Commentary on the Twelve Prophets

Commentary on the Prophet Jonah

COMMENTARY ON THE PROPHET JONAH he god of both the Old and the New covenant is one, the Lord and maker of all things, who with one end in view made dispositions for both the former and the latter.1 While of old he had determined with himself the manifestation of the future condition of things, whose commencement he brought to light in the Incarnation of Christ the Lord, he nevertheless judged it necessary for us first, to take on this condition—I mean our present one—and later, to be transformed into the other through the resurrection from the dead so that we might realize by comparison the greatness of the goods revealed. Then, for the purpose of making it clear and to prevent it being thought novel that he had at a later stage made plans and decisions in our regard, he conveyed to human beings through other means as well the coming of Christ the Lord so that all Jews might look forward to it from a distance. [320] This he achieved in particular through the promises he made to Abraham and David, in the former case, that through his offspring all the nations would be blessed, and, in the latter, that he would guarantee the monarchy in perpetuity to his descendants.2 So though in popular belief these things suggested the person in whom they were due to be fulfilled, the reality of the events was seen to take effect in the Incarnation of Christ the Lord, in whom the nations proved to be truly blessed and the monarchy guaranteed in perpetuity to his descendants.3 Hence God’s providence for the people 1. Theodore speaks of the Old and New diaqhvkh, probably with each covenant in mind rather than exclusively its literary record, as would be suggested by “testament.” He also speaks of God’s dispositions within that context as oijkonomiva, the preeminent exemplar being the Incarnation. 2. See Gn 12.3, 2 Sm 7.13–16. 3. While Theodore in the course of commentary on the text of each prophet focuses narrowly on the historical events involved, in the introductions to each 185 proved to be considerable, since everyone kept in mind the promises given and looked forward to the expected coming of Christ the Lord. This was the reason why he made a great number of dispositions in the Old covenant in such a way that the happenings both provided the people of the time with the greatest benefit and also contained a revelation of the developments that would emerge later, as well as the fact that the excellence of these latter would be seen to surpass the former. In this way the events in olden times were found to be a kind of type of what came later, containing some outline of them as well as meeting needs at the time, while suggesting by the events themselves how far they were inferior to the later ones. Thus God brought Israel out of Egypt and freed them from that harsh slavery; by causing the death of the firstborn, he thus completely secured the salvation of the Israelites. By a sign he determined that they would not experience the same fate as the Egyptians, this being the marking of the doorposts with blood.4 Now, while these events at that time provided the Israelites with great benefit in that they were enabled to enjoy them, in some fashion they also prefigured by way of a type the fact that Christ the Lord would similarly rescue us, not from the slavery of Egypt but from that of death and sin. This he secured for us with the anointing of his own blood: by shedding it for all and undergoing death for us, he effected the resurrection of the dead and provided us all, freed as we are from all slavery thereby, with the expectation of enjoying immortality, incorruption, and sinlessness. We shall not dwell in the promised land like them, but we shall be in the kingdom of heaven. It becomes obvious to everyone from experience itself how great the difference is between the two, as well as the fact that, whereas they had the advantage of those things for a short 186 THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA he adopts a wider perspective that is eschatological and even Christological. And, as an Antiochene, at these times he evinces a concern for the overarching context in which particular oracles and events occur, the whole...