Joshua 24

Joshua 24:3

Augustine of Hippo: The Septuagint has translated “And I took your father Abraham from across the river and led him into all the earth.” A literal reading of the Hebrew would be “And I led him into the land of Canaan.” It is astonishing, therefore, that the translators of the Septuagint would have wished to insert “the whole earth” instead of “land of Canaan,” unless they were considering the prophecy so much that they accepted as already done what was still at the time a promise from God. For it was announced beforehand in very clear terms what would take place concerning Christ and the church and that the true seed of Abraham would not be among the children of the flesh but among the children of the promise. — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 25

Augustine of Hippo: What the translation done about the Seventy says: I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River and took him (deduxi) to the whole earth, the translation made of the Hebrew says: And I brought him (induxi) to the land of Canaan . Well, it is strange that the Seventy have wanted to put the whole earth in place of the land of Canaan, unless they have done so by contemplating the prophecy, in such a way that it is taken more as a thing done by the divine promise as all certainty was announced in advance what would happen in Christ and in the Church, namely, that the true offspring of Abraham is not in the children of the flesh, but in the children of the promise (Cf Rm 9,8). — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 25 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:11

Augustine of Hippo: “And those who inhabited Jericho waged war against you.” One might well ask how this statement could be true, when they were merely protecting themselves by hiding behind the walls and closing the city gates. But this is spoken correctly, since the closing of gates to an enemy is a sign of warfare. For the inhabitants of Jericho did not send ambassadors to ask for terms of peace.… For a war does not always have one battle after another. Some wars have frequent battles, some a few, still others none. A war, however, is when there is a disagreement involving arms in some way. — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 26

Augustine of Hippo: And they made war (bellaverunt) against you the people who live in Jericho. We ask how this can be true when the people of Jericho only defended themselves inside the walls, once the doors were closed. But the affirmation is correct, because closing the doors against the enemy is an act of war, because they did not send legacies to ask for peace. Therefore, if it had been said: they fought (pugnaverunt) against you, it would be false. War does not consist of continuous struggles, but sometimes they are frequent, sometimes they are rare, and sometimes they do not even exist. But war exists when armed dissension occurs in some way. — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 26 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:12

Augustine of Hippo: What does it mean when Joshua, the son of Nun, says among other things which he recalls that the Lord had done for the Israelites: “He sent wasps before you and drove out the Canaanites from your face”? One also finds that statement in the book of Wisdom, but nonetheless one cannot find any account of such a thing taking place. But perhaps “wasps” ought to be understood in a metaphorical sense to mean the sharp stings of fear, by which they were stung in a way as rumors flew about, so that they fled. Or wasps may refer to the invisible spirits of the air, as it says in the psalm, “through wicked angels.” Perhaps someone will say that not everything which took place has been written down and that the incident with the wasps also took place in a visible manner, so that this passage should be understood to refer to real wasps. — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 27

Augustine of Hippo: What does this mean that Joshua Nave remembers that the Lord did, among other things, in favor of the Israelites: He sent before you wasps and expelled them from your presence? For this is read in the book of Wisdom (Cf Sab 12,8) and, nevertheless, it does not appear that this has happened in any other place among historical events. Has the author wanted to use perhaps the word wasps in a metaphorical sense to indicate the great stings of fear, which stung them in a certain way with the rumors that spread so that they fled or to point out the hidden spirits of the air, hinted at by the psalm when it says: by the evil angels? (Ps.77,49) Unless one says that not everything that has happened is written and that this happened visibly and, therefore, it is true wasps. — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 27 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:14

Origen of Alexandria: Therefore, what Joshua said to the people when he settled them in the holy land, the Scripture might also say now to us. The text reads as follows, “Now fear the Lord and worship him in sincerity and righteousness.” And it will tell us, if we are being misled to worship idols, what follows, “Destroy the foreign gods which your fathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and worship the Lord.“Then in the beginning when you were going to be instructed, it would have been rightly said to you, “And if you be unwilling to worship the Lord, choose this day whom you will worship, whether the gods your fathers worshiped in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites among whom you dwell on the land.” And the catechist might have said to you, “But as for me and my house, we will worship the Lord because he is holy.” He does not have any reason to say this to you now; for then you said, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods. For the Lord our God, he is God, who brought us and our fathers out of Egypt … and preserved us in all the way that we went.” Moreover, in the agreements about religion long ago you gave your catechist this answer, “We also will worship the Lord, for he is our God.” If, therefore, the one who breaks agreements with men is outside any truce and alien to safety, what must be said of those who by denying make null and void the agreements they made with God, and who run back to Satan, whom they renounced when they were baptized? Such a person must be told the words spoken by Eli to his sons, “If a man sins against a man, then they will pray for him; but if he sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?” — EXHORTATION TO MARTYRDOM 17

