Bede — Commentary on Scripture | TrulyRandomVerse

On 1 Samuel

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1 Samuel 9:12
Those answering said to them: Here he is, behold before you, etc. The simple souls answering to Christ, to whom the conscience of each, whatever they think, is open: Here, they say, is John, taught to see heavenly things, made a forerunner for you, and you hasten to follow him, we ask, to save us; for you are our helper and deliverer, O Lord, do not delay (Psalm 39). For he also today, that is, the preacher of the same grace and faith bright with light as you, came into the world. Because it is the time that all the chosen people may spiritually consecrate to God the sacrifice on the high summit of new conversation; for he himself who stands among us, not yet recognized, after I have wished to manifest you to the world, you will immediately find him prepared for the services of your coming. For neither that man of such great grace, before he has deserved to see you, nor can he ascend to the summits of the highest virtues, nor be refreshed by the perfect feasts of spiritual joy.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:13
For the people will not eat until he comes, etc. For the unlearned masses, they say, cannot taste the sweetness of heavenly life, from which they have been exiles for so long, with hope, until he comes who testifies that the kingdom of heaven is near to those who repent. For he himself first washes by baptizing those who desire to become the living sacrifices of God, with their former errors chastised, and subsequently persuades them to rejoice in the hope of eternal inheritance.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:14
And while they were walking in the midst of the city, Samuel appeared, etc. And the fame of Christ and his faithful ones began to spread gradually, being preached by John. And when all the people were baptized, and he himself had come to John to be baptized by him, John met him with the devoted services of a servant, so that after heralding the coming one, he might also baptize the present one and show the Lamb of God to the people; and progressing so greatly by merits and perfected by the blood of martyrdom, he ascended the summit of virtues, so that among those born of women no prophet would be greater.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:15-16
But the Lord had revealed Samuel's ear, etc. And God the Father had revealed the secrets of His mystery to John, while the state of the Mosaic law was still standing, saying: Because after you have manifested to the world the day of the new grace compared in all respects to the legal figures as almost equal in the span of hours, I will send to you a man from the land of the son of the right hand, that is, who bears flesh not conceived by male seed, but sacred singularly by divine work, who according to his name will save the people who believe in me, eager to see God, from the power of darkness; this man baptizing and seeing anointed with the Holy Spirit, you will begin to proclaim him as the leader of my people to all.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:17
And when Samuel looked at Saul, the Lord said to him, etc. When John saw Jesus coming to him, instructed by the Holy Spirit, he understood him to be the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sins of the world, the one of whom the prophet Micah speaks: And you Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for me one who will be the ruler in Israel (Micah 5:2).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:18
Saul approached Samuel at the city gate, etc. The Lord came to John at the boundary of fulfilling the law and initiating grace. For the law and the prophets were until John; from then on the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it (Matt. XI). And he asks him in what humility and in what perfection of other virtues his conscience is placed, who has deserved to see so much divine contemplation before other mortals then. For the house of each individual is the conscience, in which thoughts always dwell. But he does not question him with words, but by bestowing his gifts upon him. And he, responding, reveals where his house is; for in all the virtues he practiced, he showed himself to be placed in the abode of humility; saying, "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John III). And other such things, to which Samuel's subsequent responses aptly correspond.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:19
And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer, etc. John responded, with the Lord bestowing heavenly gifts upon him, saying: I am the friend of the Bridegroom; I am your forerunner; I ought to be baptized by you, who, coming before me, have been made ahead of me. And indeed you will now receive baptism from me with the people of believers, together we will serve the feast of the word, and in turn, we are refreshed by the faith of the listeners. But when the splendor of your grace has shone upon all, with my role as forerunner completed, I will leave you to preach, and having joined the chorus of preceding prophets, I will take care to reveal all the mysteries of your temporal dispensation to the crowds of the faithful, indeed your members.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:20
Am I not the son of Jemini from the least tribe of Israel? etc. And the Lord chose content among proud lineages, poor parents, and humble in spirit, from whom He would be born; and He speaks of Himself: I do not seek my own glory (John VIII). And beautifully Saul is called the son of Jemini, that is, of my right hand, because Christ Himself from the power of His divinity created for Himself the substance of man, which He would assume being born from a virgin; as it is read elsewhere: Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. IX). Beautifully from the latest family among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin, that is, the sons of the right hand. For the Son of the right hand is Christ God, to whose tribe all the elect belong; but the more humble anyone is among the saints, the closer they are as if by kinship; for even Christ as a man, though higher in majesty, is superior to all the saints in the virtue of humility.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:20
And as for the donkeys you lost three days ago, do not be anxious, etc. And concerning the souls which began to perish in the third period of the world, that is, at the beginning of the nascent world, rejoice, because by my preaching they have already learned to repent and hope for the kingdom of heaven. Understand the three periods: before the law, under the law, and under grace.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:20
And whose shall be the best of Israel? etc. And who will be the giver and author of the grace I preach, if not you? To whom it is most rightly confessed that all things whatever the Father has belong. For the best of Israel are the gifts of heavenly joys, which he ministers to the house of his Father who is in heaven.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:22
Therefore, taking Samuel, Saul, and his servant, he brought them into the dining hall, etc. The dining hall in Greek is called the coenaculum. It is called the dining hall from the three couches of those reclining thus named. For in Greek, they call a couch or bed klini. Indeed, among the ancients, in the place where the banquet was prepared, three couches were spread, on which those reclining feasted. Therefore, John, by preaching, called many to the feasts of virtues, preferring to all these Christ and His apostles, even those coming later; and rightly, because only through His baptism, which began to be given by their ministry, could the hall of the heavenly kingdom be opened. For those whom he taught would fulfill the Decalogue of the law through the recognition of the Holy Trinity with a strong and tireless mind.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:23
And Samuel said to the cook, "Bring the portion which I gave you," etc. John spoke in his own language, which was accustomed to provide the audience with the food of life, saying: "Preach the power of the singular virtue, which I commanded you to say was given to no pure man." And she, immediately obeying with a prophetic heart, brought forth words suitable solely to divine power and majesty. And she testified that these belonged to the Mediator of men, to the name of Jesus Christ, saying: "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; and he who comes from above is above all" (John 3). And again: "For God does not give the Spirit by measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand" (ibid.).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:24
And Samuel said: "Behold what remains, I place it before you," etc. John spoke to Christ, proclaiming the marvels of His divine power: "All those whom I could call to faith and repentance, I persuaded to give effort to virtue. But because we are conceived in iniquity and brought forth in offenses, although striving greatly, we cannot fully be free from sin and grasp the pinnacle of virtue; You, who became the Word made flesh (John 1), perfect in all ways of winning and teaching, partake of the banquets, which our frailty cannot comprehend. About which banquet the Savior indeed said: 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work' (John 4)." Then John was speaking such words to the Lord, and, recalling His sublimity and the frailty of human condition, said: "He who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; He who comes from heaven is above all" (John 3).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:24
And Saul ate with Samuel that day, etc. And the Lord preached with John in the city shining with grace, until John was sent into prison, saying of the people who would believe in him: "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (John 4). And not only by ascending to the heights of virtues for the perfect, but by condescending to the lowest, they delivered the common commandments of living, saying to these people: "Sell what you have and give alms" (Luke 12); and to those: "You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery" (Matthew 19).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:25
And he spoke with Saul in the upper room, etc. John spoke with the Lord in the light of His known divinity. For certainly the upper room (which takes its name from the fact that by its height it first receives the rays of the rising sun before the lower buildings) signifies the hearts of those who, suspended from earthly desires by divine fear, the Sun of Righteousness rises more familiarly. For when both, namely the Lord and John, had begun the commencement of their mission for which they were sent, and the grace of the new light had just begun to shine in the world, the same John confessed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, while he himself was sent before Him, desiring Him with his whole intent of mind to rise to the works of the divine in the flesh, and to rest at the appropriate time from the duty of forerunning.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:26
And Saul arose, and they went out together, etc. And Jesus manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him. Both of them went out, namely He and John, from the hidden contemplation of the divine will, and proceeded to show forth the great works of deeds outside.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 9:27
And when they descended to the outermost part of the city, Samuel said to Saul, etc. When the Lord was sitting, having assumed humility and poverty for us, revealing Himself as the most despised and last of men, and among the citizens of the world as the lowest, He also taught His followers to be poor in spirit, yet He did not immediately face death at the hands of the often impious plotters; but according to the prophecies, of which John is a part, He commanded His obedient servants to go before Him, and to pass from vices to virtues, from death to life. But He Himself remained in the world for a little while after they departed until He completed the word about Him foretold by the prophets to His faithful.

