Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
☀️
1 Corinthians III, 11 — ‘παρὰ τὸν κείμενον’ - ‘para ton keimenon’ - ‘to the proximity with’. The preposition ‘para’ with the accusative. It means here ‘alongside’. These words literally mean that there cannot be two foundations ‘on an equal footing’ - Christ and another one alongside. This is exactly what Christ said about ‘serving two masters’. Translations mostly omit this nuance, giving simply ‘than; besides’.
1 Corinthians III, 13 — ‘ἡμέρα’ - ‘emera’ - ‘day’. ‘ἐν πυρὶ’ - ‘en pyri’ - ‘in fire; by fire’. Both variants are possible, although they have a slightly different meaning.
1 Corinthians III, 16 — ‘ἐν ὑμῖν’ - ‘en ymin’ - ‘in you’.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082023.html
Matthew XIV, 22, 32 — ‘εἰς τὸ πλοῖον’ - ‘eis to ploion’ - ‘into the boat; to the boat; to the vessel; into the vessel’. Most likely ‘boat’. ‘εἰς τὸ πέραν’ - ‘eis to peran’ - ‘there, through; to the other side’. It is a common expression that is translated by the second phrase.
Matthew XIV, 23 — ‘εἰς τὸ ὄρος’ - ‘eis to oros’ - ‘’on the mountain‘’.
Matthew XIV, 24 — ‘ὑπὸ τῶν κυμάτων’ - ‘hypo ton kymaton’ - ‘through the waves’. The preposition ‘hypo’ is with the genitive case, and the only possible meaning here is ‘through the waves’.
Matthew XIV, 26 — ‘ἀπὸ τοῦ φόβου’ - ‘apo tou phobou’ - ‘’out of fear’. The preposition ‘apo’ emphasises the fact that they were not in control of their emotions and fear.
Matthew XIV, 29 — ‘ἀπὸ τοῦ πλοίου’ - ‘apo tou ploion’ - ‘from the boat’. The preposition ‘apo’ indicates that Peter left the boat completely.
Matthew XIV, 31 — ‘εἰς τί ἐδίστασας’ - ‘eis ti idestasas’ - literally ‘in what you doubted, wavered’. The preposition ‘eis’ emphasises that Peter was in doubt, ‘’swayed‘’ by doubt. This ‘what’ in Christ's words seems to have become a ‘point where Peter was caught’, a ‘trap’ for him. For more on Christ's words and an in-depth analysis of the topic of little faith in general, please follow this link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/PowerOfHuman.html
I will also provide my comments on the publication here at the link:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/eykMH1ZcZsZYSXhK/
Christ Himself refers to doubt as one of the signs of little faith and, as a result, weakness and powerlessness. He does not mention fear in this context at all.
Peter was really scared when he walked on the waters, because it was a natural reaction. When he looked at the waves, the wind, he was also scared. But he began to sink only when he doubted, earning the name of ‘one of little faith’ from Christ.
Otherwise, Christ ‘puts faith and fear opposite and side by side’: ‘Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well’ (Luke VIII, 50). But Jairus, to whom these words were addressed, like Peter, believed even though he was afraid. Christ wanted faith, like love elsewhere, to ‘’cast out fear‘’, which is not of God. But fear did not oppose faith, only Christ wanted it to be gone.
Another example is Moses. It is not known whether he was afraid, the Scripture does not say at all. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. But he did not enter the land of God's promise because of… doubt. He doubted whether he would be able to draw water from the rock at Meribah, and he miraculously did, but the Lord did not allow him to enter, showing him the importance of faith.
Doubt only signals that a person can be wrong. But this is known without it. They say that doubt drives progress, development, but it is not doubt but new faith that drives progress. It leads, not doubt.
And another argument from the Fathers. Natural will is ‘the simple vital and at the same time reasonable ability to desire what is in accordance with nature’. Reasonable here means connected with reason, intelligence, and knowledge. When a person has doubts, it is precisely because their mind is divided, and therefore the natural will cannot be whole, and therefore cannot be obedient to God's will, as it is in Christ. That is, a priori, in this case, a person sins. ‘What does not come from faith is sin.’ As for fear, it is a passion, a tangible movement in nature that is caused by something that is not inherent in nature. This movement may be non-sinful, and therefore not contrary to obedience to God's will.
Here it is implicitly assumed that God's will cannot desire two things for a person at the same time, which the human consciousness considers mutually exclusive. If it does seem so to a person, then… Then the person simply needs to eliminate the concept of doubt from the description of the situation — it is not doubt, it is only an incomplete understanding of the whole, of God's will.
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Matthew XIV, 33 — ‘ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ’ - ‘en to ploio’ - ‘in the boat’.
Matthew XIV, 34 — ‘εἰς Γεννησαρέτ’ - ‘eis Gennesaret’ - ‘to Gennesaret’.
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082023.html
To the apostle Titus:
Titus I, 3, 4 — ‘ἐν κηρύγματι’ - ‘en kerygmati’ - ‘in preaching; by preaching’. More likely the former. ‘ἡμῶν’ - ‘emon’ - ‘us’ (our).
Titus I, 4 — ‘ἀπὸ θεοῦ πατρὸς’ - ‘apo theou patros’ - ‘from God the Father’. The preposition ‘apo’ here emphasises that grace is a gift from God.
Titus III, 3 — ‘ἦμεν’ - ‘emen’ - ‘were’. ‘ἡμεῖς’ - ‘emeis’ - ‘we’. ‘ἐν κακίᾳ’ - ‘en kakia’ - ‘in evil; in malice; by evil’. Most likely the first two, although figuratively Paul could have said the third, with a similar meaning to Acts IX, 1:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/05052023.html
Titus III, 15 — ‘ἐμοῦ’ - ‘emou’ - (with) ‘me’. ‘ἡμᾶς’ - ‘emas’ - ‘us’. ‘ἐν πίστει’ - ‘en pistei’ - ‘in faith; by faith’. More likely the former.
Readings that emphasise Titus' closeness to the apostle Paul.
See also:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17082024.html
For more information on the Gospel reading, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24052023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!