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The City of God

Chapter 20.--Of David's Reign and Merit; And of His Son Solomon, and that Prophecy Relating to Christ Which is Found Either in Those Books Which are Joined to Those Written by Him, or in Those Which are Indubitably His.

David therefore reigned in the earthly Jerusalem, a son of the heavenly Jerusalem, much praised by the divine testimony; for even his faults are overcome by great piety, through the most salutary humility of his repentance, that he is altogether one of those of whom he himself says, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered." ¹ After him Solomon his son reigned over the same whole people, who, as was said before, began to reign while his father was still alive. This man, after good beginnings, made a bad end. For indeed "prosperity, which wears out the minds of the wise," ² hurt him more than that wisdom profited him, which even yet is and shall hereafter be renowned, and was then praised far and wide. He also is found to have prophesied in his books, of which three are received as of canonical authority, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. But it has been customary to ascribe to Solomon other two, of which one is called Wisdom, the other Ecclesiasticus, on account of some resemblance of style,--but the more learned have no doubt that they are not his; yet of old the Church, especially the Western, received them into authority,--in the one of which, called the Wisdom of Solomon, the passion of Christ is most openly prophesied. For indeed His impious murderers are quoted as saying, "Let us lie in wait for the righteous, for he is unpleasant to us, and contrary to our works; and he upbraideth us with our transgressions of the law, and objecteth to our disgrace the transgressions of our education. He professeth to have the knowledge of God, and he calleth himself the Son of God. He was made to reprove our thoughts. He is grievous for as even to behold; for his life is unlike other men's and his ways are different. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits; and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness. He extols the latter end of the righteous; and glorieth that he hath God for his Father. Let us see, therefore, if his words be true; and let us try what shall happen to him, and we shall know what shall be the end of him. For if the righteous be the Son of God, He will undertake for him, and deliver him out of the hand of those that are against him. Let us put him to the question with contumely and torture, that we may know his reverence, and prove his patience. Let us condemn him to the most shameful death; for by His own sayings He shall be respected. These things did they imagine, and were mistaken; for their own malice hath quite blinded them." ³ But in Ecclesiasticus the future faith of the nations is predicted in this manner: "Have mercy upon us, O God, Ruler of all, and send Thy fear upon all the nations: lift up Thine hand over the strange nations, and let them see Thy power. As Thou wast sanctified in us before them, so be Thou sanctified in them before us, and let them acknowledge Thee, according as we also have acknowledged Thee; for there is not a God beside Thee, O Lord." ⁴ We see this prophecy in the form of a wish and prayer fulfilled through Jesus Christ. But the things which are not written in the canon of the Jews cannot be quoted against their contradictions with so great validity.

But as regards those three books which it is evident are Solomon's and held canonical by the Jews, to show what of this kind may be found in them pertaining to Christ and the Church demands a laborious discussion, which, if now entered on, would lengthen this work unduly. Yet what we read in the Proverbs of impious men saying, "Let us unrighteously hide in the earth the righteous man; yea, let us swallow him up alive as hell, and let us take away his memory from the earth: let us seize his precious possession," ⁵ is not so obscure that it may not be understood, without laborious exposition, of Christ and His possession the Church. Indeed, the gospel parable about the wicked husbandmen shows that our Lord Jesus Himself said something like it: "This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours." ⁶ In like manner also that passage in this same book, on which we have already touched ⁷ when we were speaking of the barren woman who hath born seven, must soon after it was uttered have come to be understood of only Christ and the Church by those who knew that Christ was the Wisdom of God. "Wisdom hath builded her an house, and hath set up seven pillars; she hath sacrificed her victims, she hath mingled her wine in the bowl; she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent her servants summoning to the bowl with excellent proclamation, saying, Who is simple, let him turn aside to me. And to the void of sense she hath said, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you." ⁸ Here certainly we perceive that the Wisdom of God, that is, the Word co-eternal with the Father, hath builded Him an house, even a human body in the virgin womb, and hath subjoined the Church to it as members to a head, hath slain the martyrs as victims, hath furnished a table with wine and bread, where appears also the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and hath called the simple and the void of sense, because, as saith the apostle, "He hath chosen the weak things of this world that He might confound the things which are mighty." ⁹ Yet to these weak ones she saith what follows, "Forsake simplicity, that ye may live; and seek prudence, that ye may have life." ¹⁰ But to be made partakers of this table is itself to begin to have life. For when he says in another book, which is called Ecclesiastes, "There is no good for a man, except that he should eat and drink," ¹¹ what can he be more credibly understood to say, than what belongs to the participation of this table which the Mediator of the New Testament Himself, the Priest after the order of Melchizedek, furnishes with His own body and blood? For that sacrifice has succeeded all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which were slain as a shadow of that which was to come; wherefore also we recognize the voice in the 40th Psalm as that of the same Mediator speaking through prophesy, "Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; but a body hast Thou perfected for me." ¹² Because, instead of all these sacrifices and oblations, His body is offered, and is served up to the partakers of it. For that this Ecclesiastes, in this sentence about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not savor the dainties of carnal pleasures, is made plain enough when he says, "It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting." ¹³ And a little after He says, "The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting." ¹⁴ But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both cities, the one of the devil, the other of Christ, and to their kings, the devil and Christ: "Woe to thee, O land," he says, "when thy king is a youth, and thy princes eat in the morning! Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in season, in fortitude, and not in confusion!" ¹⁵ He has called the devil a youth, because of the folly and pride, and rashness and unruliness, and other vices which are wont to abound at that age; but Christ is the Son of nobles, that is, of the holy patriarchs, of those belonging to the free city, of whom He was begotten in the flesh. The princes of that and other cities are eaters in the morning, that is, before the suitable hour, because they do not expect the seasonable felicity, which is the true, in the world to come, desiring to be speedily made happy with the renown of this world; but the princes of the city of Christ patiently wait for the time of a blessedness that is not fallacious. This is expressed by the words, "in fortitude, and not in confusion," because hope does not deceive them; of which the apostle says, "But hope maketh not ashamed." ¹⁶ A psalm also saith, "For they that hope in Thee shall not be put to shame." ¹⁷ But now the Song of Songs is a certain spiritual pleasure of holy minds, in the marriage of that King and Queen-city, that is, Christ and the Church. But this pleasure is wrapped up in allegorical veils, that the Bridegroom may be more ardently desired, and more joyfully unveiled, and may appear; to whom it is said in this same song, "Equity hath delighted Thee; ¹⁸ and the bride who there hears, "Charity is in thy delights." ¹⁹ We pass over many things in silence, in our desire to finish this work.

