OF OECUMENIUS, BISHOP OF TRIKKA, AND THEODORET.
Philemon was a man of excellent character: a Phrygian A by race, but faithful in his ways, and a participant in the needs of the saints. His slave, Onesimus, had run away after robbing his master. Having come to Rome to Paul, he was instructed by him and baptized; and while Paul was held in chains, he conducted himself in an excellent manner. Now, he is being sent back to Philemon, with this letter of recommendation given to him. Some, however, say that it ought not to be numbered among the other Epistles, because it was written concerning a matter of little importance. But see how many useful things are gathered from it. First, it teaches us that we should be diligent even in small matters. Second, that if a slave who was so wicked has been converted, one ought not to despair of free men. Third, that it is not appropriate, under the pretext of piety, to draw slaves away from their masters against their will. Fourth, that we ought not to be ashamed of slaves who are endowed with virtue, since Paul calls Onesimus his child. For what reason, then, was it not right for an Epistle that brought such great benefit to be numbered with the others? B
CAPITULA OF THE EPISTLE TO PHILEMON
1. Praise of Philemon and thanksgiving for him. 2. Commendation of Onesimus, the runaway slave, and an appeal on behalf of him who was saved through faith.
THE EPISTLE OF PAUL THE APOSTLE TO PHILEMON
Verses 1-3. Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy the brother, to Philemon our beloved and fellow worker, and to Apphia the beloved, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church that is in thy house: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Immediately from the beginning, he instructs the master not to be ashamed of the slave. For all things, even chains, are honorable on account of Christ. And because it is right for the favor to be granted to him who is a prisoner for the sake of Christ. C «And Timothy the brother.» He takes Timothy as a partner in his entreaty. «To Philemon our beloved.» If he is beloved, he will grant the favor; if he is a fellow worker, he will give the slave for the ministry of the preaching. Indeed, Onesimus, being given, will fulfill the work of the master, Philemon. «And Apphia.» Perhaps Apphia was his wife, and Archippus a friend. But consider his humility: for he [also]
these he urges to assist in the prayer. A “To our fellow soldier.” If he is a fellow soldier, he will also struggle in this. This was the man about whom he writes to the Colossians: “Say to Archippus: See that you fulfill the ministry which you have received.” B — “And to the church in your house.” He urges the whole household, even the servants. “Grace to you.” But how will the grace of God be among you? If you also forgive your debtors. And how will there be peace? If you are reconciled with the slave.
CHAPTER I
The praise of Philemon and thanksgiving for him.
Verses 4-9. I thank my God, always making mention of you in my prayers, hearing of your charity and faith which you have in the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, so that the communion of your faith may become effective in the acknowledgment of every good thing that is in us toward Christ Jesus. For we have much joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother. Wherefore, C though having much confidence in Christ to enjoin upon you what is becoming, yet for charity's sake I rather beseech you, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
Whenever I make mention of you, he says—and I always do—I give thanks to God for you. Why? Because I hear, he says, of your charity. Do you see him not asking for the favor from the very beginning? “Hearing of your charity”: which, unless it were of the greatest, would by no means have been heard of all the way from Phrygia to Rome. “That the communion of your faith.” He joins him to himself, as if he were saying: The common faith, and that which makes us one and common. But why do you give thanks to God? That, he says, the communion of your faith may become effective. How then will it be effective? If it proceed to every work of virtue. And the blessed Paul interprets himself. How then will it be effective? By your knowing, he says, and performing every good thing. “That is in us.” Which is now also in us, he says. “Toward Christ Jesus.” For he who does good to someone, does it unto Christ, and most of all he who does it unto the saints. “For we have much joy.” Not only, he says, D do we rejoice, but such great pleasure comes to us that it even provides us with consolation in our chains. “That the hearts of the saints.” Consider that when he wishes to say: If you show favor to others, much more should you show it to me, he does not speak in such a way, but in another, more fitting manner. For he knows that the memory of benefits shown to others renders those whom we beseech more obedient. “Have been refreshed by you.” For they are refreshed, he says, because of your love. “Wherefore with much.” Since you are such towards the saints that you even refresh them, I have the confidence to enjoin you; for I have the confidence for Christ's sake to enjoin upon you what is expedient: for this is what it signifies. I said to enjoin, not
that I might lord it over you, but for the sake of the charity by which I both love you and am loved by you, I seem indeed to enjoin, yet I do not enjoin. For even if I appear to enjoin for the sake of charity, yet I do not enjoin, but rather I ask: so much, he says, do I magnify the matter. A “Since I am such, indeed Paul the elder.” I ask, since I am such as anyone ought to be for the sake of persuasion. “Paul.” And this alone should have sufficed for persuasion: “An elder, a prisoner for Christ.” Do you see how many B occasions there are for persuasion?
