Aphrahat the Persian Sage — Commentary on Scripture

For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

Judge in yourself what I am going to tell you: suppose you happen to go on a long journey and, parched with thirst in the heat, you chance upon one of the brothers. You say to him, “Refresh me in my exhaustion from thirst,” and he replies, “It is the time for prayer; I will pray and then I will come to your aid”; and while he is praying, before coming to you, you die of thirst. What seems to you the better, that he should go and pray, or alleviate your exhaustion?

1 Kings 15:9-13

And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.

Furthermore, the adversary tempted Job through his children and his possessions, and when he could not prevail over him, he went and brought against him his armor, and he came, bringing with him a daughter of Eve, who had caused Adam to sink, and through her mouth he said to Job, her righteous husband, “Curse God.” But Job rejected her counsel. King Asa also conquered the Accursed-of-life, when he wished to come in against him, through his mother. For Asa knew his craftiness and removed his mother from her high estate and cut in pieces her idol and cast it down.

1 Samuel 13:14

But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.

Also David was persecuted, as Jesus was persecuted. David was anointed by Samuel to be king instead of Saul who had sinned; and Jesus was anointed by John to be high priest instead of the priests, the ministers of the law. David was persecuted after his anointing; and Jesus was persecuted after his anointing. David reigned first over one tribe only and afterwards over all Israel; and Jesus reigned from the beginning over the few who believed on him, and in the end he will reign over all the world. Samuel anointed David when he was thirty years old; and Jesus when about thirty years old received the imposition of the hand from John. David wedded two daughters of the king; and Jesus wedded two daughters of kings, the congregation of the people and the congregation of the Gentiles. David repaid good to Saul his enemy; and Jesus taught, “Pray for your enemies.” David was the heart of God; and Jesus was the Son of God. David received the kingdom of Saul his persecutor; and Jesus received the kingdom of Israel his persecutor. David wept with dirges over Saul his enemy when he died; and Jes…

Also David was persecuted, as Jesus was persecuted. David was anointed by Samuel to be king instead of Saul who had sinned; and Jesus was anointed by John to be high priest instead of the priests, the ministers of the law. David was persecuted after his anointing; and Jesus was persecuted after his anointing. David reigned first over one tribe only and afterwards over all Israel; and Jesus reigned from the beginning over the few who believed on him, and in the end he will reign over all the world. Samuel anointed David when he was thirty years old; and Jesus when about thirty years old received the imposition of the hand from John. David wedded two daughters of the king; and Jesus wedded two daughters of kings, the congregation of the people and the congregation of the Gentiles. David repaid good to Saul his enemy; and Jesus taught, “Pray for your enemies.” David was the heart of God; and Jesus was the Son of God. David received the kingdom of Saul his persecutor; and Jesus received the kingdom of Israel his persecutor. David wept with dirges over Saul his enemy when he died; and Jesus wept over Jerusalem, his persecutor, which was to be laid waste. David handed over the kingdom to Solomon and was gathered to his people; and Jesus handed over the keys to Simon and ascended and returned to him who sent him. For David’s sake, sins were forgiven to his posterity; and for Jesus’ sake sins are forgiven to the nations.

1 Samuel 16:14-15

But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

I will instruct you of that which is written, that the Spirit is not at every time found with those that receive it. For it is written about Saul, that the Holy Spirit, which he received when he was anointed, departed from him, because he grieved it, and God sent to him instead of it a vexing spirit. And whenever he was afflicted by the evil spirit, David used to play upon the harp, and the Holy Spirit, which David received when he was anointed, would come, and the evil spirit that was vexing Saul would flee from before it. So the Holy Spirit that David received was not found with him at every time. As long as he was playing the harp, then it used to come.

2 Chronicles 14:10-15

Then Asa went out against him, and they set the battle in array in the valley of Zephathah at Mareshah.

Asa prayed, and his prayer manifested great power: when Zerah the Indian [Ethiopian] went out against him with an army of one million with him, Asa then prayed, saying, “By this shall your power be known, O our God, when you finish off a vast people by means of a small people.” God heard his prayer and sent his angel to rout them. Thus the vast army was defeated by the power of Asa’s prayer.

