Origen · a new plain-English translation from the Greek and Latin
...of the mind of Scripture, which comes to an eye capable of taking in the clarity of the sacred writings. I have said these things in my preface, rousing and awakening both myself and those listening to pay attention to what has been read, so that we may ask Jesus to come and appear to us and to teach us now the things written here. "Jeremiah prophesied, and Pashhur son of Immer heard him,"
the priest, the words of the prophecy. And it is likely that, although so many had heard Jeremiah simply following the course of the prophecy, no other hearer besides Pashhur has been recorded so promptly. Scripture took care to say whose son he was—that he was son of Immer—and that he held the office of priest, and what rank he held among the people, namely that he had been appointed leader
of the house of the Lord at the time when Jeremiah was prophesying these words. And it is recorded that, upon hearing the words of this prophecy, Pashhur struck Jeremiah, and was not content with having struck him, but also threw him into a certain cataract. Scripture took care to say also where this cataract was—at the gate of Benjamin—and that the cataract
was in a place where there was an upper chamber, and this upper chamber belonged to none other than the house of the Lord. These things it recorded as having come by the Holy Spirit for the prophecy given to Jeremiah, and as having come from Pashhur. Then it says: "On the next day Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the cataract." And Jeremiah, once brought out, said to Pashhur that "the Lord has not called you by this name,"
"by the name Pashhur; another name has been set for you: as for Jacob, Israel, as for Abram, Abraham, as for Sarai, Sarah, so for you a name has been set—Sojourner. And he has called you Sojourner for this reason, because the Lord says: Behold, I give you over into exile with all—with whom? Is it not with your wife and your sons and your daughters,
but with your friends. And when you are given over into exile, your friends will fall by the sword. Then, as though there were a difference among those who fall by the sword—whether they fall by the sword of enemies or by the sword of others—it says that the friends of the one who threw Jeremiah into the cataract will fall by the sword of their enemies. And your eyes," it says, "will see these things
being prophesied. But you and all Judah I will give into the hands of the king of Babylon, after your friends have suffered these things, and they will carry them off into exile in Babylon and cut them down; for the king of Judah and those of Judah they will cut down with the sword, and it no longer adds 'of their enemies,' as it was said of the earlier ones who were said to be friends of Pashhur. Then
it says: "And I will give all the strength of this city and all the treasures of the king of Judah and all the labors of this city into the hands of their enemies," so that the enemies may plunder the treasures and take the aforementioned things and lead Judah and its king away into Babylon. "But you, O Pashhur, and all who dwell
in your house, go into captivity to Babylon, and there you will die, and there you will be buried, you and all your friends to whom you prophesied falsely. It was necessary to cut off the whole passage and clarify it — not yet its deep meaning (if indeed we can grasp it), but just the wording and the very statement itself, which even an ordinary person, attending carefully
to the letters and not carelessly, can nonetheless understand. What then do these words mean? Here the task is to set forth the intent of this writing. And indeed I confess for my own part that I am not able to expound it, but need, as I said before, the manifestation of the power of Jesus, according to which he is wisdom, according to which he is word, according to which he is truth, so that his manifestation
may make light upon the face of my soul. (18,) ....................................................... ............................................................... ............................................................... The sorcerers of the Egyptians also had rods, which wished to discredit those of Moses and of Aaron, as though they were not from God. But the rods that are from God overturn those of the sophists and sorcerers: “the rod of Aaron swallowed them up”; for that alone was sufficient for this purpose, even without the
rod of Moses. “Pashhur” then “struck Jeremiah the prophet,” and characteristically: “and he struck Jeremiah the prophet.” The phrase “the prophet” is added as well. Here, then, the one who struck Jeremiah the prophet struck him. But it is written in the Acts that someone struck Paul at the command of Ananias the high priest. Therefore Paul said: “God is going to strike you,”
