Ishodad of Merv — Commentary on Scripture

1 Kings 1:1

There are different opinions about this coldness in David’s body. Some say, “[That was] due to the fact that he was a child of old age, [who was born] after all his brothers, so that, as the body of his father had already become cold with age, so he also, while getting old, grew weak and cold.” But we actually see that in all generations the children born from old parents are often stronger than those who were generated in youth. Others say, “[That coldness] derived from his extremely old age, and from his prolonged fast and the mortifying of the flesh and the abstinence that he had imposed on himself as a penitence for his sin.” However, “Caleb was eighty-five years old and still possessed the vigor of youth,” as he himself declared. And, among other things, David was not so old, as at that time he was only seventy. Others say, “He had become cold as a consequence of his numerous toils and wars.” But the true reason is that taught by the School: “It was because of the fright [caused by] the vision of the angel, who appeared to him in a terrifying manner, that his body withered and g…

There are different opinions about this coldness in David’s body. Some say, “[That was] due to the fact that he was a child of old age, [who was born] after all his brothers, so that, as the body of his father had already become cold with age, so he also, while getting old, grew weak and cold.” But we actually see that in all generations the children born from old parents are often stronger than those who were generated in youth. Others say, “[That coldness] derived from his extremely old age, and from his prolonged fast and the mortifying of the flesh and the abstinence that he had imposed on himself as a penitence for his sin.” However, “Caleb was eighty-five years old and still possessed the vigor of youth,” as he himself declared. And, among other things, David was not so old, as at that time he was only seventy. Others say, “He had become cold as a consequence of his numerous toils and wars.” But the true reason is that taught by the School: “It was because of the fright [caused by] the vision of the angel, who appeared to him in a terrifying manner, that his body withered and grew cold as a consequence of his fear, as is attested in the book of the Chronicles as well.” And this is what Daniel says too: “At the sight of you my bowels were turned within me, and so how could I continue to live?” Therefore the same happens to David: after he saw the angel holding his sword, who entered Jerusalem to destroy it, the warmth fled and the coldness reigned over his body.

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1 Kings 1:2

[The king] could get no warmth from blankets, because blankets cannot provide warmth by themselves; if you put them on stones or corpses, they certainly cannot warm them; but when there is heat emanating from the inside of our body, then they are useful and are an aid for us, because they imprison the heat, which comes from the inside of our bodies and warms us up again. Therefore blankets were useless for David, so that it was prescribed by the wise men and the physicians that a young virgin was brought to him—and that was a real novelty—because heat and humidity are prevalent in the female sex, and especially in virgins. Indeed, she refreshed him through the humidity of her body and warmed him up with the heat of her blood, since it was evident that he suffered from both these distresses: coldness and dryness.

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1 Kings 1:4

But he “did not know her,” that is, he did not get close to her, not because he was by now devoid of concupiscence but because he restrained the movements of concupiscence, fearing that it might be believed that he, who had many women, had asked for that girl out of lust. He paid for his inordinate desire for Bathsheba through his restraint toward this girl and inflicted this punishment on himself: indeed, the sin with Bathsheba remained fixed in his memory until his death.

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1 Kings 1:30

In the first place, he appoints Solomon as king, even though he had many sons, in order to confound the fools, who believed that nature is more valuable than a virtuous spirit before God. In the second place, he did this because he feared that he, a just man, might be mocked after his death, and Solomon and his mother might be treated with contempt—he as a bastard and she as an adulteress. This is what Bathsheba meant when she said, “My son Solomon and I will be counted offenders,” that is, “If my son is not appointed as king, it will be believed that we are excluded from the kingdom, because we have sinned in this affair of the adultery, and consequently we will be condemned to contempt and cursing as impure persons for the rest of our lives.”

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1 Kings 1:33

[David] orders [Zadok, Nathan and Benaiah] to make “Solomon ride [his] mule,” because this animal was highly valued among the Hebrews, just like the white donkey among the Romans. The Jews, in fact, did not possess mules, since they were not allowed to “breed their animals with another kind,” but mules were bought at very high prices from the Gentiles.

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1 Kings 1:33

[David] orders them to bring [Solomon] down to Šiloha, where the tabernacle was, not far from the spring of water, which is called Šiloha. Šiloha is a Hebrew name, which is given because the water of the spring gushes out straight up and on and off; indeed, it does not gush out regularly and all the time. And the same can be said about the Nile: since, at different intervals, it suddenly becomes full and then overflows, it is called Gihon, because its waters spread out.

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1 Kings 2:5-6

[David] orders Solomon to punish [Joab], not out of viciousness or hatred for him but because he knew that he was wicked and that, if he had acted with hostility against him who was a mature man, he would act even worse against a young man, so that the kingdom would become unstable, and the house would not be firmly established. Therefore he entrusts his son with the revenge against him who had offended him, in order that, after the killing of that evil man by the hand of the new king, he might be feared by everyone, and no revolt might ever occur.

