Humanitext Reader

Origen · Fragments from the Commentary on Ezekiel §44.1

The Shut East Gate and the Sealed Prophecy

Passage 3 of 3 · Greek

Summary

Explaining Ezekiel's description of the "shut gate facing east" as the unclosable mysteries of God, the author discusses how the prophetic word remained shut until the coming of Christ, comparing it to the "sealed book" in Isaiah and Revelation, and the stone of Jacob's well.

4.
Cod. f. 232 b.
Cod. f. 232 b.
XLIV. 1.
XLIV. 1.
Πολλὰς πύλας διαγράφει ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου Ἰεζεκιὴλ, καὶ περὶ ἑκάστης διηγήσατό τι· νῦν δὲ διηγεῖται τοῖς ἔχουσι ὦτα, περὶ τῆς πύλης τῶν ἁγίων τῆς βλεπούσης κατὰ ἀνατολάς· περὶ ἧς γέγραπται ὅτι ἡ πύλη αὕτη κεκλεισμένη ἔσται, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. —Οὐ μόνον ὅτι Κύριος ὁ θεὸς τοὺ Ἰσραὴλ διέρχεται διὰ τῆς πύλης, κέκλεισται, ἀλλʼ ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἡγούμενος κάθηται ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ πύλῃ τοῦ φαγεῖν ἔναντι Κυρίου κατὰ τὴν ὀδὸν Αἱλὰμ, ὅπερ ἐρ μηνεύεται πρόθυρον πύλης. —Πύλη ἐστὶ κεκλεισμένι, τὰ μυστήρια τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰ ἀκατάκλειστα. — Ἡ γνῶσις κλεῖδα ἔχει, ὡς ὁ Κύριος λέγειτοῖς νομικοῖς· ἄρα πύλη ἐστὶ τοῖς μέν ἀνθρώποις κεκλεισμένη· τὰ γὰρ ἔνδον της πύλης ἐστὶν ὂ ὁ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσε, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. — Ὅμοιον δὲ τῆς πύλης ταύτης ἔχει νοῦν καὶ τὸ γεγραμμένον ἐν τῷ Ἡσαΐᾳ βιβλίον ἐσφραγισμένον· τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο βιβλίον λευκοτέρως εὑρήσεις καὶ ἐν τῇ Ἀποκαλύψει Ἰωάννου, καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ γεγραμμένα·
The son of man, Ezekiel, describes many gates, and related something about each; but now he relates to those who have ears concerning the gate of the holy places which faces toward the east; concerning which it is written, "This gate shall be shut," and so forth. —It is shut not only because the Lord God of Israel passes through the gate, but also because the prince sits in that gate to eat before the Lord by the way of the Ailam, which is interpreted as the vestibule of the gate. —The shut gate represents the unclosable mysteries of God. —Knowledge has a key, as the Lord says to the lawyers; therefore, to men indeed, the gate is shut; for the things within the gate are what eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and so forth. —And the sealed book written in Isaiah has a meaning similar to this gate; you will find this very same book more clearly also in the Revelation of John, along with the things written about it; and how the one from the tribe of Judah opened these things, and he alone.
καὶ πῶς ἤνοιξεν ὁ ἐκ φυλῆς Ἰούδα ταῦτα καὶ μόνος μέχρι γὰρ οὗ ἦλθεν ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς, ἐκέκλειστο ὁ νόμος, ὁ λόγος ὁ προφητικός· καὶ κάλυμμα ἦν ἐπὶ τούτων ὁ λίθος τῆς πωρώσεως, ὂν ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Ἰακὼβ ἐκ τοῦ φρέατος· ἐν πολλοῖς γὰρ τόποις τὸν νοῦν τὸν περὶ τῆς πύλης ταύτης ἡ Γραφὴ ἤνοιξεν.
For until our Lord Jesus Christ came, the law, that is, the prophetic word, had been shut; and a veil over them was the stone of hardening, which Jacob removed from the well; for in many places the Scripture has opened the meaning concerning this gate.

Notes

  1. §44.1Αἱλὰμ — A transliteration of the Hebrew אֵילָם (eylam, meaning vestibule or portico). As explained in the text as "the vestibule of the gate" (πρόθυρον πύλης), it is an architectural term found in Ezekiel 40 etc.
  2. §44.1τοῦ φαγεῖν — Genitive of the articular infinitive expressing purpose ("to eat"). It reflects the idiom of the Septuagint, influenced by the Hebrew infinitive construct (le'ekhol).
  3. §44.1ὁ λίθος τῆς πωρώσεως — Literally "the stone of hardening (or blindness)." An allegorical combination of the stone that Jacob rolled away from the mouth of the well in Genesis 29:10 and the spiritual concept of "hardening/stubbornness" (πώρωσις) found in the New Testament (e.g., Romans 11:25). The genitive τῆς πωρώσεως functions as a genitive of definition or apposition.

Cite this passage

Origen, Fragments from the Commentary on Ezekiel §44.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg061.humanitext-grc1:44.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.