Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 27.6

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Simple but sound teaching is better than brilliant teaching that denies that the Father of Jesus gave the law and the prophets; we should ask the Father for the living bread.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:366

καὶ τὸ παρὰ τῷ Σολομῶντι δὲ ἐν ταῖς Παροιμίαις λεγόμενον ἡγοῦμαι διδάσκειν ὅτι βελτίων ὁ μὴ χωρῶν τὰ εὐτονώτερα καὶ μείζονα τῶν δογμάτων διὰ τὴν ἁπλότητα (οὐκ ἐσφαλμένα μέντοι γε φρονῶν) τοῦ ἐντρεχεστέρου μὲν καὶ ὀξυτέρου καὶ μειζόνως ἐπιβάλλοντος τοῖς πράγμασι τὸν δὲ τῆς εἰρήνης καὶ συμφωνίας τῶν ὅλων λόγον μὴ τρανοῦντος. ἔχει δὲ οὕτως αὐτῷ ἡ λέξις· „κρείσσων ξενισμὸς λαχάνων πρὸς φιλίαν καὶ χάριν ἢ μόσχος ἀπὸ φάτνης μετὰ ἔχθρας.“ πολλάκις γοῦν ἀπεδεξάμεθα ἰδιωτικὴν καὶ ἁπλουστέραν μετὰ εὐσυνειδησίας ἑστίασιν, ξενιζόμενοι παρὰ τοῖς πλέον ἡμῖν παρασχεῖν μὴ δυναμένοις, ἤπερ λόγων ὕψος ἐπαιρομένων „κατὰ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, “ μετὰ πολλῆς πιθανότητος ἀλλότριον καταγγέλλον τοῦ „τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας“ δεδωκότος πατρὸς τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ δόγμα. ἵνα τοίνυν μήτε διʼ ἔνδειαν τροφῶν τὴν ψυχὴν νοσήσωμεν μήτε διὰ „λιμὸν λόγου κυρίου“ τῷ θεῷ ἀποθάνωμεν, τὸν ζῶντα ἄρτον, ὅστις ὁ αὐτός ἐστι τῷ ἐπιουσίῳ, πειθόμενοι τῷ διδασκάλῳ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν, πιστεύοντες καὶ βιοῦντες δεξιώτερον, αἰτῶμεν παρὰ τοῦ πατρός.

English · Claude translation

And I think that what is said by Solomon in Proverbs teaches that one who, because of his simplicity, cannot receive the more vigorous and greater doctrines (though his opinions are not mistaken) is better than one who is quicker and sharper and grasps things more largely but does not make clear the account of the peace and harmony of the universe. His words run thus: “Better is a meal of vegetables with friendship and grace than a calf from the stall with enmity.” Often, at any rate, we have preferred a plain and simple entertainment with a good conscience, being received by those who could not provide us more, to the loftiness of words exalted “against the knowledge of God,” which with much persuasiveness proclaims a doctrine foreign to the Father of our Lord Jesus, who gave “the law and the prophets.” So that we may neither fall sick in soul through lack of food nor die to God through “a famine of the word of the Lord,” let us ask of the Father the living bread, which is the same as the daily bread, obeying our teacher and Savior, believing and living more rightly.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:366 · 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
Topics
Prayer, Heresy

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are Prov 15:17, 2 Cor 10:5, Matt 22:40 (“the law and the prophets”), and Amos 8:11. The teaching that rejects the God of the law and the prophets is that of Marcion and some Gnostic groups, whom Origen does not name here.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 27.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/27/6/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 27.6 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/27/6/).

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