Abba Poemen : A brother asked Abba Poemen saying, "Why do the demons persuade my soul to look up to him who is superior to me and make me despise him who is my inferior?" The old man replied, "About that, the apostle has this to say: 'In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware; and if anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work.' " — SAYINGS OF THE FATHERS 100 Ambrosiaster : Paul indicates that the church has diverse members, who are at differing levels of maturity. The heretic Novatian believes that this passage applies to the world, since he defends the general truth and holiness of his church. But this is wrong. — COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY Augustine of Hippo : For, when showing, in his letter to Antonianus, that no man ought to sever himself from the unity of the Church before the time of the final separation of the just and unjust, merely because of the admixture of evil men in the Church, when he makes it manifest how holy he was, and deserving of the illustrious martyrdom which he won, he says, "What swelling of arrogance it is, what forgetfulness of humility and gentleness, that any one should dare or believe that he can do what the Lord did not grant even to the apostles,—to think that he can distinguish the tares from the wheat, or, as if it were granted to him to carry the fan and purge the floor, to endeavor to separate the chaff from the grain! And whereas the apostle says, 'But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth,' that he should seem to choose those of gold and of silver, and despise and cast away and condemn those of wood and of earth, when really the vessels of wood are only to be burned in the day of the Lord by the burning of the divine conflagration, and those of earth are to be broken by Him to whom the 'rod of iron has been given.'" By this argument, therefore, against those who, under the pretext of avoiding the society of wicked men, had severed themselves from the unity of the Church, Cyprian shows that by the great house of which the apostle spoke, in which there were not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, he understood nothing else but the Church, in which there should be good and bad, till at the last day it should be cleansed as a threshing-floor by the winnowing-fan. — ON BAPTISM, AGAINST THE DONATISTS 4.12.19 Augustine of Hippo : That law of charity was pronounced by the lips of the Lord Christ, for those parables are his about the cockle scattered through the world in the unity of the field until the time of the harvest and about the bad fishes which are to be left in the same net until the time for landing on the shore. — LETTERS 108.3.11 Augustine of Hippo : But in the Christian community, as far as sharing and communion in the sacraments goes, they have been multiplied beyond number. So number is one thing; beyond number is something else. Number is those of whom the apostle says, The Lord knows who are his. There are some beyond number, though, because in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also ones of wood and earthenware; some for noble, others for ignoble use. Number, then, applies to vessels for noble use; beyond number are vessels for ignoble use. — SERMONS 15.2 Basil of Caesarea : Every one of us, indeed, who is instructed in the holy Scripture is the administrator of some one of those gifts which, according to the gospel, have been apportioned to us. In this great household of the church not only are there vessels of every kind—gold, silver, wooden and earthen—but also a great variety of pursuits. — HOMILY ON THE WORDS: 'GIVE HEED TO THYSELF.' Cyprian : For although there seem to be tares in the Church, yet neither our faith nor our charity ought to be hindered, so that because we see that there are tares in the Church we ourselves should withdraw from the Church: we ought only to labour that we may be wheat, that when the wheat shall begin to be gathered into the Lord's barns, we may receive fruit for our labour and work. The apostle in his epistle says, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honour and some to dishonour." Let us strive, dearest brethren, and labour as much as we possibly can, that we may be vessels of gold or silver. But to the Lord alone it is granted to break the vessels of earth, to whom also is given the rod of iron. The servant cannot be greater than his lord, nor may any one claim to himself what the Father has given to the Son alone, so as to think that he can take the fan for winnowing and purging the threshing-floor, or can separate by human judgment all the tares from the wheat. That is a proud obstinacy and a sacrilegious presumption which a depraved madness assumes to itself. And while some are always assuming to themselves more dominion than meek justice demands, they perish from the Church; and while they insolently extol themselves, blinded by their own swelling, they lose the light of truth. For which reason we also, keeping moderation, and considering the Lord's balances, and thinking of the love and mercy of God the Father, have long and carefully pondered with ourselves, and have weighed what was to be done with due moderation. — Epistle L.3 Cyprian : Then, moreover, what a swelling of arrogance it is, what oblivion of humility and gentleness, what a boasting of his own arrogance, that any one should either dare, or think that he is able, to do what the Lord did not even grant to the apostles; that he should think that he can discern the tares from the wheat, or, as if it were granted to him to bear the fan and to purge the threshing-floor, should endeavour to separate the chaff from the wheat; and since the apostle says, "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth," should think to choose the vessels of gold and of silver, to despise, to cast away, and to condemn the vessels of wood and of clay; while the vessels of wood are not burnt up except in the day of the Lord by the flame of the divine burning, and the vessels of clay are only broken by Him to whom is given the rod of iron. — Epistle LI Jerome : Noah's ark was a type of the church.