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Origen · Annotations on Deuteronomy (fragments from Catenae) §24.12

Pledging of Millstones and Metaphorical Sense of Life

Passage 8 of 10 · Greek

Summary

The commentary explains that a millstone or blood is called "life" or "soul" not because they are literally the soul, but catachrestically, as they are indispensable means for sustaining life.

§24.12(60) Στίχ. Ϛ΄.
(60) Verse 6.
Οὐκ ἐνεχυράσεις μύλον, οὐδὲ ἐπιμύλιον, ὅτι ψυχὴν οὕτως ἐνεχιράζει. Εἰς τὸ αὐτὸ ἄλλως.
"You shall not take a mill or an upper millstone as a pledge, for he thus takes a life as a pledge." Alternatively on the same passage.
Οὐκ ἔστι μύλος οὐδὲ ἐπιμύλιον ψυχῇ (60· ), ἀλλὰ πρὸς ἐργασίαν συντελεῖ ἄρτου, διʼ οὗ μάλιστα ζῶσιν οἱ ἅνθρωποι.
A mill or an upper millstone is not [itself] for the soul, but it contributes to the preparation of bread, by which men especially live.
Σημειωτέον αὐτὸν· διὰ τὸ αἶμα.
One must note it (the mill) on account of the blood.
Καὶ γὰρ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐλέχθη· Ὅτι τοῦ σώματος τὸ αἷμα ψυχή ἐστιν. Καταχρηστικῶς οὖν ταῦτα νοητέον.
For it was also said concerning it: "For the blood of the body is its life." Therefore, these things must be understood catachrestically.
Οὔτε γὰρ τὸ αἷμα, οὔτε ὁ μύλος ψυχὴ, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ ζῇν συμβαλλόμενα.
For neither the blood nor the mill is the soul, but they contribute to living.

Notes

  1. §24.12ψυχῇ — Although it may be a scribal error for the nominative ψυχή, the dative ψυχῇ can be understood as "is not [itself] for the soul/life," meaning it does not constitute the soul itself, supported by the subsequent clause about contributing to bread-making.
  2. §24.12αὐτόν — A masculine accusative pronoun. Contextually, it refers to the masculine noun μύλον (mill). It draws an analogy showing that the mill must be noted for a reason similar to that of blood, which is called 'life' because it sustains life.
  3. §24.12Καταχρηστικῶς — A rhetorical term meaning "catachrestically" or "figuratively." It refers to the metonymic use of the word "soul/life" to denote tools or mediums (like a millstone or blood) that are indispensable for sustaining life, rather than the literal soul itself.

Cite this passage

Origen, Annotations on Deuteronomy (fragments from Catenae) §24.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg070.humanitext-grc1:24.12

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