbus ' : Ascendam in C(EIIJIII, supra sidera caeli ponam thronum meum. Sedebo in monte excelso, supra montes altos qui sunt-ad aquilonem, ascendam supra nubes, et ero similis Altissimo. Adhuc requiris si ipse sit elatus ct superbus? Imo potius et ipse superbus est et elatus, et ille qui quasi unigenitus ejus est, de quo scriptum est , quia ‹ extollitur super omne quod dicitttr Deus, autquod colitur : ita ut in templo Dei sedeat, ostentans se tanquam sit Deus. › Omnis ergo qui elatus est et superbus, vel filius est eIati hujus, vel discipulus et imitator. Et propterea dicit Apostolus de quodam ’ : Ne I'ortc elatus incidat in judicium diaboli; ostendens per hoc, quia omnis elatus simili ut diabolus judicio condemnabitur. Nos ergo siitnus qui transire volumus per hunc umudum, ut pervenire possimus ad terram sanctam, quae repromissa est sanctis : et mittimus verbis pacificis ad Seou, promittentes non nos habitaturos iu terra ejus, nec moraturos cum eo, sed transituros tantummodo, et iucessuros via regali, nec declinaturos usquam, neque in agrum, neque iu vineam, sed nec de lacu ejus aquam bibituros.Videamus ergo quando nos ista promisimus, quando haec verba diabolo denuntiavimus. Recordetur unusquisque fidelium, cum primunt venit ad aquas baptismi, cum signacula prima susrepit, et ad fontem salutaris accessit, quibus ibi tunc usus sit verbis, et quid renuntiaverit diabolo: uou se usurqu pompis ejus, neque operibus ejus, neque ullis omnino servitiis ejus ac voluptatibus pariturum. Et hoc est quod his legis sermonibus adutnhratur, quia non declinet Israel, neque in agrum ejus, neque in vineam ejus. Sed neque aquam de lacu ejus pollicetur se esse potaturum. Non enim ultra disciplina: diabolicze, nou astrologiae, non magicze, non ullius oumino doctrinae, quae contra Dei pietatem aliquid doceat, pocuium sumet. fidelis. IIabet enim suos fontes, et bibit de fontibus Israel, bibit de fontibus salutaris: non bibit aquam de lacu Seou, nec relinquens fontem aqum viva: congregat sibi lacus conlractos. Sed et via regali incessurum se profitetur. Quae est via regalis? Illa sine dubio quae dicit , Ego sum via, Veritas, et vita. Et merito regalis : ipse est enim, de quo Propheta ait“ : t Deus, judicium tuum regi … Via incedendum, nec declinandum usquam neque in agrum ejus, neque in vineam ejus: id est neque ad opera, neque ad sensus diabolicos declinare ultra mens fidelium debet. Quomodo ergo volnnms fines Amorrhzeorum cum pace transire? Amorrltrci, infidelium qui sunt in hoc mundo pax accipi potest:sed isti interpretantur, ut supra diximus, vel in amaritudinem adducentes, vel loquentes. Et quomodo quidem in amaritudinem adducant Deum infideles et increduli, expositione non indiget ε quod autem ait loquentes, ad illam partem trahi potest quaintideles quique et sub principe diabolo agentes loqui norunt tantummodo, sed loquuntur inania. Verbi causa, ut poeta: eorum, ut astrologi, ttt nonnulli etiam phiiosophorum. qui inania loquuntur et vana. Fidelium autem regnum quod a Deo est. non in sermone est, sed iu virtute. Volumus ergo nos pacifice transire per mundum, sed hoc ipsum magis incitatprincipem mundi, quod dicimus nos nolle permanere cum ipso, nec morari, nec. aliquid ejus \elle contingere : inde magis eracerbatur, inde extollitur, et irascitur, et commovet nobis persecutiones, pericula suscitat, cruciatus intentat: Et ideo dicit: Congrrgavit, inquit ’, Seon omnem populum suum, et exiit confligere adversus Israel. Quis est omnis p0pulus Seou, quem concitat coutra Israel? Principes ac judices mundi, cunctique nequitiae ministri, qui impugnant semper, et persequuntur populum Dei. Sed quid facit Israel? Venit, inquit, in Issaar. Issaar interpretatur mandati adimpletio. Si ergo veniamus et nos ad locum istum, id est ad expletionem mandatorum, etiamsi cum omni exercitu veniat adversum nos Seou iste elatus, et superbus diabolus, et contligat adversum nos, si omnes suos contra nos daemones concitet, superamus eum si Dei mandata complemus. Complcre enim mandata, hoc est diabolum et onmem ejus exercitum superare. Et tunc complebitur in nobis apostolica oratio qua ait : Deus autem conteret Satanam sub pedes nostros velociter. Et illud quod Dominus ait ίοε t Ecce dedi vobis potestatem calcandi super serpentes et scorpiones, et super omnem virtutem inimici, et nihil vobis nocebit. Nihil enim nocere vobis poterunt ista omnia si veniamus in lssaar, id est, si mandata et praecepta Domini nostri Jesu Christi servemus, cui est gloria et imperium in saicnla 533-. culorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Moses, then, sends to Sihon, king of the Amorites, with peaceful words, saying: “We will pass through your land; we will go by the road; we will not turn aside into a field or into a vineyard. We will not drink water from your cistern; we will go by the king's highway until we have passed your borders. And Sihon did not allow Israel to pass through his borders. And Sihon gathered all his people and went out to make war against Israel in the desert, and came to Jahaz, and engaged Israel; and Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and they took possession of his land.” The literal account is plain; but let us pray to the Lord that we may be able to see something worthy of its inner meanings. Sihon has a double interpretation: either “unfruitful tree” or “proud.” Israel, then, sends envoys to Sihon: it sends to the unfruitful tree, sends to the proud and arrogant one. And this Sihon is king of the Amorites, whose name is interpreted “those who lead into bitterness,” or “those who speak.” Moses, then, sends to Sihon king of the Amorites with peaceful words, saying: “We will pass through your land.” If according to the spiritual understanding we say that King Sihon bears the figure of the devil, because he is proud and unfruitful, I think you ought not to wonder that I have called him a king, when you hear our Lord and Saviour himself saying of him in the Gospels: “Behold, now the ruler of this world comes, and he finds nothing in me.” And again: “Behold, now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” If, then, he is said in the Gospels to be the ruler of the whole world, it ought not to seem absurd if he is compared to Sihon king of the Amorites, or to any other kings of the nations. And he is called ruler of the world not because he created the world, but because there are many sinners in this world. And because he is the ruler of sin, he is therefore also called ruler of the world: namely in those who have not yet left the world and turned to the Father. For it is in this sense that it is also said that “the whole world lies in the evil one.” For what does it profit us to say that our ruler is Christ, if by our deeds and works we are shown to be ruled by the devil? Or is it not plain under what ruler the shameless, the incestuous, and the unjust man acts? Can such a man say, “I act as one placed under Christ,” even if he seems to be enrolled under the name of Christ? Where Christ holds rule, no uncleanness, no iniquity is admitted, nor can unjust desire have any place. In this way, then, Christ will rightly be called the ruler of virtues, and the devil the ruler of wickedness and of all iniquity. Israel, then, sends envoys to the king of the Amorites, the king of those who provoke to bitterness, the unfruitful king, the proud king. How will the devil be shown to be proud, how arrogant? It is he who said: “By my strength I will do it, and by the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the borders of the nations and plunder their strength, and I will shake the inhabited cities, and I will seize the whole world in my hand like a nest.” And again this proud and arrogant one says: “I will ascend into heaven; I will set my throne above the stars of heaven. I will sit on a lofty mountain, above the high mountains which are to the north; I will ascend above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High.” Do you still ask whether he is proud and arrogant? Rather, both he is proud and arrogant, and so is the one who is, as it were, his only-begotten, of whom it is written that “he exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as if he were God.” Everyone, then, who is arrogant and proud is either a son of this proud one or his disciple and imitator. And therefore the Apostle says of someone: “Lest, puffed up, he fall into the judgment of the devil”; showing by this that everyone who is puffed up will be condemned by a judgment like the devil's. We, then, are the ones who wish to pass through this world so as to reach the holy land promised to the saints; and we send with peaceful words to Sihon, promising that we will not dwell in his land nor stay with him, but only pass through, and walk by the king's highway, and turn aside nowhere, neither into a field nor into a vineyard, nor even drink water from his cistern. Let us see, then, when we promised these things, when we declared these words to the devil. Let each of the faithful recall, when he first came to the waters of baptism, when he received the first seals and approached the font of salvation, what words he used there and what he renounced to the devil: that he would not use his pomps, nor his works, nor obey any of his services and pleasures at all. And this is what is foreshadowed by these words of the law, that Israel does not turn aside into his field or into his vineyard. And he promises that he will not drink water from his cistern either. For the faithful man will no longer take a drink of devilish discipline, not of astrology, not of magic, not of any teaching at all that teaches anything against the piety of God. For he has his own springs, and drinks from the springs of Israel, drinks from the springs of salvation; he does not drink water from the cistern of Sihon, nor, abandoning the spring of living water, gather for himself broken cisterns. And he professes that he will walk by the king's highway. What is the king's highway? Doubtless the one which says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And rightly royal: for he is the one of whom the prophet says: “O God, give your judgment to the king.” We must walk by this way and turn aside nowhere, neither into his field nor into his vineyard: that is, the mind of the faithful must no longer turn aside either to the works or to the thoughts of the devil. How, then, do we wish to pass the borders of the Amorites in peace? The Amorites can be taken as the unbelievers who are in this world; and they are interpreted, as we said above, either “those who lead into bitterness” or “those who speak.” How unbelievers and the faithless lead God into bitterness needs no explanation; but “those who speak” can be drawn to this meaning, that all unbelievers and those who act under the devil as their ruler know only how to speak, and they speak empty things: for example, their poets, astrologers, and some of the philosophers too, who speak empty and vain things. But the kingdom of the faithful, which is from God, is not in word but in power. We wish, then, to pass through the world peacefully; but this very thing provokes the ruler of the world the more, that we say we do not wish to remain with him, nor to stay, nor to touch anything of his: hence he is the more exasperated, hence he is puffed up and angry, and stirs up persecutions against us, raises dangers, and threatens torments. And therefore it says: “Sihon gathered all his people and went out to fight against Israel.” Who is all the people of Sihon, whom he rouses against Israel? The rulers and judges of the world, and all the ministers of wickedness, who always attack and persecute the people of God. But what does Israel do? “He came,” it says, “to Jahaz.” Jahaz is interpreted “fulfillment of the commandment.” If, then, we too come to this place, that is, to the fulfillment of the commandments, even if this proud Sihon, the arrogant devil, comes against us with all his army and fights against us, even if he rouses all his demons against us, we overcome him if we fulfill the commandments of God. For to fulfill the commandments is to overcome the devil and all his army. And then the apostolic prayer will be fulfilled in us, which says: “And God will crush Satan under our feet swiftly.” And what the Lord says: “Behold, I have given you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” For none of all these things will be able to hurt us if we come to Jahaz, that is, if we keep the commandments and precepts of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 21:22: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:23: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:24: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:21: allusion, high confidence - John 14:30: quotation, high confidence - John 12:31: quotation, high confidence - 1 John 5:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 10:13: quotation, high confidence - Isa 10:14: quotation, high confidence - Isa 14:13: quotation, high confidence - Isa 14:14: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 3:6: quotation, high confidence - Isa 12:3: allusion, medium confidence - Jer 2:13: allusion, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 72:1 (71:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:20: allusion, high confidence - Rom 16:20: quotation, high confidence - Luke 10:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. The baptismal renunciation of the devil's pomps and works is described as Origen gives it. Jahaz appears as “Assaar/Issaar,” reflecting the Greek form of the name; the etymologies are traditional. “His only-begotten” is the Antichrist of 2 Thess 2:4. A Migne footnote that replaced part of a sentence has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 12.4 (PG 12:663b–666a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/12-3/#p-12-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-1 - Source: PG 12:666d–668a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Sihon, the devil, falls by the sword of God's word, and the land from “curses” to “wrestling” is won by those who struggle free of his kingdom, while his chief city Heshbon, “thoughts,” must be burned by Christ's fire. ### Latin text De iis quae superfuerunt priori tractatui, et de Ba-fi laam atque asina ejus. 1. Hesterna die dixeramus quomodo Seon rex, Amorrbteorum, qui est elatus, et arbor in-, fructuosa, congressus cum Israel victus fuerit, … quo et observanter Scriptura dicit, quia cecidit in nece gladii, vel, ιιι alibi legimus, in ore gladii. Sed si vis diligentius scire, quo gladio infructuosus iste, et elatus sicut cedrus Libani ceciderit, discamus ab apostolo Paulo dicente “z Vivus enim est sermo Dei, et eflicax, et penetrabilior omni gladio.» Et item in aliis: Et gladium, inquit", spiritus, quod est verbum Dei. In hujus ergo gladii nece cecidit spiritalis Seon, qui est diabolus. Additur post bare “ : Et dominati sunt, inquit, filii Israel omni terra: ejus. Omnis quidem regio hzcc terrena, terra dicitur Seon : sed Christus et Ecclesia ejus dominatur ir. omni terra Seon. ‹ Et dominati sttnt ab Arnon usque Jaboc“. Arnon et .Iaboc civitates crant regis Seon, sed initium regni ejus erat Arnon, et finis Jaboc, et ideo dicitur quia dominati sunt ab Arnon usque Jaboc. Interpretatur autem Arnon maledictiones eorum. Initium enim regni Seon hujus elati et infructuosi, maledictiones sunt. Finis vero est .Iaboc, quod interpretatur luctamen. Necesse cst enim. ιιι omnis qui vult exire de regno diaboli et fines ejus evadere, luctamen inveniat, et certamina ei a ministris ejus et satellitibus suscitentur. Sed si luctatus fuerit et vicerit, jam non erit Jaboc civitas Seon, sed erit civitas Israel. Hoc estenim nimirum, quod legimus et de patriarcha Iacob η, quoniam cum venisset ad locum quemdam, luctamen ei prcharatum est:et ibi tota nocte luctatus cum obtinuisset et invaluisset ad Deum, vocitatum est nomen ejus Israel. Et accepit, inquit , Israel omnes civitates istas, ct habitavit in erunibus civitatibus Amorrhrcorum.» Hic Israel, qui in Christo Israel est, qui nonin carneIsrael, nec in manifesto Iudaeus est, ipse babitat in omnibus civitatibus Amorrbteorum, cum in omni orbe terrarum Christi Ecclesiae propagentur. Sed et unusquisque nostrum prius civitas fuit regis elati : regnabat enim in nobis stultitia, superbia, impietas, et omnia qum sunt ex parte diaboli : sed tibi expugnatus et devictus est fortis, et vasa ejus direpta sunt, eII‘ccti sumus civitas Israel et haeretlitas sanctorum; si tamen penitus excisa est in nobis potestas illa, quae prius dominabatur nobis, et excisa est arbor infructuosa, et dejectus est rex elatus, et sumus sub eo rege, qui dicit " : Discite a me quia mitis sum, et humilis corde. Post haec sigillatim jam civitates superbi et infructuosi regis enumerat, et dicit " : ‹ In Esebon et in omnibus finibus ejus. Quid est hoc, quod prrccipuam urbem de regno Seon nominavit Esebou? Esebon iuterpretatur cogitationes (II). Merito ergo pars maxima regni diabolici, et po’estas ejus plurima in cogitationibus regnat. Sic enim dixitet Dominus ‘°, quia de corde procedunt cognationes mala, Ito. micidia. adulteria, furta, falsa testimonia, blasphemim, et ista sunt quae coinquinant hominem. I Et ideo necessario incenditur ista civitas, et igne exuritur. Quo igne? Illo profecto de quo dicit Salvator ὀ : Ignem veni mittere in terram, et quam volo ιιι accendatur. ### English translation (Claude) [On what remained from the previous treatment, and on Balaam and his ass.] Yesterday we said how Sihon king of the Amorites, who is “proud” and an “unfruitful tree,” engaged Israel and was defeated; … whence the Scripture too carefully says that he fell by the slaughter of the sword, or, as we read elsewhere, by the mouth of the sword. But if you wish to know more carefully by what sword this unfruitful one, proud as a cedar of Lebanon, fell, let us learn from the apostle Paul, who says: “For the word of God is living and effective, and more piercing than any sword.” And again elsewhere: “And the sword of the Spirit,” he says, “which is the word of God.” By the slaughter of this sword, then, the spiritual Sihon, who is the devil, fell. After this is added: “And the sons of Israel,” it says, “took possession of all his land.” All this earthly region is indeed called the land of Sihon; but Christ and his church rule over all the land of Sihon. “And they took possession from the Arnon to the Jabbok.” Arnon and Jabbok were cities of King Sihon; the beginning of his kingdom was Arnon, and the end Jabbok; and therefore it is said that they took possession from the Arnon to the Jabbok. Arnon is interpreted “their curses.” For the beginning of the kingdom of this proud and unfruitful Sihon is curses. And the end is Jabbok, which is interpreted “wrestling.” For everyone who wishes to leave the kingdom of the devil and escape his borders must meet a wrestling, and contests will be stirred up against him by the devil's ministers and attendants. But if he has wrestled and conquered, Jabbok will no longer be a city of Sihon but a city of Israel. For this is no doubt what we read of the patriarch Jacob too: when he had come to a certain place, a wrestling was prepared for him; and there, having wrestled all night, when he had prevailed and grown strong with God, his name was called Israel. “And Israel took,” it says, “all these cities, and dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites.” This Israel, which is Israel in Christ, which is not Israel in the flesh, nor a Jew outwardly, dwells in all the cities of the Amorites, as the churches of Christ spread throughout the whole world. And each of us was formerly a city of the proud king; for folly, pride, impiety, and everything that is on the devil's side reigned in us; but when the strong man was conquered and overcome and his goods plundered, we became a city of Israel and the inheritance of the saints; provided that the power which formerly ruled us has been wholly cut off in us, and the unfruitful tree cut down, and the proud king cast down, and we are under that king who says: “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart.” After this he lists one by one the cities of the proud and unfruitful king, and says: “In Heshbon and in all its borders.” Why did he name Heshbon as the chief city of Sihon's kingdom? Heshbon is interpreted “thoughts.” Rightly, then, the greatest part of the devil's kingdom and the greatest part of his power reigns in thoughts. For so the Lord too said that “from the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, thefts, false witness, blasphemies; and these are what defile a man.” And therefore this city is necessarily set on fire and burned up with fire. With what fire? Surely that of which the Saviour says: “I came to cast fire on the earth, and how I wish it were kindled!” ### Scripture references - Num 21:24: allusion, high confidence - Isa 2:13: echo, low confidence - Heb 4:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:25: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:26: allusion, high confidence - Gen 32:24: allusion, high confidence - Gen 32:28: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:28: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:29: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:29: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:19: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:20: quotation, high confidence - Luke 12:49: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed title at the start is printed in the edition before the homily. A few words after “was defeated” are lost where Migne's footnotes stand in the scan (removed by logged correction). The place-name etymologies are traditional. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.1 (PG 12:666d–668a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-2 - Source: PG 12:668a–669b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The “riddle-speakers” of Numbers are the law, the prophets, and the church's spiritual interpreters, who tear down pagan error in a person's thoughts and rebuild them with truth and piety. ### Latin text Post pauca autem refertur de ipsa civitate. ‹ Propter hoc, inquit τι, dicent aenigmatista: : Vc. nite in Esebon, ut :cdificetur et construatur civitas Seon : quoniam ignis processit de Esebon, et flamma de civitate Seon devoravit usque Moab» Seon, nt diximus, erat rex, cujus erat civitas Escbon. Sic ergo intelligendus est ordo verborum, quasi dicant isti :enigt'natisttn : Venite ιιι construatur et :edificetur Esebon, quaa- fuit civitas Scott. Sed requiramus nunc qui sint isti aenigmatista Enigma dicitur sermo figuratus. Enigmatistz ergo dicuntur, qui figuraliter loquuntur. Et quiseSt alius, qui itt figuris locutus sit, nisi lex et prophelgc? Audi enim quomodo David dicit ” : Aperiam in parabolis os meum, loquar propositiones ab initio saeculi. Sed et Isaias, quia aenigmata sint qnze scripsit, hnc modo declarat : Et erunt, inquit , verba libri hujus sicut verba libri signati; quem si dederint in manus hominis nescientis litteras, et dixerint ei : Lege, dicet : Non novi Iitteras. Si autem dederint scienti litteras, dicet. Non possunt legere, signatus cst enim. Signata: autem dicitur liber pro eo, quod figuris perplexas est, et :enigmatibus involutus. Dicunt ergo isti gaigmatislm : Venite in Esebon. ut aedificetur. Cecidit illa prima Esebon, imo subversa est et incensa, remdificanda cst alia. Sed quomodo hoc fiat, assumpto ostendamus exemplo. Si videas geltilem itt dedecore vita: positum ac religionis errore, non dubites de eo dicere, quod sit bic Esebon civitas in regno regis Seon. Regnat enim in cogitationi'ous ejus rex infructuosus et elatus. Ad hunc si accedat Israel, hoc est Ecclesite filius, et aditibeatjacula verbi Dei, et distringat contra eum gladium spiritus, destruat in eo omnes munitiones gentilium dogmatnm, et elationes argumentorum ejus igne veritatis exurat, dicito de hoc, quia subversa est Esebon civitas Seon. Sed non continuo desertus et destitutus relinquitur iste, in quo subversa sunt gentilium dogmata. Non enim disciplina est filiis Israel destructas relinquere quas destruxerint civitates : sed cum subruerint et everterint in homine malas cogitationes et impios sensus, re:dificabunt rursus in corde ejus quem destruxerint - bonas cogitationes, pios sensus, doctrinam veritatis inserent, religionis ritum tradent. ordinem vivendi docebunt, honestatem morum, observantia: statuta monstrabunt. Et tunc vere dicent isti tenigmatistae ad semetipsos invicem : Venite, etzedificemus Escbon, quae fuit civitas Seon. Et ipsi enim, hoc est filii Ecclesite, quia figuras legis et aenigmata spiritaliter intelligunt, aenigmatista: appellantur. Hoc estquod et Jeremias figurali nihilominus sermone designat, ubi ad eum dicitur a Domino ’δε σ Ecce dedi verba mea in os tuum, ecce constitui te hodie super gentes et regna, eradicare, et subvertere, et reaadificare et replantare. Quid eradicat et quid subvertit? Civitatem Escbon, qua: eratregis Seon. Quid eradicat in ea etquid subvertit? Cogitationes impias et impnras. Quid retedificat in ea et quid replantat? Cogitationes pias et castas, ut efficiatur Esebon civitas non Amorrhaeorum, sed filiorum Israel. ### English translation (Claude) A little after, it is related of this city: “Therefore,” it says, “the riddle-speakers will say: Come to Heshbon, that the city of Sihon may be built and established; for fire went out from Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon devoured as far as Moab.” Sihon, as we said, was the king whose city Heshbon was. So the order of the words is to be understood as if these riddle-speakers said: Come, that Heshbon, which was the city of Sihon, may be built and established. But let us ask now who these riddle-speakers are. A riddle is figurative speech; so riddle-speakers are those who speak figuratively. And who else has spoken in figures but the law and the prophets? For hear how David says: “I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter propositions from the beginning of the world.” And Isaiah too declares that what he wrote are riddles, in this way: “And the words of this book,” he says, “will be like the words of a sealed book; if they give it into the hands of a man who does not know letters and say to him, Read, he will say, I do not know letters. And if they give it to one who knows letters, he will say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed.” A book is said to be sealed because it is entangled with figures and wrapped in riddles. These riddle-speakers, then, say: “Come to Heshbon, that it may be built.” That first Heshbon has fallen, indeed has been overthrown and burned; another must be rebuilt. But let us show how this happens by taking an example. If you see a Gentile set in a disgraceful life and in the error of religion, do not hesitate to say of him that this is Heshbon, a city in the kingdom of King Sihon. For the unfruitful and proud king reigns in his thoughts. If Israel, that is, a son of the church, approaches him and applies the darts of the word of God and draws against him the sword of the Spirit, destroys in him all the fortifications of Gentile doctrines and burns up the haughtiness of his arguments with the fire of truth, say of him that Heshbon, the city of Sihon, has been overthrown. But the one in whom the doctrines of the Gentiles have been overthrown is not at once left deserted and destitute. For it is not the practice of the sons of Israel to leave destroyed the cities they have destroyed; but when they have undermined and overturned the evil thoughts and impious notions in a man, they will rebuild in the heart of the one they destroyed good thoughts and pious notions; they will plant the teaching of truth, hand on the rite of religion, teach a rule of life, and show him uprightness of conduct and the ordinances of observance. And then these riddle-speakers will truly say to one another: Come, and let us build Heshbon, which was the city of Sihon. For they too, that is, the sons of the church, are called riddle-speakers because they understand spiritually the figures and riddles of the law. This is what Jeremiah too indicates no less in figurative speech, where the Lord says to him: “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth; behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot and to overthrow, and to rebuild and to replant.” What does he uproot and what does he overthrow? The city of Heshbon, which belonged to King Sihon. What does he uproot in it and what does he overthrow? Impious and impure thoughts. What does he rebuild in it and what does he replant? Pious and chaste thoughts, so that Heshbon becomes a city not of the Amorites but of the sons of Israel. ### Scripture references - Num 21:27: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:28: quotation, high confidence - Ps 78:2 (77:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 29:11: quotation, high confidence - Isa 29:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 6:17: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:4: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: allusion, high confidence - Jer 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Jer 1:10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 21:27–28; Ps 78:2 is LXX 77:2. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. A Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.2 (PG 12:668a–669b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-3 - Source: PG 12:669b–670a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Israel made no peace overtures to Og of Bashan, “shamefulness,” but destroyed him, teaching that every trace of shameful conduct must be cut away from the soul. ### Latin text Sed si volumus singula persequi, excludemur a dissertione eorum quae nobis recitata sunt de Balaamzeujus lectionis tanta difficultas est, ut vix ad historia: ipsius rationem et consequentiam explanandam pervenire possimus. Quanta ergojam difficultas nobis erit in explanatione spiritalium sen- ‘suum, si prima ipsa litterae facies tantis difficultatibus involuta est? Sed quamvis rapiat nos desiderium ad ea quae magis obseura sunt disserenda, tamen non sunt penitus omittenda etiam hmo quae media referuntur. Postea enim quam obtinuerunt filii Israel civitates Amorrltmorum, ascenderunt etiam'viam, quae ducit in Basan, ubi eratOg rex ε 5asau : sed ad hunc neque legatos mittere dignantur, neque petere ab eo, ut per terram ejustranseant, sed continuo confligunt cum eo et superant tam ipsum quam populum ipsius. Videamus ergo quae est Basan. Basan interpretatur turpitudo : merito ergo nec legati'tnittnntur ad istam gentem, nec transitus per terram ejus poscitur. Nullus enim nobis transitus debet esse, nullus accessus ad turpitudinem : sed ab initio statim expugnanda, et omnimodo cavenda est. 0g autem qui rex dicitur esse Basan,interclusio interpretatur. Potest hic figuram tenere omnium carnalium et materialium rerum, quarum amore et desiderio detenta anima excluditur et separatur a Deo. Adversus 0g ergo ita praecipitur bellum gerendum, ut non relinqna- ι) tis, inquit ’, ex co viventem. Nullum enim a tiliis Israel oportet relinqui in regno turpitudinis ct dedecoris viventem. Sed et decet Israeliticam virtutem excidere et resecare turpia, et pia qua:que in anima retedificare, atque honesta ac religiosa plantare. De regno Seon nou est scriptum, nt nullus vivus relinquatur, nec de regno Moab. Forte enim ex illis Opus habemus aliquibus, et nonnullis eorum pro vita: hujus agonibus et exercitiis indigemas: alioquin debuissemus de hoc mundo emisse. De Basan tamen, hoc est, de turpitudine, nullo penitus indigemus, nihil ex ea relinquamus; excidenda omnia, cuncta subvertenda sunt opera turpitudinis. In nullo enim potest honestum esse quod turpe est. ### English translation (Claude) But if we wish to pursue each detail, we shall be shut out from discussing what has been read to us about Balaam, a reading of such difficulty that we can scarcely manage to explain the reasoning and sequence of the literal account itself. How great a difficulty, then, will we have in explaining the spiritual meanings, if the very first face of the letter is wrapped in such difficulties? But although desire carries us toward discussing the more obscure things, still the things related in between are not to be omitted altogether. For after the sons of Israel had taken the cities of the Amorites, they also went up by the road that leads to Bashan, where Og was king of Bashan; but to him they do not deign either to send envoys or to ask him to let them pass through his land; instead they fight with him at once and defeat both him and his people. Let us see, then, what Bashan is. Bashan is interpreted “shamefulness”; rightly, then, no envoys are sent to this nation, nor is passage through its land requested. For we must have no passage, no access to shamefulness; it must be fought from the very beginning and avoided in every way. And Og, who is said to be king of Bashan, is interpreted “shutting in.” He can bear the figure of all fleshly and material things, held by the love and desire of which the soul is shut out and separated from God. Against Og, then, war is commanded to be waged in such a way that “you shall leave none of them alive,” it says. For the sons of Israel must leave no one alive in the kingdom of shamefulness and disgrace. And it befits Israelite virtue to cut out and cut away shameful things, and to rebuild in the soul all that is pious, and to plant what is honorable and religious. Of the kingdom of Sihon it is not written that no one should be left alive, nor of the kingdom of Moab. For perhaps we have need of some of them, and need some of them for the contests and exercises of this life; otherwise we would have had to go out of this world. But of Bashan, that is, of shamefulness, we need nothing at all; let us leave nothing of it; all the works of shamefulness must be cut off and overturned. For what is shameful can in no case be honorable. ### Scripture references - Num 21:33: allusion, high confidence - Num 21:35: allusion, high confidence - Deut 3:3: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 5:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The war against Og (Num 21:33–35) is read allegorically; “you shall leave none alive” recalls Deut 3:3. The etymologies are traditional. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.3 (PG 12:669b–670a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-4 - Source: PG 12:670a–672a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak turned to the sorcerer Balaam rather than to arms because words can do what force cannot, and because he had heard that Israel conquered by prayer; magic can harm but, unlike God's power, cannot restore. ### Latin text Et profecti inde filii lsrael collocaverunt castra ab occidente Moab juxta Jordanem contra Jericho. Et ut vidit Balach filius Sephor ’, et reliqua. Omnia jam qua). de Balaam et asina ejus scribuntur historia plena negotiis : interior vero intellectus multo negotiosior, et nescio an facile sit, vel ipsas tantum historicas explanare sentcntias. Deo tamen donante, breviter qnze possumus perstringemns. Bellum tibi imminet, o rex Balach, fili Sephor : sexcenta millia armatorum fines tuos irruunt. Oportebat et te parare arma, exercitum congerere, de constructione praelii cogitare, nt hosti adhuc proculposito, armis instructus occurreres. Tn vero mittis ad Balaam divinum, et mittis multa munera, ac majora promittis, et dieis : Veni, maledic mihi populum, qui exivit de IEgypIO. Sed Balaam, ut Scriptura docet, retulit haec ad Deum, a quo et venire prohibetur. Sed et iterum rex mittit legatos, et neglectis armis spem omnem ponit in Balaam, ιιι veniat, et verba defcrat, atque in populum jaculetur maledicta pro telis, si forte verbis Balaam vincatur populus, quem regis exercitus superare non poterat. llaec historia quid consequentiae habet? quid consilii tegit? Ubi vel quando auditum est, quod quis regum, imminente sibi przelio, omissis armis exercituque neglecto, ad divini alicujus vel aruspicis verba confugerit? Unde iterum atque iterum Dei nobis exoranda est gratia, ut haec non fabulosis et Ju daicis narrationibus, sed rationalibus et dignis divina lege possimus sensibus explica re.Primo ergo omnium fatendum est in quibusdam plus posse et plus valere verba quam corpora : quia quod exercitus multarum gentium nequiret elliccre, quod ferro etarmis non posset obtineri, hoc verbis efficitur; et non dico sanctis verbis,vel Dei verbis, sed verbis quibusdam, quae inter homines habentur, quae quomodo nominem nescio; sunt tamen in utili arte composita, cujus artis vocabulum illud sit, quod unicuique appellari libet. Est ergo, ut dixi, apud homines opus aliquod, quod verbis eflicitur. Quid tamen opus tale est, ut quamvis magnis corporis viribus non possit impleri? Verbi gratia, erantin IEgypto incantatores et magi. Quis potest hominum fortitudine corporis virgam mutare in scrpentem, qttod ab illis factum refertur? Aut quis petcst viribus corporis aquam in sanguinem vertere? Fecerunt tamen hoc Egyptiorum lncantatores ct magi. Fecerat enim haec prius Moya ses : sed quia sciebat rex Egypti quod possent haec arte quadam fieri verborum, quae habetur inter homines, putavit et Moysen non haec Dei virtute, sed magica arte fecisse, et quod humana arte fecerat, id Dei factum virtute simulare. Convocat continuo .Egyptiorum int-amatores et magos. Inter eum qui r'rtute Dei operabatur, et eos qui daemones invocabant, facit esse certamen. Efficit tamen similiter et contraria virtus virgam serpentem sicut fecerat virtus Dei : sed serpens qui per virtutem Dei factus fuerat, absorbuit et devoravit omnes illos serpentes, qui arte magica ex virgis versi fuerant in serpentes. Non enim potuit virtus daamoniaca malum quod ex bono fecerat restituere in bonum. Potuit ex virga facere serpentem, virgam vero reddere ex serpente non potuit : et ideo consumuntur omnes ex ea virga quae Dei virtute versa fuerat in serpentem. Postea vero per divinam virtutem naturae suae redditur, ut natura: Dominum fateretur. Fecerunt incantatores Egyptiornm, ut et aquae verterentur in sanguinem, sed non potuerunt iterum sanguinem vertere in aquam ; Dei autem virtus non aquam, sed totum fluvium vertit in sanguinem : et rursum orante Moyse, limpidis eum ac naturalibus reddidit fluentis. Et iterum produxerunt magi Egyptiorum scnipes, sed non potuerunt repellere cas. Moyses vero produxit senipes, et repulit. Deus enim noster delere facit, et iterum restituit; contraria autem virtus male quidem facere aliquid potest, sed restituere in integrum non potest. lla'c autem omnia prmmisimus, ut opera Balaam, vel verba ejus possimus advertere. Sunt enim et magorum nonnullae differentia: : alii enim plus, alii minus valent. ilic Balaam famosissimus erat in arte magica et in carminibus noxiis prmpotens. Non enim habebat potestatem, vel artem verborum ad benedicendum, sed habebat ad maledicendum. Daemones enim ad maledicendum invitantur, non ad benedicendum. Et ideo quasi expertus in talibus, in opinione erat omnibus, qui erant in Oriente. Nisi enim experimenta ejus plurima praecessissent, quod frequenter maledictis hostem vertissetarmatum, non utique praesumpsisset rex hoc posse fieri sermonibus, quod ferro et acie vix posset impleri. Certus ergo Balach de hoc, et frequenter expertus, omissis omnibus instrumentis et auxiliis bellicis, mittit ad eum legatos dicens ” : r Ecce populus exivit de Egypto et cooperuit faciem terrm, et hic seditjuxta me. Sed et amplius aliquid puto quod moverit regem : videtur enim audisse, quia lilii lsrael solent hostes vincere oratione, non armis, nectam ferro quam precibus. Nulla enim Israel adversum Pharaonem arma commovit, sed dictum est ei ” : Dominus pugnabit pro vobis, et vos tacebitis. Sed nec contra Amalecitas quidem tantum vis armorum , quantum Moysis valuit oratio. Ut enim elevasset Moyses manus ad Deum, vincebatur Amalec; remissae vero et deiecta, vinci faciebant Israel. Haec profecto audierat Balach rex Moab. Scriptum est enim : ‹ Audierunt gentes. et inta? sunt : dolores comprehenderunt habitantes Philistiim. 'l‘unc festinaverunt duces Edorn, et prioripes Moabitarum, apprehendit eos tremor. Vides pervenisse ad eos quod in cantico praedixerat ses quando transierant mare Rubrum. Audierat ergo rex Moab, quia pepulus hic orationibus vincit. et pugnat adversum hostes ore, non gladio, θιὼ hoc sine dubio apud semetipsum cogitavit, dicens: Quoniam quidem orationibus populi hujus et precibus nulla possunt arma conferri, ideo etiam mihi tales aliqua: preces, et talia requirenda sunt arma verborum, et orationes tales quae superare possint orationes istorum. ### English translation (Claude) “And the sons of Israel set out from there and encamped west of Moab beside the Jordan opposite Jericho. And when Balak son of Zippor saw,” and so on. All that is written about Balaam and his ass is a literal account full of difficulties; and the inner understanding is much more difficult, and I do not know whether it is easy even to explain the literal statements alone. Yet, God granting, we shall touch briefly on what we can. War threatens you, O king Balak, son of Zippor: six hundred thousand armed men are rushing on your borders. You ought to prepare arms, gather an army, plan the ordering of battle, so as to meet the enemy, equipped with arms, while he is still far off. But you send to Balaam the diviner, and send many gifts, and promise greater ones, and say: “Come, curse for me the people that came out of Egypt.” But Balaam, as Scripture teaches, referred these things to God, by whom he is also forbidden to come. And again the king sends envoys and, neglecting arms, places all his hope in Balaam, that he may come and bring words and hurl curses at the people instead of weapons, in case perhaps the people whom the king's army could not overcome might be conquered by the words of Balaam. What consistency does this account have? What counsel does it conceal? Where or when has it been heard that any king, with battle threatening him, abandoned arms and neglected his army and took refuge in the words of some diviner or soothsayer? Hence we must again and again entreat the grace of God, that we may be able to explain these things not with fabulous and Jewish narratives but with meanings that are rational and worthy of the divine law. First of all, then, it must be admitted that in some matters words can do more and avail more than bodies: because what the armies of many nations could not accomplish, what could not be obtained by iron and arms, is accomplished by words; and I do not mean holy words or words of God, but certain words that are current among men, which I do not know how to name; yet they are composed in a useless art, and let that art be called by whatever name anyone likes. There is, then, as I said, among men a certain work which is accomplished by words. And what work is such that it cannot be accomplished even by great bodily strength? For example, there were enchanters and magicians in Egypt. Who among men can by strength of body change a rod into a serpent, which is related to have been done by them? Or who can turn water into blood by bodily strength? Yet the enchanters and magicians of the Egyptians did this. For Moses had done these things first; but because the king of Egypt knew that these things could be done by a certain art of words that is current among men, he thought that Moses too had done them not by the power of God but by magic art, and was pretending that what he had done by human art had been done by the power of God. He at once summons the enchanters and magicians of the Egyptians. He makes a contest between the one who worked by the power of God and those who invoked demons. And the opposing power likewise makes a rod a serpent, as the power of God had done; but the serpent made by the power of God swallowed up and devoured all those serpents that had been turned from rods into serpents by magic art. For the demonic power could not restore to good the evil it had made out of good. It could make a serpent out of a rod, but could not make the rod again out of the serpent; and therefore they are all consumed by the rod that had been turned into a serpent by the power of God. And afterwards it is restored to its own nature by divine power, so that it might confess the Lord of nature. The enchanters of the Egyptians caused the waters to be turned into blood, but they could not turn the blood back into water; but the power of God turned not water only but the whole river into blood, and again, at Moses' prayer, restored it to clear and natural streams. And again, the magicians of the Egyptians produced gnats, but they could not drive them away. But Moses produced gnats and drove them away. For our God causes destruction and restores again; but the opposing power can indeed do some evil, but cannot restore to wholeness. We have set out all these things first so that we may be able to understand the works of Balaam, or his words. For there are differences among magicians too: some are more powerful, others less. This Balaam was most famous in magic art and very powerful in harmful spells. For he did not have the power or art of words for blessing, but he had it for cursing. For demons are invited for cursing, not for blessing. And therefore, as one experienced in such things, he had a reputation among all who were in the East. For unless many proofs of his had gone before, that he had often turned back an armed enemy with curses, the king would certainly not have presumed that this could be done by words, which could scarcely be accomplished with iron and the battle line. Balak, then, being sure of this and having often tested it, set aside all instruments and aids of war and sends envoys to him, saying: “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and covered the face of the earth, and it is settled near me.” But I think something more moved the king; for he seems to have heard that the sons of Israel usually conquer enemies by prayer, not by arms, and not so much by iron as by entreaties. For Israel moved no arms against Pharaoh, but it was said to them: “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall be silent.” Nor indeed against the Amalekites did the force of arms avail as much as the prayer of Moses. For when Moses raised his hands to God, Amalek was conquered; but when they were lowered and let fall, they made Israel be conquered. These things Balak king of Moab had surely heard. For it is written: “The nations heard and were angry; pains seized the inhabitants of Philistia. Then the chiefs of Edom hastened, and the princes of the Moabites, trembling seized them.” You see that what Moses had foretold in the song when they crossed the Red Sea reached them. The king of Moab, then, had heard that this people conquers by prayers and fights against enemies with the mouth, not with the sword, and doubtless he thought within himself, saying: Since no arms can be matched against the prayers and entreaties of this people, I too must seek some such prayers and such weapons of words, prayers that can overcome their prayers. ### Scripture references - Num 22:1: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:2: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:6: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:12: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:15: allusion, high confidence - Exod 7:10: allusion, high confidence - Exod 7:12: allusion, high confidence - Exod 7:20: allusion, high confidence - Exod 7:22: allusion, high confidence - Exod 8:17: allusion, high confidence - Exod 8:18: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:5: quotation, high confidence - Exod 14:14: quotation, high confidence - Exod 17:11: allusion, high confidence - Exod 15:14: quotation, high confidence - Exod 15:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - In Exod 8:18 the Egyptian magicians fail to produce gnats; Origen's statement that they produced them but could not drive them away is translated as written. “Not with fabulous and Jewish narratives” is Origen's phrase. Exod 15:14–15 is cited from the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.4 (PG 12:670a–672a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-5 - Source: PG 12:672a–673b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak sought Balaam's curses to counter Israel's prayers; magic works through evil demons, which no holy angel obeys, and those who can call on Christ must never call on demons. ### Latin text Ut autem scias tale aliquid cogitasse regem, ex Scripturae verbis intellige, quae ego a magistro quo-lam, qui ex llehraais crediderat, exposita didici. Scriptum estergo : Moab ad seniores Madian : Nunc ablinget synagoga haec omnes qni in circuitu nostro sunt, sicut ablingitvitnlus herbam campi. Aiebat ergo magister ille, qui rx Hebraeis crediderat : Cur, inquit, tali usus est exemplo dicens. r sicut ablingit vitulus herbam campi?» Ob hoc sine dubio, quia vitulus ore obrumpit herbam de campo et lingua tanquam falce qumcunque invenerit secat. lta ergo et populus hic, quasi vitulus ore et labiis pugnat, et arma habet ia verbis ac precibus. “:(‘C igitur sciens rex mittit ad Balaam, ut et ipse deferat verbis verba contraria. et precibus preces. Nec mireris si est in magica arte tale aliquid; esse enim hanc artem designat etiam Scriptura, sed ttti ea prohibet. Nam et drmones Scriptura esse designat, sed coli eos et exorari vetat. Recte ergo etiam magica uti prohibet, quia magorum ministri angeli sunt refugae, et spiritus maligni, etdaantonia immunda. Nullus enim sanctorum spirituum obtemperat mago. Non potest invocare magns Michaelem, non potest invocare Rapltaelem, neqtte Gabrielent; multo magis magns invocare non potest omnipotentem Deum, nec Filium ejus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, nec sanctum Spiritum ejus. Nos soli accepimus potestatem invocandi Deum Patrem. Nos soli habemus potestatem invocandi unigenitum ejus Christum. Sed illud est quod dico : qui jam potestatem acrepit invocandi Christum, non potest iterum daemones invocare : et qui sancti Spiritus particeps factas est, ad immundos ultra spiritus accedere non debet. Si enim invocaverit immundos spiritus, sanctus ab eo Spiritus refugit. Magi sunt qui iuvocnnt Beelzebub. Denique sciebat hoc populus ilic, et ideo mentientes contra Dominum meum Iesum, et falsa dicentes aiebant: Hic in Beelzebul, principe daemoniorum cjicit daemonia. Salvator autem sciens quia verum est quidem quod princeps quidem'dtemoniorum Beelzebub sit, in hoc eos non arguit mendacii, sed respondit eis : Si ego in Beelzebub ejicio daemonia, lilii vestri in quo ejiciunt? Unde constat esse quosdam daemones malos, qui invocati a magis, adsunt eis ad malum, non ad bonum. Parati enim sunt ad malefaciemlum, bene autem facere nesciunt. lsti ergo dmmoues arte quadam et compositione verborum in amicitias, ut ita dicam, cesserant Balaam: quorum amicitiis fretus, magnus apud homines videbatur. Ob hoc ergo mittit ad eum rex, et ait ” : Veni nunc, et maledic mihi populum hunc, quia fortior est hic quam nos, si forte possimus percutere aliquos ex eis, et ejicere eos de terra. Videtur mihi rex hic non ex integro conlidere in Balaam divino, ingenti credo de virtutibus, quae in populo Dei facta: sunt, auditione perterritus : et ideo dicit, si forte vel eousque prmvaleant maledictiones Balaam, ut aliquos ex ipsis possit percutere, caeteros vero fugare perterritos, et propria terra depellere. ### English translation (Claude) So that you may know that the king thought something of this kind, understand it from the words of Scripture, which I learned as they were explained by a certain teacher who had come to faith from among the Hebrews. It is written, then: “Moab [said] to the elders of Midian: Now this congregation will lick up all who are around us, as a calf licks up the grass of the field.” That teacher, who had come to faith from among the Hebrews, said: Why, he said, did he use such an example, saying, “as a calf licks up the grass of the field”? No doubt for this reason, that a calf breaks off the grass from the field with its mouth and cuts whatever it finds with its tongue as with a sickle. So too this people, like a calf, fights with mouth and lips, and has its weapons in words and prayers. Knowing this, then, the king sends to Balaam, so that he too might bring contrary words against words and prayers against prayers. And do not wonder if there is something of this kind in the magic art; for the Scripture too indicates that this art exists, but forbids its use. For the Scripture also indicates that demons exist, but forbids that they be worshipped and entreated. Rightly, then, it also forbids the use of magic, because the ministers of magicians are fugitive angels, evil spirits, and unclean demons. For none of the holy spirits obeys a magician. A magician cannot invoke Michael, cannot invoke Raphael or Gabriel; much less can a magician invoke the almighty God, or his Son our Lord Jesus Christ, or his Holy Spirit. We alone have received the power to invoke God the Father. We alone have the power to invoke his only-begotten, Christ. But this is what I say: one who has already received the power to invoke Christ cannot invoke demons again; and one who has been made a partaker of the Holy Spirit ought no longer to approach unclean spirits. For if he invokes unclean spirits, the Holy Spirit flees from him. Magicians are those who invoke Beelzebul. That people knew this, indeed, and therefore, lying against my Lord Jesus and speaking falsely, they said: “This man casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.” And the Saviour, knowing that it is true that Beelzebul is the prince of demons, did not convict them of a lie on this point, but answered them: “If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?” Hence it is clear that there are certain evil demons who, when invoked by magicians, are present to them for evil, not for good. For they are ready to do harm, but do not know how to do good. These demons, then, had by a certain art and composition of words yielded, so to speak, to Balaam's friendship; and relying on their friendship he seemed great among men. For this reason, then, the king sends to him and says: “Come now, and curse this people for me, because it is stronger than we are, in case we can perhaps strike some of them and cast them out of the land.” It seems to me that this king did not wholly trust Balaam the diviner, being, I believe, terrified by hearing of the great mighty works done among the people of God; and therefore he says, “in case perhaps” Balaam's curses might prevail so far that he could strike some of them, and put the rest to flight in terror and drive them from his land. ### Scripture references - Num 22:4: quotation, high confidence - Deut 18:10: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 12:24: allusion, high confidence - Matt 12:27: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The “teacher who had come to faith from among the Hebrews” is Origen's Jewish-Christian informant, mentioned elsewhere in his works. Words lost where a Migne footnote leaked into the text (removed by logged correction) are supplied from Baehrens's edition (Matt 12:24). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.5 (PG 12:672a–673b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-6 - Source: PG 12:673b–674a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak's claim that Balaam's blessings take effect was flattery, since magic can only curse; when Balaam consulted his divining instruments, God drove away the demons and came himself to forbid the curse. ### Latin text Addit praeterea : Quia scio, inquit , quod' quos benedixeris, benedicti erunt, et quos maledixeris, maledicti erunt. Ego non credo quia sciret rex, quod quibuscunque benedixisset Balaam, benedicti essent : sed videtur mihi adulandi gratia haec dicere, ut artem ejus efferens et extollens, promptiorem eum sibi reddat ad facinus. Ars enim agica nescit benedicere, quia nec dannones sciunt benefacere. Noscit benedicere Isaac et Jacob, et omnes sancti: impiorum nullus scit benedicere. Sed tandem veniunt ad Balaam legati. Venerunt ergo, inquit , seniores Moab, et seniores Madian, et divinacula in manibus eorum. ln illis divinationis arlibus, quas curiositas humana composuit, sunt quaedam quae Scriptura quidem divinacula nominavit: gentilis autem consuetudo, vel tripodas, vel cortinas, vel aliis hujusmodi vocabulis appellat; quze quasi ad hoc ipsum consecrata, moveri ab eis et contrectari solent. Scriptura sane divina ephod quoddam vernaculo sermone nominat in prophetis, quod indumentum tradunt esse prophetautium. Aliud tamen apud Scripturas divina praphe- ι) tis, aliud divinatio habetur. Ait enim : Non erit auguratio in Jacob, neque divinatio in Israel. ln tempore dicetur ad Jacob et lsrael, quid facturus sit Deus. Abdicatur ergo penitus divinatio :opere enim et ministerio daemonum, ut supra jam diximus, adimpletur. Igitur Balaam, divinaculis acceptis. cum solerent dastnoncs ad ipsum venire, fugatos quidem daemones videt, sed adesse Deum. Et ideo dicit interrogare se Deum, quia consuetos sibi parere nusquam daemones videt. Venit ergo ipse ad Balaam, non quo dignus esset ad quem veniret Deus, sed ιιι fugarentur illi qui ad maledicendum et malefaciendum adesse consueverant. Jam enim hinc providebat Deus populo suo. Adest ergo, et dicit Deus ad eum : Quid homines isti venerunt ad te? Et dixit Balaam ad Deum : Balach filius Sephor rex Moab misit eos ad me, dicens: Ecce populus exiit de Egypto, et cooperuit faciem terrm, et hic sedet juxta me. Veni ergo nunc, et maledic mihi eum, si forte poterimus percutere eum, et ejicere. Et dixit Deus ad Balaam : Non eas cum eis, neque maledicas populum : est enim benedictus. ### English translation (Claude) He adds besides: “For I know,” he says, “that those whom you bless will be blessed, and those whom you curse will be cursed.” I do not believe the king knew that whomever Balaam blessed would be blessed; but he seems to me to say this for the sake of flattery, so that by praising and exalting his art he might make him readier for the crime. For the magic art does not know how to bless, because neither do the demons know how to do good. Isaac and Jacob and all the saints know how to bless; none of the ungodly knows how to bless. But at last the envoys come to Balaam. “So they came,” it says, “the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, with the instruments of divination in their hands.” Among those arts of divination which human curiosity has composed there are certain things which Scripture has named divining instruments, while Gentile custom calls them tripods, or cauldrons, or by other names of this kind; these, as if consecrated for this very purpose, are usually moved and handled by them. The divine Scripture indeed names in the prophets a certain ephod, in its native language, which they say is a garment of those who prophesy. Yet in the divine Scriptures prophecy is one thing and divination another. For it says: “There will be no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In due time it will be told to Jacob and Israel what God will do.” Divination, then, is wholly rejected; for it is accomplished by the work and ministry of demons, as we have already said above. So Balaam, having received the divining instruments, when the demons usually came to him, sees the demons put to flight, but God present. And therefore he says that he is asking God, because he nowhere sees the demons that used to obey him. So God himself came to Balaam, not because he was worthy that God should come to him, but so that those who were accustomed to be present for cursing and harming might be put to flight. For already from this point God was providing for his people. He is present, then, and God says to him: “Why have these men come to you?” And Balaam said to God: “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent them to me, saying: Behold, a people has come out of Egypt and covered the face of the earth, and it is settled near me. Come now, then, and curse it for me, in case we can perhaps strike it and cast it out.” And God said to Balaam: “Do not go with them, nor curse the people, for it is blessed.” ### Scripture references - Num 22:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 27:27: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 49:1: allusion, medium confidence - Num 22:7: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 23:9: allusion, low confidence - Num 23:23: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:9: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:11: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Num 22:6–12; Num 23:23 (Greek). On the ephod, compare 1 Sam 23:9 and 30:7 (uncertain reference). - {STD} ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.6 (PG 12:673b–674a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-7 - Source: PG 12:674a–675b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God kept Balaam's demons away rather than destroying them, because he will not condemn the demons or remove their free will before the time; Balaam's star prophecy, preserved by his disciples, led the magi to Christ. ### Latin text Altior hic exoritur quzestio. et nescio utrum conveniat rem tam profundi mysterii denudare, et proferre ad turbas, et eas turbas quae ad auditorium verbi Dei non nisi paucis diebus adveniunt, ct continuo discedunt, nec in meditatione verbi Dei diutius immorantur : tamen pro iis qui studiosi sunt, et sciunt audire, possuntque capere spiritalem sensum, pauca aliqua dicemus ex multis. l‘otest ergo objici tale aliquid :lnvocet licet dmmones Balaam, maledicat populo, invocati daemones faciant quod possunt : nunquid non potest Deus defendi-re ' a daemonibus populum, vimque eorum in malefaciendo destruere? Quid ergo opus erat, ut ipse veniret ad Balaam et consuetos datmones prohiberet accedere, ne vel tentarent aut conarentur laedere populum suum? Ad haec ergo licet non omnia qua: possunt occurrere, proferenda sunt, tamen dicemus ex parte, quia non vult Deus da‘monnm genus ante tempus damnare. Sciunt enim et ipsi daemones quia tempus eorum praesens hoc saaculum continet. Propterea denique et Dominum rogabant, ut nor. torqueret eos ante tempus, neque in abyssum mitteret ”. Et ob hoc neque diabolum removit a priuv cipatu szeculi hujus, quia adhuc opus est opera ejus ad perfectionem eorum qui coronandi sunt, opus est adhuc opera ejus ad exercitia certaminum et victorias beatorum. Sic ergo et reliquos daemones non vult ante tempus a propositi sui intentione violenter abstrahere, et ideo ex initio non eis indulsit invocari per Balaam, ne forte invocati destruerentur ante tempus, et perimerentur defetulente populum suum Deo. Aliud enim est, si exspectat dzemon a Deo aliquem ad tentandum sicut Job, et cum certa distinctione potestatem ejus accipiat. Verbi gratia, ut dicatur ei, Do tibi omnia ejus in potestate, scd ipsum non contingas. Aut iterum, Do tibi in eum potestatem, sed animam ejus custodi. Et aliud est si mago cxi‘ gente, et adjuramentis quibusdam extorquente, daemones sine ulla observatione deszeviant. ln quo utique si eis libertas serve'lur arbitrii, populum Dei perditum dabunt. Si vero libertas auferatur arbitrii, hoc erat damnasse rationabilem creaturam, et ante tempus intulisse judicium, et impedisse omnibus qui adversum eos in agone certantes poterant coronari. Si enim daemoniis auferatur libertas arbitrii, nullus ultra impugnabit athletas Christi : nullo autem impugnante, nec certamen aliquod erit: et sublato certamine, nullum erit prmmium, nulla victoria. Idcirco igitur tali via utitur Deus, ut et populus adhuc rudis, et qui nuper abstrahi cce-perat a cultu daemonibus non tradatur, et invocante. mago responsa deferantur, et genus dmtnonum non nudetur arbitrii potestate. Et ideo prtevcnit Deus et ire Balaam, atque invocare daamoncs ad maledicendum prohibet, si tamen et cupiditate cessasset. Sed quia persistit in desiderio pecuniae, indulgens Deus arbitrii libertati, rursus ire permittit. Verbum tamen suum injicit in os ejus, prohibens maledictionem fieri per daemones, ut benedictionibus locum daret. et pro maledictis proferat Balaam bettedictiones ac prophetias, quae possunt aedificare non solum Israel, sed et reliquas gentes. Si enim a Moyse pr0phetiac ejus sacris inserta: sunt volumini- bus, quanto magis de— scripta: sunt ab iis qui habitabant tunc Mesopo- tamiam, apud quos ma- gnificus habebatur Ba- laam, quosque artis ejus constat fuisse discipulos? Ex illo denique fertur magorum genus, et insti- tutio in partibus Orientis vigere: qni descripta habentes apud se omnia quas pmphetaverat Balaam, etiam hoc habuerunt scriptum ο, quod orietur stella ex Jacob, et exsurget homo ex Israel. Ilaec scripta habebant magi apud semetipsos, et ideo quando natus est Jesus, agnovernttt stellam, et intellexerunt adimpleri prophetiam, tnagis ipsi quam populus Israel, qui sanctorumpmphetaru'n audire verba contempsit. Illi ergo ex iis tantum quae Balaam scripta reliquerat agnoscentes adesse tempus, venerunt, et requirentes eum statim adoraverunt, et ut fidem suam ma- ι) gnaut esse declararent,parvum puerum quasi regem venerati sunt. ### English translation (Claude) A deeper question arises here, and I do not know whether it is fitting to lay bare a matter of so profound a mystery and bring it out before the crowds, and such crowds as come to hear the word of God only on a few days and at once depart, and do not linger long in meditation on the word of God; yet for those who are studious, and know how to listen, and can grasp the spiritual sense, we shall say a few things out of many. Something like this, then, can be objected: Let Balaam invoke demons, let him curse the people, let the invoked demons do what they can: can God not defend his people from the demons and destroy their power to do harm? What need, then, was there for him to come to Balaam himself and prevent the usual demons from approaching, so that they would not even try or attempt to harm his people? To this, though not everything that may occur to one should be brought forward, we shall nevertheless say in part that God does not wish to condemn the race of demons before the time. For the demons themselves know that their time comprises this present age. For this reason, indeed, they begged the Lord not to torment them before the time nor to send them into the abyss. And for this reason he has not removed the devil from the rule of this age either, because his work is still needed for the perfection of those who are to be crowned; his work is still needed for the exercise of contests and the victories of the blessed. So too he does not wish to drag the other demons by force from the intent of their purpose before the time; and therefore from the beginning he did not allow them to be invoked through Balaam, lest, if invoked, they be destroyed before the time and perish while God defended his people. For it is one thing if a demon waits for someone from God to tempt, like Job, and receives power over him with a definite limit: for example, that it be said to him, “I give you all that is his in your power, but do not touch him”; or again, “I give you power over him, but guard his life.” And it is another thing if, at a magician's demand and extorted by certain adjurations, demons rage without any restraint. In this case, if the freedom of choice were preserved for them, they would destroy the people of God. But if the freedom of choice were taken away, this would be to condemn a rational creature and to bring judgment before the time, and to hinder all who, struggling against them in the contest, could be crowned. For if freedom of choice is taken from the demons, no one will any longer attack the athletes of Christ; and with no one attacking, there will be no contest either; and with the contest removed, there will be no prize, no victory. For this reason, then, God uses such a way: that the people, still untrained and only recently beginning to be drawn away from the worship of demons, should not be handed over to demons; that answers should be given when the magician invoked; and that the race of demons should not be stripped of the power of choice. And therefore God anticipates and forbids Balaam to go and to invoke demons for cursing, in case he might also cease from his greed. But because he persists in his desire for money, God, indulging the freedom of choice, again permits him to go. Yet he puts his own word in his mouth, forbidding the curse to be made through demons, so as to give place to blessings, and so that instead of curses Balaam might utter blessings and prophecies which can edify not only Israel but the other nations too. For if his prophecies were inserted by Moses into the sacred volumes, how much more were they written down by those who then lived in Mesopotamia, among whom Balaam was held in high regard, and who are known to have been disciples of his art? Indeed it is said that from him the race and institution of the magi flourished in the regions of the East; and they, having written down among themselves all that Balaam had prophesied, also had this written: that “a star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up out of Israel.” The magi had these things written among themselves, and therefore, when Jesus was born, they recognized the star and understood that the prophecy was being fulfilled, more than the people of Israel did, who disdained to hear the words of the holy prophets. They, then, recognizing from those things alone which Balaam had left in writing that the time was at hand, came, and seeking him at once worshipped him; and to declare that their faith was great, they venerated a little child as a king. ### Scripture references - Matt 8:29: allusion, high confidence - Luke 8:31: allusion, high confidence - Job 1:12: quotation, high confidence - Job 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:20: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:38: allusion, high confidence - Num 24:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:11: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Origen, Cels. 1.60 (Against Celsus): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - The argument that God preserves the demons' freedom of choice so that the faithful may have contests and crowns is translated as written. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. The tradition that the magi of Matt 2 descended from Balaam's disciples and knew his prophecy appears also in Origen, Against Celsus 1.60. A dagger printed before “For if his prophecies” in the scan has been removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.7 (PG 12:674a–675b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 13.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-8 - Source: PG 12:675b–676b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balaam's ass, which saw the angel he could not see, is read as humanity once ridden by demons and now, as the church, carrying Christ into the heavenly Jerusalem. ### Latin text Sed redeamus ad pt‘Opositum. Molestus est Balaam Deo, et extorquet propemodum permitti sibi ut eat maledicere fi-Iiis Israel, et ut invocet daemones, ad quem jam venerat Deus. Ascendit asinam, occurrit ei angelus, qui excubabat pro Israel, de quo scriptum est dicente Domino ad Moysen “z Angelus meus ibit tecum. Petcnti ergo ire, conceditur : in via conteritur ab asina: sed magus daemones videt, angelum non videt, asina tamen videt. Non quod digna esset videre angelum, sicut nec loqui digna erat, sed ut coniutaretur Balaam : et ut ait quodam in loco ptura δ’ ;,‹ Mutum animal humana voce respuodens, arguit propheta: dementiam.» Verum qusniam de historia multa jam dicta sunt, aliqua etiam de allegoria perstringamus in fine. Si videas contrariam potestatem impugnantem populum Dei, intelligis quis sit qui sedeat super asinam. Et si consideres homines quomodo a daemonibus praei. pilantur, intelligis quae sit asina. Sic enim etin Evangelio intelliges .lesum mittentem discipulos suos ad asinam, quae alligata erat, et ad pullum ejus :‘ut discipuli eam solvant, et adducant, ut ipse redeat super eam. Et forte hcce asina, id est Ecclesia, prius portabat Balaam, nunc autem Christum, ex quo soluta est a discipulis et a quibus innexa erat vinculis relaxata, ut Filius Dei sederet super eam, et cum ipsa ingrederetur sanctam civitatem Jerusalem caelestem, et compleretur Scriptura, quae dicit “z Laetare, filia Sion, praedira, filia Jerusalem, ecce rex tuus venit tibi mitis es sedens super subjugale. Subjugale, id est asinaut, credentes sine dubio ex ludatis dicit : et pullum novellum, eos profecto qui sunt ex ge:tihus credentes in Christo Jesu Domino nostra. cui est gloria et imperium in saecula seculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But let us return to our subject. Balaam is troublesome to God, and almost extorts permission to go to curse the sons of Israel and to invoke demons, he to whom God had already come. He mounts the ass; an angel meets him, who was keeping watch for Israel, of whom it is written, the Lord saying to Moses: “My angel will go with you.” Since he asks to go, then, it is granted; on the road he is crushed by the ass; but the magician sees demons and does not see the angel, while the ass does see him. Not that it was worthy to see the angel, just as it was not worthy to speak either, but so that Balaam might be refuted; and, as Scripture says in a certain place, “a dumb beast, answering with a human voice, rebuked the madness of the prophet.” But since much has already been said about the literal account, let us also touch briefly on something of the allegory at the end. If you see an opposing power attacking the people of God, you understand who it is that sits on the ass. And if you consider how men are driven headlong by demons, you understand what the ass is. So too in the Gospel you will understand Jesus sending his disciples to the ass that was tied, and to its colt, that the disciples might loose it and bring it, so that he himself might sit on it. And perhaps this ass, that is, the church, formerly carried Balaam, but now carries Christ, since it was loosed by the disciples and released from the bonds in which it was tied, so that the Son of God might sit on it and with it enter the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, and the Scripture be fulfilled which says: “Rejoice, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king comes to you, gentle, sitting on a beast of burden.” By “beast of burden,” that is, the ass, it doubtless means the believers from the Jews; and by “the young colt,” surely those from the Gentiles who believe in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 22:21: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:22: allusion, high confidence - Exod 23:23: quotation, medium confidence - Exod 32:34: quotation, medium confidence - Num 22:25: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:28: allusion, high confidence - 2 Pet 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 21:7: allusion, high confidence - Heb 12:22: allusion, medium confidence - Zech 9:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:5: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - A Migne footnote stood in the scan where a line is lost; the line is supplied from Baehrens's edition; the quoted promise is Exod 23:23 (also 32:34). Zech 9:9 is cited from the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 13.8 (PG 12:675b–676b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/13-1/#p-13-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 14.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-1 - Source: PG 12:676b–677b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen returns to the puzzles of the Balaam story, God's changing instructions and the angel's opposition, and notes that the divine name in this passage is not the tetragrammaton. ### Latin text Plura sunt, quae nobis resederunt «ponentibus lectionem de Balaam atque asina ejus: et quoniam est temporalis tractatus, qui in Ecclesia alificandi gratia habetur, non habuimus tantum spatii, ut possemus singula qua-que Scriptura: verba proponere, et ita ut nihil omnino indiscussuut remaneret, explanationem singulis adhibere, quoniam quidem ltujusmodi stytus commentariorum magis est. Idcirco quas inquisitione digna videntur, repetimus, eamque discntientes, qua possumus explanatione disserere et in medium proferre tentabimus. Est autem adhuc difiicile in explanation historia: ipsius, quomodo cum dicatur venisse betas noctu ad Balaam primo, et interrogasse qui essent homines qui venissent ad eum : ac respondisset. quia missi essent a Balach filio Sephor dicente ’δε Veni, et maledic mihi populum; responderit ei Deus: non ibis cum eis, neque maledices populum; est enim benedictus: iterum secundo dicitur ad eum noctu venisse Deus, et dixisse, ut iret cum eis, sed hoc observaret ut verbum quod daret Deus in ore ejus, hoc loqueretur. Et rursum tertio eunti ei occurrisse angelum Dei, cui in tantum via ejus non elegans nec opportuna videretur, ut etiam interficere eum vellet, nisi asina videns angelum, quem Balaam videre non potuit, declinasset._Et tamen posteaquam culpatur ab angelo cur ire voluisset, rursus etiam ab ipso ire permittitur : tantum ut custodiat verbum, quod Deus dederit in ore ejus, ut hoc solum proferat, nec amplius aliquid. Haec ergo omnia difficilem habent explanationem: paucis tamen, ut supra jam diximus, occasionem intelligentia: vobis dabimus, quo et vos faciatis quod scriptum est": Ut iis auditis sapiens sapientior fiat : et “ : Da occasionem sapienti, et sapientior erit. Sed priusquam perte“ niamus ad rem, ne illud quidem omittemus, quod curiosius intendentes in hoc loco observavimus. In llebrzeorum litteris nomen Dei, hoc est Deus, vel Dominus, diverse scribi dicitur. Aliter enim scribitur Deus, quicunque Deus: aliter Deus ipse, de quo dicitur ‘7 : σ Audi, Israel. Dominus Deus tuus, Deus unus est. › lste ergo Deus Israel, Deus unus et creator omnium, certo quodam litterarum signo scribitur, quod apud illos tetragrammaton dicitur. Si quando ergo sub hoc signo in Scripturis scribitur Deus, nulla est dubitatio quin de Deo vero et mundi creatore dicatur. Si quando vero aliis, ο id est communibus litteris scribitur, incertum habetur utrum de Deo vero, an de aliquo ex i‘ilis dicatur, de quibus Apostolus dicit : Tametsi sunt qui dicantur dii, sive in cmlo sive in terra: sicut sunt dii multi, et domini multi : nobis tamen unus Deus Pater, ex quo omnia, et nos per ipsum. Aiunt ergo qui llebraicas litteras legunt, itt hoc loco Deus, non sub signo tetragrammati esse positum, de quo qui potest, requirat. Sed et quod dixit Deus ad Balaam quasi interrdgans qui sunt isti homines, requiritur cur ignorare videatur: et iterum quod ait: Non maledices pepnlunt, est enim benedictus. Sic itaque potest intelligi, quasi dixerit: Non maledices populum meum. ### English translation (Claude) Many things remained for us when we were expounding the reading about Balaam and his ass; and since the discourse that is held in church for edification is limited in time, we did not have enough room to set out each word of Scripture and apply an explanation to each one so that nothing at all remained undiscussed, since that kind of style belongs rather to commentaries. Therefore we take up again what seems worth inquiring into, and, discussing it, we shall try to set it out and bring it forward with what explanation we can. There is still a difficulty in explaining the literal account itself: how, when God is said first to have come to Balaam by night and asked who the men were who had come to him, and he answered that they had been sent by Balak son of Zippor, saying, “Come, curse the people for me,” God answered him: “You shall not go with them, nor curse the people, for it is blessed”; and that a second time God is said to have come to him by night and told him to go with them, but to observe this, that he should speak the word God would put in his mouth. And again, the third time, as he was going, an angel of God met him, to whom his journey seemed so far from fitting or opportune that he even wished to kill him, had not the ass, seeing the angel whom Balaam could not see, turned aside. And yet, after he has been blamed by the angel for wishing to go, he is again permitted by him to go, provided only that he keep the word God would put in his mouth and utter this alone and nothing more. All these things, then, are hard to explain; yet in a few words, as we said above, we shall give you an occasion for understanding, so that you too may do what is written: “That on hearing these things the wise may become wiser,” and, “Give an occasion to a wise man, and he will be wiser.” But before we come to the matter, we shall not omit something we observed when attending more closely to this passage. In the letters of the Hebrews the name of God, that is, “God” or “Lord,” is said to be written in different ways. For “God” is written one way when it means any god at all, and another way for God himself, of whom it is said: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord your God is one God.” This God of Israel, then, the one God and creator of all, is written with a certain sign of letters which among them is called the tetragrammaton. Whenever, then, God is written in the Scriptures under this sign, there is no doubt that it is said of the true God and creator of the world. But when it is written with other, that is, common letters, it is uncertain whether it is said of the true God or of one of those of whom the Apostle says: “For although there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we through him.” Those who read Hebrew letters say, then, that in this passage “God” is not set down under the sign of the tetragrammaton; let whoever can look into this. And as for God's saying to Balaam, as if asking, “Who are these men?”, it is asked why he seems not to know; and again, as for his saying, “You shall not curse the people, for it is blessed,” this can be understood as if he had said: You shall not curse my people. ### Scripture references - Num 22:9: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:10: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:12: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:20: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:22: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:33: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:35: allusion, high confidence - Prov 1:5: quotation, medium confidence - Prov 9:9: quotation, high confidence - Deut 6:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words of Num 22:12 and a connecting phrase are lost where a Migne footnote (on Balaam's prophecies and the magi, from a catena) leaked into the text; they are supplied from Baehrens's edition. In the Hebrew of Num 22:9 the word is Elohim, not the tetragrammaton, as Origen reports from others. “Give an occasion to a wise man” is Prov 9:9 in the Greek. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 14.1 (PG 12:676b–677b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 14.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-2 - Source: PG 12:677b–681a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God did not make evil but uses it, as with Joseph's brothers, Balak, Judas, and the devil, to test and crown the virtuous, while each person by free choice becomes a vessel of honor or of dishonor. ### Latin text Nos interim dicimus dispensatione quadam et sapientia Dei, ita omnia in hoc mundo esse disposita, ut nihil prorsus otiosum sit apud Deum, :tiautsi malum illud sit, etiamsi bonum. Sed platius quod dicitur explicemus. Malitiam Dens non ‘ecit : tamen cum aliis inventam possit prohibere, ton prohibet : sed cum ipsis a quibus habetur, utitur. ea ad necessarias causas. Per ipsos enim n quibus est malitia, claros et probatos efiicit eos luirad virtutum gloriam tendunt. Nam si perimeretur malitia, non esset utique qui contrairet vir- rium, non claresceret, nec splendidior et examinatior fieret. Non probata vero nec examinata virtus, nec virtus est (5'2). Sed haec si dicantur sine divinorum verborum testimoniis, exquisita magis et humana arte composita , quam vera atque indubitata videbuntur. Requiramus ergo si hujusmodi sensum etiamrvolumina divina contineant. Veniamus ad Joseph". Tolle malitiam fratrum ejus, tolle invidiam, tolle illud omne parricidale commentum (53} quo smvierunt in fratrem usquequo venderent cum. Si inec auferas, vide quantam simul peremeris dispensationem Dei. Simul enim abscindes cuncta illa, quae apud {Egyptum per Joseph pro salute omnium gesta sunt”. Non fuisset interpretatio somnii Pharaonis, si per invidiam fratrum non fuisset Joseplt distractus, el. venisset in JEgypmm: nemo intellexisset quae Deus revelaverat regi, nemo frumenta congregasset itt Egypto, nemo necessitatem famis sapienti provisione curasset : periisset Egyptus, periissent et finitima: regiones fame. lnteriisset etiam ipse ls- , rael, et semen ejus quazrens panem, si Egyptnm non fuisset ingressum, nec egressi fuissent ex ea filti lsrael cum mirabilibus Domini. Nusquam plagae in Aigyptios, neque virtutes illaa, quas fecit Deus per Moysen et Aaron. Nemo Rubrum mare siccis vestigiis incessisset. Cibum manna: mortalis vita nescisset. Nulla de sequenti petra aquarum fluenta prorupissent. Lex a Deo hominibus data non fuisset. Qum in Exodo, quae in Levitico, in Numeris etiam et Deuteronomio referuntur, ad humani generis scientiam non venissent. [hereditatem certe paternam, et terram repromissionis nullus intrasset. Et ut ad haec quae habentur in manibus, veniamus, tolle Balaclt hujus regis pessimi malitiam, qua maledici desiderat Israelem , aufer ejus astutiam, qua invitabat Balaam ad devorandum p0pulum : pariter abstuleris erga filios lsrael dispensationem Dei, et providentia: ejus favorem, nusquam prophetiae illae erunt, quae per os Balaam et filiis lsrael et gentibus prophetantur. Quod si etiam Novi Testamenti cupis haec testimoniis confirmari, si auferas malitiam ludas, proditionemque ejus perimas, abstuleris pariter crucem Christi et passionem ejus : et si non sit crux, non exuuntur principatus ct potestates , nec triumphantur in ligno crucis. Si non fuisset mors Christi, utique nec resurrectio fuisset, nec exstitisset aliquis primogenitus ex mortuis. Quod si non fuisset primogenitus ex mortuis, nec spes nobis resurrectionis fuisset. Simili ergo modo et de ipso diabolo ponamus, verbi gratia, necessitate aliqua constrictum fuisse ne peccaret, vel post peccatum ablatam fuisse ab eo malitia: voluntatem; simul utique ablatum fuisset nobis certamen adversum astutias diaboli, nec exspectaretur corona victoria: ei qui legitime certasset“. Si non haberemus qui adversum nos obsisterent, agones non essent, nec victoribus munera ponerentur, nec regnum caelorum vincentibus pararetur : neque momentaneutn hoc et leve tribulationis nostrae supra modum pondus gloria: operaretur nobis in futuro " : nec aliquis nostrum pro tribulationum patientia speraret immensam gloriam futurorum. Ex quibus ontnibus colligitur, quia Deus non solum bonis utatur ad opus bonum , sed et malis. Et hoc vere mirabile est, quod vasis malis utitur Deus ad opus bunum. ltt magna enim hac mundi hujus domo non sunt tantummodo vasa aurea, et argentea, sed et lignea, et fictilia, et alia quidem ad honorem, alia autem ad contumeliam , utraque tamen necessaria. Verum quoniam vasa btec quze dicimus, rationabilia intelligenda sunt, et liberi arbitrii: non casu, neque fortuitu, unusquisque aut vas honoris ctllcitur, aut vas contumeliae, sed qui se tale praebuerit, ιιι electus esse mercatur, vas ele- ' etum et vas honoris elIicitur. Qui vero indignis et deterrimis sensibus vivit, iste formatur vas contuntclite, non a Conditore, sed a semetipso causis contumeliae stne datis. Non ergo eos tales esse Conditor fecit, sed hujnsmodi mentes secundum prepositum eorum, providentia: suaejnsta et inefl'abiii quadam ratione dispensat. Sicut, verbi gratia, in urbibus magnis, -si qui indigniores sunt, et abstrusa: vitae ac deterrima: homines , ultima qure- θ que Opera, et laboriosa condemnentur operari, et tamen necessaria sunt civitati hujusmodi opera. Verbi eausa , aut fornacibus lavacri ad succendendesignes deserviunt, ut tu vel commoditate, vel deliciis perfruaris; aut cuniculos purgant, aut alia hujusmodi gerunt, ιιι tibi itt urbe fiat et delectabilis habitatio. Et illi quidem vel agunt ex propoo sito, vel ex merito patiuntur : opus tamen ipsorum proficit ad utilitatem eorum quibus quae bona et utilia sunt, parantur. ita et haec de quibus proposuimus: Deus quidem malitiam non fecit, inventam tamen ex propositi intentione eorum qui de lina. runt a via recta, auferre penitus noluit : provides; hoc, quod etiamsi illi esset inutilis qui ea utebatur. faceret eam tamen utilem iis adversum quos em. cebatur. Et ideo refugere quidem omnibus tuo-lis debemus, ne unquam tnaiitia inveniatur in nobis; itt aliis vero vincere eam , non perimere studendum est; quia et illi, in quibus est tnalitia, aliquid necessarii operis conferunt universitati. Nihil enim Otiosum, nihil inane est apud Deum, quia sive bona proposito hominis utitur ad bona, sive malo atl necessaria. Sed beatior eris, si magis ex virtutibus quze in te sunt, inveniatur boni aliquid ex te vitae hujus universitas consequi : sicut illi, de quibus dicit apostolus Paulus ” : t Ut sitis sicut luminaria in hoc mundo, verbum vita: continentem Ad gloriam sunt ergo necessaria luminaria ttttlndo huic. Et quid tam delectabile, quid tam magnifirum, quam opus solis, vel lunae, a quibus illuminatur mundus? Opus est tamen ipsi mundo etiam angelis qui sittt super bestias, et angelisqui praesintexercitibus terrenis. Opus est angelis gn praesint animalium nativitati , virgultorum, plautationnmque, et caeteris pluralibus incrementis. rursum angelis opus est, qui pnesint operibus sanctis, qui attenta: lucis intellectum et occultante Dei agnitionem, ac rerum divinarum scientiam doceant. Vide ergo ne te ipse facias inter cos augtlos inveniri, qui bestiis praesunt, si belluinamdaxeris vitam : aut inter eos, qui terrenis epentta przcsunt, si corporea et terrena dilexeris. Set satage quomodo magis assumaris ad societatem Michaelis archangeli, qtti orationes sanctam semper otl‘ert Deo. Assumeris autem in hunc numerutn vel in istud oflicium , si insistas semper ontioni. et vigiles in ea, et impleas quod Apostolut ait": Sine cessatione orantes. Vel certe rt assumaris itt societatem et oflicium Rapbaelis.1ni medicinae prmest : si cum videris aliquem vulneratum peccatis, et sagittis diaboli confixum,adhibueris curationum sermonem ac verbi Dei contuleris medicinam, ut peccati vulnera per paenitentiam sanes, et medicinam confessionis ostendas. Si quis vero huiusmodi opera in hoc nmndo agit, ipse se praebet, ut in futuro szecnlo vas elecuonis , et utile Domino ad omne opus bonum paratum a Conditore formetur . Si vero contraria gerat, vas ad contumeliam divina: semetipsum praebebit dispensationi. Et propterea puto in divinis voluminibus scripta esse et bonormn gesta, et malorum, et ex sinistris, et dextris actibus Scripturas divinas esse contextas, ut intelligamus quia apml Deum otiosa non Sttttl, nec malorum opera, nec bonorum. Verum nunc post excessum plurinnnn quidem, sed causae necessarium, redeamus ad propositum. ### English translation (Claude) For our part, meanwhile, we say that by a certain dispensation and wisdom of God all things in this world are so arranged that nothing at all is idle with God, whether it be evil or good. But let us explain more fully what is said. God did not make wickedness; yet, though he could prevent it when it has been invented by others, he does not prevent it, but uses it, through those in whom it is found, for necessary purposes. For through those in whom there is wickedness he makes illustrious and approved those who strive toward the glory of virtues. For if wickedness were destroyed, there would certainly be nothing to oppose virtue; and virtue, if not opposed, would not shine out, nor become more splendid and tested. But virtue untested and unexamined is not virtue. But if these things are said without the testimonies of the divine words, they will seem refined and composed by human art rather than true and beyond doubt. Let us ask, then, whether the divine volumes too contain such a sense. Let us come to Joseph. Take away the wickedness of his brothers, take away the envy, take away that whole fratricidal scheme with which they raged against their brother until they sold him. If you take these away, see how great a dispensation of God you destroy at the same time. For you will at once cut away all those things that were done in Egypt through Joseph for the salvation of all. There would have been no interpretation of Pharaoh's dream if Joseph had not been sold through his brothers' envy and come into Egypt; no one would have understood what God had revealed to the king; no one would have gathered grain in Egypt; no one would have met the necessity of famine with wise provision: Egypt would have perished, and the neighboring regions would have perished by famine. Israel himself too would have perished, and his seed seeking bread, had he not entered Egypt; nor would the sons of Israel have come out of it with the wonders of the Lord. There would nowhere have been the plagues on the Egyptians, nor those mighty works which God did through Moses and Aaron. No one would have walked through the Red Sea with dry feet. Mortal life would not have known the food of manna. No streams of water would have burst from the rock that followed. The law would not have been given by God to men. What is related in Exodus, in Leviticus, and also in Numbers and Deuteronomy would not have come to the knowledge of the human race. Certainly no one would have entered the inheritance of the fathers and the land of promise. And to come to what we have in hand: take away the wickedness of this most wicked King Balak, by which he desires Israel to be cursed; remove his cunning, by which he invited Balaam to devour the people: you will at the same time have taken away God's dispensation toward the sons of Israel and the favor of his providence; nowhere will there be those prophecies which are prophesied through the mouth of Balaam both to the sons of Israel and to the nations. And if you desire these things to be confirmed by testimonies of the New Testament too: if you take away the wickedness of Judas and abolish his betrayal, you will at the same time have taken away the cross of Christ and his passion; and if there is no cross, the principalities and powers are not stripped, nor triumphed over on the wood of the cross. If there had been no death of Christ, there would certainly have been no resurrection either, nor would anyone have arisen as firstborn from the dead. And if there had been no firstborn from the dead, we would have had no hope of resurrection. In a similar way, let us suppose of the devil himself, for example, that he had been constrained by some necessity not to sin, or that after his sin the will to wickedness had been taken from him: then at the same time our contest against the wiles of the devil would also have been taken away, nor would the crown of victory be awaited by the one who had contended lawfully. If we had none to oppose us, there would be no contests, nor would rewards be set for the victors, nor the kingdom of heaven prepared for those who conquer; nor would this momentary and light affliction of ours work for us beyond measure a weight of glory in the future; nor would any of us, for patience in tribulations, hope for the immense glory of the things to come. From all this it is gathered that God uses not only the good for good work but also the evil. And this is truly wonderful, that God uses evil vessels for good work. For in this great house of the world there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor, yet both are necessary. But since these vessels we speak of are to be understood as rational and possessing free choice, it is not by chance or accident that each becomes either a vessel of honor or a vessel of dishonor; but one who has shown himself such as to deserve to be chosen becomes a chosen vessel and a vessel of honor; while one who lives with unworthy and most base thoughts is formed into a vessel of dishonor, not by the Creator but by himself, having given the causes of his dishonor. The Creator, then, did not make them such; but by a just and ineffable reason of his providence he arranges such minds according to their own purpose. As, for example, in great cities, if there are any less worthy men, of hidden and very base life, they are condemned to do the lowest and most laborious works, and yet such works are necessary to the city: for instance, they serve the furnaces of the baths to kindle the fires, so that you may enjoy convenience or pleasure; or they clean the sewers, or do other such things, so that your dwelling in the city may be pleasant. And they either act by their own choice or suffer it by desert; yet their work serves the benefit of those for whom good and useful things are prepared. So too with the things we have set out: God did not make wickedness, yet, finding it in the intent and purpose of those who have turned aside from the right way, he did not wish to take wickedness away entirely, providing this: that even if it was useless to the one who used it, he would nevertheless make it useful to those against whom it was exercised. And therefore we must all flee wickedness, so that it may never be found in us; but in others we must strive to conquer it, not to destroy it; because those too in whom there is wickedness contribute some necessary work to the whole. For nothing is idle, nothing vain with God, since he uses either a man's good purpose for good things or his evil one for necessary things. But you will be more blessed if the whole of this life obtains something good from you through the virtues that are in you, like those of whom the apostle Paul says: “That you may be like lights in this world, holding fast the word of life.” For their glory, then, lights are necessary to this world. And what is so delightful, what so magnificent, as the work of the sun or the moon, by which the world is lighted? Yet the world itself also needs angels who are set over beasts, and angels who preside over earthly armies. It needs angels who preside over the birth of animals, of shrubs and plantings, and over other growths. Again it needs angels who preside over holy works, who teach the understanding of the eternal light, the knowledge of the hidden God, and the science of divine things. See, then, that you do not make yourself be found among those angels who preside over beasts, if you lead a beastly life; or among those who preside over earthly works, if you love bodily and earthly things. But strive rather to be taken into the company of Michael the archangel, who always offers the prayers of the saints to God. And you will be taken into this number, or into this office, if you always persist in prayer and keep watch in it, and fulfill what the Apostle says: “Praying without ceasing.” Or certainly that you may be taken into the company and office of Raphael, who presides over healing: if, when you see someone wounded by sins and pierced by the arrows of the devil, you apply the word of healing and bring the medicine of the word of God, so as to heal the wounds of sin through repentance and to show the medicine of confession. Whoever does such works in this world offers himself to be formed by the Creator in the age to come as a chosen vessel, useful to the Lord, prepared for every good work. But if he does the contrary, he will offer himself to the divine dispensation as a vessel for dishonor. And for this reason I think that the deeds both of the good and of the wicked are written in the divine volumes, and that the divine Scriptures are woven of left-hand and right-hand actions, so that we may understand that with God neither the works of the wicked nor those of the good are idle. But now, after a very long digression, though one necessary to the subject, let us return to our purpose. ### Scripture references - Gen 37:28: allusion, high confidence - Gen 41:25: allusion, high confidence - Gen 42:2: allusion, medium confidence - Exod 14:22: allusion, high confidence - Exod 16:15: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: allusion, high confidence - Matt 26:14: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:18: allusion, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:5: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:18: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 2:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:21: allusion, high confidence - Acts 9:15: allusion, medium confidence - Phil 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Phil 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Rev 8:3: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Thess 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:16: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Tob 3:17 (Tobit): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Origen's argument that God permits and uses evil without causing it, and that each rational being becomes a vessel of honor or dishonor by free choice, is translated as written. Raphael as the angel of healing comes from Tobit (3:17; 12:15). Two passages lost in the scan (after “the will to wickedness had been taken from him” and after “So too these things”) are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 14.2 (PG 12:677b–681a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 14.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-3 - Source: PG 12:681a–681d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God turned Balaam, a greedy sorcerer, into a means of making Christ's mysteries known to the nations, putting his word in Balaam's mouth though not in his heart. ### Latin text Balaam hic, ut superius diximus, divinus erat, daunonnm scilicet ministerio, et arte magica nonnunquam lutnra praenoscens. [tegatur a Balach rege ad maledicendum populo Israel, legati veniunt, divinacula in manibus ferunt, stant attonita: gentes, et anxiae, exspectantes quid respondeat Balaam, de quo persuasum habebant quod dignus divinis colloquiis haberetur. Vide nunc quomodo sapientia Dei vas istud ad contumeliam prmparatum proficere fecit ad utilitatem non Solum gentis unius, sed pene totius mundi : et huic cui solebant videri dazmones, videtur Deus, prohibens mali operis iter. Stupescit Balaam, et miratur prohibentis anetoritatem. Non enim solebat malum daemonibus displicere. Sed iterum remittit legatos, dicens, non se posse ε facere, nisi verbum quod Deus dederit in os ejus. Redeunt rursus legati , iterum requirit, iterum molestus est, et iterum cupit audire. Non eiiim facile cupidus mercedibus caret. Quid ergo audit secundo a Deo? Si vocare, inquit , venerunt homines isti, surge, et vade cum eis. In quo voluntati quidem cupiditatis ejus cedit Deus, ut compleatur illud quod scriptum est : Dimisit eos in desideria contis eorum, ibunt in voluntatibus suis; sed tamen consilium divina: dispensationis expletur. Dicitur enim ad eum" : Verbum quodcunque dedero in ore tuo, hoc loqueris. Si dignus luisset Balaam, verbum sunm Deus non in ore ejus, sed in corde posuisset. Nunc autem quoniam in corde ejus desiderium mercedis erat, et cupiditas pecunim, verbum Dei non in corde, sed in ore ejus ponitur. Agebatur enim mira et magna dispensatione, ιη quoniam prophetarum verba, quae intra aulam continebantur Israeliticam , ad gentes pervenire non pmerant, per Balaam cui fides ab universis gentibus habebatur, innotescerth etiam natio. nibus secreta de Christo mysteria, et thesaurum magnum proferret ad gentes, non tam corde et sensu, quam ore et sermone portatum. Sed ne per singula immoremur, non enim temporis est cuncta dissolvi, ascensa asina sua Balaam ibat per viam; occurrit ei angelus, ille sine dubio qui aderat filiis Israel. Aperit os asina: , nt arguatur per eam Balaam, et nmti pecudis vocibus confutetur is qui divinus videbatur et sapiens. ### English translation (Claude) This Balaam, as we said above, was a diviner, who sometimes foreknew the future through the ministry of demons and by magic art. He is asked by King Balak to curse the people of Israel; the envoys come, carrying divining instruments in their hands; the nations stand astonished and anxious, waiting to see what Balaam will answer, of whom they were persuaded that he was held worthy of converse with the divine. See now how the wisdom of God made this vessel prepared for dishonor serve the benefit not only of one nation but of almost the whole world; and to him to whom demons used to appear, God appears, forbidding the way of the evil work. Balaam is astounded, and marvels at the authority of the one forbidding him. For evil did not usually displease the demons. But again he sends back the envoys, saying that he cannot do anything except according to the word God gives in his mouth. The envoys return again; again he asks, again he is troublesome, again he desires to hear. For a greedy man does not easily give up rewards. What, then, does he hear from God the second time? “If these men have come to call you,” it says, “rise and go with them.” In this God yields to the will of his greed, so that what is written may be fulfilled: “He let them go after the desires of their hearts; they will walk in their own wills”; yet the counsel of the divine dispensation is fulfilled. For it is said to him: “Whatever word I put in your mouth, that you shall speak.” If Balaam had been worthy, God would have put his word not in his mouth but in his heart. But now, since in his heart was the desire of reward and greed for money, the word of God is put not in his heart but in his mouth. For this was done by a wonderful and great dispensation: since the words of the prophets, which were contained within the court of Israel, could not reach the nations, the secret mysteries about Christ might become known even to the nations through Balaam, in whom all the nations had faith, and he might bring out a great treasure to the nations, carried not so much in heart and mind as in mouth and speech. But not to linger over every detail (for there is not time to resolve everything): Balaam mounted his ass and went on his way; an angel met him, doubtless the one who was with the sons of Israel. He opens the ass's mouth, so that Balaam might be rebuked through it, and he who seemed a diviner and wise man might be refuted by the voice of a dumb beast. ### Scripture references - Num 22:7: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:18: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:20: quotation, high confidence - Ps 81:12 (80:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 22:35: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:22: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:28: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Ps 81:12 is LXX 80:13. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 14.3 (PG 12:681a–681d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 14.