Joshua 11

Joshua 11:1

Origen of Alexandria: In prior readings, the king of Jerusalem had assembled four other kings with him against Jesus [Joshua] and against the sons of Israel. But now no longer does someone assemble four or five; on the contrary, see how great a multitude one person assembles.…You see how many swarms of opposing powers and of malicious demons may be stirred up against Jesus [Joshua] and the Israelite army. Before the coming of our Lord and Savior, all those demons, undisturbed and secure, were occupying human spirits and ruled in their minds and bodies. But when “grace appeared” in the world, the mercy “of God our Savior” instructs us to live piously and purely in this world, separated from every contagion of sin, so that each soul may receive its liberty and the “image of God” in which it was created from the beginning. Because of this, fights and battles spring forth from their iniquitous old possessors. If the first ones are overthrown, far more rise up afterwards, and they unite into one and conspire in evil, always remote from the good. And if they are conquered for a second time, again a third time other more wicked powers will rise up. So perhaps the more the people of God are increased, and the more they thrive and are multiplied, there are that many more who conspire to assault. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 14.1

Origen of Alexandria: But let us attempt, as God grants, to investigate certain individual kings of the opposing army; and, through the meaning of the names of each one, let us consider also the work he performs in malice.First of all, the one who is designated the author of this war, who collects the others and summons them to a conspiracy of wickedness, is named Jabin, who was king of Hazor. For he is the one who is said to have called the others together. But Jabin means “thought” or “prudence.” What, then, is this “thought” or “prudence,” if not that which the prophet Isaiah calls “proud thought”? For he says, “And moreover, I shall strike out the proud thought of the prince of the Assyrians, who said, ‘I shall bring it to pass by my power, and, by the wisdom of my perception, I shall remove the boundaries of the nations and plunder their power.’ " Therefore, the one who is called “proud thought” in that place is this king of the Assyrians. But here, Jabin is “thought” or “prudence.” For it is written that in paradise the serpent was “more prudent than all the beasts” who were upon the earth. And even that “steward of iniquity” is said to have “done prudently” that which he did. This Jabin, then, is king of Hazor. But Hazor means “court.” Therefore, all the earth is the court of this king, the devil, who holds the supremacy of the whole earth as though of one court. But do you wish to verify that the court is itself the earth? In the Gospels it is written that the strong one sleeps unconcerned in his own court until a stronger one comes, who may both “bind” him and “carry away what he possesses.” The king of the court, therefore, is “the prince of this world.” — HOMILIES ON Joshua 14.2

Origen of Alexandria: This one sends word to Jobab; for he himself is the one who sends word to all nations and summons them to battle. He sends word to the king of Merom. Jobab means “hostilities,” but Merom means “bitternesses.” Therefore, the devil sends word to another hostile power, doubtless from among the fugitive angels, and this power is the king of bitternesses. All bitternesses and difficulties in this world that are inflicted on wretched mortals issue from this author and what he does. There are diverse kinds of sin. For nothing can be more bitter than sin, even if it seems somewhat delightful at first, as Solomon writes. “But in the end,” he says, “you will find what seemed sweet in the beginning to be more bitter than gall and sharper than the edge of a sword.” But the nature of righteousness is the opposite: In the beginning, it seems more bitter, but in the end, when it produces fruits of virtue, it is found to be sweeter than honey. Therefore, the devil sent word to the hostile Jobab, the king of bitterness. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 14.2

Joshua 11:6

Origen of Alexandria: Such is the list, therefore, of the entire army of invisible foes who are assembled by King Jabin in order to fight against us who follow Jesus, our leader and Savior. But what does the Lord declare? “Do not shrink back from their appearance,” he says “because by tomorrow at this hour, I shall deliver them into your hands.” I observe that today we are not able to overwhelm all those powers or to destroy them all, but they will be entirely taken away tomorrow, that is, after the consummation of this age.For, at that time, every opposing power will be pulled down and the inmost part will be conquered when you see that those who are on the left are told, “Go into the eternal fire that God has prepared for the devil and his angels.” Then if, following Jesus the leader, we have conquered and have been able to take possession, even we shall occupy the kingdom that the Father has prepared for his saints and for these who “have fulfilled” his commandments and “righteousnes” through our Lord Jesus Christ himself, “to whom is the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen!” — HOMILIES ON Joshua 14.2

Richard Challoner: Burn their chariots with fire: God so ordained, that his people might not trust in chariots and horses, but in him.

