Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
The Books of Kings follow in correct chronological order immediately after the Book of Judges, of which the Book of Ruth is an appendix. For after the Judges, Kings ruled in Israel, whose deeds are described here, and therefore the books are called the Books of Kings. Thus the Book of Judges ends with Samson, who was the last Judge before Eli, and judged for 20 years (Judges 16, last verse). Eli the High Priest immediately succeeded Samson, and as a kind of Judge presided over Israel for 40 years. Samuel and Saul succeeded Eli for the same number of years. Samuel therefore was absolutely the last Judge, for under him the people asked for a king, and Samuel by God's command first gave them Saul. He therefore changed the state of the Republic and converted the Aristocracy of the Judges into the Monarchy of the Kings. Now although Eli's deeds as Judge are related not in the Book of Judges but in this Book of Kings, it is because under him the prophet Samuel flourished, who changed the government into a kingdom, about which more shortly. Therefore in these four Books of Kings the Holy Spirit continues the history of the Jewish nation, and of the Church or ancient Synagogue immediately from the end of the Judges, the last of whom was Samuel, whose deeds are here prefaced; because through him was made the change of government from aristocratic to monarchical and royal. Hence these books are inscribed with the name of Kings. For in the first book, the birth, education, and leadership of Samuel are treated, as well as the reign, acts, and death of Saul; in the second book, the reign of David is treated, who was substituted by Samuel at God's command for Saul, rejected by God for disobedience. Therefore these first two books are called in Hebrew the Books of Samuel, either because they begin with Samuel's deeds, or because the deeds of Saul and David are reckoned as the deeds of Samuel, since Samuel established those kings.
Moreover these first two books encompass the time when Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David presided over Israel, which was 120 years. For, as I said, Eli presided for 40 years, Samuel likewise, and David likewise.
The two later books, namely the third and fourth of Kings, recount the deeds of Solomon, who succeeded his father David, and of his sons and grandsons who reigned in Judah from Solomon to the last king Zedekiah; likewise the deeds of Jeroboam and his successors, who, making a schism from Rehoboam and Judah, reigned in Israel, that is, in the ten tribes, up to the last king Hoshea, who was carried captive by Shalmaneser into Assyria in the sixth year of King Hezekiah of Judah. Therefore these two books weave together the entire history of the kings of both Judah and Israel from first to last over 430 years. In this history, many examples of virtues are described at the literal level, and also many examples of divine providence, and of God justly punishing the unfaithful and wicked and rewarding the faithful and pious are everywhere described; many prophetic sayings are also interwoven, which greatly contribute to the instruction of the faithful and the direction of morals.
Hear St. Gregory here in his Preface: "The history of Kings, because it was composed by the same Spirit by which the other volumes of Sacred Scripture are known, should not be believed to be lesser in its mysteries than those which are not inferior in the title of authority. For all its writers are reported to have been Prophets, who, when narrating historical events, signify spiritual things, speak of external matters and hint at interior ones; they set forth earthly things in order to pursue heavenly ones," etc. And after some lines: "The history of Kings is sweet on the surface of the letter, deeper in the types of allegory, useful for instructing morals, and clear in presenting examples."
And St. Augustine, Book XVII of The City of God, chapter 1: "The Scripture itself, which, directing the kings and their deeds and events in order, seems to be occupied with narrating events with historical diligence; if it is considered and treated with the help of the Spirit of God, it will be found to be intent no less, or rather even more, on foretelling future things than on declaring past things." For all the kings of Judah were types of Christ who was to be born from them, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, as St. Gregory says here. Hence St. Augustine, Book XXII Against Faustus, chapter 24: "I say that the language of those men was not only prophetic, but also their life, and that entire kingdom of the Hebrew nation was a kind of great Prophet, because it was a figure of someone great."
