Commentary on Samuel (Book II – Book III)
Commentary on Samuel
continued
Chapter 2.11
Saul, ordered to demolish Amalek, instructs the relatives of Moses to withdraw, lest they perish along with them. And because he partially violated the command, hearing that the glory of the kingdom would be torn from him as the garment of Samuel was torn. Furthermore, Samuel, having slain the king of Amalek himself, refuses to see Saul anymore. (1 Samuel 15) And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king, etc., up to the point where it is written, What had appointed Saul king over Israel. This reading, concerning Samuel and David, shows that the kingdom of the Jews is to be transferred to the Gentiles due to the fault of disbelief, and indeed that all who do not hate sins with perfect hatred along with their perpetrators are to be eradicated from the kingdom of faith; and with this given to better neighbors, nevertheless those who practice iniquity, along with their works, are to be destroyed.
1 Samuel 15:1
Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king, etc. The prophetic word daily says to the rulers of the Church that they have not been chosen by their own industrious liberty, but by the ministry of the Lord to govern His people; and therefore they should always hear attentively the voice of His command. And it says to all the children of the Church to obey the commands of the Lord; for certainly every pure-hearted person, who expectantly looks forward to the vision of God, is anointed as king over His people Israel; over that gathering of good thoughts and deeds, by the merits of which he hopes to reach His vision. For Israel means "man seeing God." And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5).
1 Samuel 15:2
These things saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned, etc. An appropriate preface urging spiritual warfare, so that He who would command to engage in this should be known as the Lord of hosts; that is, of the angelic armies, by whose help we must be protected while fighting against the powers of the air. Egypt, which signifies darkness, represents past sins which followed us up to the sea of baptism but were drowned in it. But Amalek, who resisted Israel after crossing the Red Sea on the way through the desert, and whose name translates to "brutish people," signifies those sins which, after the waves of baptism, daily assail us with their weapons, striving to prevent us from reaching the promised kingdom of the heavenly homeland; so that we do not preserve the fruit of our hearts in sanctification, attempting to rip it away with deadly temptation. All these we are ordered to utterly destroy and show no mercy to; that is, put away everything for which the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language from your mouth, and such like.
1 Samuel 15:3
Do not spare them, but kill, etc. From man to woman, from the perfected work of sin to carnal thought, namely the filthy mother and nurse of wicked offspring. The infant and the suckling, the very beginnings and purpose of nefarious action, which a recent evil thought desires to nourish even worse; understand, the ox, the sheep, the camel, and the donkey, symbolize dullness of folly, laziness of sloth, the baseness of pride, and the wantonness of luxury. [1 Samuel 15:4] -- Saul therefore commanded the people and counted them, etc. And we, in order to be able to conquer the battles of vices, must gather gentle and innocent thoughts in our heart; namely, imitators of that spotless Lamb, who deigned to redeem us with his blood from the Egypt of this world. These thoughts obeying the command of a modest spirit, because then they truly prevail against the enemy, when fortified with a twin love, that is, of God and neighbor, they walk the path of truth; when they scorn all the delights and miseries of earthly habitation with the sole hope of the heavenly denarius, rightly the foot soldiers mentioned are comprised by the number two hundred and ten: for it is no doubt that the thousandth number signifies the perfection of the thing or person being discussed.
1 Samuel 15:5
And when Saul had come to the city of Amalek, etc. The city of Amalek represents the densely packed array of temptations against the faithful, which now rages at us, stirred up either by demons, humans, or by our own desires. Certainly, near this city of tempting vices is a flooding torrent, that is, the turbulent drive of fluctuating thoughts, which, descending from the mountains of demonic pride, crashes against the walls of depravity more severely the more the winter of persecution exacerbates the favorable year of the Lord. Yet in this torrent we lay ambushes against Amalek when we strive to anticipate and overcome the enemy with the hidden virtues of the soul and the acts of devotion known only to the judge of our heart. For we almost meet him in open combat whenever we call upon the help of our Creator against him with alms, prayers, fasting, and other similar types of spiritual armor. But with faith, hope, and love, and similar apostolic arms, known fully only to Him who bestowed them upon us, we strive against humans and the evil spirits who lay in wait for us with care and diligence. When, I say, we are arrayed in these invisible weapons against the spiritual wickedness in high places, or amidst the very storms of temptations, we are almost laying ambushes in the torrent against Amalek; for we strike down the openly raging adversary where he cannot see it.
