Text -- Joshua 2:5-24 (NET)

2:5 When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left. I don’t know where they were heading. Chase after them quickly, for you have time to catch them!” 2:6 (Now she had taken them up to the roof and had hidden them in the stalks of flax she had spread out on the roof.) 2:7 Meanwhile the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River near the fords. The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. 2:8 Now before the spies went to sleep, Rahab went up to the roof. 2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. We are absolutely terrified of you, and all who live in the land are cringing before you. 2:10 For we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you left Egypt and how you annihilated the two Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, on the other side of the Jordan. 2:11 When we heard the news we lost our courage and no one could even breathe for fear of you. For the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on earth below! 2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. Give me a solemn pledge 2:13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us from death.” 2:14 The men said to her, “If you die, may we die too! If you do not report what we’ve been up to, then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance to you.” 2:15 Then Rahab let them down by a rope through the window. (Her house was built as part of the city wall; she lived in the wall.) 2:16 She told them, “Head to the hill country, so the ones chasing you don’t find you. Hide from them there for three days, long enough for those chasing you to return. Then you can be on your way.” 2:17 The men said to her, “We are not bound by this oath you made us swear unless the following conditions are met: 2:18 When we invade the land, tie this red rope in the window through which you let us down, and gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and all who live in your father’s house. 2:19 Anyone who leaves your house will be responsible for his own death– we are innocent in that case! But if anyone with you in the house is harmed, we will be responsible. 2:20 If you should report what we’ve been up to, we are not bound by this oath you made us swear.” 2:21 She said, “I agree to these conditions.” She sent them on their way and then tied the red rope in the window. 2:22 They went to the hill country and stayed there for three days, long enough for those chasing them to return. Their pursuers looked all along the way but did not find them. 2:23 Then the two men returned– they came down from the hills, crossed the river, came to Joshua son of Nun, and reported to him all they had discovered. 2:24 They told Joshua, “Surely the Lord is handing over all the land to us! All who live in the land are cringing before us!”

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Jos 2:6

Which was flat after their manner.

Wesley: Jos 2:6

That they might be dried by the heat of the sun.

Wesley: Jos 2:7

Or passages, that is, the places where people used to pass over Jordan, whether by boats or bridges.

Wesley: Jos 2:7

Of the city, to prevent the escape of the spies, if peradventure Rahab was mistaken, and they yet lurked therein.

Wesley: Jos 2:8

To sleep as they intended.

Wesley: Jos 2:9

That is, the dread of you.

Wesley: Jos 2:11

That is, were dissolved, lost all courage.

Wesley: Jos 2:12

By your God who is the only true God: so she owns his worship, one eminent act whereof is swearing by his name.

Wesley: Jos 2:12

My near kindred, which she particularly names, Jos 2:13, husband and children it seems she had none. And for herself, it was needless to speak, it being a plain and undeniable duty to save their preserver.

Wesley: Jos 2:12

Either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin: or a token which I may produce as a witness of this agreement, and a means of my security. This is all that she asks. But God did for her more than she could ask or think. She was afterwards advanced to be a princess in Israel, the wife of Salmon and one of the ancestors of Christ.

Wesley: Jos 2:13

That is, their children, as appears from Jos 6:23.

Wesley: Jos 2:14

We will venture our lives for the security of yours.

Wesley: Jos 2:14

That is, this agreement of ours, and the condition of it, lest others under this pretence, should secure themselves. By which they shew both their piety and prudence in managing their oath with so much circumspection, that neither their own consciences might be ensnared, nor the publick justice obstructed.

Wesley: Jos 2:15

wall - Which gave her the opportunity of dismissing them when the gates were shut.

Wesley: Jos 2:15

Her particular dwelling was there: which may possibly be added, because the other part of her house was reserved for the entertainment of strangers.

Wesley: Jos 2:16

That is, to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed, in which also there were many caves where they might lurk.

Wesley: Jos 2:16

Not three whole days, but one whole day, and part of two days.

Wesley: Jos 2:17

Or, had said; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was agreed on; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them.

Wesley: Jos 2:17

That is, free from guilt or reproach if it be violated, namely, if the following condition be not observed.

Wesley: Jos 2:18

That is, over Jordan, and near the city.

Wesley: Jos 2:18

Probably the same with which she was about to let them down.

Wesley: Jos 2:18

That it may be easily discerned by our soldiers.

Wesley: Jos 2:19

The blame of his death shall rest wholly upon himself, as being occasioned by his own neglect of the means of safety.

Wesley: Jos 2:19

We are willing to bear the sin, and shame, and punishment of it.

Wesley: Jos 2:19

So as to kill him.

Wesley: Jos 2:21

Forthwith, partly that the spies might see it hung out before their departure, and so the better know it at some distance; partly lest some accident might occasion a neglect about it.

Wesley: Jos 2:22

Supporting themselves there with the provisions, which Rahab had furnished them with.

Wesley: Jos 2:22

That is, in the road to Jordan, and the places near it, but not in the mountains.

Wesley: Jos 2:23

Jordan unto Joshua.

JFB: Jos 2:4-6

Literally, "him," that is, each of them in separate places, of course previous to the appearance of the royal messengers and in anticipation of a speedy search after her guests. According to Eastern manners, which pay an almost superstitious respect to a woman's apartment, the royal messengers did not demand admittance to search but asked her to bring the foreigners out.

JFB: Jos 2:5

The gates of all Oriental cities are closed at sunset, after which there is no possibility either of admission or egress.

JFB: Jos 2:5

This was a palpable deception. But, as lying is a common vice among heathen people, Rahab was probably unconscious of its moral guilt, especially as she resorted to it as a means for screening her guests; and she might deem herself bound to do it by the laws of Eastern hospitality, which make it a point of honor to preserve the greatest enemy, if he has once eaten one's salt. Judged by the divine law, her answer was a sinful expedient; but her infirmity being united with faith, she was graciously pardoned and her service accepted (Jam 2:25).

JFB: Jos 2:6

Flax, with other vegetable productions, is at a certain season spread out on the flat roofs of Eastern houses to be dried in the sun; and, after lying awhile, it is piled up in numerous little stacks, which, from the luxuriant growth of the flax, rise to a height of three or four feet. Behind some of these stacks Rahab concealed the spies.

JFB: Jos 2:7

That river is crossed at several well-known fords. The first and second immediately below the sea of Galilee; the third and fourth immediately above and below the pilgrims' bathing-place, opposite Jericho.

JFB: Jos 2:7

This precaution was to ensure the capture of the spies, should they have been lurking in the city.

JFB: Jos 2:8-13

Rahab's dialogue is full of interest, as showing the universal panic and consternation of the Canaanites on the one hand (Jos 24:11; Deu 2:25), and her strong convictions on the other, founded on a knowledge of the divine promise, and the stupendous miracles that had opened the way of the Israelites to the confines of the promised land. She was convinced of the supremacy of Jehovah, and her earnest stipulations for the preservation of her relatives amid the perils of the approaching invasion, attest the sincerity and strength of her faith.

JFB: Jos 2:14

This was a solemn pledge--a virtual oath, though the name of God is not mentioned; and the words were added, not as a condition of their fidelity, but as necessary for her safety, which might be endangered if the private agreement was divulged.

JFB: Jos 2:15

In many Oriental cities houses are built on the walls with overhanging windows; in others the town wall forms the back wall of the house, so that the window opens into the country. Rahab's was probably of this latter description, and the cord or rope sufficiently strong to bear the weight of a man.

JFB: Jos 2:16-21

Rather "she had said," for what follows must have been part of the previous conversation.

JFB: Jos 2:16-21

A range of white limestone hills extends on the north, called Quarantania (now Jebel Karantu), rising to a height of from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred feet, and the sides of which are perforated with caves. Some one peak adjoining was familiarly known to the inhabitants as "the mountain." The prudence and propriety of the advice to flee in that direction rather than to the ford, were made apparent by the sequel.

JFB: Jos 2:21

Probably soon after the departure of the spies. It was not formed, as some suppose, into network, as a lattice, but simply to hang down the wall. Its red color made it conspicuous, and it was thus a sign and pledge of safety to Rahab's house, as the bloody mark on the lintels of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt to that people.

Clarke: Jos 2:5

When it was dark - So it appears that it was after night that the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, ordering her to produce the persons who lodged with her. The season itself was friendly to the whole plot: had these transactions taken place in daylight, it is scarcely possible that the spies could have escaped. But this is no excuse for the woman’ s prevarication, for God could have saved his messengers independently of her falsity. God never says to any, Do evil that good may come of it. See at the end of the chapter, Jos 2:24 (note).

Clarke: Jos 2:6

Hid then with the stalks of flax - It is a matter of little consequence whether we translate פסתי העיץ pistey haets stalks of flax, or stalks of hemp: the word עץ ets , which signifies wood, serves to show that whether it was hemp or flax, it was in its rough, unmanufactured state; and as this was about the season, viz., the end of March or the beginning of April, in which the flax is ripe in that country, consequently Rahab’ s flax might have been recently pulled, and was now drying on the roof of her house. The reader may find some useful remarks upon this subject in Harmer’ s Observations, vol. iv., p. 97, etc

Clarke: Jos 2:6

Upon the roof - We have already seen that all the houses in the east were made flat-roofed; for which a law is given Deu 22:8. On these flat roofs the Asiatics to this day walk, converse, and oftentimes even sleep and pass the night. It is probable that this hiding was after that referred to in the fourth verse.

Clarke: Jos 2:9

I know that the Lord hath given you the land - It is likely she had this only from conjecture, having heard of their successes against the Amorites, their prodigious numbers, and seeing the state of terror and dismay to which the inhabitants of her own land were reduced.

Clarke: Jos 2:11

He is God in heaven above, and to earth beneath - This confession of the true God is amazingly full, and argues considerable light and information. As if she had said, "I know your God to be omnipotent and omnipresent:"and in consequence of this faith she hid the spies, and risked her own life in doing it. But how had she this clear knowledge of the Divine nature

1.    Possibly the knowledge of the true God was general in the earth at this time, though connected with much superstition and idolatry; the people believing that there was a god for every district, and for every people; for the mountains and for the valleys; see 1Ki 20:23

2.    Or she received this instruction from the spies, with whom she appears to have had a good deal of conversation; or

3.    She had it from a supernatural influence of God upon her own soul. She probably made a better use of the light she had received than the rest of her countrymen, and God increased that light.

Clarke: Jos 2:12

Swear unto me by the Lord - This is a farther proof that this woman had received considerable instruction in the Jewish faith; she acknowledged the true God by his essential character Jehovah; and knew that an oath in his name was the deepest and most solemn obligation under which a Jew could possibly come. Does not this also refer to the command of God, Thou shalt fear the Lord, and shalt swear by his name? See the note on Deu 6:13.

Clarke: Jos 2:13

Deliver our lives from death - She had learned, either from the spies or otherwise, that all the inhabitants of the land were doomed to destruction, and therefore she obliges them to enter into a covenant with her for the preservation of herself and her household.

Clarke: Jos 2:14

Our life for yours - "May our life be destroyed if we suffer yours to be injured!"This is what was anciently called in our country pledging - staking, a man’ s life for that of his neighbor or friend.

Clarke: Jos 2:15

Then she let them down by a cord etc. - The natural place of this verse is after the first clause of Jos 2:21; for it is certain that she did not let them down in the basket till all those circumstances marked from Jos 2:16-20 inclusive had taken place

Clarke: Jos 2:15

She dwelt upon the wall - That is, either the wall of the city made a part of her house or her house was built close to the wall, so that the top or battlements of it were above the wall with a window that looked out to the country. As the city gates were now shut there was no way for the spies to escape but through this window; and in order to this she let them down through the window in a basket suspended by a cord, till they reached the ground on the outside of the wall.

Clarke: Jos 2:16

Hide yourselves there three days - They were to travel by night, and hide themselves in the day-time; otherwise they might have been discovered by the pursuers who were in search of them.

Clarke: Jos 2:18

This line of scarlet thread - תקות חוט השני tikvath chut hashshani . Probably this may mean, this piece of scarlet cloth, or, this cloth (made) of scarlet thread. When the Israelites took the city this piece of red cloth seems to have been hung out of the window by way of flag; and this was the sign on which she and the spies had agreed.

Clarke: Jos 2:20

If thou utter this our business - It was prudent to make her life depend on her secresy; had it been otherwise she might have been tempted to give information, not only concerning the spies, but concerning the designs of the Israelites. But her life being at stake, added to every other motive, she kept the secret for the sake of her own personal safety and that of all her relatives.

Clarke: Jos 2:23

So the two men returned - Having concealed themselves in the mountains that night, all the next day, and the night ensuing, on the third day they returned to Joshua.

Clarke: Jos 2:24

Truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land - How different was this report from that brought by the spies on a former occasion! They found that all the inhabitants of the land were panic-struck. The people had heard of the great exploits of the Israelites on the other side of Jordan; and as they had destroyed the potent kings of the Amorites, they took it for granted that nothing could stand before them. This information was necessary to Joshua to guide him in forming the plan of his campaign

1.    It may be asked, Did not Rahab lie in the account she gave to the officers of the king of Jericho, (Jos 2:4, Jos 2:5), There came men unto me, etc.? I answer, She certainly did; and the inspired writer sets down the fact merely as it stood, without making the Spirit of God responsible for the dissimulation of the woman. But was she not rewarded, etc.? Yes; for her hospitality and faith, not for her lie. But could she have saved the spies without telling a lie? Yes, she certainly might; but what notion could a woman of her occupation, though nothing worse than an inn-keeper, have of the nicer distinctions between truth and falsehood, living among a most profligate and depraved people, where truth could scarcely be known

2.    There is a lax morality in the world that recommends a lie rather than the truth, when the purposes of religion and humanity can be served by it. But when can this be? The religion of Christ is one eternal system of truth, and can neither be served by a lie nor admit one. On this vile subject fine words have been spoken. Tasso, in his elegant episode of Sophronia and Olindo, in the Gerusalemme Liberata, b. ii., v. 22, represents the former as telling a lie to Saladdin, relative to the stealing of an image, for which, as he could not discover the culprit, he doomed all the Christians in his power to death. Sophronia, a pious Christian virgin, getting into the presence of the tyrant, in order to save her people, accuses herself, though perfectly innocent, of the theft. Her conduct on this occasion the poet embellishes in the following manner, for which the religion of that time, which dealt in holy frauds, would no doubt applaud him

‘ Ed ella: il reo si trova al tuo cospetto

Opra e il furto, Signor, di questa man

Io l’ immagine tolsi; Io son cole

Che tu ricerchi, e me punir tu dei

Cosi al pubblico fato il capo alter

Offerse, e ‘ l volle in se sol racorre

Magnanima Menzogna! or quando e il Ver

Si Bello, che si possa a te preporre?

Then she: "Before thy sight the guilty stands

The theft, O King, committed by these hands

In me the thief who stole the image view

To me the punishment decreed is due.

Thus, filled with public zeal, the generous dam

A victim for her people’ s ransom came

O great deceit! O lie divinely fair

What truth with such a falsehood can compare

Hoole

Thus a lie is ornamented with splendid decorations both by the Italian and English poet, and the whole formed into an anti-apostolic maxim, Let us do Evil, that Good may come of it. A purer morality was taught by one of the most ancient heathen writers than is here preached by these demi-christians: -

Εχθρος γαρ μοι κεινος, ὁμως αΐδαο πυλησιν,

Ὁς χ ’ ἑτερον μεν κευθει ενι φρεσιν, αλλο δε βαζει.

Iliad. l. ix., v. 312

My soul detests him as the gates of hell

Who knows the truth and dares a falsehood tell

The following is the advice of a genuine Christian poet, and one of the holiest men of his time: -

Lie not; but let thy heart be true to God

Thy tongue to it, thy actions to them bot

Cowards tell lies, and those who fear the rod

The stormy working soul spits lies and froth

Dare To Be True! nothing can Need a lie

The fault that needs it most grows Two thereby

Herbert

For other observations on this subject see the notes on Gen 12:20, at the end, and Gen 20:12

3.    Though the hand of God was evidently in every thing that concerned the Israelites, and they were taught to consider that by his might alone they were to be put in possession of the promised land; yet they were as fully convinced that if they did not use the counsel, prudence, and strength which they had received from him, they should not succeed. Hence, while they depended on the Divine direction and power, they exercised their own prudence, and put forth their own strength; and thus they were workers together with him, and did not receive the grace of God in vain. The application of this maxim is easy; and we cannot expect any success, either in things spiritual or temporal, unless we walk by the same rule and mind the same thing.

Calvin: Jos 2:7

7.And the men pursued, etc. Their great credulity shows that God had blinded them. Although Rahab had gained much by deluding them, a new course of anxiety intervenes; for the gates being shut, the city like a prison excluded the hope of escape. They were therefore again aroused by a serious trial to call upon God. For seeing that this history was written on their report, it is impossible they could have been ignorant of what was then going on, especially as God, for the purpose of magnifying his grace, purposely exposed them to a succession of dangers. And now when they were informed that search was made for them, we infer from the fact of their being still awake, that they were in anxiety and alarm. Their trepidation must have been in no small degree increased when it was told them that their exit was precluded.

It appears, however, that Rahab was not at all dismayed, since she bargains with so much presence of mind, and so calmly, for her own safety and that of her family. And in this composure and firmness her faith, which is elsewhere commended, appears conspicuous. For on human principles she never would have braved the fury of the king and people, and become a suppliant to guests half dead with terror. Many, indeed, think there is something ridiculous in the eulogium bestowed upon her both by St. James and the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Jas 2:25; Heb 11:31,) when they place her in the catalogue of the faithful. But any one who will carefully weigh all the circumstances will easily perceive that she was endowed with a lively faith.

First, If the tree is known by its fruits, we here see no ordinary effects, which are just so many evidences of faith. Secondly, A principle of piety must have given origin to her conviction that the neighboring nations were already in a manner vanquished and laid prostrate, since terror sent from above had filled all minds with dismay. It is true that in profane writers also we meet with similar expressions, which God has extorted from them that he might assert his power to rule and turn the hearts of men in whatever way he pleases. But while these writers prate like parrots, Rahab declaring in sincerity of heart that God has destined the land for the children of Israel, because all the inhabitants have fainted away before them, claims for him a supreme rule over the hearts of men, a rule which the pride of the world denies.

For although the experience of all times has shown that more armies have fallen or been routed by sudden and un-looked for terror than by the force and prowess of the enemy, the impression of this truth has forthwith vanished away, and hence conquerors have always extolled their own valor, and on any prosperous result gloried in their own exertions and talents for war. They have felt, I admit, that daring and courage are occasionally bestowed or withheld by some extraneous cause, and accordingly men confess that in war fortune does much or even reigns supreme. Hence their common proverb with regard to panic terrors, and their vows made as well to Pavor (Dread) as to Jupiter Stator. ³⁹ But it never became a serious and deep-seated impression in their minds, that every man is brave according as God has inspired him with present courage, or cowardly according as he has suppressed his daring. Rahab, however, recognizes the operation of a divine hand in striking the nations of Canaan with dismay, and thus making them as it were by anticipation pronounce their own doom; and she infers that the terror which the children of Israel have inspired is a presage of victory, because they fight under God as their Leader.

