1 Samuel 12

1 Samuel 12:1

Gregory the Dialogist: 1. When wicked pastors are in charge, their principal aim is the plundering of their subjects. For because they know not how to look upon the abundance of eternal goods, the more ardently they desire present things, the more greedily they receive what is offered, and what is not offered they seize by violence. They lay snares for the innocent, oppress the weak, accept bribes, and pervert justice. Concerning these pastors, the Lord reproaches Judea through the prophet, saying: “Your pastors are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning” (Zeph. 3:3). He likewise strikes the slanderers of the innocent and the oppressors of the weak, saying: “If anyone does not put something into their mouths, they declare holy war against him. Therefore night shall be to them instead of vision, and darkness instead of divination” (Mic. 3:5–6). For while they recognize the iniquity they commit, through the audacity of their most wicked work they fall into blindness of heart, so that through love of present things they no longer see the light of truth, by which they might recover from their wickedness. Likewise Isaiah rebukes the acceptance of bribes, saying: “They all love bribes, they pursue rewards” (Isa. 1:23). The holy man therefore, while he shows the simplicity of his innocence, appeared exalted by the height of his merits. This commendation of virtue is indeed shown in him alone, so that the same conformity of goodness may be shown to all chosen teachers.

2. We have innocence of life for ourselves, but we ascend the height of prelacy for others, not for ourselves. Through the good of innocence we press toward the eternal homeland; through the height of prelacy we keep watch in the guardianship of others. In that virtue we are secure, but this eminence we hold with great fear: because we who greatly tremble to render an account of our own works must render an account to God for that over which we preside over others. If therefore chosen men, by God’s will, ascend even the height of prelacy unwillingly, by God’s will they also leave that same height with devotion. The holy man therefore says: ‘Behold, I have heard your voice, and I have set a king over you; and now the king walks before you. But I have grown old and gray-haired. Moreover, my sons are with you.’ As if he were saying in other words: Because I presided not for myself but for you, the dignity which I held I gladly gave to another. I have already grown old in that same dignity, and yet the long habit of preeminence which I held did not keep me bound in ambition for it. What then does it mean that he says: ‘My sons are with you’, except that in holy men there is a great power of spiritual love, by which, when sons are born to the height of office, they take away from them the right of succession? But he who so peacefully leaves the summit of office shows what kind of man he was while he remained at that same height. For because he did not practice the violence of plunder, he says: ‘Speak concerning me before the Lord and before His Christ, whether I have taken anyone’s ox or donkey.’ Likewise, because he sought no occasion of harming anyone, he added, saying: ‘If I have falsely accused anyone.’ Likewise, because he was not burdensome to the weak, he says: ‘If I have oppressed anyone.’ Likewise, because from his prelacy he sought not earthly things but heavenly, he says: ‘If I have received a gift from anyone’s hand, I will despise it today and restore it to you.’ — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:3

Irenaeus: In this way, too, Samuel, who judged the people so many years and bore rule over Israel without any pride, in the end cleared himself.… In this strain also the apostle Paul, inasmuch as he had a good conscience, said to the Corinthians, “For we are not as many [are], who corrupt the Word of God: but in sincerity, but as from God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” “We have injured no one, corrupted no one, circumvented no one.” — AGAINST HERESIES 4.26.4

Jerome: That a priest must avoid covetousness even Samuel teaches when he proves before all the people that he has taken nothing from any one. — LETTER 69.9

John Chrysostom: For Samuel also put together a high panegyric upon himself, when he anointed Saul, saying, “Whose ass have I taken, or calf, or shoes? Or have I oppressed any of you?” And yet no one finds fault with him. And the reason is because he did not say it by way of setting off himself, but because he was going to appoint a king, he wishes under the form of a defense [of himself] to instruct him to be meek and gentle.… But when he saw that they [the people] would not be hindered by any of these things [the ways of the king] but were incurably distempered, he thus both spared them and composed their king to gentleness. Therefore he also takes him to witness. For indeed no one was then bringing suit or charge against Saul that he needed to defend himself, but Samuel said those things in order to make him better. And therefore also he added, to take down his pride, “If you will listen, you and your king,” such and such good things shall be yours, “but if you will not listen, then the reverse of all.” — HOMILIES ON 2 CORINTHIANS 24.3

1 Samuel 12:4

Gregory the Dialogist: Because indeed he had been known by all for such great contempt of worldly things, there follows: ‘And they said: You have not falsely accused us, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from anyone’s hand. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and His Christ is witness on this day, that you will not find anything in my hand. And they said: He is witness.’ But he himself further adds, saying: ‘The Lord, who made Moses and Aaron, and who brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt, He Himself is witness.’

3. In this passage it should be noted that the holy man did not speak of the good things he had done, but rather set forth the evil things he had not done; so that by keeping silent he might preserve his good deeds for eternal rewards, and by speaking he might not lose the fragrance of his good reputation. Paul indeed speaks, saying: “We are the good fragrance of Christ in every place” (II Cor. 2:15). He also, rebuking certain people, says: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom. 2:24). Likewise he admonishes his disciple, saying: “A bishop must also have a good testimony from those who are outside” (I Tim. 3:7). Therefore, when he so carefully affirmed that he had avoided evil, and kept silent about the great good deeds he had performed, the blessed man openly showed on what a summit of virtues he stood, since by condemning evil he preserved the fragrance of good reputation as an example for the elect, and by concealing his works of virtue, he safeguarded the rewards of eternal recompense. But it should be noted that when he called the Lord as witness of his innocence, he said that the Lord himself had made Moses and Aaron. What else does this mean, except that he both displayed the height of his virtue, yet did not wish to appear alone at so great a height? As if saying with hidden meaning: “I am not to be admired for such great virtue of soul, because I am not alone in it. I possess contempt for worldly things as a gift of virtue, but I do not hold this with any intention of vain praise; in this regard I perceive others far better and more exalted than myself.” And because he affirmed that the Lord himself had made Moses and Aaron, it is as if he were saying: “That I was able to guard so strongly against evil ought to be ascribed to the grace of him who made Moses and Aaron what they were.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:7

Gregory the Dialogist: But the holy man shows why he said these things first, for he added, saying: “Now therefore stand still, and I will contend with you in judgment before the Lord concerning all the mercies which he has done for you and for your fathers.”

4. It is the order of the highest reason that he who does not take care to do good things should by no means reprove evils in others. The holy man therefore first carefully asserted that he had avoided evils himself, and then proceeded to the reproof of others; so as to suggest the character of a chosen preacher, who cannot effectively bear the fruit of preaching unless he also demonstrates by the splendor of his conduct what he preaches as luminous concerning eternity. He says therefore: “Now stand, and I will plead with you in judgment before the Lord concerning all the mercies of the Lord.” For the hearers to stand is to raise the attention of the mind to the word of the preacher. Rightly therefore they are commanded to stand, because a teacher accomplishes nothing by exhortation if the hearer does not direct his mind to the things he speaks. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:8

Gregory the Dialogist: Enumerating these same mercies, he says: “How Jacob entered into Egypt, and our fathers cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and He brought our fathers out of Egypt, and settled them in this place. And because they forgot the Lord their God, He delivered them into the hand of Sisera, the commander of the army of Asshur, and into the hands of the Philistines, and of the king of Moab, and they fought against you. Afterward they cried out to the Lord and said: ‘We have sinned, because we forsook the Lord and served the Baals and Ashtaroth. Now therefore deliver us from the hand of the Philistines, and we will serve You.’ And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Barak, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt in safety.”

5. He commemorates these acts of mercy performed according to history for this reason: so that, in the matter of having asked for a king, the people might recognize themselves as guilty before the Lord. For he who had the Lord present to remove all dangers had no need of a human king over himself. Moreover, he shows the very presence of the Lord through the mercies bestowed, since he declared that they were delivered from the hand of the Egyptians through Moses and Aaron, and from the hand of Sisera and the Philistines, and from the hand of the king of Moab through Jerubbaal, Barak, and Jephthah, and by Samuel. In this passage it must be carefully inquired why the petition by which a king is requested is so strictly reproved, and yet the very aids of divine mercy are taught to have been bestowed upon the people of God through human leaders set over them. To this matter, what must be answered except that the governance of kings is vastly different from the governance of judges? The latter preside as equals, while the former display the arrogance of domination in their power of preeminence. The latter commend the testimony of their innocence before the Lord and all the people, because they neither oppress anyone nor take anything belonging to another for their own use; the former, however, not only take away from their subjects what belongs to them, but even press down the very persons of their subjects under the burden of servitude. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:11

Richard Challoner: Jerobaal and Badan: That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or Bedan, because he was of Dan.

1 Samuel 12:12

Gregory the Dialogist: Therefore, he adds and says: “But when you saw that Nahash was coming up and would fight against you, you said: ‘By no means,’ but rather, ‘A king shall reign over us’ — even though the Lord was reigning over you.”

