27. I … was sick—through grief at the calamities coming on my people and the Church of God (compare Ps 102:14).
afterward I … did the king's business—He who holds nearest communion with heaven can best discharge the duties of common life.
none understood it—He had heard of kings, but knew not their names; He foresaw the events, but not the time when they were to take place; thereupon he could only feel "astonished," and leave all with the omniscient God [Jerome].