Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He exhorts them to the pursuit and desire of heavenly things; thence (v. 5) to the mortification of vices. And in v. 10, to the renewal of the mind through mercy, humility, and patience. Thirdly, in v. 14, above all things he commends charity, peace, and spiritual songs, and that they should do all things for the glory of Christ. Finally, in v. 18, he urges upon them sincere obedience, which wives owe to husbands, children to parents, and servants to masters — not for the eye, but from the heart.
Vulgate Text: Colossians 3:1-25
1. Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God: 2. mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. 3. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4. When Christ shall appear, your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory. 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is the service of idols: 6. for which things the wrath of God cometh upon the children of unbelief: 7. in which you also walked some time, when you lived in them. 8. But now put you also all away: anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, filthy speech out of your mouth. 9. Lie not one to another: stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, 10. and putting on the new, him who is renewed unto knowledge, according to the image of Him that created him. 11. Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all and in all. 12. Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: 13. bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against another: even as the Lord hath forgiven you, so do you also. 14. But above all these things have charity, which is the bond of perfection. 15. And let the peace of Christ rejoice in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body: and be ye thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, in all wisdom: teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing in grace in your hearts to God. 17. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. 18. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behoveth, in the Lord. 19. Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter towards them. 20. Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing to the Lord. 21. Fathers, provoke not your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged. 22. Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not serving to the eye, as pleasing men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God. 23. Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men: 24. knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ. 25. For he that doth wrong, shall receive for that which he hath done wrongfully: and there is no respect of persons with God.
Verse 1: If You Be Risen with Christ, Seek the Things That Are Above
1. Therefore, if you be risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. — Here is the second, ethical part of the epistle, by which he passes from doctrines to morals, and urges Christians to lead a life worthy of Christ, pure from vices, holy and heavenly.
Note: The "therefore" is illative from what was said in the preceding chapter; for there he taught that we have risen with Christ in baptism; thence here he infers: therefore the heavenly life must be lived by us.
Secondly, the word "if" is not that of one doubting, but rather of one asserting, and means the same as "since" (quandoquidem).
Thirdly, baptism is a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, as I have taught from the Apostle in Rom. vi, 3; for the very immersion of a man into the water signifies Christ's immersion into death and the tomb: but the very emergence of the now-baptized man out of the water signifies Christ's emergence from death and the tomb, that is His resurrection. As if to say: Since, O Christian Colossians, with Christ your Head rising from the dead, you in baptism (which is a type of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ) have emerged from infidelity, superstition, sins, and vices into a new, Christian, and blessed life to be begun: "seek" with mind and zeal, with all care, solicitude, and effort, not earthly goods which are below, but those things "which are above," that is the eternal goods, namely heavenly glory (in which Christ is, and prepares a place for you) as your end; and morals, virtues, and the heavenly life as the fitting means ordained by God to attain that end. And "mind" (sapite) those things by wisdom, knowledge, affection, taste, desire, thought, and meditation upon spiritual, heavenly, and divine things: for this is the Greek phroneite. Let then heavenly things be savored by the Christian, and earthly things be despised; just as pills and bitter medicines are tasteless to a man — whence, that he may not feel or taste them, he gulps them down at once and whole if he can: so plainly to the faithful all the delights and pomps of earth should be insipid, because the savor of heavenly things is so great that all the rest seem flat and bitter. Yet food and other things must be used, but as medicines, according to that saying of St. Augustine, bk. X of Confessions, ch. xxxi: "This Thou hast taught me, that I should approach to take food as I take medicines."
Hence St. Bernard, sermon 6 On the Ascension: "If you have risen," he says, "with Christ, seek the things that are above, etc. As though he were saying more plainly: If you have risen, then ascend also; if you live with Him, reign also with Him. Let us follow, brothers, let us follow the Lamb wherever He goes: let us follow much more gladly as He ascends. Let our old man be crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be destroyed," etc.
The same, sermon 1 on Easter: "Whoever, after the laments of penitence, returns not to carnal consolations, but goes forth into trust in the divine mercy, enters into a certain new devotion and joy in the Holy Spirit, and is not so much pricked by the recollection of past sins as delighted by the memory and inflamed by desire for the eternal rewards: such a one is plainly he who rises with Christ, who keeps the Pasch, who hastens into Galilee. You therefore, dearest, if you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, etc., that from worldly mirth and the consolation of the world you may rejoice to pass through compunction and that sorrow which is according to God into holy and spiritual devotion and exultation: He Himself granting it, who passed from this world to the Father, and deigns to draw us also after Himself and to call us into Galilee, that He may show Himself to us, who is over all God blessed forever, Amen."
So also Plato in the Cratylus: Man, he says, anthropos is, as it were, anathron a opope, that is, that he ought, looking upward, to contemplate and attentively consider those things which he has seen; or as it were tou bepon, that is, tending upward, since he ought to strive toward heavenly things. So Lactantius, bk. II Divin. instit., ch. 1.
Note here: The sign and effect of the spiritual resurrection (namely that we have risen from sins with Christ rising from the dead) which the Apostle here gives is clear and evident; namely, if we seek and savor heavenly things. For as unbelievers, atheists, and sinners, like moles, gape after earth and earthly things, and are blind to heavenly ones: so on the contrary the faithful and the saints, who have faith and hope of blessed eternity, lift up their eyes, mind, and heart to heaven, fix them in heaven, and trample upon and despise earth and earthly things as small, vile, and fleeting; and they say with St. Jerome that Socratic saying, aerobato kai periphrono ton helion — "I walk in the air and despise the sun": "I climb into heaven, I look down upon this ground and the sun alone."
And this is what Paul, as the trumpet of the Gospel, ever and again proclaims to us; and what preachers, whom (as St. Hilary says) God has placed in the world as sowers of eternity, ought frequently to proclaim to their flocks: O Christians, lift up your hearts, seek the things that are above, let your conversation be in heaven; upward let your desire, upward your intention, upward your cry, upward your expectation be; to heaven, to heaven, to life eternal you are called. Why do you creep here on the ground? why, like moles, do you gape after the earth? why do you seek to establish houses, offspring, families? Death and the vicissitude of times and things bears all these away, and will quickly bear them away. You have not here a lasting city, but you seek one to come. Here you are guests and strangers: you are only travelers. Cling not to your lodging: hasten to the goal, to the heavenly country: this is your rest and the goal of your labors. You are enrolled by God from all eternity as citizens of heaven, members of God's household and heirs of God. Why then do you not press on thither? why do you not run thither with all your might and effort? The Saints await you, secure of their own felicity, anxious for yours; Christ awaits you, prepares a place and a throne for you. Why do you delay? Leave behind this point, which among foolish mortals, among the ants, is divided with sword and fire; press on to those most vast, most opulent, and most august palaces of the Saints. O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast the place of His possession!
