Bible in a Year with Fr Paul

That extraordinary Samaritan did not himself shun him whom the priest and the Levite had shunned. In the name of a sect, you may not shun him whom you will admire by interpretation of the word. Indeed, “guard” is signified by the name Samaritan. The interpretation means this. Who is the Guard, if not, “The Lord preserves the infants”? [Ps 114:6 LXX.] Thus, as there is one Jew in the letter and another in the spirit, [Rom 2:28-29.] so there is one Samaritan in public, another in secret. Here the Samaritan is going down. Who is he except he who descende...

Observe the marks of a robber. First, that he does not enter openly. Second, he does not enter according to the Scriptures, for this is, “not by the door.” Here also, Jesus refers to those who had been before and to those who would come after him: antichrist and the false christs, Judas and Theudas, and whoever else there have been of the same kind. And he rightly calls the Scriptures “a door,” for they bring us to God and open to us the knowledge of God. They make us his sheep. They guard us and do not let the wolv...

When the Lord was about to give pardon to the sinful woman, he desired to write with his finger on the ground, in order to point out that it was he himself who once wrote the Ten Commandments of the law on stone with his finger, that is, by the action of the Holy Spirit. And it is good that the law was written upon stone, since it was given to subdue the inmost hearts of a hard-hearted and defiant people—The Venerable Bede

You go astray, Peter, just as the other Evangelist attests: you do not know what you are saying. Do not seek three tabernacles. Seek only the tabernacle of the gospel in which the law and the prophets are to be recapitulated. By seeking three tabernacles you appear to be comparing incommensurably the two servants with the one Lord. Seek only the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for in these there is one God, who is to be worshiped in the tabernacle of your heart—St Jerome

Note that he is not asking them their own opinion. Rather, he asks the opinion of the people. Why? In order to contrast the opinion of the people with the disciples answer to the question “But who do you say that I am?” In this way, by the manner of his inquiry, they might be drawn gradually to a more sublime notion and not fall into the same common view as that of the multitude.

Note that Jesus does not raise this question at the beginning of his preaching but only after he had done many miracles, had...

Again Jesus went up on the mountain where he sat down. Not only people who were healthy but also those suffering from various disorders went up on the mountain where Jesus was sitting. Think of this mountain to which Jesus went up and sat as the church. It has been set up through the word of God over the rest of the world, and all sorts of people come to it. To this assembly have come not only the disciples, as if they were leaving behind the multitudes, as they did in the case of the Beatitudes. Rather, there...

To provide a brief explanation: the five loaves are understood as the five books of Moses; rightly they are not wheat but barley because they belong to the Old Testament. For you know that barley was created in such a way that one can scarcely get to its kernel. For this kernel is clothed with a covering of husk, and this husk is tenacious and adhering, so that it is stripped off with effort. Such is the letter of the Old Testament, clothed with the coverings of carnal mysteries; but if one gets to its kernel, it feeds and...

Not long after this, John the Baptist was beheaded by the younger Herod, [Herod Antipas.] as stated in the Gospels. [Mat 14:1-12; Mrk 6:17-29.] Josephus also records the same fact, mentioning Herodias [Herodias was a daughter of Aristobulus and granddaughter of Herod the Great.] by name, and stating that, although she was the wife of his brother, Herod made her his own wife after divorcing his former lawful wife, the daughter of Aretas, [The Aretas mentioned in 2Co 11:32.] king of Petra, and separating Herodias from her husband while he was still alive. It was on her account also that...

One who aims at fuller understanding of the holy Scriptures must not neglect the careful examination of the proper names in it. Concerning Palestinian place names the Greek copies are often incorrect, and one might be misled by them. The displacement of the swine, who were driven down a steep place by the demons and drowned in the sea, is said to have taken place in the country of the Gerasenes. [Cf. Luk 8:26-37.] Now, Gerasa is a town of Arabia, and has no sea or lake near it. The Evangelists would not have made a statement so obviously...

Christ foreknew his mystery, even before the foundations of the world. It was in the last ages of the world that he arose for the inhabitants of earth. Having borne the sin of the world, he abolished both it and death, which is its consequence and was brought upon us by its means. He plainly said, “I am the resurrection and the life,” [Jhn 11:25.] and “he that believes on me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life.” [Jhn 5:24.] We will see this fulfilled in facts. The ruler of the synagogue of the J...

We must therefore inquire whether by the expression “his own country” is meant Nazareth or Bethlehem. It might have been Nazareth, because of the saying “he shall be called a Nazarene.” [Mat 2:23.] Or it might have been Bethlehem, since he was born there. Furthermore, I wonder whether the Evangelists could have said “coming to Bethlehem” or “coming to Nazareth.” They have not done so but have named it more simply “his country.” This is because of something being declared in a mystic sense in the passage about his country—namely, the whole of Judea—in which he was dishonored. This is according to the...

