1 Samuel 4

1 Samuel 4:1

Bede: For Israel went out to meet the Philistines, etc. The people went out, meaning, after gaining knowledge of the law, to openly perform good works which it had learned; and to the extent it could, to root out the error of Gentile customs, by which the hearts of the wicked, intoxicated, were heading toward eternal death. Whence rightly the Philistines are said to fall by drinking. In this struggle, however, Israel cared not so much to call back foreign nations from the pollution of sins as to guard itself, lest it perish by their example. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And they encamped beside the stone of Help. And placed all its confidence for spiritual warfare in His aid; of whom it was said: When my heart was troubled, You lifted me up on a rock (Psalm. LX). And elsewhere: The Lord is my rock and my strength (II Kings XXI). — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: Moreover, the Philistines came to Aphek, etc. As Israel was progressing in the true God, a new fury of envying and corrupting immediately seized the worshipers of many false gods; and this is what it means for the Philistines to draw up their battle lines in Aphek, that is, in new fury against Israel, teaching all the neighboring nations instructed by unclean spirits to present examples of perverse religion or action to scandalize the people of God, which they never ceased to do from the time the law was received until the grace of Christ made both one. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 1. The blessed Apostle shows that there are spiritual battles, when he exhorts the camp of holy Church to victory, saying: “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, and against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Concerning these battles, also providing counsel for obtaining victory, he says: “And take up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (ibid., 16, 17). Hence Peter, exhorting, says: “Be sober and watch in prayers, because your adversary the devil goes about, seeking whom he may devour; resist him, strong in faith” (1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8). Therefore, while battles are related to the Israelites according to the letter, internal and spiritual battles are signified. For “Philistines” is interpreted as “falling by the cup”; by which name indeed the reprobate angels are expressed, because through a more abundant draught of pride they lost the state of eternal life. For to fall as if by a cup was for them to take up the draught of pride without any delay of reconsideration. For what is drunk is easily consumed. Of the prince of these fallen ones, the Lord speaks as if of one drinking: “Because he did not stand in the truth” (John 8:44). For he fell as if by a draught, who, drunk with the swiftness of his own pride, did not stand even for a moment in the truth in which he had been created.

2. But it must be carefully inquired how Israel according to the flesh is understood to go out to battle against these who fall by the cup. For no one fights with one who is subject to him. How then is the Jewish people, who are subject to malign spirits through unbelief, said to go out to battle against them? Yet they are said to fight not by the truth of strength, but by the deception of self-estimation. For in truth of strength he has been conquered by malign spirits, but nevertheless, while he keeps the traditions of the ancient Fathers, he thinks he has a contest with malign spirits. Whence also he is bound all the more tightly under the chains of his captivity, the more the confidence of a liberty he does not possess is suggested to him by their cunning. For crafty adversaries by hidden suggestions proclaim to him the strength of a false liberty, so that he does not attend to the darkness by which he is oppressed, and they possess him, already deceived, all the more securely because he does not care to be loosed from the bonds of unbelief by which he is held by believing in our Redeemer. And it should be noted that it is said of the rejected people: Israel went out. Then he rightly went out when he abandoned the monuments of sacred faith. Whence also concerning those who by erring had deviated from the mysteries of Holy Scripture, John says: They went out from us, but they were not of us (1 John 2:19). Therefore for Israel according to the flesh to go out is to pass beyond the boundaries of right faith by erring. But because they do not cease to expect another Christ, they pitch camp beside the Stone of Help. Rightly therefore Israel is said to have turned their backs, because he is also reported to have gone out. For if he had remained within, he could in no way have been conquered, because if he had kept himself within the fortifications of faith, he would have vanquished the armed spirits of error. And because he is overcome by fraud, the Philistines are reported to have drawn up their battle line at Aphek. For, for malign spirits to draw up a battle line is to arrange arguments of deception against the unwary hearts of the Jews. But when battle was joined, Israel turned their backs, because while he fears to die, he does not resist malign spirits. For indeed fugitives from battle turn their backs to the enemy, lest by resisting they die. But because the Jews tremble at dying if they believe in the Redeemer, for this reason they do not resist, so that they may live, because they do not believe in the Redeemer, so that they may be saved in the old circumcision. For they would resist malign spirits if they had held the arms of their strength in faith in our Redeemer. But therefore they flee lest they die, and therefore because they flee they die. For the pursuing enemy kills the one fleeing all the more easily, because he who is struck while fleeing does not resist the sword of his impending conqueror. Whence also in that same battle four thousand of the Jews are recorded to have been slain. For what are these four thousand, except those who refused to receive the truth of the four Gospels? For this reason they are also reported to die in the fields, because they linger in the breadth of their errors. And because they do not yet at all abandon the hiding places of their error, Israel is said to have returned to the camp. For, as I have already said, he still thinks he has a contest with malign spirits when he rather obeys their will than opposes it.

3. But because “cup” is also taken in a good sense, those falling by the cup can be understood as the preachers of holy Church. Of this cup, indeed, the Prophet boasts, saying: “You have anointed my head with oil, and my inebriating cup, how excellent it is!” (Ps. 22:5). For the inebriating cup is the abundant grace of the Holy Spirit, which is fittingly called a cup because by its fullness the hearts of the elect are inebriated in an instant. Hence it is also said of the first pastors of holy Church: “Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty spirit, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting” (Acts 2:2). By this cup, indeed, the preachers fall, because while they abundantly receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, they entirely abandon the state of carnal life. For daily, drinking as it were excessively from this cup, they fall, because even if carnal impulses sometimes raise them up toward committing faults, yet by the power of the Spirit they have drunk, they are not found standing in a state of sin. And because the Jewish people indeed has with these preachers a contest of faith against those Philistines, carnal Israel daily goes out to the field of battle.

