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1 Samuel 14

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1 Samuel 14:1

And it happened one day, that Jonathan said, etc. For Jonathan, who is interpreted as the gift of the dove, foresaw the grace of the Spirit teachers; his young armor-bearer, the disciples obediently bearing arms not of the flesh, but powerful in God; whose youth is renewed like the eagle's (Psalm 103); a certain day begins the conflict, their sudden inspiration against the temptations of the enemy designates the inspiration of heavenly light. Jonathan encourages his armor-bearer on a certain day to go to the station of the Philistines, just as each perfect master, suddenly graced from heaven, stirs the hearts of pious helpers to overcome the assaults of vices. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:2

But he did not tell his father the same thing. Jonathan concealed from his father and the people the crossing to the station of the Philistines, as he had planned; for just as it is always most fitting to use the counsel of the spiritual, so sometimes it is useful to hide from the carnal the meditated, or even initiated deeds of the greater virtues; lest either their trepidation frighten and break the tender, so to speak, desire of our mind, or they themselves, by emulating us, attempt what they are not yet capable of beginning, or surely the favor of imperfect praise corrupt the integrity of our spiritual purpose. For as Saul in this place and the people who were with him have not yet made progress in virtues, the following words reveal, when it is said: — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:2

Moreover, Saul was staying at the edge of Gibeah, etc. For indeed, it pertains to the indication of virtue that he dwelled in Gibeah, that is, the hill, under a pomegranate tree, and had six hundred companions. As we have already said above, the hill represents the height of virtues; the covering of the pomegranate tree represents the protection of the Lord's cross; the number six hundred of the soldiers signifies those perfect in hope and action. But that he sat at the edge of the hill, that the tree under whose shade he was covered was situated in Migron, that is, in the throat, are signs of a still imperfect mind, that is, one that has not yet fully attained the desired heights of virtues; one that holds the mystery of the Lord's Passion in speech, but cannot yet imitate it. If we read Magdon instead of Migron according to the ancient interpreters, which means "tempting," it refers to the same sense. Because there are those who, endowed with right faith and enkindled by desires of right action, do not cease to endure the harsh battles of tempting vices: and therefore certain secret matters of these perfect athletes of Christ, which wage wars against unclean spirits, they deliberately hide from such comrades-in-arms. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:4

But there were rocky cliffs on either side of the pass, etc. There are frequent dangers lying in wait from both the right and left for the holy teachers striving to ascend against the wiles of evil spirits, that is, in glory and ignominy, in prosperous and adverse situations; and just as teeth are accustomed to chew and deliver food to the stomach, so unclean spirits, formerly broken by the frame of the blessed, seek how to seduce the simple, corrupt the just, defile the chaste, and cast the fallen into the body of their wickedness. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:4

One was called Bozez, etc. Bozez, "in it he blossomed": Sene, "distress" is said. The interpretation of which is evident, for not less in flourishing than in opposing, that is, bringing distress, the ascent of the saints is hindered, and by the tireless enemy they are struck so that they might fail either in body or in heart. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:5

A prominent rock towards the north, etc. Gabaa represents a hill, that is, the height of virtues; Magmas indicates the humility of the mind, from which virtues arise. And rightly Magmas is considered towards the north, while Gabaa is situated to the south, because in the coldness of temptations, humility is especially learned and proven; in the light of the grace of the helping Spirit, it is prospered and perfected. But since the ancient enemy tries both to hinder the prosperous course of granted virtue, and to take away the humility of the acquired virtue from teachers and disciples during adversities, rightly the ascenders against the Philistines, Jonathan and his armor-bearer, are impeded by the prominent rock to the north opposite Magmas, and the rock extending to the south against Gabaa. Yet, with the Lord acting on behalf of His own, all the savage efforts of the enemies soon fail. For, as the words of Jonathan testify, full of no less faith than virtue, it is not difficult for the Lord to save, whether by many or by few. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:11

Both appeared to the garrison of the Philistines, etc. Although the Philistines mockingly speak true things mystically; clearly the spiritual Hebrews, that is, those crossing over from vices, are defended from the assaults of enemies by the safest fortresses of the Scriptures, and refreshed by the consolation of these, proceed to public works of virtues to overcome the same most wicked adversaries when the opportune time arises. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:12

And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, etc. The proud mockery and contempt of the enemies grant the faithful confidence to gain virtue. For the spirit is lifted up before ruin, and before honor is humility (Prov. XVI). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:13

Jonathan, however, climbed up, crawling on his hands and feet, etc. It is clear indeed that greater obstacles of temptations must be overcome with greater exertion of virtues; which is duly accomplished when, armed against the enemy, a humble spiritual listener follows all the examples of the teacher. But about the situation of this place, so it may become clearer to the reader, let us see the words of Josephus (Antiq. VI, 7). "The enemy's camps," he says, "were situated on a rock with a most subtle length, protruding in three very sharp peaks, with rocks going around, and as though ramparts preventing the assaults of the fighters. Hence it happened that the guards had less solitude of the camps; because by nature that place seemed fortified to all, and very difficult to capture, because not only did it seem difficult to ascend there, but even to approach. When therefore Jonathan had come to the camps, he encouraged his armor-bearer." And a little later: "Thus approaching the enemy's army, with day already appearing, the Philistines saw them." Again, after a few things, when he had narrated the words of the taunting Philistines, he added: "Saul's son, gladly receiving that voice as one designating victory for him, then indeed from that place, in which the enemies had been seen, withdrew; and changing place came to the rock, which, because of the fortifications of the places, was deserted by the guards, and from there, as though crawling and dragging themselves with much effort, they overcame the nature of the place, so that they descended to the enemies' camp; attacking them while sleeping, they indeed killed about twenty." However, having mentioned these places for the sake of clarity, let us return to investigating the mysteries of Sacred Scripture. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:13

And the first blow was struck, with which Jonathan and his armor-bearer smote, etc. The number ten, as is certain, often signifies the perfection of good works or merit. But on the contrary, the number twenty, in which Jacob served Laban the Syrian, and sent gifts to his brother Esau, whom God hated, demonstrates the duplicity of depraved doctrines, which strive to take away the devotion or certainty of heavenly reward from the simple and members of the Church. The half acre of plowing is the Church, which, still conversing among the reprobate on earth, rejoices to be exercised by the correction of preachers in generating the fruits of life. A pair of oxen plowing in the day is the concord of teachers, of the discipline of law and Gospel under the same yoke of faith agreeing, chastising the hearts of subjects in the light of prescribed knowledge and cultivating them to bear fruit to God by the Spirit, of which Solomon says: "But where there are many crops, there the strength of the ox is manifest" (Prov. XIV). Therefore, the first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer struck, was upon twenty men, in the middle of half an acre; and from there the Philistines, troubled and fleeing here and there, slaughtered each other with a very great massacre. First, the Church, which travels away from the Lord, shows the enemies of its faithful or actions to be sons of death, restraining them from besieging and disturbing its own through spiritual masters and obedient disciples; then they themselves of varying errors, as if with a contrary blade, pierce each other, so that, with the Church triumphing, it can openly be understood of them what is said: "For the sword of each one turned against his neighbor." — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:15

And a miracle happened in the camps through the fields, etc. By the miracle, strength and virtue are given to the just among those who are reprobates camping through the fields, having hearts astray, weakened by both malice and an abundance of pleasures. Hence the blessed apostle Peter, when he described the excess of those who, as if residing in the field of free pleasure, live in desires, drunkenness, revelries, drinking bouts, and illicit idolatries, added, saying: "In which they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same flood of debauchery" (1 Peter 4). But also the spiritual adversaries, although fierce plunderers of human salvation, are accustomed to be astonished at the deeds of perfect men, and to yield to the devotion of perfect prayers and other virtues. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:15

And the earth was troubled, etc. So that those who are wise in earthly things may be troubled by the deeds of heavenly men; so that demons, terrified and groaning, may recoil from attacking men, their malice broken and their strength shattered; this is not a work of human virtue, but a miracle of divine mercy. Hence Paul, when he said he had labored more than all of them, immediately added: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (1 Corinthians 15). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:16

And the watchmen of Saul look forth, etc. Those who have ascended the watchtower of holy Scripture look forth beyond others, and they are on the hill of the sons of the right hand, that is, established in the lofty citadel of heavenly deeds, and distinguished by evident pure knowledge and simple action, and they are the first to see the impending ruin and the flight of the wicked. For it is not for all Catholics, upon reading the books of heretics or pagans, to immediately recognize what error is contained in them; upon hearing the wiles of dialecticians, to immediately discern with the keenness of a sharp mind the ruinous snares of deceptions; but for those who, by long meditation on the Scriptures or by the merit of virtues, have exercised their senses for the discernment of good and evil; the feet of many almost slipped, and their steps were nearly poured out, because they were jealous of the sinners, seeing the peace of sinners. But that most noble watchman marvelously ascending to the hill of the son of the right hand, saw the ungodly exalted and lifted high above the cedars of Lebanon (Psalm 72). And I passed by, he said, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found (Psalm 36). And this is for the watchmen placed in Gibeah to see the multitude laid low, which those situated below and not yet ascending the peak of perfect knowledge, thought to stand in prosperity and to live in safety; the wise foresee the certain punishment of those living in wickedness. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:18

And Saul said to Ahijah, "Bring the ark of God here." Ahijah, also called his brother or his relative, is thus named. Therefore, the good leaders of the Church say, all the faithful daily waging war against the powers of the air, say to their brothers endowed with the reading of sacred Scripture and with greater exercise of virtues, daily offering themselves to God through the royal priesthood as a living sacrifice: they say, I say, to such who still see themselves agitated by temptations or behold the Church generally troubled by heresies, that, having revealed the mysteries of divine words, they should elucidate more manifest testimonies, by which they ought to use against the fabricators of heresies, by which they can overcome other struggles of temptations, with clear reasoning. But it often happens that the enemies of the Church (I mean the heretics or pagans) have so many and such great conflicts and battles of words or doctrines among themselves, that it is better that they be refuted by their own dispensation outwardly, than by the assertion of spiritual pages, proving that what they teach is false and what they do is impure: and it must be done as the leaders of the heavenly army, just as it is described that Saul did, who, when tumult arose in the camp of the Philistines and it increased more and more, no longer consulted God through the priest, but himself, with the hand of the soldiers taken up, hastens to pursue and urge to flight the enemies he had found to be discordant among themselves. However, Ahijah the priest, the keeper of the ark of the Lord, can also fittingly represent the very authors of sacred Scripture; who, whenever piously requested, bring forth the ark of the divine oracle they keep: they also bring forth examples of good works they performed; which was symbolized above, where the same Ahijah is said to have carried the ephod. Nor is it without reason that it is mentioned that he was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod, the son of Phinehas, who had been born from Eli, the priest of the Lord, in Shiloh. Ahitub indeed means "good brother." For many of the authors of the sacred letters also traced their lineage from priests: and being instructed by good brothers, as Scripture itself attests, also had some brothers who were not good: and today's readers of the same, equally instructed by good ones, yet cannot lack the company of the wicked, whom Ichabod, both by birth and by name, signifies as inglorious. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:20

Saul and all the people cried out, etc. Jews, Gentiles, and heretics, although they are all enemies of the Church, wound each other with the sword of the word. The Jews themselves fight among themselves through the Pharisees and Sadducees: likewise heretics and pagans, with so much dissonance of various doctrines and sacred matters, bring no less wars among themselves than with the Church. But there is one, he says, my dove, my perfect one (Canticles VI): she is the only one of her mother, the chosen one of her who bore her, from whom Jonathan, that most valiant leader, received the name of virtue, that he might be called the gift of the dove; whose perpetual peace even the discord of the wicked serves. Hence it follows: — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:21

And the Hebrews who had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, etc. Many, having been seduced by heretics and fighting against the Church with them, when they perceived the dissonance of their doctrine, and saw their dialectical subtleties surpassed by the simplicity of the Catholic faith, as if by the act of Jonathan, returned to be reconciled to the Catholic Church by the imposition of the priestly hand. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:22

Likewise, all the Israelites who had hidden themselves in Mount Ephraim, etc. It is rightly a matter of discretion that he who can, should strive for the Church by teaching or arguing against the reprobate, avoiding that prophetic curse: Cursed is he who withholds his sword from blood (Jer. XLVIII). But he who is not effective in teaching should hide himself in the height of a fruitful mind, lest he be found by the deceitful enemy to be stripped of his virtues. For there are those who are not suitable for discovering and overcoming the cunning of heretics and the other snares of the ancient enemy, but do not fail to follow and detest these when exposed by others according to their strength: and this is what it means when the Israelites who had previously hidden in Mount Ephraim, that is, fruitful, join themselves to their own ranks upon hearing that the Philistines have been put to flight: yet the Church is always saved not by its own effort, but by divine aid. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:23

The battle, however, reached as far as Bethaven. Bethaven is called the house of idols or the useless house. And thus the Church pursues heretics by arguing, until it convinces them that in many things they have blasphemed equal to the madness of pagans, and it extends the sword of the word until it restores the impious and faithless to piety and faith. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:24

And the man of Israel was joined to himself on that day. With the enemies scattered in different directions, the Church, divided throughout the whole world, rejoices always with one and the same love of brotherhood. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:27

Jonathan, however, had not heard, when his father adjured the people, etc. He speaks of eyes being illuminated, refreshed, and renewed for gazing, which had already begun to fade due to the customary long fasting or toil. Therefore Jonathan, who had previously conquered the teeth of the rocks and the blows of swords, who, with the boldness of the enemy suppressed, had provided his people with victory and safety, is suddenly distressed by the unforeseen fault of flattering gluttony. And often, noble masters of the Church, although victors of great contests, incur a fault they had not foreseen by reading books of the gentiles with more pleasure than is fitting: to the extent that one of them writes that he was punished in a vision for this very thing, and that it was hurled at him by the Lord among the blows that he should be considered not a Christian, but a Ciceronian. But also many of the faithful listeners endowed with the grace of virtues do not cease to be tempted by lesser vices, which does not escape divine dispensation: so that those who cannot overcome the smaller battles by themselves may learn to thank only the Father of lights in the greater ones they have, attributing nothing to themselves. Jonathan, moreover, dipped the tip of the rod, which he used either for the horse or as an aid for the journey, in wild honey: and thus he turned it with his hand to his mouth. And any teacher sometimes, while taking care to govern subordinates with the authority of power or to conduct himself without offense, believes that he is aided by the arguments or opinions of the gentiles: and thus, so to speak, by the honeyed mouth derived from these, the eyes of the mind are indeed illuminated by the honeycombed composition of words for declaring what they know rightly more sharply; but often the progress of that same mind is delayed, recalling the vanity of the senses from pursuing the worshipers of depraved acts or doctrines. The Psalmist, singing, says, "The iniquitous recounted to me fables, but not as your law, O Lord, all your commandments are truth" (Ps. 118). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:28

Your father bound the people by an oath, etc. He troubled, because he interdicted everything; had he interdicted in part and granted in part, the matter would have seemed to be conducted more conveniently. But because in these kinds of matters the commands of spiritual Fathers must be obeyed, Jonathan was apprehended by lot, and the oracle of the Lord was withdrawn from Saul consulting that very day, manifestly showing. For if the power of a worldly king prevailed so much with God, how much do you think the command of a spiritual master prevails? But even in the typological sense, it disturbs earthly hearts if someone commands these heavenly matters solely to be carried out, since the Lord testifies that new wine is not to be put into old wineskins. It troubles the sharpness of readers and compels them to falter, who believe that they must be prohibited entirely from reading secular literature, which wherever found, it is lawful to take useful things as if they were their own. Otherwise, neither Moses nor Daniel would have been allowed to be instructed in the wisdom or literature of the Egyptians and Chaldeans, although they abhorred their superstitions and indulgences. Nor would the master of the Gentiles himself have inserted some verses of poets in his writings or sayings: but it is much more cautious to grasp the rose amidst thorns than to gather the lily among the soft leaves; much safer it is to seek salutary counsel in apostolic writings than in Platonic pages. For even the bees themselves, which make honey of this kind, indeed present sweet sayings with their mouth which soothe, but in their rears they keep venomous stings that strike. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:29

You yourselves have seen that my eyes have been enlightened, etc. These words are fitting for the person who thinks that the reading of gentile literature is not harmful in the Church, whether for the learned or the teachers. You see, he says, that I have become more effective, sharper, and more ready to speak appropriately because I have tasted a little of the flower of Ciceronian reading; how much more if the Christian people had learned the sects and doctrines of the gentiles, would they not much more confidently and surely ridicule and simultaneously refute their errors, and rejoice much more devotedly in their sound faith, and give thanks to the Father of lights for this grace? For it should not be thought for any other reason that Moses or Daniel would have wanted to learn secular wisdom except that they might better destroy and conquer it once known. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:31

