Bede

In his own words on 1 Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:1

  And (he said) his name was Elkanah, etc. The names of the fathers of Elkanah unveil their lives, faith, virtues, and the sublimity of those in whom and through whom the Lord is accustomed to be spiritually born; that is, in whose acts or inspirations, faith and love of Him are infused into hearts where they were not before. Hieroam, indeed, means merciful: Heliu, my God is his: Thau signifies a sign, Suph a watcher: Ephratite is said to mean fruitful or dusty. And the life of the saints is taught to be greatly strengthened by mercy, who said: Give alms, and behold all things are clean for you (Luke XI). Those who believe in the redemption through the incarnation of Christ rightly confess Him as their God, because the Eternal Father of Him, Lord of heaven and earth, from the time of assumed humanity, began to also be His God; whence He says, From the womb of my mother, you are my God (Psalm XXI). The virtues and works of saints are also a sign of the coming, the teaching, and the acts fitting for the flesh of Christ, when He Himself says: And in the hands of the prophets I have been assimilated (John V). And speaking of Moses in the Gospel: For concerning me, he says, he wrote. If it is read as sons of Thau, that is, of the testament, or of the wandering, this name also fits their virtues, who know how to say; whether we are out of our mind, it is for God; or if we are sober, it is for you; and we are fools for Christ. But the foolishness of God is wiser than men (2 Cor. V: 1 Cor. I). Finally, Paul, standing in chains before the judges of this world, because having received the faculty of speaking, he did not plead about the chains that burdened him externally, but about the confidence in the virtues he gloried in inwardly, heard: You are mad, Paul; much learning is driving you mad (Acts XXVI). And the Savior Himself speaks to the Father: God, you know my foolishness (Psalm LXVIII). Whom, in the Gospel, even His relatives wanted to bind as if He were out of His mind, and the adversaries reproached Him for having a demon (John XVII). But the watcher of heavenly joys, which is the soul of the elect alone, unaware of the joy of that life, has learned to speculate on nothing. Therefore, in the heart and mouth or work of such people, the Savior is always generated by faith, hope, and charity, and was pleased to be called and appear dusty and fruitful at the same time, while taking on the frailty of the flesh, He bore our sins in His body on the wood. And by the unique fruitfulness of His same sacrifice, destroying the kingdom of death, He has opened for us the entrance to life forever. But according to history, it must be noted that Elkanah is called an Ephratite, not because he was of the tribe of Ephraim, but because he was born in the city of that lot. For the words of days tell us that he was a Levite, that is, from the sons of Isaac, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi (2 Chronicles VI).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:1

  There was a man from Ramathaim Zophim ... Elkanah, etc. The first reading of Blessed Samuel typically designates one and the same Lord Christ, to be believed always as the Redeemer and Ruler of both the Synagogue and the Church; of one, boasting of herself from the justice of the law and the abundance of her believing progeny; of the other, lamenting the injustices of her long desolation with humble devotion at the mercy of her same Redeemer, and therefore, breathing again with the sublime consolation of that Redeemer. Ramathaim, as we find in the books of locations, is a city in the region of Thannitica, near Diospolis, from which was Joseph, who in the Gospels is written of as from Arimathea. Moreover, Zophim is a mountain of Ephraim in the place of Ramathaim, which the old edition called Armathem. Ramathaim, however, is interpreted as "their heights"; Zophim as "watchtower"; Ephraim as "fruitful" or "increasing"; and Elkanah as "God's possession." Therefore, there was a man from their heights, that is, a watchtower of men, from the fruitful and increasing mountain, and his name is "God's possession." One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (Eph. IV), who always has a beloved possession, and consecrates a dwelling in the spiritual hearts of the faithful. These, having transcended the earthly conversation, with all the effort of the mind, desire to observe the heavenly light of wisdom, possessing that mountain, which, with the pomp of worldly empire destroyed, grew with the fruit of believing peoples, and filled the whole earth. Of which the Psalmist says: "And He heard me from His holy mountain" (Psalm III), that is, He redeemed me through the man whom He singularly accepted as holy. This one man, namely, man Christ, explaining His own name says: "The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His ways" (Proverbs VIII). But this must also be noted according to the letter, because it is not written in vain, nor superfluously, "There was one man"; since it might seem sufficient to say, "There was a man from Ramathaim," or it could more fittingly have been said, "There was a certain man"; as some have even dared to translate against the faith of Hebrew truth. But this addition of "one" refers to the laudable title of Elkanah who, according to the Apostle's admonitions (Eph. IV), being stable and immovable, abounding in the work of the Lord, was never carried about by every wind of doctrine. For the wise man remains like the sun. For the fool changes like the moon (Eccles. XXVII). And this most fittingly applies to men of this kind, that, placed in the high watchtower of the mind and rejoicing in the fruitful summit of virtues, they are called "God's possession." Not only is any one of the perfect in Christ rightly called "one man"; but the heart and soul of the multitude of believers were one (Acts IV), imitating after their measure Him to whom it is said: "But You are the same" (Psalm CI). On the contrary, the reprobate are many, not only in different persons or in committing errors in various ways; but each one of them, due to the various movements of his changing mind, is many. For the heart of fools will be different, and a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Proverbs XI; James I). Hence, the very cities in which they serve are "one confusion"; and this is of the Chaldeans, that is, the fierce, or as it were of demons; the other is called the "vision of peace," whose creator and founder is that one man, of whom it is said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord" (Deut. VI). Indeed, that chorus of like-mindedness in the house, which sings: "One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life" (Psalm XXVI).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:2

  And Phenenna had children, etc. The synagogue, ever since she was betrothed to the Lord, has never ceased to generate spiritual children for him through teaching. Gentilitas, however, although it never ceased to be subject to his grace in some, albeit few, could not generate for him children who live spiritually through preaching; because she neither deserved to receive his testament openly, nor the prophecies, nor the oracles of angels.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:2

  And he had two wives, etc. Anna, whose name means 'grace,' represents the Church: Phenenna, whose name means 'conversion,' demonstrates the synagogue. And fittingly Anna is first, and Phenenna second; because the first times of the world had holy ones, who, living lives similar to ours without the ceremonies of legal sacrifices, sabbaths, new moons, circumcision, and various purifications, pleased God through the righteousness of faith alone, hoping to be saved by Christ's grace alone, from the time his incarnation was shown to the patriarchs. Thus finally, the conversion of the Synagogue from Egypt to the Lord is celebrated.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:3

  There were, however, there, the two sons of Eli, etc. Eli, my God: Ophni, meaning barefoot: Phinehas, meaning mute mouth. There were thus, in the time of the imminent Incarnation of the Lord, priests consecrated to the Lord in the law of good priesthood, and sons of rightly believing priests: but they were devoid of the grace due to action and preaching; having neither the open duty of instruction with the mouth nor the adorned steps for walking in the way of the immaculate.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:3

  And that man ascended from his city on appointed days, etc. The Lord ascended from the common life of the faithful; for this is the city of our God on his holy mountain (Psalm XXVII): in his saints progressing and ascending from strength to strength, so that on appointed days, that is, through each increase in divine knowledge, he enkindled their heart to offer libations of adoration and good works; and this in the keeping of divine law, in which alone all sins can be forgiven for the humble and their feet can be freed from the snare, who always keep their eyes on the Lord; where only he should be sought, and he who says "I am who I am" can be found. Hence, Silo is well interpreted as separation, or remission, or where he is; signifying the law itself, which instructs those making good progress in its justice: Seek his face always (Psalm CIV).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:4

  Therefore, the day came, and Elkanah offered sacrifice. The shadow of the law having passed, the light of new grace came, and the possession of God, namely, Christ becoming visible in flesh; He taught people heavenly things, and at the same time granted them to love, hope, and believe. For what He grants to His own to do, He Himself is said to do, as the Apostle testifies, who says: For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure. And the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unutterable groanings (Philippians 2; Romans 8); namely, because He makes us to ask and to groan by His grace. Hence, above, not without reason, in Elkanah ascending, worshipping, and offering sacrifice, we understood Him who disposes ascents in the hearts of the blessed in the valley of tears, and teaches them to worship and persevere in good deeds.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:5

  And he gave to his wife Peninnah, etc. The Lord, suffering in the human flesh, and provoking to divine matters, gave to the Synagogue and all who believed and feared Him in it, both small and great, various operations of virtues and divisions of graces. To the Church of the Gentiles, however, which was still in a few believers, for instance, the Centurion and the Syrophoenician woman, and also to those who, going up to worship in the temple on the feast day, said to Philip: "Sir, we wish to see Jesus" (John 12:21); and to others like them, He bestowed only the gifts of faith. The grace of the charismata, however, He deferred to give for the time being. And this one was acting sorrowfully, because she knew what kind of church it would be and praised it in the faith of the Centurion or the aforementioned woman; she loved it, although it was still delayed by the supreme counsel of goodness from receiving the sacraments of the same faith. Therefore, as the hour of passion was approaching, He said, "My soul is sorrowful even unto death" (Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34); He did not say, sorrowful because of death, but unto death; because, by His very death, He knew that He would destroy him who had the power of death, and after death, He rejoiced that He would reach the salvation of the Gentiles.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:6

  Her rival also afflicted her, etc. The Synagogue afflicted the Gentiles, reproaching them for being neglected by God due to their immense crimes, and for neither being able to merit the discourse of God nor the oracles of the prophets, by which the offspring of souls acceptable to God might be brought forth; and therefore, the womb of their mind was deprived of the spiritual seed of heavenly virtues or of believing peoples.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:7

  And so he did year by year, etc. He calls the Temple of the Lord the tabernacle of testimony, which remained in Shiloh until these times. Consider the single years or single virtues by which the Synagogue advanced in the house of the Lord; and the Gentiles, who were far from this, were provoked to tears, accusing it. Or certainly understand the long times of the given law itself. For reading the sacred Scripture, you will find that when Israel went out of Egypt, when it began to be the time for the Synagogue to be betrothed to God, as I might say, not a small crowd of strangers also came with them, to be joined to the Lord and consecrated by legal mysteries together; and from then until the time of the Lord's Incarnation, there were always those who believed with their right hands there. But they were in such great lack and poverty in everything, as inhabitants, strangers, and outcasts, compared to the entire people residing in the ancestral land, that weeping at the feet of the Lord and less suited to receive the food of spiritual joy and the living bread, which descended from heaven, at least falling from the Lord's table, they should be content to hope for and ask for the crumbs, like little dogs.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:8

  Then Elkanah, her husband, said to her: "Anna, why do you weep?" etc. Ten sons symbolize the receivers or observers of the law's decalogue. Therefore, the Lord consoles the Church, so that it does not bear grievously that the legislation, the promises, the covenant, and the entrusted utterances of God were given not to it but to the Synagogue; but let it be cheered and exult with the greatest joy, that it has now deserved to receive a greater gift and better grace than all these, the advent of the Mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, whom it did not know to expect or hope for. This lesson not only figuratively expresses the different states of the two peoples, but also the differing merits of the dissenting persons in each of those peoples, and the different rewards of merits. For Christ has always loved, and will love, the humble tears of penitents more than the rigid justice of the proud; and, neglecting the Pharisee's arrogance, who exalts himself as if fertile with the progeny of ten sons due to his fulfillment of legal commands, he deigns rather to regard the lamentations of the penitent publican.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:9

  And Anna rose, etc. The Church rose from the prolonged grief of its desolation, having now received confidence in supplicating the Lord. After being refreshed by his sacred body and inebriated by the precious chalice of his blood, while the Jewish teachers still remained on the same soil, ministering on the chair of Moses, keeping watch over the entrance to the heavenly kingdom so that they themselves might enter and teach those who wished to enter, she began to seek from the Lord with tears and prayers the gifts, which, before the mysteries of his incarnation were known or perceived, she could not yet presume.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:11

  And a razor shall not come upon his head. And the reproof of sin shall not violate his conscience; but as far as it is possible for man, he endeavors to consecrate all his thoughts, words, and deeds, which gradually proceed as if from the brain of the heart, to Christ as a true Nazarite. Consequently, the hair of the apostles, because they are holy, cannot perish from their head (Luke XXI). However, the leprous, unclean person, and the woman captured by enemies, and others of that kind, are commanded to shave not only all the hair of their heads but also the hairs of their entire body, because they are vile and polluted; so that once the excess of mortal actions is cut off, whatever is found of living perfection in them may be more freely consecrated to the Creator. But we say these things, not because we believe that any saint has lived this life without the stain of sin, nor that what is said applies to anyone except Christ: And whatever he does shall prosper (Psalm I); but because we all ought to strive to serve the Lord in holiness and righteousness before him all our days (Luke I); according to him who said: I have sworn and determined to keep the judgments of your justice (Psalm CXVIII). Yet it is not in vain that it is preached elsewhere, saying: And do not enter into judgment with your servant, because no living person shall be justified in your presence (Psalm CXLII). Hence, more truly, these words of Anna can be understood as spoken by the Church about the Lord himself; whom she always desires to be generated in her and her members by the grace of new virtue. For he alone, because he lived without sin in the flesh, was given to the Lord all the days of his life, finding nothing in himself whatsoever that he would cut off by repenting.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:11

  And Anna made a vow, etc. The Church vows, if the word would be entrusted to the nations, and the grace of faith would be granted, and a people strong in virtues would arise from them, that they would serve the Lord until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and never in the example of the Jews, they would bend the knee to Baalim and Astarte, and the other idols of the nations. But if you understand the days allegorically as virtues, all the days of their life are given to the Lord; whatever honest life they live, whatever clear thing they bear in mind or body, they attribute not to themselves, but with the Apostle they proclaim: By the grace of God I am what I am (1 Cor. XV).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:12

  It came to pass, therefore, when she was multiplying prayers, etc. It happened that, as the Church began to multiply across the world, new emblems of its devotion began to multiply, whose praise comes not from men but from God, so that the priests of the Jews should consider its external manifestations, to see whether it lived in a gentile or Jewish manner. But with Judaism gradually left behind, she rejoiced to follow the mysteries of faith rather, which purify the heart, and pleased invisible Christ with the wisdom of faith.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:13

  And only her lips moved, etc. Clearly an ecclesiastical operation and most worthy of divine regard, which itself anticipated the Lord's encouragement with devotion, saying: Enter your chamber, and having closed the door, pray to your Father who is in secret (Matthew VI).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:13

  Therefore Eli thought she was drunk, etc. The pride of the Jewish priesthood judged the converted gentility still heavily burdened by the disturbance of sins, and said to her: How long will you be held guilty by the bond of original sin? Be purified by circumcision, and thus be saved in the number of proselytes.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:16

  Responding Anna, No, my lord, she said, etc. The Church from the gentiles, responding, said, No, O priest of Judea, consider not burdened by sins she who has already been purified by the font of baptism and the participation of the sacred body and blood, having become the inner temple of Christ. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man (Romans VII); nor am I any longer sinful, but yet I am your exceedingly unhappy servant; whom I justly call Lord, for you preceded me in a time of such ancient election. Who has delivered me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ (Ibid.); at whose sacred feet I lay prostrate, pouring out my soul, melted by the fire of love, in the sight of His piety through tears.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:16

  Do not consider your servant as one of the daughters of Belial, etc. Do not compare me to souls deceived by diabolical fraud; for I, doing penance from the heart for my sins, have renounced Satan and all his works and pomps: moreover, I have willingly accepted the very sweet yoke of Christ, which the proud one long ago cast off from his neck, for which he also deserved to be called Belial, meaning without yoke.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:17

  Then Eli said to her: Go in peace, etc. He who previously noted her for drunkenness, now having received the sanctification of her deed, blesses; and the envious chief priests, mocking the salutary beginnings of the Church, scorned them as similar to those of drunkards. However, some of them, having later perceived the divine will regarding these matters, began to support the believers and to render assistance; and even many of those who called the apostles, speaking by the Holy Spirit, full of new wine (Acts 2); having heard the reason of the truth, what they had previously mocked as a mystery, they accepted as believers.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:18

  And the woman went on her way, and ate, etc. And the Church prospered in the hope of heavenly compassion, raised in the faith and love of Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life; refreshed by the consolatory and comforting feasts of sacred Scripture, it could not thenceforth be changed by any pressures or blandishments from the true God whom it once acknowledged into diverse errors. For you have prepared, she says, a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me (Psalm 23).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:19

  And they returned, and came, etc. Ramatha is interpreted as height. Therefore, having completed prayer, to obtain what we ask for, so that after the grievous barrenness of an unfruitful mind, we may be able to bring forth the buds of virtues for consecration to God, not to be wasted outside on superfluous things, but let us strive to return to the exalted dwellings of our conscience with faith and truth. And let not our countenance be changed to different things anymore, but let it persist in the same ardor and devotion that it conceived in prayer, even after the tears of consumption.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:19

  And they rose early in the morning, and worshiped, etc. The growth of the increasing Church is shown. At first, Anna rises alone to pray, and the hour at which she prayed is not expressed; now having received the blessing of the priest, she rises in the morning, not alone, but with her husband and her whole family, attending to prayer. At first, the Church sought the Lord with few, but when it had received from the faithful Jewish teachers the increase of faith, with the darkness of paganism already dispelled: From the ends of the earth, she says, I cry to you (Psalm 61); overflowing with such grace of heavenly gift, that the Lord himself, namely her husband, praying, has an advocate with the Father is not doubted to have.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:19

  Therefore, Elkanah knew his wife, etc. The Lord had mercy on enriching the Church of the nations through His grace, and having sent the seed of His word through preachers, He commanded all the ends of the earth to remember and turn to Him.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:20

  And it happened after the cycle of days Anna conceived, etc. It happened after the illumination of much spiritual knowledge and the manifestation of virtues, through which the apostles shone upon the world, the Gentiles conceived through catechizing and gave birth to a people believing in God through baptizing, or rather the people believed in God through His people. For both must rightly be confessed, not only according to the reason of faith and truth but also as the very name of Samuel implies. For it is interpreted: God is there, or His name is God. God is there in the people who will be born, whom the Lord has chosen. His name is God, specifically whose, if not that of Him who, to signify that He would be constantly born in His own through grace, says: Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother (Matthew VII). Nor should it seem strange to anyone that we have said that both the husband and son of the same Anna carry the type of Christ; because indeed the same Mediator of God and men is simultaneously the bridegroom and son of the holy Church which He governs: the bridegroom, always helping her to believe, hope, and love; the son, recently coming into the hearts of those believing, hoping, and loving through grace.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:21

  But the man Elkanah went up, etc. Let each one abound in his own understanding (Rom. XIV). The Lord and the Church of the perfect, which is his house and seat, ascended to offer to the Father who is in heaven the vows of their works, and the Church still remains at home in those who cannot yet use the solid food of the word. Some, having received the rudiments of faith, are still children in understanding (Hebr. V). But the time will come when they also will grow, and with the grace of Christ dwelling in them, they will begin to have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil; and they will say with the Apostle: When I became a man, I put away childish things (I Cor. XIII). And now they may be such, worthy in the sight of the Lord, remaining in the calling in which they were called with God, and able to partake in the priesthood and to eat the things of the altar, and to hear even the highest things of divinity, discerning the mysteries by reading. Such is the progress of all who believe in Christ: such were the beginnings of the converted Gentiles among the learned and teachers of the Jews, as the sons of Peninnah.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:24

  The boy, however, was still a little child, etc. The people of the nations had recently converted to the faith and produced not a few martyrs, who with unanimous devotion shed their blood for Christ, and grafted the wild olive tree onto the good olive tree; this was done by ministers of the word.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:24

  And she brought him with her, after she had weaned him, etc. The Church brings up her children, to whom she reasonably and without deceit administered milk, and has now advanced them from the rudiments of the new man to more perfect things, having educated them. She brings, I say, those whom the assisting grace of Christ has made strong in understanding to the fellowship of those who have already been made the temple of God through the observance of the divine law. But she brings them in three persons, namely, those who are married, the continent, and the teachers, who by the purity of their lives are fit for divine sacrifices, having bodies prepared to die for Christ, possessing a heart contrite through the mill of fear and hope, and embracing with a full mind the fervent love of spiritual grace to be inebriated with a sober chalice. For since an amphora is a kind of measure, it indicates the measure of love, by which each one is commanded to love his neighbor as himself. And because it holds three measures, it is rightly applied to the aforementioned three persons, by whom the whole Church consists.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:28

  And they worshipped the Lord there. The Lord commands to pray without remission and not to faint (I Thess. V) under the figure of Anna, which the Church performs, which in the beginning of its vows, in its progress, and even in its embrace does not cease to supplicate the Lord.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:1

  My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, etc. While my heart is enlarged to rejoice in Jesus, that is, in your salvation, my mouth is also enlarged over all enemies of faith and truth, to confess and proclaim His name; because even in the tightness of afflictions your word is not bound, nor is it bound in preachers.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:1

  My heart exulted in the Lord, etc. Truly a heart exulting, truly has the horn of spiritual kingship been exalted, which does not boast in itself, nor in perishable and fragile things, but glories in the Lord its God; according to him who says: Rejoice, O righteous, in the Lord, and I shall break all the horns of sinners, and the horns of the righteous will be exalted (Psalm 75). He does not say, He shall break, He has exalted; but, I shall break, and thus they shall be exalted.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:2

  There is none holy like the Lord, etc. Indeed, we read of holy and strong people and angels; but no matter how much one advances in holiness, however much perfection is acquired, a creature cannot be as holy and strong as the Creator; because He is the bestower of strength and holiness, the other is the recipient. As for what he said, Neither is there any other beside you, and he did not add, Creator, or Lord, or anything specific; it singularly designates His eternal existence, which the Psalmist distinguishes from the frailty of creatures: You will change them, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will have no end (Psalm 102).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:3

  Do not multiply lofty words, glorying, etc. It is said to the Jews and the Gentiles: Let it suffice to have so far gloried in your almost unique glory, now with the letter of the law transcended by grace, the truth of the Gospel trampling down the errors of the Gentiles, both receive the New Testament of Christ with faith, and the commandment of love. But we are also commanded to speak lofty things, but not to multiply lofty words glorying; that is, to seek and to desire the things above, not those on earth; yet not to think more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly (Coloss. III; Rom. XII). The Gentiles are instructed to speak lofty things, by proclaiming the mysteries of the one true God, and not to multiply lofty words, by erring through many deceiving names.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:3

  For the Lord is the God of knowledge, etc. Therefore, it is necessary for you to not seek higher things for yourselves, nor to search into things stronger than yourselves (Eccles. III); for the source and treasure of wisdom and knowledge, who teaches man knowledge: the Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are vain (Psa. XCIII).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:4

  The bow of the mighty has been broken, etc. The proud intention of the Jews, by which they always presumed to be saved by the works of the law, has failed; the exercise of dialectical skill, and the loquacity of secular philosophy, as if bent to ridicule the simplicity of faith, has been weakened; finally, all the fiery darts of malignant spirits have been blunted by the weapons of invincible truth; because God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty (I Cor. II).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:5

  Those who were filled have hired themselves out for bread, etc. The Jews, having previously been refreshed by the living bread of Scriptures, now, dissembling within themselves, lack amidst the spiritual feasts of the church at the feast of the good father, who gratefully received the returning younger son, and those who were once guests of the covenants, now taste and see that the Lord is good.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:5