4. Moreover, by the name of the Philistines the preachers of the holy Church can be understood, because they were led from the error of the Gentiles to the grace of faith through the mercy of God. Fighting against them, Israel indeed turned its back, because it could not resist the Spirit speaking through the mouths of the preachers. For Israel had gone out to battle against the Philistines when the Jews opposed Stephen as he preached and disputed concerning the reasoning of our faith. But fighting, it turned its back, because it could not resist by disputing. For concerning those who turned their backs, it is said in the Acts of the Apostles: “They could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts 6:10). Moreover, for the Israelites to be slain is to be separated from the life of unbelief. They are also fittingly said to die in the fields; for the fields of the contest are the verdant understandings of sacred Scripture. Therefore, thousands of slain Israelite warriors are recorded in the fields, because those who were converted from Judea by the ministry of the holy preachers believed in the Redeemer of the human race through the teachings of the holy Scriptures. And four thousand slain are recorded, because they devoted themselves to the same authority of sacred Scripture from the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Gospel. But while some were slain, others returned to the camp, because some from Judea were led to the knowledge of the Redeemer by the ministry of the preachers, but the fullness of that same nation more boldly opposes the assertions of the holy Church, the more deeply it is cast into the darkness of its unbelief and is not led to the light of truth. Indeed, for it to return to the camp is not to cease opposing. And because they accuse those who had believed as if foolish and overcome by no sufficient reasoning, there follows: (Verse 3.) And the elders of Israel said: “Why has the Lord struck us today before the Philistines?” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

Richard Challoner: The Stone of help: In Hebrew Eben-ezer; so called from the help which the Lord was pleased afterwards to give to his people Israel in that place, by the prayers of Samuel, chap. 7. 12.

1 Samuel 4:2

Bede: When the battle began, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines, etc. Once the conflict between Israel and the pagan peoples broke out over true religion, with the former fighting for the worship of the one true God and the latter for the defense of idols, Israel’s faith failed, and it fell into the errors of the pagans more easily than the pagans could be converted to follow its faith. Nonetheless, a significant portion, although others sinned, remained steadfast in defending the camp of spiritual virtues. Do not think these words refer to the status of the ancient people of God merely allegorically, but also that they have a moral application for you. For whenever you try to fight back unclean spirits in a spiritual venture, not relying on your own strength but trusting in that stone which was cut without hands from the mountain (Dan. II), and which alone knows how to overthrow the kingdoms of the devil, immediately the enemies of truth oppose your every good deed with new fury. However, be careful not to turn the back of your mind to the enemies by sinning, as the apostle James warns: Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James IV). Yet since it is written: The outcome of battle is varied, and now the sword consumes one, now another (2 Sam. II), if by chance you have retreated and the enemy has prevailed for a time, if he has trampled the fruitful fields of your good conduct, and boasted that he laid low prudence, fortitude, justice, and temperance, the four most excellent leaders followed by the whole army of virtues, you should not abandon the camp of your best purpose, which you have pitched near the firm rock, but rather with the remedy of humility and repentance restore the lost ranks of virtues with new forces; according to him who said: If the spirit of a ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for composure mitigates great offenses (Eccl. X). Therefore, when the danger of conflict from adversaries presses, offer the Ark of fervent faith as your aid. But if perchance the wicked by mixing in heresy, or by any other kind of deceit, should take it away for a time, still the aid of divine mercy will not fail you, which often allows its own to fall temporarily that, recognizing their own weakness, they might afterwards be more cautious in virtues and kept perfect for rewards. Finally, the Ark soon returns home joyfully and stays in the city’s citadel for twenty years, because virtue often received again through repentance fills the mind even more ardently than before the storm of temptation, and accompanies it to fulfill the complete Decalogue of divine law, and to receive the perpetual joy of the heavenly reward. But now that we have touched on these moral interpretations, let us return to the order of the lesson and seek the new fruits of spiritual allegory in the very old forest of the letter. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 4:3

Bede: Why has the Lord struck us down today before the Philistines? etc. The wisest among the people of Israel at that time sought a way to attain salvation, inquiring, in fact, why those who received the law and wanted to fulfill it were unable to accomplish it, and why they were struck down by the Lord before the Philistines—that is, why, with the Lord permitting it and His grace not helping them, they lusted, while reading and being devoted to the law, which says, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exod. 20). Lastly, they found a useful counsel, that by seeking the grace of Christ, which is frequently promised in the Scripture of the law to the fathers (Deut. 5), they might find the grace of Christ signified in the law, through whom they might desire to be freed, that is, they should remember the ark of the covenant placed inside the veil of the tabernacle in Shiloh, and that it be brought by the people to obtain the help of salvation. We have said above in what manner Shiloh holds the type of the law. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: So the people sent to Shiloh, etc. The people sent in anticipation of their future devotion of faith; and they took unto themselves the grace of God, superior to all things, which they had learned through the occasion of the law, as their helper. It is to be noted that during the whole time of seeking and bringing the ark to themselves, the camps of Israel remained quiet; but when it arrived, they were disturbed by the enemy, because that same people did not hesitate to despise, persecute, and hate in some of its members the faith of the Lord’s Incarnation, which they had eagerly sought to come. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 5. For “why” in this place is not an interrogation of inquiry, but a complaint of amazement. They ask about the defeat, then, with amazement, because they were unable to arrive at the reason by which they had observed that the men of their religion had received the faith of the Redeemer. And it should be noted that those who ask with amazement are recorded to have been the elders of Israel, because indeed all the proud, glorying in their own wisdom, were in no way able to arrive at the knowledge of divine mysteries. Whence also in the Gospel the Lord speaks to the Father, saying: “I confess to you, Father, King of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the prudent and wise, and have revealed them to little ones” (Matt. 11:25). They indeed complain that they were struck, because while they observed that through those who believed the old custom of the law was being dissolved, they supposed that certain wounds of a blow had been inflicted upon them by the incomprehensible judgment of God, which they might proclaim with shared grief. But those who complain that others have fallen add by what plan they prepare themselves to resist: (Verse 3.) “Let us bring to ourselves the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Shiloh, and let it come into our midst, and let it save us from the hand of our enemies.” And concerning the carrying out of this same counsel it is immediately added: (Verse 4.) “Therefore the people sent to Shiloh, and brought from there the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts sitting upon the cherubim.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:4

Bede: And the two sons of Eli were with the ark of the covenant of the Lord, etc. The sons of Eli, by both name and merit, signify that the people not believing in Christ in the flesh was partly aided by the fault of the priests of that time. Indeed, Ophni means ‘unshod,’ as stated above; Phinehas means ‘dumb mouth.’ The former signifies dissolution of actions, and the latter also signifies the inactivity of teaching, when even the perfect priests should be adorned by the walk of good work and should be free in the voice of preaching. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 6. This is certainly the plan, this is the work of Israel against the battle of those falling by the cup — but indeed an unheard-of plan and work, because it is not of Israel according to the spirit, but of Israel according to the flesh; that is, not of one who sees God, but of one who thinks he sees the God whom he despises. For what is it to send to Shiloh, except to have recourse to the law of Moses, to whom it is said by the Lord: “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh” (Exod. 3:10)? What is it to bring the ark of the Lord, except to bring forward the sacraments of the old law by recalling them in order to refute the truth of the new faith? And because they allow none of their own to be ignorant of the same knowledge of the law, the ark is ordered to be brought into their midst. What likewise is the meaning of what they say, “And let it save us from the hand of our enemies,” except that while they stubbornly defend the old things, they repel the new, and they hold this as their confidence of salvation — that they cannot be drawn by the zeal of good preachers to the reasoning of the true faith? Therefore, because they boast that they possess the truth of divine knowledge through the old law, they affirm that the same ark, which they order to be brought for their salvation, belongs to the Lord of hosts. And because they think they excel in incomparable knowledge of the same law, while the ark is said to be brought, it is declared to belong to the Lord of hosts who sits upon the cherubim. (Verse 5.) And when the ark had come, all Israel shouted with a great cry. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:5

