1 Samuel (1 Kings) 18

Jonathan was not knit to David as a whole, but his “soul,” the higher parts, which are not cut off when the apparent and visible elements have been cut off from a person and which will not be coerced by any means, for they never move involuntarily. For the soul is free and not imprisoned in any way.… For in its primary sense, it is its nature to be wherever the mind is, and if it seems to you to be in a room, you are imagining it there in some secondary sense. So it is never prevented from being in whatever place it wishes to be; but rather, in actual fact, it can only be, and reasonably be thought to be, where the works proper to itself alone are found, and relative to that.

Address of Thanksgiving to Origen 6.85-87

(1 Kings 18). And it happened as Saul completed speaking to David, etc. When the Savior, through the apostles, completed spreading the gifts of his incarnation by preaching in Judea, many indeed, having heard the word, believed. But the more perfect ones among these, overflowing with spiritual grace, which, as has often been said, is designated by the name Jonathan, were so bonded to him with such love that they did not hesitate to give their lives for him. Meanwhile, not a few others, especially those who rejoiced in earthly sovereignty whether by elevation or by desiring it, indeed received with lesser fervor of love but with the same acknowledgment of faith; believing and confessing with certainty in his sacrament. They by no means equated him with the merits of the fathers from whom he took flesh, however high they were, but followed the Apostle's sentiment where it says, Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is blessed forever over all things (Rom. 9)."

Commentary on Samuel

6–7

When David returned after striking down the Philistine, etc., the Lord, having returned after defeating the ancient enemy through His suffering and appearing in the glory of resurrection to His chosen ones, the glory of this triumph having been spread throughout Judea, the lowly souls, conscious of their own frailty, came out from all the cities of Israel, rejoicing in Christ, whom they recognized as the author of life and the conqueror of death. Through the many churches which form one catholic church, they celebrated Him with concordant praise, each one manifesting the gifts of virtues given by the one and the same Spirit, devoting themselves to Him with appropriate services of humble devotion, and with eager faith above all declaring, as with a triumphal song, that although the institution of the law commanded works of justice, it had delivered no small number of enemies to destruction and snatched not few souls from the enemy's grasp. Yet with incomparable strength, the grace of Christ, by bestowing the wages of heavenly life, even tore down the very gates of death as a victor; so much so that He assured that those who receive eternal life will mock death and say: "Where, O death, is your contention? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55). And it is to be noted that not all the women of Israel, but women from all the cities of Israel came forth. For not all have faith, but from all persons, conditions, places, and ages, those who receive the faith are chosen by Him who said: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32). He did not say all, but all kinds; to signify that believers from every kind of human being would come forth. It is also to be noted that while women are said to have come out to meet Saul, they raised their voices in praise of David; for the souls piously believing in Christ publicly proclaimed to the people zealous for the law what ought to be understood about the shadow of the law itself and the light of the gospel, so that by preaching, they might also summon this people to the path of grace and truth. We can also say that when the Lord Christ returned to the heavens with immortal flesh, angelic hosts from all realms came to meet Him with the fitting exultation of praise, accepting Him as the victor over the enemy and the giver of life to us.

Commentary on Samuel

Why do you grieve, my friend, when you yourself have suffered no misfortune? Why are you hostile to someone who is enjoying prosperity, when he has in no way caused your own possessions to decrease? If you are vexed even upon receiving a kindness [from the object of your spite], are you not quite clearly envious of your own good? Saul is an example of this. He made David’s great favors to himself a motive for enmity with him. First, after he had been cured of insanity by the divine and melodious strains of David’s harp, he attempted to run his benefactor through with a spear. Then, on another occasion, it happened that he and his army were delivered from the hands of the enemy and saved from embarrassment before Goliath. In singing the triumphal songs commemorating this victory, however, the dancers attributed to David a tenfold greater share in the achievement, saying, “Saul killed his thousands and David his ten thousands.” For this one utterance and because truth itself was its witness, Saul first attempted murder and tried to slay David by treachery, then forced him to flee.

