1 Samuel 9

1 Samuel 9:1

Bede: And there was a man from Benjamin named Kish, son of Abiel, etc. In this Saul the king, who was chosen by the people instead of Samuel, who persecuted David, committed other crimes, rejected David, and dying received a successor to the kingdom: he signifies the wickedness of the Jews, who, despising and persecuting both the prophets and the Lord, preferred to reign by themselves; therefore they left the kingdom of God, from which they were expelled, to a nation producing its fruits. Now, in that he was anointed with holy oil, delivering Israel from the enemy, he figuratively announces the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore, the present reading, which contains the history of the anointing of Saul, but no mark of reproof: designates the high mysteries of the Lord Savior’s descent from heaven for us men, and for our salvation, his reception of baptism from John, and the other lofty mysteries of the temporal dispensation. And primarily, the sense that is concerning the Lord, helps, because Saul came from Benjamin, who is said to be chosen and good; whether because Benjamin is interpreted as ‘son of the right hand,’ or because it is the smallest tribe in Israel; for grace is always generated in Christ by the humble in spirit, to whom the kingdom of heaven belongs. — Commentary on Samuel

Jerome: The name Benjamin is a combination, then, of two words, son and right hand: ben means “son” and jamin means “right hand.”Let us remember once for all that the tribe of Benjamin was called Jemini. We read in the book of Kings [Samuel], where it speaks of Saul, the words “Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Saul, the son of Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Jethra, son of Jether, son of Gera, son of Jemini,” and immediately following, it says, a man of Jemini, that is, from the tribe of Jemini, or Benjamin. … Now why have I said all this? To show that the tribe of Jemini was the tribe of Benjamin. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 3 (Psalms 7)

1 Samuel 9:2

Bede: And he had a son named Saul, etc. For he who is of the earth is from the earth, and speaks of the earth: he who comes from heaven is above all; who did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth (John III; 1 Peter II). But also the name Saul, which means “desired” or “petition,” most fittingly applies to Christ, who is always implored with great desire by the saints and is asked to be present. Likewise, the name of his father Cis, that is, “stern,” also alludes to mysteries; whether it signifies God the Father, or David, or Abraham, or any other of the fathers, from whom Christ is according to the flesh. For that nature is stern, which not only cannot be conquered or changed, but also cannot be comprehended by any created nature. It is stern in the strictness of judgment to the reprobate, but through the grace of mercy is kind to the good. For it is said of these: “How good is God to Israel, to those who are pure in heart” (Psalm XXII)! But of those, it is said: “Your almighty word leapt down from heaven, from the royal throne, as a stern warrior into the midst of the land of destruction” (Wisdom XVIII); and in temptations, the faithful hearts of the good are stern, to whom under the guise of Ezekiel it is said: “Behold, I have made your face stronger than their faces, and your forehead stronger than their foreheads; like adamant, harder than flint have I made it” (Ezekiel III). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: But it must be asked why the same Saul is said to be chosen and good, who is declared to be the son of a harsh man. But he is called chosen not according to grace, but according to judgment. He is also called good so that the disposition of divine equity may be commended. For even the evils that we often suffer on account of our sins, because they are inflicted on us through divine justice, are good. Whatever is just is certainly good. For by the justice of God, reprobate pastors are permitted to ascend to the governance of the holy Church; but those who are evil through iniquity are good by divine disposition; and those who are now chosen by the hidden ordering of God will ultimately be condemned at the universal judgment. Therefore, let the reprobate pastor be called chosen, because it is decreed by God’s indignation that he should exist; and let him be called good, because he is justly permitted. Likewise, because he is provided as more useful than others for carrying out divine judgments, no one among the sons of Israel is said to be better than he. He is also recorded as standing out above all the people from the shoulder and upward, because he who follows the ways of carnal men in his manner of living strives mightily to do what another cannot do. For the carnal ruler stands out above the entire people from the shoulder and upward, since in external matters he is strong beyond comparison. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: All these words can also be understood as words of praise, by which, while the person of the king to be appointed is commended, the intention of those requesting a king is confounded. For they say: “A king shall be over us, and he shall judge us, and he shall fight our battles for us” (1 Sam. 8). He is called chosen and good, and that there was no one better than he among the sons of Israel, so that all good qualities might excel in the person of the requested king; but when he proves insufficient for what the people had proposed, human presumption is confounded, so that it wastes away in defeat. And indeed, as I said above, the king who is chosen to go before the people and fight their battles, when he is abandoned by divine help, perished overwhelmed in battle, and for the people whom he had led into those same battles, he became a cause not of salvation but of death. What, then, would the people attribute to God if he who had been chosen as king by God’s judgment had not proven so suitable for carrying out what the people wanted? He can also be understood as chosen and good, as he is described, not as he was foreseen to be in the future. He is therefore called chosen and good, so that he is understood to have been chosen as such by the Lord—he who through disobedience was later rejected. For this reason, logic itself demands that what is said about him as chosen and good up to the time of his rejection, we should understand in a favorable sense. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: Concerning whom it is fittingly added: “And he had a son whose name was Saul, chosen and good.” For he who is an imitator of such men is useful not only for the labor of ministry but fit for the fruit of inheritance. Indeed, Judas too was chosen for ministry; but because he was not good, he lost the right of succession. Who then are signified by Saul, still chosen and good, if not the chosen imitators of the holy Fathers, who are useful to others through teaching and to themselves through their way of life; who are able so to govern others that they by no means cease to provide for themselves? For they are chosen and good because they so seek the gain of others that they suffer no losses of their own. For they are full in themselves, overflowing to others, and from their own abundance they so give to others that they lose nothing of their own fullness. They have what they may offer to others, yet having what can suffice for themselves, they offer to no one at their own expense. They strive so to supply oil to others that the fuel of their light is not taken from them: so that while they illuminate others, they do not extinguish themselves. Rightly therefore he is called chosen and good: because certainly he who takes up the governance of the holy Church ought to be rich, adorned with spiritual gifts and the fullness of merits. And because those who excel must be chosen from the common order, it follows: “And there was not among the children of Israel a better man than he.” His excellence is indeed commended when it is added: “From the shoulder and upward he stood above all the people.” By this bodily appearance, in the person of the bishop to be ordained, the deeds of virtue are prefigured. For what is designated by the shoulder if not strength? But he who from the shoulder and upward stood above all the people was of such lofty stature that he who was tallest among the people reached only to the shoulder of the king; while the future king surpassed the height of all by his neck and head. But what are the heads if not the minds of the subject people? When they are greatly stretched, they reach up to the shoulder of the king to be ordained, because he who is sought for the summit of governing the holy Church ought to be of such perfection that whatever the people wish to set before themselves as good works, he ought to demonstrate in his own conduct. For the heads of the people touch, as it were, the shoulder of the king when their hearts find in their pastor whatever virtue they seek. But the king excels by his neck, and excels by his head. For what is designated by the neck if not speech, and what by the head if not the contemplation of the mind? Therefore he surpasses the heads of all his subjects by head and neck if he is admirable in the height of contemplation and in the sublimity of teaching. For he is, as it were, lofty by his head when he contemplates those things about the heavenly secrets that others cannot contemplate. He also has his neck above others, who, admirable in the height of his speech, cannot be equaled by others. For he had, as it were, raised his head on high who said: “I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know such a man, whether in the body or out of the body, I do not know; God knows” (2 Cor. 12:1–2). But as a chosen and good king, to show that his neck also rose above all heads, he said: “He heard secret words which it is not lawful for a man to speak” (2 Cor. 12:4). But why do we marvel at his neck, as it were towering, in those things he kept silent? Let us equal him, if we can, in those things he said. From the neck of the apostle Paul proceeded his epistles, and although wise men have been expounding them since that time, they still strive to better understand what he said. And though they daily advance in learning from him, as if straining toward the summit of his neck, they can by no means reach it. Let the king therefore stand out by his neck, stand out by his head, be lofty by his shoulder: so that he may be perfect in conduct, admirable in speech, above all others exalted on the heights of contemplation. But he who is great in conduct, preeminent in speech, raised above all in contemplation, before he arrives at the summit of governance, ought to have outward signs of fraternal charity: that is, he should have such concern for his neighbors that he seeks the gain of souls for eternal life. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:3

Bede: But the asses of Cis, father of Saul, had wandered off, etc. The souls that belonged also to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ had wandered off; because although they lived justly, before the Son of God descended to the earth, they could not receive the first robe. And God the Father said to His only Son: Join to your company the unanimous saints who adhere to you obediently, noble desires, and following you by their own virtue, begin the work of human salvation. But if it is agreeable to accept Cis, father of Saul, as the assembly of the ancient fathers, it is apparent that he carried the care of the souls of the faithful, and earnestly prayed to Christ that He would deign to come in the flesh for their salvation, saying: “O Lord God of hosts, restore us, and show the light of your face, and we shall be saved” (Psalm LXXII), and similar things. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Kish, who is called harsh, signifies not only his elect, but also the Redeemer himself. For no one was harsher toward himself than he. For the prophet, indicating the severity of this harshness, says: “Truly he himself bore our infirmities, and he himself carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4). For to die is not to suffer for mortals, who are subject to the suffering of a condemned nature. He therefore was exceedingly harsh toward himself, who had nothing in himself by which he might suffer; but in order to free us by suffering, he graciously assumed that by which he might be harsh toward himself and be able to suffer. The donkeys of Kish are sinful souls. Because even though they have been regenerated in the faith of the Redeemer, they are called stubborn; and lost donkeys, because through uncleanness they have been separated from his service. Hence it is that, as he was heading toward his passion, he sat upon a loosed donkey and her colt (Matt. 21:7), to show openly that he had come to suffer for this purpose: to come to the aid of sinners. For he acknowledged that he was seeking lost donkeys when he said: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). These donkeys he both sought by himself, and still sends preachers to seek them. Therefore Kish tells his son to seek the donkeys, when the Redeemer commands the hearts of the elect by spiritual inspiration to go forth into the ministry of preaching. But those going forth in the office of preaching, because they ought to bring with them only spiritual understanding, are commanded to take one of the servants. For he takes one servant who, while going forth to provide others a pattern of living, is spiritual in everything he does. For he took one of the servants, of whom it was foretold: “He himself will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). He had taken one servant with him, who says: “We have not received the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God” (1 Cor. 2:12). Hence he says again: “We have the mind of Christ” (ibid., 16). Hence through Ezekiel it is said of the holy living creatures: “Where the impulse of the spirit was, there they went” (Ezek. 1:12). Therefore, when seeking the donkeys, he takes one of the servants: when he who newly begins to seek the gain of souls arranges to do all things spiritually, whatever he thinks to do. But to find the donkeys is to behold sinners converted in the light of holiness. For like lost donkeys they are not found, when in the darkness of sins, reprobate hearts bury themselves. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:4

