On Prayer 11.3 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Koetschau 2:323

εἰ δὲ „ἄγγελοι“ τοῦ θεοῦ προσελθόντες τῷ Ἰησοῦ „διηκόνουν αὐτῷ, “ καὶ μὴ πρέπον ἐστὶν ἡμᾶς πρὸς ὀλίγον χρόνον νοεῖν γεγονέναι τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων πρὸς τὸν Ἰησοῦν διακονίαν τῆς σωματικῆς αὐτοῦ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἐπιδημίας, καὶ αὐτοῦ ἔτι „ἐν μέσῳ“ τῶν πιστευόντων οὐχ ὡς ἀνακειμένου ἀλλὰ ὡς διακονοῦντος· πόσους εἰκὸς ἀγγέλους διακονοῦντας τῷ Ἰησοῦ, βουλομένῳ συνάγειν „τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰσραὴλ“ „κατὰ ἕνα ἕνα“ καὶ ἀθροίζειν τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς διασπορᾶς τούς τε φοβουμένους καὶ ἐπικαλουμένους σῴζοντι, μᾶλλον τῶν ἀποστόλων συνεργεῖν τῇ αὐξήσει καὶ τῷ πληθυσμῷ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ὡς καὶ προεστῶτάς τινας τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀγγέλους λέγεσθαι παρὰ τῷ Ἰωάννῃ ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει; οὐ γὰρ μάτην οἱ ἄγγελοι „τοῦ θεοῦ“ ἀναβαίνουσι καὶ καταβαίνουσι „ἐπὶ τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, “ ὁρώμενοι τοῖς τῷ φωτὶ τῆς „γνώσεως“ πεφωτισμένοις ὀφθαλμοῖς.

English · Claude translation

And if “angels” of God came to Jesus and “ministered to him,” and it is not fitting for us to think that the angels' ministry to Jesus lasted only for the short time of his bodily sojourn among men, while he is still “in the midst” of believers, not as one who reclines at table but as one who serves, how many angels are likely to minister to Jesus, who wishes to gather “the sons of Israel” “one by one” and to assemble those of the dispersion, and who saves those who fear and call upon him; and to work together, even more than the apostles, for the growth and increase of the church—so that some angels are even said, in John's Revelation, to preside over the churches? For not in vain do the angels “of God” ascend and descend “upon the Son of Man,” seen by eyes enlightened with the light “of knowledge.”

About this passage

Source

Koetschau 2:323 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.

Scripture

Matt 4:11 · quotation, high confidence
Luke 22:27 · allusion, high confidence
Isa 27:12 · quotation, high confidence
Joel 2:32 (3:5 LXX) · allusion, low confidence
Rev 1:20 · allusion, high confidence
John 1:51 · quotation, high confidence
Hos 10:12 · echo, low confidence
2 Cor 4:6 · echo, low confidence

Topics

Prayer

Notes

Translation notes

The allusions are Matt 4:11, Luke 22:27, Isa 27:12, Joel 2:32 (3:5 LXX), Rev 1:20 and chapters 2–3 (the angels of the churches), John 1:51, and Hos 10:12 LXX (“light of knowledge”; compare 2 Cor 4:6).

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 11.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/11/3/).

Plain text

Origen, Or. 11.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/11/3/).