Commentary on Samuel (Book III, chapters 3.6–3.9)
Commentary on Samuel
continued
Chapter 3.6
Saul tried to strike David, but failing, ordered the house to which he fled to be watched; who, placing a statue in his place, descended through the window and came to Samuel. But Saul, hearing this, sent messengers three times, then came himself, and prophesied with the others before Samuel. The war was stirred again, etc., up to what is written: The proverb came out, Is Saul also among the prophets? In this reading, the mysteries of the incarnate Christ from the beginning are recalled, his birth, virtues, doctrine, passion, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, as well as the faith of those following him, and the treachery, madness, and demise of those persecuting him, is described in typological speech. For a war of temptations stirred up by unclean spirits, he came forth from the bosom of the Father into our public view, the valiant protector of the human race, namely, the one who said: I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father (John XVI). And of whom the Psalmist, under the figure of the sun, explaining this in other words, says: His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it (Psalm XVIII). Who, directing the whole line of his temporary actions against the temptations of the wicked, immediately restrained them from deceiving and harassing mortals greatly; and they fled and still flee from his face today; for wherever the grace of Christ the helper is recognized, the wickedness of the deceiving devil is immediately driven out from there.
1 Samuel 19:9
And the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, etc. When the Son of God in flesh shone with miracles, the spirit of envy was kindled against him in the hearts of the Jews, the Lord giving them over to the desires of their hearts because of the merits of their preceding sins. They were still sitting peacefully in their kingdom and homeland, and confident in their same kingdom’s splendors, they did not fear to plot the death of their Savior. Moreover, when they opposed him, and even blasphemed, he, turned to rage, by the example of his meekness and patience, tried to recall them to the mildness of spirit and sobriety, as if by the sweetness of a lyre. [1 Samuel 19:10] -- And Saul attempted to pin David with a spear, etc. The Jews attempted to kill entirely in the flesh of Christ, who is God both soul and flesh. But he, commending his spirit into the hands of the Father, bowed his head and gave it up. Yet the wound of death touched the body alone; he fled the body, and his soul was saved from the sword, and his soul was saved from the hand of the dog (Psalm 21), by the darkness of their own treachery, with the executioners lowered.
1 Samuel 19:11
Therefore Saul sent his messengers to David's house, etc. The chief priests and Pharisees sent their messengers to the Lord's tomb to guard it, hoping that by denying the truth of the resurrection, the memory of His name would be erased in the future. The frequent laments of the Church announced this to Him (for the Lord hears the desire of the poor [Psalm IX]), and trembling from the conspiracy of the faithless, it somehow said: Unless you rise from the dead, the faith and confession of the believers in you cannot firmly persist; unless you invalidate the watchfulness of the guards by overcoming death, the whole faith in the future resurrection will be taken away from the world; at last, it learned that He had left the tomb's location to His guards. He went away and escaped from His executioners and the lying guards; and by appearing to His dear ones after the resurrection, He completely restored their hope and faith. David's harp can specifically and figuratively represent the cross of the Lord; Saul's spear on the wall can represent the nails of the cross, or the very soldier's lance which opened His side. As we have said, David's house is the tomb of the Lord. The leap through the window is the concealed and sudden speed of the resurrection. The wife from whom he escaped through a plan is the Church of believing Jews, who both desired the Lord Savior to rise and taught that He had risen.
1 Samuel 19:13
But Michal took an image and laid it on the bed, etc. The history of the hairy skin, of the skins of goats, is evident; for there was a cushion sewn of goat's skin, which, with its unshorn hairs, feigned the head of a man lying in bed. The statue, however, is an imitation of the true and living; the dead skin of goats is the remains of a dead animal. Therefore, Michal took an image and placed it on David's bed, as he was let down through the window and secretly saved. The Church learned to regard the Jews' Lord, who was laid in the sepulcher, not as Christ, life and truth, but as a likeness of truth and life, declaring himself to be Christ the king. The Church is said to do this in the true manner of speaking, for it bears witness to the deeds done or to be done by the ungodly, as it is written in Leviticus, "Behold, the priest shall declare him unclean" (Lev. 13): not because he could bring leprosy to the clean, but to show what was already present in the unclean. Also, Michal placed the hairy skin of goats at the head of the statue. The Church, at its beginning, discovered the perfidy even of those who not only deny the Lord Savior as Christ but also claim he was burdened with sins, not resurrected from the dead.
For it is certain that the goat often holds the type of a sinner, just as a sheep does that of the just. The hairs, brittle and externally superfluous to the body, signify dead works, becoming manifest due to their density and frequency. They place the hairy skin of goats at the head of the statue set up in the bed for David, asserting the flesh of the Savior to be rough and impure due to mortal sins, saying that until now it still holds the bed of the sepulcher, into which he descended dead. However, Michal covers the statue with garments, which the Church, after recognizing such perfidy, rejects; after showing it to the faithful, it immediately demonstrates it condemned and vanquished through outstanding works that no one else could accomplish.
1 Samuel 19:14
Saul, however, sent messengers to seize David, etc. The unbelieving Jews sent ambushers immediately after the celebration of the Lord's resurrection, who, probing the hearts of the faithful, would seize from them the love of Christ either by flattery or by threats. But they, still silent from carnal fear and remaining hidden until the day of Pentecost, sought to return no other response to those asking than that faith languished within them and had not yet flourished well, not being firmed by the fire of the Holy Spirit. [1 Samuel 19:15] -- And again Saul sent messengers to see David, etc. When the Church was preaching Christ from the advent of the Holy Spirit, the leaders of the Jews sent [people] to more carefully see what was believed about Jesus, whether He was Christ or a prophet; whether He had risen or still lay in the sepulchre, saying: Proclaim to us who are present; because He has not risen from the dead, but still lying in the bed of earth, He awaited the day of universal resurrection, so that thus faith in Him may be uprooted and eliminated from the world. When the persecutors began to confront the Church, with the faithful rejoicing over Christ's triumph, nothing met the impious except the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense to those who stumbled at the word and did not believe; considering Him as if a leper, struck and humbled by God (Isaiah 53). But He, as the prophet subsequently added: He was wounded for our iniquities, He was crushed for our sins.
1 Samuel 19:17
And Saul said to Michal, Why have you deceived me thus? etc. The unbelieving Jews said to the early Church: Why, having neglected our traditions, did you prefer to believe in Jesus and confess that by rising He put our guards to flight? To which she replied: Because He, she said, threatens not just me, but all who refuse to believe in Him and confess these things, with eternal death. [1 Samuel 19:18] -- David, however, fleeing, was saved, etc. Ramathaim meaning heights, Naioth interpreted as beauty, which is a place in Ramah. Therefore, with Saul's messengers seeing only the image and goatskin in David's bed, David himself fleeing is saved; and with the Jews during the time of the Lord’s death arguing among themselves that he was a deceiver, and not truly innocent and just, but was crucified for his crime, the Lord, who was confined in the tomb, mighty arising from death, appears in the heights of life, with immortal glory to the disciples, saying: Because thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead (Luke 24); and he goes, and dwells in the beauty of the everlasting kingdom, which is in heaven. The Church has gone after him in hope both in soul and body, and thus will be with the Lord always.
1 Samuel 19:18
It was announced to Saul by those saying, Behold, David is in Naioth in Ramah, etc. Which also concerning the second messengers, as well as the third, are related in similar order. It was announced to the Jews by the apostles and the disciples of the apostles that the Lord Jesus Christ, after his passion, resurrection, and ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, reigns exalted in heaven. But they immediately sent three of their former faith and religion, but now of their impiety and perfidy, namely priests, scribes, and Pharisees, to take away his confession from the believers who were persecuting; all of these persecutors, although bearing the mind of unbelievers, however, where disputing up to the statements of the prophets, to which the apostles with the revelation of the spiritual intelligence of Christ preside, they themselves also protesting these things written by the divine Spirit, simultaneously both loving them with the faithful and believing, though not even understanding, they were singing.
