1 Timothy 2:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Consider also what it meant for those who plotted, beat, drove out, and killed Christians to hear that the sufferers offered earnest prayers to God for those who inflicted these things on them.

Do you see how far, according to the Apostle's desire, a Christian must stand above all? A father's love for little children is not diminished, even if a child, taken into his arms, strikes his father in the face.

So we also must in no way diminish our love for outsiders, even if we endure blows from them. What, then, does "first of all" mean? It means at the daily divine service.

Those initiated into the mysteries know this: how it happens among us every day, both evening and morning, and how we make prayer for the whole world, for kings, and for all to whom authority is entrusted.

But perhaps someone will say that he commanded prayer not for all, but for the faithful. Then what meaning will his words "for kings" have? At that time there were not yet pious kings.

On the contrary, for a long time impious rulers succeeded impious rulers. Besides, so that this would not appear to be flattery, he first said "for all," and then "for kings."

If he had said only for kings, perhaps someone would have suspected him of this. Moreover, the Christian soul, on hearing this, might naturally have been perplexed and unwilling to accept such instruction.

It would wonder that, during the mysteries, prayers should be offered for a pagan. Therefore see what he says, and what benefits he proposes, so that he may incline the soul to accept his exhortation.

"That we may lead," he says, "a quiet and peaceful life." That is, their salvation brings us calm. Likewise, in the Epistle to the Romans, urging obedience to authorities, he says: "not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake" (Rom 13:5).

God established authorities for the common benefit. Would it not be altogether unreasonable if others set out on campaign and put on arms so that we might remain safe, while we did not even offer prayers for those who face dangers and bear military service?

Thus this is not flattery at all, but is done as justice requires. Indeed, if they did not escape danger and succeed in wars, then our affairs too would necessarily fall into confusion and disorder.

After they were defeated, we ourselves would have either to go to war, or to flee and wander everywhere. They form, he says, a kind of forward rampart that guards the peace of those within.

"Prayers," he says, "supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings." We must thank God even for the blessings sent to others, for example, that He makes His sun shine on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Do you see that he joins and binds us to one another not only through prayer, but also through thanksgiving? The one who must thank God for blessings bestowed on his neighbor must also love him and be friendly toward him.

If we must give thanks for what is sent to our neighbor, then all the more for what happens to us ourselves, both secretly and according to our desire, and even against our will.

We must give thanks also for what seems unpleasant to us, because God orders all things for our good.

Therefore let us entreat the saints to thank God for us, and let us ourselves do the same for one another. This is, indeed, especially the duty of priests, as a matter of particular importance.

When we draw near to God, we first offer thanksgiving for the universe and for common blessings. If God's benefactions concern all in general, then among all, you too have received salvation.

Therefore, if you alone received benefactions, you must give thanks for all. If all together received them, you may justly give thanks for yourself.

Therefore let us also thank God for the boldness that others have before Him. This is an ancient law, planted in the Church from above. Thus Paul gives thanks to God for the Romans, for the Corinthians, and for the whole universe.

On the other hand, they also become better, because with the cooperation of prayer they cease their malice and hardness toward us. For it has great significance for those who persecuted and killed to hear that those whom they torment pray for them.

The Apostle gathers together the words prayers, supplications, and intercessions as terms of one meaning, to arouse the energy of prayer. By insisting on one thing through these expressions, he conveys the urgent requirement to act as he commands.

Yet some have been curious to find a distinction among these words. They say that prayer means a request for deliverance from sorrow, supplication means asking for good things, and intercession means a cry with complaint against the impious, the offenders, and the incorrigible.

See how we are moved to give thanks even for the good things sent to others. For example, He commands His sun to rise on the evil and the good (Mt 5:45), and abundantly gives His blessings to all, both unbelievers and blasphemers.

Through this we are united most closely in brotherly love. For whoever thanks God for blessings given to his neighbor is also obliged to love him. All the more, then, must we give thanks for the blessings sent to us ourselves.

Yet everything offered to God is consecrated to Him, especially the offering on the holy altar. By this mystery that greatest vow of ours is proclaimed, when we promise that we shall abide in Christ and surely abide in the unity of the Body of Christ.

This mystery consists in this: "For we, being many, are one bread and one body" (1 Cor 10:17). Therefore I think that during its consecration and preparation for distribution, the Apostle commanded that προσευχή, in the proper sense, be offered. That is, prayers, or, as some less successfully translated it, adorationes, acts of worship, are made during the prayer for the vow which in the Scriptures is more often called εύχή.

Intercessions, interpellationes, or, as your books call them, petitions, postulationes, are said when the people are blessed. For then the chief priests, as intercessors, commend their clients to the most merciful Authority by the laying on of hands.

When this is completed and communion in so great a mystery has taken place, everything ends with thanksgiving, which the Apostle placed last in this passage.

Saint Chrysostom, giving special attention to the meaning of Christian prayer for pagans, says: "From this two good results flow. On the one hand, through it the hatred that some Christians feel toward outsiders, those who do not belong to the Church, is destroyed. No one can hold hostile feelings toward one for whom he prays.

