Sabbath Law and Mishnah Shabbat in Origen De Principiis The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Cohen, Shaye J. D. 2010. Sabbath Law and Mishnah Shabbat in Origen De Principiis. Jewish Studies Quarterly 17 (2): 160–89. Published Version http://www.jstor.org/stable/40753511 Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33077878 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Open Access Policy Articles, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#OAP Shaye J.D. Cohen 1
[email protected] Sabbath Law and Mishnah Shabbat in Origen De Principiis Origen (184/5 – 253/4 CE), the great theologian, scholar, and exegete, was primarily associated with two cities in the course of his life: Alexandria in Egypt and Caesarea in Roman Palaestina. He was educated in the former and began his career there; he moved to the latter in the early 230s, having visited it for a time in 215/6 CE.1 Throughout his writings Origen had a sustained interest in Judaism, in particular the Jewish exegesis of the Hebrew Scriptures. Origen sought out Jews who could help him establish the text or explain difficult words and phrases.2 Of course, as a pious Christian, Origen believed that the Jews do not understand their own Scriptures. For him the truth of the Bible is revealed solely through faith in Christ; the Bible is a Christian book, and the Jews, because they deny Christ, misapprehend the very text that they claim to interpret.