Questions on Kings and Chronicles 1 part 3/11

And how did the medium recognize Saul? It was easy for the people-deceiving demon to reveal who it was that was speaking [with her].

For he would not have overlooked the people perishing;

but He made complete provision for both the people and for Saul

Did God also permit their wives to be led away captive, and their children? So that, grieving, they might march out against the Amalekites, and bring upon them utter destruction in accordance with the divine prophecy;

and besides this, so that, having taken very great spoil, he might send it to the Philistines, and thereby draw them into still greater goodwill toward himself

And the 'band' which the Hebrew calls 'gaddour' is elsewhere translated 'company of raiders'

And the robber band is so called

And Aquila says that the two hundred men, having grown weary from the march, remained behind;

to whom certain wicked men were unwilling to allot the fitting portion

But the most righteous king not only gave it to them at that time, but also established a law, that those who guarded the baggage should share equally with those who went out to battle

It should be known, however, that Aquila, following the Hebrew text, did not divide the second narrative of Kingdoms from the first, but made the two into one

It is fitting, therefore, to admire, rather than to censure, the prophet and king for this as well

and he not only lamented, but also wailed bitterly;

but the one who brought the report, though he had suffered no wrong, mocked at the death;

and this, not only when Saul had fallen, but also Jonathan, who was worthy of praise, and a very great army along with them

Then he also added a falsehood to his words, naming himself as the slayer of Saul

And besides this, he was also an Amalekite, against whom the Lord of all had long ago pronounced the sentence of death

And admirable also are the very words of the prophet;

'For how,' he says, 'were you not afraid to raise your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? Your blood be upon your own head;

for your own mouth testified against you, saying, I have put to death the Lord's anointed.' QUESTION

What is a 'chlidon'? It is a golden ornament, placed either on the arms or on the wrists of the hands

This he has also indicated here — namely, the armlet that was upon his arm

Whence Aquila has called it a 'brachialion'

For what reason did the prophet mourn? Many things produced the lament

Longing for Jonathan, affection for the people, the victory of the impious Philistines;

and besides these, the slaughter of Saul

For him whom he revered while living, he pitied far more when dead

And the narrative teaches this as well;

'And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Judah, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.' QUESTION

For after the writer had spoken of the lament, he added:

Behold, it is written in the Book of the Upright. QUESTION

How is one to understand, 'Take exact note, O Israel, concerning your slain wounded ones'? Do not suppose, he says, that the blow that has occurred is some slight or ordinary thing;

but consider who they are that have fallen: a king, and a king's son, and the noblest of your own kinsmen.

That this calamity grieved him exceedingly, what follows bears witness:

'Do not go,' he says, 'to Gath, nor proclaim it in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.' QUESTION

For just as those who are afflicted in some part of the body dash their hands against the walls or the bed, because of the stabbing pains of their suffering,

so this man, inflamed by great despondency, cursed the lifeless mountains.

Some make mockery of what is said concerning Jonathan: 'Your love fell upon me, like the love of women.' It is as fools that they take this amiss.

For they ought to have understood that, wishing to display the warmth and genuineness of his affection, he brought forward this image [of comparison].

For such is a man's disposition toward his wife, that the law concerning marriage says:

'Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This too Elkanah made plain when he was consoling Hannah:

'Am I not better to you,' he said, 'than ten children?' Just as, then, the union makes those joined by the law of marriage one flesh, so the disposition [of affection] unites in one the souls of those who love with sincerity.

But I think it is because the patriarchs both dwelt in that city while they lived, and were deemed worthy of burial there when they died,

and at that time Hebron was the metropolis of this tribe;

for the Jebusites still held Jerusalem.

That Hebron held first place above the others, the narrative teaches.

'For they went up,' it says, 'and dwelt in the cities of Hebron.' And that the other point is also true, what follows makes clear:

for the prophet Samuel had already anointed him with the divine oil.

But Abner, in opposition, set up Memphibosthe, the son of Saul, whom the other translators call Isbaal;

and leaving Ramah and Gibeon, the dwelling-places of Saul, he crossed the Jordan, and made the place called 'the Camps' into a royal city.

How is one to understand what was said by Abner, 'Let the young men now arise before us and play'? He set forth a contest of arms for the best of the young men.

He called their combat a 'game' and 'play,' setting this partial engagement alongside the general and greatest battle array.

An equal number, drawn from the tribes, was gathered from each phalanx.

The slaughter of these did not end the engagement, but rather provoked it further.

