Theodoret of Cyrus

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

In his own words on Hebrews

Hebrews 1:1
The phrase "in many ways," of course, indicates the manifold dispensations, "various ways," the different kinds of divine visions. He appeared to Abraham in one way, to Moses in another, to Elijah in another, to Micaiah in another. Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel saw him under different guises. To bring this out the God of all said, "It was I who multiplied visions, and took visible form at the hands of the inspired authors." After all, the divine nature is not pluriform, but without either shape or appearance, simple and uncomplicated. It was, therefore, not the incomprehensible nature that they saw but guises of some kind, which the unseen God revealed as need required. The phrase "in many ways," of course, implies something else as well, that each of the inspired authors was entrusted with some particular dispensation, whereas their God—I mean Christ the Lord—did not provide for some single need, but by becoming man he set all to rights and secured the salvation of human beings. It became obvious, of course, that there is one lawgiver of the old and new.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:1
The divine apostle immediately in the prologue demonstrates that Christ is better than all the prophets. Beginning with the divine nature, he shows him to be eternal—coeternal with the Father and the Creator of all. Next, contrasting him with the angels, he turns to sacred Scripture, which openly teaches that Christ is Son and God, while angels are ministers and creatures. He proceeds to show that the dispensation of our Lord Christ is greater than that of Moses, for Moses gave the Old Testament but Christ gave the New, which was promised through the prophets of old. The former promised that Palestine would be given; the latter, the kingdom of heaven. He compares the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek with the Levitical priesthood and demonstrates its superiority and excellence. In addition, he shows that even those who lived before the law or under the law and were nourished by piety were distinguished because of their faith. He speaks of them and their sufferings and courage, encouraging his hearers, who were in grave danger. Then, reminding his hearers of their own struggles and exhorting them to stand steadfast to the end and weaving together moral exhortation with doctrine, he closes the epistle.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:2
He clearly brought out the difference between Christ the Lord and the prophets, calling him alone "Son." The opening resembles the parable of the Lord: in telling the parable about the vineyard to the Jews, the Lord showed that slaves were first sent to the wicked farmers, then after their murder a son arrived.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:2
He spoke of the Son as "creator of the ages" to bring out that he is eternal and to teach us that he was always beyond any temporal interval whatsoever. In these terms the Old Testament speaks of the God and Father as the one existing before the ages, that is, the one who always is.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:2
"Whom he appointed heir of all things." The divine apostle began with human beings, and after speaking first of the lowlier things he thus lays hold of the greater. In other words, Christ the Lord is heir of all things, not as God, but as man: as God he is maker of all things, and the creator of all things is Lord of all by nature, whereas the heir is made master of what he was previously not lord. In like manner the believers are heirs of God and coheirs with Christ: by grace they receive what they did not have before.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:3
The "glory" is eternal. Therefore, the "brightness" is also eternal. Brightness is of the same nature as fire. Therefore, the Son is of the same nature as the Father. And since the metaphor of brightness so manifestly demonstrates their coeternity and consubstantiality, he allows an opportunity for those sick with the blasphemy of Sabellius and Photinus, according to which the brightness does not subsist by itself. By another metaphor he excludes this blasphemy, for he goes on to say "and the very stamp of his nature."
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:3
I wish and I pray that I may follow the footprints of the holy fathers, and I earnestly desire to keep undefiled the evangelic teaching that was in sum delivered to us by the holy fathers assembled in council at the Bithynian Nicaea. I believe that there is one God the Father and one Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father. Also that there is one Lord Jesus Christ, only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, brightness of his glory and express image of the Father's person, on account of humanity's salvation incarnate and made human and born of Mary the virgin in the flesh. For so are we taught by the wise Paul …, "Concerning his Son who was descended from David according to the flesh and designated Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness." On this account we also call the holy virgin "Theotokos" and deem those who object to this appellation to be alienated from true religion.
