Editing Origen (section)

===Exegetical writings===
Origen was an extremely prolific writer.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=25–26}}{{sfn|Trigg|1983|p=245}}{{sfn|Ehrman|2003|pp=154–155}}{{sfn|Watts|2008|p=159}} According to [[Epiphanius of Salamis|Epiphanius]], he wrote a grand total of roughly 6,000 works over the course of his lifetime.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}}<ref>''Haer''., lxiv.63</ref> Most scholars agree that this estimate is probably somewhat exaggerated.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}} According to Jerome, Eusebius listed the titles of just under 2,000 treatises written by Origen in his lost ''Life of Pamphilus''.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}}<ref>''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'', VI., xxxii. 3; Eng. transl., ''[[NPNF]]'', 2 ser., i. 277</ref><ref>''Epist. ad Paulam, NPNF'', vi. 46</ref> Jerome compiled an abbreviated list of Origen's major treatises, itemizing 800 different titles.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}}

By far the most important work of Origen on textual criticism was the {{translit|grc|[[Hexapla]]}} ('Sixfold'), a massive comparative study of various translations of the Old Testament in six columns:{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=10, 27}} [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], Hebrew in Greek characters, the [[Septuagint]], and the Greek translations of [[Theodotion]] (a Jewish scholar from {{circa}} 180 AD), [[Aquila of Sinope]] (another Jewish scholar from {{circa}} 117–138), and [[Symmachus (translator)|Symmachus]] (an [[Ebionites|Ebionite]] scholar from {{circa}} 193–211).{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=10, 27}}<ref>Trigg, Joseph W. – ''Origen – The Early Church Fathers'' – 1998, Routledge, London and New York, page 16. Retrieved 2 September 2015.</ref> Origen was the first Christian scholar to introduce critical markers to a Biblical text.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} He marked the Septuagint column of the ''Hexapla'' using signs adapted from those used by the textual critics of the [[Library of Alexandria|Great Library of Alexandria]]:{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} a passage found in the Septuagint that was not found in the Hebrew text would be marked with an [[asterisk]] (*){{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} and a passage that was found in other Greek translations, but not in the Septuagint, would be marked with an [[obelus]] (÷).{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}}

[[File:Texts of the OT.svg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Diagram showing the inter-relationship between various significant ancient versions and [[recension]]s of the Old Testament (some identified by their siglum). LXX here denotes the original septuagint.]]

The {{translit|grc|Hexapla}} was the cornerstone of the Great Library of Caesarea, which Origen founded.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} It was still the centerpiece of the library's collection by the time of Jerome,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} who records having used it in his letters on multiple occasions.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} When Emperor [[Constantine the Great]] ordered fifty complete copies of the Bible to be transcribed and disseminated across the empire, Eusebius used the {{translit|grc|Hexapla}} as the master copy for the Old Testament.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} Although the original {{translit|grc|Hexapla}} has been lost,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=27–28}} the text of it has survived in numerous fragments{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} and a more-or-less complete [[Syriac language|Syriac]] translation of the Greek column, made by the seventh-century bishop Paul of Tella, has also survived.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|pp=27–28}} For some sections of the {{translit|grc|Hexapla}}, Origen included additional columns containing other Greek translations;{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} for the Book of Psalms, he included no less than eight Greek translations, making this section known as {{translit|grc|Enneapla}} ('Ninefold').{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}} Origen also produced the {{translit|grc|Tetrapla}} ('Fourfold'), a smaller, abridged version of the {{translit|grc|Hexapla}} containing only the four Greek translations and not the original Hebrew text.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=27}}

According to Jerome's ''Epistle'' 33, Origen wrote extensive {{translit|grc|[[scholia]]}} on the books of [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], Psalms 1–15, [[Ecclesiastes]], and the Gospel of John.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}} None of these {{translit|grc|scholia}} have survived intact,{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}} but parts of them were incorporated into the {{lang|la|[[Catena (biblical commentary)|Catenaea]]}}, a collection of excerpts from major works of Biblical commentary written by the Church Fathers.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}} Other fragments of the {{translit|grc|scholia}} are preserved in Origen's {{translit|grc|[[Philokalia (Origen)|Philocalia]]}} and in [[Pamphilus of Caesarea]]'s apology for Origen.{{sfn|McGuckin|2004|p=26}} The {{translit|grc|Stromateis}} were of a similar character, and the margin of {{lang|la|Codex Athous Laura}}, 184, contains citations from this work on Romans 9:23; I Corinthians 6:14, 7:31, 34, 9:20–21, 10:9, besides a few other fragments. Origen composed homilies covering almost the entire Bible. There are 205, and possibly 279, homilies of Origen that are extant either in Greek or in Latin translations.{{efn|The discrepancy concerns the 74 homilies on the Psalms attributed to Jerome, but which V Peri has argued Jerome translated from Origen with only minor changes. (Both 205 and 279 exclude the 2012 discoveries) {{harvnb|Heine|2004|p=124}}}}

