Earth's Grief and Joy
The earth and the vegetation of the field will wither from the wickedness of those dwelling within it, as if the earth itself mourns due to the wrongdoing of those who traverse it.
Similarly, water and the angel assigned over it are discussed, for the earth mourns or does not mourn; the earth itself is not grieving from its inhabitants, but consider the ordered arrangement of all things set upon the earth, and another set over waters, another over air, and a fourth over fire.
Greek
«Ἕως πότε πενθήσει ἡ γῆ καὶ ὁ χόρτος τοῦ ἀγροῦ ξηρανθήσεται ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν κατοικούντων ἐν αὐτῇ«; ὡσπερεὶ ἐμψύχου τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐνταῦθα διαλέγεται ό προφήτης λέγων τὴν γῆν πενθεῖν διὰ τὴν κακίαν τῶν ἐπιβαινόντων ἐπ' αὐτήν. καθ' ἕκαστον οὗν ἡμῶν ἡ γῆ ἤτοι πενθεῖ ἢ εὐφραίνεται· ἢ γὰρ πενθεῖ «ἀπὸ κακίας τῶν ἐνοικούντων ἐν αὐτῇ« ἢ εὐφραίνεται ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς τῶν ἐνοικούντων έν αὐτῇ. ἐφ' ἑκάστου οὖν ἡμῶν αὐτὸ τὸ στοιχεῖον ἢ εὐφραίνεται ἢ πενθεῖ. εἰ δὲ τάχα καὶ τάχα καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ στοιχεῖα.
ὁμοίως ἐρῶ καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ ὁ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τεταγμένος ἄγγελος, ἵνα διηγήσωμαι καὶ τὴν γῆν πενθοῦσαν ἢ μὴ πενθοῦσαν· οὐ γὰρ τοῦτο τὸ σῶμα, «ἡ γῆ«, πενθεῖ «ἀπὸ τῶν κατοικούντων έν αὐτῇ«, ἀλλὰ ἀλλὰ νόει μοι πρὸς τῇ διατάξει τοῦ παντὸς τεταγμένον τινὰ τινὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἄλλον τεταγμένον ἐπὶ τῶν ὑδάτων καὶ ἄλλον ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀέρος καὶ τέταρτον ἐπὶ τοῦ πυρός. οὕτως ἀνάβα μοι τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὴν διάταξιν πᾶσαν τὴν έν ζώοις, τὴν έν τοῖς τὴν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἄστροις. ἄγγελός τις τέτακται καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς σελήνης ἄλλος, ἄλλος ἐπὶ τῶν ἄστρων· οὑτοι δὴ οἱ ἄγγελοι, μεθ’ ὧν ἐσμεν ὅσον ἐσμὲν γῆς, ἤτοι εὐφραίνονται ἐὰν δικαιοπραγῶμεν, ἢ πενθοῦσιν ἐξ' ἡμῖν ὅταν ἁμαρτάνωμεν. πενθεῖ, φησίν, ἡ γῆ ἀπὸ τῶν κατοικούντων έν αὐτῇ.
ὁμωνύμως εἶπεν τὸν ἄγγελον γῆν αὐτῇ τῇ γῇ. ὥσπερ γὰρ «τὸ χειροποίητον ἐπικατάρατον αὐτὸ καὶ ὁ ποιήσας αὐτό«, οὐχ ὅτι ἐπικατάρατον αὐτὸ τὸ ἄψυχον, ἀλλ' εἴρηται χειροποίητον τὸ προσκαθεζόμενον τῷ ἀψύχῳ ἀγάλματι καὶ χρηματίζον ἐκείνῳ τῷ ὀνόματι· οὕτως δὴ ἐρῶ καὶ γῆν λέγεσθαι τὸν τὸν γῆς τεταγμένον ἄγγελον, καὶ ὕδωρ λέγεσθαι τὸν ἐπὶ ὕδατος τεταγμένον ἄγγελον, καθ’ ὃ λέλεκται· «ἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα, ὁ θεός, ἴδοσάν σε ὕδατα καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν, ἐταράχθησαν ἄβυσσοι πλήθους ἤχους ὑδάτων, φωνὴν ἕδωκαν αἱ νεφέλαι, καὶ γὰρ τὰ βέλη σου διαπορεύονται.
About this text
Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page publishes the Pass B English for Homilies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Homily 8 remains a machine draft and is not shipped yet. The rest of the volume is still being translated.
English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
- Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
- Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)
Where the prints differ
- Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
- Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
- Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
- Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.
English is newly prepared for study from the stated edition. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.