Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture

[Paul Meiklejohn]

I've been reading Hall's 'Reading Scripture with the Father's' and in his introduction he mentioned Thomas C. Oden, the editor of 'Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture'.  I was so intrigued I've purchased the set (on sale at the moment).  

It already looks like its going to make its mark on my expanding library.  I'm just wondering if other seasoned users of the commentary wanted to share if they have found it useful.  It might help others decide whether or not it's for them.

 

Paul.

 

 

[Daniel Francis]

I find it a very nice commentary, but I will admit I use it less than I thought I would. It is a thematically data-mined version of the church fathers and comes up with some very good insights but some sections feel better covered than others. but that is the nature of all commentaries and this one more so since it is drawing from a more limited scope, Sometimes the section is not comments on the actual text but thematically similar themes. 

 

Here is a look at Micah 3 to give you an example of how it draws from commentaries on a book but widely from other sources too:

 

3:1–12 REBUKE OF PROPHETS AND LEADERS OF ISRAEL

 

Overview: God is not to blame for the destructive consequences of disobeying his word (CHRYSOSTOM). On the contrary, that is the fault of the leaders who forsook justice and succumbed to greed (THEODORET). Those who follow false prophets will walk in darkness (EPHREM). The inspired prophets were filled with the Holy Spirit (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Cyril of Alexandria quotes Micah in reference to a forged letter that was sent under his name to Athanasius by heretics. The forger not only twists the words of Cyril but also corrupts the sacred Scriptures by misinterpreting them (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Priests ought to live within modest means (JEROME). Micah foretold the fall of Jerusalem (GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS). In his time Cyril of Jerusalem saw the mount of Zion become a melon patch, as predicted by the prophets (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM).

 

3:1–4  Hating Good, Loving Evil

 

GOD VINDICATED. CHRYSOSTOM: Indeed, the prophets repeatedly charged the people, saying, “Hear, you rulers of Sodom,” and “Your princes are faithless.”1 And again Micah: “Is it not for you to know justice?” In fact, everywhere they vehemently upbraided them. What, then? Will someone on that account find fault with God? Perish the thought! The fault, in truth, is with them. Moreover, what better proof could one offer that you do not know the law, than that of your failure to obey it? HOMILIES ON JOHN 52.2

 

GOD’S ACCUSATION. THEODORET OF CYR: He delivers this address to the leaders: those entrusted with judgment trampled on justice; hence he puts it in the form of a question, Was it not you who had responsibility for judging, for punishing the guilty and letting the innocent go free without blame? How did you, then, who were entrusted with administering the laws, turn from the practice of good works and ardently support evil? You exercised such greed in regard to the needy as to strip them of all their possessions (suggesting this by saying “robbing people of their skins and the flesh from their bones”). COMMENTARY ON MICAH 3.1–4.3

 

3:5–6  Darkness and No Vision

 

WITHOUT VISION. EPHREM THE SYRIAN: “The sun will go down”4 upon those prophets who lead my people astray, dwelling in darkness. “It will be night for you, without vision, and it will be dark for you, without dawn.” “For, when [the spirit] goes out of a man, it goes about wandering.”5 It does this quite by nature. [The Lord] rendered this judgment with regard to [the people]: “Thus will it be for this generation.”6 That is, in the days of the prophets the evil spirit had gone out from them, [that spirit] that was sin itself. COMMENTARY OF TATIAN’S DIATESSARON 11.8.7

 

3:8  Filled with the Lord’s Spirit

 

THE PROPHETS KNEW THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: If, further, one works through the twelve minor prophets, many testimonies to the Holy Spirit are to be found. Thus Micah speaks as God’s mouthpiece and says, “Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord.” Joel cries, “‘And it shall come to pass afterwards,’ says God, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh’” and what follows.8 Haggai said, “‘For I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts … ‘my Spirit remained among you.’”9 And in like manner Zechariah says, “Receive my words and my statutes which I commanded my servants the prophets.”10 CATECHETICAL LECTURE 15.29.11

 

3:9  Those Who Abhor Justice

 

THE PERVERSION OF HOLY TEXTS CONTINUES. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: But when some of those accustomed “to pervert what is right” turn my words aside into what seems best to them, let your holiness not wonder at this. [Know] that those involved in every heresy collect from the divinely inspired Scripture as pretexts of their own divination whatever was spoken truly through the Holy Spirit, corrupting it by their own evil ideas and pouring unquenchable fire upon their very own heads. But since we have learned that some have published a corrupt text of the letter of our all-glorious father, Athanasius, to the blessed Epictetus, a letter which is itself orthodox, so that many are done harm from it, thinking that for this reason it would be something useful and necessary for our brothers, we have sent to your holiness copies of it made from the ancient copy which is with us and is genuine. LETTER 39.8.12

 

3:11  Corruption of Israel’s Leaders

 

LIMITS ON THE PAY OF PRIESTS. JEROME: You are permitted, O priest, to “live,” not to luxuriate from the altar. “The mouth of the ox which treads out the corn is not muzzled.” Yet the apostle “abused not the liberty,”13 but “having food and raiment”14 was “thereby content,” laboring night and day that he “might not be chargeable to anybody.”15 And in his epistles he calls God to witness that he “lived reverently”16 and without avarice in the gospel of Christ. He asserts this too not of himself alone but of his disciples, that he had sent no one who would either ask or receive anything from the churches. But if in some epistles he expresses pleasure and calls the gifts of those who sent them the grace of God,17 he gathers not for himself but for the “poor saints at Jerusalem.”18 But these poor saints were those who of the Jews first believed in Christ and being cast out by parents, kinsmen and connections had lost their possessions and all their goods, the priests of the temple and the people destroying them. Let such poor receive. But if on plea of the poor a few houses are enriched and we eat in gold, glass and china, either let us with our wealth change our habit or let not the habit of poverty seek the riches of senators. What avails the habit of poverty while a whole crowd of poor longs for the contents of our purse? Wherefore, “for our sake” who are such, “who build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem by iniquity, who judge for gifts, give answers for rewards, divine for money,” and thereon claiming to ourselves a fictitious sanctity say, “Evil will not come upon us,” hear the sentence of the Lord which follows: “Zion and Jerusalem and the mountain of the temple”—that is, the temple of Christ—“shall” (in the consummation and the end, when “love shall grow cold”19 and the faith shall be rare) “be plowed as a field and become heaps as the high places of a forest,” so that where once were ample houses and countless ears of corn there should only be a poor cottage, keeping up the show of fruit which has no refreshment for the soul. COMMENTARY ON MICAH 1.3.11.20

 

3:12  Zion Plowed as a Field

 

THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FORETOLD. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS: Hence again the divine Micah was unable to brook the building of Zion with blood, however you interpret the phrase, and of Jerusalem with iniquity. Meanwhile, these heads of the house of Jacob abhorred justice. The priests were teaching for hire. The prophets were prophesying for money! What does Micah say will be the result of this? “Zion shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be as a storehouse of fruit, and the mountain of the house shall be as the grove of the forest.” He bewails also the scarcity of the upright, there being scarcely a stalk or a gleaming grape left, since both the prince asks and the judge curries favor,21 so that his language is almost the same as the mighty David’s: “Save me, O Lord, for the godly man ceases.”22 Their blessings shall fail them, for “you consume like a moth what is dear to him.”23 IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2.58.24

 

THE PROPHECY FULFILLED. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Isaiah25 lived almost a thousand years ago and saw Zion in its primitive form. The city was still standing, beautified with public squares and clothed in honor; yet he says, “Zion shall be plowed like a field.” He was foretelling what has been fulfilled in our day. Observe the exactness of the prophecy; for he said, “Daughter Zion shall be left like a hut in a vineyard, like a shed in a cucumber patch.”26 Now the place is full of cucumber patches.27 Do you see how the Holy Spirit enlightens the saints? Therefore do not be distracted by a common term but hold fast to what is exactly true. CATECHETICAL LECTURE 16.18.28

 

 

1 Is 1:10, 23.

 

2 FC 41:45.

 

3 PG 81:1756.

 

4 Jer 15:9.

 

5 Mt 12:43.

 

6 Mt 12:45.

 

7 ECTD 179*.

 

8 Joel 2:28.

 

9 Hag 2:4–5.

 

10 Zech 1:6 LXX.

 

11 LCC 4:176.

 

12 FC 76:152.

 

13 1 Cor 9:13, 9, 18.

