LIBER II REGUM

• 563A

VERS. 2.-- There appeared a man coming from the camp of Saul, etc. (RAB.) The Hebrews say that this man was the son of Doeg. For the Amalecite and the Idumaean are one, because the firstborn son of Esau was Eliphan, and the son of this man was Amalec. But let him have the diadem and the bracelet entrusted to him by his father.

VERS. 15.-- Drawing near, etc. Everyone who contrives evil against his neighbour, or rejoices at his destruction, deserves from the judge on high the penalty of a just retribution. For he that diggeth a pit falleth into it (Prov. XXVI). And, The mouth that belieth killeth the soul (Sap. I): and this man was lying that he himself had killed Saul.

VERS. 18.-- The sons. The sons of Juda, sons of confession, 563Bwhom the true David wills to be fortified with the bow of Scripture, lest through ignorance they fall down in the sight of the demons.

The bow. (RAB. in lib. Reg.) Because the Philisthiim are archers, by which art they had killed Saul, he wills them to learn that same art of war, or he commanded that the kings of Juda should teach fortitude, that is, that they should be strong and intent in the fear of the Lord, lest they perish as Saul did.

In the book. (RAB., ubi supra.) It is read, or, it is written. They assert that this book is nowhere to be found, like the book of the wars of the Lord, etc., as far as how Saul, drawing back from the fear of the Lord, perished through obedience [obedientiam; read inobedientiam, "disobedience"].

Consider, Israel. (ID.) Thou who hast remained, for what 563Cfault they were slain, and beware lest thou too perish in their wickedness.

VERS. 20.-- Geth. A winepress, that is, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets (Matth. XXIII), to whom the death of the Lord and of the apostles was a matter of mockery, and for this cause the true David commanded that his passion should not be announced to them.

VERS. 21.-- The mountains of Gelboe, etc. (ID.) Others, high places, because, that is, O Saul, thy disobedience was accounted as idolatry in the high places, since it is the wickedness of idolatry to be unwilling to acquiesce. The mountains of Gelboe were most rich before the curse, and they say that even until now they lie under the curse, and they testify that it never rains there.

David, king and prophet, who did not render evils 563Dto his persecutors, when Saul and Jonathas had fallen in battle, in his lamentation curses the mountains of Gelboe: Ye mountains of Gelboe, neither dew, etc., as far as and the divine power fulfilled the sentence of him who cursed. And so for the spectacle of the king's slaying the elements paid the penalty.

(RAB.) What have the mountains done amiss? etc., as far 564Aas they who had deserved, iniquity requiring it, to receive the death of their king among themselves.

VERS. 22.-- From the blood of the slain. Blood and fat furnish strength to the body, so those men gave fortitude to their subjects, by whom Saul and Jonathas were slain as though not by rustics. Or thus, Saul was reprobated by God, and slain basely by the uncircumcised, as though he had not been anointed with oil, because of the blood of the slain, that is, of the seventy-five priests who burned fat to the Lord, whom Saul commanded to be slain though they were harmless.

The arrow. It signifies that Jonathan and Saul were warlike and most valiant, and it praises in them the comeliness of form and the constancy of mind.

(RAB.) Allegorically. The holy prophet David figuratively 564Bbewails Saul and Jonathan, etc., as far as lest, being again shamefully overcome, they give joy to their enemies.

VERS. 1.-- Therefore after. (RAB.) The going up of David with his two wives into Hebron signifies the calling together of the two peoples into the Catholic Church. For Hebron is interpreted wedlock. But the Church alone is the bride of the heavenly king. Thither David brought each man with his household, because the faithful are called one by one into that fellowship through the preaching of the Gospel, where there is no distinction of Jew and Greek.

VERS. 4.-- And they came. (ID.) Because, while the proud and the despisers spurn the grace of God, the elect confess by the report of preaching and by zeal for the virtues that Christ 564Cis king among his own people, to whom is given all power in heaven and on earth.

VERS. 5.-- And he said. (ID.) He greatly pleases our Redeemer who consigns to oblivion, by condemning them, the works of the wicked who are dead in their sins, and does not imitate the things that displease the Lord, but remembers to do the things he has commanded.

VERS. 8.-- Isboseth. (ID.) Who is interpreted son of confusion, by the help of Abner (who is interpreted the father's lamp ) reigned over all Israel, and the house of Juda alone followed David, because, while only those who believe and truly confess follow Christ, in the rest the error of confusion reigned, at the instigation of the devil, who transformeth himself into an angel of light (II Cor. XI).

564DHe led about. In the Hebrew it is said: He brought him over into Mahanaiim, which is interpreted camps, that is, he brought him over beyond the Jordan, and set him up as king in the camps.

VERS. 11.-- And it was. (RAB. in lib. Reg., tom. II.) He said well, that David reigned seven years and six months in Hebron, etc., as far as but it was founded 565Aseven years before Thanis, a city of Egypt.

VERS. 12.-- He went out. (RAB.) Josephus expounds this passage thus, etc., as far as this man was pursuing Abner, turning aside to neither part.

VERS. 18.-- Now Asael was a most swift runner, like one of the roes. (ID. ex Greg.) Asael signifies those whom a vehement fury seizes and drives headlong, etc., as far as they die as it were without the sword.

VERS. 26.-- Knowest thou not that despair is dangerous? In the Hebrew it stands thus: Knowest thou not that the end will be bitter, if thou strivest to destroy the people?

VERS. 1.-- There was therefore. (RAB. in lib. Reg.) The house 565Bof David is the heavenly Jerusalem, etc., as far as and at last, according to its own deserts, it shall be sunk into the depth of the abyss.

VERS. 2.-- And there were born. The six sons who were born to David in Hebron signify the perfection of the saints, who from the spiritual wedlock of Christ and the Church spring up daily through the grace of the Holy Spirit.

VERS. 5.-- Of Egla. (RAB.) This is Michol, who alone is called a wife, because David obtained her as his first wife in his youth. She is said to have died in childbirth, whence in what follows it is written: Therefore to Michol the daughter of Saul was no son born, unto the day of her death, because she died in that very childbirth.

