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1 And it came to pass, when all the kings of the Amorites, which were on the side of Jordan westward, and all the kings of the Canaanites, which were by the sea, heard that the LORD had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we were passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel. 2 At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time. 3 And Joshua made him sharp knives, and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins. 4 And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt. 5 Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised. 6 For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey. 7 And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way. 8 And it came to pass, when they had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their places in the camp, till they were whole. 9 And the LORD said unto Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Wherefore the name of the place is called Gilgal unto this day. 10 And the children of Israel encamped in Gilgal, and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. 11 And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. 12 And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. 13 And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
[AD 165] Justin Martyr on Joshua 5:2-3
Joshua is reputed to have circumcised the people a second time by means of stone knives (which was a sign of that circumcision by which Jesus Christ himself has cut us off from idols made of stone and other materials) and to have gathered together those who everywhere from the uncircumcision (that is, from worldly error) were circumcised with stone knives, namely, the words of our Lord Jesus. For I have already pointed out that the prophets used to call him figuratively a stone and rock. By the stone knives, therefore, we understand his words, by which so many who were in error have been circumcised from their uncircumcision with the circumcision of the heart. From that time God commanded through Jesus that they who had the circumcision which began with Abraham should be circumcised again with the circumcision of the heart, for he said that Joshua performed a second circumcision with stone knives upon those who entered into the Holy Land.

[AD 220] Tertullian on Joshua 5:2-3
In the course of the appointing of a successor to Moses, Hoshea the son of Nun is certainly transferred from his pristine name and begins to be called Jesus [Joshua]. Certainly, you say. This we first assert to have been a figure of the future. For, because Jesus Christ was to introduce the second people (which is composed of us nations, lingering deserted in the world previously) into the land of promise, “flowing with milk and honey” (that is, into the possession of eternal life, than which nothing is sweeter). This had to come about not through Moses (that is, not through the law’s discipline) but through Joshua (that is, through the new law’s grace), after our circumcision with “a knife of rock” (that is, with Christ’s precepts, for Christ is in many ways and figures predicted as a rock2). Therefore the man who was being prepared to act as images of this sacrament was inaugurated under the figure of the Lord’s name, even so as to be named Jesus [Joshua].

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:2-3
I may wish in this place to inquire of the Jews how anyone is able to be circumcised a second time with the circumcision of the flesh. For once anyone is circumcised, he does not have anything more to be removed a second time. But see how fittingly and consistently those things may be resolved by us, to whom it is said, “The law is spiritual.” For we say that that person who was skilled in the law and taught by Moses cast off the errors of idolatry and put aside the superstition and worship of images. This is the first circumcision through the law. But if he comes from the law and the prophets to the gospel faith, then he also receives the second circumcision through “the rock, who is Christ,” and what the Lord said to Jesus [Joshua] is accomplished: “Today I have taken away the reproach of Egypt from the sons of Israel.”Just as the apostle said, “They drank from the spiritual rock following them, but that rock was Christ,” so also we are able to say aptly in this place that they were circumcised “from the spiritual rock following them, but the rock was Christ.” For if anyone has not been cleansed through the gospel by a second circumcision, he is not able to put aside the reproach of Egypt, that is, the allurement of fleshly vices.

[AD 325] Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius on Joshua 5:2-3
Also Moses himself: “In the last days the Lord God will circumcise your heart that you may love the Lord your God.” And in like manner in Jesus [Joshua], the son of Nun, the successor of Moses, we note: “And the Lord said to Jesus [Joshua]: Make for yourself knives of stone exceedingly sharp and sit and circumcise a second time the children of Israel.” He said that this second circumcision would not be of the flesh as was the first, which the Jews still practice, but of the heart and spirit, which Christ, who was the true Jesus, gave.

