Bible with Ordinary Gloss and Nicholas of Lyra

a ¶ Ascend to the mountains, lest by chance... b Adam. c The wise person gives the harlot mystical and heavenly counsel, having nothing earthly. By "mountains," he says, "go away; do not walk through the valleys; flee humble and dejected things; judge as superior and sublime those things which are high." She herself, however, placed a scarlet cord in her house, which would save the city from destruction: namely, the scarlet, which bore the form of blood. For she knew that there was no salvation for anyone except in the blood of Christ. This command is also given to her: "All who are found in your house will be saved." If anyone, therefore, wishes to be saved, let him come into this house, in which the blood of Christ is the sign of redemption. For among those who said: "His blood be upon us and upon our children," the blood of Christ is for condemnation. Luke 2 For Jesus is set for the ruin and for the resurrection of many. Therefore, to those contradicting His sign, the blood is made for punishment; to those believing, for salvation. No one, therefore, is saved outside the church. He who goes outside makes himself guilty of his own death. This is the sign of blood, because this is the sanctification which consists through blood. Also, this sign hangs in the window: I think that indicates that the window illuminates the house, and through it we capture as much light as suffices for our eyes and sight. And the incarnation of the Savior does not offer us the complete aspect of the Godhead, but just as through a window, through His incarnation He made us look at the light of the Godhead. Therefore, it seems to me the sign of salvation is given through the window, by which all who are in her house might obtain salvation. Who was once a harlot, cleansed in water and the Holy Spirit and in the blood of Christ.

Nico. de Lyra

a ¶ When there was an oath to me. And afterwards below. b ¶ Who answered him: "Our soul for you." He takes "soul" for the whole man, which is the principal part of a human being. Or, for human life itself, which is caused by the soul, so that there is a causative prediction, not formal, because the human soul is immortal. c ¶ We will do mercy to you, saving you and your father's house. d ¶ Of truth, by keeping the oath. e ¶ He let down by the rope. He says the scouts are permitted to go away. The manner of which is described when he says: "He let them down by a rope from the window." The Hebrews, who say Rahab had been a harlot, say that she had been accustomed to receive and emit fornicators through that rope, so that just as it had been for her an instrument of sin and transgression, so it might become for her an instrument of salvation. f ¶ For her house was attached to the wall, namely, of the city. This is added to show that she could easily emit the scouts through the window she had upon the wall. Just as Paul was also let down, as is had in Acts 9. g ¶ Ascend to the mountains, where there is not a common road. h ¶ Three days in hiding, three days, etc. Although the Jordan was not far from Jericho, yet the persecutors of the scouts remained for so long a time that they not only searched for them on the road and at the end of the road, but in hiding places all around. The Hebrews, however, say that it was revealed to Rahab herself for the safety of the scouts, for how long they should delay. i ¶ If upon our entering the land the sign of this cord shall not be, namely, the scarlet, that is, red. For Rahab herself could have asked of the scouts that they might give her a certain sign of her salvation and that of her own. And they gave as a sign: the cord through which they had been let down should be tied in the window, and thus the house would be recognized by them, and they would be safe in it; and therefore they said that if that cord were not there as a sign, they would be immune from the oath. k ¶ Whoever shall have gone out the door of your house, his blood will be upon his head, that is, he himself will be the cause of his own death. l ¶ But the blood of all who shall have been with you in the house will redound upon our head, that is, we bind ourselves that we are responsible for their salvation. m ¶ She hung the scarlet cord in the window, for she hung it immediately, lest it be given to oblivion, and so that the scouts might see this before they departed. n ¶ But they. Here the scouts return to Joshua; however, their hiding for three days in the mountains is premised. o They circled the end. The scouts from the mountains to the place where the crossing of the Jordan was. p ¶ And they said: "The Lord has delivered all the land," etc., as if they were saying: "It is as certain as if it were done." And the cause is subjoined when it is said that they were struck with fear, that is, they do not have the strength to resist.

Book III

Therefore Joshua.

Here he deals consequently with the entrance into the land, which was made through the crossing of the Jordan; and therefore, first he shows what was done in the crossing itself. Second, what was done in the exit (Chapter 4). Third, what in the state (Chapter 5). The first part is divided into three, because first, a command is given regarding the crossing. Second, a sign to be given divinely is added, there: "And the Lord said to Joshua." Third, the completion of both is placed, there: "Therefore the people went out." Concerning the first, he says: r ¶ Therefore Joshua, rising by night. In the Hebrew, it is held: "Rising in the morning," because he rose at dawn, which is the boundary of day and night. And thus it can be named in either way. s ¶ And going out from Shittim, which is the place from where he had sent the scouts. t ¶ They came to the Jordan, which does not differ much from Shittim. v ¶ And they waited there for three days. Our expositors say that the cause of this delay was because the river Jordan had then increased from the melting of snows, as is had below, and therefore they stood there for three days until the waters had decreased a little. But this does not seem to harmonize well with the Hebrew truth, because below in the same chapter, where we have: "But the Jordan, the banks of its bed, in the time..."