Questions on Kings and Chronicles 1 part 7/11

"For Zimri," it says, "acquired the hill of Semer from Semmer, its owner, for two talents of silver, and built upon the hill, and called the name of the hill which he had built, by the name of Semmer, the owner of the hill, Somoron." Accordingly, then, the hill was named Somoron after Semmer, and from the hill the city was named Samaria.

And Samaria is the city now called Sebaste.

And in this city was the royal seat of the ten tribes.

But when the ten tribes had been carried off into captivity, and that land had become desolate, the kings of the Assyrians transferred certain peoples from the eastern regions into those cities; and these were named Samaritans, from Samaria.

Having said these things concerning Zimri, he then passed on to Judah;

and he admired Jehoshaphat in other respects, and said that he had done what was right in the sight of the Lord;

yet he blamed him for not having put an end to the worship on the high places;

and also for having embraced kinship with Ahab.

But the book of Chronicles has taught these things more clearly.

For this very reason the author who composed this history has referred us to that book.

"Are not these things written in the book of the Words of the Days of the kings of Judah?" And from this it is clear that all the events which then took place were recorded.

And from those books this writer took some of the materials for his history, while those who wrote the Chronicles took others.

But who does he mean by Baal? As Josephus said, this was a god of the Tyrians.

For he taught this also earlier, when writing about Solomon, namely that he built a shrine to Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians.

To her also they planted and dedicated sacred groves.

Astarte is the goddess called Aphrodite among the Greeks.

Does not the saying about Elijah seem audacious — "There shall be no dew or rain upon the earth these years, except by my word"? It is audacious to entertain such thoughts against men of the Spirit.

For he was a prophet, and the foremost of the prophets, and was set ablaze with divine zeal.

And he spoke these words as the divine Spirit worked within him.

Therefore it also received its fulfillment.

How, being holy and living according to the law, did he eat the food brought to him by ravens? The Lawgiver himself provided this food to him through the ravens.

For he himself commanded him to dwell by the brook Cherith, promising to send him food by ravens, and he fulfilled the promise.

For the ravens brought him bread in the morning, and meat in the evening.

For on the Sabbath he commanded Joshua the prophet, and Eleazar the high priest, and the priests and Levites with him, and all the people, to circle Jericho seven times;

and now he bade the great Elijah receive the food brought to him by the ravens;

and at other times he did not blame those who transgressed such laws.

For Samson, on account of drunkenness and lust, was stripped of the divine grace;

but when he ate the honeycomb which the bees had made in the carcass of the lion, he incurred no blame.

For what reason did he command him to go to a foreign widow?

This again teaches us the reasons for such laws.

For if he had known that the disposition of the Jews was firm and their faith steadfast, he would not have commanded them to flee association with foreigners;

but on the contrary he would have commanded them to live together with them, and to proclaim true piety to them.

For this is what the purpose of the law also teaches.

"You shall not give your daughters to the sons of foreigners, nor their daughters to your sons" — thus it adds:

"lest their sons lead your daughters into fornication, and their daughters your sons, away from the Lord your God." But the prophet, since he was able to do good, God not only did not prevent, but even commanded him to go.

Since the nature of mankind was being consumed by famine, he first led him to the brook;

then, having dried up the brook, he led him away to a widow woman, who had nothing but a small amount of food, sufficient for a single day.

"As the Lord your God lives," she said, "I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the jug; and behold, I am gathering two sticks, and I will go in and prepare it for myself and my children, and we will eat it and die." "I have," she means, "only my last food, after which I await the stroke of famine."

But I marvel at the gentleness of the woman's reply.

For she was not indignant at being asked for food amid such great misfortunes, but only pointed out her extreme poverty.

But that great and righteous man promised her springs of meal and oil.

But he commanded her to make the bread and bring it to him first.

