English · KJV

Theodoret of Cyrus

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

Commentary

1,301–1,320 of 1,374
Romans 16:14

Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them.

This was another family of believers whom Paul thought worthy of praise.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:17

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

The people Paul is referring to here were men who defended the law.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:20

And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

After revealing the enemy, Paul points to the Savior. Those who receive God’s grace will never be defeated.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:21

Timotheus my workfellow, and Lucius, and Jason, and Sosipater, my kinsmen, salute you.

Timothy was circumcised at Lystra and Paul wrote him two letters. Jason is mentioned in Acts.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:22

I Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord.

Tertius was another of those who had accepted the apostle’s teaching. Being rewarded for this with the gift of expression, he was told to send this letter to the Romans.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:23

Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.

The highest praise is reserved for hospitality on such a scale.… Gaius was a Corinthian, as appears from 1 Corinthians [1:14]: “I thank my God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius.” … Erastus is also mentioned elsewhere, in 2 Timothy [4:20].

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:24

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

Once again Paul offers them a spiritual blessing and surrounds them with the grace of God, which is like an impenetrable wall. This is how the epistle began and this is how it ends. We too may share in this grace, triumphing over temptations and, enlightened by it, following the right way free of all error. Walking in the apostle’s footsteps we may be made worthy to behold the teacher and by his intercession receive the Lord’s blessing and promises, by the grace and kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit belong glory and honor, now and forever, world without end. Amen.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:25

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Paul says this in order to remind us of how old the gospel actually is.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:26

But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

The obedience of faith is the result of the preaching of the gospel.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Romans 16:27

To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

If the heretics try to use this [verse] to prove that Christ is not God, it should be remembered that Christ not only is called wise, he is even called Wisdom.

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS

Ruth 1:16

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

The constancy of Ruth, who because of the piety of her spirit and the memory of her husband preferred to her parents a woman worn out in old age and laboring in poverty, is praiseworthy.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 2:12 · 2 passages

The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust.

The story of Boaz also teaches us about virtue. For he not only liberally shares his grain with Ruth but also consoles her with words. Not only does he share food with her but also was himself the minister of his kindness; so that whoever does not order another person to be his minister, but prepares the flour and bread himself, will have given very liberally indeed.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

The blessing followed as Boaz said it would. For Ruth received the full reward from God, so that she was the progenitor of the blessing of the nations.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 2:20

And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.

With a heart thankful for the remembrance of kindness, Naomi rewarded the absent benefactor of her daughter-in-law with a blessing. For she said, “May he who has acknowledged you be blessed, for he has filled an empty soul by doing what he did. He took notice not of poverty but only of the Lawgiver, who ordered that widows be shown care.”

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 3:1-4

Then Naomi her mother in law said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?

What does Naomi suggest to her daughter-in-law? When Ruth heard her mother-in-law saying, “Our neighbor is a true man,” she was reminded of his great kindness and thought to want him [to be] married to her in law, so that she might keep up the memory of the dead. Therefore, she [Naomi] suggests to her that she sleep at Boaz’s feet, not that she might sell her body (for the words of the narrative signify the opposite); rather, she trusts the man’s temperance and judgment. Moreover, the actions corroborate the words.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 3:10

And he said, Blessed be thou of the LORD, my daughter: for thou hast shewed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich.

He praised Ruth’s deed and, moreover, he did not betray temperance, but he kept to the law of nuptial congress. “You show by your deed,” he said, “that this was not done out of voluptuousness. In fact, you might have gone to those who are young and blooming, with only the intent of enjoying voluptuousness, but you went to the man who stands in place of a father to you.” Twice indeed, he calls her daughter.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 4:1-6

Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat him down there: and, behold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he said, Ho, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he turned aside, and sat down.

