And I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with your sword, nor with your bow.
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Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
What does it mean when Joshua, the son of Nun, says among other things which he recalls that the Lord had done for the Israelites: “He sent wasps before you and drove out the Canaanites from your face”? One also finds that statement in the book of Wisdom, but nonetheless one cannot find any account of such a thing taking place. But perhaps “wasps” ought to be understood in a metaphorical sense to mean the sharp stings of fear, by which they were stung in a way as rumors flew about, so that they fled. Or wasps may refer to the invisible spirits of the air, as it says in the psalm, “through wicked angels.” Perhaps someone will say that not everything which took place has been written down and that the incident with the wasps also took place in a visible manner, so that this passage should be understood to refer to real wasps. - "Questions on Joshua 27"
Hornets. St. Augustine explains this of the rumours, or devils, which terrified the people of the country. But it is generally understood literally, Wisdom xii. 8. (Menochius) (Exodus xxiii. 28.) (Calmet)
The two, not only the nations on the west, but also those on the east side of the Jordan, who fell, not so much by the valour of the Israelites, as by the terror and judgments of God. (Haydock)
The resistance which they made was hardly worth mentioning.
