Chapter 3
Jonathan and David enter into a covenant; and as women come forth to meet the returning army, since they praise David more than Saul, they create an everlasting source of hatred and envy for him. Finally, Saul, invaded by an evil spirit, tries to strike him; but since he cannot, he removes him from his presence and appoints him as a leader over a thousand men. At that time when Saul saw David going out, etc. This reading figuratively signifies the victory of Christ, by which he overcame the devil, honored the devoted and humble with services of due servitude; but indeed, the haughty and contumacious envied his glorious triumphs; yet, even though they took up the arms of impiety to rebel, they could not resist the grace of heaven, which shines throughout the world. However, it is questioned how Saul, not knowing David's lineage, would inquire about his servant for such a long time and equally his exorcist and armor-bearer. And some hold that his mind was sometimes hindered from recognizing even a familiar person by the evil spirit with which he was agitated, not considering that even Abner, a man of such severity and prudence, testifies that he does not know his lineage; for he says: And Abner said: As your soul lives, O king, if I know. Wherefore, it seems more credible that he was not only absent those forty days in the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines from Saul’s side, but had returned much earlier to pasture his father's sheep, so that, as is often the case with adolescents, he might have grown so that his features also changed, making it not easy and quick to be recognized by those who had known him previously. But whatever the cause was, let us, passing beyond the root of the history, ascend to pluck the fragrant fruits of spiritual allegory. As David goes out against the Philistine, Saul inquires about his lineage: but since he does not inquire from himself, what he seeks he cannot learn. Once the Philistine is struck down, he inquires from himself, and he hears.
[1 Samuel 17:58] -- "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. When the Lord was preaching before his passion and healing all those oppressed by the devil, which is to go out against the Philistine, to be laid low by the staff of the cross and the fulfillment of the Scriptures which were about him; some among the Jews were asking among themselves who he was, Elijah, or Jeremiah, or the Baptist, or another of the eminent prophets. But what they needed to know they could not, because by not coming to faith, they knew not how to inquire from him. But after the triumph of his passion, resurrection, and ascension, when the apostles were preaching, many of them believed and truly recognized him as the Christ, from Bethlehem of Judah, and the root of Jesse, according to the prophecies of the prophets, who came forth and defeated the kingdom of the prince of the world with invincible strength; which is to have had in his hand the head of the slain giant as a strong young man.
[1 Samuel 18:1] -- (1 Kings 18). And it happened as Saul completed speaking to David, etc. When the Savior, through the apostles, completed spreading the gifts of his incarnation by preaching in Judea, many indeed, having heard the word, believed. But the more perfect ones among these, overflowing with spiritual grace, which, as has often been said, is designated by the name Jonathan, were so bonded to him with such love that they did not hesitate to give their lives for him. Meanwhile, not a few others, especially those who rejoiced in earthly sovereignty whether by elevation or by desiring it, indeed received with lesser fervor of love but with the same acknowledgment of faith; believing and confessing with certainty in his sacrament. They by no means equated him with the merits of the fathers from whom he took flesh, however high they were, but followed the Apostle's sentiment where it says, Whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is blessed forever over all things (Rom. 9)."
[1 Samuel 18:3] -- Jonathan and David made a covenant, etc. Christ and the Church made a covenant of mutual charity and peace. For the Church loved Him in its more perfect members, so much so that it was ready to die for Him; deeming it just to give its body and soul for Him, who, for its redemption, though He was true God from true God, deigned to clothe Himself in human flesh and soul. For the Word was made flesh (John I), and the Lord is the protector of my soul (Psalm LIII). Finally, He stripped himself in the martyrs of the flesh with which He was clothed, and gave it to Christ's services; and similarly, whatever else it possessed of talent, virtue, and deeds, it devotedly expended to His will, even to the extent of skill and expertise in speaking, and to the industry of emitting arguments true in faith and reason, against the wiles of the ill-counseled, and to the glory of chastity and unblemished purity, kept for His love.
[1 Samuel 18:5] -- And David went out to all, etc. Whether the people of the Jews wished to believe in Christ or to oppose Him, whether to make Him king or to crucify Him, He, coeternal with the Father's wisdom, always acted prudently, both by greatly rewarding the pious and by patiently enduring the impious. And the same people placed Him over the men of spiritual war, in some namely by believing and confessing that He alone helps those fighting for the salvation of souls to be able to conquer. In others, however, by exclaiming that He was guilty of death, by which death, finally accepted according to the will of the impious, having overcome the author of death, He grants us too the example of waging war and triumphing together with Him.
[1 Samuel 18:5] -- And he was accepted in the eyes of all the people, etc. The Lord was accepted by all who had those eyes, of which He Himself speaks: Blessed are the eyes that see what you see (Matthew XIII). Especially in the pure heart of the apostles, who by a special providence were commanded to serve by preaching the salvation of the Jews. For whomever the Lord was not accepted by, such are not to be considered as having open eyes; but to be of those of whom it is said: Leave them alone, they are blind guides of the blind (Matthew XV).