VERS. 17.-- A word. (ID.) Abner exhorts all Israel, etc., as far as and everywhere they persecuted the faith of Christ 565C.

VERS. 29.-- An issue of seed. According to the letter he seems to imprecate a flowing forth of lust, the plague of leprosy, effeminacy, to lie under the sword of the enemy, to beg.

Holding a spindle. (AUG.) By the circuit of words are marked those who strive to defend their own deceit.

Falling. He that striketh with the sword shall perish by the sword (Matth. XXVI). [Vulg. Matt. 26:52 omnes enim, qui acceperint gladium, gladio peribunt, "for all that take the sword shall perish by the sword"] Heretics pierce through with the sword of the mouth, having first been pierced through with the sword of impiety.

VERS. 39.-- Delicate. The ancients called things consecrated to the gods delicata, which we now call dedicata.

VERS. 2.-- And two men. (RAB. in lib. Reg., 565Dtom. II.) These two men were princes in the army of Isboseth, and when Abner was dead, as the Hebrews hand down, they took counsel with Miphiboseth that they should kill Isboseth and set him up as king. But Miphiboseth betrayed the counsel; therefore it is thus brought in: Now Jonathan had a son weak in his feet. But they, terrified with fear, fled into Gethaim, and were there until that time in which, returning thence, they entered the house of Isboseth.

And the portress. (ID.) The portress cleanses the wheat; etc., as far as lest the enemies penetrate her through the opening of a neglected thought.

VERS. 1.-- And they came. (RAB.) So all the nations 566Acome together to Christ, and as though caressing him they say: We are thy bone and thy flesh: when they love and venerate in him the incarnation which he took from our nature in the womb of the Virgin.

VERS. 3.-- The ancients. (ID.) The prophets and the apostles run together to Christ with equal faith and devotion.

And they anointed. (ID.) David is said to have been anointed twice, and Christ took the sovereignty first among the Jews, afterwards among the Gentiles.

VERS. 4.-- And forty. (ID.) It is asked: why are not forty years and six months reckoned in the sum? etc., as far as which consists of four tens, and signifies the perfection of times and of things.

VERS. 5.-- In Hierusalem. The Hebrews hand down that Sem the son of Noe, whom they call Melchisedech, founded 566BSalem. This city the Jebusaeans afterwards held, from whom it obtained the name Jebus. Thence Hierusalem, as it were Jebus Salem, afterwards by Solomon it was called Jerosolyma, as it were Jerosalomonia, which afterwards was called Aelia by Aelius Adrianus.

VERS. 6.-- The blind and the lame. Who are enough against thee. This they said, trusting in their walls. Or thus: thou shalt not enter unless thou take us away, whom, unarmed, thou reckonest as blind and lame, and thinkest to triumph over.

VERS. 7.-- And he took. (RAB.) As Josephus says, etc., as far as which is rightly called the citadel of Sion, that is, of contemplation, so that of it may rightly be said: His place is made in peace, etc. (Psal. LXXV).

David took the citadel of Sion, when first the blind and 566Cthe lame that hated the soul of David had been taken away. So the Lord acquired the primacy in the Church of the Gentiles, when his Scribes and Pharisees had been reprobated, who, blind and lame, hated the soul of Christ, that is, endeavoured to take away his life.

VERS. 8.-- Of the housetops. That is, of the rulers. He calls conduits of water, made of lead or of a rule, pipes, through which the water went over the wall throughout the whole city.

Pipes. They figure false knowledge, or the teachings of heretics, which the Lord destroys through Joab, that is, through the preachers. Jebusaeus is one treading down, this is the Gentile world, which before the faith trod down the commandments of God. Likewise Jebusaeus is one trodden down, because the devil is trodden down by the Lord, and is put under Joab to be trodden

VERS. 9.-- And he built. From the place so called, understand 566Dthe wall: and within, understand another wall, that is, he fortified the city with a double wall.

VERS. 11.-- He sent also. Hiram, living loftily, this is the Gentile world, lofty in Christ; he sends messengers to David, that is, teachers to Christ, and through them cedar timbers, that is, men uncorrupt and strong; and craftsmen, that is, men by whose skill minds are made uncorrupt, and, like stones, squared with the four virtues, so is the house of David built, that is, the Church of Christ, and it is known that God has confirmed our David king over Israel, that is, over those who see God.

(RAB.) The churches of heretics, which glory that they abide under the title of the Christian name. But because for the sake 567Aof carnal gains they follow Christ, they are called not wives but concubines. But now, if kings have many wives or concubines, it is a sin: because the figures have passed away, for the sake of which this was at one time venial.

VERS. 13.-- And there were born. If by David Christ is signified, not undeservedly are Christians understood by his sons, who are of the Jews and of the nations, to whom the interpretations of the names agree: Samua, boldness; Sobab, turning back; Jabahar, he chose; Elisua, the salvation of my God; Nepheg, applying to the mouth; Japhia, he enlightens or shows; Elisama, my God hearing; Elioda, my God knows; Eliphalet, my God saving.

VERS. 20.-- Baal Pharasim. It is interpreted the enemies' 567Bdivision. The place can be said to be so called because the Philisthiim left their idols in the place where they were divided.

VERS. 23.-- Of the pear trees. In the Hebrew of the weepers, that is, of the idols, where, that is, there were idols in which they trusted, which are called weepers, because they are worthy of weeping, and lead their own worshippers to weeping and misery.

On the top. (RAB.) The pear tree is named from the Greek πῦρ, which is fire. The pear trees are the saints: the top is the loftiness of their life; in which, when the Holy Spirit breathed, the sound of preaching thundered. Which is of one walking, that is, the gift of him coming in the flesh, on the top of the pear trees, that is, above the height of the saints, while this sound is heard by our David, the intelligible Philisthaeans 567Care overcome.

VERS. 1.-- He gathered together. (RAB., ex Euch.) David, Christ, etc., as far as they who, coming down from Judaea, taught the brethren: Unless you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved (Act. XV).

VERS. 2.-- Of him that sitteth. Above the ark was a tablet which two cherubim covered with their wings, between whom the Lord appeared and spoke.

