Fragment from the Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles · §1 · Origen of Alexandria

The objection: the Psalm's words are the Savior's, not the Holy Spirit's

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

Origen has just cited Acts 1:16, where Peter says the Scripture about Judas had to be fulfilled, and now he raises an objection about who is speaking in the Psalm.

It was necessary for Scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David about Judas (Acts 1:16). In that psalm the things about Judas are written. Someone might say that the Holy Spirit is not speaking, for clearly the words belong to the Savior when he says: “O God, do not pass over my praise in silence, for the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful have opened against me” (Psalm 108:2 LXX / Psalm 109:2 Hebrew), and so on until: “And let another take his office” (Psalm 108:8 LXX / Psalm 109:8 Hebrew).

Greek

ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΩΡΙΓΕΝΟΥΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΑΣ ΠΡΑΞΕΙΣ ΤΩΝ ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΩΝ.

Ἐκ τῆς εἰς τὰς Πράξεις ὁμιλίας δʹ.

‹14.829› Ἔδει πληρωθῆναι τὴν Γραφὴν, ἣν προεῖπε τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον διὰ στόματος

∆αυῒδ περὶ Ἰούδα· ‹14.832› ἐν ᾧ ψαλμῷ τὰ περὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα γέγραπται. Εἴποι τις ἂν, ὅτι

οὐ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον λαλεῖ· σαφῶς γὰρ τοῦ Σωτῆρός εἰσιν οἱ λόγοι λέγοντος· Ὁ

Θεὸς, τὴν αἴνεσίν μου μὴ παρασιωπήσης· ὅτι στόμα ἁμαρτωλοῦ, καὶ στόμα δολίου,

ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἠνοίχθη· καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς ἕως· Καὶ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λάβοι ἕτερος.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

A short passage from Origen's homilies on Acts: how Peter can say the Holy Spirit spoke the Psalm about Judas, when the words seem to be Christ's.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 254) was an early Christian theologian and biblical scholar who led the Catechetical School of Alexandria and later founded the Christian School of Caesarea. He delivered seventeen homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, but only one fragment survives, from the fourth homily. It was preserved in the Philocalia, a collection of Origen's writings compiled by Basil the Great and Gregory of Nazianzus.

The fragment addresses a problem raised by Acts 1:16, where Peter says that the Holy Spirit spoke through David about Judas. An objector points out that the words in the Psalm appear to be spoken by the Savior, not by the Holy Spirit. Origen responds by explaining how the Holy Spirit personifies different speakers in the prophets.

The words of the Savior are quoted as part of the objection, and Peter's words from Acts are quoted in Origen's questioning. Origen argues that when the Holy Spirit personifies God, it is not God speaking but the Holy Spirit speaking from God's person, and likewise for Christ. He extends this to the prophet, to that people, to this people, or whatever the Spirit personifies. The word office is used for the position held by Judas that is to be given to another.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 14 (Greek)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake