Andrew of Saint Victor. Commentary on Samuel and Kings: Expositio Hystorica in Librum Regum (Corpus Christianorum in Translation) 9782503531557, 2503531555

Citation preview

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 1

ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 2

CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM IN TRANSLATION

3 CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM Continuatio Mediaeualis liii a

ANDREAS DE SANCTO VICTORE EXPOSITIO HYSTORICA IN LIBRVM REGVM

EDIDIT

FRANCISCVS A. VAN LIERE

TURNHOUT

FHG

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 3

ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

followed by THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH & ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Introduction, translation and notes by FRANS VAN LIERE

H F

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 4

©2009, Brepols Publishers n.v., Turnhout, Belgium All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

D ⁄ 2009 ⁄ 0095

⁄ 54 ISBN 978-2-503-53155-7

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Andrew of Saint Victor – Life Andrew’s place in medieval exegesis Andrew’s sources Andrew’s exegetical method Andrew’s abridgement of Chronicles, and his De concordia annorum regum Israel et Iuda The present translation

7 9 11 16 23 25 28

BIBLIOGRAPHY

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 2 Kings

35 112 131 158

OF THE

THE REMAINING DEEDS KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

175

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

197

OF THE

INDICES

Index of Scriptural references Index of non-Biblical sources Subject index Index of personal and place names

5

209 213 219 223

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 6

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 7

INTRODUCTION

In the history of biblical exegesis, Andrew of Saint Victor has a special place. Before the middle of the last century, Andrew was an all-but-forgotten medieval author. This was partly because biblical exegesis was seldom considered a very interesting field of study; when scholars discussed the period of intellectual renewal known as the “renaissance of the twelfth century”, they more often focused on the study of classical texts, philosophy, and law. Thanks largely to the work of the British scholar Beryl Smalley, today we recognize the fundamental role that biblical exegesis played in this intellectual renewal. Smalley rescued Andrew of Saint Victor from near oblivion by showing his importance in redefining the outlook of medieval biblical exegesis in this period, with his emphasis on the literal sense of Scripture and his use of Jewish sources.1

Andrew of Saint Victor – Life We do not know precisely where and when Andrew was born, but we can be fairly sure that he was of Anglo-Norman origin.2 1

B. SMALLEY, ‘Andrew of St Victor, Abbot of Wigmore: A Twelfth Century Hebraist’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 10 (1938), p. 358-373; B. SMALLEY, ‘The School of Andrew of Saint Victor’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 11 (1939), p. 145-167; B. SMALLEY, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1952 (third edition 1983), p. 112-195. 2 The sixteenth-century English antiquarian John Bale calls Andrew “Anglus

7

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 8

INTRODUCTION

Although little is known about his early life and education, a formative influence in his life was his entry into the order of Augustinian canons at the Abbey of Saint Victor, just outside the city walls of Paris. Founded in 1108 by Peter Abelard’s teacher and nemesis William of Champeaux, the Abbey of Saint Victor played an important role in twelfth-century intellectual life and the reform movement of that time. By the midtwelfth century, the abbey had gained a reputation for solid Christian teaching, with an emphasis on biblical studies and history. This reputation rested mainly on the achievement of Hugh of Saint Victor (d. 1141), who may have been Andrew’s teacher.3 Saint Victor was not only important as a center of learning; its canons, with their support of ecclesiastical reform, were also widely respected for their upright and Christian way of life. Thus in 1141, when Oliver of Merlimont, seneschal of the English baron Hugh de Mortimer, wanted to endow a collegiate church near his home town in Shobdon, Herefordshire, he asked for some Victorine brothers to staff it. In a subsequent quarrel between Oliver and Hugh, however, the latter seized Oliver’s property at Shobdon. To restore relations with the canons, Hugh offered them some property near his castle in the vill of Wigmore, and gave their community abbey status. Andrew was called upon to serve as their first abbot in 1148. The young community went through some troublesome early years. The brothers found Wigmore an unfavorable location. As it was on a hill, they had to climb a steep path to get water and other necessities, and the locals were hostile to them. After a disagreement broke out between Andrew and some of the othnatione”; J. BALE, Scriptorum illustrium maioris Britanniae, quam nunc Angliam et Scotiam vocant, catalogus, Basel, 1557-1559, p. 193, while the fourteenth-century exegete Nicholas of Lyra (d. 1349) refers to Andrew as “a citizen of Paris, although English by birth”; NICHOLAS OF LYRA, Biblia sacra cum glossis, interlineari et ordinaria, Nicolai Lyrani Postilla et moralitatibus, Burgensis additionibus, et Thoringi replicis, Lyon, 1545, vol. 2, 62v. 3 HENRI OF KIRKSTEDE (PS.-BOSTON OF BURY), Cathalogus de libris autenthicis et apocrifis linata Burcardum lib. III et Hugonem de Sancto Victore in suo Didascalicon libro IV, transcription by T. TANNER, Cambridge University Library MS Add. 3470, 1378, p. 33.

8

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 9

INTRODUCTION

er brothers, he returned to Saint Victor in 1155. After the death of his successor in 1161, however, he was called back. The now growing community soon found a better location, close to Wigmore, and started to build a new abbey there in 1172. In 1175, while the foundations of a new Church were still being laid, their abbot Andrew died, and he was buried in the nave of the new church with great honor.4 Andrew’s commentary on Samuel and Kings is thought to have been composed before 1148, when Andrew was called to serve the community in Wigmore for the first time.5 It survives in nine manuscripts, in libraries in Cambridge, Oxford, Paris, Salamanca, Stuttgart, and Rome. A full description of these manuscripts and the textual history of the commentary can be found in my critical edition of this text, Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaeualis 53A.6

Andrew’s place in medieval exegesis The twelfth century was an exciting period of intellectual renewal. Schools began to flourish in the growing medieval towns, and newly rediscovered classical texts reinvigorated philosophy and theology. Unlike some of the more prolific authors of his time, such as Peter Abelard (d. 1142) or John of Salisbury (d. 1180), Andrew left us a fairly limited œuvre consisting only of commentaries on the Old Testament. These works were interesting not so much for what they said, as for what they did not say. In a world in which the meaning of Scripture was largely established by an allegorical, mystical reading of the biblical text, Andrew dedicated himself almost entirely to a reading of 4

The main source for the foundation of Wigmore abbey is ‘The AngloNorman Chronicle of Wigmore Abbey’ – ed. J. DICKINSON, P. PICKETTS, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 39 (1969), p. 413-446. 5 SMALLEY, Study of the Bible, p. 372. 6 ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, Expositio hystorica in librum Regum – ed. F. A. VAN LIERE (CCCM 53A), Turnhout, 1996, p. LVIII-XCVII.

9

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 10

INTRODUCTION

Scripture in its literal sense. He limited himself strictly to literary and sometimes historical comments on the biblical text, often using Jewish sources to make his point. He eschewed any allegorization or doctrinal interpretation of the text. Instead, he identified figures of speech, gave geographical or historical explanations, and inserted brief explanations into the biblical text, with expressions like ‘that is’ or ‘infer’. Or he paraphrased the whole passage, weaving words of the biblical text into his own paraphrase. The technique of Andrew’s exegesis, which can best be characterized as ‘close reading’, stands in sharp contrast to the more associative allegorical exegesis that was much more common in his time. Scholars have seen Hugh of Saint Victor as the main influence on Andrew’s exegetical technique.7 Indeed, much of what made Andrew unique, his limitation to the literal sense and his use of Jewish sources, may have been inspired by Hugh. For Hugh, the Bible, as the word of God but also the record of God’s deeds in history, had a double meaning, literal and allegorical. The words had an overt meaning, but they also pointed towards the higher truth of salvation history, which found its culmination in the life and work of Jesus Christ. For Hugh, then, literal and historical interpretation was a first but not a sufficient step in biblical exegesis; it provided a good basic comprehension of the text of Scripture, thus enabling more important insights into its spiritual dimension. Hugh saw the letter of Scripture as the foundation on which one could erect the building of faith. His methodology gave the study of literal interpretation a new impetus, and Andrew’s commentaries attest to this. Andrew’s own exegesis was much less overtly theological than that of his master Hugh. This does not mean, however, that no theological assumptions motivated his work. After discussing Andrew’s sources and influences in the following section, we will explore his exegetical methodology and its underlying theological notions in more detail. 7

SMALLEY, Study of the Bible, p. 112.

10

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 11

INTRODUCTION

Andrew’s sources Hugh of Saint Victor was not the only influence on Andrew’s concept of literal exegesis. The tradition of literal exegesis had always been very strong in his native England, where, especially in Canterbury in the ninth century, a number of glosses and glossaries were composed that probably were a source for Andrew’s commentaries on the first eleven books of the Bible.8 These glosses have been characterized as ‘Antiochene’, going back to a distinction that scholars have seen between the two main schools of Christian exegesis in Antiquity: Antioch and Alexandria. The school of Alexandria’s main exponent was Origen, who advocated the allegorical reading of Scripture. By contrast, the Antiochene school, represented by Theodore of Mopsuestia and others, emphasized a more literal/historical reading of the Bible text. In their emphasis on basic text comprehension, the pedagogical strategy of the Canterbury glosses was not all that different from Andrew’s commentaries, and they probably both originated in a common concept of scriptural pedagogy, the desire to teach the basic textual comprehension of the biblical text.9 As Smalley pointed out, the other source Andrew could turn to was the church father Jerome, who in the Middle Ages was considered an undisputed authority on literal exegesis of the Old Testament.10 His influence is most noticeable in Andrew’s commentaries on the prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and 8 B. BISCHOFF, ‘Wendepunkte in der Geschichte der lateinischen Exegese im Mittelalter’, Sacris erudiri, 6 (1954), p. 189-281. It is by no means certain that Andrew got acquainted with these glossaries in England, however. These ‘Insular’ glossaries, sometimes falsely attributed to Isidore of Seville (Glossae in Sacram Scripturam, PL 83, 1301-1320), cited below, were frequently dispersed and copied in monastic schools on the continent. Many of them recently appeared in edition: Glossae biblicae – ed. P. VACIAGO (CCCM 189A-B), Turnhout, 2004. 9 For this aspect of Andrew’s commentaries, see F. A. VAN LIERE, ‘Andrew of St Victor, Scholar between Cloister and School’, in J. W. DRIJVERS, A. A. MACDONALD (eds.), Centres of Learning. Learning and Location in Pre-Modern Europe and the Near East (Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History, 61), Leiden, 1995, p. 187-195. 10 SMALLEY, Study of the Bible, p. 127.

11

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 12

INTRODUCTION

the twelve Minor Prophets), which consist mainly of lengthy excerpts from Jerome’s commentaries (sometimes by way of the Glossa ordinaria), omitting Jerome’s allegorical interpretations, and occasionally listing Andrew’s own alternative explications.11 But his commentaries on the Heptateuch and Samuel/Kings, written before those on the Prophets, had a different format. While they may have been inspired by Jerome’s methodology, they drew from a wider range of sources, and seem to have been conceived as glosses on the biblical text, rather than excerpts of Jerome. The lack of a substantial commentary by Jerome on these books may have been the reason for this; Jerome had only written a commentary on Genesis, the Hebrew questions on Genesis, which was fairly limited in scope; for 1-2 Samuel, there was a similar commentary by a ninth-century converted Jew, which by the twelfth century was generally identified as Jerome’s.12 For the commentary on Samuel and Kings, there are indications that Andrew not only extensively used this pseudoJerome, but also Bede (especially Bede’s De templo for his comments on the building of Solomon’s temple), Hrabanus Maurus, and occasionally Josephus, Origen, Augustine, Isidore of Seville, and Gregory the Great. It is difficult to assess whether he had direct access to all these authors, however. In fact, there are strong textual indications that he read many of his sources not directly, but as excerpted in the biblical commentaries that later became known collectively as the Glossa ordinaria. In Andrew’s time, this Glossa ordinaria was not really conceived of as one large commentary on the entire Bible. Individual Bible books were glossed at different dates, by different au11

See also F. A. VAN LIERE, ‘Andrew of St Victor, Jerome, and the Jews: Biblical Scholarship in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance’, in T. J. HEFFERNAN, T. E. BURMAN (eds.), Scripture and Pluralism: Reading the Bible in the Religiously Plural Worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, 123), Leiden, 2005, p. 59-75. 12 Avrom Saltman’s assessment, in PS.-JEROME, Quaestiones on the Book of Samuel – ed. A. SALTMAN (Studia post-Biblica, 26), Leiden, 1975, p. 39-49, that Andrew was unaware that Hrabanus’ ‘hebreus’ was the same as pseudo-Jerome, and that Andrew’s commentary was unfinished, in my view cannot stand. See ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, In I-IV Reg., p. XXXVIII and CIV.

12

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 13

INTRODUCTION

thors. But they all shared a novel layout: they made patristic exegesis accessible through a combination of marginal and interlinear annotations. Until recently, people assumed that the origin of the Glossa ordinaria was Carolingian, and when one sees the influence of, for instance, Hrabanus Maurus on the Gloss, one can see why. However, the authorship of the earliest glossed Bible books is more correctly associated with Anselm of Laon (d. 1117) and his brother Ralph of Laon. They were probably the authors of the gloss on the Gospels and Romans, while Gilbert of Auxerre (d. 1134, nicknamed ‘the Universal’) was the likely author of the gloss on the Twelve Prophets and possibly Samuel and Kings.13 Many early glossed Bible books, from the 1130s to 1150s, originate from the Abbey of Saint Victor, and there are indications that Andrew of Saint Victor relied on them for much of his access to patristic exegesis. In fact, in one of the rare instances where Andrew reflects on his own activities as an exegete, in the general prologue to his work on the Prophets, he tells us that he used “commentaries and glossed books”; the ‘commentaries’ referred to here are probably the works of Jerome, while the ‘glossed books’ are what later became known as the Glossa ordinaria.14 Sometimes, when all sources fell short of offering acceptable literal interpretations, Andrew made recourse to what he saw as an exegetical tradition closer to the original source, the “Hebrew truth”. The words ‘Hebrei’, and occasionally ‘Judei’, that Andrew used in his commentaries could refer to either the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, or the tradition of Jewish interpretation, whether transmitted through the works of Jerome 13

B. SMALLEY, ‘Gilbertus Universalis, Bishop of London (1128-34), and the Problem of the “Glossa Ordinaria”’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 8 (1936), p. 24-60; B. SMALLEY, ‘A Collection of Paris Lectures of the Later Twelfth Century in the MS. Pembroke College, Cambridge 7’, Cambridge Historical Journal, 6 (1938), p. 103-113; GILBERTUS UNIVERSALIS, Glossa ordinaria in Lamentationes Ieremie prophete; prothemata et liber I – ed. A. ANDRÉE (Studia Latina Stockholmiensia, 52), Stockholm, 2005; L. SMITH, The Glossa ordinaria: The Making of a Medieval Bible Commentary (Commentaria. Sacred Texts and their Commentaries: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic, 3), Leiden, 2009. 14 SMALLEY, Study of the Bible, p. 377, l. 9-14.

13

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 14

INTRODUCTION

or pseudo-Jerome or by the mouth of contemporary Jewish commentators. Beryl Smalley appreciated this use of Jewish sources as one of the most innovative aspects of Andrew’s commentaries. Andrew’s commentary is clearly influenced by some Jewish exegetes from Northern France, most notably Rashi (c. 1040-1105), but also Joseph Kara (fl. c. 1060-1070), and Andrew’s contemporaries Joseph Bekhor Shor and Eliezer of Beaugency. In addition to borrowing Rabbinical interpretations, Andrew used his Jewish sources to give alternative renderings of the Hebrew in Latin, to suggest more meaningful punctuation, or to apply textual criticism where the Latin did not make sense. These remarks were much valued by later medieval scholars involved in the process of editing and improving the text of the Vulgate translation. Not all instances of Andrew’s recourse to the ‘Hebrew’ can be traced to commentary sources, however. Sometimes, his source is simply the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, which on occasion he rendered into Latin as an alternative to the Vulgate translation. Examples of these original alternative translations, in his commentary on Samuel and Kings, can be found in 1 Samuel 1:5, 1:15, 1:17-18, 2:3, 2:5-14, 3:21, 6:18; 6:19, 8:12; 17:18, 21:9; 22:15, 25:29, 2 Samuel 13:39, and 2 Kings, 12:5. Some scholars have assumed that there must have been a written source for these translations, a Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible in either Latin or Old French.15 It seems more likely, however, that these examples simply represent Andrew’s own translations. Still, Andrew’s talents as a Hebraist should not be overstated. Whether Andrew actually knew Hebrew is still the subject of much debate. Modern scholars such as Michael Signer have convincingly shown that much of Andrew’s knowledge of Hebrew derived from oral contact with Jews, and was more a matter of recognizing Hebrew in comparison with Latin rather 15 See a summary of this discussion in R. BERNDT, André de Saint-Victor († 1175), exégète et théologien (Bibliotheca Victorina, 2), Paris and Turnhout, 1992, 160-163.

14

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 15

INTRODUCTION

than of active reading skills.16 This means that many of the Jewish materials in Andrew’s commentaries (both Rabbinical commentary and Hebrew-Latin translations) were communicated by personal contact. Andrew must have had contacts in the circles of Jewish scholars who were acquainted with the current commentary tradition, and who were able to explain their views to him. Paris had a sizeable Jewish community, and the synagogue was close to the cathedral, not far from the Abbey of Saint Victor. Although Andrew’s knowledge of Hebrew and Jewish sources make him a pioneer in the exploration of the Jewish exegetical tradition, his level of Hebrew scholarship would soon be surpassed by later scholars. Exegetes such as Herbert of Bosham, Alexander Neckam (d. 1217), and Nicholas of Lyra, in contrast to Andrew, clearly could read Hebrew. While some contemporaries, such as Peter Comestor (d. 1179), gratefully mined Andrew’s commentaries for Jewish exegesis, some twelfth-century exegetes found his strictly literal exegesis disturbing. They were not so much scandalized by the fact that Andrew consulted Jews at all (after all, relations between Christians and Jews in the twelfth century, despite occasional outbursts of violence, were generally amicable), but they questioned the extent to which Andrew relied on literal exegesis, without even mentioning what they saw as the main subject matter of the Old Testament narrative, the foretelling of the coming of Christ. These critics insisted that the primary sense of Scripture was essentially prophetic. For them, the subject matter of Scripture was the Christological conception of salvation history, and since this doctrine was eternally true, God had inspired the human authors of the Bible to communicate this in the entire Holy Writ. To explain prophetic passages entirely literally was to deny the very Christological content of the entire Bible; they called it ‘Judaizing’. Perhaps the first to criticize Andrew this way was his own fellow Victorine, Richard of Saint Victor (d. 1173) in his work De Emmanuele, who took issue with 16

ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, Expositio in Ezechielem – ed. M. A. SIGNER (CCCM 53E), Turnhout, 1991, p. XXI-XXVII.

15

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 16

INTRODUCTION

his reading of Isaiah 7:14, “A virgin shall conceive” as referring in its literal sense to a young woman in Isaiah’s time, not necessarily to Christ’s virgin birth.17 Even later authors such as Nicholas of Lyra remarked with irony that Andrew, in his commentary on Hosea, often offered a more ‘Jewish’, that is, literal, interpretation of the Old Testament than even some Jewish exegetes.18 The Christological reading of Scripture they offered in contrast became the dominant form of exegesis in the later medieval schools and universities. While Andrew’s commentaries were already suspect for their “Judaizing content”; for their use of Hebrew scholarship they slowly became obsolete, because better-informed and doctrinally ‘safer’ commentaries had surpassed him by the midst of the fourteenth century, such as Nicholas of Lyra’s Postilla litteralis. Still, the debt of these authors to Andrew is considerable, and the influence of his exegesis is felt even in the Bible translations and revisions of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Andrew’s exegetical method Andrew’s Jewish interlocutors offered him not just interesting bits of exegetical information; they may have also have inspired his exegetical methodology to a great extent. In their commentaries, Andrew’s Jewish contemporaries distinguished between peshat, the plain meaning of the text, and the derash, a form of inferential, homiletic interpretation. The derash, an unknown phenomenon in Christian interpretation, was the ancient form of exegesis predominant in Talmud and Midrash, and it often provided legendary, narrative material, to fill in gaps in the biblical narrative, or to resolve contradictions. By contrast, the literal exegesis of the peshat was a relatively new phenomenon in 17

RICHARD OF SAINT VICTOR, De Emmanuele – ed. PL 196, col. 601-666. H. HAILPERIN, Nicholas of Lyra and Rashi: the Minor Prophets, New York, 1941, p. 125. 18

16

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 17

INTRODUCTION

the eleventh and twelfth century.19 The Northern French branch of Jewish exegesis, beginning with Rashi, had specialized in the peshat. It served an apologetic purpose – to refute the Christian, allegorical and Christological interpretation of Scripture – but in its concentration on the text itself, it was also meant to provide a more stable hermeneutical, rational, foundation than the more associative derash exegesis. There are remarkable stylistic and methodological parallels between the peshat tradition and Andrew’s literal exegesis. In the method of Andrew’s literal exegesis, we can see at least four distinct hermeneutical principles at work. The first was that the exegete should always take account of the entire context of the verse at hand, the ‘series litterae’. In his commentary on 1 Sam. 10:8, Andrew says: “We must meticulously examine and expound the whole sequence of the text (series litterae), lest we, who rebuke the errors of others, are rightfully rebuked ourselves if we proceed negligently”. After this, he offers his alternative interpretation of a passage which, in his opinion, had been wrongly explained by pseudo-Jerome (discussed in more detail below). The second principle was that an exegete should do no violence to the text. That meant that he had to work with the text at hand if there were no textual emendations that offered themselves, either from the translation of the Hebrew or from alternative manuscript readings. An exegete could not change the text to fit his own interpretation. In his commentary on 1 Sam. 6:10, Andrew offers a scathing criticism of an explanation that his teacher Hugh of Saint Victor had presented, saying, “This is a violent exegesis, assuming too much that is not even in the text”. Hugh’s fault here was that he was reading a dative as if it were an accusative. The third principle was that an exegete has to take into account the ‘mos Scripturae’, the customary expressions of biblical idiom. Some examples here include Andrew’s observation that the Bible often uses ‘in’ where one would expect ‘cum’ (1 Sam. 1:24), or that the Bible often re19

D. W. HALIVNI, Peshat and Derash. Plain and Applied Meaning in Rabbinic Exegesis, Oxford, 1991.

17

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 18

INTRODUCTION

peats the same meaning with different words (1 Kgs. 12:16; the Hebrew scholar here will recognize a description of what in Hebrew literature is called ‘parallelism’). And, finally, it seems that Andrew wants to suggest that if various interpretations offer themselves to the reader, the simplest one is to be preferred (for example, in his comments on 1 Sam. 2:33). This concept of ‘simplicitas’ echoes the Hebrew quest for the peshat, the simple meaning. If Andrew did not engage in allegorical interpretation or speculative theology, this did not mean that his literal exegesis was devoid of theological notions. One of these was the fulfillment of prophecy, an idea that was more prominently worked out in his commentaries on the Prophets. Another notion underlying Andrew’s exegesis was that Scripture was always truthful and reliable, even in its literal sense. We can sense here the influence of an hermeneutical principle derived from Hugh of Saint Victor’s theology. While some exegetes in the twelfth century apparently overemphasized the allegorical meaning of Scripture to the neglect of its literal sense, Hugh emphasized that Scripture, in its literal sense, should be true and without any contradiction. Hugh had said about Scripture that “whatever is taught in it is truth; whatever is prescribed in it is goodness, whatever is promised in it is happiness”. This contrasted with other writings, which could “... teach a certain truth, [but] it is not without the taint of error, and if they commend some goodness, it is either mixed with malice, so it is not pure, or it is without the knowledge and love of God, so it is not perfect”.20 This concern for the truthfulness of Scripture in its literal sense pervades Andrew’s exegesis. On first sight, the reader of Scripture could be confronted with puzzling contradictions and enigmatic statements in the biblical text. It was the task of the (literal) exegete to show that the Bible did, in fact, not contradict itself in these matters, or vilify the name of God or of the saints. A few examples will suffice here. In 1 Samuel 2:30, a 20

HUGH 175, 11.

OF

SAINT VICTOR, De scripturis et scriptoribus sacris, 1-2 – ed. PL

18

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 19

INTRODUCTION

‘man of God’ prophesied to Eli that, even though God had promised first that his house and the house of his father would be priests forever, he and his house would be rejected from the priesthood because of their sins. 3 Kings 2:27 suggested that this prophesy was fulfilled in the time of Solomon: “So Solomon cast out Abiathar, from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh”. Andrew had to confront the difficulty that these two passages did not perfectly agree. Aaron had two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, each of whom became the ancestor of a line of priests. Eli, and after him Abiathar, were from the house of Ithamar; Zadok, who was made priest by Solomon instead of Abiathar, was descended from Eleazar. The divine promise of eternal priesthood in 1 Samuel 2:30 clearly applied to Aaron (Ex. 28:1 and 43), but the house of Aaron was not dismissed from the priesthood by Solomon: both Abiathar and Zadok were of the House of Aaron. Of course the prophesy of the rejection could be understood more narrowly to apply to the house of Ithamar, which was rejected in favor of the house of Eleazar, but an explicit promise of priesthood to the house of Ithamar alone could not be found anywhere in Scripture. Andrew solves the dilemma by saying that since Ithamar at one point did succeed to the priesthood, we may assume that God at one point had said that he would.21 Another example may be found in Andrew’s treatment of 1 Samuel 10:8 and 1 Samuel 13:8-10, the ‘sin of Saul’, for which he merited to be rejected from the kingship. In chapter ten, Samuel instructed Saul to “go down before me to Gilgal (for I will come down to thee), that thou mayest offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do” (1 Sam. 10:8). Chapter thirteen describes how Saul waited for Samuel the appointed time, but he did not come. Saul then proceeded to bring the sac21

Below, p. 54-55. For a more detailed discussion of this passage, see ANVICTOR, In I-IV Reg., p. XLIX-LI.

DREW OF SAINT

19

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 20

INTRODUCTION

rifice by himself, at which moment Samuel appeared, to rebuke him for acting vicariously: “Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever” (1 Sam. 13:8). Of course, at first sight, it would seem to the reader that Saul had done nothing to merit losing his kingship; on the contrary, it was Samuel who first arrived late, and subsequently was unnecessarily vindictive. But reading the text this way would bring into question the righteousness of God’s decision. After discussing the various interpretations that others had given before him, and finding none of them sufficient, Andrew eventually offers his own interpretation, in which he shows that, rather than the prophet being late, Saul was actually mistaken in counting the days that Samuel instructed him to wait, and, to make things worse, did not humbly confess to his sin, but tried to justify himself.22 In any case, whether it be his exegesis of 3 Kings 8:9, where Scripture seems to contradict Hebrews 9:4 on the contents of the ark of the covenant,23 or of 1 Kings 15:10, where Scripture seems to mix up the mother and grandmother of King Asa,24 or of 2 Kings 20:9, where most interpretations of Ahaz’ sundial literally seem to leave King Hezekiah in the dark (Andrew’s solution was that the sundial did not have twelve lines to show the hours of the day, but twenty-four),25 it was Andrew’s concern for the truthfulness and consistency of the biblical text that draws him to tackle these seeming ‘insolubilia’ of Scripture, and in doing so, he laid out a path of biblical theology that later would be taken by theologians such as John Wyclif and John Calvin.26 22

Below, p. 85-86. Whether Andrew’s exegesis freed the prophet from the impression of vindictive pettiness is for the reader to decide. 23 Below, p. 146. 24 Below, p. 152. 25 Below, p. 168-169. 26 JOHN WYCLIF, On the Truth of Holy Scripture – trans. I. C. LEVY (TEAMS Commentary Series), Kalamazoo, 2001; D. K. MCKIM, Calvin and the Bible, Cambridge, 2006.

20

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 21

INTRODUCTION

Sometimes, literal commentary could overlap almost imperceptibly with moral commentary. Andrew’s commentaries often express an appreciation for the morality of people in the Old Testament, and present them as a mirror for the Christian life. For example, he expresses admiration for the zeal of Elijah, in his commentary on 1 Kings 19:4, who would rather die than see God scorned.27 And Elisha was a model of chaste behavior: he avoided a too great familiarity with people of the opposite sex to the extent that he never even learned the name of the Shunamite women (2 Kgs. 4:12).28 Thus examination of the literal sense of Scripture could lead to simple lessons in human morality. When 1 Samuel 1:3 says that Elkanah and his wives went up “to pray and sacrifice” to the Lord in Shiloh, Andrew comments: “A good order. First we ought to pray to God, and then sacrifice to him. ... First ask God with pious and devout supplications; after that you will please him with offerings and gifts”.29 1 Samuel 12:23 led him to remind the reader that one should always “pray for all without ceasing”, and not exclude sinners from one’s prayers. And on 1 Kings 2:3, “And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest understand all thou dost”, Andrew comments: “Note that from keeping the commandments comes understanding”.30 On the other hand, reading the Bible in its literal sense might also lead the uninformed reader to draw wrong conclusions on what was morally permissible or not. When in 1 Samuel 1:2, the text states that Elkanah had two wives, Andrew, avoiding the impression that either Elkanah was immoral, or that the Bible permits polygamy, explains:

27

Below, p. 155. Below, p. 159. 29 Below, p. 38. Similarly in his commentary on Os. 14, 2-4, ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, Expositio super Duodecim Prophetas – ed. F. A. VAN LIERE, M. A. ZIER (CCCM 53G) Turnhout, 2007, p. 83. 30 Below, p. 82 and 131. 28

21

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 22

INTRODUCTION

In the olden days it was permitted to have several wives at the same time, for the sake of the multiplication of offspring, which was then needed because of the paucity of mankind. Now, because humankind has grown manifold, it is enough to have one wife; even enough to have none.31

It is in these comments that we see how in a very practical way, the reading of the Bible according to its literal sense could be not just a scholarly, but even a spiritual and moral necessity for the life of the monastic community. Just as rewarding are the instances where Andrew presents us with reflections of discussions that were pertinent to the twelfth-century schools. For example, his exegesis of 1 Samuel 8:9-15, the discussion on the “right of Kings”, enabled Philippe Buc to study Andrew’s political theory in the context of the twelfth-century discussions on royal power.32 And Andrew’s exegetical remarks may offer us insight into the life and customs of twelfth-century Jews. Andrew regarded the Jews of his own time closer to the world of the Old Testament than himself. Thus he believed that observations about the life and habits of the Jews could help Christians to understand some aspect of life in the Old Testament. For us, today, Andrew’s observation in his commentary 1 Samuel 3:17 that in the vernacular Jews abhor calling disease by their name, and use instead a euphemism or a word that denotes the exact opposite of the thing signified, or the observation that Jews usually pray before dinner (1 Sam. 9:13), offer, one may assume, rare glimpses of ordinary Jewish life in twelfth-century France. All this makes Andrew’s commentary a document that is of interest for more than just the history of biblical exegesis.

31

Below, p. 38. P. BUC, L’ambiguïté du livre: prince, pouvoir et peuple dans les commentaires de la Bible au Moyen Âge (Théologie historique, 95), Paris, 1994; P. BUC, ‘Pouvoir royal et commentaires de la Bible (1150-1350)’, Annales. Économies, sociétés, civilisations, 44 (1989), p. 691-713. 32

22

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 23

INTRODUCTION

Andrew’s abridgement of Chronicles, and his De concordia annorum regum Israel et Iuda In the manuscripts that contain Andrew’s commentary on Samuel and Kings,33 we find a number of texts that Andrew seems to have intended as a kind of appendix to his commentary. In fact, he mentions the first of these texts in his commentary on 1 Kings 14:19: The book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Judah, that is Chronicles. Whatever is remaining in this book about each individual king, apart from the things that are written in Kings, we will treat sequentially at the end of this work.

In the preface to this text, and abridgement of 2 Chronicles 11-36, Andrew states: In this final part of this work, we have taken care to note down in abridgement the remaining deeds (reliqua verborum) of each of the kings of Judah, apart from those that are treated in the book of Kings, and that are written down in that book that is called “the Book of the Words of the Days (verba dierum) of the Kings of Judah”.34

The title, literally “The remainder of the words of each of the kings of Judah”, I have freely translated as “The remaining deeds”; ‘word’, in Hebrew, can also mean ‘event’, or ‘deed’. It is a reference to the title given in the book of Kings to the books of Chronicles, the “book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Judah”. ‘Remainder’ is an allusion to the Greek title of the book of Chronicles, Paralipomenon, which means “that which is left over”. Andrew followed this appendix with a treatise on the co-regnancy of the kings of Israel and Judah (entitled by a later scribe Tabula de concordia annorum regum Israel et Iuda, “Document on the concordance of the years of the kings of Israel and Judah”), and possibly also an abridge33 With the exception of Stuttgart, Württembergische Landesbibliothek, MS HB.IV.6, which is incomplete. 34 See below, p. 175.

23

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 24

INTRODUCTION

ment of part of Josephus’ Antiquitates Judaicae. These texts were supplemented, probably by later scribes, with further excerpts, taken from Hugh of Saint Victor, Josephus, Bede, and Pompeius Trogus. Andrew’s abridgement of Chronicles is not a very exciting text by modern standards. Still, as a kind of historical compendium, it reflects the interest that exegetes took in the history of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. It also offers an opportunity to see Andrew at work as excerptor, using a technique that must have been common in the twelfth-century schools. Rather than summarizing the content, he takes key verses out of the running text, copies them almost literally, and skips those passages that he must have regarded as not essential. Long lists of names he summarises by giving a number. Yet in the course of making this abridgement, Andrew seems to have abandoned this technique, and the last chapters from 2 Chronicles 30-36 are copied almost in full. It begs the question of whether this text was completely finished. The treatise on the difficulties in chronology of the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel is certainly also Andrew’s work, and it is the only text of his hand (excluding abridgements) that is not a Bible commentary per se. It fit into the historiographical tradition of the school of Saint Victor; we know of a similar treatise by the hand of Richard of Saint Victor35 and one by Peter Comestor.36 The latter copied Andrew’s text to a great extent. A century later, all three texts were used by Peter John Olivi, in a treatise on the same subject.37 While biblical chronology provokes little controversy among mainstream academics today, the list of treatises above shows that it was otherwise in the Middle Ages. The apparent contradictions and difficulties in the chronology of the books of Kings between the 35 RICHARD OF SAINT VICTOR, De concordia temporum regnum conregnantium – ed. PL 196, 241-248. 36 PETER COMESTOR, Historia scholastica, cap. 47 (sedatio contrarietatum) – ed. PL 198, 1427-1432. 37 Padua, Biblioteca Universitaria, MS 1540, f. 178ff.

24

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 25

INTRODUCTION

reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel posed the medieval exegete for some distressing problems, both for establishing the exact chronology of world history, and for their belief in the internal consistency and veracity of the biblical text. To solve these difficulties, Andrew suggests that some of them may be due to scribal error,38 or he suggests that, since the book of Kings was a compilation from the books of diverse prophets, these different authors may have had different methods of compiling the chronology of the kings of Judah and Israel; careful textual analysis will, however, smooth out these contradictions, which “often seem larger than they are”.39 That these problems could still stimulate scholarly interest as late as the seventeenth century is shown by a treatise of Bishop James Ussher, the great authority on biblical chronology, which dealt with the same passages that had puzzled Andrew and his contemporaries.40

The present translation I have taken my own edition of Andrew’s commentary on Samuel and Kings (in Latin, I-IV Regum) and its appendices as the basis of this translation. I have remained close to the literal sense of Andrew’s Latin, but on occasion, I have reduced redundancy, an accepted style figure in twelfth-century writing, and characteristic of Andrew’s Latin as well. To make the text more readable in English, I have on occasion translated praesens historicum as past tense, used active voice where Andrew uses passive, and changed a few prepositional phrases into infinitives. Because the commentary is often hard to understand 38

Below, p. 198 and 202. Below, p. 200 and 201. 40 J. USSHER, ‘De chronologia Veteris Testamenti’, in Annales Veteris et Novi Testamenti: a prima mundi origine deducti. Una cum rerum Asiaticarum et Ægyptiacarum chronico, a temporis historici principio usque ad extremum templi et reipublicæ judaicæ excidium producto, Geneva, 1722, p. 75-88. 39

25

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 26

INTRODUCTION

without reference to the biblical text, I recommend reading this commentary with a fairly literal translation of the Bible at hand, such as a King James translation, or, even better, a rendering of the Latin Vulgate such as the Douay-Rheims translation. For the ease of the reader who should wish to read Andrew’s commentary alongside the Bible text, I have kept my own translation of the Latin Bible close to that of the DouayRheims version. The same holds for the said abridgement of the Book of Chronicles. Biblical names have been adjusted to the more common forms used in the RSV and NIV, however. One should keep in mind that the modern Bible text is not always the same as the one medieval commentators commented upon. Andrew often explains the intricacies of Latin grammar that are either lost or untranslatable in English, or he attempts to correct textual errors in the Latin text that have since been corrected in most English translations, even the DouayRheims. For this reason, I have frequently expanded the lemmata of the text on which Andrew comments (rendered in the text in small capitals; in the manuscripts these are often shown underlined), to show a larger part of the Vulgate text, to make the commentary easier for the modern reader to follow. These expansions, in square brackets, should also make it easier for the reader to appreciate the extent to which Andrew interwove words of the biblical text into his commentary. If the English of the biblical lemmata in this translation is awkwardly phrased or hard to understand, this is deliberate, and we have to realize that this often also was the case for the Latin of the Vulgate. When the commentary addresses grammatical problems in Latin, or explains texts by etymology, I have given the original Latin words in italics, with English equivalents in parenthesis. All biblical citations in the text, whether from the Vulgate or Andrew’s translations of the ‘Hebrew’ Old Testament text, are rendered in italics. I have identified references to the Bible and classical sources in footnotes. As for Andrew’s sources, I have provided references where Andrew seems to explicitly cite another source (“some say”, “others say”, “according to some”).

26

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 27

INTRODUCTION

This is not to say that these are the sources actually Andrew used; they may have come to him indirectly, or the ‘some’ or ‘others’ Andrew cites may actually be a rhetorical device that enabled him to present a variety of exegetical opinions without agreeing with them. The source footnotes do not present an exhaustive index of all the sources Andrew used or excerpted; as noted above, Andrew’s commentary was to a large extent excerpted from a variety of sources, transmitted to him through the Glossa ordinaria. A full index of Andrew’s sources is provided in the notes to my edition for the Corpus Christianorum, CCCM 53A. Finally, I wish to thank the Board of Trustees of Calvin College, who with their generous grant of a sabbatical year helped me to complete this translation; E. Ann Matter, for her comments, encouragement and good advice; the anonymous reader and Eric Wierda of the Corpus Christianorum, whose comments proved to be most helpful in critically revising the text of this translation; and above all I wish to thank my wife, Kate Elliot van Liere, who spent a considerable amount of her precious sabbatical time and beyond, helping to make the English of this translation and introduction more readable. Frans van Liere, Calvin College

27

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 28

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbreviations CCCM: CCSL: KJV: NIV: PL: RSV:

Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaeualis, Turnhout, 1966-... Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina, Turnhout, 1953-... Bible, King James Version Bible, New International Version J.P. MIGNE (ed.), Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, Paris, 1844-1866 Bible, Revised Standard Version

Primary sources ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, Exp. in Gen.-Iud. = Expositio super Heptateuchum – ed. C. LOHR, R. BERNDT (CCCM 53), Turnhout, 1986. —, Expositio in Ezechielem – ed. M. A. SIGNER (CCCM 53E), Turnhout, 1991. —, Expositio super Danielem – ed. M. A. ZIER (CCCM 53F), Turnhout, 1991. —, Expositiones historicae in Libros Salomonis – ed. R. BERNDT (CCCM 53B), Turnhout, 1991. —, In I-IV Reg. = Expositio hystorica in librum Regum – ed. F. A. LIERE (CCCM 53A), Turnhout, 1996.

VAN

—, Expositio super Duodecim Prophetas – ed. F. A. VAN LIERE, M. A. ZIER (CCCM 53G), Turnhout, 2007.

28

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 29

BIBLIOGRAPHY

‘The Anglo-Norman Chronicle of Wigmore Abbey’ – ed. J. DICKINSON, P. PICKETTS, Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 39 (1969), p. 413-446. AUGUSTINE, Ad Simpl. = De diversis quaestionibus ad Simplicianum – ed. A. MUTZENBECHER (CCSL 44), Turnhout, 1970. Translation in Saint Augustine, Earlier Writings – trans. J. H. S. BURLEIGH (Library of Christian Classics, 6), Philadelphia, 1953. —, De civitate Dei – ed. B. DOMBART, A. KALB (CCSL 47-48), Turnhout, 1955. BALE, J., Scriptorum illustrium maioris Britanniae, quam nunc Angliam et Scotiam vocant, catalogus, Basel, 1557-1559. BEDE, In I Sam. = In primam partem Samuhelis – ed. D. HURST (CCSL 119), Turnhout, 1962, p. 1-272. —, In Reg. = In Regum librum triginta quaestiones – ed. D. HURST (CCSL 119), Turnhout, 1962, p. 289-322. Translation in Bede: a Biblical Miscellany – trans. W. T. FOLEY, A. G. HOLDER (Translated Texts for Historians, 28), Liverpool, 1999. —, De templo – ed. D. HURST, (CCSL 119A), Turnhout, 1969, p. 141-234. Translation in Bede, On the Temple – trans. S. CONNOLLY, introd. J. O’REILLY (Translated Texts for Historians, 21), Liverpool, 1995. Glossa ord. = Biblia latina cum Glossa ordinaria. Anastatical Reproduction of the First Printed Edition: Strassburg, c. 1480 (Adolph Rusch?) – ed. K. FROEHLICH, M. T. GIBSON, 4 vols., Turnhout, 1992. Glossae biblicae – ed. P. VACIAGO (CCCM 189A-B), Turnhout, 2004. GREGORY THE GREAT, In I Reg. = Expositio in librum primum Regum – ed. P. VERBRAKEN (CCSL 144), Turnhout, 1963, p. 47-614. HENRI OF KIRKSTEDE (PS.-BOSTON OF BURY), Cathalogus de libris autenthicis et apocrifis linata Burcardum lib. III et Hugonem de Sancto Victore in suo Didascalicon libro IV, Cambridge University Library MS Add. 3470, transcription by T. TANNER, 1378. HRABANUS MAURUS, Comm. in Reg. = Commentaria in libros Regum – ed. PL 109, col. 11-280. HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg. = Adnotationes elucidatoriae in libros Regum – ed. PL 175, col. 95-114. ISIDORE (PS.-), Glossae in Sacram Scripturam – ed. PL 83, col. 1301-1320. JEROME, De situ = Liber de situ et nominibus locorum Hebraicorum – ed. PL 23, col. 903-976. Translation in Palestine in the Fourth Cen-

29

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 30

BIBLIOGRAPHY

tury A.D.; The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea, with Jerome’s Translation and Expansion in Parallel – trans. G. S. P. FREEMANGENVILLE, R. L. CHAPMAN, J. E. TAYLOR, Jerusalem, 2003. —, In Esaiam = Commentariorum in Esaiam libri I-XI – ed. M. ADRIAEN (CCSL 73), Turnhout, 1963. —, In Hiezechielem = Commentariorum in Hiezechielem libri XIV – ed. F. GLORIE (CCSL 75), Turnhout, 1964. JEROME (PS.-), Quaest. Hebr. in Par. = Quaestiones Hebraicae in librum Paralipomenon – ed. PL 23, col. 1431-1470. —, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam. = Quaestiones Hebraicae in librum Samuelis – ed. A. SALTMAN, Pseudo-Jerome, Quaestiones on the Book of Samuel (Studia Post-Biblica, 26), Leiden, 1975. JOSEPHUS, FLAVIUS, Antiquitates Judaicae – ed. and trans. H. S. J. THACKERAY, R. MARCUS (Loeb Classical Library), London, 1926-1965. Midrash Rabbah Translated into English with Notes, Glossary and Indices – ed. and trans. H. FREEDMAN, M. SIMON, London, 1939-1951. Mikra’ot gedolot, Sefer Samuel. I-II, a New English Translation of the Text and Rashi, with a Commentary Digest – ed. and trans. A. J. ROSENBERG (vol. 1), M. C. SOSEVSKY (vol. 2), New York, 1976-1978 (2 vols.). Mikra’ot gedolot, Sefer Malchim. I-II Kings, a New English Translation of the Text, Rashi, and a Commentary Digest – ed. and trans. R. HOCHBERG, A. J. ROSENBERG, New York, 1980-1989 (2 vols.). NICHOLAS OF LYRA, Biblia sacra cum glossis, interlineari et ordinaria, Nicolai Lyrani Postilla et moralitatibus, Burgensis additionibus, et Thoringi replicis, Lyon, 1545. Talmud Bavli – ed. I. EPSTEIN et al., The Hebrew-English Edition of the Babylonian Talmud. Translated into English with Notes, Glossary and Indices, London, 1960-...

Secondary works BERNDT, R., André de Saint-Victor († 1175), exégète et théologien (Bibliotheca Victorina, 2), Paris/Turnhout, 1992. BISCHOFF, B., ‘Wendepunkte in der Geschichte der lateinischen Exegese im Mittelalter’, Sacris erudiri, 6 (1954), p. 189-281.

