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| The Commentaries which Origen composed in Cæsarea in Palestine. PREVIOUS SECTION - NEXT SECTION - HELP
Chapter XXXII.—The Commentaries
which Origen composed in Cæsarea in Palestine.
1. About this time Origen prepared his Commentaries on
Isaiah2026
2026 “About this time” refers us still to the reign of
Gordian (238–244). Eusebius mentions only the commentaries on
Isaiah, but Jerome refers also to homilies and notes. The thirty books
which were extant in Eusebius’ time extended to XXX. 6, as we are
informed here. Whether the commentary originally went beyond this point
we do not know. There are extant only two brief Latin fragments from
the first and eighth books of the commentary, and nine homilies (the
last incomplete) in a Latin version by Jerome; printed by Lommatzsch,
XIII. 235–301. | and on Ezekiel.2027
2027 Eusebius records that Origen wrote only twenty-five books of a
commentary on Ezekiel. The form of expression would seem to imply that
these did not cover the whole of Ezekiel, but a fragment of the
twentieth book, extant in the eleventh chapter of the
Philocalia, deals with the thirty-fourth chapter of the
prophecy, so that the twenty-five books must have covered at any rate
most of the ground. The catalogue of Jerome mentions twenty-nine books
and twelve homilies, but the former number must be a mistake, for
Eusebius’ explicit statement that Origen wrote but twenty-five
books can hardly be doubted. There are extant only the Greek fragment
of the twentieth book referred to above, fourteen homilies in the Latin
version of Jerome, and a few extracts; all printed by Lommatzsch, XIV.
1–232. | Of the former there have come down to us
thirty books, as far as the third part of Isaiah, to the vision of the
beasts in the desert;2028
2028 i.e. to Isa. xxx. 6, where the LXX
reads ἡ ὄρασις τῶν
τετραπόδων
τῶν ἐν τῇ
ἐρήμῳ, which are
the exact words used by Eusebius. Our English versions, both the
authorized and revised, read, “The burden of the beasts of the
South.” The Hebrew will bear either rendering. | on Ezekiel
twenty-five books, which are all that he wrote on the whole
prophet.
2. Being at that time in
Athens,2029
2029 The
cause of this second visit to Athens we do not know, nor the date of
it; although if Eusebius is to be relied upon, it took place during the
reign of Gordian (238–244). He must have remained some time in
Athens and have had leisure for study, for he finished his commentary
on Ezekiel and wrote five books of his commentary on Canticles. This
visit to Athens is to be distinguished from the one referred to in
chap. 23, because it is probable that Origen found the Nicopolis copy
of the Old Testament (mentioned in chap. 16) on the occasion of a visit
to Achaia, and this visit is apparently too late, for he seems to have
finished his Hexapla before this time; and still further, the
epistle in which he refers to spurious accounts of his disputation at
Athens (see Jerome’s Apol. adv. Ruf. II. 18) complains
also of Demetrius and of his own excommunication, which, as Redepenning
remarks, points to a date soon after that excommunication took place,
and not a number of years later, when Demetrius had been long
dead. | he finished his work on Ezekiel and
commenced his Commentaries on the Song of Songs,2030
2030 From
the seventh chapter of the Philocalia we learn that Origen, in
his youth, wrote a small book (μικρὸς
τόμος) upon
Canticles, of which a single brief fragment is preserved in that
chapter. The catalogue of Jerome mentions ten books, two books written
early, and two homilies. Eusebius mentions only the commentary, of
which, he says, five books were written in Athens, and five more in
Cæsarea. The prologue and four books are extant in a Latin
translation by Rufinus, and two homilies in a translation by Jerome;
besides these, some Greek extracts made by Procopius,—all printed
by Lommatzsch, XIV. 233; XV. 108. | which he carried forward to the fifth book.
After his return to Cæsarea, he completed these also, ten books in
number.
3. But why should we give in
this history an accurate catalogue of the man’s works, which
would require a separate treatise?2031
2031 ἰδίας
δεόμενον
σχολῆς. | we have
furnished this also in our narrative of the life of Pamphilus,2032
2032 On
Pamphilus, see Bk. VII. chap. 32, note 40. On Eusebius’ Life of
Pamphilus, see the Prolegomena, p. 28, above. | a holy martyr of our own time. After
showing how great the diligence of Pamphilus was in divine things, we
give in that a catalogue of the library which he collected of the works
of Origen and of other ecclesiastical writers. Whoever desires may
learn readily from this which of Origen’s works have reached us.
But we must proceed now with our history.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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