Theodoret of Cyrus

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

Commentary

121–140 of 1,374

As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.

Paul says that the Corinthians have understood only in part, because they have not yet rejected the false accusations which had been made against him.

2 Corinthians 1:16

And to pass by you into Macedonia, and to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way toward Judaea.

Some people think that Paul said this aggressively, because in the first epistle he had promised the Corinthians that he would visit the Macedonians first and then come to Corinth. But as they were not willing to wait for him, he gives them a piece of his mind.

2 Corinthians 1:22

Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

God is the source of all good things. He has given us firm faith in Christ. He has anointed us and made us worthy to receive the seal of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 1:24

Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.

Paul added this because his authority was evidently what the Corinthians were afraid of.

2 Corinthians 2:6

Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many.

Paul reveals the zeal of the Corinthians, for they had all turned against this man, just as he had ordered them to.

2 Corinthians 2:8

Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.

Paul’s command now is that they should unite the member to the body, return the sheep to the flock and show him their most sincere love and affection.

2 Corinthians 2:13

I had no rest in my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.

Paul mentions Titus here for a purpose. Since he was the one who took the letter to Corinth, Paul wanted the church there to appreciate his worth.

2 Corinthians 3:1

Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

Paul is telling the Corinthians that they should have been commending him without any reminders of this kind.

2 Corinthians 3:3

Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

Forgetting the false teachers, Paul goes on to the heart of the matter and expounds the difference between the two Testaments.

2 Corinthians 3:9

For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

The law condemned sinners, but grace receives them and justifies them by faith. It leads them to holy baptism and grants them forgiveness of sins.

2 Corinthians 3:10

For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth.

The light of a lamp shines brightly in the darkness of the night, but at midday it is barely visible and is not even thought of as light.

2 Corinthians 3:13

And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:

Paul says that the law was fading away, by which he means that it was coming to an end in Christ, whose coming was foretold by the law.

2 Corinthians 3:16

Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.

The same is true for you as well. When you believe in Christ, the veil of your unbelief will be taken away.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Paul shows here that the Spirit and God are equal. Moses turned his eyes toward God; we turn ours toward the Holy Spirit. Paul would hardly have said that what the Spirit reveals is greater than what Moses saw if the Spirit were merely a creature and not God himself.

2 Corinthians 4:2

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

Paul is talking here about circumcision, which the false apostles were covertly forcing on newly converted Gentiles.

2 Corinthians 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Paul is saying that unbelief is limited to this world, because in the next life the truth will be plain to everyone.

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Since the divine nature is invisible and always remains so, it is seen for what it is in the humanity of Jesus Christ which shines with divine light and sends out its rays.

2 Corinthians 4:8

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

If none of these things ever happened, the greatness of God’s power would never be revealed.

2 Corinthians 4:14

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.

Paul believed that through the work of Christ he and all believers were made greater than death and that they would all be brought before the terrible seat of judgment.

2 Corinthians 5:2

For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:

The heavenly body is not some different one but the one we have now, which will be transformed.

All writers

Who was this?

A theologian of the School of Antioch and bishop of Cyrrhus, he participated in the Christological controversies of the fifth century. He wrote biblical commentaries and polemics against Cyril of Alexandria. His writings were later condemned during the Three Chapters Controversy at the Second Council of Constantinople.

Wikipedia

Works cited

INTERPRETATION OF THE LETTER TO THE ROMANS 145
INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY 16
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 11 14
INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY 14
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1 13
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 13 10
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7 10
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 10 9
COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 1 8
DIALOGUE 2 8
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2 8
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4 8

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