LETTER 83
Hebrews 1:3
In this way the divine apostle in several terms brought out the reality of the begetting, the oneness in being and the shared eternity of the Father and the Son. Since the divinity transcends all understanding, and it is impossible to bring out in one single image the mystery of the true doctrine of God, the preachers of the truth are obliged to do so by means of many.… Blessed Paul called him "Son" to show him to be different from the Father in regard to personhood; he spoke of him "as creator of the ages" to bring out in these ways his eternity and called him also "effulgence of glory" to indicate by this his shared eternity and the sameness of being, the effulgence being of the nature of the fire. He added that he is "stamp of his nature" to bring out both things at the same time, that he subsists of himself and that he reveals in himself the paternal characteristics. He adds also something else: "upholding all things by the word of his power." He not only made everything but also directs and guides it.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:4
This is spoken with reference to the humanity. As God he is maker of angels and Lord of angels, while as man he became superior to angels after the resurrection and ascension into heaven since he was also less than angels on account of experiencing death.… So just as he was less than angels as man, since they have an immortal nature whereas he endured the passion, so after the ascension into heaven he became superior to the angels.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:6
Both phrases, "brings the firstborn" and "let them worship," suggest the incarnation. Whence does he, the one who supports all things by the word of his power and is maker and creator of the ages, come into the world? How is he "firstborn" if he is only begotten? If even after the incarnation the angels adored him, did they not offer him this honor before the incarnation? He was everywhere as God, yet as man he came into the world.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:8
"Your throne, O God, is forever." Through this he teaches us that the phrase "he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high" was meant in human fashion. As God he has a throne that is eternal and a kingdom that is without beginning or end, but here human things are associated with it.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:11-12
He indicated creation's change for the better that was due to him, and his own lack of beginning or extinction. "You are the same, and your years will never end," he says, note, meaning, "You were not made, but you are, and you admit of no change, being always the same." This suggests also the impassibility of the divinity. If it suffered, how is it the same? After all, it would be changed, and if it passed three days in death, its years would fail. Both the prophet and the apostle, however, the one writing the testimony and the other using it, emphasize that he is always the same and his years will not fail.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:13
Having thus dealt with divine things, he shifts once more to the human. It is not to him as God that he says, "Sit at my right hand": how could it be, when "his throne is for ever and ever"? So as human he shared in this honor, having as God the eternal throne.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 1:14
Whereas he sits at the right hand [he is saying], they are sent as ministers of salvation for the sake of human beings.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1
Hebrews 2:3-4
Again he associated a comparison with the exhortation, showing the extent to which the gospel teaching surpasses the provisions of the law. The ministry of angels was involved in the giving of the law, whereas in this case the Lord in person was the first to propose the saving teaching, and those who were in receipt of the apostolic grace welcomed it. While the law gives us a glimpse of what has to be done, the Lord's teaching is the source of eternal salvation.… He also showed the new covenant to be resplendent with spiritual gifts: of old the inspired authors alone shared in the spiritual bounty, whereas now all the believers enjoy this grace.… While he said this to encourage them to give heed to the divine teaching more zealously, he brought out the difference between the former and the latter under the guise of exhortation. It was very wise of him to say God witnesses to the message through miracles: the demonstration is beyond question, and the reliability of the witness indisputable.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:9
Since Paul called him both maker and Lord of the angels, and this seemed somehow beyond belief to those being taught that the nature of the angels is immortal and yet hearing of the passion of Christ the Lord, he was obliged to offer instruction on this as well. He was made less than the angels not in the divine nature but in his suffering humanity; this shared in divine glory after the resurrection. Of course, he endured the suffering for all: everything in possession of created nature needed this healing. He said as much, in fact, "so that apart from God he would taste death for everyone," only the divine nature is without need (he is saying); all other things needed the remedy of the incarnation. By becoming man God the Word destroyed the power of death; in destroying it he promised us resurrection, to resurrection he linked incorruptibility and immortality, and visible things also will share in incorruptibility.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:11-12
