Commentary on 1 Kings (Book Three, chapters 3.2 (1 Samuel 4:1–3)–3.3 (1 Samuel 5:1–3))
Commentary on 1 Kings
continued
Chapter 3.2 (1 Samuel 4:1–3)
For Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle, and encamped near the Stone of Help. Moreover the Philistines came to Aphek, and drew up their battle line against Israel. When the battle was joined, Israel turned their backs, and about four thousand men were slain in that battle scattered throughout the fields. And Israel returned to the camp. 1. The blessed Apostle shows that there are spiritual battles, when he exhorts the camp of holy Church to victory, saying: "Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places" (Eph. 6:12). Concerning these battles, also providing counsel for obtaining victory, he says: "And take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (ibid., 16, 17). Hence Peter, exhorting, says: "Be sober and watch in prayers, because your adversary the devil goes about, seeking whom he may devour; resist him, strong in faith" (1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8). Therefore, while battles are related to the Israelites according to the letter, internal and spiritual battles are signified. For "Philistines" is interpreted as "falling by the cup"; by which name indeed the reprobate angels are expressed, because through a more abundant draught of pride they lost the state of eternal life. For to fall as if by a cup was for them to take up the draught of pride without any delay of reconsideration. For what is drunk is easily consumed. Of the prince of these fallen ones, the Lord speaks as if of one drinking: "Because he did not stand in the truth" (John 8:44). For he fell as if by a draught, who, drunk with the swiftness of his own pride, did not stand even for a moment in the truth in which he had been created.
2. But it must be carefully inquired how Israel according to the flesh is understood to go out to battle against these who fall by the cup. For no one fights with one who is subject to him. How then is the Jewish people, who are subject to malign spirits through unbelief, said to go out to battle against them? Yet they are said to fight not by the truth of strength, but by the deception of self-estimation. For in truth of strength he has been conquered by malign spirits, but nevertheless, while he keeps the traditions of the ancient Fathers, he thinks he has a contest with malign spirits. Whence also he is bound all the more tightly under the chains of his captivity, the more the confidence of a liberty he does not possess is suggested to him by their cunning. For crafty adversaries by hidden suggestions proclaim to him the strength of a false liberty, so that he does not attend to the darkness by which he is oppressed, and they possess him, already deceived, all the more securely because he does not care to be loosed from the bonds of unbelief by which he is held by believing in our Redeemer. And it should be noted that it is said of the rejected people: Israel went out. Then he rightly went out when he abandoned the monuments of sacred faith. Whence also concerning those who by erring had deviated from the mysteries of Holy Scripture, John says:
They went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John 2:19). Therefore for Israel according to the flesh to go out is to pass beyond the boundaries of right faith by erring. But because they do not cease to expect another Christ, they pitch camp beside the Stone of Help. Rightly therefore Israel is said to have turned their backs, because he is also reported to have gone out. For if he had remained within, he could in no way have been conquered, because if he had kept himself within the fortifications of faith, he would have vanquished the armed spirits of error. And because he is overcome by fraud, the Philistines are reported to have drawn up their battle line at Aphek. For, for malign spirits to draw up a battle line is to arrange arguments of deception against the unwary hearts of the Jews. But when battle was joined, Israel turned their backs, because while he fears to die, he does not resist malign spirits. For indeed fugitives from battle turn their backs to the enemy, lest by resisting they die. But because the Jews tremble at dying if they believe in the Redeemer, for this reason they do not resist, so that they may live, because they do not believe in the Redeemer, so that they may be saved in the old circumcision. For they would resist malign spirits if they had held the arms of their strength in faith in our Redeemer.
But therefore they flee lest they die, and therefore because they flee they die. For the pursuing enemy kills the one fleeing all the more easily, because he who is struck while fleeing does not resist the sword of his impending conqueror. Whence also in that same battle four thousand of the Jews are recorded to have been slain. For what are these four thousand, except those who refused to receive the truth of the four Gospels? For this reason they are also reported to die in the fields, because they linger in the breadth of their errors. And because they do not yet at all abandon the hiding places of their error, Israel is said to have returned to the camp. For, as I have already said, he still thinks he has a contest with malign spirits when he rather obeys their will than opposes it. 3. But because "cup" is also taken in a good sense, those falling by the cup can be understood as the preachers of holy Church. Of this cup, indeed, the Prophet boasts, saying: "You have anointed my head with oil, and my inebriating cup, how excellent it is!" (Ps. 22:5). For the inebriating cup is the abundant grace of the Holy Spirit, which is fittingly called a cup because by its fullness the hearts of the elect are inebriated in an instant. Hence it is also said of the first pastors of holy Church: "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). By this cup, indeed, the preachers fall, because while they abundantly receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, they entirely abandon the state of carnal life. For daily, drinking as it were excessively from this cup, they fall, because even if carnal impulses sometimes raise them up toward committing faults, yet by the power of the Spirit they have drunk, they are not found standing in a state of sin. And because the Jewish people indeed has with these preachers a contest of faith against those Philistines, carnal Israel daily goes out to the field of battle.
4. Moreover, by the name of the Philistines the preachers of the holy Church can be understood, because they were led from the error of the Gentiles to the grace of faith through the mercy of God. Fighting against them, Israel indeed turned its back, because it could not resist the Spirit speaking through the mouths of the preachers. For Israel had gone out to battle against the Philistines when the Jews opposed Stephen as he preached and disputed concerning the reasoning of our faith. But fighting, it turned its back, because it could not resist by disputing. For concerning those who turned their backs, it is said in the Acts of the Apostles: "They could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke" (Acts 6:10). Moreover, for the Israelites to be slain is to be separated from the life of unbelief. They are also fittingly said to die in the fields; for the fields of the contest are the verdant understandings of sacred Scripture. Therefore, thousands of slain Israelite warriors are recorded in the fields, because those who were converted from Judea by the ministry of the holy preachers believed in the Redeemer of the human race through the teachings of the holy Scriptures. And four thousand slain are recorded, because they devoted themselves to the same authority of sacred Scripture from the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Gospel.
But while some were slain, others returned to the camp, because some from Judea were led to the knowledge of the Redeemer by the ministry of the preachers, but the fullness of that same nation more boldly opposes the assertions of the holy Church, the more deeply it is cast into the darkness of its unbelief and is not led to the light of truth. Indeed, for it to return to the camp is not to cease opposing. And because they accuse those who had believed as if foolish and overcome by no sufficient reasoning, there follows: (Verse 3. And the elders of Israel said: "Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines?" 5. For "why" in this place is not an interrogation of inquiry, but a complaint of amazement. They ask about the defeat, then, with amazement, because they were unable to arrive at the reason by which they had observed that the men of their religion had received the faith of the Redeemer. And it should be noted that those who ask with amazement are recorded to have been the elders of Israel, because indeed all the proud, glorying in their own wisdom, were in no way able to arrive at the knowledge of divine mysteries. Whence also in the Gospel the Lord speaks to the Father, saying: "I confess to you, Father, King of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the prudent and wise, and have revealed them to little ones" (Matt. 11:25). They indeed complain that they were struck, because while they observed that through those who believed the old custom of the law was being dissolved, they supposed that certain wounds of a blow had been inflicted upon them by the incomprehensible judgment of God, which they might proclaim with shared grief. But those who complain that others have fallen add by what plan they prepare themselves to resist: (Verse 3.) "Let us bring to ourselves the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh, and let it come into our midst, and let it save us from the hand of our enemies." And concerning the carrying out of this same counsel it is immediately added: (Verse 4.) "Therefore the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts sitting upon the cherubim."
