Joshua 2:7

2:7 Meanwhile ¹  the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River ²  near the fords. ³  The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. ⁴ 

Joshua 2:2

2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well! ⁵  Israelite men have come here tonight ⁶  to spy on the land.”

Joshua 17:4

17:4 They went before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us land among our relatives.” ⁷  So Joshua ⁸  assigned them land among their uncles, as the Lord had commanded. ⁹ 

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.

⁵ tn Or “look.”

⁶ tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”

⁷ tn Heb “The Lord commanded Moses to assign to us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Since Zelophehad had no sons, “brothers” must refer to their uncles, as the next sentence makes clear.

⁸ tn Heb “he.” The referent is probably Joshua, although Eleazar is mentioned first in the preceding list.

⁹ tn Heb “and he assigned to them in accordance with the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.”