Gregory of Nyssa — Commentary on Scripture

1 Samuel 9:16

However, since the rank of kingship underlies all worth and power and rule, by this title the royal power of Christ is authoritatively and primarily indicated (for the anointing of kingship, as we learn in the historical books, comes first), and all the force of the other titles depends on that of royalty. For this reason, the person who knows the separate elements included under it also knows the power encompassing these elements. But it is the kingship itself which declares what the title of Christ means.

ON PERFECTION

1 Samuel 15:35

Holy Scripture is often accustomed to attributing expressions to God such that seem quite like our own, for example, “The Lord was angry, and he was grieved because of their sins”; and again, “He repented that he had anointed Saul king” … and besides this, it makes mention of his sitting, and standing, and moving, and the like, which are not as a fact connected with God but are not without their use as an accommodation to those who are under teaching. For in the case of the too unbridled, a show of anger restrains them by fear. And to those who need the medicine of repentance, it says that the Lord repents along with them of the evil, and those who grow insolent through prosperity it warns, by God’s repentance in respect to Saul, that their good fortune is no certain possession, though it seems to come from God.

ANSWER TO EUNOMIUS’S SECOND BOOK

1 Samuel 16:23

Once when he came to Saul, who was frenzied and out of his right mind, he healed him by soothing his passions with song, so that Saul’s understanding returned to him again in accordance with nature. The goal, then, of the symbolism of the singing is clear from these words. It recommends that we achieve the subjugation of those passions which arise in us in various ways from the circumstances of life.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 1.3.24

1 Samuel 19:9-10

Now it is certainly obvious what the sequence is looking to through the figures of the story. The one of David is predicted by means of David, and the one who was anointed signifies the Christ. And the lyre is a human instrument, but the song which comes from it is the Word which has been made manifest to us through the one who was made flesh, whose work is to destroy the derangement that comes from demons so that “the gods of the nations” may no longer be “demons.”That king, however, who had the demons in himself, when the spirits withdrew at the song of him who adapted his instrument to this purpose, smote him with his spear (now a spear is wood which has been equipped with iron), but the wall received the spear instead of him. And we think that the wall is the earthly building, by which we understand the body, in relation to which we see the wood of the cross and the iron. But that David, who is both Christ and king, is without suffering. For the deity does not experience the cross and the nails.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.269-70

1 Samuel 19:11-12

The story relates how, when the vehement emotion of the demonic spirit had settled on Saul and the holy David quieted the disturbance of the passion by means of his psaltery, Saul found the spear that was standing by him, aimed it straight at David and hurled it against his benefactor. David, however, avoided the attack on himself by means of the divine alliance, and the assault of the spear fixed itself deeply in the wall. He fled the royal dwellings and was in his own house, in the hope that repentance would alter the king’s anger. But Saul placed his spearmen around David’s house and ordered the executioners to kill him. He barely escaped the dangers by letting himself down into the open through a window and avoiding detection by the guard.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.264

1 Samuel 19:13-17

Now Michal’s name means “reign,” because sin reigned over our nature up to that time. And at the very time he himself was born, he [the Lord in the figure of David] went out through a window. And the window indicates the return to the light again of the one who made himself known to those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.And his image is seen on the bed. For the angel says to those seeking the Lord in the tomb, “Why do you seek the living with the dead? He is not here; he is risen.” “Behold the place” in which he lay. Those seeking the Lord saw the tomb in which he was buried empty of the body of the one they were seeking. Only the burial sheets were in it. We think, therefore, that the image of David on the bed signifies the resurrection of the Lord in the tomb, through which the true averting of our death through expiatory sacrifice occurs.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.272-73

1 Samuel 19:20-24

For by the arguments by which he [Eunomius] endeavors to destroy the truth, he is often himself unwittingly drawn into an advocacy of the very doctrines against which he is contending. Some such thing the history tells us concerning Saul … when moved with wrath against the prophets, he was overcome by grace and was found as one of the inspired (the Spirit of prophecy willing, as I suppose, to instruct the apostate by means of himself) whence the surprising nature of the event became a proverb … history records such an expression by way of wonder, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

AGAINST EUNOMIUS 3.4

1 Samuel 22:9-10

I am taught through these words that whenever understanding guides my life like it did the life of the great David, that this carries me through to the end of the victory. And then I grieve especially for Doeg, the tyrant of my salvation, whenever I am in the house of the priest and when the attendant of the mules plots against me secretly because he no longer has the power to come to grips with me face to face, by informing the one who thirsts for my blood that I am staying with the priest.It’s obvious what the mules represent, which this Edomite has charge over. He tends that sterile nature which has no room for God’s blessing that sets fruitfulness in the creature in the beginning by saying “increase and multiply.” Multiplication in evil, like the continuation of the species of mules, is not of God. As the animal is always begun anew, this sterile nature of the creature is produced by trickery and is achieved underhandedly by means of the nature itself. But the goal intended by the Word is obvious in what has been said. For if everything that the Lord made was very good, and the m…

