Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Jonathan alone with his armor-bearer attacks the camp of the Philistines. God strikes them with terror and confusion, so that they slaughter one another. Saul hears the tumult at verse 19, and decrees that no one eat until evening, until they pursue and finish off the fleeing enemy. Jonathan, unaware of the decree, eats honey found in the forest. The soldiers, exhausted and hungry, at verse 32, eat meat with the blood, contrary to the law. Therefore Saul, setting up a stone, commands that they pour out the blood upon it. Then at verse 36, Saul, about to attack the enemy camp by night, consults the Lord; but the Lord does not answer. Therefore Saul casts lots to discover whose fault has angered God. The lot falls on Jonathan at verse 42; he confesses he ate honey. He is therefore condemned to death by his father, but the people rescue him. Then at verse 47, Saul subdues the Ammonites, Moabites, Edomites, and other enemies round about. Finally, at verse 49, the sons of Saul are enumerated.
Vulgate Text: 1 Kings 14:1-52
1. And it happened one day that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side. But he did not tell his father. 2. Now Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah, under a pomegranate tree that was in Migron; and the people with him were about six hundred men. 3. And Ahijah the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, who was descended from Eli the priest of the Lord at Shiloh, wore the ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4. Now between the passes by which Jonathan sought to cross over to the Philistine garrison, there were rocky crags on each side, and cliffs as steep as teeth on this side and that, the name of one being Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh; 5. one crag jutted to the north opposite Michmash, and the other to the south opposite Gibeah. 6. Then Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the Lord will work for us, for nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. 7. And his armor-bearer said to him: Do all that is in your heart; go wherever you wish, and I will be with you wherever you desire. 8. Then Jonathan said: Behold, we are crossing over to those men. And when we show ourselves to them, 9. if they say to us: Wait until we come to you -- then we will stand still in our place and not go up to them. 10. But if they say: Come up to us -- then we will go up, for the Lord has delivered them into our hands; this will be a sign to us. 11. Both of them therefore showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said: Look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they hid themselves. 12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said: Come up to us, and we will show you something. And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer: Come up, follow me, for the Lord has delivered them into the hands of Israel. 13. And Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And so some fell before Jonathan, and others his armor-bearer slew as he followed him. 14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plow in a day. 15. And there was a miracle in the camp, throughout the fields; moreover all the people of their garrison who had gone out to plunder were struck with amazement, and the earth trembled, and it happened as a miracle from God. 16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gibeah of Benjamin, looked, and behold the multitude was overthrown, and fleeing this way and that. 17. And Saul said to the people who were with him: Search, and see who has gone from us. And when they had searched, it was found that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were not present. 18. And Saul said to Ahijah: Bring the ark of God (for the ark of God was there that day with the children of Israel). 19. And while Saul was speaking to the priest, a great tumult arose in the camp of the Philistines; and it increased gradually and resounded more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Withdraw your hand. 20. Then Saul and all the people who were with him shouted together and came to the place of battle; and behold every man's sword had been turned against his neighbor, and there was a very great slaughter. 21. Moreover the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and had gone up with them into the camp, turned back to be with Israel, who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22. Likewise all the Israelites who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines had fled, joined with their own men in the battle. And there were with Saul about ten thousand men. 23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the battle passed beyond Beth-aven. 24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day; and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man who eats food until evening, until I am avenged of my enemies. And none of the people tasted food, 25. and all the common people of the land came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground. 26. And when the people entered the forest, there appeared honey flowing, but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people; and he stretched out the tip of the rod that he had in his hand, and dipped it in a honeycomb; and he put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were brightened. 28. Then one of the people answered and said: Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man who eats food today (and the people were faint). 29. And Jonathan said: My father has troubled the land. You have seen yourselves that my eyes have been brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. 30. How much more, if the people had eaten of the spoil of their enemies which they found? Would not a greater slaughter have been made among the Philistines? 31. So they struck the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were exceedingly faint; 32. and turning to the spoil, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 33. And they told Saul, saying that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You have transgressed; roll a great stone to me now. 34. And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram, and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord by eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox in his hand by night, and slew them there. 35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord; and he then first began to build an altar to the Lord. 36. And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and waste them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do whatever seems good in your eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near to God here. 37. And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hands of Israel? And He did not answer him that day. 38. And Saul said: Bring here all the chiefs of the people, and know and see by whom this sin has happened today. 39. As the Lord lives who is the Savior of Israel, even if it were done through Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. And no one among all the people contradicted him. 40. And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side, and I with Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people answered Saul: Do what seems good in your eyes. 41. And Saul said to the Lord God of Israel: Lord God of Israel, give a sign. Why have You not answered Your servant today? If this iniquity is in me, or in Jonathan my son, give a revelation; or if this iniquity is in Your people, give holiness. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people went free. 42. And Saul said: Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken. 43. Then Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what you have done. And Jonathan told him and said: I only tasted a little honey with the tip of the rod that was in my hand, and behold I must die. 44. And Saul said: May God do this to me, and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan. 45. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who has wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid! As the Lord lives, not a hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he should not die. 46. And Saul withdrew, and did not pursue the Philistines; and the Philistines went to their own place. 47. And Saul, having secured the kingdom over Israel, fought on every side against all his enemies: against Moab, and the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines; and wherever he turned, he prevailed. 48. And gathering an army, he defeated Amalek, and delivered Israel from the hand of those who plundered them. 49. Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishvi, and Malchishua; and the names of his two daughters: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger was Michal. 50. And the name of Saul's wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul's cousin. 51. Now Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. 52. And there was fierce war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomever Saul saw to be a strong man and fit for battle, he attached him to himself.
Verse 1: Jonathan's Bold Plan
COME AND LET US CROSS OVER TO THE GARRISON OF THE PHILISTINES. Jonathan said this, and did what follows, by a particular prompting of God, as is evident from the miraculous victory he obtained from Him; otherwise he would have been reckless, if alone with one armor-bearer he had attacked the entire enemy camp. God therefore suggested to him that he should do this, and added courage and confidence in achieving so wonderful a victory. And for this reason Jonathan did not tell his father, lest he should prevent it. For he who is governed by God does not need the governance of another king. So Theodoret, Procopius, Abulensis, Cajetan, and others.
Here therefore the wondrous courage of Jonathan is celebrated, who relying on God, alone faced so great a danger, certain either to conquer, or to be conquered and die gloriously for his country. Whence St. Bernard, in his sermon to the Knights of the Temple, chapter 1, compares them with Martyrs, so that if they conquer, they are crowned with the crown of a triumphant one; if they are conquered, with the laurel of martyrdom. "How gloriously, he says, the victors return from battle, how blessedly the Martyrs die in battle!" And in chapter 3: "They fight, he says, fearing neither sin from the slaughter of the enemy, nor danger from their own death. The soldier of Christ kills safely, dies more safely; he benefits himself when he dies; Christ, when he kills. When he kills an evildoer, he is not a homicide; but, if I may say so, he is accounted a 'malicide.' When he himself is killed, he is known not to have perished, but to have arrived. The death therefore that he inflicts is Christ's gain; the death he receives is his own." And in chapter 4, reviewing their arms: "When battle is imminent, he says, they are fortified inwardly with faith, outwardly with iron, not with gold; so that armed, and not adorned, they may strike fear into the enemy, not provoke avarice. They desire to have horses that are strong and swift, not those that are colorful or caparisoned; thinking indeed of battle not pomp, of victory not glory, and striving more to be feared than admired."
