Dishonor as the veil over the heart
After this, those who confess say, 'We slept in our shame,' and then, 'Our dishonor covered us.' Much has been said to us about the veil that lies on the face of those who do not turn to the Lord. Because of that veil, when Moses is read, the sinner does not understand him; a veil lies on his heart. Because of that veil, when the old covenant is read, the hearer does not understand. Because of that veil the gospel also is veiled to those who are perishing. So we were saying about the veil that shame is the veil.
As long as we have 'the works of shame,' it is clear that we have the veil, according to what is said somewhere in the forty-third Psalm: 'And the shame of my face covered me.' I have set beside this that the one who has no works of shame has no veil—as Paul was, saying, 'We all, with unveiled face, behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.' Paul has an unveiled face; he does not have works of shame. The one who is not like Paul has a veiled face.
As there it is said in the forty-third Psalm, 'The shame of my face covered me,' so here: 'Our dishonor covered us.' As long as we do works of dishonor, we have a veil lying on our heart. If we want to put away the veil that comes from dishonor, let us arrive at works of honor and understand what the Savior said: 'That all may honor the Son as they honor the Father,' and what the apostle said: 'Through the transgression of the law you dishonor God.' The righteous honors the Son as he honors the Father.
Dishonor—when I dishonor the Son (the same dishonor by which I dishonor the Father or the Son)—becomes a covering over my face, and I say, 'Our dishonor covered us.' So, understanding the veil that lies from works of shame and from such practices, let us take the veil away. It is in our power for the veil to be removed; it belongs to no one else. For when Moses turned to the Lord, the veil was taken away.
Do you see how Moses is sometimes taken also for the people? As long as he did not turn to the Lord, being a symbol of the people that does not turn to the Lord, he had a veil lying on his face. But when he turned to the Lord, becoming a symbol of those who turn to the Lord, then 'the veil was taken away.' It was not as if God commanded him, 'Put on the veil'—for the Lord did not say to Moses, 'Put the veil on'—but Moses, seeing that the people could not look at his glory, then put 'the veil on his face,' and he did not wait for God to say, 'Take away the veil,' whenever he turned to the Lord.
Greek
Μετὰ ταῦτα λέγουσιν οὗτοι οἱ ἐξομολογούμενοι τὸ «ἐκοιμήθημεν ἐν τῇ αἰσχύνῃ ἡμῶν«· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτό φασιν· «καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν« φησὶν «ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία ἡμῶν. περὶ τοῦ καλύμματος πολλάκις ἡμῖν εἴρηται τοῦ ἐπικειμένου τῷ προσώπῳ τῶν μὴ ἐπιστρεφόντων πρὸς κύριον. δι᾿ ὃ κάλυμμα Πὰν ἀναγινώσκηται Μωσῆς«, ὁ ἁμαρτωλὸς οὐ νοεῖ αὐτόν· «κάλυμμα« γὰρ «εἰς τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ κεῖται. δι᾿ κάλυμμα, ἐὰν ἀναγινώσκηται ἡ παλαιὰ διαθήκη, οὐ συνήσει ὁ ἀκούων. δι᾿ ὃ κάλυμμα καὶ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις ἐστὶ κεκαλυμμένον ἐλέγομεν τοίνυν περὶ τοῦ καλύμματος ὅτι ἡ αἰσχύνη ἐστὶ τὸ κάλυμμα.
ὅσον γὰρ ἔχομεν «τὰ ἔργα τῆς αἰσχύνης«, δῆλον ὅτι ἔχομεν τὸ κάλυμμα κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον που ἐν τεσσαρακοστῷ καὶ τρίτῳ Ψαλμῷ· «καὶ ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψέν με. παρεθέμην ὅτι ὁ μὴ ἔχων αἰσχύνης ἔργα οὐκ ἔχει κάλυμμα· ὁποῖος ἠν ὁ Παῦλος λέγων· «ἠμεῖς δὲ πάντες ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ προσώπῳ τὴν δόξαν κυρίου κατοπτριζόμεθα. Παῦλος οὐν ἀνακεκαλυμμένον ἔχει τὸ πρόσωπον· οὐ γὰρ ἔχει αἰσχύνης ἔργα. ὁ μὴ ὡς Παῦλος ὢν κεκαλυμμένον ἔχει τὸ πρόσωπον.
ὡς οὖν ἐκεῖ «ἡ αἰσχύνη τοῦ προσώπου μου ἐκάλυψέν με« εἴρηται έν τεσσαρακοστῷ καὶ τρίτῳ ψαλμῷ, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον εἴρηται ἐνθάδε· «ἐκάλυψεν «φησὶν« ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία ἡμῶν( ὅσον ἀτιμίας ἔργα ἐργαζόμεθα, κάλυμμα ἔχομεν ἐπὶ τὴν καρδίαν ἡμῶν κείμενον. εἰ θέλομεν τὸ κάλυμμα τὸ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀτιμίας ἀποθέσθαι, ἐπὶ τὰ τῆς τιμῆς ἔργα καταντήσωμεν καὶ νοήσωμεν ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὐπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένον· «ἵνα πάντες τιμῶσι τὸν τὸν καθὼς τιμῶσι τὸν πατέρα«, νοήσωμεν καὶ τὸ παρά τῷ ἀποστόλῳ εἰρημένον· «διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις. ὁ δίκαιος ὡς τιμᾷ τὸν πατέρα τιμᾷ τὸν υἱόν<.
ἡ ἀτιμία, ὅταν ἀτιμάζω τὸν υἱόν (αὐτὴ καθ᾿ ἣν ἀτιμάζω τὸν πατέρα ἢ τὸν υἱόν), ἐπικάλυμμα γίνεται τοῦ προσώπου μου, καὶ λέγω· «καὶ ἐπεκάλυψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ ἀτιμία. διὰ τοῦτο νοήσαντες τὸ κάλυμμα τὸ ἐπικείμενον ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς αἰσχύνης ἔργων, ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς πράξεων, περιελώμεθα περιελώμεθα τὸ κάλυμμα. ἐφ᾿ ἡμῖν ἐστιν περιαιρεθῆναι τὸ κάλυμμα, οὐδενὸς ἄλλου ἐστίν. <ἡνίκα> γὰρ <ἐπέστρεφεν πρὸς κύριον Μωσῆς, περιῃρεῖτο τὸ κάλυμμα.
ὁρᾷς ὡς Μωσῆς ποτε λαμβάνεται καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ; ὅσον οὐκ ἐπέστρεφεν πρὸς κύριον σύμβολον ὢν τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦ μὴ ἐπιστρέφοντος πρὸς κύριον, κάλυμμα εἶχεν ἐπικείμενον αὐτοῦ τῷ προσώπῳ· ὅτε δὲ ἐπέστρεφεν πρὸς κύριον σύμβολον γινόμενος τῶν ἐπιστρεφόντων πρὸς κύριον, τότε «περιῃρεῖτο τὸ κάλυμμα. καὶ οὐχ οἷον ὁ θεὸς αὐτῷ ἐκέλευεν· περίθου τὸ κάλυμμα (οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν ὁ κύριος πρὸς Μωσῆν· περίθου τὸ κάλυμμα), ἀλλ᾿ ἰδὼν Μωσῆς, ὅτι οὐ δύναται ὁ λαὸς ἰδεῖν τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, τότε ἐπετίθει «τὸ κάλυμμα ἐπὶ τὸ πρόσωπον«, καὶ οὐ περιέμενεν θεὸν λέγοντα· περιελοῦ τὸ κάλυμμα, <ἡνίκα ἂν ἐπέστρεφεν πρὸς κύριον.
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.