Homilies on Joshua, Homily 20

If there are any who are able to ascend to the holy land and the good land of the living, in which there is no death, if anyone has been found worthy by the Spirit to climb up to see these things, he can know more truly the differences of the inheritances, and of the places and names that are written in these passages. But since it is difficult to find a soul so learned or so filled with the grace of the Spirit, we will try, for the sake of the common consolation — so that the divine word and the reading will not become tedious to the hearers if it receives no explanation — with your prayers and with the Lord’s gift, to touch meanwhile on things in readings like these that can build up our souls. And if there are things that either we cannot perceive at present or you cannot yet hear, still, made more correct and better by the things we discuss, we ought to hope that, having become better, we will also grasp those things we cannot grasp now. And indeed it would be best to attain these things while we are in this life, where the reward of labor is just; if not, perhaps they will become known after death to those who are found worthy. Yet I also give this warning, that no small benefit is conferred on the soul by the very fact that these words enter our ears, even if they seem obscure. For the Gentiles believe that certain songs, which they call incantations, whispered by those who have this art, with certain names invoked which not even those who invoke them understand, by the mere sound of the voice put serpents to sleep or even draw them out of their hidden holes; and they are often said by voice alone to check swellings or fevers or other such things in human bodies, and sometimes even to inflict on the soul a kind of stupor of the senses, where the faith of Christ has not resisted. How much more, then, must we believe that every utterance of holy Scripture, whether of words or of names, is stronger and more powerful than any incantation and song? For as among unbelievers the hostile powers, hearing this or that name in songs or incantations, come and render service, and work at that for which they perceive themselves invoked by this or that name, in a way bound to the business of their office and of the ministry to which they have given themselves over: so much the more do the heavenly powers and angels of God who are with us — as the Lord says of the little ones of the church, that their angels always stand in the sight of the Lord, seeing his face — receive it gladly and gratefully if we continually speak with our mouth the words of Scripture and the utterance of these names, like certain songs and incantations. For even if we do not understand what we speak with our mouth, yet the powers that are present with us understand, and, as if invited by a song, they delight to be with us and to bring us help. And that there are many divine powers not only around us but also within us, the prophet indicates when he says in the Psalms: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and all my inmost parts, his holy name,” that is, all that is within me. It is clear, then, that there are many powers within us to whom the care of our souls or our bodies has been entrusted; and these, if they are holy, are delighted when the Scriptures are read to us and become stronger in their care for us, even if we speak in tongues and our spirit prays but our mind is unfruitful. For the holy Apostle said this too, and brought to human ears a wonderful mystery, as it were, saying that it can sometimes happen that the spirit which is in us prays while our mind is unfruitful. Understand from this, then, that our mind is sometimes unfruitful, but the spirit, that is, those powers that have been given to help our soul, are fed and refreshed by hearing holy Scripture, as by divine and rational food. Why do I say that divine powers are fed and feast within us if we speak the words of divine Scripture with our mouth? Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, if he finds us occupied with these things and giving effort to studies and exercises of this kind, not only graciously agrees to be fed and refreshed in us, but also, if he sees these banquets prepared with us, graciously agrees to bring the Father with him. But since these things seem very great and beyond man, let them be proved to you not by my words but by those of the Lord and Savior himself, who says: “Amen, I say to you, that I and the Father will come and make our dwelling and dine with him.” With whom? Surely with him who keeps his commandments. But, as we said, just as by meditations of this kind we call forth the fellowship and services of the divine powers toward us, so on the contrary by the utterance of words and names of this kind we put to flight the snares of the evil powers and the attacks of the most wicked demons. For example, just as some of you have sometimes seen a serpent put to sleep by incantations and carried in the hands, or drawn out of its holes, unable to harm with its poisons, since they are numbed by the power of the incantation, so also by the power of the divine reading, if there is within us a serpent of the hostile power, if some snake lies hidden to lie in wait, it is driven out by the songs of Scripture and by persistence in the divine word — if you bear it patiently, if you do not turn your hearing away, worn out by weariness.

