Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Joshua is praised up to verse 2, then Caleb up to verse 13, then the Judges up to verse 13, then Samuel up to the end of the chapter.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 46:1-20
1. Strong in war was Joshua the son of Nun, successor of Moses among the prophets, who was great according to his name, 2. greatest in saving the elect of God, in conquering the insurgent enemies, so that Israel might obtain its inheritance. 3. What glory he attained in lifting up his hands and hurling swords against the cities! 4. Who before him so stood his ground? For the Lord Himself brought the enemies to him. 5. Was not the sun held back by his wrath, and one day made as two? 6. He invoked the Most High, the Powerful One, in fighting enemies on every side, and the great and holy God heard him with stones of hail of exceeding great force. 7. He made an assault against the hostile nation, and in the descent he destroyed the adversaries, 8. so that the nations might know His power, because it is not easy to fight against God. And he followed after the Mighty One: 9. and in the days of Moses he showed mercy, he and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, standing against the enemy and restraining the people from sins, and breaking the murmur of malice. 10. And these two alone were appointed, and delivered from danger out of the number of six hundred thousand foot soldiers, to lead them into the inheritance, into the land flowing with milk and honey. 11. And the Lord gave to Caleb himself strength, and even unto old age his vigor remained, so that he ascended to the high place of the land, and his seed obtained the inheritance: 12. so that all the children of Israel might see that it is good to obey the holy God. 13. And the judges, each one by his own name, whose heart was not corrupted, who did not turn away from the Lord, 14. may their memory be in blessing, and may their bones sprout from their place, 15. and may their name endure forever, enduring to their children—the glory of holy men. 16. Beloved by the Lord his God, Samuel the prophet of the Lord renewed the government and anointed princes in his nation. 17. By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation, and God looked upon Jacob, and by his faithfulness he was proved a prophet. 18. And he was known to be faithful in his words, because he saw the God of light: 19. and he invoked the Lord Almighty in fighting against the enemies surrounding him on every side, with the offering of an unblemished lamb. 20. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and with a great sound made His voice heard, 21. and He crushed the princes of the Tyrians and all the leaders of the Philistines: 22. and before the time of the end of his life and of the age, he bore witness in the sight of the Lord and of His anointed; money and even sandals from any man he did not accept, and no man accused him. 23. And after this he fell asleep, and he made known to the king, and showed him the end of his life, and he raised his voice from the earth in prophecy to destroy the impiety of the nation.
First Part of the Chapter. Praise of Joshua
1 and 2. STRONG IN WAR WAS JOSHUA THE SON OF NUN, SUCCESSOR OF MOSES AMONG THE PROPHETS, WHO WAS GREAT ACCORDING TO HIS NAME, GREATEST IN SAVING THE ELECT OF GOD, IN CONQUERING THE INSURGENT ENEMIES, SO THAT ISRAEL MIGHT OBTAIN ITS INHERITANCE. — The Greek, concise as usual, reads thus: Strong in wars was Joshua the son of Nun, and successor of Moses in prophecies, who was great according to his name in the salvation of his elect, to conquer enemies so that Israel might inherit. The Tigurina renders: Strong in war, Joshua the son of Nun succeeded Moses in the prophetic office; he won himself a great name by saving God's elect, while he avenges the rising enemies and leads the Israelites into possession. The Arabic version says: Jesus the son of Nun was preserved to become the successor of the great Moses (so that after Moses the greatest he might succeed to the governance of the people), and so that the Most High God might accomplish through his hands deliverance and salvation for His beloved;
The Syriac reads: A strong man, Jesus the son of Nun, was preserved for prophecy, that he might be as Moses the great, and to bestow by his hand salvation upon his friends, and to take vengeance upon hostile men. In Syriac the literal meaning is: Son of strength or valor, Jesus, endowed and furnished with this strength or valor. For "strong" the Greek is krataios, that is, powerful, mighty, robust, victorious, just as kratein means to conquer, seize, subdue. The primary cause of Joshua's strength was the promise of God, by which He strengthened him once, twice, and a third time, saying: "As I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall divide by lot to this people the land which I swore to their fathers" (Joshua 1). To this end serves what Aristeas narrates in the History of the Seventy Translators (of whom Jansenius and others suppose Sirach was one): that Ptolemy Philadelphus proposed to each his own political question, and to the one who was fifth in order, he posed this: "How may a king be invincible in military affairs?" And he responded: "If he does not trust in arms or in his own power, but always implores God to direct his plans for acting justly."
"Jesus" is the same as Joshua, for in Hebrew and Latin he is called Joshua the son of Nun, but by the Septuagint and the Greeks he is called Jesus the son of Nave. See what I said about this name at Numbers 13:17. He is praised here, first, for his unconquered strength, by which while Moses was still alive he defeated the Amalekites, Og king of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites; and after Moses died he overcame and slew all the kings of Canaan and subjugated the entire land of Canaan, as is clear from the entire book of Joshua. Second, he is praised because he was the successor of Moses in the governance of the people as well as in the prophetic spirit. Hence he was among "the Prophets," that is, one of the Prophets, or among the Prophets; in Greek, "in prophecies," as if to say: Joshua succeeded Moses, who was likewise a Prophet, not only as a leader but also as a Prophet, so that he might govern the people not so much by human prudence as by divine guidance; for in doubtful matters and in all things he consulted the Lord as to what should be done; and thus he was directed by God in all things, so that he might gently and powerfully govern the people and make them victorious over the Canaanites. Hence in Numbers 27:18, Moses, about to die, laid his hands on Joshua and by God's command authorized him, and as it were consecrated him as his successor and leader of the people, adding: "For this reason, if anything must be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the Lord." But Joshua himself also frequently conversed with God and was instructed and directed by Him, as is clear from Joshua, chapter 1, verse 2 and following.
Hence also some of the ancients relate that Joshua was celibate and a virgin; for such were most of the Prophets. That Joshua was celibate is gathered from the fact that Scripture makes no mention of any wife or children of his, as it usually does for those who were married in the Old Testament. Hence St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Philadelphians, proposes Joshua as a model for virgins to imitate, as the one who first among the sons of Abraham raised the standard of virginity; for although Melchisedech did so before Joshua, he was not of the stock of Abraham. St. Jerome follows St. Ignatius in Book I Against Jovinian, where, after proving at length that Joshua was a virgin, he concludes thus: "Moses dying is mourned by the children of Israel, but Jesus [Joshua], as one about to live forever, is not mourned: for marriages end in death; virginity after death begins to be crowned." Finally, St. Chrysostom, in his sermon On the Martyrs, says: "From the beginning of the world, innocent Abel is slain, Enoch pleasing to the true God is translated, righteous Noah is found, Abraham is proved faithful, Moses is recognized as meek, Jesus [Joshua] as chaste, David as gentle, Elijah as accepted, Daniel as holy, the three Youths are rendered victorious." Joshua was therefore celibate and a virgin, a type of the divine virginity of Christ the Lord.
Third, Joshua was "great according to his name," because Joshua and Jesus mean the same thing, namely "savior"—savior of the people of Israel, since he protected them against so many enemies and brought them safely into possession of Canaan, which was truly a great and outstanding work; thus Joshua was great both in name and in reality, and an express type of Jesus Christ. Of whom the angel likewise profoundly said to the Blessed Virgin: "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus: He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of David His father: and He shall reign in the house of Jacob forever" (Luke 1:31-32). Hence, explaining further, he adds: "Greatest in saving the elect of God," as if to say: Joshua as to his name was great, because he was called Jesus, that is, savior; but he was far greater as to the reality signified by the name; for he was greatest in bestowing salvation on the elect of God, namely the Israelites, who were the people chosen by God as His Church and kingdom: "In conquering," that is, by conquering, "the insurgent enemies," the Canaanites, "so that Israel might obtain its inheritance," that is, so that Israel, not Joshua, might obtain the inheritance of Canaan promised to the fathers; for in Greek it reads: hopos kleronomese ton Israel, that is, so that he might cause Israel to inherit, or so that he might lead Israel into the inheritance (of the promised land).
For Joshua was not the heir of Israel, so as to himself possess the entire people and the whole of Canaan, since he chose and possessed for himself only a small part of it, namely Timnath-serah, after the division of the land among the tribes had been made. In this matter the remarkable self-restraint and generosity of Joshua shines forth. For he could, as leader of the people and conqueror of Canaan, have claimed the best part for himself; but he yielded all of it to his countrymen, and selected for himself a small portion, and that mountainous and rough. That St. Paula marveled at this when she visited this place is reported by St. Jerome in her Epitaph. For "to conquer" the Greek is ekdikesai, that is, to avenge, to vindicate, namely by conquering and slaying the Canaanites, the enemies of Israel.
In this he was a type of Jesus Christ, who conquered the spiritual enemies of mankind—namely demons, sins, death, and hell—and thus won for them salvation, not bodily and temporal, as Joshua did for the Hebrews, but spiritual and eternal, both by laboring and by suffering and dying. Hence St. Jerome, in his epistle to Paulinus, concerning all the books of sacred history, says: "Joshua the son of Nun bears the type of the Lord not only in his deeds but also in his name: he crosses the Jordan, overthrows the kingdoms of the enemy, divides the land among the victorious people, and through each city, village, mountain, river, stream, and border, describes the spiritual kingdoms of the Church and the heavenly Jerusalem." And St. Augustine, in Book 16 Against Faustus, chapter 20: "The true Israelite remembers in figure that dead Jesus, who led them into the land of the dying, and recognizes in truth the living Jesus, under whose leadership he may enter the land of the living." Again, St. Jerome, in his epistle to Paula on the death of Blesilla, says that in the Scriptures the death of Moses is mourned, but not that of Joshua; because Moses was a type of the old law, in which all descended to the underworld: "but in Jesus [Joshua], that is, in the Gospel, through whom paradise was opened, joys follow death."
