Chapter 5
When the Ziphites betrayed Saul, he descended against David, who, descending upon his camp at night, while all were sleeping, took his spear and water jug, and then provoked him, when awakened, to confess his error and fault. (1 Samuel 26.) And the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, etc., up to what is written: Saul returned to his home. This lesson teaches that Judea, because of the guilt of treachery which it exercised against the Lord, lost the kingdom which it should have hoped to receive from Him in the heavens, or to preserve from Him on earth; but also completely lost the observance of the legal ceremonies, which, if it had desired to believe in Christ, could be transformed into spiritual understanding, and it could itself keep them spiritually; nonetheless to them, if they agree to convert even late and perform penance, the promised heavenly kingdom is granted by the Lord. The Ziphites, which are interpreted as "blooming," express the teachers of the Jews, glorying in the flower, indeed the fragrant one, that is, the rudiments of legal knowledge, but utterly ignorant of the fruit of the righteousness of faith. Saul, who is called "desired," typically denotes their kingdom, which they asked for from the Lord. His city Gibeah, which is transferred to a hill, demonstrates the proud exaltation of the same kingdom. Achila, which is interpreted as "receiving it," designates the constancy of those who received the faith of Christ in Judea with a pious mind. Therefore, the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying: "Behold, David is hidden on the hill of Achila, which is opposite the wilderness": it is written below that it was opposite the wilderness along the way. When the Lord was preaching in Judea, the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, came, swollen with the pride of their royal power, to incite envy, saying that the hidden love of Jesus in the heart of the crowd that received His faith believed that Christ the King had come into the world; about which it is well said: "Which is opposite the wilderness along the way." For the city, on whose hill David is hidden, is placed opposite the wilderness, when a crowd of the just, happy with Christ as their guest, takes care to avoid the tumults of earthly desires and to render themselves solitary from worldly allurements. And this is the only way to achieve this most perfect solitude of mind, to receive the advent of Christ in the height, like the hill of the same mind, of whom He himself says: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him" (John 14).
[1 Samuel 26:2] -- And Saul arose and went down to the desert of Ziph, etc. Understand Gabaa of Achila, not the city of Saul, but the hill of Achila, which is called Gabaa in Hebrew. Therefore, incited by perverse teachers, the kingdom of the Jews was stirred up to persecute the Lord, having in the army of impiety those who were prepared to fight against faith, hope, and charity, advancing to war as if in a triple line: of infidelity, despair, and hatred. With this armed force, the camps of iniquity hastened to encamp in the midst of the crowd that had received Christ in their hearts, in the hope that they might either find and kill him bodily, or spiritually repel him from the love of his faithful. Therefore, with David dwelling in the desert, Saul came after him into the desert; because once Christ as a dweller was received in the hearts of those who strove to desert the world, persecution immediately followed, which tested the believers, and provided with the struggle an occasion for earning the palm of victory. This same thing happens now and continues to happen at all times in the history of the Church. But let us see what David did when Saul followed him.
[1 Samuel 26:5] -- And David arose and came to the place where Saul was. When the Jews were persecuting Him, the Lord did not leave the province, did not withhold the benefits dispensed, but always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where everyone gathered, and healed their sick (John 10).
[1 Samuel 26:6] -- And David said to Achimelech the Hittite, etc. Many, when the Lord was preaching in the flesh, from the Gentiles, many from the Jews flocked to the faith, but he chose the first ministers of his word, by whom he would overthrow and conquer the camps of the persecutor's kingdom, from the Jews, who adhered to him with both a closer affection and the reception of the sacraments. For Achimelech the Hittite, who is interpreted as My brother the king cut off, by nation indeed represents the people of the Gentiles, but by name and faith shows the same as cut off from the rites of idolatry, and joined and united to the kingdom of Christ. Furthermore, Abisai the son of Zeruiah, the brother of Joab, that is, the incense of my father, the son of distress, the brother of the enemy, figuratively designates the chosen disciples of Christ from the Jews, fervent in love, children of penitence, brothers by nature of the persecuting people.
[1 Samuel 26:7] -- Therefore, David and Abisai came to the people by night, etc. The Lord and his disciples came to visit the people, who were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death, and found his kingdom entirely depressed in kinship, and torpid with blind stupor, all the defenses of virtues, with which they ought to have been armed against spiritual enemies, lived in earthly desires, but also all the teachers and listeners languishing with the same pestilence of sloth as the princes.
