Interpretations of Saint Ephraim the Syrian on the apocryphal letters of the Corinthians to the Apostle Paul and the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians

Epistle of the Corinthians to the Apostle Paul Third Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians After the Corinthians, thanks to the messages of the apostle, became like-minded (and turned away) from the divisions that they themselves caused among them, foreign seducers invaded them and led them into confusion. As a result of the envy of the evil one, who gained power among them, they openly preached the lies of their error in the public squares and did not hide this in the least from anyone they met. But the elders of Corinth, when they saw that those (false teachers) were spreading their preaching more and more from day to day, they hastened to write to the apostle and present (to his judgment) what they preached, so that he either personally arrived as quickly as possible, or sent a thorough refutation and denunciation of their speeches. For this and other reasons like this, they wrote an epistle and sent it to Paul with two most zealous deacons, saying this: Epistle of the Corinthians to the Apostle Paul 1. Stephen (1 Cor. 1:16, 16:15, 17) and the elders with him - joy to Paul, the brother-master. 2–3. Two certain men named Simon and Clovius came to Corinth and some to yourself. But they seduced them not with words of truth, but through corrupt speeches, which speeches you yourself must [now] recognize. 4. For we have never heard such speeches from you, nor from the other apostles, your comrades, which we hear from these people. 5. Only we know that we firmly hold what we heard from you and from the other apostles. Therefore, our sorrow is not for our own sake, but for the sake of the people. 6. But the Lord showed us great mercy in this, that while you are still with us in body, we again what we heard from you orally. 7. Or come to us as soon as possible. that or He revealed himself to Epheona and freed you Perhaps this (Epheon) was the name of the judge who put him in chains and put him in prison in the city of Philippi. 9. The false words they speak and teach are: 10. One should not, they say, accept prophets, but (only one) – the Gospel. 11. And God, they say, is not omnipotent, that is, the One who spoke through the Prophets is not God Almighty. 12. And there is no, they say, resurrection of the flesh. 13. And even man, they say, was not created by God at all, 14. And not [with] an earthly body, they say, he came Our Lord, but (with) the heavenly body, - and does not admit that He was born of the Virgin Mary, for He, they say, passed through it in such a way that He did not receive anything from it. 16. And the world, they think, is not the creation of God, but of angels certain, that is, those seven stewards. But this is the system of teachers of the Vardesan sect, and therefore the Desanites did not allow this message into their “Apostle”. The Apostle (Paul) already said about this in the Acts of the Apostles: “after me, when I am gone, fierce wolves will come in among you, who will not spare the disciples, and from among you... men will rise up speaking perverse things, and will entice the disciples to follow them” (Acts 20:29-30). So, from the days of the Apostle, as the Apostle himself predicted and as the Corinthians wrote, this sect was founded. Vardesan's students think that this was the invention of Vardesan, their teacher. They also wrote “πράξεις αυτων” for the purpose of using the miracles and signs of the Apostles they composed to express in writing (their own) atheism against which the Apostles were armed. they say (the Corinthians in their letter to the Apostle), We wrote this message to you so that you hurry up thanks to your presence and your speeches, the city of Corinthians remained without temptation and, madness, through open [national] proof truth and your preaching, was shamed and rejected in front of everyone. Third Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians 1. They took it and brought the message to the city of the Philippians. And one day it was the day of Paul’s persecution, when he was beaten with sticks and thrown into prison, because he had driven out an evil spirit from a maid who went around predicting the future - they were afraid to go to him (themselves) and sent a message to him through But this was not that night (which is narrated in Acts 16:25), because that night there was an earthquake, and the doors of the prison were all opened, and his chains were loosened, and the jailer brought them out of there and brought them to his house (Acts 16:12-40). 2. When he received the message, he forgot his bonds and was grieved for the words he heard. 3–4. And he said with tears: how much better it would be for me if I died and were with the Lord in hope and peace, rather than that after I have suffered “chains” from people, the priests of “Satan” should again succeed to confuse and seduce the people whom I convert. 5. And thus Paul, with much suffering, which he suffered from persecutors and seducers, The Corinthians shed tears and said: 1. Paul, prisoner of Jesus Christ, that is, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to the brothers in Corinth, out of [the midst of] much tribulation, which I suffer from torture, chains and slander (concerning me) that is, I am very surprised that that the delights of evil are spreading so quickly in the world. 3. But our Lord Jesus Christ will make His coming sooner because they despise pervert the truth of His words. that is, from the time I saw you, - taught you what I heard from those Apostles who all the time gospel (gospel) 5. that Jesus Christ was born of Mary, - and according to the promise of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven to her, and not from Joseph’s cohabitation with her. 6. And this happened because all flesh through His flesh, and so that He would raise us from the dead with flesh, just as He showed Himself as a model. 7. The first man was created by the Father, and not by stewards (angels or aeons), as those (false teachers) claim. 