3. WHAT GLORY HE ATTAINED IN LIFTING UP HIS HANDS AND HURLING (in Greek ektenas, that is, extending) SWORDS AGAINST THE CITIES! — that is, swords, or also long projectiles and javelins resembling a spear: for these too are called "rhomphæas," and they are properly thrown, as our translator renders it; although "to hurl rhomphæas" could mean the same as to brandish swords; for he who brandishes a sword swings it around on every side and hurls it. Hence the Tigurina: How great a glory he won, as often as he raised his hands and brandished his sword against cities! For rhomphæa signifies both a sword and a javelin. Hence rhomphæa by metathesis of letters is the same as framea. Again, Gellius, Book 10, chapter 29, counts rhomphæas among both missiles and swords: "Rhomphæa," he says, "is a kind of weapon of the Thracian nation, and this word is found in the fourteenth book of Q. Ennius's Annals." The Syriac reads: How splendid for him, when he raised the spear he held in his hand and wielded it against the cities! This alludes to Joshua's first expedition and the capture of the city of Ai, in which Joshua, chapter 8, says: "But Joshua did not draw back his hand, which he had extended on high, holding the shield, until all the inhabitants of Ai were slain." Therefore for Joshua "to hurl the rhomphæa" was properly to extend and brandish the spear with the shield, or the shield affixed to the spear, against the city of Ai; for the Hebrew word kidon, which our translator, Symmachus, and Josephus render as "shield," the Chaldean and more recent interpreters of his era render as "lance" or "missile" or "spear" or "banner." For it is likely that Joshua raised the shield on high by means of the spear, so that he could be seen by the ambush he had placed near the city. For this was the signal Joshua had given them, by which they would be alerted to invade the city once he had lured the enemy out by feigning flight, as Abulensis and Theodoret teach there, Question 10.
Moreover, this raising of the spear and shield was a symbol of God's present power and vengeance, just as was the raising of Moses's hands against Amalek (Exodus 17). Hence Joshua held the spear with the shield aloft until all the inhabitants of Ai were slain by the Hebrews (Joshua 8:26). Allegorically, Joshua here represented Christ crucified; for he extended his effective hands toward Ai, that is, toward this world laid waste by Satan's tyranny—for Ai signifies desolation—and he did not draw them back, as though nailed to the cross, until the victory over sin, the devil, death, and hell was consummated.
4. WHO BEFORE HIM SO STOOD HIS GROUND? FOR THE LORD HIMSELF BROUGHT THE ENEMIES TO HIM. — Some incorrectly read "struck down." The meaning is, as if to say: Moses and the other Patriarchs avoided the enemies of Israel more by flight than they attacked them in battle. Joshua was the first who stood fearlessly against the enemies of Israel, engaged them in combat, and overthrew them; for the Lord Himself brought the enemies into the hands of Joshua and delivered them to him (Joshua 10). The Greek varies here; for some read as our translator does, polemious, that is, enemies; others read polemous, that is, wars. Again, instead of kyriou they read kyrio, that is, of the Lord. Hence they translate: For the battles of the Lord he himself conducted, that is, directed, and was their leader. So the Tigurina: Who before him was such, seeing that he waged the wars of the Lord! Yet the Greek corrected at Rome agrees with our translator; for it reads: Who before him so stood? For the Lord Himself brought the enemies. Others: Who before him so fought? (For "to stand" is a military term; hence "to stand in the battle line" means to fight.) For the Lord Himself afflicted the enemies. The Syriac: Who was powerful to stand before him? For the war of the Lord he himself waged.
5. WAS NOT THE SUN HELD BACK BY HIS WRATH, AND ONE DAY MADE AS TWO? — He reads hos duo, that is, as two; others read pros duo, that is, to two, with the same meaning. Hence they translate: And one day extended to two. For "in wrath" he reads eis cheiri; some now read en cheiri, that is, in his hand, that is, by the work and command of Joshua. "In wrath," that is, out of zeal and anger against the enemies of God, so as to destroy the impious Canaanites, the Spirit driving him to this, as is clear first from the outcome; for the sun actually stood still: "The Lord obeying the voice of a man and fighting for Israel" (Joshua 10:14). But the Lord would not have obeyed the voice of Joshua unless He had approved and inspired it. Second, because Sirach here praises Joshua for having stopped the sun; therefore Joshua did this out of prudence and virtue. Third, because God was guiding Joshua just as He had guided Moses, as He had promised him (Joshua 1:5). Therefore the one who said that Joshua rashly and recklessly commanded the sun to stand still was himself rash.
For "the sun was held back," the Greek reads anepodisen helios, which the Complutensian and others generally translate as "the sun went backward"; for anapodizein literally means to retrace one's step, to go backward, to remeasure one's pace. But since in Joshua 10:13 the sun is said to have stood still, not gone backward, our translator more correctly renders it as "the sun was held back," namely from its course and progress, and halted its journey: for this too is what anapodizein signifies. Hence the Tigurina translates: Did not the sun stand still by his work, and one day grow to two? The Syriac: In his hand the sun stood still, and one day became two days. For when Joshua was fighting for the Gibeonites against the five kings, and having won the victory wished to utterly destroy them, fearing that the day would fail and the enemies would escape by flight through the darkness of night, he commanded the sun to stand still and give light for pursuing the enemies and destroying them completely. Therefore with great trust in God (God indeed inwardly encouraging him to dare this, nay urging him, and promising a happy outcome of his command, and indeed a miracle), he said before the whole people: "Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and moon, over the valley of Ajalon; and the sun and moon stood still until the nation avenged itself on its enemies. Is not this written in the Book of the Just? The sun therefore stood still in the midst of the sky and did not hasten to set for the space of one day; there was not before or after so long a day, the Lord obeying the voice of a man and fighting for Israel" (Joshua 10:12). This portent of Joshua is surely unheard of from all ages, as also was his trust and piety toward God, on account of which God, obeying his voice, stopped the sun and all the heavens, and fighting for him destroyed the enemies.
Note and weigh the phrase "the Lord obeying the voice of a man," and from this estimate how great was Joshua's merit before God: "Understand," says St. Chrysostom, Homily 27 on the Epistle to the Hebrews, "how great the just man is! Joshua the son of Nun said: Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and it was done. Let therefore the whole world come, nay rather two, or three, or ten, and twenty worlds speak and do this; but they will not be able. But the friend of God commanded the creatures that were his friends, or rather he made a request of his friend, and the servants obeyed; and he who was below commanded those above."
In this history note first: For "Sun, do not move," the Hebrew reads, "Sun, be silent." Hence Rabbi Solomon says that the sun daily sings sweet hymns in praise of God, but then at Joshua's command fell silent from these. The Rabbi here seems to follow the Platonists, who place Sirens in the celestial spheres singing sweetly. But these are fantasies: for it is established that the heavens lack a soul, and consequently lack voice and song. "Be silent" therefore means "be still, stop, do not move," as our translator renders it. It is a catachresis frequent among the Hebrews. Second, it is more true that together with the sun, the moon and all the celestial spheres also stood still: otherwise it would have been a greater and new miracle that, while the sun stood still, the heavens and other stars continued to move, and there would have been in the heavens and on earth a great and continuous disturbance of things, as Abulensis shows at length in Joshua 10. Therefore there was then no time, which is the measure of the motion of the primum mobile: for this motion then ceased; but there was time, that is, duration which accompanies the existence of each thing, whose measure was the duration of the sky and the primum mobile.
Third, Lyra, Vatablus, Serarius, Salianus, and others hold that the sun was at midday when Joshua stopped it: for foreseeing that there would not be enough time after noon to complete the victory, he stopped the sun at midday. The words of Joshua quoted above favor this, which say the sun stood still in the midst of the sky; but those words are not conclusive. For the Hebrews often take "in the midst" in the popular sense, not geometrically, so that "in the midst of the sky" means the same as "in the sky itself" or "in our hemisphere." So Christ is said to have been buried "in the heart of the earth," that is, in the earth itself: for He was not buried in its heart, that is, in the middle (Matthew 12:40). Hence others hold with no less probability that the sun was then near to setting. For Joshua commanded it to stand still because it was already setting and the enemy would have escaped through the darkness of night: at midday there would have been no reason to halt it, since there would still be six or seven hours of daylight in which to pursue the enemies. So Abulensis, Dionysius, Hugh, Magalianus, and others; and this is what is signified in Joshua 10, when it says: "The sun did not hasten to set," as if to say: the sun was already near setting and was hastening toward it; but at Joshua's word it stood still and did not set.
You ask: How long was this day, and how many hours were added to it? I presuppose that in Judea the longest day, which occurs at the summer solstice (under which this battle seems to have taken place), was not 18 hours as some claim, but only 14 hours. Now the Chaldean Paraphrast asserts that this day was 36 hours long: therefore since the artificial day was twelve hours, God made the sun stand still for 24 hours, which added to the twelve already mentioned make 36: so St. Dionysius. In support of the same opinion, St. Justin is cited in his Dialogue Against Trypho, as if he held this day to have been 36 hours, so that besides the 12 natural hours, 24 supernatural hours were added to it: for in Joshua chapter 10, the sun is said to have stood still "for the space of one day," which he understands as a natural day of 24 hours. But this should rather be understood of the artificial day: for this alone provided light, and this is what Sirach implies here when he says: "And one day was made as two," as if to say: The day, which is usually 12, or at the summer solstice 14 hours, was made 24 or 28 hours; therefore the sun stood still for 12 or at most 14 hours: for these were more than enough to complete the victory. So our Cosmus Magalianus, in his commentary on Joshua 10, holds that this day at the solstice was 14 hours, and when these had elapsed with the sun already approaching its setting, God at Joshua's command stopped the sun for the same number of hours, namely 14, so that in all this day was 28 hours: for it was doubled, as Sirach says here.
He holds that the day on which, at Isaiah's command in answer to the prayers of Hezekiah, the sun went backward, was 32 hours long. Allegorically, Theodoret, on Joshua 10, Question 13, says: Just as the sun stood still while Joshua fought, so when Christ dying on the cross destroyed death by His death, the sun at midday withheld its rays and filled the earth with darkness. Tropologically, St. Cyril, in his Collections, says: Gibeon is the sublime mind; the valley is the flesh humbled by death; the sun is prayer illuminating the mind; the moon is the natural law persuading the flesh to be subject to the soul: for the moon is a symbol of nature because of its changeability. Whoever therefore through a pious way of life engages in battle against spiritual enemies becomes Joshua the son of Nun, and prays that the sun may stand still for him over Gibeon, that is, that prayer may illuminate and exalt the mind; and the moon over the valley, that is, that the natural law may remain and be strengthened for him, subduing and mortifying the vices of the flesh. And Rabanus says here: Jesus [Joshua] causes the sun of justice never to set for his faithful ones, but always to rise and to flood the hearts of believers with the light of truth. Politically, Joshua here shows himself a skilled military commander: for he commands the sun to stand still against Gibeon, so that it is adverse and harmful to the enemy, but favorable and advantageous to himself. For one about to arrange a battle line must above all else look to three things: the sun, the wind, and the dust. The sun, so that he has it at his back, not in front; for the sun in front robs one of sight in battle. The wind, so that it is favorable; for if it is contrary, it deflects and suppresses one's own missiles, but aids and advances the enemy's. The dust, because if it is gathered in front, it will fill and close the eyes.
