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 time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”
“Christ preaches, it would seem, the same thing as John, namely: "repent" and "the Kingdom of God has drawn near."”
But Jesus answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns so I can preach there as well, for that is why I have come.”
“Furthermore, when the crowd sought Him and greatly desired Him, He does not give Himself over to them, although He receives this with goodwill, but goes also to others who were in need of healing and instruction.”
So He went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
“He also mingled action with teaching, for whilst employed in preaching, He afterwards put to flight devils. For there follows: And casting out devils.”
Jesus promptly sent him away with a stern warning:
“And from this we are also taught not to make a show of ourselves when we do good to someone, for behold, Jesus Himself commands the one who was cleansed not to spread word about Him.”
A few days later Jesus went back to Capernaum. And when the people heard that He was home, they gathered in such large numbers that there was no more room…
“This is not however the paralytic, whose cure is related by John, (John 5) for he had no man with him, this one had four; he is cured in the pool of the sheep market, but this one in a house.”
Since they were unable to get to Jesus through the crowd, they uncovered the roof above Him, made an opening, and lowered the paralytic on his mat.
“But how should I be borne to Christ, if the roof be not opened. For the roof is the intellect, which is set above all those things which are within us; here it has much earth about it in the tiles which are made of…”
Once again Jesus went out beside the sea. All the people came to Him, and He taught them there.
“Or else, after the miracle, He goes to the sea, as if wishing to be alone, but the crowd runs to Him again, that thou mightest learn, that the more thou fliest from glory, the more she herself pursues thee; but if thou followest her…”
Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.”
“Or, he has his right hand withered, who does not the works which belong to the right side; for from the time that our hand is employed in forbidden deeds, from that time it is withered to the working of good.”
Jerusalem, Idumea, the region beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard what great things He was doing.
“Even the Tyrians and Sidonians received benefit, despite being foreigners. Meanwhile His own kinsmen persecuted Him. So there is no benefit in kinship if there is no good character!”
Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him.
“But Jesus in us is our reason, which commands that our vessel, that is, our body, should serve Him, lest the troubles of worldly affairs should press upon our reason.”
And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
“And when the "harvest" comes, then the "sickle" gathers the fruits. This "sickle" is the Word of God, and the "harvest" is the time of death.”
Overwhelmed with fear, they asked one another, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
“The disciples said among themselves, "Who then is this?" because they still had an indefinite conception of Him.”
As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs.
“Those who were in the ship enquired among themselves, What manner of man is this? and now it is made known Who He is by the testimony of His enemies. For the demoniac came up confessing that He was the Son of God.”
When Jesus had again crossed by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him beside the sea.
“After the miracle of the demoniac, the Lord works another miracle, namely, in raising up the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue; the Evangelist, before narrating this miracle, says, And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people…”
Immediately her bleeding stopped, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.
“Or else, by the woman, who had a bloody flux, understand human nature; for sin rushed in upon it, which since it killed the soul, might be said to spill its blood.”
Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.”
“The Lord speaks generally about all prophets, that they receive no honor in their homelands, among their kinsmen and household members. Do they have distinguished kinsmen? In that case, those kinsmen envy them and therefore dishonor them. Are they of humble origin?”
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”
“And whoever shall not receive you, &c. This the Lord commanded them, that they might show that they had walked a long way for their sakes, and to no purpose.”
Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead!
“This Herod was the son of the Herod who slaughtered the infants. Though he was a tetrarch, Mark calls him king, using this title in a loose sense.”
Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.”
“The malignant woman begs that the head of John be given to her immediately, that is, at once, in that very hour, for she feared lest Herod should repent.”
When Jesus stepped ashore and saw a large crowd, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things.
“The Pharisees, being ravenous wolves, did not shepherd the people but devoured them. Therefore the people, bypassing them, gather to Christ, the true Shepherd. And Christ gives them food—first the more profitable and precious kind, in word, and then bodily food as well.”
They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.
“It goes on: And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments.”
When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and Jesus was alone on land.
“Now the Lord permitted His disciples to be in danger, that they might learn patience; wherefore He did not immediately come to their aid, but allowed them to remain in danger all night, that He might teach them to wait patiently, and not to hope…”
but when they saw Him walking on the sea, they cried out, thinking He was a ghost— for they all saw Him and were terrified.
“But notice also another circumstance, namely that before ending the danger, He casts them into even greater fear; for when they saw Him, they cried out in fright, thinking it was a ghost.”
for they had not understood about the loaves, but their hearts had been hardened.
“As for the apostles, not having recognized Christ from the miracle of the loaves, they recognized Him from the present miracle on the sea.”
For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
“The Law, He says, teaches: "Honor your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12); but you teach children to say to their parents: that which you want from me is corban, that is, dedicated to God.”