(RAB., ex Greg.) In the history of David the king and prophet, by which he is said to have brought up the ark of God, humility is shown approved, pride condemned, and rashness avenged. For David, who did not blush to dance humbly before the ark, soon deserved to receive the promise of the Son of God who should be born of 567Dhis stock, and his wife, who despised his humility, paid the penalty of perpetual barrenness. The priest also, who rashly touched the ark, purged the guilt of his own daring by an untimely death. Wherein it is to be considered how greatly he offends who approaches the body of the Lord guilty, if that man is punished with death who handled the ark, the figure of the Lord's body, with less veneration than he ought.

(GREG., l. V Moral., cap. 10.) Often, because they cannot be understood, etc., as far as they should not judge the deeds or words of better men as though they were weak.

VERS. 7.-- Who died. (RAB., ex Euch.) When the priest was dead he did not dare to turn aside the ark, etc., as far as the Gethaean people can be called water, who says, 568ABut God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord (Gal. VI).

VERS. 11.-- Three months. (ID.) By which, that is, faith, hope and charity are signified, etc., as far as and they bear the leadership of the sheep, crowning them in the blood of martyrdom.

On instruments. That is, bound to the shoulder, while they are touched by the hands of him that carries them. There is another kind of instrument which is made with water.

VERS. 14.-- With a linen ephod, and David, etc. (RAB.) Not with a pontifical but with a linen garment, for humility's sake, etc., as far as he triumphed amid scourges.

VERS. 16.-- And when he had entered the ark. [Vulg. 2 Reg. 6:16 Cumque intrasset arca Domini in civitatem David, "and when the ark of the Lord had entered"] (ID.) While all were exulting and sounding hymns at the entrance of the heavenly citadel, etc., as far as because they who receive the word of God 568Bonly as far as the ear, without the offspring of good work, await the day of everlasting death.

VERS. 20.-- And Michol the daughter of Saul went out to meet David, etc. (GREG., lib. XXVII Moral., cap. 27.) It is worth beholding how great gifts of virtues David had received, etc., as far as yet within himself he pressed down the neck of his heart with the strong heel of discretion, saying: And I will be humble in my own eyes.

Glorious. When David was transferring the ark into Jerusalem, he was mocked by Michol. And when Christ was transferring the New Testament into his Church, he was a laughing-stock to the Jews on the cross, he appeared naked, while, hiding his power from them, he showed the infirmity of the flesh as it were a linen ephod. The handmaids of the servants bear the person of the saints, among whom by the triumph of the cross 568Che was made more glorious: and while Michol derides him, he appears more glorious to the handmaids, she who in the figure of the Synagogue remained barren.

And was naked. Naked, not altogether, but of his royal garments: and because he did not blush to humble himself before the Lord, soon he deserved to receive the promise of the Son of God who should be born of his stock.

VERS. 3.-- All that is in thy heart, go and do. (RAB. in lib. Reg., tom. III.) It is plain that the spirit of prophecy does not always irradiate the minds of the prophets. For the Spirit breatheth where he will (Joan. III). Hence Eliseus says: The Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me (IV Reg. IV). Which God disposes out of the dispensation 568Dof his loving-kindness: because, while he gives and withdraws the spirit of prophecy, he lifts up the minds of those who prophesy on high, and keeps them in humility, so that, receiving the spirit, they may find what they are of God, and again, not having the spirit of prophecy, they may know what they are of themselves.

(GREG., lib. VII Moral., cap. 17.) A man ought to be clean in himself from vices, etc., as far as he must needs blush to instruct the minds of his neighbours.

VERS. 5.-- Shalt thou. (RAB.) Another translation, etc., as far as he shall build me a house.

VERS. 10.-- And I will appoint a place. He describes the time of Solomon, in which the children of Israel had peace on every side, and were not afflicted as in the time of the Judges.

569AVERS. 16.-- And faithful. (RAB., ex Aug. de Civit., lib. XVII, cap. 8.) This is truly said of Christ, etc., as far as the place therefore of so peaceful and secure a dwelling is eternal, where the true Israel shall be, that is, he that seeth God.

And he sat before. To sit before the Lord is to confess his benefits in humility.

The law of Adam. (RAB.) That is, of man, that he may serve thee in simplicity of heart and in purity, and that thou mayest do to him according to thy mercy, as thou hast done to me.

VERS. 23.-- What is there. In another land besides the elect land, for whose sake the Son of God came into the world as into Egypt, that by the commerce of his blood he might redeem to himself an acceptable people, a follower of good 569Bworks. But by the God of that same people we understand the Lordly man, whom he took from Egypt, that is, from the world, through the womb of the Virgin.

Out of Egypt. The nation and its God, or the nation and its God, the nation Israel, and its God Moses, of whom it is said: I have appointed thee the God of Pharao (Exod. VII).

VERS. 27.-- Thy servant hath found. Nothing is more fleeting than the heart, which is found when it is restrained by discretion.

VERS. 1.-- The bridle. There were five cities of the Philisthines which made Israel tributary. These David took to himself and made them tributary, as it is read: David smote the Philisthiim, and humbled them, and took Geth and her daughters out of their hand, etc. (I Paral. 569CXVIII.)

The bridle. Christ, triumphing over the powers of the air, broke the bridle of error which they had laid upon the human race.

VERS. 2.-- Making equal. For men living on the earth were not humbled to such a degree that, when the line was stretched over them, they appeared equal to the earth: but they were so vile and despised that in nothing were they worth more than the earth which has no men. But he put the line for the lot; because it is the custom to measure with a line, according to that word: and by lot he divided to them the land with the line of distribution (Psal. LXXVII). And it signifies that he divided the regions of the Moabites to whom he would as freely as an owner divides his own fields.

(RAB.) And it signifies that he was able to kill 569Dwhom he would, and to spare whom he would. But that he made Moab, which is interpreted from the father, and Syria of Damascus and the other regions tributary, signifies that Christ holds all the nations under his dominion, and presses them, and exacts the tribute of good works. For Damascus, a noble city of Phoenicia, is called by the same name by which also the son of Maseth the handmaid of Abraham is called, and it is interpreted the cup of blood. But Syria, lofty or moist; for she who before, moist with lust, thirsted insatiably for human blood, now, cleansed by the baptism of Christ, lofty by the increase of virtues, desires the cup of his blood.