I am taught through these words that whenever understanding guides my life like it did the life of the great David, that this carries me through to the end of the victory. And then I grieve especially for Doeg, the tyrant of my salvation, whenever I am in the house of the priest and when the attendant of the mules plots against me secretly because he no longer has the power to come to grips with me face to face, by informing the one who thirsts for my blood that I am staying with the priest.It’s obvious what the mules represent, which this Edomite has charge over. He tends that sterile nature which has no room for God’s blessing that sets fruitfulness in the creature in the beginning by saying “increase and multiply.” Multiplication in evil, like the continuation of the species of mules, is not of God. As the animal is always begun anew, this sterile nature of the creature is produced by trickery and is achieved underhandedly by means of the nature itself.
But the goal intended by the Word is obvious in what has been said. For if everything that the Lord made was very good, and the mule is not part of what was made in creation, it is obvious that “mule” has been used by the story to indicate evil. Its existence does not come from God, and it lacks the ability to propagate in order to make its characteristic nature endure. As the mule is unable to maintain its nature by itself, so evil lacks the ability to remain forever or preserve itself. Like with mules, another evil comes into being when it is created by another, when what is noble and splendid in our nature, and perhaps also haughty, sinks to the desire for a union which is ass-like and irrational.
That foreigner Doeg, then, who became the messenger to Saul against David, the herdsman of the sterile herd of mules, is the wicked angel who draws the human soul to evil through the various passions of sin. Whenever he sees that the soul is in the house of the true priest, being unable to strike it with the kicks of the mules, he informs the ruler of wickedness, “the spirit which is at work in the sons of disobedience.”

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.13.179-82

1 Samuel 24:4-5

When, therefore, he was alone and had removed his robe and laid it down somewhere beside him, the light from the mouth of the cave made him visible to those hidden within the darkness. All of David’s companions wanted to rush upon the enemy and avenge themselves on the one who had come to kill them, since God had given the enemy into the hands of those who were being pursued for slaughter. But David forbade them to attack, considering an assault against their king unlawful. He drew his own sword from its sheath and imperceptibly stood behind Saul. There was no witness to his undertaking against Saul, for the darkness in the cave concealed his appearance and prevented scrutiny of what was happening. When, then, he could have driven his whole sword through Saul’s heart from behind with one blow, he neither touched his body nor was he about to. But he secretly cut off the end of his robe with his sword, so that the garment might be a witness later of his clemency toward Saul and prove the power that he had had to strike a blow against Saul’s body by means of the cut at its end.By this i…

When, therefore, he was alone and had removed his robe and laid it down somewhere beside him, the light from the mouth of the cave made him visible to those hidden within the darkness. All of David’s companions wanted to rush upon the enemy and avenge themselves on the one who had come to kill them, since God had given the enemy into the hands of those who were being pursued for slaughter. But David forbade them to attack, considering an assault against their king unlawful. He drew his own sword from its sheath and imperceptibly stood behind Saul. There was no witness to his undertaking against Saul, for the darkness in the cave concealed his appearance and prevented scrutiny of what was happening. When, then, he could have driven his whole sword through Saul’s heart from behind with one blow, he neither touched his body nor was he about to. But he secretly cut off the end of his robe with his sword, so that the garment might be a witness later of his clemency toward Saul and prove the power that he had had to strike a blow against Saul’s body by means of the cut at its end.By this it became obvious that David had been trained in forbearance. When he held the bare sword in his palm, and the body of his enemy lay under his hand, he had the power to kill him, but he conquered his anger with reason, and his power to strike the blow with the fear of God. Not only did he become superior to his own anger, but he also restrained his shield bearer who was eager to murder Saul, addressing him with that saying famous in song, “Destroy not the anointed of the Lord.”