Bede: And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, etc. When the Lord was born in the flesh, all Israel was disturbed, and at the preaching, some were moved to believe, others to contradict; and with the earthly conscience, the praises of heaven resounded. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 7. Because indeed, from the fact that they receive the knowledge of the law carnally, they chatter in reproach of the holy Church without any demonstration of reason. For those who are said to have cried out and yet to have said nothing express precisely what they do, because while they endeavor to speak of spiritual things carnally, they indeed have clamor in their chattering, but they do not have the reason of truth. With their voice they say many things indeed, but, speaking without reason, they harm the elect of the holy Church in nothing; and the Synagogue, speaking within itself, is shaken by vain devotion, because the holy Church is not moved by its words. Whence it is most fittingly reported that only the earth resounded. For Judea is now called “earth,” not because it bears fruit for God, but on account of its carnality, because indeed, while it refused to receive faith in the Redeemer, it utterly lost its heavenly manner of life. But while it is shaken by its own outcry, it exults in that estimation by which it considers itself to be terrible to the preachers of the holy Church. (Verse 6.) ‘And the Philistines heard the voice of the shouting, and they said: What is this outcry in the camp of the Hebrews?’ — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:6

Bede: And the Philistines heard the sound of the cry. The fame of the Lord’s preaching spoke even to the knowledge of the gentiles. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 8. Indeed the Philistines hear the sound of the land and the shouting of the camps, because those who in the holy Church have been refreshed by the cup of the Holy Spirit recognize both the talkativeness and the vain devotion of Jewish perfidy. And because they hold their estimation in the contempt of derision, it is added: (Vers. 6, 7.) And they recognized that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, and the Philistines were afraid, saying: God has come into the camp, and they groaned. It is said ironically that the ark had come into the camp of the Hebrews, and that those falling by the cup were afraid and groaned, because for the conflict of the holy Church the sacraments of the old law are expounded carnally by the carnal defenders of the Synagogue. For they dispute about that which, if they understood according to the Spirit of God, they could have been truly terrible to their enemies, if they had any. Therefore when those falling by the cup are said to have been terrified and to have groaned, Scripture does not show the passions of minds in the holy preachers, but the mockery of Jewish disputation; which is known to be all the more contemptible and worthy of laughter, inasmuch as the Jewish people received a spiritual law from the Lord for spiritual conduct, and did not attend in the spirit to what they had received by the gift of the spirit. Wherefore, adding also the words of the same Jewish derision, they say: (Vers. 8.) Woe to us, there was not so great an exultation yesterday and the day before. And because they are to be more abundantly derided, they add saying: (Vers. 8.) Who will deliver us from the hand of these sublime gods? — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:7

Bede: And the Philistines were afraid, saying, “God has come into the camp,” etc. The pagans were afraid, recognizing the coming of the true God into the world, to fortify the spiritual camps of the faithful; and the worshippers of many and false gods groaned together with their destroyed cults, and they mutually strengthened one another wickedly to battle against the ranks of faith and truth. For there was not so much exultation yesterday and the day before. Neither in the law, nor before the law, were the hearts of the believers ever so ready for everything out of desire for the heavenly kingdom, whether to endure the things that horrify the earth, or to despise the things they love. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 4:8

Gregory the Dialogist: 9. And it should be noted that by the title of “gods,” those are mocked who, departing from the faith of the ancient Fathers, trust that they stand in the truth of faith and are counted among the number of the sons of God. They claim that those proclamations of divine praise were spoken concerning themselves, which the Lord pronounces through the Prophet, saying: ‘I said, you are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High’ (Psalms 81:6). If, therefore, by a false estimation all Israelites according to the flesh are nominally gods, then the “exalted gods,” by the same falsehood of Jewish estimation, are the wise men of the Jews. And because the learned men of the Synagogue come into conflict with the holy Church, they themselves are mocked by the voice of the holy preachers, who boast of a power of doctrine that they do not possess. And because they pride themselves on the ancient manner of life of the old Fathers, words of mockery are added. (Verse 8.) ‘These are the gods who struck Egypt with every plague in the desert.’

10. For they themselves would be such, if they were to illuminate the nobility which they derive from their fleshly origin with the virtues of right faith. But now, because through fleshly descent they are the children of those whose virtues they do not possess, they are mocked with contrary words for having lost the succession of those same virtues: “These are the gods,” they say. As if by open derision the order of our teachers were to rebuke the wise men of the Jews, saying: In the flesh indeed they boast themselves to be the children of great men, but they do not attain the nobility of faith of those in whose lineage they take pride. They themselves, then, are gods by succession of descent, but because they themselves are not so by imitation of virtue, when they are called those who were renowned in virtue, they are mocked rather than praised. And because the teachers of holy Church count their assertions as nothing, there follows: (Ver. 9.) “Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you serve the Hebrews, as they have served you.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

Theodoret of Cyrus: For he selected this one nation to teach the knowledge of God to all the others.… The Philistines also testified to this. They feared the presence of the ark and said to one another, “This is the God who struck Egypt. Woe to us Philistines.” Then God gave the ark to the Philistines to convict his people of transgressing the law. For he could not make those who flagrantly broke the law its upholders. But in giving the ark he safeguarded his majesty, teaching the Philistines that it was sinful men they had conquered and not God. — ON DIVINE PROVIDENCE 10.49-50

