Twelve stones are taken out of the river to be set up for a monument of the miracle; and other twelve are placed in the midst of the river.
In memorie of their miraculous passage, twelue chief men, of the twelue tribes, •uke so manie great stones from the middes of Iordan, 9. and put other twelue, where the priestes stood with the arke. 18. The waters returne to their former course. And the twelue stones are erected for a monument.
1And when they were passed over, the Lord said to Josue:E quando ei fu passato, disse a Giosuè il Signore:VVHo being passed ouer, our Lord said to Iosue:Quibus transgressis, dixit Dominus ad Josue: 2Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:Prendi dodici uomini, uno per ogni tribù:Choose twelue men one in euerie tribe:Elige duodecim viros singulos per singulas tribus: 3And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan, where the feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard stones, which you shall set in the place of the camp, where you shall pitch your tents this night.E comanda loro che prendano di mezzo al letto del Giordano, dove si sono fermati i sacerdoti, dodici durissime pietre, le quali voi collocherete nel luogo degli alloggiamenti, dove pianterete questa notte le tende.and command them that they take vp out of the middes of the chanel of Iordā, where the feete of the priestes stoode, twelue most hard stones, which you shal put in the place of the campe, where you shal pitch tentes this night.et præcipe eis ut tollant de medio Jordanis alveo, ubi steterunt pedes sacerdotum, duodecim durissimos lapides, quos ponetis in loco castrorum, ubi fixeritis hac nocte tentoria. 4And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the children of Israel, one out of every tribe,E Giosuè chiamò i dodici uomini scelti tra' figliuoli d'Israele, uno per ogni tribù.And Iosue called twelue men, whom he had chosen out of the children of Israel, one of euerie tribe,Vocavitque Josue duodecim viros, quos elegerat de filiis Israël, singulos de singulis tribubus, 5And he said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your God to the midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence every man a stone on your shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel,E disse loro: Andate innanzi all'arca del Signore Dio vostro a mezzo il Giordano, e di lì portate sulle vostre spalle una pietra per ciascheduno, secondo il numero de' figliuoli d'Israele,and he said to them: Goe before the arke of our Lord your God to the middes of Iordan, and carrie from thence euerie man a stone on your shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel,et ait ad eos: Ite ante arcam Domini Dei vestri ad Jordanis medium, et portate inde singuli singulos lapides in humeris vestris, juxta numerum filiorum Israël, 6That it may be a sign among you: and when your children shall ask you tomorrow, saying: What means these stones?Affinchè servano di monumento tra voi: e allorché per l'avvenire v'interrogheranno i vostri figliuoli, e diranno: Che significan queste pietre?that it may be a signe among you: and when your children shal aske you to morrow, saying: What meane these stones?ut sit signum inter vos: et quando interrogaverint vos filii vestri cras, dicentes: Quid sibi volunt isti lapides ?
7You shall answer them: The waters of the Jordan ran off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over the same: therefore were these stones set for a monument of the children of Israel forever.Risponderete loro: Le acque del Giordano sparirono dinanzi all'arca del testamento del Signore, mentre ella lo valicava: per questo sono state poste queste pietre come monumento pe' figliuoli d'Israele in perpetuo.You shal answer them: The waters of Iordan decayed before the arke of the couenant of our Lord, when it passed ouer the same: therfore were these stones sette for a monument of the children of Israel for euer.respondebitis eis: Defecerunt aquæ Jordanis ante arcam fœderis Domini, cum transiret eum: idcirco positi sunt lapides isti in monimentum filiorum Israël usque in æternum. 8The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded them, carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord had commanded him according to the number of the children of Israel unto the place wherein they camped, and there they set them.Fecero pertanto i figliuoli d'Israele secondo il comando di Giosuè, e portarono di mezzo al letto del Giordano le dodici pietre secondo il numero de' figliuoli d'Israele, come avea loro ordinato il Signore, fino al luogo, dove piantarono gli alloggiamenti; e ivi le posarono.The children of Israel therfore did as Iosue commanded them, carying out of the chanel of Iordan twelue stones, as our Lord had commanded him, according to the number of the children of Israel, vnto the place, wherein they camped, and there they sette them.Fecerunt ergo filii Israël sicut præcepit eis Josue, portantes de medio Jordanis alveo duodecim lapides, ut Dominus ei imperarat, juxta numerum filiorum Israël, usque ad locum in quo castrametati sunt, ibique posuerunt eos. 9And Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the channel of the Jordan, where the priests stood that carried the ark of the covenant: and they are there until this present day.Pose similmente Giosuè dodici altre pietre nel mezzo del letto del Giordano, dove si eran fermati i sacerdoti che portavan l'arca dell'alleanza: ed esse vi sono fino al dì d'oggi.Other twelue stones also Iosue put in the middes of the chanel of Iordan, where the priestes stoode, that caried the arke of the couenant: and they be there vntil this present day.Alios quoque duodecim lapides posuit Josue in medio Jordanis alveo, ubi steterunt sacerdotes qui portabant arcam fœderis: et sunt ibi usque in præsentem diem. 10Now the priests that carried the ark, stood in the midst of the Jordan, till all things were accomplished, which the Lord had commanded Josue to speak to the people, and Moses had said to him. And the people made haste, and passed over.E i sacerdoti che portavan l'arca, se ne stavan nel mezzo del letto del Giordano, per fino a tanto che fosser fatte tutte le cose, le quali il Signore avea comandato a Giosuè d'intimare al popolo, e le quali avea a lui dette Mosè. E il popolo si affrettò, e finì di passare.But the priestes that caried the arke, stoode in the middes of Iordan, til al thinges were accomplished, which our Lord had commanded Iosue, to speake to the people, and Moyses had said to him. And the people made hast, and passed ouer.Sacerdotes autem qui portabant arcam, stabant in Jordanis medio, donec omnia complerentur, quæ Josue, ut loqueretur ad populum, præceperat Dominus, et dixerat ei Moyses. Festinavitque populus, et transiit.