 

14 1 Tim 6:8.

 

15 1 Thess 2:6; 2 Thess 3:8.

 

16 1 Thess 2:10.

 

17 2 Cor 12:17–18, 6–7.

 

18 Rom 15:26.

 

19 Mt 24:12.

 

20 PMPC 2:45–46; CCL 76:465.

 

21 Mic 7:1–4.

 

22 Ps 12:1 (11:2 LXX).

 

23 Ps 39:11 (38:12 LXX).

 

24 NPNF 2 7:217*.

 

25 Cyril probably means Micah here rather than Isaiah.

 

26 Is 1:8.

 

27 Cyril was catechizing only a few hundred yards from Mount Zion, so he had observed these cucumber patches. This was about A.D. 350.

 

28 FC 64:87*.

 

 

 

Alberto Ferreiro and Thomas C. Oden, eds. The Twelve Prophets. vol. 14 of Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture. ICCS/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 155-158.

accord://read/ACCS_Complete#84655

 

I find the above useful and interesting. At the current price I think it is well worth it regular price I not too sure....

 

-dan 

Edited June 18, 2017 by Daniel Francis

[Daniel Francis]

I know Accordance has newer policy asking not to share too much, but I am going to share a different section here to show what can happen from a more commented on passage:

 

5:1–2 PREFACE TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

 

OVERVIEW: Why did the Lord ascend the mount to deliver his teaching? That he might give the heavenly commandments to his disciples, leaving the earthly and seeking the sublime (CHROMATIUS); that he might bring the people with him to a higher life (JEROME); that the highest teaching of the Father and the Son might be made known (AUGUSTINE); to show us that whoever teaches God’s way of justice must embody his own teaching from the heights of spiritual virtue. Hence whoever today wishes to learn the mysteries of truth must go up to the mountain of the church (ANONYMOUS). Jesus taught them according to their readiness to hear, both by his silence and by his speech (CHRYSOSTOM). The severity of the law was first given by Moses on the mountain, but the people were forbidden to draw close. Now with Jesus, all are invited to draw near to him to hear of the gift of the gospel (CHROMATIUS).

 

5:1  Jesus Ascends the Mountain

 

BRINGING THE GREAT CROWD TO A HIGHER POINT. JEROME: The Lord went up the mountain that he might bring the crowds with him to higher things. The crowds were unable to go up, however, and he was followed by the disciples to whom he spoke, not standing but sitting together. For they were unable to understand this brilliant man in his majesty. Many of the simple believers literally believed that he taught the Beatitudes and other things on the Mount of Olives, but this is not really true.1 From the events that went before and followed, the place in Galilee has been shown to be what we believe is either Mount Tabor or some other high mountain. After he finished speaking, the Evangelist says, “Now when he had entered Capernaum.” COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.5.1.2

 

ASCENT TO THE HEIGHTS. CHROMATIUS: From the low and humble to the high and exalted places, the Lord, ready to instruct his disciples, went up the mountain—specifically to the Mount of Olives—so that according to the very meaning of this word, he might present the gift of his divine mercy. The Lord went up the mountain that he might give the precepts of the heavenly commandments to his disciples, leaving the earthly and seeking the sublime things as though already placed on high. He went up that he might now give the divine gift of the long-promised blessing, according to what David had once declared: “For indeed he who gave the law will give blessings.” TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.1.1–2.3

 

THE MOUNT OF MOSES AND THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. AUGUSTINE: If we ask what the mountain signifies, it is rightly understood to point toward the gospel’s higher righteousness. The precepts given to the Hebrews were lower. Yet, through his holy prophets and servants and in accordance with a most orderly arrangement of circumstance, the same God gave the lower precepts to a people to whom it was fitting to be bound by fear. Through his Son he gave [NT Vol. IA, p. 78] the higher precepts to a people to whom it is fitting to be set free by love. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.1.2.4

 

EMBODIED SPEECH FROM THE HEIGHTS OF SPIRITUAL VIRTUE. ANONYMOUS: Wasn’t he able to teach right there where the people were? He went up on the mountain for two specific reasons. First, that he might fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, who said, “Go up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings.”5 Next, that he might show the mystery of love. For his ascent signifies the height of virtue. He therefore went up the mountain to show us that whoever teaches and whoever hears God’s way of justice must stand on the height of spiritual virtues. The one who teaches must himself be an example of his words, so he may teach more by his works than his words, as the apostle says to Timothy: “Set the believers an example.”6 The one who walks in the valley of earthly life, however, treads on obscure pathways and speaks high-flown words: He does not teach anyone but chastens himself. For no one can stand in the valley and speak from a mountain. Speak from where you take your stand. Take your stand from where you are speaking. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.7

 

LOOKING TOWARD THE CHURCH AS THE MIGHTY MOUNTAIN. ANONYMOUS: The church is called a mountain. It is pictured in Scripture as the “mountain of God, a mighty mountain.”8 Christ therefore went up the mountain to reveal there the mysteries of truth to his disciples. He showed that whoever wishes to learn the mysteries of truth ought to go up the mountain of the church—not to just any mountain, but to the mighty mountain. For there are mountains of heretics that are not mighty but swollen. On these mountains are revealed not the mysteries of truth but lies that fly in the face of the truth. That is why the Holy Spirit scolds those who go up such mountains when he says through the prophet: “Why do you look with envy, O swollen mountains?”9 Heretical assemblies are called swollen because their heart is swollen like fat.10 INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.11

 

ALL ARE INVITED TO COME. CHROMATIUS: And that he might more openly show the grace of the apostles and the author of this very great blessing, he added, “They shall walk from strength to strength; God shall look down upon Zion.”12 That is to say, the Son of God, who gave blessings to the apostles on Zion. On this mountain he also gave his apostles a blessing. He is the One who had once handed down the Mosaic law on Mt. Sinai, showing that he was the author of both laws. … When the law was first given on the mountain, the people were forbidden to draw close. But now, as the Lord was teaching on the mountain, no one is forbidden. Rather, all are invited that they may hear, because there is severity in the law and grace in the gospel. In the former case, terror is instilled in the unbelievers. In the latter case, a gift of blessings is poured out on the believers. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.1.3–4.13

 

5:2  Jesus Teaches His Disciples

 

ACCORDING TO THEIR READINESS TO HEAR. CHRYSOSTOM: And for what reason is the clause added, “He opened his mouth”? To inform you that in his very silence he gave instruction, and not only when he spoke. At one time he taught by “opening his mouth,” while at another by the works that he did.14 But when you hear that he taught them, do not think of him as discussing matters with his disciples only, but rather with the entire group through his teaching to them. For since the crowd was just like any crowd [NT Vol. IA, p. 79] always is, including as it did those who live on a very low level, he withdrew the group of his disciples and addressed his teaching to them, but in his conversation with them he also provided for the rest, who were at this point very far from being ready to hear his sayings on self-denial without being offended. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.1.15

 

 

1 The localization of the mountain here rejected by Jerome must have been widespread. We also find it in Chromatius’s interpretation of this passage.