Joshua 11:9

Origen of Alexandria: The horses and the chariots that are removed seem to hold the figure of those who, although placed in the heavens, fell away through wantonness and pride, either when they set themselves aflame to desire the daughters of humankind or when they followed him who said, “I shall place my seat above the clouds and I shall be like the Most High.” Perhaps it is for that reason that the prophet also says, “False is the horse for salvation.” And again, concerning those who trust in demons, he says, “These call on chariots and those on horses, but we shall call upon the name of our God.” Certainly Scripture would not apply chariots and horses to God, at least as far as invoking them. But, by all means, it shows that just as we ourselves call upon the true God, so the nations invoke “chariots and horses,” that is, demons, those whom the nations who waged war against Israel invoked. Moreover, Scripture also mentions the horses of the Egyptians, even those very ones ordered to be destroyed at that time. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.3

Origen of Alexandria: If we understand the horses that are commanded by the precept of God to be hamstrung, together with their chariots, as the passions of the body—that is, lust, petulance or pride, and fickleness, by whom the unhappy soul, just as a rider, is borne and carried to great dangers—this understanding will not be contrary to our reasoning. The horse, of course, is hamstrung when the body is humbled by fastings and vigils and by every pain of self-denial. And the chariots are consumed by fire when the word of the Lord is fulfilled in us, as he says, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish that it be set ablaze!” Those persons already revealed themselves to burn in that fire who said, “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened the Scripture for us?” Also, therefore, the horse is called “false for salvation” if we allow the impulses of the body to be endured unbridled and if we do not subdue the wanton and haughty necks of the flesh by the yoke of self-denial.But now, if by chance anyone is stimulated and pricked by the words of God through what we say; if he who yesterday might have been carried into lust, flying headlong and impetuous as a horse, yet today, after hearing these things, repents and is converted; if this person even, according to the prophet, “is subdued by the fear of God,” bridles himself, withdraws from sin and henceforth loves the chaste and continent life, then indeed we shall seem “to have hamstrung horses” by drawing the sword of the word of God. For the precept of God is more fittingly accomplished by this than by someone who hamstrings equine animals captured from the spoils of enemies. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.3

Joshua 11:14

Augustine of Hippo: One should not at all think it a horrible cruelty that Joshua did not leave anyone alive in those cities that fell to him, for God himself had ordered this. However, whoever for this reason thinks that God himself must be cruel and does not wish to believe then that the true God was the author of the Old Testament judges as perversely about the works of God as he does about the sins of human beings. Such people do not know what each person ought to suffer. Consequently, they think it a great evil when that which is about to fall is thrown down and when mortals die. — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 16

Joshua 11:15

Origen of Alexandria: The verse says, “Just as Moses, the servant of the Lord, ordered him.” Here, the word of the law itself is called Moses, the servant of the Lord, just as it says in the Gospel, “They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them.” Therefore, the law commanded us to destroy all of sin’s kings, who incite us to sin. “Jesus [Joshua] accomplished this, and he did not transgress anything from all that Moses established for him.” Indeed, according to the first stage of explanation, we said that whatever the law of God—which here is called Moses—ordered, Jesus fulfills in us and is himself the one who destroys vices in us and overthrows the most vile kingdoms of sin. Nevertheless, it can also be said about our Lord and Savior himself, that everything Moses commanded in the law, Jesus accomplished, and he did not transgress anything, since the apostle indeed says, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his own Son, made from a woman, made under the law.” If, therefore, he was made under the law, since he was under the law, everything that the law commanded, he fulfilled, so that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. He also says concerning himself, “I came not to abolish but to fulfill the law.” — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.4

Joshua 11:16

Augustine of Hippo: It is asked how this can be true, since the Hebrews were not altogether able to capture all the cities of those seven nations either in the times after the judges or in the times of the kings. But one must understand it to mean that Joshua never approached any city with hostile intent that he did not capture. Or it may mean that no city remained uncaptured except for those which were in the regions mentioned above. For those regions were enumerated in which there were cities concerning which the conclusion was made: “and he captured all of them in war.” — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 17

Joshua 11:18

Richard Challoner: A long time: Seven years, as appears from chap. 14. 10.

