Interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria on the Holy Gospel

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

And let's study "The Interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria on the Holy Gospel"! This is a very interesting work. Its author is the Archbishop of Ohrid Theophylact of Bulgaria. He was a major Byzantine writer and theologian, interpreter of the Holy Scriptures. He lived at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century in the Bulgarian Byzantine province (now the Republic of Macedonia).

Theophylact of Bulgaria was often called blessed, although he did not belong to the publicly recognized saints of the Orthodox Church. It should be noted that Slavic and Greek authors and publishers often refer to him as a saint and equate him with church fathers.

Biography

The biography of Theophylact of Bulgaria is little known. Some sources report that he was born after 1050 (before 1060 exactly) on the island of Euboea, in the city of Khalkis.

In the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, Theophylact was granted the rank of deacon: thanks to him, he approached the court of Emperor Parapinak Michael VII (1071-1078). Many believe that after Michael died, Theophylact was assigned to his son, Tsarevich Konstantin Doukas.educator. After all, the four-year-old orphan, and now this was the status of the heir, left only his mother - Empress Maria, the patroness of Theophylact of Bulgaria. By the way, it was she who inspired him to write the best things.

It should be noted that the rise of Theophylact's writing activity, correspondence from Bulgaria with a large number of prominent people, his dispatch to Bulgaria by Archbishop Ohrid belong precisely to the reign of Komnenos Alexei (1081-1118). The expulsion of Theophylact from the capital, where he unsuccessfully rushed, is probably due to the disgrace of the family of the autocrat Michael.

No one knows how long Blessed Theophylact remained in Bulgaria and when he passed away. Some of his letters date back to the beginning of the 12th century. During the period when he was at the court of Empress Mary, but not earlier than 1088-1089, the evangelist created the "Royal Instruction". This incomparable work, highly authoritative in the literary environment, was specially intended for his student, Prince Constantine. And in 1092, he wrote a very pompous panegyric to Emperor Alexei Comnenus.

Creations

It is known that the most important historical monument of Theophylact's literary work is his correspondence. 137 letters survived, which he sent to the highest secular and clergy of the empire. In these messages, Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria complained about his fate. He was a refined Byzantine and with great disgust treated the barbarians, his Slavic flock, "smelling like sheepskin."

NecessaryIt should be noted that reports of popular uprisings that constantly arose before the emergence of the second Bulgarian kingdom, as well as the crusader armies that appeared from time to time, elevate many of Theophylact's letters to the level of an outstanding historical source. Data on the administration of the kingdom and on the countless figures of the era of Komnenos Alexei are also important.

The peak of Theophylact's creative path is the interpretation of the New Testament and the Old. These are the books of Scripture. The most original work in this area, of course, is called the explanations on the Gospel, mainly on St. Matthew. It is interesting that the author bases his arguments here on the heterogeneous interpretations of John Chrysostom on a colossal number of individual episodes of Holy Scripture.

In general, Theophylact often allows allegorical interpretations of the text, sometimes even moderate debates with heresies slip through. Theophylact of Bulgaria mostly left his interpretation of the apostolic deeds and epistles in the comments, but the current texts are literally written off from little-known sources of the 9th and 10th centuries. It is he who is the author of the complete life of Blessed Clement of Ohrid.

His polemical book against the Latins, written in the spirit of reconciliation, and the word about the fifteen martyrs who suffered under Julian in Tiberiupol (Strumica) are of the greatest importance.

Interesting fact: Patrologia Graeca contains the evangelist's writings from volumes 123 to 126 inclusive.

Explanation on the Gospel of Matthew

So, Theophylact wrotewonderful interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew, and we will now try to consider this work in most detail. He argued that all the holy men who lived before the law did not receive knowledge from books and scriptures. This is very surprising, but in his work it is indicated that they were brought up by the illumination of the All-Holy Spirit and only in this way they knew God's will: God himself spoke with them. This is how he imagined Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac, Job and Moses.

After a while, people became corrupted and became unworthy of the teaching and enlightenment of the Holy Spirit. But God is philanthropic, He gave them the Scripture, so that at least through it they would remember His will. Theophylact writes that Christ also personally spoke with the apostles at first, and then sent them the blessing of the Holy Spirit as guides. Of course, the Lord expected that over time heresies would appear and people's morals would deteriorate, so He favored that both Gospels be written. After all, in this way, drawing the truth from them, we will not be carried away by heretical lies and our morals will not deteriorate at all.

And of course, the interpretation of the Gospel of Matthew is a very spiritual work. Studying the Book of Kinship (Matthew 1:1), Theophylact wondered why the blessed Matthew did not utter, like the prophets, the word “vision” or “word”? After all, they always noted: “The vision that Isaiah admired” (Is. 1:1) or “The word that was … to Isaiah” (Is. 2:1). Do you want to know this question? Yes, just the seers turned to the recalcitrant and hard-hearted. That is the only reason why they told that it was a Divine vision and the voice of God, so that the people would be afraid and not neglect what they told them.