In the fact, that while the courage of all had thus melted away, they however prepared to resist with the obstinacy of despair; we see that when the wicked are broken and crushed by the hand of God, they are not so subdued as to receive the yoke, but in their terror and anxiety become incapable of being tamed. Here, too, we have to observe how in a common fear believers differ from unbelievers, and how the faith of Rahab displays itself. She herself was afraid like any other of the people; but when she reflects that she has to do with God, she concludes that her only remedy is to eschew evil by yielding humbly and placidly, as resistance would be altogether unavailing. But what is the course taken by all the wretched inhabitants of the country? Although terror-struck, so far is their perverseness from being overcome that they stimulate each other to the conflict.

Calvin: Jos 2:10

10.For we have heard how, etc. She mentions, as the special cause of consternation, that the wide-spread rumor of miracles, hitherto without example, had impressed it on the minds of all that God was warring for the Israelites. For it was impossible to doubt that the way through the Red Sea had been miraculously opened up, as the water would never have changed its nature and become piled up in solid heaps, had not God, the author of nature, so ordered. The transmutation of the element, therefore, plainly showed that God was on the side of the people, to whom he had given a dry passage through the depths of the sea.

The signal victories also gained over Og and Bashan, were justly regarded as testimonies of the divine favor towards the Israelites. This latter conclusion, indeed, rested only on conjecture, whereas the passage of the sea was a full and irrefragable proof, as much so as if God had stretched forth his hand from heaven. All minds, therefore, were seized with a conviction that in the expedition of the Israelitish people God was principal leader; ⁴⁰ hence their terror and consternation. At the same time, it is probable that they were deceived by some vain imagination that the God of Israel had proved superior in the contest to the gods of Egypt; just as the poets feign that every god has taken some nation or other under his protection, and wars with others, and that thus conflicts take place among the gods themselves while they are protecting their favorites.

But the faith of Rahab takes a higher flight, while to the God of Israel alone she ascribes supreme power and eternity. These are the true attributes of Jehovah. She does not dream, according to the vulgar notion, that some one, out of a crowd of deities, is giving his assistance to the Israelites, but she acknowledges that He whose favor they were known to possess is the true and only God. We see, then, how in a case where all received the same intelligence, she, in the application of it, went far beyond her countrymen.

Calvin: Jos 2:11

11.The Lord your God, he is God, etc. Here the image of Rahab’s faith appears, as if reflected in a mirror, when casting down all idols she ascribes the government of heaven and earth to the God of Israel alone. For it is perfectly clear that when heaven and earth are declared subject to the God of Israel, there is a repudiation of all the pagan fictions by which the majesty, and power, and glory of God are portioned out among different deities; and hence we see that it is not without cause that two Apostles have honored Rahab’s conduct with the title of faith This is sneered at by some proud and disdainful men, but I wish they would consider what it is to distinguish the one true God from all fictitious deities, and at the same time so to extol his power as to declare that the whole world is governed at his pleasure. Rahab does not speak hesitatingly, but declares, in absolute terms, that whatever power exists resides in the God of Israel alone, that he commands all the elements, that he orders all things above and below, and determines human affairs. Still I deny not that her faith was not fully developed, nay, I readily admit, that it was only a germ of piety which, as yet, would have been insufficient for her eternal salvation. We must hold, nevertheless, that however feeble and slender the knowledge of God which the woman possessed may have been, still in surrendering herself to his power, she gives a proof of her election, and that from that seed a faith was germinating which afterwards attained its full growth.

Calvin: Jos 2:12

12.Now, therefore, I pray you, swear, etc. It is another manifestation of faith that she places the sons of Abraham in sure possession of the land of Canaan, founding on no other argument than her having heard that it was divinely promised to them. For she did not suppose that God was favoring lawless intruders who were forcing their way into the territories of others with unjust violence and uncurbed licentiousness, but rather concluded that they were coming into the land of Canaan, because God had assigned them the dominion of it. It cannot be believed that when they sought a passage from the Edomites and others, they said nothing as to whither they were going. Nay, those nations were acquainted with the promise which was made to Abraham, and the memory of which had been again renewed by the rejection of Esau.

Moreover, in the language of Rahab, we behold that characteristic property of faith described by the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, when he calls it a vision, or sight of things not appearing. (Heb 11:1) Rahab is dwelling with her people in a fortified city: and yet she commits her life to her terrified guests, just as if they had already gained possession of the land, and had full power to save or destroy as they pleased. This voluntary surrender was, in fact, the very same as embracing the promise of God, and casting herself on his protection. She, moreover, exacts an oath, because often, in the storming of cities, the heat and tumult of the struggle shook off the remembrance of duty. In the same way she mentions the kindness she had shown to them, that gratitude might stimulate them the more to perform their promise. For although the obligation of the oath ought of itself to have been effectual, it would have been doubly base and inhumane not to show gratitude to a hostess to whom they owed deliverance. Rahab shows the kindliness of her disposition, in her anxiety about her parents and kindred. This is, indeed, natural; but many are so devoted to themselves, that children hesitate not to ransom their own lives by the death of their parents, instead of exerting courage and zeal to save them.

Calvin: Jos 2:14

14.Our life for yours, etc. They imprecate death upon themselves, if they do not faithfully make it their business to save Rahab. For the interpretation adopted by some, We will pledge our lives, seems far-fetched, or too restricted, since their intention was simply to bind themselves before God. They constitute themselves, therefore, a kind of expiatory victims, if any evil befalls Rahab through their negligence. The expression, for yours, ought, doubtless, to be extended to the parents, brothers, and sisters. They therefore render their own lives liable in such a sense, that blood may be required of them, if the family of Rahab do not remain safe. And herein consists the sanctity of an oath, that though its violation may escape with impunity, so far as men are concerned, yet God having been interposed as a witness, will take account of the perfidy. In Hebrew, to do mercy and truth, is equivalent to performing the office of humanity faithfully, sincerely, and firmly.

A condition, however, is inserted, — provided Rahab do not divulge what they have said. This was inserted, not on account of distrust, as is usually expounded, but only to put Rahab more upon her guard, on her own account. The warning, therefore, was given in good faith, and flowed from pure good will: for there was a danger that Rahab might betray herself by a disclosure. In one word, they show how important it is that the matter should remain, as it were, buried, lest the woman, by inconsiderately talking of the compact, might expose herself to capital punishment. In this they show that they were sincerely anxious for her safety, since they thus early caution her against doing anything which might put it out of their power to render her a service. In further distinctly stipulating, that no one should go out of the house, or otherwise they should be held blameless, we may draw the important inference, that in making oaths soberness should be carefully attended to, that we may not profane the name of God by making futile promises on any subject.

The advice of Rahab, to turn aside into the mountain, and there remain quiet for three days, shows that there is no repugnance between faith and the precautions which provide against manifest dangers. There is no doubt that the messengers crept off to the mountain in great fear, and yet that confidence which they had conceived, from the remarkable interference of God in their behalf, directed their steps, and did not allow them to lose their presence of mind.

Some have raised the question, whether, seeing it is criminal to overleap walls, it could be lawful to get out of the city by a window? But it ought to be observed, first, that the walls of cities were not everywhere sacred, because every city had not a Romulus, who could make the overleaping a pretext for slaying his brother; ⁴¹ and secondly, That law, as Cicero reminds us, was to be tempered by equity, inasmuch as he who should climb a wall for the purpose of repelling an enemy, would be more deserving of reward than punishment. The end of the law is to make the citizens secure by the protection of the walls. He, therefore, who should climb over the walls, neither from contempt nor petulance, nor fraud, nor in a tumultuous manner, but under the pressure of necessity, could not justly on that account be charged with a capital offence. Should it be objected that the thing was of bad example, I admit it; but when the object is to rescue one’s life from injury, violence, or robbery, provided it be done without offence or harm to any one, necessity excuses it. It cannot be charged upon Paul as a crime, that when in danger of his life at Damascus, he was let down by a basket, seeing he was divinely permitted to escape, without tumult, from the violence and cruelty of wicked men. ⁴²

Calvin: Jos 2:24

24.And they said unto Joshua, etc. This passage shows that Joshua was not mistaken in selecting his spies; for their language proves them to have been right-hearted men possessed of rare integrity. Others, perhaps, not recovered from the terror into which they had once been thrown, would have disturbed the whole camp, but these, while they reflect on the wonderful kindness of God, displayed in their escape from danger, and the happy issue of their expedition, exhort Joshua and the people to go boldly forward. And although the mere promise of possessing the land ought to have been sufficient, yet the Lord is so very indulgent to their weakness, that, for the sake of removing all doubt, he confirms what he had promised by experience. That the Lord had not spoken in vain, was proved by the consternation of the nations, when it began already to put them to flight., and to drive them out, as if hornets had been sent in upon them. For they argue in the same way as Rahab had done, that the land was given to them, as the inhabitants had almost fainted away from fear. I have therefore used the illative particle for, though the literal meaning is, and also. But it is sufficiently plain, that in the other way there is a confirmation of what they had said. And, indeed, the courage of all melted away, as if they felt themselves routed by the hand of God.

Defender: Jos 2:11

It is remarkable that Rahab, living in a pagan culture all her life, somehow had enough knowledge about the true Creator God to recognize Him as the God of Israel, apparently even exercising saving faith in Him (Heb 11:31) - a faith which gave her courage to stand alone against her countrymen."

Defender: Jos 2:18

It is noteworthy that the word translated "line" (here and in Jos 2:21), which has its first occurrence in the Bible at this point, is never translated "line" anywhere else in the Bible. Its usual meaning is hope. "Thou art my hope, O Lord God" (Psa 71:5). This thin scarlet line, the scarlet color perhaps speaking of the blood of sacrifice, was thus Rahab's only hope of deliverance for herself and her loved ones. All others in Jericho perished when the children of Israel took it several days later (Jos 6:25)."

TSK: Jos 2:5

of shutting : Jos 2:7; Neh 13:19; Isa 60:11; Eze 47:1, Eze 47:2, Eze 47:12; Rev 21:25

the men went out : Jer 50:20; Rom 3:7, Rom 3:8

TSK: Jos 2:6

to the roof : Jos 2:8; Exo 1:15-21; Deu 22:8; 2Sa 11:2; Mat 24:17

hid them : Exo 2:2; 2Sa 17:19; 1Ki 18:4, 1Ki 18:13; 2Ki 11:2; Jer 36:26; Col 3:3; Heb 11:23

TSK: Jos 2:7

the fords : Jdg 3:28, Jdg 12:5

they shut : Jos 2:5; Act 5:23

TSK: Jos 2:9

I know : Exo 18:11; 2Ki 5:15; Job 19:25; Ecc 8:12; Heb 11:1, Heb 11:2

that the Lord : Gen 13:14-17, Gen 15:18-21; Exo 3:6-8; Deu 32:8; Psa 115:16; Jer 27:5; Mat 20:15

your terror : Gen 35:5; Exo 15:15, Exo 15:16, Exo 23:27; Deu 2:25, Deu 11:25, Deu 28:10; Jdg 7:14; 1Sa 14:15; 2Ki 7:6

faint : Heb. melt, Jos 2:11; 1Sa 14:16; 2Sa 17:10; Psa 112:10; Isa 19:1; Nah 2:10

TSK: Jos 2:10

For we : Jos 4:24; Exo 14:21-31, Exo 15:14-16

what ye did : Num 21:21-35; Deu 2:30-37, Deu 3:1-8

TSK: Jos 2:11

our hearts : Jos 5:1, Jos 7:5, Jos 14:8; Deu 1:28, Deu 20:8; Isa 13:7; Nah 2:10

did there remain : Heb. rose up, Rev 6:16

for the Lord : Deu 4:39; 1Ki 8:60; Psa 83:18, Psa 102:15; Jer 16:19-21; Dan 4:34, Dan 4:35; Dan 6:25-27; Zec 8:20-23

TSK: Jos 2:12

swear : Jos 9:15, Jos 9:18-20; 1Sa 20:14, 1Sa 20:15, 1Sa 20:17, 1Sa 30:15; 2Ch 36:13; Jer 12:16

that ye will : 1Sa 20:14-17, 1Sa 24:21, 1Sa 24:22; Est 8:6; 2Ti 1:16-18; Jam 2:13

my father’ s : Jos 2:13; Gen 24:3, Gen 24:9; Rom 1:31; 1Ti 5:8

give me : Jos 2:18; Exo 12:13; Eze 9:4-6; Mar 14:44

TSK: Jos 2:13

my father : It is observable that in this enumeration of her kindred, there is no mention made of a husband. It is most likely that she was a single woman or widow, who obtained an honest livelihood by keeping a house for the entertainment of strangers; and not a woman of ill fame, as some have supposed. The spies sent on this occasion were certainly some of the most confidential persons that Joshua had in his host, and their errand was of the greatest importance; is it then not most likely that they lodged at an inn? Jos 2:13

TSK: Jos 2:14

for yours : Heb. instead of you to die, 1Ki 20:39

when the Lord : Jos 6:17, Jos 6:25; Gen 24:49; Num 10:29-32; Jdg 1:24, Jdg 1:25; 1Sa 20:8; 2Sa 9:1; Pro 18:24; Mat 5:7

TSK: Jos 2:15

she let them : 1Sa 19:12-17; Act 9:25; 2Co 11:33

for her house : Jos 6:20

TSK: Jos 2:16

Get you : Jos 2:22; 1Sa 23:14, 1Sa 23:29; Psa 11:1

TSK: Jos 2:17

Jos 2:20; Gen 24:3-8; Exo 20:7; Lev 19:11, Lev 19:12; Num 30:2; 2Sa 21:1, 2Sa 21:2, 2Sa 21:7

TSK: Jos 2:18

scarlet thread : Jos 2:21; Lev 14:4; Num 4:8, Num 19:6; Heb 9:19

bring : Heb. gather

thy father : Jos 2:13, Jos 6:23; Gen 7:1, Gen 12:2, Gen 19:12-17; Est 8:6; Luk 19:9; Act 10:27, Act 10:33; Act 11:14; 2Ti 1:16

TSK: Jos 2:19

whosoever : Exo 12:13, Exo 12:23; Num 35:26-28; 1Ki 2:36-42; Mat 24:17; Act 27:31; Phi 3:9; Heb 10:29; 1Jo 2:27, 1Jo 2:28

his blood : Lev 20:9, Lev 20:11; 2Sa 1:16, 2Sa 3:28, 2Sa 3:29; Eze 33:4, Eze 33:5; Mat 27:24, Mat 27:25; Act 18:6; Act 20:26

his blood : Jos 2:14; 2Sa 4:11; 1Ki 2:32; Mat 27:25

TSK: Jos 2:20

And if thou : Pro 11:13

we will be quit : Jos 2:17

TSK: Jos 2:21

And she bound : Jos 2:18; Mat 7:24; Joh 2:5

TSK: Jos 2:22

found them not : 1Sa 19:10-12; 2Sa 17:20; Psa 32:6, Psa 32:7

TSK: Jos 2:24

Truly the Lord : Jos 1:8, Jos 21:44, Jos 21:45; Exo 23:31; Num 13:32, Num 13:33; Pro 25:13

all the inhabitants : Jos 2:9-11; Psa 48:5, Psa 48:6; Rev 6:16, Rev 6:17

faint : Heb. melt, Jos 2:9, Jos 2:11, Jos 5:1; Exo 15:15

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Jos 2:6

Stalks of flax - literally, "the carded fibres of the tree."The flax in Palestine grew to more than three feet in height, with a stalk as thick as a cane. It was probably with the flax stalks, recently cut (compare Exo 9:31, note) and laid out on the house roof to dry, that Rahab hid the spies.

Barnes: Jos 2:7

The sense is, that "they pursued along the way which leads to Jordan and across the fords;"probably those described in Jdg 3:28.

Barnes: Jos 2:11

The Lord your God, he is God - From the rumour of God’ s miraculous interpositions Rahab believed, and makes the self-same confession to which Moses endeavors to bring Israel by rehearsing similar arguments Deu 4:39. Rahab had only heard of what Israel had experienced. Her faith then was ready. It is noteworthy, too, that the same reports which work faith and conversion in the harlot, cause only terror and astonishment among her countrymen. (Compare Luk 8:37-39.)

Barnes: Jos 2:12

A true token - literally, "a sign"or "pledge of truth; "something to bind them to keep their promise faithfully. The "token"was the oath which the spies take Jos 2:14.

Barnes: Jos 2:14

Our life for yours - See the margin. This is (see Jos 2:17) a form of oath, in which God is in effect invoked to punish them with death if they did not perform their promise to save Rahab’ s life. Compare the more common form of oath, 1Sa 1:26, etc.

Barnes: Jos 2:15

Upon the town wall - The town wall probably formed the back wall of the house, and the window opened therefore into the country. (Compare Paul’ s escape, 2Co 11:33).

Barnes: Jos 2:18

The "line"or cord was spun of threads dyed with cochineal: i. e., of a deep and bright scarlet color. The color would catch the eye at once, and supplied an obvious token by which the house of Rahab might be distinguished. The use of scarlet in the Levitical rites, especially in those more closely connected with the idea of putting away of sin and its consequences (compare e. g., Lev 14:4, Lev 14:6,Lev 14:51; Num 19:6), naturally led the fathers, from Clement of Rome onward, to see in this scarlet thread, no less than in the blood of the Passover (Exo 12:7, Exo 12:13, etc.), an emblem of salvation by the Blood of Christ; a salvation common alike to Christ’ s messengers and to those whom they visit.

Barnes: Jos 2:22

Unto the mountain - Probably the mountains to the west and north of Jericho, called afterward, from the belief that the 40 days of our Lord’ s temptation were passed among them, the Quarantania. The spies avoided at the first the neighhourhood of the Jordan, where the pursuers sought them: and amidst the grottoes of the limestone rocks, which in later ages were the abode of numerous hermits, they could readily shelter themselves for three days.

Poole: Jos 2:5

The time of shutting of the gate either of her house, or rather of the city, which was shut at a certain time.

Poole: Jos 2:6

Up to the roof which was plain, after the manner. See Deu 22:8 Mat 10:27 Mar 2:4 Act 10:9 . Laid in order upon the roof, that they may be dried by the heat of the sun.

Poole: Jos 2:7

Fords, or passages i.e. the usual places where people used to pass over Jordan, whether by boats or bridges; or rather, because of the shallowness of the river, which a little after this swelled higher, as the history will tell us, and as it is very usual for rivers to do.