 

2 CCL 77:23–24.

 

3 CCL 9a:268.

 

4 PL 34:1231; FC 11:20*. Like Moses, Jesus delivers the new law from a mountain. Both are given by the same Lawgiver, the first to bind by fear, the second to set free by love.

 

5 Is 40:9.

 

6 1 Tim 4:12.

 

7 PG 56:679.

 

8 Ps 68:15 (67:15 LXX).

 

9 Ps 68:16 (67:16 LXX).

 

10 Ps 119:70 (118:70 LXX). They swell beyond the limits of revealed teaching.

 

11 PG 56:680.

 

12 Ps 84:7 (83:7 LXX).

 

13 CCL 9a:268–69.

 

14 His speech was not only through words but also actions.

 

15 PG 57:223; cf. NPNF 1 10:91**. The general public was not yet ready to discern the meaning of Jesus’ teaching. Later they will be taught by the disciples.

 

 

5:3–12 THE BEATITUDES

 

OVERVIEW: One is said to be poor in spirit when one has repented and become humbled like a child (ANONYMOUS). When the prophets announced that God would choose a humbled people who would stand in awe of his words, they anticipated the leading Beatitude: humility of spirit (HILARY). Those are truly blessed who, having spurned the riches of the world, become rich in God (CHROMATIUS). The kingdom is the most fitting life for those who are already practicing virtue. On account of the Holy Spirit these blessed ones are poor by willing freely to be so (JEROME).

Those who mourn are comforted by cessation of the pain of mourning (ANONYMOUS). Mourning in this case does not refer to mourning over death but over sin (JEROME, CHRYSOSTOM). Those who mourn over the sins of the whole world are especially blessed (CHROMATIUS, ANONYMOUS).

Imbued with the gospel, the meek imitate the gentleness of the Lord (CHROMATIUS). The meek are those who are more content to endure an offense than to commit one (ANONYMOUS). The blessing of the meek is not merely figurative but real. The meek will be blessed in this world and in the world to come (AUGUSTINE, CHRYSOSTOM). As long as this present life is in this corrupted state, it is the land of the dead, subject to vanity; but once it has been liberated from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of God’s children, it becomes the land of the living (ANONYMOUS).

 

[NT Vol. IA, p. 80]

 

To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to desire God’s righteousness alone (ANONYMOUS) and to do nothing else but think of righteousness and search for it (CHROMATIUS). The passion of thirst and the heat and burning of long-suffering are implied in the metaphor of thirsting for righteousness (APOLLINARIS). The thirst for righteousness produces true wealth, which does not fear poverty or tremble at hunger (CHRYSOSTOM). To behold God is the end by which we are to be perfected, not the end by which we come to nothing (AUGUSTINE). The epitome of virtue is the good unmingled with any lesser good, hence the good of God himself (ORIGEN). The reward from God is much greater than that received from others for any human acts of goodness (CHRYSOSTOM). When you hear the voice of a beggar, remember that before God you yourself are a beggar. As you treat your beggar, so will God treat his (AUGUSTINE). One who is truly merciful will show mercy even to one’s own enemies (ANONYMOUS).

The pure of heart are those who have gotten rid of sin, cleansed themselves of all the pollution of the flesh and pleased God through works that grow from faith and from the practice of justice (CHROMATIUS). Whoever acts justly and intends so with the mind sees God, for human justice is like God’s justice (ANONYMOUS). Unless your heart is pure, you will not be permitted to see what cannot be seen unless the heart be pure. Nothing can satisfy one who would not be satisfied with God (AUGUSTINE).

Peace is present where faith gleams, hope is strengthened and charity is kindled (AUGUSTINE). Christ himself is our peace (ANONYMOUS). The peacemakers are those who guard the peace of the church under the unity of the apostolic teaching (CHROMATIUS). Contentiousness is overcome in this kingdom of peace, where all things are so well ordered inwardly and outwardly that everything that is common to humanity and to the beasts is spontaneously governed by that which is distinctive to humanity, namely, empathic understanding and reason (AUGUSTINE). The peacemaker is one who demonstrates the harmony of the Scriptures, where others only see a contradiction (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Those who embody peace within themselves express the reign of God (AUGUSTINE).

Those who undergo persecution for the sake of justice are given grace to endure the hardship without anxiety (AUGUSTINE). In being unjustly reviled, they will receive their blessed reward in heaven (ANONYMOUS). The blessedness of persecution for righteousness’ sake is best exemplified by the apostles and with them all those who for the sake of justice are persecuted (CHROMATIUS). One may be persecuted for righteousness’ sake not only at the hands of alien peoples but also at the hands of one’s own people (ANONYMOUS).

In every Beatitude the blessed are receiving the kingdom of heaven (CHRYSOSTOM). Taking into account the reward of glory, the faithful remain ready to endure every form of suffering that they may be fit partners in God’s glory (CHROMATIUS). One who desires what is in heaven does not fear reproaches on earth. So weigh earthly disturbance against heavenly glory (ANONYMOUS).

 

5:3  The Poor in Spirit

 

YOU WHO ARE POOR IN SPIRIT. ANONYMOUS: Although the Evangelist Luke explains in part the same Beatitudes, the Beatitudes in Matthew must be considered more complete. The former were spoken on a level plain, whereas the latter were expounded on a mountain. The former were low-key in nature, whereas the latter were well-rounded and more directly addressed to the apostles themselves. The reason for this difference we outlined earlier.1 Luke simply said “you [NT Vol. IA, p. 81] poor,”2 whereas Matthew said “you poor in spirit.” One who is poor in spirit and humble of heart has a meek spirit and does not think great things of himself. On the other hand, one who imagines himself to be rich in spirit will imagine great things of himself. He is proud and does not fulfill the commandment of Christ that “unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”3 Only one who has repented and become like a child is poor in spirit. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.4

 

PERFECT BLESSEDNESS IS HUMILITY OF SPIRIT. HILARY: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Lord taught by way of example that the glory of human ambition must be left behind when he said, “The Lord your God shall you adore and him only shall you serve.”5 And when he announced through the prophets that he would choose a people humble and in awe of his words,6 he introduced the perfect Beatitude as humility of spirit. Therefore he defines those who are inspired as people aware that they are in possession of the heavenly kingdom. … Nothing belongs to anyone as being properly one’s own, but all have the same things by the gift of a single parent. They have been given the first things needed to come into life and have been supplied with the means to use them. ON MATTHEW 4.2.7

 

THE BLESSED POOR, RICH IN GOD. CHROMATIUS: We know many poor people, indeed, who are not merely poor but blessed. For the necessity of poverty does not produce blessedness in each of us, but a devout trust sustained through poverty does. Some, having no worldly resources, continue to sin and remain without faith in God. Clearly we cannot call these people blessed. We must inquire just who are these blessed of whom the Lord says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus means that those persons are truly blessed who, having spurned the riches and resources of the world to become rich in God, desire to be poor in the world. Indeed, such people seem to be poor in the sight of the world, but they are rich in God, needy in the world but wealthy in Christ. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.2.1–2.8

 

FREE HUMILITY, NOT FORCED POVERTY, IS BLESSED. JEROME: This is what we read elsewhere: “He shall save the humble in spirit.”9 But do not imagine that poverty is bred by necessity. For he added “in spirit” so you would understand blessedness to be humility and not poverty. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” who on account of the Holy Spirit are poor by willing freely to be so. Hence, concerning this type of poor, the Savior also speaks through Isaiah: “The Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.”10 COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.5.3.11