6. As if he were saying: For this purpose you have chosen a man for yourselves, for which you used to have God. If we wish to examine this passage spiritually, the following is gathered from it: that those who desire a carnal ruler to be set over them drive away divine grace from themselves. For while they live by the example of humble teachers, they are, as it were, freed from Egypt, because they flee the darkness of worldly love with all their desire. Because they also escape the tyranny of all vices through the teaching of those men, they are freed, as it were, from the hand of Sisera, the Philistines, and the king of Moab, by leaders sent to them. In these God alone, the Almighty, now reigns, because while they outwardly imitate humble pastors, they gratefully receive the love of the divinity reigning among them. Let the prophet therefore say: “You said to me: ‘By no means, but a king shall be over us,’ when the Lord was reigning over you” — to show that those who subject themselves by imitating carnal men lose the dignity of divine grace. It should also be noted that the prophet Samuel, through the virtue of humility, everywhere presented himself to the elect as a model of uprightness. For when he was recounting the liberation of the Israelite people, he did not say, “The Lord sent Jephthah and me,” but “Jephthah and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hand of your enemies.” He named himself as though speaking of another, so that the power of liberation would not be ascribed to the person sent, but to the grace of God who sent him. “The Lord sent Samuel,” he says, “and delivered you.” As if to say: He sent whom He willed, and through whom He willed, He acted. And perhaps he speaks of himself as of another because it is not he himself who speaks through himself, but the Holy Spirit. And because, by God’s permission, with a king now established, the man of God was saying these things, he was saying them for this purpose: to direct the king and the people toward the worship of God, not to abolish the royal dignity itself. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:14

Bede: If you fear the Lord and serve Him, etc. It is understood of all that he noted; because evidently by their merits, as the rule of their first king, so the entire kingdom which they demanded against the will of God, would have worse times in its latter days than in its earlier ones: and meanwhile, as long as they feared God, they would be blessed with good kings; and as often as they neglected Him, they would be punished with evil kings: and finally, when wickedness increased, they would exchange the kingdom itself, along with freedom and homeland, for captivity or death. Likewise, the sign of transgression and the hard-heartedness of the people was no small matter, and the more terrible because it manifested itself in a way unfamiliar to those regions: voices and rain during the wheat harvest, which in the promised land throughout the entire summer only come by great miracles, to thus signify that all who desire to rule themselves against God’s long-recognized will, and to serve their own desires, are acting in an improper order: in a time when after receiving the Word they ought to bear ripe fruits of good works, they demonstrate by their disordered morals that they still need the correction or exhortation of the divine voice to teach them the elements of the beginnings of God’s words. What if someone seeks to explain this reading allegorically? It easily occurs, considering that Samuel, as the king walked before Israel, declared that he was now old, but from his youth he had lived innocently before them with witnesses from the Lord and His Christ. Because now, with the prophetic foretellings reigning in the Church Lord Jesus Christ, the books of the law and the prophets indeed bear witness to Him; and everywhere affirm, that, with the witness of the Father and the Son, and indeed the Holy Spirit, the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good. Let no place be given to a Manichaean or his associates, in which they might blame the other writings of Scripture, not even one jot can pass from it, nor the giver of the same: nor does anyone who knows himself to be redeemed by the grace of new light doubt that the figures of the prophets have not aged. What is it then when he says he did not take anyone’s ox or donkey? Because evidently the prophetic and legal Scripture did not deprive anyone of the triple duty of rightly dealing with a neighbor, or of the duty of correcting and instructing a neighbor, by suggesting anything evil. For the donkey, which by its innate gentleness is accustomed to carrying necessary loads and even people, signifies the love suitable to brotherly utility. The ox, which not only carries the imposed burdens of flesh but also prepares the fields by plowing furrows for the seeds, signifies those who, indeed, not only bear the weaknesses of their brethren but also by chastising uproot their sluggish hearts and cultivate them to receive the seed of the word. These two types of people, if I am not mistaken, encompass the entire company of workers of the Church. Thus Samuel took neither an ox nor a donkey from anyone; because old holy Scripture deprived neither the learned of the skill of teaching nor the simpler ones of the modesty of living piously with brethren. Furthermore, what it means to say: If you fear the Lord, and you and your king who rules over you follow the Lord: but if not, the hand of the Lord will be against you. And what he concluded with: If you persist in wickedness, both you and your king will perish together. For he who properly keeps the sacraments of faith, will follow the warnings of that God and Lord, of whom the only true king of Israel said: As I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His love (John XV). But he who hears and does not heed the voice of the Lord, the divine hand remains on him until he repents. But he who persists obstinately till death, such a person, since he belongs to the most evil king Antichrist, will be damned to eternal perdition with him. For not only those who attach themselves to Antichrist in the end times, visibly rising against God, are considered to serve his kingdom: but even today, many who have been initiated into the mysteries of faith, when they immerse themselves in various crimes, are found to be serving his kingdom impiously: and it is said to them from prophetic reading: If you fear the Lord and serve Him, both you and your king who rules over you, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, follow the Lord God, the Father of the same our God and Lord Jesus Christ; but if you persist in wickedness, both you and your king Antichrist (then you will have him as king) will perish together. However, what is mentioned among other things, and you will know and see that you have done a great evil in the eyes of the Lord, asking for a king over you; it does not seem easy to refer this to Christ the king, whom anyone who humbly seeks to reign over himself, does not do any evil, but a great good, so much so that anyone who neglects to do this one thing, cannot do any other good; unless it is said that, with the increasing sin of men, it happened that the Son of God came in human flesh to suffer; who if man had never sinned, would never have fought against the enemy in man: and therefore, after sending angels, patriarchs, and prophets many times to educate the human race, in the fullness of time, since He foresaw that men would sin more grievously, reserved His own coming to reveal, that where sin abounded, grace more abounded: and rightly it is understood, because those who did not want to listen to Moses and the prophets, but compelled the Son of God to come in the flesh by the enormity of their sins, did a great evil. Neither does the parable of the vineyard in the gospel contradict this sense, whose wicked tenants, refusing to give fruits in due season and after wickedly beating, stoning, and mistreating the servants of their Lord, caused Him to send His only Son to them. But what is said about voices and rains from heaven in the time of the wheat harvest can also be interpreted in a good sense; so that we understand the voice of evangelical preaching as spiritually thundered from the heavens, in a time when hearts yielding fruits to the law should be gathered into the granaries of the early Church. And it can be said thus that the apostles themselves were reapers in those who already knew the law and made it, in calling them to the grace of the Gospel: irrigators in those who had not yet known the words of the law, and of whom it is said: Lift up your eyes and see the fields, that they are white already to harvest (John IV). But concerning those, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Cor. III): it should be understood more diligently, and drawn to the imitation of virtue, that blessed Samuel, being rejected by the people and expelled from leadership, nonetheless did not cease to bring the word of zealous exhortation and the help of pious intercession. Far be it from me, he said, to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, and I will teach you the good and right way. O remarkable example of fraternal love, he, innocent of leadership, even a most holy prophet and priest, is expelled, and he considers it a sin against the Lord if he does not strive to elevate those who rejected him to eternal joys, equally by praying and admonishing. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: Hence, adding further, he says: “Now therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and requested. Behold, your God has given you a king. If you will fear God and serve Him and hear His voice and not provoke the mouth of the Lord, then both you and the king who rules over you will continue following the Lord your God. But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord, but provoke His words, the hand of the Lord will be against you and against your fathers.”

7. These things are certainly not mystical but historical in every respect. For where both prelates and subjects lead a reprobate life, they equally undergo the punishment of divine vengeance. But because good things are spoken of separately and evil things separately, those things for which the hand of the Lord is foretold as coming upon them must be considered more carefully. What then does it mean when he says: “If you will fear the Lord and serve Him,” unless that many dread the judgments of divine severity and yet do not cease to do wicked things? With a trembling heart indeed they think upon future judgments, but conquered by present pleasure, they by no means avoid committing evil. Rightly therefore after the fear of the Lord, service to Him is mentioned: because that fear alone is worthy of approval which, while it shakes the mind, draws it to the pursuit of good works. Likewise, because there are some who through the fear of the Lord reject certain evils and do some good things, and yet neither fully abandon evil nor sufficiently perform good, it is added: “And you will hear His voice.” He who hears the voice of the Lord both fully does good and utterly abandons evil. But these same good works must be held in the delight of sweetness, not in the estimation of harshness. For those to whom the things commanded by the Lord always seem hard and harsh gradually fall away and fail. For this reason Truth says through Himself: “For My yoke is sweet and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30). For this reason John says: “His commandments are not heavy” (1 John 5:3). They are indeed not heavy for the elect: because while they seek the glory of eternal life with great desire, they gladly bear the precepts of the Gospel. The mouth of the Lord can also be understood as the preaching of perfect charity. For He wished, as it were, to show the endearments of His mouth when He said: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). This indeed is the Lord’s commandment, this is the yoke of divine sweetness. For what is borne more lightly, or ever more gladly, than love? What heavy thing, moreover, does one who loves not bear lightly? For whatever is loved is carried with great devotion. Therefore, because the bond of perfection is the charity of God and neighbor, rightly in the last place the prophet declares, saying: “If you will not provoke the mouth of the Lord, both you and the king who rules over you will be followers of the Lord your God.” As if to say: Then you rightly fulfill the divine will, if you ground both the contempt of wickedness and the pursuit of good works in divine charity. Then you rightly run after the Redeemer toward the highest blessedness of eternal life, if you carry out with joy to the end of life those precepts of charity which are harsh to the carnal. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:15

