Biblical Allusions In The Old Testament

Introduction

The greatest accomplishment of Origen’s lifetime exegetical commentary work was to link biblical and ecclesiastical traditions with non-Christian streams of thought, especially with the Platonic philosophy and the Rabbinic tradition of that period. He was well-known for presenting the scientific or scholarly commentary on the Scripture. In this method, he made use of ancient knowledge to explain the text of the Bible. One notable works is his Preface to the Commentary on the Song of Songs.

Method of Interpretation in Late Antiquity

In the period of Late Antiquity, various commentators on Aristotle usually commence their interpretation of Aristotelian writings with a preface. It is believed that Ammonius was the first author

Therefore, human beings have to move first through moral purification (ethics), next through enlightenment to discern the vanity of the visible and corporeal and the value of things unseen and eternal (physics), and finally to union with God eternally (enoptics). Nonetheless, the idea of transformation for the readers of Scripture is crucial to Origen’s approach to Scripture. They are not meant to be mere spectators but participants and actors in the drama. Their goal is union with God, which then guides and directs the relationship of love to others. Symbolically it celebrates the “great mystery of love” between God and

To answer this, Origen posited a pervasive pattern of biblical symbolism, in which an inner, spiritual person corresponds to the outer, corporeal person. He found this terminology set forth explicitly in Paul where the human individual is doubly created, comprising of the “inner man” and the “outer man” (cf. 2 Cor 4:16; Rom 7:22). The former, made in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26), loves spiritually while the latter, fashioned from the dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7), loves carnally. This dualistic anthropology allows Origen to speak of the soul’s spiritual senses, encouraged further by the plethora of sensual objects and images in the Song, such as various fragrances and ointments, fruits, and wine. The point is that Christ becomes the object of each sense of the soul, so that the soul may perceive Christ. Just as the Scripture uses this imagery to speak of spiritual perception, spiritual maturity, spiritual nourishment, so it uses it to speak of spiritual love. Origen believed that the Song dealt with a heavenly rather than an earthly love, much like Plato’s Symposium, but as with Plato’s work it was possible for licentious persons to misunderstand it in a carnal way. Origen suggested that anyone who was still subject to fleshly urges not to read the book, and he commended the Jewish tradition that kept the Song out of the hands of the