177

of the plot was envy. For when he won the victory against the foreigner Goliath, and was praised for this by all, for this reason he was moved to kill him; and especially when he saw that the Lord was with David, and he himself understood it very well, and all Israel and Judah loved David. And still more were the feelings of jealousy kindled, as he saw him prevailing in wars with the cooperation and help of God. Therefore Scripture says: And Saul saw that the Lord was with David, and all Israel loved him. And he began to be even more afraid of David. And David became an enemy to Saul all the days. But when war broke out again, and David prevailed, and fought against the foreigners, and struck them with a great blow, and they fled from his presence; again the spirit of envy choked Saul, so that he even wished to become the man's murderer with his own hand. 23.536 At any rate, he tried to strike him with his spear; but when he missed the blow, no longer in secret, but openly sending to the house of David, he was moved to kill him. But he, being caught in such a calamity, composes the present inscription, crying out to God and saying: Deliver me from my enemies, O God, and from those who rise up against me, redeem me. Rescue me from those who work iniquity, and from men of blood, save me. And through these words he prays to obtain God as a guardian, a helper, and a savior, so as not to be captured by his enemies, nor to become subject to them; or also that he himself might not be shown to be like them, nor become one of those who work iniquity, nor of the portion of the men of blood, about whom it was also said above: Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days; but I will hope in you. And that he knew his enemies to be not only the visible ones, but the unseen and invisible ones, who were also working in Saul; for an evil spirit was upon Saul, moved by which he was inflamed with envy against David; has been shown to us many times. Here, therefore, he is recorded as having overcome his enemies, and as having often gained victory against the foreigners. Terrible then were the enemies and foes, his unseen enemies, whom he represented also through the preceding words, saying: For behold, they have hunted my soul; the mighty have set upon me. Therefore, from the history, he appears to have had no other enemies than only Saul. For Scripture has presented this, testifying that he was loved by all the people; and this was especially the cause of the malice against him. If, therefore, everyone loved David, and only Saul, being inflamed with envy on this account, plotted against him, how does he say here in the plural, Deliver me from my enemies and from those who rise up against me; and again, For behold, they have hunted my soul; the mighty have set upon me? But clearly through these words are represented invisible and unseen enemies, about whom the Apostle also said: Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and the powers, and the world-rulers of this darkness, and against the spirits of wickedness. These, at any rate, inflamed Saul against David; for this reason he begged God to be rescued from them. For against Goliath and against the other foreigners, he himself was sufficient, standing and proceeding against them all by the law of war; but against the unseen powers and the invisible enemies he asked God to become his champion. And that having wronged Saul in nothing, he was pursued by him in vain, the history presents, and he himself reveals in the following words: Neither my iniquity, nor my sin; without iniquity I ran and directed my course. But instead of, without iniquity I ran and directed my course, Symmachus says, there being no sin, 23.537 they run upon me, to drag me away. For with no pretext at hand, so many things against him they undertook

177

ἐπιβουλῆς φθόνος ἦν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὴν κατὰ τοῦ ἀλλοφύλου Γολιὰθ ἤρατο νίκην, ὑμνεῖτό τε ἐπὶ τοῦτο παρὰ τοῖς πᾶσι, τούτου χάριν ὡρμᾶτο θανατῶσαι αὐτόν· καὶ μάλιστα ὅτε εἶδεν, ὡς Κύριος ἦν μετὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, καὶ αὐτὸς συνῆκε σφόδρα, καὶ πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ καὶ Ἰούδα ἠγάπα τὸν ∆αυΐδ. Ἔτι τε μᾶλλον ἐξήφθη τὰ τῆς ζηλοτυπίας, ὡς ἑώρα αὐτὸν κρατοῦντα ἐν πολέμοις συνεργείᾳ καὶ βοηθείᾳ Θεοῦ. Λέγει δ' οὖν ἡ Γραφή· Καὶ εἶδε Σαοὺλ, ὅτι Κύριος μετὰ ∆αυῒδ, καὶ πᾶς Ἰσραὴλ ἠγάπα αὐτόν. Καὶ προσέθετο εὐλαβεῖσθαι ἀπὸ ∆αυῒδ ἔτι. Καὶ ἐγένετο ∆αυῒδ ἐχθρὸς τοῦ Σαοὺλ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας. Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ αὖθις προσέθετο πόλεμος γενέσθαι, καὶ κατίσχυσε ∆αυῒδ, καὶ ἐπολέμησε τοὺς ἀλλοφύλους, καὶ ἐπάταξεν ἐν αὐτοῖς πληγὴν μεγάλην, καὶ ἔφυγον ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ· πάλιν τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ φθόνου τὸν Σαοὺλ ἔπνιγεν, ὡς ἤδη καὶ αὐτόχειρα 23.536 ἐθέλειν γενέσθαι τοῦ ἀνδρός. Ἐπειρᾶτο γοῦν τῷ δόρατι κατ' αὐτοῦ· ὡς δ' ἠστόχησε τῆς πληγῆς, οὐκέτ' ἐπικεκρυμμένως, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ φανεροῦ ἀποστείλας εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ ∆αυῒδ, θανατῶσαι αὐτὸν ὡρμήθη. Ὁ δ' ἐν τοιαύτῃ ἀποληφθεὶς συμφορᾷ, τὴν προκειμένην στηλογραφίαν συντάττει, ἀναβοῶν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ λέγων· Ἐξελού με ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου, ὁ Θεὸς, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπανισταμένων ἐπ' ἐμὲ λύτρωσαί με. Ῥῦσαί με ἐκ τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν, καὶ ἐξ ἀνδρῶν αἱμάτων σῶσόν με. Εὔχεται δὲ διὰ τούτων φύλακος τυχεῖν τοῦ Θεοῦ, βοηθοῦ τε καὶ σωτῆρος, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἁλῶναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, μηδ' ὑποχείριον αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι· ἢ καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ καὶ αὐτὸν ὅμοιον αὐτοῖς ἀποφανθῆναι, μηδὲ γενέσθαι ἕνα τῶν ἐργαζομένων τὴν ἀνομίαν, μηδὲ τῆς μερίδος τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν αἱμάτων, περὶ ὧν καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω ἐλέγετο· Ἄνδρες αἱμάτων καὶ δολιότητος, οὐ μὴ ἡμισεύσωσι τὰς ἡμέρας αὐτῶν ἐγὼ δὲ ἐλπιῶ ἐπὶ σέ. Ἐχθροὺς δὲ ὅτι μὴ τοὺς ὁρατοὺς μόνους ἐγίνωσκεν, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀφανεῖς καὶ ἀοράτους, οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐνήργουν τὸν Σαούλ· πνεῦμα γὰρ πονηρὸν ἦν ἐπὶ Σαοὺλ, ὑφ' οὗ κινούμενος ἐξεκαίετο ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ φθόνον· πολλάκις ἡμῖν ἀποδέδεικται. Κἀνταῦθα τοίνυν τῶν μὲν πολεμίων περιγενόμενος ἀναγέγραπται, νίκην τε πολλάκις ἀράμενος κατὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων. ∆εινοὶ δὲ ἦσαν ἄρα ἐχθροὶ καὶ πολέμιοι οἱ ἀφανεῖς αὐτοῦ ἐχθροὶ, οὓς παριστὰς καὶ διὰ τῶν προκειμένων ἔλεγεν· Ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἐθήρευσαν τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἐπέθεντο ἐπ' ἐμὲ κραταιοί. Ἐκ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἱστορίας οὐδετέρους φαίνεται ἐσχηκὼς ἐχθροὺς ἢ μόνον τὸν Σαούλ. Τοῦτο γὰρ παρέστησεν ἡ Γραφὴ μαρτυραμένη, ὅτι ἠγαπᾶτο ὑπὸ παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ· καὶ τοῦτ' ἦν μάλιστα τὸ αἴτιον τῆς κατ' αὐτοῦ βασκανίας. Εἰ τοίνυν πάντες ἠγάπων τὸν ∆αυῒδ, μόνος δὲ Σαοὺλ καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ φθόνῳ πιμπράμενος ἐπεβούλευσεν αὐτῷ, πῶς ἐνταῦθα πληθυντικῶς φησιν, Ἐξελού με ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἐπανισταμένων ἐπ' ἐμέ· καὶ πάλιν, Ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἐθήρευσαν τὴν ψυχήν μου, ἐπέθεντο ἐπ' ἐμὲ κραταιοί; Ἀλλὰ γὰρ σαφῶς διὰ τούτων παρίστανται ἀόρατοι καὶ ἀφανεῖς ἐχθροὶ, περὶ ὧν καὶ ὁ Ἀπόστολος ἔλεγεν· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν πάλη πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, καὶ τοὺς κοσμοκράτορας τοῦ σκότους τούτου, καὶ πρὸς τὰ πνεύματα τῆς πονηρίας. Οὗτοι γοῦν ἐξέκαον τὸν Σαοὺλ κατὰ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ· διὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν ῥυσθῆναι ἐδεῖτο τοῦ Θεοῦ. Πρὸς μὲν γὰρ τὸν Γολιὰθ, καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀλλοφύλους ἀπήρκει αὐτὸς ἱστάμενος, καὶ πολέμου νόμῳ τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐπεξιών· πρὸς δὲ τὰς ἀφανεῖς δυνάμεις καὶ τοὺς ἀοράτους ἐχθροὺς Θεὸν ὑπέρμαχον ἠξίου αὐτῷ γενέσθαι. Ὅτι δὲ μηδὲν ἀδικήσας τὸν Σαοὺλ, μάτην ἠλαύνετο ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, παρίστησι μὲν ἡ ἱστορία, ἐμφαίνει δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἑξῆς λέγων· Οὔτε ἡ ἀνομία μου, οὔτε ἡ ἁμαρτία μου· ἄνευ ἀνομίας ἔδραμον καὶ κατηύθυνα. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, ἄνευ ἀνομίας ἔδραμον καὶ κατηύθυνα, ὁ Σύμμαχος, μὴ οὔσης, φησὶν, ἁμαρ 23.537 τίας, ἐπιτρέχουσιν, ἵνα ἑλκύσωσί με. Μηδεμιᾶς γὰρ προφάσεως ὑποκειμένης, τοσαῦτα κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐνεχείρουν οἱ