Bible with Ordinary Gloss and Nicholas of Lyra

a When you see the ark. Augustine. Write to the people, saying: When you see the ark of the testimony of the Lord our God, and the priests and Levites carrying it, depart from your places and go after it. But let there be a long interval between you and it, as much as two thousand cubits. You shall not approach it, so that you may know the way by which you must enter, for you have not traveled this way before, yesterday and the day before, and the third day. It is just that the ark should proceed at a distance, so that it might be seen by the people. For if such a great host walked immediately after it, they would not see it going before them, nor would they know which way to follow. And this is well understood: when the cloud of the moon, which used to move and give a sign to the camps and show the journey, had now receded and did not appear to them. Here it happened that for three days they were told this by human provision: now that they follow Jesus behind the ark of the Lord, with the cloud withdrawn, just as the veil was taken away.

b Today I will begin to exalt. Adam. Many prodigies were carried in the bosom, and now Jesus is exalted. When the people cross the Jordan, it is given to him: Today I will begin to exalt you, O king. For the exaltation of Jesus in the sight of the people takes its beginning from baptism. Romans 6a For when they are baptized, they are baptized into his death, whose death is completed in the exaltation of the cross. Deservedly, then, Jesus is first exalted in the faith of the believers when they arrive at the mystery of baptism. Whence: God exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name. Philippians 2b

c The living Lord God. Adam. By the cross, every creature is well spoken of, just as it is said: first the river, then the earth and the sky. All things serve the just man. The Red Sea is crossed with a dry foot, and the Egyptian is submerged. In the wilderness, that is, in the horrible and vast desert, food is ministered from heaven to the just man. Also in the Jordan, the ark of the covenant is a guide to the people. They served the priests and the Levites. So also to you, who have gone forth from the flow of the Jordan through the sacrament of baptism, it is promised that you will cross the air through those same waters. 1 Thessalonians 4d We shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air. There is nothing that causes fear for the just, when every creature serves them, and when the Lord is with them: If you pass through the fire, the flame will not burn you. Isaiah 43a For these things which were done in the past are fulfilled in the spiritual and mystical reason: because you desire, having abandoned the darkness of idolatry, to approach the hearing of the divine law. I will abandon Egypt, when you are gathered with the carob beans a reference to the "husk of the carob" often associated with the Prodigal Son's misery before returning to God and have begun to obey the ecclesiastical precepts; and having gone out through the Red Sea, and placed in the desert stations, you spend time daily to hear the law of God and to behold the face of Moses through the glory of the Lord revealed. But if you come to baptism, and having been initiated into the priestly and Levitical order, you shall be placed among the venerable sacraments, then through the ministry of the priests, the Jordan having been crossed, you will enter the land of promise. In which Jesus, the leader of the new journey, receives you before Moses. You, however, mindful of such great virtues, that the sea was divided for you, that the waters of the Jordan stood still, will say: What is it to you, O sea, that you fled, and you, O Jordan, that you have turned back? Psalm 113a And the divine word will answer you: The earth is moved from the face of the Lord, from the face of the God of Jacob. Who turns the rock into pools of water. Ibid

d Canaanite: possessing, or possession, or merchants, or a dweller.
e Hittite: fearing or stupefied.
f Hivite: gathering stones.
g Perizzite

Nicholas of Lyra

* the time of harvest had filled. In the Hebrew it is thus: and the Jordan had filled up over all its banks for all the days of harvest, which days last for two months according to the Hebrews, as was said in Genesis 8 at the end. For this reason of the delay had been the swelling of the Jordan: the sons of Israel would have stood there for a longer space than three days, as it seems. Therefore another reason can be given: that the cause of that delay was that Joshua was awaiting the revelation of the Lord concerning the manner of crossing, which was made on this last day of those three, and on the next day they crossed. Whence Joshua then said to the people: Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. For if from the beginning Joshua had known that the bed of the Jordan was to be dried up for their crossing, he would not have had to wait for the day, nor for the hour, except for the diminution of the waters. But the Hebrews say that the first day of the three aforementioned was the thirtieth and last day of the mourning for Moses, which must be said according to the aforesaid: namely, that from the death of Moses until the crossing of the Jordan inclusively, sixty-three days flowed, so that on the seventy-fourth day they crossed the Jordan; but the three aforementioned days immediately preceded the day of the crossing, as is evident in the text. And that which follows, the first of those, was the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses.

the three days immediately preceded the day of the crossing, as is evident in the text. And that which follows, the first of those, was the thirtieth day of the mourning for Moses.

