Chapter 2

Theophylact of Ohrid, Exposition of the First Epistle of Peter — Chapter Two

¹ CHAPTER TWO. Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the rational and guileless milk, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation: if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is good. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture: Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.[1] Having shown the superiority of spiritual rebirth over birth according to the flesh, and having set forth the worthlessness of mortal glory—that such birth is corruptible and transitory, and that such glory in no way differs from the springtime blossoms—he adds that the word of the Lord does not suffer the same fate; for every human opinion swiftly passes away, but not so the word of God: rather, this endures forever. For this is the very point of the addition, “which by the gospel is preached unto you.” He says, then: “Laying aside all malice.” For he signifies all these things through these few words. For it is not just that those who have been reborn unto incorruptible life should be caught in the snares of malice, nor that they should prefer that which is not to that which is. For evil is not a substance, but something that arises through a fault, turning the begotten substance aside; and great is the difference between life that has its own subsistence and that which merely exists alongside it as a parasite. And these same persons are likewise worthy to be declared free of guile, he says, and of hypocrisy, and of envy, and of all evil speaking. For both guile and hypocrisy are far from the truth and from the word that was preached to you as glad tidings: since guile proceeds unto the ruin of the one deceived, and hypocrisy advances in a state contrary to what truly is; whereas the saving word that instructed you comes forward in the opposite direction. And what place shall envy and evil speaking have among you, who, being bound fast by the unbreakable bond of brotherly love, can be harmed by none of the things that divide? That envy and evil speaking are causes of dissension and of hatred of the brethren, that man makes plain who, through envy, both was torn away from brotherly union and conceived guile, and hypocrisy, and murder—namely Cain and the tragedy enacted in him.[2] But neither is the envious man clean of evil speaking, if indeed the brethren of Joseph suffice to confirm the word, who uttered countless slanders against him to their father. For this very reason, he says, having been cleansed of all these things, desire, “as newborn babes” (for the King himself declared that the kingdom belongs to such), and being nourished by the guileless word, ye shall grow unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. “For having tasted”—that is, having advanced by the handling of the sacred things that pertain to the Gospel—ye have come to know by perception the excellence of the teaching. For perception is nearer to knowledge than any verbal account, since that which comes to actual trial is more delightful than every word. “Having tasted,” then, of the goodness of the Lord, and showing forth among one another the good of that very goodness, dedicate yourselves to the “living stone,” “the chief corner stone, disallowed indeed of men, but precious and chosen in the sight of God,” and proclaimed also by the prophets; be bound fast together one with another, being united and framed together through love unto the completion of the spiritual house, taking no thought of men’s contempt, since not even by them was Christ, the rejected chief corner stone, brought to nought. And being framed together,[3] and having fitted yourselves into a “spiritual house,” and declared yourselves an “holy priesthood,” “offer up spiritual sacrifices.” For do not suppose that, lacking the bond toward one another that is strengthened through love, you can offer unblemished sacrifices to God. For, he says, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and disputing. For how shall the one who through prayer strives to unite himself to God attain this, while he tears himself away from his brother through wrath and evil disputings?

² Unto you therefore which believe is the honour: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; who stumble at the Word, being disobedient, whereunto they were appointed. — “Unto you therefore is the honour,” where we must supply the words “shall be.”[4] And the sequence is thus: “Unto you therefore is the honour”—from God who said, I lay; and the honour, plainly, is awarded; “but unto them that are disobedient,” this too God says even now: I lay for you in Zion a stone of stumbling, which is also a rock of offence. But it shall be “a stone of stumbling” to “them that are disobedient, who also stumble,” being disobedient, “at the Word, whereunto also they were appointed.” The whole meaning, therefore, will be thus: Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, precious, elect: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. — “Precious” to you that believe; “but to them that are disobedient, a stone of stumbling.” This stone the builders indeed disallowed, but the same is made the head of the corner, joining together those who believe in him; “but to them that are disobedient, a stone of stumbling, who stumble at the word”—plainly the word of the Gospel—“whereunto also they were appointed.” But this, “Whereunto also they were appointed,” is not said as though they were set apart for this by God (for no cause of perdition is brought about by him who willeth that all men should be saved), but rather it followed upon disobedience for those who had fitted themselves to be vessels of wrath, and they were appointed to the rank for which they had prepared themselves. For if man has been made self-determining, inasmuch as he is of a rational nature, and one cannot do violence to free will, then no one could with good reason find fault with him who has accounted such a one worthy of the lot which the doer of these deeds, by his own works, has betrothed to himself. And Christ is called the “chief corner stone” because, by contact with himself, he joins together the two walls that constitute the “spiritual house”—that is, those from the Gentiles and from the Jews—and binds them fast into a single framework, abolishing the unprofitable sacrifices of the one and transferring the demonic superstition of the other into true piety.

³ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a people for a possession; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Having censured the perversity of the disobedient, and how they made themselves the authors of their own disobedience, he now passes over to the praise of those who have done well, and says that “Ye” who have done well are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood;” as though he were saying: They indeed, through hardness and disobedience, “stumbled at the chief corner stone,” but were not built up together with it. “But ye,” through ready obedience, were built up together into a “royal priesthood,” as a “chosen generation,” as an “holy nation.” Yet, lest he weaken them by excessive praise, and especially lest they should seem to possess the title “holy nation”—and all that follows—arbitrarily, and as though they were accounted worthy of this honour because they are descended from Abraham and have never stumbled, he goes on to abate their pride, and says: Be not high-minded over your descent. For it is not on Abraham’s account that you are chosen unto a “royal priesthood;” for those who came forth from him had the priesthood set apart from the kingship. Not on Abraham’s account, then, are you an “holy” “nation” and a “chosen generation,” and set apart unto a “royal priesthood,” but on Christ’s account, who is named both a Priest after the order of Melchisedek, and a King meek, righteous, and bringing salvation. Reborn, therefore, through holy baptism, from him who possessed both these dignities, fittingly are you named both “a chosen generation” and “a royal priesthood.” And this you “have out of darkness into his marvellous light” by the mercy of him who called you. Wherefore, through the works of light, you proclaim his praises to other men. This, he says, you have from his love for mankind; since, so far as concerns yourselves, you are “a people” “which in time past were not a people,” and “have obtained mercy, which had not obtained mercy.” And rendering his word less burdensome, he confirms the word of reproach out of Hosea. Proclaim, therefore, his praises through good works. And how do men proclaim them? The Lord himself teaches, in the words: Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. — “A people for a possession” means, for an acquisition, that is, for an inheritance. For all are the creation of God, but his possession are those alone who, through their own good works, have been accounted worthy of it.

⁴ Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; having your conversation honest among the Gentiles. The sequence is thus: “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers” being “and pilgrims” of this world, “abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against” your “soul;” and I beseech this also, “that ye have your conversation honest among the Gentiles;” for the infinitive “to have” is here used in place of the participle “having.” Now it is the custom of teachers, after doctrinal discourse, to introduce moral exhortation, which this blessed man now also does. And he calls them “dearly beloved,” not “loved on some account”; for they are objects of longing through and through. For those who are said to be loved for some particular reason are not “beloved.” — And he says that the fleshly lusts make war “against the soul,” since, according to the blessed Paul also, The flesh lusteth against the spirit. For the lusts of the flesh, being occupied about the enjoyment of pleasures, muddy the reasoning faculty and reduce the soul to slavery.

⁵ That, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. By those who speak against us he means the heathen. And by the “day of visitation” he means the world’s scrutiny. For when an examination of our life is made by them, and then the matters are found to be the contrary of their supposition, they themselves are set right in the very things wherein they were put to shame, and God is glorified.

⁶ Submit yourselves therefore to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.[5] By “ordinance of man” he means the magistracies appointed by kings, or even the kings themselves, inasmuch as they too were ordained, that is, established, by men. For Scripture is wont to call an “establishing” a “creation” as well, as in the words, That he might create the two into one new man. He says, then: Submit yourselves to the worldly rulers; and submit for God’s sake, as the Lord commanded. And what did the Lord command? Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. So that whatever they may command beyond the ordinance of God, they are not to be obeyed therein. This both Christ and now his disciple commanded, lest the Greeks should be able to say that Christianity brings about the overthrow of common life, and is the cause of disorder and confusion. And he adds the words, “For the Lord’s sake,” also for the sake of the faithful. For it was likely that some of them would say: He who accounts us worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and through this invests us with great dignity—why does he again make us of little account, subjecting us to worldly rulers? If anyone, then, shall say these things, let him learn, he says, that the word of this command is not mine, but the Lord’s. And Peter himself also showed to what manner of rulers one must be subject—namely to those who vindicate justice. For he adds the reason as well, that this is both “the will of God,” and that our submission to the rulers is a proof of nobility of character, and, what is more, puts the unbelievers to shame. For in the very matter wherein they speak against us as arrogant, when they see us both humble and obedient in the things that are fitting, they are the more put to shame.

⁷ As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness. The sequence is thus: “Submit yourselves as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” Not only the rulers, but “honour all men, loving the brotherhood, fearing God, honouring the king.” Now the words, “As free,” John Chrysostom unfolded thus, saying: “Lest they should say, We have been set free from the world, we have become citizens of heaven, and dost thou again subject us to the rulers, and bid us obey? For this cause, then, he says: Obey as free, that is, as those who have believed in him who set you free and commanded this to be done. For thus you will not seem to have liberty as a pretext for malice according to your own will—that is, for the disobedient and unheeding temper—whereby you might refuse obedience.” And it is possible, by another approach, to say something concerning this: He is free according to the Lord who yields to nothing improper. Since, therefore, to live in hypocrisy belongs not to a free man, but to one subject to passions—whether of the desire to please, or of some other shameful pleasure—and this is alien and foreign to the servants of God, he now commands that submission to the rulers be shown from a good and guileless disposition; and not that men, being ill-disposed toward them so as to render obedience under compulsion, and that maliciousness lurking within you, should make the guilelessness, forsooth, and simplicity of their manner a pretext for an obedience that is merely apparent, while not in fact performing it from genuine disposition. For the saying, “Not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness,” means, to put it briefly: “Passing themselves off in outward appearance as simple and guileless, as under the cloak of liberty, but in actual trial found to be dangerous and the very contrary of what they appear.”

⁸ But as the servants of God: Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Mark the exactness, how he says that fear is to be rendered to God, but honour to the king. So that, if fear is to be rendered to God, who is able to destroy both soul and body, we should not yield to kings when they summon us to improper things. For the fear toward God is able to overcome even the honour toward kings. Rather, the one who is forced by them into evils will even deprive them of their honour, according to the saying of the holy man: In whose sight a vile person is contemned. And with the words, “Servants,” we must supply the verb “be”; that it may read thus: Servants, be subject. Likewise also in the passage, “Wives.” Now “fear” is spoken of in many senses. For there is a fear that goes together with knowledge, which he here calls conscience, and which is also termed reverence. There is also a passive fear, that is, the one that arises through the experience of punishment, which even the beasts feel. Again, there is spoken of a preparatory fear, which attends those who come to the Lord, because they are conscious to themselves of many things that call down chastisement—the fear which the harlot in the Gospels also felt when she came to the Lord. And there is spoken of, again, a perfecting fear, which is ever present to all the saints, who dread lest they fall short of those things which it is fitting should be present in such as have been taken up into perfect love. Since, then, fear is spoken of in so many senses, if it is right that servants should conduct themselves toward their own masters through all of these, the one who now exhorts servants to be subject to their masters with all fear would not forbid it. For both the preparatory and the perfecting fear, when present, dispose them well: the one, that they never suffer any irremediable thing through being suspected by reason of a fault; the other, that nothing distasteful be conceived against the master they serve. Now at any rate he speaks of the fear that comes through conscience—that is, the fear that arises together with knowledge of right reason—which consists in the servants’ committing no sin against their froward masters. This fear, then, accounting it worthy of praise, he charges them to receive with patience. For those who, on account of sins either committed or even guarded against being committed, endure with fear whatever they may suffer because of them—this too belongs to right-minded servants who incline toward amendment, yet not to so great a philosophy as that of patiently enduring with thanksgiving when one is conscious of no evil in oneself. This is a great thing, a thing accomplished by few, a thing that meets with acceptance even with God, as vying with the sufferings of Christ. For he himself also suffered not for his own sins (“for he did no sin”), but suffered on behalf of us and of what is ours. For the transgressions of my people,—that is, on account of the transgressions of the people—was he led unto death, says the prophet. This fear, then, he sets down as praiseworthy. But assuredly he wishes servants to be possessed by the other fears as well. And this is plain from his saying, “With all fear.” And surpassingly well did he set over against the other fears the fear that comes through conscience, declaring by a most truthful argument that this alone is what is praiseworthy: since those who have the other fears have within themselves the occasion of their masters’ wrath against them, but the one who fears through conscience has nowhere any such occasion.

⁹ Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. Perhaps someone will say: How does Peter now say that the Lord, “when reviled, reviled not again,” and that, “when suffering, he threatened not?” And yet we see him calling the Jews dumb dogs, and the Pharisees blind, and saying of Judas: It had been good for that man if he had not been born; and, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom than for that city. We shall reply, then, that he does not say this, that the Lord did not revile or threaten; but, “When reviled, he reviled not again,” nor in his suffering did he “threaten;” but if indeed he did revile, it was not as retaliating against those who reviled him, but as rebuking and exposing the incorrigible. When he was reviled by hearing, Thou hast a devil, from those who behaved abusively toward him; and again, that By the prince of the devils thou castest out devils; and, Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber;—did he then revile them in return? By no means. But to the former he said: If I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? And against the charge Gluttonous and a winebibber he set the game of the children playing in the marketplace, who say: We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.[6] But when he was crucified and grievously suffering, he prayed rather on behalf of those who wronged him, and threatened not; yet against Judas he threatens, restraining him from the betrayal. Likewise also he declared that those who would not receive the disciples should suffer something worse than the men of Sodom—the one charge concerning hospitality, the other exhorting the hearers through fear unto their own salvation. So that most true is the word of Peter, since the Lord by his examples urges men on to forbearance. As for the words, “He committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,” he means plainly to God, who will render to every man according to his works, judging without respect of persons according to righteous judgment in the tribunal to come.

¹⁰ By whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. For having been scourged by Pilate, he bore stripes also in his body.