11And when they had all passed over, the ark also of the Lord passed over, and the priests went before the people.E quando furon passati tutti, passò anche l'arca del Signore, e i sacerdoti andavano innanzi al popolo.And when they had al passed ouer, the arke also of our Lord passed ouer, the priestes also went before the people.Cumque transissent omnes, transivit et arca Domini, sacerdotesque pergebant ante populum. 12The children of Ruben also, and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had commanded them.E i figliuoli di Ruben, e di Gad, e mezza la tribù di Manasse precedevano armati anch'essi i figliuoli d'Israele, come avea loro ordinato Mosè.The children of Ruben also and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel, as Moyses had commanded them:Filii quoque Ruben, et Gad, et dimidia tribus Manasse, armati præcedebant filios Israël, sicut eis præceperat Moyses: 13And forty thousand fighting men by their troops and bands, marched through the plains and fields of the city of Jericho.E in numero di quaranta mila combattenti divisi nelle loro bande, e quartieri si avanzarono nelle piane campagne della città di Gerico.and fourtie thousand fighting men by troupes, and bandes, marched through the plaine and champion countrie of the citie of Iericho.et quadraginta pugnatorum millia per turmas, et cuneos, incedebant per plana atque campestria urbis Jericho. 14In that day the Lord magnified Josue in the sight of all Israel, that they should fear him, as they had feared Moses, while he lived.In quel giorno il Signore esaltò Giosuè al cospetto di tutto Israele, perchè questi lo temessero, come avean temuto Mosè, quando era in vita.In that day our Lord magnified Iosue before al Israel, that they should feare him, as they had feared Moyses, whiles he yet liued.In die illo magnificavit Dominus Josue coram omni Israël, ut timerent eum, sicut timuerant Moysen, dum adviveret. 15And he said to him:E disse a Giosuè:And he said to him:Dixitque ad eum: 16Command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant, to come up out of the Jordan.Comanda a' sacerdoti, che portano l'arca del testamento, che escano dal Giordano.Command the priestes, that carie the arke of the couenant, that they comme vp out of Iordan.Præcipe sacerdotibus, qui portant arcam fœderis, ut ascendant de Jordane. 17And he commanded them, saying: Come ye up out of the Jordan.Ed egli ordinò, e disse loro: Uscite fuor del Giordano.Who commanded them, saying: Come ye vp out of Iordan.Qui præcepit eis, dicens: Ascendite de Jordane.