"On the other hand, those outsiders become better, partly because prayers are offered for them, through an invisible influence upon them, and partly because, when they hear that prayers are offered for them, they put aside their hardness against those who pray.

"Nothing so helps the success of teaching as loving and being loved. Just as love for little children is not lessened, even if a child taken in the arms strikes his father in the face, so we must not lessen our love for outsiders, even if we endure blows from them.

"Would it not be wholly unfitting if, when others go on campaign and put on arms so that we may dwell securely, we did not even offer prayers for those who face danger and bear the burden of military service? If they did not succeed, we ourselves would have to go to war, or flee and wander everywhere."

According to Bishop Theophan, "such an order of prayers in Church assemblies had to be introduced and publicly declared in order to avert the rumor spread about Christians by their enemies, that they were haters of mankind, as Tacitus says. This was supposedly shown by their shunning all people and human, that is pagan, customs, and by their allegedly gathering apart from others to stir up rebellion.

"The Apostle therefore made it a law that the Ephesians, and through them all Christians, when gathering for prayer, should first of all pray for all men and for the authorities. After this, Christians could show everyone: Look how we are prescribed to pray, and judge whether we are haters of mankind and rebels. This order of prayers has been preserved in the Church to this day."

But Christian love says: pray for these also. Desire and ask every good thing for them. Perhaps, through benefactions, they will come to know the Benefactor, God. Having known Him, they will believe in Him.

Having believed, they will become peaceful toward others who believe in Him. And if this should not happen, then according to the commandment of the beloved Savior, "pray for those who persecute you and drive you out" (Mt 5:44).

When we consider the dispositions of the earthly authorities of that time, alien to Christianity and even hostile to it, the Apostle's instruction to pray for them appears extraordinary in another respect. It commands us to offer not only prayers for them, but also thanksgivings.

Can enemies and hostile acts, persecutors and persecutions, really become objects even of thanksgiving? This difficulty is removed if we consider that the holy Apostle is not simply a teacher, but a divinely inspired teacher.

Christ the Savior gave all Christians this promise for grave occasions, when they must speak or bear witness to the truth of Christ with special faithfulness and firmness: "It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you" (Mt 10:20).

Without doubt, this gift was given to the Apostle in special power and fullness, since he was the herald of Christ's teaching for the universal Church.

Thus Saint Paul writes instruction to the Church of Ephesus, while the Holy Spirit at the same time deigns through him to write instruction to the universal Church. Paul looks at the Church of Ephesus as it is.

At the same time, the Spirit of God in him looks at the universal Church as it is and as it will be. Paul sees the contemporary darkness of pagan kingdoms. The Spirit of God in him foresees and, to some extent, shows him the future light of Christian kingdoms.

The gaze of the divinely inspired man pierces future centuries and meets Constantine, who gives peace to the Church and sanctifies kingdoms by faith. He sees Theodosius and Justinian defending the Church from heresies.

Of course, he sees further still Vladimir, Alexander Nevsky, and others: spreaders of the faith, defenders of the Church, and guardians of Orthodoxy.

After this, it is no wonder that Saint Paul writes, "I exhort that" not only "prayers" be made, but also "thanksgivings for the king and for all who are in authority."

There will be kings and authorities for whom one must pray with sorrow or consolation. There will also be those for whom one must thank God with joy, as for a precious gift of God.

The Apostle's deep humility, and at the same time his strong desire to make the instruction he gives effective, is revealed in this. He does not set forth the truth indifferently, nor does he command with apostolic authority.

Rather, he asks and beseeches that prayers be offered for the king: "I exhort," he says, "that prayers be made for the king." Can we fail to feel deeply and powerfully this duty, so persuasively impressed on us by the Apostle?

Though we are separated from Saint Paul by time, the sound of his apostolic proclamation should seem to resound more loudly and sweetly in our hearts than in those of the Christians of Ephesus and the other Churches of his own day.

They had to pray with fear, through tears, for kings alien to Christianity and threatening it. But it was set before our fathers, and is set before us, to pray for most pious kings, spreaders of the faith, defenders of the Church, and guardians of Orthodoxy.

We are to pray with peace, joy, and thanksgiving. To strengthen his teaching on prayer for the king, the holy Apostle points to the fruit expected from it: "that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all piety and purity."

Thus the Apostle holds that, through the prayer of the Church and the kingdom, much depends on the king, enlightened and strengthened by God, for "a quiet and peaceful life," that is, a calm and secure life.

Not only a quiet and peaceful life depends on him, but also "life in all piety and purity." Therefore, faithful children of Russia, let us increase our heartfelt supplications to God for our most pious sovereign, the emperor.

May the King of kings Himself bless him with a gracious blessing, for his full joy and ours, and for the perfect prosperity of our fatherland.

Why? Probably because this above all needed to be recalled to the Ephesians. For prayer for all men and for the authorities, though not unimportant, is not first in rank. Or perhaps this order of prayers had to be introduced in church assemblies and publicly announced to all. It would avert the rumor spread about Christians by their enemies, that they were haters of mankind. This rumor arose because they avoided all men and human customs, that is, pagan customs, and supposedly plotted seditions when gathering apart from others.