Observe how he joins miracle to miracle. In the former instance, the healing of the centurion’s servant, he was present by invitation, but here he draws near without being invited. No one summoned him to restore the dead man to life, but he comes to do so of his own accord. He seems to me to have purposely made this miracle also follow upon the former—St Cyril of Alexandria

When Jesus warned, “Beware of practicing your piety before men,” he then added pointedly, “to be seen by them.” On first glance it seems as if the same thing were being repeated, but if you were carefully to pay attention, you will note a careful distinction. Alms may be given in the presence of others primarily to be seen by them, or they may be given in the presence of others but not to be seen, or they may be openly given in order to be seen but still not be seen, or they may be given quietly and still be...

If we ask what the mountain signifies, it is rightly understood to point toward the gospel’s higher righteousness. The precepts given to the Hebrews were lower. Yet, through his holy prophets and servants and in accordance with a most orderly arrangement of circumstance, the same God gave the lower precepts to a people to whom it was fitting to be bound by fear. Through his Son he gave the higher precepts to a people to whom it is fitting to be set free by love—St Augustine

He told Simon and his companions to sail off a little from the land and to let down the net for a draught. But they replied that they had been toiling the whole night and had caught nothing. However, in the name of Christ, they let down the net, and immediately it was full of fish. By a visible sign and by a miraculous type and representation, they were fully convinced that their labor would be rewarded, and the zeal displayed in spreading out the net of the gospel teaching would be fruitful. Within this net they should most...

Why is the Evangelist so exact about this place? It is so that when you hear the woman say, “Jacob our father gave us this well,” you will not think it strange. For Sychar was the place where Simeon and Levi brought about a great slaughter because of their anger over what happened to Dinah.… And from where did the Samaritans get their name? Samaria receives its name from Somer, a mountain there, so called from the name of a former possessor of it. [1Ki 16:24; Is 7:9 LXX.] … The inhabitants of the country were formerly not Samaritans but Israelites. But in due t...

That the need of water [in baptism] is absolute and indispensable, you may learn in this way. On one occasion, when the Spirit had flown down before the water was applied, the apostle did not stand idle at this point, but, as though the water were necessary and not superfluous, observe what he says, “Can any one forbid water so that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?” [Act 10:47.]Why then is water needed?… In baptism, the pledges of our covenant with God are fulfilled: burial and death, resurrection and life. And th...

Since our Lord was known in Galilee, they invite him to the marriage. And he comes because he cares more about our good than his own dignity. The one who did not despise taking on himself the form of a servant [Php 2:7.] would much less despise being present at the marriage of servants—St John Chrysostom

It is fitting that it be recorded that the first Adam was cast out of Paradise into the desert, [Gen 3:23-24; 1Co 15:45.] that you may observe how the second Adam returned from the desert to Paradise.… Adam brought death through the tree. Christ brought life through the cross. Adam, naked of spiritual things, covered himself with the foliage of a tree. [Gen 3:7.] Christ, naked of worldly things, did not desire the trappings of the body. Adam lived in the desert. Christ lived in the desert, for he knew where he could find the lost. With their error canceled, he co...

The Son of God, who is to gather the church, first works in a servant. Thus St. Luke fittingly says that the Word of the Lord came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness, so that the church would not begin from a man but from the Word. For she is a wilderness, because children of depravity outnumber hers, though she has a husband. Then it is said to her, “Sing, O barren one,” [Isa 54:1.] and, “Break forth together into singing, you waste places,” [Isa 52:9.] because the desert had not yet been cultivated by any work of a flock...

A feast day is about to arrive, and it is the most holy and awesome of all feasts. It would be no mistake to call it the chief and mother of all holy days. What feast is that? It is the day of Christ’s birth in the flesh.

It is from this day that the feasts of the theophany, the sacred Pasch [Passover], the ascension and Pentecost had their source and foundation. Had Christ not been born in the flesh, he would not have been baptized, which is the theophany or manifestation. Nor would he have be...

St. Luke kept a certain historical order and revealed to us more miracles of the Lord, yet so that the history of his Gospel embraced the virtue of all wisdom. For what more excellent truth did he reveal concerning natural wisdom than that the Holy Spirit also gave rise to the divine incarnation? [See Luk 1:35.] … He taught that the powers of heaven would be shaken, [Luk 21:26.] that the Lord alone is the only-begotten Son of God, at whose passion darkness fell during the day so that the earth was darkened as night and the sun fled. [Luk 23:44-45.] … As comp...

Daniel gave the reason why God permitted them to be involved in such trials. What is the reason? “To purge them, to choose them and to make them white until the time of the end” … so as to cleanse them and to show who among them was genuine and approved—St John Chrysostom

What will you say, Daniel? You are among the good; you enjoy honor before God and people; why do you concern yourself with the others? But Moses also acted the same way. And what does he say? “He asked for the things that were due with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.” Why did he do that, if what he was asking was due the Israelites? He did it so that he might not make them unworthy of this. For there is no compulsion that can be applied to God; he is above all laws. He did this “to seek in prayer...

We should therefore concur with the traditional interpretation of all the commentators of the Christian church, that at the end of the world, when the Roman Empire is to be destroyed, there shall be ten kings who will partition the Roman world among themselves. Then an insignificant eleventh king will arise, who will overcome three of the ten kings, that is, the king of Egypt, the king of [North] Africa and the king of Ethiopia, as we shall show more clearly in our later discussion. Then, after they have been slain, the seven other kings also will bow their...