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-4 - Source: PG 12:682a–684b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Allegorically, Balaam stands for the scribes and Pharisees, and his ass for simple believers whom Christ's disciples set free; even a false teacher may prophesy, so love outranks prophecy. ### Latin text Verum post Iuec conveniens jam videtur, aliqua etiam de allegoria contingere. Balaam hic, qui interpretatur populus vanus, videtur mihi personam habere scribarum et Pharismornm Judaici populi. Balach vero, qui exclusio vel devoratio interpretatur, et ipse personam habere intelligendus est unius alicujus spirituum mundi hujus contrariae potestatis, qum excludere et devorare cupiat lsrael. non eum qui secundum carnem est, sed eum qui secundum spiritum. Volens ergo potestas ista contraria deleri et penitus exstingui spiritalem Israel, non aliis utitur ministris, nisi pontificibus et scribis ac Pliariszeis : ipsos invitat, ipsis mercedem promittit et praemia. llli vero, sicut iste Balaam facit, simulant se cuncta ad Deum referre et zelo Dei agere. Dicunt enim ‘° : Scrutare Scriptnras, et vide quia propheta a Galilma non surgit. Et iterum dicunt : ‹ Nos legem habenms, et secundum legem debet mori, quia Filium Dei se fecit. Per quae singula videntur quidem scribae et Pharisaei zelum Dei habere, sed simulatum. Asina vera. cui sedebat Balaam. quoniam Scriptura dicit “z «Homines et jumenta salvos facies, Domine,» ea pars credentium potest intelligi, qua! sive pro stultitia, sive pro innocentia, animalibus comparatur. Sic enim et Apostolus dicit : Videte autem vocationem vestram, l'ratres, quia non multi inter vos sapientes, non multi potentes, non multi nobiles, sed quae stulta sunt mundi elegit Dens, utconl‘undat sapientes. olsti ergo tales, sicut evangelica quae in parabolis agebantur, gesta designant, ab istis pessimis dominis scribis ac Pharisaais subjecti qnoda mmodo tenebantur et vincti, sed a Domino solvuntur, non quidem per ipsum Dominum, sed per discipulos ejus. Dicit enim ipse ad discipulos “z lte in vicum, qui est contra vos : et invenietis asinam alligatam , et pullum ejus, solventes adducite. Sicut ergo in Evangelia non ipse Dominus, sed discipuli solvunt asinam : ita et hic non ab eo ipso, sed ab angelo aperitur os asinm : et sicut in Evangeliis qui non vident arguunt videntes : ita et hic, qui muti erant, arguunt loquentes. Et hoc est, quod Dominus dicebat " : σ Pater, gratias ago tibi, quoniam abscondisti haec sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Scribze autem et Pharismi erant qui sedebant super asinam hanc, et tenebant eam vinctam. Ipsis ergo irascitur angelus, et nisi quodam futurorum prospectu, illos quidem peremisset, asinam autem servasset, quae vidit, et reverita est eum qui venit in vineam, et stat inter vineas. Compressit tamen pedes sedentis super se in maceriam: et ideo forte non potest ambulare ille ejus sessor antiquus, nec venire ad eum, qui dicit °° : Venite ad mc, onmes qui laboratis et onerati estis. r Asina tamen venit, adducta a discipulis , et cui tunc sedebat Balaam mercedis cupidus, nunc ei sedet Jesus. Nec mireris si eum quem diximus scribarum et doctorum populi formam tenere videas pr0phetantem de Christo. Hoc enim legimus fecisse et Caipham , qui dixit "’z ‹ Expedit vobis, ut unus homo pereat pro omni populo. Sed hoc, inquit, qui erat pontifex anni illius prophetavit. Prophetat ergo et Balaam de Christo : et ideo nemo extollatur etiamsi prophetet, etiamsi praeseientiam mereatur; sed redeat ad Apostoli dictum, quo ad ista respiciens. ait " : Sive prophetiae abolehuntur, sive linguae cessabunt,sive scientia destructum Et quid est ergo quod permanet? Fides, inquit °’, spes, et charitas : major autem horum, charitas. Et sola, inquit, charitas est, quae nunquam excidit. » ldeo super prophetiam, super scientiam, super fidem, super ipsum etiam martyrium, ut Paulus docet , charitas habenda est, et charitas excolenda : quia et Deus charitas est, ct Christus Filius ejus charitasest", quinobis perfectionem charitatis donare dignetur. lpsi gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But after this it now seems fitting to touch on something of the allegory too. This Balaam, whose name is interpreted “vain people,” seems to me to bear the role of the scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish people. And Balak, whose name is interpreted “shutting out” or “devouring,” must himself be understood to bear the role of one of the spirits of this world belonging to the opposing power, which desires to shut out and devour Israel: not the one according to the flesh, but the one according to the spirit. This opposing power, then, wishing the spiritual Israel to be blotted out and wholly destroyed, uses no other ministers than the high priests and scribes and Pharisees: them it invites, to them it promises reward and prizes. And they, as this Balaam does, pretend to refer everything to God and to act from zeal for God. For they say: “Search the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” And again they say: “We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.” Through each of these the scribes and Pharisees seem indeed to have zeal for God, but it is feigned. And the ass on which Balaam sat, since the Scripture says, “Men and beasts you will save, O Lord,” can be understood as that part of believers which, either for folly or for innocence, is compared to animals. For so the Apostle too says: “Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you are wise, not many powerful, not many noble; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.” These, then, as the deeds done in parables in the Gospel indicate, were held as it were subject and bound by those most wicked masters, the scribes and Pharisees, but are loosed by the Lord, not indeed by the Lord himself but by his disciples. For he himself says to the disciples: “Go into the village opposite you, and you will find an ass tied, and her colt; untie them and bring them.” Just as in the Gospel it is not the Lord himself but the disciples who untie the ass, so here too the ass's mouth is opened not by him himself but by the angel; and just as in the Gospels those who do not see rebuke those who see, so here too those who were dumb rebuke those who speak. And this is what the Lord said: “Father, I thank you, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to little ones.” And it was the scribes and Pharisees who sat on this ass and held it bound. With them, then, the angel is angry; and were it not for a certain foresight of things to come, he would have killed them but saved the ass, which saw and revered him who came into the vineyard and stands among the vineyards. Yet it pressed the feet of the one sitting on it against the wall; and therefore perhaps that ancient rider of it cannot walk, nor come to him who says: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened.” But the ass comes, brought by the disciples; and on her on whom Balaam, greedy for reward, then sat, Jesus now sits. And do not wonder if you see the one we said bears the figure of the scribes and teachers of the people prophesying about Christ. For we read that Caiaphas too did this, who said: “It is expedient for you that one man should perish for the whole people.” “But this,” it says, “he prophesied, being high priest that year.” Balaam too, then, prophesies about Christ; and therefore let no one be puffed up even if he prophesies, even if he is granted foreknowledge; but let him return to the saying of the Apostle, who, looking to these things, says: “Whether prophecies, they will be done away; whether tongues, they will cease; whether knowledge, it will be destroyed.” And what is it, then, that remains? “Faith,” he says, “hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.” And love alone, he says, is what never fails. Therefore above prophecy, above knowledge, above faith, above even martyrdom itself, as Paul teaches, love is to be held and love cultivated: because God too is love, and Christ his Son is love, who deigns to grant us the perfection of love. To him be glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - John 7:52: quotation, high confidence - John 19:7: quotation, high confidence - Ps 36:6 (35:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:26: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 21:2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:25: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:22: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:24: allusion, high confidence - Num 22:25: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:28: quotation, high confidence - John 11:50: quotation, high confidence - John 11:51: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 John 4:8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Balaam's role as the scribes and Pharisees, and the polemic against them, are Origen's allegory and are translated as written. The etymologies are traditional. A long Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 14.4 (PG 12:682a–684b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/14-1/#p-14-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 15.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-1 - Source: PG 12:684b–685b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: At his hearers' request Origen turns to Balaam's prophecy and asks why Scripture both blames and praises him; he then notes how rarely Scripture says the Spirit “came upon” a prophet, and reads Balaam's coming from Mesopotamia and the eastern mountains as coming from the rivers of Babylon and the false light of the devil. ### Latin text Licet nos ordo lectionum quae recitantur, de illis dicere magis exigat quae lector explicuit, tamen quouiam nonnulli fratrum deposcunt ea potius quae de prophetia Balaam scripta sunt, ad sermonem disputationis adduci, non ita ordini lectionum satisfacere aequum credidi, ut desideriis auditorum. Primo ergo omnium de ipso Balaam requiramus, cur in Scripturis nunc vituperabilis, nunc laudabilis ponitur. Nam vituperabilis est, cum prohibitus a Deo venire ad regem, persistit ut veniat, et mercedis cupidus iterum consulit, iterum requirit a Deo, donec relinquatur cupiditatibus suis. et eat in voluntatibus suis. Culpabilis est, eum ardificat aras, et victimas imponit dmmoniis, et apparatu magico poscit divina consulta. Culpabilis est, cum consilium pessimum dat, ut populus decipiatur per mulieres Madianitidas et cultum idolorum. Rursuslaudabilis ostenditur, cum verbum Dei ponitur in ore ejus, cum Spiritus Dei fit super eum, cum - de Christo prophetat, cum Iudaeis et gentibus de adventu Christi mysteria futura pronuntiat, cum pro maledictionibus benedictiones populo largitur, et nomen Israel supra visibilem gloriam mysticis extollit eloquiis. Cum ergo haec tam diversa de ro et tam varia indicet Scriptura divina, valde milii difficile videtur ex definito statuere ejus persona, cui non solum conveniat ista diversitas, verum et illud aptari' possit, quod ipse de semetipso velut prophetans dicit '” : Moriatur anima mea inter animas justorum, et fiat semen meum sicut semen justorum. Sed et per Micbazam prophetam talede eo Dominus testimonium perhibet. ubi dicit "z Populus mens, quid feci tibi? responde mihi, quia revocavi de terra Egypti , et ex domo servitutis liberavi te, et misi ante faciem tuam Moysen, Aaron, et Mariam. Populus meus, memento quid cogitavit adversum te Balach rex Moab, et quid respondit ei Balaam filius Beor a funiculis usque in Galgal, ut cognosceretur justitia Domini. Ostendit ergo per haec quia ut justitia Domini agnosceretur, propterea illa omnia respondit Balaam filius Beor ad regem Balaeh, quae scripta referuntur in libris. Et quis putas invenietur talis , qui possitet ipsis responsis Balaam ostendere quod Dei justiti: manifestetur in eis? Revera enim si sermo Dei positus est in ore ejus, et Spiritus Dei factus estsuper illum, et justitia Dei ex reSponsis ejus agnoscitur et manifestatur, omnimode quae ab eo dicuntur, nonnisi prophetica et divina esse credenda sunt. Quamvis ditficile alicubi scriptum legamus ",quia factus est Spiritus Dei super aliquem prophetarum: sed aut visio quam vidit, aut assumptio verbi Dn, aut Dei verbum factum est ad illum, vel ad illum, et alia quaedam de prophetis legimus. Factum vero esse Spiritum Dei super aliquem prophetarum, legisse ad praesens interim non recordor, nisi de David ita scriptum memini : Et apparuitnsitc «illuxitSpiritus Dei super David a die illa, et deiuceps; non tamen factus est Spiritus Dei super David. De Sgul vero ita memini scriptum " : Et decidet Spiritus Domini super te , et pr0pbetabis cum ipsis, et converteris in virum alterum.» Et iterum de eodem dicitur 7°: Et Spiritus Domini discessit a Saul, obstupefecit eum Spiritus malignus a Domino. Et iterum " : Et factum est cum esset spiritus malus ad Saul, assumpsit David psalterium et psallebat in manibus suis, et percutiebat, et erat bonum ei, et discedebat ab eo spiritus malignus. r lla-c pro co, quod medium potest videri hoc quod scriptum est ε Et factus est Spiritus Domini super eum. Propter quod et nos secundum ea quae superiore tractatu senseramus, etiam nune in Pharisaeorum et scribarum, eisque similium persona hunc ipsum Balaam explicare conabimur. Sed age jam prophetiae ejus verba, quae assumpta parabola sua dixisse scribitur, videamus. Ex Mesopotamia, inquit "’9, vocavit me Balach rex Iloab, ex montibus orientis. IlleSOpotamiam dicit terram quae inter flumina Babyloniae jacet, de quibus scriptum est ο : Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus, et llevimus, dum recordaremur Sion.» Si quis ergo inter ista flumina fuerit Babylonis, si quis rhemnatibus libidinis inundatur, et luxuria: zcstibus circumluitur , iste non dicitur stare, sed sedere; et ideo qui ibi comprehensi sunt dicebant: Super flumina Babylonis illic sedimus, et flevimus, dum recordaremur Sion. Sed uec flere quidem ante possunt, nisi cum recordati fuerint Sion. Bonorum namque recordatio malorum causas lamentabiles facit. Nisi enim quis recordetur Sion , nisi legem Dei et Seripturarum montes aspiciat, mala sua flere non incipit, Ex istis ergo flumjnjbus vocatur Balaam, et ab istis orientis montibus invitatur. Montes isti non sunt sancti montes illi, de quibus Scriptum est διε Fundamenta ejus in montibus sanctis. ο Et iterum : Jerusalem quae mdificatur ut civitas, cujus participatio ejus in idipsum. Montes iu circuitu ejus, et Dominus in circuitu populi sui . Non sunt ergo tales Mesopotamia: montes , sed illi, de quibus dicitur : Montes tenebrosi, et iterum de quo dicitur : Ecce ego ad 'te, mons corrupte. Isti sunt montes in quibus est omnis altitudo extollens se adversum scientiam Dei . Ab istis ergo montibus accersitur Balaam hic. Quales autent isti sunt montes, talem habent et oricntem. Ilabet .enim et ortum luminis sui ille, ο qui convertit se sicut angelum lucis . Habet illam lucem , de qua scriptum est 8": Lux impiorum exstinguetur. Et sicut ista lux impiorum, et illa quae convertit se sicut angelum lucis, contraria est illi luci, quae dicebat : Ego sum lux mundi ; ita et iste oriens contrarius est illi orienti, de quo scriptum est in Zacharia °°: Ecce vir, Oriens nomen ejus est.) Ex illius ergo, non hujus orientis finibus veniebat Balaam, illuminatus sine dubio ab illo Lucifero, de quo dicitur : Quomodo cecidit ' de cmlo Lucifer, qui mane oriebatur? ### English translation (Claude) Although the order of the readings that are read requires us rather to speak of what the reader expounded, yet since some of the brothers ask that what is written about Balaam's prophecy be brought into the discourse instead, I thought it fair to satisfy not so much the order of the readings as the desires of the hearers. First of all, then, let us ask about Balaam himself, why in the Scriptures he is set down now as blameworthy, now as praiseworthy. For he is blameworthy when, forbidden by God to come to the king, he persists in coming, and, greedy for reward, consults again and asks God again, until he is left to his desires and goes in his own wills. He is culpable when he builds altars and places victims on them for demons, and with magic apparatus seeks divine oracles. He is culpable when he gives the most wicked counsel, that the people be deceived through the Midianite women and the worship of idols. Again he is shown praiseworthy when the word of God is put in his mouth, when the Spirit of God comes upon him, when he prophesies about Christ, when he declares to Jews and Gentiles the future mysteries of Christ's coming, when instead of curses he bestows blessings on the people and exalts the name of Israel above visible glory with mystical words. Since, then, the divine Scripture indicates such diverse and varied things about him, it seems to me very difficult to determine definitively a character for him that would fit not only this diversity, but to which there could also be applied what he himself says of himself as if prophesying: “Let my soul die among the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be like the seed of the righteous.” And through the prophet Micah too the Lord bears such testimony of him, where he says: “My people, what have I done to you? Answer me. For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and freed you from the house of slavery, and sent before your face Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. My people, remember what Balak king of Moab devised against you, and what Balaam son of Beor answered him, from the reeds to Gilgal, that the righteousness of the Lord might be known.” He shows, then, by these words that it was so that the righteousness of the Lord might be known that Balaam son of Beor gave King Balak all those answers which are related as written in the books. And who, do you think, will be found able to show from Balaam's very answers that the righteousness of God is manifested in them? For truly, if the word of God was put in his mouth, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and the righteousness of God is recognized and manifested from his answers, then everything he says must certainly be believed to be nothing but prophetic and divine. And yet we seldom read it written anywhere that the Spirit of God came upon any of the prophets; rather, we read of a vision which one saw, or the taking up of the word of the Lord, or that the word of God came to this one or that, and certain other things about the prophets. But that the Spirit of God came upon any of the prophets I do not for the present recall having read, except that I remember it is written thus of David: “And the Spirit of God shone upon David from that day and thereafter”; yet it does not say that the Spirit of God came upon David. Of Saul, however, I remember it is written thus: “And the Spirit of the Lord will fall upon you, and you will prophesy with them, and you will be turned into another man.” And again it is said of him: “And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord stupefied him.” And again: “And it happened, when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took the psaltery and played with his hands and struck it, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.” These things are said because what is written, “And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him,” can seem to be something intermediate. For this reason we too, according to what we had thought in the previous treatment, shall try now also to explain this same Balaam in the role of the Pharisees and scribes and those like them. But come now, let us look at the words of his prophecy, which he is written to have spoken “taking up his parable.” “From Mesopotamia,” he says, “Balak king of Moab called me, from the mountains of the east.” He calls Mesopotamia the land that lies between the rivers of Babylon, of which it is written: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion.” If anyone, then, is between these rivers of Babylon, if anyone is flooded by the streams of lust and washed round by the surges of luxury, he is said not to stand but to sit; and therefore those who were caught there said: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion.” But they cannot even weep until they have remembered Zion. For the remembrance of good things makes the causes of evils lamentable. For unless one remembers Zion, unless he looks to the law of God and the mountains of the Scriptures, he does not begin to weep for his evils. From these rivers, then, Balaam is called, and from these mountains of the east he is invited. These mountains are not those holy mountains of which it is written: “Its foundations are on the holy mountains.” And again: “Jerusalem, which is built as a city, whose sharing is together. Mountains are round about it, and the Lord is round about his people.” The mountains of Mesopotamia, then, are not such, but are those of which it is said, “dark mountains,” and again of which it is said, “Behold, I am against you, O corrupt mountain.” These are the mountains on which is every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. From these mountains, then, this Balaam is summoned. And such as these mountains are, such an east they have too. For he too, who transforms himself like an angel of light, has the rising of his light. He has that light of which it is written: “The light of the ungodly will be put out.” And just as this light of the ungodly, and that which transforms itself like an angel of light, is contrary to that light which said, “I am the light of the world,” so too this east is contrary to that East of which it is written in Zechariah: “Behold a man, the East is his name.” From the borders of that east, then, not of this one, Balaam came, enlightened doubtless by that Lucifer of whom it is said: “How has Lucifer fallen from heaven, who rose in the morning?” ### Scripture references - Num 22:19: allusion, high confidence - Num 23:1: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:16: allusion, high confidence - Num 23:10: quotation, high confidence - Mic 6:3: quotation, high confidence - Mic 6:4: quotation, high confidence - Mic 6:5: quotation, high confidence - Num 24:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 10:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:23: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:7: quotation, high confidence - Ps 137:1 (136:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 87:1 (86:1 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 122:3 (121:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 125:2 (124:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Jer 13:16: quotation, high confidence - Jer 51:25 (28:25 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:14: allusion, high confidence - Job 18:5: quotation, high confidence - John 8:12: quotation, high confidence - Zech 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Isa 14:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The opening of Homily 15, which the scan prints at the end of 14.4, is placed here following Baehrens's division. Words of Mic 6:4–5 lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. 1 Sam 16:13, 10:6, 16:14, 16:23; Ps 137:1 (LXX 136:1), Ps 87:1 (LXX 86:1), Ps 122:3 (LXX 121:3), Ps 125:2 (LXX 124:2); Jer 51:25 is LXX 28:25. Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. A Migne column number has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 15.1 (PG 12:684b–685b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 15.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-2 - Source: PG 12:685b–686b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak asks Balaam to curse Jacob and to “over-curse” Israel, because those who advance toward the vision of God face fiercer attacks; Balaam had God's word in his mouth but greed in his heart. ### Latin text Sed videamus quid dicit illi Balach rex Moab, qui accersivit eum e medio fluminum de montibus orientis. Veni, inquit θ’, et maledic mihiJacoh, et veni, maledic mihi Israel. In Latinis sermonibus pene superflua videtur esse repetitio, quae ait : Maledic mihi Jacob , maledic mihi Israel. Sed est in Graecis litteris sub nomine Israel in maledicendi verbo praepositionis adjectio, quam nostri vel minus decenter dici credentes, vel nullam vim dictionis addi ex hoc posse existimantes, omiserunt. Nos autem sermonem licet contra fingimus, ut sensum ex integro colligamus. Potest ergo dici : Veni, maledic mihi Jacob, et veni', supermaledic mihi Israel. Per quod ostenditur idcirco sermo repetitus, ut ampliore vi et majore intentione maledictiouem in Israel quam in Jacob Balach videretur exposcere. Donec enim quis tantmn Jacob est, hoc est in actibus solum et operibus positus, inferioribus maletlictionibus impugnatur. Ubi autem profecerit, et interiorem hominem ad videndum Deum revelato mentis oculo exacuere et provocare jam cmperit, tunc non solum maledictis ab inimico, sed et supermaledictis, hoc est vehementioribus maledictorum jaculis impngnabitur. Sed tunc quidem os Balaam maledictione et amaritudine plenum erat, et sub lingua ejus labor et dolor, Cl sedebat iII insidiis cum divitibits. Exspectabat enim mercedes a divite rege, ut in occultis interficeret innocentes. Sed Deus qni facit semper, mirabilia solus, ex inimicis operatur salutem. lnjecit enim verbum in os ejus, quamvis nortdum cor ejus capere posset verbum Dei. Adhuc enim erat in corde ejus mercedis cupiditas, propter quod etiam post verbum Dei, quod habuit in ore suo, dicebat ad Balach°3zt Veni, et dabo tibi consilium, et docebat eum quomodo mitteret Scandalum in conspectu filiorum Israel, ut manducarent idolis immolata et ut fornicarentur. Pr0pter quod et cecidit populus, et plaga magna facta est in eo, donec Phinees perempto Israelita, qui fornicabatur cum Madianitide, sedavit furorem Domini. Et post haec, inquit, produxit l’hinees exercitum ’ contra Madianitas, et interfecerunt duodecim millia virorum, et Balaam filium Beor in gladio “. Sed et haec ante tempus per excessum quemdam introduximus, ιιι ostenderemus quia Balaam non in corde, sed in ore tantummodo habuit verbum Dei. Interim quae profert, qua) loquitur, ex verbo Dei loquitur, et ideo quae dicit, verbum Dei est. ### English translation (Claude) But let us see what Balak king of Moab says to him, having summoned him from the midst of the rivers, from the mountains of the east. “Come,” he says, “curse Jacob for me, and come, curse Israel for me.” In Latin the repetition seems almost superfluous, which says, “Curse Jacob for me, curse Israel for me.” But in the Greek, with the name Israel, a prefix is added to the verb of cursing, which our translators omitted, either believing it less fitting to say, or judging that no force of expression could be added by it. We, however, though we coin a word against usage, do so in order to gather the sense in full. It can be said, then: “Come, curse Jacob for me, and come, over-curse Israel for me.” By this it is shown that the word is repeated so that Balak might seem to demand a curse on Israel with greater force and more intensity than on Jacob. For as long as one is only Jacob, that is, engaged only in actions and works, he is attacked by lesser curses. But when he has advanced and has begun to sharpen and rouse the inner man to see God, with the eye of the mind unveiled, then he will be attacked by the enemy not only with curses but with over-curses, that is, with more vehement darts of curses. But at that time Balaam's mouth was full of cursing and bitterness, and under his tongue were toil and pain, and he sat in ambush with the rich. For he was expecting rewards from a rich king, to kill the innocent in secret. But God, who alone always does wonders, works salvation from enemies. For he put a word in his mouth, although his heart could not yet receive the word of God. For greed for reward was still in his heart; for which reason, even after the word of God which he had in his mouth, he said to Balak: “Come, and I will give you counsel”; and he taught him how to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, that they might eat things sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. Because of this the people fell, and a great plague came upon them, until Phinehas, by killing the Israelite who was committing sexual immorality with the Midianite woman, appeased the Lord's fury. And after this, it says, Phinehas led out an army against the Midianites, and they killed twelve thousand men, and Balaam son of Beor with the sword. But we have brought these things in before their time by a kind of digression, to show that Balaam had the word of God not in his heart but only in his mouth. Meanwhile what he utters, what he speaks, he speaks from the word of God; and therefore what he says is the word of God. ### Scripture references - Num 23:7: quotation, high confidence - Ps 10:7 (9:28 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 10:8 (9:29 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 72:18 (71:18 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Num 24:14: quotation, high confidence - Rev 2:14: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:16: allusion, high confidence - Num 25:1: allusion, high confidence - Num 25:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:5: allusion, medium confidence - Num 31:8: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of Num 23:7 has kataraomai with Jacob and epikataraomai (“curse upon,” rendered here “over-curse”) with Israel; the remark about Latin translators is presumably Rufinus's. Ps 10:7–8 is LXX 9:28–29. Balaam's counsel (Num 31:16; Rev 2:14) led to the sin at Peor (Num 25); the account of his death is Num 31:8, with the figure of twelve thousand from Num 31:5. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 15.2 (PG 12:685b–686b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 15.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-3 - Source: PG 12:686b–689b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God's curses are just sentences, unlike human cursing, which Paul forbids; God does not curse the true Israel, who live on the heights, dwell apart from the nations, and are known and numbered by God alone. ### Latin text Ait ergo : ” Quid‘ maledicam , quem non maledicit Dominus? Aut quid supermaledicam. quem nou supermaledicit Dominus? Supermaledicit, nos praesumimus secundum Graeci sermonis rationem, vimIverbi ostendere ex priapositionis augmento cupientes. Quid ergo dicemus? Jacob quidem non maledicit Dominus nec lsrael, sed alii putas alicui maledicit? Legimus scriptum, quia dicit Dominus ad serpentem)“: Maledicttts tu in onmibus bestiis terras. Etiterum ad Adam": Maledicta terra in operibus tuis. Sed et Cain : Et nunc malediclus tu a terra quae aperuit os suum, nt reciperet sanguinem fratris tu de manibus tuse et: maledictus omnis qui faeit apesculptile, aut fusile. Verum ne putes hate veteribus tantumnodo litteris contineri, etiam in Evangeliis similia invenies. Scriptum est enim quod dicturus sit Dominus iis qui τι sinistris sunt ‘z Discedite a me, maledicti, in ignem aeternum. Sed et cum dicit’ : Vm vobis, scriba: et Pharisaei hypocrita); et‘: Vae vobis divitibus, et singula hujusmodi, quid aliud nisi maledictis eos videtur urgere? Sed quid dicemus quod mamlatum per Apostolum datur, tibi dicit : Benedicite, et nolite maledicere ? Quod ergo ab hominibus non vult fieri, hoc ipse facit, qui exemplum vita: hominibus ponit?Non ita est. Deus enim quibus maledicit, meritum designat ejus cui maledicitur , et senten- Itiam promit, utpote quem non fallat, neque peccati qualitas, neque peccantis affectus. IIomo autem quia haec non potest scire : neque enim propositum meutemque alterius videre alius aut cognoscere potest: idcirco etiamsi iudicantis, vel sententiam promentis intuitu proferat maledictum‘, non potest esse justa maledicendi causa, ubi ignoratur peccantis atl‘cctus; maxime cum humanum vitium tunc sciat maledicm proferre, cum forte conviciis aut injuriis provocatur. Quod vitium resecare Apostolus volens, ne maledictis maledicta et conviciis convicia provocemus, mandatum necessarium ponit, ut benedicanms , et non maledicamus :quo conviciandi vitium resecetur, et non quo iudicandi veritas qua). homines latet,et pronuntiandi auctoritas perimatur. Et tamen quid causa: sit, quod non maledicat Dominus α Iacob, neque Israel, ab ipso nihilominus Balaam, imo a verbo quod posuit Deus in ore ejus, diligentius audiamus : ‹ Quoniam de verticibus, inquit , montium intuebor eum, et a collibus intelligam eum. Quia, inquit, in excelsis montibus et altis collibus positus est Israel, hoc est, in edita vita et ardua , ad quam eontuendatn et intelligendam non facile quis idoneus fiat, nisi ascendat ad eminentem et excelsam scientiam; ideirco, inquit, non ei maledicit Deus. Est enim vita ejus alta et praecelsa, non humilis et dejeeta. Quod tamen non Inibi videtur quia de illo Israel, qui secundum carnem Israel est, dixerit : sed de illo, cujus super terram ambulantis conversatio in cmlo est. Aut si etiam ad illum populum dicta haec referenda sttnt, recte cum distinctione dicit, ς intuebor et intelligam; ut foturutn tempus significet, illud sine dubio quando omnis Isracl ad fidem Christi veniens salvabitur et a montibus et a collibus intuebitur: abiis sine dubio, qui excelsam et ccelestem vitam consurgentes cum Christo exercuerint super terras. Sed et quod dixit de Iacob quidem , videbo ; de Israel autem, «intelligam, etiam hoc aptissima distinctione suscipiendum est: ut aliud ad actus visibiles, aliud ad invisibilem fidem atque intelligibilem scientiam conferatur. Aut si ad futurum sarculum ista convertimus , id est, ad resurrectionis tempus : Iacob videbo, potest de corporibus dictum intelligi : Israel autem intelligam, spiritum et animam (6!) significare resurgentium. ‹ Ecce, inquit , populus solus habitabit, et in nationibus non reputabitur. I‘otest quidem et secundum litteram stare. Solus enin populus Jacob non est permistus caeteris hominibus, nec inter czcteras gentes reputatus est. Ilabuit enini certa quaeque privilegia in observationibus, et in legitimis suis, ex quibus sequestratus a caeteris gentibus haberetur. Sicut enim tribus Levi non est permista inter emteras tribus, ncc adnumeratur inter eas : hoc pacto ct omnis Israel , nec miscetur caeteris gentibus, nec reputatur inter eas. Ilaec quidem in illo populo fuerint secundum formam futurorum bonorum, verus autem Iacob et spiritalis Israel vere solus habitabit in gentibus. Si enim accessimus ad Sion montem, et civitatem Dei riventis Jerusalem cmlestem , et venimus ad spiritalem Iudaeam, quae est portio Dei , et in terris positi ibi habemus conversationem, vere non reputamur inter caeteras gentes, nec reliquarum nationum fines cum nostris finibus admiscentur, etiamsi restituatur Sodoma in antiquunm , et Egyptus in statum suum redeat, el si quid aliud tale in prophetis scriptum est. Verumtamen illi Iacob et spiritali Israel, eum ad Ecclesiam primitivorum ascenderint, nullus exaequabitur, nullus admiscebitur, etiarnsi ista: gentes secumlum dicta prophetica fuerint re- Stitutaa. Nisi enim insertus fuerit ramus oleaStri,et socius factus fuerit radici pinguedinis olivae '. quomodo potest sociari et conjungi ad Iacob, vel Israel, cum sine ista radice nec Iacob quisquam possit appellari, nec Israel ? Neque ergo ex Iacob vel Israel si quis peccat, Iacob dici vel Israel potest , neque ex gentibus si quis ingressus fuerit Ecclesiam Domini, inter gentes ultra reputabitur : Quis in- _vestigabit semen Iacob? et quis dinumerabit plebem Israel τ Simile est hoc illi quod scriptum est ", quia α eduxit Deus Abraham foras, et aitei : Re- Spice ad omium, et dinumera stellas, si p0tes dinumerare eas, et ait: Ita erit semen tuum. Et credidit Abraham Deo , et. reputatum est illi ad Djustitiam. Et Abraham quidem, et alius quilibet hominum, aut etiam angelorum : et fortassis autem et superiorum virtutum non poterant numerare stellas, nec semen Abraham, de quo scriptum est: Sic erit semen tuum. Deus autem, de quo scriptum est : Qui numerat multitudinem stellarum, et omnibus eis nomina vocat, et qui dixit υτ Ego stellis omnibus mandavi, potest investigare semen Iacob, et dinumerare plebem Israel. Ipse enim scit solus quis vere sit Iacob, et quis vere sit Israel. Non enim ad eum qui in manifesto Iudzns est, respicit;neque ad eam, quae manifeste in carne est circumcisio; sed videt illum, qui in occulto Judaaus est et qui circumcisus est corde, non carne. Ipse ergo est solus, qui dinumerare potest et invesiigare: et ipse secundum ineffabilem et incomprehensibilem sapientiam suam ad illam caelestem formam , quam ipse solus scire potest, posuit etiam istos numeros, quos habemus in manibus : in quibus praecipit, utsecundum cognationes suas, et secundum domos familiarum Suarum, ex nomine omnes masculi per capita numerentur a viginti annis et supra, omnis qui ingreditur in virtute Israel ; et colligitur eorum quidam sacratus numerus de quo jam superius, prout donavit Dominus, diximus. Sed iste numerus tunc demum sacratus est et placitus Deo, cum ipso praecipiente numeratur. Si autem contra praeceptum Dominivolucrit aliquis numerare, licet ille David sit, licet magnus propheta, contra legem agit, et arguitur per prophetam , et patitur illa quae in secundo libro Regnorum legimus scripta . Solus ergo ipse qui numerat multitudinem stellarum, et qui omnia mensura et numero et pondere produxit, investigat semen Iacob et dinumerat plebem Israel. ### English translation (Claude) He says, then: “How shall I curse one whom the Lord does not curse? Or how shall I over-curse one whom the Lord does not over-curse?” “Over-curse” is our venture, following the pattern of the Greek, since we wish to show the force of the word from the increase given by the prefix. What, then, shall we say? The Lord does not curse Jacob nor Israel; but do you think he curses anyone else? We read it written that the Lord says to the serpent: “Cursed are you among all the beasts of the earth.” And again to Adam: “Cursed is the earth in your works.” And to Cain too: “And now cursed are you from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand”; and: “Cursed is everyone who makes a carved or molten image.” But lest you think these things are contained only in the old writings, you will find similar things in the Gospels too. For it is written that the Lord will say to those on the left: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire.” And when he says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,” and, “Woe to you who are rich,” and every saying of this kind, what else does he seem to do but press them with curses? But what shall we say of the command given through the Apostle, where he says: “Bless, and do not curse”? Does he himself, then, who sets an example of life for men, do what he does not wish men to do? It is not so. For when God curses, he marks the desert of the one cursed and pronounces a sentence, as one whom neither the nature of the sin nor the disposition of the sinner deceives. But man, because he cannot know these things (for no one can see or know another's purpose and mind), even if he utters a curse with the intention of one who judges or pronounces sentence, cannot have a just cause for cursing where the disposition of the sinner is unknown; especially since human vice knows how to utter curses when perhaps it is provoked by abuse or injuries. Wishing to cut off this vice, so that we may not provoke curses with curses and abuse with abuse, the Apostle lays down a necessary command, that we should bless and not curse: so that the vice of abuse may be cut off, not so that the truth of judgment, which is hidden from men, and the authority to pronounce sentence should be abolished. And yet let us hear more carefully, from Balaam himself, or rather from the word God put in his mouth, why the Lord does not curse Jacob nor Israel: “Because from the tops of the mountains,” it says, “I will behold him, and from the hills I will understand him.” Because, it says, Israel is placed on high mountains and lofty hills, that is, in an exalted and steep life, to behold and understand which no one easily becomes fit unless he ascends to an eminent and lofty knowledge; therefore, it says, God does not curse him. For his life is high and very lofty, not lowly and cast down. Yet this does not seem to me to have been said of that Israel which is Israel according to the flesh, but of the one whose citizenship, while he walks on earth, is in heaven. Or if these words are also to be referred to that people, he rightly says with a distinction, “I will behold and I will understand,” so that it signifies the future time, doubtless that time when all Israel, coming to the faith of Christ, will be saved, and will be beheld from the mountains and from the hills: doubtless by those who, rising with Christ, have practiced a lofty and heavenly life on earth. And what he said of Jacob, “I will see,” and of Israel, “I will understand,” must also be taken with a most fitting distinction, so that the one refers to visible actions and the other to invisible faith and intelligible knowledge. Or if we turn these words to the age to come, that is, to the time of the resurrection, “I will see Jacob” can be understood as said of the bodies, while “I will understand Israel” signifies the spirit and soul of those who rise. “Behold,” it says, “a people will dwell alone and will not be reckoned among the nations.” This can indeed stand according to the letter too. For the people of Jacob alone was not mingled with other men, nor reckoned among the other nations. For it had certain privileges in its observances and in its ordinances, by which it was held set apart from the other nations. For just as the tribe of Levi is not mingled among the other tribes, nor numbered among them, so in this way all Israel is neither mixed with the other nations nor reckoned among them. These things indeed were in that people according to the form of the good things to come; but the true Jacob and the spiritual Israel will truly dwell alone among the nations. For if we have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and have come to the spiritual Judea, which is God's portion, and, though placed on earth, have our citizenship there, we are truly not reckoned among the other nations, nor are the borders of the other nations mixed with our borders, even if Sodom is restored to its former state and Egypt returns to its condition, and whatever else of this kind is written in the prophets. Yet no one will be made equal to that Jacob and spiritual Israel, no one mingled with them, when they have ascended to the church of the firstborn, even if these nations have been restored according to the prophetic sayings. For unless the branch of the wild olive has been grafted in and made a sharer in the root of the richness of the olive, how can it be joined and united to Jacob or Israel, since without this root no one can be called either Jacob or Israel? So neither can anyone from Jacob or Israel who sins be called Jacob or Israel, nor will anyone from the Gentiles who has entered the church of the Lord be reckoned any longer among the Gentiles. “Who will trace out the seed of Jacob? And who will number the people of Israel?” This is like what is written, that “God brought Abraham outside and said to him: Look at the heaven and number the stars, if you can number them; and he said: So shall your seed be. And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” And neither Abraham, nor any other man, nor even an angel, and perhaps not even the higher powers, could number the stars, nor the seed of Abraham, of which it is written, “So shall your seed be.” But God, of whom it is written, “He numbers the multitude of the stars and calls them all by name,” and who said, “I have commanded all the stars,” can trace out the seed of Jacob and number the people of Israel. For he alone knows who is truly Jacob and who is truly Israel. For he does not look to him who is a Jew outwardly, nor to the circumcision that is outwardly in the flesh; but he sees him who is a Jew inwardly and who is circumcised in heart, not in flesh. He alone, then, is the one who can number and trace out; and he, according to his ineffable and incomprehensible wisdom, after that heavenly pattern which he alone can know, also set these numbers which we have in hand, in which he commands that according to their kindreds and according to the houses of their families all males be numbered by name, head by head, from twenty years and upward, everyone who goes forth in the strength of Israel; and a certain sacred number of them is gathered, of which we have already spoken above, as the Lord granted. But this number is sacred and pleasing to God only when it is counted at his own command. But if anyone wishes to count against the Lord's command, even if he be David, even if a great prophet, he acts against the law, and is rebuked through the prophet, and suffers the things we read written in the second book of Kingdoms. He alone, then, who numbers the multitude of the stars, and who brought forth all things by measure and number and weight, traces out the seed of Jacob and numbers the people of Israel. ### Scripture references - Num 23:8: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:17: quotation, high confidence - Gen 4:11: quotation, high confidence - Deut 27:15: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:13: quotation, high confidence - Luke 6:24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 12:14: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:9: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:20: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:26: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:1: allusion, medium confidence - Heb 12:22: allusion, high confidence - Heb 12:23: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 16:55: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:17: allusion, high confidence - Num 23:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 15:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 15:6: quotation, high confidence - Ps 147:4 (146:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 45:12: quotation, medium confidence - Rom 2:28: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:29: allusion, high confidence - Num 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Num 1:3: allusion, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:1: allusion, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:13: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 11:20 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “Over-curse” renders the Greek prefix in Num 23:8, as in 15.2. Ps 147:4 is LXX 146:4; “by measure and number and weight” is Wis 11:20. David's census is 2 Sam 24 (“the second book of Kingdoms”). A Migne footnote has been removed by logged correction. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 15.3 (PG 12:686b–689b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 15.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-4 - Source: PG 12:689b–690a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balaam's wish to die among the righteous will be fulfilled in the Jewish people when they come to faith in Christ at the end of the age, and his “seed” may be the magi; neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts, but faith working through love. ### Latin text Post haec quasi de semetipso quaedam prophetare videtur, cum dicit “’z Moriatur anima mea inter animas justorum,et fiat semen meum sicut semen justorum. Sed hoc quantum ad personam spectat illius Balaam , et illius Israel, nec factum est, nec fieri potuit: non enim inter ο ipsos , sed ab ipsis mortuus est. Magis enim , ut diximus, ipsorum personae conveniet: qui licet in praesenti steculo vanus papulus habeatur, quia sine gratia est Spiritus sancti, in fine tamen saeculi cum plenitudo gentium introierit, et omnis ista prophetia quae de Israel dicitur, in spiritali Israele fuerit impleta, tunc anima ejus morietur cum animabus justorum. Suscipict enim in se fidem Christi, ita ut et ipsi dicant ’δε Qui in Christo baptizati sumus , in morte ipsius baptizati sumus. Consepulti enim sumus illi per baptismum in morte.» Et iterum : Si enim commorimur, et conregnabimus. Etsic vere complebitur intelligibili Balaam, ut moriatur anima ejus inter animas justorum. Quod autem dicit ,'. ut fiat semen meum sicut semen justorum, posset quidem et de illo Balaam intelligi , secundum hoc quod magi illi , qui de oricute venientes primi adorare venerunt Iesum, de semine ejus esse videantur , sive per successionem generis, sive per disciplina: traditionem. Evidentcr enim constat illos agnovisse stellam, quam pra’dixerat Balaam orituram in Israel, et sic venisse . et adorasse regem qui natus est in Israel. Conveniet tamen et pepqu illi secundum ea quae supra diximus. Non enim tam ipsi, quam semen eorum eflicietur sicut semen justorum, eorum scilicet, qui credentes ex gentibus (69.) in Christo iustificati sunt. Unde manifestum est, quia sicut Apostolus die“ , ί neque circumcisio aliquid est. neque praeputium , scd fides , quae per charitatem operatur. Et ideo nemo aut circumcisionis antiquitate se jactet, aut in praeputii novitate glorietur. Sed utApostolus dicit η, probetunusquisque opus suum , et tunc in semetipso tantum gloriam habebit. Sic denique propheta dicit : Ecce homo, et opus ejus, et merces in conspectu Domini esse dicitur, ut reddat unicuique secundum opera sua, in Christo Jesu Domino nostro , cui est gloria et imperium in sa:cula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After this he seems to prophesy certain things as if about himself, when he says: “Let my soul die among the souls of the righteous, and let my seed be like the seed of the righteous.” But as far as concerns the person of that Balaam and of that Israel, this neither happened nor could happen; for he died not among them but at their hands. It will rather fit, as we said, the role of those others: who, though in the present age they are held a “vain people,” because they are without the grace of the Holy Spirit, yet at the end of the age, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and all this prophecy spoken of Israel has been fulfilled in the spiritual Israel, then his soul will die with the souls of the righteous. For he will take up into himself faith in Christ, so that they too will say: “We who have been baptized into Christ have been baptized into his death. For we were buried with him through baptism into death.” And again: “For if we die with him, we shall also reign with him.” And so it will truly be fulfilled in the Balaam understood spiritually that his soul dies among the souls of the righteous. And as for his saying, “Let my seed be like the seed of the righteous,” it could indeed be understood of that Balaam too, in the sense that those magi who, coming from the east, first came to worship Jesus seem to be of his seed, whether by succession of race or by tradition of teaching. For it is clearly established that they recognized the star which Balaam had foretold would rise in Israel, and so came and worshipped the king who was born in Israel. Yet it will also fit that people, according to what we said above. For not so much they themselves as their seed will become like the seed of the righteous, namely of those who, believing from among the Gentiles, have been justified in Christ. Hence it is clear that, as the Apostle says, “neither circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.” And therefore let no one either boast of the antiquity of circumcision or glory in the novelty of uncircumcision. But as the Apostle says, let each test his own work, and then he will have glory in himself alone. So, finally, the prophet says: “Behold the man, and his work,” and his reward is said to be before the Lord, that he may render to each according to his works, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 23:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 31:8: allusion, high confidence - Rom 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Rom 6:3: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:1: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:2: allusion, high confidence - Num 24:17: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:6: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:15: allusion, high confidence - Gal 6:4: allusion, high confidence - Isa 40:10: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 62:11: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 2:6: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Balaam (“vain people”) here stands again for the scribes and Pharisees of 14.4; Origen applies his wish to the future conversion of Israel (Rom 11:25–26). Translated as written. The word “circumcision”, lost in the scan in the quotation of Gal 5:6 / 6:15, is supplied from Baehrens's edition. “Behold the man and his work” recalls Isa 40:10 and 62:11. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 15.4 (PG 12:689b–690a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-15-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-1 - Source: PG 12:690b–691d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak, dismayed by Balaam’s blessings, takes him to another place, and God meets Balaam there in spite of the pagan sacrifices so that the Gentiles might believe through their own seer. ### Latin text Priore tractatu, inquantum possibile fuit, primas partes prophetia: Balaam explicare tentavimus. Secundum nunc prophetiae initium sumpsimus, ut si Dominus aspirare dignetur , etiam de hac pro viribus, quae occurrere potuerint, in medium proferamus. Inconveniens enim mihi visum est, quamvis haec difficilia videantur, interrumpere tractatum eorum, quominus de singulis quae comprehendere possumus, explicemus. Igitur Balach rex, veluti attonitus , et percussus ex iis quae contra spem diei videbat a Balaam, benedictiones enim pro maledictionibus audiebat, ultra non ferens, interrupit verba ejus, et ait : Quid fecisti mihi? Ad maledicendos inimicos meos vocavi te, et ecce benedixisti benedictione. Non tulit rex amarus benedictionum dulcedinem, sed maledicta quaerit, maledicta deposcit. Est enim ex cognatione illius, ad quem dixit Dominus “ : Maledictus tu ab omnibus bestiis terrae. Sed quid ad haec respondit ei ille, cui verbum Deus in ore posuerat? ( Nonne quaecunque, inquit, injecerit Deus iu os meum, haec observabo loqui "‘l Ad haec Balach putans quia perterritus esset Balaam populi Israelitici multitudine, et idcirco non fuisset ausus proferre maledicta, mutationem sibi loci credidit profuturam, et ait ad eum : Veni adhuc mecum ι) in locum alium de quo totum non videas eum, sed partem aliquam ejus videas, omnes autem non videas, et maledic mihi eum inde “. Demens qui Israeliticam gratiam loci objectionc crederet posse celari, et qui nesciret quia non potest abscondi civitas super montem posita ".u Et assumpsit, inquit, eum iu speculam agri in verticem montis caesi, et construxit ibi septem aras, et imposuit vitulum et arietem super aram, et dixit Balaam ad Balach: Assiste ad sacrificium tuum, ego vero pergam percontarl Deum. Et occurrit Deus ipsi Balaam, et injecit verbum in os ejus, et dixit, sine dubio Deus: Convertere ad Balach. et haec loqueris. At ille (hoc est Balach) stabat juxta holocaustomata sua, et omnes principes Moab cum illo. Et dixit ei Ba- Iach: Quid locutus est Dominus "7 Res quidem profanis sacrificiis gerebatur, et divinatio magica arte requirebatur: volens tamen Deus ibi abundare gratiam, ubi superabundavit peccatum ’. adesse dignatur, nec refugit ab iis, qum non secundum Israeliticam disciplinam, sed secundum gentilium gerebantur errorem. Adest autem nor. sacrificiis, sed in occursum venienti, et ibi dat verbum suum, atque ibi mysteria futura praenuntiat, ubi maxime fides et admiratio gentilium pendet, ut qui nostris nolunt credere prophetis, credant divinis et vatibus suis. ### English translation (Claude) In the previous discourse we tried, as far as was possible, to explain the first parts of Balaam’s prophecy. Now we have taken up the beginning of the second prophecy, so that, if the Lord deigns to breathe on us, we may also set out about it, according to our strength, whatever may occur to us. For it seemed unfitting to me, although these things appear difficult, to break off our treatment of them so as not to explain, one by one, what we are able to grasp. King Balak, then, as if thunderstruck and stunned by what he saw being said by Balaam against his hope (for he was hearing blessings instead of curses), could bear it no longer, interrupted his words, and said: “What have you done to me? I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them with a blessing.” The bitter king could not bear the sweetness of the blessings; he seeks curses, he demands curses. For he is of the kindred of the one to whom the Lord said: “Cursed are you above all the beasts of the earth.” But what did he answer him, the one in whose mouth God had placed a word? “Shall I not take care to speak whatever God puts into my mouth?” he says. At this Balak, thinking that Balaam had been terrified by the multitude of the Israelite people and for that reason had not dared to utter curses, believed that a change of place would help him, and said to him: “Come with me again to another place from which you will not see the whole of them, but you will see some part of them, and you will not see them all; and curse them for me from there.” Madman, who believed that the grace of Israel could be hidden by the obstruction of a place, and who did not know that “a city set on a mountain cannot be hidden”! “And he took him,” it says, “to a lookout of the field, to the top of a hewn mountain, and built seven altars there, and placed a calf and a ram on each altar; and Balaam said to Balak: ‘Stand by your sacrifice, and I will go to consult God.’ And God met Balaam and put a word into his mouth and said” (God, without doubt) “‘Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.’ And he” (that is, Balak) “was standing beside his burnt offerings, and all the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him: ‘What has the Lord spoken?’” The affair was being conducted with profane sacrifices, and divination was being sought by magic art; yet God, wishing grace to abound there “where sin abounded,” deigns to be present and does not shrink from things done not according to the discipline of Israel but according to the error of the Gentiles. He is present, however, not at the sacrifices, but to meet the one who comes; and there he gives his word, and there he foretells the mysteries to come, where the faith and wonder of the Gentiles chiefly hang, so that those who will not believe our prophets may believe the divine sayings even in their own seers. ### Scripture references - Num 23:11: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:14: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:12: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:13: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:14–17: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:20: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 23:11–17 (Rufinus’s Latin of the Greek text); Gen 3:14 (the curse on the serpent); Matt 5:14; Rom 5:20. “Thus you shall speak” renders the staged “et haec loqueris” (read as “and these things you shall speak”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.1 (PG 12:690b–691d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-2 - Source: PG 12:691d–691c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen sets out the second oracle of Balaam and explains why Balak, said to be “standing” at his idolatrous sacrifice, is told to “rise.” ### Latin text Et assumens, inquit, parabolam suam dixit. Per parabolam ergo dicit Balaam: r Surge Balach, et audi, auribus percipe testis fili Sephor. Non sicut homo Deus frustratur, neque sicut filius hominis terretur. Ipse cum dixerit, non faciet? loquetur et nou permanebit? Ecce ad benedicendum assumptus sum, benedicam, et non avertam eam. Non erit labor in Jacob, neque videbitur dolor in Israel. Dominus Deus suus cum ipso, praeclara principum cum ipso sunt. Deus qui eduxit eum ex Egyptn, sicut gloria unieornis ejus. Non enim erit auguratio in Jacob neque divinatio in Israel. In tempore dicetur Iacob et Israel, quid perficiet Deus. Ecce populus sicut catulus leonis exsurget, et sicut lco exsultabit, non dormiet donec comedat praedam, et sanguinem vulneratorum bibat . Haec est continentia secundae prophetiae in verbis Balaam. Videamus ergo primo hoc ipsum quod ait : Exsurge Balach, et audi ". Si enim in superioribus non dixisset quia staret juxta holocaustum suum, non videretur magnOpere requirendum cur dixerit: Exsurge Balach. Nunc autem cum hortetur exsurgere eum, quem nuper dixerat stare, non otiose praetereundus sermo propheticus. Quod ergo ait in superioribus, quia staret ad holocaustum suum, designat eum non recte stare. Stabat enim in idololatria positus, et stabat quasi inimicus Dei, quod magis esset non stare, sed cadere. Quasi ergo qui de illo statu cadere debuerit, imo et qui ceciderit, ita nunc intellectu prophetico exsurgere eum jubet : quippe qui per hoc, quod stare in idololatria visus fuerat, cecidisset. Exsurgat ergo qui talis est, exsurgat fide, et eflicialur testis: si quidem convertetur, testis fidei; si vero permanet infidelis, ut sit testis condemnationis suae. ### English translation (Claude) “And taking up his parable,” it says, “he said.” Through a parable, then, Balaam says: “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear, witness, son of Zippor. God is not deceived like a man, nor is he terrified like a son of man. When he has spoken, will he not do it? Will he speak and not abide by it? Behold, I have been taken to bless; I will bless, and I will not turn it away. There will be no toil in Jacob, nor will grief be seen in Israel. The Lord his God is with him; the glories of princes are with him. God, who brought him out of Egypt, is like the glory of the unicorn for him. For there will be no augury in Jacob nor divination in Israel. In due time it will be told to Jacob and Israel what God will accomplish. Behold, the people will rise up like a lion’s whelp, and like a lion it will exult; it will not sleep until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the wounded.” This is the content of the second prophecy in the words of Balaam. Let us see first, then, this very saying: “Rise, Balak, and hear.” For if it had not said above that he was standing beside his burnt offering, there would seem to be no great need to ask why he said, “Rise, Balak.” But now, since he urges to rise the one whom he had just said was standing, the prophetic word is not to be passed over idly. What he said above, then, that he was standing at his burnt offering, signifies that he was not standing rightly. For he was standing set in idolatry, and he was standing as an enemy of God, which was rather not to stand but to fall. As one, then, who must fall from that standing, or rather who had fallen, he now with prophetic understanding bids him rise: for by the very fact that he seemed to stand in idolatry, he had fallen. Let him who is such rise, then; let him rise by faith and become a witness: if he is converted, a witness of faith; but if he remains unbelieving, so that he may be a witness of his own condemnation. ### Scripture references - Num 23:18–24: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation of Num 23:18–24. “Unicorn” renders unicornis, the Latin rendering of the Greek monokerōs (LXX) in Num 23:22. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.2 (PG 12:691d–691c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-3 - Source: PG 12:691c–692d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God is not deceived like a man, because he speaks without passion; and if he terrifies, it is not out of boasting but to correct sinners before punishment comes. ### Latin text Sed quid est quod ei annuntiat, videamus : Non sicut homo, inquit, Deus frustratur, neque sicut filius hominis terretur ipse ο. Non, inquit, " habeas talem opinionem de Deo, ut putes eum esse sicut hominem, qui in iis quae loquitur, frustrari possit. Homines enim multis occasionibus et vitiis impediuntur, ne verum sit quod loquuntur. Aut irati enim loquuntur, et ira cessante fruStra locuti sunt: aut metus, aut cupiditatis, aut jactantiae gratia, aliisque horum similibus, et utique frustra erit, et vanum omne quidquid vitio dominante locuti sunt. Deus autem, in quo nulla est passio, nulla fragilitas, omne quod dixerit, pro causarum meritis dicit: et ideo nunquam frustrari potest, quia quod ratione profertur, carere non potest ratione: «Non ergo [item~ sicut homo, qui frustra loquatur, neque sicut filius hominis terretur, vel (ut in aliis exemplaribus legimus) neque sicut filius hominis terret. 1η hominibus interdum seu tentiam mutat terror, Deus autem qui supra omnia est, a quo terreri potest, ut sententiam mutet? Si vero secundum hoc accipiamus, :quod in aliis exemplaribus diximus lectum, hoc est, neque sicut filius hominis terret; illud videbitur dici, quod homines quidem interdum pro iactantia terrores faciunt et minas, etiam iis nonnunquam, quibus nocere non possunt; Deus autem non terret itahomines, quasi qui punire non possit, et si tero ret, ratione terret. Terret enim ut corripiat hominem in auditionis tribulatione, ut verbo comminationis deterritus emendet se qui male agit, nec pcrveniat ad eum ipsa vindicta male gestorum suorum. Non ergo ita Deus terret ιιι homo; homo enim (utdiximus)projaetantia,Deus veropro emendatione terret. ### English translation (Claude) But let us see what it is that he announces to him: “God,” he says, “is not deceived like a man, nor is he himself terrified like a son of man.” Do not, he says, hold such an opinion of God as to think that he is like a man, who can be deceived in what he says. For men are hindered by many occasions and vices from making what they say come true. Either they speak in anger, and when the anger ceases they have spoken in vain; or for the sake of fear, or desire, or boasting, and other things like these; and then whatever they have said while a vice was in command will certainly be in vain and empty. But God, in whom there is no passion, no frailty, says everything he says according to the merits of the case; and therefore he can never be deceived, because what is uttered by reason cannot be without reason. He is not, then, like a man who speaks in vain, “nor is he terrified like a son of man,” or (as we read in other copies) “nor does he terrify like a son of man.” Among men terror sometimes changes a decision; but God, who is above all things, by whom can he be terrified so as to change his decision? If, however, we take it according to what we said is read in other copies, that is, “nor does he terrify like a son of man,” the meaning will seem to be that men sometimes make terrors and threats out of boastfulness, even against those whom they cannot harm; but God does not terrify men in that way, as one who cannot punish; and if he terrifies, he terrifies with reason. For he terrifies in order to correct a man by the affliction of hearing, so that he who does evil, deterred by the word of threatening, may amend himself, and the actual punishment of his evil deeds may not come upon him. So God does not terrify as a man does; for a man (as we said) terrifies out of boastfulness, but God for amendment. ### Scripture references - Num 23:19: quotation, high confidence - Isa 28:19: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation of Num 23:19, with a variant reading (“terrify” for “be terrified”) that Origen says is found in other copies. “The affliction of hearing” (in auditionis tribulatione) may echo Isa 28:19 LXX; uncertain. - The scan’s leaked marginal reference and a misplaced line fragment (“Num. xxm, Ion. Idem, geritur, et divinatio magica arte”) are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.3 (PG 12:691c–692d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/15-1/#p-16-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-4 - Source: PG 12:692c–694b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Discussing whether God always does what he says, Origen examines Jonah’s preaching to Nineveh and Gad’s message to David, distinguishes God’s words from a prophet’s (as with Moses’ permission of divorce), and finally prefers Jeremiah’s teaching that God relents. ### Latin text Post haec ait: Ipse cum dixerit, non faciet? loquetur, etnon permanebit 2 Sic legendus est Iocus, quasi interrogantis affectu dicat : Ipse, hoc est, Deus, quod dicit, nonne et faciet? et quae locutus fuerit, nonne permanebit in eis? Cum utique homines non faciant qua) dicunt, et vitio humana: fragilitatis in iis non permaneant quae loquuntur : mutabilis enim est homo, Deus vero immuta. bilis. Sed potest aliquis occurrere, et dicere : Quomodo ergo nonpermansit Deus in iis, quae locutus est de Ninive ut post triduum subverteretur"? Neque in iis quae locutus est de David, ubi tribus diebus promissa fuerat mors, ut vastaret populum, et intra unum diem, et usque ad horam prandii cessavit 3’? Et videbitur fortassis, quia haec qua per interrogationem dicuntur, non penitus pro detinito accipienda sint; sed talis quaedam figura verbi sit, quae medium aliquid videatur ostendere, non tamen definitae et irrevocabilis sententiae declaret afl'ectum : quo temperantius aliquid dictum videatur in eo quod scriptum est, Ipse cum dixerit, nonne faciet? quam si scriptum esset, Ipse cum dixerit, omnimodelfaciet. Sed recenseamus et ipsa Scripturae loca, quae vel in Jona vel in Regnorum libris posita sunt, ne forte et ibi, ut moris est, Scriptura: «fivinre secreti aliquid habeant. Scriptum est ergo in Jona “ : Et factum est verbum Domini ad Jonam lilinm Amathi dicens: Surge, et vade in Niniven civitatem magnam, et praadica in ea, quia ascendit clamor malitiae eius ad me. Et posteaquam pra:ceptum est ceto, et ejecit Jonam in terram, iterum scriptum est : Et factum est verbum Domini ad Jonam secundo,.dicens: Surge, et vade in Niniven civitatem magnam, et praedica in ea secundum prtedicationem quam ego locutus sum ad te. Et Jonas quidem praedicavit, et dixit :Adhuc tres dies, vel (ut Hebraei habere se scriptum dicunt) adlmc quadraginta dies, et Ninive destruetur. Viri autem Ninivitae crediderunt in Deo, et praedicaverunt jejunium, et induerunt se ciliciis, a minore usque ad majorem ipsorum. Et postpauca : Et vidit Deus, inquit , opera eorum, quia conversi sunt a viis suis malis, et ptenituit, vel (ut in aliis exemplaribus legimus) ί deprecatus est Deus super malitiam quam locutus est facere eis, et non fecit. - Observa igitur in iis quae assumpsimus de propheta quod non invenitur in sermonibus Dei quibus ad prophetam locutus est, dictum, quia ε adhuc tres dies, et Ninive destruetur; sed Jonas cum ingrederetur, inquit , civitatem quasi iter dierum trium, ipse dixit, quia adhuc tres dies, et Ninive subvertetur; ut sermo iste, qui scriptus est, et non est factus, a Jona potius, quam a Deo prolatus esse videatur. Sed et de secundo libro Regnorum proferamus qme scripta sunt, ubi cum David po. pulum numerasset, factum est, inquit , verbum Domini ad Gad prophetam videntem dicens : Vade, et loquere ad David. llaec dicit Dominus: Tria ego levabo super te, elige tibi ex iis unum, quod faciam tibi. Et introivit Gad ad David, et denuntiavit ei dicens: Aut veniet tibi tribus annis fames super terram tuam; aut tribus mensibus ut fugias ante inimicos tuos, qni te persequentur; aut triduo mors flat in terra tua. Nunc ergo scito, vide quid respondeam ei, qui me misit. Et dixit David ad Gad : Angustias mihi sunt undique valde. Sed incidam in manus Domini magis, quia multa: miserationes ejus sunt, et in manus hominum non incidam. Et dedit Dominus in Israel mortem a mane usque ad horam prandii, et mortui sunt de populo a Dan usque Bersabee septuaginta millia virorum. Et extendit an« gelus Dei manum suam in Jerusalem, ut corrumperet eam, et deprecatus est Dominus super malitiam, et ait ad angelum qui exterminabat populum: Satis est, remitte manum tuam. Observa ergo quomodo nec in iis tribus comminationibus Deus invenitur de morte dixisse trium dierum. ln verbis enim Gad positum est, non in mandatis Domini : et non semper ea quae per prophetam dicuntur, quasi a Deo dicta suscipiuntur. Denique et per Moysen quidem multa locutus est Deus, aliquanta tamen et Moyses propria auctoritate mandavit : quod Dominus in Evangeliis evidentissima distinctione secernit, cum dicit de repudio mulieris interrogatus, quia ad duritiam cordis vestri scripsit vobis haec Moyses, ab initio autem non luit sic . Qui enim fecit hominem, masculum et feminam fecit eos, et benedixit eos, ‹ et dixit: Propter hoc relinquet homo patrem suum, et matrem suam, et adhaerebit uxori suat, et ambo erunt in carne una ο. Et addit: ‹ Quod ergo Deus conjunxit, homo non separet δι. Vides ergo ct hic Deum quidem non pra:cepisse, nec fieri voluisse divortium; Moysen vero propter duritiam cordis Judteorum scripsisse dandum esse repudium. Ostendit hanc et Paulus in litteris suis cum dicit de quibusdam : Dominusdicit, et non ego δ’. Et de aliis : α llzec autem ego dico, non Dominus . Et iterum in aliis : Praeceptum Domini non habeo, consilium autem do “. ο Et iterum: t Quae loquor, non loquor secundum Deum .» Unde similiter etiam in caeteris prophetis aliqua quidem Dominus locutus est, et non prophetm, alia vero prophette, et non Dominus, et sic videbitur obiectio intentata dissolvi, cum non tam sua, qu'am praphetze verba Dominus revocat, ac mutat in melius. Sed magis arbitror absolutionem priorem totius Scriptura: sensibus convenire, et illis praecipue dictis, quibus patiens et multae misericordiae, et ptrnitens super malitias dicitur Deus : vel iis maxime, quae generaliter ab Jeremia pronuntiantur, in quibus evidenter ostenditur pro multis miserationibus, et incomprehensibili bonitate sua Deus dicere. et non facere, loqui, et non permanere. Ait ergo per Jeremiam Deus : in finem loquar, hoc est, ex definito loquar ‹ super gentem, et super regnum, ut auferam eos, et disperdam. Et si convertatur gens illa a malitiis suis, puenitebo de Omnibus malis quae cogitavi facere eis, et in finem loquar super gentem et regnum, ut reaidificem eos, et replantem : et si fecerintmala in conspectu meo, ut non audiant vocem meam, pmnitebit me de omnibus bonis quae locutus fueram ut facerem eis. Quomodo ergo possumus iis, quae absolute per Jeremiam dicta sunt, praeferre illa quae suspense per Balaam dicuntur : nisi quia negligentibus et contemptoribus illa confirmanda, haec vero a perfectioribus secretius advertenda sunt? ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: “When he has spoken, will he not do it? Will he speak and not abide by it?” The passage is to be read as though spoken in the manner of a question: He himself, that is, God, will he not also do what he says? And what he has spoken, will he not abide by it? For men certainly do not do what they say, and through the fault of human frailty they do not abide by what they speak: for man is changeable, but God is unchangeable. But someone may come forward and say: How then did God not abide by what he said about Nineveh, that it would be overthrown after three days? Nor by what he said about David, where death had been promised for three days, to lay waste the people, and within one day, indeed up to the hour of the midday meal, it ceased? And perhaps it will seem that these things, said in the form of a question, are not to be taken as altogether settled; that this is rather a certain figure of speech which seems to show something in between, yet does not declare the force of a fixed and irrevocable sentence: so that something more moderate seems to be said in what is written, “When he has spoken, will he not do it?” than if it had been written, “When he has spoken, he will do it in every way.” But let us also go over the very passages of Scripture that are found in Jonah and in the books of the Kingdoms, in case there too, as is their custom, the divine Scriptures hold something secret. It is written, then, in Jonah: “And the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying: Arise, and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it, for the cry of its wickedness has come up to me.” And after the command was given to the whale and it cast Jonah out on land, it is written again: “And the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying: Arise, and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it according to the preaching that I spoke to you.” And Jonah preached and said: “Yet three days,” or (as the Hebrews say they have it written) “yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed. And the men of Nineveh believed in God and proclaimed a fast and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the least of them to the greatest.” And a little later: “And God saw their works,” it says, “that they turned from their evil ways, and he repented,” or (as we read in other copies) “God relented concerning the evil which he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” Observe, then, in what we have quoted from the prophet, that it is not found in the words of God which he spoke to the prophet that “yet three days, and Nineveh shall be destroyed”; but Jonah, when he had entered the city about a journey of three days, as it says, himself said, “Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown”; so that this saying, which was written and did not come to pass, appears to have been uttered by Jonah rather than by God. Let us also bring forward what is written in the second book of the Kingdoms, where, when David had numbered the people, “the word of the Lord came,” it says, “to Gad the prophet, the seer, saying: Go and speak to David: Thus says the Lord: I will lift three things against you; choose one of them for yourself, which I shall do to you. And Gad came in to David and announced to him, saying: Either famine shall come upon your land for three years; or for three months you shall flee before your enemies, who will pursue you; or for three days there shall be death in your land. Now therefore know and see what I shall answer him who sent me. And David said to Gad: I am in great straits on every side. But let me rather fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, and let me not fall into the hands of men. And the Lord sent death on Israel from the morning until the hour of the midday meal, and there died of the people from Dan to Beersheba seventy thousand men. And the angel of God stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, and the Lord relented concerning the evil and said to the angel who was destroying the people: It is enough; withdraw your hand.” Observe, then, how not even in these three threats is God found to have spoken of a death of three days. For it is placed in the words of Gad, not in the commands of the Lord; and the things said through a prophet are not always to be received as said by God. Indeed through Moses too God spoke many things, yet Moses also commanded a number of things on his own authority: which the Lord in the Gospels distinguishes with a most evident distinction when, asked about the dismissal of a wife, he says: “Because of the hardness of your heart Moses wrote these things for you; but from the beginning it was not so. For he who made man made them male and female, and blessed them, and said: For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall be in one flesh.” And he adds: “What therefore God has joined, let man not separate.” You see, then, here too that God did not command divorce or wish it to happen, but that Moses, because of the hardness of heart of the Jews, wrote that a bill of divorce was to be given. Paul too shows this in his letters, when he says of some things: “The Lord says, and not I”; and of others: “But this I say, not the Lord”; and again in others: “I have no command of the Lord, but I give counsel”; and again: “What I speak, I do not speak according to God.” Hence likewise in the other prophets too the Lord spoke some things, and not the prophets, but the prophets spoke others, and not the Lord; and so the objection raised will appear to be resolved, since the Lord recalls and changes for the better not so much his own words as the prophet’s. But I rather think that the first solution agrees with the sense of the whole of Scripture, and especially with those sayings in which God is called patient and of great mercy, and repenting of evils; or above all with those things that are pronounced in general by Jeremiah, in which it is plainly shown that God, because of his many mercies and his incomprehensible goodness, speaks and does not do, says and does not abide by it. For God says through Jeremiah: “I will speak to the end,” that is, I will speak definitively, “concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to take them away and destroy them. And if that nation turns from its wickedness, I will repent of all the evils that I thought to do to them. And I will speak to the end concerning a nation and a kingdom, to rebuild them and plant them again; and if they do evil in my sight, so as not to hear my voice, I will repent of all the good things that I had said I would do for them.” How then can we prefer what is said tentatively through Balaam to what was said absolutely through Jeremiah, unless it is that Balaam’s words are to be affirmed for the negligent and contemptuous, while Jeremiah’s are to be noticed more secretly by the more perfect? ### Scripture references - Num 23:19: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 3:4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:15: allusion, high confidence - Jonah 1:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 2:10: allusion, high confidence - Jonah 3:1–5: quotation, high confidence - Jonah 3:10: quotation, high confidence - 2 Sam 24:11–16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:4–6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:25: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:17: quotation, high confidence - Joel 2:13: allusion, medium confidence - Jer 18:7–10: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 23:19; Jonah 1:1–2; 3:1–5, 10 (Origen notes the Hebrew reading “forty days” against the Greek “three days”); 2 Sam 24:12–16 (LXX 2 Kingdoms, same numbering); Matt 19:4–8; 1 Cor 7:10, 12, 25; 2 Cor 11:17; Jer 18:7–10. “Patient and of great mercy, repenting of evils” echoes Joel 2:13 and Jonah 4:2. - On divorce, Origen uses Jesus’ words in Matt 19 as an example of something Moses commanded on his own authority rather than God; the passage is translated as written. - A leaked marginal reference in the scan (“xxtn, 18-24. perquiritur.”) is removed. - The last sentence is compressed in the Latin (illa … haec); it is read as Balaam’s question being for the careless and Jeremiah’s teaching for the more perfect. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.4 (PG 12:692c–694b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-5 - Source: PG 12:694b–695a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The promise of no toil or grief in Jacob refers to the life to come, granted to the true Israel according to the spirit, like Lazarus, not to the rich man. ### Latin text Sed post haec Balaam : t Ecce inquit", ad benedicendum assumptus sum, benedicam, et non avertam eam. › Ad benedicendum Balaam assumptus est, non a Balach, sed a Deo, qui injecit verbum in os ejus, quo populum benediceret, et hanc benedictionem non avertit. Nec enim potest, etiamsi velit, verbum Dei humana lingua convertere. Post haec : Non erit, inquit , labor in Jacob, neque videbitur dolor in Israel. Aperte in istis sermonibus futura: vitae denuntiat statum. Quis enim est, qui hanc vitam sine labore et dolore transcurrat? Nec si Petrus aliquis, aut si Paulus sit. Quomodo non in labore et dolore est cum ter virgis caeditur, semel lapidatnr, ter naufragium facit, in profundo maris die acnocte est, aliaque innumera perpetitur, quae dc laboribus suis ac doloribus scribit "9? Sed ibi istud complebitur, ubi dictum est : Aufugiet dolor, et tristitia, et gemitus '°. Quod tamen non ad omnes, sed ad eos tantum, qui meritis Jacob et Israel fuerint, refertur ε ιιι fuit ille pauper Lazarus, qui praesentem quidem vitam in labore ac dolore transegit, ibi autem dicitur ad divitem: Memento, fili, quia tu recepisti bona in vita tua, et Lazarus similiter mala. Nunc autem hic requiescit, tu vero cruciaris ". Ille ergo est Israel, et Jacob, in quem non venit labor, et dolor. Dives autem ille erat quidem et ipse secundum carnem Israel, dicio tur enim ei, quia fratres sui habent leges et prophetas, audiant illos δη sed quia non erat secundum spiritum Israel, ideo venit super illum labor et dolor. ### English translation (Claude) But after this Balaam says: “Behold, I have been taken to bless; I will bless, and I will not turn it away.” Balaam was taken to bless not by Balak but by God, who put the word into his mouth by which he was to bless the people; and he did not turn this blessing away. For even if he wished, a human tongue cannot overturn the word of God. After this: “There will be no toil,” it says, “in Jacob, nor will grief be seen in Israel.” In these words he openly announces the state of the life to come. For who is there who passes through this life without toil and grief? Not even if he be a Peter or a Paul. How is he not in toil and grief when he is beaten with rods three times, stoned once, suffers shipwreck three times, is a night and a day in the depth of the sea, and endures countless other things which he writes about his toils and griefs? But there this will be fulfilled, where it is said: “Grief and sorrow and groaning will flee away.” This, however, refers not to all, but only to those who have been of the merit of Jacob and Israel, as was that poor Lazarus who spent the present life in toil and grief, but there it is said to the rich man: “Remember, son, that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he is at rest here, and you are tormented.” He, then, is Israel and Jacob, upon whom toil and grief do not come. That rich man was himself also Israel according to the flesh, for it is said to him that his brothers have the law and the prophets, let them hear them; but because he was not Israel according to the spirit, therefore toil and grief came upon him. ### Scripture references - Num 23:20: quotation, high confidence - Num 23:21: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Isa 35:10: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:25: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:29: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 23:20–21; 2 Cor 11:25 (with 11:23–27); Isa 35:10; Luke 16:25, 29. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.5 (PG 12:694b–695a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-6 - Source: PG 12:695a–696a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The spiritual Israel will receive the glories forfeited by fallen powers, and its glory will be like that of the unicorn, a figure of Christ whose one horn is his single kingdom over all. ### Latin text Dominus Deus suus cum ipso, praeclara principum cum ipso sunt . Nunquam enim Israel suum deserit Deus. Quorum autem principum prae.clara cum ipso Israel sint, videamus. Praeclara principum, potestas est, principatus et regnum. Verum quoniam sunt et aliqui principes, qui de principatu suo, vel pellendi, vel jam forte depulsi sunt, et in locutu ac principatum eorum introducendi ii, qui vere Israelita: sunt, praeclara illa om- ο nia, quae habuerunt in caelis illi principes, qui non servaverunt principatum suum, sed dereliquerunt aeterna domicilia, Israel iste et Jacoh, qui colluctatus est et vicit, accipiet, et sic cum ipso erunt prteclara principum. Deus qui eduxit eum ex :Egypto sicut gloria unicornis ei “. Eductus est ille quidem Israel de Egypto ista terrena, hic autem spiritalis Israel de JEgypto saeculi, ct de potestate tenebrarum, et est gloria ejus tanquam unicornis. Unicornis quidem fertur esse animal eo habitu formatum, quo nominis ipsius designat indicium. Quod animal frequenter in Scripturis divinis positum Iegimus, sed praecipue apud Job Dei ipsius vocibus potentia ejus et virtus exponitur, in quibus, ut in quamplurimis, Christus intelligitur designari. Et in Scripturis divinis cornu pro regno positum saepe reperimus, sicut et propheta dicit : Quatuor autem cornua, quatuor regna sunt . Sub nomine itaque nuicornis, in Christo hoc videtur ostendi, quia omne quod est, unum ejus cornu est, hoc est unum regnum ejus. Omnia enim Pater subjecit sub pedibus " ejus usquequo et novissimus inimicus destruatur mors, et tanquam nuicornis unum omnium regnum teneat Christus, quia sicut scriptum est : Regni ejusnon erit linis “.9 Eritergo, inquit, ei, hoc est lsraeli illi Spiritali, gloria, sicut lsai. est gloria nuicornis. Sic enim et ipse in Evangelia Dominus dicit : Pater, da illis, utsicut ego et tu unum sumus, ita et isti in nobis unum sint . Et ideo similis gloria dabitur Israeli, sicut est gloria unicornis, maxime cum transformabit corpus humilitatis nostrae conforme corpori gloriae suae ### English translation (Claude) “The Lord his God is with him; the glories of princes are with him.” For God never deserts his Israel. But let us see of which princes the glories are with Israel. The glories of princes are power, principality, and kingdom. But since there are also some princes who are to be driven from their principality, or have perhaps already been driven out, and those who are truly Israelites are to be brought into their place and principality, this Israel and Jacob, who wrestled and prevailed, will receive all those glories which those princes had in heaven who “did not keep their principality but left their eternal dwelling,” and so the glories of princes will be with him. “God, who brought him out of Egypt, is like the glory of the unicorn for him.” That Israel was brought out of this earthly Egypt; but this spiritual Israel out of the Egypt of the world and out of the power of darkness, and his glory is like that of the unicorn. The unicorn is said to be an animal formed with the shape which the indication of its very name designates. We read that this animal is often mentioned in the divine Scriptures, but especially in Job its power and strength are set out by the voice of God himself, in which, as in very many places, Christ is understood to be signified. And in the divine Scriptures we often find “horn” put for kingdom, as the prophet also says: “The four horns are four kingdoms.” Under the name of the unicorn, then, this seems to be shown in Christ: that all that exists is his one horn, that is, his one kingdom. For the Father has subjected all things under his feet, until the last enemy, death, is destroyed, and Christ, like the unicorn, holds the one kingdom of all things, since, as it is written, “of his kingdom there will be no end.” There will be, then, it says, for him, that is, for that spiritual Israel, glory like the glory of the unicorn. For so the Lord himself says in the Gospel: “Father, grant them that as I and you are one, so they too may be one in us.” And therefore a glory will be given to Israel like the glory of the unicorn, especially when he will transform the body of our lowliness to be conformed to the body of his glory. ### Scripture references - Num 23:21–22: quotation, high confidence - Jude 1:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 32:24–28: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:13: allusion, high confidence - Job 39:9–12: allusion, medium confidence - Dan 8:22: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:25–27: allusion, high confidence - Luke 1:33: quotation, high confidence - John 17:21–22: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:21: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 23:21–22; Jude 6; Gen 32:24–28 (Jacob wrestling); Col 1:13; Job 39:9–12 (the wild ox, “unicorn” in the Greek and Latin); Dan 8:22 (cf. 7:17); 1 Cor 15:25–27; Luke 1:33; John 17:21–22; Phil 3:21. The word “tu” (“you”), lost in the scan, is supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.6 (PG 12:695a–696a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-7 - Source: PG 12:696a–700a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen explains augury and divination as the work of demons, illustrated by the Philistines’ test of the ark and Manasseh’s sins, recalls the law’s prohibitions, and says the people of God must learn the future only from God through his prophets. ### Latin text Non erit auguratio in Jacob, neque divinatio in Israel. In ,tetnpore dicetur ad Jacob et Israel quid perficiet Deus . Igitur quoniam visum est jam nobis diligentius de singulis quibusque discotere, non videbitur absurdum, si etiam quid sit auguratio, vel divinatio, quoniam quidem placuit Scriptura: commemorare de iis, ne quis forte ignoranter in haec incidat, requiramus. Videtur ergo mihi futurorum praescientia quantum ad ipsam rel spectat, medium quiddam esse, id est neque proprie bonum, neque proprie malum : quandoquidem potest interdum etiam a parte diaboli ad hominum notitiam Iuturorum venire praescientia. Sine dubio autem cum tempus et opportunitas poscit, et voluntas Dei fuerit, datur etiam a Deo per propheta hominibus prmscientia; et ideo diximus, quia neque proprie bonum dici potest, quod aliquando a utan venit; neque proprie malum, quod aliquando a Deo descendit. Et quamvis de hoc abundanter etiam ex Scripturis divinis exempla suppeditent, sufficere tamen credimus si utamur eo, quod in Reginorum libro scriptum legimus : ubi arca Dei ab Allopbylis capta est, et deducta in Azotum. et ibi c introduxerunt,‘ inquit θ’, eam in domum Dagon, et inventus est Dagon recidisse pronus in terram ante aream testamenti Domini. Et gravata est manus Domini super Azotos, et dissipavit eos, et percussit eos ia natibus. Post hmo, inquit, ingressa est arca in Accaron, et miserunt Accaronienses, et congregaverunt omnes Satrapas Allophylorum, v et congregaverunt sacerdotes et divinos suos dicentes : Quid faciemus arcae Domini? lndicate nobis quomodo remittamus eam in locum suum. Responderunt sacerdotes ct divini : Si remittitis arcam Dotnini Dei Israel, nolite eam dimittere inanem, sed dantes dabitis ei pro delicto, et tunc sanabimini et innotescet vobis. Sin autem, non discedet manus ejus a vobis ”. Et post pauca : Et nunc, inι) quit “, facite carrum novum, duas vaccas fcetas assumite, quibus iugum non est impositum, et jungite. vaccas ad carrum, et fmtns earum retro abducite ad domum : et assumite arcam Domini, et imponite eam super carrum, et vasa aurea quae obtulistis'ei pro delicto, simul ponite super carrum, et omnia sancta eius: et dimittite eam, et vadat: et videte, siquidem vadit per viam suam et ad fines suos ascendit in Bethsamis, ipsa nobis fecit mala hac magna. Si autem non vadit illuc, sciemus quia manus ejus non contigit nos, sed fortuitu haec nobis acciderunt. Observa ergo in iis, quomodo sacerdotes et divini causam malorum, quae acciderant Allophylis, utrum ex manu Dei, et pro arcte injuria venerit, au fortuitu acciderit, propositis contemplantur indiciis. dicentes: Si per viam suam ad lines suos ascendit iu Bethsamis , ipsa nobis fecit haec mala“. Denique in sequentibus refertur: ‹ Et cum imposuissent, inquit , arcam Domini super carrum, direxerant boves in via, contra viam quae ducit Bethsamis, et non declinaverunt ad dextram, aut ad sinistram. » Quis ergo in his, si diligenter inspiciat, hanc qum de boum directione przedicta est, vel fortuitam dicat, vel aliqua arte compositam, et non operatione quadam daemonum ministratam, qui pertimuerint arca: Domini virtutem: qua non solum amigcbantnr, et puniebantur Allophyli. verum et cultus ipse dremouum destruebatur, utpote simulacris eorum, templisque, ad ingressum arca: Domini corruentihus? Est ergo talis quaedam in ministerio praescieritiae operatio daemonum, quae artibus quibusdam ab iis, qui se dazmonibus mancipaverint, colligitur, et nunc per eas quas sortes nominant, nunc per ea qu:P auguria appellant, nunc etiam ex contemplatione fibrarum, quae extispicia vocant, aliisque horum similibus praestigiis comprehendi videtur. et intelligi. Quae artes in tantum ad decipiendum genus hominum profecerunt, ut etiam iustissimi Ezechiae. filius Manasse hoc errore deceptus, aedificaverit (nt Scriptura dicit) altare omni exercitui caeli in utraque domo Domini °". Hunc autem esse arbitror exercitum caeli, quem Paulus spiritales nequitias iu coelestibus positas scripsit . Nisi ergo multum in iis artibus et deceptionis esset et erroris, non puto tanti viri filium in lege Domini edtmatum, in illas impietates potuisse corruere, quae in quarto Regnorum libro de co scripta: referuntur.Ait enim: Et sortiebatur, et augurabatur, et fecit trausducebat filios suos in igne, et praescios abundare fecit, ut faceret. malignum in conspectu Domini, et exacerbaret cum δι’. Talia ergo erant quze peccabat, dequibus dici possit, quia in omui'o virtute, signis et prodigiis mendacibus fierent/“itaut deciperentur etiam electi. Deceptus est enim per eum et populus, ut faceret malignum in conspectu Domini super gentes illas, quas exterminaverat Deus a facie filiorum Israel. Sed et in secundo libro Paralipomenon similia nihilominus de Manasse scribuntur : Et fecit, inquit τ’, lucos, et adoravit omnem militiam creti, et servivit eis, et construxit altaria iu domo Dei ubi dixit Dominus : lu Jerusalem erit nomen meum iu aeternum, et ibi instruxit altaria omnbmaguificentim cceli, in ambabus domibus Domini. Et inse trausducebat filios suos in igne in Gehennom, et sortiebatur, et maleficia faciebat, et augurabatur, et fecit vcutriloquos, iucantatores, et utultiplicavit ut faceret ntalignum in conspectu Domini, ut exacerbarct cum. Haec ergo omnia, id est, sive auguratio, sive extispicium, sive quaelibet immolatio, sive etiam sortitio, aut quicunque motus avium, vel pecudum. vel inspectio quaecunque fibrarum, ut aliquid de futuris videantur ostendere, in operatione daemonum fieri non dubito, dirigentium vel avium, vel pecudum, vel fibrarum motus, aut sortium, secundum ea signa quae docuerunt iidem daemones observari ab iis, quibus artis hujus scientiam tradiderunt. A quibus omnibus, is qui homo Dei est, et iu portione Dei muneratur, penitus esse debet alienus, nec aliquid in iis habere commune, quae occultis machinis daemones operantur: ne forte faceret malignum in oculis Domini et exacerbaret eume. Talia ergo, ne forte rursus per haec daemonibus societur, atque eorum spiritu et virtute replcatur, et ad idolormn cultum denuo reparetur. llzcc enim omnia religio nostra divina et cmlestis abjnrat, in Levitico quidem aperta lege designans, et dicens: Non divinabitis, neque augurabimiui".i Et post pauca : Non sequemini,inquit, vcutriloquos, nec adjuugcmini ad iucantatores, ut contaminemini in eis, ego Dominus Deus vester . Et iterum iu Deuteronomio: Si autem tu, inquit", iutroieris in terram quam Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi, non discas facere secundum abominationes gentium illarum, non inveniatur in te qui lustret tilium suum, aut filiam suam igni, neque divinans divinatione, nequesortiens sortibus, neque maleficus, neque incantatur, neque vcutriloquus, neque portentorum inspector,neque interrogans mortuos. Est enim abontinatio Domino, omnis qui facit haec. Propter istas enim abominationes Dominus Deus tuus evertit gentes istasacouspectutuo. In quibus omnibus videtur ostendere, quia omnis qui in iis versatur, nihil aliud faciat nisi mortuos interroget. Mortui sunt enim, quia non sunt vita; participes. Deus autem noster, vivorum Deus est, et non mortuorum . His autem omnibus legibus additur etiam illud, ut quivult esse perfectus, a nullo alio discat, nisi ab eo qui per Dei virtutem fuerit electus propheta, ut ministret populo. Ait ergo : Perfectus esto in conspectu DomiuiDei tui : gentes enim istm, quarum tu haereditatem cepisti, ista: audiunt sortilegos et divinos, tibi autem non ita dedit Dominus Deus tuus. Prophetam enim de medio tui ex fratribus tuis suscitabit tibi Dominus Deus tuus, ipsum audietis per omnia qumcunque petiisti a Domino Deo tuo in Oreb in die Ecclesia), cum dixistis : Non appouemus audire vocem Domini Dei nostri, et istum ignem maguum non videbimus ultra ne moriamur. Non vult Deus auditores nos fieri et discipulos daemonum, neque vult, ut si quid volumus discere, discamus a daemonibus. Melius est enim ignorare, quam a daemonibus discere: et melius est a propheta discere, quam a divinis inquirere. Divinatio enim non, ut quidam putant, divinitus datur, sed magis, ut mihi videtur, per antiphrasim, id est, ex contrario nomen accepit, quasi quae per homines daemonibus repletos fiat. Sed gentilium ritus divinum credit omne, quod per qualemcunque spiritum profertur. Nos tamen nihil ab iis discere Deus jubet, ne eiliciamur consortes ipsorum, et incurramus in ea, quaalsaias dicit" : Et humiliabuntur in terra verba tua, et sermones tui in terra demergentur, et erit vos tua sicut loquentis de terra, et ad solium vox tua infirmabitur. Propter hoc et Dominus noster Jesus non dignatur a daemonibus accipere testimonium, sed ait : ¢ Obmutesce, et exi ab eo ". Quem etiam apostolus suus Paulus imitatus, dolens convertit se, et ait spiritui Pythonis : ‹ Praecipio tibi in nomine Iesu Christi, discede ab ea . In quo requiras fortasse, quid dolens Paulus, increpat spiritum Pythonis. Nunquid aliquid blasphemum dixerat? Mulier enim, inquit, habens spiritum Pythonis sequebatur Paulum, et eos qui cum eo erant, et clamabat dicens: α Isti homines servi sunt summi Dei, qui annuntiant viam salutis, et hoc faciebat per dies multos δι. Unde ostenditur non pro blasphemia doluisse Paulum, sed pro eo quod indignum judicaret sermoni ε suo ab spiritu Pythonis testimonium dari. Quod si Paulus testimonium sibi eum dare non patitur, sed dolet super hoc : quanto magis dolere debemus, si quando decipi videmus animas ab iis, qui velut divino alicui spiritui Pythonis, aut ventriloquo, aut d;vino, autauguri, vel aliis quibuslibet hujusmodi dminonibus credunt’Propter hoc ergo : ‹ Non erit. inquit ", auguratio in Jacob, neque divinatio in Israel. Sed quid iis additur? ln tempore, inquit, dicetur .lacob, et lsraeli, quod perficiet Deus. Quid est, 1η tempore dicetur? Cum oportet, etcum expedit, hoc est, in tempore. Si ergo expedit praenoscere nos futura, dicentur a Deo per prophetam Dei, per Spiritum sanctum. Si vero non dicuntur, neque denuntiantur, scito quia ι) non nobis expedit ventura praenoscere. Quod si idcirco non dicuntur nobis, quia nobis ea scire non expedit, qui diversis artibus, ctdaamonum invocationibus gestiunt futura praenoscere, nihil aliud faciunt, nisi ea cupiant discere, quae sibi scire non expedit. Jacob autem in iis dici intelligendus est omnis cui luctamen est adversus principatus et potestates, et adversus hujus mundi rectores. Et lsraelem intellige omnem, qui per fidei puritatem, et nmuditiam mentis videt Deum. Sed potest aliquis dicere, Si a solo Deo debemus discere de futuris, et neque divinum, neque augurem, neque aliud quodcunque horum recipere, ne iste quidem ipse Balaam recipiendus est a nobis. Unus enim ex iis est, quos recipi prohibet divina sententia. Sed adverte diligentius, et memento quid in superioribus legimus, ubi dicitur de eo quia injecit Dominus verbum suum in os ejus. Non ergo haec nunc a Balaam, sed a verbo Dei, quod in ore ejus est positum, discimus. Nisi enim verba Dei essent, nol ea utique revelasset famulo suo Moysi, qua procul positus cum ab eo regi Balaclt dicerentur, certum est quod nisi a Deo sibi revelata Moyses scire nou potuit. Adhuc autem ad destruendam penitus divinationem, vel augurationem, atque alia hujusmodi, etiam hoc competenter addemus, quod omnes isti avium, vel animalium ministerio utuntur, sed talium quze et immunda scribuntur in lege, et humo no generi deprehenduntur semper insidiantia,ex quo utique opportuna, et digna ministerio dtu» num judicata sunt. Nam pythonibus dracones, aliique serpentes ministrare perhibentur. Auguribus et iis qui ex incidentibus divinandi captare putautur auspicia, aut lupi lerunt omina, aut vulpes, aut accipitres, aut corvi, aut aquilas, aut alia hujusmodi, quae in lege Moyses (ut diximus) iis credo de causis notavit immunda. ### English translation (Claude) “There will be no augury in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In due time it will be told to Jacob and Israel what God will accomplish.” Since, then, it has now seemed good to us to discuss each thing more carefully, it will not seem absurd if we also inquire what augury or divination is, since Scripture has chosen to mention them, lest anyone perhaps fall into them in ignorance. It seems to me, then, that foreknowledge of the future, as far as the thing itself is concerned, is something intermediate, that is, neither properly good nor properly evil: since sometimes foreknowledge of the future can come to men’s notice even from the devil’s side. But without doubt, when time and occasion require and it is God’s will, foreknowledge is also given to men by God through prophets; and therefore we said that what sometimes comes from Satan cannot be called properly good, nor can what sometimes descends from God be called properly evil. And although examples of this are abundantly supplied from the divine Scriptures, we believe it enough if we use what we read written in the book of the Kingdoms, where the ark of God was captured by the foreigners and brought into Azotus. And there “they brought it,” it says, “into the house of Dagon, and Dagon was found fallen face down on the ground before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. And the hand of the Lord was heavy on the people of Azotus, and he scattered them and struck them in the buttocks.” After this, it says, the ark went into Accaron; and the people of Accaron sent and gathered all the satraps of the foreigners, “and they gathered their priests and diviners, saying: What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we shall send it back to its place. The priests and diviners answered: If you send back the ark of the Lord God of Israel, do not send it away empty, but you shall surely give it something for the offence, and then you will be healed, and it will be made known to you. Otherwise his hand will not depart from you.” And a little later: “And now,” it says, “make a new cart, take two cows that have calved, on which no yoke has been laid, and yoke the cows to the cart, and take their calves back home; and take the ark of the Lord and put it on the cart, and the golden objects which you have offered it for the offence, put them together on the cart, and all its holy things; and send it away, and let it go; and watch: if it goes by its own road and goes up to its own borders, to Beth-shemesh, it is it that has done us these great evils. But if it does not go there, we shall know that its hand has not touched us, but these things happened to us by chance.” Observe, then, in this how the priests and diviners consider, by signs set before them, the cause of the evils that had befallen the foreigners, whether it came from the hand of God and for the injury done to the ark, or happened by chance, saying: “If it goes up by its own road to its own borders, to Beth-shemesh, it has done us these evils.” Then in what follows it is related: “And when they had placed the ark of the Lord on the cart,” it says, “the oxen went straight on the road, toward the road that leads to Beth-shemesh, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left.” Who, then, if he looks carefully at this, would call this straight going of the oxen, which had been foretold, either chance or something contrived by some art, and not managed by a certain working of demons, who were terrified of the power of the ark of the Lord, by which not only were the foreigners afflicted and punished, but the very worship of demons was being destroyed, since their images and temples were collapsing at the entry of the ark of the Lord? There is, then, a certain working of demons in the service of foreknowledge, which is gathered by certain arts by those who have sold themselves to demons, and seems to be grasped and understood now through what they call lots, now through what they call auguries, now also from the inspection of entrails, which they call extispicy, and by other tricks like these. These arts have advanced so far in deceiving the human race that even Manasseh, son of the most just Hezekiah, deceived by this error, built (as Scripture says) an altar to all the host of heaven in both houses of the Lord. I think this host of heaven is what Paul wrote of as the spiritual forces of wickedness placed in the heavenly places. Unless, then, there were much deception and error in these arts, I do not think that the son of so great a man, educated in the law of the Lord, could have plunged into those impieties which are related of him in the fourth book of the Kingdoms. For it says: “And he cast lots and practised augury, and made his sons pass through fire, and made soothsayers abound, so as to do evil in the sight of the Lord and provoke him.” Such, then, were the sins he committed, of which it could be said that they were done “with all power and lying signs and wonders,” “so that even the elect were deceived.” For through him the people too were deceived, so as to do evil in the sight of the Lord beyond those nations whom God had driven out before the sons of Israel. And in the second book of Chronicles similar things are written about Manasseh: “And he made groves,” it says, “and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them, and built altars in the house of God, where the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever; and there he set up altars to all the splendour of heaven in both houses of the Lord. And he made his sons pass through fire in Gehinnom, and cast lots, and practised sorcery, and augury, and appointed ventriloquists and enchanters, and multiplied them, so as to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him.” All these things, then, that is, augury, extispicy, any kind of sacrifice, or casting of lots, or any movement of birds or cattle, or any inspection of entrails, done so that they may seem to show something about the future, I do not doubt are done by the working of demons, who direct the movements of birds, or cattle, or entrails, or lots according to the signs which the same demons taught to be observed by those to whom they handed on the knowledge of this art. From all of these, he who is a man of God and is endowed in God’s portion must be wholly estranged, and have nothing in common with what the demons work by hidden devices, lest perhaps he do evil in the eyes of the Lord and provoke him. Such things, then, he must shun, lest perhaps through them he again be joined to demons, be filled with their spirit and power, and be brought back once more to the worship of idols. For our divine and heavenly religion abjures all these things, marking them out by an open law in Leviticus and saying: “You shall not practise divination, nor shall you practise augury.” And a little later: “You shall not follow ventriloquists,” it says, “nor shall you attach yourselves to enchanters, to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.” And again in Deuteronomy: “But if you,” it says, “enter the land which the Lord your God will give you, you shall not learn to act according to the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you one who purifies his son or his daughter by fire, nor one who divines by divination, nor one who casts lots, nor a sorcerer, nor an enchanter, nor a ventriloquist, nor an inspector of portents, nor one who inquires of the dead. For everyone who does these things is an abomination to the Lord. For because of these abominations the Lord your God overthrew those nations before your face.” In all of these he seems to show that everyone who is engaged in them does nothing else than inquire of the dead. For they are dead, because they do not share in life. But our God “is the God of the living and not of the dead.” And to all these laws is added this too: that whoever wishes to be perfect should learn from no one else except from one who has been chosen as a prophet by the power of God to minister to the people. For it says: “Be perfect in the sight of the Lord your God: for these nations whose inheritance you have taken listen to soothsayers and diviners, but the Lord your God has not granted so to you. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your midst, from your brothers; him you shall hear in all things, whatever you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said: We will not again hear the voice of the Lord our God, and we will see this great fire no more, lest we die.” God does not want us to become hearers and disciples of demons, nor does he want us, if we wish to learn anything, to learn it from demons. For it is better to be ignorant than to learn from demons; and it is better to learn from a prophet than to inquire of diviners. For divination (divinatio) is not, as some think, given divinely (divinitus), but rather, as it seems to me, it received its name by antiphrasis, that is, from its opposite, being something done through men filled with demons. But the rite of the Gentiles believes everything divine that is uttered by any spirit whatever. God, however, bids us learn nothing from them, lest we become their companions and incur what Isaiah says: “And your words will be humbled to the earth, and your speech will sink into the earth, and your voice will be like one speaking from the earth, and your voice will grow faint toward the ground.” For this reason our Lord Jesus too does not deign to accept testimony from demons, but says: “Be silent, and come out of him.” His apostle Paul also imitated him, and, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit of Python: “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her.” Here you may perhaps ask why Paul, being grieved, rebukes the spirit of Python. Had it said something blasphemous? For a woman, it says, having a spirit of Python, followed Paul and those who were with him, and cried out, saying: “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim the way of salvation; and she did this for many days.” From this it is shown that Paul was grieved not on account of blasphemy, but because he judged it unworthy that testimony should be given to his preaching by a spirit of Python. And if Paul does not allow it to give him testimony, but grieves over it, how much more should we grieve whenever we see souls deceived by those who believe a spirit of Python as though it were some divine spirit, or a ventriloquist, or a diviner, or an augur, or any other demons of this kind! For this reason, then, “there will be no augury,” it says, “in Jacob, nor divination in Israel.” But what is added to these? “In due time,” it says, “it will be told to Jacob and to Israel what God will accomplish.” What is “in due time it will be told”? When it is fitting and when it is expedient: that is, “in due time.” If, then, it is expedient for us to know the future beforehand, it will be told by God through a prophet of God, through the Holy Spirit. But if it is not told or announced, know that it is not expedient for us to know the future beforehand. And if things are not told us because it is not expedient for us to know them, those who are eager to know the future beforehand by various arts and invocations of demons do nothing else than desire to learn what it is not expedient for them to know. By Jacob in these words is to be understood everyone who has a wrestling against principalities and powers and against the rulers of this world. And understand by Israel everyone who through purity of faith and cleanness of mind sees God. But someone may say: If we must learn about the future from God alone, and must not accept a diviner or an augur or anything else of this kind, then not even this Balaam himself is to be accepted by us; for he is one of those whom the divine sentence forbids us to accept. But pay closer attention, and remember what we read above, where it is said of him that the Lord put his word in his mouth. We learn these things, then, not from Balaam, but from the word of God which was placed in his mouth. For unless they were words of God, he would certainly not have revealed them to his servant Moses; since, when they were spoken by him to King Balak far away, it is certain that Moses could not have known them unless they had been revealed to him by God. Moreover, to destroy divination and augury and other such things altogether, we shall fittingly add this too: that all these use the service of birds or animals, but of such as are written as unclean in the law and are always found to be lying in wait for the human race; which is surely why they were judged suitable and worthy of the service of demons. For serpents and other snakes are said to serve the Pythons. For augurs, and for those who are thought to catch auspices for divination from chance occurrences, either wolves bring omens, or foxes, or hawks, or crows, or eagles, or other such creatures, which Moses in the law (as we said) marked as unclean, I believe for these reasons. ### Scripture references - Num 23:23: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 5:2–6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 5:10–11: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 6:2–3: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 6:7–9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 6:12: quotation, high confidence - 2 Kgs 21:5: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - 2 Kgs 21:6: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:24: quotation, high confidence - 2 Kgs 21:9: allusion, high confidence - 2 Chr 33:3–6: quotation, high confidence - Lev 19:26: quotation, high confidence - Lev 19:31: quotation, high confidence - Deut 18:9–12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:32: quotation, high confidence - Deut 18:13–16: quotation, high confidence - Isa 29:4: quotation, high confidence - Mark 1:25: quotation, high confidence - Acts 16:18: quotation, high confidence - Acts 16:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:8: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - The text of this section is badly damaged in the PG scan: several lines of quotation fragments (from 2 Chr 33 and Deut 18) and a running head “Origenes” are interleaved after “…exacerbaret eum” and have been removed; the sentence they interrupt (“Such things, then, he must shun, lest…”) is translated by sense, and the missing verb is supplied. A leaked marginal note (“IV Reg. … Noster. Deest in antea editis…”) splitting “moriamur” is also removed. Other slips are translated by sense. - Quotations: Num 23:23; 1 Sam 5:1–6, 10; 6:2–3, 7–9, 12 (LXX 1 Kingdoms); 2 Kgs 21:5–6, 9 (LXX 4 Kingdoms); Eph 6:12; 2 Thess 2:9; Matt 24:24; 2 Chr 33:3–6; Lev 19:26, 31; Deut 18:9–12, 13–16; Matt 22:32; Isa 29:4; Mark 1:25; Acts 16:16–18; Matt 5:8 (seeing God). “Israel” as the one who sees God reflects the traditional etymology “a man seeing God.” - Python: the spirit of divination in Acts 16:16, named after the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The wordplay divinatio/divinitus belongs to Rufinus’s Latin. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.7 (PG 12:696a–700a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-8 - Source: PG 12:700a–701a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The people that will rise like a lion’s whelp and exult like a lion is the future Christian people, growing from spiritual infancy to the perfection of Christ, the lion of Judah. ### Latin text Post hac: Ecce, inquit, populus sicut catulus leonis exsurget , et sicut leo exsultabit . le iis mihi videtur confidentiam populi describere credentis in Christo, et libertatem quant habet in fide, et exsultationem quam gerit in spe. Comparate: enim catulo leonis, cum tendit ad perfectionem laetus, et velox : leoni vero confertur, cum jam obtinet quae perfecta sunt. Sicut enim leo ct catulus leonis nullum animal, nullam bestiam timent, sed sunt eis cuncta subjecta : ita et perfecto Christiano, qui tollit crucem suam etsequitur Curi. stum, qui potest dicere, r Mihi enim mundus crucitixus est, et ego mundo “, cuncta calcantur, cuncta subjecta sunt. Despicit enim etcontemnit omnia, qua: in hoc mundo sunt, et imitatur eum qui leo de tribu Juda dicitur, et catulus leonis dicitur, quia sicut lux est mundi, et discipulis suis dedit ut et ipsi essent lux hujus mundi, ita et cum ipse sit leo, et catulus leonis, credentibus in se nomen leonis, et catuli leonis ascripsit. Vide autem quam evidenter non de illo qui tunc erat, populo, sed de hoc qui futurus erat, ista dicuntur. Ait enim : Ecce populus sicut catulus leonis exsurget, et sicut leo exsultabit . Exsurrecturum dicit populum utique qui tutum erat. Nam si de eo diceret quem videbat, dixisset sine dubio, Ecce populus sicut catulus leonis exsurrexit. Sed ccrtum'est’quia de illo populo dicat, de quo in Psalmis scriptum est: Et annuntiabunt cali justitiam ejus populo qui nascetur, quem fecit Dominus “. Est ergo populus hlc catulus leonis, dum adhuc tanquam nuper geniti infantes, rationabile et sine dolo lac cupiunt . Leo autem exsultans. cum vir'pertectus, quae parvuli erant deposuit. ### English translation (Claude) After this: “Behold,” it says, “the people will rise up like a lion’s whelp, and like a lion it will exult.” In these words he seems to me to describe the confidence of the people who believe in Christ, and the freedom it has in faith, and the exultation it bears in hope. For it is compared to a lion’s whelp when it strives toward perfection, joyful and swift; but it is likened to a lion when it already possesses what is perfect. For just as the lion and the lion’s whelp fear no animal, no beast, but all things are subject to them, so too for the perfect Christian, who takes up his cross and follows Christ, who can say, “For the world is crucified to me, and I to the world,” all things are trodden underfoot, all things are subject. For he despises and scorns all the things that are in this world, and imitates him who is called the lion of the tribe of Judah and is called the lion’s whelp; for just as he is the light of the world and granted his disciples that they too should be the light of this world, so too, since he himself is the lion and the lion’s whelp, he has assigned the name of lion and lion’s whelp to those who believe in him. But see how plainly these things are said not of the people who existed then, but of the one that was to come. For he says: “Behold, the people will rise up like a lion’s whelp, and like a lion it will exult.” He says that the people will rise up, meaning, of course, the one that was to come. For if he were speaking of the one he saw, he would without doubt have said, “Behold, the people has risen up like a lion’s whelp.” But it is certain that he is speaking of that people of which it is written in the Psalms: “And the heavens will declare his righteousness to a people that will be born, whom the Lord has made.” This people, then, is a lion’s whelp while, like newborn infants, they still long for the rational and guileless milk; but an exulting lion when, as a perfect man, it has put away the things of a child. ### Scripture references - Num 23:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:24: allusion, high confidence - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Rev 5:5: allusion, high confidence - Gen 49:9: allusion, high confidence - John 8:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 22:31 (21:32 LXX): quotation, medium confidence - 1 Pet 2:2: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:11: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 23:24; Matt 16:24; Gal 6:14; Rev 5:5 and Gen 49:9; John 8:12; Matt 5:14; Ps 22:31 (LXX 21:32, combined with 22:30–31 in Origen’s wording, “the heavens will declare” perhaps influenced by Ps 97:6); 1 Pet 2:2; 1 Cor 13:11. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.8 (PG 12:700a–701a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-4/#p-16-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 16.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-16-9 - Source: PG 12:701a–702a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Because drinking blood cannot be meant literally, Origen reads it of drinking Christ’s blood in the sacraments and in his words and those of his wounded apostles. ### Latin text Non dormiet donec comedat praedam, et sanguinem vulneratorum bibat . In his verbis quis ita erit historicas narrationis contentiosus assertor, imo quis ita brutus invenitutva qui non horrescens sonum litterae, ad allegoriae dulcedinem ipsa necessitate conlugiat? Quomodo enim iste populus tam laudabilis, tam magnificus, de quo tanta przecouia sermo Dei enumerat, in hoc veniet, ut sanguinem vulneratorum bibat? Cum tam validis pra-ceptis cibus sanguinis interdicatur a Deo. ut etiam nos qui ex gentibus vocati sumus θ’, necessariojubeamur abstinere, sicut iis quae idolis immolantur, ita et a sanguine. Dicant ergo nobis, quis estiste pepulus, qui in usu habet sanguinem bibere; "rec erant quae et in Evangelio audientes. ii qui ex Judmis Dominum sequebantur, seandalizati sunt, et dixerunt :Quis potest manducare carnem, ct sanguinem bibere? Sed pepulus Christianus, po pultis fidelis audithaae, et amplectitur, et sequitur cum qui dicit : Nisi inanducaveritis carnem meam, et biberitis sanguinem meum, non habebitis vitam in vobis ipsis; quia caro mea vere cibus est, et sanguis meus vere est potus ’°. Et utique qui hrec diccbat vulneratus est pro hominibus,ipse enim ‹ vulneratus est pro peccatis nostris “, sicut Isaias dicit. Bibere autem dicimur sanguinem Christi, nor: solum sacramentorum ritu, sed et cum sermones ejus recipimus, in quibus vita consistit, sicut ct ipse dicit : Verba quae locutus sum, spiritus ct vita est θ’. Est ergo ipse vulneratus, cujus nos sanguinem bibimus, id est, doctrina: ejus verba suscipimus. Sed et illi nihilominus vulnerati sunt qui uobis verbum ejus praedicarunt. Ipsorum enim, id est, apostolorum ejus verba cum legimus, et vitamex eis consequimur, vulneratorum sanguinem labimus. Non ergo, inquit “, dormiet, donec comedat prcedam. Iste enim populus qui catulo leonis, vel leoai comparatur, nou quiescet, nec dormiet donec rapiat prazdam, id est, donec rapiat regnum cmlorum; quia a diebus Joannis regnum cmlorum vim patitur, et vim facientes diripiunt il- Iud “. Ut autem evidentius cognoscas haec de imstro populo, qui in sacramentis Christi confoederatus est, scribi, audi quomodo et in aliis Moyses ι) similia pronuntiat dicens : Butyrum boum , et lac ovium, cum adipe agnorum, et arietum, filiorum taurorum et hircorum, cum adipe renium, frumenti, et sanguinem uva: bibent vinum ’. Et hic ergo sanguis qui nominatur uvze, illius uvae est qure 'nascitur ex illa vite, de qua Salvator dicit : Ego sum vitis vera, discipuli vero palmites. Pater autem agricola est ", qui purgat eos, ut fructum plurimum afl‘erant. T.u ergo es verus populuslsrael, qui scis sanguinem bibere, et nosti carnem Verbi Dei comedere,et sanguinein bibere, et uvae san-. guinem illius quae est ex vera vite et illis palmitibus quosPater purgat, haurire. Quorum palmitum fructus, : vulneratorum sanguis merito dicitur, quem ex verbis eorum et doctrina bibimus, si tamen simus ut catuli leonis exsurgentes, et ut leo exsultantes. Ha'c interim de secumta visione Balaam dicta sullieiant. Oremus autem Dominum ut nobis etiam ad cmtera, quae ab eo prophetata sunt, intelligenda lucidiores quosque et veritati proximos sensus aperire dignetur, ut in Spiritu sancto considerantes qme per spiritum scripta sunt, et spiritalibus apiritalia comparantes, digne Deo et sancto Spiritu, qui hrec inspiravit, quae scripta sunt explicemus, in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, cui est gloria et imperium in sarcula sa:eulorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) “It will not sleep until it devours the prey and drinks the blood of the wounded.” In these words who will be so contentious an advocate of the historical narrative, or rather who will be found so dull, as not to shudder at the sound of the letter and, by sheer necessity, flee for refuge to the sweetness of allegory? For how will this people, so praiseworthy, so magnificent, of which the word of God recounts such great praises, come to drink the blood of the wounded? when the eating of blood is forbidden by God with such strong commands that even we who have been called from the Gentiles are ordered, as a necessity, to abstain, as from things sacrificed to idols, so also from blood. Let them tell us, then, which is this people that is accustomed to drink blood. These were the words which, in the Gospel too, those of the Jews who were following the Lord heard and were scandalized, and said: “Who can eat flesh and drink blood?” But the Christian people, the faithful people, hears these things, and embraces them, and follows him who says: “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you will not have life in yourselves; for my flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink.” And certainly he who said this was wounded for men; for he “was wounded for our sins,” as Isaiah says. And we are said to drink the blood of Christ not only in the rite of the sacraments, but also when we receive his words, in which life consists, as he himself also says: “The words that I have spoken are spirit and life.” He himself, then, is the wounded one whose blood we drink, that is, we receive the words of his teaching. But no less were they also wounded who preached his word to us. For when we read their words, that is, the words of his apostles, and obtain life from them, we drink the blood of the wounded. “It will not sleep,” then, it says, “until it devours the prey.” For this people, which is compared to a lion’s whelp or a lion, will not rest or sleep until it seizes the prey, that is, until it seizes the kingdom of heaven; for “from the days of John the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it.” And so that you may know more plainly that these things are written of our people, which is joined in covenant in the sacraments of Christ, hear how Moses elsewhere too declares similar things, saying: “Butter of cattle and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams, of sons of bulls and of goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and they will drink the blood of the grape as wine.” And here, then, the blood that is named “of the grape” belongs to that grape which grows from the vine of which the Saviour says: “I am the true vine, and the disciples are the branches. And the Father is the vinedresser,” who prunes them so that they may bear much fruit. You, then, are the true people Israel, who know how to drink blood, and know how to eat the flesh of the Word of God and drink his blood, and to drain the blood of that grape which is from the true vine and from those branches which the Father prunes. The fruit of these branches is rightly called the blood of the wounded, which we drink from their words and teaching, if only we rise up like lion’s whelps and exult like a lion. Let this, meanwhile, suffice as said about the second vision of Balaam. But let us pray the Lord that, for understanding the rest of what he prophesied, he may deign to open to us senses clearer and nearer the truth, so that, considering in the Holy Spirit the things written through the Spirit, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we may explain what is written in a manner worthy of God and of the Holy Spirit who inspired it, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 23:24: quotation, high confidence - Acts 15:29: allusion, high confidence - John 6:60: allusion, high confidence - John 6:53–55: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:5: quotation, high confidence - John 6:63: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:12: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:14: quotation, high confidence - John 15:1–2: quotation, high confidence - John 15:5: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 23:24; Acts 15:29; John 6:60 (paraphrased), 53–55; Isa 53:5; John 6:63; Matt 11:12; Deut 32:14 (LXX wording; “fat of kidneys of wheat” is the LXX idiom for the finest wheat); John 15:1–2, 5; 1 Cor 2:13. - Eucharistic language (“not only in the rite of the sacraments”) is translated exactly as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 16.9 (PG 12:701a–702a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-16-9). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-1 - Source: PG 12:702a–703b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak takes Balaam to Phogor (“delight”); Origen explains why the law allowed sacrifices to God (a concession like divorce, and perhaps a remedy against sacrifices to demons) until Christ, the one perfect victim. ### Latin text Tertiam nunc prophetiam ex iis quae sermo Dei per Balaam protulit, habemus in manibus ut etiam de ipsa (prout Dominus dederit) aliqua disseramus. Etenim infelix iste Balach putans quod Balaam divino ad maledicendum loci opportunitas magis defuerit quam voluntas, utilius esse ratus si mutaret locum : Veni, inquit "', et educam te in locmn alium,si placet Deo, etmalcdices eum inde, et assumpsit Balach ipsum Balaam 335 in verticem montis Fogor, qui tendit iu desertum. Eos quidem quos Deus vocat, imponit in verticem montis Sina : hic autem Balach, qui Deo contrarius est , imponit Balaam in verticem montis Fogor. Fogor autem interpretatur delectatio. In verticem ergo delectationis et libidinis imponit homines iste Balach. Amator enim est voluptatis magis quam Dei, et idcirco imponit eos in summitatem et verticem voluptatis, ut excludat eos a Deo. Excludens enim et devoratio interpretatur Balach. Ideo denique et in eremum tendit Fogor, id est, ad ea quae in eremo sunt, et deserta Deo negotia. Et dixit Balaam ad Balach : Construe mihi hic septem aras, et fac mihi hic septem vitulos, et septem arietes : et fecit Balach sicut dixit ei Balaam, et obtulit vitulum, et arietem super aram ". Aperta quidem Apostoli sententia est dicentis 9’ : t Quae enim sacrificant gentes, daemoniis, et non Deo sacrificant. Sed et propheta similiter dicit : Sacrificaverunt daemoniis, et non Deo. Tamen quoniam et lex Dei de sacrificiis praecipit, et ritum sacrificandi tradit filiis Israel, requiratur fortassis, cur lucc cum dtetnouiis dicata videantur, etiam Deojubeantur oflerri. Et erit quidem simplex et ctta responsio, ut quemadmodum in aliis ostendimus, quod libellum repudii dari non: Dei voluntatis fuit, qui quod coniunxerat nolttit separari, sed Moyses haec proprie ad duritiam cordis Judat-orum scripsit : ita etiam et de hoc videri P053“. Quia Deus, sicut per alium Prophetam dicit ', non manducat carnes taurorum, nec sanguinem hircorum potat. Et item ut alibi scriptum est , quia «non mandavi tibi de sacrificiis, vel victimis, in die qua eduxi te de terra Aigypti. Sed Moyses haec ad duritiam cordis eorum pro cousuetudine pessima qua imbuti fuerant in Egypto, mandaviteis : ut qui abstinere se non possent ab immolando, Deo saltem, et non dtemoniis immolarent. Videndum tamen est, ne forte sit et aliqua sacrificandi Deo occultior, ac secretior ratio. Ne forte, inquam, sacrificia quae Deo oll'eruntur, ad destructionem fiant eorum sacrificiorum, quae da:mouibus immolantur : ut quia per illa vulnerantur auitnte, per ista sanentur; sicut et ii confirtnanl, qtti medicina: peritiam gerunt. Serpentum namque venena depelli medicamentis 'niltilominus confectis ex serpentibus, perhibent. lla ergo et sacrificiorum dzemonicorum virus per sacrificia Deo oblata depellitur, sicut et mors Jesu mortem peccati credentibus non sinit dominari. Et quidem donec tempus patiebatur, sacrificia sacrificiis opponebantur: ubi vero venit perfecta hostia, et agnus immaculatus, qui totius mundi tolleret peccatum, sacrificia illa quae singillatim ofi‘erebantur Deo, jam superflua Visa sunt, cum una hostia omnis drcmonum cultura depulsa sit. Verum Balaam iste, sive secundum cordis sui propositum quod non emendavcrat, sive secundum illam figuram, qua diximus eum tenere personam doctorum, ac Pharisaeorum plebis incredulae, instaurat adhuc hostias, et prteparari sacrificia jubet. 1η his enim omnem spem gvruut ii, quorutn cor non recipit fidem Christi. ### English translation (Claude) We now have in hand the third prophecy of those which the word of God uttered through Balaam, so that we may also discuss some things about it (as the Lord may grant). For that unhappy Balak, thinking that Balaam the diviner had lacked a suitable place for cursing rather than the will, and judging it more useful to change the place, says: “Come, and I will take you to another place, if it pleases God, and you will curse them for me from there.” And Balak took Balaam himself to the top of Mount Phogor, which stretches toward the desert. Those whom God calls he sets on the top of Mount Sinai; but this Balak, who is opposed to God, sets Balaam on the top of Mount Phogor. Phogor is interpreted “delight.” This Balak, then, sets men on the top of delight and lust. For he is a lover of pleasure rather than of God, and therefore he sets them on the summit and top of pleasure, in order to shut them out from God. For Balak is interpreted “shutting out” and “devouring.” That, finally, is why Phogor stretches toward the desert, that is, toward the things that are in the desert, affairs deserted by God. “And Balaam said to Balak: Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven calves and seven rams. And Balak did as Balaam told him, and offered a calf and a ram on each altar.” The Apostle’s statement is plain, when he says: “For what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God.” And the prophet likewise says: “They sacrificed to demons and not to God.” Yet since the law of God also gives commands about sacrifices and hands down to the sons of Israel the rite of sacrificing, it may perhaps be asked why these things, which seem dedicated to demons, are also commanded to be offered to God. And there will indeed be a simple and quick answer: just as we showed elsewhere that the giving of a bill of divorce was not the will of God, who did not want what he had joined to be separated, but Moses wrote this specifically because of the hardness of heart of the Jews, so too it may seem to be with this. For God, as he says through another prophet, does not eat the flesh of bulls nor drink the blood of goats. And again, as is written elsewhere: “I did not command you concerning sacrifices or victims on the day when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.” But Moses commanded these things to them because of the hardness of their heart, on account of the very bad habit with which they had been imbued in Egypt, so that those who could not keep themselves from sacrificing should at least sacrifice to God and not to demons. Yet we must consider whether there is perhaps also some more hidden and secret reason for sacrificing to God. Whether, I say, the sacrifices offered to God may be made for the destruction of those sacrifices which are offered to demons: so that, since souls are wounded through the latter, they may be healed through the former; just as those also affirm who are skilled in medicine. For they say that the venoms of serpents are driven out by remedies made, no less, from serpents. So too the poison of demonic sacrifices is driven out by sacrifices offered to God, just as the death of Jesus does not allow the death of sin to have dominion over believers. And indeed, while the time allowed, sacrifices were set against sacrifices; but when the perfect victim came, the spotless lamb who was to take away the sin of the whole world, those sacrifices which were offered one by one to God seemed now superfluous, since by one victim all worship of demons was driven away. But this Balaam, whether according to the purpose of his heart, which he had not amended, or according to that figure in which we said he plays the part of the teachers and Pharisees of the unbelieving people, still renews victims and orders sacrifices to be prepared. For in these those whose heart does not receive faith in Christ place all their hope. ### Scripture references - Num 23:27–30: quotation, high confidence - Exod 19:20: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 3:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:20: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 50:13 (49:13 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Jer 7:22: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:9: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:29: allusion, high confidence - Heb 10:12: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 23:27–30; 2 Tim 3:4; 1 Cor 10:20; Deut 32:17; Matt 19:8 (divorce as a concession, as in Homily 16.4); Ps 50:13 (LXX 49:13); Jer 7:22; Rom 6:9–14; John 1:29; Heb 10:12–14. The etymologies of Phogor (“delight”) and Balak (“shutting out, devouring”) are Origen’s, from onomastic lists. - The staged “Balaam divino” is read as “Balaam divino” = “the diviner” (dat./abl. of divinus). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.1 (PG 12:702a–703b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-2 - Source: PG 12:703b–704b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balaam’s seeing that it was good to bless Israel foreshadows Israel’s future recognition of the spiritual Israel when the veil is removed and it no longer seeks auspices from animals. ### Latin text Sed quid sequitur? Et videns, inquit , Balaam, quia bonum est in conspectu Domini benedicere lsrael, non abiitex more itt occursum auspiciis, sed convertit faciem suam in desertum : ct elevans Balaam oculos suos intuetur lsracl castra constituisse per tribus, et factus cst super eum spiritus Dei, et assumpta parabola sua, ait. Requiratur fortasse unde vidit Balaam, quia bonum est iu conspectu Domini benedicere Israel, et putabitnr ex sacrificiis intellexisse quae immolaverat. Ubi enini vidit nullum adesse dmmouium, nullam contrariam potestatem victimis suis assistere aadentem, exclusos esse omnes malitia ministros, quibus uti ad maledicendum solebat, potuit ex bis intellexisse, quia bonum esset in conspectu Domini benedicere Israel. Ego tamen magis illud intelligo, quod populus ille, qui nunc vanus est, et illi ω ctor'es, qui Christo non credentes in vanitate popllum detinent, aliquando visuri sunt, id est, in ltovissimis diebus, cum plenitudo gentium introierit, et omnis Israel venire cteperit ad fidem Christi, illi, inquam, qui nunc oculos habentes non vident, tunc videbunt. Elevahunt enim oculos suos ad altiores et spiritales sensus, et videbunt, et intelligent quia bonum est in conspectu Domini benedicere spiritalem Israel. Videbunt enim eum dispositu: per "ibus: θί per df’most et per tamin”) e} Ϊ quemque in suo ordine resurrectionis gloria adepturum, et assumpta parabola sua intelligent qua in parabolis scripta sunt : quae nunc propter velamen quod positum est super cor eorum, neque vident, neque intelligunt. Denique, non abiit . inquit, ex more in occursum auSpiciis. Non eatis: more sibi solito, stultis ct inanimis sensibus rapietur, animalibus mutis et pecudibus Dei considerans voluntatem, sicut ii, qui ex istis talibus auspicia colligunt : sed agnoscet etiam ipse, quia neque de bobus cura est Deo, similiter neque de neque de avibus, aliisque animalibus. sed si qua de bis scripta sunt, propter homines intelliget scripta. ### English translation (Claude) But what follows? “And Balaam, seeing,” it says, “that it is good in the sight of the Lord to bless Israel, did not go as usual to meet the auspices, but turned his face toward the desert; and Balaam, lifting up his eyes, sees Israel encamped by tribes, and the Spirit of God came upon him, and taking up his parable he said.” It may perhaps be asked from what Balaam saw that it is good in the sight of the Lord to bless Israel, and it will be thought that he understood it from the sacrifices which he had offered. For when he saw that no demon was present, that no opposing power dared to attend his victims, that all the ministers of wickedness whom he used to employ for cursing were shut out, he could have understood from this that it was good in the sight of the Lord to bless Israel. I, however, understand it rather thus: that that people which is now vain, and those teachers who, not believing in Christ, hold the people in vanity, will at some time see, that is, in the last days, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and all Israel begins to come to faith in Christ; those, I say, who now having eyes do not see, will then see. For they will lift up their eyes to higher and spiritual senses, and will see and understand that it is good in the sight of the Lord to bless the spiritual Israel. For they will see him arranged by tribes, by houses, and by families, and each one, in his own order, about to obtain the glory of the resurrection; and taking up their parable they will understand what is written in parables, which now, because of the veil that is laid over their heart, they neither see nor understand. Then: “He did not go,” it says, “as usual to meet the auspices.” For he will not, as was his habit, be carried away by foolish and soulless senses, considering the will of God from dumb animals and cattle, like those who gather auspices from such things; but he too will recognize that God does not care about oxen, nor likewise about birds or other animals, but will understand that if anything is written about them, it was written for the sake of men. ### Scripture references - Num 24:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:25–26: allusion, high confidence - Mark 8:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:23: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 3:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:9–10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:1–2; Rom 11:25–26; Mark 8:18; 1 Cor 15:23; 2 Cor 3:15; 1 Cor 9:9–10. - The words “by tribes, by houses, and by families, and each one” render a garbled line in the scan (“per "ibus: θί per df’most et per tamin”) e} Ϊ quemque”), read by sense as per tribus, per domos, per familias, et unumquemque; uncertain. The garbled “Non eatis” is read as “non enim.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.2 (PG 12:703b–704b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-3 - Source: PG 12:704b–706b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The praise of Balaam as “the man who truly sees” fits the people whose veil is removed; Origen distinguishes the better eyes from the eyes of the flesh opened by the serpent’s counsel, which Christ closes. ### Latin text Sed videamus jam quae sint quae in tertia prophetia proloquatur Balaam. t Dixit, inquit , Balaam filius Beor, homo vere videns. dixit, audiens verba fortis, qui visum Dei vidit in somnis, revelati oculi ejus. Mirum profecto est quonodo tanta: laudis dignus habeatur Balaam, qui accepta parabola sua, haec de semetipso pronuntiat. Quomodo enim homo vere videns Balaam sit, qui divinationi,auguriis Operam dederit, qui etiam ruagictc studuerit, sicut supra ostendimus, valde arduum est, nisi forte pro eo, quod supra dictu est, quia spiritus Dei factus fuerit in ipso, et quia verbum Dei positum sit itt ore ejus, lucc de eo putet:tur tam magna conscripta esse praeconia. Nec DMoyses enim, nec alius quis prophetarum facile invenietur tantis laudibus elevatus. Unde magis mihi videtur haec illi populo convenire eo tempore. quo jam conversus ad Dominum, deposuit velamen, quod crat super cor suum. Dominus spiritus est. Idcirco denique dicit, t revelati oculi ejus, quasi qui nunc usque clausi fuerint, cl. nunc per spiritum Dci, qui super eum factus est, ablato velamine revelcntur. Nunc ergo est quando vere videt. et vere audit verba fortis, et visum Dei videt in sonnis : id est, ca quae in somnis Dauieli prophetia tempora designata sunt , videbit impleta : et visiones illas, quae in somnis ad illum delata sunt, videbit : hoc est intelliget, et agnoscet oculis revelatis. Eflicietur enim similis iis, qui dicebant: Nos autem omnes revelata faeie gloriam Domini speculamur eadem imagine transformati a glo- . ria in gloriam, tanquam a Domini spiritu . Ve- “ lim tamen requirere, qui sunt isti oculi ejus, qui revelati dicuntur : ne forte ipsi sint, qui ’ru aliis Scriptura: locis, ut iu quibusdam exemplaribus Iegimus, oculi terrae appellantur, et ille, quem Paulus sensum carnis dicit, cum ait de quodam“, «Frustra inflatus a sensu carnis suae.» De istis credo oculis, etiam serpens dixerit ad Evam, quia sciebat Dominus quod in quacunque die manducaveritis ex eo, aperientur oculi vestri ’. Et paulopost “ : Et manducaverunt. inquit, et aperti sunt oculi eorum. Nisi enim essent dilIerentize oculornm, et alii essent qui per praevaricationem aperientur, et alii quibus videbant Adam et Eva, antequam isti aperirentur, nunquam utique Scriptura nondum apertis oculis eorum, illis qui ex praevaricatione patefacti sunt, diceret : Et vidit mulier quia bonum est lignum ad manducandum, et gratum oculis ad videndum, et Speciosam est ad considerandum, et accipiens de ligno manducavit. et dedit viro suo secum, et manducaverunt, et aperti sunt oculi amborum.» Quomodo enim si nondum aperti fuerant oculi amborum, vidit mulier quia bonum esset lignum ad manducandum, et gratum oculis ad videndum? quibusque etiam oculis speciosum dicitur fuisse ad considerandum? Sed ο ego audiens vocem Domini mei Jesu Christi, et virtutem bonitatis ejus intelligens, ita adverto illud quod dicit “ : In judicium ego veni in hunc mundum, ut non videntes videant, et videntes caeci fiant; quod in peccatoribus non vident illi oculi, qui meliores sunt; sed ii, qui sensus carnis appellantur, et qui consilio serpentis aperti sunt. Opus ergo magnifiqu Salvatoris nostri Domini est, ut ii, qui non vident melioribus oculis quae bona sunt, sed illis qui consilio serpentis patefacti sunt, et quae mala sunt intuentur, caeci fiant : et qui fuerint illis oculis, quos persuasio serpentis aperuit, videant bona Domini his oculis, quos Jesus Salvator uoster venit aperire. Nisi enim prius malurum visus claudatur, bonorum non patebit intuitus. Sic ergo etiam illud boni Dei dictum accipio, quod dixit : Quis fecit videntem, et caecum? videntem quidem secundum Christum, caecum vero secundum consilium serpentis. Haec. autem commonuimus, ut evidentius elucesceret qui sunt oculi qui claudantur, et qui sunt oculi qui revelentur: simul ut et illud ex his intelligatur, quod in propheta scriptum est : Videntes videbitis, et non videbitis ; ιιι sciamus quibus oculis vident, et quibus videntes non vident. Apparet ergo et hunc Balaam pro eo quod revelati fuerant oculi ejus, dicere de semetipso ’, homo vere videns; et dicere, cdixit audiens verba fortis. › Eodem enim ordine quo alii oculi clauduntur, etalii aperiuntur, etiam aures alia: claudeudze, et aliae aperiendae iutelliguntur. Verum si quis haec etiam secundum historiam velit dicta suscipere, potest dicere, quia in eo quod vidit Balaam quod bonum est in conspectu Domini benedicere Israel, ostenduntur revelati oculi ejus, et fuCllIS esse homo vere videns. Vere enim vidit quae futura erant de Israel, vel Jacob. Audisse quoque eum verba fortis dicit in eo, cum venit ad eum Deus, et dixit in somnis ε , Verbum quod dedero in ore tuo, hoc observa ut loquaris; et hoc erat visum Dei, quod vidit in somnis. et PCI‘ 11ωο revelatus esse oculos ejus asserit, quia potuit videre quae vidit. llaec quidem de iis quae in praefatione sua Balaam in semetipsum visus est prophetare. ### English translation (Claude) But let us now see what it is that Balaam utters in the third prophecy. “Balaam son of Beor said,” it says, “the man who truly sees said; he said, hearing the words of the mighty one, who saw the vision of God in sleep, his eyes uncovered.” It is truly astonishing how Balaam is held worthy of such great praise, he who, taking up his parable, pronounces these things about himself. For how Balaam can be a man who truly sees, he who gave himself to divination and auguries, who even pursued magic, as we showed above, is very hard to say; unless perhaps, because it was said above that the Spirit of God came upon him and that the word of God was placed in his mouth, it is thought that such great praises were written of him for that reason. For neither Moses nor any other of the prophets will easily be found lifted up with such praises. Hence it seems to me rather that these things fit that people at the time when, having now turned to the Lord, it has put away the veil that was over its heart. “The Lord is the Spirit.” That, finally, is why he says, “his eyes uncovered,” as of one whose eyes had until now been closed, and now through the Spirit of God, who has come upon him, are uncovered with the veil taken away. Now, then, is when he truly sees, and truly hears the words of the mighty one, and sees the vision of God in sleep: that is, he will see fulfilled the times which were marked out in the prophecy of Daniel in his dreams, and he will see those visions which were brought to him in sleep: that is, he will understand and recognize them with uncovered eyes. For he will become like those who said: “But we all, with uncovered face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord.” I should like, however, to ask what these eyes of his are which are said to be uncovered: whether perhaps they are the ones which in other places of Scripture, as we read in certain copies, are called eyes of the earth, and the thing Paul calls the mind of the flesh when he says of someone, “Vainly puffed up by the mind of his flesh.” Of these eyes, I believe, the serpent too spoke to Eve, saying that the Lord knew that on whatever day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened. And a little later: “And they ate,” it says, “and their eyes were opened.” For unless there were differences of eyes, and some were the ones that would be opened through transgression, and others those with which Adam and Eve saw before these were opened, Scripture would certainly never have said, while their eyes, those opened through transgression, were not yet opened: “And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and pleasing to the eyes to see, and beautiful to look at; and taking of the tree she ate, and gave to her husband with her, and they ate, and the eyes of both were opened.” For if the eyes of both had not yet been opened, how did the woman see that the tree was good to eat and pleasing to the eyes to see? And with what eyes is it said to have been beautiful to look at? But I, hearing the voice of my Lord Jesus Christ and understanding the power of his goodness, take what he says, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind,” in this way: that in sinners it is not those better eyes that see, but those that are called the mind of the flesh and were opened by the serpent’s counsel. It is, then, the magnificent work of our Saviour and Lord that those who do not see what is good with the better eyes, but look at what is evil with those that were opened by the serpent’s counsel, should become blind; and that those who were blind in the eyes which the serpent’s persuasion opened should see the good things of the Lord with these eyes which Jesus our Saviour came to open. For unless the sight of evil things is first closed, the view of good things will not lie open. So I also take in this way that saying of the good God: “Who made the seeing and the blind?” seeing, that is, according to Christ, but blind according to the counsel of the serpent. We have recalled these things so that it might shine out more clearly which are the eyes that are closed and which are the eyes that are uncovered; and at the same time so that from this may be understood what is written in the prophet: “Seeing you will see, and you will not see,” that we may know with which eyes they see, and with which, while seeing, they do not see. It appears, then, that this Balaam too, because his eyes had been uncovered, says of himself “the man who truly sees,” and says, “he said, hearing the words of the mighty one.” For in the same order in which some eyes are closed and others opened, so too some ears are understood to be closed and others to be opened. But if anyone wishes to take these things as said also according to the literal account, he can say that in Balaam’s seeing that it is good in the sight of the Lord to bless Israel, his eyes are shown to have been uncovered and he became a man who truly sees. For he truly saw what was to happen concerning Israel or Jacob. And he says that he heard the words of the mighty one when God came to him and said in sleep, “The word that I put in your mouth, take care to speak it”; and this was the vision of God which he saw in sleep; and through this he asserts that his eyes were uncovered, because he was able to see what he saw. So much for what Balaam in his preface appeared to prophesy about himself. ### Scripture references - Num 24:3–4: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Dan 7:1: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 3:18: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:18: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:6–7: quotation, high confidence - John 9:39: quotation, high confidence - Exod 4:11: quotation, high confidence - Isa 6:9: quotation, high confidence - Num 22:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:3–4; 2 Cor 3:16–17, 18; Dan 2 and 7 (dream visions); Col 2:18; Gen 3:5, 6–7; John 9:39; Exod 4:11; Isa 6:9; Num 22:20, 35. The reading “eyes of the earth” in “certain copies” is unidentified. - A block of leaked marginal references and a note on the reading “imagine” (“Coloss. xxrv … Libb. editi, imaginatione.”) splitting the name Balaam, and another leaked reference (“Psal. xttx, 15. Jeretu. vit, et Nam.”), are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.3 (PG 12:704b–706b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-4 - Source: PG 12:706b–709c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The good houses of Jacob and tents of Israel signify the completion of good works and the endless advance in wisdom, the law and the prophets read spiritually, or body and soul; the faithful must build their own tents after the heavenly pattern, as Paul did. ### Latin text Nunc jam videamus quae sunt, quae in consequentibus dicit: Quam bonae, inquit , domus tuae,Jacob, tabernacula tua, Israel! Ut nemora umbrantia, ut paradisi super flumina, et sicut ιιιbernacula quae fixit Dominus, sicut cedri jux a aquas. Bonas quas dicit domus Jacob, non puto quod domicilia eorum collaudet terrena, neque enim tale aliquid fuisse apud eos praeter gentes caeteras memoratur. Sed videamus ne forte, quoniam pupulus per tribus erat divisus, et unaquaeque tribus per plebes, et iterum plebes per cognationes, et cognationes per domos familiarum, et rursum domus familiarum per numerum norninum, et per capita numerabantur : hoc est omnis qui erat a viginti anuis et supra, masculus qui procedere poterit ad bellum : has domus Balaam in spiritu contuens rnaguificet et extollat. Sed non in his solius 'littermcontuenda sententia est, quoniam quidem quae loquitur Balaam, assumpta 337 parabola sua loquitur. In parabolis ergo et nos quod dicitur audiamus. Si enim consideres divisiones iltas, et ordines p0pulorum qui in resurrectione habebuntur in pepqu veri Israel, quando unusquisque resurget in suo ordine : si potes iutueri tribus illas et plebes , et cognationes, in qui- Ι) bus non tam carnis et sanguinis est cognatio, quam mentis et animi : tunc intelliges quam bonae sunt domus Jacol), et quam bona tabernacula Israel. Quod si et difi'ereutias domorum, et tabernaculorum requiras, et Jacob atque Israel diversitatem, etiam de hoc talis quaedam habenda distinetio est. Domus res est fundata, ac stabilis, et certis terminis septa. Tabernacula vero sunt habitacula quaedam eorum qui semper in via sunt, et semper ambulant, nec itineris sui terminum repererunt. Igitur Jacob habendus est in eorum personis qui in actibus et Opere perfecti sunt : Israel vero illi iutelligendi sunt, qui studium erga sapientiam ac scientiam gerunt. Quia ergo operum gestorumque excrcitia certo fine clauduntur (neque enim sine fine est cperum perfectio), ubi adimpleverit quis on‘inia quae facere debuit, et ad finem perfectionis operum venerit, perfectio ipsa operum, bona domus ejus case dicetur. Eorum vero qui sapientia: et scientiae operam dant, quoniam finis nullus est (quis enim terminus Dei sapientia: erit ?ubi quanto amplius quis accesserit, tanto profundiora inveniet,et quanto magis scrutatus fuerit, tanto ea ineffabiliora et iucmnprebensibiliora deprehendet, incomprehensibilis enimetinaestimabilis est Dei sapientia), idcirco eorum qui iter sapientia: Dei incedunt, non domos laudat, non enim pervenerunt ad finem , sed tabernacula miratur, in quibus semper ambulant, et semper proficiunt, et quanto magis proficiunt, tanto eis proficiendi via augetur, et immensum tenditur; et ideo istos ipsos profectus eorum per spiritum contuens, tabernacula ea nominat Israel. Et vere si quis scientia: capit aliquos profectus, et experimenti aliquid in talibus sumpsit, scit profecto quod ubi ad aliquam ventum fuerit theoriam, et agnitionem mysteriorum spiritalium, ibi anima quasi in quodam tabernaculo demoratur. Cum vero ex bis quae reperit, alia rursus rimatur, et ad alios proficit intellectus, inde quasi elevato tabernaculo teudit ad superiora, ct ibi collocat animi sedem,sensuum stabilitate confixam : et inde iterum ex ipsis alios invenit spiritales sensus, quos priorum sine dubio sensuum consequentia patefecerit : et ita semper se ad priora extendens, tabernaculis quibusdam videtur incedere. Nunquam est enim quando anima scientiae igniculo succensa otiari possit et quiescere, sed semper a bonis ad meliora, et iterum ad superiora a melioribus provocatur. Hoc ergo sapientiae Dei iter grate satis, et cum multo decore descripsit dicens : Ut nemora obumbrantia, et ut paradisi super flumina, et sicut tabernacula quae fixit Dominus, sicut cedri juxta aquas. Qui enim incedunt hac via, per nemora obumbrantia incedunt. Nemora enim sunt eis obumbrantia, omnis justorum coetus, et sanctorum prophetarum chorus. Sub umbra enim sensuum, quos apud illos scriptos iuveniunt, refrigerantur anima: ipsorum, et in doctrinis eorum quasi incedentes per Opaca nemorum delectantur, et sicut paradisi super flumina Inveniuntur. Isti enim paradisi super fiumina, similes etcoguati sunt illi paradiso in quo lignum vita: est. Flumina vero possumus vel Scripturas evangelicas atque apostolicas accipere, vel etiam angelorum, vel caelestium virtutum erga bujusmodi animas adjutoria : rigantur enim ab illis et inundantur, atque ad omnem scientiam et agnitionem rerum caelestium nutriuntur : quamvis et Salvator noster fluvius sit qui laatilicat civitatem Dei : et Spiritus sanctus non solum ipse fluvius sit, sed et iis quibs datus fuerit. flumina de ventre eorum procedant: et Dens Pater dicat '° : Me dere-liquerunt fontem aqua: vitae, ex quo scilicet fonte flumina ista procedunt. llis igitur inundata fluminibus tabernacula Israel, fiunt tabernacula sicut sunt illa quae fuit Dominus. Sed intentum fortassis movere poterit auditorem, quod duas quasdam species tabernaculorum prtesens sermo commemorat. Ait enim “z Quam bona: donms tuanlacob, tabem-aculam. Israel! Ut nemora umbrantia, et ut paradi-i super flumina. Et rursum tabernacula tabernaculis coutparat,et dicit :r Et sicut tabernacula quae fixit Dominus. Potest ergo et alia post illas quas supra promlimus, recipi expositio, ut dicamus domus l4cob esse legem, et tabernacula Israel prophetas. Non enim ipsum Jacob, sed domus ejus laudat ; nec ipsum Israel, sed tabernacula ejus, et tunc ea laudat, cum revelati sunt oculi ejus. Quandiu enim velamen positum est super lectionem legis et pmpbetarum, non videntur bona tabernacula, nec dabiles domus. Ubi autem ablatum fuerit velamen. et intelligi cmpet'it lex quia spiritalis propheta: : tunc bona: et admirabiles domus Iacob. ρι tunc admiranda erunt tabernacula Israel, cum amota littera quae occidit, vivificantem ex eis perdo pere spiritum coeperis. Potest adhuc et alio modo intelligi, ut populi credentis et perfecti hujus, qui al Christum ex gentibus congregatus est, corpora simul laudari videantur et anima: : et Iacob quidem domus de corporibus dicatur, sicut et in libello quodam legitur, quia Iacob domus sit Israel : hac est, corpus ejus Jacob dicatur, et anima Israel. Sinimiliter, ergo et perfecturum quorumque corpora laudabiles domus esse dicantur. Jacob est enim corpus laudabile, cutn continentia, et castitate, nono nunquam autem etiam cum martyrio decoratur. Tabernacula vero ad animas perfectas relcrri possunt, quibus et nomen a videndo Deum convenit Israeli. Ista autem tabernacula sunt, inquit, sicut nemora umbrantia,et sicut paradisi super flumina, et sicut tabernacula quae fixit Dens. Alia ergo taberuacula ostendit esse quae fixit Dominus. quibus sint similia tabernacula Israel. Extra hunc "luminat ι) me progredi convenit, ut videam quae sint tabernacula quae fixit Dominus. Illa nimirum sunt, qu: ostendit Moysi cum tabernaculum consuueret tu deserto, dicens ad eum: Vide, inquit ", ut faciuomnia secundum typum qui ostensus est tibi in monte. Ad imitatiooein ergo istorum tabamus- Iorum quae fixit Dominus Israel, jubentur facere ubernacula, et unusquisque nostrum expedire. et Iabricare tabernaculum suum. Unde mibi videtur μω fortuitu contigisse. ut Petrus quidem, et Andreas, et filii Zcbedaai, arte piscatores invenirentur. Paulus vero arte faber tabernaculorum. Et quia illi vocati ab arte capiendorum piscium, mutantur et liunt piscatores hominum, dicente Domino ; σ Venite post me,et faciam vos piscatores hominum; non dubium quin et Paulus, quia et ipse per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum vocatus apostolus est, simili artis suae transformatione mutatus sit ε ut sicut illi ex piscatoribus piscium piscatores hominum facti sunt, ita et iste a faciendis tabernaculisterreuis, ad coelestia tabernacula construenda translatus sit. Construit enim coelestia tabernacula docens unumquemque viam salutis, et beatarum in coelestibus mansionum iter ostendens. Facit tabernacula Paulus et cum ab Hierusalem in circuitu usque ad Illyricum replet Evangelium Dei, Ecclesias construendo: et hoc modo facit et ipse tabernacula ad similitudinem tabernaculorum caelestium, qua: ostendit Deus in monte Moysi. Sed et unusquisque nostrum, si quis tamen exivit de (Egypto, et habitat in deserto, in tabernaculo debet habitare, et diem festum in tabernaculis agere. Sicut enim commemoratio fit egressionis ex {Egypto per pascha et azyma, ita et commemorationis in deserto fit memeria per tabernacula. In tabernaculis enim habitaverunt patres nostri in deserto. Unde autem fieri oportet ista tabernacula, nisi ex verbis legis et prophetarum, ex sermonibus Psalmorum, et omnium quae continentur in lege ?Cum enim, ex iis qua: scripta sunt, prolicit anima et semper quidem ea quae retro sunt obliviscens, ad ea quae in ante sunt se extendit, et de loco inferiore progrediens crescit, ac proficit ad superiora, ex augmento virtutum, et ex ipsa immutatione profectuum, in tabernaculis merito dicetur habitare. Vide autem si non sunt tabernacula quae fixit Deus, etiam illa quae Salvator commemorat in Evangelio dicens": Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut cum defeceritis recipiant vos in aeterna tabernacula. Fixa autem dicuntur a Deo quasi quae non circumferantur omni vento doctrinae. Sunt autem et adhuc tabernacula ista et sicut cedri juxta aquas. Cedros hic non illas dicit in quibus culpabilis notatur elatio : sed cedros Dei, quae suscipiunt vitis illius quae ex Egypto translata est, palmites, et in quibus requiescit fructus ille, cujus umbra operuit montes. Si intellexisti quantam requiem habeat iter sapientizc, quantum gratize, quantumque dulcedinis, noli dissimulare , noli negligere, sed aggredere hoc iter, nec eremi solitudinem perhorrescas. Habitanti enim tibi in hujusmodi tabernaculis occurret manna caeleste, et angelorum, panem manducabis. Incipe tantum, nec te perterrent, ut diximus, solitudo deserti. Cito in consortium tuum etiam angeli venient, quos sub specie cedrorum arbitror in hoc loco indicatos. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us see what he says in what follows: “How good,” it says, “are your houses, Jacob, your tents, Israel! Like shady groves, like gardens by rivers, and like tents which the Lord has pitched, like cedars beside the waters.” When he speaks of the good houses of Jacob, I do not think he is praising their earthly dwellings, for nothing of that sort is recorded among them beyond the other nations. But let us consider whether perhaps, since the people was divided by tribes, and each tribe by clans, and again the clans by kindreds, and the kindreds by households of families, and again the households of families were numbered by the count of names and by heads, that is, every male from twenty years old and upward who could go out to war, Balaam, beholding these households in the spirit, magnifies and extols them. But in these things the meaning is not to be looked at in the letter alone, since what Balaam speaks he speaks having taken up his parable. In parables, then, let us too hear what is said. For if you consider those divisions and orders of peoples which there will be in the resurrection in the people of the true Israel, when each one will rise in his own order; if you can behold those tribes and clans and kindreds, in which the kinship is not so much of flesh and blood as of mind and soul, then you will understand how good are the houses of Jacob and how good the tents of Israel. And if you ask also about the differences between houses and tents, and the difference between Jacob and Israel, a certain distinction of this sort must be made here too. A house is a thing founded and stable, and enclosed by fixed boundaries. Tents, however, are the dwellings of those who are always on the road and always walking, and have not found the end of their journey. Jacob, then, is to be taken as standing for those who are perfect in deeds and in work; but by Israel are to be understood those who pursue wisdom and knowledge. Since, then, the exercises of works and deeds are closed by a fixed end (for the perfection of works is not without end), when someone has fulfilled all that he ought to do and has come to the end of the perfection of works, the very perfection of his works will be called his good house. But for those who give themselves to wisdom and knowledge, since there is no end (for what limit will there be to the wisdom of God? where the nearer one has come, the deeper things he will find, and the more he has searched, the more ineffable and incomprehensible he will find them, for the wisdom of God is incomprehensible and inestimable), therefore of those who walk the road of God’s wisdom he does not praise the houses, for they have not come to the end, but he admires the tents in which they always walk and always advance; and the more they advance, the more the road of advancing grows for them and stretches out without measure. And so, beholding these very advances of theirs through the Spirit, he calls them the tents of Israel. And truly, if anyone has made some advances in knowledge and has gained some experience in such things, he certainly knows that when one has arrived at some contemplation and recognition of spiritual mysteries, there the soul lingers as in a kind of tent. But when, from what it has found, it searches out other things again and advances to other understandings, then, as if the tent were struck, it moves on to higher things and there sets the seat of the mind, fixed by the firmness of its perceptions; and from there again, out of these very things, it finds other spiritual senses, which the sequence of the earlier senses has without doubt opened up; and so, always stretching forward to what lies ahead, it seems to advance by a kind of tents. For there is never a time when the soul, kindled by the spark of knowledge, can be idle and rest; but it is always called on from good things to better, and again from better to higher. This road of God’s wisdom, then, he described pleasingly enough and with much beauty, saying: “Like shady groves, and like gardens by rivers, and like tents which the Lord has pitched, like cedars beside the waters.” For those who walk this road walk through shady groves. For the shady groves for them are the whole company of the righteous and the choir of the holy prophets. For under the shade of the meanings which they find written in them, their souls are refreshed, and in their teachings they delight as if walking through the shade of groves; and they are found like gardens by rivers. For these gardens by rivers are like and akin to that garden in which the tree of life is. By the rivers we can understand either the Scriptures of the Gospels and the Apostles, or also the help of angels or of heavenly powers toward souls of this kind: for by them they are watered and flooded and nourished toward all knowledge and recognition of heavenly things; although our Saviour too is the river that gladdens the city of God; and the Holy Spirit is not only himself a river, but also for those to whom he has been given, rivers flow from their belly; and God the Father says: “They have forsaken me, the fountain of the water of life,” the fountain, namely, from which these rivers proceed. Flooded by these rivers, then, the tents of Israel become tents like those which the Lord pitched. But the attentive hearer may perhaps be moved by the fact that the present passage mentions two kinds of tents. For it says: “How good are your houses, Jacob, your tents, Israel! Like shady groves, and like gardens by rivers.” And again it compares tents with tents and says: “And like tents which the Lord has pitched.” After those which we set out above, then, another explanation can also be received, so that we say that the houses of Jacob are the law and the tents of Israel the prophets. For he praises not Jacob himself but his houses, nor Israel himself but his tents; and he praises them when his eyes have been uncovered. For as long as the veil is laid over the reading of the law and the prophets, the tents do not seem good, nor the houses admirable. But when the veil has been taken away, and the law begins to be understood as spiritual, and the prophets likewise, then the houses of Jacob will be good and admirable, then the tents of Israel will be wonderful, when, with the letter that kills removed, you begin to receive from them the life-giving spirit. It can be understood in yet another way, so that the bodies and souls together of this believing and perfect people, which has been gathered to Christ from the Gentiles, seem to be praised; and the house of Jacob is said of the bodies, as is also read in a certain little book, that Jacob is the house of Israel: that is, his body is called Jacob, and his soul Israel. Similarly, then, the bodies of all the perfect may be called praiseworthy houses. For Jacob is a praiseworthy body when it is adorned with continence and chastity, and sometimes also with martyrdom. But the tents can be referred to perfect souls, to which the name Israel, from seeing God, is fitting. And these tents, it says, are like shady groves, and like gardens by rivers, and like tents which God has pitched. It shows, then, that there are other tents which the Lord has pitched, which the tents of Israel resemble. It is fitting for me to go a little further, to see what the tents are which the Lord pitched. They are, no doubt, those which he showed Moses when he was making the tabernacle in the desert, saying to him: “See,” it says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” In imitation, then, of these tents which the Lord pitched, Israel is commanded to make tents, and each one of us to make ready and build his own tent. Hence it seems to me not to have happened by chance that Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee were found to be fishermen by trade, but Paul a tentmaker by trade. And since they, called from the trade of catching fish, are changed and become fishers of men, as the Lord says, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men,” there is no doubt that Paul too, since he too was called an apostle by our Lord Jesus Christ, was changed by a like transformation of his trade: so that, just as they from fishers of fish became fishers of men, so he was transferred from making earthly tents to building heavenly tents. For he builds heavenly tents by teaching each one the way of salvation and showing the road to the blessed dwellings in the heavens. Paul makes tents also when, from Jerusalem and round about as far as Illyricum, he fills up the gospel of God by building churches: and in this way he too makes tents in the likeness of the heavenly tents which God showed to Moses on the mountain. But each one of us too, if indeed anyone has come out of Egypt and dwells in the desert, ought to dwell in a tent and keep the feast in tents. For just as the remembrance of the departure from Egypt is made through the Passover and the unleavened bread, so the remembrance of the time in the desert is made through the tents. For our fathers dwelt in tents in the desert. And from what should these tents be made, if not from the words of the law and the prophets, from the sayings of the Psalms, and of all that is contained in the law? For when the soul advances from the things that are written, and, always forgetting what lies behind, stretches out to what lies ahead, and, going forward from a lower place, grows and advances to higher things, it will rightly be said to dwell in tents, from the increase of virtues and from the very change of its advances. See, too, whether those are not also tents which God has pitched which the Saviour mentions in the Gospel, saying: “Make friends for yourselves by the mammon of unrighteousness, so that when you fail they may receive you into the eternal tents.” They are said to be pitched by God as being such as are not carried about by every wind of doctrine. And these tents are also like cedars beside the waters. He does not here mean those cedars in which culpable pride is marked, but the cedars of God, which receive the branches of that vine which was transplanted out of Egypt, and on which rests that fruit whose shadow covered the mountains. If you have understood how much rest the road of wisdom holds, how much grace, how much sweetness, do not pretend otherwise, do not neglect it, but set out on this road, and do not shudder at the loneliness of the desert. For as you dwell in such tents, the heavenly manna will come to meet you, and you will eat the bread of angels. Only begin, and do not let the loneliness of the desert, as we said, terrify you. Soon the angels too will come into your company, whom I think are indicated in this place under the figure of the cedars. ### Scripture references - Num 24:5–6: quotation, high confidence - Num 1:2–3: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 15:23: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 2:9: allusion, high confidence - Ps 46:4 (45:5 LXX): allusion, high confidence - John 7:38: allusion, high confidence - Jer 2:13: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:14–16: allusion, high confidence - Rom 7:14: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:6: allusion, high confidence - Exod 25:40: quotation, high confidence - Mark 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Acts 18:3: allusion, high confidence - Rom 15:19: allusion, high confidence - Lev 23:42–43: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:9: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:14: allusion, high confidence - Isa 2:13: allusion, low confidence - Ps 80:8–10 (79:9-Ps LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 78:24–25 (77:24-Ps LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Pr. Jos. (Prayer of Joseph): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:5–6; Num 1:2–3 (the census); 1 Cor 15:23; Gen 2:9; Ps 46:4 (LXX 45:5); John 7:38; Jer 2:13; 2 Cor 3:14–16; Rom 7:14; 2 Cor 3:6; Exod 25:40 (cf. Heb 8:5); Matt 4:18–21; Mark 1:17; Acts 18:3; Rom 15:19; Lev 23:42–43; Phil 3:13; Luke 16:9; Eph 4:14; Isa 2:13 (proud cedars); Ps 80:8–10 (LXX 79:9–11); Ps 78:24–25 (LXX 77:24–25). - A line lost in the scan after “Tabernacula vero sunt habitacula” is supplied from Baehrens's edition. The garbled “Extra hunc "luminat ι) me progredi convenit” is translated by sense. A leaked note (“trans- tabernaculi magnificentiam quaeras … omnia facito”) interrupting “translatus sit” is removed; “indihomo” is read as “in hoc loco.” - The “little book” saying that Jacob is the house of Israel is unidentified; Origen elsewhere cites the Prayer of Joseph on Jacob and Israel, so it is tagged with low confidence. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.4 (PG 12:706b–709c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-5 - Source: PG 12:709c–710c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The man who comes forth from Israel’s seed is Christ; “Gog,” read as an untranslated Hebrew word meaning “upon the roofs,” signifies his kingdom exalted in the perfect and growing in the churches. ### Latin text Sed nune videamus, quid etiam de Christo prophetet. Ipse est enim, de quo dicit: exibit homo de semine ejus et dominabitur gentibus multis et exaltabitur Gog regnum ejus, et crescet regnum ejus. Deus deduxit cum ex Egypto sicutglo- , ria unicornis. Christus ergo est, qui exiit de semi— ’ἶ ne Israel secundum carnem, qui quomodo gentibus dominetur, expositione non indiget, maxime qui leget dictum ei a patre ’° : Pete a me et dabo tibi gentes haereditatem tuam, et possessionem tuam terminos terra}. Quid est autem quod ait, exaltabitur Gog regnum ejus? Gog super tecta interpretatur : et in loco isto non pro gentis alicujus nomine, ut putatur, positum est, sed utin aliis nonnullis, ipse sermo Hebraeus non interpretatus relictus est, et ob hoc quasi de gente aliqua dictum videtur. Est ergo sermonis consequentia talis : et exaltabit!" super tecta regnum ejus, et crescet regnum ejus. Exaltari autem super tecta de perfectione credentium dicitur, crescere autem ad multitudines refertur. ln iis ergo qui perfecti sunt super tecta exaltatur regnum Christi, id est super eos etiam, qui in supernis sunt, et in superioribus habitant. Sunt enim fortassis aliqui etiam in ccelestibus a quibus plus proficiant et altius exaltentur ii qui in regno Christi sunt. Et ideo etiam, credo, ipse SalvatOr dicebat : Qui in tecto est, non descendat tollere aliquid de domo; monens ut ii, qui ad excelsam perfectionem venerunt, non iterum ad ’ mundi lmjus, qui nunc domus appellatur, humilia et abjecta descendant. Sed et illud quod ait '3: Quod audistis in aure, przedicate super tecta, ad hoc nihilominus respicit. Sic ergo exaltatur super Gog regnum ejus, et crescit regnum ejus. Crescit enim dum multiplicantur Ecclesiae, et fidelium numerus augetur; et intantum crescit regnum 339 Christi, usquequo ponat Pater omnes inimicos ejus sub pedibus ejus, sed et novissimum inimicum destruat mortem. ### English translation (Claude) But now let us see what he also prophesies about Christ. For it is he of whom he says: “A man will come forth from his seed and will rule over many nations, and his kingdom will be exalted above Gog, and his kingdom will grow. God led him out of Egypt like the glory of the unicorn.” It is Christ, then, who came forth from the seed of Israel according to the flesh; how he rules the nations needs no explanation, especially for one who reads what was said to him by the Father: “Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession.” But what is it that he says, “his kingdom will be exalted above Gog”? Gog is interpreted “upon the roofs”; and in this place it is not put as the name of some nation, as is thought, but, as in several other places, the Hebrew word itself has been left untranslated, and for this reason it seems to be said as if of some nation. The sequence of the words, then, is this: “and his kingdom will be exalted upon the roofs, and his kingdom will grow.” Being exalted upon the roofs is said of the perfection of believers; growing refers to multitudes. In those, then, who are perfect, the kingdom of Christ is exalted upon the roofs, that is, even above those who are on high and dwell in the higher places. For there are perhaps some even in the heavenly places beyond whom those who are in the kingdom of Christ may advance further and be exalted higher. And for this reason too, I believe, the Saviour himself said: “Let him who is on the roof not come down to take anything from the house,” warning that those who have come to lofty perfection should not again come down to the low and abject things of this world, which is now called a house. And that other saying, “What you have heard in the ear, preach upon the roofs,” looks no less to this. So, then, his kingdom is exalted above Gog, and his kingdom grows. For it grows while the churches are multiplied and the number of the faithful is increased; and the kingdom of Christ grows until the Father puts all his enemies under his feet, and destroys also the last enemy, death. ### Scripture references - Num 24:7–8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 10:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:25–26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotation of Num 24:7–8 in the Greek form (“above Gog,” where the Hebrew has Agag). Origen’s interpretation of Gog as “upon the roofs” (Hebrew gag, “roof”) is his own. Also Ps 2:8; Matt 24:17; Matt 10:27; 1 Cor 15:25–26. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.5 (PG 12:709c–710c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/16-9/#p-17-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 17.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-17-6 - Source: PG 12:710c–712a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The rest of the third oracle is read of Christ: called out of Egypt, ruling as the unicorn, consuming the nations by converting them, resting like a lion on the cross; those who curse him, including Christians whose conduct brings his name into blasphemy, are cursed. ### Latin text Post hzec scriptum est adhuc de Christo ’, ‹ quia Deus deduxit cum ex Egypto; quod in eo completum videtur, ubi post mortem Herodis revocatur _de Egypto, et designat Evangelinm dicens”: ‹ Ex Egypto vocavi filium meum. Qui sermo quibusdam ex hoc loco assumptus videtur, et Evangeliis insertus, aliis autem de Osee propheta. Potest autem et secundum allegoriam intelligi, quia posteaquam venit ad [Egyptum mundi hujus, eduxit eum Pater, et assumpsit ad semetipsum, ut viam faceret iis, qui dc Egypto mundi hujus ascensuri erant ad Deum. Et gloria unicornis ejus". Omnia enim daemonum regna dejiciens Christus, unum suum regnum, tanquam veri unicornis, fundavit in gloria. Cornu enim pro regno saepe docuimus nominari. Edet, inquit δ’, de eodem adhuc dicens, gentes inimicorum suorum et crassitudines eorum emedullabit. Gentes, ait, quas inimici sui posside- bant, ipse edet, destructa virtute inimici, et crassitudines eorum emedullahit, cum omnem de iis sensum crassum et carnalem extenuat, et. convertit ad intelligentiam spiritalem. Quod autem crassitudo culpabiliter in Scripturis habeatur, indicio erit illud quod scriptum est ε lncrassatum est cor populi hujus. Et alibi : Satiatus est, et incrassatus est, et recalcitravit dilectus. Edet ergo gentes, et cibum habebit eos qui credunt in eum, sicut et ipse dicit iu Evangelia" ε Meus cibus est ut faciam voluntatem ejus qui me misit. Cujus utique voluntas haec erat, ut gentes converterentur ad lidem. Quod si, ut superius docuimus, crassitudo culpabilis habetur, econtrario subtilitas laudabilis habenda est : quia et spiritus sapientiae, qui intelligibilis, et sanctus, et unicus, et multiplex dicitur“, similiter et subtilis esse perhibetur. Et jaeulis suis sagittabit inimicum .» Jacula ejus verba ejus sunt, quibus vel diabolum vicit, vel omnes inimicos et contradicentes sibi etiam nunc superat et confringit. Omnis enim qui peccat, inimicus ejus est dum peccat. Si autem audiat verba Dei, et agnoscens peccata sua, conligatur ex eis et compungatur, atque ad pumitentiam convertatur, veritatis sermone terebratus, etiam ipse dicetur jaeulis esse confixus. Sed post hare etiam de ipsa passionis dispensatione commemorat, ct dicit“ : liecumbens requievit ut leo, et ut catulus leonis, quis excitabit eum? ο Requievit ut leo, cum iu cruce positus, principatus et pote- ο states exuit, et triumphavit eas in ligno crucis. Ut catulus autem leonis, cum resurrexit a somno mortis. Quod autem leoni simul et catulo leonis comparatur, potest adhuc et propter hoc intelligi, utin iis qui perfecti sunt, leo, in iis vero qui incipientes sunt et rudes, catulus leonis nominetur. Quod vero ait: (Quis suscitabit eum? idcirco quia nunc a Patre dicitur suscitatus, nunc etiam ipse templum corporis sui post triduum suscitare se dicit: et merito in hoc quasi percontantis designatur affectus. (Qui benedicuut tibi, benedicti sunt : et qui maledicunt tibi, maledicti sunt". Certum est quod benedicentes Christo benedicti sunt, et in communionem paterna: benedictionis assntnpti. Qui autem maledicunt, maledicti sunt. Si enim ad populum istum respicias, qui maledicit Christo, etiam lacrymabiliter invenitur esse maledictus. Quid enim aliud evenire posset iis qui maledicunt sapientize, qui maledicunt veritati, qui maledicunt vitae, nisi u-t ab iis oumibus bonis extorres et exsules iaceant? llch enim omnia Christus est : et qui maledicit Christo, tauquam iis oumibus bouis maledicens, perpetua ntaledictione damnatus est. Ego tamen puto quod non ille solum maledicat Cbrism, qui sermonem adversum eum maledicum profert : sed et ille, qui sub nomine Christiani male agit, et turpiter conversatur, et inhonestis verbis, vel actibus suis facit nomen ejus blaspbeh mari inter gentes : sicut econtrario non ille qni sermonibus solis Dominum benedicit, ipse lienedicere putandus est, sed qui actibus, et vita. et moribus suis facit ab omnibus nomen Domini benedici. Et in istis magis complebitur quod tertia prophetia Balaam designat, quia bene. dicentes Christo benedicentur, et maledicentes ei maledicti erunt. Propter quod omnimode caveamus. ne prepter actus nostros Christi nomen blasphemetur, sed magis id agamus, ut de benedictionibus ejus participes esse mereamur. Ipsi gloria ethenedictio in sazcula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After this it is written further of Christ, “that God led him out of Egypt”; which seems to have been fulfilled in him when, after the death of Herod, he is called back from Egypt, and the Gospel indicates it, saying: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” This saying seems to some to have been taken from this place and inserted in the Gospels, but to others from the prophet Hosea. It can also be understood according to allegory: that after he came to the Egypt of this world, the Father led him out and took him up to himself, to make a way for those who were to ascend to God out of the Egypt of this world. “And his is the glory of the unicorn.” For Christ, casting down all the kingdoms of demons, founded his one kingdom in glory, as that of the true unicorn. For we have often shown that a horn is named for a kingdom. “He will eat,” it says, speaking still of the same one, “the nations of his enemies, and will suck out the marrow of their fatness.” The nations, it says, which his enemies possessed he himself will eat, when the power of the enemy has been destroyed, and he will suck out the marrow of their fatness, when he thins away every gross and carnal sense in them and turns it to spiritual understanding. That fatness is held blameworthy in the Scriptures will be shown by what is written: “The heart of this people has grown fat.” And elsewhere: “The beloved was filled, and grew fat, and kicked.” He will eat, then, the nations, and will have as his food those who believe in him, as he himself also says in the Gospel: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” His will certainly was this: that the nations should be converted to faith. And if, as we taught above, fatness is held blameworthy, on the contrary fineness must be held praiseworthy: for the spirit of wisdom, which is called intelligent, holy, unique, and manifold, is likewise said to be fine. “And with his darts he will shoot the enemy.” His darts are his words, with which he both conquered the devil and even now overcomes and shatters all who are his enemies and speak against him. For everyone who sins is his enemy while he sins. But if he hears the words of God and, recognizing his sins, is struck by them and pierced to the heart and turns to repentance, bored through by the word of truth, he too will be said to have been pierced by the darts. But after this he also mentions the very dispensation of the passion, and says: “Lying down, he rested like a lion, and like a lion’s whelp: who will rouse him?” He rested like a lion when, placed on the cross, he stripped the principalities and powers and triumphed over them on the wood of the cross. Like a lion’s whelp, when he rose from the sleep of death. That he is compared at once to a lion and to a lion’s whelp can also be understood for this reason: that in those who are perfect he is called a lion, but in those who are beginners and untrained, a lion’s whelp. And as for his saying, “Who will raise him?”, it is because now he is said to have been raised by the Father, and now he himself says that he will raise the temple of his body after three days; and rightly in this the manner of one who is inquiring is indicated. “Those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed.” It is certain that those who bless Christ are blessed and are taken up into the communion of the Father’s blessing. But those who curse are cursed. For if you look at that people which curses Christ, it is found, lamentably, to be cursed. For what else could befall those who curse wisdom, who curse truth, who curse life, except that they should lie banished and exiled from all these good things? For Christ is all these things; and he who curses Christ, as one cursing all these good things, is condemned by a perpetual curse. I think, however, that not only he curses Christ who utters a cursing word against him, but also he who under the name of Christian does evil and lives shamefully, and by his dishonourable words or acts causes his name to be blasphemed among the Gentiles; just as, on the contrary, he is not to be thought to bless the Lord who blesses him with words alone, but he who by his acts and life and conduct causes the name of the Lord to be blessed by all. And in these the more will be fulfilled what the third prophecy of Balaam signifies: that those who bless Christ will be blessed, and those who curse him will be cursed. For this reason let us beware in every way lest because of our acts the name of Christ be blasphemed; but let us rather act so that we may deserve to be partakers of his blessings. To him be glory and blessing for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 24:8–9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Hos 11:1: quotation, high confidence - Isa 6:10: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:15: quotation, high confidence - John 4:34: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 49:9: allusion, high confidence - Gal 1:1: allusion, medium confidence - John 2:19: allusion, high confidence - Rom 2:24: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 7:22 (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:8–9; Matt 2:15; Hos 11:1; Isa 6:10; Deut 32:15; John 4:34; Wis 7:22; Col 2:15; Gal 1:1; John 2:19; Rom 2:24. - “That people which curses Christ” refers to the Jewish people of Origen’s own day; translated as written. - A leaked footnote on the reading “Agag” (“xxnv, tutu. Agag nomen proprium … versio.”) and leaked references (“.Ioan. iv, Act. xxvm, 27. "Deut.”) are removed; “maledicunt” there is read as “maledicum.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 17.6 (PG 12:710c–712a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-17-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 18.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-1 - Source: PG 12:712a–713a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balak dismisses Balaam, who protests that he cannot transgress God’s word for any reward; Origen then asks what Balaam means by “I give you counsel.” ### Latin text Quartam nunc prophetiam ex iis quae Balaam in verbo Dei locutus est, iu uiauus assumimus, volentes etiam de ipsa quae Deus dederit aperire. Cui tamen prophetia: similia, ut in superioribus, in praafatioue praemissa sunt. Ait enim " ε( Et iratus est Balaeh adversum Balaam, et plausumdcdit manibus suis. Et dixit Balach ad Balaam: laledicere inimicum meum vocavi te, et ecce cens benedixisti tertio. Nunc ergo fuge in locum tuum :dix'i, honorabo te, et nunc fraudavit te Dnminus honore. Ostendit in iis, quia et Balach in. tellexerit non jam dmmonum ministerio decipi Balaam, sed Dei virtute ad meliora transferri, et ideo dicit: Dominusfraudavit te honore. Sed hac qu: plana sunt transcurrentes, ad sequentia veniamas. Et dixit Balaam ad Balach: Nonne et nuntiis tuis, quos misisti ad me, loeutus sum dicens: Si mihi dederit Balach plenam 3&0 domum suam argento et auro, non potero transgredi verbum Domini. fac cere illud bonum, aut malum apud Qucunque mihi dixerit Deus haec dicam. Et nunc cccc redeo in locum meum "‘. Sciens Balaam quod sua sibi per ministros solitos responsa deferrentur, sed ab eo qui haberet omnium potestatem, recte videtur protestatus non se posse verbum Domini transgredi, et facere ullum pusillum, aut magna: apud semetipsum. Non enim ille loquebatur ci,an υ posset sacrificiis et muneribus εει] iu: erat apud quem non est transmutatio. nec commatationis umbra “. Et ideo non potest sacerdos mercede mutari, ubi Deus muneribus non moretur. Discessurus tamen Balaam incipit iterum prophetare, et dicit“: Veni, consilium do tibi quid faciet populus hic populo tuo in novissimis diebus. Et assumpta parabola sua ait. Sed priusquam ad explanationem eorum quae prophetata sunt, veniamus, velim requirere quis iste sensus sit, quis ordo verborum, quod ait: Veni et consilium do tibi. Et consilii quidem nihil dare videtur, sed ait: Quid facturus sit populus hic populo tuo in novissimis diebus; cum utique convenientius dictum videretur, si diceret : Veni. propheto tibi quid facturus sit populus hic populo tuo in novissimis diebus;et esset utique consequentia, ut videretur Balaam prophetare de iis quae pepulus Israel facturus esset popqu Balach, vel cmtcris gentibus : et quod in virtute faciet ita ut non relinquat ex urbibus Moab ullum qui salvus llat. ### English translation (Claude) We now take in hand the fourth prophecy of those which Balaam spoke in the word of God, wishing to open up about it too whatever God may give. To this prophecy, however, as in the earlier ones, similar things are set before it by way of preface. For it says: “And Balak was angry with Balaam, and clapped his hands. And Balak said to Balaam: I called you to curse my enemy, and behold, you have blessed him three times. Now therefore flee to your place. I said, I will honour you; and now the Lord has deprived you of honour.” He shows in this that Balak too understood that Balaam was no longer being deceived by the service of demons but was being carried over to better things by the power of God; and therefore he says: “The Lord has deprived you of honour.” But passing quickly over these things, which are plain, let us come to what follows. “And Balaam said to Balak: Did I not also speak to your messengers whom you sent to me, saying: If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I shall not be able to transgress the word of the Lord, to do it, good or evil, of myself. Whatever God says to me, that I will say. And now, behold, I return to my place.” Balaam, knowing that his answers were brought to him not by his usual ministers but by him who had power over all things, rightly appears to have protested that he could not transgress the word of the Lord and do anything small or great of himself. For it was not one who could be swayed by sacrifices and gifts who was speaking to him, but he with whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration. And therefore the priest cannot be changed by a fee, where God is not moved by gifts. Yet as he is about to depart, Balaam begins to prophesy again and says: “Come, I give you counsel what this people will do to your people in the last days. And taking up his parable he said.” But before we come to the explanation of what was prophesied, I should like to ask what this sense is, what order of words, in his saying: “Come, and I give you counsel.” For he does not seem to give any counsel, but says what this people will do to your people in the last days; whereas it would certainly seem more fittingly said if he said: “Come, I prophesy to you what this people will do to your people in the last days”; and it would certainly follow that Balaam would seem to prophesy about what the people of Israel would do to the people of Balak or to the other nations: and that it will do it in power, so as to leave none of the cities of Moab who is saved. ### Scripture references - Num 24:10–14: quotation, high confidence - Jas 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 24:19: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 24:10–14; Jas 1:17. The last clause alludes to Num 24:17–19. - Two passages are garbled in the scan and translated by sense: “fac cere illud bonum, aut malum apud Qucunque” (read as facere illud bonum aut malum apud me; quaecunque) and “Non enim ille loquebatur ci,an υ posset sacrificiis et muneribus εει] iu: erat” (read as non enim ille loquebatur ei qui posset sacrificiis et muneribus flecti, sed is erat). A leaked reference (“Sap. vtt, "Jacob.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 18.1 (PG 12:712a–713a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 18.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-2 - Source: PG 12:713a–714a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen reads “I give you counsel” as “I make known to you God’s counsel,” comparing Paul’s “who has been his counsellor?”, which he applies to the Son and the Holy Spirit as sharers in the Father’s counsel. ### Latin text Sed et prophetia nihilominus quam de Christo c0njungit in consequentibus, et dicit διε Orietur stella ex Jacob, et exsurget homo ex Israel, et vastabit principes Moab, convenienter posita via deretur, si scriptum esset : Veni, et propheto tibi. Nunc autem quid dicemus ad hoc quod scriptum est : Veni, consilium tibi do quid faciet populus hic populo tuo? Bequiramus ergo quomodo intelligi debeat quod scriptum est: Consilium tibi do,» de quo saepe apud mentetipsum requirens, nullum potui exitum invenire sententia, si hoc quod ait: «Consilium tibi do, communi et usitato more dictum putemus. Sed illud magis vidi esse conveniens quod ait: «Consilium tibi do, ut ita dictum intelligatur: Consilium divinum quod in novissimis diebus implendum est, niihi nunc reve Lll'Jm, aperio tibi et manifesto, ut scias quid popnlns hic faciet popqu tuo. Et hoc modo stare mihi visum est posse quod ait : Consilium tibi do quid facturus est populus hic pepulo tuo; hoc est, ρ consilium Dei enuntio tibi et manifesto. Requirenti sane mihi sicubi [orte in Scripturis divinis sub hoc sermone simile aliquid dictum posset occurrere, visum est etiam et illud similiter advertendum quod Apostolus ait : Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini, aut quis ei consiliarius fuit?» Hic enim quis, non pro nullo, sed pro raro, vel eximio habetur. Quomodo enim non cognovit sensum Dei Unigenitus suus, qui dicit “z Nemo novit latrem, nisi Filius, et cui voluerit Filius revelare?» Quid est aliud scire Patrem, nisi scire et consilium ejus, et sensum? Sed et Spiritus sanctus qui scrutatur etiam alia Dei, quidni sensum ejus agnoscat? Agnoscit ergo etFilius, et Spiritus sanctus sensum Domini, et ii quibus voluerit Filius revelare. Quod Ῐ) si agnoscit Filius sensum Dei, est ergo et consiliatius ejus. Sed consiliarius non ita accipiendus est, quasi ignoranti ei quid agat, consilium det Filius, aut Spiritus sanctus; sed quod consilii, et voluntatis ejus particeps et sciens sit Filius, et Spiritus sanctus. Simili ergo modo et Balaam quia consilii quod ei revelaverat Deus, participem faciebat et gnarum Balach, ait: t Veni, consilium tibi do,» tanquam qui vere videns sit, et vere audierit verba Dei, sicut in consequentibus dicit " : Dixit audiens sermones Dei, sciens scientiam Excelsi, et visionem Dei videns in somnis, revelati oculi ejus. De iis omnibus jam superius diximus, quia et in przefatione tertia: prophetiae eadem scripta sunt. Hoc sane solum in prmsenti videtur additum quod ait: ‹ Sciens scientiam Excelsi. Hoc enim in superioribus non est dictum de Balaam : quod quidem nec facile de quoquam omnium sanctorum prophetarum scriptum esse deprehendi. ### English translation (Claude) But the prophecy too which he joins on about Christ in what follows, saying, “A star will rise out of Jacob, and a man will arise out of Israel, and will lay waste the princes of Moab,” would seem fittingly placed if it had been written: “Come, and I prophesy to you.” But now what shall we say to what is written: “Come, I give you counsel what this people will do to your people”? Let us inquire, then, how what is written, “I give you counsel,” ought to be understood. Often inquiring about this within myself, I could find no way out for the meaning if we think that “I give you counsel” is said in the common and usual way. But I saw that this was more fitting: that “I give you counsel” should be understood as said thus: The divine counsel which is to be fulfilled in the last days, now revealed to me, I open and make known to you, so that you may know what this people will do to your people. And in this way it seemed to me that the saying could stand: “I give you counsel what this people will do to your people”; that is, I announce and make known to you the counsel of God. As I inquired whether anywhere in the divine Scriptures something similar might perhaps be found said in this expression, it seemed to me that what the Apostle says should likewise be noticed: “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?” For here “who” is taken not for “no one,” but for “rare” or “exceptional.” For how has his Only-begotten not known the mind of God, he who says: “No one knows the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wishes to reveal him”? What else is it to know the Father than to know both his counsel and his mind? And the Holy Spirit too, who searches even the depths of God, how should he not know his mind? The Son, then, and the Holy Spirit know the mind of the Lord, and so do those to whom the Son wishes to reveal it. And if the Son knows the mind of God, he is therefore also his counsellor. But “counsellor” is not to be taken as if the Son or the Holy Spirit gives counsel to him as one ignorant of what he should do; but in the sense that the Son and the Holy Spirit share in and know his counsel and will. In a similar way, then, Balaam too, because he was making Balak a sharer in and knower of the counsel which God had revealed to him, says: “Come, I give you counsel,” as one who truly sees and has truly heard the words of God, as he says in what follows: “He said, hearing the words of God, knowing the knowledge of the Most High, and seeing the vision of God in sleep, his eyes uncovered.” We have already spoken above about all these things, since the same things are written in the preface of the third prophecy. Only this seems to be added in the present one, that he says, “knowing the knowledge of the Most High.” For this was not said of Balaam above; and indeed I have not found it easily written of any of all the holy prophets. ### Scripture references - Num 24:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 24:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:34: quotation, high confidence - Matt 11:27: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:10: allusion, high confidence - Num 24:16: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations: Num 24:17, 14, 16; Rom 11:34; Matt 11:27; 1 Cor 2:10 (where the Latin has “alia Dei,” read as alta, “the depths”). - Trinitarian language (the Son and Spirit as “counsellors” in the sense of sharing the Father’s counsel) is translated as written in Rufinus’s Latin. - A leaked footnote (““Matth: Exo Cod. Corbeiensis. «dictum, Libb. editi,i Parnm. Gn. ΧΠ.”) has swallowed the words “audiens ser-” of the quotation of Num 24:16; removed and the words restored. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 18.2 (PG 12:713a–714a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 18.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-3 - Source: PG 12:714a–716b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Balaam’s claim to “know the knowledge of the Most High” means that all skill and knowledge, from craftsmanship to medicine and divination, originates in God, though men and demons can turn it to evil, as Balaam did. ### Latin text Unde et valde miror quomodo hoc de Balaam scriptum est, cui nec hoc concessum estdicere, quod prophetis esse in usu solet, haec dicit Dominus; i sed ait: σ Dixit Balaam, dixit homo vere videns. Tum deinde et quomodo dignum erit tantum istud intelligi de Balaam, ut sciat scientiam Excelsi : qui etiam Balach regem docuerit quomodo scandalum mitteret coram filiis Israel. ut manducareut immolata, et foruicarentur? Vix enim de sanctis prophetis aut apostolis inveniet aliquis dictum, quia sciant scientiam Excelsi. Quamvis Paulus dixerit audisse se verba inenarrabilia quae non licet homini loqui , tamen non est professus habere se scientiam Excelsi. Propter quod diligentius intendamus si lorte dignum aliquid nobis Deus super boc sermone revelare dignabitur. In libro qui apud nos quidem inter Salomonis volumina haberi solet et Ecclesiasticus dici, apud Grazcos vero sapientia Jesu lilii Sirach appellatur, scriptum est : t Omnis sapientia a Deo est. Quod fortasse possumus ita intelligere, quasi a Deo sit et .illa sapientia mundi hujus, quae destruenda dicitur, et principum mundi hujus, et si qua alia est per quam falsa scientia commendatur: nisi in ipso libello in consequentibus diceretur"o : ‹ Non est enim sapientia, malitiae disciplina.» Per quod utique docet. quia omnis disciplina quae falsi aliquid asserit, etiamsi vehemens videatur, et verisimilis, et quae subverti dillicile possit, tamen nequaquam 341 hujusmodi scientia ad sapientia: titulum debeat applicari. Quid ergo est quod ait: Omnis sapientia a Deo est ? lllud mihi sensisse videtur, quia omnis peritia, quae vel erga artem aliquam usui humano necessaria habetur, vel cujuslibet rei scientia, sapientia dicatur a Domino data. Denique apud Job scriptum est ἰ : Quis dedit mulieribus texendi sapientiam, et varietatis disciplinam?» Sed et in Exodo "; Locutus est, inquit, Dominus ad Moysen dicens: Ecce vocavi nominatim Beselehel tilium Uri, lilii Οἳ, ex tribu Juda, .et replevi eum spiritu divino sapientiae, et intellectus, et disciplinae, ut in omni opere intelligat, et sit architectus ad operandum argentum, et aurum, et aes, et lapides repletiouis, et omnia opera fabrilia, et in ligno, ut operetur secundum omnia opera. quae ego dedi eum. Sed et Eliah filium Achisamach ex tribu Dan. Et dedi in cor omni prudenti intellectum, ut faciant omnia qum constitui tibi. Considera ergo ex iis omnibus quomodo a Domino est sapientia fabrilis, sive in auro, sive in argento, sive in alia quacunque materia, vel etiam textrini sapientia : et vide quia jure diei de iis omnibus potest, quod horum scientia ab Excelso sit. Quod si fabrilis scientia ab Excelso esse declaratur, quomodo non et geometrica, ex qua utique hrec scientia quam Scriptura architectonicam nominat, derivatur? Denique et in Zacharia funiculus geometricus dicitur 5', in quo dimetitur angelus Jerusalem : et ideo non puto absurdum videri, si etiam bare scientia dicatur Excelsi. Quid autem dicemus de musica, cujus omnem peritiam ita attigerat sapicntissimus David, ac totius melodize, et rhythmorum collegerat disciplinas ut ex, iis omnibus inveniret sonos, quibus posset etiam perturbatum regem vexatumque ab spiritu maligno psallendo mitigare? Unde non puto aliquem recti sensus, qui in horum omnium scientia neget, quia omnis sapientia a Domino est. Jam vero 'de medicinae scientia nee dubitari puto. Si enim est ulla scientia a Deo, quae magis ab eo erit quam scientia sanitatis, in qua etiam herbarum vires, et succorum qualitates, ac differentia: dignoscuntur? Igitur ex his omnibus colligitur quod etiam hujus Balaam scientia, pro qua accersitus est ex Mesopotamia; montibus ab oriente ut malediceret Iacob, ‘habeat qui- ί dem initia etForiginem ab Excelsa, et inde sitei agnitio qua didicerit vel naturas animalium, vel , motus avium, vel differentias vocum : sed ea qua) ad scientiam bonorum acceperit, contulisse se ad usum malorunt. Quod mihi simile videtur, quasi si is qui medicinam didicerit, et herbarum vires ac temperamenta cognoverit, medendi sine dubio gratia a Deo hominibus data, convertere velit propositum: et omni scientia quae ad salutem corporum praestita est, utatur ad malum, et pro medico venenarius Iiat, pro remediis morbos, pro sanitatibus inferat mortes. Ut autem amplius intelligamus adhuc totius scientiae sapientiam a Deo originem trahere, ab hominibus autem mali propositi, vel etiam a dzemonibus corruptelas quasdam sapientiae ι) Dei admiscentibus declinari ad malum : relegamus ea, quae in Daniele scripta sunt de ipso Daniele et tribus amicis ejus, quos Nabuchodonosor rex tribus annis erudiendos tradidit, volens eos in sua, id est patria et Babyloniorum sapientia scientissimos fieri. lbi ergo scriptum est , quia dedit eis Dominus scientiam et intellectum, et prudentiam in omni arte grammatica, et Danieli dedit intellectum in omni verbo, et visione, et somniis: et erantapud regem : et in omni verbo et prudentia, et disciplina, in qui- buscunque quaesivit ab eis rex invenit eos decuplo amplius quam erant scpltistae et phil050phi, qui erant in omni regno ejus. Et [nec quidem in exemplaribus Septuaginta interpretum habentur: in Hebraeorum vero codicibus aliquid etiam rebementius reperi, quibus quamvis non utamur, tamen agnoscendi gratia dicemus etiam ibi quae legimus: t Dedit, inquit, Deus intellectum et prudentiam in omni grammatica sapientia, et Daniel intellexit iu omni visione, et somniis. Et post pauca : Etsteterunt, inquit, in conspectu regis, et inomni verbo sapientiae, et disciplinae, in quo quaesivit ab eis rex, invenit in eis decuplo super omnes incantatores et magos, qui erant in omni regno ejus. Ex iis ergo ’ἢ omnibus potest intelligi quomodo et Balaam dixerit de semetipso, qui scit scientiam Excelsi, seilicet ut intelligatur quod origo tutius scientia: ab ipso acceperit exordium : vitio autem humana malitiae,aspirantibus et subripientibus etiam damonilnts, in perniciem versa sint quae pro utilitate concessa sunt. llaec de eo quod dixit, sciens scientiam Excelsi, a nobis pro viribus discussa sint. ### English translation (Claude) Hence I greatly wonder how this was written of Balaam, who was not even granted to say what the prophets are accustomed to use, “Thus says the Lord,” but says: “Balaam said, the man who truly sees said.” And then, how will it be fitting to understand so great a thing of Balaam, that he knows the knowledge of the Most High, he who even taught King Balak how to set a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they should eat things sacrificed and commit sexual immorality? For hardly will anyone find it said even of the holy prophets or apostles that they know the knowledge of the Most High. Although Paul said that he had heard unspeakable words which it is not lawful for a man to speak, yet he did not profess to have the knowledge of the Most High. Therefore let us pay closer attention, in case God may perhaps deign to reveal to us something worthy about this saying. In the book which among us is usually counted among the volumes of Solomon and called Ecclesiasticus, but among the Greeks is called the Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, it is written: “All wisdom is from God.” This we could perhaps understand as if that wisdom of this world, which is said to be destroyed, and that of the rulers of this world, and any other through which false knowledge is commended, were also from God; were it not that in the same book it is said in what follows: “For the teaching of wickedness is not wisdom.” By this he certainly teaches that every teaching which asserts something false, even if it seems forceful and plausible and hard to overturn, must nevertheless by no means have knowledge of this kind given the title of wisdom. What, then, does he mean by saying, “All wisdom is from God”? He seems to me to have meant this: that every skill which is held necessary for human use in some art, or the knowledge of any thing, is called wisdom given by the Lord. Thus in Job it is written: “Who gave women wisdom in weaving and skill in embroidery?” And in Exodus: “The Lord spoke,” it says, “to Moses, saying: Behold, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the divine spirit of wisdom and understanding and skill, so that he may understand in every work and be a master builder to work silver and gold and bronze, and stones for setting, and all works of craftsmanship, and in wood, to work in all works. And I have given him Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. And I have given understanding into the heart of everyone who is wise, that they may make all that I have appointed for you.” Consider, then, from all these how the wisdom of craftsmanship, whether in gold or silver or any other material, or even the wisdom of weaving, is from the Lord; and see that it can rightly be said of all these that the knowledge of them is from the Most High. And if the craftsman’s knowledge is declared to be from the Most High, how not also geometry, from which this knowledge which Scripture calls architectural is certainly derived? Indeed in Zechariah too a measuring line is spoken of, with which the angel measures Jerusalem; and therefore I do not think it would seem absurd if this knowledge too were said to be of the Most High. And what shall we say of music, all the skill of which the most wise David had so mastered, and had so gathered the disciplines of all melody and rhythms, that from all of them he found the sounds by which, through playing the psaltery, he could soothe even the king when he was disturbed and troubled by an evil spirit? Hence I do not think that anyone of right mind would deny, in the knowledge of all these things, that all wisdom is from the Lord. As for the knowledge of medicine, I think there can be no doubt. For if any knowledge is from God, which will be more from him than the knowledge of health, in which the powers of herbs and the qualities and differences of juices are discerned? From all these, then, it is gathered that this Balaam’s knowledge too, for which he was summoned from Mesopotamia, from the mountains of the east, to curse Jacob, has indeed its beginnings and origin from the Most High, and that from there came his acquaintance by which he learned either the natures of animals, or the movements of birds, or the differences of sounds; but that what he received for the knowledge of good things he turned to the use of evil things. This seems to me similar to the case of someone who has learned medicine and come to know the powers and mixtures of herbs, the grace of healing given without doubt to men by God, and wishes to turn his purpose around: and uses for evil all the knowledge that was granted for the health of bodies, and becomes a poisoner instead of a physician, bringing diseases instead of remedies, deaths instead of cures. And so that we may understand still more that the wisdom of all knowledge draws its origin from God, but is turned aside to evil by men of evil purpose, or also by demons who mix certain corruptions into the wisdom of God, let us read again what is written in Daniel about Daniel himself and his three friends, whom King Nebuchadnezzar handed over to be educated for three years, wishing them to become most learned in his own wisdom, that is, the native wisdom of the Babylonians. There, then, it is written that the Lord gave them knowledge and understanding and prudence in every art of letters, and to Daniel he gave understanding in every word and vision and dreams; and they stood before the king; and in every word and prudence and learning about which the king asked them, he found them ten times more than the sophists and philosophers who were in all his kingdom. And these things are found in the copies of the Seventy translators; but in the books of the Hebrews I have found something even stronger, and although we do not use them, yet for the sake of information we will also say what we read there: “God gave,” it says, “understanding and prudence in all the wisdom of letters, and Daniel understood in every vision and dreams.” And a little later: “And they stood,” it says, “in the sight of the king; and in every word of wisdom and learning about which the king asked them, he found in them ten times more than all the enchanters and magicians who were in all his kingdom.” From all these, then, it can be understood how Balaam too said of himself that he knows the knowledge of the Most High: namely, so that it is understood that the origin of all knowledge took its beginning from him; but that through the fault of human wickedness, with demons too breathing on it and creeping in, the things granted for benefit were turned to ruin. Let this have been discussed by us, according to our strength, about his saying, “knowing the knowledge of the Most High.” ### Scripture references - Num 24:16: quotation, high confidence - Rev 2:14: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:16: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 12:4: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:20: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:6: allusion, medium confidence - Job 38:36: quotation, medium confidence - Exod 31:1–6: quotation, high confidence - Zech 2:1–2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 16:23: allusion, high confidence - Num 23:7: allusion, high confidence - Dan 1:17–20: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 1:1 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence - Sir 19:22 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:16; Rev 2:14 (Balaam’s counsel, cf. Num 31:16); 2 Cor 12:4; Sir 1:1; 1 Cor 1:20; 2:6; Sir 19:22; Job 38:36 (Greek); Exod 31:1–6; Zech 2:1–2; 1 Sam 16:23; Num 23:7; Dan 1:17–20 (first in the Septuagint form, then in a form Origen says is in the Hebrew, in fact close to Theodotion). - Origen says the church counts Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) among the books of Solomon; translated as written. - A leaked marginal reference (“ad txxi, l, 2, 5, 4, 5, 6.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 18.3 (PG 12:714a–716b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 18.