1 Samuel 16

1 Samuel 16:1

Bede: Fill your horn with oil, and come, etc. Leaving behind, he says, the care of the carnal kingdom, embrace rather that dominion, which by the light of the Holy Spirit is ascertained to be most rich, to be hoped for and loved. This not coming from yourselves, but sent by my Spirit, carefully disclose to that people, which separated from the enticements of the world, sighs for the joys of eternal salvation. For I have provided for myself a king among the sons of the same people. For Isaiah is interpreted as an island of holocaust or sacrifice, Bethlehem as the house of bread. But an island is each faithful soul; the whole Church of the saints is an island, which by seeking higher things is separated from the waves of this world, now purifying itself entirely by the fervor of the Holy Spirit, making itself an acceptable offering to God, and making its heart a dwelling place of the living bread. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 1. For when it is said to him: “How long will you mourn?” it is shown that he was mourning persistently. Great, therefore, is the affection of the saints, even when they outwardly bring forth the severity of punishment. For on the outside they rage, but inwardly they melt with love. In the manner of mothers they strike their little ones, yet they groan with the affection of the little ones whom they chastise. But what does it mean that the Lord says: “How long will you mourn for Saul?” Can a mother see her son dying and not weep at all through the rending of her heart? She who dies endures the dead without grief, but is weakened. What does it mean that He says: “How long will you mourn for Saul?” Unless it is because the lost are not to be mourned excessively? For often a teacher is vehemently afflicted over the perdition of his subject, but is consoled by regard for the supreme justice. What, therefore, does this saying of God to the prophet mean, except to relieve the preacher’s mind from affliction through inward consolation? And because, when prelates have fallen, the elect are substituted through divine mercy, the Lord adds, saying: (Verse 1.) “Fill your horn with oil, and come: I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided among his sons a king for myself.”

2. For as if consoling one who mourns, he says: Why is the casting off of one person lamented, when a better one is substituted? Hence Saul is shown as not foreseen, but David as foreseen. How great, therefore, and of what quality he was, let it be weighed with prompt consideration—he who is determined by the judgment and choice of Almighty God. But what does it mean that God foresees and the prophet is sent to anoint, except that the spiritual customs of the holy Church are being described, which is seen to appoint no one except those whom it contemplates God to have chosen beforehand and preordained? “Come,” he says, “I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have foreseen among his sons a king.” As if to say: Presume nothing on your own part, but by ordaining you will follow him whom I have foreseen. Hence also a little later he adds, saying: “And you shall anoint the one I shall point out to you.” What is this, except that those who wish to ordain others to the summit of the Church ought to be prophets? For they can recognize what has been foreseen by God, if they consult the sacred Scriptures to find the person of the bishop to be chosen. For it is as though God is shown speaking when such a Pastor is chosen as is commended through sacred eloquence. In the literal sense, however, Samuel is told to come from the Lord so that he might be called back from compassion for the reprobate and rejected king. But if by continual weeping he was seeking the restoration of the fallen one, for him to come was to cease from such an intention. And he filled his horn with oil, because he tempered pastoral sublimity in anointing the king with the splendor of praise. For with a harsh horn he assailed Saul, because he struck down the sinner as if with a great assault, saying: “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king” (1 Kings 15:23). What does it mean, then, that the horn is commanded to be filled with oil, except that the justice of the king to be anointed is commended? As if to say: The king who is now anointed will not need to be struck with rebuke, but proclaimed with the favor of wondrous praise—he needs not to be assailed, but to be favored. He is sent to Jesse the Bethlehemite, so that the king who is chosen might be taught to be one who would endure. For through the patriarch Jacob, the condition of the kingdom that would endure was shown long before, because he said: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until he comes who is to be sent” (Genesis 49:10). Therefore the king foreseen among the sons of Jesse is declared, so that the king who is commanded to be anointed might be taught to be not one who would depart like Saul, but one who would be lasting. As if he rouses the prophet wasting away in anguish over the rejected one, saying: Why is the one rejected for his fault lamented, when one worthy of praise is substituted?

3. We have touched upon these things according to the literal sense; now let us consider the election of our prelates beneath the literal narrative. What does it mean that the horn is commanded to be filled with oil, except that such a pastor is to be chosen in the holy Church who ought not to be accused as a transgressor, but commended to the example of others with wondrous praises? For the horn is the weapon of animals. And what else are the authority and rebuke of the chief bishop but weapons? Indeed horns strike when their sharp points are applied to sinners through rebuke. For to strike with the horn is to reprove sinners sharply. The horn is filled with oil when the sublimity of the preacher does not have the harshness of threats, but the gentleness of favors. Or the horn is filled with oil when to the chosen pastor there is given at once both the exaltation of the summit and the power of anointing—when the lofty rank is ascended, yet he who is raised to the heights is filled with the abundance of merits. Therefore priests are anointed from a full horn who attain to the highest rank with the fullness of graces. Because indeed fire is kindled by oil, the oil is the love of the teacher’s heart—in which fire is kindled, because in the richness of the mouth the power and grace of the Holy Spirit burns. Because therefore the teacher ought to have the richness of great charity, the king who is commanded to be anointed is said to be anointed from a full horn. The fullness of the horn is also spoken of in terms of the perseverance of graces; for those who fail before the end do not merit to be anointed with the fullness of the horn. Still more must be said about the fullness of this horn: it is commanded for this reason, because he who must fill others from his own fullness needs a great anointing. Whence Moses too is said to have been so full that the Lord is shown to have taken from his spirit and given it to others (Num. 11). Or the horn of the prophet is filled when the pontifical sublimity is prepared for teaching more perfect things. For when the princes of the Church are ordained, the things they ought to do must not be preached to them in half-measure. Therefore the bishops fill the horn when they set forth full and perfect virtues, which the chosen princes of the Church may imitate. Because indeed those who anoint ought themselves to be spiritual, they are commanded to fill the horn. The horn is indeed from the flesh, but it is not enclosed in the flesh. Therefore the horn is the spiritual manner of life of the teacher. The horn pours out oil when he preaches lofty things who demonstrates these things by his lofty manner of life. Therefore to fill the horn with oil is to take up the preaching of great virtues in a lofty manner of life. And he pours it on the head when he imprints it on the mind of him who comes newly to the highest order. Therefore when the elect are promoted, they are anointed from a full horn, because they advance to the height of their order by the power of perfection.

4. But the prophet is sent to Jesse of Bethlehem, a king is foreseen among his sons, because that shepherd is chosen who has been instructed in ecclesiastical devotion. Bethlehem, therefore, which is called “house of bread,” what else does it designate but each and every house of religion? For by the name of bread the teaching of perfection is shown, as Paul attests, who, rousing the weak to conversion, says: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. For you were not yet able, nor are you yet able” (1 Cor. 3:2). For if milk belongs to little ones, bread belongs to none but the perfect. Whence also it is said of the strength of the perfect man: “He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his loftiness, bread has been given to him” (Isa. 33:16). Therefore in the house of bread a king is sought for anointing, because those are profitably advanced who are nourished in the order of perfect conduct. For he is able to make others strong who has not been nourished in lax and negligent conduct. Therefore he is sought in the house of bread, because in promoting a bishop, strength of conduct must be sought. From a weak congregation a person of virtue is almost never taken. Whence rightly the search is made among the sons of Jesse, who is named “salvation of the Lord,” or certainly “salvation” absolutely. Indeed, a prelate is rightly called salvation. For what are sins and vices, if not diseases of souls? But a chosen preacher, through the integrity of sound doctrine, through the solidity of innocence, through the splendor of an elect life, is rightly named the salvation of the Lord. There are indeed other teachers whose speech creeps like a cancer. From the family of these a king is not taken, because he does not lead sick minds to health, but kills them. And it should be noted that Jesse is called by another name, Isai. He has indeed a twofold name, because a good teacher is not always at peace. In time of peace he is called the salvation of the Lord, so that the wounds of wars may be taught to be healed, as it were, within the secure vestibules of his house. But in war he has the name Jesse, because he both fortifies himself bravely and protects others valiantly. For Jesse is said to mean “relief of the island.” But by the name of island, what is understood if not minds surrounded by the waves of temptations? They are indeed islands, because even if they endure great conflicts, they are not moved. Whence also the Psalmist, proclaiming the victory of the elect, says: “The Lord has reigned, let the earth exult, let many islands rejoice” (Ps. 97:1). The Lord indeed reigns when no storm of enemies disturbs his throne, namely the elect minds; but the earth rejoices, because the solid hearts of teachers are glad. The islands rejoice, because when they overcome temptations by his grace, the hearers of their superiors are gladdened. The earth indeed is the strong mind and the firm tongue of the teacher. But the island is said to be the strong heart of the subject, which is still assailed by temptations, yet is not moved. What then does it mean that Jesse is called the relief of the island, except that through the strength of teachers the hearts of the lesser are uplifted? For amid so many waves of temptations they would collapse, if their hearts were not raised to the desire of the lofty life by the strength of their superiors. Therefore a king is described as hidden among the sons of Isai and Jesse, because those profitably come to the summit of the Church who have learned under the instruction of the elect both to guard peace and to arrange or wage spiritual wars. Therefore it is well said: “For I have provided among his sons a king for myself.” For among these and not among others is a king foreseen, because through divine grace none attain to the summit of the Church who do not follow the instruction of the elect through all the successive periods of time. There follows: (Verses 2–3.) And Samuel said: “How shall I go? For Saul will hear of it and will kill me.” And the Lord said: “You shall take a calf from the herd in your hand, and you shall say: I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. And you shall call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you are to do.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: 22. Now indeed, according to our plan, the book ought to be brought to a close at its end; but it returns to memory that we referred the beginnings of the volume to the conversation of the Redeemer. And since through John our same Redeemer is declared to be the beginning and the end, the book is most fittingly closed if it is completed in the narration of our Redeemer (Rev. 1:8). David, therefore, meaning “strong of hand,” represents the Redeemer of the human race Himself, who prevailed over the ancient enemy and carried away the elect from his power. He is called the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, because He willed to be born from that people whom He filled, as it were with bread, with the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. For Judea was the “house of bread,” which possessed the solid food of the Scriptures in spiritual understanding, as if from bread. But what does Samuel signify, except, as we have already often said, the order of the new preachers? And what does David represent, except the Redeemer? Samuel is therefore sent to anoint him. For to anoint him is to preach his incomparable sanctification to those who are ignorant of it. For he is, as it were, anointed when the fragrance of his renown is opened to those who do not know him. For he was anointing Him who said: “Because in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily” (Col. 2:9). But why do we take only the new preachers as pertaining to his anointing, when we see that the old ones also anointed him so reverently? For what smells better and sweeter than what the prophet Isaiah poured out upon him, saying: “The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him” (Isa. 11:2)? Likewise, he who is held in our hands, David, speaking to him, says: “Beautiful in form above the sons of men, grace is poured forth upon your lips” (Ps. 44:3). And shortly after: “God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.” Moreover, Daniel anointed him and offered the whole sacrament of anointing to the Jews, saying: “When the Holy of Holies shall come, your anointing shall cease” (Dan. 9). The prophet is therefore sent to anoint him, because the fragrance of him is never grasped by the little ones unless it is spread abroad through the mouths of preachers. Whence also those three women prepare spices and anoint the Redeemer in the tomb (Mark 16). Jesus is indeed anointed in the tomb when the glory of his resurrection is preached. Whence also when they come, Jesus is not found; because when they rightly discuss the Lord’s death, they show that the dead one is already rising, and as it were by coming they do not find him; because where they rightly understand the cause of his death, they find that life has been restored through that death.