[1 Samuel 26:8] -- And Abisai said to David: God has delivered your enemy into your hand today, etc. The disciples, now endowed with spiritual faith, understood that all things were given into the hands of the Savior by the Father; but still hindered by carnal ignorance, they thought that the proud and despisers of his word should be sought to be devoured by fire sent from heaven. Whom he immediately recalling from this intention, determined that rather patience was to be had, saying: For the Son of Man did not come to destroy souls, but to save them (Luke IX). Certainly, what David adds:
[1 Samuel 26:9] -- For who has stretched out his hand against the Lord's anointed? etc., according to the ongoing exposition indeed demonstrates that no one is free from the crime of sacrilege, who attempts to invade the kingdom of the Jewish people, given specially to him by the Lord, and consecrated with holy oil, and to profane the city and the temple dedicated to divine worship, disregarding the fear of God. But according to the supplicant's sense of the statement, it teaches with what great reverence divine sacraments must be treated, even though they are dispensed by the hands of the wicked; how much honor is due to persons devoted to the service of the sacred altar, how much presumption should be restrained from harming these persons, no matter how wickedly they live, because of the mark of any rank, since he himself, the exile, innocent, refrained from killing the most unjust persecutor of him, solely because of the holy oil of anointing which he had received in the figure of Christ either of the name or of the kingdom which he was not to preserve, and restrained his soldier by command and himself by divine fear. Therefore, we must be careful not to presume to defame and attack the reputation of bishops, presbyters, deacons indiscriminately.
[1 Samuel 26:11] -- Now therefore take the spear that is at his head, etc. The spear either insinuates the power of the kingdom itself or the arms of spiritual virtues, by which the kingdom could be helped. However, it can be taken regarding the earthly kingdom they had and the heavenly kingdom they hoped for, which anyone among them knew to hope for. It is indeed established that both were rightfully taken away from the faithless. Moreover, the cup of water is the observance of carnal types; which, compared to evangelical perfection, is as a cup of water to a cup of wine, not inappropriately taken; whence also above Nabal, despising David who asked for water, did not give it. Abigail also gave wine because the people of the faithless, whether of the law or of the letter, refused to ascribe it to Christ; but everyone faithful knows and recognizes that all things are to be referred to Him, and these things filled with a spiritual flavor to be fervent. Therefore, the spear and the cup of water are taken away from Saul, when because of the crime of perfidy, the entire kingdom and the literal custody of the law are taken away from the Jews. This indeed is done by Abishai at the command of David; when at the command of the Lord, each of the apostles preaching the rights of the Gospel teaches that all old things are to pass away. However, when the spear and the cup were taken away, David added, saying, And let us go; it signifies that Christ was about to depart from the Jews and pass over to the Gentiles to be saved with His preachers. And He Himself, coming to the Passion, announcing it almost with the same word said: Rise, let us go hence.
[1 Samuel 26:12] -- And there was no one who saw or understood, etc. There was no one among the reprobate who, hearing the Lord or His apostles preaching the future desolation of Judea, and the erasure of its ancient state from the land, understanding either their past misdeeds or future damnation, would awake to repentance; but they persisted in all impiety, because the Lord, due to preceding merits, blinded their senses. Alternatively, the sleep of the Lord fell upon them, that is, heavier than usual, which the Lord imposed on them particularly because of David’s advent, not allowing them to awaken until He himself had gone back.
[1 Samuel 26:13] -- And when David had passed over to the other side, etc. When Jesus had passed over from this world to the Father, and remained untroubled in the height of the Father's kingdom, clearly separated far from the sight of mortals, and there was a great distance between Him, immortal victor over death, sitting at the right hand of the Father in the flesh as God, and those who, being mortal, miserable, and impious in this world, endeavored to fight against Him; He cried out through His apostles, preaching to the people of Israel, and to its scribes, urging them to rise from the slumber of their harmful lethargy and to respond to Him by believing. For Abner, who is interpreted as the lamp of the Father, shows those who should have ministered the light of truth to the people at that time. His father Ner, who is translated as a lamp, typifies their teachers who preceded in spiritually kindling and showing the light of legal knowledge to them and the people.
[1 Samuel 26:14] -- And Abner answered and said: Who are you that cries out? etc. The Pharisees and scribes responded, not recognizing the disciples of Jesus, who cried out teaching the people, and disturbed the kingdom of the Jews, as if by the shedding of Christ's blood, convicting it. And they said, "Do you want to bring this man's blood upon us?"
[1 Samuel 26:15] -- And David said to Abner: Are you not a man? etc. The apostles said: Are you not the scribes, learned in the law, chief priests, and Pharisees, excelling the people equally in rank and knowledge? Why did you not protect the untouched dominion of your people, insisting on the vigilance of perfect work and doctrine?
[1 Samuel 26:15] -- For someone from the crowd entered to kill the king your lord. Literally, this is said of Abisai, who entered the camp with the intention, if somehow possible, to kill the king. Allegorically, it is understood of the apostles, who with diligent warning predicted the future destruction of the wicked kingdom because of sins.
