# Interpretation of the First Letter to Timothy - Author: [Theodoret of Cyrus](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/theodoret-of-cyrus/) - Latin title: *Interpretatio in primam epistulam ad Timotheum* - Date: ca. 436-448 (approximate) - Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 82 (Paris) - Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator - Editions and translations: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologia Graeca 82 (Paris, 1864) - Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/ - Passages: 6 ## On 1 Tim 3.2 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-3-2 - Source: PG 82:805 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret explains “the husband of one wife” as excluding polygamy, not a second marriage after a wife's death, while a man who put away his first wife and married another is blameworthy. ### Greek text «ε Δεῖ οὖν τὸν ἐπίσχοπον ἀνεπίληπτον εἶναι. » Μηδεμίαν πρόφασιν μέμψεως παρέχειν δικαίαν", Τὸ γὰρ ἀνεπίληπτον, οὐ τὸ ἀσυχοφάντητον λέγει᾽ ἐπεὶ καὶ αὐτὸς ᾿Απόστολος παντοδαπὰς συχογαντίας ὑπέμεινεν. «Οἱ τὴν οἰκουμένην γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνά" στατώσαντες, οὗτοι καὶ ἐνθάδε πάρεισι. ν» Καὶ ὁ Κύριος δὲ τῶν μάτην σχανδαλιζομένων καταφρονεῖν χελεύει. Τῶν γὰρ ἀποστόλων εἰρηκότων ᾿ « Οἶδος ὅτι ἀχούσαντες οἱ Φαρισαῖοι τὸν λόγον ἐσχανδαλίεἶσιν ὁδηγοὶ τυφλῶν. » Παραχελεύεται τοίνυν μῆδι᾽ μίαν ἀφορμὴν εὐλόγου παρέχειν κατηγορίας. ε Μιᾶς γυναιχὺὸς ἄνδρα.» ᾿Αρχὴν εἶχε τὸ χήρνγμα, δὲ καρθενίαν οὐτς Ἕλληνες ἤσχουν, οὔτε Ἰουδαῖοι μετήκσαν" εὐλογίαν γὰρ τὴν παιδοποιίαν ἐνόμιζον, Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν κατ᾽ ἐχεῖνον τὸν χαιρὸν, οὐχ οἷόν τε ἦν ῥᾳδίως εὑρεῖν τοὺς τὴν ἀγνείαν ἀσχοῦντας, τῶν χελεύει χειροτονεῖν. Τὸ δὲ, μιᾶς γυναικὸς ἄνδρα, εὖ μοι δοχοῦσιν εἰρηκέναι τινές. Πάλαι γὰρ εἰώθει- «αν καὶ Ἕλληνες καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ δύο, καὶ τρισὶ, καὶ πλείοσι γυναιξὶ νόμῳ γάμου κατὰ ταυτὸν συνοἰχεῖν, Τινὲς δὲ καὶ νῦν, καίτοι τῶν βασιλιχῶν νόμων δύο χατὰ ταυτὸν ἄγεσθαι κωλυόντων γυναΐσαν τοίνυν τὸν θεῖον ᾿Απόστολον εἰρηχέναι, τὸν μιᾷ μόντ, γυναιχὶ συνοιχοῦντα σωφρόνως, τῆς ἐπισχοπιχῆς ἄξιον εἶναι χειροτονίας. Οὐ γὰρ τὸν δεύτερον, φασὶν, ἐξέδαλε γάμον, ὅγε πολλάχις τοῦτο γενέσθαι χελεύσας. ε Γυνὴ γὰρ, φησὶ, δέδεται νόμῳ ἐφ᾽ ὅσον χρόνον ζῇ ὁ ἀνὴρ αὐτῆς " ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ ὁ ἀνὴρ, ἢ ἐλευθέρα ἐστὶν ᾧ θέλει γαμηθῆναι, μόνον ἐν Κυρίῳ.» Καὶ πάλιν" « Λέγω δὲ ταῖς "" ἀγάμοις, καὶ ταῖς χῆραις " ν» καὶ συνάψας ἑχάτερον τάγμα, ἕνα τέϑειχε νόμον. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ ὑπερχειμένης τῆς ἐγχρατείας, οὐ τῆς γνώμης ἡ διγαμία, Εἰ μὲν γὰρ αὑτὸς τὴν προτέραν ἐχδαλὼν ἑτέρᾳ συνεζύγη, μέμψεως ἄξιος καὶ χατηγορίας ὑπεύθυνος. Εἰ δὲ τὸ βίαιον τοῦ θανάτου διέζευξε τὴν προτέραν, ἡ δὲ φύσις οὐκ ἐχ γνώμης, ἀλλ᾽ ἐχ περιστάσεως ὁ δεύτερος γεγένηται γάμος. Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα σχοπούμένος, ἀποδέχομαι τῶν οὕτω νενοηχότων τὴν ἑρμὴπεῖν τὸ πραχτέον δυνάμενον. « Σώφρονα. » Τῆς οὶ ψυχῆς τὸ κατόρθωμα. « Κόσμιον. » Καὶ φθέγματι, χκαὶ σχήματι, καὶ βλέμματι, καὶ βαδίσματι " ὥστε χλὶ διὰ τοῦ σώματος φαίνεσθαι τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς σωφροσύνην. « Φιλόξενον. » Φιλοφρόνως τοὺς ἐπιδημοῦντας ὑποδεχόμενον. « Διδαχτιχόν. » Οὐ τὸν εὐ- Ἡλωττίᾳ λέγει χεχοσμημένον, ἀλλὰ τὸν τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένον, καὶ παραινεῖν δυνάμενον τὰ προῖἦχοντα. ᾿ ### English translation (Claude) “The overseer, then, must be above reproach.” He must give no just pretext for blame. For by “above reproach” he does not mean free from slander; since the Apostle himself endured slanders of every kind: “For those who have turned the world upside down,” they say, “have come here also.” And the Lord too commands us to disregard those who take offence for nothing. For