23. But what does it mean that he is commanded to fill the horn with oil? For what was the severity of the law, if not the sharpness of a horn? For it struck as if with a horn, since it did not pardon sins through mercy, but punished them by inflicting penalty. The horn, therefore, is filled with oil, because such a King is anointed who mercifully forgives the sins of men, not punishing through the severity of the law. For they were holding forth the horn of Moses, who said to the Lord concerning the woman who had been caught in adultery: “Moses commands that such a woman be stoned; what do You say about her?” (John 8:5). But He who had been anointed with the full horn says: “Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone at her.” That man had taken up the horn for striking, as it were, who said: “If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is who touches Him, for she is a sinner” (Luke 7:39). But Jesus, who had been anointed from the fullness of the horn, forgave everything, saying: “Her many sins are forgiven, because she loved much.” Hence to those murmuring about His reception of sinners He says: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners” (Matt. 9:13). The prophet is therefore sent with a full horn to anoint David, because teachers now preach Him who dissolved the harshness of the law, and restored through the warmth of His grace everything that it had set forth rigidly. Was he not anointing Him—he who was sent to anoint Him—of whom it is said: “There was a man sent from God, whose name was John: he came as a witness, to bear witness to the light” (John 1:6)? But we have heard how he was sent; let us hear how he anoints: “Behold,” he says, “the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29).

24. By the horn, namely of his kingdom, the sublimity of the holy Church can be designated, which is great, but is not harsh and proud. Concerning this horn it is said above through Hannah, the mother of Samuel: “He will exalt the horn of his Christ” (1 Sam. 2:10). For hence it is said through Zechariah: “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us, in the house of David his servant” (Luke 1:69). What indeed is the horn of salvation, if not the sublimity of ecclesiastical power? For what is nowhere said to the ancients is now said to the universal Church: “Whatever you shall bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven; and whatever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven” (Matt. 16:19). This horn is indeed said to be raised up and full of oil, because the holy Church, together with the sublimity of power, extends the bowels of compassion. And because through the vice of condemned humanity we can more easily be lifted up to the authority of power than bent to the tenderness of piety, rightly he is commanded not to prepare a horn, but oil. For he who says, “Fill your horn with oil,” indicated that the horn existed without oil. What is this, except that we can grow angry and rebuke even without deliberation, but we cannot be bent to mercy except through great meditation? As if he were saying: Fill with oil the zeal which you naturally have; for if you do not have it of yourself, you can have it from virtue. This is certainly said to him who is sent to anoint the Redeemer, so that he who is placed in the office of preaching may always strive to be rich in mercy.

25. By this horn the affection of the mind can be shown. This horn is certainly commanded to be filled, because the anointing of our Redeemer, that is, His sanctification, ought to be perfectly known before it can be sufficiently preached. The horn is therefore filled when the holiness of the Redeemer is well recognized. And he is anointed with a full horn when He is preached most excellently. For John, because he had come to anoint by preaching, as it were filled the horn by knowing, so that he might be able to anoint Him by speaking well. But if we wish to understand the filling well, let us hear what is said in the Gospel: “The word came upon John the son of Zacharias in the desert” (Luke 3:2). He therefore anointed Him with a full horn, who was first perfectly taught by the Word before he could speak of the divinity of the Word and the assumed nature of man. But coming, he had a calf in his hand; because, in order to become a worthy herald of the Redeemer, he slaughtered his own flesh to God through abstinence. By the name of calf the Lord Himself can also be designated. What then does it mean that the prophet carried a calf in his hand, except that he who wishes to show forth Jesus by preaching ought to imitate the sufferings of Him whom he preaches through the mortification of the flesh? Indeed, to hold a calf in the hand is to show the likeness of Christ’s passion in the power of one’s works. For otherwise, he who comes to anoint the king is slain; because indeed the preacher of truth brings himself into danger of his own salvation, who tramples by wicked conduct the word that he preaches with his mouth. Samuel therefore, coming to anoint the king, carried a calf in his hand; because the forerunner of the Lord first showed himself admirable through the splendor of a heavenly way of life, and thus made known the good of so great a grace to those who did not know it.

26. But what does it mean that he is commanded to seek among the sons of Jesse, except that He was to be born from the ancient people and was to have no equal? He is therefore commanded to be sought, so that we might believe in Him with reason. And because He says of Himself: “No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44), it is rightly said to Samuel by the Father: “You shall anoint the one whom I shall show you.” For he had anointed, as it were, one who was shown to him—he who heard from the one whom he had anointed: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:17). He is sent therefore to Bethlehem, because when Christ is sought according to the flesh, He is found born from the people of the Jews. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Jerome: [Daniel 9:2] “I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years concerning which the word of the Lord had come to the prophet Jeremiah, that seventy years would be accomplished for the desolation of Jerusalem.” Jeremiah had predicted seventy years for the desolation of the Temple (Jeremiah 29:1-10), at the end of which the people would again return to Judaea and build the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. But this fact did not render Daniel careless, but rather encouraged him to pray that God might through his supplications fulfil that which He had graciously promised. Thus he avoided the danger that carelessness might result in pride, and pride cause offense to the Lord. Accordingly we read in Genesis that prior to the Deluge one hundred and twenty years were appointed for men to come to repentance (Genesis 6:3); and inasmuch as they refused to repent even within so long an interval of time as a hundred years, God did not wait for the remaining twenty years to be fulfilled, but brought on the punishment earlier which He had threatened for a later time. So also Jeremiah is told, on account of the hardness of the heart of the Jewish people: “Pray not for this people, for I will not hearken unto thee” (Jeremiah 7:16). Samuel also was told: “How long wilt thou mourn over Saul? I also have rejected him” (1 Samuel 16:1). And so it was with sackcloth and ashes that Daniel besought the Lord to fulfil what He had promised, not that Daniel lacked faith concerning the future, but rather he would avoid the danger that a feeling of security might produce carelessness, and carelessness produce an offense to God. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER NINE

Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius: The Jews had before been directed to compose a sacred oil, with which those who were called to the priesthood or to the kingdom might be anointed. And as now the robe of purple is a sign of the assumption of royal dignity among the Romans, so with them the anointing with the holy oil conferred the title and power of king. But since the ancient Greeks used the word chriesthai to express the art of anointing, which they now express by anleiphesthai, as the verse of Homer shows, “But the attendants washed, and anointed them with oil”; on this account we call him Christ, that is, the Anointed, who in Hebrew is called the Messiah. — EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES 4.7

1 Samuel 16:2

Bede: And Samuel said: How shall I go? etc. The prophets said to the Lord, and the apostles said: How can we preach the kingdom of the New Testament? For the zealous Jews of the law will hear and kill us. Which of the prophets did they not persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of Christ. To whom the Lord responding, commanded that his body, separated from the conversation of the people, be taken up by the hand of stricter continence, and worn ready to embrace death for the Lord, and also to inflame his listeners to undertake the glory of martyrdom, as if commanded to call Isaiah to the sacrifice. For death is never better overcome than when it is endured with divine love. And I, he said, to you, O my prophets, and heralds of the future, not by men but by the infusion of my Spirit, will show what you should say or do, and who, where, or when Christ will come. These can be specially understood of John the Baptist, whom the Jews heard evangelizing about Christ and killed; but he, ready in body and mind for martyrdom, called his listeners to the sacrifice, that is to the baptism of repentance. Not any human teacher, but God Himself showed him what he should do; and having given the sign of the Holy Spirit, he taught to whom he should give the testimony of divinity from all those who he baptized. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 5. What is shown by these words, except that the cunning and cruelty of tyrants must sometimes be eluded by pious deception? For by the Lord’s command a calf is taken from the herd, a sacrifice is simulated, and the royal anointing is reached, because when tyrants desire to do harm, certain things which they may believe must be set before them, so that they find no opening to do harm. Thus tyrants must be eluded in such a way that the guilt of lying is avoided. This is well accomplished when what is asserted actually takes place, but what takes place is stated in such a way that it is concealed, because it is partly spoken and partly kept silent. For the prophet Samuel is commanded to go to anoint the king, and to declare that he is going to sacrifice to the Lord, not that he is going to anoint a king; so that in sacrificing he speaks the truth, and in concealing the anointing he eludes the tyrant’s cruelty while speaking the truth. For that he went to sacrifice, he shortly afterward clearly sets forth, where it says: “He therefore sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:3

Gregory the Dialogist: 6. But now it is better handled if we consider what these things signify spiritually. What does it mean, then, that the prophet takes a calf in his hand, and so arrives to anoint the king? But what is the calf, if not the splendor of the image of the Redeemer? For since he strives to make the one he chooses conformed to the Redeemer, when he preaches the very form of the Redeemer, he carries, as it were, a calf in his hand. And because he demonstrates the splendor of the Lord’s manner of life, which he preaches, in the power of his works, he leads by hand the calf he takes from the herd. For to take up a calf in hand is to preserve the preaching of the Lord’s manner of life in the power of one’s works. Thus indeed, going in this way, he is not killed; otherwise he would be killed: because he who speaks and does not act is condemned by the sword of his own mouth. What does it mean that he is commanded to say: “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord”? What does it likewise mean that he does what he says, since he comes and sacrifices, except that the one who promotes others ought to be of such efficacy that he not only speaks good things, but persuades them? Indeed the sacrificial victim, which is seen in the prophet’s hand, is recognized upon the altar. For what is the heart of a chosen hearer, if not the altar of God? For when a teacher speaks good things with his mouth and shows them by his works, the calf is in his hand. But when he also persuades his hearers of what he says and does, the victim is on the altar. He therefore sacrifices when chosen hearts receive through love that which shines forth in the word and example of the teacher, concerning the imitation of the Redeemer. There follows: “And you shall call Jesse to the sacrifice.” Perhaps this passage suggests that subjects are not to be promoted without the knowledge of their superiors. Jesse is first called to the sacrifice, so that the good which the subject is seen to undertake may be grounded in the mind of his master. Rightly it is added: “And I will show you what you are to do.” Expressing this very thing, he says: (Verse 3.) “And you shall anoint the one whom I shall point out to you.”