They shut the gate of the city partly for their security against their approaching enemies; and partly to prevent the escape of the spies, if peradventure Rahab was mistaken, and they yet lurked in the city.

Poole: Jos 2:8

Before they were laid down to rest or sleep, as they intended, being now, after the departure of their searchers, come from their hiding place to their resting-place.

Poole: Jos 2:9

Quest How could they understand one the other?

Answ .

1. The Hebrew and the Canaan or Phoenician languages have a very great resemblance, and are thought to be but differing dialects of one and the same tongue, as the learned prove by a multitude of words, which are common to both of them. Or,

2. Some of the Hebrews had either out of curiosity, or by Joshua’ s order and direction, learnt that language for this or other such like occasions.

Your terror i.e. the dread of you. See Exo 23:27 34:24 Deu 11:25 Deu 28:7 .

Poole: Jos 2:11

Did melt i.e. were dissolved, lost all consistency and courage. This phrase is oft used, as Deu 1:28 20:8 Jos 5:1 7:5 .

He is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath he can do whatsoever he pleaseth in heaven and earth; whereas our gods are enclosed in heaven, and can do nothing to us upon earth.

Poole: Jos 2:12

By the Lord by your God, who is the only true God: so she shows her conversion to God, and owns his worship, one eminent act whereof is swearing by his name.

My father’ s house my near kindred, which she particularly names, Jos 2:13 . Husband and children it seems she had none. And for herself; it was needless to speak, it being a plain and undeniable duty to save their preserver.

A true token either an assurance that you will preserve me and mine from the common ruin; or a token which I may produce as a witness of this-agreement, and a mean of my security.

Poole: Jos 2:14

Our life for yours we pawn and will venture our lives for the security of yours. Or, may we perish, if’ you be not preserved.

This our business i.e. this agreement of ours, and the way and condition of it, test others under this pretence secure themselves. By which they show both their piety and prudence in managing their oath with so much circumspection and caution, that neither their own consciences might be insnared, nor the public justice obstructed.

Poole: Jos 2:15

Which gave her the opportunity of dismissing them when the gates were shut.

She dwelt upon the wall her particular dwelling was there; which may possibly be added, because the other part of her house was reserved for the entertainment of strangers.

Poole: Jos 2:16

To the mountain i.e. to some of the mountains wherewith Jericho was encompassed, in which also there were many caves where they might lurk.

Three days not three whole days, but one whole day, and parts of two days: See Poole "Jos 1:11" .

Poole: Jos 2:17

The men said or, had said ; namely, before she let them down; it being very improbable, either that she would dismiss them before the condition was expressed and agreed; or that she would discourse with them, or they with her, about such secret and weighty things after they were let down, when others might overhear them; or that she should begin her discourse in her chamber, and not finish it till they were gone out of her house.

Object. They spoke this after they were let down; for it follows, Jos 2:18 , this-thread which thou didst let us down by .

Answ Those words may be thus rendered, which thou dost let us down by , i.e. art about to do it; it being frequent for the pretertense to be used of a thing about to be done, by an enallage of tenses, as Jos 10:15 .

Blameless of this thine oath i.e. free from guilt or reproach if it be violated, namely, if the following condition be not observed.

Poole: Jos 2:18

Into the land i.e. over Jordan, and near the city.

Bind this line of scarlet thread in the window that it may be easily discerned by our soldiers.

Poole: Jos 2:19

His blood shall be upon his head the blame of his death shall rest wholly upon himself, as being occasioned by his own neglect or contempt of the means of safety.

His blood shall be on our head we are willing to bear the sin, and shame, and punishment of it.

If any hand be upon him to wit, so as to kill him, as this phrase is used, Est 6:2 Job 1:12 .

Poole: Jos 2:21

Forthwith, partly, that the spies might see it hung out before their departure, and so the better know it at some distance; partly, lest some accident might occasion a mistake or neglect about it; and partly, for her own comfort, it being pleasant and encouraging to her to have in her eye the pledge of her deliverance.

Poole: Jos 2:22

Abode there three days supporting themselves there with the provisions, which after the manner of those times and places they carried with them, which Rahab furnished them with.

Throughout all the way i.e. in the road to Jordan, and the places near it, but not in the mountains.

Poole: Jos 2:23

And passed over to wit, Jordan unto Joshua. Him alone , not the people, as they did Nu 13 .

Haydock: Jos 2:5

At the time, not precisely, as otherwise the men who shut the gates must have seen them, but about that time, (Calmet) Rahab pretends that the spies had left her house, and had directed their course towards the gate, so that she made no doubt but they might easily overtake them. (Haydock) ---

Notwithstanding this officious lie, which is a venial sin, St. Paul and St. James testify that she was justified by her faith in God, and by good works towards these men. See St. Augustine, contra Mend. 17. and note on James ii. 25. (Worthington) ---

Rahab might suppose that an officious lie was not a sin, (Menochius) as many great and learned men seemed to have maintained this doctrine. See Grotius, Jur. iii. 1. 9.; Origen, contra Cels. iv. p. 171.; St. Chrysostom, hom. 53, Genesis. She was so far from intending to do an injury to any one, that she consulted the welfare both of her guests and of her countrymen, who, if they had detected the spies and committed murder, would have thus brought greater destruction upon themselves, as they could not escape the wrath of God. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jos 2:6

There. The roofs were flat in that country, and consequently very proper to dry flax, or "cotton," as Masius understands.

Haydock: Jos 2:7

Jordan, where they had probably come over, though perhaps in a boat, (Menochius) and where the messengers concluded they would have the best chance of finding them, as the Israelites were on the opposite side of the river. (Haydock) ---

As soon as they were gone out of the city, the guards shut the gate, that if the spies should still be lurking within, they might be hindered from making their escape. (Menochius)

Haydock: Jos 2:8

Asleep. It seems as if the spies had been ignorant of the danger to which they had been just exposed, and had gone to the roof of the house with a design to pass the night in greater security. Rahab perceives, however, that it would be extremely rash for them to continue with her any longer, and therefore she gives them the best advice, to secure their safety by fleeing in the dead of the night, and without further delay. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jos 2:9

Strength. Hebrew "they faint or melt away," deprived both of strength and counsel.

Haydock: Jos 2:11

Beneath. This is the confession of a true convert, (Calmet) inspired by God. (Haydock) ---

For St. Paul commends her faith. (Hebrews xi. 31.) (Menochius) ---

The pagans confined the power of their idols to certain districts; the power of the true God is infinite. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jos 2:12

True token, such a one as, when I shew it to the Israelites, they may preserve me and mine. She is not content with a verbal promise, she requires something permanent and sensible, as a mark of their mutual engagements, (Calmet) a token of their sincerity. They afterwards appointed a piece of scarlet to be hung out of the house, where those were to be collected who should be entitled to protection. Rahab was bound not to divulge their secret, nor to betray them. If she had instructed others of her fellow-citizens to hand out the same mark, she would have forfeited all her privileges, ver. 20. (Haydock)

Haydock: Jos 2:14

Death. We are willing to die instead of you, if we do not fulfil our promises. ---

Truth, a real and effectual mercy.

Haydock: Jos 2:16

Days; the remainder of this night, and the day and night following. It is probable that they would travel only in the night time. (Calmet) ---

If they had gone by the high road, they might easily have been discovered by the messengers, who would be on their return. (Haydock) ---

But retiring to the mountains south of Jericho, till they had re-entered the city, the spies made their escape. (Calmet)

Haydock: Jos 2:24

Fear, as Rahab had testified. They might also have been witnesses of the people's consternation, which gave them the most assured hopes of victory, as the Lord had given this sign, among others, that he would be with them, Deuteronomy xxviii. 10. (Haydock)

Gill: Jos 2:5

And it came to pass, about the time of the shutting of the gate,.... Of the city, which was done every night, and at a certain time:

when it was dark; the sun set, and night come on:

that the men went out; out of her house, and out of the city too, as she said, though it was a downright lie, as well as what follows:

whither the men went I wot not; though she knew they were not gone, but were now in her house; she might not scruple telling a lie, being brought up a Heathen, and being done with a design to save the lives of persons that belonged to a people she was persuaded were the people of God, and to whom he had given the land; though her lies are not to be justified; evil is not to be done that good may come; nor are men to tell lies one to another upon any account; but these sins, with others, the Lord forgave her:

pursue after them quickly, and ye shall overtake them; this she encouraged them to do, to get rid of them the sooner, and to remove all suspicion of her having any respect for them, and of being concerned in concealing them.

Gill: Jos 2:6

But she had brought them up to the roof of the house,.... Before the messengers came; though Abarbinel thinks it was after they were gone, when she took them from the place of their concealment, and had them to the roof of the house, where she thought they would be safe and secure, should the messengers return, or others come in search of them, who would not, as she imagined, look for them there:

and hid them with the stalks of flax; that is, under them, or "in flax of wood", or "a tree" ^b; which may with as much propriety, or more, be called a tree than hyssop, 1Ki 4:33; as it is in the Misnah ^c. Moreover, there was a sort of flax which grew in the upper part of Egypt towards Arabia, as Pliny says ^d, which they called "xylon", or wood, of which were made "lina xylina": though the words may be rightly transposed, as by as, "stalks of flax", which are large and strong before the flax is stripped or beaten off of them; the Targum renders it bundles of flax, or handfuls and sheaves of them, as they were when cut down and gathered:

which she had laid in order upon the roof; to be dried, as Kimchi observes; and Pliny ^e speaks of flax being bound up in bundles, and hung up and dried in the sun; which was done that it might be more easily stripped and beaten off; and the roofs of houses in those countries being flat, were very fit for such a purpose; See Gill on Deu 22:8; and these being now laid there were very suitable and convenient to conceal the men under them. This seems to be in favour of Rahab, as being a virtuous and industrious woman; see Pro 31:13.

Gill: Jos 2:7

And the men pursued after them,.... As they thought:

the way to Jordan; on the other side of which the people of Israel lay encamped, to which they supposed, according to Rahab's account, these two men directed their course:

unto the fords; the fords of Jordan, the passages through it; for in some places, and at some times, it was fordable; which accounts for the way in which these spies could get over Jordan, see Gen 32:10; it was most reasonable to conclude they would return the same way; and so far the king's messengers went, but further they did not choose to go, because it would be to no purpose, and they might expose themselves to the camp of Israel, which lay on the other side:

and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate; that is, either as soon as the king's messengers were gone out of Rahab's house, either the spies, or rather the men of the house, Rahab's servants, shut the door of it to prevent their return, or others coming in; or rather, when they were got out of the city, the watchmen of the city, the porters of the city gates, shut them, that if they were not got out of the city, to prevent their escape, or however to keep out others from entering, that might be on some such design, or worse.

Gill: Jos 2:8

And before they were laid down,.... Under the stalks of the flax; or rather, since they are said to be hid in them, before they were fallen asleep, so Kimchi and Abarbinel:

she came up unto them upon the roof; to acquaint them how things were, and to converse with them on the following subjects.

Gill: Jos 2:9

And she said unto the men,.... The two spies:

I know that the Lord hath given you the land; the land of Canaan, of which she was an inhabitant, and in which they now were; this she knew either by some tradition that was among them; or by divine revelation, a supernatural impulse upon her mind: or by observing what the Lord had done already, in putting the land of the Amorites into their hands, which were one of the seven nations of Canaan; and by this it also appears, and more clearly by what follows, that she had knowledge of the Lord God, the God of Israel:

and that your terror is fallen upon us; which was another token or sign by which she knew the land would be delivered to them; that they who were a formidable people, and struck terror into others, now were terrified themselves, at the rumour of Israel being come to invade them; this was what the Lord said should be the case, Deu 11:25,

and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you; or "melt" ^f, like wax before the fire, as Moses had predicted, Exo 15:15.

Gill: Jos 2:10

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt,.... To make a passage for them through it, to walk in as on dry land; this they had heard of and remembered, though it was forty years ago:

and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan: which were things more recent, done but a few months ago:

Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed; the history of which see in Num 21:21; who were destroyed by them under Moses and Joshua their commanders; and Hercules, who is thought to be the same with Joshua, is by Lucian ^g called Ogmius, from slaying Og, as is supposed ^h.

Gill: Jos 2:11

And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt,.... Particularly what were done to the two kings of the Amorites, who, and their people, were utterly destroyed, their goods made a prey of, and their countries seized upon and possessed:

neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you; they looked dejected in their countenances, had no heart to go about any business, trembled at the shaking of a leaf, or at the least rumour and report made that the Israelites were coming on and were at hand; they had no spirit to prepare to go out and meet them, or to defend themselves:

for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath; the Maker and Possessor of both; is the Governor of the whole universe, and does what he pleases in it; and disposes of all countries, persons, and things, as he thinks fit: this is a proof of her knowledge of the true God, and faith in him, and shows her to be a believer, and hence she is reckoned in the catalogue of believers, Heb 11:31; and her faith is proved to be of the right kind by the works she did, Jam 2:25.

Gill: Jos 2:12

Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord,.... Which being a religious action, and done by men that feared the Lord, she knew it would be binding upon them: the Targum is,"swear to me by the Word of the Lord:"

since I have showed you kindness; by receiving them with peace into her house, and hiding them when inquired for and demanded of her; in doing which she risked her own, life, had this treachery to her country, as it would have been deemed, been discovered;

that you will also show kindness unto my father's house; she mentions not herself and household, for if this was granted that would be implied and included; and this she presses for by the law of retaliation and friendship, for since she had shown kindness to them, it was but reasonable it should be returned:

and give me a true token; that she and her father's house would be saved by them when the city should be taken and the inhabitants destroyed; a token that would not deceive her, on which she might depend, and would be firm and sure.

Gill: Jos 2:13

And that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters,.... She makes no mention of any husband or children she had, as harlots seldom have, and which seems to confirm her character as such; and so Abarbinel observes, that her father's house is only mentioned to tell us that she had no husband, for she was an harlot and had no children, and puts her father and mother in the room of an husband, and her brethren and sisters in the room of children:

and all that they have; not their substance only, but their children more especially, the children of her brethren and sisters:

and deliver our lives from death; here she manifestly includes herself, and requests the saving of her life, and the lives of all her relations, when she knew the inhabitants of the city would be all put to death upon the taking of it: thus she provided for the safety of her family, as Noah in another case and manner did, Heb 11:7; and indeed seemed more concerned for them than for herself; and thus souls sensible of their own estate and condition, by nature and grace, are very solicitous for the salvation of their relations and friends, Rom 9:3.

Gill: Jos 2:14

And the men answered her,.... The two spies:

our life for yours; or "our souls in your stead to die" ⁱ; that is, we engage for the security of your lives, should they be in danger; we promise to die in your room and stead rather than you should: this they said not as though their lives would be required of them for them, but to assure her of the safety of her and her father's house, on the following condition:

if ye utter not this our business; not their business in searching the land, for the discovery of that would be of little avail after they were gone; for it was known already that there were persons come to search the land; but "this our word" ^k, what they were going to say to her and bid her do, as a sign of safety to her and hers; which, if she discovered, others would give out the same sign, and then they could not promise her safety; or if she did not take care to bring in her father, mother, brethren, and sisters, and theirs into her house, they could not engage to protect them:

and it shall be, when the Lord hath given us the land; not the whole land, but Jericho and the laud about it, that when that part of it should be delivered into their hands:

that we will deal kindly and truly with thee; "kindly", by sparing her and her father's house; "truly", by faithfully performing the promise and oath they made to her.

Gill: Jos 2:15

Then she let them down by a cord through the window,.... Which must be large, and the cord strong, as well as she herself a masculine woman, to let down two men by it, unless she employed any of her servants in the affair; though this being so great a secrecy, it is probable she trusted none of her domestics with it as little as possible: in like manner the Apostle Paul was let down by the wall of Damascus in a basket, Act 9:25; Jarchi supposes it was the same cord and window, by means of and in at which her gallants used to come and go:

for her house was upon the town wall; in a suitable and convenient place to receive her guests and gallants: and it is observed, that harlots have had their houses on or under walls: Martial speaks of harlots whom he calls ^l Summoenianae, whores that plied under the walls and in the suburbs of cities:

and she dwelt upon the wall; that part of the house in which she particularly dwelt was built on or over the wall, and the rest towards the city was for the entertainment of persons that resorted to her house.

Gill: Jos 2:16

And she said unto them, get ye unto the mountain,.... Which was near to the city, and is supposed to be the same which is now called Quarantania: Dr. Shaw, a late traveller in those parts, says ^m, from the mountain Quarantania, the very same perhaps where the two spies concealed themselves, Jos 2:16, we have a distinct view of the land of the Amorites, of Gilead, and of Bashan, the inheritance of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasseh--to it joins the mountain of Adummim, and through it the road is cut that leads from Jerusalem to Jericho, where probably it was from the very nature of the situation that the man fell among thieves, Luk 10:30; which very probably is the same mountain which Josephus ⁿ says hung over the city, and was a very barren one; though the singular may be put for the plural, since, as Strabo says ^o, it was surrounded with mountains:

lest the pursuers meet you; on their return from the fords of Jordan, being disappointed:

and hide yourselves there three days: some of the Jewish Rabbins, as Jarchi and Kimchi, observe that she had this by the revelation of the Holy Ghost, that the pursuers would return at the end of three days; but the latter more truly remarks, that this was said by conjecture; that Jericho being, as he says, one day from Jordan, and a little more, by going, returning, and searching for the spies, they would be three days in doing it:

until the pursuers be returned; into the city; for until they were they could not be in safety, but must be in danger of being met by them and taken up:

and afterward may ye go your way: to Jordan, and so to the camp of Israel, and that without fear.

Gill: Jos 2:17

And the men said unto her,.... Some think that this discourse, which passed between the spies and her, was while in the house before she let them down, or otherwise they would have been in danger of being overheard, and so the whole affair discovered; but as it was on the other side of the house, and under the wall of the city, and without it, they might with the greater safety converse together:

we will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear; that is, they would most faithfully and punctually keep it, it should be sacred to them, and she should have no occasion to lay any blame upon them in the least.

