Homilies on Joshua — Homily 15
Latin source: Origen, In Iesu Nave homiliae (Rufinus's Latin translation), from the public-domain critical text of W. A. Baehrens, GCS 30 = Origenes Werke VII (Leipzig, 1921); cross-checked against Migne PG 12. This English translation is released into the public domain.On the things that follow after Jabin.
[§1] Unless these carnal wars bore the figure of spiritual wars, never, I think, would the books of the Jewish histories have been handed down by the Apostles to be read in the churches by the disciples of Christ, who came to teach peace. For of what profit would that account of wars be to those to whom it is said by Jesus, "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you," and to whom it is commanded and said through the Apostle, "not avenging yourselves," and, "rather suffer wrong," and, "rather endure being defrauded"? Whence, in short, the Apostle, knowing that we no longer have any wars to be waged carnally, but that the soul's contests against spiritual adversaries must be sweated out, gives, as it were as a master of the army, a precept to the soldiers of Christ, saying, "put on the arms of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." And that from the deeds of the ancients we might be able to have examples of these spiritual wars, he willed that these narratives of events be recited to us in the church, so that we, if we are spiritual, hearing that "the law is spiritual," in these things which we hear may "compare spiritual things with spiritual," and may contemplate from these nations, which visibly assailed the carnal Israel, how great are the nations of the contrary powers among these spiritual ones, who are called "spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places," which stir up wars against the Church of the Lord, which is the true Israel. The Moabites come and the Ammonites and all those kings and invisible nations, which we mentioned above, come against us to do battle, to this end, that they may make us sin; because, just as the body dies when it has received a wound of iron, so also the soul dies when it has received a wound of sin. And I think that "to say the same things more frequently ought indeed not to be irksome to us, but for you it is necessary." For would that you might hold fast even the things said more frequently and often impressed upon your minds, so that in reading these things you may not hold a Jewish or a heretical sense in them. But after we have given general admonition concerning these things, it will not be superfluous also to discuss, in particular, a few things about what has been read. Therefore, taking up again those things which were omitted in the earlier parts, let us discuss them.[§2] "And Jesus did to them," it says, "as the Lord had commanded him; he hamstrung their horses, and burned their chariots with fire. And Jesus, turning at that time, seized Hazor and slew its king with the sword and killed everyone who breathed in it, with the death of the sword, and all were exterminated, so that there was not left in it anyone who drew breath." A command is said to have been given by God to Jesus, that, after he had subdued the enemies mentioned above, he should spare none, but should "hamstring their horses." Whence Jesus, as though fulfilling the command of God, did "as the Lord commanded him." In which, first of all, we say to those who wish these things to be understood only according to the letter, that, if indeed any of the enemies had survived, it would seem consequent that "the horses be hamstrung," so that no one might be able to use them for flight. But now, since it is said that "none was left who breathed" among the enemies, why are "the horses" also commanded "to be hamstrung," which surely could have been of use and service to the victors? And do you wish to know that the Israelites were accustomed to have care for this matter of utility and, when the enemies were conquered, to reserve the beasts for their own uses? In Numbers we read it written that, when at God's command they had gone forth to fight against the Midianites, once the enemies were conquered they reserved several thousand donkeys from the enemies' spoil, to be of profit for their own uses; nor is it there reported at all that they killed the donkeys when the enemies were overcome.
