Fragments on the Psalms · §97 · Origen of Alexandria

Psalm 22:4 — shadow of death is bodily death, distinct from the soul’s death

“For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils” (Psalm 23:4; LXX 22:4).

You might also say that the shadow of death is the physical and common death, distinguished from the death of the soul; according as it has been said that the soul that sins shall die, as the one who believes in the Son of God will not die unto the age, having passed from death into life; for they do not undergo a shadow of death, or dangers, or dissolution of the body.

Greek

22.4 ̓Εὰν γὰρ καὶ πορευθῶ ἐν μέσῳ σκιᾶς θανάτου, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι κακά. Λέγοις δ' α ν καὶ σκιὰν θανάτου τὸν φυ σικόν τε καὶ κοινὸν θάνατον τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς θανάτῳ διαστελλόμενον· καθὸ λέλεκται ἡ ψυχὴ ἡ ἁμαρτάνουσα ἀποθανεῖν, ὡς ὁ πισ τεύων εἰς τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ μὴ ἀποθα νεῖται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, μεταβεβηκὼς ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωήν· σκιὰν γὰρ οὐχ ὑπο μένουσι θανάτου, η κινδύνους, η σώματος λύσιν.

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