“you whitewashed wall.” And even to this day, the Ebionites, commanded by the word of a lawless high priest, strike the apostle of Jesus Christ with slanderous words. And Paul says to such a high priest of that sort of speech, “God is going to strike you.” And such a high priest is, on the surface, handsome, and a whitewashed wall — “I have given my back to the whips, and my cheeks” — Christ says:
“I have given my back to the whips, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn my face away from the shame of spittings.” The simple know this only in reference to that time, when Pilate scourged him, when the Jews plotted against him. But I see Jesus daily “giving his back to the whips.” Enter
into the synagogues of the Jews, and see Jesus being scourged by them with the tongue of blasphemy. See those gathered from the nations, plotting against the Christians, considering in what way they may seize Jesus, and he too “gives his own back to the whips.” Observe the Word of God being insulted, spoken evil of, hated by the unbelievers. See that “he gave his cheeks to blows,”
and having taught that if anyone strikes you on the cheek, turn the other as well, he himself does this. So many strike him and scourge him, and he is silent and does not speak. For it is written that he did not speak while being scourged. And “to this very day Jesus has not turned his face away from the shame of spittings.” Which of those who hold his teaching cheap does not, as it were, spit
...up to now, while Jesus endures it? (18,) It followed, from the fact that the prophet had been struck, that one should narrate those who had been struck — for example, the apostle, and if anyone else has been struck — and set forth also the things concerning Jesus himself. So 'Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet, and cast him into the stocks that were at the gate of Benjamin of the upper chamber.' Of Benjamin—
— the stocks belonged to the upper chamber. Jerusalem is the inheritance of Benjamin, in which is the temple of God, as anyone able to attend to the divine readings will find from the inheritance recorded in the book of the son of Nun. Since, then, the temple was in the inheritance of Benjamin, whose name is interpreted 'Son of the right hand' (for there is nothing left-handed about the temple of God),
for this reason he casts him 'into the stocks that were at the gate of Benjamin of the upper chamber of the house of the Lord.' There being an 'upper chamber in the house of the Lord,' he 'cast' the prophet 'into the stocks.' Let us too pray that, taking Jeremiah now, we may bring him up into the upper chamber 'in the house of the Lord.' And I will show from Scripture that the upper chamber signifies the lofty and elevated mind, when
it bears witness concerning the saints that they received the prophets into upper chambers. In the third book of Kingdoms it is recorded that a widow received the prophet Elijah in Zarephath of Sidon, and she entertained the prophet 'in her upper chamber.' And in the fourth book, the woman who received Elisha prepared a room for him in the upper chamber. But the sinner Ahaziah fell from the
upper chamber. And to you too Jesus gives the command not to come down from the roof. For he says, 'when' such and such things happen, 'then let the one on the roof not come down to take the things out of his house.' The one fleeing in the persecutions is not being told merely not to go up onto the roof; rather he is told: from the roof 'let him not come down to take the things out of his house.' It is good
then, to be in upper chambers; it is good to be on roofs and to be found somewhere above. The wondrous apostles too, as is recorded of them in the Acts, when, being together, they were devoting themselves to prayers and to the word of God, were in an upper chamber. And since they were in an upper chamber, they were not below. For this reason 'there appeared to them tongues distributed, as of
fire.' But Peter too, when he was sending up his prayer to God, 'went up onto the roof'; and had he not gone up onto the roof, he would not have seen 'a vessel descending from heaven like a sheet, let down from heaven by its four corners.' And Tabitha too, the woman who performed acts of charity, 'who, translated, is called Dorcas,' was not below, but 'in the upper chamber,' where
Peter went up and raised her from the dead. But Jesus too, when he was about to celebrate this feast whose symbol we now keep, the Passover, with his disciples — when they asked, 'Where do you wish us to prepare the Passover for you?' — said: 'As you go, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him. He will show you a large upper room, furnished, swept, ready; there prepare the Passover.' No one
So then, keeping the Passover as Jesus does with Jesus, he is above in a great upper room, in an upper room swept, in an upper room adorned and ready. And if you go up with him, so that you may celebrate the Passover, he gives you the cup of the new covenant, he gives you also the bread of blessing, he grants you his own body and his own blood. For this reason we exhort