[§3] Let us therefore, comparing Holy Scripture with itself and "comparing spiritual things with spiritual," inquire what it is that concerning the donkeys it is not written that they were hamstrung, nor are the spoils or animals of the Midianites said to have been slain, but rather to have profited the Israelites' uses, whereas concerning these, who did not have donkeys but horses, the Lord himself commands and says, "you shall hamstring their horses," which Jesus also, "as commanded by the Lord," carried out. Do we suppose these things happened by chance, that the enemies' horses were slain and the donkeys preserved, and do we judge that certain fortuitous things fall out in the precepts of God? Or does it seem more worthy that we should think rather that in these things Scripture indicates something mystical? Indeed, the children of Israel are never reported to have used horses, and the law commands nothing about horses, but about donkeys, as being animals which seem to exist for aiding human labors and for carrying their burdens, whereas horses exist rather for the destruction of men; for this is what is carried out through them in battles. It is taken as an animal of wanton movements and of a proud neck. Donkeys, therefore, are frequently placed by Scripture as a type of the nations; just as the Savior is also shown "sitting upon a donkey," but is never reported sitting upon a horse. But also when he "sends the disciples to loose the she-donkey and the colt of the she-donkey," he says to them, "if anyone questions you, say that the Lord has need of him." And sitting upon it he enters Jerusalem, and is never said to have entered sitting upon a horse. But the prophet too had foretold thus concerning him, that he would come "sitting upon a donkey" to Jerusalem, saying, "behold, your king, meek, sitting upon a beast of burden and a young colt of a she-donkey. And he will exterminate the chariots of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem." You see, therefore, that according to the prophet's sentence, he who "sits upon a donkey will exterminate the chariots of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem." And therefore the donkeys seem to me, as we have said, to preserve the figure of those who believe from among the nations, upon whom the Lord is written "to have sat"; but the horses, which are exterminated, and the chariots to hold the figure of those who, being placed in the heavens, fell through wantonness and pride, when they either offered themselves as instigators to the lusting after the daughters of men, or followed him who said, "I will set my seat above the clouds, and I will be like the Most High." Thence perhaps it is that the prophet also says, "a horse is false for safety." And again he says concerning those who trusted in demons, "these in chariots and these in horses, but we will call upon the name of our God." For he would not have joined "chariots and horses" to God, as far as regards calling upon; but surely this shows that, just as we call upon the true God, so they call upon "chariots and horses," that is, the demons, whom those nations, which waged war against Israel, called upon. But Scripture also mentions the horses of the Egyptians and these very ones which it now commands to be slain. Whence this is given to be understood, that under the type of donkeys indeed the nations, which come to belief, are deservedly reserved, but under the type of horses and chariots the demons, who are the adversaries and enemies of human salvation, are deservedly destroyed. But also, if we understand the passions of the body, that is, lust, wantonness, or pride and levity, by which the unhappy soul, as though riding, is carried and borne to precipices, to be now called horses and chariots, and that these are the ones which by God's command are ordered "to be hamstrung," the understanding will not be contrary to our reasoning. For "the horse is hamstrung" when by fastings and vigils and every affliction of abstinence the body is humbled. And the chariots are burned with fire, when there is fulfilled in us the word of the Lord saying, "I came to send fire upon the earth, and how I wish that it be kindled!" With which "fire" those already confessed themselves to burn who said, "was not our heart burning within us, when he opened to us the scriptures?" Therefore for this reason too "a horse" is said to be "false for safety," if we permit the movements of our body to be borne unbridled and do not subject the wanton and proud necks of the flesh to the yoke of abstinence. But also now, if perchance someone is spurred and pricked by these things which we say, the words of God, and he who yesterday, prone and fervid like a horse, was borne into lust, today, having heard these things, repents and is converted, and according to the prophet, "pierced by the fear of God," restrains himself and calls himself back from sin and thereafter loves a chaste and pure life, we too shall be seen to have "hamstrung the horses" with the drawn sword of the word of God, and by this the precept of God is more worthily fulfilled than if someone should hamstring animals of the equine kind captured from the spoils of the enemies. And whose "horses are hamstrung"? This too is worth inquiring. "The horses," it says, "of Jabin are to be hamstrung." Now "Jabin" is interpreted prudence or sense. What is that prudence or what sense, whose "chariot is to be hamstrung"? That, doubtless, of which the Apostle says that "the prudence of the flesh is enmity against God," and that sense, of which he says, "puffed up by the sense of their flesh." But "Jabin king of Hazor" — ("Hazor" is interpreted a court; this is Hazor, which is said to hold the primacy of all these kingdoms) — who is understood to be "the prince of this world" reigning in a court, that is, over the earth or, what is more, in the vices of the flesh. But also the horses of all those kings, whose force according to the interpretation of their names we have already set forth before, are said to be slain by Jesus. Of these, if we rightly soldier under Jesus as leader, we ought to cut off the vices within ourselves and, having received the spiritual sword, to "hamstring" all that most wicked cavalry of vices. But also we ought to "burn the chariots," that is, to cut away from ourselves every spirit of arrogance and elation, so that henceforth "not in horses nor in arms, but in the name of the Lord our God we may call." But how shall we fulfill in ourselves also this, which he says, that "let none be left that draws breath"? It must be seen who it is that is commanded not even "to breathe" by the precept of the Lord. For example, if anger has ascended into my heart, it can happen that I do not indeed fulfill the works of anger, either deterred by fear or even restrained by the fear of the judgment to come; but this, he says, is not enough; rather you must act so that not even the very commotion of anger has a place within you. For if the mind boils up and is disturbed, even though it has not fulfilled the work, yet the very perturbation is unbecoming to him who soldiers under Jesus as leader. Likewise also concerning the vice of concupiscence and concerning sadness and all the rest it must be felt. Concerning all of which the disciple of Jesus must so act that nothing at all of these "breathes" in his heart, lest perchance, if either the habit or the thought of some small vice "be left" in the heart, in the course of time it grow strong and little by little gather forces by lying hidden and at the last call us back "to our vomit," and there "become for that man," to whom this has happened, "the last things worse than the first." This was what the prophet also, foreseeing it in the psalms, forewarns, saying, "blessed is he who holds and dashes your little ones against the rock" — namely "the little ones of Babylon," who are understood to be none other than "the evil thoughts," which confound and disturb our heart. For this is what Babylon is interpreted. Which thoughts, while they are still little and have their beginnings, "are to be held and dashed against the rock," which is "Christ," and, at his command, to be slain, so that "nothing" may "remain" in us "which draws breath." Just as, therefore, there it is blessed "to hold the little ones of Babylon and dash them against the rock" and to slay "the evil thoughts" at once in their beginnings, so also here it is to be understood as blessed and perfect, if "nothing be left" in us which can "breathe" after the manner of the nations.
[§4] "And all their kings," it says, "Jesus slew with the death of the sword." In all of us "sin reigned" and in all of us the vices reigned and there was in all of us a general reign of sin, just as the Apostle also says, "for all have sinned and lack the glory of God." Yet each one had within himself some special king, who reigned in him and dominated him. For example, in one avarice held the reign, in another pride, lying reigned in another, lust dominated another, and another endured fury as king. But that these things are so and that "sin reigns" in each one of us, believe the Apostle Paul saying; for he says, "let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body so as to obey it." There was, therefore, a reign of sin in each one of us, before we believed. But afterward, when Jesus came, he both slew all the kings who held in us the reigns of sin, and commanded us to slay all those kings and "to leave none of them." For if anyone keeps any one of these alive within himself, he will not be able to be in the army of Jesus. If, therefore, avarice still reigns in you, if boastfulness, if pride, if lust, you will not be an Israelite soldier nor do you fulfill the precept which the Lord gave to Jesus. "As Moses the servant of the Lord appointed for him," it says. This "Moses the servant of the Lord" is called the very word of the law, just as in the Gospel too it says, "they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear those." The law, therefore, has commanded us to slay all the kings of sin, which provoke us to sin. "Thus did Jesus, and he did not transgress anything of all that Moses appointed for him." We said indeed, according to the earlier order of exposition, that whatever the law of God, who is now called Moses, appointed, Jesus fulfills in us and he is the one who slays the vices in us and overturns the most wicked reigns of sin. Yet it can also be said of the Lord and our Savior himself that all things which Moses commanded in the law "Jesus did, and did not transgress anything," since indeed the Apostle says, "when the fullness of times had come, God sent his Son, made from a woman, made under the law." If therefore "he was made under the law," since he was "under the law," he fulfilled all things which the law commanded, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law. But he himself too says of himself, "I came not to loose the law, but to fulfill it."
