Athanasius of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Mark 16:1

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

In the time of the old covenant, the sabbath was highly revered. Now under the gospel the sabbath has been recast, now viewed as the Lord’s resurrection day. The sabbath formerly had pertained to the pedagogy and rudiments of the law. When the great master himself came and fulfilled them all for us, all that had prefigured his coming was transformed. The old sabbath was like a candle lit in the night before the rising and appearing of the sun.

Matthew 1:1

The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Vigil. Tapsens. (ibid. p. 644): The audaciousness of this most insane error I will curb by the authority of the heavenly testimonies, and demonstrate the distinct personality of the proper substance of the Son. I shall not produce things which are liable to be explained away as agreeable to the assumption of human nature; but shall offer such passages as all will allow to be decisive in proof of His divine nature. In Genesis we find God saying, “Let Us make man in Our own Image.” By this plural number showing, that there was some other person to whom He spoke. Had He been one, He would have been said to have made Him in His own Image, but there is another; and He is said to have made man in the Image of that other.

Matthew 12:40

For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We know that He, the Only-begotten Son of God, at the Father's bidding came from the heavens for the abolishment of sin, and was born of the Virgin Mary, and conversed with the disciples, and fulfilled the Economy according to the Father's will, and was crucified, and died and descended into the parts beneath the earth, and regulated the things there, Whom the gate-keepers of hell saw [Job 38:17] and shuddered; and He rose from the dead the third day...

Nahum 1:14-15

And the LORD hath given a commandment concerning thee, that no more of thy name be sown: out of the house of thy gods will I cut off the graven image and the molten image: I will make thy grave; for thou art vile.

Once again, dear friends, God has brought us to the Easter season. By his lovingkindness we are once more about to assemble for it. The same God who brought Israel out of Egypt now calls us to the feast, saying through Moses, “Take note of the month of new fruits, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God.” And through the prophet he calls, “Keep your feasts, O Judah; pay your vows to the Lord.” So if God himself loves the feast and calls us to it, it is not right, brothers and sisters, to postpone it or to observe it carelessly. We should come to it eagerly and zealously, so that with a joyful beginning here we will experience a foretaste of the heavenly feast that is to come.

Nehemiah 1:1

The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,

[Synopsis on Nehemiah] In the second book he says the same things (as the book of Ezra) concerning the return from Babylon, except the riddles. On the other hand, he relates more things concerning Nehemiah the eunuch, how he too asked for the building of the temple, and how Ezra performed the function of a scribe, while Josue, Baneas and Habia instructed the people. He relates that Ezra explained the knowledge of the Lord by reading; that the people, through his reading, understood what things must be done and celebrated the phase. They also observed a fast in the seventh month, and the feast of the Tabernacles, as is written. "They had not done so since the days of Josue the son of Nun", he says. When Ezra saw Azotian women married to Hebrews, he mourned and cried, and made everyone promise to keep God's law, and he cast out those women, as being joined by unlawful union, and everyone swore to keep the law. And, thus sanctified and cleansed, they rejoiced, and each man went away to his house. It is also told about Ezra that, when the books had been lost owing to the people…

[Synopsis on Nehemiah] In the second book he says the same things (as the book of Ezra) concerning the return from Babylon, except the riddles. On the other hand, he relates more things concerning Nehemiah the eunuch, how he too asked for the building of the temple, and how Ezra performed the function of a scribe, while Josue, Baneas and Habia instructed the people. He relates that Ezra explained the knowledge of the Lord by reading; that the people, through his reading, understood what things must be done and celebrated the phase. They also observed a fast in the seventh month, and the feast of the Tabernacles, as is written. "They had not done so since the days of Josue the son of Nun", he says. When Ezra saw Azotian women married to Hebrews, he mourned and cried, and made everyone promise to keep God's law, and he cast out those women, as being joined by unlawful union, and everyone swore to keep the law. And, thus sanctified and cleansed, they rejoiced, and each man went away to his house. It is also told about Ezra that, when the books had been lost owing to the people's negligence and the long captivity, he, being a man fond of virtue, industrious, and a scribe, kept them all with him, and eventually brought them forth and transmitted them to all, and thus preserved the Bible.

Philippians 2:6

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

What clearer and more decisive proof could there be than this? He did not become better from assuming a lower state but rather, “being God, he took the form of a slave.” … If [as the Arians think] it was for the sake of this exaltation that the Word came down and that this is written, what need would there be for him to humble himself completely in order to seek what he already had?

