“We have sinned,” not “we are sinning”
'For we have sinned against our God, we and our fathers.' Would that we also would say it as these do, according to the prophet's personification.
'We have sinned.' 'We have sinned' is not the same as 'we are sinning.' The one still in sin should not say 'we have sinned'; the one who sinned before and has carefully repented should say 'we have sinned'—as also in Daniel there is written the confession of those no longer sinning: 'We have sinned, we have acted lawlessly,' and in the Psalms: 'Do not remember our ancient lawless deeds,' the prophet says. So let us also confess our sins—would that they were not yesterday's, would that they were not three days old, but would that in confessing we confess sins done fifteen years ago, by having no sin after those for fifteen years. But if we sinned yesterday, we are not yet trustworthy when we confess our sins; nor is there yet room for these sins of ours to be wiped away. 'For we have sinned, we and our fathers, from our youth until this day.'
Let that stand otherwise as teaching about the best manner of confession. These words are an accusation of long sinning. 'From youth,' it says, 'until this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God.' We have sinned, and we have not obeyed until the present. Then, turning and having a beginning of turning, they say, 'We have sinned, and we have not obeyed.' For not at the same moment of wanting to obey do we already obey at once. Time is still needed, as with wounds toward healing, so also with turning—toward turning completely and purely to God.
Greek
«Διότι ἐναντίον τοῦ θεοῦ ἠμῶν ἡμάρτομεν ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν. εἴθε καὶ ἡμεῖς λέγωμεν, ὡς οὗτοι κατὰ τὴν προσωποποιίαν τοῦ προφήτου.
ἡμάρτομεν. οὐ ταὐτόν ἐστιν τὸ «ἡμάρτομεν« τῷ ἁμαρτάνομεν· ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἔτι ἐν ἁμαρτίᾳ ὢν μὴ λεγέτωἡμάρτομεν, ὁ δὲ προαμαρτήσας, ἀκριβῶς δὲ μετανοήσας λεγέτω ἡμάρτομεν, ὡς καὶ ἐν τῷ Δανιὴλ γέγραπται ἐξομολόγησις τῶν μηκέτι ἁμαρτανόντων λεγόντων· «ἡμάρτομεν, ἠνομήσαμεν«, καὶ ἐν Ψαλμοῖς· «μὴ μνησθῇς ἡμῶν ἀνομιῶν ἀρχαίων« φησὶν ὁ προφήτης. καὶ ἡμεῖς οὖν ἐξομολογησώμεθα τὰς ἁμαρτίας, εἴθε μὴ χθιζάς, εἴθε μὴ τριθημερινάς, ἀλλ᾿ εἴθε ἐξομολογούμενοι ἐξομολογησώμεθα περὶ ἁμαρτημάτων πρὸ πεντεκαίδεκα ἐτῶν γεγνημένων, τῷ μηκέτι ἁμαρτίαν ἔχειν μετ᾿ ἐκεῖνα ἐπὶ πεντεκαίδεκα ἔτη. εἰ δὲ χθὲς ἡμάρτομεν, οὔπω ἀξιόπιστοί ἐσμεν ἐξομολογούμενοι περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἡμῶν· οὐδὲ χώραν ἔχει ἀπαλειφθῆναι τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἡμῶν ταῦτα. «διότι ἡμάρρας ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀπὸ νεότητος ἡμῶν ἔως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης.
ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἄλλως λελέχθω εἰς διδασκαλίαν τὴν περὶ τρόπου ἀρίστου ἐξομολογήσεως· ταῦτα δέ ἐστιν κατηγορία τοῦ ἐκ πολλοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν. «ἀπὸ νεότητος« φησὶν «ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσαμεν τῆς φωνῆς κυρίου τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν«· ἡμάρτομεν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσαμεν ἕως τοῦ παρόντος. εἶτα ἐπιστρέφαντες καὶ ἀρχὴν ἔχοντες ἐπιστροφῆς λέγουσιν τὸ >ἡμάρτομεν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσαμεν<. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἅμα τῷ θέλειν ὑπακοῦσαι ἤδη εὐθέως ὑπακούομεν· καὶ γὰρ ἔτι χρόνου δεῖ, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῶν τραυμάτων πρὸς τὴν ἴασιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐπιστροφῆς, πρὸς τὸ τελείως καὶ καθαρῶς ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς τὸν θεόν.
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.