Chapter 4
Saul’s elder daughter, whom he had promised to David, he gives to Hadriel, and he gives the younger one to him, and he betroths her with the foreskins of the Philistines. But Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, etc., up to the part where it is written: And Saul became David's enemy for all days. This reading figuratively signifies that although the greater part of the Synagogue was made up of Pharisees, with the lesser part loving Christ, the leaders, moved by envy, sought a cause from his kingdom that they might deliver him to the authority and power of the governor. But he, with many, even among their own gentiles, being called to faith, unwilling as much as the Jewish rulers might be, joins the Church to himself from Judea in heavenly nuptials.
[1 Samuel 18:17] -- Therefore, Saul said to David: Behold my daughter Merab, etc. Above, where Saul, through the anointing of holy chrism and the governance of the kingdom, holds the type of Christ, we understood the two daughters of Saul to signify the peoples, who, begotten for salvation by faith in Christ and love, are perfected by the chastisement of body and mind; or certainly, the greater to designate the Synagogue, and the lesser, the Church. However, in this place, because the order of surrounding affairs has changed, David indeed designates the Lord Christ, but Saul, envying him, designates the people of the Jews. Rightly, the elder daughter, who was promised to David but not given, signifies that part of his people which, greater in number and power, was promised as if to be joined to a strong and desirable hand of a bridegroom, when the predecessors of that part, namely the scribes, priests, Pharisees, and elders of the people, would flock to his hearing, call him a good teacher, and not only that but also uniquely wise as a master, whether for the sake of learning or tempting him, would frequent him with questions. However, she was not given to him but to another, when those same teachers, seeking to be called Rabbi by men, forced as many as they could to listen to them instead. The younger daughter, who by loving David deserved to be given to him, is indeed that portion of the Jewish people which, both in smallness and contempt, preferred to follow, love, and hear the Lord Savior rather than the scribes and lawyers, hearing from him: "Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12). Therefore, the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jews said to Christ: Behold, we entrust the greater part of the subjected Synagogue to you for teaching, just see to it that, being strong in spirit, you fight with word for the freedom of the people, who are commanded to keep the law of God and serve Him alone. For we know that you are truthful and do not care for anyone; for you do not regard the person of man, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? (Matthew 22; Mark 12) They said this, however, in the presence of the ministers of Herod, so that if he forbade giving tribute, they, punishing him, might seem exempt from his death.
[1 Samuel 18:18] -- David said to Saul: Who am I? etc. He does not confess himself unworthy to become the king's son-in-law, but he proposes to make it known and remembered by the same king, who he is, what his life is, what the lineage of his father is in Israel; and from this it is to be inferred whether he is worthy to receive the daughter. He himself is strong in hand, accomplished in act, and desirable in appearance: he feeds his father's sheep, and in caring for them, faces lions and bears to kill them, and also for the salvation of his people, goes out to give his life to danger against the giant armed with bronze and iron. The lineage of his father in Israel is that to which the same Israel blessed, saying among other things: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs (Gen. XLIX). This in the same order can be interpreted of the Lord, because he did not deny himself worthy, who would join to himself the people generated by the royal descent through the teaching of the law, in the bond of unanimous peace and charity, concerning whom his herald proclaimed: The one who has the bride is the bridegroom (John III). But also for those coming to his faith, it must be asked who he is, what his life is, what the lineage of his father is in Israel; and from this it is to be understood that he, indeed he alone, is worthy to unite the Church of the faithful to himself by the right of a bridegroom. He himself is the one about whom John writes: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John I), and others, up to what he says: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. His life is, of which he himself speaks: For as the Father has life in himself, so he has given to the Son to have life in himself (John V). His life is such that the apostle Peter, urging his listeners to imitate it, says: He committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, and others (I Pet. II). The lineage of his Father in Israel is that of which: The Lord swore to David a truth, and he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne (Psalm. CXXXI). The lineage of his Father, of which he himself testifies: For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother (Matt. VII). Therefore, the Lord did not refuse to be the bridegroom of the Church, that is, Christ; but it is to be sought and understood that he is. Finally, he teaches the Pharisees with the testimony of the proposed Psalm, how the Christ can be both the son and the lord of David, questioning, not denying that he is Christ, but rather arousing them to ask, seek, and knock for the recognition of the truth. And elsewhere he responds to the scribe who called him good teacher, and asked about doing good: Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone (Mark X); not meaning there that he is not good, but implying that he is to be believed as God.