you: ‘go up to the height, lift up your eyes to the height.’ And for me, if I am teaching the divine word, the word says: ‘go up onto a high mountain, you who bring good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good news to Jerusalem; lift it up, do not be afraid.’ This on account of Pashhur, because when there stood nearby [26 strewn, swept: + adorned?] an ‘upper room in the house of the Lord
at the gate of Benjamin,’ he did not bring the prophet up into the upper room, but ‘cast him into the stocks’ below. (18) ‘And it came to pass on the next day that Pashhur brought Jeremiah out of the stocks.’ O Lord Jesus, come again, make this clear to me as well, and to those who have come for spiritual nourishment. How is it that ‘on the next day’ he himself brings ‘Jeremiah out of the
stocks’? For as long as the present day stands (and ‘today’ is this whole age), the sinner casts the prophet down into the stocks; but when the present day ceases and tomorrow comes, then, having repented, he brings him out of the stocks. Then Jeremiah tells him what Pashhur will suffer. What does he say to him? ‘Not
Pashhur is your name called, but rather Migrant. For thus says the Lord.’ This Pashhur is about to be exiled, according to the measure of his sins, to Babylon — not alone, but together with his friends. For he is handed over to Nebuchadnezzar and goes off into Confusion, and is punished for his sins, since ‘he cast the prophet into the stocks.’ Who then
are the friends of Pashhur, the one named for the blackness of his mouth? All who received his words, who were blackened together with his blackened mouth, who received doctrines of blackness. ‘And they shall fall by the sword of their enemies.’ Those appointed over punishments — these are the ones who hold the swords and make them fall by drinking; concerning whom the word prophesies and says:
‘and your eyes shall see.’ These things prophesied, he says, ‘your eyes shall see.’ ‘And you, and all Judah, I will give into the hands of the king of Babylon.’ Whoever of Judah is found so sinful as to be worthy of the king of Babylon, of Confusion, will be handed over to him. And the king of Babylon takes hold of sinners. Now the king of Babylon, according to the historical sense, is Nebuchadnezzar,
but according to the higher sense, the evil one. To him the sinner is handed over, since he is both enemy and avenger. That the sinner is handed over to him, let Paul teach you, where he speaks concerning Phygelus and Hermogenes: ‘whom I have handed over to’ ... ‘of the one who has committed fornication: when you are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of the Lord Jesus, I have judged to hand over such a one to the
...delivered to Satan so that his flesh would perish, in order that his spirit might be rescued on the day the mouth of Melania, into the hands of the king of Babylon, and they will remove him to Babylon. "And they will cut them down with the sword, and I will give all the strength of this city." It is easy to say that these things are prophesied concerning Jerusalem; for all her strength has been handed over, and the things
brought at that time to the king of the Babylonians. It is easy to say that these things are prophesied concerning "this city," since in the times of the Savior it was handed over to its enemies, and the sons of Jerusalem have gone off into captivity and the city was razed to the ground. But if you examine the matter and look at the city not as stones but as people, you will see that that Jerusalem too,
the people, were handed over "into the hands of the king of Babylon" because of impiety and sin against Christ. And you are Jerusalem now. If then the word now threatens Jerusalem, take care lest you, if you sin, be a sinful Jerusalem and be handed over, so that you are no longer Jerusalem but become Babylon and Confusion, with Nebuchadnezzar the king of the Babylonians taking you captive. "And all
the labors" he hands Jerusalem over. How does he hand over "all the labors"? If, after you have contended and struggled, you fall and sin, all your labors have come into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. How, all your labors? It will be said to you, if you fall after having toiled much for the truth: "you have suffered so much in vain." Those especially who are aware in themselves of having drawn up many labors on behalf of virtue ought
to fear, lest their labors—once a Jerusalem has come into being—be seized by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon when some sin has occurred. But so that you may see more clearly how Nebuchadnezzar seizes the labors of a Jerusalem that has sinned, I will make use of what is written in Ezekiel in these words: "If the righteous man turns away from his righteous deeds and commits iniquity, I will not remember his righteous deeds that he did."
Why? Because Nebuchadnezzar seizes the righteous deeds that came about with labor, and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon destroys them. "And all the honor" of Jerusalem he seizes, when a man, having come to be in honor by God and "being in honor," "did not understand," and sinned. If then, being in honor and having been called to honor, you again insult yourself through sins,
the king of Babylon seizes the honor of Jerusalem. "And all the treasures of the king of Judah." Jerusalem is rich, but if she sins, the Babylonian takes her treasures. "And they will plunder them and take them and lead them away to Babylon. And you, Pashhur, and all who dwell in your house, shall go into captivity to Babylon, and there you shall die,
and there you shall be buried." The one who is overtaken in Confusion dies in Babylon; and the one disposed contrary to being buried together with Christ, this man is buried in Babylon. For it is possible also to be buried well with Christ through baptism, according to "we were buried together with Christ, and we rose together with him." As being buried together with Christ is a mystery, so likewise it is a mystery, occurring in accordance with lawlessness, for one who is sinful to
...to be buried in Babylon. “And all,” he says, “your friends there will go, to whom you prophesied falsehoods.” The one who expounds the sayings of God badly and casts the prophetic words into a cataract himself prophesies, but prophesies falsely; for whoever expounds the prophetic words, if he speaks truly, he too prophesies, and prophesies truly, but if he lies, he is a false prophet
...lying falsely against the prophetic words. (18) And now the first passage has been completed; let us already begin the second as well, for it has matters that are, right from the very first reading, no ordinary ones. And attending to the wording, let us again ask Jesus to come, and let us urge him to come still more manifestly and more brightly, so that when he has come he may teach us all whether the prophet was speaking truly
...as befits our thinking concerning a prophet in what follows, or was lying, which it is not permitted to say about a holy prophet. He says to God: “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed; I have become a laughingstock, I have gone on being mocked the whole day; for I will laugh at my own bitter word, I will call upon faithlessness and misery; for the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach
...and a mockery every day. And I said: I will not name the name of the Lord, and I will no longer speak in his name. And it became in my heart like a burning fire, blazing in my bones, and I am undone on every side and cannot bear it, for I heard the reproach of many gathering around,” and, clearly, “saying: Rise up together, and let us rise up
...against him, men who are his friends: watch his intention, whether he will be deceived, and we shall prevail over him and take our revenge upon him.” But while they were saying these things, the prophet says: “And the Lord is with me like a strong warrior; therefore they pursued but could not understand; they were greatly ashamed, because they did not understand their own dishonor, which will not be forgotten forever.” This is the
...second passage of the reading. How then does the prophet say, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived”? Does God deceive? How am I to manage this word, I am at a loss. For if, on account of God and his word, I look to something in this concerning him, what is about to be said requires a noble management. Having ceased to be deceived, the prophet says, “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived,” as though the elementary instruction and
...introduction given to him had occurred in deception, since he was not able to receive elementary instruction and to be introduced into reverence for God unless he were first deceived, so that afterward he might come to a perception of the deception. It suffices to give only one example useful for the matters before us. We speak to children, guiding them, and we do not speak to them as to grown men, but as to children in need of instruction we speak to them,
...and we deceive children by frightening them, so that they may cease from the lack of discipline found in children, and we frighten children by speaking words of deception, on account of what underlies their infancy, so that through the deception we may make them afraid and go to their teachers and report and do the things that befit the progress of children. We are all children before God, and we need the guidance given to children. For this reason
God, sparing us, deceives us (even if we do not perceive the deception before the time), so that, no longer being as those who have passed beyond infancy, we might be trained no longer through deception, but through the facts themselves. The child is led to fear in one way, and one who has advanced in age and passed beyond childhood, in another. For if I am able to guide it by deception †, so that the
deceiving God might say, ‘I will train them by the report of their affliction.’ I will set forth stories of how God deceives for salvation and says something, so that the sinner might stop doing what he would have done had he not heard certain of these words. He who said, ‘Yet three days, and Nineveh will be overthrown’—was he speaking truly, or was he not speaking truly, but deceiving with a deception that turns people back?
