Origen of Alexandria, On Jeremiah

that fire, and the fire test him, and that fire find "wood, hay," and "stubble," so as to burn them up. For this reason, since these things are said, let us with all our strength gather the words of the scriptures, let us store them in our heart and try to live according to them, if we might be able to become pure before our departure, and having prepared our works for our departure, going out, to be received in those good things and to be saved in Christ Jesus, to whom is the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 3.t On "have I become a wilderness to the house of Israel" up to "or a land made barren?". Homily 3. 3.1 The Lord says in the beginning of the reading about Israel, that he did not become a "wilderness" to him nor a "land made barren." Who then, coming to this passage, would not seek to examine the intention of what is written? Granted, God has not become a wilderness in Israel, a land made barren has not come to be in Israel; has the Lord therefore become a wilderness to Israel today or is he now a land made barren to him? And what of this? When he was not a wilderness or a land made barren to Israel, was he a wilderness and a land made barren to the gentiles? For if he is always not a wilderness to all and is always not a land made barren to all, what need is there for it to be said specifically to Israel as an exception: "Have I become a wilderness to the house of Israel or a land made barren?" But it is possible to come to the universal benefactions of God, then after his universal benefactions to the particular ones. 3.2 God is a wilderness to no one, "making his sun rise on the evil and on the good"; he is a land made barren to no one, "sending rain on the just and on the unjust." How is he a wilderness, making the day rise and making the night for rest? how is he a wilderness, making the earth bear fruit? how is he a wilderness, providing for each one according to the soul, so that he might be rational, so that he might receive knowledge, so that his understanding might be exercised, according to the body, so that he might have strong "senses"? Therefore God is a wilderness to no one with respect to the universal account, but with respect to the particular, I come to the affairs of Israel and say: he was neither a wilderness nor a land made barren, when in Egypt he performed the signs and wonders for the people, but if a time has come when they were abandoned, he became as if a wilderness to them, though not being a wilderness himself. However, when he was not a wilderness nor a land made barren to Israel, according to the particular account he was a wilderness and a land made barren to the gentiles; but when he turned away from Israel and became a wilderness and a land made barren to that Israel, then grace was poured out upon the gentiles, and Christ Jesus has now become for us not a wilderness but full, and not a land made barren but fruitful; for "many are the children of the desolate one more than of her who has a husband." And he threatens them, to whom he did not become a wilderness nor a land made barren, saying: I indeed have not become a "wilderness" to you nor a "land made barren," but you have said: "We will not be ruled over, we will not come to you any more." Have the sons of Israel then said in desperation according to the letter: "We will not be ruled over" <...> 4.t On "and the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah" up to "Israel justified his soul apart from the faithless Judah." Homily 4. 4.1 The very wording of the reading has something unclear, which must first be understood; and after this, if God grants it, we shall know his mystical intention. Therefore, he wants us to know in these matters that, as it is written in the books of Kings, the people were divided in the times of Rehoboam into the kingdom of the ten tribes under Jeroboam and into the kingdom of the two tribes under Rehoboam; and those under Jeroboam were called Israel, but those under Rehoboam, Judah. And this division of the people remained, as far as the history is concerned, until the present time; for we do not know a history that has gathered Israel and Judah "together." Therefore, Israel sinned more at first, the one under Jeroboam and his successors, and sinned so much more than Judah that they were condemned by providence to become captives "to the Assyrians," as the scripture says, "to this day." After this, the sons of Judah also sinned and were condemned as captives to

τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτὸν δοκιμάζῃ, καὶ εὕρῃ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο «ξύλα, χόρτον» καὶ «καλάμην», ὥστε αὐτὰ κατακαῦσαι. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τούτων λεγομένων, ὅση δύναμις συναγαγόντες τοὺς λόγους τοὺς τῶν γραφῶν, εἰς τὴν καρδίαν ἀποτιθώ μεθα αὐτοὺς καὶ κατ' αὐτοὺς πειραθῶμεν ζῆν, ἐὰν ἄρα δυνηθῶμεν πρὸ τῆς ἐξόδου καθαροὶ γενέσθαι, καὶ ἑτοιμά σαντες εἰς τὴν ἔξοδον τὰ ἔργα ἡμῶν ἐξελθόντες ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς παραληφθῆναι καὶ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ σωθῆναι, ᾧ ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ τὸ κράτος εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν. 3.t Εἰς τὸ «μὴ ἔρημος ἐγενόμην τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ» μέχρι τοῦ «ἢ γῆ κεχερσωμένη;». Ὁμιλία γʹ. 3.1 Φησὶν ὁ κύριος ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τῶν ἀναγνωσθέντων περὶ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι «ἔρημος» αὐτῷ οὐκ ἐγένετο οὐδὲ «γῆ κεχερσωμένη». Τίς οὖν γενόμενος ἐν τῷ τόπῳ οὐκ ἂν ζητή σαι ἐξετάζων τὸ βούλημα τοῦ γεγραμμένου; Ἔστω, ὁ θεὸς ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ οὐ γέγονεν ἔρημος, οὐ γέγονεν ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ γῆ κεχερσωμένη· ἆρα οὖν ἔρημος γέγονεν ὁ κύριος τῷ Ἰσραὴλ σήμερον ἢ γῆ κεχερσωμένη νῦν αὐτῷ ἐστιν; Τί δέ; Ὅτε τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἦν οὐκ ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ἦν ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη; Εἰ γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀεὶ οὐκ ἔρημός ἐστι καὶ πᾶσιν ἀεί ἐστιν οὐ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τίς χρεία τοῦ ἰδίως πρὸς τὸν Ἰσραὴλ κατ' ἐξαίρετον λεχθῆναι· «Μὴ ἔρημος ἐγενόμην τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ ἢ γῆ κεχερσωμένη;» Ἀλλ' ἔστιν ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰς καθολικὰς εὐεργεσίας τοῦ θεοῦ, εἶτα μετὰ τὰς καθο λικὰς εὐεργεσίας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὰς ἰδικάς. 3.2 Οὐδενὶ ἔρημός ἐστιν ὁ θεός, «ἀνατέλλων τὸν ἥλιον ἐπὶ πονηροὺς καὶ ἀγαθούς»· οὐδενὶ κεχερσωμένη γῆ ἐστι, «βρέχων ἐπὶ δικαίους καὶ ἀδίκους». Πῶς ἔρημος, ἀνατέλλων ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν ποιῶν; πῶς ἔρημος τὴν γῆν ποιῶν καρποφορεῖν; πῶς ἔρημος ἕκαστον οἰκονομῶν κατὰ τὴν ψυχήν, ἵνα λογικὸς ᾖ, ἵνα ἐπιστήμην ἀνα λαμβάνῃ, ἵνα γυμνάζηται τὸ συνετὸν αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸ σῶμα, ἵνα ἔχῃ ἐρρωμένα «τὰ αἰσθητήρια»; Ἔστιν οὖν οὐδενὶ ἔρημος ὡς πρὸς τὸν καθόλου λόγον ὁ θεός, ὡς δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἰδικὸν ἔρχομαι ἐπὶ τὰ τοῦ Ἰσραὴλ πράγματα καὶ λέγω· οὔτε ἔρημος οὔτε γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἦν, ὅτε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐποίει τὰ σημεῖα καὶ τὰ τέρατα τῷ λαῷ, εἰ δέ τις καιρὸς γέγονεν ὅτε ἐγκατελείφθησαν, οἱονεὶ ἔρημος αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἔρημος ὢν αὐτός, ἐγένετο. Ὅτε μέντοι ἦν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τοῖς ἔθνεσι κατὰ τὸν ἰδικὸν λόγον ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἦν· ὅτε δὲ ἀπεστράφη τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ γέγονε τῷ Ἰσραὴλ ἐκείνῳ ἔρημος καὶ γῆ κεχερσωμένη, τότε ἐξεχύθη ἡ χάρις ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ γέγονε νῦν ἡμῖν Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔρημος ἀλλὰ πλήρης, καὶ οὐ γῆ κεχερσωμένη ἀλλὰ καρποφοροῦσα· «Πολλὰ» γὰρ «τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα.» Καὶ ἀπειλεῖ αὐτοῖς, οἷς οὐ γέγονεν ἔρημος οὐδὲ γῆ κεχερ σωμένη, λέγων· ἐγὼ μὲν οὐ γέγονα ὑμῖν «ἔρημος» οὐδὲ «γῆ κεχερσωμένη», ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰρήκατε· «Οὐ κυριευθησό μεθα, οὐχ ἥξομεν πρός σε ἔτι.» Ἆρα εἰρήκασιν οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπονενοημένως κατὰ τὴν λέξιν· «Οὐ κυριευθησό μεθα» <...> 4.t Εἰς τὸ «καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρός με ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις Ἰωσίου» μέχρι τοῦ «ἐδικαίωσε τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσυνθέτου Ἰούδα». Ὁμιλία δʹ. 4.1 Αὐτὸ τὸ ῥητὸν τῆς ἀναγνωσθείσης λέξεως ἔχει τι ἀσαφές, ὅπερ πρότερον νοηθήτω· καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο, ἐὰν ὁ θεὸς διδῷ, εἰσόμεθα τὸ βούλημα αὐτοῦ τὸ μυστικόν. Οὐκοῦν θέλει ἡμᾶς εἰδέναι ἐν τούτοις ὅτι, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις γέγρα πται, διῃρέθη ὁ λαὸς ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις Ῥοβοὰμ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ἱεροβοὰμ βασιλείαν τῶν δέκα φυλῶν καὶ εἰς τὴν ὑπὸ Ῥοβοὰμ δύο φυλῶν· καὶ ἐκλήθησαν οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ Ἰσραήλ, Ἰούδα δὲ οἱ ὑπὸ τῷ Ῥοβοάμ. Καὶ ἔμεινεναὕτη ἡ διαίρεσις τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅσον κατὰ τὴν ἱστορίαν, μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο· οὐκ οἴδαμεν γὰρ ἱστορίαν συναγαγοῦσαν τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδαν «ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό». Ἥμαρτεν οὖν πρῶτονἸσραὴλ πλείονα, ὁ ὑπὸ τῷ Ἱεροβοὰμ καὶ τοῖς διαδόχοις αὐτοῦ, καὶ τοσαῦτα ἥμαρτε παρὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν ὥστε αὐτοὺς καταδικασθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς προνοίας γενέσθαι αἰχμαλώτους «εἰς Ἀσσυρίους», ὡς λέγει ἡ γραφή, «μέχρι τῆς σήμε ρον». Μετὰ τοῦτο ἥμαρτον καὶ οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰούδα καὶ κατε δικάσθησαν αἰχμάλωτοι εἰς