When the rout occurred, and Abner's army fled with all speed while Joab pursued with full force, Asahel, Joab's youngest brother, being most swift-footed and rivaling the fleetest of animals, pursued none of the others, but was eager only to strike down Abner with his spear.

But he, though pursued, very gently and in a friendly manner urged him to vent his fury upon some other of the fleeing soldiers, and even then not to kill him, but only to take his armor, so that he might have some fruit of his effort.

But seeing that he would not obey, he gently threatened him: 'Turn aside from me, lest I strike you to the ground;

and how then shall I lift up my face to Joab your brother?' But when he saw that Asahel still longed for his death, he struck him with the butt-spike of the spear, and thereby both stopped his running and took away his life besides.

10. How is one to understand, 'Shall the sword devour forever'? Abner's soldiers, as they fled, took refuge upon a certain hill.

But Joab, together with his men, attempted to attack them.

Once again, then, wisely and gently, Abner reminded the commander-in-chief of the reversals of war.

For this is what is meant by, 'Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know that the end will be bitter, and how long will it be before you tell the people to turn back from pursuing their brothers?' He reminded him of their kinship, so as to put an end to the hostility, and he pointed out the reversals of wars;

for often those who are victorious are defeated, and those who pursue end up fleeing.

Besides, he says, it is not right for the victors, once they have witnessed the rout, to seek to bring utter destruction upon the defeated;

'shall the sword devour?' Joab yielded to these words;

and, giving the signal with the trumpet, he put an end to the pursuit.

For this too God made clear through the prophet Jeremiah,

but her father, having unlawfully separated her from her husband, had given her to another.

Her union with that man, then, was violence, not marriage.

For this too the divine Apostle said:

'So then, while her husband lives, she is called an adulteress if she becomes another man's.' But this woman was joined to another against her will.

For that which came about unlawfully is not marriage at all;

For what reason did Joab kill Abner? He had as his pretext the slaying of Asahel;

but the true cause was envy.

For he knew that Abner would be deemed worthy of that generalship, by bringing the whole of Israel over to the king.

Love of power, then, armed him for this bloody murder;

but the king, excellent in every way, both lamented the one who had been unjustly slain, and subjected the one who had unjustly slain him to many and manifold curses.

'For I,' he says, 'am guiltless, and my kingdom is from the Lord, from now and forever.'

'The blood of Abner, son of Ner, be upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house;

and let there not fail from the house of Joab one having an issue, and a leper, and one who holds a staff, and one who falls by the sword, and one who lacks bread.' Now one with an issue and a leper are, according to the law, unclean, and cut off from the common life of the community.

Those who are maimed in body use a staff.

Hence Aquila called such a one 'blind.'

He therefore cursed his family with every kind of bodily weakness, extreme poverty, and death by the sword;

and indeed, at the end of his own life, he even commanded that Joab himself be put to death.

'Shall Abner die as Nabal died?' That man, he says, being harsh, unjust, and ungrateful, was very justly subjected to a stroke sent by God;

but Abner was fair-minded in counsel, and brave in war.

'Your hands were not bound, nor your feet in fetters;

you fell before a son of iniquity.' It was not, he says, that you were defeated in battle array and bound as a captive taken by the spear;

but a pretense of friendship brought the blow upon you.

The king, then, being grieved, made lament;

and his lament increased the people's goodwill toward him.

Why then, after this unjust murder, did he not put Joab to death? He himself has made this clear in his own words:

'For these men,' he says, 'the sons of Zeruiah, are too harsh for me.' Hence he delivered them over to God, [saying]:

'May the Lord repay the one who does evil according to his wickedness.' For wherever it was easy for him to exercise righteous anger, he showed no restraint at all.

For instance, those who had murdered Memphibosthe and brought his head to him, he mutilated and crucified, even though they had reckoned that by the slaying of the one who had reigned over them they would bring him the whole kingdom of Israel.

Those men, then, he put to death in this manner;

but the head of his enemy he committed to honorable burial.

The narrative calls the appointments made by the people 'anointings.'

For first the tribe of Judah appointed him king,

and seven years later the other tribes also received him as king.