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-4 - Source: PG 12:716b–719a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The star out of Jacob is the star of the Magi, which remained on Christ as a sign of his divinity, while the man out of Israel signifies his humanity; Christ destroys the demonic princes, takes humanity as his plunder, makes even the flesh an heir, and saves those whom he “destroys” by setting them free from the world. ### Latin text Post haec ait : Visionem Dei videns in somnis, revelati oculi ejus. › De iis sufficienter iu tertia visione dissertum est, et eadem repetere otiosum est. Videamus ergo quid est quod in cansequentibus dicit : Ostendam ei, et non modo. beatificabo, et non appropinquat. In aliis quidem exemplaribus legimus, ‹ videbo cum. sed non modo. Quod si recipiatur, facilius intelligi putabitur: ut Christum, de quo in consequentibus dicit : σ _Orietur stella ex Iacob, et exsurget homo de Israel, videndum dicat esse, sed non modo; hoc est, non eo tempore, quo ista loquebatur. In novissimis enim diebus, ε ubi venit ple. nitudo temporis, misit Deus Filium suum “. Sed si secundum hoc quod nos habemus in exemleribus, legendum sit, hoc est: Ostendam illi, et non modo; beatificabo, ct non appmpinquat; non ad hunc Balaam, per quem hac dio cuntur, sed ad illos quorum personam in hoc diximus, refertur. Illi enim doctores legis et scribe ostendent Christum in lege et prophetis prophetalum, sed non modo. Hoc est, non eo tempore quo venit, sed cum plenitudo gentium introierit, et cn- .omnis Israel salvari incipiet, tunc eum ostendent. et tunc beatificabunt, quem modo blasphemant. Sed hoc tempus in quo haec futura sunt, non ar propinquat : longe enim est, et in ipso saculi te: Sperandum. Et ideo ait, ‹ Ostendam illi, et eos modo: illi, hoc est papqu qui tunc salvabitar. .Post haec, Orietur, inquit, stella ex Jacob. τι exsurget homo ex Israel. De his et in superioribus diximus, quia evidenter de stella, quae Magis in oriente apparuit, prophetetur; qua duce venerunt ad Judaeam, requirentes eum qui natus est rex Israel, et repertum oblatis muneribus adora. verunt. Sed movet me, quod de ipsa stella posteaquam dictum est in Evangelio , quia praecesserit magos usque in Bethlchem, et veniens stetit supra ubi puer erat, ultra non sit dictum, quia vel discesserit inde, vel evanuerit, vel assumpta sit, ant aliquid omnino de hoc narratio evangelica designaverit ε scd hoc tantum dixerit, quia venit, et stetit supra ubi erat puer. › Ne forte ergo sicut tempore baptismi, cum baptizatus Iesus ascendit de Jordane, aperti suntei et viditloannes Spiritum Dei descendentem quasi columbam, et manentem super eum, et audivit vocem dicentem de caelo ; Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo bene complacui; ita et stella haec, quae venit supra ubi erat puer, et stetit, in Christo similiter permansit, sicut et Spiritus sanctus in specie columba: venisse dicitur, et mansisse in eo. Et sicut venisse Spiritum Dei super eum, et mansisse in eo, ita accipimus quod nunquam ab eo recesserit Spiritus Dei; et ita de stella quae venit, et stetit super eum, accipiendum puto quod sic steterit super eum, ut nunquam inde meta sit. Et ideo deitatis ejus indicium illam stellam fuisse opinor. Unde et ordo prophetia: haec eadem consequenter ostendit, cum de deitate quidem ejus dicit: Orietur stella ex Iacob; de humana vero natura : Et exsurget homo ex Israel , ιιι in utroque et secundum deitatem, et secundum humanitatem Christus prophetatus evidenter appareat. Et vastabit principes Moab “. Moab quidem gens est, cujus principes neu alios esse, quam spiritales nequitias et principatus illos adversum quos nobis luctamen est, intelligimus. Hos ergo iste homo ex Israel vastavit, :utn exuit principatus et potestates, afligens illos cruci suae. Neque enim poterat salvare Moabitas, ξι ad Dei agnitionem perducere,uisi principes illos, in eis dominationem impietatis tenuerant, dcrastasset. Et praedabitur omnes filios Seth “. Seth [ilius est Adam, de quo Eva dixit cum natus asset : Suscitavit enim mihi Deus semen aliud )ro Abel quem occidit Cain. Iste εει ergo Seth, ἐκ quo omne humanum in hoc mundoiducitur ;enus. Nam de Cain qui nati I'uerant,diluvioper' erunt. Filii ergo sunt Seth omnes homines, qui hoc mundo sunt. Etcum dicitur, depraedabitur mines filios Seth, praedam sic accipe, sicut in uperioribus interpretati sumus , ubi scriptum ist “: Edct gentes inimicorum suorum: et ubi atulo leonis et leoni comparatur. Et hic ergo in trzedarr. accipit omnes Iilios Seth. Victis adversariis aemouibus, eos qui sub ipsorumdominatione terebantur, Christus quasi praedam victoriae suae de eo scriptum est “, quia ascendens in altum captivam duxit captivitatem. Captivitatem scilicet illam humani generis, quam diabolus ad perditionem ceperat, iste rursus captivam duxit, et a morte revocavit ad vitam. Utinam ergo tne et captivum habeat semper Christus Jesus, et me ducat in prmdam suam, et ego tenear ejus vinculis alligatus: ut et ego dici merear vinctus Jesu Christi, sicut Paulus de semetipso gloriatur εδδ-. Et erit Edom Itazreditas ejus, Esau inimicus ejus . Edom idem est, qui Esau. Hic secundum historiam quidem initnicus est Israel, sed in adventu, inquit, Christi etiam ipse hacreditas ejus erit : hoc est recipietur ad fidem, nec excludetur ab Increditate Christi. Si vero spiritaliter advertamus, Edom caro intelligitur, quae adversatur Spiritui, et est inimica. In adventu autent Christi, cum subjecta fuerit caro spiritui. per resurrectionis spem etiam ipsa ad haereditatem veniet. Non enim sola anima, sed et caro, quae aliquando fuerat inimica, per obedientiam spiritus consors futurae Increditatis exsistet. Et Israel fecit in virtutem θ’. Hoc est quod dicit, quia tunc Edom, vel Esau, hoc est carnis natura in baereditatis societatem vocabitur, cum Israel, anima videlicet facta fuerit in virtutem, et decenter fuerit repleta virtutibus. Si enim anima non veniat ad virtutes, sed in ignavia perseveret, nec caro ad haereditatem veniet, sed ad iudicium illius, qui potest animant et corpus perdere in gehennam . «Et exsurget ex Jacob, et perdet liberatum de civitate τί. Ille, inquit, qui ettsurgit ut stella ex Jacob, perdet liberatum de civitate. Non in hoc solum, sed in omni pene prophetico stilo quae dicuntur, involuto satis et obscuro sermone dicuntur. Non enim placuit sancto Spiritui, qui de iis scribi voluit, ut palam haec et pedibus, ut ita dicam, imperitorqu conculcanda ponerentur: sed ita providit, ut cum publice haberi videantur, sermonum tamen obscuritate recondita in arcanis, et in secretis obtecta 343 serventur. Et nunc ergo quod ait :tPerdet liberatum de civitate, nisi ad consuetudinem propheticam respicias , de qua dicitur, omnis praphetia 01'0" Propria consulte. Valde difficilis videbitur intellectus. Videamus tamen si forte hoc modo poterit explanari. Civitatem hic mundum intelligamus , sicut et in Evangeliis dicitur " de luxurioso lilio, qui dilapidavit substantiam patris; quia accessit, inquit, ad quemdam primarium civitatis in regione illa: a quo receptus, in agrum mittitur porcos pascere. Et lucc ergo civitas, cujus ille primarius erat , mundus hic intelligitur. Igitur de hac civitate liberatum , hoc est quem liberat Christus de hoc mundo, perdit eum. Dicit enim ei quia: Qui perdet animam suam propter me, salvam faciet eam. Salutari ergo perditione perdit .lesus eum, quem de hujus mundi civitate liberaverit. Et nos itaque si ad salutem venire volumus, et de hoc mundo liberari, perdere debemus animas nostras perditione utili, et necessaria. Perdit enim animam secundum Christum , qui desideria ejus refrenat , qui cupiditates ejus resecat, qui luxuriam ejus resolutionemque castigat, et in rutilo prorsus facit voluntatem suam , sed voluntatem Dei: et per haec perire dicitur anima. Periit namque vita ejus prior, et incipit novam vitam, quae in Christo est, ducere. Simile autem huic dicto etiam illud est : Si commorimur, et convivemus. Et illud 7‘: Si autem mortui estis ab elementis hujus mundi, quomodo velut viventes in hoc mundo decernitis? Necessario ergo etiam in his declaratur quia perdidit animam suam in hoc mundo, qui cum Christo moritur: et qui hic eam perdiderit, inveniet eam "ibi sine dubio , ubi dicit Apostolus , quia s vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo; cui gloria in aeterna satcula stimulorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After this he says: “Seeing the vision of God in sleep, his eyes uncovered.” About this there was sufficient discussion in the third vision, and it is idle to repeat the same things. Let us see, then, what it is that he says in what follows: “I will show him, and not now; I will call him blessed, and he does not draw near.” In other copies we read, “I will see him, but not now.” If this is accepted, it will be thought easier to understand: that he says that Christ, of whom he says in what follows, “A star will rise out of Jacob, and a man will arise out of Israel,” is to be seen, but not now; that is, not at the time when he was saying these things. For in the last days, “when the fullness of time came, God sent his Son.” But if it is to be read according to what we have in the copies, that is, “I will show him, and not now; I will call him blessed, and he does not draw near,” it refers not to this Balaam through whom these things are said, but to those whose part we said he plays in this. For those teachers of the law and scribes will show Christ prophesied in the law and the prophets, but not now: that is, not at the time when he came, but when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and all Israel begins to be saved, then they will show him, and then they will call blessed the one whom they now blaspheme. But this time in which these things are to be does not draw near: for it is far off, and to be hoped for at the very end of the age. And therefore he says, “I will show him, and not now”: “him,” that is, the people which will be saved then. After this: “A star,” it says, “will rise out of Jacob, and a man will arise out of Israel.” Of these things we spoke above too: that it is plainly prophesied of the star which appeared to the Magi in the east, under whose guidance they came to Judaea seeking him who was born King of Israel, and, having found him, offered gifts and worshipped him. But it moves me that, after it has been said of this star in the Gospel that it went before the Magi as far as Bethlehem, and came and stood over where the child was, it is not said further that it either departed from there, or vanished, or was taken up, or that the Gospel narrative indicated anything at all about this; but it said only this, that it came and stood over where the child was. Perhaps, then, just as at the time of the baptism, when Jesus, having been baptized, came up from the Jordan, the heavens were opened to him and John saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and remaining on him, and heard a voice saying from heaven, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased”; so too this star, which came over where the child was and stood, likewise remained in Christ, just as the Holy Spirit too is said to have come in the form of a dove and to have remained on him. And just as we take it that the Spirit of God came upon him and remained on him in such a way that the Spirit of God never withdrew from him, so I think it is to be taken of the star which came and stood over him, that it so stood over him that it never moved from there. And therefore I think that star was a sign of his divinity. Hence the order of this prophecy too shows the same consistently, when it says of his divinity, “A star will rise out of Jacob,” and of his human nature, “And a man will arise out of Israel,” so that Christ may plainly appear prophesied in both, according to his divinity and according to his humanity. “And he will lay waste the princes of Moab.” Moab is indeed a nation, whose princes we understand to be none other than the spiritual forces of wickedness and those principalities against which we have our wrestling. These, then, this man out of Israel laid waste when he stripped the principalities and powers, nailing them to his cross. For he could not save the Moabites and lead them to the knowledge of God unless he had laid waste those princes who had held the dominion of impiety in them. “And he will plunder all the sons of Seth.” Seth is the son of Adam, of whom Eve said when he was born: “For God has raised up for me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” This Seth, then, is the one from whom the whole human race in this world is descended. For those who had been born of Cain perished in the flood. All men, then, who are in this world are sons of Seth. And when it is said, “he will plunder all the sons of Seth,” take the plunder as we interpreted above, where it is written, “He will eat the nations of his enemies,” and where he is compared to a lion’s whelp and a lion. Here too, then, he takes all the sons of Seth as plunder. Having conquered the opposing demons, Christ carried off as the plunder of his victory those who were oppressed under their dominion, as it is written of him that ascending on high he led captivity captive: that captivity, namely, of the human race which the devil had captured for perdition, he in turn led captive and called back from death to life. Would, then, that Christ Jesus may always hold me too as a captive, and lead me as his plunder, and that I may be held bound by his chains, so that I too may deserve to be called a prisoner of Jesus Christ, as Paul glories of himself. “And Edom will be his inheritance; Esau is his enemy.” Edom is the same as Esau. According to the literal account he is the enemy of Israel, but at the coming of Christ, it says, he too will be his inheritance: that is, he will be received into faith and not shut out from the inheritance of Christ. But if we consider it spiritually, Edom is understood as the flesh, which opposes the Spirit and is hostile. But at the coming of Christ, when the flesh has been subjected to the spirit, it too will come to the inheritance through the hope of the resurrection. For not the soul alone, but also the flesh, which was once hostile, will through obedience to the spirit become a sharer of the future inheritance. “And Israel has acted in power.” This is what he means: that Edom or Esau, that is, the nature of the flesh, will be called into the fellowship of the inheritance when Israel, that is, the soul, has acted in power and has been fittingly filled with virtues. For if the soul does not come to virtues but persists in sloth, neither will the flesh come to the inheritance, but to the judgment of him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. “And he will arise out of Jacob, and will destroy the one set free from the city.” He, it says, who arises like a star out of Jacob will destroy the one set free from the city. Not only in this, but in almost every prophetic style, the things said are said in a speech quite involved and obscure. For it did not please the Holy Spirit, who willed these things to be written, that they should be set out openly and, so to speak, to be trampled underfoot by the unskilled; but he so provided that, though they seem to be held publicly, yet by the obscurity of the words they are kept hidden in the mysteries and covered in secret. And now, then, what he says, “He will destroy the one set free from the city,” will seem very difficult to understand unless you look to the prophetic custom, of which it is said, “No prophecy is a matter of one’s own interpretation.” Let us see, however, whether it can perhaps be explained in this way. Let us understand the city here as the world, as also in the Gospels it is said of the prodigal son who squandered his father’s substance, that he went, it says, to one of the chief men of the city in that region, and, received by him, is sent into the field to feed pigs. Here too, then, this city, of which that man was a chief citizen, is understood as this world. From this city, then, the one set free, that is, the one whom Christ sets free from this world, he destroys. For he says to him: “Whoever loses his soul for my sake will save it.” With a saving destruction, then, Jesus destroys the one whom he has set free from the city of this world. And we too, therefore, if we wish to come to salvation and be set free from this world, must destroy our souls with a useful and necessary destruction. For he loses his soul according to Christ who reins in its desires, who cuts off its cravings, who chastises its luxury and dissoluteness, and does in nothing at all his own will, but the will of God: and through these things the soul is said to perish. For its former life has perished, and it begins to lead the new life which is in Christ. Like this saying is also that one: “If we die with him, we shall also live with him.” And that other: “But if you have died to the elements of this world, why, as though living in this world, do you submit to decrees?” Necessarily, then, it is declared in these too that he has lost his soul in this world who dies with Christ; and he who has lost it here will find it, without doubt, there where the Apostle says that “your life is hidden with Christ in God,” to whom be glory for eternal ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 24:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:4: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:25–26: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:1–2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 2:9–11: allusion, high confidence - Matt 3:16–17: quotation, high confidence - John 1:32–33: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:14–15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 4:25: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:18 (67:19 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Eph 3:1: allusion, high confidence - Num 24:18–19: quotation, high confidence - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:28: allusion, high confidence - 2 Pet 1:20: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 15:13–15: allusion, high confidence - Luke 9:24: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 2:11: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:20: quotation, high confidence - Col 3:3: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:16–19; Gal 4:4; Rom 11:25–26; Matt 2:1–2, 9–11; Matt 3:16–17; John 1:32–33; Eph 6:12; Col 2:14–15; Gen 4:25; Eph 4:8 (Ps 68:18); Eph 3:1; Gal 5:17; Matt 10:28; 2 Pet 1:20; Luke 15:13–15; Luke 9:24; 2 Tim 2:11; Col 2:20; Col 3:3. Origen notes two readings of Num 24:17 (“I will show him” and “I will see him”). - Words lost in the scan after “de stella qua!” (where leaked references stand) are supplied from Baehrens's edition. After “Dicit enim” the quotation of Luke 9:24, lost under leaked references, is supplied from Baehrens's edition. “Praedam victoriae suae” lacks its verb; “carried off” is supplied. The garbled “omnis praphetia 01'0" Propria consulte” is translated as 2 Pet 1:20. - Origen’s reading of the scribes’ future recognition of Christ refers to the Jewish people; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 18.4 (PG 12:716b–719a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/17-6/#p-18-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 19.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-1 - Source: PG 12:719a–723a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen gathers the scriptural accounts of Amalek, whose name means “licking up” or “turning aside the people,” and reads him as the invisible opposing power that must be conquered, through holiness, prayer, and pressing forward, before one reaches the kingdom. ### Latin text Quinta htec nobis, eademque ultima Balaam visio discutitur , de qua similiter ut in caeteris Dominum deprecemur , qui in fine non deserat, ut possimus hujus quoque visionis sensum haud procul a veritate captare. Est ergo initium ejus in iis verbis: ‹ Et cum videret, inquit τ’, Balaam Amalec, assumens parabolam suam dixit : Initium gentium Amalec, et semen eorum peribit. Necessarium mihi videtur requirere in Scripturis divinis, quibus in locis vel quo in tempore nomen Amalec scriptum sit: quove ex genere gens ista descenderit. Facilius enim quod quaeritur, agnoscetur, si ex pluribus locis, quae de eadem re scripta sunt, proferantur. lgitur in Genesis lectione ubi quinque reges convenerunt ut expugnarent quatuor reges qui regnabant in Sodomis, post aliquanta ita refertur : t Et regressi, inquit , venerunt adlontem judicii, hic est Cades, et interfecerunt omnes principes Amalec, et Amorrhreos qui habitabant in Sasanminatum. Sed requiratur fortassis utrum duae gentes ejusdem nominis habeantur, quoniam quidem et in catalogo filiorum Esau , et ducum qui ex ejus " scriptum est '9 : Ista: sunt autem generationes Esau patris Edom , in monte Seir , et haec uomitu filiorum Esau , Eliphas filius Ada uxoris Esau, et Raguel filius Ba’semath uxoris Esau. Fuerunt autem filii Eliphas, Theman, Sophar, Gothum, Cenes: Tharnnas autem fuit concubina Eliphas Elii Esau , et hare peperit Amalec ipsi Eliphas , et isti sunt filii Ada uxoris Esau. Et post pauca: Et ii sunt, inquit, duces ex filiis Esau. Filii Eliphas. qui fuit primogenitus lilii Esau. Dux Theman, dux Clio mor, dux Sophar, dux Cenes, dux Core, dus Gothom, dux Amalec. ) Hic igitur Amalec, filius fuit Eliphas primogeniti Esau , natus ex concubina aemine Thamna. Sed redeatnus ad primam de Amalec commemorationem , ubi ii qui reversi sunt, et venerunt ad {unum judicii , qui vocatur Gades, iaterficiunt omnes principes Amalec. Cades eui iaterpretatur sanctificatio, vel sanctum; Amalec vers interpretatur ablingens populum, vel declinans papalum. igitur ii qui revertuntur ad sanctum, et convertunt se ad sanctificationem , interficiunt et perimunt Amalec, illum scilicet qui ablingit populum vel declinat p0pulum. Quis autem alius est qui declinat populum a Deo , nisi virtus contraria , et nequitiae spiritales? Horum ergo principes qui sunt? Illi sine dubio principatus adversum quos sanctis est colluctatio. Adversum principatus enim et pata states, et mundi hujus rectores sunt eis agones“: quos tamen superare non potuerunt, nisi coam. tantur ad sanctimoniam. in ipsa tamen sanctimonia, qute est Cadcs, forts est judicii. Omnis enim qui se ad sanctimoniam convertit, habet semper ante oculos suos fontem judicii. Prospicit enim judicii diem , et purilicato corde tam malorum pcnas quam piorum beatitudines contuetur: et hac faciens omnes Amalecitarum principes prosternit et 34A. dejicit. Si quis autem non se converterit ad Cades , id est ad sanctilicationem , fontemque judicii, neque futurum judicii cogitatdiem, isti subjecti sunt principibus Amalec. Hunc enim ablingit et consumit, et talem populum declinat a Den. llaec ad illum primum referantur Amalec. Nunc autem videamus et istum Amalec filiuni ειιphas primogeniti Esau quem peperit ei Tinam-ss concubina sua, cujus pater est Eliphas , qui interpretatur Deus me dispersit : mater autem Thaumas , quae et ipsa primo quidem est degener, deinde interpretatur defectio commota: ut neeessario utique qui ab his talibus gignitur, hostis sit Israel , ablingens , vel declinans populum. Primus enim ipse Hebrmos egressos ex IEgyplo bello aggressus est in Raphidin, tunc eum Moyses ait ad Jesum": α Elige tibi viros , et exi, et conflige eum Amalec crastino , et ecce ego sto in vertice collis, et virga Dei in manu mea erit. Et fecit Jesus sicut divit ei Moyses, et conflixit cum Amalec: Moyses autem,etAaron, et Ur ascenderunt in verticem eollis: et factum est, ut cum levaret manus Moyses, invalesceret Israel: cum autem deponeret manus snas, invalescebat Amalec. υ Et post pauca iterum scriptum est quia fugaverit Jesus Amalec , et populum eius gladio deiecerit: tunc enim Dominus dixit ad Moysen ε Conscribe lucc ad memoriam in libro, et da in auribus Jesu: quia delens delebo memoriam Amalec de sub cmlo. Et aedificavit Moyses altare , et nominavit nomen ejus , Dominus refugiam meum: et ait: Quia in manu occulta Dominus expugnat Amalec a generatione in generationem. lntellige ex hoc evidentius quid debeat intelligi Amalec, quem manu occulta , id est, invisibili, expugnare dicitur Deus a generatione in generationem. Sed in Deuteronomio ita scriptum est 8’: tMemento quanta tibi fecerit Amalec in via cum exisses de Egypto, quomodo obstitit tibi in via, et excidit caudam tuam , omnes qui laborabant post te. τυ autem esuriebas et. laborabas, et non timuisti Deum. Observa ergo et in iis quomodo Amalec ο obstitit Israel in via, sed tamen non potuit caput eius abscindere , nisi caudam tantum: id est eos potuit obtinere , qui retro positi erant, qui ultimi sequebantur, nec ea quae retro erant obliviscentes, extendebant se ad ea quas in ante sunt. Et ideo puto quia Dominus praecipiebat in Evangeliis dicens": Nemo mittens manum suam super aratrum, et retro respiciens, aptus est regno Dei. » Et merito: si enim retro quis inventus fuerit in cauda, abscindet eum Amalec. Sed et aliam adhuc de Amalec historiam proferamus , ut ex pluribus Scriptura: lacis clarius quod quaerimus advertatur. ln primo Regnorum libro ait Samuel ad Saul ε Misit me Dominus ungere te regem super populum suum lsrael , et nunc audi vocem verborum Domini. Haec dicit Dominus virtutum : Recogitavi omnia quae fecit Amalec adversum lsracl, quomodo percussit cum in via cum ascenderet ex )Egypto. Nunc ergo “de. ct percute Amalec , et anatliematiza omnia quacunque habet, et non parcas, sed interfice omnes, 3 viro usque ad mulierem , et parvulos , et lactantes et tauros et greges ovium et camelos et asinos. Et praecepit Saul populo, et lacten- Galaad ducenta millia peditum, et tria millia virurum ex Juda , et venit Saul ad civitatem Amalec , et insidias posuit in valle, et ait Saul ad Cineum : Vade tu, et discede de medio Amalec, ne forte et tu' adjiciaris cum ipso. Tu enim fecisti misericordiam cum omnibus filiis Israel , cum ascenderent de terra Egypti. Et discessit Cineus de medio Amalec, et percussit Saul Amalec, ab Evilat usque Sur, quae est contra faciem Egypti , et cepit Agag regem Amalec vivum, et omnem populum ejus anatbematizavit in ore gladii, et pepercit Saul et populus regi Agag , et servavit omne quod bonum erat ex ovibus et bobus, sed et quae fecunda erant ex omnibus pecoribus bonis, et noluerunt ea exterminare, sed omne quod fuit contemptibile et despectum, ltoc anathematizaverunt. Et factus est sermo Domini ad Samuelem dicens: Paenitet me, quia unxerim Saul in regem. Et bie ergo observa quomodo Deus per prophetam regi Saul praecipit ut expugnet Amalec, etnon parcat cuiquam ex eis : et quo. niam pepercit regi Amalec Agag. offensam incurrit ineXpialiilem, ita ut eousque permoveret Deum , ut contra quam recipit illa natura diceret: t Paenitet me quod unxi Saul in regem. Non ergo expedit nobis parcere illi, qui declinat populum, vel ablingit, et devorat: illi scilicet invisibili Amalec , qui volentibus ascendere de Egypto, et de mundi hujus evadere tenebris, atque ad terram repromissionis ascendere , resistit in via, et impugnat nos. et si invenerit nos lassos ac defessos, et retro respicientes, atque in ultimis et in cauda positos, abscindit nos et perimit. Et ideo tentandum semper in ante est, et ad pr0pria festinandum, inm et in verticem montis ascendendum , et semper levanda: sunt in orationibus ad coelum manus, ut ita demum vincatur Amalec et cadat. Vis autem scire quoniam non transitur ad terram sanctam, neque pervenitur ad regnum, nisi prius vincatur Amalec ἲ David cum multa bella gessisset, et contra Allnphylos fuissent 345 ei acerrimi frequentesque conflictus, non tamen scribitur obtinuisse regnum, nisi prius edomuissct Amalec. Ait enim Scriptura ε ‹ Et regressus est David posteaquam cecidit Amalec, et ’ suscepit regnum Saul; cum tamen ipse Amalec Ι) describatur multas prius strages fecisse in populo Israel, et urbes eorum incendisse quamplurimas. Vere enim ante adventum veri David, illius qui natus est ex semine David secundum carnem, multas strages spiritales Amalceitte , quae sunt contrariae virtutes, fecerunt in populo Israel. Sed et ipsius David captivarunt, inquit , duas uxores. Judaeum puto primum, et secundum gentilem populum dici : et Judaeos enim et gentiles omnes constat sub peccato fuisse conclusos. Sed non in his rerum exitus mansit. Adveniens enim David audi quid faciat. Et invenit, inquit, David dispersos Amalecitas manducantes, et bibentes. et exsultantes pro praeda quam abstulerant :et cecidit, inquit, eosa prima nocte usque ad vesperam in crastinum ". Et post hanc caedem Amalecitarum, regressus suscepit regnum. ### English translation (Claude) The fifth and likewise the last vision of Balaam is now discussed by us. About it, as with the others, let us pray the Lord, who does not desert us at the end, that we may be able to grasp the meaning of this vision too not far from the truth. Its beginning, then, is in these words: “And when Balaam saw Amalek,” it says, “taking up his parable he said: Amalek is the beginning of the nations, and their seed will perish.” It seems to me necessary to inquire in the divine Scriptures in which places or at what time the name Amalek is written, and from what stock this nation descended. For what is sought will be recognized more easily if it is brought forward from several places that were written about the same thing. In the reading of Genesis, then, where five kings came together to fight the four kings who reigned in Sodom, after a while it is related thus: “And they returned,” it says, “and came to the spring of judgment, that is, Kadesh, and killed all the princes of Amalek, and the Amorites who dwelt in Hazazon-tamar.” But it may perhaps be asked whether there are two nations of the same name, since in the list of the sons of Esau and of the chiefs who descended from his stock it is written: “These are the generations of Esau, the father of Edom, in Mount Seir, and these are the names of the sons of Esau: Eliphaz son of Adah, wife of Esau, and Reuel son of Basemath, wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Zophar, Gatam, Kenaz. And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz, son of Esau, and she bore Amalek to Eliphaz; these are the sons of Adah, wife of Esau.” And a little later: “And these,” it says, “are the chiefs of the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zophar, chief Kenaz, chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek.” This Amalek, then, was the son of Eliphaz, the firstborn of Esau, born of a concubine named Timna. But let us return to the first mention of Amalek, where those who returned and came to the spring of judgment, which is called Kadesh, kill all the princes of Amalek. Kadesh is interpreted “sanctification” or “holy”; but Amalek is interpreted “licking up the people” or “turning the people aside.” Those, then, who return to the holy and turn themselves to sanctification kill and destroy Amalek, namely him who licks up the people or turns the people aside. And who else is it that turns the people aside from God except the opposing power and the spiritual forces of wickedness? Who, then, are their princes? Without doubt those principalities against which the saints have their wrestling. For their contests are against principalities and powers and the rulers of this world; whom, however, they could not overcome unless they turned to holiness. And in holiness itself, which is Kadesh, is the spring of judgment. For everyone who turns himself to holiness always has the spring of judgment before his eyes. For he looks ahead to the day of judgment, and with a purified heart he beholds both the punishments of the wicked and the blessedness of the godly; and doing this he lays low and casts down all the princes of the Amalekites. But if anyone does not turn himself to Kadesh, that is, to sanctification and the spring of judgment, and does not think of the coming day of judgment, such people are subject to the princes of Amalek. For he licks him up and consumes him, and turns such a people aside from God. Let these things be referred to that first Amalek. But now let us look also at this Amalek, son of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau, whom his concubine Timna bore him; whose father is Eliphaz, which is interpreted “God has scattered me,” and whose mother is Timna, who first is herself base-born, and then is interpreted “shaken failing”: so that necessarily he who is born of such parents is an enemy of Israel, licking up or turning aside the people. For he himself was the first to attack in war the Hebrews who had come out of Egypt, at Rephidim, when Moses said to Joshua: “Choose men for yourself, and go out and fight with Amalek tomorrow; and behold, I stand on the top of the hill, and the rod of God will be in my hand. And Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek; and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill; and it came to pass that when Moses raised his hands Israel prevailed, but when he lowered his hands Amalek prevailed.” And a little later it is written again that Joshua routed Amalek and cut down his people with the sword; for then the Lord said to Moses: “Write this down for a memorial in a book, and put it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar and called its name, The Lord is my refuge; and he said: For with a hidden hand the Lord fights against Amalek from generation to generation.” Understand from this more plainly what is to be understood by Amalek, against whom God is said to fight with a hidden, that is, invisible, hand from generation to generation. And in Deuteronomy it is written thus: “Remember how much Amalek did to you on the way when you had come out of Egypt, how he opposed you on the way and cut off your tail, all who were labouring behind you; and you were hungry and labouring, and you did not fear God.” Observe, then, in these too how Amalek opposed Israel on the way, yet could not cut off its head, but only the tail: that is, he could get hold of those who were placed behind, who followed last, and did not, forgetting what lay behind, stretch out to what lies ahead. And therefore I think the Lord commanded in the Gospels, saying: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” And rightly: for if anyone is found behind, in the tail, Amalek will cut him off. But let us bring forward yet another account about Amalek, so that what we seek may be noticed more clearly from several places of Scripture. In the first book of the Kingdoms Samuel says to Saul: “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; and now hear the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have considered all that Amalek did against Israel, how he struck him on the way when he was coming up out of Egypt. Now therefore go and strike Amalek, and devote to destruction all that he has, and do not spare, but kill all, from man to woman, and little ones and sucklings, and bulls and flocks of sheep and camels and asses. And Saul commanded the people, and numbered them, two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and three thousand men of Judah; and Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. And Saul said to the Kenite: Go, depart from the midst of Amalek, lest you too be added with him. For you showed mercy to all the sons of Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt. And the Kenite departed from the midst of Amalek, and Saul struck Amalek from Havilah as far as Shur, which is opposite Egypt; and he took Agag king of Amalek alive, and devoted all his people to destruction with the edge of the sword. And Saul and the people spared King Agag and kept all that was good of the sheep and oxen, and also what was fruitful of all the good cattle, and they would not destroy them; but all that was worthless and despised, this they devoted to destruction. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying: I repent that I anointed Saul as king.” Here too, then, observe how God through the prophet commands King Saul to fight Amalek and to spare none of them; and because he spared Agag, king of Amalek, he incurred an offence that could not be expiated, so that he moved God so far as to say, contrary to what that nature admits: “I repent that I anointed Saul as king.” It is not, then, expedient for us to spare him who turns aside or licks up and devours the people: that invisible Amalek, namely, who resists on the way and attacks us as we wish to go up out of Egypt and escape the darkness of this world and go up to the land of promise; and if he finds us weary and exhausted and looking back, and placed among the last and in the tail, he cuts us off and destroys us. And therefore we must always strive forward and hasten to what lies ahead, indeed climb to the top of the mountain, and our hands must always be raised to heaven in prayer, so that thus at last Amalek may be conquered and fall. Do you wish to know that one does not cross to the holy land, nor come to the kingdom, unless Amalek is first conquered? Though David waged many wars, and had very fierce and frequent conflicts against the foreigners, yet he is not written to have obtained the kingdom until he had first subdued Amalek. For Scripture says: “And David returned after Amalek had fallen, and received the kingdom of Saul”; although Amalek himself is described as having first wrought much slaughter among the people of Israel and burned very many of their cities. For truly, before the coming of the true David, him who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, the Amalekites, who are the opposing powers, wrought much spiritual slaughter among the people of Israel. And they even took captive, it says, two wives of David himself. I think the first means the Jewish people and the second the Gentile people: for it is clear that Jews and Gentiles were all shut up under sin. But the outcome of things did not remain thus. Hear what David does when he comes. “And David found,” it says, “the Amalekites scattered, eating and drinking and exulting over the plunder they had carried off; and he struck them,” it says, “from the first part of the night until the evening of the next day.” And after this slaughter of the Amalekites he returned and received the kingdom. ### Scripture references - Num 24:20: quotation, high confidence - Gen 14:1–9: allusion, high confidence - Gen 14:7: quotation, high confidence - Gen 36:9–12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 36:15–16: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - Exod 17:8–11: quotation, high confidence - Exod 17:13–16: quotation, high confidence - Deut 25:17–18: quotation, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Luke 9:62: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 15:1–11: quotation, high confidence - 2 Sam 1:1: quotation, medium confidence - 1 Sam 30:1–5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 1:3: allusion, high confidence - Gal 3:22: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Sam 30:16–17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:20; Gen 14:1–9 (Rufinus’s Latin has “five kings … to fight the four kings who reigned in Sodom,” reversing Genesis; translated as written), 14:7; Gen 36:9–12, 15–16; Eph 6:12; Exod 17:8–11, 13–16; Deut 25:17–18; Phil 3:13; Luke 9:62; 1 Sam 15:1–11 (LXX 1 Kingdoms); 2 Sam 1:1; 1 Sam 30:1–5, 16–17; Rom 1:3; Gal 3:22. The name etymologies are Origen’s. - Two leaked blocks of marginal references and a footnote on the Hebrew etymologies (“Coloss. Coloss. ιι, 20. XXXVI …” and “5. ’ Num. xxrv.20. … t dispersit.”) are removed; a few words before the first are lost (“who descended from his stock” is supplied by sense). In the quotation of 1 Sam 15:4 a line is garbled (“et lacten- Galaad”); “and numbered them” is supplied by sense. - The command to destroy Amalek (1 Sam 15) is quoted in full and read allegorically of spiritual enemies; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 19.1 (PG 12:719a–723a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 19.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-2 - Source: PG 12:723a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Amalek, “the beginning of the nations,” is the invisible power that first turned men to idolatry; it is his seed, false teaching, that will perish, not the people, which answers those who call the God of the law cruel. ### Latin text Hunc ergo Amalec videns Balaam [ilius Beor, homo vere videns, etaudiens verba Dei, qui scit scientiam Excelsi, et visiones Dei videt, accepta parabola sua (sicut et iu prioribus visionibus scriptum est), ait : Initium gentium Amalec, et semen eorum peribit. Quod ait : Initium gentium Amalec, certum est quia nullo pacto ad illum qui tunc erat in carne Amalec, referri possit : neque enim primus erat antiquitatis origine: sed ad invisibilem Amalec melius refertur, quia declinando populos a Deo, et faciendo gentiles ex Dei cultoribus, Amalec nominatur. Et ideo recte initium gentium dicitur, quasi talis quaedam virtus contraria, quae prima initium dederit, ut homines gentiles flerent, mutando gloriam incorruptibilis Dei in similitudinem imaginis corruptibilis hominis, et volucrum, et pccudum,et serpentium, et serviendo creatura: potius quam creatori 9°. Sicut enim in popqu Dei scriptum est initium Christus, sic e contrario iu pepqu qui declinat a Deo, et gentilis efieitur, initium est Amalec. Et semen eorum peribit. Semen eorum est persuasio, et doctrina, qua docuerunt homines declinare a Deo. Istud ergo υ semen malum et doctrina pessima, non ipsi in quibus seminatum est, peribunt. Ipsi enim cum conversi ingemuerint, salvi erunt. Et vide si ηοη ιθ. lis expositio etiam illis convenienter obsistet, qui Deum legis velut duritia: et crudelitatis accusant, qui non solum gentem Amalec, sed et semen ejus pronuntiet periturum : cum gens quidem ad spirituales nequitias referatur, semen vero ejus doctrina superstitionum gentilium, et cultus idolorum, atque omnis secta quae a Deo pupulum de. clinare suadet, exponatnr. 5ο ### English translation (Claude) Seeing this Amalek, then, Balaam son of Beor, the man who truly sees and hears the words of God, who knows the knowledge of the Most High and sees the visions of God, taking up his parable (as is written in the earlier visions too) says: “Amalek is the beginning of the nations, and their seed will perish.” As for his saying, “Amalek is the beginning of the nations,” it is certain that it can in no way be referred to the Amalek who then existed in the flesh: for he was not first in antiquity of origin. But it is better referred to the invisible Amalek, because he is named Amalek from turning peoples aside from God and making Gentiles out of worshippers of God. And therefore he is rightly called the beginning of the nations, as being a certain opposing power which first gave the beginning to men’s becoming Gentiles, by changing the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man and of birds and cattle and serpents, and by serving the creature rather than the Creator. For just as in the people of God Christ is written to be the beginning, so on the contrary in the people that turns aside from God and becomes Gentile, Amalek is the beginning. “And their seed will perish.” Their seed is the persuasion and teaching by which they taught men to turn aside from God. It is this bad seed and most evil teaching that will perish, not those in whom it was sown. For they, when they have turned and groaned, will be saved. And see whether this explanation will not also fittingly withstand those who accuse the God of the law of harshness and cruelty because he declares that not only the nation of Amalek but also its seed will perish: since the nation is referred to the spiritual forces of wickedness, and its seed is explained as the teaching of Gentile superstitions and the worship of idols, and every sect that urges the people to turn aside from God. ### Scripture references - Num 24:20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:23: quotation, high confidence - Rom 1:25: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:18: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:20; Rom 1:23, 25; Col 1:18 (Christ the beginning). “Those who accuse the God of the law of harshness and cruelty” are presumably the Marcionites; Origen does not name them. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 19.2 (PG 12:723a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 19.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-3 - Source: PG 12:723a–724a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Kenite, safe if he nests in the rock that is Christ, signifies the church member who must beware the cunning of heretics, lest he be handed over to the “Assyrians” for correction, as Paul handed blasphemers over to Satan. ### Latin text Commemorat autem prophetia post Amalec Cineum dicens" : α Et videns Cineum, assumens parabolam suam dixit : Valida habitatio tua , etsi posueris in petra nidum tuum, etsi fuerit tibi Beor nidus astutim, Assyrii captivum te ducent. Videtur mihi quod Cineum non valde culpabiliter nomiuet. Ipse est enim cui et in superioribus dicebat Saul ” τ Discede de medio Amalec, (ξι non percutiam le ε quia lu fecisti misericordiam in Israel, cum ascenderet de Egypto. De hoc ergo et nunc dicitur, quia valida sit habitatio ejus, si ponat nidum suum in petra. Petra Christus est. Si ergo ponat nidum suum in petra, valida esthabitatio ejus, si tamen non Ilat ei Beor nidus astutiae. Beor, pater est Balaam, qui potest accipi in persona hzrreticorum : ut hoc dici videatur, quod salvus possit esse Cincus, si ponat in petra nidum suum, hoc est in Christo collucet spem suam. et non eum haereticorum circumdet et circumscribat astutia. Nam si hoc fuerit, nihil ei proderit quod in petra, qui est Christus , collocatus videtur. Ae Assyriis enim captivus ducetur, malignis scilicd virtutibus, quae eos captivos ducunt, et in potestatem accipiunt, quos haereticus error involverit. Videtur sane secundum hanc expositionem quam de Ciuco edidimus, et conjunctio interturbare sensum Sed sciendum est, quod vernaculum est chru linguaz, et conjunctione frequenter uti , ita ut ioterdmu abundet, et in non necessariis, utin nostra apparet lingua, videatur inserta: quod utique eam venia aecipiendum est. Habet enim unaquaeque licgua aliquid proprietatis, quod apud alias linguis; vitiosum videatur. Et hic ergo, et coniunctio quasi abundans habenda est, ct superflua. Caveat Cineas, qui interpretatur possidens, caveat. inquam,etiamsi possideat, et promereatur istm gratiam, ut in Ecclesia Christi sit, ne forte astetia Beor circumveniat eum , et declinet ad dogmata prava et perversa, et ob hoc tradatur Assyriis. Qui enim blasphemant in Ecclesia positi, tradantur Satanm, sicutPhygellus et Hermogenesiά Paulus die“ ε ί QUOS tradidi. ’η 5" taure, υἱ discantuon hlasphcmare. Propterea crgo Assyriis traditur, qui declinaverit in Imretian blasphemiam: quia Assyrii interpretantur {iriyentes : et oh hoc traduntur eis qui tradimtur, non ut pereant, nec ut penitus intereant, 346 sed ut dirigantur, et corrigantur : et sicut rpse Paulus dicit, ιιι discant non blasphemarc. ### English translation (Claude) After Amalek the prophecy mentions the Kenite, saying: “And seeing the Kenite, taking up his parable he said: Strong is your dwelling, and if you set your nest in the rock, and if Beor becomes for you a nest of cunning, the Assyrians will lead you captive.” It seems to me that he names the Kenite without great blame. For he is the one to whom Saul too said above: “Depart from the midst of Amalek, and I will not strike you, for you showed mercy to Israel when it came up out of Egypt.” Of him, then, it is now said that his dwelling is strong if he sets his nest in the rock. The rock is Christ. If, then, he sets his nest in the rock, his dwelling is strong, provided Beor does not become for him a nest of cunning. Beor is the father of Balaam, who can be taken as representing the heretics: so that this seems to be said, that the Kenite can be saved if he sets his nest in the rock, that is, places his hope in Christ, and the cunning of the heretics does not surround and ensnare him. For if this happens, it will profit him nothing that he seems to be placed in the rock, which is Christ. For he will be led captive by the Assyrians, that is, by the malignant powers which lead captive and take into their power those whom heretical error has entangled. According to this explanation which we have given of the Kenite, the conjunction “and” does seem to disturb the sense. But it should be known that it is native to the Hebrew language to use the conjunction frequently, so that sometimes it is redundant and seems inserted even where it is not needed, as appears in our language; which must certainly be taken with indulgence. For each language has some peculiarity which seems faulty in other languages. Here too, then, the conjunction “and” is to be held as redundant and superfluous. Let the Kenite, which is interpreted “possessing,” beware; let him beware, I say, even if he possesses and merits this grace of being in the church of Christ, lest the cunning of Beor surround him and turn him aside to crooked and perverse doctrines, and for this reason he be handed over to the Assyrians. For those who blaspheme while placed in the church are handed over to Satan, as Paul says of Phygelus and Hermogenes: “whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” For this reason, then, he who has turned aside to heretical blasphemy is handed over to the Assyrians: because Assyrians is interpreted “directing”; and for this reason those who are handed over are handed over to them, not to perish nor to be destroyed utterly, but to be directed and corrected: and, as Paul himself says, that they may learn not to blaspheme. ### Scripture references - Num 24:21–22: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 15:6: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:20: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 1:15: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:21–22; 1 Sam 15:6; 1 Cor 10:4; 1 Tim 1:20 (Paul names Hymenaeus and Alexander there; the names Phygelus and Hermogenes come from 2 Tim 1:15, so the text, or Rufinus, has confused the two passages; translated as written). The etymologies of “Kenite” and “Assyrians” are Origen’s. - The garbled quotation “QUOS tradidi. ’η 5" taure, υἱ discantuon hlasphcmare” is translated by sense as 1 Tim 1:20. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 19.3 (PG 12:723a–724a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 19.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-4 - Source: PG 12:724a–726a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The last oracle foretells the blessedness of those who see Christ’s victory, the struggle of the people who “cross over” with the demonic “Assyrians,” and the final perishing of Assur, whom Origen doubts can ever be recovered like the lost sheep. ### Latin text Post haec vero Balaam prophetia: sua: sermonem in his concludit dicens ” : Et assumpta parabola sua dixit : O, o, quis vivet, cum fecerit haec Deus? Et exibunt de manibus Cithiorum, et affligent Assur, et aflligent Hebrzeos, et ipsi pariter bunt. Quod per singula per parabolam loqui ἀτcitur Balaam, legenti incutit pudorem, nc quid iu iis quae dicuntur, non quasi in parabola, sed secundum litterati! dictum putet. Ait ergo: ‹ Ο quis vivet, cum fecerit haec Deus? Hic vitam non hanc communem. sed illam nominat, qua! secundum Deum est : et hoc est quod dicit , quia cum haec omnia fient, cum orietur astrum ex Jacob, et surrexerit homo ex Israel, ct deleverit Amalec, et semen ejus perdiderit : hoc est. cum advenerit Christus, et idolorum cultum destruxerit, atque omnium daemonum subjecerit potestatem, quis erit ille tam beatus, tam felix qui haec videat; hoc est, qui sentiat, et intelligat, et'credat quod haec ita fecerit Deus? σ Et exibunt de manibus Citbiorum, et amigent Assyrios. Cithii interpretantur plaga finis. lli ergo quiconvertuntur ad Deum, et a Christo eruditi, plagam quae in fine Steculi impiis veniet, effugiunt, ipsi aflligent Assyrios; hoc est, his qui in agone pietatis positi sunt, conteret Satanam Deus sub pedibus, ipsi aflllgent Assyrios, daemouum scilicet gentem. Calcabunt namque super serpentes, et scorpiones, et super omnem virtutem inimici, et affligant eos. Aflligent llebrazos, et ipsi pariter peribunt. Hebraei transeuntes interpretantur. Iste ergo ipse populus etiam Hebraeus dicitur, quia transiit de Egypto ad terram repromissionis, de tenebris ad lucem, de morte ad vi- ‘tam. Sed quoniam, ut diximus, haec non sine agone, nec sine magno certamine poterit obtinere, quasi in agone positus nunc affligit, nunc affligitur, et nunc caidit adversarium, nunc ipse ab adversario verberatur. Affligent ergo etiam ipsi Assyrii Hebraeos, hoc est populum Domini, sicut affliguntur ab eis: sed ipsi, id est, Assyrii, cum haec fecerint, ct cum vires suas omnes erga Hebrazos affligendos effuderint, statim etiam ipsi peribunt. Quod ϐ ergo ait, et affligent Hebraeos, et ipsi pariterperibunt : ita accipiendum est, quasi pariter cum Hebraeis peribunt et Assyrii : sed pariter, id est, statim ut hazc fecerint, et Hebraeos afflixerint, etiam ipsi peribunt. Pariter ergo Graecus sermo pro statim ponit. Hic ergo erit finis omnium , ut et Assur, cui tradebantur hi qui delinquebant ex populo Dei, vel in interitum carnis, ut spiritus salvus fieret. vel ut discerent non blaspltemare, peribit etiam ipse ab eo , qui potestatem habet perdere in gehennam. DiCetur enim’eis a iusto judice “z ί Ite in ignem aeternum, quem paravit Dens diabolo, et angelis ejus. lbi ergo peribit Assur. Et quidem periit aliquando et una ovis ex centum ovibus 9ti: sed. hanc ovem pastor bonus, relictis nonaginta nov vem in montibus, descendens ad vallem hanc nostram, vallem lacrymarum, et requirens invenit, atque impositam humeris suis reportavit, et illi numero qui in superioribus salvus manebat, adjunxit. Iste autem Assur qtti in fine omnium dicitur periturus, nescio si aliquando aut quaari possit aut inveniri : periit enim non errore, sed judicio, nec lapsu motus, sed perseverantia perduratus. Quod enim scriptum est : Ego vivere faciam, deducam in infernum et reducam, nescio si generaliter omnes aspiciat, an ad eos tantum quos deceptio diaboli deduci fecit in mortem. Haec etiam de ultimatBalaam prophetia a nobis pro viribus dicta sint, quae pro locorum difficultate explanandi magis, quam perorandi stilo placuit explicari. Quid enim interest dummodo omnia ad aedificationem dicantur, et omnia ad gloriam Dei flant , qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After this Balaam concludes the discourse of his prophecy with these words: “And taking up his parable he said: Who will live when God has done these things? And they will come out of the hand of the Kittim, and will afflict Assur, and will afflict the Hebrews, and they too will perish together.” That Balaam is said to speak each thing through a parable makes the reader ashamed to think that anything in what is said is said not as in a parable but according to the letter. He says, then: “O who will live when God has done these things?” He names not this common life, but that which is according to God: and this is what he says: when all these things happen, when the star rises out of Jacob, and the man arises out of Israel, and destroys Amalek and makes his seed perish; that is, when Christ has come and destroyed the worship of idols and subjected the power of all the demons, who will be so blessed, so happy as to see these things; that is, to perceive, understand, and believe that God has done these things thus? “And they will come out of the hands of the Kittim, and will afflict the Assyrians.” Kittim is interpreted “the blow of the end.” Those, then, who turn to God and, taught by Christ, escape the blow that will come upon the ungodly at the end of the age, will themselves afflict the Assyrians; that is, those who are set in the contest of godliness, under whose feet God will crush Satan, will afflict the Assyrians, namely, the race of demons. For they will tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy, and will afflict them. “They will afflict the Hebrews, and they too will perish together.” Hebrews is interpreted “those who cross over.” This people itself, then, is also called Hebrew because it crossed over from Egypt to the land of promise, from darkness to light, from death to life. But since, as we said, it will not be able to obtain these things without a contest and without a great struggle, it is as one placed in a contest: now it afflicts, now it is afflicted; now it strikes the adversary, now it is itself beaten by the adversary. The Assyrians too, then, will afflict the Hebrews, that is, the people of the Lord, as they are afflicted by them; but they, that is, the Assyrians, when they have done these things, and have poured out all their strength in afflicting the Hebrews, will at once themselves perish too. As for his saying, then, “and they will afflict the Hebrews, and they too will perish together,” it is not to be taken as if the Assyrians will perish together with the Hebrews; but “together,” that is, as soon as they have done these things and afflicted the Hebrews, they too will perish. For the Greek word puts “together” for “at once.” This, then, will be the end of all things: that Assur, to whom those of the people of God who sinned were handed over, either for the destruction of the flesh so that the spirit might be saved, or so that they might learn not to blaspheme, will himself also perish by him who has power to destroy in Gehenna. For it will be said to them by the just judge: “Go into the eternal fire which God has prepared for the devil and his angels.” There, then, Assur will perish. And indeed once one sheep too out of a hundred sheep perished; but this sheep the good shepherd, leaving the ninety-nine on the mountains and coming down to this valley of ours, the valley of tears, sought and found, and, placing it on his shoulders, carried it back and joined it to that number which was remaining safe above. But this Assur, who is said to be about to perish at the end of all things, I do not know whether he can ever be either sought or found: for he perished not by straying but by judgment, not moved by a slip but hardened by persistence. As for what is written, “I will make alive, I will bring down to the underworld and bring back,” I do not know whether it looks to all in general, or only to those whom the deceit of the devil caused to be brought down to death. Let these things, too, have been said by us, according to our strength, about the last prophecy of Balaam, which, because of the difficulty of the passages, it pleased us to explain in the style of exposition rather than of oratory. For what does it matter, so long as all things are said for edification and all are done for the glory of God, who is blessed for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 24:23–24: quotation, high confidence - Rom 16:20: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:19: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:5: allusion, high confidence - 1 Tim 1:20: allusion, high confidence - Matt 10:28: allusion, high confidence - Matt 25:41: quotation, high confidence - Luke 15:4–5: allusion, high confidence - Ps 84:6 (83:7 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Deut 32:39: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 2:6: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 24:23–24; Rom 16:20; Luke 10:19; 1 Cor 5:5; 1 Tim 1:20; Matt 10:28; Matt 25:41; Luke 15:4–5; Ps 84:6 (LXX 83:7, “valley of tears”); Deut 32:39 and 1 Sam 2:6. The etymologies of Kittim and Hebrews are Origen’s; “the Greek word” is ἅμα (“together, at once”). - Origen leaves open whether Deut 32:39 / 1 Sam 2:6 applies to all; his doubt whether the devil (“Assur”) can be restored is translated as written. - Words garbled or lost in the scan in the quotation (“Cilhiorllm.031311133.em Assur”) and after “Ο quis vivet, Clllll fecerit haec” are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 19.4 (PG 12:724a–726a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-19-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 20.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-20-1 - Source: PG 12:726a–728b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen recounts how Balaam counselled Balak to defeat Israel by seducing it into sexual immorality and idolatry, urges Christians to arm themselves with the virtues against such darts, and explains “the teaching of Balaam” in Revelation as doing what Balaam did. ### Latin text De eo qui fornicatus est in 7Ma_dia_nitide, et quod consecratas est populus Beelphegor. I. Lectio hodie recitata est, primam quidem historiam continens de fornicatione viri Israelita: et mulieris Madianitidis ; secundam vero de visione populi, in qua numerari iterum jubetur ex pra:cepto Domini, in irritum scilicet revocato priore numero, propter peccata quae commiserant ii, qui prius fuerant sub numeri definitione censiti. Cassatur ergo et in irritum deducitur ex peccatis numerus qui scriptus est :et tantum valent delicta, utnec hoc prosit quod in numero quis habitus sit apud Deum, cum declinaverit. Sed, ut Scriptura refert, etiam artus eorum qui recesserunt a Deo, ceciderunt in deserto. Duae ergo sunt Itistorite, quae recitata: sunt : sed nos de prima interim, quae fornicationem populi describit, si quid orantibus vobis Dominus gratiae dignabitur praestare, dicemus. Si vero ipse concesserit, aliquid etiam de secunda contingere audebimus. Et applicuit, inquit , Israel ad Sattin, et pollutus est populus, et fornicatus est in filiasMoab, et invitaverunt eos ad sacrificia idolorum suorum , et manducavit populus de sacrificiis eorum, et adoraveruntidula eorum , et consecratus est Beelphegor , et iratus est furore Do. minus contra Israel. In his ostenditur illud, quod saepe memoravimus, quia Balaam posteaquam Dei virtute constrictus, non est permissus maledicere Israel, volens tamen placere regi Balacb, ait ad eum sicut scriptum est ’θ : Veni, consilium do tibi. Et quid consilii dederit, ibi non apparuit, in posterioribus tamen ipsius libri Numererum scriptum refertur. Sed plenius in Revelatione Joannis, ubi ita continetur: ‹ Habes, inquit , ibi quosdam, qui tenent doctrinam Balaam, qui docuit Balach, ut mitteret scandalum in conspectu filiorum Israel, ut manducarent idolis immolata, et fornicarentur. Ex hoc ergo apparet quod nequitia usus sit Balaam, et consilium dederit regi, talia quaedam dicens ad eum :Populus hic non propriis viribus, sed Deum colendo vincit, et pudicitiam conservando. Si vis cum vincere, primo eorum pudicitiam deiice, et sponte vincentur. Sed adversum bzec non virtute militum, sed mulierum decore pugnandum est, nec armatorum vigore, sed mollitie feminarum. Procul amove armatorum manum, et electam congrega speciem puellarum, ludentes pedibus eant, manibusque plaudentes : forma vincit armatos, ferrum pulchritudo captivat, vincentur specie qui non vincuntur praclio. Verum tibi senserint eos mulieres Moabitides vel Madianitides manus dedisse libidini, et peccato inclinasse cervices, non prius semetipsas cupientibus prrebeant, quam de sacrificiis idolorum acquieverint degustare : ut cogente libidine, consiliis obtemperent feminarum, et cousecrentur prius Beelphegor, quod est idolum turpitudinis. Haec luerunt consilia Balaam : quibus acceptis rex Balach parat continuo exercitum non armis virilibus, sed femineo nitore compositum, non furore bellico, sed libidinis flamma succensum. Nullam refrenat pudor, nullam prohibet verecundia. Amor patriae et vitium gentis conspirant pariter in lasciviam, et ad decipiendum proba exsistit improbitas. Pro nefas, vix prohibetur libido legum minis, vix gladii terrore reprimitur! quid sceleris non pcrpetret, ubi facinore suo placituram se mulier regi credidit, et salutem patria: quacsituram? Captivautur ergo lsraelitte, non ferro, sed luxu, nec virtute, sed libidine, et fornicamur in mulieres Madianitidas, et ira Dei insurgit super eos. Sunt quidem in iis et mystica quadam, atque interioris intelligentiae secreta : sed nos printo ipse historia: textus aedificet, ut discamus ex hoc, quoniam adversus nos iaculantur tela luxurize. Sed si nobis non desint arma, quibus nos armari iubet Apostolus ', huiusmodi iacula nos terebrare non poterunt, si sit nobis lorica iustitiae, si habeamus galeam salutis, ct gladium spiritus, super omnia scutum fidei, et calceati simus pedes in praeparatione Evangelii pacis. Ista sunt arma quae nos defendunt in huiusmodi bellis. Si autem talia arma proiicimus, statim locum diabolico vulneri damus, et captivos nos ducit omnis daemonum chorus : atque ob hoc ira Dei insurgit super uos, et non solum in praesenti saeculo punientur, verum etiam in luturo. Quod ergo facit Ι) nos vincere in iis pr-zcliis quae adversum nos diabolus commovet, pudicitia est, et iustitia, et prudentia, et pietas, caeteraeque virtutes. Quae autem l‘aciunt nos vinci, luxuria est, et libido, avaritia et impietas, omnisque malitia. llaec ergo sunt, qua: nos historia! textus edocuit. Verum quoniam Joannes in Bevelatione sua, ea quae in lege secundum historiam scripta sunt adducit ad mysteria divina, et sacramenta quaedam in iis edocet contineri,~necessarium videtur etiam secundum id quod ille seusit, nos quoque ab illo datam expositionis regulam ecqui, et primo memorare ea, quae ad angelum Ecclesiae cuiusdam scribens dicit : Habes ibi quosdant, qui tenent doctrinam Balaam, qui docuit Balach mittere scantlalumin conspectu filiorum Israel, ιιι manducarent immolata idolis, et fornicareutum Ergo temporibus Joannis apostoli erant quidam in Ecclesia illa ad quam scribebat, docentes doctrinam Balaam. Putasne ita accipiendum estquod luerim in illis diebus qui dicerent se docere ea quae Balaam docuit, et qui profiterentur se dogmatum et traulitionum illius esse dcctorcs? An illud potius debrmus advertere, quod si quis faciat opus quod ierit Balaam, is doctrinam Balaam docere videatur?Situt et de doctrina chabel in eadem llevelatione memoratur, non quod aliquis ex discipulis Iezabel doceat quae illa tradiderit, sed quod si quis, verbi causa, aut prophetas Dei persequatur, ut illa iecit, aut ad idola aliquos decipiat, vel falsis circumscriptionibus perimat innocentes, iste Jezabel dicetur tenere doctrinam. Si ergo aliquis malis consiliis scandalum generet popqu Dei, et offensionem divinam, atque iracundiam caelestem provocet plebi. vel idolorum sacrificiis communicando, vel stupris aut libidini serviendo, hic doctrinam Balaam tenere dicendus est. Est ergo exsecrabilis corporis etiam fornicatio. Quid enim ita exsecrabile, quat templum Dei violare, ac tollere membra Cbristi,t' facere membra meretricis ‘1? ### English translation (Claude) [On the man who committed sexual immorality with the Midianite woman, and on the people’s being consecrated to Baal-peor.] The reading recited today contains first the account of the sexual immorality of an Israelite man and a Midianite woman, and second the account of the review of the people, in which it is ordered by the Lord’s command to be numbered again, the former numbering being made void because of the sins committed by those who had earlier been enrolled under the fixed number. The number that was written, then, is cancelled and made void because of sins: and sins have such power that it does not even profit someone to have been held in the number before God, once he has turned aside. But, as Scripture relates, the limbs of those who withdrew from God fell in the desert. There are, then, two accounts that were read; but for the present we shall speak of the first, which describes the people’s sexual immorality, if the Lord deigns to grant us some grace through your prayers. And if he allows it, we shall venture to touch on something of the second too. “And Israel settled,” it says, “at Shittim, and the people was defiled, and committed sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab; and they invited them to the sacrifices of their idols, and the people ate of their sacrifices, and they worshipped their idols; and it was consecrated to Baal-peor, and the Lord was angry with fury against Israel.” In these words is shown what we have often mentioned: that Balaam, after he was constrained by the power of God and not permitted to curse Israel, yet wishing to please King Balak, said to him, as it is written: “Come, I give you counsel.” And what counsel he gave did not appear there, yet it is related as written in the later parts of the same book of Numbers; but more fully in the Revelation of John, where it is contained thus: “You have there,” it says, “some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they should eat things sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.” From this, then, it appears that Balaam used wickedness and gave the king counsel, saying something like this to him: This people conquers not by its own strength but by worshipping God and keeping chastity. If you wish to conquer it, first cast down their chastity, and they will be conquered of their own accord. But against this one must fight not with the strength of soldiers but with the beauty of women, not with the vigour of armed men but with the softness of women. Put far away the band of armed men and gather a choice beauty of girls; let them go dancing on their feet and clapping their hands: beauty conquers armed men, loveliness takes iron captive; those who are not conquered in battle will be conquered by beauty. But when the Moabite or Midianite women perceive that they have surrendered to lust and bowed their necks to sin, let them not give themselves to those who desire them until they have consented to taste of the sacrifices of idols: so that, under the compulsion of lust, they may obey the women’s counsels and first be consecrated to Baal-peor, which is the idol of shamefulness. These were Balaam’s counsels: on receiving them King Balak at once prepares an army composed not of manly arms but of womanly splendour, inflamed not by warlike fury but by the flame of lust. No modesty restrains any of them, no shame forbids any. Love of country and the vice of the nation conspire together in wantonness, and shamelessness stands forth to deceive the upright. O wickedness! Lust is scarcely restrained by the threats of laws, scarcely held back by the terror of the sword: what crime would it not commit, where a woman believed that by her misdeed she would please the king and seek the safety of her country? The Israelites, then, are taken captive not by iron but by luxury, not by strength but by lust, and they commit sexual immorality with Midianite women, and the wrath of God rises against them. There are indeed in these things also certain mystical secrets of inner understanding; but let the text of the literal account itself first edify us, so that we may learn from it that the darts of luxury are hurled against us. But if we do not lack the arms with which the Apostle orders us to be armed, darts of this kind will not be able to pierce us: if we have the breastplate of righteousness, if we have the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, above all the shield of faith, and if our feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. These are the arms that defend us in wars of this kind. But if we throw away such arms, at once we give room for the devil’s wound, and the whole troop of demons leads us captive; and for this reason the wrath of God rises against us, and they will be punished not only in the present age but also in the future. What makes us conquer, then, in these battles which the devil stirs up against us is chastity, and righteousness, and prudence, and godliness, and the other virtues. But what makes us be conquered is luxury, and lust, avarice and impiety, and all wickedness. These, then, are the things which the text of the literal account has taught us. But since John in his Revelation brings the things written in the law according to the literal account to the divine mysteries, and teaches that certain sacraments are contained in them, it seems necessary that we too should follow the rule of exposition he has given, according to what he understood, and first recall what he says writing to the angel of a certain church: “You have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they should eat things sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.” In the times of John the apostle, then, there were some in that church to which he was writing who taught the teaching of Balaam. Do you think this is to be taken as meaning that there were in those days people who said that they taught what Balaam taught and who professed to be teachers of his doctrines and traditions? Or should we rather notice that if anyone does the work that Balaam did, he is seen to teach the teaching of Balaam? Just as the teaching of Jezebel is also mentioned in the same Revelation, not because some one of Jezebel’s disciples teaches what she handed down, but because if anyone, for example, either persecutes the prophets of God, as she did, or deceives some into idolatry, or destroys the innocent by false entrapments, he will be said to hold the teaching of Jezebel. If, then, anyone by evil counsels creates a stumbling block for the people of God and provokes divine offence and heavenly anger against the people, either by sharing in sacrifices to idols or by serving debauchery or lust, he must be said to hold the teaching of Balaam. Bodily sexual immorality, then, is also accursed. For what is so accursed as to violate the temple of God, and to take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? ### Scripture references - Num 25:1–3: quotation, high confidence - Num 26:1–4: allusion, high confidence - Heb 3:17: allusion, medium confidence - Num 24:14: quotation, high confidence - Num 31:16: allusion, high confidence - Rev 2:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:14–17: allusion, high confidence - Rev 2:20: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:17: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed opening is the homily’s title as printed in the edition. - Quotations and allusions: Num 25:1–3; Num 26:1–4 (the second census); Num 14:29–32 and Heb 3:17 (the limbs fallen in the desert); Num 24:14; Num 31:16; Rev 2:14; Eph 6:14–17; Rev 2:20 (Jezebel; cf. 1 Kgs 18–21); 1 Cor 3:17; 6:15. - The speech of Balaam to Balak is Origen’s imaginative reconstruction, not a quotation. - A leaked marginal reference and note (“' Ephes. Vt,ll, Codex S. Theoderici Bernensis. locum'diabolo”) splitting the word “Ecclesiae” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 20.1 (PG 12:726a–728b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/19-1/#p-20-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 20.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-2 - Source: PG 12:728b–730a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Worse than bodily immorality is the “general” immorality of the soul that abandons its marriage to the Word for the embraces of demons; the soul always bears children, virtues or sins, and sinful desires must be dashed against the rock of Christ while still small. ### Latin text Multo tamen magis exsecrabilis est genenli; illa fornicatio, in qua omne genus peccati pariter continetur. Generalis autem fornicatio dicitur, cura anima quas in consortium Verbi Dei ascita est,et matrimonio eius quodammodo sociata, ab ullo alium scilicet, et adversario illius viri qui eam sibi despondit in lide, corrumpitur et violatur. Est ergo sponsus et vir anima munda: et pudica, Verbum Dei, qui est Christus Dominus, sicut~358 et Apostolus dicit : Volo autem omnes vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo. Timeo autem ne forte , sicut serpens seduxit Evam astutia sua, sic corrumpantur sensus vestri a simplicitate, quae est in Christo Jesu. Donec igitur anima adharet sponso suo, et audit verbum eius, et ipsum compleo elitnr, sine dubio ab ipso semen suscipit verbi: et sicut ille dixit : De timore tuo. Domine. in utero concepi, ita et haec dicit, De verbo tuo, Domine, in ventre concepi, et parturivi, et spiritum salutis ture feci super terras. Si ergo διο de Christo concepit anima, fecit filios pro quibus dicatur ad eam ",quia salva erit per filiorum procreationem. si permanserit in (ide, et :haritate, et sanctitate. cum sobrietate, etiamsi prius sicut Eva seducta fuisse anima videatur; Est itaque ver‘e beata soboles, ubi concubitus lactus fuerit anima: cum Verbo Dei, et ubi complexus ad invicem dederint. Inde nascetur generosa progenies, inde pudicitia orietur. inde iustitia, inde patientia, inde mansuetudo, el charitas, atque omnium virtutum proles veneranda succedet. Quod si infelix anima divini Verbi dereliqueritsancta connubia, et in adulterinos se complexus diaboli, aliorumque daemonum illecebris deceptam tradiderit, generabit sine dubio etiam inde filios. sed illos, de quibus scriptum est δε Filii autem adulterorum imperfecti erunt, et ex iniquo concubitu semen exterminabitur. Omnia ergo peccata lilii sunt adulterii, et lilii fornicationis. Unde et ostemlitur, quod per singula qumque qure gerimus, parit anima nostra, et generat filios, scnsus scilicet et Opera quae gerit. Et si quidem secundum legem est quod gerit, et secundum verbum Dei, spiritum parit salutis, et propterea saIVabitur per filiortun generationem, et isti sunt lilii, de quibus Propheta dicit θ : Filii tui sicut novellae olivarum in circuitu mensa: ture. ο Si vero quod agit contra legem est, et peccatum est, sine dubio ex conceptione contrarii spiritus malignam sobolem gignit. Parit enim filios peccati. Et ista: sunt maledictm generationes in quibus a nonnullis sanctormn maledicitur etiamdics in quo nati sunt ‘°. Nunquam est ergo quando non pariat anima. Anima semper parit, semper generat filios. Sed illa quidem benedicta generatio est, quae de verbo Dei concepta generatur, et ista est, fili-orum generatio, per quam salva fiet. Si autem, ut diximus, ex contrario spiritu concipiat, certum estquia pariat filios ira), aptos ad interitum. Et forte ad utrasque istas generationes anima: respicit illud, quod dictum eSt “ : Cum enim nondum nati fuissent, aut aliquid egis- ο sent boni vel mali, ut propositum Dei, quod secundum electionem factum est, maneat, non ex Operihus, sed ex vocante, dictum est quia major serviet minori, sicut scriptum est : Iacob dilexi, Esau autem odio habui. Istae enim tales generationes animae etiam priusquam faciant boni aliquid, siquidem ex sancto Spiritu generata: sunt, jam diliguntur. Si vero ex Spiritu maligno, etiam priusquam opere impleant aliquid mali, hoc ipso tamen quod hujusmodi voluntatem peperit anima, digne in ea odio habetur mala: voluntatis exsecranda conceptio. Propterea fortassis in huju‘s sacramenti figura etiam Chanaam puer antequam nasceretur maledicitur. Cham namque peccaverat pater ejus : et prophetans Noe, cum unicuique filiorum suorum optima qumque Ι) signaret, ubi ad Cham ventum est, ‹ Maledictus, inquit η, Chanaam puer. Cham peccavit, et Chataam progenies ejus maledicitur, et inaledieta est. Et idco acrius nobis intendendum est, et prospidemtum, ne forte generet aliquid anima quod maetlicto dignum sit, ut etiamsi nondum opere impleerit, in ipsa tamen voluntate et proposito ejus sit mjusmodi maledicta progenies. Quod et si forte liquando evenerit (quis enim invenietur facile qui rb liujusmodi generatione, id est peccandi voluntate labeatur immunis?),si ergo acciderit tale aliquid, quid remedii detur, ex divinis voluminibus requiramus. Invenimus ergo in Psalmis de hoc scriptum "2 Filia Babylonis misera, beatus qui retribuet tibi retributionem quam rctribuisti nobis. Beatus qui tenebit et allidet parvulos tuos ad petram. Etsi nondum aliquid operis gessit Babylonius in nobis iste conceptus, dum adhuc parvulus est, non miserearisejus, nec parcas ei, sed statim interfice. Odi- . bilis enim est, perime, occide elidens ad petram. Petra autem est Christus. Quis ergo tantus ac talis est, ut non exspectet omnino usquequo crescat in eo Babylonia soboles, nec augeantur in eo opera confusionis, sed in primis statim initiis, ubi pasci caaperint, et ex voluntatis motibus coalescere, atque, ut ita dicam,ubi caputcteperint de vulva anima: proferre perniciosa desideria malirni Spiritus inspiratione concepta, arripiat statim et elidat ad petram : id est, adducat ad Christum, ut iu conspectu tremendi judicii ejus posita exolescant, et pereant? Hice dicta sunt nobis de generali fornicatione, quae species habet plurimas : quarum una est hazc quae in consuetudine ob corporale stuprum fornicatio nominatur. Ego vero legens Apostolum, cum venissem ad eum locum in quo dicit ιδ : ε Qui se jungit Domino, unus spiritus est, et ε Qui se jungit meretrici unum corpus est; quaerebam si est aliquid aliud medium prteter hoc, ut aut Domino quis jungatur, aut meretrici : et pro viribus meis discutiens, profundum satis et reconditutn in iis verbis intuebar Apostoli sensum, qui ita definierit, quod omnis anima aut Domino conjuncta sit, aut meretrici : et intellexi quod Dominum quidem dixerit virtutes quae Christus est, id est verbum, sapientiam, veritatem, 35.9 justitiam, caeteraque hujusmodi : meretricem vero omnes econtrario malitiae species. Hoc etiam apud Salomonem dici intelligo in eo quod ait de meretrice “, quia per fenestras prospicit in plateas , et si quem viderit insipientium adolescentulorum, et inopem sensuum transeuntem juxta angulos domus suae, et loquentem in tenebris vespertinis, cum silentium fuerit nocturnum , vel caligo noctis : mulier autem occurrit ei habens speciem meretricis, quae facit juvenum evolare corda. llzcc ergo quae dicitur meretrix , ipsa est malitia : et qui se junxerit huic meretrici, unum corpus malitiae efficitur. Sicut ergo qui se jungit Christo Domino , jungit se sapientiae, jungit se justitiae, jungit se pictati , et veritati , et cum his omnibus unus efficitur spiritus : ita et qui se jungit huic meretrici, jungit se impudicitite, impietati , iniquitati, mendacio, ct simul omnibus peccatorum malis, cum quibus unum corpus efficitur. ### English translation (Claude) Much more accursed, however, is that general sexual immorality in which every kind of sin is contained together. It is called general sexual immorality when the soul which has been received into fellowship with the Word of God, and in a certain way joined in marriage with him, is corrupted and violated by some other, namely the adversary of that husband who betrothed her to himself in faith. The bridegroom and husband of the pure and chaste soul, then, is the Word of God, who is Christ the Lord, as the Apostle too says: “For I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to one husband, to Christ. But I fear lest perhaps, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.” As long, then, as the soul cleaves to its bridegroom, and hears his word, and embraces him, without doubt it receives from him the seed of the word; and just as that one said, “From fear of you, Lord, I conceived in the womb,” so this one too says, “From your word, Lord, I conceived in the womb and was in labour, and brought forth the spirit of your salvation upon the earth.” If, then, the soul has thus conceived from Christ, it has produced children for whose sake it is said to it that it will be saved through the bearing of children, if it remains in faith and love and holiness with sobriety, even though the soul seems formerly to have been deceived like Eve. Truly blessed, then, is the offspring where the union of the soul with the Word of God has taken place, and where they have given embraces to each other. From there a noble progeny will be born, from there chastity will arise, from there righteousness, from there patience, from there gentleness and love, and a venerable offspring of all the virtues will follow. But if the unhappy soul abandons the holy marriage of the divine Word and, deceived by enticements, gives itself up to the adulterous embraces of the devil and of other demons, it will without doubt also beget children from there, but those of whom it is written: “But the children of adulterers will be imperfect, and the seed from an unlawful union will be destroyed.” All sins, then, are children of adultery and children of sexual immorality. Hence it is also shown that through each and every thing we do, our soul gives birth and begets children, namely the thoughts and works it performs. And if what it does is according to the law and according to the word of God, it gives birth to the spirit of salvation, and therefore it will be saved through the bearing of children; and these are the children of whom the prophet says: “Your children like young olive shoots around your table.” But if what it does is against the law and is sin, without doubt it begets a malignant offspring from the conception of the opposing spirit. For it bears children of sin. And these are the cursed generations in which some of the saints curse even the day on which they were born. There is never a time, then, when the soul does not give birth. The soul always gives birth, always begets children. But that is a blessed generation which is begotten having been conceived from the word of God, and this is the bearing of children through which it will be saved. But if, as we said, it conceives from the opposing spirit, it is certain that it bears children of wrath, fit for destruction. And perhaps to both these generations of the soul looks the saying: “For when they had not yet been born or done anything good or evil, so that God’s purpose, which was made according to election, might stand, not from works but from him who calls, it was said that the elder will serve the younger, as it is written: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” For such generations of the soul, even before they do anything good, if they have been begotten of the Holy Spirit, are already loved. But if of the malignant spirit, even before they fulfil anything evil in deed, yet by the very fact that the soul has given birth to such a will, the accursed conception of the evil will is worthily hated in it. For this reason perhaps, as a figure of this sacrament, the boy Canaan too is cursed before he was born. For Ham his father had sinned; and Noah, prophesying, when he marked each of his sons with the best things, when he came to Ham, said: “Cursed be the boy Canaan.” Ham sinned, and Canaan his offspring is cursed, and was accursed. And therefore we must pay keener attention and take care lest perhaps the soul beget something worthy of a curse, so that, even if it has not yet fulfilled it in deed, yet in its very will and purpose there is an offspring cursed in this way. And if this should perhaps happen at some time (for who will easily be found free of this kind of generation, that is, of the will to sin?), if, then, something of this kind should happen, let us inquire from the divine volumes what remedy is given. We find, then, written about this in the Psalms: “Wretched daughter of Babylon, blessed is he who will repay you the repayment with which you repaid us. Blessed is he who will take and dash your little ones against the rock.” Even if this Babylonian thing conceived in us has not yet done any work, while it is still little, do not pity it, do not spare it, but kill it at once. For it is hateful; destroy it, kill it, dashing it against the rock. And the rock is Christ. Who, then, is so great and of such a kind as not to wait at all until the Babylonian offspring grows in him, nor to let the works of confusion increase in him, but at the very first beginnings, when they begin to be nourished and to take shape from the movements of the will, and, so to speak, when they begin to put forth their heads from the womb of the soul, pernicious desires conceived by the inspiration of the malignant spirit, at once seizes them and dashes them against the rock: that is, brings them to Christ, so that, placed in the sight of his dread judgment, they may wither away and perish? These things have been said to us about general sexual immorality, which has very many kinds; one of which is this which is customarily called sexual immorality for bodily debauchery. But I, reading the Apostle, when I had come to the place where he says, “He who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit,” and “He who joins himself to a prostitute is one body,” was asking whether there is some other middle ground besides this, that one is joined either to the Lord or to a prostitute; and, examining it according to my strength, I perceived in these words a quite deep and hidden meaning of the Apostle, who defined it thus, that every soul is joined either to the Lord or to a prostitute; and I understood that by the Lord he meant the virtues which Christ is, that is, the Word, wisdom, truth, righteousness, and the rest of this kind; but by the prostitute, on the contrary, all the kinds of wickedness. I understand this to be said also in Solomon, where he says of the prostitute that she looks out through the windows into the streets, and if she sees any of the foolish young men, lacking sense, passing by the corners of her house and talking in the evening darkness, when there is the silence of night or the gloom of night, a woman meets him having the look of a prostitute, who makes the hearts of young men fly away. This one, then, who is called the prostitute is wickedness itself; and he who joins himself to this prostitute becomes one body of wickedness. Just as, then, he who joins himself to Christ the Lord joins himself to wisdom, joins himself to righteousness, joins himself to godliness and truth, and becomes one spirit with all these; so too he who joins himself to this prostitute joins himself to unchastity, impiety, iniquity, falsehood, and at the same time to all the evils of sins, with which he becomes one body. ### Scripture references - 2 Cor 11:2–3: quotation, high confidence - Isa 26:18: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:15: quotation, high confidence - Ps 128:3 (127:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Jer 20:14: allusion, medium confidence - Job 3:3: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 2:3: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 9:22: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 9:11–13: quotation, high confidence - Gen 9:25: quotation, high confidence - Ps 137:8–9 (136:8-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Prov 7:6–10: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 3:16 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: 2 Cor 11:2–3; Isa 26:18 (LXX wording); 1 Tim 2:15; Wis 3:16; Ps 128:3 (LXX 127:3); Jer 20:14 and Job 3:3; Eph 2:3; Rom 9:22; Rom 9:11–13; Gen 9:25; Ps 137:8–9 (LXX 136:8–9); 1 Cor 10:4; 1 Cor 6:17, 16; Prov 7:6–10. - The bridal imagery of the soul and the Word, and the allegory of Ps 137:9, are translated exactly as written. - A leaked marginal reference (“lsa. xxvi, 18. ιι, l5. vulneris damus.”) splitting “veneranda” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 20.2 (PG 12:728b–730a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 20.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-3 - Source: PG 12:730a–734a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Shittim (“refutation”) marks Israel’s fall into immorality and idolatry; Origen applies “things sacrificed to idols” to pagan doctrines, Solomon’s many wives to many philosophies, and Baal-peor to every sin as consecration to a demon, but insists that the guardian angels and the Father, Son, and Spirit care more for our salvation than the demons for our ruin. ### Latin text Verumtamen applicuit Israel in Sattin . In interpretatione llebraicorum nominum Sattin invenimus in lingua nostra responsionem, vel refutationem dici. Applicuit ergo lsrael ad responsionem, vel refutationem. Non. bene applicuit. Vide denique quid incurrit in hac positus mansione. Fornicatus est cum mulieribus Madiauitarum , et refutatus est a Deo : quia non solum fornicatus, sed et idolis gentium consecratus est, et comedit ex iis quae fuerant idolis immolata , quae utique exsecrabilia sunt ad Deum. Qui enim consensus templo Dei cum idolis? Verum ego etiam de iis, quae Apostolus ad Corinthios scribit dicens : ς Si quis autem viderit scientiam habentem in idolio recumbere , nonne conscientia ejus cum sit infirma :edilicahitur ad manducandum immolata? valde miratus sum. Videtur enim non tam rem ipsam gravem pronuntiare, quam illius oflensam, qui hzec videns simili provocatur exemplo. eum non simili scientia muniatur, ita ttt ostendat eum qui habens scientiam recumbit in idolio, non tam sui quam alterius damni eflici reum. Sed, vide ne forte non hoc solum fiebat apud Corinthios, ut in idolio recumberent, et immolata idolis manducarent. Sed forte quoniam studiosi litterarum Graecarum homines erant, et amatores philosophia: , desiderio adhuc studiorum veterum tenebantur, et philosophorum dogmata , quasi idolis immolata edebant : quae tamen lazdere fortasse non poterant eos , qui plenam scientiam veritatis acceperant. Hi autem qui in Christo minus eruditionis habebant, si imitarentur eos legentes talia, et illis adhuc studiis operam dantes , vulnerari poterant, et diversorum ο dogmatum variis erroribus implicari. Sic ergo fiebat, ut lzederetur alius, unde is qui habebat plenam scientiam veritatis, lzedi non poterat. Sed quoniam charitas non requirit quod sibi utile est, sed quod multis, observare oportet talem verbi capere cibum, qui non solum nos aedificet et delectet, sed et qui videntes non offendat, aut lazdat. Est ergo non solum in cibis idolis immolatum, sed ct in verbis. Ego puto , quia sicut omnis sermo qui pietatem, et justitiam, et veritatem docet, Deo consecratus est , ct Deo immolatus : ita et omnis sermo qui ad impudicitiam, vel iniustitiam, vel impietatem respicit, idolis immolatus sit, et qui eum recipit, quasi idolis immolata manducet. Manducavit ergo populus de sacrificiis eorum, et adoraverunt idola eorum. Non solum manducaverunt, sed et adoraverunt. Vide ordinem mali : servos Domini prima concupiscentia, inde ventris ingluvies, postrema captivavit impietas. lmpietatis autem merCes exsolvitur fornicatio. Si relegas quae scripta sunt de Salomone , invenies cum, et quidem cum esset sapientissimus, tnttltis mulieribus inclinasse latera sua. cum lex Dei dicat : Non multiplicabis tibi mulieres, ne forte fornicari te faciant a Deo tuo. Ille ergo cun esset sapientissimus, et ingentis apud Deum meriti, tamen quia se tradidit multis mulieribus, deceptas est. Ego puto quod multae mulieres, multa dogmata et multarum gentium diversae philosophia: nominentur. Qua: cum singula agnoscere,et perscrutari utpote et scientissimus et sapientissimumeluisset, semetipsum intra legis divina: regulam te nere non potuit. Decepit eum Moabitica philo» phia, et persuasit ut idolo Moabitico immolaret,similiter et Ammonitarum , sed et reliquarum gentium, quarum mulieres dicitur recepisse, et edificasse templa, vel immolasse idolis earum “. Grande est ergo et vere opus Dei , tam multis dogmatibus quasi mulieribus misceri, nec tamen a veritatis regula declinare , sed constanter dicere : Sengiuta' sunt regina}, et octoginta concubium, etalio. lcsccntula: quarum non est numerus τ una tamen est columba mea, perfecta mea, una est matris sua. una est genitricis suae. Sed isti adoraveruntido‘u. et consecrati sunt Beelphegor. Beclphegor idoli nomen est , quod apud Madianitas praecipue a mulie ribus colebatur. In hujus ergo idoli mysteriis cousecratus est Israel. lnterpretationem nominis ipsius cum requireremus attentius inter Hebraea nomina , hoc tantum invenimus scriptum , quia Berlphegor species sit turpitudinis. Noluit tamen declarare quze vel qualis species , vel cujus esset turpitudinis, honestati credo consulens, qui interpretatus est , uti ne auditum pollueret audiettium. Igitur cum multa: sint turpitudinum species. una quaedam ex pluribus turpitudinis species Beelphegor appellatur. Unde sciendum est. quod omns qui aliquid turpe committit, et in aliquam species turpitudinis declinat, Beelphegor Madianitarum de monio consecratur. Sed et per singula peccata {ut committimus , maxime si jam non subreptioneallqua, sed studio atl‘ectuque peccamus, illi sine dubia daemoni, cui peccatum illud quod commisimus iucperari cura: est, consecrantur. Et fortasse conti:εει nobis tot dmmonibus esse consecratos, quot piscata committimus, et in singulis quibusque delictis velut mysteria illius, aut illius idoli suscipimus. El fortasse propter hoc dicebat Apostolus ι) enim mysterium iniquitatis operatur. Circumstat ergo spiritus maligni, et quierunt quomodo onumquemque decipiant , et per illecebram .peccati ut. steriis consecrent, et neque sentientem, neque inte?gentius quod intelligentem, verbi _ causa, per fornicationis peccatum introducunt ad daemonium Madiani- 'tarum et consecrant Beelphegor, consecrant turpitudini. ” Similiter et ‚per alia peccata, ut diximus, aliis daemonibus homines consecrantur. Sed tu observa diligentius, quod scriptum est, et- sta in viis, et interroga quae sint via: Domini :cternar, et quae sit via bona, et incede in ea , et non accedas ad januas doinus malitiae. Sed si' senseris malignum spiritum inqui in corde tuo, ut te ducat ad aliquod opus peccati, intellige quia te ducere vult, ut consecret te alicui dremoni. Ducere te vult ut suscipias mysteria diabolica, mysteria iniquitatis. Et hoc esse puto quod scribit Apostolus ” : Cum autem gentes essetis, ad simulacra muta euntes proutducehamini. A quo vel a quibus ducebamini? a Spiritibus nempe malignis ducehamini ad opera peccatorum. Haec audiens vigilans quisque auditor dicet fortasse : Quid ergo faciemus? si circumeunt spiritus maligni unumquemque nostrum, et ducunt . ac pertrahunt ad peccatum : nemo autem alius est qui justitiam trahat, qui invitet et ducat ad pudiciflam, ad pietatem, quomodo non videbitur ad pereundum quidem lata via patere, ad salutem vero nusquam ullus aditus dari? lmo vero adverte diligentius, si potes, et aperto cordis oculo, interiora mecum considera mysteria ; et videbis-quanto major in secretis salutis nostrae cura geratur , quam facultas ad decipiendum praebeatur. Adest unicuique nostrum , etiam minimis qui sunt in Ecclesia Dei, angelus bonus, angelus Domini qui regat, qui moneat, qui gubernet, qui pro actibus nostris corrigendis , et miserationibus exposcendis , quotidie videat faciem Patris quiin cmlis est : sicut Dominus designat in Evangeliis ". Et iterum secundum ea quze Joannes in Apocalypsi scribit , unicuique Ecclesia: generaliter angelus praeest qui vel collaudatur pro bene gestis populi; vel etiam pro delictis ejus culpatur. In quo etiam stupendi mysterii admiratione permoveor, quod intantum Deo cura de nobis sit , ut etiam angelos suos culpari pro nobis et confutari patiatur. Sic enim cum pzcdagogo traditur puer, si forte minus dignis nec secundum paternam nobilitatem imbutus appareat disciplinis , continuo culpa ad paedagogum refertur, nec ita puer a patre ut paedagogus arguitur , nisi durior fuerit, et paedagogi monita spreverit, atque in lasciviam pronus ac proterviam salutaria ejus verba contempserit, illis magis obtemperans qui luxuriam suadent, et ad lasciviam provocant. Quid fiat illi υ anima: propheta: vocibus disce. Derelinquctur, inquit ’, filia Sion sicut tabernaculum iu vinea , et sicut casa custodiaria in cucumcrario, et sicut civitas quae expugnata est. Et iterum " : Auferetur maceria ejus, et erit in conculcationem, et diripient eam omnes qui transeunt viam i; ct 2 tSinguiaris ferus depascet eam. llaec patietur si non … monitis angeli, qui sibi positus est ad salutem. Sui namque arbitrii est anima, et in quam voluerit partem est ei liberum declinare : et ideo justum Dei judicium est, quia sponte sua sive bonis sive pessimis monitoribus paret. Vis tibi adhuc amplius quid ex Scripturis divinis ostendam, quomodo major cura salutis erga homines Deo est, quam diabolo perditionis? Nunquid non sufficiebat angelorum diligentia adversus insidias daemonum et adversum eos qui ad peccandum homines trahunt? lpse Unigeuitus, ipse, inquam , Filius Dei adest, ipse defendit, ipse custodit, ipse nos ad se trahit. Audi quomodo ipse dicit ” : Et ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem szeculi. › Sed net: sufficiteum esse nobiscum, sed quodammodo vim nobis facit, ut nos pertrahat ad salutem. Ait enim in alio loco ’σε Cum Bautem exaltatus fuero, omnia ad me traham. Vides quomodo non solum invitat volentes, sed et cunctantes trahit. Vis autem audire quomodo trahat etiam cunctantes? Non concessit illi qui volebat ire, et sepelire patrem suum, nec spatium temporis. dedit, sed ait illi : Sine mortuos sepelire mortuos suos, tu autem sequere me. Et alibi dicit : Nemo mittens manum super aratrum, et retro reSpiciens, aptus est regno Dei. Quod si amplius adhuc vis de hoc cognoscere sacramento, ostendam tibi de Scripturis, quod etiam ipse Dominus Pater dispensationem salutis nostra: non negligit, sed et ipse nos ad salutem non solum vocat, sed et pertrahit. Sic enim Dominus dicit in Evangelia : Nemo venit ad me, 351 nisi quem Pater meus cmlcstis attraxerit. Sed et paterfamilias, qui mittitservos suos invitare amicos ad nuptias filii sui, posteaquam excusaveruut illi qui priores fuerant invitati, dicit servis “ : Exite ad vias et angiportus, et quoscunque inveneritis, cogite introire. Sic ergo non solum invitamur a Deo, sed et trahimur, et cogimur ad salutem. Sed nec sanctus quidem spiritus in hujuscen modi dispensationibus deest. Ipse enim dicit 8': Segregate mihi Paulum et Barnabam iu ministerium, ad quod assumpsi eos. Et iterum prohibet Paulum ire in Asiam, ct rursum cogit eum ire in Jerosolymam, praedicens ei, _ quia vincula. et carceres eum ibi maneant . Quod si angeli Domini circumdant in circuitu timentium eum, ut eripiant eos ; si Deus Pater, si Filius, si Spiritus sanctus, non solum hortantur et provocant, sed et pertrahunt, quomodo non multo major cura pro nobis geritur ad salutem, quam ab adversariis procuretur ad mortem? Haec autem dicta sint pro eo quod cousecrattts est populus Beclphegor. ### English translation (Claude) “Moreover, Israel settled at Shittim.” In the interpretation of Hebrew names we find that Shittim means in our language “answer” or “refutation.” Israel, then, settled at answer or refutation. It did not settle well. See, in short, what it incurred while placed at this stopping place. It committed sexual immorality with the women of the Midianites, and was refuted by God: because it not only committed sexual immorality but was also consecrated to the idols of the Gentiles, and ate of the things sacrificed to idols, which are certainly accursed to God. “For what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” But I have also greatly wondered at what the Apostle writes to the Corinthians, saying: “For if anyone sees one who has knowledge reclining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, since it is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed?” For he seems to declare grave not so much the thing itself as the offence of him who, seeing this, is provoked by the like example though he is not protected by like knowledge; so that he shows that he who has knowledge and reclines in an idol’s temple is made guilty not so much of his own harm as of another’s. But see whether perhaps it was not only this that happened among the Corinthians, that they reclined in idols’ temples and ate things sacrificed to idols. But perhaps, since they were men devoted to Greek letters and lovers of philosophy, they were still held by desire for their old studies, and were eating the doctrines of the philosophers as if things sacrificed to idols: which perhaps could not harm those who had received the full knowledge of the truth. But those who had less instruction in Christ, if they imitated them reading such things and still giving their attention to those studies, could be wounded and entangled in the various errors of different doctrines. So it came about that another was harmed by what could not harm him who had the full knowledge of the truth. But since love does not seek what is useful to itself but what is useful to many, we must take care to take such food of the word as not only builds us up and delights us, but also does not offend or harm those who see. There is, then, something sacrificed to idols not only in foods but also in words. I think that, just as every word that teaches godliness and righteousness and truth is consecrated to God and sacrificed to God, so too every word that looks to unchastity or injustice or impiety is sacrificed to idols, and he who receives it eats, as it were, things sacrificed to idols. “The people, then, ate of their sacrifices, and they worshipped their idols.” They not only ate, but also worshipped. See the order of the evil: first desire, then the gluttony of the belly, and last impiety took captive the servants of the Lord. And sexual immorality is paid out as the wages of impiety. If you read again what is written about Solomon, you will find that he, although he was most wise, inclined his sides to many women, though the law of God says: “You shall not multiply women for yourself, lest perhaps they make you commit sexual immorality away from your God.” He, then, although he was most wise and of great merit before God, yet because he gave himself to many women, was deceived. I think that by many women are meant many doctrines and the various philosophies of many nations. When, as one most learned and most wise, he wished to recognize and examine each of them, he could not keep himself within the rule of the divine law. The philosophy of the Moabites deceived him and persuaded him to sacrifice to the idol of the Moabites, and likewise of the Ammonites, and also of the other nations whose women he is said to have received, and to have built temples for and sacrificed to their idols. It is, then, a great thing and truly a work of God to mingle with so many doctrines as with women, and yet not to turn aside from the rule of truth, but to say steadfastly: “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and young maidens without number; but one is my dove, my perfect one; she is the only one of her mother, the only one of her who bore her.” But these worshipped idols and were consecrated to Baal-peor. Baal-peor is the name of an idol which was worshipped among the Midianites, chiefly by women. Into the mysteries of this idol, then, Israel was consecrated. When we inquired more attentively for the interpretation of its name among the Hebrew names, we found only this written: that Baal-peor is a form of shamefulness. The interpreter, however, would not declare what or what kind of form, or of what shamefulness, out of regard, I believe, for decency, so as not to pollute the hearing of his hearers. Since, then, there are many forms of shamefulness, one certain form of shamefulness among many is called Baal-peor. Hence it should be known that everyone who commits something shameful and turns aside into some form of shamefulness is consecrated to Baal-peor, the demon of the Midianites. Moreover, through each sin we commit, especially if we sin no longer by some stealthy surprise but with eagerness and affection, we are without doubt consecrated to that demon whose concern it is that the sin we have committed should be accomplished. And perhaps it happens to us that we are consecrated to as many demons as the sins we commit, and in each offence we receive, as it were, the mysteries of this or that idol. And perhaps for this reason the Apostle said: “For the mystery of iniquity is already at work.” Malignant spirits, then, stand around and seek how they may deceive each one, and through the enticement of sin consecrate him to their mysteries, without his perceiving or understanding it; for example, through the sin of sexual immorality they bring him in to the demon of the Midianites and consecrate him to Baal-peor, consecrate him to shamefulness. Likewise through other sins, as we said, men are consecrated to other demons. But you, observe more carefully what is written: “Stand in the ways, and ask which are the eternal ways of the Lord, and which is the good way, and walk in it,” and do not approach the doors of the house of wickedness. But if you perceive a malignant spirit speaking in your heart to lead you to some work of sin, understand that he wants to lead you in order to consecrate you to some demon. He wants to lead you so that you may receive diabolical mysteries, mysteries of iniquity. And I think this is what the Apostle writes: “When you were Gentiles, going to dumb idols, as you were led.” By whom or by what were you led? By malignant spirits, surely, you were led to works of sin. Hearing this, some watchful hearer will perhaps say: What then shall we do? If malignant spirits go around each of us and lead and drag us to sin, and there is no one else who draws to righteousness, who invites and leads to chastity, to godliness, how will it not seem that the broad way to perishing lies open, but that no entry anywhere is given to salvation? On the contrary, pay closer attention, if you can, and with the eye of your heart opened consider with me the inner mysteries; and you will see how much greater care is taken in secret for our salvation than opportunity is given for deceiving us. There is present to each of us, even to the least who are in the church of God, a good angel, an angel of the Lord, who rules, who warns, who governs, who, in order to correct our acts and to plead for mercies, daily sees the face of the Father who is in heaven, as the Lord indicates in the Gospels. And again, according to what John writes in the Apocalypse, an angel presides over each church in general, who is either praised for the good deeds of the people or also blamed for its offences. At this I am moved with wonder at an astonishing mystery: that God has such care for us that he allows even his angels to be blamed and reproved for us. So it is when a boy is handed over to a tutor: if perhaps he appears to have been trained in disciplines less worthy and not in keeping with his father’s nobility, at once the blame is laid on the tutor, and the boy is not reproved by the father as the tutor is, unless he has been rather hard and has despised the tutor’s warnings and, prone to wantonness and impudence, has scorned his saving words, obeying rather those who urge luxury and provoke to wantonness. What happens to such a soul, learn from the words of the prophet: “The daughter of Zion will be left,” it says, “like a tent in a vineyard, and like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, and like a city that has been taken by storm.” And again: “Its wall will be taken away, and it will be trampled, and all who pass along the way will plunder it, and the solitary wild beast will feed on it.” These things it will suffer if it does not [heed] the warnings of the angel who has been set over it for its salvation. For the soul has free choice, and it is free to turn to whichever side it wishes: and therefore the judgment of God is just, because of its own accord it obeys either good or very bad counsellors. Do you wish me to show you still more from the divine Scriptures how God’s care for men’s salvation is greater than the devil’s care for their perdition? Was not the diligence of the angels enough against the snares of demons and against those who drag men to sin? The Only-begotten himself, himself, I say, the Son of God, is present, he himself defends, he himself guards, he himself draws us to himself. Hear how he himself says: “And behold, I am with you all days until the consummation of the age.” But it is not enough for him to be with us; he in a certain way does us violence in order to drag us to salvation. For he says in another place: “But when I am lifted up, I will draw all things to myself.” You see how he not only invites the willing but also draws the hesitant. Do you wish to hear how he draws even the hesitant? He did not grant to him who wished to go and bury his father even an interval of time, but said to him: “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you follow me.” And elsewhere he says: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” And if you wish to know still more about this sacrament, I will show you from the Scriptures that the Lord the Father himself also does not neglect the dispensation of our salvation, but he too not only calls us to salvation but drags us. For so the Lord says in the Gospel: “No one comes to me unless my heavenly Father draws him.” And the householder too, who sends his servants to invite friends to his son’s wedding, after those who had first been invited excused themselves, says to the servants: “Go out into the roads and lanes, and whomever you find, compel them to come in.” So, then, we are not only invited by God but also drawn and compelled to salvation. Nor is the Holy Spirit absent from dispensations of this kind. For he himself says: “Set apart for me Paul and Barnabas for the ministry to which I have taken them.” And again he forbids Paul to go into Asia, and again he compels him to go to Jerusalem, foretelling to him that chains and prisons await him there. If, then, the angels of the Lord encamp round about those who fear him to rescue them, if God the Father, if the Son, if the Holy Spirit not only exhort and urge but also drag us, how is not much greater care taken for our salvation than is procured by the adversaries for our death? Let these things have been said about the people’s being consecrated to Baal-peor. ### Scripture references - Num 25:1–3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 6:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:10: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:33: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:5: allusion, high confidence - Deut 17:17: quotation, high confidence - 1 Kgs 11:1–8: allusion, high confidence - Song 6:8–9: quotation, high confidence - 2 Thess 2:7: quotation, high confidence - Jer 6:16: quotation, high confidence - Prov 5:8: allusion, low confidence - 1 Cor 12:2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 7:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 18:10: allusion, high confidence - Rev 2:1: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 1:8: quotation, high confidence - Ps 80:12–13 (79:13-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 28:20: quotation, high confidence - John 12:32: quotation, high confidence - Luke 9:59–60: quotation, high confidence - Luke 9:62: quotation, high confidence - John 6:44: quotation, high confidence - Luke 14:23: quotation, high confidence - Acts 13:2: quotation, high confidence - Acts 16:6: allusion, high confidence - Acts 20:22–23: allusion, high confidence - Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 25:1–3; 2 Cor 6:16; 1 Cor 8:10; 1 Cor 10:33 and 13:5; Deut 17:17; 1 Kgs 11:1–8; Song 6:8–9; 2 Thess 2:7; Jer 6:16; Prov 5:8; 1 Cor 12:2; Matt 7:13; Matt 18:10; Rev 2–3 (angels of the churches); Isa 1:8; Ps 80:12–13 (LXX 79:13–14); Matt 28:20; John 12:32; Luke 9:59–60; Luke 9:62; John 6:44; Luke 14:23; Acts 13:2; Acts 16:6; Acts 20:22–23; Ps 34:7 (LXX 33:8). The etymologies of Shittim and Baal-peor come from an onomastic list (“the interpretation of Hebrew names”). - Lines lost in the scan after “Haec patietur si” are supplied from Baehrens's edition; one word unreadable there too is supplied in brackets by sense. Other garbled places (“neque inte?gentius quod intelligentem”, “dicebat Apostolus ι) enim”, “et- sta in viis”) are translated by sense; a leaked “” Ilom.” and “(flii)” in the etymology are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 20.3 (PG 12:730a–734a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 20.