1 Samuel 4:9

Gregory the Dialogist: 11. Against the vain assertions of the Jews, the doctors of holy Church prepare nothing stronger anew, precisely because whatever is falsely asserted by the Jews concerning contempt of the Redeemer they consider as nothing. For they would be strengthened against their encounter and would fight as if with manly courage, if they had feared that the defenses of their assertion were being broken down by wiser and more rationally arguing opponents. For it is as if he were saying: Against their objections we need not seek out anything strong and sharp, precisely because they themselves raise objections that are by no means subtle and fearsome, but weak and contemptible. But, as I said, the preachers of holy Church, even though they prepare nothing new against the vain words of the Jews, nevertheless by the plain and humble reasoning of our true faith they overcome in every way the assault of the defenders of the Synagogue. Whence he also adds: (Verses 10, 11.) Therefore the Philistines fought, and Israel was turned back, each one to his tent, and there was an exceedingly great slaughter, and the ark of God was captured. The two sons of Eli also died, Hophni and Phinehas. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:10

Bede: Therefore the Philistines fought, and Israel was slaughtered, etc. The adversaries of truth, whether men or their leaders, the unclean spirits, fought against the believers in Christ; by whom, either openly raging, or covertly persuading, or injecting examples of depravity, some were slaughtered either by denial or martyrdom, others were repelled more urgently to abandon the tents of their firm faith. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 12. The Philistines, that is, “those falling by the cup,” fight when the doctors of the holy Church with the banner of the catholic faith confront the attacking Jews. But Israel is turned back, because in every disputation the cunning of the Jews is overcome. For to be turned back, for him, is to be unable to oppose with equal strength. But he who is turned back while fighting is indeed in battle, but fleeing — although lacking in strength, nevertheless not losing the desire to harm. For so it is with all of Israel when repulsed. He flees, indeed, because he is unable to answer the doctors of the holy Church; but while fleeing he would wish to resist, because, conquered and confounded, he would desire to have at hand the means by which he could oppose the truth by which he is overcome. Well, therefore, when Israel is said to be turned back, it is cautiously added: “Each one to his own tent.” For the tent of each Israelite is a heart enclosed by the confines of unbelief. Because therefore, conquered by the preachers of the holy Church, they return to the hiding places of their error, each one fleeing from battle returns to his own tent. And because all this is said concerning the fulfillment of the word of Samuel, namely concerning the denunciation of the early Church, the slaughter is reported to have been exceedingly great — which slaughter indeed, at the reader’s discretion, can fittingly be understood both according to a spiritual striking and according to a material one.

13. For concerning their spiritual plague, the Lord says to the disciples sent out for preaching: Whoever does not receive you, as you go out from the house or city, shake the dust from your feet. Amen I say to you: it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city (Matt. 10:14). Hence He says again: He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned (Mark 16:16). He also indicates a great plague according to material striking, when He speaks to Jerusalem, saying: Days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart, and hem you in on every side, and dash you and your children to the ground, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another (Luke 19:43, 44). Hence, as He was setting out toward the condescension of His passion, He speaks to the women who were suffering with Him and weeping, saying: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over me, but weep over yourselves and over your children, for behold days shall come upon you in which they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that did not bear, and the breasts that did not nurse. Then they shall begin to say to the mountains: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry (Luke 23:28 ff.)? By these words, indeed, the death and captivity that was inflicted upon the Jewish people by the Roman generals Vespasian and Titus is signified. For then a great plague was wrought, when with the slaughter of the Jewish people the city was both captured and overthrown, when in vengeance for the divine blood the people fell by the enemy’s sword, and whoever was able to escape the blade endured the punishment of eternal captivity. This immensity of the plague is reported as having befallen Israel already turned away, because the Jewish people were first both defeated and rejected by the teachers of the holy Church before they were conquered, slain, and led into captivity by the Roman army. For they were able to be conquered, killed, and led into captivity temporally because they did not accept the security of eternal freedom offered to them by the teachers of the holy Church. But this same plague was also decreed against the old Israel by the deep dispensation of divine goodness, so that the ark of God might be captured by the Gentiles, and the faithful of the holy Church might perceive the understanding of the divine sacraments all the more securely under spiritual explanation, the more they saw that nothing remained in Judea that might serve as a carnal representation. For by God’s will, the old people lost the city, the temple, and the ark of the covenant, so that the new people of the holy Church might recognize all the more fully the mystery of the true and new sacrifice, inasmuch as it observes that among the Jews, with the new things appearing, the old things have utterly failed. The ark of God is therefore said to have been captured by the Philistines, because, with the practice of the old Scripture destroyed, the sacraments are faithfully received by the Gentiles according to the truth of the Spirit. For he captures the ark of God who comprehends the mysteries of divine knowledge in sacred Scripture through the truth of understanding, with devotion of mind. But when the ark was captured, Eli’s two sons immediately die, because indeed priests of both the higher and the lower order nowhere live in the office of the old sacrifice. For they are said to die who have entirely ceased to offer sacred rites. There follows: (Verses 12, 13.) And a man of Benjamin, running from the battle line, came to Shiloh on that day, with his garment torn and his head sprinkled with dust. And when he had come, Eli was sitting upon a seat, watching toward the road. But the man, after he had entered, reported the news to the city, and the whole city wailed. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:11

Bede: And the ark of God was captured, etc. And the kingdom was taken away from the Jews and given to a nation producing its fruits. The order of the priesthood, which had not behaved rightly, was transferred by the judgment of the Lord. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: And the ark of God was captured, etc. And with the proclamation of the apostles and the faith of the repenting people spreading far and wide, the grace of God was taken away from the Jews, and that priesthood of legal judgments, once glorious on the throne, fell backward, that is, it turned back on itself and did not fear to take up the sins it once abandoned; it perished with the breaking of its singular pride, and this near that door, namely which he says: “If anyone enters through me, he will be saved” (John 10), near which he sat by the mystery of figures, but by the merit of perfidy did not enter in. — Commentary on Samuel

Origen of Alexandria: How will it be true to say about that [earthly] tabernacle that only “the innocent in hands and pure in heart, who did not receive his soul in vain,” will inhabit it, when the history of the kings transmits that the worst priests, “sons of pestilence,” have dwelt in the tabernacle of God and the ark of the covenant itself also was captured by foreigners and detained with the impious and profane? From all of this it is evident that the prophet felt in a far different sense about this tabernacle in which he says that only “the innocent in hands and pure in heart, who did not receive his soul in vain nor do evil to his neighbor and did not accept reproach against his neighbor” will dwell. It is necessary, therefore, that the inhabitant of this tabernacle which the Lord erected, not man, be such a person. — HOMILIES ON Exodus 9.2