This too the history has made clear:

"In Hebron, and over Judah, seven years and six months;"

"and in Jerusalem thirty-two years and six months, over all Israel and Judah." QUESTION

For until that time the Jebusites still held Jerusalem

Accordingly, as soon as the civil war had ceased, the king first campaigned against them

Having therefore taken the citadel:

for this is what he calls the "stronghold":

he pressed the enemy hard with force, spurring the soldiers on to courage, and commanding that all of them be utterly put to the spear, in accordance with the sentence God had pronounced from the beginning

Thus he names Zion, that is, the upper city

For this too the history says:

"And he built the city round about from the citadel, and his own house." Then it also teaches God's alliance [with him]:

For "the Lord Almighty" is named often

What does he mean by "the Valley of the Titans"? They used to call the giants also "Titans":

but the Hebrew has called them "Rephaim"

And Hebron too had such men, and Gath as well:

It is likely, then, that in this place some battle-array of theirs took place long ago, and that the place took its name from them

Whence he also gave him signs of his own manifestation

"For whenever you see," he says, "the groves moving of themselves without wind, then go down into battle:"

"for then the Lord will go out before you to strike the Philistines in battle." QUESTION

For what reason did Uzzah die by a stroke sent from God? Some have said that he paid the penalty for rashness, in that he attempted to come to the aid of the ark, which, since it stood as protector of the whole people, had no need of anyone else's assistance

But Josephus says that, since he was not a Levite and yet dared to touch the ark, he received the punishment:

but this is plainly false:

for he was the son of Abinadab, to whom those in Beth-shemesh handed over the ark, when it had been sent back by the Philistines:

and this man was of the tribe of Levi:

and this the history teaches:

For it says: "And he sanctified his son Eleazar to keep the ark of the covenant of the Lord." And that this man too was a son of Abinadab, the history teaches:

"And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and took it up out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill:"

"and Uzzah and his brothers, the sons of Abinadab, drove the cart together with the ark of God. And Uzzah and his brothers went before it, and at the sides of the ark." He was not, then, of another tribe, as Josephus said, but he too was a Levite

Nor indeed did he receive the punishment on account of rashness

For when the cart tilted, it was necessary to steady it with the hand:

but he paid the penalty for a different transgression

For although God had commanded the priests to carry the ark upon their shoulders, they transported it upon a cart, contrary to the law

[One might object] that when it was sent off in this manner by the Philistines, it harmed no one

But one ought to have considered that the Philistines did not know the law, and that no priests were present among them, to transport it according to the law

And that this is true, what follows teaches

For when Uzzah had fallen dead, the king, being afraid, did not carry the ark to the palace, where he had also prepared the divine tabernacle, but into the house of Obed-edom

But when he saw that within three months that house had been filled with every kind of blessing, he immediately transferred it to the palace, no longer using a cart, but employing the priests according to the law

"For with them," it says, "were those who carried the ark of the Lord, seven choirs, and a sacrifice of a calf and a lamb:"

"and he himself was clothed in an extraordinary robe:" thus he calls the many-colored [garment]

But the book of Chronicles has taught this more clearly:

"For they carried," it says, "the ark, as Moses had commanded by the word of the Lord God of Israel, upon poles, according to the scripture, upon their shoulders." QUESTION

for she did not understand the goads of that divine longing

Whence the king rebuked her the more vehemently:

"For before the Lord," he says, "I will dance and I will play:"

"As the Lord lives, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as leader over all his people Israel." And what follows has the same sense

Then the history taught that to Michal, daughter of Saul, no child was born, until the day of her death

But it was not only for this reason that she remained barren:

but rather so that no one from that seed should reign

For it was likely that the people would prefer, above the others, the one who shone with nobility from both lines

Thus Samuel too did not know whom it was fitting to anoint:

thus Elisha too did not know the suffering of the Shunammite woman:

"Leave her," he said, "for her soul is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me." Thus also Nathan, having praised the king's purpose, thought that he was pleasing the God of all

"It is not you who shall build me a house for me to dwell in, for I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought up the sons of Israel out of Egypt, until this day." And first he consoled him with the title of "servant":

Then he taught him the self-sufficiency of his own nature:

"For I have not dwelt," he says, "in a house." And the phrase "from the day that I brought up the sons of Israel out of Egypt" is equivalent to "all the time during which I was present with you, both in the wilderness and in this land"

For that even before this time he had no temple, the ancient narratives teach

Then, showing his boundless power and loving-kindness, he added:

"And I was walking about in a lodging-place, and in a tabernacle, in all the places through which I passed among all Israel." And he added that he had neither commanded any of the judges, who were from various tribes, to build a temple, nor reproached any of them for not having done so

"Did I ever speak a word to any one tribe of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying:"

"Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" Then, using the term of goodwill, and calling him his servant, he reminded him of his shepherding and of his other poverty:

and he displayed the loftiness of the kingdom, and the generosity of his other providential care

"For I was," he says, "with you in all the places where you went:"

and he spoke of the confirmation of good order, so that, remembering these benefits, he might serve his benefactor

And he promised also to provide for the people:

"For I will appoint," he says, "a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell by themselves." For living under the divine law, they were kept separate from the other nations

And the phrase "the son of iniquity shall no longer humble him" is explained by what follows:

"as it was from the beginning," he says, "and from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel." For since in the time of the judges they had at one time been enslaved to the Ammonites and Moabites, and at another to the Midianites and the Philistines, he promised them that he would keep the kingdom intact, and free them from these frequent upheavals

Then he promised that he would build for them the spiritual, divine, and saving temple

"For the Lord will also declare to you," he says, "that he will build a house for himself"

For when the Jews had said:

“What sign do you show us, that you do these things?” Taking this up, the Lord said:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” Since the Jews supposed that this had been said concerning the lifeless temple building, the evangelist added:

But he spoke concerning the temple of his own body,

and when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. The divine Apostle likewise called the assembly of the faithful the house of God,

saying, “For Christ, as a son, is set over his house, whose house we are.” This the prophet had foretold beforehand:

“And the Lord will declare to you that he will build a house for himself.” But concerning the man-made temple he spoke thus:

“And it shall come to pass, when your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, that I will raise up your offspring after you,

who shall come forth from your body,

and I will establish his kingdom.”

“For I will set up,” he said, “his throne forever.”

“For to which of his angels did he ever say, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’? And again, ‘I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son’?” Then he teaches how great a providence, on this Son's account, his forefathers according to the flesh enjoy, even when transgressing the law,

saying, “When they sin, I will indeed reprove and chastise them,

but I will not take my mercy away from them, as I took it away from those from whom I took it away.” Now the phrase “with the touches of the sons of men” he has put in place of “with chastisements administered through men,”

since both a touch and human slaying alike are accomplished by means of hands.

And what follows again by no means suits the kings of Israel:

“For his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom shall stand before me forever, and his throne shall be established forever.” But Solomon did not even attain the length of life of other men, nor did he reach his father's old age,

and all his descendants likewise met a common end.

But this is impious and unholy;

it is necessary, therefore, even if the Jews are unwilling, to accept the other interpretation.

Having heard these things, the king hymned the Lord who gives bountifully;

and first he acknowledged his own lowliness, saying,

“O Lord!” he says. “I marveled at the greatness of what was promised, looking upon myself,

for these are small things when compared to your power.”

Then, having extended the hymn, and having entreated that the promises be confirmed, he added,

“And now, O my Lord, Lord, let the word which you spoke concerning your servant, and concerning his house, be confirmed forever.” And that he was beseeching that promise to be confirmed, what follows bears witness:

“For you, O Lord Almighty, God of Israel, have opened the ear of your servant, saying, ‘I will build that house for you.’” You, he says, taught me though I did not know it, that you would build that house, through which I shall be renowned before all men,

I beseech that this promise be established firmly.

For he ordered them to be thrown down prostrate upon the ground, dividing them into three parts,

and two parts he put to death,

but the one part he took alive, and ordered them to pay tribute.

Aquila indeed rendered the “chlidones” of the Syrians as “golden collars,”

and by “Emath” he means the Epiphania of Syria.

Why then did he destroy most of the chariots of the Syrians? The divine law enjoins that kings not make use of many horses, so that they might place their confidence not in these, but in the divine power.

Keeping this law, he destroyed most of the chariots.

One may also hear him singing this in the Psalms, and saying:

“A king is not saved by a great army, nor shall a giant be saved by the abundance of his strength.

A horse is a vain hope for safety, and by the abundance of its strength it shall not be saved.” And he also fulfilled the blessing which the patriarch Isaac gave to Jacob,

“Be lord over your brother,” he said. And David himself struck Edom, and set a garrison in it.

The phrase “throughout all Edom he set up garrisons” shows that he stationed guards in every city.

For those whom some call agents planted in ambush, he named men set up as garrisons.

The author, being about to narrate the transgression into which the godly man fell, thought it necessary first to display the man's virtue,

so that we might know that the fault arose not from deliberate purpose, but from circumstance.

He also mentioned the priests, Zadok and Abiathar.