1 Samuel 19:22
He also went to Ramatha, etc. After Jewish doctrine did not prevail against Christ, both words and weapons were added to persecute the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God the Father on earth. But even their earthly principality, when searching for the hidden things of the Scriptures concerning Jesus and His disciples, found nothing else in them as a response except that He, along with His own, dwells in Naioth in Ramah, that is, in the beauty of the paternal kingdom, in the heights of the heavens. And therefore, it must be certainly known to all the house of Israel that God has made Him both Lord and Christ. And it is fitting that the cistern, which by the depth and breadth of the waters of the Scriptures corresponds to the abyss, is remembered in Socho, that is, situated in humility; because holy Scripture, being contrary to the custom of secular doctrines, existing as the teacher of humility, produced by humble authors, is open only to humble listeners or readers. But the proud, having heard through these the heavenly glory of Christ, whom they could not follow with the step of the body, nor wished to attain with the step of love, began to pursue Him with the step of nefarious action, so that He Himself, saving a certain person from such and restraining their perfidy, might protest and say from Naioth, which is in Ramah, that is, from the height of the most beautiful seat above: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me" (Acts IX)?
1 Samuel 19:23
And the Spirit of the Lord also came upon him, etc. Indeed, the Jewish persecutor of the Church recognized that holy men of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke; but knowing how to utter their words with his mouth, yet not knowing how to understand them rightly, he did not fear to enter furiously against Him by whom or about whom the words were spoken. However, he prophesied insanely, and indeed still prophesies today; that is, not understanding the true words of the prophets, he recites, reads, loves them, and extends the office of such prophecy to narrating the glory of that same higher beauty which we hope for in the heavens, giving sound without sense, and he reaches the mysteries of the height.
1 Samuel 19:24
He also stripped himself of his garments, etc. These are clearly the acts of a furious and insane person, to strip oneself, fall down vexed, and lie naked on the ground all day and night. Yet, even through the wrath of such a person, the divine power has something mystical to say for those who hear and discern. For through Balaam, who was of a contrary mind to Him, He foretold so many mysteries beforehand, and through the impious persecutor Caiaphas, He gave the secrets of His saving passion to be prophesied, and through a mute animal speaking with a human voice, He forbade the prophet’s folly; and He Himself through the possessed Saul, in the presence of Samuel and the other prophets, revealed whatever mystical things He wished, so that the innocent David might seize the path to salvation; so the madness of the pursuing Saul might be made evident to all everywhere; and finally, it might be understood how much the presence of the perfect confers on the desires of the humble, which could even lift the proud by the power of prophecy; and thus the future fate of the persecuting people might be marked, who by their hatred deserved to strip Christ of the ornament of His unique kingdom, to fall from the state of the ancient righteousness, advancing amidst the prosperity and adversity of the Church, naked of both heavenly and earthly glory, miserable and adhering only to worldly desires, and among these to hold the writings of prophecy, which would support the faith of the Church by word alone. And it is well said that he prophesied with the others before Samuel; for even now the infidel Synagogue meditates and reads the sayings of the Law and the prophets with the Church; yet the Synagogue lacks spiritual understanding, while the Church knows all those things to be understood about the Lord.
1 Samuel 19:24
From where the proverb emerged, "Is Saul also among the prophets?" The Jews of the Church have become a proverb, who, with a perverted mentality, make use of Holy Scriptures, which they do not believe or understand, while among the faithful attentive to sacred readings. It is also a proverb for those who will say on the last day: "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?" etc. (Matthew VII). And when you see certain unlearned individuals in the Church presumptuously taking the chair of teaching, and under the guise of a faithful teacher, instead of the commands of God, imposing their traditions to be observed, and their doctrines to be followed on deceived listeners, say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"
Chapter 3.7
Jonathan and David renew their covenant, and with Saul intending to kill David, Jonathan informs him to flee by the shooting of arrows. (1 Samuel 20. David, having therefore fled from Naioth, etc., up to the point where it says, But Jonathan went into the city. In this reading, the Lord, having suffered persecution from the Jews, strengthens the Church more completely gathered from among them by His grace; signifying what is proper to be done concerning those same Jews, and concerning the Gentiles to be called to faith. But those reprobate Jews, feasting on the meals of the Scriptures without faith in Christ, plan equally to destroy Him along with His distinguished members, that is, the apostles, and having driven Him away from themselves, they compel Him to hasten to save the Gentiles. We have said, however, that Naioth in Rama, which means beauty in the high place, is a symbolic representation of the joys of the heavenly kingdom, which the Lord deigned to promise and to open to us by ascending corporeally. We have said that the words of Holy Scripture, in which the same kingdom is foretold, indicate this. But in both of these exalted beauties, the Lord always remains and appears to His faithful;
from the unfaithful and the proud, however, He turns Himself away and withdraws, because they neither believe when hearing from the teacher that He reigns in heaven, nor do they read in the prophet themselves, that as He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men (Psalm 68, Ephesians 4). And, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool (Psalm 110); or understand other similar sayings about Him. And this is what it means for David to flee because of Saul’s plots. About the beauty set on high, the Lord Savior, who is at the right hand of God, is not believed by the proud who hear Him saying that He ascended to heaven, the mysteries of which prophecy abounds with, and cannot be found at all in the Prophetic reading by impious seekers, who are always wholly present everywhere, but when absent from the wicked, He departs; let us see where He comes and is present.
1 Samuel 20:1
He came and spoke before Jonathan, "What have I done?" etc. Expelled because of disbelief in the Lord by the reprobate, He often returns more sweetly to the hearts of those who love Him, reminding them frequently of His incarnation, innocent life, and unjust persecution, so that rejoicing in Him, they may confess to the memory of His holiness. [1 Samuel 20:3] -- Moreover, as the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, etc. He was separated from death by only a single step, that is, by the wall of the house in which he was staying, when (as the title of the fifty-eighth psalm also contains) Saul sent and watched him, seeking to kill him. But immediately slipping from death through a window, he was rescued and fled away, saved completely, so that by the Lord's mercy, what was foretold in the same title might happen: "Do not destroy David," in the title's inscription. This should likewise be understood also of the Lord Savior, as He was separated from death by only a single step, so to speak, due to the temerity of men, when the chief priests sent and watched over His tomb, trying to block His resurrection, by denying the entrance to it, drawing His disciples away from the faith, and erasing all memory of His name from the midst if His disciples were retracted from faith. But according to the testimony of the mentioned inscription, just as neither the title written by Pilate, "This is the King of the Jews," nor the kingdom of the same King could ever be corrupted.
1 Samuel 20:11
And Jonathan said to David, "Come, let us go out into the field," etc. A marvelous way of speaking, as if he began to speak to God, which yet he completed in speaking to a man; but this was due to the incomparably ardent affection between the young men, mutually commending each other in virtue; this as a sign of faith, always and everywhere to be kept with God as witness; which grammarians call the figure paraprosdociam in Greek, that is, an unexpected outcome. Therefore, Jonathan and David, first secretly in the city, then also going out into the field, make a covenant of the Lord, so that Jonathan would not hide from David anything that his father might think good about him; he would not introduce him to his father unless perhaps converted to piety; but also Jonathan himself, if he lives, would receive mercy from David; if indeed he dies, David would show mercy to his house forever. Because the primitive Church at its beginning was to no small extent judaizing, but soon, going out into the fruitful breadth of Christian liberty, entered into a covenant with the Lord of perpetual love;
it was agreed that if any of the Jewish persecutors of Christ wished to recognize goodness and turn to him, their faith and conversion would immediately be made known to his faithful members, that is, to the Church itself, so that they might obtain full salvation by its association, and not cast pearls before swine, not profane its sacraments to the unbelievers, but rather believe that they should be piously received by those who would rejoice to live in peace. And if indeed among the Jews the state and life of the Church would remain intact, they would not be crowned by their own merit as believers, but by the compassion and mercy of their Author. And if, by their scorning, the way of life turned to themselves, nevertheless, to any believing among that people individually until the end of the age, and to all converted remnants together at the end, entrance to mercy would not be denied.