Gregory the Dialogist: 8. But because he was speaking to the weak and carnal, he continued by declaring: “If you will not hear the voice of the Lord, but will provoke His word, the hand of the Lord will be upon you and upon your fathers.” The hand of the Lord is the severity of divine vengeance. This hand is indeed stretched out over sons and fathers when, by the merit of divine contempt, both reprobate prelates and subjects are punished. This same hand is also stretched out for vengeance when the voice of the Lord is not heard, when His words are provoked: because those who reject the divine commandments as harsh and unbearable are weighed down by an intolerable burden of punishment in the future. For it is the foolish audacity of man that, where he refuses to undergo for a short time those things that seem harsh to him, he thereby subjects himself to harsher things for eternity. For if he were wisely wise, he would persuade himself of this very thing that displeases him: that through the hard and harsh things of this very brief time, he might escape the hard and harsh things of future damnation. Indeed, the hardened hearts of the carnal hear these things quickly, but they cannot easily be softened by salutary counsel. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:16

Gregory the Dialogist: Therefore it is well added: “But now also stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that you have done a great evil for yourselves in the sight of the Lord, in asking for a king over you.”

9. Because the petition of the king is reproved so attentively and so many times, this suggests to the elect that those who advance carnal men to the height of the holy Church are held by a most grave obligation of sin. For other sins obtain the merit of a single punishment, but he who appoints a carnal leader incurs as many merits of punishment as that man provides examples of depravity to the faithful subjects. But the heavy weight of crime cannot be set down except by the severity of great compunction. Yet the grace of compunction is not poured into the mind unless the magnitude of the sin is first shown to it. Therefore the prophet of the Lord, in order to provoke the sinning people to the fruit of fitting penance, suggests to them the great sin of transgression through a wondrous disturbance of the air. Now in that region, rains and thunders do not occur during the wheat harvest. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

Jerome: As a matter of fact, the works Moses did, Samuel did too. Moses resisted God and prevented him from destroying his people when God said to him, “Let me alone, that I may strike this people.” Just see the power of Moses! What does God say to him? Let me alone; you are compelling me, your prayers, as it were, restrain me; your prayers hold back my hand. I shoot an arrow; I hurl a javelin; and your prayers are the shield of the people. Let me alone that I might strike down this people. Along with this, consider the compassionate kindness of God. When he says, “Let me alone,” he shows that if Moses will continue to importune him, he will not strike. If you, too, will not let me alone, I shall not strike; let me alone, and I shall strike. In other words, what does he say? Do not cease your persistent entreaty, and I shall not strike.Let us see if Samuel persistently importuned God in this way. We read in the book of Kings [Samuel] that he prevented God from venting his wrath against the people, and although it was harvest time, the Lord sent rain, thunder and lightning. What does Scripture say in Samuel? “And there came hailstones and struck down the Philistines.” See how wise the fire, how wise the hail! Where Samuel is, the thunderbolts do not dare to strike, for they see the prophet of God, they see the Levite. Samuel’s hands were threatening the thunderbolts. He was praying, and the lightning strokes were held back. Why have I said all this? Because Moses and Aaron and Samuel with different titles performed the same mighty deeds. Let us bless the Lord to whom be glory forever and ever. — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 26 (Psalms 98)

Origen of Alexandria: That mighty deed Samuel is said to have accomplished through prayer is something that everyone who genuinely relies on God can accomplish spiritually even now, since he has become worthy of being heard.… For every saint and genuine disciple of Jesus is told by the Lord, “Lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life.” In this time of harvest the Lord does “a great thing” before the eyes of those who hear the prophets. For when the one adorned with the Holy Spirit calls to the Lord, God gives from heaven thunder and rain that waters the soul, so that he who once was in evil may stand in great awe of the Lord and his minister of goodness, manifested as venerable and august by the requests that are heard. And Elijah, who shut up heaven for the wicked for three and a half years, later opened it. This, too, is always accomplished for everyone who through prayer receives the rain of the soul, since the heavens were previously deprived of it because of his sin. — ON PRAYER 13.5

1 Samuel 12:17

Richard Challoner: Wheat harvest: At which time of the year, it never thunders or rains in those countries.

1 Samuel 12:18

Gregory the Dialogist: And it is well added subsequently: “Samuel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain on that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die. For we have added to all our sins this evil, that we should ask for ourselves a king.”

