Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Samuel demands testimony from the people regarding his governance, conducted justly and holily. Then, at verse 7, recalling God's benefits toward the people and the people's ingratitude, he solemnly exhorts them to serve God alone; otherwise they will experience God's vengeance. As a sign of this, he draws forth God's voice, as if confirming His words from heaven, through thunder, verse 18. In this chapter, therefore, the people acknowledge Samuel's innocence, hear his wisdom, see his patience, and admire his power.
Vulgate Text: 1 Kings 12:1-25
1. Then Samuel said to all Israel: Behold, I have hearkened to your voice in all that you have said to me, and I have set a king over you. 2. And now the king walks before you; but I have grown old and gray; moreover, my sons are with you; and I have walked before you from my youth until this day; behold, here I am. 3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before His Anointed, whether I have taken anyone's ox or donkey; if I have slandered anyone, if I have oppressed anyone, if I have received a bribe from anyone's hand -- and I will despise it today and restore it to you. 4. And they said: You have not slandered us, nor oppressed us, nor taken anything from anyone's hand. 5. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and His Anointed is witness on this day, that you have found nothing in my hand. And they said: He is witness. 6. And Samuel said to the people: The Lord, who made Moses and Aaron and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt. 7. Now therefore stand here, that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the mercies of the Lord, which He has shown to you and to your fathers: 8. how Jacob entered Egypt, and your fathers cried out to the Lord; and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt, and settled them in this place. 9. But they forgot the Lord their God, and He delivered them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 10. But afterward they cried out to the Lord and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; now therefore deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve You. 11. And the Lord sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and He delivered you from the hand of your enemies on every side, and you dwelt securely. 12. But when you saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, you said to me: No, but a king shall reign over us; when the Lord your God was your king. 13. Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and asked for; behold, the Lord has given you a king. 14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve Him, and obey His voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15. But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord, but provoke His words, the hand of the Lord shall be against you and against your fathers. 16. Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. 17. Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord, and He shall send thunder and rain; and you shall know and see that the great evil you have done in the sight of the Lord was your asking for a king over you. 18. And Samuel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain on that day. 19. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel, and the whole people said to Samuel: Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil, that we asked for a king. 20. And Samuel said to the people: Do not fear; you have done all this evil; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21. And do not turn aside after vain things, which will not profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain. 22. And the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake; because the Lord has been pleased to make you His people. 23. Moreover, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; and I will teach you the good and right way. 24. Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25. But if you persist in wickedness, both you and your king shall perish together.
Verse 2: The King Walks Before You
The Chaldean renders: Behold, the king is a leader at your head. For this the people had asked in chapter 8, verse 20. Again Samuel here virtually abdicates his authority, as if to say: I have discharged my office; I have given you Saul, the king you asked for; he therefore henceforth will be your king, leader, and prince. Hence immediately at verse 3, Samuel gives an account of his administration to the whole people before Saul, as those who leave office or abdicate it are accustomed to do; in which matter he both showed reverence and obedience to Saul, and demonstrated his own integrity, by submitting himself to the judgment of Saul and the whole people, should anyone have anything against him, says Cajetan.
I HAVE GROWN OLD AND GRAY; MOREOVER, MY SONS ARE WITH YOU -- so that when I am dead, any injury or damage I may have inflicted on any of you may be compensated and repaired from my goods; provided that the injured party now publicly declare it and prove it against me. So says Lyranus.
From "I have grown old and gray," it is clear that Samuel at this time was very old: namely about sixty years old, so that having been born in the second year of Eli, who governed for 40 years, when he succeeded Eli at his death he was 38 years old, and then he governed Israel for 22 years.
Verse 3: Before His Anointed
BEFORE HIS ANOINTED -- that is, before Saul, who is Christ, that is, the anointed one of God, because God through me created and anointed him king. Samuel therefore declares his integrity before Saul and before God, as an example for Saul and the people, that they might imitate it. For, as St. Augustine says, Book IX of the Confessions, chapter 13: "Whoever enumerates to You, O Lord, his true merits; what does he enumerate to You but Your gifts?" And Epistle 103 to Sixtus: "When God crowns our merits, He crowns nothing other than His own gifts."
WHETHER I HAVE TAKEN ANYONE'S OX. -- So also St. Paul: "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or garments; you yourselves know," Acts chapter 20, verse 33.
Now Samuel demands testimony of his integrity from the people, so that afterward he may more freely rebuke them for their sins. For, as St. Gregory says, Book VII of the Moralia, chapter 16: "He who undertakes to correct others' faults ought to be free from vices; because the eye that is weighed down by dust cannot clearly see a blemish on a limb; and the hand that holds mud cannot wipe away dirt placed upon it."
Hence Blessed Peter Damian, Book I, Epistle 42, rebukes bishops who refuse to have themselves and their actions examined by the citizens: "What is this swelling of arrogance? What is this haughtiness of pride? That a bishop may live at the whim of his own will, and deign to hear from his subjects only what he has insolently transgressed."
