English · KJV

Diodorus of Tarsus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 133 passages across 2 books

Commentary

81–100 of 133
Psalms 49:7

None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

This alone—namely, sin—is not up for sale, nor does it get help from family connections, as elsewhere also the Lord says that even if Noah, Daniel and Job were to rise up, they would not save their children from their crimes.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 49

Psalms 49:17

For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

Even if rich in this life, he will not for this reason prove to be blessed after death as well. On the contrary, then, he will leave it all behind and thus present himself naked at the judge’s tribunal.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 49

Psalms 50:3

Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.

He presents his whole discourse as if God personally were present and judging, thus his addition of “he will not keep silence,” that is, he will choose to judge the judges in no other way than by personal inspection and as though by his very presence. Then, to bring out that he arrives in retribution and as a cause of deep fear, attended by sanctions like bodyguards, he goes on, “A fire will burn in his presence, with a severe storm around him”: just as the rulers of the earth have heralds going ahead to inspire submission with their shouting, so too God comes in person with fire going ahead and a severe storm to inspire fear in those due to be judged. By “storm” he refers to a power capable of drawing down to hades.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 50

Psalms 50:4

He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

On arriving in an obvious manner, then, with fire and storm as his bodyguards, God will summon everyone from all quarters as if to appoint those present as witnesses of the judgment. So whom does he summon? The heavenly powers from on high (the sense of “above”) and the whole “earth” from below, and he will hold court on them.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 50

Psalms 50:14

Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

This is what I need, for you to be grateful, offering thanks and praise for what you receive from me—not because I need this, but out of longing for you to be appreciative, so that I may have occasion to give you further favors.

COMMENTARY ON PSALM 50

Romans 5:13

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.

Sin was in the world before the law of Moses came, and it was counted, though not according to that law. Rather it was counted according to the law of nature, by which we have learned to distinguish good and evil. This was the law of which Paul spoke above.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 5:14

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

Adam was a type of Christ not with respect to his sin or his righteousness—in this respect the two men were opposites—but with respect to the effects of what he did. For just as Adam’s sin spread to all men, so Christ’s life also spread to all men. Adam was also a type of Christ in another respect. For just as he was the head of Eve, in that he was her husband, so also Christ, being its bridegroom, is the head of the church.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 5:15

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.

At first sight it may seem that this verse contradicts what Paul said [in verse 12] above, for there he spoke of death having come to all humanity, whereas here he says only that many have died. In fact there is no contradiction, because death, although it came upon all because we have all sinned, came only to test and to try everyone. Death does not destroy all sinners automatically but only those who persist in their sins. By saying that “many died” Paul shows merely that many turned out to be unrepentant in their sins.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 5:16

And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

Paul wants to say that it was because of Adam’s sin, although it was only one, that God condemned many, on account of the fact that they copied Adam. But the grace of the Lord was measured not according to that one sin but according to the many sins which all had committed. Thus Christ transformed many sins into righteousness.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 5:18

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

What was Adam’s sin? Disobedience. What was Christ’s righteousness? Obedience, by which he obeyed the Father in his incarnation and in his suffering for mankind, as the apostle says: “Being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” Thus obedience overcame disobedience and the worse was condemned by the better.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 5:20

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Paul does not mean that the law increased the incidence of sin but rather that once it was given it uncovered sin and showed that it was more widespread than people had thought.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 6:5

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Those who have been validly baptized into Christ’s death have been united to him by faith.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 6:10

For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Paul is saying that if Christ had died for sinners two or three times, there would be no danger in going back to our old sinful ways. But as he only died once, we who have been buried and risen again with him will not die to sin again. There will be no second baptism, no second death of Christ. Therefore we must be careful to stay alive.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 6:12

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

What sin is this? The sin committed before baptism, of course. .

Romans 7:7

What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

It is clear from Romans [2:14] that even without the law the Gentiles knew what was required of them. It must therefore be accepted that they knew, though they did not know everything. For there are things which some Gentiles regard as good and proper while others reject them as bad and unlawful. Therefore the giving of the law was necessary to define for us what should and should not be done, outlining for us and showing us what the behavior of a righteous person is.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 7:8

But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

By “sin,” Paul presumably means the devil. For just as Scripture sometimes calls the Savior “life” and “righteousness” because he is the source of life and righteousness, so it calls the opposing power by what it causes—sometimes “sin,” sometimes “lie,” sometimes “death.”

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 7:9

For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.

If sin “revived” it is clear that it must have been alive at some earlier point and then died. When was that? It was when the devil deceived and defeated Adam, who had received the commandment and knew what transgression meant. Cain too knew that he was sinning, having been commanded not to murder his brother. It was after that that there was no commandment and no law, and so sin was knocked out by the ignorance of those who committed it.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 7:14

For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

The law is spiritual and makes the person who keeps it spiritual as well. It was given by the Holy Spirit so that those who obeyed it might receive the Spirit and be cleansed by the law’s teaching. Paul was not sold under sin by anyone else but by his own breaking of the law.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 7:15

For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.

Paul is not condemning himself here but describing the common lot of mankind, which he sees in himself.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

Romans 7:22

For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

Here Paul is describing the common lot of man. For the ordinary person can see in his mind what ought to be done but cannot achieve it. But the man who has believed in Christ with his mind can achieve it with the help of the Holy Spirit. Such a person is therefore called “spiritual.”

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

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