7. For unless Jesse is first called, what must be done is not revealed to him: because without the will of the master, nothing concerning the person of the subject is to be done. Therefore, when he has been called, what must be done is shown, because with the will of the devout teacher, the humility of the subject is raised to the height of prelacy. But what does it mean when it is said: “You shall anoint the one whom I shall show you,” except that all the disciples are not equal to the chosen pastor? For among them, some are useful for obeying; others both obey humbly and have learned to command with discretion. Therefore He says: “You shall anoint the one whom I shall show you,” so that when a person is sought for the summit of the priesthood, the search may be conducted with great care. By these words, certainly, nothing of their own judgment is left to the ordainers of Churches in the election of others. “The one whom I shall show you,” He says, “him you shall anoint.” Who are those who anoint those whom God does not show, except those who, led by carnal affection, elevate to the summit of the Churches those who are to be ordained, who do not discern merits but show favoritism toward persons? These indeed anoint kings, but not those who are shown by God. What is their own, they do; what is God’s, they take away. For it is God’s part to show the person; it is the ordainer’s part to provide the anointing. Therefore, when they show to themselves those whom they anoint, they refuse to have God as their co-worker. Hence also through the prophet Hosea the Lord complains about such chosen ones, saying: “They have reigned, but not from me; princes have arisen, and I did not know it” (Hosea 8:4). Therefore it is said to the elect, what the reprobate cannot hear: “You shall anoint the one whom I shall show you,” so that no one may be promoted unless he is judged worthy of so great an office by the commendation of the Holy Scriptures. For in them the Lord speaks; there it is recorded what kind of man and how great the teacher of the Church ought to be. Therefore, the one shown by the Lord is chosen, who is commended through sacred eloquence. These things indeed wicked rulers despise, but good ones carry out. Therefore, concerning the obedience of the good, it is rightly added: (Verse 4.) “So Samuel did what the Lord told him. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city were astonished, coming to meet him.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:4

Bede: And he came to Bethlehem, etc. When the prophecies about Christ arose in the world from the prophets, those who were more prudent, meeting the same prophets with a devout mind, already deemed their words worthy of a miracle, and with eager intention inquired whether these same oracles of the prophets signaled peace to come to the ages; or if they were going to impose an unbearable yoke similar to the Mosaic Law upon the necks of the disciples. And the prophets answered, and each of them proclaimed in their books, that they were sent to the city by God to bear witness to the one who was to come to reconcile the earthly with the heavenly; and after the long discriminations of enmity that human iniquity deserved, to reconcile the world to God through the venerable mysteries of His blood. This can be understood in the same manner about John, because the people, admiring his life and doctrine, thought he was Christ, and inquired deeply about his situation. But he testified that he was announcing peace to come to the earth, — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 8. As for the historical sense, the elders are amazed, because the prophet was not accustomed to come there. By this it is perhaps signified that chosen teachers should scarcely ever be seen in public, should be frequent in solitude, free from civil affairs, full of spiritual ones. Therefore it becomes a wonder to the people when the person of the pastor is seen in public. They marvel that he goes out whom they knew as a cultivator of secrecy. Because he is held in great veneration by the people, the elders of the city are reported both to have marveled and to have gone out to meet him. But because not the people but the elders marvel, the perfect virtue of teachers is shown, which is praised not by the little ones and the simple but by the great and the learned. They also inquire about the peaceful coming of the prophet. As if, then, he who said threatened a coming that was not peaceful: “What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in the spirit of gentleness?” (1 Cor. 4:21). What then is the meaning of what is said: (Verse 4) “Is your coming peaceful?”

9. But the chosen faithful, when they rightly consider the deeds of spiritual teachers, assuredly weigh the divine will in them. For because they knew Samuel to be a prophet, it was assuredly because he had known the secrets of divine dispensation. Therefore, when they ask about his peaceful arrival, what else do they do by asking than wish to know the secret of divine counsel? Would that we also, as often as we see holy men, would be eager to inquire about the security of our peace, and to learn diligently from them how we are seen by God, we who do not have the eyes of our own knowledge. Therefore the arrival of teachers is peaceful when they come to those who are not to be struck for fault, but to be exhorted for the sake of righteousness. He therefore who had come to the righteous man who had been advanced, answered saying: (Verse 5) “Peaceful; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves and come with me, that we may sacrifice.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: He came also to Bethlehem, because the order of preachers strove first to convert Judea, and afterward preached the faith of the Redeemer to the Gentiles. But what does it mean that the elders of the city marvel, except that those who had attained the understanding of maturity were astonished at the preaching of so great a novelty? But marveling, they come to meet him, because they gladly hear the preaching of the truth. To come to meet preachers is to hear with desire the word of faith that they preach. What do they ask about his peaceful entrance? What is a peaceful entrance, except when he has come with the presence of peace? This same peace He shows who says: “He Himself is our peace, who has made both one” (Eph. 2:14). What does it mean, then, that they ask about his peaceful entrance, except that the hearts of the elect Jews were waiting with desire for the promise of the fathers? As if wavering, those who were waiting might say: “Has the peace perhaps come, which foretold that it would come, so great a span of time running ahead?” And because the new teachers relate that what the ancient fathers had promised has been fulfilled, they say: “It is peaceful.” As if to say: We do not promise future things, but we show the present gifts of peace. In our entrance it is present; in our word it is not something future. Already the righteous Simeon saw, already he held and adored Him, saying: “Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace” (Luke 2:29). Already He appeared to the shepherds; already, with the long-awaited peace sent from heaven, the multitude of angels sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will” (Luke 2:14). And because He had come not only to preach peace but also to persuade, he adds, saying: “I have come to sacrifice.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:5

Bede: I have come to sacrifice to the Lord, etc. That is, I have come to teach and suffer for the Lord; be baptized and believe with me, so that we may live together in Christ. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Therefore, he sanctified Jesse and his sons, etc. He sanctified them all, but anointed David alone with the oil of chrism; because the Church has many members, but one head. John baptized many, but the dove descended upon one. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 10. Those who direct their intention toward heavenly things go with the doctors to offer sacrifice. And the prophet sacrifices before those who go, when the doctor binds in the hearts of those present through love what he proclaims by word. But that we may attend a little to the historical sense, we must carefully examine what is said: “Sanctify yourselves and come with me.” For if they do not dare to be present at the sacrifice unless sanctified, what must we think of those who sacrifice? For to sanctify is to purify. How pure, then, ought the priests to be, where the people invited to the sacrifice are not to be admitted unless sanctified? For the sanctification of the body is chastity, and the sanctification of the mind is charity and humility. Let the one invited to the sacrifice therefore be sanctified, but he who invites is all the more compelled to be so. Let the priests note what they say to those invited: “Come with me.” For the sanctified come with them if pure priests approach the service of God together with pure people. For to go with them is for the pure to approach together with the pure. For if the people are pure but the priests are not pure, they do not come with them, because they do not approach in an equal order of purity. Let such ones hear what another prophet admonishes, saying: “Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord” (Isaiah 52:11). Let them likewise hear what he says: “Wash yourselves, be clean” (Isaiah 1:16). Because therefore the people must be cleansed, he says: “Sanctify yourselves.” Because likewise men of the highest rank must always remain in the continual state of their purity and draw others to the pattern of their purity, he adds: “And come with me.” But because the elders are invited to the sacrifice, what do they demonstrate by this type, except that for choosing a bishop, or for anointing and consecrating him, many wise and religious men must be called? Who are indeed sanctified and come, if they resolve not to follow anything carnal in that election. For them to be sanctified is to bring a spiritual and holy intention to the bestowing of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And well is it said in the type of the chosen, both of Jesse and of his sons: (Verse 5) “Jesse therefore sanctified his sons and called them to the sacrifice.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: 27. What is it for a priest to sacrifice, except to join the hearts of the elect to our Redeemer through love? As if he were saying: You wish to know whether he has come, but it does not profit to be known unless it profits to be loved. I have come therefore to sacrifice to the Lord. Hence it is that Paul expels those in whom he could not sacrifice, saying: “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema” (1 Cor. 16:22). But to those invited to the sacrifice it is said: “Sanctify yourselves, and come.” The Jews therefore cannot come with us to the sacrifice of faith, because they refuse to judge the Lord Jesus from the Scriptures, but out of hatred alone they flee from hearing his preaching. Whence the Lord complains through himself, saying: “If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have no excuse, because they have seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:24). What then is the meaning of what is said: “Sanctify yourselves, and come”? But for hearers to be sanctified is to prepare the secret place of a pure mind for hearing. For them to be sanctified is indeed to cast hatred from the heart, and to prepare purity of intention for hearing the word of preaching. Therefore the sanctified are commanded to come, because coming profits nothing for those who do not have purity of intention in hearing. And because the Holy Spirit speaks through holy teachers, he says: “Come with me” — as if to say: Attend to the one speaking in such a way that you believe the one hearing is with you, because I speak in such a way that I hear, since I myself am the one who speaks and governs the speaking. And because at the beginning of the nascent Church many of the Jews both heard devoutly and believed faithfully, it is rightly said that Jesse and his sons were sanctified by Samuel and invited to the sacrifice. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:6

Bede: And when they had entered, he saw Eliab, etc. He introduces the sons of Jesse, the first, the second, and the third. Among them, none is found worthy to be anointed: because the Synagogue produced doctors of the law, prophets, and psalmists; but all these are participants, in none of them is the author of human salvation found. — Commentary on Samuel

Clement of Alexandria: They have gone beyond the limits of impropriety. They have invented mirrors to reflect all this artificial beautification of theirs, as if it were nobility of character or self-improvement. They should, rather, conceal such deception with a veil. It did the handsome Narcissus no good to gaze on his own image, as the Greek myth tells us. If Moses forbade his people to fashion any image to take the place of God, is it right for these women to study their reflected images for no other reason that to distort the natural features of their faces?In much the same way, when Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, and when he brought out his chrism as soon as he saw the oldest son, admiring his handsomeness and height, Scripture tells us, “The Lord said to him: ‘Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For man sees those things that appear, but the Lord beholds the heart.’ ” He finally anointed not the one who was fair in body but the one who was fair of soul. If the Lord places more importance on beauty of soul than on that of the body, what must he think of artificial beautification when he abhors so thoroughly every sort of lie? “We walk by faith, not by sight.” — The Instructor Book 3

Gregory of Nazianzus: Do not say, “I do not mind a mere priest, if he is a celibate, and a religious [person], and of angelic life; for it would be a sad thing for me to be defiled even in the moment of my cleansing.” Do not ask for credentials of the preacher or the baptizer. For another is his judge and the examiner of what you can’t see. For humans look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. — ON HOLY BAPTISM, ORATION 40.26

Gregory the Dialogist: 11. And because we have taught through the sacred scriptures that the Lord shows who should be chosen as bishops, let us now see, as the mysteries of this sacred history speak, what kind of men He shows to be worthy and what kind He rejects. There follows: (Verses 6, 7.) “And when they had come in, he saw Eliab and said: Is this the Lord’s anointed before Him? And the Lord said to Samuel: Do not look upon his countenance, nor upon the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the sight of men. For man sees those things which appear, but the Lord beholds the heart.” For what does it mean for the wise to enter in, except to pass into the subtle sanctuary of discernment? But he saw Eliab when he entered, because the pastor recognizes that man as worthy of leadership in the holy Church who possesses both the strength of good works and the knowledge of truth. But what does it mean that the Lord commands him not to look upon his stature or his countenance, except that in the holy Church neither works nor knowledge are commended without humility? For what is a person’s countenance but the outward manner of life by which he is known? And what is his stature but the height of knowledge by which he is raised to higher things? Whom then does Eliab more fittingly signify than those who do good and are learned, yet are arrogant? Hence Eliab is interpreted as “my God is father.” This indeed is the name they dare to presume for themselves. For what does it mean that “my God is father” is said, except that while they vigorously do good works and wisely understand spiritual things, they boast that by singular merit they have passed into the number of the sons of God? For they would say “father” not “mine” but “ours” to the almighty Lord, if through humility they saw themselves in common with the other elect in the order of heavenly birth. Rightly therefore he is rejected, because in the spiritual heights none but the humble are preferred. Thus the prophet subtly inquires about the person to be anointed, saying: “Is this the Lord’s anointed before Him?” This happens now when the chief teacher recognizes both the life and the understanding of the one to be chosen, but still inquires about the virtue of humility. But he sees his countenance and stature rejected, when he recognizes that whatever beauty he has in works, whatever loftiness exists in his learning, is without the virtue of humility. Rightly therefore the Lord says: “I have cast him aside, nor do I judge according to the sight of man, because man sees the face, but God beholds the heart.” As if He were saying: Men are accustomed to praise great works and words of knowledge, but I praise neither words nor works that I do not see founded in true humility. Those who are of this sort would tremble at the repulse of their unworthiness if they were willing to hear attentively what the Lord says to the prophet: “Do not look upon his countenance, nor upon the height of his stature, because I have cast him aside.” For they consider what the arrogant do to be of great importance; but behold, the Lord declares it so worthless that it is judged not even worth looking upon. But with this one set aside, what follows is shown: (Verse 8.) “And Jesse called Aminadab and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Jerome: He goes to Bethlehem and considers every son of Jesse to be the very person that the Lord was looking for.… He makes the same mistake in each case, and he is reproved in each case, giving evidence of the weakness of the human mind. — Against the Pelagians 1.33

Tertullian: You are human, and so you know other people only from the outside. You think as you see, and you see only what your eyes let you see. But “the eyes of the Lord are lofty.” “Man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.” So “the Lord knows them that are his” and roots up the plant which he has not planted. He shows the last to be first, he carries a fan in his hand to purge his floor. Let the chaff of light faith fly away as it pleases before every wind of temptation. So much the purer is the heap of wheat which the Lord will gather into his garner. — PRESCRIPTIONS AGAINST HERETICS 3

1 Samuel 16:8

Gregory the Dialogist: 12. Aminadab is interpreted as “urbane.” Rightly therefore, by the Lord’s deliberate counsel, he is rejected: because the holy church does not choose for the governance of souls one who is vigorous in secular affairs, but one who is distinguished in spiritual conduct. Indeed, those are urbane who, having set aside their focus on heavenly things, strive to show themselves vigorous in outward pursuits. Therefore the Lord did not choose this one either, because by the zeal of a faithful pastor, heavenly things, not earthly ones, ought to be provided for the flocks of the faithful — not weak and fleeting things, but sublime and eternal ones. (Verse 9.) Then he brought forward Shammah, about whom he also said: “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:9

Gregory the Dialogist: 13. Sama is interpreted as “hearing.” What then does Sama designate, except the obedient and simple? For to hear, for them, is to carry out by obeying those things which are commanded by their superiors. Whence also concerning the obedience of the Gentile people it is said through the Psalmist: “A people whom I did not know served me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me” (Psalms 17:45). But what does it mean that they are said not to be chosen by the Lord, except that at the summit of the Church are placed not the unskilled humble, but the humble wise, who both know how to carry out what is commanded and wisely command what ought to be done? For it is necessary for him both to do and to teach. Therefore let him do humbly, and let him teach wisely. Because therefore those who know how to act through humility but do not know how to command through learning are not to be taken up into royal dignity, Sama is said not to be chosen by the Lord for the kingdom. From this, then, from this let the simple and the disobedient gather how penally they thrust themselves forward to preeminence, if Almighty God does not receive even him for governance who is called “hearing” through the humility of obedience. And because holy Church has many of this kind, both simple and well-living, as well as humble and wise, it follows: (Verse 10.) And so Jesse brought all his sons before Samuel. And Samuel said: “The Lord has not chosen from these.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:10

Bede: Therefore Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, etc. The number seven is fitting to the law because of the sabbath, just as the number eight is fitting to the Gospel because of the mystery of the resurrection. Therefore, none of those who are perfect according to the law, hoping for the sabbath either of the body in the present or even of the Spirit in the future age, preach, perceive, even though being high in merits and strong in virtues, can suffice to save the world. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 14. Because perfection is usually signified by the number seven, the prophet Isaiah testifies, who, declaring the gifts of the Holy Spirit abiding in our Redeemer, says: “The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him” (Isaiah 11:2). What then does it mean that those who are rejected from the office of preaching are signified by the number seven, when that same number signifies perfection, which no one possesses except from the infusion of the Holy Spirit? But this is fittingly asserted: because to many the grace of the Holy Spirit is given for living well, but is not given for teaching. Since they are many and perfect in good works, they are fittingly contained in the number seven. Likewise, because they do robust things but do not understand subtle things, they are rejected from the governance of the kingdom. And so there are seven sons, and yet none of them is chosen for the governance of souls: because even though by living well they know how to govern themselves strongly, they are by no means able to protect others strongly through doctrine. Let the ordainer of the Church never rush so hastily in ordaining, because, even if he has many who are not suitable for undertaking the care of souls, those who can preside cannot be lacking to him. Therefore let the teacher seek earnestly, let him not cease to seek, until he can find those who are hidden. The great virtues of the elect, like treasures of almighty God, are almost always hidden in secret. For almighty God acts in the manner of fearful rich men: because lest he lose the treasures of virtues, he both places them in elect minds and conceals those very minds in secrecy. Therefore let him who desires to ordain, or rather to adorn, the head of the Church seek the hidden treasures. He desires to adorn the bride of Christ; but he cannot unless he brings forth the hidden treasures of the bridegroom for her adornment, and let him not cease until he finds those that are hidden. But why do I urge pastors to seek, when unless God brings forth the hidden [it seems one should read “the hidden ones”], they cannot be found? For what else does this mean: “You shall anoint whomever I shall show you”? Nevertheless they must be sought, because unless they are sought for a long time, they are by no means shown. For the Lord also promises that he will show, and yet the prophet strives to seek, that he may deserve to find. Whence the Lord also commands persistence in seeking, saying: “Seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). Therefore the prophet, seeking and persevering in seeking even after so many have been rejected—what does he suggest to us, except that by no dispensation should the unworthy be permitted to come to the summit of religion? For although in most affairs of the holy Church dispensation is salutary, it is certainly deadly and fatal where either the blind through ignorance, or the irreligious though learned, or those devoted to secular affairs are permitted to come to the leadership of others. For the first destroy the souls of their subjects through ignorance, the second through knowing and not doing, and the last likewise through neglecting spiritual things and following carnal and earthly things. The first indeed labor with all their strength so that what they say may be praised; the second do not know what to say; the last strive with every effort to be more abundantly honored among the great ones of the world—who indeed are so much worse than the first, inasmuch as the first wish to appear exalted in spiritual matters, while these wish to appear exalted in carnal and worldly matters. The desire of these last is to be supported by riches, to be exalted by honors, to be elevated by the friendships of the powerful of this age. From all these affections of a reprobate mind can arise neglect of the souls of subjects, contempt of Christ, and the squandering of the Church’s resources. Therefore let the teacher seek, so that by no dispensation may he set the unworthy over others: because what is deadly should never be permitted. Whence it is added: “And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all your sons here?” What does it mean that he seeks another, except that the seeker ought not to rest before he deserves to find? And because often what is cast aside and despised on the outside is exalted within, it follows: (Verse 11) “Who answered: There remains yet the youngest, and he tends the sheep.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: 28. But among the seven sons of Jesse, the king is not found. For what are the seven sons of Jesse, if not all the perfect ones of the Synagogue? They come to the prophet, but none of them is chosen, because the chosen preacher both looks upon the perfect sons of the Synagogue and believes none of them to be the Redeemer of the human race. He therefore brings forward all the older sons, so that when we look upon all the perfect ones, we may consider the excellence of the Redeemer. Among whom indeed, unless the little one is brought forward, the king is not revealed by the Lord, because surely when we compare great men to our Redeemer, how greatly His dignity surpasses theirs is seen. He is therefore not found among the others, because they are mere men. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:11