Concerning Envy

You shall not be a hypocrite, lest your “portion be with them.” You shall not be ill-natured or proud, for “God resists the proud.” “You shall not accept persons in judgment; for the judgment is the Lord’s.” “You shall not hate any man; you shall surely reprove your brother, and not become guilty on his account”; and, “Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.” Eschew all evil, and all that is like it: for he says, “Abstain from injustice, and trembling shall not come close to you.” Do not grow angry quickly, or spiteful, or passionate, or furious or daring, lest you undergo the fate of Cain, and of Saul and of Joab. The first of these killed his brother Abel, because Abel was found to be preferred before him with God, and because Abel’s sacrifice was preferred; the second persecuted holy David, who had slain Goliath the Philistine, being envious of the praises of the women who danced; the third killed two generals of armies—Abner of Israel and Amasa of Judah.

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 7.5

But now notice in this incident how much trouble the passion of envy caused: when the king saw this young man enjoying such popularity and the dancing crowds calling out, “Saul’s conquests ran into thousands, David’s into tens of thousands,” he didn’t take kindly to their words … but overwhelmed by envy, he now repaid his benefactor with the opposite treatment, and the one whom he should have recognized as his savior and benefactor he endeavored to do away with. What an extraordinary degree of frenzy! What excess of madness! The man who had won him the gift of life and had freed his whole army from the foreigner’s rage he now suspected as an enemy, and, instead of the man’s good deeds remaining fresh in his memory and prevailing over passion, the clarity of his thinking was dulled with envy as though by a kind of drunkenness, and he regarded his benefactor as his enemy.That is what the evil of this passion is like, you see: it first has a bad effect on the person giving birth to it.

Homilies on Genesis 46.13-14

For envy is a fearful, a fearful thing, and persuades people to despise their own salvation. In this way did both Cain destroy himself, and again, before his time, the devil who was the destroyer of his father. So did Saul invite an evil demon against his own soul; yet when invited, he soon envied his physician. For such is the nature of envy; he knew that he was saved, yet he would rather have perished than see him that saved him have honor. What can be more grievous than this passion? One cannot err in calling it the devil’s offspring. And in it is contained the fruit of vainglory, or rather its root also, for both these evils are apt mutually to produce each other. And thus in truth it was that Saul even thus envied, when they said, “David smote by ten thousands.” What could be more senseless? For why do you envy? Tell me! “Because such a one praised him”? Yet surely you ought to rejoice. Besides, you do not know even whether the praise is true. And do you therefore grieve because without being admirable he has been praised as such? And yet you ought to feel pity. For if he is good, you ought not to envy him when praised, but you should praise along with those that speak well of him; but if not such, why are you galled?

Homilies on 2 Corinthians 24.4

It is usual, indeed, with persons of a weaker character, to be so built up in confidence by certain individuals who are caught by heresy, as to topple over into ruin themselves. How does it come to pass, they ask, that this woman or that man, who were the most faithful, the most prudent and the most approved in the church, have gone over to the other side? Who that asks such a question does not in fact reply to it himself, to the effect that men whom heresies have been able to pervert ought never to have been esteemed prudent or faithful or approved? This again, I suppose, is an extraordinary thing, that one who has been approved should afterwards fall back? Saul, who was good beyond all others, is afterwards subverted by envy. David, a good man “after the Lord’s own heart.” is guilty afterwards of murder and adultery. Solomon, endowed by the Lord with all grace and wisdom, is led into idolatry by women. For to the Son of God alone was it reserved to persevere to the last without sin.

Prescriptions Against Heretics 3

Saul was greatly angered, etc. But the people who gloried in the law, angered against the preachers of grace, and the word displeased them, which, with the Gospel shining forth, set an end to the shadows of the law; and he said, raging against the Lord and against His Christ: Behold, the followers of this doctrine assert that while I indeed, doing the commands of the Mosaic law, serve shadows and figures, their Jesus brought the light of truth and life to the world; that through the law, good things of the earth, which cannot be everlasting, were promised to me; He through the grace of His Gospel grants the eternal joys of the heavenly kingdom to His faithful. Therefore, with everyone competing, neglecting the rite of the altar and sacrifices, to attend the hearing of this doctrine, what remains for me except only that he has not also taken away the summit of the kingdom from me? This because, although Christians, surpassing us in number, are all humbled and cast down in new and unknown poverty.

