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 2:7

2:7 Meanwhile ⁴  the king’s men tried to find them on the road to the Jordan River ⁵  near the fords. ⁶  The city gate was shut as soon as they set out in pursuit of them. ⁷ 

Joshua 2:16

2:16 She told them, “Head ⁸  to the hill country, so the ones chasing you don’t find you. ⁹  Hide from them there for three days, long enough for those chasing you ¹⁰  to return. Then you can be on your way.”

Joshua 2:22

2:22 They went ¹¹  to the hill country and stayed there for three days, long enough for those chasing them ¹²  to return. Their pursuers ¹³  looked all along the way but did not find them. ¹⁴ 

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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 Another way to translate vv. 6-7 would be, “While she took them up to the roof and hid them…, the king’s men tried to find them….” Both of the main clauses have the subject prior to the predicate, perhaps indicating simultaneous action. (On the grammatical point, see R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 42, §235.) In this case Rahab moves the Israelite spies from the hiding place referred to in v. 4 to a safer and less accessible hiding place.

⁵ tn The word “River” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied for clarity.

⁶ tn Heb “And the men chased after them [on] the road [leading to] the Jordan to the fords.” The text is written from the perspective of the king’s men. As far as they were concerned, they were chasing the spies.

⁷ tn Heb “And they shut the gate after – as soon as the ones chasing after them went out.” The expressions “after” and “as soon as” may represent a conflation of alternate readings.

⁸ tn Heb “Go.”

⁹ tn Heb “so that the pursuers might not meet you.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“you”) is not in the Hebrew text but is implied.

¹¹ tn Heb “they went and came.”

¹² tn Heb “the pursuers.” The object (“them”) is added for clarification.

¹³ tn Heb “the ones chasing them.” This has been rendered as “their pursuers” in the translation to avoid redundancy with the preceding clause.

¹⁴ tn Heb “The pursuers looked in all the way and did not find [them].”