 

THE KINGDOM IS FITTING FOR THOSE WHO PRACTICE VIRTUE. ANONYMOUS: What does it mean that theirs is the kingdom of heaven? Is not the kingdom fitted for those who practice virtue? Even as the road to hell is lined with all the vices, and especially pride, all the virtues lead toward the kingdom of heaven, and especially humility. For the root of all evil is pride, and the root of all good is humility.12 It is only fitting that one who exalts himself shall be humbled, and one who humbles himself shall be exalted. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.13

 

5:4  Those Who Mourn

 

MOURNING UNREPENTED SIN. JEROME: The mourning discussed here does not concern the common natural law of the dead but rather their [NT Vol. IA, p. 82] sins and vices. Thus Samuel grieved over Saul,14 and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.15 Also Paul the apostle says that he wept and mourned over those who, after committing fornication and impure deeds, did not feel the need of repentance.16 COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.5.4.17

 

MOURNING THE SINS OF THE WORLD. CHROMATIUS: As with Jesus’ earlier teaching on the poor, here too he speaks of those who mourn. The blessed of whom he speaks are not those bereaving the death of a spouse or the loss of cherished servants. Rather, he is speaking of those blessed persons who … do not cease to mourn over the iniquity of the world or the offenses of sinners with a pious, duty-bound sentiment. To those who mourn righteously, therefore, they will receive, and not undeservedly, the consolation of eternal rejoicing promised by the Lord. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.3.1–2.18

 

A GREATER BLESSEDNESS. ANONYMOUS: Those who mourn their own sins are indeed blessed, but blessed in a less wonderful way than those who mourn the sins of others. Those who mourn the sins of others are less likely to have sins of their own to mourn. These are the ones who should be called teachers. They are with the Lord on the mountain. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.19

 

INTENSE GRIEF OVER SIN. CHRYSOSTOM: He calls blessed even those who mourn. Their sorrow is of a special kind. He did not designate them simply as sad but as intensely grieving. Therefore he did not say “they that sorrow” but “they that mourn.” This Beatitude is designed to draw believers toward a Christian disposition. Those who grieve for someone else—their child or wife or any other lost relation—have no fondness for gain or pleasure during the period of their sorrow. They do not aim at glory. They are not provoked by insults nor led captive by envy nor beset by any other passion. Their grief alone occupies the whole of their attention. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.3.20

 

MOURNERS TO BE COMFORTED. ANONYMOUS: Those who mourn receive comfort when the pain of mourning ceases. Those who mourn over their own sins and have obtained forgiveness shall be comforted in this world. Those who mourn over the sins of others will be comforted in the future age to come. As long as they are in the world, not knowing the outcomes of God’s providence and not fully understanding those who have fallen under the sway of the devil’s influence, they mourn over all sinners, even those who without evil intention yet do evil. They see all sinners as buffeted by the devil. They clearly see that God’s own cannot perish and those who perish are not of God. No one can escape from the hands of God. Once their mourning has ended, however, they shall be comforted. Without further suffering, they shall rejoice in their blessedness. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.21

 

5:5  The Meek

 

IMITATING THE LORD’S MEEKNESS. CHROMATIUS: The meek are those who are gentle, humble and unassuming, simple in faith and patient in the face of every affront. Imbued with the precepts of the gospel, they imitate the meekness of the Lord, who says, “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”22 Moses found the greatest favor with God because he was meek. It was written about him: “And Moses was the meekest of all people on earth.”23 Furthermore, we read in David’s psalm: “Be mindful, O Lord, of David and his great meekness.”24 TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.4.1–2.25

 

[NT Vol. IA, p. 83]

 

ENDURING OFFENSES. ANONYMOUS: A gentle person neither provokes evil nor is provoked by evil. Charges of sin do not prevail against such persons insofar as they are not the cause of sin. The meek one is more content to endure an offense than to commit one. For unless one is unafraid of being offended, one cannot be without sin. For even as weeds are never lacking in a field, provokers are never lacking in the world. Therefore that person is truly gentle who, when he or she has been offended, neither does evil nor even thinks of doing it. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.26

 

A PRESENT BLESSING. CHRYSOSTOM: Tell me, what kind of earth is referred to here? Some say a figurative earth, but this is not what he is talking about.27 For nowhere in Scripture do we find any mention of an earth that is merely figurative. But what can this Beatitude mean? Jesus holds out a prize perceptible to the senses, even as Paul also does. For even when Moses had said, “Honor your father and your mother,” he added, “For so shall you live long upon the earth.”28 And Jesus himself says again to the thief, “Today you shall be with me in paradise.”29 Today! In this way he does not speak only of future blessings but also of present ones. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.3.30

 

A PERPETUAL INHERITANCE. AUGUSTINE: “Inherit the earth,” I believe, means the land promised in the psalm:31 “Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living.”32 It signifies the solidity and stability of a perpetual inheritance. The soul because of its good disposition is at rest as though in its own place, like a body on the earth, and is fed with its own food there, like a body from the earth. This is the peaceful life of the saints. The meek are those who submit to wickedness and do not resist evil but overcome evil with good.33 Let the haughty therefore quarrel and contend for earthly and temporal things. But “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the land.” This is the land from which they cannot be expelled. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.2.4.34

 

ETERNAL BEINGS WILL INHERIT AN ETERNAL LAND. ANONYMOUS: The psalmist wrote, “I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”35 But some say that as long as this land is in this corrupted state, it is the land of the dead, for it is subject to the worthless and empty. But once it has been liberated from the slavery of corruption to the freedom of the glory of God’s children, it becomes the land of the living, so that immortals inherit immortality. According to another commentator, it is a sort of heaven in which the saints are about to live; hence it is called the land of the living. As to our lower region, it is earth; but as to the heaven above, it is called the land of the living. Others say that our body is on earth and as long as it is subject to death, it is the land of the dead. When the body has been transformed, however, and made to conform with the body of Christ’s glory, it will dwell in the land of the living. Eternal beings will inherit it as an eternal land, and spiritual beings and saints as a spiritual and holy land. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.36

 

5:6  Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

 

GOD IS THE TRUE VIRTUE. ORIGEN: But if I must utilize a bold explanation indeed, I think that perhaps it was through the word that is measured by virtue and justice that the Lord [NT Vol. IA, p. 84] presents himself to the desire of the hearers. He was born as wisdom from God for us, and as justice and sanctification and redemption.37 He is “the bread that comes down from heaven”38 and “living water,”39 for which the great David himself thirsted. He said in one of his psalms, “My soul has thirsted for you, even for the living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?”40 … “I shall behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied in beholding your glory.”41 This then, in my estimation, is the true virtue, the good unmingled with any lesser good, that is, God, the virtue that covers the heavens, as Habakkuk relates.42 FRAGMENT 83.43

 

THE PASSIONATE LONGING FOR JUSTICE. CHROMATIUS: He taught that we must seek after righteousness with earnest desire, not with fainthearted energy. Indeed, he calls those persons blessed who in their search for righteousness virtually burn with passionate longing in their hunger and thirst. For if each one of us really hungers and thirsts for righteousness with eager desire, we can do nothing else but think and seek after righteousness. It is necessary that we eagerly desire that for which we hunger and thirst. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.5.1.44

 