1 Samuel 4:12

Bede: But a man of Benjamin ran from the battle line, etc. The people who remained from the Jews perishing because of their perfidy, hearing from the apostles: “Save yourselves from this crooked generation” (Acts 2), came to instruct those who, having been emptied of Christ, still boasted in the law and kept the tabernacle of the Lord in Shiloh without the ark of the covenant; in order to provoke the listeners more easily to repentance, tearing off every old habit, and despising all former reliance on their strength as nothing, appeared in mourning. This man is said to have well descended from Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand, because indeed the Church, in comparison to the Synagogue, because the heavenly Jerusalem, namely our mother, compared to the present one, stands out as the right hand to the left. This man of Benjamin therefore suggests either the people of the primitive Church or some teacher of that age, the son of the right hand of faith, or certainly the apostle Paul, who also descended from the tribe of Benjamin, who, though he was the last of the apostles, labored more than all in preaching (1 Cor. 15). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 14. What is represented by that man who fled from the battle line, if not that part of the Jewish people which, by coming to the knowledge of the Redeemer, abandoned Jewish faithlessness? For his running was to cease from the depravity of his error with the swiftness of devotion. Because he resolved to act bravely in professing the Redeemer, he was a man. He indeed runs from the battle on the day he was defeated, because by that illumination of faith by which he abandoned the darkness of faithlessness, he came forward to preach the truth he had come to know. Hence he is also said to have come to Shiloh, because he is sent to preach. He tore his garment, because he stripped off the old man; he sprinkled his head with dust, because he did not at all grow proud on account of the splendor of the new man with which he clothed himself. For the torn garment pertains to the beauty of holy conduct, and the sprinkling of dust to the esteem of humility. Because therefore for holy preachers neither purity of life without humility nor humility without holy conduct suffices, the man who came as a type of the teachers to announce the destruction of Israel both tore his garment and sprinkled his head with dust. For was it not with head sprinkled with this dust that he who spoke to the Lord carried himself, saying: “I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27)? Likewise with head sprinkled the Prophet spoke when he supplicated, saying: “Remember, O Lord, that we are dust” (Ps. 103:15). He had also torn his garment who, confessing, said: “You have torn my sackcloth and girded me with gladness” (Ps. 30:12). — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:13

Bede: And when that man arrived, Eli was sitting, etc. When the teacher of the New Testament appeared in Judea, having torn the garment of the letter, the old priesthood still sat on the chair of Moses, although it had lost its light; but against Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. For he feared, as indeed happened, that if he were rejected, the grace of Christ might pass to the Gentiles. — Commentary on Samuel

Bede: But when that man had entered, he announced to the city, etc. The teacher evangelized, and the listener repented. For upon hearing the crime they had committed in the slaughter of the Savior, the Jews were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles: “What shall we do, brothers?” (Acts 2). — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 15. But when the humility of the ecclesiastical preacher is commended, the pride of the Jewish teacher is likewise expressed, because Eli is said to sit upon a seat. In this passage, Eli represents not the priests but the lawyers of the Synagogue. And what does it mean that he sits upon a seat, except that he is proudly exalted because of his learning? And what does it mean that he watches facing the road, except that while he receives the Scriptures proudly, he contradicts the One through whom he ought to have traveled to the eternal homeland? For the way of salvation is the One who declares of Himself, saying: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6). Therefore he looks not toward the way but against the way, because he does not recognize the Redeemer whom he contradicts. And fittingly, with his sons dead, the father is said to sit upon a seat, because the Synagogue no longer has those who sacrifice in the old manner, and yet still has those who teach in the old manner. And because they were trained for ministry through wise teachers, when the one who sacrificed ceased and the one who taught still remained, the sons are fittingly reported as dead while the father sits upon a seat. But at the announcement of the Redeemer that it heard, the multitude of the Synagogue had not joy but sorrow. Whence, after the man came from the battle and announced the capture of the ark, the whole city is said to have wailed. And because this grief reached even the teachers, there follows: (Verse 14.) “And Eli heard the sound of the crying and said: What is this noise of tumult?” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:14

Bede: And Eli heard the sound of the crying, etc. And the reputation of the repenting people reached even to the ears of the chief priests through the exhortation of the apostles, and it was not gladly received. Finally, while they were speaking to the people, the priests, and the magistrates of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, grieving that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And the apostles did not delay to evangelize even them. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 16. A tumult is the outcry of the people, but a confused one, when indeed without the discipline of listening, with many speaking at once, a great murmuring arises without any showing of reason. When Eli therefore heard the wailing of the city, he said: What is the sound of this tumult? Because indeed the authority of the Synagogue, with its faithless subjects grieving over the preaching of Jesus Christ, when it wished to hear the cause of their grief, did not receive a reasonable response, but a confusion of complaint. But so that he who had come from the circumcision to the ministry of ecclesiastical preaching might not have the excuse of ignorance, the truth of the matter was revealed to him. Whence it is also added: (Verse 14.) But he hastened, and came, and reported to Eli. But because the same Eli received the announcement of the man coming when he was about to die immediately, what kind of hearer he himself is becomes known in what follows: (Verse 15.) Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes had grown dim, and he could not see. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:15

Bede: Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, etc. The legal priesthood at that time lacked two perfections that lead to life, namely faith and works. Therefore his eyes, that is, his announcements, were clouded in understanding, and they could not see Christ in the law. For there was a veil over their heart, which is removed in Christ. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 17. For his old age would have been perfect if he had completed the full number of one hundred years in living. Since two years are seen to be lacking from this number, what else does this signify except that he would have been of perfect maturity if he had recognized the twofold mystery in the incarnation of our Redeemer, namely true divinity in his humanity and true humanity in his divinity? But now, because he rightly understands much from the old law and very many things from the heavenly commandments, he is ninety-eight years old. And while he believes in God, and that he could be born of a Virgin in the flesh, yet refuses to accept the nature of his humanity in the divinity, he is not one hundred years old. Hence also, having heard the report of the man, he justly dies, because without faith in the Redeemer the good things he knows and other things profit him nothing. And because by the deep and incomprehensible judgment of God the blindness of ignorance is struck upon his mind, he is recorded to have grown dim and to have been unable to see. There follows: (Verse 16.) And he said to Eli: I am the one who came from the battle, I am the one who fled from the line of battle today. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:16

Gregory the Dialogist: 18. He who said the following recalled as if he had been in battle: ‘You have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how beyond measure I persecuted the Church of God and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my nation, being more abundantly zealous for the traditions of my fathers’ (Gal. 1:13–14). But he who says the following came from battle: ‘Who was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor; but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly’ (1 Tim. 1:13). Therefore, for a Jew to flee from the battle line—what is it other than to be separated from the error of the faithless? And to come from battle—what is it but to announce to others the good of the right faith? For to flee is characteristic of one who fears; to come, of one who wills. In this passage, because “to come from battle” is said before “to flee from the battle line,” even though faithlessness is abandoned before truth is preached, this is not surprising. For what he says afterward about having fled from the battle line is not stated according to the order in which it happened, but for the certainty of the statement he put first. This is also demonstrated according to the order of the historical account, because unless he had first fled from the battle line, he could in no way have come from battle.

