1 Samuel 3

1 Samuel 3:1

Bede: But the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli, etc. The boy who was born to us in the flesh, in the sight of the Jewish priests, was ministering his gifts to the early Church both personally and through his evangelizing disciples. And the word of the Lord was rare at that time, precious because of its rarity, for the harvest was indeed plentiful, but the workers were few (Matthew 9). Nor was there a Pharisee, Scribe, or priest who could unlock the hidden visions and the manifest sayings of the prophets for the people with exposition. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 1. Moreover, it is shown that he repeated in this passage what is mentioned above concerning the chosen boy, where it says: “But the boy Samuel was a minister in the sight of the Lord before the face of Eli.” For to minister to the Lord before Eli is the same as to be the Lord’s minister before the face of Eli. And because we explained that passage more fully there, with the Lord’s help, we do not delay at all in repeating its exposition. But since it is the divine word that speaks this both in this passage and in that one, it is shown that He did this not without a useful reason. Therefore, out of concern for the reader’s weariness, we pass over the explanation in silence, but we state the reason for the repetition for his benefit. For certain people who are subject to the authority of the prelates of holy Church obey as untrained beginners; but when they advance a little higher through their manner of life, they by no means persist in that same humility of obedience. The handmaid Hagar of Sarah fittingly represents these in a spiritual sense, for when she saw that she had conceived by Abraham her husband, she despised her mistress (Gen. 16:5). For Hagar conceives when the reprobate mind of a subordinate believes that it is advancing either through the acquisition of knowledge or through its manner of life. And she, being pregnant, is said to have despised her mistress, because she now disdains to submit herself through obedience to the will of her superior who is set over her. But she who despises her mistress is declared to be a handmaid, because proud subjects are also weak through their arrogance, and they do not attain to the number of the children of God. Moreover, Samuel’s progress is set forth because it was said above: “But the boy Samuel advanced and grew and was pleasing both to God and to men” (1 Kings 2:18). With what sublimity of life he accomplished these three things has been explained above. Since, therefore, even now he is mentioned as ministering before his master, what does this mean except that he provides a pattern for chosen hearers, so that the higher the life to which they advance, they never forget to preserve the good of obedience? For they truly advance if they strive toward the height of merits both by the strength of their works and by the virtue of humility.

2. In this passage there is another thing that ought to be noted: because Samuel is shown to be ministering to the Lord before Eli at the very time when Eli himself is rebuked by the Lord for his negligence regarding his sons. For some subjects, while they consider the measure of their own strength, prefer to be severe judges of their superiors rather than pious listeners. These indeed, because they are accustomed to exaggerating and scrutinizing the lives of their superiors, if they observe stains of even the slightest fault in their conduct, refuse to submit to their authority by obeying. But they would be truly strong if they humbly bore what they consider to be the weaknesses of their superiors. For before God, that person is known to be great in merit who submits himself in good obedience to one who does not seem venerable in some respect. For behold, Eli is rebuked by the open sentence of God for the guilt of his committed negligence, yet the boy Samuel is recorded as ministering to the Lord before him, so that one may indeed reflect within himself what kind of person he is who despises his superior for a lighter fault, if Samuel submitted himself in obedience to one whom almighty God condemned with such severity of his judgment. But because Eli is rebuked for having honored his sinning subjects too greatly, the very dignities of the sacred orders must be weighed. For a ruler ought not to honor a sinning subject unless he has been corrected, but the subject ought not to despise his superior even when he recognizes himself as just and the other as a sinner, because the eternal Judge has given the judgment of subjects to the rulers of Holy Church, but has reserved those same rulers to be examined at his own judgment. Yet this very thing ought to be greatly feared by rulers, that they are reserved for God’s examination, because they must prepare all the more exacting accounts of their life and teaching as the Judge whom they face is wiser. Nor should they fear his future judgment in the life to come only, as though it were placed far off, lest he who is everywhere present strike the unwary from close at hand. For negligent pastors, in order to escape the punishment of future vengeance, count on the long stretches of present life before punishment comes; but the Judge, who is everywhere, inflicts retribution from close at hand, because he first withdraws from them the light of contemplation, then snatches them away to torments through death. Whence also concerning the same Eli, who a little further on dies with a broken neck, it is added: (Verse 1.) In those days there was no manifest vision.

3. For when the ruler despises doing what he knows should be done, it is dealt with him by strict judgment, so that he does not see what should be done, because he was unwilling to fulfill what he saw. For the manifest vision belongs not to the negligent pastor, but to the loving one. Whence also Truth itself says: ‘He who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him’ (John 14:21). For the brightness of manifest vision is the revelation of beloved truth. Which truth indeed, if it is shown by the merit of love, is most justly hidden from those who are sluggish in good work, because the sign of love is not in the affection of the mind, but in the zeal of good works. Whence also in the Gospel the Lord said beforehand: ‘He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me’ (Ibid.). Because therefore from negligence of work the darkness of inward vision is incurred, most fittingly, while the priest is rebuked for contempt of the commandments, the hidden vision is mentioned. There follows: (Verse 1.) ‘And the word of the Lord was precious.’

4. As far as the truth of the sacred history is concerned, he used “precious” in place of “rare.” The word was therefore precious, because while he who discerned the highest things by contemplation was rare, he who proclaimed good things by speaking could not be frequent. Which we see happening now also in the holy Church, because while many seek the glory of honor from the reverence of high position, while they neglect the ministries of sacred order, they cannot preach to the peoples subject to them the highest things which they are unable to see, and in their household the word is known to be precious, because they rarely hear the encouragements of good preaching, whose prelates do not seek from desire the heavenly things they might speak, but the earthly things they might pursue. Whom indeed sacred Scripture marks, which says: ‘Dumb dogs unable to bark’ (Isa. 56:10). It did not say “unwilling,” but “unable,” because certainly while they love the glory of the world with all their heart, and with all their soul, and with all their mind and strength, they would wish to speak lofty things to the people, so that they might also have glory from the sublimity of their word. Therefore dumb dogs, wishing to bark, cannot, because while they meditate on earthly things with a corrupt heart, they grasp by no revelation the hidden things of truth that they might set forth. But because what is precious is usually guarded with great diligence, this which is said, “There was no open vision,” can be referred to the negligence of carnal prelates.

5. But as for what is added, ‘And the word of the Lord was precious’, this pertains to the burning zeal of good subjects, since faithful subordinates, even if they do not have someone who frequently preaches heavenly things to them from the treasury of sacred speech, embrace with wondrous devotion only that which they were once able to learn, and guard it as something ineffably precious, while through good works they store it up in heaven, where thieves who might take it away by no means draw near. Whence also in the Gospel it is said of the buyer of the good pearl: ‘Having found one precious pearl, he gave all that he had and bought it’ (Matt. 13:46). Therefore, when in the time of hidden vision the word is described as precious among the elect, the praises of the subjects are proclaimed, because they are to be extolled with a glory all the more sublime, inasmuch as that good which was lost from a higher place remained among those in lower positions through the perfection of great charity. By their good conduct it is indeed often brought about that the vision which had been hidden is made manifest, so that those who devoutly guard the least things may come to know and do greater things as well. Whence it is also added: (Verses 2–4.) ‘And it came to pass on a certain day that Eli was lying in his place, and his eyes had grown dim, nor could he see the lamp of God before it was extinguished. And Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. And the Lord called Samuel.’ — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 1. Since we were diligently seeking how the meaning of the sacred history might correspond to the conduct of the elect, we deferred revisiting the order of allegory by exposition. Therefore, to supply what we are seen to have omitted, the question is asked: What does it mean that while Samuel is recorded as ministering to the Lord before Eli, the word of the Lord is described as being precious? But, as was said above, by Samuel the preachers of holy Church are signified, and by Eli the elect fathers of the Old Testament are also designated. The boy Samuel therefore was ministering to the Lord before Eli, when the new order of teachers was preaching the faith of the Redeemer. Of which ministry Paul indeed speaks, saying: “As long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will honor my ministry” (Rom. 11:13). Again he says: “Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they ministers of Christ? So am I” (2 Cor. 11:22). To minister to the Lord, therefore, is to proceed into the labor of preaching. Which ministry Samuel is indeed said to have rendered to the Lord before Eli, because whatever the new order of preachers asserted concerning the religion of the new faith, it confirmed by the authority of the ancient Fathers. For Samuel was ministering to the Lord when the new preacher was asserting, saying: “For I say that Christ Jesus was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Rom. 15:8). And indeed, so that he might render the ministry he was performing for the Lord also before Eli, he added, saying: “As it is written: Praise the Lord, all you nations, and let all peoples praise him together” (Ps. 116:1). And so that he might more closely confine himself before Eli in the ministry of the Lord, he added: “For Isaiah says: There shall be a root of Jesse, who shall rise to rule the nations; in him shall the nations hope” (Rom. 15:12; from Isa. 11:10). The boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord when Peter was asserting the glory of the Lord’s Resurrection, saying: “Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by signs and wonders, delivered up, you killed by the hands of the wicked; this Jesus God raised from the dead on the third day by his predetermined plan, since it was impossible for him to be held by the pains of hell” (Acts 2:22ff.).

2. But this ministry, which he performed for the Lord, he also performed before Eli, because he added, saying: For David says: “Because You will not abandon my soul in hell, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 2:27; Psalms 15:10). Therefore Samuel is fittingly said to have ministered to the Lord before Eli, because the chosen preachers of holy Church, while they were raising up the structure of the new faith by preaching, confirmed by the authority of the ancient Fathers what they had endeavored to assert by reason.

3. And at that time the word of the Lord is said to have been precious. For indeed a precious thing cannot be bought at a small price. Now the price by which the word of God is bought is the labor of holy work. For we buy, as it were, with a price the thing we wish to have, when through the word of preaching which we receive we put forth the labor of work. But at that time the word was precious, when it was not given for any amount of labor of work, when everyone who killed a buyer of the word thought he was rendering service to God. Therefore at that time the buyer of the word needed a great price, because without great labor he could not preserve the word of faith, since he who believed arrived at torments on account of what he believed. For it was then a time when the word that was being bought exhorted not by a figuratively shaped type of morality, but by the precept of open speech, saying: “Whoever wishes to come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me” (Matt. 16:24). Hence likewise he says: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me” (Matt. 10:37). And: “Whoever does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). And so when the ministry of Samuel is set forth, the word of the Lord is said to have been precious, because assuredly in the beginnings of the faith, those who believed the teachers preaching eternal life must be believed to have expended works of great labor for the word of faith they received. And because the Jewish people had already lost the light of divine knowledge, there follows: (1 Kings 3:1) “In those days there was no open vision.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

Richard Challoner: Precious: That is, rare.