18And when they that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, were come up, and began to tread on the dry ground, the waters returned into their channel, and ran as they were wont before.E quando quelli ne furono usciti, portando l'arca del testamento del Signore, ed ebbero posati i piedi sulla terra asciutta, tornarono nel loro letto le acque a scorrere come per l'avanti.And when they that caried the arke of the couenant of our Lord, were come vp, and began to treade on the drie ground, the waters returned into their chanel, and ranne as they were wont before.Cumque ascendissent portantes arcam fœderis Domini, et siccam humum calcare cœpissent, reversæ sunt aquæ in alveum suum, et fluebant sicut ante consueverant. 19And the people came up out of the Jordan, the tenth day of the first month, and camped in Galgal, over against the east side of the city of Jericho.Or il popolo uscì dal Giordano a' dieci del primo mese, e piantarono gli alloggiamenti a Galgala all'oriente della città di Gerico.And the people came vp out of Iordan, the tenth day of the first moneth, and camped in Galgal against the East side of the citie of Iericho.Populus autem ascendit de Jordane decimo die mensis primi, et castrametati sunt in Galgalis contra orientalem plagam urbis Jericho. 20And the twelve stones, which they had taken out of the channel of the Jordan, Josue pitched in Galgal,E le dodici pietre prese dal letto del Giordano le posò Giosuè in Galgala,the twelue stones also, which they had taken out of the chanel of Iordan, Iosue sette in Galgal,Duodecim quoque lapides, quos de Jordanis alveo sumpserant, posuit Josue in Galgalis, 21And said to the children of Israel: When your children shall ask their fathers tomorrow, and shall say to them: What mean these stones?E disse a' figliuoli d'Israele: Quando una volta domanderanno i vostri posteri ai padri loro, e diranno: Che significan queste pietre?and said to the children of Israel: When your children shal aske their fathers to morrow, and shal say to them: What meane these stones:et dixit ad filios Israël: Quando interrogaverint filii vestri cras patres suos, et dixerint eis: Quid sibi volunt lapides isti ? 22You shall teach them, and say: Israel passed over this Jordan through the dry channel,Voi gl'informerete, e direte: Israele passò questo fiume Giordano, di cui il letto era asciutto,You shal teach them, and say: By the drie chanel did Israel passe ouer this Iordan,docebitis eos, atque dicetis: Per arentem alveum transivit Israël Jordanem istum, 23The Lord your God drying up the waters thereof in your sight, until you passed over:Avendone il Signore Dio vostro fatto sparire le acque dinanzi a voi, fino a tanto che foste passati:your Lord God drying the waters therof in your sight, vntil you passed ouer:siccante Domino Deo vestro aquas ejus in conspectu vestro, donec transiretis,
24As he had done before in the Red Sea, which he dried up till we passed through:Come avea prima fatto nel mare Rosso asciugato da lui, per sino a tanto che noi fossimo passati.as he had done before in the readsea, which he dried til we passed throuh:sicut fecerat prius in mari Rubro, quod siccavit donec transiremus: 25That all the people of the earth may learn the most mighty hand of the Lord, that you also may fear the Lord your God for ever.Affinchè tutti i popoli della terra riconoscano la man possente del Signore, e voi temiate in ogni tempo il Signore Dio vostro.that al the people of the earth may learne the most strong hand of our Lord, that you also may feare our Lord your God.ut discant omnes terrarum populi fortissimam Domini manum, ut et vos timeatis Dominum Deum vestrum omni tempore.
4:1
Haydock
Over. Hebrew and Septuagint, "clean, or entirely;" perhaps two million people, with all their possessions, had crossed the river on that day, the 10th of Nisan, leaving many of their brethren to cultivate and defend the eastern parts of the Jordan. (Haydock)
4:2
Salien
Choose. Hebrew, "take," as [in] Josue 3:12. Those twelve men were ordered to attend the ark, and to observe the miracle with care: these are chosen to carry the stones for the monuments. (Salien)
Haydock
Calmet supposes that they are the same people, and that the former verse might be translated, "the Lord had said." But this does not agree with the context. Hebrew, "and it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over the Jordan, that the Lord spake." The former injunction was given before they entered the river. Hebrew, "the ark passeth...Now therefore take," etc. (Haydock)
4:3
Calmet
Hard. The Hebrew term is referred by some to the priests, "from the station of the priests, prepared, or standing firm," (chap. 3:17,) by others to the stones, which were to be prepared, hard, or exactly twelve. (Calmet)
Menochius
The Septuagint have taken it in the latter sense, "twelve stones ready," or such as they might easily find, in the place where the priests had stood. They were of a flinty nature, (Haydock) that they might perpetuate the memory of this event. (Menochius)
4:5
Haydock
Of Israel, who had twelve sons. The same expression occurs [in] Deuteronomy 32:8., and must be explained of the immediate sons of Jacob, without including those grandchildren who might be born before his death. (Haydock)
4:9
Menochius
Day. Some hence infer that Josue did not write this book. But surely if he wrote it towards the end of his life, he might well use this expression, (Menochius) as St. Matthew does to denote a shorter term. The twelve stones at Galgal, and in the bed of the Jordan, at Bethabara, (Haydock) were probably each placed apart. See Exodus 24:4. (Menochius)
4:10
Calmet
To him. Moses had been dead forty days. But it seems this miraculous division of the Jordan had been revealed to him, and he had cautioned Josue to let slip no opportunity of attaching the people to God's service, by erecting monuments of religion, as he did on this occasion. (Calmet)
Salien
Haste. Though they were assured by the divine promise, they experienced a certain fear. (Salien)
Even the most constant are liable to such impressions. (Matthew 14:30.)
4:11
Calmet
People, who passed over 2000 cubits lower down, and always kept the same distance, till they arrived at Galgal. (Calmet)
4:12
Haydock
Them. (Chap. 1:14., and Numbers 32:28.) Forty thousand were only chosen. (Haydock)
4:13
Haydock
Bands. Hebrew, "prepared for war passed over, before the Lord, unto battle, to the plains of Jericho." (Haydock)
These formed the van-guard.