1 Samuel 15:6
And Saul said to the Kenite, "Go, depart, etc." The holy history reports that the Kenites were the relatives of Moses, saying: "Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the rest of the Kenites, the sons of Hobab the kinsman of Moses; and had pitched his tent as far as the valley which is called Sennim, and he was near Kedesh" (Judges IV). Therefore, Saul commanded the Kenite to withdraw from Amalek. An excellent teacher takes care that if he finds anything among the vices which he reproves, that he may embrace virtues found among them, keeping them unharmed. For you will find many even among pagans who are meek, humble, kind, patient, and serving with almsgiving and prayers in the example of the centurion Cornelius. Surely, these virtues, because they are close to the law of God as if by kinship, emerging from the depths of the worldly darkness, help to reach the promised rest and light, and should not be destroyed among the vices but separated from the catalog of all vices, so that they may benefit their possessor. For a Kenite, which means "possessor," should be separated from all vices. Thus, at Saul's command, the Kenite, who is to be saved, departs from the perishing Amalek when the rigorous teacher separates the virtues that help from the vices that weigh down in the examination of those to be instructed; so that the virtues, which are diligently practiced among the reprovable vices, may not be detested because of someone's bad vices. Nor, on the other hand, should someone's vices, which, as humans, cannot be free from among the virtues, be judged to be embraced because of their proximity to virtues; but with fair judgment, let the crooked be corrected in all things, which impede the way of salvation, and let the right be preserved, which help.
1 Samuel 15:7
And Saul struck the Amalekites, etc. Evila, which is said to mean "suffering" or "labor," signifies the beginning of conversion, which is not initiated without a certain painful and laborious birth of the new man. Sur, which translates to "right," represents the final perfection of correction. This solitude well described in the region of Egypt implies that one preserves the rectitude received, better if always mindful of the pressure of the darkness from which they have been delivered. In Evila, positioned with the sword of the word, he says: Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts III). But also the Apostle James says: Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to sorrow. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up (James IV). By striking the same ones, he comes to Sur, which is opposite, as Scripture elsewhere states, against the face of Egypt; as the Apostle Paul says: For you were once darkness, but now are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (Ephesians IV). And he himself positioned in Sur did not neglect to observe Egypt from which he had exited, saying: Who am not worthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God but obtained mercy (I Corinthians XV). He shows himself struck beneficially so that he might live better after the blow, when he says: Nevertheless, I live;
yet not I, but Christ lives in me (Galatians II). Not only those who are converted but also those who, having received the word of truth, do not care to turn away from depravity, are struck from Evila to Sur: because perpetually allocated to sufferings, they endure the just sentence of divine strictness, which is opposite Egypt; because he will repay them according to the wickedness of their pursuits. And these too, at Samuel's command, Saul strikes, while the same teacher of the Church, according to the admonitions of holy Scripture, corrects the obedient for life and rightly predicts the damnation of the despisers.
1 Samuel 15:8
And he took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, etc. Thus far, Saul's struggle distinguished him as an excellent and discerning ruler, either of himself or of the people subject to him. From this point on, it marks him as indolent and reprobate, who rightly spared the innocent kinsmen of Moses. He rightly destroys all the common people and vile and reprobate things; but he incorrectly spares the flocks of sheep, other animals that are on the earth, garments, and all beautiful things, along with the king himself. The leaders of spiritual warfare must exterminate all those who oppose God's servants fleeing from intellectual Egypt—that is, the darkness of the world—whether they be men or reprobate actions, with the sword of the word and the rectitude of life; but whatever they find innocent and Mosaic among them, they ought to preserve unharmed. However, those who strive only to eradicate detestable and unspeakable things, such as fornication, idolatry, perjury, the concubinage of men, thefts, false testimonies, and other such crimes, either in their own morals or in those of their subjects, and do not wish to destroy drunkenness and revelries, contentions and jealousies, greed, hatred, and the desire for vain glory or honor, as if these were less harmful or even beneficial, as well as the king of vices himself, that most fattened one, the swelling of pride, indeed incur the guilt of very grievous transgression.
Because of this merit of guilt, and exemplifying Saul, the kingdom of God was once taken from the people of the Jews and given to a nation producing its fruits. And many Christians today leave the promised crown of life, which was awarded to them, to be obtained by others. Here too, according to the letter, we are most healthily admonished that the authority of the divine command should always prevail in us over human affection. For man, through foolish pity, spares man, whom God has commanded not to be spared; as if man knew better what should be done with man than He who made man (Eccl. X). Agag not only designates pride by the authority of the kingdom (because the beginning of all sin is pride), but also by his name, which is translated to “roof,” because often contained by the knowledge of neighbors, the arrogance of haughtiness swells in the hearts of the wicked. However, Saul seizes King Agag alive, and the crowd kills him, who eradicates the vices of the flesh, knowing how to distinguish their head, pride, from virtues through disputation, and defining how harmful it is, but does not know how to extinguish it in himself by living humbly. And Saul spares Agag, and the people also spare him, when even the very leader of virtues in his heart softly nods to the pride lying hidden in his innermost parts; and the entire company of spiritual works following him is corrupted by the assent to this nefarious swelling.
1 Samuel 15:10
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, etc. The repentance of God is not a disturbance of the mind, which often befalls men as they reconsider the evil they have committed thoughtlessly; rather, it is called a change in passing things, while the immutable divine foresight remains; for just as not repenting signifies unwillingness to change what has been established. The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever (Psalm 109); this means that what He has once established, He has never changed the priesthood of Christ. However, Saul repented of having been made king; because even the treachery of the entire people of Judea and the false faith of Christians deprives him of the promise of the kingdom's favor. [1 Samuel 15:11] -- And Samuel was grieved, etc. These are not to be explained allegorically but rather are to be drawn to the imitation of virtue: so that for the errors of brothers, which they themselves cannot yet understand in themselves, we should not only be grieved in spirit but also cry out to the Lord for them with all intention; and furthermore, whenever the place and time allow, we should take care to recall them to the recognition and correction of their faults.
1 Samuel 15:12
And when Samuel had risen from the night to go to Saul in the morning, etc. Carmel means knowledge of circumcision; Gilgal means revelation. Therefore, many, not yet fully having conquered the struggle of vices, promise themselves with confident assurance of the crown of righteousness as if having completed a perfect purification; this is a sign of raising a triumphal confidence in themselves of a struggle already completed, and this on the highest mountain of virtues, which is called the knowledge of circumcision. And after this, they descend into revelation, when they themselves, after ascending the summit of virtues and tasting the joy of heavenly reward, in true humility glory that they truly see with the revealed face of the heart the secrets, about which the Lord says to the Father: You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to little children (Matthew 11, Luke 10).
1 Samuel 15:13
And Saul said to him: Blessed are you to the Lord, etc. Understand the voice of flocks and herds, the uncontrolled movements of the mind, and the tumultuous thoughts of arrogant hearts; for whoever neglects to subdue and repress these within himself, vainly boasts that he has fulfilled the word of the Lord, which commanded the destruction of all vices.
1 Samuel 15:15
And Saul said: They brought them from Amalek, etc. The prophet, though unwilling, confesses this with a guilty conscience; for not only to God, to whose eyes all things are naked and open, but also to spiritual men, the deceitful hearts of the wicked are evident. For Elisha, though Gehazi was far away, was present in heart. And the Apostle, absent in body, but present in spirit, rebukes the sinner in Corinth. From the examples, he says, they brought back the manifold cries of brutish and lascivious desires. The imprudent mind spared these vices, which seemed less harmful, nor did it care to destroy them; rather, it considered these very things as virtues, and thought they should be gratefully offered to their author. For example, by considering foolishness as simplicity, calling the insolence of anger the zeal of Phinehas and Elijah, considering the sluggishness of sloth as the patience of David, and calling the tightness of parsimony the discretion of moderation; and notably, and equally to be avoided, is the most depraved habit of the wicked, who are accustomed to accumulate their faults by excusing them. For behold, Saul claims that he, along with the people, killed those things which, at the Lord's command, were to be killed; but he asserts that the people, not he, spared those things which were reserved against His interdiction. And many negligent and lazy people, if they have overcome any vices, or think they have overcome them, do not attribute this to the grace of the author, but to their own effort. But whatever they do not want or cannot extinguish in themselves, they claim that these are due to the flaw of an inherent nature, so that indirectly, and as a cause of human guilt, they may ascribe it back to the Author of nature Himself.
1 Samuel 15:16
But Samuel said to Saul: Leave me, and I will tell you, etc. Above, we read that Saul on the day was anointed king; on the day that he should be anointed, and now at night he is shown to be rejected. This is not by chance and without reason, but because the day sometimes signifies justice, night sin, he was chosen by day, and rejected by night, who due to the modesty of humility deserved to rule, due to the sin of disobedience he deserved to be rejected, not by divine judgment, but by the varying merit of man. But today the Lord saying: For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20); whoever is called, by deeds of darkness is separated from the light of the chosen.
1 Samuel 15:17
And Samuel said: Were you not small in your own eyes? etc. And this rebuke of blessed Samuel is fitting for any Christian transgressing the faith with which he was imbued; someone saying to him, one of the spiritual teachers, whose likeness Samuel presents: Were you not humbled in your mind for the past life, which was without God, when you came to the Church, having already received the grace of faith and baptism, made a principal in exercising the fruits of the Spirit? Through which you should reach the vision of divine clarity. For Israel means a man seeing God. And the Lord anointed you with the chrism of His Spirit, so that being a ruler and moderator of good deeds you might belong to the dominion of the eternal King. And sending you on the way of a new conversation, having defeated the old man with his deeds, He commanded you to mortify all things which are earthly part by part. Why then, disregarding the evangelical and apostolic voice, did you prefer to establish another rule of living for yourself, and to gather the spoils of vices? in which sometimes even if you seemed to deceive the eyes of mortals, before the judgment of the internal arbiter you did a great evil.
1 Samuel 15:20
And Saul said to Samuel: "Rather, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord," etc. How much this response of Saul suits the stubbornness of the rebellious proud ones is very easily evident from what was previously explained. For there are those who, convicted either by the reading of the Holy Scripture or by the speech of teachers, and reproved for their committed faults, prefer to seek an increase of their sins by excusing themselves rather than humbly seeking remedy.