Hear St. Augustine in his book On the Conflict of Vices: "The love of the present age says: O how delightful is the earth in the flowers of the woods, in the sweetness of fruits, in the pleasantness of meadows and brooks, in the luxuriant standing grain, in the leaves and full clusters of the vines; in the running of horses and dogs, and of stags and goats; in the flights of hawks; in the shining feathers and necks of peacocks, doves, and turtle-doves; in the painted walls and panelled ceilings of houses; in the tinkling songs of organs and all musical instruments; in the comely looks of women, and in the precious garments worn without, in necklaces studded with gold and gems, etc. The love of the heavenly country answers: If these things which are under heaven delight you, why not much more those which are above the heavens? If the prison is so beautiful, what is the homeland, the city, and the home? If such are the things which strangers here inhabit, what are those which sons there possess?" And a little after: "Where no necessity disturbs, no adversity straitens, no annoyance vexes, but perpetual gladness reigns. If you ask what is there, where so great and such a beatitude endures? It cannot be otherwise said than that whatever good is, is there; and whatever evil is, is nowhere there."
Morally St. Bernard treats this sentence excellently at length in the whole sixth sermon On the Ascension: where from this passage of St. Paul he teaches that there is a twofold ascension by which the soul must ascend upward with Christ: first, that it may seek by the intellect; secondly, that it may savor heavenly things by will and affection: for this is the peace of mind, if the will consent to the intellect: for if it dissent, it distorts and tortures the soul, just as the body is tortured if the limbs are torn from one another. Then he relates in particular what those heavenly things are which one ought to seek and savor: "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever pure, whatsoever just, whatsoever lovely. Surely you can observe in nearly all religious congregations men filled with consolation, ever joyful and cheerful, fervent in spirit, often gazing up to heaven, careful watchers over conscience," etc.
And soon he teaches the same from the contrary side, showing what it is to savor the things which are below, saying thus: "On the contrary, certainly one finds men pusillanimous and slack, whose compunction is brief and rare, whose thought is animal, whose conversation is tepid, whose obedience is without devotion, etc. Does not the life of such men seem to you to draw near to hell?" And finally, whence this diversity of men and souls arises, he explains by adding: "Holy delight turns aside from a mind preoccupied with worldly desires, nor can true things be mingled with vain, eternal with fleeting, spiritual with bodily, highest with lowest, so as for you to savor at the same time the things that are above and those that are on the earth. Happy are they who now live to God alone, who are at leisure for understanding alone, for loving, for enjoying."
Where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. — You will ask, how is it that here and elsewhere in Scripture and in the Creed Christ is said to sit at the right hand of God? I premise that "sitting" here is not taken properly: for this would be a meager dignity for Christ; nay, rather Christ seems in heaven to stand than to sit; for He was seen standing by Stephen, Acts VII, v. 55, and this posture is more natural to man, and shows him strong and blessed; whereas sitting befits a man because of fatigue. So Maldonatus, Suarez, and others.
Setting aside therefore the heresy of the Anthropomorphites, who said that God was corporeal, and that Christ sat corporeally at His right hand: first, Augustine replies (On Faith and the Creed, ch. VII), and Chrysostom (hom. 1 on the Creed), that to sit at the right hand of God is the same as to dwell in heavenly glory, in the way that all the Blessed sit at the right hand of God; but this does not suffice: for here something proper is attributed to Christ above the other Saints.
Secondly, then, Athanasius and others everywhere against the Arians think that "sitting" here signifies the equal majesty of the Son with the Father, namely the divine majesty, which He possesses quietly and peacefully with the Father, and reigns together with Him as supreme King and Lord of all: in a similar manner the majesty of God is elsewhere described when He is said to sit upon the Cherubim. This is true, but is not adequate, nor what is chiefly intended in Scripture. For it is plain that both Scripture and the Apostles' Creed attribute this session to Christ as man, after He rose and ascended into heaven.
Thirdly, then, Christ as man sits at the right hand of God metaphorically: first, through the communication of idioms, by which on account of the hypostatic union all attributes, all honor and predication that is attributed to the Word is attributed also to Christ as man: therefore Christ as man sits at the right hand of God, that is, He presides over all things as supreme King and Judge, who excels in such dignity that He is on the same throne with God, and is worshipped with the same adoration as God. So the Fathers everywhere. Therefore Christ as man sat at the right hand of God in the first instant of His incarnation: but after the ascension in a special way, because then this dignity and divinity of Christ began to be celebrated and made manifest. Secondly and most properly, the humanity of Christ itself sits at the right hand of God per se: for it is said here and elsewhere to be taken up and set at the right hand of God, namely because Christ's humanity after death, victory, and ascension into heaven triumphs as victorious, and peacefully reigns in the supreme glory of the Father. Therefore this session signifies, in the human nature of Christ, first, His excellence over every created excellence; secondly, His supreme and singular beatitude and glory, both intensively and extensively and in the manner of obtaining it, as connatural to Christ and due to Him by force of the hypostatic union, and consequently by force of His own proper dignity and majesty. Whence, thirdly, follows a similar and supreme dominion and power, both for operating and for commanding over all creatures, and for judging concerning all men.
Note here: "Right hand" is to the Hebrews a symbol, first, of virtue and power; secondly, of firmness and constancy. Whence with the right hand we take and grasp the things proposed and offered to us. Thirdly, of truth and faith: for to it the right hand is, as it were, consecrated. Whence the ancients think that "right hand" is in Hebrew called ימין iamin, from the root אמן aman, that is to confirm, to establish, to be faithful. Whence in Isaiah XXX, 21, tamin, in place of tod, takes aleph as its own (our) conceptions. So Francisco Suarez, part III, disp. v, sect. 3. Thus in 3 Kings II, 49, the mother of Solomon is said to have come to him as he sat on the royal throne, and to have sat at his right hand, that is, close beside her son the king, as though the king shared with her the place and honor of the kingdom: for here the right is not opposed to the left, since the king sat alone with his mother; whence he had no one sitting at his left. So in Psalm XLIV, 10, it is said of the Church, who is the queen and bride of Christ: "The queen stood at thy right hand," namely that she might be the consort of the bridal-chamber and kingdom of Christ the King, not in any general way, but at His right hand, that is, most closely and most honorably. From which passages it is clear that the royal throne, that is the most honorable place, is the king's, but to the king's mother or bride a seat at the king's right hand is allotted, inasmuch as that place is most honorable — not absolutely, but after the place and throne of the king. So again it is said in Ecclus. XXII, 12: "Set him not (your enemy) beside you, nor let him sit at your right hand, lest perhaps, having turned into your place, he seek your chair" — namely lest he thrust you from your chair, place, and rank, and from your right hand spring into your chair; therefore the chair was more honorable than the right hand. So also the matter stands here.
You will say: Christ had these things before His ascension, namely in the incarnation. I reply: He did not have the glory of the body, but the rest He had in first act, not however in second act, except after the ascension, when by entering into heaven — as into the proper place of His royal court appointed by God — He ascended victorious to triumph, to glory, to rule and to command.
You will say secondly: If Christ is at the right hand of the Father, then the Father is at the Son's left, therefore the Son is more honored than the Father. Antonius Nebrissensis in his Quinquagena, ch. XXXIII, Baronius and Goropius Becanus (whom Ribera follows on Heb. 1) reply that of old the more honorable place was the left, not the right, because the right-hand man, as a defender and armor-bearer, would protect the one on his left; and from this the left was called by Ovid and others "inner," as it were the more honorable, when he says: "He went also inner," that is, on the left. But this is doubtful, indeed those skilled in antiquity deny it, and Adrianus Turnebus refutes it in bk. IV Advers., ch. XXIV; and in Scripture it is everywhere clear that the right hand is the more honorable.
Secondly, more acutely others, such as Maldonatus, concede that the Son displays a greater dignity than the Father, although in reality He is equal to Him, because, namely, not the Father but the Son will visibly exercise the judgment.
Thirdly, more plainly others answer that the most honorable middle place belongs to the Father, and the right hand of the Son is not opposed to the Father's middle place, but to the left: for at the left is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Son — understand this of an order not of dignity but of procession, which alone exists in the divine Persons: or rather at the left are other lesser Saints.
Fourthly, best and most simply, this session of the Son is so conceived that there is here no such opposition, but the Father is said to sit upon His highest and most noble throne, on account of His first and supreme majesty; while the Son is said to be at His right hand, that as God He may be signified to be His equal in majesty — by which as man He has obtained the glory and excellence next after God; and to be at the right hand of God, that is, in the chief goods of honor, grace, and glory (for of these the right hand is the symbol) which God communicated to Him, above all principality and power and virtue and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age, but also in that to come, as the Apostle says here — as it were transcending all those things, sitting most highly at the right hand of God. For by no other phrase could this have been better signified than by this; nor do men picture it otherwise, if they would picture this excellence of Christ, or the equality of the Father and the Son. For Scripture is wont to speak after the human manner and to descend to our conceptions.
Verse 3: For You Are Dead, and Your Life Is Hid with Christ in God
3. For you are dead. — As if to say: Through baptism, conversion of morals, and change of life, you are dead to the world, to the flesh, to sins, and to the worldly and carnal life and conversation; nay rather, you are dead to yourselves, because you are not that which you were before. For this is a kind of death; for example, drunken Peter is dead, because he has risen sober; for in Peter drunkenness has died and sobriety has risen, says Anselm. Again, the Christian ought to be like a dead man, who (as a certain one of the Saints says) detracts from none, is violent toward none, slanders none, oppresses none, envies not the good, insults not the evil, serves not the lust of the flesh, blazes not with the flame of hatred, flatters not the powerful or rich of this age (as many in our times do), is not snatched away by restless curiosity, seeks not the applause of the great crowd standing about him, swells not when surrounded by gold and silver or precious garments, takes not delight in the salutations of the powerful, wears not himself out in injuries; pride inflates him not, the ambition of this age slays him not, vain glory disgracefully boasts not in him, the false riches of this life lift him not up, the rage of insane fury torments him not, the most beautiful appearance of women makes him not greedy, the contentions of this world disturb him not: such altogether ought the Christian to be, if he wishes to be perfect and dead to the world with Christ.
It is the voice of such, says St. Augustine in his book On Continence, ch. X (vol. IV), of such, I say, dead men: "Yet I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me." Therefore those whose life is hid in God are admonished and exhorted to mortify their members which are upon the earth, by continence — namely, by not consenting to the motions of concupiscence; so that, although our very thought may be touched by a certain suggestion and as it were whispering of them, it may yet be turned away from them, lest it be delighted by them.
And St. Gregory, bk. VIII Moralia, ch. X: "There are," he says, "some among the just who, girded for the attainment of the height of perfection, while they inwardly desire higher things, outwardly leave all things behind; who strip themselves of the goods they have, despoil themselves of the glory of honor, who through assiduity of desire for inward things afflict themselves with friendly grief, and refuse to have consolation from external things; who, while in mind they draw near to inward joys, slay in themselves utterly the life of bodily delight. To such it is said through Paul: For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. The Psalmist had expressed their voice when he said: My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord. For those long but do not faint, who now indeed desire heavenly things, but yet are not at all weary of the delights of earthly things. He longs and faints for the courts of God, who while he desires the eternal does not endure in the love of temporal things."
Your life is hid with Christ in God. — As if to say: The world does not see your divine life of grace which you have, nor of glory which you expect; just as it does not see the glorious life to which Christ has risen, and by which He now lives in God, that is, with God.
Therefore the "life" of the Saints is called "hidden," first, because the world is ignorant of this new manner of living piously, holily, and inwardly, turns away from it, and reckons it as death.
Secondly, because it is veiled by its own humility (for the Saints desire to be hidden and love hiding-places, as St. Alexis loved); by mortification and the hardships of the body. Rightly did Epicurus advise, lathe biosas, that is, "live hidden." And Ovid:
Believe me, he who has well hidden has well lived: and each ought to remain within his own fortune.
Thirdly, because grace and the virtues, which are as the souls of this new spiritual life, are hidden within the mind.
Fourthly, because the Saints withdraw and hide themselves from the desires of the world and from worldly conversation. So Anselm. St. Augustine excellently in the Sentences, no. 201: "The good," he says, "are hidden, because their good is in secret, and what they love is neither visible nor corporeal; and their merits are placed in hiding as much as their rewards."
Fifthly, because they hide themselves in the love and inward contemplation of God. For, as St. Gregory says (bk. V Moralia, ch. III): "He who longs to mortify himself rejoices greatly at the rest of contemplation that has been found, that, extinguished to the world, he may lie hidden, and from all the disturbances of external things may hide himself within the bosom of inmost love."
