Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Psalms 23:5

Just as certain rewards are given to the contender in mighty contests, so also in any trial, when that which afflicts is nearby and the powers of the adversaries bring tribulation, know that a spiritual and intellectual table is prepared on account of this trial. Therefore, however many times you will be afflicted, equally many times a spiritual table is placed before you. Fix firm your eyes attentive only to my tables, and, giving thanks, you may say with the apostle, “Not I alone, but we are made glorious in tribulation.”

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 23:5

Psalms 23:5

This bread that God the Word declares is his body is the word that feeds souls, word proceeding from God the Word and bread from heavenly Bread. It has been placed on the table about which was written, “You have prepared a table in my sight against those who afflict me.” And this drink that God the Word declares is his blood is the word that gives drink and wonderfully intoxicates the hearts of those who drink. This is the cup concerning which was written, “and your intoxicating cup, how glorious it is!” Also, this drink is the fruit of the true Vine, who said, “I am the true vine,” and it is the blood of that Grape that produced this drink when it was cast into the winepress of the passion, just as the bread too is the word of Christ, made from that Wheat that “falling into the earth … produces much fruit.” For God the Word was not saying that the visible bread that he was holding in his hands was his body, but rather the Word, in whose mystery the bread was to be broken. He was not saying that the visible drink was his blood, but the Word, in whose mystery the drink was to be poure…

This bread that God the Word declares is his body is the word that feeds souls, word proceeding from God the Word and bread from heavenly Bread. It has been placed on the table about which was written, “You have prepared a table in my sight against those who afflict me.” And this drink that God the Word declares is his blood is the word that gives drink and wonderfully intoxicates the hearts of those who drink. This is the cup concerning which was written, “and your intoxicating cup, how glorious it is!” Also, this drink is the fruit of the true Vine, who said, “I am the true vine,” and it is the blood of that Grape that produced this drink when it was cast into the winepress of the passion, just as the bread too is the word of Christ, made from that Wheat that “falling into the earth … produces much fruit.” For God the Word was not saying that the visible bread that he was holding in his hands was his body, but rather the Word, in whose mystery the bread was to be broken. He was not saying that the visible drink was his blood, but the Word, in whose mystery the drink was to be poured out. For what else could the body and the blood of God the Word be except the Word that nourishes and the Word that “makes glad the heart”?

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 26:26-28

Psalms 24:3

Where should you stand, you who seek sanctification from God? The writer says, “You have established my feet on the rock.” “Christ was the rock.” Let us learn about the one who follows these promises.

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 24:3

Psalms 24:6

No one seeking the face of God will see his face and live, … unless he or she has been changed.

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 24:6

Psalms 24:9

But after he had destroyed his enemies through his passion, the Lord, who is mighty in battle and strong, … goes, bearing victory and trophies, with the body that arose from the dead.… Certain powers say, “Who is this that is coming from Edom, with scarlet garments from Bosra, so beautiful?” And those escorting him say to those stationed at the gates of heaven, “Lift up your gates, and the King of glory will come in.”

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 6:287-88

Psalms 26:2

If need be, we will not only partake of the blessings of life but bear its appointed sorrows as a trial to our souls. For in this way is divine Scripture accustomed to speak of human afflictions, by which, as gold is tried in the fire, so the human spirit is tried and is found to be worthy either of condemnation or of praise.… We are therefore prepared and are ready to say, “Try me, O Lord, and prove me; purge my reins and my heart.”

AGAINST CELSUS 8:56

Psalms 27:1

Christians have nothing to fear, even if demons should not be well-disposed to them; for they are protected by the supreme God, who is well pleased with their piety and who sets his divine angels to watch over those who are worthy of such guardianship, so that they can suffer nothing from demons. He who by his piety possesses the favor of the Most High, who has accepted the guidance of Jesus, the “angel of the great counsel,” being well contented with the favor of God through Christ Jesus, may say with confidence that he has nothing to suffer from the whole host of demons.

