On Prayer 21.2
Summary: Many words mean many and divided things, as evil and falsehood are many while good and truth are one; the Father knows what his children truly need.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:345–346
καὶ ἔοικέ γε ὁ πολυλογῶν βαττολογεῖν, καὶ ὁ βαττολογῶν πολυλογεῖν. οὐδὲν γὰρ ἓν τῆς ὕλης καὶ τῶν σωμάτων. ἀλλʼ ἕκαστον τῶν νομιζομένων ἓν ἔσχισται καὶ διακέκοπται καὶ διῄρηται εἰς πλείονα τὴν ἕνωσιν ἀπολωλεκός· ἓν γὰρ τὸ ἀγαθὸν πολλὰ δὲ τὰ αἰσχρὰ, καὶ ἓν ἡ ἀλήθεια πολλὰ δὲ τὰ ψευδῆ, καὶ ἓν ἡ ἀληθὴς δικαιοσύνη, πολλαὶ δὲ ἕξεις ταύτην ὑποκρίνονται, καὶ ἓν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία, πολλαὶ δὲ αἱ καταργούμεναι „τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου“ καὶ „τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου.“ καὶ εἷς μὲν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος, πολλοὶ δὲ οἱ ἀλλότριοι τοῦ θεοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο οὐδεὶς ἐκφεύξεται „ἁμαρτίαν“ „ἐκ πολυλογίας, “ καὶ οὐδεὶς δοκῶν „ἐκ πολυλογίας“ εἰσακουσθήσεσθαι εἰσακούεσθαι δύναται. διόπερ οὐχ ὁμοιωτέον ἐστὶ τὰς εὐχὰς ἡμῶν τοῖς ἐθνικοῖς βαττολογοῦσιν ἢ πολυλογοῦσιν ἢ ὅ τι δή ποτε πράττουσι „κατὰ τὴν ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ ὄφεως“· „οἶδε γὰρ“ ὁ τῶν ἁγίων θεὸς, „πατὴρ“ ὢν, „ὧν χρείαν“ ἔχουσιν οἱ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐπεὶ ἄξια τυγχάνει τῆς πατρικῆς γνώσεως. εἰ δέ τις ἀγνοεῖ τὸν θεὸν, καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγνοεῖ, ἀγνοεῖ δὲ τὰ „ὧν χρείαν“ ἔχει· διημαρτημένα γάρ ἐστι τὰ „ὧν χρείαν“ ἔχειν νομίζει· ὁ δὲ τεθεωρηκὼς ὧν ἐστιν ἐνδεὴς κρειττόνων καὶ θειοτέρων, γινωσκομένων ὑπὸ θεοῦ τεύξεται ὧν τεθεώρηκε καὶ ἐγνωσμένων τῷ πατρὶ καὶ πρὸ τῆς αἰτήσεως. τούτων δὴ εἰς τὰ πρὸ τῆς ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐχῆς εἰρημένων, ἤδη θεασώμεθα καὶ τὰ δηλούμενα ἀπὸ τῆς εὐχῆς.
English · Claude translation
And it seems that the one who uses many words babbles, and the one who babbles uses many words. For nothing material and bodily is one; but each of the things thought to be one is split, cut up, and divided into many, having lost its unity. For the good is one, but shameful things are many; the truth is one, but falsehoods are many; true righteousness is one, but many dispositions imitate it; the wisdom of God is one, but many are the wisdoms “of this age” and “of the rulers of this age,” which are coming to nothing. And the Word of God is one, but many are the words foreign to God. For this reason no one will escape “sin” “in a multitude of words,” and no one who thinks he will be heard “for his many words” can be heard. Therefore our prayers must not be like those of the Gentiles who babble, or use many words, or do whatever they do “after the likeness of the serpent.” For the God of the saints, being “Father,” “knows what” his sons “need,” since these things are worthy of the Father's knowledge. But if someone does not know God, he does not know the things of God either, and he does not know “what” he “needs”; for what he thinks he needs is mistaken. But the one who has contemplated the better and more divine things he lacks, which are known to God, will obtain what he has contemplated, things known to the Father even before he asks. Having said these things about what is said before the prayer in Matthew, let us now look at what is shown in the prayer itself.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations and allusions are 1 Cor 2:6, Prov 10:19, Matt 6:7–8, and Ps 58:4 (57:5 LXX, “after the likeness of the serpent”). The contrast of the one and the many reflects Platonic thought.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 21.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/21/2/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 21.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/21/2/).
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