ARGUMENTUM.
Item Timotheo scribit de exhortatione martyrii, et de omni regula veritatis, et quid futurum sit temporibus novissimis, et de sua passione, scribens ei ab urbe Roma.
THE ARGUMENT.
Likewise he writes to Timothy concerning the exhortation to martyrdom, and concerning the whole rule of truth, and what shall come to pass in the last times, and concerning his own passion, writing to him from the city of Rome.
CAPUT PRIMUM.
VERS. 1.-- Paulus apostolus. Primo Apostolus salutat, deinde gratias agit de bono quod habet, ubi suum videndi eum desiderium ostendit. Postea monet ad praedicandum, et ad patientiam martyrii, suo exemplo et aliis modis. Inde dicit quales futuri sunt in novissimis diebus: tandem de tempore resolutionis suae instanti. Per voluntatem Dei. Non meis meritis, quasi dicat: Similiter et tu gratis missus es, 633Bet ideo praedicandae gratiae magis obnoxius.
VERS. 3.-- Gratias ago. Agit gratias de bono ejus, commendans fidei gratiam quae in Christo est.
Memoriam. Flevit enim Timotheus a Paulo dimissus, paratus cum eo ire ad omnia pericula. Quod ergo praesens habuit, absens teneat, accipiens etiam recordationem fidei quae te commoneat, cum etiam in feminis fuerit firma.
VERS. 6.-- Propter quam. Commendata fide illius, ad eam sine timore et erubescentia praedicandam exhortatur. Per impositionem manuum. Hoc est, gratiam Spiritus sancti, quam accepisti ad Ecclesiae institutionem, ad perpetranda miracula, ad omne religionis obsequium.
633CVERS. 7.-- Timoris. Timore turbatus Petrus negavit Christum. Unde: Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus (Matth. XXVI.) Hujus timoris non accepimus spiritum, sed illius de quo Dominus ait: Eum timete qui potest corpus et animam perdere in gehennam. Spiritus enim sanctus dat timorem non mundi, sed Dei, qui potest perdere in gehennam ignis.
VERS. 8.-- Noli itaque. Constantiam habendam docet nec erubescendum esse in professione: non est enim ut erubescatur in ea: quia sicut homo visus est Christus, gestis tamen apparuit Deus etsi crucifixus est, resurrexit tamen a mortuis, et multis videntibus suscipiente eum nube, in coelum 633Dascendit. Ubi ergo putatur infirmitas, ibi apparet potentia.
VERS. 9.-- Qui nos liberavit. Vicem reddere liberanti convenit: Cujus cum beneficiis digne respondere non valemus, saltem legationem ejus fideliter et instanter agamus.
VERS. 10.-- Qui destruxit. Mors utpote victa, non est timenda pro fide Christi. Illuminavit autem. Quo haec spectent, ibi aperit: Formam habens. Per Evangelium. Ostendit Deus vitam incorruptibilem, 634Aquae prius ignota erat, ostendit, inquam, per praedicationem Evangelii cujus praedicator est Paulus.
VERS. 11.-- In quo positus sum. Hic suo exemplo hortatur. Praedicator, et apostolus, et magister, etc. Quaenam vero ratio est, cum seipsum jugiter gentium magistrum vocet? persuadere quippe vult, gentes quoque in haereditatem Dei vocatas esse, atque ideo a consortio fidei non repellendas.
VERS. 12.-- Scio enim. Quasi dicat: Ideo non confundor, id est deficio, vel non frustra patior, quia promisit et verax est et potens: et ideo credidi illum ipsum, qui mihi reddet. Quia potens est. Spe et magnificentia Salvatoris securus est, quia quod commendat illi, in tuto est. Illi autem commendat salutem suam, ut hic pro illo patiens, salutem inveniat 634Bpenes illum cum coeperit judicare, ut puniens infideles, istum dignum aeterna vita pronuntiet.
