Translated by Qwen.
1 Sam 16:1-3 "How long [will you mourn] for Saul?" — And judging it necessary to work toward restoring him, "since I have rejected him" — that is, as one disobedient, obstinate, and impenitent — "that he should not reign over Israel."
For why, as St. Gregory says, should the person of one who has been rejected be lamented, when a better one is substituted in his place? Hear St. Chrysostom, Homily 5 on Penance: "The blessed Samuel exhausted much time praying for Saul, and spent many sleepless nights for the salvation of the sinner. But God, rejecting [his prayer] — for the repentance of the sinner does not align with the prophet's prayer — says to the prophet: 'How long will you weep? How long...?' showing the time and perseverance of the one praying. And God rejected the time of the prophet's supplication. For the king's repentance did not stand by the intervention of the just man."
And St. Bernard, Sermon 12 on the Song of Songs: "Samuel," he says, "was mourning for Saul, who was seeking to kill himself; with his heart warmed by the fire of charity, melted within, the fat of piety flowed forth through his eyes."
St. Chrysostom adds that it was otherwise with David, who, when reproved by Nathan for adultery and murder, repented seriously, and therefore immediately heard from him: "The Lord has put away your sin" (2 Kings 12).
"For I have provided for myself a king among his sons" — that is, I have destined one of the sons of Jesse to be created king, who may succeed Saul. But why does He not designate or name him? St. Chrysostom gives the reason in Psalm 50: "Attend," he says, "to the narrative diligently. He did not say to Samuel: 'Go and anoint David for me,' but 'Go, anoint for me one of the sons of Jesse.' Lest, namely, the same thing happen to David that previously happened to Joseph: for when his brothers understood that he would be king, they plotted against him; in the same way, there was danger lest these [brothers] also perpetrate the same crime." Theodoret also expressed this same idea, Question 37 on Kings: "For," he says, "when even after the election was made in this way, the brothers revealed their envy when they saw their brother on the battlefield, what would they not have done if it had not been done in this manner?"
1 Sam 16:4 "And the elders of the city trembled at his coming" — and at the same time were terrified, because it was unusual for so great a prophet and judge to come alone. Partly because he arrived unexpectedly, with no warning, whence they feared lest he were fleeing from an angry Saul, and might turn his anger upon the Bethlehemites, as if they were receiving Samuel, or lest he might announce something sad.
Tropologically, St. Gregory says: "The Elect Doctors ought scarcely ever to be seen in public; they should be frequent in secret, free from civil affairs, full of spiritual ones."
1 Sam 16:5: "Sanctify yourselves" — that is, prepare yourselves holily for the holy sacrifice to which I invite you, that you may be present at it; although Samuel invited only Jesse with his sons to the sacrificial meal, so that he might secretly anoint one of his sons as king. Hence follows: "Therefore Jesse and his sons sanctified themselves, and he called them to the sacrifice." He sanctified them — that is, he ordered them to sanctify or purify themselves through lying apart (that is, abstinence) and through the sprinkling of lustral water, so that if they had contracted any legal irregularity, they might expiate it by this purification. See what has been said on Numbers 19. The Gentiles imitated this same practice, according to that verse: "Chaste things please the Gods above; come with pure garment," and "Until I wash myself in a living stream." Hence that law in Cicero, On Laws, Book 2: "Approach the Gods chastely."
From this, arguing from the lesser to the greater, St. Gregory infers and says: "If they do not dare to be present at sacrifices unless sanctified, what must be thought concerning those who sacrifice? For to sanctify is to purify. How pure, then, ought the Pontiffs to be, when even the common people are not admitted to the sacrifice unless sanctified? Sanctification of the body is chastity; sanctification of the mind is charity and humility."