1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices?" etc. These words indeed specifically pertain to the Jews, who, neglecting justice, mercy, and faith, and similar things, thought they could please the Lord through sacrifices and burnt offerings. But even now in the Church there are not a few burdened equally by wealth and crimes, who, while not ceasing to cling to their sins, trust that they can wash away their sins with daily alms. There are others who believe they cleanse themselves from the filth of vices, from which they do not care to abstain, by fasting, prayers, and frequent singing of psalms, while the Lord commands such offerings only from those who abstain from sin. Finally, the Psalmist does not say, "Do good among evil works"; but, he says, "Turn away from evil, and do good" (Psalm 36). And the leper or the unclean person in the law was not commanded to offer sacrifices to God while in their impurity, but wherever they were seen to be cleansed from it. However, it should be noted that he does not call sacrifices bad, but says obedience is better, to show that those too are good in their own time. He does not criticize the law, but prefers the Gospel. He says the people of the law are worthy of praise because they offered holocausts from their flocks to their Creator with pious devotion of heart; but he designates as much more praiseworthy the one who, according to the counsel of the Gospel, offers their body as a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God.
1 Samuel 15:23
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, etc. Just as the other parts of this reading, so too this rejection of Saul, according to the allegory, can be applied to the synagogue, and according to the tropology of the law to any false Christian, whether teacher or disciple who was initially faithful but subsequently condemnable, fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam that says: "A ruler shall come out of Jacob, and destroy what remains of the city" (Num. XXIV); for because of the hidden and not entirely eradicated pest of pride in the heart, both the former Jewish people and now many Christians are deprived of the seat of the heavenly kingdom.
1 Samuel 15:27
And Samuel turned to depart, etc. When the grace of prophecy turned away because of sins to depart from the Jews, they did not grasp the full garment of prophetic reading by which they could warm their souls with faith and adorn them with works; but only the extreme fringe, which is in the part of the letter, which they also tear away from the solidity of the spiritual sense, as if from the integrity of the prophetic garment. And therefore because they did not fear to tear the prophets, they deserved that the kingdom of God be torn from them and given to the Gentiles. But also today anyone who with an impious mind despises the sacred words in which he was instructed and imbued to seek the heavenly kingdom; because he stains the sacred garment by consecrating himself in the kingdom, he leaves the taken away kingdom's happiness to a better neighbor. Nor does it differ from signifying the misery of such people when it is said that Samuel, hearing of Saul's pride, turned to depart. For many, while they disdain to do the good they know they should do, eventually by the just judgment of God, deserve to be ignorant of what should be done. Hence, the multifaceted luxury of heretics' weeds pollutes the harvest of the evangelical seed with a wicked seed, while rejected from the action of truth often, knowledge finally turned away and withdrew from the mind.
1 Samuel 15:29
Furthermore, the triumpher in Israel will not relent, etc. He who, he says, alone—indeed, all of Israel—by his grace made you triumph while fighting against Amalek, he will not spare you either, who are transgressing his word; for the more you received the power to conquer not by your own strength but from heaven, the less excusable you will be shown in preserving the anathema. Because as Moses says: The war against Amalek is the Lord's alone (Exod. XVII); and: I shall erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven (Ibid.). This same sentiment is to be understood in spiritual warfare, where we endanger ourselves the more by sparing our enemies, that is, by indulging in vices, owing to the greater grace of our Author which we daily receive for the remission and forgiveness of sins. We should fear that we ourselves, too complacent in our pursuit of heavenly vision, might deserve to hear along with Saul, Because the triumpher in Israel will not relent; that is, the one who has granted the gift of victory in many cases to incite you to thanksgiving and diligence in living, will also condemn you to severe examination by his court's decree in the end. Some believe that the saying, Furthermore, the triumpher in Israel will not relent, does not refer to the Lord, but to him of whom it was previously said, And he will give it to your neighbor, better than you;
which namely means that since David took power of the kingdom, he would not spare either the house of Saul or foreign enemies ordered by the Lord to be slaughtered. This they interpret morally, that our neighbors who are better than us strive to extinguish the vices they notice in us with utmost effort, lest they themselves fall into the same pit of transgression into which they miserably observe others slipping. But what follows, And he will not be swayed by repentance, signifies the eternal and immutable judgment of the Lord that he has threatened. Furthermore, what is added, For he is not a man, that he should repent, clearly indicates that where it is said that God repented, it does not mean a changeable nature in the divine substance, where there is no change or shadow of turning, but a form of speech adapted to humans, tempered by human manner. Therefore, God does not repent of any of his covenants like a man, for his judgment on all things is as fixed as his presence is sure.
1 Samuel 15:30
But he said, I have sinned, etc. Thus is displayed both the obstinate pride of Saul and the ever humble modesty of the blessed Samuel. For what is prouder than for someone, having recognized his crime by which he is shown to be a transgressor before the Lord, indeed even accursed, to still seek to be honored by men and in the presence of men? On the other hand, what is more kind than for someone, recognizing the wickedness of another by which he is shown to be a reprobate before the Lord, to still not refuse to honor him in the presence of men? From this, as even now, those are not lacking who, having been rebuked either by spiritual teachers or by sacred writings for their crimes, often find themselves more burdened by the harmful praise of neighbors than to rejoice in being healed by their own beneficial repentance. We too ought, in the example of the blessed Samuel, to act modestly towards such people and not disgrace those whom we do not doubt are to be condemned by divine judgment as incorrigible, especially if we have recognized them as marked by some church office, which the anointing of the same Saul fittingly expresses.
1 Samuel 15:32
And Samuel said: Bring Agag to me, etc. Agag, as mentioned above, means 'covered'; Amalek is called a people of locusts or a people who lick. Therefore, prophetic Scripture says and its ministers and dispensers tell their listeners to bring out into the open the long-hidden wound of pride and the badly kept secret in the heart by confessing. This pride, indeed, is the king and head of other crimes, as those that spring from its root; it seeks to deceive the unsuspecting by false flattering, as though licking, and to erode all the shoots of vital grace. This same nefarious king is said to be exceedingly fat, that is, weighed down with the dangerously delightful fatness of excessively growing crimes. About which the Psalmist speaks: Their iniquity comes forth as if from fatness (Psalm LXXII). [1 Samuel 15:33] -- And Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, etc." Understand the sword of Agag as the most effective fury of pride; the Hebrew women bereft of children by him, as faithful souls deprived of the fruit of good works by victorious pride. But as you, he said, have turned countless from the path of truth, O proud presumption, so when the appointed time arrives, when He who will justly judge and destroy the entire kingdom of iniquity comes, your mother impiety, captured by innumerable crimes, will be deprived of that most wicked progeny of vices, having no more whom to seduce.
1 Samuel 15:33
And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces, etc. And every spiritual and prophetic teacher hews the king of the licking people in pieces; when, diligently exposing the manifold deceptions of pride, carefully disemboweling the vice, he considers and explains what must be done against each of its wiles for himself and his followers. He clarifies and reveals that within the very fat Agag, that is, the covering of malice, are hidden the blind recesses of decay and corruption; and this, in Gilgal, that is, the revelation of manifest truth and faith, the teacher accomplishes. And in another sense: When, in the revelation of the final judgment, the whole body of sin is to be utterly destroyed, which the reprobate foolishly spare now, he foresees and proclaims it must be broken.
1 Samuel 15:35
And Samuel did not see Saul anymore, etc. It is better to imitate than to allegorize, that one whom he so detests due to the merit of sin, that he does not deign to see him even once, yet with the same consideration of brotherhood, he expends so much piety that he even testifies to this with mourning and tears. From whence it is not unfitting for such men of spirit, and that of the Psalmist, which he says: "Do I not hate those who hate you, O God? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?" (Psalm 139), and likewise the evangelical blessing which says: "Blessed are those who mourn now, for they shall be comforted" (Matthew 5). For if without any doubt he is blessed, who with eyes troubled by the fear of impending wrath, laboring in his groaning, washes his own bed, that is, the works of virtues, with tears each night in which he ought to rest; how much more blessed is he who, already made more secure by God's favor concerning his own salvation, prays and laments to the Lord for the transgressions of his brothers?
Book III
Preface to Book III
Having now explained with no little effort two of our books of exposition on Samuel; one, covering the nativity, life, and leadership of the same most blessed prophet Samuel and priest; the other, containing the deeds of Saul, who was first chosen by the Lord and later rejected; now we extend our hand to begin the third, under the auspices of blessed David; not relying on our own talent, but trusting in every way in the help of the heavenly assistant, with his sacred prayers, dearest of bishops, and confidently hoping that he who preserved our allegorical progress without offense, as we believe, through the winding paths of history marked now by Saul's actions pleasing to God, now by his perverse deeds, may deign to accompany us with the grace of his piety in the spiritual acts of blessed David, which, with a broad heart, he pursued the way of the commandments of the Lord, not going astray, and which are to be transferred in a typical manner to the higher secrets of spiritual mysteries. Here briefly in the preamble, we must recall that as the old would pass away and all things would be made new, the very transition should often be intimated figuratively. For just as above Samuel is substituted for the rejected priesthood of Eli, indicating that the priesthood of Christ, now carried out in the Church, would succeed the legal priesthood; so also here, David anointed king instead of Saul signifies that the kingdom of the Jews, which was according to the law, would be transformed into the kingdom of Christ's Church. Conforming to what the Lord himself declares to those same Jews, saying: "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits" (Matthew 21:43).
Chapter 3.1
Samuel at the Lord's command anoints David the Bethlehemite, brought from the pastures, as king, immediately adorned with the perpetual grace of the Spirit, so as even to relieve Saul, seized by an evil spirit, by playing the lyre. (1 Samuel 16). “How long will you mourn for Saul? etc., up to what is written: "for the evil spirit departed from him. This passage signifies the Lord Savior, singularly anointed with the oil of gladness to reign in the Church, whose bright command, the shadow of the law having been removed, urged part of the Jews to persecution, and part were saved by accepting the faith of the Lord's incarnation and passion. Therefore the Lord said to Samuel: “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? God the Father said to the prophets and apostles, grieving over the present or even future rejection of the Jews: "How long will you mourn the downfall of the stubborn people? Since I have thrown him away as deserved by their faults, so that he does not usurp for himself the singular kingdom of faith and truth, as being more excellent than the other nations and more familiar to God; rather, let the nations of the Gentiles, saved by the mercy of Christ, recognize themselves as much more exalted.
For that you may know that even the ancient prophets grieved and indeed lamented over the future blindness of their own people, which became our cause of illumination, listen to Isaiah, who, after preceding with the grace of the Lord's advent, says: "To the inhabitants of the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen for them" (Isaiah 9:2). Immediately responding to the advent of this light, he added and said: “You have multiplied the nation and increased its joy” (Isaiah 9:3). And elsewhere, recounting the affliction of the same people, he says among other things: “And the angels of peace shall bitterly weep” (Isaiah 33:7); meaning the prophets, the messengers of the divine word. But Jonah the prophet, ordered to preach to the Ninevites, preferred to flee by the danger of the sea than to commit the word of faith to the Gentiles by preaching (Jonah 1); naturally fearing lest, with the branches of the good olive broken off by unbelief, the wild olive, grafted through faith, should become a companion of the root and fatness of the olive tree.
1 Samuel 16:1
Fill your horn with oil, and come, etc. Leaving behind, he says, the care of the carnal kingdom, embrace rather that dominion, which by the light of the Holy Spirit is ascertained to be most rich, to be hoped for and loved. This not coming from yourselves, but sent by my Spirit, carefully disclose to that people, which separated from the enticements of the world, sighs for the joys of eternal salvation. For I have provided for myself a king among the sons of the same people. For Isaiah is interpreted as an island of holocaust or sacrifice, Bethlehem as the house of bread. But an island is each faithful soul; the whole Church of the saints is an island, which by seeking higher things is separated from the waves of this world, now purifying itself entirely by the fervor of the Holy Spirit, making itself an acceptable offering to God, and making its heart a dwelling place of the living bread.
1 Samuel 16:2
And Samuel said: How shall I go? etc. The prophets said to the Lord, and the apostles said: How can we preach the kingdom of the New Testament? For the zealous Jews of the law will hear and kill us. Which of the prophets did they not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of Christ. To whom the Lord responding, commanded that his body, separated from the conversation of the people, be taken up by the hand of stricter continence, and worn ready to embrace death for the Lord, and also to inflame his listeners to undertake the glory of martyrdom, as if commanded to call Isaiah to the sacrifice. For death is never better overcome than when it is endured with divine love. And I, he said, to you, O my prophets, and heralds of the future, not by men but by the infusion of my Spirit, will show what you should say or do, and who, where, or when Christ will come. These can be specially understood of John the Baptist, whom the Jews heard evangelizing about Christ and killed; but he, ready in body and mind for martyrdom, called his listeners to the sacrifice, that is to the baptism of repentance. Not any human teacher, but God Himself showed him what he should do; and having given the sign of the Holy Spirit, he taught to whom he should give the testimony of divinity from all those who he baptized.
1 Samuel 16:4
And he came to Bethlehem, etc. When the prophecies about Christ arose in the world from the prophets, those who were more prudent, meeting the same prophets with a devout mind, already deemed their words worthy of a miracle, and with eager intention inquired whether these same oracles of the prophets signaled peace to come to the ages; or if they were going to impose an unbearable yoke similar to the Mosaic Law upon the necks of the disciples. And the prophets answered, and each of them proclaimed in their books, that they were sent to the city by God to bear witness to the one who was to come to reconcile the earthly with the heavenly; and after the long discriminations of enmity that human iniquity deserved, to reconcile the world to God through the venerable mysteries of His blood. This can be understood in the same manner about John, because the people, admiring his life and doctrine, thought he was Christ, and inquired deeply about his situation. But he testified that he was announcing peace to come to the earth,
1 Samuel 16:5
I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, etc. That is, I have come to teach and suffer for the Lord; be baptized and believe with me, so that we may live together in Christ. [1 Samuel 16:5] -- Therefore, he sanctified Jesse and his sons, etc. He sanctified them all, but anointed David alone with the oil of chrism; because the Church has many members, but one head. John baptized many, but the dove descended upon one. [1 Samuel 16:6] -- And when they had entered, he saw Eliab, etc. He introduces the sons of Jesse, the first, the second, and the third. Among them, none is found worthy to be anointed: because the Synagogue produced doctors of the law, prophets, and psalmists; but all these are participants, in none of them is the author of human salvation found. [1 Samuel 16:10] -- Therefore Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, etc. The number seven is fitting to the law because of the sabbath, just as the number eight is fitting to the Gospel because of the mystery of the resurrection. Therefore, none of those who are perfect according to the law, hoping for the sabbath either of the body in the present or even of the Spirit in the future age, preach, perceive, even though being high in merits and strong in virtues, can suffice to save the world.
1 Samuel 16:11
And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all the children finished? etc. After the teachers of the law, the herald of prophecy, the sweetness of psalmody, and the long devotion of the people had been sent forth into the world, with the people instructed in divine services by the law of Moses, prophets, and psalmists, the incarnation of Christ was still to come in the fullness of time. Of which it is rightly understood what Jesse said: There is yet the least one, and he tends the sheep. For a child is born to us; a son is given to us (Isaiah IX). He who speaks in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me (John X). Nor without a certain reason of mystery is the same little one said to have tended the sheep before being anointed by the prophet; because that good Shepherd, who came that they might have life and have it more abundantly, tended ninety-nine sheep in heaven before he sought and found the hundredth on earth. He completed the number eight; for he gave us both the hope of our resurrection and his own example. Indeed, the day on which the Lord rose, from the day of his passion was the third, but from the day of the first creation, it is the eighth. Thus also after the six ages of this world, and the seventh, which is now being conducted in this life, the Sabbath of souls, as it were, the eighth age of our resurrection is hoped to come.
1 Samuel 16:11
And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and bring him, etc. The prophets of that time said to the holy ones: Send the devoted intention of your mind, and with prayers frequently offered to God, obtain the advent of Christ, saying: Show us, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation (Psalm 34); and other such things. For indeed, we cannot recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, until the Son of God, humble and poor, comes and, having broken the snare of death, grandly opens for us the gates of life. For He himself in the Gospel testifies that we cannot recline, that is, rest in the kingdom, by our own means but by His grace: Amen, I say to you, that He will gird Himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them (Luke 12). [1 Samuel 16:11] -- So he sent, and brought him, etc. The old man Simeon desired, as did the other saints of that time, for the Lord to come in the flesh, and He came. However, he was red from the blood of the Passion; because the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10). He was also fairer in form than the sons of men; because He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth (Psalm 44; 1 Peter 2). This is similar to what the bride speaks in his praise: My beloved is white and ruddy (Song of Solomon 5); white in action, ruddy in blood. And what follows there, Chosen from thousands; this is what is signified here as David, rejected by his brothers, is anointed alone.
1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, etc. The prophet received the task of proclaiming the glory of the true king, and said: "You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God has anointed you" (Psalm 44). He who was conceived of the Holy Spirit never ceased to have the fullness of that same Spirit from the hour of his conception. John received the duty of bearing witness to Christ; and when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the midst of those he baptized, he saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God; and Jesus went forth in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. [1 Samuel 16:13] -- Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Having completed the duty of anointing, Samuel returned home; for now, with the coming of the Lord who was foretold to come, the proclamations of the prophets were silenced. For the Law and the prophets prophesied until John (Matthew 11), from then on the kingdom of God is preached. But John himself, by the duty of his forerunning, said: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3).
1 Samuel 16:14
But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, etc. As the proclamation of Christ increased, the grace of the Spirit soon deserted the hearts of the faithless Jews, and incited them with impious fury to persecute his name; and this the Lord permitted by just judgment, so that the tested ones might be made manifest in the Church, and the wicked, by their deserving merits, might be plunged further into the depths of their own malice. [1 Samuel 16:14] -- Behold, the evil spirit of God agitates you, etc. The apostles said to the Jews, desiring in all things to serve their salvation: See and recognize how evil the spirit is, which, because of your fault, has been sent by the Lord against your minds, to oppose the name of his only begotten Son, and has led you to conspire against him: yet now, having performed penitence for your errors, flee to the aid of the life-giving wood, where the innocent limbs of the same spotless Lamb of God and our Lord Jesus Christ are stretched out. For we seek, that is, we will obtain for you, faith by explaining it more fully if you wish, that man, very well known to us but still unknown to you, endowed with singular knowledge among men, who by the saving wood of his cross knows how to put to flight all the deadly weapons of the harmful adversary: so that whenever the devil begins to move you to envy against the grace of the Gospel, under the shadow of the law, the memory of the Lord’s passion may be present, and may soon restrain your hearts from furious intention.
1 Samuel 16:17
Provide for me someone who sings well, etc., Indeed, he said, I know many who are skilled in singing, but provide and bring to me someone who sings well; which is like the Jews agreeing with the words of the apostles, saying, indeed we know many who have been crucified for their sins, but we have recognized that they are of no benefit to themselves or to us. Therefore, ensure that you imbue us with his sacraments, instructing us in his faith and love in our hearts, who, by mortifying his limbs on the wood, would redeem us from eternal death.
