73.  Further, to run over the Judges, or the most illustrious of the Judges, there is “Samuel among those that call upon His Name,”158    Ib. cxix. 6. who was given to God before his birth,159    1 Sam. i. 20. and sanctified immediately after his birth, and the anointer with his horn of kings and priests.160    Ib. xvi. 13.  But was not Basil as an infant consecrated to God from the womb, and offered with a coat161    Cf. 1 Sam. ii. 19. at the altar, and was he not a seer of heavenly things, and anointed of the Lord, and the anointer of those who are perfected by the Spirit?  Among the kings, David is celebrated, whose victories and trophies162    2 Sam. v. 1. gained from the enemy are on record, but his most characteristic trait was his gentleness,163    Ps. cxxxii. 1 (LXX.). and, before his kingly office, his power with the harp, able to soothe even the evil spirit.  Solomon asked of God and obtained breadth of heart,164    1 Kings iv. 29. making the furthest possible progress in wisdom and contemplation, so that he became the most famous man of his time.  Basil, in my opinion, was in no wise, or but little inferior, to the one in gentleness, to the other in wisdom, so that he soothed the arrogance of infuriated sovereigns; and did not merely bring the queen of the south from the ends of the earth, or any other individual, to visit him because of his renown for wisdom, but made his wisdom known in all the ends of the world.  I pass over the rest of Solomon’s life.  Even if we spare it, it is evident to all.

Καὶ ἵνα τοὺς Κριτὰς παραδράμωμεν, ἢ τῶν Κριτῶν τοὺς εὐδοκιμωτάτους, Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, καὶ Θεῷ δοτὸς πρὸ γενέσεως, καὶ μετὰ τὴν γέννησιν εὐθὺς ἱερός, καὶ χρίων βασιλέας καὶ ἱερέας διὰ τοῦ κέρατος. Οὗτος δέ, οὐκ ἐκ βρέφους Θεῷ καθιερωμένος ἀπὸ μήτρας καὶ μετὰ τῆς διπλοΐδος ἐπιδεδομένος τῷ βήματι καὶ βλέπων τὰ ἐπουράνια καὶ χριστὸς Κυρίου ἦν καὶ χρίστης τῶν τελειουμένων ἐκ Πνεύματος. Δαβὶδ ἐν βασιλεῦσιν ἀοίδιμος, οὗ πολλαὶ μὲν ἱστοροῦνται κατὰ τῶν ἐχθρῶν νῖκαι καὶ τρόπαια, ἡ πρᾳότης δὲ τὸ ἐπισημότατον, καὶ πρὸ τῆς βασιλείας ἡ τῆς κινύρας δύναμις, καὶ πονηροῦ πνεύματος κατεπᾴδουσα. Σολομῶν πλάτος καρδίας ᾐτήσατο παρὰ Θεοῦ καὶ τετύχηκεν, ἐπὶ πλεῖστον προελθὼν σοφίας καὶ θεωρίας, ὥστε γενέσθαι τῶν καθ' ἑαυτὸν ἁπάντων εὐδοκιμώτατος. Ὁ δέ, τοῦ μὲν τῷ πρᾴῳ, τοῦ δὲ τῇ σοφίᾳ κατὰ τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον, οὐδὲν ἢ μικρῷ λείπεται: ὥστε καὶ βασιλέων θράσος δαιμονώντων καταμαλάσσειν: καὶ μὴ βασίλισσαν νότου μόνον, ἢ τὸν δεῖνα, κατὰ κλέος τῆς αὐτοῦ σοφίας ἐκ τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς ἀπαντᾶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς πέρασι τὴν ἐκείνου σοφίαν γνωρίζεσθαι. Καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς παρήσω τοῦ Σολομῶντος: πᾶσι δὲ δῆλα, κἂν ἡμεῖς φειδώμεθα.