Sixthly and chiefly, because the life of glory which the Saints expect is already hidden; as if to say: Your life is as a winter in which the sun, that is Christ, is hidden; you are as trees outwardly dry, without leaves — that is, without comeliness, beauty, and grace; yet inwardly you have a living root, namely charity in God, fixed as in living soil and alive. The summer will come, that is Christ's revelation in glory, when you will grow green again by rising, and will have living leaves and fruits, namely the gifts of beatitude, both in soul and in body. So Anselm. Elegantly St. Augustine, sermon 112 De Tempore: "In the time of winter," he says, "even a green tree is like a dry one. The summer comes, and the living root produces leaves and is filled with fruits. Thus our winter is the hiding of Christ; our summer is the revelation of Christ. For you are dead, the Apostle says, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Certainly dead — but dead in appearance, alive in root. Mark, then, how the coming time of summer follows when he says: But when Christ, your life, shall appear, then you also shall appear with Him in glory. Come then, sweetest God, this shall be my pact with Thee: I shall die wholly to myself, that Thou alone may live in me; I shall be wholly silent within me, that Thou may speak in me; I shall be wholly at rest, that Thou alone may work in me."
Thus St. Elzear, count of Ariano, when he was lingering on Mount Pessalano, his wife Delphina — but a virgin (for they lived in celibacy) — sent him letters by a servant, desiring to know why he was tarrying there. To her he replied thus: "I am sound and well in body. But if you wish to see me, seek me in the wound of Christ's side. For there I dwell, and there you will be able to find me; in vain will you seek me elsewhere." So his Life relates, ch. XXX. Therefore, just as the earth covers veins of gold, the sea pearls, and the earth the roots and sap of trees, so the virtue of the humble and holy is covered and hidden in this world both by themselves and by God.
Thus hidden was the life of St. Paul the first hermit, of St. Hilarion, St. Anthony, St. Macarius, and of so many hundreds of thousands of Anchorites and Monks whom Theodoret, Palladius, Sophronius, Rufinus, and others commemorate, who fleeing the allurements of the world, that they might enjoy Christ, said: "I have gone far off, fleeing, and have abode in the wilderness."
Thus hidden was the life of St. Mary Magdalene in La Sainte-Baume for 30 years, of St. Mary of Egypt, who for 45 years in the desert saw no mortal nor was seen by any, of St. Pelagia the penitent; of SS. Cecilia, Agnes, Lucy, and of so many thousands of virgins, who whether at home in their chambers, or in monasteries and cloisters, unknown to the world, strove and still strive to live for and please their one Spouse, Christ.
Thus hidden was the life of St. Jerome lying hidden at Bethlehem by the manger of Christ, of St. John Calybites, of St. Simeon Stylites, of St. Francis, of St. Bernard, and today of so many Religious holy as well as learned, who fleeing the light of men hide themselves, that on the day of eternity they may appear with Christ in glory.
Thus hidden was the life of SS. Peter, Paul, and all the Apostles, who were seemed to be the offscourings and refuse of the world.
Thus hidden was here at Rome the life of the early Christians and Martyrs, who for three hundred years lay hidden in crypts and caves, concerning whom more in Heb. XI, 38.
Verse 4: When Christ Shall Appear, Then You Also Shall Appear with Him in Glory
4. When Christ shall appear, your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory. — Note: Christ is called "your life" metonymically, because He is the cause of our life, both of grace and of glory: cause, I say, both efficient, exemplary, and objective.
Secondly, Theophylact notes that the present natural life is more death than life, because it consists in corruption, ebb and flow.
Thirdly, he notes that the life of grace and of the spirit in this age lies hidden, but at the end of the world, when Christ shall appear as glorious Judge to the whole world, then this our life is to be likewise made manifest to the whole world: "The pearl," says Theophylact citing Chrysostom, "lies hidden so long as it is in the shell; but as soon as that has been broken, then it shines forth in glory: so we in this body ought to live as it were hidden, far from all desire of glory; but when this corruptible body shall have been dissolved, then our glory will shine forth."
Verse 5: Mortify Therefore Your Members Which Are Upon the Earth
5. Therefore mortify your members which are upon the earth. — You will say: in verse 3 he said, "You are dead"; how then does he here say, "Mortify"? Vatablus answers: "You are dead" means, you have begun to die to sins; but here he says "Mortify," that is, go on to mortify them; so that there an inchoate act, here a continued one, is signified, according to Canon 32. Secondly and better, Chrysostom and Theophylact answer that there is a twofold death and mortification: the former, by which past sins are blotted out and mortified — this was done in baptism; of this the Apostle said: "You are dead." The latter, by which the motions arising again daily after baptism must be assiduously mortified by the justified man. Whence the Apostle says: "Mortify," as if to say: You are dead to sins, you have renounced them, you have professed yourselves to die to them in baptism; it remains then, that you mortify the motions of concupiscence which sprout up day by day, lest they drag you by consent into former sins.
Morally, St. Gregory, explaining the passage 1 Kings II, "The Lord killeth and maketh alive," speaks thus: "In these words also the order is to be noted; for first He is said to mortify, then to vivify, because unless we die to this world we are not able to live to God by love. Whence he who remembered that he was mortified and vivified spoke saying: The world is crucified to me, and I to the world. He was alive, but not with the life of the world, who said: I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me. To be mortified, then, and vivified is to desire none of present things, and to desire the eternal."
An outstanding mode and spur to this mortification for Religious is suggested by Abbot Moses in the Lives of the Fathers, Bk. VII, ch. XXVI. For when asked by a certain brother, "How can a man mortify himself?" he replied: "Unless one has supposed himself to have been in the sepulchre for three years already, he cannot attain to this saying."
Abbot Pimenius: "That monk," he says, "can be as one dead to this world who has shuddered at two things, namely the rest of his flesh and vainglory." Ibid.
St. Anthony admonishes his disciple, saying: "Dread your belly, and the necessity of this world, and evil concupiscence, and honor, as one absent from this world, and you shall possess rest." Ibid.
Furthermore, these vices must be cut away not by one blow, but gradually, by long perseverance. That same abbot teaches this with a fine apologue in the Lives of the Fathers, Bk. V, ch. VII, On Patience, no. 40: "A certain man," he says, "had a possession, and through his neglect it was reduced to brambles, and was filled with thistles and thorns. It afterwards seemed good to him to cultivate it; and he said to his son: Go and cleanse the field of that possession. And his son came to cleanse it: who, when he looked upon it, saw the multitude of thistles and thorns that had grown upon it; and failing in spirit, he said to himself: When shall I have all this to root out and clean? And throwing himself upon the ground, he began to sleep, and this he did for many days. After this his father came to see what he had done, and finding him to have done nothing, said to him: Why hast thou done nothing till now? And the young man said to his father: As soon as I came to work, father, when I had seen this multitude of thistles and thorns, I was called back from undertaking the labor, and through tribulation I cast myself upon the ground and slept. Then his father said to him: Son, work each day to the measure of the breadth that you occupy when lying upon the ground, and thus little by little your work shall progress, and you shall not become faint-hearted. When the youth had heard this, he did so, and in a short time the possession was cleansed and cultivated. And so do thou, brother, work little by little, and thou shalt not fail, and God by His grace shall restore thee again to thy former rank. Having heard this, that brother went away, and sitting with all patience he did as he had been taught by the elder: and thus he found rest, and was promoted by the Lord Christ."