Samuel the prophet wrote the first Book of Kings (hence the first two books are called by the Hebrews the Books of Samuel) up to his death, which is recorded in Book I, chapter 25. So hold St. Gregory, Theodoret, Procopius, Eucherius, Hugo, Lyranus, Abulensis, Cajetan, Vatablus, Serarius, and others generally. But the death of Samuel and the events after it up to the end of the second book were written by David, says St. Isidore, Book VI of Origins, chapter 2, or rather by Nathan and Gad the prophets, who were David's secretaries and chroniclers, so that they would write down his deeds day by day, as Diaries and Chronicles or Journals, as is expressly stated in 1 Chronicles 29, at the end. So hold Bellarmine and Sixtus of Siena, Book I, although Abulensis here, and in Question IV on chapter 17 of the Book of Judges, thinks they were written by Isaiah or Jeremiah, because in chapter 27, verse 6, Ziklag is said to have belonged to the kings of Judah "unto this day": for this does not seem to have been said by David, but by someone after him, such as Isaiah or Jeremiah. But this clause could have been added to the already composed book by Isaiah or Jeremiah, just as similar additions were made to the Pentateuch of Moses, Joshua, Judges, and other books.
Procopius, Isidore, R. Moses Kimchi (whom Sixtus of Siena cites, Book I), as well as Abulensis, Dionysius, and others, hold that the two later Books of Kings, up to the destruction of Jerusalem, were written by Jeremiah from the ancient annals of the individual kings. This is confirmed by the fact that the last chapter of Jeremiah is the same as the last chapter of the fourth Book of Kings. For Isaiah died long before the times of the later kings and the Babylonian captivity, which are narrated here; but Jeremiah witnessed those events. Note here that individual kings had their own chroniclers who would write down their deeds, or Diaries, daily. For thus the deeds of Solomon were written by Ahijah the Shilonite and Iddo the prophet, as stated in 2 Chronicles 9, which in 3 Kings 11 are called "the book of the words," that is, the deeds "of the days of Solomon," says Theodoret and Abulensis. Likewise the deeds of Rehoboam son of Solomon, as well as those of King Abijah son of Rehoboam, were written by the same Iddo and Shemaiah the prophet, as stated in 2 Chronicles 12:15 and chapter 13:22. Likewise the deeds of King Uzziah were written by Isaiah, as stated there in chapter 26, verse 22, as well as those of Hezekiah, as stated there in chapter 32, verse 32. Hence some think that Isaiah wrote the deeds of the kings, or collected them from the Diaries, from Solomon to Manasseh, by whom Isaiah was killed; and that Jeremiah then continued the rest after Isaiah up to the Babylonian captivity. So Sanchez. This is supported by the fact that four chapters of Isaiah, namely 36, 37, 38, 39, are entirely the same as 4 Kings chapter 18, verses 19 and 20. Sanchez adds that the men of Hezekiah, who collected the Proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 25), perhaps also collected the Diaries. See Sixtus of Siena under the entry "Hezekiah." Likewise Jehu the son of Hanani wrote the words of the days, that is, the Diaries, or Commentaries and Annals, of King Jehoshaphat, as is clear from 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 34. Hence also the book called by the Septuagint Paralipomenon, which in Hebrew is inscribed dibre haiamim, that is "words," meaning deeds "of the days," as if to say: this book contains those things which were left out and omitted in the Books of Kings from what had been written in the ancient royal Diaries. Therefore these Books of Kings were collected from their ancient Diaries, partly by Isaiah and the other men deputed for this purpose by Hezekiah, partly by Jeremiah, and partly by Ezra, such as those events which occurred under Cyrus after Jeremiah.
Moreover, the first two books are called by the Hebrews the Books of Samuel; indeed by them and by the Syrians they are called the Prophecy of Samuel. But the two later books alone are called by them the Books of Kings or of Kingdoms, because in them the reigns of many kings of both Judah and Israel, that is, their periods and modes of reigning, are reviewed. Note here how much sacred history differs from profane history: for the former, having been written by the divine Spirit, narrates human affairs as they are governed by divine providence; the latter, composed by the human spirit, relates them as they arise from human prudence and industry. Thus the former teaches divine prudence, by which the mind adheres to God through pious worship and relies especially on His help and religion; the latter teaches human prudence and certain petty little precautions devised by human industry, which usually have little force and often bring danger. Therefore nothing is more fitting for the instruction of princes than the exposition of sacred history, especially the Books of Kings. For from them they will clearly understand that the foundation of a kingdom and polity, and of all prosperity, must be placed in true religion and justice: apart from this, nothing will be firm or tranquil for a Christian prince. This was of the greatest benefit to Emperor Charles V, whom his tutor Adrian (later the sixth Pope of that name) persuaded as a youth to read the Books of Kings assiduously. From them he drew those principles and precepts of governing which not only made him Catholic but also raised him to be the greatest and most powerful prince, fortunate in his successes.