TRANSFERING DESIRE TO A NEW OBJECT. CHRYSOSTOM: Note how drastically he expresses it. For Jesus does not say, “Blessed are those who cling to righteousness,” but “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness”—not in a superficial way but pursuing it with their entire desire. By contrast, the most characteristic feature of covetousness is a strong desire with which we are not so hungry for food and drink as for more and more things. Jesus urged us to transfer this desire to a new object, freedom from covetousness. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.45

 

THIRSTING FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. APOLLINARIS: When Luke mentions these blessed ones, he calls them simply those “who hunger.”46 But Matthew here defines them as those who willingly and from a longing for the good abstain from fleshly pleasures. Both of them speak in a similar way. Whoever longs for the righteousness of God has found what is truly desirable. But the yearning for righteousness is not satisfied by analogy to the appetite alone. For brotherhood in justice is desired not merely as food. That is only half the total picture. But now he has also represented this yearning as analogous to thirst for something to drink. By the passion of thirst he intends to indicate the heat and burning of intense longing. He says that such a person “will be filled.” But such fulfillment does not produce a turning away but rather an intensification of the desire. FRAGMENT 11.47

 

THE DOCILE HEART. ANONYMOUS: To hunger and thirst for righteousness is to desire God’s own righteousness. People should hear and do God’s righteousness, not as though they hear or do it unwillingly but from their heart’s desire. Every good that is not done out of this sort of love for righteousness is not pleasing to God. Hence the Lord, through John, does not simply call everyone to drink, but only those who are thirsty, saying, “If anyone thirst, let that one come to me and drink.”48 Similarly it was not for nothing that he spoke of those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Whoever hungers for righteousness wants to live actively according to God’s righteousness; this is proper for the person with a good heart. One who thirsts for righteousness wants to acquire the knowledge of God that one can gain only by studying the Scriptures. This is fitting for the person with an attentive heart. “For they shall be satisfied.” They are filled with the abundance of God’s reward. Greater are the rewards of God than even the most avid desires of the saints. [NT Vol. IA, p. 85] INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.49

 

THE PROMISE OF FULFILLMENT. CHROMATIUS: Rightly then the One who is the heavenly bread and the fountain of living waters promises in return to those who thus hunger and thirst the fullness of perpetual refreshment: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” This indeed is that righteousness of faith that comes from God and Christ, of which the apostle says, “The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ in all and upon all who believe in him.”50 TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.5.2.51

 

THEY SHALL BE FILLED. CHRYSOSTOM: Then he designates the prize, again by analogy with things sensible, saying, “for they shall be filled.” Thus, because it is commonly thought that the rich are made wealthy through their own greed, Jesus says in effect: “No, it is just the opposite. For it is righteousness that produces true wealth. Thus so long as you act righteously, you do not fear poverty or tremble at hunger. Rather those who extort are those who lose all, while one who is in love with righteousness possesses all other goods in safety.” If those who do not covet enjoy such great abundance, how much more will they be ready to offer to others what they have. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.52

 

5:7  The Merciful

 

BLESSED BY THE LORD OF COMPASSION. CHROMATIUS: By a great number of witnesses indeed, just as many in the Old Testament as the New, we are called by the Lord to show compassion. But as a shortcut to faith we deem enough and more than enough what the Lord himself in the passage at hand expresses with his own voice, saying, “Blessed are the compassionate, for God will have compassion for them.” The Lord of compassion says that the compassionate are blessed. No one can obtain God’s compassion unless that one is also compassionate. In another passage he said, “Be compassionate, just as your Father who is in the heavens is compassionate.”53 TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.6.1–2.54

 

THE REWARD OF COMPASSION. CHRYSOSTOM: Jesus speaks here not only of those who show mercy by giving worldly goods but also of those who demonstrate mercy in their actions. There are many ways to show mercy. The commandment is broad in its implications. What reward can people expect if they obey the commandment? “They obtain mercy.”

The reward at first glance appears to be an equal reimbursement, but actually the reward from God is much greater than human acts of goodness. For whereas we ourselves are showing mercy as human beings, we are obtaining mercy from the God of all. Human mercy and God’s mercy are not the same thing. As wide as the interval is between corrupted and perfect goodness, so far is human mercy distinguished from divine mercy. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.55

 

AS BEGGARS IN GOD’S PRESENCE. AUGUSTINE: Hear what follows: “Blessed are the compassionate, for God will have compassion on them.” Do this, and it will be done to you. Do it in regard to another that it might be done in regard to you. For you may overflow yet remain in need. You may overflow with temporal things but remain in need of eternal life. You hear the voice of a beggar, but before God you are yourself a beggar. Someone is begging from you, while you yourself are begging. As you treat your beggar, so will God treat his. You who are empty are being filled. Out of your fullness fill an empty person in need, so that your own [NT Vol. IA, p. 86] emptiness may be again filled by the fullness of God. SERMON 53.5.56

 

MERCY TOWARD ENEMIES. ANONYMOUS: The kind of compassion referred to here is not simply giving alms to the poor or orphan or widow. This kind of compassion is often found even among those who hardly know God. But that person is truly compassionate who shows compassion even to his own enemy and treats the enemy well. For it is written, “Love your enemies, and treat well those who hate you.”57 Remember that God too sends his rain and asks his sun to rise not only over the grateful but also over the ungrateful.58 So Jesus calls us to “be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate.”59 Such a person is truly blessed, for if in fact he hasn’t sinned, which is difficult for us all, God’s grace helps him along in increasing his sense of justice. So he prays, “Forgive me my debts, just as I too forgive my debtors.” INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.60

 

5:8  The Pure in Heart

 

THE PROMISE OF SEEING GOD. CHRYSOSTOM: Note that the reward is spiritual. Those he here calls “pure” are either those who have so fully filled their lives with goodness that they are practically unaware of evil within themselves, or he may be referring to those who live a moderate, simple life, or there is nothing that we need so much in order to behold God as a self-controlled life. In the same vein Paul wrote, “Pursue peace with everyone and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”61 He is here speaking of such sight as it is possible for one to have.62 For there are many who show mercy, who refuse to rob others and who are not covetous but who still may remain entangled in sins like fornication and licentiousness. Jesus adds these words to indicate that the former virtues do not suffice in and of themselves. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, bore witness concerning the Macedonians, who were rich not only in almsgiving but also in the rest of the virtues. For having spoken of the generous spirit they demonstrated toward their own possessions, Paul says, “They gave themselves to the Lord and to us.”63 THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.64

 

WHAT ONLY THE PURE HEART CAN BEHOLD. AUGUSTINE: Mark well what follows. When the text says “blessed are the pure in heart,” it refers to those who have been made clean within, for they shall see God. To behold God is the end and purpose of all our loving activity. But it is the end by which we are to be perfected, not the end by which we come to nothing. Note that food is finished in a different way than a garment is finished. Food is finished when it is consumed in the eating. A garment is finished when it is completed in the weaving. Both are finished, but the former’s finish means destruction; the latter’s, perfection. Whatever we do, whatever good deeds we perform, whatever we strive to accomplish, whatever we laudably yearn for, whatever we blamelessly desire, we shall no longer be seeking any of those things when we reach the vision of God. Indeed, what would one search for when one has God before one’s eyes? Or what would satisfy one who would not be satisfied with God? Yes, we wish to see God. Who does not have this desire? We strive to see God. We are on fire with the desire of seeing God. But pay attention to the saying, “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” Provide yourself with this means of seeing God. Let me speak concretely: Why would you, while your eyes are bleary, desire to see a sunrise? Let the eyes be sound, and that light will be full of joy. If your eyes are blind, that light itself will be a torment. Unless your heart is pure, you will not be permitted to see what [NT Vol. IA, p. 87] cannot be seen unless the heart be pure. SERMON 53.6.65