Your members, which are upon the earth, fornication. — As if to say: Mortify your members, mortifying, namely, fornication, lust, concupiscence, which resides in your members. Secondly, and more genuinely according to the Apostle's phrasing, he here calls the "members" on earth the depraved affections and the motions of concupiscence; for these are as it were members of the old man, of the earthly Adam, and of the whole body of concupiscence: for all sins are as it were one body and one kingdom of concupiscence, of which I have spoken at Rom. VII, 22. So Chrysostom, Ambrose, Anselm. Hence, explaining the members of this old man, he adds: "Fornication, lust," namely the perverse kind, says Vatablus, for in Greek it is πάθος, that is, succubous lust: whence male prostitutes are called pathici: although Theophylact understands by πάθος, i.e. passion, every kind of foul mixture.
How the Apostle calls avarice "the service of idols," I have explained at Ephes., vers. 5.
Verse 6: For Which Things the Wrath of God Cometh Upon the Children of Unbelief
6. On account of which things the wrath of God cometh (is wont to come) upon the sons of unbelief, — ἀπειθείας, that is of disobedience, q.d. Upon the sons disobedient, unbelieving, rebellious to God and to the Gospel.
7. In which (that is, among whom, says the Syriac and Vatablus; or rather "in which," namely the lusts and sins just enumerated) you also walked.
8. But now put you also all away, — supply, as we too have put away. Or, as those unbelievers did not put away. Or more plainly, as you also walked in all those things.
Verses 9 and 10: Stripping Yourselves of the Old Man, and Putting On the New
9 and 10. Stripping yourselves of the old man with his deeds, and putting on the new. — For stripping, in Greek it is the past tense, ἀπεκδυσάμενοι, that is, after you have stripped off the old man; so for putting on, in Greek it is ἐνδυσάμενοι, that is, after you have put on the new. But it seems truer that the Apostle here takes the past tense, in the Hebrew manner, for the present; and again, the present for the imperative. Hence the Syriac translates: strip off the old man and put on the new; for this is what the Apostle intends and urges, as also at Ephes. IV, 23, to which this place plainly corresponds.
Note: The "old man" is the corrupted man, namely insofar as he is infected with the concupiscence of Adam; the motions of this man are the acts of concupiscence, e.g. motions of anger, gluttony, pride, etc. The "new man" is the same man, insofar as he has been renewed by the Spirit and grace of Christ.
Bernard beautifully describes the old man, sermon 30 among the lesser ones, where he thus says: "There are two men, the old and the new, the old Adam, and Christ the new, that one earthly, this one heavenly; the image of the former is oldness, the image of the latter is newness. Now there is a threefold oldness, and on the contrary a threefold newness: for there is oldness in the heart, in the mouth, in the body. In which three ways we sin, by thought, by speech, and by deed. In the heart are carnal and worldly desires, that is love of the flesh and love of the world. Likewise in the mouth there is a twofold oldness, arrogance and detraction. Likewise twofold in the body, debaucheries and crimes. All these are the image of the old man, and all these must be renewed in us. Let the heart therefore be renewed from carnal and worldly desires, so that with these excluded, love of God and love of the heavenly fatherland may be brought in. Let arrogance and detraction depart from the mouth, and in their stead let succeed true confession of sins and good esteem of one's neighbors; in place of the debaucheries and crimes, which are the oldness of the body, let continence and innocence be taken up, so that, namely, contrary vices may be driven out by contrary virtues." See also what is said at Rom. XII, 2, and Ephes. V, 4.
10. Who (the new man already mentioned) is renewed (from day to day, ever to be renewed more and more) unto the knowledge. — Some add, of God; but wrongly: for the Greek, the Syriac, and the more correct Latin do not have the word God. Therefore the τὸ in knowledge is referred to the genitive that follows, "of Him who created him," that is, of God. This renewal then consists in this: that, putting aside vices and being zealous for virtues, we daily come to know God and God's will more clearly, not speculatively but practically; and this practical knowledge consists in the zeal of fulfilling the holy will of God. Hence, explaining, he adds: "According to the image of Him who created him." "In this," says St. John, epist. I, ch. II, vers. 3 and 4, "we know that we have known Him, if we keep His commandments; he who says that he knows Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him."
According to the image of Him who created him. — Note, here and at Gen. II, where it is said: "Let us make man to our image and likeness," to which the Apostle here alludes, "image" is taken for exemplar, q.d. Let us be renewed in mind and spirit, that we may become like to the exemplar, that is, to God our Creator, and, as Theophylact says, to Christ our Redeemer and Re-creator. For as God in Genesis created man to His own image, so Christ by His death has reformed in baptism the fallen and lost man, and as it were created him anew to the image of God and His own.
However, image can properly be taken, so that it is a Hebraism, q.d. "According to the image," that is, that we may be images of our exemplar, God.
Note secondly: This "image" in man is in part natural, situated in the intellect, will, and memory; the Apostle wills this to be renewed, so that with these powers we may will nothing, remember nothing, think nothing except what pertains to the honor and service of God: in part it is supernatural, which is situated in grace, faith, hope and charity, in wisdom and divine purity, which the Apostle wills to be renewed and augmented daily. See what is said at Ephes. ch. IV, vers. 22 and following.
Verse 11: Where There Is Neither Gentile Nor Jew, but Christ Is All and in All
11. Where there is neither Gentile nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision (that is, circumcised and uncircumcised, according to Canon 21), Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free, (q.d. In this Christian renewal it matters not whether you be a Jew, or a Gentile, or a Barbarian, or a slave, etc., because) in all (those thus renewed, who have put on the new man, namely Christ, Himself) Christ (is) all things, — that is, all sanctity, justice, religion and every good, because Christ communicates to them His sanctity, His justice, His religion and every good; and in them there is nothing but Christian sanctity, virtue and perfection; and consequently all, whether Scythians, or Jews, or Barbarians, are one in Christ and in this new Christian man.