VERS. 11.-- The king sanctified. So Christ sanctifies to the Lord all whom he calls out of the nations, making some as it were gold, 570Athat is, spiritual in understanding, others as it were silver, that is, shining with the lustre of eloquence; others as it were brass, sounding in preaching, that they may faithfully serve his tabernacle.

VERS. 13.-- When he had slain. (HIERON.) That in certain codices twelve thousand are said to have been slain has grown in by the fault of the scribes. For in truth David slew eighteen thousand in the valley of the Saltpits. But Joab slew twelve thousand, as is written in the title of the fifty-eighth psalm. And it is signified that Christ, by the strictness of his examination, extinguishes in those who think perversely of him the folly of immoderate labour.

VERS. 16.-- Recorder. He held the king's place, by whose judgment the laws were written. The scribe wrote down word by word from the king's mouth.

570BVERS. 17.-- Priests. A priest is as it were a sacred leader. But the sons of David held the leadership in the tribe of Juda.

(RAB.) They sat by the king guarding his body, and they are interpreted slaying and making alive, since according to their judgment the worthy were reserved for life, and others were led to death.

VERS. 1.-- And David said, etc. (RAB. in lib. Reg., tom. III.) Behold, David has not forgotten the oath and the covenant which he made with Jonathas, etc., as far as because they come into the admiration of the people who, lately despised in the world, appear glorious in the Church.

570CVERS. 1, 2.-- And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, etc., I will show, etc. (HIERON.) When David fled from the face of Achis the king of Geth, he came to Naas the king of Ammon, who showed mercy to him. And so from Naas he came to the cave of Odollam, where his father and mother came to him, and all his father's house: thence he came to Moab, and left with him his father and mother and all his household. But as to what Achis the king of Geth said: Shall this man enter my house? David departed thence and fled into the cave of Odollam (I Reg. XXI), it is to be understood of the house of Naas. If it be asked why he returned to Achis, whom he had fled from before, it is to be understood that the man to whom he returned was the son of him whom he fled. Whence in what follows, concerning that Achis with 570Dwhom David went down into battle, he is said to have been the son of Maoch. For he took this patronymic not from his father but from his mother, who was called Maacha.

VERS. 4.-- Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off the beard, [Vulg. 2 Reg. 10:4 rasitque dimidiam partem barbae eorum, "and shaved off half of their beard"] etc. (RAB., ex Euch.) These things signify the war of the devil against the Church. For Hanon, that is, their sorrow, signifies the devil, who of the Ammonites, that is, of the malignant spirits, that is, the ruler of a people of mourning and set always in straitness, who desires to press down or to straiten men. Hanon therefore shaves off the half of the beard of David's messengers, when the devil, by corrupting them, stains the speech or the manner of life of certain preachers. He cuts away the tunics as far as the groin, when 571Ahe reveals in the eyes of men the base deeds which he persuades to. For these it is needful that they sit in Jericho until the beard grow, lest they be the reproach of others and the anathema of all, that is, until the increases of the virtues be born in them, and they be held worthy to be presented to their king. But our David does not suffer his soldiers to be unavenged, but, when the army is gathered, he avenges the wrong of his own, and not only does he confound his adversaries through the victory of his saints, but he also delivers them at the last judgment to everlasting fires.

VERS. 1.-- And it came to pass, at the return of the year, at the time when, etc. (RAB., ex Hieron.) That is, in the spring, when, the harshness of the cold being driven away, fodder is found for the beasts of burden, etc., as far as but they were overcome.

571BVERS. 2.-- While these things. (RAB.) David sinned grievously, etc., as far as who healed so grievous a wound of sin by the confession of humility.

Bethsabee. (ISID.) The well of fullness, or the seventh well. But the Church is called the well of living water, and to this well the name of the sevenfold number is joined in signification of the Holy Spirit, by reason of Pentecost, on which day the Holy Spirit was sent from heaven. To forty-nine, that is, to seven times seven, one is added, since unity is commended. Whence: Careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. IV). And so by the spiritual gift, that is, by the sevenfold gift, the Church has been made the well of fullness, because there has been made in her a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting, whereof he that shall drink shall not thirst for ever (Joan. IV).

571C(GREG.) Weighed down as we still are by the burden of corruptible flesh, we are not able so to live that no delight of guilt can beat upon us. But it is one thing to be touched unwillingly, and another to consent. But holy men keep themselves with a circumspection so much the more watchful, as they disdain to be beaten upon by sinister motions even in passing, so that, if perchance the heart should covet anything unlawful, the eye, restrained by the mastery of discipline, would refuse to see: for as temptation is often drawn in through the eyes, so sometimes what has been conceived within compels the eye without to serve it. For very often some thing or other is looked upon with an innocent mind, but in the very looking the soul is confounded by the sword of concupiscence. For David did not look upon the wife of Urias of set purpose because he had coveted her, but 571Drather he coveted because he looked incautiously. But by the just examination of retribution, he who uses the outward eye negligently is blinded in the inward eye. But often concupiscence already lords it within, and the soul, enticed, exacts after the manner of a tyranny that the bodily senses be servants to its own uses, and compels the eyes to serve its own pleasures, and opens the windows of light unto the darkness of blindness. Whence holy men, when they feel themselves beaten upon with sinister delight, restrain by the mastery of discipline those very lights through which the appearance of a form enters into the mind, lest a seductive seeing should be a servant to a depraved thought: and if this is ever neglected to be subtly guarded, the uncleanness of thought passes over into action.

572A(GREG.) Often some thing or other is a virtue in the history, a fault in the signification; just as sometimes a fault in the deed is a virtue in the writing of prophecy. For who would not detest that David, walking on the roof, coveted Bethsabee the wife of Urias, whom nevertheless, when he returned from the battle, he admonishes to go home and to wash his feet? And he straightway answered, saying: The ark of God is under skins, and shall I take my rest in my own house? Whom David received at his own table, and gave him the banquet through which he was to die. David therefore holds the figure of him of whom it is written: He hath set his tabernacle in the sun (Psal. XVIII). Who bids Bethsabee be brought forth to him, that is, to join to himself by a spiritual understanding the law of the letter that was joined to a carnal people. For Bethsabee is called a well of seven, because through the kinship of the law, by the pouring in 572Bof a special grace, perfect wisdom is ministered to us. But Urias signifies the Jewish people, who is interpreted my light of God: for the Jewish people, which is lifted up by the knowledge of the law it has received, glories as it were in the light of God. But David took away this man's wife and joined her to himself, because the Redeemer, appearing strong of hand, while he made known that the law speaks spiritually of himself, showed her to be a stranger to the Jewish people by that whereby they were held according to the letter, and joined her to himself, because he declared himself to be preached through her. Yet he admonishes Urias to go home and to wash his feet, because, being incarnate, he commands the Jews to return to their conscience, and to wipe away with weeping the filth of their works; that they may understand the commandments of the law spiritually, and, after so great a hardness of precepts, finding the fountain of baptism, may run to the water 572Cafter their labour. But Urias, who remembers that the ark of the Lord is under skins, answers that he cannot enter his own house. Which is to say: I see the commandments of God in carnal sacrifices, and I do not seek to return to my conscience through spiritual understanding. For he says as it were that the ark of God is under skins, because he understands the precepts of God not otherwise than by performing the ministry of a carnal sacrifice. Yet David calls this man, who is unwilling to go home, to his table, because, while the Jews scorn to return to their conscience, Christ nevertheless preaches spiritual things, saying: If you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also, for he wrote of me (Joan. V). For the Jew holds the law, which speaks of his divinity, whom he disdains to believe. Whence Urias also is sent to Joab with letters by which he was to be slain, 572Dbecause the Jew carries the law by whose conviction he is to die. For while, holding fast the commandments of the law, he strives to fulfil them, he himself carries down the judgment whereby he is condemned. What therefore is more wicked than David by this deed? What more clean than Urias? But as to the mystery: what more holy than David? What more faithless than Urias? Because he, through the fault of his life, marks the innocence of prophecy; and this man, through the innocence of his life, expresses fault in prophecy. For the power of the sacred eloquence so narrates what is past that it expresses what is to come: so approves the thing in the deed that it contradicts it in the mystery. So it condemns things done, that it urges these same things to be done mystically.

VERS. 15-- Set ye Urias, etc. (GREG., lib. XXXIII Moral., cap. 10.) To this end are the sins of David and of Peter 573Aset down in Scripture, that the ruin of the greater may be the caution of the lesser, etc., as far as by a secret order of dispensation therefore, whence the iniquity of the devil is permitted to rage, thence the goodness of God is accomplished, because thence it obeys the biddings of supernal grace, whence it works the wrath of its own will.

VERS. 13.-- And Nathan said to David, etc. (RAB. ex Euch.) Yet all the things which were foretold to him for his sin he afterwards endured. God blots out the offence, but does not leave it unavenged. For either a man, repenting, punishes it in himself, or God, taking vengeance for these things, strikes the man. The sin therefore is not spared, because it is not remitted without vengeance. For so David deserved to hear after his confession, The Lord hath taken away thy sin, 573Band yet, afflicted afterwards with many torments, in escaping he paid off the guilt of the fault which he had committed. So we are absolved by the wave of salvation from the fault of the first parent, but even when absolved we still die carnally, because God cuts away our offences, either through ourselves or through himself, even when he remits them. For he takes pains to wipe away from his elect by temporal affliction the stains of iniquities, which he does not will to see in them for ever.

VERS. 27.-- And Joab sent messengers, etc. (RAB.) This victory of David, which Joab began, etc., as far as and in the Gospel it is said, that many shall come from the East and from the West, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven (Matth. VIII).

The city of waters, etc. Because of the abundance of water which was there, or, as some say, of peoples.

573CVERS. 30.-- And he took, etc. (RAB.) In Paralipomenon it is thus read: David took the crown of Melchon from his head, and found in it a talent weight of gold, and most precious gems. And he made himself a diadem thereof (I Par. XX). For Melchon is not a proper name, but is interpreted their king. Melchon, as the Hebrews will have it, is an idol of the Ammonites, whose diadem of gold and gems David is said to have melted down and purified according to the law, and to have made himself a diadem.

VERS. 6.-- Little broths. It is what is fit for supping up.

VERS. 14.-- He forced her. (RAB.) The incest of Amnon, the elder son of David, upon his sister Thamar, and the parricide 573Dof Absalon upon his brother Amnon, warns us that we should always act warily, lest vices lord it over us; and lest the prince of sin (who promises a false peace to those in peril) find us unready and butcher us unawares. For Absalon is interpreted father of peace or the father's peace, Amnon giving, Thamar bitterness. For he who gives his members to lust, and serves iniquity unto iniquity, falls into the bitterness of sin, although the enemy shows himself as it were a father of peace, and promises prosperous things for such deeds. For it is needful that we return quickly to penance, lest perchance the devil conspire through the malignant spirits unto our slaying, and hand us over to everlasting death.

VERS. 15.-- And he hated her, etc. Let us too 574Ahold in hatred the crime committed, more than we had loved it before the committing, and for this cause we shall the more quickly obtain pardon, if only we do not offend anew in another vice, as Amnon did: who, because after the incest he did not avoid drunkenness, for this cause did not escape death.

VERS. 37.-- Tholomai. He was the father of Maacha the mother of Absalom, whom the Hebrews say David took in battle, and, her hair and her nails being cut off according to the law, joined to himself as a wife, and begot of her Thamar and Absalom.

VERS. 39.-- And he ceased. In the Hebrew, the king ceased to go out after Absalom. For it is related that David wished to go out after Absalom, that he might call him back, but thinking that as often as he saw him he would bring back to memory the death of Amnon, he ceased to go out.

• 574B

VERS. 6.-- And thy handmaid, etc. (HIERON.) The Hebrews say that this woman truly had two sons, and that they strove for the inheritance, and that the one was slain by the other; yet the woman set herself in the person of David: and the sons in the person of Amnon and Absalom: but the kindred which rises up against the son, in the person of the other sons of David.

VERS. 9.-- Upon me, my lord. (ID.) As though she said: because the one has risen up against the other, let the iniquity be upon me, if indeed it must be; but let there be none upon thee, because thou art without fault, and as I am without fault if one son of mine has been killed by the other, so also art thou, if Absalom killed Amnon who was worthy of death.

574CVERS. 1.-- Therefore after. For two years he remained in Hierusalem and did not see the king, in the third he was brought in before the king, in the fourth he made himself chariots and horsemen: and when that was done he drove out his father from the kingdom. Nor was his father cast out of the kingdom for the seduction and the slaying of the priests, but for adultery and murder, Nathan foretelling all.

VERS. 7.-- But after forty years. (HIERON., quaest. in Reg., tom. III.) The fortieth year was passing since Saul overthrew the city Nobe, etc., as far as Isaac and Jacob.

VERS. 24.-- And they set down the ark, etc. That God might be consulted through Abiathar the priest, whither David should go.

VERS. 25.-- Sadoc. The just man bears the person 574Dof the saints, who at the time of the Lord's passion departed indeed in body, but were not separated in love.

VERS. 32.-- Chusai. The friend of David. Chusai is interpreted hastening, who, returning to Jerusalem, scattered the counsel of Achitophel, signifies the hidden disciples of the Lord from among the Jews, Nicodemus, Joseph and the like.

VERS. 9, 10.-- What is it to me? Abisai alone had said: I will go and cut off. And David answered Abisai and Joab: What is it to me? Do you wish to kill this man as you killed Abner?

Let him alone. (GREG. lib. XXX Moral., cap. 9.) He who, 575Apressed by the insults of words, cannot or is not able to keep the virtue of patience, etc., as far as by whose intervention, God being judge, a heavier punishment is turned aside.

VERS. 13.-- But Semei. (RAB.) This is Nabath the father of Jeroboam according to the Hebrews, who is called the son of Jemini, and in zeal for the house of Saul curses David. But the name of his grandfather was Jemini. This same Semei came of the tribe of Ephraim the son of Joseph, whence he says to David: I came the first this day of all the tribe of Joseph. [Vulg. 2 Reg. 19:20 de omni domo Joseph, "of all the house of Joseph"] But Semei, as is read above, was of the kindred of Saul. And Saul was of Benjamin. In Esdras Semei is read to be the son of Cis, because he was called both Cis and Gera, his father is here read to be the son of Jemini, that is, of Benjamin; but he is said to have come the first of the tribe of Joseph, because he dwelt in the tribe 575Bof Joseph.

VERS. 15.-- Achitophel. (RAB.) He is interpreted the ruin of a brother. Judas, working the ruin of Christ, gave counsel to the Jews against Christ, each of the two perished by hanging.

VERS. 10.-- And the most valiant. (HIERON.) In the Hebrew: The most valiant himself, whose heart is as a lion, shall be loosed with fear, understand "not", that most valiant one is understood to be David. Whence: For he knoweth.

(ISID. in lib. I Reg.) According to the allegory it behoves us to consider, etc., as far as from whose face Christ fled when he forsook her and passed over to the Gentiles.

VERS. 14.-- Absalom. Others take Absalom to be Judas the traitor, whom Christ bore with as though he were ignorant of his 575Cthoughts, and shared the banquet with him, in which he committed to the disciples the figure of his body and blood. But in the very betrayal he received a kiss from him, therefore Absalom is called the peace of peace, because the father had a peace which that man had not.

Achitophel. (RAB.) Who, departing from David, etc., as far as just as Achitophel perished by hanging in his own house, who in another's house lay in wait for the life of David. For he that diggeth a pit falleth into it. And the wicked shall be taken in their own snares (Prov. XI; XXV).

Chusai. (ID.) The Arachite, the old friend of David, etc., as far as that they may be converted by the occasion of benefits.

(ID.) But that Jonathan, who is interpreted the dove's house, and Achimaas his brother, appointed to search out the deed of Absalom and to report it to David, 575Dfleeing from Absalom, etc., as far as and men, being protected, are freed from the persecution of the enemy.

VERS. 9.-- And it happened that Absalom, sitting on a mule, met the servants of David. (RAB.) Absalom, fleeing on a mule, was hanged in an oak by the hair of his head, etc., as far as they pass over into the dispersion of the nations, and they themselves lost the sovereignty and the people alike.

VERS. 22.-- What is it to me. David feared that, if Semei were killed, the rest who had in like manner offended the king would be unwilling to make him king over themselves.

VERS. 24.-- Unwashed. In the Hebrew, unstained. For Miphiboseth had made himself wooden feet according to the Hebrew, 576Awhich he used in place of his natural ones: for he was lame.

VERS. 29.-- Thou and Siba. (HIERON., quaest. Hebr. in Reg. ) In the Hebrew: I said, Thou and Siba divide the field. Which David, unmindful of the covenant and the oath, etc., as far as he uttered words, turning them aside, against the Most High.

VERS. 37.-- And there is. But it is in the Hebrew: Behold thy servant is read in Hebrew Chime han Chanaan, Chanaan is interpreted sighing; as long as he was with his father he was called sighing: but after he passed over to the teaching of David, he was called not Chanaan but Chamaan, that is, faithful, etc., as far as: Ephraim and Manasses shall be to me as Ruben and Simeon. And so the great Moses and Josue his successor 576Bassigned to them a double lot.

VERS. 9.-- And he took hold, etc. To hold the chin with the right hand is as it were to flatter out of kindness. But he sends his left hand to the sword, who secretly strikes out of malice.

VERS. 19.-- Am not I. (RAB.) This is the word of the law, in which it is commanded that the children of Israel, when they have entered the land of Chanaan, should first offer peace, and should make tributary those who receive the peace; but should destroy those who do not receive it: therefore the wise woman is said to have cried out Am not I. As though: Why dost thou destroy this city before thou offer peace according to the law? why dost thou not keep for the Israelites the law which of old was kept for strangers.

VERS. 22.-- Who cast forth the severed head. (ID.) The return of the people 576Cto David after the killing of Absalon, etc., as far as that is, it returned to Christ the Son of God

VERS. 1.-- There was. (RAB.) A famine came in Israel because of the Gabaonites, etc., as far as lest by wickedly suggesting they corrupt their life any further.