Calmet
Plains. Hebrew harboth, which is translated desert, Jeremias 52:8. A large plain, fit for pasturage, extended from the city to the Jordan, on the east side. (Calmet)
4:14
Haydock
In, etc. Josue recapitulates how this miracle established his authority, and how he was ordered to command the priests to come up from the midst of the Jordan, after the people had all got to the other side, and the stones were fixed, to denote where the ark had stood, like a wall, to hinder the waters from rushing down. (Haydock)
4:19
Calmet
Month of the ecclesiastical year. They had left Egypt on the 15th of Nisan, so that they had spent forty years, within five days, on their journey. (Calmet)
4:20
Calmet
Galgal. It received its name afterwards, Josue 5:9. It lay in a direct line from Jericho to the Jordan eastwards, being ten stadia from the former, and fifty from the latter place. Josue had his camp here while he subdued the kings of Chanaan, (Calmet) as it had plenty of water and wood in its environs; (Menochius) though perhaps at this time, there were no houses. Saul was here recognized king of all Israel, 1 Kings 11:14. Tertullian (contra Marc. iv.) supposes, that the twelve stones were placed on the ark, in arcam, which is not at all probable. (Calmet)
Haydock
But they might be erected in its vicinity, and that may perhaps be the meaning of the author. (Haydock)
4:25
Calmet
Earth, particularly of Chanaan. This miracle tends to inspire the enemy with fear and consternation, and to confirm the faith and hope of the Israelites. The obstinacy of the former was thus rendered more inexcusable. (Calmet)
4:6
Is not the forme of a crosse as conueniēt a signe, to put christians in mind, how our Sauiour redemed vs, as these stones were to the Iewes, how God brought their fathers ouer Iordan?
4:3
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.18.4
… For they declare that the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom also sprung twelve tribes,— the breastplate of the high priest, which bore twelve precious stones and twelve little bells, —the twelve stones which were placed by Moses at the foot of the mountain, —the same number which was placed by Joshua in the river,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 108.12
… Then entering Jericho she saw the city which Hiel founded in Abiram his firstborn and of which he set up the gates in his youngest son Segub. She looked upon the camp of Gilgal and the hill of the foreskins suggestive of the mystery of the second circumcision: and she gazed at the twelve stones brought thither out of the bed of Jordan
4:3
3. Command them that they take out of the midst of the Jordan's bed, where the feet of the priests stood, — not precisely from the place of the feet, but from a nearby place. For in verse 4 they say: "Go before the ark, etc., and carry from thence each one a single stone," namely twelve, so that they might signify the twelve tribes of Israel, through which they crossed the Jordan dry. The Hebrews add hachen, that is, by strengthening, or with fixed and steady feet, as I said cap. iii, vers. ult. The Septuagint refer hachen to the stones. Whence they translate walls, namely the hardest, which endure for many ages, as Our translator rendered it. Which ye shall lay in the place of your camp, — in Gilgal, as is evident vers. 19 and 20.
4:6
6. That it may be a sign, — and a trophy of the Jordan conquered and bound by you, and thereby of all Chanaan, namely that the twelve tribes under God as their leader miraculously crossed this river and thereafter the whole promised land; secondly, that it may be a sign that these same tribes were enrolled by God as citizens and inhabitants, and therefore heirs of the same land; he gives a third reason in verse 25: "That all the peoples of the earth may learn the most mighty hand of God." A fourth reason in the same place: "That you also may fear the Lord your God at all times," and may teach your descendants to fear, love and worship God, who by so great a prodigy led you into this land, and will preserve you in it, so long as you persevere in his faith and worship: but when you shall have fallen away from him, he will expel you from it, just as he expelled them through the Babylonians, and afterwards through Titus and the Romans. Learn here how strictly God demands the remembrance of his benefits, and how he will reward the grateful with them, and deprive and punish the ungrateful. To-morrow, — that is, in future ages thereafter. For the Hebrews signify future time by "to-morrow," just as by "yesterday" and "the day before yesterday" they signify past time. It is a synecdoche and catachresis.