6. This is certainly the plan, this is the work of Israel against the battle of those falling by the cup — but indeed an unheard-of plan and work, because it is not of Israel according to the spirit, but of Israel according to the flesh; that is, not of one who sees God, but of one who thinks he sees the God whom he despises. For what is it to send to Shiloh, except to have recourse to the law of Moses, to whom it is said by the Lord: "Come, I will send you to Pharaoh" (Exod. 3:10)? What is it to bring the ark of the Lord, except to bring forward the sacraments of the old law by recalling them in order to refute the truth of the new faith? And because they allow none of their own to be ignorant of the same knowledge of the law, the ark is ordered to be brought into their midst. What likewise is the meaning of what they say, "And let it save us from the hand of our enemies," except that while they stubbornly defend the old things, they repel the new, and they hold this as their confidence of salvation — that they cannot be drawn by the zeal of good preachers to the reasoning of the true faith? Therefore, because they boast that they possess the truth of divine knowledge through the old law, they affirm that the same ark, which they order to be brought for their salvation, belongs to the Lord of hosts. And because they think they excel in incomparable knowledge of the same law, while the ark is said to be brought, it is declared to belong to the Lord of hosts who sits upon the cherubim. (Verse 5.) And when the ark had come, all Israel shouted with a great cry.
7. Because indeed, from the fact that they receive the knowledge of the law carnally, they chatter in reproach of the holy Church without any demonstration of reason. For those who are said to have cried out and yet to have said nothing express precisely what they do, because while they endeavor to speak of spiritual things carnally, they indeed have clamor in their chattering, but they do not have the reason of truth. With their voice they say many things indeed, but, speaking without reason, they harm the elect of the holy Church in nothing; and the Synagogue, speaking within itself, is shaken by vain devotion, because the holy Church is not moved by its words. Whence it is most fittingly reported that only the earth resounded. For Judea is now called "earth," not because it bears fruit for God, but on account of its carnality, because indeed, while it refused to receive faith in the Redeemer, it utterly lost its heavenly manner of life. But while it is shaken by its own outcry, it exults in that estimation by which it considers itself to be terrible to the preachers of the holy Church. (Verse 6.) 'And the Philistines heard the voice of the shouting, and they said: What is this outcry in the camp of the Hebrews?'
8. Indeed the Philistines hear the sound of the land and the shouting of the camps, because those who in the holy Church have been refreshed by the cup of the Holy Spirit recognize both the talkativeness and the vain devotion of Jewish perfidy. And because they hold their estimation in the contempt of derision, it is added: (Vers. 6, 7.) And they recognized that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, and the Philistines were afraid, saying: God has come into the camp, and they groaned. It is said ironically that the ark had come into the camp of the Hebrews, and that those falling by the cup were afraid and groaned, because for the conflict of the holy Church the sacraments of the old law are expounded carnally by the carnal defenders of the Synagogue. For they dispute about that which, if they understood according to the Spirit of God, they could have been truly terrible to their enemies, if they had any. Therefore when those falling by the cup are said to have been terrified and to have groaned, Scripture does not show the passions of minds in the holy preachers, but the mockery of Jewish disputation; which is known to be all the more contemptible and worthy of laughter, inasmuch as the Jewish people received a spiritual law from the Lord for spiritual conduct, and did not attend in the spirit to what they had received by the gift of the spirit. Wherefore, adding also the words of the same Jewish derision, they say: (Vers. 8.) Woe to us, there was not so great an exultation yesterday and the day before. And because they are to be more abundantly derided, they add saying: (Vers. 8.) Who will deliver us from the hand of these sublime gods?
9. And it should be noted that by the title of "gods," those are mocked who, departing from the faith of the ancient Fathers, trust that they stand in the truth of faith and are counted among the number of the sons of God. They claim that those proclamations of divine praise were spoken concerning themselves, which the Lord pronounces through the Prophet, saying: 'I said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High' (Psalm 81:6). If, therefore, by a false estimation all Israelites according to the flesh are nominally gods, then the "exalted gods," by the same falsehood of Jewish estimation, are the wise men of the Jews. And because the learned men of the Synagogue come into conflict with the holy Church, they themselves are mocked by the voice of the holy preachers, who boast of a power of doctrine that they do not possess. And because they pride themselves on the ancient manner of life of the old Fathers, words of mockery are added. (Verse 8.) 'These are the gods who struck Egypt with every plague in the desert.'
10. For they themselves would be such, if they were to illuminate the nobility which they derive from their fleshly origin with the virtues of right faith. But now, because through fleshly descent they are the children of those whose virtues they do not possess, they are mocked with contrary words for having lost the succession of those same virtues: "These are the gods," they say. As if by open derision the order of our teachers were to rebuke the wise men of the Jews, saying: In the flesh indeed they boast themselves to be the children of great men, but they do not attain the nobility of faith of those in whose lineage they take pride. They themselves, then, are gods by succession of descent, but because they themselves are not so by imitation of virtue, when they are called those who were renowned in virtue, they are mocked rather than praised. And because the teachers of holy Church count their assertions as nothing, there follows: (Ver. 9.) "Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you serve the Hebrews, as they have served you."
11. Against the vain assertions of the Jews, the doctors of holy Church prepare nothing stronger anew, precisely because whatever is falsely asserted by the Jews concerning contempt of the Redeemer they consider as nothing. For they would be strengthened against their encounter and would fight as if with manly courage, if they had feared that the defenses of their assertion were being broken down by wiser and more rationally arguing opponents. For it is as if he were saying: Against their objections we need not seek out anything strong and sharp, precisely because they themselves raise objections that are by no means subtle and fearsome, but weak and contemptible. But, as I said, the preachers of holy Church, even though they prepare nothing new against the vain words of the Jews, nevertheless by the plain and humble reasoning of our true faith they overcome in every way the assault of the defenders of the Synagogue. Whence he also adds: (Verses 10, 11.) Therefore the Philistines fought, and Israel was turned back, each one to his tent, and there was an exceedingly great slaughter, and the ark of God was captured. The two sons of Eli also died, Hophni and Phinehas.
