Homilies on Jeremiah (selected; omitting 8) · §18.9

Three springs: rock, Lebanon, Spirit

'Will breasts fail from a rock, or snow from Lebanon? Or will water carried violently by wind turn aside? For my people forgot me; they burned incense in vain…' Here he has spoken differences of waters: first 'Will breasts fail from a rock?'; second 'or snow from Lebanon?'; third 'Will water carried violently by wind turn aside?' These three kinds of waters are the springs which the soul of the righteous, made like the deer, longs for: 'In the manner the deer longs for the springs of the waters, so my soul longs toward you, O God.'

Who has become a deer hostile to the race of serpents? Who so thirsted for God as to say: 'My soul thirsted toward the living God'? Who so thirsted for the breasts of the rock? 'And the rock was Christ.' Who so thirsted for Holy Spirit? If we do not thirst for the three springs, we will not find even one. Jews seemed to thirst for one spring, of God; but since they did not thirst for the Christ and the Holy Spirit, they do not drink even from God. Those from the heresies seemed to thirst for Christ Jesus; but since they did not thirst for the Father, God of law and prophets, they drink neither from Jesus Christ. And those who keep one God but despise the prophecies did not thirst for the Holy Spirit in the prophets; therefore they drink neither from the paternal spring nor from the one who cried in the temple: 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.'

Therefore breasts from a rock do not fail. But those abandoned a spring of living water; a spring did not abandon them. God distances himself from no one, but those distancing themselves from him will perish; God rather draws near and meets the one coming toward him. When the son who ate up the substance returned, the father met him. 'I am a God who draws near, and not a God from far off, says the Lord.' Therefore 'breasts from a rock will not fail'—the waters of Jesus—'or snow from Lebanon'—the paternal waters. And there is snow coming down from Lebanon, in the manner of the water of the Holy Spirit: 'Will water carried violently by wind turn aside?' It does not turn aside; but each of us when sinning himself becomes a fugitive from drinking from the Holy Spirit.

Greek

«Μὴ ἐκλείψουσιν ἀπὸ πέτρας μαστοί, ἢ χιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιβάνου; ἢ ἐκκλινεῖ ὕδωρ βιαίως ἀνέμῳ φερόμενον; ὅτι ἐπελάθετό μου ὁ λαός μου, εἰς κενὸν ἐθυμίασαν, καὶ ἀσθενήσουσιν ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν σχοίνους αἰωνίους τοῦ ἐπιβῆναι τρίβους οὐκ ἔχοντας ὁδὸν εἰς πορείαν, τοῦ τάξαι τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀφανισμὸν καὶ σύριγμα αἰώνιον. νιον. διαφορὰς ὑδάτων ἐνταῦθα εἴρηκε· πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τῷ «μὴ ἐκλείψουσιν ἀπὸ πέτρας μαστοί;« δεύτερον δέ ἐν τῷ «ἢ χιὼν ἀπὸ Λιβάνου;« τρίτον δὲ ἐν τῷ «μὴ ἐκκλινεῖ ὕδωρ βιαίως ἀνέμῳ φερό- μενον;« ταῦτα τὰ τρία εἴδη τῶν ὑδάτων αἱ πηγαί εἰσι τῶν ὑδάτων, ἃς ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ὡμοιωμένη τῷ ἐλάφῳ ψυχὴ τῶν δικαίων, ὥστ᾿ ἂν ἕκαστον εἰπεῖν· «ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς σέ, ὁ θεός. τίς οὖν ἔλαφος γεγένηται πολέμιος τῷ τῶν ὄφεων γένει, μηδὲν πάσχων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἰοῦ αὐτῶν, ὡς ἱστορεῖται περὶ τῆς ἐλάφου; τίς οὕτως ἐδίψησε θεὸν ὥστ᾿ ἂν εἰπεῖν· «ἐδίψησεν ἡ ψυχή μου πρὸς τὸν θεὸν τὸν ζῶντα«; τίς οὕτως ἐδίψησε τοὺς μαστοὺς τῆς πέτρας; «ἡ πέτρα δὲ ἦν ὁ Χριστός. τίς οὕτως ἐδίψησεν ἁγίου πνεύματος ὥστ᾿ ἂν εἰπεῖν· «ὃν τρόπον ἐπιποθεῖ ἡ ἔλαφος ἐπὶ τὰς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων, οὕτως ἐπιποθεῖ ἠ ψυχή μου πρὸς σέ, ὁ θεός«; ἐὰν μὴ τὰς τρεῖς πηγὰς τῶν ὑδάτων διψήσωμεν, οὐδὲ μίαν πηγὴν τῶν ὑδάτων εὑρήσομεν.