8. Therefore, even in destruction, he was received from the Son, - not in order to be punished and die according to justice, since he destroyed himself through sin, - but to get revitalization by grace and be made worthy worlds, that is, all ages, - He is the Almighty, who created heaven and earth, - and not Angels at all, as your seducers preach, “He sent prophets first to the Jews, so that through their admonitions, wanted to save the house of Israel, - as evidenced by the care that He had for them through (the message to them) “Prophets”. Therefore He gave from the spirit of Christ and sent to the prophets, that is: the Spirit who spoke through the Apostles, He also spoke to the Prophets proclaimed true worship of God and the birth of Christ for many times, that is: one thousand four hundred and thirty years, for about so many years passed from the exodus of the Jews from the land of the Egyptians to the coming of our Lord. 11. But he who was an illegitimate prince, desiring to become God, laid on his hand to kill them to bind all the flesh of men through lust. He called him “prince” because he has dominion over the army of his comrades, and he called him “illegal” because he was not content with dominion over demons, but also over people even wanted to become God. And he did not kill the prophets himself, but through his prophets - and also with the help of Jezebel, Ahab and similar kings, he “beat” the prophets so that they would not preach the truth and open the eyes (teach) those whom they called gods of stone, wood and other ones cast from (metals) and consisting of material substance (images), and did not understand this. And he bound all the flesh of men through lust,” he says. Notice and see that “through lust” he fettered, and did not overcome by violence. He did not, of course, bind all people with one lust, nor did he bind one person with many lusts - for there is no such person who would be oppressed by all (lusts) or would be bound by all - but he bound each of the people with the lust that was aroused in him, so that liberation would not follow him forever. 12. But God Almighty in His justice, - since dominion belongs to Him and He did not appropriate it through abduction, as your teachers claim, - it was not pleasing to Him that Satan should rule over people - although he (Satan) led them into sin through deception, and not by force, however, he did not allow him to do this and did not allow it, for had mercy on His creation, when it destroyed itself with its own hands. 13–14. He sent the Holy Spirit fieryly, Since for liberation there was not a single person (of people) who could defeat (the devil) in the flesh (being present), then our Lord took on flesh and through it conquered. Those who after Him became imitators of Him also won, so there is no justification for those who will be guilty of it (the flesh). 15. Further: since the flesh submitted to the enemy and he (the enemy) “through” it introduced (sinful) lust into everything, then our Lord put on flesh and through it was tempted in the desert by Satan. Then there was he (Satan) defeated and exposed that he is not God over the world as he himself dreamed in his mind. That he was not God, of course, he himself knew, but still he thought that he would be God thanks to the victory that he would then win over all flesh. But when our Lord defeated him - not heavenly, but of the same nature as that which was captivated by him - then (Satan) recognized 16–18. For in His body,” he says, “Jesus Christ called and saved all flesh, so that in His very body He might reveal the holy church of righteousness, that is, to show by the deeds of his body how a person could be a church of righteousness. through the same Body we are redeemed from the death of sin (sinful) and from the death of the body (physical). - for if we had works of righteousness, we would expect a righteous reward and would not deny the resurrection of our bodies, - but the sons of wrath are those who are kind to the mercy of God, who appeared in resurrection, take it away from themselves, saying that heaven and earth and all creatures are not the works of God the Father of all, but of princes. But they have the damned faith of the serpent, - that is, either they affirmed the condemnation that followed due to the curse of the serpent, namely: “dust you were and to dust you will return [again]” (Gen. 3:19), - or just as the serpent and the one who was in the serpent believed that the house (descendants) of Adam will remain on earth forever, so they believe. 21–23. But you, by force, distance yourself from them, that is, reject their words, - and further sweep away their false teachings from you, - for this is their teaching, and not the Spirit, - and the devil (this is the teaching) who rules over them, and not God. 24–25. If they say that there is no resurrection of the flesh, then for them there will [really] be no resurrection, - not because they (generally) deny the resurrection, but because they turn out to be deniers of the One Who in this exact way (i.e. bodily) 26–27. But, men of Corinth, they are grains of wheat, like other seeds, which fall bare [into the ground] and decay, But just as seeds, by the will of God, arise clothed in the same body, - not in the same shell that “sinks” with them into the ground, (other grains of the same type), and (God) blesses them and adorns them with the shell, stem and awn, which the earth imparts to them: in the same way, the will of God will resurrect the body as if clothed and adorned, not with the rags that fall with it into the ground, but with the glory that is sent to it from heaven. 28–31. And one more thing: what seems more difficult to you: - either, what Jonah was thrown into the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, and then from the depths of the abyss God heard his prayer, and he was plucked out, and nothing - or that the flesh that was subjected to death (which died) should live again, her Life-Giver, died and “came to life”? 32–33. And if also the bones of Elisha gave life to the dead man who fell on them: then how much more are you, who are affirmed, on the blood and flesh and spirit of Christ, that is, on His humanity, which was subject to death, and on His Divinity, which does not die - since He, out of His love, descended into the tomb with His body - and therefore corruption did not prevail over Him: How much more will you arise on that day with your body intact, which was scattered in the form of dust in the middle of the earth? 34–35. If you recklessly accept anything else from those (false teachers) or from others who will appear after them, then let no one bother me ahead, because, like children, I constantly write to you, - for I bear these bonds on myself in order to gain Christ. And I also received these ulcers on my body (endure) from torture, stoning and persecution, to achieve the resurrection, which is [that is] from the dead. And this is because (the false teachers) rejected it (the resurrection of the dead) and tell you that you should not accept [believe] the prophets. 36. And [everyone] who [firmly] adheres to the rule of rank, that is, the truth that he received through [from the hands of] the blessed prophets and also through the Holy Gospel, for this, as for his deeds, will receive reward at the resurrection of the dead. 37. If anyone is of little faith and transgresses what we gave him, then that is, fire is his fate and destiny. And not only him, but also those who thus lived [lived] in the world without God. 38. For they are the offspring of vipers and basilisks, which bite people and kill them with the poison of their tongue.