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Origen · Annotations on Deuteronomy (fragments from Catenae) §4.12

Two Senses of Hearing Words and the Decalogue

Passage 3 of 10 · Greek

Summary

Commenting on Deuteronomy 4:12, the author presents two interpretations of hearing 'a voice of words'—intellectual contemplation via the mind's eyes and natural auditory reception—while noting that only the Decalogue was written on the tablets.

§4.12Στίχ. ιβ΄.
Verse 12.
Καὶ ἐλάλησε Κύριος πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐκ μέσου τοῦ πυρὸς φωνὴν ῥημάτων, ἣν ὑμεῖς ἠκούσατε. (32)Τοῦ αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸ αὐτό.
'And the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire a voice of words, which you heard.' (32) By the same author, on the same passage.
Ἄλλος φησί· Δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι τοῖς τῆς διανοίας ὀφθαλμοῖς θεωρεῖ τις καὶ ἀκούει τὰ νοήματα. (33) Φωνὴν ῥημάτων. Ἐνταῦθα τὰ κατὰ φύσιν εἴρηκεν, ὅτι ἀκοὴ δέχεται τὴν φωνήν.
Another says: 'For it is clear that with the eyes of the mind one contemplates and hears thoughts.' (33) 'A voice of words.' Here he has spoken of things according to nature, that the sense of hearing receives the voice.
Ὅσον γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς ἀκριβείας τοῦ γράμματος, μόνη ἡ Δεκάλογος ἦν ἐν ταῖς πλαξὶ γεγραμμένη, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ διὰ προστάγματος Θεοῦ ὁ Μωϋσῆς ἐδίδαξε
For as far as the precision of the letter is concerned, only the Decalogue was written on the tablets, while Moses taught the rest through the command of God.

Notes

  1. §4.12ὅτι ἀκοὴ δέχεται τὴν φωνήν — This ὅτι clause functions as an apposition (or an explanatory declarative clause) detailing the content of the preceding noun phrase τὰ κατὰ φύσιν ('things according to nature').
  2. §4.12Ὅσον γὰρ ἀπὸ — The phrase ὅσον ἀπό (often ὅσον γε ἀπό) is an idiomatic prepositional construction meaning 'as far as concerns...' or 'judging from the standpoint of...'. Combined here with τῆς ἀκριβείας (precision), it translates to 'as far as the precision/strictness of the letter is concerned.'

Cite this passage

Origen, Annotations on Deuteronomy (fragments from Catenae) §4.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg070.humanitext-grc1:4.12

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