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Severian of Gabala

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 135 passages across 12 books

Commentary

1–20 of 135
1 Corinthians 1:20

Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

The wise man is the Greek, the scribe is the Jew.

Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church

1 Corinthians 2:9

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

One should not think that God has indiscriminately revealed the mystery to some and allowed the rest to perish in ignorance. Rather one should know and be persuaded that by the foreknowledge of his power God prepared the right thing for each person according to his deserts, for he foresees what each one will choose even before it happens.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 2:11

For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.

God and the Holy Spirit are two persons, whereas a man and the spirit in him are not two persons but one man. What Paul means is that just as in the man there is a cohesion in knowing, so the knowledge of the Father and the Spirit is one. What the Spirit searches is therefore already known to him.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 3:2

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

By “milk” Paul means moral teaching and miracles. Solid food, by contrast, is the proclamation of the doctrines of God.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 4:18

Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you.

It is clear from this that what was being said was that Paul and his companions were weak, while the Corinthians were strong.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 4:19

But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.

Paul promises to come, so that the Corinthians can prepare themselves for correction. On the one hand he was forced by his irritation to say “I shall come,” but on the other hand he added “if the Lord wills,” because of his sense of dependence on God.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 4:21

What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love, and in the spirit of meekness?

By “rod” Paul meant the compelling power of the Spirit, which he had used against Elymas and which God had used against him..

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 5:5

To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

When Paul says that this man must be delivered to Satan, he does not mean that he should be handed over to the power of the evil one. Rather, all the evils of this life, for example, diseases, sorrows, sufferings, and other circumstances, were attributed to Satan, and it is in this sense that Paul uses the term here. What he means is that this man should be exposed to the hardships of life.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 6:2

Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

The twelve apostles will judge the twelve tribes of Israel, if they have not believed and for that reason rejected Christ. The other saints, that is to say, the Gentiles, will judge those who have not abandoned idols and believed in the true God.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 6:3

Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?

Paul is not talking here about real angels but about the priests and teachers of the people who will be judged by the saints because of their false teaching about Christ.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 6:4

If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.

The lowest person in the church is preferable in judgment to an unbeliever.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 6:19

What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

The fornicator is also guilty of impiety, for by doing harm to his body he has corrupted the temple of the Holy Spirit.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:1

Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

This is Paul’s reply to those who had written to him about this subject. He forbade fornication because it was against the law, but he allowed marriage as being holy and an antidote to fornication. However, he praised chastity as more perfect still.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:10

And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband:

Paul did not intend this to apply to those who abandon their spouses for the service of Christ.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:13

And the woman which hath an husband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

Paul did not mean that a woman should marry an unbeliever, only that she should stay with him if she is already married.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:14

For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

When the children are clean and holy, uncorrupted by unbelief, the faith of the parent has won.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:19

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.

Circumcision means nothing by itself, but it was a command of God. On the other hand, uncircumcised is the way God made us, so there is no reward for that either.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:20

Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called.

Paul says this because it makes no difference to God either way.

Pauline Commentary from the Greek Church

1 Corinthians 7:25

Now concerning virgins I have no commandment of the Lord: yet I give my judgment, as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

It is clear that Paul says this not because he has no command to teach about virginity but because God has not told him that these people should practice chastity themselves. That is why he writes to them giving his opinion and recommending chastity, without imposing it on them.

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

1 Corinthians 7:29

But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;

If married people are supposed to live as if they were single, how is it possible not to prefer virginity?

PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH

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