2 Samuel 7:14-15

I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men:

Again, listen concerning the title Son of God, by which we have called him. They [the Jews] say that “though God has no son, you make that crucified Jesus, the firstborn son of God.” Yet he called Israel “my firstborn” when he sent to Pharaoh through Moses and said to him, “Israel is my firstborn; I have said to you, let my son go to serve me, and if you are not willing to let (him) go, lo! I will slay your son, your firstborn.” And also through the prophet he testified concerning this and reproved them and said to the people, “Out of Egypt have I called my son. As I called them, so they went and worshiped Baal and offered incense to the graven images.” And Isaiah said concerning them, “Children have I reared and brought up, and they have rebelled against me.” And again it is written, “You are the children of the Lord your God.” And about Solomon he said, “He shall be a son to me, and I will be a Father to him.” So also we call the Christ “the Son of God” because through him we have gained the knowledge of God; even as he called Israel my firstborn son and as he said concerning Solom…

Again, listen concerning the title Son of God, by which we have called him. They [the Jews] say that “though God has no son, you make that crucified Jesus, the firstborn son of God.” Yet he called Israel “my firstborn” when he sent to Pharaoh through Moses and said to him, “Israel is my firstborn; I have said to you, let my son go to serve me, and if you are not willing to let (him) go, lo! I will slay your son, your firstborn.” And also through the prophet he testified concerning this and reproved them and said to the people, “Out of Egypt have I called my son. As I called them, so they went and worshiped Baal and offered incense to the graven images.” And Isaiah said concerning them, “Children have I reared and brought up, and they have rebelled against me.” And again it is written, “You are the children of the Lord your God.” And about Solomon he said, “He shall be a son to me, and I will be a Father to him.” So also we call the Christ “the Son of God” because through him we have gained the knowledge of God; even as he called Israel my firstborn son and as he said concerning Solomon, “He shall be a son to me.”

2 Samuel 24:17

And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

He is a most diligent pastor who delivered over himself on behalf of his sheep. He is an excellent leader who gave himself in behalf of his sheep.… And when David numbered the flock of his sheep, wrath came upon them, and they began to be destroyed. Then David delivered himself over on behalf of his sheep, when he prayed, saying, “O Lord God, I have sinned in that I have numbered Israel. Let your hand be on me and on my father’s house. These innocent sheep, how have they sinned?” So also [in this way] all the diligent pastors used to give themselves on behalf of their sheep.But those pastors who did not care for the sheep, those were hirelings who used to feed themselves alone.

2 Timothy 2:11

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:

Let us honor the spirit of Christ, that we may receive grace from him. Let us be strangers to the world, even as Christ was not of it. Let us be humble and mild, that we may inherit the land of life. Let us be unflagging in his service, that he may cause us to serve in the abode of the saints. Let us pray his prayer in purity, that it may have access to the Lord of majesty. Let us be partakers in his suffering, so that we may also rise up in his resurrection. Let us bear his sign upon our bodies, that we may be delivered from the wrath to come.

2 Timothy 3:16

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

For if the days of a man should be as many as all the days of the world from Adam to the end of the ages and he should sit and meditate upon the holy Scriptures, he would not comprehend all the force of the depth of the words. And man cannot rise up to the wisdom of God.

Colossians 3:1

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Let us think upon the things that are above, on the heavenly things, and meditate on them, where Christ has been lifted up and exalted. But let us forsake the world which is not ours, that we may arrive at the place to which we have been invited. Let us raise up our eyes on high, that we may see the splendor which shall be revealed.

Daniel 2:32 · 3 passages

This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,

This is the kingdom of the children of Javan, who are children of Japhet. For the children of Javan came against the kingdom of their brothers. For Madai and Javan are sons of Japhet. But Madai was foolish and incapable of governing the kingdom, until Javan, his brother, came, who was wise and cunning, to destroy the kingdoms. For Alexander, son of Philip, ruled in all the earth.

This signified a kingdom that was inferior to it; namely, Darius the Mede [king of Persia]. For he put the kingdom on the scales, and the kingdom of the house of Nimrod was weighed and found wanting. And because it was wanting, Darius received it. Because of this he [Daniel] said “another kingdom inferior to you.” And because it was inferior, the children of Media did not rule in all the earth.

As Daniel said, “You are the head of gold.” And why was he called the head of gold? Was it not because the word of Jeremiah was fulfilled in him? For Jeremiah said, “Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord that makes all the earth to drink of its wine.” And also Babylon was called the head of all kingdoms, as it is written, “Babylon was the head of the kingdom of Nimrod.”