Gregory the Dialogist: And because through the five senses of the body they fall into those same darknesses of sins, they are sought in five regions where they cannot be found, namely Mount Ephraim, the land of Shalisha, and Shaalim, and the land of the Benjaminites, and Zuph. For everyone is hidden where he is cast down through sin; and as one who is lost, it is not known where he is, when he abandons the light of justice in which God placed him. Hence it is that in paradise after the sin, He seeks the first man, saying: “Adam, where are you?” (Gen. 3:9). As if to say: Because I do not find you in the light in which I placed you, show yourself where you have placed yourself. Hence He inquires about the dead Lazarus, saying: “Where have you laid him?” (John 11:34). But the one whom He sought as lost, He commanded to come forth that He might find him, saying: “Lazarus, come out.” Therefore man is lost when he sins; he is found when, now repenting, he declares his sin against himself. For since through the sacred Scriptures the sinner is commanded: “Declare your iniquities first, that you may be justified” (Isa. 43:26, according to the LXX), when the one who has sinned begins to be justified by confessing, he is now seen in the light, where he is now found to be placed. Now Saul, who seeking the donkeys did not find them, represents the character of a learned preacher, but one newly beginning. Almighty God indeed does not allow him to bear the fruit of preaching, lest he esteem the conversion of sinners as a cheap thing, since he can easily convert them to the Lord. The conversion is therefore delayed, so that the converted may be cherished all the more; and the preacher loves them all the more greatly, the more clearly he sees that he cannot quickly win them over. But while holy men cannot convert others through their preaching, they begin to fear intensely for themselves—lest they displease Almighty God in the very thing by which they thought they were greatly pleasing Him. And it often happens that the hearts of new preachers are so frightened that they now resolve to abandon the office of preaching itself and to devote themselves to God through silence. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:5

Bede: But when they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, etc. From the fifth place of failed inquiry, Saul intends, as it were, to return. And the Lord seemed, due to the enormity of human transgression, as if he wished to turn back from caring for the salvation of the impious, when, in the fifth age of the world, the oracles of the prophets were withdrawn, the frequent communication with angels was withdrawn, and only the wicked deeds of depraved men increased. And indeed, the world was pressed by so many and such great crimes before the coming of the Lord, that the Creator of the human race seemed to be more concerned with protecting the just than acquiring the salvation of the impious. However, for the sake of the adversities of his chosen ones, the provident Creator wished both to prove the invincible patience and to sharpen desires by deferral more and more; therefore it follows: — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: He deliberates about returning to his father who, having set aside the intention of preaching, desires to be free for God in the secret of silence. He is said to return who is reported to have been sent before. For the sons are, as it were, in the presence of their father when chosen men linger in the secret contemplation of the Redeemer. They return, therefore, when from the public work of holy preaching they come to search out the joys of eternal brightness. But because holy men do nothing without counsel, Saul consulted the boy about the return to his father. For we consult the boy when with attentive mind we take care that what we attempt to arrange should not differ from spiritual understanding. Indeed, he had resolved to return to his father who said: “I said, I will guard my ways, that I may not sin with my tongue. I set a guard over my mouth, when the sinner stood against me” (Psalms 38:1–2). The sinner stands against the preachers when, in response to their preaching, he does not abandon the state of his iniquity. And because the preacher then proposes to be silent toward him and to be free for God, so that he may return to the Father, he becomes mute. But because through silence he better learned the will of God, his heart grew warm, and with the fire of inward meditation blazing forth, he spoke. This is shown also in this passage, because the boy, when consulted, bestows counsel upon the one consulting him, saying: “Behold, there is a man of God in this city, a noble man; everything he says comes to pass without ambiguity. Now therefore let us go there; perhaps he will show us our way for which we have come.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:6

Bede: He said to him: Behold, there is a man of God in this city, etc. For this is the patience and faith of the saints, this is continuous love, this long expectation seeing from afar and greeting the joy of the Lord’s incarnation and the restoration of humanity; this, I say, is the frequent plea in the Scriptures of saving grace: Stir up your strength, and come to make us safe. Arise, why do you sleep, Lord? arise, and do not reject us to the end; why do you turn your face away (Psalms 79, 43)? and other such things. Behold, they say, there is in the city of worldly conversation, most noble by heavenly grace, and without any doubt the truest chorus of the prophets. Now therefore let us go there, and from contemplating the glory of your divinity, which is only apparent to pure hearts, let us also come to perceive the mysteries of humanity, once promised and now long desired. Blessed indeed are the eyes that have seen, and the ears that have deserved to hear these things (Matthew 12). Perhaps with these things resounding about you, and affirming the path of our devotion, with the help of the proclamations of the prophets, the world will begin to believe, and we ourselves, with those who were lost brought back to life, will rest from the long effort of so much time. The word of doubt is placed to show the severity of human error and the difficulty of healing, according to the Savior’s saying: Do you think he will find faith on earth? and: If you believed Moses, you would perhaps believe me too (Luke 18). Similar to this passage, the wise lover speaks to Christ in the song of her love: Who will give you to me, my brother, nursing at the breasts of my mother, that I might find you outside and kiss you (Cant. 8)? As if she openly said: Whom I believe, confess, and adore as invisible God within, him also I long to see and speak to outside in the form of my substance. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Saul said to his servant: Behold, we will go, etc. Saul, indeed, and his servant were wandering, in that they thought to seek the gifts of prophecy from the man of God, and therefore they were disturbed in vain, because they had not even taken a small offering with them, which could have been given to him as a travel provision. The small offering, beautifully woven from palm leaves, though the bread which was within it had run out, is usually given as a gift during a greeting, if the holy man had not been accustomed to say truthfully to everyone of his own accord. But the order of the allegorical sense does not err, because the Lord diligently urges His chosen servants with frequent chastening, so that they may not come empty in mind or deed to hear the word of God and to seek His way, which is Christ (for no one comes to the Father except through Him), but may carefully inquire what of appropriate obedience, what of other virtues they should show to their teacher, to whom the word should be rightly entrusted. And also in the Old Testament, whoever desired that Christ would come into the world to fulfill the prophecies of the prophets, who wished that Saul would enter the city of Samuel and do what he taught, were then taught by Christ Himself through secret inspiration to pursue good works, so that they might be found worthy to see and hear what many just men and kings had previously desired but did not hear or see. Behold, he says, we will go; what shall we bring to the man? The bread has run out in our supplies, and we do not have a small offering. Behold, the time is pressing for the prophecy to be fulfilled in Christ, what good works do we have, by which we may recommend ourselves to the preachers of that time, and deserve to learn from Him whom we need? Indeed, the observance of the law has been corrupted by the traditions of the Pharisees, or rather it has itself been worn out by its antiquity and as if by long use, it has run out in our deeds; and we have not been able to achieve the conversation of new grace, which awaits the kingdom of heaven, before He comes and teaches to whom it is reserved. For the plaited palms, which used to be given as a reward to the victors, signify actions worthy of heavenly reward; vessels woven from palm leaves demonstrate hearts expanded with the hope of eternal joys. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: He calls Samuel a man of God, in whom we have already said that the preachers of Holy Church are designated. He is indeed called a man out of reverence for his holy manner of life, and everything he speaks is declared to come without ambiguity: because whatever he threatens concerning eternal punishments, whatever he promises to the just concerning eternal joy, comes to pass just as he announces it, and the impious shall go away to punishment and the elect to glory. He is also said to be in the city: because a chosen pastor is known to be always vigilant in the common guardianship of the people subject to him. The pastor is in the city, because while he guards others, he is fortified in himself. Whence also through the prophet, in the praises of all men of God, it is said under the description of one: “He shall dwell on high; the fortifications of rocks shall be his loftiness” (Isa. 33:16). For the higher he is raised up in the vision of the eternal citizens, the stronger he is found to be in himself, and the more useful to his neighbors.

He is also called noble: because he is conspicuous for his heavenly manner of life, and has nothing of the rusticity of worldly life. For he is seen to be noble from the same source whence he is a citizen. For secular men, because there is no composure of morals in them, are rustic, as though nurtured in outlying places. For from their habitual dishonesty of mind, they produce unseemly movements of body; and like those who are very degenerate, they do not know the bearing of urbane custom, while through everything they do, they cover the appearance of their life with the vileness of earthly obscurity. On the contrary, the men of God are noble, who while they vigorously pursue the things that are divine, shine with heavenly light in all their work: and they have nothing of degeneracy, who in the great light of all their conduct display the rays of their celestial origin. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:7

Gregory the Dialogist: To this end, therefore, Saul is led by the boy, that he may be instructed: because those who are to be placed on the height of prelacy are admonished to submit themselves to the spiritual understanding of perfect preachers through their teaching. He who says this admonishes us to be led by this boy: “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18). But it must be asked why it is said with hesitation: “If perhaps he may show us our way, on account of which we have come.” But because he desires to learn spiritual things, because he longs to receive great gifts, he cannot know whether he is worthy of those same gifts. Therefore he begins to doubt, who does not presume that he merits such great things by his own merits. Which doubt indeed arises in the elect from the virtue of humility. Wherefore also in the voice of the accompanying boy it is said to Saul: “If perhaps he may show us our way.” Because indeed the spiritual sense suggests that we should not think lofty things of ourselves, not presume boldly concerning almighty God, but seek His gifts with the utmost reverence of holy fear. Rightly therefore he is called a boy, who is proclaimed as always teaching humble things. Therefore when he says, “Let us go there,” and suddenly adds, “If perhaps he may show us our way,” he openly indicates that the Spirit of God works in the understanding of the elect, while He both makes them approach devoutly to seek spiritual gifts, and makes them fear with great reverence the omnipotence of the Giver. Whence also he who is led by the spirit is said to look upon the poverty of his own merits, when it is added: “And Saul said to his boy: Behold, we shall go, but what shall we bring to the man? The bread has failed in our bags, and we have no small basket to give to the man of God, nor anything else.”