1 Samuel 3:2

Bede: It happened on a certain day, Eli was lying in his place, etc. He designates the lamp of God according to the dignity of Eli’s rank. But by signification, we correctly take the lamp to mean the old priesthood, necessary indeed in the night under the shadow of the serving people, but to be removed with the approach of the day of new grace. For just as the lamp shining only in houses during the night, closed off, is not sufficient to spread the rays of its brightness more widely, but the sun, when it rises, illuminates everything both outside and inside so thoroughly that even the light of the lamp becomes less useful or indeed extinguishable; rightly, this is compared to the knowledge of the law, which shone as if enclosed within one house of Judea, while the other nations outside were oppressed by the terror of blind night. To the Gospel, which, after enlightening Judea, also dispelled the far-reaching shadows of Gentilism. And just as the rising sun would hide or even extinguish the lamp, the Apostle shows, speaking of the letter and the spirit: “For what was glorified has no glory now in comparison to the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts” (2 Corinthians 3). Therefore, Eli was lying in his place, and his eyes had grown dim, and he could not see the lamp of God, before the dignity of the old priesthood and law he served was extinguished; which ought to have watched, stood firm in faith, acted manfully, and been strengthened at the time of the Lord’s Incarnation, degenerating from the alacrity of its original state, was languishing as if worn out by old age; nor was it yet clear in the light of true sense, for it had been greatly deprived of this light by the secondary interpretations of the Pharisees, after the things perfected by Christ’s blood. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 6. For the boy Samuel is called by the Lord whenever the secrets of divine counsel are revealed to humble subjects, and they acquire by the merit of their humility the light of contemplation, which proud preachers lose as the recompense of their pride. But it should be noted that this is shown to have happened on a certain day, on which Eli is reported both to have been lying in his place and to have been unable to see. For he is called in the daytime who is raised up to know the secrets of heavenly wisdom for his own and others’ salvation. On the contrary, Solomon received wisdom in the night, so that the darkness of the time might indicate that he would not receive that same wisdom with perseverance (1 Kings 3:5, 12). This can also be understood in another way, since the darkness of Eli is mentioned. By the setting of the daytime, the greatness of his blindness is shown, because he surely had great darkness who did not see in the day. Now also, if we look to the state of the Church, there is a general grace of light. For He came who, scattering the rays of true brightness, would say: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me does not walk in darkness” (John 8:12). And because the glory of His inner splendor is ineffable, it does not say “on this day” or “on that day,” but “on a certain day”—whose brightness certainly exists, but the greatness of whose brightness is unknown. Therefore the Pastor endures great darkness if he who is known to be the eye of the Church by his office does not have vision amid the grace of so great a light. Wherefore Truth itself shows the darkness of that same eye to be great, saying: “How great will that darkness be!” (Matthew 6:23). But now the text suggests whence so great a darkness arises for him, because it says: “He was lying in his place.” For the place of the preacher carries the duty of standing, not of lying down. Whence also the Lord provides an example of this to preachers concerning Himself, saying: “But I am in the midst of you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). For to stand in the midst of the brethren is to offer oneself as an example to those beneath through a laborious manner of life. To stand, therefore, pertains to the labor of work and to the necessity of battle. Whence also the director of the spiritual contest commands, saying: “Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth” (Ephesians 6:14). And because lying down belongs to one who is at rest, he who is said to lie in his place is rebuked for following the lukewarmness of rest in the place of battle and labor. To stand is also the mark of the just man. Whence Paul also says: “For by faith you stand” (2 Corinthians 1:23). To lie down therefore also pertains to the negligence of a more lax life. Thus Eli lies in his place when a reprobate preacher rests in the seat of the just man through a fall into wickedness. Therefore the eyes of one lying in his place grow dim, because those who do not carry out works of virtue from the height of the pastoral summit, but are immersed in the allurements of a more lax life, are unable to see the highest things. He is indeed called the lamp of God no longer in the truth of praise, but as a reproach of derision. For he who bears the title of lamp of God and is reported to be unable to see is rather mocked by so great a name by which he is called. For in true praise of the just man it is said: “He was a burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). For the radiance of the true light which he had drunk in by loving, he poured forth by speaking. Even the carnal preacher is called a lamp by his office but blind in his intention, because he holds the dignity of providing light but fixes his mind on the darkness of vanity.

7. His thoroughly consummate perversity is indicated by the fact that it does not say “he did not see,” but “he could not see.” For this reason also, when the Lord mentions the bad tree, He says: “A bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit” (Matt. 7:18). The lamp of God, therefore, cannot be seen when he who stands preeminent in pastoral dignity is pressed down by so great a thickness of worldly love that he is raised by no inspiration of grace toward the vision of interior brightness; when, that is, cast out by the just indignation of God, he is left in the blindness of his own darkness, so that he is never again visited by the infusion of heavenly light. But it is well said: “Before it was extinguished.” For not to see is the punishment of a sinner still living in this present age, but not to be able to see belongs to the dead wicked man already condemned to eternal punishment in the age to come. Hence also, by the judgment of the Creator, he is commanded to be shut in outer darkness, so that he may never be brought back to the sight of light. Therefore, when the reprobate preacher, still living in this present age, is said to have been unable to see before the lamp was extinguished, he is likened to the wicked man already condemned to perpetual blindness. Now the lamp is extinguished when the pastor dies. Or certainly the lamp is extinguished because when the reprobate preacher perishes through the death of the flesh, whatever in him seemed to shine he loses from the glory of his high position, and he remains like the mere clay vessel of a lamp without light, when the person is forced to be kept for the eternal judgment who is utterly stripped of all worldly splendor. Therefore, before the lamp of God is extinguished, he cannot see, because he both possesses the merit of future damnation through the eternity of his blindness, and yet still shines before men through the splendor of the dignity he received. (Verse 3.) Now Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 4. For his vision would have been clear, if he had believed in the Redeemer whom he had heard had come to visit him. Concerning this blindness of his, it is added: (Verse 2.) Now it came to pass that Eli was lying in his place, and he could not see the lamp of God before it was extinguished. For the vision of Eli is not clear, because the priesthood of the Jews is buried in the blindness of its own faithlessness. Eli therefore lies in his place, because he both possesses the letter of the law, and yet in the law and the prophets he does not have the standing of light, but the fall of blindness. For the place of Eli, that is, of the Jewish preacher, is the sacred law. Because therefore the Jewish priesthood still possesses Sacred Scripture, it is in its place. And because, not knowing the power of Sacred Scripture, it is not raised up to the standing of faith, it is rightly said not to stand in its place, but to lie down. Because likewise it has been cast out until the end of the world, it is recorded as being unable to see the lamp of God. Hence also, when they daily receive so many exhortations of preaching from holy Church, when the Jews, overcome by so many assertions of the sacred faith, still do not believe, what else is this but what we read about them in Sacred Scripture, and also hold through experience — namely, that they have been cast out, not only so that they do not see, but so that they cannot even see? Hence also the apostles, reckoning as futile the labor spent on those who could not see, say in their Acts: “Because you have made yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46). But he who is reported as unable to see is called the lamp of God. For the ministry of the Synagogue was the lamp of God, when in the chosen Patriarchs it shone both through the light of true preaching and through the promise of the coming Redeemer. Which lamp indeed could not be seen while Samuel was ministering, because at the time of the new preaching, the authority of the Synagogue incurred the punishment of perpetual rejection.

5. And it should be noted that it is not said that it could not give light, because indeed it still carries the light of Holy Scripture for us, but it does not know what it carries. Hence it is also said that before it was extinguished, it could not see. For it is not yet extinguished, and it cannot see, because certainly, as I have already said, it bears a light that it does not heed; for before it is extinguished, it exists as long as it shines. And because Holy Scripture is not taken away from it all the way until the end of the world, if before it is extinguished it does not see, it extends in blindness until the end of the world. But if its lighting is referred to the zeal of its unbelief, it cannot see precisely because it is not extinguished. For if it were to extinguish the fire of unbelief from its mind, with the zeal of impiety removed, it would open the eyes of the mind to the light of the pleasure of true faith. But since it is said to be unable to see, it is declared an unworthy lamp, and the one that is worthy is sought for seeing those things. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:3

Bede: But Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the Lord, etc. The Lord, while instructing and ministering spiritual matters to mortals, would suspend the external vision of the mind to fix it in the contemplation of the supreme and innermost light. For they say that the temple, where the divine and heavenly sacraments are, is called a place of contemplation; where the ark of God is, that is, the glory of the supreme Trinity, solely conscious of the divine entire secret. Whence it is said in the Psalm: I kept the Lord always in my sight; because he is at my right hand, that I be not moved (Psalm XIII). — Commentary on Samuel

Theodore of Mopsuestia: It says “The Lord is in his holy temple,” as if it had been appropriate to say “The Lord is his help.” For the Lord’s name alone is commonly inserted as an indication of assistance. But here the psalmist intends to indicate that there is one who lives in the temple and is used for defense and protection, in whom it is able to stand firm securely in hope against all treachery. But what it calls the temple is the tabernacle in which the ark of God was placed, for the temple had not yet been built. That the tabernacle may be called the temple, the testimony of Kings [Samuel] clearly instructs, since the construction of the temple had not begun at the time: “And Samuel was lying down in the temple of God, in which the ark of God was located.” — EXPOSITIONS ON PSALMS, Psalms 10

1 Samuel 3:4

Bede: And the Lord called Samuel, etc. It’s a challenging mode of speaking, how from time to time a father calls his son to know the secrets of his judgment; and he responds that he is present, who was born before time from the Father and speaks: All things have been delivered to me by my Father (Matthew XI). And: All that the Father has is mine (John XVI). But often Scripture, according to human manner, speaks about God, or rather God himself in Scriptures speaks about himself, as in the Gospel: For I do not speak on my own, but as I hear I judge; and all that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you (John XV). Likewise, in Genesis, God said: Let us make man in our image and likeness (Genesis I). Therefore, Samuel, called by the Lord, responded: Here I am. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: (Verses 4, 5.) Who answering, said: “Here I am.” And he ran to Eli and said: “For you called me.” Who said: “I did not call you, my son; return and sleep.”

8. Why did the one who heard the Lord calling him run to Eli, unless because he thought he had been called by Eli? And since we are following the order of typological explanation, how is Eli considered to be the one speaking when God speaks to the boy who was called? But whatever our ancient Fathers spoke in the Holy Scriptures is referred back to the speech of Eli. They, of course, because they did not speak of themselves, since God spoke through them what He willed, the voice that is heard in the Holy Scriptures is recognized as being God’s, which is uttered through Eli. Moreover, the boy, because when God spoke he ran to Eli, shows that God indeed produced a voice similar to Eli’s. What then does it mean that the voice of the divine speech does not differ from the voice of Eli, except that He Himself produces His speech also through the ancient Fathers? For the voice of Eli is recognized as being God’s, since whatever the chosen Fathers speak through the sacred utterances, they received not from themselves but from the Lord. Hence also in the prophets, through nearly every utterance it is repeated: “Thus says the Lord,” so that we may understand that the voice which resounds through the oracle of the prophet is not that of the man speaking but of God commanding.

9. Sometimes God speaks through Scripture, and sometimes through hidden inspiration. He speaks by hidden revelation when things to be done or taught are disclosed to the chosen mind through the Spirit. And so Samuel, when he heard the Lord calling him, ran to Eli, because the chosen order of preachers of the holy Church sought in sacred eloquence to determine the nature of what it had come to know by God’s revealing. For the rule of right understanding is set forth in the books of sacred Scripture, because the divine counsels have been expounded there through our venerable Fathers, who possessed the Holy Spirit. Therefore Samuel, called so many times by the Lord, ran to Eli, because the order of preachers consulted the sayings of the ancient Fathers in everything it learned by spiritual revelation, so that it would only then believe something had been revealed to it by the Lord when it recognized that it in no way differed from what it read in sacred Scripture. For he is easily deceived who does not know how to examine in the clear truth of holy Scripture the nature of what he gathers by hidden contemplation. Hence the Apostle also warns, saying: “Satan transforms himself into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). But how are false things discerned in the brightness of true light? Samuel therefore runs to Eli every time he is called by the Lord, because the holy preachers, lest they be deceived by the image of false light in inward contemplation, examine the manner of hidden revelation in the open truth of holy Scripture.

10. Because in this matter it must be asked how it is fitting for Eli to say: “I did not call you, my son.” But our Fathers, who speak to new preachers through sacred Scripture, do not call them, but indicate what their internal revelation is like. For to call is to arouse the minds of God’s elect by the inspiration of his grace. But the ancient Fathers indeed speak through sacred Scripture, yet they cannot arouse the hearts of their hearers by the inspiration of divine grace. Therefore the sacred Scriptures, when consulted, while they indicate that they cannot give the gift of spiritual grace, excuse themselves as Eli, as it were by certain utterances, through the authority of the account of Samuel. But assuredly, what they cannot give, they can suggest how it ought to be acquired. Whence also it is said by the voice of Eli to Samuel: “Return, and sleep.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

Gregory the Dialogist: 9. For to call is to rouse through the force of a greater grace. For the Lord calls one who is sleeping, because He stirs up those who are resting from earthly pursuits to an increase of heavenly knowledge. For while we keep watch through concern for outward things, we do not perceive what is inward and spiritual. The setting aside of earthly care, therefore, is our preparation for receiving heavenly grace, because in the elect the outpouring of the divine gift becomes more abundant in proportion as the mind has been purer through the keeping of interior meditation. There follows: (Verses 4–9.) And the Lord called Samuel. Who answering, said: Here I am, and he ran to Eli and said: For you called me. Who said: I did not call you, my son; go back and sleep. And he went away and slept. And the Lord again called Samuel once more. And rising up, he went to Eli and said: Here I am, for you called me. Who answered: I did not call you, my son; go back and sleep. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him. And the Lord called Samuel again a third time. Who rising up, went to Eli and said: Here I am, for you called me. Eli therefore understood that the Lord was calling the boy, and he said to Samuel: Go and sleep, and if He calls you henceforth, you shall say: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

10. What is it then that almighty God introduces his calling with such skill that the mind of the one called is restrained from recognizing the one who calls him; that hearing God, he thinks this master is a man; that he sends forth the calling yet conceals the cause; that he allows him to go to his master, to return so many times to the quiet of sleep, and yet does not permit the sleeper to rest? For surely he who called whomever he wished to know his secrets, with a voice merely resembling Eli’s—could he not have called with whatever voice he wished? And he who called when he wished—could he not have immediately indicated the cause of the calling? And he who wished to rouse him so that he might hear—could he not have taught him how he ought to listen except through his master? But in this matter almighty God employs a great dispensation, so that the hearts of the elect may indeed be taught by a twofold instruction: that on the surface of the history those who are subjects may see the good of obedience which they should follow, and that superiors may perceive the hidden mysteries which they may bring to the light of understanding by examining them. But what I think should be said first is this: the boy who thought the Lord speaking was his master heard a bodily voice. Therefore God spoke to the boy not through himself but through an angelic spirit, because he who is not confined by bodily form is not restricted to the sound of a voice by a bodily instrument. Which indeed was fitting for a childish hearer. For even if the merits of a beginning subject are great, because nevertheless he is recognized as not yet being in perfection but in the progress of his way of life, he does not attain to that speech by which almighty God speaks through himself. Indeed almighty God through himself, that is, the supreme and uncircumscribed Spirit, speaks spiritually to great and spiritual men, when by spiritual speech he indicates to their minds both the things to be done that they should do and the things to be spoken that they should know. Therefore he produced the outward voice through an angelic spirit, but by the presence of his grace the Creator Spirit indicated what he wished. Therefore calling with a voice, while he was thought to be Eli, he remained hidden from recognition, so that the boy might run to his master, and while hearing that he had not been called, being mistaken he might show on what a summit of virtue he stood. Therefore the boy, humbly subject to a man and raised up on the lofty citadel of obedience—when called he came, when commanded he returned—what else does he offer us by his example, if not the pattern of the highest obedience?

11. For true obedience neither examines the intention of superiors nor distinguishes between commands, because he who has submitted all judgment of his life to a greater rejoices in this alone: that he carries out what is commanded him. For whoever has perfectly learned to obey knows not how to judge, because he considers this alone to be good: that he obeys commands. But in such great glory of his perfect way of life, our own life is put to shame. For behold, we have resolved to set out for the heavenly homeland under the leaders of the Christian army, yet we murmur when we are ordered to perform various tasks even at various times. For who would restrain himself from murmuring, who would hold back from anger, if he heard himself called two and three times, and yet perceived from the caller’s response that he had not actually been called at all? We suffer indeed this darkness of our slothfulness because we do not see with what brightness of reward so great a virtue of goodness corresponds. For obedience is the sole good for the recovery of life, if the fault of disobedience was a sufficient evil for bringing about death. If therefore death prevailed through the evil of disobedience, we are restored to life as many times as we obey. And so the boy Samuel was offended neither when called nor when turned away, because he did not wish to scrutinize the mind of the one calling or turning him away, for he had learned to rejoice in this alone: that he obeyed. And since rising pertains to labor, but returning to sleep pertains to rest, what does this suggest, except that both prepare life for us, if the obedient mind in what it does considers nothing but the good of obedience? For a command ought to be weighed solely on this basis: that it is the command of a superior; and he who carries out the good of obedience ought not to consider the task enjoined, but its fruit, because for meriting the joys of eternal life, what is required is not the quality of the work, but the mortification of one’s own will and the execution of another’s. Hence Paul also says: “Circumcision profits nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God” (1 Cor. 7:19). Therefore now, in the sight of almighty God, neither those things that pertain to labor nor those that pertain to rest are small, if they can prepare eternal life for the obedient. Whoever therefore is subject to another’s authority, let him consider this alone: that what is enjoined upon him according to God is exceedingly great and lofty as gain to the mind, because it prepares life as the reward of recompense. On the other hand, let the disobedient observe that the first parent of the human race fell from the joys of paradise not by theft, nor by robbery, nor by adultery, nor by murder, but by disobedience regarding the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6). From this it is also fittingly gathered that if small things—as they seem—when the commands of superiors are despised, separate us from inward joys, then even the least things that are carried out in obedience prepare life.

12. Therefore the diligent worker of the communal life, and the pious emulator of those serving God together with him, if he desires to obtain a greater reward of eternal merit through the good of obedience, let him recognize that he excels in this alone: if above all others he has subjected his own will to the judgment of his superior. For neither the great gains of fasting nor the pursuits of an austere life are to be greatly weighed by devoted soldiers of Christ against the command of their superiors. For a meal enjoined by charity is of greater merit than a fast undertaken by one’s own deliberation. For he who, being commanded, refreshes the flesh, has unwillingly earned the reward of fasting through devotion, and has obtained a greater reward of obedience by eating. Therefore God called the boy, but with a voice similar to the master’s, so that He might indeed indicate the manner of His speaking. He was silent about the reason for the calling, so that the chosen boy might show by what humility of obedience he would be exalted. He endured going to his master, so that he might offer the gift of his devotion. He is allowed to return to the rest of sleep, so that indeed we may not despise even the things that are least. He rouses him again, so that He might show that he whom He wished to set as a pattern for the elect would not be wearied even by the urgency of commands. Through him who was to be rejected he learned how he ought to respond, so that indeed we may know that the commands of superiors are to be venerated even when they themselves do not have a praiseworthy life, because their teaching, which through wicked conduct can become worthless to the proud, causes humble hearers to arrive at the height of divine intimacy. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

John Cassian: And therefore by no means let the ignorance or shallowness of one old man or of a few deter you and cut you off from that salutary path about which we have spoken and from the traditions of our forebears. The clever enemy misuses their gray hairs to deceive the young. But everything should be revealed to the elders without any obfuscating embarrassment, and from them one may confidently receive both healing for one’s wounds and examples for one’s way of life. Thanks to them we shall experience the same assistance and a like result if we strive to aim at nothing whatsoever by our own judgment and presumption.Finally, it is evident that this understanding is greatly pleasing to God, for not without reason do we find this same instruction even in holy Scripture. Thus, the Lord did not desire of himself to teach the boy Samuel through divine speech, once he had been chosen by his own decision, but he was obliged to return twice to the old man. He willed that one whom he was calling to an intimate relationship with himself should even be instructed by a person who had offended God, because he was an old man. And he desired that one whom he judged most worthy to be selected by himself should be reared by an old man so that the humility of him who was called to a divine ministry might be tested and so that the pattern of this subjection might be offered as an example to young men. — CONFERENCE 2.13.12-2.14

1 Samuel 3:5

Bede: And he ran to Eli, etc. Christ, called by the Father, who was always in him, to contemplate the miracles of his eternal majesty, responds that he will remain eternally with the Father by divine presence; and among these, suddenly appearing in human flesh, he speaks to the teachers of the Jews: And he himself, whom you sought for so long, and desired to come in the flesh, who was often called by the prayers and vows of the faithful for the salvation of the world, I myself have come, I who spoke, behold, here I am. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: He said, “I did not call,” etc. The Scribes and Pharisees deny that they sought the coming of Christ; at whose birth, upon hearing, not only King Herod was troubled, but also all Jerusalem with him. And they instructed to sleep again in the temple the one whom, having repulsed from their disbelief, they sent back to reveal the secrets of the father’s child. However, when he was a young man, that is, after the thirtieth year of his age, some from their number believed him to be the Son of God. And this is similar to how Eli, after the third coming of Samuel to him, understood that the Lord was calling him; after the third decade of his years, the Jews knew and believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 3:6

Bede: And the Lord added to call Samuel again, etc. Let us not tire of repeating in our discussions what neither the Lord tired of saying, nor the historian of repeating in writing. God the Father calls God the Son, not as a man calls another man, by moving the air with words from one place to another; but showing Him, always remaining in His invisible presence, even when He bore man on earth through visible signs. And since Samuel means “God” or “name of God,” we might rightly say that the Lord called Samuel when the Father demonstrated His incarnate Son with miracles as the true God, and he responded, “Here I am.” To whom the same Son said: “I am in the Father, and the Father is in me” (John 14). — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And he said, “Here I am,” etc. Let the diligent reader note that the same allegorical interpretation is not always the same as the order of historical truth but alternates in a similar, unequal, or contrary manner. In a similar way, indeed, Samuel’s simple youth and Eli’s sluggish blindness signify the humility of the Lord Savior and the stubborn foolishness of the Jews. Unequally, however, the dubious words of Samuel saying, “Here I am, for you called me,” prefigure the true and certain incarnation of Christ. Contrarily, as lower, David’s sin in the matter of Uriah suggests the merciful grace of Christ, by which He condescended to save the nations. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 3:7

Bede: Moreover, Samuel did not yet know the Lord, etc. Moreover, the Savior, whose name is God, was not yet recognized by the carnal as always knowing all the secrets of the Father, nor before He was baptized did John see and bear witness that the heavens were opened to Him, and that the voice of the Father was made upon Him from above. Thus, in the manner of Holy Scripture, the ignorance of the blessed Samuel in his childhood concealed demonstrates the wisdom of the Son of God in the infancy of the flesh. For it is not said in vain: Because in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom (Col. II), clearly to be manifested in the faithful, believing. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 13. But because what follows is, “Moreover Samuel did not yet know the Lord,” and above he is reported to have ministered to the Lord, what is said seems very contradictory, because he could not be ignorant of the one whom he was serving. For who serves one whom he does not know? But indeed through what is added, it becomes clear by what fitting reasoning that which sounds contradictory ought to be understood: “Nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him.” By which it is surely given to understand that the one whom he knew by love and ministry, he did not know by the revelation of His word. For he had not yet heard calling him the one whom he testified that he had known both by the devotion of ministry and by the power of love. But this is fittingly understood in the life of the faithful; for many advance well under another’s guidance, who in the time of their newness perform services to almighty God, and yet do not attain by the purity of contemplation to the vision of His inner beauty. When by the merit of their submission they also receive the gift of divine contemplation, they understand by the experience of inner vision that they did not yet know the one whom they were serving. This Jacob well represents, setting out to receive a wife, who after the labor of his journey saw the Lord through the sleep of rest, but awakening from sleep said: “Truly the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it” (Gen. 28:16). For he who perceived that He exists everywhere could not have doubted that the Lord was there before he fell asleep; but because he then learned Him more perfectly, he declared that he had been ignorant of Him when he had not known Him more intimately. For the way by which one travels to a wife is the intention of devoted obedience, by which the fruitfulness of inner charity is desired to be attained. Jacob therefore sleeps on the way when the faithful subject, the supplanter of the evil spirit, is received through the labor of obedience into the rest of inner vision. Who will indeed then confess that he has come to know the Lord, because while he marvels at that vision of inner light to which he has been newly raised, he recognizes by the experience of revealed beauty how much he did not know before. For by faith, as if by report, we know God, but by the love of contemplation He who became known to us by report is revealed to us as if by the showing of His presence. And rightly the subject advancing through obedience, while he is led to the height of contemplation, is said to have long been ignorant of the Lord, because He is found as if from the truth of His presence, who before seemed as if unknown by report and not known as if present.

14. But because it is said separately, “He did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him,” it can be understood more subtly. For in one and the same internal contemplation of God, both a wondrous charity is poured into the one contemplating from the fruit of so great a glory, and a great amazement at the revelation of the secret word. Some therefore know the Lord and receive the revelation of His word, because they are both filled with wondrous sweetness from that infusion of so great a charity which they draw from habitual practice, and they are instructed with great wisdom by the revelation of the word. But by some the Lord is known to whom the word of the Lord is by no means revealed, because certain simple men, yet perfected by a great manner of life, receive indeed an ineffable sweetness of love by contemplating the glory of divine contemplation, but nevertheless do not reach the height of His revealed word, because they have been taken up into the order of those who love, not to the loftiness of preaching. The word is indeed revealed to him so that it may be loved, and lest it be preached, it is hidden. But it is well said of him who is raised to the ministry of preaching, “He did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him,” so that while he, still unformed, indicates the things he does not yet possess, he openly shows with what good things a preacher ought to be enriched. For he who has not yet received that power of intimate love assuredly does not know the almighty Lord—whom he knows by faith as if by report—by the great presence of His charity. And if he loves ardently but does not yet know how to examine the secrets of the mysteries through the Spirit, he indeed already knows the Lord, but has not yet arrived at the revelation of His word. But concerning the obedient boy it is immediately added: (Verse 9) “So Samuel went and lay down to sleep.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 11. What is it that Eli commands the boy who was called to return to sleep, except that he shows preachers to prepare themselves through quietness of mind for receiving the gift of interior grace? And it should be noted that it says: “Return.” For Samuel returns when the chosen preacher goes back from meditation on sacred Scripture to the secret of interior contemplation. Having returned, therefore, he slept, because he rested in the intention of interior contemplation. In this passage it should also be noted that Samuel is called three times by the Lord, and three times again is commanded by Eli to go back to sleep:

12. What is this, if not that we have learned, with Truth itself teaching, that there are three degrees of love? “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole strength” (Matt. 22:17). But what do we understand by the heart, if not counsel? What by the mind, if not the will? And what is signified by strength, if not the affection of love? But through counsel, what else do we seek than the certainty of truth? And through the will, what do we desire when loving, if not to ardently long for good things? Through affection, what do we seek if not the full enjoyment of true joy? For we are raised up to the highest things through the degrees of love, when truth is revealed to the counsel of our heart, and true goodness is granted to the will of the mind, and spiritual and true joy is given to the affection of our strength through the infusion of divine grace.

