To Israel he was no wilderness; to the nations he was; now it is reversed
God is a wilderness to no one, making the sun rise on the evil and on the good; he is untilled land to no one, sending rain on the just and on the unjust. How is he a wilderness, who makes day and night for rest? How is he a wilderness, who makes the earth bear fruit? How is he a wilderness, who orders each soul so that it may be rational, take up knowledge, train its understanding, and have its senses sound? So as to the common account, God is a wilderness to no one.
As to the particular, I come to Israel's affairs and I say: he was neither wilderness nor untilled land when he did the signs and wonders for the people in Egypt. If a time came when they were abandoned, he became, as it were, a wilderness to them, though he himself was not a wilderness.
When he was not a wilderness to Israel, nor untilled land, he was, on the particular account, a wilderness and untilled land to the nations. But when he turned away from Israel, and became to that Israel a wilderness and untilled land, then grace was poured out on the nations, and now Christ Jesus has become to us not a wilderness but full, not untilled land but fruit-bearing. For 'the children of the desolate are more than of her who has a husband.'
And he threatens those to whom he was not a wilderness nor untilled land, saying: I did not become a wilderness to you, nor untilled land, but you have said, 'We will not be ruled; we will not come to you any more.' Did the sons of Israel say this, out of their senses, according to the letter: 'We will not be ruled'?
Greek
Οὐδενὶ ἔρημός ἐστιν ὁ θεός ἀνατέλλων τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ · οὐδενὶ κεχερσωμένη γῆ ἐστι, >βρέχων ἐπὶ καὶ ἀδίκους<. πῶς ἔρημος, ἀνατέλλων ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν ποιῶν; πῶς ἔρημος τὴν γῆν ποιῶν καρποφορεῖν; πῶς ἔρημος ἕκαστον οἰκονομῶν κατὰ τὴν ψυχὴν, ἕνα λογικὸς ᾐ, ἕνα ἐπιστήμην ἀναλαμβάνῃ, ἵνα γυμνάζηται τὸ συνετὸν αὐτοῦ κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, ἵνα ἔχῃ ἐρρωμένα «τὰ αἰσθητήρια«; ἔστιν οὐν οὐδενὶ ἔρημος ὡς πρὸς τὸν καθόλου λόγον ὁ θεός. ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἰδικόν, ἔρχομαι ἐπὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πράγματα καὶ λέγω· οὔτε ἔρημος οὔτε γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἦν, ὅτε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐποίει τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα τῷ λαῷ. εἰ δέ τις καιρὸς γέγονεν ὅτε ἐγκατελείφθησαν, οἱονεὶ ἔρημος αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἔρημος ὢν αὐτός, ἐγένετο.
ὅτε μέντοι ἦν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τοῖς ἔθνεσι κατὰ τὸν ἰδικὸν λόγον ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἦν. ὅτε δὲ ἀπεστράφη τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ γέγονε τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκείνῳ ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τότε ἐξεχύθη ἡ χάρις ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ γέγονε νῦν ἡμῖν Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔρημος ἀλλὰ πλήρης, καὶ οὐ γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἀλλὰ καρποφοροῦσα· «πολλὰ« γὰρ «τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα( καὶ ἀπειλεῖ αὐτοῖς, οἷς οὐ γέγονεν ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, λέγων· ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ γέγονα ὑμῖν «ἔρημος« οὐδὲ «γῆ κεχερσωμένη«, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰρήκατε· «οὐ κυριευθησόμεθα, οὐχ ἥξομεν πρός σε ἔτι. ἆρα εἰρήκασιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπονενοημένως κατὰ τὴν λέξιν· «οὐ κυριευθησόμεθα«
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.