The minds of the humble have this characteristic: that they possess spiritual gifts, but do not regard themselves in those things which they possess. For because they receive the gifts of virtues from the Holy Spirit, therefore the Holy Spirit, who bestows the gifts, removes them from their own estimation, so that they may have these things in the virtue of their conduct, but not have them in the swelling of pride. Rightly therefore it is said of Saul: “From the shoulder and upward he was taller than all the people.” And he said to his servant: “The bread has failed in our bags, and we have no basket”—because chosen men, fit for governing the summit of holy Church, even regard themselves as small through humility in that very thing in which they are great through virtue. And indeed they have bread for the refreshment of the souls of the faithful in the wisdom of the word, and the basket in the memory of inner meditation. For when they preserve in memory for the instruction of the faithful those things which they gather in secret meditation, they store bread, as it were, in a basket. For concerning these baskets it is said in the Gospel: “They filled seven baskets with the fragments” (Matt. 15:37; Mark 8:8). When loaves abound on the Lord’s table, the baskets are commanded to be filled—because when the soul of the elect is refreshed in the heavenly contemplation of the Redeemer, it is instructed in that same contemplation of the truth, so that the nourishment of the word, which is seen to grow abundantly in itself, may be stored in the memory for the instruction of the faithful. They also abundantly have something else besides bread and a basket—those who, along with the virtue of contemplation and the teaching of the word, abound in a wealth of holy works. Therefore, so that the humility of the saints may resound in the speech of the king about to be appointed, he says: “The bread has failed in our bags, and we have no basket to give to the man of God, nor anything else”—because the Holy Spirit makes those who are being prepared for the governance of the ecclesiastical summit great in the virtue of their inner gift, but altogether small in the regard of their own estimation. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:8

Bede: Behold, a fourth part of a silver shekel is found in my hand, etc. Understand that the silver shekel represents the perfection of human salvation, which progresses toward praising God; it attains its complete solidity through the increase of four parts: for in the Old Testament, it is raised by the future faith in the Lord’s incarnation; in the New Testament, it is imbued with the sacraments of the same assumed incarnation; in the dissolution of the flesh, it is elevated by the reception of the eternal kingdom; and on the day of judgment, it will also be glorified by the resurrection of the flesh. Therefore, his servant says to Saul: Behold, a fourth part of a silver shekel is found in my hand; let us give it to the man of God, so that he may show us our way. The old faithful people, longing for the sweetness of new grace, say to Christ, who encourages them to good works: Behold, there is found in me the hope and faith of Christ to come in the flesh. Let us confess this to the ministers of the Incarnate Word, so that they may instruct us more fully about our way, which is Christ. Nor in vain does the servant, with Saul who signifies Christ, promise to do these things. For it is He who works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure (Philippians 2). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Let the servant therefore say: “Let us go there, if perhaps he may show us about our way.” But let Saul look upon himself as empty—because the Holy Spirit, while he instructs the senses of those living uprightly, makes them now bold, now timid. Bold indeed, so that they may venture forth; timid, lest they become proud. He impels them to seek what is necessary; he holds them back, lest by presuming too much they fall into the vice of rashness. And because those whom he makes fearful he raises up to venture forth through the strength of confidence, it is suddenly added: “And so the servant of Saul answered again and said: Behold, there is found in my hand a fourth part of a silver stater; let us give it to the man of God, and he will show us about our way.”

As it were, the boy speaks the good understanding of the chosen man, when he is impelled to speak by the direction of the Holy Spirit. What then is it that he says: “There is found in my hand a fourth part of a stater of silver”? What is this part of a stater of silver? But because by the name of silver the divine words are signified, silver in the hand of the boy is the divine word in the power of knowing. Indeed, it is one thing to be able to speak the word, and another to be able to feel it. For even the reprobate speak the divine words, but none except the elect can truly feel them. For that thing is truly felt whose power is recognized. For the sick also eat fish, but the force of their sickness takes from them the experience of taste, so that what they seem to eat, they are prevented from also tasting. Just so indeed, all carnal persons, when they speak of heavenly things which they do not love, like the sick make use of things which they are prevented from tasting. Therefore silver is found in the hand of the boy, when through the merit of humility holy men receive the heavenly things they speak of with great affection of charity, so that it is very sweet for them to speak of heavenly things, because they are sweetly, and indeed very sweetly, satisfied through love. Whence also it is written: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied” (Psalms 21:27). For because the food of the soul is the word of God, the poor eat and are satisfied, but the rich cannot be satisfied; because indeed the elect, who love heavenly things, as often as they hear these things, are more fervently inflamed toward them; while the reprobate speak and hear heavenly things, which they receive with no sweetness for the refreshment of their mind. But a fourth part of a stater of silver is said on account of the quality of the time. For that we may see the other parts of this stater, we must consider the prophets, apostles, and martyrs. For because according to the quality of the time the sound of preaching has been distributed to each order, each as it were held a fourth part of the stater. The prophets therefore presented their fourth part of the stater when they promised the coming of the Redeemer to the Synagogue. The apostles gave their part when they preached to the Jews that he who had been promised had now come. The martyrs also contributed their part when they brought unbelievers to faith in the Redeemer. Therefore the fourth part of the stater is known to have remained, because through the bishops and doctors of the holy Church the word of faith is presented to the elect faithful until the end of the world. But the word of faith is well preached by those to whom it is supplied through the hand of the boy, because indeed those ought to preach heavenly things who in the sweetness of their mind have merited to know their pleasantness. For this part of the stater is given so that one may more fully merit to know the way of right preaching, because the chief doctors of the holy Church commit the authority of preaching to none others except those whom they know to love the heavenly things they speak of. By these words the simpler folk are to be admonished according to the letter, that they should not dare to suspect the depravity of avarice in the man of God on account of what is said: “That we may give to the man of God, and he may show us our way.” For if the prophet had his word for sale, he would not be a man of God, and could in no way possess the spirit of prophecy itself. Therefore when this is said, it is not the character of the man of God that is set forth, but the devotion of the one approaching him, because Saul held him in great veneration, and was ashamed to appear empty-handed in his sight. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:9

Augustine of Hippo: I wonder how that opinion could have arisen whereby sight is thought to belong to bodies only. But, from whatever habit of speech that opinion may have come, the holy Scriptures are not accustomed to speak thus; they attribute vision not only to the body but also to the spirit, and more to the spirit than to the body. Otherwise they would not have been right in giving the name seers to the prophets who saw the future not by bodily but by spiritual sight. — LETTER 147.50

Bede: Once in Israel, everyone used to speak thus: “Come, let us go to the seer,” etc. The same man is rightly called an investigator and narrator of secrets, and a prophet, because he speaks of the future, that is, he foretells. And he is not unreasonably called a Seer, because with the cleansed eyes of the heart he searches the mysteries that less perfect ones cannot. Hence, their writings are called visions as well as prophecies. “The vision,” he says, “of Isaiah, son of Amoz.” “The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.” “The word that Isaiah, son of Amoz, saw” (Isa. 1; Nahum 1; Isa. 2). Therefore, those who claim that the prophets of God spoke in a trance like the Cataphrygians and were unaware of the wise words they uttered should indeed be refuted. In line with the truth of the apostolic sentence, it should be understood catholically that the spirits of the prophets were subject to the prophets, so they knew by reason when to speak and when to be silent. Finally, the Psalmist. He who diligently seeks the commandments of God boasts that he understands more than the elders (Psalms 119). And in another place: “I will sing psalms and understand in the blameless way, when you come to me” (Psalms 101). Therefore, he does not sing psalms ignorantly as if possessed, who understands what he sings, with the spirit of wisdom coming upon him; but often the prophets, regarding certain things divinely shown to them which, due to their greatness, men could scarcely grasp, would inquire from the angels standing by as if using reason, and thirsting for wisdom. But it is questioned how Samuel, who does not speak of distant past but of present times, that is, the times of his age, can say: “For he who is called a prophet today was formerly called a seer.” And they wish these and such verses to have been inserted by Ezra the priest and scribe, when he restored the holy Scripture, as if recounting times long past. For even long after Samuel’s death up to the times of Ezra, the name of seers is equally ascribed to the prophets in the Scriptures. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: And because a celebrated fame invited them to veneration of this same man of God, he adds: “For he was called the Seer.” For to be called is to be spoken of by public report. But a Seer is one who looks upon even inward things, which the mind of carnal men does not attend to. Whence it is also said of the holy living creatures: “Round about and within they were full of eyes.” They are watchful in outward things and provident inwardly. Against which presumption of carnal teachers the Lord rebukes in the Gospel, saying: “If the blind lead the blind, both fall into the ditch” (Matt. 15:14). A Seer is also called one to whom distant and absent things are present. This well befits holy preachers, who through knowledge are as present to spiritual things as they disdain to fix their attention on outward things. For they hold hidden things as open and distant things as present, who always understand those things which carnal men cannot know. For such ought the pastor of the holy Church to be, because he is placed on the way of the heavenly homeland to provide light to those under him. Therefore let him always scatter rays of light, so that the faithful subjects, from the experience of his illumination, may draw others to illumination. “Formerly in Israel everyone going to consult God spoke thus: Come, let us go to the Seer.”

We go to consult the Lord when we proceed to learned preachers, so that we may find counsel for our salvation. But because there is now such a rarity of perfect men, while we consider the flower of religion in ancient times, let us bewail its decline in the present time. Struck with compunction over the misery and calamity of the present time, let us sigh that the flower of the past age has withered together with the beauty of holiness. Therefore, when we see the pastors of the Churches clinging to earthly things, seeking what is passing away, displaying no marks of the spiritual life, when no light from our prelates is poured upon us, remembering those things which have passed away unto the labor of compunction, let us say: “Formerly everyone in Israel who went to consult the Lord used to speak thus: Come, let us go to the Seer.” Israel means “seeing God,” or “in whom God is.” This name is certainly fittingly applied to the holy Church, whose people it is said to be. For in the Gospel it is also said: “Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Since she indeed had in former times pastors flourishing in spiritual conduct, learned in great knowledge, who with great contempt despised earthly things and contemplated heavenly ones, the people could exhort one another toward the light which they saw in them, saying: “Let us go to the Seer.” If therefore we must go to those who see, we must equally turn away from the blind, because we ought not to imitate but flee the examples of reprobate prelates; but from those who through the merit of their conduct know spiritual things, we should always seek instruction for our edification. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

Hippolytus of Rome: For with what reason should the prophet be called a prophet, unless he in spirit foresaw the future? For if the prophet spoke of any chance event, he would not be a prophet then in speaking of things which were under the eye of all. But one who sets forth in detail things yet to be, was rightly judged a prophet. Wherefore prophets were with good reason called from the very first “seers.” — ON THE ANTICHRIST 2

Jerome: In him [Christ] are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He also who was hidden in a mystery is the same that was foreordained before the world. Now it was in the law and in the prophets that he was foreordained and prefigured. For this reason too the prophets were called seers, because they saw him whom others did not see. — LETTER 53.4

Jerome: The church has real eyes: manifestly its churchmen and teachers who see in holy Writ the mysteries of God, and to them applies the scriptural appellation of “seer.” It is correct, then, to call these seers the eyes of the church. — HOMILIES ON Matthew 85

Richard Challoner: Seer: Because of his seeing by divine light hidden things and things to come.

1 Samuel 9:10

Bede: And they went to the city where the man of God was. And the Lord came through the incarnation into the world, where at that time the greatest of the prophets, John the Baptist, was; with him also came those saints, not indeed being born again in the world they had already lived in and desired him to come; but by turning their mind to love him even in the flesh, whom they always spiritually loved in divine secrecy. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: And because none but spiritual men do this, there follows: And Saul said to his servant: “Your word is excellent; come, let us go.” The best speech is that than which no better can be heard. Therefore, whenever counsels of our salvation are spiritually suggested to us, a speech is made within us than which no better can be found. We praise the speech of the boy, therefore, whenever we are pleased with ourselves in the purpose of our spiritual understanding. And we promise to go with him when we consent to spiritual thoughts. But because a good thought is then fruitful when it is perfected in action, there follows: And they came into the city in which the man of God was. And as they were going up the slope of the city, they found young women coming out to draw water, and they said to them: Is the Seer here?