13. Samuel was therefore called three times by the Lord, because when the order of preachers, still young in the Church, stretched itself toward heavenly pursuits, it sought truth in the reasoning of counsel, goodness in the choice of the will, and true joy in the intention of the affections. He also went three times when called to Eli, because concerning every desire of his he consulted Sacred Scripture with the eagerness of meditation. Likewise three times he heard that he was not being called by him, because through meditation he learned that our Fathers handed down to us the sacred words written for our instruction; nevertheless, they are utterly unable to give us spiritual gifts. What then does it mean to say “I did not call you,” except “I did not give you the desire for spiritual gifts”? For if Sacred Scripture, or any one of the writers, could confer spiritual gifts, then as many as read the sacred words, as many as heard the expositors of Holy Scripture, would be adorned with spiritual gifts. But in truth, since many read Sacred Scripture and hear preachers expounding, and after the pursuit of reading and the exhortation of preaching, some remain in the old coldness of their vices while others burn through grace with love of holy virtues, it is plainly evident that the order of venerable Fathers shows us the gifts of virtues through the Scriptures they produced, but the love of the virtues they set forth is bestowed upon us by the Creator alone. Therefore James also devoutly admonishes, saying: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17). Hence Paul says: “Neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase” (1 Cor. 3:7). What else then does it mean to say “I did not call you,” except to show by plain instruction that the fact that a faithful soul is raised to heavenly desires is produced solely by the infusion of divine grace? Because therefore he is called three times by the Lord and three times ordered by his master to return to sleep, he indicates how those three degrees of love are acquired. For since we have applied counsel to the heart, and counsel indeed desires to find truth, a great sleep is certainly necessary, lest the lover awaken before the sought truth is found. Let the boy therefore return and sleep, so that he who desires to find the light of truth may, through rest, take care not to admit the darkness of errors into himself. Let him also sleep a second time, so that he may devote the service of love to almighty God with his whole mind, that the good things he loves may shine with pure simplicity and not be obscured by any veil of evils. Because this indeed is recognized only by the great subtlety of discernment, the boy, called by the Lord, is ordered by Eli to return and sleep. For if he neglects to sleep for the sake of ascending this degree of love, he does not acquire what he seeks from virtue, because even if we can already love good things by God’s inspiration, unless we judge with great quietness of mind what the very good things we desire truly are, we do not discern them rightly. Samuel is therefore sent to sleep three times, because indeed the new order of preachers is admonished to love with all its strength. And since we have referred virtue to the affections, and the affection of the mind is perfected by spiritual joy, Samuel had a great quiet of sleep; and while the order of preachers, made certain through rest, learned spiritual things, it did not receive a foreign joy under the appearance of true joy. For just as with other virtues, so also regarding the progress of contemplation, the mind of the contemplator often becomes vainly elated. Samuel therefore slept again, because surely the order of teachers, unless it carefully examined itself in contemplation, would sometimes think it was rejoicing with true joy when it was rejoicing vainly. And so he slept the first time, because while he directed his mind to knowing the truth, he rejected all erroneous things with great subtlety of counsel. He slept a second time, because when he learned to love the Creator with his whole mind, he arranged within himself with great quiet that he would not mix any reprobate things with the good things he desired. He also slept a third time, so that while he perceived the supreme joy from divine contemplation, he might be able to reject vain gladness with a deliberate mind. And because this is said of Samuel while he was still advancing, it is fittingly added: (Verse 7.) “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.”

14. For at that time the order of preachers did not know the Lord with that perfection to which it later advanced. Or perhaps he is said not to know the Lord because he was not yet revealing to his still weak and untrained hearers the deep and profound things that he knew. Hence, Truth says to those wishing to know the day of the Lord’s coming — things which He who knew all things did not wish to disclose: “But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone” (Mark 13:32). What does it mean that the Son, who knows all things, does not know the day of judgment, except that among all the things He knew, though He knew the day, He did not know it so as to speak of it, but He knew its time and its nature? Hence John the Baptist, who knew the Lord perfectly, sent his disciples to Him as though not knowing, saying: “Are you He who is to come, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:20). For Samuel was preaching as though not knowing the Lord, just as the evangelist Matthew, passing over the divinity of the Redeemer, began from His humanity alone, saying: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1ff.). But he assuredly knew the Lord, and the word of the Lord had been revealed to him, just as John, undertaking to expound His divinity in lofty terms, said: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). He did not know the Lord when Paul was speaking, saying: “I became all things to all men, that I might save all” (1 Cor. 9:22). For he who became weak with the weak, and little with the little, and all things to all, surely was also ignorant with the ignorant. For to use the very word of that ignorance, speaking to the Corinthians he says: “I judged myself to know nothing among you except Christ Jesus, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). For with the wise he both knew the Lord and had His word revealed. Hence he also says: “But we, beholding the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, are transformed into the same image, as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). Hence he likewise speaks, saying: “We speak wisdom among the perfect, not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this age, but we speak the wisdom of God, which is hidden in mystery” (1 Cor. 2:6). Hence he likewise proclaims Him whom he knew as Lord, saying: “Who, being the brightness of His glory and the figure of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, making purification of sins, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having been made so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You’?” (Heb. 1:3–5). Therefore, he is said not to know the Lord not through ignorance of knowledge, but under the guise of simplicity. There follows: (Verse 9.) “Eli therefore understood that the Lord was calling the boy.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:8

Bede: And the Lord added, and called again Samuel the third time. The Lord calls Samuel the third time, he himself rises the third time and comes to Eli and tells who has called him. The Father showed the Son visible in the flesh, signs of the invisible God, for the third time; namely, in infancy, in boyhood, and in youth. For in infancy, He shone through the angel to the shepherds and with the star to the Magi. In boyhood indeed, when He at twelve years old, showed divine wisdom in the temple, where He Himself said among other things: Because it is necessary for me to be in what is of my Father (Luke II). Moreover, in youth, when the Father Himself from the heavens marked Him after baptism with His voice, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mark I). But in each of these moments, in which the Son of God is declared by God the Father, He Himself, offering Himself as a mortal man to mortal men, indicated that He was present, who had been long sought, awaited, and desired. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy, etc. Finally, after many great deeds and words done and spoken by the Lord, after John the Baptist’s proclamations were fulfilled, the priests, scribes, and Pharisees understand that Jesus, who in the reality of the flesh was born as a boy to us, is the true contemplator of the highest mysteries of the eternal deity of the fathers; and soon, agreeing to the recognized faith, they desire to behold the divine joy, which is never absent, and wish to hear from God the Father in divinity what must be told to humans in a human way, and, like those who love and know what ought to be done, they admonish Him to do so, just as we often urge God Himself and the angels to show the devotion of our mind, as if agreeing when we know what will be done, to do it quickly and earnestly. For we say to people on earth: Arise, God, and defend your cause (Psalms 74). Stir up your power, and come (Psalms 79). Bless the Lord, all His angels (Psalms 103); and countless similar phrases. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 15. For if he had not understood, he would by no means have ministered to him the counsels of salvation through the sacred Scriptures. For he understood, because he foresaw. For whatever almighty God arranged to do in the building of the future Church, this He revealed to the ancient Fathers through the holy spirit of prophecy. For through the prophet Amos it is said: “The Lord God will not make a word which He has not revealed to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). For what else had he understood but the calling of the new preachers, who said: “Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you; you shall establish them as princes over all the earth” (Psalms 44:17). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:9

Gregory the Dialogist: 15. For now the boy, having been instructed, is sent to the knowledge of divine speech, when the chosen one, subject to the counsel of his superior, is prepared for knowing spiritual things. And indeed for him to sleep is to rest in the desire of eternal life, when, that is, to the soul now thirsting for heavenly things alone, all present things are held in contempt, so that the more eagerly everything corporeal is driven from its attention, the more abundantly it is filled with the love of invisible things. And it should be noted that he is now commanded to return to the rest of sleep four times, because while we carelessly occupy ourselves with this world regarding visible things, we are awake in deed, speech, and thought. Therefore we are commanded to sleep three times, so that we may be prepared for the knowledge of heavenly things through rest from works, silence of the mouth, and the rejection of superfluous thoughts. But in the fourth place we are sent to sleep when by the permission of our superiors we are commanded to cease even from useful ministry, so that while we are hindered by no care of anxiety, the mind may gather itself entirely to the contemplation of the heavenly vision. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: But to him whom he understood was to be called, he also supplied counsel, saying: (Verse 9.) “Go and sleep, and if he calls you again, you shall say: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.”

16. Enough has already been shown, I believe, that the sleep of Samuel signifies the quiet of interior meditation. This sleep is indeed commanded to Samuel by Eli, because the teacher is taught through sacred Scripture to devote himself to contemplating interior mysteries. But what does it mean that each time Samuel is called, he is sent back to sleep, and yet he is by no means yet commanded to say to God: “Speak, Lord, for your servant hears”? For there he is commanded to sleep, but not yet to speak; here, however, along with the obedience of sleep, permission to speak is also enjoined. There also, when sent to sleep, it is not said “Go,” but “Return”; here likewise it is by no means said “Return,” but “Go.” For what does such variety in commanding mean? We recognize this variety more clearly, of course, if we attend to what sleep signifies for Samuel in this passage. And since we have referred the earlier modes of sleep to the testing of the gifts of holy love (above, nos. 11, 12), what is it for Samuel in this passage—that is, for the new preacher—to sleep, except to possess those same gifts, now tested and known, with the repose of security? Rightly, therefore, previously it was not said to him “Go,” but “Return”; now, however, not “Return,” but “Go.” For he who was still examining was commanded to return, so that with tranquility of mind he might test another gift, having already recognized another by that same quiet of mind. But to him, because he had now proved all things by examining them, “Go” is said, because he was now being sent with secure intention to possess what he had come to know. Why then is sleep first commanded without speech, but now sleep with speech, unless because it was not permitted to say “Speak” except to one who was certain with true knowledge that the one speaking to the affections of his mind was God? Therefore it is not said to one who is still examining, because unless he perfectly discerns the one speaking within, he ought not to desire spiritual speech still uncertain to him, nor receive it as though it were certain. For to say to God in one’s mind “Speak” is to receive his interior inspiration with security. Therefore this belongs to one who knows perfectly, not to one still testing, because before the judgment of interior examination, just as divine speech is not proved, so what is unknown to us concerning God is not received as certain and known. For it was said to Samuel “Go and sleep,” because when the order of holy preachers has learned spiritual gifts through the testing of sacred Scripture, it has come to know by the instruction of that same holy Scripture how to rest more securely through love in those same gifts, the more clearly it has recognized their power by open reason. He was also commanded to say to God when he called, “Speak, Lord,” because he was taught by the study of sacred speech not only to hear the Lord devoutly speaking through the grace of interior visitation, but also to implore him with great desires when he was silent, that he might deign to speak. (Verse 9.) So Samuel went and slept in his place.

17. The preacher of the holy Church has as many places as he has advances in life. Whence also blessed Job, consecrating the places of his advancement with divine praises, says: “At every step of mine I will proclaim Him” (Job 31:37). For he is not placed in a position of examination, but certainly of knowledge, when he is raised to higher things. For the place of the preacher is the certain knowledge of the things to be known. For concerning reprobate preachers the Lord says: “Those who held my law did not know me” (Jeremiah 2:8). Samuel therefore slept in his place, when the order of teachers retained the knowledge of spiritual things with the certainty of truth. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:10

Gregory the Dialogist: 16. And it should be noted that the Lord rouses the boy while he is resting, without Eli knowing, yet once roused, He by no means reveals the reason for his calling unless that same Eli instructs him, because He raises chosen subjects through hidden inspiration toward the desire for the heavenly homeland, yet through their rest He does not permit them to be called to the homeland they love without the permission of their superiors. Since, therefore, as many times as the boy is called, so many times he is allowed to go to his master, what else does this mean except that the desires of subjects, divinely inspired, are submitted to the judgment of superiors? For the work of a subject that is divinely inspired is recognized as pleasing to God when it is carried out by the command or permission of a superior. The boy is therefore called four times by the Lord, and the quiet of sleep is commanded four times by the master, because we are kindled by divine inspiration toward the moderation of work, the silence of the mouth, the casting away of inner anxiety, and the cessation of ministry, for the love of a more secluded life, and yet we are forbidden to fulfill the desires of our love without the permission of our superiors. The Lord therefore calls and is silent about the reason for the calling, so that, with the master’s permission, He may reveal Himself to the called subject. For He who, unbidden to listen, fell silent after He had called, once the human teacher gave the command, God who was calling made known the reason for the calling. For there follows: (Verses 9–11.) So Samuel went and slept in his place. And the Lord came and stood, and called as He had called the second time, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening. And the Lord said to him.