1 Samuel 20:5
And Jonathan said to him: Tomorrow is the New Moon, etc. The holy Scripture does not denote those unequal beginnings of the months, which the Romans have annually, twelve in number, but the new moons, which are called Neomenia by the Greeks; which the Hebrews solemnly celebrated according to the institution of the law, with sacrifices, feasts, and the rest of the Sabbath, that is, of rest. This is signified by the Holy Spirit, as often as Christ sprinkles the Church, as often as any faithful soul, like the sun, with the new light of his grace, immediately spiritual sacrifices of life are to be offered more solemnly to God, immediately sweetly indulging in the feasts of divine sayings, immediately all the commotions of external cares must be put aside in happy rest. Wherefore Jonathan now speaks to David about coming tomorrow on the Calends.
1 Samuel 20:13
Descend therefore quickly, etc. That is, on the day when it was allowed to work up to the Kalends, he would go; so that through the Kalends, on which he said all should be silent, he would sit quietly. Jonathan therefore says to David that the Kalends will be tomorrow, and that he will be sought by Saul until the day after tomorrow. The early Church, having learned from him what to say to him, says to Christ; that the time is at hand when the Sun of righteousness will renew in the light of truth those believing or about to believe from the Jews; and that unbelievers will seek him, and in the rising of the new light, which happens through the hearing of the word, and in the increase of the same light, which happens through the operation of the heard word. For to those listening in the Church, and to those performing the commandments of the Gospel, they contrived deceits, of which the Lord speaks: Let my enemies be confounded and ashamed, who seek my soul (Psalm 35, 36, and 69). Jonathan was advising David to descend quickly, and come to the place where he should be hidden, and that on the day when it was allowed to work; and he should sit next to the stone Ezel, which is interpreted as departing, or going.
The elders of the early Church were praying to the Lord that by the grace of his inspiration he would descend quickly into the hearts of the faithful, that is, into the place always receptive to his love, of which it is sung in the Psalms, And his place has been made in peace (Psalm 75). Where he should be hidden by faith from those who, disbelieving in Christian peace, would resist, and being given over to external things, would not deserve to view the mysteries of their Creator. The devout were also praying that he would deign to make his dwelling among those strong in faith, who were ready in spirit either to always advance to virtue or, having been perfected in virtues, to depart to behold the joys of heavenly life. But they desired these things in the light of grace for those present, at a time namely of doing good to all, and of running in the way of light, lest anyone be unknowingly overtaken by exterior darkness. These things also today as then, and as long as today is called today, the desires of the saints wish the Lord Savior to accomplish with insatiable prayers.
1 Samuel 20:20
And I will send three arrows near him, etc. And I, the Church says to the Lord, with you dwelling in the hearts of the perfect, will send preachers of the holy and undivided Trinity, who, with wings of virtues, will be quick-flying, penetrating with the sharpness of their speech, stirred by the bow of diligent reading, to strike with the word of faith those who are more fragile and still, and almost earthly, yet remaining in the vicinity of the strong, held by the friendly bond of love, so that, touched by the salutary wound of charity, they may be compelled to bear all visible things gravely, to rest in the memory of their Creator alone, and to have His sole vision as sweetness. But I will send them, not as if they would end the uncertain course of the word, but as if training me to the sign of true and singular salvation, as if following only the look of divine will, directing all the blows of my doctrine to the intended target, I will pursue to the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus. I will also send listeners eager to obey the faith; who, diligently seeking through all the spiritual teachings or deeds of the doctors, may piously relate to the glory of my state, by following it devoutly.
To these listeners, indeed, if I show them capturing these same teachers who are near them, and placed among them by living well, if you deign to visit me, I will show that the usual blessing from the Jews is to be increased because peace is yours, with the arms of the hateful at rest meanwhile. But if I show that the same teachers, humbled by me, being further cast out and pursued from Judea, go and tend to visit all nations; because this is the will and providence of the eternal Father, that, blindness coming upon Israel, the fullness of the nations may enter the gates of life. Of the single word of the Father, which we shall have spoken, I confessing, and you teaching, let God the Father almighty Himself alone be the eternal witness between me and you; and rightly, because the Father alone knows the secrets of the Son, and only to those whom the Father has deigned to reveal them. Of these, the same Son speaks to the Father: And you revealed them to little children (Matthew XI). Who decreed that this God, begotten before the ages, should be incarnate at the end of the ages, and that they should be saved by the same incarnation. But speaking these things, the Church does not instruct the Lord as if He were ignorant of what He should do, nor does she teach what she herself shall do as if He were unaware;
but she prays devotedly that He accomplish these things quickly, which she has learned mercifully to be done by Him. What she should do rightly, having received through Him, she ceaselessly praises herself for this by giving thanks.
1 Samuel 20:24
David therefore hid in the field, etc. Christ is hidden in Christians by faith so that He might not be seen by those who have learned only to know, believe, and love earthly and temporal things; and times have come in which the splendor of the Church would more and more increase through the touch of the new Sun of righteousness: and the people of the Jews sat among those who rejoiced more in the pride of an earthly kingdom than in being humbled for a heavenly one, to enjoy the feasts of sacred readings.
1 Samuel 20:25
And the place of David appeared empty, etc. To unbelievers, the place of Christ appears empty in the Scriptures; because although they recount the entire series of the Old Testament, they do not deserve to find Him whom the learned scribe in the kingdom of heaven knows to find nearly everywhere in the divine pages. Thus Saul, as a type of the Jews, sitting to eat the bread of Scripture, cannot have Christ present, whom he had driven from his table by hating Him. But Cleophas, with his companion, although not yet fully recognizing Him, but already loving Him, invited Him to the table; and therefore immediately recognized Him in the breaking of the bread (Luke XXIV). We also do both today while reading, as some, perverse, try to turn even clear sayings about Christ to something else; others, piously and soberly seeking Christ in the dishes of divine letters presented, begin to have Him present, though not immediately recognized, until He Himself gradually reveals to us what was previously closed mysteries, as if we recognize Him in the offering of bread which He broke for us. Yet not all who in the Scriptures they read, cannot understand Christ, can immediately also stir up questions or persecutions against Christ; because the human mind is accustomed to gradually decline into vices just as it progresses in virtues. It can also be understood thus, that while Saul was dining, the place of David appeared empty: the Lord called His members, namely the Church, from celebrating the carnal sacraments of the law to engage in more spiritual ones. But to both senses, what follows is appropriate:
1 Samuel 20:26
He was thinking that perhaps it had happened to him, etc. For the Jews thought that Jesus was neither clean nor purified from sins because he had violated the Sabbath and done other things contrary to the decrees of the law or rather of their own traditions, and taught them as well. Therefore, they rightly found nothing in the Scriptures that could be recorded about him. They thought that the disciples of Christ were not clean because they saw that they placed the righteousness of faith before the works and purifications of the law. And so they did not consider it significant that they had not come with them to sacrifices, for they utterly detested them in their hearts due to their lifestyle differences, or even had excommunicated them from the synagogue. [1 Samuel 20:27] -- And when the second day after the Kalends dawned, etc. When in the hearts of the faithful the radiance of new grace happily grew after the silence of listening to the word until the time arrived to act on what was taught, nevertheless, the brazenness of the unfaithful celebrated empty sustenance without Christ and the rites of the flesh blindly performed sacred rituals. Traitorous parents of those chosen for Christ sought from their children, of whom it is said: “By whom do your sons expel them?” (Luke 11:19). Why did the Christians not flock to the carnal works of the law, I mean circumcision, sacrifices, and various solemnities, to hear or perform them along with the others? Why could Jesus himself, whom they believed incarnate from the root of Jesse, dead, and resurrected, as Christ God, not be found anywhere in prophetic reading?