The man was so virtuous that he did not rush into a marriage outside the law, but he spoke with his neighbors about the marriage. However, his words are also worthy of admiration. For his first words were not about the marriage but about the possession of fields, etc. Moreover, when, on account of the prospective marriage he [the relative] in fact refused the contract for the land and indeed took off his sandal and gave it to Boaz, in accordance with the law, Boaz then took Ruth to be his wife. Furthermore, because he was not serving lust, he took her in the spirit that one should take a wife, and his words also showed themselves worthy of praise, You are witnesses today, etc. “I do not,” he said, “transgress the law in marrying a Moabite woman; rather, I diligently fulfill divine law, so that the memory of the dead is not extinguished.”

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Ruth 4:7-12

Now this was the manner in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe, and gave it to his neighbour: and this was a testimony in Israel.

The elders confirmed the marriage with a blessing, saying, “The Lord made this woman,” etc. Moreover, “So that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrathah,” they predicted the salvific birth through which Bethlehem was made famous among all people.

QUESTIONS ON RUTH

Song of Solomon 1:1 · 2 passages

The song of songs, which is Solomon's.

Some commentators misrepresent the Song of Songs, believe it to be not a spiritual book [and] come up instead with some fanciful stories inferior even to babbling old wives’ tales and dare to claim that Solomon the sage wrote it as a factual account of himself and the Pharaoh’s daughter.… Those of a more serious frame of mind, on the contrary, gave the name “royal” to the material, and saw the people referred to as the bride and the groom.…My view is that when they read this composition and noticed in it unguents, kisses, thighs, belly, navel, cheeks, eyes, lilies, apples, nard, ointment, myrrh and the like, in their ignorance of the characteristics of the divine Scripture they were unwilling to get beyond the surface, penetrate the veil of the expression, gain entrance in spirit and behold the glory of the Lord with face unveiled. Rather, they gave the text a corporeal interpretation and were drawn into that awful blasphemy.

COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PREFACE

Let us consider why on earth Solomon the sage called it not Song but “Song of Songs”; after all, the fact that nothing that is the result of the divine Spirit’s action is said idly and to no purpose is clear to people of a sober and pious mind. This being the case, the question needs to be asked why the work is called “Song of Songs” and not Song. In fact, we find many songs, psalms, hymns and odes, oral and written, both in blessed David and in the biblical authors before him and after him.…Solomon the sage … composed a song that was not for triumph in battle or for morning prayer but for a wedding.… The Song of Songs … outlines his wedding and depicts his love for the bride. “Bride” is the term he uses of the people who in the above songs have been freed from captivity, have attained their freedom and associated themselves to the king, retaining an indelible memory of his favors, giving evidence of great benevolence and affection for him and constantly attending on him. Then, when the powers on high enquire, “Who is the king of glory?” they long to be with him, unable to bear being…
Let us consider why on earth Solomon the sage called it not Song but “Song of Songs”; after all, the fact that nothing that is the result of the divine Spirit’s action is said idly and to no purpose is clear to people of a sober and pious mind. This being the case, the question needs to be asked why the work is called “Song of Songs” and not Song. In fact, we find many songs, psalms, hymns and odes, oral and written, both in blessed David and in the biblical authors before him and after him.…Solomon the sage … composed a song that was not for triumph in battle or for morning prayer but for a wedding.…
The Song of Songs … outlines his wedding and depicts his love for the bride. “Bride” is the term he uses of the people who in the above songs have been freed from captivity, have attained their freedom and associated themselves to the king, retaining an indelible memory of his favors, giving evidence of great benevolence and affection for him and constantly attending on him. Then, when the powers on high enquire, “Who is the king of glory?” they long to be with him, unable to bear being separated even for a short space of time from their savior. This is the reason this book is called the Song of Songs, the phrase suggesting that those other songs were composed with a view to this song, and the others lead to this one.…
This is the reason, therefore, that the book is called the Song of Songs, in that it teaches us the major forms of God’s goodness and reveals to us the innermost recesses and the holiest of holy mysteries of divine loving-kindness.

COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PREFACE

All writers