VERS. 13.-- Formam habens. Hic ostendit quo de se praedicta spectent. Quasi dicat: Ita laboro in isto officio mihi credito: similiter ergo et tu formam habens, etc.
Ex quibus est Phigellus et Hermogenes. Simulate hi cum Apostolo fuerunt, ut calumniam invenirent: sed postquam viderunt se manifestatos, recesserunt ab eo.
CHAPTER ONE.
VERS. 1.-- Paul an apostle. First the Apostle salutes, then he gives thanks for the good which he has, where he shows his own desire of seeing him. Afterwards he admonishes him to preaching, and to the patience of martyrdom, by his own example and in other ways. Thence he says what sort of men they shall be in the last days: at last, concerning the time of his own release, which is at hand. By the will of God. Not by my merits, as if he should say: In like manner thou also hast been sent freely, 633Band therefore art the more bound to the grace that is to be preached.
VERS. 3.-- I give thanks. He gives thanks for his [Timothy's] good, commending the grace of faith which is in Christ.
Remembrance. For Timothy wept when he was dismissed by Paul, being ready to go with him unto all perils. What therefore he had while present, let him hold while absent, receiving also the recollection of the faith [Vulg. recordationem accipiens ejus fidei, "receiving the recollection of that faith"] which may admonish thee, since it was firm even in women.
VERS. 6.-- For which cause. His faith having been commended, he exhorts him to preach it without fear and without shame. By the imposition of hands. That is, the grace of the Holy Spirit, which thou hast received for the establishing of the Church, for the accomplishing of miracles, for every observance of religion.
633CVERS. 7.-- Of fear. Peter, being troubled by fear, denied Christ. Whence: Fear ye not them that kill the body (Matth. XXVI.) Of this fear we have not received the spirit, but of that fear of which the Lord says: Fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul into hell. For the Holy Spirit gives a fear not of the world, but of God, who is able to destroy into the hell of fire.
VERS. 8.-- Be not thou therefore. He teaches that constancy is to be had, and that there is no shame to be felt in the profession: for it is not such that one should be ashamed in it: because as Christ was seen a man, yet by his deeds he appeared God; although he was crucified, yet he rose again from the dead, and, while many beheld it and a cloud received him, ascended 633Dinto heaven. Where therefore weakness is supposed, there power appears.
VERS. 9.-- Who hath delivered us. It is fitting to render a return to him who delivers: And since we are not able worthily to answer his benefits, let us at least perform his embassy faithfully and urgently.
VERS. 10.-- Who hath destroyed. Death, as being conquered, is not to be feared for the faith of Christ. But hath illuminated. Whither these things look, he there opens: Having a form. Through the Gospel. [Vulg. 2 Tim. I, 13 Formam habe, imperative, "hold thou the form"] God showed forth incorruptible life, 634Awhich before was unknown; he showed it, I say, through the preaching of the Gospel, whose preacher is Paul.
VERS. 11.-- Wherein I am appointed. Here he exhorts by his own example. A preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher, etc. But what is the reason, since he continually calls himself the teacher of the Gentiles? he wishes, forsooth, to persuade that the Gentiles also have been called into the inheritance of God, and therefore are not to be driven back from the fellowship of the faith.
VERS. 12.-- For I know. As if he should say: Therefore I am not confounded, that is, I fail, or I do not suffer in vain, because he has promised and is truthful and powerful: and therefore I have believed that very one who will render to me. Because he is able. He is secure through the hope and the magnificence of the Saviour, because what he commends to him is in safety. And to him he commends his own salvation, that here suffering for him he may find salvation 634Bwith him when he shall have begun to judge, so that, punishing the unfaithful, he may pronounce this man worthy of eternal life.
VERS. 13.-- Having a form. Here he shows whither the things foretold about himself look. As if he should say: Thus I labour in this office committed to me: in like manner therefore thou also, having a form, etc.
Of whom is Phigellus and Hermogenes. These were with the Apostle feignedly, that they might find matter of calumny: but after they saw themselves made manifest, they withdrew from him.