  The barren has borne many, etc. Isaiah explains that the children of the desolate are many more than of her who has a husband (Isaiah LIV). The translators of the Septuagint wrote, "For the barren has borne seven." Saba, a Hebrew word, indeed designates both seven and many. But even the sense of that version becomes clear to those recognizing the number seven, which signifies the complete perfection of the church. This is why the apostle John writes to the seven churches (Revelation I), showing himself thus writing to the fullness of one; and in the Proverbs of Solomon, prefiguring this before: Wisdom has built a house for herself, she has hewn seven pillars (Proverbs IX).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:6-7

  The Lord kills and gives life, etc. He kills the Synagogue and gives life to the Church; or He gives life to those whom He kills; so that we might consider that we are indeed dead to sin, but living to God in Christ Jesus (Eph. II). Or certainly, we should understand according to what the Apostle said: For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our mortal flesh (II Cor. IV). But better, and without any controversy, we confess this fulfillment in the Lord, who died and came to life again, descending to the dead and resurrecting.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:7

  The Lord makes poor and makes rich, etc. Those whom He makes poor and humble in spirit for their own sake in the present, He makes rich in Himself in the future and exalts.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:8

  He raises the needy from the dust, etc. He raises Christ from the dead, so that His flesh may not see corruption; and He lifts Him to the heavens, that He may not be overcome by the persecutors, the Jews, whose traditions the Apostle considers as dung (Colossians III). For He Himself became needy, He Himself became poor for our sakes, that by His poverty we might be made rich (II Cor. VIII).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:8

  For the foundations of the earth are the Lord's, etc. He has not only set up high promontories and cliffs as defenses against the heat of marine tempests for the earthly world but much more so, to maintain the state of his Church, so that no wave of turbulent persecution might throw it down, he has placed the steadfast and strong hearts of his faithful. He therefore calls these foundations of the earth, the supports of the world, upon which the princes sit on thrones. And rightly so; because the more humbly they now bear, and defend more fervently, the more exalted they will be in judgment then. Blessed Job also remembers who the lords of these foundations are, and that they are not fortified by their own strength, saying of the Lord: Under whom bend those who bear the world. So that they may firmly support the burdens of the weak, they continually submit humble necks to invincible strength (Job IX).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:8

  To sit with princes, etc. He himself explains this verse, when questioned by those whom he made poor so that he might enrich them; he humbled them on earth so that he might exalt them in heaven; when asked what reward they would have in the future; he responded: When the Son of Man will sit on the throne of his majesty, you also will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. XIX). And Solomon, in praise of a strong woman, that is, the Church, or any chosen soul: Noble, he says, is her husband in the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land (Proverbs XXXI).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:9

  For a man will not be strengthened by his own strength. He looks up. Therefore, the impious who, trusting in their own strength, despise seeking divine help, should finally be silent in darkness, that is, condemned at last to cease from blind impiety; because whoever rightly desires to be called a true man will be strengthened not in his own strength but in the grace of his Creator.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:9

  He has kept the feet of His saints, etc. He has defended the actions and minds of the pious, by which they advance towards perfection as though by steps, from the snares of the impious; and these same impious people, in the dark devices which they set for the good, will perish. Therefore, one of the saints, giving thanks to the Savior for the safety of his feet, sings: I will exult in your salvation; the nations are sunk down in the pit that they made, etc. (Psalm IX.)

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:10

  His adversaries will fear the Lord, etc. He openly predicts the terrible day of the strict and final judgment; on that day, since His adversaries will fear the Lord, it is necessary now for us who do not yet see Him to humbly fear Him, so that then we may rejoice at His sight in majesty. But even today, the Lord thunders from the lofty and luminous pages of Holy Scripture, which His Spirit enriched, to chide the stubbornness of the wicked.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:10

  And He will give power to His king, etc. After the trial of the final examination, the kingdom of Christ, which unbelievers now despise, will be elevated and shown gloriously with the revelation of His divine majesty. But the horn of Christ is fittingly understood not only of the only-begotten Son of God but also of each of His chosen ones. Hence at the very beginning of this hymn, in which throughout she marvelously commends the grace of God, she says: My horn is exalted in my God. For we rightly call all His anointed ones christs, that nevertheless with their head they are one body, one Christ; now in part as strangers on earth, but then to be wholly exalted in the heavenly homeland. Recall the hymn of blessed Mary (Luke I), and see how the prophetess, mother, and Lord, both woman and virgin, felt similarly about God's judgments and grace.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:10

  The Lord will judge the ends of the earth. It is certain that the Lord will judge not only the ends of the earth but also the inland regions. Thus it is said: He will judge the ends of the earth; as if it were said, He will also judge the ends of the earth; because no one can hide from His heat (Psalm XVIII). But it is better understood to say the ends of the earth signify the end times or the final moments of every person or the whole world; because as someone departs from the body, so will he be presented to the examination of the strict judge.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:11