1 Sam 16:6: "And when they had entered" — at the meal prepared after Samuel's sacrifice (for not at the sacrifice itself, as being public and before the elders, but at the meal, before Jesse and his brothers, did Samuel secretly anoint David as king, lest Saul understand the matter and plot death against both — namely, both Samuel and David) — "Eliab saw him and said: 'Is the Lord's anointed before Him?'" As if to say: Samuel presented Eliab, the firstborn of Jesse, and offered him to the Lord, and asked him: "Is this, O Lord, the one You have chosen as king, that You order him to be anointed by me, so that he himself may become Christ" — that is, the Lord's Anointed?
1 Sam 16:7-9: "And the Lord said to Samuel: 'Do not look at his countenance'" — manly, tall, and elegant — "nor at the height of his stature," as Saul the king towered above the whole people from the shoulder upward. "For I have rejected him." Hebrew: מְאַסְתִּיו (mas'tihu), that is, "I have rejected him." The Septuagint: "Because I have despised him." The Chaldaic: "I have removed him," namely, from the kingdom. As if to say: I have rejected Eliab, although firstborn, handsome, and tall, lest he be king. So St. Gregory, Abulensis, Hugo, Lyranus, and Dionysius. Others [interpret]: as if to say, I have rejected him — that is, my Christ, whom indeed I wish to be anointed by you as king — namely, David; I have made [him] rejected — that is, young and the youngest among the sons of Jesse.
"For man sees those things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart." Hebrew: "Man sees, and seeing judges according to the eyes, according to the appearance of external things; but God sees, and seeing judges according to the heart." Wherefore men are often deceived. For the eyes and countenance often lie and indicate a wise or good mind, which is foolish and wicked. But the heart — that is, the mind and will — cannot lie or deceive, since it cannot feign itself to be other than it truly is. God therefore is Cardiagnostes — that is, the Inspector of the heart, indeed its Lord and Possessor. The sense is, as if God were to say: I see that David's heart is better than Eliab's heart, even though Eliab's countenance and form are better and grander than David's countenance and form; for this reason, not to Eliab but to David will I assign the kingdom.
Hence the Septuagint translate: "Because man will look upon the face, but God upon the heart" — namely, upon the secrets and innermost parts of the heart. And the Chaldaic: "Because the sons of men see with their eyes, but before the Lord the thoughts of the heart are manifest."
1 Sam 16:10: "Therefore Jesse brought his seven sons." Therefore Jesse (or Jesse — for these two names among the Hebrews are one and the same) had universally eight sons. For David, being absent, was the eighth. You may object: in 1 Chronicles 3, with David are numbered only seven sons of Jesse. Respond: there not all are numbered, but one is omitted for a reason unknown to us — perhaps because the eighth was born of a concubine or secondary wife, just as in chapter 14, verse 49, three sons of Saul are numbered and the fourth is omitted — namely, Ish-bosheth, concerning whom see 2 Kings 2:11.
Alternatively, Lyranus, Cajetan, and Dionysius say that the name of the third son was Nathan or Jonathan, and that he is omitted because he was an adopted, not a natural, son. But concerning this adoption of his, we read nothing anywhere. Hence it is clear that Samuel revealed to Jesse God's counsel about choosing one of his sons as king and anointing him. For this reason Jesse brought all his sons in order of birth to Samuel, that he might see which one of them God would choose.
1 Sam 16:11: "There remains yet the youngest." See here how diverse are the judgments of God and men. For Jesse esteemed David as a youth and the youngest, and therefore tending sheep, of little account, and not worthy of Samuel's presence; whence he did not bring him. But God preferred him above all his brothers and created him king. Whence St. Ambrose, Sermon 18 on Psalm 118, says: "He was tending his father's sheep, sent away to a vile service; he was not offered to the priest Samuel, as unworthy to be anointed king." St. Chrysostom on Psalm 50 [says] similarly, and so do Josephus and Serarius.
"The youngest." Hence, and more from chapter 17, verses 23, 42, 58, many hold that David, when he was anointed king, was a boy in age — indeed, a little boy, as [some] say.