Christ, then, was crucified for us; he was judged in the night, when it was cold, and therefore a fire of coal was laid. He was crucified in the third hour, and “from the sixth hour there was darkness until the ninth hour,” [Mat 27:45.] but from the ninth hour there was light again. Are these details written down? Let us inquire. Zechariah says, “And it shall come to pass in that day, and there shall be no light but cold and frost through one day (the cold on account of which Peter warmed himself), and that day shall be known...

At another time, he speaks of us under the figure of a colt. He means by [the colt] that we are unyoked to evil, unsubdued by wickedness, unaffected, high-spirited only with him our Father. We are colts, not stallions, “who whinny lustfully for their neighbor’s wife, beasts of burden unrestrained in their lust.” [Jer 5:8.] Rather, we are free and newly born, joyous in our faith, holding fast to the course of truth, swift in seeking salvation, spurning and trampling upon worldliness. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion. Shout for joy, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you...

For he appeared to the powers above not only in the form in which he came for us, that is, as a human, but also showing the signs of his passion. Thus, we say that after his resurrection from the dead the marks of the nails and the other things of his wounds were marked on the holy flesh.… So that the angels asking each other might say, “Who is this?” He considers and replies to them, “I speak justice and the judgment of salvation.” [Is 63:1 LXX.] He calls “justice” the divine and good news-bearing message or every just word that the...

And the Logos, exhorting us to come to this light, says, in the prophecies of Isaiah, “Enlighten yourself, enlighten yourself, O Jerusalem, for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen on you.” Observe now the difference between the fine phrases of Plato respecting the chief good and the declarations of our prophets regarding the light of the blessed; and notice that the truth as it is contained in Plato concerning this subject did not at all help his readers to attain to a pure worship of God, or even himself, who could philosophize so gran...

No one should be exercised by the words said to the Israelites about keeping the law, which doubtless belongs to the shadows of the world of types; for no one is justified by the law with God.… We should understand this spiritually; and abstaining from the care of the flesh we should offer spiritual sacrifices with the odor of a good spiritual fragrance and minister to God … to keep the sabbath spiritually now means for us keeping away from worldly cares … and with holy vigor making him glad, and offering ourselves in holy sweetness—St Cyril of Alexandria

What a servile mentality from a crazed brain that knows how to do nothing else but gabble. We must reply to our opponents, “You are drunken men; rouse yourselves from your cups.” Why do you do such violence to the truth? Why have you twisted the sense of the divine teachings so as to have been carried off the royal road?—St Cyril of Alexandria

It is in all respects an apt and appropriate end to the work of building the holy city and the temple of the Lord that when the citizens have been purified by God from all the filth of foreign pollution, which is alien to God, the orders of the priests and the Levites should be duly preserved in their own ministry in order that the teachers of the church who have been instructed according to rule may continually exhort the people now cleansed from all sin to remain henceforth in goodness and to grow. Among other things, the people...

And now that we have thus distinguished the various modes of generation, it will be time to observe how the benevolent provision of the Holy Spirit, in delivering to us the divine mysteries, imparts that instruction that transcends reason by such methods as we can receive. For the inspired teaching adopts, in order to set forth the unspeakable power of God, all the forms of generation that human intelligence recognizes, yet without including the bodily senses attaching to the words. For when it speaks of the creative power, it gives to such an energy the name of generation, because...

And that this is the opinion either of all or the best of the Platonists can be ascertained by their writings. And regarding the name itself, if they see fit to call such blessed and immortal creatures gods, this need not give rise to any serious discussion between us, since in our own Scriptures we read, “The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken;” [Psa 50:1 (49:1 LXX, Vg.).] and again, “Confess to the God of gods;” [Psa 136:2 (135:5 LXX, Vg.).] and again, “He is a great King above all gods.” [Psa 95:3 (94:3 LXX, Vg.).] And where it is said, “He is to be feared abov...

People of true and good sense, who have intellectually gathered that knowledge that gives life, are never jaded by the sacred sciences. Indeed it is written that “humankind shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” [Mat 4:4; Deu 8:3.] The word of God is food for the mind and a spiritual “bread that strengthens the heart of humankind,” as the book of Psalms sings—St Cyril of Alexandria

People sit when they disparage, but they stand when they bless the Lord, to whom it is said, “Behold, now bless you the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord.” One who sits (to speak of the bodily habit) is, as it were, unnerved, when the body is idle and when he relaxes the tension of his mind. But a cautious watchman, an active searcher, a wide-awake guard before the camp, stands. The soldier on duty, who wishes to anticipate the enemy’s designs, stands in the battle line before he is exp...

For on that day of perpetual light about which Zechariah said, “And there shall be one day that is known to the Lord, not day or night” [Zec 14:7.] (that is, a day that is remote from the usual experience of passing time), the elect sacrifice great victims to the Lord, namely, those about which the psalmist, tasting them in the hope of things to come, said, “You have broken my bonds; I will offer to you the sacrifice of praise.” [Psa 116:16-17 (115:7-8 LXX, Vg).] He properly also reveals where he was hoping that he would offer this sacrifice when he...

