Bible with Ordinary Gloss and Nicholas of Lyra

E a ¶ Forever. Augustine, Chapter 4
Why forever? When heaven and earth pass away, does it signify anything eternal? Since they themselves cannot be eternal, what can it be that is in Greek, but in Latin is said "until the age?" b ¶ The people hastened and crossed. Adam. Those who crossed the Red Sea were baptized in Moses, and in the cloud, and in the sea. Regarding those who crossed the Jordan, they likewise crossed; we can similarly say that all baptized in Jesus were baptized into the Jordan. That it is written "And the people hastened and crossed the Jordan," I do not consider idle. For to us coming to baptism, and receiving the sacrament of God, we must not act sluggishly, but hasten until we cross all things, that is, fulfill all commandments, so that we may merit to arrive at the promised blessedness. c ¶ And all crossed. One must walk carefully and cautiously, lest our steps spill from the path itself; hence: "My steps had well-nigh slipped." Psalm 72a The remedy: there must be diligence in works and increasing virtues. This is signified by the forty, for forty thousand men equipped in truth crossed to conquer Jericho; "equipped," that is, with the belt of truth. Ephesians 6c Hence: "Be also girded with your loins in truth." Our belt must also be one of truth; if we have preserved this belt, we have preserved the sacrament of the militia. If we speak falsely, we are ungirded from the belt of truth; similarly, we are girded in truth, that is, unfastened in falsehood. Crossing the Jordan, we cross into wars against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. e ¶ Behold, all things. Which are written for us. Let us go forth, therefore, to war, so that the city may fight for us, first, the malice of this worldly age and its arrogant walls. Inside you is the forest, inside you is the evil construction that must be overturned. f ¶ Your enemy. It proceeds from your heart. For from the heart proceed evil thoughts, homicides, adulteries, fornications, etc. Look at how great your army of enemies is. If they are to be cast down in the first slaughter, so that we leave none, then that rest will be given to us in Jerusalem, so that each may rest under his vine and under his fig tree, when there is no longer anything to crush the children of Israel. g ¶ In that day. That Jesus is exalted by the Father, that is, he is manifested in your sight, not exalted by his divinity, that is, so that we may know the height of his divinity. But this happens if we have crossed the Jordan and are armed with various safeguards of the holy ones for future wars. d ¶ Command the priests. Augustine
Go to the priests carrying the ark of the covenant, etc. It is accustomed to be called the ark of the covenant, or the ark of the testimony. Now, therefore, it is called the ark of the testimony of the testimony, so that not only the ark, but also the testament itself is called the testament of the testimony. Hence the Apostle says: Romans 3c "But now without the law, the justice of God is made manifest, having testimony through the law and the prophets," because testimony to the coming thing was given by the Old Testament.

The feet of the priests stood?, twelve very hard stones, which you shall place in the place of the camp where he will fix the tents this night. And Joshua called twelve men whom he had chosen from the children of Israel, one from each tribe, and said to them: Go before the ark of the Lord your God to the midst of the Jordan: and carry from there one stone each upon your shoulders according to the number of the children of Israel, that it may be a sign among you. And when your children will ask you tomorrow, saying: What do these stones mean to you? You will answer them: The waters of the Jordan failed before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when he crossed it; therefore these stones were placed as a a memorial to the children of Israel forever. Therefore, the children of Israel did as Joshua commanded them: carrying twelve stones from the middle of the riverbed of the Jordan, as the Lord had commanded him, according to the number of the children of Israel, until the place where they camped, and there they placed them. And Joshua placed another twelve stones in the middle of the riverbed of the Jordan, where the priests stood who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord; and they are there until the present day. But the priests who carried the ark stood in the middle of the Jordan until all things were completed which the Lord had commanded Joshua to speak to the people, and which Moses had said to him. And the people hastened a and crossed. And when all had crossed, the ark of the Lord also crossed. And the priests were marching a before the people. † The children of Reuben also, and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, armed, a went before their brothers, the children of Israel, just as Moses had commanded them, and forty thousand fighters marched in troops and wedges e upon the plains and fields of the city † of Jericho. In that day, the Lord magnified Joshua before all Israel, so that they feared him just as they had feared Moses while he still lived. And he said to k him: Command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord that they ascend from the Jordan. Who commanded them, saying: Ascend from the Jordan. And when they had ascended, carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord: and had trodden the dry ground...

B a completion. Which is made clear through the letter until there: d ¶ And Joshua placed another twelve stones. etc. So that there might be a testimony of the miraculous crossing within the waters and outside. And these twelve stones placed inside the riverbed were so large that they could appear above the water when it was shallow; not that individual men carried these twelve stones like the other twelve, but Joshua placed them through the help of many, on account of the size of the stones. And regarding these stones, it is commonly said by the doctors that John the Baptist, baptizing in the Jordan, said: "God is powerful to raise up children of Abraham from these stones," as is held in Matthew 3b c ¶ And are there until the present day. This refers to the time when this book was written; and perhaps they are still there. f ¶ The people hastened and crossed. Because there was a very great multitude, and therefore it was necessary for them to cross quickly. g ¶ And when all had crossed, the ark of the Lord also crossed. This refers to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, as in the third chapter. h ¶ And the priests were marching before the people. For even though the people had crossed the Jordan before, these stood by the bank until the priests carrying the ark had crossed beyond the people who were supposed to follow the ark, as was said in the previous chapter. i ¶ In that day the Lord magnified Joshua. Through the aforementioned miraculous act, so that the people would hold him in reverence and fear. k ¶ Command the priests, etc. This is placed to show that just as they had stood in the riverbed of the Jordan through the special command of God, so also they departed through His special command. l ¶ That they ascend from the Jordan. And this, that it does not say "so that they cross," but "so that they ascend," expresses that they ascended upon the bank they had entered, in that they were standing next to it. Et And because this text says here that when the feet of the priests were outside the riverbed, the waters of the Jordan that had stood still flowed again through their course. And it also follows the statement of the Hebrews that the people of Israel were then on one side of the Jordan and the priests with the ark on the opposite side, and the water of the Jordan running in the middle. Therefore, he says that the ark crossed differently than the people, saying that the ark carried its carriers. This is to be understood thus: that by divine virtue the ark crossed differently, as if suddenly transported, not only beyond the river, but also beyond the people whom it was supposed to precede, as was stated before. But this seems fictitious: first, because it is not probable that Scripture would have remained silent about such a miracle; second, because it rests on a false premise, namely, that the priests stood in the riverbed of the Jordan next to the bank through which they had entered, because they stood in the middle of the riverbed, as † Augustine

† in the dryness of the destination. By the other twelve, the Gentile people were signified, who through the preaching of the twelve apostles were converted to the faith of Christ, and were translated from the dryness of infidelity to the moisture of grace through baptismal grace. ¶ By the twelve stones placed in the Jordan, the twelve fruits of the spirit are signified which are given with grace in baptism; they are placed in Galatians 5d. "But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, benignity, mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity." ¶ These fruits are called stones, on account of their firmness and stability in good, which the faithful perpetually obtain through them, on account of which it is said Hebrews 13d: "It is best that the heart be established with grace."