Those who seek the man of God come into the city, because it often happens that the life and teaching of a prelate is sought in the conduct of his subjects. So indeed trees too are often examined, whose beauty is found not in their leaves but in their fruit. Often, however, undergrowth that has sprung up is mingled with great trees, and its fruits falsely claim to be the fruits of those trees with which they are mixed. Therefore, whoever wishes to discern the fruit must first discern the branches as well, so that he may recognize from which tree the fruit comes. So indeed it is in the conduct of the faithful: because in the chosen people of a good preacher, while many wicked ones are mixed in, thorns spring up as if among good trees. Therefore the conduct of the chosen preacher is not to be examined in all his subjects, but only in the elect. Then indeed we separate, as it were, the branches of a good tree with discernment, when among the people we imitate those rulers like choice fruits who advance by the example of their master, and we flee from those like thorns who are condemned by the deceit of the ancient enemy. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:11

Bede: And when they ascended the slope of the city, they found the maidens, etc. With his followers of his incarnation, and as the Lord began to teach the sublime precepts of the new life to the first believers, humble and chaste souls appeared, having come forth from the hiding places of their sins by confessing, and to draw waters in joy from the wells of the Savior, taught beforehand by John, which he eagerly seeks, if he seeing asks among them, because, examining the consciences of each coming to him, he investigates whether they have understood John the prophet of truth or received his words with love. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Well therefore is it said of Saul and his servant that they came into the city and ascended the slope of that same city, because indeed when the perfection of holy men is sought in their subjects, it is not the imperfect members but the chosen and perfect ones that must be sought out. For artisans too first begin their works, then adorn them. A painter too, when he desires to apply beautiful colors or gold, first lays down a baser color. Therefore, whoever wishes to judge the skill of artisans should look not at their unfinished works but at the completed ones. Let him therefore ascend the slope of the city, so that he who desires to find the Seer may discover him. For the slope is a low and sunken place. In that part of the city, indeed, those are represented who have not yet advanced to a higher manner of life. We therefore ascend the slope when we avoid setting before ourselves as an example the level ground of weak hearers.

And then indeed we find the girls going out to draw water: because we behold the beauty of holy minds in a more perfect way of life. The girls are indeed the minds of the elect, pure through innocence, beautiful through the splendor of virtues. And because they preserve their beauty in a more hidden life, they cannot be seen unless they go out to draw water. The girls draw water when chosen souls, from the deep sorrow of their present exile, pour forth streams of tears. They are said to draw water because, while they remember themselves cast down in this valley of tears, mourning, they send, as it were, the rope of thought into the deep, from which they draw the waters of tears with labor. Then also they are seen going out: because although what they are like within remains hidden, they nevertheless appear in their eyes; and how much they love their Creator is shown by those who endure life amid such great sorrow of the present age. From these, therefore, one must ask: Where is the Seer? Because the dwelling place of the perfect is then well known when it is shown to us by those who, through the progress of their life, are close to their way of living. But preachers have different places. For they have one place for themselves, another for their subjects: because indeed in themselves they dwell in the loftiest contemplation, but for their subjects they descend to the mountain of teaching. Through contemplation they are as if in heaven; and because what they teach is lofty, they both descend when they teach and yet keep themselves on high while speaking sublime things. The more perfect hearers, therefore, are close to their ruler not when he is in the highest contemplation, but on the lower mountain of teaching. Wherefore the girls also answer and say: “He is here, behold, before you: for today he has come into the city.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:12

Bede: Those answering said to them: Here he is, behold before you, etc. The simple souls answering to Christ, to whom the conscience of each, whatever they think, is open: Here, they say, is John, taught to see heavenly things, made a forerunner for you, and you hasten to follow him, we ask, to save us; for you are our helper and deliverer, O Lord, do not delay (Psalms 39). For he also today, that is, the preacher of the same grace and faith bright with light as you, came into the world. Because it is the time that all the chosen people may spiritually consecrate to God the sacrifice on the high summit of new conversation; for he himself who stands among us, not yet recognized, after I have wished to manifest you to the world, you will immediately find him prepared for the services of your coming. For neither that man of such great grace, before he has deserved to see you, nor can he ascend to the summits of the highest virtues, nor be refreshed by the perfect feasts of spiritual joy. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: As if they were saying: We can point out his place because he comes there where we used to see him. For if he remained in the citadel of his own loftiness, no one could show him to you. For a teacher is in the city when he lingers in the instruction of the people subject to him through the ministry of preaching. A teacher is in the city when he leaves his own affairs to arrange what is common to all. For since the people, fortified and made strong through the exhortation of a good preacher, are protected when he lingers in their ministry, he is known to be in the city. Likewise, because among the multitude of the subject people some are simple and others are wise, the young women add: “Make haste now, today he has come into the city, because there is a sacrifice of the people on the high place. As soon as you enter, you will find him immediately, before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people will not eat until he comes, because he himself will bless the offering, and then those who have been invited will eat.”

When Samuel came to the city, he went up to the high place: because the chosen preacher, in the instruction of his subjects, sometimes utters plain words, sometimes lofty ones. Therefore, when he commands plain and intelligible things, he is in the city; when sublime things, and those which are scarcely understood, he is in the high place. He is in the city when he sets forth examples for the simple; but he is in the high place when he utters to the perfect the lofty things of spiritual words. For he was, as it were, in the city, who said: “I judged not myself to know anything among you, except Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Likewise, he was in the city when he showed remedies to the weak, saying: “Because of fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband” (ibid., 7). But he went up to the high place, because not long after he adds: “But concerning virgins I have no commandment, yet I give counsel. I would that all men were even as myself” (ibid., 8). He also confesses that he often ascends to the high place of words, because he says: “We speak wisdom among the perfect” (ibid., 6).

What then is the meaning of what the maidens say: “Hurry now, today he comes into the city,” unless that he was rarely seen in the city, namely coming late and departing quickly? By this teaching indeed the doctor of the holy Church is instructed to be rarely in public and frequently in secret, so that the more slowly he is seen, the more devoutly he is revered. Then indeed he is received as though heavenly, because the more he has hidden himself in the secret of contemplation, the richer the treasures of the Word of God he brings to those who await him. For he is able to speak many good things about the lowest matters to whom it is granted through the secret gaze of the mind to see the highest things. And because those things which are spoken seem sweeter, the maidens say: “Hurry.” As if they were saying: if he has completed that for which he came into the city, you will not be able to see him hidden away in his secret place.

Which statement indeed is now not to be taken literally, but is an example for religious persons. For the holy man was of such strictness that he had appointed days and hours in which whoever desired could see him. They say therefore: “Make haste.” As if they were saying: If the appointed time passes, during the hours of his rest, he does not attend to words or actions. We therefore who have taken up the rule of a secluded life ought to observe this more attentively. Hours of ministry must be appointed for us, so that we may persist briefly in work and be able to return hastily to the citadel of contemplation. Moreover, the periods of our secret silence must be guarded with such a strict rule that even those who are accustomed to approach may know that they do not have access to us contrary to our purpose. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

Richard Challoner: The high place: Excelsum. The excelsa, or high places, so often mentioned in scripture, were places of worship, in which were altars for sacrifice. These were sometimes employed in the service of the true God, as in the present case: but more frequently in the service of idols; and were called excelsa, which is commonly (though perhaps not so accurately) rendered high places; not because they were always upon hills, for the very worst of all, which was that of Topheth, or Geennom, (Jer. 19.) was in a valley; but because of the high altars, and pillars, or monuments, erected there, on which were set up the idols, or images of their deities.

Richard Challoner: A sacrifice: The law did not allow of sacrifices in any other place, but at the tabernacle, or temple, in which the ark of the covenant was kept; but Samuel, by divine dispensation, offered sacrifices in other places. For which dispensation this reason may be alleged, that the house of God in Silo, having lost the ark, was now cast off; as a figure of the reprobation of the Jews, Ps. 77. 60, 67. And in Cariathiarim where the ark was, there was neither tabernacle, nor altar.– Ibid.

1 Samuel 9:13

Bede: For the people will not eat until he comes, etc. For the unlearned masses, they say, cannot taste the sweetness of heavenly life, from which they have been exiles for so long, with hope, until he comes who testifies that the kingdom of heaven is near to those who repent. For he himself first washes by baptizing those who desire to become the living sacrifices of God, with their former errors chastised, and subsequently persuades them to rejoice in the hope of eternal inheritance. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 9:14

Bede: And while they were walking in the midst of the city, Samuel appeared, etc. And the fame of Christ and his faithful ones began to spread gradually, being preached by John. And when all the people were baptized, and he himself had come to John to be baptized by him, John met him with the devoted services of a servant, so that after heralding the coming one, he might also baptize the present one and show the Lamb of God to the people; and progressing so greatly by merits and perfected by the blood of martyrdom, he ascended the summit of virtues, so that among those born of women no prophet would be greater. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: And because such a great man must be sought with eager devotion, there follows: “And they went up into the city. And as they were walking in the midst of the city, Samuel appeared, coming out to meet them, to go up to the high place.”

When we hear the praises of holy men, we ascend in the city, because we seek them where they descend, not where they are. But, as I said above, the place which preachers have for themselves is the secret contemplation of divinity, while the place for their subjects is preaching. Sometimes indeed they speak plain things, sometimes lofty things. They have therefore a common place for all, they have a sublime and special one for some, and they have a secret one for themselves. These three spiritual places are surely signified, because Samuel is said to go out, and to appear in the midst of the city, and to ascend to the high place. For he who went out in order to appear was somewhere where, before he appeared, he had been hidden. Priests therefore go out when they come from the secret of meditation to preaching. They appear in the city when they speak plainer things, that is, things for doing or for understanding. They ascend to the high place when they either command the wise to perform mighty works, or reveal the depths of mystery. Our ordered ascent is therefore shown by the fact that Saul is reported to ascend in the city. For the places of our Pastors, in which they are accustomed to pray or to be in seclusion, are to be venerated by us, not approached. This we can know not only by example but also by divine exhortation. In the Song of Songs indeed the bridegroom declares, saying: “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, do not cause the beloved to awaken until she herself wishes” (Song of Solomon 3:5). For the minds of the perfect are brides, because while they place themselves in the secret of divine love as if in a bridal chamber, there through vision they find the one to whom they are joined by ineffable love. When therefore the bride sleeps in the bridal chamber, she is joined to the bridegroom, because while the chosen soul of the preacher is hidden away in secret contemplation, it is placed as it were in the bridegroom’s chamber. Whoever therefore rouses her takes her from the bridegroom, because indeed the rest of the chosen soul is not only its own delight but also the delight of the bridegroom. Whence also it is said through the prophet: “The bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride” (Isa. 62:5). Rightly therefore the bridegroom adjures the daughters of Jerusalem that the bride not be awakened by them as long as she wishes to sleep, lest while she rises from the quiet of the chamber, he himself lose the enjoyment of love. Let the going forth of Samuel therefore be awaited, because holy men are to be venerated in the secret of their silence, not to be disturbed. Therefore one must ascend in the city, because the chosen teacher in the common place of teaching appears as so great a gain to his people, inasmuch as he is known to go out in order to be of benefit. In this place it should be noted that it is not said of Samuel, “Today he ascended in the city,” but “today he came into the city”; but of Saul and the boy it is not said “they came,” but “they ascended.” For he came as if on level ground, while the other climbed as if to heights. What else is shown to us by this, except that the plain things which preachers speak are not plain to us? In the city therefore we do not come but ascend, when we either look with difficulty upon the plain things of preaching, or bear with labor the small things that are commanded to us. But because to stand in the city is to be fortified, therefore we ascend, because when great men teach us to do small goods, they vehemently forbid us from yielding to the counsels of evil spirits. And because it is very laborious to overcome all temptations, we strive to reach the words of the teachers who command this of us, as if through the labor of ascending. But because it is written that “each one shall receive his reward according to his own labor” (which indeed is understood not only of eternal retribution but also of the present), almighty God, according to the merit of the work, grants to his elect increases of virtue (1 Cor. 3:8). For also to Abraham, who did not spare his son, it is said: “By myself I have sworn: because you have done this thing and have not spared your son for my sake, I will bless you and multiply your offspring” (Gen. 22:16). For often those who labor faithfully in doing the things they know deserve through divine grace to know greater things to do. As a figure of these, Saul is rightly said first to ascend in the city, and afterward is reported to be led by Samuel to the high place. But to come to meet someone is to encounter the one coming by the same road. When therefore we wish to learn the way of salvation from holy preachers, they indeed come to meet us when they encounter us with the word of salvation that we seek. For they come as if by the same road when they hasten to teach us what we have resolved to learn. This indeed is the moral sense for all; but if we investigate what pertains spiritually to certain individuals, he comes to meet him because he foreknows that the king who is to be anointed is coming to him. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:15