[AD 749] John Damascene on Joshua 5:2-3
Now, this was a figure of baptism, for, just as circumcision cuts off from the body a part which is not useful but a useless superfluity, so by holy baptism are we circumcised of sin. It is obvious that sin is a superfluity of concupiscence and of no use. For it is impossible for anyone not to have any concupiscence at all or to be entirely without any taste for pleasure, but the useless part of pleasure, this is the sin which holy baptism circumcises.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joshua 5:2
The second time: Not that such as had been circumcised before were to be circumcised again; but that they were now to renew, and take up again the practice of circumcision; which had been omitted during their forty years' sojourning in the wilderness; by reason of their being always uncertain when they should be obliged to march.
[AD 749] John Damascene on Joshua 5:4-7
The circumcision was given to Abraham before the law, after the blessings and after the promise, as a sign to set him and those born of him and those of his household apart from the Gentiles in whose midst he was living. And this is obvious, because, when Israel spent forty years alone by themselves in the desert without mixing with any other nation, all those who were born in the desert were not circumcised. However, when Joshua brought them across the Jordan, they were circumcised and a second law of circumcision was made. For, under Abraham a law of circumcision was given, and then it was inoperative for forty years in the desert. Then, after the crossing of the Jordan, God again gave the law for a second time, as is written in the book of Joshua, son of Nave [Nun]: “At that time the Lord said to Joshua: make knives of stone from the sharpest rock, and sitting down circumcise the second time the children of Israel”; and a little further on: “for during forty-two years Israel dwelt in the wilderness of Midbar, and for this reason very many were uncircumcised of the sons of the fighting men who had come out of Egypt, who had disobeyed the commandments of God and to whom he declared that they should not see the good land which he had sworn to give to their fathers, the land flowing with milk and honey. The children of these he made to succeed in their place whom Joshua circumcised because of their not having been circumcised in the way.” Hence, circumcision was a sign by which Israel was set apart from the Gentiles among whom they lived.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:8
For it is not enough for us to be circumcised, but [we must] also be healed after circumcision, that is, until a scar closes up the wound of circumcision itself. When, therefore, is the scar spread over the wound of our circumcision? I myself think that to be circumcised by our Jesus is this: to be free from faults, to put aside wicked habits and vile practices, to cut off filthy and rude customs and whatever recoils at the rule of honesty and piety.But, in the beginning, when we do this we are fettered in a certain measure by the difficulty of newness and, as if with a certain labor and anguish of spirit, we change the defects of the old habit for a new practice. On that account, as I said, there is a certain distress in the beginning, and with difficulty and grief are we able to remove the first things and to receive the second. Therefore, this seems to me to be the time when we are said to tarry, just as in the pain of our circumcision, until after the scar is closed and we are healed. And we close the scar when, without difficulty, we adopt new manners and there is within us a transformation to a practice that previously seemed difficult because we were not used to it. And at that time, we are truly said to be healed when, lacking vices, we instill a virtue in our nature by its new use.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:9
All persons, even if they come from the law, even if they have learned through Moses, still have the reproach of Egypt in them, the reproach of sins. Who will be like Paul even according to the observance of the law? Just hear him saying, “According to the righteousness based upon the law, I lived without blame.” Nevertheless, he himself publicly announces and says, “For we were even ourselves at some time foolish, unbelieving, wandering, enslaved to desires and various forms of pleasure, in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.” Do these things not seem to you to be reproaches, even the reproaches of Egypt? But since Christ came and gave to us the second circumcision through “the baptism of regeneration” and purified our souls, we have cast away all these things and in exchange for them we have received the affirming of a good conscience toward God. At that time, through the second circumcision, the reproaches of Egypt were taken away from us, and the blemishes of sins were purified. No one, therefore, fears the reproaches of past transgressions, if he has been wholly converted and has repented from the heart, and, by faith, has parted the waters of the Jordan and been purified through the second circumcision of the gospel. You hear that, “Today, I have taken the reproach of Egypt away from you.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:9
The Lord also signifies this in the gospel when he says, “Your sins are forgiven you,” but “sin no longer, so nothing worse may happen to you.” For if, after the remission of sins you no longer sin, truly the reproach of Egypt has been taken away from you. But if you sin again, the old reproaches return again to you, and so much the more because it is a much greater charge “to tread underfoot the Son of God and to consider the blood of the covenant defiled” than to neglect the law of Moses. For indeed, the person who commits fornication after the gospel merits a much greater reproach than the one still under the law, because that one, “taking away the members of Christ, makes them the members of a prostitute.” You see, therefore, that more serious and more abundant reproaches are returned to you if you have neglected them. Then, indeed, no one proves you responsible for defilement but condemns you for the crime of sacrilege, because it is said to you, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of God?” “If anyone dishonors the temple of God, God will destroy that person.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:10-11
After they observed the Passover in Egypt, they began the exodus. In the book of Joshua, however, after the crossing of the Jordan, on the tenth day of the first month they encamped in Gilgal.…Then the sons of Israel observed the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month much more cheerfully than the one in Egypt, seeing that they also “ate unleavened bread and fresh from the grain of the holy land,” a food better than the manna.
For God does not feed them on lesser foods when they have received the land according to promise, nor do they obtain inferior bread through Jesus [Joshua] who is so great. This will be clear to the one who has perceived the true holy land and the Jerusalem above.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:10-11
Now if the law is to be understood only according to the letter, without doubt the sons of Israel will be found to have received poorer things from the promise since they had been partaking of better things—for they were receiving manna from heaven. When they had forsaken the prior food of Egypt, a better food by all means had followed, the manna from heaven. Now in what manner will it be reckoned that with a better food ceasing, a worse has followed, unless a greater and truer account is discovered in a spiritual understanding rather than in the literal text.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:10-11
For not before circumcision were they able to celebrate a Passover; nor immediately after circumcision, before they were healed, were they able to eat the flesh of the lamb. But after they were healed it is said that “the sons of Israel celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month.” You see, therefore, that no one unclean celebrates Passover, no one uncircumcised, but whoever has been cleansed and circumcised, just as the apostle also interprets, saying, “For indeed Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the feast day, not with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:12
Indeed at that time, when the people went out of the land of Egypt, “they carried dough in their clothes.” And when the dough had run out and they had no bread, God rained manna on them. But when they came to the holy land and “took the fruit of the province of the palms, the manna ceased for them,” and then they began to eat of the fruit of the land.In this manner, three kinds of food in general are described. The first one we certainly enjoy when going out of the land of Egypt, but this suffices for only a little time. Manna follows after this. But the third fruit we receive now from the holy land. By this diversity, as my insignificant perception comprehends, I think it is indicated that the first food that we carry with us when leaving Egypt is this little school learning (or even more advanced learning if, by chance, anyone has acquired it) that is able to help us only a little. But, placed in the desert, that is, in the condition of life in which we now are, we enjoy the manna only through what we learn by the instructions of the divine law. But the one who will deserve to enter the land of promise, that is, to obtain that which has been promised by the Savior, that one will eat fruits from the region of the palms. For truly that person who arrives at these promises after having conquered the enemy will discover the fruit of the palm. For it is certain that however great those things are that we are now able to understand or to know in the law of God or in divine learning, those things that the holy ones will deserve to see “face to face” when the enigma is over, will be far more sublime and lofty. For “what the eye has not seen or the ear heard, what has not ascended into a person’s heart, these are the things God has prepared for those who love him.”

