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1_Kings
12:1
And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.
*H Then Nathan the prophet arose in the days of David.
Ver. 1. Nathan. Many other prophets lived at the same time. But he was most conspicuous, and crowned Solomon. C. — Gr. "and after him Nathan arose to prophesy," (H.) and keep up the succession.
*H And as the fat taken away from the flesh, so was David chosen from among the children of Israel.
Ver. 2. Flesh. Gr. "peace-offering." The fat was deemed most delicate.
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1_Kings
17:31
And the words which David spoke were heard, and were rehearsed before Saul.
*H He played with lions as with lambs: and with bears he did in like manner as with the lambs of the flock, in his youth.
Ver. 3. Played. Tearing them to pieces with the greatest ease. 1 K. xvii. 34. C.
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1_Kings
17:49
And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the sling, and fetching it about, struck the Philistine in the forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth.
*H For he called upon the Lord the Almighty, and he gave strength in his right hand, to take away the mighty warrior, and to set up the horn of his nation.
Ver. 6. Nation. Who were no longer under the control of the Philistines. H.
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1_Kings
18:7
And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
*H So in ten thousand did he glorify him, and praised him in the blessings of the Lord, in offering to him a crown of glory:
Ver. 7. Thousand. This was sung in the cities, (1 K. xviii. 7. C.) and excited the envy of Saul, who nevertheless could not prevent David's exaltation. H. — Did he, or the people who praised the Lord and David. C.
*H For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and extirpated the Philistines the adversaries unto this day: he broke their horn for ever.
Ver. 8. Horn. Power and glory. H. — For ever, is not in Gr. David defeated the Philistines at the beginning of his reign. C.
*H In all his works he gave thanks to the holy one, and to the most High, with words of glory.
Ver. 9. Glory. Contained in the Psalms. H. — He was always very grateful. C. — His pure and sincere heart pleased God more than his other works. W.
*H And he set singers before the altar, and by their voices he made sweet melody.
Ver. 11. Altar. Of holocausts. Moses had not appointed singing.
*H And to the festivals he added beauty, and set in order the solemn times even to the end of his life, that they should praise the holy name of the Lord, and magnify the holiness of God in the morning.
Ver. 12. Set. Lit. "adorned the times." — Of his. Gr. "while they praised his holy name, and sounded forth holiness early." H. — David strove to give all perfection to the sacred ceremonies of religion, that the people might be attracted to the tabernacle, (C.) and serve the Lord with gladness. H.
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2_Kings
12:13
And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.
*H The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever: and he gave him a covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in Israel.
Ver. 13. Sins. Remitting the punishment, (2 K. xii. 13. C.) and the guilt also, (H.) in consequence of his repentance. — Covenant. Engaging that his posterity should enjoy the throne (2 K. vii. 12. C.) if they continued faithful. Ps. cxxxi. 11. sup. c. xlv. 31.
*H After him arose up a wise son, and for his sake he cast down all the power of the enemies.
Ver. 14. Enemies. The piety of David was thus rewarded. H. — It must have been the greatest satisfaction to him, to see so wise a son on the throne, and all in perfect peace. 3 K. i. 48. and iv. 24. C. — These blessings were a reward of his virtue. W.
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3_Kings
3:1
And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
*H Solomon reigned in days of peace, and God brought all his enemies under him, that he might build a house in his name, and prepare a sanctuary for ever: O how wise wast thou in thy youth!
Ver. 15. Youth. When other are less informed. This serves to place the apostacy of Solomon in a more striking light. C. — The author seems astonished both at the wisdom and at the folly of this prince, (H.) and apostrophises him. W.
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3_Kings
4:31
And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and he was renowned in all nations round about.
*H And thou wast filled as a river with wisdom, and thy soul covered the earth.
Ver. 16. Earth. Or explored all the secrets of nature, retexit. 3 K. iv. 29.
*H The countries wondered at thee for thy canticles, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations,
Ver. 18. Interpretations of riddles. Hence people praised the Lord. 3 K. x. 24.
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3_Kings
10:27
And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains.
*H Thou didst gather gold as copper, and didst multiply silver as lead,
Ver. 20. Copper, (aurichalcum.) Gr. "tin." 2 Par. ix. 13.
*H And thou didst bow thyself to women: and by thy body thou wast brought under subjection.
Ver. 21. Thyself. Lit. "thy thighs." Gr. "sides." Syr. "strength." — Subjection. Lit. "thou hadst power over thy body," (H.) using it as if it belonged not to God. He was guilty of excess in marrying a thousand wives, and yielding to idolatry, (C.) fearing to displease those whom he loved to his own ruin." S. Aug. de Gen. ad lit. xi. 42. — Dreadful infatuation! H.
*H Thou hast stained thy glory, and defiled thy seed so as to bring wrath upon thy children, and to have thy folly kindled,
Ver. 22. Defiled. Consecrating some even to Moloch, (Pineda vii. 11.) or having children by those whom the law prohibited. Deut. vii. 2. and xxiii. 2. C. — His sins were punished: yet God's mercy preserved his posterity. W. Ps. lxxxviii.
* Summa
*S Part 2, Ques 86, Article 1
[I-II, Q. 86, Art. 1]
Whether Sin Causes a Stain on the Soul?
Objection 1: It would seem that sin causes no stain on the soul. For a higher nature cannot be defiled by contact with a lower nature: hence the sun's ray is not defiled by contact with tainted bodies, as Augustine says (Contra Quinque Haereses v). Now the human soul is of a much higher nature than mutable things, to which it turns by sinning. Therefore it does not contract a stain from them by sinning.
Obj. 2: Further, sin is chiefly in the will, as stated above (Q. 74, AA. 1, 2). Now the will is in the reason, as stated in _De _Anima iii, text. 42. But the reason or intellect is not stained by considering anything whatever; rather indeed is it perfected thereby. Therefore neither is the will stained by sin.
Obj. 3: Further, if sin causes a stain, this stain is either something positive, or a pure privation. If it be something positive, it can only be either a disposition or a habit: for it seems that nothing else can be caused by an act. But it is neither disposition nor habit: for it happens that a stain remains even after the removal of a disposition or habit; for instance, in a man who after committing a mortal sin of prodigality, is so changed as to fall into a sin of the opposite vice. Therefore the stain does not denote anything positive in the soul. Again, neither is it a pure privation. Because all sins agree on the part of aversion and privation of grace: and so it would follow that there is but one stain caused by all sins. Therefore the stain is not the effect of sin.
_On the contrary,_ It was said to Solomon (Ecclus. 47:22): "Thou hast stained thy glory": and it is written (Eph. 5:27): "That He might present it to Himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle": and in each case it is question of the stain of sin. Therefore a stain is the effect of sin.
_I answer that,_ A stain is properly ascribed to corporeal things, when a comely body loses its comeliness through contact with another body, e.g. a garment, gold or silver, or the like. Accordingly a stain is ascribed to spiritual things in like manner. Now man's soul has a twofold comeliness; one from the refulgence of the natural light of reason, whereby he is directed in his actions; the other, from the refulgence of the Divine light, viz. of wisdom and grace, whereby man is also perfected for the purpose of doing good and fitting actions. Now, when the soul cleaves to things by love, there is a kind of contact in the soul: and when man sins, he cleaves to certain things, against the light of reason and of the Divine law, as shown above (Q. 71, A. 6). Wherefore the loss of comeliness occasioned by this contact, is metaphorically called a stain on the soul.
Reply Obj. 1: The soul is not defiled by inferior things, by their own power, as though they acted on the soul: on the contrary, the soul, by its own action, defiles itself, through cleaving to them inordinately, against the light of reason and of the Divine law.
Reply Obj. 2: The action of the intellect is accomplished by the intelligible thing being in the intellect, according to the mode of the intellect, so that the intellect is not defiled, but perfected, by them. On the other hand, the act of the will consists in a movement towards things themselves, so that love attaches the soul to the thing loved. Thus it is that the soul is stained, when it cleaves inordinately, according to Osee 9:10: "They . . . became abominable as those things were which they loved."
Reply Obj. 3: The stain is neither something positive in the soul, nor does it denote a pure privation: it denotes a privation of the soul's brightness in relation to its cause, which is sin; wherefore diverse sins occasion diverse stains. It is like a shadow, which is the privation of light through the interposition of a body, and which varies according to the diversity of the interposed bodies. ________________________
SECOND
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3_Kings
12:16
Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel: now, David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.
*H That thou shouldst make the kingdom to be divided, and out of Ephraim a rebellious kingdom to rule.
Ver. 23. Rebellious. (Gr.) Lit. "hard." H. — Jeroboam was at the head of it. 3 K. xii. 14. C.
*H But God will not leave off his mercy, and he will not destroy, nor abolish his own works, neither will he cut up by the roots the offspring of his elect: and he will not utterly take away the seed of him that loveth the Lord.
Ver. 24. Lord. David's piety caused the sceptre to be still preserved in his family, (H.) though Solomon's conduct deserved to lose it. C.
*H Wherefore he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David of the same stock.
Ver. 25. Of the. Gr. "a root from him," to govern a part, while Jeroboam reigned over the other tribes of Jacob. H. — God fulfilled his promises to Jacob and David. M.
*H And Solomon had an end with his fathers.
Ver. 26. Fathers. Some would hence infer, that Solomon died penitent. H.
*H And he left behind him of his seed, the folly of the nation,
Ver. 27. Folly. A most imprudent prince, despised by the whole nation. He answered the people roughly, and lost the ten tribes; but idolatry was his greatest folly, and from this he was never reclaimed. 3 K. xiv. 22. C.
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3_Kings
12:28
And finding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
*H And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who caused Israel to sin, and shewed Ephraim the way of sin, and their sins were multiplied exceedingly.
Ver. 29. Jeroboam. Though not of his seed, as we only find Roboam mentioned of all the thousand wives of Solomon. He left behind him Jeroboam, notwithstanding his desire to have him slain; and this man brought ruin on the nation. H. — Sin. This is the usual title given to this introducer of idolatry. He engaged the ten tribes in the worship of the golden calves, which ruined the state and religion of Israel.
*H And they sought out all iniquities, till vengeance came upon them, and put an end to all their sins.
Ver. 31. Vengeance, (defensio) and put, &c. in not in Gr. Theglatphalasar and Salmanasar carried the tribes away into captivity. 1 Par. v. 26. and 4 K. xiv. xvii. 6. C. — Many hereupon opened their eyes, (M.) as we may hope. Those who returned with the rest of the Jews relapsed not, at least into idolatry, in such an open manner. H.