[§5] "And Jesus took all in the war," it says, "because it was done by the Lord that their heart was strengthened and they should meet in battle against Israel." He did not say that Jesus "took some in the war" and did not take some, but "he took all," that is, seized, and slew all. For the Lord Jesus purged all species of sin and destroyed them all. For we were all "senseless, unbelieving, wandering, serving various desires, acting in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another," and every kind of sin whatsoever it is that is found in men, before they believe. Well, therefore, does it say that "Jesus slew all who went out to war." For no species of sin is so great that Jesus is not superior to it, he who is the Word and "the wisdom of God." For he surpasses and conquers all things. Or do we not so believe, that every kind of sin, when we come to the saving laver, is taken away? For this too the Apostle Paul designates, who, when he had enumerated all the kinds of sins, adds after all and says, "and these things indeed you were; but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." In this manner, therefore, he is said to have "taken all in the battle" and to have "slain all," "because it was done by the Lord that their heart grew strong and they should meet in battle against Israel, that they might be exterminated." For while the enemy powers do not come, which work sins in us, nor provoke us to sinning nor challenge us to fight, they cannot be slain nor exterminated. Therefore for this reason God is said to permit, nay even almost to incite, the adverse powers to go out against us into battle, so that we too may take the victory and they may meet with destruction. Whence there seems to me to be a certain infinite number of the contrary powers, for the reason that through almost every single man there are some spirits, contriving in them the diverse kinds of sins. For example, there is a certain spirit of fornication, and there is one of anger; another spirit is of avarice, and another indeed of pride. And if it happens that there is some man who is agitated by all these evils or even by more, he is to be thought to have all these or even more enemies within himself as spirits. Whence also through individuals there are to be believed to be several, because individual men do not have single vices nor commit single sins, but many are seen to be admitted by each one. And again it is not to be supposed that one spirit of fornication seduces him who, for example, fornicates among the Britons, and him who does so in India or in other places, nor that there is one spirit of anger which agitates different men in different places; but I think rather that there is one chief spirit of fornication, but that there are innumerable ones who obey him in this office, and that through each individual man diverse spirits soldiering under that chief solicit them to sins of this kind. Likewise also I judge that there is one chief spirit of wrath, but that there are innumerable acting under him, who through each individual man kindle the sins of this vice. Likewise also that there is one chief of avarice, so too of pride and of the other evils. And therefore not one principality is spoken of among the contrary powers by the Apostle, but several, against whom he writes that there is a battle for himself and for us all. Yet I reckon that there is a chief of all these, as it were a certain one more eminent in wickedness and loftier in crime, who alone, as though the leader of all the chiefs and the master of the whole unspeakable soldiery, agitates the whole world, which these individually, each through the species of sins, in part solicit to sins; whose figure, when we were discussing Jabin, we disclosed above according to the small capacity of our understanding.
