Origen, Prayer 27.12
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Context
The great scholar Origen moved from Alexandria to Caeasarea in 231
C.E. There he was ordained, he opened a school, and he devoted himself to voluminous
writing, including his monumental polyglot edition of the Old Testament. In the first
years after establishing himself at Caesarea, Origen wrote his treatise on “prayer”
(εὐχή), a popular work among modern readers. In his famous concluding analysis of the
Lord’s Prayer, he cites Peter’s vision of animals to eat in Joppa, before his sojourn in
Caesarea.
Text
κοινωνεῖν γοῦν τῷ ἑκατοντάρχῳ Κορνηλίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἅμα συναχθεῖσιν ἐν τῇ
Καισαρείᾳ ὁ Πέτρος μέλλων μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσι
μεταδώσειν τῶν λόγων τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁρᾷ τὸ “τέτταρσιν ἀρχαῖς καθιέμενον” οὐρανόθεν “σκεῦος,”
ἐν ᾧ “πάντα τὰ τετράποδα καὶ ἑρπετὰ καὶ θηρία τῆς γῆς”· ὅτε καὶ κελεύεται “ἀναστὰς”
θῦσαι καὶ φαγεῖν, προστασόμενος μετὰ τὸ παραιτούμενον αὐτὸν εἰρηκέναι· “σὺ οἶδας ‘ὅτι
οὐδέ ποτε κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ στόμα μου’”, “μηδένα κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον
λέγειν ἄνθρωπον,” τῷ τὰ καθαρθέντα ὑπὸ θεοῦ μὴ δεῖν ὑπὸ Πέτρου κοινοῦσθαι· φησὶ γὰρ ἡ
λέξις· “ἃ ὁ θεὸς ἐκαθάρισε σὺ μὴ κοίνου.” οὐκοῦν τὸ καθαρὸν βρῶμα καὶ τὸ ἀκάθαρτον κατὰ
τὸν Μωϋσέως νόμον ἐν ὀνομασίας διακρινόμενον πλειόνων ζῴων, τὴν ἀναφορὰν ἔχον ἐπὶ τὰ
διάφορα ἤθη τῶν λογικῶν, διδάσκει τούσδε μὲν τροφίμους ἡμῖν τυγχάνειν τούσδε δὲ ἐναντίως
ἔχειν, ἕως καθαρίσας πάντας ποιήσῃ τροφίμους ὁ θεὸς ἢ τοὺς ἀπὸ “παντὸς γένους.”
1
Textual Note
Ed. Koetschau 1899Translation
So when Peter is about to commune with the centurion Cornelius and
those who met together with him in Caesarea, and after that also
to share the Words of God with the Gentiles, he sees “the container sent down by four
corners” from heaven, in which (are) “all quadrupeds and reptiles and beasts of the
earth.” Then the order was given “rise up” and kill and eat, and, after on this request
he had said, “You know that nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth,” he was
commanded “to call no man common or unclean,” because what God had made clean should not
to be made common by Peter. For the passage says, “What things God has made clean do not
you make common.” Accordingly, the clean and unclean food distinguished according to the
Law of Moses in the naming of various animals, analogous to the different characters of
rational beings, teach that some are nourishing for us but others are the opposite,
until God has cleansed and made all, or those from “every race,” nourishing.
2
Translation Note
Adapted from Curtis 2001Works Cited
- 1 Origen, Περὶ εὐχῆς, in Origenes Werke II: Buch V-VII gegen Celsus; Die Schrift vom Gebet, ed. Paul Koetschau, repr. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2012, Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte 3 (Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs, 1899), 294–403, p: 297-403, ch: 27.12.
- 2 Origen, Origen: On Prayer, trans. William A. Curtis (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2001), p: 53, ch: 17.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Origen, Prayer 27.12,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/88.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Origen, Prayer 27.12.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/88.About this Entry
Entry Title: Origen, Prayer 27.12
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editor, “Origen, Prayer 27.12”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Origen, Prayer 27.12”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife