Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He foretells that heresies are at hand which would condemn marriage and certain foods as if evil in themselves, although every creature of God is good. Secondly, in verse 8, he prefers the exercise of piety to bodily exercise. Thirdly, in verse 12, he admonishes the Bishop to be an exemplar of sanctity, to stir up the grace given him in ordination, and to attend to himself and to doctrine.
Vulgate Text: 1 Timothy 4:1-16
1. Now the Spirit manifestly says that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of devils, 2. speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared, 3. forbidding to marry, to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and by them that have known the truth. 4. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving: 5. for it is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer. 6. Proposing these things to the brethren, you shall be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have attained unto. 7. But avoid foolish and old wives' fables: but exercise yourself unto piety. 8. For bodily exercise is profitable to little; but piety is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9. A faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance. 10. For therefore we labor and are reviled, because we hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of the faithful. 11. These things command and teach. 12. Let no man despise your youth; but be an example of the faithful, in word, in conversation, in charity, in faith, in chastity. 13. Till I come, attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. 14. Neglect not the grace that is in you, which was given you by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the presbytery. 15. Meditate upon these things, be wholly in them, that your progress may be manifest to all. 16. Take heed to yourself and to doctrine: be earnest in them. For in doing this you shall both save yourself and them that hear you.
Verse 1: Now the Spirit Manifestly Says, That in the Last Times Some Shall Depart from the Faith
Now the Spirit manifestly says, that in the last times some shall depart from the faith. — He admonished Timothy the Bishop at the end of the preceding chapter, that he should sincerely and rightly conduct himself and preach in the Church, which is the basis of truth. The Apostle here subjoins the cause, namely because heretics, enemies of truth and of the Church, will arise, and will seduce many, as if to say: See, O Bishop, that you watch and keep guard against them.
Note: "The Spirit," namely the Holy Spirit, foretells this through me and other Prophets "manifestly," in Greek rhētōs, that is, precisely, certainly, in prescribed and express words: for these are called rhēta; "because (that) in the last;" in Greek it is not eschatois, but hysterois, that is, in later or subsequent times (for this is what the Hebrew acharit signifies, by which name the Prophets call the time of the Messiah, which our Interpreter renders 'the last'); "in those times some shall depart," in Greek apostēsontai, that is, they shall fall away, secede, apostatize from the faith.
Giving heed to spirits of error (Our translator reads planēs; some now read planois, that is, deceiving, seducing and leading into error; but the sense comes to the same thing), and to doctrines of devils. — Hence Chrysostom, in homily 12, rightly asserts that every heresy and the dogmas of heretics are from the devil: of which fact Cassian is a witness who heard with his own ears, in Collation 7, chapter XXXII: "We heard," he says, "a most open confession that he had inspired the heresy of Arius and of Eunomius."
And Irenaeus, in book I, chapter IX, and book II, chapter LVII, hands down that Simon Magus, and Marcus, and other heresiarchs had attendant and familiar demons: just as, on the contrary, the Church has the Holy Spirit as her attendant, as it were assessor and counselor.
When many were visiting Fulbert, Bishop of Chartres, he, having spotted Berengarius among the others, with all the strength he had, indicated that he should be expelled, protesting that a monstrous demon was standing near him, and that by caressing hand and enticing breath he was corrupting many to follow him, as William of Malmesbury reports in De Gestis Anglorum, book III, and Baronius in the year of the Lord 1028. The Emperor Maximilian I, at the diet of Augsburg, in the year of the Lord 1518, dining publicly, seeing Luther, said to a certain baron, his cupbearer: "I see an evil demon in bodily form crouching upon the shoulders of that monk, and while you indeed shall survive but I shall be dead, that monk will stir up most grievous tumults, calamities, and miseries in the empire."
Indeed even the heresiarchs themselves confess this very thing. Luther, in his book De Missa Angulari, testifies of himself (for these are his own words) that the devil and he knew each other familiarly, and had eaten together more than one peck of salt; and that the devil had often visited him with sweet conversation, and had roused him by night, and goaded him to write against the Mass, and supplied him with arguments for that purpose.
Zwingli, in his book De Supplemento Eucharistiae, narrates that as he was anxiously considering how he might twist the words of the institution of the Sacrament of the Body of Christ into a foreign sense, on the dead of night of April 13 a monitory spirit was present to him; and he is in doubt whether it was white or black.
Erasmus Alberus, the Basel Ecclesiastes, writes that an evil demon appeared singing to Carlstadt as he was preaching, in the form of a man of taller stature, three days before he died.
And Calvin, in a letter to Bucer who admonished him to abstain from insults and curses, replied that it was not a sickness of his own disposition, but of his attendant spirit, namely his familiar demon: for a good spirit and angel cannot be the inciter and suggester of cursing.
Our Peter Thyraeus recounts more examples of heretics who had great communion with the demon, in his disputation De Daemoniacis, part II, chapter XXI.
The Apostle however properly alludes to the heresy of Mani, which was properly the doctrine of demons, because it made the demon the maker of visible things, but God of invisible; nay, St. Chrysostom, secondly, by 'demons' takes men who are leaders of errors and crimes. Thus Judas is called by Christ, John VI, 71, "a devil" by emphasis, on account of the magnitude of his malice: "One of you," He says, "is a devil." For what follows fits more properly men than devils, namely "speaking lies, and having their conscience seared," etc.
Thirdly, Vatablus takes daimoniōn not substantively, so that it signifies devils, but adjectivally, so that it signifies 'divine ones'; for heretics feign themselves to be divine, and prophets sent by God. But the first sense is the simplest and most proper.
Verse 2: Speaking Lies in Hypocrisy, and Having Their Conscience Seared
Speaking lies in hypocrisy. — As if to say: These deceiving demons, through these apostate men, or rather these apostates inspired by the demon, will speak lies and teach errors "in hypocrisy," that is, in dissimulation, and, as Ambrose says, in pretense, because they will pretend, by smooth-talking words, by the citation of Scriptures, by the simulation of a pure and holy life, that they speak and teach the truth, not a lie. Thus the Manichaeans and Encratites, whom the Apostle here properly censures, as I will soon say, although at home and in secret they lived most basely and most lustfully, nevertheless outwardly and externally pretended to live chastely and holily, and so condemned marriages, even legitimate ones, as Epiphanius and Augustine teach.
Having their conscience seared. — All these genitives appear to refer to "of devils," as if the demons had a seared conscience, and this is true. But you will refer these genitives better not to 'of devils,' but to the noun 'some,' as distributives of it, as if to say: Some men shall depart from the faith, namely apostates, speaking lies, having their conscience seared, etc.; for this properly pertains to men. Hence he would have said more conveniently and clearly in the nominative: "Some speaking lies and having their conscience seared;" but by a Hebraism he preferred to say it in the genitive, because the genitive 'of devils' preceded, even though it does not properly pertain to it: for thus the Hebrews sometimes make a noun or verb agree with the nearer noun, but not with that which it properly regards, and with which in Latin and Greek syntax it ought to agree. Thus Job XV, 20, mispar shanim nitspenu, that is, "the number of years are hidden," that is, is hidden. Eccles. X, 1, zebube mavet yabish, that is, "flies of death destroys," that is, destroy, "the sweetness of the ointment."
The same happens here, especially because these heretical men are demoniacs, and as it were inspired by the demon, so that they appear to be demons themselves, as Chrysostom says.
Heretics therefore have a seared conscience, that is, as Beza translates, a conscience amputated by a cautery. But the Greek kautēriazō signifies 'I burn in with a cautery,' not 'I cut off by a cautery.' Again, a cautery does not amputate the limb to which it is applied, but pierces it. Therefore the conscience is seared, as the Syriac translates, marked and burned in with the indelible cautery of infamy, namely on account of lusts and other infamous crimes. He alludes to the stigmata which are branded on evildoers with red-hot iron, such as not only Calvin's familiar Jerome Bolsec, a doctor of medicine, in his Life of Calvin, but also many other most weighty men assert was branded on Calvin for sodomy at Noyon in Picardy, as if Paul were saying: These heretics have not so much a stigmatized body as a stigmatized soul, on account of the disgraces of their life. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, and others.
Irenaeus, book I, chapter XXIV, and Epiphanius, narrate of the Gnostics and Carpocratians that they shrank from the procreation of children, and marked their disciples with a cautery on the upper part of the right ear. Perhaps Paul looked here at them, as if to say: They, just as they have an ear marked with a cautery, so also a conscience.
Ambrose notes that by this cautery is signified not only the mark of infamy already mentioned, but also secondly, corruption of morals; and thirdly, the immutability of these same things. Hence St. Thomas: "Just as a cautery," he says, "is corruption in the flesh through fire or red-hot iron, from which putrefaction continually issues: so from the fire of perverse will the conscience is ulcerated as though cauterized, and the false doctrine of demons issues forth." Theodoret, alluding to the third, namely to the immutability of morals, takes the cauterized conscience as their extreme stupor. "For a place," he says, "branded with a cautery loses its former feeling." So too Franciscus Turrianus on Apostolic Canon 44: "The Apostle," he says, "calls that conscience cauterized which has lost the sense of sin, like a part branded by a cautery," which has now arrived at insensibility, of which I spoke at Ephesians IV, 19. Thus this cautery is almost the same as the spirit of compunction, of which I spoke at Romans XI, 8.
Fourthly, by the burning of the cautery could be understood the ardor of concupiscence and lust, as if to say: These heretics are hypocrites: for outwardly they appear cold and chaste, and forbid marriage; but inwardly in their conscience they burn and are inflamed with the cautery of concupiscence. Although the Greek kekautēriasmenōn is past tense, and properly signifies not those who are being cauterized, but those who have been cauterized. The first sense, therefore, is the most genuine.
Verse 3: Forbidding to Marry, to Abstain from Meats, Which God Has Created
Forbidding to marry, to abstain from foods. — It is an Attic ellipsis: for the word keleuontōn must be supplied, that is, of those commanding, "to abstain from foods." He speaks against the Simonians, Saturninus (who lived in the time of the Apostles), Ebion, the Manichaeans, the Marcionites, the Encratites, who said that marriage, wine, meats, etc., were not created by the good God, but by an evil one, namely the devil, and that therefore these things were by their nature evil and to be avoided, and that man is infected and defiled by their consumption and use.
This is clear, first, from the reason by which the Apostle attacks them, when he adds: "Because every creature of God is good, and nothing to be rejected which is received with thanksgiving," as if to say: These err while they teach that some creatures are by their nature evil and to be avoided; for every creature of God is good, and given by God for man's use.
Secondly, the Fathers expressly teach this by common consent — Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Ambrose here, and Augustine, in his book Against Adimantus, ch. XIV: "He properly designates," he says, "those who do not abstain from such foods in order either to restrain their own concupiscence or to spare another's weakness, but because they think the meats themselves to be unclean, and deny that God is their creator."
Thirdly, because Irenaeus, Book I, ch. XXX, teaches that this was the heresy of the Encratites, whose author was Tatian, the disciple of St. Justin, and that thence they were called Encratites, that is, the continent. "From Saturninus," says Irenaeus, "and Marcion they sprang, those called Continents, who proclaimed abstinence from marriage, frustrating the ancient formation of God, and indirectly accusing Him who made male and female for the generation of men; and they introduced abstinence from what among them are called animals, being ungrateful to Him who made all things, God."
Concerning Marcion, Epiphanius has this in heresy 42: "Here he (Marcion) teaches not to feed on living things, declaring guilty of judgment those who eat flesh, as though they were eating souls."
Concerning Saturninus and his followers Irenaeus, Book I, ch. XXII, says thus: "They say that to marry and to beget is from Satan; but many of those who are from Saturninus also abstain from animals, seducing many by such perfect continence."
Concerning the Manichaeans, Epiphanius is a witness in heresy 66, that they teach the same as Marcion concerning abstinence from living things: "The Manichaean," he says, "says that one who eats meat eats a soul, and is himself guilty, so that he himself becomes some such thing: if he eats gold, he becomes a bull; if he eats pork, he becomes a pig; and so of the rest. Therefore these abstain from living things. And if anyone," says the Manichaean, "takes a wife, he himself, after departing from this life, passes into another body and becomes a woman, into which he himself is born: he also says that an evil God made the body, but a good God the souls."
From these words it is clear that the Manichaeans abstained from animal flesh for two reasons: first, because they thought flesh to be evil, made by an evil God; secondly, because they thought that one who ate the flesh of an animal killed and ate that animal's soul, and was guilty of soul-slaying, or even of homicide. For some among them thought that all living things lived by a rational soul. Hence they were unwilling to reap crops, or to pound, or to bake bread; but only ate them when cooked by others, and that not without prior protestation and excuse, with fear and dread. Hence this was their blessing of the table and bread, as Cyril of Jerusalem testifies, in Catechesis 63: "I did not sow you: let him who sows you be sown. I did not reap you: let him who reaps you be reaped. I did not cook you with fire: let him who cooked you be cooked. Another made these things and brought them to me; I eat without fault." They used this prayer partly to ward off from themselves the guilt of soul-slaying or homicide; partly because they thought that one who ate bread otherwise and without fear was likewise to be changed into bread, and in turn to be eaten by others. These things are clear from Epiphanius and Theodoret, Book of Heretical Fables. Hence St. Augustine, in his book On Heresies, in the heresy of the Manichaeans, says that some of them, namely the chief ones, did not eat meat, eggs, milk, nor even wine, saying that wine was the gall of the prince of darkness, and adds: "These also," he says, "teach their hearers that, if they make use of their wives, they should still avoid conception and generation, lest the divine substance, which enters into them through food, be bound by fleshly bonds in the offspring; whence they without doubt condemn marriages, and so far as in them lies forbid them, when they forbid generation, for the sake of which marriages have been joined." He has similar things in Book XXX Against Faustus, ch. V and VI, where he teaches that the Apostle here censures and condemns these, but not Catholics, who abstain from marriages or meats out of zeal for virtue. "He," says Augustine, "forbids marriage, who says this is evil; not he who prefers another better good to this good."
Concerning the Severians, Epiphanius teaches the same in heresy 45: "These," he says, "teach that the vine sprang from the devil, and that woman is the work of Satan." He relates that the Archontics taught the same in heresy 40: "And therefore," he says, "the Archontics say that those who contract marriage fulfill the work of Satan, and they add that one half of man is God's, the other half the devil's: for from the navel upward they say is God's formation, but from the navel downward is the formation of the evil part. Wherefore they say that everything done according to pleasure and the goad of lust and concupiscence happens from the navel downward."
Concerning Ebion, who was contemporary with St. John the Apostle, the same Epiphanius narrates in heresy 30 that he abstained from living things and from meats and from every food made from meats; and being asked the cause, he gave this: that flesh, being procreated from the mingling of bodies, was therefore polluted and unclean. Hence it follows that he condemned marriages and the use of marriage. Hence St. Ignatius in the epistle to the Philadelphians, after making mention of Ebion: "If anyone," he says, "calls lawful intercourse and the procreation of children corruption and pollution, or considers some food execrable: such a one has the apostate dragon as his cohabitant." Behold for you, as if depicted on a tablet, the doctrine of demons which Paul here censures.
Note: All these heresies indirectly overturned the mystery of the Incarnation, of which the previous chapter, last verse, treated. For if flesh is not good, nor from a good God, then neither is the flesh of Christ good and from a good God. Again, then the Father of Christ is not God the creator of all things, but an evil genius. And this the Apostle here tacitly signifies, and therefore He premised the fundamental dogma of the Incarnation of Christ; then he subjoins to it these heresies, as opposed to it, which are crushed by this fundamental dogma.
Ineptly therefore the Novatians twist these things against the celibacy of priests and the fasts of the Church. For the Church does not forbid marriage or meats as though they were evil in themselves, as those heretics already mentioned did, whom the Apostle here censures; but for the restraint of concupiscence, and for the exercise of obedience and penance: just as God forbade Adam to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, forbade his sons and posterity the use of wine and many other things — who, obedient to their father, deserved to receive blessing from God, Jeremiah XXXV.
Thus John the Baptist is praised for his abstinence in Matthew III, 4. Thus the Fathers everywhere praise the fasts of the ancient holy Hermits, Monks and Christians. For some of them did not touch living things at all, others only fish, others tasted only fish and birds. Some abstained from eggs, others fed on dates alone or on the fruits of trees, and that once a day; others took food only once every two or three days, and that sparingly, e.g. five dates. Some ate dry bread, as is to be seen in the Lives of the Holy Fathers, and in Prosper, Book II On the Contemplative Life, ch. XVII and following, and Cassian, Conference 21 On the Remission of the Fiftieth.
Note here the sophism of the Novatians: for they argue from a statement in a qualified sense to a statement absolutely, in this manner: The Popes forbid marriage to clerics, therefore they forbid marriage; which the Apostle here censures. It is just as if I should say: The magistrate forbids masons or smiths to practice carpentry; therefore the magistrate forbids the practice of carpentry. Again, the States forbid ministers of the Gospel to practice cobbling or latrine-cleaning; therefore they forbid cobbling or latrine-cleaning. But if for the dignity of the ministers the States do not wish them to occupy themselves with these vile mechanical arts, do they thereby forbid those mechanical arts, or forbid them to be practiced by others? If the Emperor is unwilling that Clerics, Doctors, Physicians, Theologians, Jurists should be admitted to military service, does he thereby forbid the clerical state, medicine, theology, jurisprudence? The Apostle, V, 12, condemns the marriage of widows who marry after a vow of continence: "Because," he says, "they have made void their first faith;" does he therefore condemn marriage?
Hence the Fathers cited rightly refute these Novatians, and most expressly St. Augustine, Book XXX Against Faustus, ch. VI: "You see therefore," he says, "that there is a great difference between those who exhort to virginity, by preferring a greater good to a lesser good; and those who forbid marriage, more vehemently accusing the intercourse of propagation, which alone is properly nuptial: a great difference between those who abstain from foods because of a sacred meaning or for the chastisement of the body; and those who abstain from foods which God created, by saying that God did not create them. Hence that doctrine is of the Prophets and Apostles; this is of lying demons."
Which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful, and by those who have known the truth. — As if to say: God who created all foods, and saw all the things He had made, and they were very good, Genesis I, here created foods for the use and consumption of men, not voracious, indulgent, gluttonous, but sober and moderate, so that those eating them might give thanks to God, the author and bestower of foods. By this very thing that the Apostle says: "Which," namely foods, "God created," he cuts the throat, says Chrysostom, of the heresy of those who introduce uncreated matter, from which foods and bodies are created — which Marcion, the Manichaeans, and the like do, who posit two gods, a good and an evil.
Note: The Apostle says foods were created for the faithful — not that he denies that they were also created for the use of unbelievers and Gentiles; but in order to oppose the faithful, that is, Christians, to the Jews; the truth of the new law to the shadow of the old law, as if to say: No food, on account of either natural or legal uncleanness, is forbidden to Christians, as many things were once forbidden to the Jews: for Christians have, in place of the old shadow, the truth of the Gospel, which teaches that all foods are clean and given to man for eating and use with thanksgiving. So Theophylact.
Secondly, he rather opposes the faithful to the heretics whom he here censures, as if to say: The aforementioned heretics abstain from and forbid certain foods as though by nature evil and unclean: but the faithful, who have known the truth, know that these are deceived, and that the good God created all things good, and so that all good foods have been given to them by God for their use.
Add that all things were created for the sake of the faithful and the elect: for this was the chief end of God the Creator in creation, namely that the things created by Him should serve His own faithful and friends, and that from them they should acknowledge and praise God their Creator.
Wine therefore, meats, birds, fish and all foods are not created to fill the bellies of gluttons and the wicked, but to feed the faithful and the saints. For the latter are worthy of all foods and delights, and they use them soberly and properly to the praise and thanksgiving of God their Creator. Furthermore, that thanksgiving is not only to be put after but also before food and refreshment, St. Basil teaches in Rule 56, ch. II, and Chrysostom in homily 50 on Matthew: "When," he says, "Christ multiplied the loaves, then He looked up to heaven, partly that the things we have said might be held firm, partly teaching us that we are not to approach the table until we give thanks to Him who has provided us with food." And St. Hilary expounding the words of St. Mark XIV, 23, "As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessing it broke, etc., and having taken the cup, giving thanks gave to them, and they drank": "Just as," he says, "the Apostles gave thanks before they drank, so also they give thanks after they have drunk. Whence it is said: 'When the hymn was said, they went out to the Mount of Olives'; that is, that you may learn to render thanks to God both before and after food." And St. Ephrem, exhortation 1, vol. II: "The canon," he says, "or rule, follow with all reverence and fear of God: and although you be given to eat twice a day, always take food with thanksgiving." The formula of thanksgiving which the monks in the desert used after supper, Chrysostom in homily 56 on Matthew hands down to us to imitate, and it is this: "Blessed be God, who feeds me from my youth, who provides food for all flesh, who fills our hearts with joy and gladness, that always having sufficiency we may abound in every good work in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to Thee be glory, honor, and dominion with the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Glory to Thee, Lord, glory to Thee, Holy One, glory to Thee, King, because Thou hast given us food; fill us with joy and gladness in the Holy Spirit, that we may be found acceptable in Thy sight, that we be not put to shame when Thou shalt render to each according to his works."
Verse 4: For Every Creature of God Is Good, and Nothing to Be Rejected That Is Received with Thanksgiving
For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving. — Here the Apostle clearly uncovers the root of the error and the error itself: namely that those errants forbade marriages and meats as though they were evil creatures of an evil God, and therefore by nature unclean, and as though they would contaminate the eater with their uncleanness. For against these the Apostle establishes a foundation of faith and truth contrary to them, saying that every creature is good, since created by the good God, and consequently that nothing is to be rejected as if by nature evil and unclean, but that one may use anything as clean and good with thanksgiving. Now the Church, in enjoining fasting and abstinence from meats, does not forbid them as though they were by nature evil; and therefore she has nothing in common with those errants whom Paul here censures: for if a doctor forbidding pork, venison, beef, or any salted or smoked meat to a sick person, as harmful to his health, does not contradict the Apostle, nor have anything in common with these errants; then neither does the Church, in forbidding meats on certain days for the health of the soul and for the restraint of luxury and concupiscence, contradict the Apostle, or agree with these errants. Hear St. Augustine, Book XXX Against Faustus, ch. III: "Believe," he says, "that the servants of God who abstain from meats do not reject things made by God as unclean; but abstain from food and drink with greater reason for the chastisement of the body alone."
Furthermore, when he says: "Nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving," he alludes to the blessings frequently repeated and renewed at new courses by the Hebrews, with which they give thanks to God for these things and as it were sanctify them. For when better wine is set out, they say: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who art good and dost good kindly to all." And they call this blessing "The blessing of the kind one and benefactor." When spices are set out, they say: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, creator of aromatic trees." This blessing they call Bircat hammugmar, that is, the blessing of the completion, namely of the banquet, because spices and other perfumes were customarily set out last, as is also our custom. When some sweet perfume is set out, they say: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who createst aromatic species." This blessing they call Bircat hamuscak, that is, the blessing of delights, or of a desired thing. When the fruits of trees are set out, they say: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who createst the fruits of trees." When dishes are set out they say: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who createst kinds of foods." This blessing they call Bircat hapharpheret, that is, the blessing of the dish. From all these things it appears that those ancient Jews were accustomed to take no foods without blessing and thanksgiving. If the Hebrews repeat blessings so often to the praise of God, what is it fitting for Christians to do? Surely the Apostle here insinuates that they once practiced this from the custom of the Hebrews; for the first Christians were Hebrews.
Verse 5: For It Is Sanctified by the Word of God and Prayer
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. — It is a concession, as if to say: I have already said that no food is unclean, and therefore it is lawful to eat it; but suppose it be unclean for some reason, e.g. because forbidden by the old law, or because offered to the devil, or breathed upon or vitiated by him; let it be, I say, unclean for this or some other reason — yet "it is sanctified," that is, cleansed and purified, "by the word of God" and prayer, that is by the blessing which is made through the word of God and prayer. Thus Theophylact from Chrysostom: "Grant," he says, "that something be unclean; but you have a medicine: sign it, give thanks, glorify God; and the uncleanness is gone. For thanksgiving cleanses all things. But he who is ungrateful is himself unclean and polluted; accordingly what has been offered to idols, we can cleanse in this way, if we are unaware that it is meat offered to idols. But indeed if knowing it we have taken it, we are unclean — not because it is meat offered to idols, but because we have transgressed the law commanding that we are not to share at the table of demons. Therefore your will and mind is defiled, and the food was not polluted." Notice here: just as, by the teaching of St. Chrysostom and Theophylact, the eating of meats offered to idols pollutes a man not through the uncleanness of the meats but through disobedience; so the eating of meats in Lent pollutes a man not through the meats, as if they were unclean, but through disobedience.
Note first: "is sanctified" here means the same as is purified; or secondly, "is sanctified," that is, is as it were offered and consecrated to God through thanksgiving and blessing.
He alludes to the blessing of the Hebrew table, which they themselves called and still call kiddusch, that is, sanctification, namely of the foods; the formula of which is this: "Blessed be the Lord our God, King of the world, who feeds the whole world with His goodness, grace, beneficence and mercy, who gives food to all flesh: by whose goodness food has not hitherto been lacking, nor will ever be lacking, on account of His great name. For He alone is the one who quickens and preserves all things and does good to all, and prepares food for each of His creatures which He has founded. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who feedest all things." Then the head of the family takes a cup filled with wine in his right hand, and consecrates it in this way, saying: Barukatta Jehova Elohenu, melek haolam, bore peri haggephen, that is, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the world, founder of the fruit of the vine." When this formula of blessing has been spoken, he himself first of all tastes the wine, and presently offers it to all reclining at the table to taste. And this prayer they are accustomed to call in Hebrew kiddusch, that is, sanctification. After the blessing and partaking of the cup, he immediately takes the bread, which must consist of one whole mass, and holding it with both hands consecrates it with these words: "Praised and blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, who bringest forth bread from the earth." And having said this, the head of the family eats a little of the bread, and at the same time distributes a morsel of it to each one reclining at the table. When this is done, then at last they put their hands to the rest of the food. This rite of blessing the cup and bread they observe only on festal days: at other times they are accustomed to consecrate only the bread, and not the cup likewise.
Note secondly, that here "the word of God" can be distinguished from prayer, so that the prayer is the same as the blessing of the table; the Word of God is either Christ, the Son of God, who is customarily invoked in the blessing of the table, as St. Thomas holds; or rather it is the reading of sacred Scripture, which, as I shall say presently, by the custom of the ancients is wont to be employed at meals.
But secondly, better, by hendiadys or epexegesis, we shall take these two as the same, as if to say: By "the word of God and prayer," that is, by the word of God which is prayer. Indeed Oecumenius says that the "of God" is here placed in inverted order and ought to follow "prayer," as if to say: By the word and prayer of God, that is, which is made to God.
Note here thirdly, that the blessing of the table is here called by three names. First, in the preceding verse it is called "thanksgiving," because the ancients and Christ Himself are accustomed to begin the blessing of the table with thanksgiving, as is clear in the multiplication of the loaves and the institution of the Eucharistic table. And hence it is that Matthew and Mark say that Christ blessed the bread (of the Eucharist), but Luke and Paul say that Christ gave thanks, when nevertheless all say the same thing: namely they wish to signify that Christ, by giving thanks to the Father, blessed the bread, and invoked the Father's customary power and benevolence, so that through consecration He might convert the bread into His body.
Secondly, the blessing of the table is called "word of God," because it is made through the invocation of Christ or of the most holy Trinity, whom the word of God teaches us to invoke.
Again, commonly among ecclesiastics it is made by the Word of God, that is, by some verses from holy Scripture, especially taken from the psalms, for instance these: "The eyes of all hope in Thee, O Lord: Thou openest Thy hand and fillest every living thing with blessing," etc., or the like.
Thirdly, the same blessing is called "prayer," because properly it is prayer and invocation.
For which note fourthly: By this blessing and invocation of God, which we put before the meal, we show and profess: first, that we have received from God all foods and dishes, and receive them, and hope hereafter to receive them, and tacitly give thanks to God for them. For as often as we sit down to table, so often to the living beneficence of God, with so many foods and drinks bestowed, we come to the assembly; and we ought to think that this is as it were our manna, which from heaven, on us as on the Hebrews in the desert, daily rains down upon the table. "A table," says Chrysostom, homily 79 to the People, "taking its beginning from prayer and ending in prayer, will never fail, but more abundantly than a fountain will bring us all good things."
Secondly, by this prayer we show that we wish to eat them to the honor of God, and tacitly offer them to God. Hence even the Gentiles, as Plutarch witnesses in the Table-Talks, when about to take food consecrated to the gods tas aparchas, that is, the first-fruits; and then not unbecomingly nor tumultuously, but with a certain religion they approached the banquet, no otherwise than as to a sacred meal — a custom still preserved today among well-mannered Christians.
Thirdly, we pray and ask that this may happen, lest like cattle or infidels we rush at food without any pious thought or remembrance of God. Whence even the Turks, before they take food, are accustomed to send up a prayer first, as the legates of Christian princes at the Turk's court witness. And concerning the Essenes — not Christians but Jews — Josephus writes thus, Book II of the War, ch. VII: "With his voice," he says, "the priest precedes the food, and it is not lawful for anyone to taste unless prayer be first offered to God. At the end of the meal also they repeat their vows: for both when they begin and when they end, they sing the praises of God as the giver of life."
Fourthly, by this blessing we ask that the use of food may be useful and salutary to the health both of the body and the soul; that, as is said in Psalm CIII, "wine may gladden the heart of man, and bread may strengthen the heart of man: for when Thou (Lord) openest Thy hand, all things shall be filled with goodness."
Fifthly, by this blessing we ask that during eating the mind be fed by some pious thought or reading, this especially, that we may think during the very use of bodily food, that we are to eat not only that we may be satisfied, but that we may also work for the food that does not perish but endures unto eternal life, John VI; and, as is said in Luke XIV, that we may also think of eating bread in the kingdom of heaven. Hence pious reading of holy Scripture was long ago employed at the table both by others and by the Essenes, as Philo testifies in his book On the Contemplative Life; and St. Augustine, epist. 109, teaches that the same is to be employed, and St. Basil in the Shorter Rules, ch. CXXX; indeed Vatablus and others think that such reading is signified here by the Apostle by the word "word of God."