CAPUT II
Commendation of Onesimus the fugitive slave, and admonition on behalf of him who was made safe through faith. Vers. 10-14. *I beseech you for my son whom I have begotten in my bonds, Onesimus, who formerly was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me, whom I have sent back. But you, him, that is, my own heart, receive: whom I wished to keep with me, that he might serve me in your behalf in the bonds of the Gospel: but without your judgment I wished to do nothing, that your good deed might not be as it were by necessity, but voluntary.*He appeases and mitigates Philemon, praising the servant Onesimus, C by calling him a son, for he says that he also baptized him. For this is what “I have begotten while being in bonds” signifies. Therefore, having calmed his anger by these things, he thus mentions the name: “Onesimus,” he says. “Who formerly was useless to you.” For he knows that he who confesses his sin extinguishes the anger of his master. Therefore he adds: “But now useful to you and to me.” If he was useful to Paul, who required such great precision, it is manifest that he was also so to Philemon. “Whom I sent back:” to restore him to his master, but rather to extinguish his anger. D “This is my heart.” What then do I mean by saying that you should receive him? In receiving this one, you are receiving my heart. So much, he says, do I love him, that I even call him my heart. But the words “receive him,” mean “receive him with love.” “That he might serve me in your behalf.” Do you see that he has gradually brought him to the place of the master? For he says: “That he might serve me in your behalf.” Here, however, he shows that he desires the advantage of the master even more. For if you, he says, ought to serve, and this one does this in your stead, what is being done is to your advantage. “In the bonds of the Gospel.” In the bonds which I endure for the Gospel. “But without your judgment.” This was what especially softened him, that he did not do a thing so necessary to himself without his judgment. “That it might not be as it were by necessity.” He did not say simply, “by necessity,” but “as it were by necessity.” Just as if he were to say: I knew that if I were to keep him even against your judgment, I would by no means sadden you, but that it might not appear to be done as if by necessity, I did not wish to do so, he says.
Vers. 15-20. *For perhaps he therefore departed for a time, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave, but above a slave, a beloved brother, especially to me; but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord? If therefore you have me as a partner, receive him as*
me. But if he has wronged you or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, have written it with my own hand, I will repay it—not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides. Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.
Since Onesimus had fled with a wicked intent, he B turns the matter back to something ambiguous, as if to say: Perhaps he fled by some providence. "For this reason he departed." With a favorable word, he called flight a "departure," so that by mentioning flight he might not provoke the master. Then he even shortens the time, calming his anger, or calls the hour a year. "That you might receive him back forever." "Receive back," that is, "get back." "But above a slave." Do you see that flight was useful in many ways? For instead of an hour of flight, you have him forever (for the flight was but a single hour compared to eternity). And instead of a useless slave, you have received a useful brother. "But how much more to you." If to me, then much more to you, even in worldly services. For this is the meaning of, "In the flesh." And in spiritual things. For this is the meaning of, "In the Lord." C "If therefore you have me as a partner." That is, if you think and desire the same things as I do. "Receive him as me." Oh, what dignity of expression! "But if he has wronged you." He did not say, "He has stolen," but he softens the word. "Wronged you," he says, "or owes you." "Charge this to me." For it was likely they had consumed the things that had been stolen/taken, and he says: "Charge this to me," that is, account these things to me as a debt; have the claim of the debt against me. "I, Paul, have written it." He wrote with spiritual grace, as if saying: "For the sake of security that I will pay the debt, I have made these letters with my own hand like my own promissory note." "Not to mention to you that you owe me even your own self besides." So that he might not appear to insult him by the fact that he did not dare to ask him with boldness regarding the theft of his servant (for this would show Philemon to be somewhat cruel), he shows that he has great trust in him. He says that not only do you owe me what refers to your possessions, but you owe me even yourself. D "Yes, brother." He came back again from the pleasant to the serious. "Yes," he says, "brother." What? Receive him. May I derive benefit from you in things according to Christ. "Let me have joy from you." Instead of "may I enjoy your achievements in Christ." May I see you becoming rich in all spiritual goods. "Refresh my heart." Refresh, he says, the love I have for you through Christ.
