Übersetzung ausblenden
The City of God

Chapter 8.--Of the Promises Made to David in His Son, Which are in No Wise Fulfilled in Solomon, But Most Fully in Christ.

And now I see I must show what, pertaining to the matter I treat of, God promised to David himself, who succeeded Saul in the kingdom, whose change prefigured that final change on account of which all things were divinely spoken, all things were committed to writing. When many things had gone prosperously with king David, he thought to make a house for God, even that temple of most excellent renown which was afterwards built by king Solomon his son. While he was thinking of this, the word of the Lord came to Nathan the prophet, which he brought to the king, in which, after God had said that a house should not be built unto Him by David himself, and that in all that long time He had never commanded any of His people to build Him a house of cedar, he says, "And now thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith God Almighty, I took thee from the sheep-cote that thou mightest be for a ruler over my people in Israel: and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies from before thy face, and have made thee a name, according to the name of the great ones who are over the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant him, and he shall dwell apart, and shall be troubled no more; and the son of wickedness shall not humble him any more, as from the beginning, from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give thee rest from all thine enemies, and the Lord will tell [hath told] thee, because thou shall build an house for Him. And it shall come to pass when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will prepare his kingdom. He shall build me an house for my name; and I will order his throne even to eternity. I will be his Father, and he shall be my son. And if he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men: but my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it away from those whom I put away from before my face. And his house shall be faithful, and his kingdom even for evermore before me, and his throne shall be set up even for evermore." ¹

He who thinks this grand promise was fulfilled in Solomon greatly errs; for he attends to the saying, "He shall build me an house," but he does not attend to the saying, "His house shall be faithful, and his kingdom for evermore before me." Let him therefore attend and behold the house of Solomon full of strange women worshipping false gods, and the king himself, aforetime wise, seduced by them, and cast down into the same idolatry: and let him not dare to think that God either promised this falsely, or was unable to foreknow that Solomon and his house would become what they did. But we ought not to be in doubt here, or to see the fulfillment of these things save in Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, ² lest we should vainly and uselessly look for some other here, like the carnal Jews. For even they understand this much, that the son whom they read of in that place as promised to David was not Solomon; so that, with wonderful blindness to Him who was promised and is now declared with so great manifestation, they say they hope for another. Indeed, even in Solomon there appeared some image of the future event, in that he built the temple, and had peace according to his name (for Solomon means "pacific"), and in the beginning of his reign was wonderfully praiseworthy; but while, as a shadow of Him that should come, he foreshowed Christ our Lord, he did not also in his own person resemble Him. Whence some things concerning him are so written as if they were prophesied of himself, while the Holy Scripture, prophesying even by events, somehow delineates in him the figure of things to come. For, besides the books of divine history, in which his reign is narrated, the 72d Psalm also is inscribed in the title with his name, in which so many things are said which cannot at all apply to him, but which apply to the Lord Christ with such evident fitness as makes it quite apparent that in the one the figure is in some way shadowed forth, but in the other the truth itself is presented. For it is known within what bounds the kingdom of Solomon was enclosed; and yet in that psalm, not to speak of other things, we read, "He shall have dominion from sea even to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth," ³ which we see fulfilled in Christ. Truly he took the beginning of His reigning from the river where John baptized; for, when pointed out by him, He began to be acknowledged by the disciples, who called Him not only Master, but also Lord.

Nor was it for any other reason that, while his father David was still living, Solomon began to reign, which happened to none other of their kings, except that from this also it might be clearly apparent that it was not himself this prophecy spoken to his father signified beforehand, saying, "And it shall come to pass when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will prepare His kingdom." How, therefore, shall it be thought on account of what follows, "He shall build me an house," that this Solomon is prophesied, and not rather be understood on account of what precedes, "When thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee," that another pacific One is promised, who is foretold as about to be raised up, not before David's death, as he was, but after it? For however long the interval of time might be before Jesus Christ came, beyond doubt it was after the death of king David, to whom He was so promised, that He behoved to come, who should build an house of God, not of wood and stone, but of men, such as we rejoice He does build. For to this house, that is, to believers, the apostle saith, "The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." ⁴

Übersetzung ausblenden
La cité de dieu

CHAPITRE VIII.

LES PROMESSES DE DIEU A DAVID TOUCHANT SALOMON NE PEUVENT S’ENTENDRE QUE DE JÉSUS-CHRIST.

