Joshua 2:10

1 Now, Joshua, the son of Nun, had sent from Sittim two men as spies secretly, saying: Go, examine the land and Jericho. They accordingly set out and entered the house of a woman, a harlot, whose name was Rahab, and slept there. 2 And it was told to the king of Jericho, Behold, men of the children of Israel have come hither to-night to spy out the land. 3 Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, Bring out the men who have gone in to thee, who have come to thy house; for they have come to spy out the whole land. 4 Now the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. Then she says, The men, indeed, came to me, but I knew not whence they were. 5 And it was when the gate was shut in the darkness that the men went out, and I know not whither they went. Follow them quickly, for you shall apprehend them. 6 Now she had caused them to go up upon the roof, and had hidden them under stalks of flax, arranged by her on the roof. 7 And the men pursued them by the way of the Jordan, even to the fords; they, moreover, shut the gate as soon as those who pursued them went out. 8 But before they were asleep, she herself went up on the roof to them. 9 And she says to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, inasmuch as your terror has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land have melted at your presence.

2:8-21 Rahab had heard of the miracles the Lord wrought for Israel. She believed that his promises would certainly be fulfilled, and his threatenings take effect; and that there was no way of escape but by submitting to him, and joining with his people. The conduct of Rahab proved that she had the real principle of Divine faith. Observe the promises the spies made to her. The goodness of God is often expressed by his kindness and truth, Ps 117:2; in both these we must be followers of him. Those who will be conscientious in keeping promises, are cautious in making them. The spies make needful conditions. The scarlet cord, like the blood upon the doorpost at the passover, recalls to remembrance the sinner's security under the atoning blood of Christ; and that we are to flee thereto for refuge from the wrath of a justly offended God. The same cord Rahab used for the saving of these Israelites, was to be used for her own safety. What we serve and honour God with, we may expect he will bless, and make useful to us.

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt,.... To make a passage for them through it, to walk in as on dry land; this they had heard of and remembered, though it was forty years ago: and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan: which were things more recent, done but a few months ago: Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed; the history of which see in Numbers 21:21; who were destroyed by them under Moses and Joshua their commanders; and Hercules, who is thought to be the same with Joshua, is by Lucian (g) called Ogmius, from slaying Og, as is supposed (h). (g) In Hercule. (h) Dickinson. Delph. Phoenic. c. 4. p. 44.

10 . dried up the water ] The inhabitants of the land had heard of two important events, which filled them with alarm; ( a ) the drying up of the Red Sea before the Israelites (cp. Psalm 106:7 ; Psalm 106:9 ; Psalm 106:22 ; Psalm 136:13 ); ( b ) the defeat at Jahaz of Sihon king of the Amorites, who refused the Israelites a passage through the territory between the Arnon and the Jabbok ( Numbers 21:21-31 ; Deuteronomy 2:30-37 ), and at Edrei of Og, the giant king of the district which, under the name of “Bashan,” extended from the Jabbok up to the base of Hermon ( Numbers 21:33-35 ; Deuteronomy 3:1-7 ). whom ye utterly destroyed ] Or, devoted. The word here used denotes (i) to separate for God, devote to Him ( Leviticus 27:21 ; Leviticus 27:28 ; Joshua 6:17-18 ; 1 Samuel 15:21 ), (ii) to devote to utter destruction, utterly destroy ( Deuteronomy 4:26 ). The objects of such a doom might be ( a ) persons , as here (and comp. 1 Kings 20:42 ; Romans 9:3 ; Galatians 1:8-9 ; Galatians 3:13 ), or ( b ) things ( Joshua 6:17-18 ; Joshua 7:1 ).

Jos 2:8-21. The Covenant between Her and Them. 8-13. she came up unto them upon the roof and said—Rahab's dialogue is full of interest, as showing the universal panic and consternation of the Canaanites on the one hand (Jos 24:11; De 2:25), and her strong convictions on the other, founded on a knowledge of the divine promise, and the stupendous miracles that had opened the way of the Israelites to the confines of the promised land. She was convinced of the supremacy of Jehovah, and her earnest stipulations for the preservation of her relatives amid the perils of the approaching invasion, attest the sincerity and strength of her faith.

Verse 10. - For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you. Rahab uses the word יְהֹוָה . Whether this name were known to her or not, she knew what was signified by it, the one only self-existent God (since יהוה is clearly derived from הָיָה or הָוָה to be ), the Author of all things, visible and invisible (see ver. 11). The Red Sea. Brugsch, in his 'History of Egypt,' denies that יַם־סוּפ should be rendered 'Red Sea,' and affirms that this error of the LXX. interpreters has been the source of endless misapprehensions. יַם־סוּפ is an Egyptian word signifying flags or rushes, which abound not only in the Red Sea, but in the marshes on the shores of the Mediterranean, as, in fact, in all low-lying lands. It is here, according to Brugsch, in a treacherous and well-nigh impassable country, near that Serbonian bog, "where armies whole have sunk" (Milton, 'Paradise Lost,' Book H., line 594), that we are to look for the victorious passage of Moses , and the destruction of Pharaoh and his host. The סוּפ or rushes were to be found in the Nile, as Exodus 2:9, 5 shows (cf. Isaiah 19:6 ). So that יַם־סוּפ by no means necessarily implies the Red Sea. Yet on the other hand we may remember, with the Edinburgh Reviewer (July, 1879), that the coastline of Palestine and of the delta of the Nile has undergone considerable changes during the historic period, and that the land has, during that period, largely encroached on the sea. Sihon and Og.

The report of the drying up of the Red Sea ( Exodus 14:15 .), of the defeat of the mighty kings of the Amorites, and of the conquest of their kingdoms, had produced this effect upon the Canaanites. Even in the last of these occurrences the omnipotence of God had been visibly displayed, so that what the Lord foretold to Moses ( Deuteronomy 2:25 ) had now taken place; it had filled all the surrounding nations with fear and dread of Israel, and the heart and courage of the Canaanites sank in consequence.

[Bible] 2:3. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying: Bring forth the men that came to thee, and are entered into thy house: for they are spies, and are come to view all the land. 2:4. And the woman taking the men, hid them, and said: I confess they came to me, but I knew not whence they were: 2:5. And at the time of shutting the gate in the dark, they also went out together. I know not whither they are gone: pursue after them quickly, and you will overtake them. 2:6. But she made the men go up to the top of her house, and covered them with the stalks of flax, which was there. 2:7. Now they that were sent, pursued after them, by the way that leadeth to the fords of the Jordan: and as soon as they were gone out, the gate was presently shut. 2:8. The men that were hid were not yet asleep, when behold the woman went up to them, and said: 2:9. I know that the Lord hath given this land to you: for the dread of you is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land have lost all strength. 2:10. We have heard that the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea, at your going in, when you came out of Egypt: and what things you did to the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan, Sehon and Og whom you slew. 2:11. And at the hearing these things, we were affrighted, and our heart fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us, at your coming in: for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath. 2:12. Now, therefore, swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have shewed mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my father's house: and give me a true token. 2:13. That you will save my father and mother, my brethren and sisters, and all things that are theirs, and deliver our souls from death. 2:14. They answered her: Be our lives for you unto death, only if thou betray us not. And when the Lord shall have delivered us the land, we will shew thee mercy and truth.