Daniel 3:29

Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

Hananiah and his brothers worshiped not the image of the king of Babylon; and Jesus restrained the nations from the worship of dead images. Because of Hananiah and his brothers, the nations and languages glorified the God who had delivered them from the fire; and because of Jesus, the nations and all languages shall glorify God who delivered his Son, so that he saw no corruption. On the garments of Hananiah and his brothers the fire had no power; and on the bodies of the righteous, who have believed in Jesus, the fire shall have no power in the end.

Daniel 6:24

And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them, their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at the bottom of the den.

Daniel also was persecuted as Jesus was persecuted.… Daniel they cast into the pit of lions, and he was delivered and came up out of its midst uninjured; and Jesus they sent down into the pit of the abode of the dead, and he ascended, and death had not dominion over him. Concerning Daniel they expected that when he had fallen into the pit he would not come up again; and concerning Jesus they said, “Since he has fallen, he shall not rise again.” From [harming] Daniel the mouths of the ravenous and destructive lions were closed; and from [harming] Jesus was closed the mouth of death, [though] ravenous and destructive of [living] forms. They sealed the pit of Daniel and guarded it with diligence; and they guarded the grave of Jesus with diligence, as they said, “Set guards to watch at the tomb.” When Daniel came up, his accusers were ashamed; and when Jesus rose, all they who had crucified him were ashamed.

Daniel 7:7

After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

Now the fourth beast has swallowed up the third. And this third consists of the children of Japhet, and the fourth consists of the children of Shem, for they are the children of Esau. When Daniel saw the vision of the four beasts, he saw first the children of Ham, the seed of Nimrod, which the Babylonians are; and second, the Persians and Medes, who are the children of Japhet; and third, the Greeks, the brothers of the Medes; and fourth, the children of Shem, which the children of Esau are. For a confederacy was formed between the children of Japhet and the children of Shem. Then the government was taken away from the children of Japhet, the younger, and was given to Shem, the elder; and to this day it continues and will continue for ever. But when the time of the consummation of the dominion of the children of Shem shall have come, the ruler, who came forth from the children of Judah, shall receive the kingdom, when he shall come in his second advent.

Daniel 7:26

But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

For the judgment came on Antiochus, a judgment from heaven; and he became sick with a grievous and evil sickness, and on account of the smell of him as he rotted, no one could approach him, for worms were crawling and falling from him and eating his flesh because he oppressed the “worm Jacob.” And his flesh rotted in his lifetime, because he caused the dead bodies of the sons of Jerusalem to rot and they were not buried. And he became defiled in his own eyes, because he had defiled the sanctuary of God. And he prayed and was not heard, because he did not hearken to the groanings of the righteous whom he killed. For he wrote a letter and sent it to the Jews and called them “my friends,” but God had not mercy on him. He died in his torment.

Daniel 8:7

And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.

Again the ram was lifted up and exalted, and it pushed with its horns toward the west, and toward the north and toward the south, and it humbled many beasts. And they could not stand before him, until the he-goat came from the west and struck the ram and broke his horns and humbled the ram completely. But the ram was the king of Media and Persia, that is, Darius; and the he-goat was Alexander, the son of Philip, the Macedonian.… And the he-goat of the goats came up from the region of the Greeks and exalted himself against the ram, and he struck him and broke both his horns, the greater and the lesser. And why did he say that he broke both his horns? Clearly because he humbled both the kingdoms that he ruled; the lesser, that of the Medes, and the greater, that of the Persians. But when Alexander the Greek came, he killed Darius, king of Media and Persia.

Deuteronomy 32:39

See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

We are sure that he causes to die. We see it. Just so also is it sure and worthy of belief that he makes alive. And from all that I have explained to you, receive and believe that in the day of the resurrection your body shall arise in its entirety, and you shall receive from our Lord the reward of your faith. And in all that you have believed, you shall rejoice and be made glad.

Deuteronomy 33:6

Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

Moses wished by his priestly power to absolve Reuben from his transgression and sin, in that he had lain with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, so that when his brothers should rise, he might not be cut off from their number. So he said in the beginning of his blessing, “Reuben shall live and not die and shall be in the number.”