1 Samuel 16:18
Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, skilled in playing, etc. One of the youths is the unity of the humble of Christ, with one and the same heart and soul agreed. To the Jews inquiring about the faith, and knocking step by step, so to speak, on the locked doors of the life-giving cross, immediately clearer answers to the questions of faith, and illuminating the mysteries of the Lord's dispensation: Behold, he says, with the eyes of either flesh or faith I have seen and known the one born from the root of Jesse, in Bethlehem of Judah, a man knowing how to bear infirmities, and submitting to the gibbet of death, able to vanquish the aerial powers, sublime in both strength and prudence; indeed, the very power of God, and the wisdom of God, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, in the innocence of life and the exhibition of heavenly deeds; and, to put it succinctly, he is the one who alone could say: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; and, He who sees me, sees also the Father (John XIV); whose exceptional virtues indeed celebrate the glory of the name. For he is called David, that is, strong with the hand, or desirable. He is strong with the hand, indeed, in the power of his passion, because he laid low his adversaries. Desirable in the splendor of the resurrection, by which he exalted his own. For it is written of him: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle: he is the one whom the angels desire to behold (Psalm XXIII); and who, as the prophet says, will come as the Desired of all nations, and the glory of the house of the Lord will be filled (Haggai II).
1 Samuel 16:19
Saul therefore sent to Jesse, saying: Send David to me, etc. Newly catechized Jews sent words of their intention as signs to those who had gone before in Christ, saying: Believe in our fellowship of salvation through baptism in Christ, whom we have always learned in our hearts by faith, hope, and charity, to be born, ministering the pastures of eternal life to all the blessed, both angels and men. Complying with the just petitions of the brethren, they lent to them the mysteries of Christ to be received. They did not do this hesitantly, but according to him who, saying to his disciples: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28): he immediately added and said, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Ibid.). Among the sacraments of faith, with which they were initiated outwardly, they also sent examples of virtues, by which they were inwardly nourished: for bread and wine are spiritual virtues and doctrine. For bread strengthens the heart of man (Psalm 103). And your cup, he says, inebriating, how glorious it is (Psalm 22)! A kid from the goats is a humble sign of repentance, separated from the wanton flock of sinners: for a kid used to be offered for sins according to the law. These David carries to Saul on a donkey given by Jesse, when any wise teacher by the grace of Christ instructing his listeners, frequently recalls that the grace of virtues which they should imitate abounds in the humble and those despised by human judgment. It is notable that in the anointing of Saul, which also signifies the kingdom of Christ, donkeys, bread, a jug of wine, and also kids are found: as has been discussed in its proper place.
1 Samuel 16:21
And David came to Saul, etc. The Lord came to the hearts of the believing Jews through faith and stood before them with the indefatigable desire of that acknowledged and coveted sweetness. To those who loved him, he ministered abundant and invincible weapons of faith and truth against all the malign strife of the enemy: indeed, the breastplate of justice, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians VI).
1 Samuel 16:23
Therefore whenever the evil spirit of God seized Saul, etc. The sense is clear from the preceding, and it is suitable not only to the faithful Jews but also to us. For it must be that whenever any temptation of the evil spirit seizes our mind and turns it away from the tranquility of its state, whoever of the spiritual brothers is present should bring to our memory the humility of the Lord's passion, earnestly exhorting us; because He who was innocent and just sustained the punishment of the cross for us voluntarily, leaving indeed an example that following His steps, we may act innocently in prosperity and patiently in adversity. Thus it will come to be that, refreshed by brotherly consolation as if by David's playing of the harp, we may bear it more lightly. For David always signifies our Redeemer, but sometimes in himself, sometimes in his members: and with the departure of the dire spirit's influence, immediately the grace of the Holy Spirit succeeding will enlighten us. But if it moves anyone why the Spirit is called both of God and evil; let him know that it is called of God indeed because of His most just permission, but evil because of the most wicked will of that spirit. For God uses even evil spirits for the testing of some, for punishment or correction, or even for the maintenance of good things. For testing, indeed, as the Lord tested blessed Job by allowing Satan;
for punishment, as the lying spirit deceived King Ahab to perish in battle because of his preceding crimes by the Lord's permission; for correction, as the Apostle handed over the sinner in Corinth to Satan (I Cor. V), that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, for the preservation of virtues, as the same Apostle, lest he be exalted by the greatness of revelations, received an angel of Satan to buffet him (II Cor. XII). Josephus mentions this passage in his history of Antiquities: "And Saul was suddenly seized by certain passions and demons, bringing him suffocations and distress; and a little later: "They ordered, he says, that when demons attacked and disturbed him, standing over his head, he should play the harp and sing hymns. For it is not to be thought that that harp, however sweetly sounding, could have had such great power as to drive away evil spirits; but the figure of the holy cross, and the very passion of the Lord which was sung, already then was breaking the audacity of the devil; just as the destroying angel of Egypt did not pass by because of the virtue of the blood placed on the doorposts (Exod. XII), but because that blood was a type: the place of the middle lintel, and of each doorpost, where it was anointed, expressed the very figure of the salutary cross.
The angel passed by the houses of the Hebrews, seeing them marked, unharmed, by the divine foreknowledge, indicating the coming of Him in the flesh who would by His blood through the cross free us from eternal death.