:
1 And Joshua rose early in the morning; and they removed from Shittim, and came to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. 2 And it came to pass after three days, that the officers went through the host; 3 And they commanded the people, saying, When ye see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. 4 Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the LORD will do wonders among you. 6 And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear the ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are come to the brink of the water of Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan. 9 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come hither, and hear the words of the LORD your God. 10 And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites. 11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan. 12 Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man. 13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. 14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; 15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan.
[AD 386] Cyril of Jerusalem on Joshua 3:1
But Jesus [Joshua], son of Nave [Nun], was a type of him in many things; for when he began to rule the people, he began from the Jordan; thence also did Christ begin to preach the gospel after he was baptized. The son of Nave [Nun] appoints the twelve to divide the inheritance;2 and Jesus sends forth the twelve apostles, heralds of truth, into the whole world. He who was the type saved Rahab, the harlot, who had believed;4 the true Jesus … says, Behold: “the publicans and the harlots are entering the kingdom of God before you.” With but a shout, the walls of Jericho collapsed in the time of the type;6 and because of these words of Jesus, “There will not be left here one stone upon another,” the temple of the Jews just opposite us is fallen; not that this sentence was the cause of its ruin, but rather the sin of the transgressors.

[AD 420] Jerome on Joshua 3:1
I will pass to Joshua the son of Nun, who was previously called Ause, or better, as in the Hebrew, Hoshea, that is, Savior. For he, according to the epistle of Jude, saved the people of Israel and led them forth out of Egypt and brought them into the land of promise.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:2-4
Finally, see what is said: “Let the people be at a distance from the ark of the covenant,” it says, “by two thousand cubits.” The priests and the Levites, however, are very near, and near enough so that the ark of the Lord and the divine law are carried on their own shoulders. Blessed are those who deserve to be very close to God. But remember that it is written, “Those who draw near to me, draw near to fire.” If you are gold and silver and have drawn near to the fire, you will shine forth more splendid and glowing because of the fire. But if you are conscious of building “wood, hay and stubble” upon the foundation of your faith, and you approach the fire with such building, you will be consumed. Blessed, therefore, are those who are very near, who are so very near that the fire illumines and does not burn them. Nevertheless, even Israel will be saved; but it will be saved from far away, and it makes its journey not by its own power but by the support and foresight of the priests.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:5-6
It is the ark of the covenant of the Lord in which the tablets of the law written by the hand of God are preserved. And everyone who is “truly Israel” proceeds around this ark of the covenant and is not far from it; but the Levites and the priests even carry it on their shoulders.For indeed whoever lives by a priestly religion and by holiness are themselves truly the priests and Levites of the Lord. It is not just those who seem to sit in the priestly assembly, but even more those who behave in a priestly manner. Their portion is the Lord, and they do not possess any portion on the earth. They carry the law of God on their shoulders, namely, by doing and accomplishing through their work those things that are written in the law.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:5-6
It is the priestly and levitical order that stands by the ark of the covenant of the Lord in which the law of God is carried, doubtless, so that they may enlighten the people concerning the commandments of God. As the prophet says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, Lord, and a light for my paths.” This light is kindled by the priests and Levites. Wherefore, if by chance anyone from this order “puts the kindled lamp under a bushel” and not “upon a lamp stand so that it may shine forth for all who are in the house,” let him see what he must do when he begins to render an account of the light to the Lord for those who, receiving no illumination from the priests, walk in shadows and are blinded by the darkness of their sins.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:5-6
In conformity with these words, let us also ask God to grant us the ability to understand spiritually the crossing of the Jordan through Jesus [Joshua]. We say that Paul would have said also of this crossing, “I do not wish you to be ignorant, brothers, that our fathers all passed through the Jordan and all were baptized into Jesus in the Spirit and in the river.”Jesus [Joshua], who succeeded Moses, was a type of Jesus the Christ who succeeded the dispensation through the law with the gospel proclamation. This is why, although they are all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, their baptism has a bitter and briny element, for they still fear their enemies and cry out to the Lord and to Moses, saying, “Did you bring us out to die in the wilderness because there were no graves in Egypt? Why did you do this to us, having brought us out of Egypt?”