19. But we who according to the spirit seek spiritual meanings even in the things done carnally among the Jews, let us attend to that man whom we introduced speaking a little above. For the Church had heard that he who once persecuted was now preaching the gospel, as it is written of him already evangelizing: “When he had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples, and they all feared him, not believing that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). Likewise, the Lord appearing at Damascus to Ananias the disciple said: “Arise, go into the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one named Saul of Tarsus, and lay your hand upon him, that he may receive his sight” (ibid., 11 and 12). And he immediately answered the Lord, saying: “Lord, I have heard from many how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon your name” (ibid., 13 and 14). Therefore, when he was preaching to the Jews the one whom he had been accustomed to attack with threats and slaughter, he was indeed coming from battle. But since all the disciples feared to join themselves to him as he preached, they doubted whether he had fled from the battle line. He was indeed coming from battle, since it had been said by the calling Lord to him who was cast down to the ground: “Arise and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do” (ibid., 7). But Ananias did not believe he had fled from the battle line, for he reported to the commanding Lord those evils he had done to the saints in Jerusalem and the authority he had received. Therefore, so that the Lord might truly demonstrate that he had come from battle and fled from the battle line, He commanded Ananias, saying: “Go, for this man is a vessel of election for me, to carry my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). And it should be noted that on the very day he was announcing these things, he was declaring that he had come from battle and fled from the battle line. For they flee by day, because, as Truth attests: “He who is in darkness does not know where he goes” (John 12:35). Hence also it is written: “Those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who are drunk, are drunk at night” (1 Thess. 5:7). And since in the example of the blessed apostle Paul we have begun to see a man fleeing from the battle line, let us consider the fact that he flees by day. For it was night when he was marshaling his battle line against the holy Church, when, having received letters from the chief priests to Damascus, breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples, he was hastening (Acts 9:1, 2). But he who prepared war at night fled by day, because on his journey a light from heaven suddenly shone around him and cast him to the ground, terrified him with unspeakable fear, so that he might recognize the darkness of his immense error and fight in the light of day for the Church whose night he had been attacking. Therefore he fled by day, whom the brightness of the Redeemer shown from heaven illuminated so that he might abandon the night of faithlessness. What then does it mean that on the same day he confesses coming from battle on which he fled from the battle line, unless the intention of right preaching is signified? For some flee from the battle line by day but come from battle on another day, because they abandon their former errors through love of eternal life, but when they are taken up into the ministry of preaching, they seek temporal rewards from the eloquence of their preaching. Therefore they come on a different day than the one on which they fled, because they are indeed upright in their way of life but perverse in the intention of their preaching. The holy preachers, then, who by the grace of our Redeemer believed from among the circumcision, came from battle not on another day but on the same day on which they had fled from the battle line, because they obtained both gifts in the splendor of heavenly love, namely the truth of their way of life together with the preaching of the word. And because the Jewish teaching establishment, though not with the intention of knowing the truth, yet with the eagerness of curiosity, wished to hear the assertions of the holy preachers, there follows: (Verse 16.) He said to him: “What has happened, my son?”

20. For under the description of one he speaks to all, because he saw the men of his nation, whom the teaching of the Law had once instructed. Or perhaps he called him “son” not from the affection of love, but from the flattery of cunning: so that he might the more easily capture him through deception, the more he showed that he loved him with fatherly affection. He therefore calls him “son,” from whom he desires to know what had been done: so that the other, in return for the honor of flattery bestowed upon him, would pervert the sequence of truth. The honor of the title, therefore, is not referred to love, but to cunning. But he who rejected the favor of offered praise steadfastly revealed the truth. Whence it is also added: (Verse 17.) And he who brought the news answered and said: Israel has fled before the Philistines, and a great slaughter has occurred among the people. Moreover, your two sons are dead, Hophni and Phinehas. And the ark of God has been captured. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:17

Gregory the Dialogist: 21. For the man who fled announced this, which he learned by experience. What then does he mean by asserting that Israel fled, except that he firmly affirms that, while the Jewish people retain the sense of the Law carnally, they cannot resist the spiritual doctors of Holy Church in disputation? And what does it mean that he proclaims a great slaughter was made among the people, except that he confirms all who from the Jewish people rejected the word of faith have perished by eternal death? And what does it mean that the two sons of Eli are reported dead, except that both orders of the old priesthood are asserted to have failed? And what does it mean that he says the ark of God was captured, except that he asserts the knowledge of the divine sacraments was taken away from the Jews and faithfully apprehended by the Gentiles? For by the Gentiles now, with the grace of God calling them, the faithful come to know the divine mysteries. There follows: (Verse 18.) And when he had named the ark of God, Eli fell from his seat backward beside the door, and with his neck broken, he died. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

1 Samuel 4:18

Bede: The man was an old man, and advanced in years, etc. That priesthood had become aged at that time, once glorious with rich virtue, and it showed, at the appropriate time, judgments of the divine law, which is encompassed in the Decalogue, to the people of Israel through chief priests, elders of the people, scribes, and Pharisees who are also called doctors of the law. Moreover, according to the figurative interpretation of the law, each of us ought to keep the ark of the covenant within the tabernacle interiorly, and, when the time comes, while preparing to fight against the Philistines, he must offer this with himself; that is, he must always maintain firm faith and a chaste conscience; and when the situation demands, he must bring it forth as his aid in spiritual warfare against the impure, be they humans or demons, carrying with him two priests as guards, namely, the vigilant senses of twin love. For the Apostle does not deem just any faith worthy of praise, but rather that which works through love (Gal. V). And if, perhaps, while we are fighting, the impure spirits or heretics snatch away the ark of faith and kill the priestly and devout senses, it is necessary for a Benjamite man, distinguished by mourning dress, that is, a mind uplifted by the hope of heavenly piety, to come humbly and penitently, bringing back to our minds our errors and inducing the whole city of our ruler into mourning and tears, until, through God’s mercy, the captured ark is returned, and a better priest is given to us in place of the lost ones, that is, a more chastened sense, after the labors of penance, and more vigilant and careful. Neither does the time of the seven months during which the Philistines held the ark diverge from the figurative form of penance. For it is well established that the grace of the Holy Spirit, which is said to be sevenfold, must be obtained by undertaking penance for the committed sins and seeking forgiveness; and the Fathers declare that this forgiveness must be sought in seven ways. Indeed, the expositors of the Psalter suggest seven penitential psalms, by which heavenly piety should be implored to obtain the remission of sins. However, there are those who convert the remembrance, recognition, and sorrow of sins not to seek remedy, but as Judas to augment their previous crimes. Since they have become aged among all their enemies, with their eye of the mind disturbed by the wrath of God, they have also lost the light of faith, and suddenly returning to the seat of judicial discretion, immediately perishing, they leave; and although they seemed to have lived discreetly for a while and managed themselves well according to the precepts of the law and the Gospel (for this is to judge Israel for forty years), nevertheless, upon the onset of the trial, they succumb to a miserable death. — Commentary on Samuel