[[File:Papyrus Bodmer VIII.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Two sides of the ''[[Papyrus 72|Papyrus Bodmer VIII]]'', an early New Testament fragment from the third or fourth century AD containing the [[Epistle of Jude]], [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Peter]], and [[Second Epistle of Peter|2 Peter]]. Origen accepted the two former as authentic without question,{{sfn|Lockett|2017|pp=71–72}} but noted that the latter was suspected to be a forgery.{{sfn|Lockett|2017|p=71}}]]

The homilies preserved are on Genesis (16), Exodus (13), [[Homilies on Leviticus|Leviticus]] (16), Numbers (28), Joshua (26), Judges (9), I Sam. (2), Psalms 36–38 (9),{{efn|And possibly the extra 74 homilies on the Psalms. {{harvnb|Heine|2004|page=124}}}} Canticles (2), Isaiah (9), Jeremiah (7 Greek, 2 Latin, 12 Greek and Latin), Ezekiel (14), and Luke (39). The homilies were preached in the church at Caesarea, with the exception of the two on 1 Samuel which were delivered in Jerusalem. Nautin has argued that they were all preached in a three-year liturgical cycle some time between 238 and 244, preceding the ''Commentary on the Song of Songs'', where Origen refers to homilies on Judges, Exodus, Numbers, and a work on Leviticus.{{sfn|Heine|2004|p=125}} On June 11, 2012, the [[Bavarian State Library]] announced that the Italian philologist Marina Molin Pradel had discovered twenty-nine previously unknown homilies by Origen in a twelfth-century Byzantine manuscript from their collection.<ref name=hom2012>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=June 12, 2012 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/vatican-reports-discovery-ancient-documents-175855191.html |title=Vatican reports discovery of ancient documents |access-date=April 28, 2014 |archive-date=April 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424225931/http://news.yahoo.com/vatican-reports-discovery-ancient-documents-175855191.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2012/06/11/greek-text-found-of-origens-homilies-on-the-psalms/ |title=Greek text found of Origen's homilies on the Psalms! at Roger Pearse |publisher=Roger-pearse.com |date=2012-06-11 |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-date=2014-04-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424192526/http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2012/06/11/greek-text-found-of-origens-homilies-on-the-psalms/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Prof. Lorenzo Perrone of Bologna University and other experts confirmed the authenticity of the homilies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://alinsuciu.com/2012/06/12/lorenzo-perrone-about-origens-newly-discovered-homilies-on-the-psalms/ |title=Lorenzo Perrone About Origen's Newly Discovered Homilies on the Psalms |publisher=Alin Suciu |date=2012-06-12 |access-date=2014-04-24 |archive-date=2016-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623152127/https://alinsuciu.com/2012/06/12/lorenzo-perrone-about-origens-newly-discovered-homilies-on-the-psalms/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The texts of these manuscripts can be found online.<ref>[http://bsb-mdz12-spiegel.bsb.lrz.de/~db/0005/bsb00050972/images/ Digitalisat] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817011126/http://bsb-mdz12-spiegel.bsb.lrz.de/~db/0005/bsb00050972/images/ |date=August 17, 2012 }}</ref>

Origen is the main source of information on the use of the texts that were later officially canonized as the [[New Testament]].{{sfn|Lockett|2017|pp=71–73}}<ref name="Bateman">[http://ssrn.com/abstract=1653073 C. G. Bateman, Origen's Role in the Formation of the New Testament Canon, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102173142/http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1653073 |date=2012-11-02 }}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102173142/http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1653073 archive]</ref> The information used to create the late-fourth-century [[Easter Letter]], which declared accepted Christian writings, was probably based on the lists given in Eusebius's ''Ecclesiastical History'' HE 3:25 and 6:25, which were both primarily based on information provided by Origen.<ref name="Bateman"/> Origen accepted the authenticity of the epistles of [[First Epistle of John|1 John]], [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Peter]], and [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]] without question{{sfn|Lockett|2017|pp=71–73}} and accepted the [[Epistle of James]] as authentic with only slight hesitation.{{sfn|Lockett|2017|p=72}} He also refers to [[Second Epistle of John|2 John]], [[Third Epistle of John|3 John]], and [[Second Epistle of Peter|2 Peter]]{{sfn|Lockett|2017|pp=71–72}} but notes that all three were suspected to be forgeries.{{sfn|Lockett|2017|pp=71–72}} Origen may have also considered other writings to be "inspired" that were rejected by later authors, including the [[Epistle of Barnabas]], [[Shepherd of Hermas]], and [[1 Clement]].<ref name="McGuckin2001">McGuckin, John A. "Origen as Literary Critic in the Alexandrian Tradition." 121–37 in vol. 1 of 'Origeniana octava: Origen and the Alexandrian Tradition.' Papers of the 8th International Origen Congress (Pisa, 27–31 August 2001). Edited by L. Perrone. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium 164. 2 vols. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2003.</ref> "Origen is not the originator of the idea of biblical canon, but he certainly gives the philosophical and literary–interpretative underpinnings for the whole notion."<ref name="McGuckin2001"/>