Commentary on Samuel

It is usual, indeed, with persons of a weaker character, to be so built up in confidence by certain individuals who are caught by heresy, as to topple over into ruin themselves. How does it come to pass, they ask, that this woman or that man, who were the most faithful, the most prudent and the most approved in the church, have gone over to the other side? Who that asks such a question does not in fact reply to it himself, to the effect that men whom heresies have been able to pervert ought never to have been esteemed prudent or faithful or approved? This again, I suppose, is an extraordinary thing, that one who has been approved should afterwards fall back? Saul, who was good beyond all others, is afterwards subverted by envy. David, a good man “after the Lord’s own heart.” is guilty afterwards of murder and adultery. Solomon, endowed by the Lord with all grace and wisdom, is led into idolatry by women. For to the Son of God alone was it reserved to persevere to the last without sin.

Prescriptions Against Heretics 3

Saul was greatly angered, etc. But the people who gloried in the law, angered against the preachers of grace, and the word displeased them, which, with the Gospel shining forth, set an end to the shadows of the law; and he said, raging against the Lord and against His Christ: Behold, the followers of this doctrine assert that while I indeed, doing the commands of the Mosaic law, serve shadows and figures, their Jesus brought the light of truth and life to the world; that through the law, good things of the earth, which cannot be everlasting, were promised to me; He through the grace of His Gospel grants the eternal joys of the heavenly kingdom to His faithful. Therefore, with everyone competing, neglecting the rite of the altar and sacrifices, to attend the hearing of this doctrine, what remains for me except only that he has not also taken away the summit of the kingdom from me? This because, although Christians, surpassing us in number, are all humbled and cast down in new and unknown poverty.

Commentary on Samuel

And David turned away from his face a second time. And Christ fled from the hearts of the impious, who never deserts pious hearts without resting in them. But it is not added in vain a second time. For at first David went away and returned to Saul, coming into battle against the Philistines, where afterwards, arriving, he alone quickly struck down the enemy whom all had long failed to subdue; and now he turned away from his face a second time, attempting to kill him. This corresponds to the mystical sense. For at first, as also explained above, to all mortals struggling against vices, the Lord appearing in the flesh conducted life free from this conflict in the world; but also, he miraculously helped those mortals laboring long in vain by the visitation of his grace. However, what must be remembered not without sorrow, not without groaning, many repel their vivifier and protector, by spurning his words and transgressing; and what we blame the Jews for not believing, we believers do not fear to do by living badly. David turns away from his face unwillingly a second time, so as not to save him with his harp from the enemy, from whom he previously returned willingly, so as not to fight with him against the enemy; for, owing to our merits, the Almighty Savior hides the light of his knowledge from us, removes the grace of his defense, so as not to protect us daily from the snares of enemies by the help of his cross, who deigned to take on flesh for our salvation, so that he might struggle for us who are frail, so that he might win for us who are holy. Therefore, when God dwelt with men, at first he withdrew from their company, so as not to struggle with them against the law of sin, which in no way opposed him. Secondly, and in this not from the company of all, but from that of the proud, he turned away, so as not to trust them with his gifts; for he resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5).

Commentary on Samuel

And Saul feared David, etc. The people of the Jews feared the Church of Christ, because they saw the grace of divine power in it while they themselves were forsaken. For it is written: Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the apostles in Jerusalem, and great fear was upon all. For all who believed were together and had all things in common (Acts 2); which also, this society of mutual love, is proof of the present heavenly grace. And elsewhere: And by the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch; but of the rest no one dared join them, but the people magnified them (Acts 5).

Commentary on Samuel

Saul therefore removed him from himself, etc. Just as those who are in charge of fifty soldiers are called centurions; so they are called chiliarchs in Greek, who are in charge of a thousand soldiers, whom the Latin custom delights in calling tribunes rather than millenaries from the fact that they are in charge of a tribe. Therefore, the Jews removed Christ from themselves, having despised His faith, and made Him provide the leadership of spiritual warfare more abundantly to the believers. For their fault is the salvation of the Gentiles. But most of all, the Lord reigns over those who are stable and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that their labor is not in vain in the Lord. Their quadrated conversation, so to speak, and free from any fall, is shown by the millenary number, which is a solid squared ten. For with ten, the perfection of work or reward is usually indicated. But so that this same perfection increases the breadth of fraternal love, multiply ten by ten to reach a hundred. This sum, according to arithmetic, has equal square sides but is still flat, and thus suited by the figure to the love of neighbors whom we see on earth. But so that the squaring of fraternal love is also solidified by the height of divine love, accumulate each part of the centenary number by ten to ascend to a thousand; thus it is understood that the ten is not only equal in quadriform stability but also solid in perfect completeness; because such a number suits those over whom Christ presides, and fits both the most stable height and the highest stability. For wherever you turn a square, it stands solidly; whatever the just encounter, it proves them entirely stable and immovable.

