Commentaria in I Regum (I Samuelis)
Chapter 19. Synopsis of the Chapter
First, Jonathan reconciles David with Saul. Secondly, verse 8, David slays the Philistines; whence Saul, with envy and an evil spirit, tries to pin him with a spear, but David, turning aside from the stroke, escapes. Thirdly, verse 11, Saul sends officers to seize David at home for slaughter; but Michol his wife warns David, and lets him go, an image having been put in the bed. Fourthly, verse 18, David flees to Samuel; Saul sends attendants who prophesy with Samuel; and at last Saul himself also, following his men, prophesies with Samuel and his company; whence the proverb: Is Saul also among the Prophets?
put a goat’s skin with the hair at the head thereof, and covered it with clothes. 14. And Saul sent messengers to take David: and it was answered that he was sick. 15. And Saul sent again messengers to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain. 16. And when the messengers were come, the image was found in the bed, and a goat’s skin at the head thereof. 17. And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou thus deceived me, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee. 18. But David fled and was saved, and he came to Samuel in Ramatha: and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth. 19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth in Ramatha. 20. Saul therefore sent officers to take David: and they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them: and the spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they also began to prophesy. 21. And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And Saul again sent the third messengers: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceeding angry, 22. Went also himself to Ramatha, and he came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was said to him: Behold they are in Najoth in Ramatha. 23. And he went to Najoth in Ramatha, and the spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Najoth in Ramatha. 24. And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. Whence it is become a proverb: Is Saul also among
1. AND SAUL SPOKE TO JONATHAN HIS SON, AND TO ALL HIS SERVANTS, THAT THEY SHOULD KILL DAVID.—As the virtue and victories of David grew, the envy and hatred of Saul grew against him. For envy is the companion of virtue. Wherefore him whom he could not pin by himself, he commands to be killed by his son Jonathan and his most faithful servants, says Josephus. But the providence of God protecting David overcame all, and David’s unconquered patience and prudence, which made him superior to all, and thence everywhere more glorious. For Jonathan loved David more than his father’s impious command: nay he resisted Saul’s command, and by his efficacious eloquence removing Saul’s hatred of David turned it into love.
5. AND HE PUT HIS LIFE IN HIS HAND,—that is, he exposed himself and his life to the evident danger of death for thee and thy kingdom, when he entered the so unequal and formidable duel with the giant Goliath. For then it seemed to the Hebrews that David carried his soul, that is, his life, in his hand, and offered it to Goliath to take away.
WHY THEN WILT THOU SIN AGAINST INNOCENT BLOOD? as if to say: Why dost thou propose to sin? why dost thou destine and decree to shed the innocent, nay so beneficent to thee, blood of David? “Wilt thou sin” signifies an act destined and begun, but not yet perfected.
6. AND WHEN SAUL HEARD THIS, HE WAS APPEASED WITH THE VOICE OF JONATHAN, AND SWORE: AS THE LORD LIVETH, HE SHALL NOT BE SLAIN.—See here how efficacious was the speech of Jonathan, as well as the patience, modesty, prayer and virtue of David, which shook off so immense a hatred in Saul, and turned it into love. This is the illustrious victory of Christ and the Saints, in which by overcoming evil with good they conquer adversaries, not by killing them but by making friends out of enemies; which is far more difficult, glorious and divine. For hatred and enmity are slain in the living man, and friendship and charity live in him. And this David was striving to accomplish, namely not so much that he himself might escape the slaughter of Saul, as that he might restore Saul to his own mind, reason, former love and the grace of God. Wherefore David was here a type and precursor of Christ: for as David avenged the wrongs of Saul by benefits, and so by the same forbearance and beneficence overcame him and turned him to love of himself; so also Christ contended with the hatreds of the Pharisees and Jews by His kindled charity, so that as the hatreds grew, His miracles, cures and benefits grew likewise: wherefore He allowed Himself not to be overcome by these hatreds and persecutions of theirs; but Himself by that divine patience and charity absorbed them, took them away, and turned them to Himself and love of Himself. This is the summit of the virtue and charity of Christ: which He inspired in holy Stephen, holy Paul and other illustrious Saints. Whence St. Chrysostom, in the homily On David and Saul, adducing the example of a physician, who fights for the sick man against the sickness, and therefore is not angry with a frantic patient even when he abuses and beats him, but compassionately strives to rid him of his frenzy, concludes thus:
“Be thou also a physician, then, to him who hath hurt thee; seek this one thing, how thou mayest remove his sickness. This the blessed man did, choosing poverty before riches, solitude before country, labours and perils before delights and security, perpetual exile before the whole world, that he might free Saul from hatred and ill-will against him.
But not even so was Saul made better, but pursued, and went about everywhere seeking him who had not only done him no harm, but when harmed had repaid with the greatest and countless good things for injuries. And Saul, imprudent, afterwards fell into the nets of David.”
8. AND HE SMOTE THEM WITH A GREAT SLAUGHTER.—See how God rewarded David’s patience with a new victory over the Philistines: but this stirred up new envy in Saul; whence follows:
9. AND THE EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD CAME UPON SAUL.—That is, God sent, or permitted, a demon to assail Saul, in order to chastise his envy by tormenting him.
10. AND SAUL ENDEAVOURED TO PIN DAVID TO THE WALL WITH HIS SPEAR.—He tried to run David through with the spear. See how changeable and inconstant is the heart of man, especially of the wicked and envious, such as Saul was. For a heart steeped in the gall of rancour and hatred, even if it is for a time smeared with the honey of love, no sooner has that evaporated than it returns to its bitter angers, envies and ingrained malice.