17. By these words indeed, because what is known to pertain to a body is said of the incorporeal and invisible divine substance, it is necessary that it be understood in a rational manner. For where does he come who is everywhere? In what way is he said to stand and speak who is not formed of bodily substance? But while that substance governs all things, the words of our poverty are employed, through which we may be able to rise to knowing the mysteries of his working. For the Lord’s coming is to touch the hearts of the elect by the presence of his grace; his standing is, by the abiding gift of his grace, to retain the minds he touches with the unwavering gift of his grace. His calling, moreover, is to arouse the chosen mind to the increase of greater grace. For the Lord comes and does not stand when the hearts of the negligent are touched by grace, and yet they do not at all persevere in the affection and love of the grace that touches them. For he is as it were present when coming, and departing when not standing, when from the present touch of divine grace they suddenly resolve to do good, and immediately, being abandoned, they forsake the intention of that same good resolve. But if this is referred to the power of contemplation, the Lord comes and stands when he both suddenly touches the hearts of the elect by grace and does not suddenly abandon them once touched, so that by coming he may visit, by standing he may confirm, and he who is shown to the joy of the mind beloved to him may not himself depart before that mind is satisfied in its living experience. But because he is said to stand, it is indicated that he will at some point depart, because even if he sometimes satisfies chosen souls in his revelation through a brief lingering, he withdraws the sweetness of his presence, so that they may more ardently desire what has been withdrawn. The Lord therefore comes by visiting, stands by sweetly showing himself, and calls by arousing through most ardent desire toward the love of his revealed glory. Hence also the boy was aroused so many times by the repeated name. He is called because a calling by name designates the affection of great charity and intimacy. Hence he also speaks to Moses, saying: “I know you by name” (Exodus 33:12, 17). The name of the one called is therefore repeated when the mind of the one who sees is now received into great intimacy with the interior Majesty, and is elevated by its burning desires toward the love of the one who calls, so that nothing may please it beyond what it hears, and it may desire to dwell perpetually in the joy of what it has heard. Hence it is also openly added here: “Samuel therefore said: Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” He who therefore said “Speak” was compelled by necessity. For it is as if he were saying in plainer words: I answered “Speak,” because I could not have answered otherwise. For what else can a mind desire that has been taken up into that joy of the speaking Majesty? For to say to God in the mind “Speak” is to desire always to hear that ineffably sweet speech. He therefore says “Speak” who would wish that he never be silent. Hence it is also added: “for your servant hears.” As if to say: because that which I receive by the experience of interior affection, I desire to enjoy in eternal perception. He therefore asks that he speak, who desires that he never be silent in his interior affections, lest he who is lifted up by such sublime exultation when the Lord speaks be cast down, when he is silent, to endure the straits of condemned humanity. For if we are raised from the darkness of our corruption when he speaks, when he is silent to us through the withdrawal of grace, we are subjected to those same darknesses. Rightly therefore, having been raised to such a height, he says to the Lord “Speak,” because he takes pleasure in that joy of interior hearing in which nothing in his outward circumstances pleases him; and he would desire all the more ardently to remain with the one conversing with him, the more gladly he would have wished never to be cast down to his own infirmities.

18. Indeed, when by God’s authorship we say “Speak” to the Lord, we say it by His own gift; yet we cannot express with what affection the more perfect elect say this to Him, because what belongs to ineffable desire is not expressed by the utterance of reason. Peter indeed well suggests this affection, who, when he stood by the Lord transfigured on the mountain, and beheld His face shining like the sun, and had seen His garments gleaming white like snow, said: “It is good for us to be here; if You will, let us make here three tabernacles, one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” (Matt. 17:4; Luke 9:33). For he who says, “It is good for us to be here,” would never have wished to be taken away from that vision of such great glory, if he could have remained. For when Peter says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here,” and Samuel says, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears,” the words indeed are different, but the affections are equal. For Peter signifies on the mountain, with the Lord transfigured, what Samuel signifies when he is called by the Lord coming, standing, and standing a second time. But even though Peter is reproved by the Evangelist as one not knowing what he was saying, this does not seem contrary to this meaning. For the Evangelist reproves not Peter’s affection but his reasoning, because, having been taken up with the Lord apart in glory, he desired to remain so always, and did not want Him to descend to the ignominy of the cross for the common redemption. He did not know, therefore, what he was saying, but he ardently loved what he saw, because indeed he beheld so great a good that it could in no way not be loved. Hence, even though Peter is justly reproved, he is nonetheless reasonably pardoned, because he was overcome by love of such great Majesty through its enjoyment. Nevertheless, when Peter is charged with ignorance of what he was saying, the cause of that same ignorance is mentioned. For the Evangelist adds: “For they were terrified with fear.” For that ineffable beauty of the inner Majesty sometimes shakes with wondrous dread the chosen mind to which it delightfully reveals itself, lest it leap into pride from the greatness of the vision, if the spirit that advances it—whose gentle contemplation raises it to such heights—does not restrain it with the governance of fear. In one and the same vision of revealed glory, both the goodness of the Redeemer is beheld as ineffably gentle and His justice as ineffably terrifying, so that the more sweetly the soul of the beholder is nourished by the regard of God’s goodness, the more, terrified by the consideration of His justice, it may take care not to be vainly satisfied. Hence also, when Samuel is raised to the intimacy of divine speech, not joyful things about the progress of the elect are announced to him, but terrible things about the downfall of the great. For it continues: (Verse 11) “And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold, I am doing a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it shall tingle.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: But to what degree he advances is shown, because it is suddenly added next: (Verse 10.) “The Lord therefore came and stood.”

18. Because the Lord is said not to return but to come, the abandonment of Judea and the visitation of the holy Church is signified. Hence He is described not only as coming but also as standing. He indicates that He came to visit Judea, saying: “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). But having come, He did not stand, because He abandoned her as she despised the good of her own salvation. Hence He also threatens the rulers of the Synagogue, saying: “Your house will be left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). Again, declaring this, He says: “Amen, I say to you that the kingdom will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits.” Therefore He came to Samuel and stood, because He once took up the preachers of the holy Church, from whom He no longer departs through the guardianship of His grace. For He had come to Samuel when, presenting new preachers to the world, He said: “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature; whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:15ff.). But let Him who came say whether the Lord ought to stand: “Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Therefore the Lord had come not to depart but to stand, because He chose new ministers of the faith, whom He protects even to the end of the world as they succeed one another through the patrimony of holy virtues devoted to Him. But let us hear what He adds—He who comes visiting through grace, who stands persevering through the unchangeableness of His election. (Verse 10.) “And He called, as He had called the second time, Samuel, Samuel.”

19. For he called a second time, because he provided him with a twofold office in the ministry of preaching: namely, that by repelling the pride of the Synagogue he might crush it, and that by calling the humility of the Gentiles to the faith he might raise them up. Or indeed he is called a second time because he is roused both to the destruction of the old man and to the building up of the new. He was called once when he was being instructed through the Spirit as to how he might be able to blot out sins and vices in the hearts of sinners; he was called a second time when God instructed him by the teaching of the interior Master, so that, having destroyed the edifice of impiety in the minds of the converted, he ought to raise up a new structure of holy virtues. And indeed, because the order of holy preachers both gladly learned this teaching and devoutly offered themselves to obey, there follows: (Verse 10.) Samuel therefore said: Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

20. To hear God speaking is to fulfill His precepts by works. On the contrary, in the Gospel, Truth itself says to the reprobate: He that is of God heareth God’s words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:47). But to the one listening, He adds what He desires to make known. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:11

Bede: And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I am doing a work in Israel, etc. What the prophet previously foretold to Eli about the judgment of his house, meaning its rejection and the substitution of Samuel in the priesthood, the same Samuel now understands through the oracle of God about himself, and he announces it to Eli; because what the prophets heralded by defining the old and introducing the new — that is, the priesthood of Christ’s Church — the same Christ, having conversed in the flesh, clearly heard from the Father in secret, where mortals do not have access, reveals openly and plainly to the leaders of the Jews. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 19. For among sublime gifts, the elect mind is restrained from pride all the more cautiously, the more it perceives through the justice of almighty God that even those who seemed to be supported by more sublime gifts have been cast away. For this reason also, concerning the word which the Lord threatens He will accomplish, the ears of those who hear are declared to ring. For the ears of the body ring when they are struck by an unbearable sound. For when a cry is poured into the ear beyond the capacity of hearing, the narrowness of its function converts the sound it rejects into a ringing, because while the voice hisses through the caverns of the ears, having been poured in all at once, it does not pass into the interior. But to the ears of minds, the unbearable cry is the rejection of some great preacher. Therefore the magnitude of the outpoured cry is not grasped, because while the sublime gifts granted to the rejected preacher are recalled, it remains unknown by what examination of divine equity he is cast out. Therefore the magnitude of the outpoured voice is converted into a ringing of the ears, because even if the judgment of God by which it happens is not grasped by the mind’s attention, while it is long weighed through consideration, hearts are struck with terror by that consideration. For just as ears ring from the confined sound of a great voice, so the hearts of the righteous tremble greatly from the long-considered rejection of great men. But both ears are said to ring, namely the right and the left. And because by the right eternal life is signified, and by the left the present life, and through the ear we hear what is said, what do we understand by the left ear except the attention to pious works, and what by the right ear except the attention to the heavenly vision? And so both ears of the hearer will ring, because when the ruin of the greatest men is shown, both directions of the elect’s attention are disturbed, because they both raise themselves with trembling heart to contemplate eternal things, and do not manage temporal things without great dread. For he had suffered this ringing of the ears, who spoke to the Lord, saying: “Your righteousness is like the mountains of God, Your judgments are a great abyss” (Psalms 35:7). For by the mountains of God are understood the highest and elect men. And indeed God’s righteousness is matched to those mountains, when they fulfill His lofty commands in deed; but yet the divine judgments are a great abyss, because even if in the eyes of holy men what they do is upright, before the eyes of almighty God they cannot know what quality those things possess. Whence they both ceaselessly do the good works they are able, and tremble at that abyss of judgments thundering above them, because by the accomplished word of the Lord which they hear, their hearts are shaken with the ringing of great terror. But fittingly, only the ears of those who hear are declared to ring. For in the Gospel too He warns of this, saying: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 8:8). For those who with all their attention are watchful for outward things do not know this ringing of fear, because they in no way weigh the height of divine judgments above them. But behold, upon him who refused to weigh God’s subtle judgments above himself, how sharp the sentences of those judgments are now unfolded. For He adds, saying: (Verses 13 and 14) “For I foretold that I would judge his house forever because of iniquity, in that he knew his sons were acting unworthily, and he did not correct them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated by victims and offerings forever.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: But to the one listening, He adds what He desires to make known; for it follows: (Verse 11.) And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold, I am doing a thing in Israel, at which both ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:13

Basil of Caesarea: Benevolence to such persons is like that mistaken kindness of Eli which he was accused of showing his sons, contrary to the good pleasure of God. A feigned kindness to the wicked is a betrayal of the truth, an act of treachery to the community and a means of habituating oneself to indifference to evil. — THE LONG RULES 28

Gregory the Dialogist: 20. For since the sentence of just severity is usually tempered by clemency, it is a judgment of great strictness where the sentence of punishment is affirmed by repetition. For He foretold above to Eli when, through a man of God, without naming him, He announced the sentence of his rejection. But because now too He swears that He will do the same thing, He indeed repeats the judgment of condemnation. In this matter it should also be noted that he who did not correct his sons when they acted wickedly is reproved for having committed an iniquity that will never be expiated by sacrifices and offerings. What then will be the severity for one’s own iniquity, if the negligence of caring for others is an irremediable fault? For if the uncorrected sins of subjects bind us with perpetual guilt, with what punishments does the boldness of our own iniquity bind us? Rightly therefore do the ears of the hearer tingle, because indeed the minds of the elect, which consider this attentively, tremble at such great severity. Rightly do the ears of the hearer tingle at this, because it indeed possesses an immensity of outcry that chosen hearts can scarcely endure. And indeed the right ear of the hearer tingles, because even if anyone raises himself by the merit of his perfection to contemplate heavenly things, yet he does not trust in the loftiness of his life. The left ear also tingles, because even if one has the gift of knowledge to order temporal things perfectly, yet he has no confidence in the perfection of his ministry. For amid sublime gifts they hear a word from whose outcry each ear suffers a ringing, under which, as long as this life of uncertainty is led, one does not cease to tremble. Whence also it is fittingly added: (Verse 15) Samuel slept until morning. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: And opening up this same word, He says: (Verses 13 and 14.) For I have foretold to him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity, because he knew that his sons were acting unworthily, and he did not correct them. Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated by sacrifices and offerings forever.