Caesarius of Arles: Harsh preaching provides remedies for souls that are sick and arranges adornments for the healthy. What the Holy Spirit threatens the Lord’s priests through the prophet is not a slight matter. “If you do not declare to the wicked his iniquity,” he says, “I will require his blood at your hand,” and again: “cry, do not cease; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their sins.” … For this reason, dearly beloved, I absolve my conscience in the sight of God as often as I mention with humility a few words for the salvation of your soul. Indeed, I fear and shudder at the example of Eli, the priest, for, when he heard that his sons were committing adultery, he pretended to kill them or to suspend them from communion, but only gently admonished them, saying, “My sons, it is no good report that I hear about you. If one man shall sin against another, the priest will pray for him; but if the priest himself sins, who shall pray for him?” Now, in spite of this admonition, he fell backwards from his stool and died of a broken neck, and his name was blotted out of the book of life, because he did not punish his sons with great severity. — SERMON 5

Gregory the Dialogist: 22. What is it that Eli, upon hearing of Israel’s flight, when the ruin of the people was reported to him, when the death of his sons was announced, does not at all fall from his seat: but upon learning of the capture of the ark, both falls from his seat and loses his life? But because we have said that in Eli the wise men and lawyers of the Jews are signified, upon hearing of Israel’s flight, he did not fall from his seat: because he considers it a small matter that the simple children of the Synagogue are overcome by the doctors of holy Church in preaching. He does not fall when the ruin of the people is reported to him: because, when he hears that those who die in Judaism are perishing, he is not at all terrified. He does not fall when the death of his sons is announced: because, even when the cessation of both priesthoods is objected to him, he does not cease to be proud. But when the capture of the ark is brought to him, he falls: because, when he sees that the mysteries of his own Scripture are known deeply and spiritually by the preachers and faithful of holy Church, he does not dare to boast of the learning of sacred eloquence which he understands only in a carnal way. He therefore falls from his seat, because, once the spiritual sense is known, he does not presume to boast of his carnal mastery. But because he hears the truth preached sublimely and does not at all believe, while he is confounded and not saved, he falls and dies. Indeed he falls from his seat, because he ceases to be exalted by his learning. But in falling he dies, because if he is overcome by reason, he nevertheless does not merit, by the judgment of that same reason, to attain to eternal joys.

23. In this matter it must be noted that he who falls and dies, falls beside the door. For what does it mean that he falls beside the door, except that while the blind man wanders, he strikes against the Redeemer? Who indeed declares of Himself, saying: “Whoever falls upon this stone shall be broken; but upon whomever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder” (Matt. 21:44). He Himself also says of Himself: “I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and go out, and shall find pasture” (John 10:9). Therefore Eli died beside the door, because the authority of the Synagogue perished for this reason: that it stumbled against the Redeemer. For he fell there where he sinned. Who also, in falling, broke his neck. In the neck is signified the swelling of temporal power. Therefore he dies with a broken neck, who is condemned by the greatness of his faithlessness, having lost the power of his kingdom.

24. The letter of Sacred Scripture can also be designated by the door. For just as we are led through a door to the courts of the eternal temple, so through the letter of sacred eloquence we are raised up to allegorical and spiritual understanding. Within, moreover, the king is perceived: because the promised Redeemer of the human race is found in the spiritual understanding of Sacred Scripture. Eli therefore fell dead beside the door: because indeed the teaching authority of the Synagogue perished for this reason, that through the spiritual Scripture it sought Him who had been promised in the spirit as the Redeemer of the human race, not spiritually, but carnally. For he died beside the door: because he perished on account of the fact that he understood the spiritual promise of the Redeemer not according to spiritual understanding, but according to the simple expression of the historical narrative. And because through the zeal of his teaching he presided over Judea for a long time — not loving the one who works good, but fearing to turn aside from evil — there follows: (Verse 18.) For he was old and advanced in years: and he had judged Israel forty years.

25. For he was an old man, and advanced in age by the length of his years. He presided for forty years, through the fear of legal commandments. Indeed, the number forty pertains to sinners. Hence also the season of Lent in the holy Church is consecrated with the same number of days, so that we may strive to wash away by repenting the sins which we commit. The number forty is completed from the numbers ten and four. And because, by sinning, we transgress the Decalogue of the divine Law, and we contract the very capacity for sinning from the combination of the four elements of which we consist; under the number forty, as long as we exist in sin, we are contained. Therefore Eli judged Israel for forty years, because he displayed the authority of the Synagogue and the stern discipline of the Law for the fear of the subject people: so that he might hold the material of the human condition, fragile through concupiscence, in the state of justice through fear. But now Eli is dead, now he lies with broken neck beside the door; yet the poison of his wicked teaching remains in his seed. For already, whoever among the wise men of the Jews does not believe has been judged; but because in his instruction minds conceive the seeds of depravity, those who are born as sons of his doctrine do not abandon the madness of his faithlessness. Wherefore it is also added: (Verses 19, 20.) Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, and near to delivery: who, having heard the news that the ark was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, bowed herself and gave birth. For sudden pains rushed upon her. And in the very moment of her death, those who stood beside her said to her: Do not fear, for you have borne a son. She did not answer, nor did she pay attention. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

Jerome: See what chastity is required in a bishop! If his child is unchaste, he himself cannot be a bishop, and he offends God in the same way as did Eli the priest, who had indeed rebuked his sons, but because he had not put away the offenders, fell backwards and died before the lamp of God went out. — Against Jovinianus 1.35

Richard Challoner: Named the ark: There is great reason, by all these circumstances, to hope that Heli died in a state of grace; and by his temporal punishments escaped the eternal.

