- Source
- Origenes. Origenis Opera Omnia, Volume 2 (Patrologia Graeca, Tomus 12). La Rue, Charles de, editor; La Rue, Charles Vincent de, editor. Paris: J. P. Migne, 1862.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg053.humanitext-grc1:1-9
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-27
This chunk comments on various passages from Deuteronomy, explaining the transition from Moses to Joshua, the spiritual significance of the inheritance, the supernatural nature of God's voice, the reason for the concealment of Moses's tomb, and the meaning of the "house of slavery" and the "few in number."
Ἐλάλησε Μωϋσῆς πρὸς πάντας υἱοὑς Ἰσραήλ κατὰ πάντα ὅσα ἐνετείλατο Κύριος αὐτῷ. Ἐπειδὴ ὁ μὲν Θεὸς τὴν δύναμιν ἀπεκάλυπτεν· ὁ δὲ προφήτης τῇ ἑαυτοῦ γλώσσῃ ἐκέχρητο πρὸς παράστασιν τῶν δεδηλωμένων. Κίνησις οὖν λέγεται ἡ προφητικὴ φωνὴ,1 οἷα παριστῶσα τὰ ὑπὸ Θεοῦ εἰρημένα.
Moses spoke to all the sons of Israel according to all that the Lord had commanded him. For while God revealed the power, the prophet used his own tongue to represent the things that had been shown. Therefore, the prophetic voice is called a “movement,” as it represents the things spoken by God.
Καὶ εἶπα πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ. Οὐχ ἀπλῶς ὁ Μωῦσῆς φησιν, « εἶπον ὑμῖν» ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ ἔμελλεν αὐτοῦ ἀναχωρήσαντος διαδέχεσθαι αὐτὸν Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ, οὐκ ἄτοπόν φησι τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑπόμενον. Προλαβὼν γὰρ, φησὶ, παρεκάλεσα, καὶ, ὡς ἐπενεύσατε, ἐπέστησα κριτάς· ὥστε καὶ τῷ κατὰ προφητικὴν χάριν καὶ ὁδηγητικὴν διαδεχομένῳ με Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ πείθεσθε.2
”And I spoke to you at that time.” Moses does not simply say, “I said to you,” but because Joshua the son of Nun was to succeed him after his departure, he says that the matter is not absurd, but even natural. For he says, “Having anticipated, I exhorted, and as you assented, I appointed judges; so that you should also obey Joshua the son of Nun, who succeeds me according to prophetic and guiding grace.”
Οὐ δυνήσομαι μόνος φέρειν ὑμᾶς. Καὶ τῶν προδευτάς.3
”I shall not be able to bear you alone.” And of the leaders.
Ἔδωκα τῷ Ῥουβὶμ καὶ τῷ Γάδ. Οἱ ὑποδεέστεροι τάχιον ἐν τῇ ἐπαγγελίᾳ γίνονται· οἱ δὲ ἐπιεικέστεροι βράδιον ἀπολαμβάνουσιν. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ Μωῦσέως πρῶτοι εἰλήφασι τὴν κληρονομίαν· οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὕστερον. Ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ πάντων δικαίων λέγεται, οὐ τῶν τυχόντων· ὡς γὰρ ὁ Ἀπόστολός φησιν· « Οὗτοι πάντες μαρτυρηθέντες διὰ τῆς πίστεως οὐκ ἐκομίσαντο τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, τοῦ Θεοῦ περὶ ἡμῶν κρεῖττόν τι προβλεψαμένου, ἵνα μὴ χωρὶς ἡμῶν τελειωθῶσιν. »
”I gave to Reuben and to Gad.” The inferior ones enter into the promise more quickly, while the more excellent ones receive it more slowly. For those under Moses were the first to receive their inheritance, whereas those under Joshua received it later. But this is also said concerning all the righteous, not just anyone; for as the Apostle says: “All these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
Φωνὴν ῥημάτων ἣν ὑμεῖς ἠκούσατε, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Οὐχ ὅτι ὁρατὴ ἡ φωνὴ, οὐδʼ ὅτι φύσει φωνὴν ἔχει ὁ Θεός· τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ συνθέτου φύσεως ἂν εἴη·4 ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ καὶ αἱ σάλπιγγες, καὶ αἱ φωναὶ, ὡς αὐτὸς οἶδεν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐπετελοῦντο ἐκ τῆς τῶν ὁρωμένων συνεχείας δημιουργούμεναι στοιχείων· τοῦ πυρὸς λέγω καὶ τοῦ γνόφου· ὥστε καὶ ἀκούεται φωνὴ, καὶ οὐχ ὁρᾶται· ἀλλʼ οὗν ἐπὶ τῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ θαυμάτων καὶ ἡ φωνὴ ὁρᾶται.