when the apostles said, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard the saying?” … “they are blind guides of the blind.” He commands, then, that one give no occasion for a reasonable accusation. “The husband of one wife.” The preaching was at its beginning, and neither did the Greeks practise virginity nor did the Jews pursue it; for they thought the begetting of children a blessing. Since, then, at that time it was not possible easily to find those who practised chastity, he bids them ordain … And as to “the husband of one wife,” some seem to me to have spoken well. For of old both Greeks and Jews were accustomed to live at the same time with two, and three, and more wives by the law of marriage. And some do so even now, although the imperial laws forbid taking two wives at the same time … They say, then, that the divine Apostle said that the man who lives chastely with one wife alone is worthy of episcopal ordination. For he did not, they say, exclude a second marriage, he who many times commanded that it take place. “For a wife,” he says, “is bound by law as long as her husband lives; but if the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.” And again: “But I say to the unmarried and to the widows,” and joining the two orders he laid down one law. For in truth, though continence is higher, digamy is not a matter of the will. For if a man himself put away his first wife and was joined to another, he is worthy of blame and liable to accusation. But if the violence of death separated him from the first, nature … not from choice but from circumstance the second marriage came about. Considering these and similar things, I accept the interpretation of those who have understood it so … able to … what is to be done. “Self-controlled”: the good order of the soul. “Orderly”: in speech, bearing, glance, and gait, so that the self-control of the soul appears through the body too. “Hospitable”: receiving visitors in a friendly way. “Apt to teach”: he does not mean one adorned with eloquence, but one trained in divine things and able to exhort what is fitting. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 3:2: quotation, high confidence - Acts 17:6: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:12: quotation, high confidence - Matt 15:14: quotation, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:39: quotation, high confidence - Rom 7:2: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Cor 7:8: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Theodoret accepts the reading of “the husband of one wife” as forbidding simultaneous wives (polygamy, still practised in his day despite imperial law), not a second marriage after the first wife's death, which Paul allowed (Rom 7:2; 1 Cor 7:8–9, 39); a man who has divorced his wife and married another is blameworthy. Translated as written. Quotations: 1 Tim 3:2; Acts 17:6; Matt 15:12, 14; 1 Cor 7:39; 1 Cor 7:8. Lines of the Greek column are lost in several places (marked …), and Migne's notes that leaked into the text are left out. ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 3.2 (PG 82:805; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2). ## On 1 Tim 3.12 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-3-12 - Source: PG 82:809 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret applies his reading of “the husband of one wife” to deacons as well. ### Greek text « Διάχονοι ἔστωσαν μιᾶς γυναιχὺς ἄνδρες. » Κατ' ἐχείνην τὴν ἑρμηνείαν καὶ τοῦτο νοητέον. « Τέχνων χαλῶς προϊστάμενοι, καὶ τῶν ἰδίων οἴχων.» Ταῦτα καὶ τοῖς χαλουμένοις ἐπισχόποις ἑἐνομοθέ- ### English translation (Claude) “Let deacons be husbands of one wife.” This too is to be understood according to that interpretation. “Managing their children and their own households well.” These things he legislated also for those called bishops … ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 3:12: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “That interpretation” is the one given at 1 Tim 3:2: the phrase excludes simultaneous wives, not a second marriage after a wife's death. Quotation: 1 Tim 3:12. The section breaks off mid-sentence. ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 3.12 (PG 82:809; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-12). ## On 1 Tim 5.9 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-5-9 - Source: PG 82:818 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret holds that “the wife of one husband” does not reject a second marriage, which Paul himself permitted, but requires chaste living in marriage. ### Greek text « Χήρα καταλεγέσθω μὴ ἔλαττον ἑτῶν ἐξήχοντα. » οὐχ εἶπε, μὴ ἔστω, ἀλλὰ, μὴ καταεγέσθω. Ὡς τῶν ἀκμαζουσῶν καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι καὶ τρέφεσθαι δυναμένων" ἃς καὶ τοῖς πόνοις δαμάζειν χρὴ τῆς ἀχμῆς τὰ σχιρτήματα. «ε Γεγονυῖα ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς γυνή. ν Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δῆλον, ὡς οὐ τὴν διγαμίαν ἐκβάλλει, ἀλλὰ τὸ σωφρόνως ἐν γάμῳ βιοῦν νομοθετεῖ, Οὐ γὰρ ἄνω τὸν δεύτερον γάμον νομοθετήσας σωματικῆς ἀπολαῦσαι θεραπείας ἐχώλυσε τὴν δευτέροις ὁμιλήσασαν γάμοις" ὅς Ὑς τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποιεῖν πρὸς πάντας διαγορεύει σαφῶς. ### English translation (Claude) “Let a widow be enrolled not less than sixty years old.” He did not say, “let her not be one,” but “let her not be enrolled”; as those in their prime are able both to work and to support themselves; and the friskiness of their prime must be tamed by labours. “Having been the wife of one husband.” From this too it is clear that he does not reject digamy, but legislates living chastely in marriage. For he who above laid down second marriage did not forbid one who had engaged in a second marriage to enjoy bodily care; he who plainly enjoins doing good to all. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:9: quotation, high confidence - Gal 6:10: allusion, high confidence - 1 Cor 7:39: allusion, medium confidence - 1 Tim 5:14: allusion, medium confidence ### Translation notes - Theodoret reads 1 Tim 5:9 as not excluding twice-married widows from the church's care. Translated as written. Quotations: 1 Tim 5:9; Gal 6:10; Paul's permission of second marriage (1 Cor 7:39; 1 Tim 5:14). OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 5.9 (PG 82:818; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/5-9). ## On 1 Tim 5.10 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-5-10 - Source: PG 82:818 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret explains that an enrolled widow must have brought up her children in piety, as Abraham did. ### Greek text « Ἐν ἔργοις χαλοῖς μαρτυρουμένη. » Εἶτα λέγει ταῦτα χατ᾽ εἶδος. ε Εἰ ἐτεχνοτρόφησεν. ν Οὐ τὸ θρέψαι μόνον ἀπαιτεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ εὐσεδῶς θρέψαι. Τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τοῦ ᾿Αδραάμ φησιν ὁ Θεός" ὅτι συνέταξε τοῖς υἱοῖς αὑτοῦ, καὶ τῷ οἴχῳ αὐτοῦ μετ᾽ αὐτὸν, φυλάττειν πάντα τὰ χρίματα Κυρίου τοῦ ### English translation (Claude) “Well attested for good works.” Then he lists these one by one. “If she has brought up children.” He requires not only that she have brought them up, but that she have brought them up piously. God says this about Abraham too: that he commanded his sons and his household after him to keep all the judgments of the Lord … ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:10: quotation, high confidence - Gen 18:19: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - The Greek of the digital text breaks off at “of the Lord”; the rest of the comment survives in the digital text only in Migne's Latin translation, which is not translated here. Quotations: 1 Tim 5:10; Gen 18:19. ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 5.10 (PG 82:818; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/5-10). ## On 1 Tim 5.11 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-5-11 - Source: PG 82:818 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret explains that younger widows are not to be enrolled because, maintained by the church without work, they fall into idleness and break their pledge by wishing to marry. ### Greek text « Νεωτέρας δὲ χῆρας παραιτοῦ, “Ὅταν γὰρ καταστρηνιάσωσι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, γαμεῖν θέλουσιν, ἔχουσαι χρῖμα, ὅτι τὴν πρώτην πίστιν ἠθέτησαν. » Τῷ γὰρ Χριστῷ συνταξάμεναι σωφρόνως ζῆν ἐν χηι΄. «ΓΑμα΄ δὲ καὶ ἀργαὶ μανθάνουσι περιερχόμεναι τὰς οἰκίας" οὐ μόνον δὲ ἀργαὶ, ἀλλὰ καὶ φλύαροι, καὶ περίεργοι, λαλοῦσαι τὰ μὴ δέοντα. » "ἔδειξε τὰς αἰτίας, δι᾽ ἃς αὐτὰς οὐχ ἐντάττει τῷ τῶν χηρῶν χαταλόγῳ. Τὸ δὲ, καταστρηγιάσωσιν, ἀντὶ τοῦ, Τὶς ἐχχλησιαστικῆς ἀπολαύουσαι θεραπείας, καὶ δίχα φροντίδος τὴν σωματιχὴν χομιζόμεναι χρείαν, ἀργίᾳ συντρέφονται" ἡ δὲ ἀργία εἰσάγει τὴν πονηρίαν. ᾿ ### English translation (Claude) “But refuse younger widows; for when they grow wanton against Christ, they wish to marry, incurring condemnation because they have set aside their first faith.” For they had pledged themselves to Christ to live chastely in widowhood. “At the same time they also learn to be idle, going about from house to house; and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not.” He has shown the reasons why he does not enter them on the roll of widows. And “grow wanton” stands for: enjoying the church's care and receiving their bodily needs without anxiety, they are nourished in idleness; and idleness brings in wickedness. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:11–13: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - “First faith” is the pledge made to Christ to live in widowhood. Quotations: 1 Tim 5:11–13. OCR slips corrected. ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 5.11 (PG 82:818; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/5-11). ## On 1 Tim 5.14 - URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/3-2/#p-5-14 - Source: PG 82:818 - Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 Summary: Theodoret notes that Paul wishes younger widows to remarry, against the Novatianists who reject second marriage, and that his rule was taught by experience. ### Greek text « Βούλομαι οὖν νεωτέρας χήρας γαμεῖν, τεχνογονεῖν, οἰχοδεσποτεῖν, μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν διδόνα: τῷ ἀντικειμένῳ λοιδορίας χάρ'ν. » Τοῦ θείου Παύλου λέγοντος, Βούλομαι, Ναυᾶτος λέγει, Οὐ βούλομαι. Λέγει δὲ καὶ τίνο; χάριν βούλεται. Ὥστε αὖτὶς, φησὶ, καὶ ἀνδράσιν ὑποχειμένας, καὶ “ἢ τῆς ναι, ἣν ἀργία γεννᾷ. Εἶτα καὶ σαφέστερον τούτου ιε΄, « Ἤδη γάρ τινες ἐξετράπησαν ὀπίσω τοῦ Σατανᾶ. » ᾿Απὸ πείρας ἡ νομοθεσία γεγένηται, ### English translation (Claude) “I wish, then, the younger widows to marry, to bear children, to manage their households, to give the adversary no occasion for reviling.” While the divine Paul says, “I wish,” Novatus says, “I do not wish.” And he says for what reason he wishes it: so that, he says, being subject to husbands too, and … which idleness begets. Then more clearly than this: “For some have already turned aside after Satan.” The legislation came from experience. ### Scripture references - 1 Tim 5:14–15: quotation, high confidence ### Translation notes - Novatus (Ναυᾶτος) stands for the Novatianists, who refused communion to the twice married; translated as written. Quotations: 1 Tim 5:14–15. A line is lost in the digital text (marked …). ### Citation (SBL) Theodoret, Interp. 1 Tim. 5.14 (PG 82:818; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/theodoret-interpretatio-1-timotheum/5-14).