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them, and then he says, Obey your leaders, and submit to them. Released; with whom, if he comes sooner, I will see you. Greet all your leaders, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Released. From where? I think he had been cast into prison; or if not this, released from Athens. For this is also found in the Acts. Grace be with you all. Amen. How is grace with us? if we do not treat the benefit with contempt. To the Hebrews, it was written from Italy by Timothy. Stichoi. 703. (Clement, whom Paul mentions, who also became bishop of the Romans, records the Epistle to the Hebrews; as Paul composed it for the Hebrews in the Hebrew dialect, it was translated, as some say, by Luke the evangelist; but as others say, by Clement himself.)
TO THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY. CHAPTER ONE. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Father and of the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, To Timothy, my true child in the faith. Since the struggle was great for the disciple; for he was a prisoner for the sake of the preaching; for this reason he immediately from the introduction raises his soul, calling God Savior; just as if he were to say: One must not be despondent in afflictions, having God as Savior, and Christ as hope. For we find the Spirit saying: Separate for me Paul and Barnabas. Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Christ Jesus our Lord. And this is a comfort for affliction. Nowhere else did he name mercy except here. 95.1000 As I urged you to remain in Ephesus when I was going to Macedonia. He does not use the voice of a teacher, but almost that of a servant, in order to teach the disciple to be humble. So that you may command certain people not to teach other doctrines. He does not name them, so as not to make them more shameless. Nor to pay attention to myths, To the mythical traditions of the Jews, which the prophet also accused, saying: Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. For abandoning the interpretation of the law, they devised their own traditions. And endless genealogies. By genealogies, he means the theogonies of the Greeks, the successions of the gods. He therefore exhorts the disciple, both to refute those who use Jewish myths, and those who employ Greek deceit, not allowing them to speak, nor to introduce, as it were, successions of gods. Which produce questions rather than God's plan which is in faith. These doctrines, he says, for no benefit, also distract man from the economy of God. And by the economy of God he means the mystery of the incarnation. But the goal of the commandment is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. That is, the main point of the commandment is the word concerning love. And just as Scripture says Christ is the end of the law, that is, its fulfillment and summation, so here he has used the word. And it is good to add "from a pure heart," since there is also a love of wicked people. Such as those who were of one mind in their impiety against Christ. From which some have strayed and turned aside to empty talk. From love, he says, and a good conscience, and a sincere faith. Wanting to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they are saying nor the things about which they make confident assertions. For the love of power compels them to snatch the dignity of teachers. But we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully. Knowing this, The word "lawfully" means "fulfills it through works." And again "lawfully" is when one says to obey it. And he who receives Christ obeys it, inasmuch as it also taught us the mystery concerning him, as if in shadows for you
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αὐτοὺς, καὶ τότε φησὶν, Πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοις ὑμῶν, καὶ ὑπείκετε. Ἀπολελυμένον· μεθ' οὗ, ἐὰν τάχιον ἔρχηται, ὄψομαι ὑμᾶς. Ἀσπάσασθε πάντας τοὺς ἡγουμένους ὑμῶν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἁγίους. Ἀσπάζονται ὑμᾶς οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας. Ἀπολελυμένον. Πόθεν; Οἶμαι αὐτὸν εἰς δεσμωτήριον ἐμβεβλῆσθαι· ἢ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο, ἀπὸ Ἀθηνῶν ἀπολελυμένον. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ τοῦτο ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι κεῖται. Ἡ χάρις μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν. Ἀμήν. Ἡ χάρις πῶς γίνεται μεθ' ἡμῶν; ἐὰν μὴ ὑβρίσωμεν εἰς τὴν εὐεργεσίαν. Πρὸς Ἑβραίους ἐγράφη ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας διὰ Τιμοθέου. Στίχων. ψγʹ. (Τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολὴν ἱστορεῖ Κλήμης, οὗ μέμνηται Παῦλος, ὃς καὶ ἐπίσκοπος Ῥωμαίων ἐγένετο· ὡς Παύλου αὐτὴν Ἑβραίοις τῇ Ἑβραΐδι διαλέκτῳ συντάξαντος ἡρμηνεύθη, ὥς τινες, ὑπὸ Λουκᾶ τοῦ εὐαγγελιστοῦ· ὡς δὲ ἄλλοι, ὑπὸ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Κλήμεντος.)
ΕΙΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΝ ΠΡΟΣ ΤΙΜΟΘΕΟΝ Αʹ. ΚΕΦΑΛΑΙΟΝ ΠΡΩΤΟΝ. Παῦλος ἀπόστολος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ κατ' ἐπιταγὴν Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ὑμῶν καὶ
Κυρίου Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τῆς ἐλπίδος ἡμῶν, Τιμοθέῳ γνησίῳ τέκνῳ ἐν πίστει. Ἐπειδὴ μέγας ἦν ὁ ἀγὼν τῷ μαθητῇ· δέσμιος γὰρ ἦν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κηρύγματος· τούτου χάριν εὐθὺς ἐκ προοιμίων ἀνίστησιν αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχὴν, Σωτῆρα τὸν Θεὸν καλῶν· ὅμοιον δὲ ὡς εἰ λέγοι· Οὐ χρὴ ἀκηδιᾷν ἐν ταῖς θλίψεσιν, ἔχοντες Σωτῆρα τὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ἐλπίδα τὸν Χριστόν. Εὑρίσκομεν γὰρ τὸ Πνεῦμα λέγον· Ἀφορίσατέ μοι Παῦλον καὶ Βαρνάβαν. Χάρις, ἔλεος, εἰρήνη ἀπὸ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ Κυρίου Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν. Καὶ τοῦτο τῆς θλίψεως παραμυθικόν. Οὐδαμοῦ τὸν ἔλεον ἢ ἐνταῦθα ὠνόμασεν. 95.1000 Καθὼς παρεκάλεσά σε προσμεῖναι ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, πορευόμενος εἰς Μακεδονίαν. Οὐ διδασκάλου φωνῇ κέχρηται, ἀλλ' οἰκέτου σχεδὸν, ἵνα διδάξῃ τὸν μαθητὴν ταπεινοφρονεῖν. Ἵνα παραγγείλῃς τισὶ, μὴ ἑτεροδιδασκαλεῖν. Οὐ τίθησιν αὐτοὺς, ὀνομαστὶ, ἵνα μὴ ἀναισχυντοτέρους ποιήσῃ. Μηδὲ προσέχειν μύθοις, Ταῖς μυθικαῖς τῶν Ἰουδαίων παραδόσεσιν, οἷς καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐνεκάλει λέγων· ∆ιδάσκοντες διδασκαλίας, ἐντάλματα ἀνθρώπων. Ἀφιέντες γὰρ ἐξηγεῖσθαι τὸν νόμον, ἰδίας παραδόσεις ἐπενόουν. Καὶ γενεαλογίαις ἀπεράντοις. Γενεαλογίας, τὰς παρ' Ἑλλήνων θεογονίας λέγει, τὰς σειρὰς τῶν θεῶν. Παραινεῖ οὖν τῷ μαθητῇ, καὶ τοὺς μύθοις Ἰουδαϊκοῖς κεχρημένους ἀνατρέπειν, καὶ τοὺς Ἑλληνικῆς ἀπάτης χρωμένους, μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν λαλεῖν, μηδὲ οἱονεὶ σειρὰς εἰσφέρειν θεῶν. Αἵτινες ζητήσεις παρέχουσι μᾶλλον, ἢ οἰκοδομίαν Θεοῦ τὴν ἐν πίστει. Αὗται, φησὶν, αἱ διδασκαλίαι πρὸς τὸ μηδὲν ὠφελεῖν, καὶ τῆς οἰκονομίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀπασχολοῦσι τὸν ἄνθρωπον. Οἰκονομίαν δὲ Θεοῦ τὸ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως λέγει μυστήριον. Τὸ δὲ τέλος τῆς παραγγελίας ἐστὶν, ἀγάπη ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας, καὶ συνειδήσεως ἀγαθῆς, καὶ πίστεως ἀνυποκρίτου. Τουτέστι, κεφάλαιον τῆς παραγγελίας ἐστὶν, ὁ περὶ ἀγάπης λόγος. Ὥσπερ δὲ τέλος νόμου Χριστὸν ἡ Γραφὴ λέγει, τουτέστι συμπλήρωσιν καὶ κεφαλαίωσιν, οὕτω ἐνταῦθα εἴρηκε τὴν λέξιν. Εὖ δὲ τὸ προσθεῖναι ἐκ καθαρᾶς καρδίας, ἐπειδὴ ἔστι καὶ πονηρῶν ἀγάπη. Οἷοι ἦσαν οἱ ὁμονοοῦντες ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ Χριστοῦ δυσσεβείᾳ. Ὧν τινες ἀστοχήσαντες, ἐξετράπησαν εἰς ματαιολογίαν. Τῆς ἀγάπης λέγει, καὶ τῆς ἀγαθῆς συνειδήσεως, καὶ τῆς ἀνυποκρίτου πίστεως. Θέλοντες εἶναι νομοδιδάσκαλοι, μὴ νοοῦντες, μήτε ἃ λέγουσι, μήτε περὶ τίνων διαβεβαιοῦνται. Ὁ γὰρ ἔρως τῆς φιλαρχίας ἀναγκάζει τὸ τῶν διδασκάλων ἁρπάζειν ἀξίωμα. Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὅτι καλὸς ὁ νόμος, ἐάν τις αὐτῷ νομίμως χρῆται. Εἰδὼς τοῦτο, Τὸ, νομίμως, ἀντὶ τοῦ, δι' ἔργων αὐτὸν πληροῖ. Καὶ πάλιν τὸ νομίμως, ὅταν τις αὐτῷ πείθεσθαι λέγει. Πείθεται δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ δεχόμενος τὸν Χριστὸν, καθὸ καὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐδίδασκεν ἡμᾶς μυστήριον, ὥσπερ ἐν σκιαῖς ὑμῖν