Bede: But the Lord had revealed Samuel’s ear, etc. And God the Father had revealed the secrets of His mystery to John, while the state of the Mosaic law was still standing, saying: Because after you have manifested to the world the day of the new grace compared in all respects to the legal figures as almost equal in the span of hours, I will send to you a man from the land of the son of the right hand, that is, who bears flesh not conceived by male seed, but sacred singularly by divine work, who according to his name will save the people who believe in me, eager to see God, from the power of darkness; this man baptizing and seeing anointed with the Holy Spirit, you will begin to proclaim him as the leader of my people to all. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 9:16

Gregory of Nyssa: However, since the rank of kingship underlies all worth and power and rule, by this title the royal power of Christ is authoritatively and primarily indicated (for the anointing of kingship, as we learn in the historical books, comes first), and all the force of the other titles depends on that of royalty. For this reason, the person who knows the separate elements included under it also knows the power encompassing these elements. But it is the kingship itself which declares what the title of Christ means. — ON PERFECTION

Gregory the Dialogist: He is also described as a man coming from the land of Benjamin. He is called a man on account of the strength of his works; from the land of Benjamin, on account of his right confession of faith. Benjamin indeed means “son of the right hand.” Who then is called this son of the right hand, if not he of whom it is written: “He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father” (Mark 16:19)? The land of Benjamin therefore is the holy Church. Because therefore the heretics have been expelled from this land, the king comes from the land of Benjamin, when one who is not polluted by any heresy but is catholic in faith receives the primacy of the holy Church. He enjoys the title of “man” if he is firm in faith and strong in action. He indeed is commanded to be anointed as leader over the people of the Lord: because the outward sacraments profit those priests who are not unworthy of the gifts of those same sacraments. Or priests are anointed when through the ministry of those who ordain them they receive an increase of spiritual graces. Whence it also follows: “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines.” As anointed ones they can save others, because they have received spiritual graces more abundantly. For those who save the people are anointed over the people: because those who are appointed by the Lord to govern others receive the spiritual gifts of charisms by which they can benefit them; and they are superior in merits also to those whom they precede in rank. And because often a good pastor is chosen on the merit of a good people, it is well added: “Because I have looked upon my people.” Likewise, because a good pastor must be sought from the Lord with great prayers, it is added: “Their cry has come to me.”

But perhaps some are troubled, because what is said here and what was said above seem contradictory. For there he says: “They have not rejected you, but me, that I should not reign over them, according to all their works which they have done from the day I led them out of the land of Egypt even to this day” (1 Kings 8:7). But now he says: “You shall anoint him leader over my people Israel, and he shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have looked upon my people, for their cry has come to me.” Above, a king is permitted to be appointed as if by one who is angry; now he is appointed as if by one who is merciful and kind. And who does not see how much these words of kindness differ from that sentence which was pronounced upon him by Samuel? “Because,” he says, “you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king” (1 Kings 15:26). This we certainly resolve quickly if we examine carefully the force of the words themselves. For all these words of divine kindness are ascribed to the merits of the people: “He shall save my people;” and, “I have looked upon my people;” and, “their cry has come to me.” Therefore a king is decreed to be appointed for those whose cry is heard. For even though Saul was to be cast from the kingdom for his future wickedness, nevertheless he had in himself, as long as he reigned, that by which he could benefit the people subject to him. He was certainly to be valiant in war, yet proud in mind. He would have that by which he would fall for himself, and that by which he would stand for others. Therefore, foreseeing that by which he could benefit his subjects, the Lord says: “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines;” and, “their cry has come to me.” Yet still it seems very contradictory that he should be believed to hear the cry of that people who are rebuked for having rejected him. To which it must be answered: that in that people there were both the reprobate and the elect. There, then, the reprobate are accused of having rejected the Lord; here the desires of the elect reach the ears of almighty God. From which what is to be gathered, except that it is often good for the elect that wicked rulers are appointed? It is therefore not surprising if God is angered, as it were, at his own rejection, and yet appoints a king: because the very office of the future king was both bad and good. Bad, indeed, because proud; but good, because vigorous in the defense of his subjects. And we see all of this happening now in the holy Church: because very often the one who receives her primacy is one who is useful to others in word, yet swollen with pride in his own mind. By preaching virtues, he destroys vices as if by standing firm, but by thinking highly of himself, he falls. Thus by preaching he saves the people of God, but by swelling with pride he casts himself down headlong. Like a mighty king, by his word he crushes the hidden adversaries of God’s people, but through pride he falls from the height of the kingdom. Therefore a king is not appointed for his own sake, but only for the people; when one is permitted to preside in the holy Church who tramples upon the good things he preaches, either by being proud or by living wickedly. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:17

Bede: And when Samuel looked at Saul, the Lord said to him, etc. When John saw Jesus coming to him, instructed by the Holy Spirit, he understood him to be the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins of the world, the one of whom the prophet Micah speaks: And you Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for me one who will be the ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: In this passage it must be noted that when a pastor is chosen in the holy Church, sometimes he is ordained for himself and for the people; sometimes neither for the people nor for himself; sometimes for himself, not for the people; and sometimes indeed for the people, not for himself. For himself and the people, when a chosen preacher is given to chosen subjects: because from the very thing by which the multitude of subjects is led to the eternal homeland, gifts of merits are heaped upon the good pastor. A pastor is given neither for himself nor for the people when a reprobate populace is permitted to have a reprobate pastor, since he presides in such a way and they obey in such a way that neither he who teaches nor those who are taught deserve to arrive at eternal goods. Of whom the Lord says through Hosea: “I will give them kings in my wrath” (Hosea 13:11). For a king is given in the wrath of God when one worse than the wicked is appointed to preside over them. Such a pastor is given when such a people is taken on to be governed, who may equally be condemned by eternal punishment. A pastor is given for himself, not for the people, when a good man is placed over the wicked; as the Lord says to Ezekiel: “I am sending you to the children of Israel, to an apostate nation that has departed from me” (Ezekiel 3:3). A pastor is given for himself indeed, not for the people, when even if a chosen preacher cannot convert his hearers to God, he himself nevertheless does not lose the eternal rewards of his labor. But for the people, not for himself: when a pastor is granted to good subjects who possesses gifts by which he benefits them but does not benefit himself. Such indeed were those about whom the Lord commands the disciples, saying: “What they say, do; but what they do, do not do” (Matthew 23:3). As if He were saying: What they have received that is useful for you, take from them as though it were yours; and leave in them as though it were theirs what they possess not for your gain but for their own destruction. Saul, therefore, with the Lord rejected, is chosen, and yet is declared to be one who will free the people of the Lord from the hand of the Philistines, because Almighty God often benefits His good faithful ones through those prelates who do not please Him in the exercise of that same prelacy. “And when Samuel looked upon Saul, the Lord said: Behold the man of whom I spoke to you; this one shall rule over my people.”

For this was done on the following day, which the Lord had promised on the preceding day, saying: “Tomorrow at this same hour I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him over my people Israel.” He is therefore seen on the second day, who was promised on the first: because the preachers of holy Church search out the virtues of the elect in their hidden life. For those who are to be promoted, when they bring forth good things, promise something great from themselves. On the first day, therefore, a king is promised; because preachers behold the great works of the elect, and, as if the Lord were speaking, they recognize inwardly those whom they wish to appoint as rulers of holy Church. Samuel therefore sees on the following day, when the preacher beholds the one who is to be promoted in the great light of his manner of life. And then indeed, as if by the Lord’s indication, he recognizes the one who must be appointed king: because the one who stands preeminent on the lofty height of holiness, he sees as worthy to be set above others. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:18

Bede: Saul approached Samuel at the city gate, etc. The Lord came to John at the boundary of fulfilling the law and initiating grace. For the law and the prophets were until John; from then on the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it (Matt. XI). And he asks him in what humility and in what perfection of other virtues his conscience is placed, who has deserved to see so much divine contemplation before other mortals then. For the house of each individual is the conscience, in which thoughts always dwell. But he does not question him with words, but by bestowing his gifts upon him. And he, responding, reveals where his house is; for in all the virtues he practiced, he showed himself to be placed in the abode of humility; saying, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John III). And other such things, to which Samuel’s subsequent responses aptly correspond. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: And because those who are great in merits are small through humility, there follows: Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, saying: “Tell me, I pray, where is the house of the Seer.”

If a preacher is in the city when he speaks plain and common things that are understood, what is the gate of this city if not humility? For the knowledge of the divine word is hidden from the proud and revealed to the humble. Hence also in the Gospel he speaks to the Father, saying: “I confess to you, Father, King of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to little ones” (Matt. 11:25). By the wise he meant the proud and those who think highly of themselves, but by the little ones he meant the humble. Of these another Scripture certainly makes mention, saying: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet. 5:5). For he resists the proud, lest they understand eternal goods, but he gives grace to the little ones, so that they may know those same eternal goods through his own revealing. The elect, therefore, because they come to spiritual understanding through humility, go to hear the preachers as if through a gate. The chosen preacher also, because he speaks spiritual things humbly, Samuel meets Saul at that same gate. For it is as though both are at the gate when the things that the chosen preacher speaks are humbly heard by another who is chosen.

