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Theodoret of Cyrus

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

Commentary

581–600 of 1,374
Hebrews 10:3-11

But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.

By “first” he meant the sacrifice of brute beasts, by the “second” the rational one, offered by himself.… He brought out clearly that God’s will is the salvation of humankind. The Lord also said as much, “This is the will of my Father, that everyone who believes in me may not be lost but may have eternal life.”

INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 10

Hebrews 10:12-13

But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;

In the former case a multitude of priests, a multitude of victims, and no benefit, whereas in this case priest and victim are one and the same, he achieved abolition of sins and needs no further service; instead, he is seated with the Father who begot him, awaiting the end of the present life. At that time, in fact, all the adversaries will adore him as God and Lord. Among his foes will be, first, the devil and the mass of the demons, then those of the Jews and the Gentiles who did not accept the illumination of the faith, and along with them the bands of the heretics guilty of the blasphemies against him.

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Hebrews 10:17-18

And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

Now, this happened through the new covenant: we receive also in all-holy baptism the forgiveness of sins. In the life to come, when immortality is granted us, we shall live differently from everyone else, sin no longer capable of troubling those who have become immortal. May it be our good fortune to attain this life. We shall attain it if in the present life we embrace with enthusiasm the effort virtue involves and accept the struggles it requires. The Lord himself, who is the source of the future goods, will work with us.

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Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

It is not separation but assiduous effort at unity that is the work of love.

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Hebrews 10:26-27

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,

Now, it was not that he was ruling out repentance in these statements; rather, he was claiming there is no second sacrifice: our Lord was immolated for us once and for all. He used the term deliberately to emphasize that what is done against our free will enjoys a degree of pardon.

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Hebrews 10:28-29

He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:

Once more, note, he brings out the difference under the guise of exhortation, namely, the Son in one case and the slave in the other, those sacrifices of brute beasts in one case and in the other this rational and all-holy sacrifice. To the law he set in opposition not a law but the “blood” and the “Spirit.” Through them salvation comes to us.

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Hebrews 10:38-39

Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.

God has said this through the inspired authors, he is saying; and so even when the law was in force, the remedy of faith secured salvation.… Through faith we are related to God.

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Hebrews 11:1-3 · 2 passages

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The body’s eye did not recognize the God of all as creator; instead faith instructed us that God, who has always existed, created what did not exist. There is, after all, no example of this among human beings; yet though learning nothing of the kind from nature, we have in faith a teacher of the unexpected. Human beings, of course, make something out of something, whereas the God of all produced what exists out of nothing.

INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11

He shows both those before the law and those under the law becoming God’s friends through faith and enjoying distinction. In this he achieves two things at the same time: he brings out the power of faith (faith accomplishing what the law did not achieve) and provides encouragement to those dispirited at the insurrections of the adversaries, showing everyone in possession of everlasting repute to have traveled through the same storms. First he teaches the very definition of faith: through it we see what is unseen, and it acts as an eye for discernment of what is hoped for. Faith depicts for us in advance the resurrection of those still lying dead in their tombs and causes the immortality of the dust of our bodies to become evident.

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Hebrews 11:4

By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

The phrase “he is still speaking” means, To this day he is famous and celebrated and enjoys a good name among all religious people.

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Hebrews 11:5-6

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

The one who does not believe that this is so does not put up with the hardships of virtue; the farmer would not sustain the sweat of farming unless he believed he would gather the fruits of his labors; likewise the steersman puts up with untold dangers only by keeping his eyes on the harbors.

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Hebrews 11:8-10

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Not even when Abraham arrived in the promised land did he control it. Instead, he himself, his son and grandson lived the life of aliens, in what was their own by promise sojourning as though in a foreign land. Hence, instead of owning houses they spent the time living in tents. Yet they believed the promise to be true, even if not seeing the testimony of fact conforming to their faith.

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Hebrews 11:11-12

Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

“From one person” means from Abraham; but if we were to take the “one” to mean both of them [Abraham and Sarah], we would not be wide of the mark: “the two will be one flesh,” Scripture says.

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Hebrews 11:13-16 · 2 passages

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

The patriarch Abraham spoke in these terms to the Hittites, “I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying place, so that I may bury my dead out of sight.” The one in receipt of the promise of the whole earth did not even own a plot three cubits long.

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It was opportune of him to use the phrase “he is not ashamed.” The Lord of the powers, Master of the angels and Maker of heaven and earth when asked, “What is your name?” passed over all others and said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. This is my name forever, and how I am to be remembered by generations of generations.”

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Hebrews 11:17-19

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

God promised to bring to light a vast number of Isaac’s offspring like sand on the seashore, and he it was who bade Isaac become a victim. Beset by the two conflicting thoughts, then, and with nature tearing at him more harshly than any torturer, the patriarch easily overcame it all and offered the sacrifice. He brings out as well the thoughts he employed in banishing the others, “God was able to raise men even from the dead.” He took issue with the thought arising in regard to the great number of offspring, believing that his son, even if slaughtered, could come back to life, God willing. “Figuratively speaking, he did receive him back,” that is, by way of a symbol and type of the resurrection. Put to death by his father’s zeal, he came back to life at the word of the one who prevented the slaughter. In him the type of the saving passion was also prefigured. Hence the Lord also said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the prospect of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

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Hebrews 11:20-22

By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Joseph would not have given directions about his remains if he had not believed the divine promises.

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Hebrews 11:23-28 · 2 passages

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment.

How would he, without faith, have believed that death would be prevented by the blood of a sheep? He recognized in advance the reality in the type and had a premonition of the power of the Lord’s blood.

INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11

What was a type of Christ, the similarity to the reproaches of Christ, was committed against religion by the adversaries.

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Hebrews 11:31

By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace.

Lawlessness of life did not prevent salvation; faith covered the wounds of sin. Now, it is worth admiring the apostle’s wisdom—or, rather, we ought sing the praises of the activity of the divine Spirit in associating a foreign woman and prostitute with Moses, Abraham, Noah, Enoch, and the other saints so as to establish the power of faith and repress the Jews’ conceit. After all, six hundred thousand of them were consumed in the desert on account of lack of faith, as they gained no benefit from the way of life of the law. She on the contrary, though removed from kinship with Abraham, living outside the way of life of the law and spending most of her time in licentious behavior, through faith reaped salvation and foreshadowed in type the church. Just as she with faith gave admission to the spies, so the church did to the apostles. And as she was given the scarlet cord as a sign of salvation, so the church through the Lord’s blood enjoyed the eternal goods.

INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11

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