Commentary on Samuel

All Israel and Judah loved David, etc. All who have believed from the Jews and the Gentiles loved, and love, and will love Christ. For He went forth appearing in the flesh, went in returning to the Father; before them, that He might grant hope and shape to those still remaining to live rightly outwards, and to those entering to reign blessedly. He goes out even today before us, protecting us with aid while fighting on earth. He enters, however, when with the battle finished, He leads those to be crowned to eternal life. We thought it necessary to remind the reader that the order of allegorical completion cannot always be preserved in the same way as the order of historical prefiguration. For instance, Joseph is first stripped of his tunic and thrown into a cistern, and afterwards sold with Judah advising; first sold by Judah acting, and thereafter signifies Christ stripped of the garment of the body, buried. This is customary not only in prophetic deeds but also in words. For Isaiah first said: "In that day the root of Jesse, who stands as a sign for the people, Him shall the Gentiles seek" (Isa. XI). And then he added: "And his sepulcher shall be glorious" (Ibid.). With all believers it is evident that first the tomb of the Lord, glorified, was made by Him rising from the dead, and subsequently the sign of His cross being exalted by the apostles was made for the people, that the Gentiles might seek Him. Those skilled in the Scriptures have been accustomed to call it recapitulation in Greek. This too must be noted that one and the same person does not always indicate one and the same portion of a person or thing that it shows. For instance, David signifies Christ, but sometimes in himself, sometimes in His holy preachers, sometimes in other faithful followers, sometimes in the just who fall seven times but rise again through repentance, all of whom as various parts of one body adhere uniformly to the head Christ. Similarly, Saul figuratively represents the Jewish people, sometimes reigning, sometimes teaching rightly, sometimes believing in Christ, sometimes neglecting Christ's commands, sometimes envying and persecuting Christ, sometimes inflicting threats, plots, murders, and deaths upon His faithful, showing different aspects. Likewise, Goliath, who carries the type of the devil, sometimes is expressed in the very head of all the impious, sometimes in his members, namely the pagans, treacherous Jews, heretics, and false brethren. However, from these very members the Savior, having removed the worst head, has graciously made some of His own members. To prove all these with examples is a greater task than suits this place.

Commentary on Samuel

It came to pass then, when Merob was to be given, etc. It came to pass, when the greater part of the Jewish people ought to have believed in Christ teaching in the flesh, they rather believed and adhered to the scribes and Pharisees. However, the other part of the same people, itself royally educated through the law of the Lord, loved the coming of the Savior. The very name itself also agrees well in signifying the doctors of the law. Hadriel Molathites. For Hadriel means the flock of God; Molathites is said from "begetting me." And the assembly of legal masters, who were chosen from common action and rusticity, ordered to devote themselves to divine matters, to meditate on divine things, act and preach, rightly shines by the distinctive name of the flock of God. Nor is it the fault of the good shepherd if any portion of the flock, jumping from his custody, prefers to be subject to the wolf’s teeth rather than to the pastoral rod. This assembly of doctors, since it received the beginnings of living rightly through the letter full of new grace, is fittingly called the city of Hadriel from "begetting me." Whom indeed do we understand by "begetting" other than Him whose mysteries all the old Scripture prefigured? whom the whole knowledge of the law and prophets held long hidden, but after a long labor, at the right time brought forth for us to behold.

Commentary on Samuel

And it was reported to Saul, and it pleased him, etc. The envious leaders of the Jews, recognizing that the crowd loved the Lord and flocked with diligent intention to hear Him, which they detested in other matters, began to be pleased in this one part, thinking that they could reprimand Him by frequently teaching in words and catching something from His mouth, so they might accuse Him and deliver Him to the nations to be killed; even thinking that God’s wisdom is subject to that sentence: In the multitude of words, you shall not escape sin (Prov. X). And they said: Let us permit Him to teach, that it may be a stumbling block to Him, and we be innocent of His blood: let the hand of the Romans be upon Him, as we accuse Him of undermining our nation, forbidding tributes to be given to Caesar, and declaring Himself to be Christ.