CAPUT II.
VERS. 4.-- Nemo militans. Quasi dicat: Si bonus miles esse vis, non implices te saecularibus negotiis, quia nemo, etc. Negotiis. Negotia saecularia sunt cum animus occupatur colligendae cura pecuniae 634Csine labore corporis, ut negotiatores et hujusmodi: quod ne iste faceret, quia infirmus laborare non poterat, prohibet.
VERS. 6.-- Laborantem agricolam. Quasi Timotheus quaereret: Unde ergo vivam cum fodere non possim, mendicare confundar? subdit laborantem agricolam. Quasi dicat, etsi non implices te negotiis saecularibus, est tamen unde vivere possis: Quia oportet, etc. Primum percipere. Id est sumere. De fructibus. Id est necessaria ab auditoribus, quia dignus est operarius mercede sua; ut agricola vel vinitor primos fructus laboris sui degustat, ita Apostolus prius jubet eum sumere qui primus est, et sic, caeteris distribuere. Primo enim debet ille suam necessitatem implere ex his qui accepit, et post, aliis 634Dde his quae supersunt ministrare.
VERS. 8.-- Memor esto. Labora sicut ego, et hoc spe vitae aeternae. Haec autem non propter Timotheum memorat, sed propter haereticos quos praevidit futuros et ista negaturos.
VERS. 9.-- Quasi male operans. Hic contumeliam notat quae ei ingerebatur. Sed verbum Dei non est alligatum. Quasi dicat: Licet ergo sim alligatus corpore, tamen verbum Dei non est alligatum: qui 635Aet sermone praesentes, et litteris absentes docere non cesso.
VERS. 10.-- Salutem, etc., cum gloria, etc. Quasi dicat: Justificati estis ut hic consequamini salutem, et, post hanc vitam, gloriam coelestem.
VERS. 11.-- Fidelis sermo. Est iste, quod consequentur salutem et gloriam, nam sumus mortui mundo, sicut Christus veteri homini, et sustinentes, id est martyres.
VERS. 14.-- Haec commone. Haec praedicta ut patiaris, commoneo te. Vel, haec commone tuos. Ad nihil enim utile est. Contentio minus stabilis saepe generat scrupulum. Solent enim in contentione talia opponi elimato malevolentiae argumento, ut moveant animos insipientium fratrum. Nec potest 635Besse, quin contentio extorqueat aliquid quod dicatur contra conscientiam, ut intus in animo perdat, et foris victor accedat. Nemo enim patitur se vinci, licet sciat vera esse quae audit. Collatio ergo inter Dei servos esse debet, non altercatio.
VERS. 17.-- Ex quibus est Hymenaeus et Philetus. Horum prodidit nomina, ut ab his spiritualiter caveat, quos et profanos et impios designat et errantes a veritate.
VERS. 18.-- Dicentes resurrectionem jam factam. Duae sunt resurrectiones. Prima est quae fit in anima per fidem, quando qui mortuus erat in infidelitate et aliis peccatis, per fidem et baptismum vivificatur. Altera, quae erit corporum, quae erit in die judicii. De illa resurrectione quae fit in anima per fidem loquitur 635Chic Apostolus, cum ait: Dicentes resurrectionem, mentium scilicet esse factam in baptismo, et in fide nullam resurrectionem corporum futuram. Omnes sectae quae religionem promittunt, concedunt resurrectionem mentium in fide. Aliter enim non viderentur audiendi. Volentes ergo credi sibi omnes etiam qui instituerunt alicujus falsae religionis sectam, negare istam resurrectionem mentium non potuerunt, omnes de illa consenserunt. Sed corporum resurrectionem multi negaverunt, sicut isti quos nominat Apostolus.
VERS. 19.-- Cognovit Dominus qui sunt ejus, etc. Id est, amat et defendit praescitos suos. In hoc notatur praescientia, qua quos praescivit futuros esse conformes imaginis Filii sui, id est praedestinavit, 635Dvocavit, justificavit, glorificavit.
