Sophia Scriptura

On Prayer 29.4

Origen · On Prayer · ca. 233–234 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: If the petition meant escaping all trials, the apostles, who suffered countless hardships, would have prayed in vain.

Greek text · Koetschau 2:383

καὶ ἐὰν μὴ συνῶμεν τὸ τοὺς πολλοὺς λανθάνον περὶ τοῦ μὴ εἰσελθεῖν „εἰς πειρασμὸν“ προσεύχεσθαι. ὥρα λέγειν ὅτι οἱ ἀπόστολοι εὐχόμενοι οὐκ ἐπηκούοντο. μυρία ὅσα ἐν παντὶ τῷ χρόνῳ ἑαυτῶν πεπονθότες, „ἐν κόποις περισσοτέρως ἐν πληγαῖς περισσοτέρως ἐν φυλακαῖς ὑπερβαλλόντως ἐν θανάτοις πολλάκις, “ ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ἰδίᾳ „ὑπὸ Ἰουδαίων πεντάκις τεσσαράκοντα παρὰ μίαν“ εἴληφε. „τρὶς“ ἐῤῥαβδίσθη, „ἅπαξ“ ἐλιθάσθη, „τρὶς“ ἐναυάγησε, „νυχθήμερον ἐν τῷ βυθῷ“ πεποίηκεν, ἄνθρωπος „ἐν παντὶ“ θλιβόμενος καὶ ἀπορούμενος καὶ διωκόμενος καὶ καταβαλλόμενος ὁμολογῶν τε τό· „ἄχρι τῆς ἄρτι ὥρας πεινῶμεν καὶ διψῶμεν καὶ γυμνητεύομεν καὶ κολαφιζόμεθα καὶ ἀστατοῦμεν καὶ κοπιῶμεν ἐργαζόμενοι ταῖς ἰδίαις χερσί· λοιδορούμενοι εὐλογοῦμεν, διωκόμενοι ἀνεχόμεθα, βλασφημούμενοι παρακαλοῦμεν.“ τῶν δὲ ἀποστόλων ἐν τῷ εὔχεσθαι μὴ ἐπιτετευχότων, τίς ἐλπὶς τῶν ὑποδεεστέρων τινὶ παρʼ ἐκείνους εὐχομένῳ ἐπηκόου θεοῦ τυχεῖν;

English · Claude translation

And unless we understand what escapes most people about praying not to enter “into temptation,” it is time to say that the apostles were not heard when they prayed. They suffered countless things throughout their lives, “in labors far more, in beatings far more, in prisons more abundantly, in deaths often”; and Paul in particular received “from the Jews five times forty stripes save one,” “three times” he was beaten with rods, “once” he was stoned, “three times” he was shipwrecked, “a night and a day he spent in the deep,” a man afflicted “in every way,” perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and confessing, “To this present hour we hunger and thirst, and are naked and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands; being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; being slandered, we entreat.” And if the apostles did not obtain what they prayed for, what hope is there for anyone inferior to them who prays to obtain a hearing from God?

About this passage

Source
Koetschau 2:383 · Paul Koetschau, ed., Origenes Werke 2: Buch V–VIII gegen Celsus, Die Schrift vom Gebet, GCS 3 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1899), 297–403 · Greek text: P. Koetschau, Origenes Werke 2 (GCS 3, 1899), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0
Text
As printed in Koetschau, GCS 3. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.
Translation
Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Koetschau, GCS 3; made independently of existing English translations. No public-domain English translation exists; reviewed against the Greek.
Scripture
Topics
Prayer, Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotations are 2 Cor 11:23–25, 2 Cor 4:8–9, and 1 Cor 4:11–13.

Cite this passage

Origen, Or. 29.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/4/).

Plain text
Origen, Or. 29.4 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-oratione/29/4/).

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