Idol versus likeness; bowing versus serving
Origen is commenting on Exodus 20:4-5, explaining the difference between an idol and a likeness, and between bowing down and serving.
"You shall not make for yourself an idol" (Exodus 20:4). An idol is one thing, and a likeness is another. For it is a likeness if you make a likeness of a fish or a four-footed animal or a beast, whether by craftsmanship or by painting. But an idol is whatever the soul forms as an image and makes from things that do not exist in an original way—for example, a mixed creature from a human and a horse.
"Whatever is in heaven above, and whatever is on the earth below, and whatever is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor shall you serve them" (Exodus 20:5).
Bowing down is one thing, and serving is another. For the one who serves these things from the whole soul does not only bow down but also serves. But the one who plays the hypocrite and acts for the sake of custom does not serve, yet he does bow down. You will find such people in Numbers, gratifying women and bowing down to idols.
Greek
Στίχ. δ΄. (10) Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον. Ἄλλο εἴδωλον, καὶ ἕτερον ὁμοίωμα. Ὁμοίωμα γάρ ἐστιν, ἐὰν ποιῇς ἰχθύος ἢ τετραπόδου, ἢ θηρίου, ἢ διὰ τεχνουργίας ἢ διὰ ζωγραφίας ὁμοίωμα· εἴδωλον δὲ, ὅσα ἀνατυποῦσα ψυχὴ ποιεῖ ἐξ οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων πρωτοτύπως· οἷον, ἀναμεμιγμένον τι ζῶον ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἵππου.
Στίχ. δ΄ Ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω. καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς. Οὐ προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ μὴ λατρεύσεις αὐτοῖς.
Ἄλλο προσκυνεῖν, καὶ ἄλλο λατρεύειν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς δουλεύων τούτοις οὐ μόνον προσκυνεῖ. ἀλλὰ καὶ λατρεύει· ὁ δὲ καθυποκρινόμενος, καὶ δια τὰ ἔθη ποιῶν, οὐ λατρεύει μὲν, προσκυνεῖ δέ. Εὑρήσεις δὲ τοιούτους ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς χαριζομένους γυναιξὶ, καὶ εἴδωλα προσκυνοῦντας.