On the other hand, the Hebrews in Seder Olam, chapter 13, hold that David at this time was 29 years old, because they think that Saul reigned and lived only two years, and that David immediately succeeded him when he died, being thirty years old, as is said in 2 Kings 5:4.
The middle opinion is truer — namely, that David, when he was anointed, was about twenty years old. For this age is suitable for reigning and is midway between boyhood and mature manhood. It is proved: first, because David in verse 18 is called "mighty in strength, a warrior, and prudent in speech"; therefore he was easily twenty years old. Second, because, as I said in the preceding chapter, Saul, through disobedience in sparing Agag, in the seventh year of his reign was deprived [of the kingdom] by Samuel; but in the following year — namely, the eighth of Saul's reign — for him, already rejected, [Samuel] anointed David. Moreover, Saul after this reigned still ten years; for universally he reigned 18 years. Wherefore, since after ten years Saul died, and David, succeeding him in the kingdom, was then thirty years old, it must be said that in this year, when he was first secretly anointed, he was 20 years old. So Abulensis, Dionysius, Salianus, and others.
Add that in verse 21, Saul made David his armor-bearer; but armor-bearers are accustomed to be youths, not boys.
You may ask: how then is David here called "the youngest"? Respond: because with respect to all his brothers he was the youngest — that is, the least by birth, and therefore a shepherd. Whence for "youngest," the Hebrew is קָטָן (katan), that is, "small," as the Chaldaic translates. Hence the Septuagint translate "younger" — that is, the youngest of the brothers. So Benjamin is called "the youngest" — that is, the least by birth among the sons of Jacob (Genesis 43:29), although even then he had begotten ten sons, as is clear from Genesis 46:21.
"And he tends sheep." Thus of old the Patriarchs and Princes were farmers and shepherds of sheep, and from sheep they learned to feed and rule men. Such were Adam, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses. Such also were the Romans, concerning whom Ovid, Fasti, Book 1: "He who had just now laid aside the plow gave laws to the peoples, and the Senator himself tended his own sheep." See what has been said on chapter 11, verse 5.
"Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down to eat until he comes here." Hence it is clear that David was anointed before the meal: partly because weighty matters are accustomed to be transacted before meals; partly because zealous prophets, such as Samuel was, urgently press God's precepts and execute them immediately, before other matters; partly because, as St. Gregory says, "In the observance of fasting the Sacraments of anointing are to be celebrated." Whence also it has been ordained that no one receive sacred Chrism in Confirmation except fasting.
[Marginal note: Princes and shepherds of old were farmers]
1 Sam 16:12: "Now he was ruddy." Hebrew: אַדְמוֹנִי (admoni), that is, reddish, sanguine, ruddy, as if he were another Adam, says Theodoret, and therefore a type and figure of Christ. For ruddy ones are beautiful and often of notable character. Whence Cedrenus writes that the Emperor Valentinian was considered similar to David because he was ruddy, with red hair, blue eyes, and beautiful. For a ruddy color approaches tawny, such as is the lion's, who by strength surpasses all animals and is their king. Aristotle adds in Physiognomics, chapter 10: "Those whose color is red are sharp-witted, because all things that are according to the body, when heated by motion, become red."
"Arise, anoint him, for this is he" — whom I have chosen as king and wish to be anointed by you. Moreover, St. Athanasius in the Life of St. Antony says that David was recognized by Samuel from the joy of his countenance, just as by the same [joy] Antony was recognized by all among a thousand monks: "For if anyone, ignorant of his appearance, desired to see him among a multitude of monks, without anyone pointing him out, passing by the others he would run to Antony and recognize the purity of his soul from his countenance, and through the mirror of the body behold the grace of a holy mind. For always bearing a cheerful face, he clearly showed that he was thinking of heavenly things, as Scripture says: 'A glad heart makes the face flourish, but in sorrow of spirit it is continually sad,'" says St. Athanasius.
