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: 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 

Joshua 2:3

2:3 So the king of Jericho sent this order to Rahab: ⁴  “Turn over ⁵  the men who came to you ⁶  – the ones who came to your house ⁷  – for they have come to spy on the whole land!”

Joshua 6:17

6:17 The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, ⁸  except for Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies ⁹  we sent.

Joshua 6:22

6:22 Joshua told the two men who had spied on the land, “Enter the prostitute’s house ¹⁰  and bring out the woman and all who belong to her as you promised her.” ¹¹ 

Joshua 6:24

6:24 But they burned ¹²  the city and all that was in it, except for the silver, gold, and bronze and iron items they put in the treasury of the Lord’s house. ¹³ 

---

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

² tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1.

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

⁴ tn Heb “and the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying.”

⁵ tn Heb “bring out.”

⁶ tn 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.

⁷ tn 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.

⁸ tn Or “dedicated to the Lord.”

sn To make the city set apart for the Lord would involve annihilating all the people and animals and placing its riches in the Lord’s treasury (vv. 19, 21, 24).

⁹ tn Heb “messengers.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the house of the woman, the prostitute.”

¹¹ tn Heb “and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her as you swore on oath to her.”

¹² tn The Hebrew text adds “with fire.”

¹³ tn Heb “the treasury of the house of the Lord.” Technically the Lord did not have a “house” yet, so perhaps this refers to the tabernacle using later terminology.