Bede: And Samuel said to Jesse: Are all the children finished? etc. After the teachers of the law, the herald of prophecy, the sweetness of psalmody, and the long devotion of the people had been sent forth into the world, with the people instructed in divine services by the law of Moses, prophets, and psalmists, the incarnation of Christ was still to come in the fullness of time. Of which it is rightly understood what Jesse said: There is yet the least one, and he tends the sheep. For a child is born to us; a son is given to us (Isaiah IX). He who speaks in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me (John X). Nor without a certain reason of mystery is the same little one said to have tended the sheep before being anointed by the prophet; because that good Shepherd, who came that they might have life and have it more abundantly, tended ninety-nine sheep in heaven before he sought and found the hundredth on earth. He completed the number eight; for he gave us both the hope of our resurrection and his own example. Indeed, the day on which the Lord rose, from the day of his passion was the third, but from the day of the first creation, it is the eighth. Thus also after the six ages of this world, and the seventh, which is now being conducted in this life, the Sabbath of souls, as it were, the eighth age of our resurrection is hoped to come. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and bring him, etc. The prophets of that time said to the holy ones: Send the devoted intention of your mind, and with prayers frequently offered to God, obtain the advent of Christ, saying: Show us, O Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation (Psalms 34); and other such things. For indeed, we cannot recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, until the Son of God, humble and poor, comes and, having broken the snare of death, grandly opens for us the gates of life. For He himself in the Gospel testifies that we cannot recline, that is, rest in the kingdom, by our own means but by His grace: Amen, I say to you, that He will gird Himself, and make them recline, and will come and serve them (Luke 12). — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: So he sent, and brought him, etc. The old man Simeon desired, as did the other saints of that time, for the Lord to come in the flesh, and He came. However, he was red from the blood of the Passion; because the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (John 10). He was also fairer in form than the sons of men; because He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth (Psalms 44; 1 Peter 2). This is similar to what the bride speaks in his praise: My beloved is white and ruddy (Song of Solomon 5); white in action, ruddy in blood. And what follows there, Chosen from thousands; this is what is signified here as David, rejected by his brothers, is anointed alone. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 15. What is the least, if not the rejected? I mean rejected by himself, not by God: because by God one is rejected through pride; but he is rejected by himself who is considered worthless and lowly. Or he is called the least who, in comparison with others, does not appear to be anything. The rejected one, therefore, is called humble; because he sees himself despised and endures it, cares not at all to be displayed, but feeds the sheep; because he nourishes simple thoughts in the contemplation of the eternal inheritance. Of these pastures of the elect, the Lord certainly says: They shall go in and go out, and shall find pastures (John 10:9). For within they have the pastures of contemplation, without the pastures of good works. Within they enrich the mind with devotions, without they satisfy themselves with pious works. Rightly is this little one said to feed the sheep, because every chosen one is humble and is not barren, who daily does great things but does not think great things of himself. Rightly therefore he is declared not only the little one, but the shepherd: because those who are truly humble cast themselves down outwardly, but through interior fellowship they dwell in the highest and eternal pastures. For it is written: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5). And what grace? If not that they may see and know the highest things, know and love them, and run toward those beloved things as ones who are well-fed and strong. And so, because he is exceedingly suitable, he is urgently commanded to be brought forth. For there follows: (Verse 11.) And Samuel said to Jesse: Send and bring him. For we shall not sit down until he comes.

16. But what does it mean, “We will not sit down until he comes”? Whom does he seek, except because in the observance of fasting the sacraments of anointing are to be celebrated? But we must attend not only to the sacraments themselves, but to the power of the sacraments. For there are certain foods which, if they are not avoided, by no means allow one to anoint kings well. Indeed, the outward affairs of the Church are certain foods of the soul, which are devoutly administered by the elect. But if the soul is satiated by the multitude of affairs, it is not perfectly permitted to enter into receiving spiritual things. Therefore, when spiritual matters are pressing, let outward things be deferred, because they must be arranged with great quietness of mind. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: Therefore the boy who tends the sheep is sought in the pastures, because He submits Himself to the Father in obedience even unto death; yet who shall declare His generation (Isa. 53:8)? He is called the little one because the grace of His humility is commended. He is therefore called the little one, who is declared by the Psalmist to have been made lower than the angels (Ps. 8). But the little one tends the sheep, because through humility He is lowly, and through majesty He is exalted. Here He labors and hungers, but there He feeds the angels from the glory of His majesty. For while all receive from the fullness of His glory, they are, as it were, satisfied in those most blessed pastures by the boy. The little one is also declared to be the shepherd, because over the assumption of His flesh the heavenly citizens rejoice ineffably. For that ineffable joy of the blessed citizens is, as it were, the food of the sheep. He is therefore commanded to be brought forward urgently; until He comes, the reclining at table must necessarily be postponed. For they would have reclined at table before He came, if the people had believed in another. Therefore He had to be awaited, who was the singular and unique food of blessed souls. Whence He also says of Himself: I am the living bread which came down from heaven (John 6:51). But because He who ascended is the same one who descended (Eph. 4:10), He is sent there so that He may be brought forward. For to send to the pastures is to extend the mind above the angels even to the equality of the eternal Father. And to find Him is to believe Him equal to the supreme Father in all things. But he brings Him forward who already declares that He came for the Redemption of the human race through the humanity He assumed. For he had sent and brought Him forward—he to whom one is sent in His type—when he said: He who comes from heaven is above all (John 3:31). Isaiah was bringing forward the little one tending the sheep when he said: A little child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of the age to come, Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6). But because the faith of a teacher profits only himself for salvation and not also his hearers, He is commanded to be sent and brought forward, so that each one may have faith in Him through which he may deserve to be saved. For each one must go and bring Him, because they must firmly believe Him to be equal to the eternal Father through His divinity, and a partaker of our nature through His humanity. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:12

Gregory the Dialogist: There follows: (Verse 12.) “So he sent and brought him in.” The future king is brought in when the humble are brought forth from the hiding places of their concealment. They are hidden indeed, but in pastures; because, even if they conceal themselves among the lowly and weak things of the flesh before men, great is the breadth of heavenly contemplation in which they dwell. But let us see what kind of man the one now set over others appears to be. For it follows and says: (Verse 12.) “Now he was ruddy, and of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon.”

17. What does it mean that such great beauty of the king is affirmed, except that the person of the teacher must be adorned with great splendors of virtues? For of the Redeemer it was said: “His Spirit adorned the heavens” (Job 26:13). For the heavens are the sublime preachers. These heavens indeed were adorned by the Spirit, because they receive from the Holy Spirit the virtues by which they shine. What then does it mean that he is said to be ruddy, except that in red matter the fervor of charity is often signified? Hence also in the vestment of the high priest, scarlet twice-dyed is placed, so that he may be clothed with a twofold charity. He is therefore called ruddy through the ardor of charity, because while he displays the burning precepts of charity, he glows red, as it were, through the heat. What likewise does “handsome in appearance” mean, except conspicuous in inner contemplation? For he has, as it were, a handsome appearance, who shines with the beauty of vision in inner contemplation. What then does the face signify, except the outward glory of uprightness? For since everyone is recognized by the face, the beauty of the face is the illustrious uprightness of one’s manner of life. For he is perceived, as it were, through the beauty of his face, who is found to be splendid in every gesture of his body. He is therefore ruddy with love, handsome in appearance on account of knowledge, fair of face, splendid in uprightness. But since the fervor of charity is demonstrated through holy works, the labor of work itself can be signified by the redness. For he who labors greatly displays a redness of face, because while he grows hot within, he draws redness outwardly upon his countenance. For so it is with all spiritual labor. For the more each person strives to labor for eternal life, the more fervently he is kindled by the fire of the Holy Spirit to labor, as though in growing hot he produces a redness that he bears outwardly. The teacher is therefore ruddy through the labor of pious work, handsome in appearance through the splendor of contemplation. But the beauty of face is the very beauty of charity. For through other virtues we receive the form of holiness; through charity itself, we clothe that very form upon ourselves with, as it were, a wondrous beauty. Those other virtues are the body of justice, but charity is rightly understood as the face of this body. For everyone is recognized by the face, not by the body. For if you see the body but do not see the face, you do not recognize the one whose body alone you behold. But what else does it mean that the foolish virgins are answered by the bridegroom: “I do not know you” (Matt. 25:12)? Behold, virginity is preserved through great labors, and virginity itself is recognized as a great and incomparable virtue. What then does it mean that the foolish virgins are not recognized by the bridegroom, except that they have a body by which they stand, but they do not have the beauty of face that the bridegroom would recognize? They have indeed labor in preserving the body, but they do not have the beauty of countenance in perfect charity. For these three things advance in the life of the elect in the order in which they are set forth. For no one is able to possess the beautiful visions of contemplation unless he first exercises himself vigorously in the labor of pious work. Indeed, the joys of eternal light, the immensity of that supreme light, the eternal vigor of ineffable splendor—the more laboriously it is sought, the more generously it opens itself to those who seek it. He who is already such is indeed seen to be fit for teaching; but unless he shines with a fair face, unless he bears a mind illuminated by the rays of perfect charity, he is not proven worthy of so great an eminence. Let the pastor therefore be ruddy, and not be slack in work; let him be handsome in appearance, that is, lofty in contemplation; let him be fair of face, so that the whole strength of his work and the height of his contemplation, known to the eyes of the heavenly majesty, may shine through the ineffable beauty of charity. Indeed, because the teacher of the holy Church must possess these three marks of immense beauty, Peter is taken up on behalf of all and is asked three times whether he loves the Redeemer. For first it is said to him: “Peter, do you love me?” (John 21:16), that through love he may strive to do mighty deeds; second, that in contemplating he may know lofty things; third, that with the affection of perfect charity he may both burn with fervor toward his neighbor and blaze more ardently toward the beauty of his Creator. Let us then hear by what testimony such a one, so great, so handsome, so fair a youth, is brought forth. For there follows: (Verse 12) “Arise and anoint him, for this is he.”

