Did I become a wilderness to the house of Israel?
The Lord says at the start of what was read about Israel, that he did not become a wilderness to him, nor untilled land. Who, standing in the place of these words, would not search out what is meant?
Grant that God did not become a wilderness in Israel, and did not become untilled land in Israel. Has the Lord then become a wilderness to Israel today, or is he untilled land to them now? And when he was not a wilderness to Israel, nor untilled land, was he a wilderness and untilled land to the nations?
If he is never a wilderness to anyone, and never untilled land to anyone, what need was there to say it to Israel in particular: 'Did I become a wilderness to the house of Israel, or untilled land?' We may come first to the common benefits of God, and after those, to the ones that belong to a people.
Greek
Φησὶν ὁ κύριος ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τῶν ἀναγνωσθέντων περὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι «ἔρημος« αὐτῷ οὐκ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ «γῆ κεχερσωμένη. τίς οὖν γενόμενος έν τῷ τόπῳ οὐκ ἂν ζητήσαι ἐξετάζων τὸ βούλημα τοῦ γεγραμμένου; ἔστω, ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ οὐ γέγονεν ἔρημος, οὐ γέγονεν έν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γῆ κεχερσωμένη· ἆρα οὖν ἔρημος γέγονεν ὁ κύριος τῷ Ἰσραὴλ σήμερον ἢ γῆ κεχερσωμένη νῦν αὐτῷ ἐστιν; τί δέ: ὅτε τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἠν οὐκ ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἦν ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη; εἰ γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀεὶ οὐκ ἔρημός ἐστι καὶ πᾶσιν ἀεί ἐστιν οὐ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τίς χρεία τοῦ ἰδίως πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραὴλ κατ᾿ ἐξαίρετον λεχθῆναι· «μὴ ἔρημος ἐγενόμην τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ ἢ γὴ κεχερσωμένη«; ἀλλ’ ἔστιν ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς καθολικὰς εὐεγεσίας τοῦ θεοῦ, εἶτα μετὰ τὰς καθολικὰς εὐεργεσίας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰς ἰδικάς.
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.