Hear me, therefore, my fellow servant, my friend, my brother; give ear for a moment that I may tell you how you are to walk in the holy Scriptures. All that we read in the divine books, while glistening and shining without, is yet far sweeter within. “He who desires to eat the kernel must first break the nut.” [Plautus Curc. 1.1.55.] “Open my eyes,” says David, “that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Now, if so great a prophet confesses that he is in the darkness of ignorance, how deep, do you think, must be the night of mis...

Like the foundation in a house, the keel in a ship and the heart in a body, so is [Psalm 1 as a] brief introduction to the whole structure of the Psalms. For when David intended to propose in the course of his speech to the combatants of true religion many painful tasks involving unmeasured sweats and toils, he showed first the happy end, that in the hope of the blessings reserved for us we might endure without grief the sufferings of this life—St Basil the Great

“And they rose up to stand, and they read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God four times a day, and four times a night they confessed and prayed to the Lord their God.” For who would not be amazed that such a great people had such extraordinary concern for devotion that four times a day—that is, at the first hour of the morning, the third, the sixth and the ninth, when time was to be made for prayer and psalmody—they gave themselves over to listening to the divine law in order to renew th...

The enemies of the holy city are urging Nehemiah to go down to the plains and to enter into a peace pact with them by together slaughtering calves as testimony to the arranged treaty, but he perseveres in the mountains so that the devout work is not neglected. So too, heretics and false catholics want to have a fellowship of peace with true catholics but with this stipulation, that they do not agree to ascend to the citadel of ecclesiastical faith or duty themselves but rather they compel those whom they see dwelling on the peak of the virtues...

The Pool of Siloa [This is the Latin spelling (derived from the Greek in the LXX) of the name “shelah”.] (which means “sent”), where the man born blind was given light, [Jhn 9:7.] stands for the Lord Savior who was sent by God the Father for our illumination. The spring of this pool can be very aptly understood as the same Father from whom he was born, about which the psalmist well says, “For with you is the spring of life; in your light we shall see light.” [Psa 36:9 (35:10 LXX, Vg).] And the Spring Gate is built in Jerusalem when teachers are...

Nehemiah is interpreted in Latin as “My consoler is the Lord” or “the consoler from the Lord.” For when Nehemiah restored Jerusalem’s walls and, after delivering them from the disdain of their enemies, raised up the people of God to the observance of the divine law, it is surely clear that by his word and deed and person he not unsuitably designates the mediator of God and people, the man Christ Jesus, [See 1Ti 2:5.] who indicates that he was sent to console the poor in spirit when he said to his disciples as he was about to ascend to heaven...

“These are their family heads, and this is the genealogy of those who went up with me from Babylonia, in the reign of King Artaxerxes: Of the descendants of Phinehas, Gershom,” and so on until the end of the genealogy. He carefully enumerates the leaders who came up with him from Babylon and unfolds their genealogy. He takes pains, too, to add their total, which reached 1,440, to suggest that the names of those who come up from the “confusion” of this world are contained in the book of life of the Lamb. [See Rev 21:27.] But also all teachers [i.e., the...

Speaking further of Christ in the same vein, Malachi says, “Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you desire, shall come into the temple. Behold, he comes, says the Lord of hosts. And who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him?” In this text he foretells both comings of Christ, the first and the second—the first where he says, “And presently the Lord shall come into his temp...

When the whole nation of Israel was about to perish, blessed Esther defeated the tyrant’s anger simply by fasting and praying to God. By faith she changed the ruin of her people into safety. [See the commentary on Esth 4:16.] Those days are feast days for Israel; they used to call a feast when an enemy was slain or a conspiracy against the people was broken up and Israel was delivered. That is why Moses established the Feast of the Passover: because Pharaoh was killed and the people were delivered from bondage. So then, especially when tyrants were slain, te...

But what use is there to recall all the examples of those who, because they prayed as they ought, received great favours from God? Everyone can choose for himself many examples from the Scriptures. Anna obtained the birth of Samuel, who was reckoned with Moses, [See Jer 15:1; Psa 99:6 (98:6 LXX).] because when she was barren she prayed to the Lord with faith. [1Sa 1:9-18.] And Ezechias, being still childless and having learned from Isaias that he was about to die, prayed and was included in genealogy of the Saviour. [See 2Ki 20:1-6; Isa 38:1; Mat 1:9.] Again, when, as a result of...

Not only the Holy Scriptures, but the Jewish Antiquities of Josephus as well contain the story of Esther, although they differ in some of the historical details. Therefore, there is some question as to the actual identity of that Ahasuerus who ruled from India to Ethiopia over one hundred twenty-seven provinces. In fact, when Josephus mentions him, he relates that he was Cyrus son of King Xerxes who reigned over Persia after his father Darius. He also adds that this Cyrus was called Artaxerxes by the Greeks, having the nickname “Long-handed,” [“Longimanus” in the Latin text.] and was in power fo...