 

SEEING GOD FACE TO FACE. CHROMATIUS: The pure of heart are those who have gotten rid of sin’s filth, have cleansed themselves of all the pollution of the flesh and have pleased God through works of faith and justice. As David testifies in a psalm, “Who will climb up the Lord’s mountain, or who will stand in his holy place? The one with innocent hands and a pure heart, who has not received his soul in vain.”66 And David, rightly knowing that God can be seen only with a pure heart, prays as follows in the psalm, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”67 So the Lord shows that it is pure-hearted people like this who are blessed. They are those who, living by faith in God with a pure mind and unstained conscience, will win the right to see the God of glory in the heavenly kingdom to come, “no longer in a mirror and in riddles, but face to face,” as the apostle has said.68 TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.6.3–4.69

 

SEEING GOD IN CREATION. APOLLINARIS: He calls “pure of heart” here those who have acquired virtue in general. Showing the inadequacy of what he had said before, he adds “for they shall see God.” Why then is it said that “no one has seen God at any time”?70 We maintain that he is seen and understood by reason. Either we may see God through the holy Scriptures with the eyes of the understanding, or again, through the wisdom visible in the universe it is possible to see, in a conjectural sort of way, him who made it. God is seen in the same way that in objects made by human beings, the maker of a given work is, after a certain manner, seen by the intellect. But what is seen is not the nature of the artificer but only his or her artistic skill. So also, whoever sees God by looking at the creation gains an impression not of the essence but of the wisdom of the One who has made all things. Therefore the Lord tells the truth when proclaiming that God is seen by the pure in heart, while at the same time the Scripture does not lie when it asserts that God has not been seen nor can be seen. FRAGMENT 13.71

 

SEEING GOD IN THIS AGE AND IN THE AGE TO COME. ANONYMOUS: “Blessed are those with a pure heart, for they will see God.” There are two ways of seeing God: in this age and in the age to come. In this age, as has been written, “He who sees me sees my Father, too.”72 For they have a pure heart who not only do no evil and intend no evil but who also always do and intend everything good. For it is possible now and then to do good but not to intend it. Those who do so may do good, but not on account of God. And God does not reward such good, for the good rewarded by God isn’t the one that is merely done but the one that is well done. Moreover, a person who does good on account of God no doubt also intends the good. So whoever acts entirely justly and intends so with his mind sees God, for justice is the likeness of God. For God is just. So, to the extent that anybody has torn himself from evils and done good things, to that extent he also sees God, either dimly or clearly, or slightly or to a greater degree, or partly or completely, or now and then or always, or in accordance with human possibility. In this very way, a person too who acts and intends in an evil way sees the devil, for every evil is the symbol of the devil. In that age, however, those pure in heart in this way will see God face to face, no longer in a mirror darkly,73 as is the case here. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.74

 

5:9  The Peacemakers

 

GUARDING THE PEACE OF THE CHURCH. CHROMATIUS: The peacemakers are those who, standing apart from the stumbling block [NT Vol. IA, p. 88] of disagreement and discord, guard the affection of fraternal love and the peace of the church under the unity of the universal faith. And the Lord in the Gospel particularly urges his disciples to guard this peace, saying, “I give you my peace; I leave you my peace.”75 David earlier testified that the Lord would give this peace to his church, saying, “I will listen to what the Lord speaks in me, for he will pronounce his peace to his people and upon his holy ones and to those who turn to him.”76 TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.7.1–2.77

 

WHERE PEACE IS. AUGUSTINE: There is in the inner person a kind of daily quarrel; a praiseworthy battle acts to keep what is better from being overcome by what is worse. The struggle is to keep desire from conquering the mind and to keep lust from conquering wisdom. This is the steadfast peace that you ought to develop in yourself, that what is better in you may be in charge of what is worse. The better part in you, moreover, is that part in which God’s image is found. This is called the mind, the intellect. There faith burns, there hope is strengthened, there charity is kindled. SERMON 53A.12.78

 

THE PEACEMAKER. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The peacemaker is the one who demonstrates the harmony of the Scriptures, where others see only a contradiction: the Old with the New, the law with the prophets, Gospel with Gospel.79 Accordingly, having imitated the Son of God, “he shall be called a son,” having by his work grasped of the “spirit of adoption.”80 FRAGMENT 38.81

 

CHRIST IS OUR PEACE. ANONYMOUS: Peace is the only begotten God, of whom the apostle says, “For he himself is our peace.” So people who cherish peace are children of peace. But some may be thought to be peacemakers who make peace with their enemies but remain heedless of evils within. They are never reconciled in heart with their own internal enemies, yet they are willing to make peace with others. They are parodies of peace rather than lovers of peace. For that peace is blessed which is set in the heart, not that which is set in words. Do you want to know who is truly a peacemaker? Hear the prophet, who says, “Keep your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit. Do not let your tongue utter an evil expression.”82 INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.83

 

THE BLESSINGS OF PEACE. CHRYSOSTOM: Here he not only responds that they should not feud and become hateful to one another, but he is also looking for something else and something more, that we bring together others who are feuding. And again he promises a spiritual reward. What kind of reward is it? “That they themselves shall be called sons of God.” For in fact this was the crucial work of the Only Begotten: to bring together things divided and to reconcile the alienated. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.84

 

AN EXPRESSION OF THE COMING REIGN OF GOD. AUGUSTINE: Where there is no contention, there is perfect peace. And that is why the children of God are peacemakers, because nothing can finally stand against God. In this way the children possess a likeness to God the Father. And those who calm their passions and subject them to reason, to mind and spirit, and who keep their carnal lusts under control engender peace within themselves. Thereby they themselves become the kingdom of God. In this kingdom all things are so well ordered that everything in humanity that is common to us [NT Vol. IA, p. 89] and to the beasts is spontaneously governed by that which is chief and preeminent in humanity, namely, the reasoning mind. This preeminent human faculty is itself subject to a still higher power, which is Truth itself, the only begotten Son of God. SERMON ON THE MOUNT 1.2.9.85

 

5:10  Those Who Are Persecuted

 

PERSECUTION FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE. CHROMATIUS: Not without reason did the Lord previously mention hungering and thirsting for justice. He instructs us so to thirst in our desire for justice that for its sake we should despise the world’s persecutions, the punishments of the body and death itself. The martyrs above all are the epitome of those who for the righteousness of faith and the name of Christ endure persecution in this world. To them a great hope is promised, namely, the possession of the kingdom of heaven. The apostles were chief examples of this blessedness, and with them all the just people who for the sake of righteousness were afflicted with various persecutions. Due to their faith they have come into the heavenly realms. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.8.1–2.86

 

THREE CROSSES. AUGUSTINE: “For the sake of justice.” This addition clearly distinguishes the martyr from the robber. For the robber too in return for evil deeds suffers at the law’s hand and doesn’t ask for a prize or garland but instead pays the due penalty. It is not the penalty as such but the basis for the penalty that makes the martyr. Let us first choose the right reason, and then let us endure the penalty without anxiety.

