Chapter 9
Israel being defeated and put to flight by the Philistines, and also the sons of Eli having been slain, the ark of God is captured; upon hearing this, Eli himself immediately falls backward and dies, and his daughter-in-law, giving birth first to a son named Ichabod, meaning "inglorious," perishes. And the word of Samuel came to all Israel, etc. In this reading, Israel, deceived often and for a long time through the examples of the nations, having at last received faith in the time of the Gospel, is marked as having shortly thereafter lost both the Gospel and the teachers of the truth. And with the covenant of God transferred to the Gentiles, the destruction of the legal priesthood together with the Synagogue attached to it is shown to follow.
[1 Samuel 4:1] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:1] -- 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).
[1 Samuel 4:1] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:2] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:3] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:3] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:4] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:5] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:6] -- And the Philistines heard the sound of the cry. The fame of the Lord's preaching spoke even to the knowledge of the gentiles.
[1 Samuel 4:7] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:10] -- 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.
And a very great plague arose, etc. More fell with the coming of the ark than before: Because if I had not come, He says, and spoken to them, they would not have sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin (John 15). However, according to the mystical interpretation of the number, we can say that Israel lost four thousand men before the arrival of the ark, in those who, before the time of the Lord's Incarnation, disregarded the commands of the law by believing, hoping, loving, and acting less perfectly; but with the ark brought, thirty thousand foot soldiers perished by the greater plague, who refused to accept the mystery of the Holy Trinity from the Gospel, with the promise of the celestial denarius.
[1 Samuel 4:11] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:12] -- 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).
[1 Samuel 4:13] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:13] -- 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).
[1 Samuel 4:14] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:15] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:11] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:18] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:19] -- 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.
[1 Samuel 4:21] -- 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.