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1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity. 8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. 9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; 10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. 11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
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[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:1
On the other hand, for our own petition, when we say, "Hallowed be Thy name," we pray this; that it may be hallowed in us who are in Him, as well in all others for whom the grace of God is still waiting; that we may obey this precept, too, in "praying for all," even for our personal enemies.

Source: On Prayer
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:1
I think that supplication is a prayer offered with a special request for something a person lacks. From this is distinguished prayer which is more plainly offered with simple praise, not to obtain a request but simply to praise the nobility of great things. And I think that intercession is a petition for certain things addressed to God by someone who has some greater boldness, while thanksgiving is a statement of gratitude made with prayers for receiving good things from God, either when it is a great thing that is received and acknowledged with gratitude or when the greatness of the benefit is apparent only to the one who has benefited. ON PRAYER 14.2.Ambrosiaster: “Supplications” are on behalf of secular rulers, that they may have obedient subjects, and thus peace and tranquillity. “Prayers” are for those to whom power has been entrusted, that they may govern with justice and truth, so that all may prosper. “Intercessions” are for those in dire necessity, that they may find help. And “thanksgivings” refer to gratitude for God’s daily providences. Commentary on the First Letter to Timothy.
Theodore of Mopsuestia: Here supplications express the desire for good things from God. Prayers express the desire to be released from various evils. Intercessions ask for freedom from undeserved consequences. And thanksgivings express gratitude for blessings. Commentary on 1 Timothy.
Augustine: I prefer to understand by these words what the entire, or almost the entire, church observes: that we take as supplications those prayers which are said in celebrating the mysteries, before we begin to consecrate what lies on the table of the Lord. Prayers are said when it is blessed and sanctified and broken for distribution; and the whole church, for the most part, closes this complete petition with the Lord’s Prayer. The original Greek word helps us to understand this distinction: the Scripture seldom uses the word euche in the sense of oratio, but generally and much more frequently euchē means votum; whereas proseuchē,the word used in the passage we are treating, is always rendered by oratio.… Now, all the things which are offered to God are vowed, especially the oblation at the holy altar, for in this sacrament we show forth that supreme offering, by which we vow to abide in Christ, even to the union of the body of Christ. The outward sign of this is that “we, being many, are one bread, one body.” Consequently, I think that at this consecration and this preparation for Communion the apostle fittingly wishes that proseuchas, that is, prayers, should be made, or, as some have unskillfully rendered it, adoration, that is, what takes place at the offering, although this is more commonly expressed in Scripture by euchē. Intercessions, however, or, as your texts have it, requests, are offered while the blessing is being given to the people, for at that time, by the laying on of hands, the bishops, as intercessors, offer the members of their flock to the most merciful Power. When this is completed and all have received the holy sacrament, the whole is ended by thanksgiving, and this last is the very term called to our notice by the apostle. LETTERS 149.2.16.
John Cassian: “Supplication’ is a beseeching or petition for sins.… “Prayers” are those by which we offer a vow to God.… “Intercession” is customarily offered, in moments of fervor, for other men and women—our family, the peace of the world. To use St. Paul’s words, we pray “for all men, for kings and all in authority.” … “Thanksgiving” is when the mind recollects what God has done or is doing or looks forward to the good which he has prepared for those who love him, and so offers its gratitude in an indescribable transport of spirit. Sometimes it offers still deeper prayers of this sort; when the soul contemplates in singleness of heart the reward of the saints and so is moved in its happiness to pour forth a wordless thanksgiving.

Source: Conferences 9.11-14
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 1 Timothy 2:1
“Supplications” are on behalf of secular rulers, that they may have obedient subjects, and thus peace and tranquillity. “Prayers” are for those to whom power has been entrusted, that they may govern with justice and truth, so that all may prosper. “Intercessions” are for those in dire necessity, that they may find help. And “thanksgivings” refer to gratitude for God’s daily providences. .
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:1
The priest serves as the common father, as it were, of all the world. It is proper therefore that he should care for all, even as God, whom he serves cares for all.… From this, two advantages result. First, hatred toward those who are outside the circle is transcended, for no one can feel hatred toward those for whom he prays. Those apart are made better by the prayers that are offered for them, by losing their ferocious disposition toward us. For nothing is so apt to draw men under teaching as to love and to be loved.

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 6
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:1
Let us then exhort the saints to give thanks for us. And let us exhort one another toward gratitude. To ministers especially this good work belongs, since it is an exceeding privilege. Drawing near to God, we give thanks for the whole world and the good things we commonly share. The blessings of God are shared in common, and in this common preservation you yourselves are included. Consequently, you both owe common thanksgivings for your own peculiar blessings and for those shared in common with others, for which you rightly should offer your own special form of praise.… So then let us give thanks also for the faith that others have toward God. This custom is an ancient one, planted in the church from the beginning. Thus Paul also gives thanks for the Romans, for the Corinthians3 and for the whole world.

Source: HOMILIES ON SECOND CORINTHIANS 2.5
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:1-4
The Priest is the common father, as it were, of all the world; it is proper therefore that he should care for all, even as God, Whom he serves. For this reason he says, "I exhort therefore that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men." From this, two advantages result. First, hatred towards those who are without is done away; for no one can feel hatred towards those for whom he prays: and they again are made better by the prayers that are offered for them, and by losing their ferocious disposition towards us. For nothing is so apt to draw men under teaching, as to love, and be loved. Think what it was for those who persecuted, scourged, banished, and slaughtered the Christians, to hear that those whom they treated so barbarously offered fervent prayers to God for them. Observe how he wishes a Christian to be superior to all ill-treatment. As a father who was struck on the face by a little child which he was carrying, would not lose anything of his affection for it; so we ought not to abate in our good will towards those who are without, even when we are stricken by them. What is "first of all"? It means in the daily Service; and the initiated know how this is done every day both in the evening and the morning, how we offer prayers for the whole world, for kings and all that are in authority. But some one perhaps will say, he meant not for all men, but for all the faithful. How then does he speak of kings? For kings were not then worshipers of God, for there was a long succession of ungodly princes. And that he might not seem to flatter them, he says first, "for all men," then "for kings"; for if he had only mentioned kings, that might have been suspected. And then since the soul of some Christians might be slow at hearing this, and reject the exhortation, if at the celebration of the holy Mysteries it was necessary to offer prayers for a heathen king, he shows them the advantage of it, thus at least to reconcile them to the advice, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life"; as much as to say, Their safety is a security to us; as also in his Epistle to the Romans, he exhorts them to obey their rulers, "not for wrath but for conscience' sake." [Romans 13:5] For God has appointed government for the public good. When therefore they make war for this end, and stand on guard for our security, were it not unreasonable that we should not offer prayers for their safety in wars and dangers? It is not therefore flattery, but agreeable to the rules of justice. For if they were not preserved, and prospered in their wars, our affairs must necessarily be involved in confusion and trouble; and if they were cut off, we must either serve ourselves, or be scattered up and down as fugitives. For they are a sort of bulwarks thrown up before us, within which those who are inclosed are in peace and safety.

He says, "supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks." For we must give thanks to God for the good that befalls others, as that He makes the sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sends His rain both upon the just and the unjust. Observe how he would unite and bind us together, not only by prayer but by thanksgiving. For he who is urged to thank God for his neighbor's good, is also bound to love him, and be kindly disposed towards him. And if we must give thanks for our neighbor's good, much more for what happens to ourselves, and for what is unknown, and even for things against our will, and such as appear grievous to us, since God dispenses all things for our good.

Moral. Let every prayer of ours, then, be accompanied with thanksgiving. And if we are commanded to pray for our neighbors, not only for the faithful, but for the unbelieving also, consider how wrong it is to pray against your brethren. What? Has He commanded you to pray for your enemies, and do you pray against your brother? But your prayer is not against him, but against yourself. For you provoke God by uttering those impious words, "Show him the same!" "So do to him!" "Smite him!" "Recompense him!" Far be such words from the disciple of Christ, who should be meek and mild. From the mouth that has been vouchsafed such holy Mysteries, let nothing bitter proceed. Let not the tongue that has touched the Lord's Body utter anything offensive, let it be kept pure, let not curses be borne upon it. For if "revilers shall not inherit the kingdom of God" [1 Corinthians 6:10], much less those who curse. For he that curses must be injurious; and injuriousness and prayer are at variance with each other, cursing and praying are far apart, accusation and prayer are wide asunder. Do you propitiate God with prayer, and then utter imprecations? If you forgive not, you will not be forgiven. [Matthew 6:15] But instead of forgiving, you beseech God not to forgive; what excessive wickedness in this! If the unforgiving is not forgiven, he that prays his Lord not to forgive, how shall he be forgiven? The harm is to yourself, not him. For though your prayers were on the point of being heard for yourself, they would never be accepted in such a case, as offered with a polluted mouth. For surely the mouth that curses is polluted with all that is offensive and unclean.

When you ought to tremble for your own sins, to wrestle earnestly for the pardon of them, you come to move God against your brother — do you not fear, nor think of what concerns yourself? Do you not see what you are doing? Imitate even the conduct of children at school. If they see their own class within giving account of their lessons, and all beaten for their idleness, and one by one severely examined and chastised with blows, they are frightened to death, and if one of their companions strikes them, and that severely, they cannot have while to be angry, nor complain to their master; so is their soul possessed with fear. They only look to one thing, that they may go in and come out without stripes, and their thoughts are on that time. And when they come out, whether beaten or not, the blows they have received from their playmates never enter their minds for the delight. And you, when you stand anxiously concerned for your own sins, how can you but shudder at making mention of others' faults? How can you implore pardon of God? For your own case is made worse on the terms of your imprecations against another, and you forbid Him to make allowance for your own faults. Might He not say, "If you would have Me so severe in exacting offenses against you, how can you expect Me to pardon your offenses against Me?" Let us learn at last to be Christians! If we know not how to pray, which is a very simple and easy thing, what else shall we know? Let us learn to pray like Christians. Those are the prayers of Gentiles, the supplications of Jews. The Christian's are the reverse, for the forgiveness and forgetting of offenses against us. "Being reviled," it is said, "we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we entreat." [1 Corinthians 4:12-13] Hear Stephen saying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." [Acts 6:60] Instead of praying against them, he prayed for them. You, instead of praying for them, utter imprecations against them. You then are wicked in the degree that he was excellent. Whom do we admire, tell me; those for whom he prayed, or him who prayed for them? Him certainly! And if we, much more then God. Would you have your enemy stricken? pray for him: yet not with such intention, not to strike him. That will indeed be the effect, but let it not be your object. That blessed martyr suffered all unjustly, yet he prayed for them: we suffer many things justly from our enemies. And if he who suffered unjustly dared not forbear to pray for his enemies, what punishment do we deserve, who suffer justly, and yet do not pray for them, nay, pray against them? You think indeed that you are inflicting a blow upon another, but in truth you are thrusting the sword against yourself. You allow not the Judge to be lenient to your own offenses, by this way of urging Him to anger against others. For, "with what measure you measure," He says, "it shall be measured to you again; and with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged." [Matthew 7:2] Let us therefore be disposed to pardon, that God may be so disposed towards us.