12. The Philistines, that is, "those falling by the cup," fight when the doctors of the holy Church with the banner of the catholic faith confront the attacking Jews. But Israel is turned back, because in every disputation the cunning of the Jews is overcome. For to be turned back, for him, is to be unable to oppose with equal strength. But he who is turned back while fighting is indeed in battle, but fleeing — although lacking in strength, nevertheless not losing the desire to harm. For so it is with all of Israel when repulsed. He flees, indeed, because he is unable to answer the doctors of the holy Church; but while fleeing he would wish to resist, because, conquered and confounded, he would desire to have at hand the means by which he could oppose the truth by which he is overcome. Well, therefore, when Israel is said to be turned back, it is cautiously added: "Each one to his own tent." For the tent of each Israelite is a heart enclosed by the confines of unbelief. Because therefore, conquered by the preachers of the holy Church, they return to the hiding places of their error, each one fleeing from battle returns to his own tent. And because all this is said concerning the fulfillment of the word of Samuel, namely concerning the denunciation of the early Church, the slaughter is reported to have been exceedingly great — which slaughter indeed, at the reader's discretion, can fittingly be understood both according to a spiritual striking and according to a material one.
13. For concerning their spiritual plague, the Lord says to the disciples sent out for preaching: Whoever does not receive you, as you go out from the house or city, shake the dust from your feet. Amen I say to you: it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city (Matt. 10:14). Hence He says again: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned (Mark 16:16). He also indicates a great plague according to material striking, when He speaks to Jerusalem, saying: Days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, and hem you in on every side, and dash you and your children to the ground, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another (Luke 19:43, 44). Hence, as He was setting out toward the condescension of His passion, He speaks to the women who were suffering with Him and weeping, saying: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over me, but weep over yourselves and over your children, for behold days shall come upon you in which they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not bear, and the breasts that did not nurse. Then they shall begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry (Luke 23:28 ff.)?
By these words, indeed, the death and captivity that was inflicted upon the Jewish people by the Roman generals Vespasian and Titus is signified. For then a great plague was wrought, when with the slaughter of the Jewish people the city was both captured and overthrown, when in vengeance for the divine blood the people fell by the enemy's sword, and whoever was able to escape the blade endured the punishment of eternal captivity. This immensity of the plague is reported as having befallen Israel already turned away, because the Jewish people were first both defeated and rejected by the teachers of the holy Church before they were conquered, slain, and led into captivity by the Roman army. For they were able to be conquered, killed, and led into captivity temporally because they did not accept the security of eternal freedom offered to them by the teachers of the holy Church. But this same plague was also decreed against the old Israel by the deep dispensation of divine goodness, so that the ark of God might be captured by the Gentiles, and the faithful of the holy Church might perceive the understanding of the divine sacraments all the more securely under spiritual explanation, the more they saw that nothing remained in Judea that might serve as a carnal representation.
For by God's will, the old people lost the city, the temple, and the ark of the covenant, so that the new people of the holy Church might recognize all the more fully the mystery of the true and new sacrifice, inasmuch as it observes that among the Jews, with the new things appearing, the old things have utterly failed. The ark of God is therefore said to have been captured by the Philistines, because, with the practice of the old Scripture destroyed, the sacraments are faithfully received by the Gentiles according to the truth of the Spirit. For he captures the ark of God who comprehends the mysteries of divine knowledge in sacred Scripture through the truth of understanding, with devotion of mind. But when the ark was captured, Eli's two sons immediately die, because indeed priests of both the higher and the lower order nowhere live in the office of the old sacrifice. For they are said to die who have entirely ceased to offer sacred rites. There follows: (Verses 12, 13. And a man of Benjamin, running from the battle line, came to Shiloh on that day, with his garment torn and his head sprinkled with dust. And when he had come, Eli was sitting upon a seat, watching toward the road. But the man, after he had entered, reported the news to the city, and the whole city wailed.
14. What is represented by that man who fled from the battle line, if not that part of the Jewish people which, by coming to the knowledge of the Redeemer, abandoned Jewish faithlessness? For his running was to cease from the depravity of his error with the swiftness of devotion. Because he resolved to act bravely in professing the Redeemer, he was a man. He indeed runs from the battle on the day he was defeated, because by that illumination of faith by which he abandoned the darkness of faithlessness, he came forward to preach the truth he had come to know. Hence he is also said to have come to Shiloh, because he is sent to preach. He tore his garment, because he stripped off the old man; he sprinkled his head with dust, because he did not at all grow proud on account of the splendor of the new man with which he clothed himself. For the torn garment pertains to the beauty of holy conduct, and the sprinkling of dust to the esteem of humility. Because therefore for holy preachers neither purity of life without humility nor humility without holy conduct suffices, the man who came as a type of the teachers to announce the destruction of Israel both tore his garment and sprinkled his head with dust. For was it not with head sprinkled with this dust that he who spoke to the Lord carried himself, saying: "I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27)? Likewise with head sprinkled the Prophet spoke when he supplicated, saying: "Remember, O Lord, that we are dust" (Ps. 103:15). He had also torn his garment who, confessing, said: "You have torn my sackcloth and girded me with gladness" (Ps. 30:12).
15. But when the humility of the ecclesiastical preacher is commended, the pride of the Jewish teacher is likewise expressed, because Eli is said to sit upon a seat. In this passage, Eli represents not the priests but the lawyers of the Synagogue. And what does it mean that he sits upon a seat, except that he is proudly exalted because of his learning? And what does it mean that he watches facing the road, except that while he receives the Scriptures proudly, he contradicts the One through whom he ought to have traveled to the eternal homeland? For the way of salvation is the One who declares of Himself, saying: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). Therefore he looks not toward the way but against the way, because he does not recognize the Redeemer whom he contradicts. And fittingly, with his sons dead, the father is said to sit upon a seat, because the Synagogue no longer has those who sacrifice in the old manner, and yet still has those who teach in the old manner. And because they were trained for ministry through wise teachers, when the one who sacrificed ceased and the one who taught still remained, the sons are fittingly reported as dead while the father sits upon a seat. But at the announcement of the Redeemer that it heard, the multitude of the Synagogue had not joy but sorrow. Whence, after the man came from the battle and announced the capture of the ark, the whole city is said to have wailed. And because this grief reached even the teachers, there follows: (Verse 14.) "And Eli heard the sound of the crying and said: What is this noise of tumult?"
16. A tumult is the outcry of the people, but a confused one, when indeed without the discipline of listening, with many speaking at once, a great murmuring arises without any showing of reason. When Eli therefore heard the wailing of the city, he said: What is the sound of this tumult? Because indeed the authority of the Synagogue, with its faithless subjects grieving over the preaching of Jesus Christ, when it wished to hear the cause of their grief, did not receive a reasonable response, but a confusion of complaint. But so that he who had come from the circumcision to the ministry of ecclesiastical preaching might not have the excuse of ignorance, the truth of the matter was revealed to him. Whence it is also added: (Verse 14.) But he hastened, and came, and reported to Eli. But because the same Eli received the announcement of the man coming when he was about to die immediately, what kind of hearer he himself is becomes known in what follows: (Verse 15.) Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had grown dim, and he could not see.
