I am fashioning evils—make them fall from my hand
Next after the word about the two nations—the former to which the threat is given, and the second to which the promise is given—he says (clearly he spoke to the former): 'And now I said to men of Judah and to those inhabiting Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I fashion evils upon you.' Because these things which I fashion upon you are in my hand, they can fall away. Make these things fall away from my hand, that I may change the evils which I fashion upon you and do goods.
You would not find: 'Behold, I fashion goods upon you' and the things said next according to their proportion, that after this he might show that the goods which he fashions he releases from the hands, in order to make them evils. But he fashions evils according to the example said, and fashioning evils he manages (apart from the interpretation already given into 'it fell from my hands'), so that if it falls, even the end of the evils being fashioned—I do not know of what sort it may become.
Greek
Ἑξῆς μετὰ τὸν περὶ τῶν δύο ἐθνῶν λόγον, τοῦ προτέρου ᾧ ἡ ἀπειλὴ δίδοται, καὶ τοῦ δευτέρου ᾧ ἡ ἐπαγγελία δίδοται, φησίν (εἶπε δηλονότι τοῖς προτέροις)· «καὶ νῦν εἶπον πρὸς ἄνδρας Ἰούδα καὶ πρὸς τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ἱερουσαλήμ· οὕτως λέγει κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ πλάσσω ἐφ᾿ ὐμᾶς κακά. ὅτι ἐν τῇ χειρί μου ταῦτά ἐστιν ἃ πλάσσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς, δύναται διαπεσεῖν. ποιήσατε ταῦτα διαπεσεῖν ἀπὸ τῆς χειρός μου, ἵνα ἃ πλάσσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς κακὰ μεταβάλω καὶ ποιήσω ἀγαθά. οὐκ ἂν εὕροις· >ἰδοὺ πλάσσω ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς ἀγαθά< καὶ τὰ ἀνὰ λόγον αὐτῶν λεγόμενα ἑξῆς, ἵνα μετὰ τοῦτο ἐμφήνῃ ὅτι ἃ πλάσσει ἀγαθὰ ἀπολύει ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν, ἵνα ποιήσῃ αὐτὰ κακά. ἀλλὰ πλάσσει κακὰ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον παράδειγμα, καὶ πλάσσων κακὰ οἰκονομεῖ (χωρὶς τῆς ἑρμηνείας τῆς ἀποδεδομένης εἰς τὸ «ἔπεσεν ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν μου«), ἵνα ἐὰν πέσῃ, καὶ τὸ τέλος τῶν πλασσομένων κακῶν οὐκ οἶδα ποταπὸν γένηται.
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.