4:9
9. Joshua also set twelve other stones in the midst of the Jordan's bed. — Hence it is clear that these stones were not placed on the farther bank of the Jordan, as Masius contends, but in the midst of the Jordan. For thus both our Vulgate and the Septuagint consistently translate it. They were placed for the same reasons as the former stones outside the Jordan in Gilgal, namely that the glory of God and the truth of the deed accomplished might be testified to all ages, and that these stones, striking continually the eyes of the Hebrews, might perpetually represent to their minds the beneficence, omnipotence, fear and reverence of God. They appear to have been placed by God's will, if not by express command as the former ones in Gilgal, certainly by His instinct, although Scripture does not express this. These stones could indeed be a monument and be seen and noted by those who stood on the bank, especially as the waters decreased, because they were great stones, and the waters of the Jordan are said to be most pure and most transparent, as the Abulensian and Arias say. Finally, these stones do not appear to have been placed precisely in the middle of the Jordan: for they could scarcely have been seen there, but rather toward the bank, where they could be seen. For "in the midst" is the same as "under the middle," "toward the middle," "not far from the middle." St. John the Baptist appears to have designated these stones, saying in Matthew iii, 9: "God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham." For John baptized in Bethabara, where the Hebrews had crossed the Jordan. For these stones were a figure of the gentiles, buried in the floods of ignorance of God and errors; but finally to be raised up from the depths of the abyss of vices and darkness to the Church and to the glory of the children of God, by John and Christ through baptism. Thus Rupert, the Abulensian, Magalianus here, and Remigius, Anselm and others in chapter iii of Matthew, and Pineda in Job 1, verse 1, number 38. Finally, Cajetan is of the opinion that these twelve stones were heaped together into one pile. More probably the Abulensian, Serarius and Magalianus think that each was set up separately, as Scripture hints here, and this was to represent the twelve tribes of Israel, which had crossed through the bed of the Jordan with dry feet. Furthermore, God commanded this monument of the divided Jordan to be set up, because it was an admirable and divine work. Historians celebrate the division of the Euphrates, which first Semiramis made; secondly, Cyrus; thirdly, Alexander the Great. For Cyrus conquered Babylon, the Euphrates, which ran through it, diverting into many ditches, and sending soldiers through the dry bed of the Euphrates into the city, as Herodotus testifies in book III, and Xenophon in book VII. But for how many months were they laboring in digging these ditches? with what great expense? by how many thousands of men? But Joshua, by merely placing the ark of the covenant in the Jordan, immediately divided and dried it, and in a few hours led through it three hundred thousand men, with so many thousands of flocks of sheep, cattle, asses, camels, horses, chariots, etc., and on the same day proceeded with all to Gilgal, which place is distant from the Jordan fifty stadia, as Josephus testifies in book V of the Antiquities 1, that is, six Italian miles, that is, six thousand paces, and moreover two hundred and fifty paces. In like manner Elijah, striking the Jordan with his mantle, divided it, and crossed through it with dry feet: Elisha did the same in IV Kings. See here how much God values His faithful and holy ones, in that for their sake He divides rivers and changes the other elements. In like manner at the end of the world an Angel will dry up the Euphrates, that kings may cross through it, Apocalypse xvi, 12. Allegorically, Origen, Rupert and Theodoret, and St. Gregory in homily 26 on the Gospel, aptly apply the crossing of the Jordan to the sacrament of Baptism and Penance, and to the death of each faithful one, of which more at the end of the chapter. Hence Rupert asserts that the twelve stones placed in the Jordan represented the twelve Patriarchs, while the others placed in Gilgal were a figure of the twelve Apostles. So also St. Augustine in sermon 106 On the Seasons, who also adds the reason: "For after the death of Moses, the Patriarchs being buried, the Apostles arose; thus also we read in the Psalm: For thy fathers, it says, thy children are born to thee, thou shalt make them princes over all the earth; thus the Patriarchs being buried, the Apostles are born, just as the elder people being buried, the younger people under Jesus as leader is led into the promised land." Moreover Tertullian also, in book IV Against Marcion, chapter xii: "I find," he says, "twelve stones chosen by Jesus from the Jordan, and placed in the ark of the covenant. For so many Apostles were signified, so that as fountains and rivers, they might water the dry land and the desert behind, the world destitute of knowledge of nations, as also through Isaiah: I will set rivers in the waterless land. So that as gems they might illuminate the sacred garment of the Church, which Christ the pontiff of the Father put on. So that also as stones solid in faith, which the true Jesus chose from the washing of the Jordan, and received into the sanctuary of his covenant." Where note that Tertullian appears to have erred in memory, when he says these twelve stones were placed in the ark of the covenant: for this text of Joshua has nothing of the sort, indeed it would have been impossible; for the ark was small and could not hold so many and such great stones. Perhaps Tertullian, by "in the ark" understood "before the ark," or "in front of the ark," although this does not sufficiently correspond to his antitype concerning the Apostles, when explaining the type he adds that by twelve stones in the ark was signified that twelve Apostles were to be received by Christ into the sanctuary of the Church.
4:10
10. And the priests that carried the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan, until all things were fulfilled which the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, and which the Lord had said to him by Moses. And the people made haste and passed over. — "Which the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people," namely that they should take twelve stones, and carry them with them to Galgal, as a perpetual monument of the passage, and that they should cross the Jordan securely into the promised land, mindful that they had God present in the ark as their guide. It appears therefore that Joshua, in imitation and by the command of Moses, standing within the channel of the Jordan near the ark and the priests, impressed upon the people passing by and surrounding him the memory of that benefit, repeated the sum of the law and precepts of God, and commended their observance with keen exhortation. For that Joshua as it were led the people before the ark is evident from Deut. iii, the penultimate verse, where God commanded this to him through Moses, and soon after in cap. iv, verses 1 and seq., he impresses his commandments upon the people. Joshua therefore appears to have done the same here. Thus Arias and others. Moreover this verse is an anacephalaeosis or recapitulation of what has been said, preparing the way for the following narrative. And the people made haste and passed over, — both because all had to cross the Jordan on the same day in a few hours, and proceed to Galgal and Chanaan itself: and the multitude of the people was great and as it were innumerable; and because their faith was weak, and each one for himself feared lest that horrible mountain of the waters of the Jordan standing on the right, and as it were hanging in the air, he would not escape quickly enough. Therefore each one made haste, and each tried to get ahead of the other.
