Samuel

Profile

In Dante's enumeration of the most exalted figures among angels and men, the name of Samuel appears alongside that of Moses. The notes to the passage specify that Moses is presented as the greatest of the prophets, and Samuel as another great prophet, and that the two are cited together in a passage from Jeremiah. They are indicated as two among the greatest names of the Old Testament. The passage serves to clarify that none of the creatures listed — among them Moses, Samuel, and the two Johns — occupies a seat different from that of the spirits who previously appeared to Dante in the sphere of the Moon, that is, the lowest, and that not even Mary is in a higher place of beatitude. The mention therefore has the function of comparison with Beatrice and with the angelic hierarchies, not of biographical description of the character.