Here, I think, there is a scribal error;

for Ahimelech is not the son of Abiathar, but Abiathar is the son of Ahimelech.

And “the Pelethites and the Cherethites” he calls the slingers and the archers.

But he who showed such kindness toward his enemies was surely not going to forget his friends.

Then he deemed Mephibosheth worthy of his care, declaring him to be master of all the possessions of Saul,

and commanded that he dwell with him, and be his continual table-companion.

How, having earlier said that Hadadezer was utterly destroyed, does he again say that he came in alliance to help the Ammonites? He spoke of Hadadezer's defeat, not of his slaughter.

And what is now said agrees with what was said before.

“For Hadadezer sent,” he says, “and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the river, at Chalamak.” But if he had had sufficient force of his own, he would not have needed another's.

How greatly, indeed, misfortune, affliction, and anxious care can profit us, we learn also from this narrative.

For even while arraying for battle, and occupying his mind with the cares of war, he still ordered his life according to the divine laws;

but having obtained a brief respite, he suffered that fall,

at which time the spark smolders even in those who practice discipline, receiving nourishment, as it were, from a pouring of oil.

For he would not have taken so many wives, had not nature compelled him to do this.

That indeed no law forbade;

but this, the divine law expressly forbade.

Yet, being beguiled by the bait of her beauty, he swallowed the hook of sin.

And this sin, then, desire procured for him;

for having learned that the woman was with child, he feared exposure, and set every device in motion so as not to fall into a second wrongdoing.

For he sent for Uriah, supposing that, having reached the city after so long a time, he would desire to be with his wife.

But when that man displayed self-control, and manly courage, and goodwill toward him — for he took his sleep in the porches of the palace together with the bodyguards — he summoned him again the next day,

and reproached him for not granting his body the refreshment fitting for it.

But he said, “I do not think it right that, while my commander and the whole army are enduring hardship in war and siege, I alone should provide any comfort to my body” — and he confirmed this statement with an oath.

But the king, having ordered him to remain yet again, feasted him, and by repeated toasts of friendship compelled him to drink beyond measure, so that the wine, having stirred up his desire, might rouse him to intercourse with his wife.

But when he saw that all his stratagems were of no avail — for that man again slept in the porch of the palace with the royal guards — being both stung and driven by shame, he dictated the letter to the commander.

But he, knowing nothing of what was written, went away carrying the sword of his own destruction.

Then, after that man's death, and the woman's mourning, the marriage took place.

But the physician of souls did not allow the malady to go incurable, nor did he overlook the unjust death.

For, it says, the thing appeared evil before the Lord. Nathan the prophet was accordingly sent, having clothed the accusation in a becoming mask.

For we view sin differently in others, and we view our own evils differently.

Hence we do not judge ourselves and others alike.

For in the case of others we pronounce a just verdict;

but often we even inflict a harsher blow.

But when we ourselves transgress, either we wholly cast out the perception of the mind, or, though seeing the sin, we extend pardon to ourselves.

For this reason the prophet composed the drama of the rich man and the poor man;

and he depicted the wealth of the one, while pitiably portraying in tragic fashion the extreme poverty of the other;

For he had, it says, nothing else, but the one little ewe lamb, which he had acquired, and kept, and reared;

and it lived together with him, and with his children, all together.

It ate of his bread, and drank of his cup, and slept in his bosom, and it was to him as a daughter. All this he recounts in detail, wishing to show the excess of the transgression.

But in what follows he weaves a kind of extenuation into his words;

For he called the evil desire a wayfarer;

as now lodging with this man, now with that one.

For this prepared him to obtain some measure of pardon;

not of deliberate intent, but he received the blow through circumstance;

and the sin was one of negligence, not of malice.

But in what follows he increased the accusation. For he ought to have sacrificed from his own flock, and not the other man's sole ewe lamb.

Thus, the narrative having been cast in the guise of another person, the judge pronounced a just verdict;

For, he said, as the Lord lives, the man who did this is worthy of death;

and he shall restore the ewe lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he did not spare it. Since the accused had pronounced the sentence against himself, then at last the prophet, casting off the mask, showed bare the face of the accused.

For he said, Thus says the Lord God of Israel:

I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul, and I gave you all that belonged to your lord, and his wives into your bosom;

and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. Then he showed the immeasurable extent of God's generosity;

And if this is too little for you, I will add to you as much again. Before the incision comes the treatment, before the punishment comes the winning of the soul;

And if this is too little for you, I will add to you as much again. Then follows the proof of the accusation;