Theodoret of Cyrus — Commentary on Scripture

Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.

He suggests and indicates that when this person sustains a divine blow, the great Elijah will continue preaching the remaining forty-five days when the Lord will appear, borne on the clouds of heaven, and will crown those who kept inviolate their treasure acquired by patience. Also the Lord says this in the holy Gospels: “Whoever endures to the end will be saved.”

Daniel 12:13 · 2 passages

But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

“And as for you, rest and rise at your time”—a more correct reading would be “for your inheritance,” as will become clear from the things that follow—“at the end of the days.” He says in effect, “Now you must receive the end of your days; but you will rise—and not merely rise but rise for your inheritance, that is, with the company of like-minded people.” And once he has shown this, he adds, “at the end of the days.” So the divine archangel clearly taught the resurrection through the blessed, no, thrice-blessed Daniel.

We have learned these things from the divine oracle of Daniel. The Jews mourned him as a righteous man, although they dare to place this divine prophet outside of the list of prophetic books. And yet from experience they have learned the truthfulness of this prophecy.… The Hebrew Josephus is a noteworthy witness that Jews of previous generations called blessed Daniel the greatest prophet. Josephus, to be sure, does not accept Christian teaching, but he cannot allow the truth to be hidden. In the tenth book of his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus said many other things about blessed Daniel but then adds the following: “Everything was freely given to him unexpectedly, as to one of the greatest prophets. During his lifetime he enjoyed honor and glory, both with kings and the common people. Although he died, his immortal memory lives on. The books that he composed and left behind are still read among us even now, and we have come to believe from them that Daniel consorted with God. Not only did he spend his time foretelling future events, as did the other prophets, but also he marked off the…

We have learned these things from the divine oracle of Daniel. The Jews mourned him as a righteous man, although they dare to place this divine prophet outside of the list of prophetic books. And yet from experience they have learned the truthfulness of this prophecy.… The Hebrew Josephus is a noteworthy witness that Jews of previous generations called blessed Daniel the greatest prophet. Josephus, to be sure, does not accept Christian teaching, but he cannot allow the truth to be hidden. In the tenth book of his Jewish Antiquities, Josephus said many other things about blessed Daniel but then adds the following: “Everything was freely given to him unexpectedly, as to one of the greatest prophets. During his lifetime he enjoyed honor and glory, both with kings and the common people. Although he died, his immortal memory lives on. The books that he composed and left behind are still read among us even now, and we have come to believe from them that Daniel consorted with God. Not only did he spend his time foretelling future events, as did the other prophets, but also he marked off the time when these things would take place.”

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:

He has conferred on us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He has given us the hope of resurrection, the good news of immortality, the promise of the kingdom of heaven, the dignity of sonship. These he calls the spiritual blessings. And he adds “in heavenly places,” because these gifts are heavenly.

Ephesians 1:7

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

The death of the Lord has made us worthy of love. In shedding through him the toils of sin and being freed from slavery to the tyrant, we have been drawn toward the characteristics of God’s image.

Ephesians 1:10

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

Only God’s nature needs nothing. The whole creation stood in need of his healing order of gifts. For, since the elements came into being to serve human needs, he made them subject to corruption, for he could foresee that transgression was going to make humanity mortal also. As for the unseen powers, they were naturally aggrieved when they saw human beings living in wickedness.… By recapitulation he means the complete transformation of things. For through the gift given through Christ the Lord the human nature is raised anew and puts on incorruptibility. Ultimately the visible creation, delivered from corruption, will receive incorruption. The hosts of unseen powers will rejoice continually, because sorrow and grief and sighing have fled away. This is what the divine apostle teaches through these words; for he said not simply “heaven and earth” but “those in heaven” and “those on earth.”

Ephesians 1:14

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

He shows how great are our expectations. This grace is already being given, through which miracles were worked: the dead were raised, lepers cleansed and demons driven out. All of these and similar things have the status of a pledge, so it will become obvious that the faithful will enjoy in the future a much greater grace.

Ephesians 1:19

And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Since he was speaking within the limits of human language and was unable to hymn the Lord as he wished and show the greatness of his gifts, the holy apostle brings together many things under one name, striving to reveal these as much as language permits. The name “Father of glory” embraces the hope of our calling and the riches of the glory of our inheritance, the exceeding greatness of his power and the good pleasure of his will, and all that goes with it. But “the immeasurable greatness of his power” ironically now comes to mind as he thinks of the dishonor of the cross and considers how much was achieved through it.

