Theodore of Mopsuestia
5th century · AD 428 · Eastern & Byzantine · 491 passages
Background on Theodore of Mopsuestia
In his own words on Song of Solomon
- Song of Solomon 1:5
[Solomon] took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife. But … she was dark, as all the Egyptian and Ethiopian women are.… The Hebrews and their beautiful wives, and the other princesses as well, ridiculed her on account of her unseemliness, her small height and her dark complexion. To avoid any irritation on her part and so that no hostility would result between him and the Pharaoh, Solomon exclusively built for her a house of valuable stones [and decorated it] with gold and silver. During the meals he chanted [the Song of Songs] in her presence in order to honor her, and he made known with it that she was dark yet beautiful and loved by him.
PARAPHRASE OF THE COMMENTARY OF THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA
Quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations of the fathers — Aquinas's Catena Aurea, the Ante-Nicene and Nicene & Post-Nicene Fathers, and related editions. Each quotation links to its source.