Commentary on Samuel

20–25

Why did Saul seek to apprehend and kill David whom he had formerly honored as himself and greatly loved as a benefactor? Was it by nature or out of an evil will? Obviously it was out of ill will. No one is born evil by nature, since God did not create evil works but things that were very good. Or, rather, he did so since he is good, and that not by disposition and choice but in nature and in truth.

Discourses 4.2

Therefore Saul said to David: “In two things you will be my son-in-law today,” etc. Ignoring the words of Saul, which clearly signify the hypocrisy of scribes and Pharisees with their deceit and fraud, by which they sought to entrap the Lord, let us instead scrutinize more closely the mighty deeds of blessed David, because he became Saul’s son-in-law in two things, namely, by killing the giant and by bringing the foreskins of Philistine slain. Clearly signifying him who, in order to adopt the Church from the Jews, first nullified the snares and strength of the ancient enemy and delivered it into light; and thereafter proposed to the same Church the examples of converted Gentiles to be emulated. For it was from the Gentiles, whose faith the Lord showed to be emulated by the Jews, when he said: "Amen, I say to you, I have not found such great faith in Israel" (Matthew VIII). From the Gentiles came she who merited to hear from Christ: "O woman, great is your faith; let it be done for you as you wish" (Matthew XV). From the Gentiles were those who, having come up among others to worship at the feast, said to Philip: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John XII). From the Gentiles was also that centurion who, when the Lord gave up His Spirit, stood alone with his company, while all the Jews who were present remained silent, and feared and glorified God, saying: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark XV). Certainly, when Saul, weaving deceit, said:

Commentary on Samuel

Thus you shall say to David: The king has no need for a dowry, etc. So we may truly understand it as a figure concerning the proud, that they do not think they need the gifts of Christ; but that this alone is required, that He be handed over into the hands of the Gentiles and be killed.

Commentary on Samuel

And after a few days, David arose and departed, etc. A few days after the Jewish leaders decided to hand over Christ to be slain by the Gentiles, the Lord himself arose with the apostles who were with him to work the salvation of the world, shining so much with virtues and the grace of doctrine that, despite the efforts of the impious, he called not a few of the Gentiles to the grace of faith, as we have previously taught. For David struck down the Philistines, just as the Lord broke the proud impurity of paganism by word or by the example of humility and chastity. He brought their foreskins and counted them for the king so that he might be his son-in-law; with the people of the Jews, he showed the dead members of sin converted to God, so that in this way he might also receive those who would follow the conversion of the Gentiles. Not in vain did David bring two hundred foreskins to Saul, who had asked for one hundred; because, to the Jews presumptuously thinking that the Lord could not impose even the profession of carnal chastity on the Gentiles, he himself cleansed them from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. The number one hundred indeed always pertains to the indication of great perfection, which initiated in itself before the triumph of the Passion, was fulfilled even in the confirmation of his sacraments through the apostles after the clarification of his Assumption.

Commentary on Samuel

Saul therefore gave his daughter Michal to him as a wife, etc. The unbelieving people could not prevent those predestined to life from believing. For they saw and understood that the Lord was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself; the love of the believers grew as much as the fear in the faithless. Some apply the foreskins taken from the struck Philistines by David to the condition of the present age, since the grace of Christ is at work among the Gentiles; however, the marriages of Michal, delayed for some time but eventually celebrated, refer to those who will believe at the end of the world, from the Jews: when the fullness of the Gentiles shall enter, so all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI).

Commentary on Samuel

Jonathan was not knit to David as a whole, but his “soul,” the higher parts, which are not cut off when the apparent and visible elements have been cut off from a person and which will not be coerced by any means, for they never move involuntarily. For the soul is free and not imprisoned in any way.… For in its primary sense, it is its nature to be wherever the mind is, and if it seems to you to be in a room, you are imagining it there in some secondary sense. So it is never prevented from being in whatever place it wishes to be; but rather, in actual fact, it can only be, and reasonably be thought to be, where the works proper to itself alone are found, and relative to that.