These things I wish you not only to hear, but to observe. For now the memory retains only the words, and perhaps hardly those. And after we are separated, if any one who was not present were to ask you, what had been our discourse, some could not tell: others would know merely the subject we had spoken of, and answer that there had been a Homily upon the subject of forgiving injuries, and praying for our enemies, but would omit all that had been said, as they could not remember: others remember a little, but still somewhat. If therefore you gain nothing by what you hear, I entreat you not even to attend at the discourse. For of what use is it? The condemnation is greater, the punishment more severe, if after so many exhortations, we continue in the same course. For this reason God has given us a definite form of prayer, that we might ask for nothing human, nothing worldly. And you that are faithful know what you ought to pray for, how the whole Prayer is common. But one says, "It is not commanded there to pray for unbelievers." This you would not say, if you understood the force, the depth, the hidden treasure of that Prayer. Only unfold it, and you find this also comprised within it. For it is implied, when one says in prayer, "Your will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven." Now, because in heaven there is no unbeliever nor offender; if therefore it was for the faithful alone, there would be no reason in that expression. If the faithful were to do the will of God and the unbelievers not to do it, His will were not done in earth as it is in heaven. But it means; As there is none wicked in heaven, so let there be none on earth; but draw all men to the fear of You, make all men angels, even those who hate us, and are our enemies. Do you not see how God is daily blasphemed and mocked by believers and unbelievers, both in word and in deed? What then? Has He for this extinguished the sun? Or stayed the course of the moon? Has He crushed the heavens and uprooted the earth? Has He dried up the sea? Has He shut up the fountains of waters? Or confounded the air? Nay, on the contrary, He makes His sun to rise, His rain to descend, gives the fruits of the earth in their seasons, and thus supplies yearly nourishment to the blasphemers, to the insensible, to the polluted, to persecutors; not for one day or two, but for their whole life. Imitate Him then, emulate Him as far as human powers admit. Can you not make the sun arise? Abstain from evil speaking. Can you not send rain? Forbear reviling. Can you not give food? Refrain from insolence. Such gifts from you are sufficient. The goodness of God to His enemies is shown by His works. Do thou so at least by words: pray for your enemies, so will you be like your Father who is in heaven. How many times have we discoursed upon this subject! nor shall we cease to discourse; only let something come of it. It is not that we are drowsy, and weary of speaking; only do not you that hear be annoyed. Now a person seems to be annoyed, when he will not do what one says. For he who practices, loves often to hear the same thing, and is not annoyed by it; for it is his own commendation. But annoyance arises simply from not doing what is prescribed. Hence the speaker is troublesome. If a man practices almsgiving, and hears another speak of almsgiving, he is not wearied, but pleased, for he hears his own good actions recommended and proclaimed. So that when we are displeased at hearing a discourse upon the forgiveness of injuries, it is because we have no interest in forbearance, it is not practiced by us; for if we had the reality, we should not be pained at its being named. If therefore you would not have us wearisome or annoying, practice as we preach, exhibit in your actions the subject of our discourses. For we shall never cease discoursing upon these things till your conduct is agreeable to them. And this we do more especially from our concern and affection for you. For the trumpeter must sound his trumpet, though no one should go out to war; he must fulfill his part. We do it, not as wishing to bring heavier condemnation upon you, but to avert it from ourselves. And besides this, love for you constrains us, for it would tear and torture our hearts if that should befall you, which God avert! It is not any costly process that we recommend to you: it does not require the spoiling of goods, nor a long and toilsome journey. It is only to will. It is a word, it is a purpose of the mind. Let us only set a guard on our tongues, a door and a bar upon our lips, that we may utter nothing offensive to God. It is for our own advantage, not for theirs for whom we pray, to act thus. For let us ever consider, that he who blesses his enemy, blesses himself, he who curses his enemy, curses himself, and he who prays for his enemy, prays not for him, but for himself. If we thus act, we shall be able to reduce to practice this excellent virtue, and so to obtain the promised blessings, through the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Source: Homily 6 on First Timothy
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:1
I prefer to understand by these words what the entire, or almost the entire, church observes: that we take as supplications those prayers which are said in celebrating the mysteries, before we begin to consecrate what lies on the table of the Lord. Prayers are said when it is blessed and sanctified and broken for distribution; and the whole church, for the most part, closes this complete petition with the Lord’s Prayer. The original Greek word helps us to understand this distinction: the Scripture seldom uses the word euche in the sense of oratio, but generally and much more frequently euch&#; means votum; whereas proseuch&#;,the word used in the passage we are treating, is always rendered by oratio. … Now, all the things which are offered to God are vowed, especially the oblation at the holy altar, for in this sacrament we show forth that supreme offering, by which we vow to abide in Christ, even to the union of the body of Christ. The outward sign of this is that “we, being many, are one bread, one body.” Consequently, I think that at this consecration and this preparation for Communion the apostle fittingly wishes that proseuchas, that is, prayers, should be made, or, as some have unskillfully rendered it, adoration, that is, what takes place at the offering, although this is more commonly expressed in Scripture by euch&#;.Intercessions, however, or, as your texts have it, requests, are offered while the blessing is being given to the people, for at that time, by the laying on of hands, the bishops, as intercessors, offer the members of their flock to the most merciful Power. When this is completed and all have received the holy sacrament, the whole is ended by thanksgiving, and this last is the very term called to our notice by the apostle. .
[AD 435] John Cassian on 1 Timothy 2:1
“Supplication’ is a beseeching or petition for sins…. “Prayers” are those by which we offer a vow to God…. “Intercession” is customarily offered, in moments of fervor, for other men and women—our family, the peace of the world. To use St. Paul’s words, we pray “for all men, for kings and all in authority.” … “Thanksgiving” is when the mind recollects what God has done or is doing or looks forward to the good which he has prepared for those who love him, and so offers its gratitude in an indescribable transport of spirit. Sometimes it offers still deeper prayers of this sort; when the soul contemplates in singleness of heart the reward of the saints and so is moved in its happiness to pour forth a wordless thanksgiving.
[AD 155] Polycarp of Smyrna on 1 Timothy 2:2
Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings,

Source: Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians
[AD 185] Theophilus of Antioch on 1 Timothy 2:2
Moreover, concerning subjection to authorities and powers, and prayer for them, the divine word gives us instructions, in order that "we may lead a quiet and peaceable life."

Source: Theophilus to Autolycus, Book III, Chapter XIV
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:2
If you think that we have no interest in the emperor’s welfare, look into our literature, read the Word of God. We ourselves do not keep it concealed, and in fact it is in some cases by chance handed over to outsiders. Learn from this literature that it has been enjoined upon us, that our charity may more and more abound, to pray to God even for our enemies and to beg for blessings for our persecutors.

Source: APOLOGY 31.1-2
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:2
Who, then, are greater enemies and persecutors of Christians, than the very parties with treason against whom we are charged? Nay, even in terms, and most clearly, the Scripture says, "Pray for kings, and rulers, and powers, that all may be peace with you." For when there is disturbance in the empire, if the commotion is felt by its other members, surely we too, though we are not thought to be given to disorder, are to be found in some place or other which the calamity affects.

Source: The Apology
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:2
How detrimental to faith, how obstructive to holiness, second marriages are, the discipline of the Church and the prescription of the apostle declare, when he suffers not men twice married to preside (over a Church ), when he would not grant a widow admittance into the order unless she had been "the wife of one man; " for it behoves God's altar to be set forth pure.

Source: To His Wife Book I
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:2
Then Celsus next exhorts us to help the emperor with all our power, and cooperate with him in all that is right, and fight for him, and be fellow soldiers if he presses for this, and fellow generals with him. We may reply to this that at appropriate times we render to the emperors divine help, if I may so say, by taking up even the whole armor of God. And this we do in obedience to the apostolic utterance which says, “I exhort you, therefore, first to make prayers, supplications, intercessions and thanksgivings for all men, for emperors, and all that are in authority.” Indeed, the more pious a man is, the more effective he is in helping the emperors—more so than the soldiers who go out into the lines and kill all the enemy troops that they can.

Source: AGAINST CELSUS 8.73
[AD 300] Liturgy of Saint Mark on 1 Timothy 2:2
Give him the victory, O God, that his heart may be set on peace and the praise of Your holy name, that we too in his peaceful reign may spend a calm and tranquil life in all reverence and godly fear, through the grace, mercy, and love of Your only-begotten Son.

Source: Divine Liturgy of St. Mark, Section IX
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on 1 Timothy 2:2
We further pray to Thee for me, who am nothing, who offer to Thee, for the whole presbytery, for the deacons and all the clergy, that Thou wilt make them wise, and replenish them with the Holy Spirit. We further pray to Thee, O Lord, "for the king and all in authority".
Let us pray "for kings and those in authority "that they may be peaceable toward us, "that so we may have and lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:2-4
If in order to put an end to public wars, and tumults, and battles, the Priest is exhorted to offer prayers for kings and governors, much more ought private individuals to do it. For there are three very grievous kinds of war. The one is public, when our soldiers are attacked by foreign armies: The second is, when even in time of peace, we are at war with one another: The third is, when the individual is at war with himself, which is the worst of all. For foreign war will not be able to hurt us greatly. What, I pray, though it slaughters and cuts us off? It injures not the soul. Neither will the second have power to harm us against our will; for though others be at war with us, we may be peaceable ourselves. For so says the Prophet, "For my love they are my adversaries, but I give myself unto prayer" [Psalm 109:4]; and again, "I was at peace with them that hate peace"; and, "I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war." [Psalm 120:6-7, Septuagint] But from the third, we cannot escape without danger. For when the body is at variance with the soul, and raises up evil desires, and arms against it sensual pleasures, or the bad passions of anger, and envy; we cannot attain the promised blessings, till this war is brought to an end; whoever does not still this tumult, must fall pierced by wounds that will bring that death that is in hell. We have daily need therefore of care and great anxiety, that this war may not be stirred up within us, or that, if stirred up, it may not last, but be quelled and laid asleep. For what advantage is it, that the world enjoys profound peace, if you are at war with yourself? This then is the peace we should keep. If we have it, nothing from without will be able to harm us. And to this end the public peace contributes no little: whence it is said, "That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life." But if any one is disturbed when there is quiet, he is a miserable creature. Do you see that He speaks of this peace which I call the third kind? Therefore when he has said, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life," he does not stop there, but adds "in all godliness and honesty." But we cannot live in godliness and honesty, unless that peace be established. For when curious reasonings disturb our faith, what peace is there? Or when spirits of uncleanness, what peace is there?

