Homilies on Joshua, Homilia III
Two and a half tribes across the Jordan§1
1On the two and a half tribes and the nine and a half. Moses allotted land east of the Jordan to the two and a half tribes — Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. To the rest not Moses but Jesus divides the land. Yet a covenant was struck: leaving women and little ones behind, the fighting men would help their brothers until those too received their inheritance. After Moses’ death Jesus presses the promise. So much for the history; we who have turned to the Lord, who removes the veil from the reading of the old covenant, know that these things happened figuratively to them and were written for us, on whom the ends of the ages have come. Let us rise from letter to spirit.
Latin · §1
De duabus semis tribubus et novem semis tribubus. Moyses hereditatem terrae distribuit trans Iordanen duabus semis tribubus — tribui Ruben et tribui Gad et dimidiae tribui Manasse. Reliquis tribubus non Moyses sed Iesus dividit terram. Pactum tamen initum est ut relictis mulieribus et infantibus ipsi cum fratribus pugnent donec et ipsi hereditatem consequantur. Post obitum Moysi Iesus promissa deposcit. Haec historiae textus; nos conversi ad Dominum qui aufert velamen ex lectione veteris Testamenti figuraliter illis accidentia propter nos scripta esse sentimus, in quos fines saeculorum devenerunt. Adscendamus a littera ad spiritum.
Firstborn under Moses aid their brothers§2
2All who receive a share through Moses are firstborn: Reuben from Leah, Gad from Zilpah, Manasseh from Asenath. Not by chance — two peoples are foreshadowed: one firstborn by nature, the other receiving inheritance by faith and grace. Those justified under the law are not given rest until they help their brothers in battle. Women and little ones receive quiet; the strong men go out to help. See how they aid me today in life’s contest: Isaiah lights me with his reading; Jeremiah comes girded and drives off the heart’s dark foes with the darts of his scroll; Daniel warns of Christ’s kingdom and Antichrist’s fraud; Ezekiel signs heavenly mysteries in the wheels; Hosea leads the twelve, all girding their loins with truth to help their brothers. An infant — one who does not speak — cannot help me; a woman the Apostle calls a weaker vessel does not come to the clash. Those who come from Moses’ land say: As we heard Moses, so will we hear you — whoever hears Moses must hear Jesus also, for Moses wrote of him.
Latin · §2
Qui per Moysen accipiunt portionem omnes primogeniti sunt: Ruben ex Lia, Gad ex Zelfa, Manasses ex Aseneth. Non fortuitu — duorum populorum forma adumbratur: unius primogeniti per naturam, alterius per fidem et gratiam. Nec illis qui per legem placuerunt requies datur nisi adiuvent fratres in proeliis. Mulieres et infantes quietem accipiunt; viri fortes exeunt in auxilium. Vide hodie laboranti in agone: Isaias sermonibus illuminat, Hieremias iaculis hostes cordis effugat, Daniel de regno Christi et Antichristi praemonet, Ezechiel sacramenta coelestia signat, Osee et prophetarum agmen praecincti lumbos in veritate pugnant nobiscum. Infans non loquitur — quid iuvat qui nihil locutus est? Mulier infirmum vas ad conflictum non venit. Qui veniunt ex terra Moysi dicunt: Sicut audivimus Moysen, ita audiemus et te — omnis qui audit Moysen audiat et Iesum; de Iesu enim ille scripsit.
Half-tribes and the incomplete Trinity§3
3Not three whole tribes under Moses nor nine whole under Jesus, but two and a half and nine and a half — one tribe is split. This signals that those under the law touched knowledge of the Trinity only in part; they still lacked full knowledge of the Only-begotten’s incarnation. Many prophets and righteous longed to see what you see and did not see it. So they are neither two alone — lest the fathers be left outside Trinitarian faith — nor three complete — lest the sacrament seem already fulfilled in them. The altar they built was not the true altar but a type of the true one with Jesus; hence they overthrew few hostile kings — only Sihon and Og. Where Jesus leads the army, five kings fall and are hanged on the tree; twenty-nine are cut down; every uncleanness that held the holy land in malice’s bitterness is wiped out.
Latin · §3
Non tres integrae tribus per Moysen nec novem integrae per Iesum, sed duae semis et novem semis — una tribus dividitur. Indicatur quod priores per legem contigerunt scientiam Trinitatis non integre sed ex parte; deerat de Unigeniti incarnatione cognoscere. Multi prophetae et iusti cupierunt videre quae vos videtis et non viderunt. Ideo neque duae ne patres extra Trinitatis fidem sint, neque tres integrae ne sacramentum iam expletum videretur. Altare quod sibi fecerunt non verum sed typum veri altaris apud Iesum — ideo nec multi reges ab illis deiecti: Seon et Og tantum. Iesus ubi ducit, quinque reges cadunt et suspenduntur in ligno; viginti novem iugulantur; immunditiae de terra sancta exterminantur.
Rahab the breadth of the church§4
4Jesus sends spies into Jericho; they are received by the harlot Rahab. They may be read as angels God sends before his face to prepare his way. Harlots and tax collectors believed and were baptized. Rahab means “breadth” — Christ’s church gathered from sinners. She says: The place is too narrow for me; enlarge your cords. She lodges the spies upstairs; no one sent by Jesus lies low on the ground. From harlot she becomes prophetess: I know the Lord your God has given you this land. She confesses the past, believes the present, prophesies the future. Japheth too means enlargement — the people saved from the nations; Canaan is made a servant so that by obedience he may find salvation.
Latin · §4
Mittuntur ab Iesu exploratores in Hiericho et suscipiuntur a meretrice Raab. Possunt angeli Dei putari — Ecce mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam. Meretrices et publicani credentes baptizati sunt. Raab interpretatur latitudo — ecclesia Christi ex peccatoribus collecta. Angustus mihi est locus; dilata paxillos tuos. Susceptos in superioribus collocat; nemo ab Iesu missus deorsum iacet. Ex meretrice fit prophetes: Scio quia Dominus Deus vester tradidit vobis terram. De praeteritis confitetur, de praesentibus credit, de futuris prophetat. Iapheth quoque dilatatio — populus ex gentibus; Chanaan servus fit ut oboediendo salvetur.
Scarlet cord — no salvation outside the house§5
5The wise harlot gives the spies a heavenly counsel: Go by the mountain way — flee the low valleys; preach what is high. She sets a scarlet cord in her house — the form of blood; there is no salvation except in Christ’s blood. All found in your house will be saved; we are clear of those who go out. Whoever would be saved, come into this house — the church — where Christ’s blood is the sign of redemption. With those who said His blood be on us and on our children, that blood is unto condemnation. Jesus was set for the fall and rising of many. Outside this house — outside the church — no one is saved. The sign hangs in the window: the incarnation lets us see deity’s light not bare, but as through a window. Cleansed in water and Spirit and in the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Latin · §5
Meretrix sapiens exploratoribus consilium dat: Per montana abite — humilia refugite, excelsa praedicate. Signum coccineum in domo ponit — sanguinis formam; salus nisi in sanguine Christi. Omnes in domo tua salvabuntur; qui exierint, immunes sumus. Si quis salvari vult, veniat in hanc domum — ecclesiam — ubi Christi sanguis in signo redemptionis est. Apud eos qui dixerunt Sanguis eius super nos, sanguis in condemnationem. Extra hanc domum nemo salvatur. Signum in fenestra — incarnationis lumen non merum Deitatis aspectum sed per fenestram. Mundati in aqua et Spiritu et in sanguine Iesu Christi, cui gloria in saecula. Amen.