Fathers

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What the Fathers say

1 Samuel 14:2

Western Saints

Gregory the Dialogist

Gibeah, as we said, is interpreted as "hill"; Migron is said to mean "from the throat." Now holy preachers are very exalted, not only in works, but also in contemplation. The outer part of this loftiness, therefore, is that of works, while the inner part is that of contemplation. Through this outer part of their exaltedness, they are seen by us as an example; but through the inner part, they are joined to the Creator in great love. …

Commentary on 1 Kings, Book 5, Chapter 4 ↗

Bede

But he did not tell his father the same thing. Jonathan concealed from his father and the people the crossing to the station of the Philistines, as he had planned; for just as it is always most fitting to use the counsel of the spiritual, so sometimes it is useful to hide from the carnal the meditated, or even initiated deeds of the greater virtues; lest either their trepidation frighten and break the tender, so to speak, desire of our mind, or they themselves, by emulating us, attempt what they are not yet capable of beginning, or …

Commentary on Samuel ↗