VERS. 20.-- Vasa aurea et argentea. Sicut enim vasa lignea et fictilia valent ut purgentur aurea et argentea, sic mali prosunt ad profectum bonorum. Magna ergo domus, Ecclesia, in qua sunt vasa aurea et argentea, id est, boni et fideles et sancti Dei servi ubique dispersi et spirituali unitate devincti, in eadem communione sacramentorum degentes. Et vasa lignea et fictilia, id est illi qui sunt in domo, ut non sint in compage domus, nec in societate pacifica, et tamen adhuc corpore simul cum bonis.
VERS. 23.-- Stultas autem et sine disciplina quaestiones devita. Non omnes quaestiones vitandae, sed nutiles et sine disciplina.
636AVERS. 24.-- Servum autem Domini non oportet litigare, sed mansuetum esse ad omnes. Satis obstrepunt contradicentes. Ne ergo servus Dei sibi obstrepat studio altercandi. Non deesse voluit nos fratrum correptioni, nec studere certamini. Multi enim homines cum a somno excitantur, litigare volunt, aurursus dormire, cum litigare prohibentur.
VERS. 25.-- Nequando det illis Deus poenitentiam ad cognoscendam veritatem. Non prodest correptio, nisi supernus medicus respiciat, id est nisi faciat, ut peccati sui quemque poeniteat. Quae poenitentia pudore et timore displicendi aliis interdum impeditur, dum plus delectat hominem aliorum existimatio; quam justitia, qua se quisque humiliat poenitendo. Ideoque non solum cum agitur poenitentia, 636Bverum etiam ut agatur, Dei misericordia necessaria est. Ut enim Petrus amare fleret, respexit eum Dominus. Et ideo Apostolus hic dicit: Det illis Deus poenitentiam (Matth. XXVI).
CHAPTER II.
VERS. 4.-- No man being a soldier. As if he should say: If thou wilt be a good soldier, do not entangle thyself in secular affairs, because no man, etc. With affairs. Secular affairs are when the mind is occupied with the care of gathering money 634Cwithout labour of the body, as merchants and men of this sort: and lest this man should do that, because being weak he was not able to labour, he forbids it.
VERS. 6.-- The husbandman that laboureth. As if Timothy should ask: Whence then shall I live, since I cannot dig, and to beg I am ashamed? he subjoins the husbandman that laboureth. As if he should say, although thou dost not entangle thyself in secular affairs, yet there is whence thou mayest live: Because it behoveth, etc. First to partake. That is, to take. Of the fruits. That is, the necessaries from his hearers, because the labourer is worthy of his hire; as the husbandman or the vinedresser tastes the first fruits of his own labour, so the Apostle bids him who is first to take first, and so to distribute to the rest. For he ought first to fulfil his own need out of those things which he has received [qui; read quae, "those things which"; the printed qui construes instead as "he who has received"], and afterwards 634Dto minister to others out of those which remain over.
VERS. 8.-- Be mindful. Labour as I do, and this in the hope of eternal life. But he calls these things to mind not for Timothy's sake, but for the sake of the heretics whom he foresaw would come and would deny these things.
VERS. 9.-- As an evildoer. Here he notes the contumely which was heaped upon him. But the word of God is not bound. As if he should say: Although therefore I am bound in body, yet the word of God is not bound: I who 635Acease not to teach both those present by speech and those absent by letters.
VERS. 10.-- Salvation, etc., with glory, etc. As if he should say: You have been justified that here you may obtain salvation, and, after this life, heavenly glory.
VERS. 11.-- A faithful saying. It is this, that they shall obtain salvation and glory, for we are dead to the world, as Christ to the old man, and enduring, that is, martyrs.