[AD 735] Bede on Joshua 5:12
“And Jesus said to them: ‘I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.’ ” He desired first of all to eat the typical Passover with his disciples and thus to reveal the mystery of his passion to the world, so that the judge of the ancient and lawful Passover would emerge and forbid this to be displayed to have pertained to the type of its dispensation by further carnal teaching but would demonstrate instead through the passing shadow that the light of the true Passover has now come. The time and order of Joshua finishing the manna beautifully prefigures this, where it is written: “And they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho, and they ate from the fruit of the earth on the next day, unleavened bread from the grain of the land of the same year. And the manna ceased after they ate of the fruit of the earth, nor did the children of Israel use that food any more.” For, when Moses died, Joshua restored the people whom he had provided with manna for a time across the Jordan, by which food he himself was also restored, even though he knew and formerly tasted of the fruit of the promised land. Thereafter, he crossed the Jordan, circumcised with knives made of stone and did not take the customary manna for three and one half months, until the day of Passover. In fact, Joshua was ordained leader when Moses died because Christ was incarnated when the law had been corrupted by the traditions of the Pharisees. Joshua fed with and was fed by manna across the Jordan because, until the time of his baptism, the Lord observed the ceremonies of the law and wanted them to be observed by everyone else. After they had crossed the Jordan, Joshua circumcised the people with knives made from stone because the Savior celebrated the grace of baptism with thoughts that the law, in its severity, had been unable to cut off the attractions of faith. And for three and one half years [after his baptism], although provoking gradual movement toward the promised heaven, Christ does not cease to observe the sacraments of the law, as though to be nourished with the customary manna, until, while eating the desired Passover with his disciples at a foreordained time, as morning was breaking, he finally offers the most pure sacrament of his body and blood, consecrated on the altar of the cross for imbuing the faithful, as though it were the unleavened bread of the promised land.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:13-14
What is it that Jesus [Joshua] teaches us through this? That, doubtless, which the apostle says: “Do not believe every spirit, but test if it is from God.” Therefore, Jesus [Joshua] recognized not only something from God but that which is God; for certainly he would not have worshiped unless he had recognized God. For who else is chief of the army of the powers of God except our Lord Jesus Christ? For every heavenly army, whether angels or archangels, whether powers or “dominions or principalities or authorities,” all these that were made through him, wage war under the chief himself, who is the chief of chiefs and who distributes sovereignty to the sovereigns. For he himself is the one who says in the gospel, “Have power over ten cities,” and, to another, “Have power over five cities.” This is the one who has returned after accepting the kingdom.