… As in the ark there were all kinds of animals, so also in the church there are men of all races and characters. As in the one there was the leopard with the kids, the wolf with the lambs, so in the other there are found the righteous and sinners, that is, vessels of gold and silver with those of wood and earth. — Dialogue Against the Luciferians 22 John Chrysostom : Many men are still even now perplexed to account for the fact, that the wicked are suffered to remain, and are not yet destroyed. Now doubtless various reasons may be assigned for this, as, that they may be converted, or that by their punishment they may be made an example to the multitude. But Paul here mentions a similar case. For he says, "In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and earth." Showing by this, that as in a great house it is likely there should be a great difference of vessels, so here also, in the whole world, for he speaks not of the Church only, but of the world at large. For think not, I pray, that he means it of the Church; for there he would not have any vessels of wood or of earth, but all of gold or silver where is the body of Christ, where is that "pure virgin, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." (Eph. v. 27) And this is what he means to say: Let it not disturb thee that there are corrupt and wicked men. For in a great house there are such vessels. But what then? they do not receive the same honor. But some are to honor and some to dishonor. "Nay," says one, "in a house they may be of some use, but not at all in the world." Though God employs them not for such honorable service, he makes use of them for other purposes. "If therefore a man purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified." Seest thou that it is not of nature, nor of the necessity of matter, to be a vessel of gold or of earth, but of our own choice? For otherwise the earthen could not become gold, nor could the golden descend to the vileness of the other. But in this case there is much change, and alteration of state. Paul was an earthen vessel, and became a golden one. Judas was a golden vessel, and became an earthen one. The earthen vessels, therefore, are such from uncleanness. The fornicator and the covetous man become earthen vessels. "If a man," he says, "purge himself from these," not merely "cleanse," but "cleanse out," that is, cleanse himself perfectly, "he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use." The others therefore are useless for any good purpose, though some use is made of them. "And prepared unto every good work." Even though he do it not, he is fit for it, and has a capacity for it. We ought therefore to be prepared for everything, even for death, for martyrdom, for a life of virginity, or for all these. — Homily on 2 Timothy 6 Oecumenius : In a large house, there are not only golden and silver vessels, but also wooden and pottery, some of which are for honor, and others for dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Even now there are some who marvel at why the wicked are not destroyed. And we say that just as in a large house there are various vessels, so too in the world there are different kinds of people, not made so by God. For how could the wicked have the power to cleanse themselves? For this, going forward, commands those who lead themselves to this. and others for dishonor, such as wooden and pottery items. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself. If the pottery vessel is something dishonorable and unclean, for Paul said, "If anyone purifies himself," how then does he speak concerning the apostles, "Having therefore this treasure in earthen vessels"? (2 Cor. 4:7) And we say that there it discusses the nature of the body, not as something impure, but as something made of clay and earth. For from these the shell, the hard shell, is received there, as in relation to the comparison of the treasure contained within it. However, here it discusses virtue and wickedness, calling the wicked ones "pottery" and the virtuous ones "golden." Such persons are able, by their own choice, to be changed, both toward the good and toward the bad. a vessel for honor. As for vessels made of gold and pottery in a house, the vessels always remain the same. But for such-shaped people, it is serious that the pottery becomes gold, and the gold through negligence becomes pottery. Therefore, if someone cleanses himself from these wooden and pottery-like people, as having nothing of their kind, he becomes useful to the Master, since those others are clearly useless. prepared for every good work. Even if now is not the time or opportunity to do this, one must nevertheless be ready and prepared to endure persecutions, sufferings, and martyrdom. On divine teaching and a life pure and peaceful even toward adversaries. — COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY Origen of Alexandria : God who from the beginning felt it just to arrange his creation according to merit gathered the diversities of minds into the harmony of a single world, so as to furnish, as it were, out of these diverse vessels or souls or minds one house. In this house there must be "not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some unto honor and some unto dishonor." — ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 2.9.6 Pelagius : The house described by Paul cannot be the church, which is pure, but must be the world with its mixture of wheat and tares. — PELAGIUS'S COMMENTARY ON THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY Theodore of Mopsuestia : Here the house is the church, where different persons are not at all equal, yet each serves his or her use. — COMMENTARY ON 2 TIMOTHY Theodoret of Cyrus : Paul applies the image of the great house to the world, where the golden vessels are persons of faith and virtue, the silver those who embrace civil life virtuously and righteously and the wooden those who live irreverent and disgraceful lives. — INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY