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
In His teaching Jesus also said, “Watch out for the scribes. They like to walk around in long robes, to receive greetings in the marketplaces, and to have the chief…
“But they used to walk in honourable garments, because they wished to be highly esteemed for it, and in like manner they desired other things, which lead to glory.”
If the Lord had not cut short those days, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom He has chosen, He has cut them short.
“That is, if the Roman war had not been soon finished, no flesh should be saved; that is, no Jew should have escaped; but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, that is, for the sake of the believing Jews, or who were hereafter…”
The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have Me.
“Let those be ashamed, then, who prefer the poor to Christ! For I have heard goldsmiths who say that if one breaks a church vessel into pieces and gives them to the poor, there will be no sin.”
And truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
“But the Lord makes a double prophecy; one that the Gospel shall be preached over the whole world, another that the deed of the woman shall be praised.”
Truly I tell you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.”
“As if He had said, I will not drink wine until the resurrection; for He calls His resurrection the kingdom, as He then reigned over death.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’
“Christ foretells to the disciples that they too will be scandalized. And lest they consider this an open reproach directed at all of them, He cites the testimony of the prophet Zechariah, that they will be "scattered" (Zech. 13:7).”
When Jesus returned the third time, He said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? That is enough! The hour has come.
“Therefore He goes away the third time to pray the prayer mentioned above. And he cometh the third time, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest.”
And one of the bystanders drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Mark conceals his name, lest he should seem to be praising his master for his zeal for Christ. Again, the action of Peter points out that they were disobedient and unbelieving, despising the Scriptures; for if they had had ears to hear the Scriptures, they…”
Jesus asked the crowd, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would an outlaw?
“This, however, is a proof of His divinity, for when He taught in the temple they were unable to take Him, although He was in their power, because the time of His Passion had not yet come; but when He Himself was willing, then He…”
While Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the servant girls of the high priest came down and saw him warming himself there.
“The Lord allowed this to happen to him by His providence, that is, lest he should be too much elated, and at the same time, that he might prove himself merciful to sinners, as knowing from himself the result of human weakness.”
And they crucified Him. They also divided His garments by casting lots to decide what each of them would take.
“But their casting lots for His garments was also meant as an insult, as though they were dividing the clothes of a king; for they were coarse and of no great value.”
In the same way, the chief priests and scribes mocked Him among themselves, saying, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself!
“Likewise also the Chief Priests mocking said among themselves with the Scribes, He saved others, himself he cannot save.”
Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, so he summoned the centurion to ask if this was so.
“It goes on: And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead. For he thought that He should continue long alive upon the cross, as also the thieves used to live long, upon the instrument of their execution.”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, even though it was extremely large.
“But while they were pondering this, the Angel rolled away the stone, though the women did not perceive it. So too Matthew says that the Angel rolled away the stone after the women had arrived.”
So the women left the tomb and ran away, trembling and bewildered. And in their fear they did not say a word to anyone.
“Then "trembling and astonishment" seized the women, that is, they were struck both by the vision of the Angel and by the awe of the Resurrection, and therefore "they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."”
And they went back and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
“"And they went and told it unto the residue; neither believed they them." How then does Luke say that they "returned and found the eleven Apostles gathered together, and those who were with them, who said that the Lord is risen indeed" (Luke 24:33–34), whereas…”