Text -- Joshua 2:1-3 (NET)

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. 2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well! Israelite men have come here tonight to spy on the land.” 2:3 So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: “Turn over the men who came to you– the ones who came to your house– for they have come to spy on the whole land!”

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 2:1

¹ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

² tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

³ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:2

¹ tn Or “look.”

² tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:3

¹ tn Heb “and the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying.”

² tn Heb “bring out.”

³ tn The idiom “come to” (בוֹא אֶל, bo’ ’el) probably has sexual connotations here, as it often does elsewhere when a man “comes to” a woman. If so, the phrase could be translated “your clients.” The instructions reflect Rahab’s perspective as to the identity of the men.

⁴ tn The words “the ones who came to your house” (Heb “who came to your house”) may be a euphemistic scribal addition designed to blur the sexual connotation of the preceding words.