How would it be possible to name him our brother or to call us sons and daughters properly if it were not for the nature—the same as ours—with which he was clothed?… And it was especially necessary for Paul to say "in the same way" so that he might refute the reproach of making the incarnation a fantasy. He makes all of these points in order to teach those who suppose that the Son was lower than the angels that he endured suffering for a necessary reason. He explains this more clearly in what follows.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2.14-15
Hebrews 2:11-12
"The one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin." This is a reference to the humanity of the one who sanctifies, for the assumed nature is created. The creator of him and of us is one. We are sanctified through him. Now if the heretics wish to understand this of the divine nature, let them not do so in such a way as to lessen the glory of the only begotten. For both we and he have one Father; but it is clear that he is Son by nature, we by grace. The fact that it says, "He sanctifies, but we are sanctified," teaches us this difference.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:13
The phrase "he is not ashamed" suffices to bring out the difference in sonship. Speaking of masters and slaves we are accustomed to bring out the humility of masters by saying, "He is not afraid to eat and drink with his servants, to sit with them and personally to tend those of them who are ill." So this is what he is implying here as well, that the one who for our sakes accepted suffering is not ashamed to call "brethren" those for whom he endured the suffering—and not only "brethren," he also calls them "children." Likewise the Lord in the sacred Gospels said to the divine apostles, "Little children, yet a little while I am with you," and again, "Children, have you any fish?" He also shows that what is said in lowly fashion is said in reference to the incarnation: to the phrase "he is not ashamed" he linked "I shall have trust in him," that is, he is not ashamed on account of the salvation of humankind even to use language at variance with his own dignity.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:15
How is it possible, he is saying, for Christ to style himself our brother or call us really children unless he bears the same nature? Hence on assuming it he overcame the influence of death and did away with the dread besetting us. We lived ever in the dread of death because we were forced to haul the yoke of mortality. Now, it was very necessary for him to use the phrase "likewise" so as to refute the calumny of mere appearance.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:16
It was very wise of the divine apostle to use the proper name instead of a generic name: he did not say, "He takes hold of human seed," but "He takes hold of Abraham's seed," reminding them also of the promise made to Abraham.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:16
If he had assumed the nature of angels, he would have proved superior to death; but since what he assumed was human, through the passion he paid humankind's debt, while through the resurrection of the body that had suffered he demonstrated his own power.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 2:18
He presented his saving death as an offering: the body he had assumed he offered for the whole of creation. He included something else as well for their consolation: having learned by experience the weakness of human nature in living under the law and under grace, he extends assistance to those under attack. This is said in respect of humanity: he is our high priest not as God but as human; he suffered not as God but as human; it was not as God that he learned our condition, but as God and creator he has a clear grasp of everything.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 2
Hebrews 3:1
For if he were high priest as God, he would be so before the incarnation. As it is, that he became the apostle of our confession after the incarnation is taught us by the epistle to the Galatians: "But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman."
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3.1-2
Hebrews 3:1
After having in this fashion completed the comparison with the angels, he makes a parallel with the mighty Moses, greater than all the prophets, so that after showing the difference to be infinite, he may show at the same time the contrast between the covenants, the promises and of course the priests. Once again he mingles exhortation with the comparison lest he seem to be doing it on purpose rather than under pressure of a kind of necessity.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3
Hebrews 3:3
As great as is the difference between creature and creator, he is saying, so great is the difference between Moses and Christ.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3
Hebrews 3:14
We shared in death with Christ the Lord through all-holy baptism, and after being buried with him we prefigured the resurrection, provided of course we kept faith firm. He referred to this by the phrase "first confidence." Through it we were renewed, we were joined to Christ the Lord, and we shared the grace of the all-holy Spirit.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3
Hebrews 3:17-19
God urged them to leave for the promised land, but some spoke in opposition, citing fear and the multitude of the enemy. Hence God consumed them all individually in the desert and brought in their children in place of them.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 3
Hebrews 4:1
After making this digression to scare them and to cause them to look forward to the hope given them, he then gives attention to the "rest," bringing out that in times past the inspired David foretold it to us.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:2
Hearing the words does not suffice for salvation; accepting it in faith is necessary, and holding it firm. After all, what benefit was God's promise to those who received it, but did not receive it faithfully, trust in the power of God or, as it were, associate closely with God's words?