But he who had newly arrived had found the one he was seeking, and did not know it. Therefore Saul himself says to Samuel: “Tell me, I pray, where is the house of the Seer.” For this is characteristic of great men, that they are recognized with difficulty by the least. In the flesh indeed they are despised, but in mind they are exalted. They desire to appear contemptible outwardly, but they do not cease to do venerable things. Because, therefore, those who greatly desire to advance through their examples admire them not only in outward matters, but in their inmost qualities. They see in them outwardly what can be despised by carnal people, but they equally observe that inwardly, spiritual men ought to be venerated with great admiration. When they hear that these men are exalted by fame, they desire to know them in the loftiness of their way of life. According to the historical sense, therefore, Saul was seeing Samuel and did not recognize him, so that what was happening to them in figure might signify spiritual things for us. For when we are little ones, we as it were see perfect men when we hear of their virtues from those who report them; but those whom we see, we do not recognize, because we cannot know through experience what we perceive by hearing and hold in the eyes of the heart. When therefore we seek from them the secrets of their way of life for imitation, we are indeed asking them as it were about their own home. For their home is their way of life. This home the disciple of John wished to know, when he asked the Lord, saying: “Master, where do you dwell?” (John 1:38). He indeed, because he was to be led to intimacy with Him as one of the household, heard: “Come, and see.” This home Philip had seen but did not recognize, to whom He says: “I have been with you so long a time, and you have not known me. Philip, he who sees me sees also my Father” (John 14:9). Of the Lord also it is written that He spoke to Moses as with His friend; but the same Moses, seeing and not recognizing, was asking, saying: “If I have found grace in your sight, show me your face” (Exodus 33:13). But the spiritual way of life of the saints, because it is revealed to none but the devout and the suppliant, Saul similarly begs that the house of Samuel be shown to him. Holy preachers also, when they hear great things about themselves, cast themselves down through humility; they do not become puffed up. They know how to show to those who ask great things which they may imitate; they know how, among the great things which they show, not to appear great through boasting. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:19

Bede: And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer, etc. John responded, with the Lord bestowing heavenly gifts upon him, saying: I am the friend of the Bridegroom; I am your forerunner; I ought to be baptized by you, who, coming before me, have been made ahead of me. And indeed you will now receive baptism from me with the people of believers, together we will serve the feast of the word, and in turn, we are refreshed by the faith of the listeners. But when the splendor of your grace has shone upon all, with my role as forerunner completed, I will leave you to preach, and having joined the chorus of preceding prophets, I will take care to reveal all the mysteries of your temporal dispensation to the crowds of the faithful, indeed your members. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Therefore it is also added: “And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the Seer. But go up before me to the high place today, that you may eat with me, and I will send you away in the morning.”

What does it mean to say, “I am the Seer,” except to show himself humble, as he appeared to their eyes? As if to say: In your estimation, the one you seek is great, but the one you see is small. For in this word, “Seer,” it is not a title of praise, but “I am.” As if to say: That Seer is I—not what you suppose, but what you behold. But he who knew how to humble himself knew how to give gifts not as one who is lowly, but as one who is exalted. For this reason he also commands him to go up before him to the high place, so that he might eat with him. He ascends to the high place who raises his mind to know higher things. Indeed, to ascend to the high place is to prepare the heart for understanding lofty matters. Hence Peter too is taken up on the mountain, so that he might deserve to see the glory of the transfigured Redeemer (Matt. 17:1). For in that ascent of the mountain, the lofty preparation of the mind is expressed: because he who does not fix his mind on high things through earnest attention will not be able to see exalted things. Since, therefore, we better understand sublime things when we are prepared, Saul is commanded to go up to the high place before Samuel. For we ascend, as it were, to the high place before the preacher when we first direct our mind to know lofty things, and they afterwards speak to us of those very things to which we have directed our attention. But what does it mean when he says, “That you may eat with me today”? When holy preachers speak of heavenly things, they refresh the hearts of their chosen hearers: for as the Truth attests, the food of the soul is the word of God: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). For bread is the nourishment of the body; the word is the nourishment of the mind. But those who refresh the body without the mind are dead in mind, alive in flesh. Hence Paul also says of the self-indulgent widow: “She who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives” (1 Tim. 5:6). For the widow would not die through the delights of food if she satisfied her soul with the food of God’s word, since Paul himself says: “Nothing is unclean that is received with thanksgiving” (1 Tim. 4:4). But the living widow dies when she nourishes the body with food and kills the soul with hunger. Therefore man does not live by bread alone: because since man consists of soul and body, just as he lives in one way through the body, so it is necessary that each part be nourished by different foods. Therefore we ascend with the prophet in order to eat, when we raise our mind to the heights of the divine word, so that we may be satisfied by its heavenly flavor through devotion.

And because the preachers themselves greatly love the heavenly things of which they speak, we eat together, as it were, when they devoutly bring forth in speaking what we devoutly place in the belly of the soul by hearing. For we eat together, because we hear the Word of God equally. For Truth says to the preachers: “It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” (Matt. 10:20). Which Paul also proves when he questions his hearers, saying: “Do you seek proof of Christ who dwells in me?” (2 Cor. 13:3). Since, therefore, Christ and His Spirit speak in the holy preachers, the preachers themselves hear the One speaking all the more clearly inasmuch as they are nearer to Him whose seat they deserve to be. Therefore they can be more fully refreshed by the nourishment of the word, inasmuch as they already have within themselves the chamber of refreshment. For they are friends of the bridegroom, and they stand and rejoice with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. When, therefore, the holy preachers speak divine things, they hear; but because they know by certain experience when the Spirit speaks in them, they hear themselves, yet not in themselves, because they themselves also speak, but having spoken in themselves, they venerate another who speaks. In this, therefore—that they hear and speak—they both refresh and are refreshed. They refresh their hearers when they bring forth the word with their own voice; they themselves are refreshed when the word they bring forth is brought forth to them by divine revelation. Yet those are more devoutly satisfied who have experienced the delights of the mind in the speaking of the Spirit. Is not the experience of the speaking Spirit this: to perceive themselves unprepared and unpremeditated, and suddenly to be prepared and ready? To know what they had not known; to have what they had not had; to lose the torpor of the mind; to suddenly burn with wondrous devotion; to be wondrously filled at once and in a moment with fullness of knowledge; to bring forth with wondrous eloquence of speech the things they have understood? The elect preachers, therefore, have experience of the Spirit speaking in them in the sudden revelation of truth; they have the sudden ardor of charity; they have it in the fullness of knowledge; they have it in the most eloquent preaching of the word. For they are suddenly instructed, and at once they grow fervent, and in a moment they are filled, and they are enriched with a wondrous power of speech. For concerning that sudden experience the Lord says: “It will be given to you in that hour what you should speak” (Matt. 10:19). Concerning that sudden fervor of charity, Cleopas says: “Was not our heart burning within us on the way, while He spoke and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32). Concerning the experience of being filled and of eloquence, Luke also recalls, saying: “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty spirit, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). For in that same Spirit they were both filled and spoke, so as to signify what we assert: that namely, by speaking they feed others, who are themselves fed by hearing what they say. And because they recognize the sound of the mighty Spirit as ardor, or as speech, or as filling, they feast all the more sweetly on spiritual gifts inasmuch as they have been more worthily taken up to His table. He says, therefore: “Come up, that you may eat with me today”; because the good teacher, when he sweetly receives in the devotion of his mind the things he speaks, feeds both himself and those who hear him at the same time.

On the other hand, reprobate teachers, because they do not love what they say, fast while they feed others with their word. For since the Lord said that the word of God is the refreshment of the soul, and the word of God in a full mind is complete learning and complete devotion, those who do not devoutly hear what they speak are not fed by the word of God. Indeed the Apostle, as if already filled with that sweetness of the word, says: “Of his fullness we have all received” (John 1:16). The fullness of the word is one thing, the fullness of a book is another. From the fullness of the word, only the elect can receive; but from the fullness of Scripture, even the reprobate can receive. For the book of the blessed apostle John and the book of the blessed apostle Paul are indeed fullnesses, which are contained in them. Paul or John wrote their words, to be sure, but what each one wrote, the Word speaking in them inspired. Therefore, whoever receives the word of Scripture not in love but in knowledge receives from the fullness not of the word but of the book. And because he receives a dead thing, he himself does not live in its reception. But what am I saying—that Scripture is dead? It is not only dead but killing. For it is written: “The letter kills, but the spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6). Indeed every divine letter does this. For the letter is the body, and the life of this body is the spirit. He who reads the letter and refreshes his mind in the love of understanding receives a body that has been vivified and is vivifying. Therefore the reprobate, who search the Scriptures they do not love, who boldly speak outwardly of that whose savor they do not inwardly understand—while others perceive with devout mind the refreshment of the Scriptures they expound, it is as though others are filled from what they themselves give, but not they themselves. Let Samuel therefore say: “Come up, that you may eat with me today,” because from what the elect teachers bestow upon their subjects from the word, they both hear together and are filled together. For behold, this is demonstrated in the very word we are speaking. For who doubts that Samuel wrote this Scripture we are expounding? And yet he who wrote it says this: “Samuel answered”—so as to show clearly that what he himself was writing, another was imparting. Therefore, because the Holy Spirit, who speaks through him, says through him about him: “Samuel answered Saul: Go up before me to the high place, that you may eat with me today.” He says what he hears, and he simultaneously hears and says. Therefore, while the elect preacher hears and speaks with great veneration of love, and good hearers receive with great devotion what is said, Saul and Samuel are said to eat together at the high place. Likewise, because preachers are worthier and more fervent than their hearers in the refreshment of the same word, it is not Samuel who is said to be about to eat with Saul, but Saul with Samuel. But also because such splendid instruction of the mind exists in the great light of the spiritual life, he does not say: “That you may eat with me this night,” but “today.” He also dismisses him in the morning. “Morning” means the beginning of the following day. The following day is the serene light of holy conduct.

He is indeed sent forth in the morning from the height, who, when he advances to the light of higher knowledge, proposes to dwell in the great light of good work. Or he is sent forth in the morning, who intends to preach to others the word of great knowledge which he learned from the mouth of a preacher. For when we propose good things, we are as it were in the morning at the beginning of the day, because we have already begun to behold the brightness of good which we may follow. But this morning grows into full day when he who has proposed to do great goods or to preach the lofty joys of eternity displays what he has proposed in the great light of virtue. In the morning, therefore, Saul is sent forth from the height, because the hearers of good preachers do not delay to practice sublimely what they hear as sublime from them. But the elect know both how to hide and how to manifest the goods they possess. They hide them indeed, lest they perish through pride; but they manifest them, lest they remain unfruitful. While they hide them, they guard them; but while they manifest them, they bring forth fruit. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:20

Bede: And as for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not be anxious, etc. And concerning the souls which began to perish in the third period of the world, that is, at the beginning of the nascent world, rejoice, because by my preaching they have already learned to repent and hope for the kingdom of heaven. Understand the three periods: before the law, under the law, and under grace. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And whose shall be the best of Israel? etc. And who will be the giver and author of the grace I preach, if not you? To whom it is most rightly confessed that all things whatever the Father has belong. For the best of Israel are the gifts of heavenly joys, which he ministers to the house of his Father who is in heaven. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Am I not the son of Jemini from the least tribe of Israel? etc. And the Lord chose content among proud lineages, poor parents, and humble in spirit, from whom He would be born; and He speaks of Himself: I do not seek my own glory (John VIII). And beautifully Saul is called the son of Jemini, that is, of my right hand, because Christ Himself from the power of His divinity created for Himself the substance of man, which He would assume being born from a virgin; as it is read elsewhere: Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. IX). Beautifully from the latest family among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin, that is, the sons of the right hand. For the Son of the right hand is Christ God, to whose tribe all the elect belong; but the more humble anyone is among the saints, the closer they are as if by kinship; for even Christ as a man, though higher in majesty, is superior to all the saints in the virtue of humility. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 9:21

Gregory the Dialogist: But every elect person, when he hears great things about himself, brings his own weaknesses to mind, so that he may guard himself against pride, lest he lose the good things he has. Hence it is added: Saul answered and said: “Am I not a son of Gemini, of the least tribe of Israel, and is not my kindred the last among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken this word to me?”

