Theodoret of Cyrus

In his own words on Philippians

• Philippians 1:1

  He applies the term bishops to presbyters, for at that time they had both names. … And it is clear that he makes this assumption here also. For he joins the deacons to the bishops, making no mention of the presbyters. Furthermore, it was not possible for many bishops to be shepherds to one city. So it is clear that he is calling the presbyters bishops; yet in this same letter he calls the blessed Epaphroditus their apostle, … and thus he indicates plainly that he was entrusted with an episcopal function because he had the name of an apostle.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.1-2

• Philippians 1:1

  He sends his news to everyone, both those who have been deemed worthy of ordination and those who are shepherded by them. By "those who are holy" he means those who have worthily received holy baptism.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.1-2

• Philippians 1:3

  Paul praises God every time he remembers the clergy of Philippi, who received the proclamation of the gospel cordially and have remained uncorrupted up to the present.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.3-5

• Philippians 1:7

  His praise for them is strong. He calls them "partners in grace." But by grace he is referring to his sufferings, as is made clear in what he goes on to teach, that "it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.7

• Philippians 1:11

  Enjoy these gifts! Keep your faith uncontaminated! Present the fruit of righteousness to God, so that God will be celebrated by all.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.11

• Philippians 1:12

  In their great concern for Paul the Philippians had sent the blessed Epaphroditus to help him. For this reason he writes to comfort them in return. He wants to show that the chains that bind him have themselves become the instruments of salvation to many. By "the progress of the gospel" he means the multitude of believers.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.12-13

• Philippians 1:14

  "My chains," he says in effect, "have themselves become the source of courage to the others. They can easily see that I bear adversity with joy. So they come to preach the divine gospel fearlessly."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.14

• Philippians 1:18

  Even against their will, Paul shows, the enemies of truth inadvertently cooperate with truth. Some are foolish enough to think that this can also be said about heresies. They ought to have perceived that the holy apostle's statement here is not an imperative sentence but a declarative one. He did not say "Let it be preached" but "It is being preached." Moreover, he does not condemn those people for preaching bad things but for preaching good things poorly, being led not by reverence for God but by partisanship.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.18

• Philippians 1:25

  In saying "I know that I shall remain and continue with you all" he means: "I know that I shall escape the present danger, so as to be once again a source of profit and encouragement to you. So you will have received what you desire." This prediction indeed came true. For he escaped the anger of Nero on the first occasion, as he shows in his letters to the blessed Timothy. … From Rome he went to Spain and took the gospel to them also, then returned and was only later beheaded.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.25

• Philippians 1:27

  Paul did not write this without reason. He was aware that certain people had started to think too highly of themselves. This was indeed due to the high excellence of their own virtue. For this reason he advises them toward concord and harmony, to live a life worthy of the gospel.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 1.27-28

• Philippians 2:6

  Being God, and God by nature, and having equality with God, he thought this no great thing, as is the way of those who have received some honor beyond their merits, but, hiding his merit, he elected the utmost humility and took the shape of a human being.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.6-7

• Philippians 2:6

  But if [the Arians] think the "form of God" is not the being of God, let them be asked what they think is the "form of a slave." … If the form of a slave is the being of a slave, then the form of God is God.… Furthermore, let us recognize also that the apostle uses the example of Christ as a lesson in humility.… If the Son was not equal to the Father but inferior, he did not obey in humility—he merely fulfilled his station.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.6

• Philippians 2:7

  He says of the divine Word that, being God, he was not seen to be God but wore a human appearance. Yet the words "in the likeness of men" are appropriate to him, for the nature that he assumed was truly human, and yet he was not [merely] a man, though he at first glance appeared to be only a man.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.6-7

• Philippians 2:7

  See how the varied attestors agree. The Evangelist says "the Word became flesh." The apostle says that he, being in the form of God, "came to be in the form of a man" The Evangelist says "he pitched his tent among us." The apostle says "he took the form of a slave." The Evangelist says "we saw his glory, as of the only begotten of the Father." The apostle speaks of One "who being in the form of God thought it no robbery to be equal with God." In a word, both teach the same: that, being God and the Son of God, and clothed in the Father's glory and having the same nature and power as his Begetter, the One who "in the beginning was with God and was was God" and wrought the creation "took the form of slave."