[1 Samuel 18:6-7] -- When David returned after striking down the Philistine, etc., the Lord, having returned after defeating the ancient enemy through His suffering and appearing in the glory of resurrection to His chosen ones, the glory of this triumph having been spread throughout Judea, the lowly souls, conscious of their own frailty, came out from all the cities of Israel, rejoicing in Christ, whom they recognized as the author of life and the conqueror of death. Through the many churches which form one catholic church, they celebrated Him with concordant praise, each one manifesting the gifts of virtues given by the one and the same Spirit, devoting themselves to Him with appropriate services of humble devotion, and with eager faith above all declaring, as with a triumphal song, that although the institution of the law commanded works of justice, it had delivered no small number of enemies to destruction and snatched not few souls from the enemy's grasp. Yet with incomparable strength, the grace of Christ, by bestowing the wages of heavenly life, even tore down the very gates of death as a victor; so much so that He assured that those who receive eternal life will mock death and say: "Where, O death, is your contention? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:55). And it is to be noted that not all the women of Israel, but women from all the cities of Israel came forth. For not all have faith, but from all persons, conditions, places, and ages, those who receive the faith are chosen by Him who said: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:32). He did not say all, but all kinds; to signify that believers from every kind of human being would come forth. It is also to be noted that while women are said to have come out to meet Saul, they raised their voices in praise of David; for the souls piously believing in Christ publicly proclaimed to the people zealous for the law what ought to be understood about the shadow of the law itself and the light of the gospel, so that by preaching, they might also summon this people to the path of grace and truth. We can also say that when the Lord Christ returned to the heavens with immortal flesh, angelic hosts from all realms came to meet Him with the fitting exultation of praise, accepting Him as the victor over the enemy and the giver of life to us.
[1 Samuel 18:8] -- Saul was greatly angered, etc. But the people who gloried in the law, angered against the preachers of grace, and the word displeased them, which, with the Gospel shining forth, set an end to the shadows of the law; and he said, raging against the Lord and against His Christ: Behold, the followers of this doctrine assert that while I indeed, doing the commands of the Mosaic law, serve shadows and figures, their Jesus brought the light of truth and life to the world; that through the law, good things of the earth, which cannot be everlasting, were promised to me; He through the grace of His Gospel grants the eternal joys of the heavenly kingdom to His faithful. Therefore, with everyone competing, neglecting the rite of the altar and sacrifices, to attend the hearing of this doctrine, what remains for me except only that he has not also taken away the summit of the kingdom from me? This because, although Christians, surpassing us in number, are all humbled and cast down in new and unknown poverty.
[1 Samuel 18:9] -- Therefore Saul did not look with right eyes at David, etc. The Jewish people did not accept the words of the Gospel with right understanding, from the time when inflamed with fires of envy, they began to hate its teachers or hearers, fearing namely that their law's glory being diminished, its fame and faith would rather reign throughout the world.
[1 Samuel 18:10] -- After the next day, an evil spirit from God invaded Saul, etc. As the light of the faithful gradually increased, so did the insanity and blindness of the perfidious Jews, who, aroused by an unclean spirit in the midst of their Synagogue against the Lord, would sing the words of prophecy with a frenzied mouth, which they did not understand. But the Lord, to calm and mitigate their malice, daily reiterated through the apostles the example of His patience and suffering. For He sang to them with His own hand, when through His excellent worker of the body He said: Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ (Acts II).
[1 Samuel 18:10] -- Saul was holding a spear, etc. The people of the Jews held the power of the kingdom and exercised it against the Lord Savior; thinking that they could extinguish His faith and glory by persecuting Him, in the manner of other mortals whose praise and memory, love or hatred, often fades with their life itself. Against these He prays to the Father in the Psalms: “Do not let me become like those who go down to the pit” (Psalm 142). For as much as David, a living stone, feels and discerns, exceeds a wall, which lacks nature, life, sense, and reason; so much the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, differs from pure men, even if they are most holy. He indeed, in suitable places, is symbolized by the term stone, not just any stone in the wall, according to those to whom it is said: "You also, like living stones, are being built" (1 Peter 2). But as the chief, cornerstone, chosen, precious stone, founded in the foundation, which, bearing and protecting the whole building of the rising Church, unites circumcision and uncircumcision in unanimous peace. For it can also be understood, not inappropriately, that Saul thought he could pin David to the wall; that the Jews thought they could eradicate the name and memory of Christ and remove Him from the land of the living if they could kill or banish the apostles, the preachers of His resurrection, those who are the nearest part of His house, that is, the Church. But David could not be pinned to the wall, Christ's glory could not be diminished, nor could the impious, however much they strove, be made like those who go down to the pit; that is, buried in the tomb, neither to be resurrected before the day of judgment.