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:3-9
He wants to make clear three rests mentioned in the divine Scripture: first, the seventh day, on which God finished creating; second, the land of promise; and third, the kingdom of heaven. He provides proof of this from the inspired testimony: If there is no other rest (he is saying), why on earth does he also urge those in receipt of the second kind not to harden their hearts, threaten punishment and make mention of those who spurned the second kind? He cites them in order, and firstly the rest on the seventh day.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:10
As the God of all on the sixth day completed the whole of creation, and on the seventh he rested from creating, so those departing this life and moving to that one will be rid of the present labors.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:12-13
He used the phrase "laid bare to the eyes of him" as a metaphor from sacrificed beasts, which lie completely mute, the slaughter doing away with their life, and along with their life their cries. In similar manner, he is saying, when we also are judged, we behold everything done by us in ungodly or lawless fashion, whereas we receive the sentence of punishment in silence, realizing as we do its justice.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:14
In what has been commented on before, he made the comparison of the different kinds of rest and brought out that the rest promised to us is better than that pledged to Jews: to them he pledged the land of promise, whereas to us heaven. Here on the other hand he now develops the contrast of high priesthood and brings out that the high priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek is far better and greater than the levitical kind. Adopting once again exhortatory mode, he makes the comparison lest he seem to those still embracing the way of life according to the law to be hostile to the law and not rather defending the truth.… The apostolic verses also teach us this: they present him as having passed through the heavens, whereas the divinity of Christ the Lord has an uncircumscribed nature, is present everywhere and is near to everyone. The Lord himself also taught us this, "No one has ascended to heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven." Though being here below and conversing with human beings, he claimed also to be on high. It is therefore necessary for us to realize that some names are appropriate to the divinity, some to the incarnation.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:15
The believers at that time were subjected to constant billowing by trials; so he consoles them by bringing out that our high priest not only knows as God the weakness of our nature but also as man had experience of our sufferings, remaining unfamiliar with sin alone. Understanding this weakness of ours, he is saying, he both extends us appropriate help and when judging us he will take our weakness into account in delivering sentence.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 4:15
It was the nature assumed from us for our sake that experienced our passions without sinning, not the one who took our nature for our salvation. And in the beginning of this section Paul teaches us by saying, "Consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, faithful to him who made him." … No one of orthodox conviction would call a creature the uncreated and unmade, God the Word, coeternal with the Father. Rather the one from the seed of David, who existed free from all sin, became our high priest and sacrifice by offering himself to God for us, having the Word … united to himself and joined inseparably.
