Owing no duty; hearers who refuse the loan
And since another interpretation is also necessary because of the more accurate copies having it thus: 'I did not owe, nor did anyone owe me,' we will interpret the saying having it this way too.
The one who indeed gives back to all their dues—fear to the one due fear, tax to the one due tax, tribute to the one due tribute, honor to the one due honor—and giving back to all what is fitting, so as not to owe what is fitting toward some, having honored parents as parents, so to speak, brothers as brothers, sons as sons, bishops as bishops, elders as elders, deacons as deacons, faithful as faithful, catechumens as catechumens—if he gives back all that is fitting, he did not owe. But if he owes doing what is fitting and has not done it, he cannot say: 'I did not owe'; for owing he did not give back. How then will I also interpret 'nor did anyone owe me'? I was lending and wanted to give the spiritual money, but they turned away from what was said and did not present themselves as receptive so as to owe; therefore no one at all owed me. For who received what was said, so that from receiving he might become a debtor of what he heard and be demanded, as a debtor of what was said, for the interest? Better then according to this for the hearer to take logical silver from the speaker and owe than, neither receiving nor taking, not even to owe.
For 'nor did anyone at all owe me' also lies among charges.
Greek
Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἄλλη διήγησις ἀναγκαία διὰ τὰ ἀντίγραφα τὰ ἀκριβέστερα οὕτως ἔχοντα· «οὐκ ὠφείλησα, οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς( διηγησόμεθα καὶ οὕτως ἔχον τὸ ῥητόν.
ὁ μὲν πᾶσιν ἀποδιδοὺς τὰς ὀφειλάς, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν < καὶ πᾶσι τὰ καθήκοντα ἀποδιδούς, ὡς μὴ ὀφείλειν τὰ καθήκοντα πρός τινας, τιμήσας #x003E; ὡς γονεῖς, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ἀδελφοὺς ὡς ἀδελφούς, υἱοὺς ὡς υἱούς, ὡς ἐπισκόπους, πρεσβυτέρους ὡς πρεσβυτέρους, διακόνους ὡς διακόνους, πιστοὺς ὡς πιστούς, κατηχουμένους ὡς κατηχουμένους, εἰ πάντα ἀποδίδωσι τὰ καθήκοντα, οὐκ ὠφείλησεν. εἰ δὲ ὀφείλει μὲν ποιῆσαι καθῆκον, οὐ πεποίηκε δὲ οὐ δύναται λέγειν· «οὐκ ὠφείλησαν«· ὀφείλων γὰρ οὐκ ἀποδέδωκε. πῶς οὖν διηγήσομαι καὶ τὸ οὐδὲ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδείς«; ἐγὼ μὲν ἐδάνειζον καὶ διδόναι ἐβουλόμην τὰ πνευματικὰ χρήματα, οἱ δὲ ἀπεστρέφοντο ἀπὸ τῶν λεγόμένων καὶ οὐ παρεῖχον αὑτοὺς δεκτικοὺς ἵνα ὀφείλωσι· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδὲ εἷς. τίς γὰρ παρεδέξατο τὰ λεγόμενα, ἴνα ἐκ τοῦ παραδέχεσθαι ὀφειλέτης γένηται ὧν ἤκουσε καὶ ἀπαιτηθῇ ὡς ὀφειλέτης τῶν λεγομένων τοὺς τόκους; βέλτιον οὐν κατὰ τοῦτο λαβεῖν τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ λέγοντος λογικὰ ἀργύρια καὶ ὀφείλειν, ἢ μὴ παραδεχόμενον μηδὲ λαμβάνοντα μηδὲ ὀφείλειν.
ὡς ἐν ἐγκλήμασι γὰρ κεῖται καὶ τὸ >οὐκ ὠφείλησέ μοι οὐδὲ εἷς<.
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.