VERS. 14.-- Put them in mind of these things. That thou mayest suffer these things foretold, I put thee in mind. Or, put thine own in mind of these things. For it is profitable to nothing. Contention, being less stable, often begets scruple. For in contention such things are wont to be objected, the argument of ill-will being polished, that they may stir the minds of unwise brethren. Nor can it 635Bbe but that contention wrings out something that is spoken against conscience, so that within, in the mind, he loses, and outwardly comes off victor. For no one suffers himself to be overcome, although he knows that the things he hears are true. There ought therefore to be conference among the servants of God, not altercation.
VERS. 17.-- Of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus. He gave out their names, that [Timothy] might beware of them spiritually, whom he designates both profane and impious and erring from the truth.
VERS. 18.-- Saying that the resurrection is already past. There are two resurrections. The first is that which takes place in the soul through faith, when he who was dead in unbelief and in other sins is made alive through faith and baptism. The other, which shall be of bodies, which shall be in the day of judgment. Of that resurrection which takes place in the soul through faith the Apostle here speaks, 635Cwhen he says: Saying that the resurrection, namely of minds, hath been made in baptism and in faith, and that there shall be no resurrection of bodies to come. All sects which promise religion concede a resurrection of minds in faith. For otherwise they would not seem to be worth hearing. Therefore all, even those who founded the sect of some false religion, wishing to be believed, could not deny that resurrection of minds; all agreed about it. But many denied the resurrection of bodies, as do these whom the Apostle names.
VERS. 19.-- The Lord knoweth who are his, etc. That is, he loves and defends his own foreknown ones. In this is noted foreknowledge, by which those whom he foreknew would be conformable to the image of his Son, that is, he predestinated, 635Dcalled, justified, glorified.
VERS. 20.-- Vessels of gold and of silver. For as wooden and earthen vessels avail that the golden and the silver ones may be cleansed, so the wicked are of profit toward the advancement of the good. The great house therefore is the Church, in which are vessels of gold and of silver, that is, the good and faithful and holy servants of God scattered everywhere and bound fast by spiritual unity, dwelling in the same communion of the sacraments. And wooden and earthen vessels, that is, those who are in the house in such wise that they are not in the framework of the house, nor in the peaceable fellowship, and yet are still bodily together with the good.
VERS. 23.-- But avoid foolish questions and those without discipline. Not all questions are to be avoided, but the unprofitable nutiles ones and those without discipline.
636AVERS. 24.-- But the servant of the Lord must not wrangle, but be mild toward all. They that contradict make clamour enough. Let not therefore the servant of God clamour against himself by the zeal of altercation. He willed that we should not be wanting to the correction of brethren, nor be eager for strife. For many men, when they are roused from sleep, wish to wrangle, aurursus or again to sleep, when they are forbidden to wrangle.
VERS. 25.-- Lest at any time God give them repentance to know the truth. Correction profits nothing, unless the physician from above look upon him, that is, unless he bring it about that each man repent of his own sin. Which repentance is sometimes hindered by shame and by the fear of displeasing others, while the esteem of others delights a man more; than justice, by which each man humbles himself in repenting. And therefore not only when repentance is performed, 636Bbut also that it may be performed, the mercy of God is necessary. For that Peter might weep bitterly, the Lord looked upon him. And therefore the Apostle here says: May God give them repentance (Matth. XXVI).
CAPUT III.
VERS. 2.-- Seipsos amantes. Non Dominum, ut Petrus, qui ter interrogatus a Domino, ter professus est se eum diligere dicens: Tu scis quia amo te. Unde et Dominus ei oves pascendas credidit: quia in pascendis ovibus vera monstratur dilectio, si quis ibi non quaerit sua, sed quae Christi sunt. Ex eo autem quod seipsos, non Deum amant, quasi ex radice haec quae sequuntur mala oriuntur. Ingrati. Illi sunt ingrati qui corrigentibus mala pro bonis 636Creddunt.
VERS. 5.-- Habentes speciem. Quia habent eadem sacramenta cum piis. Virtutem autem. Virtus est, charitas de corde puro, conscientia bona, et fide non ficta.
VERS. 6.-- Qui penetrant. Ingrediebantur enim domos mulierum, et decipiebant eas.