Philippians 2:9

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

That “God has highly exalted him” does not imply that the essential nature of the Word at long last became exalted. For God the Son is and always was equal to God the Father. The exaltation is of the humanity.… The text says “he humbled himself” with reference to the assumption of the flesh. So too it says “he exalted him” with reference to the flesh. It was the human race that needed this, because of the humiliation of its flesh and because of its consequent death. Thus the Word who is immortal and the image of the Father “has taken the form of a slave” and suffered death on the cross as a man for our sake. He did this in order that he might thus present himself as an offering to the Father. It is thus as a man that he is said to have been exalted for our sake. Hence all of us die in Christ and through his death may again be exalted in Christ himself.

Philippians 2:11

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The glory of the Father is that the human race not only was created but was re-created when lost. It was given life once again when dead, so as to become a renewed temple of God. For the powers in heaven also, the angels and the archangels, worship him and now worship the Lord “in the name of Jesus.” This joy and exaltation belongs to human beings, because the Son of God, having himself become a human being, is now worshiped. The heavenly powers are not offended when they behold all of us being led into our heavenly abode as we share in his body. This could not have happened in any other way. It happened only because, “being in the form of God and taking the form of a slave, he humbled himself,”

Proverbs 1:23

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you.

For where at all have they found in divine Scripture, or from whom have they heard, that there is another Word and another wisdom besides this Son, that they should frame to themselves such a doctrine? True, indeed, it is written, “Are not my words like fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” and in the Proverbs, “I will make known my words unto you.” But these are precepts and commands, which God has spoken to the saints through his proper and only true Word, concerning which the psalmist said, “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your words.” Such words accordingly the Savior signifies to be distinct from himself, when he says in his own person, “The words which I have spoken unto you.” For certainly such words are not offsprings or sons, nor are there so many words that frame the world, nor so many images of the one God, nor so many who have become men for us, nor as if from many such there were one who has become flesh, as John says. He was preached by John as being the only Word of God: “the Word was made flesh,” and “all things were ma…

For where at all have they found in divine Scripture, or from whom have they heard, that there is another Word and another wisdom besides this Son, that they should frame to themselves such a doctrine? True, indeed, it is written, “Are not my words like fire, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” and in the Proverbs, “I will make known my words unto you.” But these are precepts and commands, which God has spoken to the saints through his proper and only true Word, concerning which the psalmist said, “I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your words.” Such words accordingly the Savior signifies to be distinct from himself, when he says in his own person, “The words which I have spoken unto you.” For certainly such words are not offsprings or sons, nor are there so many words that frame the world, nor so many images of the one God, nor so many who have become men for us, nor as if from many such there were one who has become flesh, as John says. He was preached by John as being the only Word of God: “the Word was made flesh,” and “all things were made by him.” Wherefore of him alone, our Lord Jesus Christ, and of his oneness with the Father, are written and set forth the testimonies, both of the Father signifying that the Son is one, and of the saints, aware of this and saying that the Word is one, and that he is Only-begotten.

Proverbs 3:19

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the heavens.

Solomon says, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.” And this wisdom is the Word, and by him, as John says, “all things were made” [and without him not one thing was made]. This Word is Christ, “for there is one God the Father, from whom are all things. We are for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through him.” If all things are through him, he himself should not be reckoned with the “all things.” Whoever dares to say that he, through whom are all things, is one of all the things surely will have the same speculation about God, from whom are all things. If anyone flees from this as absurd and excludes God from the “all things,” it would follow that even the only-begotten Son, since he is proper to the Father’s substance, must be excluded from the “all things.” And if he is not one of the “all things,” then it is not right to say about him “There was once when he was not” and “He was not before he was begotten.” Such terms are fittingly used of creatures, but the Son himself is such a one as is the Fat…

Solomon says, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.” And this wisdom is the Word, and by him, as John says, “all things were made” [and without him not one thing was made]. This Word is Christ, “for there is one God the Father, from whom are all things. We are for him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we are through him.” If all things are through him, he himself should not be reckoned with the “all things.” Whoever dares to say that he, through whom are all things, is one of all the things surely will have the same speculation about God, from whom are all things. If anyone flees from this as absurd and excludes God from the “all things,” it would follow that even the only-begotten Son, since he is proper to the Father’s substance, must be excluded from the “all things.” And if he is not one of the “all things,” then it is not right to say about him “There was once when he was not” and “He was not before he was begotten.” Such terms are fittingly used of creatures, but the Son himself is such a one as is the Father, of whose substance the Son is a proper offspring, Word and wisdom. This is peculiar to the Son in relation to the Father, and this shows that the Father is peculiar to the Son; so that we may neither say that God was ever wordless or that the Son was ever nonexistent. For how else could he be a Son, unless from God? Or how could he be Word and wisdom unless he is always peculiar to [God]?

