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Translation
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What the Fathers say
Eastern Fathers
John Chrysostom
But why did He set him with these? To soothe the person wronged, and to alarm him. Is this only then the punishment? Nay, but hear also what follows. "Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven." And He did not say to the ruler of the church, "Bind such a man," but, "If thou bind," committing the whole matter to the person himself, who is aggrieved, and the bonds abide indissoluble. …
Theophylact of Ohrid
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. If you, He says, who have been wronged deem the wrongdoer a publican and a Gentile, he shall be so in heaven as well. And if you loose, that is, forgive him, he shall be forgiven in heaven as well. For it is not only what the priests loose that is loosed, but also whatever we who have been wronged bind or loose, those things too shall be either bound or loosed.
Western Saints
Augustine of Hippo
This then is what we have heard the Lord advising, and with such great particularity that he himself adds, "Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." So the very moment you begin to hold your brother as an outsider to the covenant community, "you bind him on earth." But see to it that you bind him justly. …
Jerome
Truly I tell you: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. For it was said: If, however, he does not listen to the Church, let him be to you like a Gentile and a tax collector, and it could be a hidden response of contempt for a brother, or a silent thought, if you despise me, I despise you, if you condemn me, you will be condemned by my judgment: he gives the power to the apostles, so that they may know that those who are condemned by such are confirmed …
Hilary of Poitiers
To hold out a great and terrible fear, by which all men should be reached in this present life, He pronounces that the judgment of the Apostles should be ratified, so that whosoever they bound on earth, i. e. left entangled in the noose of sin, and whosoever they loosed, i. e. accorded the pardon of God's mercy to their salvation, that these should be bound and loosed in heaven.
Translation