Verse 2: Saul Under the Pomegranate Tree
NOW SAUL WAS STAYING IN THE OUTERMOST PART OF GIBEAH, UNDER A POMEGRANATE TREE, WHICH WAS IN MIGRON. So the Hebrew, the Chaldee, and others; but the Septuagint, reading the similar word instead of Migron, translates "in Magdon." This place was near Gibeah, which was the homeland and residence of Saul; which Isaiah also mentions in chapter 10:28: therefore he was not in the city of Gibeah itself, but in the countryside of Gibeah, as the Royal Bible, the Gloss, Hugh, Abulensis, Dionysius, and Vatablus read here.
For "pomegranate tree," in Hebrew there is Rimmon, which Vatablus retains as a proper name of the place: which is elsewhere called the hill, or rock of Rimmon; to which, as a fortified and safe place, the six hundred survivors of the slaughter of the tribe of Benjamin withdrew, and the rest, Judges 20:27, and therefore Saul also stationed his camp there. So that noble city of Spain, and capital of the kingdom, was called Granada, from the abundance or shape of pomegranates. So this place in Hebrew was called Rimmon, from the excellence and abundance of pomegranates. So Jericho was called the city of palms from their fertility, and several other cities were called Tamar, that is, palm, from the palm groves in which they abound. So Bethel was formerly called Luz, from the nuts, hazels, and almonds, Genesis chapter 28, verse 19.
Fittingly, King Saul sat under a pomegranate tree; because this has the appearance of a king and kingdom. For, as Mendoza observes: first, the pomegranate in its flower displays an elegant purple crown, in its fruit purple, and in its seeds a crown at the top: so that it plainly seems to represent a king clothed in purple and crowned. Second, "because when it contains many seeds under one rind: it either signifies the multitude of affairs and counsels which are hidden by kings in faithful silence," as St. Ambrose, book 3 of the Hexameron, chapter 13, suggests; "or it signifies the harmony of all virtues with which it is fitting that the minds of kings be adorned," as St. Jerome, book 1 Against Jovinian, explains; "or it signifies the governing prudence by which kings keep their subjects, who differ in customs and honors, in their duty, and turn them in the circle of reason," as Theodoret, book 3 on the Song of Songs, indicates; "or it signifies the charity of souls which kings must cultivate and preserve in their kingdom," as the same Theodoret more clearly indicates. On this matter I have said much in Song of Songs, chapter 7, verse 3.
Third, "because just as the pomegranate appears more beautiful when it splits open; for then the internal seeds, which lay hidden under a common rind, spread out imitating garnets; so kings, the more they are torn and distracted by greater difficulties for the protection and safeguarding of their peoples, display before the eyes of all the clearer spectacles of their virtues."
Wherefore Henry IV, King of Spain, chose the pomegranate as his royal emblem with the inscription: "Bittersweet," to signify that in the best king, severity and humanity should be so tempered that the king should never appear either cowardly without severity, or cruel without humanity. Not undeservedly therefore did Saul stay under the pomegranate tree, so that by the tree itself he might be reminded of royal dignity and power, or of the sanctity that he ought to exercise in difficult affairs and troubled times.
AND THE PEOPLE WITH HIM WERE ABOUT SIX HUNDRED MEN, besides the thousand who were with Jonathan: for the two thousand that Saul had chosen for himself, chapter 13, verse 2, had melted away and fled out of fear of the Philistines; so that with Saul only six hundred remained from those, and they were strong and steadfast men, who therefore, although few, nevertheless obtained such great victories against the very numerous Philistines, as are narrated in what follows.
Morally, learn here how much the virtue of a few noble men avails. So Gideon with three hundred overthrew the very numerous camps of Midian. Josephus gives the reason, book 5 of Antiquities, chapter 8, or according to another edition, 10: "The Lord, he says, declared that the unwarlike nature of men pleased Him, so that the people would attribute the victory not to themselves, but to God." Judas Maccabeus with a few overcame the forces of Antiochus; David overcame Goliath and all the Philistines; the twelve Apostles by their virtue subjected the whole world to Christ; St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis, and recently St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, with a few companions -- what great things have they accomplished everywhere on earth? Virtue therefore consists not in number, but in noble fewness. For, as Isaiah says, chapter 9:3: "You have multiplied the nation, You have not increased the joy." See what was said there. Well-known is that saying: "Virtue united is stronger than divided." And that: "God chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong," 1 Corinthians 1. And that: "The power of God is made perfect in our weakness," 2 Corinthians chapter 12.
Verse 3: Ahijah the High Priest
AND AHIJAH THE SON OF AHITUB, BROTHER OF ICHABOD, SON OF PHINEHAS, WHO HAD BEEN BORN FROM ELI THE PRIEST (High Priest) OF THE LORD IN SHILOH, BORE THE EPHOD, that is, he carried with him the pontifical garment as High Priest to perform his pontifical duties; so that through the Urim and Thummim, which were in the breastplate and ephod, he might consult the Lord on behalf of Saul as to what should be done in such an uncertain and dangerous war. From this it is clear that Samuel was not the High Priest, as Serarius and others hold, but Ahijah: for he carried the pontifical vestment, and descended in a direct line from Eli the High Priest. For Eli begot Phinehas, Phinehas begot Ahitub and Ichabod, Ahitub begot Ahijah, says Josephus.
You will say: In chapter 21, verse 9, Ahimelech the son of Ahitub is said to have been the High Priest; therefore Ahijah was not the High Priest. I answer that Ahijah had two names, and was called by another name "Ahimelech." For Ahijah in Hebrew means the same as "brother of God." Ahimelech means the same as "brother of the King." But God is "King of kings;" or certainly, when the elder Ahijah died without children, Ahimelech, who was the younger brother of Ahijah, succeeded him in the High Priesthood.
Verse 4: The Rocky Passes of Bozez and Seneh
NOW BETWEEN THE PASSES, BY WHICH JONATHAN STROVE TO CROSS OVER TO THE GARRISON OF THE PHILISTINES, THERE WERE PROMINENT ROCKS, etc. The name of one Bozez, and THE NAME OF THE OTHER SENEH. The Chaldee says, the name of one is "slipperiness," and the name of the other "trampling." The Philistines, says Josephus, had placed their camp on a steep and nearly inaccessible rock, and therefore dwelt safely upon it, fearing no one: for this reason Jonathan attacked them by this route. So Alexander the Great, when the enemy were staying on a very high rock, and therefore mocking him and asking whether he could fly, sent three hundred noble young men from behind through impassable rocks, seized the rock without the enemy's knowledge, and slaughtered them: "Behold, he said, I have shown that I can fly." So Curtius.
Moreover, Bozez in Hebrew means the same as "moist," or "flourishing," or "egg-bearing," says Pagninus. Seneh means the same as "thorn bush;" which Bede explains mystically: "Because, he says, the ascent of the Saints is impeded no less when the world flourishes than when it opposes and pricks them; and the indefatigable enemy strikes at them to make them fail either in body or in heart."
This is what the Saints say in Psalm 65:12: "We have passed through fire and water, and You have led us out into refreshment." For, as St. Bernard says in his sermon on St. Malachy: "He passed through fire and water, whom neither sorrows could break, nor soft things detain."
Verse 6: Nothing Restrains the Lord from Saving
AND JONATHAN SAID TO THE YOUNG MAN WHO BORE HIS ARMOR. He said this impelled by God, who was silently promising His help and victory, as is evident from the outcome, and from the victory so wonderful and happy.
FOR IT IS NOT DIFFICULT FOR THE LORD TO SAVE, WHETHER BY MANY OR BY FEW. In Hebrew there is no restriction, detention, or prohibition, as if to say: There is nothing that confines, detains, or restricts God to few or many, for them to conquer. For, as St. Augustine says, sermon 119 On the Times: "God is omnipotent to do greater and lesser things; omnipotent to do heavenly and earthly things; omnipotent to do immortal and mortal things; omnipotent to do spiritual and corporeal things; omnipotent to do visible and invisible things; great in great things, and not small in the least things."
Judas Maccabeus imitated this example of Jonathan, fighting with a few against very many: "It is easy, he said, for many to be enclosed in the hands of a few; and there is no difference in the sight of the God of heaven to deliver by many or by few," 1 Maccabees 3:48. And chapter 4:30: "Blessed, he said, is the Savior of Israel, who crushed the assault of the mighty by the hand of Your servant David; and delivered the camps of the foreigners into the hand of Jonathan the son of Saul, and of his armor-bearer," 1 Maccabees 4:30. The same was said by Asa, king of Judah, fighting against a million Ethiopians, 2 Chronicles 14:41.
Verse 7: The Omen of the Philistines' Words
IF THEY SPEAK TO US THUS. Jonathan seized upon this omen by the prompting and inspiration of God, as is evident from the courage of Jonathan that was more divine than human, and from so happy an outcome; therefore it was not superstitious, nor a tempting of God, but religious as well as courageous, because he alone with his armor-bearer climbed the steep citadel of the enemy, attacked the enemy, put them to flight, and killed them. So Lyranus, Hugh, Abulensis, Dionysius, Cajetan, Serarius, and others. See Sanchez, book 2 On Superstition, chapter 10, number 10, who also adds with Serarius and Abulensis that Jonathan had sent up a prayer to God before this omen, and in it was encouraged by God to dare this deed. Eliezer received a similar omen regarding Rebecca, to be taken as wife for Isaac, in Genesis chapter 24.
Similar to Jonathan's omen was the omen of the Paeonians, about which Herodotus writes at the beginning of book 5: "The Paeonians, who are from the Strymon, were advised by a divine oracle to make war on the Perinthians; and if the Perinthians, sitting opposite them, should challenge them, calling them by name, they should attack them; but if not, they should abstain from attacking. So they did, and they conquered."
Verse 12: Come Up to Us
COME UP TO US, AND WE WILL SHOW YOU SOMETHING, which you seem to be seeking by climbing up these steep cliffs. This is sarcasm, or hostile mockery, as if they were saying: Come up to us, and we will show you the way not to life and victory, which you are seeking, but to death, that is, we will slaughter you. So Lyranus, Abulensis, Salianus, and others. Whence Josephus, book 6 of Jewish Antiquities, chapter 7: "Come here, he says, to pay the penalty for your audacity."
LET US GO UP. Fittingly God gave this omen to Jonathan, because it is a sign of courage and victory to anticipate and attack the enemy, even a more powerful one, and so to strike them with fear and put them to flight, as Jonathan did here. So Moses said to Joshua who was about to go against Amalek: "Choose men, and go out and fight against Amalek." So Timothy, about to fight with Judas Maccabeus, thus instructs his men: "When Judas and his army have approached the stream of water; if he crosses over to us first, we will not be able to withstand him; because he will surely be powerful against us; but if he is afraid to cross, and pitches camp beyond the river, let us cross over to them, and we will be able to prevail against him," 1 Maccabees 5:40. So Ahab, attacking with a few the vast camp of Benhadad king of Syria, routed, scattered, and overthrew them, 3 Kings 20:13. So experienced generals, to display their courage, are the first to attack the enemy, and thereby often strike them down and scatter them.
Verse 13: Jonathan Climbed on Hands and Feet
AND JONATHAN CLIMBED UP ON HIS HANDS AND FEET, through the steep rocks of the cliff. Mystically St. Gregory says: "By hands, he says, works are usually signified. The pastor crawls with his hands, when he sets forth the way for sinners not by the wisdom of words, but by the example of his way of life." And further: "Well, he says, he is said to have crawled up to the garrison of the Philistines, because that teacher can succeed in destroying vices who soothes sinners by a great display of humility and a great affection of charity."
AND SO SOME FELL BEFORE JONATHAN, as if to say: Struck with a panic fear sent by God, as will be evident at verse 45, they collapsed before Jonathan to be slain by him; whence Vatablus, the Gloss, and others read: and so when they had seen the face of Jonathan (as if struck by it), some fell before Jonathan. This seems to be taken from the Septuagint, which translates, and the Philistines, seeing the face of Jonathan, and he struck among them. So therefore Jonathan was a type of Christ, who by His mere look struck and put to flight those buying and selling in the temple. For, as St. Jerome says on Matthew chapter 9: "The very splendor and majesty of the hidden divinity shone in His human face." And on chapter 21: "Something fiery and starlike radiated from His eyes."
Therefore what Josephus says seems fictitious, that Jonathan rushed upon the Philistines while they were sleeping; for he writes thus in book 6, chapter 7: "Saul's son eagerly seized upon this statement as an omen of victory; then indeed he withdrew from the place where they had been seen, but approaching the rock from another side through a position left unguarded, having overcome with great labor the difficulty of the terrain, they crept up to the enemy: and attacking them while sleeping, they killed twenty of them, and filled them with stupor and consternation, so that they threw away their weapons and fled. Many indeed, not recognizing each other, since they were assembled from many nations, attacked one another as if they were enemies; and since they did not think that only two Hebrews had penetrated the camp, by mutual slaughter some fell into precipices, either throwing themselves down, or being pushed by others."
Verse 14: The First Slaughter
IN HALF A MEASURE OF LAND, that is, in the shortest space of ground Jonathan killed twenty, as if to say: He killed them while they were united, not scattered and dispersed. He says this to magnify the miracle of God and the courage of Jonathan; inasmuch as he did not kill them scattered, as when after two Horatii were slain, the last Horatius, fleeing, killed the three Curiatii, already wearied, in three different places, and thus subjected the Albans to the Romans, as Livy attests; but he slaughtered them while united.
Verse 15: A Miracle in the Camp
AND A MIRACLE HAPPENED IN THE CAMP, namely a strange and unusual earthquake, and from it fear, terror, and confusion sent by God upon the Philistines, both those who were in the camp and those who had gone out from the camp to plunder in three bands, as stated in the preceding chapter verse 17. "A miracle" therefore, that is, a miraculous earthquake, and the stupor of the enemy, as the Septuagint translates, and confusion, as the Chaldee, and fear, as Vatablus, and trembling, as others. For this is what the Hebrew charada signifies. For the Philistines were so stupefied, terrified, blinded, and confused that they thought their companions were enemies, and turned their weapons against them, and so slaughtered one another in mutual killing, as is evident from verse 20. The Midianites did the same thing, when the three hundred Hebrews, Gideon's soldiers, blew trumpets and smashed flaming jars, Judges chapter 7, verse 22. For it was easy for God to disturb their imagination, so that they thought friends were enemies: just as we see this happen naturally in the melancholic and insane; who through melancholy, as through a dark cloud, view all things and think everything is dark, foul, hostile, and harmful.
Moreover, the Hebrew literally reads thus: And there was trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people of the Philistines; both the garrison and those who were raiding trembled also, and the earth trembled, and it became a trembling of God, that is, great and mighty; for the things of God are great. Whence cedars and mountains of God are called the highest and greatest. So Vatablus, Cajetan, Pagninus, and others. Whence with the Romans one should read: the earth was disturbed, not: the camps were disturbed, as others read.
Morally, learn here that when God calls to difficult things that surpass our strength, we should not tremble or flee, but obey God and courageously undertake the matter: for God will soon be present, will smooth the difficulties, will untangle what is complicated, and will easily accomplish the whole thing, as here, when Jonathan alone with his armor-bearer attacked the entire enemy camp, God disturbed and overthrew it through the enemies themselves.
We read in the Lives of the Fathers that an Angel showed a certain anchorite a vast giant, and said to him: With this one you must wrestle. And when he trembled: "Do not fear, he said, just begin, I will soon be at hand, and will overthrow the giant together with you. If God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8. For "the Thunderer helps him who makes the effort."
Verse 18: Bring the Ark of God
AND SAUL SAID TO AHIJAH: BRING THE ARK OF GOD, that is, bring near, or bring here to me the ark, so that you may take the priestly vestment, as Josephus and Theodoret say, that is the Ephod, which was placed near the ark, and put it on as High Priest, and through the Urim and Thummim which are in the Ephod, before the ark consult God who sits upon the ark on the mercy seat, so that through you He may reveal to us what we should do in such an uncertain situation and in this tumult.
Mystically, in dangers Christians should flee to the ark, that is, to the Eucharist: likewise to the Blessed Virgin, who contained Christ as manna in the ark of Her womb and bore Him for the food and salvation of the world. Hear Blessed Peter Damian, sermon On the Nativity of the Virgin: "Is it, he asks, because You are so deified, that You have forgotten our humanity? By no means, Lady. You know in what peril You leave us, how they lie prostrate, how greatly Your servants offend. For it is not fitting for such great mercy to forget such great misery: because, even if glory withdraws You, nature calls You back; nor are You so impassible as to be incompassionate."
FOR THE ARK OF GOD WAS THERE ON THAT DAY, because it had been transferred from Kiriath-jearim at the request of Saul and the Hebrews, on account of the danger of the war, so that they might consult God who sat upon the ark, and have Him as their companion, indeed as the leader of the war.
Verse 19: Withdraw Your Hand
AND SAUL SAID TO THE PRIEST: WITHDRAW YOUR HAND, stop unfolding the Ephod; rather draw it together with your hand, and put it back in the ark. For with this tumult pressing, I have no leisure to consult the Lord; but we must immediately rush upon the enemy. For Saul thought his son Jonathan was surrounded and being overwhelmed by the Philistines: whence he hurried to them to rescue him. So Lyranus, Abulensis, Vatablus, although the Chaldee translates thus: bring the Ephod, as if to say: Hasten to put on the Ephod and consult the Lord. Whence Josephus also asserts that God, when consulted, answered and promised the Hebrews victory and the slaughter of the enemy.
Verse 20: Mutual Slaughter Among the Philistines
AND BEHOLD THE SWORD OF EACH MAN HAD BEEN TURNED AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOR, as if to say: Blinded and confused, they cut one another down in mutual slaughter, thinking their companions were enemies.
AND THE SLAUGHTER WAS EXCEEDINGLY GREAT. Josephus, book 6, chapter 7, says sixty thousand Philistines were slain.
Verse 24: Saul's Oath of Fasting
AND SAUL ADJURED THE PEOPLE, SAYING: CURSED BE THE MAN WHO EATS FOOD UNTIL EVENING, UNTIL I AM AVENGED OF MY ENEMIES. "Food" means any kind of nourishment; for the Hebrews call this "bread." Whence Jonathan, eating not bread but honey, was judged to have violated this command of his father.
Now Saul imposed this law of fasting on his men from proper fervor and zeal, to pursue the fleeing enemy: lest if his soldiers turned to food, putting aside their arms and sitting at the table, the enemy should escape in flight; and so that by this fast, he might give thanks to God for so miraculous a victory, and provoke Him to bring it fully and completely to perfection: for he judged that toward God, who was so generous to him and his men, one should act generously. So Abulensis, Serarius, Salianus, and St. Ambrose and Jerome, who will be cited shortly. And he enacted this law with an imprecation, saying: "Cursed be the man," as if to say: May God bring evil upon him, and I will bring evil upon him, that is, I will punish and kill him.
Lyranus however thinks that Saul wrongly enacted and swore this, and worse still fulfilled it: because there was not such a great necessity of pursuing the enemy, and in this law of his he should have made an exception for the case of necessity, such as existed for Jonathan and many others who were failing from hunger; who would certainly have inflicted a greater slaughter upon the enemy if, while pursuing them, they had simultaneously snatched some food, for example, the honey available in the forest, as Jonathan did, to become stronger for attacking and fighting. Finally, that this law gave occasion for killing Jonathan, and for the people eating blood forbidden by law, verse 33. Josephus, St. Gregory here, and St. Chrysostom, homily 14 to the People, and our Sanchez support Lyranus, condemning this precept of Saul as excessively severe and foolish. But granted that this military and harsh decree of Saul may have been too fervent, and some discretion may be desired in it: nevertheless in itself it was just and holy, for the reasons already stated. Whence the entire people approved and accepted it.