Ephesians 1:20

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

It is clear that he says all this of Christ in his humanity. This is what inspires wonder. For it would hardly be remarkable to say that God sits by God if fellowship in power is a corollary of their identity of nature as Father and Son. But that the human nature assumed from us should partake of the same honor as the one who assumed him, so that no difference in worship is apparent, so that the invisible Godhead is worshiped through the visible human nature—this exceeds all wonder! The holy apostle is overwhelmed. He first sings of the exceeding greatness of his power. Then he speaks of the working of his mighty strength. Then he looks for whatever he can say that might point to the extraordinary nature of his exaltation.

Ephesians 1:23

Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

By the church he means the whole community of the faithful. This he calls the body of Christ and the fullness of the Father. This body he has filled with all gifts. He “lives in it and goes about in it,” as the voice of prophecy says. But this will be more strictly so in the future life.… In the present life God is in all, since his nature is uncircumscribed; but he is not “all in all,” since some are impious and some lawless. Yet he lives in those who fear him and who put hope in his mercy. In the next life at any rate, when mortality has ceased and immortality is conferred and sin has no place any longer, he will be all in all.

Ephesians 2:2

Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Long ago, before the Fall, a certain authority was primordially entrusted to the devil. But falling from this through wickedness he became a teacher of impiety and wickedness. Yet he does not have power over all but only over those who do not receive divine revelation. These Paul calls “sons of disobedience.”

Ephesians 2:5

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Since he rose, we hope that we too shall rise. He himself [by his rising] has paid our debt. Then Paul explains more plainly how great the gift is: “You are saved by grace.” For it is not because of the excellence of our lives that we have been called but because of the love of our Savior.

Ephesians 2:6

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

If Christ the Lord did not share our human nature, he would have been falsely called our firstfruits. If so, his bodily nature was not raised from the dead and did not receive its seat at the right hand in heaven. And if none of this occurred how can it be said that God has raised us and seated us with Christ, that is, if we have nothing by nature that belongs to him?

Ephesians 2:12

That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

He wants to show that Christ is the provider of all goods for them. “For previously,” he says, “you were destitute of the knowledge of God and did not enjoy the goods promised beforehand to Israel.”

Ephesians 2:15 · 2 passages

Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

He has reconciled both, that is, those from Gentile and from Jewish backgrounds, in the one body that was offered on behalf of all, so that they may at last be made one body. And he has called all believers a single man because Christ our Lord is the one head, and those who have been favored with salvation fill the role of members.

Christ dispelled the enmity between us and God. He gave his own flesh as a ransom for us. Once this was done, he put an end to the things that separated you and them. For this is what he means by “the law of ordinances.” He has not annulled the Decalogue.… For Christ the Lord himself held these up to the one who wanted to know the way to eternal life. But by doctrines he meant the gospel teaching, since the realizing of full maturity lies in the responsive choices of the will.… Yet these gospel teachings are not laid down as laws. They are a matter of free choice. What he does lay down as law is what he inscribed on nature when he created it in the beginning.

Ephesians 3:3

How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,

The words I wrote a little before do not mean, as some think, that he has written another letter. For it is not with respect to himself that he says “I have written” but with respect to the mystery. For he is referring to “the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I wrote to you a little while ago,” yet it is this “about which I have just now written.” For this has been his subject from the outset right up to this passage.

Ephesians 3:5

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

It was made known incrementally to the prophets of old, but not fully then as it is now. For they did not see the whole picture but wrote down words about aspects of it. … Remember that in the apostles’ day there were many who had the gift of prophecy. It is in this order that he mentions that the revelation was known to the apostles and then to the prophets.

Ephesians 3:8

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

The divine apostle says not only that Christ’s nature is divine but also that “his riches are unsearchable.” “And how does one preach if his riches are indeed unsearchable?” “I preach this very thing,” he says, “that they are unsearchable.”

Ephesians 3:15

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

God is fully and truly Father; for he was not first a father and later became son but is always Father and Father by nature. The other fathers, whether bodily or spiritual, have received this name from above.… Paul is saying here that he is petitioning the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is truly Father. He has his fatherhood not by receiving from another but himself has conferred fathering upon others.