IN CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA'S LETTER TO EUOPTIUS, ANATHEMA 10
Hebrews 4:16
As God, Christ the Lord has kingship by nature, an eternal throne: "Your throne, O God, is forever," Scripture says, remember. But as man, high priest and apostle of our confession he hears the words "Sit at my right hand"; it is to this the divine apostle referred by "throne of grace." In my view he hints also at the lovingkindness he will employ in judging, adding the comment, "so as to receive mercy and find grace by way of timely assistance": making our approach in the present life and giving evidence of unalloyed and sincere faith, we shall on the day of judgment attain lovingkindness.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 4
Hebrews 5:1-3
Even under the law it was not an angel that was appointed to act as priest for human beings but a human being for human beings, with the same nature, affected by the same passions, understanding the weakness of nature, assigning pardon to the recalcitrant, offering a hand to sinners, treating what affects the neighbor as his own. This is the very reason he is appointed to offer sacrifices not for the people alone but also for himself.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 5:4
The one receiving appointment from God is the lawful high priest; this was the way Aaron, the first high priest, received the honor. The divine apostle said this, of course, not intending to inform us now of the norms for high priesthood, but to lay the groundwork for a treatment of the Lord's high priesthood.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 5:7
For the divinity allowed the humanity to suffer this so that we might learn that he truly became man and assumed a human nature and that the mystery of the incarnation was not perfected in appearance or seeming.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 5:7
How would it be possible for God the Word to fear death, since he is the Creator of the ages, unchangeable, immutable, free of passion? Certainly it would be the height of folly to go on at length about the point. For the extreme humiliation that marks the theme of the passage compels even those who blaspheme the divinity to recognize that none of these things are suitable to the divinity.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 5:9
By "being made perfect" he referred to resurrection and immortality, this being the completion of the incarnation.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 5:11-12
To those still lacking perfect faith the heralds of the truth propose only things to do with the humanity. This is the way followed by blessed Peter in addressing Jews. He accommodated his teaching to the limitations of the listeners, saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God," and so on in keeping with this theme. The divinely inspired Paul in proposing the message to the Athenians called Christ the Lord not God but a man.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 5
Hebrews 6:4-6
It is out of the question, he is saying, for those who have approached all-holy baptism, shared in the grace of the divine Spirit and received the type of the eternal goods to make their approach again and be granted another baptism. This is no different, in fact, from fixing the Son of God to the cross again and besmirching him again with the dishonor already shown. As he in his own case endured the passion once, we too likewise ought share the passion with him once. We are buried with him in baptism, and we rise with him; so it is not possible for us to enjoy the gift of baptism again.… Our former self was crucified with him in baptism by receiving the type of death. By "goodness of the Word of God" he meant the promise of good things; "powers of the age to come" is the term he used of baptism and the grace of the Spirit: through them it is possible to attain the promised goods.Now, the apostle said this to teach the believers from Jews not to think all-holy baptism is like the Jewish baptisms: they did not wash away sins, but cleansed the body of apparent defilement—hence they were applied many times and frequently. This baptism of ours, on the contrary, is one only, for the reason that it involves the type of the saving passion and resurrection and prefigures for us the resurrection to come. The followers of Novatian use these words to contest the truth, failing to understand that the divine apostle, far from prohibiting the remedies of repentance, set the limit for divine baptism.… After all, his writings to the Corinthians and the Galatians testify to the fact that he preaches repentance everywhere, and he disseminates these teachings everywhere.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:7-8
By "rain" he referred metaphorically to instruction.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:13
As God has no one superior to him (he is saying), his oath was witness; he swore by himself, in fact.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:15
Yet though making a promise and doing it with an oath, he did not immediately fulfill the promise; instead, the patriarch needed great patience, and only with the passage of a great length of time did he thus see the realization of the promise.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:19
By "curtain" he referred to heaven: the Lord promised to give the kingdom of heaven to those believing in him.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:20
He augmented their confidence with the name forerunner: if he is our forerunner and has gone up for us, we too must follow and be granted ascent.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 6:20
