Homilies on Jeremiah · §10.5 · Origen of Alexandria

The Prosperity of the Wicked and Divine Justice

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The people there are abandoned, for evil has come upon those dwelling in Anathoth during their year of visitation. Righteous are you, Lord, that I may defend myself before you; I will declare my judgments before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? The transgressors have become upright.

We still inquire whether God, who gave the law and the prophets, is good, seeing that the way of the wicked prospers and the wicked are not punished. All who transgressed have become upright. Those who speak against the creator, slandering him, have prospered, been planted, and taken root, and have borne fruit. What fruit did Magion's offspring produce, or Basilides', or Valentinus'? This is what is prophesied and spoken about the wicked: 'They have begotten and produced fruit.' 'You are near to their mouth, but far from their kidneys,' they name the name of Jesus, yet do not have Jesus, for they do not confess him as they should. And you, Lord, know me, have seen me, tested my heart before you; purify them for the day of their slaughter. What shall I do, that I may make this clear? The purification of the punished is called the punishment of the condemned; 'purify them for the day,' he says, 'of their slaughter. Through their slaughter, purify them; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines, and all sons he accepts are scourged.'

Greek

«ἐν κιμῷ« οὑν ὁ λαὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐγκαταλελειμμένοι εἰσίν· «ἐπάξζ« γὰρ ἐπ’ αὐτοὺς «κακὰ ἐπὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Ἀναθὼθ ἐν ἐνιαυτῶ ἐπισκέψεως αὐτῶν. «Δίκαιος εἶ, κύριε, ὅτι ἀπολογήσομαι πρός σε. πλὴν κρίματά μου λαλήσω πρός σε. τί ὅτι ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν εὐοδοῦται; εὐθήνησαν οἱ ἀθετοῦντες ἀθετήματα«; ἔτι ζητοῦμεν, εἰ ἀγαθὸς ὁ θεός ἐστιν ὁ τὸν νόμον καὶ τοὺς προφήτας δεδωκώς, ὁρῶντες ὅτι «ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν εὐοδοῦται« καὶ οὐ κολάζει τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς. «εὐθήνησαν πάντες οἱ ἀθετοῦντες ἀθετήματα. αὐτοὶ οἱ κατὰ τοῦ δημιουργοῦ λέγοντες, δυσφημοῦντες αὐτὸν «εὐθήνησαν, ἐφυτεύθησαν καὶ ἐρριζώθησαν, ἐτεκνοποίησαν 〈καὶ ἐποίησαν〉 καρπόν. πόσος καρπὸς Μαγκίωνος τεκνοποιήσαντος, πόσος Βασιλείδου, πόσος Οὐαλεντίνου; τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ περὶ τῶν ἀσεβῶν προφητευόμενον καὶ λεγόμενον ἐν τῷ «ἐτεκνοποίησαν καὶ ἐποίησαν καρπόν. «ἐγγὺς εἶ σὺ τοῦ στόματος αὐτῶν, πόρρω δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν νεφρῶν αὐτῶν« ὀνομάζουσι τὸ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα, οὐκ ἔχουσι δὲ τὸν Ἰησοῦν· οὐ γàρ ὁμολογοῦσιν αὐτὸν ὡς χρή. «καὶ σύ, κύριε, γινώσκεις με, εἶδές με, ἐδοκίμασας τὴν καρδίαν μου ἐναντίον σου· ἅγνισον αὐτοὺς εἰς ἡμέραν σφαγῆς αὐτῶν. τί ποιήσω, ἵνα ταῦτα σαφηνίσω; τὰς κολάσεις ἁγνισμὸν λέγει τῶν κολαζομένων· «ἅγνισον« γὰρ αὐτοὺς εἰς ἡμέραν« φησὶν «σφαγῆς αὐτῶν. διὰ τοῦ σφαγῆναι αὐτοὺς ἄγνισον αὐτούς· «ὃν γàρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος παιδεύει, μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται.

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.