Recovering Origen’s Pauline Exegesis: Exegesis and Eschatology in the Commentary on Ephesians

Origen’s Commentary on Ephesians is preserved only in fragments excerpted in a Byzantine catena, which are inadequate for reconstructing Origen’s interpretation of this letter. This article investigates the possibility that a commentary on the same text by Jerome preserves the interplay in Origen’s commentary between the investigation of specific exegetical problems and the interpretation of the eschatological vision presented in Ephesians. This thesis is pursued in a detailed examination of five passages that are critical to the eschatology of Origen’s commentary. Although Jerome does not permit the reconstruction of Origen’s exact words, it may be possible to recover from the Latin commentary the structure and the flow of the exegetical inquiry the Alexandrian exegete conducts. In particular, Jerome’s attestation to Origen’s commentary may support a reappraisal of Origen’s complex thought obscured by the subsequent conflict over the theologian in the late fourth century.