He is a high priest forever, not in offering sacrifices (having offered his own body once), but in being a mediator leading the believers to the Father; through him (he says, remember) we both have had access to the Father. The Lord himself says in the sacred Gospels, "No one comes to the Father except through me." We must be aware, of course, that the divine apostle made mention of the oaths sworn to Abraham so that the unchanging character of the divine will should be brought out; it endures in advance the stability of high priesthood according to the order of Melchizedek, the oath being linked to the word at this place.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 6
Hebrews 7:2
Now, the comparison he had frequently gone to great trouble to develop he develops in the present case. Firstly, he recalls the story of Melchizedek. While he seems to conduct his treatment in narrative style, he is laying the groundwork for his thesis. The reason, you see, that he showed Abraham giving a blessing and offering a tenth of the spoils was to show the patriarchy yielding precedence even in type. Then he brings out his importance also from the names. This name, Melchizedek, in the Hebrew and Syriac language means "king of righteousness"; he ruled over Salem, and the word Salem is translated as peace. His intention, therefore, is to present him in this way as a type of Christ the Lord: according to the apostle he is our peace, and according to the Old Testament author he is our righteousness.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:3
Eran.—Suppose we grant that [Melchizedek] is without Father and without mother and without descent, as you have said. But how are we to understand his having neither beginning of days nor end of life?Orth.—The holy Moses when writing the ancient genealogy tells us how Adam being so many years old begat Seth, and when he had lived so many years he ended his life. He writes the same of Seth, of Enoch, and of the rest. But he mentions neither beginning of existence nor end of life when speaking about Melchizedek. Thus as far as the story goes he has neither beginning of days nor end of life, but in truth and reality the only begotten Son of God never began to exist and shall never have an end. Eran.—Agreed. Orth.—Then, so far as what belongs to God and is really divine is concerned, Melchizedek is a type of the Lord Christ; but as far as the priesthood is concerned, which belongs rather to man than to God, the Lord Christ was made a priest after the order of Melchizedek. For, Melchizedek was a high priest of the people, and the Lord Christ has made the right holy offering of salvation for everyone. Eran.—We have spent many words on this matter. Orth.—Yet more were needed, as you know, for you said the point was a difficult one.
DIALOGUE 2
Hebrews 7:3
Orth.—Do you say that according to the divine nature [the Lord] had a mother? Eran.—Certainly not. Orth.—For he was begotten of the Father alone before the ages? Eran.—Agreed. Orth.—And yet, as the generation he has of the Father is ineffable, he is spoken of as "without descent." "Who," says the prophet, "shall declare his generation?" Eran.—You are right. Orth.—Thus it becomes him to have neither beginning of days nor end of life; for he is without beginning, indestructible, and, in a word, eternal, and coeternal with the Father.Eran.—This is my view too. But we must now consider how this fits the admirable Melchizedek. Orth.—As an image and type. The image, as we have just observed, has not all the properties of the archetype. Thus to the Savior these qualities are proper both by nature and in reality; but the story of the origin of the race has attributed them to Melchizedek. For after telling us of the father of the patriarch Abraham, and of the father and mother of Isaac, and similarly of Jacob and of his sons, and exhibiting the pedigree of our first forefathers, it records neither the father nor the mother of Melchizedek. It also does not teach that he traced his descent from any one of Noah's sons, to the end that he may be a type of him who is in reality without father and without mother. And this is what the divine apostle would have us understand, for in this very passage he says further, "But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises." Eran.—Then, since holy Scripture has not mentioned his parents, can he be called without father and without mother? Orth.—If he had really been without father and without mother, he would not have been an image, but a reality. But since these are his qualities not by nature, but according to the dispensation of the divine Scripture, he exhibits the type of the reality. Eran.—The type must have the character of the archetype. Orth.—Is man called an image of God? Eran.—Man is not an image of God but was made in the image of God. Orth.—Listen then to the apostle. He says, "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God." Eran.—Granted, then, that he is an image of God. Orth.—According to your argument then he must have plainly preserved the characters of the archetype, and he must have been uncreated, uncompounded and infinite. He ought also to have been able to create out of the nonexistent, he ought to have fashioned all things by his word and without labor. In addition to this, he ought to have been free from sickness, sorrow, anger and sin, to have been immortal and incorruptible and to possess all the qualities of the archetype. Eran.—Man is not an image of God in every respect. Orth.—Although he is truly an image in the qualities in which you would grant him to be so, you will find that he is separated by a wide interval from the reality. Eran.—Agreed. Orth.—Consider now too this point. The divine apostle calls the Son the image of the Father; for he says, "Who is the image of the invisible God?" Eran.—What then; does not the Son have all the qualities of the Father? Orth.—He is not Father. He is not uncaused. He is not unbegotten. Eran.—If he were he would not be Son. Orth.—Then does not what I said hold true; the image does not have all the qualities of the archetype? Eran.—True. Orth.—Thus too the divine apostle said that Melchizedek is made like unto the Son of God.