Sixthly, we ask the same things, lest the food be infected by the devil or by magical power, and lest the devil or concupiscence through food incite us to revellings, drunkenness, lusts: for in eating and drinking intemperance easily creeps in, and many with that rich man, Luke XVI, are wholly given to delights. Therefore St. Augustine rightly admonishes, Book X of the Confessions, ch. XXXI: "This," he says, "Thou hast taught me, Lord, that like medicines, so I should approach taking foods," and below: "Who is there, Lord, who is not snatched a little beyond the bounds of necessity? whoever it is, he is great, let him magnify Thy name: but I am not, because I am a sinful man." Hence Prudentius in his hymn before food prescribes this pious and beautiful form of prayer as a kind of blessing:
"Without Thee nothing is sweet, O Lord; Nor does it help the mouth to crave anything, Unless first the cups and foods, O Christ, Thy favor shall have steeped, Faith sanctifying all things."
and below: "May our dishes savor of God, And may Christ flow into our plates, Serious things, sport, words, jests. Finally what we are and what we do, May the Triune supernal piety govern."
and toward the end: "Grant, O wealthy God, these things to Thy servants Rightly praying, that with light food They may relieve their refreshed limbs, Lest a sluggish stomach with immoderate feasts Weigh down such great inwards, That the liver may keep them safe and sound."
For how much power the demon usurped over foods before Christ, in order to harm men through them, St. Augustine teaches in Book XVIII of the City of God, chapters XVII and XVIII; and St. Gregory, in Book I, Dialogue 4, narrates that a demon invaded a nun because she had eaten a lettuce without first sending up a blessing. Hence Chrysostom, prescribing as a remedy against these devil's poisonings the sign of the cross and a blessing: "The medicine," he says, "is at hand; impress upon it (the food, or the thing you wish to use) the sign of the cross, give thanks, render glory to God, and immediately all uncleanness has departed."
Hence by the holy Fathers and Hermits of old, just as is still done by the Church, there were blessed not only the waters of the baptismal font, but also bread, honey, milk, wine, and other things on stated days, so that the force and power of the devil might be expelled from them, and by these consecrations health of mind and body might be brought to those who used them.
Thus on the day of Easter, in many places, they consecrate milk, honey, meats, eggs, breads, hams, etc.; on the day of St. John they bless wine; on the day of St. Stephen, pastures; on the day of St. Mark, crops; on the day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, herbs, plants, roots, fruits of trees, that thereafter a singular divine power may attend them. For, as the Apostle says here, "(the creature of God) is sanctified by the word of God and prayer."
Verse 6: Proposing These Things to the Brethren, You Shall Be a Good Minister of Christ Jesus
Proposing these things (everything just said) to the brethren (Christians), you shall be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed up. — Note: For "nourished," the Greek is entrephomenos, that is, fed within, and, as it were, raised in the very bosom of piety. Thus Theophylact from Chrysostom: "For just as," he says, "we always take food for the body, so we ought always to be nourished by the reasons and words of faith continually and equally." Secondly, entrephomenos could be rendered, "nourishing others:" for it is a middle participle; and this aptly coheres with what follows: "Which thou hast followed up," as if to say: Hand on to others what thou hast learned from me.
Note secondly: For "which thou hast followed up," the Greek is hē parēkolouthēkas, that is, "which thou hast pursued," in which thou hast been engaged from youth, as if to say, with Chrysostom and Theophylact: Thou hast been assiduously engaged and exercised in the study of divine letters, O Timothy. For those who follow the whole series of any matter in order, so that they omit nothing, are in Greek said parakolouthein, says Erasmus.
Verse 7: Avoid Foolish and Old Wives' Fables: But Exercise Yourself unto Piety
But foolish (namely, that is, profane) and old-womanish fables avoid. — Greek, paraitou, that is, reject. Chrysostom understands Jewish fables; others poetic and Platonic ones (for poets and philosophers were famous at Ephesus). But although the Apostle understands all these fables in general, yet he looks rather to the fables of the heretics, especially of the Simonians, who wove the longest fables about the creation of things, about the battles of angels, about the marriages of gods, about a good and an evil God, about creatures and good and evil foods (for he treated of these a little before), as is to be seen in Epiphanius, Irenaeus, and Augustine, in the book On Heresies.
Laertius relates that, when Plato was discoursing about his specific and generic ideas, and had on his lips "table-nesses" and "cup-nesses," Diogenes, mocking his subtle trifles, said: "I see a table and a cup, but I do not see table-ness and cup-ness; I will drink a cup, you drink cup-ness;" whom Plato, evading him, said: "No wonder, for thou hast eyes with which tables and cups are perceived; but thou hast no mind with which table-nesses and cup-nesses are perceived." Gorgias the sophist also, when he heard two unlearned philosophers, the one proposing ridiculous things, the other answering things foreign and insipid: "Which," he said, "is more foolish, he who milks a he-goat, or he who places a sieve under it?" Demonax likewise, to those curiously inquiring whether the world was endowed with soul and reason, and whether it was round? "You," he said, "more anxious about the world than is just, think too little about your own cleanliness."
But exercise thyself unto piety, — that is, with regard to piety, or in piety. See Canon 25. For "exercise," the Greek is gymnaze, that is, exercise thyself athletically, as an athlete or boxer of Christ, in the arena or stadium of piety, that thou mayest obtain its prize.
Note = exercise: for piety and every virtue and art is learned, acquired, and perfected more by assiduous exercise than by much speculation. Hence Apelles, says Pliny, Book XXXV, ch. X, made it his custom never to spend a day so busy that he did not draw a line and paint. Whence that saying: "Let no day pass without a line being drawn and remaining."
It is asked what "piety" here signifies. First, Chrysostom understands an upright life and Christian morals. "Piety," he says, "is the norm of the most upright life, and the discipline of the best conversation."
Secondly, Ambrose understands mercy and beneficence toward the neighbor. For this in Greek is eusebeia, and in Latin is sometimes called piety, because God commands works of mercy, and testifies that they please Him above sacrifices, and that He is excellently worshipped by them. Thus St. Augustine, Book X On the City of God, I.
Thirdly, Nilus, Maximus, Philotheus understand apatheia and the contemplation of God, as I shall say presently.
Fourthly, best and most properly, "piety" regards God, and is the worship of God and sincere affection toward Him, and the zeal of internal devotion, exciting to hope, fear and love of God. Whence the Septuagint customarily renders "fear of the Lord" as piety, as in Job ch. XXVIII, verse 28, where the Hebrew and Latin have: "The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;" the Septuagint renders theosebeia, that is, piety is wisdom. Thus Proverbs IX, 10, for what we have: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord;" the Septuagint renders, the beginning of wisdom is theosebeia, that is, piety toward God. Thus often in Scripture to fear God means to worship God, and the fear of God means the worship of God or piety. Thus Paul properly takes "piety," VI, 6: "It is," he says, "great gain, piety with sufficiency;" and verse 11, he distinguishes piety from charity and other virtues: "Pursue," he says, "justice, piety, faith, charity, patience, meekness." Thus also here it is clear it is to be taken from the reason which he subjoins: "For in this," he says, "we labor and are reviled, because we hope in the living God," as if to say: Because by hope and prayer we exercise ourselves in piety and the worship of the true God, therefore we are reviled.
Note here: He opposes this piety to foolish fables; and this opposition is signified by the adversative conjunction "but," as if to say: Vain and curious men exercise themselves in reading, hearing, and telling fables: but thou, O Timothy, exercise thyself in piety, that is, in reading, thinking, and meditating on divine things, so that thou mayest stir up in thyself love, affection and devotion for them, which thou mayest then pour out into others: do not therefore exercise thyself in these trifles which distract the mind and fill it with vain phantasms; but exercise thyself in piety. For this piety is the foundation of every virtue, and especially of zeal for souls.
Verse 8: Bodily Exercise Is Profitable to Little; But Piety Is Profitable to All Things
For bodily exercise is profitable to little, etc. — You will ask, what is here called "bodily exercise"? I answer, many understand fasting, as if to say: Fasting and chastisement of the body is of little importance, if you compare it with piety, that is, the worship of God and compassion toward neighbor. Thus Ambrose, Anselm, St. Thomas and Bernard in his Apology to Abbot William.
