Israel sinned first; Judah saw it and sinned more
The wording of the passage just read has something unclear in it. Let that be understood first; and after that, if God gives, we shall know his hidden intent.
He wants us to know that, as it is written in the Books of Kingdoms, the people was divided in the days of Rehoboam into the kingdom of the ten tribes under Jeroboam and the kingdom of two tribes under Rehoboam. Those under Jeroboam were called Israel, and those under Rehoboam Judah. This division of the people has remained, as far as the history goes, until now. We do not know a history that has gathered Israel and Judah into one.
Israel sinned first, and more — the Israel under Jeroboam and his successors — and sinned so far beyond Judah that they were condemned by providence to become captives to the Assyrians, as the Scripture says, 'until this day.' After that the sons of Judah also sinned, and were condemned as captives to Babylon, not 'until this day' as Israel was, but for seventy years, of which Jeremiah prophesied, and of which Daniel also made mention.
If we take these things of that people then, look at the prophet's words and see whether they do not show something of this kind. He accuses the sins of Israel, and says that when so many sins had come to be for Israel, the congregation of Judah heard their falls, and in what way he had made them captives, and was not trained by it, but added to the sins, so that by the addition, when the sins were compared with the sins of Israel, righteousness was found in Israel rather than in Judah.
Then the prophet is commanded to prophesy, as of Judah being worse than Israel, so that after the sins Judah may turn. After the prophecy toward Israel commanding him to turn, the prophet prophesies that Israel and Judah are going to become together, and that there will sometime be one kingdom of both. Let the one who cares for the readings take the words of the whole reading today, and then he will see the thoughts laid out.
And the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king: 'Have you seen what the dwelling of Israel has done to me' — not Judah, but Israel first? 'She went upon every high mountain and under every leafy tree and played the harlot there. And I said after she had done all these things: Turn back to me. And she did not turn. And faithless Judah saw the faithlessness of the congregation of Israel.' And those from Judah saw that, for all the things in which the dwelling of Israel committed adultery, 'I sent her away and gave her a bill of divorce.' Judah ought to have been trained — for I sent Israel away, I threw them out to the Assyrians, and I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands — 'and faithless Judah was not afraid.'
After so many things that I did to Israel, sending him away, giving a bill of divorce, the congregation of Judah ought to have been trained by what those others suffered. They were not only not trained, but they added to the sins, so that the sins of the congregation of Israel, compared with the sins of the congregation of Judah, seem to be righteousness. 'And I gave her a bill of divorce into her hands, and her sister, faithless Judah, was not afraid, and she went and played the harlot also, and her harlotry came to nothing, and she committed adultery with the wood and the stone. And in all these things faithless Judah did not turn to me with her whole heart, but in a lie.'
She was not ashamed before me of what I had done to Israel, that she might turn completely. She ought to have turned in truth, and she turned in a lie. And the Lord said to me: 'Israel has justified her soul from faithless Judah.' The sins of Israel, compared with the falls of Judah, have become a justification of the soul of the congregation of Israel.
Greek
Αὐτὸ τὸ ῥητὸν τῆς ἀναγνωσθείσης λέξεως ἔχει τι ἀσαφές, ὅπερ πρότερον νοηθήτω· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο, ἐὰν ὁ θεὸς διδῷ, εἰσόμεθα τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ τὸ μυστικόν. οὐκοῦν θέλει ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι ἐν ὅτι, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις γέγραπται, διῃρέθη ὁ λαὸς ἐν λαὸς χρόνοις Ῥοβοὰμ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ἱεροβοὰμ βασιλείαν τῶν δέκα φυλῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥοβοὰμ δύο φυλῶν· καὶ ἐκλήθησαν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ Ἰσραήλ, Ἰούδα Ἰούδα οἱ ὑπὸ τῷ Ῥοβοάμ. καὶ ἔμεινεν αὕτη ἡ διαίρεσις τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅσον κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν, μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο· οὐκ οἴ- δαμεν γὰρ ἱστορίαν συναγαγοῦσαν τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν | τὸ αὐτό.