17. For his old age would have been perfect if he had completed the full number of one hundred years in living. Since two years are seen to be lacking from this number, what else does this signify except that he would have been of perfect maturity if he had recognized the twofold mystery in the incarnation of our Redeemer, namely true divinity in his humanity and true humanity in his divinity? But now, because he rightly understands much from the old law and very many things from the heavenly commandments, he is ninety-eight years old. And while he believes in God, and that he could be born of a Virgin in the flesh, yet refuses to accept the nature of his humanity in the divinity, he is not one hundred years old. Hence also, having heard the report of the man, he justly dies, because without faith in the Redeemer the good things he knows and other things profit him nothing. And because by the deep and incomprehensible judgment of God the blindness of ignorance is struck upon his mind, he is recorded to have grown dim and to have been unable to see. There follows: (Verse 16.) And he said to Eli: I am the one who came from the battle, I am the one who fled from the line of battle today.
18. He who said the following recalled as if he had been in battle: 'You have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers' (Gal. 1:13–14). But he who says the following came from battle: 'Who was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly' (1 Tim. 1:13). Therefore, for a Jew to flee from the battle line—what is it other than to be separated from the error of the faithless? And to come from battle—what is it but to announce to others the good of the right faith? For to flee is characteristic of one who fears; to come, of one who wills. In this passage, because "to come from battle" is said before "to flee from the battle line," even though faithlessness is abandoned before truth is preached, this is not surprising. For what he says afterward about having fled from the battle line is not stated according to the order in which it happened, but for the certainty of the statement he put first. This is also demonstrated according to the order of the historical account, because unless he had first fled from the battle line, he could in no way have come from battle.
19. But we who according to the spirit seek spiritual meanings even in the things done carnally among the Jews, let us attend to that man whom we introduced speaking a little above. For the Church had heard that he who once persecuted was now preaching the gospel, as it is written of him already evangelizing: "When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples, and they all feared him, not believing that he was a disciple" (Acts 9:26). Likewise, the Lord appearing at Damascus to Ananias the disciple said: "Arise, go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul of Tarsus, and lay your hand upon him, that he may receive his sight" (ibid., 11 and 12). And he immediately answered the Lord, saying: "Lord, I have heard from many how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon your name" (ibid., 13 and 14). Therefore, when he was preaching to the Jews the one whom he had been accustomed to attack with threats and slaughter, he was indeed coming from battle. But since all the disciples feared to join themselves to him as he preached, they doubted whether he had fled from the battle line. He was indeed coming from battle, since it had been said by the calling Lord to him who was cast down to the ground:
"Arise and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do" (ibid., 7). But Ananias did not believe he had fled from the battle line, for he reported to the commanding Lord those evils he had done to the saints in Jerusalem and the authority he had received. Therefore, so that the Lord might truly demonstrate that he had come from battle and fled from the battle line, He commanded Ananias, saying: "Go, for this man is a vessel of election for me, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). And it should be noted that on the very day he was announcing these things, he was declaring that he had come from battle and fled from the battle line. For they flee by day, because, as Truth attests: "He who is in darkness does not know where he goes" (John 12:35). Hence also it is written: "Those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who are drunk, are drunk at night" (1 Thess. 5:7). And since in the example of the blessed apostle Paul we have begun to see a man fleeing from the battle line, let us consider the fact that he flees by day. For it was night when he was marshaling his battle line against the holy Church, when, having received letters from the chief priests to Damascus, breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples, he was hastening (Acts 9:1, 2).
But he who prepared war at night fled by day, because on his journey a light from heaven suddenly shone around him and cast him to the ground, terrified him with unspeakable fear, so that he might recognize the darkness of his immense error and fight in the light of day for the Church whose night he had been attacking. Therefore he fled by day, whom the brightness of the Redeemer shown from heaven illuminated so that he might abandon the night of faithlessness. What then does it mean that on the same day he confesses coming from battle on which he fled from the battle line, unless the intention of right preaching is signified? For some flee from the battle line by day but come from battle on another day, because they abandon their former errors through love of eternal life, but when they are taken up into the ministry of preaching, they seek temporal rewards from the eloquence of their preaching. Therefore they come on a different day than the one on which they fled, because they are indeed upright in their way of life but perverse in the intention of their preaching. The holy preachers, then, who by the grace of our Redeemer believed from among the circumcision, came from battle not on another day but on the same day on which they had fled from the battle line, because they obtained both gifts in the splendor of heavenly love, namely the truth of their way of life together with the preaching of the word.
And because the Jewish teaching establishment, though not with the intention of knowing the truth, yet with the eagerness of curiosity, wished to hear the assertions of the holy preachers, there follows: (Verse 16. He said to him: "What has happened, my son?" 20. For under the description of one he speaks to all, because he saw the men of his nation, whom the teaching of the Law had once instructed. Or perhaps he called him "son" not from the affection of love, but from the flattery of cunning: so that he might the more easily capture him through deception, the more he showed that he loved him with fatherly affection. He therefore calls him "son," from whom he desires to know what had been done: so that the other, in return for the honor of flattery bestowed upon him, would pervert the sequence of truth. The honor of the title, therefore, is not referred to love, but to cunning. But he who rejected the favor of offered praise steadfastly revealed the truth. Whence it is also added: (Verse 17.) And he who brought the news answered and said: Israel has fled before the Philistines, and a great slaughter has occurred among the people. Moreover, your two sons are dead, Hophni and Phinehas. And the ark of God has been captured.
21. For the man who fled announced this, which he learned by experience. What then does he mean by asserting that Israel fled, except that he firmly affirms that, while the Jewish people retain the sense of the Law carnally, they cannot resist the spiritual doctors of Holy Church in disputation? And what does it mean that he proclaims a great slaughter was made among the people, except that he confirms all who from the Jewish people rejected the word of faith have perished by eternal death? And what does it mean that the two sons of Eli are reported dead, except that both orders of the old priesthood are asserted to have failed? And what does it mean that he says the ark of God was captured, except that he asserts the knowledge of the divine sacraments was taken away from the Jews and faithfully apprehended by the Gentiles? For by the Gentiles now, with the grace of God calling them, the faithful come to know the divine mysteries. There follows: (Verse 18.) And when he had named the ark of God, Eli fell from his seat backward beside the door, and with his neck broken, he died.