VERS. 8.-- The king therefore took two. Who with Doeg the Idumaean, being still boys, killed the priests and the Gabaonites, that is, Armoni and Miphiboseth

The sons of Michol the daughter, etc. Whom, that is, Michol, the wife of David, who is also called Egla, adopted to herself among her sons, whom Merob her sister bore of the son of Berzellai.

VERS. 18.-- Gob. Which is interpreted a pit, because as one is cast into a pit of lions, so David cast himself 576Dagainst Goliath.

VERS. 19, 20.-- The third. (RAB.) Josephus speaks thus of the third battle, etc., as far as whether he called him Adeodatus or any other man whatsoever, is uncertain.

The fourth, Goliath is repeated, which David did first in the time of Saul. For in Paralipomenon he is not read to have fought principally against the Philisthaeans except a third time.

(RAB.) The four wars of David and of his servants, etc., as far as whence: Vain is the salvation of men. Through God we shall do mightily, and he bringeth to nothing them that afflict us (Psal. CVII).

Bethlehemites, etc. Because Noemi and Ruth, of whom he was sprung, returned to Bethlehem in the time of plenty, 577Aand because Ruth became known by reason of bread, that place was called the House of bread. Or because Noemi, returning thither with her daughter-in-law, obtained abundance of bread in the house of Booz.

VERS. 1.-- He spoke, etc. (RAB.) The seventeenth psalm alone is found in the books of Kings, etc., as far as and with great exultation the gifts granted by the Godhead are praised.

VERS. 1.-- These however are. (HIERON.) They are the last, because after the psalter and the other measures he is said to have composed this measure, in which he says: David the son of Isai said: The man said, for whom a ladder was set up unto the Christ 577Bof the God of Jacob. [Vulg. 2 Reg. 23:1 cui constitutum est de christo Dei Jacob, "to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob"]

(RAB.) Because they signify the last praise of confession, which, the enemy being overcome and the victory of death accomplished, the saints shall sing for ever.

Excellent. Because he prophesied most brilliantly of the Christ of God and of his incarnation and the redemption of the human race.

VERS. 3.-- In the fear. He who exercises dominion over his subjects in the fear of God brings forth works of light illumined by the sun of justice, and nothing dark remains in them, but, watered by the shower of heavenly grace, living in the flesh he brings forth the shoots of the virtues as fruit.

VERS. 5.-- Nor is there. (RAB.) He who meditates in the law of the Lord day and night becomes like a tree which, planted beside the waters, gives its fruit in its own 577Ctime, and whatsoever he shall do shall prosper.

VERS. 7.-- And if any man. He, that is, who, communicating in the sins of others because of the hardness of his heart, is pressed down by the weight of iniquities, and is pierced through with the darts of sins, and his works, worthy of eternal fires, shall be brought to nothing.

VERS. 8.-- These are the names. (ISID.) A catalogue of valiant men is woven in the figure of the saints, who, although they advance in the loftiness of the virtues, yet do not reach unto the excellence of the divine Trinity. For this is what is written: Unto the first three he came not. For who among the clouds shall be equal to the Lord among the sons of God?

Of the valiant. Of these valiant men Josephus says: The first of all was Eusebius the son of Achimaea, who, frequently breaking into the battle-line 577Dof the enemy, did not cease until he had killed nine hundred. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, who had been with the king in Sarpha. He alone stood fast when the Israelites feared the army of the Philisthines and were fleeing, and killed many, so that with the blood of the slain his sword clave to his right hand. But the Israelites, seeing the Palestines turned to flight, came down from the mountains and pursued them, and a famous victory came to the Israelites. The third was Semaeias the son of Heli, who, in the place of the jawbone, when the Hebrews were fleeing, alone bore the armies of the Palestines, laying some low and turning others to flight.

He himself. (RAB.) The rod from the root of Jesse brought forth a flower without nuptial work, who, from one man bearing the type of the nations, 578Aby one onset, that is, by the command of a word, drove out a legion of demons.

The most tender little worm of the wood. (ID.) The warlike and modest valour of the man is signified, etc., as far as the fortitude in the slaying of eight hundred.

VERS. 11.-- Semma the son. Hearing.

Age of, etc. Meditating or speaking.

Arari. Mountainous, who bears the person of Christ or of his preachers.

VERS. 12.-- He stood. (RAB.) Christ, standing with the Holy Spirit in the field of the Church, protects the weak as barley, or rather he defends with the sword of the mouth the modesty of chastity, as though gleaners, against the incontinent, against luxury.

VERS. 13.-- Three had gone down. The three valiant men named 578Babove, and Jesboam the son of Achamoni, whom Josephus names Eusebius the son of Achimea. And Eleazar the son of Ahohi, whom he says to be the son of Dodo, and Semma the son of Age, whom he calls Semeias the son of Heli. But the Hebrews think that those three were Abisai the son of Sarvia, and Sobochai the Usathite, and Jonathan the son of Sammaa the brother of David, who were mentioned above in the battles of the Philisthines. With which opinion that which follows seems to agree: Abisai also the brother of Joab the son of Sarvia, etc. For hence it appears that Abisai was chief and named among the three that follow.

(GREG.) It is to be considered that he who has committed unlawful things should abstain even from certain lawful things, that thereby he may make satisfaction to his Creator, that he who has committed forbidden things should cut off from himself even things allowed, and should reprehend himself in 578Cthe least things, whom he remembers to have sinned in the greatest. The law of the Old Testament forbids another man's wife to be coveted: but it does not penally forbid that brave things be commanded to soldiers by a king, or that he desire water. But David coveted another man's wife and took her away, and worthy stripes followed upon his fault, and the evil which he committed he corrected by the laments of penance. And when long afterwards he sat over against the squadrons of the enemy, he desired water out of their cistern; and his chosen soldiers, breaking in among the troops of the enemy, brought back unhurt the water which he had desired. But the man, taught by scourges, at once reprehended himself for having desired water at the peril of his soldiers, and pouring it out to the Lord he offered it in libation. For the water poured out was turned into a sacrifice of the Lord, because he slew the fault of concupiscence by 578Dthe penance of his own self-reproof. He therefore who did not fear to covet another man's wife, afterwards was terrified even because he had coveted water.

