2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: 4 “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” 5 They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. 6
20:1 The Lord instructed Joshua:
20:1 The Lord instructed Joshua: 20:2 “Have the Israelites select 7 the cities of refuge 8 that I told you about through Moses.
9:1 When the news reached all the kings on the west side of the Jordan 9 – in the hill country, the lowlands, 10 and all along the Mediterranean coast 11 as far as 12 Lebanon (including the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) –
9:1 When the news reached all the kings on the west side of the Jordan 13 – in the hill country, the lowlands, 14 and all along the Mediterranean coast 15 as far as 16 Lebanon (including the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) –
1 tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the
2 tn Heb “with the house of my father.”
3 tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”
4 tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”
5 tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”
6 tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”
7 tn Heb “Say to the sons of Israel, ‘Set aside for yourselves.’”
8 tn Or “asylum.”
9 tn Heb “When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan heard.”
10 tn Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”
11 tn Heb “all the coast of the Great Sea.” The “Great Sea” was the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
12 tn Heb “in front of.”
13 tn Heb “When all the kings who were beyond the Jordan heard.”
14 tn Or “foothills”; Heb “the Shephelah.”
15 tn Heb “all the coast of the Great Sea.” The “Great Sea” was the typical designation for the Mediterranean Sea.
16 tn Heb “in front of.”
17 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.
18 tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.
19 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.
20 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.