Secondly, "Christ to us" is "all things:" because to us He is Savior, Lord, leader, mover, God, head, high priest, victim, father, spouse, charioteer, worker, and all things.
Whence thirdly, "Christ" is "all things," that is, He works all things in all, so that it may be a metonymy.
Note: He opposes the Scythian to the Barbarian, as the Gentile to the Jew, not because the Scythians are not Barbarians, but because they are most of all Barbarians, so that other Barbarians compared with them seem not to be Barbarians, but to be opposed to them; just as the Gentiles are opposed to the Jews, q.d. All nations, even though by nature averse to one another, are in Christ one: therefore in Christianity they ought to lay aside this natural hatred of an opposing people, and not turn away from those who are of another people or condition, but to embrace all as brothers in Christ. Hence follows:
Verse 12: Put Ye On, as the Elect of God, the Bowels of Mercy
12. Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved (as becomes Saints, beloved and elect by God unto grace and glory), the bowels of mercy. — In Greek it is οἰκτιρμῶν, that is, of compassions, namely visceral mercy and commiseration.
Benignity, — affability, that you may be agreeable, gentle, not rustic and harsh.
Modesty. — In Greek πραότητα, that is, meekness, gentleness.
Patience. — In Greek μακροθυμίαν, that is, longsuffering.
Rightly Cassian, conference XII, ch. VI: "As much," he says, "as one progresses in gentleness and patience of heart, so much will he progress in purity of heart. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. For the heat in the body will not abate, unless one first represses the motions of the soul."
Again, as another of the Saints says: "The mind of an angry man is always vexed with annoyance, and the body afflicted with disease. The benign — both body and soul, and mind — enjoy perpetual health: he rejoices in insult, praises God in calamity, soothes the angry, triumphs under the yoke of humility."
Verse 14: Have Charity, Which Is the Bond of Perfection
14. Have charity, which is the bond of perfection, — that is, the perfect bond, says Vatablus, which namely perfectly unites and connects both virtues and men. For thus do the Hebrews speak: "men of mercy," that is, merciful; "cup of blessing," that is, blessed; "sons of obedience," that is, obedient.
Secondly, and better, "the bond of perfection," or of integrity (for the Greek τελειότητος signifies both), that is, the bond connecting, integrating, perfecting benignity, mercy, humility, patience already mentioned, and all other virtues; or most simply, charity is the bond "of perfection," that is, of the virtues already mentioned and of all others, in which Christian perfection and integrity consists, q.d. All the aforementioned and other true and Christian virtues, and the commandments, are gathered and united in charity as in a center, and unless it be present, they are immediately dissolved. As therefore the soul unites all members and integrates and perfects the whole body, so that, if the soul be taken from the body, all the members would be dissolved, and the whole body would fall apart, collapse and perish; and as a house is held together and stands by its bonds and ties, and when these are taken away it is dissolved and falls down: so charity, says Theophylact, unites all the virtues and completes the whole body of Christian perfection, which consists in the aggregation of Christian virtues; so that, if you take away charity, the virtues flow apart, and the whole of perfection and the body of virtues perishes. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Anselm.
Note: The Apostle is speaking chiefly of charity toward one's neighbor; for this is the bond of patience, mercy, benignity. Yet charity toward the neighbor rests upon charity toward God, as on its cause and formal object: for it is for God's sake that we love our neighbor.
Hence secondly, the reason and cause why charity is the bond and union both of the virtues and of souls, is that which St. Augustine gives, tract. 105 on John: "Charity," he says, "is the seamless tunic of Christ, which reaches to One, namely God, and gathers all into one." See St. Thomas, II II, Quaest. CLXXXIV, art. 1 in corpore.
Hence thirdly, it is plain that no virtue without charity is perfect, indeed without charity any virtue gradually perishes and dies; for no virtue can subsist by itself alone, but needs the help of the others; e.g. modesty needs patience, that in bearing injuries and insults it may behave modestly; patience needs humility, for unless it be humble, it will not bear those who proudly insult it; and so on consequently. Since therefore charity is the bond of all virtues, it follows that they cannot, neither all together, nor any one separately, long subsist without charity.
Verse 15: Let the Peace of Christ Rejoice in Your Hearts
15. Let the peace of Christ exult in your hearts, wherein also you are called in one body, — q.d., says Anselm: "Rejoice and exult" on account of peace of soul. But note: For let it exult, in Greek it is βραβευέτω, which Erasmus and Vatablus translate, let peace bear away the prize and the palm, so that whatever diversity or adversity of opinions, things, deeds may occur, peace be preserved; let the first concern be peace, let the first place everywhere be given to peace, so that you would rather depart from your opinion, indeed lose your goods, than peace; and therefore let peace, victorious as one triumphing, exult in your hearts, and let him think he has conquered in any quarrel or dispute, who at the cost of other things has preserved peace. This is what the most illustrious Cardinal Bellarmine wisely said, and more wisely accomplished: "An ounce of charity and peace is better than a pound of victory." A saying worthy of a Cardinal, an action worthier still. Indeed St. Augustine, sermon 12 On the Words of the Apostle: "I do not wish," he says, "to have one with whom I should quarrel. Much more desirable is it to me not to have an enemy, than to vanquish one."
Secondly and better, "the peace of Christ" βραβευέτω, that is, as a brabeuta, let it command and rule the motions of your soul, and, as the Syriac translates, let the peace of the Messiah govern your hearts: for the Greek βραβεύειν means to preside, to rule, to moderate, and, as a president in a contest, to give the palm and prize to the victor. For he alludes to contests and combats, in which the brabeuta, as judge, arbiter and moderator, presided and gave the palm and prize to the victor; such a brabeuta of Dares and Entellus contending with the cestus was Aeneas in Virgil, Aeneid V:
Then father Aeneas suffered not their angers to go further,
Nor allowed Entellus to rage with bitter spirit;
But imposed an end upon the fight.
So peace, as a brabeuta, imposes an end on every fight and quarrel; for example, says Theophylact, when we are afflicted by an injury, twin thoughts contend within us, the one inciting us to vengeance, the other to patience: let peace then come in as brabeuta, and grant the palm to patience as the victor and to peace as its author. Hence formerly the brabeutae carried a rod or scepter as presidents and judges, as is gathered from Plutarch, in Antony; indeed the Grammarians derive the Greek βραβευτής, or βραβεύς, by metathesis from ῥάβδος, that is, the rod which they bore. Whence Budaeus testifies that βραβευτὴς and ῥαβδοῦχος are placed for the same thing by Plato in the Protagoras, as if Paul were saying: In your souls let there sit, as brabeutas and agonothetes, ruling and moderating all things, not anger, not pride, not desire, not any other passion, but peace, which as a queen restrains all the affections of the soul in their office and represses the wars of the passions, so that we may enjoy perpetual peace and concord both with ourselves and with our neighbors, and with one mind serve Christ. So Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius.
Hence it follows that this peace is procured by war, indeed includes a continual war with desires and passions. Meneclides, of old envious of Epaminondas's glory, urged the people that they should hold peace better than war. To whom Epaminondas: You deceive, said he, your fellow citizens, when by the name of leisure you call them to slavery. For peace is procured by war; nor can it be safeguarded unless the citizens are equipped for war. Let every Christian say the same to himself, and let him hear the voice of St. Augustine, serm. 57 On the Words of the Lord: "Peace," he says, "is serenity of mind, tranquility of soul, simplicity of heart, the bond of love, the fellowship of charity. This is what removes enmities, restrains wars, suppresses angers, treads down the proud, loves the humble, calms the discordant, reconciles enemies, is gentle to all: it seeks not what is another's, accounts nothing as its own, teaches us to love those whom it does not know how to hate, knows not how to be exalted, knows not how to be puffed up. Let him therefore who has received it, hold it; he who has lost it, regain it; he who has let it slip, seek it out: since he who is not found in the same is disowned by the Father, disinherited by the Son, and likewise becomes a stranger to the Holy Spirit."
Note: This "peace" is said to be "of Christ," because Christ brought this peace from heaven to earth; whence the angels at Christ's birth sang: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace," etc., and He sanctioned it and commanded it, saying: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you;" and He willed that the Gospel and Christianity should be the law, the school, and the profession of peace and charity. Hence follows: "In which (that is, to which) you are called in one body," that is, into one body, namely into one Church. Excellently St. Augustine, sent. 369: "The peace of Christ," he says, "has no end of time, and it is the perfection of every intention and action. For its sake we are imbued with His sacraments; for its sake we are instructed by His marvelous works and discourses; for its sake we have received the pledge of the Holy Spirit; for its sake we believe in Him and hope, and are kindled with the love of Him as much as He grants; for its sake, finally, we endure all tribulation bravely, that in it we may happily reign without tribulation. For true peace makes unity; since he who clings to God is one spirit."
The Gentiles loved and sought after this peace. That one said:
There is no safety in war; we all beseech thee for peace.
Pomponius Atticus, at the funeral of his mother, whom he buried at ninety years of age, himself being sixty-seven years old, gloried that he had never been reconciled with his mother, because he had never offended her; that he had never been at odds with his sister, who was nearly of the same age as he. Cornelius Nepos wrote that he had heard this saying from the man himself. But whoever preserves perpetual peace with all, even with strangers and enemies, must have not the peace and spirit of nature, but of grace, not of the Gentiles, but of Christ.
And be ye thankful. — In Greek εὐχάριστοι, that is, be gracious, lovable, as Vatablus and Erasmus translate from Jerome; for those who are such are wont to be benign, merciful, compassionate to their neighbors, not only cultivating peace with themselves and with others, but also reconciling them: for all these things pertain to fostering concord and charity with one's neighbors; therefore εὐχάριστοι here is the same as εὐχαρις.
Secondly, Theophylact translates the Greek εὐχάριστοι as "be ye thankful," and, as the Syriac translates, give thanks to Christ for the benefits received from Him, acknowledge the grace done to you through Christ, and that you may render thanks to Him, show yourselves to your neighbors, by Christ's love, such as Christ showed Himself to you: for this is what gratitude, and the very Graces themselves, demand. Hence of the three Graces, whom the Greeks invented, two looked toward each other, the third had her face turned away, that those who receive benefits might be taught that they should look upon them with eternal memory; but those who bestow them, never to call them again to memory. But the former sense is more apt and genuine.
Verse 16: Let the Word of Christ Dwell in You Abundantly
16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly (in Greek πλουσίως, that is, opulently, copiously) in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another, — q.d. Let the doctrine and Gospel of Christ fully and copiously imbue and fill your mind, and let it as it were reside and dwell in it, so that, full of Christian wisdom, you may pour it forth and from it teach, admonish, and exhort one another. So St. Cecilia ever bore the Gospel of Christ in her breast, and neither by day nor by night was she empty of divine conversations and prayer; and thence she so poured forth the Gospel in her breast that she converted her bridegroom Valerian and his brother Tiburtius. Would that Christians were as zealous for the Gospel and Christian doctrine as their profession and the dignity of the Gospel and of Christianity demand.
Singing in grace in your hearts to God. — "In grace," that is, with thanksgiving. For it is the same as what he said at Ephes. V, 19: "Singing and chanting in your hearts to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things." For he wills that Christians, mindful of the great benefits which through Christ they have received in Christianity, should always live joyful and exulting, and sing praises and hymns to God in thanksgiving. So Anselm. But since in the following verse Paul inculcates this thanksgiving,
Hence secondly, better Theophylact: "In grace," he says, that is, with grace and beauty, namely so that you may sing so piously, sweetly, reverently, that you may bring delight, not carnal but spiritual, both to yourselves and your neighbors, and to God Himself. Whence he wills this singing to take place in the hearts and minds, that thence it may break forth into a most sweet and most pious voice, by which we may teach and exhort others.
Thirdly, not badly Chrysostom: "In grace," he says, that is, from the grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Note: Paul here and at Ephes. V, 19, earnestly commends to Christians psalmody and hymnody. "For the psalm," says St. Basil, in the prooemium on the Psalms, "is the tranquility of souls, the arbiter of peace, a storehouse of the best disciplines and lessons: the psalm restrains the troubles and waves of thoughts, soothes anger, puts demons to flight, calls in the angels: the psalm is security in nocturnal terrors, rest in daily labors: the psalm is an element for beginners, an increase for those who progress, a confirmation for the perfect: the psalm is the voice of the Church, the work of the angels, the spiritual perfume of the heavenly republic." And St. Augustine, at the beginning of the Psalms: "The Psalter," he says, "is a certain common treasury of divine doctrine, and brings aid to all the passions of the soul which afflict human souls in various ways: the psalm is the standard-bearer of peace, the spiritual incense, the exercise of heavenly things: it represses luxury, suggests sobriety, moves tears."
Verse 17: Do All in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ
17. All whatsoever you do in word or in work, do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (supply, do it), giving thanks to God and the Father through Him, — q.d. Not for Simon, not for Moses, not for the angels of the Novatians, but for Christ and His glory do all whatsoever you do; and thus this is a precept, but a negative one. So Theodoret and Theophylact.
