Origen's homily on Luke 4's temptation of Jesus, arguing the devil misquotes Psalm 91 and showing how to detect scripture twisted by heretics.
Homily on Luke 31 is one of Origen's surviving sermons on Luke's Gospel, preached to a congregation and taking as its text the temptation narrative in which the devil leads Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and dares him to throw himself down, quoting Psalm 91: "he has commanded his angels concerning you, and they will bear you up in their hands, lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone." Origen's central move is to ask why the devil, of all people, is quoting scripture, and to use the answer as a lesson in reading: the devil knows the Bible well enough to twist it, citing the letter without the spirit, the way Origen says the heretics Marcion, Basilides, and Valentinus do.
Origen contrasts the devil's misuse of scripture with Paul's legitimate use of secular literature (quoting a comic poet and a pagan line about Cretans) to make a point about intention: Paul cites outside sources to sanctify them, while the devil cites scripture to kill through the letter. He then rules that the Psalm 91 passage was never about Christ at all - Christ needs no angelic rescue, since it is he who upholds the angels - but about "the saints in general," the righteous believer who trusts in God's protection. Origen catches the devil in a further trick: the devil quotes only the verse that flatters him and passes over the very next verse, "you shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon," which Origen reads as directed against the devil himself, identified as the basilisk, asp, lion, and dragon of the psalm.
The homily matters as a case study in Origen's exegetical method and in early Christian anti-heretical rhetoric: it shows a preacher training ordinary listeners to interrogate any scriptural quotation by asking who is speaking and why, rather than accepting citation as automatic proof, and it links that interpretive vigilance directly to the moral claim that a righteous life, empowered by Christ, can "trample" the forces the devil represents.
“Where did you get this, devil, that these things are written? Have you by chance read the prophets or come to know the divine sayings?”
— Homily on Luke 31 · read this chapter →
“Thus Marcion read the scriptures like the devil, thus Basilides, thus Valentinus, so that together with the devil they might say to the Savior”
— Homily on Luke 31 · read this chapter →
“If ever you hear testimonies from the scriptures, do not immediately agree with the one speaking, but consider whose life it is, whose opinion, whose will it belongs to”
— Homily on Luke 31 · read this chapter →
“The Son of God, I say, does not need the help of angels. Rather learn this, devil: unless Jesus helps the angels, they strike their foot.”
— Homily on Luke 31 · read this chapter →
“Why, devil, are you silent about this, if not because you are the "basilisk," you the king of all serpents, having more harmful venoms than the rest, who kill anyone the moment you are seen?”
— Homily on Luke 31 · read this chapter →
It is a sermon on the temptation of Jesus in Luke 4, focused on the devil's citation of Psalm 91 to dare Jesus to jump from the Temple pinnacle. Origen uses the episode to teach the congregation how to detect scripture being quoted out of context or in bad faith.
Origen argues the devil quotes scripture specifically because citing pagan sources would carry no authority; by quoting the Bible itself, the devil can deceive 'friends of the letter' who accept any citation as proof, without checking whether the application is correct.
Origen names them as heretics who 'read the scriptures like the devil,' meaning they cite biblical text from the letter alone, without the spiritual understanding needed to apply it correctly, paralleling the devil's misuse of Psalm 91 against Christ.
Origen says Paul quotes secular authors (a comic poet, a line about Cretans) in order to sanctify them for a good purpose, while the devil quotes holy scripture in order to corrupt and deceive; the moral difference is in the intent behind the citation, not the source quoted.
After quoting Psalm 91 about angels bearing someone up, the devil omits the next verse about trampling the asp, basilisk, lion, and dragon. Origen reads this omission as revealing that the devil himself is those creatures, and that righteous people empowered by Christ are the ones who trample him.
No. Origen insists the psalm was written about righteous believers in general, not Christ, since Christ has no need of angelic protection; the devil's application of it to Christ is presented as a deliberate misreading meant to diminish the Savior's glory.
Commentary on John, Book 1 · Commentary on John, Book 10 · Commentary on John, Book 2 · Commentary on John, Book 4 · Commentary on John, Book 5 · Commentary on John, Book 6 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 10 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 11 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 12 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 13 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 14 · Commentary on Matthew, Book 15