Origen : homilies 1-14 on Ezekiel
Before he launched into his own career as an interpreter of Scripture, St. Jerome (345-420) was encouraged by St. Gregory Nazianzen to immerse himself in the writings of the Greek Fathers and especially in those of Origen of Alexandria (185-254), considered to be the most important ancient exegete. Jerome strove to assimilate Origen s hermeneutical perspective and make it his own, translating several of Origen's works into Latin. The Homilies on Ezekiel were among the most important of St. Jerome s translations. In these homilies Origen endeavors to show his audience in the church of Caesarea how the text of Ezekiel points to and prefigures Jesus Christ and the church. Following in the footsteps of St. Paul (Rom 15.4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction... ) and Hebrews (10.1: For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come... ), Origen looks for the reality of Christ symbolized in the shadowy words of the prophet Ezekiel. The result is a deeply moving, reverent, and edifying exposition of the Old Testament prophet in a manner that doubtless would have been received with pleasure by St. Paul himself. The homilies are of intrinsic interest on important Christian themes such as persecution and martyrdom, purification, justification, progress, Church unity, God s passionate love for humanity, Catholic versus heretical doctrine, and freedom of the will. The present volume offers the first published English translation of the fourteen homilies, along with Jerome's preface
Ancient Christian writers, no. 62
Early works
vi, 213 pages ; 23 cm.
9780809105670, 0809105675
401714650
General introduction
Preface of Jerome
Homily 1: the vision of the prophet (Ezekiel 1:1-6; 2:1ff.)
Homily 2: against the false prophets (Ezekiel 13:1-19)
Homily 3: against the false prophets and elders (Ezekiel 13:1, 17-22; 14:1-8)
Homily 4: the famine and the ferocious beasts (Ezekiel 14:12-22)
Homily 5: sword, death, vine (Ezekiel 14:13-21; 15:1-4)
Homily 6: iniquities of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 16:2-16)
Homily 7: the beneficial effects of God's turning away (Ezekiel 16:16-30)
Homily 8: brothels, head and base of streets, gifts (Ezekiel 16:30-33)
Homily 9: iniquities, pride, relative justification (Ezekiel 16:45-52)
Homily 10: shame, return, restoration (Ezekiel 16:52-63)
Homily 11: the two eagles, the cedar, the flourishing vine (Ezekiel 17:1-7)
Homily 12: interpretation (Ezekiel 17:12-24)
Homily 13: the prince of Tyre, Pharaoh (Ezekiel 28:12-23)
Homily 14: the closed gate (Ezekiel 44:1-3)
This is the first English translation of Origen's 14 Homilies on Ezekiel, made from the Latin translation of St. Jerome