[1 Samuel 26:16] -- Now therefore see where the king's spear is, etc. See, they say, now where the scepter of your power is, which you have lost both on earth and ceased to hope for in heaven; where is the shadowy observance of the law, which you have thirsted for with all your heart, in which you boasted that the hands of your deeds could be washed from all stain of sins. All alike, because you have lost Christ, and the temple itself is gone. Indeed, all these things, even if not yet completed in the times of the apostles, were for the most part begun in and before their times and still occurring while they were alive, as anyone who reads the history of old will find. For finally, Herod the Great, and his sons, amid the countless calamities they inflicted on the Jews, also took away the holy garment from the priests, and never allowed them the permission to minister in it; they changed the order of the priesthood at their whim, tearing up the legal order. Pilate defiled the temple by secretly introducing images of Caesar during the night, following the impiety of Herod, who had first profaned it by setting up a golden eagle in it and commanded that the young men who tried to remove it for religious reasons be burned alive. Caius [Caligula] ordered that both the temple and all their synagogues be profaned with the sacrifices of the gentiles and filled with statues and images, and commanded that he himself be worshipped as a god there. As for the degradation of the kingdom, until it perished utterly, there is no end to speaking of it.
[1 Samuel 26:17] -- But Saul recognized David's voice, etc. Saul, recognizing David's voice, moved by his humility, innocence, and justice, confessed that he had sinned and promised not to sin against him anymore, and orders him to return. Many of the leaders of the Jews, recognizing the voice of Christ through the apostles' exhortation, confessed that they had sinned, repenting, and implored him with many tears and great prayers to return by the grace of forgiveness to their hearts, which he had deserted because of their faithlessness.
[1 Samuel 26:19] -- If the Lord incites you against me, etc. If, he says, led by the Spirit of God you persecute me, it is necessary that I appease the divine mercy with sacrifices and prayers; but if not by the will of the Lord, but against His will, having been corrupted by the deception of wicked men, you thought it right to rage for a time against the innocent; it is certain that those are held worthy of a curse in the divine examination, who, by wicked persuasions repelling me from His tabernacle and holy land, compel me to live among idolaters, whom I utterly detest. And if this flame of persecution has arisen from men, as I said, it is just in every way that my blood should not be shed by the impious, which the hands of persecutors have thus far unjustly sought. According to the mystical understanding, it is the voice of the members of Christ, that is, of His faithful, who, caught by the persecution of wicked men, are accustomed to diligently examine their hearts. And if for their sins they recognize that punishment of chastisement is inflicted upon them by the Lord through such men, they immediately strive to purge these with sacrifices of due contrition. But if they see themselves unjustly suffering injuries or deaths from the impious, so that they may be called away from the path of truth, they indeed understand those who do these things as deserving eternal curse from the Lord; because they wish to turn the faithful of Christ from the inheritance of the Catholic faith even to the idolatry of gentility or any kind of heresy. However, those who innocently suffer these things rejoice, being saved by the Lord from all death and corruption, and indeed even anticipating receiving the palm of their patience. We can also accept it as said in the person of the apostles to the persecuting Jews: If the Lord incites you to persecute us, His wrath is appeased by our prayers; but if, which is more true, the sons of men, they are accursed by the Lord, who have driven us out preaching divine things, so that we do not dwell in Judea and Jerusalem; they said, Depart; and because you believe Jesus to be God, serve Him rather among the nations, who are accustomed to worship alien gods.
[1 Samuel 26:21] -- And Saul said: I have sinned, etc. To David, who proposed two causes for his exile and inquired from Saul what was true, Saul himself, conscious of his own mind, responded that it was not by the Lord's incitement, but by his own foolishness that he had persecuted him. But now he begs him to return home, assuring that he will suffer no further harm from him. And many Jews, having confessed their crimes, took care to recall to themselves by faith the Lord whom they had driven away by their infidelity.
[1 Samuel 26:22] -- And David answered and said: Behold, one of the king’s servants shall pass over and take it, etc. The Lord, responding through His teachers to the repentant Jews and those who have turned from the crime of persecution, said: Behold, the power of your kingdom rests with me; let the unity of the faithful pass into the unbelieving hearts of the proud, and let the spiritual weapons of the heavenly kingdom promised to you long ago be brought back swiftly. This was fulfilled in no small part in the times of the apostles, and remains to be fully completed in the times of Elijah, who preached and brought back the hearts of the fathers to the children. He says nothing about taking the cup of water, because the Lord does not teach that the shadow of the law should continue to be observed. The title of Psalm 53 remembers the betrayal of the Ziphites, which seems to refer more to an earlier betrayal, whereas there it is said according to the title: Is not David hidden among us? But here it is different: Behold, David is hidden in the hill of Achilah.