In like manner Cicero relates to his brother Quintus that Scipio Africanus assiduously read the Cyropaedia, and from it became so great a leader and prince in war as well as in peace. Lampridius, in his life of Alexander Severus, reports that he habitually read Plato's Republic. Plutarch, in his life of Alexander the Great, writes that he often had Homer at hand, from whose reading he felt that courage was added to him for heroic deeds, when he saw that Achilles had accomplished such great things in it. Moreover, St. Cyril, in his book On the True Faith, at the beginning, writes and impresses upon Emperor Theodosius that the orthodox religion is the foundation of empire. Finally, St. Clement, in Book I of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter 6, teaches that Christians should read the Books of Kings, for from them true and beneficial histories are to be sought, not from the books of the pagans.
Allegorically and tropologically, St. Jerome, Epistle 103 to Paulinus: "Samuel, in the death of Eli and the slaying of Saul, shows the old law abolished. Moreover, in Zadok and David, he testifies to the mysteries of the new priesthood and the new kingdom. Melachim, that is, the third and fourth Books of Kings, from Solomon to Jeconiah, and from Jeroboam the son of Nebat to Hoshea, who was led away to the Assyrians, describes the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. If you look at the history, the words are simple. If you examine the hidden meaning in the letters, the small number of the Church and the wars of heretics against the Church are narrated."
To the Books of Kings are appended two books of Paralipomenon, that is, of things left out, or of remainders, and as St. Jerome, in his epistle to Domnio, says, "of things passed over." For these supply what was omitted in the Books of Kings concerning the kings of Judah (for the deeds of the kings of Israel are scarcely touched upon in the Books of Paralipomenon). Therefore I will weave them in here where they narrate the same events; but the particular things they add, I will explain in those very books. The author of Paralipomenon was not Jeremiah, because in the last chapter the release from the Babylonian captivity is narrated, before which Jeremiah had died (unless someone says this was added to them afterwards, just as the death of Moses was added to Deuteronomy). Hence the Hebrews, Lyranus, Abulensis, and John Driedo, Book I of On Sacred Writers, and Sixtus of Siena, Book I of the Bibliotheca, probably suppose them to have been written by Ezra, because the end of Paralipomenon is the same as the beginning of Ezra, as is clear to anyone who looks; and because when the same history is narrated in the Books of Kings, Paralipomenon, and Ezra, the narration of Paralipomenon agrees with Ezra, not with the Books of Kings. Again at the end of Paralipomenon the deeds of Cyrus are narrated, which Jeremiah could not have narrated, since he lived before Cyrus, but Ezra, who lived after Cyrus, could.
You will object that in 2 Chronicles 5:9 it says: "The ark was there (in the temple) unto this present day." But this cannot be said of the time of Ezra, for before the captivity Jeremiah had taken out and hidden the ark, as is clear from 2 Maccabees 2:5. Abulensis responds that "unto this present day" is understood of the days of Nathan, Iddo, and Ahijah, who first wrote the Chronicles and Diaries of Paralipomenon, from which Ezra transcribed and arranged them in order. For otherwise what is narrated at the end of Paralipomenon about Cyrus would be false. For it is established that the ark had been hidden by Jeremiah long before Cyrus.
Moreover, "The book of Paralipomenon," says St. Jerome, Epistle 103 to Paulinus, "that is, the epitome of the old instrument, is of such greatness and such quality that without it, if anyone should wish to claim knowledge of Scripture for himself, he would make himself a laughingstock." And Cassiodorus, in his book On Divine Reading, chapter 2: "In the two books of Paralipomenon, great usefulness is proclaimed by the Fathers, which are known to contain a true knowledge of events briefly indeed, but most fully."