[1 Samuel 18:19] -- It came to pass then, when Merob was to be given, etc. It came to pass, when the greater part of the Jewish people ought to have believed in Christ teaching in the flesh, they rather believed and adhered to the scribes and Pharisees. However, the other part of the same people, itself royally educated through the law of the Lord, loved the coming of the Savior. The very name itself also agrees well in signifying the doctors of the law. Hadriel Molathites. For Hadriel means the flock of God; Molathites is said from "begetting me." And the assembly of legal masters, who were chosen from common action and rusticity, ordered to devote themselves to divine matters, to meditate on divine things, act and preach, rightly shines by the distinctive name of the flock of God. Nor is it the fault of the good shepherd if any portion of the flock, jumping from his custody, prefers to be subject to the wolf’s teeth rather than to the pastoral rod. This assembly of doctors, since it received the beginnings of living rightly through the letter full of new grace, is fittingly called the city of Hadriel from "begetting me." Whom indeed do we understand by "begetting" other than Him whose mysteries all the old Scripture prefigured? whom the whole knowledge of the law and prophets held long hidden, but after a long labor, at the right time brought forth for us to behold.
[1 Samuel 18:20] -- And it was reported to Saul, and it pleased him, etc. The envious leaders of the Jews, recognizing that the crowd loved the Lord and flocked with diligent intention to hear Him, which they detested in other matters, began to be pleased in this one part, thinking that they could reprimand Him by frequently teaching in words and catching something from His mouth, so they might accuse Him and deliver Him to the nations to be killed; even thinking that God’s wisdom is subject to that sentence: In the multitude of words, you shall not escape sin (Prov. X). And they said: Let us permit Him to teach, that it may be a stumbling block to Him, and we be innocent of His blood: let the hand of the Romans be upon Him, as we accuse Him of undermining our nation, forbidding tributes to be given to Caesar, and declaring Himself to be Christ.
[1 Samuel 18:21] -- Therefore Saul said to David: “In two things you will be my son-in-law today,” etc. Ignoring the words of Saul, which clearly signify the hypocrisy of scribes and Pharisees with their deceit and fraud, by which they sought to entrap the Lord, let us instead scrutinize more closely the mighty deeds of blessed David, because he became Saul’s son-in-law in two things, namely, by killing the giant and by bringing the foreskins of Philistine slain. Clearly signifying him who, in order to adopt the Church from the Jews, first nullified the snares and strength of the ancient enemy and delivered it into light; and thereafter proposed to the same Church the examples of converted Gentiles to be emulated. For it was from the Gentiles, whose faith the Lord showed to be emulated by the Jews, when he said: "Amen, I say to you, I have not found such great faith in Israel" (Matthew VIII). From the Gentiles came she who merited to hear from Christ: "O woman, great is your faith; let it be done for you as you wish" (Matthew XV). From the Gentiles were those who, having come up among others to worship at the feast, said to Philip: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John XII). From the Gentiles was also that centurion who, when the Lord gave up His Spirit, stood alone with his company, while all the Jews who were present remained silent, and feared and glorified God, saying: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark XV). Certainly, when Saul, weaving deceit, said:
[1 Samuel 18:25] -- Thus you shall say to David: The king has no need for a dowry, etc. So we may truly understand it as a figure concerning the proud, that they do not think they need the gifts of Christ; but that this alone is required, that He be handed over into the hands of the Gentiles and be killed.
[1 Samuel 18:27] -- And after a few days, David arose and departed, etc. A few days after the Jewish leaders decided to hand over Christ to be slain by the Gentiles, the Lord himself arose with the apostles who were with him to work the salvation of the world, shining so much with virtues and the grace of doctrine that, despite the efforts of the impious, he called not a few of the Gentiles to the grace of faith, as we have previously taught. For David struck down the Philistines, just as the Lord broke the proud impurity of paganism by word or by the example of humility and chastity. He brought their foreskins and counted them for the king so that he might be his son-in-law; with the people of the Jews, he showed the dead members of sin converted to God, so that in this way he might also receive those who would follow the conversion of the Gentiles. Not in vain did David bring two hundred foreskins to Saul, who had asked for one hundred; because, to the Jews presumptuously thinking that the Lord could not impose even the profession of carnal chastity on the Gentiles, he himself cleansed them from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting sanctification in the fear of God. The number one hundred indeed always pertains to the indication of great perfection, which initiated in itself before the triumph of the Passion, was fulfilled even in the confirmation of his sacraments through the apostles after the clarification of his Assumption.
[1 Samuel 18:27] -- Saul therefore gave his daughter Michal to him as a wife, etc. The unbelieving people could not prevent those predestined to life from believing. For they saw and understood that the Lord was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself; the love of the believers grew as much as the fear in the faithless. Some apply the foreskins taken from the struck Philistines by David to the condition of the present age, since the grace of Christ is at work among the Gentiles; however, the marriages of Michal, delayed for some time but eventually celebrated, refer to those who will believe at the end of the world, from the Jews: when the fullness of the Gentiles shall enter, so all Israel will be saved (Rom. XI).