Spiritual Hardness and the Hardened Heart
They have hardened their faces above the rock; understand this from the more physical. Those who hear reproving words about sin blush and sink down and fall beneath the word of their reprover. But those are such that they are unblushing, not ashamed of what they are reproved for, what they have sinned. Therefore, if you were to speak about those who do not blush, 'They have hardened their faces above the rock,' if you have understood this upon the physical, turn with me in the word to the soul's face, about which it is said, 'Then face to face.' And see a firm soul, such as the heart of Pharaoh, hardened so that it stands as a counterpart to what is spoken and as if rejecting what is said, not shaped according to what is spoken.
For there you will find that 'They have hardened their faces above the rock and did not wish to turn back.' And I said, 'Perhaps they are poor, because they did not wish to know the way of the Lord and the judgment of God.' I will go to the stout and speak to them. Understanding this about those who do not wish to be taught, who do not understand the stripes of God, he says having understood their cause. Their soul is poor. 'And I said, 'Perhaps they are poor, because they could not, because they did not know the way of the Lord and the judgment of God.' 'I will go to the stout and speak to them.' The stout are called in praise of the soul. And among the Hellenes the term 'stout' is constantly used for the greatness of the rational soul.
Greek
«Ἐστερέωσαν τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ πέτραν( νοήσεις καὶ τοῦτο ἀπὸ τῶν σωματικωτέρων. τῶν ἁμαρτανόντων οἱ μὲν ἀκούοντες λόγους ἐλεγκτικοὺς ἐπὶ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἐρυθριῶσιν καὶ καταδύονται καὶ ὑποπίπτουσιν ἁπτομένου τοῦ λόγου τ·οῦ ἐλεγκτικοῦ αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ τοιοῦτοί εἰσιν, ὥστε αὐτοὺς ἀνερυθριάστους εἶναι, μὴ αἰδουμένους ἐφ᾿ οἷς ἐλέγχονται, ἐφ᾿ οἷς ἡμαρτήκασιν. εἴποις ἂν οὖν περὶ τούτων οἳ οὐκ αἰδοῦνται· «ἐστερέωσαν τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ πέτραν« εἰ νενόηκας ἐπὶ τῶν σωματικῶν αὐτό, μετάβα μοι τῷ λόγῳ ἐπὶ τὴν ψυχὴν νοήσας πρόσωπον, περὶ οὗ λέγεται· «τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον. καὶ ὅρα ψυχὴν στερεάν, ὁποία ἦν ἡ καρδία Φαραὼ ἐσκλη- ρυμμένη, ὥστε αὐτὴν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀπαγγελλομένοις ἑστάναι ἀντίτυπον καὶ ὥσπερ ἀποβάλλουσαν τὰ λεγόμενα μὴ μορφουμένην κατὰ τὰ ἀπαγγελλόμενα.
ἐκεῖ γὰρ εὑρήσεις ὅτι ἁρμόζει τὸ «ἐστερέωσαν τὰ πρόσωπα αὐτῶν ὑπὲρ πέτραν καὶ οὐκ ἡθέλσαν ἐπιστραφῆναι. κἀγὼ εἶπα. ἴσως πτωχοί εἰσιν, ὅτι οὐκ ἡθέλησαν γνῶναι ὁδὸν κυρίου καὶ κρίσιν θεοῦ. πορεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς ἁδροὺς καὶ λαλήσω αὐτοῖς. ταῦτα νοήσας περὶ τῶν μὴ θελόντων παιδευθῆναι, μὴ νοούντων ἐπὶ ταῖς μάστιξιν τοῦ θεοῦ, φησὶν νενοηκὼς τὸ τούτων αἴτιον. πτωχή ἐστιν αὐτῶν ἡ ψυχή. «κἀγὼ εἶπα. ἴσως πτωχοί εἰσιν, διότι οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν,ξ ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνωσαν ὁδὸν κυρίου καὶ κρίσιν θεοῦ. «Πορεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς ἁδροὺς καὶ λαλήσω αὐτοῖς. οἱ ἁδροὶ ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἐν ἐπαίνῳ λέγονται. καὶ παρ' Ἕλλησι γὰρ τὸ ἁδρὸν συνεχῶς ὀνομάζεται καὶ τὸ μεγαλεῖον τῆς λογικῆς ψυχῆς.
ὅταν γάρ τις μεγάλοις ἐπιβάλλῃ πράγμασιν καὶ προθέσεις ἔχῃ ἀξιολόγους καὶ σκοπῇ ἀεὶ τὰ δέοντα, πῶς βιώσῃ κατὰ τὸν ὀρθὸν λόγον, μηδὲν ταπεινὸν καὶ μικρὸν θέλων μηδὲ ὁρ΄ῶν, ὁ τοιοῦτος τὸ ἁδρὸν καὶ τὸ μεγαλεῖον ἔχει ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ οὑτοι οὐν, Ι ἐπεὶ ἡσαν πτωχοί, οἱ πρότεροι οὓς ἔψεξεν ὁ λόγος, οὐκ ἤκουσαν, φησὶν ὁ προφήτης. διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἤκουσαν, ἐπεὶ πτωχοί εἰσιν. πορεύσομαι πρὸς τοὺς ἁδροὺς καὶ λα- λήσω αὐτοῖς((. καὶ εἰ ἔστιν μακάριον εἶναι ἐπὶ τῷ λέγειν «εἰς ὦτα ἀκουόντων«, μακάριόν έστιν ἐάνπερ τύχῃ τις ἁδροῦ καὶ μεγάλου ἀκροατοῦ. διὰ τοῦτο τούτων οὕτως λεγομένων, εἰδότες ὅτι οὐ ζημία τοῖς λέγουσιν ὅσον τοῖς ἀκούουσίν ἐστιν τὸ μὴ παραδέχεσθαι τὰ ἁπαγγελλόμενα, καὶ κατηγορεῖ πτωχείας τοῦ νοῦ αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς διανοίας, παρακαλέσωμεν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ λαβεῖν αὕξοντος τοῦ λόγου ἐν ἡμῖν ἁδρότητα καὶ μεγαλειότητα έν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, ἴνα ἀκοῦσαι τῶν ἱερῶν καὶ ἁγίων λόγων δυνηθῶμεν, ᾠ ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων.
Ἀμήν.
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.