For that we may not suppose that he speaks of that sort of life which all men live, when he says, "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life," he adds, "in all godliness and honesty," since a quiet and peaceable life may be led by heathens, and profligates, and voluptuous and wanton persons may be found living such a life. That this cannot be meant, is plain, from what he adds, "in all godliness and honesty." Such a life is exposed to snares, and conflicts, and the soul is daily wounded by the tumults of its own thoughts. But what sort of life he really means is plain from the sequel, and plain too, in that he speaks not simply of godliness, but adds, of "all godliness." For in saying this he seems to insist on a godliness not only of doctrine, but such as is supported by life, for in both surely must godliness be required. For of what advantage is it to be godly as to doctrine, but ungodly in life? And that it is very possible to be ungodly in life, hear this same blessed Apostle saying elsewhere, "They profess that they know God, but in works they deny Him." [Titus 1:16] And again, "He has denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." [1 Timothy 5:8] And, "If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater" [1 Corinthians 5:11], such a man honors not God. And, "He that hates his brother, knows not God." [1 John 2:9] Such are the various ways of ungodliness. Therefore he says, "All godliness and good order." For not only is the fornicator not honest, but the covetous man may be called disorderly and intemperate. For avarice is a lust no less than the bodily appetites, which he who does not chastise, is called dissolute. For men are called dissolute from not restraining their desires, so that the passionate, the envious, the covetous, the deceitful, and every one that lives in sin, may be called dissolute, disorderly, and licentious.

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:2
The soul of some Christians might be slow at hearing this and may resist this exhortation. For at the celebration of the holy mysteries it may be necessary to offer prayers for a heathen king. Paul shows them the advantage of fulfilling this duty at least to reconcile them to the advice, “that we may lead a peaceable and quiet life.” … For God has appointed government for the public good. When therefore they use force for the common good and stand on guard for our security, isn’t it reasonable that we should offer prayers for their safety in wars and dangers? Such prayers are not excessive flattery but agreeable to the rules of justice.

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 6
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:2
My very special reason for saying all this was that after I had briefly defined and interpreted these terms [i.e., the terms of 1 Timothy 2:1], no one should think of overlooking the passage that follows, “for all men, for kings and for all those who are in high station, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and charity,” and that no one should imagine, by a common frailty of the human mind, that these prayers are not also to be made even for those at whose hands the church suffers persecution. For the members of Christ are to be gathered from every class. Hence he continues and says, “for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” And that no one might say there can be a way of salvation without partaking of the body and blood of Christ but simply by living a good manner of life and worshiping one God Almighty, Paul continues: “For there is one God and one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This makes it clear that what he had said above, “He will have all men to be saved,” is to be realized only through a mediator who would not be God, as the Word is always God, but the man Christ Jesus, since “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.”

Source: Letters 149.2.17
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:2
As the life of the body is the soul, so the “blessed life” of a man is God. As the sacred writings of the Hebrews have it, “Happy is that people whose God is the Lord.” Yet even such a people cherishes a peace of its own which is not to be scorned, although in the end it is not to be had because this peace, before the end, was abused. Meanwhile, it is to our advantage that there be such peace in this life. For, as long as the two cities are mingled together, we can make use of the peace of Babylon. Faith can assure our exodus from Babylon, but our pilgrim status, for the time being, makes us neighbors. All of this was in St. Paul’s mind when he advised the church to pray for this world’s kings and high authorities—in order that “we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and worthy behavior.” Jeremiah, too, predicting the Babylonian captivity to the Old Testament Jews, gave them orders from God to go submissively and to serve their God by such sufferings, and meanwhile to pray for Babylon. “For in the peace thereof,” he said, “shall be your peace”—referring, of course, to the peace of this world, which the good and bad share in common.

Source: City of God 19.26
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:3
Ver. 3. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour."

What is said to be "acceptable"? The praying for all men. This God accepts, this He wills.

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Timothy 2:4
You ought therefore to "hate those that hate God, and to waste away [with grief] on account of His enemies." I do not mean that you should beat them or persecute them, as do the Gentiles "that know not the Lord and God; " but that you should regard them as your enemies, and separate yourselves from them, while yet you admonish them, and exhort them to repentance, if it may be they will hear, if it may be they will submit themselves. For our God is a lover of mankind, and "will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Source: Epistle of Ignatius to the Philadelphians
[AD 250] Fabian of Rome on 1 Timothy 2:4
We beseech you also to be zealous in praying in your pious supplications, that our God and Lord Jesus Christ, who will have all men to be saved, and no one to perish,
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:4
Therefore, because God is merciful and “wishes all men to be saved,” he says, “I will visit their crimes with an iron rod and their sins with whips. I will not, however, remove my mercy from them.” … For “God is jealous” and does not wish that soul which he betrothed to himself in faith to remain in the defilement of sin, but wishes it immediately to be purified, wishes it swiftly to cast out all its impurities, if it has by chance been snatched away to some.

Source: HOMILIES ON EXODUS 8.6
[AD 311] Methodius of Olympus on 1 Timothy 2:4
That is, God, the Maker of all men; therefore, also, according to the apostle, He "will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on 1 Timothy 2:4
Thou who didst accept the repentance of the Ninevites, who willest that all men be saved, and come to the acknowledgment of the truth;

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 1 Timothy 2:4
That God wishes all men to be saved means that he wishes that all who freely and willingly desire it shall find salvation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Timothy 2:4
To those who with simplicity of heart receive the preaching of the cross and the resurrection, the same grace should be a cause of equal thankfulness to the Son and to the Father. Now, moreover, that the Son has accomplished the Father’s will (and this, in the language of the apostle, is “that all men should be saved”), they ought for this gift to honor the Father and the Son alike. This is because our salvation would not have been accomplished had not the good will of the Father proceeded to actual operation for us through his own power. And we have learned from Scripture that the Son is the power of the Father.

Source: AGAINST EUNOMIUS 12.3
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:4
Is God not good to all, then? He is certainly good to all, because he is the Savior of all, especially the faithful. And so the Lord Jesus came that he might save what was lost; he came, indeed, to take away the sin of the world to heal our wounds. But not all desire the remedy, and many avoid it.… He heals those that are willing and does not compel the unwilling.

Source: THE PRAYER OF JOB AND DAVID 3.2.4
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:4
Ver. 4. "Who wills that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth."

Imitate God! If He wills that all men should be saved, there is reason why one should pray for all, if He has willed that all should be saved, be thou willing also; and if you wish it, pray for it, for wishes lead to prayers. Observe how from every quarter He urges this upon the soul, to pray for the Heathen, showing how great advantage springs from it; "that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life"; and what is much more than this, that it is pleasing to God, and thus men become like Him, in that they will the same that He does. This is enough to shame a very brute. Fear not therefore to pray for the Gentiles, for God Himself wills it; but fear only to pray against any, for that He wills not. And if you pray for the Heathens, you ought of course to pray for Heretics also, for we are to pray for all men, and not to persecute. And this is good also for another reason, as we are partakers of the same nature, and God commands and accepts benevolence and affection towards one another.

But if the Lord Himself wills to give, you say, what need of my prayer? It is of great benefit both to them and to yourself. It draws them to love, and it inclines you to humanity. It has the power of attracting others to the faith; (for many men have fallen away from God, from contentiousness towards one another;) and this is what he now calls the salvation of God, "who will have all men to be saved"; without this all other is nothing great, a mere nominal salvation, and only in words. "And to come to the knowledge of the truth." The truth: what truth? Faith in Him. And indeed he had previously said, "Charge some that they teach no other doctrine." But that no one may consider such as enemies, and on that account raise troubles against them; he says that "He wills that all men should be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth"; and having said this, he adds,

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:4
Do not be afraid to pray for the Gentiles. God himself wills it. Fear only to pray against anyone. For that God does not will. And if you pray for the heathen, you ought of course to pray for heretics as well, for we are to pray for all humanity and not to persecute. And this is good also for another reason: We are partakers of the same nature. God calls us to have good will and affection toward one another.

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 7
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:4
See how great the darkness is [in discussing the nature of God], and how everywhere there is need of faith. This much is sure and solid. But let us now come to matters less sure, for example, as to the relation of the divine will and its way of working. Is God’s will already immediately his working? Is it a particular type of causality? If God is immutable, how does God’s will enter into physical movement?… Is the movement in God’s willing reducible to the familiar seven types of causality? Is God’s movement more like the movement of the mind? Not quite. For in many things the mind is even absurdly moved. When God wills, is he already at work or not? If to will is to work and God wills all men to be good and to be saved, why doesn’t this come immediately to pass? There is here a subtler distinction between God’s [primordial] willing and God’s actual working within history.

Source: HOMILIES ON COLOSSIANS 5
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:4
Accordingly. When we hear and read in sacred Scripture that God “wills that all should be saved,” although we know well enough that not all are saved, we are not on that account to underrate the omnipotent will of God. Rather, we must understand the Scripture, “who will have all to be saved,” as meaning that no one is saved unless God wills his salvation. It is not that there is no one whose salvation God does not will, but that no one is saved unless God wills it. Moreover, God’s will should be sought in prayer, because if he wills, then what he wills must necessarily be. And, indeed, it was of prayer to God that the apostle was speaking when he made that statement.

Source: Enchiridion 103.27
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:4
And what is written, that “he wills all men to be saved,” while yet all men are not saved, may be understood in many ways, some of which I have mentioned in other writings of mine; but here I will say one thing: “He wills all men to be saved” is so said that all the predestinated may be understood by it, because every kind of man is among them.

Source: ON REBUKE AND GRACE 14.44
[AD 435] John Cassian on 1 Timothy 2:4
To pray “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” is to pray that men may be like angels, that as angels fulfill God’s will in heaven, men may fulfill his will, instead of their own, on earth. No one can say this sincerely except one who believes that every circumstance, favorable or unfavorable, is designed by God’s providence for his good, and that he thinks and cares more for the good of his people and their salvation than we do for ourselves. It may be understood thus: the will of God is the salvation of all men, according to that text of Paul, “who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Source: CONFERENCES 9.20.1
[AD 435] John Cassian on 1 Timothy 2:4
As angels fulfill God’s will in heaven, men may fulfill his will, instead of their own, on earth. No one can say this sincerely except one who believes that every circumstance, favorable or unfavorable, is designed by God’s providence for good. God thinks and cares more for our good and our salvation than we do for ourselves. It may be understood thus: the will of God is the salvation of all.

Source: CONFERENCES 9.20.1
[AD 435] John Cassian on 1 Timothy 2:4
For God’s purpose, according to which he did not make the human being to perish but to live forever, abides unchanging. When his kindness sees shining in us the slightest glimmer of good will, which he himself has sparked from the hard flint of our heart, he fosters it, stirs it up and strengthens it with his inspiration, “desiring all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Source: CONFERENCES 13.7.1
[AD 749] John Damascene on 1 Timothy 2:4
The third kind of absolute worship is thanksgiving for all the good things he has created for us. All things owe a debt of thanks to God and must offer him ceaseless worship, because all things have their existence from him, and in him all things hold together. He gives lavishly of his gifts to all, without being asked. He desires all men to be saved and to partake of his goodness. He is long-suffering with us sinners, for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. He is the Son of God, yet he became one of us for our sake and made us participants of his divine nature, so that “we shall be like him,” as John the Theologian says in his catholic epistle.

Source: ON DIVINE IMAGES 3.30
[AD 202] Irenaeus on 1 Timothy 2:5
And therefore in the last times the Lord has restored us into friendship through His incarnation, having become "the Mediator between God and men; "

Source: Against Heresies Book V
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:5
Valentinus, indeed, on the strength of his heretical system, might consistently fantasize a spiritual flesh for Christ. Any who refused to believe that that flesh was human might then pretend it to be anything he liked. This pretense characterizes all heresies. For if his flesh was not human and was not born of man, I do not see of what substance Paul himself spoke, when he said “The man Christ Jesus is the one mediator between God and man.”