[§6] I certainly think that the holy ones, each of them fighting against these spirits that instigate sins and conquering them and overcoming each one of them, diminish the army of demons and, as it were, slay as many of them as possible. For example, so that, if anyone by living chastely and purely has overcome the spirit of fornication, it is no longer permitted for that spirit, which has been conquered by that holy one, to assail another man again; but just as those spirits which "begged Jesus that they not be sent into the abyss," which then meanwhile the Lord granted for the present dispensation, so it seems consequent that each of the wicked spirits, when they are conquered by the holy ones, is led away — whether "into the abyss" or into "the outer darkness" or whatever place is worthy of them — by the just judge Christ, the president of this contest of the life of mortals; and that from this it is that, a very great number of demons having already been vanquished, the nations are set at liberty to come to belief; who surely would in no way be permitted, if their legions, as they had been before, remained intact. But if to anyone it seems difficult, what we say, that through each of those sinning many demons are at large, or if he thinks this fabulous, let him return to the authority of the Gospel and he will find that one who, "dwelling in the tombs, suffering a demon," when he "was questioned" by the Savior, "what is your name?", "answered," "legion, for we are many demons," it says. What wonder, therefore, does it seem, if through the individual kinds of sins individual demons are assigned, when it is written that in one man there was a whole "legion of demons"? But I remember that I said similar things also in those places in which we were expounding the little verse of the psalm, in which it is written, "in the mornings I slew all the sinners of the earth, that I might destroy from the city of the Lord all who work iniquity." So likewise also "in the hand of the just there are said to be two-edged swords," doubtless which slay the contrary powers. But I think that a more forceful assertion of the Apostle Paul can be brought forward for proving these things which we have said, when he says, "but the God of peace crush Satan under your feet speedily." For if there is one Satan, how can he both "be crushed under the feet" of the servants of God and again be at work? For if he "has been crushed" and "has been crushed by God," he surely can no longer be at work. Lest perhaps, therefore, there are to be thought to be as many Satans as are those who work the works of Satan. For this seems to me to be indicated also in Wisdom, where it is said, "the impious man, cursing Satan, curses his own soul." But also in a certain little book, which is called the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, although it is not held in the canon, we nevertheless find some such sense, that through each of those sinning individual Satans are to be understood. And more evidently the very interpretation of his name, as the studious ones of the Hebrews hand down, seems to signify this same thing; for Satan is called adversary. All, therefore, who are adverse to the will of God, can be called Satans. These things we have said on account of what is written, that "the Lord strengthened their hearts, that they should go out to battle against Israel, that they might be exterminated." Blessed, therefore, is he who, unceasingly holding the spiritual sword, does not take it from the necks of these enemies, of whom we have made mention above, just as the prophet Jeremiah too says, "cursed is the man who does the works of the Lord negligently and withholds his sword from the blood of the enemies." If we understand this according to the letter, it will be necessary for us unceasingly to shed blood. Which the Jews, thinking, who are wholly "flesh and blood," become cruel and implacable, saying that a curse is set upon those who have ceased from shedding blood, and therefore "their feet are swift to shed blood." But let such an understanding be for those who are "flesh and blood"; but for me may the Lord grant never to neglect the works of the Lord nor to withhold the spiritual sword of the word of God from the blood of the contrary powers, and to mortify them in each one of the hearers. But they are slain in you only if, having heard these things, you do not do their works.
[§7] But it is said in what follows that "Jesus took all the land, as the Lord commanded Moses." That "Jesus," the son of Nave, I do not see that he "took all the land." For how much "land did he take," who held Judaea alone? But our Lord Jesus himself truly "took all the land" in this, that from "all the earth" and from all the nations a multitude of believers ran together to him. It is also added after these things, after "Jesus took all the land": "and the land rested from wars," it says. How will this seem to be truly said of the son of Nave, that "the land ceased from wars," which almost never in his times "ceased from wars"? But this is fulfilled in my Lord Jesus Christ alone. For if you consider yourself, you who have come to Jesus and have obtained from him through the grace of baptism the remission of sins, and now in you "the flesh does not fight against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," your "land has ceased from wars," if however you "carry about the death of Jesus Christ in your body," so that, all battles ceasing in you, you may become "peaceable" and be called "a son of God." But this will come to pass after you have completed the battles and conquered the adversaries. Then rest will be given to you, so that you may "rest under your vine," which is Christ Jesus, "and under your fig tree," which is the Holy Spirit, so that thus you may render thanks to God the Father almighty in the same Christ Jesus our Lord, "to whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen!"