Theodoret of Cyrus

5th century · AD 458 · Eastern & Byzantine · 1,394 passages

In his own words on 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1:1
Timothy and Titus were both sent to Corinth, but Paul did not mention Titus in the letter because he was the one who actually carried it there.
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2 Corinthians 1:3
Christ himself teaches us that God is his Father..
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2 Corinthians 1:8
I think that Paul is referring here to the riot at Ephesus which was provoked by Demetrius the silversmith..
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2 Corinthians 1:12
Paul is saying that he teaches only what he has been taught by the grace of God, adding nothing of his own to it.
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2 Corinthians 1:13
Paul says that, in spite of the accusations leveled against him, he does not preach one thing and think another. The facts speak for themselves and prove that he is right.
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2 Corinthians 1:14
Paul says that the Corinthians have understood only in part, because they have not yet rejected the false accusations which had been made against him.
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2 Corinthians 1:16
Some people think that Paul said this aggressively, because in the first epistle he had promised the Corinthians that he would visit the Macedonians first and then come to Corinth. But as they were not willing to wait for him, he gives them a piece of his mind.
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2 Corinthians 1:22
God is the source of all good things. He has given us firm faith in Christ. He has anointed us and made us worthy to receive the seal of the Holy Spirit.
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2 Corinthians 1:24
Paul added this because his authority was evidently what the Corinthians were afraid of.
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2 Corinthians 2:6
Paul reveals the zeal of the Corinthians, for they had all turned against this man, just as he had ordered them to.
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2 Corinthians 2:8
Paul's command now is that they should unite the member to the body, return the sheep to the flock and show him their most sincere love and affection.
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2 Corinthians 2:13
Paul mentions Titus here for a purpose. Since he was the one who took the letter to Corinth, Paul wanted the church there to appreciate his worth.
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2 Corinthians 3:1
Paul is telling the Corinthians that they should have been commending him without any reminders of this kind.
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2 Corinthians 3:3
Forgetting the false teachers, Paul goes on to the heart of the matter and expounds the difference between the two Testaments.
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2 Corinthians 3:9
The law condemned sinners, but grace receives them and justifies them by faith. It leads them to holy baptism and grants them forgiveness of sins.
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2 Corinthians 3:10
The light of a lamp shines brightly in the darkness of the night, but at midday it is barely visible and is not even thought of as light.
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2 Corinthians 3:13
Paul says that the law was fading away, by which he means that it was coming to an end in Christ, whose coming was foretold by the law.
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2 Corinthians 3:16
The same is true for you as well. When you believe in Christ, the veil of your unbelief will be taken away.
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2 Corinthians 3:17
Paul shows here that the Spirit and God are equal. Moses turned his eyes toward God; we turn ours toward the Holy Spirit. Paul would hardly have said that what the Spirit reveals is greater than what Moses saw if the Spirit were merely a creature and not God himself.
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2 Corinthians 4:2
Paul is talking here about circumcision, which the false apostles were covertly forcing on newly converted Gentiles.
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2 Corinthians 4:4
Paul is saying that unbelief is limited to this world, because in the next life the truth will be plain to everyone.
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2 Corinthians 4:6
Since the divine nature is invisible and always remains so, it is seen for what it is in the humanity of Jesus Christ which shines with divine light and sends out its rays.
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2 Corinthians 4:8
If none of these things ever happened, the greatness of God's power would never be revealed.
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2 Corinthians 4:14
Paul believed that through the work of Christ he and all believers were made greater than death and that they would all be brought before the terrible seat of judgment.
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2 Corinthians 5:2
The heavenly body is not some different one but the one we have now, which will be transformed.
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2 Corinthians 5:5
Since God the Creator foresaw the sin of Adam, he prepared a remedy for it. For he himself has given us the first fruits of the Spirit, so that by the miracles which the Spirit does in our midst we may be reassured that the promises of future glory are true.
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2 Corinthians 5:7
We cannot now see what we shall be like, but we discern it by faith alone. That is why after the death of the body we want to stand in the presence of God.
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2 Corinthians 5:16
There was a time when Christ had a body which was capable of suffering, but after his suffering and death it became incorruptible and immortal.
