Bible with Ordinary Gloss and Nicholas of Lyra

half tribe of Manasseh said: Remember the sermon which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying: The Lord your God has given you rest and the whole land. Your wives and children will remain in the land which Moses gave to you across the Jordan. But you, armed, shall cross before your brothers, all the strong men, and fight for them, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he also gave to you, and they themselves may possess the land which the Lord your God is about to give to them; and thus you will return into the land of your possession, and you will inhabit it, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to you, beyond the Jordan, towards the sunrise. They answered Joshua and said: All things which you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go. As we obeyed in all things Moses, so we will obey you; only let the Lord your God be with you, as He was with Moses. Whoever contradicts your mouth and does not obey all the words which you have commanded him, let him die. You only be comforted, and act manfully.

Nicholas of Lyra

C

D

...He sent, therefore, Joshua... Here regarding the description of the mission of the explorers. Where it proceeds thus: first, the explorers are sent; second, they are hidden by a woman, there: "And the woman taking..."; third, they are hidden until they return from the covenant, there: "They had not yet fallen asleep"; fourth, they are sent away with a certain sign, there: "She sent them away, therefore"; fifth, they return to Joshua, there: "But they, walking..." Regarding the first, he says: b C Joshua sent, therefore, etc. Here Rabbi Solomon says that the mission of these explorers was made before the end of the mourning of the death of Moses. Which he proves thus: because the children of Israel crossed the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, as is held below, chapter 3. Also, Moses was dead, as Rabbi Solomon says, on the seventh day of the 12th month of the year immediately preceding. And although this is not proven from the Holy Scripture, nevertheless it is likely that the day of the death of Moses, which had caused such a loss to Israel, was recorded with certainty in the annals of the Hebrews. From these two things mentioned, it follows that from the day of the death of Moses until the day of the crossing of the Jordan, inclusively, only 33 days passed. Now, the mourning of Moses, which began from the day of his death, lasted 30 days, as is held in the last chapter of Deuteronomy. And thus, from the end of the mourning of Moses until the crossing of the Jordan, inclusively, only three days passed. From the mission of the explorers, however, until the said crossing of the Jordan, seven days passed at least, as was said above in chapter 1. And from this it is concluded that Joshua sent the explorers before the end of the mourning of Moses. c C From Sethim. It is the name of a place in the plains of Moab. d C Two men as explorers. In secret. For under the simulation of foolishness they were exploring the land, as others say. Just as David feigned himself foolish before Achish so that...