Incense in vain; do not appear empty
'For my people forgot me; they burned incense in vain.' Everyone who sins has forgotten God, but the righteous says: 'All these things came upon us, and we did not forget you.' And what is 'they burned incense in vain' must be understood. If we take up again the one hundred fortieth Psalm—'Let my prayer become as incense before you'—we will understand. Prayer compounded of a fine heart, when our heart is not thickened, being sent up becomes as incense before God.
If then the prayer of the righteous is incense before God, the prayer of the unjust is incense indeed, but such that it could be said: 'they burned incense in vain'—as about Judas: 'Let his prayer become unto sin.' That one according to praying burned incense in vain. And who burns incense in vain—understand still more thus. 'Three times of the year every male of yours will be seen before the Lord your God,' to which is immediately added: 'You will not be seen before me empty.' Therefore of those coming to be seen, one must not appear empty before the Lord.
Greek
«Ὅτι ἐπελάθετό μου ὁ λαός μου, εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασαν. πᾶς μὲν ὁ ἁμαρτάνων ἐπιλέλησται τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁ δὲ δίκαιος λέγει· «ταῦτα πάντα ἦλθεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς, καὶ οὐκ ἐπελαθόμεθά σου, οὐδὲ ἠδικήσαμεν καὶ εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασε. τί δὲ τὸ «εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασαν« κατανοητέον. τὰ πρώην εἰρημένα εἰς τὸν ἑκατοστὸν τεσσαρακοστὸν Ψαλμὸν ἐὰν ἀναλάβωμεν, νοήσομεν τί ἐστι τὸ «εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασαν.
ἦν δὲ ἐν τῷ Ψαλμῷ τοιοῦτόν τι εἰρημένον· «γενηθήτω ἡ προσευχή μου ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιόν σου. οὐκοῦν ἡ προσευχή μου σύνθετος . . . λεπτῆς καρδίας, ὅτε μὴ παχύνεται ἡ καρδία ἡμῶν, ἀναπεμπομένη γίνεται ὡς θυμίαμα ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ. εἰ οὖν ἡ τοῦ δικαίου προσευχὴ θυμίαμά ἐστιν ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ, ἡ τοῦ ἀδίκου προσευχὴ θυμίαμα μέν, τοιοῦτον δὲ θυμίαμα ὥστ᾿ ἂν λεχθῆναι περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ εὐχομένου ἀδίκου· «εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασαν«· οἷον περὶ Ἰούδα γέγραπται· «γενηθήτω ἡ προσευχὴ αὐτοῦ εἰς ἁμαρτίαν.
ἐκεῖνος κατὰ τὸ προσεύχεσθαι εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασε. τίς δὲ ὁ εἰς κενὸν θυμιῶν, ἔτι μᾶλλον οὕτως κατανοήσωμεν. «τρὶς τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ« φησὶν «ὀφθήσεται πᾶν ἀρσενικόν σου ἐνώπιον κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ σου«, ᾧ εὐθέως ἐπιφέρεται· «οὐκ ὀφθήσῃ ἐνώπιόν μου κενός. οὐκοῦν τῶν Homilie XVIII. Jerem. 18, 1—16. Homilie XIX. Jerem. 20, 1—7 165 ἐρχομένων ὀφθη ................................................ ............................................................... ............................................................... ...............................................................
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.