Joshua 24:19

Augustine of Hippo: What does what Joshua said to the people mean: You can not serve the Lord, because he is a holy God? Is it perhaps that it is incompatible with human frailty to serve as perfectly as possible the holiness of God? Upon hearing this, the Israelites not only had to choose the service of God, but also boast of their help and mercy, as the author of the psalm understood, saying: Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no living being will be just in your presence (Ps. 142,2). The Israelites chose rather to boast of themselves, thinking that they could serve God without any hindrance, in such a way that they began then to do what the Apostle said about them: Well, ignoring the justice of God and wanting to establish their own , they did not submit to the justice of God (Rm 10,3). Thus, the law was introduced so that the crime would abound and then grace would abound for Christ the Lord (Cf Rm 5,20.21), which is the end of the law for the justification of every believer (Cf Rm 10,4). — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 28 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:23

Athanasius of Alexandria: We need only to will perfection, since it is within our power and is developed by us, for, when the soul keeps the understanding in its natural state, perfection is confirmed. The soul is in its natural state when it remains as it was created, and it was created beautifully and exceedingly upright. For this reason, Joshua, the son of Nave [Nun], commanded the people: “Incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel,” and John: “Make straight his paths.” Rectitude of soul, then, consists in preserving the intellect in its natural state, as it was created. On the other hand, when the intellect turns aside and deviates from its natural state, the soul is said to be evil. Thus, the matter is not difficult; if we remain as we were made, we are in a state of virtue; but, if we think evil thoughts, we are accounted evil. If, then, perfection were a thing to be acquired from without, it would indeed be difficult; but, since it is within us, let us guard against evil thoughts and let us constantly keep our soul for the Lord, as a trust received from him, so that he may recognize his work as being the same as when he made it. LIFE OF ST. — Life of St. Anthony 20

Augustine of Hippo: What does it mean what Joshua himself affirms, saying to the people: And now separate the foreign gods that are in your midst and turn your hearts to the Lord God of Israel? We can not think that they still had idols of the Gentiles among them, since before they have proclaimed the obedience of the people. But if they had them, after so many threats of the law, would so much prosperity come upon them, if the Lord took such vengeance on them because one had stolen something from anathema? Finally, Jacob said this to those who had gone out with him from Mesopotamia, where the idol worship was such that even Rachel had stolen the father idols. But after that warning from Jacob, they delivered the idols they had (Cf Genesis 35,2.4). From where it is shown that they were told that in that way because the one who said it knew they had idols. However, here, after Josué Nave’s warning, nobody delivered anything similar. And yet, we can not think that Joshua said that without reason. Because Joshua does not say: And now throw away the foreign gods, if you have any among you, but say the following, as knowing with certainty that there were: that there is among you. Therefore, the holy prophet saw that in their hearts there were thoughts about God alien to God and he ordered them to be discarded. Because whoever thinks of a God who is not God, leads in his thought to a strange and certainly false God. Because who can think of God as God is? Therefore, it remains in the hands of the faithful, while they wander away from the Lord (Cf 2Co 5,6), to eliminate from their hearts the vain phantoms that are presented to them and that enter into thought, suggesting that God is of this or the other way, as it is not actually. And they must faithfully direct the heart to him so that, as he knows and as soon as he knows what is best for us, he himself insinuates himself by means of his Spirit, until every lie disappears. That is why it is said: every man is a liar (Ps.115,2 11). And overcome not only the untruthful falsehood, but also the mirror and the enigma, we know him face to face, as we are also known, as the Apostle says: Now we see through a mirror in an enigma; then, instead, face to face; now I know partially; but then I will know how I am known (1 Corinthians 13,12). — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 29 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:25