22. What is it that Eli, upon hearing of Israel's flight, when the ruin of the people was reported to him, when the death of his sons was announced, does not at all fall from his seat: but upon learning of the capture of the ark, both falls from his seat and loses his life? But because we have said that in Eli the wise men and lawyers of the Jews are signified, upon hearing of Israel's flight, he did not fall from his seat: because he considers it a small matter that the simple children of the Synagogue are overcome by the doctors of holy Church in preaching. He does not fall when the ruin of the people is reported to him: because, when he hears that those who die in Judaism are perishing, he is not at all terrified. He does not fall when the death of his sons is announced: because, even when the cessation of both priesthoods is objected to him, he does not cease to be proud. But when the capture of the ark is brought to him, he falls: because, when he sees that the mysteries of his own Scripture are known deeply and spiritually by the preachers and faithful of holy Church, he does not dare to boast of the learning of sacred eloquence which he understands only in a carnal way. He therefore falls from his seat, because, once the spiritual sense is known, he does not presume to boast of his carnal mastery. But because he hears the truth preached sublimely and does not at all believe, while he is confounded and not saved, he falls and dies. Indeed he falls from his seat, because he ceases to be exalted by his learning. But in falling he dies, because if he is overcome by reason, he nevertheless does not merit, by the judgment of that same reason, to attain to eternal joys.
23. In this matter it must be noted that he who falls and dies, falls beside the door. For what does it mean that he falls beside the door, except that while the blind man wanders, he strikes against the Redeemer? Who indeed declares of Himself, saying: "Whoever falls upon this stone shall be broken; but upon whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (Matt. 21:44). He Himself also says of Himself: "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture" (John 10:9). Therefore Eli died beside the door, because the authority of the Synagogue perished for this reason: that it stumbled against the Redeemer. For he fell there where he sinned. Who also, in falling, broke his neck. In the neck is signified the swelling of temporal power. Therefore he dies with a broken neck, who is condemned by the greatness of his faithlessness, having lost the power of his kingdom.
24. The letter of Sacred Scripture can also be designated by the door. For just as we are led through a door to the courts of the eternal temple, so through the letter of sacred eloquence we are raised up to allegorical and spiritual understanding. Within, moreover, the king is perceived: because the promised Redeemer of the human race is found in the spiritual understanding of Sacred Scripture. Eli therefore fell dead beside the door: because indeed the teaching authority of the Synagogue perished for this reason, that through the spiritual Scripture it sought Him who had been promised in the spirit as the Redeemer of the human race, not spiritually, but carnally. For he died beside the door: because he perished on account of the fact that he understood the spiritual promise of the Redeemer not according to spiritual understanding, but according to the simple expression of the historical narrative. And because through the zeal of his teaching he presided over Judea for a long time — not loving the one who works good, but fearing to turn aside from evil — there follows: (Verse 18.) For he was old and advanced in years: and he had judged Israel forty years.
25. For he was an old man, and advanced in age by the length of his years. He presided for forty years, through the fear of legal commandments. Indeed, the number forty pertains to sinners. Hence also the season of Lent in the holy Church is consecrated with the same number of days, so that we may strive to wash away by repenting the sins which we commit. The number forty is completed from the numbers ten and four. And because, by sinning, we transgress the Decalogue of the divine Law, and we contract the very capacity for sinning from the combination of the four elements of which we consist; under the number forty, as long as we exist in sin, we are contained. Therefore Eli judged Israel for forty years, because he displayed the authority of the Synagogue and the stern discipline of the Law for the fear of the subject people: so that he might hold the material of the human condition, fragile through concupiscence, in the state of justice through fear. But now Eli is dead, now he lies with broken neck beside the door; yet the poison of his wicked teaching remains in his seed. For already, whoever among the wise men of the Jews does not believe has been judged; but because in his instruction minds conceive the seeds of depravity, those who are born as sons of his doctrine do not abandon the madness of his faithlessness. Wherefore it is also added: (Verses 19, 20.) Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and near to delivery: who, having heard the news that the ark was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, bowed herself and gave birth. For sudden pains rushed upon her. And in the very moment of her death, those who stood beside her said to her: Do not fear, for you have borne a son. She did not answer, nor did she pay attention.
26. But who was the daughter-in-law of Eli, if not the people of the Jews, subject to reprobate priests? Because she had received the seeds of unbelief in her mind through their preaching, she was pregnant. And because she was also thinking of pouring forth the malice she had conceived, she is said to have been not only pregnant but also near to giving birth. But what does it mean that, upon hearing of the capture of the ark and the death of her father-in-law and her husband, she is said to have given birth, except that the remnant of the Jewish people, when it recognizes that the spiritual mysteries of the Scriptures have passed over to the instruction of the Gentiles, when it now sees that the wise men of the Synagogue have perished along with both priesthoods, does not cease to pour forth by speaking the seeds of its heresy, which it had conceived? For her to give birth is to disclose to others by speaking the depravity she had conceived. And because she preaches reprobate things, while she is said to give birth, she is recorded as having bent over. For those who speak of heavenly things give birth, as it were, without bending over, because in the standing posture of faith they raise the hearts of their hearers to the pursuit of good works.
She, therefore, who asserts crooked things gives birth bent over, because indeed by her speaking she brings it about that the more intently she speaks, the more deeply she is cast down into the abyss of her own damnation. Rightly, therefore, while she is bent over in giving birth, she is said to die. For she dies in giving birth, because she is condemned in the guilt of her blasphemy. And because she does not foresee the torments of her death, sudden pains are said to rush upon her. For sudden pains are the unexpected afflictions of death coming without foresight. For pains rush upon her suddenly when the retributions of everlasting punishments confront the Jewish people, which now, set in contempt of the truth, does not fear them. For because she thinks that by dying in observance of ancestral traditions she is passing over to eternal life, she falls into sudden pains when she begins to endure the torments she had not expected. And it should be noted that it is said of the dying woman: "Sudden pains rushed upon her," because evidently while she is driven to the end of life through bodily afflictions, then the scourges of pains begin to rush upon her in time, by which her impiety may be punished with eternal vengeance; and because, with the end drawing near, the reprobate minds of the Jews exhort one another to unbelief. But at the very moment of her death, those who stood near her said to her:
"Do not fear, for you have borne a son. For she bore a son because she trained up a people hardened in wickedness and unconquerable. But what are the women who stand near her, if not minds bound by an equal order of impiety? They stand, indeed, not by the truth and rectitude of faith, but by the presumption and boasting of religion. Therefore they encourage her not to fear, because she has borne a son — so that, namely, she may not fear to die in the old tradition all the more securely, the more she sees that even those whom she knows to have been trained by her teaching are hardened and unconvertible in it. But while she is driven more abundantly by pain within herself, she counts as nothing whatever others have gained from her instruction, whence it is added: "She did not answer, nor did she take heed. For when she begins to experience the bitterness of eternal pain, that which she temporarily held authority over others does not bring delight. Or certainly she does not rejoice over the boy who is born because he who is brought forth by her instruction is seen to be in captivity. Whence it is also added: (Verses 21, 22. "And she called the boy Ichabod, saying: The glory of the Lord has been taken away, because the ark of God has been captured."