But she, in turn, was not distressed, though consumed with the cares of poverty, widowhood, and the rearing of her children;

but having received the promise in faith, she brought the food — and this, though she did not know the man;

having had no experience of prophetic power.

I think that in her the Church of the Gentiles was prefigured.

For she faithfully received the one who was being persecuted by the Israelites, just as the Church received the apostles who were driven out by these same people.

For what reason did God allow the widow's son to die? Enjoying food abundantly, the prophet had forgotten the misfortune of other men.

For this very reason God marshaled the widow's lamentations against him.

And he himself also recognized the reason;

"Woe is me, O Lord," he said, "thou who art witness concerning the widow with whom I dwell — thou hast done her harm by putting her son to death." But the widow's words are worthy of admiration;

"For you came to me," she said, "to bring my sins to remembrance, and to kill my son." By your light, she means, my hidden transgressions were laid bare;

and she did not say, as one might expect a foreigner to say, "You have proved an evil omen to me, your presence has become the cause of my misfortunes;"

but rather she attributed what had happened to her own sins.

So greatly did the prophet's teaching benefit her.

Therefore it was also for her sake that the child's death took place;

so that, having witnessed the resurrection that came to pass contrary to nature, she might come to possess a firm and steadfast piety.

And the prophet prayed to the Lord concerning the dead child;

and after the prayer, having breathed upon the boy three times, he restored him to life.

Does not the breathing recall the creation of the soul that took place in the beginning?

But the prophet, in breathing upon him, did not create another soul, but rather brought back the one that had been separated from the body.

But God, who loves mankind and is full of compassion, seeing the human race perishing, and seeing that the prophet was unwilling to ask for mercy — pitying the one, and eager to grant mercy, yet honoring the other, and unwilling, against his own resolve, to annul the sentence that had been pronounced — himself comes as an ambassador to his own servant, the Master to the servant, the Creator to the clay, and persuades the tongue that had bound up the labor-pains of the clouds to release them;

"For it came to pass," he says, "after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying:"

"Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain upon the face of the earth." QUESTION.

"Is there a nation or a kingdom to which my lord has not sent to seek you, and they said, 'He is not here'?" Since the prophet had said to Ahab, "As the Lord my God lives, there shall be no rain or dew these years, except by the word of my mouth," Ahab, having had proof of the truth of his words, was compelled to seek the one who had shut up the clouds with his tongue, so that he might do one of two things: either persuade him to open them, or, if he would not be persuaded, destroy him.

But Obadiah was among the exceedingly pious;

and this is shown not only by his words, but also by his deeds.

not three, nor four, nor fifteen, but a hundred, divided into two groups.

And he did not fear the murderous cruelty of the reigning queen, but valued piety above all else.

Then, when he saw the great Elijah, he fell upon his face and said:

"Is it you, my lord Elijah?" And what follows also demonstrates his piety.

"For it will come to pass," he says, "that when I go from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you off to a land I do not know." For these are the words of a man devoted to divine things, and acquainted with the power of the divine Spirit.

Why, when the law prescribed worship in one place only, did Elijah build an altar on Carmel? Because, according to the divine Apostle, "law is not laid down for the righteous, but for the lawless and unruly." For indeed he had legislated that Israel should worship in one place because of the fickleness of their disposition, so that, if given liberty, they might not also come to worship the falsely-named gods.

But the prophet wished to demonstrate both the weakness of the demons who lead the people astray, and the omnipotence of the God of all;

but it was not possible to lead them to the temple in Jerusalem, since the kingdom was divided in two.

Therefore he led them up to Carmel, where he spent most of his time.

"How long will you go limping between both opinions?" For they were worshiping God, and yet also serving idols.

"If the Lord is God, come, let us follow after him;"

"but if Baal is god, follow him." Neither does God wish, he means, that the falsely-named gods be honored, nor do they wish that the true God be worshiped.

But you do both the one and the other, and you keep firm allegiance to neither.