There were three crosses in a single place when Christ suffered: he himself was in the middle, and at his two sides were two robbers. Look at the penalty: it is similar for all three. Yet one of the robbers found paradise on the cross. The man in the middle, judging, condemns the proud man and receives the humble man. That piece of wood served as a judgment seat for Christ. He who judges, who is able to make the judgment correctly, says to the robber who confessed: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”87 For the robber was humbling himself. Note what he had so simply said, “Remember me, Lord, when you come to your kingdom.”88 The implication: I know my evil deeds. May I continually be crucified until you come. And because everybody who lowers himself shall be lifted up, Christ immediately expressed his thought and showed his mercy. SERMON 53A.13.89

 

ON PERSECUTION BY YOUR OWN PEOPLE. ANONYMOUS: We are not to suppose that this refers only to those who suffer persecution from alien nations for not worshiping idols. This refers also to those who are blessed for not abandoning the truth when they suffer persecution from heretics.90 They too suffer for the sake of righteousness. While the heathen nations deny Christ, the heretics deny Christ’s truth. Those who deny Christ’s truth deny Christ himself. For Christ is the truth. And so the heretics, who undertake persecution not on account of Christ but on account of Christ’s supposed truth, while they at first sight seem to be Christians, in fact are heathen in their mode of justice. If such people persecute you, you are blessed in the same way as John the Baptist was blessed under persecution. For John was killed neither because he was heathen nor because of heresy but on moral grounds, because he kept reproaching Herod for his adultery. In fact, all the prophets were killed by their own people, not by heathen kings. If, however, it is true that the prophets are martyrs, there is no doubt that a person who suffers something for God’s cause today, even if one suffers it at the hands of one’s own people, receives an eternal reward. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.91

 

[NT Vol. IA, p. 90]

 

5:11  Those Who Are Reviled

 

FALSELY ON CHRIST’S ACCOUNT. CHRYSOSTOM: But to keep you from supposing that being slandered of itself makes people blessed, he has added two qualifications: first, that it happens for Christ’s sake, and second, that what is said be false. Do not expect to be blessed if you are being reviled for something evil, and what is being said is true. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.4.92

 

WHEN PEOPLE REVILE YOU. ANONYMOUS: He has just been speaking about enduring persecution. Now it is as if someone were asking God: God, what if we are not enduring persecution for your sake or for the sake of justice? What if we are facing the reproach and the evil talk of wicked people? You will be blessed, Jesus says, “not only if you endure persecution but also if others utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” Many people become our enemies because of our belief in God, but they do not persecute us openly. Maybe they do not have the power to persecute.93 Nevertheless they go all about and slander us and say deplorable things about us. The Scripture says, “You will be blessed when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” So your reward does not end the moment you have given a glass of water compassionately. If somebody wrongs us, even with a single, slight word, your soul will not be lacking a reward. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.94

 

5:12  Rejoice, for Your Reward Is Great

 

ENDURING PERSECUTION. CHROMATIUS: Not only should we patiently endure all the horrible treacheries of the persecutors that can be contrived in a time of persecution for Christ’s name against the just, or the various reproaches that can be heaped upon us, or the punishments that can be applied to the body, but we should even welcome them with exultation because of the coming glory. For he says, “Rejoice in that day and exult; I tell you this, because your reward is great in heaven.” How glorious is the endurance of this persecution, the reward for which the Lord says is in heaven! And so, taking into account the reward of the proposed glory, we should be ready with devout faith for every endurance of suffering, so that we may be ready to be made partners in the prophets’ glory. TRACTATE ON MATTHEW 17.9.2–3.95

 

THE CONTEXT OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. CHRYSOSTOM: Look then at the reward again: “for your reward is great in heaven.” And don’t be discouraged if you don’t hear the kingdom of heaven granted with every single Beatitude. For even if Jesus names the rewards differently, he still puts all of them in the kingdom of heaven. For in fact he says, “Those who mourn will be comforted, and those who show mercy will receive mercy, and those pure in heart will see God, and the peacemakers will be called sons of God.” In all these things the blessed One does nothing but hint at the kingdom of heaven. For people who enjoy these things will certainly reach the kingdom of heaven. So do not suppose that the reward of the kingdom of heaven belongs only to the poor in spirit. It also belongs to those who hunger for justice, and to the meek and to all these blessed others without exception. For he set his blessing upon all these things to keep you from expecting something belonging to this material world. For if one wore a prize or garland for things that are to be dissolved together with the present life, things that flit away faster than a shadow, would that one be blessed? THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 15.5.96

 

[NT Vol. IA, p. 91]

 

WEIGH EARTHLY DISTURBANCE AGAINST HEAVENLY GLORY. ANONYMOUS: Weigh earthly shame against heavenly glory, and see whether what you suffer on earth is not much lighter than what you expect in heaven. But perhaps you may say, “Who can be joyful when reviled? Who can not only endure being reviled but rejoice in it with a great soul?” The answer is, only one who does not delight in empty glory. One who desires what is in heaven does not fear reproaches on earth. He does not care about what people say about him but rather how God judges him. But one who rejoices in the praise of others and how much they praise him is saddened when he receives no praise. He feels sad at others’ reproaches. But a person who is not lifted up by others’ praise is not lowered by their reproach. Wherever any one seeks his own glory, just there he also fears reproach. A person who constantly seeks glory on earth constantly fears troubles on earth. But a person who seeks glory only with God fears no disturbance except for God’s judgment. A soldier endures the danger of war so long as he hopes for the spoils of victory. So how much more should you who are waiting for the reward of the heavenly kingdom have no fear of the world’s reproaches. INCOMPLETE WORK ON MATTHEW, HOMILY 9.97

 

 

1 The interpretation of Luke here is not extant. This author points out the difference between the two accounts and deduces that Jesus preached the Beatitudes twice, in a more complete form for the more mature disciples (Matthew) and a less complete form for the less mature crowds (Luke).

 

2 Lk 6:20.

 

3 Mt 18:3.

 

4 PG 56:680.

 

5 Mt 4:10.

 

6 See Is 66:2.

 

7 SC 254:120–22.

 

8 CCL 9a:269.

 

9 Ps 34:18 (33:18 LXX).

 

10 Is 61:1.

 

11 CCL 77:24.

 

12 Cf. Lk 14:11.

 

13 PG 56:680–81.

 

14 1 Sam 15:11.

 

15 1 Sam 15:35.

 

16 2 Cor 12:21.

 

17 CCL 77:24–25.

 

18 CCL 9a:271.

 

19 PG 56:681.

 

20 PG 57:225–26; NPNF 1 10:93**.

 

21 PG 56:681.

 

22 Mt 11:29.

 

23 Num 12:3.

 

24 Ps 132:1 (131:1 LXX).

 

25 CCL 9a:272.

 

26 PG 56:681.

 

27 Chrysostom argues against interpretations of the earth, particularly those of Alexandrian character (Origen), which he considers excessively spiritualistic.

 

28 Eph 6:2–3.

 

29 Lk 23:43.

 

30 PG 57:226; NPNF 1 10:93**. The blessing of the meek is not merely figurative but earthly. The meek will be blessed in this present world and in the world to come.

 

31 Addressed to God.

 

32 Ps 142:5 (141:5 LXX).

 

33 Rom 12:21.

 

34 PL 34:1232; FC 11:22; NPNF 1 10:93. The land the meek shall inherit is a land from which they cannot be expelled.

 

35 Ps 27:13 (26:13 LXX).

 

36 PG 56:681–82. The land of the living that the meek will inherit is the perpetual inheritance of eternal life with God.

 

37 1 Cor 1:30.

