Gregory the Great, on 1Sam 1:1

“There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite:”

“1. Whom then does this man represent to us, if not our Lord and Redeemer, who both appeared in the weakness of our flesh, and yet did not subdue that same weakness of His assumed nature with the enticements of a more indulgent life? For "man" (vir) is named from "virtue" (virtus): But man, created in paradise, had war with the apostate angel, whom nevertheless he did not take care to resist through his conditional virtue. Therefore, created strong but weakly subjugated to the enemy, he was not a man by combat, who was one by gift. Thus he was made strong in such a way that, with human nature condemned, he could not prevail over the victorious enemy, unless He who existed above men should assume it. Therefore our Creator became our warrior. But whether He was a man is known if it is considered from the virtue He displayed. He assumed our nature, so that while it conquered in Him, it might restore its created nobility, and what had been made strong but weak in Adam might become weak but strong in the Redeemer (Matt. 4). To Him indeed, while He fasted in the wilderness, the tempter came, renewed the weapons of his ancient victory, and hurled the darts of gluttony, pride, and arrogance; but he found Him resisting in all things. Therefore He shone forth as a man through victory, who, overcoming the apostate angel—already a strong conqueror—did not display to him the power of His divinity but the weakness of His humanity. Considering this man, the prophet Jeremiah says: "A woman shall encompass a man" (Jer. 31:22). Zechariah points to Him, saying: "Behold, a man, the Rising is His name" (Zech. 6:12). The blessed apostle Peter, preaching to the Jews, says of Him: "Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by powers, wonders, and signs: Him, delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you killed by fastening Him through the hands of wicked men" (Acts 2:22-23). Hence Cleopas, conversing with the same Redeemer on the road, said: "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word" (Luke 24:19). For He was a man who both expelled the ancient enemy from the Church in this world and, dying, bound him in hell. And because He who, dying, shattered the powers of hell, rising again, opened for us the entrance to eternity, He showed us the greatness of His virtue not only by living but also by dying and rising. Therefore, because our Redeemer is known to have done works of great virtue through the humanity He assumed, rightly is he who signifies Him in type declared to have been a man. 2. But we must ask why he is called "one man." For if this "oneness" refers to number, it seems superfluous: for everyone is one, and not two. And Saint Samuel, by whom these things are written, must in no way be believed to have begun in vain contrary to the custom of the writers of Holy Church. For the writer of that volume, when he was presenting the life of blessed Job as an example for the faithful, began thus: "There was a man in the land of Uz, named Job" (Job 1:1). The evangelist Luke also, when at the beginning of his Gospel he was speaking the praises of a just priest, said: "There was in the days of Herod the king a priest named Zechariah" (Luke 1:5). For neither did the former say "one man," nor the evangelist "there was one priest." What then is the reason that the chosen prophet, contrary to the custom of writers, began with such an opening? But because he was not only a writer, but also a prophet, he knew of whom the history spoke; and he knew whom the one spoken of in the history signified. Therefore, what he narrates from history beyond the custom of history, this he speaks for the use of the catholic faith, in the understanding of allegory. Hence also by this new custom, the whole Church together confesses that God and man is one Christ. Therefore he says: "There was one man"; because he was speaking of the God-man, so that he might assert his divinity and humanity, and might more openly demonstrate that the person of the Word receiving and of the man received is not different, but that of God and man is one and the same: which unity, nevertheless, can fittingly be referred to the excellence of his dignity. For even if Holy Church has not had another Redeemer, through the display of virtue she has had many men. Therefore, when he is called "one," he is shown to be incomparable. 