And if this turning-back had not happened, it would no longer have been a deception, but what was said would already have been the truth, and the overthrow would have followed for Nineveh. It rested with the hearers—either, having been deceived and having believed what was said as true, to be benefited and not overthrown; or, since what was said did not come true, and they had not been deceived but had grasped that what was said would not happen, to despise what was said
as a deception, <and> to suffer not the ‘Yet three days and Nineveh will be overthrown,’ but—I dare even to say—things far harsher than ‘Yet three days and Nineveh will be overthrown.’ For on the assumption that the Ninevites, having sinned, [if they had not repented,] had not repented, perhaps ‘Yet three days and Nineveh will be overthrown’ would have come to pass; but suppose that this did not come to pass—something worse than this came to pass: they were handed over to
eternal fire. For this reason another punishment is spoken of according to the law for those who are trained as children; but for those ‘upon whom the fullness of time [of which] has come,’ other punishments are recorded. Compare the punishments of sinners under the law with the punishments of sinners under the gospel, and you will see that those, as infants, heard a punishment fitted to infants, while we, as
those of mature age, hear harsher punishments. If someone had then become an adulterer or an adulteress, the threat was not Gehenna, not eternal fire, but: he shall be stoned with stones; ‘let the whole congregation stone him.’ The adulterer found guilty in these matters, the adulteress found guilty in these matters, will say upon departing: would that the word might be said of me too—‘the people cast stones at me,’ and I was not kept for the eternal fire.
For ‘liable’ ‘to the Gehenna of fire’ is not only the adulterer, but also the one who says to his brother, ‘Fool.’ But if the one who says to his brother, ‘Fool,’ ‘shall be liable to the Gehenna of fire,’ to what will the adulterer be liable? I am seeking some greater place of punishment than the Gehenna of fire. And perhaps I might say
that Gehenna belongs to those who are absent, to those who are capable of being purified. And just as, in the case of good things, of the righteous, ‘it has not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him,’ so too what he has prepared for sinners, for the fornicator, for the adulterer, ‘has not entered into the heart of man.’ For if it had entered into the heart <of him> to whom the one who said to his
to his brother, “Fool,” it is clear that what is prepared for those who have sinned worse things is greater than what merely rises up into the heart. I am not able to conceive of anything greater than Gehenna, but I only believe that there is something greater than Gehenna—that which is prepared for adulterers. So too I come to the remaining punishments set out in the law, and I take an apostolic phrase that harmonizes with these, and that kept silent about
my punishment, if I should sin, since I do not wish to accept “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived,” having gladly accepted being deceived. But what does the apostle say? “Anyone who sets aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses; how much worse a punishment, do you suppose, will the one be deemed worthy of who has trampled the Son of God underfoot?” Name it, O Paul—the punishment; say it. But I do not say
it, he says; greater than what is said is the punishment of those who sin against the gospel, greater than what is heard, greater than what is conceived. For this reason the prophet was brought in as a child, having heard and been made afraid and been disciplined, and after this having been made perfect, saying: “You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived.” And you too, insofar as you are a child, fear the
threats, the eternal punishments, the unquenchable fire—or perhaps something even greater than this, that which is stored up for those who have lived for a long time contrary to right reason. May we experience none of these things, but being made perfect in Christ Jesus, may we be deemed worthy of the heavenly festivals and of the Passover that is there, unto the ascent in Christ Jesus, to whom belongs the glory and the
power, for ever and ever. Amen.