  ERANISTES 1

• Philippians 2:8

  His humbling was not undertaken as a slave in relation to a master's command. Rather he willingly undertook the saving work on our behalf. He obeyed as a son, not as a slave.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.8

• Philippians 2:9

  Even to the most inattentive it is obvious that the divine nature needs nothing. He did not become human by being raised up from lowliness. Rather he abased himself from the utmost height. He did not receive what he did not have before but received as a man what he possessed as God.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.9

• Philippians 2:11

  Every tongue stands for every people. But if the confession of Christ as Lord is a glorification of the Father, it is clear that those who call him a creature and a slave deface the glory of the Father also. In these few words, however, the divine apostle has subdued every heresy, among those who blaspheme the divinity of the Only Begotten, and those who deny his humanity and those who misconstrue the hypostatic union of the two natures.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.11

• Philippians 2:12

  "Looking at this example," he says, "you have conceived a greater zeal for your own salvation, notwithstanding my absence. For this reveals the excellence of your goal, that it is not to please your teacher but out of eagerness for good things that you undertake this admirable labor."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.12

• Philippians 2:17

  When he says you, he means all the faithful.… And he says this to work on their souls and to teach them that his martyrdom is so great that it has the character of a libation and a sacrifice.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.17

• Philippians 2:20

  The praises of the blessed Timothy are true, but the divine apostle has pronounced them at this point both as a sign of his own affection for them (since he has sent to their assistance the only comforter of his soul) and as an exhortation to receive him with all hospitality as a mouthpiece of the truth.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.19-22

• Philippians 2:23-24

  Even here he does not expressly announce that he will come but makes this depend on the providence of God. And clearly he has not yet wholly escaped his former peril.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.23-24

• Philippians 2:25

  Paul attributes many accomplishments to Epaphroditus. He calls him not merely a brother but a fellow worker and a fellow soldier. And Paul has even called him their apostle, because he has been entrusted with their care. Thus it is apparent that those who were called bishops in the earlier part of the letter held their charge under Epaphroditus, being obviously presbyters. And he calls him a "minister to his need," because he had brought the necessities that they had sent, as was their duty, analogous to contributions for civic officers.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.25

• Philippians 2:27

  The words "God had mercy on him" also reveal Epaphroditus's zeal for the contest. He did not wish to be rid of his wretched life, even knowing the gain that was to spring from it. "And God also pitied me," says Paul, "by not depriving me of my fellow worker."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 2.26-7

• Philippians 3:5

  "My Jewish identity," he says, "is in no way ambiguous. I do not come from a family that was only partially Jewish. I am a plant of freedom, a son of Rachel the beloved, on whose behalf the patriarch himself endured slavery."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.5

• Philippians 3:6

  "When I was harrying the church," he says, "I was not driven by love of honor or vainglory or jealousy, like the rulers of the Jews. I was burning with zeal for the law."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.6

• Philippians 3:8

  It is not that I flee them as base things but that I prefer what is superior. Having tasted the grain, I throw away the refuse. For refuse means the denser and harder part of the chaff. It carries the grain but is discarded once the grain has been collected.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.8

• Philippians 3:10

  To know "the power of his resurrection" means to know through faith that he is the God and Maker of all, he assumed our nature, he effected our salvation, and he was raised again in the body that he had taken as he conceived the common salvation of all humanity. To know "the power of his resurrection" is to know the purpose of his resurrection.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.9-10

• Philippians 3:12

  "It was he who first caught me in his net" Paul says in effect, "for I was fleeing him and was turned well away. He caught me as I fled. But now I in turn am the pursuer in my desire of catching him, that I may not be a disappointment to his saving work."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.12

• Philippians 3:13

  Some think that "paying no heed to the things behind" refers to life under the law. I think he says this of his labors as a preacher. For his custom was to be cursory and to mingle doctrinal statement with exhortation. What he says then is "I pay no heed to my previous labors, but I strive enthusiastically to press on to those ahead."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.13-14

• Philippians 3:14

  This is how we should think about the crowns laid up for us. For even if we do not perceive exactly what these are like, we ought at least to know that God, as Master of the contest, will reveal this to us.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 3.15

• Philippians 4:3

  Now some have been foolish enough to suppose that the yokefellow was his wife, not considering that when he wrote to the Corinthians he reckoned himself among the unmarried. … So the yokefellow is so called because he bore the same yoke of piety.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.3

• Philippians 4:18

  "You gave to Epaphroditus," Paul says, "and Epaphroditus gave to me, and God himself received the sacrifice through me." Their praise is enhanced by their poverty. They were not prosperous when they sent their gifts but trapped in the utmost poverty.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.18

• Philippians 4:19

  Their gifts are like an aroma of sacrifice, a sacrifice acceptable and well-pleasing to God. Paul prays that the givers will also be recipients of necessities for the present life. He prays that "God will supply every need of yours." And there is nothing absurd in asking this blessing on them. For the Lord himself in the holy Gospels bids us say "give us our daily bread."

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.19

• Philippians 4:20

  Here he praises the Father alone, whereas elsewhere he praises the Son alone. … He does not divide the Son from the Father or the Father from the Son. He offers the hymn to the divine nature as a whole.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.20

• Philippians 4:21

  Not everyone who calls himself a saint is a saint but only the one who believes in the Lord Jesus and lives according to his teaching.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.21

• Philippians 4:23

  The letter to the Philippians was sent from Rome by the hand of Epaphroditus.

  EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS 4.23