3. For He had no equal, who while He looked after the human race with His excellent life and word, was able by a singular gift to give the gifts of Redemption. Hence Paul also says: "Receiving abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, they shall reign in life through one Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:17). Reproaching the Jews for this dignity of His excellence through Himself, He says: "If I had not done among them the works that no other man has done, they would not have sin" (John 15:24). The Psalmist also, considering the excellence of His beauty, said: "Beautiful in form above the sons of men, grace is poured forth on your lips" (Ps. 45:3). Isaiah, testifying to the singular good of Redemption in Him, says: "Truly He has borne our infirmities, and He has carried our iniquities" (Isa. 53:4). The eternal Father also, showing His singular dignity, cried out from the magnificent glory, saying: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:17). He was the one man whom Peter, confessing, said: "There is no other name given under heaven by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Paul asserts this greatness of His excellence, saying: "The Lord exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name" (Phil. 2:9). And because the excellence of His virtue surpasses not only the elect among men, but also all the blessed angels, Paul, preaching this to the Hebrews, says: "Who being the brightness of glory, and the figure of His substance, and upholding all things by the word of His power, making purgation of sins, sits at the right hand of the majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: 'You are my Son, this day have I begotten you'? And again: 'I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son'" (Heb. 1:3-5). Rightly therefore He is called the one man, to whom no one is compared. But now that we have recognized how great He is, let us hear from where He was. 4. From Ramatha Sophim, from the mountain of Ephraim. Ramatha, Sophim, and Ephraim are Hebrew names, of which the first in our language means "Completed Vision," the second "Watchtower," and the third is interpreted as "Fruitful" or "Fruit-bearing." And what is the completed vision, if not the perfect knowledge of almighty God? Indeed, the teacher of the Gentiles indicates this completed vision, saying: "We see now through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know, just as I also have been known" (1 Cor. 13:12). And what is understood by watchtowers, if not that sublimity of the angels? For a watchtower is chosen on high for a clearer view. Ramatha is rightly called Sophim: because that perfect knowledge of our Creator can only be possessed by those blessed citizens who stand in that supernal height. For the radiance of eternal light in its fullness is beheld not in the depths of this present exile, but from the state of eternal sublimity. Hence Ramatha Sophim is rightly said to be situated on the mountain of Ephraim. For what is the mountain of Ephraim, if not heaven? For the fruitful mountain is that which always brings forth the flowers of eternal beauty and the fruits of unfailing joy. Rightly both Ramatha and Sophim are said to be situated on Mount Ephraim, because that eternal vision of almighty God, and that height of the blessed citizens, is not held on earth, but in heaven. Indicating that he was from Ramatha, he says: "As the Father knows me, I also know the Father" (John 10:15). Hence again he says: "No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal him" (Matt. 11:27; Luke 10:22). He was from the watchtower, that is, from on high, who also rebuking the Jews says: "You are from below, I am from above: you are of this world, I am not of this world" (John 8:23). He was from Mount Ephraim, who says: "I am the living bread who came down from heaven" (John 6:51). John the Baptist, affirming that he was from Mount Ephraim, says: "He who comes from heaven is above all" (John 3:31). Hence the Psalmist says: "His going forth is from the highest heaven" (Ps. 18:7). Hence the teacher of the Gentiles says: "The second man is from heaven, heavenly" (1 Cor. 15:47). Therefore the man, who is declared to have been one, is said to have come from Ramatha Sophim, from Mount Ephraim: because he who was born among all shone forth above all, and appeared so great on earth because he came from heaven. He was from Ramatha Sophim, because even though he shone here incomparably, nevertheless the greatness of his excellence is not grasped except where the perfect knowledge of him is displayed to the eternal citizens. For one who had beheld him in the excellence of his power here said: "What we have seen and heard, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life" (1 John 1:1). But because he had not seen the greatness of his excellence, he promises it to us in Ramatha, saying: "When he appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2). 