Gill: Jos 2:18

Behold, when we come into the land,.... The land of Canaan, and into this city, into that part of it, as the Septuagint, where her house was, meaning not themselves only, but the people of Israel they belonged to:

thou shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by; the word by refers either to the scarlet thread they were let down by, said to be a cord, Jos 2:15; and therefore must be a line twisted with various scarlet threads, as Kimchi; who observes, that according to the Targum, it was the border of a red garment; or to the window through which they were let down, as the Septuagint version; it may refer to both, and the sense be, that the same twisted cord of scarlet thread they were let down by should be bound to the same window they were let down through; only this objection there is to the same window, that it was not towards the city, and so not to be seen when they came into it, but looked over the wall without the city: now as Rahab was an instance of the salvation of sinners by the grace of God, for she was a sinner by birth, by practice, and a notorious one; she was an instance of distinguishing grace, of free and efficacious grace, a singular instance of it; and became a true penitent, a real believer, was a justified person, and saved: so the scarlet thread was an emblem of the blood of Christ, by which salvation is; redemption and all the blessings of grace are through it; justification, remission of sin, reconciliation, and atonement, and safety, and protection from avenging justice, and wrath to come, are only by it: likewise the spies, who are also called "messengers", Jam 2:25; may represent the ministers of the Gospel, who are the messengers of Christ, and the churches, are sent out by him the antitypical Joshua, men of wisdom, courage, and valour, and are sent as spies to bring to light men and things, who direct to the way of salvation and give the same token of it, Mar 16:16,

and thou shall bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto thee; into her house, where the scarlet thread was bound, and where only they would be safe, as the Israelites were in the houses where the blood of the paschal lamb was sprinkled, Exo 12:23; and so they are safe, and they only, who are under the blood of sprinkling, and partake of the virtue of it.

Gill: Jos 2:19

And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the door of thy house into the street,.... After they have been taken in, and when the Israelites were come into the city:

his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless; if he is killed by any person, his death will be owing to himself, and no blame to be laid on us; nor shall we reckon ourselves guilty of the breach of the oath taken:

and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him: if anyone within doors is killed by an Israelite entering in, the guilt of the blood shall lie upon us, and we will be answerable, according to the tenor of the oath, "our life for yours", Jos 2:14.

Gill: Jos 2:20

And if thou utter this our business,.... So that others would either hang out scarlet threads or get into her house for shelter; see Gill on Jos 2:14,

then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear; be under no obligation to make it good, by saving her and her father's house.

Gill: Jos 2:21

And she said, according to your words, so be it,.... She agreed, that if the conditions required were not performed, they would be quit of their oath, but if they were, she expected it would be fulfilled:

and she sent them away, and they departed; took their leave of each other:

and she bound the scarlet line in the window; immediately, as Abarbinel thinks, and in the sight of the spies, that they might see that she conformed to their direction, and that they might take notice where she fastened it; and that she herself might, at the sight of it, be put in mind of the design of it, and be an encouragement to her faith as to the safety of her and her father's house; and it being a thing so trifling and insignificant in itself, would not be taken notice of by the inhabitants, or be thought to be done with any design; though, according to the instruction of the spies, it seems as if it was to be done when they came into the land, and into the city, and which seems most likely that it was then done.

Gill: Jos 2:22

And they went, and came unto the mountain,.... Rahab had directed them to, the mountain Quarantania; see Gill on Jos 2:16,

and abode there three days; being, no doubt, supplied with food by Rahab; and it might not be three wholly, but one whole day and part of the other two:

until the pursuers were returned; to the city of Jericho, as might reasonably be supposed:

and the pursuers sought them throughout all the way; from Jericho to the fords of Jordan, searching every hedge, field, and village as they went and returned:

but found them not; Rahab having hid them in her house, and then sent them to the mountain, there to remain till the return of the pursuers.

Gill: Jos 2:23

So the two men returned, and descended from the mountain,.... Or came down from it again, by which, it seems, they went to the top of it, and hid themselves in some cave there: this descent, Kimchi says, was,"on the third day of their being sent, which was the second day of the three days Joshua made mention of when he said, "within three days";''See Gill on Jos 1:11,

and passed over; that is, the river Jordan, at the fords of it:

and came to Joshua the son of Nun; at Shittim, where he still continued, and from whence he sent them, Jos 2:1,

and told him all things that befell them; what house they went into when come to Jericho, what reception they met with, the report of them to the king of Jericho, how messengers were sent by him to demand them, and by what means they were preserved and made their escape.

Gill: Jos 2:24

And they said unto Joshua,.... Made a report of what they had got knowledge of, which answered the end of their mission:

truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land: which they concluded by the terror the inhabitants of it were in, and so in no condition to make resistance and defend themselves; and they not only judged of the whole land by the case of the inhabitants of Jericho, but were assured by Rahab that all the inhabitants of the land were in the same plight and condition, Jos 2:9,

for even the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us; this was the temper and disposition they appeared in, and seems to be what Joshua was chiefly desirous of knowing; since nothing else is told by the spies nor inquired of by him, but immediately upon this report began his march towards Canaan, as in the next chapter is related.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Jos 2:5

¹ tn Heb “And the gate was to be shut in the darkness and the men went out.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:6

¹ tn Heb “arranged in rows by her.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:7

¹ tn Another way to translate vv. 6-7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them…, the king’s men tried to find them….” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.

² tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

³ tn Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.

⁴ tn Heb “And they shut the gate after – as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.

NET Notes: Jos 2:8

¹ tn Heb “they.”

² tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn The Hebrew text adds, “to them.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

NET Notes: Jos 2:9

¹ tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

² tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

³ tn Or “melting away because of.”

⁴ tn Both of these statements are actually subordinated to “I know” in the Hebrew text, which reads, “I know that the Lord…and that terror of you…and that all the inhabitants….”

NET Notes: Jos 2:10

¹ tn Heb “and what you did to the two Amorite kings who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, how you annihilated them.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:11

¹ tn Heb “And we heard and our heart[s] melted and there remained no longer breath in a man because of you.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:12

¹ tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

sn To swear an oath in the Lord’s name would make the Lord the witness and guarantor of the promise attached to the oath. If the person making the oath should go back on the promise, the Lord would judge him for breaking the contract.

² tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

³ tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:13

¹ tn Or “our lives.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:14

¹ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

² tn Heb “Our lives in return for you to die.” If the lives of Rahab’s family are not spared, then the spies will pay for the broken vow with their own lives.

³ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

⁴ tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.

⁵ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

NET Notes: Jos 2:15

¹ tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tc The phrase “by a rope” is omitted in the LXX. It may be a later clarifying addition. If original, the omission in the LXX is likely due to an error of homoioarcton. A scribe’s or translator’s eye could have jumped from the initial ב (bet) in the phrase בַּחֶבֶל (bakhevel, “with a rope”) to the initial ב on the immediately following בְּעַד (bÿ’ad, “through”) and accidentally omitted the intervening letters.

³ tn Heb “For her house.”

⁴ tc These explanatory statements are omitted in the LXX and probably represent a later scribal addition.

NET Notes: Jos 2:16

¹ tn Heb “Go.”

² tn Heb “so that the pursuers might not meet you.”

³ tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“you”) is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.

NET Notes: Jos 2:17

¹ tn Heb “We are free from this oath of yours which you made us swear.” The words “unless the following conditions are met” are not in the Hebrew text, but are added for clarification.

NET Notes: Jos 2:18

¹ tn Heb “Look! We are about to enter the land.”

² tn Heb “the cord of this red thread.”

³ tn Heb “and your father and your mother and your brothers and all the house of your father gather to yourself to the house.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:19

¹ tn Heb “Anyone who goes out from the doors of your house to the outside, his blood is on his head. We are innocent.”

² tn Heb “But anyone who is with you in the house, his blood is on our head if a hand should be on him.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:20

¹ tn Heb “and if you report this matter of ours.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:21

¹ tn Heb “According to your words, so it [will be].”

² tn Heb “she sent them away and they went.”

NET Notes: Jos 2:22

¹ tn Heb “they went and came.”

² tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“them”) is added for clarification.

³ tn Heb “the ones chasing them.” This has been rendered as “their pursuers” in the translation to avoid redundancy with the preceding clause.

⁴ tn Heb “The pursuers looked in all the way and did not find [them].”

NET Notes: Jos 2:23

¹ tn The words “the river,” though not in the Hebrew text, are added for clarification.

NET Notes: Jos 2:24

¹ tn Heb “Surely the Lord has given into our hand all the land.” The report by the spies uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

² tn Heb “are melting away because of us.”

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:6

But she had brought them up to the ^{( c )} roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order upon the roof.

^{( c )} Meaning, on the house: for then their houses were flat above, so that they might do their business on it.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:9

And she said unto the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your ^{( d )} terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.

^{( d )} For so God promised, (Deu 28:7; Jos 5:1).

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:11

And as soon as we had heard [these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for ^{( e )} the LORD your God, he [is] God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

^{( e )} In this the great mercy of God appears, that in this common destruction he would draw a most miserable sinner to repent, and confess his Name.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:14

And the men answered her, ^{( f )} Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee.

^{( f )} We warrant you on pain of our lives.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:16

And she said unto them, Get you to the ^{( g )} mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way.

^{( g )} which was near to the city.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:17

And the men said unto her, ^{( h )} We [will be] blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.

^{( h )} We will be released from our oath if you perform this condition that follows for so shall you and yours be delivered.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:19

And it shall be, [that] whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, ^{( i )} his blood [shall be] upon his head, and we [will be] guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood [shall be] on our head, if [any] hand be upon him.

^{( i )} He shall be guilty of his own death.

Geneva Bible: Jos 2:20

And if thou utter this our ^{( k )} business, then we will be quit of thine oath which thou hast made us to swear.

^{( k )} So that others should think to escape by the same means.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Jos 2:1-24

1 Rahab receives and conceals the two spies sent from Shittim.

8 The covenant between her and them.

23 Their return and relation.

MHCC: Jos 2:1-7

Faith in God's promises ought not to do away, but to encourage our diligence in the use of proper means. The providence of God directed the spies to the house of Rahab. God knew where there was one that would be true to them, though they did not. Rahab appears to have been an innkeeper; and if she had formerly been one of bad life, which is doubtful, she had left her evil courses. That which seems to us most accidental, is often overruled by the Divine providence to serve great ends. It was by faith that Rahab received those with peace, against whom her king and country had war. We are sure this was a good work; it is so spoken of by the apostle, Jam 2:25; and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man. Those only are true believers, who find in their hearts to venture for God; they take his people for their people, and cast in their lot among them. The spies were led by the special providence of God, and Rahab entertained them out of regard to Israel and Israel's God, and not for lucre or for any evil purpose. Though excuses may be offered for the guilt of Rahab's falsehood, it seems best to admit nothing which tends to explain it away. Her views of the Divine law must have been very dim: a falsehood like this, told by those who enjoy the light of revelation, whatever the motive, would deserve heavy censure.

MHCC: Jos 2:8-21

Rahab had heard of the miracles the Lord wrought for Israel. She believed that his promises would certainly be fulfilled, and his threatenings take effect; and that there was no way of escape but by submitting to him, and joining with his people. The conduct of Rahab proved that she had the real principle of Divine faith. Observe the promises the spies made to her. The goodness of God is often expressed by his kindness and truth, Psa 117:2; in both these we must be followers of him. Those who will be conscientious in keeping promises, are cautious in making them. The spies make needful conditions. The scarlet cord, like the blood upon the doorpost at the passover, recalls to remembrance the sinner's security under the atoning blood of Christ; and that we are to flee thereto for refuge from the wrath of a justly offended God. The same cord Rahab used for the saving of these Israelites, was to be used for her own safety. What we serve and honour God with, we may expect he will bless, and make useful to us.

MHCC: Jos 2:22-24

The report the spies brought was encouraging. All the people of the country faint because of Israel; they have neither wisdom to yield, nor courage to fight. Those terrors of conscience, and that sense of Divine wrath, which dismay the ungodly, but bring not to repentance, are fearful forebodings of approaching destruction. But grace yet abounds to the chief of sinners. Let them, without delay, flee to Christ, and all shall be well.

Matthew Henry: Jos 2:1-7

In these verses we have,

I. The prudence of Joshua, in sending spies to observe this important pass, which was likely to be disputed at the entrance of Israel into Canaan (v. 1). Go view the land, even Jericho. Moses had sent spies (Num. 13) Joshua himself was one of them and it proved of ill consequence. Yet Joshua now sent spies, not, as the former were sent, to survey the whole land, but Jericho only; not to bring the account to the whole congregation, but to Joshua only, who, like a watchful general, was continually projecting for the public good, and, was particularly careful to take the first step well and not to stumble at the threshold. It was not fit that Joshua should venture over Jordan, to make his remarks incognito - in disguise; but he sends two men (two young men, says the Septuagint), to view the land, that from their report he might take his measures in attacking Jericho. Observe, 1. There is no remedy, but great men must see with other people's eyes, which makes it very necessary that they be cautious in the choice of those they employ, since so much often depends upon their fidelity. 2. Faith in God's promise ought not to supersede but encourage our diligence in the use of proper means. Joshua is sure he has God with him, and yet sends men before him. We do not trust God, but tempt him, if our expectations slacken our endeavours. 3. See how ready these men were to go upon this hazardous enterprise. Though they put their lives in their hands yet they ventured in obedience to Joshua their general, in zeal for the service of the camp, and in dependence upon the power of that God who, being the keeper of Israel in general, is the protector of every particular Israelite in the way of his duty.

II. The providence of God directing the spies to the house of Rahab. How they got over Jordan we are not told; but into Jericho they came, which was about seven or eight miles from the river, and there seeking for a convenient inn were directed to the house of Rahab, here called a harlot, a woman that had formerly been of ill fame, the reproach of which stuck to her name, though of late she had repented and reformed. Simon the leper (Mat 26:6), though cleansed from his leprosy, wore the reproach of it in his name at long as he lived; so Rahab the harlot; and she is so called in the New Testament, where both her faith and her good works are praised, to teach us, 1. That the greatness of sin is no bar to pardoning mercy if it be truly repented of in time. We read of publicans and harlots entering into the kingdom of the Messiah, and being welcomed to all the privileged of that kingdom, Mat 21:31. 2. That there are many who before their conversion were very wicked and vile, and yet afterwards come to great eminence in faith and holiness. 3. Even those that through grace have repented of the sins of their youth must expect to bear the reproach of them, and when they hear of their old faults must renew their repentance, and, as an evidence of that, hear of them patiently. God's Israel, for aught that appears, had but one friend, but one well-wisher in all Jericho, and that was Rahab a harlot. God has often served his own purposes and his church's interests by men of different morals. Had these scouts gone to any other house than this they would certainly have been betrayed and put to death without mercy. But God knew where they had a friend that would be true to them, though they did not, and directed them thither. Thus that which seems to us most contingent and accidental is often over-ruled by the divine providence to serve its great ends. And those that faithfully acknowledge God in their ways he will guide with his eye. See Jer 36:19, Jer 36:26.

III. The piety of Rahab in receiving and protecting these Israelites. Those that keep public-houses entertain all comers, and think themselves obliged to be civil to their guests. But Rahab showed her guests more than common civility, and went upon an uncommon principle in what she did; it was by faith that she received those with peace against whom her king and country had denounced war, Heb 11:31. 1. She bade them welcome to her house; they lodged there, though it appears by what she said to them (Jos 2:9) she knew both whence they came and what their business was. 2. Perceiving that they were observed coming into the city, and that umbrage was taken at it, she hid them upon the roof of the house, which was flat, and covered them with stalks of flax (Jos 2:6), so that, if the officers should come thither to search for them, there they might lie undiscovered. By these stalks of flax, which she herself had lain in order upon the roof to dry in the sun, in order to the beating of it and making it ready for the wheel, it appears she had one of the good characters of the virtuous woman, however in others of them she might be deficient, that she sought wool and flax, and wrought willingly with her hands, Pro 31:13. From this instance of her honest industry one would hope that, whatever she had been formerly, she was not now a harlot. 3. When she was examined concerning them, she denied they were in her house, turned off the officers that had a warrant to search for them with a sham, and so secured them. No marvel that the king of Jericho sent to enquire after them (Jos 2:2, Jos 2:3); he had cause to fear when the enemy was at his door, and his fear made him suspicious and jealous of all strangers. He had reason to demand from Rahab that she should bring forth the men to be dealt with as spies; but Rahab not only disowned that she knew them, or knew where they were, but, that no further search might be made for them in the city, told the pursuers they had gone away again and in all probability might be overtaken, Jos 2:4, Jos 2:5. Now, (1.) We are sure this was a good work: it is canonized by the apostle (Jam 2:25), where she is said to be justified by works, and this is specified, that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way, and she did it by faith, such a faith as set her above the fear of man, even of the wrath of the king. She believed, upon the report she had heard of the wonders wrought for Israel, that their God was the only true God, and that therefore their declared design upon Canaan would undoubtedly take effect and in this faith she sided with them, protected them, and courted their favour. Had she said, "I believe God is yours and Canaan yours, but I dare not show you any kindness,"her faith had been dead and inactive, and would not have justified her. But by this it appeared to be both alive and lively, that she exposed herself to the utmost peril, even of life, in obedience to her faith. Note, Those only are true believers that can find in their hearts to venture for God; and those that by faith take the Lord for their God take his people for their people, and cast in their lot among them. Those that have God for their refuge and hiding-place must testify their gratitude by their readiness to shelter his people when there is occasion. Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Isa 16:3, Isa 16:4. And we must be glad of an opportunity of testifying the sincerity and zeal of our love to God by hazardous services to his church and kingdom among men. But, (2.) There is that in it which it is not easy to justify, and yet it must be justified, or else it could not be so good a work as to justify her. [1.] It is plain that she betrayed her country by harbouring the enemies of it, and aiding those that were designing its destruction, which could not consist with her allegiance to her prince and her affection and duty to the community she was a member of. But that which justifies her in this is that she knew the Lord had given Israel this land (Jos 2:9), knew it by the incontestable miracles God had wrought for them, which confirmed that grant; and her obligations to God were higher than her obligations to any other. If she knew God had given them this land, it would have been a sin to join with those that hindered them from possessing it. But, since no such grant of any land to any people can now be proved, this will by no means justify any such treacherous practices against the public welfare. [2.] It is plain that she deceived the officers that examined her with an untruth - That she knew not whence the men were, that they had gone out, that she knew not whither they had gone. What shall we say to this? If she had either told the truth or been silent, she would have betrayed the spies, and this would certainly have been a great sin; and it does not appear that she had any other way of concealing them that by this ironical direction to the officers to pursue them another way, which if they would suffer themselves to be deceived by, let them be deceived. None are bound to accuse themselves, or their friends, of that which, though enquired after as a crime, they know to be a virtue. This case was altogether extraordinary, and therefore cannot be drawn into a precedent; and that my be justified here which would be by no means lawful in a common case. Rahab knew, by what was already done on the other side Jordan, that no mercy was to be shown to the Canaanites, and thence inferred that, if mercy was not owing them, truth was not; those that might be destroyed might be deceived. Yet divines generally conceive that it was a sin, which however admitted of this extenuation, that being a Canaanite she was not better taught the evil of lying; but God accepted her faith and pardoned her infirmity. However it was in this case, we are sure it is our duty to speak every man the truth to his neighbour, to dread and detest lying, and never to do evil, that evil, that good may come of it, Rom 3:8. But God accepts what is sincerely and honestly intended, though there be a mixture of frailty and folly in it, and is not extreme to mark what we do amiss. Some suggest that what she said might possibly be true of some other men.

Matthew Henry: Jos 2:8-21

The matter is here settled between Rahab and the spies respecting the service she was now to do for them, and the favour they were afterwards to show to her. She secures them on condition that they should secure her.