ἔδοξαν δεδιψηκέναι μιᾶς πηγῆς τῶν ὑδάτων, τοῦ θεοῦ, Ἰουδαῖοι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἐδίψησαν τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, οὐκ ἔχουσι πιεῖν οὐδὲ ἀπὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. ἔδοξαν δεδιψηκέναι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν αἱρέσεων Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν· ἀλλ᾿ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἐδίψησαν τὸν πατέρα, ὄντα νόμου καὶ προφητῶν θεόν, διὰ τοῦτο οὐ πίνουσιν οὐδὲ ἀπὸ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. οἱ δὲ ἕνα μὲν τηροῦντες θεόν, ἐξουδενοῦντες δὲ τὰς προφητείας οὐκ ἐδίψησαν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τὸ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις, διὰ τοῦτο οὐ πίονται οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πηγῆς τῆς πατρικῆς, οὐδὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ κεκραγότος ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ εἰρηκότος· «ἐάν τις διψῇ, ἐρχέσθω πρός με καὶ πινέτω.

Οὐκ ἐκλείπουσιν οὖν «ἀπὸ πέτρας μαστοί. ἀλλ᾿ ἐκεῖνοι «ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζωῆς«, οὐ πηγὴ ὕδατος ζωῆς ἐγκατέλιπεν αὐτούς· καὶ γὰρ ἀπ᾿ οὐδενὸς ὁ θεὸς μακρύνει ἑαυτόν, ἀλλ᾿ >οἱ μακρύνοντες ἑαυτοὺς ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ ἀπολοῦνται<· ἐγγίζει μᾶλλον ὁ θεός τινων καὶ ἀπαντᾷ τῷ ἐρχομένῳ πρὸς αὐτόν.

ἡνίκα γοῦν ὁ υἱὸς ὁ καταφαγὼν τὴν οὐσίαν ἐπανῆλθεν, ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ ὁ πατήρ. καὶ ἐπαγγέλλεται διὰ τῶν προφητῶν λέγων· «ἐγγιῶ αὐτοῖς ἢ ὁ χιτὼν τοῦ χρωτὸς αὐτῶν. «θεὸς« γάρ φησιν «ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι, καὶ οὐχὶ θεὸς πόρρωθεν, λέγει κύριος. οὐκ «ἐκλείψουσιν οὖν ἀπὸ πέτρας μαστοί«, τὰ ὕδατα τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, «ἢ χιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιβάνου«, τὰ ὕδατα τὰ πατρικά. καὶ λίβανος γὰρ τὸ θυμίαμα ἱερόν ἐστι κατὰ τὸν νόμον τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ προσφέρεται ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον >λίβανος διαφανής, ἴσος ἴσῳ<. καὶ ὁμώνυμον τὸ ὄρος τούτῳ τῷ λιβάνῳ, καὶ ἔστι χιὼν ἀπὸ τοῦ Λιβάνου κατερχομένη, ὃν τρόπον τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, περὶ οὗ λέγεται· «μὴ ἐκκλινεῖ ὕδωρ βιαίως ἀνέμῳ φερόμενον;« καὶ γὰρ ἀνέμῳ φέρεται. οὐκ «ἐκκλίνει«, οὐ φεύγει τὸ ὕδωρ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, ἀλλὰ ἕκαστος ἡμῶν ἁμαρτάνων αὐτὸς φυγὰς γίνεται τοῦ πιεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος.

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.