Thus Samuel, says [the commentator], recognized David, a type of Christ.
[Marginal note: David, joyful — for he had eyes and teeth white as milk]
Allegorically: David, who was a type of Christ, who was ruddy, says St. Gregory, "because wounded by the lance; ruddy, because reddened by the Passion. Whence also it is said to him through the prophet: 'Why is your garment red?' Indeed, he was ruddy because he colored the whiteness of such great innocence with the redness of precious blood. He was also beautiful in appearance, because by rising again he put on the beauty of immortality, and with great charity looked upon us mortals." And below: "Ruddy therefore he was in the world, beautiful in paradise, of comely face, eternal in heaven; and all this threefold beauty can be recognized in the conduct of his present life. Indeed, he was ruddy because he fervently loved those for whom he laid down his soul; he was beautiful in appearance because he knew all things; of comely face because he did all good things."
1 Sam 16:13 "Therefore Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers." Not, as Josephus says, as if Samuel whispered in his ear, but so that all the brothers might see and understand the anointing, and this so that they might thereafter esteem him more highly and labor with less envy, when they saw him preferred before themselves, says Theodoret, Question 37.
Moreover, David was anointed not that he might reign immediately, but that he might succeed the dying Saul in the kingdom. Hence it is clear that David's father and brothers knew that he was being anointed by Samuel as king. So Abulensis, although Cajetan denies this.
David was anointed three times: First, here, privately; Second, publicly, when he was made king of the tribe of Judah; Third, when he was made king of all the tribes (2 Kings, chapters 2 and 5).
In the Greek codices of the Psalter is added Psalm 151, which treats of this anointing, where David thus sings concerning himself: "I was small among my brothers, and the youngest in my father's house; I tended my father's sheep... He sent His angel and took me from my father's sheep, and anointed me with the oil of His anointing. My brothers were handsome and great, but the Lord was not well-pleased with them."
Tropologically, St. Gregory says: "The horn of oil is taken up," he says, "so that in excellent liquor the master of the Church may strive to be a man of great mercy. The head of the king is anointed with oil because he ought to shine above the lampstand through the flame of the Word. The horn receives oil so that by reproving it may cleanse, and by mercifully soothing it may draw. The horn also receives in the sublimity of order oil for the fostering of virtue, but it is anointed with a full horn so that the virtue of the Pontiff may be taught as full. For the horn has fullness in its anointing if it is perfect both in the virtue of mercy and of charity and of the Word; it is also known to have a full horn in its anointing, whose entire power is dispensed through mercy."
And after several more [words]: "Indeed, he is anointed with oil in the midst of others because he who is placed as an example to others ought to have no part of himself obscure, so that all may look upon him and take from him an example of light."
And with a few words interposed: "Or, he is anointed in the midst of his brothers so that he may always consider himself both anointed and in the middle. Let him therefore acknowledge his dignity and exercise the duty of his dignity, because he is anointed; let him see himself as in the middle and a man of common condition, so that he may recognize those over whom he eminently presides as his equals. Therefore he is anointed in the midst of his brothers so that he may be humble: sublime in rank, humble in estimation. He is anointed in the same middle so that he may not love himself with private affection; from all in which he excels, let him seek the gain of others."
And here St. Gregory ends his exposition on the book of Kings.
"And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward."
You may ask: what was this spirit? Respond:
First, it was a spirit of fortitude, both of soul and of body, which made him warlike and victorious; whence after this anointing David slew both lion and bear, and also the giant Goliath. Hence the Septuagint translate: "The Spirit of the Lord leaped upon him," just as He rushed upon Samson, and he rushed forth whenever he undertook any heroic work of fortitude. So Lyranus, Abulensis, and Vatablus, who translates: "The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him." The Chaldaic: "The spirit of fortitude from God remained upon David."