[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:13-14
And so you must beware and exercise great care in order to discern with knowledge the kinds of visions, just as Joshua the son of Nun, when he saw a vision and knew there was temptation in it, immediately asked the one who appeared to him and said, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” So, then, the soul progresses when it comes to the place where it begins to distinguish between visions; and it is proved to be spiritual if it knows how to discern them all. That is why, as well, one of the spiritual gifts, given by the Holy Spirit, is mentioned as “the ability to distinguish between spirits.”

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Joshua 5:13-14
Joshua, the successor of Moses, calls the leader of the heavenly angels and archangels and of the supernal powers and as if he were the power and wisdom of the Father, entrusted with the second rank of sovereignty and rule over all, “prince of the host of the Lord,” although he saw him only in the form and shape of a man. At any rate, it is written: “And it came to pass, when Joshua was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him, holding a drawn sword, and he went to him and said: ‘Are you one of ours, or of our adversaries?’ And he said to him, ‘I am prince of the host of the Lord and I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him, ‘What does my Lord command to his servant?’ And the prince of the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Loose your shoe from off your feet, for the place on which you stand is a holy place.’ ” Here, too, you will perceive from the identity of words that this is no other than he who also spoke to Moses.

[AD 500] Desert Fathers on Joshua 5:13-15
A brother asked a hermit, ‘Is it good to be always repenting?’ He answered, ‘We have seen Joshua the son of Nun; it was when he was lying prostrate on his face that God appeared to him’ (cf. Josh. 5:14).

[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on Joshua 5:13-14
Divine providence surrounds all persons at all times, but it is not visible except to those who have purified their souls of sin and think about God at all times. To these it is luminously revealed at that time; because when they have undergone great temptations for the sake of truth, then they receive the faculty to perceive sensibly as if with eyes of flesh also when necessary, even palpably, according to the kind and cause of the temptation, as if for greater encouragement.So it was with Jacob and Joshua son of Nun, Hananiah and his companions, Peter and others to whom the form of a man appeared to encourage them and to console their faith.

[AD 749] John Damascene on Joshua 5:13-14
Joshua, the son of Nun, and Daniel bowed in veneration before an angel of God, but they did not adore him. For adoration is one thing, and that which is offered in order to honor something of great excellence is another.

[AD 749] John Damascene on Joshua 5:13-14
Joshua the son of Nun did not see the angel as he is by nature, but an image, for an angel by nature is not visible to bodily eyes, yet he fell down and worshiped, and Daniel did likewise. Yet an angel is a creature, a servant and minister of God, but not God. And they fell down in worship before the angels, not as God, but as God’s ministering spirits. Shall I not make images of friends? Shall I not honor them, not as gods but as the images of God’s friends? Neither Joshua nor Daniel worshiped the angels they saw as gods. Neither do I worship an image as god, but through the images of Christ and of the holy Theotokos and of the saints, I bring worship and honor to God, because of the reverence with which I honor his friends. God did not unite himself with angelic nature but with human nature. God did not become an angel; he became a man by nature and in truth.

[AD 339] Eusebius of Caesarea on Joshua 5:14
And as Joshua, the successor of Moses, was about to fight against the former possessors of Palestine, his enemies, foreign and most ungodly races, he rightly appears to him with a sword drawn and pointed against the enemy, showing by the vision that he himself is about to attack the ungodly with an unseen sword and with divine power, the fellow soldier and the fellow combatant of his people. Wherefore he gives himself the name of Chief and Captain of the Lord to suit the occasion. - "Proof of the Gospel 5.19"
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joshua 5:14
Prince of the host of the Lord: St. Michael, who is called prince of the people of Israel, Dan. 10. 21.
[AD 253] Origen of Alexandria on Joshua 5:15
And in what manner is Jericho holy ground since it is retained by the enemies? This indicates, and not by accident, that the chief of the army of the power of the Lord sanctifies every place to which he comes, for Jericho itself was not a holy place. But because the chief of the army of God came there, the place is said to be holy. I also dare something more and say that even the place where Moses stood was not holy through Moses himself but because the Lord stood with him. The presence of the Lord had sanctified the place; and on that account, it is said to him, “Loosen the latchet of your sandal; for the place on which you stand is holy ground.”

[AD 420] Jerome on Joshua 5:15
Now, grasp the mystical meaning of Holy Writ. As long as we are walking through the wilderness, it is necessary that we wear sandals to cover and protect our feet, but when we shall have entered the Land of Promise, we shall hear with Jesus [Joshua], the son of Nave [Nun]: “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place upon which you are standing is holy.” When, therefore, we enter into the kingdom of heaven, we shall have no need of sandals or for protection against this world, but—to give you a new thought—we shall follow the Lamb that has been slain for us.

[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on Joshua 5:15
Worshipping: Not with divine honour, but with a religious veneration of an inferior kind, suitable to the dignity of his person.