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Joshua 2:1
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Rahab Hides the Spies

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.”
4 aThen 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 Lord adried 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 these things, 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 will be ablameless of this oath of yours which you have made us swear,  
18 aunless, 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 shall be on his own head, and we will be1 guiltless. And whoever is with you in the house, ahis blood shall be 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.” 
Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
<< Joshua 1:18   Joshua 2:2 >>


Joshua 2:1

RAHAB RECEIVES AND CONCEALS THE TWO SPIES. (Joshua 2:1-7)

Joshua . . . sent . . . two men to spy secretly—Faith is manifested by an active, persevering use of means (James 2:22); and accordingly Joshua, while confident in the accomplishment of the divine promise (Joshua 1:3), adopted every precaution which a skilful general could think of to render his first attempt in the invasion of Canaan successful. Two spies were despatched to reconnoitre the country, particularly in the neighborhood of Jericho; for in the prospect of investing that place, it was desirable to obtain full information as to its site, its approaches, the character, and resources of its inhabitants. This mission required the strictest privacy, and it seems to have been studiously concealed from the knowledge of the Israelites themselves, test any unfavorable or exaggerated report, publicly circulated, might have dispirited the people, as that of the spies did in the days of Moses.

Jericho—Some derive this name from a word signifying "new moon," in reference to the crescent-like plain in which it stood, formed by an amphitheater of hills; others from a word signifying "its scent," on account of the fragrance of the balsam and palm trees in which it was embosomed. Its site was long supposed to be represented by the small mud-walled hamlet Er-Riha; but recent researches have fixed on a spot about half an hour's journey westward, where large ruins exist about six or eight miles distant from the Jordan. It was for that age a strongly fortified town, the key of the eastern pass through the deep ravine, now called Wady-Kelt, into the interior of Palestine.

they . . . came into an harlot's house—Many expositors, desirous of removing the stigma of this name from an ancestress of the Saviour (Matthew 1:5), have called her a hostess or tavern keeper. But Scriptural usage (Leviticus 21:7-14; Deuteronomy 23:18; Judges 11:1; I Kings 3:16), the authority of the Septuagint, followed by the apostles (Hebrews 11:31; James 2:25), and the immemorial style of Eastern khans, which are never kept by women, establish the propriety of the term employed in our version. Her house was probably recommended to the spies by the convenience of its situation, without any knowledge of the character of the inmates. But a divine influence directed them in the choice of that lodging-place.




Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Joshua 2:1:

Joshua 2:1
Joel 3:18
Hebrews 11:31

 

<< Joshua 1:18   Joshua 2:2 >>

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