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"The Remains of Origen of Alexandria’s Exegesis of Ecclesiastes: A Reappraisal"

Jul 09, 2024 | 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

Lecture

Although Origen’s centrality in the history of Christian exegesis of Ecclesiastes is widely acknowledged by scholars, it is conventionally evidenced by a single factor, that is, the vast circulation of his view that Ecclesiastes is a book of physics. Indeed, almost nothing of Origen’s excerpta and eight homilies on Ecclesiastes, which we know of thanks to Jerome’s list (Epist. 33,4), has apparently survived. Still, many components of his interpretations can be sourced from his other works and from a number of scholia preserved by some Catenae on Ecclesiastes, while others can be traced in commentaries and homilies by ancient exegetes who were strongly influenced by him. Even though they are scattered in diverse works, often focus on separated expressions or stichs, and at times consist of mere mentions or allusions, the remnants of Origen’s comments pertain approximately to one quarter of the verses of Ecclesiastes and thus provide us with the earliest considerable witness to the Christian exegesis of this biblical book. Nonetheless, these materials have been barely taken into account or discussed in previous scholarship, with the result that not only Origen’s exegesis of Ecclesiastes is largely neglected but even his well-known opinion that Ecclesiastes is a book of physics has never been evaluated against the evidence. The aim of this presentation is to provide an up-to-date overview of the remains of Origen’s comments on Ecclesiates and an assessment of their exegetical and doctrinal features.