Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
After the preface it is written that 'the word of the Lord came to him' (Genesis 12:1) — clearly, to Jeremiah. And what does the word of the Lord say to him? Something set apart from what was said to the other prophets. For we have found this said to none of the prophets.
Abraham was called a prophet in the word, 'He is a prophet, and he will pray for you,' (Jeremiah 1:4) and God did not say to him, 'Before I formed you in the womb I know you, and before you came out of the womb I have sanctified you.' (Jeremiah 1:5) Abraham was sanctified later, when he went out from his land and from his kindred and from his father's house. Isaac was born of promise, and we have not found this word said even to him. Why should I go through the rest? Jeremiah received a gift set apart: 'Before I formed you in the womb I know you, and before you came out of the womb I have sanctified you.' (Genesis 20:7) (Galatians 4:23)
Greek
Μετὰ δὲ τὸ προοίμιον γέγραπται ὅτι ἐγένετο λόγος κυρίου πρὸς αὐτόν«, δῆλον ὅτι τὸν Ἱερεμίαν. τί δὲ λέγει ὁ λόγος τοῦ κυρίου πρὸς αὐτόν; ἐξαίρετον παρὰ τὸ εἰρημένον πρὸς τοὺς λοιποὺς προφήτας. τοῦτο γὰρ πρὸς οὐδένα εὕρομεν τῶν προφητῶν εἰρημένον. Ἀβραὰμ προφήτης ἐχρημάτισεν ἐν τῷ «προφήτης ἐστὶ καὶ προσεύξεται περὶ σοῦ«, καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ θεός· «πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίακά σε. ἀλλὰ ὑστερόν ποτε ἡγιάσθη ὁ Ἀβραάμ, ὅτε ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ τῆς γῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τῆς συrγενείας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ< ἐξ ἐπαγγελίας γεγέννηται ὁ καὶ οὐχ εὕρομεν οὐδὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν τοῦτον λεγόμενον τὸν λόγον. καὶ τί με δεῖ καταλέγειν περὶ τῶν ὲξῆς; Ἱερεμίας ἐξαιρέτου ἔτυχε δωρεᾶς, τῆς «πρὸ τοῦ με πλάσαι σε ἐν κοιλίᾳ ἐπίσταμαί σε, καὶ πρὸ τοῦ σε ἐξελθεῖν ἐκ μήτρας ἡγίακά σε.
About this text
Origen on Jeremiah. Twenty Greek homilies survive. This page has Homilies 1–20. The rest of the volume is still being translated.
English follows Erich Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901). A second transcription of that same edition (First1KGreek TEI) was checked; where the TEI drops or garbles a line, the page image wins. This is a reading translation for study, not a new critical edition of the Greek. Homilies that survive only in Jerome’s Latin are not on this page yet. When they are, they will be marked at those homilies.
Witnesses
- Copy-text Klostermann, Origenes Werke III (GCS, 1901) (Greek · Homilies 1–20 Greek (this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20))
- Checked print Archive.org page image and DjVu of GCS III (Greek · Same print as the copy-text)
- Checked print First1KGreek TEI of GCS III (Greek · Same print; encoding errors deferred to the page image)
Where the prints differ
- Homily 1.1 — The TEI omits Ἑβραῖον. English follows the GCS page image: Jonah is “a Hebrew prophet.”
- Homily 1.5 — The TEI dropped Ἰσαάκ. English follows the GCS page image: Isaac born of promise.
- Homily 1.11 — The TEI/OCR of this line is garbled. English follows the GCS page image and the quoted verse: “I have sanctified you.”
- Homily 3.2 — The TEI gaps Matthew 5:45 (sun on the evil and [gap]; rain on [gap] and the unjust). English follows the Gospel wording.
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.