Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 28.4

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

Summary: Widows, deacons, presbyters, and above all bishops have special debts to pay, as do husband and wife to each other; in this life no one is ever free of debt.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:377

χωρὶς δὲ τούτων καθολικωτέρων ὄντων ἔστι τις χήρας προνοουμένης ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὀφειλὴ καὶ ἑτέρα διακόνου καὶ ἄλλη πρεσβυτέρου. καὶ ἐπισκόπου δὲ ὀφειλὴ βαρυτάτη ἐστὶν, ἀπαιτουμένη ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς ὅλης ἐκκλησίας σωτῆρος καὶ ἐκδικουμένη, εἰ μὴ ἀποδιδοῖτο. ἤδη δὲ ὁ ἀπόστολος ὀφειλήν τινα κοινὴν ὠνόμασεν ἀνδρὸς καὶ γυναικὸς λέγων· „τῇ γυναικὶ ὁ ἀνὴρ τὴν ὀφειλὴν ἀποδιδότω, ὁμοίως καὶ ἡ γυνὴ τῷ ἀνδρί“· καὶ ἐπιφέρει· „μὴ ἀποστερεῖτε ἀλλήλους.“ καὶ τί με δεῖ λέγειν, παρὸν τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἀναλέγεσθαι ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας τῇδε τῇ γραφῇ, ὅσα ὀφείλοντες ἤτοι μὴ ἀποδιδόντες κατασχεθησόμεθα ἢ ἀποδιδόντες ἐλευθερωθησόμεθα; πλὴν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ ὄντα πάσης ὥρας νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας μὴ ὀφείλειν.

English · Claude translation

Besides these, which are more general, there is a debt of a widow provided for by the church, another of a deacon, and another of a presbyter; and the debt of a bishop is the heaviest, being required by the Savior of the whole church and avenged if it is not paid. And the apostle has named a certain debt common to husband and wife, saying, “Let the husband render to his wife her due, and likewise also the wife to her husband”; and he adds, “Do not deprive one another.” And why need I speak further, when those who read this treatise can gather for themselves from what has been said how many things we owe, and either will be held fast for not paying them, or will be set free by paying them? But it is not possible for one in this life not to be in debt at every hour of night and day.

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:377 · 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, Church office, Marriage

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are 1 Cor 7:3 and 7:5; the widows provided for by the church allude to 1 Tim 5:3–16.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 28.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/4/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 28.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/28/4/).

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