1 Now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men afrom Acacia Grove to spy secretly, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” So they went, and bcame to the house of a harlot named cRahab, and lodged there.
2 And ait was told the king of Jericho, saying, “Behold, men have come here tonight from the children of Israel to search out the country.”
3 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.”
4aThen 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.
5 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.”
6 (But ashe had brought them up to the roof and hidden them with the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof.)
7 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.
8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,
9 and said to the men: a“I know that the Lord has given you the land, that bthe terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land care fainthearted because of you.
10 For we have heard how the Lordadried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and bwhat you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you cutterly destroyed.
11 And as soon as we aheard thesethings,bour hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for cthe Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
12 Now therefore, I beg you, aswear to me by the Lord, since I have shown you kindness, that you also will show kindness to bmy father’s house, and cgive me a true token,
13 and aspare my father, my mother, my brothers, my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death.”
14 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 awe will deal kindly and truly with you.”
15 Then she alet them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall; she dwelt on the wall.
16 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.”
17 So the men said to her: “We willbeablameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear,
18aunless, when we come into the land, you bind this line of scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, band unless you bring your father, your mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household to your own home.
19 So it shall be that whoever goes outside the doors of your house into the street, his blood shallbe on his own head, and we willbe1 guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, ahis blood shallbe on our head if a hand is laid on him.
20 And if you tell this business of ours, then we will be1 free from your oath which you made us swear.”
21 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.
22 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.
23 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.
24 And they said to Joshua, “Truly athe Lord has delivered all the land into our hands, for indeed all the inhabitants of the country are fainthearted because of us.”
An harlot' s house - In the face of the parallel passages (e. g. Leviticus 21:7 : Jeremiah 5:7) the rendering advocated for obvious reasons, namely, "the house of a woman, an innkeeper," cannot be maintained. Rahab must remain an example under the Law similar to that Luke 7:37 under the Gospel, of "a woman that was a sinner," yet, because of her faith, not only pardoned, but exalted to the highest honor. Rahab was admitted among the people of God; she intermarried into a chief family of a chief tribe, and found a place among the best remembered ancestors of King David and of Christ; thus receiving the temporal blessings of the covenant in largest measure. The spies would of course betake themselves to such a house in Jericho as they could visit without exciting suspicion; and the situation of Rahab' s, upon the wall Joshua 2:15, rendered it especially suitable. It appears from Joshua 2:4 that Rahab hid them before the King' s messengers reached her house, and probably as soon as the spies had come to her house. It is therefore most likely that they met with Rahab outside of Jericho (compare Genesis 38:14), and ascertained where in the city she dwelt, and that they might entrust themselves to her care. Rahab (i. e. "spacious," "wide." Compare the name "Japheth" and Genesis 9:27, note) is regarded by the fathers as a type of the Christian Church, which was gathered out of converts from the whole vast circle of pagan nations.
Other Barnes' Notes entries containing Joshua 2:1:
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