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1 Kings 2:28

Joab runs to the tent for two reasons: first of all, in order to escape his death, if possible; second, because he imagined that, if he were killed in that place, the tent of God would become polluted as a consequence of his death, and the people would rise up against Solomon, so that, since he had not been able to harm him during his life, he conspired to cause a rebellion at his death. This can be compared with what the demons who entered the swine did in order that the owners of the herd might become enraged and might kill our Lord; but it did not happen as they had planned. That is why Solomon, in the same manner, acting in accordance with the commandment of the law, “Take him, who has sinned, from my altar for execution,” forcing Joab to get out so that the innocent blood which he had shed without reason was avenged.

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1 Kings 3:1

Some wonder why Solomon made alliances with the Gentiles through marriages without being blamed, even though [the Law] forbade [the Hebrews] mixing with them. The reason for that prohibition was “lest” [the Scripture says], “[their daughters] might make your sons also prostitute themselves to their gods.” And this is what happened to Solomon as well. However, we also see others who married daughters of the Gentiles, but since they were not seduced to follow their paganism, they were filled with praises: for instance, Mahlon, Chilion and Boaz. With regard to Solomon, since he thought he would avert his people from war and establish a house for the Lord through his connections with the foreign kings, for this reason he married their daughters, and not out of lust; therefore he was not blamed for this. But after he fell into the error of their idolatry—that is, he did not correct [his women] from their error—he was blamed by God.

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1 Kings 3:4

Since the Law forbade praying or sacrificing outside Jerusalem, why did Solomon offer one thousand whole burnt offerings on the altar of Gibeon? Because the tabernacle was in Gibeon, as is attested in the book of Chronicles, and therefore, out of veneration for the ancient residence, [Solomon] went there every year to offer his burnt offerings.

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1 Kings 4:29-34

Of his three thousand proverbs a single book is left, while all the others perished during the captivity. And of his one thousand and five songs we still possess a single one, that is the Song of Songs.

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1 Kings 5:7

This Hiram had been converted to [the worship of] God through his relationships with David, and “he rejoiced greatly, when he heard” that a house would be built for the Lord. He asks to be supplied with bread and oil in exchange for the wood that he delivers because the Tyrians and the Sidonians, as it appears, did not sow or harvest since their commerce was exclusively maritime.

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1 Kings 6:2

The house that Solomon built for the [Lord] was sixty cubits long,” that is, the double of the tabernacle. It is extremely likely that it included two rooms, an interior and an exterior. The interior was twenty cubits long, while the exterior was forty cubits. [The house] was built on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, which David had bought together with the garden. David had prepared the materials for the construction of the house, as the book of Chronicles reports.

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1 Kings 6:5

Against the sides of the house he made side chambers, that is, some porticos like those built around a basilica, one on the other, in three levels. He did this, in the first place, because the portico was narrow and could not been divided into separate parts; secondly, in order that they might work as a support to the house so that it did not collapse.

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1 Kings 7:2

“The House of the Forest of the Lebanon” does not mean that this house was built in a forest or in Lebanon, as is sometimes asserted, but that [Solomon] built a huge house where weapons were gathered in large quantity, just as the Forest of Lebanon [abounds] in trees.

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1 Kings 7:21

[The Scripture] calls the [pillar] on the south “Jachin,” indicating through it the humility of the priesthood; while the one on the north, called “Boaz,” signifies the power of kingship. It is possible that in Hebrew the two pillars indicate the two powers. The capitals at their top symbolize the power that is due to priests and kings and the weights of government, which are imposed on them. The sculptures, the lily work and the garlands of flowers signify the brightness and dignity of priesthood and kingship.

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1 Kings 7:25

[The sea] is set on the oxen in order not to be defiled by the ground. The oxen allude to the perfect structure of the created world, because it was prescribed in the Law that this animal should be offered in sacrifice; at the same time, the nourishment of human beings reaches its maturity through the strength of the ox. Their number of twelve refers to the constant revolution of an entire year which is accomplished in twelve months. Through their division into groups of three, which are set toward each cardinal point, [the Scripture] alludes to the four seasons. Finally, “the interior of the house” is called “the space under the sea.” The water contained in the sea was used for the washing of the victims. It is possible that small ships and other objects, which are connected to the sea, were on it, and for this reason it was called “the sea.”

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1 Kings 8:9

The words “there was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone” does not mean that the author did not know that there were also the jar [containing the manna], the staff [of Aaron], and so forth. He simply wants to signify all the rest by mentioning the most important part, because he writes for the Jews who already knew the other objects.

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1 Kings 8:14

While the king prayed and blessed the people, he stood on a pillar of bronze whose height was five cubits and whose width was two cubits. He climbed it by means of a flight of steps. All the kings stood on it when they needed to speak to the people. This is why [the Scripture] says, “And when she looked up, Jehoash stood on the pillar, according to the royal custom.”

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1 Kings 8:37

[The Scripture] defines them as diseases deriving from changes in the weather. Blight [occurs when] wheat does not grow. Therefore [we read] these words: “Pharaoh saw ears blighted by a burning wind.” Mildew derives from excessive heat and constant bad weather and descends on wheat in the form of drops like rain. One who ignores it calls it “dew,” but it burns and dries up wheat when it falls on it.

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