27. The ark indeed is captured: because now, by God's authority, the sacraments of Holy Scripture are retained by true believers with the capacity of true understanding. And the glory of Israel is transferred: because, after it fell from true religion, it ceased to be fragrant through the reputation of good fame. Moreover, the glory of Israel is rightly said not to perish, but to be transferred: because the fame of religion, which it lost, passed over to the Gentiles. For the glory was indeed transferred: because in the holy Church the fragrance of true religion is fragrant, which, established in faith in the Redeemer, holds the gift of the Holy Spirit as a pledge for the certainty of eternal splendor, which it awaits. Therefore she refuses to rejoice over her newborn son: because indeed, while she perceives that past glory has passed over to the Gentiles, she groans that she is giving birth into captivity. She also names her son from the transfer of glory: because indeed she perpetually represents the impiety in which she persists, as if by a name set before her. Moreover, through the fact that a name is given to him by his mother, what we see can be openly understood. For he received his name from her, from whom the merit of impiety came to him. There follows:
Chapter 3.3 (1 Samuel 5:1–3)
Now the Philistines took the ark, and carried it away from the Stone of Help to Azotus. The Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and the Azotians rose the next day, and found Dagon lying before the ark, face down on the ground. 1. What does it mean that the ark is carried away from the Stone of Help, except that the heralds of truth take away the mysteries of the Scriptures from that Christ whom the Jews await with a false expectation? For while they turn the testimonies of Holy Scripture toward the knowledge of the true Redeemer, they indeed take the ark away from him in whom the Jews had placed the hope of their help. And because the mysteries of faith are entrusted to the Gentiles, the ark of God is brought to Azotus. And indeed the ark is brought into the temple. What then was the temple of Dagon, except every unbelieving soul, once polluted by the superstition of idolatry? What does the image of Dagon signify, except the superstition of all idolatry? What else then was it to impress the mysteries of faith upon the hearts of the Gentiles, than to bring the ark of God into the temple of Dagon? For it was as if the ark were placed next to Dagon, when the preachers of the holy Church admonished the Gentiles to examine, for the purpose of proving the truth of faith, both the preaching they were hearing and the errors of the idolatry they held. And so rightly on the next day the people of Azotus found Dagon lying face down on the ground before the ark. For Azotus had one day in hearing the preaching of truth, and another in the knowledge of faith.
For on the first day the ark of God is placed next to Dagon, because in hearing the preaching of the Redeemer, they detect the darkness of their ancient error. But rising on the second day, they found Dagon lying face down on the ground before the ark: because in the knowledge of truth, idolatry also lost its standing. Hence also it is well that when Dagon's fall is asserted, he is recorded as lying face down on the ground. He falls before the ark, because he is exposed through the knowledge of the divine mysteries. But he lies face down on the ground, because, with God now as guide, he no longer has the appearance of simulated reason in the sight of the faithful. For he who lies face down on the ground presses his face into the earth. But through the face of the idol, the simulation of reason is expressed. Therefore to lie face down on the ground is to be utterly unable to deceive with the frauds of its simulation those who now know the truth. But nevertheless, so that the Gentiles might know the truth more certainly, they endeavored to examine more and more both the reasoning of our faith that they had heard and the ancient custom of their own superstition. And so fittingly there follows: (Verse 3) They took up Dagon and restored him to his place.
2. That is, in the temple, where the ark of God had been placed. What then does it mean to restore Dagon to his place, if not, in light of the already known truth of spiritual sacraments, to examine the state of idolatry with subtle consideration? And because the more subtly the error of idolatry is examined, the more truly it is condemned, it is added: (Verse 4.) And rising again at dawn, they found Dagon lying on his face before the ark of the Lord. They rise again at dawn: because toward the love of the goodness they have heard, they now raise themselves with the certainty of deliberation. The first day, therefore, is one of testing, the next of recognition, and the third of deliberate certainty and offered profession. And because this day shone upon the enlightened minds of the converted in the splendor of perfect and consummate faith, there follows: (Verse 4.) But the head of Dagon and the two palms of his hands had been cut off upon the threshold. Moreover, the trunk of Dagon had remained in its place.
3. For what is Dagon, that is, the head of idolatry, other than the devil himself, the very origin of all iniquity? And what are the palms of his hands, if not all the works of idolatry? Dagon therefore lost his head, because through the worship of idols the malignant spirits cease to reign in the hearts of the Gentiles. The palms of his hands were also cut off, because vain sacrifices are nowhere offered to idols. And because his deformity is everywhere beheld by all the faithful, the trunk of Dagon is recorded to have remained in its place. But the head and hands, cut off and placed upon the threshold, are mentioned because indeed whoever enters into the true faith is commanded to repel the beginnings of diabolical persuasion and to renounce all the works of that same Satan. These were therefore placed on the threshold so that they might be trampled upon by those entering, because one truly cannot be faithful who does not resolve both to oppose the wicked counsels of the malignant spirit and to resist his iniquitous works. For he who avoids crushing the head and hands of Dagon, even if he seems to be counted among the number of the faithful, is in a certain way proven to be an idolater. For in the delight of demons, not only outward sacrifices but also iniquitous desires are offered by their worshippers. He therefore who has been received into the knowledge of the true faith and has not been removed from unclean desires and wicked works, because he disdains to crush the head and hands of Dagon, makes an offering to the malignant spirit—whom he disdains in the oblation of ceremonies—through the uncleanness of inward concupiscence and outward life. Wherefore it is also added: (Verse 5.) For this reason the priests of Dagon do not tread upon the threshold to this present day.
4. For they present themselves as priests of Dagon, who do not tread upon the threshold. In these words it must be carefully observed that he did not say "the threshold," but "upon the threshold," so that the head and hands of Dagon are taught to be what must be trampled upon, which are reported to have been cut off upon the threshold. The reason, moreover, that the priests do not tread upon the threshold is that they avoid crushing his severed hands and head with their foot. For the priests of Dagon remain even to this day: because those who sacrifice to the ancient enemy through unclean desires still exist. They indeed refuse to tread upon the threshold of the temple: because they resist neither unclean suggestions nor evil works. Therefore they are priests of Dagon, because even if they do not humble themselves before handmade idols, they nevertheless bow down to the images of their lusts through wicked works. There follows: (Verse 6.) The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod.