4:11
11. And when all had passed over, the ark of the Lord also passed over, and the priests went before the people. — This was the series and order of the deed. The priests with the ark went before the people by two thousand cubits, and were the first to enter the Jordan, then stood in the midst of it, and the people crossed near the ark; meanwhile Joshua exhorting them to the worship and obedience of God, the ark stood, until all the people with all their herds and baggage had crossed, so that it might give them confidence in crossing. And when all the people had crossed, the ark also crossed the remaining part of the Jordan, and again went before all the Hebrew forces by two thousand cubits as far as Galgal, where the camp was to be pitched, so that it might be the guide of the journey, the protector of the people, and the terror of the enemies. Thus Abulensis, Serarius and Salianus. The tribes of Ruben, Gad, and half of Manasse followed the ark, then the other nine tribes. The ark therefore, which had first begun the crossing of the Jordan and by splitting it had opened a dry path, completed it last, and again going before the people offered itself as their guide, being set before them like the throne of the king of God, and carried on the shoulders of the priests, whose office it is to go before others by their example. Hear the Emperor Leo in the Tactics giving precepts to a general in war concerning journeys, cap. ix, num. 12: "If the places are very slippery and difficult, you yourself ought to cross first, then stand and remain there, until all have crossed without mishap." And num. 13: "For we know that our father King Basil did this, when he led forces against Germanica, a city of Syria, and had anticipated the Paradisus river, who with lamps placed in the midst, by his own presence and aid easily and without mishap led across the whole army, he who had often extended his hand to those in distress, and rescued some from dangers."
4:13
13. And forty thousand men of war. — The "and" signifies, that is, as if to say, From the Rubenites, Gadites and Manassites forty thousand went before the camp of the Hebrews into Chanaan. Whence the Hebrew and Chaldean lack the "and"; for thus they have it: About forty thousand passed over before the Lord (that is, before the ark, or rather before the ark standing in the midst of the Jordan; the Chaldean, before the people of the Lord) to battle toward the plains of Jericho. Thus the "and" is taken elsewhere also, as shown in Levit. VI, 1.
4:15
15. And He said to him, — namely God to Joshua. From the Hebrew you may translate more clearly with Masius, for He had said, or moreover He had said to him. For this is a repetition, or a clearer explanation of the eleventh verse which preceded, so that he may fittingly recount how the Jordan returned into its channel, namely when the last ark, which had held back and kept the Jordan suspended, crossed the Jordan, as soon as the people had crossed, immediately the waters, as if having fulfilled their office around the venerable ark, returned into their channel.
4:18
18. And they flowed as they were accustomed before. — The Hebrews add, over all their banks, that is, with the channel full, indeed overflowing. See what is said in chapter III, 15. Moreover the Jordan flowed as before, because God gradually lowered that mass of waters which He had held suspended on high, so that it might flow through its channel in its course to the Dead Sea, or to the Lake of Asphalt. For if God had released the entire mass of waters at once, it would have overwhelmed everything far and wide, and would have even submerged at least the last camps of the Hebrews.
4:19
19. Now the people ascended from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. — From this it is clear that the Hebrews wandered for forty complete years in the desert, and at the end of the fortieth year crossed the Jordan and entered the promised land, minus five days. For they departed from Egypt on the fifteenth day of the first month, on which they celebrated the Passover and sacrificed the Paschal lamb; but they entered the promised land on the tenth day of the same month, because they were to be circumcised there in order to celebrate the Passover on the fifteenth day. Moreover Torniellus errs, who in his Annals writes that the Hebrews crossed the Jordan on the ninth day of the first month, and spent the night on the bank of the Jordan, then on the following morning of the tenth day proceeded to Galgal. For to ascend from the Jordan here means the same as to cross the Jordan and to proceed to Galgal. Both therefore took place on the same tenth day, not the ninth of the first month. Moreover this was the year from the creation of the world 2494, from the flood 837, from Abraham 543, in which the Hebrews, having crossed the Jordan, entered Canaan, as I said at the end of the preface, according to the chronology which I prefixed to Genesis. And they encamped in Galgal, — that is, in the place which was afterwards called Galgal. This is a prolepsis or anticipation; for the name Galgal had not yet been given to this place, but shortly after in chapter v. Moreover in Galgal, on account of the convenience of the place, the camps of the Hebrews remained for a very long time, and there were deposited and fixed the twelve stones taken from the Jordan. From this it is clear that these stones were not placed in the ark, as Tertullian says, in book IV Against Marcion, chapter XII. Likewise Rabbi Levi incorrectly thinks they were placed beside the ark and were accustomed to be transferred with it: for they were deposited and fixed in Galgal, and remained there perpetually, as is clear from this verse and from verse 3; indeed St. Jerome in the Epitaph of Paula asserts that these stones were seen by St. Paula in Galgal. Wherefore it also seems false what Josephus says, that an altar was erected from these stones, and that Joshua sacrificed upon it.