10. If we bring this down to our own times, in order that the people may come to the knowledge of their sins, preachers cry out to God on their behalf, because they seek the salvation of the faithful with great desires. For preachers to cry out is to petition for the salvation of the elect with great devotion. At their cry the Lord gives His voice, because He stirs the hearts of sinners so that they may recognize the wickedness of their depravity. He gives rains, because He aids their stirred hearts through the infusion of heavenly grace, so that each one may not only abandon the evil deeds he has committed, but also courageously perform the good works he desires. But this is said to happen on the day of the wheat harvest, so that the power of the miracle may be indicated. The transformation of the heart is indeed no less a miracle than the disturbance of the air. It is no less a miracle for parched hearts to come back to life than for rains to flood down in an unusual manner during the heat of summer. It is surely a greater miracle to shake an insensible mind with an inward thunder than for thunder to resound when clouds collide in the wind. But the right order of conversion is shown in the ordered arrangement of the words. For he says: “The Lord gave thunder and rain, and all the people feared the Lord and Samuel exceedingly.” In the most orderly conversion, when evil is abandoned, good is propagated in the mind; when the converted mind nourishes good seed as if through rain, it submits itself to God and to men through the virtue of obedience. Rightly, therefore, it is said: “All the people feared the Lord and Samuel,” because whoever receives the coming of the Supreme Spirit both abandons evil and lays hold of good, and is so subjected to God that for God’s sake he also submits himself to men. And because they have no presumption in this very virtue of obedience, they say: “Pray for your servants to the Lord, that we may not die.” When the spirit of life pours itself into the mind, it immediately raises it to the dread of death, because the teaching of that same spirit is that the mind should act in fear so as not to encounter what it fears. But holy men praying for them can be heard, who also reveal the hidden sins of the heart through the humility of confession. Hence it is also added: “For we have added to all our sins this evil, that we should ask for ourselves a king.” But since these matters have already been sufficiently discussed in our exposition, let us look at what follows. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:20

Gregory the Dialogist: “And Samuel said: Do not fear. You have done all this evil. Nevertheless, do not turn aside from following the Lord. And serve the Lord with all your heart.”

11. The mind of the penitent is then rightly directed if it fears the divine judgments and trusts in the mercy of almighty God. Fear without hope indeed casts one headlong into despair, but when it is joined with hope, it works the salvation of the mind. Therefore the excellent teacher must watch with the utmost zeal to terrify the one who sins, and to lead the one who has been terrified back to the hope of pardon: so that through fear he may cease to sin, and through hope of obtaining forgiveness, he may seek the harbor of divine mercy. Samuel, therefore, raising his terrified subjects to the virtue of hope, says: “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord.” As if to say: If you cease to sin, you can more quickly arrive at obtaining pardon for what you have committed. Do not therefore turn aside from following the Lord. Concerning the praise of the just, it is promised: “For you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways” (Luke 1:76). Hence Elijah says: “The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand” (1 Kings 17:1). Hence the Psalmist says: “Let the just exult in the sight of God” (Psalms 68:4). To stand in the sight of the Lord, or before the Lord, is to presume upon the love of the Creator by the testimony of a good conscience. Those indeed stand in His sight who, by the merit of great action, are secure in the heavenly grace of their Creator. But sinners, when they commit evil, flee from the face of the Lord; yet when they resolve to return through penance, they are, as it were, behind the Lord’s back: because they neither wish to depart further, and yet cannot presume upon God as friends. Hence it is that the sinful woman is said to have stood behind Him, so that she might deserve to kiss the Lord’s feet (Luke 7:38). Behind Him also stood that woman who touched the hem of His garment and deserved to be healed of her flow of blood (Matthew 9:20). She stands behind indeed out of shame for her sin, but she touches through the power of hope. Because, therefore, we must always blush for the iniquities we have committed, and avoid those things in which we are confounded, Samuel commands sinners not to turn aside from following the Lord. But because it is not sufficient for the conversion of a sinner that he merely not commit sins, he subsequently added: “And serve the Lord with all your heart.”

12. For we can merit pardon when we cease to sin and devote ourselves to good works. To serve the Lord with the whole heart is to retain no intention of sinning in the heart. The whole heart is bent to the service of the Creator when we so perform good deeds that we hold fast to no evil by deliberate purpose. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:21

Gregory the Dialogist: This the prophet of the Lord, Samuel, also openly suggests when he adds: “And do not turn aside after vain things, which will not profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.”