VERS. 16.-- But he offered it in libation. He gave his soldiers an example of fortitude and constancy, overcoming nature so that being thirsty he did not drink, that the army might learn to endure thirst.

But mystically he did not thirst for the water, but he foresaw Christ who was to be born in Bethlehem of a virgin: for whose laver and blood he thirsted. Therefore he did not drink the water, but poured it out. For he thirsted for the eternal fountain which is not sought at the peril of others, but washes away the perils of others.

VERS. 19.-- The first three. They will have them understood to be wisdom, humility and fortitude, for David 579Asat most wise: he himself was the little worm of the wood, that is, humble, and he killed eight hundred as one valiant; unto these three virtues none of David's valiant men attained.

VERS. 20.-- And Bana. Who was master of Capseel, that is, of the congregation of God in Cerethi and Pheleti, who are interpreted killing and making alive. He himself slew those whom Paralipomenon names the two Ariel of Moab. These men therefore were most valiant in the kingdom of Moab, whence they are also called lions. For Ariel is interpreted the lion of God.

In the midst. Josephus here says more openly what it was, namely, a cistern exceeding deep, which in the time of winter was levelled up with a heap of snow. Into this a lion fell unknowing, and, shut in, cried out with a great roaring. But Banaias, who came with the others to the sight, leapt down into the cistern 579Band killed the lion. Banaias, who is interpreted the Lord is builder, signifies Christ, who builds the Church. Whence Paul: You are God's building. He, in the time of snow and cold, that is, when the grace of Christ shone forth upon the world, and the cold of charity chilled men, killed the lion, that is, the devil. But the Hebrew understands this lion to be Moab, who was slain in the midst of the cistern, that is, in the house of the Lord, where he held the horns of the altar. But the altar is called a cistern, because as the water of a cistern washes and cleanses, so the sanctuary of the Lord purges sins. In the days of snow, because he expiated sin by death. Whence: Thou shalt wash me, which was fulfilled in the midst of the cistern; and I shall be made whiter than snow, which was fulfilled in that he says in the days of snow.

579CVERS. 21.-- An Egyptian man. That is, an imitator of the Egyptian who blasphemed God, whom Moses killed at the Lord's bidding, for that man blasphemed God, this man a prophet and a king.

Worthy. For he was looked upon as one who, if he went out of Jerusalem, would be killed.

A spear. The law of God, on which if he had meditated, remaining in Jerusalem, he would not have perished, but because he despised the king's command, Banaias came down to him with a rod, that is, in the uprightness of justice, and wrested away the spear which he was not holding rightly.

VERS. 23.-- Who were. It had moved no one that in the sum not thirty but thirty-seven are read. For thirty and seven are read in this manner. Seven, that is, these valiant men: David, who is called Adeodatus, 579DAbisai, Sobochai, Jonathan, Eleazar, Semmaa the son of Agge of Arari, and Banaias, behold, seven. And the thirty are these, Asael, Eleanam and the rest.

VERS. 39.-- Urias. He is put last for that which follows: And the fury of the Lord added, etc. For vengeance had already been taken upon David and upon his house, but not upon the people, who either did not withstand David or consented.

(GREG., lib. XXV Moral., cap. 14.) According to the qualities 580Aof the subjects, etc., as far as that, as the deeds of the masters displease, so the mind of the subjects may not withdraw from reverence for the mastership.

(HIERON.) It is to be noted that in Paralipomenon it is read: A thousand thousand a hundred thousand of Israel, and of Juda forty seventy thousand, [Vulg. 1 Par. 21:5 quadringenta septuaginta millia, "four hundred and seventy thousand"] whom it is to be understood that Joab numbered, but that he was unwilling to show any but as many as are written in the book of Samuel.

VERS. 10.-- But his heart smote him, etc. (AMBR., lib. de Poen., cap. 9.) He betook himself to the greater punishment that he might be able to call forth clemency. For the rigour of justice is softened, etc., as far as and the shaking poured forth from heaven upon the people might rest.

VERS. 11.-- The word of the Lord. (RAB.) In Exodus it is written, etc., as far as there were consumed seventy 580Bthousand.

VERS. 13.-- Either. And it seems that they who are not fed with the bread of the word of God through the grace of the sevenfold Spirit endure famine for seven years, and they who have not been regenerated in the name of the Trinity are not strong enough to withstand the enemies, that is, the demons; but the unbelieving die of the pestilence of impiety.

VERS. 16.-- And there was. (RAB.) In Paralipomenon also it is written: Now the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And David, lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand, and turned against Jerusalem. And they fell, both he and the elders, clothed in haircloth, prostrate on the ground, beside the threshing floor. The threshing floor of Areuna is the Church of the Gentiles, in which, after 580Cthe true David raised up the altar of faith, the death of impiety at once gave way. This threshing floor David bought for fifty sicles: because Christ, through the grace of the sevenfold Spirit, all offences being let go, sanctified the Gentile world into an everlasting house for himself.

VERS. 18.-- Areuna. (ID.) It is interpreted a threshing floor: but Ornan, a light to us. Rightly therefore David, wishing to appease the Lord, is bidden to set up an altar in the threshing floor of Areuna, or of Orna, because God is not otherwise appeased by man, unless in the threshing floor of the heart, through the light of right faith and of true love, he set up the altar of humility, in which he may offer the sacrifice of oblation and of praise, whence: The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me, etc. (Psal. XLIX). A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit, etc. (Ibid. L). The threshing floor of Areuna, or of Orna, is Jerusalem itself.

580DVERS. 25.-- And he offered holocausts. Hence in Paralipomenon the tabernacle which Moses had made in the desert and the altar of holocausts were at that season in the high place of Gabaon, and David was not strong enough to go to the altar, to beseech the Lord. For he had been terrified with exceeding fear, seeing the sword of the angel of the Lord. And David said: This is the house of God, etc. In this place, according to the Hebrews, Abraham wished to offer his son, when a ram suddenly appeared: which he took and offered instead of his son.