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
because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—
“We thank God, he says, because we heard from Epaphroditus about your faith in Christ Jesus, and not in angels. Through this he predisposes them toward himself.”
We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
“We preach, but not the angels. How then after this do you consider them ministers? And he expressively said: καταγγέλλομεν – we proclaim below, that is, as if bringing Him down from on high, Not in a commanding way and not with compulsion.”
When you lived among them, you also used to walk in these ways.
“This word is not without praise, because now they no longer live in lusts; but there was a time when they did live so, for they were pagans.”
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
“Whether you eat, drink, or set out on a journey, do everything in the name of God, that is, call upon Him for help, turn to Him first of all with prayers, and in this way undertake your tasks.”
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
“He desires that they be free not only from hypocrisy, but also from carelessness. Or better, instead of slaves he makes them free, if they have no need of oversight from masters.”
Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord.
“And this testifies to Paul's wisdom. He includes in his epistles not everything, but only what is necessary and urgently needed — and this because, first, he did not want to make them too lengthy; second, so that the one departing with the epistle would…”
With him I am sending Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything here.
“Onesimus is the slave of Philemon. What honor and what respect he attained, so that he is called a brother of Paul. And Paul is not ashamed to call himself a brother of a slave.”
Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.
“Perhaps this was a Corinthian. Having expressed fitting approval for each one individually, the apostle now offers a common praise; for at that time it seemed a great thing to be from among the Jews.”
For I testify about him that he goes to great pains for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
“"Zeal" and "great" – both words are placed together for emphasis. He praises Epaphras also to the Laodiceans and Hierapolitans, for they, having no doubt read the epistle, could hear about him.”
Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the ministry you have received in the Lord.”
“Why does he not write to him? It is likely that he did not need a lengthy epistle; for him, one brief reminder was sufficient.”