For what reason did he command the priests of Baal to choose the fat ox and to perform the sacrifice first? The God who truly is has need of none of these things.

Rather, it was so that the servants of falsehood, once put to shame, might not say that Baal was angry at not receiving the first honor, that he conceded to them the precedence.

But since, even after these things were done, they accomplished nothing,

for the idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men's hands; they have ears, but they shall not hear —

the prophet, mocking them, said:

"Cry out together with a loud voice; perhaps he is engaged in some conversation;

or perhaps he is transacting some business, or perhaps he is asleep and will awaken." It is likely, he says, that he is asleep, or is presiding over some other matters, or is occupied with other business, so that he does not perceive the one who calls.

It is fitting, therefore, that all cry out together, so that the greatness of the cry may drive away his sleep.

The exceedingly foolish men were led on by these words, and they raised a common cry, and cut themselves with knives and lances until the blood poured forth.

For the avenging spirits that beset mankind, being themselves murderous and bloodstained, delight in the blood of men.

It was for this reason, indeed, that the priests worshipped him in this manner.

And the writer has made this clear by saying, "They cut themselves according to their custom." Having thus exposed their deceit — both by conceding to them the precedence, and by allowing them almost the entire day — right around the very setting of the sun;

for the narrative makes this clear:

as it says, "And the time came for the sacrifice to go up" — he gathered all the people together, and, having commanded stones to be brought equal in number to their tribes — not the ten, but the twelve — he rebuilt the altar of God that had been torn down;

and having laid the wood in order, he placed the victim upon it.

And digging round about, he made a trench for water.

This the Hebrew called "thaala," but Josephus called a "cistern."

But what he brought to the wood was not fire, but water.

For again, having commanded jars equal in number to the tribes to be brought, and having filled these with water, he poured it upon the sacrifice.

And he did this not once only, nor twice, but even three times, thereby signifying the number of the Trinity that is worshipped.

And crying aloud, he besought the God of the fathers to show the difference, and to turn back the deceived people, and to consume the sacrifice wholly by fire given from God;

and it consumed not only the wood and the offering, but also the dust, and the water, and the stones;

so that the divine altar might not be defiled, with the impious afterward offering sacrifices to demons upon it.

When this miracle had taken place, he commanded that the craftsmen of falsehood be put to death, and then he loosed the birth-pangs of the clouds.

For what reason, possessing such great power, did he fear Jezebel alone? Because he was not only a prophet, but also a man;

and besides, this dread also belonged to the divine dispensation.

For so that the greatness of the wonder-working might not puff up his mind, grace permitted nature to admit fear, so that he might recognize his own weakness.

In addition to this, He taught him that He has resolved to govern the human race with gentleness and long-suffering;

and that it would have been easy for Him both to send thunderbolts and lightning-strokes upon the impious, and to shake the earth, and to make it their instant tomb, and to destroy them all utterly with violent winds.

"And a great and mighty wind, tearing apart the mountains and shattering the rocks, before the Lord;

the Lord was not in the wind;

and after the wind, an earthquake; and the Lord was not in the earthquake;

and after the earthquake, fire; and the Lord was not in the fire" —

for each of the other phenomena is drawn on by the wickedness of men.

Why, though he was commanded to anoint Hazael, and Jehu, and Elisha, did he anoint only the prophet? Because, in that he anointed the prophet and imparted to him the spiritual grace, he thereby anointed the others as well.

For indeed Elisha, having received the prophetic grace through him, conveyed the gift to those men, and imparted to them the grace of kingship.

Did Naboth "bless" God and the king? The utterly abominable Jezebel fabricated this false charge.

And first she commanded that he be deemed worthy of the customary honor, and preside over the others;

then that false witnesses be brought in, and the written accusation of blasphemy be set forth;

for he has euphemistically put "blessed" in place of "blasphemed."

And she commanded that a fast be proclaimed, so as thereby to display the justice of the murder.