Commentators
At the literal level, St. Jerome wrote questions on the Books of Kings and Paralipomenon, but Bellarmine and others rightly doubt whether these are by St. Jerome, because St. Jerome, in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers, testifies that he wrote Hebrew Traditions or Questions on Genesis, Hebrew Places, and Hebrew Names, but says nothing about Hebrew Traditions or Questions on the Books of Kings and the Books of Paralipomenon. Furthermore, in the Hebrew Questions on Genesis, the same St. Jerome frequently includes Hebrew words; but in the Questions on the Books of Kings and Paralipomenon, he does this only once or twice. Finally, the writing on Genesis seems weightier than this on the Books of Kings and Paralipomenon. But whoever the author of this work may be, it matters little. Therefore Serarius flatly denies that these Questions are by St. Jerome, but they are by an ancient author, for they are often cited by Angelomus.
St. Augustine wrote a book to Simplicianus, in which he resolves five questions from the Books of Kings. Likewise on the Canticle of Hannah, in Book XVII of The City of God, chapter 4. Also ten sermons on various passages of Kings, namely Sermons 196, 200, 201, 204, 206, 207, 210, 211 On the Seasons, and the first among the 50 Homilies.
St. Eucherius, from a monk made Bishop of Lyon, in the year of our Lord 441, in the time of Pope Leo I and Emperor Theodosius the Younger, wrote on the Books of Kings. Claudianus Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, his contemporary, adorns him with these praises in his book On the State of Souls: "Eucherius, of manly age, of mature mind, spurning earth, longing for heaven, humble in spirit, lofty in merit, most subtle in genius, full of knowledge, flowing in eloquence, by far the greatest of the great Pontiffs of his age," etc.
However, as Bellarmine rightly observes in his On Ecclesiastical Writers, under Eucherius: "These commentaries cannot be by Eucherius, because the author frequently cites St. Gregory, and at the end of the exposition of the first Book of Kings invites the reader to read through St. Gregory's Moralia, and St. Gregory was more than a hundred years later than Eucherius. Perhaps those who attributed these books to Eucherius were moved by the fact that Gennadius testifies that Eucherius wrote to Salonius and Uranius on the obscure chapters of Sacred Scripture."
Moreover, the author of these commentaries seems to have been English and to have lived shortly after the time of St. Gregory. For in Book III of the Commentaries on the Books of Kings, chapter 22, he speaks thus: "In our recent times, St. Gregory the Pope, strengthened by the words of the Gospel, governed the Roman Church, and the most reverend Fathers Augustine, Paul, and their other companions came to Britain at his command, etc." And "from this author Bede copied many things in almost the same words in his Questions on the Books of Kings," says Bellarmine at the place cited. Hence the Louvain Doctors and Sixtus of Siena suspect that these commentaries are not by Eucherius but by Bede.
The Venerable Bede, who flourished in the year of our Lord 730, wrote Questions on the Books of Kings, which begin: "After the Book of Judges."
Angelomus the Frank, a monk of the Order of St. Benedict of the Congregation of Luxeuil, a man endowed with noble talent in the divine Scriptures, at the command of Drogo, Bishop of Metz, son of Emperor Charlemagne, collected from the commentaries of the ancient Fathers a work on the four Books of Kings. He flourished in the year of our Lord 830. Moreover, Angelomus first pursues the literal sense, then the allegorical, and this mostly from the Questions of St. Jerome on the Books of Kings.
In later centuries Lyranus, Hugo, Dionysius, and Abulensis wrote copiously and exquisitely on these books. More recently Cajetan and Vatablus. Most recently our own Francis Mendoza, Gaspar Sanchez, and Nicolas Serarius.
The mystical sense of these books is presented in the already cited Commentary of Eucherius. St. Augustine touched upon some things in various places, which a certain German collected in a work of St. Augustine's studies on the Bible. Godfrey Tilmann, a Carthusian of Paris, also collected mystical senses in these books, as well as in the other biblical books, from various authors, but mostly unknown ones. St. Gregory wrote tropologically on chapter 16 of the first Book of Kings; Origen composed one homily on the first chapters. There exists the Venerable Bede's allegorical exposition on Samuel the prophet, divided into four books, addressed to Acca.
