Book 3
PREFACE
Having now explained with no little effort two of our books of exposition on Samuel; one, covering the nativity, life, and leadership of the same most blessed prophet Samuel and priest; the other, containing the deeds of Saul, who was first chosen by the Lord and later rejected; now we extend our hand to begin the third, under the auspices of blessed David; not relying on our own talent, but trusting in every way in the help of the heavenly assistant, with his sacred prayers, dearest of bishops, and confidently hoping that he who preserved our allegorical progress without offense, as we believe, through the winding paths of history marked now by Saul's actions pleasing to God, now by his perverse deeds, may deign to accompany us with the grace of his piety in the spiritual acts of blessed David, which, with a broad heart, he pursued the way of the commandments of the Lord, not going astray, and which are to be transferred in a typical manner to the higher secrets of spiritual mysteries. Here briefly in the preamble, we must recall that as the old would pass away and all things would be made new, the very transition should often be intimated figuratively. For just as above Samuel is substituted for the rejected priesthood of Eli, indicating that the priesthood of Christ, now carried out in the Church, would succeed the legal priesthood; so also here, David anointed king instead of Saul signifies that the kingdom of the Jews, which was according to the law, would be transformed into the kingdom of Christ's Church. Conforming to what the Lord himself declares to those same Jews, saying: "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits" (Matthew 21:43).