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
But Saul was empowered all the more, and he confounded the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.
“"Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews." The Jews were confounded because the things he had been taught from the Law of Moses, he questioned them about as well.”
When Saul arrived in Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple.
“"Saul arrived in Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples." Having escaped the danger, he not only does not hide, but on the contrary goes where they were persecuted the most.”
When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
“"Brethren, having learned of this, sent him off to Caesarea." Frightened by what had happened to Stephen, they send him to Caesarea, and then also to Tarsus, so that he might both teach there and be safe, as in his own homeland, because the Jews…”
So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room.
“"Widows stood before him with tears, showing the tunics and garments that Gazelle had made while living with them."”
Peter took her by the hand and helped her up. Then he called the saints and widows and presented her to them alive.
“"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.”
And Peter stayed for several days in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.
“Notice the complete absence of arrogance in Peter. Having performed such a great miracle, he seeks lodging not with her nor with any other notable person, but with Simon the tanner; he is not ashamed of lowly people and does not give the great occasion…”
One day at about the ninth hour, he had a clear vision of an angel of God who came to him and said, “Cornelius!”
“"He in a vision clearly saw about the ninth hour of the day an Angel of God, who came in to him." He sees an Angel to supplement Peter's faith. Or, rather, not for him, but for others, weaker in faith.”
He saw heaven open and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners.
“"A certain vessel descending to him, as it were a great sheet." The foremost of the apostles, Peter, had need of a Divine revelation concerning the calling of the Gentiles to the Christian faith, because he did not know that circumcision and uncircumcision make no…”
As Peter continued to reflect on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.
“"Meanwhile, as Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him: 'Behold, three men are looking for you.'"”
So get up! Go downstairs and accompany them without hesitation, because I have sent them.”
“For he was told: "Go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them." Great is the authority of the Spirit, because what God the Father does, the same does the Holy Spirit also. The angel said: "Your prayers and your alms" (v.”
So I sent for you immediately, and you were kind enough to come.
“"Now we are all present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee from God." He did not say "before man," but "before God." Therefore, one must listen attentively to the servants of God.”
We are witnesses of all that He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem.
“"They killed Him, hanging Him on a tree." Again he speaks of the humiliation. Having shown that He was sent by God, the apostle Peter says that He was also killed.”
The apostles and brothers throughout Judea soon heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.
“You see what zeal they had concerning the law. They were not ashamed before Peter's dignity, nor the miracles that had taken place, nor that wonderful preparation that had been made for the reception of the word, but began to dispute about such trifles.”
But Peter began and explained to them the whole sequence of events: “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision of something…
“Peter did not dwell on this trifle, but based himself on what was of great importance. If, he says, they received the Spirit, then how could one not impart this to them?”
Then I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Get up, Peter, kill and eat.’
“"I heard a voice saying to me." The appearance of the sheet alone would have been sufficient to convince him; but to this, however, a voice was also added: "Rise, Peter, kill and eat."”
‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
“"But I said: no, Lord." You see, says Peter, I did my part. This is an apology against what they said: "you went to uncircumcised men and ate with them." And he, nevertheless, defends himself, and does not use the authority of a teacher.”
The Spirit told me to accompany them without hesitation. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s home.
“He could have said nothing that would have revealed his humility more than his appeal to the testimony of the brethren.”
As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, just as He had fallen upon us at the beginning.
“But he is not content even with what was said above, and recalls also the saying of the Lord: "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." Nothing new happened, he says, but only what He had foretold.”
So if God gave them the same gift He gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to hinder the work of God?”
“What we had, he says, they also received, for "God gave them the same gift as He gave to us." To shut their mouths, he says: "as to us."”
But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began speaking to the Greeks as well, proclaiming the good news about the Lord Jesus.
“"They spoke to the Greeks." Perhaps they were called Greeks because they did not know Hebrew.”
The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
“The expression "the hand of the Lord was with them" shows that they were performing miracles. Do you see why miracles were needed now as well? So that they would believe.”
When news of this reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, they sent Barnabas to Antioch.
“"They commissioned Barnabas to go to Antioch." Why did they not write about this to Paul, but sent Barnabas? Because they did not yet know about the virtue of this man.”
Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
“"He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith." It is not the same thing to say that God is good and that a man is good.”
One of them named Agabus stood up and predicted through the Spirit that a great famine would sweep across the whole world. (This happened under Claudius.)
“"He foretold by the Spirit." Lest they think that the famine occurred because Christianity had appeared, the Holy Spirit also predicts this, because Christ too had predicted it.”
This they did, sending their gifts to the elders with Barnabas and Saul.
“"To send relief to the brethren." From this it becomes clear that the apostles held the dignity of elders as well, although, besides this, they were at the rank of deacons and bishops.”