30

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 31

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BRAKSPEAR, H., ‘Wigmore Abbey’, The Archaeological Journal, 90 (1933), p. 26-51. BUC, P., L’ambiguïté du livre: prince, pouvoir et peuple dans les commentaires de la Bible au Moyen Âge (Théologie historique, 95), Paris, 1994. GODEFROY, F., Dictionnaire de l’ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, Paris, 1881-1902. HAILPERIN, H., Nicholas of Lyra and Rashi: the Minor Prophets, New York, 1941. HALIVNI, D. W., Peshat and Derash. Plain and Applied Meaning in Rabbinic Exegesis, Oxford, 1991. L’abbaye parisienne de Saint-Victor au Moyen Âge: communications présentées au XIIIe Colloque d’humanisme médiéval de Paris (1986-1988) – ed. J. LONGÈRE (Bibliotheca Victorina, 1), Paris/Turnhout, 1991. LOEWE, R., ‘The Medieval Christian Hebraists of England. Herbert of Bosham and Earlier Scholars’, Transactions of the Jewish Historical Society of England, 17 (1951/1952), p. 245-249. MCKANE, W., Selected Christian Hebraists, Cambridge, 1989. SALTMAN, A., ‘Pseudo-Jerome in the Commentary of Andrew of St Victor on Samuel’, Harvard Theological Review, 67 (1974), p. 195-253. SIGNER, M. A., ‘Peshat, Sensus Litteralis, and Sequential Narrative: Jewish Exegesis and the School of St Victor in the Twelfth Century’, in The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume, 1, Haifa/Hanover, 1993, p. 203216. SMALLEY, B., ‘Gilbertus Universalis, Bishop of London (1128-34), and the Problem of the “Glossa Ordinaria”’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 8 (1936), p. 24-60. —, ‘Andrew of St Victor, Abbot of Wigmore: a Twelfth Century Hebraist’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 10 (1938), p. 358373. —, ‘The School of Andrew of Saint Victor’, Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale, 11 (1939), p. 145-167. —, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages, Oxford, 1952 (third edition 1983). SMITH, L., The Glossa ordinaria: the making of a medieval Bible commentary (Commentaria. Sacred Texts and their Commentaries: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic, 3), Leiden, 2009.

31

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 32

BIBLIOGRAPHY

VAN LIERE, F. A., ‘Andrew of St Victor, Scholar between Cloister and School’, in J. W. DRIJVERS, A. A. MACDONALD (eds.), Centres of Learning. Learning and Location in Pre-Modern Europe and the Near East (Brill’s Studies in Intellectual History, 61), Leiden, 1995, p. 187-195. —, ‘Andrew of St Victor and the Gloss on Samuel and Kings’, in R. I. A. NIP, H. VAN DIJK (eds.), Media Latinitas. A Collection of Essays to Mark the Occasion of the Retirement of L. J. Engels (Instrumenta patristica, 28), Steenbrugge/Turnhout, 1995, p. 249-253. —, ‘The Literal Sense of the Books of Samuel and Kings; From Andrew of St Victor to Nicholas of Lyre’, in P. D. W. KREY, L. SMITH (eds.), Nicholas of Lyre; the Senses of Scripture (Studies in the History of Christian Thought, 59), Leiden, 2000, p. 59-80. —, ‘Andrew of St Victor, Jerome, and the Jews: Biblical Scholarship in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance’, in T. J. HEFFERNAN, T. E. BURMAN (eds.), Scripture and Pluralism: Reading the Bible in the religiously Plural Worlds of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Studies in the History of Christian Traditions, 123), Leiden, 2005, p. 59-75. VAN ZWIETEN, J., ‘Jewish Exegesis within Christian Bounds. Richard of St Victor’s “De Emmanuele” and Victorine Hermeneutics’, Bijdragen. Tijdschrift voor Philosophie en Theologie, 48 (1987), p. 327-335. ZINN, G. A., ‘History and interpretation: “Hebrew Truth” Judaism, and the Victorine exegetical tradition’, in J. H. CHARLESWORTH (ed.), Jews and Christians: Exploring the Past, Present, and Future, New York, 1990, p. 100-122.

32

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 33

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 34

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 35

1 SAMUEL

1:1 THERE

RAMATHAIM ZOPHIM, OF THE MOUNT OF EPHRAIM. To commend the holy prophet Samuel, the dignity of the descent and the religiosity of the lives of both his parents, as well as the long sterility of his mother are mentioned first. The Levite tribe is recognized among the other tribes of the Israelite people as the most respected, to the extent that they are elected by God in the ministry of his sanctuary, and are considered by the Lord the first-born of the whole people. Great are the prerogatives of this tribe, great its privilege, and great its dignity. Others are counted from twenty years onward, but they from one month onward. They enter into the sanctuary; they carry, gather and arrange it. They approach nearer to God, consult him in doubt, in danger face the anger of God, and intercede for the sins of all. Others took their part and heredity in the land, but their part and heredity was God himself. From this tribe was Elkanah, the father of Samuel, related in the eighteenth degree to Levi, tracing his origin from him by Kohath and Izhar and Korah.a Samuel did not, as some have thought,b descend from priestly origin. MAN. This noun is placed in Holy Scripture not just to distinguish gender, but very often also to denote the excellence of body and soul, as in the men of David (2 Sam. 21:17), and there a b

WAS ONE MAN FROM

1 Chr. 6:33-36. HRABANUS, Comm. in I Reg., I, PL 109, col. 11A.

35

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 36

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

6

was a man in the land of Uz (Job 1:1). ONE. ‘One’, although sometimes it signifies the same as ‘a certain’, sometimes denotes something more distinct. ‘A certain’ we say of the unknown, but ‘one’ of the singular. We say “one sun shines during the daytime” not “a certain sun shines during the daytime”. So Elkanah was a man, that is, outstanding by the strength of his body, or rather by the virtue of his soul. But he was also one, that is unique and singular in his city, in manners and life far better than all with whom he lived. FROM RAMATHAIM. Ramathaim, or Ramah, which in our language means ‘heights’, or ‘two heights’, is the proper name of the town of Elkanah. But ZOPHIM, which may be interpreted ‘lookout’ or ‘watchtower’, is not a name or part of the name of the town, but an appellative noun, put here to notify a peculiarity belonging to this town. As if one said: from Ramathaim, which is ‘Zophim’, that is, a watchtower or lookout for the adjacent region, because from there one could, as from a higher place, watch or look out everywhere over the region lying all around it. So it is said: There was one man from Ramathaim Zophim, as if we would say: “There was one knight from the mountains in Ethnus,a a lookout”, that is from that place that is like a watchtower for the entire region, because from there, as is the case with a high place, one has a clear view all around. OF THE MOUNT OF EPHRAIM. Just as above the town was indicated, thus here the region is indicated that the father of Samuel inhabited. The mount of Ephraim is not a certain mountain in the lot of Ephraim, but rather with this name a certain region is described. Hence later, when the twelve prefects of the regions were named, who each one for one month of the year saw to the provisioning of king Solomon, Benhurb was put at the head of the others as prefect of the mount of Ephraim.c Or perhaps to distinguish it from another city with the same name a

Unidentified. Possibly derived from the Greek ‘ethnos’, people or nation. One manuscript reads ‘Ethna’. b All manuscripts of Andrew’s commentary read ‘Bechur’. c 1 Kgs. 4:7-8.

36

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 37

1 SAMUEL 1

this city is said to be of the mount of Ephraim. There are those who say that this is Arimathea from where Joseph came who is mentioned in the Gospel. This does not contradict that we read that that town is in the district of Thamnitica next to Diospolis, for that district may well be part of the mount of Ephraim.a There are those who think that Zophim is a mountain in the tribe of Ephraim on which there is located a city called Ramathaim,b but we do not agree with them. Elsewhere we read: There was a certain Levite from the side of the mount of Ephraim (Judg. 19:1). For Levites lived in towns assigned to them throughout the various individual tribes. AN EPHRATHITE. In Chronicles we read that Caleb, or Calubi, the son of Jephunneh who is also called Hezron, took Ephrath as a wife after the death of his wife Azubah,c from whom the mother of Elkanah is thought to have been descended; hence he is also called Ephrathite, as was Jesse the father of David, about whom we read hereafter, David, the son of an Ephrathite (1 Sam. 17:12). David, however, was not from Ephraim, but from Judah. About Jesse one can say that just as he is called a Bethlemite from Bethlehem, thus also an Ephrathite from Ephratah, since that town is called by those two names. Hence in Micah, And you, Bethlehem Ephratah, etc. (Mic. 5:2). But I am not sure if one can say the same about Elkanah, because one does not read anywhere that he inhabited Ephratah. If someone asks how it can be that his mother was from Judah while his father was a Levite, because the law prescribes that everyone should take a wife from his own tribe and kinship, he should know that this happened before this precept was given and this law was published. For this precept was published at the end of the forty years when the people were in the plain of Moab opposite Jericho, when the question arose about the daughters of Zelophehad who did not have sons.d But under the law, just as Aaron a JEROME, De situ, PL 23, col. b Glossa ord. marg. 1 Sam. 1:1, c

d

1 Chr. 2:18-19. Num. 36:6-13.

920C; cfr. Matt. 27:57. p. 6.

37

7

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 38

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

8

before the law took as his wife Elisheba the daughter of Amminadab the sister of Nahshon, who was a leader in the tribe of the sons of Judah in the desert, thus Jehoiada the high priest took Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, as a wife.a One can say, however, that Elkanah is called an Ephrathite, not after his kinship because he was from the tribe and family of Ephraim, but after his dwelling place because he lived in the region of the mount of Ephraim. 1:2 [He had] TWO WIVES. In the olden days it was permitted to have several wives at the same time, for the sake of the multiplication of offspring, which was then needed because of the paucity of mankind. Now, because humankind has grown manifold, it is enough to have one wife; even enough to have none. THE NAME OF THE SECOND WAS PENINNAH. Although the author wrote ‘the one’ first, here he did not substitute ‘the other’, which proper speech would require, but ‘the second’, either because it is often the custom of Scripture to use ordinal numbers instead of cardinal numbers, or rather because he wanted to indicate her later position, and, if I may say so, her secondary importance, because he had Hannah as a wife in the first place, and Peninnah in the second. Although they were equals in marital title (for either one was called wife), Hannah was the first in the privilege of marital love. HANNAH DID NOT HAVE CHILDREN. To distinguish them from slaves, sons are called children (‘liberi ’). 1:3 HE WENT UP. Spoken according to the site of the place. ON CERTAIN DAYS. It is prescribed in the law that every male of the people of Israel should appear three times a year before the Lord, at Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. TO PRAY AND SACRIFICE. A good order. First we ought to pray to God, and then sacrifice to him. Pray to him not only by bowing your head and bending your knee, but also with the true humility of heart and submission both of body and mind. He will not look at your gift if you have withheld from him your a

Ex. 6:23; 1 Chr. 2:10.

38

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 39

1 SAMUEL 1

heart. First ask God with pious and devout supplications; after that you will please him with offerings and gifts. TO THE LORD OF HOSTS. In Hebrew ‘sabaoth’, that is ‘of armies’ or forces. Or of Hosts, that is, of the angelic forces and powers. IN SHILOH. Shiloh is a town in the district of Acrabatene in the tribe of Ephraim, where the tabernacle of the covenant and the ark of the Lord were until the time of Samuel. 1:5 HANNAH HE GAVE ONE PART. Some think that the shares, which Elkanah is said to have given to his wives and sons and daughters, are garments they changed into on festive days.a But it seems more likely that Scripture is talking here about shares of food, according to what is said elsewhere, The greater share came to Benjamin, five shares, etc. (Gen. 43:34). But the Hebrew word there seems to signify ‘sending’ rather than ‘share’, so the meaning would be: Only five times as much was sent to Benjamin than to any of his brothers. For after immolating the sacrificial victims, the Levites were accustomed to dine with their wives and children, and they would distribute the meat of the offerings to each one in particular. But to Hannah he did not give but one share, because she did not have offspring that could receive her part; Peninnah is thought to have received as many parts as she had children. Where in our manuscripts, we find the word ‘sad’, and this is explained that while sad, he gave her one part, because he was sorry that she did not have children for whom and in whom she could receive multiple shares, in Hebrew we find, according to some, ‘double’.b And according to them the meaning is: To Hannah he gave one double share, that is one share as large as two of the shares that he gave to the others. But some of the Hebrews claim that the Hebrew word that is put here also means ‘sad’.c According to either meaning the words for he loved Hannah rightly follow. HE HAD CLOSED OFF, so that she PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 3, p. 67. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 4, p. 67. c Most Hebrew exegetes, including Radak, say that the word actually means ‘angry’. a

b

39

9

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 40

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

10

could not conceive, HER VULVA, that is, her womb. This word both signifies the gate through which a child enters into the light, and the womb. 1:6 HER RIVAL (‘emula’). This word has several meanings. Sometimes it means jealous, as is the case here, sometimes imitator, sometimes lover, and sometimes competitor. When two people desire one thing which they cannot have both at the same time, they are both called each others’ rivals. Hence in the following, Eli calls Zadok his rival,a for he and Eli both rightfully competed for the priesthood, and his first-borns desired to attain it perhaps just as the house of Eli did. 1:7 [They went up to] THE TEMPLE OF THE LORD. The temple was not yet built, but ‘temple’ he calls the tabernacle that Moses made. Perhaps there was some structure within which the tabernacle was pitched. For ‘temple’ (‘templum’) literally means ‘large roof ’ (‘amplum tectum’). SHE PROVOKED HER. To strife, ire, or contention. BUT SHE WEPT. In spite of the provocation, she did not do any of these, but rather she poured out her sorrow, weeping and abstaining from food. 1:9 [Hannah] AROSE. From the table, to pray more privately and away from the noise. Or else it is an expression. AFTER SHE HAD EATEN AND DRUNK. After hearing her husband’s consolation, she did eat and drink, so as not to sadden him if she had not agreed to be consoled, but she did not drink any beverage that would expel her sadness and sorrow, for as she herself testifies hereafter, that day she did not drink wine nor anything that could make her drunk. [While Eli the priest sat on a stool ] BEFORE THE DOOR POSTS OF THE TEMPLE. Before the door of the tabernacle. In wooden structures, a door is usually framed by posts on both sides. Hence “while the post is revealed”b is read for ‘while the door is open’. Eli, who reigned as high priest and judge of the people for forty (or, according to the Septuagint, twenty) years after Samson, sat before the door of the temple so

a b

1 Sam. 2:32. LUCAN, Bellum civile, 5, 531.

40

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 41

1 SAMUEL 1

as to administer the annual share of the word of the Lord to those who came in. 1:11 O LORD OF HOSTS. Who can easily accomplish what you ask for. IF YOU WILL HAVE SEEN THE AFFLICTION. He for whose countenance nothing is hidden, who sees all things even before they are, is then thought to see affliction when he compassionately provides consolation. IF YOU WILL HAVE BEEN MINDFUL OF ME, AND NOT HAVE FORGOTTEN THY MAIDSERVANT. Scripture speaks about God in our way, as someone who can be mindful or forgetful. God is said not to be mindful or to forget when he does not give, and to be mindful and not forget when he does give what is asked for. 1:12 BEFORE THE LORD. Within sight of the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. 1:13 FULL OF MEAD (‘temulentam’). Drunk. Mead (‘temetum’) is a kind of wine, so called because it meddles (‘attemtet’) with the feet and other limbs so that they cannot fulfill their task. 1:14 TAKE SOME TIME TO DISPEL THE WINE OF WHICH YOU ARE FULL. He commands her to go to sleep, so that, with her natural warmth sealed inside and her living forces lulled to sleep, the excessive undigested quantity of wine, with which he thought her to be drunk and overfull, might be the more easily simmered out, and she be freed from her drunkenness. For when the stomach is filled with too great an abundance of wine, the fume of the undigested drink, ascending from stomach to head, upsets the brain, and when the principal body part is upset, all the others do not work either. 1:15 NOT SO, MY LORD. Here we have to understand: “I am not drunk, or full of wine”. FOR UNHAPPY I AM. This ‘for’ cannot be found in the Hebrew text, but the verse starts with ‘unhappy’. As if she said: Not because of the effect of wine I barely move my lips, but because unhappiness forces me, I pour out my voiceless prayers to God, so that he may have compassion on me.

41

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 42

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

11

1:16 COUNT NOT YOUR MAIDSERVANT [for one of the daughters of Belial.] Do not think that I am given to drunkenness like a lawless and undisciplined woman, because what I have said until now was done out of sorrow and grief, not drunkenness. 1:17-18 MAY YOUR MAIDSERVANT FIND [grace before your eyes], ETC. May I find this generous gift of compassion with you, that you please pray for me. Or: BEFORE YOUR EYES, that is, in your presence, may I find this generous gift of God’s compassion that my petition for which I prayed may be granted to me. HER COUNTENANCE WAS NO MORE CHANGED FOR WORSE. From the words of the priest she received such confidence that she would receive what she had requested that the color and expression of her face were no longer changed for fear of rejection. The Hebrew text does not have ‘may give’, which refers to a prayer, but ‘shall give’, which refers to an affirmation, and thus the woman received confidence that she would receive what she had requested, because the high priest of God had affirmed that it would happen thus. 1:20 AND IT CAME TO PASS. What does he say came to pass? Namely that after the cycle of days, that is, after the passing of a year or rather a month, Hannah conceived. Or rather it is the idiom of the Hebrew speech to say And it came to pass; they often put this unfinished phrase in the beginning of either books or sentences. [And she called his name Samuel,] BECAUSE SHE HAD ASKED HIM OF THE LORD. This gives the reason for the name. For Samuel means ‘asked of God’, or ‘his name is God.’ 1:21 SOLEMN SACRIFICE. Such a sacrifice as is the custom to offer on both solemnities and feast days. 1:23 MAY THE LORD FULFILL HIS WORD. The word of the Lord that Elkanah prays to be fulfilled is the word of Eli the priest that said may God give you, or God shall give you, what you ask (1 Sam. 1:17). This word he says is the Lord’s because it came from the priest and minister of the Lord. But how could this not yet be fulfilled if the boy for which she asked was already born? He prays that it may be fulfilled that what the Lord has given, he may also preserve. Or perhaps they secretly

42

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 43

1 SAMUEL 1

received a promise about the future greatness of this boy, although Scripture is silent about this, and he asks that the word of this promise may be fulfilled. Some manuscripts read: your, which is self-evident: your word, O Hannah, which you vowed. 1:24 IN THREE CALVES. ‘In’ is put for ‘with’, which is a scriptural expression, as in: He led them out in gold and silver (Ps. 105:37). AND THREE BUSHELS OF FLOUR AND AN AMPHORA OF WINE. One should not understand this to mean that he had brought three bushels for the sacrifice of the calves, since according to the law only three tenths ought to be sacrificed for each calf, but to sacrifice one part and to give the other to the priests, so that they might more willingly receive the boy. An amphora is a measure of three bushels. In Hebrew one reads: In one bushel of flour and the same of wine. If the tenth that was offered in the sacrifice of the burnt-offerings is the tenth of an ephah (which is the measure of three bushels in dry goods, as is an amphora in liquids), just as “in three bushels” is more than required by law for the sacrifice of three calves, so ‘in one bushel’ is too little. So either the tenth which was offered is the tenth of a bushel, or the bushel which Hannah brought was not for the sacrifice of the calves, but meant as a gift to the priests. The same thing we should also understand about the wine. 1:26 I BESEECH THEE. The Hebrew word for which we read I beseech thee has the power of a respectful interjection, as we might say in a respectful way ‘O’. Where we say in the Psalm O Lord, grant me salvation, O Lord, grant prosperity (Ps. 118:25), the Hebrews have a word of affection for which here is put I beseech thee. AS YOUR SOUL LIVES. This is a frequent and well-used swear word in the Old Testament. The people of old had the custom, and with certain people it survives until this day, to swear by the life, head, or right hand of their loved ones. Hence, “I swear this by the head, by which my father previously used to...”.a Such a curse can happen either by confirmation or by imprecation. By a

VERGIL, Aeneid, 9, 300.

43

12

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 44

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

13

imprecation, when we pray that those things that we detest and would loathe happen to us may not be the way we assert. Here, it happens by confirmation: As your soul lives, that is, by your life. But later in the text this swearing happens by imprecation: As your soul lives, king, I do not know (1 Sam. 17:55). But one could also interpret it here by imprecation and there by confirmation. THEREFORE I HAVE LENT HIM FOR THE LORD. Because I received this boy from the Lord by asking and praying and against the nature of my sterility, by grace rather than by nature, therefore I do not receive him to keep for myself and stay with me, but rather I have lent him from the Lord, that is, I have received him as lent from the Lord, and this for the Lord, to the work and service of the Lord. ALL THE DAYS THAT HE SHALL BE, all the days of his earthly life, HE SHALL BE LENT TO THE LORD, that is, to the honor and ministry of the Lord. Or ‘lent’ is put for ‘borrowed’. Or, I have lent him, handed him over and made him available, to the Lord, that is, to the service of the Lord, as in “His wings he lent to his shoulders and rump”.a According to that meaning rightly follows all the days, and so on, as above, will he be lent, that is, handed over and made available to the Lord, that is, to the ministry of the Lord. AND HANNAH PRAYED. Prayer is the pious feeling of the mind towards God and holy desire. Hence: The Lord hears upon the desire of the poor (Ps. 10:17). Prayer is also called the enunciation that explains and divulges such a feeling and desire, and petition. Hannah is said to pray because she sang this canticle in God’s praise from a great affect of her mind. In this canticle, she not ungratefully commemorates the gifts of God that were mercifully bestowed on her, and many times she preaches God’s power and might. Towards the end of the canticle, she predicts that God will serve the just and damn the impious, and that his adversaries will be subdued to him, and that he will also judge the kings of the earth and give the reign to his king, and raise the highness of his anointed. a

OVID, Metamorphoses, 8, 209.

44

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 45

1 SAMUEL 1-2

2:1 MY HEART HAS REJOICED. My heart, once that of an unhappy woman, which, while I was still sterile, the multitude of sorrow had shattered and embittered, now has rejoiced, after having received the gift of fertility. Even more, since I have not arrived at the reason for this rejoicing by the benefit of my merits or nature, but by the Lord’s bestowing, therefore my heart rejoices in him as the author of my joy, and the horn, that is loftiness, of me who was lowly and rejected before, is exalted in this same my God. As if she said: That I am raised and am exalted from such a previous lowliness and abjection is given to me as a gift of my God. MY MOUTH IS ENLARGED OVER MY ENEMIES. I, who before did not have anything to answer to my rival and my other enemies, now with my mouth enlarged and widened can answer them, and reproach them who reproach me. I, who cursed with sterility almost perished under the immensity of grief and magnitude of pain, am saved by the fecundity that was bestowed on me by your deigning, and in this your deliverance, that is, your salvation, I have rejoiced. The word because, which is put here, is a completive conjunction and it does not contribute anything to the meaning, but it is not found in Hebrew either.a 2:2 THERE IS NONE HOLY AS THE LORD IS. The Lord is holy, that is pure; even more: he is holiness itself, that is purity, making others holy, that is, purifying them, as it is written: I am who made you holy (Ex. 31:13). And elsewhere: I will cleanse you from all your defilements (Ex. 36:25). THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES THEE. That is, you alone are God and none other, as elsewhere he himself says: See that I only am God and there is no other God besides me (Deut. 32:39). And elsewhere: There is no God but me (Is. 45:21). AND THERE IS NONE STRONG LIKE OUR GOD. There are the gods of Gentiles that in their eyes have strength,

a

Andrew’s statement is false; the Hebrew text unambiguously reads “Because I have rejoiced in your salvation”. One of the manuscripts, Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 315 (of Oxford Franciscan provenance), has the words “falsum est” in the margin in a thirteenth-century hand.

45

14

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 46

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

15

there are also giants who are strong in force, but there is not anyone as strong as our God, that is, of the Jews. 2:3 DO NOT MULTIPLY TO SPEAK LOFTY THINGS, BOASTING. In Hebrew, there is no ‘boasting’, but in its stead ‘lofty things’ is repeated. The meaning is: Do not repeatedly speak lofty things, boasting in yourselves. LET OLD MATTERS DEPART FROM YOUR MOUTH. In Hebrew: Let strong matters go out from your mouth, and the ‘not’ above is repeated in its meaning, so the meaning is: Let not strong matters, that is boastful and haughty words, go out from your mouth. FOR THE LORD IS A GOD OF ALL KNOWLEDGE. Here is supplied the reason why we should not utter strong words, or old matters, that is the words of excuse and arrogance of the people of old, namely Adam and Eve: our words, whether uttered by mouth or conceived in our hearts, cannot hide from God, for he is the Lord of knowledge, having knowledge of all things. AND FOR HIM ARE PREPARED, or as it is in Hebrew: ‘made ready’, ALL THOUGHTS, or actions. For the Lord knows all thoughts and actions of all men. The Hebrew word commonly signifies both actions and words. 2:4 THE BOW OF THE MIGHTY [is overcome] ETC. From this place onward, she points out God’s strength and power, which weakens and tears up the strong and war-like, but exalts and strengthens the weak and humble, and in this way does similar things that follow. 2:5 THEY WHO WERE FULL BEFORE, HAVE HIRED THEMSELVES OUT FOR BREAD. Those who before were filled with riches and an abundance of all kinds of goods have come to such a scarcity that they have placed themselves in the service of others for bread, that is, for the want of bread, that is, food. For bread in Scripture is commonly placed for any kind of refreshment of food. Or: They hired themselves out for bread, receiving nothing as wage but only provisions. Or: for bread, for pieces of bread. They received no pay, not even an entire bread, but only pieces of bread as wage for their labor. UNTIL THE BARREN HAS BORNE MANY, or ‘seven’, as it is in Hebrew. The meaning is: So advanced, extensive and large is

46

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 47

1 SAMUEL 2

the power of God that she who was first barren has borne seven, that is, I, Hannah; and WHO HAD MANY CHILDREN, that is, Peninnah, IS WEAKENED, or as it is in Hebrew, ‘dried up.’ For the Hebrews say that for each child that Hannah bore, one of Peninnah’s died. And while Hannah had only five, she is still said to have borne seven, because the two sons of Samuel are counted among Hannah’s children.a If one were to read ‘until’ as ‘and’, it is self-explanatory. For ‘until’ the Hebrew text has ‘up to the point that.’ If Hannah sang this canticle immediately after the birth of Samuel, her words the barren has borne seven are prophecy. It is likely that she could have sung this canticle after the birth of all her offspring in an offering of gratitude for God. One could even understand that she simply is saying that God’s power is so great that he confers fertility to the sterile against nature, and takes away the offspring and posterity from the fertile, to whom he had given it. According to this interpretation, ‘seven’ does not denote a certain number, but plurality in an indefinite way, as in: The just man falls seven times and rises again (Prov. 24:16). 2:6 THE LORD KILLS AND MAKES ALIVE. The healthy he reduces to death, and the nearly dead he restores to life. BRINGS DOWN TO HELL. Or as it is in Hebrew: to the pit, AND BRINGS BACK AGAIN. This is an explanation of the preceding phrase. 2:8 THRONE OF GLORY. The seat of honor. THE POLES OF THE EARTH ARE THE LORD’S. In Hebrew: the foundations of the earth. The poles, or foundations, of the earth are good and just people, or the powerful, who carry the orb of the earth on them, in this sense that that by their sanctity or rule the world is supported. 2:9 HE WILL GUARD THE FEET OF HIS SAINTS. The Lord will provide stability and firmness to the holy and just and will confirm those who never falter. AND THE WICKED SHALL BE SILENT IN DARKNESS. The wicked will be cast down in death where the yoke of darkness and perpetual silence will be theirs. NO MAN a

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 10, p. 69-70.

47

16

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 48

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

SHALL PREVAIL BY HIS OWN STRENGTH.

17

The Lord truly will guard the feet of his saints, because not in his own, but in the strength of the Lord a man shall be robust and strong. THE ADVERSARIES OF THE LORD SHALL FEAR HIM. Having seen the punishment of those who shall be silent in darkness, those who oppose the Lord will fear him, and to scare them further, he who is in heaven will terrify them with his thundering voice. 2:10 THE LORD SHALL JUDGE THE ENDS OF THE EARTH. Or, according to the Hebrews, the corners of the earth. The Lord will punish and ruin the kings and princes of the earth who form the unity and confederation of the nations, just as corners constitute the juncture and cohesion of walls on all sides.a AND HE SHALL GIVE EMPIRE TO HIS KING. A king, serving the will of the Lord, will act imperiously, not by his own strength but as a gift from God. AND HE SHALL EXALT THE HORN OF HIS CHRIST. The Lord himself will be the sublimity and exaltation of his anointed one, whether king or priest or prophet. 2:11 [The child ministered] IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. That is, before the ark and the lid of atonementb in the tabernacle where the Lord used to appear. 2:12 [The sons of Eli were] CHILDREN OF BELIAL. Without yoke and undisciplined. NOT KNOWING THE LORD. Behaving themselves as if they did not know that the Lord was God and in what manner must be the OFFICE OF THE PRIESTS TO THE PEOPLE. 2:13 FLESH HOOK (‘fuscinula’). ‘Fuscinula’ is the diminutive of ‘fuscina’. ‘Fuscinula’ is what we call a flesh hook, that is, a fork with which meat is taken from cooking pots. 2:14 [Thrust it into the kettle,] OR INTO THE CAULDRON. ‘Or’ is a subdisjunctive.c For kettle and cauldron is the same thing. a Cfr.PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 49, p. 87, cited in Glossa ord. marg. 1 Sam. 14:38, p. 23. b This lid of atonement, or cover of atonement, is sometimes translated as ‘mercy seat’, cfr. Ex 25:17. c According to Lewis and Short’s Latin Dictionary (Oxford 1879 and 1993) this term is used for “two statements opposed to each other in such a way that neither of them may hold good”.

48

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 49

1 SAMUEL 2

A pan is made of bronze, a pot of terra cotta. Hence, How can the pot go together with the pan? (Sir. 13:3) [Thus they did to all of Israel, of those] COMING TO SHILOH. He could more appropriately have said: “to him, coming to Shiloh”, or, as it is in Hebrew, who came to Shiloh. Thus they did to Israel, not in general to all of them, but to all coming to Shiloh, or who came to Shiloh. 2:15 [Before they] INCINERATED [the fat.] Burned the fat. THE BOY [of the priest came.] The servant. [I will not take from you cooked meat,] BUT RAW. The priests would rather have raw meat than boiled so they could prepare and cook it as they wanted. 2:16 [Let the fat be burned first today,] ACCORDING TO THE CUSTOM. Of each animal that could be offered to the Lord, the fat was for the Lord; therefore this was incinerated for the Lord before any other offering was made.a [He said to him:] NOT SO. I will not take it later. [Give it me now,] OR ELSE. If you do not give it right now. 2:17 [The sin of the young men was very great] BEFORE THE LORD. If not in the sight of the people, in the sight of the Lord the sin of the sons of Eli was very great. THEY WITHDREW PEOPLE [from the sacrifice] ETC. Because of the outrage the priests committed against the sacrificers, several people omitted to come and sacrifice to the Lord. Or else this supplies the reason why in God’s eyes the sin of the priests was great, because they, as people, committed an outrage against God, withdrawing people from his sacrifice, because they received whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted it, contrary to the custom. 2:18 [Being a child,] GIRDED WITH A LINEN EPHOD. An ephod is an overgarment. He is said to be girded with ephod, because this garment is not girded unless up at the waist. It is called linen to distinguish it from the ephod of the high priest, which was distinguished by four precious colors: purple, scarlet, byssus,b and gold.

a b

Cfr. Lev. 3:16. Byssus is a fabric, not a color. The NIV translates: “finely twisted linen”.

49

18

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 50

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

19

2:19 [His mother made him] A LITTLE COAT. In Hebrew: one tunic. Tunic here does not mean a mantel, but a silken garment. With this garment Samuel is described when he was conjured up after his death on the command of Saul by the women who had a divining spirit.a ON THE APPOINTED DAYS. From year to year. 2:20 [Eli] BLESSED [Elkanah and his wife.] He wished them well. FOR THE LOAN (‘fenus’). In secular writings ‘loan’ has a bad connotation because it is used for usury. ‘Fenus’ (loan) comes from ‘fetura’ (offspring), because it raises multiple gains. But in the Old Testament, lending is laudable, because it is taken as supplying. Hence, Who lends today and asks back tomorrow; hateful is such a man (Sir. 20:16). 2:21 [Hannah conceived and bore] THREE SONS. She did not bear three sons after the birth of Samuel, but the sum of her sons was three, and of all her children five. [Samuel] BECAME GREAT. This happened later, when the Lord appeared to him and predicted to him the destruction of the house of Eli, and filled him with the spirit of prophecy. But here it is announced to show as by opposition whence the threat to the sons of Eli came to pass, namely, because they displeased the Lord by their malice, just as Samuel pleased the Lord by his goodness, which, of course, he had received from him by grace. And therefore he became great, while they were humiliated and cut off. 2:22 AND HE HEARD [all that his sons did.] It says that he heard what his sons were doing because he could not see it, because his eyes were getting dim from old age. Hence it is also said earlier: Eli was very old. And because he knew it is innate to people to enjoy badmouthing others, he was perhaps somewhat negligent in correcting his sons, because he did not sufficiently believe the bad things that people were telling about them. THEY LAY WITH THE WOMEN WHO WAITED AT THE DOOR OF THE TABERNACLE. These are the same women of whose mirrors the bronze laver was made in Exodus.b For religious women a b

1 Sam. 28:14. Ex. 38:8.

50

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 51

1 SAMUEL 2

were keeping their watch and nightly vigils for the purpose of prayer and intercession at the doors of the tabernacle. With them the sons of Eli lay. Some assert that they did not sleep with these women, but because they persuaded them to sleep with their husbands before the time of purification instituted by the Law, while they were in a period of purification and should therefore abstain themselves from them, and because the sons of Eli were thus the reason that they slept with their husbands, it is said that they did sleep with them.a This, they surmise, is also why it says later on, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress (1 Sam. 2:24). 2:23 WHY DO YOU DO THESE KINDS OF THINGS WHICH I HEAR, [from all the people,] ETC. The word order is: Why do you do these things, these very wicked things, which I hear from all the people? Not one or two, but all the people speak ill of you. Or: These very wicked things, [far] FROM ALL THE PEOPLE, THAT IS: SO WICKED THAT NONE OF THE ENTIRE PEOPLE WOULD DO THAT.

2:24 MY SONS (‘filii mi ’). One should know that ‘mi ’ (my) can never be vocative, according to the grammar, unless male singular. THAT YOU MAKE THE PEOPLE OF THE LORD TO TRANSGRESS. By the depravity of your example. Hence it is written in the law: If an anointed priest inadvertently commits a sin, he induces the people to sin (Lev. 4:3/2). Or make to transgress, as explained above, by persuading others to act against the law. 2:25 IF ONE MAN SINS AGAINST ANOTHER. If one man sins against another who is of the same nature as himself by doing him some injustice, there are priests who entreat God for him, there are vows, there are gifts, there are supplications, there is almsgiving, there are moreover many acts of appeasement by which God can be placated. If he who is injured is placated, God is more quickly reconciled to him. But if a man sins against God, who is above human nature and is his creator and Lord, whether by transgressing his law and commandments a

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 13, p. 71.

51

20

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 52

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

or by sinning in his office or by offending in duties assigned to him, who shall pray for him? It does not say: “God cannot be placated for him”, but: Who shall pray for him?, showing the difficulty, not the impossibility. For in the above manner God can be placated even in this case, but it is more difficult since a sin against the creator weighs more heavily than one against a creature. WHO SHALL PRAY FOR HIM? As if he said: If a sin is committed against a human being, this same man can intercede after he is placated. But if a sin is committed against God himself; who will presume to intercede? Would not someone who helped the one who injured God seem to agree with the injury committed against him? Would he not seem to love the haters of God who would pray for them, against the words of the prophet, who says, Would I not hate, O Lord, those who hate you, and loathe your enemies; I will hate them with a perfect hatred; they have become my enemies (Ps. 139:21). [They did not listen to the voice of their father,] BECAUSE THE LORD WANTED TO SLAY THEM. Why is it that he says: Because the Lord wanted to slay them, when God prefers the life of a sinner over his death, and emendation rather than perdition,a unless it pleased divine justice for them to incur a temporal death because of the preceding sins for which they deserved to die, either to avoid eternal death, or to catch the beginning of eternal death by their untimely temporal death? Because the Lord, as a just judge, wanted them to receive what they deserved, they did not listen to their father; if they had, they might possibly have avoided the imminent danger. 2:27 THERE CAME A MAN OF GOD. The Hebrews think that this man of God who came to Eli and predicted what would happen to him and his sons was an angel.b DID I NOT PLAINLY APPEAR TO YOUR FATHER’S HOUSE, WHEN HE WAS IN EGYPT? The house of the father of Eli to which the Lord appeared when he was in Egypt in the house of Pharaoh, that is, in servitude and Cfr. Ez. 33:11. Unidentified source. Most Hebrew exegetes identify this “man of God” as Elkanah, Samuel’s father. a

b

52

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 53

1 SAMUEL 2

under his power, signifies either the tribe of Levi to whom the Lord revealed himself in Egypt in Moses and Aaron, or Aaron himself, from whose lineage the priests descended. 2:28 I CHOSE HIM, Levi or Aaron, OUT OF ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. Because only from the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron priests are consecrated to the Lord. TO GO UP TO MY ALTAR. Wherever the altar was, it was placed on an elevated site, and it was so high that one could not serve at it unless there was something set next to it to stand on. This applies only to the altar of burnt offerings, about which it is written in the law: If he goes up to my altar, he must not be indecently exposed (Ex. 20:26). But the altar was not so high that one had to ascend to it by steps, because the Lord had prohibited this. The Lord revealed himself to the house of the father of Eli while he was in Egypt, but he did not elect him as priest while in Egypt, but rather in the desert. I GAVE TO YOUR FATHER’S HOUSE ALL OF THE SACRIFICES OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL. All of the sacrifices of the sons of Israel that fall to the use of the priests I have given to them. Why, then, do they presume to take more than is given to them? 2:29 WHY HAVE YOU KICKED AWAY MY VICTIM WITH THE HEEL? The heel is the outer part of the foot, where it meets the ground. What we kick with the heel we do not put in our sight, but we throw it away behind us, like refuse. Therefore, ‘to kick with the heel’, Scripture puts for ‘to despise.’ The sons of Eli despised the victim of the Lord because they ripped out its best parts and took it for themselves, while they left the rest as refuse, and because they treated it against the rite of sacrifice and the commandment of the Lord. YOU HAVE HONORED YOUR SONS MORE THAN ME. ‘More’ in the elective sense rather than the comparative sense: you have honored your sons and not me. He honored his sons and not the Lord because, by extolling the honor of his sons, he left their guilt unpunished. He did not honor the Lord because he did not punish the contempt of the Lord and the wrongs of his sons. Or rather he did honor his sons and not the Lord in this: because his sons took for themselves unjustly and with violence the best parts of the

53

21

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 54

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

22

sacrifices of the people and left the leftovers and rejects for the Lord, and he did not properly rebuke them. This explanation does accord more with the subsequent passage. BY EATING THE FIRST FRUITS OF EVERY SACRIFICE OF MY PEOPLE. The Lord did concede the first fruits of every sacrifice to the use of the priests, and, indeed, he does not say that he was not honored because they ate what was given to them as sustenance.a But the Law that assigns the first fruits to the priests takes ‘first fruits’ to mean something different than in this passage. In the Law, first fruits are called the firsts of all the crops and fruits and the firstborn all the living beings, both people and livestock. All these the Lord gave to the use of the priests. He also gave them whatever of the first fruits someone presented and vowed to the Lord.b But in this passage, the first fruits of every sacrifice are called the best parts of the sacrifices. 2:30 SAYING I SAID THAT YOUR HOUSE [and the house of your father should minister in my sight.] The continuous repetition of one expression, either in part or in full, normally indicates the emphasis of the thing signified, as in A man, a man of the house of Israel (Ez. 14:4 and 7), Rejoicing I rejoiced (Is. 61:10), or Weeping I wept (Is. 30:19 and Jer. 13:17). He calls “the house of Eli” the descendants of Eli. The house of the father of Eli, according to some,c he calls Ithamar, from whose family-line Eli was descended, but according to others Aaron.d It is easy to find where God said that Aaron and his house would serve him in the priesthood.e But where he had changed this (which is implied by his saying: Far be this from me, namely that you or your father’s house serve me) is not easy to find before the reign of Herod. ‘Forever’, just as ‘eternal’, is always said, not when there is no end to it, but when there is no end set to it. But as easy as it is to find where the Lord transferred Num. 18:8-19. Num. 5:9. c JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, 5, 11, 5. d AUGUSTINE, De civitate Dei, XVII, 5, l. 52, CCSL 48, p. 563. e Ex. 28:1. a

b

54

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 55

1 SAMUEL 2

the high priesthood from the house of Eli and his father Ithamar – for in Kings we read, After Zadok was restored as priest, Solomon dismissed Abiathar from his office as priest of the Lord (2 Kgs. 2:27) –, it is not so easy to detect where the Lord had promised the priesthood to Eli or his father. Some venture the opinion that, because of what is said here, Far be this from me, that the house of you and your father, namely Aaron, as they think, will serve me, that the priesthood was transferred from the house of Aaron, and given to Samuel, who was not of priestly descent.a But in no canonical Scripture it is read that Samuel was ever a priest, or that the house of Aaron lost the high priesthood before the time of the Maccabees, shortly before the coming of Christ. So we must understand either that the priesthood was transferred at the Lord’s command from the house of Eleazar to the house of Ithamar and Eli, and that they would have kept it for eternity had they not offended God; or that the house of Aaron would serve him all the days of the world, if he would obey his commandments in all things. But because that did not happen, the house of Aaron lost the priesthood, but not until the time of the Maccabees. Still, we can say that, because the Lord permitted the high priesthood to be transferred to the house of Ithamar, Holy Scripture says that God actually spoke these words, for he did it as if it were spoken. WHOSOEVER SHALL HAVE HONORED ME, [I shall honor him.] Whosoever fears the Lord and observes his commandments, and in time of tribulation calls on him and offers a sacrifice of praise to him, honors him, and will receive the reward of honor from him. The meaning of the words here is: I will not honor someone with the dignity of my ministry simply because I have promised that he will minister before me, if he does not serve my commandments; but he who does the above-said things, as Zadok, him I will glorify with the dignity of priesthood. BUT THEY WHO DESPISE ME, as the sons of Eli, SHALL BE IGNOBLE. That is, as despicable as those who are ignoble. a

BEDE, In Reg., I, l. 6, CCSL 119, p. 296.

55

23

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 56

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

2:31 [I will cut off ] YOUR ARM. Strength. [The arm] OF YOUR Ithamar. [There will be no] OLD MAN [in your house.] Someone living for a long time. Some interpret ‘old man’ as ‘priest’, or ‘figure of authority’,a but the subsequent passage favors our first explanation. 2:32 YOU WILL SEE YOUR RIVAL. You, in your sons, will see Zadok, who does not envy you, though you will envy him. IN ALL THE PROSPERITY OF ISRAEL. And so that you may grieve more, you will bear this adversity, while all others among your people are doing very well, and you will have to mourn without a companion. 2:33 BUT THAT YOUR EYES MAY FAINT. If I do spare any of you to serve in the ministry of my altar, it will not be to console you, but rather so that your soul may be spent and your mind grow weak, and so that you may see with your eyes why your heart grieves, and you may never care to forget the reason of your anxiety. AND A GREAT PART OF YOUR HOUSE SHALL DIE WHEN THEY COME TO A MAN’S AGE. Some think that this is fulfilled in Ahimelech and those who were with him when they were killed by Saul.b One could also understand it more simply, according to what the text seems to suggest, that most of the house of Eli will in that age die a natural death, and not a violent death brought about from outside. 2:35 AND I WILL RAISE ME UP A FAITHFUL PRIEST. That is, Zadok. He is rightfully said to be raised up, for when the house of Eleazar was deprived of the high priesthood, he had fallen, as it were, in a deep sleep. [Who shall act according to] MY HEART AND MY SOUL. Figuratively speaking. A FAITHFUL HOUSE. His descendants will remain in my ministry and live long, as opposed to those of the house of Eli who will die an untimely death. MY CHRIST. My anointed, that is Solomon. [He shall walk] ALL DAYS [before my christ.] He will not be a priest for a while and later be rejected, like Abiathar, but he will persevere in this dignity for the time of his entire life. FATHER’S HOUSE.

24

a b

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 163, p. 73. BEDE, In I Sam., I, II, 33, l. 876, CCSL 119, p. 32; cfr. 1 Sam. 22:19-20.

56

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 57

1 SAMUEL 2-3

2:36 [Whosoever shall remain in your house,] SHALL COME, to the priest, THAT HE MAY BE PRAYED FOR, as if for a common and ordinary person. [He will offer] A PIECE OF SILVER AND A ROLL OF BREAD. This was the offering that a common layman brought to the priest [when asked ] TO PRAY FOR HIM. A roll (‘torta’) is a kind of bread that takes its name from its form and shape, for it is made in the shape of a wreath (‘torquis’), like the breads that are called ‘brachelli ’.a The Jews think that they are not different in shape, but in size from those breads which they call ‘brainelli ’. [He shall say: Discharge me with] ONE PRIESTLY PART. So that I may take from the offerings at least as much as is the share of one priest. [So I may eat] A MORSEL OF BREAD. A piece of bread. 3:1 [The word of the Lord was] PRECIOUS. Rare. For every rare thing is precious. 3:2 [His eyes] HAD GROWN DIM. Had gone blind. His eyes began to go blind; the sharpness of his eyes was not completely extinguished, but for the greater part damaged. 3:3 [Samuel slept] IN THE TEMPLE. In the room near the temple where his bed was. 3:2-5 [His eyes had grown dim and he could not see] THE LAMP OF THE LORD BEFORE IT WENT OUT. This lamp burned the whole night long; it was extinguished at sunrise. [The text seems to suggest that] Eli, because he had gone blind, and, with his eyes as bad and dim as they were, could see little at daytime and nothing at night, could not see the lamp of the Lord before it went out, that is, before it was daytime. But nobody has such bad eyesight that he could not see a lamp burning at nighttime more easily than an extinguished one during the daytime, and even a lamp burning badly at night better than a brightly gleaming gold-plated one during the day time. The text offers a

Torta denotes a round bread; modern Italian tortellini, that is, small tortas, have a similar shape. The brachellus Andrew describes here seems to be a circular bread, possibly etymologically related to the modern Pretzel or Brezel; FRIEDRICH KLUGE, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (Berlin: Walter De Gruyter, 1934), from Latin brachiatellum. The meaning of brainellus is uncertain. We may imagine it as a kind of bagel.

57

25

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 58

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

26

no problems as it is in Hebrew: His eyes, that is Eli’s, had grown dim and he could not see, add ‘clearly’. That is the end of the verse. The next verse begins: The lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out. Next comes: Samuel slept in the tabernacle where the ark of the Lord was. In other words: At a certain time when Eli was lying in his room, and the boy Samuel was sleeping, and the lamp which burned in the temple of the Lord had not yet gone out, that is, at night, the Lord called Samuel, etc. One should not think that Samuel slept in the temple, which only the priests were allowed to enter, or that he lit or extinguished the lamp, which only Aaron and his sons did, as it is written Aaron and his sons shall maintain it (Ex. 27:21); rather, he slept in the ante-room where the priest also slept. And because only Eli was in that bedroom with the boy when he was called by God, because Samuel did not see anyone else present, he immediately ran to Eli, saying Here am I, for you did call me. If there were no light at all in the room where the priest and the boy were sleeping when the boy was called by God, he could have thought that he was called by someone else who had come in to them. But because the room was so close to the tabernacle, as some think,a that it was lighted by the light that was in there, the boy, when he was approached by God, because he did not see anyone present but the priest, thought the latter had called him. Hence, to give the reason why the boy thought he was called by the priest when he was actually called by God, Scripture starts out by saying that the light in the tabernacle had not yet gone out. 3:4 [And he answered:] SEE, I. One does not need to place an absolute verb here, because the demonstrative adverb and the demonstrative pronoun of the first person already indicate the matter. 3:5 THOU DIDST CALL ME. Samuel spoke in error here, but he did not lie; he really thought that it was as he said. This is the difference between someone who speaks in error and somea

TOR,

RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 3:3, p. 31; also in HUGH OF SAINT VICAdnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 96D.

58

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 59

1 SAMUEL 3

one who lies: he who speaks in error errs, but he who lies intends to err. Therefore, a prudent man sees to it that he does not speak in error; a good man that he does not lie. 3:7 [Samuel] DID NOT YET KNOW THE LORD. By the revelation of future things and prophetic grace, as he later knew him. 3:11 [See, I do] A WORD [in Israel.] ‘Word’ here means fact or thing. [His ears] WILL TINGLE. Will resound. When an excessively rough and loud sound hits the ears, these same ears seem to reverberate, overfilled by the noise. As if he said: those who hear what I will do in Israel will be so frightened that their ears, filled with the rumor of that news, will seem to reverberate. 3:13 I WILL JUDGE [his house.] Punish by a just verdict. FOREVER. Without fixed term. For the house of Eli will never be able to recover the high priesthood. HE DID NOT CHASTISE THEM. He did chastise them, but with the lenience of a father, not the severity of a judge. 3:14 I HAVE SWORN. I firmly stated, as if bound by an oath. 3:17 HIDE (“celaveris” ) IT NOT FROM ME. This verb ‘celare’ requires two accusative cases. As for example, “one thing we hid from you” (“quod te celavimus unum” ).a So people who use a dative or a prepositional phrase (“Celavit mihi, vel a me” ) commit a grammatical error. MAY GOD DO THIS TO YOU AND MAY HE ADD THESE. This is swearing by way of a curse. The meaning of the words is: This, that is, this evil that I have in mind but dare not pronounce, may God do to you, that is, bring upon you, and these, as above, may he add, that is, to the ills brought upon you, if you hide etc. The Hebrews abhor and diligently avoid not only saying words of blasphemy or severe adversity themselves but also relating them as said by others. Hence they often change the words into the opposite, as in, He blessed God and the king (1 Kgs. 21:13). In the vernacular use they also abhor calling fever or leprosy by name but refer to them by descriptions or by their opposite, calling fever ‘put mal ’ (the little ill),

OVID, Heroides, 11, 41. In Latin, both ‘thing’ and ‘you’ are accusative case. There is no equivalent grammatical construction in English. a

59

27

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 60

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

28

leprosy ‘gros mal ’ (the great ill), and whatever other disease ‘bon’ (health). Thus the Hebrews suppress the words of evil by which they swear at themselves or at others, and are wont to say, May God do this to me or you, and even more, if I or you do not..., and likewise they said this or that, and so on.a 3:18 [Let him do] WHAT IS GOOD IN HIS SIGHT. What seems to be good to him. 3:19 AND NOT ONE OF HIS WORDS FELL TO THE GROUND. No word of his was futile or lost, but all were fulfilled and confirmed as true by what actually happened. For whatever he predicted to happen to Eli and his sons (these are the words that Scripture refers to here) came about. The expression “fell to the ground” is derived from liquids, which are considered lost when they are poured out on the ground. 3:20 FROM DAN TO BEERSHEBA. These two confines of Judea, of which Dan borders Judea to the north and Beersheba to the south, one should take to mean the whole land. For not just those who were in the northern and in the southern part of the land, but the whole land knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord, without any trace of falseness, and one who could be trusted in all things. 3:21 [He revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh,] ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF THE LORD. The word by which he promised through Moses that he would reveal his will unto his own people through his servants, whom he would raise up from the midst of his people as prophets; and for that reason they should not consult divinators, auspices, or necromancers.b It is clearer in Hebrew: In the word of the Lord. The Lord revealed himself to Samuel in the word of the Lord, that is, in the word that he had spoken to him. 4:1 [They camped near] THE STONE OF HELP. Prolepsis, for this place was later called thus by Samuel, because they pursued a b

“Per reliqua uerborum tempora”: meaning unclear. Deut. 18:10-18.

60

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 61

1 SAMUEL 3-4

their enemies to that spot with God’s help.a APHEK. This is a place that belongs to the city of Jezreel. 4:3 FROM THE HAND [of our enemies.] From the strength. 4:4 [The Lord of hosts,] SEATED UPON THE CHERUBIM. Here and in the Psalms the Lord is described as seated upon cherubim,b because whenever he spoke to someone, he appeared through an angel on the lid of atonement, which stood between the two cherubim. 4:5 [All Israel] SHOUTED. They broke out in a clamor for great joy. 4:7 GOD HAS COME [in their camp.] The favor of God. Or they called the ark itself God. 4:8 AND THE DAY BEFORE (‘nudius tertius’). That is, the day after which today is the third day. [Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high] GODS? They speak in their way, as heathen who worship many gods. [The gods that struck Egypt with every plague] IN THE DESERT. He should have said more appropriately “into the desert”, that is, until they were forsaken. ‘Desert’ here means ‘forsaking’, not ‘wilderness’.c 4:9 BEHAVE LIKE MEN. That is, acting audaciously and bravely. 4:12 WITH HIS CLOTHES TORN. In times of great adversity and grave anguish, it was customary for the Jews to tear their clothes and cover their heads with dust. 4:13 [Eli sat on a stool,] LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD. He sat, facing the road that led from the place of the camp, Shiloh, that is, with his face turned in that direction, not that as a blind man he could see anything (for by this time he was completely blind), but so that he might hear more easily. For we hear better from the front than from the back. ‘Caha’, found in this 1 Sam. 7:12. Ps. 80:2; Ps. 99:1. c Of course, God struck the Egyptians while they were in Egypt, not in the desert (cfr. Ex. 7-11). Andrew tries to explain this imprecise statement by offering an alternative translation for ‘desert’. a

b

61

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 62

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

29

place in the Hebrew text, does not mean to become blind, or be dim, as in our translation, but to be completely blind.a 4:14 [The noise] OF THIS UPROAR (‘tumultus’). Uproar is defined as the confused sound of a multitude. The etymology of uproar is the roaring of many people (‘timor multus’). 4:18 WITH BROKEN NECKS. He uses here a figure of speech, plural for singular. No wonder that a man who is heavy and close to death should break his neck when he falls with all his weights from a high seat. 4:19 SHE BOWED HERSELF. To force out the baby by the weight of her bent body. [Her pains were] SUDDEN. Unforeseen pains, the sort that trouble one most. For pains that are foreseen can be born more easily, and they hurt less. 4:20 FEAR NOT, [for you have borne a son] ETC. Upon hearing of the death of both her husband and father-in-law, she might, out of her female weakness, have started to worry that she would be destitute of all male help, and thus fall into despair because of the weakness of her soul. This is why the midwives tried to console the desolate and restore hope to this almost desperate woman by announcing the birth of a son. Or, because she feared she might die in childbirth, the midwives, wanting to dispel this fear, announced that the birth was over. And so that, after her grief was dispelled, she would be consoled more quickly by hearing welcome news, they let her know that she had borne a son. 4:21-22 [She called the child] ICHABOD. For this reason she called the boy Ichabod, which means ‘inglorious’ or ‘without honor’, because he was born in the time that Israel lost her glory, that is, the ark of the Lord and its priests. The mother of the boy herself immediately adds the reason for the name, saying: The glory is taken away from Israel. To explain why she had said this, she immediately adds: because the ark of the Lord was seized. Or perhaps these are the author’s words. And for her faa In contrast to Andrew’s assertion, the Hebrew verb cahah means ‘to be dim’. The manuscripts of Andrew’s commentary read ‘cama’, probably a scribal error.

62

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 63

1 SAMUEL 4-5

ther-in-law and for her husband, mourning their deaths, she said: “The glory is taken away from Israel ”. And the author adds the words: Because the ark of God was seized, explaining why she said this twice. Because of the death of her father-in-law and her husband she said that the glory was gone, but above all because the ark of the Lord was taken away. In Hebrew: Her father-in-law and husband were dead. And she said: The glory of Israel is gone because the ark of the Lord is taken. The meaning is: Although she knew that her father-inlaw and husband were dead, she said that the glory of Israel was gone not because of their deaths, but because the ark of the Lord was taken. 5:3 ‘AZOTI’. They arose in Azotus (Ashdod), as an adverbial phrase. Or, if it is a nominative (“the Azotians arose”), it is an irregular plural. For the genitive singular should be longer by one syllable than the nominative plural and differ in pronunciation, and read ‘Azotii ’. 5:4 BOTH THE PALMS OF HIS HANDS. Synecdoche. Of course not only the palms, but the whole hands were lying there. 5:5 ONLY THE STUMP. In the place where the idol used to stand, only the body remained, without head or hands. 5:6 HE DEMOLISHED THEM. He subverted and destroyed and humiliated them, as someone who dislodges a stack. For the verb ‘to demolish’ is composed of ‘de’ (out of ) and ‘moles’ (stack). To demolish therefore means: to scatter a stack. [And the villages and fields] BUBBLED, [and rats came forth.].a Like water bubbling and surging from the earth, rats emerged, and they consumed and defiled everything. [He afflicted the Azotians] IN THE MORE SECRET PART OF THE BUTTOCKS. A flaming scabies and a severe burning gravely invaded the inner parts of the colon, that is those intestines to which the lower gate of the human body is linked and whence it is called ‘purgative.’ The whole verse above is not found in the Hebrew text.

a This

verse is found in some versions of the Vulgate only.

63

30

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 64

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

31

5:8 SATRAPS [of the Philistines.] Princes. THE GATHITES [answered.] In Gath, one of the five metropolitan cities of the Philistines, lived the priests, soothsayers, and the intellectual elite of the Philistines. LET THE ARK OF THE GOD OF ISRAEL BE CARRIED AROUND. They wanted to have the ark carried around the whole land so that, if it was accompanied by a plague wherever it was brought, they would find out whether the plague was sent to them by God because of the ark, and thus could be reconciled with God after sending it back. 5:9 AND THEIR PROTRUDING ENTRAILS FESTERED. Forced by the disease, the colon, which can be called ‘extalis’ (entrails), from ‘exta’ (innards), was protruding through the lower passage and coming out with it, and it festered as it were, because of its immense burning, and because the Philistines could not sit on their buttocks for their immense pain, THEY MADE THEMSELVES pillows and SOFT SEATS, to have at least some way to sit.a 5:12 [The cry of every city went up] TO HEAVEN. In the air, or hyperbolically. 6:3 [Render unto him] WHAT YOU OWE. What is justly owed for the measure of your sin. [And you shall know] WHY HIS HAND DOES NOT DEPART FROM YOU. If you have paid the right tribute to him and the hand of God has not departed from you, then you will know why his hand does not depart from you, namely because he does not demand satisfaction, but the utter destruction of all of you. 6:5 YOU SHALL MAKE IMAGES OF YOUR ANUSES.b ‘Anus’ is the name for the back door of our earthly abode. The word is composed of ‘a’ and ‘gonus’, as ‘without gonus’, that is ‘angle’. The diminutive of the word ‘anus’ is ‘anulus’ (ring) because it is just as round in form and figure. [And images] OF THE RATS THAT HAVE DESTROYED [the land.] The rats have destroyed the land a

The KJV and Douay-Rheims translate: “They had hemorrhoids in their secret parts”. The addition about the ‘soft seats’ is not found in the Hebrew text. b Most translations: ‘tumors’; KJV and Douay-Rheims translate ‘hemorrhoids’.

64

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 65

1 SAMUEL 5-6

because they devoured everything that was seeded but had not yet germinated on the land and they gnawed to pieces everything they could get at. Some say that when the Philistines emptied their bowels, the rats invaded their behinds and ravaged them, so they made themselves leather thigh coverings to discourage infestation.a Some, inexperienced in grammar, make a genitive plural of this word, ‘mus’, a three-syllable word, by putting an ‘i’ before the ‘u’, but they are wrong, because it has two syllables. [Give] GLORY [to the God of Israel.] Honor. It was an honor to God that they gave him such gifts, which testified to his might and their impotence. 6:6 WHY DO YOU HARDEN YOUR HEARTS? That is, why do you make your hearts heavy and insensitive by not wanting to listen to the sane and healthy advice, to send back the ark of the Lord with the honor that is due to him, so that you may evade the danger impending on you all? [After Pharaoh] WAS STRUCK. By the plagues that happened in Egypt. 6:9 [If it goes] BY THE WAY OF ITS OWN BORDERS. Which leads to the borders of Israel. 6:12 [The young cows went] THE STRAIGHT WAY. Never diverging from the straight path. [Keeping on the road while] LOWING ALL THE WAY. The power of God forced them to go on, while nature made them give voice as much as they could to the suffering inflicted on them. BETHSHEMESH. This is one of the priestly cities in the territory of Benjamin. There is another Bethshemesh in the tribe of Naphtali. 6:18 [The golden rats,] ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF THE CITIES OF THE PHILISTINES, OF THE FIVE PROVINCES. The sequence is: According to the number of the cities of the five provinces of the Philistines; from the walled city to the village that was without wall. This text is explained in several different ways by several authors. Some people think that, just as there were only five provinces, there were only five cities of the Philistines. They say that the individual cities gave individual rats and a

GREGORY THE GREAT, In I Reg., 3, 78, l. 1500, CCSL 144, p. 241.

65

32

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 66

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

33

anuses to the Lord for their sin, but in such a way that the villages adjacent to the individual cities made one collection of money together with their cities and gave only one rat and one anus together. And this, they say, is why Scripture says, From the walled city to the village that was without wall. That is, five rats and just as many anuses the cities together with the villages gave to the Lord, up to the great Abel, that is, the entire land up to its borders collected this money communally (for Abel, they say, is a large stone that marks the border of the land of the Philistines close to Bethshemesh, to where the ark was brought back).a According to their exegesis, there were not but five cities in the entire land of the Philistines, according to which number the rats and anuses were dedicated. Others, such as Isidore, think that the five main towns of the five provinces sent anuses and rats according to their number, but that the other towns of the entire region with their adjacent villages only donated rats, and this was the case throughout the land, all the way to its borders.b GREAT ABEL. Some think that Abel here is the proper name of a certain city which was located on the border of Israel and the land of the Philistines, and that ‘great’ was added to it to distinguish it from a different city by the same name. Jerome says that Abel is the same city that is also called Bethshemesh, whither the ark was brought. ‘Great’, he says, is added to distinguish it from that city about which the wise woman called out to Joab, They who inquire, let them inquire in Abel (2 Sam. 20:18).c There are those who say that here the Hebrews write not ‘Abel’ but ‘Avel’. Great Avel, they say, is a great valley to which the ark was brought.d To us, however, it seems that there were only five principal and royal cities in the land of the Philistines, corresponding to HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 96D-97A. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 27, 3-5, p. 77, cited in Glossa ord. marg. 1 Sam. 6:18, p. 12. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 27, 7-11, p. 77. The phrase “Jerome says ... inquire in Abel” duplicates the preceding sentence, and is likely a later addition to Andrew’s commentary, taken from pseudo-Jerome. d Unidentified source. a

b

66

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 67

1 SAMUEL 6

the number of provinces, and that to each one of them belonged many smaller cities and villages. Otherwise David would not have said to Achish, the king of Gath, If I have found favor in your sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country that I may dwell in there. Why should your servant dwell in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag on that day (1 Sam. 27:5-6). From these words it appears clear as day that there were several cities in each district of the country of the Philistines, and that the one in which the king resided was the royal city. So the principal cities gave anuses only, but the smaller cities and the rural villages gave to the Lord golden rats according to the number of both cities and villages. Hence after it is said that the five principal cities gave five anuses to the Lord, Scripture adds immediately what the smaller cities and the villages offered, saying, and golden rats; infer: the Philistines gave according to the number of the cities of the land of the Philistines, which has five provinces. That is, they gave as many rats as there are cities in the five provinces of the Philistines, with the exception of the principal cities which were already listed. And to include the villages, it repeats the phrase about the cities, saying, from the walled city, etc. That is, these golden rats the Philistines gave both on behalf of the walled cities and the villages without walls, that is, the rural villages. And this was done throughout the entire land unto its borders. That is why is added unto the great Abel, that is Bethshemesh, which was on the border of Israel and the land of the Philistines. ‘Great’ is added to distinguish it from the other city, as was said above. WHEREON THEY SET DOWN THE ARK OF THE LORD. It says that they set the ark of the Lord on the town, because they set it down on the stone that was at its outskirts. It is clearer in Hebrew: Where the ark of the Lord was placed. WHICH UP TO THIS VERY DAY (“usque in illo die”) STOOD ON THE FARMLAND OF JOSHUA THE BETHSHAMITE. Some read this text as follows: Which, that is, the ark, stood on the farmland of Joshua the Bethshamite up to (‘usque’) this very day, understood as: the

67

34

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 68

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

day that the Lord did what was said in the subsequent section, namely strike down the people of Bethshemesh.a But this is a violent exegesis, assuming too much that is not even in the text. According to this exegesis one should expect to find written in the book: until that day (“usque in illum diem”), not up to this very day (“usque in illo die”). Perhaps the following explanation will be more suitable: Which, that is, the ark, on this very day (“in illo die”), that is at that time, stood on the farmland of Joshua the Bethshamite, ‘usque’, that is: “all the time”, because it was never moved from the farmland either by day or night. And because it was exposed to all, because anyone could see it uncovered, as it was on the farmland, a great plague happened among the people. For only a priest was allowed to see it uncovered. 6:19 AND HE SLEW OF THE POPULATION SEVENTY MEN AND FIVE THOUSAND OF THE PEOPLE. Some think that the seventy men who are mentioned separately were the judges of the people, together with whom five thousand of the common people were slain.b However, the fact that the seventy are mentioned first does not yet mean that the others are understood to be commoners. For it is the habit of the Hebrews to put the smaller before the larger number, as in Joseph lived ten and a hundred years (Gen. 50:22).c Both this and the preceding verse are clearer in Hebrew: in the preceding verse there is no ‘which’, nor in this one ‘of the people.’ 6:20 [Who can stand] IN THE SIGHT, in the presence, OF THE LORD GOD OF THIS HOLY? In the presence of him who is the Lord God, of this holy thing, that is, of this sanctuary, the ark. Or, of this holy Lord God whose is this ark. As if they said: None of us will be able to live if this ark stays with us, where the holy Lord God is present. Similarly in Exodus: Every time anyHUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 97B. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 28, p. 78. c Gen. 50:22 reads: “Joseph lived one hundred and ten years”. While Andrew’s assertion is right in a general sense, he chose the wrong example to illustrate it. Cfr. SALTMAN, Pseudo-Jerome, p. 45. a

b

68

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 69

1 SAMUEL 6-7

one approaches the dwelling of the Lord, he dies. You speak to us, and let not God speak to us, or we shall die (Num. 17:13 and Ex. 20:19). [To whom shall he] GO UP [from us?] According to the geography of the place. 7:1 THEY SANCTIFIED ELEAZAR. Had him made clean and purified. 7:2-3 FROM THE DAY THE ARK STAYED IN KIRIATH-JEARIM, DAYS WERE MULTIPLIED. The meaning is: The ark stayed in Kiriath-jearim many days, namely twenty years. For this is why it is added: For it was now the twentieth year. Some people say that it was twenty years from the time the ark first came to Kiriath-jearim until the eighth year of the reign of Saul who according to Josephus ruled twenty years. Or that it was twenty years from the time the ark came to Kiriath-jearim until the time that all Israel rested after the Lord ,a or as it is in Hebrew, started to desire the Lord. Others say that it was twenty years from when the ark stayed in Kiriath-jearim until the first year of the reign of David in Jerusalem when David hauled it from Kiriath-jearim to place it in his house.b We read, however, that in the days of Saul it was in the army camp and in Nob, but since it was quickly brought back from there it is considered to have remained only in Kiriath-jearim. These same people say that after the ark came to Kiriath-jearim, Samuel lived for another ten years. Saul, after the death of Samuel, ruled for twoand-a-half years, and David for seven years in Hebron; in the eighth year of his reign he ruled in Jerusalem, and in that same year he brought the ark from Kiriath-jearim to Jerusalem. According to the former, the text is read as follows: From the day the ark stayed in Kiriath-jearim the days were multiplied, for it was already the twentieth year. And all the house of Israel rested after the Lord. But one can also read the text as follows: From the day the ark stayed in Kiriath-jearim the days were multiplied, beBEDE, In Reg., IV, l. 18-24, CCSL 119, p. 299. The Vulgate translation is enigmatic. Perhaps requiesco, ‘to rest’, should be read as requiro, ‘to seek’. b JOSEPH KARA, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 7:2, p. 55; cfr. BEDE, In Reg., IV, l. 3-7, CCSL 119, p. 298. a

69

35

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 70

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

36

cause it was there for twenty years. And all Israel rested, or started to desire, after the Lord, not at the end of these twenty years, but immediately after the ark came to Kiriath-jearim, for after they received the ark and after Samuel admonished them and promised them that, if they would do away with idols and return to him with all their heart, he would deliver them from the hands of the Philistines, they only served the Lord. 7:5 THAT I MAY PRAY TO GOD FOR YOU. He prayed to the Lord to call them back from the worship of idols and to follow him, and to free them from the servitude of the Philistines. 7:6 THEY DREW WATER AND POURED IT OUT BEFORE THE LORD. Some explain that they drew water and poured it out so that, just as poured water does not return, they also would not return to the worship of idols.a Or because, just as in the making of treaties, a swine was most foully (‘foede’) torn to pieces – which is why it is called ‘treaty’ (‘foedus’)b – so that the one who would break the treaty might also be torn to pieces, so also the sons of Israel, making a treaty with the Lord, drew water and poured it out, so that just as poured-out water is wasted, they also might be completely laid waste by their enemies if from hence on they did not firmly adhere to the Lord. Or perhaps we should rather understand this Scripture as follows: Because often in Israel the sins of a few harmed the whole people, as we read about Achor,c they decided on Samuel’s admonition to come together in Mizpah and, both prophet and people, pray to the Lord, so he would reveal by clear signs who were the ones guilty of idolatry (for not all the people sinned in this). Now Samuel gave them water to drink, into which he had put some powder into which he had ground up idols, and he admonished them to give themselves over in prayer and to fast on that day and confess their sins to the Lord. And this is what happened. And when they were all gathered the next morning before the PS.-ISIDORE, Glossae in Sacram Scripturam, I Reg., PL 83, col. 1315A. FESTUS, De verborum significatu, 200 – ed. W.-M. LINDSAY, Glossaria Latina, vol. 4, Paris, 1930. c Josh. 7:24. a

b

70

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 71

1 SAMUEL 7-8

prophet, there appeared incontestable signs of idolatry in the mouths and beards of the idolaters. After they were punished, the Lord was appeased and gave his people victory over their enemies.a The text is read thus: That I may pray to the Lord for you, that is, so that he may reveal the idolaters for whose sins we are suffering, they drew water, they drank it, and they poured out, infer: themselves, in prayer. AND SAMUEL JUDGED [the children of Israel.] As we said above, he held a judgment and punished the guilty. That is why the Lord immediately heard him when he later cried to the Lord for Israel.b 7:16-17 [He made his rounds ever year,] TO BETHEL AND TO GILGAL AND TO MIZPAH. In these places the people used to come together for prayer or judgments because of their reputation or location. In Gilgal Joshua celebrated the second circumcision, and the stones from the river Jordan that were carried there and the Passover that the people celebrated there made that place special.c In Bethel Jacob saw the Lord in his sleep at the end of a ladder on which angels ascended and descended. There he placed a stone as a memorial pillar and poured oil over it.d This is why that place was often visited. Hence it is said hereafter: There you shall meet three men going up to God in Bethel (1 Sam. 10:3). Mizpah he ordered to be celebrated for either its favorable location or its ancient dignity. Ramathaim was famous for being the birthplace and residence of Samuel. To those last places the people came together for judgment, and to the first two places for both judgment and prayer. 8:1 WHEN SAMUEL WAS OLD, [he appointed his sons as judges over Israel.] The prophet, weakened by old age, could no longer keep up the business of the people, and delegated the work that went beyond his powers to his sons. 8:3 BUT THEY TURNED ASIDE AFTER LUCRE. He uses a figure of speech here, plural for singular. For according to Josephus, only PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 30, p. 79. 1 Sam. 7:9. c Josh. 4:20. d Gen. 28:18-19. a

b

71

37

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 72

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

38

the youngest brother was said to have done this.a Or perhaps it is in the plural because the older brother, in that he failed to correct his younger sibling, was also regarded as having turned after lucre. Rightly it is said they turned aside, that is, from the straight way of justice, following the crooked path of lucre. THEY PERVERTED JUDGMENT. He who condemns the innocent and sets the guilty free, and judges against the principle of equity, perverts judgment. 8:7 THEY HAVE NOT REJECTED YOU BUT ME. This injustice is not against you, but rather against me who has placed you as judge over them, for in rejecting your rule over them, they rejected me who installed you as their governor. ACCORDING TO ALL THEIR WORKS. As if he said: This injustice of theirs against me is not a new thing. For since their escape from Egypt until this day they have always rejected me in their wicked deeds so that I would not rule over them, and as they have forsaken me, they have also forsaken you. 8:9 NOW HEARKEN TO THEIR VOICE, BUT YET TESTIFY TO THEM, [and foretell them the right of the king.] Do what they demand, but first tell them the right of the king, that is what a king who shall reign over them can by right demand from them. 8:11 HE WILL TAKE YOUR SONS, ETC. All these things the prophet lists here, the Hebrews say are the right of kings, which a king can by right demand from his subjects. HE WILL PUT THEM IN HIS CHARIOTS. Make them his charioteers. 8:12 [He will appoint] TRIBUNES. In Hebrew: commanders over a thousand. MAKERS OF HIS ARMS, ETC. If they are craftsmen or engineers, whom we call in the vernacular ‘carpentarii ’ (‘wagon makers’), he will make them manufacture his arms and chariots. 8:13 [He will take your daughters to make him] OINTMENTS. Some peoples are in the habit of using ointments for the care of their bodies, as they use baths. These give quite some vigor to the body. Hence the tender bodies of children are treated to frea

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1439D-1440A.

72

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 73

1 SAMUEL 8-9

quent baths, so that they may strengthen more quickly. SCULLERY MAIDS. Kitchen maids. 8:15 HE WILL DECIMATE THE REVENUE OF YOUR VINEYARDS. The revenue of your vineyards, either the fruit that the vineyards bears annually, or the tax that is levied over the vineyards, he will decimate, take a tenth of it. Certain things are listed here – namely that he will take the best of their fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and that he will take away servants and handmaids, and the goodliest young men and donkeys, and put them to his work and make them his servants – that seem violent and unjust rather than rightful, but they are called ‘royal right’ because bad kings presume to claim these things as if by right. For the defense of the kingdom, however, if war threatens, even good kings are allowed to do many things, compelled by necessity, that otherwise are not allowed at all. If king Ahab could have claimed the vineyard of Naboth by royal right, he would never have offered him a price or an exchange for a vineyard he could take by right.a 8:19 [And they said:] NEVER! Never will we do what you urge us, namely to go without a king over us. 8:22 [Let everyone] GO [to his city.] Until the Lord indicates who shall be king. 9:1 THE SON OF ABIEL, THE SON OF ZEROR, THE SON OF BECORETH, THE SON OF APHIAH. We put these four names here because in some manuscripts the penultimate name, Becoreth, is found divided into three parts: ‘Becor’, which is the part of this name, in the copulative conjunction ‘et’ (and), and the pronoun ‘hi’ (they). So in some faulty manuscripts it is written as follows: the son of Becor, and they are the sons of Aphiah. But it is certainly one name in Hebrew, ‘Becoreth’. 9:2 A CHOICE AND GOODLY MAN. According to the justice that he still possessed back then. THERE WAS NOT A BETTER MAN AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THAN HE. Let no one be assured of his own justice. To be sure, if there is no one better a

1 Kgs. 21:2.

73

39

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 74

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

40

among the people of God, to what depths of wickedness have they sunk? 9:3 AND THE DONKEYS OF KISH WERE LOST. Not entirely gone, but where nobody could find them. 9:6 A NOBLE MAN. Because of the dignity of prophecy. 9:7 [The bread is spent] IN OUR BAGS. In our vessels or pouches. [We have no] GIFT BASKET (‘sportula’). This is metonymy. A ‘sportula’ normally is a basket for sending gifts of fruit. Also gifts that were given by the rich to their poor clients were carried in such baskets. Hence, “A gift basket now is first asked for”.a The meaning is: We do not have presents to bring to the man of God. He did not think that the prophet would answer his request for free. 9:8 SEE, THERE IS FOUND [in my hand the fourth part of a stater.] We have to understand here that the servant of Saul, wondering if there might still be some money left, put his hand in his belt and perhaps found a fourth of a stater. A stater is the same thing as a shekel. A fourth of a stater is five oboles. 9:9 ONCE IT WAS A COMMON EXPRESSION: [come let us go to the seer.] As some think,b this was put here by Ezra, who restored the library after it was burned by the Chaldeans. The Hebrews say these are the words of Samuel, in whose time the word ‘prophet’ for ‘seer’ had already come in use.c Hence we find a little later in the same book The prophet Nathan is here (1 Kgs. 1:23). But David also says, O seer, return into the city (2 Sam. 15:27). There; both words were in use at the same time with the same meaning. 9:12 THERE IS A SACRIFICE TODAY FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE HIGH PLACES. Before the temple was built, one could licitly sacrifice to the Lord in high places. But ‘sacrifice’ here can mean not just oblation, but also feast. 9:13 HE WILL BLESS THE VICTIM. It is the custom of the Hebrews to offer certain praises to God before they consume food.d a JUVENAL, Saturae, 1, 95. b BEDE, In I Sam., II, IX, 9,

l. 525, CCSL 119, p. 80. RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 9:9, p. 69. d One wonders if Andrew knew this from first-hand observation. c

74

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 75

1 SAMUEL 9

9:15 THE LORD HAD UNVEILED THE EAR OF SAMUEL. This is said as a simile. If someone wants to understand clearly what is said to him, he removes whatever is covering his ear. Thus, the Lord had unveiled the ear of Samuel one day before Saul came, that is, he had made him understand one day before he came what was to come. 9:16 I HAVE LOOKED DOWN [upon my people.] With an eye of compassion. 9:19 [I will tell you] ALL THINGS THAT ARE IN YOUR HEART. The Hebrews say that it was in Saul’s heart that he would become king, because in a vision he saw himself placed on top of a palm tree, and this was a sign of future kingship.a One could think that he had it in his heart to ask about the donkeys, if he had not added: As for the donkeys which you lost, do not be solicitous. 9:19-20 OF WHOM SHALL BE ALL THE BEST THINGS IN ISRAEL? [Are they not for you and all your father’s house?] The meaning is: Who shall be king in Israel, except for you and the house of your father? For the best things on earth commonly belong to kings. And his words, and all you father’s house are either a duplication of the words for you, or else he says this because of Abner and others of the house of his father, to whom belonged the best things on earth during the reign of Saul. While the question was posed using a genitive, and one would expect an answer in the same case, but he answers in the dative, because one can also use a dative with this verb. A similar case is: As he has said to our fathers, Abraham, and his seed (Luke 1:55). While one can say both, “I tell you” (“loquor tibi”) and “I say to you” (“loquor ad te”), and in accordance with the preceding words one would continue Abraham, and to his seed (‘semen eius’), he says Abraham, and his seed (‘semini eius’). 9:21 AM I NOT A SON OF JEMINI? Because he understands Samuel’s words of whom shall be, etc. to refer to kingship, he

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 33, p. 80, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 1 Sam. 9:19, p. 15. a

75

41

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 76

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

42

humbly shows himself unworthy of such an honor because of the lowliness of his tribe and his family. Otherwise, what difference would it make if the best things on earth did not belong to him, because he was from a lowly tribe and family? JEMINI. Benjamin. For he had two names. THE SMALLEST TRIBE [of Israel.] The tribe of Benjamin was the smallest in Israel because the sons of Israel had almost completely destroyed it except for six-hundred men, because of the sin committed against the concubine of the Levite.a 9:22 DINING ROOM. A dining room (‘triclinium’) is a room where there are reclining couches on three sides. 9:24 WHAT IS LEFT. The shoulder is said to be left because, while the other meats were to be distributed equally among the reclining guests, this would remain apart, put outside, destined for a coming guest. [It was kept] ON PURPOSE [for you.] This is not served to you by coincidence, but with premeditation. A purposeful person is someone who does everything with premeditation and deliberately. WHEN I INVITED [the people.] To this meal, knowing that you would come. Samuel summoned the people to this gathering because he knew that Saul would come. For it is the custom that whenever someone important or a dear friend comes to visit us, we call all our neighbors and friends from wide and far to a banquet, so that we and our friends may all rejoice, while at the same time the guest is honored. SAUL STRETCHED OUT.b He prepared a soft bed. The word ‘bed’ (‘stratum’) is not used unless there are several beds stretched out (‘sternere’). 10:1 A LENTIL-SHAPED VESSEL (‘lenticula’). A vessel for oil, like an alabaster jar. 10:3 [Three men going up] TO GOD. To pray to God and worship him. 10:5 [The hill of the Lord, where there is] A GUARD (‘statio’) OF THE PHILISTINES. Some people think that a ‘statio’ means a

a

Judg. 20:1-47. verse is found in some versions of the Vulgate only.

b This

76

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 77

1 SAMUEL 9-10

prince of the Philistines,a and others think ‘statio’ is an army.b To us, it seems that ‘statio’ can mean three things. It is a verbal noun, as is ‘sessio’ (session). It is also a place where ships are kept during the winter. And ‘statio’ is also a military watch, either in the camp or on a convoy, when a handful of soldiers is left in a certain district by a commander to defend the country, either from a foreign invasion or from an indigenous rebellion. This latter sense is the one that applies here. 10:6 [You shall be changed into] ANOTHER MAN. Because of the task of prophesying. 10:7 DO WHATEVER YOUR HAND SHALL FIND. Act as well as you can in all things, with authority, as behooves a king, confident of God’s help. 10:8 AND YOU SHALL GO DOWN BEFORE ME IN GILGAL, [for I will come down to you,] ETC. Some think he predicts to him that he would go down before him in Gilgal to offer a sacrifice and bring peace offerings to consecrate his reign, and that he would go down later to join him. TO OFFER A SACRIFICE AND BRING PEACE OFFERINGS SEVEN DAYS YOU SHALL WAIT UNTIL I WILL COME TO YOU, ETC. These readers punctuate this text in such a way that the seven days do not refer to the waiting but to the offering. This way: You shall go down before me in Gilgal to offer a sacrifice, and bring offerings of peace for seven days. Then they continue: You shall wait until I come to you to show you what you should do. Thus they apply the seven days to the sacrifice, because they think that at the consecration of a king, just as that of a priest, an offering should be brought for seven continuous days.c But I will discuss this in more detail later. 10:10 A TROOP (‘cuneus’) OF PROPHETS MET HIM. Here he calls a troop what he calls a crowd above. A troop is a group of people walking closely together, like a wedge (‘cuneus’), which is compressed where it is driven in. 10:11 YESTERDAY AND THE DAY BEFORE. In time past. RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 10:5, p. 76. PS.-ISIDORE, Glossae in Sacram Scripturam, I Reg., PL 83, col. 1316A. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 38/46, p. 82. a

b

77

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 78

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

43

10:12 AND WHO IS HIS FATHER? Who is greater than him in dignity and wisdom? Then why should he not be among the prophets? Or thus: And who is his father? As if he said: what does it matter who his father is, since the gift of prophecy is not bestowed on anyone according to kinship and family or nature, but by grace? In Hebrew: And who is their father? That is, of the prophets. That is to say: Prophets do not descend from one particular tribe or family. Grace, not nature, makes a prophet. Then why do you wonder when the son of Kish is prophesying? 10:16 BUT OF THE MATTER OF THE KINGDOM HE DID NOT TELL HIM. Fearing envy, or avoiding ostentation. 10:19 [Stand] BEFORE THE LORD. Have the Lord as witness. 10:22 [Behold, he is hidden] AT HOME. Either in his hospice, for he could not appear so quickly if he had to come from his home. Or preferably as it is in Hebrew: He is among the vessels or the garments. For he hid, as they say, in the house where the vessels or the garments were kept.a Note how intent people of old were to avoid jealousy and grumbling against themselves and their own. The saintly Samuel, by the authority of God who revealed to him that Saul should be king, could freely name and install him as king, but he would rather ask how to avoid envy from Saul and grumbling against himself. Saul could have come to the election without suspicion just like the others, but because he preferred to hide, he removed all ill suspicion and envy from himself. 10:24 WHOM [the Lord has chosen.] What kind of person [the Lord has chosen.] LONG LIVE THE KING. May he last and persevere in his reign for a long time. 10:25 [He deposited it] BEFORE THE LORD. The ark of the Lord inside the tabernacle. 10:26 WHOSE HEARTS GOD HAD TOUCHED. Whom God inspired.

a

RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 10:22, p. 81.

78

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 79

1 SAMUEL 10-11

10:27 THE SONS OF BELIAL SAID. Lawless people, without the yoke of discipline. SHALL THIS FELLOW BE ABLE TO SAVE US? They say this derogatorily, because of his lowly origin. AND THEY DID NOT BRING HIM PRESENTS. People bring presents to a newly consecrated king to show their devotion and the trust he can have in them, and to show their appreciation of his honor. BUT HE DID AS IF HE DID NOT HEAR THEM. The king was remarkably careful. If someone who is installed as king of the land suspects disdain towards himself and does not punish it, they call him a coward, but if he immediately punishes this injustice, they call him short-tempered and cruel. 11:1 MAKE A COVENANT WITH US, AND WE WILL SERVE YOU. Under the terms of a covenant or pact, either to be free of tribute or to avoid death and mutilation, the people of Jabes Gilead are prepared to be subject to the king of the Ammonites. 11:2 [On this condition I will make a covenant with you,] THAT I MAY PLUCK OUT ALL YOUR RIGHT EYES. According to some, he wanted to render them useless for battle, so that, with their left eyes hiding behind their shields and the right ones plucked out, they would not be able see anything at all, either to defend themselves or to attack their enemies.a To me, it seems that he sought their shame rather than their perdition. He well knew he could take both their eyes, so if he really wanted their perdition, he would have taken both rather than leave one. By leaving one, the calamity is less but the embarrassment greater; there is less perdition but more shame. Hence he wants to leave them their left eyes so they will always see why they are confounded and in mourning, namely because the men were missing the very eyes that controlled their right arms, by which they should have defended their freedom and safety. Hence he adds: And I will humiliate you in all of Israel. I will take this revenge on you and exact this punishment from you, which will be a shame to your whole people.

a

BEDE, In I Sam., II, XI, 1-2, l. 1096-1099, CCSL 119, p. 94.

79

44

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 80

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

11:3 ALLOW US SEVEN DAYS, THAT WE MAY SEND MESSENGERS Do they think the king is in his right mind, to ask from him a reprieve of seven days so they can send messengers to all the ends of Israel, when he could take them right there and inflict on them the ordeal that he was threatening? Why would someone wait for his enemies to arm themselves, and why commit himself to fortune and the wings of fate, when a certain and easy victory is offering itself? Indeed, if they understood that the king’s threat to humiliate them before all of Israel referred to themselves and not to all the people – while in fact the punishment exacted from them was supposed to humiliate all those who were supposed to come and help them, rather than themselves – then it would be right to think them foolish to ask for such reprieve, or to suppose they thought the king to be foolish. ALLOW US SEVEN DAYS. As if he said: You say that you will humiliate us in all of Israel, but there will be no shame for us before our people unless they first fail to come to our help. But right now, they not only fail to help us in our distress, but they do not even know we are in distress. Give us a reprieve of seven days to send for help to our own people, and if after this period no will have come to our help, we will go out to you so you can do with us as you please, and then indeed will our torment be a shame to all our people. The conceited king, confident of his might, granted the requested reprieve. 11:4 ALL THE PEOPLE WEPT. Pitying their misery. 11:6 THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON SAUL. Strength of mind, and indignation at the conceit of the enemies, sent by God. Or else God inspired him to rise up against the enemies. 11:7 [And whosoever shall follow Saul ] AND SAMUEL. In this edict he joined his name to that of the prophet to give it more authority. THE FEAR OF THE LORD. Sent by the Lord. THEY WENT OUT AS ONE MAN. No one stayed home; just as when one man goes out, he leaves nothing of him behind. Or unanimously, no one disagreed, just as when one man goes out from the house in which he stays on his own, no one contradicts him. 11:8 IN BEZEK. The city of King Adoni-bezek. TO ALL THE ENDS OF ISRAEL.

45

80

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 81

1 SAMUEL 11-12

11:12-14 LET US RENEW THE KINGDOM THERE. Samuel wants the unction of the king to be renewed and repeated for this reason, because earlier some people had murmured against him and despised him because they did not have high hopes for him, which was to say, in a way, Saul shall not reign over us. Or perhaps there were people who actually said this. And because by them Saul’s reign had grown old, as it were, Samuel, when he saw that the salvation wrought by him had made him popular, wanted to take the opportunity and renew his kingdom. 11:15 [They made Saul king] BEFORE THE LORD. Before the altar which they together had built for the Lord. Or as above.a 12:2 MY SONS ARE WITH YOU. What an admirable trust in justice and equity the prophet has. He judged the people and often punished sinners gravely, but he did not fear to leave his sons in the power of the people; nay, he even gave them over to them as hostages, so that if he were to punish someone unjustly, they would have someone in whom they could avenge themselves on him. 12:3 BEFORE HIS CHRIST. His anointed one, that is Saul. IF I HAVE WRONGED (‘calumniatus’) ANYONE. If I have accused anyone falsely. For ‘calumnia’ means false accusation. IF I HAVE OPPRESSED ANYONE. If I acted against justice. IF I HAVE TAKEN A GIFT. If I have perverted judgment or sold justice. Alternatively: Although it is not a sin to accept a gift, still, because the suspicion of sin could arise form it, to preserve his good name with the people as he preserved his conscience with God, the saintly judge excused himself from taking any gift. I WILL DESPISE IT. I will no longer have it with me and keep it. For things we despise we no longer care to keep with us. 12:7 NOW THEREFORE STAND UP, [that I may plead in judgment.] After he established his own innocence with the people as witnesses, he now argued God’s case against them, reflecting on the many good gifts that God had graciously bestowed on them, and showing by a sign of heaven how foolishly they had behaved by asking for a king when they had God as their ruler. a

See comments on 1 Sam. 10:25, above, p. 78.

81

46

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 82

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

47

12:11 [The Lord sent] JERUBBAAL. Gideon. BEDAN. Samson. SAMUEL. He speaks about himself in the third person. 12:14 YOU WILL BE FOLLOWERS OF THE LORD. That is, the Lord himself will be your leader and protector. 12:15 IF YOU WILL NOT PROVOKE THE WORD OF THE LORD. To think the commandment of the Lord is strict and harsh, so you do not want to fulfill it. Or to act so that the Lord will pronounce a harsh word of threat or condemnation against you. 12:17 [Is it not the] WHEAT HARVEST [today? I will call upon the Lord and he shall send thunder and rain.] The climate of Palestine does not usually produce thunder and rain at the time of the wheat harvest. 12:20 DO NOT TURN AWAY FROM BEHIND THE LORD. Do not stop following the Lord, worshipping him and serving his law. 12:21 [Turn not aside after] VAIN THINGS. Idols, because the supposition of an idol, namely that it is God, is vain and false and a lie. 12:23 FAR BE FROM ME THIS SIN AGAINST THE LORD, ETC. Behold, the prophet calls it a sin against the Lord to stop praying for the sinful people, who offended both him and the Lord. We should not exclude anyone from our prayers, but rather we are obliged to pray for all without ceasing, especially because we should know that who stands may stumble, and whoever has stumbled and is fallen into sin may rise up with God’s help, knowing that God’s power is great and that he is compassionate toward all his works (Ps. 145:9). 13:1 SAUL WAS A CHILD OF ONE YEAR OLD WHEN HE BECAME KING, AND HE RULED FOR TWO YEARS OVER ISRAEL. Some people explain this text thus: Saul was a child of one year old when he became king, that is, he was humble and innocent as a small baby boy when he first started to rule, and he ruled for two years over Israel. Although he lived longer in his reign, he is said actually to have reigned only for the two years that he ruled justly. The rest of the time he was more a tyrant than a king.a Others say that this is said in anticipation about Ishboseth a

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 43, p. 84.

82

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 83

1 SAMUEL 12-13

the son of Saul, about whom we read later on: Ishboseth was forty years old when he started to rule over Israel, and he ruled for two years (2 Sam. 2:10). If, therefore, Ishboseth, the son of Saul, was only one year old when Saul started to rule, and after the death of his father when he started to rule he was forty years old, Saul ruled for forty or thirty-nine years, which is not in accordance with chronology, as the Jews assert. But those who hold this opinion, because there are only forty years counted from the death of Eli to the death of Saul, add to the reign of Saul the whole period that Samuel judged the people after Eli until the start of Saul’s reign.a Now, why Scripture would say that Saul started to reign twenty years before he actually did, or what relevance it has here to say how long Ishboseth ruled when the book will state that in its own place, let them figure it out. Besides, the custom of this Scripture is to record how much time each individual king ruled, even if one of them only ruled for but one month. If the time of Saul’s reign is not recorded here, I do not find where else it is recorded. So according to this frivolous exegesis, the habit of Scripture, which the author preserves everywhere, is suddenly neglected here, the logical order of the text is ruined, and what could be properly said in its own place suddenly is forced in here superfluously and without reason. In Hebrew it reads: Saul was a son of one year in his reign, and when he had ruled for two years, he chose himself three thousand men, etc. According to them, the text is read as follows: When Saul was a son of one year in his reign, that is, when he had ruled for one year, and he had ruled for two years, that is during the second year of his reign (for he did not rule two years after the first year of his reign, for that would be a total of three years), he chose three thousand men of Israel, etc.b This way, the habit of Scripture and the order of the text is served. The half year that they believe Saul ruled beyond those two is not counted in the total, because HRABANUS, Comm. in I Reg., XIII, PL 109, col. 40AB. RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 13:1, p. 95; also in HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 98BC. a

b

83

48

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 84

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

that was when against the law he consulted the dead, just as neither the half year that David ruled beyond the seven that he ruled in Hebron was counted as part of his reign. 13:2 MICHMASH (‘Machmas’). This two-syllable word, which some people erroneously make into a three-syllable word,a is the name of a large village near Jerusalem. GIBEAH OF BENJAMIN. This is the city of Phinehas the son of Eleazar, where Eleazar himself is buried. 13:3 [Jonathan smote] THE GUARD OF THE PHILISTINES. Soldiers who were left to guard the land. SAUL SOUNDED THE TRUMPET [over all the land.] He had the trumpet sound and announce what happened so that those who were on the other side of the Jordan, who especially were called Hebrews because they frequently moved from one place to another, would hear it. He wanted them to hear that the Philistines were slain so that they would be more motivated to follow him. 13:4 SAUL HAS SLAIN [the guard of the Philistines.] The strength of soldiers is commonly attributed to the king. But it is also the custom of fame to attribute the same thing to several people. THE PEOPLE CALLED [after Saul in Gilgal.] They invited each other mutually to follow Saul in Gilgal. 13:5 AS MANY AS THE SAND ON THE SEASHORE. Hyperbole. BETHAVEN. The same city is also called Bethel. Hence in Hosea: The calves of Bethaven (Hos. 10:5). 13:6 WHICH [the men of Israel saw.] [For ‘which’, read] ‘but’, or ‘and’. [That they were in a straight and] NARROW PLACE. The Philistines had driven them into a narrow place so that they could not go out into the land and search for the necessary victuals. [The people were] DISTRESSED. By famine or fear. [They hid themselves] IN SECRET PLACES. In hidden and underground places. AND IN ROCKS. In rocky caves. 13:8-10 HE WAITED FOR SEVEN DAYS, ACCORDING TO THE ARRANGEMENT WITH SAMUEL, AND SAMUEL DID NOT COME IN GILGAL. If Saul waited for Samuel for seven days, as they had a

Some Bible manuscripts may have read ‘machmas’ as ‘machinas’, for obvious palaeographic reasons.

84

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 85

1 SAMUEL 13

arranged, that is as they had agreed, why is it that he says that he acted foolishly, and did not keep the command of the Lord that he imposed on him? As we said above, some people say that Samuel did not tell him to wait for seven days, but to wait to offer the sacrifice of his consecration, which lasted for seven continuous days.a But nowhere in the canon of Scripture it is prescribed that this sacrifice had to be offered in this way, nor do we read anywhere that it was ever done this way. Besides, after these words are spoken to Saul, when the Ammonites were defeated, both he and Samuel and the people came together in Gilgal, where he renewed the kingdom and brought an offering to God, and sacrificed victims of peace. Why then did he not bring the sacrifice of his consecration when he was anointed as king, just like priests on the day of their anointing, especially since Samuel was there with him in Gilgal? As if there was another time more fit for this occasion, and this business was to be delayed until enemies would rise up who could obstruct it? Furthermore, when Samuel asked what he was doing, he did not say that he brought the sacrifice of his consecration, but that he was compelled to bring offerings to appease the Lord before the enemies descended on him in battle. Also, Samuel did not reprimand him for lying when he said that he had not come after the appointed time. So in what did Saul sin, when he waited as long as they had both agreed, and did not offer the sacrifice that he was forbidden to offer without Samuel? In what did he act foolishly; in what respect did he violate the command of the Lord, as the prophet rebuked him for doing? What is this transgression of Saul, that merited the termination of his reign? Here we must meticulously examine and expound the whole sequence of the text, lest we, who rebuke the errors of others, are rightfully rebuked ourselves if we proceed negligently. In order to see better in what Saul erred, let therefore us go back to the place where Samuel first deals with him on this suba

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 38/46, p. 82.

85

49

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 86

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

ject. AND

GILGAL. FOR I (1 Sam. 10:8). It so will happen that you will go down to the place where one should pray to the Lord and bring offerings to him, namely in Gilgal, before me. And I, after I will have received your request, will come down to you, so that you may bring a sacrifice and peace offerings in my presence, and if I should be late, you should wait seven days for me before you start offering, until I come to you, etc. The sum of the whole sentence is this: In all important matters in which it is customary to placate the Lord with a sacrifice, before you presume to bring a sacrifice or do any of the things that relate to God, you should wait for me for at least seven days, until I will come to you and show you what to do. And when you have gone down in Gilgal, where there is a place of prayer and sacrifice, you should not thus presume to do anything without me, but ask for me, and I will come down to you, so that you may offer a sacrifice and bring peace offerings, as is said above. You should wait for me for seven days, infer: after I have received your request, until I will come to you and show you what to do. So in this Saul sinned, that he counted among the seven days the one that he should have waited for Samuel, as they had agreed. He should have counted seven days beginning after the day that Samuel received his request, and not count that day as one of the seven. This is why when he completed the offering, after seven days, as he thought, but really on the seventh day, behold Samuel came. 13:11 BECAUSE I SAW THAT THE PEOPLE STARTED TO DISPERSE. Understanding from the words of the prophet that he had acted too rashly and over-hastily he did not want to humbly confess his sin, but rather tried to excuse himself by reason of the imminent danger. 13:13 YOU HAVE NOT KEPT THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD THAT HE COMMANDED YOU. Because it was by divine inspiration that the prophet told him to observe these things, they are called the commandments and precepts of the Lord. IF YOU HAD NOT DONE THIS, that is, if you had not brought the YOU SHALL GO DOWN BEFORE ME IN

WILL COME DOWN TO YOU

50

86

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 87

1 SAMUEL 13-14

sacrifice without me against the decree,

LORD WOULD was no reason yet found in you why your kingdom could not stand forever, as if it were prepared by the Lord to stand forever, if you had not done what was said above. 13:14 [Your reign] WILL NEVER RISE AGAIN. In order to endure forever. Or: Your reign, as you have it now, will never rise beyond, infer: you. That is, your son will not have a rising reign, but a declining one, because he will only rule over part of the people. Hence it is said later: The house of Saul was declining daily (2 Sam. 3:1). THE LORD HAS SOUGHT HIMSELF [a man.] This is said in our way. If we want to have something, we seek to have it. But he who has everything at hand does not seek anything as if he knew not where to find it. AFTER HIS OWN HEART. According to his will and pleasure. 13:19 THERE WAS NO IRON WORKER (‘faber ferrarius’) TO BE FOUND. Maybe the Philistines had left behind their bronze and silver smiths. Or perhaps he says ‘iron’ to distinguish them from woodworkers. For ‘faber’ also means woodworker. Hence: “Once I was the trunk of a fig tree, useless wood, when a woodworker, not sure whether to make a stool or a Priapus, decided I should be a god”.a 13:20 HOE. A kind of agricultural instrument used to break up the clods. 13:21 EVEN TO THE GOAD WHICH WAS TO BE MENDED. Indeed, they came down to have all their instruments mended, even up to the goad, used to prod oxen and donkeys, which had to be mended when it was broken. 14:4 STEEP. High. 14:6 [It is easy for the Lord] TO SAVE. To give deliverance. 14:12 [Come up to us and] WE WILL SHOW YOU THE THING. This is mockery. Because they were going back and forth, as if they were looking for something, seeking how to get through the rocks, they told them mockingly: Come to us, and we will show you the lost thing that you are looking for. THE

HAVE ESTABLISHED YOUR KINGDOM FOREVER. There

a

HORACE, Sermones, 1:8, l. 1-3.

87

51

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 88

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

52

14:14 AN ACRE OF LAND (‘iugeri’) WHICH A YOKE [of oxen can plow in a day.] The nominative of this genitive is ‘iugerum’. A YOKE OF OXEN. Two oxen. 14:15 AS A MIRACLE FROM GOD. God made them not recognize each other, both those who had gone out to seek plunder and those who had remained in the camp. And thus it happened that those who came back from the plunder were starting to do battle with those who had remained in the camp, each one against the other. No one recognized his neighbor. Each of them had everyone else for an enemy. And while they were slaying each other and were falling by mutual wounds, a great carnage ensued. 14:18 BRING HERE [the ark.] Make the ark come hither. 14:19 [Saul said to the priest:] DRAW IN YOUR HAND. He ordered him to lower his hand, which he had raised up to hold back the ark, because there was no time for him to delay. 14:24 AND THE MEN OF ISRAEL WERE JOINED TOGETHER. He says this because those from Ephraim and beyond the Jordan, and those who had gone over to the enemies, and those who were hiding in various places out of fear for the enemies all saw the enemy put to flight and joined Saul and those with him to pursue them. 14:25 [They came into a forest, where there was] HONEY UPON THE GROUND. There was, they say, such an abundance of wild honey in that forest that the honeycombs were found on the surface of the ground, while normally such honey is found in the holes of trees and in the caverns of the earth.a 14:27 [He put his hand in his mouth,] AND HIS EYES WERE ENLIGHTENED. His sharpness of vision, which had been weakened by too much heat and work and hunger, was restored after he had eaten the food. Cfr. RADAK, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 14:25, p. 111. The source reference to Radak’s commentaries here is not meant to suggest that this was Andrew’s actual source. Radak, acronym for Rabbi David Kimhi (1160-1235), lived a generation later than Andrew, and he was from Narbonne, not Paris. Still, the parallels between his commentaries and Andrew’s are striking. Radak may have drawn on earlier Northern French Jewish sources that Andrew was also familiar with. a

88

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 89

1 SAMUEL 14

14:32 AND THE PEOPLE ATE THEM WITH THE BLOOD. The impatient people, affected by hunger, did not butcher the flocks in the accustomed way, by letting the blood flow on the earth after cutting the throat with the coulter, but killed them in the fastest way possible, so that there would be no delay in cooking the meat and eating it. And because they ate the meat of flocks that were killed in this way, they are said to have eaten the meat with the blood, and have sinned against the Lord, who forbade the consumption of blood.a 14:33 YOU HAVE TRANSGRESSED. You have transgressed the commandment of the Lord by eating the blood with the meat of improperly butchered flocks. 14:34 SLAY THEM UPON THIS [stone.] He ordered them to slaughter the flocks on the stone, because after the flocks were slaughtered in the proper way he wanted the blood to be poured on the stone, which he had rolled over to him, so that the people would not sin against the Lord by eating the meat with blood. He wanted this to happen on one stone so that the livestock would be slaughtered in just one place and not here and there. He wanted the livestock to be immolated in his presence to make sure that, out of fear and reverence for him, no one would presume to do it contrary to the custom of the fathers. 14:35 THEN HE FIRST BEGAN TO BUILD AN ALTAR TO THE LORD. Some explain that that was the first time he built an altar, because he built it obediently and rightly.b Above, when he was rebuked by Samuel, he was not said to have built an altar for the Lord because he did so disobediently.c They assume he built an altar for the Lord there because we read that he brought an offering, which could not offer without an altar. But they fail to observe that this happened in Gilgal, a place where the people commonly came together to pray and sacrifice to the Lord, where there probably was an altar, albeit not built by Saul. For Deut. 12:16. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 48, p. 87. c 1 Sam. 13:13. a

b

89

53

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 90

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

54

we are not to understand that every time someone wanted to sacrifice they would build a new altar. Besides, when the kingdom was renewed there, we read that they brought peace offerings to the Lord (1 Sam. 11:15), which could not happen without an altar, either one that was already there, or perhaps one that Samuel built at that time. Why could he not have brought his sacrifice and peace offerings for a second time on the same altar, the time he was rebuked by Samuel? We can therefore say that, just as the text says, this was the first time he built an altar to the Lord. He built this altar to give thanks for the victory bestowed on him, just as Moses did after the victory over Amalek.a 14:38 [Bring hither] THE CORNERS [of the people.] The leaders of the people. 14:41 [ Jonathan and Saul were taken,] AND THE PEOPLE ESCAPED. Free from guilt, while they remained in guilt. 14:42 JONATHAN WAS TAKEN. Convicted as guilty. 14:45 NOW THEN (‘ergone’), [shall Jonathan die? ] These two terms are often put together as one interrogative adverb, even among Gentile authors. Hence: “Now then, could an impudent voice haughtily demand such a dire and shameful thing? Should he therefore go into the fire, and should Maro’s eloquent muse perish?”.b THE LORD LIVES, IF ONE HAIR OF HIS HEAD SHOULD FALL TO THE GROUND! The meaning is: By the living God. Or thus: Truly, as God is a living God, not one hair of his shall fall to the ground, that is, he shall not lose one hair for this guilt. ‘Si’ (‘if ’) in Holy Scripture is often found for ‘non’ (‘not’), as here: If a shield or a lance was seen (Judg. 5:8), and: If they shall enter into my rest (Ps. 95:11), and Your soul lives, O King, if I know (1 Sam. 17:55). 14:48 HE SMOTE AMALEK. How this happened will be told later. Or maybe he smote them twice, first when he was not sent by Samuel, and a second time when he was sent to destroy them completely. Ex. 17:15. Caesari Augusto tributum, no. 672, l. 1-3 – ed. A. RIESE, Anthologia Latina, vol. 2, Leipzig, 1906. a

b

90

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 91

1 SAMUEL 14-15

14:49 AND THE SONS OF SAUL [were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua.] Ishboseth is not numbered among the sons of Saul, nor is he mentioned during his father’s lifetime, either because according to some he was still a boy,a or more likely because he was not worthy to be numbered. 14:50 [Abner, the son of Ner,] THE COUSIN GERMAN OF SAUL. Son of a paternal uncle. In Chronicles, however, Ner is listed as the father of Kish, because he raised him, but in truth he was his brother, for in the same book Kish and Abner are both counted among the sons of Abiel.b And the fourth son of Saul, who is mentioned in Chronicles as Eshbaal, is thought by some people to be Ishboseth.c 15:2 I HAVE RECKONED UP [all that Amalek has done.] I have numbered or calculated, that is, I have committed to memory. HOW HE OPPOSED HIM IN THE WAY [when they came up out of Egypt.] As the first of all Gentiles Amalek started to fight Israel when they went out of Egypt. 15:3 DESTROY ALL THAT HE HAS. Overturn and rout all that belongs to him. He does not want anything of Amalek to be left that could bring him to memory, but he wants his name deleted from under heaven, and not without reason, for Amalek wanted to delete the Lord’s name from under heaven when he tried to eradicate his people, the only ones venerating his name. There are some who say that the Lord ordered them to kill the cattle of the tribe of Amalek as well, lest the Amalekites should change themselves into cattle by sorcery, in which they were very experienced, and thus evade the massacre.d 15:4 OF THE MEN OF JUDAH. In this tribe, there were always the strongest men. Hence Judah is called a lion’s cub by his father.e

Unidentified source, but reminiscent of RADAK, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 14:49, p. 117. b 1 Chr. 2:55. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1444BC. d RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 15:4, p. 120. e Gen. 49:9. a

91

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 92

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

55

15:5 [When Saul came to] THE CITY [of Amalek.] That is, the capital city. Of course they had more than one. 15:6 [Saul said to] THE KENITE. They say this people are the sons of Jethro, who is both called Kenite and Jobab.a They lived with Amalek. About them we read thus in Chronicles: The families of the scribes that dwell in Jabes, singing and chanting and abiding in tents. These are the Kenites who came from the heat of the father of the house of Rechab (1 Chr. 2:55).b Thus the Kenites and the Rechabites are one and the same. Jethro is understood to be the ancestor of Rechab. They are named after both ancestors, but after the Kenite in the first place, and after Rechab in the second. This is the Rechab who prohibited his sons to drink wine and enter into the city. Read Jeremiah.c GO, DEPART, AND COME AWAY. Emphatic redundancy (‘inculcatio verborum’). LEST I ENTANGLE [you with him.] This is derived from fishermen who often, along with the fish they do want to catch, entangle other animals in their nets as well, such as frogs and other animals they do not want to catch. [You have shown] KINDNESS TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, ETC. Jethro gave Moses a good counsel in the desert, about the appointing of judges over the people.d 15:8 [All the common people he slew] IN THE MOUTH OF THE SWORD. Through the devouring and devastation of the sword. Or else it is an expression: By the sword. 15:9 [Everything that was] REJECT (‘reprobus’). Far (‘remotum’) from any worth (‘probitas’). 15:11 I AM SORRY [that I made Saul king.] This is said in our way. 15:12 SAUL HAD ERECTED FOR HIMSELF A TRIUMPHAL ARCH. Triumphant kings commonly erected arches in which they had their strength and victory sculpted or depicted. Judg. 4:11. Unlike most modern English translations, Jerome here presents a literal translation of the Hebrew proper names. c Jer. 35:14. d Ex. 18:19-22. a

b

92

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 93

1 SAMUEL 15

15:21 THE PEOPLE CARRIED AWAY [sheep and oxen from the spoils.] He is secretly trying to excuse himself. As if he said: How could I possibly resist the will of the multitude, especially since it carried away the flocks to sacrifice them to the Lord. Besides it was not I who carried them away, but the people. 15:22 [Does the Lord desire offerings and sacrifices, and not rather that the voice] OF THE LORD [should be obeyed?] He repeats the proper name here, while he could better have used a pronoun, but the idiom of the Hebrew requires this. They often repeat a preceding name where they could more conveniently have used a pronoun. OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN SACRIFICES. It pleases God more to obey his voice than to offer sacrifices to him or to give him the fat of animals. 15:25 BEAR MY SIN WITH ME.a Make amends with me for my sin and sustain my punishment as if it were yours, afflicting yourself with fasts and prayers in the presence of God, so that he may forgive me my offense. 15:26 [The Lord has rejected you,] SO YOU MAY NOT BE KING. So that your kingship should not last in your house and your posterity. He is not talking about the person but about his posterity. For Saul persevered until his death in his kingship. 15:28 [He has given it] TO YOUR NEIGHBOR. Every person is our neighbor. One should do evil to no one. But specifically, my neighbor is a person of the same kin or tribe or religion as I am. A neighbor is also someone who exhibits kindness to me.b David was Saul’s neighbor because he was a man of the same nation and faith. 15:29 THE TRIUMPHER IN ISRAEL [will not spare, and will not be moved to repentance.] The future I predict to you is immutable, because the triumpher in Israel, that is, he who makes Israel triumph, will not spare you and will not be moved to repentance before he fulfills what is spoken about you. FOR HE IS NOT LIKE A MAN [that he should repent.] He is not so inconstant a Andrew’s Vulgate has this word order, rather than “Bear my sin and return with me”. b Cfr. Luke 10:37.

93

56

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 94

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

57

and changeable so as to change what he proposed or said he would do out of regret. 15:32 [And Agag said:] DOES BITTER DEATH SEPARATE THUS? Because he saw himself separated from all his own by their deaths, and because he was about to separate himself from the company of all the living by his own death, he said askingly: Is this how bitter death separates? 16:2 SAUL WILL HEAR OF IT. If Saul has heard of it. AND HE WILL KILL ME. This is not said in the affirmative, and neither is: You will go before me to Gilgal (1 Sam. 10:8). For they went to Gilgal together to renew the kingdom. What is said here must be understood as a conditional phrase, just like the other one. 16:4 [And the ancients of the city] WONDERED. Such a prophet would not go anywhere if it were not for some important business. IS YOUR COMING PEACEABLE? Perhaps they feared that he was sent by the king to seize one of them, or that there was no peace between him and the king. BE YE SANCTIFIED. Be pure, abstaining from women, washing your bodies, and putting on clean and recently washed clothes. 16:6 [Is the Lord’s anointed] IN HIS PRESENCE? At the altar. HIS ANOINTED. Whom He has chosen to be his anointed. 16:7 I HAVE REJECTED HIM. I hold him as rejected, and I do not admit him to this honor. 16:12 [Anoint him, for] THIS IS HE. Whom I have chosen. 16:13-14 AND THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD CAME UPON DAVID [and from that day forward.] Some interpret the spirit of the Lord that came upon David as the spirit of prophesy.a But since it is added immediately, and the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, it seems that the spirit that departed from Saul came upon David. Besides, one cannot say that on that day the spirit of prophesy came upon David for the rest of his life, for he is not said immediately to have received the grace of prophesy, and after he received it, it is not thought always to have stayed with him. It is believed to have departed from him because of his sin Antiquitates Judaicae, 6, 8, 2, and AUGUSTINE, Ad Simpl. II, 1, 7, l. 284, CCSL 44, p. 68. a JOSEPHUS,

94

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 95

1 SAMUEL 15-16

against Uriah. So we have to look for such a spirit, that is, such a grace from God’s spirit, that both departed from Saul, and, coming upon David, always stayed with him. I understand this spirit to be the God-given strength of mind and the grace always to win in war and overcome enemies. This gift of the Holy Spirit Saul did have, for it is written about him: Wherever he went, he overcame (1 Sam. 14:47), and it departed from him because he was overcome and killed in war. This spirit stayed with David from the day of his unction for the rest of his life. For in all the wars he initiated, not only for the good of himself and the fatherland but also for glory and conquest, we always read that David was superior. The conjunction before from that day forward is a completive conjunction. 16:15 AN EVIL SPIRIT OF THE LORD [troubles you.] The spirit of demons, by which God punishes the wicked, who are evil by their own will, and they are the Lord’s because they stand under his command. 16:16 HE MAY PLAY WITH HIS HAND AND YOU MAY BEAR IT MORE EASILY. The text seems to want to say that the possessed, caught by the sweetness of the tone, senses his vexation less, and perhaps it is so. But it is said to be the nature of music that if it finds someone cheerful, it renders him more cheerful, and if sad, more sad. Hence: Improper storytelling is like music in grief (Sir. 22:6). It may, however, happen, that music helps a person who is possessed albeit not sad. Experts in medicine say that demons cannot withstand the sweetness of music. Hence it is also said that a certain cither player by his art drove out a demon from a possessed person.a This may be the reason why Saul’s servants asked for a cither player for their lord, so that while he played, the demon might leave him in peace and he might suffer less. 16:18 A MAN OF WAR. Here we have it, that David was a man of war before he came to Saul. THE LORD IS WITH HIM. Favors him. BOETHIUS, De institutione musicae, 1, 1, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 1 Sam. 16:16, p. 27. a

95

58

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 96

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

59

16:20 [Jesse took] A DONKEY FULL OF BREAD. A donkey fully and sufficiently laden with bread. Or perhaps just as goat skins are used for carrying oil, donkey skins were similarly prepared in those regions to carry bread, so that one might say A donkey full of bread, just as is said, “A goat full of oil”. 17:4 [And a man,] A BASTARD (‘spurius’), [came up from the camp of the Philistines.] ‘Spurius’ and ‘hybrida’ denote illegitimate from the father’s side; ‘manzer’ and ‘nothus’ from the mother’s side. 17:5 [He was clothed in] CHAINMAIL (‘hamata’). As in: mail chained together (‘hamis concathenata’). 17:7 [The staff of his spear was like] A WEAVER’S BEAM. A large and thick piece of wood of the loom, where the thrums are. 17:8 [He cried out to] THE PHALANGES [of Israel.] Troops. 17:10 I HAVE DEFIED [the troops of Israel.] He defied them in this sense: when he challenged them to a hand-to-hand combat, no one was found who dared to fight him. 17:12 [David was the son of] THE EPHRATHITE [of Bethlehem.] Either this is the ancestral name of Jesse, or he is called Ephrathite from Ephrath the wife of Caleb, that is Miriam the sister of Moses, from whom he was descended. [Jesse, who had] EIGHT SONS. In Chronicles, where he is said to have only seven sons,a only his natural sons are counted. But here Nathan the prophet, the son of Shimei the brother of David, whom he had brought up as a son, is counted among his natural sons. This Nathan, some think, is also called Jonathan, about whom is said below: Jonathan the son of Shimei the brother of David slew him (2 Sam. 21:21).b 17:17 [Take for your brothers] AN EPHAH OF POLENTA. An ephah is a measure of three bushels. Some people think that polenta is a kind of fine flour.c We think that polenta is either grain, crushed in a pestle with a mortar and stripped of its red 1 Chr. 2:13-15. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 59/178, p. 90-91; cfr. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, 1425C. c PS.-ISIDORE, Glossae in Sacram Scripturam, I Reg., PL 83, col. 1318B. a

b

96

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 97

1 SAMUEL 16-17

husk, which is then made into frumenty, or, more likely, that what comes out of the ears of newly harvested grain after you roast the beards in the fire and rub it between your hands, which in the vernacular they call ‘granariae’. In any case, he commands David to take an ephah full of ‘escalopae’ or ‘granariae’ and bring it to his brothers so they can makes themselves a dish of some kind.a 17:18 AND TEN LITTLE FORMS OF CHEESE. Ten cheeses of a small shape, that is ten small cheeses. In Hebrew: ten sections of milk, that is, ten gifts, or containers full, of various kinds of dairy products. 17:25 ONE CERTAIN MAN. Someone. 17:26 WHAT SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE MAN [who shall kill this Philistine?] He asked it from several people because he wanted to make sure what he heard was true, and to make sure his words reached the king. WHO IS THIS UNCIRCUMCISED [Philistine?] Contemptuously and indignantly. 17:28 I KNOW YOUR PRIDE AND WICKEDNESS. His older brother is rebuking him, fearing that by being recklessly bold he would incur the risk of death. 17:29 [What have I done? ] IS IT NOT A WORD? Just a rumor, not a fact. 17:40 WHICH HE HAD ALWAYS IN HIS HANDS. Either ‘often’ or ‘usually’. VERY SMOOTH STONES. Plain and without sharp edges. GRIP (‘pera’). ‘Pera’ can mean either a vessel in which milk is churned, or more likely the bag in which he carried his bread. 17:44 AND HE SAID TO DAVID. David here is dative.b 17:47 THIS CONGREGATION [shall know.] This assembly. 17:54 [Taking the head of the Philistine,] HE BROUGHT IT TO JERUSALEM. This was not done then, but later. [His armor he put] IN HIS TENT (‘tabernaculum’). Perhaps he brought it first a

The Old French equivalent is unclear. While granaire usually refers to the place grain is stored, grenon, and grane, according to GODEFROY, Dictionnaire (IV, 335 and 348), is a kind of ragout not unlike the gruel described here. I am not sure about the meaning of the word escalopa here; escalope commonly refers to breaded meat cutlets. Frumenty is a dish of boiled crushed wheat. b In Latin, “Dixit David” can mean “He said to David”, or “David said”.

97

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 98

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

60

into his own tent and later to the tabernacle of the Lord.a In Hebrew, there is no ‘his’.b It is more likely that the victor immediately consecrated the arms of the vanquished giant to him through whom he knew he had won. 17:55 OF WHAT FAMILY IS THIS YOUNG MAN DESCENDED, ETC.? He did not recognize him because he had been absent for a while. Some even say that, possessed by a demon, he was not entirely sound of mind, and therefore sometimes he did not even recognize those who had been in his company for a long time.c Besides, because of their many communal and domestic responsibilities, kings easily forget those who have not been around them for a long time. YOUR SOUL LIVES, O KING, IF I KNOW (‘si novi’). By your life, I do not know it. ‘Si ’ (if ), as is said above, is often put in place of ‘non’ (not).d Or else this is said by means of a curse. 18:6 WHEN DAVID RETURNED. From the camp, with the king who returned to his own place. 18:7 BUT DAVID SLEW HIS TEN THOUSANDS. They said that David had slain ten thousand because he had slain the giant who alone was considered worth ten thousand, or because his slaying was the cause of the slaying of all the others. 18:11 DAVID FLED FROM HIS PRESENCE A SECOND TIME. He had gone away from him once before, when war was imminent.e 18:17 SAUL RECKONED. He pondered it in his heart. 18:21 IN TWO THINGS YOU WILL BE MY SON-IN-LAW TODAY. In the daughter that I will give to you, and in the vengeance you will wreak upon my enemies. Or “in two daughters”, in the elder whom, although promised to you, I will give to another, and in the younger one whom I will give to you. For the younger one was promised to him before the elder was given to another, because, when the time came that Merab should be 1 Sam. 21:9. Andrew is again mistaken about the Hebrew text here, which reads “in his tent”. c BEDE, In I Sam., III, XVII, 55, l. 1105, CCSL 119, p. 163. d See comment on 1 Sam. 14:45. e 1 Sam. 16:23. a

b

98

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 99

1 SAMUEL 17-19

given to him, and it was announced to Saul that David would rather have Michal because he loved her, he promised to give him Michal, and Merab he gave to another. 18:23 I AM A POOR AND THIN MAN. ‘Thin’ is put here for ‘poor’, for the rich are thick and fat, but the poor are lean and thin. Hence: “Once the thin citizens had had to move”.a 18:25 THE KING HAS NO NEED OF ANY DOWRY, EXCEPT FOR A HUNDRED FORESKINS OF THE PHILISTINES. The king does not need to receive a dowry. Or, the king needs no other dowry (that is, the gift that is given to brides) than one-hundred foreskins. FORESKINS. Foreskin, or prepuce, is that little skin that is on the front part of the male member. It is called from ‘pre’ and ‘pruning’, that is cutting. Hence: Pruning time has come (S. of S. 2:2). 19:10 [The lance struck the wall] WITH AN EMPTY SHOT. That is, with an idle and useless shot, for it did not pierce the one at whom it was aimed. 19:13 SHE PUT A GOAT SKIN WITH HAIR AT THE HEAD. She put a statue in the bed so he would think it was a human body; she put the hairy skin there to suggest hair. 19:14 SAUL SENT ATTENDANTS. Attendants (‘apparitores’) are soldiers who are always at hand and in attendance (‘apparent’) before the powerful. 19:18 NAIOTH. A certain hill in Ramah. 19:20 SAUL SENT LICTORS [to carry off David.] Valgiusb says that lictor comes from ‘ligare’ (to bind), because when the magistrates of the people of Rome ordered someone flogged, his legs and hands used to be bound by a summoner. The one from the college of summoners who had the job of binding him was called ‘lictor’. Tyro writes that lictor comes from ‘licium’ (belt). For, he says, those who ministered to the magistrates were girded with a cross-wise belt.c Saul sent lictors, that is, those servants a JUVENAL, Saturae, 3, b The manuscripts of

163. Andrew’s commentary all read ‘Valerius’ for Gellius’

‘Valgius’. c AULUS GELLIUS, Noctes Atticae, 12, 3, l. 1-3 – ed. P.K. MARSHALL (Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis), Oxford, 1968.

99

61

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 100

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

62

whose job it was to punish the guilty, to carry off (‘rapere’) David, that is, to kill him by surprise (‘raptim’) and as fast as possible. Hence: “Romulus also was carried off, who had founded the city”.a Or: “What letter of yours came to me about the carrying off of Celsus?”.b 19:24 [He prophesied with the rest,] BEFORE SAMUEL. Where Samuel was present, but not in a way that he could see Saul. Or, if he saw Samuel, he did not see him in his royal robe, for he stripped himself only of his royal vestments and not of all his clothes. 20:2 THIS BE FAR FROM YOU.c What you fear, namely, to die. 20:3 THERE IS BUT ONE LINE BETWEEN ME AND DEATH. The one line, as some think, he called the wall by which he was only separated from death. In Hebrew, it has: By only one step are death and I divided. The meaning is: There was only a tiny and very narrow distance between me and death. 20:16 THE LORD REQUIRED IT FROM THE HAND OF DAVID’S ENEMIES. The writer, who knew this had happened (or, if it was Samuel who wrote the book, who saw in the spirit that it was going to happen), affirms that what Jonathan foretold did happen, namely that the Lord would eradicate David’s enemies from the earth, each one of them, and that he would require it from the hand of the enemies of David. And indeed this is what happened. To require from the hand of his enemies is an expression, that is: he required it from the enemies of David, that is, he avenged it on them, that they persecuted an innocent man unjustly. 20:17 [Jonathan] SWORE [again to David.] Took a solemn vow. 20:19 YOUR SEATING IS REQUIRED. You will be required to sit in your place. For the son-in-law of the king commonly sat CICERO, In Catilinam, 3, 19. OVID, Epistulae ex Ponto, 1, 9, 1. c It is not clear whether the words “from you” were there in Andrew’s Vulgate, or whether they are part of his commentary. The words are not in any known Vulgate version, but they are underlined as part of the biblical text in all manuscripts of Andrew’s commentary. a

b

100

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 101

1 SAMUEL 19-20

next to the king. UNTIL THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. For three days the festival of the new moon was celebrated. 20:22-23 IF I WILL SAY, BEHOLD THE ARROWS. He gave him such a sign because he was not sure if he could come alone into the field; thus if someone else came whose presence would prevent him from speaking to David, by this sign he would know for certain whether to stay or flee. This is also the reason he now asks to remember their mutual covenant, because he did no know whether he would still have an opportunity to speak to him. 20:30-31 YOU SON OF A WOMAN WHO IS WANTONLY SEIZING A MAN. That is, a man-crazy woman. A man-crazy woman is one who wantonly desires a man. [You love the son of Jesse] TO YOUR OWN CONFUSION AND TO THE CONFUSION OF YOUR ILLREPUTED MOTHER. Your love for David is to your shame and that of your mother, because by this you show and prove her to be an adulteress and yourself born from an adulterous coition, for if you were my own son you would never love those whom I hate. Or thus: You love David to your own confusion and to the confusion of your ill-reputed mother. For your love for him allows him to evade death, and thus not you but he will reign. And in your failure to reign after me, you will show yourself not to have been my son, for if you were my son, you would receive my kingdom after me. And this is what is added: For as long as the son of Jesse lives on earth, you will not establish your kingdom. ILL-REPUTED. Infamous, having a bad name. HE IS A SON OF DEATH. It is an idiom of the Hebrew speech to call ‘sons of death’ those who are worthy of death or who must die. In many Hebrew expressions this noun ‘son of ’ is put where it contributes little or nothing to the meaning. Such as: David was a son of thirty years (2 Sam. 5:4), and His concern is for the sons of bulls (Sir. 38:26-27), and the son of iniquity (Ps. 89:22), son of peace (Luke 10:6), and similar examples. 20:33 IT WAS DETERMINED (‘definitum’) [by his father to kill David.] Firmly decided and decreed. The difference between ‘diffinire’ and ‘definire’ is that ‘diffinire’ is to make a definition

101

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 102

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

63

and describe something, while ‘definire’ is to firmly state and decree as inviolable. 20:34 HE WAS GRIEVED FOR DAVID, BECAUSE HIS FATHER HAD PUT HIM TO CONFUSION. He was grieved for David because he bore his absence with regret, whose presence he loved so much, and he could not bear it that his father sought to kill him, and for that reason he was sad that his father had put him to confusion, that is, had poured confusion and shame upon him by his reproach. Or thus: He was grieved because his father had put him to confusion, for David: because of David.a 20:40 [Jonathan gave] HIS ARMS [to the boy.] His bow and arrows. 20:41 DAVID ADORED THREE TIMES. God, or maybe he adored Jonathan, just as Abraham is said to have adored the people of the land.b 20:42 WHATEVER WE HAVE SWORN... Supply the words: ‘stands confirmed.’ The excessive emotion of sorrow did not allow him to finish his sentence. 21:2 THE KING HAS COMMANDED ME [some business] ETC. Without the king’s knowledge he fled, yet still he says the king commanded him. Is he not lying? Certainly not. He does not say such things with bad intentions or with the purpose to deceive or to inflict any damage, so he is not lying. I HAVE INSTRUCTED MY SERVANTS [to such and such a place.] I have instructed my officers and servants to come to me to such and such place. 21:3 IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING AT HAND. Ready and available. 21:4 [I have no] COMMON [bread at hand.] For lay people, appropriate for the common people to eat. 21:5 THE VESSELS OF THE YOUNG MEN WERE HOLY. The bodies, in which the souls are contained as in a vessel, were holy, that is, clean, when we came out. NOW THIS WAY IS POLLUTED. But the way by which we came here is polluted, that is, we may have contracted some pollution on the way we came, but the way itself a b

Andrew here attempts to solve a non sequitur in the Vulgate translation. Gen. 23:7.

102

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 103

1 SAMUEL 20-22

will be sanctified today, that is, the pollution contracted on the way will be cleansed, in the vessels, that is, through the vessels, namely the bodies. The purity of the bodies will cleanse whatever pollution was incurred on the way. Or else it is an expression: The vessels of the young men, that is, the young men themselves. In Hebrew it says: The vessels of the young men are holy. According to them, the meaning is: The vessels that the young men are carrying to eat from them are clean, but the way, this life that we live, is polluted. That is, nobody can live in this life without contracting some kind of pollution.a BUT IT WILL BE SANCTIFIED TODAY IN THE VESSELS. That is to say: The purity of the vessels is such that through their purity the pollution we unwittingly may have contracted on the way will be cleansed. 21:7 [A certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day,] IN THE TABERNACLE. In Hebrew: He was pledged in the face of the Lord. Perhaps he had vowed to live certain days in the tabernacle of the Lord and make time for prayer. 21:9 [Wrapped up] IN A MANTEL. In Hebrew: in a cloth. IF YOU WANT TO TAKE IT, TAKE IT. As if he says: It is in your power to take it if you want, but it is not very convenient for you because of its size. [And David said:] THERE IS NONE LIKE IT. There is none equal in value that I want. 21:11 [Is not this David] THE KING OF THE LAND? Enviously. 21:13 [He changed] HIS COUNTENANCE [before them.] His face.b HE SLIPPED DOWN. As if he could not stand up. HE STUMBLED AGAINST THE DOORS OF THE GATE. Feigning insanity, he pretended to want to go out through a closed door. 21:15 SHALL HE COME INTO MY HOUSE? Why should this madman come into my house? 22:3 MIZPEH THAT BELONGS TO MOAB. There is another Mizpeh in Judah. 22:5 [All the days that David was] IN THE HOLD. In the fortress. He calls ‘hold’ a defended place in the forest or desert.

a b

HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 100B. Latin os, ‘countenance’, can mean both mouth and face.

103

64

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 104

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

65

22:8 [Is there no one] WHO GRIEVES FOR ME. Who grieves for my sake. The one who grieves for me is the one who makes my grief his own. 22:15 DID I BEGIN TODAY [to consult the Lord for him?] ETC. ‘Num’ here means ‘non’ or ‘nonne’, as if he says: Did I not consult the Lord for him today for the first time, and never before? In Hebrew, there is no ‘num’.a FAR BE THIS FROM ME. Namely, that I should conspire against you. 22:17 AND THE KING SAID TO THE MESSENGERS. Messengers are the servants of those in power who are sent everywhere to carry out their command. 22:22 I AM GUILTY [of all the souls of your father’s house.] He calls himself guilty of their deaths because the king killed them for his sake. 23:1 [The Philistines fight against Keilah, and] THEY ROB THE BARNS. The grain from the barns. 23:6 [He came down having] THE EPHOD [with him.] The one that Moses made in the desert.b 23:11 [The Lord said:] HE WILL COME DOWN. The meaning is: If you will stay here, he will come down to you and they will hand you over; for this was their intention and the king’s, which could not remain hidden from God. 23:17 [You shall reign in Israel, and I shall be] SECOND TO YOU. Next to him in dignity. 23:23 [Wherein he was] CONCEALED. Hidden. 24:1 [David lived in the strongholds of ] ENGEDI. A little hamlet, where balsam grows. 24:3 [Accessible only] TO IBEXES. Ibex is a kind of goat which in the vernacular is called ‘stambuc’. These goats live in rugged places and on the steep summits of rocky mountains. It is even

a

Num is an adverb of interrogation which expects a negative answer, while nonne expects a positive answer. Although the intention of the text seems to be the former, Andrew construes the sentence to mean the latter. b Ex. 25:7.

104

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 105

1 SAMUEL 22-25

said that when they hurl themselves from the high top of a mountain, they catch themselves, bouncing on their horns.a 24:4 [He came to some sheepcotes that offered themselves] FOR THE WAYFARER. To someone on the road. 24:6 DAVID’S HEART STRUCK HIM. His heart, that is, his conscience, struck David, that is, reproved and aggrieved David. Or: David struck his heart, that is, his chest. 24:7 AS THE LORD LIVES, FOR [unless the Lord slays him] ETC.b He shall not die unless the Lord slays him, that is, with plague or some similar disease. OR HIS DAY SHALL COME THAT HE SHALL DIE. That is, a natural death and not one by accident. OR HE SHALL GO DOWN TO BATTLE AND PERISH. Unless he is killed in battle. As if he said: In these ways he may die, but he shall never die by my hand. THE LORD BE MERCIFUL TO ME, ETC. May the merciful God bestow this mercy on me, if I should lay my hands [on the Lord’s anointed], ETC. 24:11 YOUR EYES HAVE SEEN [that the Lord has delivered you into my hands.] As if he said: Do not believe false words but rather your reliable eyes that have seen that I have spared you when you were delivered in my hands. Or: have seen, that is: could see. MY EYE [has spared you.] This is an expression: I have spared you. 24:20 [The Lord reward you] FOR THIS GOOD TURN. May the Lord reward you so that he may spare you when you have come into you enemies’ hands, just as you spared me. 25:1 [David went into the wilderness of ] PARAN. This is a stronghold in Arabia. 25:2 [His possessions were] IN CARMEL. There are two places with this name: this one, in the lot of Judah where Nabal lived, and another one on the border of Palestine and Phoenicia, where Elijah killed the prophets of Baal. 25:3 HE WAS OF THE HOUSE OF CALEB. In Chronicles we read thus: Ephah the concubine of Caleb gave birth to Haran and PLINY, Historia naturalis, 8, 214. The verse 1 Sam. 26:10 is duplicated here in some manuscripts of the Vulgate, including Andrew’s. a

b

105

66

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 106

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

Moza and Gazez. And Haran begot Gazez (1 Chr. 2:46). This, as the Jews think, is Nabal.a 25:8 [We have come] ON A GOOD DAY. On a day of happiness and feasting. The Jews held a feast on the day of sheep shearing to venerate the patriarchs, from whom they were descended and who were herders of sheep. 25:10 [Nabal said:] WHO IS DAVID? Contemptuously. [There are many] SERVANTS THESE DAYS WHO FLEE FROM THEIR MASTERS. He says this to deride David, who fled from Saul his lord, and those who were with him. 25:18 [Two hundred cakes] OF ‘CARICAE’. Dried figs. 25:22 DAVID SAID: MAY GOD DO SO TO THE ENEMIES OF DAVID. While according to spoken usage one should say: “May he do so to me”, he says to the enemies of David, not wishing to invoke evil on himself, just as we often say, “May the Jews have the hatred of God if I do this or that”. [If I leave of all that belong to him by morning any] THAT PISSES AT THE WALL. A dog who pisses at, that is, against, the wall. Or a man who is so sick that he cannot stand up to urinate and does it between himself and the wall. Which is to say: I will spare neither a dog, who is a mute animal, nor a sick person, who is to be pitied for his misery. 25:24 UPON ME, O LORD, BE THIS INIQUITY. This iniquity, which happened to you through this harsh response and rejection, be upon me, that is, be reckoned to me and be avenged on me. Or: This iniquity, that is, this sin that you did not fulfill your oath, be upon me, that is, be reckoned to me.b 25:26 NOW THEREFORE, THE LORD LIVES. Infer: It is as I say. For this sentence is incomplete unless it is supplied with some words from outside. [May your enemies be] AS NABAL. As a fool. 25:27 [Receive] THIS BLESSING. These gifts.

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1434B. I am substituting seruatum by seruaturum here. The Latin actually reads “because you did not fulfill your oath”. a

b

106

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 107

1 SAMUEL 25-26

25:28 TAKE AWAY THE INIQUITY OF YOUR HANDMAID. Take this iniquity away from me, your handmaid, by forgiving me it. [You, my lord, fight] THE BATTLES OF THE LORD. Because he fought against his enemies and for his people. Or: great and glorious battles that happen by the Lord’s hand. 25:29 YOUR SOUL WILL BE KEPT IN THE BUNDLE OF THE LIVING. It is clearer in Hebrew: Your soul will be kept in the bond of life. The meaning is: Your soul will be guarded and bound in life.a But the soul of your enemies will be cast out, just as a stone is hurled out of a sling. THE SOULS OF YOUR ENEMIES SHALL BE WHIRLED WITH VEHEMENCE. What is thrown out from a sling is whirled violently around the head in the palm of the sling. IN THE CIRCLE [of a sling.] The circle he calls the palm of the sling, which is usually round. In Hebrew: In the palm. 25:31 [This should not be an occasion] FOR SOBBING. Immense grief. For those who grieve deeply often sob. AND A SCRUPLE, an offense, OF THE HEART [to my lord.] ‘Scrupus’, of which ‘scrupulus’ (scruple) is the diminutive form, is a small stone by which people can hurt their feet when they walk because it is so small that they can easily overlook it. 25:35 I HAVE HEARD YOUR VOICE. By granting your wish. AND I HAVE HONORED YOUR FACE. By receiving the gifts. 25:37 [His wife told him these words,] AND HIS HEART DIED WITHIN HIM. For fear that David might kill him. 26:12 A DEEP SLEEP OF THE LORD [had fallen upon them.] A sleep sent by the Lord. 26:19 IF THE LORD STIRS YOU UP [against me.] If out of the wrath of the Lord which I or perhaps you deserve, LET HIM SMELL A SACRIFICE. Let a sacrifice be made that is favorable to God, just as a good smell is favorable to the one who smells it. SAYING: GO, SERVE STRANGE GODS. If they did not say it with words, certainly they did so by their deeds.

a

Talmud Bavli, Shabbath 152b.

107

67

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 108

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

68

26:20 [As the partridge] IS HUNTED [in the mountains.] Passive.a The Hebrew has for partridge ‘cuckoo’.b 27:11 DAVID BROUGHT TO LIFE NEITHER MAN NOR WOMAN. That is, allowed to live. 28:3 SAMUEL WAS DEAD. He repeats this fact because of his resuscitation. 28:4 [The Philistines gathered and came and camped] IN SHUNEM. This is a city in the tribe of Issachar. 28:6 [He consulted the Lord, and He answered him not;] NEITHER BY DREAMS. The Hebrews say that by fasting and praying they asked for an oracle of the Lord, and God revealed them the future. But Saul is not said to have done this.c NOR BY PRIESTS. In Hebrew: nor by teaching, that is, by the ephod that the priests wore on their chest, on which teachings and truth were written.d NOR BY PROPHETS. These prophets are believed to be the disciples of Samuel, with whom Saul prophesied. 28:7 [There is a woman] WHO HAS A DIVINING SPIRIT (‘python’). ‘Python’ is the art of resuscitating the dead to discern the future, from ‘Pythius’, that is Apollo, its inventor. The meaning is: Find me a woman very experienced in this art, who has the power and mastery of this art. In Hebrew: ‘Balad oph.’e ‘Balad ’ is mistress, ‘oph’ is the name of this art that we call ‘python’. Find me, he says, a woman who is a mistress of this art, that is, whom this art obeys like a mistress. a

Persequi is a deponent verb, and the verse can mean both ‘hunts’ and ‘is hunted’. b Cfr. RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 26:20, p. 223. Uncertain source. It may be Andrew’s mistaken interpretation of Rashi, who does identify this bird as a partridge, but claims that the partridge lays her eggs in other birds’ nests and lets them hatch them. This behavior, however, is common to the cuckoo, not the partridge. Cfr. Jer. 17:11. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 86, p. 102, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 1 Sam. 28:6, p. 44. d The Hebrew word is: ‘urim. The urim and thummim were instruments for divine consultation, used by priests, who wore them in a pocket of the ephod. The entire passage is derived from Ps.-Jerome. e Andrew here has a surprisingly accurate transcription of the Hebrew word ba’alat ‘ov, from no other identifiable source than the Hebrew Bible.

108

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 109

1 SAMUEL 26-28

28:12 [She said to Saul:] WHY HAVE YOU IMPOSED ON ME, that is, deceived me, FOR THOU ART SAUL. The question is how she knew that he was Saul. It is said that every time a dead man is raised, he starts to appear feet first, except when a king raises someone. In that case the dead man appears head first. And because she saw Samuel rise in this way, the woman understood that it was the king who made him rise.a Other people say that a prophet cannot be raised except by a king.b The woman recognized from his attire and face that the one who was raised was a prophet, and hence she understood that the one for whom he was raised him was the king. 28:13 [I saw] GODS [ascending from the earth.] She says ‘gods’ in the plural while only one is rising up, in the custom of Scripture that often puts plural for singular, such as in: These are the gods that led you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 32:8). She says ‘gods’ because of the dignity of the person who appeared. Some say that it is no wonder that an evil spirit can arouse the soul of this righteous man so he can be seen and speak to Saul, since he even took up the Lord and put him on the pinnacle of the temple. Now, in whatever way this was done, fact is that it happened. One could even believe that it was permitted by some dispensation, so that not by the power of magic but by some hidden dispensation, which was concealed for the sorceress and Saul, the spirit of the righteous man showed himself to the king’s eyes, to strike him with the divine verdict. Or maybe the spirit of Samuel was not really aroused from his rest, but some apparition and some imaginary illusion appeared to them through diabolical machinations, and the prophetc called this Samuel, just as the images of things are commonly called by the names of these things. It should disturb no one that true facts are foretold to Saul by an evil spirit. Leviticus Rabbah 26, 7, vol. 4, p. 332, also in RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 1 Sam. 28:12, p. 232. b Unidentified source. c The prophet mentioned here is Samuel himself, who was thought to be the author of the book Samuel. Some manuscripts have ‘prophet’ in the accusative, thus reading, “which he calls the prophet Samuel”. a

109

69

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 110

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

70

Since God wants even the lowest spirits to know certain true facts, at least facts of this world, it is not strange that the almighty and righteous one mysteriously bestows on these spirits some kind of divination, so that they might announce to men what they heard from angels, to punish those to whom these things are foretold, so that they may suffer evil even before it happens. But these spirits only hear as much as God commands or allows them.a Others say that this art, namely of divination, need not be ineffectual just because it happens illicitly, namely in raising holy and righteous men, just as the coitus of adulterers, although illicit, still often does not lack its natural effect, namely, the procreation of offspring. And they say it does not really bother the good very much if their cadaver is resuscitated for a short while. For they think that not only the soul, but the body having taken on the soul is raised. This is why this art can only raise the recently deceased.b 28:16 THE LORD [has departed from you.] The favor of the Lord. 28:19 [Tomorrow, you and your sons] WILL BE WITH ME. Numbered among the dead, just as I am. 28:21 I HAVE PUT MY SOUL IN MY HAND. I have acted bravely in the face of mortal danger. This is more appropriately said of men who so often face dangers that they would forfeit their lives, if they would not defend themselves with their own hands. 28:25 [They rose up and walked] ALL NIGHT. The king did not want anyone to know that he consulted a sorceress, so he departed from there at night time. 29:3 [He has been with me many days] ANDc YEARS. David spent only four months in the land of the Philistines, but the king says that he was with him for many years so that they AUGUSTINE, Ad Simpl., II, 3, 1-3, l. 17-51 and 73-85, CCSL 44, p. 82-85, cited in Glossa ord. marg. 1 Sam. 28:13, p. 45. b Talmud Bavli, Shabbath 152b. c The Vulgate reads “or years”, not “and years”. a

110

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 111

1 SAMUEL 28-31

would trust him more. [I have not found] ANYTHING [in him.] Anything evil. 30:1 WHEN DAVID AND HIS MEN CAME TO ZIKLAG, [on the third day, the Amalekites raided Ziklag from the South] ETC. When David returned from the camp to Ziklag, the nine leaders of the soldiers in Manasseh, who had helped him against the robbers who had set fire to Ziklag, fled over to him. When he lived in the hold in the land of Moab, men of Benjamin and Judah came to him. 30:14 [We made a raid south of] CHERETHI. Cherethi is a city. 31:4 [Lest these uncircumcised come] AND MOCK ME. He fears more that his foes mock him while still alive, than that he should die. 31:10 [They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, but] HIS BODY THEY HUNG ON THE WALL OF BETHSHAN. In Chronicles: His head they fastened up in the temple of Dagon (1 Chr. 10:10). It could be that they fastened his head in one place and hung his body in another. But the Hebrews say that Bethshan is called ‘House of Dagon’.a Saul’s death is explained in Chronicles with these words: Saul died for his iniquities because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord. Moreover, he consulted the sorceress and did not trust in the Lord. For this reason also, the Lord slew him (1 Chr. 10:13).

a

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1445A.

111

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 112

2 SAMUEL

71

1:9 [Anguish is come upon me,] AND AS YET MY WHOLE LIFE IS STILL IN ME. The archers have wounded me, but they have not locked out my soul. You, who are a proselyte, kill me, so I will not be killed by the uncircumcised. 1:10 [I took the diadem,] WHICH WAS, which used to be, ON HIS HEAD. This youth is thought to have been the son of Doeg and have these things entrusted to him by his father.a This is not in contradiction to the fact that this one is called an Amalekite, and the other an Edomite, because Amalek was the son of Esau’s first-born son. 1:13 [And David said to the young man:] FROM WHERE ARE YOU? He had already said that he was an Amalekite, but as David had paid little attention to what he had heard because of his grief, he asked where he was from. And note that when he asks from where, he means from what people. 1:18 [And he commanded to teach the children of Judah] THE BOW.b The art of archery. CONSIDER, O ISRAEL, THEM WHO ARE DEAD. Pay attention, because your defenders are dead, WOUNDED ON YOUR HIGH PLACES. In your places fortified by nature your leaders are wounded. As if he said: Your enemies prevailed over you, since PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 91, p. 107; cfr. 1 Sam. 22:9-18. The meaning of ‘the bow’ is uncertain in Hebrew. The translators of the Jerusalem Bible leave it out, while the NIV emends it to “the lament of the bow”. a

b

112

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 113

2 SAMUEL 1

indeed your glorious leaders were killed in your land’s fortified places. This is why it is added: The illustrious (‘incliti ’) of Israel are slain. ‘Clyton’ in Greek is glory; hence ‘inclitus’, glorious and honorable. 1:19 HOW [are the valiant fallen?] In astonishment. [Announce it not] IN THE CROSSROADS (‘compitis’) OF ASHKELON. ‘Pitan’ in Greek is road. Hence ‘compitum’, a place where several roads meet in one point.a 1:21 MOUNTAINS OF GILBOA, LET NEITHER DEW NOR RAIN COME UPON YOU, [neither be they fields of first fruits.] Cursing the place where the strong men were killed, he invokes barrenness over it. The meaning is: Be barren and fruitless and useless even as pasture, mountains of Gilboa, as a place where there is neither rain nor dew. Hence it is added: Neither be they fields of first fruits. Let there be in you no fields that yield the first and best fruits. To some it seems as if, according what the text seems to say, the prophet simply prays that neither dew nor rain should come on those mountains. There are those who maintain that even today it does not rain on the top of mount Gilboa.b Whether one says ‘mount Gilboa’ or ‘mountains of Gilboa’ in the plural does not make a difference. It denotes one and the same place. [There was cast away the shield of Saul,] AS THOUGH HE HAD NOT BEEN ANOINTED WITH OIL. The arms of the king were so vilely cast out as if he were one of the common people. 1:22 FROM THE BLOOD OF THE VALIANT. This verse begins thus: From the blood of the valiant and it ends at Saul and Jonathan. We say this because at this point almost all manuscripts are corrupt. The meaning is: The arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return without the blood of the slain or the fat of the valiant. Which is to say: In the blood of the slain and in the fat of the valiant Jonathan always dipped his arrows and Saul bloodied his sword. a Uncertain meaning, and a dubious etymology. The Latin prefix con- or com- indicates a joining together. b Glossa ord. marg., 2 Sam. 1:21, p. 49.

113

72

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 114

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

73

1:23 SWIFTER THAN EAGLES. Hyperbole. 2:6 [Because you have done] THIS WORD. This deed. 2:8 [Abner, the son of Ner, general of Saul’s army, took Ishbosheth, the son of Saul,] AND LED HIM AROUND THE CAMP. What camp did he lead him around in? Is it not stated above that the sons of Israel after the death of Saul deserted their cities and fled, and that the Philistines came and lived there? Maybe he calls ‘camp’ the places where the men of Israel used to come together and live after the death of their king. For few people dared to remain anywhere. To these places Abner brought the one remaining son of the king and made him king. In Hebrew it is clearer: He brought him over in Mahanaim. He brought him on the other side of the Jordan and in Mahanaim, that is, in a certain place named this way, and made him king. There may be a thus mistake in the translation, for ‘mahanaim’ means ‘camp’. 2:9 [He made him king over Gilead and over] THE GESHURITES. In Hebrew: ‘Ashurites’, that is, over the tribe of Asher. 2:13 [They sat down] AGAINST EACH OTHER. Opposite each other. 2:23 [Abner struck him with his spear with] A BACKWARD STROKE. Not directed straight at him. For he slew him with the wood, not the point, of the spear. 2:26 DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT DESPAIR IS DANGEROUS? “He who defies the enemy with his life’s blood does not die without a price”.a “One thing saves the conquered: to hope for nothing”.b 3:5 EGLAH THE WIFE OF DAVID. This is Michal, who alone is called ‘the wife of David’, for he obtained her in his youth as his first wife. 3:8 AM I THE HEAD OF A DOG TODAY, [who have shown mercy to the house of Saul your father? ] For ‘numquid ’, read ‘nonne’.c The meaning is: Did I not stand up against Judah toLUCAN, Bellum civile, 4, 275. VERGIL, Aeneid, 2, 254. c See the note on Latin interrogative adverbs, at 1 Sam. 22:15. a

b

114

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 115

2 SAMUEL 1-5

day, like the head of a dead dog, I, of all people, who have shown mercy to you, and you still have sought to charge me? Or thus: Was I not today the head of a dog, that is, the master and guard of the dogs (who is called in the vernacular ‘bracuners’), I, indeed, who have shown mercy to the house of your father Saul against Judah, whence I have become an adversary of the house of Judah, and you still have sought me ? That is: Lacking just cause to accuse and rebuke me you strove to find something to accuse me of. As if he said: I had a certain dignity and a certain command, at least over the dogs, in the house of your father, which is why you should have some respect for me, and also because I have shown mercy to the house of your father, namely by making you king, and so on. And you still have sought to charge me ? 3:12 [Abner sent messengers to David, saying for him:] WHOSE IS THE LAND? In whose hand is the land? Is it not in my hand? As if he were saying: if you make friends with me, I will give you back the land that is in my hand. 3:29 THAT HOLDS THE SPINDLE. Effeminate, and doing the work of women, such as spinning. 3:39 [I am as yet] TENDER. A green and new king, recently anointed. 4:4 JONATHAN HAD A SON. The son of Jonathan, Mephibosheth, is mentioned here because at his advice and because of him Ishboseth is killed by his servants, so that he might rule for him. 5:6 [The king went up and all the men who were with him,] TO JERUSALEM, TO THE JEBUSITE, THE INHABITANT OF THE LAND. In Chronicles it is clearer: [David and all Israel went to Jerusalem,] which is Jebus, where the Jebusites lived in the land (1 Chr. 11:4). AND IT WAS SAID TO DAVID. Infer: By the Jebusites. [You shall not come hither,] UNLESS YOU TAKE AWAY THE BLIND AND THE CRIPPLED. The Jebusites, confiding in the strength of their walls, put blind and crippled people on the walls to mock David, saying that such people could defend the city against him. Or thus: You will not enter hither, said the Je-

115

74

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 116

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

75

busites, unless you take away us, whom you deem to be blind and crippled, that is, feeble and weak. Or, according to some, he calls the idols crippled and blind, who have eyes and cannot see, who have feet and cannot walk (Ps. 115:5/7). According to this opinion the text is read as follows: Unless you carry away the blind and crippled, that is our gods, whom you judge to be such.a 5:8 [Whosoever should strike the Jebusites and get up to] THE GUTTERS OF THE TOPS OF THE HOUSES. The water channels and water ducts of the roofs. For ‘top’ means roof. AND TAKE AWAY THE BLIND AND THE CRIPPLED. Either the handicapped or the idols that were on the walls. WHO HATED THE SOUL OF DAVID. The handicapped had plenty of reason to hate David, because he came to defeat them. But the evil spirits also hated the soul of David because he came to destroy their idols. THEREFORE IT BECAME A PROVERB: THE BLIND AND THE CRIPPLED SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE TEMPLE. At first, it was just a prescription in the law: The blind and the crippled shall not approach the altar to offer a sacrifice to God (Lev. 21:18-23). This clearly seems to prohibit them from entering the temple. That idols are not allowed to enter into the temple seems evident. But from this time on, because of all this, it became a common saying: The blind and the crippled shall not enter into the temple. The price that David promised to him who would slay the Jebusite, is expressed in Chronicles with these words: Whoever is the first one to have slain the Jebusite will be commander and leader. Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first and was made leader (1 Chr. 11:6). 5:9 [David built it all around,] FROM MILLO. Millo was a certain chasm and a kind of wide and deep valley in the city of Jerusalem, and David built up the city all around it. Joab built the rest of the city. 5:23 [You shall come upon them opposite] THE PEAR TREES. In Hebrew: opposite the weeping ones, namely, the idols; the place where the idols were, in which they trusted, which were called a

RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 2 Sam. 5:6, p. 282.

116

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 117

2 SAMUEL 5-7

‘weeping ones’ because they are worthy of weeping and bring their worshipers to weeping and misery.a 5:24 AND WHEN YOU HEAR [the sound of one going up into the pear trees.] That is, when you will hear that their idols are torn up and trampled on by the angelic hosts. 6:7 [And the Lord grew angry with indignation against Uzzah, and] HE STRUCK HIM FOR HIS RASHNESS. This was the rashness of Uzzah, as some think, for which he was struck: that he put the ark of the Lord on the wagon when it should be carried by the Levites.b Why else was his brother not slain with him, unless it was Uzzah who had the idea that it should be carried by a wagon? 6:16 [She saw David leaping and dancing] BEFORE THE LORD. Before the ark of the Lord. 6:20 [David returned] TO BLESS HIS OWN HOUSE. To make time to beget children. 7:9 [I have made you a great name,] NEXT TO THE NAME OF THE GREAT ONES WHO ARE ON EARTH. Infer: Those who are celebrities on earth. In Chronicles: Who are celebrated on earth (1 Chr. 17:8). The great ones who are celebrated on earth he calls Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and Samuel. 7:10 [I will appoint] A PLACE FOR MY PEOPLE ISRAEL, ETC. He is talking about the time when Solomon ruled. 7:14 [If he commit any iniquity, I will correct him] WITH THE ROD OF MEN AND WITH THE STRIPES OF THE CHILDREN OF MEN. I will castigate him as a man, with a fragile nature and prone to sin. Or: I will correct him with the rod of men, that is, I will punish him by making men rise up and rebel against him, and with the stripes of the children of men, that is, through bodily discomforts. 7:19 FOR THIS IS THE LAW OF ADAM, O LORD GOD. Namely that he should be concerned about his house for a long time to come. As if he said: Nature decreed as a law that man should a PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 112, p. 115-116, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 2 Sam. 5:23, p. 56. b PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1448AB.

117

76

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 118

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

want to extend his house for a long time to come, and that he should be concerned about this. Others explain it this way: This is the law of Adam, that is, of man, that he should serve you in simplicity and purity of heart, and that you should act towards him according to your loving kindness, as you did to me.a 7:23 [What nation is there on earth like your people Israel, for whom God went out to redeem them as his people,] AND TO MAKE THEM A NAME FOR HIM. God made the Hebrews as a name for him, because by them of all peoples he was called God of Israel, or God of the Hebrews. Or: He made this nation a name for him because for her liberation he did many and great wonders, for which he is named on earth. [And he did great and terrible things on earth, in the face of] YOUR [people.] He now changes the address to God. WHOM YOU REDEEMED FOR YOU OUT OF EGYPT, THE NATION AND THEIR GOD. He did terrible things on earth because he did them to the nation and their god. For the people he drowned in the Red Sea and the gods of Egypt he subjected to his judgment.b In Hebrew: The nations and their gods. 8:1 AND DAVID TOOK THE BRIDLE [of tribute out of the hand of the Philistines.] The command and domination that the Philistines had over Israel he took away from them, and he carried Geth and her daughters out of the hands of the Philistines. 8:2 AND HE DEFEATED MOAB AND MEASURED THEM WITH A LINE. He defeated the land of the Moabites and distributed it to whom he chose, measuring the fields with a line. AND HE MEASURED TWO LINES; ONE TO PUT TO DEATH AND THE OTHER ONE TO KEEP ALIVE. He divided the people in two parts, giving one over to death, and sparing the other to live. 8:16 [Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was] THE RECORDER. The archivist and chancellor of the king. Or: he who reminds him of the things that might have escaped him. a PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 125, p. 120, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 2 Sam. 7:19, p. 59. b Ex. 12:12 and 15:4.

118

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 119

2 SAMUEL 7-11

8:18 THE SONS OF DAVID WERE PRIESTS. Having the first and highest dignity after the king. 9:8 FOR YOU HAVE LOOKED UPON A DEAD DOG LIKE MINE. A dead dog is like me. That is, I am as vile as a dead dog, and yet you have deigned to look upon such a one. 9:10 YOU SHALL BRING IN FOOD FOR YOUR MASTER’S SON, THAT HE MAY BE MAINTAINED. Not he in person, for he always ate at the table of the king, but his family and servants. 10:18 [David slew of the Syrians] SEVEN HUNDRED CHARIOTS. Metonymy. 11:1 AT THE TIME WHEN KINGS TAKE THE FIELD. When the harvest is ripe. In Hebrew: At the time the kings went out campaigning, David sent Joab, and so on. For Kings Rehob and Ishtob and Zobah and Maacah, who were kings of Syria, went out to fight against David, and they wanted to do so under the leadership of the king of Moab, but they were defeated. 11:4 [She came to him and he slept with her,] AND IMMEDIATELY SHE WAS PURIFIED FROM HER UNCLEANLINESS. As soon as she was brought to the king, she was purified from the uncleanliness of her menstrual blood, for, as they think, she had her menstrual period at that time.a But the text seems rather to indicate that immediately after he knew her she was purified. Of course it could be that the king did not know she was menstruating. Or, if he did know, is it at all surprising that someone who had no scruples to commit adultery would approach a menstruating woman? Or: immediately after the king knew her, she was purified, that is, she took a bath. Or: she was immediately purified from her uncleanliness, that is: She conceived, and thus she was purified from the flowing of her menstrual blood. For pregnant women do not suffer menstruation, because nature is keeping that blood inside, to feed the newly conceived fetus. And when the Bathseba prudently noticed this, she immediately sent notice to the king that she had conceived. a

RASHI, in Mikra’ot gedolot, 2 Sam. 11:4, p. 316.

119

77

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 120

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

78

11:11 BY YOUR WELFARE. Infer: I swear by your welfare. 12:12 [You did it secretly, but I will do this] IN THE SIGHT OF ALL ISRAEL AND IN THE SIGHT OF THE SUN. David’s close relative, namely Absalom his son, in broad daylight in the presence of the people entered in among the concubines of his father and slept with them.a 12:14 YOU HAVE GIVEN OCCASION TO YOUR ENEMIES TO BLASPHEME THE NAME OF THE LORD. The Gentiles said that God made a foolish mistake by electing David and replacing Saul, since David sinned more grievously than Saul. Or, if they did not say it, David’s behavior had been such that they could have said it. 12:16 DAVID KEPT A FAST, [and, going in to himself, threw himself on the ground.] David kept a fast and threw himself on the ground, and afflicted himself grievously, thinking that perhaps God would grant him a son and the child might live. 12:30 [He took] THE CROWN OF THEIR KING. In Hebrew: the crown of Milcom. ‘Milcom’ is translated as ‘their king.’ Milcom is an idol of the Moabites, the gold and jewels of whose crown David had melted and cleansed according to the law and made into a crown for himself. BY WEIGHT A TALENT OF GOLD. In Chronicles: He found in it a talent weight of gold (1 Chr. 20:2). The meaning is: He found in it a weight of gold, namely one talent. 12:31 HE DROVE IRON-SIDED CARTS (‘ferrata carpenta’) OVER THEM. A ‘carpentum’ is a kind of chariot. [He made them pass] THROUGH THE IMAGE OF BRICKS. Through something in the figure and form of bricks.b 13:5 AND JONADAB [said to him.] Some people think this is the prophet Nathan,c but it seems strange that a saintly man would give such advice through which incest was perpetrated. 2 Sam. 16:22. I am not sure what Andrew tries to say here. The Vulgate offers a fairly obscure translation of the Hebrew. The verse probably means: “He set them to work with saws and axes, and made them work in brick kilns”. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 59/178, p. 91. a

b

120

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 121

2 SAMUEL 11-14

Or maybe he did not consider it incest to sleep with one’s halfsister, and that is why he gave this advice. 13:13 [Speak to the king, and] HE WILL NOT DENY ME TO YOU. Some think that, wanting to escape from the hands of her brother, she wanted falsely to persuade her brother that the king would give her to him as wife.a Others think that he could licitly marry her, for she was his sister by his father, and she had a Gentile mother.b For she and Absalom both had Maacah for their mother, the daughter of Talmai the king of Geshur, whom David is said to have captured in battle and, after having cut her hair and nails according to the law, made her his wife.c The law that prohibits the marriage with one’s sister by the same father,d takes for granted that the woman in question is of the same people. 13:39 AND KING DAVID CEASED TO PURSUE ABSALOM, [because he was comforted about the death of Amnon.] In Hebrew it is clearer: To go out after Absalom, namely to call him back. He wanted this at first, but, thinking that every time he saw Absalom it would bring back the death of Amnon to his memory, he ceased to go out after him. 14:7 [They seek to quench] MY SPARK. What remains of my posterity, a simile drawn from fire. 14:9 [The woman of Tekoa said to the king:] UPON ME, MY LORD, BE THIS INIQUITY, [and upon the house of my father; but may the king and his throne be guiltless.] This sin you commit against the law by not executing his brother’s killer should not be charged against you or your kingdom, but against me and my father’s house. Or: If anyone’s, it is my fault that one rises against the other; it should not be yours, for you are without guilt. 14:13 [And the woman said:] WHY HAVE YOU THOUGHT SUCH A THING AGAINST THE PEOPLE OF GOD? That is, against a

Unidentified source, but reminiscent of Don Abravanel, a fifteenth-century Spanish commentator, cited in Mikra’ot gedolot, vol. 2, p. 334. b Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 21a. c Cfr. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 143, p. 128; 2 Sam. 3:3, and Deut. 21:10-13. d Lev. 18:9.

121

79

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 122

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

Absalom and those with him, who like captives and exiles were not brought back to the inheritance of God, and who could be forced to enter into a foreign land and serve foreign gods. Or: against the people of God, that is: It causes the ruin and doom of the people of God that, when a brother rises up against his noxious brother and kills him, he also is killed or is cut off from the inheritance and people of the Lord. 14:14 WE ALL DIE, AND LIKE WATERS [that return no more, we fall into the earth] ETC. We all die without reparation. As if she says: You cannot bring your dead son back to life, and his killer is a mortal man. Even though he has killed, he can give no reparation. Hence it is better that you call the living one back and permit him to live rather than, by avenging the other one, lose them both. Besides, God, to whose will you should conform, does not want a soul to perish, that is, he does not want anyone’s death. 14:17 [As an angel of the Lord, so is the king;] HE IS MOVED NEITHER BY BLESSING NOR CURSE. That is, he is moved neither by praise nor by reproach away from the rightness of his judgment. 15:7 AFTER FOUR YEARS, [Absalom said to king David.] In Hebrew: After forty years. For it was the fortieth year after Saul devastated the city of Nob and killed the priests because of David. The fortieth year is mentioned here to show the divine vengeance against David because he deceived the priest Ahimelech and was the cause of such a massacre.a If anyone says it was forty years from the time that Absalom killed Amnon until the time he said to his father Let me go and fulfill the vows which I have made to the Lord in Hebron, he is plainly wrong, since Absalom, after the murder of Amnon, lived in Geshur for three years, and, after he was called back, in Jerusalem for two years without seeing his father, and in the sixth year he saw his father when he waged war against him.b LET ME PAY MY VOWS WHICH

a b

1 Sam. 22:19. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 153, p. 132.

122

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 123

2 SAMUEL 14-18

I HAVE VOWED TO THE LORD IN HEBRON. Hebron was a place for prayer because of the sepulcher of the patriarchs. 15:20 YOU HAVE SHOWN GRACE AND FIDELITY. In that you have gone out of the city, you have shown yourself to be gracious and faithful to us. 15:30 [But David went up] THE HILL OF OLIVES. Mount Olivet. 16:1 [A hundred] FIG CAKES (‘palatae’). ‘Palatae’ are called a mass of dried figs, pressed together between ‘palae’, that is, boards. 16:2 THE DONKEYS [for the king’s household to sit on.] Supply: ‘are’. The donkeys are here for the household members, that is the sons of the king, to sit on. 16:10 [And the king said:] WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH YOU, SONS OF ZERUIAH? Is it our business to punish him whom God sent to curse me? Joab was understood to want to do the same thing, and hence we find sons of Zeruiah in the plural. 16:17 [Absalom said: Is this your] KINDNESS [to your friend?] In Hebrew: ‘mercy.’ As in: You will see no mercy, you who sent away your own friend. 17:10 AND THE MOST VALIANT MAN, WHOSE HEART IS AS THE HEART OF A LION, SHALL MELT FOR FEAR. Even the most valiant man in your army, on hearing such news, will melt with fear. Or interrogative: Shall this most valiant man (the way it is in Hebrew), whose heart is as that of a lion, melt with fear? Infer: No. The most valiant man is understood to be David. Hence he immediately adds: All of Israel knows your father to be a most valiant man. 17:19 [She spread a covering over the well, as if to dry] SODDEN BARLEY (‘ptisana’). ‘Ptisana’ is barley without the chaff, from which you can make a drink against fever. 17:25 [Abigal the daughter of] NAHASH. Jesse. 18:8 [There were many more people whom] THE FOREST [consumed.] The beasts that were in the forest. 18:22 [You will not be] THE BEARER [of good tidings.] Carrier. 18:23 [Ahimaaz, running by] A NEARER WAY, [passed Cushai.] He took a shortcut.

123

80

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 124

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

81

18:25 THERE ARE GOOD TIDINGS (‘nuncius’) IN HIS MOUTH. ‘Nuncius’ (‘message, messenger’) means both what is announced and the one who announces. 18:33 [The king went up to] THE HIGH CHAMBER. The flat rooftop. 19:11 WHY DO YOU COME LAST [in bringing back the king?] See to it that you do not become the last ones by tarrying. 19:20 [I come this day first of all] OF THE HOUSE OF JOSEPH. Although he was from Benjamin, when he went to meet the king he still said he was descended from the house of Joseph because he lived in the territory of Ephraim. 19:24 [Mephiboseth had] NEITHER WASHED HIS FEET, [nor trimmed his beard.] In Hebrew: He had not fixed his feet. For he made himself feet, according to the Hebrews, which he could use for natural ones.a 19:28 [All of my father’s house were] NO BETTER THAN WORTHY OF DEATH BEFORE MY LORD THE KING. The meaning is: The house of my father, that is, Saul, always behaved towards you in a way that was only worthy of death. 19:29 [What I have said is determined:] YOU AND ZIBA DIVIDE THE POSSESSIONS. In Hebrew: You and Ziba divide the field. Because David forgot the covenant and oath he made with Jonathan and passed such an unjust judgment, Rehoboam and Jeroboam divided his kingdom. 20:6 [David said to Abishai:] NOW SHEBA THE SON OF BICHRI WILL DO US MORE HARM THAN ABSALOM. Unless we prevent him. 20:18-19 [The woman said:] A WORD WAS USED IN AN OLD PROVERB: [they that inquire let them inquire in Abel. And so they made an agreement] ETC. This ‘word’ is the word of the law that commanded that the sons of Israel, after entering the land of Canaan, should first offer peace, and make those who had accepted the peace pay tribute, and destroy those who had not ac-

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 168, p. 139, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 2 Sam. 19:24, p. 79. a

124

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 125

2 SAMUEL 18-21

cepted the peace.a Hence the wise woman is said to have cried out: Am I not the one who answers the truth in Israel? As in: Why do you destroy this city before you offer peace, according to the law? Why do you not enact the same law for Israelites as for strangers?b YOU SEEK TO OVERTHROW A MOTHER IN ISRAEL. That is, a notable and principal city. [Why do you] HASTEN DOWN [the inheritance of the Lord?] Acting hastily, ravage and destroy his inheritance. Or thus, according to the Hebrews: [Those who inquire] the word, of the wise woman, let them inquire it in Abel. Indeed in Abel the word of the wise woman is sought, because it is sought of me who am in Abel. And that is why she says: Am I not the one who answers truth in Israel? As in: Why do you not seek the word of a wise woman, whom others seek, so that you may act wisely? You seek to destroy a city and overthrow a mother in Israel. That is, me, who am a mother in Israel, or a mother city, as above? As if she said: If you want that, you act foolishly, for this is to destroy the inheritance of the Lord. This is why she adds: Why do you hasten down the inheritance of the Lord? c The phrases used in an old proverb and so they made an agreement are not found in the Hebrew text. 21:8 THE FIVE SONS OF MICHAL [the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Adriel the son of Barzillai.] Not natural sons but adopted. Michal adopted the five sons of Merab her sister whom she received from the son of Barzillai.d 21:17 TO THE DEFENSE OF DAVID WAS ABISHAI [the son of Zeruiah.] To the fortification and protection. 21:19 [There was a third battle in Gob, in which] ADEODATUS, that is David, because he was elected by God to rule,e THE SON OF THE FOREST, a shepherd, for God took him from the sheep folds (Ps. 78:70), THE EMBROIDERER FROM BETHLEHEM, Deut. 20:10-15. PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 173, p. 142-143. c Possibly Genesis Rabbah, 94, 9, vol. 2, 877. d The Hebrew text is corrupt here; some versions read ‘Merab’ for ‘Michal’. e Latin a deo datus means ‘given by God’. The name in Hebrew is ’Elhanan. a

b

125

82

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 126

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

83

for his mother was from the family of Bezalel, [slew Goliath the Gathite.] 21:20 [He was of the race] OF RAPHA. The Jews think this is the mother of all giants, namely Orpah the daughter-in-law of Naomi.a 23:1 [These are David’s] LAST WORDS. This refers to the words from this place to the end of the canticle. ‘Last’ does not mean that he did not say anything afterwards, but denotes the last words he said on that day to praise God in the above-said canticle. 23:8 THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE VALIANT MEN OF DAVID: [David, sitting in the chair, the wisest, chief among the three.] In Hebrew, the name ‘David’ is not repeated in the following verse, but the verse starts out: Sitting in the chair, the wisest, etc. He who was sitting in the chair, the wisest, according to some, was David,b chief among the three.c All of David’s heroes numbered thirty-seven in all.d Some of the seven who were over the thirty were less valiant than those who were left of the thirty. Among the thirty, three were more valiant than the rest of the thirty. They are called the three firstmost valiant. After them there were three others more valiant than the rest of the thirty. They are called the three secondmost valiant. The first of the three first-most valiant is not named in Kings, but he is described thus: Sitting in the chair, the wisest, the chief among the three, that is, the first-most three. HE WAS LIKE THE TENDEREST LITTLE WOODWORM WHO KILLED EIGHT HUNDRED IN ONE BLOW. The words like the tenderest woodworm indi-

a PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1451A, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 2 Sam. 21:20, p. 82. b Cfr. HRABANUS, Comm. in II Reg., XXIII, PL 109, col. 116AB. c The awkward Latin results from the Vulgate’s translation of Hebrew proper names, “Josheb Hashebeth the Hachmonite”. In 1 Chr. 11:11, the name is rendered as “Jashobeam the Hachmonite”, but the translated name allowed for the interpretation that the first of the heroes was David himself. Not all Vulgate versions read the word ‘David’ twice. d 2 Sam. 23:39.

126

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 127

2 SAMUEL 21-23

cate the virtues of military force and modesty, for just as a woodworm seems gentle and frail and petite, and yet pierces and devours the strongest wood – hence ‘woodworm’ (‘teredo’) takes its name from ‘to tear’ –, so also he in private was friendly to all, quiet and humble, but in public he proved strong and insufferable toward his enemies. The Hebrewa suspects this chief of the heroes is David, of whom it is said sitting in the chair, the wisest, etc. His wisdom is shown by the wisest, his humility by a woodworm, and his courage by the killing of eight hundred.b But according to Josephus, the chief of all the valiant was Eusebius, the son of Ahimaas, who, as he tells us, often ventured upon the sword of his enemies and would not stop until he had killed nine hundred of them.c In Chronicles we read that Jashobeam, the son of Hachmoni, was numbered at the head of all the valiant.d This man Josephus calls Eusebius the son of Ahimaas. Some think that this is David, for ‘Jashobeam’ means ‘sitting among the people’, and ‘Hachmoni’ ‘very wise’.e The second of the firstmost valiant was Eleazar, the son of Ahohi the uncle of David. The third was Shammah, the son of Agee of Harari. The three second-most valiant men were Abishai, the brother of Joab, Sibbecai the Hushathite,f and Jonathan, the son of Shimei the brother of David.g a

‘The Hebrew’ is here not the language, but the supposed author of pseudo-Jerome’s commentary on Samuel, in Hrabanus’ time not yet identified as Jerome. b PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 180, p. 146, cited in HRABANUS, Comm. in II Reg., XXIII, PL 109, col. 116AB. c JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, 7, 12, 4. Although Andrew cites various sources by name here, the entire passage in fact derives from the Glossa ord. marg., p. 84, which is citing HRABANUS, Comm. in II Reg., XXIII, PL 109, col. 116AD. d 1 Chr. 11:11. e PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1445B. f Sibbecai is not listed among the heroes in 2 Sam. 23; he is mentioned in 2 Sam. 21:18 and 1 Chr. 27:11. g Jonathan is also only mentioned in 2 Sam. 21:21. The three second-most valiant are taken from the list of the giant-slayers in 2 Sam. 21; this way Andrew can add two heroes to the list of thirty-five mentioned in this chapter, to make for the total of thirty-seven mentioned in verse 39. The exegetical difficulty is that this list of thirty-five or thirty-seven in verse 23-24 is usually referred to as ‘the thirty’.

127

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 128

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

84

23:20 [Benaiah was the son of Jehoiada, a very strong man of great works from Kabzeel.] HE SLEW THE TWO LIONS OF MOAB. Two very strong men in the kingdom of Moab. [And he slew] A LION IN THE MIDST OF A WELL IN THE TIME OF SNOW. Josephus says that in the midst of winter, a lion fell unwittingly in a certain well full of snow and gave a great roar. Benaiah, who with others came to see the sight, climbed down into the well and killed the lion.a The Hebrew thinks this lion was Joab, who was killed in the house of the Lord, holding onto the horns of the altar.b The altar is called ‘a well’ because, just as the water of a well cleanses, the sanctuary of God absolves from all sin. 23:21 HE ALSO SLEW AN EGYPTIAN, WORTHY OF SIGHT. Although this fact is not elsewhere recorded, perhaps he once slew a certain Egyptian as is described here. The Jewc thinks that the Egyptian whom Benaiah slew was Shimei.d He is called the Egyptian because he imitated the Egyptian blaspheming God, whom Moses slew. The Egyptian blasphemed God, Shimei the prophet-king. It was called worthy of sight because they were looking to see whether he would be killed if he left Jerusalem.e HAVING A SPEAR IN HIS HAND. That is, the law of God. If he had meditated on that by staying in Jerusalem, he would not have died. But because he transgressed the precept of the king and went out, Benaiah went down with a rod, that is, the righteousness of justice, and forced the spear, which he did not hold by right, out of his hand.f 23:23 [He was named among the three strongest, who were more noteworthy among the thirty. But he did not attain] TO THE THREE. The first-most three. [David made him] HIS PRIVY

a JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, 7, 12, 4. b PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 180, l.

26-44, p. 147; cfr. 1 Kgs. 2:28-34. ”The Jew” is the same author who is identified as ‘the Hebrew’ in n. 127a. d PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Sam., 180, l. 26-44, p. 147. e 1 Kgs. 2:36-46. f Andrew’s comments on 2 Sam. 23:20 and 23:21 are derived from the Glossa ord. marg., p. 85, which is citing in turn HRABANUS, Comm. in II Reg., XXIII, PL 109, col. 118D-119D, who draws on the work of both Josephus and pseudoJerome. c

128

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 129

2 SAMUEL 23-24

COUNCIL (‘auricularium a secreto’). ‘A secreto’ is the same as ‘a secretis’, namely the keeper of secrets, just as ‘a batis’ and ‘a caliculis’, which means, respectively, vessel keeper and cup holder. David made him his privy council (‘auricularium’), the man who sits next to his ear (‘auris’), that is, his private and faithful privy councillor, to whom he could safely commit his secrets. In Chronicles: David appointed him to his council (1 Chr. 11:25). This Benaiah was not among the first-most three, nor among the second-most, but he was counted among the three strongest, that is, worthy to be named among the three second-most valiant and to equal those three who were more noteworthy among the thirty. ‘Thirty’ here is the total sum of those who were left after the latter and the three first-most valiant.a 24:1 AND THE ANGER OF THE LORD WAS AGAIN KINDLED AGAINST ISRAEL. After the famine was sent,b the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, that the people should be numbered. 24:10 [David said to the Lord:] I HAVE GRAVELY SINNED IN WHAT I HAVE DONE. In the law it is written: When you take a census of the Israelites, all of them individually according to their numbers shall pay the Lord a fee for their souls, so that no plague may come upon them (Ex. 30:12). The fee was half a shekel. In forgetting to give this payment, David offended the Lord and a plague came over Israel. One should note that given the choice among three, he chose a suffering that affected all equally, and therefore he earned God’s mercy more quickly. 24:15 [There died of the people from Dan to Beersheba] SEVENTY THOUSAND MEN. The Hebrews assert that the seventy thousand were the leaders and nobility, and that as many of the common people were slain as the number that is mentioned in

a The first three are: David (‘Jeshobeam’), Eleazar, and Shamma of Agee of Harari. The second three are: Abishai, Sibbecai, and Jonathan (the latter two not explicitly mentioned in the list of 2 Sam. 23, but mentioned as the giantslayers in 2 Sam. 21:17-21). With Benaiah, this makes seven. The remaining list is thirty, but they are not ‘the thirty’ mentioned in verse 23-24, who included the three first-most and second-most valiant. b 2 Sam. 21:1.

129

85

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 130

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

Chronicles exceeds that in the book of Samuel, namely three hundred thousand.a In Chronicles, all people are numbered together, but in Samuel only those who were left after the plague and devastation.b 24:21 [The plague that] PLUNDERS [the people.] Rages among the people. 24:24 [I will not offer to the Lord my God] FREE GIFTS. Goods accepted as gift, which will not have cost me anything. [David bought the threshing floor and the oxen] FOR FIFTY SHEKELS OF SILVER. The oxen alone he bought for fifty shekels, but the altar for six hundred.c

PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, col. 1451C; cfr. 1 Chr. 21:5. Chronicles also has 70,000 as the number of those killed, but the total of the census in 1 Chr. 21:5 is 1,100,000, while in 2 Sam. it is 800,000. c Harmonizing the text with 1 Chr. 21:25. a

b

130

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 131

1 KINGS

1:21 [Otherwise, it will come to pass that] I AND MY SON SOLOMON WILL BE SINNERS. We will be counted as offenders and worthy of death. She says this because he was born of adultery. 1:36 [Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, saying:] AMEN. It will be, namely as you say. 2:3 [Observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses,] THAT YOU MAY UNDERSTAND [all you do.] Note that from keeping the commandments comes understanding. 2:5 HE SHED THE BLOOD OF WAR IN THE TIME OF PEACE. The blood is of war, because blood is not commonly shed, or should not be shed except in time of war. But Joab shed it in time of peace, because both Abner and Amasa had peace with him, and Joab did not put the gore of battle on his arms as tough warriors do, but on his girdle and his shoes, as traitors do. As: Not in war but in peace, not by strength but by deceit, not by dexterity but by treason Joab shed the blood of innocent people. Joab did not splatter the gore of battle on his arms, because he did not kill them while armed, but he splattered it on the girdle that covered his loins and on the shoes that covered his feet. 2:8-9 [I swore to him by the Lord, saying:] I WILL NOT KILL YOU WITH THE SWORD. I have tolerated him as guiltless, but you, DO NOT HOLD HIM GUILTLESS, that is, so that no harm will come to him.

131

86

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 132

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

2:23 [Adonijah] HAS SPOKEN THIS WORD AGAINST HIS OWN Abishag was as a powerful queen; when Adonijah sought her hand in marriage, lured by her royal power, it seemed as if he wanted to rebel against Solomon, and this is why Solomon says that he spoke these words against his life. 2:26 [The king also said to Abiathar the priest: Go to Anathoth, to your field, for] YOU ARE A MAN OF DEATH. He calls Abiathar worthy of death because he agreed with Adonijah. 2:28 THE NEWS CAME TO SOLOMON. In Hebrew, there is no to Solomon.a The meaning is: This was told throughout town. News came to the king, that Joab had turned after Adonijah. HE THEREFORE FLED [into the tabernacle of the Lord.] When Joab heard that this came to the knowledge of the king, he fled. 2:37 YOUR BLOOD, your sin, WILL BE ON YOUR OWN HEAD, that is, will overflow on your own head. Or: You yourself will be blamed for the shedding of your own blood, that is, your death. 3:15 [And Solomon woke up and] PERCEIVED WHAT THE DREAM WAS. That is, what the interpretation of the dream was.b 3:25 HE SAID: DIVIDE THE LIVING INFANT IN TWO. He did not command this because he really wanted to divide it, but because he knew that he could learn this way who was the mother of the living boy. He knew that mothers’ hearts are always full of loving affection. 4:2 [Azariah] THE PRIEST, [the son of Zadok.] ‘Priest’ means ‘leader’ here.c SOUL.

87

a The passage is corrupt. Surely Solomon already knew that Joab had turned after Adonijah (cfr. 1:19), and the sentence presents a non sequitur. Most Latin codices read “to Joab”, not “to Salomon”. The better reading, unavailable to Andrew, is therefore: “The news came to Joab, and because (Lat. quod can mean both ‘because’ and ‘that’) he had turned after Adonijah and not Solomon (or: ‘but not Absalom’, as some Vulgate manuscripts have), he fled into the tabernacle, etc.”. b Latin “intellexit quod esset somnium” can mean: “He understood that it was a dream”, as well as: “He understood what the dream was”. Andrew favors the last interpretation, because the first one would be obvious. c Andrew tries to solve a contradiction between vs. 2 and vs. 4. The Hebrew reads “the son of Zadok the priest”, but the Vulgate, incorrectly, does not have the genitive form of sacerdos here.