Il faut voir maintenant, autant que cela peut servir à notre dessein, les promesses que Dieu fit à David même, qui prit la place de Saül, changement qui était la figure du changement suprême auquel se rapporte toute l’Ecriture sainte. Toutes choses prospérant à David, il résolut de bâtir une maison à Dieu, ce fameux temple qui fut l’ouvrage de son fils Salomon. Comme il était dans cette pensée, Dieu parla au prophète Nathan, et, après lui avoir déclaré que David ne lui bâtirait pas une maison, et qu’il s’en était bien passé jusqu’alors : «Vous direz, ajouta-t-il, à mon serviteur David : Voici ce que dit le Seigneur tout-puissant : Je vous ai tiré de votre bergerie pour vous établir le conducteur de mon peuple. Je vous ai assisté dans toutes vos entreprises, j’ai dissipé tous vos ennemis, et j’ai égalé votre gloire à celle des plus grands rois. Je veux assigner un lieu à mon peuple et l’y établir, afin qu’il y demeure séparé des autres nations et que rien ne trouble son repos à l’avenir. Les méchants ne l’opprimeront plus comme autrefois, lorsque je lui donnai des Juges pour le conduire. Je ferai que tous vos ennemis vous laisseront en paix, et vous me bâtirez une maison. Car lorsque vos jours seront accomplis et que vous serez endormi avec vos pères, je ferai sortir de votre race un roi dont j’affermi rai le trône. C’est lui qui me construira une maison, et je maintiendrai éternelle ment son empire. Je lui tiendrai lieu de père et l’aimerai comme mon fils. Que s’il vient à m’offenser, je lui ferai sentir les effets de ma colère et le châtierai avec rigueur; mais je ne retirerai point de lui ma miséricorde, comme j’ai fait à l’égard de ceux dont j’ai détourné ma face. Sa maison me sera fidèle et son royaume durera autant que les siècles¹ ».

Quiconque s’imagine que cette promesse a été accomplie en Salomon, se trompe gravement, et son erreur vient de ce qu’il ne s’arrête qu’à ces paroles : « C’est lui qui me construira une maison ». En effet, Salomon a élevé un temple superbe; mais il faut faire attention à ce qui suit: « Sa maison me sera fidèle et son royaume durera autant que les siècles ». Regardez maintenant le palais de Salomon, tout rempli de femmes étrangères et idolâtres qui le portent à adorer les faux dieux avec elles; et prenez garde d’être assez téméraires pour penser que les promesses de Dieu ont été vaines, ou qu’il n’a pu prévoir que ce prince et sa maison tomberaient dans de tels égarements. Lors même que nous ne verrions point les paroles divines accomplies en la personne de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, qui est né de David selon la chair, nous ne devrions point douter qu’elles ne se rapportent à lui, à moins que de vouloir attendre vainement un nouveau messie, comme font les Juifs. Il est si vrai que par ce fils, qui est ici promis à David, les Juifs mêmes n’entendent point Salomon, que, par un merveilleux aveuglement, ils attendent encore un autre Christ que celui qui s’est fait reconnaître pour tel par des marques si claires et si évidentes. A la vérité, on voit aussi en Salomon quelque image des choses à venir, en ce qu’il a bâti le temple, qu’il a eu la paix avec tous ses voisins, comme le porte son nom (car Salomon signifie pacifique) et que les commencements de son règne ont été admirables; mais il faut demeurer d’accord qu’il n’était pas Jésus-Christ lui-même et qu’il n’en était que la figure. De là vient que l’Ecriture dit beaucoup de choses de lui, non-seulement dans les livres historiques, mais dans le psaume soixante-onzième qui porte son nom, lesquelles ne sauraient du tout lui convenir, et conviennent fort bien à Jésus-Christ, pour montrer que l’un n’était que la figure, et l’autre la vérité. Pour n’en citer qu’un exemple, on ignore quelles étaient les bornes du royaume de Salomon, et cependant nous lisons dans ce psaume : « Il étendra son empire de l’une à l’autre mer, et depuis le fleuve jusqu’aux extrémités de la terre² » ; paroles que nous voyons accomplies en la personne du Sauveur, qui a commencé son règne au fleuve où il fut baptisé par saint Jean et reconnu par les disciples, qui ne l’appelaient pas seulement Maître, mais Seigneur.

Pourquoi Salomon commença-t-il à régner du vivant de son père David, ce qui n’arriva à aucun autre des rois d’Israël? pour nous apprendre que ce n’est pas de lui que Dieu parle ici, quand il dit à David : « Lorsque vos jours seront accomplis et que vous serez endormi avec vos pères, je ferai sortir de votre race un roi dont j’affermirai le trône». Quelque intervalle de temps qu’il y ait entre Jésus-Christ et David, toujours est-il certain que le premier est venu depuis la mort du second et qu’il a bâti une maison à Dieu, non de bois et de pierre, mais d’hommes. C’est à cette maison, ou en d’autres termes, aux fidèles, que l’apôtre saint Paul dit: « Le temple de Dieu est saint, et c’est vous qui êtes ce temple³ ».