Proverbs 4:1-2

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “You, therefore, follow me.” Let us follow him then, because that commandment has been passed down to us. The admonition originally given to the church at Corinth reaches to all Christians of all time in every place. For the apostle Paul was “a teacher of all nations in faith and truth.”2As a matter of fact, we get the same sort of teaching from all the saints of old. Solomon, for example, used proverbs, saying, “Hear, my children, the instruction of a father and pay attention to get understanding, for I give you a good gift. Do not forsake my word, for I was an obedient son to my father, and beloved in the sight of my mother.”

Proverbs 4:23

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Living thus, let us watch constantly and, as it is written, keep our heart with all watchfulness, for we have terrible and crafty enemies, the wicked demons, and we wrestle against them, as the apostle said: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness on high.” LIFE OF ST.

Proverbs 5:3-4

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

Even when the sinner looks for gratification, he doesn’t find the fruit of his sin pleasant. As the wisdom of God says in another place, “Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man, but after he eats it, his mouth will be filled with gravel.” And, “Honey drips from the lips of an adulteress, and for a time it tastes sweet, but in the end you will find it more bitter than gall and sharper than a two-edged sword.” So he eats and is quite pleased for a little while. Then, when it is too late, when he has cut off his soul from God, he rejects it. But the fool does not know that those who are cut off from God shall perish.

Proverbs 8:22 · 4 passages

The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

“The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways for his works.” … He is called also in the Scriptures “servant,” and “son of a handmaid,” and “lamb” and “sheep,” and it is said that he suffered toil and thirst and was beaten and has suffered pain. But there is plainly a reasonable ground and cause why such representations as these are given of him in the Scriptures. It is because he became man and the Son of man, and took upon him the form of a servant, which is the human flesh, for “the Word,” says John, “was made flesh.” And since he became man, no one ought to be offended at such expressions, for it is proper to man to be created and born and formed, to suffer toil and pain, to die and to rise again from the dead. And as, being Word and wisdom of the Father, he has all the attributes of the Father, his eternity, and his unchangeableness, and the being like him in all respects and in all things. And [he] is neither before nor after, but coexistent with the Father. And [he] is the very form of the Godhead, and is the creator and is not created (for since he is in essence like the…

“The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways for his works.” … He is called also in the Scriptures “servant,” and “son of a handmaid,” and “lamb” and “sheep,” and it is said that he suffered toil and thirst and was beaten and has suffered pain. But there is plainly a reasonable ground and cause why such representations as these are given of him in the Scriptures. It is because he became man and the Son of man, and took upon him the form of a servant, which is the human flesh, for “the Word,” says John, “was made flesh.” And since he became man, no one ought to be offended at such expressions, for it is proper to man to be created and born and formed, to suffer toil and pain, to die and to rise again from the dead. And as, being Word and wisdom of the Father, he has all the attributes of the Father, his eternity, and his unchangeableness, and the being like him in all respects and in all things. And [he] is neither before nor after, but coexistent with the Father. And [he] is the very form of the Godhead, and is the creator and is not created (for since he is in essence like the Father, he cannot be a creature but must be the creator, for he himself has said, “My Father works hitherto, and I work.”43) So being made man, and bearing our flesh, he is necessarily said to be created and made, and that is proper to all flesh.

Although the Word did indeed become flesh, it is to the flesh that affections are proper; and although the flesh bears divinity in the Word, it is to the Word that grace and power belong. He performed the Father’s works, then, through the flesh; but nonetheless the affections of the flesh were exhibited in him. Thus, he inquired and then raised Lazarus; he chided his mother, saying, “My hour is not yet come”; and immediately he turned the water into wine. Indeed, he was true God in the flesh, and he was true flesh in the Word. Out of his works, therefore, he made known both his own Father, and himself, the Son of God. By the affections of the flesh he demonstrated that he bore a true body and that it was proper to him.

The fact is, then, that the Word is not from things created but is rather himself their creator. For this reason did he assume a body created and human: so that, having renewed it as its creator, he might deify it in himself and thus might introduce all of us in that likeness into the kingdom of heaven. A man would not have been deified if joined to a creature, nor if the Son were not true God; neither would a man have been brought into the Father’s presence if he had not been the Father’s natural and true Word who had put on the body. Since we could have had nothing in common with what is foreign, we would not have been delivered from sin and from the curse if that which the Word put on had not been natural human flesh. So also, the man would not have been deified if the Word which became flesh had not been by nature from the Father and true and proper to him.The union, therefore, was of just such a kind, so that he might unite what is man by nature, to him who is in the nature of the Godhead, thereby assuring the accomplishment of salvation and his deification. Let those, therefore…