13. Literally, he calls vain things the images of demons. But for us, those vain things are to be understood here as what the preacher shows, saying: Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. For in comparison with eternal goods, all things are vain, even temporal goods. For whatever in this age is seen as joyful, delightful, exalted, or prosperous is assuredly vain, because it is held with difficulty and quickly lost. Indeed, the lofty things of the age suddenly collapse, beautiful things pass away, joyful and prosperous things vanish. For when the flattering world is seen to stand in its flowers, it is disturbed by sudden fortune, or is concluded by hasty death that overturns all things. Therefore the joys of the age are vain, which flatter as though they were lasting, but deceive their lovers by quickly passing away. Therefore let the prophet Samuel say: “Do not turn aside after vain things, which will not profit you.” As if to say: The goods of the age are foolishly desired, since they cannot be held for long by those who desire them. And it should be noted that it is said in the future tense: “They will not profit you” — because indeed they are now seen to profit; but when in the future people begin to be punished on account of them, they profit nothing at all. Whence it is also fittingly added: “Nor will they rescue you, because they are vain.” As if to say: They do not help you then, because they fail with the world and are not possessed after this age. The goods of the age last a long time indeed if they accompany their lover all the way to the end of life. Therefore after this age those things do not profit which cannot pass beyond the end of life. In this life indeed they bind their lovers with sins; but then they will not rescue them, where they are present by merit but not by assistance. In this matter it must be carefully noted that temporal goods will not profit those who are said to turn aside after them. For to turn aside after temporal goods is to flow down into desire for them, to prefer love of them to divine love. Rightly, therefore, vain things will not profit them, because they were unwilling to possess them in the order in which they were created. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:22

Gregory the Dialogist: But the fruit by which vain things are despised is suggested when it is added: “And the Lord will not forsake his people for the sake of his great name, because the Lord has sworn to make them a people for himself.”

14. These vain things inflict a great evil upon those who turn aside after them: because while they pursue earthly things in a disordered way, they are abandoned by the supreme and omnipotent God to endure future torments. Therefore, to those who are forbidden to turn aside after vain things, the prophet rightly makes a promise, saying: “The Lord will not forsake His people for the sake of His great name.” Because those who despise vain things for the love of Him are rescued from true evils, and by faith in the promise they receive the reward of an eternal inheritance. Indeed, the Lord makes them His people whom He raises up to the joys of eternal blessedness. For there, with the glory of His majesty revealed, He presides over those whom in the world He holds, taken up from the love of vanity by His hidden grace. To swear to the Lord is to make a promise and to make Him one’s people; the Lord swears to the one who does not turn aside after vain things: because earthly things must be despised so that we may deserve to obtain the goods of an eternal inheritance. Yet let no one believe that he can be brought to those things by his own merits; because here it is strictly expressed: “For the sake of His great name.” For it is not by our goodness, but by God’s, that an earthly man enjoys heavenly goods. For it is the gift of God, not from ourselves. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:23

Gregory the Dialogist: Why is it that Moses and Samuel are preferred to all the other fathers in this matter of making requests if it is not that these two alone in the whole history of the Old Testament are said to have prayed earnestly even for their enemies? One of them the people attacked with stones, and yet he prayed to his Lord for those who were stoning him. The other was deposed from his position of leadership, and yet when he was asked to make supplication he yielded, saying, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.” — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27

Gregory the Dialogist: Hence the Truth says: “When you stand to pray, forgive if you have anything in your hearts.” We show the virtue of forgiveness more clearly if we bring forward one testimony from the Old Testament. Certainly when Judea had offended the justice of its Creator through its demanding sins, the Lord, forbidding His prophet from prayer, says: “Do not take up praise and prayer for them. If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people.” What is it that, with so many fathers passed over and left aside, Moses and Samuel alone are brought forward, whose wondrous power of obtaining is shown, while even they are said to be unable to intercede? As if the Lord were saying openly: I do not even hear those whom I by no means despise on account of the great merit of their petition. What then is it that Moses and Samuel are preferred to the other fathers in petition, except that these two alone in the entire sequence of the Old Testament are read to have prayed even for their enemies? One is assailed with stones by the people, and yet he entreats the Lord for the one who stoned him; the other is cast down from leadership, and yet when asked to pray, he confesses saying: “Far be this sin from me against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you.” “If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people.” As if He were saying openly: I do not even now hear those on behalf of friends, whom I know by the merit of their great virtue to pray even for enemies. Therefore the power of true prayer is the loftiness of charity. And then each person obtains what he rightly asks, when his mind in petition is not darkened by hatred of an enemy. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 27

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: “But as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.”

15. He speaks these things, to whom the Lord said above concerning those to whom he speaks: “They have not rejected you, but me, that I should not reign over them.” Behold, the prophet is rejected, and he speaks to those who reject him, saying: “Far be it from me that I should commit this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you.” Indeed, if this is examined according to the precept of the Law, it would not be a sin if he did not pray for those who rejected him. For the Law of Moses commands, saying: “You shall love your neighbor, and you shall hate your enemy” (Lev. 19:18). But those who were rejecting the prophet had proven themselves not friends, but enemies. What then does it mean that he says: “Far be from me this sin,” unless that the holy man, raised to the summit of charity, not only loved his friends, but also embraced his very enemies? Instructed indeed by the commandment of the old Law, but illuminated by the splendors of the new grace, he reproved the license of the old dispensation with evangelical perfection. By which deed, indeed, we are compelled to reckon with ourselves. For hence it is commanded through the Gospel: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you” (Matt. 5:44). How much then must enemies now be loved, when we are commanded to do so, if they could be loved even then when they were commanded to be hated? And because he strove not only to pray for them, but also to instruct them, he adds, saying: “And I will teach you the good and right way.”

16. For why does he call the way of divine service good, and right: since it is not good if it is not right, nor right if it is not good? But the way was good, because the people went up from Egypt to the promised land, and yet while they wandered through the wilderness, it was not right. Therefore the way is good by which one strives toward the heavenly homeland; right, by which one easily arrives. The way, therefore, is both good and right when we are converted to the religious life, and we carry out divine services with the pressing fervor of great devotion. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

John Chrysostom: For he who loves Christ also loves his flock.… David in this way came to be king, having been seen first to be affectionately-minded toward them. So much indeed, though yet young, did he grieve for the people, as to risk his life for them, when he killed that barbarian. … And Samuel too was very affectionate; when it was that he said, “But God forbid that I should sin in ceasing to pray to the Lord for you.” In like way Paul also, or rather not in like way but even in a far greater degree, burned toward all his subjects. — HOMILIES ON Romans 29

John Chrysostom: What did Samuel profit Saul? Did he not mourn for him even to his last day, and not merely pray for him only? What did he profit the Israelites? Did he not say, “God forbid that I should sin in ceasing to pray for you”? Did they not all perish? Do prayers then, you say, profit nothing? They profit even greatly: but it is when we also do something. For prayers indeed cooperate and assist, but a man cooperates with one that is operating and assists one that is himself also working. But if you remain idle, you will receive no great benefit. — HOMILIES ON 1 THESSALONIANS 1

1 Samuel 12:24

Gregory the Dialogist: Whence Samuel also well explains this same way, saying: “Therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth, and with your whole heart.”

17. This way is indeed good and right: because it leads to eternal life and arrives there swiftly. Through the fear of the Lord, evils are avoided; by serving him, his commandments are fulfilled. We truly serve him in truth when we carry out his precepts for the sake of heavenly reward alone. For whoever seeks a temporal reward for a good work does not truly serve God, whom he does not love in his work because of a false intention. But those who desire to serve God in truth are commanded to place their whole heart in divine service, so that they may carry out the things of God in such a way that they retain nothing in their mind that is contrary to God. This way is assuredly not only good but right: because it leads to salvation and swiftly brings its follower to perfection. For it is shown as another way to the promised land — good, because it leads there; right, because it avoids detours. Through this way, each person arrives at the summit of virtues all the better, the less he turns aside through circuits of negligence. This right way is expressed in that way by which the Lord is said to have wished to lead the children of Israel to the promised land. He wished to entrust the labors of the desert to them, so that for us who walk in the footsteps of his Only-Begotten, he might smooth the course of so great a journey. For they could not yet hear: “If you wish to be perfect, sell what you have and give to the poor, and follow me; and you will have treasure in heaven” (Matt. 19:21). For while the ancient people ran about through various things with license over temporal possessions, they could not, as it were, be led quickly to the promised land through the circuit of toil. Therefore, so that the prophet might introduce to us the way of the new life, he says that the way is good and right: to fear God and to serve him in truth and with the whole heart — because those who do not cease to seek the almighty God both through good works and through fervent desires quickly arrive at the height of divine grace. And because he had made that same people attentive to hearing the words of his preaching through a miracle, he adds: “For you have seen the magnificent things that the Lord has done among you.”

18. As if he were saying: From those things which you have seen, gather how terribly you ought to fear almighty God, and how devoutly you ought always to serve Him. Which words indeed, if we wish to apply them to ourselves, we must fear God all the more reverently and serve Him all the more devoutly, the more wonderful things we have perceived in our Redeemer. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 12:25

Gregory the Dialogist: But because what the good hear, the wicked boldly despise, he added, saying: “But if you persist in wickedness, both you and your king alike shall perish.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 2