AGAINST CELSUS 8:27

Psalms 27:3

It may be that these words are spoken by the prophet of no one else but the Savior, who feared no one because of the light and salvation given from the Father and who was afraid of no one because of the protection with which God shielded him. And his heart was not at all fearful when the entire host of Satan encamped against him. His heart, filled with sacred teachings, hoped in God when war rose up against him.

EXHORTATION TO MARTYDOM 29

Psalms 27:3

You see steadfastness and vigor of the soul that keeps the commandments of God and has the confidence of uncreated liberty.

HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 16:6.1

Psalms 28:1

Frequently, in Scripture, the righteous are said to have called out to God. Each one tries to beseech God with a cry, and I may say with an unusual cry. He goes to his bedroom closet, locks the door and calls out to God: “Do not be silent before me.” It was written of Moses, Aaron and Joshua the son of Nun. Indeed, they were the worthy ones to whom God spoke. He spoke through the prophets whenever the people stood before God. Let us not think that God speaks to us externally, for those righteous thoughts that are in our hearts are the words we speak and the voice through which God speaks to us. Understand this when Scripture says that God spoke to this one or that. Thus Scripture testifies, “Blessed is the one whose help is from you.…” We have this help through which the word of God is received. Holy is that one … who hears the word of the Lord and does it.

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 28:1

Psalms 28:2

Often, we communicate by the lifting of hands, as when Moses’ arms were lifted up and Israel was victorious. When his hands were down, the Amalekites won.… Our hands are our deeds of piety. If we store treasures in heaven, we have hands lifted to God and overcome the enemy. When, therefore, I raise my hands to God, I lift my spirit to him through my uplifted hands. Amalek is conquered by me. So, it is needful to lift your hands to God. The temple of God is his glory.

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 28:2

Psalms 30:3

No one is able to exalt God unless God has lifted him up. For we are lifted up on high through the cross of Christ, who said, “When I will have been lifted up, I will draw all to me.” We exalt the Lord who himself exalted the Father, and as much as he has been in him, he shows the Father to the ones who believe. He teaches that there are certain invisible enemies of the human spirit who envy the salvation handed over to them by God. They lie in wait, and they observe whether an error, fall or mishap should happen, which, if it would, straightway they mock that salvation as if joyful with the wrongdoing, against which mockery he bears up with strength if they will see that salvation illuminated by divine steps. He thanks God because God did not allow him to be cast away but corrected him from his fall. One who realizes this clearly exalts God and protects the worthy teaching that comes from God. Such a person lives a life of wisdom and keeps his spirit in all excellence. He exalts the one who lives within him.

SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 30:2

Psalms 32:5

People had evil thoughts. They were revealed to bring them into the open and destroy them. Once they had been killed and are dead, they would cease to exist. He who died for us would kill them. For, as long as such thoughts were hidden and not brought out into the open, it was quite impossible to kill them. Thus, if we ourselves have sinned, we ought to say, “I made my sin known to you, and I have not hidden my iniquity. I said, “Against myself shall I proclaim my injustice to the Lord.’ ”

HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 17:8

Psalms 33:6

Nothing in the Trinity can be called greater or less, for there is but one fount of deity, who upholds the universe by his word and reason and sanctifies “by the spirit of his mouth” all that is worthy of sanctification.

ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:3.7

Psalms 33:15

When we fail to remember the one who formed each one of us in the womb, and formed all our hearts individually and understands all our works, we do not perceive that God is a helper of those who are lowly and inferior, a protector of the weak, a shelterer of those who have been given up in despair and Savior of those who have been given up as hopeless.