But Chrysostom, Theophylact and others refute this, both because nothing about fasting has preceded here, and, if the Apostle were speaking of it, he would clearly say: Fasting is useful for a little; and because fasting, says Chrysostom, is not bodily but a spiritual exercise, and like piety it has the promise not only of this life, but also of the life to come. For Ambrose rightly says, taking from St. Basil, in his book On Elijah and Fasting, chapter III: "What is fasting, but the substance and image of heavenly things? Fasting is the refreshment of the soul, the food of the mind. Fasting is the life of angels, fasting is the death of fault, the destruction of sins, the remedy of salvation, the root of grace, the foundation of chastity. By this one comes more quickly to God." And, as St. Ephrem says in his work On Fasting, chapter IX: "Fasting is a vehicle to heaven. Fasting raises up Prophets, teaches lawgivers wisdom. Fasting is the good guardian of the soul and the safe companion of the body. Fasting is a weapon to vigorous soldiers, and an exercise to athletes. Fasting blunts temptations, anoints to piety. Fasting extinguished the power of fire, stopped the mouths of lions, directs prayers to heaven. Fasting is the mother of sanctity, the discipline of youth, the ornament of the aged."
Secondly, this corporal exercise might better be understood of fasting and the chastisement of the body, which preceded the useless fables, as if to say: Do not exercise or wear out your body or tongue in telling fables; for this belongs to women and tale-tellers. Rather exercise your mind in piety and the pursuit of devotion. The word "but" (autem) which preceded in the previous verse seems to indicate this antithesis, as I said there.
Thirdly, and properly, "corporal exercise" is called in Greek sōmatikē gymnasia, that is, gymnastics, the wrestling and exercise of athletes, by which they exercise their body in running, wrestling, jumping, fighting, and other ways. For the Apostle plays on the Greek word gymnaze, urging its force and energy, as if to say: I said gymnaze, that is, exercise gymnastics, but in the arena of piety. For corporal gymnastics, namely wrestling and the corporal exercise of athletes, is profitable for a little, that is, for health or for a temporal prize and reward only. But piety, which is the worship of God, is very useful for procuring the health of the soul, and for meriting the prize of eternal life, and for teaching others, and leading them to faith and salvation, as follows; and so this piety is profitable for all things, because, as I said, it is the foundation, source, and parent of all virtues. Hence St. Augustine, epistle 52, defining piety: "Piety," he says, "is the true worship of the true God, from which all the duties of right living are drawn;" and Eusebius, book VIII On the Preparation of the Gospel, chapter II, affirms all virtues to be as parts of piety. Hence also the Emperor Theodosius placed the felicity of a Christian man in piety, who when dying, says Nicephorus, book XIII, chapter 1, commended nothing so earnestly to his sons Arcadius and Honorius as that they preserve true piety, through which peace and all good things might flourish.
For the Apostle, when writing to the Greeks, often alludes to their wrestling-grounds and contests, and compares to them the wrestling-grounds and contests of Christian piety. So in 1 Corinthians chapter IX, verses 24 and 25: "Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And every one who strives for the mastery abstains from all things; and they indeed do it that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one." What else is this than what he says here, though in other words? "Corporal exercise is profitable for a little, but piety is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come."
Note in passing: Bodily exercise, especially before meals, greatly contributes to health, as physicians teach and experience confirms. Hence Socrates used to walk vigorously before supper; when asked why, he said, "that by walking he might prepare a better appetite for his meal." So Cyrus would not dine unless he had first sweated by exercising his body, as Xenophon attests. So in the Indian letters we read that certain princes there were accustomed to exercise their bodies vigorously and at length each day before food, and reached a long and vigorous old age, so that when they were seventy they hardly seemed forty. When King Ptolemy was traveling through Egypt, and a peasant's loaf of bread was given him in a cottage, nothing seemed more pleasant than that bread. "For the best seasoning is hunger;" and this is procured by labor. So Cicero, book V of the Tusculans. "The peasant," says St. Bernard to the brethren, "has hard sinews and strong arms: exercise does this, or rather grows up with the body: will produces use, use exercise, exercise supplies strength." On the contrary Cassian, book IX: "Without exercise," he says, "when accustomed studies are not pursued, arms in bodies and talents in arts grow sluggish." Aristotle, book V of the Metaphysics: "Exercise," he says, "is the cause of health, and conversely." Gellius, book XI: "Human life," he says, "is properly like iron. If you use iron, it wears down; if you do not use it, rust still destroys it. So men too are worn down by exercise; if you do not exercise at all, inactivity and torpor bring more harm than exercise." Plato was wont to advise, "That we should neither exercise the body without the mind, nor the mind without the body, but care for both equally. For the one belongs to athletes, the other to the idle." So Laertius, book III. Among the Spartans a broth which they call black was prized; wherefore Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, bought a Spartan cook and ordered him to prepare this for him. He did so; but when the king tasted it, he spat it out as unpleasant. Then the cook said: "This broth, O king, must be taken after you have exercised in the manner of the Spartans." So Plutarch, in his Laconics. If bodily exercise affords so much to the body, how much more will spiritual exercise afford to the soul and spirit! See what was said on Leviticus chapter XXIII, 28.
Fourthly, St. Nilus, Maximus and Philotheus, cited by Turrianus, book V On the Epistles of the Pontiffs, chapter VI, thus explain "corporal exercise," that is, the restraint of the passions, is of little moment in comparison with piety, that is, in comparison with apatheia and the contemplation of God, which apatheia leads to. But this sense is too lofty; nor is it literal, but accommodative or symbolic. Add that, unless soundly understood, it savors of something Stoic or Origenist. For it is impossible to attain in this life that full Stoic apatheia, which is moved by no fear, anger, or desire whatever: for he who were so would be either an angel or a stone, says Jerome to Ctesiphon. Therefore the Fathers cited, and the ancient hermits, who placed all perfection in apatheia, understand by such apatheia not one which has or feels no passion or motion of concupiscence at all, but one which feels them more rarely and more coldly, and easily suppresses and restrains them, by long and assiduous mortification and victory over them.
Having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. — "Of the life that now is," namely that here we may lead a peaceful, long, and well-supplied life with all necessary things. This promise, then, is the one which Christ proposes, Matthew VI, 33: "Seek first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you."
You will say: The pious are often poor and wretched, indeed they die of famine and afflictions; therefore piety does not have the promise of a peaceful and blessed present life. I answer to the antecedent that this sometimes happens; but then God compensates for this defect of the present life which He had promised, with spiritual gifts and eternal delights: for if I had promised you a piece of gold, I abundantly fulfill my promise if I give you a horse instead of the gold. See what was said on Ephesians VI, 2.
Note this passage for the merits of good and pious works; for God promised the reward of life, not only present but also future, not gratuitously, but for pious works, that is, on account of pious works as merits. Beza denies this: because, he says, this promise of God is voluntary and gratuitous. But wrongly: for although the promise is gratuitous on the part of God who promises, it is not gratuitous on the part of him to whom it is promised; for from him it requires work and labor, whence the thing promised is not given to him gratuitously, but as a reward for his labor. As therefore a master voluntarily promises a tenant the wages of labor, if he is willing to undertake it; and yet the tenant, by laboring in the fields, truly earns the same through his labor: so also to piety, that is, to works of piety, the Apostle here promises eternal life from God as a reward; for whatever is promised with the condition of works, or on account of works, has the nature of reward and merit.
Verse 9: This Is a Faithful Saying, and Worthy of All Acceptation
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation. — "The saying," namely that which preceded, namely that piety has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come: so Chrysostom; and this is shown by the word "for" (enim) which follows. For because Paul, in the words just cited, promises to the pious the goods of the future life which no one has seen, lest anyone doubt these things, he adds that this saying and promise is faithful, that is, certain and indubitable. See what was said on chapter I, 18.