Now Samuel recounts these things about himself before the new king Saul, to teach him by his own example not to oppress his subjects, but to support them. So says St. Chrysostom, Homily 24 on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians.
IF I HAVE RECEIVED A GIFT FROM ANYONE'S HAND -- even one offered voluntarily and spontaneously. It is a sign of great integrity, magnanimity, and holiness to refuse gifts. Thus Daniel to Belshazzar, chapter 5, verse 17: "King, give your gifts to another."
St. Chrysostom asks in Psalm 95: "And what will be the reward for Daniel's interpretation?" And he answers: "The reward will come from God; indeed this very thing is for me the reward of truth: to interpret truth and to vindicate purity, which is defamed." Thus Abraham rejected the gifts of the king of Sodom (Genesis 14:22); and Elisha rejected the gifts of Naaman (IV Kings 5:14); and Moses (Numbers 16:15); and Job (31:7).
St. Hilarion, refusing the ample gifts of Orion, from whom he had expelled a legion of demons, answered: "You can better distribute your own goods, who travel through cities and know the poor. I, who have left my own, why should I desire another's? For many, the name of the poor is an occasion of avarice; but mercy has no art. No one distributes better than he who reserves nothing for himself."
Hence St. Bernard, Book IV of On Consideration, marvelously praises Geoffrey, the Apostolic Legate, because he spurned absolutely all gifts, even small ones.
Tropologically, everyone ought daily to conduct this judgment of himself through a rigorous examination of conscience. Hear St. Bernard, To the Brothers of Mont Dieu: "Learn to govern yourself, to order your life, to regulate your habits, to judge yourself, and to accuse yourself before yourself, often also to condemn yourself, and not to let yourself off unpunished."
Verse 4: You Have Not Slandered Us
This is a great and wonderful testimony and judgment of the whole people concerning Samuel's integrity.
St. Gregory of Nyssa compares Meletius, the bishop of Antioch, a man of the utmost integrity, to Samuel in the Oration delivered at his funeral: "When first that Church saw Meletius, it saw the gentleness and clemency such as was in David; the understanding and prudence such as was in Solomon; the goodness such as was in Moses; the continence and purity such as was in Joseph; the wisdom such as was in David; the perfection such as was in Samuel."
Verse 11: And the Lord Sent Jerubbaal
This is Gideon, the cutter down of the altar of Baal, Judges chapter 6, verse 32.
AND BEDAN. -- This is Samson, as the Chaldean translates. So also St. Jerome in the Hebrew Questions, Angelomus, Lyranus, Abulensis, Cajetan, Vatablus, and Interpreters generally. For Samson was called Bedan, as if bedan, that is, dwelling in Dan. For he was from the tribe of Dan. Through the alphabetic reversal that the Hebrews call Atbash, in which the last letter is exchanged with the first in reverse order, Bedan is Samson; for by the same anagram, Sheshak is Babel, Jeremiah chapter 25, verse 26.
Verse 12: When You Saw That Nahash Came
From this it is clear that the reason the Hebrews asked for a king was fear of the threatening Nahash, as I said above.
Verse 14: If You Will Fear the Lord
IF YOU WILL FEAR THE LORD -- by revering, loving, worshiping, obeying Him, and taking care not to offend Him by transgressing His law in any matter. For, as St. Chrysostom says on Psalm 127: "There is no evil that the fear of God does not extinguish. Just as fire, whatever iron it seizes -- whether twisted or consumed by rust -- renders it bright and beautiful, wiping away the rust, and most perfectly straightens what was crooked and bent in it; so the fear of God in even a short time accomplishes all things, and does not allow those who are imbued with it to be broken by any human affair."
Tertullian says elegantly, in On Prescription, chapter 43: "Where there is the fear of God, there is honorable gravity, and watchful diligence, and anxious care, and tested admission, and deliberated communion, and deserved promotion, and religious submission, and devout attendance, and modest procession, and a united Church, and all things of God."
YOU WILL BE, etc., FOLLOWING THE LORD -- that is to say: You will show by your actions that you follow the Lord with your whole heart, as children follow their father in all things, soldiers their captain, subjects their king. "For it is great glory to follow the Lord," as Sirach says, chapter 23, verse 38. Hence the Septuagint adds: and He will deliver you.
Verse 15: But If You Will Not Obey
First, some with Hugo explain it thus: "If you have considered God's commandments to be harsh and difficult, or impossible to keep." For, as St. Gregory says: "Good works are to be held in the love of sweetness, not in the estimation of harshness; for those to whom the things commanded by the Lord always seem hard and harsh, gradually decline and fail."
Third, and genuinely, the Hebrew is: if you embitter or make bitter the mouth of the Lord, that is, if you provoke and arouse the Lord to anger; for anger is usually shown with a bitter mouth and countenance, and with bitter and harsh words proceeding therefrom.
THE HAND OF THE LORD SHALL BE AGAINST YOU AND AGAINST YOUR FATHERS. -- The Chaldean explains: The plague of the Lord shall be upon you, as that which was upon your fathers when they rebelled against God in the wilderness. By "fathers" is understood "leaders"; for a prince is the father of the fatherland, as Aristotle attests. Hence the Septuagint translates: upon you, and upon your king.