”The voice of words which you heard,” and so on. Not because the voice is visible, nor because God by nature possesses a voice; for this would belong to a composite nature. Rather, it is because both the trumpets and the voices, as God himself knows, were brought about and created from the continuity of visible elements—I mean fire and dark gloom. Consequently, a voice is heard and not seen; and yet, in the case of God’s wonders, even the voice is seen.
Καὶ ὤμοσεν ἴνα μὴ διαβῶτὸν Ἰορδάνηντοῦτον. Μωῦσῆς, μὴ δοξάσας τὸν Θεὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ λαοῦ, ἐκωλύθη παρελθεῖν μετʼ αὐτῶν, ἵνα μὴ ὅν ἐτίμων ζῶντα, ἐν θεῶν θεραπείαις τιμήσωσιν ἀπελθόντα. Διὸ δὴ καὶ ἀποθανόντος ἀφανῆ τὸν τάφον ἐποίησεν.
”And he swore that I should not cross this Jordan.” Moses, because he did not glorify God before the people, was prevented from crossing over with them, so that they might not worship him as a god after his departure, whom they had honored while he was alive. For this very reason, when he died, He made his tomb unknown.
Διαμαρτύρομαι ὑμῖν σήμερον τόν τε οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. Ὁ Θεὸς τοὺς αὐτὸν προσκυνοῦντας οὐ συγχωρῶν δαίμοσι συνάπτεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἅπαξ αὐτὸν ἐγνωκότας ἐκτὸς εἶναι κελεύων τῆς πρὸς ἐκείνους διαθέσεως, καὶ παραζηλῶν ἐν τῇ ἀποστασίᾳ τῶν λαῶν, τὰς μελλούσας αὐτοῖς προλέγει τιμωρίας διὰ τὴν πονηρίαν τῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων αὐτῶν.
”I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day.” God, not permitting those who worship Him to be joined to demons, but commanding those who have once known Him to remain outside of any disposition toward them, and being jealous over the apostasy of the peoples, foretells the punishments that will come upon them because of the wickedness of their practices.
Ἐξ οἴκου δουλείας. Καὶ γὰρ ἀληθῶς τὰ σωματικὰ πράγματα καὶ ὑλικὰ, οἶκός ἐστι δουλείας, ὥσπερ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων οἶκός ἐστιν ἐλευθερίας.
”Out of the house of slavery.” For indeed, bodily and material things are a house of slavery, just as, conversely, [spiritual things] are a house of freedom.
Ὑμεῖς γάρ ἐστε ὀλιγοστοὶ παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. Καλῶς τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς μερίδος εἴρηται· « Ὀλι γοστοί ἐστε παρὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη. » Συγγενῶς τε τὸ, « Ὀλίγοι οἱ σωζόμενοι, » καὶ τὸ, « Ἀγωνίζεσθε εἰσελθεῖν διὰ τῆς στενῆς πύλης. »
”For you are few in number among all the nations.” It is beautifully said to those of the portion: “You are few in number among all the nations.” And closely related is: “Few are those who are saved,” and: “Strive to enter through the narrow gate.”
- 1Κίνησις οὖν λέγεται ἡ προφητικὴ φωνὴ
"The prophetic voice" (ἡ προφητικὴ φωνὴ) is the subject in the nominative case, while "movement" (κίνησις) is the predicate nominative used with the passive verb "λέγεται" (is called).
- 2τῷ κατὰ προφητικὴν χάριν καὶ ὁδηγητικὴν διαδεχομένῳ με Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ πείθεσθε
The imperative verb "πείθεσθε" (obey) governs the dative case. Here, the participial and adjectival modifiers encase the noun phrase "Ἰησοῦ τῷ τοῦ Ναυῆ" (Joshua the son of Nun) in a complex word order (hyperbaton), with all elements agreeing in the dative case.
- 3Καὶ τῶν προδευτάς
The genitive article "τῶν" is paired with "προδευτάς", which is the accusative plural of the first-declension noun "προδευτής" (pioneer, leader). This is likely a manuscript corruption or an elliptical solecism (instead of the genitive "προδευτῶν"). The translation renders it as "And of the leaders."
- 5συνθέτου φύσεως ἂν εἴη
This is a potential optative construction using "ἂν" with the optative "εἴη", indicating a hypothetical consequence ("would be") if God were assumed to possess a voice by nature. "συνθέτου φύσεως" is a genitive of characteristic (descriptive genitive).