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-4 - Source: PG 12:734a–736a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The exposure of the princes for the people’s sin shows that leaders and teachers must answer for those in their care, and, at a deeper level, that the guardian angels too will be examined at the judgment for the sins of those entrusted to them. ### Latin text Et iratus est, inquit , furore Dominus contra lsrael, et dixit Dominus ad Moysen : Assume principes populi, et ostenta illos Domino contra solem, et avertetur ira furoris Domini ab lsrael. Nescio si dehis disserentes, non ofl‘endamus aliquos : sed et si ofl'endamus, obedire magis et deservire oportet verbo Domini, quam gratia- homi. num. Peccavitlsrael, et dixit Dominus ad Moysen, ut assumat omnes principes, etrostentet eos Domino contra solem. Populus peccat, et principes ostentantur contra solem. Iidem ad. examinandum producuntur, ut arguantur a luce. Vides quae sit conditio principum populi : non solum pro suis propriis arguuntur delictis, sed et pro populi peccatis coguntur reddere rationem, ne ipsorum sit culpa quod pOpulus deliquit, ne forte non monuerint, neque solliciti fuerint arguere eos qui initium culpae dederint, uti ne contagio dispergeretur in plures. llaec enim omnia facere principibus imminet et doctoribus. Si enim illis haec non agentibus, nec sollicitudinem gerentibus circa plebem peccaverit populus, ipsi ostentantur, et ipsi ad judicium producuntur. Arguit enim eos Moyses, id est lex Dei, velut negligentes et desides, et in ipsos convertetur iracundia Dei, et cessabit a populo. Haec si cogitarent homines, nunquam cuperent, nec ambirent ’ ad populi principatum. Sullicit enim mihi pro meis propriis argui delictis, sufficit mihi pro memetipso et peccatis meis reddere rationem. Quid mihi necesse est etiam pro p0puli peccatis ostentari, et ostentari contra solem, ante quem nihil potest abscondi, nihil obscurari? Sed fortassis etiam sit “quis i" hoc Ὄ et recondi!“ Sensus. Qui α p'us aliquid doceat, quam communis hmc habere videtur expositio. Fortassis enim referri et hoc potest ad illos principes populi, de quibus paulo superius diximus. Venient enim angeli ad judicium nobiscum, et stabunt pro nobis ante solem justitite, ne forte aliquid etiam ex ipsis causa: fuerit quod nos deliquimus, ne forte minus erga nos operis et laboris expenderint, quo nos a peccatorum labe revocarint. Nisi enim esset etiam aliquid in ipsis quod iu causa nostri culpandum videretur, nunquam diceret sermo Scriptura: ad angelum illius, vel illius Ecclesiae, quia babes, verbi gratia, quosdam tenentes doctrinam Balaam, vel quia dereliquisti charitatem tuam pristinam, vel patientiam tuam, vel alia hujusmodi, quae jam superius θ memoravimus, pro quibus iu Apocalypsi angeli uniuscujusque Ecclesia: culpantur. Si enim mercedem sperat angelus, verbi gratia, qui me consignatum accepit a Deo, pro iis quae bene gessi, certum est quia et culpari sperabit pro eis, quae a me non bene gesta sunt. Et ideo ostentari dicuntur contra solem, procul dubio ut appareat utrum pro mea inobedientia, an per illius negligentiam peccata commissa sint, per quae Beelphcgor, sive cuilibet alii idolo pro qualitate scilicet peccandi consecrarer. Quod si princeps meus (angelum dico qui mibi est consignatus) non defuit, sed commonuit de bonis. et locutus est in corde meo in eo duntaxat in quo me conscientia revocabat a peccato, sed ego contemptis ejus monitis, et spreto conscientiae re tinaculo praeceps in peccata prorui, duplicabitur mihi ptena, vel pro contemptu monitoris, vel pro facinore commissi. Nec mireris sane si angelos dicimus venire cum hominibus ad judicium, cum Scriptura dicat τ’, quia ipse Dominus ad judicium veniet cum senioribus populi et cum principibus ejus. r Ostentantur ergo principes, et si in illis culpa est, desinit ira Dei a papula. Debet nobis et acrior esse sollicitudo artuum nostrorum, scientibus quod non solum nos ante tribunal Dei pro actibus nostris stabimus, sed angeli pro nobis ad judicium deducentur tanquam principes et duces nostri. Propterea enim et Scriptura dicit : Obedite praepositis vestris, et obtemperate eis in omnibus. lpsr enim pervigilant quasi rationem pro animabus vestris reddituri. ### English translation (Claude) “And the Lord was angry with fury against Israel,” it says, “and the Lord said to Moses: Take the princes of the people and expose them to the Lord against the sun, and the wrath of the Lord’s fury will be turned away from Israel.” I do not know whether, in discussing these things, we may not offend some; but even if we offend, we must obey and serve the word of the Lord rather than the favour of men. Israel sinned, and the Lord told Moses to take all the princes and expose them to the Lord against the sun. The people sins, and the princes are exposed against the sun. They are brought out for examination, to be convicted by the light. You see what the condition of the princes of the people is: they are not only convicted for their own offences, but are also compelled to give an account for the sins of the people, lest it be their fault that the people offended, lest perhaps they did not warn, nor were anxious to convict those who gave the beginning of the fault, so that the contagion should not spread to more. For all these things are incumbent on princes and teachers to do. For if the people sins while they do not do these things and do not exercise care over the people, they themselves are exposed, and they themselves are brought out to judgment. For Moses, that is, the law of God, convicts them as negligent and slothful, and the anger of God will be turned upon them and will cease from the people. If men thought of these things, they would never desire or canvass for the leadership of the people. For it is enough for me to be convicted for my own offences; it is enough for me to give an account for myself and my sins. What need have I to be exposed also for the sins of the people, and exposed against the sun, before which nothing can be hidden, nothing obscured? But perhaps there is in this also some higher and hidden sense, which teaches something more than this common explanation seems to hold. For perhaps this can also be referred to those princes of the people of whom we spoke a little above. For the angels will come to judgment with us and will stand for us before the sun of righteousness, in case perhaps something of the cause of our offending lay also with them, in case perhaps they spent less work and labour on us to call us back from the stain of sins. For unless there were also something in them that seemed blameworthy in our case, the word of Scripture would never say to the angel of this or that church: “You have,” for example, “some who hold the teaching of Balaam,” or “You have abandoned your first love,” or your patience, or other such things, which we mentioned above, for which the angels of each church are blamed in the Apocalypse. For if the angel, for example, who received me sealed from God, hopes for a reward for the things I have done well, it is certain that he will also expect to be blamed for the things not done well by me. And therefore they are said to be exposed against the sun, doubtless so that it may appear whether the sins were committed through my disobedience or through his negligence, through which I would be consecrated to Baal-peor or to any other idol, according to the quality of the sinning. But if my prince (I mean the angel who has been assigned to me) did not fail, but warned me of good things and spoke in my heart, at least in that in which my conscience called me back from sin, but I, despising his warnings and spurning the rein of conscience, rushed headlong into sins, my punishment will be doubled, both for the contempt of the one who warned and for the crime committed. Nor should you wonder if we say that angels come to judgment with men, since Scripture says that the Lord himself will come to judgment with the elders of the people and with its princes. The princes, then, are exposed, and if the fault is in them, the wrath of God ceases from the people. Our care for our limbs ought to be keener, knowing that not only shall we stand before the judgment seat of God for our acts, but the angels will be brought to judgment for us as our princes and leaders. For this reason Scripture also says: “Obey your leaders and submit to them in all things. For they keep watch as those who will give an account for your souls.” ### Scripture references - Num 25:4: quotation, high confidence - Acts 5:29: allusion, medium confidence - Mal 4:2: allusion, medium confidence - Rev 2:14: quotation, high confidence - Rev 2:4: quotation, high confidence - Rev 2:19: allusion, medium confidence - Isa 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Heb 13:17: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 25:4 (Origen’s text has “expose them … against the sun”); Acts 5:29; Mal 4:2 (sun of righteousness); Rev 2:14, 4, 19; Isa 3:14; Heb 13:17. - The garbled “sit “quis i" hoc Ὄ et recondi!“ Sensus. Qui α p'us aliquid doceat” is read by sense as sit aliquis in hoc altior et reconditus sensus, qui plus aliquid doceat. A leaked reference (“’“ lsa. ι, 8. ’ lsa.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 20.4 (PG 12:734a–736a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 20.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-5 - Source: PG 12:736a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Phinehas’s spear becomes the sword of the Spirit with which the Christian must at once strike down sinful thoughts at their source, and so calm God’s anger before the day of judgment. ### Latin text Post haec refertur, quia cum vidisset Phineas filius Eleazar lilii Aaron sacerdotis lsraeliten quemdam introisse ad mulierem Madianitidem, rapto siromaste in manu sua, ingressus sit prostibulum, et utrumque per ipsa pudenda transfodeo rit. Et pro hoc, inquit δι, dixit Dominus ad Moysen : Phinees filius Eleazar filii Aaron sacerdo. tis sedavit iracundiam meam. Haec aedificaverint priorem p0pulum: tibi autem qui a Christo redeat. plus es, et cui de manibus gladius corporalis ablatus est, et datus est gladius spiritus, arripe hunc gladium : et si vides lsraeliticum sensum cum Madianiticis scortantem meretricibus, id est cum diabolicis se cogitationibus volutantem, nolo parcas, nolo dissimules, sed statim percute, Statim perime. Ipsam quoque vulvam, id est secreta naturae discutiens et penetrans, illum ipsum peccandi fomitem deseca, ne ultra concipiat, ne ultra generet, et maledicta peccatorum soboles Israelitica castra contaminet. [loc enim si facias, continuo sedabis iracundiam Domini: praevenisti enim judicii diem, quae dies irae dicitur et furoris, et exterminato a te fomite peccati, qui nunc vulva Madianitidis mulieris appellatur, securus venies ad judicii diem. Et idco surgentes oremus, ut inveniamus paratum semper istum gladium spiritus, per quem exterminentur et semina ipsa, et conceptacula peccatorum, ac propitius fiat nobis Deus per verum Pliiuees ipsum Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. cui est gloria et imperium in stecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) After this it is related that when Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest saw a certain Israelite go in to a Midianite woman, he seized a spear in his hand, entered the brothel, and pierced them both through their very private parts. “And for this,” it says, “the Lord said to Moses: Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest has calmed my anger.” These things may have edified the former people; but you, who have been redeemed by Christ, and from whose hands the bodily sword has been taken away and the sword of the Spirit given, seize this sword; and if you see an Israelite thought fornicating with Midianite prostitutes, that is, wallowing with diabolical thoughts, I would not have you spare it, I would not have you pretend not to see, but strike at once, destroy at once. And, piercing and penetrating the very womb, that is, the secret places of nature, cut out that very tinder of sinning, so that it may no longer conceive, no longer beget, and the cursed offspring of sins defile the camp of Israel. For if you do this, you will at once calm the anger of the Lord: for you have anticipated the day of judgment, which is called the day of wrath and fury, and, having rooted out from yourself the tinder of sin, which is now called the womb of the Midianite woman, you will come secure to the day of judgment. And therefore, rising, let us pray that we may always find ready this sword of the Spirit, through which the very seeds and receptacles of sins may be rooted out, and that God may become gracious to us through the true Phinehas, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 25:6–8: allusion, high confidence - Num 25:10–11: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:17: allusion, high confidence - Zeph 1:15: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 2:5: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 25:6–8, 10–11; Eph 6:17; Zeph 1:15 and Rom 2:5 (day of wrath). Origen reads the violent episode allegorically of the inner struggle against sin; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 20.5 (PG 12:736a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/20-2/#p-20-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 21.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-1 - Source: PG 12:736a–738a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The second census, made for the generation that would inherit, signifies the Gentile people who receive the inheritance from Jesus, not Moses; the Levites, whose inheritance is the Lord, signify those devoted wholly to God’s wisdom, while others receive the higher “land of the living.” ### Latin text Numeri sunt quos legimus, et in priore quidem lectione tempore exclusi sumus, ne aliquid etiam de secunda dinumerationc diceremus, sed conveniens est omissa vel exclusa nunc reddere. Igitur per praeceptum Domini primo numeratus est populus, sed quoniam illi, qui primo fuerant asciti, ceciderunt propter perseverantiam delictorum, secundus nunc populus, qui in lapsorum locum rediviva generatione successit, vocatur ad numerum, et quod de illis prioribus dictum non fuerat, de iis dicitur. Postea enim quam per tribus et plebes, d‘omosque, ac familias collectus est numerus. Dominus ad Moysen “‘z lis distribuetur terra ir sortem, ex numero nominum. Pluribus plura ἀει· buntur in sortem, et exiguis exiguam dabis hmreditatem. Si de prioribus dictum fuisset, quia iis distribuetur terra in sortem,falsum utique fuisset, quia ceciderunt illi in deserto propter delicta sua. Quod ergo primis non est dictum, postremis dicitur, quibus et cuncta quae promittuntur, impleta sunt. Haec autem nolo putes solius historiae textu concludi. Mysteria sunt quae per legis imaginem conscribuntur. Reprobatur enim prior populus, qui estin circumcisione : et introducitur secundus, qui congregatur ex gentibus, et ipse est qui luereditatem consequitur paternam. Et a quo consequitur? Non ab Moyse, sed ab Jesu. Nam Moyses Si di“ "liq'fib‘fs l'mf’diuile'?’ "0" δθξ im” Jordanem, nec transit omnino Iordanem, sed extra Jordanem dat terram, non fluentem lacte et melle, sed pecoribus aptam, et muta animalia, atque irrationales pecudes melius quam rationales homines nutrientem. Jesus vero meus secundo populo terram quam dat, terra est lacte et melle fluens, imo favus mellis est prae omni terra. Et Moyses haereditatem non dat in clero, nec sorte distribuit, nec potest per plebes, et domos, ac familias, et nomina, et merita singulorum divina sorte pensare: hoc solus facit Jesus, cui omne judicium Pater tradidit “ : ipse scit quomodo populum suum non solum per tribus, et familias, et domos, verum et per nomina unumquemque digna et competenti mansione dispenset. Sunt tamen aliqui in istis qui conditione sortis supereminent, et omnino uec adduntur ad sortem. Omnes Levitae, id est omnes qui intente et indesinenter permanent in ministerio Dei, et pervigiles in servitio ejus excubias gerunt, sortem inter caeteros non accipiunt : sed nec omnino in terra est sors eorum, sed ipse Dominus sors eis et luereditas esse memoratur. Per hos illi mihi videntur indicari, qui nullis corporeae naturae obstaculis hebetati, sed omnium visibilium gloriam supergressi, in sola sibi sapientia Dei et verbo ejus vivendi usum exercitiumque pomerunt, qui corporeum nihil requirunt, nihil rationis ahenum. Con» cupierunt enim sapientiam, concupierunt secretorum Dei agnitionem : et ubi est cur eorum, ibi e5t et thesaurus eorum . lsti ergo hereditatem non habent in terris, sed supergrediunlur summa coeli fastigia, et ibi semper in Domino, semper in verbo ejus, semper in sapientia et in voluptate scientiae ejus deliciabuntur. llic eis cibus, hoc erit poculum, ista: divitire, hoc erit regnum. Tales ergo erunt, et in iis erunt illi, quibus ltzereditas ipse Dominus erit. Qui autem inferiores sunt, nec in istum profectuum verticem pervenerunt, hmreditatem teme “cel SublimiOriS alicujus et potentioris. Terra enim viventium repromittitur, quae utique ideirco terra viventium dicitur, quod nesciat mortem. Et isti quidem magni, et isti beati; sed beatiores illi qni jam non per speculum et in mnigmate, neque in substantiis corporalibus, sed facie ad faciem Deum videbunt, sapientiae illuminatione radiali, ei divinitatis capaces per puritatem cordis effecti : portionemque suam non in creatura, sed in creatore habentes, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. ### English translation (Claude) What we have read are numberings; and in the earlier reading we were shut out by time from saying anything about the second numbering too; but it is fitting now to render what was omitted or shut out. By the Lord’s command, then, the people was first numbered; but since those who had first been enrolled fell because of their persistence in sins, a second people, which succeeded in the place of the fallen by a generation come back to life, is now called to be numbered, and what had not been said of those earlier ones is said of these. For after the number had been gathered by tribes and clans and houses and families, the Lord said to Moses: “To these the land will be distributed by lot, according to the number of names. To the many more will be given by lot, and to the few you shall give a small inheritance.” If it had been said of the earlier ones that the land would be distributed to them by lot, it would certainly have been false, because they fell in the desert because of their sins. What was not said to the first, then, is said to the last, for whom too all that is promised has been fulfilled. But I would not have you think that these things are confined to the text of the literal account alone. They are mysteries that are written down through the image of the law. For the former people, which is in circumcision, is rejected, and the second is brought in, which is gathered from the Gentiles, and it is this that obtains the father’s inheritance. And from whom does it obtain it? Not from Moses, but from Jesus. For Moses, if he divides an inheritance, does not give it across the Jordan, nor does he cross the Jordan at all, but gives land outside the Jordan, not flowing with milk and honey, but suited to cattle, nourishing dumb animals and irrational beasts better than rational men. But the land which my Jesus gives to the second people is a land flowing with milk and honey, indeed a honeycomb above every land. And Moses does not give the inheritance by allotment, nor distribute it by lot, nor can he weigh out by divine lot according to clans and houses and families and names and the merits of each: this Jesus alone does, to whom the Father has handed over all judgment. He knows how to dispense his people, not only by tribes and families and houses, but even by names, each to a worthy and fitting dwelling. There are, however, some among these who rise above the condition of the lot and are not added to the lot at all. All the Levites, that is, all who remain intently and unceasingly in the ministry of God and keep watchful vigil in his service, do not receive a lot among the others: their lot is not in the land at all, but the Lord himself is recorded to be their lot and inheritance. By these seem to me to be indicated those who, dulled by no obstacles of bodily nature, but having passed beyond the glory of all visible things, have placed the practice and exercise of their living in the wisdom of God alone and in his Word; who seek nothing bodily, nothing foreign to reason. For they have desired wisdom, they have desired the knowledge of God’s secrets: and where their heart is, there also is their treasure. These, then, do not have an inheritance on earth, but pass beyond the highest summits of heaven, and there they will always delight in the Lord, always in his Word, always in wisdom and in the pleasure of his knowledge. This is their food, this will be their drink, these their riches, this will be their kingdom. Such, then, they will be, and among these will be those for whom the Lord himself will be the inheritance. But those who are lower and have not come to this summit of advances will receive the inheritance of a land, but of some more sublime and more powerful land. For the land of the living is promised, which is surely called the land of the living for this reason, that it does not know death. And these indeed are great, and these are blessed; but more blessed are those who will see God no longer through a mirror and in a riddle, nor in bodily substances, but face to face, radiant with the illumination of wisdom, and made capable of the divinity through purity of heart, having their portion not in the creature but in the Creator, who is God over all, blessed for ever. ### Scripture references - Num 26:53–54: quotation, high confidence - Num 26:64–65: allusion, high confidence - Num 32:33: allusion, high confidence - Exod 3:8: allusion, high confidence - Ezek 20:6: allusion, medium confidence - John 5:22: allusion, high confidence - Num 18:20: allusion, high confidence - Deut 10:9: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 6:21: quotation, high confidence - Ps 27:13 (26:13 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:8: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 9:5: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 26:53–54; Num 26:64–65; Num 32:1–5, 33 (Moses’ grant east of the Jordan); Exod 3:8; Ezek 20:6; John 5:22; Num 18:20 and Deut 10:9; Matt 6:21; Ps 27:13 (LXX 26:13); 1 Cor 13:12; Matt 5:8; Rom 9:5. “Jesus” here is both Joshua and Jesus (the same name in Greek and Latin), as Origen intends. - The scan begins with a leaked reference (“Num. xxv, ll.”) and has lost the first words of the homily, which are supplied from Baehrens's edition. Two garbled passages (“Nam Moyses Si di“ "liq'fib‘fs l'mf’diuile'?’ "0" δθξ im” Jordanem” and “hmreditatem teme “cel SublimiOriS alicujus”) are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 21.1 (PG 12:736a–738a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 21.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-2 - Source: PG 12:738a–740a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In the heavenly inheritance the “few” are the more blessed, as the narrowing ark shows; the priests receive God alone as their inheritance; alternatively, one righteous man counts as many and the wicked, however numerous, as few. ### Latin text Ait ergo “ : Ex numero nominum pluribus plura dabuntur in sortem, et exiguis exiguam dabis hiereditatem, unicuique sicut recensitus est, dabitur luereditas ejus. llistoria hoc est quod docet, ut si qua tribus numerosior habetur in populis, majora terrae spatia sortiatur: si qua autem minore hominum numero censetur, breviore possessione contenla sit. Sed quoniam terra: hujus divisionem hmreditatumque terrenam, speciem dicimus tenere et imaginem futurorum bonorum, ac formam caelestis illius, quae a fidelibus et saucris speratur, haereditatis ostendere: requiro in illa hmreditate quae speranda est, qui sint plures, et qui sint pauci, et invenio ibi beatiores paucos haberi quam plures. Nam qui per viam latam et spatiosam, quae ducit ad perditionem, egerint iter, multi dicuntur ”. Qui vero per arctam et angustam viam perrexeriut, quae ducit ad vitam, pauci appellantur. Et iterum in aliis dicitur ὀδε Quam pauci sunt, qui salvantur. Et iterum in aliis Mr: Ubi multiplicatur iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multonum, non paucorum. Sed et in arca, quae a Noe constructa est , ubi mensura: coalitus dantur, in inferioribus trecentorum cubitorum ponitur longitudo, et quinquaginta cubitorum latitudo. Ubi vero textus ejus ad altiora consurgit, in angustum cogitur, et paucorum cubitorum conclusione colligitur, ita ut summitas ejus in unius cubiti spatium consummetur: proptereaque in inferioribus quidem, ubi lata et spatiosa habebantur loca, vel bestiae, vel pecudes erant collocata, in superioribus vero aves : in summis autem, quae augustiora et altiora erant, ibi homo rationalis collocatur. Ipse vero vertex in unum cubitum colligitur. Omnia enim ad monadem rediguntur. Quae tamen Trinitatis sacramentum in numero trecentorum cubitorum designat, et huic sacramento proximus ponitur homo utpote rationalis et Dei capax. Sed unde quae sit dillerentia inter paucos et multos, colligamus indicia? Pone omnem humani generis numerum, ex universis gentibus elige fideles, sine dubio pauciores erunt, quam sunt universi. Tunc deinde ex fidelium numero, elige meliores. Certum est quod multo inferior numerus remanebit. Et iterum ex ipsis quos elegeris, elige rursum perfectiores. pauciores profecto reperies. Et quanto amplius eligendo processeris, tanto magis exiguos et pauciores invenies usquequo ultimo venias ad unum aliquem, qui conlidenter dicat δ’, quia ‹ amplius quam omnes illi laboravi. › Hi ergo qui hoc modo plures sunt, plus terrae et plus corporea: haereditatis accipiunt: pauci autem exiguum aliquid de terra consequuntur, qui plus iu Domino habent: alii autem nihil omnino (ti) terrente litereditalis ε accipiunt, si qui digni fuerint sacerdotes esse et ministri Dei, horum enim ex integro ipse Dominus ltazreditas erit. Et quis ita beatus est, ut vel inter paucos exiguum terrae accipiat, vel inter electos sacerdotes et ministros solum Deum capere haereditatis sorte mereatur? Licet etiam ipsi propterjumenta sua accipiant aliquid terrae, sed illius terrae quae urbibus contigua estet adhaeret civitatibus. Potest tamen adhuc et alio modo intelligi sermo iste, qui dicit ut pluribus multiplicetur luereditas. Unus enim justus secundum hoc quod acceptus est Deo, pro pluribus‘habetur. Denique et scriptum est '°: Per unum sapientem inhabilabitur civitas,~tribus autem iniquorum desolabitur. Et unus justus pro toto mundo reputatur, iniqui autem, etiamsi multi sint, exigui et pro nihilo ducuntur apud Deum. Est ergo et multitudo laudabilis, sicut videmus etiam ad Abraham dictum, cum eduxit eum Deus foras, et dixit ad eum : Respice ad emtum, si potes dinumerare stellas, ita erit semen tuum. » In quo et hoc intuere, quomodo justus intus est, et in interioribus semper consistit: quia intus in abscondito orat Patrem, et omnis gloria lilia: regis, id est, animae regalis, intrinsecus est; sed tamen Deus educit eum foras, eum res postulat, et rerum visibilium ratio deposcit. Potest ergo et hoc modo multis istis, qui sunt sicut stellae coeli in multitudine, multiplicari haereditas, et exiguis illis videlicet qui etiamsi numero multi sunt, vita: tamen sua indignitate et vilitate exigui habentur, exigua haereditas poni. ### English translation (Claude) It says, then: “According to the number of names, to the many more will be given by lot, and to the few you shall give a small inheritance; to each, as he was enrolled, his inheritance will be given.” This is what the literal account teaches: that if some tribe is more numerous among the peoples, it should receive larger areas of land by lot; but if one is counted with a smaller number of men, it should be content with a smaller possession. But since we say that the division of this land and the earthly inheritances hold the figure and image of the good things to come, and show the form of that heavenly inheritance which is hoped for by the faithful and holy, I ask, in that inheritance which is to be hoped for, who are the many and who the few; and I find that there the few are held more blessed than the many. For those who travel by the broad and spacious way that leads to destruction are said to be many; but those who have gone by the narrow and strait way that leads to life are called few. And again elsewhere it is said: “How few there are who are saved!” And again elsewhere: “Where iniquity is multiplied, the love of many will grow cold,” not of few. And in the ark which was built by Noah, where the measures of its frame are given, in the lower parts a length of three hundred cubits and a breadth of fifty cubits is set down. But where its structure rises to higher parts, it is drawn into a narrow space and gathered into a compass of few cubits, so that its top is completed in the space of one cubit; and for this reason in the lower parts, where the spaces were broad and spacious, wild beasts or cattle were placed, in the upper parts birds; but in the highest, which were narrower and higher, there rational man is placed. And the very summit is gathered into one cubit. For all things are brought back to unity. And the number of three hundred cubits signifies the sacrament of the Trinity, and next to this sacrament man is placed, as being rational and capable of God. But from what shall we gather indications of what the difference is between the few and the many? Take the whole number of the human race; from all the nations choose the faithful; without doubt they will be fewer than all. Then from the number of the faithful choose the better. It is certain that a much smaller number will remain. And again from those you have chosen, choose again the more perfect: you will surely find fewer. And the further you proceed in choosing, the smaller and fewer you will find them, until at last you come to some one who can say with confidence: “I have laboured more than all of them.” Those, then, who are many in this way receive more land and more of the bodily inheritance; but the few, who have more in the Lord, obtain some small portion of the land; and others receive nothing at all of the earthly inheritance, those who are worthy to be priests and ministers of God, for the Lord himself will be wholly their inheritance. And who is so blessed as either to receive a little land among the few, or to merit, among the chosen priests and ministers, to take God alone as the lot of his inheritance? Although even they receive some land for their beasts, but of that land which is adjacent to cities and adjoins towns. This saying, however, which says that the inheritance is to be increased for the many, can still be understood in another way too. For one righteous man, according as he is accepted by God, is reckoned as many. Indeed it is written: “By one wise man a city will be inhabited, but the tribe of the wicked will be made desolate.” And one righteous man is reckoned for the whole world; but the wicked, even if they are many, are counted few and as nothing before God. There is, then, also a praiseworthy multitude, as we see said to Abraham too, when God brought him outside and said to him: “Look at the sky, if you can number the stars; so shall your seed be.” In this observe also how the righteous man is inside and always remains in the inner places, because he prays to the Father inside, in secret, and all the glory of the king’s daughter, that is, of the royal soul, is within; but yet God brings him outside when the matter requires it and the order of visible things demands it. In this way too, then, the inheritance can be multiplied for these many, who are like the stars of heaven in multitude, and a small inheritance be assigned to those few, namely those who, even if they are many in number, are nevertheless held few because of the unworthiness and baseness of their life. ### Scripture references - Num 26:54: quotation, high confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 7:13–14: allusion, high confidence - Luke 13:23: quotation, high confidence - Matt 24:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 6:15–16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 35:2–5: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 15:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 6:6: allusion, high confidence - Ps 45:13 (44:14 LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 16:4 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 26:54; Heb 10:1; Matt 7:13–14; Luke 13:23; Matt 24:12; Gen 6:15–16 (Origen describes the ark narrowing to one cubit at the top, following the Greek of 6:16); 1 Cor 15:10; Num 35:2–5 (the Levites’ pasture lands); Sir 16:4; Gen 15:5; Matt 6:6; Ps 45:13 (LXX 44:14). - The symbolism of the 300 cubits for the Trinity is translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 21.2 (PG 12:738a–740a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 21.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-3 - Source: PG 12:740a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Since some received their inheritance outside the lot, Origen infers that in the kingdom of heaven Christ will give outstanding saints a special share beyond the common lot, as he promised his disciples. ### Latin text Per sortem, inquit “, erit hereditatis distributio. υ Hoc quidem praecipitur, sed cum venio ad Scripturas, video ipsum Moysen. cui ista mandastur, sorte non uti in divisione luereditatis Balleia, et Gad, et dimidiae tribus Mauasse. Sed et Jesus Nave, extra sortem dat hzereditatem tribui Juda, et Caleb, et extra sortem dat et tribui Ephrem, et dimidia: tribui Manasse : in caeteris sors mittitur, et prima sors Beniamin procedit, et inde jam tribuum reliquarum. Unde puto quod et in illa regni ecclorum beata hmreditate erunt aliqui, qui non veniant ad sortem, neque eum caeteris, quamvis sint sancti. numerabuntur : sed erit egregia quautam et eximia eorum hairedilas, sicut fuit Caleb ex tribu Juda, et .lesu ipsius lilii Nave. Sicut enim, verbi'causa . eum post praelium victoribus provinciae partiuntur spolia, egregii quique et eximii bellatores non cum caeteris militibus in divisione spoliorum ducuntur ad sortem, sed optima quaeque et prmcipua eis virtstum merito decernuntur, caeteri vero utuntur sorte solo jure victoria: : ita mihi videtur et Dominus 355. meus Jesus Christus facturus : quosdam eniquos scit abundantius quam caeteros quorum gesta magniliea sublimesque virtutes ipse cognoscit, illis praecipuos quosque et eximios, atque. ut ita audeam dicere, similes sibi honores decernit et glorias. Annon tibi videtur simile aliquid sn: beatitudinis clarissimis suis conferre discipulis, asse dicit ’δε ς Pater, volo ut ubi ego sum et isti sint meeum? Et cum iterum dicit , quia et vos super duodecim thronos judicantes duodecim tribus Israel? Et iterum “z Sicut tu in me. Pater, et ego in te, ita et isti in nobis unum sint? ο llaec omnia non sorte decernuntur, sed electionis praerogativa donantur ab eo qui corda et mestes hominum videt solus, qui nos quoque etiami non inter eximios et electos, atque illos qui supra sortem sunt, in sortem tamen sanctorum dignetur adducere : eui est gloria et imperium in scruta swculorum. ### English translation (Claude) “By lot,” it says, “will the distribution of the inheritance be.” This indeed is commanded; but when I come to the Scriptures, I see that Moses himself, to whom these things were commanded, does not use the lot in the division of the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And Joshua son of Nun too gives an inheritance outside the lot to the tribe of Judah and to Caleb, and outside the lot he also gives to the tribe of Ephraim and to the half-tribe of Manasseh; for the rest the lot is cast, and the first lot comes out for Benjamin, and then for the remaining tribes. Hence I think that in that blessed inheritance of the kingdom of heaven too there will be some who do not come to the lot and will not be numbered with the others, though they are saints; but theirs will be a certain outstanding and exceptional inheritance, as was that of Caleb of the tribe of Judah and of Joshua son of Nun himself. For just as, for example, when after a battle the spoils of a province are divided among the victors, the outstanding and exceptional warriors are not brought to the lot with the other soldiers in the division of the spoils, but all the best and choicest things are assigned to them by merit of their valour, while the others use the lot by the mere right of victory; so it seems to me that my Lord Jesus Christ too will do: for some whom he knows to have laboured more abundantly than the others, whose magnificent deeds and sublime virtues he himself knows, he will assign special and exceptional honours and glories, and, if I may dare to say it, like his own. Does he not seem to you to confer something like his own blessedness on his most illustrious disciples when he says: “Father, I wish that where I am, these too may be with me”? And when again he says: “You too will sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel”? And again: “As you, Father, are in me and I in you, so may these too be one in us”? All these things are not decided by lot but are granted by the prerogative of election by him who alone sees the hearts and minds of men; and may he deign to bring us too, even if not among the exceptional and chosen and those who are above the lot, at least into the lot of the saints: to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. ### Scripture references - Num 26:55–56: quotation, high confidence - Num 32:33: allusion, high confidence - Josh 14:6–14: allusion, high confidence - Josh 19:49–50: allusion, medium confidence - Josh 18:11: allusion, high confidence - John 17:24: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:28: quotation, high confidence - John 17:21: quotation, high confidence - Col 1:12: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 26:55–56; Num 32:33; Josh 14:6–14 and 15:13 (Caleb); Josh 19:49–50 (Joshua’s own inheritance); Josh 15–17; Josh 18:11; John 17:24; Matt 19:28; John 17:21; Col 1:12 (“the lot of the saints”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 21.3 (PG 12:740a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-21-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 22.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-1 - Source: PG 12:741d–742b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God’s answer to the daughters of Zelophehad gave lasting laws of inheritance; spiritually, the five daughters are good works done through the five senses, by which even simple believers without deep understanding (“shadow in his mouth”) inherit with the people of God. ### Latin text Quinque lilia: fuerunt, quarum etiam nomina in Scriptura comprehensa sunt, de Salphaat quodam lsraelita progenita}, qui mortuus est in deserto. nulla virili sobole derelicta. Ista: ergo tiliae Salphsat interpellant Moysen, et sortem paterna: hereditatis exposcunt ducentes, ne deleatur nomen patris earum de medio plebis suae, quia non cst ei vir filius natus. Refert pro hoc Moyses consul'atiom-m ad Deum. Omnipotentis autem Dei clementia non spernit, nec despicit consultationem quae offertur a puellis, et non solum responsa dare dignatur, sed intantum probat, et amplectitur verba earum, ut ex ipsis (eterna hominibus jura constituat et Saeculis omnibus observanda. Ait enim : Loquens erat Dominus ad Moysen; Recte locuta: sunt filia: Salphaat. Dahis eis possessionem in medio fratrum [κισ tris sui, et dabis sortem patris ipsarum ipsis, et filiis Israel loqueris dicens: Homo si mortuus fuerit, et filius non fuerit ei, dabitis hmreditatem ejus filia: ejus. Quod si non fuerit ei filia (A9), dabitis literedilatcm fratri ejus. Quod si non fuerint ei fratres, dabitis hmreditatem fratri patris ejus. Quod si non fuerint ei fratres patris ejus, dabitis Increditatem domestico, qui fuerit propiuquior illi ex tribu sua, et capiet haereditatem ejus, et erit hoc filiis Israel justificatio judicii, sicut constituit Dominus Moysi. Haec secundum historiam quid vigoris habeant, omnibus palam est qui sciunt lcgcs istas non solum apud filios Israel custodiri, sed apud omnes η homines, qui tamen legibus vivunt. Unde apparet quod libertas filiarum Salphaat non solum ipsis hereditatem contulerit, sed et perpetua vivendi jura sacculo dederit. Vides quanta sit etiam historia: ipsius utilitas in lege Dei. Quis potest leges istas aliquando dissolvere, quibus universus utitur ο mundus? Sed tamen nos quaeramus quomodo etiam spiritaliter aedificentur. Potest enim fieri ut neque filia: mihi sint secundum carnem, neque aliquid ruris, cujus capi possit haereditas. Quid ergo? nihil apud eum qui hujusmodi est, ista lex Operabitur, et erit alicui otiosum quod divina voce sancitum est? Requiramus ergo etiam apud spiritalem legem quae sint ista: filiae quinque, quarum etiamsi pater mortuus fuerit pro aliquo peccato, ipsa: tamen haereditatcm ex verbo Dei capiant. In superioribus, cum de spiritalibus filiis tractaremus, virtutes animi et sensus mentis filios diei docuimus. Consequens sine dubio et conveniens videtur etiam filias opera quae corporis ministerio explentur, accipere. ldeo denique et quinarius eis numerus ascribitur. Quinque enim corporei sensus sunt, quibus omne opus expletur in corpore. Ista: ergo quinque filiae, id est operum perfectio, etiamsi patre orbentur et rema- .teant orplianw, non tamen ejiciuntur ab Incrediλειω, neque excluduntur a regno, sed in medio plebis Dei portionem hmreditatis accipiunt. Interim videamus quis est iste pater earum, qui mortuus esse dicitur. Salphaat, inquit, Salphaat autem terpretatur umbra in ore ejus (ll); pater operum intellectus est. Saepe ergo accidit, et non pauci inter fratres nostros sunt, in quibus intellectus altior et profundior nullus, sed est in eis sensus emortuus, sieut de quodam scriptum est : ‹ Et emortuum est cor ejus in ipso. Iste ergo etiamsi ad intelligentiam spiritalem nihil sapit, sed est emortuus, tamen si genuerit filias, id est opera ministerii, opera obsequiorum, opera mandatorum Dei, luereditatem terrm cum plebe Domini consequitur. Non poterit quidem inter eos numerari, quorum portio Dominus est, quorum hmreditas Deus est, non poterit in ministrorum et sacerdotum numero suscipi, in plebeio tamen ordine haereditatem terra: repromissionis accipiet: Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci autem electi. Ostenditur tamen el causa εκ ipsius nominis interpretatione, quia iste Salphaat non potuerit filios generare, sed filias. Interpre' tatur enim, ut diximus, umbra in ore ejus. Vides ergo quoniam si quis umbram legis habet in ore, et non ipsam imaginem rerum, hic quia nihil 355 spiritale, nihil profundi intellectus sentire poteSI, sed sola umbra legis in ore ejus est, sensus vivos et spiritales non potest generare, generare tamen potest opera et actus, quae sunt simplicioris vita: ministeria. Et ideo ostendit in his clementia Dei, quod innocentiores quique, etiamsi sensu deficiant, habent tamen opera bona, non excluduntur ab haereditate sanetorum. Recte ergo lo κ cutze sunt filize Salpbaat. ### English translation (Claude) There were five daughters, whose names too are contained in Scripture, born of a certain Israelite Zelophehad, who died in the desert leaving no male offspring. These daughters of Zelophehad, then, approach Moses and ask for the lot of their father’s inheritance, saying: Let not the name of our father be blotted out from the midst of his clan, because no male son was born to him. On this matter Moses brings the inquiry to God. And the clemency of almighty God does not spurn or despise the inquiry which is offered by girls, and he not only deigns to give an answer, but so approves and embraces their words that from them he establishes eternal laws for men, to be observed in all ages. For it says: “The Lord spoke to Moses: The daughters of Zelophehad have spoken rightly. You shall give them a possession in the midst of their father’s brothers, and you shall give them their father’s lot; and you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying: If a man dies and has no son, you shall give his inheritance to his daughter. And if he has no daughter, you shall give his inheritance to his brother. And if he has no brothers, you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brother. And if his father has no brothers, you shall give his inheritance to the member of his household who is nearest to him of his tribe, and he shall take his inheritance; and this shall be for the sons of Israel a statute of judgment, as the Lord commanded Moses.” What force these things have according to the literal account is plain to all who know that these laws are kept not only among the sons of Israel but among all men who live by laws. Hence it appears that the boldness of the daughters of Zelophehad not only brought an inheritance to themselves but also gave the world perpetual rights of living. You see how great is the usefulness even of the literal account itself in the law of God. Who can ever dissolve these laws, which the whole world uses? But let us nevertheless inquire how they may also edify spiritually. For it can happen that I have neither daughters according to the flesh nor any land whose inheritance can be taken. What then? Will this law work nothing in one who is of this kind, and will what was sanctioned by the divine voice be idle for anyone? Let us inquire, then, in the spiritual law too, who these five daughters are, who, even if their father has died for some sin, nevertheless take an inheritance by the word of God. Earlier, when we were treating of spiritual sons, we taught that the virtues of the soul and the thoughts of the mind are called sons. It seems without doubt consistent and fitting to take as daughters the works which are accomplished through the service of the body. That, in short, is why the number five is ascribed to them. For there are five bodily senses, by which every work is accomplished in the body. These five daughters, then, that is, the completion of works, even if they are bereft of their father and remain orphans, are nevertheless not cast out of the inheritance, nor shut out from the kingdom, but receive a portion of the inheritance in the midst of the people of God. Meanwhile let us see who this father of theirs is, who is said to have died. Zelophehad, it says. Zelophehad is interpreted “shadow in his mouth”; the father of works is understanding. It often happens, then, and there are not a few among our brothers, in whom there is no higher or deeper understanding, but their sense is as dead, as it is written of someone: “And his heart died within him.” Such a one, then, even if he has no taste for spiritual understanding but is as dead, yet if he has begotten daughters, that is, works of ministry, works of service, works of God’s commandments, obtains the inheritance of the land with the people of the Lord. He will not indeed be able to be numbered among those whose portion is the Lord, whose inheritance is God; he will not be able to be received into the number of ministers and priests; yet in the common order he will receive the inheritance of the land of promise. “For many are called, but few are chosen.” The reason too is shown from the interpretation of the name itself, why this Zelophehad could not beget sons, but daughters. For it is interpreted, as we said, “shadow in his mouth.” You see, then, that if someone has in his mouth the shadow of the law, and not the very image of the realities, he, because he can perceive nothing spiritual, nothing of deep understanding, but only the shadow of the law is in his mouth, cannot beget living and spiritual thoughts; yet he can beget works and acts, which are the services of a simpler life. And therefore the clemency of God shows in these things that the more innocent, even if they are lacking in understanding, yet have good works, are not shut out from the inheritance of the saints. Rightly, then, did the daughters of Zelophehad speak. ### Scripture references - Num 27:1–4: allusion, high confidence - Num 27:6–11: quotation, high confidence - Num 27:3: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 25:37: quotation, high confidence - Matt 22:14: quotation, high confidence - Heb 10:1: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 27:1–11 (27:3, “died in the desert … for his own sin”); 1 Sam 25:37; Matt 22:14; Heb 10:1 (shadow and image). The etymology of Zelophehad (“shadow in his mouth”) is Origen’s. - A leaked marginal reference (“".Nutn. xxvn, 55. Jos. xlv. “Joau. xui, υ.”) is removed, and the word “electi” lost in the scan before “Ostenditur” is supplied. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 22.1 (PG 12:741d–742b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 22.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-2 - Source: PG 12:742b–743a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The five degrees of succession are read spiritually as five ways of attaining the heavenly inheritance: through knowledge, through works, through imitation of others, through the tradition of the ancients, and through any good done at all. ### Latin text Post haec ponitur lex Dei de successione, ut primo filius, filia secundo in loco succedat, tertio frater, quarto patris frater. Quintus vero gradus certum aliquem non designat, sed quisquis illi propinquior ex omni familia fuerit, ut ipse succedat. ln his tam integer et perfectus est historia: sensus, ut nihil requirere videatur extrinsecus (l2). Tamen si quis bene in spiritalibus legibus eruditus est, et pleniore scientiae lumine radiatus, ille potest intelligere diversos istos successionum gradus, et quomodo primus sit consequentia: ctelestis hmreditatis gradus, doctrina: et scientiae merito, qui est masculus filius. Secundus operum prmrogativa, quae filia est. Tertius compassionis alicujus et imitationis, propter quod et frater nominatur. Sunt enim nonnulli, qui sponte quidem sua, et proprio intellectu nihil agunt, positi tamen inter fratres, ex imitatione caeterorum eadem videntur agere quae et illi agunt, qui intellectu proprio moventur. Datur etiam istis tertius htereditatis sub titulo fratrum nominis gradus. Quartus vero, quem fratrem patris nominat, potest fortassis intelligi ille ordo hominum, qui audita a patribus, ct veterum narratione suscepta conantur imp’lere, et non tam propriis sensibus moti, nec praeseutis doctrinae commonitionibus excitati, quam veterum vel traditione, vel consuetudine sola instituti, boni tamen aliquid gerunt. Ultimus ver gradus scribitur ille, qui quolibet pacto huic proximus fuerit: quasi si diceret, Sive occasione sive veritate doctrinae si quis aliquid boni fecerit, non peribit boui Operis merces, sed largiente Domino locum haereditatis accipiet. llaec quidem a nobis audacter fortassis prmsnmpta, et in medium prolata videantur, non tamen erit absurdum si spiritalibus spiritalia proponentes, secretioris eos intelligentiae aemulatores, cupidosque reddamus. ### English translation (Claude) After this the law of God concerning succession is set down: that first the son should succeed, the daughter in second place, third the brother, fourth the father’s brother. The fifth degree does not designate any particular person, but whoever is nearer to him from the whole family should succeed. In these things the sense of the literal account is so complete and perfect that it seems to require nothing from outside. Yet if anyone is well instructed in the spiritual laws and illuminated by the fuller light of knowledge, he can understand these different degrees of succession: how the first degree of attaining the heavenly inheritance is by merit of doctrine and knowledge, which is the male son; the second by the prerogative of works, which is the daughter; the third by a certain fellow-feeling and imitation, which is why he is also named brother. For there are some who do nothing of their own accord and by their own understanding, yet, placed among the brothers, by imitation of the others seem to do the same things which those do who are moved by their own understanding. To these too the third degree of inheritance is given under the title of the name of brothers. The fourth, whom he names the father’s brother, can perhaps be understood as that order of men who try to fulfil what they have heard from the fathers and received from the account of the ancients, and who, moved not so much by their own understanding, nor roused by the admonitions of present teaching, as instructed solely by the tradition or custom of the ancients, nevertheless do something good. The last degree is written as that which is in any way next to him: as if he said, Whether by occasion or by truth of doctrine, if anyone has done something good, the reward of the good work will not perish, but by the Lord’s bounty he will receive a place of inheritance. These things may perhaps seem boldly presumed and brought forward by us; yet it will not be absurd if, setting spiritual things before spiritual people, we make them emulous and eager for a more secret understanding. ### Scripture references - Num 27:8–11: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:13: allusion, high confidence - Phil 1:18: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 27:8–11; 1 Cor 2:13; Phil 1:18 (“whether by occasion or by truth”). - A leaked footnote (on the etymology of Zelophehad and readings of a manuscript of Saint Theuderic, “a Matth. HJ EJUS.A Sy … iis proxumus.”) splitting “audita a patribus” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 22.2 (PG 12:742b–743a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 22.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-3 - Source: PG 12:743a–744b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses, told to view the promised land from the mountain before dying, is a figure of perfection; yet his death for his transgression at Zin shows that even he was under sin, and that Christ alone, who did no sin, sets us free. ### Latin text Post haec historia refertur, et narratione ntirabilis, et intellectu magnifica. Ponitur enim quomodo Deus dixerit ad Moysen, ut ascenderet in montem, et inde cum prospexisset, et intuitus fuisset omnem terram repromissionis, ibi defungeretur. Sed ille qui pepuli curam magis quant sui gereret, orat ad Deum ut provideat hominem qui regat populum lsrael: t Ne llat, inquit ο, synagoga haec sicut oves quibus non est pastor.» Vide ergo primo omnium quomodo qui perfectus et beatus est, non itt valle, nec in aliqua terrae planitie, aut in colle aliquo, sed tn monte, id est in alto et in arduo defungitur loco. Viue namque ejus consummatio et perfectio habebatur in excelso. Sed et oculis suis contueri iubetur omnem terram repromissionis, et diligenter ex eminenti statione cuncta perspicere. Oportebat enim summam perfectionis consecutura nihil incognitum remanere, sed cunctorum quae videntur et audiuntur habere notitiam: ob hoc caedo, ut omnium quae in carne positus, corporali coepit aSpectu, in spiritu effectus, et nuda mente ac auditoria et discipulatum sapientia: properans, velociter eorum rationes assequatur et causas. Nam qttid videbitur utilitatis ut decessuro dc saeculo, et finem vitae huius protinus accepturo ostenderentur terra; et loca quorum nec laborem perpessurus esset (l4), nec gratiam suscepturus? Perterret me sane sermo qui sequitur, et ad dicendum reddit timidum ac trepidum , quo de magno illo Moyse l‘amulo et amico Dei, cui facie ad faciem locutus est Deus, per quem signa et virtutes mirifica} perpetratae sunt, tam gravia, tam periculosa referuntur. Quid enim ei dicit Deus? Et apponeris, inquit υ, ad populum tuum et tu, sicut appositus est Aaron frater tuus in monte 0r. Et quasi causam mortis cit-ponit dicens : Propter quod transgressi estis vcrbum meum in deserto Sin, cum reStitit synagoga ne ipsetransgressioniscrimen incurrit,etiamipsefactu; me sanctificaret. Non me sanctificastis in aqua coram lise. Ergone in culpa est etiam Moyses? Etiam ipse trans- gressionis crimen Incurrit, etiam ipse factus est sub peccato. Idcirco, credo,cum confidentia dicebatApostolus ’, quia ε regnavit mors ab Adam usque ad Moysen. Accessit enim ad Moysen, et nec ipt' pepercit. Et ideo, opinor, dicebat“, quia ‹ peccatur introivit iu hunc mundum, et per peccatum mors clusit Deus omnes sub peccato, ut omnibus raise reatur. Sed gratias Domino Jesu Christo, qui aut liberavit de corpore mortis huius, ut ubi abundari, peccatum, superabundaret gratia . Nam Moyses quomodo aliquem liberare potuisset a peccatis, cum etiam ipsi dicatur, quia transgressi estis verbum meum in deserto Sin , et non me sanctificastis in aqua coram filiis lsrael? ut manifestum sit omnibus quod ille debeat solus requiri, qui soluspeccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore q'us. ### English translation (Claude) After this an account is related, wonderful in its narrative and magnificent in its meaning. For it is set down how God told Moses to go up the mountain, and to die there when he had looked out from it and seen the whole land of promise. But he, who took more care for the people than for himself, prays to God to provide a man to rule the people of Israel: “Let not this congregation,” he says, “be like sheep that have no shepherd.” See, then, first of all how he who is perfect and blessed dies not in a valley, nor on some plain of the earth, nor on some hill, but on a mountain, that is, in a high and lofty place. For the completion and perfection of his life was held on the height. And he is also ordered to behold with his eyes the whole land of promise, and from his eminent station to look carefully at everything. For it was fitting that for one who was to attain the summit of perfection nothing should remain unknown, but that he should have knowledge of all that is seen and heard: for this reason, I believe, so that, having become spirit, with a naked mind, and hastening to the school and discipleship of wisdom, he might swiftly grasp the reasons and causes of all that he had begun to see with bodily sight while placed in the flesh. For what usefulness would there seem to be in showing lands and places, whose labour he was not to endure nor whose grace he was to receive, to one about to depart from the world and soon to receive the end of this life? But the saying that follows terrifies me and makes me timid and trembling to speak, in which such grave and perilous things are related of that great Moses, the servant and friend of God, with whom God spoke face to face, through whom wonderful signs and powers were performed. For what does God say to him? “And you too will be added,” it says, “to your people, as Aaron your brother was added on Mount Hor.” And as if setting out the cause of death he says: “Because you transgressed my word in the desert of Zin, when the congregation resisted, so as to sanctify me. You did not sanctify me at the water before them.” Is Moses too, then, at fault? He too incurred the charge of transgression; he too was made subject to sin. For this reason, I believe, the Apostle said with confidence that “death reigned from Adam to Moses.” For it came even to Moses and did not spare him either. And therefore, I think, he said that “sin entered into this world, and through sin death,” and “God has shut up all under sin, that he may have mercy on all.” But thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ, who has set us free from the body of this death, so that where sin abounded, grace might abound still more. For how could Moses have freed anyone from sins, when it is said even to him, “Because you transgressed my word in the desert of Zin, and did not sanctify me at the water before the sons of Israel”? So that it may be plain to all that he alone ought to be sought who alone did no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. ### Scripture references - Num 27:12–17: quotation, high confidence - Exod 33:11: allusion, high confidence - Num 27:13–14: quotation, high confidence - Num 20:12: allusion, medium confidence - Rom 5:14: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12: quotation, high confidence - Rom 11:32: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:24–25: allusion, high confidence - Rom 5:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:22: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 27:12–17; Exod 33:11; Num 27:13–14 (cf. Num 20:12, 24); Rom 5:14; Rom 5:12; Rom 11:32 (cf. Gal 3:22); Rom 7:24–25; Rom 5:20; 1 Pet 2:22. - The scan displaces a line in the quotation of Num 27:14 (“cum reStitit synagoga ne ipsetransgressioniscrimen incurrit,etiamipsefactu; me sanctificaret”) and loses words in the Pauline quotations (“mors clusit Deus omnes … raise reatur”, “qui aut liberavit”); these are translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 22.3 (PG 12:743a–744b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 22.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-4 - Source: PG 12:744b–746a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses, not daring to choose his own successor, teaches church leaders never to hand on office by kinship or popular favour but to leave the choice to God; spiritually, Moses’ death is the end of the letter of the law, and Jesus leads the second people into the inheritance and gives the soul rest from inner warfare. ### Latin text Sed interim videamus Moysis magnificentiam. Rccessurus de saeculo orat Deum, ut provideat ducem populo. Quid agis, ο Moyses? Nunquid lilii tibi non sunt, Gersum et Eliezer? Antsi aliquid de ipsis dubitas, non sunt filii fratris magni et egregii viri? Quomodo non oras Deum pro ipsis, ut eos constituat populo duces? Sed discant, Eccitsiarum principes successores sibi non eos. qui eoa sanguinitate generis juncti sunt, nec qui carnis propinquitate sociantur, testamento signare, neque ltzereditarium tradere Ecclesia: principatum, sed referre ad judicium Dei, et non eligere illum, quon humanus commendat allectus, sed Dei judicio totum de successoris electione permittere. Nunquid non poterat Moyses eligere principem populo, rt vero judicio eligere, et recta iustaque sententia, ad quem dixerat Deus “t Elige presbyteros populo quos tu ipse scis presbyteros esse, et elegit tales in quibus continuo Dei spiritus requiesceret,et propltetarent omnes? Quis ergo ita potuit eligere principent populi, ut Moyses poterat? Sed hoeuon facit, non eligit, non audet. Cur non audet? Ne posteris prazsumptionis relinquat esetnplum. Sed ausculta quid dicit: t Provideat, inquit", Dominus Deus spirituum et omnis carnis, hominem super synagogam hanc, qui egrediatur ante faciem eo. rum, et qui ingrediatur, et qui producat eos, et qui reducm. Si ergo tantus ille ac talis Moyses non permittitiudicio suo de eligendo principe populi. de constituendo successore, quis erit qui aud-cat, vel ex plebe quae saepe clamoribus ad gratiam, aut pretio fortassis excitata (l6) moveri solet, vel fl ipsis etiam sacerdotibus quis erit qui se idoneum ad hoc iudicet, nisi si cui oranti, et petenti a Domino reveletur? Sicut et Deus dicit ad Moysen "z Assutne ad temetipsum Jesum filium Nave, hominem qui habet Spiritum Dei in semetipso, et impones manus tuas super enim, et statues eum coram Eleazaro sacerdme. et prtecepta dato ei in conSpectu totius synagogas, et praecipe de ipso coram eis, et dabis claritatem tuam super illum, ut audiant illum lilii Israel. Audis evidenter ordinationem principis populi tam manifeste descriptam, ut pene expositione non egeat. Nulla hic populi acclamatio, nulla consanguinitatis ratio, nulla propinquitatis habita contemplatio est. Pr0pinquis agrorum et praediorum relinquatur haereditas : gubernatio populi illi tradatur, quem Deus elegerit : homini scilicet tali, qtti habet, sicut scriptum audistis, in semetipso Spiritqu Dei et prazcepta Dei in conSpcctu ejus sunt, et qui Moysi valde notus et lamiliaris sit, id est, in quo sit claritas legis et scientia, ut possint eum audire lilii Israel. Verum quoniam mysteriis cuncta referta sunt, non possumus quae pretiosiora sunt omittere, etiamsi haec quae secundum litteram mandantur, necessaria videantur et utilia. Consideremus ergo quae sit Moysis mors, finis sine dubio legis : sed legis illius quze secundum litteram dicitur. Quis autem ejus linis est? Sacrificiornm scilicet interruptio, et cmterorum quae simili. observantia mandantur in lege. llzec ergo ubi linem accipiunt. Jesus suscipit principatum : Finis enim legis Christus ad justitiam omni credenti . t- Et sicut de prioribus dictum est, quia omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube et in mari 7°; ita et de Jesu quia onmes in Jesu baptizati sunt in Spiritu sancto et aqua. Jesus namque est,qui transit aquas Iordanis, et in ipsis quodammodojam tum populum baptizat : et ipse cst qui terram ba2reditatis, terram sanctam partitur universis. non priori populo, sed secundo. Prior enim pupulus propter prtevaricationem suam cecidit in deserto. De Jesu autem temporibus dicitur, quia terra quievit a bellis“; quod Moysi tempore dici non potuit. Sed de Jesu hac dicitur meo Domino, non illo Nave. Atque utinam mea terra cesset a bellis. Et cessare posset si ego Iesu principi meo fideliter militarem. Si etum paream meo Domino Jesu, nnnrpiam caro mea insurget adversus spiritum meum, nec impugnabitnr terra mea ab adverSariis gentibus, diversis scilicet concupiscentiis stimulata. Oremus ergo, ut Jesus regnet super nos, et cesset terra nostra a bellis, cesset ab impugnationibus carnalium desideriorum : et cum ista cessaverint,tunc unusquisque requiescet sub vite sua, et sub ficu sua, et sub oliva sua τ’. Sub velamento enim Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus saneli requiescet anima, quae pacem in se recuperaverit carnis ac spiritus. Ipsi aeterno Deo gloria in saecula szeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But meanwhile let us look at the greatness of Moses. About to depart from the world, he prays God to provide a leader for the people. What are you doing, O Moses? Do you not have sons, Gershom and Eliezer? Or if you have some doubt about them, are there not sons of your brother, a great and excellent man? Why do you not pray God for them, that he may appoint them leaders of the people? But let the leaders of the churches learn not to seal by testament as their successors those who are joined to them by blood relationship, nor those who are allied by kinship of the flesh, nor to hand down the leadership of the church as an inheritance, but to refer it to the judgment of God, and not to choose the one whom human affection commends, but to leave the whole choice of the successor to the judgment of God. Could not Moses choose a leader for the people, and choose with true judgment and with a right and just decision, he to whom God had said, “Choose presbyters for the people whom you yourself know to be presbyters,” and he chose such men that the Spirit of God at once rested on them and they all prophesied? Who, then, could choose a leader of the people as Moses could? But he does not do this; he does not choose; he does not dare. Why does he not dare? So as not to leave his successors an example of presumption. But listen to what he says: “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits and of all flesh, provide a man over this congregation, who will go out before their face and who will come in, and who will lead them out and who will bring them back.” If, then, so great and such a Moses does not trust his own judgment about choosing a leader of the people and appointing a successor, who will there be who dares, whether from the people, which is often moved by shouts in favour of someone, or perhaps stirred up by money, or even from the priests themselves, who will there be who judges himself fit for this, unless it is revealed to someone praying and asking it of the Lord? Just as God too says to Moses: “Take to yourself Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit of God in himself, and lay your hands on him, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and give him commands in the sight of the whole congregation, and give charge concerning him before them, and you shall put your glory on him, so that the sons of Israel may hear him.” You hear plainly the ordination of the leader of the people described so clearly that it hardly needs explanation. Here there is no acclamation of the people, no account taken of blood relationship, no regard had to kinship. Let the inheritance of fields and estates be left to kinsmen; let the governance of the people be handed to him whom God has chosen: to such a man, namely, who has, as you have heard written, the Spirit of God in himself, and the commands of God are in his sight, and who is very well known and familiar to Moses, that is, in whom there is the glory and knowledge of the law, so that the sons of Israel may hear him. But since all things are full of mysteries, we cannot omit the more precious things, even if these which are commanded according to the letter seem necessary and useful. Let us consider, then, what the death of Moses is: without doubt the end of the law, but of that law which is called according to the letter. And what is its end? The cessation, namely, of the sacrifices and of the other things that are commanded with like observance in the law. When these things, then, receive their end, Jesus takes up the leadership: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” And just as it was said of the earlier people that all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, so too of Jesus, that all are baptized into Jesus in the Holy Spirit and water. For it is Jesus who crosses the waters of the Jordan, and in them in a certain way already then baptizes the people; and it is he who divides the land of inheritance, the holy land, to all, not to the former people, but to the second. For the former people fell in the desert because of its transgression. But of the times of Joshua it is said that the land rested from wars, which could not be said in the time of Moses. But this is said of Jesus my Lord, not of that son of Nun. And would that my land might cease from wars! And it could cease if I served faithfully as a soldier under Jesus my leader. If I obey my Lord Jesus, my flesh will never rise up against my spirit, nor will my land be attacked by hostile nations, that is, by the various desires that goad it. Let us pray, then, that Jesus may reign over us, and our land may cease from wars, cease from the attacks of carnal desires; and when these have ceased, then each one will rest under his vine and under his fig tree and under his olive. For under the covering of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit the soul will rest which has recovered within itself peace of flesh and spirit. To the eternal God himself be glory for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 27:15–17: quotation, high confidence - Exod 18:3–4: allusion, high confidence - Num 11:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Num 11:25: allusion, high confidence - Num 27:18–20: quotation, high confidence - Rom 10:4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 10:2: quotation, high confidence - Josh 3:14–17: allusion, high confidence - Josh 11:23: quotation, medium confidence - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Mic 4:4: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 27:15–23; Exod 2:22 and 18:3–4 (Gershom and Eliezer); Num 11:16–17, 25; Rom 10:4; 1 Cor 10:2; Josh 3:14–17; Josh 11:23 (14:15); Gal 5:17; Mic 4:4 (1 Kgs 4:25). Origen plays on the name Jesus/Joshua: the leadership passes to “Jesus,” and he says explicitly that the land’s rest refers to “Jesus my Lord, not that son of Nun.” - On the choice of church leaders Origen excludes hereditary succession and popular acclamation; translated as written. - Leaked marginal references after the final “Amen” and inside the quotation of Num 27:18 are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 22.4 (PG 12:744b–746a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/21-1/#p-22-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-1 - Source: PG 12:746a–748a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen introduces the laws of sacrifices and feasts by explaining that Christ has transferred worship from the visible rites of the law to the invisible and spiritual, which require spiritual ears and eyes. ### Latin text festivitatum. I. Si observatio sacrificiorum, et instituta Iegalia, quae in typo data sunt populo Israel, usque ad praesens tempus stare potuissent, exclusissent sine dubio Evangelii fidem per quam ex adventu Domini nostri Jesu Christi gentes Convertuntur ad Deum. Erat enim in illis qum tunc observabantur, magnifica quaedam, et totius reverentiae plena religio, quae ex ipso etiam primo aspectu obstupefaceret intuentes. Quis enim videns illud, quod appellabatur sanctuarium sive sacrarium, et intuens altare, astantes etiam sacerdotes sacrificia consummautes, omnemque ordinem qun cuncta illa gere. bantur aspiciens, non putaret plenissimum hunc esse ritum, quo Deus creator ornnium ab humano genere coli deberet? Sed gratias adventui Christi, qui animas nostras avellens ab hoc intuitu, ad considerationem 357 cmlestium et contemplationem rerum spiritalium contulit, et destruxit quidem illa quae magna videbantur in terris, cultumque Dei a visibilibus ad invisibilia transtulit, et a temporalibus ad atterna. Sed revera ipse Dominus Jesns Christus et aures requirit quae lucc audiant et oculos qui haec videant. Unde et nos nunc legem datam per Maysem habentes in manibus, et volentes eam ostendero legem esse spiritalem , aures a vobis et oculos tales requirimus, qui non ad illa quae sunt destructa respiciant, sed qui ibi lucc requirant, ubi Christus est in dextra Dei sedens, et quae sursum sunt sapiant, non quae sunt supra terras . SuIIieiat ergo ista prazl'ationis loco pro iis quas dicenda sunt, τι nobis esse praemissa. ### English translation (Claude) [… of the feasts.] If the observance of sacrifices and the legal ordinances, which were given to the people of Israel as a type, had been able to stand until the present time, they would without doubt have shut out the faith of the gospel, through which, since the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the nations are being converted to God. For in those things which were then observed there was a certain magnificent religion, full of all reverence, which even at first sight amazed those who beheld it. For who, seeing what was called the sanctuary or holy place, and looking at the altar, and the priests standing by and completing the sacrifices, and observing the whole order with which all those things were carried out, would not think that this was the fullest rite by which God the creator of all ought to be worshipped by the human race? But thanks be to the coming of Christ, who, tearing our souls away from this sight, has brought them to the consideration of heavenly things and the contemplation of spiritual realities, and has destroyed those things that seemed great on earth, and has transferred the worship of God from visible things to invisible, and from temporal to eternal. But truly the Lord Jesus Christ himself requires both ears to hear these things and eyes to see them. Hence we too, now having in hand the law given through Moses, and wishing to show that it is a spiritual law, require of you such ears and eyes as do not look back to those things which have been destroyed, but seek these things there where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God, and set their minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. Let this, then, suffice as set before you by way of preface to what is to be said. ### Scripture references - Col 3:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:16: allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - The scan opens with the last word of the homily’s title (“festivitatum,” “of the feasts”), shown in brackets. - Quotations and allusions: Col 3:1–2; Rom 7:14; Matt 13:16 (ears to hear, eyes to see). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.1 (PG 12:746a–748a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-2 - Source: PG 12:748a–748b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The offerings God commands are his own gifts returned to him; God’s true feast days are the conversions of sinners, in which the Father, the Son, the Spirit, and the angels rejoice, while sin brings mourning, though such language about God is figurative, since the divine nature is impassible. ### Latin text Nunc autem ad ea jam, quae scripta sunt, vcniamus. ί Et locutus est, inquit , Dominus ad Moysen dicens : Praccipe filiis Israel, et dices ad eos : Munera mea, data mea, hostias meas in odorem suavitatis observate, ut oll‘eratis mihi in diebus festis meis, et dices ad eos: Hae sunt hostiae meat, quas offeratis Domino. Nemo suum aliquid oti‘ert Deo, sed quod nfi‘ert Domini est, et non tam sua quis offert Deo, quam ipsi quae sua sunt reddit. Propterea ergo volens Dominus sacrificiorum et nmnerum olIerendorum sibi ab hominibus leges scribere, primo onmium ipsorum, quae ofl‘erenda erant, aperit rationem et dicit : ‹ Munera tnea, data mea, sacrificia mea in odorem suavitatis observate, ut olTeratis mihi in diebus festis meis. ς Ilaec, inquit, munera de quibus vobis praeceptor-ns sum ut oll'eratis mihi in diebus {estis meis, data mea sunt, hoc est, a me vobis dantur. A me enim cuncta quze habet humanum percipit genus. Ne quis ergo in ofierendis muneribus beneficii se alio quid conferre crederet Deo, et per hoc impius in eo ipso quo Deum colere videbatur exsisteret (quid cnim tam impium quam si putet homo velut indigenti aliquid se praestare Deo ?), necessario, ut diximus, prius edocet hominem, quo sciat se quidquid obtulit Deo, reddere id ei potius quam offerre. Sed et illud videamus quomodo ait : Qum offeratis mihi in diebus festis meis.» Habet ergo Deus dies festos suos? Habet. Est enim ei magna festivitas humana salus. Ego puto quod per singulos quosque credentium, per singulos qui convertuntur ad Deum, qui proficiunt in fide, feetivitas oritur Domini. Quomodo putas laetificat eum, cum is qui fuerat impudicus, lit castus, et qui fuerat injustus, juStitiam colit, et qui fuerat impius, ellicitur pius? Istae oumes singulorum quorumque convcrsiones, festivitates generant Deo. Nec dubium autem quin et Dominus noster Jesus Christus , qui pro salute nostra etiam sanguinem suum fudit, agat festivitatem maximam , cum opera: pretium videt esse quod se humiliavit, et formam servi suscipiens factus est obedieus usque ad mortem. Agit festa pariter et Spiritus sanctus, ubi plura sibi videt iu iis qui convertuntur a‘d Deum, templa praeparata. Nam de angelis quid dicam, ad quorum festivitatem luctantium , dicuntur accedere onmes qui convertuntur ad Dominum? Aut non est illis magna festivitas, cum ltetautur ‹ in ctelo super uno peccatore paenitentiam agente magis quam super nonaginta novem justis qui non indigent pdmitentia 'i‘? Agunt ergo etiam angeli diem fe- Ο stum, laetantes super iis qui refugientes consortia dmmonum, per exercitia virtutum angelicis se festinant sociare consortiis. Mirum fortasse sit, quod dicere volo : causas, ut videtur, festivitatis et la:titiae nos Deo et angelis damus : nos occasionem laetitia et exsultationis in terris positi caalo pra:bemus, dum super terras ambulantes, conversationem habemus in caelis, et per hoc sine dubio diem festum cmlestibus virtutibus generamus. Sed sicut boni actus nostri et virtutum profectus, laetitiam festivitatcmque Deo et angelis gignunt, ita vereor ne mala conversatio nostra non solum terris, sed et coelo lamentationes inducat et luctus , et fortassis etiam ipsi Deo luctum incutiant humana peccata. Aut non lugentis est illa vox cum dicitur : Pcenitet me, quia feci hominem superterram?» Sed et illa Domini et Salvatoris nostri in Evangelio, ubi dicit : Jerusalem, Jerusalem, quae lapidas prophetas, et occidis eos missos ad te, quoties volui congregare filios tuos, quemadmodum gallina congregat pullos suos sub alis suis, et noluisti? Et ne putes quia de antiquis tantummodo dictum est . quod lapidaverint praphotas : et ego hodie si propheta: verba non audiam, si monita ejus spernam, lapido prophetam, et quantum in me est, occido, cujus scilicet verba non audio , tanquam mortui. Sed et illa humanum genus Iamentautis Dei vos est qua dicitur per prophetam : Heu me, quoniam factus sum sicut qui congregat stipulam in messe, et sicut racemos in vindemia, quia non est spica, neque botrus ad edenda primogenita. Hei mihi anima, quoniam periit revertens a terra, et qui corrigat in hominibus non est. Domini nat istae voces, genus humanum lugentis. Ipse enim ve nit ad colligendam messem, et invenit stipulam pro messe, et venit ad colligendam vindemiam, sed inp Vt'ttit racemos paucos pro vindemia , apostolos scilicet : quos ( nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen “, iet granum frumenti nisi cecidisset in terram ut fructum plurimum faceret , sicut Sodoma facti essemus et sicut Gomorrha similes fuissemus. Angelis quoque Dei, sicut supra diximus, fit gaudium in caelo super uno peccatore pcnitentiam agente. Certum est quod ubi pro bonis gaudia aguntur, ibi pro contrariis lamentetur :si ergo gaudent pro converso, necesse est ut lugeam pro peccante. Propterea ergo quod grande peccatum peccavit Jerusalem, secundum quod scriptum est in Lamentatione, ί in commotione facta est‘n , et perierunt omnes festivitates ejus et dies solemnes ejus , quoniam meum Jesum Christum occiderunt. Et propterea dicit a'd eos " : nias vestras et Sabbata et dies festos vestros odit anima mea. llic quidem, ubi de muneribus mandatur, ubi adhuc nulla peccata sunt, dies festos meos dicit; ubi autem peccatum est, non meos, sed vestros dies festos dicit Dominus. Haec autem onnia in quibus vel lugere, vel gaudere, vel odisse, vel lmtari dicitur Deus, tropico et humano inore accipienda sunt ab Scriptura dici. Aliena porro est divina natura ab omni passionis et permutationis affectu, in illo semper beatitudinis apice immobil's et inconcussa perdurans. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us come to what is written. “And the Lord spoke,” it says, “to Moses, saying: Command the sons of Israel and say to them: My gifts, my presents, my victims for a sweet savour, take care to offer to me on my feast days. And say to them: These are my victims which you shall offer to the Lord.” No one offers anything of his own to God; but what he offers is the Lord’s, and one does not so much offer his own things to God as render to him what is his. For this reason, then, the Lord, wishing to write laws of the sacrifices and gifts to be offered him by men, first of all opens the reason of the very things to be offered and says: “My gifts, my presents, my sacrifices for a sweet savour, take care to offer to me on my feast days.” These gifts, he says, which I am about to command you to offer me on my feast days, are my presents, that is, they are given to you by me. For from me the human race receives all that it has. So that no one, then, in offering gifts, should believe that he was conferring some benefit on God, and through this should prove impious in the very act in which he seemed to worship God (for what is so impious as for a man to think that he is supplying something to God as to one in need?), necessarily, as we said, he first teaches man, so that he may know that whatever he has offered to God he is rendering to him rather than offering. But let us also see how he says: “which you shall offer to me on my feast days.” Has God, then, his feast days? He has. For the salvation of men is a great festival for him. I think that through each one of the believers, through each one who is converted to God, who advances in faith, a festival of the Lord arises. How do you think it gladdens him when one who had been unchaste becomes chaste, and one who had been unjust practises justice, and one who had been impious becomes godly? All these conversions of each and every person produce festivals for God. Nor is there any doubt that our Lord Jesus Christ too, who even shed his blood for our salvation, keeps a very great festival when he sees that it has been worth the price that he humbled himself and, taking the form of a servant, became obedient unto death. The Holy Spirit too keeps festival, when he sees many temples prepared for himself in those who are converted to God. And what shall I say of the angels, to whose festival all who are converted to the Lord are said to come? Or is it not a great festival for them when they rejoice “in heaven over one sinner who repents more than over ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance”? The angels too, then, keep a feast day, rejoicing over those who, fleeing the company of demons, hasten through the exercise of virtues to join themselves to the company of angels. It may perhaps be astonishing, what I wish to say: we, it seems, give God and the angels causes for festival and joy; we, placed on earth, furnish heaven with occasion for joy and exultation, while, walking on earth, we have our way of life in heaven, and through this we without doubt produce a feast day for the heavenly powers. But just as our good acts and our advances in virtues produce joy and festival for God and the angels, so I fear that our evil way of life brings lamentations and mourning not only to the earth but also to heaven, and that human sins perhaps cause mourning even to God himself. Or is it not the voice of one mourning when it is said: “I repent that I made man on the earth”? And also that of our Lord and Saviour in the Gospel, where he says: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who stone the prophets and kill those sent to you, how often I wished to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not!” And do not think that it was said only of the ancients that they stoned the prophets: I too today, if I do not hear the words of the prophet, if I spurn his warnings, stone the prophet, and as far as lies in me kill him, whose words, namely, I do not hear, as if he were dead. And that too is the voice of God lamenting the human race which is spoken through the prophet: “Woe is me, for I have become like one who gathers stubble at harvest, and like grapes at the vintage, for there is no ear of corn nor cluster to eat the first fruits. Woe is me, my soul, for the godly has perished from the earth, and there is none who corrects among men.” These are the voices of the Lord mourning the human race. For he came to gather the harvest and found stubble instead of a harvest; and he came to gather the vintage, but found a few grapes instead of a vintage, namely the apostles: and unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, and unless the grain of wheat had fallen into the ground to bear much fruit, we would have become like Sodom and been made like Gomorrah. For the angels of God too, as we said above, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. It is certain that where joy is made over good things, there mourning is made over the contrary: if, then, they rejoice over one converted, they must mourn over one who sins. For this reason, then, because Jerusalem sinned a great sin, as is written in the Lamentations, “she became a thing shaken,” and all her festivals and her solemn days perished, because they killed my Jesus Christ. And therefore he says to them: “Your new moons and sabbaths and your feast days my soul hates.” Here, indeed, where he commands concerning gifts, where there are as yet no sins, he says “my feast days”; but where there is sin, the Lord says not “my” but “your feast days.” But all these things in which God is said either to mourn, or to rejoice, or to hate, or to be glad are to be taken as said by Scripture figuratively and in a human manner. The divine nature is wholly alien from every affection of passion and change, remaining always immovable and unshaken on that summit of blessedness. ### Scripture references - Num 28:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Luke 15:7: quotation, high confidence - Luke 15:10: allusion, high confidence - Phil 2:7–8: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:19: allusion, medium confidence - Phil 3:20: allusion, high confidence - Gen 6:7: quotation, high confidence - Matt 23:37: quotation, high confidence - Mic 7:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:9: quotation, high confidence - John 12:24: allusion, high confidence - Lam 1:8: quotation, medium confidence - Isa 1:13–14: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:1–2; Luke 15:7, 10; Phil 2:7–8; 1 Cor 6:19; Phil 3:20; Gen 6:7; Matt 23:37; Mic 7:1–2 (LXX); Isa 1:9; John 12:24; Lam 1:8 (LXX); Isa 1:13–14. - “Because they killed my Jesus Christ” refers to Jerusalem; translated as written. - A leaked footnote (“lsa. ι. id. (l8) “35., quam si putet. Libb. editi, nisi si”) is removed; the garbled “nias vestras” is read as “Neomenias vestras” (“your new moons”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.2 (PG 12:748a–748b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-3 - Source: PG 12:748b–749b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The first of God’s festivals is the perpetual morning and evening sacrifice, fulfilled by constant prayer and avoidance of sin; Origen adds, from 1 Cor 7:5, that married intercourse interrupts it, so that only the perpetually continent offer it fully. ### Latin text Quia ergo festorum leges habemus in manibus, et inde nunc sermo est, requiramus diligentius qui sit ordo festivitatum, ut ex ipsis ordinibus et sacrificiorum ritu colligere pos$imus qualiter unusquisque ex suis actibus et conversationibus sanctis Deo festivitatem possit parare. Prima ergo est festivitas Dei, quae appellatur indesinens , de iis enim mandatur, quae indesinenter et sine ulla prorsus interruptione matutinis et vespertinis sacrificiis offerantur. Mandans igitur festivitatum ritus, non primo statim venit ad festivitatem Paseba, neque ad Azymorum, neque ad Scenopegize, aliasque de quibus praecipitur, sed hanc primam posuit. in qua sacrificium indesinens mandat ofl’erri : quo scilicet agnoscat ille qui vult esse perfectus et sanctus, quia non aliquando quidem agenda est Dea. aliquando vero non agenda festivitas, sed semper et indesinenter justus agere debet diem festum. Sacrificium namque, quod indesinenter et in matutinis et in vespertinis mandatur offerri, hoc indicatur, utin lege ac prophetis. quae matutinum tempus ostendunt, etin evangeliea doctrina, id est enim vespertinum, quae vespera mundi Salvatoris ostendit adventum, indesinenti intentione persistat. llas ergo festivitates Dominus dicit: Et observabitis dies festos meos. Dies ergo festus est Domini, si et sacrificium indesinens offeramus, si sine intermissione oremus , ita ut ascendat oratio nostra sicut incensum in conspectu ejus mane, ct elevatio manuunt nostrarum fiat ei sacrificium vespertinum 3“. Est igitur prima solemnitas sacrificii indesinentis , quae a cultoribus Evangelii eo modo quo snpra exposuimus , debet eXpIeri. Sed quoniam, sicut propheticus sermo perdocuit, dics festi peccatorum convertuntur in luctum, et cantica eorum in planctum, certum est quia qui peccat et agit diem peccati, agere non potest diem festum : et ideo illis diebus quibus peccat, offerre non potest indesinens sacrificium Deo. Sed ille offerre potest, qui indesinenter custodit justitiam, ct conservat semetipsum a peccato. Qua die autem interruperit et peccaverit, certum est quod in illa die non offert sacrilicium indesinens Deo. Vereor aliquid dicere quod ex sermonibus apostolicis intelligi datur , ne forte videar aliquos contristare. Nam si oratio justi sicut incensum offertur in eonspectu Domini, et elevatio manuum ejus sacrificium est vespertinum, dicit autem Apostolus iis qui in :onjugiis sunt : ‹ Nolite fraudare invicem, nisi ’orte ex consensu ad tempus, ut vacetis orationi, et iterum in idipsmn sitis; certum est quia imwditur sacrificium indesinens iis qui conjtigalihus necessitatibus serviunt. Unde videtur mihi quod ilius est solius offerre sacrificium indesinens, qui ndesinenti et perpetuae se devoverit castitati. Sed nnt et alii dies festi iis, qui forte non possunt iulesineuter innnolare sacrificia castitatis. ### English translation (Claude) Since, then, we have in hand the laws of the feasts, and our discourse is now about them, let us inquire more carefully what the order of the festivals is, so that from these very orders and the rite of the sacrifices we may gather how each one, by his own acts and holy ways of life, can prepare a festival for God. The first festival of God, then, is that which is called “perpetual”: for it is commanded concerning things to be offered perpetually and without any interruption at all in the morning and evening sacrifices. In commanding the rites of the festivals, then, he does not come first straightway to the festival of the Passover, nor to that of Unleavened Bread, nor to that of Tabernacles, and the others about which commands are given, but he put this first, in which he commands the perpetual sacrifice to be offered: so that he who wishes to be perfect and holy may recognize that the festival for God is not to be kept at one time and not kept at another, but that the righteous man ought always and perpetually to keep the feast day. For the sacrifice which is commanded to be offered perpetually both in the mornings and in the evenings signifies this: that he should persist with perpetual attention both in the law and the prophets, which signify the morning time, and in the teaching of the gospel, which is the evening, since it shows the coming of the Saviour at the evening of the world. These festivals, then, the Lord speaks of: “And you shall observe my feast days.” It is, then, a feast day of the Lord if we offer the perpetual sacrifice, if we pray without ceasing, so that our prayer rises like incense in his sight in the morning, and the lifting up of our hands becomes for him an evening sacrifice. The first solemnity, then, is that of the perpetual sacrifice, which must be fulfilled by the worshippers of the gospel in the way we have explained above. But since, as the prophetic word has taught, the feast days of sinners are turned into mourning and their songs into lamentation, it is certain that he who sins and keeps a day of sin cannot keep a feast day; and therefore on those days on which he sins he cannot offer the perpetual sacrifice to God. But he can offer it who perpetually keeps righteousness and preserves himself from sin. On the day on which he breaks off and sins, it is certain that on that day he does not offer the perpetual sacrifice to God. I am afraid to say something which is given to be understood from the apostolic words, lest I seem perhaps to grieve some. For if the prayer of the righteous is offered like incense in the sight of the Lord, and the lifting up of his hands is an evening sacrifice, and the Apostle says to those who are in marriage, “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a time, that you may be free for prayer, and then come together again,” it is certain that the perpetual sacrifice is hindered for those who serve the necessities of marriage. Hence it seems to me that it belongs to him alone to offer the perpetual sacrifice who has devoted himself to perpetual and lasting chastity. But there are also other feast days for those who perhaps cannot perpetually offer the sacrifices of chastity. ### Scripture references - Num 28:2–8: allusion, high confidence - 1 Thess 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Ps 141:2 (140:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Amos 8:10: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:5: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:2–8; 1 Thess 5:17; Ps 141:2 (LXX 140:2); Amos 8:10; 1 Cor 7:5. - Origen’s view that married life hinders the “perpetual sacrifice” of prayer, and that only those vowed to perpetual chastity offer it, is translated exactly as written. - A leaked marginal reference (“Mieh. vn, Ι, 2. '° lsa. I, 9. Tbm. 1.8. putet.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.3 (PG 12:748b–749b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-4 - Source: PG 12:749b–751a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Christian keeps the Sabbath by ceasing from worldly works and giving himself to spiritual ones, carrying no burden of sin and remaining in Christ; the true Sabbath, when God rests from his works, is the age to come. ### Latin text Secunda ergo festivitas post indesinentis sarilicii festivitatem ponitur Sabbati, et oportet auctorum quemque et justum agere etiam Sabbati estivitatem. Qua: est autem festivitas Sabbati nisi la. de qua Apostolus dicit 3", «Relinquetur ergo altbatismuS, hoc εει. Sabhali Obset‘VaUO >ci? Relinquentes ergo Judaicas Sabbati observaones, qualis debeat esse Christiano Sabbati obervatio, videamus. Die Sabbati nihil ex omnibus tundi actibus oportet Operari. Si ergo desinas ab mnibus saecularibus operibus, et nihil mundanum eras, sed spiritalibus Operibus vaces, ad ecclesiam Juvenias, lectionibus divinis et tractatibus aurem haebeas, et de ccclestibus cogites , de futura spe illicitudinem geras, venturum judicium pra: oculis habeas, non respicias ad praesentia et visibilia, sed ad invisibilia et futura, hcce est observatio Sabbati Christiani. Sed lucc et Judmi observare deberent. Denique etiam apud ipsos si faber, si structor , et si quis hnjustnodi Opificutn fuerit, otiatur in die Sabbati. Lector autem legis divinzc, VcI doctor non desinit ab opere suo, et tamen Sabbatum non contaminat : sic enim et Dominus mens dicit ad eos “2 Aut non legistis , quia et sacerdotes in templo Sabbatum violant, et sine crimine sunt (.19)? Qui ergo cessat ab operibus szcculi ct spiritalibus vacat, iste est qui sacrificium Sabbati et diem festum agit Sabbatormn. Neque onera portat in via. Onus enim cst omne peccatum, quemadmodum dicit et Propheta ": Sicut onus grave gravatm sunt super me. Neque ignem accendit, illum scilicet ignem, dequo dicitur : Ite in lumine ignis vestri, et in flamma quam accendistis. ln Sabbato unusquisque sedet loco suo, et non procedit ex eo. Quis ergo est locus spiritalis animae? Iustitia est locus ejus , et 359 veritas, sapientia, sanctificatio, et omnia quae Christus est, locns animae est. Ex quo loco eam non Oportet exire, ut vera Sabbata custodiat, et diem festum in sacrificiis exigat Sabbatorum: sicut et Dominus dicebat : Qui in me manet, et ego in illo. Quod autent diximus vera Sabbata, si altius repetamus quce sint vera Sabbata, ultra hunc mundum est veri Sabbati observatio. Quod enim scriptum est in Genesi , quia requievit Deus in die Sabbati ab operibus suis, non videmus vel tunc factum esse in die septima, vel etiam nunc fieri. Semper enim videmus Deum operari, et nullum Sabbatum est in quo Deus non operetur, in quo non producat solem suum super bonos et malos, et plnat superjnstos ct injustos, in quo non producat in montibus fenum, et herbam servituti hominum, in quo non percutiat et sanet, deducat in infernum et reducat, in quo non-occidat et vivere faciat "'7'. Unde et Dominus in Evangeliis cum Judaei prmscriherent sibi de operatione et curatione Sabbati, respondit eis : Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor; ostendens per haec in nullo szeculi hujus Sabbato requiescere Deum a dispensationibus mundi et provisionibus generis humani. Nam creaturam quidem fecit ex initio , et substantias protulit, quantas sciebat utpote rerum conditor ad perfectionem mundi posse sufficere, sed usque ad consummationem saeculi ab earum provisione et dispensatione non cessat. Erit ergo verum Sabbatum, in quo requiescet Deus ab omnibus operibus suis, sarculum futurum, tunc eum aufugiet dolor, et tristitia, ct gemitus, et erit omnia etin omnibus Dens. In quo Sabbato concedat etiam nobis Deus diem festum agere secum et cum sanctis angelis suis festa celebrare , offerentes sacrificium laudis, et neddentes Altiss'mo vota nostra, quae hic distinxerunt labia nostra. Tunc fortassis et sacrificium indesinens, de quo supra exposuimus, melius offeretur. Tunc enim melius indesinenter poterit anima assistere Deo et oflerre sacriticitnn laudis per pontificem magnum, qui est sacerdos itt mternunt secundum ordinem Melchisedech ### English translation (Claude) The second festival, then, after the festival of the perpetual sacrifice, is set down as that of the Sabbath; and it is fitting that every holy and righteous person should keep the festival of the Sabbath too. And what is the festival of the Sabbath except that of which the Apostle says, “There remains, then, a sabbath rest,” that is, an observance of the Sabbath, “for the people of God”? Leaving aside, then, the Jewish observances of the Sabbath, let us see what kind the Christian’s observance of the Sabbath ought to be. On the Sabbath day one ought to do none of all the works of the world. If, then, you cease from all worldly works and do nothing worldly, but give yourself to spiritual works, come to church, lend your ear to the divine readings and discourses, and think of heavenly things, are concerned about the future hope, keep the coming judgment before your eyes, do not look to present and visible things but to invisible and future ones, this is the observance of the Christian Sabbath. But the Jews too ought to observe these things. Indeed, even among them, if one is a smith, a builder, or any such craftsman, he is idle on the Sabbath day. But the reader of the divine law or the teacher does not cease from his work, and yet does not defile the Sabbath: for so my Lord too says to them: “Or have you not read that the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are blameless?” He, then, who ceases from the works of the world and gives himself to spiritual things is the one who offers the sacrifice of the Sabbath and keeps the feast day of the Sabbaths. Nor does he carry burdens on the way. For every sin is a burden, as the prophet too says: “Like a heavy burden they have weighed upon me.” Nor does he kindle a fire, namely that fire of which it is said: “Walk in the light of your fire and in the flame which you have kindled.” On the Sabbath each one sits in his place and does not go out from it. What, then, is the spiritual place of the soul? Righteousness is its place, and truth, wisdom, sanctification, and all that Christ is, is the place of the soul. From this place it ought not to go out, if it is to keep true Sabbaths and complete the feast day in the sacrifices of the Sabbaths: as the Lord too said: “He who abides in me, and I in him.” As for what we called true Sabbaths, if we go back more deeply to what the true Sabbaths are, the observance of the true Sabbath is beyond this world. For what is written in Genesis, that God rested on the Sabbath day from his works, we do not see either to have happened then on the seventh day or to happen even now. For we always see God working, and there is no Sabbath on which God does not work, on which he does not make his sun rise on the good and the evil and send rain on the just and the unjust, on which he does not make grass grow on the mountains and herbs for the service of men, on which he does not strike and heal, bring down to the underworld and bring back, on which he does not kill and make alive. Hence the Lord too in the Gospels, when the Jews were finding fault with him about working and healing on the Sabbath, answered them: “My Father is working until now, and I am working”; showing by this that on no Sabbath of this age does God rest from the governance of the world and the providential care of the human race. For he made the creation from the beginning, and brought forth as many substances as he, being the founder of things, knew to be enough for the perfection of the world; but until the consummation of the age he does not cease from their providential care and governance. The true Sabbath, then, in which God will rest from all his works, will be the age to come, when grief and sorrow and groaning will flee away, and God will be all in all. On that Sabbath may God grant us too to keep the feast day with him and to celebrate the feast with his holy angels, offering the sacrifice of praise and rendering to the Most High our vows, which our lips have uttered here. Then perhaps the perpetual sacrifice too, of which we spoke above, will be better offered. For then the soul will better be able to stand perpetually before God and offer the sacrifice of praise through the great high priest, who is a priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek. ### Scripture references - Num 28:9–10: allusion, high confidence - Heb 4:9: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:5: quotation, high confidence - Jer 17:21–22: allusion, high confidence - Ps 38:4 (37:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 50:11: quotation, high confidence - Exod 16:29: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:30: allusion, high confidence - John 15:5: quotation, high confidence - Gen 2:2: allusion, high confidence - Matt 5:45: allusion, high confidence - Ps 147:8 (146:8 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Job 5:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Sam 2:6: allusion, high confidence - Deut 32:39: allusion, high confidence - John 5:17: quotation, high confidence - Isa 35:10: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:28: allusion, high confidence - Ps 50:14 (49:14 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 66:13–14 (65:13-Ps LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 110:4 (109:4 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Heb 6:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:9–10; Heb 4:9; Matt 12:5; Jer 17:21–22; Ps 38:4 (LXX 37:5); Isa 50:11; Exod 16:29; 1 Cor 1:30; John 15:5; Gen 2:2; Matt 5:45; Ps 147:8 (LXX 146:8); Job 5:18; 1 Sam 2:6; Deut 32:39; John 5:17; Isa 35:10; 1 Cor 15:28; Ps 50:14 (LXX 49:14); Ps 66:13–14 (LXX 65:13–14); Ps 110:4 and Heb 6:20. - Origen contrasts Jewish and Christian Sabbath observance; translated as written. - A leaked footnote (“cxcvr,’8; .lob. v, 18 … Ioan, vn, 22.”), which noted that Origen cites from memory, is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.4 (PG 12:749b–751a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-5 - Source: PG 12:751a–751d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The new moon, hidden when joined to the sun, figures the church or soul joined wholly to Christ, the sun of righteousness, renewed and hidden from human sight. ### Latin text Tertia festivitas ponitur Ncomenia: dies in qua ofl‘ertur et hostia. Neontenia autem dicitur nova luna. Est ergo et ista festivitas eunt luna innovatur. Nova autent dicitur, cum soli proxima fuerit ° effecta, et valde ei conjuncta, ita ut sub claritate ejus lateat. Sed mirum fortasse videatur, imo superfluum lex divina mandare. Quid enim religioni conducit, lunae novae, id est cum conjungitur soli, ct adhaeret ei, observare festivitatem? Ilaec si secundum litteram cousiderentur, non tam religiosa quam superstitiosa videbuntur, sed s: iebat apostolus Paulus, quia non de iis loquitur lex, nec illum ritum qui a Iudaeis observari videtur, Spiritus sanctus praecepit; et ideo ad eos qui fidem Dei susce» perunt dicebat : Nemo ergo vosjudiect in cibo, aut potu, aut parte diei festi, aut Neomenia (‘20) , aut Sabbato, quia sunt umbra futurorum. Si ergo umbra futurorum est Sabbatttnt, de quo pro viribus supra explicuimus , et Ncotnenia umbra futurorum est, certum est quod etetetera: festivitates similiter umbrae sunt futurorum. Sed nunc videamus de Nromenia. Diximus quod Nconteniaa festivitas ap- ρ pellatur, cum luna innovari etsoli proxima fuerit penitusque conjuncta. Sol justitite Chrisws est: huic si luna, id est Ecclesia sua, quae lumine ipsius repletur, juncta fuerit et penitus ei adhmserit, ita ut secundum verbum Apostoli , quise jungit Domino unus eum eo spiritus fiat, tunc festivitatem Neomenize agit: tunc enim nova efficitur cum abjeccrit veterem hominem, et induta fuerit novum, qui secundum Deum creatus est"; atque ita merito innovationis solemnitatem, quae estNeomenia: festivitas, geret. Tunc denique est quando neque videri, neque comprehendi humanis aspectibus potest. Anitna enim cum tota se sociaverit Domino, et splendori lucis ejus tota concesserit, nihilqua omnino terrenum cogitat, nihil mundanum requirit, nec hominibus placere studet : sed totam se sapientiae, totam lumini, totam calori sancti Spio ritus mancipaverit, subtilis et spiritalisetl‘ecta, quomodo cerui ab hominibus, aut ab humanis potest. eonspectibus apprehendi? Animalis namque homo intelligere et discernere non potest Spiritalem. Et ideo dignissime diem festum aget, et hostiam Neomenia’. Domino, utpote per ipsum innovata,jugulabit. ### English translation (Claude) The third festival is set down as the day of the new moon, on which a victim too is offered. “Neomenia” means new moon. This festival too, then, is when the moon is renewed. And it is called new when it has come very near the sun and is closely joined to it, so that it is hidden under its brightness. But it may perhaps seem strange, or rather superfluous, for the divine law to command this. For what does it contribute to religion to observe a festival of the new moon, that is, when it is joined to the sun and clings to it? If these things are considered according to the letter, they will seem not so much religious as superstitious. But the apostle Paul knew that the law does not speak of these things, and that the Holy Spirit did not command that rite which is seen to be observed by the Jews; and therefore he said to those who had received the faith of God: “Let no one, then, judge you in food or drink, or in part of a feast day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath, for these are a shadow of things to come.” If, then, the Sabbath is a shadow of things to come, of which we have explained above according to our strength, and the new moon is a shadow of things to come, it is certain that the other festivals too are likewise shadows of things to come. But now let us look at the new moon. We said that the festival of the new moon is so called when the moon is renewed and has come very near the sun and is wholly joined to it. The sun of righteousness is Christ: if the moon, that is, his church, which is filled with his light, is joined to him and clings wholly to him, so that, according to the Apostle’s word, he who joins himself to the Lord becomes one spirit with him, then it keeps the festival of the new moon: for then it becomes new, when it has cast off the old man and put on the new, who has been created according to God; and so it will rightly keep the solemnity of renewal, which is the festival of the new moon. Then, finally, is the time when it can neither be seen nor grasped by human sight. For when the soul has joined itself wholly to the Lord and given itself wholly to the splendour of his light, and thinks of nothing earthly at all, seeks nothing worldly, and does not strive to please men, but has devoted itself wholly to wisdom, wholly to the light, wholly to the warmth of the Holy Spirit, having become fine and spiritual, how can it be seen by men or apprehended by human sight? For the natural man cannot understand or discern the spiritual. And therefore it will most worthily keep the feast day and sacrifice the victim of the new moon to the Lord, as one renewed through him. ### Scripture references - Num 28:11: allusion, high confidence - Col 2:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Mal 4:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:22–24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:11; Col 2:16–17; Mal 4:2; 1 Cor 6:17; Eph 4:22–24; 1 Cor 2:14. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.5 (PG 12:751a–751d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-6 - Source: PG 12:751d–752a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The true Passover lamb is Christ, and Christians eat the flesh of the Word of God in solid, mystical teaching about the Trinity and the age to come. ### Latin text Quarto in loco ponitur inter festivitates Dei Pascha: solemnitas, in qua festivitate agnus oet-illitttr. Sed vide tu agnum Verum, agnum qui tollit peccata mundi , et dicito, quia pm; nost rum immolatus est Christus τ’. Judaei rami sensu tentedant carnes agni, nos autem comta... ntus carnem Verbi Dei. lpse enim dixit 7': t liii comederitis carnes utens, non habebitis vitam ὴ vobis ipsis. Hoc quod modo loquimur, earnesstm Verbi Dei, si tamen non quasi infirmis oiera,aut quasi pueris lactis alimoniam proferamus. Si per ferta loquimur, si robusta, si fortiora, carnes tota, Verbi Dei apponimus eomedendas. Ubi enim Intuli cus sermo, ubi dogmaticus et Trinitatis lide repleltIS profertur ac solidus, ubi futuri szet'uli velamine littera: legis Spiritalis sacramen'a partitus tur, ubi spes anima: avulsa de terris iactatur ia ecelos, et in illis COiiOCnllll‘, quae oculus non vidit. nec auris audivit, nec itt corhontinis ascenderunt”, η hate omnia carnes sunt Verbi Dei : quibus qui po test perfecto intellectu vesci et corde purificato, ille vere festivitatis Pascha: immolat sacrificium, 360 et diem festum agit eum Deo et angelis ein. ### English translation (Claude) In the fourth place among the festivals of God is set the solemnity of the Passover, at which festival a lamb is killed. But look at the true lamb, the lamb who takes away the sins of the world, and say: “Christ our Passover has been sacrificed.” The Jews, in a carnal sense, eat the flesh of a lamb; but we eat the flesh of the Word of God. For he himself said: “Unless you eat my flesh, you will not have life in yourselves.” What we are speaking now are the flesh of the Word of God, provided that we do not set out vegetables as for the weak, or the nourishment of milk as for children. If we speak perfect things, if robust things, if stronger things, we set the flesh of the Word of God before you to eat. For where mystical discourse is offered, where discourse is doctrinal and full of faith in the Trinity, and solid, where the spiritual sacraments of the age to come are distributed with the veil of the letter of the law removed, where the soul’s hope, torn away from the earth, is cast into heaven and placed among those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have they come up into the heart of man, all these are the flesh of the Word of God: and he who can feed on them with perfect understanding and a purified heart truly sacrifices the sacrifice of the festival of the Passover, and keeps the feast day with God and his angels. ### Scripture references - Num 28:16: allusion, high confidence - John 1:29: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:7: quotation, high confidence - John 6:53: quotation, high confidence - Rom 14:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:2: allusion, high confidence - Heb 5:12–14: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 2:9: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:16; John 1:29; 1 Cor 5:7; John 6:53; Rom 14:2; 1 Cor 3:2 and Heb 5:12–14; 1 Cor 2:9. The “flesh of the Word” is here applied to teaching; translated as written. - Some letters are garbled in the scan (“rami sensu tentedant”, “comta... ntus”, “liii comederitis carnes utens”); translated by sense (“carnali sensu comedunt”, “comedimus”, “Nisi comederitis carnes meas”). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.6 (PG 12:751d–752a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-7 - Source: PG 12:752a–752d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Unleavened Bread is kept by removing every leaven of malice from the soul, since God cannot care about literal leaven but abhors sin, and even a small sin grows. ### Latin text Post hanc, imo continuata huic festivitas scquitur Azymornm, quam merito eeb-brabis, sl ntermines omne fermentum malitim et anima tua, etazyma sinceritatis veritatisque custodias. Neque enim putandum cst, omnipotentes. Deum leges homini pro fermento scribere et propterea jubere exterminari animam de popqu ευρ, si qua forte parum aliquid ferntcnti hujus ex [πίω conspersi in domo sua habuisse deprehenditurzrtique ettram tnagttOpere fuisse divina: majestati,qttt fertncnti hujus causa itt tantum se dicatoflendi,utanimam. quant ipse ad imaginem et similitudinem suam fecit, exterminari pro hoc jubeat et everti, non mili videtur hate divinis legibus digna esse intelligentia. sed illud magis est quod horrescit, et merito horrescit Deus si malitiae, si ira}, si nequitia: spiritu infertnentetur anima et intumescat ad flagitia. 11η non vult essein anima Deus, et tale fermentum nisi abjeceritnus de domo anlmae nostrai, merito extertninabimur. Sed ne contemnas etiamsi parvamnderis intra te fermentari malitiam, quia mod:cum fermenti totam massam corrumpit: et neque de parvo peccato negligas, quoniam ex peccato generatur et aliud. Sicut enim ex justi“: generatur justitia, et ex castitate castitas (si qni! enim primo tenuiter castus esse coeperit, accepit! castitatis fermento quotidie castior eflicitur), ita τί qui semel intra se licet parvum malitia: reposuit fermentum, quotidie semetipso nequior edicitur κ deterior. Et ideo si vis agere Azymorum festivitatem cum Deo, ne parvum quidem malitia fermtum intra te residere patiaris. ### English translation (Claude) After this, or rather continuous with it, follows the festival of Unleavened Bread, which you will rightly celebrate if you root out all the leaven of malice from your soul and keep the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. For we must not think that almighty God writes laws to man about leaven, and therefore orders a soul to be rooted out of its people if it is perhaps found to have had a little of this leaven mixed from flour in its house; as though this had been of great concern to the divine majesty, which says it is so offended on account of this leaven that it orders the soul, which it made in its own image and likeness, to be rooted out and overthrown for this: this understanding does not seem to me worthy of the divine laws. But rather this is what God abhors, and rightly abhors: if the soul is leavened by the spirit of malice, of anger, of wickedness, and swells up to shameful deeds. This God does not want to be in the soul; and unless we cast such leaven out of the house of our soul, we shall rightly be rooted out. But do not despise it even if you see a small malice fermenting within you, because a little leaven corrupts the whole lump; and do not neglect even a small sin, since from sin another is also begotten. For just as from righteousness righteousness is begotten, and from chastity chastity (for if someone has first begun to be chaste in a slight degree, having received the leaven of chastity he becomes more chaste every day), so too he who has once stored up within himself even a small leaven of malice becomes every day more wicked and worse than himself. And therefore, if you wish to keep the festival of Unleavened Bread with God, do not allow even a small leaven of malice to remain within you. ### Scripture references - Num 28:17: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:15: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:19: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:26: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:6: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:17; 1 Cor 5:8; Exod 12:15, 19; Gen 1:26; 1 Cor 5:6 (Gal 5:9). - Leaked marginal references at the end (“Ephes. tv, 24. .loan. ι, ‘29. " l (λετ. vt, l7.”) are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.7 (PG 12:752a–752d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-8 - Source: PG 12:752d–753b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The feast of New Fruits is kept by sowing in the Spirit and reaping the fruit of the Spirit, beginning with joy. ### Latin text Post hanc sequitur sexta festivitas , quae dieitur Novorum, id est, cum primitia: de novis fructibus ol’feruntur. Ubi enim seminatus fuerit ager et diligenter excultus, atque ad maturitatem pervenerit seges, tunc iu fructnmn perfectione festivitas Domini geritur. Si ergo et tu vis Novormn diem festum agere cum Domino,vide quomodo semines, aut ubi semines, ut possis tales metere fructus, ex quibus lmtari facias Deum, et agere diem festum. Quod aliter implere non poteris, nisi audias Apostolum dicentem ος Qui seminat in spiritu, de spiritu metet vitam reternam. Si sic semines et sic metas, vere diem festum ages Novarum. Propterea denique ct propheta admonet, dicens : ‹ Innovate vobis novalia, et nolite seminare super spinas. Qui ergo cor suum et interiorem hominem renovat de die in diem, istc sibi innovat novalia,et non seminat super spinas.sed super terram bonam, quae reddat ei fructum tricesimum, aut sexagesimum, aut centesimum. Iste ergo est, quiin spiritu seminat, et colligit fructum spiritus. Fructus antem spiritus, prinmm omnium est gaudium . Et merito diem festum novorum fructuum agit, qui gaudium metit; praecipue si simul mctat et pacem, et patientiam, et bonitatem, et mansuetudinem, aliosque horum similes fructus si colligat, dignissime novorum fructuum festivita- .cm Domino aget. ### English translation (Claude) After this follows the sixth festival, which is called that of the New Fruits, that is, when first fruits of the new crops are offered. For when the field has been sown and carefully cultivated, and the crop has come to ripeness, then a festival of the Lord is kept at the completion of the fruits. If, then, you too wish to keep the feast day of New Fruits with the Lord, see how you sow, or where you sow, so that you may be able to reap such fruits as will make God glad and keep a feast day. This you will not be able to fulfil otherwise unless you hear the Apostle saying: “He who sows in the spirit will reap from the spirit eternal life.” If you sow so and reap so, you will truly keep the feast day of the New Fruits. For this reason, finally, the prophet too admonishes, saying: “Break up for yourselves new ground, and do not sow upon thorns.” He, then, who renews his heart and inner man day by day breaks up new ground for himself and does not sow upon thorns, but upon good ground, which will yield him fruit thirtyfold, or sixtyfold, or a hundredfold. This, then, is he who sows in the spirit and gathers the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is first of all joy. And rightly he keeps the feast day of new fruits who reaps joy; especially if he reaps at the same time peace, and patience, and goodness, and gentleness, and if he gathers other fruits like these, he will most worthily keep the festival of new fruits to the Lord. ### Scripture references - Num 28:26: allusion, high confidence - Gal 6:8: quotation, high confidence - Jer 4:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, high confidence - Matt 13:8: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:22–23: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 28:26; Gal 6:8; Jer 4:3; 2 Cor 4:16; Matt 13:8, 23; Gal 5:22–23. The Latin “joy first of all” follows Origen’s text of Gal 5:22. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.8 (PG 12:752d–753b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-9 - Source: PG 12:753b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The feast of trumpets in the seventh month is kept by those who commit the prophetic and gospel Scriptures, the heavenly trumpets, to memory and meditate on them. ### Latin text Tuncdeinde sequiturfestivitas Septimormn.Sicut ‘nim inter dies septimus quisque dies observatur Sal:- Scplimus- ο Jatum, et est fcstivitas,ita et inter menses prisquemensis Sabbatum est meusium.Agitur ergo eo festivitas, quae dicitur Sabbata sabbatorum, et lit η ι] ie prima mensis tuba rmn memoria.Sed quis estqui 'estivitatem gerat memoria: tubarum, nisi qui potest Scripturas prOphetieas et evangelicas, quae veluti roelcsds qutr'dam personant tuba, mandare nemon-ia: et intra thesaurum cordis sui recondere? )ui ergo hare facitet in lege Dei meditatur die ac mete, iste festivitatem gerit memoria: tubarum. Sed etsi quis potest gratias illas sancti Spiritus irornereri quibus inspirati sunt propheta}, et psalens dicere : Canite initium mensis tuba, in die nsignis solemnitatis ejus,» et quiscit in psalmis ju- »ilare ei, digne agit solemnitatem Tubarum. ### English translation (Claude) Then follows the festival of the Sevenths. For just as among days every seventh day is observed as a Sabbath and is a festival, so too among months every seventh month is the Sabbath of the months. A festival is therefore kept in it which is called the Sabbath of Sabbaths, and on the first day of the month there is a memorial of trumpets. But who is it that keeps the festival of the memorial of trumpets, except one who can commit to memory, and store up within the treasury of his heart, the prophetic and gospel Scriptures, which sound like certain heavenly trumpets? He, then, who does this and meditates on the law of God day and night keeps the festival of the memorial of trumpets. And if someone can merit those graces of the Holy Spirit by which the prophets were inspired, and say in the psalm, “Blow the trumpet at the beginning of the month, on the day of his notable solemnity,” and knows how to shout for joy to him in psalms, he worthily keeps the solemnity of Trumpets. ### Scripture references - Num 29:1: allusion, high confidence - Lev 23:24: allusion, high confidence - Ps 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Ps 81:3 (80:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 95:2 (94:2 LXX): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 29:1; Lev 23:24; Ps 1:2; Ps 81:3 (LXX 80:4); Ps 95:2 (LXX 94:2). ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.9 (PG 12:753b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-9). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-10 - Source: PG 12:753b–754a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The Day of Atonement shows that God’s feasts consist in afflicting and humbling the soul, as the bread of affliction and bitter herbs of Passover also teach, so that Christ the propitiation may come to it. ### Latin text Est adhuc et alia festivitas, cum affligunt aniias suas et humiliant se Deo festa celebrantes. Ο festivitas! dies festus vocatur alllietio animae. lic enim, inquit, dies est propitiationis decima die tensis septimi. Vide ergo, si vis diem festum agee, si vis ut Iretctnr Dens s'uper te, afllige animam Jmn et humilia eam. Non ei permittas explere esideria sua, nec concedas ei lasciviis evagari. sed iquantum fieri potest, alll‘ge et hnrnilia eam. Deique Paschze festivitas et Azyinorum , panem afllitionis habere dicitur: nec potest quis agere diem festum, nisi alliictionis panem manducaveritet maudueaverit pascha cum amaritudine. Mandncabitis cnim, inquit , azyma cum amaritudine, sive picriis. Audis ergo quid essent festivitates Dei : non recipiunt dulcedinem corporalem, nihil remissmn , nihil voluptuosum,ant luxuriosum volunt, sed alnictionem anima: et amaritudinem lmmilitatemque deposcunt, quia qui se lmmiliat, ipse 'exaltabilnr apud Deum. Hoc ergo deposcit et prepitiationis dies. Cum enim alllicta fuerit anima et humiliata in conspectu Domini, tunc ei rcpropitiatur Dens, et tunc ad eam venit ille, quem proposuit Deus propitiatorem per fidem in sanguine suo , Christus Jesus Dominus et redemptor ejus. ll. ### English translation (Claude) There is yet another festival, when those celebrating the feast afflict their souls and humble themselves before God. O festival! The affliction of the soul is called a feast day. For this, it says, is the day of propitiation, on the tenth day of the seventh month. See, then: if you wish to keep a feast day, if you wish God to rejoice over you, afflict your soul and humble it. Do not allow it to fulfil its desires, nor let it wander in wantonness; but as far as possible afflict it and humble it. Indeed the festival of the Passover and of Unleavened Bread is said to have the bread of affliction; and no one can keep the feast day unless he eats the bread of affliction and eats the Passover with bitterness. For “you shall eat,” it says, “unleavened bread with bitterness,” or bitter herbs. You hear, then, what the festivals of God are: they do not admit bodily sweetness; they want nothing slack, nothing voluptuous or luxurious, but demand affliction of the soul and bitterness and humility, because he who humbles himself will be exalted before God. This, then, the day of propitiation demands too. For when the soul has been afflicted and humbled in the sight of the Lord, then God becomes propitious to it again, and then he comes to it whom God set forth as a propitiation through faith in his blood, Christ Jesus, its Lord and Redeemer. ### Scripture references - Num 29:7: allusion, high confidence - Lev 16:29–31: allusion, high confidence - Deut 16:3: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:8: quotation, high confidence - Luke 14:11: quotation, high confidence - Rom 3:25: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 29:7; Lev 16:29–31 and 23:27; Deut 16:3; Exod 12:8 (“bitter herbs,” picrides); Luke 14:11; Rom 3:25. - A leaked marginal reference and a variant note (“8° Galat. Galat. v, 22. 5. " lsa. xxx, 26. (Ξῖ) Idem manuscriptus, ‹ qum velut coelcsti quadam”) splitting “diem festum” are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.10 (PG 12:753b–754a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-10). ## Homilies on Numbers 23.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-11 - Source: PG 12:754a–755b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: God keeps the feast of Tabernacles over the soul that lives as a stranger on earth, hastening to its true homeland; in this life all festivals are kept only “in part,” and the perfect festival awaits the world to come, with Christ as its bridegroom. ### Latin text Jam vero ultimus dies festus Dei quis sit quo Deus in hominenvidcamus. scenopegiafi..quit. Laetatur ergo super te, cum te viderit in hoc mundo in tabernaculis habitantem, cum te viderit non habere fixum et fundatum animum ac propositum super terras, nec desiderantem quae terrena sunt, nec umhram vita: hujus quasi possessionem propriam et perpetuam deputantem, sed velut in transitu positum , et ad veram illam patriam unde egressus es , paradisi festinantem ac dicentem : lncola ego sum ct peregrinus, sicut onmes patres mei. In tabernaculis enim habitaverunt et patres, et Abraham in casulis , id est , in tabernaculis hao bilavit cum Isaae et Jacoh eohzeredibus repromissionis ejusdem. Cum ergo incola fueris et peregrinus in terris , et non est mens tua fixa et radicata in desideriis terrenorum , sed paratus es ut Cilu transeas, et paratus es extendere te semper ad iuteriora, usquean pervenias ad terram liuentem lac et mel, et hatreditalem capias futurorum: si te, inquam , positum in his videat Deus, la:tatur in te et diem festum agit super te. lbec quidem in pra:senti , in futuro vero , si vis considerare quomodo agantur dies festi, erige paululum, si potes, sensus tuos a terra , et obliviscere paulEsper haec quae habcntnr in facie. Describe vero tibi quomodo etelum et terra transeant, et transit omnis hic habitus mundi,c(elum vero novum. et terra nova fundetur. Amnve de conspectibus tuis etiam solis hujus lucem, et da illi mundo qui venturus est , solis septuplurn Ῑ) lumen . lmo potius secundum Scriptura: auctoritatem ipsum ei da Dominum lucem. Pone astantes angelos gloriie, pone virtutes, potestates, sedes, tiominationes, atque omne nomen clarissimarum caalestiumquc virtntmn , non solum quod in prmsenti smculo nominatur, sed quod etiam in futuro. inter hos omnes c'onsidera et conjice quomodo agi possint dies festi Domini: quae ibi festivitas, quae gaudia, quae lzetitite magnitudo. Nam de iis quos supra diximus spiritalibus festivitatibus, etiamsi magna sint et verte, praecipue cum spiritaliter geruntur in anima, magna tamen ex parte sunt, non ex integro. Sicut enim dixit Apostolus '7‘, quia ex parte scimus, et ex parte prephetamus ; ita consequens est, ut ex parte diem festum geramus. Ut autem scias hzec ita esse, redeamus ad ipsius Pauli sermonem , quem de diebus festis ct neomeniis posuit; et vide quomodo observanter dixit: Nemo ergo, ait , vos judicet in cibo, aut in potu, aut in parte diei festi. Attende ergo diligentius quomodo non dixit in die festo , sed in parte diei feSIi. Ex parte enim et onon ex integro diem festum in hoc mundo positi celebramus. lnterpcllamur enim etiamsi nolumus ab onere carnis, pulsamur a concupiscentiis ejus, curisque et sollicitudinibus terebramur. Corpus enim corruptibile, ιιι ait ille sapientissimus 3°, aggravat animam, et deprimit sensum multa eogilaltlem. Ex parte ergo in hoc mundo sancti agunt diem festmn, quia et ex parte sciunt, et ex parte prophetam. Cum autem venerint quae perfecta sum, destrueutur ista quae ex parte sunt. Sicut enim perfecta: scientia: cedit ista quae ex parte est, et perfectae prophetiae cedit ista quae ex parte est: ita et perfectae festivitati cedit ista quae ex parte est festivitas. Neque enim quod perfectum cstniundus iste capere potest, ubi, ut diximus, necessitas corporis nunc cibum, nunc potum, nunc somnum suggerit, nunc etiam quantamcunque necessario vita: praesentis sollicitudinem movet, quae omnia interrumpunt sine dubio continuationem festivitatis Dei. Cum autem venerit illud quod dictum est. de iis qui restituuntur in sancta , si tamen ct nos ex iis esse mereamur qui restituendi sunt, qui neque esurient, eque sitient, neque dormitahunt, neque laborabunt, sed erunt pervigiles, sicut angelorum vita pervigil dicitur : cum in illum ordinem restitui mereo bimur, tunc erit vera et incorrupta festivitas, cujus festivitatis princeps et sponsus et dominus erit ipse Jcsus Christus Salvator noster, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula smculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us see what the last feast day of God is, in which God rejoices in man. Tabernacles, it says. He rejoices, then, over you when he sees you dwelling in tents in this world, when he sees that you do not have your mind and purpose fixed and founded on the earth, nor desiring earthly things, nor counting the shadow of this life as your own and perpetual possession, but placed as if in passing, and hastening to that true homeland from which you came out, paradise, and saying: “I am a sojourner and a stranger, as all my fathers were.” For the fathers too dwelt in tents, and Abraham dwelt in huts, that is, in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise. When, then, you are a sojourner and a stranger on earth, and your mind is not fixed and rooted in the desires of earthly things, but you are ready to pass on quickly, and ready always to stretch out to what is further, until you come to the land flowing with milk and honey and take the inheritance of the things to come: if, I say, God sees you placed in these things, he rejoices in you and keeps a feast day over you. These things indeed are in the present; but in the future, if you wish to consider how the feast days are kept, lift your senses a little, if you can, from the earth, and forget for a while these things which are before your face. Picture to yourself how heaven and earth pass away, and this whole fashion of the world passes, and a new heaven and a new earth are founded. Remove from your sight even the light of this sun, and give to that world which is to come the sevenfold light of the sun; or rather, according to the authority of Scripture, give it the Lord himself as its light. Set there the angels of glory standing by, set the virtues, powers, thrones, dominions, and every name of the most glorious heavenly powers, not only that which is named in the present age but also in the future. Among all these consider and conjecture how the feast days of the Lord can be kept: what festival there, what joys, what greatness of gladness! For as for the spiritual festivals of which we spoke above, even if they are great and true, especially when they are kept spiritually in the soul, yet they are in part, not in full. For just as the Apostle said that we know in part and we prophesy in part, so it follows that we keep the feast day in part. And so that you may know that these things are so, let us return to the words of Paul himself which he set down about feast days and new moons; and see how carefully he said: “Let no one, then,” he says, “judge you in food or in drink, or in part of a feast day.” Pay closer attention, then, to how he did not say “in a feast day,” but “in part of a feast day.” For placed in this world we celebrate the feast day in part and not in full. For we are interrupted, even against our will, by the burden of the flesh, we are struck by its desires, and pierced by cares and anxieties. For “the corruptible body,” as that most wise man says, “weighs down the soul and presses down the mind that thinks many things.” In part, then, the saints keep the feast day in this world, because they also know in part and prophesy in part. But when what is perfect has come, these things that are in part will be done away. For just as this knowledge which is in part gives way to perfect knowledge, and this prophecy which is in part gives way to perfect prophecy, so too this festival which is in part gives way to the perfect festival. For this world cannot hold what is perfect, where, as we said, the necessity of the body now suggests food, now drink, now sleep, now also stirs up whatever anxiety is necessary for the present life, all of which without doubt interrupt the continuity of God’s festival. But when that comes which is said of those who are restored to the holy places, if indeed we too merit to be of those who are to be restored, who will neither hunger, nor thirst, nor sleep, nor toil, but will be ever watchful, as the life of the angels is said to be ever watchful: when we merit to be restored to that order, then there will be the true and incorruptible festival, of which festival the prince and bridegroom and lord will be Jesus Christ our Saviour himself, to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 29:12: allusion, high confidence - Ps 39:12 (38:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 11:9: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:13: allusion, high confidence - Exod 3:8: allusion, high confidence - Matt 24:35: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 7:31: allusion, high confidence - Rev 21:1: allusion, high confidence - Isa 30:26: allusion, high confidence - Isa 60:19: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:16: allusion, high confidence - Eph 1:21: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:9–10: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:16: quotation, high confidence - Isa 49:10: allusion, low confidence - Acts 3:21: allusion, medium confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Wis 9:15 (Wisdom of Solomon): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 29:12; Ps 39:12 (LXX 38:13); Heb 11:9; Phil 3:13; Exod 3:8; Matt 24:35; 1 Cor 7:31; Rev 21:1; Isa 30:26; Isa 60:19 and Rev 21:23; Col 1:16; Eph 1:21; 1 Cor 13:9–10; Col 2:16; Wis 9:15; Isa 49:10 and Rev 7:16; Acts 3:21 (restoration). - The opening sentence is garbled in the scan (“quis sit quo Deus in hominenvidcamus. scenopegiafi..quit”) and is translated by sense. A leaked note (“Psal- XXXVIII. personant tuba.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 23.11 (PG 12:754a–755b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/23-1/#p-23-11). ## Homilies on Numbers 24.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-1 - Source: PG 12:755b–759a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The various festival victims figure the saints, apostles, and angels whose intercession contributes to the purification of the human race, as Christ the Lamb takes away the sin of the whole world; the decreasing number of bulls at Tabernacles shows sins diminishing through purification, until the one perfect victim ends the others. ### Latin text DeOsncrificiifl quae per unamquamque festivitatem jubentur ofl'erri, et de votis quae v'oven'tur Deo 9°. 1. Omnes qui imbuendi sunt eminentioribus disciplinis, tandiu molestum ducunt rudimentorum laborem, donec, quis sit et disciplina: illius ad quam υ introducuntur finis et fructus, ignorant. Cum vero imbutos per ordinem perfectio consecuta fuerit disciplinm, tunc delectabit rudimentorum pertulisse molestias. Sunt ergo et in sanctis ac divinis rebus prima quaedam rudimenta quibus inducuntur ii qui ad perfectionem beatitudinis tendunt. Quod evidenter famulus Dei in cantico Exodi designat dicens"; Indue et planta eos in monte hereditatis tum. praeparata habitatione tua , quam preparasti, Domine. Paulus quoque apostolus sciens esse qu:dam prima imbuendi initia, tunc deinde per tempus etiam ad perfectionem veniri, scribens quibusdam diccbat": Etenim cum deberetis jam magistri esse pr0pter tempus, rursum indigetis ut doceatniui quae siut elementa exordii sermonum Dei , ct iacti estis quibus lacte opus sit , non cibo forti. Omnis enim qui lacte alitur expers est sermonis justitit, parvulus enim est. Pcrfectornm vero cibus solidas est, qui pro possibilitate sumendi exercitatos lubent sensus ad discretionem boni vel mali. Et itcrum in aliis , litteram legis , omnemque bitjusmoii scripturam clen'tenta mundi esse commemorat". Et nunc. ergo ea quae pertinuerunt ad illos, qui prituis imbuebantur elementis , molesta nobis primo videntur auditu, volenti enim unicuique auditorum 362 discere de iis (pta: ad salutem pertinent, cum de sacrificiis arietum et hircorum vitulorumque recitatur, nihil sibi utilitatis conferre hujusmodi litteras judicaut , quantum ad ipsum Spectat aufitmn. Si vero quis inveniatur qui possit velamen quod est impositum in lectione Veteris Testaineuu, removere, atque imle perquirere qua! sint vera Sa- η crificia, quae purificcnt populum in diebus fesus: tunc videbit quam mira et magnifica sunt quae per haec indicantur, quae snperflua ignorantibus ac saperstitiosa ducuntur. Sed lucc quidem Paulus etsi qui ei similes sunt, plenius ab ipsa sapientiae! Verbo Dei perfectiusque cognoverint : nos auten quantum ex ipsorum litteris colligere possumus, is quibus nobis velut per umbram et imaginem indta quasdam dederunt, ad :cdificationem commune discutere summatim de sacrificiorum ritu aliqui tentabimus. In Paschae festivitate agnus suum esse qui purificat populum, in aliis vitulus, inata-.3 hircus aut aries, vel capra , vel vitula, sicut ex iis quae recitata sunt didicistis. Unus ergo ex iis au.malihus, quae ad purificandqu populum somnum. esse dicitur Dominus et Salvator noster. Sic enim intellexit Joannes qui est major omnium prophetarum, et signavit de ipso dicens ’δε Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Quod si agnas qui ad purificandum populum datus est, ad personam Domini et Salvatoris nostri refertur, consequens videtur quod etiam caetera animalia , quae eisdem purificativis usibus deputata sunt, referri drbeant similiter ad aliquas personas , quae per ωιιίtum sanguinis Christi purificationi: aliquid luimanu generi conferant Vide ergo ne forte sicut Dominus et Salvator noster, quasi agnus ad occisionem ductus , et in Sacrificium altaris oblatus, peccatorum remissionem universo priestitit mnndo: ita fortassis et carterorum sanctorum acjustorum sanguis, qui effusus est a sanguine Abel justi, usque ad sanguinem Zachariae prophetae, qui interfectus est inter aedem et altare: alterius quidem sanguis sicut vitulre . alterius sicut hirci, aut capra). aut alicujus horum fusus est ad expiandum pro parte aliqua populum. Sive haec ad justorum prophetarumque personas, qui in hoc mundo jugulati sunt, vel eorum qui dicunt 9': ε Quoniam propter te morte aliicimur tota die, mstimati sumus sicut oves occisionis, referenda videantur: sive etiam ad superiores virtutes, quibus proeuratio humani generis data est, quis facile audeat affirmare? Neque enim haac animalia per speciem , sed per figuram referri ad illam vel illam putanda sunt. Nam et ipse Dominus Iesus Christus, non ideo agnus dicitur quasi qui mutatus sit et conversnsin speciem agni. Dicitur tamen agnus, quia voluntas et bonitas ejus qua Deum repropitiavit hominibus, et peccatorum indulgentiam dedit, talis exstitit humano generi quasi agni hostia immaculata et innocens, qua placari homimbus divina creduntur. Sic ergo fortassis et si quis est angelorum, cmlestiumqne virtutum , aut si quis justorum hominum , vel etiam sanctorum prophetarum atque apostolorum, qui enixius interveniat pro peccatis hominum : hicc pro rcpropitiatione divina, velut aries , aut vitulus, aut hircus, oblatus esse in sacrificium ob purificationem populo impetrandam accipi potest. Annon videtur ut aries , aut hircus holocaustum se obtulisse Paulus pro p0pnlo Israel, cum dicebat "z Optabam autem ego ipse anathema esse a Christo pro fratribus meis, qui sunt cognati mei secundum L'arnem ἲ Vis autem scire, quia se hostiam Paulus )lferat jugulandum ? Audi eum in aliis dicentem : l 1am enim ego immolor et tempus resolutionis, vel, nt in Graecis codibus legimus, reversionis nea: instat. Slc ergo figuraliter potest videri, lnod alius pro festivitate Novorum, alius pro festiritate Sabbati, alius pro festivitate Tabernaculorum, luasi hircus, aut vitulus, aut aries offeratur ad reoneiliandum hominibus Deum. Donec enim sunt peccata, necesse est requiri et hostias pro peccatis. lam pone, verbi gratia , non fuisse peccatum : si _ ton fuisset peccatum, non necesse fuerat Filium lei agnum fieri, nec Opus fuerat eum in carne positum jugulari, sed mansisset hoc quod in principio erat Deus Verbum : vcrum quoniam introiit peccatum in hunc mundum, peccati autem necessitas propitiationcm requirit, et propitiatio non fit nisi per hostiam, necessarium fuit provideri hostiam pro peccato. thuoniam peccati ipsius diversae et variae qualitates fuerunt, diversorum animalium mandantur hostize, procul dubio quae convenirent varietatibus peccatorum. Sic ergo efficitur alius sanctorum , sive angelorum , ut diximus , sive hominum vitulus, qui in illa festivitate interveniat pro populi delictis : alius autem aries in alia festivitate :quormn intercessione fiat purificatio pro peccatis. Quod si purificari potuerint homines a peccatis, et esse puriores , minuuntur et hostiae. Si enim pro peccatis sunt hostiae, et pro multitudine peccatorum multiplicatae sunt sine dubio‘, ct pro exiguitate minuuntur. llujus autem rei in prasentibns locis Scriptura: habemus indicia , id 363 est in ultima festivitate Sccnopegize, cum per octo dies hostimjubcntur offerri. Et prima quidem die quasi adhuc in abundantia peccatorum, quatuordecim vituli jubentnr offerri. Secunda autem die imminutis utpote peccatis minuuntur et hostiae, et tredecim vituli offeruntur. Tertia die duodecim, et post haec undecim : et ita quasi purificationibus, deficiente per dies multitudine peccatorum, minuitur consequenter etiam numerus hostiarum. Sic etiam pro dispensatione ('50) totius ' mundi rationem purificationis intelligis. lndigent enim purificatione, non solum qum in terra sunt, sed quae in caelis. Imminet namque et caelis perditio, sic enim dicit Propheta " : peribunt, et omnes ut vestimentum veterascent , et sicut amictum involves eos, et mutabuntur. › intuere igitur totius mundi, id est cmleslium ac terrestrium et infernorum purificationem : vide quantis indigeant . ista Omnia hostiis, quantos requirant vitulos, quantos arietes, quantos hircos. Sed et in his omnibus unus est agnus, qui totius mundi potuit auferre peccatum, et ideo cessaverunt caetera: hostia: : quia talis hzcc fuit hostia, ut una sola sulliceret pro totius mundi salute. Caneri enim precibus peccata, hic solus potestate dimisit. Dicebat enim ” : Fili, remissa sunt tibi peccata tua. Sic ergo imbuitur mundus , primo per diversas hostias remissionem qumrere peccatorum, donec veniat ad hostiam perfectam, ad hostiam consummatam , agnum anniculmn, perfectum, qui tollat peccata totius mundi :, per quem festivitates agat spiritales, non ad satietatem carnis, sed ad profectum spiritus sacrillciis spiritalibus purificatione mentis oblatis. Decet enim Deo immolari victimam cordis, et hostiam contribulati spiritus, non carnis et sanguinis iugu' lari : quia et si agnovimus Christum aliquando secundum carnem; sed nunc jam non novimus ς» ctideoin spiritu diem festum agamus, et spiritalia sacrificia jugulemus. Haec pro viribus nostris de diversitate sacrificiorum discussa sint , quorum ad liquidum intelligentiam scit ille, cui nuda et revelata sunt omnia, nec est ulla creatura in conspectu ejus invisibilis. ### English translation (Claude) [On the sacrifices which are commanded to be offered at each festival, and on the vows which are vowed to God.] All who are to be instructed in higher disciplines find the labour of the rudiments irksome for as long as they do not know what is the end and fruit of the discipline into which they are being introduced. But when perfection in the discipline has come to those who have been instructed in order, then they will be glad to have borne the irksomeness of the rudiments. So in holy and divine matters too there are certain first rudiments by which those are introduced who strive toward the perfection of blessedness. This the servant of God plainly indicates in the song of Exodus, saying: “Bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance, in your prepared dwelling which you have prepared, Lord.” The apostle Paul too, knowing that there are certain first beginnings of instruction, and that then in time one also comes to perfection, wrote to some and said: “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need again that someone teach you the elementary principles of the words of God, and you have become such as need milk, not solid food. For everyone who is fed on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But the food of the perfect is solid, who, according to their capacity of taking it, have their senses trained to distinguish good and evil.” And again elsewhere he calls the letter of the law and all writing of this kind the elements of the world. And now, then, the things which belonged to those who were instructed in the first elements seem irksome to us at first hearing; for each of the hearers who wishes to learn about the things that pertain to salvation, when the sacrifices of rams and goats and calves are read, judges that writings of this kind bring him no profit, as far as the hearing itself is concerned. But if anyone is found who can remove the veil that lies over the reading of the Old Testament, and from there search out what are the true sacrifices that purify the people on the feast days, then he will see how wonderful and magnificent are the things signified by these, which are thought superfluous and superstitious by the ignorant. But these things Paul and those who are like him have known more fully and perfectly from the very Wisdom and Word of God; we, however, as far as we can gather from their writings, in which they have given us certain indications as through a shadow and image, will try to discuss briefly some things about the rite of the sacrifices for the common edification. At the festival of the Passover it is a lamb that purifies the people, at others a calf, at others a goat or a ram, or a she-goat, or a heifer, as you have learned from what was read. One of these animals, then, which are taken to purify the people, is said to be our Lord and Saviour. For so John, who is greater than all the prophets, understood it, and marked it of him, saying: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.” And if the lamb that was given to purify the people refers to the person of our Lord and Saviour, it seems to follow that the other animals too, which are assigned to the same purifying uses, ought likewise to be referred to certain persons who, by the merit of the blood of Christ, contribute something to the purification of the human race. See, then, whether perhaps, just as our Lord and Saviour, led like a lamb to the slaughter and offered as the sacrifice of the altar, granted the remission of sins to the whole world, so perhaps the blood of the other saints and righteous too, which was shed from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zechariah the prophet, who was killed between the temple and the altar, the blood of one as of a heifer, of another as of a goat, or of a she-goat, or of one of these, was shed to make expiation for some part of the people. Whether these things are to be referred to the persons of the righteous and the prophets who were slain in this world, or of those who say, “For your sake we are put to death all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter,” or even to the higher powers to whom the care of the human race has been given, who would easily dare to affirm? For these animals are not to be thought to refer to this or that person in outward form, but in figure. For the Lord Jesus Christ himself is not called a lamb as if he had been changed and turned into the form of a lamb. Yet he is called a lamb because his will and goodness, by which he made God propitious to men and gave forgiveness of sins, proved to be for the human race like the spotless and innocent victim of a lamb, by which the divine is believed to be appeased toward men. So, then, perhaps, if there is any of the angels and heavenly powers, or any of righteous men, or even of the holy prophets and apostles, who intercedes more earnestly for the sins of men, he can be taken as offered in sacrifice for divine propitiation, like a ram, or a calf, or a goat, to obtain purification for the people. Does not Paul seem to have offered himself as a burnt offering, like a ram or a goat, for the people of Israel, when he said: “For I myself wished to be accursed from Christ for my brothers, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh”? Do you wish to know that Paul offers himself as a victim to be slain? Hear him saying elsewhere: “For I am already being sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution,” or, as we read in the Greek copies, “of my return, is at hand.” So, then, it can be seen figuratively that one is offered for the festival of New Fruits, another for the festival of the Sabbath, another for the festival of Tabernacles, like a goat, or a calf, or a ram, to reconcile God to men. For as long as there are sins, victims for sins must be sought. Now suppose, for example, there had been no sin: if there had been no sin, it would not have been necessary for the Son of God to become a lamb, nor would there have been need for him, placed in the flesh, to be slain, but he would have remained what he was in the beginning, God the Word. But since sin entered into this world, and the necessity of sin requires propitiation, and propitiation is made only through a victim, it was necessary that a victim be provided for sin. And since there were different and various qualities of sin itself, victims of different animals are commanded, doubtless such as would fit the varieties of sins. So, then, one of the saints, whether angels, as we said, or men, becomes a calf, interceding at that festival for the offences of the people; another a ram at another festival, through whose intercession purification is made for sins. And if men can be purified from sins and become purer, the victims too are reduced. For if victims are for sins, they are without doubt multiplied for a multitude of sins and reduced for their fewness. Of this we have indications in the present places of Scripture, that is, in the last festival, Tabernacles, when victims are commanded to be offered for eight days. And on the first day, as if sins were still abundant, fourteen calves are commanded to be offered. But on the second day, since the sins have been diminished, the victims are also reduced, and thirteen calves are offered. On the third day twelve, and after that eleven: and so, as the multitude of sins fails day by day through purifications, the number of victims is consequently reduced too. In this way you may also understand the plan of purification in the governance of the whole world. For not only the things on earth need purification, but also those in heaven. For perdition threatens even the heavens, for so the prophet says: “They will perish, and all will grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will roll them up, and they will be changed.” Behold, then, the purification of the whole world, that is, of heavenly and earthly and infernal things: see how many victims all these need, how many calves, how many rams, how many goats they require. But among all these there is one lamb who was able to take away the sin of the whole world; and therefore the other victims ceased, because this victim was such that it alone sufficed for the salvation of the whole world. For the others remitted sins by prayers; he alone remitted them by power. For he said: “Son, your sins are forgiven you.” So, then, the world is instructed first to seek remission of sins through various victims, until it comes to the perfect victim, the consummate victim, the yearling lamb, perfect, who takes away the sins of the whole world; through whom it may keep spiritual festivals, not for the satiety of the flesh but for the advance of the spirit, with spiritual sacrifices offered in purification of the mind. For it befits God that the victim of the heart and the sacrifice of a broken spirit be offered to him, not that flesh and blood be slain: because even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know him so; and therefore let us keep the feast in the spirit and slay spiritual sacrifices. Let these things, according to our strength, have been discussed about the variety of the sacrifices, whose understanding to the full is known by him to whom all things are naked and laid bare, and there is no creature invisible in his sight. ### Scripture references - Exod 15:17: quotation, high confidence - Heb 5:12–14: quotation, high confidence - Gal 4:3: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:14: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:11: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:29: quotation, high confidence - Isa 53:7: allusion, high confidence - Matt 23:35: allusion, high confidence - Ps 44:22 (43:23 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Rom 9:3: quotation, high confidence - 2 Tim 4:6: quotation, high confidence - Rom 5:12: allusion, high confidence - Num 29:12–32: allusion, high confidence - Col 1:20: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 9:2: quotation, high confidence - Ps 51:17 (50:19 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 5:16: quotation, high confidence - Heb 4:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - The bracketed opening is the homily’s title as printed in the edition. - Quotations and allusions: Num 28–29; Exod 15:17; Heb 5:12–14; Gal 4:3, 9; 2 Cor 3:14; Matt 11:11; John 1:29; Isa 53:7; Matt 23:35; Ps 44:22 (LXX 43:23; Rom 8:36); Rom 9:3; 2 Tim 4:6; Rom 5:12; Num 29:12–32; Col 1:20; Ps 102:26 (LXX 101:27); Matt 9:2; Ps 51:17 (LXX 50:19); 2 Cor 5:16; Heb 4:13. Origen says fourteen bulls on the first day of Tabernacles; Num 29:13 has thirteen (and then twelve, eleven…); translated as written. - Origen’s suggestion that the blood of martyrs and the intercession of saints and angels contribute, by the merit of Christ’s blood, to the purification of others, and that the heavens too need purification, is translated exactly as written. - Words lost in the scan after “nec Opus fuerat eum in carne” (a leaked “xuv,” stands there) are supplied from Baehrens's edition. - The garbled “agnus suum esse qui purificat” is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 24.1 (PG 12:755b–759a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 24.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-2 - Source: PG 12:759a–761b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The doubled “a man, a man” in the law of vows signifies the renewed inner man together with the outer; God first asks of us our fear, love, righteousness, and chastity, and the highest vow, the Nazirite’s, is to offer oneself to God in imitation of Christ, who gave himself. ### Latin text Post licec votorum lex ponitur, et novo principio utitur in bac Iegislatione Moses. Ait enim ' : llomo, homo quicunque voverit votum Domino. Quae est ista repetendi nominis causa? Quasi non snlliceret dixisse, homo qui voverit votum Domino. Quid est ergo quod ait, homo homo, et quid sibi vi-lit ingeminata hominis appellatio, non mihi silentio praetereundum videtur. Apostolus docet alium esse interiorem hominem , et alium exteriorem : et illum esse qui renovatur de die in diem secundum imaginem ejus qui creavit eum; hunc vero esse visibilem, qui corrumpitur . Cum ergo venitur ad istum jam profectum , ut lex Dei suscipiatur, ct vota Domino oll‘erantur; vota autem Domino oll'erre nemo potest, nisi qui habet aliquid in semetipso et in substantia sua quod olferat Deo: non sufficit iste exterior homo legem Dei suscipere, nec vota solus oll‘erre, non enim potest aliquidc dignum Deo habere : sed ille interior" est homo, qui magis habet in se quod Deo. lu illo namque est habitaculum virtutum , in illo omnis intellectus scientiae, in illo est divina: imaginis innovatio. Qui cum speciem suam , qua ex initio Deo factus est recuperaverit, et virtutum redintegratione pulchritudinem prioris formae receperit, tunc jam potest vota oiTerre Deo, et tunc jam non homo solum, scd homo homo dicetur. l\'am qui interiorem hominem non excolit, qui illius curam non gerit, qui virtutibus eum non instruit, moribus non adornat, divinis institutionibus non exercet, sapientiam Dei non qumrit, scientiae Scripturarum Operam non impendit, hic. non potest homo homo dici, sed homo tantum, et homo animalis : quia ille interior, cui verius et nobilius homo nomen est, sopitus in eo est carnalibus vitiis , et mundi hujus curis ac sollicitudinibus obrutus , ita ut in eo nec nominis ejus haberi possit appellatio (59.). Unde satis agendum est unicuique nostrum, ut si forte videt in se interiorem hominem peccatorum sordibus et vitiorum ruderibus oppressum jacere , citius ab eo auferatomnes immunditias , citius eruat eu ab omni inquinamento carnis et sanguinis, conm. tatur aliquando ad ptenitcntiam, revocet ad se me muriam Dei, revocet spem salutis. Non enirn extrinsecus aliunde quaerenda sunt, sed intra noscst salutis occasio, sicut et Domirms dixit‘uficce enim regnum Dei intra vos est. Intra nos namque est conversionis facultas. Cum enim conversus ingemueris, salvus eris, et tunc poteris digne Altissimo reddere vota tua, et homo homo appellari. \"otum autem est, cum aliquid de nostris ollerimusDeo. Vult ergo a nobis prius aliquid accipere Deus (33}, et ita nobis aliquid ipse largiri, ut dona sua et munera merentibus et non immeritis largiri vidcatur. Quid autem est quod vult accipere a nobis Deus? Audi Scriptura: sententiam ': Et nunc bracl, quid Dominus Deus tuus poscit a te, nisiut timeas Dominum Deum tuum et atubulcsls omnibus viis ejus, et diligas eum ex toto corde tuo, ct ex tota anima tua , et ex totis viribus tuis?» ll:ec sunt ergo quae Deus poscit a nobis. Quasi non prius oll'eramus, ab ipso accipiemus nihil. Legimus et in alio loco : Date gloriam Deo,» et:c Date magnificentiam Deo. Si dederitis gloriam, recipietis gloriam. Sic enim dicit ipse Deus " : «Gloriacantes me glorificabo. Ego vero dico, quod et si oll'eramus ei justitiam nostram, accipiemus ab ipso justitiam Dei. Et si oll'eramus ei nostram . id est corporis castitatem, accipiemus ab ipso spirillIS eaStilalem. El Si oneramus Ci 52M nostrum, accipiemus ab ipso sensum ipsius; sicut et Apostolus dicebat et Nos autem Domini Christi sensum habemus. Cum autem'nos obtulerim: Deo quae in nobis sunt, et ille contulerit in nos qua: sua sunt, tunc verejam non homo solum, sed horno homo dicemur. Uterque enirn homo vocabuliqu perfectione decenter ornatus est. Ista sunt ergo - vota, quae debet exsolvereis, qui homo homo appellatur. Seio diversa vota in Scripturis referri. Anna quidem vovit Deo fructum ventris sui, et Sarnoclem consecravit in templo ’. Alius , quodcunque sibi post victoriam redeunti occurrisset vovit Dm. occurrente lilia, vota lacrymanda persolvit".33ii vitulos, aut arietes, aut domos , aut alia hujusmoji ratione carentia, vota offerunt Deo. llle vero qui appellatur Nazaracus, semetipsum devovitDeo. lloc est enim vetum Nazartei quod cst super onrnc votum. Nam lilium ofl'erre, vel filiam , aut pecus, aut prredium, hoc totum extra nos est. Semetipsuat Deo olIerre, et non alieno labore, sed proprio placere, hoc est perfectius et eminentius osinius! votis : quod qui facit, imitator est Christi. Hic enim dedit homini terram, mare, et omnia qum in eis sunt, ad obsequium dedit et cmlum, solem quoquc et lunam, ac stellas, hominum ministerio eoneessit:pluvias, ventos, et omne quidquid in mundo est hominibus largitus est. Sed post haec omnia, semetipsum dedit. Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret pro mundi hujus vita “. Quid ergo m‘agnum faciet homo, si semetipsum oll'erat Deo, cui ipse se prior obtulit Deus? Si ergo tollas crucem tuam, et sequaris Christum, si dicas : Vivo autem, jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus ι’, si desideret et sitiat anima nostra redire et esse cum Christo, sicut ct Apostolus dicebat, et prtesentis saeculi non delectatur illeceliris, et si omnem legem quae de Nazarmis data est, Sjtit‘ilaiilel‘ impleat, tunc semetipsum, id est animam suam, obtulit Deo. Qui in castitate vivit, corpus suum vovit Deo secundum cum qui dixit “ : «Virgo autem cogitat quomodo sit sancta corpore et spiritu. Nam et hoc ipsum quod dixit sancta, ad hoc respicit : sancti enim dicuntur illi qui se voverunt Deo. Unde et aries, verbi eausa si vovetur Deo, sanctus appellatur, quem tonderi ad communes usus non licet. Sed et vitulus si devotus fuerit Deo, sanctus nihilominus appellatur, nec licet eum jungi in opus commune. Ex iis ergo colligamus quid est hominem seipsnm vovere Deo. Si te voveris Deo, imitandus tibi est vitulus , quem non licet humanis operibus deservire, nihil facere quod ad homines et ad praesentem pertineat vitam. SedC quidquid ad animam pertinet et ad divini cultus observantiatn, hoc et agendum et cogitandum tibi esl. ### English translation (Claude) After these things the law of vows is set down, and in this legislation Moses uses a new beginning. For he says: “A man, a man, whoever vows a vow to the Lord.” What is the reason for repeating the noun? As if it were not enough to have said, “a man who vows a vow to the Lord.” What it means, then, that he says “a man, a man,” and what the doubled naming of man signifies, does not seem to me to be passed over in silence. The Apostle teaches that the inner man is one and the outer man another: and that the former is the one who is renewed day by day according to the image of him who created him, but the latter is the visible one, who is being corrupted. When, then, one comes to this stage of advance, that the law of God is received and vows are offered to the Lord (and no one can offer vows to the Lord unless he has something in himself and in his substance to offer to God), this outer man is not enough to receive the law of God, nor to offer vows alone, for he cannot have anything worthy of God; but it is the inner man who rather has in himself something for God. For in him is the dwelling of the virtues, in him all the understanding of knowledge, in him the renewal of the divine image. When he has recovered the form in which he was made by God from the beginning, and by the restoration of the virtues has received back the beauty of his former shape, then he can offer vows to God, and then he will be called not only “man,” but “man, man.” For he who does not cultivate the inner man, who takes no care of him, does not furnish him with virtues, does not adorn him with good conduct, does not exercise him in divine teachings, does not seek the wisdom of God, does not devote effort to the knowledge of the Scriptures, cannot be called “man, man,” but only “man,” and natural man: because that inner one, to whom the name of man belongs more truly and nobly, is lulled to sleep in him by carnal vices and overwhelmed by the cares and anxieties of this world, so that not even the title of his name can be held in him. Hence each of us must take great pains, if perhaps he sees the inner man in himself lying oppressed by the filth of sins and the rubble of vices, quickly to take away from him all uncleanness, quickly to rescue him from all defilement of flesh and blood, to turn him at last to repentance, to call back to him the memory of God, to call back the hope of salvation. For these things are not to be sought outside from elsewhere, but the occasion of salvation is within us, as the Lord too said: “For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” For the power of conversion is within us. For when you have turned and groaned, you will be saved; and then you will be able worthily to render your vows to the Most High and be called “man, man.” A vow is when we offer something of ours to God. God wishes, then, first to receive something from us, and so himself to bestow something on us, so that he may be seen to bestow his gifts and presents on the deserving and not the undeserving. But what is it that God wishes to receive from us? Hear the sentence of Scripture: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but that you fear the Lord your God and walk in all his ways, and love him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength?” These, then, are the things which God asks of us. Unless we offer first, we shall receive nothing from him. We read in another place too: “Give glory to God,” and “Give majesty to God.” If you give glory, you will receive glory. For so God himself says: “Those who glorify me I will glorify.” And I say that if we offer him our righteousness, we shall receive from him the righteousness of God. And if we offer him our chastity, that is, of the body, we shall receive from him chastity of the spirit. And if we offer him our mind, we shall receive from him his mind; as the Apostle too said: “But we have the mind of the Lord Christ.” And when we have offered to God the things that are in us, and he has conferred on us the things that are his, then truly we shall be called not only “man” but “man, man.” For each man is fittingly adorned with the perfection of the name. These, then, are the vows which he ought to pay who is called “man, man.” I know that different vows are recorded in the Scriptures. Hannah vowed to God the fruit of her womb and consecrated Samuel in the temple. Another vowed to God whatever should meet him as he returned after victory, and when his daughter met him, he paid a vow to be wept over. Some offer to God as vows calves, or rams, or houses, or other such things lacking reason. But he who is called a Nazirite vowed himself to God. For this is the vow of the Nazirite, which is above every vow. For to offer a son or a daughter, or cattle, or an estate, is all outside us. To offer oneself to God, and to please him not by another’s labour but by one’s own, this is more perfect and more eminent than all vows: and he who does this is an imitator of Christ. For he gave man the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; he gave even the heavens for his service; the sun too and the moon and stars he granted for the ministry of men; rains, winds, and everything that is in the world he bestowed on men. But after all these things he gave himself. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” for the life of this world. What great thing, then, will a man do if he offers himself to God, to whom God first offered himself? If, then, you take up your cross and follow Christ, if you say, “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me,” if our soul desires and thirsts to return and be with Christ, as the Apostle too said, and takes no delight in the enticements of the present age, and if it fulfils spiritually the whole law that was given about the Nazirites, then it has offered itself, that is, its soul, to God. He who lives in chastity has vowed his body to God, according to him who said: “But the virgin thinks how she may be holy in body and spirit.” For this very word “holy” looks to this: for those are called holy who have vowed themselves to God. Hence a ram too, for example, if it is vowed to God, is called holy, and it is not lawful to shear it for common uses. And a calf too, if it has been devoted to God, is no less called holy, and it is not lawful to yoke it for common work. From these, then, let us gather what it is for a man to vow himself to God. If you have vowed yourself to God, you must imitate the calf, which may not serve human works, doing nothing that pertains to men and to the present life; but whatever pertains to the soul and the observance of divine worship, this you must both do and think. ### Scripture references - Num 30:2 (30:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:16: allusion, high confidence - Col 3:10: allusion, high confidence - Luke 17:21: quotation, high confidence - Isa 30:15: allusion, medium confidence - Deut 10:12: quotation, high confidence - Ps 29:1–2 (28:1-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 2:30: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:16: quotation, high confidence - 1 Sam 1:11: allusion, high confidence - Judg 11:30–39: allusion, high confidence - Num 6:2: allusion, high confidence - John 3:16: quotation, high confidence - Matt 16:24: allusion, high confidence - Gal 2:20: quotation, high confidence - Phil 1:23: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:34: quotation, high confidence - Deut 15:19: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 30:2 (LXX 30:3, “a man, a man,” Hebrew idiom for “any man”); 2 Cor 4:16 and Col 3:10; 1 Cor 2:14; Luke 17:21; Isa 30:15; Deut 10:12; Ps 29:1–2 (LXX 28:1–2); 1 Sam 2:30; 1 Cor 2:16; 1 Sam 1:11, 24–28; Judg 11:30–39; Num 6:2; John 3:16 and 6:51; Matt 16:24; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:23; 1 Cor 7:34; Deut 15:19. - The first word of the opening question, lost in the scan, is supplied from Baehrens's edition. A leaked marginal reference (“Luc.xvu, Jcrem. xm. 16.”) inside “Hic enim” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 24.2 (PG 12:759a–761b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 24.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-3 - Source: PG 12:761b–763a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The laws on women’s vows under father or husband are read of souls under the care of guardian angels, who share responsibility for rash vows they fail to restrain; the perfect, “a perfect man,” are free in their vows, and God himself guides them. ### Latin text Sed interim pratsens lectio continet diversitates quasdam votorum. Etenim si vir fuerit qui vovit, liber esse dicitur in votis suis, nullique subcctus. Mulier autem si voveat, si quidem in domo patris sui sit, votum ejus iit patris pendet arbitrio : at si quidem ille recusaverit, liberabitur. Si vero mn recusaverit, et ipse et (ilia tenentur obnoxii. Quod si posteaquam non recusaverit pater, non ‘eddiderit votum filia, peecatmn ipsi manet. Simiiter autem ct erga maritum decernitur, ut si in mariti uxor aliquid voverit, et audiens marius non recusaverit, reus sit voti pariter cum txore. Si vero recusaverit, recusaverit , tam uxor sit libera, [nam maritus. Si vero tacuerit, uterque, ttt dixirtus, reus habeatur. lla‘c sunt quidem quae scripta unt : sed orandnsest nobis Deus, ιιι intellecnun iure dignetur se dignum, quo haec, ιιι decet, de Dei orbis intelligere possimus et advertere. Omnes qui ub lege Dei vivimus, et in Ecclesia ejus habemur, liqui sub patribus, aliqui sub viris agimus. Et si quidem parvula est anima et initia habet in eruditionibus divinis, ham sub patre agere creo denda est. Si vero jam adultior facta est, Ita ut viripotens sit ad concipiendum semen verbi Dei, et doctrina: spiritalis capere secreta, hare sub viro posita dicitur. Sic enim et Paulus dicebat de Corinthiis " : «Volo autem omnes vos uni viro virginem castam exhibere Christo. Qui vero perfectiores sunt et eminentiores horum, de illis non dicitur quod sub viro sint, sed audi quomodo de semetipso suique similibus pronuntiet Paulus ’δε Donec occurramus, inquit, omnes in virum perlectum, in mensuram aetatis plenitudinis Christi. Huic ergo animae, quae in virum perfectura occurrit, nemo dominatur in votis, sed habet potestatem suorum libertatemque votorum. Si autem feminei adhuc generis fuerit anima, cui vel vir vel pater dominetnr in votis, non semper in ipsa est cu'lpa, sed interdum redit ad viros vel parentes. De quibus applicare diliicile sit, tamen quas Domino largiente 365 potuerint, inferemus. Saepe diximus animas rum quae in Ecclesia Dei sunt, curam procurationemque haberi per angelos, quosque etiam ad judicium venire cum hominibus ostendimus, ut . illo divino constet examine, utrum sua desidia peccaverint homines, an monitorum custodemque ue-_ gligentia. Videtur mihi etiam in hoc loco,etiam sub mysterio designari et ostendi, quod alia: quidem ut lilia: Sub eis anima: degunt. aliae ut uxores secundum ea quae superius distinximus. Si qua ergo harum ofl'erre aliquid et vovere cupiat Deo. siquidem prmproperum et minus aptum quod vovit, est, illius est, utpote custodis et monitoris angeli, retrudere et reprimere voventis audaciam. Si vero audiens non represserit, non ntOnucrit, anima quidem liberabitur a culpa, ipse vero voti manebit obnoxius. Hoc quidem erga inferiores quasque lieri accipiendum est, perfectioribus ipse adest Dens, sicut scriptum est de p0pnlo Israel: Dominus ipse ducebat eos. Postea vero quam deliquerunt et inferiores semetipsis l'acti sunt, angelo traduntur. Unde ct Movses dicebat ηε Nisi tu ipse veneris nobiscum, non me educas hinc. Sed et de justo dicit Dens “z ε Cum ipso sum in tribulatione, et alibi dit-it”: Non timeas descendcre in [Egyptunnquouiam tecum ero. Justis ergo et electis ipse adest Dominus : inferioribus vero adsunt angeli, secundum ea quae superius diximus, gubernantes eos et procurantes, votaque eorum aliquando ad semetipsos transferentes, aliquando vero super ipsos relinquentes. Sed cono tendere debemus ttt occurramus in virum perfectum, in mensuram anatis plenitudinis Christi; ut utamur libertate votorum, et ita adhaerere Domino festinemus, ut cum ipso untts spiritus simus, et ipse itt nobis maneat, et nos in ipso ; et nihil in nobis femineum, nihilparvula: :etatisltabeatur, ne necesse sit nobis sub tutoribus et procuratoribus derelinqui a patre : sed festinemus audire illam a Domino et Salvatore nostro vocctn,qua»ait, ipse Pater diligit vos, t ipsi gloria in saecula szeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) But meanwhile the present reading contains certain differences between vows. For if it is a man who has vowed, he is said to be free in his vows and subject to no one. But if a woman vows, if she is in her father’s house, her vow depends on her father’s decision: and if he refuses, she will be set free. But if he does not refuse, both he and the daughter are held bound. And if, after the father has not refused, the daughter does not pay the vow, the sin remains with her. Likewise it is decided concerning the husband, that if a wife has vowed something in her husband’s house and the husband hears and does not refuse, he is liable for the vow together with his wife. But if he refuses, then the wife is free, and so is the husband. But if he keeps silent, both, as we said, are held liable. These are the things that are written; but we must pray God to deign to give us an understanding worthy of himself, by which we may understand and perceive these things, as is fitting, from the words of God. All of us who live under the law of God and are held in his church live, some under fathers, some under husbands. And if the soul is little and has only beginnings in divine instruction, is to be believed to live under a father. But if it has now grown older, so that it is marriageable, able to conceive the seed of the word of God and to grasp the secrets of spiritual doctrine, it is said to be placed under a husband. For so Paul too said of the Corinthians: “For I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to one husband, to Christ.” But of those who are more perfect and more eminent than these it is not said that they are under a husband; but hear how Paul declares of himself and those like him: “Until we all meet,” he says, “in a perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” Over this soul, then, which meets in a perfect man, no one has dominion in its vows, but it has power and freedom over its own vows. But if the soul is still of the female sex, so that a husband or a father has dominion over its vows, the fault is not always in it, but sometimes goes back to the husbands or fathers. Who these are may be difficult to apply; yet we will bring forward what we can by the Lord’s gift. We have often said that the souls of those who are in the church of God are under the care and stewardship of angels, and we have shown that these also come to judgment with men, so that it may be established in that divine examination whether men sinned by their own sloth or by the negligence of those who warned and guarded them. It seems to me that in this place too it is indicated and shown in a mystery that some souls live under them as daughters, others as wives, according to the distinctions we made above. If, then, one of these wishes to offer and vow something to God, and if what it vows is over-hasty and less suitable, it belongs to that angel, as guardian and counsellor, to hold back and restrain the boldness of the one vowing. But if, hearing, he does not restrain or warn, the soul will indeed be freed from blame, but he himself will remain liable for the vow. This, indeed, is to be understood as happening with each of the lower souls; to the more perfect God himself is present, as it is written of the people of Israel: “The Lord himself led them.” But after they sinned and became lower than themselves, they are handed over to an angel. Hence Moses too said: “Unless you yourself come with us, do not lead me up from here.” And of the righteous man God says: “I am with him in tribulation”; and elsewhere he says: “Do not be afraid to go down into Egypt, for I will be with you.” To the righteous and chosen, then, the Lord himself is present; but to the lower the angels are present, according to what we said above, governing and caring for them, and sometimes transferring their vows to themselves, but sometimes leaving them upon them. But we must strive to meet in a perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may enjoy freedom of vows, and hasten so to cleave to the Lord that we may be one spirit with him, and he may abide in us and we in him; and that nothing feminine, nothing of childish age, may be found in us, lest we need to be left by the Father under guardians and stewards; but let us hasten to hear that voice of our Lord and Saviour in which he says, “The Father himself loves you”; to him be glory for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 30:3–16 (30:4-Num LXX): allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:2: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:13: quotation, high confidence - Deut 32:12: quotation, medium confidence - Exod 33:15: quotation, high confidence - Ps 91:15 (90:15 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Gen 46:3–4: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: allusion, high confidence - John 15:5: allusion, medium confidence - Gal 4:2: allusion, high confidence - John 16:27: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 30:3–16 (LXX 30:4–17); 2 Cor 11:2; Eph 4:13; Deut 32:12; Exod 33:15; Ps 91:15 (LXX 90:15); Gen 46:3–4; 1 Cor 6:17; John 15:5; Gal 4:2; John 16:27. - The language of “female” and “childish” souls under fathers and husbands is Origen’s allegory of spiritual immaturity; translated as written. - Leaked marginal references and notes are removed in three places: inside “recusaverit” (a repeated line from 24.2), before “si quidem parvula” (where the subject “anima”, lost in the scan, is supplied from Baehrens's edition), and inside “utamur.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 24.3 (PG 12:761b–763a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/24-1/#p-24-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-1 - Source: PG 12:763a–764a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The heavier vengeance on the Midianites shows that causing another to stumble is graver than sinning oneself; and God’s word that Moses will be “added to his people” proves, against the Samaritans, that there is life after death. ### Latin text In superioribus fornicati sunt filii Israel cunt mulieribus Lladianilarum, et hoc fuit scandalum filiis Israel in quo ollenderunt Deum et ad iracuudiam provocaverttnt sanctum Israel. Nunc autem posteaquam pertulit Israel qum pertulit. Iocutus est, inquit η, Dominus ad Moysetn dicens: Ulciscere ultionem filiorum Israel de Madianitis, et ad ultimum apponeris ad populum tuum. t lgigitur scandala quas acciderant lsraelitis, quoniam tergiversatione Madianitarum acciderant : ipsi enim subornavcrunt mulieres quae eos deciperent ut peccare"! ceram Domino; illi quidem pro peccato suo pertulerunt vindictam, mediocrius tamen et parcius; lti vero, qui eis fuerunt causa peccaud tnulto vehementiori subjacent ultioni. Unde edoccmur, quia longe sit gravius aliis causam prmbere peccati, quam ipsum unumquemque pecv'are; sicut et Dominus designat cum dicit ν’, quia ‹ melius fuerat homini illi non nasci, aut tttOlant asinariam alligari circa collum ejus, et pramipitari itt pro- ρ fundum maris, quant ttt scandalizet unum de pusillis istis. t Simulque advertendum εει, quoniam quidem nomen scandali a nonnullis incompetenler praesumitur. Illud igitur scandalum dicitur. ubi recto itinere ambulanti deceptio aliqua instruitur ad peccandum, et subjicitur causa peccati; sicut et Madianitze, ambulantibus in lege Domini Israeliῑίδν et custodientibus castitatem, subornavcrunt mulieres, quae eos deciperent ad peccandum. Causam ergo praabere peccati, hoc est scandalizare. Verumtamen datur vindicta, sed multo gravior in eos qui scaudalizaverunt, et qui causam peccati pratbuerum, quam in eos qui peccaverunt. Simul atttem et illud observa, quod iis subjecit: No- _ vissimeautem, inquit “, et tuapporteris ad populum υ tuum. Si quando nobis cum Satttaritis sermo est, quoniam quidem resurrectionem mortuorum negant, nec recipiunt futuri sreculi fidem, perurgeamus eos ex iis verbis, quibus Dominus dicit ad Moyseut, “PPOMI’H‘ ad populum suum. Nemo enim apponitur ad eos, qui non sunt. Unde constat esse aliquem papulum, Uti Moyses post vitae hujus exitum dicitur applicandus. Quia ergo prophetis non credunt Samaritae, ex quibus posset resurrectionis mortuorum latius fides approbari, ex iis saltent Moysi libris, quos recipiunt, et quorum auctoritalem fatentur, convincendi sunt et curandi, si umen oportet Babyloniam curari. Est ergo locushic resurrectioaeut mortuorum evidenter ostendens. Designat cuitu esse populum. cui post obitum suum Moyses adjungendus sit, et ad quos pro suis meritis transferendus. ### English translation (Claude) Earlier the sons of Israel committed sexual immorality with the women of the Midianites, and this was a stumbling block to the sons of Israel, in which they offended God and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. But now, after Israel had suffered what it suffered, “the Lord spoke,” it says, “to Moses, saying: Take vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites, and at the last you will be added to your people.” The stumbling blocks, then, which had befallen the Israelites, since they had befallen them through the trickery of the Midianites (for these had suborned women to deceive them so that they would sin before the Lord): they indeed suffered punishment for their sin, but more moderately and sparingly; but these, who were the cause of their sinning, are subjected to a much more severe vengeance. From this we are taught that it is far graver to give others a cause of sin than for each one to sin himself; as the Lord too indicates when he says that “it would have been better for that man not to be born, or that a millstone be tied around his neck and he be cast into the depth of the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.” And at the same time it must be noticed that the word “stumbling block” is used unsuitably by some. That, then, is called a stumbling block where some deception to sin is set up for one walking on the right road, and a cause of sin is placed before him; just as the Midianites, when the Israelites were walking in the law of the Lord and keeping chastity, suborned women to deceive them into sinning. To give a cause of sin, then, is to cause stumbling. Punishment is indeed given, but a much heavier one on those who caused stumbling and gave the cause of sin than on those who sinned. At the same time observe this too, which he added to these words: “And at the last,” it says, “you too will be added to your people.” If ever we have a discussion with the Samaritans, since they deny the resurrection of the dead and do not accept faith in the age to come, let us press them with these words in which the Lord says to Moses, “You will be added to your people.” For no one is added to those who do not exist. Hence it is established that there is some people to which Moses is said to be joined after the end of this life. Since, then, the Samaritans do not believe the prophets, from whom faith in the resurrection of the dead could be proved more broadly, they must be convinced and cured at least from the books of Moses, which they accept and whose authority they acknowledge, if indeed Babylon is to be cured. This, then, is a place that plainly shows the resurrection of the dead. For it indicates that there is a people to which Moses is to be joined after his death, and to which he is to be transferred according to his merits. ### Scripture references - Num 31:1–2: quotation, high confidence - Num 31:16: allusion, high confidence - Matt 26:24: allusion, high confidence - Matt 18:6: quotation, high confidence - Mark 9:42: allusion, medium confidence - Jer 51:9 (28:9 LXX): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:1–2; Num 25:1–3, 18; Num 31:16; Matt 26:24 combined with Matt 18:6 (Mark 9:42; Luke 17:2); Jer 51:9 (LXX 28:9, “if indeed Babylon is to be cured”). - The Samaritans, who accepted only the five books of Moses, are said to deny the resurrection; translated as written. - A leaked block of marginal references and notes (“Joan. xvt, 27 … quae Mosei.”) before “libris” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.1 (PG 12:763a–764a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-2 - Source: PG 12:764a–765a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Twelve thousand repentant Israelites defeat the Midianites who had earlier overcome a far larger sinful Israel, showing that righteousness, prayer, and repentance conquer; the death of Balaam confirms that his counsel caused Israel’s fall. ### Latin text Post haec locutus est Moyses ad populanticens: Armate ex vobis viros, et belligerateadrersn reddereviudictatn iuliladian a Dontinozmille ex tribu, ct mille ex tribu, ex omnibus tribubus lsrael mittite ad belligerandum ". ο Attenditelectioni. Non solum enim ad auditum sermonum, sed ad rerttm considerationemintendendus estattimuthecon dare prmterita, audiprmsentia, quae sequuntur ” adverte. Confer priora posterioribus, et divinam virtutum magnificentiam contemplare. Filii Israel dudum sexcenta millia fuerant artnalorum,qui processerant adversum Madiau, et hi omttesricti Sunt, quoniam peccatum erat itt ipsis. Nunc tero victores Madianitae. qui sexcenta millia fugaverant, vincuntur a duodecim millibus, ιιι scias quia non itt multitudine, nec innumero militum vincit Israel. sed justitia et pietas est in eis quae vincit. Propterea denique et in benedictionibus eorum dicitur quia si servaverint legem Domini, unus ex ipsis perseqttatur tttillc, et duo vertant decem millia ". Vides ergo quia multo plus valet unus sanctus orando, quant peccatores innumeri prasliattdo. Oratio sancti penetrat caelum. Quomodo non et hostem vincat itt terris? Et ideo omnimode studendum est qutrere primo et custodire justitiam θεῖ. Quin“Si obtinueris et servaveris, omnes tibi hostes ipsa subiiciet : si fueris indutus, sicut Apostolus dicit. loricam iustitiae, et accinctus veritatem, si galeam salutis acceperis, et gladium spiritus, et ante omnia scutum fidei, inquo possis omnia iacula maligni igttila exstinguere “. Talibus enint instructusatmis universa diabolica castra, omnemque ejus fugabii exercitum, et cum fiducia cantabis ’ : Siracsistant adversum me castra, non timebit cor meum; si insurgat inme pra'Iiutn, in hoc ego sperabat Congrcdiuntur ergo duodecim millia adversum]:tlianitas, et interficiunt, inquit ", omne mascto linunt eorum et rcges eorum, et Balaam filium Beor interfecerunt gladio cum reliquis vulneratis eorum. Quod in superioribus quserebamus, quomodo de Scripturis probari possit Balaam consilio suborttatas esse mulieres Madianitarunt, quae detipercnt filios Israel ad fornicandunt, pneSens hic Scriptura: locus evidenter ostendit, dicens cumperemptum esse gladio, velut auctorem scandali. quod immissum est Iiliis Israel. Dicitur autcmde 'eo, et itt sequentibus adhuc evidentius hoc modo”: Et ait ad eos Moyses : Cur vitam reservastisoonem feminam? Ipsae enim sunt, quae filios israel secundum verbum Balaam apostatas fecerunt. lnterficiuutur autem et rcges Madiauitarum, atque illi qni priusa mulieribus victi sunt, nunc expiatione habita, et gesta paenitentia. etiam reges vincunt. Ex hoc intelligamus, quantum valeat conversio ad Deum, quantum prosit emendatio peccatorum. Omtte mas» culiuum, omnes reges Madianitarum vincuntur et perimuntur ab iis qui per correptionem Domini, et per gestorum paenitentiam correpti sunt et emendati. Quinque ergo reges Madianitarum referuntur ab Israeliticis militibus superari. ### English translation (Claude) After this Moses spoke to the people, saying: “Arm men from among you, and make war against Midian, to render the vengeance from the Lord on Midian: a thousand from a tribe and a thousand from a tribe, from all the tribes of Israel send to make war.” Pay attention to the reading. For the mind must be directed not only to hearing the words but to considering the facts. Recall what is past, hear what is present, notice what follows. Compare the earlier with the later, and contemplate the magnificence of the divine powers. The sons of Israel were formerly six hundred thousand armed men who had gone out against Midian, and all these were conquered, because sin was in them. But now the Midianites, the victors who had routed six hundred thousand, are conquered by twelve thousand, so that you may know that Israel conquers not by multitude nor by number of soldiers, but it is the righteousness and godliness in them that conquers. For this reason, in fact, it is also said in their blessings that if they keep the law of the Lord, one of them will pursue a thousand, and two will rout ten thousand. You see, then, that one saint praying is worth much more than countless sinners fighting. The prayer of a saint penetrates heaven: how should it not also conquer the enemy on earth? And therefore we must strive in every way first to seek and keep the righteousness of God. If you obtain and keep it, it will subject all enemies to you; if you are clothed, as the Apostle says, with the breastplate of righteousness, and girded with truth, if you have received the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, and above all the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. For equipped with such arms you will put to flight all the devil’s camps and his whole army, and you will sing with confidence: “If camps stand against me, my heart will not fear; if battle rise against me, in this I will hope.” Twelve thousand, then, engage the Midianites, and “they kill,” it says, “every male of them, and their kings; and they killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword, with the rest of their wounded.” What we were asking earlier, how it can be proved from the Scriptures that the women of the Midianites were suborned by the counsel of Balaam to deceive the sons of Israel into sexual immorality, this present place of Scripture plainly shows, saying that he was slain with the sword as the author of the stumbling block which was put before the sons of Israel. And it is said of him still more plainly in what follows, in this way: “And Moses said to them: Why have you kept every woman alive? For they are the ones who made the sons of Israel apostates according to the word of Balaam.” The kings of the Midianites too are killed; and those who were earlier conquered by women, now, expiation having been made and repentance done, conquer even kings. From this let us understand how much conversion to God avails, how much the amendment of sins profits. Every male, all the kings of the Midianites, are conquered and slain by those who, through the Lord’s correction and through repentance for their deeds, were corrected and amended. Five kings of the Midianites, then, are related to have been overcome by the Israelite soldiers. ### Scripture references - Num 31:3–4: quotation, high confidence - Lev 26:8: allusion, high confidence - Deut 32:30: allusion, high confidence - Matt 6:33: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:14–17: allusion, high confidence - Ps 27:3 (26:3 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 31:7–8: quotation, high confidence - Num 31:15–16: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 35:17 (Sirach): echo, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:3–4; Lev 26:8 and Deut 32:30; Matt 6:33; Eph 6:14–17; Ps 27:3 (LXX 26:3); Num 31:7–8; Num 31:15–16. Origen’s statement that six hundred thousand Israelites had earlier been conquered by Midian is his own reading of the earlier episode; translated as written. “The prayer of a saint penetrates heaven” echoes Sir 35:17 (the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds). - The staged “penetrat malum” is corrected to “penetrat caelum” by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.2 (PG 12:764a–765a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-3 - Source: PG 12:765a–767b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The five Midianite kings, whose names mean beastliness, emptiness, provocation, and the like, are vices reigning through the five senses, which the soldier of God must slay, as Christ commanded cutting off the eye or hand that causes stumbling; the spoils and their purification are then summarized. ### Latin text Sed et nomina eorum cura: fuit Scripturze divinae memorare. Evin, inquit ’, et Rocou, et Sur,et Ur, et Roboc. Isti sunt qui regnant apud Madianitas, quos superare et penitus debent exstinguere omnes qui militant Deo. Evin namque bet/uinus vel ferinus interpretatur (II). Et quomodo poteris placere ei qui te probavit, sinon abscideris a te et penitus peremeris belluiuos et feros mores? Quomodo poteris ad mansuetorum beatitudinem pervenire, nisi priusinterficias Evin, et morti tradas prius iracundiae feritatem? Ego puto quod nornina haec Scriptura divina non pro historia uarraverit (tet), sed pro causis et rebus aptaverit. Nam putas fuerit aliquis ita stultus, qui filio suo nomen Belluinus imponeret Sed hoc arbitror magis, quod instructioni animarum prospexerit sermo divinus, volensnobis ostendere quod adversum huiusmodi vitia militare debeamus, nostrte depellere, istos reges fugare de regno corporis nostri : quod Apostolus evidentius designat, dicens : Non ergo regnet peccaturo in vestro mortali corpore. Vis autem videre quoniam non solum apud sanctos nomina pro rebus aptantur, sed etiam apud gentiles et barbaros? De sanctis quidem notum est cur Abram Abraham vocitatus sit, et Sarai Sara,et Jacob Israel. Doceamusautem quod mos iste habeatur etiam apud barbaros. Nonne unus ex filiis Israel a parentibus suis Ioseph nomen acceperat? Cum autem transiit in ASgyptum et stetit ante Pharaonem, commutavit nomen ejus, et de Juseph cognominavit cum Psomphtomphanec ο, quod lingua sua Pharao de secretorum vel somniorum revelatioue cornposuit. Et’D Et non solum Ioseph huic apud Pharaonem ex re nomen aptatur, sed et Daniel in Babylonia Balthasar- nominatur et Ananias atque Azarias et Misael Sidrac Misacs, Ab- denago vocitantur. Vides ergo quia tam Israeliticorum, quam etiam barbarornut hominum nomina, non fortuitu, sed pro rebus et causis aptantur in lege. Igitur Madianitarum regem Moyses appellavit , prout ipse censuit · appellandum. Belluina, inquit, feritas est, qua: regnat in Madianitis, et non ipsa solum, sed et alius apud ipsos rex nomine Rocou : quod est in nostra lingua, inanitas. Reguat ergo etinanitas in Madianitarum gente. Est enim revera amita inanitas et vanitas in hoc mundo, imo et vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas", quam Dei miles superare debet et 367 vincere. Vincit autem inanitatem, qui nihil inaniter, nihil superflue, et quod ad rem non pertinet, gerit : qui meminit praecepti illius Dominici quo ait , quia etiam de verbo etioso reddent homines rationem in die iudicii. In hac autem vita, homines totum pene otiosum, et totum inane est, quod loquuntur, quod agunt. Inanis enim dicitur omnis actus et omnis sermo, in quo non est intrinsecus aliquid pro Deo, vel pro mandato Dei. Est et alius rex Madiam Ur, et hic interpretatur irritatio. Vides quales sunt,qui regnent apud Madianitas, quibus hominibus adversari oportet, imo quos perimi convenit ab iis qui Deum sequuntur, et interfici. Non enim tam reges, quam vitiorum nomina, quae regnant in hominibus, referuntur in lege ε etnon tam gentium bella, quam concupiscentiarum carnalium, quae militant adversus animam, describuntur. Denique hi qui in vitiis regnant, quinque reges esse dicuntur : ut evidentissinte doceamur, quia onme vitium quod regnat in corpore. et ί1ιῘ’ que sensibus pendet. Isti ergo quinque sensus perimendi sunt de regno Madianitarnm, ut ultra vitia non regnent super eos, sed iustitia, ne ad scandalum videant quae vident, sed ad aedificationem. Apud Madianitas enim sensus isti ad scandalizandnm regnabant, utscandalizarent et deciperent. Et ideo pra:cepit Dominus, ut si te scandalizaverit oculus tuus, eruas eum, si manus aut pes, abscindas eum “. Vides ergo, quia et ipse jubet absciudi et perimi reges scandalizantium. Melius est, inquit, te luscum introire in regnum Dei, mancum, aut claudum,quam cum iis mitti in gehennam. In quibus non utique effodiendum praecipit oculum corporis nostri, nec manum, aut pedem abscindendum :sed sensum carnalia sentientem et concupiscentiis carnalibus la. scivientem mandat abscindi : ιιι oeuli nostri recta videant, et aures nostrae recta audiant, et gustus noster verbum Dei gustet, tnanusque nostra: palpent et contingant de Verbo Dei. Et hoc est in quo peremptis regibus Madianitarnm, -et scandali al'fertibus amputatis, regnat in nobis jnstitia ipse Dominus uoster .leSus Christus , qui factus est nobis justitia a Deo, et pax et redemptio. lgitnr ex pra:cepto Domini a filiis Israel adversum Madianitas bella confecta sunt, spolia ex ipsis copiosa referuntur, auri atque argenti, ceterorumque mobilium pondus immensum, jumentornm, captivorumque numerus plurimus. Verum quoniam cuncta lllBC apud lsraelitas immunda ducuntur, purilicatio singulis quibusque competens adhibetur : et ea quidem, qum ex metallis constant, ignis purifieat; qua: vero fragiliora sunt et ignem non ferunt, aqua pnt'ilicari jubentur. Fiunt ergo ex omnibus spoliis aequales dua: partes, ut una sit eorurn qui ad bellum processerant, et alia eorum qui in caStris resederant. Jubentnr etiam ex iis offerre in dona Dei : illi quidem qui processerant ad bellum, unum caput ex quingentis : illi vero qui in castris manserant, unum ex quinquaginta : atque omnium simul in unum collectus numerus refertur. llmc est historia: cnnliuentia. ### English translation (Claude) But divine Scripture also took care to record their names. “Evi,” it says, “and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba.” These are the ones who reign among the Midianites, whom all who serve as soldiers of God must overcome and utterly extinguish. For Evi is interpreted “beastly” or “savage.” And how will you be able to please him who has tested you, unless you cut off from yourself and utterly destroy beastly and savage ways? How will you be able to come to the blessedness of the meek unless you first kill Evi, and first hand over to death the savagery of anger? I think that divine Scripture did not narrate these names for the sake of the story, but fitted them to causes and things. For do you think anyone was so foolish as to give his son the name “Beastly”? But I think rather that the divine word looked to the instruction of souls, wishing to show us that we must fight against vices of this kind, drive them out of our souls, rout these kings from the kingdom of our body: which the Apostle indicates more plainly, saying: “Let not sin, then, reign in your mortal body.” Do you wish to see that names are fitted to things not only among the saints but also among Gentiles and barbarians? About the saints it is known why Abram was called Abraham, and Sarai Sarah, and Jacob Israel. Let us show that this custom is held among barbarians too. Had not one of the sons of Israel received the name Joseph from his parents? But when he passed into Egypt and stood before Pharaoh, he changed his name, and from Joseph called him Psonthomphanech, which Pharaoh composed in his language from the revealing of secrets or of dreams. And not only is a name fitted to this Joseph from the facts by Pharaoh, but Daniel too in Babylon is named Belteshazzar, and Hananiah and Azariah and Mishael are called Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. You see, then, that the names both of Israelites and of barbarian men are fitted in the law not by chance, but according to things and causes. Moses, then, named the king of the Midianites as he himself judged he should be named. Beastly savagery, he says, is what reigns among the Midianites; and not it alone, but there is also another king among them named Rekem, which is in our language “emptiness.” Emptiness too, then, reigns in the nation of the Midianites. For truly there is much emptiness and vanity in this world, indeed vanity of vanities, and all is vanity, which the soldier of God must overcome and conquer. And he conquers emptiness who does nothing emptily, nothing superfluously, nothing that does not pertain to the matter; who remembers that command of the Lord in which he says that men will render account even for an idle word on the day of judgment. But in this life, almost all that men say and do is idle and empty. For every act and every word is called empty in which there is nothing within for God or for the command of God. There is also another king of Midian, Hur, and this is interpreted “provocation.” You see what kind are those who reign among the Midianites, whom men must oppose, or rather who ought to be slain and killed by those who follow God. For it is not so much kings as the names of vices that reign in men that are recorded in the law; and it is not so much wars of nations that are described as those of the carnal desires that war against the soul. Finally, those who reign in vices are said to be five kings: so that we may be taught most plainly that every vice which reigns in the body hangs on the five senses. These five senses, then, must be slain out of the kingdom of the Midianites, so that vices may no longer reign over them, but righteousness; so that they may not see what they see for stumbling, but for edification. For among the Midianites these senses reigned for causing stumbling, to cause stumbling and to deceive. And therefore the Lord commanded that if your eye causes you to stumble, you should pluck it out; if your hand or foot, cut it off. You see, then, that he too orders the kings of those who cause stumbling to be cut off and slain. “It is better,” he says, “for you to enter the kingdom of God one-eyed, maimed, or lame, than to be sent with these into Gehenna.” In these words he certainly does not command us to dig out the eye of our body, nor to cut off a hand or foot; but he commands to cut off the sense that perceives carnal things and runs wanton in carnal desires: so that our eyes may see rightly, and our ears hear rightly, and our taste taste the word of God, and our hands handle and touch the Word of God. And this is how, the kings of the Midianites having been slain and the affections of stumbling cut off, righteousness reigns in us, our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who was made for us righteousness from God, and peace and redemption. By the Lord’s command, then, wars were waged by the sons of Israel against the Midianites, and abundant spoils are brought back from them: an immense weight of gold and silver and other movable goods, and a very great number of beasts and captives. But since all these things are held unclean among the Israelites, a purification suited to each is applied: those which consist of metals fire purifies; but those which are more fragile and do not bear fire are ordered to be purified with water. Two equal parts, then, are made of all the spoils, so that one belongs to those who had gone out to war and the other to those who had stayed in the camp. They are also commanded to offer some of them as gifts to God: those who had gone out to war, one head out of five hundred; but those who had stayed in the camp, one out of fifty: and the number of all of them collected together is recorded. This is the content of the literal account. ### Scripture references - Num 31:8: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:5: allusion, high confidence - Rom 6:12: quotation, high confidence - Gen 17:5: allusion, high confidence - Gen 17:15: allusion, high confidence - Gen 32:28: allusion, high confidence - Gen 41:45: allusion, high confidence - Dan 1:7: allusion, high confidence - Eccl 1:2: quotation, high confidence - Matt 12:36: allusion, high confidence - 1 Pet 2:11: allusion, high confidence - Matt 18:8–9: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:30: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:9–12: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:21–24: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:25–30: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:8; Matt 5:5; Rom 6:12; Gen 17:5, 15; 32:28; Gen 41:45 (Joseph’s Egyptian name, here in Rufinus’s form); Dan 1:7; Eccl 1:2; Matt 12:36; 1 Pet 2:11; Matt 18:8–9 (5:29–30); 1 Cor 1:30; Eph 2:14; Num 31:9–12, 21–24, 25–30. The etymologies of the kings’ names are Origen’s; only three of the five are explained in the text. - The garbled “et ί1ιῘ’ que sensibus pendet” is read as “quinque sensibus pendet.” - Origen states plainly that Christ’s command to pluck out the eye is not to be taken literally; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.3 (PG 12:765a–767b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-4 - Source: PG 12:767b–768c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Spiritually, the few soldiers are those in the church who fight sin and false doctrine with prayer, fasting, and the word, sharing their spoils with the quieter faithful; the numbers fifty and five hundred are holy, the latter more perfect. ### Latin text Sed videamus quid in iis sensus indicet spiritalis. ln populo Dei sunt quidam, sicut Apostolus dicit , qui militant Deo: illi sine dubio, qtti se non obligant negotiis szecularibus : et isti sunt qui procedunt ad bellum, et pugnant adversus gentes itiitnieas, et adversum spiritales nequitias pro reliquo populo. et pro iis qui infirmiores sunt, sive per aetatem, sive per sexum, sive per propositmu. Pugnant ρ autem isti orationibus etjejuuiis.jnstitia et pietate, mansuetudine et castitate, cunctisque continentia: virtutibus, tanquam armis bellicis commoniti :et cum regressi fuerint ad castra victores, fruuntur laboribus eorum etiam imbelles, et ii qui ad pugnam vel non vocantur, vel exire non possunt. Sciendum tamen est, quod omnia quae sumuntur ex istis getttibus, imumnda sunt; ct omne fortasse quidquid ex hoc smculo assumitur, vel prndio capitur, immundutn est, et purificatione indiget; et quaedam ex ipsis per ignem transitura sunt, aliis autem salliciet aqum purificatio. Assnmnntur autem ex prarlin etiam homines et jumenta, cum raptivantur omnes intellectus ad obedieudmn Christo. Ex iis enim ipsis quos ceperimus,oll‘eriimts Deo. Nisi enim pugnaverimns in verbo Dei, non poterimus captivare intellectum eorum qui diversa a Christo sentiunhel perducere eos ad obedientiam Christi. Pauci sunt tamen qui pugnare possint, el praelia ista conficere ε de sex: centis millibus et amplius armatorum, qui videbantur militare Deo, sola duodecim millia eliguntur; caeteri relinquuntur in castris. latuere mihi nunc populum Dei, qui est in Ecclesia, quanti sunt ex iis qui possint pro veritate pugnare, possint resistere iis qui contradicunt, qui sciant verbi bella tractare. Λ Beati sunt isti, qui pro omni populo pugnare p0,. sunt, et defendere Dei plebem, et copiosa de hostibus spolia reportare. Tamen et reliqua pars populi, ane videtur imbellis, si cum quiete resideat in ea stris, si iu silentio agat, et non recedat a Moyse, sed permaneat in lege Dei, partem spoliorum etiam ipsa percipiet. Fiet cnim aequa portio, non per numerum quidem, sed quantum datur omni populo reliquo, tantum et illis duodecim millibus, quibus vincentibus eapta sunt spolia. Quis haec audiens,nua invitetur ad tnilitiam Dei ? Quis non animetnrpegnare pro Ecclesia et resistere adversum veritatis inimicos, eos scilicet qui vel dogmata Ecclesia: oppugnare, vel voluptati ctluxnriatoperam dare homines doccttt ? Qui ergo hos expugnat, et vel in se, vel in proximis suis vitia perimit, hic accipiet spolia multa, quinquagies multiplicata quam caeteri. lntantum namque numeri quantitas videtur augeri, cum sexcentis millibus dnolecim millia coaferuntnr. Oil‘erre tamen pars utraque juhetur Deo. Et illi quidem qui vicerunt, unum ei quingentis: qui autem domi resederunt, ttuunt ex quinquagim. Quingentorum autem et quinquaginta munerum sanctum esse Scriptura testatur. Unde et Salvator (licebat iit Evangeliis " : llomini cuidam fll‘llt‘l‘ltori erant duo debitores: unus ex ipsis debebat denarios quingentos, et alius quinquaginta. lina habentibus illis unde redderent, donavit utrisq'im Sed et septem septimana: monada, id est inroaddito, Quiuquagesimte diem faciunt, qua": Penterostct festivitas appellatur. Similiter et septuaginta septimanae, addita unius dccadis perfectione, quingentorum numernm reddunt. Sed quanto plures suntseptttaginta septimana: quatit septem, tanto prmstantior et perfectior numerus quingentorum quam quinquaginta. lnde denique ct in parabola Evangelii, quati supra proposuimus, Salvator noster pronuntia, qimd plus diligat ille,cui quingenti quos debebat denarii donati sunt, quant ille cui quinquaginta. ### English translation (Claude) But let us see what the spiritual sense indicates in these things. In the people of God there are some, as the Apostle says, who serve as soldiers of God: without doubt those who do not entangle themselves in worldly affairs; and these are the ones who go out to war and fight against hostile nations and against the spiritual forces of wickedness on behalf of the rest of the people, and for those who are weaker, whether by age, or by sex, or by their way of life. And they fight with prayers and fasts, with righteousness and godliness, gentleness and chastity, and all the virtues of continence, as if furnished with weapons of war; and when they have returned victorious to the camp, even the unwarlike enjoy their labours, and those who are either not called to the fight or cannot go out. It must be known, however, that all things taken from these nations are unclean; and perhaps everything that is taken from this age or captured in battle is unclean and needs purification; and some of them will have to pass through fire, but for others the purification of water will suffice. Men too and beasts are taken from the battle, when every understanding is taken captive to obey Christ. For from those very ones whom we have captured we offer to God. For unless we fight in the word of God, we shall not be able to take captive the understanding of those who think otherwise than Christ, and bring them to the obedience of Christ. Yet few are those who can fight and carry through these battles: from six hundred thousand and more armed men, who seemed to serve as soldiers of God, only twelve thousand are chosen; the rest are left in the camp. Look now with me at the people of God which is in the church: how many of them are there who can fight for the truth, who can resist those who contradict, who know how to wage the wars of the word? Blessed are these, who can fight for the whole people, and defend the people of God, and bring back abundant spoils from the enemies. Yet the rest of the people too, which seems unwarlike, if it stays quietly in the camp, if it lives in silence and does not withdraw from Moses but remains in the law of God, will itself also receive a share of the spoils. For an equal portion will be made, not by number, but as much is given to all the rest of the people as to those twelve thousand by whose victory the spoils were taken. Who, hearing this, is not invited to the warfare of God? Who is not encouraged to fight for the church and resist the enemies of the truth, namely those who either attack the doctrines of the church or teach men to give themselves to pleasure and luxury? He, then, who conquers these, and slays vices either in himself or in his neighbours, will receive many spoils, multiplied fifty times over the others. For the quantity of the number seems to be increased to that extent when twelve thousand are compared with six hundred thousand. Yet both parts are ordered to offer to God: those who conquered, one out of five hundred; but those who stayed at home, one out of fifty. And Scripture testifies that the number of five hundred and of fifty is holy. Hence the Saviour too said in the Gospels: “A certain creditor had two debtors: one of them owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they had nothing with which to pay, he forgave them both.” And seven weeks with a unit, that is, with one added, make the day of the fiftieth, which is called the festival of Pentecost. Likewise seventy weeks, with the perfection of one decade added, give the number of five hundred. But as much as seventy weeks are more than seven, so much more excellent and perfect is the number five hundred than fifty. Hence, finally, in the parable of the Gospel which we set out above, our Saviour declares that he loves more to whom the five hundred denarii he owed were forgiven than he to whom fifty were. ### Scripture references - 2 Tim 2:4: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:27–30: allusion, high confidence - Luke 7:41–42: quotation, high confidence - Luke 7:47: allusion, high confidence - Lev 23:15–16: allusion, medium confidence - Dan 9:24: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: 2 Tim 2:4; Eph 6:12; 2 Cor 10:5; Num 31:27–30; Luke 7:41–42, 47; Lev 23:15–16 (Pentecost); Dan 9:24 (seventy weeks). - The arithmetic (7 × 7 + 1 = 50; 70 × 7 + 10 = 500) is Origen’s number symbolism; translated as written. The garbled “monada, id est inroaddito” is read as monade, id est unitate addita. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.4 (PG 12:767b–768c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-5 - Source: PG 12:768c–769c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Eleazar speaks only to “men of valour,” those who strive in the contest of self-control and study of God’s word; in this life’s war the angels watch what spoils each brings back, and our dwelling hereafter will be assigned according to the work tested by fire. ### Latin text Denique in prazsenti lectione, Eleazar sacerdos uou scribitur ad omnem pupulum locutura ad eos tantum, qni de prrelio redeunt. Ait enim ; Et dixit Eleazar sacerdos ad viros virtutis , qui revertebantur de przclio. Vides ergo quoι) modo ad viros virtutisloqnitur sermo Dei. Viri ciunt virtutis sunt, qui ad bellum procedunt. Si quis vero pugnare non vult, nec militare, si quis non vult liabere certamen studiorum divinorum et abstineatur. hic non vult implere illud quod Apostolus dicit”: Qui autem in agone centendit, ab erunibus conlinens est. Qui ergo non contendit in agone,etii» omnibus non est continens, neque exerceri vult in verbo Dei, et in lege Domini meditari die ac nocte. hic etiamsi'vir dieatur,vir tamen virtutis non appellari. At vero hic, dequo unnc sermo est Scriptura, vir virtutis appellatur : hoc est enim laudis ejus insigne, quod Scriptura dicit, quia locutus est Eleazar sacerdos ad viros virtutis, qui revertebantur a pra-lio. Quis nostrum ita parattts'est, ttt procedat ad bellum ct contra adversarios dimicet, ut et ipse vir possit appellari virtutis ?Sicut autem vita eoutineus, ct abstinentiae labor, atque agonum certamina, faciunt unumquemque virum virtutis appellari: ita econtrario remissa vita, ac negligens, et ignava, facit tirutu ignavias appellari. Si ergo vis appellari vir virtutis, indue te Christum Dominum, qui est Dei virtus, et Dei sapientia,et iu omnibus adjunge te Domino, ita ut unus cum eo spiritus tias, et tunc virvirtulis elIicieris. Tempus igitur belli nobis est in hoc mundo , pugna adversus Madianitas est , sive adversum vitia carnis nostrze, sive adversunt contrarias potestates. Spectat nos attgelorum chorus, virtutum cmlcslium pia erga nos pendet exstiectatio, quando vel quomodo de hoc prmlio revertamur, quid unusquisque nostrum manubiarum reportet :ct intuentur curiosius, ac sollicitius perscrutattlnr, quis nostrutn auri hinc amplius ferat, quis etiam argenti illud pondus exhibeat, quisve lapides deferat pretiosos. Requirunt etiam si quis es deferat aut ferrum, aut plumbum, sed et vas lio gueum si forte aliquis, aut. fictile, aut aliud hujustnodi magna: domus usibus uecessan‘um. In tuagna enim domo non sunt tantummodo vasa aurea cl argentea, sed et lignea et fictilia . Requiritur ρ ergo diligenter cum abierimus illuc, quid unusquisque nostrum deferat, et secundum ea quae detulerit, secundum quod labor ejus pro contemplatione exuviarum probatur, etiam mansionis ei meritum deputabitur. Probantur tamen omnia ltmc : quae per ignem, quae per aquam : Uniuscujusque enim opus quale sit, ignis probabit“. ### English translation (Claude) Then in the present reading Eleazar the priest is not written to have spoken to the whole people, but only to those who return from battle. For it says: “And Eleazar the priest said to the men of valour who were returning from battle.” You see, then, how the word of God speaks to men of valour. For the men of valour are those who go out to war. But if anyone does not wish to fight or to serve as a soldier, if anyone does not wish to have the contest of divine studies and to practise abstinence, he does not wish to fulfil what the Apostle says: “Everyone who competes in the contest is self-controlled in all things.” He, then, who does not compete in the contest and is not self-controlled in all things, nor wishes to be exercised in the word of God and to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night, even if he is called a man, is still not called a man of valour. But he of whom Scripture now speaks is called a man of valour: for this is the mark of his praise, that Scripture says that Eleazar the priest spoke to the men of valour who were returning from battle. Which of us is so prepared as to go out to war and fight against the adversaries, so that he too can be called a man of valour? And just as a continent life, and the labour of abstinence, and the struggles of contests make each one be called a man of valour, so on the contrary a slack, negligent, and idle life makes a man be called a man of idleness. If, then, you wish to be called a man of valour, put on Christ the Lord, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and in all things join yourself to the Lord, so that you become one spirit with him, and then you will become a man of valour. The time of war, then, is for us in this world; the battle is against the Midianites, whether against the vices of our flesh or against the opposing powers. The choir of angels watches us; the loving expectation of the heavenly powers hangs on us, when or how we shall return from this battle, what spoils each of us will bring back: and they look more curiously and examine more anxiously which of us will bring more gold from here, which will also show that weight of silver, or who will bring precious stones. They ask also whether anyone brings bronze, or iron, or lead, and even a wooden vessel, perhaps, or earthenware, or something else of this kind necessary for the uses of a great house. For in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earthenware. It will be diligently asked, then, when we have gone there, what each of us brings; and according to what he has brought, according as his labour is approved by the inspection of the spoils, the merit of a dwelling will also be assigned to him. All these things, however, are tested, some by fire, some by water: for “the fire will test what sort of work each one’s is.” ### Scripture references - Num 31:21: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 9:25: quotation, high confidence - Ps 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Rom 13:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 6:17: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 4:9: allusion, low confidence - 2 Tim 2:20: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:21; 1 Cor 9:25; Ps 1:2; Rom 13:14; 1 Cor 1:24; 1 Cor 6:17; 1 Cor 4:9 (a spectacle to angels); 2 Tim 2:20; 1 Cor 3:12–13. “Valour” renders virtus, which also means “power” and “virtue.” - A leaked marginal reference (“l Cor. ix, 25. mit, 21.”) has swallowed some letters of “Scriptura, vir virtutis”; restored by sense. The garbled “si quis non vult liabere certamen studiorum divinorum et abstineatur” is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.5 (PG 12:768c–769c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 25.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-6 - Source: PG 12:769c–770d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Even the victorious soldiers needed purification after the battle, so everyone who leaves the battle of this life, even the apostles who fought demons, needs purification before entering the holy city of God, whose door is Christ. ### Latin text Propterea ergo ait δ’ : llaec cstjustilit-atio legis, quam constituit Domitius Moysi : praeter aurum, et argentum, et mramcntutn, et ferrum, ct plumbum, etslannum, et omnis res quae transit per ignem, traducite per ignem et mandabitur. Sed et in aqua purélicationis purilicabuntur. Omnia quaecunque non transeunt per ignem, transibunt per aqttam, et “summm veslm die summa, et mundi ετξtis, et post haec introibitis in castra. Vides quomodo purificatione indiget omnis, qui exierit de prebo vitae hujus. Quod si ita est, ιιι aliquid audeam dicere secundum Scriptura: divina: auctoritatem, omnis qui exierit de hac vita, non potest essemuttdus. Considera enim diligenter qttid indicet historim textus. Exierunt isti pugnare pro illiis Israel, interfecerunt Madianitas ; interlicieutes autem eos, quantum ad historia: ordinem spectat et litteram legis, placuerunt Deofvolunlatctn namque Dei impleverunt; tamen hoc ipso, quod interfecerunt adversarios, immundi dicuntur clIecti, et propterea dicitur ad eos : t Et lavabitis vestimenta vestra die septima, et mundi eritis, et post liter. introibitis itt castra. Ergo hi qui pugnant, pro eo 369 ipso quod contigerunt hostes immundos, et quod ingressi sunt contra eos, et habuerint ctnn eis certamen, polluti sunt. Et ego ergo etiamsi vincere potuero diabolum, etiamsi cogitationes immundus et malas, quas cordi meo suggerit, vel repellere venientes, vel ingressas nccare intra me, ne ad elTectum perveniant, quivere, et si calcari! patuero caput draconis, hoc ipso tamen pollui tne et inquinari necesse est, quod eum qtti pollutos et inquinatus est, conligi; et ero quidem neatus,quod eum superare potui, immundus tamen sum et pollutus, qui pollutum conligi, et ob hoc purificatione egeo. idcirco nimirum et Scriptura dicit: “quia nemo mundus a sorde. Omnes ergo purtlicatione indigemus, imo purilicationibus. Multa: enim et diversm nos manent purilicatioues. Sed mystica hmo sunt et ineffabilia. Quis enim nobis enarrare poterit, quae sint purilicatioues, quae parentur Paulo, vel Petro, vel aliis horum similibus, qui tantuut pugnaverunt, tot gentes barbaras delcverunt, tot hostes prostraverunt, tanta spolia, tot triumpltos ceperunt, qui cruentis manibus de ctede hostium redeunt, quorum pes tinctus est in sanguine, ct manus suas laverunt in sanguine peccatorum? lnterl‘ecerttnt quippe in matutinis omnes peccatores teme, et imaginem eorum exterminavcrunt de civitate Domini. \‘icerunt quippe et pere. merunt diversas daemonum gentes. Nisi enim vicissent eas, non potuissent capere ex eis captivos, omnem hunc credentium numerum, et perducere eos ab obedientiam Christi, et subdere eos jugo ejus suavi, et imponere eis onus ejus leve. Quis ergo ita beatus cst, qui succedat eis in his proeliis, et interliciat omnes Madianitas, et justilicetur ex sanguine eorum? Sanguinem enim daemonum fundere dicitur, qui eripit eos quibus illi dominantur. Lavabitur autem hoc sanguine, et purilieabitur in regno Dei, ιιι purilicatus et mundus ell‘ectus possit ingredi sanctam civitatem Dei, aperiente sibi ostium Christo Jesu Domino ucstra, into qui est ostium civitatis ipsius Dei: cui est gloria et imperium in sarcula smculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) For this reason, then, it says: “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord appointed for Moses: except gold and silver and bronze and iron and lead and tin, and everything that passes through fire, you shall pass through fire, and it will be clean. But they shall also be purified in the water of purification. Everything that does not pass through fire shall pass through water; and you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and you will be clean, and after this you shall enter the camp.” You see how everyone who has come out of the battle of this life needs purification. And if this is so, to dare to say something according to the authority of divine Scripture, everyone who has gone out of this life cannot be clean. For consider carefully what the text of the literal account indicates. These men went out to fight for the sons of Israel; they killed the Midianites; and in killing them, as far as the order of the literal account and the letter of the law are concerned, they pleased God: for they fulfilled the will of God. Yet by the very fact that they killed the adversaries, they are said to have become unclean, and therefore it is said to them: “And you shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and you will be clean, and after this you shall enter the camp.” Those, then, who fight are defiled by the very fact that they touched unclean enemies, and that they went against them and had a struggle with them. And I too, then, even if I am able to conquer the devil, even if I can either repel as they come, or kill within me once they have entered, the unclean and evil thoughts which he suggests to my heart, so that they do not come to effect, and even if I am able to trample the head of the dragon, yet by this very fact I must be polluted and defiled, that I struggled with one who is polluted and defiled; and I shall indeed be blessed in that I was able to overcome him, yet I am unclean and polluted, having struggled with the polluted, and for this reason I need purification. That, no doubt, is why Scripture too says that no one is clean from filth. We all, then, need purification, or rather purifications. For many and various purifications await us. But these things are mystical and ineffable. For who will be able to tell us what purifications are prepared for Paul, or Peter, or others like them, who fought so much, destroyed so many barbarian nations, laid low so many enemies, took such spoils and so many triumphs, who return with bloody hands from the slaughter of enemies, whose foot is dipped in blood, and who washed their hands in the blood of sinners? For in the mornings they killed all the sinners of the land, and destroyed their image from the city of the Lord. For they conquered and slew various nations of demons. For unless they had conquered them, they could not have taken captives from them, this whole number of believers, and brought them to the obedience of Christ, and placed them under his easy yoke, and laid on them his light burden. Who, then, is so blessed as to succeed them in these battles, and kill all the Midianites, and be justified from their blood? For he is said to shed the blood of demons who rescues those over whom they rule. And he will be washed in this blood and purified in the kingdom of God, so that, purified and made clean, he may enter the holy city of God, Christ Jesus our Lord opening the door to him, or rather he who is the door of that city of God: to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 31:21–24: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:15: allusion, medium confidence - Job 14:4: quotation, high confidence - Ps 58:10 (57:11 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 101:8 (100:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 73:20 (72:20 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - 2 Cor 10:5: allusion, high confidence - Matt 11:30: allusion, high confidence - John 10:9: allusion, high confidence - Rev 21:2: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:21–24; Gen 3:15 (Ps 91:13); Job 14:4 (LXX “no one is clean from filth”); Ps 58:10 (LXX 57:11); Ps 101:8 (LXX 100:8); Ps 73:20 (LXX 72:20); 2 Cor 10:5; Matt 11:29–30; John 10:9; Rev 21:2. - Origen’s teaching that all, even the apostles, need “many and various purifications” after this life is translated exactly as written. - A leaked reference (“Num. uxr, ” lTim.”) splitting “indicet” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 25.6 (PG 12:769c–770d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/25-1/#p-25-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-1 - Source: PG 12:771a–771c - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The officers’ offering after the Midianite war shows degrees of merit among God’s people: the unwarlike, the warriors, the “sum of the warriors,” and their princes, with boyhood able to grow into the higher ranks. ### Latin text Difi‘erentias esse profectuum et meritorum in pupqu fidelium, si quis diligentius intendat lectioni, multis in locis divinis in voluminibus deprehendet. Non minus autem lucc, et ex przesenti le- Ctione colligimus de eo quod scriptum est “ : Et accesserunt ad Moysen onmes qui constituti erant principes per tribus in exercitu, tribuni et centuriones, et dixerunt ad Moysen : Nos pueri ttti col legimus summam virorum bellatorum nostrorum, ct non dissensit ex nobis quisquam. et obtulimus munus Domino, unusquisque vir quodcunque invenit vas aureum, torquem, aut viriolatn, aut annulum, aut dextrale, aut catenulam, ad propitiandum pro nobis coram Domino. Loquuntur ergo ad Moysen electi principes, qtti constituti sunt super exercitum, et pro bene gestis rebus numera olTerunt Deo, dicentes : Nos pueri ttti sumus, qui accepimus Summam bellatorum filiorum Israel. Dicuntautem summam bellatorum illorum duodecim millia virorum, qui electi sunt ex onmibus tribubus Israel, ut confligerent adversus Madiauitas. Sttnt ergo iu populo Dei bellatores multi, sunt et imbel- Ies plurimi : et rursus inter bellatores sunt quidam. qui appellantur summa bellatorum, eminentiores sine dnbio iis qtti bellatores dicuntur, sicut et eminentiores sunt ab imbellibus bellatores. 'Et rursus sunt aliqui celsiores ab iis, qui sununa bellatorum dicti sunt : ii scilicet qui constituti sunt super eos principes, et praelati singulis quibusque millibus electorum. Est ergo multa diversitas in eo ordine, qui bellatores appellantur. Sed ct inter ipsos imbelles est nihilominus aliqua difi'erentia. Nec ipsi enim mqualiter et uno ordine 0nznes appellantur imbelles. Quidam enim ita imbelles sunt, ut nunquam possint Iieri bellatores, ut est senilis atas, et omnis femineus sexus, sed et conditio servilis. Puerilis vero tetas ita imbellis est, ut spetn gerat aliquando fieri bellatrix, scilicet cum occurrerit (5|) in virttm perlectum, in mensuram relatis, tunc non solum bellatores fieri ex pueris, sed et in summam bellaturum venire se sperant, et esse electi, et in duodecim millibus numerari, vel etiam praeferri, et esse principes electorum. ### English translation (Claude) That there are differences of advances and merits among the faithful people, anyone who attends carefully to the reading will discover in many places in the divine volumes. And we gather this no less from the present reading too, from what is written: “And all who had been appointed princes by tribes in the army, the tribunes and centurions, came to Moses and said to Moses: We your servants have taken the sum of our warriors, and not one of us has dissented; and we have offered a gift to the Lord, each man whatever he found: a vessel of gold, a necklace, or an armlet, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a little chain, to make propitiation for us before the Lord.” The chosen princes, then, who were appointed over the army, speak to Moses and offer gifts to God for things well done, saying: We are your servants, who have taken the sum of the warriors of the sons of Israel. And they call “the sum of the warriors” those twelve thousand men who were chosen from all the tribes of Israel to fight against the Midianites. There are, then, in the people of God many warriors, and there are very many who are unwarlike; and again among the warriors there are some who are called “the sum of the warriors,” more eminent without doubt than those who are called warriors, just as the warriors are more eminent than the unwarlike. And again there are some higher than those who are called the sum of the warriors: namely those who were appointed princes over them and set over each thousand of the chosen. There is, then, much diversity in the order of those who are called warriors. But among the unwarlike too there is no less some difference. For not all of them are called unwarlike equally and in one order. For some are so unwarlike that they can never become warriors, such as old age, and the whole female sex, and also the condition of slaves. But boyhood is unwarlike in such a way that it has hope of one day becoming warlike, namely when it has come to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature: then boys hope not only to become warriors, but even to come into the sum of the warriors, and to be chosen, and to be numbered among the twelve thousand, or even to be put in charge and be princes of the chosen. ### Scripture references - Num 31:48–50: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:13: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 31:48–50; Eph 4:13. The classification of the old, women, and slaves as “unwarlike” follows the military image of the passage; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.1 (PG 12:771a–771c; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-2 - Source: PG 12:771c–773b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The “sum of the warriors,” among whom none dissented, are those wholly devoted to God and united in concord, who offer God their virtues and works as gold; without concord with one’s brother and with God’s commandments no victory or gift is acceptable. ### Latin text Considera nunc prtesentis srecnli statum, ct vide omnia bellis repleta, omnemque humanam vitam invisibilibus praeliis et impugnatimdlms da:monum perurgeri : in populo vero Dei esse quesdatn ita robustos fide armatosque virtutibus, ut adversum hujusmodi hostes quotidie bella conficiant, et semper itt procinctu positi non solum scmetipsos, sed caeteros qui vel per sexum, vel per aetatem, vel per servitutis conditionem pugnare non possunt, ab hostium tueantur insidiis. verbo doctrinre eos, exemploque vita: et commonitionem sedulitate munientes : si tamen non desiteis title; Sive enim bellatores, sive imbelles, impossibile ut salvari sine fide. Inter 37o ipsos tamen bellatores, eos duntaxat qui militant Deo. considera alios ita esse paratos et expeditos ιιι nullis se implicent omnino negotiis szeculatibus, ut placere possintei, cui se probaverunt ", sed in lege Dei meditari die ac nocte. Isti ergo qui hujusmodi sunt, summa bellaturum appellantur. Denique non est dictum de communi numero bellatorum, quia nemo in eis dissensit, sed de iis dictum est, qui summa bellatorum nominati sunt. In istis enim qui tales sunt, nulla dissensw, nulla discordia. Ipsi enim suntisti, de quibus dictum est “ : Erat autem credentium cor et anima una, nec quisquam eorum aliquid pro. prtum dicebat, sed erant illis omnia communia.» Isti sunt ergo summa bellatorum, in quibus nexae dissensit. Isti sunt qui auri plurimum pugnando ceperunt, et omne aurum atque omne ornantcao tntn, sive capitis. sive brachiorum, sive etiam digitorttm, id est quidquid in intellectibus,quidqnil in operibus habent, Deo oflerunt. Sciunt enimquia tnunera ejus data ejus sunt, et ideo non dissentit in eis nec unus. Nec enim possunt munera oflcm Deo, positi in dissensione. Istos puto esse secundmu Evangelium, qui prteceptum illud diligenter observant, quod mandat Dominus et Salvator ἐ Si autem ofi‘ers munus tuum ad altare, et rememoratus fueris quia frater tuus habeat aliquid alversum te, relinque ibi munus tuum ad altare, et vade prius reconciliari Iratri tuo, et tunc veniens ofi‘eres munus tuum, quo scilicet levent (ὁὶ) manus suas ad Demn sine ira et dissensione. Isti sunt ergo qui dicunt , Collegimus summam virerum bellatorum nostrorum, et non dissensit ex nobis quisquam , et obtulimus munus Domino. Discenda igitur nobis magnopere est consonante: disciplina : quia tanquam in musicis, si lmmonia chordarum fuerit consonanter aptata,»nunt suavem modulati carminis reddit ; si vero st aliqua in fidibus dissonantia, ingratissimus sonus redditur, et carminis dulcedo corrumpitur; ita et ι) ii qni Deo militant, si dissensiones et discut-dias inter se habeant, ingrata erunt omnia,et nihil acet-pana Deo videbitur, etiamsi multa bella conficiant,etiamsi spolia mul adelerant, et multa munera ollerantDco. Dicetur enim ad eos : Depone nmnus tnum ad altare, et vade prius recenciliari fratri tuo, utpossis et tu inter eos qui summa sunt virorum bellatorum nmncrari, et dicere, quianon dissensit ex nobis quisquam. Ego etiam amplius aliquid dico. Nisi talis lueris, ut in nullo-dissentias a mandatis Dei. non poteris hostem vincere. non poteris superare inimicum. In eo enim ipso jam victus es in quo dissentis : et per hoc ipsum superaris a diabolo, iu quo discordas a Deo. Si autem vis vincere inimicum, et esse summa bellatorum, adhacre Deo, etconcorda cum ipso, sicut ille qui dicebat δ’ : Quis nos separabit a charitate Dei? Tribulatio, an angustia, an fames, an uuditas, au periculum, an gladius? Et iterum "9: Neque vita, neque mors, neque instantia, neque futura, neque altitudo, neque profundum, neque creatura alia poterit nos separare a charitate Dei, quae est iit Christo Jesu Domino nostro. Iste talis potest vincere Madianitas, et interficere omnes peccatores terrae, et perdere omnem imaginem eorum de civitate Dotnini. Et ego ergo debeo de meipso, et de terra carnis mea: perdere peccatores, et interficere l'ornicationem, immunditiam, passionem, concupiscentiam malam, et avaritiam. Isti enim sunt peccalores terrae mem, quos tunc demum exterminare potero et interficere, si non dissentiam a mandatis Domini : et tunc vere dignus ero, qui ofl‘eram Deo munera. Omne vas aureum, torquem, ittquit ", aut viriolam, aut annulum, aut dextrale,autcateuulam. » Torquis ornamentum sapientize est. ln Proverbiis enim de sapientia dicitur“, quod qui acquisierit eam, torquem auream ponat circa collum suum. Viriola et annulus, ornamenta sunt manuum, in quibus cperunt signantur α indicia. Similiter et dextrale. Catenula: vero verbi et doctrinae eonnexiones declarant. Ad pr0pitiandum, inquit , Deum pro nobis. Si dicamus propter aurum Deum prepitium fieri hominibus, vide quant absurdum,imo quam impium judicetur. Hoc enim etiam itt viro bono notabile ducitur, si accepto auro ab inferioribus placetur. Quanto ergo magis htec de Deo sentire non convenit? Unde puto expositionis hujus ecclesiastica: magis constare rationem, quae per auri species indicari docet animi virtutes, el. bonorum operum gesta, quae sola oflerri Deo ab hominibus dignum est, et pro quibus solis propitium fieri Deum hominibus decet. Et accepit, inquit , Moyses et Eleazar sacerdos aurum ab omnibus tribunis et centuriouibus, et intulit illud itt tabernaculum testimonii, memoriale filiis Israel coram Domino. Vides quia quae dicuntur, nonad conspectum visibilem, scd ad mentis memoriam referuntur. Beatus enim est ille qui recordatur se boni aliquid operis egisse coram Domino, et obtulisse munera beneplacita Deo, animi virtutes ct ornamenta pietatis. ### English translation (Claude) Consider now the state of the present age, and see that everything is full of wars, and all human life is pressed hard by invisible battles and attacks of demons; but that in the people of God there are some so strong in faith and armed with virtues that they wage war daily against enemies of this kind, and, always placed in readiness for battle, protect from the snares of the enemy not only themselves but also the others who, by sex or age or the condition of slavery, cannot fight, defending them by the word of doctrine, by the example of their life, and by the diligence of their admonition: provided only that faith is not lacking in them; for whether warriors or unwarlike, it is impossible to be saved without faith. Among the warriors themselves, however, those at least who serve as soldiers of God, consider that some are so prepared and unencumbered that they entangle themselves in no worldly affairs at all, so that they may please him who enlisted them, but meditate on the law of God day and night. Those, then, who are of this kind are called the sum of the warriors. Indeed it is not said of the common number of warriors that none of them dissented, but it is said of those who are named the sum of the warriors. For in those who are such there is no dissension, no discord. For they are those of whom it is said: “Now the heart and soul of those who believed were one, and no one of them said that anything was his own, but they had all things in common.” These, then, are the sum of the warriors, among whom no one dissented. These are the ones who by fighting took very much gold, and offer to God all the gold and every ornament, whether of the head, or of the arms, or even of the fingers, that is, whatever they have in understanding, whatever in works. For they know that his gifts are his presents, and therefore not one of them dissents. For they cannot offer gifts to God while placed in dissension. I think these are, according to the Gospel, those who carefully keep that precept which the Lord and Saviour commands: “But if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there at the altar and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift,” so that they may lift up their hands to God without anger and dissension. These, then, are the ones who say: “We have taken the sum of our warriors, and not one of us has dissented, and we have offered a gift to the Lord.” We must, then, greatly learn the discipline of concord: because, as in music, if the harmony of the strings is fitted in concord, it gives the sweet sound of a well-tuned song; but if there is some dissonance in the strings, a most unpleasant sound is produced and the sweetness of the song is spoiled; so too for those who serve as soldiers of God, if they have dissensions and discords among themselves, everything will be unpleasant, and nothing will seem acceptable to God, even if they wage many wars, even if they bring back many spoils and offer many gifts to God. For it will be said to them: Lay down your gift at the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, so that you too may be numbered among those who are the sum of the warriors, and say that not one of us dissented. I say something further too. Unless you are such as to dissent in nothing from the commandments of God, you will not be able to conquer the enemy, you will not be able to overcome the adversary. For in the very thing in which you dissent you are already conquered; and by the very thing in which you are in discord with God you are overcome by the devil. But if you wish to conquer the enemy and be the sum of the warriors, cleave to God and be in concord with him, like him who said: “Who will separate us from the love of God? Tribulation, or distress, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?” And again: “Neither life nor death, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Such a one can conquer the Midianites, and kill all the sinners of the land, and destroy all their image from the city of the Lord. And I, then, ought to destroy the sinners from myself and from the land of my flesh, and to kill sexual immorality, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and avarice. For these are the sinners of my land, whom I shall at last be able to root out and kill if I do not dissent from the commandments of the Lord: and then I shall truly be worthy to offer gifts to God. “Every vessel of gold,” it says, “a necklace, or an armlet, or a ring, or a bracelet, or a little chain.” The necklace is the ornament of wisdom. For in the Proverbs it is said of wisdom that whoever acquires it should put a golden necklace around his neck. The armlet and the ring are ornaments of the hands, by which the signs of works are marked; likewise the bracelet. And the little chains declare the connections of word and doctrine. “To propitiate,” it says, “God for us.” If we say that God is made propitious to men on account of gold, see how absurd, or rather how impious, it would be judged. For this is held a disgrace even in a good man, if he is appeased by receiving gold from his inferiors. How much more, then, is it unfitting to think this of God? Hence I think the reasoning of this explanation of the church holds better, which teaches that by the kinds of gold are indicated the virtues of the soul and the performance of good works, which alone it is worthy for men to offer to God, and for which alone it befits God to become propitious to men. “And Moses and Eleazar the priest,” it says, “received the gold from all the tribunes and centurions, and brought it into the tabernacle of witness, a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord.” You see that what is said refers not to visible sight but to the memory of the mind. For blessed is he who remembers that he did some good work before the Lord and offered gifts well-pleasing to God, the virtues of the soul and the ornaments of godliness. ### Scripture references - Heb 11:6: allusion, medium confidence - 2 Tim 2:4: allusion, high confidence - Ps 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Acts 4:32: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:23–24: quotation, high confidence - 1 Tim 2:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 31:49–50: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:35: quotation, high confidence - Rom 8:38–39: quotation, high confidence - Ps 101:8 (100:8 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Col 3:5: allusion, high confidence - Prov 1:9: allusion, medium confidence - Num 31:54: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Heb 11:6; 2 Tim 2:4; Ps 1:2; Acts 4:32; Matt 5:23–24; 1 Tim 2:8; Num 31:49–50; Rom 8:35, 38–39; Ps 101:8 (LXX 100:8); Col 3:5; Prov 1:9; Num 31:54. - The garbled “si tamen non desiteis title” is read as “si tamen non desit eis fides.” A leaked reference (“xut,l9,50. tv, 5‘2.”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.2 (PG 12:771c–773b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-3 - Source: PG 12:773b–776a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Since the narrator of the Pentateuch is the Holy Spirit, the account of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh settling east of the Jordan must hold a meaning worthy of him that helps the reader escape the rich man’s torments; Origen asks his hearers to pray for its unveiling. ### Latin text Post haec sequitur historia de haereditate Ruben, et Gad, et dimidias tribus Manasse . de qua proponentes aliqua disserere, volumus 371 prius auditorum diligentiam commouere, et animos eorum ad contemplationemspiritalis intelligentize suscitare. Omnia qum dicuntur non solum ex ipso qui dicitur sermone pensanda sunt, sed et persona dicentis magnopere consideranda est. Verbi gratia : si puer estqui loquitur, animos nostros ad auditum eloquii puerilis aptamus, nec plus aliquid iu iis quae dicuntur, nisi inquantum sentire puer potuit, exspectamus. Si vero qui loquitur vir est, continuo contemplamur, si viro digna sunt qua: dicuntur. Et rursus si vir ille eruditus sit qui dicit, pro eruditionis ejus intuitu etiam dicta pensamus. Si vero vir quidem ille est,imperitus tamen et idiotes, aliter quae dicuntur accipimus. Sic item si sit senior qui loquitur, et multae ac probata: peritiae, utpote qui in eruditionibus consenuerit, longe msjor in eo dictorum habebitur exspectatio. Cur ttutem ista prmtttiseriitttts, historiam Itzereditatis Ruben et Gad et dimidia: tribus Mauasse exponere volentes, ausculta. Qui haec gesta narrat quae legimus, neque puer est, qualem supra descripsimus, neque vir talis aliquis, neque senior, nec outniuo aliquis homo est : et ut amplius aliquid dicant, nec attgelorum aliquis, aut virtutunt caelestium est, sed sicut traditio majorum tenet, Spiritus sanctus lucc narrat. Unde enim poterat Moyses, vel quae ab origine mundi gesta sunt, vel quae in line ejus erant gerenda narrare, nisi per inspirationem Spiritus Dei? Unde potuisset prophetare de Christo, nisi loquente Spiritu sancto? Sic enim et ipse Christus ei testimonium reddit, et dicit : Si crederetis Moysi, crederetis utique et mihi. De me enim ille scripsit. Si autem illius litteris non creditis, quomon meis verbis credetis ?tConStat ergo ea per Spiritum sanctum dicta, et ideo conveniens videtur haec secundum dignitatem, into potius secundum majestatent loquentis intelligi. Sed et illud hoc iu loco memorare aptissimum duco, quod Abraham cum audiret illum divitem positum in tormentis rOgare se ut dimitteretur. et veniens moneret fratres suos pie vivere, ne et ipsi in locum illum descenderent torι) mentorum, respondi; ei ιθ, quia habent Moysem οι prophetas, audiant illos. ι’ utique homines aliquos dicebat in corpore positos Moysem et prophetas: sed haec qum per Moysem Spiritu Dei dictante scripta sunt, Moysem ea nominavit. Dicat ergo aliquis :Cum haec ita scripta sint, si Abraham tne ad Moysis dicta transmittat, ut legens ea possim illum locum evadere tormentorum, quid tne juvabit ad eflugiendam gehennam, si legam quomodo Ruben, et filii Gad, et dimidia tribus Manasse, liacreditatem capiunt a Moyse trans Iordanem, quia erant illis pecora multa prae caneris tribubus. et quia dicit ad eos Moyses: Videte ne exacerhetis Deum, sicutet illi decem qui missi suntcum et Caleb explorare terram, et dicebant, quia terra talis et talis est, et non possumus eam capere. Et quia ad haec responderunt filii Ruben, et czeteri cum ipsis: Da nobis terram hanc, et ltmreditalem ejus, et non quaeremus jatn intra .lordanem hrrreditalis terram cum fratribus nostris: sed hic relinquemus jninenta nostra, et sarcinas nostras, et mulieres nostras, et infantes nostros, viri autent nostri ibunt pariter et transibunt Jordanem. Et quia post luce Moyses commendat eos Jesu filio Nave, et Eleazaro sacerdoti filio Aaron, sub ea tamen conditione, ιιι transeant cum filiis Israel, et pugnent cum eis adversus hostes qui erant trans Iordanem, donec liberetur ah eis terra, et tunc accipiant terram quam poposcerunt, regis Seon et regis Og: atque ipsis solis per Moysem detur hmreditas extra Jordanem, ceteris autem OlllulblIS per Jesnm intra Jordanem. Dicet ergo aliquis : Quid ista prosunt ad hoc quod dixit Abraham : Moysem et prophetas, audiant illos; quo scilicet haec legentes et audientes, in locum illum non deveniunt tormentorum? llaec autem diximus, excitantes animos audientium, ιιι vigilantius iis quin leguntur vel dicuntur inlendant, et in Musei litteris remoto 'lilteraz Velatniuc ita intelligant quae scripta sunt, ut singulis quibusque ea diei inveniant, quae si intelligantur et ob‘ serventur, possint auditores non ad illum locum tormenti deduci, quo divesille, qui audire haec quze in secreto sunt scripta, contempsit, abductus est : sed in sinum eant Abraham, ubi Lazarus requiescit. Oremus ergo Dominum, ιιι auferatur velamen a cordibus nostris de lectione Veteris Testamenti, ut ea quae abscondita sunt et occulta in lllosei litteris, videre possimus, secundum propheta: commonitioneni dicentis": Et nisi audieritis occulte, plorabit anima vestra. Et quidem quod hmc mystica sint et divinum aliquem sensum contineant, puto quod ex iis quae superius asserta sunt, nullus possit ambigere, quamvis sit ille Jnilaicis fabulis insatialiiliter deditus : tamen sicut hoc neminem negare puto, ita quae sint illa quin ex istis narrationibus indieentur, et quae rerum facies sub hoc velamine contegatur, ad liquidum scire, ipsius puto esse sancti Spiritus qui hinc inscribi inspiravit : et Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui de Moyse dicebat “z De me enim ille scripsit ; et omnipmentis Dei, cujus consilium antiquum humano generi non nudum, sed velatum litteris indicatur. Nos autem oremus ex corde Verbum Dei, qui est unigenitus ejus, et qui revelatPatrem quibus vult, ut et nobis Juatt. v,45. revelare dignetur: sunt enim in his repromissione: mysteria, quae repromisit diligentibus se : lit sciamus et nos, quae a Deo donata sunt nobis ". Sed et vosjuvate nos in orationibus, et diligenter intendite, non tam nobis dicentibus, quam Domino illuminanti eos, quos illuminatione sua dignos invenerit. Quorumcontemplatione etiam nobis dare dignetur verbum in adapertionem oris nostri. Sed age jam si corda erexistis ad Dominuiiw verbi ejus sancti illustrationem petiistis, ad prrscrutandum sensum eorum quae videntur latere, veniamus. ### English translation (Claude) After this follows the account of the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Proposing to discuss something about it, we wish first to stir the diligence of the hearers and rouse their minds to the contemplation of spiritual understanding. Everything that is said is to be weighed not only from the very words that are spoken, but the person of the speaker too must be greatly considered. For example: if it is a boy who speaks, we fit our minds to hearing a boy’s speech, and expect nothing more in what is said than a boy could perceive. But if the speaker is a man, we at once consider whether what is said is worthy of a man. And again, if the man who speaks is learned, we weigh the words too in view of his learning. But if he is a man, yet unskilled and uneducated, we take what is said otherwise. So too, if the one who speaks is an elder, of much and proven skill, as one who has grown old in learning, a far greater expectation of his words will be held. Listen why we have said this first, wishing to set out the account of the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. He who narrates these deeds which we read is neither a boy, such as we described above, nor some such man, nor an elder, nor any man at all; and to say something more, he is not one of the angels or heavenly powers either, but, as the tradition of the elders holds, the Holy Spirit narrates these things. For how could Moses have narrated either what was done from the origin of the world or what was to be done at its end, except by the inspiration of the Spirit of God? How could he have prophesied of Christ, unless the Holy Spirit was speaking? For so Christ himself bears witness to him and says: “If you believed Moses, you would surely believe me too. For he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” It is established, then, that these things were spoken through the Holy Spirit; and therefore it seems fitting that they be understood according to the dignity, or rather according to the majesty, of the speaker. And I consider it most apt to mention this too in this place: that Abraham, when he heard that rich man placed in torments asking that he be sent to come and warn his brothers to live godly lives, so that they too might not come down into that place of torments, answered him: “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” He was certainly not speaking of some men placed in the body as Moses and the prophets; but these things which were written through Moses at the dictation of the Spirit of God he called Moses. Someone may say, then: Since these things are written thus, if Abraham sends me to the words of Moses so that by reading them I may escape that place of torments, how will it help me to escape Gehenna if I read how Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh take an inheritance from Moses across the Jordan, because they had many cattle beyond the other tribes; and that Moses says to them: See that you do not provoke God, as did those ten who were sent with Joshua and Caleb to spy out the land and said that the land is such and such, and we cannot take it; and that to this the sons of Reuben and the others with them answered: Give us this land and its inheritance, and we will not seek the land of inheritance within the Jordan with our brothers; but we will leave our beasts here, and our baggage, and our wives, and our children, but our men will go together and cross the Jordan; and that after this Moses commends them to Joshua son of Nun and to Eleazar the priest, son of Aaron, but on this condition, that they cross with the sons of Israel and fight with them against the enemies who were across the Jordan, until the land is freed from them, and then they receive the land they asked for, that of King Sihon and King Og; and that to them alone an inheritance is given through Moses outside the Jordan, but to all the others through Joshua within the Jordan? Someone will say, then: What do these things profit toward what Abraham said, “Moses and the prophets; let them hear them,” so that by reading and hearing these things they may not come into that place of torments? We have said these things to rouse the minds of the hearers, so that they may attend more watchfully to what is read or said, and, with the veil of the letter removed in the writings of Moses, may so understand what is written that they find said to each one what, if understood and observed, can keep the hearers from being led to that place of torment into which that rich man was carried away, who scorned to hear these things that are written in secret; but that they may go into the bosom of Abraham, where Lazarus rests. Let us pray the Lord, then, that the veil may be taken from our hearts at the reading of the Old Testament, so that we may be able to see what is hidden and secret in the writings of Moses, according to the warning of the prophet who says: “And unless you hear in secret, your soul will weep.” And indeed, that these things are mystical and contain some divine sense, I think no one can doubt from what has been asserted above, even if he is insatiably devoted to Jewish fables; yet, as I think no one denies this, so to know clearly what is indicated by these narratives, and what face of realities is covered under this veil, belongs, I think, to the Holy Spirit himself, who inspired these things to be written; and to our Lord Jesus Christ, who said of Moses, “For he wrote of me”; and to almighty God, whose ancient counsel is indicated to the human race not naked but veiled in the letters. But let us pray from the heart to the Word of God, who is his only-begotten and who reveals the Father to whom he wills, that he may deign to reveal it to us too: for in these things are the mysteries of the promise which he has promised to those who love him, so that we too may know the things that have been given us by God. But you too help us with your prayers, and attend carefully, not so much to us who speak as to the Lord, who illuminates those whom he finds worthy of his illumination. In contemplation of them may he deign to give us too a word in the opening of our mouth. But come now, if you have lifted your hearts to the Lord and asked for the illumination of his holy word, let us come to search out the meaning of the things that seem to lie hidden. ### Scripture references - Num 32:1–33: allusion, high confidence - Num 13:31–33: allusion, high confidence - John 5:46–47: quotation, high confidence - Luke 16:27–29: quotation, high confidence - Num 21:21–35: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:14–16: allusion, high confidence - Jer 13:17: quotation, high confidence - Titus 1:14: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 11:27: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:12: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:19: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Words lost in the Migne scan are supplied from Baehrens's edition. - Quotations and allusions: Num 32:1–33; Num 13:31–33; John 5:46–47; Luke 16:27–29; Num 32:16–19, 28–33; Num 21:21–35; Luke 16:22; 2 Cor 3:14–16; Jer 13:17 (LXX); Titus 1:14 (“Jewish fables”); Matt 11:27; 1 Cor 2:9, 12; Eph 6:19. - Origen ascribes the narrative of the Pentateuch to the Holy Spirit; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.3 (PG 12:773b–776a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-4 - Source: PG 12:776a–777d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The exodus figures both conversion leading to baptism and the soul’s passage after death; the firstborn tribes who settled east of the Jordan because of their cattle signify the former people, which received its inheritance through Moses and not, through Jesus, in the land of promise of faith in Christ. ### Latin text Excundi de ZEgypto figuram duobus modis accipi, a prioribus nostris et a nobis srpe jam dictum est. Nam et cum quis de errorum tenebris ad agnitionis lumen adducitur, el de terrena conversation ad spiritualia instituta convertitur, de (Egyptoiidetur exisse et venisse ad solitudinem : ad illud: videlicet vita: statum, in quo per silentium et quietem exerceatur divinis legibus, et eloquiis caelestibus imbuatur: per quae institutus et directus, cum Jordanem transierit, properet usque ad terrain repromissionis, id est per gratiam baptismi, usque ad evangelica instituta perveniat. Sed et illam fugaram esse diximus exeundi de Egypto, cum relinquit anima mundi hujus tenebras, ac natura: corpori: czecitatem, et transfertur ad aliud sarculum: quod vel sinus Abrahae (ὃὸ), ιιι ιιι Lazaro, vel paradisus, utin latrone qui de cruce credidit, indicatuer etiam si qua novit Deus esse alia loca, vel alias mansiones, per quae transiens anima Deo credens. el perveniens usque ad fiumen illud quod laetifiut civitatem Dei, intra ipsum sortem promissmpatribes hwreditatis accipiat. Igitur cum duplici, ut meme ravimus, modo egressus designetur ex nggpto, et transitus ad desertum, atque inde ingressus al sanctm terra: hmreditatem, videamus nunc qfllai sibi velit Ruben et Gud, et dimidia tribus Manassen [hereditas quae per Moysem traditur, et extra Juxdanettt decernitur, in duodecim tribubus filionzia Israel, occultis quibusdam et mysticis rationibus totius hutnani generis figuram complectitr. vr! omnium certe hominum qui ad agnitionem Dei venerunt. Horum ergo pars aliqua extra Iordanem barreditatem consequitur per Moysem, pars trans Iordanem, et limreditatem suscipit in terra repromissionis per Jesum. Et illi quidem. quibus extra Iordanem hrnreditas decernitur, pritnitivi sunt : licet minus nobiles, licet non inculpati, primitivi tamen sunt. Ruben enim est primogenita! Jacob : licet contaminaverit thorum patris, primo. genitus tamen est. Sed et Gad, licet ex ancilla, tamen et ipse primogenitus est. Manasse quoque, crtjus dimidia tribus extra .‘ordanem consequitur, et ipse licet de [Egyptia natus, primogenitus tamen est. Omnes ergo isti primogeniti sunt, et ideo priorem populum designant, qui non per Iesum Dominum nostrum, sed per Moysen extra Iordanem sortem hereditatis accipiunt. Considera autem diligentius etiam causam, qua priores et extra Iordanem, et sequestrati a caeteris, consequuntur hiereditatem. ‹ Iumenta, inquiunt , et pecora multa sunt nobis. 1 llaec ergo causa est, quia prior populus ad haereditatemillins terrae. quae lacte finit, quae melle abundat, quae favus mellis est prae omni terra, non potuit pervenire, nec Verbum carnem factum potuit agnoscere, quia multa jumenta habebant et multa pecora. Animalis ergo homo non potuit percipere quae sunt Spiritus Dei , nec spiritaliter dijudicare; quia ‹ homo in honore cum esset, non intellexit, sed comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et sirqilis factus est iis “, i pro quibus biereditatem suam extra Iordanis fluenta percepit, et a terra se sancta .fecit alienum. llle ergo populus accepit haereditatem per Moysen, accepit terram duorum regum tantummodo. Non enim amplius potuit Moyses interficere nisi duos reges, quorum terram divideret p0pnlis. multa animalia multaque pecora habentibus. Illis vero qui Iordanem transeunt, Iesus dividit terram, quamvis habeant etiam ipsi animalia, habeant pero.ra, nontamen tanta, qum eos excludant, ne Iordanem transeant, sedcum ipsis ct mulieribus, et cum infantibus suis contendunt transire Iordanem, et ad patrum pervenire promissa. Illi autem propter pecora et jnmenta, et mulieres suas, et infantes, non potuerunt transire Iordanem, nec ad fidem Christi, quae est terra repromissionis, intrare. ### English translation (Claude) It has often been said already, by our predecessors and by us, that the figure of the going out from Egypt can be taken in two ways. For when someone is brought from the darkness of errors to the light of knowledge, and is converted from earthly conduct to spiritual instruction, he seems to have gone out of Egypt and come into the wilderness: namely to that state of life in which, through silence and quiet, he is exercised in the divine laws and imbued with the heavenly oracles; instructed and directed by these, when he has crossed the Jordan, he hastens on to the land of promise, that is, through the grace of baptism he comes to the instruction of the gospel. But we said that this too is a figure of the going out from Egypt, when the soul leaves the darkness of this world and the blindness of bodily nature, and is transferred to another age: which is indicated either as the bosom of Abraham, as with Lazarus, or as paradise, as with the thief who believed on the cross; or even, if God knows there are other places or other dwellings, through which the soul believing God passes, and coming as far as that river which gladdens the city of God, receives within it the lot of the inheritance promised to the fathers. Since, then, as we have recalled, the going out from Egypt is signified in a twofold way, and the passage to the wilderness, and from there the entry into the inheritance of the holy land, let us now see what is meant by the inheritance of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, which is handed over through Moses and decreed outside the Jordan. The people of the sons of Israel in its twelve tribes embraces, by certain hidden and mystical reasons, the figure of the whole human race, or certainly of all men who have come to the knowledge of God. Of these, then, a certain part obtains its inheritance outside the Jordan through Moses, a part across the Jordan, and receives its inheritance in the land of promise through Jesus. And those to whom the inheritance outside the Jordan is decreed are firstborn: though less noble, though not blameless, yet they are firstborn. For Reuben is the firstborn of Jacob: though he defiled his father’s bed, yet he is firstborn. And Gad, though born of a maidservant, is himself also firstborn. Manasseh too, half of whose tribe obtains its inheritance outside the Jordan, though himself born of an Egyptian woman, is yet firstborn. All these, then, are firstborn, and therefore they signify the former people, which receives the lot of its inheritance not through Jesus our Lord but through Moses, outside the Jordan. But consider more carefully also the reason for which the former obtain their inheritance both outside the Jordan and separated from the others. “We have beasts,” they say, “and many cattle.” This, then, is the reason why the former people could not come to the inheritance of that land which flows with milk, which abounds in honey, which is a honeycomb above every land, nor could recognize the Word made flesh: because they had many beasts and many cattle. The natural man, then, could not perceive the things of the Spirit of God, nor judge spiritually; because “man, when he was in honour, did not understand, but was compared to the senseless beasts and became like them,” on account of which he received his inheritance outside the streams of the Jordan and made himself a stranger to the holy land. That people, then, received its inheritance through Moses; it received the land of two kings only. For Moses could not kill more than two kings, whose land he might divide among peoples having many animals and many cattle. But to those who cross the Jordan Jesus divides the land; though they too have animals, have cattle, yet not so many as to exclude them from crossing the Jordan; but with them, and with their wives and their children, they strive to cross the Jordan and come to the promises of the fathers. But those, because of their cattle and beasts, and their wives and children, could not cross the Jordan, nor enter into the faith of Christ, which is the land of promise. ### Scripture references - Luke 16:22: allusion, high confidence - Luke 23:43: allusion, high confidence - John 14:2: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 46:4 (45:5 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Gen 49:3–4: allusion, high confidence - Gen 30:10–11: allusion, high confidence - Gen 41:50–51: allusion, high confidence - Num 32:4: quotation, high confidence - Ezek 20:6: allusion, medium confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:14: allusion, high confidence - Ps 49:12 (48:13 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Num 21:21–35: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Luke 16:22; Luke 23:43; John 14:2; Ps 46:4 (LXX 45:5); Gen 35:22 and 49:3–4; Gen 30:10–11; Gen 41:50–51; Num 32:1, 4; Exod 3:8; Ezek 20:6; John 1:14; 1 Cor 2:14; Ps 49:12 (LXX 48:13); Num 21:21–35. Origen’s play on Joshua/Jesus runs through the section. - “The former people” refers to Israel under the law; the reading is translated as written. - A running head (“NUMEROS”) leaked into the text is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.4 (PG 12:776a–777d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-5 - Source: PG 12:777d–778d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Moses lets the eastern tribes settle on condition that they fight alongside their brothers; Origen distinguishes the “dry ground” of fruitless souls from the “land” of the fruitful, promised to the meek, and teaches that those under the law receive their inheritance only by fighting together with Jesus’ people. ### Latin text increpat tamen Moyses, et dicit ad filios Ruben ct ad filios Gad ": Fratres vestri pergent ad prtelium, et vos sedebitis hic? Et quare pervertitis corda filiorum Israel. ut non transeant in terram quam Dominus dat eis? Etcum increpuisset eos hujusmodi verbis, accesserunt, inquit “, ad eum filii Ruben et filii Gad, et dicebant :Ovilia ovibus fabricabimus hic, et pecoribus, et civitates impedimentis nostris, et nos armati prima turma incedemus ante filios lsrael, usquequo perducamus eos iu suum locum. Et hare promittentes, mitigaverunt Moysen, ita ut ipse eos commendaret Iesu et Elea- :aro. Ita enim scriptum est : 1 Et adhibuit illos Iloyses ad Eleazarum sacerdotem, et Iesum filiuni flave, et principes familiarum tribuum Israel. Et iit ad eos Moyses: Si transierint 11111 Ruben et filii :ad vobiscum Iordanem omnis armatus ad praelium oram Domino, et obtinueritis terram in conspectu ’estro, dabitis eis terram Galaad in possessionem.» Terrae nomen Scripturis divinis positum diversis ignificationibus invenimus; et primo quidem terra sec in qua habitamus, non ex initioterra vocitata est, ed arida: et posthaec qum prius dicta fuerat arida, :73 terra: nomen accepit; sicut et crnlum istud visibile non ab initio caelum dictum est, sed prius firmamcntum, postetiam caeli vocabulo nuncupatum est. principio tamen creatum caelum et terram fecisse dicitur Deus, et postea aridam, et postea lirmamentum. Vis autem scire quia aliud sit in Scripturis arida, aliud terra? audi Aggaeuui pr0phetam dicentem : Adhuc semel,et ego movebo caelum et terram, et mare, et aridam. Vides quomodo prOpheta aliud ponit terram et aliud aridam. Sed et iu multis Scriptura: locis invenimus terram latidabilem nominari; aridam vero non facile legimus laudabilem poni. Nam et Adam in hunc locum quasi culpabilis post peccatum detruditur, qui arida nominatus est. Antea enim non fuit in arida, sed in terra. Paradisus namque non est in arida, sed in terra. Sed et mansuetis quod repromittit Dominus in Evangelio, non est arida, sed terra. «Beati enim, inquit", mansueti, quoniam ipsi haereditabunt terram. Et iterum iu Evangelia ο. semen quod dat fructum centesimum semgesimum et tricesimum, terra dicitur esse, non arida. Et puto quia profectus quidam sit ab arida ad terram veniendi, sicut et profectus quidam fuit, ut haec arida terra vocaretur. Omnes enim nos, donec in. fructuosi sumus, et nullum iustitiae fructum, nul- 111111 pudicitiae, nullum pietatis afferimus, arida sumus. Si autem nosmetipsos cmperimus excolere, et ad virtutum frugem desides animos suscitari, terra eflieiiuur cx arida, quae verbi Dei suscepto semine laeta fruge multiplicet. Est ergo quaedam etiam in regno Dei terra, quae mansuetis repromittitur, et terra quin viventium. nominatur, ιιι terrain excelsis posita, de qua ad justum dicit Propheta : Et exaltabit te ut haeredites terram. 1 istius ergo terrae hatredita'lem, posteaquam de mundi hujus Egypto exierit, Deo credens anima consequiturzet alibi quidem ii, qui sub lege vixerunt. alibi autem qui per Iesu Christi fidem et gratiam dispensati sunt. Verumtamen ii qui videntur primi. et per Mosen dispensati, non prius consequent". hzereditatem sibi decretam, quam · Mose duce me ruerunt, nisi et ipsi transeant cum iis quos Iesus dispensat, et pugnent cum eis contra inimicos, et collucent eos in sedibus suis, et ita ipsi consequentur haereditatem quam Moyse duce meruerunt. ### English translation (Claude) Moses, however, rebukes them and says to the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad: “Your brothers will go to battle, and will you sit here? And why do you turn aside the hearts of the sons of Israel, so that they do not cross into the land which the Lord gives them?” And when he had rebuked them with words of this kind, “the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad came to him,” it says, “and said: We will build folds here for our sheep and for our cattle, and cities for our baggage, and we ourselves, armed, will go in the first rank before the sons of Israel, until we bring them to their place.” And by promising these things they appeased Moses, so that he himself commended them to Joshua and Eleazar. For so it is written: “And Moses brought them to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the princes of the families of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them: If the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad cross the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the Lord, and you take possession of the land in your sight, you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.” We find the word “land” used in the divine Scriptures with different meanings; and first, this land on which we live was not called land from the beginning, but dry ground; and afterwards what had first been called dry ground received the name of land; just as this visible heaven too was not called heaven from the beginning, but first firmament, and afterwards it was also called by the name of heaven. In the beginning, however, God is said to have made heaven and earth, and afterwards dry ground, and afterwards the firmament. Do you wish to know that in the Scriptures dry ground is one thing and land another? Hear the prophet Haggai saying: “Yet once more, and I will shake heaven and earth, and the sea and the dry ground.” You see how the prophet sets down land as one thing and dry ground as another. And in many places of Scripture we find land named as praiseworthy; but we do not easily read dry ground set down as praiseworthy. For Adam too, as one blameworthy after his sin, is thrust down into this place, which is named dry ground. For before he was not on dry ground but on land. For paradise is not on dry ground but on land. And what the Lord promises to the meek in the Gospel is not dry ground but land. “For blessed,” he says, “are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.” And again in the Gospel, the seed that gives fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, and thirtyfold is said to be land, not dry ground. And I think there is a certain advance in coming from dry ground to land, just as there was a certain advance in this dry ground’s being called land. For all of us, as long as we are fruitless and bring no fruit of righteousness, none of chastity, none of godliness, are dry ground. But if we begin to cultivate ourselves and to rouse our idle minds to the harvest of virtues, we become land instead of dry ground, which, receiving the seed of the word of God, multiplies it in a rich harvest. There is, then, in the kingdom of God too a certain land, which is promised to the meek, and which is named the land of the living, as a land placed on high, of which the prophet says to the righteous man: “And he will exalt you to inherit the land.” The inheritance of this land, then, the soul believing God obtains after it has gone out of the Egypt of this world: those who lived under the law in one place, and those who have been ordered by the faith and grace of Jesus Christ in another. Yet those who seem first, ordered through Moses, will not obtain the inheritance decreed for them, which they merited under the leadership of Moses, unless they too cross with those whom Jesus orders, and fight with them against the enemies, and settle them in their seats; and so they will obtain the inheritance which they merited under the leadership of Moses. ### Scripture references - Num 32:6–7: quotation, high confidence - Num 32:16–17: quotation, high confidence - Num 32:28–29: quotation, high confidence - Gen 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:6–10: allusion, high confidence - Hag 2:6: quotation, high confidence - Gen 3:23: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 5:5: quotation, high confidence - Matt 13:8: allusion, high confidence - Ps 27:13 (26:13 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Ps 37:34 (36:34 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 32:6–7, 16–17, 28–29; Gen 1:1, 6–10; Hag 2:6; Gen 3:23; Matt 5:5; Matt 13:8, 23; Ps 27:13 (LXX 26:13); Ps 37:34 (LXX 36:34). Origen’s distinction between “land” (terra, Greek gē) and “dry ground” (arida, Greek xēra) follows Gen 1:9–10. - A leaked running head (“Agg. HOMILIA XXVI. 778”) splitting “visibile” is removed. “Movebo malum” is read as “movebo caelum” (Hag 2:6). The last sentence is partly garbled and repeated in the scan (“non prius consequent". … quam · Mose duce me ruerunt”); translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.5 (PG 12:777d–778d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-6 - Source: PG 12:778d–779b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As the eastern tribes crossed the Jordan to help their brothers, so the holy fathers of old, not made perfect without us, help the church by their prayers, examples, and writings in the spiritual war that wins the heavenly inheritance under Jesus. ### Latin text Sed iure nisi ex Scripturis divinis approbentur, fabulae videbuntur. Paulus ergo horum producatur in medium idoneus testis, qui in Epistola ad Hebraeos, ubi describit omnes illos patres, rt patriarchas, ac prophetas, qui per fidem placuerunt Deo, post enumerationem cunctorum, in ultima conclusione sic dicit de eis": Et ii omnes testimonio fidei accepto non perceperunt repromissiones, Deo pro' nobis melius aliquid providente, uti ne sine nobis consummarentur. Quasi dicerent isne novem et semis tribus de illis duabus et semis tribubus, quia propterea non ceperunt promissiones terrae. illius, quzc eis extra Jordanem per bloysen decreta est, Deo pro nobis aliquid melius providente, uti ne sine nobis consummarentur. Propterea ergo transerunt nobiscum armati ad pra:lium, et juvant nos ad belligerandum, ad expugnandos inimicos. Sed illi transenntqni armati sunt, qui viri fortes sunt et potentes; caeteri vero, ignava manus et imbellis, remanent extra Jordancm. Si qui autem in ipsis viri fortes sunt, relictis animalibus et pecoribus et omnibus impedimentis, pngnantadversuin hostem nobiscum usquequo vincantur inimici nostri, usquequo haereditatcm terra: bona), terrm mellis lactisque capiamus. Quis enim dubitat quod sancti quique patrum, et orationibus nos juveut, et gestorum suorum confirment atque hortentur exemplis, sed et voluminibus suis, per ea quae nobis ad memoriam scripta reliquerunt docentes nos, et instruentes quomodo adversum inimicas potestates dimicandum sit, et quomodo agonum toleranda certamina? Pugnant ergo pro nobis et ipsi, incedunt primi ante nos armati. Ipsos enim nos habentes ad exemplum, et videntes corumper spiritum fortia facta, armantur ad prmlium spiritale, et adversus spiritalia nequitiae in ca:lcstibus dimicamus. Sic denique qui Jcsu duce militant, triginta et eo amplius reges perimunt, et terras eorum sorte haereditatis accipiunt. Depulsis namque spiritalibus nequitiis de cmfestibus, barreilitatem regni emlestis a Jesu Domino nostro percipittnt. ### English translation (Claude) But these things, unless they are proved from the divine Scriptures, will seem fables. Let Paul, then, be brought forward as a suitable witness of them, who in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he describes all those fathers and patriarchs and prophets who pleased God through faith, after enumerating them all, says of them in his final conclusion: “And all these, having received the testimony of faith, did not receive the promises, God providing something better for us, so that they should not be made perfect without us.” As though it were said: Do not the nine and a half tribes say of those two and a half tribes that they did not take the promises of that land which was decreed to them outside the Jordan through Moses because God provided something better for us, so that they should not be made perfect without us? For this reason, then, they cross with us armed for battle, and help us to make war and to overcome the enemies. But those cross who are armed, who are strong and mighty men; the rest, a cowardly and unwarlike band, remain outside the Jordan. But if any among them are strong men, leaving behind their animals and cattle and all their baggage, they fight against the enemy with us until our enemies are conquered, until we take the inheritance of the good land, the land of honey and milk. For who doubts that all the holy fathers both help us by their prayers, and strengthen and exhort us by the examples of their deeds, and also by their books, teaching and instructing us, through what they have left written for our remembrance, how we must fight against the hostile powers and how we must endure the struggles of the contests? They too, then, fight for us; they go armed in front of us. For having them as an example, and seeing through the Spirit their brave deeds, we are armed for spiritual battle and fight against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. So, finally, those who serve under Jesus as leader slay thirty and more kings, and receive their lands by lot of inheritance. For when the spiritual forces of wickedness have been driven from the heavenly places, they receive the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom from Jesus our Lord. ### Scripture references - Heb 11:39–40: quotation, high confidence - Exod 3:8: allusion, medium confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - Josh 12:7–24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Heb 11:39–40 (Origen ascribes Hebrews to Paul); Exod 3:8; Eph 6:12; Josh 12:7–24 (the thirty-one kings). - The view that the saints of old help us by their prayers is translated as written. - A leaked marginal reference (“3.3. ” Num. XX-Xll. Heb. 111, 59, 40. 25”) is removed; the garbled “Quasi dicerent isne novem et semis tribus” is read as “Quasi dicerentur: nonne novem et semis tribus…”. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.6 (PG 12:778d–779b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 26.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-7 - Source: PG 12:779b–780d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: In a third reading, the tribes that cross the Jordan are the spiritual in the church, who attain the sweetness of wisdom and the heavenly Jerusalem under Jesus, while the carnal, with their beastly senses, remain outside with only the elementary knowledge of Christ crucified. ### Latin text Potest et tertius adhuc expositionis videri modus, ut in filiis Israel, id est in populo Ecclesiae, intelligantur quidam esse spiritales, et intra Jordanem percipere hazreditatem terra: fluentis lac et mel : sapientia: scilicet et scientiae capientes dulcedinem, quorum terra flumine Dei, quod repletum est aquis divinae intelligentiae, circumdatur et rigatur. Alii autem sunt carnales, qui jumentis et pecudibus, id est. crassis et stolidis sensibus abundant:sicut erant illi de quibus dicebat Apostolus" : fta insensati estis, nt cum spiritu coeperi- .tis, nunc carne perficiamini ? et" : ‹ Ο insensati Galatae, quis vos fascinavit veritati non obedire? Sed et unusquisque nostrum, nisi se armaverit, et, Ι) abiectis brutis et belluinis sensibus, ad Spiritalem intelligentiam properaverit, remanebit extra Jordanem, nec poterit per sapientiae flumen incedere, quod laetificat civitatem Dei, id est animam Dei capacem : non assequetur eloquiorum Domini interiora, quae sunt dulciora super mel et favum, sed illaut tantummodo consequetur terram, in qua duo reges occisi sunt, ubi dicatur ei" : ‹ Nihil aliud iudicavi me ipsum scire inter vos nisi Jesum Christum, et hunc crucifixum. Qui autem potuerit transire Jordanem,et ad interiora penetrare, ibi .Iesum Dominum nostrum sequens, interficis triginta et eo amplius reges, illos fortassis de quibus dicitur", quia astiterunt reges terra, et prin. cipes congregati sunt in unum, adversus Dominum, et adversus Christum ejus; depulsisque iis regibus et prostratis, agnoscet secretiora mysteria. usqueqno veniat ad illum locum ubi sedes Deiest et Jerusalem civitas Dei viventis, non ista qua servit cum filiis suis in terris, sed illa cmicstis, quae libera est, et mater omnium nostrum :adeujus nos haereditatem perducere dignetur dux ciliominus noster Jesus Christus, eui est gloria et inperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. ### English translation (Claude) A third mode of explanation can also be seen: that among the sons of Israel, that is, in the people of the church, some are understood to be spiritual and to receive within the Jordan the inheritance of the land flowing with milk and honey, namely taking the sweetness of wisdom and knowledge, whose land is surrounded and watered by the river of God, which is filled with the waters of divine understanding. But others are carnal, who abound in beasts and cattle, that is, in gross and stupid senses: such as were those of whom the Apostle said: “Are you so foolish that, having begun in the Spirit, you are now being made perfect by the flesh?” and: “O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you not to obey the truth?” And each one of us too, unless he arms himself and, casting away brutish and beastly senses, hastens to spiritual understanding, will remain outside the Jordan, and will not be able to walk through the river of wisdom, which gladdens the city of God, that is, the soul capable of God: he will not attain the inner things of the oracles of the Lord, which are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, but will obtain only that land in which two kings were killed, where it may be said to him: “I decided to know nothing else among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” But he who has been able to cross the Jordan and penetrate to the inner things, following there Jesus our Lord, will kill thirty and more kings, perhaps those of whom it is said that “the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ”; and when these kings have been driven out and laid low, he will recognize more secret mysteries, until he comes to that place where the seat of God is, and Jerusalem, the city of the living God, not this one which is in slavery with her children on earth, but that heavenly one, which is free and is the mother of us all: to whose inheritance may our leader, the Lord Jesus Christ, deign to bring us, to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Exod 3:8: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 65:9 (64:10 LXX): allusion, medium confidence - Gal 3:3: quotation, high confidence - Gal 3:1: quotation, high confidence - Ps 46:4 (45:5 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 19:10 (18:11 LXX): allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Ps 2:2: quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:22: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:25–26: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Exod 3:8; Ps 65:9 (LXX 64:10); Gal 3:3; Gal 3:1; Ps 46:4 (LXX 45:5); Ps 19:10 (LXX 18:11); 1 Cor 2:2; Ps 2:2; Heb 12:22; Gal 4:25–26. - Origen applies 1 Cor 2:2 to the “carnal” as the more elementary stage of faith; translated as written. - A leaked running head and column number (“374 'ORIGENIS ‘ τευ”) are removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 26.7 (PG 12:779b–780d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/26-1/#p-26-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-1 - Source: PG 12:780b–782d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As bodies need different foods, so souls need different parts of Scripture: beginners prefer the plain books and shun Leviticus or Numbers, but nothing written by the Holy Spirit is superfluous, and we must ask God for understanding. ### Latin text Cum conderet Deus mundum, innumeras creavit ciborum differentias, pro diversitatibus srilicet vel humani desiderii, vel natura: animalium. Unde non solum homo cum viderit animaliumiibum, scit eum non pro se. sed pro animalibus creatum, sed et ipsa animalia agnoscunt proprios cibos: et aliis quidem, verbi causa, utitur leo,al:‘s cervus, aliis bos, aliis vero aves. Sed et iam homines sunt quadam differentia: in appetendis cibiszet alius quidem qui bene sanus est et habitudine corporis valens, fortem cibum requirit, et credit conliditque edere omnia, velut robustissimi quiqne athletarum. Si quis vero infirmiorase sentit et invalidum, delectatur oleribus, etiartem cibum pro sui infirmitate corporis non iecipit. Si vero sit aliquis parvulus, etiamsi voce iadicare non possit, re tamen ipsa nullam aliam quam lactis requirit alimoniam. Et ita unusquiso quc vel pro :etate vel pro viribus, vel pro corporis “ valetudine, aptum sibi et competentem viribus ssi! expetit cibum. Si sufficienter rerum corporalium considerastis exemplum, nunc ab iis ad intelligestiam spiritalium veniamus. Omnis natura rationabilis propriis et sibi competentibus nutriri indiget cibis. Cibus autem verus natura: rationabilis sema Dei est. Sed sicut in nutrimentis corporis multas paulo ante dedimus differentias, ita et natura r2tionalis, quae ratione et verbo Dei, ut diximus pascitur, non omnis uno atque eodem verbo nutri. η tur. Unde ad similitudinem corporalis exempli e4 aliquibus etiam in verbo Dei cibus lactis: apertior scilicet simpliciorque doctrina, ut de isoralibus esse solet, quae praeberi consuevit iis, (ιε initia habent in divinis studiis, et prima eruditionis rationabilis elementa suscipiunt. llis ergo cum ηcitatur talis aliqua divinorum voluminum fecundi: qua non videatur aliquid obscurum, libenter accipiunt : verbi causa, ut est libellus Esther, aut lcdith, vel etiam Tobiaa, aut mandata Sapientia. δὲ vero legatur ei liber Levitici, offenditur continue animus, et quasi non suum refugit cibum. Qui enim venit ut disceret Deum colere, iustitia: ac pictatis ejus praecepta suscipere, audit mandata de sacrificiis dari, ct immolationum ritus doceri, quomodo non continuo avertit auditum, et tanquam non sibi aptum cibum recusat? Sed et alius cum leguntur Evangelia. vel Apostolus, aut Psalmi, la:tus suscipit, libenter amplectitur, et velut remedia quaedam infirmitatis sua: inde colligens gaudet. Huic si legatur Numerorum liber, et ista maxime loca quae nunc habemus in manibus, nihil hmo ad utilitatem, nihil ad infirmitatis suae remedium, aut anima: salutem prodesse iudicabit; sed continuo refutabit, et respuet tanquam graves et onerosos cibos, et qui aegrae atque invalida: non competant animae. sed sicut, verbi gratia (ut iterum ex corporalibus repetamus exempla), leoni si detur int-ellectus, non Vcontinuo culpabit abundantiam herbarum creatam, quia ipse crudis carnibus vescitur, nec dicet illas superflue a Conditore productas, quia ipse earum cibo non utitur : nec iterum-homo, quia pane aliisque aptis sibi utitur aliniouiis,uculpare debet cur fecerit Deus serpentes, quos cibum videat prmbere cervis; neque ovis,aut bos culpare, verbi causa; quod aliis animalibus carnibus Vesci datum est, cum ipsis ad edendum gramina sola sufficiant. Ita ergo et in cibis rationalibus, divinorum dico voluminum, non continuo aut culpanda aut refutanda est Scriptura, quae difficilior aut ob. scurior ad intelligendum videtur, vel ea continere, quibus sive incipiens, et parvulus, sive infirmior et minus ad intelligenda omnia validus uti non potest, nec conferri sibi ex iis utilitatis aliquid existimat aut salutis: sed considerare debes (6|), quia sicut serpens et ovis, et bos et homo, ac fenum Del creatura sunt omnia, et diversitas ista ad laudem spectat et gloriam Creatoris, quod competentem et in tempore unicuique eorum pro quibus creata sunt, vel praebeant, vel capiant cibum : ita et haec omnia qua verba Dei sunt, et in quibus diversus pro captu animarum cibus est, unusquisque prout sanum se et validum sentit, assumat. Quamvis et si diligentius requiramus, verbi causa, in Evangelii lectione, vel apostolica doctrina, in quibus delectari videris, et in quibus tibi aptissimum et suavissimum deputas cibum, quanta sunt qure te latent, si discutias et perscruteris mandata Domini? Quod si ea, quae obscura videntur et diflicilia, refugienda sunt protinus et vitanda, invenies etiam in illis, 375 iu quibus valde confidis, tam multa obscura et difficilia, ut si hanc sententiam teneas, sit tibi etiam inde recedendum. Sunt tamen plurima in illis, quae apertius et simplicius dicta sunt, quam ut parvi sensus aedificent auditorem. Haec autem in praefatione praemisimus, ut suscitemus animos vestros, quoniam quidem hujusmodi lectio babetur in manibus, quae dillicilis ad intelligendum, et superflua videatur ad legendum. Sed non possumus hoc dicere de sancti Spiritus litteris, quod aliquid in eis otiosum sit aut superfluum, etiamsi aliquibus videantur obscura. Sed hoc potius facere debemus, ut oculos mentis nostrae conVcrtamus ad cum, qui haec scribi jussit, et ab ipso horum intelligentiam postulemus : ut sive infirmitas est in anima nostra, sanet nos ille, qni sanat omnes languores ejus : sive parvi sensus sumus, adsit nobis custodiens parvulos Dominus, et enutriat nos, atquc in mensuram aetatis adducat. Utrumque enim in es". “ll ξι illam?“ Parvulis ad aetatem virilem pervenire possimus. ln nobis ergo est, haec a Deo poscere. Dei autem est, petentibus dare et pulsau.ibus aperire. Sed satis sit ista praefatio. ### English translation (Claude) When God founded the world, he created countless differences of foods, according, namely, to the diversities either of human desire or of the nature of animals. Hence not only does a man, when he sees the food of animals, know that it was created not for himself but for the animals, but the animals themselves too recognize their own foods: the lion, for example, uses some, the deer others, the ox others, and birds others. And among men too there are certain differences in seeking foods: one who is quite healthy and strong in bodily condition seeks strong food, and believes and is confident that he can eat everything, like all the most robust athletes. But if someone feels himself rather weak and feeble, he delights in vegetables, and because of the weakness of his body does not take strong food. And if someone is a little child, even if he cannot indicate it by voice, yet in fact he seeks no other nourishment than that of milk. And so each one, according to his age or his strength or the health of his body, seeks food that is suitable for him and fitting to his strength. If you have sufficiently considered the example of bodily things, let us now come from them to the understanding of spiritual things. Every rational nature needs to be nourished by its own foods, fitting for it. And the true food of rational nature is the word of God. But just as we gave many differences in the nourishments of the body a little before, so too rational nature, which is fed, as we said, by reason and the word of God, is not all nourished by one and the same word. Hence, after the likeness of the bodily example, there is in the word of God too for some a food of milk: namely the plainer and simpler teaching, such as is usually about morals, which is customarily offered to those who have beginnings in divine studies and are receiving the first elements of rational instruction. To these, then, when some such reading of the divine volumes is recited in which nothing seems obscure, they receive it gladly: for example, the little book of Esther, or of Judith, or even of Tobit, or the precepts of Wisdom. But if the book of Leviticus is read to him, his mind is at once offended, and he flees it as if it were not his food. For one who has come to learn to worship God, to receive the precepts of his justice and godliness, hears commandments given about sacrifices and the rites of offerings taught: how will he not at once turn away his hearing and refuse it as food not suited to him? And another, when the Gospels or the Apostle or the Psalms are read, receives them gladly, embraces them willingly, and rejoices, gathering from them as it were certain remedies for his weakness. If the book of Numbers is read to him, and especially these places which we now have in hand, he will judge that they profit nothing for usefulness, nothing for the remedy of his weakness or the salvation of his soul; but he will at once reject them and spit them out as heavy and burdensome foods, unsuited to a sick and feeble soul. But just as (to take examples again from bodily things), if a lion were given understanding, he would not at once blame the abundance of grasses created because he himself feeds on raw flesh, nor would he say that they were produced superfluously by the Creator because he himself does not use them as food; nor again should a man, because he uses bread and other nourishments suited to him, blame God for having made serpents, which he sees provide food for deer; nor should a sheep or an ox blame it, for example, that other animals are given flesh to eat, since grasses alone are enough for them to eat: so too in rational foods, I mean the divine volumes, Scripture is not at once to be blamed or rejected if it seems more difficult or more obscure to understand, or to contain things which either a beginner and a child, or one who is weaker and less able to understand everything, cannot use, and from which he thinks no usefulness or salvation is conferred on him. But you should consider that, just as the serpent and the sheep, and the ox and man, and grass are all creatures of God, and this diversity looks to the praise and glory of the Creator, in that they either provide or take food suitable and in season for each of those for whom they were created, so too all these things which are words of God, and in which there is diverse food according to the capacity of souls, each one should take according as he feels himself healthy and strong. And yet, if we inquire more carefully, for example, in the reading of the Gospel or the apostolic teaching, in which you seem to delight and in which you consider you have the most suitable and sweetest food, how many things are there that escape you, if you examine and search out the commands of the Lord? And if the things that seem obscure and difficult are at once to be fled and avoided, you will find even in those in which you greatly trust so many obscure and difficult things that, if you hold this opinion, you will have to withdraw from them too. Yet there are very many things in them which are said too plainly and simply not to edify a hearer of little understanding. We have set these things before you by way of preface in order to rouse your minds, since we have in hand a reading of this kind, which seems difficult to understand and superfluous to read. But we cannot say of the writings of the Holy Spirit that anything in them is idle or superfluous, even if they seem obscure to some. But we ought rather to do this: turn the eyes of our mind to him who ordered these things to be written, and ask of him their understanding: so that, whether there is weakness in our soul, he who heals all its infirmities may heal us; or whether we are of little understanding, the Lord who guards the little ones may be present to us, and nourish us, and bring us to the measure of the stature. For both are in him: that we may be healed and that from little ones we may come to manly age. It is in us, then, to ask these things of God; but it is God’s to give to those who ask and to open to those who knock. But let this preface suffice. ### Scripture references - Heb 5:12–14: allusion, high confidence - Rom 14:2: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:2: allusion, high confidence - Esth 1:1: allusion, medium confidence - Ps 103:3 (102:3 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Ps 116:6 (114:6 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Eph 4:13: allusion, high confidence - Matt 7:7: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Jdt (Judith): allusion, high confidence - Tob (Tobit): allusion, high confidence - Wis (Wisdom of Solomon): allusion, low confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Heb 5:12–14; Rom 14:2; 1 Cor 3:2; Ps 103:3 (LXX 102:3); Ps 116:6 (LXX 114:6); Eph 4:13; Matt 7:7. Origen names Esther, Judith, Tobit, and “the precepts of Wisdom” (probably the Wisdom of Solomon or Proverbs) as easy reading for beginners. - Leaked running heads and notes are removed (“Qui lt, 2. Codex S. Theoderici … IN NUMEBOS 781” and “7S 3 HOMILIA XXVII.”). The garbled “Utrumque enim in es". “ll ξι illam?“ Parvulis” is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.1 (PG 12:780b–782d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-2 - Source: PG 12:782b–783b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The list of stations, written by the word of the Lord, must profit us; it signifies both the soul’s progress from paganism to the knowledge of God and its passage through the “many dwellings” after death, Christ being the door to each. ### Latin text Nunc jam ad lectionis ipsius quae recitata est veniamus exordium, ut, juvaute Domino, sensum quoque eorum, etiamsi non ad liquidum, summatim tamen colligere et explicare possimus. Ait ergo : lla: sunt mansiones filiorum ‘lsrael,ex quo exierunt de terra Egypti cum virtute sua, in manu Moysi et Aaron. Et scripsit Moyses profectiones eorum, et mansiones per verbum Domini, › et ea); tera. Audistis quia scripsit haec Moyses per verbum Domini. Et quid voluit Dominus haec scribi? Ut prodesset nobis aliquid scriptura hrec mansionum quas fecerunt filii Israel, aut nihil prodesset? Et quis audeat dicere, quod ea quae per verbum Domini scribuntur, nihil utilitatis habeant, nec salutis aliquid conferant,sed solam rem gestam narrenl,quae tunc quidem prmterierit, nunc autem nihil ad nos ex eius relatione perveniat ἲ Impia haec etaliena a catholica fide sententia est, et eorum tantummodo qui legis et Evangeliorum negant unum solum sapientem esse Deum Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi. Quid ergo de iis mansionibus fidelis sentire debeat intellectus, summatim, prout tempus patitur, pertractare tentemus. Superior disputatio, cum nobis occasionem dicendi de profectione filiorum Israel ex Egypto praebuisset, dupliciter diximus videri posse spiritaliter exire unumquemque de Egypto : vel cum relinquentes gentilem vitam ad agnitionem divinze legis accedimus, vel cum anima de corporis huius habitatione discedit. Ad utrumque ergo istze mansiones, quas nunc per verbum Domini Moyses describit, aspiciunt. Nam de illis quidem mansionibus, quas animae corpore exntm, imo corpore suo rursus indutae habiturae sunt, Dominus pronuntiavit in Evangelio, dicens": «Multa: mansiones sunt apud Patrem meum. Alioquin di. ’ω ORi eerem vobis, Vado et prteparo vobis mansionem. Sunt ergo multa: ille? mansiones quae ad Patrem ε ducunt, in quibus singulis quid cauete, quid utili- ’ tatis animae comniorutiu,quidve eruditionis aut illuminationis accipiat, scit ille solus futuri sazcnli Pater, qui ait de semetipso", quia ‹ ego sum ostium. Nemo venit ad Patrem, nisi per me. »- Qui fortassis in his singulis mansionibus unicuique animae ostium fiet, ut per ipsum intret, et per ipsum exeat, et inveniat pascua, et iterum intret ad aliam, et inde ad aliam mansionem, ttsquequo ad ipsum perveniat Patrem. Sed nos, pene immemores praefationis nostra}, subito auditum vestrum ad alta et ex» celsa surreximus. lmn vero redeamus ad ea, qum inter nos et in nobis geruntur. lu Egypto erant filii Israel, iu operibus Pharaonis regis vluto ac latere aflligebantur, donec ingemiscentes, clamarent ad Dominum. et exaudiens gemitum eorum mitteret eis verbum suum per Moysem, et educeret eos de Egypto. Et nos ergo cum essemus in Egypto, mundi dico hujus erroribus et ignorantiae tenebris, operantes opera diaboli, et in concupiscentiis et voluptatibus carnis, miseratus est Dominus alllictionem nostram; et misit Verbum suum unigenitum Filium, qui nos de ignorantia erroris ereptos ad lucem divinae legis adduceret. ### English translation (Claude) Now let us come to the beginning of the reading itself which has been recited, so that, with the Lord’s help, we may be able to gather and explain its meaning, even if not clearly, at least in summary. It says, then: “These are the stations of the sons of Israel, from when they went out of the land of Egypt with their power, under the hand of Moses and Aaron. And Moses wrote their departures and stations by the word of the Lord,” and so on. You have heard that Moses wrote these things by the word of the Lord. And why did the Lord wish these things to be written? So that this record of the stations which the sons of Israel made might profit us something, or profit us nothing? And who would dare to say that what is written by the word of the Lord has no usefulness and confers no salvation, but only narrates a past event, which then indeed passed away, while now nothing comes to us from its telling? This opinion is impious and foreign to the catholic faith, and belongs only to those who deny that there is one only wise God of the law and the Gospels, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us try, then, to treat in summary, as time allows, what the faithful understanding ought to think about these stations. In the earlier discussion, when it had given us occasion to speak of the departure of the sons of Israel from Egypt, we said that each one can be seen to go out of Egypt spiritually in two ways: either when, leaving the Gentile life, we come to the knowledge of the divine law, or when the soul departs from the dwelling of this body. These stations, then, which Moses now describes by the word of the Lord, look to both. For of those stations which souls stripped of the body, or rather clothed again with their own body, will have, the Lord declared in the Gospel, saying: “In my Father’s house are many dwellings; otherwise I would have told you: I go and prepare a dwelling for you.” There are, then, many of those dwellings which lead to the Father; and in each of them what the soul that stays there receives, what of usefulness, or what of instruction or illumination, he alone knows, the Father of the age to come, who said of himself: “I am the door; no one comes to the Father except through me.” And perhaps in each of these dwellings he will become a door for each soul, so that it may enter through him and go out through him and find pasture, and again enter another, and from there another dwelling, until it comes to the Father himself. But we, almost forgetting our preface, have suddenly raised your hearing to lofty and exalted things. Now let us return to the things that happen among us and in us. The sons of Israel were in Egypt, afflicted with clay and brick in the works of King Pharaoh, until, groaning, they cried to the Lord, and he, hearing their groaning, sent them his word through Moses and led them out of Egypt. So too, when we were in Egypt, I mean in the errors of this world and the darkness of ignorance, doing the works of the devil and in the desires and pleasures of the flesh, the Lord had pity on our affliction and sent his Word, his only-begotten Son, to rescue us from the ignorance of error and bring us to the light of the divine law. ### Scripture references - Num 33:1–2: quotation, high confidence - John 14:2: quotation, high confidence - John 10:9: allusion, high confidence - John 14:6: quotation, high confidence - Exod 1:14: allusion, high confidence - Exod 2:23–24: allusion, high confidence - Exod 3:10: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:1–2; John 14:2; John 10:9 and 14:6; Exod 1:14; Exod 2:23–24; Exod 3:10. “Those who deny that there is one only wise God of the law and the Gospels” refers to the Marcionites and similar groups; translated as written. - “Mansio” is rendered “station” for the encampments of Numbers 33 and “dwelling” for John 14:2, where Origen uses the same word. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.2 (PG 12:782b–783b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-3 - Source: PG 12:783b–784b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The forty-two stations of the exodus correspond to the forty-two generations through which Christ descended; believers ascend by the same steps, beginning, as their first station, with faith in his birth from the Virgin. ### Latin text Sed primo omnium intuere mysterii rationem: quam qui diligenter observaverit, in Scripturis inveniet in egressione filiorum Israel de Egypto, quadraginta et duas habitas esse mansiones: et rur- ο sum adventus Domini et Salvatoris nostri in hunc mundum, per quadraginta et duas generationes adducitur. Sic enim Matthteus evangelista commec morat, dicens ο : Ab Abraham usque ad David regem, generationes quatuordecim.Et a David usque ad transmigrationem Babylonis, generationes quatuordecim. Et a transmigratione Babylonis usque ad Christum, generationes quatuordet-imu Istas ergo quadraginta et duas generationes, quas velut mansiones Christus fecit descendens in Egyptum mundi hujus, ipso numero quadraginta et duas mansiones faciunt, qui ascendunt de Egypto. Et bene observanter posuit Moyses dicens : Ascenderunt filii lsrael cum virtute sua. Qua: est virtus eorum, nisi ipse Christus, qui est virtus Dei? ι) Qui ergo ascendit, eum ipso ascendit, qui ad nos inde descendit, ut illuc perveniat, unde ille non necessitate, sed dignatione descendit, ut verum sit illud quod dictum est , quia s qui descendit, ipse est et qui ascendit. Igitur in quadraginta duabus mansionibus perveniunt tilii Israel usque ad pris. cipium capienda: haereditatis. Principium vero α. pianda: lnereditatis fuit, ubi Ruben et Gad, et dimi. dia tribus Manasse, accipiunt terram Galaad. Ceustat itaque numerus descensionis Christi, per qnadragiuta et duos patres secundum carnem, velut per quadraginta duas mansiones descendens usque ad nos, et per totidem mansiones ascensus filiorum lsrael, usque ad haereditatis promissa: principium. Quod si intellexisti quantum sacramenti tluntcnts iste descensionis ascensionisque contineat, veni jam,et incipiamus per ea, quae descendit Christus ascendere, et primam mansionem istam facere, quam ille novissimam iecit, scilicet, qui natus et Virgine est : et haec sit prima nobis mansio de Egypto exire volentibus, in qua, relicto idolurnut culttt, et dmmoniorum, non deorum, veneratione. credimus Christum natum ex Virgine, et de Spiritu sancto, et Verbum carnem factum venisse in hunc mundum. Post hanc jam proficere, et ascendere sd singulos quosque fidei et virtutum gradus nitamur. Quibus si tandiu immorcmur, donec ad perfectum veniamus, in singulis virtutum gradibus mansionem fecisse dicemur, ttsquequo ad summum pervenienlibus nobis institutionum profectuumque fastigium promissa compleatur hazreditas. ### English translation (Claude) But first of all look at the reasoning of the mystery: whoever observes it carefully will find in the Scriptures that in the departure of the sons of Israel from Egypt there were forty-two stations; and again that the coming of our Lord and Saviour into this world is brought through forty-two generations. For so Matthew the evangelist records, saying: “From Abraham to King David, fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to Christ, fourteen generations.” These forty-two generations, then, which Christ made like stations as he descended into the Egypt of this world, those who go up out of Egypt make, by the same number, into forty-two stations. And Moses carefully put it well, saying: “The sons of Israel went up with their power.” What is their power, if not Christ himself, who is the power of God? He, then, who goes up, goes up with him who came down to us from there, so as to come to the place from which he came down not by necessity but by condescension, so that what was said may be true, that “he who descended is the same who also ascended.” In forty-two stations, then, the sons of Israel come to the beginning of taking the inheritance. And the beginning of taking the inheritance was where Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh receive the land of Gilead. The number of the descent of Christ, then, is established, through forty-two fathers according to the flesh, as if descending through forty-two stations down to us; and through as many stations the ascent of the sons of Israel to the beginning of the promised inheritance. If you have understood how great a sacrament this number of descent and ascent contains, come now, and let us begin to ascend by the way by which Christ descended, and to make as our first station that which he made last, namely his being born of the Virgin; and let this be our first station when we wish to go out of Egypt, in which, having left the worship of idols and the veneration of demons, not gods, we believe that Christ was born of the Virgin and of the Holy Spirit, and that the Word made flesh came into this world. After this let us strive to advance and ascend to each of the steps of faith and virtues. If we dwell on them until we come to the perfect, we shall be said to have made a station at each step of the virtues, until, when we have come to the summit of instruction and advances, the promised inheritance is fulfilled. ### Scripture references - Matt 1:17: quotation, high confidence - Num 33:1: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 1:24: allusion, high confidence - Eph 4:10: quotation, high confidence - Num 32:33: allusion, high confidence - Matt 1:18–20: allusion, high confidence - John 1:14: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Matt 1:17; Num 33:1; 1 Cor 1:24; Eph 4:10; Num 32:33; Matt 1:18–20; John 1:14. Origen counts the stations from Rameses to the plains of Moab (Num 33:5–49) as forty-two. - A leaked reference (“x1v,l6. Lxxxtv,”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.3 (PG 12:783b–784b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-4 - Source: PG 12:784b–785b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: After death the soul journeys through the dwellings prepared with the Father toward its homeland, paradise; the stations of the exodus, with their pursuits, songs, wars, and temptations, describe in mystery this ascent, which only those whose portion is the Lord complete. ### Latin text Sed et anima cum de Egypto vitae hujus proficiscitur, ut tendat ad terram repromissionis, pergit necessario ad illas, quae apud Patrem ab initio prteparatae sunt mansiones. Quarum certe memor Propheta, diccbat”: «Haec memoratus sum, et ell‘udi super me animam meam, quoniam ingrediar in locum tabernaculi admirabilis, usque ad domum Dei. Istae sunt mansiones, et ista tabernacula, de quibus in alio loco dicit”: Quam alti:bilia sunt tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum! ωηο cupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria Domini: Idcirco et in alio loco idem Propheta dicit : «Midtum peregrinata est anima mea. s lntellige ergo. si potes, quae sint ista: peregrinationes animm, in quibus cum quodam gemitu ac dolore peregrinari se diutius defiet. Sed hebescit harum intellectus et obscuratur, donec adlme peregrinatur : tunc autem verius edocebitur, et verius intelliget quas fuerit ratio peregrinationis suae, cum regressa fuerit ad requiem suam, id est ad patriam suam paradisum: quod sub mysterio intuens Propheta dicebat “z s Convertere,anima mea, in requiem tuam, quia Dominus benefacittibi. Sed interim peregrinatur ct agit iter et conficit mansiones, utilitatis sine dubio sata, sicut et quodam loco dicit" : Alllixi te; et cibavi te manna in deserto, quod nescierunt patres tui, ut dignosceretur quid est in corde tuo. [site ᾖ ergo mansiones sunt, quibus iter e terris agitur ad -’ cmlum.Et quis ita invenitur idoneus, et divinorum conscius secretorum, qui possit itineris istius et ascensionis animae describere mansiones, et uniuscujusque loci vel labores explicare vel requies? Quomodo enim enarret quod post primam et secundam et tertiam mansionem insequatur adhuc Pharao, insequantur Egyptii, et licet non comprehendant, tamen insectentur, ct licet submersi sint, tamen insecuti sint? Quomodo enuntiet quod salvus cil‘ectus Dei populus, post aliquot mansiones primum cantavcrit canticum dicens'3H Cantemus Domino, gloriose enim bonorificatusest,equum ct ascensorem projecit in mare?» Sed haec, ut dixi, qui per singulas mansiones audeat aperire, et pro contemplatione nominum qualitates quoque conjicere mansionum. nescio si aut sensus dicentis ad mysteriorum pondus sufficiat, aut auditus capiat audientium. Quomodo enim vel occursus belli explicetur Amalecitarum, vel diversa: tentationes, et illi quomodo enarrentur, quorum artus ceciderunt in deserto, et quod omnino non lilii Israel, sed filii filiorum Israel, ad terram sanctam pervenire potuerunt, et omnis ille vetus populus cecidit, quibus conversatio et habitatio fuerat cum Egyptiis, solus autem novus pervenit ad regnum qui ignorabat ρ Aigyptios, exceptis sacerdotibus et Levitis? Si quis enim potuerit se in sacerdotum et Levitarum ordine collocare, si quis potuerit non habere portionem in terris ullam, nisi solum Dominmn, iste nou eadet in deserto, sed perveniet ad terram repromissionis. Unde et tu si vis non cadere in deserto, sed pervenire ad terram repromissionis patrum, sortem tuam non habeas in terra, nec sit tibi aliquid commune cum terra. Portio tua sit Dominus solus, et nunquam cades. Agitur ergo ascensio de Egypt) ad terram repromissionis, per quam. ut dixi, mysticis descriptionibus edocemur ascensum animae ad cadum ct resurrectionis ex mortuis sacramentum. 377 ### English translation (Claude) But the soul too, when it sets out from the Egypt of this life to go to the land of promise, necessarily goes to those dwellings which have been prepared with the Father from the beginning. Surely mindful of them the prophet said: “These things I remembered, and I poured out my soul within me, for I will go into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God.” These are the dwellings and these the tabernacles of which he says in another place: “How lovely are your tabernacles, Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.” Therefore in another place too the same prophet says: “My soul has long been a sojourner.” Understand, then, if you can, what these sojournings of the soul are, in which it laments that it has long been a sojourner with a certain groaning and grief. But the understanding of them is dulled and darkened while it is still a sojourner; but then it will be taught more truly and will understand more truly what was the reason of its sojourning, when it has returned to its rest, that is, to its homeland, paradise: which the prophet, beholding in a mystery, said: “Return, my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has done you good.” But meanwhile it sojourns, and makes its journey, and completes its stations, sown, without doubt, with usefulness, as it says in a certain place: “I afflicted you and fed you with manna in the wilderness, which your fathers did not know, so that what was in your heart might be discerned.” These, then, are the stations by which the journey is made from earth to heaven. And who is found so capable, and so aware of the divine secrets, as to be able to describe the stations of this journey and ascent of the soul, and to explain the labours or the rests of each place? For how would he tell that after the first and second and third station Pharaoh still pursues, the Egyptians pursue, and though they do not catch them, yet they pursue, and though they were drowned, yet they had pursued? How would he declare that the people of God, having been saved, after some stations first sang a song, saying: “Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously honoured; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea”? But, as I said, I do not know whether the understanding of one who would dare to open these things station by station, and from contemplation of the names to conjecture the qualities of the stations, would be sufficient for the weight of the mysteries, or the hearing of the hearers would take it in. For how would one explain the onset of the war of the Amalekites, or the various temptations, and how would those be told whose limbs fell in the desert, and that not the sons of Israel at all, but the sons of the sons of Israel were able to come to the holy land, and all that old people fell, whose conduct and dwelling had been with the Egyptians, and only the new one, which did not know the Egyptians, came to the kingdom, except the priests and Levites? For if anyone can place himself in the order of the priests and Levites, if anyone can have no portion on earth but the Lord alone, he will not fall in the desert but will come to the land of promise. Hence you too, if you wish not to fall in the desert but to come to the land promised to the fathers, should not have your lot on earth, nor have anything in common with the earth. Let your portion be the Lord alone, and you will never fall. The ascent, then, is made from Egypt to the land of promise, through which, as I said, we are taught by mystical descriptions the ascent of the soul to heaven and the sacrament of the resurrection from the dead. ### Scripture references - John 14:2: allusion, high confidence - Ps 42:4 (41:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 84:1–2 (83:2-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 120:6 (119:6 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 116:7 (114:7 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Deut 8:2–3: quotation, high confidence - Exod 14:9: allusion, high confidence - Exod 15:1: quotation, high confidence - Exod 17:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 14:29–31: allusion, high confidence - Heb 3:17: allusion, high confidence - Num 18:20: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: John 14:2; Ps 42:4 (LXX 41:5); Ps 84:1–2 (LXX 83:2–3); Ps 120:6 (LXX 119:6); Ps 116:7 (LXX 114:7); Deut 8:2–3; Exod 14:9; Exod 15:1; Exod 17:8; Num 14:29–31; Heb 3:17; Num 18:20. - Paradise as the soul’s “homeland” to which it “returns” reflects Origen’s view of the soul; translated as written. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.4 (PG 12:784b–785b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-4). