Fragments on the Psalms · §56 · Origen of Alexandria

Psalm 11:1 — save me, Lord, for the holy one has failed; scarcity of the holy caused many heresies

Click or tap any sentence to jump there. The side buttons skip a paragraph.

“Save me, Lord, because a holy one has failed, because the truths have been diminished from humanity.

Because the gift of the truth is in danger of being extinguished, the holy ones have failed, and the truths have been diminished; the truths are not in the holy ones only, and holiness is also in those who are true.

Or because the holy ones have failed, for this reason the truths have been diminished; and perhaps the scarcity of the holy ones has become the cause of the many heresies.

Greek

11.1 Σῶσόν με, Κύριε, ο τι ἐκλέλοιπεν ο σιος, ο τι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ̓Επειδὴ κινδυνεύει τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπεσ βεσθῆναι τὸ χάρισμα, οἱ μὲν ο σιοι ἐκλελοί πασιν, αἱ δὲ ἀλήθειαι ὠλιγώθησαν· οὐκ ἐν τοῖς ὁσίοις μόνοις αἱ ἀλήθειαι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀληθέσιν ἡ ὁσιότης. Η ἐπειδὴ οἱ ο σιοι ἐκ λελοίπασιν, διὰ τοῦτο ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλή θειαι· καὶ τάχα ἡ σπάνις τῶν ὁσίων αἰτία γέγονε τῶν πολλῶν αἱρέσεων.

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Origen's verse-by-verse notes on Psalms 1 to 22, read as words about Christ and as steps in the soul's progress from shunning evil to doing good.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 254) was a Christian teacher in Alexandria and later at Caesarea. This English is the Greek fragments of his comments on the Psalms.

The sections follow the Psalms in order, beginning with Psalm 1 and running through Psalm 22. He reads them as prophecies of Christ and as a picture of the soul's progress. These fragments are not Didymus the Blind's commentary on the Psalms, and they are not Didymus's separate book of fragments on the Psalms.

A reader meets the opening psalms, including the tree and the water of Psalm 1 and the king of Psalm 2, then the psalms that follow. Psalms are cited by the Septuagint numbering.

Fresh English from PG 12 Greek of Fragmenta in Psalmos, Psalms 1–22.3.

Printed text used

Translated from PG 12 Fragmenta in Psalmos (Greek)

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.

Report a mistake