Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

1 Samuel 16:7

There are 11 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 274, footnote 2 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Instructor (HTML)

Book III (HTML)
Chapter II.—Against Embellishing the Body. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1589 (In-Text, Margin)

... their own reflection produce an imitation of their own likeness, in order to the falsifying of their faces? Likewise also, when Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse for king, and on seeing the eldest of his sons to be fair and tall, produced the anointing oil, being delighted with him, the Lord said to him, “Look not to his appearance, nor the height of his stature: for I have rejected him. For man looketh on the eyes, but the Lord into the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 244, footnote 14 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Prescription Against Heretics. (HTML)

Weak People Fall an Easy Prey to Heresy, Which Derives Strength from the General Frailty of Mankind.  Eminent Men Have Fallen from Faith; Saul, David, Solomon. The Constancy of Christ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1871 (In-Text, Margin)

... appear to possess the truth? Do we prove the faith by the persons, or the persons by the faith? No one is wise, no one is faithful, no one excels in dignity, but the Christian; and no one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end. You, as a man, know any other man from the outside appearance. You think as you see. And you see as far only as you have eyes. But says (the Scripture), “the eyes of the Lord are lofty.” “Man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] “The Lord (beholdeth and) knoweth them that are His;” and “the plant which (my heavenly Father) hath not planted, He rooteth up;” and “the first shall,” as He shows, “be last;” and He carries “His fan in His hand to purge His threshing-floor.” Let ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 25, footnote 4 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On the Apparel of Women. (HTML)

II (HTML)
It is Not Enough that God Know Us to Be Chaste:  We Must Seem So Before Men.  Especially in These Times of Persecution We Must Inure Our Bodies to the Hardships Which They May Not Improbably Be Called to Suffer. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 262 (In-Text, Margin)

Perhaps some (woman) will say: “To me it is not necessary to be approved by men; for I do not require the testimony of men: God is the inspector of the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] (That) we all know; provided, however, we remember what the same (God) has said through the apostle: “Let your probity appear before men.” For what purpose, except that malice may have no access at all to you, or that you may be an example and testimony to the evil? Else, what is (that): “Let your works shine?” Why, moreover, does the Lord call us the light of the world; why has He compared us to a city built upon a ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 445, footnote 2 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

On the Lapsed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3281 (In-Text, Margin)

... master in that he has obeyed his edict; he has been more obedient to human authority than to God. It matters not whether he has published what he has done with less either of disgrace or of guilt among men. Be that as it may, he will not be able to escape and avoid God his judge, seeing that the Holy Spirit says in the Psalms, “Thine eyes did see my substance, that it was imperfect, and in Thy book shall all men be written.” And again: “Man seeth the outward appearance, but God seeth the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] The Lord Himself also forewarns and prepares us, saying, “And all the churches shall know that I am He which searcheth the reins and the heart.” He looks into the hidden and secret things, and considers those things which are concealed; nor can any ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 547, footnote 24 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That nothing that is done is hidden from God. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4460 (In-Text, Margin)

In the Wisdom of Solomon: “In every place the eyes of God look upon the good and evil.” Also in Jeremiah: “I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a man should be hidden in the secret place, shall I not therefore see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.” Also in the first of Kings: “Man looketh on the face, but God on the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] Also in the Apocalypse: “And all the churches shall know that I am the searcher of the reins and heart; and I will give to every one of you according to his works.” Also in the eighteenth Psalm: “Who understands his faults? Cleanse Thou me from my secret sins, O Lord.” Also in the second Epistle of Paul to the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 119, footnote 3 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Lactantius (HTML)

The Divine Institutes (HTML)

Book IV. Of True Wisdom and Religion (HTML)
Chap. XVII.—Of the superstitions of the Jews, and their hatred against Jesus (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 726 (In-Text, Margin)

... from the mortal flesh to the soul, which alone is about to endure. For being desirous of promoting our life and salvation in accordance with His own goodness, in that circumcision He hath set before us repentance, that if we lay open our hearts,—that is if we confess our sins and make satisfaction to God,—we shall obtain pardon, which is denied to those who are obstinate and conceal their faults, by Him who regards not the outward appearance, as man does, but the innermost secrets of the heart.[1 Samuel 16:7]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 39, footnote 7 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 629 (In-Text, Margin)

... such are no fit models for you. Judas was a traitor, but the eleven apostles did not waver. Phygellus and Alexander made shipwreck; but the rest continued to run the race of faith. Say not: “So-and-so enjoys her own property, she is honored of men, her brothers and sisters come to see her. Has she then ceased to be a virgin?” In the first place, it is doubtful if she is a virgin. For “the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] Again, she may be a virgin in body and not in spirit. According to the apostle, a true virgin is “holy both in body and in spirit.” Lastly, let her glory in her own way. Let her override Paul’s opinion and live in the enjoyment of her good things. ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 251, footnote 4 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Rusticus. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3492 (In-Text, Margin)

... says: “Surely the serpent will bite where there is no enchantment, and the slan derer is no better.” But you will say, ‘I am not given to detraction, but how can I check others who are?’ If we put forward such a plea as this it can only be that we may “practise wicked works with men that work iniquity.” Yet Christ is not deceived by this device. It is not I but an apostle who says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked.” “Man looketh upon the outward appearance but the Lord looketh upon the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] And in the proverbs Solomon tells us that as “the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue.” It sometimes happens that an arrow when it is aimed at a hard object rebounds upon the bowman, wounding the would-be ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 273, footnote 12 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Ctesiphon. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3789 (In-Text, Margin)

... justified.” This last passage they try to explain away from motives of reverence, arguing that the meaning is that no man is perfect in comparison with God. Yet the scripture does not say: “in comparison with thee shall no man living be justified” but “in thy sight shall no man living be justified.” And when it says “in thy sight” it means that those who seem holy to men to God in his fuller knowledge are by no means holy. For “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”[1 Samuel 16:7] But if in the sight of God who sees all things and to whom the secrets of the heart lie open no man is just; then these heretics instead of adding to man’s dignity, clearly take away from God’s power. I might bring together many other passages of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 471, footnote 6 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against the Pelagians. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5279 (In-Text, Margin)

... fault of our nature and creation, but through the frailty and fickleness of human will, which varies from moment to moment; because God alone changeth not. You ask in what respects Abel, Enoch, Joshua the son of Nun, or Elisha, and the rest of the saints have sinned. There is no need to look for a knot in a bulrush; I freely confess I do not know; and I only wish that, when sins are manifest, I might still be silent. “I know nothing against myself,” says St. Paul, “yet am I not hereby justified.”[1 Samuel 16:7] “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Before Him no man is justified. And so Paul says confidently, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”; and “God hath shut up all under sin that He may have ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 369, footnote 2 (Image)

Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen

Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)

The Oration on Holy Baptism. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4088 (In-Text, Margin)

... me,—and he a Metropolitan,—and he of Jerusalem (for the Grace does not come of a place, but of the Spirit),—and he of noble birth, for it would be a sad thing for my nobility to be insulted by being baptized by a man of no family.” Do not say, “I do not mind a mere Priest, if he is a celibate, and a religious, and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be defiled even in the moment of my cleansing.” Do not ask for credentials of the preacher or the baptizer. For another is his judge,[1 Samuel 16:7] and the examiner of what thou canst not see. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. But to thee let every one be trustworthy for purification, so only he is one of those who have been approved, not of those who ...

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