Source: ON THE FLESH OF CHRIST 15
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:5
The Apostle Paul likewise says: "The man Christ Jesus is the one Mediator between God and man." Also Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of Him as verily human (when he says), "Jesus Christ was a man approved of God among you.

Source: On the Flesh of Christ
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:5
Designated, as He is, "the Mediator between God and man," He keeps in His own self the deposit of the flesh which has been committed to Him by both parties-the pledge and security of its entire perfection.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:5
Wherever it may be, it is in safe keeping in God's presence, through that most faithful "Mediator between God and man, (the man) Jesus Christ," who shall reconcile both God to man, and man to God; the spirit to the flesh, and the flesh to the spirit.

Source: On the Resurrection of the Flesh
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:5
of the flesh; of the Spirit, God-and the angel designated Him as "the Son of God," in respect of that nature, in which He was Spirit, reserving for the flesh the appellation "Son of Man." In like manner, again, the apostle calls Him "the Mediator between God and Men," and so affirmed His participation of both substances.

Source: Against Praxeas
[AD 235] Hippolytus of Rome on 1 Timothy 2:5
Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man,-as the apostle, too, says: "Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

Source: Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:5
Through his body the church has been allied to Christ and has been enabled to become a partaker in the Word of God. We know this both from the fact that he is called the “mediator of God and humanity,” and from the apostle’s saying that “in him we have access through faith in the hope of the glory of God.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3.2
[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on 1 Timothy 2:5
He was therefore both God and man, being placed in the middle between God and man. From which the Greeks call Him Me sites,
[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on 1 Timothy 2:5
O how beautiful and mystical and kind! For to intercede does not imply to seek for vengeance, as is most men’s way (for in that there would be something of humiliation), but it is to plead for us by reason of his mediatorship, just as the Spirit is also said to make intercession for us. For “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” For he still pleads even now as man for my salvation. He continues to wear the body which he assumed, until he makes me divine by the power of his incarnation; although he is no longer known after the flesh—the same as ours, except for sin.

Source: The Theological Orations 30.14
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Timothy 2:5
By the distinction implied in the word mediator he reveals to us the whole aim of the mystery of godliness. Now the aim is this. Humanity once revolted through the malice of the enemy, and, brought into bondage to sin, was also alienated from the true Life. After this the Lord of the creature calls back to him his own creature and becomes Man while still remaining God, being both God and man in the entirety of the two separate natures. Thus humanity was indissolubly united to God, the man that is in Christ conducting the work of mediation, to whom, by the firstfruits assumed for us, all the lump is potentially united.

Source: AGAINST EUNOMIUS 2.12
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:5
But what is he who is at once the Most High and man, what but “the Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for us”? This text indeed refers properly to his incarnation, for our redemption was made by his blood, our pardon comes through his power, our life is secured through his grace. He gives as the Most High; he prays as man. The one is the office of the Creator; the other of a redeemer. Be the gifts as distinct as they may, yet the Giver is one, for it was fitting that our Maker should be our Redeemer.

Source: Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.2.8
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:5
Let not the venom of Apollinaris flatter itself because it is written, “And in appearance he was found as a man,” for the manhood of Jesus is not thereby denied but confirmed, since elsewhere Paul himself speaks of him as “Mediator of God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus.” It is the customary manner of Scripture so to express itself as we also read in the Gospel, “And we saw his glory—glory as of the only-begotten of the Father.” As he is there called only-begotten Son of God, so he is said to be man, and the fullness of humanity that was in him is not denied.

Source: LETTERS 27
[AD 400] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Timothy 2:5
And [know ye, moreover], that He who was born of a woman was the Son of God, and He that was crucified was "the first-born of every creature," and God the Word, who also created all things. For says the apostle, "There is one God, the Father, of whom are all things; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things." And again, "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; " and, "By Him were all things created that are in heaven, and on earth, visible and invisible; and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist."

Source: Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Tarsians
[AD 400] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Timothy 2:5
The Evangelists, too, when they declared that the one Father was "the only true God," did not omit what concerned our Lord, but wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." And concerning the incarnation: "The Word," says [the Scripture], "became flesh, and dwelt among us." And again: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." And those very apostles, who said "that there is one God," said also that "there is one Mediator between God and men." Nor were they ashamed of the incarnation and the passion. For what says [one]? "The man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself" for the life and salvation of the world.

Source: Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Antiochians
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:5
Ver. 5. "For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men."

He had before said, "to come to the knowledge of the truth," implying that the world is not in the truth. Now he says, "that there is one God," that is, not as some say, many, and that He has sent His Son as Mediator, thus giving proof that He will have all men to be saved. But is not the Son God? Most truly He is; why then does he say, "One God"? In contradistinction to the idols; not to the Son. For he is discoursing about truth and error. Now a mediator ought to have communion with both parties, between whom he is to mediate. For this is the property of a mediator, to be in close communion with each of those whose mediator he is. For he would be no longer a mediator, if he were connected with one but separated from the other. If therefore He partakes not of the nature of the Father, He is not a Mediator, but is separated. For as He is partaker of the nature of men, because He came to men, so is He partaker of the nature of God, because He came from God. Because He was to mediate between two natures, He must approximate to the two natures; for as the place situated between two others is joined to each place, so must that between natures be joined to either nature. As therefore He became Man, so was He also God. A man could not have become a mediator, because he must also plead with God. God could not have been mediator, since those could not receive Him, toward whom He should have mediated. And as elsewhere he says, "There is one God the Father,...and one Lord Jesus Christ" [1 Corinthians 8:6]; so also here "One" God, and "One" Mediator; he does not say two; for he would not have that number wrested to Polytheism, of which he was speaking. So he wrote "One" and "One." You see how accurate are the expressions of Scripture! For though one and one are two, we are not to say this, though reason suggests it. And here you say not one and one are two, and yet you say what reason does not suggest. "If He begot He also suffered." "For there is one God," he says, "and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus."

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:5
He says that “there is one God,” that is, not as some say, many, and that he has sent his Son as mediator, thus giving proof that he desires that all be saved. But is not the Son God? Most truly he is. Why then does he say, “One God”? To distinguish the one God from idols, not from the Son.

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 7
[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on 1 Timothy 2:5
This refers to the perfect humanity by which salvation is wrought. The fact that Jesus shares a common humanity with us is the whole key to salvation.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
Christ Jesus, himself man, is the true Mediator, for, inasmuch as he took the “form of a slave,” he became “the Mediator between God and men.” In his character as God, he received sacrifices in union with the Father, with whom he is one God. Yet he chose, in his character as a slave, to be himself the sacrifice rather than to receive it, lest any one might take occasion to think that sacrifice could be rendered to a creature. Thus it is that he is both the Priest who offers and the Oblation that is offered.

Source: City of God 10.20
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
But how are we reconciled unless what separates us and him is broken? For he says through the prophet, “The Lord’s ear is not dull, that it cannot hear, but your sins separate you and your God.” Therefore, because we are not reconciled unless what is in the middle has been removed and what should be in the middle has been put there—for there is a separating middle, but over against it is a reconciling mediator. The separating middle is sin. The reconciling mediator is the Lord Jesus Christ, “For there is one God and one mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus.” And so, in order that the separating wall which is sin may be taken away, that Mediator has come, and the Priest himself has become the sacrifice.

Source: TRACTATES ON JOHN 41.5
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
It was in order to make the mind able to advance more confidently toward the truth that Truth itself, the divine Son of God, put on humanity without putting off his divinity and built this firm path of faith so that man, by means of the God-Man, could find his way to man’s God. I speak of the “mediator between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus.” For it is as man that he is the Mediator and as man that he is the way.

Source: City of God 11.2
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
Hence we respond to this objection of theirs, which they propose from the gospel, in a way which allows no man to be so lacking in understanding that he thinks we are compelled by this text to believe and confess that the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, did not have a human soul. In the same way I inquire how they respond to objections so palpable as ours, whereby we show through countless places in the Gospel writings what was narrated of him by the Evangelists, namely, that he was found with feelings that are impossible without a soul.

Source: EIGHTY-THREE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS 80.3
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
Now, we could not be redeemed, even through “the one mediator between God and man, Man himself, Christ Jesus,” if he were not also God. For when Adam was made—being made an upright man—there was no need for a mediator. Once sin, however, had widely separated the human race from God, it was necessary for a mediator, who alone was born, lived and was put to death without sin, to reconcile us to God and provide even for our bodies a resurrection to life eternal—and all this in order that a man’s pride might be exposed and healed through God’s humility.

Source: Enchiridion 108.28
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:5
Who can so organize what he does as this man organized what he suffered? But the man, the Mediator of God and man, was the man about whom one reads that it was foretold, “And he is a man and who will know him?” For the men through whom these things happened did know the man of God. For he who was hidden as God was apparent as man. He who was apparent suffered these things. He who was hidden is the very same One who ordered these things. Therefore he saw that all the things were finished which were necessary to be done before he took the vinegar and delivered over his spirit.

Source: TRACTATES ON JOHN 119.4
[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on 1 Timothy 2:5
There is one conciliator of peace, who joins in himself what has been in disjunction. Paul calls Christ man precisely because he is the Mediator, the one in whom human and divine natures are joined in friendship.

Source: INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY
[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on 1 Timothy 2:5
May attention to the economy of God which ministered to those of former times be reckoned by you as precious medicine for weak eyes. Let the memory of it stay with you at all times of the day. Meditate, apply your mind, and learn wisdom from it, that you may be able to receive into your soul with honor the memory of the greatness of God and find eternal life for yourself in Christ Jesus, the Mediator between God and mankind and the Uniter in his two natures.

Source: ASCETICAL HOMILIES 3
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Timothy 2:5
We have heard from the Gospel reading [commenting on Lk 2:1-14], dearly beloved brothers, that when the Redeemer of the world, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, was about to be born into the world, an edict went out from Caesar Augustus, who then held the highest place with respect to worldly reigns. The edict said that the entire world was to be enrolled. We must not suppose that this happened by chance, but we must understand that it was provided through a most certain divinely arranged plan of this same Redeemer of ours. And, indeed, just as in his divinity the Mediator between God and human beings foresaw the mother of whom he willed to be born when he should so will, so also in his humanity he chose the time when he wished for his nativity. Moreover, he himself granted that this time should be such as he willed, namely, that in a calm among the storm of wars a singular tranquillity of unusual peace should cover the whole world.

Source: Homilies on the Gospels 1.6
[AD 108] Ignatius of Antioch on 1 Timothy 2:6
Now I write these things unto you, not that I know there are any such persons among you; nay, indeed I hope that God will never permit any such report to reach my ears, He "who spared not His Son for the sake of His holy Church." But foreseeing the snares of the wicked one, I arm you beforehand by my admonitions, as my beloved and faithful children in Christ, furnishing you with the means of protection against the deadly disease of unruly men, by which do ye flee from the disease [referred to] by the good-will of Christ our Lord. Do ye therefore, clothing yourselves with meekness, become the imitators of His sufferings, and of His love, wherewith He loved us when He gave Himself a ransom for us, that He might cleanse us by His blood from our old ungodliness, and bestow life on us when we were almost on the point of perishing through the depravity that was in us. Let no one of you, therefore, cherish any grudge against his neighbour. For says our Lord, "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you." Give no occasion to the Gentiles, lest "by means of a few foolish men the word and doctrine [of Christ.] be blasphemed." For says the prophet, as in the person of God, "Woe to him by whom my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles."

