Fragments on Lamentations · §75 · Origen of Alexandria

Good to those who wait; quiet before providence

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For being good toward all he requires the endurance from us. For for the soul that will seek him, the seeking is good—she who would endure undisturbed until the mercy should meet, and not removing until the Lord’s salvation should appear, unto hoping unto another. And perhaps “and he will be quiet” (Lamentations 3:25–26) means not being busybody about the judgments of providence. One must, then, even if we are ignorant, not throw off the Lord’s reins.

Greek

Klagel. Jerem. 3, 25. 26. Πρὸς πάντας γὰρ ὤν ἀγαθὸς τὴν παρ' ἡμῶν ὑπομονὴν ἀπαιτεῖ. τῇ γὰρ ψυχῇ, ἥ ζητήσει αὐτόν, ἀγαθὸν τὸ ζητεῖν, ἤτις ὑπομένοι μὴ ταραττομένη, μέχρι τὸ ἔλεος ἀπαντήσειεν, μηδὲ μεθισταμένη, μέχρι τὸ σωτήριον ἐπιφανείη κυρίου, εἰς τὸ ἐλπίζειν εἰς ἕτερον. ἴσως δὲ καὶ ἡσυχάσει λέγει μὴ πολυπραγμονοῦσα τῆς προνοίας τὰ κρίματα. δεῖ τοίνυν, κἂν ἀγνοῶμεν, μὴ ἀφηνιάσαι κυρίου.

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About this text

Origen on Lamentations: Jeremiah's grief for captive Jerusalem, read also as the soul taken captive by sin and set free by Christ.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 254) was a Christian teacher in Alexandria and head of the catechetical school. This English is his fragments on Lamentations.

The full commentary is lost. What survives are short passages kept in later chains of quotations. He sets out the literal sense, the Hebrew form of the book, and its historical setting, and he compares the Greek translations.

A reader meets Jeremiah lamenting the fall of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem read both as the city and as the soul. Origen quotes Symmachus, Aquila, and Theodotion. He also cites Paul, David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, Zechariah, and Daniel. He uses Septuagint book names and Psalm numbering.

EditionKlostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS 6, 1901)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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