1 Samuel 20:28
And Jonathan answered Saul: He earnestly requested me that he might go to Bethlehem, etc. It indeed seems strange according to the letter, why he should think and inquire about David in this manner, or Jonathan should respond, when the very obvious cause of royal jealousy had occurred, by which David should rightly seek his own safety, or even life: unless perhaps Saul ought to be supposed to have done or said many things under the frequent invasion of the demon, which, like those possessed, he was neither able to premeditate beforehand nor to remember afterward: and among these, also, the matter regarding David is believed to have occurred rather in the spirit of one enraged than one listening. Even Scripture seems to support this view, which, with David absent from Saul’s table, says that Saul did not reconsider the previously inflicted injury, but only thought that he might be unclean, either due to nocturnal sleep, or intercourse, or some touch of a funeral or something defiled, by which he would be kept from the company of the pure according to the edict of the law. Moreover, it supports what is written at the beginning of this entire reading: And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul (1 Samuel 19). However, whatever may be the case, the mystical sense is clear. For the dove-like simplicity of the chosen ones of Christ answered the ruling Synagogue that persecutes:
Jesus Christ, whom you ask about, my God and Lord, earnestly requested me, that, by sending teachers for this very purpose and in every direction, I might bring Him into the heart of the New Testament of those rejoicing in grace, where there is no blood of victims, no Mosaic manna, but according to the order of Melchizedek, the living bread which came down from heaven is celebrated in a mystery. Hence the assembly of such people is most rightly called by the sacred name of Bethlehem, that is, house of bread. Let me go, he says, to such people, believing in the mystery of the same baptism, and also the companionship of your catholic peace. And what is first and last becomes fitting, the guardianship of the word by which they are catechized and perpetually confirmed is to be entrusted to them; for the solemn sacrifice is the very life of the converted in the city of our God, on his holy mountain (Ps. 47). The unity of my chosen ones, who are my brothers and coheirs by grace, beseeches me with frequent prayers that I may always deign to multiply their number with a new generation of believers. Now if you love me with all your heart, also allow me to make others future brothers of mine by visiting through you for this cause. Nor did he longer care to seek the typical table of the law with its own;
nor in the Scripture, which you do not understand by reading carnally, do you find him who is to be sought spiritually.
1 Samuel 20:30
But Saul, angry against Jonathan, etc. The elders of the Synagogue, angry against the assembly of spiritual people, call his mother the Church by the name of an adulteress, because she has nobly taken Christ instead of Moses, the bridegroom instead of the friend of the bridegroom, the Lord instead of the servant, to be governed. "Do we not know," they say, "that you love Jesus to your own confusion, and to the confusion of Christian doctrine?" Which is deservedly called disgraceful, because, carrying the sacred law, it gleefully abandons even the most august and widely glorified gathering of the temple, and prefers to gather its congregations in secret places despised. For as long as faith in Jesus is on earth, you will not be stable, nor will your kingdom. So now, send teachers, and even those who believe and confess Jesus Christ as God, let them rather listen to us, follow our teachings, because the assembly serving this name is the son of death. Indeed, these things were said by the perfidious; yet it turned out far otherwise than they complained, because those who, out of love for an earthly kingdom, were persecuting the citizens of heaven wandering on earth, lost both the earthly kingdom and the heavenly kingdom together: both of which they could have had if they preferred not to impiously drive away the one Lord of both by persecuting, but to piously receive by following.
1 Samuel 20:32
But Jonathan answering his father Saul, said, etc. The assembly of the faithful in Christ, answering the unbelievers, said: Why does the Christian religion perish? Why is Christ Himself torn apart by you with a rapid bite, whom the governor himself, who gave Him over to death, first confessed to be innocent and just? Whom the thief, who also received the same sentence of death, testified to have done no evil? Indeed, co-heirs of Christ, persisting in the defense of the faith, the perfidious took up arms to conquer them; and because, after the glory of the resurrection, they could not reach Christ, nor lay hands on Him a second time, they struck His members in His place. [1 Samuel 20:34] -- Therefore Jonathan rose from the table in a fit of anger, etc. When persecution arose because of the word, the apostles and the foremost teachers of the Church gradually withdrew from the very custom of Judaizing, which they had maintained for some time to avoid scandalizing the persecutors, as both the Epistle to the Galatians and the Acts of the Apostles bear fuller witness. And to those who did not refuse to listen to the words of the law that sounded carnally (which is, as we have explained above, the beginning of intellectual new moon), they neither wished to agree nor be absent in observing these things carnally. For there was great sorrow and continuous grief over Christ in their hearts, because their brothers and kinsmen, who did not believe in Him, did not listen to them when they taught. He, who was blessed God over all forever, had been born among them according to the flesh and had deigned to become a curse for the good of others, in order to rescue us from the curse of the law.
1 Samuel 20:35
And when the morning dawned, Jonathan came into the field, etc. When, after the teaching and glorious operation, even the exhibition of virtues began to rise like the third day of the Kalends in the Church, the harmonious society of spiritual teachers came, having left the table of literal observance for the fruitful liberty of grace, according to the disposition of the Lord Savior; and the chorus of humble listeners followed, to whom she herself instructing said: "See that you grow with the steps of good deeds, and understand that all the ministers of the word whom I disperse near or far are to be preserved in my catholic peace, and do not be disturbed by the seeming harsh outcome of anyone at present, although untimely death may snatch away, although a fierce Indian, although a savage and barbarous Scythian may separate by mutual theft, the integrity of all my state unites with one heart and soul, having granted the same reward of life in heaven. Or certainly gathering the boy saying thus, and bringing Jonathan the arrows he shot, recognizing the good disciples who diligently captured both the words and deeds of their masters, and these were to be piously and soberly referred back for the confirmation of the universal Church. And when the attentive listeners had persisted in saying and doing the word together, that dove-like unity of the saints, customarily called the Church, sent other teachers, who, progressing beyond the first listeners, even committed the word to the external towns of the nations.
Therefore, humility of learners came, and to observe the deeds or teachings of those whom the wretched Church sent, for suddenly from the very mission a new voice of the fervent faith of the Church struck, which the humility of the lesser ones could not foresee, showing that they who would wound hearts healthily with the sharpness of the word like arrows, were to be destined among the nations; the first and prominent arrow struck the heart of Cornelius the centurion, expelling the deadly filth, wounding better to receive new life. And the Church cried out to its listeners still ignorant of the heavenly disposition; which is behind the boy, lest anyone delay to follow the path of virtue in the time of growing grace.
1 Samuel 20:36
The boy Jonathan collected the arrows, etc. The humble discipleship of the pious learned the deeds in order, learned also the sayings of the teachers, and attributed all praise to the Church; or, as we expounded above, he saw the disciples of Christ, whether still vigorous with life or already snatched by death, widely dispersed from Jerusalem, from where the word of the Lord had gone out, and recognized that all should be gathered into one heavenly Jerusalem; yet he could not know the divine secret, that salvation was to be given to the nations through repentance. For only those greater in the Lord, to whom it is said; But I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you (John 15), and he himself, strong in hand, and desired by all nations, knew this secret thing.
1 Samuel 20:40
Jonathan therefore gave his weapons to the boy, etc. He gave examples of the learned, he gave the rules of good conduct to be imitated by his disciples in the Church, and said to them: Go, advancing from strength to strength, compare these things with the testimonies of the law and the prophets, and see that we do nothing different under the teaching of Christ than what Moses and the prophets have spoken about the future.