5. The hand of the Lord is the power of divine might. And because in the Azotians the beginnings of paganism are signified, what does it mean that the hand of the Lord is said to have been made heavy upon the Azotians? But He made His hand heavy upon Azotus when He moved the hearts of the Gentiles to conversion by the power of His might. For when through inward inspiration He made known to them the force of eternal death, He struck the minds of the Gentiles with wondrous terror over the iniquities they had committed. Therefore, since when the hand of the Lord is said to be made heavy, the Azotians are said to be slain, this heaviness of the hand is understood as the multiplication of the converted. For to die, for the Gentiles, was to be separated from unbelief. Likewise, to be slain by the hand of the Lord is to obtain that same knowledge of the true faith not through the ministry of men but by divine power. The hand of the Lord was therefore light upon Azotus when as yet, through a few ministers of the faith, only a few were abandoning the error of paganism. Hence the Lord also urges the ministers of the word to pray, as if concerning the making heavy of His hand, saying: 'The harvest indeed is great, but the laborers are few: pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest' (Matt. 9:38). As if He were saying in other words:
He who through a few ministers, as if with a light hand, separates a few from unbelief — pray that He multiply the ministers, so that He may, as it were, make His hand heavy in the multitude of the converted. But the manner of the slaying is also explained: for whoever is said to die by this slaying, while going out to purge his bowels, is said to be bitten by mice in the more hidden part of the buttocks. According to the letter, one single striking is shown here, but in the typological exposition it is doubled. For by the signification of the letter, both the making heavy of the Lord's hand and the biting of the mice pertain to the effect of the same death: because the hand of the Lord is said to be made heavy upon the Azotians for this reason — that they are slain by the biting of the mice.
6. But because through spiritual signification we have recognized two deaths—one, namely, by which sinners die to righteousness by sinning, and the other by which the righteous raise themselves from the sins in which they had lived by repenting; one which enters human hearts at the devil's persuasion, the other which the power of almighty God works—it is therefore necessary that we attend spiritually to both deaths in this passage. The death by which sinners rise from sins through repentance is indicated, because it says: "The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians. But that death by which the Gentiles made themselves servants of uncleanness and iniquity is indicated when they are said to be bitten by mice and killed. For the mouse is an unclean animal, and forbidden by the Law to be eaten (Lev. 11:29). What then is designated by mice, if not demons? And what is it to be bitten by mice, if not to be torn by the punishment of sin? But they were bitten by mice when they went out to purge their bowels. What then is purging the bowels, if not, through the completion of sin, to bring forth the stench of a wretched reputation? He therefore who goes out to purge his bowels is destroyed by the bite of mice: because he who by sinning extends himself to the notice of others through the example of depravity is also held fast unto eternal death by the grave bondage of demons.
For they are reported to have been struck in the more hidden part of their buttocks: because every sinner receives a wound of the soul in that part which he bends toward the pleasure of sin. Therefore when the hand of the Lord is made heavy upon Azotus, it is asserted that they were struck by mice: because when the doctors of eternal life were preaching, and the Gentiles were converted from unbelief, they recognized by what death of sins, through the persuasion of demons, they had been bound. Therefore, for the Azotians to be bitten after the hand of the Lord was made heavy is, after the knowledge of the true faith, not to be subjected to demons, but to perceive through the illumination of faith in what stench of sins they had offered themselves to the punishment of death. For they were bitten, as it were, at that time when they recognized the bites of their own sins. There follows: (Verse 7. "And when the men of Azotus saw this kind of plague, they said: Let not the ark of God remain among us, for his hand is heavy upon us and upon Dagon our god."
7. For when they saw temples destroyed, sacrifices ceasing, wives separated from husbands and husbands from wives, sons separated from parents and fathers from sons, what else could they think but that the hand of the Lord was heavy both upon them and upon their superstition? But what was done next follows: (Verse 8.) And they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and the Gittites answered: Let the ark of God be carried around. 8. Because it is said that the satraps of the Philistines gathered together, but why they gathered is not stated. Yet because the satraps are said to have responded and to have given counsel about carrying the ark around, it is clearly understood that they had been summoned to give counsel regarding that same ark. Who then are the satraps of the Philistines, if not the chosen preachers of the Gentiles? Satraps are indeed called princes. Of these princes it is certainly said through the Psalmist: "The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham" (Psalm 46:10). For by the name "peoples," the Gentiles are designated. He who used the name of peoples and of princes surely designated the satraps of the Philistines, of whom he speaks. These princes of the peoples certainly came together with the God of Abraham when, for the salvation of the Gentiles who were to be converted, the preachers proclaimed in word what almighty God inspired in them through inward desire. For it was as though there were a wonderful agreement between God and the princes in the hearts of their Gentile hearers, since they received simultaneously both the reasoning of right preaching from the holy preachers and the fruit of good will from the Lord. And since those who had said "Let the ark of God not remain among us" are recognized as adversaries, how do the princes gather by sending?
But to send and to gather the princes is to stir up the minds of the holy preachers to urgency in preaching, because preaching was to be carried out more attentively where the hearts of the Gentiles were plunged more deeply into error. Hence it is that the distinguished teacher boasts of having chosen for himself a nobler victory over unconquered enemies, saying: "From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum I have fulfilled the Gospel of Christ; and so I have preached this Gospel, not where it had already been proclaimed, lest I build upon another's foundation" (Romans 15:19–20). The princes, therefore, were provoked not by the desire but by the error of the unbelievers, since they judged they could gain a greater profit for God from where the darkness of errors was borne aloft more loftily by the blast of pride. Therefore the urgency of holy preaching is also designated when it is added: "And the Gittites answered: Let the ark of God be carried around. Those say: "Let the ark of God not remain among us," and these say: "Let it be carried around. For what is it to carry the ark of God around, if not to preach publicly the mysteries of the true faith? For the ark remains with those who embrace through love the sacraments of the true faith that they hear. But those who say "Let the ark not remain among us" desire that the preaching of the faith be turned away from them. The satraps therefore say the opposite:
"Let the ark of God be carried around," because they preached divine things more attentively to those whom grave error had inflamed to hatred of the truth. And because through the ministries of the holy preachers, great gains from even such people were brought to the heavenly kingdoms, there follows: (Verse 9. "But as they were carrying it around, the hand of the Lord came upon each city with an exceedingly great slaughter, and it struck the men of every city from the least to the greatest, and their protruding intestines rotted away." 9. For the ark is carried around when the mysteries of the faith are preached openly and without fear. And because in the beginnings of the faith countless people were converted, a very great slaughter is reported to have been made throughout each of the cities. Likewise, because not only the simple but also the wise were converted, the same slaughter is declared to have been made from the least even to the greatest. But through that same striking, the intestines are reported to rot away. For the intestines to rot is for the channels of sin to utterly perish from the outpouring of their accustomed stench. For he is well struck whose protruding intestines rot away, because indeed there are some who, after the cleanness of conversion, are entangled again in the former filth of wickedness. Their protruding intestines certainly do not rot away, because they are bent back to the accustomed flow of sins through wicked works. He indeed rebukes those who are ill-healed from an imperfect striking, who intimates that they have fallen back to their former stenches: "The dog returned to its vomit, and the washed sow to wallowing in the mire" (Prov. 26:11; 2 Pet. 2:22). For he was striking, as it were, so that the intestines might rot away, he who, thrusting in the sword of the word, said: "Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its desires" (Rom. 6:12).