18. What does it mean, “Arise, and anoint him”? Was the boy so small that he could not be anointed while sitting? For indeed, while sitting, we cannot reach high things. Great therefore is the virtue, great the loftiness of the humble, if not even prophets can reach their heights. The prophet therefore arises when the pontiff raises himself in wondrous veneration of the chosen preacher. For outwardly he beholds a humble person, as it were, by seeing; but inwardly he does not recognize his merit unless he raises himself in interior contemplation. The teacher is therefore commanded to arise, because he who wishes to bestow such great sacraments upon someone must first come to know the sublimity of that person’s merits. What then does it mean when it is said, “Arise, and anoint him, for he is the one,” if not: offer sublime sacraments sublimely to the sublime? For often undiscerning pastors know the negligent and reprobate life of those who approach, and yet do not fear to promote them. These indeed anoint but do not arise, because they do not perceive those to whom they grant the sacraments of anointing as situated in a high place of merits. When therefore a sublime teacher is presented, his ordainer is admonished to arise, because the sacraments of anointing are worthily bestowed through ministry when the one to be anointed is perceived in the lofty sublimity of virtue. Of him indeed it is said, “For he is the one”: if therefore he is the one, no other is; because unless he shines with these virtues, he necessarily cannot attain to an order of such great loftiness. Him therefore whom the Lord promised He would show, He presented as ruddy and handsome in appearance and fair of face, saying, “For he is the one.” Because no one ought to undertake the summit of governance who does not possess the strength of great work, namely the knowledge of contemplation and the fervor of charity. Rightly therefore it is added: (Verse 13.) “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: 29. Of whose description it is also said: “He was ruddy, and beautiful in appearance, and fair of face.” Ruddy indeed, because he was wounded by the lance; ruddy, because he was reddened by his Passion. Whence also it is said to him through the prophet: “Why is your garment red?” (Isa. 63:2). He was indeed ruddy, who colored the brightness of such great innocence with the redness of his precious blood. He was also beautiful in appearance, because by rising again he put on the beauty of immortality, and looked upon us mortals with great love. For as if promising the beauty of his appearance to his disciples, he says: “I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice” (John 16:22). Hence also promising, he says: “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come, and will take you to myself, that where I am, you also may be.” What is the beauty of the face, but the glory of his majesty? For his face is perfect knowledge. Paul also, recalling this, says: “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). What then is the beauty of the face, but the splendor of eternal divinity? This beauty is now believed, not seen; then it will not be believed, but seen, because the apostle says: “When he shall appear, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Whence also to Moses, seeking that same beauty of the face, he replied: “You shall see my back” (Exod. 33:23). Whatever we can now contemplate of his divinity is not the beauty itself, but a veil over the beauty. We behold the back, so that we may follow; but when by following we arrive at him, we behold the front, that is, the beauty of his face. He was therefore ruddy in this world, beautiful in paradise, and eternally fair of face in heaven. And this threefold beauty can also be recognized in his manner of life in this present world. He was indeed ruddy, because he ardently loved those for whom he laid down his life. He was beautiful in appearance, because he knew all things. Fair of face, because he did all things well. But what is that beauty of appearance? “No one knows the Father except the Son” (Matt. 11:27). Peter also, marveling at this, says: “Now we know that you know all things, and it is not necessary for anyone to question you” (John 16:30). The crowds who beheld him bear witness to the beauty of his face, who say: “He has done all things well; he has made the deaf to hear and the mute to speak” (Mark 7:37). Hence also others, marveling, say: “What manner of man is this, that the winds and the sea obey him?” (Matt. 8:27). What then is the beauty of the face, but the beauty of holiness? What likewise is the beauty of the face, but the splendor of his incomparable way of life? Because in everything he did, he shone with the incomparable light of grace. The Psalmist, marveling at this beauty of face, says: “You are beautiful in form beyond the sons of men; grace is poured forth upon your lips” (Ps. 44:3). Paul, proclaiming this, says: “Who, being the splendor of his glory and the figure of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, making purgation of sins, sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having been made so much better than the angels, as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did he ever say: ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’?” (Heb. 1:3). Concerning him, therefore, it is rightly commanded to the prophet: “Arise, and anoint him, for this is he.”

30. Peter the apostle also, not only a prophet but the greatest patriarch, saw the indescribable light poured from above, the overshadowing cloud, the Father crying out: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 17:5; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22; 2 Pet. 1:17). There it is said: “He himself is.” Here it is said: “This is my beloved Son.” There, because he was being shown in types, he is perceived as more absent, when it is said: “He himself is.” Here, however, because his glory was now revealed, he is perceived as more present, because he says: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He therefore is to be anointed, he is to be praised, and to be soothed with perpetual acclamations. But who could worthily suffice to praise him, when one cannot suffice even to behold the glory that one praises? What does it mean that Peter falls when he hears the voice resounding with words of such great proclamation? But he was a little one; he was still seeing what he was not sufficient to see. He was seeing, and because by seeing he was falling, this signifies that he could not attain to that which he deserved to see. No one can say “Lord Jesus” except in the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 12:3). Because therefore Peter had not yet received that fullness of the Spirit, he was unable, as a little one, to proclaim Jesus. Therefore he is first commanded to rise and to tell the vision to no one until he had risen from the dead. For after the resurrection he was about to receive the Holy Spirit. Whence it is written: “The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:39). Peter therefore ought not to tell the vision before the resurrection, since indeed he saw well, but before he had the Spirit, he did not understand.

31. What then is it that the Lord says to Samuel: “Rise, and anoint him”? What is it that he is commanded to rise in order to anoint, unless that he who eagerly desires to proclaim the sublimity of the Lord must be greatly lifted up to heavenly things? But how upright was Peter, who was raised up to behold such great things? Yet if he still awaits a higher state of perfection, who would not fear to undertake the office of so great a preaching? If the Lord admonishes a prophet to rise, does he dare to preach the Lord who lies fallen through the lapse of wickedness? For this is why every preacher is commanded through Isaiah: “Go up onto a high mountain, you who evangelize Zion” (Isa. 40:9). The high mountain is the perfection of teaching and of works. Let him therefore rise who is commanded to anoint the king; let him stretch himself toward lofty things. Let him rise in lofty work, let him rise in lofty contemplation, let him rise in the wisdom of the word, let him rise in the power of charity. Indeed, he who is anointed through preaching is so great that he can scarcely be reached even from the heights. And perhaps Paul was able to anoint him because he says: “Our conversation is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). He was able to anoint him because he had raised himself to the secrets of the third heaven and heard hidden words in paradise. Because, therefore, the Lord Jesus ought to be preached sublimely by the sublime, the prophet is commanded to rise, because he is ordered to anoint the one through whom Christ himself is signified. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:13

Bede: So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him, etc. The prophet received the task of proclaiming the glory of the true king, and said: “You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God has anointed you” (Psalms 44). He who was conceived of the Holy Spirit never ceased to have the fullness of that same Spirit from the hour of his conception. John received the duty of bearing witness to Christ; and when the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the midst of those he baptized, he saw and bore witness that this is the Son of God; and Jesus went forth in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Samuel arose and went to Ramah. Having completed the duty of anointing, Samuel returned home; for now, with the coming of the Lord who was foretold to come, the proclamations of the prophets were silenced. For the Law and the prophets prophesied until John (Matthew 11), from then on the kingdom of God is preached. But John himself, by the duty of his forerunning, said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3). — Commentary on Samuel

Cassiodorus: So clearly holy David was filled with heavenly inspiration, and not through human actions, the birth of twins, angels, visions, a dream, a cloud and a voice from heaven, or any other way of that kind. As the first book of Kings [Samuel] says of him: “And the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” The Lord himself too says in the Gospel: “If David in the spirit calls him Lord, how do you say he is his son?” By these words we realize that the psalms were clearly expressions of prophecy through the holy Spirit. — EXPOSITION OF THE PSALMS, PREFACE 1

Gregory the Dialogist: 19. The horn of oil is lifted up, so that the entire life of the pontiff may be shown to be spiritual. The horn of oil is lifted up, so that in that excellent liquid the master of the Church may strive to be a man of great mercy. The head of the king is anointed with oil, because he ought to shine upon the lampstand through the flame of the word. The horn receives oil, so that by rebuking he may cleanse, and by showing compassion he may draw others through gentleness. The horn also receives, in the loftiness of office, oil for the nourishment of virtue. But he is anointed with a full horn, so that the virtue of the pontiff may be shown to be complete. For the horn has fullness in its anointing if he is perfect in the virtue of mercy as well as in charity and in the word. He is also recognized as having a full horn in his anointing whose every power is dispensed through mercy. Indeed, the very authority of the holy Church, when it is without mercy, is nothing; for the rigor of discipline is spiritual only when it is not devoid of the balm of mercy. Therefore the horn and the oil are shown together, so that discipline may always be maintained with mercy. For the horn is said to be full of oil, so that wherever the horn displays its sharpness, it may also display the anointing of poured-out grace. But when the anointing is brought to anoint the king, the horn is seen on the outside, while the fullness of oil is hidden within. Let the prophet therefore carry the horn on the outside, but fill it with oil within; let him set forth the text on the outside, but declare the mysteries within. Let the prophet therefore know what he bestows; let the anointed king know, by receiving what is offered, what he must do. What then does it mean that the horn is on the outside and the oil within, except that often the hardness of subjects deserves to feel the rebuke of the pastor, yet fails to perceive something of his mercy? The ruler therefore displays the horn, in which the oil lies hidden; because when someone is sharply corrected out of charity, the punishment is felt, but the charity is not seen. For the ruler appears harsh who rebukes in such a way as if he does not love; he reproves as if he vehemently hates. What then is perceived by those who are stung with compunction, except the sharpness of the horn by which they are struck more keenly? But because the pastor deeply loves within the one whom he strikes outwardly by reproving, what else does he do but show the horn by rebuking while hiding the oil by loving? Therefore a full horn is declared in the anointing of the king, so that in the chosen preacher both qualities may be shown to be perfect. For he ought to be sharp in reproving, gentle in showing mercy. Let him strike perfectly, so that he may perfectly pierce the whole force of the disease; let him anoint perfectly through mercy, so that he may restore to health the wounds he inflicts. For if he strikes less forcefully than he ought, he fails to expel what lies deeper hidden. And if he strikes forcefully but does not anoint abundantly, he kills the one struck through severity and does not restore him to health. Let the horn therefore be whole, and the fullness of oil complete, so that through the horn wounds may be struck with severity, and through the oil they may be soothed.

