Joshua 2:1-9

Context

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them:¹ “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.”² They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there.³ 2:2 The king of Jericho received this report: “Note well!⁴ Israelite men have come here tonight⁵ to spy on the land.” 2:3 So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab:⁶ “Turn over⁷ the men who came to you⁸ – the ones who came to your house⁹ – for they have come to spy on the whole land!” 2:4 But the woman hid the two men¹⁰ and replied, “Yes, these men were clients of mine,¹¹ but I didn’t know where they came from. 2:5 When it was time to shut the city gate for the night, the men left.¹² 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 out¹³ on the roof.) 2:7 Meanwhile¹⁴ the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River¹⁵ near the fords.¹⁶ The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them.¹⁷

2:8 Now before the spies¹⁸ went to sleep, Rahab¹⁹ went up²⁰ to the roof. 2:9 She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you.²¹ We are absolutely terrified of you,²² and all who live in the land are cringing before²³ you.²⁴

[2:1] ¹tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1] ²tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1] ³tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[2:2] ⁴tn Or “look.”

[2:2] ⁵tn Heb “men have come here tonight from the sons of Israel.”

[2:3] ⁶tn Heb “and the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying.”

[2:3] ⁷tn Heb “bring out.”

[2:3] ⁸tn The idiom “come to” (בוֹא אֶל, bo’ ’el) probably has sexual connotations here, as it often does elsewhere when a man “comes to” a woman. If so, the phrase could be translated “your clients.” The instructions reflect Rahab’s perspective as to the identity of the men.

[2:3] ⁹tn The words “the ones who came to your house” (Heb “who came to your house”) may be a euphemistic scribal addition designed to blur the sexual connotation of the preceding words.

[2:4] ¹⁰tn Heb “The woman took the two men and hid him.” The third masculine singular pronominal suffix on “hid” has to be a scribal error (see GKC §135.p).

[2:4] ¹¹tn Heb “the men came to me.” See the note on this phrase in v. 3.

[2:5] ¹²tn Heb “And the gate was to be shut in the darkness and the men went out.”

[2:6] ¹³tn Heb “arranged in rows by her.”

[2:7] ¹⁴tn 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.

[2:7] ¹⁵tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

[2:7] ¹⁶tn 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.

[2:7] ¹⁷tn 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.

[2:8] ¹⁸tn Heb “they.”

[2:8] ¹⁹tn Heb “she”; the referent (Rahab) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:8] ²⁰tn The Hebrew text adds, “to them.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has not been translated.

[2:9] ²¹tn Heb “has given the land to you.” Rahab’s statement uses the Hebrew perfect, suggesting certitude.

[2:9] ²²tn Heb “terror of you has fallen upon us.”

[2:9] ²³tn Or “melting away because of.”

[2:9] ²⁴tn 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….”