Verse 10: We Labor and Are Reviled, Because We Hope in the Living God, Who Is the Savior of All Men
For therefore (namely on account of piety, and that we may obtain the eternal life promised to the pious and to those contending for piety) we both labor (we endure great labors) and are reviled (oneidizometha, that is, we are assailed with insults and reproaches), because we hope (ēlpikamen, that is, we have hoped or have fixed our hope) in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe — as if he said, says Hesselius: It is a great argument that life is laid up for piety in the future, that we so constantly endure so many labors, and all the Saints endure them, in order to remain in piety. Hence martyrdom or witness is called death undergone for piety. So in 1 Corinthians XV, the Apostle proves the resurrection from the daily perils which he was enduring, and from the fight he had at Ephesus; which would have profited him nothing, if man perished after the manner of beasts. So the martyr Justin says, in book IV of Ecclesiastical History, chapter VIII: "For I myself, instructed in the Platonic schools, hearing the Christians defamed, and seeing them undismayed in undergoing death and enduring every torment, considered that it was impossible that they should be living in malice and lust."
Note that God is called "the Savior of all men," that is, the preserver and conserver of the body and soul of each in the present life; but "especially of those who believe," because He will save and preserve them not only in the present, but also in the future life. So Chrysostom and Ambrose.
Secondly and more plainly, God is "the Savior of all men," so far as it is on His part, because He has shown to all Christ the Savior, and the means by which they can be saved: yet He is most especially the Savior of the faithful, because to these He has actually conferred faith, hope, grace, the greatest and most immediate aids of salvation, and He cares for and loves these above others. For it is clear that God loves more, holds more dear and at heart, the faithful, the just, and His friends, than the unfaithful, the impious, and His enemies. So Theophylact and Anselm.
Verse 12: Let No Man Despise Your Youth; But Be an Example of the Faithful
Let no man despise your youth. — For "adolescence," the Greek is neotētos, that is, "youth": for Timothy was not properly an adolescent of twenty-three years, as Hugo Cardinalis would have it, but a young man who had not yet reached the settled and perfect age worthy of a Bishop. Perhaps therefore he was thirty years old or thereabouts: for youth extends to this point and beyond.
Some think that this precept is directed not to Timothy, but to the Ephesians, his subjects, as if the Apostle were commanding them not to despise their Bishop Timothy, since he was young.
Secondly and better, others think this is directed to Timothy, as if to say: O Timothy, although you are young, nevertheless preserve your authority and exercise command, where affairs and the salvation of souls demand it. So Chrysostom.
Thirdly and best, the same Chrysostom and Ambrose, as if to say: Although you are young, conduct yourself nevertheless so holily and gravely that you not be despised as an imprudent and frivolous young man, but rather that all may revere you as a most loving father, and one endowed with elderly prudence and maturity. For, as St. Augustine says, in book IV On Christian Doctrine, chapter XXVII: "That he may be obediently heard, the life of the speaker has more weight than any gravity of speech;" and on the contrary, "whose life is despised, it remains that his preaching also be contemned," says St. Gregory, homily 12 on the Gospels. The following words demand this sense.
Chrysostom raises an objection here: Where will the modesty and meekness of a priest shine forth, if he is always in honor and never contemned? And he answers: In those things which pertain to himself, if a priest or bishop is contemned, he ought to bear it most steadfastly: for thus through patience the virtue of preaching is shown. But in those things which touch the salvation of others, let him by no means be exposed to contempt. For that would not be meekness, but folly; and here there is need not of meekness, but of authority, lest the usefulness of the Church perish.
But be thou an example (typos, that is, a form, norm, and pattern of life, which all may look upon, that they may imitate it and conform themselves to it as to a living law, says Chrysostom) of the faithful in word (that is, in grave speech, and such as befits a Bishop), in conversation (that is, in life and manner of living), in charity (the Greek adds, en pneumati, that is, in spirit, namely that you may show that you have zeal and love of God), in faith (that is, in rectitude and constancy of faith), in chastity, — that is, in the purity of your whole life.
Morally note here, that the talents of men are to be reckoned not by their antiquity, but by their probity. Hence in Wisdom chapter IV, verse 8, it is said: "For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of a man is gray hairs, and a spotless life is old age." So Ambrose, sermon 90 On St. Agnes, says: "Her infancy was reckoned in years, but the old age of her mind was immense." So St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Magnesians: "Daniel," he says, "made most wise at twelve years, was filled with the Holy Spirit, and made manifest that those elders with vain gray hair were calumniators and lusters after another's beauty. Samuel also, when he was small, by his rebuke convicted the ninety-year-old priest Heli, that he honored his sons above God. Likewise also Jeremiah hears from the Lord: Say not, I am a child. Solomon, beginning to reign in the twelfth year of his age, resolved the question of the harlots concerning the little ones. And Josiah, at eight years old, began to overthrow the altars and monuments, to cut down the groves, and to cast down the temples which had been consecrated to demons."
Note secondly, that Prelates ought to teach more, and to win authority for themselves, by the example of a holy life than by learnedly teaching and preaching. For, says Seneca, men believe their eyes more than their ears. Hence St. Peter, in his first epistle, chapter V, prescribes to Pastors that they become "a pattern of the flock;" and Christ: "You are," He says, "the salt of the earth, and the light of the world: a city set on a hill cannot be hidden." Concerning which Jerome admonishes Heliodorus the Bishop excellently, in his epitaph for Nepotian: "Upon you," he says, "the eyes of all are directed; your house and conversation are as if set on a watchtower, the mistress of public discipline; whatever you do, all will think they should do for themselves. Beware lest you commit anything which either those who wish to reprehend may seem worthily to have torn at, or which those who wish to imitate may be compelled to sin by."
Verse 13: Till I Come, Attend to Reading, to Exhortation, and to Doctrine
While I come, attend to reading, to exhortation, and to doctrine. — "Holy Scripture," says Ambrose, in book III On the Faith, chapter VII, "is the priestly book;" and, as St. Dionysius says, in Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter I, "it is the substance of our priesthood." Hence Chrysostom infers, in homily 2 On Providence: All the time of life is short: which if it were even the longest, would have to be consumed in the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. So Paul, although near death, nevertheless ordered books (sacred ones, certainly) to be brought to him, 2 Timothy IV, 13. On which passage St. Thomas reports that St. Ambrose (which is also told in his Life) up to his last sickness never ceased writing, commenting on, and expounding the sacred Scriptures, so that he died over the commentary on Psalm XLVII: "Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised." The author of his Life relates something similar of Venerable Bede.
Verse 14: Neglect Not the Grace That Is in You, Which Was Given You by Prophecy
Neglect not the grace that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with imposition of the hands of the presbytery. — Note: For "grace," the Greek is charisma, that is, gift, namely the office and order of Bishop: so Ambrose; and, as Chrysostom says, the authority and duty of teaching, of which he already said: "Attend to doctrine;" which a Bishop receives at his ordination with the grace necessary for this office and duty. For he refers to the charity, faith, and chastity which he required of Timothy in verse 12. For the Greek charisma signifies not only grace freely given, but also sanctifying grace, as is evident from Romans VI, 23: "The grace (in Greek charisma) of God is life everlasting." Romans V, 15: "Not as the offense, so also is the gift (in Greek charisma)," namely of the grace of Christ who justifies. 1 Corinthians VII, 7: "Everyone has his proper gift (in Greek charisma, namely of chastity) from God."
Note secondly: This grace was given to Timothy "by prophecy," that is, by the revelation by which God commanded that Timothy be ordained Bishop, chapter I, verse 18, as if to say: Strive and labor, that you may show true the prophecies made about your being ordained.