Source: Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on 1 Timothy 2:6
Do not wonder that the whole world was redeemed, for it was no mere man but the Only-begotten Son of God who died for it. The sin of one man, Adam, availed to bring death to the world; if by one man’s offense death reigned for the world, why should not life reign all the more “from the justice of the one?” If Adam and Eve were cast out of paradise because of the tree from which they ate, should not believers more easily enter into paradise because of the Tree of Jesus? If the first man, fashioned out of the earth, brought universal death, shall not he who fashioned him, being the Life, bring everlasting life? If Phinees by his zeal in slaying the evildoer appeased the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew no other, but “gave himself a ransom for all,” take away God’s wrath against man?

Source: Catechetical Lecture 13:2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:6
Ver. 6. "Who gave Himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time."

Was Christ then a ransom for the Heathen? Undoubtedly Christ died even for Heathen; and you cannot bear to pray for them. Why then, you ask, did they not believe? Because they would not: but His part was done. His suffering was a "Testimony," he says; for He came, it is meant, "to bear witness to the truth" of the Father, and was slain. Thus not only the Father bore witness to Him, but He to the Father. "For I came," He says, "in my Father's name." [John 5:43] And again, "No man has seen God at any time." [John 1:18] And again, "That they might know You, the only true God." [John 17:3] And, "God is a Spirit," [John 4:24] And He bore witness even to the death. But this, "in due time," means, In the fittest time.

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:7
Come, now, if he had not "wholly saddened" so many persons in the first Epistle; if he had "rebuked" none, had "terrified" none; if he had "smitten" the incestuous man alone; if, for his cause, he had sent none into panic, had struck (no) "inflated" one with consternation,-would it not be better for you to suspect, and more believing for you to argue, that rather some one far different had been in the same predicament at that time among the Corinthians; so that, rebuked, and terrified, and already wounded with mourning, he therefore-the moderate nature of his fault permitting it-subsequently received pardon, than that you should interpret that (pardon as granted) to an incestuous fornicator? For this you had been bound to read, even if not in an Epistle, yet impressed upon the very character of the apostle, by (his) modesty more clearly than by the instrumentality of a pen: not to steep, to wit, Paul, the "apostle of Christ," the "teacher of the nations in faith and verity," the "vessel of election," the founder of Churches, the censor of discipline, (in the guilt of) levity so great as that he should either have condemned rashly one whom he was presently to absolve, or else rashly absolved one whom he had not rashly condemned, albeit on the ground of that fornication which is the result of simple immodesty, not to say on the ground of incestuous nuptials and impious voluptuousness and parricidal lust,-(lust) which he had refused to compare even with (the lusts of) the nations, for fear it should be set down to the account of custom; (lust) on which he would sit in judgment though absent, for fear the culprit should "gain the time; " (lust) which he had condemned after calling to his aid even "the Lord's power," for fear the sentence should seem human.

Source: On Modesty
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:7
The apostle Paul, “teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth,” taught the church which he gathered from the Gentiles how it ought to interpret the books of the law. These books were received from others and were formerly unknown to the Gentiles and were very strange. He feared that the church, receiving foreign instructions and not knowing the principle of the instructions, would be in a state of confusion about the foreign document. For that reason he gives some examples of interpretation that we might also note similar things in other passages, lest we believe that by imitation of the text and document of the Jews we be made disciples. He wishes, therefore, to distinguish disciples of Christ from disciples of the synagogue by the way they understand the law.

Source: HOMILIES ON EXODUS 5.1
[AD 373] Athanasius of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:7
So, then, let us celebrate this heavenly joy, together with the saints of old who kept the same feast. Yes, they keep the feast with us, and they are examples to us of life in Christ. Not only were they commissioned to preach the gospel, but if we look back at their lives, we will see that they also lived it. St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “You, therefore, follow me.” Let us follow him then, because that command has been passed down to us. The admonition originally given to the church at Corinth reaches to all Christians of all time in every place. For the apostle Paul was “a teacher of all nations in faith and truth.”

Source: FESTAL LETTERS 2
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:7
Ver. 7. "Whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an Apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not:) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity."

Since therefore Christ suffered for the Gentiles, and I was separated to be a "teacher of the Gentiles," why do you refuse to pray for them? He fully shows his own credibility, by saying that he was "ordained" [Acts 13:2], that is, separated, for this purpose, the other Apostles being backward in teaching the Gentiles; he adds, "in faith and verity," to show that in that faith there was no deceit. Here is observable the extension of grace. For the Jews had no prayers for the Gentiles; but now grace is extended to them: and when he says that he was separated to be a Teacher of the Gentiles, he intimates that grace was now shed over every part of the world.

"He gave himself a ransom," he says, how then was He delivered up by the Father? Because it was of His goodness. And what means "ransom"? God was about to punish them, but He forbore to do it. They were about to perish, but in their stead He gave His own Son, and sent us as heralds to proclaim the Cross. These things are sufficient to attract all, and to demonstrate the love of Christ. Moral. So truly, so inexpressibly great are the benefits which God has bestowed upon us. He sacrificed Himself for His enemies, who hated and rejected Him. What no one would do for friends, for brethren, for children, that the Lord has done for His servants; a Lord not Himself such an one as His servants, but God for men; for men not deserving. For had they been deserving, had they done His pleasure, it would have been less wonderful; but that He died for such ungrateful, such obstinate creatures, this it is which strikes every mind with amazement. For what men would not do for their fellow-men, that has God done for us! Yet after such a display of love towards us, we hold back, and are not in earnest in our love of Christ. He has sacrificed Himself for us; for Him we make no sacrifice. We neglect Him when He wants necessary food; sick and naked we visit Him not. What do we not deserve, what wrath, what punishment, what hell? Were there no other inducement, it should be sufficient to prevail with every one that He condescended to make human sufferings His own, to say I hunger, I thirst.

O the tyranny of wealth! Or rather the wickedness of those who are its willing slaves! For it has no great power of itself, but through our weakness and servility: it is we that are mean and groveling, that are carnal and without understanding. For what power has money? It is mute and insensible. If the devil, that wicked spirit, that crafty confounder of all things, has no power, what power has money? When you look upon silver, fancy it is tin! Cannot you? Then hold it for what it really is; for earth it is. But if you cannot reason thus, consider that we too shall perish, that many of those who have possessed it have gained scarce any advantage by it, that thousands who gloried in it are now dust and ashes. That they are suffering extreme punishment, and far more beggarly than they that fed from glass and earthenware; that those who once reclined on ivory couches, are poorer now than those who are lying on the dunghill. But it delights the eyes! How many other things delight them more! The flowers, the pure sky, the firmament, the bright sun, are far more grateful to the eye. For it has much of rust, whence some have asserted that it was black, which appears from the images that turn black. But there is no blackness in the sun, the heaven, the stars. Much greater delight is there in these brilliants than in its color. It is not therefore its brilliancy that makes it please, but covetousness and iniquity; these, and not money, give the pleasure. Cast these from your soul, and what appeared so precious will seem to you more worthless than clay. Those who are in a fever long for mud when they see it, as if it were spring water; but those in sound health seldom wish even for water. Cast off this morbid longing, and you will see things as they are. And to prove that I do not speak falsely, know, that I can point out many who have done so. Quench this flame, and you will see that these things are of less worth than flowers.

Is gold good? Yes, it is good for almsgiving, for the relief of the poor; it is good, not for unprofitable use, to be hoarded up or buried in the earth, to be worn on the hands or the feet or the head. It was discovered for this end, that with it we should loose the captives, not form it into a chain for the image of God. Use your gold for this, to loose him that is bound, not to chain her that is free. Tell me, why do you value above all things what is of so little worth? Is it the less a chain, because it is of gold? Does the material make any difference? whether it be gold or iron, it is still a chain; nay the gold is the heavier. What then makes it light, but vainglory, and the pleasure of being seen to wear a chain, of which you ought rather to be ashamed? To make this evident, fasten it, and place the wearer in a wilderness or where there is no one to see, and the chain will at once be felt heavy, and thought burdensome.

Beloved, let us fear, lest we be doomed to hear those terrible words, "Bind him hand and foot." [Matthew 22:13] And why, O woman, do you now do so to yourself? No prisoner has both his hands and his feet bound. Why do you bind your head too? For you are not content with hands and feet, but bindest your head and your neck with many chains. I pass over the care that comes of these things, the fear, the alarm, the strife occasioned by them with your husband if ever he wants them, the death it is to people when they lose any of them. Can you call this a pleasure? To gratify the eyes of others, do you subject yourself to chains, and cares, and perils, and uneasiness, and daily quarrels? This is deserving of every censure and condemnation. Nay, I entreat you, let us not do thus, let us burst every "bond of iniquity" [Acts 8:23]; let us break our bread to the hungry, and let us do all other things, which may ensure to us confidence before God, that we may obtain the blessings promised through Jesus Christ our Lord, with whom, etc.

Source: Homily 7 on First Timothy
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:7
If the Son was born a perfect and complete king, it is also clear that he is a judge and arbiter. For it is especially the mark of a king that he makes decisions and judgments both to grant honors and to punish. And another source might help you to see that he has the power to grant heavenly honors. So we shall bring forward the man who is better than all men, and we shall show that Christ granted this man a crown.… Who is the one who is better than all men? Who other than that tentmaker, that teacher of the entire world, the one who coursed over land and sea as if equipped with wings, the chosen instrument, the attendant of Christ the bridegroom, the one who planted the church, the wise builder, the preacher, the one who ran the course and fought the good fight, the soldier, the trainer of athletes, the one who left memorials of his own virtue everywhere in the world.

Source: ON THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE NATURE OF GOD 8.3
[AD 445] Vincent of Lérins on 1 Timothy 2:7
Consequently, to announce to Catholic Christians a doctrine other than that which they have received was never permitted, is nowhere permitted and never will be permitted. It was ever necessary, is everywhere necessary and ever will be necessary that those who announce a doctrine other than that which was received once and for all be anathema. If this be so, is there anyone alive so bold as to preach dogmas other than those taught by the church, or so foolish as to accept doctrines besides those accepted by the church? Crying aloud, crying aloud again and again and again, crying aloud to everyone, always and everywhere throughout his writings, Paul remains this “vessel of election,” this “doctor of the Gentiles,” this trumpet among the apostles, this herald of the earth, this heaven-conscious man. He is crying aloud that whoever announces a new doctrine is anathema.

Source: COMMONITORIES 9
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:8
But what reason is there in going to prayer with hands indeed washed, but the spirit has become fouled?—inasmuch as to our hands themselves spiritual cleansing is necessary, that they may be “lifted up pure” from falsehood, from murder, from cruelty, from poisonings, from idolatry and all the other blemishes which, conceived by the spirit, are effected by the operation of the hands.

