Joshua 9:3

The Gibeonites came to Joshua with bread and old sacks to give the impression that they came from a distant land, as they had planned, so that the Israelites would spare their lives - for the Lord had ordered that no one be respected by the inhabitants of those lands. to those who entered. Well, in relation to this, some codices both Greek and Latin say: And taking old sacks on their shoulders (Jos 9,10 4). Other codices that seem more accurate do not say: on the shoulders, but: on their asses. The similarity of the word in the Greek language facilitated the error and that is why the Latin copies also vary. Indeed, omon and onon do not differ much from each other. But the first word means "shoulder" and the second "ass". It is more likely that they are asses, because the Gibeonites said that they had been sent from their village, which was far away. From this it is deduced that they were legacies and therefore they could carry the necessary things, certainly in donkeys and not on shoulders, since there could not be many, and also the Scripture says that they not only carried sacks, but also wineskins (Cf Jos 9,19 13).

"In my Father's house are many mansions," says the Word of God. But the resurrection of the dead too will not have an equal glory for those who rise, but "there is one flesh of birds, another of cattle, and another indeed of fish. And there are heavenly bodies, and earthly bodies; but the glory of the heavenly is one thing, and that of the earthly another. There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars. Star differs from star in glory; so also is the resurrection of the dead." Many, therefore, are the differences marked out among those who come to salvation. Hence even now I judge those Gibeonites, whose story has been read aloud, to be a certain small portion of those who are to be saved—yet in such a way that they are not saved without the branding of some mark. For you see how they are condemned to become "hewers of wood" or "carriers of water" for the service of the people and the ministry of "the altar of God," since indeed "with deceit and cunning" they came to the sons of Israel, clothed in "old rags and shoes" and carrying "food of stale bread." These, then, "come to Jesus" with all their old, worn-out things, and beg of him only this, that they may be saved. In their figure it seems to me that something of this sort is shown. There are certain people in the Church who indeed believe and have faith in God and consent to all the divine precepts, and who are also religious toward the servants of God and desire to serve them, and who are furthermore quite prompt and ready for the adornment of the church or its ministry, but in their own acts and manner of life they are quite unclean and entangled in vices, not at all "putting off the old man with his deeds," but wrapped up in old vices and unclean things, just as those men too were covered with "old rags and shoes"—so that, apart from believing in God and appearing devoted toward the servants of God or the worship of the church, they apply no correction or renewal to their morals. To these, then, Jesus our Lord grants salvation indeed, but in some way that very salvation of theirs does not escape the mark of ill repute. A similar figure concerning these people is also described in the little book which is called The Shepherd. For he says that there is a certain tree, which is called an elm, which bears no fruit, yet it supports a vine, which bears very much fruit;…