20. But what does it mean that he is anointed in the midst of his brothers, except that he is commanded to spread examples of virtue all around? He is anointed in the midst of his brothers so that all may be able to become partakers of so great an anointing. For he who is placed in the midst is seen from every side. He is anointed with oil in the midst of others because he who is set up as an example for others ought to have no part of himself obscure, so that all may look upon him and take from him an example of light. Hence also the holy living creatures are described as having eyes all around (Ezek. 1), because when the chosen teacher receives the ardor of charity, the power of mercy, and the zeal for righteousness from the gift of the Holy Spirit, he dwells as it were in a sphere of light, which renders him radiant from every side to those standing around him. Or he is anointed in the midst of his brothers so that he may always consider himself both anointed and in the middle. Let him therefore acknowledge his dignity and exercise the force of that dignity, because he has been anointed. Let him see himself as one in the middle, a man of common condition, so that he may recognize that those over whom he stands are his equals. He is therefore anointed in the midst of his brothers so that he may be both humble and exalted—exalted in rank, humble in self-estimation. Likewise, he is anointed in the middle so that he may not love himself with private affection, but from all his preeminence may seek the gain of others. Hence Saul is reported to have been anointed alone at the farthest part of the city (1 Sam. 9). For what does it mean that he is anointed alone by one alone, except that he was destined to swell with pride over the power of his high position through private self-love! For when he wished to love himself singularly on account of the dignity he had received, he carried the nourishment of light, as it were, alone. Hence also the boy who accompanied him is sent ahead, because none of the elect follows the examples of him who is rejected by divine authority. David, therefore, is anointed in the midst of his brothers, because the chosen teacher does not glory with singular love in that by which he is raised to singular heights. And because spiritual gifts are heaped upon chosen rulers through the ministry of men, it is added: (v. 13) “And the Spirit of the Lord was directed upon David from that day forward.”

21. For the Spirit of the Lord is directed after the anointing: because we receive the sacraments outwardly, so that we may be filled inwardly with the grace of the Holy Spirit. For outwardly man operates, inwardly God, and not man. For outwardly man rises, inwardly the spirit directs itself: because man bestows upon man the order of religion, but the spirit is directed into him upon whom the order is conferred, so that outwardly he may receive the sublimity of the order, and inwardly the strength of the Holy Spirit. Outwardly the order is entrusted, so that he may do the things that are of God; inwardly the spirit is directed, so that he may powerfully accomplish what is enjoined. For great is the burden of holy orders, great the frailty of the flesh. Therefore, because so great a burden is entrusted to one who is weak, the spirit is directed: so that the weak one may be strengthened, and may bear so great a burden all the more willingly, the more powerfully the almighty spirit itself helps him to bear it. But the spirit is said to be directed, so that, turned away from the proud king, it may be perceived. Therefore the spirit directs itself into another, when the grace of the same spirit flees the proud and the deceitful. Whence it is also written: “The Spirit of the Lord of discipline will flee from the deceitful” (Wis. 1:7). Hence also He says through Himself in the Gospel: “The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, and you do not know whence He comes or where He goes” (John 3:8). The Spirit indeed comes and goes, because He abandons the reprobate and takes up the elect. And because the judgment of almighty God is inscrutable, man does not know whence He comes and where He goes: because it cannot be known whether anyone ought to persevere forever in the grace which he receives. The spirit is therefore said to come from him who has fallen away, and to go to him who will persevere: because He abandons some in time, takes up others, and yet does not abandon them. Whence also, as a type of the elect, it is said of David: “The Spirit of the Lord was directed upon David from that day and for the remainder.” He is directed indeed on the day of anointing, when we so receive the sacraments of Christ outwardly that we are filled inwardly with the grace of the Holy Spirit. And the spirit is directed “for the remainder,” who never departs from the grace which he receives. This grace of the directed spirit we ascribe to preachers in such a way that we attribute it to all orders of the holy Church. For whoever receives the faith of our Redeemer is reborn through the baptism of our redemption, and is redeemed from all sin by the grace of the Holy Spirit. Whence also, suggesting the gift of the same Holy Spirit to the elect who have been redeemed, the Apostle Paul says: “In whom you were sealed on the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). If therefore we consider the people formerly proud in circumcision losing the Holy Spirit, we see equally the direction of the same spirit into those who are baptized. In whom indeed we are directed, because through pride they lost the grace of the Holy Spirit. What then does it mean, what is said, “From that day and for the remainder,” unless that the grace of the Holy Spirit is so received that the elect are taught to persevere in it even to the end? Many indeed after the remission of sins commit sins unto death, in whom assuredly the spirit does not appear to be directed “for the remainder.” Therefore the spirit is directed in the elect alone “from that day for the remainder,” because for the reprobate, at the beginning of their faith, sins are forgiven through the Holy Spirit, but they afterward lose the grace of the Holy Spirit through iniquity. For He is directed “for the remainder,” but in David, because David is interpreted as “strong of hand.” He is indeed strong of hand who prevails over the devil and holds through perseverance unto the end the good that he has received. Of whom the Lord certainly says: “He who perseveres unto the end shall be saved” (Matt. 10:22). But if the state of the universal Church is considered, we see the Spirit of the Lord directed upon David “for the remainder”: because the grace of the Holy Spirit began to fill the elect of the holy Church from the very beginnings of that same Church, whom He does not cease to guard even to the end of the world. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

Gregory the Dialogist: Lofty indeed, nay most lofty, is this virtue of perfect conduct, yet it is perfectly accomplished by many. Great indeed is this sublimity, yet holy Church possesses many who are sublime. For from the time she rejected the Synagogue, she raised up holy Church to an innumerable height of virtue. Rightly therefore it is said: “And the Spirit of the Lord was directed upon David from that day forward.” The day indeed is faith in the Redeemer, in which holy Church is illuminated and the rejected Synagogue is cast down in wondrous blindness. On that day, therefore, the Holy Spirit is directed upon David, because his grace is taken from the Synagogue and given to the elect of holy Church. For he is directed because he abandons those and takes up these. But he is directed on the day because he who is not illuminated in faith in the Redeemer cannot have the Spirit directing himself within him. The Spirit, therefore, is directed on the day because he is given to those who possess the light of faith. Moreover, he is directed upon David because only holy Church receives him, which is the body of the Redeemer. But since, with God as author, we have completed the things we proposed to treat from the Book of Kings, the supreme and almighty Spirit must be entreated that he who brought forth his words through whomever he willed may grant both to the writer and to the reader the disposition of virtue. Amen. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 6, Chapter 3

1 Samuel 16:14

Aphrahat the Persian Sage: I will instruct you of that which is written, that the Spirit is not at every time found with those that receive it. For it is written about Saul, that the Holy Spirit, which he received when he was anointed, departed from him, because he grieved it, and God sent to him instead of it a vexing spirit. And whenever he was afflicted by the evil spirit, David used to play upon the harp, and the Holy Spirit, which David received when he was anointed, would come, and the evil spirit that was vexing Saul would flee from before it. So the Holy Spirit that David received was not found with him at every time. As long as he was playing the harp, then it used to come. — DEMONSTRATION 6.16

Athanasius of Alexandria: Therefore, when a person falls from the Spirit for any wickedness, if he repents after his fall, the grace remains irrevocably to the one who is willing; otherwise he who has fallen is no longer in God (because that Holy Spirit and Paraclete which is in God has deserted him), but this sinner shall be in him to whom he has subjected himself, as took place in Saul’s instance; for the Spirit of God departed from him and an evil spirit was afflicting him. — Discourses Against the Arians 3.25.25

Bede: But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, etc. As the proclamation of Christ increased, the grace of the Spirit soon deserted the hearts of the faithless Jews, and incited them with impious fury to persecute his name; and this the Lord permitted by just judgment, so that the tested ones might be made manifest in the Church, and the wicked, by their deserving merits, might be plunged further into the depths of their own malice. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Behold, the evil spirit of God agitates you, etc. The apostles said to the Jews, desiring in all things to serve their salvation: See and recognize how evil the spirit is, which, because of your fault, has been sent by the Lord against your minds, to oppose the name of his only begotten Son, and has led you to conspire against him: yet now, having performed penitence for your errors, flee to the aid of the life-giving wood, where the innocent limbs of the same spotless Lamb of God and our Lord Jesus Christ are stretched out. For we seek, that is, we will obtain for you, faith by explaining it more fully if you wish, that man, very well known to us but still unknown to you, endowed with singular knowledge among men, who by the saving wood of his cross knows how to put to flight all the deadly weapons of the harmful adversary: so that whenever the devil begins to move you to envy against the grace of the Gospel, under the shadow of the law, the memory of the Lord’s passion may be present, and may soon restrain your hearts from furious intention. — Commentary on Samuel

Jerome: Again, that you may be sure that God curbs the spirit of pride, recall how the good spirit of God departed from Saul and an evil spirit troubled him. Holy Writ says, “And an evil spirit of God troubled him,” a spirit from God. Does God, then, have an evil spirit? Not at all. God had withdrawn so that afterwards an evil spirit might trouble Saul. In that sense, the spirit of God is called evil. Finally, holy David, knowing that God could take away the spirit of princes, entreats him, “And do not take your holy spirit from me.” — HOMILIES ON THE Psalms 9 (Psalms 75)

Richard Challoner: From the Lord: An evil spirit, by divine permission, and for his punishment, either possessed or obsessed him.

Tertullian: The devil has power that might be called his own, only over such as no longer belong to God, the heathen whom he considers once for all as a drop in a bucket, as dust on the threshing floor, as spittle in the mouth—and, as such, totally handed over to the devil as a quite useless possession.Otherwise, he may do nothing by his own right, against those who dwell in the house of God, because the cases that are noted in Scripture show us when—that is, for what reasons—he may touch them. The right to tempt a person is granted to the devil, either for the sake of a trial, as in the texts cited above, whether God or the devil initiates the plan, or for the purpose of the reprobation of a sinner, who is handed over to the devil as to an executioner. This was the case with Saul. “The spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled and stifled him.” Again, it may happen in order to humble a person, as Paul tells us that there was given him a thorn, a messenger of Satan, to buffet him, and even this sort of thing is not permitted for the humiliation of holy ones through torment of the flesh, unless it be done so that their power to resist may be perfected in weakness. — ON FLIGHT IN TIME OF PERSECUTION 2.6-7

1 Samuel 16:17

Bede: Provide for me someone who sings well, etc., Indeed, he said, I know many who are skilled in singing, but provide and bring to me someone who sings well; which is like the Jews agreeing with the words of the apostles, saying, indeed we know many who have been crucified for their sins, but we have recognized that they are of no benefit to themselves or to us. Therefore, ensure that you imbue us with his sacraments, instructing us in his faith and love in our hearts, who, by mortifying his limbs on the wood, would redeem us from eternal death. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 16:18

Bede: Behold, I have seen the son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, skilled in playing, etc. One of the youths is the unity of the humble of Christ, with one and the same heart and soul agreed. To the Jews inquiring about the faith, and knocking step by step, so to speak, on the locked doors of the life-giving cross, immediately clearer answers to the questions of faith, and illuminating the mysteries of the Lord’s dispensation: Behold, he says, with the eyes of either flesh or faith I have seen and known the one born from the root of Jesse, in Bethlehem of Judah, a man knowing how to bear infirmities, and submitting to the gibbet of death, able to vanquish the aerial powers, sublime in both strength and prudence; indeed, the very power of God, and the wisdom of God, beautiful in form beyond the sons of men, in the innocence of life and the exhibition of heavenly deeds; and, to put it succinctly, he is the one who alone could say: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; and, He who sees me, sees also the Father (John XIV); whose exceptional virtues indeed celebrate the glory of the name. For he is called David, that is, strong with the hand, or desirable. He is strong with the hand, indeed, in the power of his passion, because he laid low his adversaries. Desirable in the splendor of the resurrection, by which he exalted his own. For it is written of him: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle: he is the one whom the angels desire to behold (Psalm XXIII); and who, as the prophet says, will come as the Desired of all nations, and the glory of the house of the Lord will be filled (Haggai II). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: It is fitting to raise the eyes of faith to the power of this craftsman, and to consider here and there the Fathers of the new and old testament. Behold, with these same eyes of faith opened, I gaze upon David, Amos, Daniel, Peter, Paul, Matthew, and I wish to consider what kind of craftsman this Holy Spirit is, but in my very consideration I fall short. For he fills a boy who plays the harp, and makes him a psalmist. He fills a herdsman shepherd picking sycamore figs, and makes him a prophet. He fills an abstinent boy, and makes him a judge of elders. He fills a fisherman, and makes him a preacher. He fills a persecutor, and makes him a teacher of the Gentiles. He fills a tax collector, and makes him an evangelist. O what a craftsman this Spirit is! There is no delay in learning whatever he wills. As soon as he touches the mind, he teaches, and merely to have touched is to have taught. For as soon as he illuminates the human soul, he transforms it; he suddenly takes away what it was, and suddenly produces what it was not. — Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 30

1 Samuel 16:19

Bede: Saul therefore sent to Jesse, saying: Send David to me, etc. Newly catechized Jews sent words of their intention as signs to those who had gone before in Christ, saying: Believe in our fellowship of salvation through baptism in Christ, whom we have always learned in our hearts by faith, hope, and charity, to be born, ministering the pastures of eternal life to all the blessed, both angels and men. Complying with the just petitions of the brethren, they lent to them the mysteries of Christ to be received. They did not do this hesitantly, but according to him who, saying to his disciples: Go, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28): he immediately added and said, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you (Ibid.). Among the sacraments of faith, with which they were initiated outwardly, they also sent examples of virtues, by which they were inwardly nourished: for bread and wine are spiritual virtues and doctrine. For bread strengthens the heart of man (Psalms 103). And your cup, he says, inebriating, how glorious it is (Psalms 22)! A kid from the goats is a humble sign of repentance, separated from the wanton flock of sinners: for a kid used to be offered for sins according to the law. These David carries to Saul on a donkey given by Jesse, when any wise teacher by the grace of Christ instructing his listeners, frequently recalls that the grace of virtues which they should imitate abounds in the humble and those despised by human judgment. It is notable that in the anointing of Saul, which also signifies the kingdom of Christ, donkeys, bread, a jug of wine, and also kids are found: as has been discussed in its proper place. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 16:21

Bede: And David came to Saul, etc. The Lord came to the hearts of the believing Jews through faith and stood before them with the indefatigable desire of that acknowledged and coveted sweetness. To those who loved him, he ministered abundant and invincible weapons of faith and truth against all the malign strife of the enemy: indeed, the breastplate of justice, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians VI). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 16:23

Augustine of Hippo: You, a man of the church, ought to be better instructed by the music of the church than by Pythagoras. Think what David’s lyre did for Saul, who was harassed by an evil spirit but recovered from this disturbance when the holy man played his lyre; beware of thinking the concupiscence of the flesh is a good merely because it is sometimes checked by musical sounds. — AGAINST JULIAN 5.5.23

Bede: Therefore whenever the evil spirit of God seized Saul, etc. The sense is clear from the preceding, and it is suitable not only to the faithful Jews but also to us. For it must be that whenever any temptation of the evil spirit seizes our mind and turns it away from the tranquility of its state, whoever of the spiritual brothers is present should bring to our memory the humility of the Lord’s passion, earnestly exhorting us; because He who was innocent and just sustained the punishment of the cross for us voluntarily, leaving indeed an example that following His steps, we may act innocently in prosperity and patiently in adversity. Thus it will come to be that, refreshed by brotherly consolation as if by David’s playing of the harp, we may bear it more lightly. For David always signifies our Redeemer, but sometimes in himself, sometimes in his members: and with the departure of the dire spirit’s influence, immediately the grace of the Holy Spirit succeeding will enlighten us. But if it moves anyone why the Spirit is called both of God and evil; let him know that it is called of God indeed because of His most just permission, but evil because of the most wicked will of that spirit. For God uses even evil spirits for the testing of some, for punishment or correction, or even for the maintenance of good things. For testing, indeed, as the Lord tested blessed Job by allowing Satan; for punishment, as the lying spirit deceived King Ahab to perish in battle because of his preceding crimes by the Lord’s permission; for correction, as the Apostle handed over the sinner in Corinth to Satan (I Cor. V), that his spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, for the preservation of virtues, as the same Apostle, lest he be exalted by the greatness of revelations, received an angel of Satan to buffet him (II Cor. XII). Josephus mentions this passage in his history of Antiquities: “And Saul was suddenly seized by certain passions and demons, bringing him suffocations and distress;” and a little later: “They ordered, he says, that when demons attacked and disturbed him, standing over his head, he should play the harp and sing hymns.” For it is not to be thought that that harp, however sweetly sounding, could have had such great power as to drive away evil spirits; but the figure of the holy cross, and the very passion of the Lord which was sung, already then was breaking the audacity of the devil; just as the destroying angel of Egypt did not pass by because of the virtue of the blood placed on the doorposts (Exod. XII), but because that blood was a type: the place of the middle lintel, and of each doorpost, where it was anointed, expressed the very figure of the salutary cross. The angel passed by the houses of the Hebrews, seeing them marked, unharmed, by the divine foreknowledge, indicating the coming of Him in the flesh who would by His blood through the cross free us from eternal death. — Commentary on Samuel

Cassiodorus: The discipline of music incorporates great power and knowledge which brings delight; teachers of secular literature, through the generosity of God who grants all that is useful, have made it possible through theoretical texts to ascertain what was earlier regarded as hidden from view in the nature of the world. The first division of this discipline, then, is into harmonics, rhythmics and metrics. The second division, that of musical instruments, is between percussion, strings and wind. The third division is into six harmonies, the fourth into fifteen tones. In this way the virtue of this most beautiful discipline is unfolded by such distinctions drawn by people of old. We read in secular works that many miracles were brought forth by these measures. But we need say nothing of this fabulous material; we read that by means of David’s tuneful harp the demon was expelled from Saul. The divine reading attests that the walls of Jericho at once collapsed at the din of trumpets. So there is no doubt that sounds of music, at the Lord’s command or with his permission, have unleashed great forces. — EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 80.4

Gregory of Nyssa: Once when he came to Saul, who was frenzied and out of his right mind, he healed him by soothing his passions with song, so that Saul’s understanding returned to him again in accordance with nature. The goal, then, of the symbolism of the singing is clear from these words. It recommends that we achieve the subjugation of those passions which arise in us in various ways from the circumstances of life. — ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE Psalms 1.3.24

Gregory the Dialogist: For neither is this to be lightly regarded, that, when an adverse spirit entered into Saul, David took his harp and assuaged his madness. For what is intimated by Saul but the elation of men in power, and what by David but the humble life of the holy? When, then, Saul is seized by the unclean spirit, his madness is appeased by David’s singing; since, when the senses of men in power are turned to frenzy by elation, it is meet that they should be recalled to a healthy state by the calmness of our speech, as by the sweetness of a harp. — The Book of Pastoral Rule, Part 3, Chapter 2

Nicetas of Remesiana: After this, you will find plenty of men and women, filled with a divine spirit, who sang of the mysteries of God. Among these was David. As a boy, he was given a special call to this office, and by God’s grace he became the prince of singers and left us a treasury of song. He was still a boy when his sweet, strong song with his harp subdued the evil spirit working in Saul. Not that there was any kind of power in the harp, but, with its wooden frame and the strings stretched across, it was a symbol of the cross of Christ. It was the passion that was being sung, and it was this which subdued the spirit of the devil. — LITURGICAL SINGING 4

Richard Challoner: Departed from him: Chased away by David’s devotion.