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Theodoret of Cyrus

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,374 passages across 50 books

Commentary

41–60 of 1,374
1 Corinthians 5:11

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

Obviously if we are not to eat ordinary food with such people, we are not to admit them to the Lord’s table either.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 194

1 Corinthians 6:3

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

By “angels” here, Paul means demons who once were angels.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 195

1 Corinthians 6:6

But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.

This in no way contradicts Romans [13], where Paul tells people to respect the magistrates. He is not telling us to resist secular authorities, but rather we should not appeal to them.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 195

1 Corinthians 6:7

Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?

By saying all this Paul is showing that the Corinthians were doing the exact opposite.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 196

1 Corinthians 6:12

All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

Now that we are no longer under the law, we have the freedom to make choices, but we need to realize that some choices are right and others wrong.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 19.7

1 Corinthians 6:18

Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

Note that Paul did not say that we should hate immorality, but that we should shun it as people who are aware of the perniciousness of evil.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 198

1 Corinthians 7:1

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

The Corinthians were asking Paul whether it was right for lawfully married Christians, once they were baptized, to enjoy sexual relations with each other. Paul answered by praising chastity, condemning fornication and allowing conjugal relations.

Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians 200

1 Corinthians 7:3

Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband.

Human laws demand that women be chaste and if they are not they are punished for it, but they do not demand the same from men. Since it was men who made the laws, they did not make themselves equal with woman but allowed themselves extra indulgence. The holy apostle, however, inspired by divine grace, was the first one who made the law of chastity apply to men as well.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 201

1 Corinthians 7:5

Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.

If a woman stays away from her husband, she will make him angry, and vice versa. That is why Paul insists that it must be by mutual consent.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 201

1 Corinthians 7:7

For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that.

Paul comforts those who are married by saying that marriage is a gift of God.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 202

1 Corinthians 7:10

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

Here Paul recalls the words of the Lord [in Matthew 5:32]: “Whoever puts away his wife, except for fornication, makes her an adulteress.”

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 204

1 Corinthians 7:15

But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.

The believing partner is not to be the cause of the divorce. But if the unbelieving partner wants to separate, the believing partner is innocent and free from any accusation.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 205

1 Corinthians 7:21

Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather.

Paul is saying that no slave should run away, using religion as his excuse.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 207

1 Corinthians 7:40

But she is happier if she so abide, after my judgment: and I think also that I have the Spirit of God.

Note that Paul does not say that a woman who contracts a second marriage will be unhappy. Rather he says that she will be happier if she remains single. It is all a matter of degree.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 212

1 Corinthians 8:2

And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

Paul shows not only that they have no love but that they have no knowledge either.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 215

1 Corinthians 8:6

But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

Note once more the apostle’s wisdom. For having first demonstrated that the words Lord and God are synonymous, he then splits them up, calling the Father one and the Son the other.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 215

1 Corinthians 8:11

And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

Paul magnifies the accusation in order to prevent people from committing the crime.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 217

1 Corinthians 9:3

Mine answer to them that do examine me is this,

Paul says that if anyone wants to examine his works, let him look at the Corinthians, for they are a sufficient witness to his labors.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 219

1 Corinthians 10:1

Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

The cloud is the grace of the Holy Spirit, while the sea represents baptism.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 226

1 Corinthians 10:10

Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

Some of the Corinthians were grumbling that they had only received the lesser spiritual gifts, when they wanted them all.

COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 227

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