Commentaries on Matthew

 it speaks of one who is uninitiated toward it, therefore the virgin has no thought of suspicion toward any other man. 8 Mt 1, 21 If he has a people ev

 flower, this name is found among many for Daniel calls him holy of holies. And Isaiah: a rod from the root of Jesse and a flower from it and the

 he was asking for he was unrepentant, but so that he might draw Christ into vainglory. Knowing this, the Savior did not obey him. 32 Mt 4, 3-4 Wishin

 making peace with him. Blessed are such as these, as having imitated the Son of God for they will be called sons, having partaken of immortality, tha

 which Luke, clarifying, named lepton. But let us be reconciled both with the enemy and avenger, that is, the devil, while we are on this way, and wi

 61 Mt 5, 31 He who casts out the chaste woman gives her permission to be married to another, which is a form of adultery as if the union were not diss

 6, 14 Jesus is also able as God to forgive sins, but as his disciples were still imperfect he had not yet clearly delivered the teaching concerning hi

 they condemn. For they sometimes say about someone: so-and-so is harsh, inhuman, greedy for gain, a lover of money, cruel, foolish, and then, attribut

 and 'the living bird' he sent out of the city into the field. Observe, therefore, how Christ is completely portrayed for us through the things tha

 having cast down the tyranny of the devil. You have come, they say, before the time for they knew in the word, that Christ was to come and that he ha

 if a profane person approaches a holy one, he must be turned away according to the saying: You shall not abhor an Edomite or an Egyptian. But in the

 what is not his, for suddenly those who bite him will rise up, and your plotters will awake, and you will become plunder for them· for Satan gathered

 He says the cities of Israel are also the assemblies of the faithful, which exist until the consummation of the age, and the teachers and the taught d

 rather from God. John indeed was born of a woman, but those who have accepted the faith are no longer called born of women, but were born of God. An

 in all my heart. But those of a twisted mind say, Behold, he gives thanks to the Father then how is he not less than him? To this, one of those wh

 the new covenant proclaimed through Jeremiah is alongside the first covenant, it is altogether necessary to use not the ancient laws, but the new ones

 to do. But they said this as if He was not able to do any of the things befitting God, being blinded in their mind for to open the eyes of the blind

 for those who have had a spark of intelligible light, but have turned to unintelligent knowledge, even the little gleam which they have will be exting

 having a sea-faring trade, they let down the net, not distinguishing, but whatever is caught in the meshes, this they drag completely and entirely to

 spiritual and able to sow seed and to teach the rest and strong enough to measure to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 180 Mt 14

 The Lord calls them foolish who are concerned with the body, like the Pharisees, and who have not yet passed over to the inner man. Foods, therefore,

 to fall into weaknesses and, having thought of something like this, to say: How will someone deny himself? Or how, having lost his own soul, will he f

 and it was necessary for the father of the possessed one to go away grieving, not having obtained the favor, since he did not make his approach blamel

 of painful things and they feel more of these than of the most pleasant. 211 Mt 17, 24 And they cunningly ask Peter. Since, he says, it is his custom

 of those returning who once turned away from the desire for virtue, it is necessary to fear the voices of the saints, even if those who are defining i

 a reason for condemnation, who would not hereafter hold responsible the transgression against one thing, not even one who has fled? For not even the v

 times, and that some were found virtuous, but others despised the future age because of foolishness. But at the end of life, which is evening (for the

 being by nature also the Son of the Father became man and came in the name of the Lord, being called the Lord. This one therefore, as God by nature, i

 When the Jews were cast out of the temple with the typical sacrifices, the blind and the lame are healed, who are a type of the Gentiles. However, let

 a way and the fellowship with the Spirit, through which one obtains the kingdom of the heavens. 244 Mt 21, 42 The blessed David has marveled at this c

 they came into the midst and a certain lawyer, considered very learned among them, asks what is the great commandment in the law, thinking that he was

 having become their confessors, that the prophets have become revered and honored, they adorned for them the crowns, that is, the monuments, assigning

 it has an intelligible vision through faith for when the fullness of the gentiles has come in and they believe in Christ, then the Jews who believe

 the narrative and to try to be as precise as possible in detail. But if they should wish to learn excessively something beyond their own measure, to r

 for such a one is a partaker of the master's entire kingdom for this is what is meant by he will set him over all his possessions. He does not say

 280 Mt 25, 1-13 He compares the leaders of the peoples to virgins the minister must be spotless in both soul and body, just as Paul says, that she m

 the present time is for work, but the future for reward. 281 Mt 25, 6-9 Souls that neglect virtue wither and are, as it were, extinguished and proceed

 of the blessed David he accused, saying: But you, a man of one soul, who together with me shared sweet morsels. And again: He who eats my bread has

 sending into the souls of those who worship him and distributing according to the measure of each but that we will be in spiritual joys, the divine D

 He said twelve legions: speaking instead of you, the twelve disciples, so that I do not need your assistance for I have not used my power, but I give

 foretold for one says: Woe to the lawless one evil will befall him according to his works. And another: as you have done, so it shall be to you

 to be renewed, even if the former, like one of the robbers, refused, saying we have no king but Caesar and asking for the innocent blood to be on hi

 against those who had transgressed against him. And the rending of the rocks signifies that the souls of the Gentiles were opened to receive the faith

 with proclamations, and the armies of the spirits above attend to the son as master and lord of all, and when he became flesh, that is, man. 318 Mt 28

flower, this name is found among many; for Daniel calls him "holy of holies". And Isaiah: "a rod from the root of Jesse and a flower from it" and the Lord himself says about himself in the Song of Songs: "I am a flower of the plain, a lily of the valleys". 17 Mt 3, 2 The kingdom of heaven is righteousness through faith and sanctification through the Spirit; wherefore also elsewhere: "the kingdom" of heaven "is within you". 18 Mt 3, 6 The baptism of John did not provide forgiveness of sins, but it taught men to run to baptism on account of sins. 19 Mt 3, 7 As more learned in the law than the others, they later approached John, whom he calls a brood of vipers on account of their similar manner; for just as those, when they are about to come forth into the light, burst their mother's womb and depart, leaving her dead, in the same way these also left their own mother, Jerusalem, as if she were dead, and were saved from the Christ-killing, on account of which they endured irreparable evils for a time from the Romans, which he calls the wrath to come. 20 Mt 3, 8-9 And one might say that the fruits of repentance are primarily faith in Christ, and in addition to this also the evangelical way of life, which is "in newness of life" and freed from the coarseness of the letter. Therefore, do not, he says, put forward the usual excuses, for God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones, he added. 21 Mt 3, 9 For just as he turned Lot's wife to stone, so it is possible for him to make men even from stones, just as he previously made Adam from earth. 24 Mt 3, 10 He calls the ax Christ, the one "sharper than a two-edged sword", who is about to cut off the unbelieving Jews and alienate them from the honor and fellowship of the patriarchs, whom he also called the root, who also remained, the fathers of old who pleased God, those around Abraham and as many saints as were before; for the unbelievers from among them were cut off like fruitless branches, but the root remained, onto which those from the Gentiles were grafted. But Irenaeus says the ax is the word of God, just as also Jeremiah: the word of the Lord "is like an ax hewing a rock". For what am I saying, he says, that you are about to fall away?—for this very reason it had not yet departed from the root. 25 Mt 3, 10 And he compares the word of God to an ax; for Jeremiah also says thus: the word of the Lord "is like an ax hewing a rock". thus it is laid at the root, so that by fear it might make you better and prepare you to bear fruit. 26 Mt 3, 10 What does he mean by ax? nothing other than that which is about to cut off from the patriarchs those who boast in vain and have done no good thing; for it is necessary for those from such ones who have become fruitless to be both cut down and cast into the fire. 27 Mt 3, 11 And the blessed baptist connected the operation and meaning of fire to the meaning of the Spirit, not saying that we will in every case be baptized in fire through Christ, but signifying the life-giving operation of the Spirit through the meaning of fire. 28 Mt 3, 12 He snatches the righteous into the city above, but the sinners to be burned up. 29 Mt 3, 16 The men of old, even before Christ, held those being baptized by them in the water until they had confessed their own sins, but Christ, being sinless, immediately came up; for he was not baptized as one repenting, but as one cleansing sins and sanctifying the waters. 30 Mt 4, 1 He was led by the devil by permission. 31 Mt 4, 3 Christ did not obey the devil so as to make the stones loaves, because it was not for his benefit; for it was not so that he might believe and become an angel as he was before this