Address of Thanksgiving to Origen 6.85-87

(1 Kings 18). And it happened as Saul completed speaking to David, etc. When the Savior, through the apostles, completed spreading the gifts of his incarnation by preaching in Judea, many indeed, having heard the word, believed. But the more perfect ones among these, overflowing with spiritual grace, which, as has often been said, is designated by the name Jonathan, were so bonded to him with such love that they did not hesitate to give their lives for him. Meanwhile, not a few others, especially those who rejoiced in earthly sovereignty whether by elevation or by desiring it, indeed received with lesser fervor of love but with the same acknowledgment of faith; believing and confessing with certainty in his sacrament. They by no means equated him with the merits of the fathers from whom he took flesh, however high they were, but followed the Apostle's sentiment where it says, Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is blessed forever over all things (Rom. 9)."

Commentary on Samuel

Jonathan and David made a covenant, etc. Christ and the Church made a covenant of mutual charity and peace. For the Church loved Him in its more perfect members, so much so that it was ready to die for Him; deeming it just to give its body and soul for Him, who, for its redemption, though He was true God from true God, deigned to clothe Himself in human flesh and soul. For the Word was made flesh (John I), and the Lord is the protector of my soul (Psalm LIII). Finally, He stripped himself in the martyrs of the flesh with which He was clothed, and gave it to Christ's services; and similarly, whatever else it possessed of talent, virtue, and deeds, it devotedly expended to His will, even to the extent of skill and expertise in speaking, and to the industry of emitting arguments true in faith and reason, against the wiles of the ill-counseled, and to the glory of chastity and unblemished purity, kept for His love.

Commentary on Samuel

And David went out to all, etc. Whether the people of the Jews wished to believe in Christ or to oppose Him, whether to make Him king or to crucify Him, He, coeternal with the Father's wisdom, always acted prudently, both by greatly rewarding the pious and by patiently enduring the impious. And the same people placed Him over the men of spiritual war, in some namely by believing and confessing that He alone helps those fighting for the salvation of souls to be able to conquer. In others, however, by exclaiming that He was guilty of death, by which death, finally accepted according to the will of the impious, having overcome the author of death, He grants us too the example of waging war and triumphing together with Him.

Commentary on Samuel

And he was accepted in the eyes of all the people, etc. The Lord was accepted by all who had those eyes, of which He Himself speaks: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see (Matthew XIII). Especially in the pure heart of the apostles, who by a special providence were commanded to serve by preaching the salvation of the Jews. For whomever the Lord was not accepted by, such are not to be considered as having open eyes; but to be of those of whom it is said: Leave them alone, they are blind guides of the blind (Matthew XV).

Commentary on Samuel

It is usual, indeed, with persons of a weaker character, to be so built up in confidence by certain individuals who are caught by heresy, as to topple over into ruin themselves. How does it come to pass, they ask, that this woman or that man, who were the most faithful, the most prudent and the most approved in the church, have gone over to the other side? Who that asks such a question does not in fact reply to it himself, to the effect that men whom heresies have been able to pervert ought never to have been esteemed prudent or faithful or approved? This again, I suppose, is an extraordinary thing, that one who has been approved should afterwards fall back? Saul, who was good beyond all others, is afterwards subverted by envy. David, a good man “after the Lord’s own heart.” is guilty afterwards of murder and adultery. Solomon, endowed by the Lord with all grace and wisdom, is led into idolatry by women. For to the Son of God alone was it reserved to persevere to the last without sin.

Prescriptions Against Heretics 3

Saul was greatly angered, etc. But the people who gloried in the law, angered against the preachers of grace, and the word displeased them, which, with the Gospel shining forth, set an end to the shadows of the law; and he said, raging against the Lord and against His Christ: Behold, the followers of this doctrine assert that while I indeed, doing the commands of the Mosaic law, serve shadows and figures, their Jesus brought the light of truth and life to the world; that through the law, good things of the earth, which cannot be everlasting, were promised to me; He through the grace of His Gospel grants the eternal joys of the heavenly kingdom to His faithful. Therefore, with everyone competing, neglecting the rite of the altar and sacrifices, to attend the hearing of this doctrine, what remains for me except only that he has not also taken away the summit of the kingdom from me? This because, although Christians, surpassing us in number, are all humbled and cast down in new and unknown poverty.

Commentary on Samuel

It was also through a wicked angel that the transgressor was tempted in the account of the book of Kings [Samuel], where it says “The evil spirit from God came upon Saul.” Just men, too, like Job and the apostle Paul and others of that kind were tried by the devil. It is clear that all created things are subject to the discretion or command of the Creator.

