Scholia on Matthew

OF ORIGEN ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. 17.289 CHAP. 1. Verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus was on this wise. ....... Here the evangelist makes mention of birth, but at the beginning of the Gospel, of generation. For here he says: Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, but there, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ. What then is the difference between birth and generation? And how are both taken in reference to Christ? Just as this spoken word is by its own nature intangible and invisible; but when it is written in a book, and as it were embodied, then it is both seen and touched; so also the fleshless and bodiless Word of God, being neither seen nor written according to His divinity, since He became incarnate, is both seen and written. For this reason, as of one incarnate, there is also a book of his generation. But it is not investigated here why he said "book," and did not say "vision," or "word;" but, what is birth, and what is generation? Generation and birth differ. For generation is the first creation from God; but birth is the succession from one another through the condemnation of death on account of the transgression. And further, generation has the incorruptible and sinless; but birth has the passible and sinful. The Lord, therefore, having naturally taken the sinlessness of generation, did not assume the incorruptible; and having taken the passibility of birth, did not assume the sinful, bearing the first Adam undiminished in both respects. Therefore, in the case of Christ, generation would be, not a procession from non-being into being, but a way from existing in the form of God to the taking up of the form of a servant; and his birth has become twofold, according to us and beyond us. For to be born of a woman is according to us; but not of the will of the flesh, or of man, but of the Holy Spirit, is beyond us. Which also proclaimed beforehand the future 17.292 birth, which He was about to grant us from the Spirit. CHAP. 7. Verse 5. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine ...... Verse 7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. So that the disciples may not be ignorant who are the dogs or the swine among the hearers, seek persistently, he says, from God, and all things will be revealed to you. For the beginning of virtue is to know the good through prayer; then to know how one must walk the path of virtue; thirdly, through works to knock for the door to be opened to oneself. For this is what the knocking with the hands signifies. For in three ways is the truth of the saving doctrines received: by diligent prayer, and by the disposition of the governing faculty in seeking divine things, and concerning finding, with full consciousness of the security of the hidden Scriptures, the depth, by precise investigation; for thus he says the Scriptures are opened. Verse 9. What man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Verse 10. And if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? But see if ...... knowledge is food, without which one cannot be saved; such as the precise word concerning how one must eat. And a fish and as it were a relish for one who loves learning is to know the constitution of the world, the operation of the elements, the beginning and end and middle, and whatever else wisdom speaks of. Neither does God give a stone instead of bread, which the devil wished to be eaten by Jesus; nor a serpent instead of a fish, which the Ethiopians, unworthy of eating fish, eat. But how did he call the disciples evil? For even if they followed by choice, yet they had the mutable nature of humanity. But only the Son of God was immutable in both divinity and humanity. And he calls the spiritual gifts good gifts. But Luke said Holy Spirit, instead of saying good things. And there is no difference. For the Holy Spirit itself is the good light; wherefore also to those who partake