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De civitate Dei (CCSL)

Caput XX: De regno ac merito David et de filio ipsius Salomone eaque prophetia, quae ad Christum pertinens invenitur vel in eis libris, qui scriptis ipsius copulantur, vel in eis, quos ipsius esse non dubium est.

Regnauit ergo Dauid in terrena Hierusalem, filius caelestis Hierusalem, diuino multum testimonio praedicatus, quia et delicta eius tanta pietate superata sunt per saluberrimam paenitendi humilitatem, ut prorsus inter eos sit, de quibus ipse ait: Beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates et quonam tecta sunt peccata. Post hunc regnauit eidem populo uniuerso Salomon filius eius, qui, ut supra dictum est, patre suo uiuo coepit regnare. Hic bonis initiis malos exitus habuit. Quippe secundae res, quae sapientium animos fatigant, magis huic offuerunt, quam profuit ipsa sapientia, etiam nunc et deinceps memorabilis, et tunc longe lateque laudata. Prophetasse etiam ipse reperitur in suis libris, qui tres recepti sunt in auctoritatem canonicam: Prouerbia, ecclesiastes et canticum canticorum. Alii uero duo, quorum unus sapientia, alter ecclesiasticus dicitur, propter eloquii nonnullam similitudinem, ut Salomonis dicantur, obtinuit consuetudo; non autem esse ipsius non dubitant doctiores; eos tamen in auctoritatem maxime occidentalis antiquitus recepit ecclesia. Quorum in uno, qui appellatur sapientia Salomonis, passio Christi apertissime prophetatur. Impii quippe interfectores eius commemorantur dicentes: Circumueniamus iustum, quia insuauis est nobis et contrarius est operibus nostris et inproperat nobis peccata legis et infamat in nos peccata disciplinae nostrae. Promittit scientiam Dei se habere et filium Dei se nominat. Factus est nobis in traductionem cogitationum nostrarum. Grauis est nobis etiam ad uidendum, quoniam dissimilis est aliis uita illius et inmutatae uiae eius. Tamquam nugaces aestimati sumus ab illo, et abstinet se a uiis nostris quasi ab inmunditiis; praefert nouissima iustorum et gloriatur patrem Deum se habere. Videamus ergo si sermones illius ueri sunt, et temptemus quae euentura sunt illi, et sciemus quae erunt nouissima illius. Si enim est iustus filius Dei, suscipiet illum et liberabit eum de manibus contrariorum. Contumelia et tormento interrogemus illum, ut sciamus reuerentiam illius et probemus patientiam eius. Morte turpissima condemnemus illum; erit enim ei respectus ex sermonibus illius. Haec cogitauerunt et errauerunt; excaecauit enim illos malitia ipsorum. In ecclesiastico autem fides gentium futura praedicitur isto modo: Miserere nostri, dominator Deus omnium, et inmitte timorem tuum super omnes gentes. extolle manum tuam super gentes alienas et uideant potentiam tuam. Sicut coram illis sanctificatus es in nobis, ita coram nobis magnificeris in illis, et agnoscant te secundum quod et nos agnouimus te, quia non est Deus praeter te, Domine. Hanc optandi et precandi specie prophetiam per Iesum Christum uidemus impletam. Sed aduersus contradictores non tanta firmitate proferuntur, quae scripta non sunt in canone Iudaeorum.

