Source edition
Origenes. Origenis Opera Omnia, Volume 2 (Patrologia Graeca, Tomus 12). La Rue, Charles de, editor; La Rue, Charles Vincent de, editor. Paris: J. P. Migne, 1862.
Source data
Open Greek and Latin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is an exegetical commentary that provides Christian spiritual and allegorical interpretations of various episodes and laws found in the Old Testament Book of Exodus. The author deciphers the events of the Exodus—such as the miracles, the regulations of the Passover lamb, circumcision, and the Sabbath—as symbols of salvation through Christ and the ethical growth of the soul. In the middle section, discussing the problematic passage of "punishing the children for the sin of the parents," the author refutes Jewish and heretical views, presenting divine discipline as evidence of God's saving love and correction for His children. The work concludes by treating the liberation of Hebrew slaves and the harvest festivals as metaphors for the spiritual freedom brought by Christ and the process of shedding the old self to become a new creation. It explores the universal truths of the soul and Christian faith lying beneath the literal text.