Origen · Annotations on Leviticus (fragments from Catenae) §4.27-4.28

Unwitting Sin and Offerings Designated as Sin

Passage 1 of 5 · Greek

Summary

Discussing the Levitical regulation on unwitting sin, the author addresses the interpretation of the Lord's commandments and the non-necessity of sacrifice for intentional acts, further explaining why offerings and Christ are called 'sin'.

§4.27Στίχ. κζ΄.

Verse 27.

Ψυχὴ ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ ἀκουσίως. φησὶ. καὶ μὴ ποιήσῃ ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν ἐντολῶν Κυρίου, ὧν δεῖ ποιεῖν. (12) Εἰ δὲ κατὰ φύσιν ἔχει. Ἔστι τάχα τινὰ προστάγματα Κυρίου, ἃ οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖν, κατὰ τό· Ἕδωξαν αὐτοῖς προστάγματα οὐ καλά. Ψυχὴ οὖν ἁμαρτάνει ἀκουσίως, ὅτε προφάσει εὐσεβείας τὸ μὴ δέον τηρεῖ.

"If a soul should sin unwittingly," it says, "and not do according to all the commandments of the Lord, which one ought to do." (12) But if this is according to its natural meaning: Perhaps there are some commandments of the Lord which one ought not to do, according to the passage: "They gave them commandments that were not good." Therefore, a soul sins unwittingly when, under the pretext of piety, it observes what is not necessary.

Καὶ δεῖται θυσίας πρὸς ἄφεσιν, οὐ δεομένου θυσίας τοῦ δρῶντος ἐξεπίτηδες· ὡς ὁ γεγονὼς Ἰουδαῖος, ἵνα Ἰουδαίους κερδήσῃ, καὶ περιτεμὼν τὸν Τιμόθεον.

And it requires a sacrifice for forgiveness, whereas the one who acts intentionally does not require a sacrifice; as he who became a Jew in order to win Jews, and who circumcised Timothy.

§4.28Στίχ. κη΄.

Verse 28.

Σημαίνει οὖν, ὅτι ἀμσρτία καλεῖται καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ προσαγόμενον. Οὕτω νοητέον τό· Ἁμαρτίας λαοῦ μου φάγονται. Εἰ οὖν ὁ ἁμαρτάνων αὐτὴν δοκεῖ θύειν τὴν ἁμαρτίαν ἐν τῷ μετανοεῖν, οὐκ ὀφείλει τοῖς αὐτοῖς περιπίπτειν, ἐπεὶ ἀναζῇ ἡ ἁμαρτία.

It means, therefore, that what is brought forward as an offering is itself also called "sin." In this way we must understand the passage: "They shall eat the sins of my people." If, therefore, the sinner seems to sacrifice sin itself in repenting, he ought not to fall into the same things, since sin comes back to life.

Οὕτω δυνατὸν τὸν Χριστὸν καλεῖν ἀμαρείαν, ὡς ὑπὸρ τῆς πάντων ἁμαρτίας τυθέντα.

In this way it is possible to call Christ "sin," as one who was sacrificed for the sin of all.

Notes

§4.27ὧν δεῖ ποιεῖν — The relative pronoun ὧν (genitive) is attracted to the case of its antecedent ἐντολῶν (genitive), whereas it would syntactically function as an accusative in its own clause. Furthermore, the standard Septuagint (LXX) text of Lev 4:27 contains a negative (ὧν οὐ δεῖ ποιεῖν), which forms the basis for the author's discussion on its interpretation.
§4.27Ἕδωξαν — An inaccurate quotation or textual variant of LXX Ezekiel 20:25 (καὶ ἐγὼ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς προστάγματα οὐ καλά). It might be spelled as a corruption of the third-person plural ἔδωκαν ('they gave').
§4.27ὡς ὁ γεγονὼς Ἰουδαῖος — Alludes to Paul's statement in 1 Cor 9:20 ('I became as a Jew to the Jews') and his circumcision of Timothy in Acts 16:3. It is cited as an example of deliberate, purposeful accommodation (ἐξεπίτηδες) rather than unwitting or accidental sin.
§4.28ἀμσρτία — A scribal error for ἁμαρτία ('sin'). The commentary explains that since the Hebrew word chattath denotes both 'sin' and 'sin offering,' the Greek ἁμαρτία is similarly used to refer to the sacrificial offering itself.
§4.28ἀμαρείαν — A scribal error for ἁμαρτίαν ('sin', accusative). Against the background of calling Christ 'sin' (as in 2 Cor 5:21), it explains that He can be so called because He was offered as a sacrificial victim for the sins of all.

Cite this passage

Origen, Annotations on Leviticus (fragments from Catenae) §4.27-4.28. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg068.humanitext-grc1:4.27-4.28

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