 

38 Jn 6:50.

 

39 Jn 4:10–11.

 

40 Ps 42:2 (41:2 LXX).

 

41 Ps 17:15 (16:15 LXX).

 

42 Hab 3:3.

 

43 GCS 41.1:49.

 

44 CCL 9a:273.

 

45 PG 57:227; NPNF 1 10:94**.

 

46 Lk 6:21.

 

47 MKGK 4.

 

48 Jn 7:37.

 

49 PG 56:682.

 

50 Rom 3:22.

 

51 CCL 9a:273.

 

52 PG 57:227; NPNF 1 10:94**.

 

53 Lk 6:36.

 

54 CCL 9a:274; PG 57:227; NPNF 1 10:94**. God’s mercy infinitely exceeds the best of our merciful actions.

 

55 PG 57:227; NPNF 1 10:94.

 

56 PL 38:366; FC 11:213–14. As we are beggars before God, we should treat beggars as we would be treated.

 

57 Lk 6:27.

 

58 Mt 5:45.

 

59 Lk 6:36.

 

60 PG 56:682.

 

61 Heb 12:14.

 

62 Not of that which is beyond our finitude.

 

63 2 Cor 8:5.

 

64 PG 57:227–28; NPNF 1 10:94**.

 

65 PL 38:366; FC 11:214.

 

66 Ps 24:3–4 (23:3–4 LXX).

 

67 Ps 51:10 (50:10 LXX).

 

68 1 Cor 13:12.

 

69 CCL 9a:274–75.

 

70 Jn 1:18.

 

71 MKGK 5.

 

72 Jn 14:9.

 

73 1 Cor 13:12.

 

74 PG 56:682.

 

75 Jn 14:27.

 

76 Ps 85:8 (84:8 LXX).

 

77 CCL 9a:275.

 

78 MA 1:633; WSA 3 3:83.

 

79 For Cyril the peacemaker is the one able to stress the unity and harmony of the Scriptures. Cyril takes aim at the heretics (Gnostics, Marcionites and Manichaeans) who divided the Old Testament from the New, but he also challenges those people (particularly pagan polemicists such as Porphyry and Julian) who pointed out contradictions between books of the Scriptures or Gospels.

 

80 Rom 8:15.

 

81 MKGK 164–65.

 

82 Ps 34:13–14 (33:13–14 LXX).

 

83 PG 56:682.

 

84 PG 57:228; cf. NPNF 1 10:94–95. God’s saving work is peacemaking.

 

85 PL 34:1233; FC 11:23–24.

 

86 CCL 9a:276–77.

 

87 Lk 23:43.

 

88 Lk 23:42.

 

89 MA 1:634; WSA 3 3:83–84.

 

90 Supposed Christians who deny the apostolic witness.

 

91 PG 56:683.

 

92 PG 57:228; NPNF 1 10:95.

 

93 The author writes at a time when Christianity has become the state religion. Consequently, by persecution he means the hostility still shown by pagans toward the Christian religion, which only in exceptional cases exhibited itself in acts of open violence.

 

94 PG 56:683–84.

 

95 CCL 9a:277.

 

96 PG 57:228; NPNF 1 10:95.

 

97 PG 56:684.

 

-dan

[Paul Meiklejohn]

Thanks Dan, personally I find these lengthy excerpts very helpful and will more likely help me make a balanced decision.   The present small screen shots on the sales page, (as helpful as they are), are somewhat limited in extracting the details needed to make a serious purchase.  In Amazon you can often read the first whole chapter of a book to help you get the feel of it.  

 

Paul.

[Daniel Francis]

Apologies i just did a check and I know there is no excuse because I KNEW perfectly well 2500 word count max for sharing samples but checking it in Pages I was expecting maybe 3000... not 9600.... I will endeavour to be more concise and do my checks before sharing not after...

 

-dan

[Michael Hunt]

I would agree with Dan that at times you will find that ACCS has a more thematic approach to its comments, but by its very nature that is to be expected given it is taken from a variety of sources. It is worth noting that the commentary genre as we know it today didn't really exist in the first few centuries so what we have at times are excerpts from sermons where an allusion to the text in question is made to substantiate a point in the sermon. This is where the ACCS has hit its sweet spot for me, finding out how the Fathers applied the text (both in a strict and a loose way) to those of their day.

 

If you go to the ACCS comments always looking for explanations of the text (i.e. expecting a commentary like Tyndale/UTB/NAC/Word etc.) you will often be disappointed. I have found that when using ACCS to either i. look at the text through the Father's eyes (i.e. try to distance myself as much as is humanly possible from our own day/culture) and/or ii. seek the ethical implications of the text ACCS has been most helpful.

 

One other suggestion I would make when using ACCS in Accordance (and really this applies for any commentary) is to scroll back and read the Introduction section of the particular book you are looking at. At the moment I am working on a series on 2 Corinthians that I will be preaching through over the next few months. Going to the Introduction section of that particular volume in ACCS brought up the following useful information. When you predominately work with commentaries using either the info pane or as linked tools/parallel texts you can easily miss these gems.

 

How Were the Patristic Quotations Used Here Selected?

 

The epistles to the Corinthians have always been among the best known and most frequently quoted New Testament texts. From the patristic period there are thousands of quotations and allusions, all of which can be recovered without difficulty, thanks to the possibilities that have been opened up by computer research. The combined resources of the Thesaurus Linguae Graecae (TLG) and of the Centre de Textes et Documents (Cetedoc), as well as the digital version of the Patrologia Latina, have made it possible to obtain a virtually complete collection of patristic references to Corinthians that, if they were all reproduced, would take up several volumes. For our purposes, many of these references can be ignored. Some are merely passing allusions to the text that shed little or no light on its meaning. Others are quotations that are intended to reinforce a point made on the strength of some other part of Scripture, and more often than we would like, they are there taken out of context.

 

Allusions to the text of 1 and 2 Corinthians are almost all that we have to go on for the earliest period (before A.D. 200), and so a few quotations from authors like Irenaeus and Tertullian have been given in order to give readers a flavor of how the Corinthian epistles were used before commentary writing became common. These allusions must be used with a certain degree of caution, since in many cases the writer was making some other point and using Corinthians in order to bolster his argument. For the purposes of this collection, an effort has been made to ensure that such references do have a genuine link with Paul’s epistles, but even so, readers will be well advised to treat this material with discretion.

 

We do possess a few commentaries on the epistles, though the material available in this form is much less than for the epistle to the Romans. The first full-length commentary that has survived is also the greatest produced in the ancient church. It was the work of an unknown scholar, writing in Rome sometime between 366 and 384. He wrote in Latin, and throughout the Middle Ages his identity was merged with that of Ambrose of Milan (d. 397). It was not until Erasmus (1466–1536) examined the text that it became clear that this attribution was a mistake. The commentary on this and on the other Pauline epistles was the work of a much greater scholar than Ambrose, whom Erasmus somewhat punningly chose to call Ambrosiaster, the name by which he has been known ever since.

 

Ambrosiaster wrote a literal commentary, and he was fully aware of many of the problems posed by historical and textual criticism. His work can easily stand comparison with modern writings on the subject, so close were his methods to those generally employed today. Who Ambrosiaster was is a matter of speculation, the most intriguing suggestion being that he may have been a monk known as Isaac the Syrian, who was a converted Jew in Rome. If that is true, it would certainly explain Ambrosiaster’s deep and sympathetic knowledge of Judaism, though we are constrained by lack of evidence from making any definite decision on the question. Whoever he was, he was soon being widely read and imitated, though never altogether successfully. It is a pity that his work is not available in English translation, and so it is unknown to most readers. For that reason, this edition contains rather more of Ambrosiaster than might otherwise be the case, since in effect it is introducing him to a wider reading public for the first time. 

 

Bray, Gerald and Thomas C. Oden, eds., 1-2 Corinthians. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.4. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999.

accord://read/ACCS_Complete#140865

[Ιακοβ]

I would buy this if I had the money. I think when considering buying this module, you would be considering if you want to buy this or if you want to buy Accordance modules that contain the original sources. If you have little time, just buy this, if you constantly want to dig deeper, you probably want the original commentaries and documents.