Theophylact notes that Matthew spoke with the well-meaning, faithful and obedient, and therefore he did not say anything like this to the prophets beforehand. He writes that what the prophets contemplated, they saw with their minds, looking at it through the Holy Spirit. That's the only reason they said it was a vision.

Matthew did not contemplate Christ with his mind, but morally was with Him and sensually listened to Him, observing Him in the flesh. Theophylact writes that this is the only reason why he did not say: "the vision that I saw", or "contemplation", but said: "The Book of Kinship".

Next we learn that the name "Jesus" is Hebrew, not Greek, and it translates as "Saviour." After all, the word "yao" among the Jews is reported about salvation.

And Christs (“Christ” means in Greek “anointed one”) were called high priests and rulers, for they were anointed with holy oil: it poured from a horn that was applied to their head. In general, the Lord is called Christ and as a Bishop, for he himself sacrificed himself as a King and settled down against sin. Theophylact writes that He is anointed with real oil, the Holy Spirit. Moreover, He is anointed before others, for who else possessed the Spirit like the Lord? It should be noted that the blessing of the Holy Spirit acted in the saints. The following power functioned in Christ: Christ Himself and the Spirit consubstantial with Him performed miracles together.

David

Further, Theophylact says that as soon as Matthew said "Jesus", he added "David's Son" so that you wouldn't think he was referring to another Jesus. After all, in those daysthere lived another outstanding Jesus, after Moses the second leader of the Jews. But this one was not called the son of David, but the son of Nun. He lived much earlier than David and was born not from the tribe of Judah from which David came, but from another.

Why did Matthew put David before Abraham? Yes, because David was more famous: he lived later than Abraham and was known as a magnificent king. Of the rulers, he was the first to please the Lord and received a promise from him, saying that Christ would rise from his seed, which is why Christ was called the Son of David.

David really retained the image of Christ in himself: as he reigned in the place of the abandoned by the Lord and hated Seoul, so Christ in the flesh came and reigned over us after Adam lost his kingdom and the power that over demons and all living he had.

Abraham begat Isaac (Matt. 1:2)

Further Theophylact interprets that Abraham was the father of the Jews. That is why the evangelist begins his genealogy with him. In addition, Abraham was the first to receive the promise: it was said that “all nations will be blessed from his seed.”

Of course, it would be more appropriate to start the genealogical tree of Christ with him, for Christ is Abraham's seed, in which we all receive grace, who were pagans and were previously under an oath.

In general, Abraham is translated as "father of tongues", and Isaac - "laughter", "joy". It is interesting that the evangelist does not write about the illegitimate descendants of Abraham, for example, about Ishmael and others, since the Jews did not come from them, but from Isaac. By the way, Matthew mentionedJudah and his brothers because the twelve tribes were descended from them.

Explanations on the Gospel of John

And now consider how Theophylact of Bulgaria interpreted the Gospel of John. He wrote that the power of the Holy Spirit, both as indicated (2 Cor. 12:9), and as we believe, is accomplished in weakness. But not only in the weakness of the body, but also in eloquence and intellect. As evidence, he cited as an example that grace had shown a brother of Christ and a great theologian.

His father was a fisherman. John himself hunted in the same way as his father. Not only was he unable to receive a Jewish and Greek education, but he was not a scholar at all. This information is reported about him by St. Luke in Acts (Acts 4:13). His homeland was considered the poorest and humblest - it was a village in which they were engaged in fishing, and not in the sciences. He was born in Bethsaida.

The Evangelist wonders what kind of Spirit, however, this illiterate, ignoble, in no way outstanding person could receive. After all, he announced what none of the other evangelists taught us.

It should be noted that since they proclaim the incarnation of Christ, but do not say anything sensible about His pre-eternal existence, there is a danger that the people, attached to the earthly and not able to think about anything high, will think that Christ is Being He began his own only after Mary gave birth to him, and his father did not give birth before the ages.

This is precisely the delusion Paul of Samosata fell into. That is why the glorious John proclaimed the birth of heaven, mentioning, however, the birthThe words. For he proclaims: “And the word became flesh” (John 1:14).

Another amazing situation is revealed to us in this John the Evangelist. Namely: he is the only one, and has three mothers: his own Salome, thunder, for for the immeasurable voice in the Gospel he is the “son of thunder” (Mark 3:17), and the Mother of God. Why Mother of God? Yes, because it is said: “behold, your mother!” (John 19:27).

Was in the beginning of the Word (John 1:1)

So, we study further the interpretation of the Gospel of Theophylact of Bulgaria. What the evangelist said in the preface, he repeats now: while other theologians speak at length about the birth of the Lord on Earth, his upbringing and growth, John ignores these events, since his fellow disciples have said quite a lot about them. He only talks about the Deity incarnated among us.

However, if you look closely, you can see how they, although they did not hide the information about the only-begotten Deity, still mentioned it a little, so John, fixing his eyes on the word of the Most High, focused on housebuilding incarnation. For the souls of all are led by one Spirit.

Isn't it very interesting to study the interpretation of the Gospel of Theophylact of Bulgaria? We continue to get acquainted with this wonderful work. What is John telling us? He tells us about the Son and the Father. He points to the infinite existence of the Only Begotten when he states: "The Word was in the beginning," that is, from the beginning it was. For what has come from the beginning will certainly not have a time when it is not.