But St. Jerome to Evagrius takes prophecy here properly for the foretelling of future things, or rather for the interpretation of Scripture. For the Apostle here intimates that Timothy received this in his ordination greater and clearer than before.
But the grace already mentioned, namely the authority of teaching, or the office of Bishop, was not given to Timothy through such prophecy; but rather this prophecy was given on account of the grace and talent of the episcopate, that he might rightly perform it. Again Vatablus thus explains: Neglect not the grace which has been given to you for, that is, unto prophecy, that is, doctrine, namely that you may prophesy, that is, teach the people; but this also seems forced. For the Greek eis signifies not "unto" but "through." Therefore the first sense is the genuine one.
Some learned men understand by prophecy the sacred prayer, or mystical words, namely the very form of Ordination, as if the Apostle here were designating the form itself of the sacrament of Order, and immediately afterward its matter, when he adds: "With the imposition of hands." This exposition seems to some new and unusual, but in truth it is not. For the Apostle, in 1 Corinthians XIV, 5 and elsewhere, calls prophecy any sacred prayer and discourse, especially secret and mystical, such as were the forms of the Sacraments of old.
Note thirdly: "With the imposition of hands of the presbytery," that is, by the imposition of hands of the presbytery, namely by the ordination of the presbytery, that is, of the assembly of presbyters, namely of the elders, that is, of the Bishops. For a Bishop is ordained by three other Bishops, who lay hands on the Bishop being ordained. So Chrysostom, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Theodoret. So also to new priests, when they are ordained, the Bishop, and after the Bishop all the priests in turn lay on hands, as the Fourth Council of Carthage commands, canon 30.
Otherwise Anselm: "by the imposition of hands of the presbytery," that is, he says, by the ordination by which you were ordained and consecrated a presbyter, that is, a Bishop. And Maldonatus in his manuscript Notes takes by "presbytery" the priestly order. Again Vatablus by "the imposition of hands of the presbytery" understands the election by which Timothy was chosen Bishop by the presbyters, that is, by the Christian elders: for the imposition of hands is an external sign of election, he says, as if to say: By the imposition of hands as a sign you have been elected Bishop by the Christian senate which is at Ephesus; which words savor of heresy: for they imply that the lay and civil senate appoints and ordains Bishops and other ministers of the Church. Add that we nowhere read of laymen having laid hands on Bishops or presbyters. Doubtless these and many other things were inserted and falsely attributed to Vatablus, a Catholic man, by the heretics who printed his writings.
Hence note fourthly, that Order is a Sacrament: for with the office which it confers, it confers also the grace necessary for that office. And the matter of the Sacrament here is the imposition of hands, under which it understands the rest; the form indeed is the words by which, when matter is applied at the same time, the Bishop bestows on the ordained sacred power. This will be more evident from the second epistle, chapter I, verse 6. Hence St. Augustine in his Questions on the New and Old Testament, Question XX, from John XX, where Christ breathing on the Apostles said, "Receive the Holy Spirit": "This breathing," he says, "is a certain grace, which is infused by tradition into the ordained, through which commendations are had; whence Paul said: Neglect not the grace," etc.
Note fifthly: Hence some, probably with Sylvester, under the word Ordo, II, § 4, and Bellarmine, book I On the Sacrament of Order, chapter IX, against D. Soto, Ruard, and Navarrus, teach that the imposition of hands is of the essence of Order, especially Episcopal. Because Scripture, Councils and Fathers everywhere call Order the imposition of hands. For this imposition signifies that those being ordained are consecrated and offered to God as victims; for so the priests of old laid hands on the victim when they offered it to God, Exodus chapter XXIX, verses 10, 15, 19, signifying by this rite that they were transferring the victim from their own hand and power into the right of God. By a similar ceremony the ancient Romans renounced their slaves, when they restored them to their liberty; for holding the slave's head they said: "I wish this man to be free;" and let him go from their hand. So also the sons of Israel, laying hands on the Levites, renounced them as it were from themselves, and offered and consecrated them to God, Numbers VIII, 10. Let priests then know, that by this ceremony they have been consecrated to God, that they may dedicate themselves wholly to Him, no longer living for themselves, but spending and being spent in divine ministries, especially in procuring the salvation of others. The Gentiles practiced the same: for Livy, book I, decade I, relates that hands were laid on the head of Numa Pompilius when he was initiated into the high priesthood.
Secondly, by this imposition of hands is signified, says Amalarius, in book I On the Ecclesiastical Office, chapter XII, the descent of the Holy Spirit, whom the one ordaining prays to be given to the one being ordained, and His rule, direction, and protection, namely that the Holy Spirit may rule and direct the one being ordained as if by His own hand. Hence St. Dionysius On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter V, page 3: "By the imposition of hands," he says, "is indicated the protection of God the prince and prefect, by which interiorly those very ones on whom hands are imposed are governed by Him as sons: which bestows strength and vigor upon them, and repels adverse powers."
Thirdly, this imposition of hands signifies not only government and protection, but also the fullness of spirit and grace which is given to the ordained, and the power which they receive over others. Hence St. Dionysius above: "The imposition of hands," he says, "teaches that those who are dedicated to sacred Orders perform all sacred actions as it were under God, since they have Him as the leader and director of their operations in all things." So in Numbers XXVII, 18, Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses laid his hands upon him, as it were consecrating him leader of the people. So Christ, Matthew XIX, laid His hands upon the little ones, and ascending into heaven, with hands lifted up, blessed His disciples, by this very thing signifying that He bestowed very many gifts upon them out of His fullness. Hence St. Jerome, on chapter LIX of Isaiah, says that ordination is called by the Greeks cheirotonia, that is, imposition of hands, because it is fulfilled, that is, completed and consummated, not only by the imprecation of the voice or mystical words, but also by the imposition of hands.
Finally note, that here by presbyters are signified Bishops; for not simple presbyters, but Bishops laid hands on Timothy the Bishop. See what was said on Philippians I, 1. Therefore Erasmus and Kemnitius are wrong in maintaining that of old there was no difference between presbyter, priest, and Bishop.
Verse 15: Meditate upon These Things
Meditate upon these things. — Tauta meleta, that is, take care of these things, busy yourself with these things, devote to these things continual zeal and bend all the powers of body and soul to them.
Verse 16: Take Heed to Yourself and to Doctrine
Take heed to thyself (that you may often survey, examine, correct, and order all your actions and morals), and to doctrine, — namely that you may teach others. These two are the duties of a Bishop, indeed of any pastor, teacher, and preacher, namely that he first teach himself, then others. For those who neglect themselves and pour themselves wholly into care of their neighbors labor with a fading spirit, and profit neither themselves nor others. Live for yourself, take heed to yourself, if you wish to be of use to others. Beautifully St. Bernard, in book II On Consideration to Eugenius: "Four things," he says, "I think, are to be considered by you: yourself, what is beneath you, what is around you, what is above you. Let your consideration begin from yourself, lest you stretch yourself out into other things in vain, while neglecting yourself. What does it profit you if you gain the whole world, while losing yourself alone? And if you are wise, you lack something for wisdom, if you have not been wise to yourself. How much, indeed? as I have at least felt, the whole. Though you know all mysteries, though you know the breadth of the earth, the heights of heaven, the depths of the sea, if you do not know yourself, you will be like one building without a foundation, making ruin, not structure. Whatever you build outside yourself will be like piled-up dust, exposed to the winds," etc.
For in doing this you shall both save yourself, and those who hear you. — Note, he who attends to himself saves himself; and he who attends to doctrine saves others. See here Paul calls Timothy and the like saviors of themselves and of others. So Obadiah, verse 21, foretells that saviors shall ascend Mount Sion. Therefore no injury is done to Christ if we call Saints our saviors and advocates, if we call the blessed Virgin our lady, patroness, and our hope.