Joshua 11:20

Augustine of Hippo: It is said that “their heart was strengthened through the Lord,” that is, that their heart was hardened, just as in the case of Pharaoh. There can be no doubt that this is justly done by a divine and lofty judgment, when God abandons someone and the enemy takes possession of him; the same applies in this case as in Pharaoh’s. But here something else sets in motion, as it is said that their hearts were emboldened to arise against Israel in war and therefore the Israelites would not show any mercy to them. The Israelites may very well have showed them mercy, if the Canaanites had not gone to war, since God had ordered that none of the Canaanites were to be spared and yet the Israelites had spared the Gibeonites because they had represented themselves as having come from a far-off country and had made a treaty with them. But because the Israelites showed mercy to some, albeit against the command of God, it must be understood that it was said with this intention that the Canaanites waged war in such a manner so that the Israelites would not spare them, nor would the Canaanites be able to convince the Israelites to show mercy and neglect God’s command. I cannot believe that this could have happened in any other way, even though Joshua was their leader and diligently obeyed all of God’s commands. Nonetheless, not even Joshua would have annihilated them so quickly had they not gone against him in such a dastardly fashion. Thus it could have happened that Joshua, taking care to fulfill God’s commandments, would have defeated them in a rather minimal way and they would have remained until the time when the Israelites could spare them after Joshua’s death, when the Israelites did not do God’s commandments with such care. For even while he was still alive the Israelites spared some Canaanites, although they subjugated them to their authority; some Canaanites, in fact, they never could conquer. But these things were not done while he was their leader but when as an old man he had retired from warfare and merely divided up the territories for the Israelites. He divided it with the intention that the Israelites would take possession of those lands that were emptied of the enemy and capture the rest by fighting, although he himself would no longer wage war. And the fact that they were able to conquer some of the Canaanites in a rather minimal way was owing to divine providence, as is clear in certain places in the Scriptures. — QUESTIONS ON Joshua 18

Jerome: “There was no city which the Lord did not deliver to the children of Israel, except perhaps those who lived in Gibeon. Israel violently overthrew all of them because the Lord hardened their hearts that they would fight Israel and be killed and not be shown mercy and die, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.” If it happened by the will of the Lord that Israel not receive or accept peace, then let us say with the apostle, “Why, therefore, does he object? For who can resist the will of the Lord?” — Against the Pelagians 1.33

Origen of Alexandria: For as long as the hostile powers that work sin in us do not come and incite us to sin or provoke us to fight, they cannot be killed or exterminated. For that reason, therefore, God is said in like manner to permit, even to excite, opposing powers to go out into battle against us so that we may seize the victory and they may pursue destruction. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.5

Richard Challoner: Hardened: This hardening of their hearts, was their having no thought of yielding or submitting: which was a sentence or judgment of God upon them in punishment of their enormous crimes.

Joshua 11:23

Origen of Alexandria: It did not say that by war Jesus [Joshua] took some and did not take others but that he took all into his possession, that is, he captured and destroyed all. And, indeed, the Lord Jesus has purged every kind of sin and destroyed all. For we all “were irrational, unbelieving, errant, serving various desires, acting in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another,” and [we possessed] every type of sin that is found in persons before they believe. Therefore, it is well said that Jesus kills all who have gone to war. For Jesus—who is the Word and the “wisdom of God”—is greater than any kind of sin, no matter how terrible. For he overcomes and conquers all sins. Or do we not believe this, that every kind of sin is carried away when we come to the saving bath? For the apostle Paul also alludes to this, who, when he had enumerated the whole class of sins, adds something after them all and says, “And indeed you were these; but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ.” Therefore, in this way, Jesus [Joshua] is said to have seized all in battle and to have destroyed all. It happened that, through the work of the Lord, their heart predominated and they hastened into battle against Israel and were exterminated. — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.5

Origen of Alexandria: I do not see that Jesus [Joshua] the son of Nun took possession of all the earth. For how much of the earth does one take who seizes only Judea? But our Lord Jesus truly took possession of all the earth, because a multitude of believers from all over the earth and out of all the nations flock to him. After these things, after “Jesus [Joshua] took possession of all the earth,” it is also added, “And the earth rested from wars.” How will this phrase—that “the earth rested from wars”—seem to have been uttered truthfully concerning the son of Nun, when the earth never entirely rested from wars in his time? This is fulfilled in my Lord Jesus Christ alone. Consider yourself—you have come to Jesus and through the grace of baptism have attained the remission of sins; and now in you “the flesh” does not “fight against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh.” Your land has ceased from wars if you still “carry around the death of Jesus Christ in your body” so that, after all battles have ceased in you, you may be made “peaceable” and you may be called “a child of God.” — HOMILIES ON Joshua 15.7