5. Moreover, by the name of this mountain, the most blessed ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God, can be designated: for she was indeed a mountain, who by the dignity of her election transcended all the height of every chosen creature. Was not Mary a sublime mountain, who, in order to attain to the conception of the eternal Word, raised the summit of her merits above all the choirs of angels, even to the throne of the Godhead? Indeed, Isaiah prophesying of the most excellent dignity of this mountain, said: "In the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains" (Isaiah 2:2). For she was indeed a mountain on the top of mountains, because the height of Mary shone forth above all the saints. For just as a mountain designates height, so a house designates a dwelling. Indeed, she is fittingly called both mountain and house, because while she was illuminated by incomparable merits, she prepared her sacred womb for the only-begotten Son of God to rest in. For Mary would not have become a mountain on the top of mountains, if divine fruitfulness had not raised her above the height of the angels. And she would not have become the house of the Lord, if the divinity of the Word had not lain in her womb through the humanity he assumed. But she is rightly called a fruitful mountain, from whom the best fruit, that is, the new man, is born; and certainly the prophet, beholding her beautiful and adorned in the glory of her fruitfulness, said: "A shoot shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise from his root" (Isaiah 11:1). For concerning the fruit of this mountain, David exulting in God said: "Let the peoples praise you, O God, let all the peoples praise you; the earth has yielded its fruit" (Psalm 67:6). For the earth yielded its fruit, because what the Virgin bore, she conceived not by material work, but by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). Hence it is said to that same king and prophet by the Lord: "Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne" (Psalm 132:11). Hence Isaiah says: "The fruit of the earth shall be sublime" (Isaiah 4:2). For he whom the Virgin bore was not only a holy man, but also mighty God. Concerning this fruit, to the same blessed Virgin, when Elizabeth greeted her, it is said: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb" (Luke 1:42). Rightly therefore she is called the mountain of Ephraim, because while she is raised up by the ineffable dignity of divine generation, in her fruit the barren shoots of the human condition grow green again. Therefore a man from Ramathaim-zophim was made from the mountain of Ephraim: because he who by the power of his divinity created the angels, from the flesh of the most exalted Virgin, took on the form of humanity. And because through the humanity which he assumed, he wished to be born not from unbelievers, but from believers, there follows: "The son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph." 6. Indeed, four names of the fathers are assigned: because when the Lord took flesh from the faithful people, He had them as fathers through His humanity, whom He illuminated with the glory of just as many principal virtues. Hence it is said by divine promise not to some unfaithful person, but to faithful Abraham: "In your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 22:18). Hence the evangelist Matthew, weaving the order of His genealogy, says: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (Matt. 1:1). Hence He speaks to the Samaritan woman through Himself, saying: "Salvation is from the Jews" (John 4:22). Hence Paul says: "Whose is the adoption of sons, and the glory, and the covenant, and the giving of the law, and the service, and the promises: whose are the fathers, from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all things God blessed forever" (Rom. 9:4-5). Because indeed prudence was present in them for the knowledge of things; justice, by which they desired to arrange rightly what they knew; fortitude, by which they were able to carry out the good things they wished; temperance, through which they would accomplish all things with discretion—they are fittingly designated by the number four. 7. There follows: An Ephrathite. But why is he who is said to be from Mount Ephraim called an Ephrathite? Yet this is clear according to the letter, because evidently someone could be from Mount Ephraim who was not born from the tribe of Ephraim. He is therefore called an Ephrathite, so that he who is shown to be from that place might also be recognized as being from that lineage of descent. But since Ephrathite means "fruitful," this is rightly ascribed to the person of the Redeemer, who is proclaimed by the prophecy of the prophet: He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water, which shall give its fruit in its season (Ps. 1:4). For appearing in the preordained fullness of times, he turned the flowers of heavenly teaching into the fruits of the elect; and as many as he joined to himself from the human race, he brought forth as so many fruits unto eternity. In this passage, while the life of the Redeemer is described, the perdition of the devil is also secretly shown. For he was from Mount Ephraim, and yet was not an Ephrathite: because indeed he fell from heaven, but the bad tree did not bear good fruit. (Verse 2.) He had two wives; the name of one was Anna, and the name of the second was Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Anna had no offspring.”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.