You will say: The Septuagint here adds: and Saul was unaware of a great ignorance. Therefore he sinned. I answer that by ignorance they mean that Saul was unaware that Jonathan would face the danger of death because of this decree, but this ignorance in Saul was invincible and blameless: for how could he know that Jonathan would eat honey?
From this it appears that Saul was a pious man, as well as brave, and that God favored him and gave him victories, so that he overcame all the surrounding enemies, as will be said at verse 47. Therefore, even though God in the preceding chapter, because of not having waited for Samuel, deprived his posterity of the kingdom as one who obeyed less than perfectly, He nevertheless did not reject him, but directed and helped him, until committing the more serious crime of disobedience -- not slaying the Amalekites fully and completely as God had commanded -- he was rejected by God, and David was anointed king in his place by Samuel, as recorded in chapters 15 and 16.
Verse 25: Honey in the Forest
THE COMMON PEOPLE CAME INTO THE FOREST, IN WHICH THERE WAS HONEY. For wild bees make honey in forests, as can be seen in Poland and Muscovy, where accordingly bees fight with forest bears. For bears crave honey, and so they try to climb the trees in which the honeycombs are; but bees, flying into the nostrils of the bears and stinging them with their stingers, easily drive them off: for bears have a weak head and nose.
Mystically St. Ambrose, sermon 36: "Nor while placed in abstinence, he says, should we turn aside to the honeycomb. For the honeycomb is a certain pleasure of the world, or vices which, as is written in Proverbs chapter 5, for a time indeed fatten the throat; but in the end they are more bitter than gall."
AND NO ONE PUT HIS HAND TO HIS MOUTH. FOR THE PEOPLE FEARED THE OATH, that is, the adjuration and imprecation of the king who said: "Cursed be the man who eats" etc., verse 24. Mystically St. Gregory says: "Honey flows, because the sweet fame of the saints runs sweetly and swiftly; but no one brings his hand to his mouth, because from a good work he does not accept the sweetness of praise. To bring one's hand with honey to one's mouth is to gladly accept the praise of one's own work. Let the honey flow then; and let no one put his hand to his mouth; so that the fame of the saints may flow sweetly; and may not exalt those from whom it flows. Let it flow to satisfy others; but let it not be consumed, lest it serve up death."
Whence Jonathan confesses his fault at verse 43: "I tasted, he says, a little honey, and behold I am to die." The Chaldee says, I am subject to death. And St. Jerome, book 2 Against Jovinian, past the middle: "In Exodus, he says, they fought against Amalek by the prayer of Moses, and by the fasting of the whole people, until evening. Joshua the son of Nun obtained a halt for the sun and moon, and extended the fasting of the victorious army for more than one day. Saul, as is written in the first book of Kings, said: Cursed be he who eats bread until evening, until I am avenged of my enemies; and all his people did not taste food, and the whole land was feasting. And the authority of the station once destined for the Lord was so great that Jonathan, who had been the cause of the victory, was found out by lot, and could not evade the charge of ignorance, and aroused his father's hand against himself, and was barely saved by the prayers of the people." "Station" means fasting. For "stations" are called by Tertullian, Cassian, and St. Ambrose "appointed days of prayer and fasting," because in them, standing firm and persevering, we repel enemies; and just as the Hebrews through 40 encampments, or stations, arrived in the promised land; so Christians through the 40 days of Lent arrive at Easter and the resurrection of Christ. So Baronius in the year of Christ 57, chapter 155, and Pamelius on Tertullian, at the end of the book On Prayer: indeed St. Ambrose himself, at the beginning of sermon 36 already cited.
Morally, learn here that fasting produces victory over bodily enemies, as well as spiritual ones.
Verse 27: Jonathan's Eyes Were Brightened
AND HIS EYES WERE BRIGHTENED, which previously, from hunger, toil, and famine, had grown dim as the visual spirits failed: but now, with the spirits restored by taking honey, they seemed to be brightened, refreshed, and revived, so that he was stronger and more ready to pursue the enemy. Hence the vision of fasting persons grows dim, which is restored by taking food. So Angelomus, Cajetan, Vatablus, and others. Otherwise Bede, who says Jonathan's eyes were brightened, as the eyes of Adam were opened, when he saw himself naked and acknowledged his fault, Genesis chapter 3.
Verse 28: The People Were Faint
AND THE PEOPLE WERE FAINT. In Hebrew and Chaldee, was exhausted; namely from the labor of pursuing, and from hunger, so that with failing strength they could scarcely keep up the pursuit.
Verse 29: My Father Has Troubled the Land
MY FATHER HAS TROUBLED THE LAND. Jonathan said this in a youthful manner; and it would have been true, if the delay of eating had not been an impediment to the immediate pursuit of the enemy. So Abulensis and Cajetan. Therefore Jonathan did not sin by eating honey, because he was ignorant of his father's prohibition; he sinned however by publicly reproving his father's prohibition, and therefore the lot of guilt fell upon him at verse 41. Because even if this decree of his father had been indiscreet, nevertheless it was not for Jonathan to blame it, but rather to excuse it, lest the people be stirred up and rebel against their king: which in a military camp usually creates the greatest danger.
Verse 31: The People Were Exceedingly Exhausted
AND THE PEOPLE WERE EXCEEDINGLY EXHAUSTED, both from fasting and from the continuous labor of pursuing and slaughtering the Philistines.
Verse 32: The People Ate with the Blood
AND THE PEOPLE ATE WITH THE BLOOD, because from hunger they did not wait until the blood had drained from the slaughtered oxen; but immediately cooked the flesh of the slaughtered animals, still covered with blood; indeed they did not so much eat as devour the raw or half-raw meat like wolves, from hunger and craving to eat. God had forbidden eating blood, for the reasons I reviewed in Genesis chapter 9, verse 4, and throughout Leviticus; but the violence of their hunger greatly diminished this sin of theirs. So Abulensis.
Verse 33: Roll a Great Stone to Me
ROLL A GREAT STONE TO ME NOW. Saul commanded, says Abulensis, that a large stone be raised up upon which all the animals to be eaten by the soldiers should be killed, so that with the head of each slaughtered beast hanging down from it, all the blood would immediately drain out: for before this they had been slaughtering them on flat ground, where the blood could scarcely flow, and only slowly and sluggishly, which they in their haste and hunger could not wait for. So Cajetan.
Verse 35: Saul Built an Altar to the Lord
AND SAUL BUILT AN ALTAR TO THE LORD, both so that this might be a memorial of the victory obtained over the Philistines, just as the altar erected by Moses for the victory gained over Amalek, Exodus chapter 17, verse 15; and so that upon it he might offer peace offerings, in thanksgiving for the victory received, and as a propitiation: so that he might render God favorable to himself and his men, for the many wars that remained to be concluded with similar success.
AND THEN FOR THE FIRST TIME HE BEGAN TO BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD. You will say: Saul had already built an altar before, in chapter 13, verse 9, when before the arrival of Samuel he sacrificed upon it, and therefore was rebuked by Samuel. St. Jerome in the Traditions, Angelomus, the Gloss, Lyranus, and Hugh respond first that this was the first altar pleasing to God that Saul erected. For that one in chapter 13 was displeasing to God, because of the fault of disobedience. Second, Abulensis, Cajetan, Hugh, Lyranus, and Sanchez respond that the altar in chapter 13, verse 9, was erected by another's hand and the work of the people, but this one properly by the command and work of Saul. For, as Lyranus rightly observes, that one in Gilgal had long before been erected by the Gadites, Reubenites, and Manassites in the time of Joshua, chapter 22, verse 10.
Verse 36: Let Us Draw Near to God
LET US DRAW NEAR HERE TO GOD, that is, to the ark in which God resides, that we may consult Him whether we should attack the enemy camp this night. Tropologically St. Gregory says: "To approach the Lord, he says, is to know His will through secret contemplation. And it is rightly called an approach, because we move from external things toward internal ones, when we try to know the outcome of our work in the divine will. For he who seeks hidden and intimate things and does not leave external things behind, does not find those things which he does not know how to approach. Therefore when counsel about hidden matters is sought from us, let us approach the Lord, so that what is to be done is proposed only when it is known in the divine will. For many things seem to be good, and are not. Many things also must be done, but they are done more usefully if reserved for the fitting time. Some things also some should do, while others should not. And if any chosen person neglects to see these things in the secret of meditation, he certainly does not arrange them in right order."
And Saul consulted the Lord, through Ahijah the High Priest who wore the Ephod, in which were the Urim and Thummim; who in Saul's name questioned God seated upon the ark as to what should be done here. "In ancient times, says St. Chrysostom, homily 14 to the People, God was the leader of wars, and without His judgment they would never have dared to engage in battle, and war became for them a matter of piety: for they were not conquered by bodily weakness, but by sin, whenever they were conquered: nor did they conquer by power and strength, but by heavenly goodwill, whenever they conquered." Let our military commanders hear this and imitate it, if they wish to obtain victory. For victory is properly given by God, as I have shown elsewhere.
Verse 37: God Did Not Answer
AND HE DID NOT ANSWER HIM ON THAT DAY. God, when consulted, was silent, to show that He was somewhat angry. But at whom and why? St. Chrysostom responds in homily 14 already cited, that God was offended with Saul, because of the rashness with which he had enacted the too rigid and foolish law about fasting. St. Gregory more accurately says it was because of his hypocrisy: "For God, he says, is not perceived in a similar light of thought, who is always found in the clarity of virtue." He then adds another reason: because Saul "wished so to destroy the Philistines that none of them could ever wage war again. This is indeed a great day of the mind, when eternal things are so sought that no temporal enemy is left from the slaughter; but because it is granted to no one to conquer so temporally that he need not fight at all times, it is rightly said: The Lord did not answer him on that day."
Abulensis, Cajetan, Serarius, and others judge that God was silent to indicate that the fast decreed by Saul had not been observed by Jonathan. For even though Jonathan was ignorant of his father's decree, and therefore had not violated it formally, but only materially, nevertheless many of the people did not know this, and could have been scandalized: therefore God willed by this silence of His that Jonathan be investigated and discovered, so that by revealing his ignorance of the law, he might excuse himself: lest God, or Saul, should seem to be a respecter of persons, says Abulensis. Cajetan adds that God willed to humble Jonathan, not for the deed, that is, the violated fast; but for the defense of his deed, which was irrelevant to the deed itself, by which he blamed his father's indiscretion in enacting the law of fasting, so that he might be publicly humbled by this mark, and henceforth be more modest and cautious in speaking about royal edicts.
See here how God punishes the entire commonwealth for the sin of one citizen, just as He punished the entire camp of Joshua, chapters 6 and 7, for the theft of one Achan. Whence in the booklet of the orthodox Archimandrites, Syntaxis of Constantinople, preserved by Baronius, volume 7, year 536, one reads: "Those who have among them one under anathema share in the anathema, as the ancient Scripture shows us in Achan and Jonathan, who knowingly and unknowingly fell under anathema," etc. For, as St. Ambrose says in the cited passage: "The fault of one person brings disgrace upon all, by the sin of one weakness is generated for all." So St. Gregory, Angelomus, and others.
Verse 38: Bring Here All the Leaders
BRING HERE ALL THE LEADERS OF THE PEOPLE. "Leaders" [literally "corners"], that is, prefects of districts or streets: so the Swiss call their districts Cantons, that is, corners. For "what corners are in a house, princes are in the people, says Vatablus, because as a house rests upon its corners, so the people rests upon its princes." Therefore, just as the Greeks call parts of a city demes, and the Latins call them districts; so the Hebrews call them corners: and just as among the Greeks the prefects of demes were called demarchs; so also among the Hebrews, those who presided over the corners, that is, the districts, were also called Corners: similar is Judges 20:2.
Verse 39: Saul's Oath to Kill the Guilty
AS THE LORD LIVES, THE SAVIOR OF ISRAEL: EVEN IF IT WAS DONE THROUGH JONATHAN MY SON, HE SHALL DIE WITHOUT APPEAL. So the Roman text, although St. Gregory reads: "he shall die without retraction." In Hebrew it is, he shall surely die, that is, certainly and infallibly he shall die. In Chaldee, he shall surely be killed, that is, he shall certainly be killed without remission. St. Chrysostom, in homily 14 cited, condemns this oath of Saul as reckless and parricidal, and therefore suggested by the devil, as one who was driving him to the slaughter of so great and so innocent a son. "And the father, he says, became the executioner of his son, and before examination he pronounced the sentence of condemnation." He adds that Saul, by this reckless fasting decree, was the cause of many perjuries. "Come then, he says, let us count the perjuries committed. Saul's first oath was violated by his son; the second and third again were Saul's own, about his son's death. And the people seemed to have truly sworn: but if anyone carefully examines the matter, all of them also were made subject to the crime of perjury. For they forced Jonathan's father to perjure himself by not handing his son over to his father: you see how many people, both willing and unwilling, one oath made subject to perjury, how many evils it contrived, how many slaughters it perpetrated?"
But St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, Abulensis, Cajetan, Salianus, Serarius, and others praise this oath of Saul as religious, and compare it to the sacrifice of Abraham willing to immolate his son Isaac. For it proceeded from a great zeal and desire to appease the offended God.