In tribus uero illis, quos Salomonis esse constat et Iudaei canonicos habent, ut ostendatur ad Christum et ecclesiam pertinere quod in eis eius modi reperitur, operosa disputatio necessaria est, quae nos ultra quam oportet, si nunc adhibetur, extendit. Tamen quod in prouerbiis legitur, uiros impios dicere: Abscondamus in terra uirum iustum iniuste, absorbeamus uero eum tamquam infernus uiuentem et auferamus eius memoriam de terra, possessionem eius pretiosam adprehendamus, non ita obscurum est, ut de Christo et possessione eius ecclesia sine laboriosa expositione non possit intellegi. Tale quippe aliquid etiam Dominus ipse Iesus per euangelicam parabolam ostendit dixisse malos colonos: Hic est heres, uenite, occidamus eum, et nostra erit hereditas. Itemque illud in eodem libro, quod iam ante perstrinximus, cum ageremus de sterili, quae peperit septem, non nisi de Christo et ecclesia, mox ut fuerit, pronuntiatum consueuit intellegi ab eis, qui Christum sapientiam Dei esse nouerunt: Sapientia aedificauit sibi domum et suffulsit columnas septem; immolauit suas uictimas, miscuit in cratere uinum suum et parauit mensam suam. Misit seruos suos conuocans cum excellenti praedicatione ad craterem dicens: Quis est insipiens? Diuertat ad me. Et inopibus sensu dixit: Venite, manducate de meis panibus et bibite uinum quod miscui uobis. Hic certe agnoscimus Dei sapientiam, hoc est Verbum Patri coaeternum, in utero uirginali domum sibi aedificasse corpus humanum et huic, tamquam capiti membra, ecclesiam subiunxisse, martyrum uictimas immolasse, mensam in uino et panibus praeparasse, ubi apparet etiam sacerdotium secundum ordinem Melchisedech, insipientes et inopes sensu uocasse, quia, sicut dicit apostolus, infirma huius mundi elegit, ut confunderet fortia. Quibus tamen infirmis quod sequitur dicit: Derelinquite insipientiam, ut uiuatis, et quaerite prudentiam, ut habeatis uitam. Participem autem fieri mensae illius, ipsum est incipere habere uitam. Nam et in alio libro, qui uocatur ecclesiastes, ubi ait: Non est bonum homini, nisi quod manducabit et bibet, quid credibilius dicere intellegitur, quam quod ad participationem mensae huius pertinet, quam sacerdos ipse Mediator testamenti noui exhibet secundum ordinem Melchisedech de corpore et sanguine suo? Id enim sacrificium successit omnibus illis sacrificiis ueteris testamenti, quae immolabantur in umbra futuri; propter quod etiam uocem illam in psalmo tricensimo et nono eiusdem Mediatoris per prophetiam loquentis agnoscimus: Sacrificium et oblationem noluisti, corpus autem perfecisti mihi; quia pro illis omnibus sacrificiis et oblationibus corpus eius offertur et participantibus ministratur. Nam istum ecclesiasten in hac sententia manducandi et bibendi, quam saepe repetit plurimumque commendat, non sapere carnalis epulas uoluptatis, satis illud ostendit, ubi ait: Melius est ire in domum luctus quam ire in domum potus; et paulo post: Cor, inquit, sapientium in domo luctus et cor insipientium in domo epularum. Sed illud magis commemorandum existimo de hoc libro, quod pertinet ad ciuitates duas, unam diaboli, alteram Christi, et earum reges diabolum et Christum: Vae tibi, terra, inquit, cuius rex adulescens, et principes tui mane comedunt. Beata tu, terra, cuius rex tuus filius ingenuorum, et principes tui in tempore comedunt, in fortitudine, et non in confusione. Adulescentem dixit diabolum propter stultitiam et superbiam et temeritatem et petulantiam ceteraque uitia, quae huic aetati adsolent abundare; Christum autem filium ingenuorum, sanctorum scilicet patriarcharum, pertinentium ad liberam ciuitatem, ex quibus est in carne progenitus. Principes illius ciuitatis mane manducantes, id est ante horam congruam, quia non expectant oportunam, quae uera est, in futuro saeculo felicitatem, festinanter beari huius saeculi celebritate cupientes; principes autem ciuitatis Christi tempus non fallacis beatitudinis patienter expectant. Hoc ait: In fortitudine, et non in confusione, quia non eos fallit spes, de qua dicit apostolus: Spes autem non confundit; dicit et psalmus: Etenim qui te expectant, non confundentur. Iam uero canticum canticorum spiritalis quaedam sanctarum est uoluptas mentium in coniugio illius regis et reginae ciuitatis, quod est Christus et ecclesia. Sed haec uoluptas allegoricis tegminibus inuoluta est, ut desideretur ardentius nudeturque, iucundius, et appareat sponsus, cui dicitur in eodem cantico: Aequitas dilexit te, et sponsa, quae ibi audit: Caritas in deliciis tuis. Tacita multa transimus cura huius operis terminandi.