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 13:168

Psalms 36:6

Human beings, being ignorant of the judgments of God, which are “a great abyss,” are accustomed to complain against God and to say, Why do unjust people and unjust robbers and impious and wicked ones suffer nothing adverse in this life but everything yields prosperity to them, honors, riches, power, health, and the health and strength of the body even serves them. On the contrary, innumerable tribulations come on the innocent and pious worshipers of God; they live rejected, humble, contemptible, under the blows of the powerful. Sometimes even more severe diseases dominate them in their body. But as I said, the ignorant complain about what order there is in the divine judgments. For however much more severely they want those to be punished whose power and iniquities they lament, there is that much greater necessity that the penalties be differed, that if they are not differed, … it is certain that they will be eternal and last forever. On the contrary, therefore, if they wanted good things to be given to the just and innocent in the present age, the good things themselves would also b…

Human beings, being ignorant of the judgments of God, which are “a great abyss,” are accustomed to complain against God and to say, Why do unjust people and unjust robbers and impious and wicked ones suffer nothing adverse in this life but everything yields prosperity to them, honors, riches, power, health, and the health and strength of the body even serves them. On the contrary, innumerable tribulations come on the innocent and pious worshipers of God; they live rejected, humble, contemptible, under the blows of the powerful. Sometimes even more severe diseases dominate them in their body. But as I said, the ignorant complain about what order there is in the divine judgments. For however much more severely they want those to be punished whose power and iniquities they lament, there is that much greater necessity that the penalties be differed, that if they are not differed, … it is certain that they will be eternal and last forever. On the contrary, therefore, if they wanted good things to be given to the just and innocent in the present age, the good things themselves would also be temporal and would have to come to a quick end; but the more they are deferred into the future, by so much the more will they be perpetual and not know an end.

HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 14:4.5

Psalms 36:9

What other light of God can we speak of, in which a person sees light, except God’s spiritual power, which when it lightens a person causes him either to see clearly the truth of all things or to know God, who is called the truth? Such then is the meaning of the saying, “In your light shall we see light”; that is, in your word and your wisdom, which is your Son, in him shall we see you, the Father.

ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:1.1

Psalms 37:3

The “land” here indicates the heart of the listener and his soul. We are ordered, therefore, to indwell this land, that is, not to stray far from it, not to run to and fro, far and near, but to dwell and to stand firm within the bounds of our spirits and to consider the land very carefully and to become its tiller just as Noah was and to plant in it the vine and till the land that is within us, “to renew the fallowed ground of our spirits and sow not among the thorns.” Namely, let us purge our spirit from faults, and let us refine rough and harsh ways with the gentleness and the imitation of Christ, and thus finally we may feed from its wealth.

HOMILY 1 ON PSALMS 37:3

Psalms 37:4

The expression “we have need” is applied to those things that are necessary for life. Consequently, applied to material things, it means that one does not need most things but only those of which Paul says, “but having food and clothing, we shall be satisfied with these things.” Those things, [by contrast], that are accumulated in wealth and luxury are the result of abundance among those who live luxuriously. They are not considered to be necessary and absolutely essential but to be superfluous. So, therefore, there are also things that are necessary for us in the realm of divine matters, which bring us into life and cause us to be in the one who says, “I am the life.” But what supersedes these things would be said to supersede need. It is said of such things, “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the requests of your heart.” These include all the things that are considered in relation to the paradise of luxury and in relation to wealth and glory, the things in the left hand of wisdom according to him who said, “For length of life and years of life are in her right hand, but in…

The expression “we have need” is applied to those things that are necessary for life. Consequently, applied to material things, it means that one does not need most things but only those of which Paul says, “but having food and clothing, we shall be satisfied with these things.” Those things, [by contrast], that are accumulated in wealth and luxury are the result of abundance among those who live luxuriously. They are not considered to be necessary and absolutely essential but to be superfluous. So, therefore, there are also things that are necessary for us in the realm of divine matters, which bring us into life and cause us to be in the one who says, “I am the life.” But what supersedes these things would be said to supersede need. It is said of such things, “Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the requests of your heart.” These include all the things that are considered in relation to the paradise of luxury and in relation to wealth and glory, the things in the left hand of wisdom according to him who said, “For length of life and years of life are in her right hand, but in her left hand are wealth and glory.” One would say that these go beyond necessity.

COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 32:106

Psalms 37:25

They can never be oppressed by the fasting of famine whose bread is that “they should do the will of the Father who is in heaven” and whose soul that “bread that comes down from heaven” nourishes.

HOMILIES ON PSALMS 16:3