If, then, listener, you sometimes hear a Scripture read in your ears that you do not understand, and its sense seems obscure to you, meanwhile take this first benefit: that by the mere hearing, as by a kind of incantation, the poison of the harmful powers that besiege you and lie in wait for you is driven out and put to flight. Only take care that you do not become like the deaf asps that stop their ears so as not to hear the voice of the charmer and of the charm that is sung by the wise man. For example, there is a song that is chanted and sung by the wise Moses, and that is chanted and sung by the wise Jesus son of Nun, and that is chanted and sung by all the wise prophets. We have said these things, then, so that we may not grow disgusted when we hear the Scriptures, even if we do not understand them, but that it may be done to us according to our faith, believing that all Scripture inspired by God is useful. If, then, it is inspired by God and useful, even if we do not perceive its usefulness, we must nevertheless believe that it is useful. Physicians sometimes give some food, or sometimes a drink, for example to clear dimness of sight; and yet in eating the food or drinking we do not feel that it is useful and benefits the eyes; but when one day, then a second and a third have passed, the power of that food or drink, carried to the sight in its own time through certain hidden passages, gradually cleanses the sight, and then at last we begin to feel that the food or drink has benefited the eyes. And the same thing usually happens in the other parts of the body as well. In this way, then, we must believe also of holy Scripture that it is useful and benefits the soul, even if our mind does not grasp its meaning at present; because, as we said, both the good powers that are with us are refreshed and fed by these words, and the hostile powers are numbed by these meditations and put to flight. But perhaps the hearers will say: You are telling us this to excuse yourself from the duty of discussion and to stop at this, without offering us any consolation at all from what is possible, and without praying the Lord to grant his grace to reveal what has been read, so that we may take at least a little food from the explanation of hidden and secret things. We did not say these things for that reason, nor did we put them forward as an excuse, but to show that there is a certain power in holy Scripture that is enough for the reader even without explanation.

But now, since there is not enough time for us to discuss everything that has been read, let us at least touch briefly on a few things, as the Lord grants. The distribution of the inheritance that Jesus distributed begins with Caleb. For the lot of his portion was given to this Caleb before his tribe, that of the sons of Judah, received its own; and it is given to him not in some remote parts but in the midst of the sons of Judah; and the portion was given him not by lot but by the command of the Lord, and a whole city is given him. Who else was fit to obtain such an inheritance and receive such a portion, if not Caleb, who alone was saved with Jesus son of Nun out of the six hundred thousand armed men who had come out of Egypt? It was right that he should receive the chief city. And so it is written: “Jesus gave him the city of Arba, the chief city of Anak, which is Hebron,” where the tombs of the fathers were.

From this city of Arba, then, which was the chief city of Anak, that is, Hebron, he exterminated the three sons of Anak. What do you think Scripture wished to show us when it noted this too, that Caleb, having received the portion of his inheritance, exterminated the three sons of Anak, and recorded their names, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak? Let us see, then, why it is not enough for it to say “the sons of Anak,” but it also adds their names, and on top of all this adds: “These were the descendants of Anak.” And in what follows it relates that, having received the lot of his inheritance, Caleb went up against the inhabitants of Debir. And the name of Debir was formerly the City of Letters. We must see, then, what it means that it was formerly the City of Letters and afterwards became Debir. It is further related that Caleb, who had a daughter, proposed a condition, saying: “Whoever is able to destroy the City of Letters and take it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as his wife.” And when he had proposed this, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, took the City of Letters. Holy Scripture has also set down this point for inquiry — if indeed, as we said, nothing in these words is to be passed over idly — that Othniel is said to be Caleb’s brother, while Caleb is written as the son of Jephunneh and Othniel as the son of Kenaz. How, then, will he be seen to be Caleb’s brother who is not the son of Jephunneh, since the one is called the son of Jephunneh and the other, who is said to have taken the City of Letters, the son of Kenaz? Of him it is added that he was also younger, and that by the condition set for valor he rightly received Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, as his wife, because he destroyed and wiped out the City of Letters. And Achsah, going out of her father’s house, she who had been given in marriage on a fixed condition, sitting on a donkey, said to her husband: “I will ask my father for a portion of a field.” And she cried out from the mountain, and Caleb said to her: “What is the matter with you?” And she said to him: “Give me a blessing, because you have given me in marriage in the land of the south.” “And she received the upper Gonetla and the lower Gonetla.” And Scripture concluded, saying: “This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.” You see that truly the help of God is needed so that these things can be explained? It is altogether impossible for any man to discuss them unless he has been enlightened by the grace of God. Therefore help me with your prayers and labor together with me, that the Lord may graciously show us the light of truth in such obscure and hidden places, so that we too may be able to make clear to you how these things are true and useful and divine, though, because of the frailty of human nature, covered with sacraments and wrapped in mysteries.

