Wrath, anger, regret—worthy of the good God
All the things written about God, even if they look discordant at first hearing, must be understood as worthy of the good God. Who will not say that things referred to God—that he has wrath, that he uses anger, that he regrets, even that he sleeps—look discordant? But each of these, for the one who knows how to hear dark words, will be found worthy of God.
For his wrath is not barren: as his word educates, so also his wrath educates; those not educated by word he educates by wrath. And it is necessary that God use the so-called wrath as he uses the so-named Word; for his Word is not such as everyone’s word. No one’s word is 'a living being,' no one’s word is 'God,' no one’s word was 'in the beginning' toward that one whose the Word was. So also God’s wrath is called wrath not as just anyone’s wrath. And as the Word of God has something strange beside every word of just anyone—being God, being Word as living, existing by itself, serving the Father—so once God’s so-called wrath was named, it has something strange and alien to every defined wrath.
So also his anger has something of its own; for it belongs to the purpose of the anger that refutes, wanting the one refuted to turn through the refutation. Word also refutes, as word educates; but word does not refute as anger refutes. Those not benefited by the refutation from the word will need the refutation from the anger. We said there is also a regret of God that looks discordant at first glance, since it is written: 'I have regretted that I anointed Saul as king.' Worthily seek also the regret, and do not think his regret has kinship with the regret of those who regret. As his Word had something exceptional, and his wrath something surpassing, and nothing was akin to these among the like-named, so also his regret is like-named with our regret; and like-named are those whose name alone is common, but the account of the substance according to the name is other. Therefore only the name is common of God’s anger and anyone’s anger, and only the name of anyone’s wrath and God’s wrath. So also upon regret. And the one able will seek what God’s regret works, what it worked. It took down Saul reigning lawlessly; it raised as king for the people the one according to God’s heart; for he said because of that good regret: 'I have found a man according to my heart, David son of Jesse.' But all these things are a preface for me.
Greek
(19,) πάντα τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ κἂν ἐπεμφαίνοντα αὐτόθεν ᾖ, χρὴ ἄξια νοῆσαι εἶναι θεοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἐρεῖ ἀπεμφαίνοντα εἶναι ἀναφερόμενα ἐπὶ θεὸν τὸ ἔχειν αὐτὸν ὀργήν, τὸ χρῆσθαι αὐτὸν θυμῷ, τὸ μεταμελεῖσθαι αὐτόν, ἤδν δὲ καὶ τὸ ὑπνοῦν αὐτόν; ἀλλ᾿ ἕκαστον τούτων παρὰ τῷ εἰδότι >ἀκούειν σκοτεινῶν λόγων< εὑρεθήσεται ἔξιον θεοῦ.
ἡ γὰρ ὀργὴ μὲν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἄκαρπός ἐστιν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ παιδεύει, οὕτως καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ παι- δεύει· τοὺς γὰρ μὴ παιδευθέντας λόγῳ παιδεύει ὀργῇ. καὶ ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι τὸν θεὸν χρῆσθαι τῇ καλουμένῃ ὀργῇ, ὡς χρῆται τῷ ὀνομαζο- μένῳ λόγῳ· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, ὁποῖος ὁ πάντων λόγος. οὐδενὸς γὰρ ὁ λόγος «ζῶον«, οὐδενὸς ὁ λόγος «θεός«, οὐδενὸς [γὰρ] ὁ λόγος «ἐν ἀρχῇ« πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἠν, οὑ ὁ λόγος ἠν, κἂν εἰ μόνος † ἀπό τινος ᾖ ἀρχῆς. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἡ ὀργὴ τοῦ θεοῦ ὀργὴ λέγεται οὐχὶ ὡς ἡ οὑτινοσοῦν τινος] ὀργή. καὶ ὥσπερ ξένον τι ἔχει ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ παρὰ πάντα τὸν οὑτινοσοῦν λόγον, καὶ ἔχει ξένον τὸ εἶναι θεὸς καὶ τὸ εἶναι λόγος ὢν] ζῶον, τὸ ὑφεστηκέναι καθ’ ἑαυτό, τὸ ὑπηρετεῖν τῷ πατρί, οὕτως ἐπεὶ ἅπαξ ὠνομάσθη θεοῦ ἡ καλουμένη αὐτοῦ ὀργή, ξένον τι ἔχει καὶ ἀλλότριον πάσης τῆς τοῦ ὁριζομένου ὀργῆς. οὕτως καὶ ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ ἴδιόν τι ἔχει· ἒστι γὰρ ὁ τῆς προθέσεως τῆς τοῦ θυμῷ ἐλέγχοντος, βουλομένης τὸν ἐλεγχόμε- νον διὰ τοῦ ἐλέγχου ἐπιστρέφειν.
ἐλέγχει καὶ λόγος, ὡς παιδεύει λόγος· ἀλλ’ οὐχ οὕτως ἐλέγχει λόγος, ὡς ἐλέγχει θυμός. οἱ γὰρ τῷ ἀπὸ τοῦ λόγου ἐλέγχῳ μὴ ὠφεληθέντες δεήσονται ἐλέγχου τοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ θυμοῦ. Ἐλέγομέν τινα εἶναι καὶ μεταμέλειαν θεοῦ αὐτόθεν ἀπεμφαί- νουσαν, ἐπεὶ γέγραπται· «μεταμεμέλημαι ὅτι ἔχρισα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα.. ἀξίως δὲ ζητήσεις καὶ τὴν μεταμέλειαν, καὶ μὴ νομίσῃς συγγένειάν τινα ἔχειν τὴν μεταμέλειαν αὐτοῦ τῇ μεταμελείᾳ τῶν μεταμελουμένων.
ὡς γὰρ ἐξαίρετόν τι εἶχεν ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ, τι ἡ ὀργὴ αὐτοῦ, ὑπερέχον τι ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐδὲν τούτοις συγγενὲς ἦν τοῖς ὁμωνύμοις, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ἡ με- ταμέλεια αὐτοῦ ὁμώνυμόν ἐστι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ μεταμελείᾳ· ὁμώνυμα δέ ἐστιν, ὧν ὄνομα μόνον κοινόν, ὁ δὲ κατὰ τοὔνομα τῆς οὐσίας λόγος ἕτερος. μόνον οὖν ὄνομα κοινὸν θυμοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θυμοῦ οὑτινοσοῦν, καὶ μόνον ὄνομα κοινὸν ὀργῆς οὑτινοσοῦν καὶ ὀργῆς θεοῦ. οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ μεταμελείας νοητέον. καὶ ζητήσει ὁ δυνάμενος, τί μεταμέλεια ἐργάζεται θεοῦ, τί ἐργάσατο. τὸν Σαοὺλ καθεῖλε βασιλεύοντα παρα- νόμως, ἀνέστησε βασιλέα τῷ λαῷ τὸν κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ θεοῦ· εἶπε γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἀγαθὴν ἐκείνην μεταμέλειαν· «εὗρον ἄνδρα κατὰ τὴν καρδίαν μου, Δαβὶδ υἱὸν Ἰεσσαί. ἀλλὰ ταῦτά μοι προοίμια πάντα ἐστὶ διὰ τὸ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἱερεμίου ἀναγνώσεως οὕτως ἔχειν· «ἠπάτησάς με, κύριε, καὶ ἠπατήθην.
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.