How is it that Ahab, having desired the vineyard, and being vexed that he did not obtain it, [then] grieved at the death of Naboth? The thrice-wretched man was fickle, and easily carried this way and that;

wherefore that utterly wicked woman also cast him into the pit of impiety.

For the narrative teaches this too:

"and he went to abomination after the abominations, according to all that the Amorite did, whom the Lord utterly destroyed from before the children of Israel." Now by "Amorite" here he does not mean the [single] nation, but all the Canaanites.

For in the Hebrew tongue, "Amorite" also signifies "the one who dwells [there]."

But on account of his mourning over the murder, He granted a postponement of the punishment.

At once, then, when the Syrians had gathered many myriads against him, and were boasting arrogantly and saying, "Shall the dust of Samaria suffice for handfuls for all my people, for my footsoldiers?" — and this they said, threatening him with the earthworks of the siege;

"Have you seen all this great din?"

"Behold, I give it into your hands, and you shall know that I am the Lord." Now he most fittingly called the noise of the threatening words a "din";

for it was swiftly dissolved by the divine inclination.

"By the young men of the rulers of the provinces?" "I have no need of a multitude," He says,

for by a few youths, inexperienced in war, I will destroy this vast army.

So Ahab, having numbered them, found two hundred and thirty.

But to him, having conquered decisively, He foretold the attack of the Syrians that would come the following year.

"For the Syrians will say," He says:

"The God of Israel is a god of mountains, and not a god of valleys" — that is, His power holds sway in the mountains, but He is defeated in the plains.

For since they supposed their own gods to be of this sort, they thought also that the true Maker of all things was a god of limited domain.

But He showed His own power both to His own people and to strangers.

For when the engagement took place in the plain, Israel struck down one hundred and twenty thousand of the adversaries.

And so that both the one side and the other might learn that the blow was sent from God, when those who had escaped fled for refuge into the city of Aphek, the wall fell and buried twenty-seven thousand.

For we regard sin one way in ourselves, and another way in others.

This is what Nathan also did.

But first he related the misfortune of the poor man;

then, having seen that the verdict rendered was just, he unveiled the person to whom the accusation belonged.

This is what the prophet did here as well.

For having covered his face and his brow with a bandage, he came before Ahab.

Then he related how, in the war, a captive taken by the spear had been delivered to him to guard, the one who had delivered him having commanded that he keep him, and having further threatened that, should he escape, he himself would be punished with death.

"But while I," he says, "was watching the battle line, he took the opportunity and fled."

Having heard these things, Ahab called him a murderer.

For behold, he says, you, as judge, have committed murder in my sight; for you released an enemy, that he might again perpetrate many murders.

Then, accordingly, the prophet, having undone the bandage, showed who he was;

and delivered the divine sentence;

And why was he required to pay the penalty for an act of kindness? Because justice must be tempered with kindness.

But this man, having shown cruelty toward the prophets, and having wished to destroy them all utterly, and having killed all those he had seized, displayed mildness toward the enemy of Israel.

That he sinned very greatly on account of the pliancy of his temper, what follows bears witness.

'For the king of Israel went away,' he says, 'distressed and weeping.' For since he had experience of the divine predictions—

for twice he had won victory in accordance with the divine oracles;

he feared the threat that had been pronounced against him;

but immediately he returned again to his own impiety.

'Smite me, by the word of the Lord'? It is not I, he says, who bid you, but the Spirit that is within me.

But another, being commanded to do this, obeyed faithfully, and having struck him, bruised him — that is, wounded him.

'And as your people, so also my people'? Jehoshaphat, being invited to share in the campaign, promised that he would do so.

'The same as you, he says, I will do;'

'as you draw up for battle, so will I draw up;'

'and as your people, so also mine will make war.'