Nevertheless it was imprudent. For first, Jonathan, eating honey contrary to his father's decree, had committed no fault, because he was ignorant of the decree. Therefore he could not justly be killed, being free from guilt and innocent. Nor did God's silence indicate that there was guilt in Jonathan, but it happened for other reasons, which I have reviewed. Second, even if Jonathan had known his father's decree, his transgression was slight and trifling; being the taste of a little honey in a grave or extreme necessity of hunger, and without serious scandal: therefore by this tasting he did not deserve death. Third, even if we were to grant that Jonathan had sinned mortally in this eating, nevertheless it was still better to spare the sinner than to punish and kill him as guilty. For Jonathan was a most brave soldier, who had been the cause of the victory won. He was the son of the king, about to succeed him in the kingdom. He was of royal nature and character; therefore his life was far more useful and almost necessary to all Israel than his death for establishing military discipline. Whence this oath of Saul about killing him was not binding, because it tended toward the worse outcome, and toward the injury and grave harm of the entire kingdom. Therefore the people rightly contradicted King Saul, and did not permit Jonathan to be killed, and Saul eventually consented.
Verse 41: Give Sanctity
GIVE SANCTITY, that is, reveal to us the holy truth, namely that the fault is in a certain person among the people. For this entire verse the Hebrew has only: Lord God of Israel, give Thummim; that is, by the Urim and Thummim, indicate the hidden guilty one to us. The Septuagint, the Complutensian, reads: give manifestations; the Chaldee, make the lot come for truth, that is, make the lot fall upon the sinner; Vatablus, give perfection, that is, a true and perfect lot. Nevertheless the Septuagint, the Roman edition, has all these things that the Vulgate edition has here; but they seem to be collected from various interpretations of the same thing, as Cardinal Caraffa, Francis Lucas in his Notes, and Serarius here observe.
You ask, why is truth called "sanctity?" I answer, because sanctity, as St. Dionysius says, is purity itself. But truth is most pure and most sincere, and is purity and sincerity itself. Whence of wisdom or eternal truth it is said, Wisdom 7:25: "It is the brightness of eternal light, and an unspotted mirror," etc.
Second, because the knowledge of future contingencies and hidden things (which was here sought by Saul) is so sublime that it transcends the intellect of men and Angels, and belongs to God alone, who is the Holy of Holies. "Announce the things that are to come in the future; and we shall know that you are gods," says Isaiah, 41:23.
Third, because the oracle of truth was here sought by Saul from a sacred person; namely from the High Priest clothed in sacred vestments, in which were the Urim and Thummim, that is, illuminations and perfections, or as our translation renders it, Exodus 28:28: "Doctrine and truth." Truth therefore was here sought from sanctity, that is, from God most holy, through His holy High Priest: rightly therefore it is itself called sanctity, as if to say: Give, Lord, Thummim, that is, through the sacred High Priest, and through the sacred Ephod and Thummim, give the holy oracle of holy truth.
Fourth, because the truth about the perpetrator who had committed the crime was here sought, so that satisfaction might be made to the offended God through his punishment and just vengeance; and thus the sanctity of God, as if outwardly wounded, might be restored. For here the truth of justice was sought, and justice is sanctity. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: "Give sanctity," that is, indicate to us, Lord, the guilty one who has offended You; so that we may justly punish and correct him, and thus make satisfaction to Your offended sanctity through holy vengeance. From this it is clear that to inform the Superior about a guilty person, so that he may correct him, is an act of sanctity, that is, of justice and charity. Whence in some Religious Orders it is established that Religious should bring the errors and lapses of their companions to their Superior, so that he may correct them. For this is an act of sanctity, namely of fraternal correction, indeed of paternal correction. For three holy works are performed in it: first, satisfaction is made to the offended God, which is an act of penance and vindictive justice; second, the fallen one is corrected and sanctified, which is an act of charity; third, scandal is removed, and care is taken lest the fault spread to others, lest they follow and imitate the vice which they see is not punished by the superior, but tolerated; which is an act of justice and also of charity.
Symbolically, God who is the first and highest sanctity, is equally the first and highest truth. And the Son of God, by the power of His origin and generation, is the Word, that is, the true notion and understanding of the Father. Whence by St. John He Himself is often called truth, as in chapter 1: "There was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world." And: "The law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
Ethically, virtue and sanctity itself is prudence and practical truth itself. For what else are virtues but lights of truth? For that which is honest and holy is what is practically true: that is, what conforms to truth and the eternal law, which is in the mind; and what right reason truly dictates must be done. Hence St. John in the Gospel, chapter 8, says of the devil: "He did not stand in the truth," that is, in sanctity. And everywhere he, as well as St. Paul and David in the Psalms, commands us to "do the truth," that is, works of virtue and sanctity.
Again, what is truth, but true faith, hope, and charity? And what are these three, but sanctity itself?
Finally Christ said to Pilate that He had come into this world to teach "truth," namely of faith and morals, that is, true faith and sanctity. Matthew 27. Truth therefore is sanctity itself. Whence he who confesses the truth is said to sanctify and glorify God. So Joshua, chapter 7, verse 19, said to Achan: "Give glory to God," that is, confess your theft, and that God is truthful, who indicated you as guilty of theft by the lot; so that sanctity, praise, and the honor of truth may be attributed to Him by all.
And Jonathan and Saul were indicated (by the lot which follows) to be in fault, and to have given God cause for being silent and not answering: BUT THE PEOPLE WENT FREE, free and exempt from guilt, as if to say: The lot did not touch the people; but passed them over as innocent: it touched however Saul and Jonathan, and finally Jonathan: because although in the matter only Jonathan was finally discovered and directly indicated; indirectly nevertheless Saul also was indicated and punished in his most beloved Jonathan; and was silently admonished to issue henceforth milder, more useful, and easier decrees to observe; and not to rule his men imperiously, but to counsel them modestly as a father: otherwise he would be punished and chastised in those very ones, as in his own children.
Verse 42: The Lot Falls on Jonathan
AND SAUL SAID: CAST LOTS BETWEEN ME AND JONATHAN. Some judge that these lots, being divinatory, were superstitious and illicit, because their divination was expected from a demon. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 14 to the People, says the devil instigated Saul to seize upon these lots, so that he might add sin to sin, and carry out worse what he had poorly conceived in his oath; and actually perpetrate the parricide of Jonathan that he had destined in his mind. But others judge more mildly and better, namely that Saul sought these lots from God: for shortly before in verse 41, he invoked God to direct the lot, and through it to reveal the guilty one. Therefore God seems to have moved him to undertake these lots, and to have directed them, so that they would indicate Jonathan as the guilty one.
For this was the reason God did not answer Saul when he consulted God through the High Priest, so that occasion might be given for lots, that through them Jonathan might be discovered. So Abulensis, Serarius, and others. Hear St. Ambrose, in sermon 36 already cited: "And so neither was an end put to the war, nor was a prophetic answer given to the king. Whence we understand that Saul overcame the enemy not so much by the valor of his soldiers as by abstinence. And so the fault of one brings disgrace upon all, and by the sin of one, weakness is generated for all. For virtue fails in the army, as fasting fails in observance. When Saul recognized the sin from the very offense to the Divinity, he immediately said that Jonathan was not to be spared, but that the sin committed must be expiated by the shedding of his blood."
AND JONATHAN WAS TAKEN, for the reasons I have reviewed above. To which add that although Jonathan did not know his father's law, he could have known it in some way; for when he saw that so many whom he had with him had not tasted at all of the honey they encountered, even though they were very hungry and exhausted, he could easily have suspected that some reason lay behind it, which he would have very easily understood by asking, verses 27 and 28. For the order of the text itself indicates that the people had gone before him. So Serarius. Add also that in Jonathan here God willed to show how subjects should reverence the commands of their Superiors, even those that are more rigid and severe, and not speak against them, as Jonathan had spoken against them, but humbly and courageously submit themselves to them, and bravely undertake and carry them out. For if Saul sinned anything by rashness, it was not for Jonathan to expose him before the people; but to inform Samuel, so that he might admonish and instruct him in secret; just as in Religious Orders, it is for Provincials and Visitors to admonish Rectors, if they sin against their subjects by excessive austerity or leniency; while it is for subjects to be silent and obey, and to say with the Psalmist: "For Your sake we are mortified all the day long."
Again, God willed to show how fearsome the imprecations of Saul, that is, of Superiors, are, and, as Theodoret says, "anathemas," even when imposed for a lighter cause. So Theodoret, Procopius, and others.
Verse 43: Behold I Am to Die
AND BEHOLD I AM TO DIE. In Hebrew, I shall die, that is, I shall be killed by my father; in Chaldee, behold I am bound to death, as if to say: I tasted so small an amount of honey; am I therefore guilty of death? Shall I be killed for a drop of honey? By this pitiable cry and lamentation Jonathan moved the people to compassion, so that they might rescue him from death. Otherwise Josephus, book 6 of Antiquities, chapter 7, explains Jonathan's spirit and words, namely that Jonathan said this from constancy and contempt of death: "Saul, he says, swears that he will kill him; valuing his oath above family, nature, and affection. He, unterrified by the threats of death, showed himself with a great and noble spirit. I pray nothing, Father; for I willingly bear this death, which releases you from your oath; since it was first my lot to see so magnificent a victory. For it will be the greatest consolation to me that the insolence of the Philistines has been subdued by the Hebrews. At this the whole multitude was moved to grief and compassion, and they swear they will not permit Jonathan, the author of the victory, to be killed: and so they snatch him from his father's curse, and make vows to God for the young man, that He may make him free from sin." But Josephus is accustomed to embellish and adorn the deeds and sayings of his Hebrews, to display them pompously for Vespasian and the Romans.
Verse 44: You Shall Surely Die, Jonathan
YOU SHALL SURELY DIE, JONATHAN. St. Chrysostom, in homily 14 cited, accuses Saul as a parricide; Abulensis, Serarius, and others excuse him as a religious imitator of Abraham, who devoted his son to death for the sake of establishing justice and military discipline; just as Titus Manlius among the Romans killed his son who had fought without his orders: "Whence from this Manlius, says Gellius, book 9, chapter 13, harsh and stern commands were called Manlian: because afterwards in the war against the Latins, when he was Consul, he struck his son with an axe, who having been sent by him to reconnoiter, and forbidden to fight, killed the enemy by whom he had been provoked." But Saul was more religious than Manlius, for he intended to immolate his guilty son as a victim to the offended God. Hear St. Ambrose, sermon 36: "See how great was the observance of religion in King Saul, who wished to appease the offended God even by parricide, and how great is the guilt of breaking a fast, which is not punished except by the shedding of blood. Even though Jonathan was ignorant of the fast imposed by his father, because he broke it, he is condemned to death: he who knowingly breaks one imposed by Christ, what does he deserve? Therefore, brothers, let us keep with all observance the fast established for us, so that we may conquer our spiritual and carnal enemies."
Verse 45: The People Rescue Jonathan
AND THE PEOPLE SAID TO SAUL: SHALL JONATHAN THEN DIE, WHO HAS ACCOMPLISHED THIS GREAT SALVATION IN ISRAEL? The people rightly rescued Jonathan from his father's wrath and sentence of death, for the reasons reviewed above. For Jonathan was the strength as well as the love of the people.
BECAUSE HE HAS WORKED WITH GOD TODAY, that is, because through the wonderful help of God he inflicted such great slaughter on the enemy today. The Septuagint, the Roman edition, reading "people" instead of "with" with a different pointing, translates: the people of God made this day. The Chaldee turns it differently: because before the Lord it is manifest, he says, that he acted in ignorance today.
Verse 47: Saul's Victories on Every Side
AND SAUL, HAVING ESTABLISHED HIS KINGDOM OVER ISRAEL, FOUGHT ON EVERY SIDE AGAINST ALL ENEMIES, etc., AND WHEREVER HE TURNED, HE WAS VICTORIOUS. See here the courage of Saul, and the success given him by God. Whence it is clear that he had not yet entirely lost God's favor and grace, even though God had already taken the kingdom from his posterity.
Verse 49: The Sons of Saul
NOW THE SONS OF SAUL WERE JONATHAN AND ISHVI AND MALCHISHUA. Ishvi, in chapter 31:2 and 1 Chronicles chapter 8:33, is called Abinadab (by Josephus, Jesus), where also a fourth son Eshbaal is added, who was called by another name Ishbosheth, 2 Samuel 2:8. Perhaps he is omitted here because he survived Saul, while the other three perished with Saul in chapter 31.
AND THE NAME OF SAUL'S WIFE WAS AHINOAM. She was his primary wife and queen. Besides her, Saul had a concubine, that is, a secondary wife, named Rizpah, from whom he begot Armoni and Mephibosheth, 2 Samuel 21.
ABNER THE SON OF NER, SAUL'S COUSIN. Therefore Kish, Saul's father, was the brother of Ner, Abner's father; and so Saul chose Abner his cousin as captain of the army. Moreover, Kish and Ner, being brothers, had the same father named Abiel, as is evident regarding Ner from this passage; regarding Kish from chapter 1.
Verse 52: Saul Gathered Strong Men
FOR WHOMEVER SAUL SAW WAS A STRONG MAN AND FIT FOR BATTLE, HE ATTACHED HIM TO HIMSELF. The same do great military commanders. Tropologically, let the Bishop and Prelate do the same. Whence St. Gregory says: "Let the teacher, he says, choose soldiers of Christ, let him choose the brave, so that while they strongly subdue the flesh, they may powerfully conquer unclean spirits. Let him therefore choose those fit for battle, so that while they do not grow proud amid the gifts of fortitude, they may be exalted by the glory of triumph in heaven."