21. For what else is designated by these words than the rejection of the Jews, already explained so many times? For the house of the preacher is the multitude of the people subject to him, which he inhabits as if by possessing it, while he preserves it through the care of his solicitude. The house of Eli, therefore, that is, of the old priesthood, was Judea, which, while he cultivated it through a reprobate manner of life, he made unclean with the stains of his depravity. He indeed saw his sons acting unworthily, because the supreme priesthood saw the priests of a lesser order raging against the Redeemer, and did not rebuke them, nor recalled them by any authority from the shedding of so great blood. Therefore it is promised to him by divine threat that his house would be judged forever. For to judge, in God’s case, is to condemn. Therefore it is judged forever, because it is decreed to perish by eternal punishment. And because this happens by God’s eternal judgment, He declared that He had affirmed by oath that the iniquity of the house of Eli would not be expiated forever by prayers or offerings. Which we see fulfilled in manifest truth, because the Jewish people perseveres in the obstinacy of its unbelief. For what is the present hardness and blindness of a people once so chosen, if not the oath of divine judgment? For he confined himself under eternal death by a fitting punishment, who did not shrink from forcing eternal life to death in time. But what He asserts by oath, He says He had foretold, because indeed to the subsequent doctors of the holy Church that became known concerning the rejection of Judea which He had previously made manifest to their predecessors, because what is now said through Samuel to Eli is what was said to him above through the man of God. There follows: (Verse 15.) Samuel slept until morning. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

Isaac of Nineveh: For what reason did wrath and death come upon the house of the priest Eli, the righteous elder who was eminent for forty years in his priesthood? Was it not because of the iniquity of his sons [Hophni] and [Phinehas]? For neither did he sin, nor did they with his assent, but it was because he did not have the zeal to demand from them the Lord’s vindication and he loved them more than the statutes of the Lord. Lest someone surmise that the Lord manifests His wrath only upon those who pass all the days of their life in iniquities, behold how for this unseemly sin He manifests His zeal against His genuine servants, against priests, judges, rulers, men consecrated to Him, to whom He entrusted the working of miracles, and He in no wise overlooks their transgression of His statutes. — ASCETICAL HOMILIES 10

John Chrysostom: For no one of those who are now rich will stand up for me there when I am called to account and accused, as not having thoroughly vindicated the laws of God with all due earnestness. For this is what ruined that admirable old man, though the way he lived his own life provided no reason for blame: yet for all that, because he overlooked the treading under foot of God’s laws he was chastised with his children and paid that grievous penalty. And if, where the absolute authority of nature was so great, he who failed to treat his own children with due firmness endured so grievous a punishment; what indulgence shall we have, freed as we are from that dominion and yet ruining all by flattery? — HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF Matthew 17.6

John Chrysostom: Tell me, if I had bid you contribute your money, would not each one of you readily cast in according to his ability? If you saw me in extreme danger, would you not, if it had been possible, have cut off your own flesh to give me? Well, I am in danger now, and in great danger, such indeed that, were I withal confined to a dungeon, or had I received ten thousand stripes, or were a convict in the mines, I could not suffer more. Reach me then the hand. Consider how great is the danger, that I should not have been able to reform this which is least: I say “least” in regard to the labor required. What shall I have to say hereafter, when thus called to account? “Why did you not remonstrate? why did you not enjoin? why did you not lay the law before them? why did you not check the disobedient?” It will not be enough for me to say, that I did admonish. It will be answered, “You ought to have used more vehement rebuke; since Eli also admonished.” But God forbid I should compare you with Eli’s sons. Indeed, he did admonish them and say, “Nay, my sons, do not so; evil is the report that I hear of you.” But subsequently the Scripture saith, that he did not admonish his sons: since he did not admonish them severely, or with threats. — Homily on Acts 8

1 Samuel 3:14

Bede: Therefore, I have sworn to the house of Eli, etc. The house of Eli according to the letter could not be cleansed by the blood of victims, which the iniquity of his sons polluted, but nevertheless, it was cleansed by the blood of martyrdom when so many priests of his lineage were innocently destroyed in the city of Nob for the sake of the grace of paternal hospitality (1 Kings 22). According to the consequence of allegory, the iniquity of the house of Eli, indeed of the whole house of Israel, could not be entirely cleansed by any kind of sacrifices or gifts of good action, until the Lamb of God came, who takes away the sins of the world. For only the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all iniquity (John 1). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 3:15

Bede: Samuel slept until morning, etc. The Lord remained in secret rest with the Father, with whom he ceaselessly arranged and governed all things invisibly, waiting for when, with the night of vices dispelled by the host of virtues, the lights of evangelical truth would reveal themselves, when the shadow of the law departed. And immediately, wherever he saw the dawn of faith rising in anyone’s heart by the breath of the Sun of righteousness, opening the more abundant gifts of his Spirit, he promised the hope of entrance to the eternal house in heaven. This happens not only then among the Jews but also among us to this day; for whoever has not yet received the grace of Christ, or having received it, has cast it away by the merits of sins, to this person placed in the night of blindness, Christ, who always watches in the saints, sleeps, and the entrance of the heavenly kingdom is closed to him. But when he receives the light of hoped-for and sought-for forgiveness, immediately the Lord, as if awakened from sleep, opens the doors of virtues, which he had closed at the coming of the evening of faithlessness. This sense agrees beautifully with another trope, that while the Lord sleeps, the sailors are in danger; while he awakens, they are freed (Matthew 8). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 21. For he sleeps until morning who rests in the conduct of a good work begun until the splendor of the coming Redeemer appears. He sleeps until morning who throughout the whole night of the present life waits through the purpose of justice begun, so that the brightness of the promised Redeemer may shine forth for him unto the joy of a merited reward. For he heard the word promised in Israel, about which his ears do not cease to ring, because from the observed severity of divine justice he drew in a spirit of fear, under whose weight he will not be able to awake to the love of the world. But perhaps he is said to sleep until morning on account of the ringing of the right ear. For the right ear rings, because while the perfect lover of the interior life doubts about the perfection of contemplation, he desires more and more to advance in that sublimity of life which he has begun. But as long as we are in this mortal flesh, evil spirits lay snares for those striving toward the heights; and in order to draw them back from the vision of interior glory, they gather together phantoms of foolish thoughts, which they set before their interior eyes. Well therefore is it said: ‘Samuel slept until morning.’ The temptation of unclean spirits is night; but he who sleeps until morning does not open his eyes the whole night. He therefore sleeps in the night who disdains to look upon the phantoms of demons in temptation. He also sleeps the whole night, because he is not overcome by the darkness of temptation, but manfully endures, until he is visited by the light of heavenly brightness through the coming of grace. And then indeed he awakens as at morning, because he is gladdened by the delight of light poured back upon him after the darkness. For as one awakening he then opens his eyes, because he joyfully beholds the light with which he is bathed, he who did not care to look upon the darkness brought against him. From the ringing of the right ear indeed he obtains that he who rests upon heavenly things disdains to behold wicked things, and it suggests the certainty of his progress, since what he gains in peace he does not lose through open and violent wars. There follows: (Verse 15.) ‘And he was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.’

22. For he feared to reveal to him what the Lord had shown to him, so that he might restrain the recklessness of human boldness with the force of discipline. For some are so reckless that they easily rush forth to rebuke their superiors, and do not tremble to threaten them with future punishments for their errors. These indeed, because they do not know the manner of Holy Scripture, have in no way heard the Lord speaking to them. For those to whom Almighty God, speaking, reveals the punishments of their superiors, dread to tell them what they have heard. From this, therefore, let those who rebuke their superiors consider with how great thoughtlessness they cast themselves headlong, and let them greatly fear the depths of their fall. For if those to whom Almighty God speaks fear to speak to their superiors, those to whom God has in no way spoken — with how great terror ought they to have hidden themselves under the silence of their tongue? Therefore Samuel’s fear does not suggest a servile dread, but the reverence due to the eminence of pastoral authority. For even if a negligent preacher deserves rebuke and threats on account of his own guilt, the loftiness of his order demands the fear of reverence. There follows: (Verse 15.) And he opened the doors of the house of the Lord.

23. What does it mean that he who feared to speak opened the doors of the Lord’s house, except that he who dreaded announcing sorrowful things was not ashamed to obey? For it was said above: Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. For the boy, who is said to have slept in the temple of the Lord and now to open its doors, is shown to have had an assigned ministry, so that at the proper hours he would open and close the doors. He therefore who dreaded revealing the vision and yet opened the doors of the Lord’s house, showed double reverence to his master: namely, the care of his ministry and the guarding of his speech. How strictly he maintained this guard over his speech is shown, if what follows is carefully considered. For it is immediately added: (Verses 16-18.) So Eli came to Samuel and said: Samuel, my son. He answered: Here I am. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? I beg you, do not hide it from me. May God do this to you and add this, if you conceal from me any word out of all the things that were said to you. So Samuel told him all the words and hid nothing from him. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 22. What is it that Samuel’s sleep is described so attentively through sacred Scripture? And since he is said to have repeated his sleep four times already, anyone who does not believe this was spoken spiritually by the Spirit of God is greatly foolish. For even if he is rightly understood to have slept so many times according to the truth of history, it is written for this purpose: that from the truth of the letter, meanings of allegory may be brought forth. What then does this fifth sleep of Samuel signify? But since we referred the first sleep to the pursuit of truth, the second to the testing of true work, the third to the exploration of true joy, the fourth to the full enjoyment of perfection found, proven, and known, the fifth kind of sleep is referred to the effort of arranging one’s speech. Samuel therefore slept a fifth time, because the order of preachers, even though through the counsel of the heart it learned the truth, through the will of the mind chose good things, through the affection of virtue received true joy, and through the certainty of beatitude found and known rested in the security of sublime virtues, nevertheless could not preach to those under its care what it had come to know within itself without the great ordering of counsel. For very often a teacher both possesses within himself what he should preach, and yet cannot preach what he possesses as he ought, because even if he has already learned by the Lord’s revelation what to say, he does not know the manner in which it should be brought forth to the people. Samuel therefore slept again, because the order of preachers disposed within itself with great intent of quiet lest by preaching it scatter uselessly the seed of God’s word that it had gathered by profitable contemplation. For while a preacher is compelled to consider what and how much, or when, he speaks, what he should say to all together, how he should admonish some separately — because he employs the great quiet of holy meditation — Samuel is quite fittingly said to sleep again as a type of the new preacher. For to sleep then is for him to arrange in a tranquil mind the manner of speaking. And to awake is for him to go forth from the quiet of meditation to speaking. And because he does not reasonably awake before he has arranged what must be said, there follows: “Until morning.” For morning is the perfected knowledge of pronouncing the word in the mind of the teacher. Whence the Prophet also rebukes hasty teachers, saying: “It is vain for you to rise before the light” (Psalms 126:2). For those rise before the light who do not sleep until morning, but awake in vain, because they utter the word uselessly, having learned by no meditation how it ought to be uttered. Whence he also shows them counsel, saying: “Rise up after you have sat down,” so that through the quiet of meditation they may gather the word, which through the labor of speech they may scatter not in vain, but for the profit of their hearers. There follows: (Verse 15.) “And he was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.”

23. What was it that he feared, if not because he had learned this while sleeping? For he who arranges a word by meditating, determines by reason when he should also speak the word. For Samuel saw a vision and feared to tell Eli, because the order of the doctors of the Holy Church both perceived the deserved rejection of Judea and dreaded casting it in her face before the times of her rejection. Whence he rather exhorts her to the remedy of repentance, saying: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized” (Acts 2:38). Wherefore it is also added: (Verse 15.) “He opened the doors of the house of the Lord.”

