On Prayer 3.4
Summary: Many passages of the law, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Acts use euchē in the sense of a vow rather than a prayer.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:305–307
πολλαχοῦ δὲ εἴπομεν τὸ ὄνομα τῆς εὐχῆς μὴ κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες τετάχθαι ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰακώβ· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν Λευϊτικῷ· „ἐλάλησε κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσέα λέγων· λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· ὅς (ἐὰν) εὔξηται εὐχὴν ὥστε τιμὴν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ, ἔσται ἡ τιμὴ τοῦ ἄῤῥενος, ἀπὸ εἰκοσαετοῦς ἕως ἑξηκονταετοῦς ἔσται αὐτοῦ ἡ τιμὴ πεντήκοντα δίδραχμα ἀργυρίου τῷ σταθμίῳ τῷ ἁγίῳ“· καὶ ἐν Ἀριθμοῖς· „καὶ ἐλάλησε κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσέα λέγων· λάλησον τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ ἐρεῖς πρὸς αὐτούς· ἀνὴρ ἢ γυνὴ, ὅς ἐὰν μεγάλως εὔξηται εὐχὴν ἀφαγνίσασθαι ἁγνείαν κυρίῳ. ἀπὸ οἴνου καὶ σίκερα ἁγνισθήσεται“ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς περὶ τοῦ καλουμένου Ναζιραίου. εἶτα μετʼ ὀλίγα· „καὶ ἁγιάσει τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ, ᾗ ἡγιάσθη κυρίῳ τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς εὐχῆς.“ καὶ πάλιν μετʼ ὀλίγα· „οὗτος ὁ νόμος τοῦ εὐξαμένου· ᾗ ἂν ἡμέρᾳ πληρώσῃ ἡμέραν εὐχῆς αὐτοῦ, “ καὶ πάλιν μετʼ ὀλίγον· „καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πίεται ὁ ηὐγμένος οἶνον. οὗτος ὁ νόμος τοῦ εὐξαμένου, ὃς ἐὰν εὔξηται κυρίῳ δῶρον αὐτοῦ περὶ τῆς εὐχῆς. χωρὶς ὧν ἂν εὕρῃ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ κατὰ δύναμιν τῆς εὐχῆς αὐτοῦ, ἧς ἂν εὔξηται κατὰ τὸν νόμον ἁγνείας, “ καὶ πρὸς τῷ τέλει τῶν Ἀριθμῶν· „καὶ ἐλάλησε Μωϋσῆς πρὸς τοὺς ἄρχοντας τῶν φυλῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ λέγων· τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα, ὃ συνέταξε κύριος· ἄνθρωπος, ὃς ἐὰν εὔξηται εὐχὴν κυρίῳ ἢ ὀμόσῃ ὅρκον ὁρισμῷ ἢ ὁρίσηται περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ. οὐ βεβηλώσει τὸ ῥῆμα αὐτοῦ· πάντα ὅσα ἂν ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ ποιήσει. ἐὰν δὲ γυνὴ εὔξηται εὐχὴν κυρίῳ ἢ ὁρίσηται ὁρισμὸν ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς ἐν τῇ νεότητι αὐτῆς, καὶ ἀκούσῃ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῆς τὰς εὐχὰς αὐτῆς καὶ τοὺς ὁρισμοὺς αὐτῆς, οὓς ὡρίσατο κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῆς, καὶ παρασιωπήσῃ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτῆς, στήσονται πᾶσαι αἱ εὐχαὶ αὐτῆς, καὶ πάντες οἱ ὁρισμοὶ, οὓς ὡρίσατο κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῆς. μενοῦσιν αὐτῇ“· καὶ ἑξῆς τούτοις τινὰ περὶ τῆς τοιαύτης νομοθετεῖ. κατὰ τοῦτο τὸ σημαινόμενον ἐν ταῖς Παροιμίαις γέγραπται......... „(παγὶς) ἀνδρὶ ταχύ τι τῶν ἰδίων ἁγιάσαι· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ εὔξασθαι μετανοεῖν γίνεται“· καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἐκκλησιαστῇ· „ἀγαθὸν τὸ μὴ εὔξασθαι ἢ τὸ εὔξασθαι καὶ μὴ ἀποδοῦναι“· καὶ ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων· „εἰσὶν ἄνδρες παρʼ ἡμῖν τέσσαρες, εὐχὴν ἔχοντες ἀφʼ ἑαυτῶν.“
English · Claude translation
We have said that in many places the word euchē is not used in the customary sense, as in the case of Jacob; so also in Leviticus: “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: Whoever vows a vow, such as the value of his soul to the Lord, the value of a male from twenty years old to sixty years old shall be fifty didrachms of silver by the holy shekel”; and in Numbers: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: A man or woman who vows a great vow to consecrate himself in purity to the Lord shall keep himself pure from wine and strong drink,” and the rest about the one called a Nazirite. Then a little after: “And he shall consecrate his head on that day on which he was consecrated to the Lord for the days of the vow.” And again a little after: “This is the law of the one who has vowed: on whatever day he fulfills the days of his vow”; and again a little after: “And after this the one who has vowed shall drink wine. This is the law of the one who has vowed, whoever vows to the Lord his gift for his vow, besides whatever his hand can afford, according to the power of the vow which he vows, according to the law of purity.” And near the end of Numbers: “And Moses spoke to the rulers of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying: This is the word which the Lord has commanded: A man who vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath with a binding, or binds himself concerning his soul, shall not profane his word; he shall do all that comes out of his mouth. And if a woman vows a vow to the Lord, or binds herself with a binding in her father's house in her youth, and her father hears her vows and her bindings with which she bound herself upon her soul, and her father keeps silent, all her vows shall stand, and all the bindings with which she bound herself upon her soul shall remain for her”; and next to these he legislates certain things about such a woman. In this sense it is written in Proverbs … : “It is a snare for a man hastily to consecrate some of his own; for after vowing comes repentance”; and in Ecclesiastes: “It is better not to vow than to vow and not pay”; and in the Acts of the Apostles: “We have four men who have a vow on them.”
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Lev 27:1–3, Num 6:2–3, 6:11, 6:13, 6:20–21, Num 30:1–4 (30:2–5 in the Greek and Hebrew numbering), Prov 20:25, Eccl 5:5 (5:4 in the Greek and Hebrew numbering), and Acts 21:23. There is a gap in the manuscript before the quotation of Proverbs (marked “…”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing accent and breathing in the digital text): η τὸ εὔξασθαι → ἢ τὸ εὔξασθαι.
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/3/4/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 3.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/3/4/).
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