Origen of Alexandria, Scholia on the Song of Songs

to take up a fitting likeness, to a gazelle, because of its keen sight; and to a fawn of harts, for the destruction of the race of serpents; doing these things in the mountains of the hollows, saying, turn back from being in the form of God; and take these things up for the love you have for me, dwelling among men; of whom the greater part, because of their wickedness, dwell in hollows; and the mountains of the hollows are the just who rise above the wicked; and the Word, having turned back, is likened, among those dedicated to contemplation, to a gazelle; but among the more practical and those who cast down the opposing powers, to a fawn of harts; and the phrase, "or to a fawn," is a disjunctive parallel; but Theodotion said, "upon the mountains of spices;" signifying no less the saints. CHAPTER 3. Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, and I did not find him; I called him and he did not answer me; I will rise now and go about the city, in the marketplaces and in the broad ways; and I will seek him whom my soul loves; I sought him, and I did not find him; I called him, and he did not answer me; The watchmen who go about the city found me; Have you seen him whom my soul loves? It was but a little that I passed from them, until I found him whom my soul loves; I held him, and would not let him go; until I had brought him into my mother’s house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Having spoken of the mysteries before the marriage, now she calls him by night to the bed; wishing to partake of more ineffable things, and to share in the more perfect rest; for this is the bed; and "by night" means in a time of quiet, and far from the sight of those who are not able to behold such things; but the soul of one who seeks the deeper things of the divine Word upon the bed must be wounded with love; and the one who is longed for awaits the resurrection of the one who longs; so that, having intensified the love, he might in due season reveal himself to her who has toiled greatly in her search for him; for having said, "Upon my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loves," and that "I sought him and did not find him," she adds, "I will rise now and go about;" therefore, putting away sloth and closed eyes, let us arise, obeying him who says, "Awake, you who sleep;" and the whole world is the city, which one must go about, being in contemplation of him in the wise teachings; for these are the marketplaces; from which it is possible to receive something useful, but also in the broad ways; for wisdom is sung in the streets, and in the broad ways she speaks boldly; and we too have been commanded to write upon the breadth of our heart; but seeking greater things than are in marketplaces and broad ways, she says she has not found him; nevertheless she proceeds to the finding, being found by those who watch the city and go about it; these would be the ministering spirits; these are they whom the Lord sent to go throughout the earth; of whom, indeed, she inquires concerning the one she longs for; but their answer is not recorded; but we are taught that if we are to find the one we long for, we must pass by a little, and become greater than such angels; concerning whom Peter seems to speak in his Epistle, teaching the superiority of the things laid up for the perfect; "things into which angels desire to look;" but it is a beloved thing to pass by such ones for a little while, that the desired one might be found, and having been found be held, and having been held not be comprehended; for the holding is useless, unless continual meditation should hold fast to what is comprehended; for which reason she says: "I did not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house;" so that also after the departure from here, she might enter with him into the house of the Jerusalem above, where she brings the more common theorems of the Word; but the more ineffable ones into the chambers of her who conceived the bride; and the same is designated mother and she who conceived, because in the conception is the beginning of the formation; but she is called mother after the shaping, and the perfection of the one conceived. Who is this that comes up from the wilderness like a pillar of smoke, perfumed? with myrrh and frankincense, from all the powders of the merchant? Very beautiful is the soul that ascends in life and word, having fled the sins among the many, which

