Saul’s Disobedience 1 And Samuel said to Saul: “It was me the LORD sent to anoint you as king over his people, over Israel. And now, listen to the voice of the words of the LORD.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 We said above that Amalek designates the vice of lust, which as it were licks, since it suggests pleasure by flattering. Progress in the way of life is therefore shown, in that above he is declared to have been struck by Saul, and now he is not simply commanded to be struck, but all his possessions to be destroyed.
Bede · AD 735 Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint you as king, etc. The prophetic word daily says to the rulers of the Church that they have not been chosen by their own industrious liberty, but by the ministry of the Lord to govern His people; and therefore they should always hear attentively the voice of His command.
2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: I have taken account of what Amalek did to Israel — how he set himself against him on the way, when he came up from Egypt.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 What is meant by the deeds of the Amalekites being recounted, except that the defilements of lust are greatly hateful to God? Whence the blessed apostle Paul says: 'Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body' (1 Cor. 6:18). Likewise he says: 'Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge' (Heb. 13:4).
Bede · AD 735 These things saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned, etc. An appropriate preface urging spiritual warfare, so that He who would command to engage in this should be known as the Lord of hosts; that is, of the angelic armies, by whose help we must be protected while fighting against the powers of the air.
3 Now go, and you shall strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that he has; and you shall not spare him, but put to death man and woman, child and nursing infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 What does it mean when he says: "Hear the voice of the Lord," unless that those who wish to live chastely must keep subtle watch against the deceits of the spirit of fornication? As if to say: Do not cease to consider with how many snares he prepares to subject the elect to himself.
Bede · AD 735 Do not spare them, but kill, etc. From man to woman, from the perfected work of sin to carnal thought, namely the filthy mother and nurse of wicked offspring.
4 And Saul summoned the people and mustered them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 By the name of lambs, men of great prudence are usually designated. Hence through John it is said: "I saw upon Mount Sion a Lamb standing, and with him a hundred forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads" (Rev. 14:1). For those who had taken up the name of the Lamb were called lambs.
Bede · AD 735 Saul therefore commanded the people and counted them, etc. And we, in order to be able to conquer the battles of vices, must gather gentle and innocent thoughts in our heart; namely, imitators of that spotless Lamb, who deigned to redeem us with his blood from the Egypt of this world.
5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 What is this torrent, if not that of which it is said through the Psalmist: "He shall drink of the torrent in the way" (Psalm 109:7)? For a torrent designates the course of our mortality. Saul therefore sets an ambush in the torrent, when a preacher of the Church inserts the consideration of our mortality into the eternal rewards.
Bede · AD 735 And when Saul had come to the city of Amalek, etc. The city of Amalek represents the densely packed array of temptations against the faithful, which now rages at us, stirred up either by demons, humans, or by our own desires.
6 And Saul said to the Kenite: “Go, turn aside, come down from the midst of the Amalekite, lest I sweep you away with him — for you did loyal love with all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” And the Kenite turned aside from the midst of Amalek.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Who is the Kenite, who is known to dwell with Amalek, and who is compelled to depart, lest he be equally entangled with him? But perhaps this is the one about whom the Apostle says: "Let the husband render to his wife what is due, and likewise the wife to her husband" (1 Cor. 7:3).
Bede · AD 735 And Saul said to the Kenite, "Go, depart, etc." The holy history reports that the Kenites were the relatives of Moses, saying: "Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the rest of the Kenites, the sons of Hobab the kinsman of Moses; and had pitched his tent as far as the valley which is called Sennim, and he was near Kedesh" (Judges IV).
7 And Saul struck Amalek, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is opposite Egypt.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 Havilah is interpreted as "one who gives birth," Shur as "anguish," Egypt as "darkness." But concupiscence gives birth to sin.
Bede · AD 735 And Saul struck the Amalekites, etc. Evila, which is said to mean "suffering" or "labor," signifies the beginning of conversion, which is not initiated without a certain painful and laborious birth of the new man. Sur, which translates to "right," represents the final perfection of correction.
8 And he seized Agag, king of Amalek, alive; and all the people he devoted to destruction with the edge of the sword.
Apostolic Constitutions · AD 380 But he who does not consider these things, will, contrary to justice, spare him who deserves punishment; as Saul spared Agag, and Eli his sons, "who knew not the Lord." Such a one profanes his own dignity and that church of God which is in his parish.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 1. King Saul, who had good beginnings but by no means persevered in the good things he had begun, is presented through the text of sacred History, so that in him we may see what is to be imitated and what is to be avoided. Thus indeed we also pick from badly cultivated fields, which rise up to harvest mixed with thorns.
Bede · AD 735 And he took Agag, king of Amalek, alive, etc. Thus far, Saul's struggle distinguished him as an excellent and discerning ruler, either of himself or of the people subject to him. From this point on, it marks him as indolent and reprobate, who rightly spared the innocent kinsmen of Moses.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flock and of the herd, and the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good; and they were not willing to devote them to destruction. But everything despised and worthless — that they devoted to destruction.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Just as in the case of human beings "hand" and "foot" and "eye" and "ear" and anything else so named are indicative of the members of our body, but in the case of God "hand" means his creative power, "eye" his power of oversight, "ear" his power of hearing, and "foot" the power of his presence whenever he is at work upon something: so also God's "wrath" is said to be the discip…
Samuel Denounces Saul 10 And the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying:
Bede · AD 735 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, etc. The repentance of God is not a disturbance of the mind, which often befalls men as they reconsider the evil they have committed thoughtlessly; rather, it is called a change in passing things, while the immutable divine foresight remains; for just as not repenting signifies unwillingness to change what has been established.
11 “I regret that I have made Saul reign as king — for he has turned back from following me, and my words he has not carried out.” And it burned in Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night.
Tertullian · AD 220 Furthermore, with respect to the repentance which occurs in his conduct you interpret it with similar perverseness just as if it were with fickleness and improvidence that he repented, or on the recollection of some wrongdoing; because he actually said, "I repent that I have set up Saul to be king," very much as if he meant that his repentance savored of an acknowledgment of so…
John Cassian · AD 435 These texts declare that we should not cling stubbornly to our promises, but that they should be tempered by reason and judgment, that what is better should always be chosen and preferred and that we should pass over without any hesitation to whatever is proven to be more beneficial.
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel was grieved, etc. These are not to be explained allegorically but rather are to be drawn to the imitation of virtue: so that for the errors of brothers, which they themselves cannot yet understand in themselves, we should not only be grieved in spirit but also cry out to the Lord for them with all intention; and furthermore, whenever the place and time allow, we shou…
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told to Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel — and look, he is setting up a monument for himself.” And he turned and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 10. What is the life of a sinner, if not night? And what is the light of the just, other than day? Whence also through Paul it is said to converted sinners: 'You were once darkness, but now light in the Lord' (Eph. 5:8). But for the preacher to rise by night is to raise up the affection of the mind from the taking on of another's fault.
Bede · AD 735 And when Samuel had risen from the night to go to Saul in the morning, etc. Carmel means knowledge of circumcision; Gilgal means revelation.
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you by the LORD! I have carried out the word of the LORD.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 13. The word of the Lord was that he should have destroyed Amalek. But what does it mean that he says, "I have fulfilled the word of the Lord," unless that the sin of fornication, the more shameful it is perceived to be, the more carefully it is concealed by the reprobate?
Bede · AD 735 And Saul said to him: Blessed are you to the Lord, etc. Understand the voice of flocks and herds, the uncontrolled movements of the mind, and the tumultuous thoughts of arrogant hearts; for whoever neglects to subdue and repress these within himself, vainly boasts that he has fulfilled the word of the Lord, which commanded the destruction of all vices.
14 And Samuel said, “Then what is this sound of sheep in my ears, and the sound of oxen that I hear?”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 14. The voice of the flocks and herds of Amalek is the report of shameful deeds. When anyone is defamed for lesser sins of indulgence, the voice of the flocks is said to resound. When likewise one is accused of more criminal and more obscene things, it is the voice of the herds.