10. Moreover, by the fact that the Azotites say, "Let the ark not remain among us," the perversity of those from the same Gentiles who both heard the word of faith and, being by no means predestined to eternal life, refused to believe, can be signified. For the satraps to lead the ark of God around was for the holy preachers to withdraw from them the word of truth and to reveal the mysteries of faith to those who were worthy. The ark was therefore led around, because the sacraments of our faith were removed from the knowledge of some and revealed to others. And so, as it was led around, an exceedingly great slaughter is reported to have occurred in each city, because wherever they brought the word of faith, the grace of conversion was multiplied. And because wherever they preached, among those who believed there were some who were not predestined to eternal life, there follows: (Verses 10, 11.) They sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God had come to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying: They have sent the ark of God to us, to kill us and our people. Therefore they sent and gathered together all the satraps of the Philistines, who said: Send away the ark of the Lord to its own place.
11. The satraps, as we have said, are understood as the holy preachers. The Ekronites, who are interpreted as "barren," designate the unconvertible Gentiles. These indeed gave the preachers the counsel of releasing the ark, so that if they refused their own salvation from the divine preaching, they would not stand in the way of the faithful who were journeying toward the eternal homeland with the sacraments of faith. For the place of the ark, that is, of the divine sacraments, is recognized to be there where whatever is now said about almighty God through the mystery of the Scriptures is afterward revealed to us in open knowledge. For he knew the proper place of the ark who said: "We see now through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I also have been known" (1 Cor. 13:12). The counsel of the satraps, therefore, was to allow the ark of God to return to its own place: so that, namely, those who bore no fruit of faith from the preaching of the word would at least release it to those who would prepare for themselves from it a fruit in eternity. Rightly, therefore, those who accept the counsel of sending back the ark are called Ekronites. For the Ekronites are interpreted as "barren. Because indeed from the truth of the faith they had heard, they had produced no fruit of belief or of good work, they were barren.
Therefore the princes gave the counsel of removing the ark, but from barren ones—so that the seed of the word of God, which could not germinate in the worst soil, might be preserved for the best soil, which from this labor of winter would bring forth a hundredfold fruit of summer in everlasting life. And they immediately show the reason for releasing the ark, when the preachers add: (Verse 11) "Lest it kill us together with our people." 12. The Ekronites cried out: They have sent the ark of God to us, to kill us and our people. The satraps give counsel, saying: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, that it may not kill us with our people. Who is the people about whom the satraps, that is, the princes, say: that it may not kill us with our people? Who is the people, if not the Christian people? The princes therefore say, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, that it may return to its place. As if to say this: What you fear dying from, do not forbid us from exercising for the merit of eternal life. But as for what they add: That it may not kill us with our people, the hearts of the reprobate Gentiles are indeed confounded in their error by this response, since those men affirmed they would escape death from the very thing from which the others trembled to die. The holy preachers also take away the ark of God: because when spiritual things are disclosed to despisers, it leads to the condemnation of the indiscriminate preacher, if those same divine mysteries are abandoned not to be imitated by the faithless, but to be mocked and shut away. For the command to transfer the ark was laid down not so much by the satraps as by the Lord of the satraps, who said:
Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they turn and trample them under their feet (Matt. 7:6). Hence he says again: If they persecute you in one city, flee to another (Matt. 10:23). They therefore take away the ark lest they die: because they hide spiritual things from despisers, lest those who rashly bring them forth be punished for their indiscretion on account of the contempt of those people. But because the ark is commanded to be sent away from the Ekronites, this surely implies what I stated before: that at the time of persecution, the exhortation of the holy preachers was made so that they themselves might believe; but sometimes, so that if they themselves would not receive the word of life, they would not obstruct those who would receive it; and if they themselves, out of fear of torments, would not seize the way of salvation, they would not be an impediment to those who had not ceased hastening toward the heavenly kingdoms despite threats and punishments. There follows: (Verse 12. For there was a fear of death in every city, and the hand of the Lord was exceedingly heavy. How this is to be understood with regard to the outward persecution has been explained above. There follows: (Verse 12. The men also who had not died were struck in the more secret part of their buttocks: and the wailing of each city ascended to heaven.
13. Concerning the striking of the buttocks indeed, because we spoke of it above, it would not need to be discussed here, if nothing different were said here than was said there. What then is the meaning of what it says: "The men also who had not died were struck"? Were those who had died supposed to be bitten again as punishment for the ark? But also when the cry of the stricken is said to have ascended to heaven, it could be sufficiently shown that this was said of the living, and not of the dead. For the cry of dead men could not ascend to heaven. But because we referred the striking of the buttocks above to the knowledge of sins, there are indeed men who have not died. For they are men who, for the sake of the eternal life which they desire, have resolved to do brave deeds. But the men who have not yet died are those who resolve to do great things, and yet by no means weigh their past evils unto the pain of compunction. They are therefore bitten by mice, so that they may die: because they recall the things in which they wickedly fell, and believe that for their past deeds they deserve the loss of eternal life. Because therefore they are men, they do not despair of God's mercy: and because they are bitten so that they may die, they do not exalt themselves on account of the fact that they begin to be great.
14. Their cry indeed ascended to heaven because almighty God mercifully receives the groans of the converted. And because at the time of the conversion of the Gentiles there was a great rush to the faith, the cry is said to have ascended not from any one city but from many cities. Hence the prophet also pleads in the person of the universal Church, saying: "Attend to my prayer, from the ends of the earth I have cried to you" (Ps. 60:2–3). And showing that the cry of the one crying from the ends of the earth ascended to heaven, he says: "He heard my voice from his holy temple, and my cry came before him into his ears" (Ps. 17:7). When therefore each city is said to have cried to heaven, the universal penitence of conversion is commended. But if the striking is referred to conversion, while the cry is referred to the devotion of divine praise, then we certainly read in the mysteries of the Scriptures what we see. For each city cries out in the praises of almighty God, because the entire world by no means keeps silent about the proclamations of the Redeemer; it does not preach him in secret, but extols him with the jubilation of ineffable joy. For what else was he doing but urging all cities to cry out, who said: "All nations, clap your hands, shout to God with the voice of exultation, for God is most high and terrible, and a great king over all gods" (Ps. 46:2–3).
Hence again admonishing, he says: "Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; serve the Lord with gladness" (Ps. 99:2). Hence again, he expresses both the plague of the biting mice and the cry of the cities, saying: "Let all the earth be moved before his face; say among the nations that the Lord has reigned" (Ps. 95:9–10). For he had said before: "Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord all the earth" (ibid. 1). Indeed the shaking of the earth pertains to the pain of penitence; to sing to the Lord, or to announce among the nations that the Lord has reigned, pertains to the zeal of preaching and to the devotion of divine praise. The cry of each city ascends to heaven, because throughout the whole world both the truth of preaching and the praises of devotion are proclaimed by the faithful of the holy Church, and these are received up to the height of the heavenly hearing through the acceptance of divine favor.