  Thus Elkanah went to Ramah, to his house, etc. The Church of the Gentiles, recently called to faith, which we said signified the birth of the blessed Samuel, God's possession, which is His co-eternal wisdom, Christ, went to enlighten, as always, the lofty hearts of His saints, faithful and angels and humans, which are His house, strongly built upon the rock of faith against the gates of hell. But the people called to faith, even seen by and wondered at by the Jewish priesthood, humbly served Christ's commands as if they were always observing themselves.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:12

  Furthermore, the sons of Eli, sons of Belial, etc. The sons of the Jewish priesthood, sons of blind light, or without a yoke (for both Belial and Beliar mean this), were those who did not know the doctrine of Christ; not following the commands of the divine law but adhering to their own statutes and traditions.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:15

  Even before they burned the fat, etc. The wickedness of Pharisaic deception progressed so far that even before they taught that the rich offering of love, most pleasing to God, should be made, which should be offered singularly on the altar of the heart before other sacrifices of virtues, they would put their own service before divine worship; telling their wretched listeners that each should not consume the enticements of carnal lust with a flame of heavenly charity worthy of God, but should spend these less chastised in the injury to the Creator according to the whim of carnal commands. However, these wicked ones said this to their listeners not with words, but with the deeds themselves. We wish we did not know that very similar things are being done today by teachers and priests of the Church.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:15

  But whoever had sacrificed a victim, the priest's boy would come, etc. Whoever at that time had decided to consecrate his life to the Lord, the disciples of the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests would come, as his carnal customs began to be boiled away by the fire of heavenly devotion, and they had the rapacious desire of the world in their works; whose three-pronged bite the Apostle John describes, saying: For all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2). And they would send examples or even teachings of earthly desires into whatever heart of the listener, whether it be teachable, or of slower and narrower intellect, whether weak and fragile, or patient of adversity, whether effective in speaking, or rustic and less eloquent, which is distinguished by the variety of larger and smaller iron, bronze, or earthen vessels; and they would pollute the small flame of divine love that someone had recently conceived by their worst touch, not expecting the reward of preaching as the law decreed, but rather compelling what was due to God to be made an offering to themselves in obedience; by which most crooked staff they also now defile sacred offerings in the church, whoever, having received the mystery of faith or even the ministry of the word, seek their own benefit, not that of Jesus Christ.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:17

  The sin of the boys was therefore exceedingly great, etc. The sin of the scribes and Pharisees was exceedingly great before the Lord, although before men they justified themselves through hypocrisy (Luke 11); because they, being men, annulled the commandment of God through their traditions; or certainly taking away the key of knowledge, they themselves did not enter, and they prohibited those who wished to enter. If, however, the boys committed exceedingly great sin before the Lord, who unworthily handled the flesh of sacrificial victims, what do you think those deserve of punishment who, with childish foolishness, have trampled underfoot the Son of God and considered the blood of the eternal covenant polluted (Hebr. 10)? Who receiving, do not discern the body of the Lord (1 Cor. 11), that is, from the perception of common and mean foods, they by no means discern the mystery of heavenly life.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:18

  Now Samuel was ministering before the face of God, etc. Ephod in Hebrew, in Latin it is called a superhumeral or overgarment; the garment of this name, woven from gold, blue, purple, twice-dyed scarlet, and twisted fine linen, is mentioned in the Scripture of Exodus (Exod. XXV) as allowed only for the high priests. However, the same linen ephod is typified as usable by priests, Levites, and others, as the examples of Samuel, who was a Levite, the priests who Saul slew, and David dancing before the ark of the Lord demonstrate. For it could not have been eighty-five high priests of the same age, but priests of a lesser order. Typologically, the Ephod of various colors shows the manifold grace of virtues in a holy man. Linen, on the other hand, since it is produced from the earth, and through long practice reaches its own beauty, signifies the pure mortification of chaste flesh. Therefore, Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord, a boy girded with a linen ephod; Christ ministered to our infirmity humbly in a man, always carrying a body and soul most clean from every filth of sins. For He did not sin, nor did He do evil before the Lord: He who was conceived without iniquities, and His mother bore Him without sins. The Christian people serve Christ, crucifying their flesh with its vices and desires, chastening their body, and bringing it into subjection.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:19

  Which he offered on the appointed days, etc. And the Church, never deserted by Christ, whom it has with it in secret all the days until the end of the age, ascending on the solemn days of the Mass to sacrifice, carries with it the mysteries of his flesh and blood in wine and bread. Indeed, to the people whom the Church bears for Christ, it instills the habit of humility, which it brings with it through the increase of each one's virtues, progressing to higher things with the grace of Christ, that it may render the vows of thanksgiving to the Father of lights. This is the wedding garment, according to the parable of the Gospel (Matthew 22), that everyone who enters the solemnities of the heavenly kingdom needs. And this was first donned by the Son of the great King himself, the author and sanctifier of spiritual weddings; who, proceeding as a bridegroom from his chamber, humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death (Ezekiel 40; Philippians 2). This tunic de facto small in appearance but great in power, he did not allow to be torn even at the time of his death by those who inflicted death upon him; for he preserved even in death the example of humility which led him to death.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:19

  And his mother made for him a little tunic. The Lord assumed not only a chaste and free from all sin, but also an entirely humble flesh, which the Church makes for Him, or whoever believes Him rightly and most wholesomely such, or because the virgin, a not ignoble member of the Church, from whom He Himself was born, shines brightly.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:20

  And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, etc. The priests of the Jews, having converted to faith, blessed Christ and the Church, of whom it is written: "A great number of the priests were obedient to the faith." The old priesthood often signifies in its types the Church to be blessed in Christ, and to be multiplied by the seed of the word among the nations of the Gentiles, and it speaks metaphorically to Christ: "May God the Father grant you believers from the Gentiles"; for they are the seed whom the Lord has blessed. For the return you lent to the Lord, that is, for that uniquely holy man, whom you chose to have taken from a virgin, sharing with you the person of Christ, that is, the name of God. For if a holy loan had not been received by the Lord, no one would have thought it hopeful to expect a seed from a barren woman. This means, if a man seized by God had not been glorified and seated at the right hand of the Father, the miserable gentility, and aware of its transgression, could not have reached the multiplication of the seed of Abraham at all. But while Christ, the firstfruits of the human race, was loaned to God the Father, hope is given to the faithful by His example to be saved through Him, to live in Him, to die for Him, to be resurrected by Him, and to reign eternally with Him. It can also be said that the Church, for the loan it lent to the Lord, earned seed from Him, when, by offering to the Lord a faithful and devoted people, it received greater gifts of faith and devotion, through preachers sent throughout the world; which in whatever nations, neglecting to obey the word of God when heard, failed to receive the multiplication of the holy seed for the unpaid loan of the word to the Lord by rejecting the teachers from itself.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:21

  The Lord therefore enriched Anna, etc. The Lord gave to the Church the Spirit of His grace, by which it, being fruitful, bore for Him spiritual offspring, partly to search out or preach the mysteries of the Holy Trinity powerfully, partly with perfect love of God and neighbor despised in its simplicity; because the humility of the incarnation assumed by Christ for a time was held in great esteem by the Father; by whom everyone who humbles himself, will be exalted (Luke XIV). Whence also their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world (Psalm XVIII).

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:22

  And he heard everything that his sons were doing, etc. The transgression of the sons of Eli was not small nor uniform, which did not fear to tarnish both divine religion and love of neighbor. For it is read above that they presumed from the holy meats, not what was prescribed in the law, but what was pleasing to them; that before the sacred fat was burned for God, they presumed a portion for themselves from the sacrifice that was eaten; that they took raw meat from those offering it, to prepare it more carefully for themselves; that they made the people of the Lord transgress: and, which is exceedingly horrible, they did all this in contempt of the Creator. But now it is added that what would harm the brethren, because they polluted the women of the people who were coming together to pray; and below, it is added, which is the sum of all evils, that they did not repent even when corrected by their Father. We have spoken these things more precisely, so that, reader, you may remember what to beware of in each instance. Truly, what remains to be fulfilled in the typical part is for the priests and teachers, both to watch in the Lord and to awaken others to watch, saying: Awake to righteousness, and do not sin (I Cor. XV). But even bad teachers sleep, and this with the women who keep watch at the door of the tabernacle, when seducing unstable souls, neither do they themselves enter, nor do they allow those who want to enter the door of life. Such was once the crime of the perishing Pharisaic faction; such is also now in the false professors of the Christian religion.

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:23

  And he said to them: Why do you do such things? etc. He rebuked the guilty sons of Eli, but they did not listen. And the very institution of the old priesthood orders its ministers to be perfect; but the scribes, Pharisees, and chief priests, being wicked, in their ruin despised the paternal voice of their law and priesthood. However, we must not overlook the literal aspect, that he rebuked the sons of Eli; but because they despised the rebuke and he neglected to cast them out as he should have, he perished along with them. What then do we wretched, what do our similars deserve, who delight in sins, who do not dare to amend, who fear their own conscience; and what the entire people shouts, they pretend not to know?

  Commentary on Samuel

• 1 Samuel 2:25

  If a man sins against a man, etc. Both refer to the sons of Eli. For he sinned against a man when the priest violated the wife of another man under the pretext of religion; but this could be dismissed with appropriate penance by God. Not only this was done, but he sinned even worse against the Lord, when the same priest, contaminated by fornication, approached the holy mysteries of the altar not only unworthily, but completely unworthy. Indeed, the terrible sentence of Eli against such presumptuous persons resounds, but much more terrible is the word of the judge himself, who says: Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come (Matt. XII; Luke XII).

  Commentary on Samuel