Source: ON PRAYER 13
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:8
Shall it be granted possible for human ingenuity to summon a spirit into water, and, by the application of hands from above, to animate their union into one body with another spirit of so clear sound; and shall it not be possible for God, in the case of His own organ, to produce, by means of "holy hands," a sublime spiritual modulation? But this, as well as the former, is derived from the old sacramental rite in which Jacob blessed his grandsons, born of Joseph, Ephrem and Manasses; with his hands laid on them and interchanged, and indeed so transversely slanted one over the other, that, by delineating Christ, they even portended the future benediction into Christ.

Source: On Baptism
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:8
But what reason is there in going to prayer with hands indeed washed, but the spirit foul?-inasmuch as to our hands themselves spiritual purities are necessary, that they may be "lifted up pure" from falsehood, from murder, from cruelty, from poisonings, from idolatry, and all the other blemishes which, conceived by the spirit, are effected by the operation of the hands.

Source: On Prayer
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:8
Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly "to pray at every time and every place."

Source: On Prayer
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:8
Now concerning the place, let it be known that every place is suitable for prayer if a person prays well. For “in every place you offer incense to me … says the Lord” and “I desire then that in every place men should pray,” But everyone may have, if I may put it this way, a holy place set aside and chosen in his own house, if possible, for accomplishing his prayers in quiet and without distraction.

Source: ON PRAYER 31.4
[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on 1 Timothy 2:8
Certainly, the Lord gives the authority for praying in every place, in the words: “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” And the words of the apostle are legitimate, because the word every does not include places designated for human usage or for unclean or shameful human deeds, but it does take in the regions from the confines of Jerusalem to every place in the world duly appointed, in conformity with the prophecy of sacrifice, that is, consecrated to God, for the celebration of the glorious mystery.

Source: CONCERNING BAPTISM
[AD 380] Apostolic Constitutions on 1 Timothy 2:8
Then Simon, enraged that he was not able to tell the secret of the apostle, cried out, saying: Let great dogs come forth, and eat him up before Caesar. And suddenly there appeared great dogs, and rushed at Peter. But Peter, stretching forth his hands

Source: CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:8-10
"When you pray," says Christ, "you shall not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, which is in secret; and your Father, which sees in secret, shall reward you openly." [Matthew 6:5-6] What then says Paul? "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." This is not contrary to the other, God forbid, but quite in harmony with it. But how, and in what way? We must first consider what means, "enter into your closet," and why Christ commands this, if we are to pray in every place? Or whether we may not pray in the church, nor in any other part of the house, but the closet? What then means that saying? Christ is recommending us to avoid ostentation, when He bids us offer our prayers not only privately, but secretly. For, when He says, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand does" [Matthew 6:3], it is not the hands that He considers, but He is bidding them use the utmost caution against ostentation: and He is doing the like here; He did not limit prayer to one place, but required one thing alone, the absence of vainglory. The object of Paul is to distinguish the Christian from the Jewish prayers, therefore observe what he says: "In every place lifting up holy hands," which was not permitted the Jews, for they were not allowed to approach God, to sacrifice and perform their services, elsewhere, but assembling from all parts of the world in one place, they were bound to perform all their worship in the temple. In opposition to this he introduces his precept, and freeing them from this necessity, he says in effect, Our ways are not like the Jewish; for as Christ commanded us to pray for all men because He died for all men, and I preach these things for all men, so it is good to "pray everywhere." Henceforth the consideration is not of the place but of the manner of the prayer; "pray everywhere," but "everywhere lift up holy hands." That is the thing required. And what is "holy"? Pure. And what is pure? Not washed with water, but free from covetousness, murder, rapacity, violence, "without wrath and doubting." What means this? Who is angry when he prays? It means, without bearing malice. Let the mind of him that prays be pure, freed from all passion. Let no one approach God in enmity, or in an unamiable temper, or with "doubting." What is "without doubting"? Let us hear. It implies that we should have no misgiving but that we shall be heard. For it is said, "whatever you ask believing you shall receive." [Matthew 21:22] And again, "when you stand praying forgive, if you have anything against any one." [Mark 11:25] This is to pray without wrath and doubting. But how can I believe that I shall obtain my request? By asking nothing opposed to that which He is ready to grant, nothing unworthy of the great King, nothing worldly, but all spiritual blessings; if you approach Him "without wrath," having pure hands, "holy hands": hands employed in almsgiving are holy. Approach Him thus, and you will certainly obtain your request. "For if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask Him?" [Matthew 7:11] By doubting he means misgiving. In like manner he says, I will that women approach God without wrath and doubting, lifting up holy hands: that they should not follow their own desires, nor be covetous or rapacious. For what if a woman does not rob or steal herself, but does it through means of her husband? Paul however requires something more of women, that they adorn themselves "in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broidered hair or gold or pearls or costly array; But (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works." But what is this "modest apparel"? Such attire as covers them completely, and decently, not with superfluous ornaments, for the one is becoming, the other is not.

Moral. What? Do you approach God to pray, with broidered hair and ornaments of gold? Have you come to a dance? To a marriage? To a gay procession? There such a broidery, such costly garments, had been seasonable, here not one of them is wanted. You have come to pray, to supplicate for pardon of your sins, to plead for your offenses, beseeching the Lord, and hoping to render Him propitious to you. Why do you adorn yourself? This is not the dress of a suppliant. How can you groan? How can you weep? How pray with fervency, when thus attired? Should thou weep, your tears will be the ridicule of the beholders. She that weeps ought not to be wearing gold. It were but acting, and hypocrisy. For is it not acting to pour forth tears from a soul so overgrown with extravagance and ambition? Away with such hypocrisy! God is not mocked! This is the attire of actors and dancers, that live upon the stage. Nothing of this sort becomes a modest woman, who should be adorned "with shamefacedness and sobriety."

Imitate not therefore the courtesans. For by such a dress they allure their many lovers; and hence many have incurred a disgraceful suspicion, and, instead of gaining any advantage from their ornaments, have injured many by bearing this character. For as the adulteress, though she may have a character for modesty, derives no benefit from that character, in the Day, when He who judges the secrets of men shall make all things manifest; so the modest woman, if she contrive by this dress to pass for an adulteress, will lose the advantage of her chastity. For many have suffered harm by this opinion. "What can I do," you say, "if another suspects me?" But you give the occasion by your dress, your looks, your gestures. It is for this reason that Paul discourses much of dress and much of modesty. And if he would remove those things which are only the indications of wealth, as gold, and pearls, and costly array; how much more those things which imply studied ornament, as painting, coloring the eyes, a mincing gait, the affected voice, a languishing and wanton look; the exquisite care in putting on the cloak and bodice, the nicely wrought girdle, and the closely-fitted shoes? For he glances at all these things, in speaking of "modest apparel" and "shamefacedness." For such things are shameless and indecent.

Bear with me, I beseech you, for it is not my aim by this plain reproof to wound or pain you, but to remove from my flock all that is unbecoming to them. But if these prohibitions are addressed to those who have husbands, who are rich, and live luxuriously; much more to those who have professed virginity. But what virgin, you say, wears gold, or broidered hair? Yet there may be such a studied nicety in a simple dress, as that these are nothing to it. You may study appearance in a common garment more than those who wear gold. For when a very dark colored robe is drawn closely round the breast with the girdle (as dancers on the stage are attired), with such nicety that it may neither spread into breadth nor shrink into scantiness, but be between both; and when the bosom is set off with many folds, is not this more alluring than any silken robes? And when the shoe, shining through its blackness, ends in a sharp point, and imitates the elegance of painting, so that even the breadth of the sole is scarce visible — or when, though you do not indeed paint the face, you spend much time and pains on washing it, and spread a veil across the forehead, whiter than the face itself — and above that put on a hood, of which the blackness may set off the white by contrast — is there not in all this the vanity of dress? What can one say to the perpetual rolling of the eyes? To the putting on of the stomacher; so artfully as sometimes to conceal, sometimes to disclose, the fastening? For this too they sometimes expose, so as to show the exquisiteness of the cincture, winding the hood entirely round the head. Then like the players, they wear gloves so closely fitted, that they seem to grow upon the hands: and we might speak of their walk, and other artifices more alluring than any ornament of gold. Let us fear, beloved, lest we also hear what the Prophet said to the Hebrew women who were so studious of outward ornament; "Instead of a girdle, you shall be girded with a halter, instead of well-set hair, baldness." [Isaiah 3:24, Septuagint] These things and many others, invented only to be seen and to attract beholders, are more alluring than golden ornaments. These are no trifling faults, but displeasing to God, and enough to mar all the self-denial of virginity.

You have Christ for your Bridegroom, O virgin, why do you seek to attract human lovers? He will judge you as an adulteress. Why do you not wear the ornament that is pleasing to Him; modesty, chastity, orderliness, and sober apparel? This is meretricious, and disgraceful. We can no longer distinguish harlots and virgins, to such indecency have they advanced. A virgin's dress should not be studied, but plain, and without labor; but now they have many artifices to make their dress conspicuous. O woman, cease from this folly. Transfer this care to your soul, to the inward adorning. For the outward ornament that invests you, suffers not that within to become beautiful. He that is concerned for that which is without, despises that which is within, even as he that is unconcerned about the exterior, bestows all his care upon the interior. Say not, "Alas! I wear a threadbare garment, mean shoes, a worthless veil; what is there of ornament in these?" Do not deceive yourself. It is impossible, as I said, to study appearance more by these than by costlier dresses; especially when they are close-fitted to the body, fashioned to an immodest show, and of shining neatness. You excuse yourself to me, but what can you say to God, who knows the heart and the spirit with which you do these things? "It is not done for fornication!" Perhaps not, but for admiration; and do you not blush for shame to be admired for such things? But you say, "It is but chance I am so dressed, and for no motive of this kind." God knows what you say to me: is it to me you must give account? Nay, it is to Him who is present at your actions, and will one day inquire into them, to whom all things are naked and open. It is on this account that we now urge these things, that we may not let you be amenable to those severe judgments. Let us fear, therefore, lest He reprove you in the words of the Prophet to the Jewish women. "They come to be seen of me wantoning and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet." [Isaiah 3:16]

You have taken upon you a great contest, where wrestling, not ornament is required; where the battle awaits you, not sloth and ease. Observe the combatants and wrestlers in the games. Do they concern themselves about their walk or their dress? No, but scorning all these, and throwing about them a garment dripping with oil, they look only to one thing, to wound, and not be wounded. The devil stands grinding his teeth, watching to destroy you every way, and you remain unconcerned, or concerned only about this satanic ornament. I say nothing about the voice, though much affectation is shown in this also, nor about perfumes, and other such luxuries. It is for these things we are ridiculed by the women of the world. The respect for virginity is lost. No one honors a virgin as she ought to be honored. They have given occasion to their own dishonor. Ought not they to be looked up to in the Church of God, as women coming from heaven? But now they are despised, and deservedly, though not those among them who are discreet. But when one who has a husband and children, and presides over a household, sees you, who ought to be crucified to the world, more devoted to the world than herself, will she not ridicule and despise you? See what care! What pains! In your humble dress, you exceed her who wears the costliest ornament, and art more studious of appearance than she who is arrayed in gold. What is becoming to you you seek not; that which misbecomes you you pursue, when you ought to be occupied in good works. On this account virgins are less honored than women of the world. For they do not perform works worthy of their virgin profession. This is not said to all; or rather it is said to all; to those who are in fault, that they may learn modesty; to those who are free from blame, that they may teach modesty to others. But beware lest this rebuke be verified in deed. For we have not said these things that we may grieve, but that we may correct you, that we may glory in you. And may we all do those things which are acceptable to God, and live to His glory, that we may obtain the blessings promised by the grace and lovingkindness of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom, etc.