Moreover, what is said in Joshua 10:14, "There was not before or after so long a day," should be understood as referring to the time when this was written, either by Joshua or rather by Samuel or someone else. For after Samuel, Isaiah, chapter 38:8, made the sun go back ten degrees. Hence St. Dionysius, in his epistle to Polycarp, holds that that day was 32 hours: while this day of Joshua's was only 24 or 28 hours; although others quite probably hold that the day of Isaiah was only 15 hours, as I said on Isaiah 38. Again, in 1 Chronicles 4:22, a son of Shelah is named "who made the sun stand still, and men of falsehood, and the secure one, and the one who burns." Where Rabanus and the Gloss hold that this son of Shelah truly stopped the sun; as though God through him, on account of the enormous sins of that age, changed the course of the sun in order to lead men to the recognition of their sins and to repentance. Moreover, the Hebrews hold that this son was Elimelech, the father-in-law of Ruth (chapter 1). But "who made the sun stand still," like the names that follow, is the proper name of a son of Shelah, who in Hebrew is called Joshim, that is, "who made stand"; our translator added "the sun." Similarly, for "men of falsehood" the Hebrew is Cozeba, which our translator rendered as "falsehood"; for "the secure one" the Hebrew is Joash; for "the one who burns" the Hebrew is Saraph. These are therefore proper names of the sons of Shelah, which the Latin translator rendered into Latin according to their etymologies: why he did this is uncertain. Therefore it is equally uncertain whether this Joakim actually stopped the sun. Our Magalianus, on Joshua 10:22, note 7, where he has gathered much on this subject, holds that he is called Joakim, that is, "stopper of the sun," because by his prayers, like Elijah, he brought upon the world such drought and sterility on account of the sins of his age that the sun seemed to stand still and scorch the earth.
Finally, several other eminent Saints are recorded to have similarly stopped the sun. So Abbot Mutius, setting out to visit a sick person, stopped the setting sun. Hear Rufinus, Book 2 of the Lives of the Holy Fathers, chapter 9: "When he saw the sun already sinking, he said to it: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, stand a little while on your course, and wait for me until I reach the village. And when it had already begun to sink in part, it stood still, and did not set until the man of God reached the village; and those standing and watching the sun's delay in setting all marveled, to whom he said: Do you not remember the Lord's words: If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will do greater signs than these." In the same manner and for a similar reason, Abbot Bessarion is said to have stopped the sun, in Book 6 of the Lives of the Holy Fathers, chapter 2, where another old man is also narrated to have done the same.
Again, that the sun stood still under Charlemagne to avenge God's enemies, namely the Saracens who had killed Count Roland and other princes of Charles in the disaster of Roncesvalles, and similarly that the sun stood still under the Emperor Charles V when he defeated and captured the Saxon, is taught by Ludovicus Avila, Book 2 of the German War, Consalvus de Illescas, in Part 2 of his Pontifical History, and others whom our Christophorus Schreiner cites and follows in his book On Celestial Refractions, chapter 32, at the end; furthermore, Turpin, Archbishop of Rheims, a contemporary and intimate of Charlemagne, testifies the same of him in chapter 26 of his Life. But this Turpin is of doubtful credibility, indeed fabulous, as Baronius, Bellarmine, Possevinus in his work On Ecclesiastical Writers, and others note.
Godfrey of Bouillon captured Jerusalem in the year of our Lord 1099, on a Friday, on the same day and hour at which Christ had been crucified there, and on that same day the sun went back several degrees, says Eucherius, History, chapter 21, and after him Genebrardus, Book 4 of his Chronology. In like manner, that the sun stood still and continued its course for four hours on the day when the Spaniards in the preceding century fought with the Moors at Oran and captured it under the leadership and, as it were, generalship of Cardinal Francisco Ximenez, a man outstanding for his prudence, learning (hence he arranged for the publication of the Complutensian Bible in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin), holiness, and accomplishments, is attested by Alvarus Gomecius, Book 4 of his Deeds, who adds that by this miracle some of the Moors were converted to Christ, and that the same miracle happened to Charles V when fighting against the Saxon.
Note that in all these cases the sun does not truly seem to have stood still: for the astronomers of the entire world would have noticed this. Nor was such a great miracle necessary: for such a journey or battle could have been accomplished by another means, namely God could have produced a light to shine before them, as He did for the children of Israel (Exodus 10:23). You object: Abbot Mutius and Bessarion are said to have seen not only light, but the sun itself; therefore the sun stood still. I reply by denying the consequence. To the antecedent I say that they saw the sun through rays that were not direct but reflected in a cloud; for God brought a thick cloud and caused the sun, after setting, to cast its rays into it, which, reflected from the cloud to the earth, made the sun itself appear to those looking at it and illuminated the earth; just as in a mirror one sees oneself through the images of oneself reflected from the mirror to the eye of the beholder. And if someone places a coin in a vessel and moves away so that he cannot see the coin, if he fills the vessel with water, he will immediately see the coin through the images of the coin reflected from the water to the eye.
6. HE INVOKED THE MOST HIGH, THE POWERFUL ONE, IN FIGHTING ENEMIES ON EVERY SIDE, AND THE GREAT AND HOLY GOD HEARD HIM WITH STONES OF HAIL OF EXCEEDING GREAT FORCE. — The Syriac reads: When the enemies pressed him on every side, he invoked the Most High Ruler, and the great Lord heard him, pelting them with vehement and violent hail. Others translate conversely: He invoked the supreme Potentate, while he was pressing the enemies on every side. For you may also translate thus: "in his pressing the enemies on every side"; for this is ambiguous, and signifies both that Joshua pressed the Canaanites on every side, and that the Canaanites pressed Joshua himself: for Joshua, attacking the Canaanites all around at God's command, needed God's powerful assistance to conquer them, and therefore prudently invoked Him. In turn, all the Canaanites, seeing that destruction was being prepared for them, conspired against Joshua and the Hebrews and attacked them from every side. The history of the hailstorm is narrated in Joshua 10:11. For when Joshua was fighting for the Gibeonites against the five kings, "the Lord troubled them before the face of Israel and crushed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, etc.; He sent upon them great stones from heaven as far as Azekah, and many more died by the hailstones than the children of Israel had slain with the sword."
His will and His essence. Again, since the eternal law arises from the reason of the divine essence (which, just as it is the primordial origin of all entitative perfection, so also of all moral perfection and of all rectitude of affection and conduct), it follows that perfection and holiness consist also in union with God through love. Hence the love of God is holiness. Therefore since God is most perfectly united with Himself, both through His nature and through the affection of love, He Himself is supremely holy. Finally, the essence of holiness, as far as we can conceive it, consists in a purity of soul free from all contagion and stain of sin, as Dionysius teaches in chapter 12 of On the Divine Names: "Holiness," he says, "is, to speak in our manner, a purity free from all wickedness, entirely perfect, and in every part immaculate." But such purity belongs supremely to God. Hence God is said to be "holy in all His works," because all His affections and all His operations conform most exactly to the rectitude of the eternal law. For His will through itself and its essence corresponds and is commensurate with the eternal law on an equal footing: because He wills rectitude as perfectly as He conceives it. Hence just as His understanding and judgment of rectitude is infinitely perfect, so also His love and affection for rectitude is infinitely perfect, as being equal to its own intrinsic rule. God therefore is holy in mercy, clemency, and love; He is equally holy in justice and vengeance, by which He punishes the unjust and impious according to their deserts, as here He punished the Canaanites through Joshua. So God is holy in the glorification of the Blessed, and equally holy in the damnation of the reprobate: because in the former He exercises immense mercy, and in the latter terrible justice. In God, moreover, justice is as great as mercy, and the one is equal to the other in holiness and perfection.
Morally, learn here that in every battle, bodily as well as spiritual, the most powerful weapons are those of prayer. For prayer asks and obtains victory from God, whose prerogative it is to give it. So while Moses prayed, Joshua conquered Amalek (Exodus 17:11). So Judas Maccabeus, always sending prayers before his battles, obtained such illustrious victories: only in his last battle is he not recorded to have prayed, and therefore in it he fell and perished.
Some read in the Greek, instead of panoplian, epiphaneian, that is, as the Complutensian has it: He broke upon the nations with war, namely with a battle line and combat. Others: He caused war to rush upon the nations with violence. The Tigurina: He fell upon the nations in battle; for katabatto means the same as to assail, to strike forcefully, to shatter, to break, to burst, to hurl down, to overthrow with force, as happened in the flood when the cataracts of heaven were broken open and a torrential rain poured down. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: God, fighting for Joshua against the Canaanites, opened and burst the cataracts of heaven, and thence He rained hail and hurled upon them with great force and crashing His warlike missiles, namely stones of hail, lightning, and thunder, by which "in the descent" of Beth-horon, as is said in Joshua 10:10, "He destroyed the adversaries," namely the Canaanites, enemies of God and Israel; and this to the end "that the nations might know the power"—in Greek panoplian, that is, the full armor, or every kind of weaponry (such as hail, lightning, thunder, etc.)—"of Him (God), because it is not easy to fight against God," that is, it is impossible; for this is a litotes. In Greek: "because before the Lord is his battle," that is, as the Roman edition translates, "because his war was before the Lord," that is, as Jansenius explains, because Joshua's war pleased God and was waged with the Lord's favor. So also the Tigurina: That the nations might know his arms, and that the war was waged by him with the Lord favoring (Vatablus: watching, or before the eyes, which the Hebrews say liphne).