St. Prosper also explains some things from these books allegorically, in his book On Promises and Predictions. Finally, Procopius of Gaza wrote on the Books of Kings and Paralipomenon, but I have not yet seen his commentaries, and Bellarmine doubts whether they have been printed. Our Serarius here testifies that he made use of that manuscript from the library of Marcus Welser.
Sacred and Profane Chronology of the Kings
After Moses, Joshua presided over Israel for 17 years, then the Judges up to and including Samson for 299 years, as I showed at the beginning of Joshua and Judges. The Judges, namely the last one Samson, were immediately succeeded by Eli for 40 years. Then Samuel and Saul for the same number of years, then David for the same number of years, and Solomon succeeded David for the same number of years. Therefore from the death of Moses and the entry of the Hebrews into Canaan up to Eli, from whom the Books of Kings begin, 316 years passed. Since Moses died in the year of the world 2495, and in the same year the Hebrews under Joshua's leadership entered the promised land, it follows that Eli began to preside over Israel in the year of the world 2811. For in that year Samson died and Eli succeeded him, which was the year 1157 before the birth of Christ. After the fall of Troy (from which all the Gentiles reckon their histories), 29. I have arranged all these things according to the chronological table which I prefixed to the Pentateuch.
Moreover, St. Cyril of Alexandria, the most learned of the Greeks, in Book I Against Julian, assigns this synchronism, or combination of sacred with profane history: Troy, he says, was conquered 410 years after Moses, during the reign of the judge Esebon among the Hebrews, Apries among the Egyptians, Teutamus among the Assyrians, and Agamemnon among the Greeks.
In the fifth year after the fall of Troy, Aeneas reigned among the Latins, and Samson was Judge among the Hebrews.
In the year 63 after the fall of Troy, Eli the High Priest died, Samuel prophesied, and Saul reigned.
In the year 165 after the fall of Troy, Homer and Hesiod flourished, and among the Latins, Alba Silvius.
In the year 268 after the fall of Troy, Elijah and Elisha lived, while Joram reigned among the Hebrews.
In the year 275 after the fall of Troy, Lycurgus gave laws to the Spartans, and among the Latins King Procas Silvius reigned.
In the year 280 after the fall of Troy, Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah prophesied.
From the fall of Troy to the first Olympiad, therefore, 815 years.
In the first Olympiad, Romulus and Remus were born, while Jotham reigned among the Hebrews, and Pekah in Israel.
In Olympiad 35, Thales of Miletus lived, and he lived until Olympiad 58.
In Olympiad 36, Jeremiah and Zephaniah prophesied.
In Olympiad 46, Solon gave laws to the Athenians, abrogating the laws of Draco.
In Olympiad 49, while the Jews were in Babylon, Daniel and Ezekiel prophesied.
In Olympiad 50, the Seven Sages and Anaximander flourished.
In Olympiad 56, Cyrus reigned; Haggai and Zechariah prophesied. All these and more from St. Cyril.
Note that in this computation of St. Cyril, the Judge "Esebon" is Ibzan. For the Septuagint call him Ebesan, for which the manuscript of Cyril corruptly has Ebeson, under whom Cyril believes Troy was captured, although Eusebius, Salianus, and others think that Troy was captured precisely in the last year of the judge Elon, who immediately succeeded Ibzan. But this is a small difference in such a great number and computation of ancient years, and can be harmonized by saying that Troy was besieged by the Greeks for ten years: so that under Ibzan the siege began, and this is what Cyril means; but under Elon it was captured, and this is what Eusebius, Salianus, and others mean. Again, Cyril counts five years from the fall of Troy to Samson: therefore for "Esebon" in Cyril it seems one should read "Abdon." For he succeeded the judge Elon and governed for eight years (Judges chapter 12:8 ff.). Samson then succeeded Abdon. For this was the order: Ibzan presided over Israel for seven years; after him Elon for ten years; after him Abdon for eight years; after him Samson for 20 years. Cyril attributes to his "Esebon" or Abdon only five years. Hence he again asserts that in the year 65 after the fall of Troy, Eli died and Samuel succeeded him, when in fact this precisely occurred in the year 69 after the fall of Troy, as is clear from what has been said.