Exposition of the Psalms 77.49

After the next day, an evil spirit from God invaded Saul, etc. As the light of the faithful gradually increased, so did the insanity and blindness of the perfidious Jews, who, aroused by an unclean spirit in the midst of their Synagogue against the Lord, would sing the words of prophecy with a frenzied mouth, which they did not understand. But the Lord, to calm and mitigate their malice, daily reiterated through the apostles the example of His patience and suffering. For He sang to them with His own hand, when through His excellent worker of the body He said: Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts II).

Commentary on Samuel

Saul was holding a spear, etc. The people of the Jews held the power of the kingdom and exercised it against the Lord Savior; thinking that they could extinguish His faith and glory by persecuting Him, in the manner of other mortals whose praise and memory, love or hatred, often fades with their life itself. Against these He prays to the Father in the Psalms: “Do not let me become like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 142). For as much as David, a living stone, feels and discerns, exceeds a wall, which lacks nature, life, sense, and reason; so much the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, differs from pure men, even if they are most holy. He indeed, in suitable places, is symbolized by the term stone, not just any stone in the wall, according to those to whom it is said: "You also, like living stones, are being built" (1 Peter 2). But as the chief, cornerstone, chosen, precious stone, founded in the foundation, which, bearing and protecting the whole building of the rising Church, unites circumcision and uncircumcision in unanimous peace. For it can also be understood, not inappropriately, that Saul thought he could pin David to the wall; that the Jews thought they could eradicate the name and memory of Christ and remove Him from the land of the living if they could kill or banish the apostles, the preachers of His resurrection, those who are the nearest part of His house, that is, the Church. But David could not be pinned to the wall, Christ's glory could not be diminished, nor could the impious, however much they strove, be made like those who go down to the pit; that is, buried in the tomb, neither to be resurrected before the day of judgment.

Commentary on Samuel

And David turned away from his face a second time. And Christ fled from the hearts of the impious, who never deserts pious hearts without resting in them. But it is not added in vain a second time. For at first David went away and returned to Saul, coming into battle against the Philistines, where afterwards, arriving, he alone quickly struck down the enemy whom all had long failed to subdue; and now he turned away from his face a second time, attempting to kill him. This corresponds to the mystical sense. For at first, as also explained above, to all mortals struggling against vices, the Lord appearing in the flesh conducted life free from this conflict in the world; but also, he miraculously helped those mortals laboring long in vain by the visitation of his grace. However, what must be remembered not without sorrow, not without groaning, many repel their vivifier and protector, by spurning his words and transgressing; and what we blame the Jews for not believing, we believers do not fear to do by living badly. David turns away from his face unwillingly a second time, so as not to save him with his harp from the enemy, from whom he previously returned willingly, so as not to fight with him against the enemy; for, owing to our merits, the Almighty Savior hides the light of his knowledge from us, removes the grace of his defense, so as not to protect us daily from the snares of enemies by the help of his cross, who deigned to take on flesh for our salvation, so that he might struggle for us who are frail, so that he might win for us who are holy. Therefore, when God dwelt with men, at first he withdrew from their company, so as not to struggle with them against the law of sin, which in no way opposed him. Secondly, and in this not from the company of all, but from that of the proud, he turned away, so as not to trust them with his gifts; for he resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5).

Commentary on Samuel

Therefore, Saul said to David: Behold my daughter Merab, etc. Above, where Saul, through the anointing of holy chrism and the governance of the kingdom, holds the type of Christ, we understood the two daughters of Saul to signify the peoples, who, begotten for salvation by faith in Christ and love, are perfected by the chastisement of body and mind; or certainly, the greater to designate the Synagogue, and the lesser, the Church. However, in this place, because the order of surrounding affairs has changed, David indeed designates the Lord Christ, but Saul, envying him, designates the people of the Jews. Rightly, the elder daughter, who was promised to David but not given, signifies that part of his people which, greater in number and power, was promised as if to be joined to a strong and desirable hand of a bridegroom, when the predecessors of that part, namely the scribes, priests, Pharisees, and elders of the people, would flock to his hearing, call him a good teacher, and not only that but also uniquely wise as a master, whether for the sake of learning or tempting him, would frequent him with questions. However, she was not given to him but to another, when those same teachers, seeking to be called Rabbi by men, forced as many as they could to listen to them instead. The younger daughter, who by loving David deserved to be given to him, is indeed that portion of the Jewish people which, both in smallness and contempt, preferred to follow, love, and hear the Lord Savior rather than the scribes and lawyers, hearing from him: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12). Therefore, the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jews said to Christ: Behold, we entrust the greater part of the subjected Synagogue to you for teaching, just see to it that, being strong in spirit, you fight with word for the freedom of the people, who are commanded to keep the law of God and serve Him alone. For we know that you are truthful and do not care for anyone; for you do not regard the person of man, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? (Matthew 22; Mark 12) They said this, however, in the presence of the ministers of Herod, so that if he forbade giving tribute, they, punishing him, might seem exempt from his death.