Augustine of Hippo: And Joshua arranged an alliance for the people that day and gave him the law and the judgment in Shiloh before the tabernacle of the Lord God of Israel. And he wrote these words in the book of the laws of God. And Joshua took a large stone and put it under the terebinth before the Lord. And Joshua said to the people, “Behold, this stone will be a witness for you, for you have heard all that the Lord has said, all that he has spoken to you today; it will be for you a witness in the last days, when you have lied to the Lord your God ». Those who hear these words, not superficially, but meditate with a little depth, should not think that such an important man was so foolish that he believed that an inanimate stone could hear the words that God told his people. This stone, if it had been reproduced in the image of man by an artist, would certainly be counted among those of whom it is said in the psalm: They have ears and do not hear. Indeed, not only do they not hear the idols of the Gentiles, which are of gold and silver (Ps. 113,14 6), but also those that are made of stone; rather, by means of this stone it was undoubtedly meant that which was a stumbling block for unbelieving Jews and a scandalous stone, which, being rejected by the builders, became the cornerstone (Cf Ps. 113,12 4; 134,15). He also prefigured that rock which, beaten with the rod, gave drink to the thirsty people, of which the Apostle says the following: For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (Cf Ps. 117,22; 1P 2,7.8). Therefore, this Egregian guide also circumcised the people with stone knives (1 Corinthians 10.4): these knives are also buried with him to show them a profound profitable mystery for the descendants. Well, this stone, although it is placed there visibly, must also be taken in a spiritual sense, as a future witness for the infidel Jews, that is, liars, of whom the psalm says: The enemies of the Lord lied to him (Cf Joshua 5,2.3). And this does not happen without reason, since already the servant of God, Moses, or rather God through him, arranged for the people an alliance that was kept in the ark, which was called the ark of the covenant, and in the books of the law, written with a great quantity of mysteries and precepts, (Sal 80,16) for here it is also said: Joshua arranged an alliance for the people that day (Cf Exodus 24,3). The repetition of the covenant means the New Testament. And this also means Deuteronomy, since Deuteronomy means the second law. And they also mean the new tables of the law, once the first ones are broken (Joshua 24,25). Because it had to mean in many ways what had to be accomplished in only one way. That the stone was placed under a terebinto means the same as the rod for the rock, so that water could come out, because here the rock is not detached from the wood. And he was underneath precisely because he would not have been exalted on the cross if he had not submitted with humility, or because at that time when Joshua Nave was doing this, this mystery still had to be hidden. The wood of the terebinth distils a medicinal substance, a tree that the Seventy have mentioned in this place, although according to other translators it is an oak. The fact that, at least in the last words that Joshua, that man of God, addressed to the people, did not blame them for having spared the lives of those people whom the Lord had commanded to destroy totally, delivering them to the anathema. The text reads as follows: And it came to pass after the children of Israel became stronger and subjected the Canaanites to bondage; however, they were not totally exterminated (Cf Exodus 34,1.4). The Scripture testifies that, at first, the Israelites did not succeed. But now, after having become stronger, to the point of subjecting them to servitude, the fact of not having exterminated them, certainly, was done against the Lord’s precept (Joshua 17.13). And this they did not do with anyone when Joshua was in charge of the army. Why, then, did he not blame them in his last speech for having been negligent in fulfilling the Lord’s precept in this matter? Perhaps because we must think that, as before the Scripture says they were not able to destroy them, because they were not strong enough, nor when they became stronger they could, because they were afraid that maybe, if they had not wanted to forgive them life, being as they were prepared to lend them servitude, would force them to fight more fiercely against them by their own desperation, and then they could not have overcome them? The Lord did not want to take into account this human fear, although it shows a certain lack of faith. If they had had a stronger faith, they would have had the same things that happened to Joshua when he was waging war. But because they did not have a faith as great as theirs, even when they had become stronger than their adversaries, fearing the enemies did not dare to fight against them until the extermination. And this fear, as I said, not from malice or arrogance or contempt of the Lord’s command, but from the weakness of courage, the Lord did not want to take it into account to present the last things he said to them through of Joshua. Therefore, the Apostle also says: Alexander, the blacksmith, has done me much evil; the Lord will repay him according to his works. About those who left him when he was in danger, not out of malice, but out of fear, he spoke like this: In my first defense, no one assisted me, rather they all abandoned me; that they are not taken into account (2Tm 4,14.16). <div — QUESTIONS ON JOSHUA, Q. 30 (tr. J. Litteral, draft)