132

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 133

1 KINGS 2-6

4:31 [Solomon was wiser] THAN ALL MEN. Of his time and his region. 5:4 [The Lord my God has given me rest all around, and there is no] SATAN. Adversary. 5:13 THE LEVY [was of thirty-thousand men.] The number, or counting. Or: The levy, that is, the sum of all to whom this was announced, was thirty thousand, etc. 5:15 [Solomon had eighty-thousand] QUARRYMEN. Quarrymen are stone cutters. 5:18 THE MASONS [of Solomon and the masons of Hiram hewed them.] Masons are those workmen who put stones together with cement. AND THE GEBLIANS [prepared timber.] Gebal is a city in Phoenicia, about which Ezekiel says: The old and wise men of Gebal (Ez. 27:9). 6:1 IN THE MONTH ZIV, [which is the second month, he began to build the house of the Lord.] Ziv is May. The first month, as they say, is April. 6:1-38 The division of the entire construction of the temple was threefold. Lengthwise it was divided into three parts: the oracle, which is the same as the Holy of Holies; the sanctuary; and the portico. The length of the entire temple was sixty cubits, the breadth twenty. The length of the portico, in front of the doorway of the temple from the east where the entry was, was the same as the breadth of the temple; the breadth, on the other hand, was ten cubits. The building in front of the doorway of the oracle measured forty cubits. The oracle itself was twenty cubits, both in length and in breadth, and in height. The height of twenty cubits that the book assigns to ita is not the height of the oracle itself, but of the cedar wall, by which it is separated from the exterior building. The height of the house, from bottom to top, was onehundred and twenty cubits.b 1 Kgs. 6:16. 2 Chr. 3:4. This exorbitant height of the temple in relation to its size, taken from the book of Chronicles, was typical of medieval descriptions of Solomon’s temple. It may have influenced medieval architecture; cfr. St. MURa

b

133

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 134

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

88

There were three terraces in the temple, what we call verandas. From the floor to the first terrace there were thirty cubits, and from the first to the second the same number. From the second to the third, that is the last and uppermost terrace, as it was the roof of the temple, there were sixty cubits. There was also a threefold order everywhere inside, both in the walls and on the floor of the house. Both on the walls and on the floor there were precious marble stones laid out or placed. These were lined with pine or cedar boards, everywhere, up to the top of the house and the coffers. Hence in the subsequent verses: The whole house was lined with cedar (1 Kgs. 6:18). These boards were covered with golden plating, both on the floor and on the side-walls. Three-fold was also the number of the coffers of the terraces. Coffers are wooden panels that, beautifully arranged and decorated, are affixed at their lower parts to beams. The beams, which Solomon placed in the house in threefold order, were of such length that they exceeded the walls of the temple on both sides, in the lowest terrace by five, in the middle by six, in the highest by seven cubits, to bear the wooden panels of the sidewalks. The wooden panels, however, were placed on the projecting ends in such a way that they were not attached to the stone walls of the temple at all. The beams that were in the temple, and the coffers, were covered with the purest gold, as were all other inner parts. Also the nails with which the platings were affixed were gold, and there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold (1 Kgs. 6:22). The heads of the beams outside, which bore the wooden panels from here to there, as well as the walls of the temple outside, were content with their natural decoration. The outer edge of the wooden panels, which was the furthest away from the walls of the temple, was surrounded everywhere by lattices or gratings, which the book calls arcades, to prevent RAY, ‘The Architectural Envelope of the Sainte Chapelle’, in Pierre, lumière, couleur. Études de l’histoire le l’art du Moyen Âge en l’honneur d’Anne Prache, ed. F. JOUBERT, D. SANDRON, Paris 1999, 223-230.

134

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 135

1 KINGS 6

those who walked on them from accidentally falling. The lattice that surrounded the upper terrace, which the book calls ‘wood panel’, was five cubits high. The gratings of the other terraces had perhaps also the same measure. A lattice or grating is a wall or panel, surrounding the outer edges of terraces, or houses, or whatever building, and also of steps and sidewalks, to prevent people from falling down. The last terrace, which was also the roofing of the house, was made of cedar struts. Hence: And he roofed the house with struts of cedar (1 Kgs. 6:10). The entrance through which one entered these terraces was built at the eastern end of each side in the corner, on the ground. Those who entered here would directly ascend by steps to the higher parts, making their way and ascent by the inner sides of the walls, until they came by that route to the middle terrace, and from the middle terrace to the third. And although Scripture does not tell us this, they had windows at frequent intervals from the outside, by the light of which they could find their way securely and without stumbling. The book only mentions the southern side, but what is said about one, we may understand also about the other. He says: The entrance on the middle side was at the right-hand part of the house (1 Kgs. 6:8). The middle side (that is, the southern side) and the right-hand house (that is, the right-hand part of the house) is the same thing. The meaning of the words here is: The entrance on the southern side, that is the entrance by which one entered through the southern side to reach the terrace, not to enter the temple, was in that southern side, namely on the eastern part, and from that entrance one ascended by a snail staircase to the middle terrace. Now the spiral staircase (‘cochlea’), which we call a winding staircase (‘vitis’), is a passage in the walls and sides of buildings, leading up or down, winding around. It is called spiral- or winding staircase because it does not stretch out directly but slowly twisting like the spiral shell of a snail or a winding vine. The windows that illuminated the house around all walls were oblique, that is wider on the inside than on the outside. The portico of the temple and the entrance were on the eastern part. In front of the portico, at the left for those who

135

89

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 136

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

90

entered, was the altar of burnt-offerings. In the tabernacle, against the cedar wall that divided the oracle from the outer building, outside the Holy of Holies, were five candelabras on one side and five on the other; five tables on one side and five on the other. Against the middle wall was the incense altar. Inside the wall: the ark of the covenant and cherubim concealing the lid of atonement, that is the wooden board which covered the ark. This wall the book calls the cedar wooden panel, saying: In the rear part of the temple he partitioned off a space of twenty cubits with cedar panels, from floor to rafter (1 Kgs. 6:16). When he says panels from floor to rafter, he does not mean up until the coffers, which were thirty cubits high suspended from the floor, but up to a height of twenty cubits. The rest above that panel was open and void, up to the coffers, ten cubits high. Through this opening the smoke of the incense offerings no doubt used to ascend and penetrate to cover the ark of the Lord. Before the temple was built, the stones of which it was made were so becomingly shaped, that is, well-formed and perfect, that when the time of building had come, there was nothing to be found for the hammer to break off, or for the axe to level, or for any iron tool to correct. Hence he adds: No hammer or axe (that is the hammer of the stone worker) or any iron tool whatever was heard (1 Kgs. 6:7). This is to be understood about the stonework only. The stones were found in perfect condition in the mountains outside Jerusalem, so that nothing had to be done but to fit the stones in their place and join them with cement. About this stonework alone it is stated earlier: In the building of the house, only becomingly shaped and perfect stones were used (1 Kgs. 6:7). Now we will continue our verse-by-verse commentary.a 6:16 HE MADE THE INNER HOUSE OF THE ORACLE INTO THE HOLY OF HOLIES. He says inner with respect to the other part a The principal source for Andrew’s exegesis of the temple structure in 1 Kgs. 6:1-38 is BEDE, De templo, CCSL 119A, 141-234, cited in the Glossa ord. marg., p. 98-107.

136

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 137

1 KINGS 6

of the temple that was towards the entrance. THE HOUSE OF THE ORACLE. An oracle is divine or angelic speech to a human being, or a divine response by way of a human being. The house of the oracle, that is the house where God gave his answers, he made into the Holy of Holies, that is, he made it to be the Holy of Holies. 6:17 [The temple itself,] BEFORE THE DOORS OF THE ORACLE, [was forty cubits long.] That is: in front of the doors. As in: “Unless Catilina had hastened to give the signal before the curia”,a that is: in front of the curia. 6:20 BUT THE ALTAR HE ALSO COVERED WITH CEDAR. This is said about the altar of incense, which was in front of the oracle, about which he adds below: And the entire altar he plated with gold. So we are to understand that the same altar was made of stone, covered with cedar and plated with gold. The altar is called of the oracle (1 Kgs. 6:22) not because is was, or could be, in the oracle, as we have sufficiently shown in our commentary on the Pentateuch,b but because it was close to the oracle and facing it. 6:21 [He fastened the plates] WITH NAILS [of gold.] Each individual nail cost fifty shekels.c 6:23-27 [He made in the oracle] TWO CHERUBIM OF OLIVE WOOD, ETC. The cherubim are those angelic powers on whom God is said to be seated in Scripture, images of which both Moses made in his tabernacle,d and Solomon in the temple. The images, as well as the things they depict, are called cherubim. But it does not appear clearly from Scripture what living being these cherubim looked like. Ezekiel says that he understood that the living being he saw by the river Chebar were cherubim, which he described as having four faces in four parts. But such a form is not of one living being, but of several. SALLUST, De coniuratione Catilinae, 18, 8, 2. ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR, Exp. in Ex. 38:7, l. 2221-2224, CCCM 53, p. 157. c Fifty shekels (silver pieces) was one mna, a gold piece. Andrew’s point: The nails were not made of gold, because that would not be very practical, but they cost one gold piece. d Ex. 25:18. a

b

137

91

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 138

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

92

Elsewhere, when he describes the forms of the fourth living being that he saw, he says: And the face of one of them was like the face of a cherub. Because ‘cherub’ is substituted for ‘ox’ – where he first said the face of an ox, he later said the face of a cherub (Ez. 10:14 and 10) – some people think that a cherub really has the form of an ox.a Elsewhere he says: The cherub extended its hand (Ez. 10:7). But hands belong to a human shape. Elsewhere he says as if in wonder: And I saw that there were the hands of a human under the wings of the cherubim (Ez. 10:8). Besides, since the Jews think that the physical shape of the angels is the same as that of God, namely the same that is also human (this is why it is said to them Let us make Man in our likeness and image (Gen. 1:26), because they both had the same image and likeness), it would seem strange if they had made the physical shape of the angelic nature different from what they thought it was.b Whether they had a human shape, or an ox-like one, as Ezekiel seems to want it, they were distributed in the oracle in this way: One cherub of ten cubits tall stood five cubits away from the southern door, with its wings extended, one stretching to the wall, the other to the middle of the width of the oracle. The other one, of the same size, stood opposite in the same way. Hence their left wings (for they had their faces directed to the exterior of the house) touched one another in the middle of the oracle.c Their right wings touched the wall on both sides. Their individual wings were five cubits. These two large cherubim protected with their wings the ark in the middle of the oratory, with the lid of atonement and the cherubim that Moses made. Hence there were four cherubim in the temple. These large cherubim were plated with gold. They had upright feet, that is, lifted up and ready to walk.d a JEROME, In Hiezechielem, III, X, b Talmud Bavli, Hagigah 13b.

9/15, l. 793, CCSL 75, p. 115.

c I am not certain whether Andrew intends to say that they stood with their faces in opposite direction or that one of them crossed its wings. d 2 Chr. 3:13.

138

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 139

1 KINGS 6

6:29 AND ALL THE WALLS OF THE TEMPLE [all around were carved with divers figures and with turning.] The north and south wall and the back wall, that is the front on the west side, and the cedar wall. Or he says ‘all’ for ‘completely.’ ALL AROUND. On both sides. AND WITH TURNING. Of equal and regular measure, as things that are made on a lathe. Or perhaps some of the artwork there was made by turnery. HE MADE IN THEM CHERUBIM AND PALM TREES. Those are the bass reliefs that were made there. STANDING OUT. Projecting and sticking out. 6:31 AND IN THE ENTRANCE OF THE ORACLE HE MADE LITTLE DOORS, [of olive wood.] There was one entrance to the oracle, but it was closed by two doors, and with those unbarred it was opened, just as the temple and its portico had one entrance. AND POSTS OF FIVE CORNERS. Either he made the posts of the corners where the heads of the posts of the cedar wall were inserted, or he made five posts around the two little doors, just as the corner posts that are put in the corners of wooden houses, one at one side of the hinge inside the first door, and the other at the other side of the hinge, outside, and the same way around the hinge of the other door on the other side. And in the middle where the doors met he put one post. Or thus: the posts of the corners, that is, the ones that were on the corners, were five cubits. 6:32 [And he sculpted in them the figures of cherubim, and figures of palm trees,] AND ANAGLYPHS, STANDING VERY FAR OUT. That is, bass reliefs standing very far out. ‘Anaglypha’ is Greek, and in Latin they are called ‘caelaturae’ (‘bass reliefs’). In Chronicles, there is an addition at this place about the veil of four precious colors, into which cherubim were woven.a 6:33-34 [In the entrance of the temple he made four-square posts of olive wood,] AND TWO DOORS [of fir wood, one on each side.] In the entrance to the temple he made four-square posts and doors, not little doors, one on each side, that is, opposite a

2 Chr. 4:7.

139

93

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 140

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

94

of each other, because in that spot there was need for a somewhat stronger door, since many people were to go in and out through that entrance, and that entrance would be more exposed to storms and gusts of wind. AND EACH DOOR WAS A DOUBLE DOOR, [and opened with folding leaves.] They were divided into two, and they had folding leaves so they could be opened as one door. 6:36 [He built the inner court] WITH THREE ROWS OF POLISHED STONES AND ONE ROW OF BEAMS OF CEDAR. Either three rows of polished stone columns were placed all around the court next to each other, and at the inside a row of cedar columns, or one wall enclosed the court on all sides, with three square and well-polished stones placed next to each other along the length of the wall, and a cedar wall at the inside. Or maybe a three-fold stone wall and one cedar wall enclosed the court on all sides. He is dealing here with the interior court, which is called the priestly court, because priests and Levites served in it. This court was surrounded on all sides by the temple, but on the east, where the entrance to the temple was, it was much more widely separated from the temple, because there, that is, in view of the temple, the holy ministries took place. There was the bronze altar to offer sacrifices; there were the ten lavers to wash them; there was the bronze sea to wash the hands and feet of the priests when they came in to minister. According to Josephus, this court had a height of three cubits, so that that others were prohibited to enter from the temple-side while it showed that only priests were allowed to go in.a It had a door to the eastern side, up to which the people brought their sacrificial animals and offerings, from where they were accepted by the priests and brought to the altar. In the outer court, which was outside of the priestly court, which Chronicles calls the great hall,b all the people came together to pray and to hear the Word. a JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, 8, 3, 9, cited in BEDE, De templo, II, l. 620, CCSL 119A, p. 192. b 2 Chr. 4:7.

140

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 141

1 KINGS 6-7

6:38 [The house was finished in all its works and] IN ALL THE Appurtenances are all the things that are necessary for the use of a house or temple or something like that. HE BUILT IT FOR SEVEN YEARS. In the fourth year of the rule of Solomon, in the seventh month of that year, they laid the foundations of the house of the Lord, and it was dedicated in the seventh month of the eleventh year. In the eighth month of that same eleventh year the house was finished in all its works and its furnishings. There may still have been some things that they finished after the dedication, either in the works or in the furnishings. 7:2 [He also built] THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. In this house the arms were kept. It was called the house of the forest of Lebanon because the many trees planted around it made it look like a representation of the Lebanon. [It had four] PROMENADES [between cedar columns]. Galleries. 7:3 [He covered the whole] CHAMBER (‘camera’) [with boards of cedar.] This ‘chamber’ is a crypt, or what is called in the vernacular ‘volta’ (‘vault’). ‘Cameron’ is Greek, in Latin it is called ‘curved’ or ‘arched.’ Hence, because of its curvedness or archedness, ‘camera’ is called crypt or vault. 7:6 [And he made pillars and] NECKS (‘epistylia’) [upon the pillars.] The upper bases of columns, upon which the capitals are placed.a 7:9 [All the precious stones were sawn according to] NORM [and measure.] Straight edge. 7:16 [Two capitals of molten brass, to be set upon] THE HEADS OF THE PILLARS. Their upper parts. 7:17 A KIND OF LATTICE WORK AND CHAINWORK, WREATHED TOGETHER WITH WONDERFUL ART, supply: he made. In the capitals of the pillars, ornaments were sculpted or cast with wonderful artistry like nets or chains, and they seemed more attached to it than part of the same capitals. The APPURTENANCES.

a The neck, or echinus, of the column is the molding between the shaft of the column and the abacus of the capital. The word epistylium, which Andrew explains here, usually means architrave, but that clearly is not intended here.

141

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 142

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

95

96

words chainwork wreathed together show how the chainwork was made. SEVEN ROWS OF LATTICE WERE ON ONE CAPITAL. There were two rows of lattice around each capital, and either row ran with a pattern of seven turns until, having made a circle all around the capital, it ran back into itself. 7:18 [He finished the pillars, and two rows all around each lattice to cover the] CAPITALS THAT WERE ON TOP OF THE POMEGRANATES. Pomegranates were sculpted around the capitals and the necks upon which the capitals were placed, and that is probably why they are said to be on top of the pomegranates. 7:19 AND THE CAPITALS THAT WERE ON TOP OF THE PILLARS WERE MADE AS THE WORK OF LILIES [in the portico.] This refers to certain pillars that were in the portico, made in the shape of lilies, whose capitals measured four cubits. 7:20 AND AGAIN OTHER CAPITALS [above on top of the pillars.] These capitals are not assigned a certain measure, but it is only said that they were according to the measure of the pillar that they were placed on top of, but their size is not mentioned. [According to the measure of the pillar] OVER AGAINST THE NETWORK. This suggests that there was lattice work sculpted or cast around the top of the pillars, and that the capital was on top of that. [And there were two hundred rows of pomegranates all around] THE SECOND CAPITAL. On top of one capital there was another, and thus either of those two pillars, each one mentioned by name, seemed to have two capitals.a 7:21 [When he placed the left pillar he gave it the name] JACHIN, firmness. [Likewise he placed the second pillar and gave it the name] BOAZ, in strength. 7:23 [He also made a sea of cast metal, ten cubits] FROM BRIM TO BRIM. The line that stretched across the large laver which the book calls ‘sea’, from brim to brim, was ten cubits. THE HEIGHT [of it was five cubits.] The depth. 7:24 AND GRAVEN WORK (‘scalptura’) [under the brim went all around it.] Graven work is the same as sculpture. TEN CUa

The text is probably corrupt here, and some verses are switched in order. The Jerusalem Bible places verse 19b before 20.

142

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 143

1 KINGS 7

BITS,

[all around the sea.] The sculpture that surrounded the sea was ten cubits in its lower parts. Because its circumference at the top was thirty cubits, the sea seemed to be formed in such a way that from the top, where it was thirty cubits, it got narrower toward the bottom, where it narrowed down to ten cubits. [There were two rows cast of ] HISTORIATED SCULPTURES. Historiated sculptures are sculptures that represent certain stories. 7:25 THEIR HIND PARTS WERE COMPLETELY HIDDEN AT THE INSIDE. Only the front part of the oxen who carried the sea appeared from outside. 7:26 THE SIZE [of the laver was three inch.] The thickness. AND THE BRIM THEREOF WAS LIKE THE BRIM OF A CUP AND THE LEAF OF A CRISPED LILY. Its brim was curved outwards, just like the brim of a cup, or like the leaf of a crisped, that is, a curved, lily. For the leaf of a lily curves outwards from its stem. IT CONTAINED TWO THOUSAND BATHES. A bath is the same measure in liquids as the ephah in dry goods. This measure is also called a metrete. 7:28-30 [The work of the bases was cast ,a] AND THERE WERE SCULPTURES BETWEEN THE JOININGS, ETC. The joinings that are mentioned here, some people think, are of the boards from which the bases were made, in such a way that there were four individual boards in a square on the sides, and one on top.b For one individual base was composed of five boards. These boards were not sculpted, but cast. This is what is said in the verse above: The work of the bases was cast. In the joinings of those boards, both on the sides and on top where the upper board was joined to the lower ones, there were sculptures arranged in such a way that in the middle of the crowns all around and of the ledges, there were lions, oxen, and cherubim depicted. ‘Plectae’ or ‘flectae’ (ledges) are what is called in the vernacular ‘tretzas’ (tresses). Abovec the lions and oxen there were sculpa

Andrew’s Vulgate text reads fusile, ‘cast’, instead of the more common Vulgate reading interrasile, ‘embossed’. b BEDE, De templo, II, l. 946-949, CCSL 119A, p. 216. c Some Vulgate manuscripts read ‘below’.

143

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 144

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

97

tures like bands. The individual bases on their four corners were carried by four wheels on the four corners, which were joined one to another in two pairs. In front of the wheels, on the corners of the bases, there were four shoulders placed opposite each other, cast of the base itself, so the wheels could not slip out of their place. 7:31 THE MOUTH OF THE LAVER WAS INSIDE, [above on top, and what appeared on the outside was one cubit all around, and at the same time, it was one-and-a-half cubit.] The mouth of the great washing basin that was called the sea was turned outwards. But the smaller washing basins had their mouths turned inwards and seemed to be formed in such a way that at the mouth, they had a circumference of one cubit, and in the bottom, a circumference of one-and-a-half cubit. But in the middle and in the belly, they had a circumference of at least four cubits. IN THE CORNERS OF THE PILLARS [were divers engravings.] Pillars he calls here the boards of the bases. AND THE SPACES BETWEEN THE PILLARS [were square, not round.] The space between the pillars he calls the upper board, which as the other ones was square and similarly sculpted, and on the top it had a roundness of one-and-a-half cubit, on which the laver was placed. 7:38 [One laver contained four bases] AND WAS FOUR CUBITS. Because he says above, at the same time, it was one cubit and a half (1 Kgs. 7:31), and he does not add whether he means width or height, it seems that he wants us to understand that the bottom of that laver was this wide, because it could be easily conjectured out of the measure of the base on which each laver was placed, and it is described thus: On the top of the base there was a certain roundness of one-and-a-half cubits, made so that one could put a laver on it. So the width of the bottom of the lavers was one cubit and a half. The size of the lavers was four cubits, but whether that was its height or width, who knows? 7:39 THE SEA HE PUT ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE TEMPLE, [facing the east, in the south] ETC. What he says, on the right side

144

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 145

1 KINGS 7-8

of the temple, is the same as what he repeats, saying in the south. For those who entered the courtyard from the east first had to turn southward, where on that very corner stood the sea, ready for the priests for washing. Then if they went further inside, on either side they met the lavers to wash the sacrificial animals. And if they went further, they met the altar of the burnt-offerings, on the south side of the courtyard. And finally there was the portico of the temple, or the vestibule, in which there were the bronze pillars around the door of the temple. 7:40 [Hiram made] CAULDRONS. Bronze pots to catch the ashes of the altar. AND LADLES AND BOWLS. Bronze vessels, equal in width and size both on the bottom and at the mouth, to warm up wine. 7:45 [All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon in the house of the Lord were] OF YELLOW BRASS. The vessels that Solomon made for the house of the Lord were made of a certain kind of very light and bright brass, which here is called yellow brass. In Chronicles, more self-explanatory: of very fine brass (2 Chr. 4:16). 7:49 [And golden candle sticks, five on the right and five on the left, opposite the oracle, of pure gold,] AND LIKE LILY-FLOWERS. He seems to say this because the upper part of the candelabras was shaped like a backward-bent lily. AND GOLDEN LIGHTS UPON IT. The thing contained is used to indicate the container, namely the golden vessels in which the oil was burning. AND GOLDEN PINCERS. That is, snuffers, with which the candles were snuffed, to make them light better. 7:50 AND POTS. Water vessels in which the snuffed wicks were extinguished. 8:8 WHEREAS THE STAVES STOOD OUT [and the ends were seen beyond the sanctuary before the oracle, they were not seen further on the outside.] This is clearer in Chronicles: The ends of the staves with which the ark was carried, because they were a little bit longer, were seen before the oracle. But if one stood a little bit outward, one could not see them (2 Chr. 5:9). While one should note that although the ends of the staves stood out before the oracle

145

98

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 146

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

99

for those who really looked, it still could not be the case that the ends themselves stood out before the oracle, because it was necessary that when the door was shut and the curtain before the door was closed, the staves themselves with the ark were brought inside, which could not happen if they projected beyond the doors and left no room to close the doors. 8:9 THERE WAS NOTHING ELSE IN THE ARK BUT THE TWO STONE TABLES. In this book and in Chronicles it is asserted that there was nothing else in the ark of the Lord but the two stone tables on which the ten commandments of the law were written.a But in the letter that is entitled ‘to the Hebrews’ we read that apart from the stone tables, there were also a golden pot with the manna and Aaron’s staff which had budded in the ark.b But this letter is not held in authority with all Christians, and many believe it was not written by Paul. Still, we can say that in days of old only the tables used to be in the ark, but that later, for fear of enemies, they also put the golden pot with manna and the Aaron’s staff that had budded in the ark, so the enemies would not carry them away. Because they knew it was well known to the Gentiles that the Philistines had been struck with grievous plagues for carrying the ark away, they trusted it would not be taken away by enemies. Or perhaps these above-mentioned items were not in the ark itself, but next to it, just like the book of the law, and hence it is said that they were in the ark, because they were in some side-box next to it. 8:64 [On that day,] THE KING SANCTIFIED THE MIDDLE OF THE COURT [that was before the house of the Lord.] He had it sanctified and purified and separated from the rest of the court for the use of the Lord, so henceforth it would be a place of sacrifices. 8:65 [And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast ..., seven days and seven days, that is,] FOURTEEN DAYS. One should not understand the feast of the dedication to be fourteen days, but only seven. The following seven days were the feast of taba b

2 Chr. 5:10. Hebr. 9:4.

146

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 147

1 KINGS 8-10

ernacles. After those seven days were over, on the eighth day an assembly was held and the people were dismissed to their own. 9:13 [And he called them] THE LAND OF CABUL, [until this day.] Cabul, in the Phoenician language, means ‘to displease.’ Cabul also means ‘as an offshoot.’ According to that interpretation, the name land of Cabul is ironic. 9:26 [And King Solomon made a fleet in] EZION-GEBER. This is an island at the Egyptian end of the Red Sea. 9:28 [And they came to] OPHIR. A province named after one of the offspring of Heber. 10:1 [And the queen of ] SHEBA. The royal city of Ethiopia. 10:5 SHE NO LONGER HAD ANY SPIRIT IN HER. From astonishment and excessive admiration, she ran out of words, and almost out of her wits. 10:11 THYINE TREES. Thyine wood is said to be rot-resistant, thorny, brightly colored, and round, and similar to hawthorn. From it, ‘fulcra’ (posts) are made, from ‘fulcire’, to support, that is, the supports for the strength of the temple, but also the steps of the house of the Lord and all musical instruments.a 10:16 [And Solomon made] TWO-HUNDRED SHIELDS [of purest gold.] In Chronicles: two-hundred spears (2 Chr. 9:15). 10:17 AND THREE-HUNDRED ‘PELTAS’ (shields) OF FINE GOLD. Small round shields such as the Amazons use, or, as others say, half shields, like the moon when it is half full.b 10:20 AND TWELVE LITTLE LIONS [stood on the six steps.] The little lions stood on the steps by which one ascended to the throne, six on one and six on the other side. 10:21 ALL THE FURNITURE OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST LEBANON [was of purest gold.] About this house, it is written in Chronicles: The armory which was surrounded by a wood (2 Chr. 9:16). It seems likely that the commanders of the shield bearers a

An unidentified wood species sometimes identified as citron wood or sandarac wood. Hebrew ‘almuggim; the KJV renders ‘sandal wood’, other versions ‘almug wood’. b ISIDORE, Etymologiae, 18:12, 4 – ed. W.-M. LINDSAY (Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis), Oxford, 1911, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 3 Reg. 10:20, p. 120.

147

100

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 148

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

and those who kept watch before the doors or the chamber of the royal palace, together with the king’s bodyguards, lived in this afore-mentioned house and used its golden furniture. 10:22 [The king’s fleet went, once every three years, together with the fleet of Hiram by sea] TO TARSHISH, [and brought from there gold and silver.] In the Hebrew language, the word ‘tarshish’ means ‘sea’, or any large body of water. This is why some explain this text in the following way: The fleet went to Tarshish, that is, to sea, bringing from there, namely, the sea, silver and gold. But who would talk this way: “The fleet went by sea to the sea bringing from the sea silver?” Josephus, however, says that Tarshish is a city on the outer borders of Ethiopia. The text is clearer when we read it thus: The fleet of the king went with the fleet of Hiram once every three years by sea to that city of Tarshish, bringing from there, that is, from that city, gold and silver.a It seems that that city is close to India and Ophir, whence it has an abundance of gold. Or perhaps silver and gold was mined there. The text in Chronicles does not have by sea (2 Chr. 9:21), so one could also explain it according to the other explanation, but it is not very common to say, “bringing gold from the sea”. 10:27 [He made silver] AS PLENTIFUL [in Jerusalem] AS STONES. Hyperbolically 11:4 WHEN HE WAS OLD, [his heart was turned away.] Solomon was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he ruled for forty years. So how could he now be old? Or is it perhaps true what Josephus says, that he ruled for eighty years,b but because of his sin of idolatry, only forty years are counted as his reign? Besides, if he only ruled for forty years, he begat Rehoboam at eleven years old, because when Rehoboam began to rule, he was forty-one years old.c And it does seem unusual for an eleven-year old to beget children. In Esaiam, I, II, 16, l. 3 and 28-34, CCSL 73, p. 37-38, and JOSEAntiquitates Judaicae, 8, 6, 4. b JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, 8, 7, 8. c 1 Kgs. 14:1. a JEROME,

PHUS,

148

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 149

1 KINGS 10-11

11:8 AND

HE DID IN THIS MANNER FOR ALL HIS FOREIGN-

BORN WIVES,

[who burnt incense and brought offerings to their gods.] We should not understand this to mean that he built individual temples for each one of his foreign wives, since there were many, but he built temples for the number of the nations they came from and the gods they worshipped. For example: For all the Moabites who worshipped Chemosh, he built one temple in which they worshipped their god. The same way he did for the Sydonites, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Hethites. 11:13 [Neither will I take away the whole kingdom,] BUT I WILL GIVE ONE TRIBE TO YOUR SON. Elsewhere it is said: But one tribe shall remain (1 Kgs. 11:32), namely the tribe of Benjamin that remained with the royal tribe. The tribe of Judah is not said to remain with or to be given to the house of David, because it was already his. Or, one tribe only, that is Judah, remained with the house of David, or was given to him, because Benjamin was for the greater part within the tribe of Judah and compared to the larger tribe was not counted as a tribe, even though it was one. Or only the tribe of David was said to remain or to be given to the house of David, because it adhered to him more faithfully. The tribe of Benjamin, from which Saul the enemy of David came, adhered more to the house of David out of fear, because it was located close to them, rather than out of love. 11:18 [Who gave him a house and provided him victuals] AND APPOINTED HIM LAND. Assigned him land. 11:25 HE WAS AN ADVERSARY TO ISRAEL ALL THE DAYS OF SOLOMON. A bit above he says: The Lord raised up an adversary of Solomon, Hadad the Edomite (1 Kgs. 11:14), namely, the son of the king of Edom. But here it is said about Rezon, the son of Eliada the king of Damascus, that he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon. And a bit below he adds about Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he lifted up his hand against the king.a If Solomon and Israel had all those as adversaries, how a

1 Kgs. 11:26.

149

101

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 150

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

102

can it stand what is written above, The Lord my God has given me rest all around and there is no adversary nor evil occurrence? (1 Kgs. 5:4) And this: He had peace on every side round about, and Judah and Israel dwelt without any fear, each one under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan to Beersheba, all the days of the life Solomon? (1 Kgs. 4:24-25) And how can someone who was always Solomon’s enemy be said to be raised up as an enemy only at the time when he sinned? Yes, Hadad and Rezon and were adversaries of Solomon, but they were not mentioned as such because they were not felt to be adversaries; they were more enemies and adversaries by their evil intent and their hatred, rather than by the damage they in fact inflicted. This is why it is added: This is the evil of Hadad and his hatred against Israel. Or if they did harm Israel in any way, they could not harm it in such a way to inflict real fear and terror. They were adversaries before, but they are said to be raised as adversaries after Solomon’s sin, because he started to fear them then, doubting the Lord’s help because of his guilt over his sin and transgression, and perceive them as adversaries, if only by fear, when he had not perceived them that way before. Jeroboam, as some think, raised his hand against the king in this, that, not wanting to build Millo, he left Jerusalem as a rebel with the other leaders to whom the king had entrusted this work. And when he was found on the road there by the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite and became more certain that the kingdom of Israel would be transferred to him, he is said to have persuaded some people to make him king over them. But when it came to his notice that the king wanted to kill him, he fled into Egypt.a 11:27 SOLOMON BUILT UP MILLO AND FILLED UP THE VALLEY IN THE CITY OF DAVID. To fill up the valley and to build up Millo is the same thing. The explanation of this passage is that ‘and’ should be taken to mean ‘that is.’ The mount of Zion, where the citadel was, was called the city of David. Between this mountain and the lower city was a huge cleave and valley, a

Glossa ord. marg., 3 Reg. 11:25, p. 122.

150

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 151

1 KINGS 11-12

named Millo. Solomon ordered to fill this up entirely, and to level it to the rest of the soil. 11:28 JEROBOAM WAS A VALIANT AND MIGHTY MAN. This secretly introduces the reason why he dared to rebel. AND WHEN SOLOMON SAW [that he was an industrious young man.] Here it is indicated where Jeroboam’s power had come from. AND OF GOOD DISPOSITION. Disposition is the proof and image of future virtue. The king saw in Jeroboam a great sign of future virtue, and that is why he promoted the man. 11:41 [Behold, all these things are written] IN THE BOOK OF THE WORDS OF THE DAYS OF SOLOMON. This book, just like the Book of Ahijah the Shilonite and the Words of Nathan the Prophet and the Vision of Iddo the Seer, is not extant today. 12:4 [Your father] LAID A MOST GRIEVOUS YOKE UPON US. The grievous yoke that the people ask to be laid upon them was a tax on livestock and property for royal board and expenses, not to oppress them with slave labor. 12:11 [My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you] WITH SCORPIONS. A scorpion is a kind of whip, just as knotty sticks are usually made of hawthorn or apple wood. Or a Sarracen scourge, with two or three lashes, which has at its end large pieces of lead. 12:16 WHAT PORTION HAVE WE IN DAVID, OR WHAT INHERITANCE IN THE SON OF JESSE? When the land was divided, each one accepted his own portion, which was to be his inheritance. This is why ‘portion’ is put here for inheritance, as here: The Lord’s portion was his people (Deut. 32:9). What we should take ‘portion’ to mean is immediately added: And Jacob his share of inheritance. Likewise, elsewhere: My portion, O Lord (Ps. 119:57). And about Levi: His portion and inheritance is the Lord (Deut. 18:1-2). Hence, what is said, portion in David and inheritance in the son of Jesse is the same thing, just as Israel from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue (Ps. 114:1) is the same in meaning.a The meaning of the words here is: Is a This

common style figure in Hebrew poetry is called parallelism.

151

103

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 152

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

104

David our inheritance, then, that we should be so concerned to keep him as our king, as we should be concerned to keep our inheritance? As in: What should we care if David and his house rule over us? Or thus: What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? As if they said: What hold does David, who is from Judah, have over us, Israel? And what hereditary dignity is there for us, who are not from Judah, in the son of Jesse and his posterity, that he should obtain the reign as an inheritance for his offspring? 12:33 [He went] UPON THE ALTAR [which he had built in Bethel.] He went to the higher place where the altar was. 13:1 [There came a man of God out of Judah,] BY THE WORD OF THE LORD. On behalf of the Lord, or speaking in the person of the Lord. 14:19 [Behold, they are written] IN THE BOOK OF THE WORDS OF THE DAYS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL.a This book is not available today either. It is not, as some think, the books of Chronicles.b For later in the text, it is said that the deeds of Nadab, Elah, Omri, and Zimri were written in the book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Israel,c but they are not mentioned in Chronicles. The book of the Words of the Days of the Kings of Judah, that is Chronicles. Whatever is left in this book about each individual king, apart from the things that are written in Kings, we will treat sequentially at the end of this work.d 15:10 THE NAME OF HIS MOTHER WAS MAACAH, THE DAUGHTER OF ABISHALOM.e Abishalom is the same who is also called Absalom. Maybe he had two daughters called Maacah, of whom one was the mother of Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, and the other Abijah’s wife, the mother of Asa. a

A better translation of the title of the book would be: “The book of the events of the reigns of the kings of Israel”. b Cfr. Glossa ord. int., 3 Reg. 14:9, p. 127. c 1 Kgs. 15:31; 1 Kgs. 16:14, 20 and 27. d Andrew appended an excerpt of 2 Chr. 11-36 to his commentary on Samuel and Kings, CCCM 53A, p. 118-134. e Andrew here addresses the duplication of vs. 2 in vs. 10. The NIV tries to solve the problem by translating ‘mother’ in vs. 10 as ‘grandmother’.

152

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 153

1 KINGS 12-17

Or perhaps, just as there were various daughters named Maacah, they also had different fathers by the name of Absalom. In Chronicles, the mother of Abijah is called Micaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah.a 15:14 THE HEART OF ASA WAS PERFECT WITH THE LORD GOD ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE. The heart of Asa was not so perfect with the Lord that he did not offend him in some things. For in the following we read that he ordered the prophet Hanani, who had reproached him for having faith in the king of Assyria, to be thrown into prison, which displeased the Lord very much, and that in his illness he put his hope and faith in the skill of physicians, and not in the Lord.b But his perfection of heart was in his faith and worship of God. For he is never said to have turned to the worship of idols. 17:12 [And she answered: As the Lord God lives,] I HAVE NO BREAD BUT ONLY A HANDFUL OF MEAL. Which is to say: I have no bread, but I do have a handful of meal. Or infer: [I have no bread,] nor anything to eat, except for a handful of meal. 17:18 [And she said to Elijah:] WHAT HAVE I TO DO WITH YOU, MAN OF GOD? What communication and cohabitation is there between me, a sinner, and you, a saintly and righteous man? HAVE YOU COME TO ME SO THAT MY INIQUITIES SHOULD BE REMEMBERED, [and that you should kill my son?] The meaning is: Have you come to the hospitality of my house so that your righteousness might reveal my iniquity, and the Lord would remember my sins which were almost forgotten when there was no one better alongside me, so that he would punish me by killing my son? As if she said: For your sake the Lord has considered my house and thus he has remembered my sins. AND THAT YOU SHOULD KILL MY SON? She says that the prophet killed her son because he was the reason, as she saw it, why he was killed. Or maybe because he could have prevented it by

a b

2 Chr. 13:2. 2 Chr. 16:10-12, below, p. 178.

153

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 154

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

105

praying that he should not die, but did not do so, that is why she says he killed her son. 18:10 [When all answered: “he is not here”,] HE TOOK AN OATH OF EVERY KINGDOM [because you were not found.] He took an oath of the nearby kingdoms and nearby nations in the name of their gods that if Elijah were hiding with them he should be handed over to him. 18:14 [And now you say: “Go tell your master that Elijah is here”,] SO THAT HE MAY KILL ME. This is not a final but a consecutive clause.a 18:21 AND THE PEOPLE DID NOT ANSWER HIM A WORD. Either out of fear for the king, or because they did seem to have said anything worthy to answer him. 18:24 [The god who shall answer] BY FIRE, [let him be god.] By sending fire from heaven. 18:27 [Cry with a louder voice,] FOR HE IS A GOD. If you cry out loud, you will be listened to, for it is a god to whom you cry. PERHAPS HE IS TALKING, has a conversation with someone so he cannot hear you, OR HE IS AT AN INN. This is mockery. Maybe he was diverted on his journey to you, to heed a call of nature, and because he is far away he cannot hear you. 18:28 [They cried with a loud voice] AND CUT THEMSELVES [after their manner] ETC. The priests of idols were accustomed to cut themselves for this reason, that the god whom they supplicated would feel compassion for the affliction of its ministers and give what was asked for, or because they knew that their gods rejoiced at the spilling of human blood. 18:30 HE REPAIRED THE ALTAR OF THE LORD [that was broken down.] Elijah cleansed and repaired the altar of the Lord that was on mount Carmel, which had been destroyed and polluted by the idolaters. 18:34 [And he said: fill four buckets of water and] POUR IT UPON THE BURNT-OFFERING. He ordered a copious amount of wa-

a

Final clause: a. happens with the purpose of b. Consecutive clause: b. happens because it follows from a.

154

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 155

1 KINGS 17-19

ter to be poured on the wood and the burnt-offering and everywhere around the altar, so that there would arise no suspicion or false rumor that he had secretly lit it himself, because he was the one who proposed to make this a contest by fire. He also did this so that the power of God would become more apparent, since the fire sent by him would not only be shown to consume combustible and inflammable materials, but even nonflammables ones. 19:4 [He requested for his soul to die, and said:] IT IS ENOUGH FOR ME, O LORD. I have lived long enough. [Take away my soul, for] I AM NO BETTER, more worthy to live, THAN MY FATHERS, who are killed by the idolaters. He displays an admirable feeling of love for God: he wants to die rather than see him scorned. 19:10 WITH ZEAL I HAVE BEEN ZEALOUS FOR THE LORD THE GOD OF HOSTS. I have been angrily upset at the transgressors, for the sake of the Lord the God of hosts, whose commandments they scorned. AND I ALONE AM LEFT. He says he alone is left because, even if there was some prophet and worshiper of the Lord in Israel, there was no one who dared to speak out openly. 19:15-16 YOU SHALL ANOINT HAZAEL TO BE KING [over Syria, and you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel-meholah, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.] Elijah was commanded to anoint Hazael and Jehu to be kings, and Elisha to be prophet. He is not read to have anointed Elisha as a prophet other than by throwing his mantel over him.a And the above-mentioned kings he did not anoint himself, but through Elisha. It is not even said that Hazael was anointed by him or by Elisha, but only that he told him that he would be king.b It is likely, however, even though it is not written down, that both events happened, and that Elisha anointed Hazael and Elijah Elisha. 19:17 [Whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu,] ELISHA WILL SLAY HIM. From this passage we have proof that Elisha, through a b

1 Kgs. 19:19. 2 Kgs. 8:13.

155

106

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 156

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

those kings who assented to his advice, had the idolaters punished, and even condemned some of them to death. 19:18 [Every mouth that has not worshipped Baal,] KISSING THE HAND. Someone who worshipped an idol used to kiss its hand. 20:4 ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD, [my lord O king, I am thine and all that I have.] He thought that the king was talking only about his own possessions, and not those of his servants. 20:10 [This may the gods do to me and this they may add,] IF THE DUST OF SAMARIA SHALL SUFFICE [for all the people who follow me.] As if he said: Such a multitude of men is with me that if the whole city of Samaria were reduced to dust, one could not fill their hands with it. 20:11 [And the king of Israel answered and said: Tell him:] LET NOT THE GIRDED BOAST JUST AS THE UNGIRDED. He should not celebrate while he is still armed and poised for battle as if he had already put down his arms and tasted victory. For chance is random, the fight can go either way, and the outcome of war is uncertain. 20:24 REMOVE ALL THE KINGS [from your army.] They advised the removal of the vanquished and fugitive kings from his army because the king could not sufficiently trust them. 21:3 [Naboth answered him:] THE LORD BE MERCIFUL TO ME [and not let me give you the inheritance of my fathers.] May the Lord have this mercy upon me, that I should not give to you the inheritance that my fathers have left me. 21:7 [Then Jezebel his wife said to him: You are] OF GREAT AUTHORITY INDEED. This is irony. 21:9 PROCLAIM A FAST, [and make Naboth sit among the first of the people.] Among the Hebrews, a fast is only proclaimed when all the people are gathered together. He ordered a fast to be proclaimed so that among those gathered, Naboth would come and be accused. 21:19 [In this place, where the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth,] THEY SHALL ALSO LICK YOUR BLOOD. The blood of the son is the blood of the father. So when the dogs licked the

156

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 157

1 KINGS 19-22

blood of Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel in the vineyard of Naboth when he was killed by Jehu, they also licked the blood of Ahab.a 21:24 [If Ahab die in the city,] THE DOGS WILL EAT HIM. This threat of the Lord was fulfilled when the chariot of Ahab, who was killed in Ramoth Gilead, was washed in the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked the blood that had run out into the chariot.b 22:8 THERE IS ONE MAN LEFT [by whom we may inquire of the Lord.] All the others Jezebel either killed or forced to flee. 22:16 [I adjure you] AGAIN AND AGAIN. Often and frequently. 22:25 [Micaiah said: You shall see in the day that you shall go into a chamber, within a chamber] TO HIDE. It is likely that this happened in the days of Jehu. 22:31 [You shall not fight against anyone,] SMALL OR GREAT, [but against the king of Israel alone.] As if he said: Fight against no other than him alone. Direct all the weight of the battle against him. 22:35 [The blood ran out of the wound ] INTO THE MIDST [of the chariot.] Into the inside of the chariot.

a b

2 Kgs. 9:26. 1 Kgs. 22:38.

157

107

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 158

2 KINGS

108

1:1 [Moab] REBELLED [against Israel.] Broke their treaty. 2:1 [When the Lord wanted to take up Elijah into heaven] IN A WHIRLWIND. In the wild commotion and spinning of wind. 2:2 [Elijah said to Elisha:] SIT HERE. Stay here. 2:9 [I beseech you] THAT IN ME MAY BE YOUR DOUBLE SPIRIT. Some think Elisha asks to be given to him the double grace by which Elijah prevailed, that is the grace to prophesy and to do miracles.a Others assert that Elisha asked to be given twice as much of the grace to know the future and to do miracles as Elijah had, and that he received it. Therefore, whereas Elijah raised but one dead man, Elisha raised two, one during his life, the other when he himself was dead.b 2:12 [He took hold of his garments and] TORE THEM [into two pieces.] Either for grief over the departure of his teacher, or because he no longer wanted to use his own clothes but those of Elijah. 2:16 [Behold, with your servants there are fifty strong men who can go and seek your master, lest] THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD HAS TAKEN HIM UP. The spirit and strength of the Lord often used to transport Elijah in different places, and this is why Obadijah also said to him, When I am gone from you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you into a place that I do not know (1 Kgs. 18:12). Glossa ord. marg. 4 Reg. 2:9, p. 144. Talmud Bavli, Hullin 7b; cfr. 1 Kgs. 17:17-24, 2 Kgs. 4:18-37, and 2 Kgs. 13:20-21. a

b

158

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 159

2 KINGS 1-4

2:24 [He cursed them] IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. By the name of the Lord. Or: After invoking the name of the Lord. 3:13 [Elisha said to the king of Israel:] WHAT IS THERE BETWEEN ME, a prophet of the Lord, AND YOU, an idolater. As in: What do you and I have in common? 3:25 AND THE CITY WAS BESET [by the slingers.] The royal city and metropolis of Moab. 4:6 [And he answered: I have no more.] AND THE OIL STOOD. Stopped increasing. 4:12 [He said to Gehazi his servant:] CALL THIS SHUNAMMITESS. The holy man is never said to have called her by her proper name, but always by her country’s name, because he never had such a familiarity with her that he knew her name, although he very often stayed with her when he travelled through the city of Shunem, for which she was called Shunammitess. 4:13 [And she answered:] I DWELL IN THE MIDST OF MY OWN PEOPLE. I am surrounded on all sides by my people; there is no one who could do me any injustice which would require me to speak to the king or prince. Those who live in the borderlands are more prone to injustice. 4:23 [He said to her: Why do you go to him?] TODAY IS NEITHER A NEW MOON NOR A SABBATH. On those days people used to visit and listen to prophets and teachers. 4:28 [Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say to you:] DO NOT DECEIVE ME? It was but a deception, to obtain a son from the Lord and so quickly lose him. 4:29 [If any man meet you,] DO NOT GREET HIM. He wants him to run with such haste that he should not stop even to greet anyone or to answer to a greeting. 4:39 [He found something like a wild vine, and gathered] COLOCYNTHS [of it.] This plant is a kind of forest vine, and it grows in hedges. In the vernacular, this plant of very bitter taste is called ‘quitnes’.a The prophet’s servant picked only a few of a

Possibly a quince, in Old French cuin.

159

109

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 160

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

the leaves of this plant, or perhaps a bit of its fruit (which when it is ripe is purple and round), and shredded this into the cooking pot. 4:40 DEATH IS IN THE POT. A great bitterness like death. 5:7 [He tore his clothes and said:] AM I GOD, [to be able to kill and give life?] This is the reason he tears his clothes, namely because he blasphemed by asking from a human being what only God can. This is also why he says immediately afterwards that he seeks occasions of war against him, because he asked from him what was impossible for a human being. 5:12 [He went away] INDIGNANT. Very angry. 5:17 [Allow your servant to take of the earth a load] OF TWO HINNIES. A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey, while a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. 5:19 [He departed from him] IN THE CHOSEN TIME [of the earth.] In Hebrew: a small distance of land. 5:22 [Give him a talent of silver, and] A DOUBLE CHANGE OF GARMENTS. Either new garments that one changes for others, or four pairs of garments. For one change of garments is two garments of which one can be changed for the other. 5:26 [But he said: was not] MY HEART [present?] My spirit. 6:18 [Strike, I beseech thee, these people] WITH BLINDNESS. Not complete blindness, but confounded sight. 6:25 [The fourth part of a kab of ] PIGEON’S DUNG [for five pieces of silver.] Some people think that they bought pigeon dung because they could find some grain in it, or because they thought they could make a concoction out of it that they could eat as food.a To me, it seems this clever craving found a way to make some kind of brew out of this manure, which was made of kosher (‘mundum’) food (and which in itself is not particularly dirty), which they could take as food in that time of need. For it is not quite clear that one can find grains of wheat in a pigeon’s dropping. a

HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 112D.

160

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 161

2 KINGS 4-9

6:33 BEHOLD, SUCH AN EVIL IS FROM THE LORD. [What else shall I expect from the Lord?] These are the words of the messenger, speaking in the person of the king who sent him. As if he were saying: There is no affliction I can expect from the Lord more grievous than the one we now suffer, in which mothers eat their children. So, you, who can help us, what makes you delay? The messenger was sent to cut off the prophet’s head, because he did not help them in such a time of need, though they believed he could. But because he saw that his lord, moved by remorse, was coming hastily behind him, he spoke conciliatory words. 7:10 [We went to the camp of the Syrians, and] WE FOUND NO MAN, EXCEPT HORSES. The meaning is: We did not find any man, but we did find horses, etc. 8:1 THE LORD HAS CALLED A FAMINE. An angel in charge of famine. Or it is an expression. 8:15 [The next day, he took] A BLANKET (‘stragulum’), [poured water on it, and spread it over his face; and he died.] ‘Stragulum’ comes from ‘stravi ’ (to stretch out), that is a cloth that is spread out under lying or sitting people. He spread a blanket soaked with water over the face of the sick man to cool him down a bit, because he was feeling too hot. Some people say that while he was stretching out the blanket over his face to cool him down, although he knew that he was not going to recover from his sickness, as the prophet had foretold, he became impatient and in this way strangled him.a 9:11 [Why came] THIS MAD MAN [to you?] Prophets were often considered delirious. 9:18 [And Jehu said to him:] WHAT IS THERE BETWEEN YOU AND PEACE? What do you have in common with peace? Or: what do you have to do with peace, you who are a messenger of the man who disturbs the earth? 9:26 [For the blood of Naboth] AND FOR THE BLOOD OF HIS SONS. Above, where the Lord had threatened Ahab, there was a

HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR, Adnot. in Reg., PL 175, col. 113A.

161

110

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 162

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

111

no mention of his sons.a But perhaps what was omitted there, is added here. 9:31 CAN THERE BE PEACE FOR ZIMRI, [who has killed his master?] That is, Jehu, who killed his master, as did Zimri. 9:35 [They found nothing but] THE SKULL. The bone that holds the brain.b 10:9 [He said to all the people:] YOU ARE JUST. Compared to them who killed so many of their master’s sons. Just as the verse Your sister Sodom is just in comparison to you (Ez. 16:48 and 52). 11:6 [Let the third part be at the gate behind the place of the shield bearers, and guard] THE HOUSE OF MESSA. That is, the gate of the shield bearers. 11:12 [He brought forth the king’s son, and put] THE DIADEM [on him, and the testimony.] The royal crown, and the book of the Law that he had in his hand. 11:15 [Take her out of the temple precinct, and] WHOSOEVER SHALL HAVE FOLLOWED HER, to defend her, [let him be slain with the sword.] 12:5 [And let them repair] THE COVER PATCHES. Make repairs. Patches are repairs to old things. Or: and they joined together the separated parts. In Hebrew: And they repaired the cracks. 14:3-4 [Amaziah did what was right before the Lord, but not quite like David his father. He did everything just as his father Joash did,] EXCEPT FOR THIS ONLY, THAT HE DID NOT REMOVE THE HEIGHTS. It is said about Amaziah that he did everything just as his father Joash did, except for this thing, that he did not remove the heights, as if his father Joash did remove the heights and he did not, and in this he did less than his father. But about Joash we read above: Joash did what was right before the Lord all the days that Jehoiada the priest taught him, but he did not remove the heights (2 Kgs. 12:2-3). We can read this text thus: Amaziah did all things just as his father did, that is, he did everything right just as his father did everything right, except for this one thing. There was only this one thing that he did less, not than a

1 Kgs. 21:19. Latin word for skull used here is calvaria, ‘calvary’.

b The

162

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 163

2 KINGS 9-17

his father, but less than what he should have done, that he did not remove the heights, just as his father failed to do this. Removing the heights meant making sure that the people would not sacrifice in the high places. Or removing the heights meant destroying and desecrating the idyllic and pleasant places that they often carefully prepared on green hills and on the tops of mountains, planting them all around with greenery such as linden trees, where they offered sacrifices to their idols, or even to the Lord, because of the idyllic setting of the place. 14:7 [He took] PETRA [by war.] This is a well-known city in Arabia. But Josephus says that this is not a city but a large rock (‘petra’) somewhere in Arabia.a 16:9 [He carried off its inhabitants] TO KIR. A city in Ethiopia. There is also another city by that name in Africa. 16:18 THE MUSACH FOR THE SABBATH, [which he had built in the temple.] This is a building, placed in the vestibule of the temple, where kings handed out their alms when they went to the temple on the sabbath. Thus the Musach of the sabbath is the treasury of the kings, just as the Corbanas was that of the priests.b 17:9 [They built themselves high places in all their cities,] FROM THE WATCH TOWER TO THE WALLED CITY. The meaning is: They built high places both in walled cities and in the watch towers where soldiers were placed to guard the provinces. 17:13 [The Lord] TESTIFIED [to them in Israel and in Judah by the hand of all the prophets and seers.] He presented testimony of their wickedness against them and he showed them their sins through his prophets. 17:15 [And they rejected] HIS TESTIMONIES. The Law. 17:24 AND THE KING OF THE ASSYRIANS BROUGHT [people from Babylon.] Esharaddon the son of Sennacherib.

Antiquitates Judaicae, 9, 9, 1, cited in Glossa ord. marg., 4 Reg. 14:7, p. 161. b Matt. 27:6. Corbanas, probably a noun and not a proper name, is translated as ‘treasury’ in most English versions of Matt. 27:6. a JOSEPHUS,

163

112

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 164

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

17:27 [Let him teach them] THE ORDINANCES OF THE GOD The sacrifices proscribed by the Law. 17:34 [They do not fear the Lord and they do not keep] HIS CEREMONIES , AND JUDGMENTS , AND LAW, AND COMMAND MENT. Ceremonies properly speaking are those commandments that do not have a clear reason, such as Do not wear cloth of wool and linen woven together (Deut. 22:11). Judgments are those precepts that have a punishment stipulated for their transgression, such as Whosoever curses his father or mother will certainly die (Ex. 21:7). ‘The law’ comprises everything, but here it refers especially to appropriate actions, such as the precept about the Hebrew slave: He is to serve you for six years, but in the seventh year he shall go free (Deut. 15:12). A commandment is when something is simply commanded or prohibited, as Love the Lord your God (Deut. 6:5), and You shall not kill, and You shall not commit adultery (Ex. 20:13-14), and similar things. 18:5 [He trusted in the Lord the God of Israel,] SO THAT AFTER HIM THERE WAS NONE LIKE HIM AMONG ALL THE KINGS OF JUDAH, NOR AMONG ANY THAT WERE BEFORE HIM. According to these words, Hezekiah seems to be even better than David, and better than Josiah, about whom we read in the following passage: There was no king before like him (2 Kgs. 23:25), by which words Josiah seems to be preferred over both David as well as Hezekiah. Some say that this only applies to the kings who came after the division of the ten and two tribes, so that no one who preceded Hezekiah was like him.a This is why it is said significantly of all the kings of Judah. David was not just king of Judah alone, but also of the entire people. Josiah, who came after him, was good, but not all that similar to him. For he was not as greatly exalted by eminent feats of arms as Hezekiah. The fact that he constantly resisted the king of the Assyrians, that he slew the Philistines as far as Gaza and their borderlands, that the sun returned for him ten lines, that the Lord added a span of fifteen years to his life, and that in one night the angel slew OF THE LAND.

113

a

Cfr. RADAK, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 2 Kgs. 18:5, p. 375.

164

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 165

2 KINGS 17-19

so many thousands in the camp of the Assyrians for his sake, makes him quite unequal in glory to Josiah and all the other kings. But in zeal for the law and in walking in all the ways of the Lord all his days without trouble, neither Hezekiah, nor any king who preceded him in Judah, nor even David was found similar to Josiah. For David sinned against Uriah, and as for Hezekiah, in the embassy of the princes who were sent from Babylon to ask him about the marvel, God left him to be tempted, and all things were made known that were in his heart (2 Chr. 32:31). 18:25 IS IT WITHOUT THE WILL OF THE LORD [that I have come up to this place to destroy it?] Rabshakeh is speaking in the person of his own lord. He lies that he has come down to Jerusalem by the will of the Lord to deter the citizens from defending of the bulwarks, to make sure they would not defend their city against the will of the Lord. 18:27 THAT THEY MAY EAT THEIR OWN DUNG [and drink their urine.] That they may be forced by a long siege to such distress that they would consume this as food and drink. 18:32 [Until I come and take you away] TO A LAND LIKE YOUR OWN LAND. Chaldea, which is said to be similar in geography to Judea. 18:34 HAVE THEY DELIVERED SAMARIA? Infer: its gods. 19:3 THE CHILDREN ARE COME TO THE BIRTH [and she who is in labor has no strength.] The meaning is: We are suffering anguish like someone who is about to give birth but cannot go into labor because her forces fail her. 19:7 BEHOLD, I WILL SEND A SPIRIT UPON HIM. Shortly I will send him an angel who will strike his camp, AND HE WILL HEAR A MESSAGE, namely that his own are killed. 19:21 [The virgin daughter of Zion] HAS DESPISED YOU AND LAUGHED TO SCORN YOU, ETC. Some think that the daughter of Zion is called a virgin here, because she alone has preserved the chastity of the worship of the one God.a But elsewhere we read: a

HRABANUS, Comm. in IV Reg., XIX, PL 109, col. 256C.

165

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 166

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

114

The virgin daughter of Babylon (Is. 47:1). To me it seems that she is called ‘virgin daughter of Zion’ rather than just ‘daughter of Zion’ because her behavior, despising and scorning and wagging her head, is more that of a young girl.a The meaning is: Zion, whom you have threatened with ruin, certain of God’s help, has scorned these threats, and, despising and wagging her head behind your back, mocks you while you flee shamefully to your own country, with your armies disbanded. 19:24 [I have dried up with the soles of my feet] ALL THE CLOSED WATERS. Cisterns, lakes, and ponds. 19:25 FROM THE DAYS OF OLD I HAVE FORMED IT AND NOW I HAVE CARRIED IT OUT. Do you not know that everything you do or did, I decreed and formed since the beginning of the world in my providence; that is, I foresaw that it would be done through you, and now I have carried it out in fact, that is, I made it happen through you. THAT THE WALLED CITIES OF THE HILLS OF THE FIGHTERS WILL BE IN RUIN. ‘Hills’ he calls the princes and the mighty. The meaning is: The fortified cities and the princes and the mighty, all of them you will overturn. We can also take these hills to mean minor fortifications, just as cities are major fortifications. As if he were saying: Both the major and the minor fortifications you will equally demolish, and its inhabitants already are afraid of you. 19:28 I WILL PUT A RING IN YOUR NOSE [and a bit between your lips, and return you the way you came.] Your jaw and nostrils I will constrain with iron, and I will drive you back subdued by my own hand. I will put a ring in the nose of the stag and rebellious horses are tamed with a muzzle. 19:29 BUT FOR YOU, HEZEKIAH, THIS WILL BE A SIGN. The sign of liberation from the hands of the Assyrians, whose siege you now fear, and a sign of protection against them will be for you, Hezekiah, that I will bring Sennacherib back the way he came, subdued, and with his army scattered. And because they could fear famine, since all things were consumed, the prophet The argument resembles Andrew’s argument on Isaiah 7:14, where he argues that ‘virgin’ just means ‘young girl’. a

166

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 167

2 KINGS 19

also addresses this concern, saying, Eat this year etc. [Eat this year] WHAT YOU SHALL FIND. Of the things you prepared for the siege. [And in the second year the things] THAT GROW BY THEMSELVES. Such as the fruits of trees. BUT IN THE THIRD YEAR, SOW AND REAP. Practice agriculture, just as always, and without fear. In the first year that they were besieged, all the things that could be found by the enemies outside the walls of Jerusalem were consumed. The siege did not permit them to grow or sow anything to provide for the coming year. That is why it is said that in the first year they should eat whatever they found, and in the second year that they should live on fruits. In that year they could sow for the needs of the third year, but not so they could live on it, because the siege was lifted close to the harvest time. It was not necessary to give him a sign that he would be freed from the distress of the present siege, because the same night that Rabshakeh came back from Egypt and besieged the city, his army was slain by an angel. Or thus, in the view of some: In this year that you are besieged by Rabshakeh, eat what you find. In the second year, when Rabshakeh and Sennacherib will be in Egypt, because you cannot sow anything because of the siege, live on the fruits of the trees. But in the third year, when the siege is lifted, sow and reap. And this, the fact that you will see these three years go by in this way, will be a sign for you of liberation from the hands of the Assyrians. For they assert that in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, Sennacherib the king of Assyria went up and took all the walled cities of Judah. When he was besieging Lachish, Hezekiah sent him three hundred talents of silver and thirty of gold to leave him alone. But after receiving the money, he did not keep faith, but sent Rabshakeh and others to Jerusalem to besiege and take the city. After failing in that, they returned to the king who besieged Libnah. When it was announced to him that the king of Ethiopia was coming to fight against him, he went to Egypt and besieged Pelusium. But when the city was about to be taken, and he heard that Tirhakah the king of Ethiopia was moving against him, he

167

115

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 168

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

116

went back to Judea and besieged Jerusalem. In all these affairs, they think three and a half years passed.a 19:30 WHATSOEVER SHALL BE LEFT OF THE HOUSE OF JUDAH WILL PUT ITS ROOT DOWN AND BEAR FRUIT ABOVE. Although the enemy’s sword had almost devoured the entire people, so that they would not despair over the paucity of people, he promised that the population would multiply quickly. This is said in simile to a fruit bearing tree, which, the deeper it puts its roots down, the more plentifully bears fruit above ground. 19:31 OUT OF JERUSALEM SHALL GO FORTH A REMNANT. Those who were left will go out of Jerusalem and occupy the entire earth. THE ZEAL OF THE LORD OF HOSTS SHALL DO THIS. Their own merit shall not do this, but God’s love and mercy. 20:1 GIVE CHARGE CONCERNING YOUR HOUSE, [for you shall die and not live.] Give charge to your servants about the disposition and administration of your household. 20:9 [This shall be a sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do what he has spoken.] DO YOU WANT THE SHADOW TO GO FORWARD TEN LINES, OR TO GO BACK AS MANY LINES? The option is given here if he wants to receive as a sign either that the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz should go forward ten lines, or that it should go back ten lines. ‘Lines’ and ‘steps’ are one and the same thing. The way that some understand it, the lines on this sundial were constructed by mechanical art in such a way, that the falling shadow indicated the ends of the space of the hours, receding one by one. It was the tenth hour when the prophet had this conversation with the king. Do you want, he said, for the shadow to go forward ten lines, with the sun moving eastward above the earth through the northern skies (which in its normal daily course it would do under the earth), or would you rather have the shadow go back by the same number of lines, with the face of the sun changing direction, and returning to the east through the southern skies? The king chose the latter, because it would be a greater miracle for the sun to move against its usual a JOSEPHUS, Antiquitates Judaicae, XXXVII, 30/32, CCSL 73, p. 440-441.

10, 1, 1-5; cfr. Jerome, In Esaiam, III,

168

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 169

2 KINGS 19-20

motion, than merely for it to fly to the east continuing in its normal direction, but elevated above the earth, making the morning of the second day without an intervening night. For those who live on the island Thile, which is further north than Britain, or those who live in the remotest parts of Scythia can see clearly on some days every summer how the sun dutifully returns from the west to the east. But those who dwell down south can, in these southern skies, never see the sun returning to the east from its setting.a But if the sun proceeds under the earth, how could the shadow advance across the sundial if there was but darkness? Or how could the king, for whom this was supposed to be a sign, determine that the shadow advanced ten lines on the sundial? On a sundial, which is divided by lines or degrees, one can only discern the hours of the day, and not those of the night. And during the day, one can only discern the hours on a sundial if the sun shines. To me, it seems more likely that Ahaz’s sundial had twentyfour distinct lines or degrees for indicating the hours of the day, such that to indicate one hour, two lines should be taken together. When the shadow of the bar, which was set at an angle in the middle of the hemisphere, entered the first of the two lines, this marked the beginning of the hour; when it exited the second, this marked the end of the hour. Until the sixth hour, while the sun gets higher, the shadow gets shorter while it advances over the lines. But from the moment that the sun recedes until the time of sunset, the shadow gets longer on the lines. Therefore it was the sixth hour when the prophet offered this choice to the king, whether he wanted the shadow to get longer for ten lines, that is: that it would be carried in one moment from the sixth to the last hour of the day, or whether it should get shorter the same number of lines, and go back to the spot where the second hour of the day begins. And the kings chose the latter for the reason given above.

BEDE, In Reg., XXV, l. 5-29, CCSL 119, p. 316-317, cited in Glossa ord. marg. 4 Reg. 20:9, p. 172. a

169

117

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 170

COMMENTARY ON SAMUEL AND KINGS

In Hebrew: Do you want the shadow to stay still for ten lines, that is, to stay in the place where it is now, for the time it would take to move forward ten lines? And because this could be ascribed to nature, or custom, and would never be noticed by anybody, he chose rather that it would return ten lines, which everyone would plainly recognize as a miracle.a 21:6 HE PRACTICED SOOTHSAYING. He practiced divination on the altars. 21:13 [I will efface Jerusalem,] AS TABLETS ARE WONT TO BE EFFACED. Writing on wax tablets. I WILL ERASE IT AND TURN IT, AND DRAW THE STYLUS OFTEN OVER ITS SURFACE. Whoever wants to delete thoroughly what is written in wax tablets, will rub the stylus back and forth again and again over the surface of the wax. 22:14 [They went to Huldah the prophetess, ...] WHO DWELT IN JERUSALEM IN THE SECOND. In Chronicles we read that Hezekiah built the whole wall that had been broken down, and around it another wall (2 Chr. 32:5). Hence Zephaniah: Wailing from the second (Zeph. 1:10). The prophetess lived in the second, that is, on part of the second wall. 22:20 YOU WILL BE GATHERED TO YOUR SEPULCHER IN PEACE. How can she say in peace if he was killed by Pharaoh Necho?b She says in peace not about the king, but about Jerusalem, namely, before the Lord brings about the evils that he will bring about. 23:25 [There was no king before him] LIKE UNTO HIM. As was said above: in zeal for the law and in all the other things that we have said above. 23:33 AND HE SET A MULCT (‘multa’) UPON THE LAND. A mulct is a fine in the form of taking away livestock. 25:6 [They brought him to the king of Babylon to Riblah,] AND HE SPOKE JUDGMENT WITH HIM. He told him what penalty he a b

RASHI, in: Mikra’ot gedolot, 2 Kgs. 20:9, p. 398. 2 Kgs. 23:29.

170

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 171

2 KINGS 20-25

had to bear for the treaty and oath he had broken, and because he had dared to rebel without a just cause. 25:14 [They took away ...] THE SCOOPS. Those instruments with which the pavement is cleaned and wiped.

171

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 172

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 173

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 174

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 175

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

In this final part of this work, we have taken care to note down in abridgement the remaining deeds (reliqua verborum) of each of the kings of Judah, apart from those that are treated in the book of Kings, and that are written down in that book that is called “the Book of the Events of the Days (verba dierum) of the Kings of Judah”.a 11 Rehoboam the son of Solomon dwelt in Jerusalem, and in the fifteen cities that he enclosed with walls and fortified with great diligence in Judah and Benjamin. He put in them governors and storehouses of provisions, and he made an armoury of shields and spears. And the priests and Levites that were in all Israel left their seats and came to him. For Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priestly office to the Lord. But out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel came into Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord. And they strengthened the kingdom of David, and strengthened Rehoboam for three years. They walked in the ways of David and of Solomon only for three years. And Rehoboam took as a wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David, and also Abihail the daughter of Eliah the son of Jesse. Above all his eighteen wives, forty concubines, twenty-eight sons, and forty daughters, Rehoboam loved Maacah, the daughter of Absalom, and Abijah, a The

book of Chronicles, see above, p. 152.

175

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 176

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

119

the son whom he begat from her. Him he made the chief over all his brethren and meant to make him king, because he was wiser and mightier over all his sons. 12 And when the kingdom of Rehoboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. When Shishak king of Egypt took the strongest cities in Judah and came up to Jerusalem, Shemeiah the prophet came to Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah, who were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Shishak, and he said to them: “Thus says the Lord: You have left me, and hence I have left you in the hand of Shishak”. And the princes of Israel and the king, being in a consternation, said: “The Lord is just”. When the Lord saw their humility, the Lord said to Shemeiah: “Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of an earthly kingdom”. Now the acts of Rehoboam first and last are written in the book of Shemeiah the prophet and Iddo the seer. There was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. 13 There was war between Abijah the son of Rehoboam the son of Solomon and Jeroboam. And when Abijah had begun battle, and had with him four hundred thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war. And when Abijah stood upon mount Zemaraim, which was in Ephraim, and, speaking to Jeroboam and his people, questioned their unrighteousness and reproached them for their idolatry, and claimed that he and his own kept the Law, and that whosoever was a leader in their army served the precepts of the Lord, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he encompassed Judah, who perceived it not, with his army. And when Judah looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them both before and behind, and they cried

176

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 177

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

to the Lord. And the priests began to sound with the trumpets, and all the men of Judah shouted. And behold when they shouted, God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and the Lord delivered them into their hand. And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men. And Abijah pursued Jeroboam, and took three cities from him, with their villages, and Jeroboam was not able to resist any more in the days of Abijah. Abijah, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives, and begot twenty-two sons, and sixteen daughters. 14 In the days of Asa the son of Abijah the land was quiet for ten years. He also built strong cities in Judah, for he had no hinderance. And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of Judah three hundred thousand. And Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots. And when Asa called upon the Lord, he pursued the terrified and fleeing Ethiopians to Gerar, and they fell even to utter destruction, for they were destroyed by God’s grace and his army’s fighting. 15 But the spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, and he went out to meet the king and the people, who were returning with great booty, which they had carried from the cities, which they had slain all around Gerar, and he said: “The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. Many days shall pass in Israel without the true God, and without a priest and a teacher, and without the Law. And when in their distress they shall have returned to the Lord the God of Israel, and shall have called onto him and have sought him, they shall find him. At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the earth. For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for the Lord will trouble them in all distress. But you, take courage, and let not your hands be

177

120

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 178

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

121

weakened, for there shall be a reward for your work”. And when the king had heard these words of the prophet, he took away the idols out of all the land of Judah, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the house of the Lord. He sacrificed of his spoils to the Lord, and he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God with all their heart, and with all their soul. “And if any one”, said he, “will not have sought the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman”. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets, all that were in Judah, with a curse. For with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest round about. 16 At the time that Baasha built a wall about Ramah, Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee”. And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in prison. The Lord was greatly enraged because of this thing, and he put to death many of the people at that time. 17 Jehoshaphat the son of Asa grew strong against Israel. He placed numbers of soldiers in all the cities of Judah that were fortified with walls, and he put garrisons in the land of Judah, and in the cities of Ephraim, which his father had taken. And all Judah brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and he acquired immense riches, and much glory. But in the third year of his reign, he sent five of his princes, nine of his Levites, and two priests, having with them the book of the Law of the Lord, to teach in the cities of Judah and instruct the people. And the fear of the

178

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 179

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, and they durst not make war against Jehoshaphat. But the Philistines also brought presents to Jehoshaphat, and tribute in silver. The Arabians also brought him cattle, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and as many he-goats. And Jehoshaphat grew, and became great to the highest degree, and he built in Judah houses like towers, and walled cities, and he prepared many works in the cities of Judah. 18 Now Jehoshaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by affinity to Ahab. 19 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned from Ramoth Gilead, where Ahab was killed, Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him: “Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord, but good works are found in thee”. And Jehoshaphat went out again to the people from Beersheba to mount Ephraim, and called them back to the Lord the God of their fathers. And he set judges of the land in all the cities of Judah, charging the judges not to exercise the judgment of man, but of the Lord, and to do all things with the fear of the Lord and diligence, without respect of persons, nor gifts. 20 After this the children of Moab and the children of Ammon were gathered together to fight against Jehoshaphat. When he and all Judah stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite, and of the sons of Asaph. He said: “Attend ye, all Judah, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat: Thus says the Lord: Fear not. It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you. O Judah and Jerusalem, fear not, nor be you dismayed. Soon you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you”. The king also gave counsel to the people, and appointed choristers of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before

179

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 180

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

122

the army, and with one voice to say: “Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever”. And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, on the children of Ammon and Moab and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Judah, and they were slain. For the children of Ammon and of Moab rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them, and when they had completed this work, they turned even against one another, and perished by mutually inflicted wounds. Then Jehoshaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about. After these things Jehoshaphat king of Judah made friendship with Ahaziah king of Israel, whose works were very wicked, and he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tarshish, and they made a fleet in Ezion-geber. But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied to Jehoshaphat, saying: “Because thou hast made a league with Ahaziah, the Lord hath destroyed thy works”. And the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharshish. 21 Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, when his reign was established, slew all his brethren, who were six in number, and some of the princes of Israel. There was a letter brought him from Elijah the prophet, in which it was written: “Thus says the Lord the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Judah, but hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance. Thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day”. And the Lord stirred up the spirit of the Philistines and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians, who did to Jehoram all that the prophet had said. He died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.

180

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 181

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

23 In the seventh year Jehoiada was encouraged, and took five captains of hundreds and made a covenant with them. They went about Judah, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God, and Jehoiada said to them: “Behold the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David”. 24 Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a hundred and thirty years old. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings. After the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah went in, and worshipped the king, and he was soothed by their services and hearkened to them. And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers, and served groves and idols. The spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood in the sight of the Lord and said to them: “Thus says the Lord God: Why do you transgress the commandment of the Lord, which will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to make him forsake you?” And they gathered themselves together against him, and stoned him at the king’s commandment in the court of the house of the Lord. And king Joash did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada his father had done to him, but he killed his son. And when he died, he said: “The Lord see, and may he judge”. And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and killed all the princes of the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus. And on Joash they executed shameful judgments, and departing they left him in great diseases. And his servants rose up him, to revenge the blood of Zechariah, and they slew him in his bed, and he died. And they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 25 Amaziah gathered Judah together, and he hired of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a hundred talents of silver. A man of God came to him, and said: “O king, let not the army

181

123

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 182

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

124

of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel and all the children of Ephraim”. And, listening to his advice, he took courage and led forth his people, and went to the Valley of the Saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand, and another ten thousand men the sons of Judah took, and brought to the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong from the top, and they all burst asunder. And that army which Amaziah had sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Judah, and having killed three thousand took away much spoil. And Amaziah, after he had slain the Edomites, took away the gods of the children of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, and adored them, and burnt incense to them. When he was rebuked over this matter by a prophet, he answered the prophet: “Art thou the king’s counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee”. And the prophet departing, said: “I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel”. 26 Uzziah went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Gath, and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of Ashdod, and he built towns in Ashdod and among the Philistines. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians, and against the Ammonites, and the Ammonites gave gifts to Uzziah. And his name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories. And Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner and over the gate of the valley, and others on the same side of the wall, and fortified them. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows, and great stones. And his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord helped him, and had strengthened him. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God. And going into the temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And immediately Azariah the

182

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 183

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

priest went in after him, and with him the priests of the Lord, seventy most valiant men, and they withstood the king. And Uzziah was angry, and, holding in his hand the censer to burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar of incense. And when Azariah the high priest and all the rest of the priests looked upon him, they saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made haste to thrust him out. But he himself was also frightened and hasted to go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord. 27 Jotham built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Judah, and castles and towers in the forests. He fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley; so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and third year. And Jotham was strengthened, because he had his way directed before the Lord his God. 28 Ahaz cast statues for Baalim and burnt incense in the valley of Benhinnom, and consecrated his sons in the fire. Therefore the Lord delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria, who smote him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom, and carried it to Damascus. He was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, and he was smitten with a great blow. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew of Judah a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all warlike men, because they had forsaken the Lord. At the same time Zichri, a powerful man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah, the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of his house, and Elkanah who was next to the king. And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and they brought it to Samaria. But the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken, before the princes and all the multitude, at the counsel of Oded the prophet and

183

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 184

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

125

four men of the princes of the sons of Ephraim. And they took the captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked. And when they had clothed and shod them, and refreshed them with meat and drink, and anointed them because of their labor, and had taken care of them, they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble, upon beasts, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren, and they themselves returned to Samaria. At that time king Ahaz sent to the king of the Assyrians asking help. And the Edomites came and slew many of Judah, and took a great booty. The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the plains, and to the south of Judah, and they took six cities with their villages, and they dwelt in them. And the Lord brought against Ahaz Tiglath-Pileser, the king of the Assyrians, who also afflicted him, and plundered him without any resistance. Therefore Ahaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of the kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians, and yet it availed him nothing. Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased contempt against the Lord. King Ahaz himself, by himself, sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him, and he said: “The gods of the kings of Syria help them; I will appease them with victims, and they will help me”, whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. Then Ahaz, having taken away all the vessels of the house of God, and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and made himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem. And in all the cities of Judah he built altars to burn frankincense, and he provoked the Lord to wrath. 29 In the first year and month of his reign Hezekiah opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the east street. And he said to them: “Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified. Purify the house of the Lord. Take away all filth out of the sanctuary”. Then the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it, and brought out all the uncleanness that

184

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 185

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

they found within to the entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and carried it out abroad to the torrent Kidron. And when the priests had sanctified all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt-offering, and the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels, and all the furniture of the temple, which king Ahaz in his reign had defiled, king Hezekiah rose early, and assembled all the rulers of the city, and went up into the house of the Lord, and he offered a sacrifice to the Lord. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and of Gad the seer and of Nathan the prophet. And Hezekiah and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer; and they praised him with great joy and adored with bowed knee. And at the admonishing of the king all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and burnt-offerings with a devout mind. And the number of the burnt-offerings which the multitude offered, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep. But the priests were few, and were not enough to flay the burntofferings; wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the work was ended and priests were sanctified. For the Levites are sanctified with an easier rite than the priests. So there were many burnt-offerings, and the fat of peace offerings, and the libations of burnt-offerings, and the service of the house of the Lord was completed. And Hezekiah, and all the people rejoiced because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For it pleased them to do this thing quickly. 30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manesseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and keep the Passover in the presence of the Lord their God. For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the Passover the second month. For they could not keep it in its time, because there were no priests consecrated who could

185

126

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 186

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

127

be enough, and the people were not as yet gathered together to Jerusalem. And the word pleased the king, and all the people, and they decreed to send messengers to all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that they should come, and keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel in Jerusalem. For many had not kept it as it is prescribed by the law. And the runners went out with letters by commandment of the king and his princes, to all Israel and Judah, proclaiming according to the king’s orders: “Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel, and he will return to the remnant that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians. Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the Lord the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to destruction, as you see. Harden not your necks, as your fathers did. Yield your hands to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever. Serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his indignation shall be turned away from you. For if you turn again to the Lord, your brethren, and children shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive, and they shall return into this land. For the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him”. So the messengers went speedily from city to city, through the land of Ephraim, and of Manesseh, even to Zebulun, whilst they laughed at them and mocked them. Nevertheless some men of Asher, and of Manesseh, and of Zebulun, yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem. But the hand of God was in Judah, to give them one heart to do the word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and of the princes. And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate the solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month. And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and took away all things in which incense was burnt to idols, and cast them into the torrent Kidron. And they sacrificed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites being at length sanctified offered burnt-

186

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 187

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

offerings in the house of the Lord, and they stood in their order according to the disposition, and law of Moses the man of God. And the priests received the blood which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites, because a great number was not sanctified. And therefore the Levites immolated the Passover for them that came not in time to be sanctified to the Lord. For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manesseh, and Issachar, and Zebulun, that had not been sanctified, ate the Passover not according to which it is written. And Hezekiah prayed for them, saying: “The Lord who is good will shew mercy to all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and he will not impute it to them that they are less sanctified”. And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people. And the children of Israel that were found in Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the Lord every day, and also the Levites and the priests, with instruments that agreed to their office. And Hezekiah spoke to the heart of all the Levites who had a good understanding concerning the Lord, and they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord the God of their fathers. And it pleased the whole multitude to celebrate for another seven days: which they did with great joy. For Hezekiah the king of Judah had given to the multitude a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep, and the princes had given the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep. And a great number of priests was sanctified. And all the multitude of Judah with the priests and Levites, and all the assembly that came out of Israel, and the proselytes of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah were full of joy. And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people: and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy dwelling place of heaven.

187

128

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 188

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

31 And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that were found in the cities of Judah, went out, and they broke the idols, and cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Judah and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also and Manesseh, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities. And Hezekiah appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites, by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the priests, and of the Levites, for burnt-offerings, and for peace offerings, to minister and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the Lord. And the king’s part was that of his own substance the burnt-offering should be offered always, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written in the law of Moses. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to the law of the Lord. Which when it was spread around in the ears of the multitude, the children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey, and they brought the tithe of all things which the ground bringeth forth. But also the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God, and, carrying them all, they made many heaps. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps, and in the seventh month, they finished them. And when Hezekiah and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel. And Hezekiah asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay so. Azariah the chief priest of the stock of Zadok answered him, saying: “Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left, because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is this great store which thou seest”. Then Hezekiah commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of

188

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 189

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

the Lord. And when they had done so, they brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes, and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Cononiah the Levite, and Shimei his brother was the second. And after him Jehiel, and Azaziah, and Nahath, and Asahel, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Ismachiah, and Mahath, and Benaiah, overseers under the hand of Cononiah, and Shimei his brother, by the commandment of Hezekiah the king, and Azariah the high priest of the house of God, to whom all things appertained. But Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, the porter of the east gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord, and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jeshua, and Shemeiah, and Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great, except the males from three years old and upward; these to all that went into the temple of the Lord. And whatsoever they undertook day by day in their ministry and their offices, according to their divisions and dispositions, to the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies, and to all the multitude, both to their wives and to their children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things that had been sanctified. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the suburbs of each city, there were men appointed to distribute portions to all the males, among the priests and the Levites. So Hezekiah did all things, which we have said, in all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right, and truth, before the Lord his God, in all the service of the ministry of the house of the Lord according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart. He did it and prospered. 32 After these things and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Judah, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them. And when Hezekiah heard that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was

189

129

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 190

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

130

turning against Jerusalem, he took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city; and as they were all of this mind, he gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: “Lest the servants of the king of the Assyrians should come and find abundance of water”. He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without. And he repaired Millo in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields. And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying: “Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and he will fight for us”. And the people were encouraged with these words of Hezekiah king of Judah. In those days Hezekiah fell sick even to death, and he prayed to the Lord, and he heard him, and gave him a sign. But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up, and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Judah and Jerusalem. And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price. And he built himself also storehouses of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle, and six cities. For he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much substance. This same Hezekiah was the one who stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the

190

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 191

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

city of David. In all his works he did prosperously what he would. But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart. Now the rest of the words of Hezekiah, and of his mercies, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral. And Manesseh his son reigned in his stead. 33 Manesseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel. And he turned, and built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: “In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever”. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord, and he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benhinnom. He observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters, and he wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son: “In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever, and I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I have delivered to their fathers; yet so if they will take heed to do what I have commanded them, and all the law, and the ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses”. So Manesseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the face of the chil-

191

131

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 192

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

132

dren of Israel. And the Lord spoke to him, and to his people, and they would not hearken. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians. And they took Manesseh, and carried him bound with chains and fetters to Babylon. But he was afterwards in distress and prayed to the Lord his God and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers, and he entreated him, and besought him earnestly. And he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. And Manesseh knew that the Lord himself was God. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the Fish Gate round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height. And he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Judah. And he took away the strange gods and the idol out of the house of the Lord, the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the city. Next he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims and peace offerings and praise, and he commanded Judah to serve the Lord the God of Israel. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God. The rest of the acts of Manesseh, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel. His prayer also, and his being heard, and all his sins and contempt, and places wherein he built high places and set up groves and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai. And Manesseh slept with his fathers. and they buried him in his house, and his son Amon reigned in his stead. Twenty-two years old was Asa when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. He did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manesseh his father had done, and he sacrificed to all the idols which Manesseh his father had made, and served them. And he did not revere the face of the Lord, as Manesseh his father had revered it, and committed far greater sins. And

192

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 193

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

when his servants conspired against him, they slew him in his own house. But the rest of the multitude of the people, after they who had killed Amon were slain, made Josiah his son king in his stead. 34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father; he declined not, neither to the right hand, nor to the left. In the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year after he began to reign, he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things. And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and demolished the idols that had been set upon them. And he cut down the groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces, and strewed the fragments upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them. And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols, and he cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. But also in the cities of Manesseh and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Naphtali, he demolished all. And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. After Josiah had repaired the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight in Charchemish by the Euphrates: and Josiah went out to meet him. But he sent messengers to him, saying: “What have I to do with thee, O king of Judah? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste; forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee”. Josiah would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and hearkened not to the words of Necho from the mouth of God. Indeed, he went to fight in the field of Megiddo. And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his servants: “Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded”. And they

193

133

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 194

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

removed him from the chariot into another, that followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him, particularly Jeremiah, whose lamentations for Josiah all the singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a law in Israel: “Behold it is found written in the Lamentations”. Now the rest of the words of Josiah and of his mercies, that are commanded by the law of the Lord, and his works, first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 36 Then the people of the land took Jehoahaz the son of Josiah, and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem. Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. And the king of Egypt deposed him when he came to Jerusalem, and condemned the land for a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead over Judah and Jerusalem, and he turned his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoahaz himself he took with him and carried him away into Egypt. Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to reign and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, and he did evil before the Lord his God. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of the Chaldeans, and led him bound in chains into Babylon, to where he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put them in his temple. The rest of the words of Jehoiakim, and the abominations that he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. And Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. Eight years old was Jehoiachin when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. At the return of the year, king Nebuchadnezzar sent men to bring him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most precious vessels of the house of the Lord, and he made Zedekiah his uncle king over Judah and

194

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 195

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Jerusalem. Twenty-one years old was Zedekiah when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not even blush before the face of Jeremiah the prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord. He also broke away from king Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God, and he hardened his neck and his heart so he would not return to the Lord the God of Israel. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people wickedly transgressed according to all the abominations of the Gentiles. And they defiled the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem. And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising early at night, and daily admonishing them, so he might spare his people and his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy. For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary. He had no compassion on young man or maiden, old man or even the infirm, but he delivered them all into his hands, and all the vessels of the house of the Lord, great and small, and the treasures of the temple and of the king and of the princes, he carried away to Babylon. The enemies set fire to the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the towers, and whatsoever was precious they destroyed. Whosoever escaped the sword was led into Babylon, and there served the king and his sons till the reign of the king of Persia, so that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, and the land might keep her sabbaths. For all the days of the desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired. But in the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, to fulfil the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus king of the Persians who commanded it to be proclaimed through all his kingdom, and by writing also, saying: “Thus says Cyrus king of

195

134

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 196

THE REMAINING DEEDS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

the Persians: All the kingdoms of the earth Lord the God of heaven hath given to me, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea: who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.”

196

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 197

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Rehoboam the son of Solomon, born of his mother Naamah the Ammonitess, was forty-one years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen years (1 Kgs. 14:21). At the death of Solomon, who was in charge of the whole people, Judah and Israel, as was David his father, Rehoboam did not listen to the petitions of the people to lessen somewhat the harsh rule of his father, and the people of the Hebrews were divided, and the ten tribes raised Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon, an Ephrathite from Zeredah, the son of Nebat, whose mother was a widow by the name of Zeruah, to be king. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin with the Levites adhered to the house of David. After the division, the name of the father remained with the ten tribes, as the larger part, and they are called Israel. But the two tribes, because they had kings from Judah, are called Judah. This aforesaid Jeroboam, as can be conjectured from Scripture, ruled over Israel for twenty years. In his eighteenth year, Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, took up the reign of the kingdom, and ruled for three years over Judah in Jerusalem.a Thus for eighteen years, Rehoboam and Jeroboam ruled simultaneously, one in Judah, and the other in Israel. And for three years Jeroboam and Abijah ruled simultaneously. In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa son of Abijah started to reign, and he reigned forty-one years in Jerusalem (1 Kgs. 15:9). If Abijah a

1 Kgs. 15:1.

197

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 198

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

138

ruled for the entire three years, while he started to rule in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, Asa started to rule not in the twentieth but in the twenty-first year of the reign of Jeroboam. Abijah is therefore said to have ruled for three years by synecdoche, for he ruled for two entire years, and some part of the third. But Asa, because he took up the administration after the death of his father in that same third year of the reign of his father, which was the twentieth of the reign of Jeroboam, even though part of it or perhaps even almost the entire year had already passed before he ruled, is told to have started to rule in the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam. The same year his father had as a third and Jeroboam as his last, Asa had as the first of his reign. In his second year, Nadab the son of Jeroboam started to rule, and he reigned over Israel two years (1 Kgs. 15:25). Since the first year of Asa was the twentieth of Jeroboam, and his son Nadab started to rule in the second year of Asa, it is evident that that same twentieth year Jeroboam also ended and finished his life. Now, Nadab, and the whole house of Jeroboam were destroyed by Baasha, the son of Ahijah, a man of the house of Issachar, and he administered the reign of the nation of Israel for twenty-four years.a If he had completed them entirely, he would have attained to the twenty-seventh, or rather, the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Asa. For if he had ruled for the entire twenty-four years, starting in the third year of Asa, he would have come to the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, and his son Elah would not have started to rule in the twenty-sixth, as Scripture has it,b but in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa. So either, the twenty-fourth year of his reign, which was the twenty-sixth of Asa, not being finished, Baasha died, and his son Elah started to rule, according to which we read, in twenty-sixth year of Asa Elah the son of Baasha reigned (1 Kgs. 16:8), or by a fault of the scribes, who easily err in writing numbers, ‘six’ (VI ) was written for ‘seven’ (VII ). a b

1 Kgs. 15:28. 1 Kgs. 16:8.

198

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 199

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

Now, Elah the son of Baasha reigned over Israel two years (1 Kgs. 16:8). In the second year of his reign, which was the twenty-seventh of the reign of Asa, Zimri, the captain over half the horsemen, killed him, and ruled for him, but only for seven days. Omri, the first captain of the army over Israel, attacked him with the army, besieging him in the city Tirzah. Zimri, when he saw that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace and burnt himself with the king’s house, and he found an end that was worthy of his deeds and life. After his demise, the people were divided into two parts. One part followed Tibni the son of Ginath, the other part followed Omri, and that part prevailed.a Hence Omri ruled in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, and he ruled for twelve years.b If Zimri died in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, and, in the thirtyfirst year of that same Asa, Omri, who succeeded him, started to rule, then the people of Israel were without a king and divided into two for at least a whole period of three years, namely the time that Omri and Tibni fought for the rule, while this strife happened, until the part that followed Omri prevailed. In the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, Ahab the son of Omri started to rule, and he ruled for twenty-two years.c If Omri, starting to rule in the thirty-first year of Asa, ruled for twelve years, while Asa did not rule but for forty-one years, it is evident that he ruled for one year after the passing of Asa. Then how could Ahab start to rule in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, if, as is said before, his father ruled one year after the death of Asa? This question, it seems to us, can be solved as follows. For this reason Scripture says that Omri ruled in the thirty-first year of Asa, because he then started to rule over all of Israel, after the death of Tibni. Before that time, when all was full with strife through wars, and the people were divided among themselves by slaughter, and it was uncertain who was going to be on top, neither of them is considered to have ruled. But when he states 1 Kgs. 16:15-21. 1 Kgs. 16:23. c 1 Kgs. 16:29. a

b

199

139

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 200

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

that he ruled for twelve years, he counts from the twenty-seventh year of Asa, when all of Israel elected him to be king. This time extends until the thirty-eighth year of Asa, when Ahab started to rule. The following Bible verse agrees with this opinion, which tells that Jehoshaphat the son of Asa started to rule in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, which was the last one of Asa, namely the forty-first.a Thus Jehoshaphat ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years, and in his seventeenth year, Ahaziah succeeded his father Ahab who was killed in Ramoth Gilead, and he ruled for two years over Israel.b Because he did not have a son, his brother Jehoram succeeded him in the reign, in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.c If Ahaziah started to rule in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat, who ruled for twenty-five years, and only ruled for two years, how did Jehoram, his brother, start to rule in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, and not rather the eighteenth or nineteenth year of Jehoshaphat? Besides, in the passage immediately following, Scripture adds that in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, Jehoram the son of Ahab ruled.d But this contradiction, which seems larger than it is, can be solved, as it seems to us, in the following way. The two years that Ahaziah is said to rule are those in which he ruled alone and unharmed, before he fell through the lattices of his house.e The remaining eight or nine years that his brother Jehoram took up the administration of his kingdom while he was sick, are not reckoned as his but his brother’s. Hence it is written that he ruled in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, because at that time he took up the administration of the kingdom for his brother who was sick. But the Bible verse that says that Jehoram the son of Ahab had started to reign in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kgs. 1:17), takes into account 1 Kgs. 22:41. 1 Kgs. 22:42/52. c 2 Kgs. 1:17. d 2 Kgs. 3:1. e 2 Kgs. 1:2. a

b

200

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 201

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

only the time that started to rule alone, after the death of his brother. For the treatise of the books of Kings is collected from the diverse writings of prophets. That is why some assign this starting point for the beginning of the reign of the kings both of Judah and Israel, while some assign another starting point, according to the diversity of their reckonings. Now, Jehoram the son of Ahab ruled over Israel for twelve years. That Bible verse that says afterwards that in the fifth year of Jehorama son of Ahab king of Israel reigned Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah (2 Kgs. 8:16), takes into account the time that he started to administer the kingdom for his brother while he was still alive. Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat was twenty-two yearsb old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years (2 Kgs. 8:16-17). In the twelfth year of Jehoram son of Ahab king of Israel, reigned Ahaziah son of Jehoram king of Judah. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 8:25-26). According to the above reckoning of the years of his father and himself, Jehoram could not have been more than seven years old when he begat him. For indeed, his father was twenty-two when he started to rule, and ruled for eight years. The son was twenty-two years old when he started to rule, and ruled for one year. The father thus lived for only seven years prior to his son. But how can a seven-year old beget children? The Hebrews say that Jehoram ruled for twenty years and lived for forty-two, but only the eight years that he lived innocently, before he killed his brothers, are reckoned to his reign, and thus he had not seven, but nineteen more years than his son.c After Ahaziah was dead, his mother Athalia ruled for six years.d Jehu, after killing two kings, Jehoram the son of Ahab a This Jehoram is also called Joram here in the KJV. The Douay-Rheims version uses Joram for Jehoram throughout. For clarity, I have stuck to Jehoram. b All Andrew’s manuscripts read ‘twenty-two’, and this is presumably what he found in his copy of the Vulgate. Most versions, including the Vulgate, here read ‘thirty-two’. c PS.-JEROME, Quaest. Hebr. in Par., PL 23, 1460A. d 2 Kgs. 11:3.