Yet nevertheless he showed his own piety;

for he considered it necessary first to inquire of the God of all;

'For he said,' it says, 'to Ahab:'

'Let us inquire of the Lord, I pray.' But when Ahab had assembled the prophets of Baal, Jehoshaphat once more abhorred them, and piously sought out a prophet of God;

'Is there not here, he says, a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord through him?' And when Ahab had answered that there was indeed one, called Micaiah;

but that he hated him because he did not prophesy pleasing things, Jehoshaphat answered reverently;

'Let not the king say so.' In these things, then, he is praiseworthy;

but friendship and kinship marred his piety;

as the book of Chronicles records;

But the prophet Micaiah, although the eunuch sent to him urged him to announce favorable things, would not bring himself to gratify the king with a lie.

'As the Lord lives,' he said, 'whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.' QUESTION.

For what reason, then, being asked by Ahab, 'Shall I go up to Ramoth-gilead?' did he say, 'Go up, and the Lord will grant success into the king's hand'? He was waiting to be put under oath, and only then to speak the truth.

For since Ahab supposed that the prophet, out of hatred, was foretelling grievous things, he first spoke what was pleasing to his heart.

Then, having been put under oath, he disclosed the divine truth.

'How many times must I adjure you, that you speak to me the truth in the name of the Lord?' Here 'how many times' is used in place of 'many times.'

'Not so' — that is, 'I did not speak those things well.'

for had they obtained a pious shepherd, they would have conquered their enemies decisively.

Then he also points out a means of deliverance.

'If they truly belonged to the Lord, let each of them return to his house in peace.' If you wish, trusting in God, to learn from Him what must be done, disband the army.

But when Ahab had said to Jehoshaphat:

'Did I not tell you that this man does not prophesy good to me, but rather evil?' — the prophet said:

'I saw the Lord God of Israel sitting upon His throne, and all the host of heaven standing about Him, on His right hand and on His left; and He said:'

'Who will deceive Ahab king of Israel, so that he may go up to Ramoth-gilead and fall there?' And one said this, and another said that.

'And a spirit came forth and stood before the Lord, and said:'

'And the Lord said to it, "By what means?" And it said:'

'I will go forth, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets, and I will deceive him.'

For it was not the true God, the teacher of truth, who commanded that Ahab be deceived — He who said through the prophet:

But this comes about by God's permission.

For though able to prevent it, He did not prevent it, since Ahab was unworthy of divine care.

But Josephus asserted that Micaiah was the same man who had earlier employed the bandage and had foretold grievous things to Ahab, drawing this inference from Ahab's saying, 'I have hated him, because he speaks not good things about me, but evil.'

And now, too, Ahab sent him to prison, ordering that he receive only the scantest food — just enough to prevent death by starvation.

But not even so did the prophet abandon his boldness of speech, but cried out, saying:

'If you return at all in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.' Yet even upon hearing these words, Ahab rushed headlong into the war;

and Jehoshaphat too set out with him, doing things unworthy of his own piety.

For after seeking a true prophet, rejecting the false prophets, and learning from Micaiah what ought to be done, he still valued friendship above piety.

Nevertheless, because of his other virtue, he still enjoyed divine care.

For when the Syrians, judging from his royal apparel, supposed him to be the king of Israel and advanced against him, he called upon God's help;

and God swiftly provided him with deliverance.

But the divine prediction received its fulfillment.

For Ahab, having been wounded, continued for a long time standing upright in his chariot, so as not to bring about a rout by his flight;

but the blood, as it flowed, congealed upon the chariot.

And the harlots washed at dawn according to custom, not intending deliberately to bathe in the blood, but in the spring water, as they were accustomed;

but this water had been tinged with the blood.

'Did Moab rebel against Israel?' ANSWER.

but when Ahab had died, they despised his son, and were unwilling to be ruled by him.

What is the 'lattice upper chamber'? It was a chamber suited to the summer season, having many light-shafts fashioned in lattice-work, which most people call 'perforated' windows.

What does 'to loathe' mean? Divine Scripture is accustomed to call idols both 'things loathed' and 'abominations.'