But baptism into Jesus in the truly sweet and fresh river has many elements superior to that baptism, since the religion has by this time been clarified and received a proper order. The ark of the covenant of the Lord our God and the priests and Levites lead the way; the people follow the servants of God, which means that they follow those who are capable of understanding the commandment about purity. Jesus [Joshua] says to the people, “Purify yourselves tomorrow; the Lord will do wonders among us.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:7-10
What great things were manifested before! The Red Sea was crossed on foot, manna was given from heaven, springs were burst open in the wilderness, the law was given through Moses. Many signs and marvels were performed in the wilderness, but nowhere is it said that Jesus [Joshua] was “exalted.” But where the Jordan is crossed, there it is said to Jesus [Joshua], “In this day I am beginning to exalt you in the sight of the people.” Indeed, Jesus is not exalted before the mystery of baptism. But his exaltation, even his exaltation in the sight of the people, assumes a beginning from then on. If “all who are baptized [into Christ Jesus] are baptized into his death,” and the death of Jesus is made complete by the exaltation of the cross, deservedly then, Jesus is first exalted for each of the faithful when that person arrives at the mystery of baptism. Because thus it is written that “God exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth, and below the earth.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:7-10
And he commands the priests to go before the people with the ark of the covenant. It is then, too, that the mystery of the dispensation of the Father with the Son is manifested, since the Son is highly exalted by him who grants “that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”These matters are revealed through the following words which have been recorded in the book of Joshua: “And the Lord said to Jesus [Joshua], ‘In this day I will begin to exalt you before the sons of Israel.’ ” We must also hear our Lord Jesus saying to the sons of Israel, “Come here and hear the Word of the Lord our God. In this you shall know that the living God is among you.” For by being baptized into Jesus we will know that the living God is among us.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:14-17
Still I believe it was not without reference to a mystery that this was written, that part of the waters of the Jordan plunges into the sea and flows into bitterness, while the other part continues on in sweetness. For if all who are baptized maintained the sweetness of the heavenly grace they received and no one were changed into the bitterness of sins, it would never have been written that part of the river was plunged into the abyss of the salty sea. Therefore, it seems to me that the variety of those baptized is designated in these words, a variety we ourselves—I remember with grief—often see occur. When some who receive holy baptism surrender themselves again to the affairs of the world and to the lures of pleasure, and when they drink the salty cup of avarice, they are symbolized by that part of the waters that flows into the sea and perishes in salty billows. But the part that continues steadfast and protects its own sweetness stands for those who unchangeably hold the gift of God they have received.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 3:14-17
And do not imagine that these deeds are only in former times and nothing so great as this is brought forth in you who are now the hearer of them. For all things are fulfilled in you according to a mystical reckoning. Indeed you who long to draw near to the hearing of the divine law have recently forsaken the darkness of idolatry and are now for the first time forsaking Egypt. When you are reckoned among the number of catechumens and have undertaken to submit to the precepts of the church, you have parted the Red Sea and, placed in the stations of the desert, you daily devote yourself to hearing the law of God and to looking upon the face of Moses, through which the glory of the Lord is revealed. But if, you also have entered the mystic font of baptism and in the presence of the priestly and levitical order have been instructed by those venerable and magnificent sacraments, which are known to those who are permitted to know those things, then, with the Jordan parted, you will enter the land of promise by the services of the priests. In this land, Jesus receives you after Moses and becomes for you the leader of a new way.

[AD 395] Gregory of Nyssa on Joshua 3:14-17
Joshua son of Nun made the Jordan River stop, but only as long as the ark was in the water. As soon as the people had crossed to the other side and the ark had come through, he gave the river back its usual flow again. The bottom of the deep in the Red Sea was denuded of water when the sea was driven back to either side by the Spirit, but the duration of the marvel was the passage of the army through the deep on the dry strip. But after that the surface of the sea became one again, and the temporary gap was flooded over. So this remains a unique event which occurred in such a way that the marvel did not lose credibility because of the passage of time, since it continues to be testified to by visible traces.

[AD 431] Paulinus of Nola on Joshua 3:14-17
Then there are the deeds of Joshua, who was marked out with Christ’s name; under his guidance the Jordan kept its stream stationary and its waters still as it recoiled from the countenance of the divine ark. A strange power divided the river. One section came to a halt, its stream flowing back, while another section hastened in its gliding course to the sea, leaving the river bed exposed. Where the current surged strongly from its source, it held back and piled high its waves, so that a threatening mountain of water hung poised in quivering formation and looked down to see human feet passing across the dry, deep bed, and grimy soles hastening over the congealed mud, dry-footed in mid-river.