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.14.227-28

1 Samuel 24:5

This is why the coming together of Saul, who was in pursuit of murder, and of David, who was shunning murder, in the cave is described after many events which it had preceded. The authority to kill was reversed in this event, since the one who was being pursued for execution had authority over the slaughter of his killer, and although he had the right, so far as retribution against his enemy was concerned, he stayed his power so far as consisted with the right and killed his own anger in himself instead of his enemy. - "On the Inscriptions of the Psalms 2.14.224"

1 Samuel 24:8-11

Saul, therefore, came out of the cave unaware of what had happened, wearing the little garment which had been trimmed all around. David came out behind him in self-assurance, and having seized the hill lying above the cave in advance, held out the end [of Saul’s robe] in his hand. This was nothing other than a bloodless trophy against his enemies. And he cried out to Saul in a loud voice and told him about this new and marvelous heroism, which was unstained by the defilement of blood, in which the hero was victorious and the one defeated was saved from death. For David’s excellence is not attested in the fall of his enemy, but the superiority of his power is made clearer in the salvation of his opponent from danger. He had such an excess of confidence that he did not think that his own salvation lay in the destruction of those arrayed against him, but even when those who plotted against him survived he was confident that no one would harm him.But the Word teaches rather by this story that the one who excels in virtue does not fight bravely against those of his own race but fights aga…

Saul, therefore, came out of the cave unaware of what had happened, wearing the little garment which had been trimmed all around. David came out behind him in self-assurance, and having seized the hill lying above the cave in advance, held out the end [of Saul’s robe] in his hand. This was nothing other than a bloodless trophy against his enemies. And he cried out to Saul in a loud voice and told him about this new and marvelous heroism, which was unstained by the defilement of blood, in which the hero was victorious and the one defeated was saved from death. For David’s excellence is not attested in the fall of his enemy, but the superiority of his power is made clearer in the salvation of his opponent from danger. He had such an excess of confidence that he did not think that his own salvation lay in the destruction of those arrayed against him, but even when those who plotted against him survived he was confident that no one would harm him.But the Word teaches rather by this story that the one who excels in virtue does not fight bravely against those of his own race but fights against the passions. The anger in both men, then, was destroyed by such excellence as David had, in the one, when he destroyed his own wrath by means of reason and quenched the urge to take vengeance, and in the other, when Saul put to death his evil against David because of the clemency which he had experienced. For one can learn from the story itself the kind of things Saul uttered afterwards to the victor when he was submerged in shame for what he had undertaken and demonstrated his spontaneous turning away from evil by his lament and tears.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.14.229-30

1 Samuel 26:8-11

After that, the opportunity to kill the enemy presented itself to him twice. Once in the cave Saul fell into David’s hands unawares, and again in the tent when he was relaxed in sleep. David stood over him when he was asleep, and when he could have satisfied all his anger by murdering the one who pursued him, he did not lay a hand on him himself, and he said to the one eager for the kill, “Do not destroy.” The voice which prevents destruction in the case of this man is obviously the voice of God.For this reason, just as those who produce the more notable inscriptions on stones cut the characters deeply by frequently applying the chisel with blows to the carving of the letters, so the Holy Spirit contrives, by means of continuous repetition, that this great saying may become more distinct and quite clear on the stela of our memory, so that this inscription, having been carved in us distinctly and without confusion, might be known well in the time of misfortunes. For, in my opinion, the goal of the economy of the Holy Spirit is to set forth the previous accomplishments of holy ones for…

After that, the opportunity to kill the enemy presented itself to him twice. Once in the cave Saul fell into David’s hands unawares, and again in the tent when he was relaxed in sleep. David stood over him when he was asleep, and when he could have satisfied all his anger by murdering the one who pursued him, he did not lay a hand on him himself, and he said to the one eager for the kill, “Do not destroy.” The voice which prevents destruction in the case of this man is obviously the voice of God.For this reason, just as those who produce the more notable inscriptions on stones cut the characters deeply by frequently applying the chisel with blows to the carving of the letters, so the Holy Spirit contrives, by means of continuous repetition, that this great saying may become more distinct and quite clear on the stela of our memory, so that this inscription, having been carved in us distinctly and without confusion, might be known well in the time of misfortunes. For, in my opinion, the goal of the economy of the Holy Spirit is to set forth the previous accomplishments of holy ones for guidance for the life after these accomplishments, the representation leading us forward to good which is equal and similar. For whenever the soul swells with revenge against someone who is provoking it, and the blood around the heart boils with anger against the one who has grieved the soul, then, when one has looked up at this stela which the Holy Spirit set up for David, and has read the word on it which David uttered on behalf of him who was eager for his own blood, he will not fail to calm the troubled thoughts in his soul and appease his passion by his desire to imitate the same things.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.15.246-47

1 Samuel 26:8-11

But this is marvelous not only for the fact that he grants life to the one who is doing everything against his life, but because David, although he had been anointed to the office of king and knew that he would not otherwise partake of that position unless Saul were out of the way, judged it better to suffer ill patiently in his private low estate than to enter upon the kingship by satisfying his anger against the one who had caused him grief.

ON THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PSALMS 2.16.266