Inheritance as a Lion in the Forest
My inheritance became to me like a lion in the forest. The earthly inheritance of the one who was plundered by it, and the inheritance of the Jews, having been wilded, seeks to devour Jesus and slander him and conspire against those who believe in him.
He gave upon me her voice, therefore I hated her. Does my inheritance become a hyena's den? The inheritance has become a hyena's den, the most savage, the corpse-eating, the one that dwells by monuments, the one that eats mortal bodies. Does my inheritance become a hyena's den?
The beasts of the field have come, they devour that people. See their hearts being devoured by opposing powers. If Jesus did not fear them but said, 'Go, gather the beasts,' how much more will he not fear us? If we do not perform the law of God, the word of the gospel, he will again say, 'Go, gather the beasts and deliver them.'
We will confess our transgressions repenting, and we will not be delivered to beasts, but to holy angels who carry us, transferring us from this age to the coming one in Christ Jesus, to whom is the power and glory forever. Amen.
Greek
«Ἐγενήθη ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοὶ ὡς λέων ἐν δρυμῷ. αὕτη ἡ ἐπὶ γῆς κληρονομία αὐτοῦ ἣν κεκληρονόμηκεν ἀπεθηριώθη αὐτόν αὐτόν, καὶ γέγονεν ἡ κληρονομία Ἰουδαῖοι ἐξαγριωθέντες κατ' αὐτοῦ «ὡς λέων ἐν δρυμῷ. οὐ θαυμαστὸν εἰ τότε ἐγένετο ἡ κληρονομία αὐτοῦ «ὡς λέων έν δρυμῷ«· νῦν ἔτι ἐν δρυμῷ λέοντές εἰσιν καταθεματίζειν θέλοντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ δυσφημοῦντες αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοντες τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν. «ἐγενήθη« οὐν «ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοὶ ὡς λέων ἐν δρυμῷ.
ἔδωκεν ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ τὴν φωνήν αὐτῆς, διὰ τοῦτο ἐμίσησα αὐτήν. μὴ σπήλαιον ὑαίνης ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοί«; | προφητεύει περὶ τῆς κληρονομίας ταύτης· ἡ κληρονομία μήτι σπήλαιον ὑαίνης γέγονεν, σπήλαιον ὑαίνης, τῆς ἀγριωτάτης, τῆς νεκροβόρου, τῆς περὶ τὰ μνημεῖα, τῆς ἐσθιούσης τὰ θνησιμαῖα σώματα; «μὴ σπήλαιον ὑαίνης ἡ κληρονομία μου ἐμοί«; «Ἤ σπήλαιον ἐπ᾿ αὐτὴν κύκλῳ αὐτῆς; βαδίζετε. ἐπεὶ τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασιν, κελεύω ὑμῖν τοῖς ἀγγέλοις, ἵνα βαδίσητε καὶ συναγάγητε τὰ θηρία καὶ παραδῶτε αὐτοὺς τοῖς θηρίοις. «βαδίζετε καὶ συναγάγετε πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ, καὶ ἐλθέτωσαν τοῦ φαγεῖν αὐτήν.
ἐλήλυθεν «τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ«, διεσθίει τὸν λαὸν ἐκεῖνον. βλέπετε αὐτῶν τὰς καρδίας διεσθιομένας ὑπὸ τῶν δυνάμεων τῶν ἀντικειμένων. εἰ ἐκείνων ὀ Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἐφείσατο ἀλλὰ εἶπεν· «βαδίζετε, συναγάγετε τὰ θηρία«, πόσῳ πλέον ἡμῶν οὐ φείσεται; ἐὰν μὴ ποιῶμεν τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸν λόγον τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, ἐρεῖ πάλιν· βαδίσατε, συναγάγετε τὰ θηρία καὶ παράδοτε αὐτήν. ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς παρρησίαν ἔχομεν, ἵνα εἴπωμεν ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς· «μὴ παραδῷς τοῖς θηρίοις ψυχὴν ἐξομολογουμένην σοι.
ἐξομολογησώμεθα περὶ τῶν παραπτωμάτων μετανοοῦντες, καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις οὐ παραδοθησόμεθα, ἀλλ’ ἀγγέλοις ἁγίοις τιθηνοῖς ἐσομένοις, ἐπὶ κόλπων βαστάζουσιν, μεταβιβάζουσιν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐπὶ τὸν μέλλοντα ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ᾠ ἐστιν τὸ κράτος καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Ἀμήν.
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.