24. What other house of the Lord is there but the holy Church? And what are the doors of this house, if not spiritual virtues? For Samuel opened the doors of the house of the Lord when, as people were running together to the unity of the true faith, the order of preachers laid open the gifts of spiritual virtues. For it was as though the doors of the house were closed when the virtues of the holy Church were unknown. And fittingly, when Samuel feared to reveal the vision to Eli, he is recorded as having opened the doors of the house of the Lord, because before the order of preachers would declare the open rejection of Judea, while it admonished them to repentance, it unlocked the hidden things of spiritual virtues to the elect who were running to the faith. For he who in the time of mercy feared to speak of the things he had seen, in the time when justice was to be sought, declared the vision of justice, saying: “Because you have made yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:45). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:16

Gregory the Dialogist: 24. For he who is said to have been compelled to speak by such great urgency of entreaty is shown to have been bound by a great strictness of silence. And because some subjects are accustomed to keep silent not so much for the preservation of purity as from the obstinacy of impudence, Samuel showed the pattern of a chosen subject, who kept silent reverently, but when commanded to speak, was afraid to keep silent. And so he shone with the twofold light of his conduct, since he who had kept silent by the virtue of filial fear gained by speaking the benefit of speaking. There follows: (Verse 18.) And he answered: It is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: From this reasoning indeed a question arises, because it is related that the vision was revealed to Samuel more by the prayer and imprecation of Eli. For it is added: (Verses 16–18.) “So Eli came to Samuel and said: Samuel, my son. He answered: Here I am. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord spoke to you? I pray you, do not hide it from me. May God do these things to you, and add these things, if you hide from me any word out of all that was said to you.” Samuel therefore revealed to him all the words, and did not hide anything from him.

25. For how did he learn from the executor of the divine sentence the vision of his own rejection, he who heard this not so much from one threatening as from one who was rather compelled by prayers? But let those who inquire about this first understand that we are discussing these things not according to the letter, but according to their spiritual and typological meaning. For in this passage, the coming of Eli is referred neither to a bodily movement of the Jewish priesthood nor to a disposition of the mind, but rather his coming was this very thing: that the rational creature of God appeared to the preachers. He came, therefore, when he was seen in human nature and moved the hearts of the teachers to compassion toward himself. Therefore, Eli’s coming is not, among the ancient people, an approach of mind or of body, but a manifestation of the human condition. Or perhaps his coming was from the fact that he was chosen from among all peoples for the worship of God. He also called him “son”—he who is regarded by the one who is remembered as having been the founder of the holy Church among the chosen Fathers. He therefore calls him “son” not out of affection in the address, but as a display of lost dignity. And because he is seen in the darkness of blindness, he is reported to have asked that the vision be revealed to him. For his beseeching is, with regard to their common nature, to provoke the minds of the preachers to mercy. He also added an imprecation to his prayers, because the order of preachers, while it considered the Jewish priesthood placed in such great misery, feared that the almighty Lord would be angry with them if they did not come to his aid with the word. Whence it is also fittingly added: “Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him.” Indeed, he told him all the things seen, so that, having heard what he deserved, the greatness of his fear might turn him to the solicitude of obtaining divine mercy. He told him all the words of the Lord, so that while he recognized himself cast off in his old state, he might hasten through tears of repentance to the renewal of true faith. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:18

Gregory the Dialogist: 25. He who considers this response of Eli more simply than he ought thinks that he responded as rightly as he did humbly. For as it is heard outwardly, what could he have responded more humbly, he who heard his own reprobation and offered to God who was threatening—indeed, promulgating the sentence of his reprobation—whatever He wished to do concerning him? But certainly if this humility of response is examined more carefully, it is not true humility. For that is recognized to be true humility which accompanies the good of obedience in carrying out the commands of a superior. He would therefore truly have been humble if he had offered himself for the amendment of the fault for which he was being rebuked. But perhaps he would have been even more truly humble if, when rebuked, he had not responded at all, but had applied to his wicked sons the correction he had neglected—if even then he had persisted with pastoral zeal and had punished the crimes of the flagitious priests with fitting vengeance. Therefore, when he says, “He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes,” he is recognized to have uttered a word of his own choosing rather than a response of humility, because indeed he preferred to incur the causes of God’s threats rather than condemn his sons for the iniquities they had committed. Oh, how many are still imitators of Eli, who, though they daily perceive from sacred Scripture that Almighty God threatens them, nevertheless tremble at displeasing men and do not fear to incur the threats of divine indignation, and while they dread the enmities of men as though they were implacable, they presume upon God’s mercy even while sinning!

26. But disordered confidence can have a place of vengeance before almighty God, yet cannot obtain pardon. For to an uncorrected sinner, persisting in the purpose of his fault, what is it to say concerning God who threatens him, “It is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes,” except to trust in a disordered way in the most ordered mercy of God? For he trusts in an ordered way in the mercy of almighty God who corrects by repenting what he committed by sinning, and wipes it away by weeping. Therefore, to sin and to presume upon the clemency of God the Creator is to be exposed to the deep of His justice. Thus indeed, not to wipe away sins committed by repenting, and to presume upon God’s mercy, is to stumble into the judgment of His severity. Therefore, while Eli’s life is described as a pattern of reprobate preachers, not only is the fault of his fall shown, but also the false security in the headlong rush of fault. For he who could have appeased the greatness of divine indignation by the fear of repentance, while he neglected what he heard, incurred what he deserved.

27. For Almighty God, although He is just in equity, is nevertheless believed to be more abundantly compassionate in mercy. Whence it is also said through the Prophet: “His mercies are over all His works” (Psalms 144:9). Hence it is that through the prophet Jonah He brought forth threats of overthrow against the Ninevites, and yet spared the penitent from the punishment of destroying the city (Jonah 3:1, 2, ff.). Hence it is also that to King Hezekiah (IV Kings 20:1, ff.) the punishment of death was promised through the oracle of the prophet (Isaiah 38:1, ff.), but because the king, fearing death, afflicted himself before the Lord with tears of repentance, he did not find the death by which he was to die with Him whom he feared. And above indeed the Lord declared that He had spoken so that the house of Eli and of his father should minister in His sight forever, but He who had spoken good things concerning one who acted well changed His sentence concerning the house now become reprobate, saying: “But now far be it from me” (1 Kings 2:30). If therefore Almighty God revokes good things promised, because those to whom He had promised them are changed for the worse, how much more does He withdraw the execution of threats, when He sees those well converted to whom He had announced the punishment of retribution for their committed iniquities? What then do we say to these things, we who sin daily and are unconcerned in the bondage of our guilt? Therefore this very thing, that we do not apprehend the severity of divine justice, is greatly to be feared by us, because behold, he who is cast off by divine indignation is reported to have been troubled by no fear for the fault of his perpetrated negligence. But since we have learned of the reprobate preacher’s rejection unto fear, let us hear of the progress of the elect. For there follows: (Verse 19.) “And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: And he indeed responded, saying: (Verse 18) “It is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.”

26. By these words, indeed, what else is more clearly recognized than the faithlessness of the Jewish people? For he who calls the almighty God Lord still considers himself to be serving Him. When therefore his rejection is made known to the Jewish people by the doctors of the holy Church, he says: He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes. Because while he believes himself to please God through the old institution, he is in no way frightened by the threats of the holy Church. For it is as if Jewish faithlessness were to assert with a more open voice, and were to say to the preachers of the holy Church who threaten them: You strike no terror into us by your threats, inasmuch as we believe ourselves to minister in faith to Him from whose grace you proclaim we have fallen. When therefore he adds: Let Him do what is good in His eyes, he mocks the doctors of the holy Church rather than offering himself to the divine judgment. As if he were speaking with another intention, and saying: He does no such thing to us, inasmuch as He is our Lord, the very one whom you set before us for vengeance. There follows: (Verse 19.) And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:19

Bede: “And none of his words fell to the ground.” [1 Samuel 3:19] This was said of Samuel, after he had reported to Eli in the morning the divine oracle he had received during the night: “And none of his words fell to the ground,” meaning that nothing of what he spoke was in vain, but all things he said came to pass. For the words that fall to the ground are the idle ones, which are to be regarded as nothing and trodden underfoot by everyone in disdain, just as the blessed Job said: “And the light of my face did not fall to the ground” (Job 29), because he had so habituated himself to bearing a countenance of such dignity that he was never resolved into contemptible joy; but whenever he presented himself with a more cheerful disposition to those present, he always did so for their benefit for a good reason. — Questions on the Book of Kings #2

Bede: Samuel grew, etc. The preaching of the Gospel grew, and God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. The reputation of Jesus grew, and it spread throughout all Syria. Hence John said: He must increase (John 3); and concerning the passing away of the old law like Eli, he immediately added: But I must decrease. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And not a word from Him fell to the ground. You will find nothing earthly in the words of the Lord, nor will any of those who think earthly things understand His spiritual sayings. Or certainly it should be said that the Lord, while dwelling in the flesh, deferred the delivery of His word to the Gentiles, who, in comparison to the Jews, were like earth to heaven, yet later He deemed it worthy to call them to faith through the apostles. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 28. If this is read according to the historical sense, it is indicated that the boy Samuel grew in bodily age; but if, as with the rest, we examine these things by spiritual investigation, the Lord is described as being with him who is recorded to have grown. But he grows who advances in the age of mind toward a perfect man. Whence also through the Prophet it is said of the elect who are advancing: ‘They shall walk from virtue to virtue; the God of gods shall be seen in Zion’ (Psalms 83:8). Hence Paul says: ‘Until we all come to meet him in a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:13). But there are some who, while they grow in virtues, fall through pride. These indeed appear to grow, but nevertheless the Lord is not with them, because by thinking lofty things of themselves they cast away from themselves him whom, when established in the progress of virtues, they could have had with them through humility. Or if he is understood to have grown through outward dignity, the Lord is recorded as being with him, because indeed many are devout in a humbler rank; but when they suddenly reach the summit of dignity, they abandon their first works together with humility. Samuel therefore both advanced and in advancing had the Lord with him, so that he indeed displayed the manner of the elect preachers, who when they obtain gifts and dignities by which they may benefit others, do not neglect to please God in themselves, and from that source they multiply the gifts which they received for others, whereby they show forth in themselves the good which they desire to spread among them by speaking. Wherefore it is also added: (Verse 19.) ‘And none of all his words fell to the ground.’

29. Indeed, the word of the preacher falls on the ground when it becomes worthless because of the preacher’s reprobate conduct. Hence it is said by the voice of Truth: “It is good for nothing anymore, except to be cast out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matt. 5:13). And it should be noted that of all his words not one is said to have fallen to the ground, so that assuredly the preacher may do nothing that he rightly condemns. For whatever he forbids to be done, if he himself does it, his word falls to the ground, because while it is despised by the one speaking it, those who hear it by no means revere it. The Lord was forbidding any word from falling to the ground when He set forth to negligent preachers the sentence of their own negligence, saying: “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches them, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19). For the preacher breaks not even the least commandment whose word, of all his words, does not fall to the ground. Moreover, when it is said that of all Samuel’s words not one fell to the ground, whose character does Samuel represent, if not those who by the merit of both their preaching and their works are great in the kingdom of heaven? And so of all his words not one falls to the ground, because everything lofty that the perfect preacher of Holy Church speaks is also proclaimed by him through his sublime manner of life, since, as though stationed on a high watchtower, he both instructs the wise by his word and shows the simple by his works the path by which they ought to enter the eternal homeland. Hence it is also added: (Verse 20.) “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 27. What does it mean that after Eli explained the vision, Samuel is said to have grown, except that the order of our teachers, after it repelled the sons of the Synagogue by the word, found a glory of greater reverence among the Gentiles? He grew, therefore, because he who first confined himself through the ministry of the word to one nation, afterward spread the fame of his holiness and teaching throughout the whole world. Whence it is also said through the Psalmist: “Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Ps. 19:4). Again, speaking of the holy Church, he says: “Instead of your fathers, sons have been born to you; you shall make them princes over all the earth” (Ps. 45:16). He grew, therefore, when he shone throughout the whole world. The Lord is also said to have been with him, because everything that gave forth the fragrance of holy fame, everything that shone brightly through the word, he received from the presence of the Redeemer whom he had with him. For even if Paul by the word penetrates not only what is weak and earthly, but also what is highest and heavenly, he obtains this power of speaking from him whom he affirms to be with him, saying: “Do you seek a proof of Christ who speaks in me” (2 Cor. 13:3)? For he who spoke in him was with him. He gives forth fragrance to the whole world through his life, but he draws the odor of life from him whom he reveals, saying: “We are the good fragrance of Christ in every place” (2 Cor. 2:15). John indicates that all things come from the presence of the Redeemer, for he says: “Of his fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). Therefore, when Samuel is said to have grown, the Lord is recalled as being with him, because when the order of teachers shone throughout the whole world with the grace of great holiness and teaching, it was able to appear so great because of him who did not abandon it while it was placed in the world. There follows: (Verse 20.) “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:20