I. She gives them, and by them sends to Joshua and Israel, all the encouragement that could be desired to make their intended descent upon Canaan. this was what they came for, and it was worth coming for. Having got clear of the officers, she comes up to them to the roof of the house where they lay hid, finds them perhaps somewhat dismayed at the peril they apprehended themselves in from the officers, and scarcely recovered from the fright, but has that to say to them which will give them abundant satisfaction. 1. She lets them know that the report of the great things God had done for them had come to Jericho (v. 10), not only that they had an account of their late victories obtained over the Amorites in the neighbouring country, on the other side of the river, but that their miraculous deliverance out of Egypt, and passage through the Red Sea, a great way off, and forty years ago, were remembered and talked of afresh in Jericho, to the amazement of every body. Thus this Joshua and his fellows were men wondered at, Zec 3:8. See how God makes his wonderful works to be remembered (Psa 111:4), so that men shall speak of the might of his terrible acts, Psa 145:6. 2. She tells them what impressions the tidings of these things had made upon the Canaanites: Your terror has fallen upon us (Jos 2:9); our hearts did melt, Jos 2:11. If she kept a public house, this would give her an opportunity of understanding the sense of various companies and of travellers from other parts of the country, so that they could not know this any way better than by her information; and it would be of great use to Joshua and Israel to know it; it would put courage into the most cowardly Israelite to hear how their enemies were dispirited, and it was easy to conclude that those who now fainted before them would infallibly fall before them, especially because it was the accomplishment of a promise God had made them, that he would lay the fear and dread of them upon all this land (Deu 11:25), and so it would be an earnest of the accomplishment of all the other promises God had made to them. Let not the stout man glory in his courage, any more than the strong man in his strength; for God can weaken both mind and body. Let not God's Israel be afraid of their most powerful enemies; for their God can, when he pleases, make their most powerful enemies afraid of them. Let none think to harden their hearts against God and prosper; for he that made man's soul can at any time make the sword of his terrors approach to it. 3. She hereupon makes profession of her faith in God and his promise; and perhaps there was not found so great faith (all things considered), no, not in Israel, as in this woman of Canaan. (1.) who believes God's power and dominion over all the world (v. 11): "Jehovah your God, whom you worship and call upon, is so far above all gods that he is the only true God; for he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath, and is served by all the hosts of both."A vast distance there is between heaven and earth, yet both are equally under the inspection and government of the great Jehovah. Heaven is not above his power, nor is earth below his cognizance. (2.) She believes his promise to his people Israel (v. 9): I know that the Lord hath given you the land. The king of Jericho had heard as much as she had of the great things God had done for Israel, yet he cannot infer thence that the Lord had given them this land, but resolves to hold it out against them to the last extremity; for the most powerful means of conviction will not of themselves attain the end without divine grace, and by that grace Rahab the harlot, who had only heard of the wonders God had wrought, speaks with more assurance of the truth of the promise made to the fathers than all the elders of Israel had done who were eye-witnesses of those wonders, many of whom perished through unbelief of this promise. Blessed are those that have not seen, and yet have believed; so Rahab did. O woman, great is thy faith!

II. She engaged them to take her and her relations under their protection, that they might not perish in the destruction of Jericho, v. 12, 13. Now, 1. It was an evidence of the sincerity and strength of her faith concerning the approaching revolution in her country that she was so solicitous to make an interest for herself with the Israelites, and courted their kindness. She foresaw the conquest of her country, and in the belief of that bespoke in time the favour of the conquerors. Thus Noah, being moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, and the condemning of the world, Heb 11:7. Those who truly believe the divine revelation concerning the ruin of sinners, and the grant of the heavenly land to God's Israel, will give diligence to flee from the wrath to come, and to lay hold of eternal life, by joining themselves to God and to his people. 2. The provision she made for the safety of her relations, as well as for her own, is a laudable instance of natural affection, and an intimation to us in like manner to do all we can for the salvation of the souls of those that are dear to us, and, with ourselves, to bring them, if possible, into the bond of the covenant. No mention is made of her husband and children, but only her parents, and brothers, and sisters, for whom, though she was herself a housekeeper, she retained a due concern. 3. Her request that they would swear unto her by Jehovah is an instance of her acquaintance with the only true God, and her faith in him and devotion towards him, one act of which is religiously to swear by his name. 4. Her petition is very just and reasonable, that, since she had protected them, they should protect her, and since her kindness to them extended to their people, for whom they were now negotiating, their kindness to her should take in all hers. It was the least they could do for one that had saved their lives with the hazard of her own. Note, Those that show mercy may expect to find mercy. Observe, She does not demand any preferment by way of reward for her kindness to them, though they lay so much at her mercy that she might have made her own terms, but only indents for her Life, which in a general destruction would be a singular favour. Thus God promised Ebed-Melech, in recompence for his kindness to Jeremiah, that in the worst of times he should have his life for a prey, Jer 39:18. Yet this Rahab was afterwards advanced to be a princess in Israel, the wife of Salmon, and one of the ancestors of Christ, Mat 1:5. Those that faithfully serve Christ and suffer for him he will not only protect, but prefer, and will do for them more than they are able to ask or think.

III. They solemnly engaged for her preservation in the common destruction (Jos 2:14): " Our life for yours. We will take as much care of your lives as of our own, and would as soon hurt ourselves as any of you."Nay, they imprecate God's judgments on themselves if they should violate their promise to her. She had pawned her life for theirs, and now they in requital pawn their lives for hers, and (as public persons) with them they pawn the public faith and the credit of their nation, for they plainly interest all Israel in the engagement in those words, When the Lord has given us the land, meaning not themselves only, but the people whose agents they were. No doubt they knew themselves sufficiently authorized to treat with Rahab concerning this matter, and were confident that Joshua would ratify what they did, else they had not dealt honestly; the general law that they should make no covenant with the Canaanites (Deu 7:2) did not forbid them to take under their protection a particular person, that had heartily come into their interests and had done them real kindnesses. The law of gratitude is one of the laws of nature. Now observe here, 1. The promises they made her. In general, " We will deal kindly and truly with thee, v. 14. We will not only be kind in promising now, but true in performing what we promise; and not only true in performing just what we promise, but kind in out-doing thy demands and expectations."The goodness of God is often expressed by his kindness and truth (Psa 117:2), and in both these we must be followers of him. In particular, " If a hand be upon any in the house with thee, his blood shall be on our head, "v. 19. If hurt come through our carelessness to those whom we are obliged to protect, we thereby contract guilt, and blood will be found a heavy load. 2. The provisos and limitations of their promises. Though they were in haste, and it may be in some confusion, yet we find them very cautious in settling this agreement and the terms of it, not to bind themselves to more than was fit for them to perform. Note, Covenants must be made with care, and we must swear in judgment, lest we find ourselves perplexed and entangled when it is too late after vows to make enquiry. Those that will be conscientious in keeping their promises will be cautious in making them, and perhaps may insert conditions which others may think frivolous. Their promise is here accompanied with three provisos, and they were necessary ones. They will protect Rahab, and all her relations always, provided, (1.) That she tie the scarlet cord with which she was now about to let them down in the window of her house, v. 18. This was to be a mark upon the house, which the spies would take care to give notice of to the camp of Israel, that no soldier, how hot and eager soever he was in military executions, might offer any violence to the house that was thus distinguished. This was like the blood sprinkled upon the door-post, which secured the first-born from the destroying angel, and, being of the same colour, some allude to this also to represent the safety of believers under the protection of the blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience. The same cord that she made use of for the preservation of these Israelites was to be made use of for her preservation. What we serve and honour God with we may expect he will bless and make comfortable to us. (2.) That she should have all those whose safety she had desired in the house with her and keep them there, and that, at the time of taking the town, none of them should dare to stir out of doors, v. 18, 19. This was a necessary proviso, for Rahab's kindred could not be distinguished any other way than by being in her distinguished house; should they mingle with their neighbours, there was no remedy, but the sword would devour one as well as another. It was a reasonable proviso that, since they were saved purely for Rahab's sake, her house should have the honour of being their castle, and that, if they would not perish with those that believed not, they should thus far believe the certainty and severity of the ruin coming upon their city as to retire into a place made safe by promise, as Noah into the ark and Lot into Zoar, and should save themselves from this untoward generation, by separating from them. It was likewise a significant proviso, intimating to us that those who are added to the church that they may be saved must keep close to the society of the faithful, and, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, must take heed of being again entangled therein. (3.) That she should keep counsel (v. 14, 20): If thou utter this our business, that is, "If thou betray us when we are gone, or if thou make this agreement public, so as that others tie scarlet lines in their windows and so confound us, then we will be clear of thy oath."Those are unworthy of the secret of the Lord that know now how to keep it to themselves when there is occasion.

IV. She then took effectual care to secure her new friends, and sent them out another way, Jam 2:25. Having fully understood the bargain they made with her, and consented to it (Jos 2:21), she then let them down by a cord over the city wall (Jos 2:15), the situation of her house befriending them herein: thus Paul made his escape out of Damascus, 2Co 11:33. She also directed them which way to go for their own safety, being better acquainted with the country than they were, Jos 2:16. she directs them to leave the high road, and abscond in the mountains till the pursuers returned, for till then they could not safely venture over Jordan. those that are in the way of God and their duty may expect that Providence will protect them, but this will not excuse them from taking all prudent methods for their own safety. God will keep us, but then we must not wilfully expose ourselves. Providence must be trusted, but not tempted. Calvin thinks that their charge to Rahab to keep this matter secret, and not to utter it, was intended for her safety, lest she, boasting of her security from the sword of Israel, should, before they came to protect her, fall into the hands of the king of Jericho and be put to death for treason: thus do they prudently advise her for her safety, as she advised them for theirs. And it is good advice, which we should at any time be thankful for, to take heed to ourselves.

Matthew Henry: Jos 2:22-24

We have here the safe return of the spies Joshua had sent, and the great encouragement they brought with them to Israel to proceed in their descent upon Canaan. Had they been disposed to discourage the people, as the evil spies did that Moses sent, they might have told them what they had observed of the height and strength of the walls of Jericho, and the extraordinary vigilance of the king of Jericho, and how narrowly they escaped out of his hands; but they were of another spirit, and, depending themselves upon the divine promise, they animated Joshua likewise. 1. Their return in safety was itself an encouragement to Joshua, and a token for good. that God provided for them so good a friend as Rahab was in an enemy's country, and that notwithstanding the rage of the king of Jericho and the eagerness of the pursuers they had come back in peace, was such an instance of God's great care concerning them for Israel's sake as might assure the people of the divine guidance and care they were under, which should undoubtedly make the progress of their arms glorious. He that so wonderfully protected their scouts would preserve their men of war, and cover their heads in the day of battle. 2. The report they brought was much more encouraging (v. 24): " All the inhabitants of the country, though resolved to stand it out, yet do faint because of us, they have neither wisdom to yield nor courage to fight,"whence they conclude, " Truly the Lord has delivered into our hands all the land, it is all our own; we have nothing to do, in effect, but to take possession."Sinners' frights are sometimes sure presages of their fall. If we resist our spiritual enemies they will flee before us, which will encourage us to hope that in due time we shall be more than conquerors.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:2-6

When the king of Jericho was informed of the fact that these strange men had entered the house of Rahab, and suspecting their reason for coming, summoned Rahab to give them up, she hid them (lit., hid him , i.e., each one of the spies: for this change from the plural to the singular see Ewald , §219), and said to the king's messengers: כּן , recte , "It is quite correct, the men came to me, but I do not know where they were from; and when in the darkness the gate was at the shutting (i.e., ought to be shut: for this construction, see Gen 15:12), they went out again, I know not whither. Pursue them quickly, you will certainly overtake them."The writer then adds this explanation in Jos 2:6 : she had hidden them upon the roof of her house among stalks of flax. The expression " to - night "(lit., the night) in Jos 2:2 is more precisely defined in Jos 2:5, viz., as night was coming on, before the town-gate was shut, after which it would have been in vain for them to attempt to leave the town. "Stalks of flax," not "cotton pods" ( Arab ., J. D . Mich. ), or "tree-flax, i.e., cotton,"as Thenius explains it, but flax stalks or stalk-flax, as distinguished from carded flax, in which there is no wood left, λινοκαλάμη , stipula lini (lxx, Vulg .). Flax stalks, which grow to the height of three or four feet in Egypt, and attain the thickness of a reed, and would probably be quite as large in the plain of Jericho, the climate of which resembles that of Egypt, would form a very good hiding-place for the spies if they were piled up upon the roof to dry in the sun. The falsehood by which Rahab sought not only to avert all suspicion from herself of any conspiracy with the Israelitish men who had entered her house, but to prevent any further search for them in her house, and to frustrate the attempt to arrest them, is not to be justified as a lie of necessity told for a good purpose, nor, as Grotius maintains, by the unfounded assertion that, "before the preaching of the gospel, a salutary lie was not regarded as a fault even by good men."Nor can it be shown that it was thought "allowable,"or even "praiseworthy,"simply because the writer mentions the fact without expressing any subjective opinion, or because, as we learn from what follows (Jos 2:9.), Rahab was convinced of the truth of the miracles which God had wrought for His people, and acted in firm faith that the true God would give the land of Canaan to the Israelites, and that all opposition made to them would be vain, and would be, in fact, rebellion against the Almighty God himself. For a lie is always a sin. Therefore even if Rahab was not actuated at all by the desire to save herself and her family from destruction, and the motive from which she acted had its roots in her faith in the living God (Heb 11:31), so that what she did for the spies, and thereby for the cause of the Lord, was counted to her for righteousness ("justified by works,"Jam 2:25), yet the course which she adopted was a sin of weakness, which was forgiven her in mercy because of her faith.

(Note: Calvin's estimate is also a correct one: "It has often happened, that even when good men have endeavoured to keep a straight course, they have turned aside into circuitous paths. Rahab acted wrongly when she told a lie and said that the spies had gone; and the action was acceptable to God only because the evil that was mixed with the good was not imputed to her. Yet, although God wished the spies to be delivered, He did not sanction their being protected by a lie." Augustine also pronounces the same opinion concerning Rahab as that which he expressed concerning the Hebrew midwives (see the comm. on Exo 1:21).)

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:7-14

Upon this declaration on the part of the woman, the king's messengers ("the men") pursued the spies by the road to the Jordan which leads across the fords. Both the circumstances themselves and the usage of the language require that we should interpret the words in this way; for המּעבּרות על cannot mean "as far as the fords,"and it is very improbable that the officers should have gone across the fords. If they did not succeed in overtaking the spies and apprehending them before they reached the fords, they certainly could not hope to do this on the other side of the river in the neighbourhood of the Israelitish camp. By " the fords "with the article we are to understand the ford near to Jericho which was generally used at that time (Jdg 3:22; 2Sa 19:16.); but whether this was the one which is commonly used now at the mouth of Wady Shaib , almost in a straight line to the east of Jericho, or the more southerly one, el Helu , above the mouth of Wady Hesban ( Rob . Pal. ii. p. 254), to the south of the bathing-place of Christian pilgrims, or el Meshra ( Lynch , p. 155), or el Mocktaa ( Seetzen , ii. p. 320), it is impossible to determine. (On these and other fords near Beisan, and as far up as the Sea of Galilee, see R o b. ii. p. 259, and Ritter Erdk . xv. pp. 549ff.) After the king's messengers had left the town, they shut the gate to prevent the spies from escaping, in case they should be still in the town. כּאשׁר אהרי for אשׁר אהרי is uncommon, but it is analogous to אחרי־כן אשׁר in Gen 6:4.

Jos 2:8-9

Notwithstanding these precautions, the men escaped. As soon as the officers had left Rahab's house, she went to the spies, who were concealed upon the roof, before they had lain down to sleep, which they were probably about to do upon the roof, - a thing of frequent occurrence in the East in summer time, - and confessed to them all that she believed and knew, namely, that God had given the land to the Israelites, and that the dread of them had fallen upon the Canaanites ("us," in contrast with "you," the Israelites, signifies the Canaanites generally, and not merely the inhabitants of Jericho), and despair had seized upon all the inhabitants of the land. The description of the despair of the Canaanites (Jos 2:9) is connected, so far as the expressions are concerned, with Exo 15:15 and Exo 15:16, to show that what Moses and the Israelites had sung after crossing the Red Sea was now fulfilled, that the Lord had fulfilled His promise (Exo 23:27 compared with Deu 2:25 and Deu 11:25), and had put fear and dread upon the Canaanites.

Jos 2:10

The report of the drying up of the Red Sea (Exo 14:15.), of the defeat of the mighty kings of the Amorites, and of the conquest of their kingdoms, had produced this effect upon the Canaanites. Even in the last of these occurrences the omnipotence of God had been visibly displayed, so that what the Lord foretold to Moses (Deu 2:25) had now taken place; it had filled all the surrounding nations with fear and dread of Israel, and the heart and courage of the Canaanites sank in consequence.

Jos 2:11

" When we heard this "- Rahab proceeded to tell them, transferring the feelings of her own heart to her countrymen - " our heart did melt "(it was thus that the Hebrew depicted utter despair; "the hearts of the people melted, and became as water,"Jos 7:5), "and there did not remain any more spirit in any one:" i.e., they lost all strength of mind for acting, in consequence of their fear and dread (vid., Jos 5:1, though in 1Ki 10:5 this phrase is used to signify being out of one's-self from mere astonishment). " For Jehovah your God is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath ."To this confession of faith, to which the Israelites were to be brought through the miraculous help of the Lord (Deu 4:39), Rahab also attained; although her confession of faith remained so far behind the faith which Moses at that time demanded of Israel, that she only discerned in Jehovah a Deity ( Elohim ) in heaven and upon earth, and therefore had not yet got rid of her polytheism altogether, however close she had come to a true and full confession of the Lord. But these miracles of divine omnipotence which led the heart of this sinner with its susceptibility for religious truth to true faith, and thus became to her a savour of life unto life, produced nothing but hardness in the unbelieving hearts of the rest of the Canaanites, so that they could not escape the judgment of death.

