Origen · Scholia on Matthew §28.18

The Authority Given to Christ and the Trinitarian Substance

Passage 13 of 13 · Greek

Summary

The commentary interprets the statement 'all authority has been given to me' in Matthew 28:18 from the perspectives of both the Incarnation and the Divinity, discussing the nature of the Trinity and the incorporeal, hypostatic generation of the Son.

§28.18Στίχ. ιη΄. Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία ἐν οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς. Τὸ, Ἐδόθη μοι πᾶσα ἐξουσία, καὶ ἐξῆς, εἰς τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν νόει.

Verse 18: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth." Understand [the words] "All authority has been given to me," and so on, as referring to the Incarnation.

Εἰ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν θεότητα θεωρεῖν (37), καὶ οὕτω λήψῃ τὸ Ἐδόθη μοι ἐξουσία, ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἐχωρήθη. Ἐδόθη, ἠνέχθη μοι, περὶ τοῦ αὐτεξουσίου ἐπιστεύθην. Χώραν ἔσχεν ἡ ζωὴ πρῶτον μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἄνω, εἶτα νῦν καὶ ἐν τοῖς κάτω· οὓς θαῤῥοῦντες βαπτίσατε εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

But if one is to contemplate [this] also with regard to the Divinity, even so you will take "Authority has been given to me" to mean "It was accommodated." "It was given" [means] "it was brought to me," [or] "I was entrusted with regard to free will." Life had a place first among the things above, then now also among the things below; whom you, being of good courage, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Εἷς ὁ σώζων. μία ἡ σωτηρία.

One is He who saves; one is the salvation.

Εἷς ὁ ζῶν Πατὴρ, ὁ Υἱὸς, καὶ τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα.

One is the living Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Εἷς ἐστιν οὐ συναλοιφῇ τῶν τριῶν, ἀλλʼ οὐσίᾳ μιᾷ· τρεῖς δὲ ὑποστάσεις τέλειαι ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ κατάλληλοι.

He is one, not by a confusion of the three, but by one essence; and there are three personae (hypostases) complete in all things, and corresponding [to one another].

Κατὰ φύσιν ἐγέννησεν ὁ Πατήρ· διόπερ ὁμοούσιος ἐγεννήθη.

The Father begat according to nature; wherefore He was begotten consubstantial.

Οὐ σῶμα ὁ Θεός· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀσταρεῦσιν (38) ἢ κίνησιν, ἤ τι τῶν τοιούτων, ἂ ἐν τοῖς σώμασι θεωρεῖται, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ἀσώματος ἐγέννησεν.

God is not a body; therefore, God, being incorporeal, begat without any efflux or motion, or any such things as are contemplated in bodies.

Ἐνυπόστατος ἡ γέννησις· ἀπετέχθη ἐκ τῆς οὐσίας τοῦ Πατρὸς ὁ Υἱός.

The generation is hypostatic; the Son was brought forth from the essence of the Father.

Notes

28.18εἰς τὴν θεότητα θεωρεῖν — The infinitive θεωρεῖν functions here within the conditional clause introduced by εἰ δὲ καί (potentially as an imperative infinitive or depending on an implied necessity). It is interpreted in a conditional sense: 'if one is to contemplate with regard to the Divinity.'
28.18ἀντὶ τοῦ Ἐχωρήθη — Ἐχωρήθη is the aorist passive indicative of χωρέω ('to have room,' 'to contain,' 'to accommodate'). Here, the expression 'authority was given' in relation to the Divinity is interpreted to mean that the authority was contained or accommodated inherently within the divine nature.
28.18ἀσταρεῦσιν — The word ἀσταρεῦσιν (with variant reading indicated by the note numbers in critical texts) is likely a corruption of a word meaning bodily 'efflux' or 'flow' (such as ἀποῤῥεύσεσιν or similar). In the context of the incorporeal generation of God, it is translated as 'efflux' or 'flow' occurring in physical bodies.

Cite this passage

Origen, Scholia on Matthew §28.18. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg2042.tlg077.humanitext-grc1:28.18

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