Others more aptly translate in accordance with our version: That the nations might know all his arms, because against the Lord is the war of each of them; taking the pronoun distributively for each one. To this Christ alluded when He dueled with Saul and struck him down, saying: "It is hard for you to kick against the goad" (Acts 9:5). So the pagans relate that the Titans, warring against Jupiter, were struck down by him and hurled by lightning into Tartarus. See what God says to holy Job when Job disputes with Him (Job 40:1ff). Indeed, to pass over other examples, in this year 1626 and the preceding one we saw evident and visible examples of this truth, when we watched heretics rebelling against God and their orthodox princes routed so often and with such great slaughter, when nearly all the heads of the heretical alliance met a swift and fatal death, when we saw Catholic princes winning so many, so great, and so continuous victories; so that anyone who denies that God favors the cause of Catholics is either blind or insane. Let those who remain of them, therefore, be wise and learn from the example of their allies: "Because it is not easy to fight against God"; and unless they do so, let them expect shortly a disaster and destruction similar to the slaughter of their allies. For God compensates any delay in vengeance with its severity.
7 and 8. HE MADE AN ASSAULT AGAINST THE HOSTILE NATION, AND IN THE DESCENT HE DESTROYED THE ADVERSARIES, SO THAT THE NATIONS MIGHT KNOW HIS POWER, BECAUSE IT IS NOT EASY TO FIGHT AGAINST GOD.
Second Part of the Chapter. Praise of Joshua and Caleb
8 and 9. AND HE FOLLOWED AFTER THE MIGHTY ONE: AND IN THE DAYS OF MOSES HE SHOWED MERCY, HE AND CALEB THE SON OF JEPHUNNEH, STANDING AGAINST THE ENEMY AND RESTRAINING THE PEOPLE FROM SINS, AND BREAKING THE MURMUR OF MALICE. — Rabanus, Palacius, and others generally read "the mighty ones" (potentes) in the plural, and explain it as though the author continues to narrate Joshua's victory against the five kings already mentioned. For as is narrated in Joshua 10:17, those five kings, seeing the slaughter of their men, remained behind Joshua and hid themselves in a cave. But Joshua, after slaying their soldiers, returned to them and caused all the Israelites to tread upon their necks. Therefore "he followed," that is, pursued "the mighty ones from behind"; because he returned to those whom he had left behind and slew them. But the correct reading is "of the Mighty One" (potentis) in the singular: for so read the Greek and the Latin Roman edition. "Of the Mighty One," namely of the Lord God, as if to say: Joshua followed the mighty Lord and obeyed Him, trusting with firm hope that by the help of the most powerful God promised to him, the Hebrews would overcome the Canaanites, however powerful and strong they were. Because, as Jansenius says, while the other spies followed the spirit of human fear, looking only at what could be done by human strength, and therefore broke the people's spirit with their words of distrust, these two, led by another spirit, considered the divine power and truthfulness, thinking about what they could do through Him who had promised them the land of the Canaanites, and therefore dared to contradict all the others. And for this reason Joshua is here said to have followed after the Mighty One, because he considered His power, not human weakness.
The history is narrated in Numbers 13 and 14, where I explained it, and here it is said of them that "in the days of Moses" they showed "mercy," that is, a work of piety, both toward Moses and toward the people themselves; because it is written of Caleb that, suppressing the murmur of the people that was rising against Moses, he said: "Let us go up and possess the land, for we shall be able to obtain it." In what respect they showed mercy is indicated in what follows: "Standing against the enemy," that is, by standing against the enemy and restraining the people from sins. For the infinitives here are again placed in the Greek manner in place of gerunds; or they should be explained thus: so that they might stand against the enemy and restrain the people. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Caleb and Joshua acted piously and bravely for God, Moses, and the people, by standing steadfastly against the enemy, namely the Canaanites, persuading the Hebrews to fight against them and promising them victory through the power of the Mighty God; and so they restrained the people from the sins of sedition, rebellion, and murmuring, because by their courage and courageous speech to the people they suppressed their murmur, and checked and calmed it: for this is what the Greek katepause signifies. For "the enemy" our translator, with the Greek corrected at Rome, reads echthrou. But the Complutensian and others read ekklesias, that is, the Church (assembly), as if to say: Joshua and Caleb stood bravely against the assembly, that is, against the congregation, namely against the murmur of the congregation or gathered people. Hence the Tigurina: For he followed the Mighty One, and in the times of Moses showed himself a friend to him, while he with Caleb the son of Jephunneh opposed the enemy and prevented the people from sinning (preventing them from apostasy and return to Egypt) and pacified the malicious murmuring. Others: calmed the murmur of wickedness, that is, the wicked murmur of wicked men.
Note the phrase: "To follow from behind the Mighty One" means to follow the back of the Mighty One, that is, to follow the Mighty One, as a servant follows his master from behind; and to follow the mighty God is to believe in God, to trust in God, to obey God, to submit to God in all things, as is explained in verse 12. He alludes to, indeed cites, Numbers 14:24: "My servant Caleb, who, full of another spirit, followed me, I will bring into this land." The Syriac: And he too was perfect after God (he perfectly consented to and obeyed God and His will; another text reads: he embraced, or consecrated himself to the service of God), and in the days of Moses he showed mercy, he and Caleb, standing in the division of the people, to turn the congregation, to dissolve the evil report about the promised land.
Morally, let the faithful learn here, even the weak, to follow behind the mighty God, especially when they are called by Him to arduous and difficult things, for example, to the apostolate, to the Indies, to the lofty life. Let them follow God with great courage and great confidence; because before them they have the preceding power of God, indeed His omnipotence, as a shield that absorbs and shatters all difficulties, and as a battering ram that breaks down and levels all the enemy's oppositions. There is therefore nothing to fear with such a leader, such a shield, such a wall: for no weapon can reach them unless it first shatters the God-power that goes before them and serves as their rampart; but to do this is impossible. Therefore, walled in and armed on every side by God's power, they will overcome all things: for God fights for them, indeed going before them He levels and smooths everything. "What do you fear," says St. Augustine, "O man placed in the bosom of God?" For God, says St. Bernard, makes those who hope in Him and follow Him omnipotent, so that they may say with St. Paul: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me." For it is God's own way to choose and strengthen the weak, in order to confound the strong. Therefore the greater a man's weakness, the greater the strength God confers upon him, if He is invoked. So the weaker one is, the more one can and should not diminish but increase hope and courage: for if one does this, God will certainly be present with greater power and will supply greater strength.
Therefore let such a one consider that what God said to Cyrus is said also to him: "I will go before you and will humble the glorious of the earth; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and will cut asunder the bars of iron. And I will give you hidden treasures and concealed riches, that you may know that I am the Lord who calls you by your name, the God of Israel" (Isaiah 45:2). 10. AND THESE TWO ALONE WERE APPOINTED (in Greek ontes, that is, being, as if to say: Joshua and Caleb, since they were two alone, or only two, and steadfastly resisted the murmuring of the people), WERE DELIVERED FROM DANGER OUT OF THE NUMBER OF SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOT SOLDIERS. — By "danger" understand the danger of death and exclusion from the holy land; for all Hebrews over twenty years of age, who easily numbered six hundred thousand, were by God's sentence on account of their murmuring condemned to death, so that they would die in the desert and not enter the promised land, with the sole exception of two, namely Joshua and Caleb; for because these opposed the murmuring on God's behalf, they entered the land, and indeed led the others into it (Numbers 14). Hence, explaining further, he adds: TO LEAD THEM INTO THE INHERITANCE, INTO THE LAND FLOWING WITH MILK AND HONEY. — As if to say: So that God might lead them, namely Joshua and Caleb, and through them all the other Hebrews into the inheritance of Canaan, which was so fertile that it seemed to flow with milk and honey. That this is the meaning is clear from the Greek, which reads: And these two, since they were, were preserved out of six hundred thousand foot soldiers, to lead them (Tigurina: as those who were to lead) into the inheritance, into the land flowing with milk and honey. The Syriac: And they alone were saved out of six hundred thousand, etc.
11. AND THE LORD GAVE TO CALEB HIMSELF STRENGTH, AND EVEN UNTO OLD AGE HIS VIGOR REMAINED (in Greek ischus, that is, strength, robustness), SO THAT HE ASCENDED TO THE HIGH PLACE OF THE LAND (to Hebron; the Syriac: to give him power over the stronghold of the land), AND HIS SEED OBTAINED THE INHERITANCE. — For Caleb, already 85 years old, was so vigorous that he asked and obtained from Joshua the mountain and city of Hebron, and conquering it by arms made it an inheritance for himself and his descendants. The history is narrated in Joshua chapter 14:6ff. Hence in verse 10, Caleb says to Joshua: "Today I am eighty-five years old, and I am as strong as I was at the time when I was sent to explore (43 years ago); the strength of that time perseveres in me to this day, both for fighting and for marching." He then relates how he conquered Hebron and the giants dwelling in it. For this reason Caleb was buried in Hebron. Hear St. Jerome, in the Epitaph of St. Paula, describing her journey through the Holy Land: "She ascended," he says, "to Hebron; this is Kiriath-arba, that is, the town of the four men (Joshua 14:15). Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the great Adam, whom the Hebrews suppose to be buried there according to the book of Joshua son of Nun; although most think Caleb was brought there, whose memorial is shown nearby.
Learn here how great Caleb was, who is buried and compared with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, so that he is added to them as a fourth. Hence the name Caleb in Hebrew alludes to kelabi, that is, "like a lion." For Judah, from whom Caleb descended, was compared to a lion (Genesis 49:9). First, just as the lion is the strongest of animals, so Judah was the strongest of the brothers and Caleb the strongest of the Israelites of his age. Second, the lion alone among clawed animals opens its eyes and sees as soon as it is born; hence it is called by Plutarch a "solar animal." Many have thought the lion to be sleepless and never to sleep; but Aristotle and others deny this, who nevertheless admit that the lion when sleeping moves its tail and sleeps with half-open eyes, because its eyes are so large that they cannot be closed by the eyelids. Hence the lion is a symbol of vigilance; whence lions are usually carved at the doors of temples, as we see at Rome, as their guardians. So vigilant was Caleb, in order to lead himself and his people into the promised land. Third, the lion when it grows old becomes better, says Pierius, Hieroglyphics 4. Hence that old man in Aristophanes, comparing his old age to that of a lion, placed it above the strength of many young men. Such was Caleb, to whom "the Lord gave strength, and even unto old age his vigor remained, so that he might ascend to the high place of the land." Similar are the wise and just, who in old age, as the strength of the body fails, grow in the powers of the mind, and delight in the pursuit of wisdom; indeed they taste beforehand the delights of paradise and yearn for them. For, as St. Bernard says, in Sermon 2 on the text "The kingdom is not, etc.": "Let my tongue cleave to my palate if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem as the beginning of my joy. Truly in the beginning of joy, because the end is stored up there. The beginning of that joy which we sometimes feel here is a drop, a little droplet, descending from that river whose torrent gladdens the city of God."
Fourth, in Hebrew the lion is called labi from leb, that is, "heart," as if courageous: for it has a lofty, strong, and fearless heart. So Caleb is called keleb, that is, "like a heart"; for he himself was courageous, wise, magnanimous, and among the foremost heroes of his age. So Cyrus, according to Xenophon, dying at extreme old age, denied that he had ever felt old age become weaker than his youth had been; indeed the weakness of the elderly often comes from intemperance and excess either in food, or labors, or passions, especially anger and sadness: whoever avoids these will pass a strong and vigorous old age.
12. SO THAT ALL THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL MIGHT SEE THAT IT IS GOOD TO OBEY THE HOLY GOD. — In Greek: that it is good to walk behind the Lord, that is, to follow the Lord and obey Him, as I said on verse 8. The Tigurina: That all the posterity of Israel might know how good it is to follow the Lord, when they see Joshua and Caleb entering the promised land with so many triumphs and so much glory, because they trusted and obeyed God; while all the rest were excluded from it, because, murmuring, they turned their backs on the Lord, distrusting both the divine promise and power, and the weakness of their own strength. The God whom he called "mighty" in verse 8, he here calls "holy," who namely faithfully and holily fulfills what He promised, as He had here promised the Hebrews the land of Canaan; and believing this, Joshua and Caleb holily obeyed the holy God. For what prudent person would not follow the holiness that goes before him? Who would not obey the holy God, indeed who is uncreated, immense, and most august holiness itself, from whom all the holiness of men and angels flows as a ray from the sun?
Allied to this thought are two maxims of the 72 Translators, with whom Sirach was contemporary and perhaps one of them. For Ptolemy Philadelphus, proposing to each of the 72 Translators an ethical question, posed to the one who was thirtieth in order this question: "What is most important in glory?" To which he promptly replied: "To worship God, not, I say, with sacrifices or gifts, but with purity of soul, and to follow His will with sincere faith." Conversely, to the one who was 57th in order, he proposed: "Why does someone become inglorious?" To which he replied: "If at any time someone, led by pride, becomes angry, reproaches and loss of glory then follow; for God, the ruler of all glory, directs it where He wills." Therefore just as it is great glory to humbly follow the Lord, so on the contrary it is great shame to be proud and refuse to follow, but instead to go before the Lord. So Aristeas, in the History of the 72 Translators. See what was said on chapter 23:38, on the text: It is a great glory to follow the Lord.
Third Part of the Chapter. Praise of the Judges of Israel
13. AND THE JUDGES, EACH ONE BY HIS OWN NAME (that is, each individually and by name), WHOSE HEART WAS NOT CORRUPTED (the Syriac: did not go astray); WHO DID NOT TURN AWAY FROM THE LORD — supply: let them be praised, or let them be worthy of praise, just like Aaron, Phinehas, Joshua, Caleb, and the others already named. 14 and 15. MAY THEIR MEMORY BE IN BLESSING, AND MAY THEIR BONES SPROUT FROM THEIR PLACE, AND MAY THEIR NAME ENDURE FOREVER, ENDURING TO THEIR CHILDREN — THE GLORY OF HOLY MEN. — From Joshua and Caleb he descends in direct sequence and chronological order to the judges. He therefore praises here the judges, that is, the champions of Israel, namely Othniel, Barak, Gideon, Samson, etc., who by their strength and valor freed and vindicated Israel from the Edomites, Syrians, Philistines, and other enemies, whose heroic deeds, battles, and victories are described in the book of Judges. However, he does not assert that all judges are to be praised, but only those whose heart was not corrupted—in Greek, whose heart did not fornicate, that is, did not fall into idolatry (for this in the Scriptures is called "fornication," namely spiritual and mystical), and who "did not turn away from the Lord." For some judges were impious, such as Abimelech the son of Gideon, who killed 70 brothers (Judges 9). But the rest, for the most part, who were pious and zealous, are worthy of eternal praise, "so that their memory may be in blessing." Less conventionally, Jansenius takes ut as meaning "would that," as Terence uses it when he says: "Ut" (that is, would that) "the gods and goddesses destroy him." For in Greek it is not ut, but e (that is, "may it be"), which is the word of one expressing a wish, as if to say: May it be so: "And may their bones sprout from their place," as if to say: may the memory of their bones, that is, of their tomb and consequently of themselves, be ever green and flourishing, so that their fame may be continuously kept alive and increased.
Hence, explaining further, he adds: "And may their name endure forever," by the fact that it flows forth and endures among "their children," which is the great glory owed to the virtue of these "holy men." It is a metonymy and metalepsis; for from the bones is understood the tomb, from the tomb the memory, from the memory the fame and glory of illustrious judges. Again, "to sprout" is taken for "to grow green again" and "to flourish always." I shall say more about this phrase at chapter 49:12; hence the Greek reads: May their bones grow green again, or bloom again in their place, and their name, antikatalassomenon, that is, exchanged; the Roman edition: restored; they being glorified in their children, as if to say: May their name and fame be transferred, exchanged, and restored in their children, in whom, as the parents themselves as it were live again and are glorified, by that very fact their name, fame, and life is restored. Vatablus: Moreover, of all the judges individually by name, of all those whose soul did not fornicate and who did not fall away from the Lord, may the memory be happy and blessed. May their bones grow green in their places, and their name be handed down through successions to the most celebrated of posterity. For just as a flower that died in winter grows green again and revives in spring, so also a father's name, as it were dead in death, grows green again and revives in children, disciples, and posterity. Symbolically and anagogically, bones are a symbol of resurrection and eternal glory, according to Isaiah 66:14: "Your bones shall sprout like grass." And Ezekiel saw, in chapter 37:3ff., bones coming together with bones and reviving, as a symbol of the resurrection. See what was said in both places. Symbolically, the bones of the saints sprout and grow green when they inspire veneration and reverence in the faithful, even through miracles; therefore the faithful religiously preserve and venerate the bones and relics of the saints, and thereby obtain great benefits from God, as St. Augustine was an eyewitness regarding the relics of St. Stephen (City of God, Book 22, chapter 8). And this is the glory of holy men; for this glory consists in holiness, in piety, humility, and charity, which he demonstrates through miracles.
Hence the Syriac here translates: May their bones gleam like lilies, and may they leave their goodness to their children and to the entire praiseworthy people.
Fifth Part of the Chapter. Praise of Samuel
16. BELOVED OF THE LORD HIS GOD, SAMUEL, THE PROPHET OF THE LORD, RENEWED THE GOVERNMENT, AND ANOINTED PRINCES IN HIS NATION. — The Syriac: Beloved of his Creator, who was asked for from his mother's womb, continent in prophecy (celibate among the Prophets, a Nazirite among the Prophets), Samuel judge and priest, by whose word the kingdom was established, and he anointed princes and kings for the people. From the Judges he passes to Samuel, because he was the last of the Judges, and in place of Judges he introduced kings and a kingdom for Israel, and thereby changed as it were the aristocracy of Israel into a monarchy. To Samuel therefore he gives these commendations: first, that he was "beloved of the Lord his God," and this from boyhood; for from boyhood God loved Samuel and held him in delight, as His own, inasmuch as his barren mother had obtained him from God by prayers, and therefore had given back and consecrated the newborn child to serve Him in the tabernacle; so that Samuel appeared to be a true minister of God, and conversely God appeared to be, beyond all others, the proper God of Samuel. For the phrase "his God" carries this emphasis. He alludes to 1 Samuel 2:21: "The boy Samuel grew great before the Lord." And below: "But the boy Samuel advanced and grew, and was pleasing both to God and to men." Hence "Samuel" in Hebrew is said to be equivalent to Saul meEl, that is, "asked of God," according to 1 Samuel 1:20: "Anna conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, because she had asked him of the Lord." Then, in verse 27, bringing and offering him to God: "For this child I prayed, and the Lord gave me, she said, my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the days that he shall be lent to the Lord," as if to say: This son of mine, when he was born, was called by me "Samuel," meaning Saul meEl, that is, "asked of God"; but now let him be called "Samuel" meaning Saul leEl (as the Hebrew has), that is, "given and offered by me, indeed returned, to the Lord." Hence some authors cited by Abulensis at that passage not improbably hold that "Samuel" is the same as "Ishmael," as if to say: "The hearing of God," or "she was heard by God," namely my petition. Finally, St. Jerome in the Hebrew Names, St. Gregory in his commentary on 1 Samuel chapter 1, Origen, and Angelomus at the same place say: "Samuel" is the same as semo El, that is, "his name is God"; because Samuel was as it were a certain earthly God of Israel, and thus a type of Christ the Son of God in the flesh.
To which the name Samuel alludes; although this was not the mother's etymology, namely why he was called Samuel by her. I say the same about that explanation of Lyra in his Differences of Scripture: "Samuel," he says, "is said to be equivalent to hascam El," that is, "God placed him." From this it is clear that Samuel was beloved of God, inasmuch as he was begotten more by God than by Elkanah and Hannah, and therefore should be called the son of God rather than of Hannah, and for this reason he was called Samuel, so that as often as he heard his own name and was called by it, he would remember God, and acknowledge that he owed himself entirely to Him, and willingly give himself back to God through the Nazirite vow and consecrate himself, and eagerly take up the heavy duties and burdens of God's service out of love for God as his father. Second, that he was "the Prophet of the Lord"; for with Moses the Prophet, prophecy seemed almost dead, but God revived it in Samuel. Hence St. Peter, in Acts 3, traces the origin of prophecy and the prophets concerning Christ from Samuel: "All the Prophets," he says, "from Samuel onward, who have spoken, announced these days." Furthermore, Samuel while still a boy began to prophesy, to converse with the Lord, and to be taught by Him about future events, and indeed the most momentous matters, such as the destruction of Eli and the entire people, as is clear from 1 Samuel 3. Third, that he "renewed the government," that is, he established a new form of government, when he transferred the rule and authority of the Judges into a royal one: for by raising up royal power he instituted a new form of governance, by which he renewed, strengthened, and enlarged the dominion of Israel; for the rule and authority of a kingdom or monarchy is stronger than that of judges and an aristocracy. Hence in Greek it reads, katestese basileian (so the Roman edition, although the Complutensian reads in the plural basileias, that is, kingdoms), meaning he established, incorporated, constituted, and created the kingdom and kings — first Saul, then after his rejection by God, David, whose descendants were kings of Israel in continuous succession until its destruction and the Babylonian captivity. See the history of these events in 1 Samuel 7 and following. Samuel therefore transformed the aristocratic government of the nation through Judges into a better one, namely a monarchical one: for he caused the judicial polity of the Jews to become royal. He alludes to 1 Samuel 11:14, where Samuel said to the people after the victory that Saul the new king had won over Nahash king of Ammon: "Come and let us go to Gilgal, and let us there renew the kingdom. And all the people went to Gilgal,
and there they made Saul king before the Lord." For although Saul had already been appointed king by Samuel at Mizpah (1 Samuel 10:24), nevertheless after this victory he was solemnly anointed king by the same Samuel at Gilgal, with sacrifices preceding, amid the rejoicing and acclaim of the entire people, whom Samuel, after having attested his own integrity, adjured to maintain the worship and law of the true God together with the new king; and thus there he renewed, that is, confirmed and established the new kingdom of the new king. See 1 Samuel chapter 12. Fourth, that he not only appointed Saul and David as kings, but also as Prophet and Priest anointed and consecrated them, so that they would be holy kings consecrated to the holy God, for the holy governance of Israel, a people dedicated and holy to God. Hence the Tigurina translates: Dear to his Lord, whose Prophet he was, Samuel appointed kings and anointed princes for His people. For kings are the princes of the people. 17. BY THE LAW OF THE LORD HE JUDGED THE CONGREGATION, AND THE GOD (some incorrectly read: God or the Lord, in the accusative) OF JACOB SAW. — This is the fifth commendation of Samuel, that "by the law," that is, according to the law, in conformity with the law, and not according to his own desire, avarice, favoritism, or partiality, he judged "the congregation," that is, as the Greek has it, the synagogue, or the assembly of the people: and, that is because, the God of Jacob saw — in Greek, kai epeskepsato Kyrios ton Iakob, that is, the Lord looked upon and visited Jacob, as if to say: When Israel was on one hand being civilly oppressed by the Philistines, and on the other hand being ecclesiastically harassed by the sons of Eli, who impiously, scandalously, and tyrannically administered the sacred rites and sacrifices, and therefore the state of both the commonwealth and the Church in Israel was most wretched; God took pity on it, and in His mercy looking upon, visiting, and liberating "Jacob," that is, Israel, He opportunely sent Samuel, who might remedy such great evils, and justly, uprightly, and holily govern and judge the people, and free them from the Philistines, and thereby restore both the commonwealth to its strength and the Church of Israel to its holiness. Hence the Syriac translates: By his law he ruled over the congregations (or by his authority he visited the congregations), as the Lord of Jacob, that is, of Israel, commanded; and the Tigurina: By the law of the Lord he governed the multitude, while the Lord looked upon Jacob; others: By the law of the Lord he judged the Synagogue, and the Lord looked upon Jacob. He alludes to, indeed he cites, 1 Samuel 7:13: "And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not continue further to come into the territory of Israel. Therefore the hand of the Lord was upon the Philistines all the days of Samuel."
18. AND IN HIS FAITH AND GENTLENESS HE MADE HIM HOLY, AND CHOSE HIM OUT OF ALL FLESH. — This is the sixth commendation of Samuel, that God on account of his faith and gentleness sanctified him, and chose and singled him out above all others for so great a dignity of judgeship, prophecy, and leadership of the people, about which we said more at verse 16. Note the phrase "in faith," that is, in his faithfulness to God, "he was proven a prophet," namely that he faithfully discharged the prophetic office, that is, the mission from God to the people that had been entrusted to him by God, uprightly and courageously proclaiming to the people and carrying out the commands of God, fearing no one's displeasure or hatred. Hence "he was known to be faithful in his words," both because he predicted or proclaimed nothing that he had not heard from God, and because everything that he prophesied came to pass faithfully and truly, just as he had foretold: "Because he saw the God of light," that is, because he was truly illuminated by God with divine and prophetic light, and he reported to the people only those things which he saw in that light; for from this, he and the other Prophets were called Seers, and prophecy was called Vision. Where note that prophecy is sometimes called Vision, sometimes Hearing: and the Prophets sometimes say they saw, sometimes that they heard the word of the Lord; because in the intellect and in intellectual revelation, hearing and seeing are often the same thing: and the Hebrews use "to see" for "to hear," indeed for any sense and knowledge, as is clear from Exodus 20:18. Therefore Samuel is said to have "seen," that is, to have heard, "the God of light" revealing future things to him. Add that Samuel seems to have seen God, that is, an angel acting as God's representative in an assumed form or body, as is sufficiently gathered from 1 Samuel 3:10 and 21, where it is said that the Lord came and stood, and called Samuel, and appeared to him in Shiloh. Note that the phrase "because he saw the God of light" can be taken either causally according to the meaning already given, or as expressing the content of the recognition, as if to say: Samuel was recognized as faithful, "because," that is, in that, he had seen the God of light — meaning: all recognized that he had seen "the God of light," that is, the author of knowledge and prophecy; in other words, all recognized that he was truly a Prophet of God, and did not speak from his own imaginings, but from sights and visions received from God. This meaning is supported by the Greek, which reads: En pistei autou ekribaste prophetes, kai egnosthe en remasi autou pistos oraseos, that is: In his faith he was tested, examined, and proven a prophet, and he was recognized in his words as faithful in vision. For thus read the Greek texts corrected at Rome, although the Complutensian edition deletes pistos oraseos, that is, "faithful in vision." But these words must certainly be included: for the latter hemistich explains the former in the Hebrew manner, as if to say: Samuel "in faith," that is, in his faithfulness, was "proven" to be a "prophet," that is, he was recognized in his words and oracles to be faithful in vision, that
Furthermore, He is called "the God of light," and alluding to this St. James wrote, in his epistle chapter 1:17: "the Father of lights," because God is uncreated, immense, perennial, and fountainhead light, and therefore the cause of all created light and illumination, both corporeal and spiritual, such as truth, enlightenment of the mind, prophecy, etc. Therefore true Prophets are those who see the God of light and are taught by Him; but false Prophets are those who see the prince of darkness and are taught by him in darkness those things that are dark, that is, uncertain, obscure, doubtful, false, and impious. 19. AND HE INVOKED THE LORD ALMIGHTY, WHEN THE ENEMIES WERE ATTACKING FROM ALL SIDES, WITH THE OFFERING OF AN UNBLEMISHED LAMB. — This is the seventh commendation of Samuel, that just as he was a faithful Prophet and incorruptible judge, so likewise he was an unconquered vanquisher of enemies and defender of the people. For when the Philistines surrounded and attacked the people of Israel on all sides, and Israel could not resist, Samuel, entreated by the people, invoked God dynaton, that is, mighty par excellence — that is, supremely powerful and omnipotent — offering to Him as a holocaust an unblemished lamb, that is, immaculate and undefiled. For the lamb that was offered to God had to be amomos, that is, immaculate; and so the Paschal lamb had to be one year old (Exodus 12:5), that is, of one year, and therefore free from breeding and lust, and undefiled and uncontaminated, so as to represent Christ, most pure and most holy, who is truly the immaculate and uncontaminated lamb, indeed the one who takes away and expiates all the stains of the world. Thus St. Gregory, explaining this history, in Book 3 on 1 Kings, chapter 7, verse 9, says: "The lamb (Christ) is so called for innocence, suckling for the assumption of nature, one for the singularity of power, whole for the most firm solidity of our faith." For "lamb," our translator with the corrected Roman Greek texts reads arnos, for which the Complutensian and others corruptly read andros, that is, "of a man": for Samuel offered not andra, that is, a man, but arna galatenon, that is, a suckling lamb, and therefore tender, undefiled, and unblemished, as our translator renders it. Again, some incorrectly read immolati ("sacrificed") instead of inviolati ("unblemished"). The Syriac: He also crushed the enemies surrounding on all sides by his elevation of a suckling lamb. The Tigurina translates more freely: He invoked the mighty Lord, while he was immolating a suckling lamb with the enemies pressing upon him from all sides. See the history of the event in 1 Samuel 7:9. Tropologically, St. Gregory at the passage cited just above says: "We offer a lamb when we conform ourselves to our Redeemer through the good of chastity and innocence, and when we are nourished by the teaching of our innocent fathers, we suckle as it were at the breasts by which we are nourished for eternal life. We also offer one lamb if, after the beginnings of a religious way of life, we are defiled by no stain of wickedness. Indeed, he offers one lamb who from the purpose of innocence does not slip back to the stains of a polluted life,
never slips away from them: from which stains he returns through the repetition of good works. To offer a whole lamb is also to prepare for eternal life not only the continence of the flesh, but also the integrity of the mind. Therefore he by no means offers a whole lamb to the Lord who consecrates his flesh to God through continence, but does not restrain the secrets of his mind from the wantonness of impure thoughts. For he steals away part of the lamb from the sacrifice, as it were, who does not join purity of heart with continence of body." 20 and 21. AND THE LORD THUNDERED FROM HEAVEN, AND WITH A GREAT NOISE (the Syriac: crash) HE MADE HIS VOICE HEARD (of His thunder, for this is the voice of God), AND HE CRUSHED THE PRINCES OF THE TYRIANS AND ALL THE LEADERS (the Syriac: tyrants) OF THE PHILISTINES. — He cites 1 Samuel 7:10, where it says: "The Philistines (and the Tyrians, bordering them by sea and allied with them, as is stated here) engaged in battle against Israel; but the Lord thundered with a great crash on that day, and terrified them, and they were struck down before Israel," who pursued them to the place and the stone that was therefore called the Stone of Help. Josephus adds, in Antiquities Book 6, chapter 2, saying: "Before the flame had consumed the entire victim (the lamb), with the sacred rite not yet completed, the enemy deployed their battle line in sight, thinking the matter was already settled, having caught the Jews unprepared and unarmed. But they were received far otherwise; for first the earth trembled beneath their feet at God's command, and they staggered with unsteady step, and some even fell into unexpected chasms; then, stunned by frequent thunderbolts and half-scorched in eyes and hands by fiery lightning, so that they could not even hold their weapons, they placed all their hope in flight; when suddenly Samuel rushed upon the confused enemy, and having slain very many, did not cease to pursue the rest all the way to Corraeus (that is the name of the place), and having set up there a stone as the boundary of his victory and the enemy's flight, which would serve in place of a trophy, he called it 'The Strong One,' as a sign of the strength granted by God against the enemy." So says Josephus, who after his custom adds some details to the history of Sacred Scripture, whether received by tradition or for the sake of embellishment, to win renown and honor for his Hebrews among the Gentiles. Certainly by thunder we understand also lightning, because these commonly accompany each other; indeed thunder is the cause of lightning, into which it resolves and ends. And God, who is efficacious in vengeance, is accustomed not only to strike with fear through thunder, but also to blast and crush His enemies through lightning. Tropologically, St. Gregory, at the passage cited just above, by the thunders understands the devout heavenly desires of the Saints, by which they put to flight their enemies, namely the demons: "For they were struck as if by thunder," he says, "when in the elect minds that they had assailed by temptation, they are terrified by the mighty sound of divine power. But when it is said that the Lord thundered with a great crash, what else is this than that all the perfect desires of Christians are a terror to the demons,