Joshua 24:27

Basil of Caesarea: Moreover, Joshua, the son of Nun, even set up a stone as witness of his words (already a heap somewhere had been called a witness by Jacob), for he says, “Behold this stone shall be a witness unto you this day to the end of days, when ye lie to the Lord our God,” perhaps believing that by God’s power even the stones would speak to the conviction of the transgressors; or, if not, that at least each man’s conscience would be wounded by the force of the reminder. In this manner they who have been entrusted with the stewardship of souls provide witnesses, whatever they may be, so as to produce them at some future day. But the Spirit is ranked together with God, not on account of the emergency of the moment, but on account of the natural fellowship; is not dragged in by us, but invited by the Lord. — ON THE SPIRIT 13.30

Cyprian: That Christ is called a stone.… Also in Joshua: “And he took a great stone, and placed it there before the Lord; and Joshua said unto the people, Behold, this stone shall be a testimony to you, because it has heard all the things which were spoken by the Lord, which he has spoken to you today; and it shall be for a testimony to you in the last of the days, when you shall have departed from your God.” — Treatise XII. Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.16

Joshua 24:29

Jerome: But it is now time for us to raise the standard of Joshua’s chastity. It is written that Moses had a wife. … We read that Moses, that is, the law, had a wife; show me then in the same way that Joshua the son of Nun had either wife or children, and if you can do so, I will confess that I am beaten. He certainly received the fairest spot in the division of the land of Judah and died, not in the twenties, which are ever unlucky in Scripture—by them are reckoned the years of Jacob’s service, the price of Joseph, and sundry presents which Esau who was fond of them received—but in the tens, whose praises we have often sung. And he was buried in Thamnath Sore, which means “most perfect sovereignty,” or “among those of a new covering,” to signify the crowds of virgins, covered by the Savior’s aid on Mount Ephraim, that is, the fruitful mountain; on the north of the Mountain of Gaash, which is interpreted “disturbance,” for “Mount Zion is on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King,” is ever exposed to hatred, and in every trial says “But my feet had nearly slipped.” The book which bears the name of Joshua ends with his burial. Again in the book of Judges we read of him as though he had risen and come to life again, and by way of summary his works are extolled. We read too: “So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance, that they might possess the land.” And “Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua,” and so on. There immediately follows: “And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old.” Moses, moreover, only saw the land of promise; he could not enter, and “he died in the land of Moab, and the Lord buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-peor: but no man knows of his sepulcher to this day.” Let us compare the burial of the two. Moses died in the land of Moab, Joshua in the land of Judea. The former was buried in a valley over against the house of Phogor, the translation of which is “reproach,” for the Hebrew Phogor corresponds to Priapus; the latter was buried in Mount Ephraim on the north of Mount Gaash. And in the simple expressions of the sacred Scriptures there is always a more subtle meaning. The Jews gloried in children and childbearing; and the barren woman, who had no offspring in Israel, was accursed; but blessed was he whose seed was in Zion, and his family in Jerusalem. And part of the highest blessing was, “Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine in the innermost parts of your house, your children like olive plants round about thy table.” Therefore his grave is described as placed in a valley over against the house of an idol which was in a special sense consecrated to lust. But we who fight under Joshua our leader, even to the present day, know not where Moses was buried. For we despise Phogor and all his shame, knowing that they who are in the flesh cannot please God. And the Lord before the flood had said, “My spirit shall not abide in man forever, because he is flesh.” For this reason, when Moses died, the people of Israel mourned for him, but Joshua, like one on his way to victory, was not mourned. For marriage ends at death; virginity thereafter begins to wear the crown. — Against Jovinianus 1.22

Joshua 24:30

Jerome: I cannot adequately extol the mysteries of Scripture or sufficiently admire the spiritual meaning conveyed in its most simple words. We are told, for instance, that lamentation was made for Moses; yet when the funeral of Joshua is described no mention at all is made of weeping. The reason, of course, is that under Moses—that is, under the old law—all people were bound by the sentence passed on Adam’s sin, and when they descended into hell were rightly accompanied with tears. For, as the apostle says, “death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned.” But under Jesus, that is, under the gospel of Christ, who has unlocked for us the gate of paradise, death is accompanied not with sorrow but with joy. The Jews go on weeping to this day; they make bare their feet, they crouch in sackcloth, they roll in ashes. And to make their superstition complete, they follow a foolish custom of the Pharisees and eat lentils, to show, it would seem, for what poor fare they have lost their birthright. Of course they are right to weep, for as they do not believe in the Lord’s resurrection they are being made ready for the advent of antichrist. But we who have put on Christ and according to the apostle are a royal and priestly race, we ought not to grieve for the dead. — LETTER 39.4