Why do we need such extensive genealogies that occupy the first NINE chapters of 1 Chronicles? By Fr Tadros Malaty (Part 4/4)

17. The form of the genealogies in general reveals the plan of God and His work with us, whether on the level of the church as a congregation, or the people of God or the believer as a member. The genealogies pass through three stages:

· The first stage: The choice: God chose Adam, and created him according to His image; chose Abraham to become a father of a multitude of nations; and chose the people to b...

Why do we need such extensive genealogies that occupy the first NINE chapters of 1 Chronicles? By Fr Tadros Malaty (Part 3/4)

14. Going through these chapters, we encounter people along the generations, through whom we would get lessons for the edification of our souls, and would learn from some of them how they came to be great in the sight of God, and the sight of the heavenly creatures, through the purity of their hearts, and their faithfulness in the few that was within their hands, and now that we have more talents within ours; … Some of whom have fa...

Why do we need such extensive genealogies that occupy the first NINE chapters of 1 Chronicles? By Fr Tadros Malaty (Part 2/4)

6. These genealogies that goe back to Adam, provokes us not to isolate ourselves, neither from the near or the far past.

7. This genealogies constitute persons who lived on this earth, then were forgotten by the time, and their names were buried in ancient records One day, our names will also be buried in similar records and be forgotten. Whereas he, who enjoys the new spiritual birth, As a son of God by baptism, he has...

Why do we need such extensive genealogies that occupy the first NINE chapters of 1 Chronicles? By Fr Tadros Malaty (Part 1/4)

For a long time, I used to avoid reading these nine chapters concerning the genealogies, on account of that they include many names of which I know nothing, and are even difficult to pronounce, being no more familiar today. Why then does the Holy Book care to record them? In what way will they preoccupy me? Will they be of any benefit to me? Does parading them touch mysalvation and my spiritual edification? … According to Peter H. Da...

From Syria even to Rome I fight with beasts: not that I am devoured by brute beasts, for these, as you know, by the will of God, spared Daniel, but by beasts in the shape of people, in whom the merciless wild beast himself lies hid and pricks and wounds me day by day. But none of these hardships “move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,” [Act 20:24.] in such a way as to love it better than the Lord. Wherefore I am prepared for [encountering] fire, wild beasts, the sword or the cross, so that only I ma...

The sequence of events in the text is as if Darius himself had read Cyrus’s letter and, having perused it, immediately endorsed it with his authority, in such a way that suppressing all their adversaries, he ordered the temple of God to be rebuilt on its site just as the letter said, and himself, with a most devout mind in all things, assisted God’s worshipers to serve his will. Let Artaxerxes, therefore, who above forbade that the house or city of God be built, [See Ezr 4:17-24.] designate those lords of worldly affairs who by inciting persecutions oppo...

For in that passage too, in giving the name of high priest to him who made with his own blood the priestly propitiation for our sins, he does not by the word made declare the first existence of the Only-begotten. But he says “made” with the intention of representing that grace which is commonly spoken of in connection with the appointment of priests. For Jesus, the great high priest (as Zechariah says), who offered up his own lamb, that is, his own body, for the sin of the world; who, by reason of the children who are partakers of fles...

The man who dies before his time does not build his tomb, for, although he lives, he is dead. [1Ti 5:6.] He does not hear the words of Haggai, whose name interpreted the banqueter, for he does not enter the tabernacle of God “with the voice of joy and praise, the noise of one feasting.” [Psa 42:4 (41:5 LXX).] How does he hear his voice if he does not see his works? If he saw them, he would hear the word which was put within his grasp, he would rejoice in his acts, whereby “he knocked and it was opened to him,” [Mat 7:7...

He would have not ordered that if there had been the law, but now he becomes priest, while they bring offerings. Job had made sacrifices for his children; now he makes them for his friends. See how the text shows that Job is devoid of resentment. God takes [Job’s friends] as witnesses of the virtue of the man, and equally he shows the gravity of their fault through the extraordinary importance of the offering. He would have not needed such great victims if the faults to be expiated had not been so serious. He also shows that the sa...

“I will question you, and you answer me.” The perfect rewards of the struggles are reserved after this life to those who fought bravely. The grace of God nevertheless offers a sort of pledge to the athletes. For this reason, Job faced the hardest fights; while losing his riches, he praised him who gave him these afflictions. After losing his children, he glorified him who had taken them away. While realizing that worms grew out of his body, he was not defeated by his diseases. God gave him the firstlings and the pledge of his fights by speaking to him...

These words mean, I do not speak so out of envy or jealousy. Even though the three friends said the same things as him, they did not do so in the same spirit or in order to defend God. Indeed also Judas and the eleven disciples expressed the same opinion about the vase of perfume, but not in the same spirit. Therefore, let us not examine the words but the intention with which each expresses himself. How the first wanted to overthrow him, whereas the latter wanted the opposite. Take heed: Elihu, who speaks last, expresses the thoughts that...

What do the words “he adds at the beginning of his speech” mean? It is not that he completes his speeches, but he comes back to his starting point, without allowing his adversaries to interrupt him or to begin new arguments. What does he say? I would like to live one month of my old happiness in order to shut your mouth and to show you who I was.

“One month comparable to a month of my past days.” He calls for nothing extraordinary, only to live his past happiness for thirty days and to enjoy that prosperi...