As if he were saying: Why do you ascribe such great things to me, when I am nothing? For he is a son of Gemini who imitates the negligent in the care of himself and in the example of his neighbor. He is indeed a twin, because while he neglects the care of himself, he does not bestow examples of good work upon others. Therefore whoever imitates such people is called a son of Gemini. He is said to be from the smallest tribe of Israel, because the last order of the holy Church is that of converted sinners. Rightly therefore, he who confesses himself to be a sinner is said to be from the smallest tribe of Israel. His family is also reported to be the last among the others, because according to the voice of Truth: “Whoever breaks the least commandment shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19). For Benjamin means “son of the right hand.” By this name indeed the people of the holy Church are designated, who, while being born in the faith of the Redeemer, are prepared through good works for the goods of the heavenly fatherland. The right hand of God is indeed that strength of eternal life. The families of the tribe of Benjamin are the diverse ways of life of the elect. For just as diverse families come from one principle of generation, so from the one origin of orthodox faith, many ways of life of the faithful arise. Therefore holy men, when they cast themselves down through humility, because they confess themselves to be sinners, and yet rightly believe in God, assert themselves to be, as it were, both sons of Gemini and of the last family of Israel. But because the more they humble themselves, according to the voice of Truth, the more they are exalted (Luke 14:10–11). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

John Chrysostom: I will give you a proof of what I maintain, from the case of a kingdom, which does not weigh as heavily with God as the priesthood. Saul, that son of Kish, was not himself at all ambitious of becoming a king but was going in quest of his asses and came to ask the prophet about them. The prophet, however, proceeded to speak to him of the kingdom, but not even then did he run greedily after it, though he heard about it from a prophet, but drew back and deprecated it, saying, “Who am I, and what is my father’s house?” What then? When he made a bad use of the honor which had been given him by God, were those words of his able to rescue him from the wrath of him who had made him king? And was he able to say to Samuel, when rebuked by him: “Did I greedily run and rush after the kingdom and sovereign power? I wished to lead the undisturbed and peaceful life of ordinary men, but you dragged me to this post of honor. Had I remained in my low estate, I should easily have escaped all these stumbling blocks, for if I were one of the obscure multitude, I should never have been set forth on this expedition, nor would God have committed to my hands the war against the Amalekites, and if I had not had it committed to me, I should not have sinned this sin.” But all such arguments are weak as excuses, and not only weak but perilous, inasmuch as they rather kindle the wrath of God. For he who has been promoted to great honor by God must not advance the greatness of his honor as an excuse for his errors but should make God’s special favor toward him the motive for further improvement; whereas he who thinks himself at liberty to sin because he has obtained some uncommon dignity, what does he but study to show that the lovingkindness of God is the cause of his personal transgression, which is always the argument of those who lead godless and careless lives. But we ought to be on no account thus minded, nor to fall away into the insane folly of such people, but be ambitious at all times to make the most of such powers as we have, and to be reverent both in speech and thought. — ON THE PRIESTHOOD 4.1

1 Samuel 9:22

Bede: Therefore, taking Samuel, Saul, and his servant, he brought them into the dining hall, etc. The dining hall in Greek is called the coenaculum. It is called the dining hall from the three couches of those reclining thus named. For in Greek, they call a couch or bed klini. Indeed, among the ancients, in the place where the banquet was prepared, three couches were spread, on which those reclining feasted. Therefore, John, by preaching, called many to the feasts of virtues, preferring to all these Christ and His apostles, even those coming later; and rightly, because only through His baptism, which began to be given by their ministry, could the hall of the heavenly kingdom be opened. For those whom he taught would fulfill the Decalogue of the law through the recognition of the Holy Trinity with a strong and tireless mind. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: So Samuel, taking Saul and his servant, brought them into the dining hall, and gave them a place at the head of those who had been invited. For there were about thirty men.

Samuel takes up Saul when the preacher of holy Church opens the heights of his preaching to a chosen hearer. For a subject is taken up when he is elevated to the knowledge of heavenly things through the word of a teacher. And because he desires to know spiritual things not with carnal intention, he took up not only Saul himself but also his servant. For it was as though he had remained below without a servant, he who said: “My heart has forsaken me” (Ps. 37:11). For our heart forsakes us when we are so overcome by carnal desires that we place the intention of our heart on earthly, carnal, and bodily things, and not on heavenly and spiritual ones. He had found this lost servant, who said: “Your servant has found his heart” (2 Kings 7:27). For we find our heart when we seek spiritual things through the intention of the heart; when we tear it away from earthly things so that we may direct it toward heavenly ones. The chosen preacher, therefore, to those who are still carnal, neither commands difficult things nor reveals spiritual ones. For Paul also says to the Corinthians: “I could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal ones, as to little ones in Christ I gave you milk to drink, not solid food” (1 Cor. 3:1). As if by these words he were saying: I therefore did not lead you to the heights, because you did not have a spiritual sense with you, as Saul did not have his servant. Wherefore, also indicating the reason, he says: “For you are still carnal.” Rightly, therefore, Samuel is said to have taken up Saul and his servant, because the teachers of holy Church command difficult things and reveal lofty ones to those whom they consider to be spiritual. They are also led into a dining hall, because the breadth of charity is shown to them. For one is placed as it were in a dining hall who, through what he has learned on high, dwells in the breadth of charity. Or certainly our entrance into the dining hall is love; the dining hall is the beauty of the spiritual life. Whence John says: “He who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14). For if he who does not love remains in death, then he who loves remains in life. We are therefore led into the dining hall when we rise to the affection of heavenly conversation through the affection of charity. In this breadth of dwelling, holy preachers indeed hold the higher place, because blessed John the Evangelist says: “And around the throne were twenty-four seats, and upon the seats twenty-four elders” (Rev. 4:4). For the elders are holy preachers, mature in understanding, grave in character, who surround the throne of God with seats placed nearby, because those who love the Creator above all others rest closer to him through the loftiest manner of life. Rightly therefore Saul with his servant receives a place at the head of those who had been invited, because in them the type of pastors to be chosen is shown. The ruler is indeed placed at the head when, through the force of great love, he receives the singular resolve of the heavenly life; while he holds the catholic faith in common with the rest, he possesses a sublime virtue above the rest.

Three times ten makes thirty. The number three suggests faith in the holy and undivided Trinity. The number ten, through the ten commandments of the law, signifies the perfection of good works. The number thirty, therefore, designates those who hold that faith which works through love. Saul is placed at the head of these, because through divine grace he who is to be the future shepherd of the Church is made more exalted in merit than those over whom he ought to be superior in dignity. Samuel bestows this exalted place upon him, because he who deserves such greatness of life advances to it through the instruction of his elders. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:23

Bede: And Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the portion which I gave you,” etc. John spoke in his own language, which was accustomed to provide the audience with the food of life, saying: “Preach the power of the singular virtue, which I commanded you to say was given to no pure man.” And she, immediately obeying with a prophetic heart, brought forth words suitable solely to divine power and majesty. And she testified that these belonged to the Mediator of men, to the name of Jesus Christ, saying: “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; and he who comes from above is above all” (John 3). And again: “For God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand” (ibid.). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: And since great things, and not small ones, are now shown to him to accomplish, it is added: Samuel said to the cook: Give the portion which I gave to you, and which I commanded you to set aside with you. So the cook took up the shoulder and placed it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what remains, set it before you and eat, because it was purposely kept for you when I called the people. And Saul ate with Samuel on that day.

What is signified by the shoulder of the breast, if not the strength of action? This is bestowed by Samuel’s cook, when it is demonstrated to lesser ones by the greatest preachers. For the cooks are priests, because while they speak to the chosen faithful in the fervor of the spirit, they cook the foods of the mind, as it were through fire. But the portion that is given is said to have been set apart, because the strength of good work in a preacher ought to be singular. Saul places this before him, when he commands the one to be ordained as pastor of holy Church to consider how great a strength he ought to possess. But concerning what the cook had set aside, Samuel says to Saul: “Behold that which is left, set it before you.” It remained indeed, because Christ did not fulfill all things that are ours; through His cross He indeed redeemed all, but something remained, so that whoever strives to be redeemed and to reign with Him must be crucified. He who said the following had surely seen this remainder: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). As if to say: What Christ fulfilled avails nothing unless one also fulfills that which remained. Hence the blessed apostle Peter says: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). Hence Paul says: “I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh” (Col. 1:24). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:24

