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later is written here. For in the book of Kings we read that they took his bones and buried them under the field in Jabesh; but here under the oak in Jabesh. And the things concerning the ventriloquist are more clearly shown here. "For Saul died," it says, "in his iniquities, which he committed against the Lord, according to the word of the Lord, because he did not keep it, and because Saul inquired of the ventriloquist to seek counsel; and Samuel the prophet answered him." The account shows that he did not bring up Samuel by the sorceries of the ventriloquist; but that he impiously and unlawfully requested this to happen through her; but God pronounced the sentence of punishment against him. And this teaches clearly that the prophecy which was made was not false, as some have said. "For Samuel the prophet," it says, "answered him." And I think the vision was so named because Saul desired to learn from Samuel what must be done. Whether it was an angel that appeared, showing the form in the likeness of Samuel; or the soul of Samuel himself in this vision; it must be known that this did not happen through the witchcraft of the ventriloquist; but by the wisdom and power of God; who has often foretold many things to come even through the impious; through Pharaoh, the abundance and the famine; and through Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest kingdoms of the world. But we have also spoken sufficiently about these things in the interpretation of the books of Kings. Therefore, let us proceed to the remaining things. He said that David was anointed in Hebron according to the word of the Lord, by the hand of Samuel, since God commanded Samuel to anoint him. And the phrase, "David went on, proceeding and growing great, and the Lord Almighty was with him," shows the worthiness of the Holy Spirit. For he called the Holy Spirit Lord Almighty. And he said the Egyptian, whom Benaiah killed, was five cubits tall. How then have some said that there have not been men who have had great bodies? And he called the band of the Amalekites Gedor; 80.809 but the book of Kings calls it a company. And the writer, listing those who gathered at Hebron, also said these things: "From the sons of Issachar, who had understanding for their times, knowing what Israel should do at its beginnings, two hundred, and all their brothers with them." And he marveled at these for their wisdom, as being capable and skilled to see what must be done, and to foresee, not prophetically but with intelligence, the things to come, and to recommend what is expedient. And when the ark was being moved, Uzzah, seeing it tipping over, put out his hand; and he was punished, because being a Levite and not a priest, he dared to approach it. For it was for the priests alone to carry it on their shoulders. But since David, being afraid, did not dare to bring it into the royal house, but placed it in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite; God, showing that He knows no difference between an Israelite and a foreigner, but honors piety alone, inundated the house of the foreigner with all kinds of blessings. David, seeing these springs, moved the ark back into the royal palace. And he knew the cause of Uzzah's punishment; for which reason he transported it not on a cart, but by means of the priests. "For they carried it," it says, "as Moses commanded in the word of the Lord God of Israel according to the scripture, on poles upon their shoulders." Then he also speaks of the arrangements of the singers, and who sang with lyres, who with harps, and who with cymbals. And we have spoken of the difference of the musical instruments in the books of Kings.