The things that are administered by the Holy Spirit are worthy of description. Therefore, they are described, so that the reader may take advantage of the things being read. If the speeches of those three who came to Job were not useful, so that the reader might gain nothing from what was said to Job through them, to be sure the divine Providence would have not reported the speeches of those three in the book of Job. It is possible, therefore, to obtain a certain advantage from their speeches by observing carefully their doctrine.

Notice that the...

“Only know that the Lord has dealt with me thus.… You speak against me; you do not feel for me but bear hard upon me.… May the dignity of him who punishes me make you change your mind,” he says. We do not have to trample underfoot the people who are punished by God, but we must shed tears and grieve over their fate. Above all, we must not rejoice over the death of anybody, because such an action will not be left unpunished. Who would have not respected Job’s misfortune, at least because of the dignity of him who ch...

A worthless physician is literally one who applies curing strategies that are not useful for the suffering. This happens in two ways: either it is due to lack of experience in the physician or to his wickedness. The friends who are contradicted here speak out of a lack of knowledge rather than wickedness in saying, “You suffer due to your sins.” They think they are bringing words of comfort. They were worthless physicians since they did not discover the true reason. “Whitewash with lies,” Job says against them, who think highly of themselves as if they could cure the afflicti...

“He is wise in mind, mighty and strong,” with good reason. Indeed, since God is wise, his benefits are countless. But if you do not believe, O mortal, let us bring our reflection to its conclusion. If he pronounces one thousand words, we cannot answer a single one. These are wise words. In fact, that righteous man said, “Also the righteous will be happy.” About what righteous man is he speaking? But where will we ever find a man who is righteous before God? “Not one of his thousand words.” This is exactly what the prophet said as well: “No living pers...

But the wise person examines all with care, whereas the fool sees nothing. This certainly means that it is God who “causes the foolish to be destroyed by his wrath, while ardor makes him who has gone astray, perish.” This refers to the ardor of God. “His wrath causes the foolish to disappear” means, in my opinion, that God’s wrath causes the sinners to disappear. “Wrath destroys the foolish one,” Eliphaz says, and therefore it does not destroy the sensible. Wrath, in fact, has no place among the sensible—St John Chrysostom

The author calls Job a man of the East; he was superior to all in radiance and celebrity and could name distinguished and illustrious ancestors. How could Job not be incited to pride by the virtue that reigned in his soul, by the joy which his children gave him and by the fact he was the only one who simultaneously possessed wealth and virtue and the privilege to descend from illustrious fathers? But when these goods fall into the hands of the impious, heed what the prophet says: “Since pride has completely grasped them, they have clothed themselves in th...

“If you sit at the dinner table of a prince, understand with prudence what is set before you.” Christ is anticipated here as the prince. His table and food are the words of his doctrine and his eternal goods which he has prepared for those who love him. Each Christian sits at his dinner table. The one who understands with prudence what Jesus has taught with his works and words extends his hand, which means that with his works he begins to show that he is an imitator of Christ, made humble, a peaceful lover of all and patient in t...

He has bought us with his own blood. He endured the cross, despising its shame, so that he might win our salvation. Therefore bow your necks to his yoke. For your soul will see the fruitful seed, that is, you will be sharers in those being kept for eternal life, that is, the saints who have been enriched with the hope of eternal life. For there was no idea of the resurrection of the dead among the Greeks, and the mystery until now was not set forth. They all but said that the breath in your no nostrils is...

Consider how he who was not yet born could have a people, unless he were in being before he was born. The prophet says this in his person, “From my mother’s womb he gave me my name”; because the angel foretold that he would be called Jesus. Again, concerning the plots of Herod, he says, “He … concealed me in the shadow of his arm.”—St Cyril of Jerusalem

These then are imitations that cannot save those who carry them and are nothing other than burdens for the priests and weigh them down to the point of exhaustion. And when captivity came, these were carried off first of all due to the value of the metals from which they were made, and they were not able to free the souls of those carrying them. For it is not as dumb imitations they had a life and any feeling of pain, but they are figuratively ascribed soul and body parts, though having no feeling and body parts.… So it co...

God himself testifies that the Holy Spirit presides over his blessings, saying, “I will put my Spirit on your seed and my blessings on your children.” For no blessing can be full except through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit—St Ambrose of Milan

Next is the fact of his being called Servant [Cf. Isa 49:6; Isa 53:11.] and serving many well, and that it is a great thing for him to be called the Child of God. For in truth he was in servitude to flesh and to birth and to the conditions of our life with a view to our liberation, and to that of all those whom he has saved, who were in bondage under sin. What greater destiny can befall humanity’s humble state than that it should be intermingled with God and by this intermingling should be deified, and that we...

Hezekiah was at a loss for a defense. Since he could offer no excuse for his crimes, he said that God’s word was good, even though it foretold things that should have made him shed tears. Then he asks for peace in his own days, bidding goodbye, as it were, to those who were to come after him and thereby neglecting his native land, his own city and his own race. But it would have been better for him to be sorry for the things that had been predicted and to ask God for mercy and happiness (not te...

The Hebrews hand down some such story as this: that up until the seventieth year, on which Jeremiah had said that the captivity of the Jewish people would be released, Belshazzar had esteemed God’s promise to be of no effect; therefore he turned the failure of the promise into an occasion of joy and arranged a great banquet, scoffing somewhat at the expectation of the Jews and at the vessels of the temple of God. Punishment, however, immediately ensued. And as to the fact that the author calls Nebuchadnezzar the father of Belshazzar, he does not make any mi...

There are people who are even worse than wild donkeys, living in the wilderness and kicking. In fact, most of the young people among us are like this. They have wild desires and jump around, kicking and going around unbridled. They spend all their energy on unbecoming behavior. The fathers are to blame. While they hire horse breakers to discipline their horses and do not let the young colt stay untamed for long, they overlook their own young people. The youth are unbridled and have no self-control. They disgrace themselves through their sexual sins, through gambling and through going...

The waters that flow forth from the threshold of the temple refer to the teaching of the church.… We can understand water up to the ankles as meaning first the human sins that are forgiven us who enter the waters of the Lord; they show the saving grace of baptism and are the beginnings of our progress—St Jerome

For the house and the law of all the teachings of God and the city that is built on top of the mountain are to be believed from what is written; a city on a hill cannot be hid, and there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, (Psa 46:4) which clearly refers to the church of God—St Jerome

The outer threshold of holy Scripture is history, and the inner is allegory. Scripture leads through history to allegory, as if we come from the threshold that is outside to that which is inside—St Gregory the Great

That Gog is the Goth, whose coming forth we have already seen, and over whom victory in days to come is promised, according to the word of the Lord: And they shall spoil them, who had been their despoilers, and plunder them, who had carried off their goods for a prey, says the Lord. And it shall be in that day, that I will give to Gog — that is, to the Goths — a place that is famous, for Israel an high-heaped tomb of many men, of men who have made their way to the sea, and it shall reach roun...

In minute detail the holy prophet Ezekiel teaches and describes how strength will be restored to our dry bones, feeling return and motion added; how, with the return of sinews, the whole structure of the human body will grow strong, and how the driest bones will be clothed with restored flesh and the openings of the veins and the streams of the blood will be concealed by a veil of skin drawn tautly over them. At the very words of the prophet, as we read, the crop of human bodies seems to rise up again to life, and one...

These words “as you have drunk” indicate, I think, that the victors insolently gloried in victory. They had a festive celebration where they got drunk with their friends, boasting in praise of their part in the victory while they got drunk. And while they were drinking and singing songs and causing all manner of damage at this party, they got drunk and began to insult the other nations. “And they will descend against you,” that is, the neighboring regions will attack these parties. And so, you will want to be in a place where they are not; otherwise you too will...

It follows that the serpent in paradise was certainly not brought into being without the will of God. In the figure of the serpent we see the devil. That the devil existed even in paradise we are informed by the prophet Ezekiel, who in discussing the prince of Tyre says, “You are in Eden, the garden of God.” The prince of Tyre stands for the devil. Shall we, therefore, accuse God because we cannot comprehend the treasures—with the exception of those that he has deigned to reveal—of his majesty and wisdom that lie hidden and concealed in Christ...

In the lives of Christians we look not to the beginnings but to the endings. Paul began badly but ended well. The start of Judas wins praise; his end is condemned because of his treachery—St Jerome

O such strictness toward the righteous! O such abundant forgiveness toward the sinner! He finds so many different means, without himself changing, to keep the righteous in check and forgive the sinner, by usefully dividing his rich goodness. And listen how. If he frightens the sinner who persists in sins, he brings him to desperation and to the exhaustion of hope. If he blesses the righteous, he weakens the intensity of his virtue and makes him neglect his zeal, since he considers himself already blessed. For this reason he is merciful to the sinner and frightens the righteous. “For he...

“He shall break the obelisks of the city of the sun, which is in Egypt, and the temples of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.” The city of the sun is Egyptian Heliopolis, which was known for excessive demonic veneration and worship of futile idols. It had tall obelisks of amazing size. The height of each was up to sixty cubits, the capitals on the top of the obelisks were from shining brass that weighed up to a thousand or more pounds. On these obelisks were standing images and likenesses of people and animals that the...

Jeremiah, who was [Jer 1:5.]sanctified in the womb and was known in his mother’s belly, enjoyed the high privilege because he was predestined to the blessing of virginity. And when all were captured and even the vessels of the temple were plundered by the king of Babylon, he alone was [Jer 39:11; Jer 40:1.] liberated by the enemy, did not know the insults of captivity and was supported by the conquerors; and Nebuchadnezzar, though he gave Nebuzaradan no charge concerning the Holy of Holies, did give him charge concerning Jeremiah. For that is the true temple of God and that is...

Celsus then extracts from the gospel the precept, “To him who strikes you once, you shall offer yourself to be struck again,” although without giving any passage from the Old Testament that he considers opposed to it. On the one hand, we know that “it was said to them in old time, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” [Exo 21:24.] and on the other, we have read, “I say to you, Whoever shall strike you on the one cheek, turn to him the other also.” [Mat 5:39.] But as there is reason to believe that Celsus produces the...