1 Samuel 4:19

Bede: Now his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinehas, was pregnant, etc. The Synagogue, entrusted with the children of the legal priesthood to govern, indeed received the seed of the word from the teachers and was near to producing the fruit of faith, which it had long sought, at the Lord’s preaching. However, she too, after the fall of the teachers, turned away from the uprightness of living, and although she bore not a small crowd of people, she herself, because she killed the Author of life, gave birth to death. — Commentary on Samuel

Cassiodorus: “Their priests fell by the sword and their widows were not mourned.” We read that during the captivity the sons of the priest Eli were put to the sword by the foreigners. The wife of one of them thus widowed suddenly gave birth and prematurely died. So it happened that his widow went wholly unmourned, since they were all preoccupied by the widespread deaths. We must believe that this fate befell many widows among the people, since divine authority has cited a plurality of widows, and we know that no detail recorded is useless. — EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 77.64

Gregory the Dialogist: 26. But who was the daughter-in-law of Eli, if not the people of the Jews, subject to reprobate priests? Because she had received the seeds of unbelief in her mind through their preaching, she was pregnant. And because she was also thinking of pouring forth the malice she had conceived, she is said to have been not only pregnant but also near to giving birth. But what does it mean that, upon hearing of the capture of the ark and the death of her father-in-law and her husband, she is said to have given birth, except that the remnant of the Jewish people, when it recognizes that the spiritual mysteries of the Scriptures have passed over to the instruction of the Gentiles, when it now sees that the wise men of the Synagogue have perished along with both priesthoods, does not cease to pour forth by speaking the seeds of its heresy, which it had conceived? For her to give birth is to disclose to others by speaking the depravity she had conceived. And because she preaches reprobate things, while she is said to give birth, she is recorded as having bent over. For those who speak of heavenly things give birth, as it were, without bending over, because in the standing posture of faith they raise the hearts of their hearers to the pursuit of good works. She, therefore, who asserts crooked things gives birth bent over, because indeed by her speaking she brings it about that the more intently she speaks, the more deeply she is cast down into the abyss of her own damnation. Rightly, therefore, while she is bent over in giving birth, she is said to die. For she dies in giving birth, because she is condemned in the guilt of her blasphemy. And because she does not foresee the torments of her death, sudden pains are said to rush upon her. For sudden pains are the unexpected afflictions of death coming without foresight. For pains rush upon her suddenly when the retributions of everlasting punishments confront the Jewish people, which now, set in contempt of the truth, does not fear them. For because she thinks that by dying in observance of ancestral traditions she is passing over to eternal life, she falls into sudden pains when she begins to endure the torments she had not expected. And it should be noted that it is said of the dying woman: “Sudden pains rushed upon her,” because evidently while she is driven to the end of life through bodily afflictions, then the scourges of pains begin to rush upon her in time, by which her impiety may be punished with eternal vengeance; and because, with the end drawing near, the reprobate minds of the Jews exhort one another to unbelief. But at the very moment of her death, those who stood near her said to her: “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” For she bore a son because she trained up a people hardened in wickedness and unconquerable. But what are the women who stand near her, if not minds bound by an equal order of impiety? They stand, indeed, not by the truth and rectitude of faith, but by the presumption and boasting of religion. Therefore they encourage her not to fear, because she has borne a son — so that, namely, she may not fear to die in the old tradition all the more securely, the more she sees that even those whom she knows to have been trained by her teaching are hardened and unconvertible in it. But while she is driven more abundantly by pain within herself, she counts as nothing whatever others have gained from her instruction, whence it is added: “She did not answer, nor did she take heed.” For when she begins to experience the bitterness of eternal pain, that which she temporarily held authority over others does not bring delight. Or certainly she does not rejoice over the boy who is born because he who is brought forth by her instruction is seen to be in captivity. Whence it is also added: (Verses 21, 22.) “And she called the boy Ichabod, saying: The glory of the Lord has been taken away, because the ark of God has been captured.” — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

Jerome: Read the Scriptures and you will never find holy women bearing children in pain, with the exception of Rachel, who, when she was on a journey and in the hippodrome, that is, in the course for horses which had been sold to Egypt, suffered while delivering her son, whom his father later called “son of the right hand.” Eve, when she was expelled from paradise and was told “You will bear children in pain,” is described as experiencing pain in childbirth. The wife of Phinehas, who was bent over and could not stand erect, like the woman whom the devil bound in the gospel, gave birth after she had heard that the ark of God was captured and her people were destroyed. But Sarah, because she was holy and postmenopausal, said to Isaac when he was born: “God has made laughter for me, for whoever hears about this will congratulate me.” The pains, therefore, which overcame the tower of the flock, are the pains of hell and the pains of death, which surrounded and attacked even the Savior but were never able to overtake him, as he himself says in Psalms 17:5: “The pains of death surrounded me and the torrents of evil shook me and the pains of hell attacked me.” — COMMENTARY ON Micah 2.4

1 Samuel 4:21

Bede: And she named the child Ichabod, etc. Ichabod is interpreted as “woe to glory,” or “glory has departed,” which no one will nearly dispute as being an apt name for the Jews of that time. But the glory of faith was transferred from Israel to the Gentiles, from the Synagogue to the Church; but at the end of the world, it will return to Israel. Let us rejoice in the glory transferred to us; let us fear for it to be transferred from us to its homeland, which is to be brought back on the wagon of new conversation. — Commentary on Samuel

Gregory the Dialogist: 27. The ark indeed is captured: because now, by God’s authority, the sacraments of Holy Scripture are retained by true believers with the capacity of true understanding. And the glory of Israel is transferred: because, after it fell from true religion, it ceased to be fragrant through the reputation of good fame. Moreover, the glory of Israel is rightly said not to perish, but to be transferred: because the fame of religion, which it lost, passed over to the Gentiles. For the glory was indeed transferred: because in the holy Church the fragrance of true religion is fragrant, which, established in faith in the Redeemer, holds the gift of the Holy Spirit as a pledge for the certainty of eternal splendor, which it awaits. Therefore she refuses to rejoice over her newborn son: because indeed, while she perceives that past glory has passed over to the Gentiles, she groans that she is giving birth into captivity. She also names her son from the transfer of glory: because indeed she perpetually represents the impiety in which she persists, as if by a name set before her. Moreover, through the fact that a name is given to him by his mother, what we see can be openly understood. For he received his name from her, from whom the merit of impiety came to him. — Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 3, Chapter 2

Richard Challoner: Ichabod: That is, Where is the glory? or, there is no glory. We see how much the Israelites lamented the loss of the ark, which was but the symbol of God’s presence among them. How much more ought Christians to lament the loss of God himself, when by sin they have driven him out of their souls.