On Prayer 14.4
Summary: Examples of prayer in the strict sense, offered with glorification: Azarias, Tobit, Hannah, Habakkuk, and Jonah.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:331–332
τοῦ δὲ δευτέρου ἐν τῷ Δανιήλ· „καὶ συστὰς Ἀζαρίας προσηύξατο οὕτως καὶ ἀνοίξας τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ ἐν μέσῳ πυρὸς εἶπε, “ καὶ ἐν τῷ Τωβήτ· „καὶ προσηυξάμην μετʼ ὀδύνης λέγων· δίκαιος εἶ, κύριε, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔργα σου, πᾶσαι αἱ ὁδοί σου ἐλεημοσύνη καὶ ἀλήθεια, καὶ κρίσιν ἀληθινὴν καὶ δικαίαν σὺ κρίνεις εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.“ ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸ μὲν ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ ῥητὸν ὠβέλισαν, ὡς μὴ κείμενον ἐν τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ, τῇ δὲ τοῦ Τωβὴτ βίβλῳ ἀντιλέγουσιν οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, ὡς μὴ ἐνδιαθήκῳ, παραθήσομαι ἐκ τῆς πρώτης τῶν Βασιλειῶν τὸ τῆς Ἄννης· „καὶ προσηύξατο πρὸς κύριον καὶ κλαυθμῷ ἔκλαυσε. καὶ ηὔξατο εὐχὴν καὶ εἶπε· κύριε τῶν δυνάμεων, ἐὰν ἐφοράσει ἐπίδῃς ἐπὶ τὴν ταπείνωσιν τῆς δούλης σου“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀββακούμ· „προσευχὴ Ἀββακοὺμ τοῦ προφήτου μετὰ ᾠδῆς. κύριε, εἰσακήκοα τὴν φωνήν σου καὶ ἐφοβήθην· κύριε, κατενόησα τὰ ἔργα σου καὶ ἐξέστην· ἐν μέσῳ δύο ζῴων γνωσθήσῃ, ἐν τῷ ἐγγίζειν τὰ ἔτη ἐπιγνωσθήσῃ.“ σφόδρα δὲ αὕτη ἐμφαίνει τὸ κατὰ τὸν ὅρον τῆς προσευχῆς, ὅτι μετὰ δοξολογίας τῷ προσευχομένῳ ἀναπέμπεται. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἰωνᾷ „προσηύξατο Ἰωνᾶς πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεὸν αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας τοῦ κήτους καὶ εἶπεν· ἐβόησα ἐν θλίψει μου πρὸς κύριον τὸν θεόν μου, καὶ εἰσήκουσέ μου· ἐκ κοιλίας ᾅδου κραυγῆς μου ἤκουσας φωνῆς μου· ἀπέῤῥιψάς με εἰς βάθη καρδίας θαλάσσης, καὶ ποταμοὶ ἐκύκλωσάν με.“
English · Claude translation
Of the second, in Daniel: “And Azarias stood and prayed thus, and opening his mouth in the midst of the fire he said”; and in Tobit: “And I prayed in grief, saying: You are righteous, O Lord, and all your works; all your ways are mercy and truth, and you judge true and righteous judgment for ever.” But since they have marked the passage in Daniel with an obelus as not found in the Hebrew, and those of the circumcision dispute the book of Tobit as not in the canon, I will set down from the first book of Kingdoms the prayer of Hannah: “And she prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. And she vowed a vow and said: O Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look upon the humiliation of your servant,” and what follows; and in Habakkuk: “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, with song. O Lord, I have heard your voice and was afraid; O Lord, I considered your works and was amazed; in the midst of two living creatures you will be known; as the years draw near you will be recognized.” This prayer shows very clearly the definition of prayer, that it is sent up with glorification by the one who prays. And also in Jonah: “Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the sea monster and said: I cried in my affliction to the Lord my God, and he heard me; out of the belly of Hades you heard my cry, my voice. You cast me into the depths of the heart of the sea, and rivers surrounded me.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Pr Azar 1–2 (Dan 3:24–25 LXX), Tob 3:1–2, 1 Sam 1:10–11, Hab 3:1–2 (LXX), and Jonah 2:1–3 (2:2–4 in the Greek and Hebrew numbering). Origen notes that the Prayer of Azariah was marked with an obelus (as absent from the Hebrew) and that the Jews did not accept Tobit as canonical, so he adds examples from undisputed books. Two passages are partly unreadable in the digital text and are corrected from the quotation of 1 Sam 1:10–11 in 4.1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (the letters marked unreadable in the digital text are certain from 1 Sam 1:11, quoted in full in 4.1): καὶ ηὔ(??)ὐχὴν → καὶ ηὔξατο εὐχὴν; ἐπίδῃ(??) τὴν → ἐπίδῃς ἐπὶ τὴν.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 14.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/4/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 14.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/14/4/).
Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)
Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text