Notes on Numbers · §23 · Origen of Alexandria

Scripture prefers symbolic meaning over historical narrative

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

Origen is commenting on Numbers 24:7, where Balaam takes up his oracle, and he pauses to state a principle about how Scripture sometimes works.

Verse 7. And having taken up his oracle. In certain places the divine Scripture prefers the symbolic meaning and sets it before the historical narrative in its own subject matter.

Greek

(24) Στίχ. ζ΄. Καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τὴν παραβολήν. Ἡθεία Γραφὴ ἔν τισιν τόποις προκρίνει καὶ προτίθηοι τὸ συμβολικὸν ὂν τῆς ἱστορικῆς διηγήσεως ἐν τῇ αὐτοῦ ὑποθέσει.

About this text

Origen's short notes on selected verses of Numbers and their moral and prophetic meaning.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–c. 254) wrote these notes on selected verses from the book of Numbers for Christian readers seeking to understand the text's moral and prophetic meanings. He was a theologian who headed the Catechetical School of Alexandria, and his comments reflect a teacher's concern with how the Greek text of Scripture should be read and applied.

The work survives through a Latin translation made by Rufinus, who undertook it at the request of his brother Donatus during a time of barbarian threat and completed it when a quiet night allowed work. The original preaching likely occurred during a three-year liturgical cycle sometime between about 238 and 244 AD. These homilies are the oldest surviving corpus of Christian sermons and shaped biblical exegesis for succeeding centuries.

A reader will meet Moses, his sister Miriam, Balak king of Moab, and the seer Balaam. Origen quotes the Greek translators Aquila and Symmachus on the description of manna, and he reports a tradition that Balaam's disciples preserved his prophecies, which later guided the Magi to Bethlehem. To follow the argument, know that manna is the miraculous food God gave Israel in the wilderness, that Miriam was struck with leprosy for speaking against Moses, and that the spies who slandered the promised land effectively made God a liar. Origen treats Balaam's utterance as an oracle with symbolic meaning, and he identifies the man from Israel in the prophecy with Jesus Christ.

New English from the Greek base text; no published English used as wording.

Printed text used

Translated from de La Rue, Origen's Works, vol. 7 (Migne PG 17, Paris 1857) (Greek)

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.