DIALOGUE 2
Hebrews 7:3
The text said of Melchizedek, of course, that "he continues a priest forever" since he did not transmit the priesthood to his children, like Aaron, Eleazar and Phineas; the one transmitting it to another as an heirloom seems somehow to be deprived of the position when someone else is performing it. It has another sense as well: just as we refer to Moses not just as the lawgiver but as the law itself, so too we use the name Melchizedek both of the person and the thing, namely, priesthood. Christ the Lord has it, enjoying eternal life.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:3
He commented also on the term "without a genealogy." He said Melchizedek was not of their family tree. So it is clear that he was not really without a family tree but only to provide a type.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:3
Christ the Lord, of course, has each of these by nature and in reality: while as God he is "without mother," being begotten only of the Father, as man he is "without father," being born only of a mother—the Virgin, I mean. As God he is "without genealogy": the one of the unbegotten Father does not require a family tree. "Without beginning of days": the begetting was eternal. "Without end of life": he has an immortal nature.This was the reason he likened not Christ the Lord to Melchizedek, but Melchizedek to Christ the Lord: one was type of the other, and the other the realization of the type. In respect of the priesthood, of course, Melchizedek did not imitate Christ the Lord; rather, Christ the Lord is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek: being a priest belongs to a human being, whereas accepting offerings belongs to God. Yet by becoming incarnate the only begotten Son of God also became our high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, not by aggregating to himself the position but by concealing the divine status and accepting the lowly condition for the sake of our salvation. This is why he was called lamb, sin, curse, way, door, and many other names like that.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:11-12
If the priesthood according to the law contained perfection, he is saying, on the grounds that through it everything according to the law was fulfilled, why is the giving of another one intended? Why on earth is the promise made to give it not according to the order of Aaron but according to the order of Melchizedek? Actually, all the law's requirements were fulfilled in the former one: it offered sacrifices, it gave purification from defilement, through it the commandments about festivals were fulfilled, the text says, "for under it the people received the law."After thus demonstrating the change of priesthood, he shows also the cessation of the law. The law was liked to the priesthood; so with priesthood coming to an end, the law also suffered the same fate.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:11-12
The mystery of the divine plan is worthy of admiration: as Christ the Lord, eternal king as he is, was styled our high priest, so the tribe of Judah, which was formerly kingly, attained the priesthood through the Lord.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:16
He is saying it is possible to bring out the likeness between the one and the other: as one did not have successors to his priesthood, so neither did the other transmit it to another—which he referred to as "bodily descent" because the law required on account of the mortality of human beings that after the death of the high priest his son would succeed to the priesthood. Now, in my view this phrase has another meaning as well: the priests cleansed the body in particular, sprinkling and washing it; they offered sacrifices for it. In other words, it was not for murderers or wreckers of others' marriages that they were in the habit of performing sacrifices, but for menstruating women, lepers and people who touched the bones of the dead.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7
Hebrews 7:18-19
The law ceases to have effect, he is saying, and the hope of better things is introduced. It ceases to have effect, not for being evil (the frenzied view of the heretics), but for being ineffective and incapable of providing the perfect benefit. It must be noted, of course, that he refers to the obsolete prescriptions of the law as ineffective and useless—circumcision, sabbath observance and similar things; the New Testament also bids us observe to a greater extent the commandments, you shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, and suchlike things. In place of the former, therefore, we receive the hope of the good things to come: it relates us to God.
INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 7

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.