Final Studies

Aiunt enim observari etiam apud Herbraeos, quod nisi quis ad aetatem perfectam maturamque pervenerit, libellum hunc ne quidem in manibus tenere permittatur. Sed et illud ab eis accepimus custodiri, quandoquidem moris est apud eos omnes Scripturas a doctoribus et a sapientibus tradi pueris, simul et eas quas δευτερώσεις appellant, ad ultimum quator ista observari, id est principium Genesis, in quo mundi creatura describitur, et Ezechielis prophetae principia, in quibus de cherubim refertur, et finem in quo templi aedificatio continetur, et hunc Cantici canticorum. Origenes, Origenis In Canticum Canticorum, Prologus, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense

For they say that among the Hebrews that unless a man has come to a mature and perfect age, he is not allowed to hold this little book in his hands. And from them we have received another thing to keep, that is, the custom that all the Scriptures should be delivered to the young by teachers and the wise, and at the same time those things which they name deuteroseis, second things, should be the last four to be studied, that is, the beginning of Genesis, in which the creation of the world is described, the beginning of the Prophet Ezekiel, which tells of the Cherubim, and the end of it where is found the building of the temple, and the Song of Songs. Origen, Commentary On the Song of Songs, Prologue, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia.