1 Samuel 28

And Achis said to David: Knowing now, know, etc. Which is clearly that all Catholics propose to combat the erring by reproving, reasoning, or remembering the words of Scripture, to say to the Lord: God, you know our foolishness and weakness (Psalm LXVIII), for without you we can do nothing, provide us with aid as we struggle, may your holy ones grant us the help of their intercession; and whoever of them authored the holy Scriptures by your inspiration, may they provide us with the secrets of spiritual knowledge by which we may overcome the carnal.

And David said to Achis: Now you will know, etc. It is clear according to the letter, because David, promising aid to the king, also promises to be his guardian, whether in the battle or after the victory. But according to the spiritual sense, the head of the strong brothers and those acting manfully is Christ. To whom, he saying, And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew XXVIII); they respond: And we have learned that no one should be our guardian of the grace leading us, by which you remain in us, other than yourself, not only on all the days of this age, but also in the future, where one day in your courts is better than thousands (Psalm LXXXIII).

As has been said already, the sacred record, like a faithful mirror, has no flattery in its portraits and either itself passes sentence upon human actions as worthy of approval or disapproval or leaves the reader to do so. And not only does it distinguish people as blameworthy or praiseworthy, but it also takes notice of cases where the blameworthy deserved praise, and the praiseworthy blame. Thus, although Saul was blameworthy, it was not the less praiseworthy in him to examine so carefully who had eaten food during the curse and to pronounce the stern sentence in obedience to the commandment of God. So, too, he was right in banishing those that had familiar spirits and wizards out of the land. And although David was praiseworthy, we are not called on to approve or imitate his sins, which God rebukes by the prophet.

Now, Samuel was dead, etc. Josephus narrates that this happened two years before the death of Saul, writing thus (Antiq. VI, 14): "Saul reigned, with Samuel living for eighteen years, and for another two years after his death." Indeed, earlier in the order of history, the death and burial of Samuel are described in nearly the same words; but it is recapitulated here so that the necessity that prompted Saul to seek out the necromancer might be recalled to the readers. However, mystically, the death of Samuel, with the Lord suffering, indicates the cessation of the legal figures as well as the prophets, which foretold His future incarnation. The mourning of Israel signifies that not without great sorrow could the carnal ones be separated from the old institutions of the Lord. I believe that all of Israel, which was able to see the desolation of the temple of Jerusalem and the land of promise—both of which were given to the fathers as a type of heavenly grace—could not at all withhold their lamentation and tears. The burial, which took place after the death and mourning, signifies that time when the faithful Jews altogether ceased from the observation of legal shadows. For it is known that for a considerable time the early Church observed Jewish customs, until the evangelical doctrine gradually prevailed, and it itself completely abstained from legal observation. And fittingly, Samuel is buried in Ramah, his city where he was born, which is interpreted as "exalted": because the same Church of Christ, which once gave forth the beginnings of prophecy, concluded the fulfilled figures of prophecy with honorable devotion, as if they were the limbs of the dead Samuel.

And Saul removed all the magicians, etc. Magicians and soothsayers, the first of whom, commonly called sorcerers, use blood and sacrifices, and often touch the bodies of the dead, following (whom other translations call enchanters) accomplish their work with words; all these soothsayers and idolatries of the Gentiles are mystically designated, whom the people of the Jews, although more wise in earthly things than heavenly, removed completely at this time. For no one now dares to worship Baalim, or Astaroth, or any other monsters of the Gentiles, although they are not perfectly faithful to the Lord.

And the Philistines gathered together, etc. The Philistines in this place, inasmuch as they seek the aid of David and his men, represent the faithful from the Gentiles; but inasmuch as they scorn and reject him, they represent the unfaithful who oppose Christ. For they oppose both the unfaithful Jews and the heretically unfaithful, and the Catholics, Christians and pagans alike. Therefore it is fitting that the Philistines are said to have been encamped in Sunam, which is interpreted as 'crimson'. For crimson holds the appearance of fire. Indeed, the faithful, fervent with the love of Christ, and the pagans, raging with the fire of persecution, do not hesitate to fight against their adversaries. For the good fight against the evil; the evil fight among themselves; but the good cannot fight among themselves at all. Moreover, Israel, because it gathered under Saul who was dying and impious, not under David who was just and destined to rule, either signifies the present blindness of its own people, as we said above, or the heretical depravity; and thus rightly it is described to have gathered on the mountain of downfall, which the name Gelboe signifies, and to have fallen there.

And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, etc. Denied an answer by the Lord, Saul sought a woman with an unclean spirit, through whom he might inquire; and with the cessation of the prophets and the ceremonies of old after the Lord's passion, the people of the Jews consult and frequent the synagogue of Satan, such as today is their synagogue, having a familiar spirit, which in their language signifies the mouth of the abyss. Nor is anything understood better than entrance into eternal punishments. But even the name itself, customary from the meaning of the perfidious faction, does not differ. For it is said to be derived from Apollo Pythius, who was a diligent practitioner of these arts, who himself is said to have borrowed such a name from that place, because he struck the serpent Python in vengeance for his son being killed by him.

And his servants said to her, etc. Correctly it is narrated that the woman with a familiar spirit, whom some call a ventriloquist, lived in Endor, which means in the fountain or eye of generation, so that the very place of her habitation bears witness to the already lost Synagogue, which, deceived by the serpent's conversation, feigns to give light and the cup of wisdom to its listeners.

He therefore changed his appearance, etc. The people of the Jews, having changed their habit in worst either of their earthly kingdom or of faith and works, by which they ought to have been spiritually adorned and loved, came to the hearing of such a Synagogue, which the woman with a familiar spirit signifies, in the blindness of a darkened heart; with those who, transgressing the unity of the true faith or charity, have by no means come to the knowledge of the holy Trinity. For he knows that the number two is sometimes placed in evil, who knows on what account the work of the second day alone in the creation of the world did not deserve the blessing of divine vision, and that unclean animals entered the ark under this number, and he rightly understands innumerable other things of this kind in the Scriptures.

And the woman said to him: Whom shall I raise up for you? etc. And the people of the Jews, entering their synagogue, through the prophecies once summarized and completed in Christ, desire as if to be raised up from the dead for themselves, namely practicing so as to serve anew the shadows of sacrifices, the Sabbath, new moons, leprosy of houses and clothes, and the other literal observances.

And the woman said to Saul, etc. She calls one seen in the plural, as is very customary in Scripture, where often many are designated by the singular, and singular individuals by the plural number. Finally, when one calf was made, the people said: These are your gods, O Israel (Exodus 32). And not one frog or fly was sent against the wicked, but it is said: He sent among them the dog-fly, and it devoured them; the frog, and it destroyed them (Psalm 77); and countless others of this kind.

Some narratives do not touch us, but some are necessary for our hope. I have spoken of "narratives" in this way, since we have not yet arrived at the matters of the spiritual interpretation — matters useful to everyone who knows how to interpret spiritually or to hear things being so interpreted. Of the things of the narrative, then, some are useful to all, but some not to all. For instance, by way of example: the narrative concerning Lot and his daughters — whether it has anything useful according to the spiritual interpretation, God knows, and he to whom God grants to examine those words; but if you take it according to the narrative, you might well inquire: for what benefit is there to me from the narrative concerning Lot and his daughters? Likewise, what benefit to me is the narrative of Judah and Tamar and the things concerning her, if it is told simply as history? Since, however, the narrative concerning Saul and the witch of Endor touches everyone, it is a necessary truth according to reason. For who, when released from this life, wishes to be under the authority of a demon, so that a witch of Endor might bring up — not just any random one of the believers, but Samuel the prophet? Concerning Samuel God says through Jeremiah: "Not even if Moses and Samuel stood before my face, not even to these would I hearken"; concerning him the prophet says in the hymns: "Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among those who call upon his name; they called upon the Lord, and he hearkened to them; in a pillar of cloud he spoke to them"; and elsewhere: "If Moses and Samuel stand and pray," and so forth. If, then, so great a man was under the earth and the witch of Endor brought him up, does a demon have authority over a prophetic soul? What shall we say? These things are written: are they true, or are they not true? To say that they are not true urges toward unbelief (it will come down upon the heads of those who say it); but to say they are true furnishes us with inquiry and perplexity.

And indeed we know some of our own brethren who have looked askance at the Scripture and say: I do not believe the witch of Endor. The witch of Endor says she saw Samuel — she lies. Samuel was not brought up; Samuel does not speak. But just as there are certain false prophets who say, "Thus says the Lord," when "the Lord has not spoken," so also this demon lies, promising to bring up the one whom Saul commanded. For "whom shall I bring up?" it says; "Bring me up Samuel." And these things are said by those who assert that this narrative is not true: Samuel in Hades? Samuel brought up by a witch of Endor — the choice one of the prophets, the one dedicated to God from his birth, the one said before his birth that he would be in the temple, the one who, as soon as he was weaned, put on an ephod and was clothed with a double cloak and became a priest of the Lord, the one to whom, while he was still a child, the Lord gave oracles, speaking to him? Samuel in Hades? Samuel among those below — he who succeeded Eli when Eli was condemned by Providence on account of his children's sins and transgressions? Samuel in Hades — he whom God heard in the time of the wheat harvest, and gave rain to come from heaven? Samuel in Hades — he who spoke so boldly, asking whether he had taken the desired possession of anyone? He took not the calf, he took not the ox; he judged and condemned the people while remaining poor; never did he desire to take anything from so great and so numerous a people. Why should Samuel be in Hades? Do you see what follows for Samuel being in Hades? Samuel in Hades? Why not also Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in Hades? Samuel in Hades? Why not also Moses, who is yoked with Samuel according to what is said: "Not even if Moses and Samuel stand, not even to those would I hearken"? Samuel in Hades? Why not also Jeremiah in Hades, to whom it is said: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I sanctified you"? In Hades also Isaiah, in Hades also Jeremiah, in Hades all the prophets, in Hades.

The witch of Endor did not bring up Samuel, for that is impossible; nor did the one who came up speak the truth. But who this was, and by what power he came up, inquire.

These things, then, he will say who does not wish to accept the contest — namely, the one who denies that it is truly Samuel who was brought up. But since one must be fair-minded in listening to the Scriptures, now that the objector's argument has plausibly thundered against us and is truly able to trouble and shake us, let us see whether the Scripture has ever been rightly understood by the one who does not accept this, or whether he sets out from plausible premises but says things contrary to what is written. For what are the things written? "And the woman said: Whom shall I bring up to you?" Whose is the voice that says, "the woman said"? Is it the person of the Holy Spirit, from whom the Scripture is believed to have been written, or the person of some other? For the narrative voice everywhere (as those who have busied themselves with all sorts of discourses know) is the person of the writer; and the writer of these words is believed to be not a human being — the writer is the Holy Spirit who moved the human beings. Therefore it is the Holy Spirit who says: "And the woman said: Whom shall I bring up to you? And he said: Bring me up Samuel." Who is it that says, "And the woman saw Samuel, and the woman cried out with a loud voice, saying"? We will say to that one who has thundered so much against us and said countless things — that Samuel was not in Hades: "the woman saw Samuel" — the narrative voice said this — "and the woman cried out with a loud voice and said to Saul: Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. And the king said to her: What is it? Do not fear. What have you seen? And the woman said to Saul: I saw gods coming up out of the earth. And he said to her: What is their form? And she said to him: An aged man coming up, and he is clothed with a double cloak, an ephod." It says that she saw also the priestly garment. But I know that the one on the opposing side of the argument says: "No wonder; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. It is no great thing, then, if his servants too are transformed as servants of righteousness." But what is it that "the woman saw"? "Samuel." And why is it not said: the woman saw a demon that pretended to be Samuel? But it is written that "Saul knew that it was Samuel." If it had not been Samuel, it ought to have been written: and Saul thought that it was Samuel; but as it is, it is written: "Saul knew" — and no one knows that which does not exist; therefore "Saul knew that it was Samuel." "And he fell upon his face to the ground and did obeisance." Then again the voice of the Scripture: "And Samuel said to Saul: Why have you provoked me by bringing me up?" "Said" (says the Scripture, which one must believe) — "Samuel said: Why have you provoked me by bringing me up?" Then to this Saul answers: "The foreigners war mightily against me, and God has departed from me and has answered me no more, neither by the hand of the prophets nor in dreams; I called for you to show me what I should do." Again the Scripture did not speak otherwise, but says that Samuel himself said: "And why have you questioned me? For the Lord has departed from you." Does he speak truly or falsely when he says: "The Lord has departed from you and has become an adversary against you and has made for himself another, in the manner that he spoke by my hand, and he will rend the kingdom from your hand" — and is it really a demon that prophesies concerning the kingdom of Israel? What does the opposing argument say? See how great a contest there is in the word of God, needing also hearers able to hear holy words, great and ineffable, concerning the departure from this life — while the former matters are still perplexing and the latter are not yet clear.

They [the Jews] reflected on the death of Abraham and the prophets, understanding that Samuel, too, when he was under the earth because of death, was brought up by a medium who thought the gods were somewhere below the earth and who said, "I saw gods ascending from the earth." They had not, however, comprehended the life of Abraham and the prophets, nor that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not the God of them as men who were dead, but as men who were alive.

Then I wish to say also something else from the Scripture itself. Samuel comes up — and what does the woman tell Saul she has seen? She does not say she saw a human being; she cowered before this one whom she saw. Whom does she see? "I," she says, "saw gods, gods coming up from the earth." And perhaps Samuel did not come up alone even then to prophesy to Saul; but it is likely — just as here "with the holy you will be holy, and with the innocent man you will be innocent, and with the chosen you will be chosen," and here there are associations of holy ones with holy ones, and not of holy ones with sinners (and if ever there is an association of the holy with sinners, it is for the sake of saving the sinners also) — so perhaps also, as Samuel was coming up, there came up together with him either holy souls of other prophets, or angels were there who had come up together with the spirits. Perhaps you will inquire whether angels were set over their spirits? The prophet says: "The angel who speaks in me." And every place is filled with those who need salvation, and "all are ministering spirits sent forth for service on account of those who are about to inherit salvation." Why do you fear to say that every place needs Jesus Christ? He who needs Christ needs the prophets; for he does not need Christ only and yet not need those who prepare the coming and sojourn of Christ. And John — than whom no one among those born of women was greater, according to the testimony of our Savior, who says, "Among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist" — do not fear to say that he too descended into Hades, proclaiming beforehand my Lord, that he might announce him as about to descend. For this reason, when he was in prison and knew the departure that lay upon him, he sent two of his disciples and inquired — not, "Are you the coming one?" (for he knew), but, "Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?" He had seen his glory, he had spoken much about his marvelousness, he had borne witness to him first: "The one coming after me has come to be before me"; he had seen his glory, "glory as of an only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Having seen such great things concerning Christ, does he hesitate to believe? Does he doubt and not say: Tell him, Are you the Christ? For now some, not understanding the things said, say: John, so great a man, did not know Christ, but the Holy Spirit had departed from him. And yet he did know this one, to whom he bore witness before his birth and over whom he leaped for joy, when Mary too came to him, as his mother testified to him, saying: "For behold, as the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the babe leaped for joy in my womb." This John, then, who leaped for joy before his birth, who said, "This is he concerning whom I said, The one coming after me has come to be before me," and, "He who sent me said to me, Upon whomever you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the Son of God" — this one, they say, no longer knew Jesus Christ? For in the womb he knew him. But through excess of glory he did something similar to what Peter did. What similar thing? This one knew something great concerning Christ. Who am I? "Whom do men say that I am?" And he answered: this and that. But you, what do you say? "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"; for which he is also blessed, because "flesh and blood did not reveal it" to him, "but the Father who is in the heavens." Since, then, he had heard great things concerning Christ and supposed great things and did not accept the divine cry made to him — "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and it shall be accomplished," and, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the chief priests and elders, and be killed, and on the third day rise" — he says, "God be merciful to you, Lord." He knew great things concerning Christ; he was unwilling to accept the lowlier things concerning him. Understand John, too, as someone such as this for me. He was in prison, knowing great things concerning Christ; he had seen the heavens opened, he had seen the Holy Spirit descending from heaven upon the Savior and remaining upon him; and having seen such great glory, he doubted, and perhaps disbelieved, whether the one so glorious would descend even to Hades and even to the abyss. For this reason he said: "Are you the coming one, or do we look for another?"

Why, then, did the rich man in hell crave for the drop of water? Why did holy Samuel appear after his death (as you have yourself noticed) clothed in his usual garments? Did the one wish to repair the ruins of the soul, as of the flesh, by the aliment of water? Did the other quit life with his clothes on him? Now in the former case there was a real suffering, which tormented the soul; but not a real body, such as required food. While the latter might have seemed to be clothed, not as being a veritable body, but a soul only, having the semblance of a body with a dress. For although the soul extends and contracts itself to suit the members of the body, it does not similarly adapt itself to the clothes, so as to fit its form to them.

I see no objection to saying that each mind has another body [sōma pneumatikos] when it leaves this solid one, and so the mind always has a body to animate, and in it crosses over, if there is any place to which necessity compels it to go, since, indeed, the angels themselves cannot be enumerated if they are not counted by bodies, as truth itself says in the Gospel: "I could ask my Father to send me twelve legions of angels"; and also since it is evident that Samuel was seen in the body when he was raised by the incantation of Saul, and since it is clear, according to the Gospel, that Moses, whose body was buried, came to the Lord on the mount when they stood together.

The question is raised, whether Samuel rose by the hand of the sorceress or not. And if, indeed, we were to allow that he did rise, we should be propounding what is false. For how could a demon call back the soul, I say not of a righteous man merely, but of any one whatever, when it had gone, and was tarrying one knew not where? But he says, how then was the woman dismayed, and how did she see in an extraordinary way men ascending? For if her vision had not been of an extraordinary kind, she would not have said, "I see gods ascending out of the earth." She invoked one, and how did there ascend many? What then? Shall we say that the souls of all who appeared ascended, and those, too, not invoked by the woman; or that what was seen was merely phantasms of them? Even this, however, will not suffice. How, he urges further, did Saul recognise (what appeared), and do obeisance? Well, Saul did not actually see, but only, on being told by the woman that the figure of one of those who ascended was the figure he desired, and taking it to be Samuel, he consulted it as such, and did it obeisance. And it could be no difficult matter for the demon to conjure up the form of Samuel, as it was known to him. How then, says he, did he foretell the calamities that were to befall Saul and Jonathan at the same time? He did foretell indeed the end of the war, and how Saul would be overcome, drawing that as an inference from the wrath of God against him. Just as a physician, who has no exact knowledge of the science, might yet, seeing a patient past cure, tell of his death, though he made an error as to the hour, so, too, the demon, knowing the wrath of God by Saul's deeds, and by this very attempt to consult the sorceress, foretells his defeat and his death at the same time, though in error as to the day of his death.

And that the souls survive, I have shown to you from the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the witch, as Saul demanded. And it appears also, that all the souls of similar righteous men and prophets fell under the dominion of such powers, as is indeed to be inferred from the very facts in the case of that witch. Hence also God by His Son teaches us for whose sake these things seem to have been done, always to strive earnestly, and at death to pray that our souls may not fall into the hands of any such power.

And, therefore, if we inquire regarding the "tongue," and the "finger," and "Abraham's bosom," and the reclining there, it may perhaps be that the soul receives a form similar in appearance to its earthly body in the change. If, then, any one of those who have fallen asleep is recorded as having reappeared, he is seen in the same way and in the form that he had when he was in the flesh. Besides, when Samuel appeared, it is clear that, being seen, he was clothed in a body; and this must especially be admitted, if we are pressed by arguments which prove that the essence of the soul is incorporeal and is manifested by itself.

Why, even now the followers of Simon [Magus] are so confident of their art that they undertake to bring back the souls of the prophets from hell. And this, I believe, because their power lies in their ability to deceive. This power was actually granted to the witch of Endor, who brought back the soul of Samuel after Saul had consulted God in vain. Apart from that case, God forbid we should believe that any soul, much less a prophet, could be called forth by a demon. We are told that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light"—and more easily into a man of light—and that at the end he will work marvelous signs and show himself as God, so much so that, "if possible, he will deceive even the elect." He hardly hesitated to declare to Saul that he was the prophet [Samuel] in whom the devil was then dwelling.So, you must not think that the spirit which created the apparition was different from the one who made Saul believe in it; but, the same spirit was in the witch of Endor and in the apostate [Saul], and so it was easy for him to suggest the lie that he had already made Saul believe. Saul's treasure, indeed, was then where his heart was, where God most certainly was not. Thus, he saw only the devil, through whom he believed he would see Samuel, for he believed in the spirit who showed him the apparition.

But Samuel said to Saul: Why have you disturbed me? etc. And the books of the Old Testament, very full of the grace of prophecy, openly testify to readers that after the passion of the Lord they should not be raised again to the symbolic observance of the letter, but rather that the very ministers of prophecy are disturbed when they see what they wrote understood differently than they themselves sensed.

And Saul said: I am greatly distressed, etc. The Jews, abandoned by God, possess the gift of prophecy not by merit, attacked by all nations, follow, so to speak, a dead shadow of the law and the prophets under blind night. This, beset by miseries, they think should be consulted as to what should be done with them. Indeed, those same legal ceremonies, now celebrated in vain and in corners, signify that which was once shown publicly by the command and gracious acceptance of God, namely that the old things were to pass away, and all things were to be made new, that the kingdom of the Jews was to be utterly destroyed and the kingdom of Christians to be spread throughout the whole world, just as Samuel, though dead, but raised through impious art, revealed everything about the change of kingdom which he had foretold while alive. If anyone is indeed troubled by how a woman with demonic art could disturb and raise a prophet after death, let him know for certain either that the devil showed then a false shade to those seeking it, or if Samuel truly appeared, that the devil could only do as much as the Lord permitted. Nor is it surprising that such things are allowed to a malign spirit for certain secret reasons, since he set the Savior on the pinnacle of the temple, and asked for and received Job to tempt. But if we believe that it was rather the fantasy of an unclean spirit that appeared, this should not disturb as to how such a one could speak true and prophetic things. For we know that the devil often can foretell many future things which he has learned from holy angels, but thereby one ought to listen to his words the less, because all that he speaks or does among men, he does with the intention of deceiving. And what was said among other things:

These things, then, show that the things written are not false, and that it is Samuel who has come up. What, then, does a witch of Endor do here? What does a witch of Endor do concerning the bringing up of the soul of the righteous man? That man fled, the one who spoke the first argument (so that he might not seem to have a contest over the many other things sought regarding the passage), and says: It is not Samuel; the demon lies, since the Scripture cannot lie. But the words of the Scripture are not from the person of the demon, but from the person of the Scripture itself: "And the woman saw Samuel," "Saul said" … the things spoken by Samuel. How, then, will the matters concerning the witch of Endor appear, once the things regarding the passage are resolved? I inquire of the one who spoke the former things (Samuel in Hades? and the rest), and let him answer to what is asked: Who is greater, Samuel or Jesus Christ? Who is greater, the prophets or Jesus Christ? Who is greater, Abraham or Jesus Christ? Here no one of those who have once come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, proclaimed beforehand by the prophets, will dare to say that Christ is not greater than the prophets. When, then, you have confessed that Jesus Christ is greater — was Christ in Hades, or did he not come to be there? Is not the saying in the Psalms true, interpreted by the apostles in their Acts concerning the Savior's having descended into Hades? It is written that there is borne upon him the saying in the fifteenth Psalm: "For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will you give your holy one to see corruption." Then is Jesus Christ in Hades, but you fear to say that yes, even there he descends to prophesy and to come to the other souls? Then after this, if he answers that Christ has descended into Hades, I will say: Christ has descended into Hades to do what? To conquer, or to be conquered by death? And he has gone down into those regions not as a slave of those there, but as a master, to wrestle — as we said earlier when expounding the twenty-first Psalm: "Many calves surrounded me, fat bulls encircled me; they opened their mouth upon me, as a ravening and roaring lion. My bones were scattered." We remember, if indeed we remember the sacred writings; for I remember them being said with reference to the twenty-first Psalm. Therefore the Savior descended to save; did he descend there proclaimed beforehand by the prophets, or not? Was he here proclaimed beforehand by the prophets, but elsewhere descends not through prophets? Moses too proclaims him as about to sojourn among the race of human beings, so that it is well said by our Lord and Savior: "If you had believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote concerning me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?" And Christ has sojourned in this life, and Christ is proclaimed beforehand as sojourning in this life. But if Moses prophesies him here, do you not wish that he had also descended there, to prophesy that Christ would come? What then? Moses yes, but the prophets after him not? And Samuel not? What is absurd about physicians going down to those who are sick? And what is absurd about the chief physician also going down to those who are sick? Those were many physicians, but my Lord and Savior is the chief physician; for indeed the inward longing, which cannot be healed by others, he himself heals; that which "could not be healed by any" of the physicians, Christ Jesus heals. Do not fear, do not be amazed: Jesus has come to be in Hades, and the prophets before him, and they proclaim beforehand the coming of Christ.

I have not digressed, nor have I forgotten the matter at hand; but this is what we wish to establish: that if all the prophets of Christ descended into Hades before Christ, as forerunners of Christ, so also Samuel descended there — not simply, but as a holy one. Wherever the holy one may be, he is holy. Is Christ no longer Christ, because he was once in Hades? Was he no longer the Son of God, because he came to be in the region below, "that every knee should bow in the name of Jesus Christ, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth"? Thus Christ was Christ even when he was below; and, so to speak, though being in the region below, in purpose he was above. So also the prophets and Samuel: even if they descend where the souls below are, they can be below in place, but they are not below in purpose. And I inquire: did they prophesy the things above the heavens? Yet I cannot grant to a demon such great power, that it prophesies concerning Saul and the people of God, and prophesies concerning the kingdom of David that he is about to reign. Those who say these things will come to know the truths regarding the passage; they will not find how to establish that a holy one would not come, for the salvation of those who are sick, into the place of those who are sick. Let physicians go into the places of the wounded soldiers, and let them enter where the stenches of their wounds are; this is what the physicians' love of humankind prompts. In this way the Word has prompted the Savior and the prophets both to come here and to descend into Hades.

And this too must be added to the argument: that if Samuel was a prophet, and when he departed the Holy Spirit left him, and prophecy left him, then the apostle does not speak truly who says: "Now I prophesy in part, and I know in part; but when the perfect comes, then that which is in part shall be done away." Therefore the perfect is after this life. And if Isaiah prophesied anything, he prophesied in part, with all boldness; but the things here are testified of David as pointing to the perfection of prophecy. Samuel, then, did not cast away the prophetic grace. And to show that he did not cast it away: did he use it in such a way — like those who speak in tongues — as to say, "My spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful"? And yet the one who speaks in a tongue does not build up the church; for Paul says that the one who prophesies builds up the church, saying in these very words: "But the one who prophesies builds up the church." Now if "the one who prophesies builds up the church," and Samuel had the prophetic grace (for he had not lost it, since he had not sinned; for only he loses the prophetic grace who, after prophesying, has done things unworthy of the Holy Spirit, so that the Spirit forsakes him and flees from his governing faculty — which David too feared then, after his sin, and said: "And take not your Holy Spirit from me") — if, therefore, the Holy Spirit prophesies, and Samuel was a prophet, and "the one who prophesies builds up the church," whom does he build up? Does he prophesy to heaven? To whom? To angels, who have no need? "They have no need, those who are strong, of physicians, but those who are sick." Some need his prophecy; for the prophetic grace is not idle — no gift of those given in the Holy Spirit is idle. Of the prophetic grace, then, the souls of those who sleep had need (that I may dare even to say it). But here Israel had need of the prophet; and the one who sleeps also, the one released from life, had need of the prophets, that again the prophets might proclaim to him the coming of Christ. Besides, before the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ it was impossible for anyone to pass where the tree of life is; it was impossible to pass those appointed to guard the way of the tree of life: "He stationed the Cherubim and the flaming sword that turns, to guard the way of the tree of life." Who was able to make a way? Who was able to make anyone pass through the flaming sword? Just as it belonged to no one to make a way through the sea except to God and to the pillar of fire, the pillar of light from God; just as it belonged to no one to make a way through the Jordan except to Joshua (that Joshua was a type of the true God) — so through the flaming sword Samuel was not able to pass, nor Abraham. For this reason Abraham too is seen by the one being punished, and "being in torments, the rich man, lifting up his eyes, sees Abraham," even though "he sees from afar," yet he sees, "and Lazarus in his bosom." They awaited, then, the coming of my Lord Jesus Christ — both patriarchs and prophets and all — that this one might open the way. "I am the way," "I am the door." There is a way to the tree of life, so that it may come to pass: "If you pass through fire, the flame shall not burn you." What fire? "He stationed the Cherubim and the flaming sword that turns, to guard the way of the tree of life." So for this reason the blessed ones waited there, carrying out a dispensation and not being able to come where the tree of life is, where the paradise of God is, where God is husbandman, where the blessed and chosen and holy ones of God are.

There is, then, no stumbling block regarding the passage, but all things have been wondrously written and understood by those to whom God may reveal them. But we who have come at the consummation of the ages have something more. What more? If we depart from here, having become good and noble, not bringing with us the burdens of sin, we too shall pass through "the flaming sword," and shall not descend into the region where those who slept before his coming awaited Christ; rather we shall pass through, in no way harmed by the flaming sword. "And each one's work, of what sort it is, the fire itself will test. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." We shall pass through, then; and we have something more, and we cannot, having lived well, depart badly. The ancients did not say — nor the patriarchs, nor the prophets — what we can say, if we live well: "For it is better to depart and to be with Christ." Therefore, having thus something more and much gain in having come at the consummation of the ages, we first receive the denarius; for hear the parable, that "beginning, he gave the denarius from the last; but the first thought that they would receive something more." You, then, who are first, having come last, receive the wages from the householder in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory and the might unto the ages of the ages. Amen.

Also, some can be sent to the living from the dead, just as in the opposite direction divine Scripture testifies that Paul was snatched from the living into paradise. Samuel the prophet, although dead, predicted future events to King Saul, who was alive, although some think that it was not Samuel himself who was able to be called forth by some magic, but that some spirit so allied with evil works had feigned a likeness to him—yet the book of Ecclesiasticus, which Jesus the son of Sirach is said to have written, but because of some similarity of style is thought to be the work of Solomon, contains in praise of the fathers the fact that Samuel prophesied even though dead. If there is objection to this book on the ground that it is not in the canon of ancient Hebrew Scripture, what are we going to say of Moses, who in Deuteronomy is certainly recorded as dead and again in the Gospel of Matthew is reported to have appeared to the living along with Elijah who did not die.

But the argument is still under examination. And I say that both the narrative and the examination concerning it are necessary, so that we may see what awaits us after our departure. "He has spoken by my hand, and the Lord will rend the kingdom from your hand and give it to your neighbor, to David." But a demon cannot know the kingdom of David that was appointed by the Lord. "Because you did not hearken to the voice of the Lord, you did not execute the anger of his wrath upon Amalek." Are these not the words of God? Are they not true? For truly Saul did not do the will of the Lord, but "preserved the king of Amalek alive," for which also, before his death and at his departure, Samuel reproached Saul: "And on account of this word the Lord has done this to you on this day; and the Lord will give Israel also into the hand of the foreigners." Can a demon prophesy about the whole people of God — that the Lord is about to hand over Israel? "The Lord will also hand over the camp of Israel into the hand of the foreigners. But hasten, Saul: tomorrow both you and your sons shall be with me." And can a demon know this — concerning a king anointed together with a prophet — that tomorrow Saul was about to depart from life, and his sons with him? "Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me."

The need of severe measures tends to crush all gentleness and compassion of heart. The testimony of Scripture supports my assertion. We read that a sovereign sinned who spared an enemy appointed by heaven to be slain. His leniency brought upon him the penalty which his severity should have inflicted upon another. He who refuses to take vengeance, himself becomes its victim. He who, having an enemy in his power, pardons him, either makes light of or despises the weight of God's judgment. Rightly do they suffer punishment who have done wrong. He who pardons present faults transmits them to posterity. As for … the patience of our Redeemer mercy and grace embrace those whom the severity of the law forms. Never has a doctor restored a sick person to perfect health without first cutting away the putrid members and drawing out the filth hidden deep within. He who lets the guilty go unpunished urges the innocent to commit crimes.

Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, whether Samuel said it, or an evil spirit, it is understood no otherwise than without a body, that is, in another life. For by no means could wicked Saul be there after death, where good Jonathan could be received, indeed a great chasm is established between them, where one is received into the bosom of Abraham with Samuel, the other buried in the flame of hell with the devil. However, both are taken from the conversation of this life, which the devil always lacked. Nor does anything hinder the understanding, if we believe these things fantastically said and shown by the devil, that the evil one wanted to mix falsehoods among the truths he would speak; and saying under the person of Samuel to the wicked one, You and your sons will be with me. To secretly persuade sinners that after death, even the worst sins being put to sleep and dismissed, they can then live blessedly with those who lived well before death.

And immediately Saul fell full length on the ground, etc. Reading the words of the prophets, the people of the Jews celebrating vain sacrifices, indeed the wretched suffer terror, but they do not have the strength of faith by which they may be blessed, because the grace of evangelical preaching has been shining around the world for such a long time, and they did not know how to eat the living bread that came down from heaven.

Therefore that woman came in to Saul, etc. And that faithless people, oppressed by so many calamities among the nations today, is troubled on all sides, so that not even the very words of sacred reading, which they still perceive in the darkness of ignorance, would delight it, though perceiving by reading or hearing them, compelled by its own synagogue.

But that woman had a Paschal calf in her house, etc. The most tender and excellent calf, and fine flour bread, which Abraham and Sarah prepared to refresh the Lord during the fervent midday sun (Gen. XVIII), implies the faith in the Lord's incarnation and the perfection of devout humility, with which the holy Church, together with its spiritual teachers glowing with the light of love and wisdom, placates the Lord. But on the other hand, this Paschal calf, and the flour which the demon-possessed woman cooked for Saul who was about to die, and presented for his servants to eat in the middle of the night, express the birth and reign of the Antichrist, and the breaking of the hearts of those who serve him with foolish humility: which the synagogue of Satan, enveloped in the darkness of impiety, suggests to its hearers who are wretched and condemned to eternal death as things to be believed and hoped for, as if it refreshes them with sweet feasts from the fear of surrounding troubles; so that the hearts nourished with this food, progressing in wickedness, go darkly through the shadow under the solitary night.