ἥμαρτεν οὐν πρῶτον Ἰσραὴλ πλείονα, ὁ ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ καὶ τοῖς διαδόχοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοσαῦτα ἥμαρτε παρὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν ὥστε αὐτοὺς καταδικασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας γενέσθαι αἰχμαλώτους > εἰς Ἀσσυρίους< ὡς λέγει ἡ γραφή, >μέχρι τῆς σήμερον<. μετὰ τοῦτο ἥμαρτον καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰούδα καὶ κατεδικάσθησαν αἰχμάλωτοι εἰς Βαβυλῶνα, οὐχὶ μάρι τῆς σήμερον ὡς ὁ Ἰσραήλ, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ «ἑβδομήκοντα ἔτη«, περὶ ὧν ὁ Ἱερεμίας προεφήτευσεν, ὧν ἐμνήσθη καὶ ὁ Δανιήλ. εἰ νοοῦμεν ταῦτα ὡς πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν τότε, ἴδε τὰς λέξεις τοῦ προφήτου, εἰ μὴ τοιοῦτό τι δηλοῦσι. κατηγορεῖ γὰρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ὡς λόγος, καί φησιν ὅτι τοσούτων ἁμαρτημάτων γεγενημένων τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἀκούσασα ἡ Ἰούδα συναγωγὴ τὰ ἐκείνων πταίσματα καὶ τίνα τρόπον πεποίηκα αὐτοὺς γενέσθαι ἐν αἰχμαλωσίᾳ. οὐκ ἐπαιδεύθη ἀλλὰ προσέθηκε ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις, ὥστε διὰ τὴν προσθήκην τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων συγκρινομένων τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασι τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ δικαιοσύνην εὑρῆσθαι ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ παρὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν. εἶτα ἐπὶ τούτοις κελεύεται ὁ προφήτης προφητεῦσαι, ὡς χείρονος χείρονος τοῦ Ἰούδα παρὰ τὸν Ἰσραήλ, ἴνα μετὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἐπιστρέψῃ. μετὰ τὴν προφητείαν οὐν τὴν πρὸς Ἰσραὴλ κελεύουσαν ἐπιστρέψαι αὐτὸν προφητεύει ὁ προφήτης, ὅτι μέλλουσιν ἅμα γίνεσθαι Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδας καὶ γίνεσθαί ποτε μίαν ἀμφοτέρων βασιλείαν. ᾡ δὴ μέλει τῶν ἀναγνωσμάτων, λαβέτω τὰ ῥήματα τῆς ὅλης σήμερον ἀναγνώσεως καὶ τότε ὄψεται τὰ νοήματα δεδηλῶσθαι. «Καὶ εἶπε κύριος πρός με ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἰωσίου τοῦ βασιλέως· εἶδες ἃ ἐποίησόν μοι ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ«, οὐκ Ἰούδα, ἀλλὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ« πρῶτον; «ἐπορεύθη ἐπὶ πᾶν ὄρος ὑψηλὸν καὶ ὑποκάτω παντὸς ξύλου ἀλσώδους καὶ ἐπόρνεθσεν ἐκεῖ καὶ εἶπα μετὰ τὸ αὐτὴν πάντα ταῦτα· ἀνάστρεψον πρός με· καὶ οὐκ ἀνέστρεψε. καὶ εἶδεν τὴν ἀσυνθεσίαν αὐτῆς« τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς «ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα. καὶ εἶδον« οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰούδα, «διότι περὶ πάντων ὡν| ἐν οἷς ἐμοιχᾶτο ἡ κατοικία τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ ἐξαπέστειλα αὐτὴν καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου. δέον παιδευθῆναι τὸν Ἰούδαν — ἐξαπέστειλα γὰρ τὸν Ἰσραήλ, τὴν συναγωγὴν Ἰσραήλ, ἐξέβαλον αὐτοὺς εἰς Ἀσσυρίους «καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς« — «καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα. μετὰ τοσαῦτα δὲ ἃ ἐποίησα τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἐξαποστείλας αὐτόν, δοὺς βιβλίον ἀποστασίου, δέον παιδευθῆναι τὴν Ἰούδα συναγωγὴν ἐξ ὧν πεπόνθασιν ἐκεῖνοι, οἳ δὲ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐπαιδεύθησαν, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκαν τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν, ὥστε τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς συγκρίσει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τῆς συναγωγῆς τοῦ Ἰούδα δικαιοσύνην εἶναι δοκεῖν. καὶ ἔδωκα αὐτῇ βιβλίον ἀποστασίου εἰς τὰς χεῖρας αὐτῆς· καὶ οὐκ ἐφοβήθη ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἡ ἀδελφὴ αὐτῆς καὶ ἐπορεύθη καὶ ἐπόρνευσε καὶ αὐτή, καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτῆς εἰς οὐδὲν ἡ πορνεία, καὶ ἐμοίχευσε τὸ ξύλον καὶ τὸν λίθον. καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἐπεστράφη πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς, ἀλλ᾿ ἐπί ψεύδει« ἐπέστρεψε πρός με. οὐκ ᾐδέσθῃ με ὧν πεποίηκα πεποίηκα τῷ Ἰσραήλ, ἕνα τελείως ἐπιστρέφῃ, ἀλλὰ δέον αὐτὴν ἐπιστρέφειν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ, ἣ δὲ ἐπὶ ψεύδει ἐπέστρεψε· «καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις οὐκ ἐπέστρεψε πρός με ἡ ἀσύνθετος Ἰούδα ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας αὐτῆς ἀλλ’ ἐπὶ ψεύδει. καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με· ἐδικαίωσε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῆς Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσυνθέτου Ιούδα. τὰ ἁμαρτήματα τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ συγκρινόμενα τοῖς πταίσμασιν Ἰούδα γέγονε δικαίωσις τῆς ψυχῆς τῆς Ἰσραὴλ συναγωγῆς.
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.