Confiding in your obedience I have written to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. But at the same time also prepare a guest room for me. For I hope that through your prayers I shall be granted to you. Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
"Confiding." You do not, he says, do this favor for me,
but to Christ. "Confident of your obedience." He says, I have not written to you in a commanding manner, nor behaving with obstinacy, but trusting in your obedience. What iron heart would these words not soften? "Knowing that you will do even more than I say." He says this, persuading him by all means to receive Onesimus, if for no other reason, then at least so as not to destroy the high opinion which the Apostle had conceived of him. "At the same time also, prepare a lodging for me." I did not write only on account of Onesimus, he says (for Philemon might have said, if it were not for him, you would not even have deemed me worthy of a word), but I also wrote for this reason, he says, that you might prepare a lodging for me. For he was also bound to be afraid, if he did not receive Onesimus, that the Apostle would arrive and he would be exposed for having been disobedient. "Through your prayers." Great, indeed, is the power of prayers, but great also is the humility of Paul, that he stood in need of their prayers. "Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner." This man had been sent by the Colossians to Paul, so that it is manifest that Philemon was from Colossae. He calls him a fellow-prisoner, showing that he too was in great affliction. Furthermore, he puts him to shame; if Epaphras was a fellow-prisoner with him, but he himself would not even grant the favor of receiving Onesimus to one who was held captive for the Lord's sake. "Aristarchus, Demas." Concerning him he wrote to Timothy: "Demas has forsaken me." They say that this Demas returned to the worship of the Gentiles and became a priest of idols. And if that Epistle was earlier, he later repented; but if it was later, he became afterwards sluggish and slothful. "Luke." He who was last has become first. For in the second to Timothy he says, "Luke alone is with me." He calls them co-workers, showing that these men also, he says, join with me in entreating you. B The end, by divine favor, of the Epistle to Philemon. Written from the city of Rome by Onesimus, a servant. C
ARGUMENT TO THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
D He writes this from Italy. The occasion of the Epistle was as follows: Since the Jews were insisting upon the law and the shadowy figures, for this reason the apostle Paul, having become the teacher of the Gentiles and having been sent to the nations, was preaching the Gospel; and whereas for all the nations
he writes this demonstrative epistle also to those of the circumcision who believed, concerning the coming of Christ and the cessation of the shadow of the law. A And first, he proves that the prophets were sent for this reason, that they might announce concerning the Savior, and after them He Himself should come, and that the prophets were servants and heralds of His presence, and that Christ Himself is the Son of God, through whom all things were made; and that this Son had to become man, so that by the sacrifice of His body He might destroy death. For not through the blood of a calf or a goat, but through the blood of Christ, was salvation to be for men. He proves also that the law brought no one to perfection, but had a shadow of the good things to come, and that the people did not find rest, but a day of rest is left for us all in common. B Again, he proves that the priestly ministry was transferred from Aaron to Christ, of whom Melchizedek was a type, not being from Levi. He signifies also that the fathers were justified by faith, and not by the works of the law. Then, again addressing their character and accepting their endurance for Christ's sake, and persuading them to grant honor to the elders, he concludes the Epistle.
ANOTHER ARGUMENT
The Epistle to the Hebrews does not seem to be Paul’s, both because of the style of writing and because he did not prefix his name as in all the other Epistles, and because he says: «How shall we escape if we have neglected so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders?» C And indeed the cause is manifest why the style was changed. For, having been written to the Hebrews in their own native tongue, it is said to have been translated afterward, as some think by Luke, but as most believe, by Clement, for it preserves his character. And that he did not prefix his name to the Epistle has to do with the order of things. For Paul was the apostle of the Gentiles, and not of the Jews; since he had given the right hand of fellowship to Peter and the rest of the apostles, so that he himself with Barnabas would fulfill the apostleship among the Gentiles, but Peter and the rest among the circumcision. D Because, however, there was fellowship in the preaching, and the Jews had heard that Paul taught a departure from the law, he rightly writes the Epistle to the Hebrews in order to show the consensus of the preaching. But when writing to them, it was not advisable for him to style himself an Apostle at the beginning. The Epistle itself also bears witness in the following passages that it is Paul’s, from his saying that you also had compassion on my bonds. And when he says: «Pray more earnestly that I may be restored to you the sooner;» furthermore when he says: «Know that our brother Timothy has been set at liberty, with whom, if he comes soon, I will see you.» For no one, I think, would have released Timothy for service, if not Paul. And expecting him the sooner, according to his custom elsewhere...