Source: Homily 8 on First Timothy
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:8
The object of Paul is to distinguish the Christian from the Jewish prayers. Therefore observe what he says, “In every place lifting up holy hands,” this being something which was not permitted the Jews, for they were not allowed to approach God, to sacrifice and perform their services elsewhere. Rather, assembling from all parts of the world in one place, they were bound to perform all their worship in the temple.… Henceforth the consideration is not of the place but of the manner of the prayer. “Pray everywhere,” but, “everywhere lift up holy hands.” That is the thing required. And what is “holy”? Pure. And what is pure? Not washed with water, but free from covetousness, murder, rapacity, violence, “without wrath and doubting.”

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 8
[AD 420] Jerome on 1 Timothy 2:8
Whenever we lift up pure hands in prayer, without diverting distractions or contention, we are playing to the Lord with a ten-stringed instrument. We play, as the psalmist wrote, “with ten-stringed instrument and lyre, with melody upon the harp.” Our body and soul and spirit—our harp—are all in harmony, all their strings in tune.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 21
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:8
He must be quite cognizant, certain and confident of his own innocence who stretches out and extends his hands to God. Hence the apostle says, “I wish then that men pray everywhere, lifting up pure hands.” He rightly lifts his hands to God, he pours forth prayers with a good conscience, who can say, “You know, O Lord, how holy, how innocent, how pure from every fraud, injury and plunder are the hands which I lift up to you; how unstained and free from all deceit are the lips with which I pour forth prayers to you so that you may have pity on me.” Such a person deserves to be heard quickly and can obtain what he asks even before he has finished his prayer.

Source: THE CHRISTIAN LIFE 11
[AD 435] John Cassian on 1 Timothy 2:8
Whatever the mind has been thinking about before it prays will certainly come to it while it is praying. Therefore, before we begin to pray, we ought to be trying to be the kind of people whom we wish God to find when we pray. The mind is conditioned by its recent state. In prayer, the mind remembers recent acts or thoughts and experiences, sees them dancing before it like ghosts. And this annoys us, or depresses us, or reminds us of past lust or past worry, or makes us (I am ashamed to say) laugh like fools at some absurdity or circumstance, or go over again some recent conversation. Whatever we do not want to creep into our time of prayer, we must try to keep out of the heart when we are not praying. St. Paul’s words were, “Pray without ceasing,” and “In every place lifting up pure hands without wrath or controversy.” To obey this is impossible, unless the mind is purified from sin, is given to virtue as its natural good and is continually nourished by the contemplation of God.

Source: CONFERENCES 9.3.3
[AD 465] Maximus of Turin on 1 Timothy 2:8
But the good farmer also, when he prepares to turn the soil in order to plant life-sustaining foods, undertakes to do this by nothing other than the sign of the cross. For when he sets the share beam on the plough, attaches the earthboard and puts on the plowhandle, he imitates the form of the cross, for its very construction is a kind of likeness of the Lord’s suffering. Heaven, too, is itself arranged in the form of this sign, for since it is divided into four part—namely, east, west, south, and north—it consists in four quarters like the cross. Even a person’s bearing, when he raises his hands, describes a cross; therefore we are ordered to pray with uplifted hands so that by the very stance of our body we might confess the Lord’s suffering.

Source: SERMONS 38.3
[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:9
Resigning, therefore, these baubles to the wicked master of cunning himself, let us not take part in this meretricious adornment, nor commit idolatry through a specious pretext. Most admirably, therefore, the blessed Peter.
The Instructor orders them to go forth "in becoming apparel, and adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety"

Source: Clement of Alexandria The Instructor Book II
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:9
For what is a crown on the head of a woman, but beauty made seductive, but mark of utter wantonness,-a notable casting away of modesty, a setting temptation on fire? Therefore a woman, taking counsel from the apostles' foresight, will not too elaborately adorn herself, that she may not either be crowned with any exquisite arrangement of her hair.

Source: De Corona
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:9
So far, however, as regards the dress of women, the variety of observance compels us-men of no consideration whatever-to treat, presumptuously indeed, after the most holy apostle, except in so far as it will not be presumptuously if we treat the subject in accordance with the apostle.

Source: On Prayer
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Timothy 2:9
You call yourself wealthy and rich; but Paul meets your riches, and with his own voice prescribes for the moderating of your dress and ornament within a just limit. "Let women," said he, "adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly array, but as becometh women professing chastity, with a good conversation." Also Peter consents to these same precepts, and says, "Let there be in the woman not the outward adorning of array, or gold, or apparel, but the adorning of the heart." But if these also warn us that the women who are accustomed to make an excuse for their dress by reference to their husband, should be restrained and limited by religious observance to the Church's discipline, how much more is it right that the virgin should keep that observance, who has no excuse for adorning herself, nor can the deceitfulness of her fault be laid upon another, but she herself remains in its guilt!

Source: Treatise II. On the Dress of Virgins.
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Timothy 2:9
That a woman ought not to be adorned in a worldly fashion. In the Apocalypse: "And there came one of the seven angels having vials, and approached me, saying, Come, I will show thee the condemnation of the great whore, who sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And I saw a woman who sate upon a beast. And that woman was clothed with a purple and scarlet robe; and she was adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, holding a golden cup in her hand full of curses, and impurity, and fornication of the whole earth." Also to Timothy: "Let your women be such as adorn themselves with shamefacedness and modesty, not with twisted hair, nor with gold, nor with pearls, or precious garments, but as becometh women professing chastity, with a good conversation." Of this same thing in the Epistle of Peter to the people at Pontus: "Let there be in a woman not the outward adorning of ornament, or of gold, or of apparel, but the adorning of the heart." Also in Genesis: "Thamar covered herself with a cloak, and adorned herself; and when Judah beheld her, she appeared to him to be a harlot."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:9
In our prayers, too, modesty is most pleasing and gains us much grace from our God.… A noble thing, then, is modesty, which, though giving up its rights, seizing on nothing for itself, laying claim to nothing and in some ways somewhat retiring within the sphere of its own powers, yet is rich in the sight of God, in whose sight no one is rich. Richness is modesty, for it is the portion of God. Paul bids that prayer be offered up with modesty and sobriety. He desires that this should be first, and, as it were, lead the way of prayers to come, so that the sinner’s prayer may not be boastful but veiled, as it were, with the blush of shame. Indeed, it may merit a far greater degree of grace, in giving way to modesty at the remembrance of its fault.

Source: On the Duties of the Clergy 1.18.70
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:9
Let us then hold fast modesty and that moderation which adds to the beauty of the whole of life. For it is no light thing in every matter to preserve due measure and to bring about order, wherein that is plainly conspicuous which we call “decorum,” or what is seemly. This is so closely connected with what is virtuous that one cannot separate the two.… This seemliness which we offer to God we may believe to be far better than other things. It befits also a woman to pray in an orderly dress, but it is especially fitting to her to pray humbly covered and to pray giving promise of purity together with wholesome conversation.

Source: On the Duties of the Clergy 1.45.219, 220
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:9
Equally with men, women are called to approach God without wrath or doubting, lifting up holy hands, not following their own desires, nor being covetous or rapacious.… Paul however requires something more of women, that they adorn themselves “in modest apparel, with self-effacement and sobriety” … such attire as covers them completely, and decently, not with superfluous ornaments, for the one is becoming, the other is not.

Source: HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 8
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:9
For what reason will you be able to state, what defense, when the Lord lays these pearls to your charge and brings the poor who have perished with hunger into your midst? On this account Paul said, “not with braided hair, or gold, or pearls or costly raiment.” For these would be a snare.… Take off all ornament and place it in the hands of Christ through the poor.

Source: INSTRUCTIONS TO CATECHUMENS 2.4
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:10
Gems and gold and costly garments and lavish, embroidered flowers of various colors and anything else perishable in nature in no way adorn souls. But the following do: fasts, holy vigils, gentleness, reasonableness, poverty, courage, humility, patience—in a word, disdain for everything passing in this life.

Source: ON VIRGINITY 63.1
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:11
But we, little fishes, after the example of our Icqus Jesus Christ, are born in water, nor have we safety in any other way than by permanently abiding in water; so that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes, by taking them away from the water!

Source: On Baptism
[AD 220] Tertullian on 1 Timothy 2:11
It is not permitted to a woman to speak in the church; but neither (is it permitted her) to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer, nor to claim to herself a lot in any manly function, not to say (in any) sacerdotal office.

Source: On the Veiling of Virgins
[AD 258] Cyprian on 1 Timothy 2:11
But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to be set over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced."

Source: Treatise XII Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:11
I think the prohibition in the law against a man wearing female garments refers not so much to clothing as to manners and to our habits and actions, since one act is becoming to a man, another to a woman. Therefore, the apostle, as the interpreter of the law, says, “Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted them to speak, but to be submissive, as the law says. But if they wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.” And to Timothy he says, “Let a women learn in quietness21 in all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men.” How unsightly it is for a man to act like a woman!

Source: LETTERS 78
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:11-15
Great modesty and great propriety does the blessed Paul require of women, and that not only with respect to their dress and appearance: he proceeds even to regulate their speech. And what says he? "Let the woman learn in silence"; that is, let her not speak at all in the church; which rule he has also given in his Epistle to the Corinthians, where he says, "It is a shame for women to speak in the church" [1 Corinthians 14:35]; and the reason is, that the law has made them subject to men. And again elsewhere, "And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home." [1 Corinthians 14:35] Then indeed the women, from such teaching, kept silence; but now there is apt to be great noise among them, much clamor and talking, and nowhere so much as in this place. They may all be seen here talking more than in the market, or at the bath. For, as if they came hither for recreation, they are all engaged in conversing upon unprofitable subjects. Thus all is confusion, and they seem not to understand, that unless they are quiet, they cannot learn anything that is useful. For when our discourse strains against the talking, and no one minds what is said, what good can it do to them? To such a degree should women be silent, that they are not allowed to speak not only about worldly matters, but not even about spiritual things, in the church. This is order, this is modesty, this will adorn her more than any garments. Thus clothed, she will be able to offer her prayers in the manner most becoming.

"But I suffer not a woman to teach." "I do not suffer," he says. What place has this command here? The fittest. He was speaking of quietness, of propriety, of modesty, so having said that he wished them not to speak in the church, to cut off all occasion of conversation, he says, let them not teach, but occupy the station of learners. For thus they will show submission by their silence. For the sex is naturally somewhat talkative: and for this reason he restrains them on all sides. "For Adam," says he, "was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

If it be asked, what has this to do with women of the present day? It shows that the male sex enjoyed the higher honor. Man was first formed; and elsewhere he shows their superiority. "Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man." [1 Corinthians 11:9] Why then does he say this? He wishes the man to have the preeminence in every way; both for the reason given above, he means, let him have precedence, and on account of what occurred afterwards. For the woman taught the man once, and made him guilty of disobedience, and wrought our ruin. Therefore because she made a bad use of her power over the man, or rather her equality with him, God made her subject to her husband. "Your desire shall be to your husband?" [Genesis 3:16] This had not been said to her before.