Second, it was a spirit of great and royal mind. For just as God, calling Saul from asses to the kingdom, changed his rustic heart into a magnanimous and royal one, so now He transferred the same spirit from Saul to David, so that he who previously had thought only of tending sheep might now think of governing and defending all Israel. Therefore He instilled in him great and new spirits, new thoughts, new counsels, new desires and vows — for this is what the Hebrew signifies.
Third, it was a spirit of Poetry and Music — namely, of singing psalms and composing and chanting them. For from the time of his anointing he began to sing psalms and compose them. So Abulensis, Dionysius, and others.
Fourth, it was a spirit of prudence, so that in all words and deeds he might be wonderfully prudent, discreet, provident, and might govern not only himself and his family, but the whole kingdom most wisely. Whence also Solomon, the son of David, afterward requested and obtained the same from God (1 Kings 3:12).
Finally, the Hebrew תִּצְלַח (tislach), which our [Vulgate] translates "directed," with Marinus and others you may translate: "prospered, favored, directed to a happy effect," so that, namely, David might accomplish all things prudently and happily and bring them to the desired end.
Fifth, it was a spirit of prophecy. For David was a prophet, and in the Psalms he not only sings but also prophesies concerning Christ, and concerning Christ's life, death, the Apostles, the Church, etc. So St. Jerome, Josephus, and others.
Moreover, this Spirit did not pass through [David] transiently, but constantly remained in him, at least with respect to some of his operations. For this is what that phrase "from that day and thereafter" signifies. So St. Gregory.
Suddenly, therefore, through the anointing of God and Samuel, David was changed here from a despised little shepherd of sheep into a most strong and prudent king, and a divine Psalmist and prophet. For if he had possessed any of these things before, surely his father and brothers would not have so rejected him to the sheep, but would have esteemed him more highly.
"In David." David was named from love, as if "amiable." For David in Hebrew is the same as דּוֹד (dod), that is, "beloved" or "love" and "affection," according to that verse in the Song of Songs 1: "Your loves are better," Hebrew דּוֹדֶיךָ (dodecha), "than wine." Hence also his son Solomon received the same name from God and was called Jedidiah — that is, "beloved of the Lord" (2 Kings 12:25). Moreover, St. Augustine, Book 22 against Faustus, chapter 87, and on Psalm 34, says that David is the same as "strong of hand" or "desirable," so that David may be said as if from דַּי (dai), יָד (yad) — that is, "sufficient," that is, "strong, powerful of hand."
Hear St. Chrysostom, Homily on David and Goliath, comparing David with Saul and preferring David: "I have found for myself David, a man according to my heart, who will do all my will." O blessed David, merit most holy, whom God praises, the Lord proclaims, the Judge prefers, the Supreme One sets above! For while David, the most holy man, is according to the heart of God, whatever God thinks, he accomplishes; whatever He conceives in mind, he perfects. For while, I say, David joins his own heart to God's heart and attaches his mind to His mind — that is, so that he wills what God wills, and similarly does not will what God does not will — thus the Lord loved him with indivisible love and joined charity.
And with a few words interposed: "This one is chosen from sheep for the kingdom; that one is destined from the kingdom for the sword. This one holy life promoted; that one, contempt for the commandments, rejected. David, still a shepherd, defeats the lion, kills the bear; Saul, despising the Lord, provokes an evil spirit within himself. David, most holy, reigns, but secretly; Saul, reprobate, is made [king], but openly. This one is already king; that one is merely thought [to be]. This one already possesses; that one is only called [king]. This one holds hidden dignity; that one has the public image of the kingdom.
David is inundated by the Holy Spirit from God; Saul, however, is deserted by this Spirit. Finally, Saul persecutes innocent David; but David, when Saul is delivered into his hand, shows him unharmed, a sinner — so that both the Holy Spirit might grow gentle in David, and the evil spirit might rage against the innocent in Saul; so that the diversity of life might now demonstrate diverse merits, and these causes might be attributed to men, not to God, who either removes or confers the kingdom upon those who act ill or well."
CONTINUE
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