1 Samuel 20:42
And when the boy had gone, David arose from his place, etc. When the disciples, obeying the command of their elders, went to compile the events of their times according to the writings of their predecessors, the grace of Christ appeared more abundantly, shining forth from the virtues of the saints, those, of course, who kept their hearts open to receive the gifts of the most fervent charity given by the Holy Spirit with humble submission. For this is the most splendid diversity of the growing Church, which the forty-fourth Psalm sings, so that some manifest Christ’s presence in themselves by shining with miracles; others, still intent on sacred writings, consider how the old and new harmonize with each other; others perform various services of the same faith; and still others embody what the following words signify, that divine love suddenly coming to earthly hearts provokes them with diligent contrition to adore more fervently the glory of the Holy Trinity; which our strong and desirable Lord Himself is said to do when He kindles His saints inwardly to act. As it is also said about the Holy Spirit: "The Spirit helps our infirmities (for we do not know how to pray as we ought), but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings" (Romans VIII); that is, He causes; this figure of speech is very common in sacred Scriptures, called "metonymy" by grammarians in Greek, that is, transnaming, while through the efficient the effect is intended to be understood. Just like the lawgiver's words:
"The Lord your God tests you to know whether you love Him or not" (Deut. XIII); that is, to make it known. And they kissed each other and wept. Not in vain; for the more mutual love, which inward virtue nourished, sweetly incited those very holy youths to embraces and kisses, the more the everlasting separation, which they now saw impending for them, provoked them more sharply to tears and lamentations. But in the typological sense, it must be said that our Lord bestowed His holy gifts of His mouth on those believing in Him from among the Jews; for the non-believers and those expelling Him by persecution, He did not refuse to weep, saying: "If you too had known. For David and Jonathan kissing each other signifies the Lord bestowing to the Church the salutary gifts of His word, and the Church responding devoutly to the Lord with the same word’s confession or teaching. They weep together, and this signifies the Lord, in our flesh, shedding tears both for awakening the elect to life and for the reprobate remaining in eternal death; one proven in the resurrection of Lazarus, the other in seeing and lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem; and His saints even now, inspired by Him, mourn many who sin and have not cared to return to salvation through repentance. For the believers could not see without pain and sorrow the Lord Christ leaving their compatriots in unbelief to convert to the salvation of the Gentiles. They wept together, he said, but David even more;
because whatever the Church works for either her growth, in which she rejoices, or her loss, in which she grieves, it is far less indeed in comparison to what God could do in the flesh for her.
1 Samuel 20:42
Then Jonathan said to David: Go in peace, etc. However, the Lord rose from the midst of the unbelieving Synagogue, saying: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often I have wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing? Behold, your house is left to you desolate (Matthew 23); and He went to seek a Church for Himself from the Gentiles. But even the more perfect returned to the teachers in the primitive Church from the consideration of the aforementioned right hand of the Most High, to complete the new peaks of the city descending from God out of heaven. If the city, as seen above, is pleasing to be understood as the fortification of prophetic reading, from which it is said: And we have the more sure prophetic word, to which you do well to attend, as to a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day star arises in your hearts (2 Peter 1); and it is very pleasing for the afflicted and sorrowful to enter this, so that under its protection each one may either more secretly indulge in tears or more wisely wipe away the tears.
Chapter 3.8
Achimelech the priest gives David and his companions consecrated bread and the sword of Goliath, while Doeg the Edomite spies on them from hiding. (1 Kings XXI. Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest, etc., up to what is written: There is none like that; give it to me. Chiefly, in this reading, David shows that the Lord Savior, from his lineage, will be born as both king and priest, when he receives consecrated bread, which is only permitted for priests to eat, for himself and his companions to eat, and prepares to conquer with a royal right, arming himself with a sword unlike any other. But nothing prohibits understanding through the bread the food of the word, and through the sword those who strike the wicked with the word of truth. Therefore, in this reading, the Lord commanded the apostles to preach the Gospel to the nations, abstaining from the filth of vices; and those who were the weapons of a strong wicked man to make them instruments of justice, with a strong and desirable hand, not only suitable for agreeing with truths but also for resisting false doctrines. Nor does it inappropriately shine with both meanings; of which the Lord himself deigned to make mention in the Gospels. Therefore, David came, fleeing the snares of Saul, to the city of Nob, which translates to "barking," to Ahimelech the priest, who translates as "my brother.
The King comes, avoiding the snares of the Jews, to the gathering of faithful teachers, who, intent on long night watches, are accustomed to give some great, as it were, barks of preaching for the Lord, and to defend the house of faith sagaciously from the assault of the wicked, due to the memory of internal refreshment; who are rightly designated by the name of Ahimelech the priest, because they are ministers of the new priesthood in Christ, who deserve to hear: And I appoint to you, as my Father has appointed to me a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke XXII). Elsewhere, the Lord, because he wished to seek them out, having avoided the persecutors, showed praying to the Father, saying: But you, O Lord, do not be far from me. Look to my defense. Deliver my soul from the sword, my only one from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, and my humility from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you (Psalm XXI).
1 Samuel 21:1
And Achimelech was astonished, etc. The ancient chosen ones were astonished, and the modern ones are astonished too, whenever they receive the coming of the Lord's visitation with a simple mind. They are not only stunned by the majesty of His vision, but also disturbed by the rarity of those who desire to follow the grace of such great piety. For it is said: Why are you alone, and no one with you? As it is said elsewhere: My escape has perished, and there is no one who seeks my soul (Psalm 141). Though it is certain that during the time of the passion, many saints, although very few compared to the crowd of persecutors, lovingly sought the soul of Christ. But just as where it was not among them, of those whose snares are set for me, those who seek the soul of Christ (Psalm 34), so here there was none of those who expelled Christ who followed the faith of Christ. And elsewhere, when he says: All have turned aside, they have together become worthless; there is none who does good, not even one (Psalm 13). To show that he meant not all men entirely, but all of those who were to be spoken about, he added further and said: They devour my people as they devour bread: they do not call upon the Lord, they trembled with fear where there was no fear, because God is in the generation of the righteous. And in the Gospel the Lord says:
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12). It is known that the same grain before the passion of its death had many faithful followers. But it is said to be alone without the company of those who were previously unbelievers who were to be called to faith through the same passion. Why then, he says, are you alone, and no one with you? Why are you alone, that is, with your faithful members, and none outside the predetermined number by the Father could be saved from such a multitude? This is said more with astonishment than for the chosen ones to speak by reasoning against proud counsel.
1 Samuel 21:2
And David said to Achimelech the priest: "The king has commanded me a certain matter," etc. The Lord said to the apostles, the heirs of the everlasting kingdom and priesthood: "The people of persecutors and unbelievers commanded me, as much as possible, not to call them to faith by teaching. And he said, as it were, in my ears: Let no one know the reason for the envy and plots for which, having left me, you were sent to bring salvation to the nations, and what kind of deceitful commands overflowing with wicked hatred I strove to remove you from my borders. Similar to what the Psalmist said: "They have plotted to hide snares: they said, 'Who will see them?' (Psalm 63)? When he saw, who even searched the kidneys and hearts of the plotters, God (Jer. 17). For he said, "I have separated the peoples of the nations who would believe and obey me in various parts of the world; to whom, I beseech you, if you have anything at hand of perfect work, use it as an example for conversion, or the food of the sacred law, which shines forth in the five books written by Moses, or whatever you can find from yourselves, diligently offer it for their salvation. Some boast either of the impunity of their lie or of the denigration of Scripture, claiming that David did not hesitate to seek his and his followers' salvation by lying.