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2 Corinthians 5:17
Those who believe in Christ have entered a new life. They must be born again in baptism and renounce their former sins.
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2 Corinthians 5:18
It is not just that God has been reconciled to us; we also have been reconciled to him.
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2 Corinthians 5:21
Christ was called what we are in order to call us to be what he is.
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2 Corinthians 6:2
Paul backs his exhortation up with this prophetic testimony.
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2 Corinthians 6:7
The weapons of righteousness on the right hand are those which are pleasing to the mind; those on the left hand are those which are not.
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2 Corinthians 6:13
Paul blunts the force of his accusations by calling the Corinthians his children.
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2 Corinthians 7:1
Paul uses the word spirit in this verse to mean "soul."
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2 Corinthians 7:5
Paul had to do battle not only with external foes but also with enemies within the fellowship of the church. He was afraid that believers would be turned away to harmful things.
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2 Corinthians 8:1
By "the grace of God" Paul means the possession of every good thing. He is not excluding the role of free will by saying this but teaching that every good work is made possible by the help of God.
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2 Corinthians 8:2
This is the height of praise, for in affliction they remained calm and in the depths of poverty they gave generously of what they had.
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2 Corinthians 8:5
The words "not as we expected" refer not to the Macedonians' willingness to give but to the amount which they gave.
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2 Corinthians 8:10
Paul knows and respects their willingness to help, but the time has now come for that willingness to be translated into action.
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2 Corinthians 8:22
Some people think this refers to Apollos, whom Paul promised in his first epistle that he would send..
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2 Corinthians 9:2
Paul holds up the Macedonians to the Corinthians and the Corinthians to the Macedonians as examples to imitate.
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2 Corinthians 9:9
Paul adds the prophetic testimony which shows that indifference to money is the beginning of eternal life.
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2 Corinthians 9:12
Paul is pointing out that giving to the saints is not just a matter of supplying their immediate wants. It has many other ramifications as well and leads to blessings of different kinds.
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2 Corinthians 9:14
The Corinthians will reap the benefit of the prayers of the poor. Those prayers come out of great love.
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2 Corinthians 9:15
It is Paul's custom to praise God every time he expounds some divine dispensation or other.
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2 Corinthians 10:1
Some Jewish believers were ordering Gentile converts to follow the law of Moses. They condemned Paul, calling him base and stupid, and claiming that although he kept the law in secret himself, he was prepared to dispense the Gentiles from it publicly, because he thought they were too ignorant to be able to keep it. Paul refutes this charge by reminding the Corinthians of the miracles which he had done among them and of the gifts which they had received because of him.
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2 Corinthians 10:3
Although we are surrounded by the world, we do not give in to it.
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2 Corinthians 10:6
Paul explains why he is being patient. He wants to try to persuade as many as possible to amend their ways. He will punish only those who continue to resist his exhortations.
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2 Corinthians 10:9
This is what Paul's enemies were saying he was trying to do.
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2 Corinthians 11:1
Paul realizes that wise people do not boast of themselves, but he has been forced to do so.
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2 Corinthians 11:9
This is the greatest condemnation of the Corinthians imaginable. For while he was benefiting them, Paul was being funded by others elsewhere.
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2 Corinthians 11:15
It is the devil's custom to imitate the things of God. He sets up false prophets to oppose the true ones and assumes the form of an angel in order to deceive men.
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2 Corinthians 11:17
Jesus said that when we have done all, we should confess that we are no more than unprofitable servants. This is why Paul says here that he is not speaking with the Lord's authority.
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2 Corinthians 12:4
Some argue that here Paul is referring to things which he actually saw, like the beauty of paradise and the choirs of the saints which are to be found there.
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2 Corinthians 12:7
By "messenger of Satan" Paul means the insults, attacks and riots which he had to face.
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2 Corinthians 12:9
Paul wanted to make it clear that his affliction was not a natural property of the body but something which was intended by God for a higher purpose.
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2 Corinthians 12:10
Paul does not say that he enjoyed these things but that he had learned to cope with them.
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2 Corinthians 12:12
Paul rightly puts patience before signs and wonders, because attitudes matter more than abilities.
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2 Corinthians 13:10
Paul shows that chastisement is a form of edification. If one or two are punished, the entire fellowship learns the lesson.
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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.