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
the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
“But since they were crying out, it was necessary to find out from them, to ask them what they found suspicious in Paul's words; but the tribune simply caters to those in power and acts to please them, because he was not concerned with how…”
They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
“They say that they "bound themselves with an oath," meaning that they would renounce their faith in God if they did not carry out what they had planned.”
But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul.
“By God's arrangement, the Jews did not notice how "the son of Paul's sister" could hear them. Again Paul is saved through human foresight, since he leaves everyone, even the centurion, in ignorance, so that the matter would not be discovered.”
And he wrote the following letter:
“Here is a letter written in defense of him and in accusation of the Jews. Look: Paul is acknowledged as innocent not by the Jews, but by foreigners, just as Christ was by Pilate.”
When Paul had been called in, Tertullus opened the prosecution: “Because of you, we have enjoyed a lasting peace, and your foresight has brought improvements to this nation.
“"To you… we owe much peace." You see how from the very first he predisposes the judge in his favor with praises, and how he tries to portray Paul as an innovator and troublemaker.”
We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
“To be numbered among the Nazarenes was a matter of disgrace; therefore Tertullus was demeaning Paul from this angle as well, since Nazareth was an insignificant city. He calls the Nazarenes heretics, as though such a sect also existed among the Jews.”
I do confess to you, however, that I worship the God of our fathers according to the Way, which they call a sect.
“"I truly serve the God of my fathers, believing." When, after being called to be Christ's apostle, Paul says that he serves the God of his fathers, he shows by this that the God of the Old and New Testaments is One and the Same.”
In this hope, I strive always to maintain a clear conscience before God and man.
“We show perfect virtue when we both give people no occasion for stumbling and strive to be blameless before God.”
After several days, Felix returned with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess. He sent for Paul and listened to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.
“Being a Jewess, Drusilla, contrary to the law, married a Greek; or, perhaps, although she was a Jewess, upon marrying she became a Greek. Therefore, wishing to convert her husband, she communicated her faith to him.”
As Paul expounded on righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “You may go for now. When I find the time, I will call for you.”
“"Felix became afraid." Such was the power contained in Paul's words that even the governor was frightened.”
I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand a man over before he has had an opportunity to face his accusers and defend himself against their…
“It is clear that Pilate, having handed Jesus over to the Jews, did this with a villainous purpose, since he despised both the judgment of God and Roman law in order to please the murderers by delivering innocent blood to death, although for such an…”
But when his accusers rose to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected.
“"Having surrounded him, the accusers did not present a single one of their charges." The slanderers brought accusations against him, but did not prove them, because their slander and audacity seemed suspicious, and the examination of the case confirmed nothing.”
But when Paul appealed to be held over for the decision of the Emperor, I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar.”
“"On the review of Augustus." He calls the emperor Augustus, as well as Caesar; he also calls him lord (sovereign).”
But I found he had done nothing worthy of death, and since he has now appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.
“Finally, the judge himself testifies about Paul that he was innocent; however, he did not free Paul. The Lord arranged that Paul mentioned Caesar (and those who appealed to Caesar had to be sent to Rome), so that the prediction of Paul himself would be…”
Surely all the Jews know how I have lived from the earliest days of my youth, among my own people and in Jerusalem.
“"All the Jews know; they have known about me for a long time." This means: the Jews know the truth, but do not want to testify to it, and willfully lie and sin against him.”
They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
“"I lived as a Pharisee according to the strictest teaching of our religion." It is remarkable that the Pharisees too were heretics, although they studied and understood the Scriptures better than all other Jewish sects.”
that the Christ would suffer, and as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”
“"Having risen first from the dead." Jesus was the first to rise and no longer dies, whereas those raised by Him or by His disciples died again in expectation of the future general resurrection.”
We boarded an Adramyttian ship about to sail for ports along the coast of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us.
“Aristarchus is profitably present and accompanies Paul, since he must report in Macedonia everything that happened to Paul.”
The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul with consideration, allowing him to visit his friends and receive their care.
“"Julius, treating Paul kindly." And it was natural to lead and support Paul, who was weighed down by chains and fear. Notice how the writer does not conceal the fact that Paul was in need of care for himself.”
By now much time had passed, and the voyage had already become dangerous because it was after the Fast. So Paul advised them,
“I think Paul is speaking here of the Jewish fast, since he had departed a long time after Pentecost, so that he arrived at the borders of Crete almost by winter.”
But contrary to Paul’s advice, the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and by the owner of the ship.
“The Evangelist says that "the centurion trusted the helmsman and the captain of the ship more." He did this on the assumption that one should rather listen to people experienced in sailing than to a passenger inexperienced in this matter.”
After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete.
“After such a prolonged storm, he addresses them not with reproach, but wishes that in the future they would believe him, and presents what happened as testimony to the truth of what he had told them.”
Nearby stood an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
“Publius was a hospitable man, because he received them knowing nothing about them, but only out of compassion for their plight, and gave rest to two hundred and eighty people, seeing in this a benefit for himself.”
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
“Paul was so respected that he was permitted to stay by himself; for if the centurion had been favorable to him until now, he became even more favorable.”
So for this reason I have called to see you and speak with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”
“"For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." That is, by the Scriptures one hope has been granted to the Jews—Christ, and it was by preaching Him that Paul found himself in this condition of a prisoner.”