But how was Adam not deceived? If he was not deceived, he did not then transgress? Attend carefully. The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me." But the man did not say, The woman deceived me, but, "she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Now it is not the same thing to be deceived by a fellow-creature, one of the same kind, as by an inferior and subordinate animal. This is truly to be deceived. Compared therefore with the woman, he is spoken of as "not deceived." For she was beguiled by an inferior and subject, he by an equal. Again, it is not said of the man, that he "saw the tree was good for food," but of the woman, and that she "did eat, and gave it to her husband": so that he transgressed, not captivated by appetite, but merely from the persuasion of his wife. The woman taught once, and ruined all. On this account therefore he says, let her not teach. But what is it to other women, that she suffered this? It certainly concerns them; for the sex is weak and fickle, and he is speaking of the sex collectively. For he says not Eve, but "the woman," which is the common name of the whole sex, not her proper name. Was then the whole sex included in the transgression for her fault? As he said of Adam, "After the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come" [Romans 5:14]; so here the female sex transgressed, and not the male. Shall not women then be saved? Yes, by means of children. For it is not of Eve that he says, "If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety." What faith? What charity? What holiness with sobriety? It is as if he had said, "You women, be not cast down, because your sex has incurred blame. God has granted you another opportunity of salvation, by the bringing up of children, so that you are saved, not only by yourselves, but by others." See how many questions are involved in this matter. "The woman," he says, "being deceived was in the transgression." What woman? Eve. Shall she then be saved by child-bearing? He does not say that, but, the race of women shall be saved. Was not it then involved in transgression? Yes, it was, still Eve transgressed, but the whole sex shall be saved, notwithstanding, "by childbearing." And why not by their own personal virtue? For has she excluded others from this salvation? And what will be the case with virgins, with the barren, with widows who have lost their husbands, before they had children? will they perish? Is there no hope for them? Yet virgins are held in the highest estimation. What then does he mean to say?

Some interpret his meaning thus. As what happened to the first woman occasioned the subjection of the whole sex, (for since Eve was formed second and made subject, he says, let the rest of the sex be in subjection,) so because she transgressed, the rest of the sex are also in transgression. But this is not fair reasoning; for at the creation all was the gift of God, but in this case, it is the consequence of the woman's sin. But this is the amount of what he says. As all men died through one, because that one sinned, so the whole female race transgressed, because the woman was in the transgression. Let her not however grieve. God has given her no small consolation, that of childbearing. And if it be said that this is of nature, so is that also of nature; for not only that which is of nature has been granted, but also the bringing up of children. "If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety"; that is, if after childbearing, they keep them in charity and purity. By these means they will have no small reward on their account, because they have trained up wrestlers for the service of Christ. By holiness he means good life, modesty, and sobriety.

Source: Homily 9 on First Timothy
[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on 1 Timothy 2:11
While Paul forbids women teaching in church, he very much wants them to exercise their authority in the home as the teachers of virtue.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY
[AD 1963] CS Lewis on 1 Timothy 2:11-14
I heard that the Church of England was being advised to declare women capable of Priests' Orders. I am, indeed, informed that such a proposal is very unlikely to be seriously considered by the authorities. To take such a revolutionary step at the present moment, to cut ourselves off from the Christian past and to widen the divisions between ourselves and other Churches by establishing an order of priestesses in our midst, would be an almost wanton degree of imprudence. And the Church of England herself would be torn in shreds by the operation. My concern with the proposal is of a more theoretical kind. The question involves something even deeper than a revolution in order...

To us a priest is primarily a representative, a double representative, who represents us to God and God to us. Our very eyes teach us this in church. Sometimes the priest turns his back on us and faces the East - he speaks to God for us: sometimes he faces us and speaks to us for God. We have no objection to a woman doing the first: the whole difficulty is about the second. But why? Why should a woman not in this sense represent God? [...]

Suppose the reformer stops saying that a good woman may be like God and begins saying that God is like a good woman. Suppose he says that we might just as well pray to 'Our Mother which art in heaven' as to 'Our Father'. Suppose he suggests that the Incarnation might just as well have taken a female as a male form, and the Second Person of the Trinity be as well called the Daughter as the Son. Suppose, finally, that the mystical marriage were reversed, that the Church were the Bridegroom and Christ the Bride. All this, as it seems to me, is involved in the claim that a woman can represent God as a priest does.

Now it is surely the case that if all these supposals were ever carried into effect we should be embarked on a different religion. Goddesses have, of course, been worshipped: many religions have had priestesses. But they are religions quite different in character from Christianity...

Christians think that God Himself has taught us how to speak of Him...

We men may often make very bad priests. That is because we are insufficiently masculine. It is no cure to call in those who are not masculine at all...

Lady Nunburnholme has claimed that the equality of men and women is a Christian principle... Unless "equal" means "interchangeable", equality makes nothing for the priesthood of women.

Source: God in the Dock: Priestesses in the Church?
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:12
The divine law indeed has excluded women from the ministry, but they endeavor to thrust themselves into it. And since they can effect nothing of themselves, they do all through the agency of others. In this way they have become invested with so much power that they can appoint or eject priests at their will. Things in fact are turned upside down, and the proverbial saying may be seen realized—“Those being guided are leading the guides.” One would wish that it were men who were giving such guidance, rather than women who have not received a commission to give instruction in church. Why do I say “give instruction”? The blessed Paul did not suffer them even to speak with authority in the church. But I have heard someone say that they have obtained such a large privilege of free speech as even to rebuke the prelates of the churches and censure them more severely than masters do their own domestics.

Source: ON THE PRIESTHOOD 3.9
[AD 407] John Chrysostom on 1 Timothy 2:12
For with us indeed the woman is reasonably subjected to the man, since equality of honor causes contention. And not for this cause only, but by reason also of the deceit which happened in the beginning. You see Eve was not subjected in her original condition as she was made. Nor was she called to submission when God first brought her to the man. She did not hear anything from God then about submissiveness. Nor did Adam originally say any such word to her. Rather he said indeed that she was “bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh,” but of rule or subjection he mentioned nothing. This occurred only after she made an ill use of her privilege. She who had been made a helper was found to be an ensnarer. Then the original relation was ruined, and she was justly told for the future: “your turning shall be to your husband.”

Source: HOMILIES ON FIRST CORINTHIANS 26.2
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:13
But you should not be surprised that she [the church] who is gathered out of the dispersion of the nations and prepared to be the bride of Christ has sometimes been guilty of these faults. Remember how the first woman was seduced and was in the transgression and could find her salvation, so the Scripture says, only in bearing children, which for our present purpose means those who continue in faith and love with sanctity. The apostle, therefore, declares what is written about Adam and Eve thus, “This is a great mystery in Christ and in the church.” Christ so loved her that he gave himself for her, while she was yet undutiful, even as he says, “When as yet we were ungodly according to the time, Christ died for us”; and again, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 2.3
[AD 397] Ambrose of Milan on 1 Timothy 2:13
It was said, moreover, that it was not good for man to be alone. Yet we know that Adam did not commit sin before woman was created. However, after creation, she was the first to disobey the divine command and even allured her husband to sin. If, therefore, the woman is responsible for the sin, how then can her coming be considered a good? But, if you consider that the universe is in the care of God, then you will discover this fact, namely, that the Lord must have gained more pleasure for himself in being responsible for all creation than condemnation from us for providing the basis for sin. Accordingly, the Lord declared that it was not good for man to be alone, because the human race could not have been propagated from man alone.… For the sake therefore of the successive generations of men it followed that woman had to be joined to man. Thus we must interpret the very words of God when he said that it was not good for the man to be alone. If the woman was to be the first one to sin, the fact that she was the one destined to bring forth redemption must not be excluded from the operations of divine Providence. Although “Adam was not deceived, the woman was deceived and was in sin.” Yet woman, we are told, “will be saved by childbearing,” in the course of which Christ became born of woman.

Source: PARADISE 10.47
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Timothy 2:14
And the fact too that this grace was revealed by means of a woman agrees with the interpretation that we have given. For since, as the apostle tells us, “the woman, being deceived, was in the transgression,” and was by her disobedience foremost in the revolt from God, for this reason she is the first witness of the resurrection. This is so that she might retrieve by her faith in the resurrection the overthrow caused by her disobedience. Indeed, by making herself at the beginning a minister and advocate to her husband of the counsels of the serpent, she brought into human life the beginning of evil and its train of consequences. Therefore, by ministering to his disciples the words of him who slew the rebel dragon, she might become to men the guide of faith, whereby with good reason the first proclamation of death is annulled.

Source: AGAINST EUNOMIUS 12.1
[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on 1 Timothy 2:14
So, too, we must believe that Adam transgressed the law of God, not because he was deceived into believing that the lie was true but because in obedience to a social compulsion he yielded to Eve, as husband to wife, as the only man in the world to the only woman. It was not without reason that the apostle wrote, “Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived.” He means, no doubt, that Eve accepted the serpent’s word as true, whereas Adam refused to be separated from his partner even in a union of sin. This does not imply that he was on that account any less guilty, since he sinned knowingly and deliberately.

Source: City of God 14.11.2
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on 1 Timothy 2:15
The present book of Scripture, then, speaks of this love with which the blessed soul burns and is on fire with regard to the blessed Word of God. And she sings this wedding song through the Spirit, by which the church is joined and united with its heavenly bridegroom Christ, desiring to be mingled with him through the Word so that she may conceive from him and be enabled to be saved through this chaste bearing of children.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS, PROLOGUE.2.46
[AD 384] Ambrosiaster on 1 Timothy 2:15
The salvation that comes to women through childbearing applies only to the children who are reborn in Christ.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY
[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on 1 Timothy 2:15
Therefore, just as the power which destroys what is born is begotten along with physical birth, so it is clear that the Spirit bestows a life-giving power upon those born through it. What, then, can be deduced from what we have said? That separating ourselves from life in the flesh, which death normally follows upon, we may seek a kind of life which does not have death as its consequence. This is the spiritual significance of the life of virginity. That this is true will be clearer if we explain a little further. Everyone knows that the function of bodily union is the creation of mortal bodies. But life and incorruptibility are born to those who remain united in their participation in the Spirit. It is not having children as such that is important but this spiritual regeneration. Excellent is the apostolic saying about this, that the mother blessed with such children “will be saved by childbearing,” just as the psalmist utters in the divine hymns, “He establishes in her home the barren wife as the joyful mother of children.”

Source: ON VIRGINITY 14
[AD 418] Pelagius on 1 Timothy 2:15
When Paul speaks of the salvation that comes through childbearing, he refers to the baptism and rebirth to which their children are led by the believing mother.

Source: PELAGIUS’S COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY
[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on 1 Timothy 2:15
The claim that she will be saved by childbearing is said of all women, not just of Eve.

Source: COMMENTARY ON 1 TIMOTHY