are they not? For the great crash of thunder is the perfect desire of each and every elect person. When therefore the Lord thunders with a great crash upon the Philistines, then they are slain by the children of Israel; because when perfect devotion raises the mind of the elect to heavenly joys, it utterly cuts off from itself everything that fights for the opposing side. Rightly also the Philistines are said first to have been terrified, and then to have been slain by the children of Israel; for they are terrified by the devotion of the elect, and slain by their works. And because devotion is prior to works, they are rightly said to be first terrified and afterward slain. For first we receive from the Lord the gift of good will, so that we may afterward be able to confound the counsels of evil spirits. Rightly also the Lord is said to thunder upon the Philistines and terrify them; but the children of Israel are said to slay them, because good desires are supplied to us by divine grace; but we advance the gifts of grace to the victories of the virtues through the effort of free will." 22. AND BEFORE THE TIME OF THE END OF HIS LIFE AND OF THE AGE, HE GAVE TESTIMONY IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD AND OF HIS ANOINTED; HE DID NOT ACCEPT MONEY OR EVEN SANDALS FROM ANY PERSON; AND NO MAN ACCUSED HIM. — This is the eighth commendation of Samuel, that he was so upright and incorruptible in judging that he accepted no gift, not even the smallest, from anyone, nor could anyone, however cunning and malicious, accuse or charge him. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Samuel, before he ended his life and his age, that is, before he departed from this life and this world and died, called the entire people to witness and summoned all the Israelites as witnesses of his innocence and integrity in the sight of God, whom they had worshipped, and before whom they had sacrificed after the new king Saul was installed at Gilgal, so that they might ask from God favorable auspices for his reign; "and in the sight of Christ," that is, of King Saul, whom Samuel had anointed with chrism as king. He testified, I say, that he himself during the entire time he was judge of Israel, had not accepted "money, or even sandals," that is, absolutely nothing, not even what is cheap and of least value (for such were sandals, especially of the Palestinians, whose sandals were open shoes, or soles covering only the bottom of the foot, fastened to the foot above by straps) "from any flesh," that is, from any person whatsoever, "he did not accept" — in Greek it is "I did not accept," so that these are the words of Samuel testifying to his own integrity. And this was so true that in the entire people there was no one who could or dared accuse him of this or any other matter. The Tigurina translates more freely in its usual manner: Before the time of ending his life, he testified before God and His anointed that he had accepted neither money from any mortal, nor anything at all even down to sandals, nor indeed did anyone charge him. Others: And before the time of eternal slumber (for thus you may also translate to koimeiseos aionos, which literally means "of the sleep of the age" — so he calls death), he testified before the Lord and before His anointed: money, not even sandals, have I accepted from any man, and no one called him to court.
For thus you may also translate to koimeiseos, which our translator rendered as "accused." The history is narrated in 1 Samuel 12:1. The Syriac: And at the time when he rested upon his bed, he testified before God and before His Anointed, that he had not accepted a gift or present from any man. Samuel was imitated, within living memory of our ancestors, by that illustrious judge and chancellor of all England, and unconquered champion of the faith unto death, Thomas More, who, as Thomas Stapleton writes in his Life, chapters 8 and 20, although from boyhood up to his 50th year he had served in great offices of the commonwealth, nevertheless did not increase his annual income beyond sixty gold coins, or a little more, while recently a certain person in that same country in a few years had increased his income to sixty thousand. Therefore when More, impiously condemned to death, was being led to execution, and a woman met him impudently reproaching him with corruption, claiming that in judging her case he had done her no small injustice, More stood firm, and with steady face and voice said: "I remember your case very well, and if at this very hour I had to judge it, I would render no other sentence than the one I once gave." If all would imitate More, there would not be so many Verres, so many plunderers of provinces. 23. AND AFTER THIS HE FELL ASLEEP, AND HE MADE KNOWN TO THE KING, AND SHOWED HIM THE END OF HIS LIFE, AND HE RAISED HIS VOICE FROM THE EARTH IN PROPHECY TO DESTROY THE IMPIETY OF THE NATION. — This is the ninth commendation of Samuel, that he prophesied not only in life but also after death. Hence the Greek reads at the beginning: And after he himself had fallen asleep, he prophesied. For when Saul, surrounded by enemies, went to the witch of Endor and asked her to raise up Samuel, so that he might ask him what needed to be done, Samuel appeared to Saul and foretold to him his own destruction and a disaster upon the entire nation on account of his impious life, which indeed came to pass shortly afterward to the letter. See the history in 1 Samuel chapter 28. The Syriac: And after his death he was consulted, and he showed the king his way, and he raised from the earth his voice in prophecy, to cause sins to cease. The question is raised whether the true Samuel appeared to Saul, or a phantom one — that is, whether the soul of Samuel truly appeared, or his specter through the illusion of a demon. Some of the ancients, to whom the authority and canonical status of this book of Ecclesiasticus was not sufficiently known, hold that it was a phantom Samuel, a specter and illusion of the devil, namely a demon in the likeness and form of Samuel. So Tertullian, in the book On the Soul, chapter 57, Procopius, Eucherius, Bede, on 1 Kings chapter 28. St. Augustine also inclines the same way, but with hesitation, in Book 2 to Simplician, Question 3. Jansenius follows St. Augustine: Samuel, he says, is said to have prophesied because the demon summoned by the witch was compelled by an angel to pronounce to Saul those things which God intended to inflict upon him in Samuel's name. The first reason is that this shade of Samuel
obeyed the witch, and her magic, and appears to have been raised up by her incantation and the power and might of a demon; for the witch summoned no one other than her own python, that is, her familiar demon. But this is unworthy, indeed impious, to think of the soul of Samuel the Prophet, so pious and holy. Therefore this was a specter of the demon, not the soul of Samuel. Second, because this shade said among other things to Saul: "Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me" (1 Samuel 28:19). But Samuel was in the limbo of the fathers, whereas Saul seems to have descended to the hell of the damned, inasmuch as he died in the flagrant sin of superstition and magic, by which he consulted a demon through the witch; therefore it was a demon who said to him: "Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me," namely in hell. But the contrary is far more true, namely that the true soul of Samuel appeared in an assumed aerial body, such as angels assume when they appear to men. This is proven first because Sirach clearly and amply teaches this here when he says that Samuel prophesied after death and raised his voice from the earth in prophecy, and therefore gives this as the last and greatest commendation of Samuel; whereas it would rather have been a great reproach and disgrace for Samuel if his shade and form, usurped by a demon, had served the witch and her magic and incantation. Second, because the same is clearly indicated by the narrative of the event in 1 Samuel 28:10ff., where no one other than Samuel the Prophet is named, described, speaks, and prophesies. Third, the same is proved by his prophecy, by which he gravely, truly, and severely, in the name of God, threatens and prophesies death to Saul and disaster to the Hebrews on account of their crimes; all of which came to pass to the letter just as Samuel had foretold; so that there can be no doubt that this was not a conjecture or diabolical illusion, but a most true prophecy and oracle of God. Fourth, this is the opinion of more numerous and weightier authors, namely St. Augustine, On the Care for the Dead, chapter 15; Josephus, Antiquities Book 6, chapter 15; St. Ambrose, on Luke chapter 1; St. Jerome, on Isaiah chapter 7; Justin, Against Trypho; Abulensis; Lyra; Cajetan; Dionysius; Sanchez on 1 Kings chapter 28; Rabanus and Palacius here; St. Basil, Epistle 80; Bellarmine, On Purgatory, Book 2, chapter 6; Thyraeus, On Apparitions of Spirits, Book 1, chapter 16, no. 410, who, as much as St. Augustine, cites many examples of apparitions of spirits, especially of the blessed. To the first argument of the opposing side I respond that Samuel by appearing did not obey the witch, nor was he compelled by the power of her demon to show himself to Saul; but by God's command he voluntarily met the witch, indeed anticipated and prevented her incantation and its effect. This is clear first from the fact that when Saul consulted the witch, Samuel immediately showed himself to her before she could recite her magic spells and perform her magical rites (which are tedious and lengthy) for summoning the shade of Samuel, as is clear from 1 Samuel 28:12; second, from the fact that the witch was disturbed when she saw Samuel before she had summoned him. Therefore Samuel was raised not by the witch but by God; he voluntarily met the witch and anticipated her incantations, both to prevent the demon from responding, says Cajetan, and to chastise and punish Saul and the Hebrews for this crime of magic and other sins by the announcement of death and the coming disaster. Thus St. Augustine, to Simplician, Book 2, Question 3: "It is not absurd to believe," he says, "that by some dispensation of the divine will, it was permitted that not unwillingly, nor by the domination or subjugation of magical power, but willingly and in obedience to the hidden dispensation of God (which was hidden from both the witch and Saul), the spirit of the Prophet consented to show himself to the sight of the king, about to strike him with the divine sentence." In a similar manner, when Balaam wished to consult a demon on behalf of Balak king of Moab, the angel of God anticipated him and delivered that sublime prophecy concerning Israel and Christ through Balaam himself (Numbers 22:32). Likewise also when Ahaziah king of Israel, being sick, sent messengers to consult the idol Beelzebub about his life and health, Elijah anticipated them and on account of this sin pronounced and threatened him with death from God (2 Kings 1:16). You will say: Samuel appearing said to Saul: "Why have you disturbed me, that I should be raised up?" Therefore he was raised up at Saul's request. I respond: That is so; but not at the witch's request. For Saul's request was not the cause but the occasion why God raised up Samuel, in order to chastise and punish Saul. To the second argument I respond that the phrase "with me you shall be" signifies generally and vaguely the place and state of the dead, not however particularly and distinctly his own dwelling and abode — namely whether it would be the limbo of the fathers or hell — as if to say: Tomorrow you and your sons shall die, and shall be gathered to the dead, and shall be with me in the place and state of the dead, namely among the departed; but with a different lot and dwelling, for I am in limbo, while you shall descend to hell: "For the wicked Saul did not deserve to be received where the good Jonathan merited to be," says Bede. And St. Augustine, at the passage cited, to Simplician, says: "Let 'you shall be with me' be referred not to equality of happiness, but to the like condition of death; since both were human beings, and both could die, and the already dead one was foretelling death to the living." From what has been said it is clear how great the praise and glory that Samuel deserves. Theodoret, Question 54 on the book of 1 Kings, calls him not only most holy but also "most divine." Philo, in the book On Drunkenness, calls him "the greatest of Kings and Prophets," indeed more sublime than a mere human being: "Samuel," he says, "is perhaps a man; yet he is understood not as a composite animal, but as a mind rejoicing solely in the worship and service of God."