15 And Saul said, “They brought them from the Amalekite — because the people spared the best of the flock and the herd, in order to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we devoted to destruction.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 15. What does it mean that he says: "They brought them from Amalek," and did not say, "We brought them"? But when the reprobate are accused, they sometimes conceal their faults by denying them, and sometimes transfer them to others.
Bede · AD 735 And Saul said: They brought them from Amalek, etc. The prophet, though unwilling, confesses this with a guilty conscience; for not only to God, to whose eyes all things are naked and open, but also to spiritual men, the deceitful hearts of the wicked are evident. For Elisha, though Gehazi was far away, was present in heart.
16 And Samuel said to Saul, “Stop — and let me tell you what the LORD spoke to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 16. What does it mean when he says: "Let me alone, and I will tell you," unless that while deceitful men persist in verbosity, they do not grant their examining superiors an opportunity to speak? As if to say: While you do not cease from verbosity, you do not permit me to say the things you ought to hear.
Bede · AD 735 But Samuel said to Saul: Leave me, and I will tell you, etc. Above, we read that Saul on the day was anointed king; on the day that he should be anointed, and now at night he is shown to be rejected.
17 And Samuel said: “Is it not so — though you were small in your own eyes, you became the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you as king over Israel?
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 17. By these words, the disobedience of the proud king is subtly examined: because he first sets before him the gifts that were bestowed, then strikes at the audacity of his transgression through a careful investigation of that same fault.
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel said: Were you not small in your own eyes? etc. And this rebuke of blessed Samuel is fitting for any Christian transgressing the faith with which he was imbued; someone saying to him, one of the spiritual teachers, whose likeness Samuel presents: Were you not humbled in your mind for the past life, which was without God, when you came to the Church, having already re…
18 And the LORD sent you on a way, and said, ‘Go, and devote to destruction the sinners, Amalek, and fight against him until they are finished.’
19 So why did you not listen to the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil, and do the evil in the eyes of the LORD?”
Athanasius of Alexandria · AD 373 And when Saul was charged with negligence and a breach of the law, he did not benefit his cause by alleging his conduct on other matters.
John Cassian · AD 435 Finally, because he never had this eye of discretion, he who by God's judgment first deserved to rule over the people of Israel was cast out of his kingdom like something dark out of a healthy body.
20 And Saul said to Samuel: “But I did listen to the voice of the LORD! And I went on the way the LORD sent me, and I brought Agag, king of Amalek — and Amalek I devoted to destruction.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 19. For as if concealing his own hidden faults while bringing forth the exposed faults of others, the slippery teacher commends himself on the success of his preaching, saying: I ought not to be rebuked for the fault of my subjects, but rather praised, since I have destroyed it in the offenders by preaching.
Bede · AD 735 And Saul said to Samuel: "Rather, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord," etc. How much this response of Saul suits the stubbornness of the rebellious proud ones is very easily evident from what was previously explained.
21 And the people took from the spoil, sheep and oxen, the first part of what was devoted, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 20. When something belonging to someone is taken away by the violence of armed men, it is called plunder. But the vices of the flesh and soul, because they are propagated at the devil's suggestion, are as it were his own property. Whoever therefore, recently lax within himself but now violent, destroys vices, takes plunder; because he powerfully seizes what belongs to another.
22 And Samuel said: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in listening to the voice of the LORD? Look — to listen is better than sacrifice; to give heed, than the fat of rams.
Irenaeus · AD 202 Moreover, the prophets indicate in the fullest manner that God stood in no need of their slavish obedience, but that it was upon their own account that He enjoined certain observances in the law. And again, that God needed not their oblation, but [merely demanded it], on account of man himself who offers it, the Lord taught distinctly, as I have pointed out.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 22. For what are the good works of the elect but sacrifices and burnt offerings? Since therefore the Lord had commanded burnt offerings and sacrifices to be offered through the law, what does it mean that the Lord is said not to want burnt offerings and sacrifices, yet promises that He wants to be obeyed, unless that those things which are done apart from obedience are not burn…
Bernard of Clairvaux · AD 1153 You do not wish to be content with the common life. The regular fast is not enough for you, nor the appointed vigils, nor the imposed discipline, nor the measure which we apportion to you in clothing and food; you prefer private practices to the common ones. You who once entrusted the care of yourselves to us—why do you again interfere with yourselves?