They should be answered that David himself elsewhere and many of the saints often offended God by sinning, indeed no living being is justified before Him, as the great apostle said, who deserved to recline in the bosom of his Creator and Lord due to his exceptional love: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1). However, the words of Holy Scripture were not given to us so that we might learn to sin by the examples of good people; but their sins were included in the sacred Scriptures so that we might be taught not to presume upon our own righteousness from their faults, but to trust in obtaining pardon for our own sins by their penance. Nevertheless, I believe it can be easily defended in this passage that the blessed David did not lie, but, given the necessity, concealed the truth in more cautious words. For he did not say the king was his friend, nor denied fleeing the king’s plots; but he said, "The king has commanded me a certain matter, and said: Let no one know the matter about which you are being sent by me. To this statement, such a sense can be applied without the stain of falsehood: "Therefore, I come alone and deserted by the company of others, because the king gave me such a command to flee quickly, which none of the enemies should know lest they betray my presence here.
But if anyone desires to know about the necessity of lies or the constancy of a just man possibly requiring such a necessity, let him read the book of Saint Augustine on the eight kinds of lies, wonderfully and healthily moderated; and also the conferences of the Fathers, where Joseph, a distinguished figure amongst the Fathers, disputed excellently about not defining anything, also fully addressing this minor question. I have proposed only that this is enough to say briefly for the present. While truth should always be preferred to a lie without any doubt, sometimes, due to the circumstances, a lie might be usefully resorted to for a time, and the truth healthily hidden. Finally, did not Rahab the harlot, justified by works, receive the messengers and send them out another way? But she could not fulfill the merit of justification without temporarily assuming the aid of a lie. And Doeg the Edomite, whose present reading includes spying, and the following reading shows betrayal, deserved to be destroyed in the type of Judas Iscariot, to be plucked up, rooted out, and eradicated from the land of the living due to his evident knowledge of the truth.
1 Samuel 21:4
And the priest answering David, said to him, etc. Because "laos" in Greek means "people," "laic breads" signify common breads, that is, those not consecrated by offering, but common and prepared for ordinary use. Therefore, the sacred order of spiritual leaders answering Christ says: I have nothing of secular wisdom in the work of righteousness, but only the word of the Gospel, which I will commit to clean listeners. But neither do I consider that this is to be believed among the Gentiles, unless perhaps those who are converted from the various temptations of errors to the chastity and piety of the one Church virgin. For it is not good to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs (Matthew V; Mark VII).
1 Samuel 21:5
And David answered the priest, and said to him: Indeed, if it concerns women, etc. He answered those sending forth the apostles to teach the nations: What God has purified, do not call common (Acts X). For the Church restrained itself with my present help from idolatry and other crimes, from the time when it emerged through confession from the hiding place of ancient blindness, until it came to the light of knowing the holy Trinity, which is God; and the hearts of the humble were holy through the renunciation of Satan. Moreover, this manner of life, which is lived among the nations, is polluted, not yet purified, sanctified, and justified by those being catechized through the fountain of regeneration and the grace of the Spirit; but the very light of present reconciliation will sanctify it in those who receive baptism with a devout heart. It should truly be noted, according to the letter, how cautiously and wisely David either questioned the priest, or responded to the priest about his own and his followers' purity. For he not only inquired if the boys could receive the holy bread if they were clean from women, but also examined if they were clean from all pollution, which typically happens to mortals, especially concerning the contamination of womanly coupling, as if investigating matters greater than others.
For indeed, this is the greatest of those things which, though they do not make people guilty by fault, yet deter them from the touch of the saints through the impurity of any kind, for example, the touch of a dead body, or of a reptile. But David, not without discernment, examining himself and his followers, asserts that they abstained from the embrace of a wife, carefully explaining the duration of the same abstinence. He testifies that all the utensils of the boys are holy, that is, their weapons, clothes, and even the small vessels they carried for likely provisions were clean from the contamination of any filth. And because he knew that what was consecrated to divine ministries was not to be transferred to common use without great discernment, so that he would hide nothing of his state from the priest who was a steward of these things, he says only that the road by which they had come was polluted, evidently with some funerary object lying on it, or by being unclean itself. But he also says that today it will be sanctified in the vessels; that is, I do not believe that we could be defiled by the fact that we traveled a path containing something unclean, since we carefully preserved all our utensils and bodies from the touch of the same contamination.
1 Samuel 21:6
The priest therefore gave him the sanctified bread. Because he heard that they were clean who were to receive it, he consented to give them the sanctified bread; which he would in no way dare to do if he had not recognized them as clean in all respects. But if such careful attention to purity was required of him who was to taste the typical bread sanctified by the hands of Moses, how much more necessary is it for those who, having accepted the bread sanctified into the sacrament of Christ's body in his holy and venerable hands, received in memory of his death, are to partake of it as a help to eternal life, to take care of their purity? Indeed, it is necessary for one always to remember the saying of the Apostle: "For whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup" (1 Cor. 11). The priest therefore gave him the sanctified bread.
1 Samuel 21:6
For there was no bread there but that, etc. The apostles gave to those who believed, and were baptized from among the Gentiles, the word of the law and the prophets, sanctified by the grace of the Gospel. For there was no literal knowledge among the apostles and the disciples of the apostles, except only the prophetic books, which had been openly proposed to the ancient people for reading, and had recently been fulfilled by the Incarnation of the Lord, so that they were no longer held to be said, in order that the books of the New Testament might be written, to refresh the souls of priests, that is, those united to the eternal priest's members, warmed by the fire of the Holy Spirit. And it should be noted that David asked for bread, not five or twelve (for that was the number of the showbread), but it is said that he received sanctified bread singularly; just as he is remembered to have put five stones into his pouch, but struck down Goliath with one. There are five books containing the elements of legal doctrine. But, as the apostle says, the whole law is fulfilled in one word: You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22; Mark 12).
It can also rightly be understood that the sanctified bread is singularly named, either because of the unity of faith and love, but should be understood plurally due to either the various works of virtues or the multiple abundance of divine Scriptures by which we are instructed in virtues; just as what is written singularly in the Psalms: He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them (Psalm 77), there is no doubt that it must be understood in the plural, especially since the Lord in the Gospels, preferring mercy over sacrifice, affirms that the bread given to him must be understood in the plural (Matthew 9). Have you not read, he says, what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests (Luke 6)? Where, according to the interpretation in which we said that the Lord our Savior was figuratively shown in this reading as both priest and king, it must be understood as prefigured, that the priestly food, upon the coming of the Lord, was no longer to be given to Levi or the people of the children of Israel only, but to all the Gentiles who are to be called to faith. For it has been said to all who hunger for righteousness, who wish to belong to the company of the true David:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (1 Peter 2). And because we have spoken about the mystery to the best of our ability, Josephus's statements (Antiquities 3, 13) also help to elucidate the plain sense of the letter more clearly regarding the showbread, which we thought should be briefly looked into and inserted into our treatise for the benefit of the readers. For, since the religion and status of Jerusalem and the temple were still standing in his times, he could very easily know and reveal to the readers what was carried out by the priests through hereditary succession, as he himself was a priest. He says, therefore, "they used to make them out of fine flour without leaven, twenty-four in number. And he adds: "They are baked two by two, split before the Sabbath, and on the Sabbath morning, they are placed on the sacred table, facing each other, with two golden dishes full of incense placed on top of them, which remain until the next Sabbath, when other loaves are brought in their place. Those loaves are then offered to the priests, and after the incense is burnt in the sacred fire, in which all holocausts are made, other incense is added to the other loaves."