VERS. 7.-- Semper discentes et nunquam ad scientiam, etc. Nos autem semper ambulemus in via donec eo veniamus quo ducit via, nusquam in illa remaneamus, donec perducat ubi maneamus. Atque ita et quaerendo tendimus, et inveniendo, ad aliquid pervenimus.
VERS. 8.-- Quemadmodum autem Jannes, etc. Quasi dicat: Tales seducunt: veritati autem semper 636Dresistunt. Et hoc est quod ait: Quemadmodum autem Jannes, etc. Jannes et Mambres, duo fratres, fuerunt magi Pharaonis. Horum nomina non invenit Apostolus in divinis libris, sed in apocryphis, de quibus hoc sumitur. Hi autem restiterunt Moysi usque ad tertium signum, in quo defecerunt dicentes: Digitus Dei est hic. Et sicut illi restiterunt Moysi, ita hi scilicet haeretici mihi resistunt.
VERS. 13.-- Mali autem homines, etc. Tales sunt qui timent hos laedere coram quibus loquuntur qui non praeparant ad tentationes, sed promittunt felicitatem hujus saeculi, quam Deus ipse saeculo nos promisit. Ille praedicit labores usque in finem venturos saeculo: tu prospera. Ille ad confortandum cor 637Atuum, venit pati, mori, sputis illiniri, spinis coronari, opprobria ferre, fel et acetum bibere, ligno configi. Omnia haec ille tulit pro te. Ille confortans infirmum, ut cum crediderit, non speret prospera hujus saeculi; unde: Fili, accedens ad servitutem Dei, sta in justitia et timore, et praepara animam tuam ad tentationes.
VERS. 15.-- Sacras litteras nosti quae te, etc. Multum signat prodesse Veteris Testamenti habere notitiam, ubi Christi persona et incarnatio insinuatur quae ad salutem hominum valet.
CHAPTER III.
VERS. 2.-- Lovers of themselves. Not of the Lord, as Peter was, who being thrice questioned by the Lord thrice professed that he loved him, saying: Thou knowest that I love thee. Whence also the Lord entrusted to him the sheep to be fed: because in the feeding of sheep true love is shown, if a man seek not there his own things, but the things which are Christ's. And from this, that they love themselves and not God, as from a root, arise these evils which follow. Ungrateful. They are ungrateful who render evil things for good 636Cto those who correct them.
VERS. 5.-- Having an appearance. Because they have the same sacraments as the godly. But the power. The power is charity out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and faith unfeigned.
VERS. 6.-- Who penetrate. For they entered the houses of women, and deceived them.
VERS. 7.-- Ever learning, and never unto knowledge, etc. But let us always walk in the way until we come thither whither the way leads; let us nowhere remain in it, until it bring us through to where we may remain. And thus both by seeking we press on, and by finding we arrive at something.
VERS. 8.-- Now as Jannes, etc. As if he should say: Such men seduce: but they always 636Dresist the truth. And this is what he says: Now as Jannes, etc. Jannes and Mambres, two brothers, were the magicians of Pharao. Their names the Apostle did not find in the divine books, but in the apocrypha, from which this is taken. And these resisted Moses as far as the third sign, in which they failed, saying: This is the finger of God. And as they resisted Moses, so these, namely the heretics, resist me.
VERS. 13.-- But evil men, etc. Such are they who fear to hurt those before whom they speak, who do not prepare men for temptations, but promise the felicity of this world, which God himself promised us to the world [nos; read non, "which God himself did not promise to the world"]. He foretells labours that shall come upon the world unto the end: thou, prosperous things. He, to strengthen thy heart, 637Acame to suffer, to die, to be smeared with spittle, to be crowned with thorns, to bear reproaches, to drink gall and vinegar, to be fastened to the wood. All these things he bore for thee. He strengthens the weak, that when he has believed he may not hope for the prosperous things of this world; whence: Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptations.
