Adnotationes in Exodum

SELECTIONS OF ORIGEN ON EXODUS. 17.16 CHAP. 15. Verse 25. There God set for him ordinances and judgments, and there He tested him. God tests for one's benefit. For He is untempted by evil. But He tests for this reason, that if they obey Him, they might obtain good things, and be delivered from evil things. CHAP. 20. Verse 4. You shall not make for yourself an idol. An idol is one thing, and a likeness another. For a likeness is, if you make a likeness of a fish or a four-footed animal, or a wild beast, either by craft or by painting; but an idol is what a soul fashions, forming it from things that have no original existence; for example, a certain creature mixed from a man and a horse. Verse 4. Whatever is in the heaven above, and whatever is on the earth beneath, and whatever is in the waters under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor shall you serve them. To bow down is one thing, and to serve is another. For he who serves them with his whole soul not only bows down, but also serves; but he who acts hypocritically, and does so for the sake of custom, does not serve, but he does bow down. And you will find such men in Numbers gratifying women, and bowing down to idols. 17.17 CHAP. 28. Verse 30. Since it is fitting for the high priest both before and behind, like a shield, to carry about the protective care, lest some contrary counsel of the spirits of wickedness wound the rational part, and confound the soundness of his judgments, and cause the revelation and the truth to depart by the admixture of wickedness. CHAP. 31. Verse 1. And the Lord spoke to Moses. For forty whole days the all-wise God detained Moses to give the law, although He was able to give the Law in three days. But it was so that the time of Moses' absence might expose the hidden impiety in the depth of the heart of the Jews.

Adnotationes in Exodum

ΩΡΙΓΕΝΟΥΣ ΕΚΛΟΓΑΙ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΞΟ∆ΟΝ. 17.16 ΚΕΦ. ΙΕʹ. Στίχ. κεʹ. Ἐκεῖ ἔθετο αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς δικαιώματα καὶ κρίσεις, καὶ ἐκεῖ αὐτὸν ἐπείραζε. Ἐπ' ὠφελείᾳ πειράζει ὁ Θεός. Ἀπείραστος γάρ ἐστι κακῶν. Ἀλλὰ διὰ τοῦτο πειράζει, ἵνα ἐὰν ὑπακούσωσιν αὐτῷ, τύχωσιν ἀγαθῶν, καὶ ἀπαλλαγῶσι κακῶν. ΚΕΦ. Κʹ. Στίχ. δʹ. Οὐ ποιήσεις σεαυτῷ εἴδωλον. Ἄλλο εἴδωλον, καὶ ἕτερον ὁμοίωμα. Ὁμοίωμα γάρ ἐστιν, ἐὰν ποιῇς ἰχθύος ἢ τετραπόδου, ἢ θηρίου, ἢ διὰ τεχνουργίας ἢ διὰ ζωγραφίας ὁμοίωμα· εἴδωλον δὲ, ὅσα ἀνατυποῦσα ψυχὴ ποιεῖ ἐξ οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων πρωτοτύπως· οἷον, ἀναμεμιγμένον τι ζῶον ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπου καὶ ἵππου. Στίχ. δʹ. Ὅσα ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἄνω, καὶ ὅσα ἐν τῇ γῇ κάτω. καὶ ὅσα ἐν τοῖς ὕδασιν ὑποκάτω τῆς γῆς. Οὐ προσκυνήσεις αὐτοῖς, οὐδὲ μὴ λατρεύσεις αὐτοῖς. Ἄλλο προσκυνεῖν, καὶ ἄλλο λατρεύειν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ὅλης ψυχῆς δουλεύων τούτοις οὐ μόνον προσκυνεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ λατρεύει· ὁ δὲ καθυποκρινόμενος, καὶ διὰ τὰ ἔθη ποιῶν, οὐ λατρεύει μὲν, προσκυνεῖ δέ. Εὑρήσεις δὲ τοιούτους ἐν τοῖς Ἀριθμοῖς χαριζομένους γυναιξὶ, καὶ εἴδωλα προσκυνοῦντας. 17.17 ΚΕΦ. ΚΗʹ. Στίχ. λʹ. Ἐπειδὴ προσήκει τὸν ἀρχιερέα καὶ ἔμπροσθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν, καθάπερ ἀσπίδα, περιφέρειν τὴν προφυλακτικὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, μήπου τις ἐναν-τία βουλὴ τῶν τῆς πονηρίας πνευμάτων τὸ λογικὸν τρώσειεν, καὶ τὸ δόκιμον τῶν κρίσεων συνταράξῃ, καὶ τὴν δήλωσιν καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῇ ἐπιμιξίᾳ τῆς κακίας ἀποστῆναι ποιήσειεν. ΚΕΦ. ΛΑʹ. Στίχ. αʹ. Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς Μωϋσῆν. Ἐν ὅλαις τεσσαράκοντα ἡμέραις δοῦναι τὸν νόμον κατεῖχε τὸν Μωϋσῆν ὁ πάνσοφος Θεὸς, καίτοι δυνατῶς ἔχων ἐν τρισὶν ἡμέραις δοῦναι τὸν Νόμον. Ἀλλ' ἵνα τὸ κεκρυμμένον τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐν τῷ βάθει τῆς καρδίας τῶν Ἰουδαίων ὁ χρόνος τῆς ἀπουσίας Μωϋσέως ἐλέγξῃ.