he promises his own and his arrival to them. Many other things also show us that the Epistle is his, just as the reading itself teaches in its progress. A
THEODORET
For what reason does Paul, though he was the Apostle of the Gentiles, write to the Hebrews? And this when they were ill-disposed toward him because he supposedly dissolved the Law? For Peter and the others who were with him, yielding to the weak understanding of the Jews, were quietly following the Law as well. We say that just as he was not specifically commanded to baptize, yet out of superabundance he did baptize, so he writes also to the Hebrews, though he was sent to the Gentiles. For he had an anxious care for them, B insomuch that he even said: "I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for their sake"; and again: "I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints." He writes, therefore, to those who had already believed in Jerusalem and Palestine. And he writes to console them because they had suffered very many evils from their own fellow tribesmen who had not believed, as he himself signifies, saying: "Lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees." He accomplishes two things especially in the Epistle: he consoles them for having borne their afflictions manfully, and [notes] that a good reward will be given for these things. He discourses much concerning the faith, showing that Jewish things are no longer necessary, as they were a figure of the truth; but that our things are necessary, as they contain the truth itself. C But concerning the reason why he did not add his own name when he wrote to the Hebrews, Clement writes in his *Outlines* in this manner: "Now, as the blessed elder says, since the Lord, as the Apostle of the Almighty, was sent to the Hebrews, Paul out of modesty—as one sent to the Gentiles—does not write himself as the Apostle of the Hebrews, out of the honor deferred to the Lord. Moreover, out of superabundant charity, as the preacher and apostle of the Gentiles, he writes also to the Hebrews."CHAPTERS OF THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
1. The theology of Christ in the glory of the Father and the power of all things, with the cleansing of all things that are on earth, from which He ascended to the heavenly glory. D
2. That the glory of Christ is not ministerial, but divine and effective; therefore, it does not exist in the present age, in which there are ministers, but in the future [age].
3. That He assumed flesh according to disposition and compassion and the familiarity which He had toward us, in order to liberate man from death through the familiarity toward Himself.
4. That one must believe in Christ just as they believed in Moses, yet by the superiority of God over man.
COMMENTARY ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS
5. Exhortation that we should endeavor to enter the rest which has been set before us. A
6. The terror of the judgment according to the word that is disseminated through all, and the usefulness of the priestly grace in Him who has been affected by human nature together with us through natural sympathy.
7. Reproof to those who have need of the primary instruction of the elements.
8. That the promise of God is firm, and that it is confirmed by an oath.
9. Of Melchizedek, who was a type of Christ by his name, and by his city, and by his life, and by his priesthood. B
10. That the Aaronic priesthood which existed on earth must cease, but that the heavenly priesthood of Christ stands, being of another order, not according to the flesh, nor through a carnal law.
11. The superiority of the second covenant over the former, in propitiation and sanctification.
12. Of the blood of Christ, in which was the new testament, that this introduces a true purification, and not those sacrifices which were frequently offered through the blood of animals.
13. Testimony concerning the sole purification and access to God.
14. Exhortation to diligence in view of the fear of the coming judgment.
15. That one must lead a good beginning to a good conclusion.
16. Of faith, which also glorified the ancients.
17. Of patience in following Christ.
18. Of temperance, while there is opportunity for amendment, that we may not fail of it like Esau, who afterward found no place for repentance. C
19. That the things to come are more fearful than those which were inflicted under Moses, and that what we have now is worthy of greater diligence.
20. Of brotherly love and hospitality.
21. On not living carnally according to the law, but spiritually according to Christ in virtue.
22. A prayer to God concerning the guidance toward virtue and the administration of life.