4:23
23. The Lord your God drying up the waters, — namely by dividing and suspending them, so that the channel remained dry for you to cross: or He dried up the waters of the Jordan, that is, He dried up the Jordan itself and the channel of the Jordan. For the waters properly were not dried up, but one part flowed away, the other part was raised up on high and suspended.
4:25
25. That you also may fear the Lord, — that is, that you may acknowledge God as your Lord and the Lord of all things, love Him, venerate Him, and cultivate Him with all reverence and zeal. For this is what the Septuagint translates as signate. Indeed Masius rightly observes that by the name of fear all religion and worship and pious affection toward God are signified in the Old Testament. For that old law was one of fear, just as the new is one of love, namely, as he says: "Fear first made gods in the world." Thus in Leviticus chapter xviii, verse 14, it is said: "Thou shalt not curse the deaf, but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God," that is, thou shalt obey God commanding that thou curse not the deaf. Deuteronomy vi, 13: "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and shalt serve Him alone," loving Him, revering Him, worshipping Him, praising Him, giving thanks to Him, etc. Deuteronomy x, verse 12: "And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but that thou fear the Lord thy God?" that thou fear, that is, that thou love and worship Him. I Kings XII, 24: "If you fear the Lord and serve Him." Therefore he fears God who exhibits to Him the service due to Him, that is latria, obedience and all worship. Tobias chapter IV, last verse: "Thou shalt have many good things, if thou fear," that is, worship, "God." Psalm ii, 11: "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling." Psalm xxxiii, 10: "Fear the Lord, all ye saints of Him," with fear not servile but filial, as children fear to offend their parents lest they displease them, namely from love, not from fear; "for there is no want to them that fear Him." Psalm cxviii, 38: "Establish unto thy servant thy word in thy fear." Ibid. verse 120: "Pierce my flesh with thy fear, for I am afraid of thy judgments."
Allegory: The Jordan and Penance Allegorically, just as the former passage of the Hebrews, under the leadership of Moses, by which they crossed the Red Sea, represents baptism, in which we are made white by the blood of Christ from sins previously committed: so the latter passage of the Hebrews, under the leadership of Joshua, by which they crossed the Jordan, prefigures penance and its Sacrament, by which we wash away sins committed after baptism. First, the Jordan is a river of the faithful people, which originates at the roots of Lebanon, and grows from the confluence of two rivers, namely Jor and Dan (whence Jordan is named), and thence flows through the most pleasant fields, and finally forms the lake of Genesareth, or the sea of Galilee, from which again issuing forth it is borne into the Dead Sea, and is absorbed therein: wherefore the Jordan separated Judaea and the Jews from the Arabs, Moabites and other Gentiles. Thus baptism is received by the infidel, and makes him faithful; but penance is received by the faithful, and perfects him and makes him holy. Second, just as the Hebrews, after crossing the Jordan, celebrated the Passover: so after penance the Eucharist is received, in which we eat Christ as it were the Paschal Lamb. Third, just as through the Jordan the Hebrews entered the promised land: so through penance we enter the holy life, which leads us to heaven. Fourth, "Jordan" in Hebrew is the same as the river of judgment: such is penance, in which the penitent is the accuser of himself, and the priest is the judge, according to that saying of Paul: "If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged; but whilst we are judged, we are corrected by the Lord, that we be not condemned with this world," I Corinthians xi, 31. Fifth, through the Jordan one went into the desert, as through it John the Baptist, the leader and herald of penance, went into the wilderness, and Christ, after he was baptized by John, went into the desert, and there fasted forty days, devoting himself to prayer and contemplation. Thus St. Mary of Egypt, having crossed the Jordan, went into solitude, and there lived in the utmost abstinence, holiness and prayer for forty-seven years. Hence there was a great multitude of Monasteries there, and of holy Monks, Ascetics and Anchorites, whose leaders and commanders were Elias, Eliseus and the sons of the Prophets. Sixth, just as the Jordan here was driven by God and swelled, and was turned backward: so the penitent changes his life, so that he who formerly sought earthly things, now seeks heavenly things (as St. Augustine explains that passage of Psalm CXIII: "The Jordan was turned backward"), which in truth, if he perseveres, he shall obtain, and then shall say with Jacob: "With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I return with two companies," Genesis XXXII, 10. Seventh, Naaman the leper, washing seven times in the Jordan, washed away his leprosy, IV Kings v: thus the sinner through penance purges the leprosy of sin. Again, here apply the seven miracles of the Jordan, which I recounted in Numbers xxxiv, 12. Finally, the river Jordan silently admonishes us that all things of this life, both prosperous and adverse, flow and immediately pass away: wherefore the former are to be overcome humbly, the latter bravely, so that treading both generously under foot we may hasten to heaven, and fix our mind on blessed eternity; otherwise indeed if we follow the flow of the Jordan, that is, of this world, it will carry us with it into the Dead Sea, where Sodom was, that is, into Tartarus. Again, just as the Hebrews, after crossing the Jordan, waged continual wars with the Canaanites, until, having expelled them, they possessed the land, so also we after penance and change of life must continually struggle against the seven capital vices, until we obtain the rest of the land, that is, of our soul, here on earth, and finally in the heavens. Wherefore Origen here, hom. 5: To cross the Jordan, he says, is to fulfill all things which are commanded in the Gospel, so that stripped of all earthly things we may tend to the land of the living in the heavens, and especially observe those things which are contained in the eight beatitudes, namely: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the meek, blessed are they that mourn," etc. Hence St. Gregory, lib. XXXIII Moral. cap. vi, explaining that passage of Job xli: "And he hath confidence that the Jordan shall flow into his mouth," attributes it to the saints whom the devil tries to devour: "The Jordan, he says, in the Hebrew language is called their descent. And there are some who, desiring the way of truth, cast themselves down, and descend from the pride of their former life: and whilst they desire eternal things, they make themselves very much strangers to this world, in that they not only do not desire what is another's, but also abandon what is their own; and not only do they not seek glory in these things, but even when it offers itself, they despise it." Let St. Bernard close the ranks, who in his sermon to the knights of the temple, cap. ix, says: "What is more eminent in this river (the Jordan), which the Trinity itself dedicated to itself with a certain evident presence? The Father was heard, the Holy Spirit was seen, the Son was baptized," Matthew cap. iii.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
4:13
The parts of the A. named in the Old Testament are: the Dead Sea (v.) jām ha-'arābhāh, "sea of the A." (Deut. 3:17; 4:49; Josh. 3:16; 12:3; 2 Kings 14:25; Vulgate: "mare solitudinis"), 'arbhāth Jērīhā (Vulgate: "campestria urbis Iericho"; Josh. 4:13; 5:10) and 'arbhāth Mō'āh (Vulg.: "campestria Moab"; Num. 22:1; 26:3, 63; 31:12; 33:48 f.).
4:14
Jordan (Heb. Yardēn; Arabic al-Urdunn)
… Kings 2:1 ff.; Ecclus. 48:1-13): it appears moreover in the Werden casket and in the "Joshua roll," preserved in the Vatican Library, and precisely in the episode of the crossing of the river by the Hebrew people led by the successor of Moses (Josh. 3:7; 4:14, 23).
4:19
Gilgal, Gilgala (Heb. Hag-Gilgâl "The Circle")
… Hag-Gilgâl "The Circle"). - The first camp of the Israelites after the crossing of the Jordan (Josh. 4:19) and the base of operations for their various expeditions for the conquest of the land of Canaan (Josh. 7:10). Because of its memories - the dwelling of the Ark, the erection of …
… To the work of Balaam "from S. (Num. 25, 1) to Gilgal (Ios. 4, 19 ff.)" alludes Mi. 6, 5, where however the "critics" say these two geographical names are interpolated.
Tabernacle (Tent) of Meeting (Hebrew 'Ohel, usually followed by Me'eth: "Tabernacle of Convene")
… nfsān of the 2nd year of the Exodus the T. was erected and consecrated by Moses: the cloud-glory of Jahweh enveloped it, taking possession of it (Ex. 40). The T. followed the Israelites in their vicissitudes from the desert to the Holy Land: at Gilgal (Josh. 4:19; 5:10; 9:6; 10:6 ff. 9:15, 43; 14:6); at Shiloh (ibid. 18:1; 19:51; Judg. 18:31; 21:19; 1 Sam. 1-4; 14:3; Ps. 78:60); at Nob (1 Sam. 21:1); at Gibeon (1 Chron. 16:39; 21:29; 2 Chron. …
4:24
… The miraculous crossing of the Red Sea is a historical fact such that it cannot be suppressed without shaking the whole edifice of the Old Testament (Ex. 14; 15:4; 22; Num. 33:8; Deut. 11:14; Josh. 2:10; 4:24; 24:7; Ps. 105 [106]:8; Id. 11:16; Neh. 9:11; Wis. 10:8; 1 Macc. 4:9; Acts 7:36).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.