1 Samuel 21:7
Now there was there a man of the servants of Saul... and his name was Doeg, etc. There were among the preaching apostles false brothers, the foremost being Judas; indeed within the Church, constituted by the mystery of faith, but moved from the firmness of their stability, bloodthirsty to betray the peace of fraternity (for Doeg is called the Edomite, a bloodthirsty man), the most powerful of the Jewish persecutors, because he received it recently. Nor do I think it should be overlooked that this Doeg, according to the Septuagint interpreters, was not merely any shepherd, but a muleteer; evidently, a shepherd of a sterile and unfruitful flock. For we know a mule, because it is a hybrid from a mare and a donkey, just as conversely a hinny from a stallion and a she-donkey, tends to seek the pleasure of mating without the fruit of generating. Their works are similar to the unfruitful works of darkness, produced from a defiled seed, so to speak, of luxurious or deceitful thoughts. For both animals are equally lustful. Whence it is said of certain ones: "Whose flesh is as the flesh of donkeys, and whose issue is as the issue of horses" (Ezekiel 23). But the donkey's kind, moreover, with more acute sense, is always intent upon deceptions and snares. By these same wicked works, accumulating to a greater degree, with any movement itself from justice, and he is prompt to weave frauds against the just, he is placed in charge with impious zeal, as if feeding, Doeg the Edomite is preferred over the flock of mules.
1 Samuel 21:8
But David said to Ahimelech, "If you have a spear or a sword here at hand, etc." The Savior urges the apostles to train their listeners not only to learn but also to teach the word of life, by which He Himself can conquer the world, because He delayed sending preachers of the Gospel throughout the world, who would always fight for the Church against the aerial powers, instead of the angelic virtues through which the law was ordained in the hand of the Mediator. For the word of the king was pressing, that is, the enormity of human depravity, which preferred to reign by neglecting God, compelled that not angels, whose spiritual glory they could not see due to habitual carnal life, but mortal men alike to them should be sent to instruct them, who would proclaim to them to turn from vanity to the living God; who, if they had never sinned, would now rejoice in the familiar fellowship of angelic light.
1 Samuel 21:9
And the priest said: Behold the sword of Goliath the Philistine, etc. The apostles said to Christ, teachers seeking against the kingdom of the world: Behold men accustomed to battle for the devil with perverse doctrines for a long time, whom you have overcome in the humility of the cross, are entangled in the trappings of the first transgression, far removed from the garments or ornaments of the priesthood, that is, works worthy of divine sight; if you wish to release them from these same trappings, and promote them to the rank of preaching truth, we know this is due to your power, not to our virtue or piety. For there is no mortal on earth who was not immediately subjected to the service of this kingdom upon being born, because the corrupted root, once defiled, could only produce branches of a corrupted progeny. And the Lord said: No one is better equipped to refute doctrines of vanity than those who were once imbued with them and accustomed to defend them against the Church: from their number, whom I already know to have been snatched from the hands of the devil, I will make teachers and bishops of the Church through teaching and baptizing. The title of Psalm 34 aptly recalls this choice, which reads: A Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. For he changed his behavior by declaring a false reason for his journey and concealing the true one.
This can be interpreted as the Lord changing his appearance before the apostles, either by appearing immortal after the glory of the resurrection, having previously been seen as mortal before the agony of the passion; or by commanding them to go and teach and baptize all nations (Matthew 28), whereas shortly before he had instructed them to preach only to Judea, avoiding the ways of the Gentiles and the cities of the Samaritans; but he sent them out to preach everywhere, himself cooperating and confirming the word by the accompanying signs (Mark 16), and he himself departed by the triumph of his ascension, returning to heaven. And in the same Psalm, the Lord himself testifies in the first part that he continuously blesses the Father, admonishing his meek ones—the apostles—to persevere with him in preaching his praise, who had delivered him from the tribulation of passion and death. In the second part, he declares the rewards for the faithful's conversion, especially encouraging them to the feast of that most sweet bread, which in the present reading he receives sanctified, to be shared with his own in the kingdom of the Father. In the third part, he admonishes his boys as if they were his children, from whom they should abstain from impurities when approaching this bread. In the fourth part, he says the just will be delivered from all tribulations, and the impious will suffer due punishments.
These things have been briefly stated by way of summary, so that every reader may recognize how excellently and harmoniously Scripture always and everywhere concurs with itself. And if anyone wishes to object that the priest to whom David came was called Ahimelech, not Abimelech, we respond that he had two names, not according to our opinion, but according to the inscription of another Psalm, which states: When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said to him: David has come to the house of Abimelech (Psalm 52). And even by this name the glory of the saints is not improperly shown, for it means "My Father's kingdom. They are the ones of whom the Lord spoke the parable of the kingdom: A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom for himself, and to return (Luke 19). That is, Christ the man, departing from the bosom of the Father, went to men who had distanced themselves from his grace by sinning, to make them worthy of his reign, and to return with them to the joys of eternal peace. And concerning whom the Apostle, preaching the glory of the resurrection, had said: Christ the firstfruits, then those who belong to Christ at his coming, then the end; he added and said: When he hands over the kingdom to God the Father (1 Corinthians 15), that is, when he leads those saints he redeemed to the vision of the Father to be glorified.
Chapter 3.9
David, coming to Achish and being known for who he was, escapes by pretending to be insane; fleeing to the cave of Adullam, he receives four hundred men who come to him, and setting out thence, he entrusts his parents to the king of Moab. Therefore David arose and fled that day from Saul's face, etc., up to what is written: David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. In this reading, the Lord, being persecuted, envied, and despised for what He began to do and teach by the leaders of the Jews, went from there and came into the hearts of the humble; and having gathered many crowds of believers to Himself, He became their leader. He also hastened to save the Gentiles, making His dwelling among them, intending to return both to God the Father and to the Church, the mother of us all, sometime, according to the prophecies, even to save the remnant of Israel at the end of the world (Isa. X). For in the frequent pages of Holy Scripture (Hosea I, Rom. IX), and the frequent acts of the saints, the one and the same dispensation of our incarnate Savior is recurrent, though in varying figures; and rightly so, because what was always desired and hoped for by the saints should always be prophesied and marked by them as future. Therefore, fleeing from Saul's face, David came to King Achish of Gath.
Fleeing the Lord from those who despise His word, lest He be understood by the unworthy, He comes teaching to others, if perchance they might hear and rest. Nor does He cease from this activity until He finds those who are willing to humbly receive Him. Achish, my brother, or my brother: Gath is interpreted as the winepress. And because Christ, becoming man, was deemed worthy to be incarnate from the Jewish people, He had that same people as a brother, whom He endured as a persecutor. Hence, He speaks in the Psalm: I have become a stranger to my brothers, and a foreigner to my mother’s sons (Psalm LXVIII), that is, to the synagogue or human nature. This very people is justly called the king of the winepress, because they first devised the tribulations and pressures of Christ and the church among the Gentiles, intending to kill the Lord Himself as an infant, succeeding in killing Him as a young man, and thereafter persecuting the church and expelling Him from their borders. Moreover, I think there is a mystical difference between Achish and Saul, in that Saul signifies those imbued with the knowledge of the law, whereas Achish signifies the unlearned in the same people; who, although taught differently, met in equal malice against the Lord; and for this reason, in an inverted order, the knowledgeable in the law, more they received the gift of knowledge, the greater was their madness in persecuting the Giver of this same gift.
1 Samuel 21:11
Is this not David, the king of the land? etc. The scribes and Pharisees of the Jewish kingdom, serving wickedness badly, said: “See that we gain nothing; behold, the whole world has gone after him” (John XII), to whom they sang in choirs, saying: “Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David, Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. XXI; Mark XI). Whom his faithful ones glorify with harmonious exultation, bearing him on high, because more are called to merit the denarius of heavenly life through his teaching than through ours are summoned to observe the commands of the law.
