On Prayer 16.3
Summary: The answered prayers of Hannah, Hezekiah, Esther, Judith, the three youths, Daniel, and Jonah were more spiritual than bodily deliverances.
Textual problem in this passage: the printed text is uncertain or disputed here. See the notes.
Greek text · Koetschau 2:337–338
μᾶλλον οὖν κεκαρποφορήκει ἀπό τινος στειρώσεως μεταβαλοῦσα ἡ τῆς Ἄννης ψυχὴ ἤπερ τὸ σῶμα, κυῆσαν τὸν Σαμουήλ· καὶ μᾶλλον ὁ Ἐζεκίας θεῖα γεγεννήκει τέκνα νοῦ ἤπερ σώματος, ἐκ τοῦ σωματικοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν γεγεννημένων· ἐπὶ πλεῖόν τε ἀπὸ νοητῶν ἐπιβουλῶν ῥυσθέντες ἐτύγχανον Ἐσθὴρ καὶ Μαρδοχαῖος καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἤπερ ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἀμὰν καὶ τῶν συμπνεόντων... τοῦ διαφθεῖραι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῆς θέλοντος ἄρχοντος τὴν δύναμιν διακεκόφει ἢ ἐκείνου τοῦ Ὀλοφέρνου. τίς δʼ οὐκ ἂν ὁμολογήσαι τῷ Ἀνανίᾳ καὶ τοῖς σὺν αὐτῷ τὴν νοητὴν εὐλογίαν φθάνουσαν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους, εἰρημένην ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰσαὰκ τῷ Ἰακὼβ, τήν· „δῴη σοι ὁ θεὸς ἀπὸ τῆς δρόσου τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, “ ἐπὶ πλεῖον ἐγγεγονέναι ἤπερ τὴν σωματικὴν δρόσον. τὴν φλόγα νικῶσαν τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ; μᾶλλον δὲ πεφίμωντο τῷ προφήτῃ Δανιὴλ οἱ ἀόρατοι λέοντες, οὐδὲν ἐνεργῆσαι δυνάμενοι κατὰ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, ἤπερ οἱ αἰσθητοὶ, περὶ ὧν πάντες οἱ ἐντυγχάνοντες αὐτῇ τῇ γραφῇ ἐξειλήφαμεν. τίς δʼ οὕτως ἐκπεφεύγει τοῦ κεχειρωμένου ὑπὸ τῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν κήτους τὴν γαστέρα, πάντα τὸν φυγάδα τοῦ θεοῦ καταπίνοντος, ὡς Ἰωνᾶς χωρητικὸς γινόμενος ὡς ἅγιος ἁγίου πνεύματος;
English · Claude translation
So it was the soul of Hannah, changed from a kind of barrenness, that bore fruit, more than her body when it conceived Samuel; and Hezekiah begot divine children of the mind more than of the body, though these were born of his bodily seed; and Esther and Mordecai and the people were delivered more from spiritual plots than from Haman and those who conspired with him … she cut down the power of the ruler who wished to destroy her soul, more than that of the famous Holofernes. And who would not acknowledge that the spiritual blessing that reaches all the saints, spoken by Isaac to Jacob, “May God give you of the dew of heaven,” came to Ananias and his companions more than the bodily dew that overcame the flame of Nebuchadnezzar? And the invisible lions were muzzled for the prophet Daniel, unable to do anything against his soul, more than the visible ones of whom all we who read that Scripture have understood. And who has so escaped from the belly of the sea monster subdued by Jesus our Savior, which swallows every fugitive from God, as Jonah did, who as a saint became capable of receiving the Holy Spirit?
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- There is a gap in the manuscript after the mention of Haman (marked “…”); the following words refer to Judith. The quotation is Gen 27:28; the allusions are 1 Sam 1, 2 Kgs 20, Esther, Jdt 13, Dan 3 and 6, and Jonah 2; the sea monster subdued by Jesus alludes to Job 41:1 (40:25 LXX).
Cite this passage
Origen, Or. 16.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/16/3/).
Plain text
Origen, Or. 16.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/16/3/).
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