The people were exceedingly weary, etc. That the people were said to have eaten with blood should not be thought to mean they ate bloody and raw flesh, which is not at all human but is the nature of beasts; rather, that after slaying the animals, before the blood was fully drained, they cooked or roasted the unsanctified meat and then ate it. However, this signifies the lazy teachers, who, as we often see today, exhausted by the long labor of catechizing, hasten to incorporate some whom they had rescued from demonic errors by preaching, educating them in Gentile rites; attempting to imitate him to whom all kinds of animals destined from heaven were said: "Kill and eat" (Acts 10). But they almost kill on earth and eat with blood those whom they imperfectly detach from earthly senses and the allurements of flesh and blood, either by teaching or by their own living. They hasten to incorporate into the members of the Church those who are still accustomed to vices and not yet engaged in practicing virtues; contrary to the example of the first pastor of the Church, who, placed in the upper room, that is, in the highest place of living or teaching, is ordered to kill the offerings and eat what was purified by God. And it is noteworthy that, although the perfection of the human mind is perfect and weak, Jonathan, the perpetrator of so many great deeds and the author of such a triumph, unsuspectingly succumbed to the deception of gluttony. The entire people, after observing the appointed time for diligent continence, after laying low so many adversaries in one day, are themselves overcome by the victorious gluttony. But because the temptation of gluttony is manifold, it led one to eat before the allotted time and persuaded the other to consume less lawful things even within the allotted time. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:31

So on that day they struck down the Philistines, etc. Ajalon signifies great humility. In all the things the Church rightly does, it strikes at the Philistines; because through the good it does, it diminishes the powers of evil spirits; because they must be struck down beginning from humility, up to the breadth of perfected virtue, from the beginning of faith up to the fruitful amplitude of charity. Of which it is said: Your commandment is exceedingly broad (Psalm 119). But even the very state of the universal Church, beginning from the humility of a single Judean nation, has reached to the ends of the whole world through growth. Of which the Psalmist sings to the Lord: And your fields will be filled with abundance, the fattened edges of the desert (Psalm 65). — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:33

They reported to Saul, saying that the people had sinned against the Lord, etc. The diligent leaders, knowing the negligence of idle teachers, wherein the people sin against the Lord, baptizing those who have not yet been purified from carnality nor fully instructed in faith, immediately rebuke such transgressors and command that the rule of heavenly life be openly proposed with Catholic authority; and they order the idle teachers, who had so far been vexed by common ignorance, to lead all those they have undertaken to instruct up to the model of life which they themselves had learned from their forefathers, and by catechizing them according to the most robust example of Catholic perfection, bring to an end their former way of life inherited from their fathers, and by baptizing, incorporate them into the members of the Church. Thus, they would no longer sin against the Lord, binding those who are ignorant of faith and heavenly life to the unity of His body, that is, the Church of Christ. Understand that the ox and the ram delivered from the Philistines, slaughtered and eaten by the people of God upon the intellectual rock, symbolize any foolish and arrogant person, renewed from deadly custom into spiritual life; as also mentioned above, sheep and calves together with the oxen taken from them signify movements of soul or flesh devoted to irrationality and lust, but saved through the Lord. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:35

Saul built an altar to the Lord. He built an altar to offer a holocaust upon it and to intervene for the sin of the people, which they had rashly committed. Every perfect teacher builds in the hearts of the hearers the faith in the Lord's Passion, where on the altar of the living cross that precious blood was shed for the remission of sins, clearly instructing all by this example; for if the end of the Lord was death, much more should the servants mortify their members which are on earth; fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians III), and such things that are works of the flesh and blood, clearly cannot be associated with the fruit of the Spirit. But also, daily revisiting the sayings or acts of the old fathers and the people, and desiring through these to be spiritually refreshed while struggling against enemies, as many of us who perceive only according to the letter of such great authority we feel, as if killing oxen and sheep on the earth, we eat with the blood; because handling heavenly matters with a carnal and earthly eye. But whoever recognizes that all things are spiritually summed up in Christ and the Church, upon that great rock, which was cut from the mountain without hands and grew, destroying the empire of the world, and filled the whole earth, we kill without harm and feast, constructing an altar of our devotion and pious sense pleasing to the Lord. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:36

And Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night," etc. Saul, planning to attack the Philistines by night and to destroy them completely, consults the oracle of the Lord but is not answered; and seeking the cause of the sin, he discovers it by lot and adjudicates Jonathan, who confesses, to death; however, since he had brought great salvation to Israel, the people rescue him from the judgement of death. Good leaders often desire to expel all the snares of demons and to eradicate the tares sown among the good seed from the field of this world if possible, yet they receive no answer from the Lord through the Scriptures that this can be done; upon seeking the cause, they hear nothing more than that human frailty and ignorance are to blame; for even the most eminent teachers and leaders of the faithful, in the good works they do, cannot stand immune to the suggestions of sin, but all offend in many ways; nevertheless, lest they suffer eternal death because of these, they are helped by the merits of the good deeds they have done and by the prayers of the Churches they fought to strengthen. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:46

And Saul withdrew, not pursuing the Philistines, etc. Indeed, teachers, conscious of their own frailty, realize they are not able to track or expel all the wiles of demons; but woe to those hearts to which the repelled and cast out unclean spirits return as if to their own places. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:47

Against Moab and the sons of Ammon, and Edom, etc. Moab and Ammon, who were conceived by incest at night through the help of drunkenness, in which there is lust (Eph. V), signify heretics, degenerate by the disorderly reception of the seed of paternal faith. Edom, who, though the elder, was condemned to serve his younger brother, represents the Jewish people; who are subjected to the nations of the Gentiles throughout the world, both by the blindness of the perfidy of their minds and by the condition of earthly servitude. The kings of Zobah, the Philistines, and Amalek, about whom it is subsequently said. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:48

And having gathered the army, he struck Amalek, etc. It signifies foreign nations alien to the faith and sacrament of the patriarchs' blood, whom Christ overcomes in two ways as enemies of his peace, so that he might rescue spiritual Israel from the hand of their devastators, either by saving believers through their own faith or by justly condemning unbelievers through his righteous judgment. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:49

Now, the sons of Saul were, etc. The three sons of Saul represent great leaders of the Catholic faith, which proclaims one God in three persons. Since they are what they are not by their own virtue but by the grace of God, and because they desire to enjoy the eternal vision of their Creator (to whom it is said, "But you are the same" [Psalm CVIII]), and because they trust that through Christ Jesus, the true King and Savior, they will be saved and reign forever; rightly the first son is interpreted as the gift of the dove, the second as I have desired, and the third as my King, my salvation. His two daughters indicate weaker members of the faithful devoted to God in body and mind; or certainly, the firstborn daughter holds the image of the synagogue, while the younger holds the image of the Church. The etymology of the names of the daughters is also fitting; for the Synagogue of the elect is not gathered from all nations broadly, but from the multitude of the Israelite lineage alone: the Church, however, is called to faith from all nations. Rightly, the firstborn daughter is said to be interpreted as from the multitude, and the second as from all. Saul's wife Achinoam, which is interpreted as the beauty of the brother, figuratively signifies the perfection of the Catholic Church, which is often called in the Song of Love, the sister and the beauty of its Creator, who deigned to become her brother through the mystery of incarnation. Abner, the chief of his army, who is called the lamp of the father, indicates either John the Baptist, who was a burning and shining lamp (John V), or all men of virtue who shine with singular height among the defenders of the Church. We should certainly remind the reader that not always do the same persons hold the same manner of typological figures, but as the circumstances of the surrounding matters change, the types and orders of figures change according to time and place. — Commentary on Samuel

1 Samuel 14:52

There was indeed a mighty war against the Philistines, etc. The primary cause of the mighty war against the Philistines was this, because Saul was gathering all the strong and fit men for battle to himself. For if the king himself were not encircled by the hand of a stronger military, by no means would he be terrifying to the neighboring enemies, nor would he powerfully incite them to war; but as in the former times Israel had served them most disgracefully without any hope of freedom; thus surely, thus in the Church, all who are dissolved from good works, nor are endowed with the army of spiritual virtues; because being idle and neglectful we sin, we pay the enemy's tributes of evil conversation with weak languor from the hostile ones. But when we recover from servitude to sin, we resume the hope of victory, the enemy rises, and attacks us with more frequent and sharper stings of temptations, so that if possible, he may recall us to the servitude of crimes; or, if not possible, at least avenge by fiercely raging the injury of his own contempt. But let us pass from our morals to view the allegorical deeds of the ancients; and in the very beginning of the nascent Church, the more the stronger and more fit men for spiritual battle Christ was gathering to himself, the more spoils of souls at that time and they were frequently taking from unclean spirits; but also they were enduring greater struggles of martyrdom from the same. — Commentary on Samuel