Think how great that weeping must be that deserves to be compared with a flood of waters. Whoever so weeps and says with the prophet Jeremiah, “let not the apple of my eye cease,” shall straightway find the words fulfilled of him: “mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” [Psa 85:10.] If righteousness and truth terrify him, mercy and peace may encourage him to seek salvation—St Jerome

In the twelfth year of king Zedekiah, seventy years before the dominance of the Persians, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against the Phoenicians and Jews, as Berossus says in his “Researches on the Chaldeans.” [Berossus was a Babylonian priest of Bel, who wrote a history of his country in Greek in the early Alexandrian age (around 290 b.c.).] Juba, [King of Mauretania and learned historian (c. 50 b.c.-a.d. 23).] writing “On the Assyrians,” admits that he took his account from Berossus, testifying to its accuracy. Nebuchadnezzar blinded Zedekiah and removed him to Babylon, deporting the whole people except a few who escaped...

Now we have to consider the mere ornaments and trappings of office. Each has its proper dress for daily and for ceremonial use. In Egypt and Babylon, the purple robe and gold necklaces were marks of rank, just as provincial priests have their golden wreaths and their robes of state … But there was a difference in the obligation. They were conferred on men who earned the king‘s friendship, simply as a mark of honor … Purple as such, then, was not yet a mark of high office among the barbarians, but of free birth. Joseph, who had been a slave...

I have heard many, after such experience, blame themselves and say, “What advantage is it that I have grieved? I have not recovered my money, and I have injured myself.” But if you have grieved on account of sin, you have blotted it out and reaped the greatest pleasure. If you have grieved for your brothers who have fallen, you have both encouraged and comforted yourself and have also restored them; and even if you were not to profit them, you have an abundant recompense. And that you may learn that grieving for those who have fallen, though we shou...

Jerusalem is to be represented on a brick, and the brick itself is to be placed before the prophet, so that when it looks like Jerusalem in the dust, it can portray the whole blockade against it—St Jerome

Is it not true that from the beginning and long before today you lived with countless transgressions of the law? Did not the prophet Ezekiel accuse you ten thousand times when he brought in the two harlots, Oholah and Oholibah, and said, “You built a brothel in Egypt, you passionately loved barbarians, and you worshiped strange gods.”—St John Chrysostom

Admittedly the divine, because it is without a body, is untouchable and entirely intact, because the divine is beyond every creature, both visible and intelligible, and in nature it is incorporeal, immaculate, untouchable and incomprehensible. Since the only-begotten Word of God, having taken a body from the holy virgin, and, as I already said over and over again, having made it his own, offered himself in an odor of sweetness to God the Father as a spotless sacrifice, in this way it is asserted that he endured on our behalf what happened to his flesh. Everything that happened to...

Why is it that I admire Ezekiel? Because the order was given him to make known to Jerusalem its abominations, and he did not place before his eyes any danger that would result from his preaching, but in order to keep only the precepts of God, he spoke whatever he was told. Let us realize that there was a mystery, that there was the revelation of a mysterious kind on the subject of Jerusalem and all that is said against it. Nevertheless, he prophesied, and accused it of fornication—Origen

Thus [the devil] suffers and is dishonored; and although he still ventures with shameless confidence to disguise himself, yet now, wretched spirit, he is detected rather by those who bear the sign on their foreheads; and he is even rejected by them, and is humbled and put to shame. For even if, now that he is a creeping serpent, he shall transform himself into an angel of light, yet his deception will not profit him; for we have been taught that “though an angel from heaven preach to us any other gospel than that we have received, he is an...

Thus there is the expression in Exodus: “From the firstborn of Pharaoh to the firstborn of the captive woman who was in the pit.” [Exo 12:29.] But they even threw Jeremiah also into a pit. His brothers through jealousy confined Joseph in a pit without water. [Gen 37:24.] Each act, therefore, either draws us downward by oppressing us with sin or lifts us upward by raising us on wings toward God. Therefore, you have saved me, I who formerly lived a wicked life, and have separated me from those who go down to the dark and frigid region. The meaning of the...

Of course nothing is “too hard for the Lord.” But if we choose to apply this principle so extravagantly and harshly in our capricious imaginations, we may then make out God to have done anything we please, on the ground that it was not impossible for him to do it. We must not suppose, however, because he is able to do all things, that he has done what he has not done. But we must inquire whether he has really done it. God could, if he had liked, have furnished humankind with wings to fly with, just as he gave...

Although we say that trial is twofold, that is, in prosperity and in adversity, yet you must know that all people are tried in three different ways. Often they are tried for their probation, sometimes for their improvement, and in some cases because their sins deserve it. For their probation indeed! We read that the blessed Abraham and Job and many of the saints endured countless tribulations.… For improvement, because God chastens his righteous ones for some small and venial sins or to raise them to a higher state of purity, and he delivers them over to various trials th...

Christ showed that he was different from those who neglect the flock when it is being preyed on by wolves, since he did not neglect them and even laid down his life for them so that the sheep might not perish—St John Chrysostom