The good shepherd within rules irrational motions
The irrational motions of the fathers he called 'sheep' and 'calves.' Not every irrational thing is praiseworthy. Some are blameworthy, like the sheep of fathers who have sinned. Some irrational things are praiseworthy, as when he says, 'My sheep hear my voice.' Those too were sheep, and we have something analogous in the word. We have the good shepherd in our souls.
When the Savior says, 'I am the good shepherd,' I do not hear only what everyone hears—that he is shepherd of those who believe (that is sound and true). I must also have Christ within my soul, the good shepherd within me, shepherding the irrational motions in me so they no longer go out to pasture at random, but, led by the shepherd, what was once alien to him becomes his own.
Therefore now, if the shepherd is in me, he rules my senses. They are no longer under an alien mind, or under Pharaoh, or under Nebuchadnezzar, but under the good shepherd.
Greek
Τὰ δὲ ἄλογα τῶν πατέρων κινήματα «πρόβατα« εἶπεν καὶ «μόσχουσ. οὐ γὰρ πάντα τὰ ἄλογα ἐπαινετά· ἀλλ᾿ ἀλλ᾿ ἔστιν τινα ψεκτά, ὥσπερ τὰ πρόβατα τῶν πατέρων τῶν ἡμαρτηκότων· ἔστιν δέ τινα ἄλογα ἐπαινετά, οἷον· «τὰ ἐμὰ πρόβατα τῆς φωνῆς μου ἀκούουσιν. πρόβατα ἠν καὶ ταῦτα, οἷς ἀνάλογον ἔχομεν τὸν λόγον. ἔχοντες τὸν ποιμένα τὸν καλὸν ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡμῶν.
ἐπὰν γὰρ λέγῃ ὁ σωτήρ· «ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ποιμὴν ὁ καλός«· οὐκ ἀκούω μόνον ὡς πάντες ἀκούουσιν, ὅτι ποιμήν ἐστιν τῶν πιστευόντων (καὶ τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ καὶ ὑγιὲς καὶ ἀληθές), ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐμῇ ψυχῇ ὀφείλω ἔχειν ἔνδον μου τὸν Χριστόν, ἔνδον μου τὸν καλὸν ποιμένα. ποιμαίνοντα τὰ ἐν ἐμοὶ ἄλογα κινήματα, ἵνα μηκέτι ἐπὶ τὴν νομὴν ὡς ἔτυχεν ἐξέρχηται, ἀλλ᾿ ἀγόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ ποιμένος ταῦτα τὰ ἀλλότριά ποτε τυγχάνοντα αὐτοῦ ἴδια γένηται αὐτοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο νῦν, ἐὰν ποιμὴν, ᾖ ἐν ἐμοί, ἄρχει μου τῶν αἰσθήσεων· οὐκέτι εἰσὶν ὑπὸ νοῦν ἀλλότριον, ἢ ὑπὸ Φαραώ, ἢ ὑπὸ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ τὸν καλὸν ποιμένα.
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.