201

140

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 202

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

141

king of Israel, and Ahaziah king of Judah, ruled for twentyeight years in Samaria.a In the seventh year of Jehu Joashb began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 12:1). Joash in Judah and Jehu in Israel ruled simultaneously for twenty-two years. At the end of those, Jehu died, and Joachaz his son succeeded him in his reign, in the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah king of Judah.c Now, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu ruled for seventeen years over Israel, starting his rule in the twenty-third year of Joash king of Judah. If Jehoahaz started to rule in the twenty-third year of Joash, and ruled for seventeen years, while Joash only ruled for forty years, it is evident that Jehoahaz ruled until his thirty-ninth, or rather at most his fortieth year. How then did Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz start ruling in the thirty-eighth year of Joash king of Judah,d unless he ruled for two years together with his father while he was still alive? However, perhaps this difficulty originated with the mendacity of the codices and the negligence of the scribes, which very often makes errors in numbers, especially when they are distinguished from each other by only a slight distance. In the second year of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz, king of Israel, reigned Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah (2 Kgs. 14:1). The days that he ruled in Jerusalem are twenty-nine years.e The second year of Jehoash, when he started to rule, was the fortieth, namely the final and last, of Joash king of Judah. And one has to know that here the years of Jehoash are counted from when he ruled alone, after the death of his father. If above, where it says in the thirty2 Kgs. 10:36. This Joash (Lat. Ioaz) is also sometimes called Jehoash (Latin. Iohaz); for clarity, I refer to the king of Judah as Joash, and to the king of Israel as Jehoash. c 2 Kgs. 13:1. d 2 Kgs. 13:10. Although the Vulgate actually says that he started to rule in the thirty-seventh year of Joash, all Andrew manuscripts here read ‘thirtyeighth’. This seems inconsistent with the Vulgate and the reading of mss. E, G, and Q, below, in the edition l. 143. Andrew himself probably did intend ‘thirtyeighth’ here, and ‘thirty-seventh’ below, counting the thirty-eighth year as the first complete year of rule of Jehoash, while Jehoash started his rule during the thirty-seventh year of Joash. After all, 23 + 17 = 40, and 40 – 2 = 38, while below, 37 + 2 = 39. e 2 Kgs. 14:2. a

b

202

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 203

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

seventha year of Joash (2 Kgs. 13:10), had been written ‘thirtyninth’, the whole account of the closely preceding and following numbers would have been more firmly established. And Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah lived after the death of Jehoash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel for twenty-five years (2 Kgs. 14:17).b Above, it is said that Amaziah began to rule in the second year of Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz, and ruled for nine years.c Now, Jehoash ruled for sixteen years. Thus for fifteen years they ruled simultaneously. Hence when Jehoash died, there were only fourteen years left for Amaziah. Either ‘twenty-five’ is written for ‘fourteen’, or, as often, ‘fifteen’, or Amaziah lived for eleven years longer than he ruled. In the fifteenth year of Amaziah son of Joash king of Judah, reigned Jeroboam the son of Jehoash king of Israel in Samaria, forty-one years (2 Kgs. 14:23). Thus Amaziah in Judah and Jeroboam in Israel ruled simultaneously at least for fifteen years. Then why is it that the following Bible verse says that in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Azariah, who is also called Uzziah, son of Amaziah, king of Judah (2 Kgs. 15:1)? From the death of Amaziah to the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam, when Azariah is said to have started to rule, there are fourteen years. Was perhaps the kingdom of Judah without a king for so many years? The Bible verse that says that Amaziah after the death of Jehoash lived for twenty-five years seems to solve that question, but there is one year left. If above, where it is written that Amaziah ruled for twenty-nine years (2 Kgs. 14:2), were written ‘thirty-nine’, the whole account of the numbers would stand more firmly. Uzziah was sixteen years old, when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 15:2) Above, it is said a Reading with mss. E, G, and Q and the Vulgate. In line l. 132, above, however, all manuscripts read ‘thirty-eighth’, and for this reason, the exemplar of mss. O, C, S and V must have emended the reading here to ‘thirty-eighth’. S and V erroneously read ‘twenty-eighth’. b ‘Twenty-five’ is the Vulgate reading; most Bible editions, including the Clementine edition of the Vulgate, read ‘fifteen’. c 2 Kgs. 13:10.

203

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 204

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

142

that in the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam the great-grandson of Jehu, who ruled for forty-one years, Uzziah started to rule, and he ruled for fifty-two years.a Thus for fourteen years, Uzziah and Jeroboam ruled simultaneously. If, when Jeroboam died after forty-one years, his son Zechariah had succeeded him immediately in his reign, he would have started to rule not in the thirty-eighth but in the fifteenth year of Uzziah.b So either the kingdom of the Israelite people was without a king for twentythree years, which is not very likely, or, which is more likely, Zechariah the son of Jeroboam ruled for the aforesaid twentythree years over Israel, but because he lived so sinfully, they are not counted as part of his reign. Shallum the son of Jabesh began to reign in the thirty-ninth year of Azariah king of Judah, and he reigned one month in Samaria (2 Kgs. 15:13). That same year, Menahem the son of Gadi from Tirzah killed Shallum. He ruled for ten years in Samaria (2 Kgs. 15:17). In the fiftieth year of Azariah king of Judah reigned Pekahiah the son of Manahem over Israel in Samaria for two years (2 Kgs. 15:23). In the fifty-second year of Azariah king of Judah reigned Pekah the son of Remaliah over Israel in Samaria twenty years (2 Kgs. 15:27). In the second year of Pekah, the son of Remaliah king of Israel, reigned Jotham son of Uzziah king of Judah. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem (2 Kgs. 15:32-33). For at least fifteen years Jotham king of Judah and Pekah the son of Remaliah ruled simultaneously, and what was the last year of Jotham was the seventeenth year of the son of Remaliah. After the death of Jotham, who in the second year of Pekah started to rule and ruled for sixteen years, this same Pekah son of Remaliah ruled for three years. To which this same following Bible verse attests, saying: In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah reigned Ahaz the son of Jotham king of Judah. Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem a b

2 Kgs. 15:1. 2 Kgs. 15:8.

204

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 205

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

(2 Kgs. 16:1-2). In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Hela reigned in Samaria over Israel for nine years (2 Kgs. 17:1). The ninth year of Hoshea, which was also the last, was the sixth of Hezekiah king of Judah, when the king of the Assyrians took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria, and he placed them in Halah and Habor by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes (2 Kgs. 17:6). But above, we read that Hoshea son of Hela slew and killed Pekah, the son of Remaliah, and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah (2 Kgs. 15:30), who is immediately mentioned as having begun to rule in the second year of that same Pekah, and to have ruled for sixteen years. But one has to know that Jotham ruled together with his father Uzziah after he was struck with leprosy.a That Bible verse that states that in his twentieth year Hoshea the son of Hela slew Pekah and ruled for him, counts his years from that time onward that he started to rule together with his father. But the one that says that he started to rule in the second year of Pekah and only ruled for sixteen years, counts that time that he ruled alone, after the death of his father. Or perhaps from the third or fourth year of Ahaz, when the reign of the son of Remaliah is finished, until the twelfth year of that same Ahaz, that is for eight years, the kingdom of Israel was without a king.

When these kings reigned, these are read to be named prophets When Saul reigned: Samuel, Gad. When David reigned: Gad, Nathan. When Solomon reigned: Nathan, Shemeiah When Rehoboam reigned: Shemeiah, Iddo. When Abijah reigned: Iddo, who wrote his deeds. When Asa reigned: Azariah, the son of Oded, and Hanani, whom he threw in prison. When Jehoshaphat reigned: Jahaziel the son of Zechariah the son of Benaiah, Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah, and Jehu the son of Hanani. a

2 Kgs. 15:5.

205

143

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 206

ON THE CONCORDANCE OF THE REIGNS OF THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH

When Jehoram reigned: Eliezer. In the days of him and his father, under Ahab and Ahaziah and Jehoram the kings of Israel, Elijah, Elisha, and Micaiah the son of Imla stood out. When Ahaziah, Joash, and Amaziah reigned, no one is expressly read to have been prophet. But the word of the Lord is still read to have come to Joash by Zechariah the son of Jehoiada,a and to Amaziah by a certain man of God whose name is not mentioned.b When Uzziah who is also called Azariahc reigned, Zechariah, Amos of Tekoa, Obadijah, and Jonah were prophesying. In the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, prophesied Isaiah, Hosea, and Joel. In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah prophesied Micah of Moresheth, Nahum, Habakkuk. In the days of Ahaz prophesied Oded in Israel, by whom the captivity was remitted.d When Josiah reigned, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, and Huldah the Prophetess prophesied. When Jehoiakim the son of Josiah reigned, Jeremiah and Uriah, whom Jehoiakim killed, prophesied. When Jehoiachin the son of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah reigned, Jeremiah prophesied in Judea, and Ezekiel and Daniel in Chaldea. In the days of Darius the king prophesied Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Since in the titles of Obaijah, Joel, Nahum, and Habbakuk no time is specified, in accordance with Jerome,e we say that they have prophesied under those kings, under whom also they who before them did have titles prophesied.

2 Chr. 24:20. 2 Chr. 25:7. c 2 Chr. 26:1; 2 Kgs. 14:21. d 2 Chr. 29:9-15. e JEROME, ‘Prologus duodecim prophetarum’, in Biblia Sacra – ed. R. WEBER, Stuttgart, 1969, p. 1374, l. 8. a

b

206

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 207

INDICES

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 208

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 209

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

Genesis 1:26 23:7 28:18-19 43:34 49:9 50:22

138 102 71 39 91 68

Exodus 6:23 12:12 15:4 17:15 18:19-22 20:13-14 20:19 20:26 21:7 25:7 25:18 27:21 28:1 30:12 31:13 32:8 36:25 38:8

38 118 118 90 92 164 69 53 164 104 137 58 19, 54 129 45 109 45 50

Leviticus 3:16 4:3/2

18:9 21:18-23

121 116

Numbers 5:9 17:13 18:8-19 36:6-13

54 69 54 37

Deuteronomy 6:5 12:16 15:12 18:1-2 18:10-18 20:10-15 21:10-13 22:11 32:9 32:39

49 51

209

164 89 164 151 60 125 121 164 151 45

Joshua 4:20 7:24

71 70

Judges 4:11 5:8 19:1 20:1-47

92 90 37 76

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 210

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

1 Samuel 1:17 42 2:24 51 2:32 40 7:9 71 7:12 61 10:3 71 10:8 17, 19, 86, 94 11:15 90 13:13 89 14:47 95 16:23 98 17:12 37 17:55 44, 90 21:9 98 22:9-18 122 22:19-20 56, 122 27:5-6 67 28:14 50 2 Samuel 2:10 3:1 87 3:3 5:4 15:27 16:22 20:18 21:1 21:17 21:21 23:39 1 Kings 1:23 2:28-34 2:36-46 4:7-8 4:24-25 5:4 6:7 6:8 6:10 6:16

6:18 134 6:22 134, 137 7:31 144 11:14 149 11:26 149 11:32 149 14:1 148 14:21 197 15:1 197 15:9 197 15:25 198 15:28 198 15:31 152 16:8 198-199 16:14, 20 and 27 152 16:15-21 199 16:23 199 16:29 199 17:17-24 158 18:12 158 19:19 155 21:2 73 21:13 59 21:19 162 22:38 157 22:41 200 22:42/52 200

83 121 101 74 120 66 129 35 96 126

2 Kings 1:2 1:17 2:27 3:1 4:18-37 8:13 8:16-17 8:25-26 9:26 10:36 11:3 12:1 12:2-3 13:1 13:10

74 128 128 36 150 150 136 135 135 133, 136

210

200 200, 201 55 200 158 155 201 201 157 202 201 202 162 202 202-203

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 211

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

13:20-21 14:1 14:2 14:17 14:21 14:23 15:1 15:2 15:5 15:8 15:13 15:17 15:23 15:27 15:30 15:32-33 16:1-2 17:1 17:6 23:25 23:29

5:10 9:15 9:6 9:21 13:2 16:10-12 24:20 25:7 26:1 29:9-15 32:5 32:31

158 202 202, 203 203 206 203 203, 204 203 205 204 204 204 204 204 205 204 205 205 205 164 170

1 Chronicles 2:10 2:13-15 2:18-19 2:46 2:55 6:33-36 10:10 10:13 11:4 11:6 11:11 11:25 17:8 20:2 21:5

38 96 37 106 91-92 35 111 111 115 116 127 129 117 120 130

2 Chronicles 3:4 3:13 4:7 4:16 5:9

133 138 139-140 145 145

Job

1:1

36

Psalms 10:17 78:70 80:2 89:22 95:11 99:1 105:37 114:1 115:5/7 118:25 119:57 139:21 145:9

44 125 61 101 90 61 43 151 116 43 151 52 82

Proverbs 24:16

47

Song of Songs 2:2

99

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 13:3 20:16 22:6 38:26-27

49 50 95 101

Isaiah 30:19

211

146 147 147 148 153 153 206 206 206 206 170 165

54

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 212

INDEX OF SCRIPTURAL REFERENCES

45:21 47:1 61:10 Jeremiah 13:17 35:14 Ezekiel 10:14 and 10 10:7 10:8 14:4 and 7 16:48 and 52 27:9 33:11 Hosea 10:5

45 166 54

Micah 5:2

54 92 138 138 138 54 162 133 52 84

212

37

Zephaniah 1:10

170

Matthew 27:57 27:6

37 163

Luke 1:55 10:37 10:6

75 93 101

Hebrews 9:4

146

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 213

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

ANDREW OF SAINT VICTOR Exp. in Ex. 38:7

137

Anthologia Latina, no. 672 (Caesari Augusto tributum) l. 1-3

90

AUGUSTINE Ad Simpl. II, 1, 7 II, 3, 1-3

94 110

De civitate Dei XVII, 5, l

54

AULUS GELLIUS Noctes Atticae 12, 3

99

BEDE De templo II, l. 946-949 II, l. 6-20

136 140

In I Sam. I, II, 33 II, IX, 9 II, XI, 1-2 III, XVII, 55

56 74 79 98

213

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 214

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

In Reg. I, l. 6 IV, l. 18-24 XXV, l. 5-29 IV, l. 3-7

55 69 169 69

BOETHIUS De institutione musicae 1, 1

95

CICERO In Catilinam 3, 19

100

FESTUS De verborum significatu 200

70

GLOSSA ORDINARIA 1 Sam. 1:1, marg. 1 Sam. 6:18, marg. 1 Sam. 9:19, marg. 1 Sam. 14:38, marg. 1 Sam. 16:16, marg. 1 Sam. 28:6, marg. 1 Sam. 28:13, marg. 2 Sam. 1:21, marg. 2 Sam. 5:23, marg. 2 Sam. 7:19, marg. 2 Sam. 19:24, marg. 2 Sam. 21:20, marg. 2 Sam. 23:13, marg. 3 Reg. 6:1-38, marg. 3 Reg. 10:20, marg. 3 Reg. 11:25, marg. 3 Reg. 14:9, int. 4 Reg. 14:7, marg. 4 Reg. 2:9, marg. 4 Reg. 20:9, marg.

37 66 75 48 95 108 110 113 117 118 124 126 127 133-136 147 150 152 163 158 169

GREGORY THE GREAT In I Reg. 3, 78, l. 1500

65

214

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 215

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

HORACE Sermones 1:8

87

HRABANUS MAURUS Comm. in I Reg. I, 11A XIII, 40AB

35 83

Comm. in II Reg. XXIII, 116AB XXIII, 116AD XXIII, 118D-119D

126-127 127 128

Comm. in IV Reg. XIX, 256C

165

HUGH OF SAINT VICTOR Adnot. in Reg. 96D 96D-97A 97B 98BC 100B 112D 113A

58 66 68 83 103 160 161

ISIDORE Etymologiae 18:12, 4

147

JOSEPH KARA in: Mikra’ot gedolot 1 Sam. 7:2

69

JEROME De situ 920C

37

In Hiezechielem III, X, 9/15

138

215

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 216

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

In Esaiam I, II, 16 II, XXXVII, 30/32

148 168

Prologus duodecim prophetarum p. 206, l. 8

206

FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS Antiquitates Judaicae 5, 11, 5 6, 7, 2 7, 12, 4 7, 12, 4 8, 3, 9 8, 6, 4 8, 7, 8 9, 9, 1 10, 1, 1-5

54 94 127 128 140 148 148 163 168

JUVENAL Saturae 1, 95 3, 163

74 99

LUCAN Bellum civile 4, 275 5, 531

114 40

MIDRASH Genesis Rabbah 94, 9

125

Leviticus Rabbah 26, 7

109

OVID Metamorphoses 8, 209

44

Heroides 11, 41

59

Epistulae ex Ponto 1, 9, 1

100

216

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 217

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

PLINY THE ELDER Historia naturalis 8, 214

105

PS.-ISIDORE Glossae in Sacram Scripturam 1315A 1316A 1318B

70 77 96

PS.-JEROME Quaest. Hebr. in Sam. 3 4 10 13 27, 3-5 27, 7-11 28 30 33 38/46 43 48 49 59/178 86 91 112 125 143 153 163 168 173 180

39 39 47 51 66 66 68 71 75 77, 85 82 89 48 96, 120 108 112 117 118 121 122 56 124 125 127-128

Quaest. Hebr. in Par. 1425C 1434B 1439D-1440A 1444BC 1445A 1445B

96 106 72 91 111 127

217

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 218

INDEX OF NON-BIBLICAL SOURCES

1448AB 1451A 1451C 1460A

117 126 130 201

RADAK in: Mikra’ot gedolot 1 Sam. 14:25 1 Sam. 14:49 2 Kgs. 18:5

88 91 164

RASHI in: Mikra’ot gedolot 1 Sam. 3:3 1 Sam. 9:9 1 Sam. 10:5 1 Sam. 10:22 1 Sam. 13:1 1 Sam. 15:4 1 Sam. 26:20 1 Sam. 28:12 2 Sam. 5:6 2 Sam. 11:4 2 Kgs. 20:9

58 74 76 78 83 91 108 109 116 119 170

SALLUST De coniuratione Catilinae 18, 8, 2

137

TALMUD BAVLI Hagigah 13b Hullin 7b Sanhedrin 21a Shabbath 152b

138 158 121 107, 110

VERGIL Aeneid 2, 254 9, 300

114 43

218

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 219

SUBJECT INDEX

45-47, 60, 67-68, 72, 97, 103104, 107, 121, 161 Douay-Rheims, 26, 64n, 201n Jerusalem Bible, 112n, 142n KJV, 26, 64n, 147n, 201n NIV, 26, 49n, 112n, 152n Septuagint, 40 Vernacular, 14 Vulgate, 14, 26, 39, 43, 63n, 69n, 76n, 93n, 100n, 102n, 105n, 120n, 126n, 132n, 143n, 201-3n Birds, see Animals Books, Lost (of the Bible), 151-152 Bronze Sea, see Temple Bushel, see Measurements

Adultery, see Sexuality Altar, 53, 56, 89-90, 116, 128, 136137, 140, 152, 154-155, 170, 178, 192 of burnt-offerings, 136, 145, 185 of incense, 137, 182 Amphora, see Measurements Animals cow, 65 cuckoo, 108 dog, 106, 114-115, 119, 196-197 donkey, 73-75, 87, 96, 123, 160 goat, 96, 99, 104, 179 hinny, 160 horse, 160 ibex, 104 lion, 91, 123, 128, 143, 147 mule, 160 partridge, 108 ox, 87-88, 93, 130, 138, 143, 185, 188 sheep, 93, 179, 185, 188 swine, 70 Ark of the Covenant, 20, 39, 41, 48, 58, 61-70, 78, 88, 117, 136, 145-146

Canterbury Glosses, 11 Cherub, Cherubim, 61, 136-137, 139, 143 Corbana, see Temple Chronology, biblical, 24-25, 40, 69-70, 83, 122, 148, 197-205 Derash, see Hermeneutics Disease fever, 59 leprosy, 59-60, 183 scabies, 63 see also Hemorrhoids Divination, 60, 108-110, 170, 191

Bath, see Measurements Bible translations Andrew’s own, 26, 39, 41, 42,

219

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 220

SUBJECT INDEX

genitive case, 63, 65, 75, 88 nominative case, 63 vocative case, 51 Greek, 36n, 113, 139, 141

Ephah, see Measurements Ephod, 49, 104, 108 Error, scribal, 25-26, 62n, 198, 202 Expression, idiomatic, 40, 43, 60, 92, 100-101, 103, 105, 161; see also Hebrew language

Hebrew Bible, 13-14, 17, 26, 39, 41-50, 58, 60, 63, 66-69, 72-73, 78, 83, 97-100, 103-108, 114-119, 120-126, 132, 147n, 160, 162, 170 “Hebrew Truth”, 13 language, 14-15, 18, 23, 39, 4243, 62, 93, 98, 101, 109, 148, 151n see also Jews Hemorrhoids, 64 Hermeneutics, 16-25, 68 Alexandrian School, 11 Antiochene School, 11 Derash, 16-17, 91, 109, 115-116 Peshat, 16-18, 47, 56, 113 Holy of Holies, see Temple

Fasting, 70, 93, 108, 120, 156 Festivals, Jewish, 42, 74, 106, 146, 188 New Moon, 101, 159, 188 Passover, 38, 186-187 Pentecost, 38 Sabbath, 159, 163, 188, 195 Tabernacles, 38, 146 First Fruits, 54, 113, 188 Food bread, 46, 57, 96, 102, 153 cheese, 97 corn, 43, 96 honey, 88, 188 pretzel, 57 wine, 40-41, 43, 92, 145, 188189 Foreskin, 99 French, Old, 14, 22, 59, 72, 97, 104, 115, 135, 141, 143, 159 Frumenty, see Food, corn

Idolatry, 63, 70-71, 74, 82, 116117, 120, 148, 153-156, 149, 162163, 176, 178, 181, 186, 188, 191192 Incest, see Sexuality Interpretation, biblical, see Hermeneutics

Gentiles, 45, 90-91, 120-121, 146, 195 Geography, 36-38, 60-61, 66-67, 69, 84, 105, 108, 111, 116, 133, 147-148, 150, 163 Giants, 46, 98, 126, 127n, 129n Glossa Ordinaria, 12-13, 27 Grammar, 17, 25, 45, 58-59, 63, 73, 75, 88, 90, 93, 97, 104, 114, 123 absolute verb, 58 adverbial phrase, 63 conjunction, 45, 73, 75, 95 consecutive clause, 154 dative case, 17, 75, 95 diminutive, 48, 64, 107

Jews, Jewish, 14, 15, 22 customs, 22, 57, 59-61, 68, 74, 106, 156 exegesis, 13-18, 47, 52, 72, 7475, 83, 106, 108, 111, 126, 129, 138, 201 Law, 37, 86, 131, 164, 189, 191 see also Hebrew King, Kingship, 22, 44, 48, 72-73, 75, 77, 79-87, 93-94, 98-99, 101, 124, 150, 159, 163-165, 181

220

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 221

SUBJECT INDEX

Priesthood, 19, 40, 43, 48-49, 51, 53-59, 68, 77, 85, 108, 122, 140, 163 see also Samuel Prophets, Prophecy, 15, 18-19, 47, 50, 59-60, 74, 77-78, 86, 108109, 155, 158-159, 161, 163, 195, 205-206 see also David, Saul, Samuel Purity, ritual, 45, 51, 69, 89, 94, 102-103, 119-120, 128, 146, 154, 160, 184

Laver, bronze, 35, 50, 58, see also Temple Leprosy, see Disease Lid of Atonement, see Temple Lying, 58-59 Magic, 109, 191 Manuscripts of Andrew’s commentary, 9, 23, 26, 36n, 45n, 62n, 99n, 109n, 201-203n of the Bible, 17, 43, 73, 84n, 105n, 113, 132n Measurements amphora, 43 bath, 143 bushel, 43, 96 ephah, 43, 96-97, 143 metrete, 143 Menstruation, see Sexuality Miracles, 88, 158, 168-170 Money obole, 74 shekel, 74, 129-130, 137 stater, 74 Musach of the Sabbath, see Temple Music, 95, 147

Renaissance, twelfth-century, 7-9 Rhetoric hyperbole, 64, 84, 114, 148 irony, 147, 156 metonymy, 74, 119, 145 parallelism, 18, 151 plural for singular, 62 prolepsis, 60 redundancy, 92 synecdoche, 63, 198 Sacrifice, 21, 38-39, 42-43, 49, 5355, 74, 77, 85-87, 89-90, 93, 107, 140, 145-146, 163-164, 175, 178, 185-185, 192-193 Saint Victor, Abbey of, 8-9, 13, 15, 24 Sanctuary, see Temple Sexuality adultery, 101, 110, 119, 131 child birth, 62 conception, 119 illegitimacy, 96 incest, 120-21 menstruation, 119 polygamy, 21, 38 under-age, 148, 201 Shekel, see Money Sin, 49-51, 70, 85-86, 89, 94, 106, 117, 120-121, 129, 148, 150, 153, 163, 165, 192, 204 adultery, see Sexuality

Necromancy, see Divination New Moon, see Festivals Oracle, 108, 137, see also Temple Orthography, 65, 73, 84 Passover, see Festivals Pentecost, see Festivals Peshat, see Hermeneutics Polenta, see Food, flour Polygamy, see Sexuality Portico, see Temple Prayer, 21-22, 38, 41-42, 44, 52, 70-71, 82, 93, 103, 108, 187, 190, 192 Pretzel, see Food

221

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 222

SUBJECT INDEX

Bronze Sea, 140, 142-143, 144145 Corbana, 163 Holy of Holies, 133, 136-137, 189 lavers, 140 Lid of Atonement, 48, 61 Musach of the Sabbath, 163 oracle, 133-147, 163, 182, 184185, 193 portico, 133, 135, 139, 142, 145 sanctuary, 133, 138, 145, 185186, 195 see also Altar Tyranny, 82, see also King, Kingship

bribery, 81 drunkenness, 41 fornication, 50, 76 incest, see Sexuality intercession for, 35, 51-52, 6466, 82, 93, 128 violence, 132 see also: David, Hezekiah, Idolatry, Manasseh, Saul, Solomon, Sons of Heli Soothsaying, see Divination Sun, midnight, 169 Sundial, Ahaz’, 20, 168-170 Tabernacle, 39-41, 48, 50-51, 58, 78, 98, 103, 136-137 Tabernacles, see Festivals Temple, 12, 40, 74, 116, 133-145

Vernacular, see Old French Virgin Birth, 16, 166

222

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 223

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Aaron, 19, 37, 53-55, 58, 146 sons of, 189 Abel, 66, 67, 124-125 Abel-meholah, 155 Abiathar, 19, 55-56, 132 Abigal, daughter of Nahash, 123 Abihail, daughter of Eliah, son of Jesse, 175 Abijah, son of Rehoboam, king of Judah, 152, 153, 175-177, 197, 198, 205 Abishag, 132 Abishai, son of Zeruiah, 123, 125, 127, 129n Abishalom, 152, see also Absalom Abner, son of Ner, 75, 91, 114-115, 131 Abraham, 75, 102, 117, 186 Abravanel, Don, 121 Absalom, 120-124, 132, 152, 153, 175 Achish, 67 Achor, 70 Acrabatene, district of, 39 Adam, 46, 117-118 Adeodatus, see David Adoni-bezek, king, 80 Adonijah, 132 Adriel, 125 Agag, king of Amalek, 94 Agee of Harari, 127, 129n

Ahab, king of Israel, 73, 157, 161, 179, 199, 200-201, 206 Ahaz, king of Judah, 20, 168-169, 183-185, 204-206 Ahaziah son of Ahab, king of Israel, 180, 200, 206 son of Jehoram, king of Judah, 201-202, 206 Ahijah the Shilonite, 150-151 Ahimaaz, 123 Ahimelech, 56, 122 Alexander Neckam, 15 Amalek, 90-92, 111-112 Amasa, 131 Amaziah, son of Joash, king of Judah, 162, 181-182, 202-203, 206 Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, 38 Ammon, Ammonites, 79, 85, 149, 179-180, 182-183, 197 Amnon, 121-122 Amos, of Tekoa, 206 Anathoth, 132 Anselm of Loan, 13 Aphek, 61 Apollo, 108 Arabia, Arabians, 163, 179, 180, 182 Arimathea, 37

223

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 224

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Asa, king of Judah, 20, 131, 152153, 177-178, 180, 192, 197200, 205 Asahel, 189 Asaph, 178, 185 Ashdod, 63, 182 Asher, Ashurites, 114 Ashkelon, 113 Ashtaroth, 111 Assyria, Assyrians, 153, 163-167, 184, 186, 189-190, 192, 205 Athalia, mother of Ahaziah, 108 Augustine, 12 Azariah high priest, 132, 177, 181, 183, 188-189 king of Judah, 203, 204, 206, see also Uzziah son of Oded, 205 son of Zadok, 132 Azaziah, 189 Azrikam, 183 Azubah, 37

overseer, 189 son of Jacob, 39, 76 tribe, 65, 76, 84, 111, 124, 149, 175, 178, 188, 197 Bethaven, see Bethel Bethel, 71, 84, 152 Bethlehem, Bethlemite, 37, 96, 125 Bethshan, 111 Bethshemesh in Benjamin, 65-68 in Naphtali, 65 Bezalel, 126 Bezek, 80 Boaz, 142 Britain, 169 Buc, Philippe, 22 Cabul, 147 Caleb (Calubi), 37, 96, 105 Calvin, John, 20 Canaan, 124 Carmel, 105, 154 Catilina, 137 Celsus, 100 Chaldea, Chaldeans, 74, 165, 194195, 206 Charchemish, 193 Chebar, river, 137 Chemosh, 149 Cherethi, 111 Cononiah, 189 Cushai, 123 Cyrus, 195

Baal, Baalim, 105, 156, 183, 191, 193 Baasha, son of Ahijah, 178, 198, 199 Babylon, 163, 165-166, 170, 191192, 194-195 Barzillai, 125 Bathseba, 119 Becoreth, 73 Bedan, see Samson Bede, the Venerable, 12, 24 Beersheba, 60, 78, 129, 150, 179, 186 Belial, sons of, 42, 48, 79 Benaiah, overseer, 189 Benaiah, son of Jehoiada, 128-129, 131 Benhinnom, valley of, 183, 191 Benhur, 36 Benjamin

Dagon, 111 Damascus, 149, 181, 183-184 Dan, city, 60, 129, 150, 186 Daniel, 206 Darius, 206 David, king, 35, 67, 69, 74, 93108, 110-112, 114-130, 162, 185, 187, 191-193, 205 adultery with Bathsheba, 119

224

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 225

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

city of, 150, 181, 190, 192 heroes of, 126-128 house of, 149, 151-152, 175, 180-181, 197 origins, 37, 96 a prophet, 94, 113, 128 ruling in Hebron, 69, 84 sins of, 120, 124, 129, 164-165 slays Goliath, 97-98 Diospolis, 37 Doeg, 112

Ephraim, 35-39, 88, 124, 176, 178179, 182-188, 193, 197 Ephratah, 37 Ephrath, wife of Caleb, 37, 96 Ephrathite, 37, 38, 96 Esau, 112 Esharaddon, son of Sennacherib, 163 Eshbaal, see Ishboseth Ethiopia, 147-148, 163, 167, 177, 180 Euphrates, 193 Eusebius, son of Ahimaaz, see Jashobeam Eve, 46 Ezekiel, prophet, 137-138, 206 Ezion-geber, 147, 180 Ezra, 74

Eden, overseer, 189 Edom, Edomites, 112, 149, 182, 184 Eglah, 114, see also Michal Egypt, Egyptians, 52-53, 61, 65, 72, 91, 109, 118, 128, 147, 150, 151, 167, 176, 182, 184 Elah, son of Baasha, 152, 198-199 Eleazar son of Aaron, 19, 55-56, 84 son of Abinadab, 69 son of Ahohi, 127, 129n Eli, 40, 42, 50-56, 58-61, 83 Eli, sons of, 48-49, 51, 53, 60 Eliakim, 194 Eliel, 189 Eliezer of Beaugency, 14 Eliezer, son of Dodavah, 180, 205206 Elijah, 21, 105, 153-155, 158, 180, 206 Elisha, son of Shaphat, 21, 155, 158-159, 205 Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, 38 Elkanah councillor, 183 father of Samuel, 21, 35-39, 42, 50, 52n Engedi, 104 Ephah, concubine of Caleb, 105

Gad the seer, 185, 205 Gath, Gathites, 64, 67, 70, 182 Gaza, 164 Gazez, 106, see also Nabal Gebal, Geblians, 133 Gehazi, 159 Gerar, 177 Geshur, 114, 121-122, see also Asher Gibeah, 84 Gideon, 82 Gihon, 190, 192 Gilbertus Universalis, 13 Gilboa, mountains of, 113 Gilead, 114 Gilgal, 19, 71, 77, 84-86, 89, 94 Gob, 125 Goliath, the Gathite, 97, 126 Gozan, 205 Gregory the Great, 12 Habakkuk, 206 Habor, 205 Hadad the Edomite, 149, 150 Haggai, 206

225

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:28

Pagina 226

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Halah, 205 Hanani, 153, 178, 205, see also Jehu Hannah, 38-40, 42-44, 47, 50 Haran, 105-6 Hazael, 155 Hebrews, 84, 118, 164, 197 Hebrew, the, see Jerome, Ps.Hebron, 69, 84, 122-123 Herbert of Bosham, 15 Herod, 54 Hethites, 149 Hezekiah, king of Judah, 20, 164167, 170, 184-185, 187-191, 205206 Hezron, see Jephunneh Hiram, 133, 145, 148 Hoshea, king of Israel, 205 Hozai, 192 Hrabanus Maurus, 12-13, 127n Hugh de Mortimer, 8 Hugh of Saint Victor, 8, 10-11, 1718, 24 Huldah the prophetess, 170, 206

Jachin, 142 Jacob, 71, 117, 151 Jahaziel, 179, 205 Jashobeam, son of Hachmoni, 126n, 127 Jebus, Jebusite, 115-116 Jehiel, 189 Jehoahaz, 194, 202-203 Jehoash (also Joash), king of Israel, 202-203, 206 Jehoiachin, king of Judah, 194, 206 Jehoiada, 38, 162, 181 Jehoram son of Ahab, king of Israel, 157, 200-201, 205 son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, 180, 200-201 Jehoshabeath, daughter of Jehoram, 38 Jehoshaphat king of Judah, 178-180, 200, 205 son of Ahihud, 118 Jehu son of Hanani, 179, 205 son of Nimshi, king of Israel, 155, 157, 161-162, 201-202, 204 Jemini, 75-76, see also Benjamin Jephunneh, 37 Jeremiah, 194-295, 206 Jericho, 37, 184 Jeroboam son of Jehoash, king of Israel, 203-204 son of Nebat, king of Israel, 124, 149-151, 175-177, 197-198 Jerome, 11-13, 66, 206 Jerome, Ps.-, 12, 14, 17, 127, 128 Jerubbaal, see Gideon Jerusalem, 69, 84, 97, 115-116, 122, 128, 136, 148, 150, 165, 167-168, 170, 175-176, 179, 181-182, 184188, 190-197, 200-202, 204

Ichabod, 63 Iddo the seer, 151, 205 India, 147 Isaac, 117, 186 Ishbosheth, 91 Ishtob, 119 Ishvi, 91 Isidore of Seville, 11n, 12, 66 Ismachaiah, 189 Israel, 20, 23-25, 49, 56, 59, 61-67, 69-71, 75-76, 79-80, 82-84, 88, 91, 93, 96, 104, 112-18, 120, 123-25, 129, 149-159, 163-164, 175-206 Issachar, 108, 187, 198 Ithamar, 19, 54-56 Izhar, 35 Jabes, 92 Jabes Gilead, 79

226

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 227

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Kidron, 185-186 Kir, 163 Kirjath-jearim, 69-70 Kish, son of Abiel, son of Zeror, 74 Kohath, 35 Korah, 35 Kore, son of Imnah, 189

Jeshua, 189 Jesse, 123, 151-152 Jesus Christ, 15-16, 109 Jethro, 92 Jew, the, see Jerome, Ps.Jezebel, 156-157 Jezreel, 61, 157 Joab, son of Zeruiah, 116, 123 Joash (also Jehoash), king of Judah, 162, 181, 202, 203, 206 Jobab, 92 Joel, 206 John of Salisbury, 9 John Wyclif, 20 Jonadab, 120 Jonah, 206 Jonathan son of Saul, 84, 90-91, 100, 102, 113, 115, 124 son of Shimei, 96, 127, 129n, see also Nathan Jordan, 71, 84, 88, 114 Joseph husband of Mary, 37 son of Jacob, 68, 124 Joseph Bekhor Shor, 14 Joseph Kara, 14 Josephus, Flavius, 12, 24, 69, 71, 127-128, 140, 148, 163 Joshua, son of Nun, 70, 117 Joshua the Bethshamite, 67, 68 Josiah, 164-165, 193-194, 206 Jozabad, 189 Judah kingdom, 23-25, 150, 152, 163165, 167-168, 175-206 son of Jacob, 91 tribe, 37-38, 91 103, 105, 111112, 114-115, 149, 152 Judea, 60, 165, 168, 196, 206

Lachish, 167 Lebanon, 141, 147 Levi son of Jacob, 35, 53 tribe, 35, 37, 39, 53, 76, 117, 140, 151, 175, 178-179, 181, 184189, 197 Libnah, 167 Maacah daughter of Absalom, 152-153, 175 king of Syria, 119 mother of Absalom, 121 Maaseiah, 183 Maccabees, 55 Mahalath, daughter of Jerimoth, 175 Mahanaim, 114 Mahath, 189 Malachi, 206 Malchishua, 91 Manasseh, tribe, 111 Matter, E. Ann, 27 Megiddo, 193 Menahem, son of Gadi, 204 Mephiboseth, 115, 124 Merab, 98-99, 125, Messa, house of, 162 Micah of Moresheth, 206 Micaiah daughter of Uriel of Gibeah, 153 son of Imla, 157, 206 Michal, 99, 114, 125 Michmash, 84

Kabzeel, 128 Keilah, 104 Kenite, the, 92, see also Jobab, Rechab, Jethro

227

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 228

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Millo, 116, 150-151, 190 Miriam, sister of Moses, 96 Mizpah, 70, 71 Mizpeh in Judah, 103 in Moab, 103 Moab, Moabites, 37, 103, 111, 11820, 128, 149, 158-159, 179-180 Moses, 21, 40, 53, 60, 90, 92, 96, 104, 117, 128, 131, 137-138, 187188, 191 Moza, 106

Pekah, son of Remaliah, 183, 204205 Pekaiah, son of Manahem, 204 Pelusium, 167 Peninnah, 38-39, 47 Persia, 195 Peter Abelard, 8-9 Peter Comestor, 15, 24 Peter John Olivi, 24 Petra, 163 Philistines, 64-67, 70, 76-77, 84, 87, 96-97, 99, 104, 108, 110, 114, 118, 146, 164, 179-180, 182184 Phinehas, son of Eleazar, 84 Phoenicia, 105, 133, 147 Phythius, see Apollo Pompeius Trogus, 24 Priapus, 87

Nabal, 105-106 Naboth, 73, 156-157, 161 Nadab, king of Israel, 152, 198 Nahash, see Jesse Nahath, 189 Nahum, 206 Naioth, 99 Naphtali, 65, 193 Nathan, son of Shimei, 96 Nebuchadnezzar, 194-195 Necho, pharaoh, 170, 193 Ner, 91 Nicholas of Lyra, 8n, 15-16 Nob, 69, 122

Rabshakeh, 165, 167 Radak (David Kimhi), 39n, 88n Ralph of Laon, 13 Ramah, 36, 99, 178, see also Ramathaim Ramathaim, 35-37, 71 Ramoth Gilead, 157, 179, 200 Rapha, see Orpah Rashi (Solomon ben Isaac), 14, 17, 108n Rechab, 92 Red Sea, 118, 147 Rehob, 119 Rehoboam, king of Judah, 124, 148, 152, 175-176, 197, 205 Rezon, son of Eliada, 149, 150 Riblah, 170 Richard of Saint Victor, 15, 24 Romulus, 100

Obadijah prophet, 206 servant of king Ahab, 158 Oded, 183, 206 Oliver of Merlimont, 8 Olivet, Mount, 123 Omri, 152, 199 Ophel, 183, 192 Ophir, 147-148 Origen, 11-12 Orpah, daughter-in-law of Naomi, 126

Samaria, 156-157, 165, 183-184, 189, 202-205 Samson, 40, 82 Samuel, 19-20, 39, 50, 60, 69-71,

Palestine, 82, 105 Paran , 105 Paul, 146

228

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 229

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

74-76, 78, 80-86, 89-90, 100, 117, 205 ancestry and birth, 35-37, 47, 50 author of the book Samuel, 100 called by God, 57-59 disciples of, 108 meaning of his name, 42 not a priest, 35, 55 raised from the dead, 50, 108109 sons of, 47, 71 Sarracens, 151 Saul, son of Kish, king, 50, 56, 69, 80-95, 98-99, 103, 106, 122, 124-125, 149, 205 conjuring up Samuel, 108-109 death of, 111, 113 made king, 74-76, 78 a prophet, 100, 108 sin of, 19-20, 85-86, 120 a tyrant, 82 Scythia, 169 Seir, 180, 182 Sennacherib, 163, 166-167, 189 Shallum, son of Jabesh, king of Israel, 204 Shammah, 127 Sheba , 147 Sheba, son of Bichri, 124 Shecaniah, 189 Shemeiah overseer, 189 prophet, 176, 205 Shiloh, 19, 21, 39, 49, 60-61 Shimei brother of Cononiah, 189 brother of David, 96, 127 son of Gera, 128 Shobdon, Herefordshire, 8 Shunamitess, the, 21, 159 Shunem, 108, 159

Sibbecai the Hushathite, 127, 129n Signer, Michael, 14 Simeon, tribe, 193 Smalley, Beryl, 7, 11, 14 Solomon, son of David, king, 19, 36, 55-56, 117, 131, 146-152, 175-76, 187, 191, 197, 205 builder of the Temple, 12, 133134, 137, 141, 145 sin of, 149-150 Sydon, Sydonites, 149 Syria, Syrians, 119, 155, 161, 178, 181, 183-184 Talmai, king of Geshur, 121 Tarshish, 148, 180 Tekoa, 121, 206 Thamnitica, district of, 37 Theodore of Mopsuestia, 11 Thile, 169 Tibni, son of Ginath, 199 Tiglath-Pileser, king, 184 Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia, 167 Tirzah, city, 199, 204 Tyro, 99 Uriah husband of Bathseba, 95, 165 prophet, 206 Uriel of Gibeah, 153 Ussher, James, 25 Uz, 36 Uzzah, 117 Uzziah, king of Judah, 182-83, 203-206, see also Azariah Valgius, 99 Van Liere, Kate Elliot, 27 Wigmore, Herefordshire, 8-9 William of Champaux, 8 Zadok , 19, 40, 55-56, 132, 188 Zecharaiah

229

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 230

INDEX OF PERSONAL AND PLACE NAMES

Ziba, 124 Zichri, 183 Ziklag, 67, 111 Zimri, king of Israel, 152, 162, 199 Zion, 150, 166 Zion, daughter of, 165-166 Ziv, month of, 133 Zobah, 119 Zophim, 35-37

king of Israel, 204 prophet, 206 son of Benaiah, 179, 205 son of Jehoiada, 181, 206 Zelophehad, 37 Zemaraim, 176 Zephaniah, 206 Zerah the Ethiopian, 177 Zeredah, son of Nebat, 197 Zeruah, 197

230

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 231

CCT3.qxd:Layout 1

16-11-2009

10:29

Pagina 232