Origen of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Acts 17:28

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

“Being as one outside the law to those outside the law.” He came to Athens, he found philosophers, and he did not use the words of the prophets or from the law, but as one perhaps recalling this pagan teaching from a school of rhetoric he spoke to the men of Athens. For [Paul] said, “Just as some of your poets have said, ‘For we are his offspring too.’ ” In this place, he was as one outside the law to those outside the law, in order to gain the lawless. It is as if he were to say “I was doing nothing contrary to the law in making this concession to them, but I was keeping myself bound by the law of Christ, in order to gain the lawless.”

Acts 18:3

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

Tents can refer to perfect souls, which also is true of the name Israel derived from “seeing God.” Now these “tents,” says Scripture, are “just like shady groves, like paradises beside streams and like tents that the Lord has pitched.” It thus shows that there are other tents that the Lord has pitched, which the tents of Israel resemble. I have to go forth beyond this world in order to see those that are “the tents the Lord has pitched.” They, no wonder, are those he showed to Moses when he was building the tent in the desert. The Lord said to him, “Behold, you shall make all according to the model that has been shown to you on the mountain.” In imitation of these tents, therefore, Israel must make its tents, and each of us must prepare and build our own tent. In light of this, I do not believe it happened by chance that Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee were fishermen and that Paul was a tentmaker. And as they, summoned from their trade of catching fish, are changed and become fishers of people when the Lord says, “Come, follow me, and I shall make you fishers of men,” so too…

Tents can refer to perfect souls, which also is true of the name Israel derived from “seeing God.” Now these “tents,” says Scripture, are “just like shady groves, like paradises beside streams and like tents that the Lord has pitched.” It thus shows that there are other tents that the Lord has pitched, which the tents of Israel resemble. I have to go forth beyond this world in order to see those that are “the tents the Lord has pitched.” They, no wonder, are those he showed to Moses when he was building the tent in the desert. The Lord said to him, “Behold, you shall make all according to the model that has been shown to you on the mountain.” In imitation of these tents, therefore, Israel must make its tents, and each of us must prepare and build our own tent. In light of this, I do not believe it happened by chance that Peter and Andrew and the sons of Zebedee were fishermen and that Paul was a tentmaker. And as they, summoned from their trade of catching fish, are changed and become fishers of people when the Lord says, “Come, follow me, and I shall make you fishers of men,” so too Paul—for he too was called “apostle” through my Lord Jesus Christ—was changed by a similar transformation of his trade so that, just as they were turned from fishermen into fishers of men, so he was moved from making earthly tents to building heavenly tents. He made heavenly tents by teaching each path of salvation and showing the way of the blessed dwellings in the heavens. Paul made tents also by establishing churches when “he proclaimed, in its fullness, the gospel of God from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.” In this way he too made tents in the likeness of the heavenly tents, “which God showed to Moses on the mountain.”

Acts 19:5

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Of the existence of the Holy Spirit … we are taught in many passages of Scripture. For instance, David says in the fiftieth psalm, “And take not your Holy Spirit from me,” and in Daniel it is said, “The Holy Spirit, who is in you.” But in the New Testament we have proofs in abundance, as when the Holy Spirit is related to have descended upon Christ, and when the Lord breathed on his apostles after the resurrection and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit,” and the angel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you,” and Paul teaches us that “no one can say that Jesus is the Lord except in the Holy Spirit,” and in the Acts of the Apostles “through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given” in baptism. From all of which we learn that the person of the Holy Spirit is of so great authority and dignity that saving baptism is not complete except when performed with the authority of the whole most excellent Trinity, that is, by naming the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Acts 20:29

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

If you touch “what is seized by a wild beast,” you will be unclean. Which wild beast? Is it a lion or a wolf that ravishes persons or animals? I believe that beast is the one about whom the apostle Peter says, “your adversary, the devil, goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he can devour. Resist him, strong in the faith.” And again, the apostle Paul says concerning these, “For after my departure, fierce wolves will come in, not sparing the flock.” If you see one made captive by these beasts, do not follow him, do not touch him, lest you also be made unclean. Furthermore, there are also other unclean animals whose carcass it is forbidden to touch. Unclean animals are people who are without Christ, in whom there is neither reason nor anything religious. Therefore, if you see the “carcasses,” that is, the sins of all these, the lawgiver tells you not to take hold, not to touch, not to handle.