Bede: And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized, etc. And the Catholic, that is, the universal Church, the spiritual Israel, which has been gathered from the beginnings of renouncing the devil to the font of baptism, knows that Jesus Christ, who is called “God with Us,” is the preacher of faith. For Dan is interpreted as “judgment.” It signifies that time for the Church, of which it is said: “Now is the judgment of this world, now the prince of this world will be cast out” (John 12). Beersheba, however, which is interpreted as “well of the oath,” or “seventh well,” or “well of satisfaction,” signifies the full reception of baptism, when, with the devil exorcised, renounced, and expelled from the heart, each one enters the font of regeneration to be consecrated by the sevenfold grace of the Spirit and to be filled by the abundance of heavenly gifts. Even the very location of these places alludes not insignificantly to the sacraments of the Church, because the terminus of the land of Judea was Dan to the north and Beersheba to the south, a mystical distance well known to those who can sing with the spouse: “Awake, O north wind, and come, south wind, blow upon my garden, that its spices may flow out” (Cant. 4). Dan, moreover, is a village about four miles from Paneas towards Tyre, from which place the river Jordan takes its name, as Jor means “river” or “stream” in Hebrew; this also not insignificantly points to the beginning of baptism. Furthermore, Beersheba is a city or village in the tribe of Judah, lying to the south, as we have said. Therefore, all Israel, that is, the people of Christians intent upon the vision of God, from Dan to Beersheba, from the north to the south, that is, from the catechumens to the faithful, from those who have just now expelled the harsh blasts of the ancient enemy, to those who have already been filled with the most radiant warmth of the Holy Spirit, recognizes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believers have eternal life in His name. In this reading, the person of blessed Samuel may well be referred to those very members of Christ, exalted by the merit of pure humility, about whom He Himself says: “Whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18). Those sleeping in the temple of the Lord, that is, who have turned away from the external cares of the world with the whole light of their heart directed solely towards contemplating the divine will above, are taught how the secrets of heavenly judgments are revealed in many ways which the old, blinded, and rejected Eli did not see, just as the Lord Himself, who speaks in the Gospel, says: “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes” (Matt. 11). In this context, the crowned humility of the penitents and the condemned impiety of the proud are presented as an example, so that by these things it is manifestly shown that the hidden things of the wise of the world and the revealed mysteries to the humble are spoken. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 30. For what is designated by Dan except the simple, and what by Beersheba except the wise? From Dan even to Beersheba Samuel is acknowledged as the faithful prophet of the Lord, when the life of a chosen preacher is set forth to the simple as an example of salvation, and to the wise the mysteries of Holy Scripture are revealed through his teaching. But since Beersheba is interpreted as “the seventh well,” by Beersheba can be designated not only the wise, but also the righteous. For what is the seventh well except the grace of the sevenfold Spirit? By Dan the life of sinners is shown, because it is said through the ancient prophet: ‘Let Dan be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path, biting the horse’s heels, so that his rider shall fall backward’ (Gen. 49:17). Therefore from Dan even to Beersheba Samuel is known as the prophet of the Lord, since the life and teaching of a chosen preacher is venerable both to sinners and to the righteous—so that in him, namely, the fallen may see the good by which they may correct themselves through repentance, and the good may marvel at the loftiness of life toward which they may daily grow stronger by advancing. There follows: (Verse 21.) And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 28. By these names of the land, indeed, the whole of Judea is designated. What then is designated in all of Judea except the entire Church? The whole of Israel, therefore, recognizes that Samuel is a prophet of the Lord, because indeed everyone who is faithful believes that the order of holy preachers speaks truly about things to come. For the office of a prophet is both to foretell the future and to reveal hidden things. Moreover, the holy preachers of the Church, when they detect whatever hidden vices lurk in the mind, when they open up the secrets of spiritual virtues, when they bring forth the hidden meanings of the Holy Scriptures to common knowledge, when they promise anew the future joys of the heavenly homeland to the chosen faithful, exercise the ministry of a prophet. By all Israel, therefore, Samuel is recognized as a faithful prophet of the Lord, because one who does not place faith in the teachers of the holy Church cannot see the almighty Lord by faith. And because that same glory of divine knowledge remained in the holy Church, which first revealed itself to the early teachers, it is added: (Verse 21.) And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1

1 Samuel 3:21

Gregory the Dialogist: 31. Above, concerning the time of the reprobate pastor, it is said: “In those days there was no open vision.” When therefore the best preacher is shown forth from sacred Scripture, the Lord is said to appear again, because indeed the knowledge of the divine counsel, which is hidden from the reprobate, is revealed to the elect by the merit of purity. For if even the counsels of men are not entrusted except to close friends, is Almighty God to be thought to lay open the secrets of His plan to His enemies? First, therefore, the life of the just teacher is proclaimed, then the Lord is said to have added that He appeared, because indeed the manifestation of the divine light flees the reprobate and the false, while it opens itself to the elect and to pure hearts. Hence the true Light itself also, speaking through itself, enlightens us, saying: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). Therefore, the Lord added that He appeared because He saw the pure eye of His preacher. But when it added “that He appeared in Shiloh,” it is indicated that He appeared to him in the same place on another occasion. But because it said where He appeared, lest it be believed that He appeared to Eli, it subsequently shows also the person to whom He appeared, saying: (Verse 21) “Because the Lord had revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh, according to the word of the Lord.”

32. For He then revealed Himself to him when He opened to him the secret of His counsel concerning the rejection of the reprobate priest. This is indeed affirmed to have been accomplished according to the word of the Lord, so that what had been said above, not very long before, through the man of God to Eli might be perceived to have been fulfilled also according to the historical sense: ‘And I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall act according to My heart and My soul, and he shall walk before My Christ all his days’ (1 Kings 2:35). And again: ‘You shall see your rival in the temple, amid all the prosperity of Israel’ (ibid., 32). But if we search according to the spiritual understanding, how does the Lord “add” so as to appear to the elect, unless because He who marvelously terrifies His elect through the contemplation of His justice also ineffably soothes them through the display of His glory? For He who, by appearing as just, strikes the hearts of the saints with terror, “adds” that He may appear, when the sweetness of His loving-kindness is poured back into the terrified heart. For this is why He did not always appear to Moses in fire, but sometimes in fire, sometimes in a cloud. In fire, indeed, there is the terror of judgment. Whence also concerning the second coming of our Redeemer it is said through the Psalmist: ‘Fire shall go before Him, and round about Him a mighty tempest’ (Ps. 49:3). But in the cloud the protection of mercy is expressed, because the Lord, promising to His elect the gentle comfort of that same protection, says: ‘Then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ (Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27). Therefore the Lord appears in fire and cloud to those journeying through the desert, because the minds of those contemplating Him in this pilgrimage of exile, even if He sometimes terrifies them with His justice, He raises up when cast down by fear through the gentle comfort of His protection. The Lord therefore appeared to Samuel, and “added” that He might appear, because He who is beheld by the minds of the elect in the fire of terror is also manifested in the cloud of sweetness. For he had seen inwardly a vision of fire who proclaimed outwardly, saying: ‘Holy and terrible is His name’ (Ps. 111:10). Likewise, desiring to show Him seen in fire, he said: ‘Come and see the works of the Lord, terrible in His counsels over the sons of men’ (Ps. 66:5). But He who appeared to him in fire “added” that He might appear, because He also offered him from the cloud the sweetness of glory and of His own gentleness. Wherefore he who had been terrified, now gladdened, said: ‘How great is the multitude of Your sweetness, O Lord, which You have hidden for those who fear You’ (Ps. 31:20). Hence also, marveling at the added apparition, he said: ‘How good is the God of Israel to those who are upright in heart’ (Ps. 73:1).

33. But we must attentively consider what is added next: According to the word of the Lord. The word of the Lord, therefore, must be known before we deserve to attain to the appearing of the Lord, lest an unjust and indiscriminate vision of fire and cloud not only fail to show us the perfection of the heavenly journey, but drive us into the submersion of error. For Origen, while he wished to see the Lord appearing without the word of the Lord, beheld the vision of the cloud in a disordered way, because he shrank in horror from the appearing of the fire. For while he denied or diminished the justice of God and preached His excessive clemency, he asserted that God would not only spare all condemned men, but would even at some point free the reprobate angels from eternal punishment. Novatus, however, loved to gaze more upon the vision of fire, for while he called the severe justice of almighty God implacable, he took away from sinners all hope of obtaining pardon and every remedy of repentance. Therefore the Lord appeared neither to Novatus nor to that other one, because each of them did not behold the almighty Lord according to what is perceived through the truth of sacred Scripture. The Lord therefore appears according to His word when He reveals Himself to the mind by that manifestation which the faith of Sacred Scripture does not reject. Hence it is aptly added next: (Verse 21.) And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

34. For the word of heretics does not come to pass. For the word of Novatus was that a just God by no means spares the faithful who have once fallen. The word of Origen was that the merciful Lord permits no rational creature to perish through eternal damnation. But because sinners who are converted to the Lord by no means perish, and the angels who once fell and sinners who died in their sin are never saved, the word of heretics assuredly does not come to pass. Therefore the word of Samuel came to all Israel, because the preaching of a catholic man is fulfilled, which is rightly recognized in the truth of sacred speech. And it should be noted that the word is said to have come to him to whom the Lord is reported to have added His vision, because surely his preaching is true to whom the terror of divine justice is so shown that the abundant grace of His kindness is not concealed; namely, so that the truth beheld may so terrify the mind of the one seeing it that the kindness also shown may not permit the terrified mind to fall into despair; so that one may so trust in His kindness as not to rush headlong into the boldness of transgression. But let these things that have been discussed in the second book of the present work suffice, so that while we arrange to begin what follows with a new starting point, our zeal for speaking may also be renewed through devotion. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 2, Chapter 4

Gregory the Dialogist: 29. For Shiloh is interpreted as “sent.” And because He sends into the ministry of preaching even to the end of the world, the Lord appears in Shiloh, because He shows Himself more clearly to those through whom He opens the glory of His light to others. Moreover, it is well said, “He continued to appear,” because those upon whom the brightness of the divine light is poured are unceasingly chosen. Whence he also adds the reason why he affirms the vision was heard, saying: (Verse 21.) Because the Lord had revealed Himself to Samuel.

30. For this reason he adds “so that he might appear,” because the Lord who had been revealed reveals himself again and again, and by no means withdraws the gift of his manifestation from holy Church, which he has not ceased to bestow upon her from her beginning. But although it is stated that he was revealed to Samuel, it is not reported how many times he continued to appear, because indeed holy Church is led all the way to the end of the world, over which preachers preside, who preach the lofty joys of eternity among those below, inasmuch as they see the highest things they preach in the lofty manifestation of God. Which appearance indeed is declared to have been made according to the word of the Lord. But what is the word of the Lord, if not the promise of the Redeemer? He continued therefore to appear according to the word of the Lord, because he does not cease to display the truth of his promise. For the word of the Lord in the continuation of his appearing is: “Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age” (Matt. 28:20). There follows: (Verse 21.) And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

31. For the word is known to come when the promise of our preachers is fulfilled. For the promise of the word is joy that will endure without end. Therefore the word of Samuel came to all Israel, because the entire multitude of the holy Church arrives at the joy of eternal blessedness, and what is now promised in the faith of the word by its holy preachers is bestowed upon it in truth in the heavenly kingdoms. For the word of the teachers in the promise of the faithful is: Everyone who believes in him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life (John 3:15). Or certainly the word of the teachers in the promise of gifts is: What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him (Isa. 64:4; 1 Cor. 2:9). And so the word of Samuel came to all Israel, because whoever believes the holy preachers both urging a devout manner of life in the present and promising eternal joys to the just, has passed by dying in the flesh to those eternal joys which he had awaited by living piously. Whence he in whose faith he had promised also affirms, saying: Amen I say to you, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away (Mark 13:31). Or certainly the word of Samuel has now come to all Israel, because through the effect of divine punishment the general rejection of the Jews is recognized as fulfilled. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 1