Jos 2:12-14

After this confession Rahab entreated the spies to spare her family (father's house), and made them promise her on oath as a sign of their fidelity, that on the capture of Jericho, which is tacitly assumed as self-evident after what had gone before, they would save alive her parents, and brothers and sisters, and all that belonged to them (i.e., according to Jos 6:23, the children and families of her brothers and sisters), and not put them to death; all of which they promised her on oath. "A true token," lit. a sign of truth, i.e., a sign by which they guaranteed the truth of the kindness for which she asked. This sign consisted in nothing but the solemn oath with which they were to confirm their assurance, and, according to Jos 2:14, actually did confirm it. The oath itself was taken in these words, "our soul shall die for you," by which they pledged their life for the life of Rahab and her family in this sense: God shall punish us with death if we are faithless, and do not spare thy life and the lives of thy relations. Though the name of God is not really expressed, it was implied in the fact that the words are described as swearing by Jehovah. But the spies couple their assurance with this condition, " if ye utter not this our business ,"do not betray us, sc., so that we should be pursued, and our life endangered; " then will we show thee mercy and truth "(cf. Gen 24:27).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:15-16

Rahab then let them down by a rope through the window, namely, into the open country; for her house stood against or upon the town wall, so that she lived upon the wall, and advised them to get to the mountains, that they might not meet the men who had been sent out in pursuit of them, and to hide themselves there for three days, when the pursuers would have returned.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:17-20

In conclusion, the spies guarded against any arbitrary interpretation and application of their oath, by imposing three conditions, on the non-fulfilment of which they would be released from their oath. הזּה for הזּאת is to be explained in Jos 2:17 from the fact that the gender is often disregarded in the use of the pronoun (see Ewald , §183, a .), and in Jos 2:18 from the fact that there the gender is determined by the nomen rectum (see Ewald , §317, d .).

Jos 2:18

The first condition was, that when the town was taken Rahab should make her house known to the Israelites, by binding "the cord of this crimson thread," i.e., this cord made of crimson thread, in the window from which she had let them down. The demonstrative " this "leads to the conclusion adopted by Luther and others, that " this cord "is the rope ( חבל ) mentioned in Jos 2:15, as no other word had been mentioned to which they could refer; and the fact that nothing has been said about the sign in question being either given or received, precludes the idea that the spies gave the cord to Rahab for a sign. The crimson or scarlet colour of the cord ( שׁני = שׁני תּולעת ; see at Exo 25:4), as the colour of vigorous life, made this cord an expressive sign of the preservation of Rahab's life and the lives of her relations. The second condition was, that when the town was taken, Rahab should collect together her parents, and her brothers and her sisters, into her own house.

Jos 2:19-20

Whoever went outside the door, his blood should be upon his own head; i.e., if he was slain outside by the Israelitish soldiers, he should bear his death as his own fault. But every one who was with her in the house, his blood should fall upon their (the spies') head, if any hand was against them, i.e., touched them or did them harm (vid., Exo 9:3). The formula, "his blood be upon his head," is synonymous with the legal formula, "his blood be upon him"(Lev 20:9). The third condition (Jos 2:20) is simply a repetition of the principal condition laid down at the very outset (Jos 2:14).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:21

When Rahab had accepted all these conditions, she let the men go, and bound the red cord in the window. It is not to be supposed that she did this at once, but merely as soon as it was necessary. It is mentioned here for the purpose of bringing the subject to a close.

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:22

The spies remained three days in the mountains, till the officers returned to the town, after searching for them the whole way in vain. The mountains referred to are probably the range on the northern side of Jericho, which afterwards received the name of Quarantana (Arab. Kuruntul ), a wall of rock rising almost precipitously from the plain to the height of 1200 or 1500 feet, and full of grottoes and caves on the eastern side. These mountains were well adapted for a place of concealment; moreover, they were the nearest to Jericho, as the western range recedes considerably to the south of Wady Kelt (vid., Rob . ii. p. 289).

Keil-Delitzsch: Jos 2:23-24

After this they returned to the camp across the Jordan, and informed Joshua of all that had befallen them, and all that they had heard. On Jos 2:24, see Jos 2:9.

Constable: Jos 2:1-24

3. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2

As preparation for entering Canaan, Joshua sent spies to reconnoiter the area Israel would enter.

"Although Joshua had received a promise from the Lord of His almighty help in the conquest of Canaan, he still thought it necessary to do what was requisite on his part to secure the success of the work committed to him, as the help of God does not preclude human action, but rather presupposes it."²⁷

2:1 The two men sent out as spies were young (cf. 6:23). Joshua sent them out secretly (cf. 7:2). He did not want a recurrence of the Kadesh Barnea incident.

"He had learned by experience that spy reports should be brought to the leaders only, for the people did not have sufficient orientation or experience to properly evaluate such a report."²⁸

Their mission was to explore the area Israel would enter, especially Jericho.²⁹

"Sending out men for reconnaissance was a widespread phenomenon in the east. Moreover, a prostitute's or innkeeper's house was the accustomed place for meeting with spies, conspirators, and the like. Thus, for example, we read in Hammurabi's Code: If scoundrels plot together [in conspiratorial relationships] in an innkeeper's house, and she does not seize them and bring them to the palace, that innkeeper shall be put to death' (law § 109). In a Mari letter we read about two men who sow fear and panic and cause rebellion in an army. Also, the pattern of a three-day stay in an area when pursuing escapees has support in ancient eastern sources; for example the instructions to the Hittite tower commanders specify that if an enemy invades a place he must be pursued for three days. In the same collection of instructions we find that it is forbidden to build an inn (arzana) in which prostitutes live near the fortress wall, apparently because of the kind of danger described in Joshua 2."³⁰

Jericho was not a large city, but it had strong fortifications and a strategic location on the frontier of Canaan. It lay just a few miles west of the Jordan River in the Jordan Valley. If the Israelites were to gain a foothold in Canaan, they would have to defeat Jericho.

The spies probably stayed at Rahab's house because they hoped to be less conspicuous there than they would have been if they had lodged elsewhere.³¹ Josephus called Rahab an innkeeper, which she may have been.³² The writer recorded Rahab's name because she became an important person in Israel's history. She was an ancestor of David as well as Israel's helper on this occasion (cf. Matt. 1:5).

2:2-6 Rahab was a woman of faith in Yahweh (cf. Heb. 11:31; James 2:25). Apparently what she had heard about the God of Israel led her to place her trust in Him (vv. 9-12). The protection of one's house-guests was very important in the ancient Orient (cf. Judg. 19:20-24). This cultural pressure fortified her faith and doubtless encouraged her to hide the spies.

Rahab should not have told a lie, however.

"To excuse Rahab for indulging in a common practice is to condone what God condemns."³³

Though she had come to faith in Yahweh her moral life had not yet undergone radical change.

"Having been born and brought up among the depraved Canaanites, she had probably never been taught the evil of lying, and least of all where an apparently good end was to be answered by it."³⁴

". . . a lie is always a sin. Therefore even if Rahab was not actuated at all by the desire to save herself and her family from destruction, and the motive from which she acted had its roots in her faith in the living God (Heb. xi. 31), so that what she did for the spies, and thereby for the cause of the Lord, was counted to her for righteousness (justified by works,' James ii. 25), yet the course which she adopted was a sin of weakness, which was forgiven her in mercy because of her faith."³⁵

"It has often happened, that even when good men have endeavored to keep a straight course, they have turned aside into circuitous paths. Rahab acted wrongly when she told a lie and said that the spies had gone; and the action was acceptable to God only because the evil that was mixed with the good was not imputed to her. Yet, although God wished the spies to be delivered, He did not sanction their being protected by a lie."³⁶

Lying is a more serious sin in some circumstances than in others, but it is always a sin (Exod. 20:16; Lev. 19:11; Deut. 5:20).

"For one to lie in this manner is for one to assume that he knows the outcome of a situation which, in fact, he does not. God has control of every situation and therefore it might well be the will of God that the spies should die. It is the job of the believer to represent the truth and allow the Lord to care for that situation."³⁷

2:7-14 Assuming the spies had fled back to the Israelite camp, the men of Jericho searched all along the road from their city to the place where travelers forded the Jordan (v. 7), about five miles.

Rahab's reference to the fear of the Israelites that God had put in the Canaanites' hearts (vv. 9-11) shows that the Lord had fulfilled His promise to make the Israelites' enemies fear them (Exod. 23:27; Deut. 2:25; 11:25).³⁸

"Yahweh had proved himself more powerful than any other claimants to deity. The irony of the situation existed in the fact that Israel's enemies recognized this when Israel did not."³⁹

"Utterly destroyed" translates the Hebrew herem, a technical term for the practice of completely destroying the spoils of war as a way of consecrating them to a deity (cf. 6:17).⁴⁰

"The people who in Rahab's time most frequently used such houses of prostitution were the traveling merchants. From them she had repeatedly heard of the marvelous nation which was approaching from Egypt, and of the God of Israel who had perfected such striking miracles."⁴¹

The melting of the heart (v. 11) pictures utter despair. We must be careful not to overestimate Rahab's confession of faith in this verse. She had come to place her faith in Yahweh (cf. Heb. 11:31; James 2:25), but she did not become a mature believer immediately. No one does.

2:15-21 The spies gave their solemn promise to spare Rahab and her household but specified three conditions that Rahab had to meet.

1. She had to make her home known to the Israelites when they attacked (v. 18).

2. She had to assemble her family into her home before the battle (v. 18).

3. She had to keep the mission of the spies a secret (vv. 20, 14).

The cord Rahab was to hang out of her window and over the town wall--her house stood on the wall (v. 15)--was scarlet in color (vv. 15, 18).⁴² Its unusual color would have marked Rahab's house for the Israelites. The color had symbolic significance, too, since red recalls blood and vigorous life.

"In the preaching of the Christian church, all the way back to Clement of Rome . . ., this has been taken as a sign of the blood of Christ, the Lamb."⁴³

"It answered, therefore, the same purpose with the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts in Egypt, which secured the first-born from the destroying angel."⁴⁴

God spared the lives of Rahab and her household because of her faith. Any of Rahab's relatives that would have gathered with her before the Israelite siege would have done so because of their faith in God's promise through the spies. If they had no faith they would have stayed in their own homes. Thus the deliverance of Rahab and her family depended on believing a promise from God. Salvation always depends on believing a promise from God (cf. Gen. 15:6; John 3:16; et al.).

2:22-24 The "hill country" referred to (vv. 22-23) was probably the mountainous area west of Jericho. This area contains many caves in the "deeply eroded and lonely chalk hills" and many "isolated canyons cut through the [1,500 feet high] limestone cliffs."⁴⁵ The spies evidently were absent from the Israelite camp a total of three days (v. 22; cf. 1:11; 3:2).

One of the major emphases in this chapter is God's faithfulness. When the spies returned to Shittim with news that some of the Canaanites believed Yahweh would give the Israelites the land, God's people would have felt greatly encouraged (vv. 9-11, 24; cf. 1:2-3, 6, 11, 15).

This chapter also shows that God will deliver those who seek salvation from coming judgment regardless of their past or present sins if they have faith in Him. Rahab believed Yahweh was the true God (v. 11; cf. Ruth 1:16; 1 John 5:1). Her protection of the spies demonstrated the sincerity of her faith (v. 6; cf. James 2:25). Her confidence about her preservation from the coming judgment rested on the promise given to her by God's spokesmen (v. 21; cf. John 6:47).

"If Joshua represents the Israelite male who finds guidance and success through faith in the LORD God, does Rahab represent his counterpart, the Canaanite female who also finds guidance and success through faith in the LORD God? In one of the most nationalistic books in the Hebrew Bible, does it not serve the purposes of the promise to Abraham that all peoples on earth will be blessed through you' (Gn. 12:3) to place side by side with the choice of a military leader and his initial preparations for battle, the story of a foreign woman who believed and was saved without arms or bloodshed?"⁴⁶

"The spies violated God's explicit command that none of the people living in the land were to be spared (Deut 7:1-6; 20:16-18). Rahab, however, turned to God and sought deliverance. Her experience is proof of the gracious saving purpose of God. His overarching decree is that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved' (Joel 2:32). This is one of the most dramatic examples of grace in the OT and is set in bold relief by the questionable aspects of Rahab's profession and conversion.

"The salvation of Rahab is an example of what God would have done for others also. The king and the other citizens of Jericho knew all that she knew, but they did not turn to Israel's God for mercy. The fear that drove her to beg for mercy drove them in their stubborn rebellion. Accordingly, the others are called the disobedient' in Hebrews 11:31 . . ."⁴⁷

Guzik: Jos 2:1-24

Joshua 2 - The Salvation of Rahab

A. Spies sent to the city of Jericho.

1. (1a) Joshua sends forth spies.

Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, "Go, view the land, especially Jericho."

a. Remember that all this takes place during the three days Joshua has commanded the nation to wait on the banks of the Jordan (Joshua 1:11). God has a special purpose for these three days.

b. Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men from Acacia Grove to spy secretly: This kind of careful preparation shows faithfulness, not a lack of faith. God's promises of success to us should never lull us into inaction. They should spur us on to a step out in godly activity.

i. We aren't told who the two spies are, but Jewish tradition - speculation, really - says they were faithful Caleb and the High Priest Eliezer.

c. To spy secretly: Joshua also shows wisdom by sending them secretly. The last spies that went out publicly turned out badly for Israel, when a majority of the spies came back with a discouraging report (Numbers 13).

d. Go, view the land, especially Jericho: God has greater things in mind for this spy mission; it will fail as a mission of military reconnaissance, but it will succeed in God's purpose.

2. (1b) The spies at Rahab's house.

So they went, and came to the house of a harlot named Rahab, and lodged there.

a. Came to the house of a harlot named Rahab: Through the history of Christianity, it has embarrassed some Bible interpreters that these two spies went to the house of a prostitute. Some have tried to say that Rahab was simply an "innkeeper," but the language is clear enough. She was a harlot.

i. In the second century Origen wrote: "As the first Joshua sent his spies before him and they were received into the harlot's house, so the second Joshua sent his forerunners, whom the publicans and harlots gladly received".

ii. It is great when sinners receive Jesus; not those who deny their sinfulness or don't know what they are capable of apart from Jesus - the gospel is for those who know they are sinners.

b. And lodged there: Why did they go to the harlot's house? Though it was an awkward place, it must be admitted that it was a perfect place to hide out and remain anonymous, and this was necessary because the city was on strict guard.

i. There isn't even the hint of immorality with Rahab. Anyone who assumes that there was immoral conduct forces their own bias on the text.

3. (2-7) Rahab hides and protects the spies.

And it was told the king of Jericho, saying, "Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country." So the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out all the country." Then the woman took the two men and hid them. So she said, "Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And it happened as the gate was being shut, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I do not know; pursue them quickly, for you may overtake them." (But she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.) Then the men pursued them by the road to the Jordan, to the fords. And as soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate.

a. Then the woman took the two men and hid them: In the culture of that day, there was a strong tradition of hospitality. If someone was a guest in your house, you had a strong duty to protect them and care for them. Even considering this, Rahab went much further than the respect of cultural traditions regarding hospitality. She put her own life on the line for these men.

b. Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from: The Bible simply reports Rahab's lie; it does not praise it or excuse it. Perhaps if she had beforehand determined in her heart to not lie in obedience to God, He would have made a way for her to preserve the life of the spies without lying.

c. Rahab's lie is not justified, but it does show courage. Consider that she was a pagan sinner in a city and culture wholly given over to the worship of false gods and immorality, with no previous contact with the word of God or the things of God. What is your excuse?

B. Salvation for Rahab.

1. (8-14) Rahab's confession of faith.

Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, and said to the men: "I know that the LORD has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Now therefore, I beg you, swear to me by the LORD, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to my father's house, and give me a true token, and spare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death." So the men answered her, "Our lives for yours, if none of you tell this business of ours. And it shall be, when the LORD has given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you."

a. I know that the LORD has given you the land: This surprising outburst of faith shows how God had a plan in bringing Rahab and the spies together. It is the same kind of thing we see when God supernaturally brings us to people who are believers or open to the gospel.

b. Rahab's declaration He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath is proof of her faith. It is not strong faith and it is not perfect faith, but her faith is commendable nonetheless (Hebrews 11:31 and James 2:25).

i. We may be appalled at the fact that Rahab was a prostitute, or that she was a liar. But the fact is that she was not saved by her works, but by her faith. She knew who God was, she knew who she was, and she trusted God for her very life.

c. That you also will show kindness to my father's house: Rahab's desire to see her family saved, and the length she goes to in order to save their lives shows that her love should be noticed, as well as her faith.

d. Swear to me by the LORD: This shows that Rahab longed for assurance by asked for an oath. She wanted to leave her sinful life and culture and come with God's people.

2. (15-21) The means of Rahab's salvation: the scarlet cord.

Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall. And she said to them, "Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way." So the men said to her: "We will be blameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear, unless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household to your own home. So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we will be guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head if a hand is laid on him. And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be free from your oath which you made us swear." Then she said, "According to your words, so be it." And she sent them away, and they departed. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window.

a. Bind this scarlet cord in the window: This was the signal to the army of Israel that the people in this home were to be spared. Despite Rahab's desire, despite her faith, despite the promises of these spies, she would have perished unless she put her trust in a blood red cord cast down from her window. Without the scarlet cord, she could not have been saved.

i. As early as the first century, commentators such as Clement of Rome, Justin Martyr, Ireneaus, Origen and more saw this scarlet cord as a symbol of the blood of Jesus.

b. And she bound the scarlet cord in the window: Rahab immediately put her faith into both the identification and safety of the scarlet cord. She also trusted in the ones who made the promise about the scarlet cord (according to your words, so be it).

i. Joshua would be a savior for Rahab, but a judge of the rest of Jericho. In the same way Jesus is a savior for those who trust Him, but a judge for those who reject Him.

c. Rahab's destiny was to marry one of the princes of Judah and be found in the lineage of King and David and Jesus Himself.

3. (22-24) Mission accomplished.

They departed and went to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers returned. The pursuers sought them all along the way, but did not find them. So the two men returned, descended from the mountain, and crossed over; and they came to Joshua the son of Nun, and told him all that had befallen them. And they said to Joshua, "Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us."

a. And told him all that had befallen them: Considering how God will have them conquer the city of Jericho, how did the information from these spies help in the battle for Jericho? Jericho was one of the strongest and most heavily fortified cities of Canaan; if Israel could conquer it, the whole land would be before them - but how did this reconnaissance help them with the eventual battle? It didn't help them at all!

b. Truly the LORD has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us: The reconnaissance mission didn't help with military strategy, but it did help in encouraging the faith of these spies and the whole nation. This was far more important than a good battle plan.

i. There was another purpose at work in sending the spies: to save Rahab. In this, we see the extent God goes to in bringing one woman and her father's house to salvation - Someone seemingly "impossible" to save.

ii. You may know some that seem "impossible" to save, but God's hand is not short to save people like Rahab, and He can work in amazing ways to bring salvation.

© 2001 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Critics Ask: Jos 2:5

JOSHUA 2:4-5 —How could God bless Rahab for lying?

PROBLEM: When the spies came to Jericho, they sought refuge in the house of Rahab. When the king of Jericho commanded Rahab to bring out the men, she lied saying that the men had already gone and that she did not know where they went. However, when Israel finally destroyed Jericho, Rahab and all her family were saved alive. How could God bless Rahab for lying?

