Commentaria in I Regum (I Samuelis)
Chapter the First. Synopsis of the Chapter
To the barren Anna, by her vow, a son is born, and is called Samuel, who, weaned by her, is offered and dedicated to God by the hands of Heli the High Priest.
For Samuel in this book is as it were the leader of the chorus, and the founder of the Kingdom and of Kings; whence he himself was an expressed type of Christ. For first, as Samuel was born of the barren Anna, so Christ of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Second, Anna, Samuel being born, sang a Canticle of thanksgiving to God, so the Blessed Virgin, Christ being conceived, sang the Magnificat. Third, Anna by vow offered Samuel to God, so the Blessed Virgin offered her Jesus to Him. Fourth, the son of Anna was called Samuel, that is, His name God; the son of the Blessed Virgin Mary was called Emmanuel, that is, God with us, Matthew 1. Fifth, Samuel was a great and holy prophet; Christ was the holiest and greatest of the Prophets. Sixth, Samuel was judge and avenger of Israel against the Philistines; Christ was judge and avenger of all the faithful and Saints, routing the demons, death and hell and the rest of their enemies. Seventh, Samuel instituted the kingdom and the first king Saul, then appointed and anointed David; Christ instituted the priestly kingdom and the royal priesthood, and made all Christians kings, that is, that they may rule over their own desires, and become citizens, nay kings, of heaven, according to 1 Peter 2, 9: But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, etc. Finally, Samuel by all his sayings and deeds prefigured what was to be said and done by Christ, as did the other Judges and Kings. Whence St. Jerome, epistle 103 to Paulinus: In the book of Judges, he says, as many as are the princes of the people, so many are the figures of Jesus Christ. Wherefore Clement of Alexandria, Stromata book 5, calls the Judges and Kings who after Moses ruled Israel prophets, not because all prophesied by mouth, but because by their deeds and royal dignity they prefigured Christ about to reign forever. The same is asserted by St. Gregory and St. Augustine, whose words I recited in the Preface. For the end and aim of the law, as St. Paul says, and of the Prophets and of all sacred Scripture, is Christ. For He is King, Saviour, Redeemer of the world; He is our honour, fear and love; He is our salvation, the centre of our heart, the harbour, rest and satiety of our desires; He is life, glory, happiness and all our good, toward whom therefore, as to the sun of justice, all Kings, all Patriarchs, all Prophets, all the faithful and Saints, like little stars begging light of grace and glory from Him, look, and with their crowns laid down at His feet, prostrate on the earth, reverently adore Him, Apocalypse 4 and 5.
1. There was a certain man of Ramathaimsophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite; 2. and he had two wives, the name of the one was Anna, and the name of the other Phenenna. And Phenenna had children: but Anna had no children. 3. And this man went up out of his city on the appointed days, to adore and to offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Silo. And there were the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, priests of the Lord. 4. So the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions; 5. but to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved Anna: but the Lord had shut up her womb. 6. Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her exceedingly, so that she upbraided her that the Lord had shut up her womb; 7. and thus she did every year, when the time returned that they went up to the temple of the Lord; and thus she provoked her. But Anna wept, and did not eat. 8. Then Elcana her husband said to her:
Anna, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why dost thou afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten children? 9. So Anna rose up after she had eaten and drunk in Silo. And Heli the priest sitting upon a stool before the doorposts of the temple of the Lord, 10. as Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord, shedding many tears; 11. and she made a vow, saying:
O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look down on the affliction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a man child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head. 12. And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord, that Heli observed her mouth. 13. Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all. Heli therefore thought her to be drunk, 14. and said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? Digest a little the wine, of which thou hast taken too much. 15. Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord; for I am an exceedingly unhappy woman, and have drunk neither wine nor any strong drink, but I pour out my soul before the Lord. 16. Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of Belial: for out of the abundance of my sorrow and grief have I spoken till now. 17. Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of him. 18. And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her countenance was no more changed. 19. And they rose in the morning, and adored before the Lord: and they returned, and came into their house at Ramatha. And Elcana knew Anna his wife: and the Lord remembered her. 20. And it came to pass after the revolution of days, Anna conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel: because she had asked him of the Lord. 21. And Elcana her husband went up, and all his house, to offer to the Lord the solemn sacrifice, and his vow. 22. And Anna went not up: for she said to her husband: I will not go till the child be weaned, and till I carry him, that he may appear before the Lord, and abide there always. 23. And Elcana her husband said to her: Do what seemeth good to thee, and tarry till thou wean him: and I beseech God that he may accomplish his word. So the woman stayed at home, and gave her son suck till she weaned him. 24. And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with three calves, and three bushels of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord in Silo. Now the child was as yet very young; 25. and they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli. 26. And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am that woman, who stood before thee here praying to the Lord. 27. For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition, which I asked of him; 28. therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the days that he shall be lent to the Lord. And they adored the Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said:
1. THERE WAS A CERTAIN MAN (singular, outstanding, eminent, as one among many) OF RAMATHAIM-SOPHIM.—This native place of Elcana and Samuel was called Rama, that is, lofty, because it was set on a mountain; and Ramula, and Ramatha, and Ramathaim, that is, two Ramas: for it is a dual name, because this city was divided in two and two-hilled, being set on a double-peaked or two-hilled mountain.
So Serarius, although Sanchez thinks that this city is called Ramathaim in the dual because it was near another Rama which was in the tribe of Benjamin, as if these two cities seemed by their nearness to have grown into one body. The same name with the letter A added is Arimathea, from which came Joseph the noble Decurion, who buried Christ, Matthew chapter 27, as St. Jerome asserts in On Hebrew Places, Bede, Angelomus, Rabanus, Hugh, Dionysius and others. Moreover Ramatha or Ramathaim was surnamed Sophim, that is, of watchers, because in it, being set on a high mountain, were the watch-towers of the city and of the whole region, and in them the sentinels of the lookouts. So Vatablus, Cajetan, Sanchez and others. St. Jerome (or whoever is the author) in the Questions, Lyranus and R. Solomon judge that Rama was a town of watchers, that is, of contemplatives, because in it, as in a kind of Academy, dwelt Prophets and learned men devoted to the study of the Sacred Letters. Whence the Chaldee renders: There was a certain man, a Ramathite, of the disciples of the prophets. For Elias, Eliseus and their disciples lived on Carmel and other mountains, both to flee the crowds, and to give themselves in solitude to God alone, and to look up better from the mountains to heaven and sigh for it.
OF MOUNT EPHRAIM.—For the tribe of Ephraim dwelt in a high and mountainous place. He adds this, because there was another Rama in the tribe of Benjamin, another in the tribe of Aser, another in the tribe of Nephthali; but this one was situated in the tribe of Ephraim; indeed Salignacus, Adrichomius and others count five cities or villages whose name was Rama. The first was near Thecua, on the road to Hebron. The second, in Nephthali, nearest the fortress of Sephet. The third, near Sephorim. The fourth, in Silo. The fifth, near Gabaa; all of which are called Rama, that is, lofty, because set on mountains.
Hence St. Gregory thinks that Samuel, born in Rama, was descended from the tribe of Ephraim; but it is certain that he was sprung from the tribe of Levi, and so was begotten of Levi through Caath and Isaar, not through Amram and Aaron, and therefore was a Levite, not a Priest, as is plain from 1 Paralipomenon chapter 6, verse 33.