23 For rebellion is the sin of divination, and pushing ahead is wickedness and teraphim. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you from being king.”
Cassiodorus · AD 585 This is the greatest fault under which humanity labors, that after sinning they take refuge in excuses rather than prostrate themselves with repentant confession. Clearly such wickedness is to be reckoned amongst the worst sins, for its true source also seems to occasion slower progress by the sinner towards repentance.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 24. What is it that those who resist and refuse to comply are likened by the prophet to diviners and idolaters, except that diviners strove to know divine things and to divine hidden matters, while idolaters subjected themselves to figments by venerating them?
Bede · AD 735 Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, etc. Just as the other parts of this reading, so too this rejection of Saul, according to the allegory, can be applied to the synagogue, and according to the tropology of the law to any false Christian, whether teacher or disciple who was initially faithful but subsequently condemnable, fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam that says:…
Saul’s Confession 24 And Saul said to Samuel: “I have sinned — for I have crossed the mouth of the LORD, and your words; for I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.
Ambrosiaster · AD 384 WHY IS IT THAT SAUL, WHEN HE SINNED, ASKED THAT PRAYER BE MADE FOR HIM SO THAT HE MIGHT BE FORGIVEN AND COULD NOT OBTAIN IT, WHILE DAVID, WHEN HE SINNED, ASKED AND OBTAINED PARDON?
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Saul, too, when he was reproved by Samuel, said, "I have sinned." Why, then, was he not considered fit to be told, as David was, that the Lord had pardoned his sin? Is there favoritism with God? Far from it. While to the human ear the words were the same, the divine eye saw a difference in the heart.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 26. What does it mean that Saul is rebuked by the prophet for not having heard the voice of the Lord and for having done evil in His eyes, and yet he does not at all confess that he has sinned; but when he sees himself rejected from the kingdom, he confesses that he has sinned and transgressed the word of the Lord and His commands?
25 And now, forgive my sin, please, and return with me, and I will bow down to the LORD.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 27. Correctable sins are indeed borne, because after they depart from the will of the one who committed them, they can be wholesomely purged through satisfaction. But the sins of those in whose minds they have become ingrained through impenitence are not borne. Whence John also says: "There is a sin unto death; I do not say that one should pray for that" (1 John 5:16).
26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you — for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · AD 390 Moreover, to distinguish still more clearly between them, we have, against the fear of office, a possible help in the law of obedience, inasmuch as God in his goodness rewards our faith, and makes a perfect ruler of the one who has confidence in him, and places all his hopes in him; but against the danger of disobedience I know of nothing which can help us, and of no ground to…
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 28. What then does it mean that the prophet refused to bear the sin of the penitent king, except that he saw him not truly penitent? To whom he first responded with those words of rejection, because he recognized that the king would by no means be changed.
27 And Samuel turned to go, and he seized the corner of his robe, and it tore.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 Again Saul sinned by disobedience, and again Samuel addressed to him the Lord's word: "Inasmuch, therefore, as you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also rejected you as king." And again, because of the same sin, when Saul admitted it and sought pardon, beseeching Samuel to go back with him and appease God, the prophet said, "I will not return with you, because y…
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel turned to depart, etc. When the grace of prophecy turned away because of sins to depart from the Jews, they did not grasp the full garment of prophetic reading by which they could warm their souls with faith and adorn them with works; but only the extreme fringe, which is in the part of the letter, which they also tear away from the solidity of the spiritual sense, a…
John Damascene · AD 749 Political prosperity is the business of emperors; the condition of the church is the concern of shepherds and teachers. Any other method is piracy, brothers. Saul tore Samuel's cloak, and what was the consequence?