1 Samuel 21:12
David, however, placed these words in his heart, etc. The Lord saw in his wisdom the unbelieving and deceitful hearts of some of the Jews; and, as the Scripture customarily speaks of God in human manner, he feared so much from the face of the people who were his brothers by human communion of fragility, but were persecutors by the impiety of their conspiracy against the Lord, that to them he spoke his sacraments or warnings more in parables and riddles than in open light, lest he cast the holy to dogs and pearls to swine (Matt. VII). For just as David, who was accustomed to always show himself sober to his own, altered his mouth before the Gittites; so also the Lord, speaking in parables before the proud and those bearing hearts eager to torment him and his own, privately made everything manifest by explanation to his own; and indeed he appeared to them in understanding so that they might comprehend the scriptures. Some wish to say that the Lord altered his mouth when he said: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, but I say to you" (Matt. V); or when, with the priesthood having been transferred, he wanted also the transfer of the law and ceremonies to take place. But they should observe that he did not show this type of change specifically to his enemies, but rather to those receiving the mysteries of his faith; and for that reason, the alteration of the mouth, which the blessed David exhibited as a type of him so that he would not be recognized by his enemies, is rather to be referred to the understanding of those who, seeing the signs and doctrine of the Savior, did not see, and hearing, did not understand.
1 Samuel 21:13
And he collapsed in their hands, etc. The hands of the Gethites, the works of the Jews; the doors of the gate reveal the beginnings of heavenly grace; saliva signifies infirmity; the beard signifies virtue. David collapsed in the hands of the Gethites; the Lord seemed to the blind to fall into sin, compared to the works of the Jews, who not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was their Father, making Himself equal to God (John V). David struck against the doors of the gate; the Lord found the fall of death among the beginnings of the proclaimed new salvation, which prefers to now open the doors to the worthy, now to close them to the unworthy; indeed, He had the doors of life through the occasion of death, either because the Jews, persecuting Him, managed to kill the grace of the evangelical preaching, or because He Himself, that He might open the gates of paradise for us, deigned to extinguish the flaming and turning sword with His blood and water, which He would bring forth from His side.
Hence, it is fitting that the Psalmist, seeing Him, so that He might lead us to announce His praise at the gates of the daughter of Zion, first spoke of striking against the doors of the gate when He had warned about our hope of salvation, saying, "Our God, our saving God, will make a prosperous journey for us, our God, the God of salvation, and the exits of death belong to the Lord God" (Psalm 68). The saliva flowed down David's beard, and the Lord on the cross, despised and blasphemed among thieves by the wicked, enduring all things patiently, temporarily covered the strength of His divinity with the show of human frailty. Hence, the prophet Habakkuk, commending the trophy of the glorious cross, said: "His splendor will be like the light, horns in His hands, where His strength was hidden" (Habakkuk 3). For it is not for nothing that in the Song of Songs, where so much skill, such diligent repetition of the mystical Christ, just as all the limbs of the Church, are described, we find nothing said about the beard alone, which especially befits a man, because undoubtedly the perpetual virtue of the word clothed the beard as if with saliva, the weakness of the flesh hiding it in time. Therefore, He changed His mouth, hiding the mysteries of the kingdom of God from those who preferred to be outside. He collapsed in their hands, appearing as a sinner to those who boasted of the works and righteousness of the law.
He struck against the doors of the gate, among the beginnings of the revealed heavenly entrance, undergoing the inflicted passion, casting saliva on His beard, temporarily hiding the divine power and majesty, among the vices and mockeries of enemies, at that time ignominious, that is, dying the shameful death of the cross.
1 Samuel 21:14
And Achish said, "Have you seen the man who is insane," etc.? David, indeed, suspected by the Gittites due to his reputation for virtues, industriously imitated the actions of one who was mad, so that he might be thought to be possessed and, pitied by those who saw him, released unharmed. But their king, unaware of his pretense, truly expelled him as if he were insane, excluding him from entering his house as a madman. Nor does the truth of allegory depart from the shadow of history. For the Lord, to heal the eyes of the hearts of those who could not see the glory of His divinity, applied the ointment of human humility; but some of the impious accused Him in His sufferings as if He were a man of frailty, in His virtues as if demoniac, and abhorred Him as performing miracles by a power contrary to God. Finally, as the Gospel recounts, we learn not only what was thought by adversaries, but also what was thought and said by His own, who were not yet strengthened in full faith: "And they came to the house, and again a crowd gathered, so that they could not even eat bread. And when His family heard it, they went out to seize Him; for they said, 'He is out of his mind'" (Mark 3). This His family did, still carnal in their perception, due to the immeasurable quantity and quality of His growing virtues; but look also at what the others did:
"And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of demons He casts out demons'" (Matthew 12; Mark 3). But even after His resurrection and ascension into heaven, as the apostles preached the truth of the Gospel, some deranged people ridiculed and rejected it as madness. Hence it is that the one who is debtor to both the wise and the foolish, bearing witness to Christ, heard: "You are insane, Paul; much learning is driving you mad" (Acts 26). Consequently, all who accuse Christ of madness and mania, it is no wonder if, by contemptuously rejecting Him, they furiously exclude Him from the house of their minds.
1 Samuel 22:1
(1 Samuel 22:1) Therefore David departed thence and fled to the cave of Adullam. Adullam is interpreted as “their testimony”; and the Lord, fleeing the hearts of the proud, enters as a welcome inhabitant into the spirits of the humble who possess nothing of earthly height or glory. Their very humility is a faithful testimony that they are worthy to receive Christ. Or certainly, it is the testimony of those from whom, in their pride, God flees; they are called humble, whereby their testimony convinces that they could also have pleased God and received Him if they had wished. [1 Samuel 22:1] -- When his brothers heard this, they went down, etc. With Christ remaining among the humble, all the elect descend to Him by humbling themselves; or men, who are His brothers, because He Himself became man; or angels, who are most particularly the house of His Father and the place of His glory’s dwelling. All those also come who, depressed by the consciousness of their sins, desire to be cleansed with the bitter tears of repentance, and to be freed from alien air, that is, the debt of sin which the devil has imposed; hoping, under the leadership and guidance of Christ, to be advanced to the joys of the kingdom.
1 Samuel 22:2
And there were with him about four hundred men. Those who remain firm in faith, acting manfully and strengthened in heart by the doctrine of the Gospel, which is marked by the most beautiful unity of the four books, are called to hope for, seek, and obtain the heavenly kingdoms. For the number one hundred, which, after so many numbers running on the left, first seeks the right hand, as has been often said, reveals the entrance of the higher kingdom once the lower labors are completed. It should be noted that the events that took place in the cave of Adullam, which we have explained to our ability, can be referred to the primitive church and also appropriately applied to the state of the whole Church. For what follows specifically pertains to our Church, that is, the Church of the Gentiles. [1 Samuel 22:3] -- And David departed from there to Mizpah, etc. The law went forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa. II), and it reached, growing towards the Church of the Gentiles, established on the highest peak of faith and virtues. Mizpah indeed is translated into a cave. He also went to the dialectical orators, philosophers, and even to the rulers of matters to reconcile them to himself; and to these, Christ commended the faith of God the Father and the piety of the Church to be protected with religious diligence until the fulfillment of the times of the nations.
1 Samuel 22:5
The prophet Gad said to David: Do not remain in the stronghold, etc. Prophecy speaks to Christ, which has not omitted to sing of his sacraments, that, with the fullness of the Gentiles entering, his faith should no longer strive to protect itself with the weakest safeguard from the insidious believing Jews of the Church but rather should see fit to save the remnants of the Israelite people according to the election of grace; who, fulfilling the prophecies of the prophets, will come at the appointed time to the long desolate hearts of proud people, but now to be exalted by itself, whose name Hareth fittingly means skepticism. Therefore, it is she to whom her author, as to a virgin betrothed to him but long deferred from the nuptial joys, speaks through the prophet: You will wait for me many days; you will not be a harlot nor be with a man, but I will wait for you (Hosea III). As the same prophet consequently explained what he said: Because the children of Israel will sit many days without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, without an altar, without ephod, and without theraphim. And after this, the children of Israel will turn back and seek the Lord their God and David their king, and they will fear the Lord and his goodness in the last days.