The fact is, then, that the Word is not from things created but is rather himself their creator. For this reason did he assume a body created and human: so that, having renewed it as its creator, he might deify it in himself and thus might introduce all of us in that likeness into the kingdom of heaven. A man would not have been deified if joined to a creature, nor if the Son were not true God; neither would a man have been brought into the Father’s presence if he had not been the Father’s natural and true Word who had put on the body. Since we could have had nothing in common with what is foreign, we would not have been delivered from sin and from the curse if that which the Word put on had not been natural human flesh. So also, the man would not have been deified if the Word which became flesh had not been by nature from the Father and true and proper to him.The union, therefore, was of just such a kind, so that he might unite what is man by nature, to him who is in the nature of the Godhead, thereby assuring the accomplishment of salvation and his deification. Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence, deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary. In neither case would it have been profitable to us men: if the Word were not by nature true Son of God, or if the flesh which he assumed were not true flesh.

The Lord is God’s true and natural Son, and he is known to be not just eternal but one who exists concurrently with the eternity of the Father. There are things which are called “eternal” of which he is the creator, for in Psalm 23 it is written, “Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, O everlasting doors.” It is apparent, though, that these everlasting doors also came into being through his agency. But if he is himself the creator of the things which are “everlasting,” which of us can any longer doubt that he is more noble than these everlasting things and that he is made known as Lord not so much from his being eternal as from his being the Son of God? Being Son, he is inseparable from the Father, and there was never a “when” when he did not exist. He always existed. Moreover, since he is the image and radiance of the Father, he also possesses the Father’s eternity.…What is the basic meaning and purport of holy Scripture? It contains, as we have often said, a double account of the Savior. It says that he has always been God and is the Son, because he is the Logos and radia…

The Lord is God’s true and natural Son, and he is known to be not just eternal but one who exists concurrently with the eternity of the Father. There are things which are called “eternal” of which he is the creator, for in Psalm 23 it is written, “Lift up your gates, O rulers, and be lifted up, O everlasting doors.” It is apparent, though, that these everlasting doors also came into being through his agency. But if he is himself the creator of the things which are “everlasting,” which of us can any longer doubt that he is more noble than these everlasting things and that he is made known as Lord not so much from his being eternal as from his being the Son of God? Being Son, he is inseparable from the Father, and there was never a “when” when he did not exist. He always existed. Moreover, since he is the image and radiance of the Father, he also possesses the Father’s eternity.…What is the basic meaning and purport of holy Scripture? It contains, as we have often said, a double account of the Savior. It says that he has always been God and is the Son, because he is the Logos and radiance and wisdom of the Father. Furthermore, it says that afterwards for us he took flesh of the Virgin Mary, the bearer of God, and became man.

Proverbs 8:23

I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.

Since the heretics, reading the next verse, take a perverse view of that also, because it is written, “He founded me before the world,” namely, that this is said of the Godhead of the Word and not of his incarnate presence, it is necessary, explaining this verse also, to show their error.It is written, “The Lord in Wisdom founded the earth; if then by wisdom the earth is founded, how can he who founds be founded? Indeed, this too is after the manner of proverbs.…
He says not, “Before the world he founded me as Word or Son,” but simply, “He founded me,” to show again, as I have said, that not for his own sake but for those who are built upon him does he here also speak, after the way of proverbs.

Proverbs 18:3 · 2 passages

When the wicked cometh, then cometh also contempt, and with ignominy reproach.

Just as men who plunge into the deep, the deeper they go down, they descend into darker and deeper places, so it is with humankind. For they did not keep to idolatry in a simple form, nor did they abide in that with which they began. But the longer they went on in their first condition, the more new superstitions they invented, and, not satiated with the first evils, they again filled themselves with others, advancing further in utter shamefulness and surpassing themselves in impiety. But to this divine Scripture testifies when it says, “When an ungodly man comes into a depth of evils, he despises them.”

As to [the Arians’] blasphemous position that “the Son knows not the Father perfectly,” we ought not to wonder at it; for having once set themselves to fight against Christ, they contradict even his express words, since he says, “As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father.” Now if the Father knows the Son but in part, then it is evident that the Son does not know the Father perfectly. It is not lawful to say this. The Father does know the Son perfectly; then it is evident that as the Father knows his own Word, so also the Word knows his own Father whose Word he is.By these arguments and references to the sacred Scriptures we frequently overthrew them; but they changed like chameleons and again shifted their ground, striving to bring upon themselves that sentence, “When an ungodly man comes into a depth of evils, he despises them.”