28 And Samuel said to him: “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 31. For perfect men, because they are softened by no praise from the rigor of justice, are the same before as after the testimony of their praise, and they confirm by repeating afterward the same things they had said before. But we must ask what this signifies, that which is said: 'Today'.
29 And also, the Splendor of Israel does not lie and does not relent — for he is not a man, that he should relent.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 32. For who is to be understood by the name of this triumphant one, except the Creator of the human race? For whoever overcomes hidden adversaries conquers by His power, who bestows upon him the grace of overcoming temptation. What does it mean that the triumphant one is said not to spare, when Samuel is being entreated?
Bede · AD 735 Furthermore, the triumpher in Israel will not relent, etc. He who, he says, alone—indeed, all of Israel—by his grace made you triumph while fighting against Amalek, he will not spare you either, who are transgressing his word; for the more you received the power to conquer not by your own strength but from heaven, the less excusable you will be shown in preserving the anathema.…
30 And he said: “I have sinned. Now honor me, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel; and return with me, and I will bow down to the LORD your God.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 33. It is clear what kind of repentance he bears who still desires to be honored. For if he truly repented of his sin, he would have desired to be dishonored rather than honored. It is fitting, therefore, to marvel at the hardness of his cast-off heart.
Bede · AD 735 But he said, I have sinned, etc. Thus is displayed both the obstinate pride of Saul and the ever humble modesty of the blessed Samuel. For what is prouder than for someone, having recognized his crime by which he is shown to be a transgressor before the Lord, indeed even accursed, to still seek to be honored by men and in the presence of men?
31 And Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul bowed down to the LORD.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 35. For on account of the evil that lay hidden within, he deserved to hear: "The Lord has cast you off from being king." But so that under the pretext of good he might draw others to the truth of that same good, Samuel wished to follow Saul, and saw him worship the Lord.
32 And Samuel said, “Bring near to me Agag, king of Amalek.” And Agag came to him haltingly; and Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death has turned aside.”
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 36. Kings adore the Lord when the proud and scornful humble themselves to carry out the Lord's commands. The unchaste adore when they are subjected to God through the obedience of chastity.
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel said: Bring Agag to me, etc. Agag, as mentioned above, means 'covered'; Amalek is called a people of locusts or a people who lick. Therefore, prophetic Scripture says and its ministers and dispensers tell their listeners to bring out into the open the long-hidden wound of pride and the badly kept secret in the heart by confessing.
33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 38. What is the mother of carnal sense, if not original sin? For since before the sin of the first man no lust was present in the members, the Amalekite king did not exist.
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, etc." Understand the sword of Agag as the most effective fury of pride; the Hebrew women bereft of children by him, as faithful souls deprived of the fruit of good works by victorious pride.
34 And Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house, to Gibeah of Saul.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 41. What is the house of the transgressor, if not the habit of wicked work? For whoever is enclosed in a perverse habit dwells, as it were, in a house. Saul therefore ascended to his house, when any reprobate, after the rebuke of teachers, returns to the practice of evil work.
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned over Saul. And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Gregory of Nyssa · AD 395 Holy Scripture is often accustomed to attributing expressions to God such that seem quite like our own, for example, "The Lord was angry, and he was grieved because of their sins"; and again, "He repented that he had anointed Saul king" … and besides this, it makes mention of his sitting, and standing, and moving, and the like, which are not as a fact connected with God but are…
Jerome · AD 420 I am induced to write to you, a stranger to a stranger, by the entreaties of that holy servant of Christ, Hedibia, and of my daughter in the faith Artemia, once your wife but now no longer your wife but your sister and fellow servant. Not content with assuring her own salvation, she has sought yours also, in former days at home and now in the holy places.
Bede · AD 735 And Samuel did not see Saul anymore, etc. It is better to imitate than to allegorize, that one whom he so detests due to the merit of sin, that he does not deign to see him even once, yet with the same consideration of brotherhood, he expends so much piety that he even testifies to this with mourning and tears.