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 10:1
And he kissed him, etc. And he united the figures of prophecy to the truth of the gospel and the grace of faith to the decrees of the long-desired peace of the law, and said: Behold, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of exultation above your companions, to ask of him, and he will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Psalm XLIV).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 10:1
(I Kings X) Samuel took a flask of oil, etc. John took the grace of the Holy Spirit to be preached, and testified that all its fullness rests in Christ, saying: "I saw the Spirit descending as a dove from heaven, and it abode upon Him" (Matthew III; Mark I). And well did he pour it out, for "your name is oil poured out" (Song of Solomon I).

Commentary on Samuel
1 Samuel 10:2

When you depart from me today, you will find two men, etc. When Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan from John, he found the people long lost by deceit, but now confirmed by faith and operation. He found them indeed, recalling them to the way of salvation; and this ceased gradually, and as the synagogue's carnal observance was to be dying and burying, from which he himself was willing to receive flesh. For Rachel was the mother of Benjamin, from the tribe from which Saul originated. He found those whom the Lord would save; and as if in the noonday of new love, in the fervor and light of knowledge shining from the heavenly realms, within the bounds of grace and truth, which in comparison to the law given through Moses is like the right hand to the left. Hence rightly Benjamin is interpreted as the son of the right hand. The believing people, found in this manner, mercifully confessed by Christ, giving thanks for his benefits, because their souls, once wandering like brute animals, were now redeemed by heavenly grace through him who came to seek and to save that whi…

When you depart from me today, you will find two men, etc. When Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan from John, he found the people long lost by deceit, but now confirmed by faith and operation. He found them indeed, recalling them to the way of salvation; and this ceased gradually, and as the synagogue's carnal observance was to be dying and burying, from which he himself was willing to receive flesh. For Rachel was the mother of Benjamin, from the tribe from which Saul originated. He found those whom the Lord would save; and as if in the noonday of new love, in the fervor and light of knowledge shining from the heavenly realms, within the bounds of grace and truth, which in comparison to the law given through Moses is like the right hand to the left. Hence rightly Benjamin is interpreted as the son of the right hand. The believing people, found in this manner, mercifully confessed by Christ, giving thanks for his benefits, because their souls, once wandering like brute animals, were now redeemed by heavenly grace through him who came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke XIX). They also confessed the mysteries of faith which they had learned, that by the dullness of fools' sluggishness, the Almighty Father, being solicitous for his Son and those believing in him, did not allow them to be disturbed by his passion and to fall from faith until the completion of the dispensation of the same passion and the celebration of the glory of the resurrection, he more fittingly commanded that the unclean souls either of Jews or Gentiles, which he had temporarily neglected, be sought and saved; so that those already partially found might be perfectly gathered by their Lord to the manger.

Commentary on Samuel