Fragments on the New Testament · §5 · Origen of Alexandria

Luke catena: infancy and forerunner

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The Savior comes to Simon’s house and finds his mother-in-law feverish: ‘and standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left.’

May it not be, then, that in the ‘the fever left her’ as told by Matthew and Mark — where in the whole transaction nothing appears as of a living being effecting the fever — while in the ‘standing over, he rebuked the fever, and it left’ as told by Luke, I do not know, unless we shall be compelled to say that what is rebuked and departs is a living being not admitting the rebuker’s working; for it is not reasonable to say that what is soulless and insensible of rebuke is rebuked.

And it is nothing marvelous that there are certain powers harmful to the human body — and we shall not in every case accuse the soul of the sufferers as being harmed by these; for neither, since the devil, having received authority to tempt him through the body, struck Job with a grievous sore, is Job to be accused on this account — he who contended and nobly endured the blow.

Only let this be said, whenever we are tried by bodily pains: ‘but not his soul’ — as the Lord too, rebuking, heals the sick.

Greek

Ἐφίστησι τῇ τοῦ Σίμωνος οἰκίᾳ ὁ σωτὴρ καὶ εὑρίσκει πυρέττουσαν τὴν αὐτοῦ πενθεράν· >καὶ ἐπιστὰς ἐπετίμησε τῷ πυρετῷ, καὶ ἀφῆκεν . Μήποτε οὖν ἐν μὲν τῷ· ἀφῆκεν αὐτὴν ὁ πυρετὸς< εἰρημένῳ ὑπὸ Ματθαίου καὶ Μάρκου καὶ ὅλη τῇ πράσει οὐδὲν ὡς περὶ ζῴου ἐμφαίνεται τοῦ τὸν πυρετὸν ἐνεργοῦντος, ἐν δὲ τῷ· >ἐπιστὰς ἐπάνω ἐπετίμησε τῷ πυρετῷ καὶ ἀφῆκεν> εἰρημένῳ ὑπὸ Λουκᾶ οὐκ οἶδα, εἰ μὴ ἀναγκασθησόμεθα τὸ ἐπιτιμώμενον καὶ καὶ ἀφιὲν ζῷον μὴ χωροῦν τὴν τοῦ ἐπιτιμῶντος ἐνέργειαν· ἄψυχον γὰρ καὶ μὴ αἰσθανόμενον ἐπιτιμίας ἐπιτιμᾶσθαι οὐκ εὔλογον λέγειν. Οὐδὲν δὲ θαυμαστὸν εἶναί τινας κακωτικὰς τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου σώματος δυνάμεις, καὶ οὐ πάντως κατηγορήσωμεν τῆς ψυχῆς τῶν πασχόντων ὡς ἐκ τούτων βλαπτομένης· οὐδὲ γάρ, ἐπεὶ ἔπαισε τὸν Ἰὼβ ἕλκει πονηρῷ λαβὼν ὁ διάβολος τὴν ἐξουσίαν τὸ τὸ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πειράσαι αὐτόν, περὶ τοῦτο κατηγορητέος ὁ Ἰὼβ ἀθλήσας καὶ γενναίως ὑπομείνας τὴν πληγήν. Μόνον εἴη λέγεσθαι, εἴ ποτε κατὰ σωματικοὺς πειραζόμεθα πόνους, τό· ἀλλὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ μὴ , ὡς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐπιτιμῶν ἰᾶται τοὺς κακῶς ἔχοντας. >᾿ ἀντὶ τοῦ >πέταξεν<.

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About this text

Origen's notes on John, Luke and Matthew: the Word who was in the beginning, the Baptist, the Passion, and why the Church keeps only four Gospels.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 254) wrote these exegetical comments on the Gospels of John, Matthew, and Luke. They survive as excerpts preserved in later catena and scholia collections, not as complete commentaries. Origen was one of the most prolific and influential early Christian theologians, and his biblical interpretation shaped later Christian thought even after parts of his teaching were condemned.

The occasion for these fragments is the loss of most of Origen's original exegetical works. What remains comes through later compilers who gathered his comments into catena manuscripts and scholia.

Origen quotes and argues against opponents who say the Word began at the incarnation, and he defends the four Gospels as the Church's approved accounts against many attempted Gospels, including one by Basilides.

Datec. 230–250 AD (fragment tradition)

English follows First1KGreek digital text. Modern copyright reconstructions were not used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from First1KGreek digital text tlg2042.tlg006 — John catena (Greek)
Translated from First1KGreek digital text tlg2042.tlg017 — Luke catena (Greek)
Translated from First1KGreek digital text tlg2042.tlg077 — Matthew scholia (Greek)
Translated from First1KGreek digital text tlg2042.tlg078 — Luke scholia (Greek)

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