Joshua 2:12-14

2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. ¹  Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. ²  Give me a solemn pledge ³  2:13 that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and rescue us ⁴  from death.” 2:14 The men said to her, “If you ⁵  die, may we die too! ⁶  If you do not report what we’ve been up to, ⁷  then, when the Lord hands the land over to us, we will show unswerving allegiance ⁸  to you.” ⁹ 

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ¹⁰  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ¹¹  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ¹² 

Joshua 1:15

1:15 until the Lord gives your brothers a place like yours to settle and they conquer the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to them. Then you may go back to your allotted land and occupy the land Moses the Lord’s servant assigned you east of the Jordan.” ¹³ 

[2:12]  ¹ tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

[2:12]  ² tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

[2:13]  ⁴ tn Or “our lives.”

[2:14]  ⁵ tn The second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that Rahab’s entire family is in view.

[2:14]  ⁶ 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.

[2:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “If you do not report this matter of ours.”

[2:14]  ⁸ tn Heb “allegiance and faithfulness.” These virtual synonyms are joined in the translation as “unswerving allegiance” to emphasize the degree of promised loyalty.

[2:14]  ⁹ tn The second person pronoun is feminine singular, referring specifically to Rahab.

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ¹² tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[1:15]  ¹³ tn Heb “Then you may return to the land of your possession and possess it, that which Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave to you beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun.”