SOLUTION: Some argue that it is not clear that God blessed Rahab for lying. God certainly saved Rahab and blessed her for protecting the spies and assisting in the overthrow of Jericho. However, nowhere does the Bible explicitly say that God blessed Rahab for lying. God could have blessed her in spite of her lie, not because of it. Actually, Rahab’s act of protecting the spies was a demonstration of great faith in the God of Israel. She firmly believed that God would destroy Jericho, and she exhibited that belief by siding with Israel against the people of Jericho when she protected the spies from being discovered.

Others insist that Rahab was faced with a real moral conflict. It may have been impossible for her to both save the spies and tell the truth to the soldiers of the king. If so, God would not hold Rahab responsible for this unavoidable moral conflict. Certainly a person cannot be held responsible for not keeping a lesser law in order to keep a higher obligation. The Bible commands obedience to the government ( Rom. 13:1 ; Titus 3:1 ; 1 Peter 2:13 ), but there are many examples of justified civil disobedience when the government attempts to compel unrighteousness ( Ex. 5 ; Dan. 3 , 6 ; Rev. 13 ). The case of the Hebrew midwives lying to save the lives of the male children is perhaps the clearest example (see comments on Ex. 1:15-21 ).   

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Joshua (Book Introduction)

JOSHUA. The title of this book is derived from the pious and valiant leader whose achievements it relates and who is commonly supposed to have been its author. The objections to this idea are founded chiefly on the clause, "unto this day," which occurs several times (Jos 4:9; Jos 6:25; Jos 8:28). But this, at least in the case of Rahab, is no valid reason for rejecting the idea of his authorship; for assuming what is most probable, that this book was composed toward the close of Joshua's long career, or compiled from written documents left by him, Rahab might have been still alive. A more simple and satisfactory way of accounting for the frequent insertion of the clause, "unto this day," is the opinion that it was a comment introduced by Ezra, when revising the sacred canon; and this difficulty being removed, the direct proofs of the book having been produced by a witness of the transactions related in it, the strong and vivid descriptions of the passing scenes, and the use of the words "we" and "us," (Jos 5:1-6), viewed in connection with the fact, that, after his farewell address to the people, Joshua "wrote these words in the book of the law of God" [Jos 24:26] --all afford strong presumptive proof that the entire book was the work of that eminent individual. Its inspiration and canonical authority are fully established by the repeated testimonies of other Scripture writers (compare Jos 6:26 with 1Ki 16:34; compare Jos 10:13 with Hab 3:11; Jos 3:14 with Act 7:45; Jos 6:17-23 with Heb 11:30; Jos. 2:1-24 with Jam 2:25; Psa 44:2; Psa 68:12-14; Psa 78:54-55). As a narrative of God's faithfulness in giving the Israelites possession of the promised land, this history is most valuable, and bears the same character as a sequel to the Pentateuch, that the Acts of the Apostles do to the Gospels.

JFB: Joshua (Outline)

• THE LORD APPOINTS JOSHUA TO SUCCEED MOSES. (Jos. 1:1-18)
• RAHAB RECEIVES AND CONCEALS THE TWO SPIES. (Jos 2:1-7)
• THE COVENANT BETWEEN HER AND THEM. (Jos 2:8-21)
• JOSHUA COMES TO JORDAN. (Jos 3:1-6)
• THE LORD ENCOURAGES JOSHUA. (Jos 3:7-8)
• JOSHUA ENCOURAGES THE PEOPLE. (Jos 3:9-13)
• THE WATERS OF JORDAN ARE DIVIDED. (Jos 3:14-17)
• TWELVE STONES TAKEN FOR A MEMORIAL OUT OF JORDAN. (Jos 4:1-8)
• TWELVE STONES SET UP IN THE MIDST OF JORDAN. (Jos 4:9)
• THE PEOPLE PASS OVER. (Jos 4:10-13)
• GOD MAGNIFIES JOSHUA. (Jos 4:14-24)
• THE CANAANITES AFRAID. (Jos 5:1)
• CIRCUMCISION IS RENEWED. (Jos 5:2-12)
• AN ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSHUA. (Jos 5:13-15)
• JERICHO SHUT UP. (Jos 6:1-7)
• THE CITY COMPASSED SIX DAYS. (Jos 6:8-19)
• THE WALLS FALL DOWN. (Jos 6:20-21)
• RAHAB IS SAVED. (Jos 6:22-25)
• THE REBUILDER OF JERICHO CURSED. (Jos 6:26-27)
• ACHAN'S TRESPASS. (Jos 7:1)
• THE ISRAELITES SMITTEN AT AI. (Jos. 7:2-26)
• GOD ENCOURAGES JOSHUA. (Jos. 8:1-28)
• THE KING HANGED. (Jos 8:29)
• JOSHUA BUILDS AN ALTAR. (Jos 8:30-31)
• THE KINGS COMBINE AGAINST ISRAEL. (Jos. 9:1-27)
• FIVE KINGS WAR AGAINST GIBEON. (Jos 10:1-5)
• JOSHUA RESCUES IT. (Jos 10:6-9)
• GOD FIGHTS AGAINST THEM WITH HAILSTONES. (Jos 10:10-11)
• THE SUN AND MOON STAND STILL AT THE WORD OF JOSHUA. (Jos 10:12-15)
• DIVERS KINGS OVERCOME AT THE WATERS OF MEROM. (Jos 11:1-9)
• THE TWO KINGS WHOSE COUNTRIES MOSES TOOK AND DISPOSED OF. (Jos 12:1-6)
• THE ONE AND THIRTY KINGS ON THE WEST SIDE OF JORDAN, WHICH JOSHUA SMOTE. (Jos. 12:7-24)
• BOUNDS OF THE LAND NOT YET CONQUERED. (Jos. 13:1-33)
• THE NINE TRIBES AND A HALF TO HAVE THEIR INHERITANCE BY LOT. (Jos 14:1-5)
• CALEB BY PRIVILEGE REQUESTS AND OBTAINS HEBRON. (Jos 14:6-15)
• BORDERS OF THE LOT OF JUDAH. (Jos 15:1-12)
• CALEB'S PORTION AND CONQUEST. (Jos 15:13-15)
• OTHNIEL, FOR HIS VALOR, HAS ACHSAH TO WIFE. (Jos 15:16-20)
• THE GENERAL BORDERS OF THE SONS OF JOSEPH. (Jos 16:1-4)
• THE BORDERS OF THE INHERITANCE OF EPHRAIM. (Jos 16:5-9)
• LOT OF MANASSEH. (Jos 17:1-6)
• THIS COAST. (Jos 17:7-11)
• CANAANITES NOT DRIVEN OUT. (Jos 17:12-13)
• THE CHILDREN OF JOSEPH ASK FOR ANOTHER LOT. (Jos 17:14-18)
• THE TABERNACLE SET UP AT SHILOH. (Jos 18:1)
• THE REMAINDER OF THE LAND DESCRIBED. (Jos 18:2-9)
• DIVIDED BY LOT. (Jos 18:10)
• THE LOT OF SIMEON. (Jos 19:1-9)
• OF ZEBULUN. (Jos 19:10-16)
• OF ISSACHAR. (Jos 19:17-23)
• OF ASHER. (Jos 19:24-31)
• OF NAPHTALI. (Jos 19:32-39)
• OF DAN. (Jos 19:40-48)
• THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL GIVE AN INHERITANCE TO JOSHUA. (Jos 19:49-51)
• THE LORD COMMANDS THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Jos 20:1-6)
• THE ISRAELITES APPOINT BY NAME THE CITIES OF REFUGE. (Jos 20:7-9)
• EIGHT AND FORTY CITIES GIVEN BY LOT OUT OF THE OTHER TRIBES UNTO THE LEVITES. (Jos 21:1-8)
• GOD GAVE THEM REST. (Jos 21:43-45)
• JOSHUA DISMISSES THE TWO TRIBES AND A HALF, WITH A BLESSING. (Jos 22:1-9)
• THEY BUILD THE ALTAR OF TESTIMONY ON THEIR JOURNEY. (Jos 22:10)
• THE DEPUTIES SATISFIED. (Jos 22:30-34)
• JOSHUA'S EXHORTATION BEFORE HIS DEATH. (Jos 23:1-2)
• BY FORMER BENEFITS. (Jos 23:3)
• BY PROMISES. (Jos 23:5-11)
• BY THREATENINGS IN CASE OF DISOBEDIENCE. (Jos 23:12)
• JOSHUA ASSEMBLING THE TRIBES. (Jos 24:1)
• RELATES GOD'S BENEFITS. (Jos 24:2-13)
• HIS AGE AND DEATH. (Jos 24:29-30)

TSK: Joshua (Book Introduction)

The Book of Joshua is one of the most important documents in the Old Testament. The rapid conquest of the Promised Land, and the actual settlement of the Israelites in it, afford a striking accomplishment of the Divine predictions to Abraham and the succeeding patriarchs; and at the same time bear the most unequivocal and ample testimony to the authenticity of this sacred book. Several of the transactions related in it are confirmed in a very extraordinary manner, by the traditions current among heathen nations, and preserved by ancient profane historians of undoubted character. Thus there are monuments still in existence, which prove that the Carthaginians were a colony of Syrians who escaped from Joshua; as also that the inhabitants of Leptis, in Africa, came originally from the Sidonians, who abandoned their country on account of the calamities with which it was overwhelmed. Procopius relates that the Phoenicians fled before the Hebrews into Africa, and spread themselves abroad as far as the pillars of Hercules; and adds, " In Numidia, where now stands the city Tigisis (Tangiers), they have erected two columns, on which, in Phoenician characters, is the following inscription: " We are the Phoenicians who fled from the face of Jesus (Joshua) the son of Naue" (Nun).

TSK: Joshua 2 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Jos 2:1, Rahab receives and conceals the two spies sent from Shittim; Jos 2:8, The covenant between her and them; Jos 2:23, Their return and relation.

Poole: Joshua (Book Introduction)

BOOK OF JOSHUA

THE ARGUMENT

IT is not material to know who was the penman of this book, whether Joshua, as seems most probable from Jos 24:26 , or some other holy prophet. It is sufficient that this book was a part of the Holy Scriptures, or oracles of God, committed to and carefully kept by the Jews, and by them faithfully delivered to us, as appears by the concurring testimony of Christ and his apostles, who owned and approved of the same Holy Scriptures which the church of the Jews did. But this is certain, that divers passages in this book were put into it after Joshua’ s death, as Jos 10:13 , compared with 2Sa 1:18 Jos 19:47 , compared with Jud 18:1 ; and Jos 24:29,30 . And such like insertions have been observed in the five books of Moses.

Poole: Joshua 2 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 2

Joshua sends two spies to Jericho; they are sought after; Rahab hides them; deceives the messengers, Jos 2:1-7 . She acknowledges that God had given them the land; her reasons, Jos 2:8-11 . The covenant between her and them, Jos 2:12-21 . Their return and relation, Jos 2:22-24 .

MHCC: Joshua (Book Introduction)

Here is the history of Israel's passing into the land of Canaan, conquering and dividing it, under the command of Joshua, and their history until his death. The power and truth of God in fulfilling his promises to Israel, and in executing his justly threatened vengeance on the Canaanites, are wonderfully displayed. This should teach us to regard the tremendous curses denounced in the word of God against impenitent sinners, and to seek refuge in Christ Jesus.

MHCC: Joshua 2 (Chapter Introduction)

(Jos 2:1-7) Rahab receives and hides two Israelites.

(Jos 2:8-21) Rahab and the spies.

(Jos 2:22-24) The return of the spies.

Matthew Henry: Joshua (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Book of Joshua

I. We have now before us the history of the Jewish nation in this book and those that follow it to the end of the book of Esther. These books, to he end of the books of the Kings, the Jewish writers call the first book of the prophets, to bring them within the distribution of the books of the Old Testament, into the Law, the Prophets, and the Chetubim, or Hagiographa, Luk 24:44. The rest they make part of the Hagiographa. For, though history is their subject, it is justly supposed that prophets were their penmen. To those books that are purely and properly prophetical the name of the prophet is prefixed, because the credibility of the prophecies depended much upon the character of the prophets; but these historical books, it is probable, were collections of the authentic records of the nation, which some of the prophets (and the Jewish church was for many ages more or less continually blessed with such) were divinely directed and helped to put together for the service of the church to the end of the world; as their other officers, so their historiographers, had their authority from heaven. - It should seem that though the substance of the several histories was written when the events were fresh in memory, and written under a divine direction, yet, under the same direction, they were put into the form in which we now have them by some other hand, long afterwards, probably all by the same hand, or about the same time. The grounds of the conjecture are, 1. Because former writings are so often referred to, as the Book of Jasher (Jos 10:13, and 2Sa 1:18), the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and the books of Gad, Nathan, and Iddo. 2. Because the days when the things were done are spoken of sometimes as days long since passed; as 1Sa 9:9, He that is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer. And, 3. Because we so often read of things remaining unto this day; as stones (Jos 4:9; Jos 7:26; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:27; 1Sa 6:18), names of places (Jos 5:9; Jos 7:26; Jdg 1:26; Jdg 15:19; Jdg 18:12; 2Ki 14:7), rights and possessions (Jdg 1:21; 1Sa 27:6), customs and usages (1Sa 5:5; 2Ki 17:41), which clauses have been since added to the history by the inspired collectors for the confirmation and illustration of it to those of their own age. And, if one may offer a mere conjecture, it is not unlikely that the historical books, to the end of the Kings, were put together by Jeremiah the prophet, a little before the captivity; for it is said of Ziklag (1Sa 27:6) that it pertains to the kings of Judah (which style began after Solomon and ended in the captivity) unto this day. And it is still more probable that those which follow were put together by Ezra the scribe, some time after the captivity. However, though we are in the dark concerning their authors, we are in no doubt concerning their authority; they were a part of the oracles of God, which were committed to the Jews, and were so received and referred to by our Saviour and the apostles.

In the five books of Moses we had a very full account of the rise, advance, and constitution, of the Old Testament church, the family out of which it was raised, the promise, that great charter by which it was incorporated, the miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and ordinances by which it was to be governed, from which one would conceive and expectation of its character and state very different from what we find in this history. A nation that had statutes and judgments so righteous, one would think, should have been very holy; and a nation what had promises so rich should have been very happy. But, alas! a great part of the history is a melancholy representation of their sins and miseries; for the law made nothing perfect, but this was to be done by the bringing in of the better hope. And yet, if we compare the history of the Christian church with its constitution, we shall find the same cause for wonder, so many have been its errors and corruptions; for neither does the gospel make any thing perfect in this world, but leaves us still in expectation of a better hope in the future state.

II. We have next before us the book of Joshua, so called, perhaps, not because it was written by him, for that is uncertain. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Phinehas wrote it. Bishop Patrick is clear that Joshua wrote it himself. However that be, it is written concerning him, and, if any other wrote it, it was collected out of his journals or memoirs. It contains the history of Israel under the command and government of Joshua, how he presided as general of their armies, 1. In their entrance into Canaan, ch. 1-5. 2. In their conquest of Canaan, ch. 6-12. 3. In the distribution of the land of Canaan among the tribes of Israel, ch. 22-24. In all which he was a great example of wisdom, courage, fidelity, and piety, to all that are in places of public trust. But this is not all the use that is to be made of this history. We may see in it, 1. Much of God and his providence - his power in the kingdom of nature, his justice in punishing the Canaanites when the measure of their iniquity was full, his faithfulness to his covenant with the patriarchs, and his kindness to his people Israel, notwithstanding their provocations. We may see him as the Lord of Hosts determining the issues of war, and as the director of the lot, determining the bounds of men's habitations. 2. Much of Christ and his grace. Though Joshua is not expressly mentioned in the New Testament as a type of Christ, yet all agree that he was a very eminent one. He bore our Saviour's name, as did also another type of him, Joshua the high priest, Zec 6:11, Zec 6:12. The Septuagint, giving the name of Joshua a Greek termination, call him all along Iesous Jesus, and so he is called Act 7:45, and Heb 4:8. Justin Martyr, one of the first writers of the Christian church ( Dialog. cum Tryph. p. mihi 300), makes that promise in Exo 23:20, My angel shall bring thee into the place I have prepared, to point at Joshua; and these words, My name is in him, to refer to this, that his names should be the same with that of the Messiah. It signifies, He shall save. Joshua saves God's people from the Canaanites; our Lord Jesus saves them from their sins. Christ, as Joshua, is the captain of our salvation, a leader and commander of the people, to tread Satan under their feet, to put them in possession of the heavenly Canaan, and to give them rest, which (it is said, Heb 4:8) Joshua did not.

Matthew Henry: Joshua 2 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have an account of the scouts that were employed to bring an account to Joshua of the posture of the city of Jericho. Observe here, I. How Joshua sent them (v. 1). II. How Rahab received them, and protected them, and told a lie for them (v. 2-7), so that they escaped out of the hands of the enemy. III. The account she gave them of the present posture of Jericho, and the panic-fear they were struck with upon the approach of Israel (v. 8-11). IV. The bargain she made with them for the security of herself and her relations in the ruin she saw coming upon her city (v. 12-21). V. Their safe return to Joshua, and the account they gave him of their expedition (v. 22-24). And that which makes this story most remarkable is that Rahab, the person principally concerned in it, is twice celebrated in the New Testament as a great believer (Heb 11:31) and as one whose faith proved itself by good works, Jam 2:25.

Constable: Joshua (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

The name of this book in Hebrew, Greek, and English comes from the principle character in it rather than from the writer. Joshua may or may not have been the writer of this book.

The title is appropriate because "Joshua" means, "Yahweh saves." Joshua is the Hebrew name that translates into Aramaic as Jesus. What Jesus is to God's people in a larger sense Joshua was to the Israelites in a smaller sense. Joshua brought God's people into the realization of many of God's plans and purposes for them. This book is a record of God's deliverance of the Israelites into what He had promised them.

In the English Bible, Joshua is one of the historical books (Genesis through Esther). In the Hebrew Bible, it is in the second of the three main divisions of the Old Testament, namely, the Prophets. The Law and the Writings are the first and third divisions. Joshua is the first book in the first half of the Prophets, the Former Prophets. The Former Prophets section contains four books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) as does the second division, the Latter Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Twelve [minor prophets]). The fact that the Hebrews included mainly historical books such as Joshua in the Prophets section reveals a basic attitude of God's people. They viewed what God revealed here not primarily as a historical record as much as an authoritative record of selected historical events designed to teach important spiritual lessons. We should recognize Joshua, therefore, not simply as a record of history but as a selective history intended to reveal God's will. In the Prophets section of the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through historical events as well as through the oracles of individual prophets.

