English · Geneva

Theodoret of Cyrus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500

1,374 passages across 50 books of the Bible · Who was this?

On Romans

20 of 145
  1. Romans 9:25
    This passage originally applied to Jews, not to Gentiles.… It meant that God’s people would lose their status and be called “Not my people” and “Not beloved.” But then God promised that the rejected Jews would be called back again. Thus from having been God’s people and then rejected they would return.… The Gentiles, on the other hand, would become God’s people for the first time, having never been his people before.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  2. Romans 9:33
    People stumble when they stop paying attention to where they are going and look elsewhere. This is what happened to the Jews. Because they were so busy adding extras to the law, they failed to notice the stone which the prophets predicted.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  3. Romans 10:2
    Paul adds criticism to his praise, just as food sometimes contains a hook, so that they might derive some benefit from what he had to say.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  4. Romans 10:3
    When Paul talks about the Jews’ own righteousness he means their inappropriate way of keeping the law. For they were trying to keep something which was already out of date.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  5. Romans 10:6
    These are the words not of Moses but of the God of all things, who was using Moses as his mouthpiece.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  6. Romans 11:1
    Paul could have supported his statement by referring to the 3, who believed at Jerusalem and to the many thousands spoken of by St. James, not to mention all those Jews of the diaspora who believed the message. But instead he uses himself as an example.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  7. Romans 11:1
    Paul says that, if God had rejected his people, he would have been one of those rejected as well.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  8. Romans 11:4
    Elijah did not know about these 7, until God revealed their existence to him. So it is not unbelievable that you too are ignorant of how many Jews have believed in the Savior.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  9. Romans 11:7
    The elect are those who believed.… The rest were hardened because of their unbelief.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  10. Romans 11:14
    Paul evangelized the Gentiles of necessity, addressing himself to them and showing that the prophets had predicted this many centuries before. His aim was to make the Jews jealous and thus encourage some of them to come to salvation also.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  11. Romans 11:15
    Note how diplomatically Paul phrases his statements. On the one hand he teaches those who already believe not to think too highly of themselves, and on the other hand he extends a hand to those Jews who do not believe, showing them that they could obtain salvation through repentance. In the following [verses] he develops this theme more clearly.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  12. Romans 11:16
    The “first fruits” refers to Christ in his human nature, the root is Abraham the patriarch and the branches of the olive tree are the Jews who descended from the root.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  13. Romans 11:17
    “The riches of the olive tree” means the teaching of righteousness.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  14. Romans 11:23
    Paul shows what an easy matter this would be for God to accomplish.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  15. Romans 11:25
    Paul insists that only a part of Israel has been hardened, for in fact many of them believe. He thus encourages them not to despair that others will be saved as well. After the Gentiles accepted the gospel, the Jews would believe, when the great Elijah would come to them and bring them the doctrine of faith. The Lord himself said as much: “Elijah will come and will restore all things.”

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  16. Romans 11:26
    “All Israel” means all those who believe, whether they are Jews, who have a natural relationship to Israel, or Gentiles, who are related to Israel by faith.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  17. Romans 11:29
    Paul says this in order to encourage the Jews. In fact, of course, God did revoke the good gifts which he gave … King Saul, for example, who received spiritual grace which later deserted him. Likewise Solomon, who received peace through the kindness of God, but after his transgression was deprived of grace. And then there are the Jews themselves, who always had their prophets to take care of them but who at the present time have been deprived of them.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  18. Romans 11:32
    Paul has put “consigned” here instead of “convicted.” For God convicted the Gentiles, who had received the natural law and had created things to teach them the knowledge of God yet had not benefited from either the one or the other. He also convicted the Jews, who had received more teaching still (for besides nature and the creation they had also received the law and the prophets, who taught them what they needed to know) and had become liable to even greater punishments as a result. But God was pleased to offer salvation to each of them, even though basically they deserved to perish, if only they would believe.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  19. Romans 11:36
    God himself made all things and he rules in perpetuity over everything which he has made. Everyone ought to turn to him, to thank him for what they asked for and to put their trust in him for the future. They ought to honor him as well. In this way the holy apostle shows that there is no difference between the prepositions from and through, as if the former, which might mean something greater, should apply to the Father and the latter, which might mean something less, to the Son. In fact, both apply equally to both persons.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

  20. Romans 12:1
    Paul has already exhorted us to make our members instruments of righteousness and to present ourselves before God as if we had risen from the dead. But here he exhorts us to make our members a sacrifice, and one which he describes as “living.” He does not command us to kill our bodies but demands that they should be dead to sin.

    INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

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