Commentary on Samuel

David said to Saul: Who am I? etc. He does not confess himself unworthy to become the king's son-in-law, but he proposes to make it known and remembered by the same king, who he is, what his life is, what the lineage of his father is in Israel; and from this it is to be inferred whether he is worthy to receive the daughter. He himself is strong in hand, accomplished in act, and desirable in appearance: he feeds his father's sheep, and in caring for them, faces lions and bears to kill them, and also for the salvation of his people, goes out to give his life to danger against the giant armed with bronze and iron. The lineage of his father in Israel is that to which the same Israel blessed, saying among other things: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs (Gen. XLIX). This in the same order can be interpreted of the Lord, because he did not deny himself worthy, who would join to himself the people generated by the royal descent through the teaching of the law, in the bond of unanimous peace and charity, concerning whom his herald proclaimed: The one who has the bride is the bridegroom (John III). But also for those coming to his faith, it must be asked who he is, what his life is, what the lineage of his father is in Israel; and from this it is to be understood that he, indeed he alone, is worthy to unite the Church of the faithful to himself by the right of a bridegroom. He himself is the one about whom John writes: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John I), and others, up to what he says: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. His life is, of which he himself speaks: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself (John V). His life is such that the apostle Peter, urging his listeners to imitate it, says: He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, and others (I Pet. II). The lineage of his Father in Israel is that of which: The Lord swore to David a truth, and he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne (Psalm. CXXXI). The lineage of his Father, of which he himself testifies: For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matt. VII). Therefore, the Lord did not refuse to be the bridegroom of the Church, that is, Christ; but it is to be sought and understood that he is. Finally, he teaches the Pharisees with the testimony of the proposed Psalm, how the Christ can be both the son and the lord of David, questioning, not denying that he is Christ, but rather arousing them to ask, seek, and knock for the recognition of the truth. And elsewhere he responds to the scribe who called him good teacher, and asked about doing good: Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone (Mark X); not meaning there that he is not good, but implying that he is to be believed as God.

Commentary on Samuel

As [David] looks on the greatness of God’s lovingkindness, he is struck with amazement. He considers himself with all his soul to be unworthy of the vision of such goodness and does not wish to look closely at them or fully understand them. He is constrained by trembling, fear and reverence to cry, “Who am I, Lord, and what is my father’s house, that you should reveal such mysteries to me, unworthy as I am, and have wondrously made me not only to have a vision of such good things, but even to participate and share in them!”

Discourses 14.4

It came to pass then, when Merob was to be given, etc. It came to pass, when the greater part of the Jewish people ought to have believed in Christ teaching in the flesh, they rather believed and adhered to the scribes and Pharisees. However, the other part of the same people, itself royally educated through the law of the Lord, loved the coming of the Savior. The very name itself also agrees well in signifying the doctors of the law. Hadriel Molathites. For Hadriel means the flock of God; Molathites is said from "begetting me." And the assembly of legal masters, who were chosen from common action and rusticity, ordered to devote themselves to divine matters, to meditate on divine things, act and preach, rightly shines by the distinctive name of the flock of God. Nor is it the fault of the good shepherd if any portion of the flock, jumping from his custody, prefers to be subject to the wolf’s teeth rather than to the pastoral rod. This assembly of doctors, since it received the beginnings of living rightly through the letter full of new grace, is fittingly called the city of Hadriel from "begetting me." Whom indeed do we understand by "begetting" other than Him whose mysteries all the old Scripture prefigured? whom the whole knowledge of the law and prophets held long hidden, but after a long labor, at the right time brought forth for us to behold.

Commentary on Samuel