"The Book of Joshua, like all other books of the Bible, is primarily a book of theology. Through it God has revealed himself and continues to do so."¹

Date and Writer

The Book of Joshua evidently came into being several years after the events recorded in the book took place. A number of statements point to a time of composition beyond the conquest and perhaps beyond the lifetime of Joshua. For example, the phrase "to this day" (4:9; 5:9; 6:25; 7:26; 8:28, 29; 9:27; 13:13; 14:14; 15:63; 16:10) refers to a time considerably after the events referred to happened. How much later is hard to say. These references point to a time of composition many years later than the actual occurrence of the events recorded.²

However the writer claims to have crossed the Jordan River when Israel entered the land (5:1 [marginal reading], 6). Therefore he must have written the book not too long after the conquest. This conclusion finds support in the general impression the reader receives that an eyewitness of the events recorded wrote the book. An editor may or may not have added the account of Joshua's death (24:29-33) to the book later (cf. Deut. 34:10-12). This depends on whether the writer wrote it before or after Joshua died.

According to Jewish tradition Joshua himself wrote the book.³ Many modern conservative Old Testament scholars believe that he did.⁴ However other good, conservative scholars believe the writer was not Joshua but a contemporary of his, possibly one of the elders of Israel.⁵ Many more scholars are unsure.⁶ I prefer the traditional view that Joshua wrote the book because I find the arguments of those who believe the writer could not have been Joshua unconvincing.

Scope

As I have explained previously, the date of the Exodus was about 1446 B.C. (cf. 1 Kings 6:1).⁷ Israel spent 40 years in the wilderness (Exod. 16:35; Num. 14:33-34). Thus Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the land about 1406 B.C. The Book of Joshua therefore begins with events in or very close to the year 1406 B.C.

Josephus said the conquest of the land took five years.⁸ However when Caleb received his town of Hebron he said God had promised that he would enter Canaan 45 years earlier (14:10; cf. Num. 14:24). Since God gave that promise 38 years before Israel crossed the Jordan the conquest seems to have taken closer to seven years (ca. 1406-1399 B.C.). The record of this conquest occupies the first half of the Book of Joshua.

When Caleb said these words he was 85 years old (14:10). Joshua appears to have been about the same age as Caleb, perhaps a little younger. Joshua died when he was 110 (24:29). Assuming Joshua was 75 when the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, the amount of time the Book of Joshua spans may be about 35 years.⁹

The first half of the book (chs. 1-12) covers about seven years. Most of this material, specifically, chapters 1-9, deals with events that probably happened in less than one full year.

Message¹⁰

Joshua reveals that God hates sin because He loves people. (This is the message statement.) Of course He also hates sin because it offends His holiness. However in Joshua I believe the emphasis is on God's concern for the Israelites more than the vindication of His holiness.

The writer of this book portrayed Yahweh as a God of war. This side of God's character has created problems for many people. How could God be loving and yet deal so severely with the Canaanites? In view of Jesus Christ's commands to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44) and be peacemakers (Matt. 5:9) how can we justify God's dealings with the Canaanites that this book records?

The righteous side of God's character is, of course, a consistent emphasis throughout Scripture. In the Pentateuch God dealt severely with all those who oppressed the patriarchs and their descendents (cf. Exod. 15:3). In the historical books we find the same thing. The psalmist referred to Yahweh as "mighty in battle" against the forces opposed to His will (e.g., Ps. 24:8; 45:3). The prophets, especially Jeremiah, warned that God will judge sin. In the Gospels we hear and see the wrath of God manifested in Jesus' words and works against the Pharisees for their sins. In the Book of Revelation, especially chapters 6-19, John pictured the wrath of God being poured out in judgment on the whole world. In Joshua, too, we see God commanding and leading the Israelites in violent mortal conflict with sinners.

The reason God wages war against sin and sinners is that He loves people and wants to save them from destruction by sin and its consequences (cf. Rom. 6:23). If God is not a God of war, then He cannot be a God of love.

We can see God's hatred of sin in His dealings with the Canaanites and in His dealings with the Israelites in Joshua.

In the Pentateuch we discovered many statements and warnings about the Canaanites. Their wickedness was great even in Abraham's day. The Sodomites were Canaanites (Gen. 19), but the measure of their iniquity was not yet full (Gen. 15:16; cf. Lev. 18:24-28). The Ras Shamra Tablets have shed much light on Canaanite religion and culture. Archaeologists discovered these written records in northwest Syria at the site of an ancient city, Ugarit. They date from the fourteenth century B.C., the time of the conquest by Joshua.

The Canaanites wrote them in the Ugaritic language in cuneiform script. These records reveal that Canaanite culture was extremely immoral and inhumane. The Canaanites practiced prostitution of both sexes, many kinds of sexual perversion, and human sacrifice widely. They were religious practices.

As Israel anticipated entering the land occupied by these people it was a case of destroy or be destroyed. In commanding the Israelites to annihilate the Canaanites God was performing surgery to remove a cancer from human society. He was not murdering an innocent primitive people as the liberal critics of the Bible used to say. God had been extremely patient with the Canaanite tribes. They had had hundreds of years to repent after the witness of Melchizedek, Abraham, and many other God-fearing people who had lived among them. Because they did not repent, God used Israel as a broom to sweep away their filth and purify the land. He did not drive the Canaanites out simply to make room for Israel. He did so also to remove this cancerous society and its malignant influence. Israel exercised considerable restraint in dealing with the Canaanites compared with the way some other ancient Near Eastern countries dealt with people they defeated. The Assyrians, for example, were very brutal.

God also manifested His hatred of sin in His dealings with the Israelites. We have seen this already in the Pentateuch as God disciplined His chosen people when they sinned. In Joshua, when Israel lusted after the things of Canaan He dealt with her severely. Achan's sin (ch. 7) affected the whole nation. God judged Achan as He did to teach the Israelites a strong lesson concerning how serious sin is. God's dealings with His own people were even more severe than His dealings with the Canaanites.

In short, Joshua reveals that God wages war against sin wherever He finds it. He patiently waits for people to repent, but if they do not judge sin themselves, He will judge it (Acts 17:30-31; 1 Cor. 11:31). God deals more severely with His own people than with others because privilege heightens responsibility.

Not only does Joshua reveal that God wages war against sin, but it also teaches us how He does it.

God uses the forces of nature to wage war against sin. He restrained the waters of a river, shook the walls of a city, sent hail from heaven, and lengthened the hours in a day to accomplish His purposes. God rarely works in as direct ways to judge sin today. This should not lead us to conclude that He never did or never will. He will again shake the heavens and the earth to bring down His wrath on sinners (cf. Rev. 6-19). We have the privilege of living in the day of His grace when God is being patient with sinners (2 Pet. 3:9-10). Nevertheless that day will end, and He will bring judgment on our world as He did on the world of the Canaanites.

God also uses people who are loyal to Him to wage war against sin. The people God used in Joshua were men and women of faith (Heb. 11:30). God's methods are unpredictable and often seem strange to His servants. They frequently appear foolish to us. Therefore God asks that we simply trust and obey Him. Faith in Joshua means refraining from what God forbids (e.g., at Ai) as well as doing all that God directs (e.g., at Jericho). Joshua is one of the clearest illustrations in the Bible that consistent trust in and obedience to the Word of God results in overcoming, victorious, powerful, successful living. Joshua clarifies three characteristics of faith.

1. Faith involves accepting God's standard of holiness. We tend to undervalue the need for personal and corporate holiness in our day because God is not judging sin immediately as He did in Joshua's day. This is the day of His patience. Nevertheless Joshua teaches that without holiness there can be no spiritual power or consistent victory in our experience (cf. 1:8; 24:19-25).

2. Faith also means abandonment to God's will. God has revealed in His Word how His people can experience all He wants them to have. Because God's ways are not the ways we would choose from our finite carnal viewpoint we have trouble trusting God and committing ourselves wholeheartedly to His will. The Israelites succeeded at Jericho as they did because they committed themselves completely to engaging in that battle as God had commanded. They did so even though it must have looked like suicide to obey.

3. Faith also involves achievement in God's might. It is God who wins the victories. Without God His people can do nothing productive (John 15:5). However with Him all things are possible (Matt. 19:26; Phil. 4:13). The Israelites learned this when they failed at Ai. Success does not really come as a result of our action as we obey God. It comes as a result of God's action working through instruments that He finds usable.

In summary, Joshua reveals that God hates sin. He is at war with it because it offends Him but also because it destroys the people He has created to have fellowship with Himself. God uses the forces of nature and people who are loyal to Him to root out sin and bring deliverance to His people. However the people He uses must accept His standard of holiness for themselves. They must abandon themselves to His way of doing things. They must also acknowledge that victories are the result of His might, not their own.

Constable: Joshua (Outline)

Outline

I. The conquest of the land chs. 1-12

A. Preparations for entering Canaan chs. 1-2

1. God's charge to Joshua 1:1-9

2. Joshua's charge to Israel 1:10-18

3. The spying out of Jericho ch. 2

B. Entrance into the land 3:1-5:12

1. Passage through the Jordan chs. 3-4

2. Circumcision and celebration of the Passover 5:1-12

C. Possession of the land 5:13-12:24

1. The conquest of Jericho 5:13-6:27

2. Defeat at Ai ch. 7

3. Victory at Ai 8:1-29

4. Renewal of the covenant 8:30-35

5. The treaty with the Gibeonites ch. 9

6. Victory over the Amorite alliance at Gibeon 10:1-27

7. Other conquests in southern Canaan 10:28-43

8. Conquests in northern Canaan 11:1-15

9. Summary of Joshua's conquests 11:16-12:24

II. The division of the land chs. 13-21

A. The land yet to be possessed 13:1-7

B. The land east of the Jordan 13:8-33

C. The land west of the Jordan chs. 14-19

1. The rationale for the allotments 14:1-5

2. Caleb's inheritance 14:6-15

3. Judah's inheritance ch. 15

4. Joseph's inheritance chs. 16-17

5. Survey of the remaining land 18:1-10

6. The inheritance of the remaining tribes 18:11-19:51

D. The special cities 20:1-21:42

1. The cities of refuge ch. 20

2. The cities of the Levites 21:1-42

E. The faithfulness of God 21:43-45

III. Joshua's final acts and death chs. 22-24

A. The return of the two and one-half tribes to their inheritances ch. 22

B. Joshua's farewell address to the Israelites ch. 23

1. A reminder of past blessings 23:1-13

2. A warning of possible future cursing 23:14-16

C. Israel's second renewal of the covenant 24:1-28

1. Preamble 24:1

2. Historical prologue 24:2-13

3. Covenant stipulations 24:14-24

4. Provisions for the preservation of the covenant 24:25-28

D. The death and burial of Joshua and Eleazar 24:29-33

Constable: Joshua

Joshua

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Joshua (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION.

THE BOOK OF JOSUE.

This book is called Josue , because it contains the history of what passed under him, and, according to the common opinion, was written by him. The Greeks call him Jesus; for Josue and Jesus, in the Hebrew, are the same name, and have the same signification, viz., A Saviour. And it was not without a mystery, that he who was to bring the people into the land of promise, should have his name changed from Osee (for so he was called before, Numbers xiii. 17,) to Josue , or Jesus , to give us to understand, the Moses, by his law, could only bring the people within sight of the promised inheritance, but that our Saviour, Jesus , was to bring us into it. (Challoner) --- The Hebrews who had been so rebellious under Moses, behaved with remarkable fidelity and respect towards his successor; who, by these means, more forcibly represented the Christian Church, (Du Hamel) which will be ever obedient to her divine head and observe his directions. Josue had been trained up a long time under the hand of Moses, and God had given him the commission to govern his people, in so public a manner, that no one offered to claim that high and arduous office. In effect, the whole conduct of Josue before and after his exaltation, shewed him to be most deserving of command. (Haydock) --- Josue, says the Holy Ghost, (Ecclesiasticus xlvi. 1,) was successor of Moses among the prophets , or, according to the Greek, "in prophecies." Many explain this of the obligation incumbent on him, to continue the sacred history (Calmet) and revelations where Moses had left off. The last chapter of this book informs us that he did so. Perhaps some additions, by way of farther explication, have been made by subsequent inspired writers, though most of the passages which are adduced to prove this assertion, seem to be of little force. Respecting the death of Josue, we may make the same observations as on that of Moses. It may have been written by the author of the Book of Judges. Theodoret seems to have thought that the work before us, was compiled out of the public registers, which are quoted chap. x. under the name of the book of the Lord . See Numbers xxi. 14. The Samaritans have a book or chronicle of Josue, which relates in 39 or 47 chapters, many facts of scriptural history, (Haydock) down to the reign of Adrian, intermingled with a variety of fables. It seems to be of modern date. Hottinger undertook to publish it in Latin, but was prevented by death. (Calmet) --- The true history of Josue sets before us the passage of the Jordan, the conquest of Chanaan, and the distribution of the country. After the pious general had performed all that could be expected from him, after he had twice ratified the covenant between God and his people, and exhorted the latter, with his last breath, to observe an inviolable fidelity to the only Lord, he departed this life in peace, in the 110th year of his age, and was buried at Thamnath Sare, which he had built for the place of his abode. (Haydock) --- As the five books of Moses contain the law, intermixed with history, so this first of the historical books exhibits a variety of useful precepts and predictions. The prophetical and sapiential books must be considered in the same light. (Worthington) --- They all tend to promote true wisdom and the salvation of men, provided they be perused in the same spirit with which they were written. (Haydock)

Gill: Joshua (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA

The Jews distinguish the prophets into former and latter; the first of the former prophets is Joshua, or Sepher Joshua, the book of Joshua, as it is commonly called in the Hebrew copies; the Syriac inscription is,

"the book of Joshua, the son of Nun, the disciple of Moses:''

in the Arabic version it is reckoned a book of the judges, which adds,

"the first among the judges of the children of Israel was Joshua, the son of Nun, the twenty eighth from Adam, who reigned over Israel after the Prophet Moses.''

This book bears the name of Joshua, either because it is concerning him, his actions and exploits in the land of Canaan, or because it was written by him, or both; though some ascribe it to Ezra, and others to Isaiah; but it must have been written before the times of Ahab, as appears from 1Ki 16:34; and even before the times of David, as is clear from Jos 15:63, compared with 2Sa 5:6; for though mention is made in it of the mountains of Judah and of Israel, from whence some have concluded, that the writer must have lived after the times of Rehoboam, in whose days the kingdom was divided; yet we find the distinction of Israel and Judah took place before, even in the times of David and Asaph, Psa 76:1; It is most likely that this book was written by Joshua himself, as the Jews in their Talmud ^a assert; and, indeed, who more fit for it than himself? and if written or put together by another, it is most probable that it was taken out of his diary, annals, or memoirs; and though there are some things recorded in it, which were done after his death, these might be inserted under a divine direction and influence by Eleazar, or Phinehas, or Samuel, to each of whom some ascribe the writing of this book, just as Joshua is supposed to add some verses concerning Moses at the end of the Pentateuch: however, be it wrote by whom it may, there is no doubt to be made of the divine inspiration and authenticity of it by us Christians, since some histories recorded in it are taken from it, or referred to, in Heb 11:30; and the promise made to Joshua is quoted, and applied to every believer, Heb 13:5; and the Apostle James refers to the case of Rahab, her character and conduct in it, Jam 2:25. The subject matter of this book is Joshua's taking upon him the government of the children of Israel, after the death of Moses, by a divine commission, exhortation, and encouragement given him to engage in war with the Canaanites; his conquests of them, the division of the land of Canaan to the children of Israel, and their settlement in it. It is of great use not only to give us the geography of the land of Canaan, and the history of the church of God, from the death of Moses to the times of the judges; but shows the exact fulfilment of prophecy, and the faithfulness of God to his promises in giving the land of Canaan to Israel, according to those made to their fathers, and the justice of God in punishing the Canaanites for their abominable sins, as had been foretold; and the wonderful care, of God, and his love to the people of Israel in preserving and protecting them, and in settling them in such a good land, notwithstanding all their murmurings, ingratitude, and unbelief, in the wilderness; and may serve to lead us to Christ, whose type Joshua was in the whole affair here related: his name has the signification of the salvation of the Lord in and he is by the Greek writers, and so in the New Testament, called Jesus, a Saviour, Act 7:45, Heb 4:8; and as they agree in their name, so they do in their state, condition, and character; Joshua was a servant of Moses, Christ was made under the law, and became subject to it, both moral and ceremonial; and also in their office, Joshua was the governor of Israel, and the commander of their forces, for which he was well qualified with wisdom, courage, and integrity; Christ is King of saints, the Leader and Commander of the people, who has fought their battles for them, being abundantly qualified, having the spirit of wisdom, counsel, might, and of the fear of the Lord, resting on him. Joshua was a type of Christ in various actions of his; in leading the people through the river Jordan, an emblem either of baptism, or of afflictions, or of death itself, in which Christ is with his people, and carries them through; in saving Rahab and her family, so Christ saves the worst and chief of sinners; in receiving the Gibeonites, who submitted to him, as Christ does all that come to him; in his conquest of the several kings of the Canaanites, so Christ has conquered all the spiritual enemies of his people, sin, Satan, and the world; in bringing and settling the people of Israel in the land of Canaan, their rest, and dividing it to them by lot, which Moses might not do; so Christ only brings souls into the true rest, into spiritual rest here, and eternal rest hereafter; in whom they obtain the inheritance of the heavenly glory by lot, and by whom only they enjoy salvation and eternal life, and not by the works of the law. This book contains an history of Joshua, of his government, his acts and deeds, from the death of Moses to his own; how long that was is not certain; the Jewish chronologers ^b observe, that the time of his principality we find not in the text; though they ^c say he succeeded Moses when he was eighty two years of age, and governed Israel twenty eight years; Eupolemus ^d, an Heathen writer, says thirty years. Christian writers commonly make his reign to be twenty seven years ^e; but an Arabic writer ^f stretches it further to thirty one years; he says, he took the government of the people in the seventy ninth year of his age, and reigned thirty one; but it seems more probable that he was ninety three years of age when Moses died, who lived to be an hundred ten, so that only seventeen years intervened between the death of the one and of the other; seven years Joshua was in subduing the land, and ten years more were taken up in dividing it to the people, and settling them in it, and in the government of them; after which Eleazar might rule ten years more, whose death is mentioned in it; so indeed the book may be reckoned an history of twenty seven years, though Joshua lived only seventeen of them. The Chronicle, to which the Samaritans give the name of the book of Joshua, is a spurious work; an epitome of which Hottinger ^g has compiled, and translated out of the Arabic exemplar into Latin.

Gill: Joshua 2 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO JOSHUA 2

This chapter gives an account of the spies sent by Joshua to Jericho, and of their entrance into the house of Rahab, who hid them from the king's messengers, Jos 2:1; of the relation she gave them of the fear and dread of Israel, which were fallen upon the Canaanites, Jos 2:8; and of the request she made to them, to save her and her father's house, when the city should be taken, and to have a sure sign of it given her, Jos 2:12; which the spies solemnly promised, and gave her a sign of it, with a charge not to discover the matter to any, Jos 2:14; and being let down by a cord through the window of her house, they made their escape to a mountain, where they lay three days, and then returned to Joshua, and made their report, Jos 2:21.