Acts 21:11

And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.

“When he was about to go up to Jerusalem, Jesus took the twelve aside and spoke to them on the road, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall sentence him to death, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and beaten and crucified, and on the third day he shall rise.” Paul both contemplated Christ, in the face of manifest dangers, proceeding and eagerly going up to Jerusalem with the foreknowledge that he would be handed over to the chief priests and scribes and sentenced to death, and he exhorted us to imitate him as he imitated Christ, as he says, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.” And he did something similar to what Christ did when he took his disciples aside. For Agabus, taking his belt and girding himself about the hands and feet, said, “These things the Holy Spirit says: they will bind in this way the man who owns this belt” when he goes off to Jerusalem. When Paul learned of this, in imitation of his teacher, he went up eagerly to Jerusalem.

Acts 22:8

And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

It ought not to be forgotten that in such a Gospel as this there is embraced every good deed that was done to Jesus; as, for example, the story of the woman who had been a prostitute and had repented, and who, having experienced a genuine recovery from her evil state, had grace to pour her ointment over Jesus so that every one in the house smelled the sweet savor. Hence, too, the words, “Wherever this gospel shall be preached among all the nations, there also this that she has done shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her.” And it is clear that whatever is done to the disciples of Jesus is done to him. Pointing to those of them who met with kind treatment, [Jesus] says to those who were kind to them: “What you did to these, you did to me.” So that every good deed we do to our neighbors is entered into the gospel, that gospel that is written on the heavenly tablets and read by all who are worthy of the knowledge of the whole of things. But on the other side, too, there is a part of the gospel that is for the condemnation of the doers of the evil deeds that have been done to Jesus. Th…

It ought not to be forgotten that in such a Gospel as this there is embraced every good deed that was done to Jesus; as, for example, the story of the woman who had been a prostitute and had repented, and who, having experienced a genuine recovery from her evil state, had grace to pour her ointment over Jesus so that every one in the house smelled the sweet savor. Hence, too, the words, “Wherever this gospel shall be preached among all the nations, there also this that she has done shall be spoken of, for a memorial of her.” And it is clear that whatever is done to the disciples of Jesus is done to him. Pointing to those of them who met with kind treatment, [Jesus] says to those who were kind to them: “What you did to these, you did to me.” So that every good deed we do to our neighbors is entered into the gospel, that gospel that is written on the heavenly tablets and read by all who are worthy of the knowledge of the whole of things. But on the other side, too, there is a part of the gospel that is for the condemnation of the doers of the evil deeds that have been done to Jesus. The treachery of Judas and the shouts of the wicked crowd when it said, “Away with such a one from the earth,” and “Crucify him, crucify him,” the mockings of those who crowned him with thorns, and everything of that kind, is included in all the Gospels. And as a consequence of this we see that everyone who betrays the disciples of Jesus is reckoned as betraying Jesus himself. To Saul, when still a persecutor it is said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” and, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.” There are those who still have thorns with which they crown and dishonor Jesus, those, namely, who are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and though they have received the word of God, they do not bring it to perfection. We must beware, therefore, lest we also, by crowning Jesus with thorns of our own, should be entered in the gospel and read of in this character by those who come to know how Jesus, who is in all and is present in all rational and holy lives, is anointed with ointment, is entertained, is glorified, or how, on the other side, he is dishonored and mocked and beaten. All this had to be said; it is part of our demonstration that our good actions, and also the sins of those who stumble, are embodied in the gospel, either to everlasting life or to reproach and everlasting shame.

Acts 23:2

And the high priest Ananias commanded them that stood by him to smite him on the mouth.

We read in the Acts of the Apostles that someone, ordered by Ananias the high priest, struck Paul because he said, “God will strike you, oh whitewashed wall.” And even to this day, the Ebionites, under orders from their illegitimate high priest, strike the apostle of Jesus Christ with their calumnies, and Paul says to such a high priest of the Word, “God will strike you,” and such a high priest is beautiful from without and a whitewashed wall but “within full of dead bones and every filth.” But why do I speak about Paul …? It is my Lord, Jesus Christ, himself who speaks: “I have given my back to scourgings, and my cheeks to slaps, and my face I did not turn from the shame of being spit upon.” The simple know of these things as happening at one particular time, when Pilate scourged him, when the Jews plotted against him. I, however, see Jesus daily giving his back to scourgings: go into synagogues of the Jews, and see Jesus scourged by their blasphemous speech. See those gathered from among the nations plotting against the Christians, how they seize Christ, and he gives his back to sc…

We read in the Acts of the Apostles that someone, ordered by Ananias the high priest, struck Paul because he said, “God will strike you, oh whitewashed wall.” And even to this day, the Ebionites, under orders from their illegitimate high priest, strike the apostle of Jesus Christ with their calumnies, and Paul says to such a high priest of the Word, “God will strike you,” and such a high priest is beautiful from without and a whitewashed wall but “within full of dead bones and every filth.” But why do I speak about Paul …? It is my Lord, Jesus Christ, himself who speaks: “I have given my back to scourgings, and my cheeks to slaps, and my face I did not turn from the shame of being spit upon.” The simple know of these things as happening at one particular time, when Pilate scourged him, when the Jews plotted against him. I, however, see Jesus daily giving his back to scourgings: go into synagogues of the Jews, and see Jesus scourged by their blasphemous speech. See those gathered from among the nations plotting against the Christians, how they seize Christ, and he gives his back to scourgings. Consider the Word of God insulted, reviled, hated by unbelievers. See that he gave his cheeks to be slapped, and after he taught “Should someone slap you on one cheek, offer him the other,” that he himself did the same.

Acts 23:11

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

Scripture says, “Fear not to go down into Egypt,” which means, When you come against “the principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world”10—those figuratively called Egypt—do not fear or recoil. If you wish to know why you should not fear, listen to my promise: “There, I will make of you a great nation, and I shall go down into Egypt with you, and I shall call you back from there in the end.” He is, therefore, not afraid to go down into Egypt. He fears neither the combats of this world nor the trials of demonic adversaries. Hear, then, what the apostle Paul says: “More than those others have I labored, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” Even in Jerusalem, when a plot had been set in motion against him and he toiled in combat for the word and the preaching of the Lord, beside him the Lord stood and said these same things that are said to Israel: “Fear not, Paul, for just as you have been my witness in Jerusalem, so you must also be my witness in Rome.”

Acts 27:23

For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,

Both good and bad angels are among people. Not by chance or without reason was that angel, for example, allotted to be the guardian of Peter or that other one for Paul or those of the children of the church, those that always “behold the face of their Father, who is in heaven.” Concerning these things there can be no doubt that, by the judgment of God, who clearly sees their ranking and the quality of our souls, these angels are allotted to the guardianship of each one of us by a certain mystical allotment according to the dispensation of Christ.

Amos 1:1

The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.

When the prophetic word was sent only to the Jews, the names of Jewish kings were put in the headings of the prophecies. For example, “the vision that Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw, against Judea and against Jerusalem, during the reign of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.” In the time of Isaiah, I see no one else named except the kings of Judah. In some prophets we also read the names of the kings of Israel, as in this instance: “And in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.” But then the mystery of the gospel was to be preached, and the gospel spread throughout the whole world. The initiator of that gospel was John, in the desert. The authority of Tiberius ruled the world. Then, “in [his] fifteenth year,” it is recorded that “the word of the Lord came to John.”

Amos 3:2

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

And each of us thinks, since he has not been an idolater, since he has not been immoral—would that we were pure in such areas—that after he has been set free from this life, he will be saved. We do not see that “all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive either good or evil according to what he has done in the body.” We do not hear what has been said: “You especially have I known out of all the tribes on the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all”—not just some and not others—“of your iniquities.”

Amos 5:18

Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.

Perhaps we will understand what has been written if we deal with a Gospel text spoken by the Savior, which expresses it in this way: “Work while it is day. The night comes when no one can work.” He has named here as this age the day—but of necessity I have added the word here, for I know that in other passages other meanings are revealed—so he has called this age the day, but the darkness and the night the consummation because of punishments. For “why do you desire the Day of the Lord? And it is darkness and not light,” says the prophet Amos. If you can envision after the consummation of the world what the gloom is, a gloom that pursues nearly all of the race of humans who are punished for sins. The atmosphere will become dark at that time, and no longer can anyone ever give glory to God, since the Word has given orders to the righteous saying, go, “my people, enter into your rooms, shut the door, hide yourself for a little season, until the force of my anger has passed away.”

Amos 7:7

Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand.

I will also proclaim confidently that there is someone who cannot be affected very much by the “hammer of the whole earth.” And since the example was offered of a perceptible “hammer,” I will seek a material stronger than the “hammer” which does not feel the blows from it. In searching for it I find it too in what was written: “Behold a man standing above the adamant walls, and in his adamant.” History records about “adamant” that it is stronger than every “hammer” striking it, remaining unbroken and unyielding. Even if the “hammer,” the devil, stands above, and the serpent, who “as an indomitable anvil,” may position himself below, still “adamant” endures nothing when it is resting “in the hand of the Lord” and in his regard. Thus the two opposites to this “adamant” are the “hammer” and the immovable “anvil.” Yet there is indeed among the nations a much-used proverb in the common language concerning those who are pressed by anxieties and extremely bad situations; they say, “They are ‘between a hammer and an anvil.’ ” Still you can say that this refers to the devil and the serpent, w…

I will also proclaim confidently that there is someone who cannot be affected very much by the “hammer of the whole earth.” And since the example was offered of a perceptible “hammer,” I will seek a material stronger than the “hammer” which does not feel the blows from it. In searching for it I find it too in what was written: “Behold a man standing above the adamant walls, and in his adamant.” History records about “adamant” that it is stronger than every “hammer” striking it, remaining unbroken and unyielding. Even if the “hammer,” the devil, stands above, and the serpent, who “as an indomitable anvil,” may position himself below, still “adamant” endures nothing when it is resting “in the hand of the Lord” and in his regard. Thus the two opposites to this “adamant” are the “hammer” and the immovable “anvil.” Yet there is indeed among the nations a much-used proverb in the common language concerning those who are pressed by anxieties and extremely bad situations; they say, “They are ‘between a hammer and an anvil.’ ” Still you can say that this refers to the devil and the serpent, who are always signified by names of this sort in the Scriptures for a variety of purposes. And you can say that the holy person, who is an “adamant wall” or is “adamant in the hand of the Lord,” is not affected either by the “hammer” or by the “anvil,” but the more one is struck, the brighter will his virtue shine.

Amos 8:11 · 2 passages

Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:

It is prophesied, “Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters will perish in famine.” Those who hindered Jesus from teaching have not simply perished by the sword. But now, after the advent of the Lord, a more profound famine has come upon them. It is “not a famine of bread or thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord.” For the “Lord almighty” no longer “speaks” with them. This famine portends that prophecy would cease. And why do I say prophecy? The Lord ceased teaching them. Even if they bear the title sage a thousand times with them, the Word of the Lord is still not among them, since the verse has been fulfilled: “The Lord took away from Judea and Jerusalem the strong man and strong woman, the giant and the strong man, and the soldier and judge and prophet and diviner and elder and captain of fifty and the admirable adviser and master builder and intelligent pupil.” For he is no longer able to say, “Like a master builder I laid a foundation.” The builders have passed over, have come to the church, have laid the foundation, Jesus Christ…

