Against Celsus 1.53
Summary: Jacob's prophecy that rule would not leave Judah until the one came who is the nations' expectation is fulfilled in Christ, in whom the nations now hope.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:104–105
Εἰ δὲ καὶ δευτέρας προφητείας ἐναργοῦς ἡμῖν εἶναι φαινομένης περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ χρεία ἐστὶν, ἐκθησόμεθα τὴν ἀναγραφεῖσαν πρὸ πλείστων ὅσων ἐτῶν τῆς Ἰησοῦ ἐπιδημίας ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως, φήσαντος τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἀπαλλασσόμενον τοῦ βίου πεπροφητευκέναι ἑκάστῳ τῶν υἱῶν καὶ τῷ Ἰούδᾳ εἰρηκέναι μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων τό· „οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ.“ ἐντυγχάνων δέ τις τῇ προφητείᾳ ταύτῃ, κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἀληθὲς πολλῷ πρεσβυτέρᾳ τυγχανούσῃ Μωϋσέως, ὡς δʼ ἂν ὑπονοήσαι τις τῶν οὐ πιστῶν, ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως λεχθείσῃ, θαυμάσαι ἂν, πῶς Μωϋσῆς δεδύνηται προειπεῖν ὅτι οἱ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεύοντες, δώδεκα οὐσῶν φυλῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς γεννηθέντες ἄρξουσι τοῦ λαοῦ· διὸ καὶ ὁ πᾶς λαὸς Ἰουδαῖοι ὀνομάζονται, τῆς βασιλευούσης φυλῆς ὄντες ἐπώνυμοι. καὶ δεύτερον δʼ ἂν θαυμάσαι τὴν προφητείαν ὁ εὐγνωμόνως αὐτῇ ἐντυγχάνων, τίνα τρόπον εἰπὼν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰούδα φυλῆς ἔσεσθαι τοὺς ἄρχοντας καὶ ἡγεμόνας τοῦ λαοῦ ἔστησε καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῆς εἰπὼν οὐκ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα „ἐξ Ἰούδα“ καὶ ἡγούμενον „ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν.“ ἦλθε γὰρ ᾧ ἐστι „τὰ ἀποκείμενα, “ ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, „ὁ ἄρχων“ τῶν ἐπαγγελιῶν τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ σαφῶς γέγονεν οὗτος μόνος παρὰ τοὺς πρὸ αὐτοῦ πάντας, θαῤῥῶν δʼ ἂν εἴποιμι καὶ τοὺς μετʼ αὐτὸν, „προσδοκία ἐθνῶν“· ἀπὸ γὰρ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν πεπιστεύκασι τῷ θεῷ διʼ αὐτοῦ, καὶ κατὰ τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡσαΐου ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἤλπισαν εἰπόντος· „ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν.“ οὗτος δὲ καὶ εἶπε „τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς, “ καθὸ „σειραῖς τῶν ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτιῶν ἕκαστος σφίγγεται, “ τὸ „ἐξέλθατε“ καὶ τοῖς ἐν τῇ ἀγνοίᾳ τὸ εἰς φῶς ἥκειν, καὶ τούτων οὕτω προφητευθέντων· „καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην ἐθνῶν τοῦ καταστῆσαι τὴν γῆν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι κληρονομίαν ἐρήμου, λέγοντα τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς ἐξέλθατε, καὶ τοῖς ἐν σκότει ἀνακαλυφθῆναι.“ καὶ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐπὶ τῇ τούτου παρουσίᾳ διὰ τοὺς πανταχοῦ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἁπλούστερον πιστεύοντας πληρούμενον τὸ „καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς βοσκηθήσονται, καὶ ἐν πάσαις ταῖς τρίβοις ἡ νομὴ αὐτῶν.“
English · Claude translation
If there is need of a second prophecy about Jesus which seems to us clear, we will set out the one recorded by Moses very many years before Jesus' coming. He says that Jacob, when departing this life, prophesied to each of his sons, and said to Judah among other things: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until the things laid up for him come." Anyone reading this prophecy—which in truth is much older than Moses, though an unbeliever might suppose it spoken by Moses—might wonder how Moses was able to foretell that the kings of the Jews, though there were twelve tribes among them, would be born of the tribe of Judah and rule the people; which is why the whole people is called Jews, named after the ruling tribe. And second, one who reads the prophecy fairly might wonder how, having said that the rulers and leaders of the people would be from the tribe of Judah, he also set the end of its rule, saying that a ruler shall not fail "from Judah," nor a leader "from his loins, until the things laid up for him come; and he is the expectation of the nations." For he has come to whom "the things laid up" belong, the Christ of God, "the ruler" of God's promises; and clearly he alone, compared with all before him—and I would boldly say, all after him too—has become "the expectation of the nations." For from all the nations they have believed in God through him, and, according to what Isaiah said, the nations have hoped in his name, since he said: "In his name the nations will hope." He also said "to those in bonds," in the sense that "each is bound fast by the cords of his own sins," "Come out," and to those in ignorance to come to the light, these things having been prophesied thus: "And I have given you as a covenant of the nations, to establish the earth and to inherit a desolate inheritance, saying to those in bonds, Come out, and to those in darkness, Be revealed." And one can see, at his coming, through those everywhere in the world who believe more simply, the fulfillment of: "And they shall feed in all the ways, and in all the paths shall be their pasture."
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Gen 49:10 (LXX), Isa 42:4 (LXX, as in Matt 12:21), Prov 5:22 (LXX), and Isa 49:8–9. The (??) in the digital text is in the name Μωϋσέως, which is certain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (unread character in a certain name): ὑπὸ Μω(??)σέως, φήσαντος → ὑπὸ Μωϋσέως, φήσαντος; τυγχανούσῃ Μω(??)σέως → τυγχανούσῃ Μωϋσέως.
Cite this passage
Origen, Cels. 1.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/53/).
Plain text
Origen, Cels. 1.53 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-celsum/1/53/).
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