Chapter 6

a When you see the ark of the testimony of our God, and the priests and Levites carrying it, etc., which was carried at that time in the motion of the camps, because before it was carried by the Levites who were of the family of Kohath, as is evident in Numbers 4 and 10.

b Those who are the Assyrians, etc. And that which also is evident: that the ark was carried in another order, because in other movements of the camps, six tribes preceded the ark and six followed, as is had in Numbers 10. But here the ark went before. And from this also it is seen that the cloud which previously provided guidance had receded.

c Sanctified, etc., among you and the ark of the spirit, for the sake of reverence.

d Of two thousand cubits. A cubit, according to one opinion, contains a foot and a half; according to another, two feet. And thus between the people and the ark there was a space of three thousand feet according to the first opinion, but four thousand according to the other.

e Sanctify yourselves. Our commentators say that this sanctification is understood as them abstaining from their wives for the sake of the reverence of the miracle to be done the next day, just as it was commanded to them before the giving of the law that they should abstain from their wives, as is had in Exodus 19. The Hebrews, however, say: Know that you are prepared, where we say: Sanctify yourselves, because that word is equivocal for "to prepare" and "to sanctify." But how this preparation ought to be, they do not say.

f For tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you, by drying the bed of the Jordan, as is expressed.

g And he said to the priests. This Joshua said on the day of the crossing of the Jordan.

h The living Lord. Here he expresses the sign given divinely, when it is said:

i Today I will begin to exalt you before all Israel. For although on the preceding day the revelation had been made to Joshua, as was said before, yet then it was repeated for greater assertion, and also for greater declaration. For thus in natural knowledge one proceeds from the imperfect to the perfect, as is had in the first book of Physics; so also in supernatural knowledge which is had through divine revelation: sometimes it is first revealed less perfectly, afterwards more perfectly.

k And know that the Lord, etc. As when Moses was present, miraculous signs.

l The ark of the testimony, which was revealed through the miraculous crossing.

u When you enter, etc. The Hebrews say that they stood in the Jordan near the bank by which they were entering, until all the people had crossed. And from this some say other things, as will appear later. But this seems false by that which is said at the end of this chapter: The priests who carried the ark of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. From which it seems that they proceeded to the middle of the bed so that the people could cross more securely.

m Approach hither and hear the word of the Lord. This Joshua said to the princes of the people, in whom the whole people is virtually contained. For the whole people could not have heard his word.

n In this, he says, you will know that the living God is in your midst, namely, through a miraculous work which cannot be done except by divine power. Which is expressed when it is said:

(When they began to cry out: When you see the ark of the covenant of your Lord God, and the priests of the Levitical stock carrying it, you yourselves rise up and follow it preceding; and let there be between you and the ark a space of two thousand cubits, so that you may see from a distance and know by what way you may enter, because you have not walked by it before; and take care not to approach the ark. And Joshua said to the people: Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. And he said to the priests: Take up the ark of the covenant: and go before the people. Who, fulfilling the commands, took it and walked before them. And the Lord said to Joshua: Today I will begin to)

o Jebusite, etc., etc., and behold the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will precede you through the Jordan, etc.

Morally

Morally

a When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priests of the Levitical stock carrying it, etc. Here he deals with the manner of crossing the Jordan which was miraculous; and therefore for this Joshua was exalted, according to that which the Lord said to him: i Today I will begin to exalt you before all Israel, so that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I am also with you, etc. Allegorically: by this crossing, the sacrament of baptism is signified, as was said before. In the institution of baptism, however, the Lord Jesus, whose figure Joshua was in deeds and name, was exalted before John the Baptist and others assisting, through the opening of the heaven over him, and through the voice of the Father saying: This is my Son, etc., and through the testimony of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending upon him and remaining; and thereafter through many miracles, otherwise unheard of.

m When he commands the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, etc. By these priests, the apostles or disciples and their successors are signified, carrying the gospel of Christ throughout the world. Which gospel is well signified by the ark, in that it contained three things spiritually which were contained in the ark: namely, the tablets which signified the old law, which the gospel contains, supplying its inspection. The second was the rod of Aaron, which signified the royal and priestly dignity, which the author of the gospel of Christ contains, who is king and priest, and consequently the gospel itself.
The ark as a figure of the Gospel