VERS. 15.-- Thou hast known the holy scriptures which thee, etc. He signifies that it profits much to have knowledge of the Old Testament, where the person of Christ and the incarnation is intimated, which avails unto the salvation of men.
CAPUT IV.
VERS. 2.-- Importune. Tu opportune agis, sed importunus esse videris ei qui non libenter audit, 637Bquod tamen ei aliquando prodest. Tu tamen sciens hoc illi esse opportunum, quod ei videtur importunum, dilectionem curamque sanitatis ejus, animo teneas mansueto et modesto. Increpa in omnibus. Timotheo acriorem suadet patientiam. Tito nimis patienti, imperium persuadet.
VERS. 3.-- Coacervabunt sibi magistros. Id est, qui ea doceant quae volunt. Prophetia est sancti apostoli, qui praescius futurorum, in doctrina praecipit esse instandum, ut contra hoc quod futurum erat, praeparetur Ecclesia. Tales enim dicit futuros, qui pro desideriis suis doceri volunt ut a magistris scilicet constantibus et veracibus ad eos convertantur qui haec illos doceant quae libenter audiant, quia veritas illis aspera videbitur, ut relicta vera doctrina fabulis 637Cvacent.
VERS. 5.-- Opus fac evangelistae. Testando opere quod ore praedicans, ut retorqueatur os turturis ad ascellas, et sint mala punica et tintinnabula in extremis oris hyacinthinae tunicae.
VERS. 6.-- Delibor. Libare dicimus, degustare, fundere et immolare. Inde delibare, quod tamen hic pro ipsa immolatione ponitur, passionem enim suam delibationem appellat. Deo enim immolatur qui pro justitia patitur.
VERS. 7.-- Fidem, quae est caput Christianae religionis, servavi, quae non potest haberi nisi Deo miserante, quia donum Dei est; unde alibi ait: Misericordiam 637Dconsecutus sum, non quia fidelis eram, sed 638Aut fidelis essem. Apostolum enim invenimus sine ullis bonis meritis, imo cum multis vitiis Dei gratiam consecutum, reddentibus bona pro malis. Qui sua jam propinquante passione bona merita sua commemorat, post quae consequetur coronam, qui post mala merita consecutus est gratiam: quae nisi prius gratuita donaretur, corona non redderetur. Non ergo merita ipsius tanquam ipsius sunt, id est ex ipso ei comparata, sed dona Dei sunt.
VERS. 8.-- Reddet. Si enim fides gratia est, et vita aeterna quasi merces est fidei; videtur quidem Deus vitam aeternam tanquam debitum reddere cui debet fideli, quia promeruit illam per fidem; sed quia fides gratia est, et vita aeterna est gratia, per gratiam ergo reddet. Justus judex. Utique justus retribuendo 638Bbona pro bonis, quia tamen prius misericors est retribuendo bona pro malis; ipsa justitia qua retribuuntur bona pro bonis non est sine misericordia.
VERS. 13.-- Penulam. (CHRYS.) Pallium hic penulam dicit, etc., usque ad ne ab aliis hanc accipere opus sit.
VERS. 14.-- Alexander. Iste est quem supra dixit reversum ad apostasiam, qui fabricabat aedes Dianae apud Athenas, et omnes contra Apostolum commovit. Multa mihi mala ostendit. (CHRYS.) Qui a magno aliquo premitur, etc., usque ad ut infirmiores quoque etiam ex hac parte solatium capiant.
VERS. 16.-- Defensione. Pressuram et tribulationem sibi illatam defensionem appellat: tribulatio defensio est Christianis, quia defendit eos in die 638Cjudicii.
Non illis imputetur. Non orat pro Alexandro, qui invidentia fraternitatem oppugnando peccaverat, sed pro his qui abruperant amorem, sed timore succubuerunt; orat ut eis ignoscatur. Multum enim interest inter eos qui hoc modo et eos qui illo modo peccant.
