Voices and influences
Theophylact of Ohrid
He wrote clear, useful Gospel commentaries while stuck serving a difficult Balkan diocese he never wanted.
Summary
This site quotes Theophylact of Ohrid 461 times across 25 books, and lists 0 works.
- Lived died 1107.
- Quoted here most in Acts: 176 of 461.
Theophylact of Ohrid
- Lived
- died 1107
- Tradition
- Patristic
5 of 461 quotations
Own words
Quoted at 50 words or fewer, because Theophylact of Ohrid's works are in copyright.
As the Lord promised the covetous ruler a treasure in heaven, he nevertheless did not heed, for he was a slave to his treasures, and therefore "became sorrowful" upon hearing the Lord urge him to part with his possessions, since he desired eternal life precisely …
Luke 18:23 But when the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy. BSB
For that day will not come with observation, but unexpectedly, secretly, like a net capturing those who are inattentive to themselves. Another person might perhaps investigate in detail the expression: "dwelling (sitting) upon the face of all the earth." That day will capture in its …
Luke 21:35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of all the earth. BSB
Everywhere alongside virtue there is vice. Some marveled, others reviled. The former were truly devout; they lived in Jerusalem precisely because the law permitted them to appear three times a year at the temple in Jerusalem.
Acts 2:7 Astounded and amazed, they asked, “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? BSB
Because the words "pray to the Lord for me" Simon said not because he repented and converted, but only for the sake of appearances. For otherwise, where is the weeping? Where is the remorse and confession of sins?
Acts 8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” BSB
"Having called the saints and widows, he presented her before them alive" – to the former as a consolation, and to the latter as a protectress.
Acts 9:41 Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive. BSB
Influence, on the record
This site quotes Theophylact of Ohrid 461 times across 25 books.
This site’s own count of what it does with the voice
The life, in order
The life told as one accountfrom this site's record
Theophylact was born about 1050 on the island of Euboea, came to Constantinople, and studied under Michael Psellos, the outstanding scholar of eleventh-century Byzantium. He did well in the capital: he was a deacon of Hagia Sophia, held the post of maistor ton rhetoron — master of the rhetors, the senior teaching chair of the church — and was made tutor to Constantine Doukas, the young heir to the throne. Then, some time in the 1080s or early 1090s, he was appointed archbishop of Ohrid, the head of the Bulgarian church, and sent to the Balkans. His letters make no secret of what he thought about it. He was a Greek intellectual dropped into a Slavic province he found rough, poor, and provincial; he complains about the food, the smell, the mud, the tax collectors who bled his people, and the isolation. He calls himself an exile. He served there for something over twenty years — he was still writing after 1107, and the date of his death is not known. He was also, by the evidence of the same letters, a real pastor. He defended his flock against imperial tax officials, intervened for the poor, argued with governors, and stayed. He learned to respect the Bulgarians he had complained about, and he wrote a life of Clement of Ohrid, the disciple of Cyril and Methodius who had brought Slavic Christianity to that region, honouring the local tradition rather than replacing it. His commentaries are why he is on this wall. He wrote on all four Gospels, on Acts, on the epistles of Paul, on the catholic epistles, and on several minor prophets. They are not original, and he never claimed they were. They are largely a distillation of John Chrysostom, compressed, simplified, and made continuous — Chrysostom's exegesis without Chrysostom's length. That turned out to be exactly what people needed. Theophylact's Gospel commentary became the most widely used handbook on the Gospels in the Greek-speaking church, and it was read in the West too: Erasmus used it, Aquinas used it, and Calvin cites him. He also wrote a temperate treatise on the errors of the Latins, notable in a polemical age for how much of the quarrel he was willing to call a matter of custom rather than heresy. A man who wanted a chair in the capital, got sent to the mountains instead, and spent his exile writing the plainest commentaries in Byzantium. Sources: Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on the Gospels (Migne, Patrologia Graeca, vols. 123–126); Theophylact, Letters; Margaret Mullett, Theophylact of Ochrid: Reading the Letters of a Byzantine Archbishop; The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913).
461 quotations across 25 books
Where this voice is quoted
as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the favor shown us in answer to their prayers.
“Since the words "that we should not trust in ourselves" could seem to some as a general accusation concerning them, he softens what was said and asks for their prayers as a great intercession.”
For we do not write you anything that is beyond your ability to read and understand. And I hope that you will understand us completely,
“Since the apostle seemed to have said much about himself, lest anyone say this is self-praise, he says: we write to you what you read in the present epistle and what you already know even without this.”
For all the promises of God are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him, our “Amen” is spoken to the glory of God.
“In the preaching there are many promises: the resurrection of the dead, adoption, and in general the hope of the age to come.”
So I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you.
“The word "again" shows that he had been grieved before as well. However, he did not say openly: "you also grieved me before," but in another way: "I did not come so as not to grieve you again," which, nevertheless, has one and the same…”
For through many tears I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart, not to grieve you but to let you know how much I love you.
“Since he said above that he rejoices when they grieve, lest they say: you endeavor to sadden us so that you yourself may rejoice, he explains that he himself grieves greatly, grieves more than the sinners themselves.”
Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.
“He no longer commands as a teacher, but as an advocate asks the judges "to show him love," that is, to receive him with firm love, and not simply and casually.”
To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?
“Since he said: "we are a fragrance even among those who are perishing," lest you think that those who perish are also pleasing and acceptable to God, he added the following: smelling this fragrance, some are saved, while others perish.”
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation to you or from you?
“Since he said many great things about himself, he says: will not someone say: what is this, Paul? By saying this about yourself, you are praising yourself. He removes this objection with the following words. He says this with force, making his speech more expressive.”
For if the ministry of condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry of righteousness!
“Again in another way he presents the same thought. Explaining his own words, "the letter kills," he calls the law "the ministry of condemnation," as the punisher of sins, not their cause.”
For if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which endures!
“He presents another syllogism. If the law that was ceasing and subject to abolition was given in glory, then how much more shall the law that is unshakeable and eternal – the New Testament – be in glory.”
We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away.
“That is, we do not need to cover ourselves, like Moses. For you can look upon that glory which we have, I mean the glory of the Gospel, although it is far more radiant than that of Moses.”
All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is extending to more and more people may overflow in thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
“And hinting at the false apostles, who said that through their mediation the blessings of God were communicated to their disciples, he says: "all things are for your sakes," even the resurrection itself, and not for the sake of this one or that one.”
If we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are of sound mind, it is for you.
“If we say something lofty (this is what the apostle calls "being beside ourselves," or, in other places, "madness"), we do this for God, so that you, considering us weak, may not become proud and perish; but if we say something humbly and with self-abasement…”
in purity, knowledge, patience, and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
“"In purity": thus he calls temperance, or purity in all things, and freedom from covetousness, and preaching without charge. "In prudence," that is, in the wisdom of God, which is truly knowledge, only not outward, as with the false apostles.”
as unknown, yet well-known; dying, and yet we live on; punished, yet not killed;
“"We are unknown, yet we are recognized": for some they were respected and well-known, while for others they were not even worthy of being known. This corresponds to what was said: "in honor and dishonor."”
We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians. Our hearts are open wide.
“Having enumerated his labors and through the order of his narrative shown the Corinthians how they ought to imitate him, he wishes, finally, to reproach them as not loving him enough.”
Indeed, I was not embarrassed by anything I had boasted to him about you.
“I, he says, rejoiced at this, that Titus found you to be such as I had described you to him in words. And he himself was comforted when he found you to be such and encountered nothing rude or unpleasant from you.”
In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity.
“That is, having many afflictions, they became more skilled through patience; they did not fall, but rather rejoiced, not simply rejoiced, but rejoiced abundantly.”
And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, because it was the will of God.
“We did not expect that those in such poverty and such affliction would ask us to accept their service. Here he testifies to their other virtues as well.”
But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in the love we inspired in you—see that you also excel in this grace…
“He exhorts with praises and says: since you have all other things in abundance, then in this matter as well — not only give alms, but give them in abundance; which means either that they should surpass the Macedonians, or simply that they should be…”
And this is my opinion about what is helpful for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give, but even to have such a…
“See how he takes care not to be a burden to them. "I give my advice," he says, that is, I counsel, and do not impose necessity; and I counsel so that there may be more benefit to you than to those who receive.”
As it is written: “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”
“How will there be equality? If both you and they mutually share your surpluses with one another and fill each other's deficiencies. But what kind of equality is it to give spiritual things in return for material things?”
Otherwise, if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—to say nothing of you—would be ashamed of having been so confident.
“Again he returns to the same subject and expresses his concern with greater force, persuading them with human considerations. For there is greater shame when one is disgraced before the faces of strangers.”
So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you beforehand and make arrangements for the bountiful gift you had promised.
“Lest he seem to contradict what was said above — "it is superfluous for me to write to you" — while now speaking again about the same thing, he discusses generosity and the completion of the deed with cheerfulness, for which reason, he says, I…”
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
“He calls "gift" the blessings that come from almsgiving both to those who give and to those who receive.”