It is prophesied, “Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters will perish in famine.” Those who hindered Jesus from teaching have not simply perished by the sword. But now, after the advent of the Lord, a more profound famine has come upon them. It is “not a famine of bread or thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the Word of the Lord.” For the “Lord almighty” no longer “speaks” with them. This famine portends that prophecy would cease. And why do I say prophecy? The Lord ceased teaching them. Even if they bear the title sage a thousand times with them, the Word of the Lord is still not among them, since the verse has been fulfilled: “The Lord took away from Judea and Jerusalem the strong man and strong woman, the giant and the strong man, and the soldier and judge and prophet and diviner and elder and captain of fifty and the admirable adviser and master builder and intelligent pupil.” For he is no longer able to say, “Like a master builder I laid a foundation.” The builders have passed over, have come to the church, have laid the foundation, Jesus Christ. Those who came after them have also built on him.

When “Joseph was about thirty years old” he was released from his chains and interpreted Pharaoh’s dream. He was made the governor of Egypt. During the time of plenty, he gathered in the wheat, so that during the time of famine he would have some to distribute. I think that Joseph’s age of thirty came before as a type of the Savior’s thirty years. For this second Joseph did not gather in the kind of wheat that first Joseph did in Egypt. He, Jesus, gathers in true and heavenly wheat, so that in the time of abundance he might gather in the wheat that he will give out when famine is sent upon Egypt, “not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but hunger to hear the word of the Lord.”

Daniel 1:17

As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

In regard to the prophets among the Jews, some of them were wise men before they became divinely inspired prophets, while others became wise by the illumination that their minds received when divinely inspired. They were selected by divine providence to receive the divine Spirit and to be the depositaries of his holy oracles, on the ground of their leading a life of almost unapproachable excellence, intrepid, noble, unmoved by danger or death.

Daniel 2:21

And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Many other things may also be called gifts of God, such as riches and bodily strength, physical beauty and earthly power. These things are also given by God, as Daniel says: “He deposes kings and sets up kings,” but they are not spiritual gifts.

Daniel 3:4

Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,

And we know that once we have been persuaded by Jesus to abandon idols and the atheism of worshiping many gods, the enemy cannot persuade us to commit idolatry, though he tries to force us. That is why he empowers those over whom he has authority to do such things.…It is not just of old that Nebuchadnezzar’s image of gold was set up or only then that he threatened Ananias, Azarias and Misael that he would throw them into the burning fiery furnace unless they worshiped it. Even now Nebuchadnezzar says the same thing to us, the true Hebrews in exile from our homeland. But as for us, let us imitate those holy men so that we may experience the heavenly dew that quenches every fire that arises in us and cools our governing mind.

Daniel 6:13

Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

And he prays “constantly” (deeds of virtue or fulfilling the commandments are included as part of prayer) who unites prayer with the deeds required and right deeds with prayer. For the only way we can accept the command to “pray constantly” as referring to a real possibility is by saying that the entire life of the saint taken as a whole is a single great prayer. What is customarily called prayer is, then, a part of this prayer. Now prayer in the ordinary sense ought to be made no less than three times each day. This is evident in the story of Daniel, who prayed three times each day when such great peril had been devised for him.

Daniel 7:9

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Next they come to Libnah, which means “whitewashing.” I know that in some respects whitewashing has a pejorative connotation, as when we speak of a “whitewashed wall” and “whitewashed tombs.” But this whitewashing is that concerning which the prophet says, “You will wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” And again Isaiah says, “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will whiten them like snow and will make them white like wool.” Again in the psalm, “They were whitened with snow in Zalmon.” And the hair of the Ancient of Days is said to be dazzling, white, that is, white like wool. So then, this whitewashing must be understood to come from the radiance of the true light and to descend from the brightness of heavenly visions.