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.5 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-5 - Source: PG 12:785b–786b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The stations bear mystical names; after death the soul, led by the Son and the Holy Spirit, is illuminated more at each dwelling until it can bear the true light, while in this life the soul passes through trial after trial, going “from strength to strength.” ### Latin text Ponuntur autem et nomina mansionibus. Neque enim conveniens videbatur, ut omnis locus qui sub coelo, sive montium, sive collium, sive camporum nominibns uteretur : illa vero ascensio qua anima ascendit ad regnum Dei, mansionum suarum nomina non haberet. liabet nomina mansionum mysticis aptata vocabulis, habet et deducentem se non nam ignis et nubem ; Filium scilicet Dei, et Spiritum sanctum, sicut et in alio loco Propheta dicit ἰτ Ipse Dominus ducebat eos.» Talis ergo liet beata: animae ascensus, cum submersi fuerint omnes x’Egyptii et Amaleeitae, atque universi qui impugnaverant eam : et per singulas quasque digrediens ’ mansiones, illas scilicet multas quae dicuntur esse apud Patrem, illuminatur amplius ex una ad aliam veniens, majora semper illuminationis augmenta conquirit, usquequo assueta sit ipsius veri luminis quod illuminat omnem hominem, intuitum pati, ct mira: majestatis ferre fulgorem. Si vero ad secundam, de qua superius memoravimus, expositionem redeamus, et animm in hac vita positae'per haee doceri intelligamus profectus, quae conversa de geutili vita, non tam Moysen quam legem Dei, nec Aaron, sed sacerdotem illum qui permanet io teternum sequitur; antequam ad perfectum veniat, in eremo habitat; ubi scilicet exerceatur in praeceptis Domini, et ubi tides ejus per tentationes probetur. Ubi cum vicerit unam tentationem, et fides ejus in' ea fuerit probata, inde venit ad aliam, et quasi de una mansione ad alteram transit, et ibi cum Obtinuerit quae acciderint, et fideliter tulerit, pergit ad aliam; et ita per singula quasque tentamenta vita} ac lidei prosecuta, mansiones habere dicitur : in quibus per singula virtutum quaeruntur augmenta : et impletur in iis illud quod scriptum est ” : Ibunt de virtute iu virtutem, usquequo perveniatur ad ultimum, imo ad summum gradum virtutum, ec transeatur flumen Dei, ac promissa suscipiatur ba:reditas. ### English translation (Claude) Names too are given to the stations. For it did not seem fitting that every place under heaven, whether of mountains or hills or plains, should use names, but that that ascent by which the soul ascends to the kingdom of God should not have the names of its stations. It has names of the stations fitted with mystical words, and it has as its guide not a pillar of fire and cloud, but the Son of God and the Holy Spirit, as the prophet says in another place: “The Lord himself led them.” Such, then, will be the ascent of the blessed soul, when all the Egyptians and Amalekites, and all who had attacked it, have been drowned; and, passing through each of the stations, namely those many which are said to be with the Father, it is further illuminated as it comes from one to another, always gaining greater increases of illumination, until it has become accustomed to bear the sight of the true light itself, which enlightens every man, and to endure the brightness of its wonderful majesty. But if we return to the second explanation, which we mentioned above, and understand that by these things the advances of the soul placed in this life are taught: having turned from the Gentile life, it follows not so much Moses as the law of God, and not Aaron but that priest who remains for ever; before it comes to the perfect, it dwells in the wilderness, where, namely, it is exercised in the commandments of the Lord, and where its faith is tested by temptations. There, when it has overcome one temptation and its faith has been tested in it, it comes from there to another, and passes as it were from one station to another; and there, when it has prevailed over what befell it and borne it faithfully, it goes on to another; and so, having passed through each of the trials of life and faith, it is said to have stations, in each of which increases of virtues are sought; and in them is fulfilled what is written: “They will go from strength to strength,” until one comes to the last, or rather the highest, step of the virtues, and the river of God is crossed, and the promised inheritance is received. ### Scripture references - Exod 13:21: allusion, high confidence - Deut 32:12: quotation, medium confidence - John 14:2: allusion, high confidence - John 1:9: quotation, high confidence - Heb 7:24: allusion, high confidence - Ps 84:7 (83:8 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 46:4 (45:5 LXX): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Exod 13:21; Deut 32:12; John 14:2; John 1:9; Ps 110:4 and Heb 7:24; Ps 84:7 (LXX 83:8, “from virtue to virtue”); Ps 46:4. - The scan’s “non nam ignis et nubem” is read as “non columnam ignis et nubis.” ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.5 (PG 12:785b–786b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-5). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.6 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-6 - Source: PG 12:786b–787d - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The list of stations is given twice to show the soul’s two ways, its advance in virtue in this life and its illumination through the dwellings after the resurrection; the “hand” of Moses and Aaron signifies the knowledge of the law joined with the works that please God. ### Latin text Duplici igitur expositione utentes, omnem hunc qui ret-italus est considerare debemus ordi-i nem mansionum, ut ex utroque’sit animae nostrae profectus, agnoscentibus ex iis vel haec vita, quae ex conversione erroris legem Dei sequitur, qualiter agi debeat, vel futurae spei quas-ex resurrectione promittitur, quanta sit exspectatio. Sic enim puto quod iis quae leguntur, digna sancti Spiritus legibus intelligentia doceatur. Nam scire in deserto illo qui dictus sit locus ille, ubi, verbi gratia, applicuerunt tunc transeuntes lilii Israel, quid mihi utilitatis δέέ- Ι) fert, aut quid legentibus ex hoc prolectus, et legem Dei die ac nocte meditantibus conferatur? maxime cum videamus tantam fuisse curam Domino de istis mansionibus perscribendis, ut descriptio earum secundo jam loco divinis legibus inderetur. Commemorala sunt enim nomina ista, licet in nonnullis immutata, jam tunc cum per loca singula elevasse tur a Moyse. Unde et hoc ipsum quod secundo repetitur ista descriptio, satis congrue mihi videtur ad mysterium eXpositionis hujus quam proposui- :nus : bis enim repetuntur, ut duas anima: ostenderent vias; unam qua in carne posita per legem Dei in virtutibus exercetur, et per gradus quosdam profectuum ascendens pergit, ut diximus, de virtute in virtutem, et ipsis profectibus quasi mansionibus utitur; aliam vero qua post resurrectionem ascensura ad ctelos non subito nec importune ad summa conscendit, sed per multas deducitur mansiones, in quibus illuminata per singulas et angmento semper Splendoris accepto, in unaquaque mansione illustrata sapientia lumine usquead ipsum perveniat luminum Patrem. Exierunt ergo, iuquit ", filii Israel cum virtute sua. Erat cum illis virtus illa quae dixerat δ’ z tTecum descendam in .‘Egypllllll; et quia erat cum illis ista virtus, propterea dicit Propheta ” : Et non erat in tribubus eorum infirmatis. Exierant autem in manu Moysi et Aaron. Ad exeundum de Egypto non sufficit una manus Moysi,.quteritur et manus Aaron. Moyses indit-at scientiam legis, Aaron sacrificandi Deo et immolandi peritiam. Opus est ergo, ut exeuntes de Egypto non solum scientiam legis et fidei, sed quibus Deo placetur fructus habeamus. Ideo enim et manus commemoratur Moysi et Aaron, -ut opera per manus intelligas. Etenim si exiens de α et conversus ad Deum abjiciam superbiam, per manus Aaron taurum Deo sacrificavi. Si petulantiam lasciviamque peremero, hircum Dominojugulasse me Aaron manibus credam. Si libidinem vicero, vitulum; si stultitiam, ovem immolasse videbor. Sic ergo cum anima: vitia purgantur, manus Aaron operatur in nobis; et manus Moysi nobiscum est, cum ad lucc ipsa intelligenda illuminamur cx lege. Et ideo utraque manus. necessaria est de Egypto exeuntibus, ut inveniatur in eis non solum fidei et scientiae, sed et actuum operumque perfectio; et tamen utrmque hae non sunt dua: manus, sed una. Iit manu enim Moysi et Aaron eduxit eos Dominus, et non in manibus Moysi etAaron, unum enim opus utriusque manus εει, atque una perfectionis cxpletio. ### English translation (Claude) Using, then, a twofold explanation, we ought to consider this whole order of the stations which has been recited, so that our soul may advance from both, recognizing from them either how this life, which after conversion from error follows the law of God, ought to be lived, or how great is the expectation of the future hope which is promised from the resurrection. For so I think an understanding worthy of the laws of the Holy Spirit is taught from what is read. For to know what was the name of that place in the desert where, for example, the sons of Israel then encamped as they passed, what usefulness does it bring me, or what advance is conferred by this on those who read and meditate on the law of God day and night? Especially since we see that the Lord had such care for writing down these stations that their description was placed in the divine laws now for the second time. For these names were already recorded, though in some cases changed, at the time when the camp was moved place by place by Moses. Hence this very fact that this description is repeated a second time seems to me quite fitting for the mystery of the explanation we have proposed: for they are repeated twice in order to show the two ways of the soul: one by which, placed in the flesh, it is exercised in the virtues through the law of God, and, ascending by certain steps of advances, goes on, as we said, from strength to strength, and uses these very advances like stations; the other by which, after the resurrection, being about to ascend to the heavens, it does not climb to the summit suddenly or unsuitably, but is led through many dwellings, in each of which it is illuminated, and, always receiving an increase of splendour, in each dwelling is enlightened by the light of wisdom, until it comes to the Father of lights himself. “The sons of Israel went out,” then, it says, “with their power.” That power was with them which had said: “I will go down with you into Egypt”; and because this power was with them, the prophet says therefore: “And there was no weakness in their tribes.” And they had gone out under the hand of Moses and Aaron. For going out of Egypt the hand of Moses alone is not enough; the hand of Aaron is also sought. Moses signifies the knowledge of the law, Aaron the skill of sacrificing and offering to God. It is necessary, then, that in going out of Egypt we have not only the knowledge of the law and of faith, but also the fruits by which God is pleased. For that is why the hand of Moses and Aaron is mentioned, so that you may understand works through the hands. For if, going out of Egypt and turned to God, I cast off pride, I have sacrificed a bull to God by the hand of Aaron. If I destroy wantonness and lust, let me believe that I have slain a goat to the Lord by the hands of Aaron. If I conquer lust, I shall seem to have sacrificed a calf; if folly, a sheep. So, then, when the vices of the soul are purged, the hand of Aaron works in us; and the hand of Moses is with us when we are illuminated by the law to understand these very things. And therefore both hands are necessary for those going out of Egypt, so that there may be found in them not only the perfection of faith and knowledge, but also of acts and works; and yet these two are not two hands but one. For the Lord led them out “under the hand of Moses and Aaron,” and not “under the hands of Moses and Aaron”: for the work of both hands is one, and one is the fulfilment of perfection. ### Scripture references - Ps 1:2: allusion, high confidence - Ps 84:7 (83:8 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Jas 1:17: allusion, high confidence - Num 33:1: quotation, high confidence - Gen 46:4: quotation, high confidence - Ps 105:37 (104:37 LXX): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Ps 1:2; Exod 12–19 (the earlier record of the stations); Ps 84:7 (LXX 83:8); Jas 1:17; Num 33:1; Gen 46:4; Ps 105:37 (LXX 104:37). - A leaked marginal reference (“Psal. Lxxxw, 7. 14.”) is removed; the word it splits (“elevasse … tur”) is translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.6 (PG 12:786b–787d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-6). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.7 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-7 - Source: PG 12:787d–788b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The stations were written so that we might prepare for the journey to the kingdom and not waste life on the world’s pleasures, like the rich fool, lest we fall in the desert. ### Latin text Et scripsit, inquit“, Moyses profectiones et mansiones eorum, per verbum Domini. Scripsit ergo hare per verbum Domini, nt legentes nos, et videntes quantae nobis immineant profectiones ad iter quod ducit ad regnum, praeparemus nos ad vitam hanc, et considerantes iter quod nobis immineat, non segniter nec remisse vine nostrae tempus ’ permittamus absumi, ne forte dum in his huius mundi vanitatibus immoramur et singulis quibusque, quae ad vısum vel auditum vel etiam quae ad tactum atque odoratum gus- tumque veniunt, delectamur, labantur dies, tempus praetereat et non occurranms omne spatium imminentis itineris cxplicare, ct deficiamus in medio, atque accidat nobis illud quod de quibusdam refertur, qui pervenire non potuerunt, sed artus eorum ceciderunt in deserto. Iter ergo agimus, et idcirco devenimus in hunc mundum, ut transeamus de virtute ad virtutem: non ut permaneamus pro terrenis in terra, sicut et ille qui dicebat” : Destruam horrea mea, et alia maiora azdificabo, et dicam aniuite mea: : Anima,habes multa bona reposita in annos multos, manduca, et bibe, et lmtare. ne forte dicat et nobis Dominus, Sil'lll illi : Stulte, hac noete auferetur a te anima tua. Non dixit in hac die, sed in hac nocte. In nocte enim perimitur et hic, sicut primogenita Egyptiorum, tanquam qui dilexerit mundum. et tenebras ejus. et particeps fuerit rectorum mundi huius ν tenebrarum harum π’. Tenehrze autem et nox mundns iste appellatur pro iis qui in ignorantia vivunt, nec lumen recipiunt veritatis. Qui autem tales sunt, de Ramesse non proficiscuntur, nec transeuntad Sochoth. ### English translation (Claude) “And Moses wrote,” it says, “their departures and stations by the word of the Lord.” He wrote these things, then, by the word of the Lord, so that we, reading them and seeing how great departures await us on the journey that leads to the kingdom, may prepare ourselves for this life, and, considering the journey that awaits us, may not let the time of our life be consumed sluggishly or carelessly; lest perhaps, while we linger in these vanities of this world and delight in each of the things that come to sight or hearing, or even to touch and smell and taste, the days slip away and the time passes, and we do not manage to complete the whole extent of the journey before us, and fail in the middle, and there befall us what is related of some who could not arrive, but their limbs fell in the desert. We are making a journey, then, and for this we came into this world, to pass from strength to strength: not to remain on earth for earthly things, like the one who said: “I will pull down my barns and build others greater, and I will say to my soul: Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; eat, drink, and be merry”; lest perhaps the Lord say to us too, as to him: “Fool, this night your soul will be taken from you.” He did not say “this day,” but “this night.” For he too is slain in the night, like the firstborn of the Egyptians, as one who loved the world and its darkness, and was a partaker of the rulers of the world, of this darkness. And this world is called darkness and night because of those who live in ignorance and do not receive the light of truth. But those who are such do not set out from Rameses, nor cross over to Succoth. ### Scripture references - Num 33:2: quotation, high confidence - Heb 3:17: allusion, high confidence - Ps 84:7 (83:8 LXX): allusion, high confidence - Luke 12:18–20: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:29: allusion, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:2; Heb 3:17; Ps 84:7 (LXX 83:8); Luke 12:18–20; Exod 12:29; Eph 6:12. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.7 (PG 12:787d–788b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-7). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.8 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-8 - Source: PG 12:788b–790a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Israel left Egypt the day after the Passover, a festival kept now only “in part”; God’s vengeance on the gods of Egypt is executed whenever those whom demons deceived are converted, and above all when believers study the Scriptures. ### Latin text Videamus tamen prius quando proficiscuntur filii Israel ex Ramesse. Mense, inquit “, primo. quinta decima die mensis. Per praeceptum Domini quartadecima die mensis egerant Pascha in Aie}pto, jugulanles agnum pridie quam proficiscercutur, et initium quodammodo festivitatis adhuc in Egypto positi gerunt. Sequenti ergo die,quiest primus dies Azymorum, quinta decima die mensis primi proficiscuntur de Ramesse, et veniunt in Sochoth, ut ibi faciant festivitatis Azymorum diem. Quis sapiens et intelliget haec? sensatus et cognoscet ea πῖ» lmo quis est qui haec vel ex parte cognoscat, sicut Apostolus dicit " ε Et parte scimus, et ex parte prophetamus?» Quis intelligit quomodo ex parte dies festos agimus, ut nemo nos judicet in parte diei l'esti, aut Neomenite, aut Sabhati? Omnis namque dies festus qui in terrisab hominibus geritur, in parte, non in integro, neque perfecto festivitatis titulo geritur : sed cum exieris de [Egypto ista, tunc erit tibi perfecta festivitas. tunc azyma sinceritatis et veritatis ad perfectum curabis, tunc Pentecostes diem in eremo ages, et tunc forte primum mannte cibum ctelestem suscipies, ac singulas quasque festivitates geres, de quibus jam superius, ut potuimus, dictum est. Scito tamen quoniam post illud pascha quod in Egypto factum est, semel invenimus in deserto pascha τοι ratum, eum lex data est, et aliud, sicut observavimus in Nnmeris, post haec jam nusquam geri, ni si in terra repromiSsionis. Igitur quinta decima die mensis primi, sequenti post PaScha die, qui esl primus Azytnorum dies, profecti sunt lilii Israel de Ramesse, in manu, inquit”, excdsa, in conspectu omnium Aegyptiorum. Quae est manus excelsa? Et alibi enim dicit: Exaltetur manus tua. Ubi nou est humanum opus nec terrenum, sed divinum, ibi manus excelsa nominatur. Per manus namque opus intelligi, saepe iam dictum est. In manu ergo excelsa, in conspectu omnium Egyptiorum profecti sunt. Et Egyptii, inquit ’, sepeliebant mortuos suos; viventes autem sequebantur Dominum Deum suum. Post haec dicitur8 quia et in diis eorum fecit Dominus vindictam. Sed et in Exodo ita‘ dicit : ‹ Et in omnibus diis [Egyptiorum faciet Dominus vindictam. Hic autem dicit quia fecit in eos Dominus vindictam. Sunt quidam qui dicuntur dii sive in caelo, sive in terra, Apostolus ait . Sed et in Psalmis dicitur : Omnes dii gentium, dmmouia. Non ergo simulacra, sed daemones «μή simulacris assident, deos dicit in quos fecit Dominus vindictam. Sed velim requirere quomodo Deus vindictam faciat in daemones, eum utique vindicta: dies et judieii nondum advenerit. Sed bane ego puto in dmmones fleri vindictam, eum is qui ab illis deceptus fuerat ut idola coleret, per verbum Domini conversus Dominum colit; et ex ipso opere conversionis, in eum vindicta qui deceperat, datur. Similiter si is qui a daemonibus deceptus fuerat ad fornicandum, convertatur ad pudicitiam, diligat castitatem, errasse se defleat, ι)ωηίtentia: ipsius lacrymis utitur et incenditur daemon, ct sic vindicta datur in deeeptionis auctorem. Similiter etiam si quis de superbia ad humilitatem, de profusione ad parcitnouiam redeat, per haec singula daemones, qui se in iure deceperant, flagellat et cruciat. Quantis eos putatis agi tormentis, si qncnt videant, secundum verbum Domini, vendere omnia sua quae possidet, et dare pauperibus et tollere crucem suam, et sequi Christum! Super omnia vero eis est tormentorum genera, et super omnes paruas, si quem videant verbo Dei operam dare, scientiam divina: legis et mysteria Scripturarum intentis studiis perquirentem : in boc eorum omnis ilamma est, in isto uruntur incendio, quoniam quidem ignorantia: tenebris humanas obscuraverant mentes, et haec obtinuerant, ut Deus quidem ignorarctur, ad ipsos vero divini cultus studia transfer- 'eutur. Quae putas in illos vindicta datur, quae infer- ι) ur eis flamma ptenaru m,cum vident haec lumine veitatis aperiri, et fraudis sua: nebulas per agnitionem egis divina: reserari? Possident enim cunctos qui in gnorantia vivunt : et non solum illos qui adhuc in gnorautia sunt, sed ingerunt se saepe etiam iis qui 379 agnoverunt Deum, et rursus in iis opera igno- quis committit, non est utique sine dmn‘ioue: vel cum ira immoderata raptatur, vel eum diripit alieuazet qui sedens adversus proximqu suum de. trahit, et adversum tilium matris sua: ponit seandalum, non est sine dmmone. Et ideo. omnimode agendum est nobis, ne forte Egyptiornm primogenita, vel deos eorum quos Dominus percussit et exstinxit, resuscitemus iu nobis, si eis locum dederimus operaudi in nobis ea quae odit Deus. Si autem ab his omnibus contineamus nos, eo modo quo superius diximus, dedit vindictam in omnibus diis Egyptiorum, pinnasque ex nostra emendatione et conversione daemones suscipiunt. ### English translation (Claude) Let us see first, however, when the sons of Israel set out from Rameses. “In the first month,” it says, “on the fifteenth day of the month.” By the Lord’s command they had kept the Passover in Egypt on the fourteenth day of the month, slaying the lamb on the day before they set out, and they keep in a certain way the beginning of the festival while still placed in Egypt. On the next day, then, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, on the fifteenth day of the first month, they set out from Rameses and come to Succoth, to keep there the day of the festival of Unleavened Bread. “Who is wise and will understand these things? Who is prudent and will know them?” Or rather, who is there who knows these things even in part, as the Apostle says: “We know in part and we prophesy in part”? Who understands how we keep feast days in part, so that no one may judge us in part of a feast day, or a new moon, or a Sabbath? For every feast day that is kept by men on earth is kept in part, not wholly, nor with the perfect title of festival; but when you have gone out of this Egypt, then you will have a perfect festival; then you will keep perfectly the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth; then you will keep the day of Pentecost in the wilderness, and then perhaps you will first receive the heavenly food of manna, and you will keep each of the festivals of which we have already spoken above as we could. Know, however, that after that Passover which was made in Egypt, we find a Passover celebrated once in the desert, when the law was given, and another, as we have observed in Numbers, not kept anywhere after this except in the land of promise. On the fifteenth day of the first month, then, the day after the Passover, which is the first day of Unleavened Bread, the sons of Israel set out from Rameses “with a high hand,” it says, “in the sight of all the Egyptians.” What is the “high hand”? For elsewhere too he says: “Let your hand be exalted.” Where the work is not human nor earthly but divine, there a high hand is named. For it has often been said already that work is understood by the hands. With a high hand, then, they set out in the sight of all the Egyptians. “And the Egyptians,” it says, “were burying their dead”; but the living were following the Lord their God. After this it is said that the Lord executed vengeance on their gods too. And in Exodus it says thus: “And on all the gods of the Egyptians the Lord will execute vengeance.” But here it says that the Lord executed vengeance on them. There are some who are called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, the Apostle says. And in the Psalms it is said: “All the gods of the nations are demons.” He calls gods, then, not the images, but the demons who sit by the images, on whom the Lord executed vengeance. But I should like to ask how God executes vengeance on demons, since the day of vengeance and judgment has certainly not yet come. But I think that vengeance is executed on demons in this way: when one who had been deceived by them into worshipping idols is converted by the word of the Lord and worships the Lord; and by the very work of conversion vengeance is given on him who had deceived him. Likewise, if one who had been deceived by demons into sexual immorality is converted to chastity, loves continence, and weeps for having gone astray, the demon is burned by the tears of his repentance, and so vengeance is given on the author of the deception. Likewise, if someone returns from pride to humility, from extravagance to thrift, through each of these he scourges and torments the demons who had deceived him in these things. With how great torments do you think they are driven if they see someone, according to the word of the Lord, sell all that he possesses and give to the poor, and take up his cross and follow Christ! But above all kinds of torments for them, and above all punishments, is it if they see someone devote himself to the word of God, searching out with intent study the knowledge of the divine law and the mysteries of the Scriptures: in this is all their flame, in this burning they are burned, since they had darkened human minds with the darkness of ignorance, and had obtained this, that God was unknown and the zeal of divine worship was transferred to themselves. What vengeance do you think is given on them, what flame of punishments is brought on them, when they see these things opened by the light of truth, and the clouds of their deceit unlocked through the knowledge of the divine law? For they possess all who live in ignorance; and not only those who are still in ignorance, but they often thrust themselves even on those who have known God, and again work in them the works of ignorance. For whatever sin anyone commits is certainly not without a demon: whether he is carried away by immoderate anger, or when he plunders another’s goods; and he who sits and speaks against his neighbour, and puts a stumbling block before his mother’s son, is not without a demon. And therefore we must act in every way so that we do not perhaps raise up again in ourselves the firstborn of the Egyptians, or their gods whom the Lord struck and destroyed, by giving them room to work in us the things that God hates. But if we keep ourselves from all these things, in the way we said above, he has executed vengeance on all the gods of the Egyptians, and the demons receive punishments from our amendment and conversion. ### Scripture references - Num 33:3–4: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:6: allusion, high confidence - Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:9: quotation, high confidence - Col 2:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 5:8: allusion, high confidence - Num 9:1–5: allusion, high confidence - Exod 12:12: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 8:5: allusion, high confidence - Ps 96:5 (95:5 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:21: allusion, high confidence - Matt 16:24: allusion, high confidence - Ps 50:20 (49:20 LXX): allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:3–4; Exod 12:6; Hos 14:9 (LXX 14:10); 1 Cor 13:9; Col 2:16; 1 Cor 5:8; Num 9:1–5; Exod 12:12; 1 Cor 8:5; Ps 96:5 (LXX 95:5); Matt 19:21; Matt 16:24; Ps 50:20 (LXX 49:20). - Lines lost in the scan after “in compe-” (where leaked references stand) are supplied from Baehrens's edition; after “opera igno-” the words “ignorance. For whatever sin” are supplied by sense, as the passage could not be found in the copy of Baehrens available. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.8 (PG 12:788b–790a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-1/#p-27-8). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-9 - Source: PG 12:790b–791b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The first stations show the soul’s first advances: leaving the turbulence of Rameses for the tents of Succoth, fighting in the valley of Etham, beginning with moderate abstinence at Hiroth, and looking toward the watchtower and magnificence to come. ### Latin text Exeunt ergo ex Egypto filii lsrael. et proflciscentes ex Ramesse veniunt in Socbotb. Profectionis hic ordo, et distinctio mansionum, valde necessaria et observanda est iis qui sequuntur Deum, et de virtutum profectibus cogitant. De quo'ordine memini quod jam et in aliis, eum aedificationis causa aliqua loqueremur, quae Dominus dare dignatus est, prosecuti sumus. Sed et nunc paucis iterum orantibus vobis commonebimus. Fit ergo prima profectio ex Ramesse, et sive de- boc mundo anima proficiscens ad futurum saeculum pergil, sive ab erroribus vita: ad viam virtutis et agnitionis convertitur, ex lianxesse proficiscitur. Ramesse enim in nostra lingua dicitur commotio turbida, vel commotio tineae. 1η quo utique ostenditur, quod omnia in hoc mundo in commotionibus et perturbationi-7 bus posita sunt, et in corruptela : hoc enim tinea. indicat. In quibus non oportet residere animam, sed proficisci, et venire in Socbotb. Socbotb autem interpretatur tabernacula. Igitur primus anima: profectus est ut auferatur a commotione terrena, et sciat sibi tanquam peregrinanti in tabernaculis babitandum, quo velut in procinctu posita adversus insidiantes expedita occurrere possit et libera. Inde jam ubi se sentit esse prmparatam, proficiscitur ex Sochoth et applicat in Butban. Butban cottvalli: appellatur. Virtutum diximus in bis esse profectum. Virtus non nisi exercitiis et labore coitquiritur, nec tantum in prosperis, quantum in adversis probatur. Venitur ad convallem. ln convallibus autem et in inferioribus locis certamen habetur adversus diabolum et contrarias potestates. ln convalli ergo agon gerendus est, et in convalli pugnandum est. Denique et Abraham in vaile Saliuarum pugnavit adversum barbaros reges, et ibi victoriam consecutus est ‘. Descendit ergo viator hic noster ad eos qui in profundis sunt et in imis, non ut ibi demoretur, sed ut ibi victoriam consequatur. Profecti sunt autem ex Buthan, et applicuerunt ad os lroth. lroth vicus interpretatur. Nondum enim venitur ad civitatem, nec qua: perfecta sunt jam tenentur, sed interim primo parva quaeque capiuntur. Hic est enim prolectus, ut aparvis ad magna veniatur. Venitur ergo ad lroth,b‘oc est ad ingressum primum vici, quod est initium cmiversatiouis , et abstinentiae medioeiis. Periculosa est namque in initiis grandis et immoderata abstinentia. lroth autem htcc posita est contra Beelsephon, et contra Magdalum. Beelsephou interpretatur ascensio specut'w, sive turris. A parvis ergo ascenditur ad magna, et nondum iu ipsa specula, sed contra speculam, id est in conspectu speculae posita est. Speculari enim incipit, et prospicere spem futuram et altitudinem profectuum contemplari, et paulatim crescit, dum plus spe nutritur quam laboribus fatigatur. Quae statio, sive mansio contra Magdalum est, nondum in ipso Magdalo. Magdalum enim magnificentia dicitur. llabeus ergo in conspectu et ascensionem speculze, et magnificentiam rerum futurarum, spebus, ut diximus, ingentibus pascitur et nutritur. In profectionibus enim est, non in perfectione jam posita. lt). ### English translation (Claude) The sons of Israel go out of Egypt, then, and, setting out from Rameses, they come to Succoth. This order of departure and distinction of stations is very necessary and to be observed by those who follow God and think about advances in the virtues. About this order I remember that we have already gone through it elsewhere too, when we said some things for the sake of edification, as the Lord deigned to grant. But now too, with your prayers, we will remind you of it briefly. The first departure, then, is made from Rameses; and whether the soul, setting out from this world, goes to the age to come, or is converted from the errors of life to the way of virtue and knowledge, it sets out from Rameses. For Rameses is called in our language “turbulent commotion,” or “commotion of the moth.” By this it is surely shown that everything in this world is placed in commotions and disturbances, and in corruption: for this is what the moth indicates. In these the soul ought not to stay, but to set out and come to Succoth. And Succoth is interpreted “tents.” The first advance of the soul, then, is to be taken away from earthly commotion and to know that it must dwell in tents as a sojourner, so that, placed as it were in readiness for battle, it may go out unencumbered and free to meet those who lie in wait. From there, when it feels itself prepared, it sets out from Succoth and encamps at Etham. Etham is called “valley.” We said that in these is the advance of virtues. Virtue is gained only by exercises and labour, and is tested not so much in prosperity as in adversity. One comes to the valley. And in valleys and lower places the contest is held against the devil and the opposing powers. In the valley, then, the struggle must be waged, and in the valley one must fight. Indeed Abraham too fought in the vale of the salt pits against barbarian kings, and there obtained the victory. This traveller of ours, then, goes down to those who are in the depths and the lowest places, not to stay there but to win the victory there. And they set out from Etham and encamped at the mouth of Hiroth. Hiroth is interpreted “village.” For one does not yet come to a city, nor are perfect things yet held, but meanwhile small things are taken first. For this is advance, to come from small things to great. One comes, then, to Hiroth, that is, to the first entrance of a village, which is the beginning of conduct and of moderate abstinence. For in the beginnings great and immoderate abstinence is dangerous. And this Hiroth is set opposite Baal-zephon and opposite Migdol. Baal-zephon is interpreted “ascent of the watchtower,” or “tower.” One ascends, then, from small things to great; and it is not yet on the watchtower itself, but opposite the watchtower, that is, set in sight of the watchtower. For it begins to keep watch, and to look ahead to the future hope and contemplate the height of advances, and little by little it grows, while it is nourished by hope more than it is wearied by labours. This station or encampment is opposite Migdol, not yet at Migdol itself. For Migdol is called “magnificence.” Having, then, in view both the ascent of the watchtower and the magnificence of things to come, it is fed and nourished, as we said, by great hopes. For it is still in advances, not yet placed in perfection. ### Scripture references - Num 33:5–7: allusion, high confidence - Heb 11:9: allusion, medium confidence - Gen 14:8–10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:5–7; Heb 11:9; Gen 14:3, 8–10. The interpretations of the place names (Rameses “commotion of the moth,” Succoth “tents,” Etham “valley,” Hiroth “village,” Baal-zephon “ascent of the watchtower,” Migdol “magnificence”) are Origen’s, from onomastic lists. Origen warns against “great and immoderate abstinence” at the beginning; translated as written. - After “Descendit ergo via-” a leaked footnote on the Hebrew of Succoth and Etham stands where words are lost; they are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.9 (PG 12:790b–791b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-9). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-10 - Source: PG 12:791b–792b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: The crossing of the Red Sea is the frightening temptation through which the law of God brings the believer safely, and the bitter waters that follow are the healing bitterness of discipline, which yields the sweetness of salvation. ### Latin text Post haec proficiscuntur de lroth, et transeunt per medium maris Rubri, et applicuerunt ad amaritudines. Diximus tempus profectuum, tempus esse ο periculorum.Quam molesta tentatio transire per medium mare. videre fluctus in cumulum crescere, audire undarum insanientium voces et strepitus : sed tamen si sequaris Moysen, id est legem Dei, aqua: tibi murus dextera laevaque lient, et iter invenies per siccum in medio mari. Sed et illud iter cceleste quod agere dicimus animam, potest tieri ut habeat aliquid aquarum, potest fieri ut ibi inveniantur unda} ; est enim ibi pars aliqua aquarum, ct pars aliqua sub cmlo; et nos interim harum quae sub cmlo sunt aquarum undas fluctusque perferimus : Deus. viderit si illa: quieta: smul-et placidae, nec aliquibus \eutis flantibus excitantur. Sed nos interim, cum venerimus ad transitum maris, etiamsi videamus Pharaonem et Egyptios in- ι) sequentes, nihil trepidemus, nullus de bis metus, nulla formido sit. Credamus tantum in unum verum Deum, et quem misit Filium suum Jesum 380 Christum. Quod et si dicatur populus Deo credidisse et famulo ejus Moysi, credimus et nos secundum hoc etiam Moysi, id est legi Dei et prophetis. Constans ergo esto, et paulo post videbis Egyptios iacentes ad litus maris. Cum autem videris eos jacentes , tu exsurge et canta in canticis Domino et eollauda eum qui equum et ascensorem dun“. sit in Rubrum mare. Applicueruntergo ad amritudiues. Audiens amaritudines non pavescas,» que terrearis. Omnis enim eruditio ad praem non videtur dulcis esse , sed amara. Postea vero fructum dulcissimum et pacatissimam exercitatis per semetipsam reddit justitia: , sicut Apostolus docet. Denique et azyma cum amaritudine vesci prmcipiuntur : nec est possibile pervenire ad ιιι. ram repromissionis, nisi per amaritudines transamus. Sicut enim medici amaritudiues quasdam medicamentis inserunt salutis prospectu et sauia. tis languentium , ita et salutis prospectu medim animarum nostrarum amaritudines nos vita: huius voluit pati in diversis tentationibus, sciens quia linis hujus amaritudinis anima: nostra dulcedinem salutis acquirat : sicut et econtrario fluis dulcedi. nis quae est in voluptate corporea, ut divitis illius exempla docuerunt, amarum linem reddit in iniernum pcenarum. Tu ergo qui iter virtutis incedis, non refugias applicare ad amaritudines. Proficisceris enim et inde, sicut et filii Israel. ll. ### English translation (Claude) After this they set out from Hiroth and pass through the midst of the Red Sea, and encamped at the bitter waters. We said that the time of advances is a time of dangers. How troublesome a temptation it is to pass through the midst of the sea, to see the waves rise into a heap, to hear the voices and roar of the raging waters! But yet, if you follow Moses, that is, the law of God, the waters will become a wall for you on the right and on the left, and you will find a way on dry ground in the midst of the sea. And that heavenly journey too which we say the soul makes may perhaps have something of waters; perhaps waves are found there: for there is some part of the waters there, and some part under heaven; and we meanwhile endure the waves and billows of these waters that are under heaven: God will see whether those are calm and peaceful and not stirred by any winds blowing. But we meanwhile, when we come to the crossing of the sea, even if we see Pharaoh and the Egyptians pursuing, let us not tremble at all; let there be no fear, no dread of them. Let us only believe in the one true God and in his Son Jesus Christ whom he sent. And if it is said that the people believed God and his servant Moses, we too, according to this, believe Moses also, that is, the law of God and the prophets. Be steadfast, then, and a little later you will see the Egyptians lying on the seashore. And when you see them lying there, rise up and sing to the Lord in songs, and praise him who cast horse and rider into the Red Sea. They encamped, then, at the bitter waters. When you hear of bitter waters, do not be afraid or terrified. For all discipline for the present seems not to be sweet but bitter; but afterwards it yields the sweetest fruit and the most peaceful fruit of righteousness to those trained by it, as the Apostle teaches. Indeed we are commanded to eat unleavened bread with bitterness; and it is not possible to come to the land of promise unless we pass through bitter things. For just as physicians put certain bitter things into medicines with a view to health and the cure of the sick, so too the physician of our souls, with a view to salvation, willed that we should suffer the bitter things of this life in various temptations, knowing that the end of this bitterness wins for our soul the sweetness of salvation: just as, on the contrary, the end of the sweetness which is in bodily pleasure, as the example of that rich man has taught, yields a bitter end in the underworld of punishments. You, then, who walk the road of virtue, do not shrink from encamping at the bitter waters. For you will set out from there too, as did the sons of Israel. ### Scripture references - Num 33:8: allusion, high confidence - Exod 14:22: allusion, high confidence - Gen 1:7: allusion, medium confidence - John 17:3: allusion, high confidence - Exod 14:31: allusion, high confidence - Exod 14:30: allusion, high confidence - Exod 15:1: allusion, high confidence - Heb 12:11: quotation, high confidence - Exod 12:8: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:25: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:8; Exod 14:22, 30–31; Gen 1:7 (waters above and below the firmament); John 17:3; Exod 15:1; Heb 12:11; Exod 12:8; Luke 16:19–25. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.10 (PG 12:791b–792b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-10). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-11 - Source: PG 12:792b–793b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Elim, with its twelve springs and seventy-two palms (the twelve and the seventy-two apostles), is the refreshment God gives after trials; Sin, “bush” and “temptation,” teaches the discernment of visions, a gift of the Holy Spirit. ### Latin text Profecti sunt, inquit , de amaritudine, et venerunt in llelim. llelim est, ubi sunt duodecim fontes aquarum, et septuaginta duze arbores palmarum. Vides post amaritudines, post asperitates teutationum, quam te amoena suscipiunt loca. Non venisses ad palmas, nisi tentationum amaritudinis pertulisses , nec venisses ad dulcedinem fontium, nisi prius quae tristia fuerant et aspera superasses: non quoiam (illis sit in bis itineris, et perfodio cunctorum ; sed dispensator animarum Deus is ipso itinere interserit laboribus etiam quaedam refrigeria, quibus refota anima et reparata, promptior redeatad reliquos labores. llelim autem interprro tatur arietes. Arietes duces sunt gregum. Qui sunt ergo duces gregis Christi, nisi apostoli, qui sunt et duodecim fontes? Verum quoniam nosselum illos duodecim elegit Dominus et Salvator noster, sed et alios septuaginta duos, idcirco non snlmu duodecim fontes, sed et septuaginta dua: arbores scribuutur esse palmarum, et ipsi enim apostvli nominantur, sicut et ipse Paulus dicit ’ν cum δέ resurrectione Salvatoris exponeret. Visus, inquit. est illis undecim, deinde apparuit et omnibus ψοstolis. ln quo ostendit esse et alios apostolos, exceptis illis duodecim. "th te ergo ammnitas post amaritudinem, haec te requies post laborem, hac Ic gratia post tentamenta suscipiet. Profecti sunt. inquit”, de llelim, et applicuerunt juxta mare rubrum. Observa quia jam non intrant in mare rubrum (semel tantum sufficit intrasse); modo jam applicant juxta mare, ut videant quidem mare, et mulas ejus aspiciant, nequaquam tamen motus ipsius et impetus pertimescant. Et profecti sunt a Rubro mari, et applicuerunt in deserto Sin “. Sin rubus interpretatur, sive tentatio. Incipit ergo tibi jam arridere bonorum spes. Quae est autem bonorum spes? De rubo apparuit Dominus, et responsa dedit Moysi, et dehinc initium visitationis factum a Domino ad tilios est Israel. Sed non otiose Sin etiam tentatio interpretatur. Solet enim in visionibus esse tentatio. Nam nonnunquam angelusiuiquitatis transfigurat se in angelum lucis. Etideo cavendum est, et sollicite agendum , ιιι scienter discernas visionum genus, sicut et Jesns Nave,cum visionem videret, sciens esse in hoc tentatiouem, statim requirit ab eo qui apparuit et dicit " : Noster es, an adversariorum ? Ita ergo etproficieus anima ubi ad id venerit ιιι jam incipiat discretionem habere visionum, inde probabitur spiritalis esse, si scit omnia discernere. Idcirco denique et inter dona Spiritalia, unum ex donis sancti Spiritus esse memoratur discretio spi. tlinum. ### English translation (Claude) “They set out,” it says, “from the bitter waters and came to Elim.” Elim is where there are twelve springs of water and seventy-two palm trees. You see after the bitter waters, after the harshness of temptations, how pleasant are the places that receive you. You would not have come to the palms unless you had endured the bitterness of temptations, nor would you have come to the sweetness of the springs unless you had first overcome what was sad and harsh: not that the end of the journey and the perfection of all things is already here; but God, the steward of souls, inserts even into the journey itself, among the labours, certain refreshments, by which the soul, restored and renewed, may return more readily to the remaining labours. And Elim is interpreted “rams.” Rams are the leaders of flocks. Who, then, are the leaders of the flock of Christ, if not the apostles, who are also the twelve springs? But since our Lord and Saviour chose not only those twelve, but also another seventy-two, for this reason not only twelve springs are written, but also seventy-two palm trees; for they too are called apostles, as Paul himself says when he set out the resurrection of the Saviour: “He was seen,” he says, “by the eleven; then he appeared also to all the apostles.” In this he shows that there are also other apostles besides those twelve. This pleasantness, then, will receive you after bitterness, this rest after labour, this grace after trials. “They set out,” it says, “from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea.” Observe that they no longer enter the Red Sea (it is enough to have entered it once); now they encamp by the sea, so that they may indeed see the sea and look at its waves, yet by no means fear its movements and onrush. “And they set out from the Red Sea and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.” Sin is interpreted “bush,” or “temptation.” The hope of good things, then, now begins to smile on you. And what is the hope of good things? From the bush the Lord appeared and gave answers to Moses, and from there the beginning of the Lord’s visitation to the sons of Israel was made. But not idly is Sin also interpreted “temptation.” For there is usually temptation in visions. For sometimes the angel of iniquity transforms himself into an angel of light. And therefore one must beware and act carefully, so that you may discern knowingly the kind of visions, as Joshua son of Nun too, when he saw a vision, knowing that there was temptation in this, at once asks him who appeared and says: “Are you ours, or of the adversaries?” So, then, the advancing soul, when it has come to the point of beginning to have discernment of visions, will be proved spiritual by this, if it knows how to discern all things. That, finally, is why among the spiritual gifts too the discernment of spirits is recorded as one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ### Scripture references - Num 33:9–11: quotation, high confidence - Exod 15:27: allusion, high confidence - Luke 10:1: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:5: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:7: quotation, high confidence - Exod 3:2–4: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 11:14: allusion, high confidence - Josh 5:13: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:15: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 12:10: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:9–11; Exod 15:27; Luke 10:1 (Origen’s text has seventy-two); 1 Cor 15:5, 7; Exod 3:2–4; 2 Cor 11:14; Josh 5:13; 1 Cor 2:15; 1 Cor 12:10. The interpretations of Elim (“rams”) and Sin (“bush,” “temptation”) are Origen’s. - The garbled “non quoiam (illis sit in bis itineris, et perfodio cunctorum” is translated by sense. A leaked footnote after “juxta mare” (on the etymologies of Baal-zephon and Migdol) stands where words are lost; they are supplied from Baehrens's edition. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.11 (PG 12:792b–793b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-11). ## Homilies on Numbers 27.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-12 - Source: PG 12:793b–802a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Origen runs through the remaining stations, reading each name as a stage of the soul’s advance (health, labours, praise of judgment, the law, the burial of cravings, blessedness, vision, temptation, and so on) down to the plains by the Jordan, and defends this method by comparing the graded stages of a school. ### Latin text Profecti vero ex deserto Sin, venerunt in Rapbaca . Rapbaca interpretatur sanitas. η Vides ordinem profectuum, quomodo ubi jam spiritalis ellicitur anima. et discretionem ccelestinm cueperit habere visionum, pervenit ad sanitatem, ut merito dicat ιδ : Benedicat anima mea Domitzttm, et omnia interiora mea nomen sanctum ejus.» Quem Dominum ‘I Qui sanat, inquit, omnes langliOl‘ES tuos, qui redimit de interitu vitam tuam .ι Sunt enim multi languores animae. Avaritia languor :jns est, et quidem pessimus. Superbia, ira, jactan- .ia, formido, inconstantia, pusillanimitas, et lm— similia. Quando me, Dmniue Jesu, ab his omnims languoribus curabis ? Quando sanabis, ut ego licam : Benedic, anima mea, Dominum qui sanat mines languores tuos, ιιι possim et ego mansiote ξι facere in Rapltaca, quod est sanitas? Longum 2st si velimus ire per singulas ntausioues, et ex percurremus, utnon tam plenam vobis expositio. nem, quia minime id tempus indulget, sed occasiones iu eis intelligentiae praebeamus. Proficiscuntur 381 ergo ex Rapbaca, et veniunt in llalus. llalus labores interpretantur. Nec mireris si sanitatem sequuntur- labores. Propterea enim et adipiscitur a Domino anima sanitatem, ut labores delectabiliter et non invita suscipiat. Dicitur enim ei ": Labores fructuum tuorum manducabis, beatus es, et bene tibi erit. Post haec veniunt in Raphidin. Interpretatur autem Ilapltidin Inus judicii. Justissime laus sequitur post labores : cujus tamen rei laus? Judicii, inquit. Fit ergo laude digna anima quae recte judicat, recte discernit, id est qua: spiritaliter dijudicat onmia, et ipsa a nemine dijudicatur. Post haec pervenitur in desertum Sina. Sina ipse quidem locus est deserti, quem supra Sin memoravit : sed bic magis locus montis, qui in ipso deserto est. appellatur : qui etiam ipse vocabulo deserti Sina nominatur. Postquam ergo laudabilis iudicii facta est anima, et rectum cmpit habere judicium, tunc ei datur lex a Deo, cum capax esse coeperit secretorum divinorum ct C(Blcslium visionum. Inde venitur ad monumenta concupiscentiae. Quid est monumenta cuncupiscentiae? Sine dubio ubi sepulta: sunt et obruta: concupiscentiae, ubi exstincta est omnis eupiditas, nec ultra concupiscit caro adversus spiritum, mortificata scilicet morte Christi. Post Iure venitur in Aseroth, quod interpretatur atria perfecta, vel beatitudo. Intuere diligentius.‘ jam venitur in Bemonphares, quod Ὁ meus viator, qui sit ordo profeetuum; posteaquam sepelieris et morti tradideris concupiscentias carnis, venies ad amplitudines atriorum, venies ad beatitudinem. Beata namque est anıma, quae nullis jam vitiis carnis urgetur. Inde venitur in Rathma, sive Faran. Rathma visio consummata interpretatur, Faran vero visibile os. Quidni ita crescat anima, ut, cum desierit molestiis carnis urgeri, visiones habeat consummatas perfectamque rerum capiat intelligentiam, causas scilicet incarnationis Verbi Dei dispensationumque eius rationes plenius altius- que cognoscens? Hinec iam venitur in Remmon Phares , quod in nostra lingua excelsa intereisio dicitur, hoc est, tibi magnarum et caelestium rerum a terrenis et inlimis separatio sit et discretio. Crescente namque intellectu animae, et notitia ei excelsorum praebetur, et judicium datur, quo sciat a temporalibus aeterna intercidere, et a perpetuis caduca separare. Post hazc venitur Lebna, quod interpretatur dealbatio. Scio in aliis dealbationem culpabiliter poni, ut cum dicitur paries dealbatus, et monumenta dealbata ". Sed hic dealbatio illa est, de qua dicit Pr0pheta “: 1 Lavabis me, et super nivem dealhabor. Et iterum lsaias : Si lucrint peccata vestra sicut phmnicium, ut nivem dealbabo, et ut lanam candida efficiam. Item in Psalino : Nive dealhabuntur in Selmon. Et Vetusti dierum capilli dicuntur esse candidi, id est, albi sicut lana“. Sic igitur dealbatio haec ex splendore vera: lucis venire intelligenda est, et ex visionum caelestium claritate descendere. Pos1 haec mansio lit in Ressa : quod apud nos dici potest visibilis sive laudabilis tentatio. Quid est hoc, quod quamvis grandes habeat anima prolectus, tamen tentationes ab ea 1.on auferuntur? Unde apparet quia, velut custodia quaedam et munimen, ei tentationes adhibentur. Sicut enim caro si sale non aspergatur, quamvis ’sit magna et prrecipua, corrumpitur : ita et anima nisi tentationibus assiduis quodammodo saliatur, ρ rontinno resolvitur ac relaxatur. Unde constat propter hoc dictum esse, quod omne sacrificium sale salietur ’. Inde denique est quod et Paulus dicubat” : Et ex sublimitate revelationnm ne extollar, datus est mihi stimulus carnis mea: angelus Satanae, qui me colaphizet. Haec ergo est visibilis, vel laudabilis tentatio. Ex hac venitur ad Macelatb, quod est principatus, vel virga (9'5). Ex utroque potestas indicari videtur, quod anima eo usque profecerit ut dominetur corpori, et ipsa in illud virgam potestatis obtineat ; imo non solum corpori, sed et universo mundo, cum dicit“; 1 Mihi autem mundus crucifixus est, et ego mn. do. Inde venitur in montem Sephar, quod tritici. natio appellatur. Tuba signum belli est. Igitur ubi se tantis ac talibus virtutibus anima sentit armatam, necessario procedit ad bellum, quod estsi adversus principatus, et potestates, et adversum mundi rectores: vel certe tuba canit in verbo Dei. praedicationis scilicet et doctrinae, ut det significastem vocem per tubam, ut qui audierit, preparari se possit ad bellum. Post hac venitur super Climdath, quod in nostra lingua sonat idonea efl'ectus : profecto nt et ipse dicat “, quia idoneos nos fecit ministros novi testamenti. 11nd: mansio habetur apud Maceloth, quod interpretatsr ab initio. Contemplatur namque qui ad contemplationem tendit, initium rerum, imo potius cuncta ad eum refert, qui erat in principio, nec ab isto initio aliquando discedit. Post haec lit mansio i1 Caath, quod est confirmatio vel patientia.!iecessc est enim eum qui vult etiam aliis prodesse. multa pati, et cuncta ferre patienter, sicut de Paulo dictum est “ : Ego enim ostendam ei quanta oporteat eum pro nomine pati meo. lude venitur Thara, quod apud nos intelligitur contemplatio stuporis. NOII possumus in Latina lingua 1111 sermone exprimere verbum Gracum, quod illituuσιν vocant, id est, cum pro alicujus magna: rei sd. miratione obstupescit animus. Hoc est ergo quod dicit contemplatio stuporis, cunt in agnitione 1111gnarum et admirabilium rerum mens attonita stupet. Post htec venitur ad Matheca, quod interpretatur mors nova. Quae est nova mors? quando Christo connnorimur ut et convivamus ei. Inde Asenna 1enitur, quod os vel ossa significare dicitur. Virtus per haec sine dubio et robur patientiae declaratur. Jam hinc … (l). ius significare putatur excludetur (Ξ). Quae exclndcns est? sine dubio malignas suggestiones contrarii spiritus de cogitationibus suis. Sic enim et sapicntia Dei dicit " : Si Spiritus potestatem habentis ascenderit super te, locum tuum ne dimittas. Τεnendus est ergo locus,et exeludendus est adversarius, ne inveniat locum in corde nostro, sicut Apostolus dicit : Nolite locum dare diabolo. Post hzec Banaim venitur, quod {antes significat, vel uectatione:, id est, ubi divinorum verborum («tates haurit usquequo excolet eos bibendo. Exeolat autem dicitur hic a colando, non a colendo. Exrolat ergo verbum Dei quis, cum ne minimum quit't'iil mandatum praeterierit, into cum ne iota quitlemttnnm, vel unus apex de verbo Dei intellectus Imitetur otiosus. Post iure venitur in Galgad, quod iuterpretatur tentamentum sive constipatio. Fortitudo quaedam, ut video, et munimen est animae, tentamentum. lta enim virtutibus admiscetur, ut videatur absque his virtus nec decora esse. nec plena. Etideo proficientibus ad virtutem, et var et frequentes mansiones in tentationibns fiunt. Quas cumtransicris, applicabis in Tabatha. Taba- Ilta interpretatur bona. Ad bona ergo non nisi posl tentatnentorunt experimenta venitur. Inde applicuerunt, inquit, in Ebrona, quod est transitu: ('6). Transeunda namque sunt omnia; quia etiamsi ad bona venias, oportet te et ad meliora _ transire,usquequo ad illud bonum venias. in quo θ’ semper debeas permanere. Post haec pervenitur ad Gasiongaber, quod interpretatur consilia viri. Si quis desiit puer esse sensibus, iste pervenit ad consilia viri, sicut et ille qui dicebat: Cum autem factus sum vir, quae parvuli erant deposui. Sunt ergo magna consilia viri, sicut et ille ait ; Aqua alta, consilium in corde viri. llinc iterum venitur Sin. itcrum tentatio est Sin. Diximus enim quia nec aliter expedit iter istud incedere : sicut, verbi gratia, si quis aurifex vas necessarium facere volens, frequenter illud igni admoveat, frequenter maileis snbdat, rasoriis saepe perstringat, ut et purgatius fiat, et ad illam speciem, quam prospicit artifex, atque ad illam pulchritudinem deducatur. Pdsthaee applicatur ad Pharancades, quod est fructificatt'a sancta. Vides inde quo venitur, vides quia tentalionum sulcos fructificatiu sancta subsequitur. Inde applicatur in montem 0r, quod interpretatur montanus. Venit enim ad montem Dei, ut et ipse fiat mons uber, et mons coagulatus, vel ab eo quod semper in monte Dei habitet, montanus dicatur. Subsequitur post haec mansio Selmena : quod interpretatur umbra portioni:. lllam puto umbram dici de qna et propheta dicebat“: 383i Spiritus vultus nostri Christus Dominus, cui timus: ltt umbra ejus vivemus in gentibus. Sed et illa similis huic umbra est, de qua dicitur u: t Spiritus Domini obumbrabit tibi. Umbra ergo portionis nostrae, quae nobis opacitatem praestat ab omni testu tentationnm, Christus est, et Spiritus sanctus. Hincjam venitur ad Phinon,quodinterpretari putamus oris patrimonium (il). Qui enim intueri potuerit mysterium de Christo et de Spiritu sancto, et si viderit, sive audierit ea quae non licet hominibus loqui, necessario habebit oris parcimoniam, sciens quibus, vel quando, vel quomodo de mysteriis divinis oporteat loqui. Post haec venill. ο Prov. xx, 5. Thren. tv, 2t}. " an. ι, 55. et in caneris omnibus, etiam in hoc nomine consequentiam profectuum conservari. Sequitur post haec mansio quae appellatur Gai , quod interpretatur chaos (l3). Appropiat enim per hos profectus ad sinus Abrahae, qui dicit ad eos quiin tormentis sunt, quia t inter vos et nos chaos utaguum confirmatum est , ut et ipse iu sinibus ejus, sicut beatus Lazarus, requiescat. lude iterum venitur Dibongad, quod significare fertur apiarium tentationum. Ο miram divina: providentiae cautelam ! Ecce jam viator hic itineris caelestis, sunmus perfectioni proximus tit successione virtutum, et tamen ei tentamenta non desunt, sed novi generis audio tentatuenta. Apiarium, inquit, tentatiouutu. Apis laudae bile animal iu Scripturis positum est, ex cujus laboribus reges ct mediocres ad sanitatem utuntur; quod recte de verbis prophetarum et apostolorum atque omnium qui sacra volumina conscripserunt, accipitur; et istud esse apiarium , id est, omnem numerum Scripturarum divinarum dignissime iutelligi puto. Est ergo iis qui ad perfectionem tendunt, etiam iu hoc apiario, id est iu verbis propheticis et apostolicis , nonnulla tentatio. Vis. videre quia sit in his tentatio non minima? lu hoc apiario scriptum invenio: rVide, inquit “, ne aspiciens solem et lunam, adores ea quae sequestravit Dominus Deus tuus gentibus. Vides quas tentatio de apiario isto procedit? Et iterum cum-dicit ε c Deos (ζ non maledices. Et iterum in Novi Testamenti apiario ubi legimus "z Quid me vultis occidere hominem qui veritatem locutus sum vobis? Et iterum in aliis ipse Dominus dicit "': Propterea in parabolis loquor eis, ut videntes non videant, et audientes tmn intelligant, ne forte convertantur, et saucm eos. Sed et cum Apostolus dicit ε t lu qui- .” , . . bus Deus hujus saeculi cxczecavit mentes infidelium ; et multa hujusmodi in hoc divino apiario teutamenta reperies, ad quae necesse est venire unumquemque saeculo, et abscedit: sicut scriptum est de ane ": Et non inveniebatur, quia transtulerateum Deos. Quod etsi videatur esse adhuc iu secqu qui hujustuodi est, et in carne habitare, tamen non immictur. In quo non invenietur? In nullo actu saeculari, in nulla re carnali, in nullo colloquio vanitatis isvcnitur. Transtulit enim eum Deus ab iis , et esse fecit in regione virtutum. Ultima mansio est ab occidente Moab juxta Jordauem. Omnis namquehic cursus propterea agitur , et propterea curritr , ut perveniatur ad flumen Dei , ut proximi cilicia-er fluentis sapientius, et rigemur undis scientia: divin: ut sic per omnia purificati , terram repromissionis mereamur intrare. litec interim de lsraeliticis tausionibus secundum unum exponendi modum ia transcursu perstringere, atque in medium proferre p0tuimus. . l3. Verum ne huiusmodi expositio, quae per ilebraeorum linguam et nominum significantias currit, ignorantibus lingua: illius proprietatem affectata videatur et violenter extorta , dabimus etiam ia nostra lingua similitudinem, qua consequentia- tinjus ratio patescat. ltt litterario ludo, ubi pueri prim elementa suscipiunt , abecedarii dicuntur quidam. alii syllabarii, alii nontinarii, alii jam calculatores appellantur : et cum audierimus haec nomina , ex ipsis qui sint iu pueris profectus agnoscimus. Siniliter et in liberalibus studiis, cum aut locum recitare, aut allocutionem, vel laudem, aliasque per or. dinem materias audierimus, cx materiae nomine profectum adolescentis advertimus. Quomodo ergo ct per haec quae locorum quasi materiarum nomiua memorantur, non credamus iu divinis eruditionibus profectus iudicari posse discentium 2 Et sicut illic singulis quibusque dicendi materiis immorantes, quasi mansiones in eis quasdam facere videntur, et de una ad aliam, ac de alia item ad aliam proficisci: ita etiam hic mansionum nomen et profectio ab una ad aliam , etab alia iterum ait aliam, cur nou profectqu mentis indicare credatur. et incrementa significare virtutum? Illam vero aliaat expositionis partem prudentibus quibusque ex ista coujiciendam et contemplandam relinquo. Sapientilms enim suilicit occasionem dedisse: quia nec expedit ut auditorum sensus penitus remane-atouesus et piger. Ex horum ergo collatione etiam illa meditetur , imo ct aliquid perspicacius ac divinius untempletur: ‹ Non enim ad mensuram dat Deus piritum ος sed quia Dominus est spiritus, ideirco ubi vult, spirat “, et Optamus ut etiam vobis spiret, quo meliora horum, alque altiora in verbis tomqu sentiatis, iter agentes per haec quae pro uolra mediocritate descripsimus ; ut et in illa via sneriore ct excelsiore, etiam nos vobiscum possimus tcedere ; deducente nos ipso Domino nostro Jesu hristo, qui est via , et veritas , et vita , usquequo erveuiamus ad Patrem, cum tradiderit regnum Deo . Patri, et subiecerit ei omnem principatum et nestatem. Ipsi gloria et imperium lu sarcula sarcurum. Amen. ne ### English translation (Claude) Setting out from the wilderness of Sin, they came to Dophkah. Dophkah is interpreted “health.” You see the order of the advances: how, when the soul has now become spiritual and has begun to have discernment of heavenly visions, it comes to health, so that it may rightly say: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me, his holy name.” What Lord? “Who heals,” it says, “all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction.” For there are many diseases of the soul. Avarice is a disease of it, and indeed the worst. Pride, anger, boasting, fear, inconstancy, faint-heartedness, and the like. When, Lord Jesus, will you cure me of all these diseases? When will you heal me, so that I may say: “Bless the Lord, my soul, who heals all your diseases,” so that I too may make a station at Dophkah, which is health? It would be long if we wished to go through each of the stations, and so we will run through them in such a way that we give you not so much a full explanation, since the time does not allow it, as occasions of understanding in them. They set out, then, from Dophkah and come to Alush. Alush is interpreted “labours.” And do not wonder if labours follow health. For this is why the soul obtains health from the Lord, that it may take up labours with delight and not unwillingly. For it is said to it: “You shall eat the labours of your fruits; you are blessed, and it will be well with you.” After this they come to Rephidim. And Rephidim is interpreted “praise of judgment.” Most justly praise follows after labours: but praise of what? “Of judgment,” it says. The soul, then, becomes worthy of praise which judges rightly, discerns rightly, that is, which judges all things spiritually and is itself judged by no one. After this one comes to the wilderness of Sinai. Sinai is indeed a place of the wilderness, which he mentioned above as Sin; but here rather the place of the mountain, which is in that wilderness, is called by it; and it too is named Sinai by the name of the wilderness. After the soul, then, has become one of praiseworthy judgment and has begun to have right judgment, then the law is given to it by God, when it has begun to be capable of divine secrets and heavenly visions. From there one comes to the graves of craving. What are the graves of craving? Without doubt where cravings are buried and covered over, where all desire is extinguished, and the flesh no longer craves against the spirit, being mortified, namely, by the death of Christ. After this one comes to Hazeroth, which is interpreted “perfect courts,” or “blessedness.” Look more carefully, my traveller, at what the order of advances is: after you have buried and handed over to death the cravings of the flesh, you will come to the breadth of the courts, you will come to blessedness. For blessed is the soul which is no longer pressed by any vices of the flesh. From there one comes to Rithmah or Paran. Rithmah is interpreted “consummated vision,” and Paran “visible mouth.” Why should not the soul grow in this way, so that, when it has ceased to be pressed by the troubles of the flesh, it has consummated visions and takes a perfect understanding of things, knowing more fully and more deeply the causes of the incarnation of the Word of God and the reasons of his dispensations? From here one comes to Rimmon-perez, which in our language is called “lofty cutting off,” that is, where there is for you a separation and distinction of great and heavenly things from earthly and lowly ones. For as the understanding of the soul grows, knowledge of lofty things is given it, and judgment is granted, by which it knows how to cut off eternal things from temporal, and to separate perishable things from perpetual. After this one comes to Libnah, which is interpreted “whitening.” I know that in other places whitening is put blameworthily, as when a whitened wall and whitened tombs are spoken of. But here it is that whitening of which the prophet says: “You will wash me, and I shall be whitened above snow.” And again Isaiah: “If your sins are like scarlet, I will whiten them like snow, and make them white like wool.” Likewise in the Psalm: “They will be whitened with snow in Selmon.” And the hairs of the Ancient of Days are said to be white, that is, white like wool. So, then, this whitening is to be understood as coming from the splendour of the true light and descending from the brightness of heavenly visions. After this a station is made at Rissah, which can be called with us “visible” or “praiseworthy temptation.” What is this, that although the soul has great advances, yet temptations are not taken away from it? From this it appears that temptations are applied to it as a kind of guard and defence. For just as flesh, if it is not sprinkled with salt, however large and choice it is, decays, so too the soul, unless it is in a certain way salted with constant temptations, at once becomes slack and relaxed. Hence it is clear that it was said for this reason that every sacrifice is to be salted with salt. Thence it is, finally, that Paul too said: “And lest I be exalted by the greatness of the revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.” This, then, is the visible or praiseworthy temptation. From this one comes to Kehelathah, which is “principality” or “rod.” From both, power seems to be indicated, because the soul has advanced so far that it rules the body and itself holds the rod of power over it, indeed not only over the body but also over the whole world, when it says: “But the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.” From there one comes to Mount Shepher, which is called “trumpeting.” The trumpet is the signal of war. When, then, the soul feels itself armed with so many and such great virtues, it necessarily goes out to war, which is against principalities and powers and against the rulers of the world; or certainly it sounds the trumpet in the word of God, that is, of preaching and teaching, so as to give a distinct sound through the trumpet, so that he who hears may be able to prepare himself for war. After this one comes to Haradah, which in our language sounds “made sufficient,” so that he too may say that he has made us sufficient ministers of the new covenant. Then a station is held at Makheloth, which is interpreted “from the beginning.” For he who strives toward contemplation contemplates the beginning of things, or rather refers all things to him who was in the beginning, and never departs from this beginning. After this a station is made at Tahath, which is “confirmation” or “patience.” For he who wishes to profit others too must suffer much and bear all things patiently, as was said of Paul: “For I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” From there one comes to Terah, which is understood with us as “contemplation of amazement.” We cannot express in the Latin language in one word the Greek word which they call ekstasis, that is, when the mind is struck with amazement in admiration of some great thing. This, then, is what it calls contemplation of amazement, when in the knowledge of great and wonderful things the mind is astonished and amazed. After this one comes to Mithkah, which is interpreted “new death.” What is the new death? When we die with Christ so that we may also live with him. From there one comes to Hashmonah, which is said to mean “bone” or “bones.” By these, doubtless, virtue and the strength of patience are declared. From here, then, … [Moseroth] is thought to mean “excluding.” What is excluding? Without doubt the malignant suggestions of the opposing spirit from one’s thoughts. For so the Wisdom of God says: “If the spirit of one who has power rises up against you, do not leave your place.” The place must be held, then, and the adversary excluded, so that he may not find a place in our heart, as the Apostle says: “Give no place to the devil.” After this one comes to Bene-jaakan, which means “springs,” or “strainings,” that is, where one draws the springs of the divine words until one strains them out by drinking. Here “strains out” is said from straining, not from cultivating. One strains out the word of God, then, when one passes over not even the least commandment, or rather when not even one iota or one stroke of the word of God is held to be idle in one’s understanding. After this one comes to Hor-haggidgad, which is interpreted “trial” or “crowding.” Trial, as I see, is a certain strength and defence of the soul. For it is so mixed with the virtues that without it virtue seems neither seemly nor full. And therefore for those advancing to virtue there are various and frequent stations among temptations. When you have passed them, you will encamp at Jotbathah. Jotbathah is interpreted “good things.” To good things, then, one comes only after the experience of trials. From there they encamped, it says, at Abronah, which is “passage.” For all things must be passed through; because even if you come to good things, you must pass on to better, until you come to that good in which you must always remain. After this one comes to Ezion-geber, which is interpreted “counsels of a man.” If anyone has ceased to be a child in understanding, he comes to the counsels of a man, like him who said: “But when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.” He has, then, the great counsels of a man, as that one says: “Deep water is counsel in the heart of a man.” From here one comes again to Zin. Zin is again temptation. For we said that it is not expedient to walk this journey otherwise: just as, for example, if a goldsmith wishes to make a needed vessel, he often moves it to the fire, often puts it under the hammers, often scrapes it with files, so that it may become purer and be brought to that form which the craftsman foresees and to that beauty. After this one encamps at Paran Kadesh, which is “holy fruit-bearing.” You see where one comes from there; you see that holy fruit-bearing follows the furrows of temptations. From there one encamps at Mount Hor, which is interpreted “mountainous.” For he comes to the mountain of God, so that he too may become a fertile mountain and a curdled mountain, or may be called mountainous because he always dwells on the mountain of God. After this follows the station Zalmonah, which is interpreted “shadow of the portion.” I think that shadow is meant of which the prophet too said: “The breath of our face, Christ the Lord, of whom we said: In his shadow we shall live among the nations.” And similar to this is that shadow of which it is said: “The Spirit of the Lord will overshadow you.” The shadow of our portion, then, which gives us shade from all the heat of temptations, is Christ and the Holy Spirit. From here one comes to Punon, which we think is interpreted “sparing of the mouth.” For he who has been able to behold the mystery of Christ and of the Holy Spirit, and has seen or heard the things which it is not lawful for men to speak, will necessarily have sparing of the mouth, knowing to whom, or when, or how one ought to speak of the divine mysteries. After this … so that in this name too, as in all the others, the sequence of advances is preserved. After this follows the station which is called Iye, which is interpreted “chaos.” For through these advances he draws near to the bosom of Abraham, who says to those who are in torments that “between you and us a great chasm has been fixed,” so that he too may rest in his bosom like blessed Lazarus. From there one comes again to Dibon-gad, which is said to mean “beehive of temptations.” O the wonderful caution of divine providence! Behold, this traveller of the heavenly journey is now very near to the highest perfection through the succession of virtues, and yet trials are not lacking to him; but I hear of trials of a new kind: “a beehive,” it says, “of temptations.” The bee is set in the Scriptures as a praiseworthy creature, whose labours kings and common people use for health; which is rightly taken of the words of the prophets and apostles and all who wrote the sacred volumes; and I think this beehive is most worthily understood as the whole number of the divine Scriptures. There is, then, for those who strive toward perfection, some temptation even in this beehive, that is, in the prophetic and apostolic words. Do you wish to see that there is no small temptation in them? In this beehive I find it written: “See,” it says, “lest, looking at the sun and moon, you worship those things which the Lord your God has assigned to the nations.” You see what temptation comes out of this beehive? And again when it says: “You shall not curse the gods.” And again in the beehive of the New Testament, where we read: “Why do you wish to kill me, a man who has spoken the truth to you?” And again elsewhere the Lord himself says: “Therefore I speak to them in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand, lest perhaps they be converted and I heal them.” And also when the Apostle says: “In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers”; and you will find many trials of this kind in this divine beehive, to which each one must come … from the age, and departs: as it is written of Enoch: “And he was not found, because God had translated him.” And even if he who is such seems still to be in the age and to dwell in the flesh, yet he is not found. In what will he not be found? He is found in no worldly act, in no carnal thing, in no conversation of vanity. For God has translated him from these and made him to be in the region of virtues. The last station is west of Moab by the Jordan. For this whole course is run and the race is run for this reason, that one may come to the river of God, that we may become near to the streams of wisdom and be watered by the waves of divine knowledge, so that, thus purified in all things, we may deserve to enter the land of promise. These things meanwhile we have been able to touch on in passing and bring forward about the stations of Israel according to one mode of explanation. But so that an explanation of this kind, which runs through the Hebrew language and the meanings of names, may not seem affected and violently forced to those who do not know the peculiarity of that language, we will also give a likeness in our own language, by which the reason of this sequence may become plain. In the school of letters, where boys receive the first elements, some are called “alphabet pupils,” others “syllable pupils,” others “name pupils,” others now “reckoners”; and when we hear these names, we recognize from them what advances there are in the boys. Likewise in the liberal studies, when we hear someone reciting a commonplace, or an address, or an encomium, and other subjects in order, we perceive from the name of the subject the advance of the young man. How, then, should we not believe that through these things which are recorded as names of places, as of subjects, the advances of learners in divine instruction can be indicated? And just as there, lingering on each of the subjects of speaking, they seem to make as it were certain stations in them, and to set out from one to another, and from that again to another, so too here, why should not the name of the stations and the departure from one to another, and from that again to another, be believed to indicate the advance of the mind and signify the increases of the virtues? That other part of the explanation I leave to all the prudent to conjecture and contemplate from this one. For it is enough for the wise to have been given an occasion; because it is not expedient that the understanding of the hearers should remain wholly idle and sluggish. From the comparison of these, then, let him meditate on those too, or rather contemplate something more penetrating and more divine: “For God does not give the Spirit by measure”; but because the Lord is the Spirit, therefore he breathes where he wills; and we pray that he may breathe on you too, so that you may perceive in the words of the Lord things better and higher than these, journeying through these things which we have described according to our modest ability; so that in that superior and loftier way we too may be able to walk with you, our Lord Jesus Christ himself leading us, who is the way and the truth and the life, until we come to the Father, when he has handed over the kingdom to God the Father and subjected to him every principality and power. To him be glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Num 33:12–49: allusion, high confidence - Ps 103:1–4 (102:1-Ps LXX): quotation, high confidence - Ps 128:2 (127:2 LXX): quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:15: allusion, high confidence - Gal 5:17: allusion, high confidence - Matt 23:27: allusion, high confidence - Acts 23:3: allusion, high confidence - Ps 51:7 (50:9 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Isa 1:18: quotation, high confidence - Ps 68:14 (67:15 LXX): quotation, medium confidence - Dan 7:9: allusion, high confidence - Mark 9:49: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:7: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:14: quotation, high confidence - Eph 6:12: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 14:8: allusion, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:6: quotation, high confidence - John 1:1: allusion, high confidence - Acts 9:16: quotation, high confidence - Rom 6:8: allusion, high confidence - Eccl 10:4: quotation, high confidence - Eph 4:27: quotation, high confidence - Matt 5:18: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:11: allusion, medium confidence - Prov 20:5: quotation, high confidence - Lam 4:20: quotation, high confidence - Luke 1:35: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 12:4: allusion, high confidence - Luke 16:26: quotation, high confidence - Prov 6:8: allusion, low confidence - Deut 4:19: quotation, high confidence - Exod 22:28: quotation, high confidence - John 8:40: quotation, high confidence - Mark 4:12: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 4:4: quotation, high confidence - Gen 5:24: quotation, high confidence - John 3:34: quotation, high confidence - 2 Cor 3:17: allusion, high confidence - John 3:8: allusion, high confidence - John 14:6: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:24: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 33:12–49; Ps 103:1–4 (LXX 102:1–4); Ps 128:2 (LXX 127:2); 1 Cor 2:15; Gal 5:17, 24; Matt 23:27; Acts 23:3; Ps 51:7 (LXX 50:9); Isa 1:18; Ps 68:14 (LXX 67:15); Dan 7:9; Mark 9:49; 2 Cor 12:7; Gal 6:14; Eph 6:12; 1 Cor 14:8; 2 Cor 3:6; John 1:1; Acts 9:16; Rom 6:8; Eccl 10:4; Eph 4:27; Matt 5:18–19; 1 Cor 13:11; Prov 20:5; Lam 4:20; Luke 1:35; 2 Cor 12:4; Luke 16:26; Deut 4:19; Exod 22:28; John 8:40; Mark 4:12 (Matt 13:13–15); 2 Cor 4:4; Gen 5:24; John 3:34; 2 Cor 3:17; John 3:8; John 14:6; 1 Cor 15:24. The praise of the bee alludes to the Greek addition at Prov 6:8. The place names and their meanings follow Origen’s Greek text and onomastic lists (“Rimmon-perez,” “Hor-haggidgad,” etc. are given their English forms). - Several passages are damaged in the scan and translated by sense or marked “…”: words lost after Hazeroth (the station Rithmah), after Kehelathah, after Hashmonah (in part), and after Ezion-geber are supplied from Baehrens's edition; still lost or unreadable are words between Hashmonah and Moseroth (Moseroth supplied in brackets); after Punon (Oboth and Iye-abarim are lost); and after Dibon-gad (Almon-diblathaim and the mountains of Abarim are lost, and “Enoch” is read for the garbled “ane”). “Sephar … tritici. natio” is read as “tubicinatio” (“trumpeting”). Leaked marginal references and running heads are removed where they could be isolated. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 27.12 (PG 12:793b–802a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/27-9/#p-27-12). ## Homilies on Numbers 28.1 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-1 - Source: PG 12:802a–801b - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Since the Jews no longer possess the land, the boundaries of Numbers 34 cannot be meant merely literally; following wisdom, Origen reads them as a shadow and image of the heavenly inheritance. ### Latin text Ultima in libro Numerorum historia refertur, qua Dominusjubet Moysi praecepta dare filiis lsel , ut cum ingressi fuerint terram sanctam care bccreditatem ejus, sciant quos in ea terminos ium suorum debeant observare. Et post haec etiam so Domino (l6) describente dicitur: ad Africum idem, hoc est, ad occidentem illius lori terminus servetur, et illius ad orientem, et sic per quatuor eli plagas nomina qumdam Dominus ipse designat te iu Iudaea ista terrena populus Dei debeat cudire. Dicit ergo in iis simplicior quisque auditon , quia possunt haec necessaria videri et utilia am secundum litteram, pro eo ut nemo transgretur terminos per praeceptum Domini constitutos, lines alterius tribus alia violare non audeat. Et d faciemus, cum in terris iStis non solum invaιάί alterius fines ludatis, sed qualitercnnque posendi facultas nulla remanserit? Profugi namque ea, et extorres exsulant. et lines non quos lex ina statuit, nunc possidentes custodiunt, sed is victorum jura mandarunt. Quid, inquam, nos emus qui haec in Ecclesia legimus? Si secundum acorum sensum legamus, superflua nobis profevidebuntur et inania. Sed et ego qui lego de Fcntia scriptum “z Exi post eam sicut vestigavolo exire post eam, et quia in rebus eam )oralibus non invenio, insequi ejus vestigia cu- , et investigare quo eat , ac videre intellectus IS ad quae me cubilia pertrahat. Puto enim quod iligenter eam sequi potuero, et investigare vias , dabit mihi aliquas occasiones ex Scripturis, nodo etiam de bis locis explicare debeamus , redimus iis quae Paulus in mysterio loquitur-, .l qut per legem deserviunt, umbrae et imagini rviunt caelestium . › Et si secundum ipsius [ominus sententiam lex, cujus pars est haec lequam habemus in manibus, umbram habet furum bonorum , consequens videtur et necessal, omnia qua; quasi de rebus terrenis descri- buntur in lege , umbras esse futurorum bonorum . omnisque haereditas terra: illius, quae in Judaza terra saneta et terra bona appellatur, imago sit bonorum caelestium; quorum haec, ut diximus, quae in terris bona memorantur, umbram atque imaginem teneant. ### English translation (Claude) The last account in the book of Numbers is related, in which the Lord orders Moses to give commands to the sons of Israel, so that when they have entered the holy land to take its inheritance, they may know which boundaries of their territories they ought to observe in it. And after this, the Lord himself describing it, it is said: toward the south such and such, that is, toward the west, the boundary of this place is to be kept, and toward the east that of that one; and so through the four quarters of heaven the Lord himself marks out certain names which the people of God ought to keep in this earthly Judaea. Someone among the simpler hearers, then, says about these things that they can seem necessary and useful even according to the letter, so that no one may transgress the boundaries established by the Lord’s command, and one tribe may not dare to violate the territory of another. And what shall we do, when in these lands the Jews not only do not invade another’s territory, but have no means of possessing anything at all left to them? For they live in exile as fugitives and outcasts, and they do not keep, as possessors, the boundaries which the divine law laid down, but those which the rights of the victors have dictated. What, I say, shall we do, who read these things in the church? If we read them according to the sense of the Jews, they will certainly seem superfluous and empty to us. But I, who read of wisdom that it is written, “Go out after her like a tracker,” wish to go out after her; and because I do not find her in bodily things, I desire to follow her footsteps and to track where she goes, and to see to what lairs of understanding she draws me. For I think that if I can follow her diligently and track out her ways, she will give me some occasions from the Scriptures by which we ought to explain these places too, if we return to what Paul says in a mystery, that “those who serve under the law serve a shadow and image of heavenly things.” And if, according to his own opinion, the law, of which this reading which we have in hand is a part, has a shadow of the good things to come, it seems to follow necessarily that all the things which are described in the law as if about earthly things are shadows of the good things to come, and that the whole inheritance of that land, which in Judaea is called the holy land and the good land, is an image of heavenly good things; of which these good things recorded on earth, as we said, hold the shadow and image. ### Scripture references - Num 34:1–12: allusion, high confidence - Heb 8:5: quotation, high confidence - Heb 10:1: quotation, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - Sir 14:22 (Sirach): quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Num 34:1–12; Sir 14:22; Heb 8:5; Heb 10:1. - Origen’s remark on the Jews’ exile from their land (after the revolts of 70 and 135) is translated as written. - The scan has lost letters at the edge of the column throughout this section (e.g. “lsel,” “care bccreditatem,” “ium suorum,” “IS ad quae me cubilia”); it is translated by sense. A leaked running head (“HOMILIA XXVIII. 80‘]”) is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 28.1 (PG 12:802a–801b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-1). ## Homilies on Numbers 28.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-2 - Source: PG 12:802a–803a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As the earthly land had named places, so the heavenly Jerusalem has regions in which the saints will receive their inheritance through Jesus according to their merits; the priests’ lands and the cities of refuge for involuntary sins will also have their heavenly counterparts. ### Latin text Sed ut paululum et meus sermo, et vestra intelligentia sublimetur , atque ingressum quemdam ad ea quae dicimus advertenda concipiat, utamur aliqua similitudine. Nemo dubitat quod in terra .ludata omnis locus, omnis mons, omnis civitas et vicus, certis quibusque vocabulis designetur : nec est ullus omnino sine nomine locus , sed propriis singula quaeque appellationibus designantur: verbi gratia, quibus aut Chananmi in suis locis, aut Pheresazi nihilominus in suis, Amorrhteique, aut Evmi, vel etiam Hebraei nominarunt. Ita ergo secundum sententiam Pauli, qua umbram et exemplar eoalestium dicit esse terrena, fortasse et in caelostibus regionibus erunt locorum difl‘ereutiae non miuimm. Videtis quibus, vel quorum appellationibus, vocabulisque distinctaa, et nomina non solum plagarum caeli , sed etiam omnium stellarum siderumque signata. Qui enim fecit multitudinem stellarum , ut ait Propheta , omnibus eis nomina vocat. De quibus quidem nominibusplurima in libellis qui appellantur Enoch (l7), secreta continentur et arcana; sed quia libelli ipsi non videnlur apud llrbrzeos in auctoritate haberi, interim nunc ea qua: ibi nominantur , ad exemplum vocare differamus. sed ex his quae habemus iu manibus, de quibus dubitari non potest, rerum prosequamur indaginem. Describitur ergo verbis Dei in lege divina terra .l udtem, et hazc referri debere diciturad imaginem caelestium. 385 ln caelis autem evidenter esse Jerusalem civitas pronuntiatur ab Apostolo, et mons Sion. Cunsequens igitur est ut sicut sunt etiam alia: civitates circa Jerusalem terrenam sitae, et vici, et diversa: quatqne regiones : ita et illa cmlestis Jerusalem secundum imaginem terrenorum habeat circa se et alias civitates, ac vicos, diversasque regiones, ln quibus populus Dei et verus Israel, per .lcsum verum, cujus ille Iesus Nave ferebat imaginem, collocandus est quandoque, et hazrcditatem sortis ι) distributione, id est meritorum contemplatione , capturus. Sic ergo nunc Dominus dicit in distributione terra), verbi gratia, terminos tribus illius esse istos, et alterius alios: ne forte, quoniam diversa erunt merita eorum qui hatreditatetn consecuturi sunt regni cmlorum, idcirco etiam in iis tribubus observanter dirimijubetur ista distinctio terminorum, ut sciamus has esse meritorum dill‘orentias observandas in unoquoque. Verbi gratia , qui ita negligenter vixerit ut pro fide quidem sua mereatur haberi inter filios Israel, pro negligentia vero vitae gestorumque desidia in tribu Ruben aut Gad, aut dimidia tribu Manasse debeat reputari, et non intra Iordanem, sed extra eum, sortem haereditatis accipere. Alius vero qui se emendatione vita: et conversatione propositi talem reddiderit. ut secundum quas solus Deus novit rationes, aut in tribu Juda, autetiam in ipsa tribu Benjamin, in qua ipsa Jerusalem.et templum Dei atque altare consistit, debeat reputari: et alius in alia, atque alius in alia. Et hoc modo haec quae nunc in libro Numerorum scripta referuntur, adumbratio quaedam sint futura: sortis in etnlis, eorum duntaxat qui per Jesum Dominum ac Salvatoretn nostrum haereditatem, ut diximus. capient regni caelorum. lbi, credo, diligenter observabuntur etiam ista quzehic adumbrantur privilegia sacerdotum, quibus vicina qumque urbibus loca, et ipsis moenibus juncta segregari mandantur a filiis Israel. lbi, credo, et civitales ista; erunt, quarum hic figura describitur, quas refugii nominat civitates, ad quas confugiant non omnes homicida', sed qui ignoranter homicidium commiserunt. Sunt enim fortassis aliqua peccata, quae si proposito ac voluntate committimus, homicidas nos faciunt ; et sunt alia quae si ignoranter admittimus, decernitur nobis, credo, et praeparatur ex praecepto Dei aliquis locus, ubi ad certum tempus habitare debeamus, si qui non voluntaria peccata commisimus; si tamen mundi inveniantur et alieni ab iis peccatis qua! voluntate commissa sunt. Et ob hoc secernuntur quaedam civitates ad refugium. Videtur quibusdam quod singulorum quoque siderum positio et coetus civitas dici vel haberi possit in ctelo : quod ego quidem definire non audeo. \‘idco enim omnem creaturam in spe quidem prepter eum qui subjecit esse subiectam, exspectare tamen libertatem in redemptione filiorum Dei sine dubio, et praclarius aliquid aut suo hlimius opperiri ### English translation (Claude) But so that my discourse and your understanding may be lifted a little, and may conceive a certain entry into noticing what we say, let us use a comparison. No one doubts that in the land of Judaea every place, every mountain, every city and village, is designated by certain names; and there is no place at all without a name, but each is designated by its own names: for example, those by which the Canaanites in their places, or the Perizzites no less in theirs, and the Amorites, or the Hivites, or even the Hebrews named them. So, then, according to Paul’s opinion, by which he says that earthly things are a shadow and pattern of heavenly ones, perhaps in the heavenly regions too there will be no small differences of places. You see by what or whose appellations and names they are distinguished, and that the names not only of the regions of heaven but also of all the stars and constellations are marked. For he who made the multitude of the stars, as the prophet says, calls them all by names. Concerning these names, indeed, very many secret and hidden things are contained in the books which are called Enoch; but since those books do not seem to be held in authority among the Hebrews, let us for the present put off calling on what is named there as an example, and pursue the investigation of things from those which we have in hand, about which there can be no doubt. The land of Judaea, then, is described by the words of God in the divine law, and it is said that this ought to be referred to the image of heavenly things. And the Apostle plainly declares that in the heavens there is the city of Jerusalem, and Mount Zion. It follows, then, that just as there are other cities situated around the earthly Jerusalem, and villages, and various regions, so too that heavenly Jerusalem, according to the image of earthly things, has around it other cities and villages and various regions, in which the people of God and the true Israel is one day to be placed through the true Jesus, of whom that Joshua son of Nun bore the image, and is to take the inheritance by distribution of lot, that is, by consideration of merits. So, then, the Lord now says in the distribution of the land, for example, that these are the boundaries of this tribe and others of another: perhaps because the merits of those who will obtain the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven will be different, therefore this distinction of boundaries is commanded to be carefully drawn among these tribes too, so that we may know that these differences of merits are to be observed in each one. For example, one who has lived so negligently that for his faith he deserves indeed to be held among the sons of Israel, but for the negligence and sloth of his life and deeds ought to be reckoned in the tribe of Reuben or Gad or the half-tribe of Manasseh, and to receive the lot of inheritance not within the Jordan but outside it. Another, however, who by amendment of life and the conduct of his purpose has made himself such that, for reasons which God alone knows, he ought to be reckoned either in the tribe of Judah or even in the tribe of Benjamin itself, in which Jerusalem itself and the temple of God and the altar stand; and another in another, and another in another. And in this way these things which are now related as written in the book of Numbers may be a certain foreshadowing of the future lot in the heavens, of those at least who, as we said, will take the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven through Jesus our Lord and Saviour. There, I believe, will also be carefully observed these privileges of the priests which are foreshadowed here, for whom the places near the cities and joined to the very walls are commanded to be set apart by the sons of Israel. There, I believe, will also be these cities whose figure is described here, which it calls cities of refuge, to which not all murderers may flee, but those who committed homicide unknowingly. For there are perhaps some sins which, if we commit them by purpose and will, make us murderers; and there are others which, if we commit them unknowingly, a certain place is decreed for us, I believe, and prepared by God’s command, where we must dwell for a certain time, if we have committed sins that were not voluntary; provided, however, that we are found clean and free from those sins which were committed by will. And for this reason certain cities are set apart for refuge. It seems to some that the position and gathering of each of the stars too can be called or held to be a city in heaven: which I indeed do not dare to define. For I see that the whole creation was subjected in hope on account of him who subjected it, yet awaits freedom in the redemption of the sons of God, and without doubt looks for something more glorious, or something more sublime than its present state. ### Scripture references - Heb 8:5: allusion, high confidence - Ps 147:4 (146:4 LXX): quotation, high confidence - Heb 12:22: allusion, high confidence - Gal 4:26: allusion, medium confidence - Num 34:13–29: allusion, high confidence - Num 35:1–5: allusion, high confidence - Num 35:6–15: allusion, high confidence - Rom 8:20–21: allusion, high confidence ### Extrabiblical texts - 1 En. (1 Enoch): allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Heb 8:5; Ps 147:4 (LXX 146:4); Heb 12:22; Gal 4:26; Num 34:13–29; Num 35:1–5; Num 35:6–15; Rom 8:20–21, 23. Origen mentions the books of Enoch on the names of the stars but declines to use them because the Hebrews do not hold them authoritative. - Origen’s speculation about a place prepared “for a certain time” for those whose sins were involuntary, and about the stars as “cities,” is translated as written; he declines to decide the latter. - A leaked footnote (“llebr. χ, l. … ex 835”) splitting “pro negligentia vero” is removed. The last words are garbled in the scan (“praclarius aliquid aut suo hlimius opperiri”) and translated by sense. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 28.2 (PG 12:802a–803a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-2). ## Homilies on Numbers 28.3 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-3 - Source: PG 12:803a–804a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Just as earthly lands differ greatly in fertility, climate, and civilization by God’s hidden judgment, so in the heavens Christ will assign each one a dwelling according to merit, including “cities of refuge.” ### Latin text Si ergo, ut diximus, umbram habet lex futurorum bonorum, et exemplari et umbras deserviunt caelestium qui in lege deserviunt, et nunc per speculum et in mnigmate, tunc autem faeie ad fac ciem habebitur rerum contemplatio, credo quod et nunc conversationem dicimur habere in caelis per speculum, et iu aenigmate, tunc autem facieiad faciem, talem conversationem merebimur habere in caelis. Si ergo per consequentiam rerum et promissionum fidem nos transferri de terris oportet ad caelum, puto quod in ipsis coelestibus locis Jesus Dominus noster non absque meritorum sorte unumquemque in illa vel illa caeli parte et habitatione constituat. Sed sicut multa est differentia in terris, verbi gratia, habitare in locis fecundis et copiosis ac bonis omnibus abundantibus, ubi et aeris temperies, et eruditio hominum, ac liberalia instituta non desunt : et longe aliud est habitare, aut in locis infecundis, et rerum penuria squalidis, aut aestu torridis, aut frigore geluque torpentibus, vel eam ubi nulla: leges, sed immanis et szcva barbaris ubi bella semper et nunquam quies, et lu‘c nor. sine occulta quadam Dei dispensatione, et jndicic ejus, et iustitia unicuique decernunturzita etin illis locis erit aliquid tale, ιιι in nullo prorsus hinni: habeatur in terris umbra rmlestium. Eritergeu ibi, ut diximus, aliqua civitas refugii, et erit alia in deserto, sicut Bossor in haereditate Ruben civitas esse dicitur in deserto. ### English translation (Claude) If, then, as we said, the law has a shadow of the good things to come, and those who serve in the law serve a pattern and shadow of heavenly things, and now through a mirror and in a riddle, but then face to face, there will be the contemplation of things, I believe that just as we are now said to have our way of life in heaven through a mirror and in a riddle, so then, face to face, we shall deserve to have such a way of life in heaven. If, then, by the sequence of things and the faith of the promises we must be transferred from earth to heaven, I think that in those heavenly places Jesus our Lord will place each one in this or that part and dwelling of heaven not without the lot of merits. But just as there is much difference on earth, for example, between dwelling in fertile and abundant places overflowing with all good things, where neither a temperate climate nor the culture of men nor liberal institutions are lacking; and it is something far different to dwell either in barren places, squalid with want of things, or parched with heat, or numb with cold and frost, or even where there are no laws but monstrous and savage barbarism, where there are always wars and never rest; and these things are not assigned to each one without a certain hidden dispensation of God and his judgment and justice: so too in those places there will be something of the kind, so that the shadow of heavenly things on earth may not be entirely without likeness. There will be, then, as we said, a certain city of refuge there, and there will be another in the wilderness, as Bezer in the inheritance of Reuben is said to be a city in the wilderness. ### Scripture references - Heb 10:1: allusion, high confidence - Heb 8:5: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 13:12: allusion, high confidence - Phil 3:20: allusion, high confidence - Deut 4:43: allusion, high confidence - Josh 20:8: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Heb 10:1; Heb 8:5; 1 Cor 13:12; Phil 3:20; Deut 4:43 and Josh 20:8 (Bezer in the wilderness). - A leaked running head (“ORIGENE θοι”) splitting “aestu torridis” is removed. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 28.3 (PG 12:803a–804a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-3). ## Homilies on Numbers 28.4 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-4 - Source: PG 12:804a - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: As the nations were distributed at the beginning according to the angels or sons of Israel, so at the end Christ, the last Adam, will distribute his own according to merit; Origen longs for the highest lot, to keep the true festivals in the heavenly Jerusalem and to reign with Christ. ### Latin text Sed et illa nihilominus consequentia upienda est: quia sicut r cum diSpergeret Des: filios Adam, statuit fines gentium set-uado ηις nierum angelorum Dei, vel, ut iu aliis exemplaribus legimus, secundum numermn filiorum lsrael“;. in initio mundi ita dispersi sunt lilii illius Atlas. sicut vel illorum merita, vel ipsinsoAdam contenplatio postulabat : quid dicemus futurutn, cum novissimi Adam (qui non in animam viventem,seslia ς spiritum vivificantem factus est “l coeperit filia ξ non dispergere, sed dispensare divina dignatio,nn in initio, sed in line mundi ; et non ut illos qui in 1 Adam omnes mortui sunt, sed ut eos qui in Christi ξ oumes vivificati sunt Sine dubio erit quia: ‘ divisio et distributio talis, quae non solum pro meritis eorum qui dispensantur, sed et pro nontsimi Adam, in quo omnes vivificandi dicuntur, eoatemplatione pensanda sit. Sed quis nostrum talis est, ut ad huiusmodi distributionem, et ad illan caelestis hrereditatis sortem venire mereaturiQuts ξ ita beatus erit, cujus sors in Jerusalem veniat, ut sit ibi ubi templum Dei est, itno ut ipse sit Dei (tl plum? Quis ita beatus est ut ibi dies festosapt ubi altare divinum perpetuis ignibus adole ἦ tur? Quis ita beatus est, qui sacrificium suomet incensum suavitatis supra illum ignem ponat. δε quo diccbat Salvator : Ignem veni mittere in terram? Quis ita beatus ibi semper apt Pascha in loco quem elegit Dominus suos! ιιι Pentecostes diem gerat, et festivitatem repmpit'ationis, et tabernaculorum solemnitatem, non in per umbram, sed per ipsam speciem rerumque veritatem? Quis nostrum dignus habebitur tam beatae sortis electione, cum Deus dividere caper“ filios novissimi Adam: non cui dicat : tiri! super quinque civitates potestatem habensn all cui dicat : Eris super decem civitates poi!statem habens, nec cui dicat”: lntra dium Domini tui ; sed cui dicat ἐς Sedete et vos mecum super duodecim thronos, iudicantes cl vos duodecim tribus Israel ; de quibus dicat": Pater, volo ut ubi ego sum, et ipsi sint meeum Volo etiam istos esse reges, ut ego sim rex rerum Volo et istos habere dominationem, ut et ego Sim Dominus dominantium. Beati qui ad hanc pemnicnt beatitudinis smnmam. Beati qui ad ista corsceadere poterunt fastigia meritorum, et benedictus Deus noster, qui haec promisit diligentibus se. Hi sunt ipsi vere sacrıs numeris numerati apud Deum, immo ipsi sunt, quorum etianı capilli capitis numerati sunt e per lesum Christum Dominum nostrum, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen ### English translation (Claude) But that consequence too must no less be grasped: that just as, “when God dispersed the sons of Adam, he fixed the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God,” or, as we read in other copies, “according to the number of the sons of Israel,” at the beginning of the world the sons of that Adam were dispersed as either their merits or the regard for Adam himself required; what shall we say will happen when the divine condescension begins, not to disperse but to dispense the sons of the last Adam (who was made not a living soul but a life-giving spirit), not at the beginning but at the end of the world, and not as those who all died in Adam, but as those who have all been made alive in Christ? Without doubt there will be some division and distribution of such a kind as must be weighed not only according to the merits of those who are dispensed, but also with regard for the last Adam, in whom all are said to be made alive. But which of us is such as to deserve to come to a distribution of this kind and to that lot of the heavenly inheritance? Who will be so blessed that his lot comes in Jerusalem, so that he is there where the temple of God is, or rather that he himself is the temple of God? Who is so blessed as to keep the feast days there where the divine altar burns with perpetual fires? Who is so blessed as to place his sacrifice and incense of sweetness upon that fire of which the Saviour said, “I came to cast fire on the earth”? Who is so blessed as always to keep the Passover there, in the place which the Lord has chosen for himself, and to keep the day of Pentecost, and the festival of propitiation, and the solemnity of Tabernacles, no longer through a shadow, but through the very form and truth of things? Which of us will be held worthy of the choice of so blessed a lot, when God begins to divide the sons of the last Adam: not one to whom he may say, “You shall have authority over five cities,” nor one to whom he may say, “You shall have authority over ten cities,” nor one to whom he may say, “Enter into the joy of your Lord”; but one to whom he may say, “You too sit with me on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”; of whom he may say, “Father, I wish that where I am, they too may be with me. I wish these too to be kings, so that I may be King of kings. I wish these too to have dominion, so that I may be Lord of lords.” Blessed are those who come to this summit of blessedness. Blessed are those who will be able to climb to these heights of merits; and blessed is our God, who has promised these things to those who love him. These are truly numbered in sacred numbers before God; or rather these are they whose very hairs of the head are numbered, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is the glory and the dominion for ages of ages. Amen. ### Scripture references - Deut 32:8: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:45: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 15:22: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 3:16: allusion, high confidence - Luke 12:49: quotation, high confidence - Deut 16:2: allusion, medium confidence - Luke 19:19: quotation, high confidence - Luke 19:17: quotation, high confidence - Matt 25:21: quotation, high confidence - Matt 19:28: quotation, high confidence - John 17:24: quotation, high confidence - Rev 19:16: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 2:9: allusion, medium confidence - Matt 10:30: allusion, high confidence ### Translation notes - Quotations and allusions: Deut 32:8 (the Greek “angels of God” and the Hebrew “sons of Israel,” which Origen knows as a reading in other copies); 1 Cor 15:45, 22; 1 Cor 3:16; Luke 12:49; Deut 16:2; Luke 19:17, 19; Matt 25:21; Matt 19:28; John 17:24 (expanded with Rev 19:16); 1 Cor 2:9; Matt 10:30. The words “I wish these too to be kings … Lord of lords” are Origen’s expansion of John 17:24, not a quotation. ### Citation (SBL) Origen, Hom. Num. 28.4 (PG 12:804a; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-homiliae-numeros/28-1/#p-28-4).