Scholia in Matthaeum

ΩΡΙΓΕΝΟΥΣ ΕΙΣ ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ. 17.289 ΚΕΦ. Αʹ. Στιχ. ιηʹ. Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ ἡ γέννησις οὕτως ἦν. ....... Ὧδε μὲν γεννήσεως μέμνηται ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς, κατ' ἀρχὰς δὲ τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου, τῆς γενέσεως. Ἐνταῦθα μὲν γὰρ λέγει· Τοῦ δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡ γέννησις οὕτως ἦν, ἐκεῖ δὲ, Βίβλος γενέσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Τίς οὖν ἡ διαφορὰ τῆς γεννήσεως καὶ τῆς γενέσεως; καὶ ὡς ἀμφότερα ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ λαμβάνεται; Ὥσπερ ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὁ προφορικὸς κατὰ τὴν οἰκείαν φύσιν ἀναφής ἐστι καὶ ἀό ρατος· ὅταν δὲ ἐν βιβλίῳ γραφῇ, καὶ οἱονεὶ σωματω θῇ, τότε καὶ ὁρᾶται καὶ ψηλαφᾶται· οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἄσαρκος τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγος καὶ ἀσώματος, οὔτε ὁρώμε νος, οὔτε γραφόμενος κατὰ τὴν θεότητα, ἐπειδὴ ἐσαρκώθη, καὶ ὁρᾶται καὶ γράφεται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο, ὡς σαρκωθέντος, καὶ βίβλος ἐστὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ γενέσεως. Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξῄτηται ἐνθάδε τὸ, διὰ τί εἶπε βίβλος, καὶ οὐκ εἶπεν ὅρασις, ἢ λόγος· ἀλλὰ τὸ, τί ἐστι γέννησις, καὶ τί γένεσις; ∆ιαφέρει γένεσις καὶ γέν νησις. Γένεσις μὲν γάρ ἐστι παρὰ Θεοῦ πρώτη πλά σις· γέννησις δὲ ἡ ἐκ καταδίκης τοῦ θανάτου διὰ τὴν παράβασιν ἐξ ἀλλήλων διαδοχή. Καὶ ἔτι, ἡ μὲν γέ νεσις τὸ ἄφθαρτον ἔχει καὶ ἀναμάρτητον· ἡ δὲ γέννησις τὸ παθητὸν καὶ ἁμαρτητικόν. Ὁ οὖν Κύ ριος, τῆς μὲν γενέσεως τὸ ἀναμάρτητον φυσικῶς λαβὼν, τὸ ἄφθαρτον οὐ προσέλαβε· τῆς δὲ γεννήσεως τὸ παθητὸν εἰληφὼς, τὸ ἁμαρτητικὸν οὐ προσέλαβε, τὸν πρῶτον τοῖς κατ' ἄμφω μέρεσιν Ἀδὰμ φέρων ἀμείωτον. Οὐκοῦν εἴη ἂν ἐπὶ Χριστοῦ γένεσις μὲν, οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι πρόοδος, ἀλλ' ὁδὸς ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν μορφῇ Θεοῦ ὑπάρχειν εἰς τὸ ἀναλαβεῖν τὴν τοῦ δούλου μορφήν· ἡ δὲ γέννησις αὐτοῦ διπλῆ γέγονε, καθ' ἡμᾶς καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς. Τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ γυναικὸς γεννηθῆναι καθ' ἡμᾶς· τὸ δὲ μὴ ἐκ θελή ματος σαρκὸς, ἢ ἀνδρὸς, ἀλλ' ἐκ Πνεύματος ἁγίου, ὑπὲρ ἡμᾶς. Ὅπερ καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν προανεφώνει 17.292 γέννησιν, ἢν ἡμῖν ἔμελλεν ἐκ Πνεύματος χαρίσε σθαι. ΚΕΦ. Ζʹ. Στιχ. εʹ. Μὴ δῶτε τὸ ἅγιον τοῖς κυσὶ, μηδὲ βάλητε τοὺς μαργαρίτας ὑμῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων ...... Στιχ. ʹ. Αἰτεῖτε, καὶ δοθήσεται ὑμῖν· ζητεῖτε, καὶ εὑρήσετε· κρούετε, καὶ ἀνοιγήσεται ὑμῖν. Ἵνα μὴ ἀγνοῶσιν οἱ μαθηταὶ, τίνες εἰσὶν κύνες, ἢ χοῖροι ἐν τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς, ἐπιμόνως ζητήσατε, φησὶν, ἐκ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἀποκαλύπτεται ὑμῖν πάντα. Ἀρχὴ μὲν γὰρ ἀρετῆς τὸ δι' εὐχῆς γνῶναι τὸ ἀγαθόν· εἶτα τὸ εἰδέναι πῶς δεῖ ὁδεῦσαι τὴν ἀρετήν· τρίτον τὸ διὰ τῶν ἔργων κρούειν ἀνοιγῆναι αὑτῷ τὴν θύραν. Τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει ἡ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν κροῦσις. Τρισσῶς γὰρ ἡ τῶν σωτηρίων δογμάτων ἀλήθεια λαμβάνεται, ἐπιμελεῖ εὐχῇ, καὶ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ ἐν τῷ ζητεῖν τὰ θεῖα καταστάσει, καὶ περὶ τοῦ εὑρεῖν συναισθήτως τῆς τῶν κεκρυμμένων Γραφῶν ἀσφαλείας τὸ βάθος, ἀκριβεῖ πολυπραγμοσύνῃ· οὕτω γὰρ ἀνοίγεσθαί φησι τὰς Γραφάς. Στιχ. θʹ. Τίς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἄνθρωπος, ὃν ἐὰν αἰτήσῃ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἄρτον, μὴ λίθον ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; Στιχ. ιʹ. Καὶ ἐὰν ἰχθὺν αἰτήσῃ, μὴ ὄφιν ἐπιδώσει αὐτῷ; Ὅρα δὲ εἰ ...... γνῶσις τροφὴ, ἧς ἄνω οὐκ ἔστι σώζεσθαι· οἷον ὁ περὶ τοῦ πῶς βρωτέον ἀκριβὴς λό γος. Ἰχθὺς δὲ καὶ οἷον ὄψον φιλομαθεῖ τὸ εἰδέναι σύστασιν κόσμου, ἐνέργειαν στοιχείων, ἀρχὴν καὶ τέλος καὶ μεσότητα, καὶ ὅσα ἑξῆς ἡ σοφία λέγει. Οὔτε ἀντὶ τοῦ ἄρτου λίθον δίδωσιν ὁ Θεὸς, ὃν ὁ διά βολος ἐσθίεσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ἐβούλετο· οὔτε ἀντὶ ἰχθύος ὄφιν, ὃν ἐσθίουσιν οἱ ἀνάξιοι τοῦ ἰχθὺν ἐσθίειν Αἰθίοπες. Πῶς δὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς πονηροὺς ἐκάλεσεν; Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἠκολούθουν ἐκ προαιρέσεως, ἀλλ' εἶχον τὸ τρεπτὸν τοῦ ἀνθρωπίνου. Μόνον δὲ ἄτρεπτος ἦν καὶ θεότητι καὶ ἀνθρωπότητι ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ Υἱός. ∆όματα δὲ ἀγαθὰ καλεῖ τὰς πνευματικὰς δωρεάς. Ὁ δὲ Λουκᾶς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον εἶπεν, ἀντὶ τοῦ εἰπεῖν ἀγαθά. Καὶ οὐδὲν τὸ διάφορον. Τὸ γὰρ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα αὐτό ἐστι τὸ φῶς ἀγαθόν· διὸ καὶ τοῖς μετόχοις