ἁρμόττουσαν ἀναλαβεῖν ὁμοιότητα πρὸς μὲν τὸν δόρ κωνα, διὰ τὸ διορατικόν· πρὸς δὲ νεβρὸν ἐλάφων, δι' ἀφανισμῶν τοῦ τῶν ὄφεων γένους· ταῦτα δὲ ποιῶν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τῶν κοιλωμάτων, ἀπόστρεψον λέγουσα, ἐκ τοῦ ἐν μορφῇ ὑπάρχειν Θεοῦ· καὶ ἀνάλαβε ταῦτα διὰ τὴν ἀγάπην τὴν πρὸς ἐμὲ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐπι δημῶν· ὧν οἱ πλείους διὰ τὴν κακίαν ἐν κοιλώμασι διατρίβουσιν· ὄρη δὲ κοιλωμάτων, οἱ τῶν κακῶν ὑπερανέχονται δίκαιοι· ἀποστρέψας δὲ ὁ λόγος ὁμοιοῦ ται, ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἀνακειμένοις τῇ θεωρίᾳ, δόρκωνι· ἐν τοῖς πρακτικωτέροις δὲ καὶ καθαιρετικοῖς τῶν ἀντι κειμένων δυνάμεων, ἐλάφων νεβρῷ· τὸ δὲ, ἢ νεβρῷ, παραδιαζευτικόν· ὁ δὲ Θεοδοτίων εἶπεν, ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη θυμιαμάτων· οὐδὲν ἧττον τοὺς ἁγίους δηλῶν. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ Γʹ. Ἐπὶ τὴν κοίτην μου ἐν νυξὶν ἐζήτησα ὃν ἠγά πησεν ἡ ψυχή μου· ἐζήτησα αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον αὐτόν· ἐκάλεσα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσέ μου· ἀναστήσομαι δὴ καὶ κυκλώσω ἐν τῇ πόλει, ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς, καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις· καὶ ζη τήσω ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου· ἐζήτησα αὐ τὸν, καὶ οὐχ εὗρον αὐτόν· ἐκάλεσα αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐχ ὑπήκουσέ μου· εὕροσάν με οἱ τηροῦντες, οἱ κυκλοῦντες ἐν τῇ πόλει· μὴ ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου ἴδετε; ὡς μικρὸν ὅτε παρῆλθον ἀπ' αὐτῶν, ἕως οὗ εὗρον ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου· ἐκράτησα αὐτὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἀφῆκα αὐτόν· ἕως οὗ εἰσήγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον μητρός μου καὶ εἰς τὸ ταμιεῖον τῆς συλλαβούσης με. Περὶ τῶν πρὸ τοῦ γάμου μυστηρίων εἰπὼν, νῦν αὐτὸν διὰ νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν κοίτην καλεῖ· ἀποῤῥητο τέρων ἐθέλων κοινωνεῖν, καὶ τῆς τελειοτέρας με τασχεῖν ἀναπαύσεως· τοῦτο γὰρ ἡ κοίτη· τὸ δὲ ἐν νυκτὶ, ἐν ἡσυχίας καιρῷ, καὶ πόῤῥω τῆς ὄψεως τῶν μὴ τὰ τοιαῦτα θεωρεῖν δυναμένων· δεῖ δὲ ἀγάπῃ τὴν ψυχὴν προτετρῶσθαι τοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κοίτην ζητοῦντος τὰ τοῦ θείου λόγου βαθύτερα· περιμένειν δὲ τὴν τῆς ποθούσης ἀνάστασιν ὁ ποθούμενος· ὡς ἂν ἐπιτείνας 17.269 τὸν ἔρωτα κατὰ καιρὸν ἑαυτὸν ἐμφανίσειε τῇ καμού σῃ πλεῖστα παρὰ τὴν ζήτησιν τὴν αὐτοῦ· εἰποῦσα γὰρ ὅτι ἐπὶ τὴν κοίτην μου ἐν νυξὶν ἐζήτησα ὃν ἠγά πησεν ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ὅτι ἐζήτησα αὐτὸν καὶ οὐχ εὗρον, ἐπάγει· ἀναστήσομαι δὴ καὶ κυκλώσω· οὐκοῦν ὑπτιασμὸν καὶ τὴν κατάμυσιν ἀποθέμενοι, διαναστῶμεν πειθόμενοι τῷ λέγοντι, Ἔγειραι δὴ ὁ καθεύδων· ὅλος δὲ ὁ κόσμος, ἡ πόλις ὃν ἐκπεριελθὼν δεῖ τῇ περὶ αὐτοῦ θεωρίᾳ γινόμενον ἐν ταῖς σοφαῖς διδασκαλίαις· αὗται γὰρ αἱ ἀγοραί· ὅθεν τι χρήσιμόν ἐστι λαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς πλατείαις· σοφία γὰρ ἐν ἐξόδοις ὑμνεῖται, ἐν δὲ πλατείαις παῤῥησίαν ἄγει· κεκελεύσμεθα δὲ καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς καρ δίας ἡμῶν γράψαι· μείζονα δὲ ζητοῦσα ἢ κατ' ἀγορὰς καὶ πλατείας μὴ εὑρηκέναι φησί· πλὴν ὁδεύει ἐπὶ τὴν εὕρεσιν, εὑρισκομένη ὑπὸ τῶν τηρούντων τὴν πόλιν καὶ κυκλούντων αὐτήν· εἶεν ἂν τὰ λειτουργικὰ πνεύ ματα· οὗτοί εἰσιν οὓς ἐξαπέστειλε Κύριος περιοδεῦσαι τὴν γῆν· ὧν δὴ περὶ τοῦ ποθουμένου πυνθάνεται· οὐκ ἀναγέγραπται δὲ τούτων ἀπόκρισις· διδασκόμεθα δὲ εἰ μέλλοιμεν εὑρεῖν τὸν ποθούμενον, ὀλίγον τι παρελ θεῖν, καὶ κρείττους γενέσθαι τῶν τοιούτων ἀγγέλων· περὶ ὧν ἔοικεν ἐν Ἐπιστολῇ λέγειν ὁ Πέτρος διδάσκων τὴν ὑπεροχὴν τῶν τοῖς τελείοις ἀποκειμένων· εἰς ἃ ἐπιθυμοῦσιν ἄγγελοι παρακύψαι· ἀγαπητὸν δὲ βραχύ τι τοὺς τοιούτους παρενεγκεῖν, ἵν' εὑρεθῇ τὸ ποθούμενον, καὶ εὑρεθὲν κρατηθῇ, καὶ κρατηθὲν μὴ νοηθῇ· ἀνόνητος γὰρ ἡ κράτησις, εἰ μὴ τὸ νοηθὲν συνεχὴς μελέτη κρατήσειε· διό φησιν· οὐκ ἀφῆκα αὐτὸν, ἕως οὗ εἰσήγαγον αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον μητρός μου· ἵνα καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐντεῦθεν ἔξοδον, εἰσέλθοι αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν οἶκον τῆς ἄνω Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ἔνθα εἰσάγῃ τὰ κοινότερα τῶν τοῦ λόγου θεωρημάτων· τὰ δὲ ἀποῤῥη τότερα εἰς τὰ ταμιεῖα τῆς συλλαβούσης τὴν νύμφην· ἡ αὐτὴ δὲ μήτηρ καὶ συλλαβοῦσα δηλοῦται, διὰ τὸ ἐν τῇ συλλήψει τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς συστάσεως εἶναι· μήτηρ δὲ λεγομένη μετὰ τὴν μόρφωσιν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ συλ ληφθέντος τελείωσιν. Τίς αὕτη ἡ ἀναβαίνουσα ἐκ τῆς ἐρήμου ὡς στε λέχη καπνοῦ τεθυμιαμένη; σμύρνα καὶ λίβανος ἀπὸ πάντων κονιορτῶν μυρεψοῦ; Καλὴ λίαν ἡ ἀναβαίνουσα βίῳ καὶ λόγῳ ψυχὴ, φυ γοῦσα τὰ παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἁμαρτήματα, ἅπερ