Verse 17: Is It Not the Wheat Harvest Today?
This was a miracle, as St. Gregory, Lyranus, Hugo, Abulensis, Vatablus, Dionysius, Cajetan, and the rest teach. For, as St. Jerome writes as an eyewitness, in Amos chapter 4, verse 7: "Have we seen rain at the end of June or in July in these provinces, especially in Judea? Indeed in the Books of Kings, as a great sign and portent, rains were stirred up on a day of summer and harvest when Samuel prayed."
AND YOU WILL SEE WHAT A GREAT EVIL YOU HAVE DONE IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, ASKING FOR A KING OVER YOU -- both because God will testify through the thunder that He was angry with you: for He thunders against sins and sinners; and because, as Lyranus says from Rabbi Solomon: "God stirred up this thunder to confound the stubbornness of the people; for if Samuel's powers were so great that he could shake heaven and summon thunder, how was he unable to defeat the enemy and govern the commonwealth?"
Verse 18: And the Lord Sent Thunder
Thunder mixed with winds, lightning, and hail, says Josephus, Book VI of the Antiquities, chapter 6.
St. Gregory, Homily 27 on the Gospels, citing Jeremiah 15:1: "If Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be toward this people." "What does it mean," he says, "that Moses and Samuel are preferred above the other Patriarchs in supplication, except that these two alone in the entire series of the Old Testament are read to have prayed even for their enemies?"
Verse 20: Do Not Turn Aside from Following the Lord
In Hebrew: not from after the Lord; in Chaldean: from after His worship; that is to say: Do not cease to follow the Lord, and to love and worship Him.
Morally, St. Gregory says: "The mind of the penitent is then well directed, if it fears the divine judgments and trusts in the mercy of the almighty God. Fear indeed without hope casts one headlong into despair; but when it is joined with hope, it works the salvation of the mind."
Tropologically the same St. Gregory says: "The just stand in the sight of the Lord, because by the testimony of a good conscience they are confident of the Creator's love. But sinners, when they commit evil, flee from the face of the Lord; but when they resolve to return through repentance, they are, as it were, behind the Lord's back. Hence the sinful woman is said to have stood behind Him, Luke 7:38."
Verse 21: Do Not Turn Aside After Vain Things
That is, idols, which are false divinities, and therefore most vain and most deceitful, which cannot provide help to those who invoke them.
Dionysius the tyrant wittily exposed and mocked the vanity of idols, who, as St. Ambrose says, Book II On Virgins: "When he came to the temple of Jupiter, he ordered the golden cloak, which covered the statue, to be stripped off, and a woolen one put on, saying that gold was cold in winter and burdensome in summer."
Tropologically St. Gregory says: "In comparison with eternal goods, all things are vain, even temporal goods. For whatever in this world is seen as joyful, delightful, lofty, or prosperous is indeed vain; because it is held with difficulty and quickly lost."
Verse 22: The Lord Will Not Forsake His People
First, "the name of God" is the fame of God, which was great among all nations: namely, that God had liberated and defended Israel His people from Pharaoh and other enemies through so many miracles.
Mystically, "for His great name's sake" means for the sake of Christ; for He is "the name of the Father." The "great name" therefore is "Jesus." Hear St. Bernard, Sermon 15 on the Canticle: "Dry is every food of the soul if it is not anointed with this oil. If you write, it does not please me unless I read Jesus there; if you dispute, it does not please me unless Jesus sounds there. Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, jubilation in the heart."
Verse 23: Far Be It from Me to Sin
For it is the office and duty of prophets (as Samuel was) to pray for the people entrusted to them, especially when they are in danger of offending God and incurring His wrath, as Israel was here.
The Fathers extol this saying of Samuel -- as one burning with charity toward his adversaries -- with wonderful praises. Hear St. Gregory, Homily 45 on Ezekiel: "Do we desire to expand our soul in kindness? Let Samuel be brought to mind, who, having been deposed from leadership, when the very people who deposed him asked him to pour out prayers to the Lord for them, answered saying: 'Far be it from me to sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.' For the holy man believed he would commit a sin if he did not return the kindness of grace in prayer to those whom he had endured as adversaries even to the point of his expulsion."
St. Chrysostom, in the Homily On the Cross and the Thief: "Samuel, who had been removed from office, who had been scorned, says: 'Far be it from me to sin by ceasing to pray for you to the Lord'; he considers it a sin to pray less for his enemies."
Hence St. Gregory infers, Homily 27 on the Gospels: "The power therefore of true prayer is the height of charity. And then each person obtains what he rightly asks, when his spirit in prayer is not darkened by hatred of an enemy."
Verse 25: But If You Persist in Wickedness
Both you and your king shall perish together -- because king and people politically are, as it were, one person; therefore just as they become one in guilt, so also they become one in punishment.
St. Gregory shrewdly says, Book VI: "The merits of rulers and of peoples are so connected to one another, that often from the fault of those who preside, the life of subjects becomes worse, and often from the merit of the people, the life of the Pastors goes astray."