Likewise Philo, in Book 1 of the Life of Moses, writes that Moses "was an astonishment to all his associates, as a new miracle of nature, since they were uncertain what kind of mind inhabited his body, whether human or divine." Philo adds, in the book On Drunkenness, that Samuel was a Nazirite, and drank neither wine nor strong drink until the end of his life; he gives the reason: "For he was enrolled in the divine army, which is never deprived of the providence of its most wise commander." Finally, Samuel was of such great merit before God that his most efficacious prayer is equated by Jeremiah 15:1 with the most powerful prayer of Moses, by which Moses obtained pardon for all Israel, destined by God for destruction on account of their worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32): "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me," He says, "My soul would not be inclined toward this people." St. Gregory gives the reason, in Homily 27 on the Gospels, that he was meek like Moses and interceded with God for his enemies. Accordingly St. Chrysostom, in Homily 2 On the Priesthood, speaking of Samuel, asserts that he was "one who surpassed the rest in goodness and character, and seemed to excel all previous Saints by as great an interval as the fruitful ears of grain stand out above the rest in the fields."
obeyed the sorceress, and by her magic and her incantation and by the power and might of a demon was raised up; for the sorceress invoked none other than her own python, that is, her familiar demon. But this is unworthy, indeed impious, to think of the soul of Samuel the Prophet, so pious and holy. Therefore this was a phantom of a demon, not the soul of Samuel.
Second, because this shade among other things said to Saul: "Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me" (1 Kings 28:19). But Samuel was in the limbo of the fathers, while Saul seems to have descended to the hell of the damned, since he died in the flagrant offense of superstition and magic, by which he consulted a demon through the sorceress; therefore it was a demon who said to him: "Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me," namely in hell.
But the contrary is far more true, namely that the very soul of Samuel truly appeared in an aerial body assumed, such as angels assume when they appear to men. This is proved first, because Sirach here clearly and amply teaches this, when he says that Samuel prophesied after death and raised his voice from the earth in prophecy, and thus gives this last and greatest praise to Samuel; whereas it would rather have been a great reproach and disgrace to Samuel if his shade and form, usurped by a demon, had served the sorceress and her magic and incantation.
Second, because the narrative of the event clearly signifies the same thing (1 Kings 28:10 ff.), where no one other than Samuel the Prophet is named, described, speaks, and prophesies.
Third, his prophecy itself proves the same, by which he gravely, truly, and severely threatens and foretells in the name of God death to Saul and disaster to the Hebrews on account of their crimes; all of which came to pass literally as Samuel had predicted, so that there is no doubt this was not a conjecture or diabolical illusion, but a most true prophecy and oracle of God.
Fourth, so think the more numerous and weightier authorities, namely St. Augustine (On the Care for the Dead, ch. 15), Josephus (Antiquities, bk. 6, ch. 15), St. Ambrose (on Luke ch. 1), St. Jerome (on Isaiah ch. 7), Justin (Against Trypho), Abulensis, Lyranus, Cajetan, Dionysius, Sanchez (on 1 Kings ch. 28), Rabanus and Palacius here, St. Basil (Epistle 80), Bellarmine (On Purgatory, bk. 2, ch. 6), Thyraeus (On the Apparition of Spirits, bk. 1, ch. 16, n. 410), who, like St. Augustine, recounts many examples of apparitions of spirits, especially of the blessed.
To the first argument of the opposing side I respond that Samuel by appearing did not obey the sorceress, nor was he compelled by her or the demon's power to show himself to Saul; but by God's command he voluntarily met the sorceress, indeed anticipated and prevented her incantation and its effect. This is clear first, from the fact that when Saul consulted the sorceress, Samuel immediately showed himself to him before she could recite her magic spells and perform the magic rites (which are lengthy and drawn out) to evoke Samuel's shade, as is evident from 1 Kings 28:12; second, from the fact that the sorceress was disturbed when she saw Samuel before she had summoned him. Therefore Samuel, raised not by the sorceress but by God, voluntarily met the sorceress and anticipated the incantations, both to prevent the demon from responding, says Cajetan, and to chastise and punish Saul and the Hebrews for this crime of magic and other offenses by announcing the coming death and disaster.
So St. Augustine (To Simplicianus, bk. 2, question 3): "It is not absurd to believe," he says, "that by some dispensation of the divine will it was permitted that not unwillingly, nor under the domination or subjugation of magic power, but willingly and obeying the hidden dispensation of God, which was hidden from both that sorceress and Saul, the spirit of the Prophet consented to show himself to the sight of the king, about to strike him with the divine sentence."
In a similar way, when Balaam wanted to consult a demon on behalf of Balak, king of Moab, the angel of God anticipated him and delivered that sublime prophecy about Israel and Christ through Balaam himself (Numbers 22:32).
Likewise, when Ahaziah king of Israel, being sick, sent messengers to consult the idol Beelzebub about his life and health, Elijah anticipated them and on account of this sin announced and threatened death to him from God (2 Kings 1:16).
You will say: Samuel appearing said to Saul: "Why have you disturbed me to be raised up?" Therefore he was raised at Saul's request. I respond: So it is; but not at the request of the sorceress. For Saul's request was not the cause but the occasion why God raised Samuel, to chastise and punish Saul.
To the second I respond that "you will be with me" signifies generally and vaguely the place and state of the dead, but not particularly and distinctly his dwelling and abode, whether it was to be the limbo of the fathers or hell. As if to say: Tomorrow you and your sons will die and be added to the dead, and will be with me in the place and state of the dead, namely in the underworld; but with a different lot and dwelling, for I am in limbo, while you will descend to hell. "For evil Saul did not deserve to be received where good Jonathan was," says Bede. And St. Augustine, in the passage cited (To Simplicianus): "'You will be with me,' he says, should be referred not to equality of happiness, but to the common condition of death; because both were men, and both could die, and now the dead man was foretelling death to the living."
From what has been said it is clear how great a praise and glory Samuel deserves. Theodoret (Question 54 on 1 Kings) calls him not only most holy but also "most divine"; Philo (On Drunkenness) calls him "the greatest of kings and prophets," indeed higher than a man: "Samuel," he says, "is perhaps a man; yet he is understood not as a composite animal, but as a mind rejoicing solely in the worship and ministry of God." So too the same Philo (Life of Moses, bk. 1) writes that Moses "was an object of wonder to all his associates, like a new miracle of nature, uncertain what kind of mind dwelt in his body, human or divine." Philo adds (On Drunkenness) that Samuel was a Nazirite and drank neither wine nor strong drink to the end of his life; he adds the reason: "For he was enrolled in the divine army, which is never deprived of the presence of its most wise commander." Finally, Samuel was of such great merit before God that his most efficacious prayer is equated by Jeremiah 15:1 with the most powerful prayer of Moses, by which he obtained pardon for all Israel, destined by God for destruction on account of the worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32): "If Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me," he says, "My soul would not be inclined toward this people." St. Gregory gives the reason (Homily 27 on the Gospels), that he was meek like Moses and prayed to God for his enemies. Therefore St. Chrysostom (On the Priesthood, Homily 2), speaking of Samuel, asserts that he was one "who surpassed all others in goodness and character, and excelled all former Saints by such an interval as the fruitful ears of grain stand above the rest in the harvest fields."
From what has been said it is clear how great a praise and glory Samuel deserves. Theodoret (Question 54 on 1 Kings) calls him not only most holy but also "most divine"; Philo (On Drunkenness) calls him "the greatest of kings and prophets," indeed higher than a man: "Samuel," he says, "is perhaps a man; yet he is understood not as a composite animal, but as a mind rejoicing solely in the worship and ministry of God." So too the same Philo (Life of Moses, bk. 1) writes that Moses "was an object of wonder to all his associates, like a new miracle of nature, uncertain what kind of mind dwelt in his body, human or divine." Philo adds (On Drunkenness) that Samuel was a Nazirite and drank neither wine nor strong drink to the end of his life; he adds the reason: "For he was enrolled in the divine army, which is never deprived of the presence of its most wise commander." Finally, Samuel was of such great merit before God that his most efficacious prayer is equated by Jeremiah 15:1 with the most powerful prayer of Moses, by which he obtained pardon for all Israel, destined by God for destruction on account of the worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32): "If Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me," he says, "My soul would not be inclined toward this people." St. Gregory gives the reason (Homily 27 on the Gospels), that he was meek like Moses and prayed to God for his enemies. Therefore St. Chrysostom (On the Priesthood, Homily 2), speaking of Samuel, asserts that he was one "who surpassed all others in goodness and character, and excelled all former Saints by such an interval as the fruitful ears of grain stand above the rest in the harvest fields."