ἄνθος, εὑρί σκεται τοῦτο παρὰ πολλοῖς τὸ ὄνομα· "ἅγιον" γὰρ "ἁγίων" ὁ ∆ανιὴλ αὐτὸν ὀνομάζει. καὶ ὁ Ἠσαΐας· "ῥάβδον ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ καὶ ἄνθος ἐξ αὐτῆς" καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ κύριος περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγει ἐν τῷ ᾄσματι τῶν ᾀσμάτων· "ἐγὼ ἄνθος πεδίου, κρίνον τῶν κοιλάδων". 17 Mt 3, 2 Βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν ἡ διὰ πίστεως δικαίωσις καὶ ὁ διὰ πνεύ ματος ἁγιασμός· διὸ καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ· "ἡ βασιλεία" τῶν οὐρανῶν "ἐντὸς ὑμῶν ἐστιν". 18 Mt 3, 6 Τὸ Ἰωάννου βάπτισμα οὐ παρεῖχε ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν, ἀλλ' ἐδίδασκε τοὺς ἀνθρώπους προστρέχειν τῷ βαπτίσματι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας. 19 Mt 3, 7 Ὡς νομομαθέστεροι τῶν ἄλλων ὕστερον προσῆλθον τῷ Ἰωάννῃ οὓς καλεῖ γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν διὰ τὸ ὁμοιότροπον· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκεῖνα, ὅτε μέλλει εἰς φῶς ἐξιέναι, διαρρήγνυσιν τὴν τῆς μητρὸς νηδὺν καὶ νεκρὰν αὐτὴν καταλείποντα ἄπεισιν, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ οὗτοι νεκρὰν ὥσπερ οὖσαν τὴν ἑαυτῶν μητέρα, τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ, κατέλειψαν καὶ διεσῴζοντο ἐκ τῆς χριστοκτονίας, δι' ἣν ὑπέμειναν τὰ ἀνήκεστα κακὰ τέως ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων, ἣν καλεῖ μέλλουσαν ὀργήν. 20 Mt 3, 8-9 Φαίη δ' ἄν τις καρποὺς μετανοίας εἶναι προηγουμένως μὲν τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν πίστιν, πρὸς δὲ ταύτῃ καὶ τὴν εὐαγγελικὴν πολιτείαν τὴν "ἐν καινότητι" οὖσαν "ζωῆς" καὶ ἀπηλλαγμένην τῆς τοῦ γράμματος παχύ τητος. μὴ τοίνυν, φησίν, τὰς εἰωθυίας προβάλλεσθε προφάσεις ὅτι δύνα ται ὁ θεὸς ἐκ τῶν λίθων τούτων ἐγεῖραι τέκνα τοῦ Ἀβραάμ, ἐπήγαγεν. 21 Mt 3, 9 Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ Λὼτ ἀπελίθωσεν, οὕτως δυνατὸν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐκ λίθων ἀνθρώπους ποιῆσαι, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ἐκ γῆς πρό τερον. 24 Mt 3, 10 Ἀξίνην φησὶν τὸν Χριστὸν τὸν "τομώτερον μαχαίρας διστόμου" τὸν μέλλοντα ἐκκόπτειν τοὺς ἀπίστους Ἰουδαίους καὶ ἀλλοτριοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν πατριαρχῶν τιμῆς καὶ κοινωνίας, οὓς καὶ ῥίζαν εἶπεν, οἳ καὶ ἔμειναν οἱ πάλαι θεῷ ἀρέσαντες πατέρες οἱ περὶ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὅσοι πρῴην ἅγιοι· οἱ γὰρ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἄπιστοι ἐξεκόπησαν ὡς ἄκαρποι κλάδοι, ἡ δὲ ῥίζα ἔμεινεν, ἐφ' ἧς οἱ ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἐνεκεντρίσθησαν. Εἰρηναῖος δὲ ἀξίνην φησὶν τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ καθὰ καὶ Ἰερεμίας· ὁ λόγος κυρίου "ὡς πέλυξ κόπτων πέτραν". τί γὰρ λέγω, φησίν, ὅτι ἐκπίπτειν μέλλετε-διά τοι τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἀφειστήκει τῆς ῥίζης. 25 Mt 3, 10 Ἀξίνῃ δὲ παρεικάζει τὸν λόγον τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ Ἰερεμίας γὰρ ὧδέ φησιν· ὁ λόγος κυρίου "ὡς πέλυξ κόπτων πέτραν". οὕτως τῇ ῥίζῃ ἐπί κειται, ὅπως τῷ φόβῳ σε ποιήσῃ βελτίονα καὶ παρασκευάσῃ καρπὸν ἐνεγκεῖν. 26 Mt 3, 10 Τίνα λέγει ἀξίνην; οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ τὴν μέλλουσαν κόπτειν ἀπὸ τῶν πατριαρχῶν τοὺς μάτην καυχησαμένους καὶ μηδέν τι ἐργασαμένους ἀγαθόν· δεῖ γὰρ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν τοιούτων ἀκάρπους γεγονότας ἐκκόπτειν τε καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλειν. 27 Mt 3, 11 Συνέδησε δὲ ὁ μακάριος βαπτιστὴς τῇ τοῦ πνεύματος σημασίᾳ τὴν τοῦ πυρὸς ἐνέργειαν καὶ σημασίαν, οὐκ ἐν πυρὶ πάντως βαπτι σθήσεσθαι λέγων ἡμᾶς διὰ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνέρ γειαν τὴν ζωοποιὸν διὰ τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς σημασίας σημαίνων. 28 Mt 3, 12 Τοὺς δικαίους ἁρπάζει εἰς τὴν ἄνω πόλιν, τοὺς δὲ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς τὸ κατακαῆναι. 29 Mt 3, 16 Οἱ μὲν παλαιοὶ καὶ πρὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῶν βαπτιζομένους κατεῖχον ἐν τῷ ὕδατι ἕως ἂν τὰ ἑαυτῶν ἐξωμολογήσαντο ἁμαρτήματα, ὁ δὲ Χριστὸς ἀναμάρτητος ὢν εὐθὺς ἀνέβη· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὡς μετανοῶν ἐβαπτίσθη, ἀλλ' ὡς καθαίρων ἁμαρτήματα καὶ ἁγιάζων τὰ ὕδατα. 30 Mt 4, 1 Ὑπὸ τοῦ διαβόλου ἤγετο κατὰ συγχώρησιν. 31 Mt 4, 3 Οὐχ ὑπήκουσεν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ διαβόλου ὥστε ποιῆσαι τοὺς λίθους ἄρτους, διότι οὐ πρὸς ὠφέλειαν αὐτοῦ ἦν· οὐ γὰρ ἵνα πιστεύσῃ καὶ γένηται ὡς πρότερον ἦν ἄγγελος τοῦτο