VERS. 17.-- De ore leonis. Neronis, de cujus manibus liberatus est a Domino, quando venit Romam adductus ab his qui praeerant Judaeae, ob hoc quod Caesarem appellasset. Nam cum venisset Romam duobus annis mansit in libera custodia, post etiam transivit ad alias nationes quae erant in circuitu 638DRomae.
CHAPTER IV.
VERS. 2.-- Out of season. Thou actest in season, but thou seemest to be out of season to him who does not willingly hear, 637Bwhich nevertheless sometimes profits him. Do thou, however, knowing that this is in season for him which seems to him out of season, hold with a mild and modest mind the love and the care of his soundness. Rebuke in all things. [Vulg. increpa in omni patientia, "rebuke in all patience"; the gloss turns on patientia] To Timothy he urges a sharper patience. To Titus, who is too patient, he urges command.
VERS. 3.-- They will heap to themselves teachers. That is, such as may teach them the things they wish. It is a prophecy of the holy Apostle, who, foreknowing things to come, commands that men be instant in doctrine, so that against that which was to come the Church might be prepared. For he says that such men shall be as wish to be taught according to their own desires, so that, namely, from teachers steadfast and truthful they may turn aside to those who will teach them the things which they willingly hear, because the truth will seem harsh to them, so that, true doctrine being forsaken, they may give themselves to 637Cfables.
VERS. 5.-- Do the work of an evangelist. By testifying in work what thou art preaching with the mouth, that the mouth of the turtle-dove be twisted back to its wings, and that there be pomegranates and little bells upon the outermost edges of the hyacinth tunic.
VERS. 6.-- I am poured out as a libation. We say libare: to taste, to pour out, and to immolate. Hence delibare, which nevertheless here is put for the immolation itself, for he calls his own passion a delibatio. For he is immolated to God who suffers for justice.
VERS. 7.-- The faith, which is the head of the Christian religion, I have kept, which cannot be had unless God have mercy, because it is the gift of God; whence elsewhere he says: I have obtained 637Dmercy, not because I was faithful, but 638Athat I might be faithful. For we find that the Apostle obtained the grace of God with no good merits at all, nay rather with many vices, good things being rendered for evil. He who now, with his passion already drawing near, calls to mind his own good merits, after which he shall obtain the crown; he who after evil merits obtained grace: unless this grace were first freely given, the crown would not be rendered. Therefore his merits are not as though his own, that is, procured for him out of himself, but they are the gifts of God.
VERS. 8.-- He will render. For if faith is grace, and eternal life is as it were the wage of faith; God does indeed seem to render eternal life as a debt to the faithful man to whom he owes it, because he has merited it through faith; but because faith is grace, and eternal life is grace, therefore he will render it through grace. A just judge. Assuredly just in repaying 638Bgood things for good, because nevertheless he is first merciful in repaying good things for evil; the very justice by which good things are repaid for good is not without mercy.
VERS. 13.-- The cloak. (CHRYS.) He here calls the pallium a penula, etc., as far as lest it be needful to receive this from others.
VERS. 14.-- Alexander. This is he whom he said above had turned back to apostasy, who used to make shrines of Diana at Athens, and stirred up all men against the Apostle. He hath shown me much evil. (CHRYS.) He who is pressed by some great man, etc., as far as that the weaker also may from this side take comfort.
VERS. 16.-- Defence. He calls the pressure and tribulation brought upon him a defence: tribulation is a defence to Christians, because it defends them in the day 638Cof judgment.
Let it not be laid to their charge. He prays not for Alexander, who by envy had sinned in assailing the brotherhood, but for those who had broken off love, but yielded through fear; he prays that they may be pardoned. For there is a great difference between those who sin in this manner and those who sin in that.
VERS. 17.-- Out of the mouth of the lion. Of Nero, out of whose hands he was delivered by the Lord, when he came to Rome brought by those who were set over Judaea, for this cause, that he had appealed to Caesar. For when he had come to Rome he remained two years in free custody, and afterwards he passed over also to other nations which were round about 638DRome.