2 Corinthians 5:1

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

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Ambrosiaster

AD 400

Our present body is our earthly home. Our resurrection body is our heavenly one. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Should anyone say that the cause of vices and evil habits lies in the flesh because when the soul is influenced by the flesh it lives in such a manner, he cannot have sufficiently considered human nature as a whole… . But notice that the apostle who, in discussing the corruptible body, had used the words “even though our outer man is decaying,” goes on, a little further, to declare: “For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell be destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by human hands, eternal in the heavens.” … On the one hand, our corruptible body may be a burden on our soul; on the other hand, the cause of this encumbrance is not in the nature and substance of the body. Therefore, aware as we are of its corruption, we do not desire to be divested of the body but rather to be clothed with its immortality. In immortal life we shall have a body, but it will no longer be a burden since it will no longer be corruptible.

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Clement Of Alexandria

AD 215

For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: if so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we by sight"

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Cornelius a Lapide

AD 1637

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved. If this mortal body, which is as it were a tent in which we tarry for a brief space while travelling here, be dissolved, we have a firm and lasting house in the glory of the soul and eternal life. This is the interpretation of Photius, Anselm, S. Thomas, Lyranus, and it is supported by vers6,8. From this and the explanation of the Fathers, and especially from ver8 , we gather, against Tertullian, the Greeks, Armenians, Luther, and Calvin, that souls immediately at death are beatified, and do not sleep under the altar till the resurrection. Secondly and more fitly we may say that this house is the body glorified by the resurrection, and this body we have, i.e, shall surely have at the resurrection. And this meaning is more in harmony with ver4and the last chapter; for the Apostle is urging them to endure, in hope of the resurrection when we shall receive our glorified body, bodily mortification and suffering. Song... Read More

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Cornelius a Lapide

AD 1637

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER i. The Apostle goes on to remind the Corinthians of the glories of heaven, saying that in exile here and in the tabernacle of the flesh he longs for them, and wishes to be absent from the body and present with the Lord. ii. He shows (ver9) that it is his endeavour to please not men but Christ alone, who shall come to judgment. iii. He declares (ver14) that he is constrained to do this by the love of Christ, who has reconciled us by His death; and therefore that he no longer knows any one according to the flesh, but only him who is a new creature in Christ. iv. He professes himself (ver18) to be a minister and ambassador of Christ, and he prays them to be reconciled to God for Christ"s sake.

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Didymus the Blind

AD 398

Paul is talking here about two different worlds. One is the earthly, made with hands and visible. The other is invisible, made without hands and heavenly. On earth, our soul is clothed in flesh and blood, which is the visible and organic body. But once this body is left behind, the soul will move to the heavenly realm, where it will receive its body back, but one that has been transformed into a heavenly body. .

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Habitationis, tou skenous. Ver. 21. Pro nobis peccatum fecit, uper emon amartian epoiesen. See St. Augustine, lib. de pec. Orig. chap. 32. serm. 48. de verbis Dei. nunc 134. tom. v. p. 655. and Serm. vi. de verb. Apost. chap. 8. Serm. clv. t. 5. p. 745.; Epist. ad Honoratum 120, nunc 140. chap. 30. tom. ii. p. 450

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

Of this habitation. In the Greek, of this tabernacle; i.e. of the body. St. Chrysostom takes notice that a tabernacle, or tent, is not to dwell in for a long time, but only to lodge in for a while, as this life is short; but the building God has prepared for his elect in heaven, is for eternity. (Witham) But, although the hopes of possessing this eternal mansion consoles us interiorly, and supports us under the pressure of evil, the obligation we have of purchasing it, even at the expense of our lives, does not fail to afflict us. (Bible de Vence)

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

For we know, that if the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal, in the heavens. Again he arouses their zeal because many trials drew on. For it was likely that they, in consequence of his absence, were weaker in respect to this [need]. What then says he? One ought not to wonder that we suffer affliction; nor to be confounded, for we even reap many gains thereby. And some of these he mentioned before; for instance, that we bear about the dying of Jesus, and present the greatest proof of His power: for he says, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God: and we exhibit a clear proof of the Resurrection, for, says he, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. But since along with these things he said that our inward man is thus made better also; for though our outward man is decaying, says he, yet the inward man is renewed day by day; showing again that this being scourged and per... Read More

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

Once again, Paul is alluding to the resurrection, which many of the Corinthians did not understand or accept. The earthly tent is our body. Admittedly, it was not made with hands, but Paul is simply comparing it with the houses we live in. He was not trying to make an exact contrast between the earthly and the heavenly but rather to exalt the latter in every possible way.

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Martyrdom of the Holy Confessors

AD 500

For this is the crowning point of our hope, that we shall leave behind our present dwelling, which is but for a time, and depart to one that will last forever. For we have "a tabernacle not made with hands"

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Methodius of Olympus

AD 311

Now the followers of Origen bring forward this passage, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved"

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Tertullian of Carthage

AD 220

As to the house of this our earthly dwelling-place, when he says that "we have an eternal home in heaven, not made with hands". It is still the same sentiment which he follows up in the passage in which he puts the recompense above the sufferings: "for we know; "he says, "that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; ". With a view to the new house of the Lord

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