[1 Samuel 18:11] -- And David turned away from his face a second time. And Christ fled from the hearts of the impious, who never deserts pious hearts without resting in them. But it is not added in vain a second time. For at first David went away and returned to Saul, coming into battle against the Philistines, where afterwards, arriving, he alone quickly struck down the enemy whom all had long failed to subdue; and now he turned away from his face a second time, attempting to kill him. This corresponds to the mystical sense. For at first, as also explained above, to all mortals struggling against vices, the Lord appearing in the flesh conducted life free from this conflict in the world; but also, he miraculously helped those mortals laboring long in vain by the visitation of his grace. However, what must be remembered not without sorrow, not without groaning, many repel their vivifier and protector, by spurning his words and transgressing; and what we blame the Jews for not believing, we believers do not fear to do by living badly. David turns away from his face unwillingly a second time, so as not to save him with his harp from the enemy, from whom he previously returned willingly, so as not to fight with him against the enemy; for, owing to our merits, the Almighty Savior hides the light of his knowledge from us, removes the grace of his defense, so as not to protect us daily from the snares of enemies by the help of his cross, who deigned to take on flesh for our salvation, so that he might struggle for us who are frail, so that he might win for us who are holy. Therefore, when God dwelt with men, at first he withdrew from their company, so as not to struggle with them against the law of sin, which in no way opposed him. Secondly, and in this not from the company of all, but from that of the proud, he turned away, so as not to trust them with his gifts; for he resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (I Peter 5).
[1 Samuel 18:12] -- And Saul feared David, etc. The people of the Jews feared the Church of Christ, because they saw the grace of divine power in it while they themselves were forsaken. For it is written: Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the apostles in Jerusalem, and great fear was upon all. For all who believed were together and had all things in common (Acts 2); which also, this society of mutual love, is proof of the present heavenly grace. And elsewhere: And by the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people, and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch; but of the rest no one dared join them, but the people magnified them (Acts 5).
[1 Samuel 18:13] -- Saul therefore removed him from himself, etc. Just as those who are in charge of fifty soldiers are called centurions; so they are called chiliarchs in Greek, who are in charge of a thousand soldiers, whom the Latin custom delights in calling tribunes rather than millenaries from the fact that they are in charge of a tribe. Therefore, the Jews removed Christ from themselves, having despised His faith, and made Him provide the leadership of spiritual warfare more abundantly to the believers. For their fault is the salvation of the Gentiles. But most of all, the Lord reigns over those who are stable and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that their labor is not in vain in the Lord. Their quadrated conversation, so to speak, and free from any fall, is shown by the millenary number, which is a solid squared ten. For with ten, the perfection of work or reward is usually indicated. But so that this same perfection increases the breadth of fraternal love, multiply ten by ten to reach a hundred. This sum, according to arithmetic, has equal square sides but is still flat, and thus suited by the figure to the love of neighbors whom we see on earth. But so that the squaring of fraternal love is also solidified by the height of divine love, accumulate each part of the centenary number by ten to ascend to a thousand; thus it is understood that the ten is not only equal in quadriform stability but also solid in perfect completeness; because such a number suits those over whom Christ presides, and fits both the most stable height and the highest stability. For wherever you turn a square, it stands solidly; whatever the just encounter, it proves them entirely stable and immovable.
[1 Samuel 18:16] -- All Israel and Judah loved David, etc. All who have believed from the Jews and the Gentiles loved, and love, and will love Christ. For He went forth appearing in the flesh, went in returning to the Father; before them, that He might grant hope and shape to those still remaining to live rightly outwards, and to those entering to reign blessedly. He goes out even today before us, protecting us with aid while fighting on earth. He enters, however, when with the battle finished, He leads those to be crowned to eternal life. We thought it necessary to remind the reader that the order of allegorical completion cannot always be preserved in the same way as the order of historical prefiguration. For instance, Joseph is first stripped of his tunic and thrown into a cistern, and afterwards sold with Judah advising; first sold by Judah acting, and thereafter signifies Christ stripped of the garment of the body, buried. This is customary not only in prophetic deeds but also in words. For Isaiah first said: "In that day the root of Jesse, who stands as a sign for the people, Him shall the Gentiles seek" (Isa. XI). And then he added: "And his sepulcher shall be glorious" (Ibid.). With all believers it is evident that first the tomb of the Lord, glorified, was made by Him rising from the dead, and subsequently the sign of His cross being exalted by the apostles was made for the people, that the Gentiles might seek Him. Those skilled in the Scriptures have been accustomed to call it recapitulation in Greek. This too must be noted that one and the same person does not always indicate one and the same portion of a person or thing that it shows. For instance, David signifies Christ, but sometimes in himself, sometimes in His holy preachers, sometimes in other faithful followers, sometimes in the just who fall seven times but rise again through repentance, all of whom as various parts of one body adhere uniformly to the head Christ. Similarly, Saul figuratively represents the Jewish people, sometimes reigning, sometimes teaching rightly, sometimes believing in Christ, sometimes neglecting Christ's commands, sometimes envying and persecuting Christ, sometimes inflicting threats, plots, murders, and deaths upon His faithful, showing different aspects. Likewise, Goliath, who carries the type of the devil, sometimes is expressed in the very head of all the impious, sometimes in his members, namely the pagans, treacherous Jews, heretics, and false brethren. However, from these very members the Savior, having removed the worst head, has graciously made some of His own members. To prove all these with examples is a greater task than suits this place.