The Apostle therefore made it a law that the Ephesians, and through them all Christians, when gathering for prayer, should first pray for all men and for the authorities. After this, Christians could show everyone: See how we are commanded to pray, and judge whether we are haters of mankind and rebels. This order of prayer has been preserved in the Church to this day. Is it not by the direction of St. Paul?

"I exhort" is a humble turn of speech. It persuades, but does not in any way diminish the force of the ordinance. By this, it is not left to anyone’s choice whether to pray in this way or another, if he should wish. A similar gentle form of unavoidable commands is also observed in social relations.

"To make prayers, supplications, intercessions, thanksgivings." The last, thanksgivings, differs from the others in object, feeling, and word. As for the first three, they appear to have the same meaning. Perhaps St. Paul joined them together only to express this: pray in every way, pray with all zeal.

Blessed Theophylact thinks so: "Prayers, supplications, and intercessions, as having the same meaning, were gathered by the Apostle to stir up the energy of prayer. By insisting on one thing through these expressions, he shows that what he commands must certainly be done." Yet the same blessed Theophylact says further: "Some, however, have taken pains to find a distinction among these words." Blessed Theodoret did this before him, and from him Theophylact borrows the account of the very lines of distinction.

In these expressions one may see indications both of different objects of prayer and of the qualities of prayers, or the different states of the one praying. Thus prayer, δεησις, from δεω, according to its object is "a petition for deliverance from what is grievous," as blessed Theodoret and blessed Theophylact say. It asks deliverance from what causes sorrow and holds one in distress and extremity. According to the state of the one praying, it is the feeling of need and want for the object of prayer. From this feeling prayer itself is born. Its absence makes the one praying an indifferent reciter of prayer. Its presence, by its measure, determines the measure of the heat of prayer. Anyone who wishes to pray must first acquire this feeling and must not approach prayer without it.

Supplication, προσευχη, according to its object, is "the asking of blessings," as blessed Theodoret and blessed Theophylact say. According to the state of the one praying, it is a prayer torn from the heart, a cried-out prayer. It calls forth the offering of vows and readiness for every sacrifice. In some cases it is accompanied by fasts, vigils, and other privations.

Intercession, εντευξις, from εντυγχανω, to speak for someone before another, according to its object is an intercessory cry for others. It includes a complaint against visible and invisible enemies and the asking of help against them, as blessed Theodoret and blessed Theophylact say. According to the state of the one praying, it is, on the one hand, hopeful boldness before God. On the other hand, it is perseverance in prayer, which the Savior also commanded in a parable.

According to St. John Climacus, it is fitting for the friends of God to take up an intercessory cry to God for others. It therefore requires high moral perfection and great nearness to God. Yet perseverance is unfitting for no one.

Still, what is common to all these three is asking God for what is needful, of whatever kind it may be. Thanksgiving differs directly from this. It is usually directed not to blessings hoped for, but to blessings already received, tasted, and being tasted.

Basil the Great teaches that every prayer should begin with thanksgiving. He assures us that thanksgiving for blessings received intercedes more strongly than any petition for the giving of new blessings. The Apostle places it here after petitions, perhaps so that, if it were placed before petitions, we would not think that we should only ask for all men, and not also give thanks.

The Apostle requires that we give thanks for others. He is convinced that nothing bears such strong witness to our mutual love, enlivens it, and strengthens it, as thanksgiving for blessings received by others. This is why he placed thanksgiving before "for all men."

"For all men" means for all people, not only the faithful, but also unbelievers. St. Chrysostom says with feeling here: "Those initiated into the Mysteries know what happens among us in the daily service, every day, morning and evening, and how we make prayer for the whole world. The priest is, as it were, the common father of the whole universe. Therefore it is fitting for him to care for all, just as God cares for all, in Whose service he has been placed. Consequently the Apostle commands prayer for all."

From this flow two good consequences. On the one hand, the hatred some nourish toward those outside the Church is destroyed, because no one can harbor hostile feelings toward someone for whom he offers supplication. On the other hand, those outside become better, partly because prayers are offered for them, through the unseen influence of prayer, and partly because they lay aside their bitterness toward us when they hear that prayers are offered for them.

Nothing contributes so much to the success of teaching as to love and to be loved. Consider also what it meant for those who plotted, beat, drove out, and killed Christians to hear that those who endured such sufferings offered earnest prayers to God for those who caused them. Do you see how far, according to the Apostle’s desire, the Christian must rise above all? As a father’s love for little children is not at all diminished, even if the child he holds in his arms should strike him in the face, so our love for those outside must not be diminished, even if we suffer blows from them.

"I exhort," he says, "that prayers be made, and thanksgivings for all men." For one must thank God even for the blessings sent to others. For example, He makes His sun shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous (cf. Mt 5:45). Do you see that He joins and binds us to one another not only through prayer, but also through thanksgiving? For one who is obliged to thank God for blessings sent down to his neighbor is also obliged to love him and to be kindly disposed toward him.

If we must give thanks for what is sent down to our neighbor, then much more must we give thanks for what happens to ourselves. This includes what is hidden, what happens according to our desire, what happens against our will, and even what seems unpleasant to us. For God orders all things for our good.