First, then, let us discuss why Caleb received a chief city, and the one that is named first among all the others in the land of promise as a chief city, the chief city of Anak. Anak is interpreted “empty humility” or “empty answer.” Caleb, then, received the chief city of empty humility. It is certain that there are two humilities. One is praiseworthy, of which the Savior says: “Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” And of this humility it is said that “everyone who humbles himself will be exalted”; and elsewhere: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” But there is also another, blameworthy humility, that of sinners, such as the one Scripture speaks of in the case of unlawful intercourse, that “he humbled her,” as was written of Amnon, that he humbled his sister Tamar. There is, then, an empty humility that comes down from sin. Of this empty humility, then, Caleb took or destroyed the chief city, and killed the three sons of Anak, who were the sons of empty humility; and having killed them he himself inhabits the city and does the things written in what follows. And who are these sons of empty humility whom Caleb exterminated? The first is Sheshai, which is interpreted “outside me,” that is, outside the holy, because the son of empty humility is outside the holy, indeed outside God. Another is Ahiman, which is interpreted “my brother outside counsel,” as if we were to say “a brother without counsel.” For all the brothers who are born of empty humility are certainly outside counsel. The third is Talmai, which is interpreted “precipice” or “suspension,” which signifies that there is nothing stable in it, but everything wandering and rushing headlong. These three sons of Anak, then, Caleb exterminated and killed, and after them he went down to Debir. The name of Debir was formerly the City of Letters. Debir is interpreted “speech.” But Debir was formerly called the City of Letters. By the City of Letters, then, understand the whole written record of the Old Testament: that is, let us understand this very Scripture that we are now trying to discuss to be the City of Letters, which afterwards becomes Debir, that is, speech. For these things that were formerly in letters, and were understood according to the letter, have now become speech in the churches, Christ the Lord revealing them, as first the holy apostles spoke and discussed them, removing the surface of the letter and bringing spiritual speech out of it. And each of the teachers of the churches too turns the letter of the law into speech and Gospel discourse. But who are the three sons of Anak whom Caleb kills, in whose person we have placed the power of the law? The empty humility must be taken to be what all the poets and philosophers of this world thought about the divinity, because what they thought is both lowly and unworthy of God. For what is so lowly, and so emptily lowly, as to assert or suppose that wood and stones are gods? The first son of this empty humility, then, is Sheshai, who is called “outside me”; that is, their first thought is both outside the truth and outside God. The second is Ahiman, that is, “a brother without counsel.” And rightly, for this is the brother of that error which proceeds without counsel. For what is so without counsel as to abandon God who made us and to follow those whom we made? The third thought of error is Talmai, that is, “precipice” or “suspension.” For the last end of this error tends toward the precipice and the depth of hell. These thoughts of paganism, then, as sons of Anak of the ancient error, the law cut off, the law which even according to the letter proclaims the true God and Creator of all.

But now Caleb goes up to this City of Letters and says: “Whoever destroys this City of Letters and takes it, I will give him Achsah my daughter as wife. And Othniel son of Kenaz took it.” Othniel, who took the City of Letters, is interpreted “answer of God.” He can be called an answer of God to whom God answers, that is, to whom he reveals secrets and opens hidden things. He, then, is the one who can take the City of Letters and destroy the letter of the Old Testament that kills. “Caleb’s younger brother.” And I, from the church, am Caleb’s younger brother, who, having destroyed and thoroughly examined the letter of the law, seek the spiritual sense in it. And I destroy the letter when I am no longer circumcised according to the flesh, nor eat unleavened bread according to the flesh, nor keep the Passover with the Jews, nor observe the Sabbath according to the letter. For it has been promised me that, if I destroy the City of Letters, I will receive the daughter of my elder brother. For I was formerly the son of Kenaz, which is interpreted “contempt.” For who was contempt as we Gentiles were, alienated from the community of Israel, having no hope, and without God in this world? But that elder brother of mine, whose daughter I now receive because I destroyed the City of Letters, was the son of Jephunneh, which is interpreted “turning.” He gives me, then, his daughter; that is, the law gives to me, the younger brother, the knowledge of its God, or understanding, as it is written: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits.” We must know, however, that the law, whose person we have now given to Caleb, is one thing, and the letter of the Old Testament, which we have figuratively called the City of Letters, is another. Having received his daughter, then, I, his younger brother, lead her out of her father’s house. And when she comes with me, sitting on a donkey (on what donkey? undoubtedly the one that the Savior’s disciples untied), she says to her father: “Give me a blessing, father. And she received the upper Gonetla and the lower Gonetla.” The Apostle says this more plainly: “Having the promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” And so the Savior promises to those who follow the perfection of his word that they will receive a hundredfold in this present age, and in the age to come will obtain eternal life. This, then, is to have received in blessing the upper Gonetla and the lower Gonetla. Let us pray that we too may be found worthy to obtain this blessing, through Christ our Lord, to whom is glory and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.