QUESTION 1. How did David, not being a priest, put on an ephod? For concerning David, it says, "an ephod only." We have often said that Aquila called the ephod an outer garment; and Symmachus, a shoulder-garment. But there were priestly outer garments, and there were also common ones. And it is clear that the great David, being both a God-fearing and God-beloved man, would not have transgressed the law, nor dared to put on a priestly robe. But the account teaches that as he led the ark and danced, he was not clothed in the royal attire, but in a sleeveless tunic

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στερον ἐνταῦθα συγγέγραπται. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς Βασιλείοις ἀνέγνωμεν, ὅτι ἔλαβον τὰ ὀστᾶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἔθαψαν ὑπὸ τὴν ἄρουραν ἐν Ἰαβείς· ἐνταῦθα δὲ ὑπὸ τὴν δρῦν ἐν Ἰαβείς. Καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς ἐγγα στριμύθου σαφέστερον ἐνταῦθα δεδήλωται. "Ἀπ έθανε γὰρ, φησὶ, Σαοὺλ ἐν ταῖς ἀνομίαις αὐτοῦ, αἷς ἠνόμησε Κυρίῳ, κατὰ τὸν λόγον Κυρίου, διότι οὐκ ἐφύλαξεν αὐτὸν, καὶ ὅτι ἐπηρώτησε Σαοὺλ ἐν τῇ ἐγγαστριμύθῳ τοῦ ἐκζητῆσαι· καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτῷ Σαμουὴλ ὁ προφήτης." ∆ηλοῖ δὲ ὁ λόγος, ὡς οὐχὶ γοητείαις τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου τὸν Σαμουὴλ ἀνήγαγεν· ἀλλ' ὅτι μὲν ἐκεῖνος δυσσεβῶς καὶ παρα νόμως δι' ἐκείνης ᾔτησε τοῦτο γενέσθαι· ὁ δὲ Θεὸς κατ' αὐτοῦ τῆς τιμωρίας τὴν ψῆφον ἐξήνεγκε. ∆ιδά σκει δὲ ταῦτα σαφῶς, ὡς οὐ ψευδὴς, καθ' ἅ τινες εἶπον, ἡ γενομένη πρόῤῥησις. "Ἀπεκρίθη γὰρ αὐτῷ, φησὶ, Σαμουὴλ ὁ προφήτης." Οἶμαι δὲ οὕτως ὠνομάσθαι τὴν ὄψιν, ἐπειδὴ παρὰ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ὁ Σαοὺλ μαθεῖν τὸ πρακτέον ἐπόθησεν. Εἴτε δὲ ἄγγε λος ἦν ὁ ὀφθεὶς, ἐν τύπῳ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ τὸ σχῆμα δεικνύων· εἴτε αὐτοῦ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ ἡ ψυχὴ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὄψει· ἰστέον ὡς οὐ τῇ μαγγανείᾳ τῆς ἐγγαστριμύθου τοῦτο γεγένηται· ἀλλὰ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίᾳ τε καὶ δυνάμει· ὃς καὶ διὰ δυσσεβούντων πολλὰ τῶν ἐσομένων πολλάκις προείρηκε· διὰ τοῦ Φαραὼ, τὴν εὐθηνίαν καὶ τὸν λιμόν· καὶ διὰ τοῦ Ναβουχοδονόσορ, τὰς μεγίστας βασιλείας τῆς οἰκου μένης. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἀποχρώντως περὶ τούτων ἐν τῇ τῶν Βασιλειῶν εἰρήκαμεν ἑρμηνείᾳ. Ἐπὶ τὰ λοιπὰ τοίνυν ἰτέον. Τὸν ∆αβὶδ ἔφη κεχρίσθαι ἐν τῇ Χεβρὼν κατὰ τὸν λόγον Κυρίου, διὰ χειρὸς Σαμουὴλ, ἐπειδὴ τῷ Σαμουὴλ ἐνετείλατο ὁ Θεὸς χρίσαι αὐτόν. Τὸ δὲ, "Ἐπορεύετο ∆αβὶδ, πορευόμενος καὶ μεγαλυνόμενος, καὶ Κύριος παντοκράτωρ ἦν μετ' αὐτοῦ," δηλοῖ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος τὴν ἀξίαν. Κύριον γὰρ παντοκράτορα τὸ πανάγιον ἐκάλεσε Πνεῦμα. Πεντάπηχυν δὲ τὸν Αἰγύπτιον ἔφη, ὃν Βανέας ἀνεῖλε. Πῶς οὖν ἔφασάν τινες μὴ γεγενῆσθαί τινας μεγάλα σώματα ἐσχηκότας; Γεδοὺρ δὲ 80.809 τῶν Ἀμαληκιτῶν τὸ στίφος ὠνόμασεν· ἡ δὲ τῶν Βασιλειῶν βίβλος σύστρεμμα αὐτὸ κέκληκε. Καταλέγων δὲ τοὺς συνελθόντας εἰς τὴν Χεβρὼν ὁ συγγραφεὺς, ἔφη καὶ ταῦτα· "Ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσαὰρ, γινώσκοντες σύνεσιν εἰς τοὺς καιροὺς αὐτῶν, γινώσκοντες τί ποιήσει Ἰσραὴλ εἰς τὰς ἀρχὰς αὑτοῦ, διακόσιοι, καὶ πάντες ἀδελφοὶ αὐτῶν μετ' αὐτῶν." Τούτους δὲ ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ τεθαύμακεν, ὡς ἱκανοὺς καὶ δεινοὺς ἰδεῖν τὸ πρακτέον, καὶ προ ϊδεῖν, οὐ προφητικῶς, ἀλλὰ συνετῶς, τὰ ἐσόμενα, καὶ τὰ συμφέροντα εἰσηγήσασθαι. Τῆς κιβωτοῦ δὲ μετακομιζομένης, ὁ Ὀζὰ περιτρεπομένην ἰδὼν προσήρεισε τὴν χεῖρα· ἐκολάσθη δὲ, ὡς Λευΐτης ὢν, καὶ οὐχ ἱερεὺς, ὅτι πελάσαι ταύτῃ τετόλμηκε. Μόνων γὰρ ἦν τῶν ἱερέων τὸ ταύτην φέρειν ἐπ' ὤμων. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ δείσας ὁ ∆αβὶδ εἰς τὸν βασιλικὸν αὐτὴν οἶκον εἰσαγαγεῖν οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ἀβεδδαρᾶν τοῦ Χετθαίου κατέστησε· δει κνὺς ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς οὐκ οἶδεν Ἰσραηλίτου καὶ ἀλλοφύ λου διαφορὰν, ἀλλ' εὐσέβειαν μόνην τιμᾷ, ἐπέκλυσε παντοδαπαῖς εὐλογίαις τοῦ ἀλλοφύλου τὴν οἰκίαν. Ταύτας ὁ ∆αβὶδ τὰς πηγὰς θεασάμενος, εἰς τὰ βασί λεια πάλιν τὴν κιβωτὸν μετατέθεικεν. Ἔγνω δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς τοῦ Ὀζᾶ τιμωρίας· οὗ δὴ χάριν αὐτὴν οὐ δι' ἁμάξης, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν ἱερέων μετήνεγκεν. "Ἦραν γὰρ αὐτὴν, φησὶν, ὡς ἐνετείλατο Μωσῆς ἐν λόγῳ Κυρίου Θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ κατὰ τὴν γραφὴν ἐν ἀναφορεῦσιν ἐπ' ὤμοις αὐτῶν." Εἶτα λέγει καὶ τὰς διατάξεις τῶν ψαλτῳδῶν, καὶ τίνες μὲν ἐν κινύραις ᾖδον, τίνες δὲ ἐν νάβλαις, τίνες δὲ ἐν κυμβάλοις. Τὴν δὲ τῶν μουσικῶν ὀργάνων διαφορὰν ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις εἰρήκαμεν.

ΕΡΩΤΗΣΙΣ Αʹ. Πῶς ὁ ∆αβὶδ οὐκ ὢν ἱερεὺς ἐφοὺδ ἠμπίσχετο; Καὶ ἐπὶ ∆αβὶδ γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐφοὺδ μόνον. Πολλάκις εἰρήκαμεν, ὅτι τὸ ἐφοὺδ ἐπένδυμα ὁ Ἀκύλας εἶπεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος ἐπωμίδα. Ἀλλ' ἦν ἐπενδύματα ἱερατικὰ, ἦν δὲ καὶ κοινά. ∆ῆλον δὲ, ὡς ὁ μέγας ∆αβὶδ, καὶ θεοσεβὴς ὢν καὶ θεοφιλὴς ἀνὴρ, οὐκ ἂν παρέβη τὸν νόμον, οὐδ' ἱερατικὴν ἐτόλ μησε περιβαλέσθαι στολήν. Ἀλλὰ διδάσκει λόγος, ὡς ἡγούμενος τῆς κιβωτοῦ, καὶ χορεύων, οὐ τὸ βασιλικὸν περιεβέβλητο σχῆμα, ἀλλ' ἐξωμίδα