Secondly, this can be also an affirmative precept, if with Ambrose and St. Thomas you so expound it, q.d. Let all your works be such that they can redound to the glory of Christ, and let Christ be the ultimate end of your life and actions. And this seems to be properly what the Apostle wills here, namely that we set up not the angels, but Christ as the end of all our actions in general, that Christ may be praised in them all. Wherefore Maldonatus aptly: "in grace," in Greek ἐν χάριτι, this is, he says, in joy. For thus χάρις is taken for χαρά, that is joy, at II Thess. II, 13; at Philem. vers. 7, and II Cor. I, 13.
Thirdly, it is a counsel, if you wish each individual work to be referred actually or virtually to the glory of Christ. For this is a counsel, not a precept: for we can do morally good acts without an actual, indeed without a virtual relation to Christ.
And indeed this practice is to be counseled, that we may accustom ourselves by frequently repeated actions to refer our works, especially at their beginning, to the glory of Christ; thus it will come about that from custom we may put on a habit, whereby we may refer all those things either actually or virtually to the glory of Christ: hence it will follow that all our works, even those that are indifferent, may take on the character of virtue and merit. In which matter many simple workmen, farmers and very many others fall short, and perform enormous labors, but without merit, because they labor only from a natural motive and end, namely to provide for themselves and theirs the necessaries of life: who, if they were taught moreover to refer the same to the praise and service of God, would be defrauded of no earthly gain; but in addition to that, would acquire with God an immense gain of merits and divine blessing. To rouse himself and his own to this, and to renew the memory of God and of pious intention toward God, our Holy Father Ignatius had this saying ever upon his lips: "To the greater glory of God." In a similar way the Apostle, I Cor. X, 31, said: "Do all things to the glory of God," as I said there.
Verse 18: Wives, Be Subject to Your Husbands
18. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as it behooveth, in the Lord, — that is, as it behooveth, according to the law, will, and Gospel of Christ the Lord. q.d. Let wives be subject to their husbands, as becomes subjects, who, joined to Christ, profess to follow Christ's modesty, humility, and obedience, which they have learned in Christianity. So Anselm. See what is said at Ephes. VI, 1.
Is it any wonder if Paul prescribes this to Christian matrons, when Aristotle prescribed the same to Gentiles, Bk. I Economics, ch. 1 and 2: "A well-composed woman," he says, "ought to consider that her husband's character is the law of her life, imposed upon her by God through the conjunction of matrimony. He therefore who neglects these things seems to neglect the very gods, in whose presence he offered sacrifices and entered upon matrimony." And Cato in Livy, Bk. XXXIV: "Our ancestors," he says, "willed that women should transact no business, not even a private one, without an authorizer; but should be in the hand of men." Wherefore the same Cato, gravely accusing the insolence and pride of the Roman women, in Livy, dec. IV, Bk. IV, sets forth this as a monstrous thing: "All men," he says, "rule their wives, we rule all men, but our wives rule us." Far better and more holily that prudent man gave counsel to a matron: "If you wish," he said, "to command your husband, obey him: for a good woman by obeying her husband, commands him." Thus Livia, the wife of Augustus Caesar, when asked, "by what means she had subjected Augustus to herself?" replied: "By much modesty;" because she would willingly do what pleased Augustus; and she would feign not to know with what loves he occupied himself at home. Dio in his Tiberius is witness.
Verse 20: For This Is Well Pleasing in the Lord
20. For this is well pleasing in the Lord. — Ambrose reads, to the Lord; but the Roman and Greek read, in the Lord, that is, with the Lord, and, as the Syriac, before the Lord.
Verse 21: Fathers, Provoke Not Your Children to Indignation
21. Fathers, provoke not your children to indignation, lest they be discouraged. — In Greek, ἵνα μὴ ἀθυμῶσιν, that is, lest they lose heart, namely if they see their parents constantly so harsh, severe, and quarrelsome toward them: for hence children are wont to lose heart, to grow lazy in their works, when they see that these things do not please their parents, to obey their parents sluggishly, indeed to languish in piety, the fear and worship of God, and at length to despair, to flee, and to shake off every yoke both of God and of their parents.
Verse 22: Servants, Obey in All Things Your Masters According to the Flesh
22. Servants, obey in all things your carnal masters (temporal masters, even pagans), not serving to the eye, as pleasing men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God, — q.d. Servants, obey your masters, not feignedly to the eye, that you may catch their favor, but with a simple and candid soul, and with zeal to please God, who prescribes this obedience to servants, and who willed you to be servants and to serve, not masters and to rule. Let servants therefore fear God, and obey their masters not from fear of their masters, but from fear of God. See what is said at Ephes. VI, 5.
Verse 23: Whatsoever You Do, Do It from the Heart, as to the Lord
23. Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as to the Lord, and not to men, — q.d. Do not, O servants, obey your masters to the eye, but from the heart, as if you were serving the Lord God Himself, as in truth you do serve; because it is the will of God, who made you servants, that you should obey your masters from the heart. If therefore you so obey your masters, you obey God Himself, who has promised the "recompense" of an eternal "inheritance" in heaven to servants thus obedient, and will indeed grant it for this their service. Act then, servants, be philodespoti, that is, lovers of your masters, and look upon and receive your master not as a man, but in your master and in your master's command God and God's command.
Verse 24: You Shall Receive of the Lord the Reward of Inheritance
24. Recompense. — In Greek it is ἀνταπόδοσιν, which word signifies the reward which is given for the merit of works. Since therefore Paul attributes it to God, it is certain that servants merit it before God by their obedience. Note this in favor of the merit of good works, against the Novatians.
Serve ye the Lord Christ. — The Greek δουλεύετε is as much of the indicative as of the imperative mood. Hence it can be translated with Vatablus: for you serve Christ the Lord, q.d. And therefore that Lord, as most faithful and most liberal, will recompense your service most abundantly in the future heavenly inheritance.
Verse 25: There Is No Respect of Persons with God
25. For he who doth wrong shall receive for that which he hath done wrongfully: and there is no respect of persons with God. — He proves that just servants and those obedient to their masters shall receive the recompense of the inheritance already mentioned, by an argument from the contrary: for those who are unjust, whether they be masters or servants, shall receive from God the recompense of damnation. He tacitly censures and represses the pride and dominion of masters, who unjustly and tyrannically treat their servants, q.d. Let these know that they are to be judged by God, and to be punished for the injury inflicted on their servants; in turn let servants unjustly afflicted by their masters console themselves, that God will avenge their injuries, and will reward their patience and obedience.