The Things of God and Men

Καὶ ἐγενήθη ῥῆμα Κυρίου πρὸς Σαμουὴλ, λέγων· Μεταμεμέλημαι ὅτι ἔχρισα τὸν Σαοὺλ εἰς βασιλέα. Ὡσπερ ἀνθρώπων μὲν χεὶρ καὶ ποῦς καὶ ὀφθαλμὸς καὶ οὖς, καὶ εἴ τι τουοῦτον ὀνομάζεται, σημαντικὰ τῶν μελῶν τοῦ ἡμετέρου σώματός ἐστιν· ἐπὶ δὲ Θεοῦ χεὶρ μὲν τὸ δυμιουργικὸν, ὀφθαλμὸς δὲ τὸ ἐποπτικόν· καὶ οὖς μὲν τὸ ακουστικὸν, ποῦς δὲ τὸ τῆς παρουσίας, ὅτ' ἂν ἐνεργῇ τι· οὕτω καὶ θυμὸς μὲν Θεοῦ λέγεται παιδεία, ἡ κατὰ τῶν παιόντων, οὐ πάθος Θεοῦ· μεταμέλεια δὲ ἡ ἀπὸ πράγματοκ εἰς πρᾶγμα μετάθεσις τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίας. Ὅ γὰρ ἡμεῖς μεταμελούμενοι ποιοῦμεν, τουτέστιν ἐκεῖνα μὲν φεύγομεν ἐφ' οἶς μετεμελήθημεν, ἕτερα δὲ διώκομεν τὰ κρείττω· τοῦτο μεταμέλεια Θεοῦ λέγεται. Διὰ τί; Ἐπειδὴ σωματικώτερον τοῖς βαρυτάτοις τὴν διάνοιαν ἔδει περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ τοὺς προφήτας ὁμιλεῖν, ἵνα χωρηθῇ· οἱ γὰρ ἀγάλματα ἄπερ ἔγλυφον καὶ ἐχώνευον θεοὺς νομίζοντες, ἥδη δὲ καὶ ἄλογα, πῶς ἂν ἐχώρησαν διὰ πνευματικῶν νοημάτων τε καὶ ῥνμάτων τὰ περὶ Θεοῦ λεγόμενα; Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαί Εἰς Την Πρῶτην Των Βασιλειών

And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, ' I repent that I anointed Saul king.' As the hand of man and foot and eye and ear, and anything like these which are named, signify the members of our body, yet with God the hand means the creative power, and the eye the power of seeing all things, and the ear the ability to hear all things, and the foot his presence, for so it is done, and likewise the anger of God is to be understood this way, for as for Him being troubled, there is no passion in God. Repentance then is the figure for the Divine dispensation to change one thing to another. For when we come to repent it is that we would be rid of that which we repent and pursue better things, and so is named the repentance of God. But why are these things expressed like this? It was so the prophets could speak to the more dull in mind among us about God that there was accommodation to things corporeal. I mean, those who sculptured and set up idols which they judged to be gods; for so lacking in reason how would they have been able to grasp through purely spiritual thoughts and words the things that were said about God? Origen, Fragment On The First Book of Kings 1 1 Kings 15.11