"Where, - some will ask, - can you determine that the phrase "inin the beginning was" signifies the same as from the beginning?" Indeed, from where? Both from the very understanding of the general, and from this theologian himself. For in one of his manuscripts he says: “of that which was from the beginning, which we… saw” (1 John 1:1).

The interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria is very unusual. He asks us if we see how the chosen one explains himself? And he writes that the questioner will say so. But he understands it "in the beginning" in the same way as Moses: "God created in the beginning" (Gen. 1:1). Just as there the phrase “in the beginning” does not give the understanding that the sky is eternal, so here he does not want to define the word “in the beginning” as if the Only Begotten is infinite. Of course, only heretics say so. There is nothing left for us to respond to this crazy persistence but to say: sage of malice! Why are you silent about the next? But we will say it against your will too!

In general, the interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria leads to various thoughts about being. Here, for example, Moses says that at first God created the firmament of heaven and earth, but here it is said that in the beginning "was" the Word. What is the similarity between "created" and "was"? If it had been written here, “God created the Son in the beginning,” then the evangelist would have remained silent. But now, after saying "in the beginning it was," he concludes that the word has existed from time immemorial, and not in the course of time received existence, as many empty talk.

Isn't it true that the interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria is exactly the work that you read out? So why didn't John say "in the beginning was the Son" but "the Word"?The evangelist claims that he speaks because of the weakness of the listeners, so that, having heard about the Son from the very beginning, we would not think about a carnal and passionate birth. That's why He called Him the "Word" so that you know that just as the word is born impassively from the mind, so He is born calmly from the father.

And one more explanation: I called him "The Word" because He told us about the qualities of the father, just like any word announces the mood. And together so that we can see that He is co-eternal with the Father. For just as it is impossible to assert that the mind very often happens without a word, so the Father and God cannot exist without the Son.

In general, the interpretation of Theophylact of Bulgaria shows that John used this expression because there are many different words of God, for example, commandments, prophecies, as it is said about angels: “strong in strength, doing His will” (Ps. 102: 20), that is, His commands. But it should be noted that the word is a personal being.

Explanations on the Epistle to the Romans of the Blessed Apostle Paul

The evangelist's interpretation of the New Testament encourages people to constantly read the Scriptures. This leads to the knowledge of them, for He cannot lie who says: Seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you (Matt. 7:7). Thanks to this, we come into contact with the mysteries of the epistles of the blessed apostle Paul, only we need to read these epistles carefully and constantly.

It is known that this apostle surpassed everyone with the word of teaching. This is right, because he worked more than anyone else and received the generous blessing of the Spirit. By the way, this can be seen not only from his messages, but also fromActs of the Apostles, which says that for the perfect word, unbelievers called him Hermes (Acts 14:12).

The interpretation of Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria reveals to us the following nuances: the Epistle to the Romans is offered to us first, not because they think that it was written before other messages. So, before the Letters to the Romans, both messages to the Corinthians were written, and before them, the Epistle to the Thessalonians was written, in which the blessed Paul, with praise, points out to them about the alms sent to Jerusalem (1 Thess. 4:9 - 10; cf. 2 Cor. 9:2).

Besides, before the letter to the Romans, the letter to the Galatians was also inscribed. Despite this, the interpretation of the Holy Gospel tells us that the Epistle to the Romans from other epistles was created the very first. Why is it in the first place? Yes, because the Divine Scripture does not need a chronological order. So the twelve soothsayers, if listed in the order in which they are placed in the sacred books, do not follow each other in time, but are separated by a colossal distance.

And Paul writes to the Romans only because he bore the duty of passing the sacred ministry of Christ. In addition, the Romans were considered the primates of the universe, for whoever benefits the head has a beneficial effect on the rest of the body.

Paul (Rom. 1:1)

Many perceive the evangelist of Theophylact of Bulgaria as a life guide. It is indeed a very valuable work. By the way, he says that neither Moses, nor the Evangelists, nor anyone after him wrote their names before their own writings, butThe Apostle Paul puts his name before each of his epistles. This nuance takes place because the majority wrote for those who lived with them, and he sent messages from afar and, according to custom, made the rule of the distinctive qualities of messages.

It should be noted that in Hebrews he does not. After all, they hated him, and therefore, so that when they heard his name they would not stop listening to him, he hides his name from the very beginning.

Why did he change his name from Saul to Paul? In order for him not to be lower than the supreme of the apostles, named Cephas, which means "stone", or the sons of Zebedee, called Boanerges, that is, the sons of thunder.

Slave

What is slavery? It has several types. There is bondage by creation, which is written about (Ps. 119:91). There is a bondage through faith, about which they say: “they began to accept the form of doctrine to which they committed themselves” (Rom. 6:17). There is still slavery in the way of being: from this position, Moses is called the servant of God. Paul is a "slave" in all these ways.

We hope this article has introduced you to the famous work of Theophylact and will help you further, deeper study of his writings.