Bede: And Samuel said: “Behold what remains, I place it before you,” etc. John spoke to Christ, proclaiming the marvels of His divine power: “All those whom I could call to faith and repentance, I persuaded to give effort to virtue. But because we are conceived in iniquity and brought forth in offenses, although striving greatly, we cannot fully be free from sin and grasp the pinnacle of virtue; You, who became the Word made flesh (John 1), perfect in all ways of winning and teaching, partake of the banquets, which our frailty cannot comprehend. About which banquet the Savior indeed said: ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work’ (John 4).” Then John was speaking such words to the Lord, and, recalling His sublimity and the frailty of human condition, said: “He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; He who comes from heaven is above all” (John 3). — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And Saul ate with Samuel that day, etc. And the Lord preached with John in the city shining with grace, until John was sent into prison, saying of the people who would believe in him: “I have food to eat that you do not know about” (John 4). And not only by ascending to the heights of virtues for the perfect, but by condescending to the lowest, they delivered the common commandments of living, saying to these people: “Sell what you have and give alms” (Luke 12); and to those: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery” (Matthew 19). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: But it should be noted that the cook placed the shoulder before Saul, and yet Samuel instructed Saul to place it before himself. What does this mean? A steward usually places a dish on the table before those reclining; and when the one reclining draws it toward himself, he places closer before himself what was a little farther away. The cook, therefore, places the shoulder before Saul; Samuel instructs Saul to place it before himself: because what is enjoined upon a new preacher concerning the strength of good work, he ought to draw closer to himself, as it were, through the zeal of contemplation. And after he has drawn it to himself, he eats it: because what he has long contemplated, he resolves to carry out. Indeed, to eat the shoulder is to store away inwardly through purpose of mind what is outwardly commanded concerning strong action. For it was as if urging every chosen one to place the shoulder before himself and eat it, he who said: “If you sit down at the table of a mighty man, wisely consider what is set before you, for you must prepare similar things” (Prov. 23:1). At the table of the mighty one, he indicated the strength of the shoulder. And when he said, “Wisely consider what is set before you,” he taught the one to whom he spoke to place the shoulder before himself. But he suggested that he ought to eat it, because he said, “You must prepare similar things.” For by preparing similar things, we eat; because when we resolve to perform the mighty deeds we hear, we store away the food of life, as it were eating, in the stomach of the heart. But the vessel of election commands even the highest teachers under the instruction of a single disciple, saying: “Lay hands hastily on no one” (1 Tim. 5:22). For since those who are to be raised to the heights must be chosen with great deliberation of counsel, what follows is fittingly added: “Because it was kept for you by design, when I called the people.” As if to say: Place before yourself what, before it was set out, I placed before myself; consider what I considered. For the portion of the shoulder is kept by design, because the strongest action of a preacher is rightly entrusted to the one who is judged worthy of so great a ministry by the highest men with great consideration. This portion was kept by design when the people are called, because when faithful subjects come to undertake the ministry of preaching, what is enjoined upon good preachers is not weak things upon the weak, but strong things upon the strong. But those who progress well strive above all to maintain the good of obedience in their lofty way of life. Therefore what follows is fittingly added: “And Saul ate with Samuel on that day.” As I have already said, for a teacher being advanced, to eat is to prepare himself to do what is commanded him concerning virtue. And he is rightly said to have eaten with Samuel, because when those who newly arrive resolve to do great things, the highest men become more fervent in the strength of good work. In this eating can also be signified that of which he promised above, saying: “Go up before me, that you may eat with me today.” Saul therefore eats with Samuel, because when the preacher inwardly hears the heavenly sweetness of the word of God, what the subjects outwardly hear as he speaks, they are both assuredly satisfied from the divine refreshment. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:25

Bede: And he spoke with Saul in the upper room, etc. John spoke with the Lord in the light of His known divinity. For certainly the upper room (which takes its name from the fact that by its height it first receives the rays of the rising sun before the lower buildings) signifies the hearts of those who, suspended from earthly desires by divine fear, the Sun of Righteousness rises more familiarly. For when both, namely the Lord and John, had begun the commencement of their mission for which they were sent, and the grace of the new light had just begun to shine in the world, the same John confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, while he himself was sent before Him, desiring Him with his whole intent of mind to rise to the works of the divine in the flesh, and to rest at the appropriate time from the duty of forerunning. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: “And they went down from the high place into the town, and Samuel spoke with Saul on the rooftop. And Saul made his bed on the rooftop, and slept.”

Whoever is raised to the height of pastoral care must have in that very sublimity of his office both loftiness in his own life and compassion for the weakness of others. Therefore let Saul ascend with Samuel, and let him descend into the town. Let the ruler know how to conduct lofty matters; let him know how to arrange common ones. Let him say with Paul: “Our conversation is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20); let him say with us: “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? I see another law contradicting the law of my mind and leading me captive under the law of sin” (Rom. 7:24). The ruler is on the height when he speaks wisdom among the perfect. When he arranges carnal matters, he descends into the town, saying: “On account of fornication, let each man have his own wife, and each woman her own husband; let the husband render to his wife what is owed, and the wife likewise to her husband” (1 Cor. 7:2). He is on the height when he says: “No creature shall be able to separate us from the love of Christ” (Rom. 8:39). But he descends into the town, for speaking, he says: “I became weak to the weak, that I might gain the weak; I became all things to all men, that I might save all” (1 Cor. 9:22). Samuel therefore brought Saul up to the high place and set him down in the town, because great men, when they appoint someone to the summit of holy Church, teach those whom they place on that summit to live sublimely, to preach plainly, to be strict with themselves but temperate with their subjects — to attend so to their own salvation that they can yet be weak with the weak. I say “be weak” through the affection of the mind, not through the languor of inner sickness. For if the teacher lies prostrate through languor of mind, he cannot heal the sick or raise up those who are fallen. It is well, therefore, that Saul is reported to have descended with Samuel into the town and to have spoken with him on the rooftop. For the town is on the plain, but the rooftop is on high. Compared to the high place, the rooftop is on the plain; compared to the town, it is not on the plain but elevated. So indeed, when chosen preachers show compassion to lesser members, they seem to leave the height behind; but descending into the town, they are on the rooftop, because they come down from the height, yet they take on the weakness of their subjects by pitying and counseling them, not by acting out and sharing in that weakness. For though they show compassion to the weak and command them to take wives, they themselves do not take wives by becoming weak. Therefore, descending into the town, they are on the rooftop, because even though they command plain things, they do not retain what is weak in themselves. And since Samuel is said not merely to be on the rooftop but to speak with Saul there, this surely signifies that the future teacher must be taught to show compassion to his weak subjects in such a way that he himself nevertheless maintains the height of his way of life.

And because the new preacher needs much consideration for carrying out these things, Saul is said to have made a bed for himself and to have slept. For the new preacher to sleep on the rooftop is to arrange in his lofty contemplation how he ought to bear the burdens of those subject to him. For if he stays awake for worldly pursuits, he assuredly brings it about that he does not seek so great a good of discernment in his inmost depths. He ought therefore to sleep, so that he thinks of no worldly things, because one who is weighed down by secular concerns can never order spiritual matters. But neither can he sleep who does not make a bed for himself, because indeed if he does not reflect on the examples or sayings of good men, it is impossible for him to find rest from outward things. We lay soft things beneath ourselves, as it were, when we reflect on the teaching or life of the elect. We also sleep upon those same coverings, because we can then rest well in contemplation when we are occupied with spiritual matters. Let him therefore say, “Because Saul made a bed for himself and slept,” to suggest to the chosen soul that if she carelessly occupies herself with outward things, she will not acquire the grace of inward rest. But he who wishes to arrange spiritual matters well through contemplation, until he has perfectly ordered them within, ought not to awake to those things which are outside. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:26

Bede: And Saul arose, and they went out together, etc. And Jesus manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. Both of them went out, namely He and John, from the hidden contemplation of the divine will, and proceeded to show forth the great works of deeds outside. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Fittingly, therefore, there is added: “And when they had risen in the morning, and it was now growing light, Samuel called to Saul on the rooftop, saying: Arise, and I will send you on your way.”

Indeed, morning dawns when the splendor of truth opens itself to the quiet mind. For the human mind becomes dark through ignorance and bright through the illumination of truth. Therefore, one who is ignorant is in night; when illuminated, in day. Moreover, one rises in the morning who sleeps at night: when he rouses himself to carry out those things which he arranged through deliberation. And because the business of ordaining the king was being conducted, both are said to have risen. The supreme preacher rises in order to ordain his hearer for the ministry of that same preaching. He who is to be ordained rises, so that he may not presume that so sublime an order is to be received with anything less than the deepest affection of the heart. Indeed they rise together, because a sublime office is given and is received as sublime. In this passage another thing must be noted: that both first rose, and then Samuel called Saul, saying: “Arise, and I will send you on your way.” But according to the historical sense, if both rose, Saul is admonished to prepare himself for the work, because he is commanded to rise from sleep. Because indeed both the high priests and he who is taken up into the order of preaching attentively consider the burden of so great a ministry, they sleep as it were together and rise together. But he who is newly to be ordained, rising from sleep, is commanded to rise again for the work: because although he has striven to weigh the height of the order by meditating, he must nevertheless attain it through the merit of his way of life. Therefore, having risen, he is commanded to rise, so that he may resolve to match with his merits the sublime order which he deliberates to undertake. Hence he is also called on the rooftop: because he is commanded to strive for lofty things. He also says: “And I will send you on your way.” He rises, of course, so that he may be sent forth: because that man will be able to be free in the ministry of preaching who has grown in the height of a great way of life. Indeed, he who had already risen rose again: because he who by contemplation had learned the height of the dignity took care to raise himself up in that same height of dignity through the sublimity of his life. Hence it is added: “And Saul rose.” Then it is added: “And they both went out; he, namely, and Samuel.”

The pastor goes out when he comes from the secret of meditation to the public sphere of action. For when he arranges what he wishes to do, he is within; but when he outwardly carries out what he has thought, he as it were goes out. Saul also went out, because in the outward dignity, the one who is promoted undertakes that which he had long considered whether it should be undertaken. Both therefore are said to have gone out, because both had been within: while the one with anxious mind foresaw what he should give and to whom; the other likewise more attentively considered what manner of man he was who would receive such high things. Because therefore the ministry of holy preaching must be bestowed and received with the utmost discernment, while the king of Israel is anointed, both the king and the prophet about to anoint him are reported to have gone out. However, many manuscripts have: “And when they had risen early in the morning, before dawn,” which can indeed be fittingly understood. It is morning, before dawn, when in a certain way the day begins to breathe, and yet the full light of day has not arrived. Now when the holy preachers of the Church consider the good manner of life of those whom they intend to ordain, it is as it were morning. But because they cannot know their future, it is morning, but before dawn. This is fittingly said in the ordination of him who is afterwards recorded to have displeased almighty God. For as it were at morning, before dawn, the prophet saw this man who appeared to him in the light of good conduct. But the full brightness of day had not yet come, because he could not see through the present light of knowledge the future darkness in him. This indeed happens in the holy Church as often as those who are chosen are good in the present but will not persevere in the same goodness. For he as it were goes out at morning and before the light, who displays the present light of good works but conceals the darkness of his future life. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4

1 Samuel 9:27

Bede: And when they descended to the outermost part of the city, Samuel said to Saul, etc. When the Lord was sitting, having assumed humility and poverty for us, revealing Himself as the most despised and last of men, and among the citizens of the world as the lowest, He also taught His followers to be poor in spirit, yet He did not immediately face death at the hands of the often impious plotters; but according to the prophecies, of which John is a part, He commanded His obedient servants to go before Him, and to pass from vices to virtues, from death to life. But He Himself remained in the world for a little while after they departed until He completed the word about Him foretold by the prophets to His faithful. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: But what was done next follows: “And as they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Tell the servant to go ahead of us and pass on; but you stand still for a moment, that I may make known to you the word of the Lord. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him.”

For what does it mean that the king is led to the farthest part of the city and anointed? But the farthest part of the city is the lowest part of the subject people. Those who therefore hold the last place in the holy Church are, as it were, in the farthest part of the city. Moreover, in the lowest part of the Church itself, converted sinners appear to be. For all the righteous are in the upper or first part. Or perhaps virginity holds the first place, continence the second, the married life the third, and the conversion of sinners the last. In the farthest part of the city, therefore, the king is anointed: because the ruler of the holy Church is ordained for sinners, not for the righteous. For hence Truth says of Himself: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matt. 9:13). Hence again He says: “They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick” (ibid., 12). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 4, Chapter 4