For indeed they are full of abomination, and worthy of hatred.

For 'a thing loathed' signifies hatred.

For thus also Isaac said:

'I am filled with loathing in my soul because of the daughters of the Canaanites' — that is, 'I have come to hate it.'

'He set himself in every way that is not good, and did not abhor evil' — that is, he did not hate evil.

But it is fitting to lament the irrationality of the impious.

For they deified not only the greatest of animals, but even the smallest and most worthless, creatures full of defilement.

For what is more loathsome than a fly? Yet they proclaimed its image a god, and having forsaken the true God, they inquired of its likeness concerning life.

And that creature which, while alive, they drive off with fly-whisks, they called its likeness a god.

Some have accused the prophet of cruelty, in that he delivered the two captains of fifty, together with their men, to fire from heaven.

Those who bring this accusation against the prophet are, in truth, moving their tongues against the God of the prophet.

It is, then, exceedingly rash to take offense at the divine dispensations.

For one must know the justice of divine providence, and how justly it punishes sinners, and does good to those who serve it.

Whence also they endured the punishments sent by God.

For the third captain of fifty, being adorned with gentleness and faith, and having learned by experience the power of the prophet, escaped the punishment by using mild words.

'Then Jehoram, brother of Ahaziah, reigned over Israel in his place, because he had no son'? It was the law among kings that sons should inherit the kingdom.

But when there were no sons, [the succession fell to] the eldest brother, or the most suitable one.

And since Jeconiah was taken captive before he had begotten children, Mattaniah, also called Zedekiah, took possession of the kingdom, being his uncle on his father's side.

Whom does the divine Scripture call 'sons of the prophets'? The prophets themselves, according to the idiom of the Hebrews and Syrians.

For it is also accustomed to name men in this way.

'Sons of men,' it says, 'how long will you be heavy of heart?' And:

'According to your exaltation you have shown great care for the sons of men' — that is, for men.

For indeed those who dwelt in Jericho and Bethel had both foreknown and foretold the assumption of the great Elijah.

And this was known also by the most excellent Elisha, who was foremost of all.

'I too have known it; be silent.' So great was the multitude of the prophets, that fifty of them followed them from a distance.

...the assumption of the great Elijah; and having gathered together, they persuaded the heir of his grace to send some men to search for their common teacher.

And they sent fifty able-bodied men.

For it called such men 'sons of strength,' instead of saying 'mighty men.'

From the number of those who were sent, one must consider the multitude of those who sent them.

Why did the great Elijah, when Elisha had asked for a double portion of the grace of the Spirit, say, 'You have asked a hard thing'? He said this not out of envy toward his disciple for the grace, but out of concern for other men.

For since he had disciplined the impious men with a famine of three years and six months,

it was necessary that the one inheriting the double grace should work double the miracles;

and one of these was the punishment by famine;

'You have asked a hard thing.' This we also learn from the historical narrative.

For the punishment was inflicted upon men for seven years.

'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horseman'? The kings of the other nations, employing horses and chariots, drew up their battle lines.

For this reason he called the great Elijah 'the chariot of Israel and its horseman.'

...as one sufficient by himself alone to overthrow the enemies and to grant victory to his countrymen.

But since the nature of the waters did not obey by itself, he called upon the God of his teacher, who is invisible and unattainable to men.

For 'Apphō' is interpreted 'the hidden one,' according to the edition of the other translators.

Why did he heal the bitter nature of the waters by means of salt? The great Moses, by casting in a piece of wood, changed the bitter quality of the waters into sweetness.

But this one freed it from its destructive effect by means of salt.

'And Mesha king of Moab was a noqed'? The other translators rendered 'noqed' as 'chief shepherd.'

So great was the wonder they held for the great prophet.

And need compelled even the impious kings to run to the all-renowned Elisha.

At once, then, Jehoram, taking up the word mildly, said: