INTRODUCTION

The following is a provisional translation of several collections of fragments reputed to come from Origen’s exegetical volumes on the Book of Proverbs.^[1] These collections are found in Patrologia Graeca 13:17-34 and 17:149-60, in Pitra, Analecta Sacra III, and in Marcel Richard, Opera Minora II. We have also included the fragments on Prov 31.10-31 attributed to Origen in Patrologia Graeca 17:249-252, most of which is derived from Evagrius’s Scholia on Proverbs. With the exception of Prov 31 just noted, we have not (as yet) produced a translation of the Expositio in Proverbia Salomonis as presented in PG 17:161-252, which is derived from Vaticanus 1802 much of which has subsequently been shown to be the Scholia on Proverbs of Evagrius Ponticus. Those interested can consult our translation of Evagrius’ Scholia.^[2]

The Remains of Origen’s Works on Proverbs

Through Jerome’s Letter 33 addressed to Paula, in which Jerome enumerates works of Origen available to him, we are told that Origen dedicated at least three books of commentary and seven homilies to the Book of Proverbs, as well as a “book on certain problems of the Proverbs.”^[3] Unfortunately, only two unambiguous remains of these works have survived to the present day. In Pamphilus’s Apology for Origen 185-88, Pamphilus marshals a few paragraphs from Origen’s On the Proverbs of Solomon to demonstrate Origen’s aversion to the idea of the transmigration of souls, though it is unclear to what verses of Proverbs these comments correspond. And in Nicetas of Heraclius’s catena on the Gospel of Luke, a long comment on Prov 1.^[6] from Origen’s hand has been preserved.^[4] Both of these appear in the translation below. Aside from these selections, the rest of Origen’s direct work on Proverbs has been carried along in catenae of collected comments and scholia—which are often ambiguously blended and/or misattributed—from various Church Fathers.^[5] As such, one must interact with Origen’s interpretation of the Book of Proverbs mainly through the significant number of citations of and allusions to Proverbs in Origen’s homilies, commentaries, and other works.^[6] Thankfully, through Rufinus’ translation of the prologue to Origen’s Commentary on the Song of Songs, we have access to Origen’s broad theological hermeneutic for the Book of Proverbs as a whole.

The Value of these Fragments

To my knowledge, no English translation exists for all of this material.^[7] It is hoped that the translation, together with the parallel-column presentation, will be of benefit, along with the notes we have provided. Indeed, the main objective of this translation effort—much of which was undertaken in 2010-2012 as part my dissertation research on the Nachleben of the Book of Proverbs—is simply to make more of the Patristic exegetical legacy for the Book of Proverbs available to a wider audience. (It is quite unfortunate that more of this material did not make it into the Ancient Christian Commentary volume on Proverbs!) For the specialist, of course, the status of much of this material is questionable as to whether it came directly from Origen’s hand. Yet, even with this caveat, many of the more substantive comments clearly have an Origenic air and mode of expression to them. This, we think, could be further fleshed out with comparison to Origen’s reading of Proverbs in his extant works. In any case, of particular value in the present material is the commentary preserved for Prov 1.6. This is certainly from Origen, in the main,^[8] and provides a substantive discussion of this verse (Prov 1.6) which was of supreme importance to Origen’s and, in general, to Patristic understandings of both the Book of Proverbs and all of Scripture.^[9] The excerpt could serve as a kind of companion to St. Basil’s thorough (and thoroughly Origenic) explanation of Prov 1.1-5 in his Homily 12. In truth, all of the present material covering the prologue of Proverbs, 1.1-7, is of exegetical value for its focus on definition of terms (often with Stoic analogies), is likely Origenic, and preserves some key motifs of Patristic engagement with the Solomonic Trilogy. Also of particular value is the commentary series on Prov 30.15-31 reconstructed by Marcel Richard from the catena of Procopius, as again this section of the Book of Proverbs was of consistent interest in the early church.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Origen on Proverbs ____ . Fragmenta ex Libro de Proverbiis Salomonis. Patrologia Graeca 13:17-34. ____ . Fragmenta in Proverbia. Patrologia Graeca 17:149-160. ____ . Expositio in Proverbia Salomonis. Patrologia Graeca 17:161-252. ____ . In Proverbia Salomonis. Pages 523-527 in vol. 3 of Analecta Sacra Spicilegio Solesmensi parata. Edited by Joannes Baptista Pitra. Parisiis: A. Jouby et Roger, 1883.

Richard, Marcel. “Les Fragments d’Origène sur Prov. XXX, 15-31.” Pages 385-394 in vol. 2 of Opera Minora. Turnhout: Brepols, 1977.

Other Primary Sources

Armstrong, Jonathan J. Eusebius of Caesarea: Commentary on Isaiah. Ancient Christian Texts. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2013. DelCogliano, Mark. Saint Basil the Great: On Christian Doctrine and Practice. Popular Patristics Series 47. Yonkers: SVS Press, 2012. Harl, Marguerite, ed. Origène: Philocalie, 1-20: Sur Les Écritures et La Lettre à Africanus sur l’Histoire de Suzanne. Sources Chrétiennes 302. Paris: Cerf, 1983. Scheck, Thomas P., trans. St. Pamphilus: Apology for Origen. Fathers of the Church 120. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2010. Slusser, Michael, trans. St. Gregory Thaumaturgus: Life & Works. Fathers of the Church 98. Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1998.

Secondary Sources

Crouzel, Henri. Origen. Translated by A. S. Worrall. New York: Harper & Row, 1989. Grant, R. M. The Earliest Lives of Jesus. London: SPCK, 1961. Harl, Marguerite. “La ‘Bouche’ et le ‘Coeur’ de l’Apôtre: Deux Images Bibliques du ‘Sens Divin’ de l’Homme (“Proverbes” 2,5) Chez Origène.” Pages 17-42 in Forma Futuri: Studi in Onore del Cardinale Michele Pellegrino. Torino: Bottega d’Erasmo, 1975. Martens, Peter W. Origen and Scripture: The Contours of the Exegetical Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. Mikoda, Toshio. “ ~HGEMONIKON in the Soul.” Pages 459-63 in Origeniana Sexta: Origène et la Bible/Origen and the Bible. Bibliotheca ephemeridum theologicarum lovaniensium 118. Edited by Gilles Dorival and Alain le Boulluec. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1995. Miller, Patricia Cox. “Poetic Words, Abysmal Words: Reflections on Origen’s Hermeneutics.” Pages 165-78 in Origen of Alexandria: His World and His Legacy. Edited by Charles Kannengiesser and William L. Petersen. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988. Niculescu, Mihai. The Spell of the Logos: Origen’s Exegetic Pedagogy in the Contemporary Debate Regarding Logocentrism. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2009. Rahner, Karl. “The ‘Spiritual Senses’ According to Origen.” Pages 81-103 in vol. 16 of Theological Investigations. Translated by David Morland. New York: Crossroad, 1983. Shiell, William David. Reading Acts: The Lector and the Early Christian Audience. Biblical Interpretation Series 70. Boston: Brill, 2004. Young, Frances M. Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.